Chapter XXVII: Speeding Homeward

"Nat Shaley?" exclaimed Cameron Flood in answer to Slim Tyler's question. "You bet I've heard of him, worse luck! What on earth brought that old rascal to your mind?"

"Rascal is right," agreed Slim. "I see you have him sized up. I've had him in my mind for a long time. I think he swindled my father out of twenty thousand dollars."

"Shake!" said Flood extending his hand. "Our fathers were brothers in misfortune. I have reason to think that he swindled my dad to the tune of forty thousand."

"Have you any definite proof of that?" asked Slim eagerly.

"None too definite, I'm afraid," replied Flood meditatively. "A virtual certainty, but perhaps not a legal one. There seem to be some links missing in the proof. So, at any rate, our family lawyer seems to think."

"Yes, I got a letter from him," declared Slim.

"You did?" asked Flood curiously. "What prompted you to get in touch with him?"

"This," replied Slim, taking the thumbed, greasy notebook of High Hat Frank from his pocket.

He told Flood of the way in which the notebook had come into his possession, and the two went over it with the keenest interest.

"That broken word 'Tyl'," said Slim, putting his finger on it. "I'm sure that it refers to my father."

"I know it does," asseverated Flood emphatically. "I can remember my father speaking of a Mr. Tyler who was at one time associated with him in business. What was your father's first name?"

"Stillwell," replied Slim.

"That's it!" cried Flood. "I remember thinking of it at the time as an unusual name. What a queer coincidence it is that has thrown us together!"

"It is, for a fact," agreed Slim. "Doesn't it mean, perhaps, that we're to be partners in tracking down Nat Shaley?"

"Certainly looks like it," assented Flood. "And I'm with you in that till the cows come home. But it will be no easy task. That old fox has probably covered his trail pretty well. But there's a weak point somewhere in every villain's plans, and you and I will do our best to find it. Gee, I'd like to put the screws on the old scoundrel!"

"Same here," declared Slim. "Not only has he cheated my father, but he's done me dirt in every way he could. Robbed me of my wages, had me arrested on a false charge, lied to me, tried to bribe me. I have a heavy score to settle with him."

"I'll stir up my lawyer as soon as I get back," promised Flood, "and see if we can't get action. Don't worry about the funds. I'm fairly well fixed financially, and all the money we need will be forthcoming. Sooner or later we'll bring Nat Shaley to book and make him pay back every dollar he stole."

"That will suit me right down to the ground," said Slim. "Here's hoping!"

The next morning, Dave Boyd, accompanied by Slim Tyler and Biff Donovan, went over to the valley where the _Hope_ had come down. It took hours of searching before they found access to it through a pass in the mountains.

"Not so bad," pronounced Dave, after the three had made a careful examination of the plane. "We have spare parts enough, and she can be put in prime condition without too much trouble."

"But she can never rise from here," remarked Biff. "No runway for a take-off."

"I was coming to that," said Dave. "We'll have to disassemble her, carry the parts out piece by piece, take them to our camp, and put them together again. It'll be a whale of a job, especially with the motors, but a block and tackle will work wonders."

It took nearly a week of hard work before the parts were all transferred to the scientists' camp, and nearly two weeks more, with their lack of machine shop facilities, before the plane could be put in condition to fly. But with Slim and Jerry it was a labor of love, and the other aviators joined in whole-heartedly, until at last the _Hope_, as good as ever, stood ready for the homeward flight.

In the meantime the scientists had fully achieved the objects of their expedition. They had accomplished more than they had dared hope and were in high feather over the results.

The _Flying Cloud_ also had been fully repaired, with the exception of the radio sets, of which all the tubes had been smashed, including those designed for replacements.

This had been a source of keen regret to Dave Boyd, and to the others as well, especially to those who had families. No messages could be sent, and the outside world was wholly in ignorance as to the fate that had befallen the party. For all that the world knew, the voyagers of both the _Flying Cloud_ and the _Hope_ had perished.

One person in the party, however, had no regrets at the radio failure. Dick Mylert, in his own words, was "riding high and sitting pretty."

"Peaches and cream for me!" jubilated the young newspaper man, the instinct of his profession uppermost. "Exclusive story by an eye-witness of the great Greenland Expedition! Thrilling details! I'll write the whole thing up on the way home and be ready to put it hot on the wire the moment we land. The other papers will be crazy. And maybe my boss won't be tickled pink! I'll be the cream in his coffee. Big jump in salary! Bonus! Promotion! Blessings on that smashed radio!"

"Go to it, old scout," laughed Slim Tyler. "You've surely earned it."

A slight change was made in the grouping of the voyagers on the return flight, Cameron Flood going in the _Hope_ with Slim and Jerry, while Dick Mylert was transferred to the _Flying Cloud_.

Boyd was the first to take off, and a few minutes later Slim Tyler lifted the _Hope_ into the air.

"Good-by, Greenland!" waved Jerry.

"And Hail, Columbia!" added Flood, as the plane straightened out for home.