The Rambler Club's aeroplane

“I tell you, Cranny, it’s simply impossible to do anything with that boy; he hasn’t a bit of energy. Whenever my back is turned, he’s idling away his time. I do wish to goodness...

Willie Sloan, age fifteen and a half, quite small for his years, wasn’t a bad-looking chap; or, rather, wouldn’t have been if his expression had indicated a greater degree of sa...

Father and son were seated in wicker chairs on the portico, enjoying a pleasant breeze which gently rustled the leaves, as it sighed its way out toward the bay. The distorted sh...

“No use coming to the station to meet us, Cranny,” Bob Somers had written, “for I don’t really know the exact time we’ll land in Tacoma. Only this much is certain: it will be on...

“It seemed just like being in Kingswood again--to see those boys,” said Mrs. Beaumont, as she and her husband and the two lads gathered in the drawing-room. “What a fine, lively...

The observation car of the Pullman train speeding swiftly across the state of Wyoming had perhaps never held a livelier crowd than the Ramblers and their friends. All but Tom Cl...

The ranch-house was a solid, time-stained structure, its thick stone walls pierced at intervals by loopholes, for Circle T had been built at a period when bands of Indians on th...

Lone Pine Ranch was situated not so many miles from Circle T, on the other side of a river whose waters cut an erratic course through the prairie. A straight line drawn between...

Mr. Ogden had already clambered to his place in the aviator’s seat. Bob followed, and eased himself down on a cushion close beside him, with his feet resting against a wooden bar.

A hat had been found for him, and, as its original owner was a man of good size, the fit was not all that could be desired. A piece of newspaper stuffed into the lining, however...

The navigators of the air were almost immediately surrounded; but the man who reached them first and extended his hand in greeting toward that of Mr. Ogden was Major Warfield Ca...

“You see, Bob,” he said, “in case of any accident befalling the engine your safety may depend upon landing at some particular point on the ground, so the pupil must often make a...

The “day after to-morrow” seemed to come around very quickly, and, as is usually the case when one is leaving for any length of time, an immense number of things had to be atten...

Riding at a rattling clip among the cattle wasn’t easy work. The animals, frightened by the huge object flying above their heads, were beginning to bellow and paw the ground. Th...

Straight-backed Pete Sanderson, standing with his hand on the bridle of his broncho, glared severely at the group of boys. Little Willie Sloan sat on the turf, while Cranny had...

“P. S. The mailed fist! It’s coming. If Cran isn’t recalled when Mr. Beaumont gets my letter it will be a wonder. The combination of Mr. Clifton, Lone Pine and longhorns has bee...

“Give me a chance, fellows. Mr. Ogden says Major Carroll intended to stay up for only a short time. He was testing a new steering gear. The balloon, after making several turns,...

Low, scudding clouds were sailing fast across the sky; but the current of air, blowing in an uninterrupted course for miles upon miles across the open prairie, was comparatively...

With a strong wind at its back, the “Ogden II” rose gracefully in the air. Bob Somers realized that the utmost skill and care would be required, and was satisfied to keep at a c...

Many minutes passed--tense, anxious minutes. The eagle flew still closer; its menacing attitude increased. Cranny Beaumont drew his revolver from its holster; he was ready for i...

Every one well acquainted with Major Warfield Carroll recognized in him a man of rather eccentric ways and ideas--one of those who is apt to take likes and dislikes without appa...

The car still swayed violently. At intervals, as the guide rope drew taut, there came an alarming lurch, which was immediately followed by another sweep forward. Then the huge,...

The two stared about them for a moment in silence. Foot-hills and mountains rose at their back, while in front a vast expanse of prairie stretched off to the limits of view. Her...

“Yes, I can hardly believe it, even yet,” went on Cranny. “An’ good old Dave here, too! Yes; it’s an honest fact, Tom; we have really seen Major Carroll and the others.”

The inhabitants of Border City and the cow-punchers and sheep raisers who occasionally visited it had perhaps never dreamed that there was destined to spring up in town a buildi...