CHAPTER XVII

THE BLACKFEET

With the airship rushing onward, those aboard it looked at the strange sight below them. In a few seconds they were fairly over the heads of the scampering populace, and, as the dim shadow of the aircraft fell on them, several women screamed with fright, and a number of men drew their big revolvers.

“This won’t do!” cried Jerry. “We don’t want a lot of bullet holes in the gas bag,” for it was partly inflated. “Hi!” he yelled, leaning out of the pilot house window, as he shut off the motor to make his words heard. “You’re in no danger! Don’t be afraid! Don’t shoot! It’s all right, we’re going to land!”

“What is it? Oh, what is it?” cried one woman, clinging to her husband.

“Bless me if I know,” he replied. “Maybe it’s the end of the world.”

“This is an airship--an aeroplane--a balloon!” yelled Jerry, as he signalled to Ned to volplane to earth. “You must have seen pictures of ’em--read about ’em!” he went on. “We’re only an airship!”

This served, in a measure, to calm the fears of most of those who were racing over the plain. They slowed up, and, as the _Comet_ came to rest on the ground, rolling along on the wheels, the crowd saw that there was no danger. Some even ventured to approach closer.

“I have seen pictures of the contraptions,” said one man, slowly; “but they didn’t look nothin’ like this shebang!”

“Well, this is somewhat different,” explained Jerry, as he and his party alighted.

“I hadn’t no notion that they made as much racket as that, neither,” spoke another man.

“And they come on you lickity split,” spoke a third. “I thought hosses had t’ pull ’em, or suthin’ like that.”

By this time the throng had approached still nearer and even the most timid now ventured to inspect the curious craft that had so suddenly, and strangely, appeared in their midst. Later the boys learned that Bolton was so remote from the ordinary line of travel, and that its inhabitants had so few opportunities of looking at the newspapers or magazines, that few, if any of them, had a real idea of what an airship was like. Consequently the sudden appearance of the _Comet_ was enough to startle even the bravest.

But the boys were made welcome, and were asked to partake of the hospitality of the place. There was in Bolton what passed for a hotel, but Bob whispered:

“We can get better meals ourselves than they can serve. Let’s stick to the ship.”

“I believe you’re right, Chunky,” assented Jerry. “We will.”

Once the first fright and curiosity was over, the minds of the villagers naturally turned to the object that had brought the voyagers in their midst. By this time Professor Snodgrass had put aside his note books, and was stalking along through the crowd, looking for rare insects. Approaching one burly miner the scientist exclaimed:

“Ha! Now I have him!”

“Hold on! No, you don’t! Hands up!” cried the miner, and the next instant the little professor was gazing unflinchingly down the muzzle of a big revolver. “Don’t you lay a hand on me!” went on the miner. “I’ve got the drop on you! Besides, you can’t extradite me for a crime like that, anyhow. And, anyhow, I didn’t do it!”

“Do it? Do what?” asked the professor mildly. “Will you please put down that gun. It’s in my way, and I want to catch a new specimen of a blue spotted lizard I see crawling on your coat.”

“A lizard!” gasped the man, as he lowered his weapon. “Aren’t you a sheriff, looking for me?”

“Not at all,” said the professor, with a smile. “I am collecting specimens for my college museum. Ah, there! I have it--just a moment, if you please,” and with a quick motion he captured the wriggling lizard in a little net, and transferred it to one of his glass boxes.

“Is--is that what you’re after?” asked the man, backing away, while those near him laughed.

“That’s all,” said the professor, blandly.

“We’re a scientific expedition,” put in Jerry, thinking this a good time to explain the nature of the trip. “We are all with Professor Snodgrass, after specimens,” but he did not say what kind, and, after all, the sixty nuggets were specimens of one sort.

“Huh!” ejaculated the man, as he put away his weapon. “I took you for a sheriff when you tackled me that way. It’s a good thing you aren’t, for I had the drop on you. But anyhow,” he added quickly, “I didn’t do anything. It was another fellow.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Mr. Snodgrass, as he made some notes about the blue spotted lizard. “And now can you tell me where I can find some luminous snakes?”

“Luminous snakes?” ejaculated the man. “Say, let me out of this. First it’s blue lizards, and now it’s luminous snakes! I wonder if you’re crazy, or I am,” and he made his way through the throng.

The airship was now attracting much attention, and when Bob began preparing a meal in the galley the crowd was so great that they threatened to overturn the craft in their eagerness. So Jerry and his chums stretched a rope about the _Comet_, and after that they had more seclusion.

They did not intend to stay in Bolton long, merely to wait for the gale to subside, and to look over the craft for possible damage. None was in evidence, and, while Jerry was ascertaining this, Jim Nestor and Harvey Brill went about the town. They saw no one they knew, for which Mr. Brill was glad, as he did not want to have to answer embarrassing questions.

“And I don’t see any of the grub-stakers, either,” he said; “though some of ’em who got on my trail did hang out here.”

It began to look as if they could start on their way to the Border, and their search for the golden valley, without being annoyed by men who would stop at nothing to accomplish their ends. As for Noddy Nixon and his cronies, nothing more had been seen of them.

“We’ll start for the Border to-morrow,” decided Jerry, after a day spent in Bolton, during which the professor got many new specimens. The boys and the two men, in order to give color to their pretended characters, assisted the scientist in getting specimens, though Mr. Snodgrass laughed at the varieties they brought in.

“I have them all--every one,” he said. “You must learn to look for new and rare kinds.”

The people of Bolton were sorry to see our friends leave, but as the weather was now good, Jerry decided that it was useless to remain longer. Accordingly the _Comet_ was sent aloft, and steered for the Canadian Border.

“Keep watch for your landmarks,” Jerry cautioned the old prospector. “We’ll go down when you spot one and see if we can trace the valley in that way.”

“All right,” was the answer.

They crossed the Border early that day, flying low enough to recognize the stone posts that in places marked the Northern limits of the United States, and the Southern line of Canada.

“We’ve got to work more to the East, to my way of thinking,” said Mr. Brill, after several hours of coasting back and forth over the line. “The valley lies more to the East.”

Jerry accordingly changed the rudder. They were proceeding along at a good rate of speed, when there came a sudden snapping sound and the _Comet_ seemed to swing about almost in a circle.

“What is it?” cried Ned.

“Rudder control is broken!” cried Jerry. “We’ll have to go down. Shut off the motor, Ned. Bob, start the gas machine!”

Below them was an almost unbroken wilderness, but Jerry managed to pick out a little clearing, and guided the craft to that as best he could.

As the _Comet_ settled down, and the boys and their companions leaped out to see the extent of the damage, there was a commotion in the woods surrounding them. Then, to their surprise, there stalked into the little clearing a number of Indians, attired in their beads, feathers and blankets.

“Blackfeet!” exclaimed Harvey Brill, in a low voice. “They’re a party of Blackfeet from the reservation! They must have taken French leave. Now there’ll be trouble!”