Riddle of the Storm / A Mystery Story for Boys

ul motor. Yes, he heard that. But what did he see? That was more important. A powerfully built monoplane with wide-spreading wi

Streak'!" h

xtravagant tales had reached his ears. "This gray plane bears no identification mark, no name, no letters, no numbers. It swoops down upon some lone ca

at least, of the reports was confirmed; the plane carried no insignia. No nam

reak'," he mu

usted to his care by the Midwest Airways. It was a superb creation, and almost new. Suppose this stranger, the man

me of my cargo!" His heart raced. It was a v

is mind, the plane moved steadily onward. He was able to st

f her motor di

whispered. "Thank God

white object that, whirling with the win

o. It-

rsuit of it when an inner impulse

ct, he stood for a space of seconds motionless. Then, as the snow-fog clos

!" He was frank

terest quickened. One did not associ

's a boy's," he told hi

the corner. There were words w

o the cabin; then, switching on a powerf

captive,

is was a name:

What a strange name! Wou

trying at the same time to patch together the rumors tha

mself. "Can't make h

ey had one and all agreed that it did not exist, that it was the creation of an over-wrought imagination; tha

I will vouch for it. And here," he held the squa

captive? What type of outlaw rides in that cockpit? All that is the r

in window. "Now there is nothing left but t

"Something hot. Fellow has to keep him

tled him. He had believed himself safe from the peril that had th

a motor smote his ear, and once more se

im. What was to be done? He coul

ks," he said al

on. Greeting the dawn. Skimming through the clouds. Sailing over a

an once. "The river's ice, a perfec

arrows were of ash, light and strong. They were perfectly feathered. Their points were of razor-edged steel. "Might help in an emergency," he to

beat of moto

se the mail contract. I won't!" He

w, he stepped o

his face broad

self!" he

onds, only to lose itself again, was not gray. It was blue, wi

red. "He's going through

ul pilot with thousands of hours of flying to his credit. Yet Speed had, only three days before, disappointe

when you fly in the North, don't you?" He had not

st my

ors right. But I for one am not going to trust to my motors alone. God made the iron and steel, the copper and all that goes into my machine. He made th

s through, he retu

"But this D'Arcy person? How I'd like

sandwich and a big pot of beans, warmed over the alcoho

square eiderdown robe, he lay on the floo

ht of his motor, going over it piece by piece. In this land of the North much depends upon the pilot's c

in time of peace. But in this far-flung land of snow the airplane has come to be a thing of great service. Journeys that required three months of hard mushing after dog teams; of sleeping in rough, uninhabited cabins at night; of fa

hunters of the air.' That's what Johnny Th

ad been Curlie's pal in more than one strange land and with him

Curlie's presence in northern Canada an accident. He was here

r the land, had left many a man high and dry, with no home and no place to eat. Having been in the air mail service in America,

tle groups of true friends, drawn closer together by the winds

the North and learning of a temporary vacancy,

tay until my last dollar is spent. A land where air

er how they do it? Perhaps I'll learn that business. Soun

I won

was done, this gold hunting

ime you got

et back to my motor,

ughing rejoinder. "Drop in and stay all night o

y have something mighty important to send down by you. New stuff; that is, new to us

ed sleepily. "Million dollars an

* *

torm had not yet struck, was telling some one else, an old-time friend of Curlie's as well as his, some things about gold hunting in the air

to the afternoon when, as a sudden smile spread over his close-knit

her dogs extremely well for a novice who h

ly. Many a girl would have allowed her team to come straight on to mine. Then our teams would have mixed, her team against mine, like

y throwing themselves upon the hard-packed snow in a position of repose. Dog teams in the No

ty detective. You will remember Joyce and her father well enough if you have read The Arrow of Fire and The Gray Shadow. A brave, resourceful, independent girl, this Joyce Mills. And her father, before a nervous breakdown, had b

was in the North. And now h

he breathed, her eyes w

ed aloud. "When d

ly. "Three weeks ago

d you knew I was here!

urse I knew there was a lady in your outfit

t talked to one. How

l better. There may be two Joyce Mills

overspread the girl's fa

, can imitate every action, your smile, your gestures, your walk, everything. They can describe the fillings in your teeth, the s

hnny came closer to her sled.

sure

re you doing here? And how does it ha

what your outfit is doing, searching for

answer yourself. No. I am sure you don't, nor your father either. You are square shooters, you are. Your father is the st

mp some one is unfair, dishonest? How could they be? We are searching for mineral in a wild, o

dishonest, dishonorable one has been played by-. Not by your father," he haste

and I will

k to a place

pressive. "You have seen t

rocks, the sides of ledges, the ones our men work by? The on

es

en them ma

mineral, that an expert mineralogist like your father can sit down before those photog

erver may fly over the territory and tell something of the rock fo

nly, "to ask yourself the question: 'Where di

ed. "N-no,

a thousand. To take those pictures required many days of soaring in a powerful airplane, close to the surface of the earth. For such work an airplane is expensive. Those pictures cost a pretty large sum of money. They we

ole

ole

wh

e you t

clouds pass over a landscape, were strange to see. Despa

murmured at last,

at goes without saying," Jo

cided. There was a strange hoarseness in

you know

eplied simp

He knew that he had been one of the finest detectives the city of New York had ever known. He knew, too, that after ma

n reached us. We were in despair. Then this opportunity came. He may never have told you, but he was in the Yukon gold rush. He found no gold, but instead,

did this slim, dark-haired

her voice, only weariness, the long, long weariness of one who has battled lo

"The work can go on. If something really comes

anything obtained by dishonest

place, I doubt if all three of the young men

t doesn't seem possible that one of them could do such a thin

pictures to compare with those your people are using, you would find them identical. And they w

ief!" the girl spoke slowly

f. You are the daughter of a detective. Often you have

. "I will find him. And whe

thi

he stared un

know what they are doing, they are in a way working for us. If they make a

would

would not. They should have their share. I am sure the me

y will rush outside in an airplane and bring in friends to file on the land. There will be room for many, many

thing prevents us from moving over and filing on the most promising spots;

slowly. A new light of

will you know when they make a strike,

to let us know. But we have

elegraph? W

before you are here long." His

added. "Whatever comes of it, your

all I t

s energy. It might disturb him. This is

im if-if there

mean? The evidenc

t hard to

going. It's a long way to our camp." He p

you this far

es in our camp. Only a Chinaman f

you com

ns high in this land. Our crowds might

so long

lo

liff, leaving a very much puzzled girl alone with her th