CHAPTER XV
A CRIPPLED AEROPLANE
Left together in the camp, astonished and angry at the sudden departure of Jimmie, Ben and Carl saw the Louise disappearing with varying emotions.
“Now what did he do that for?” demanded Carl.
“He’s always up to some mischief!” growled Ben.
“Well, if he’s going sailing around over the mountains in broad daylight,” Carl suggested, “we may as well go up to San Francisco and bring down a band. A brass band wouldn’t give us any more prominence in the community, and it might be more amusing.”
“Oh, the boy always has some fairly good reason for what he does,” defended Ben, chuckling inwardly at the daring of his chum, “but I wish he’d tell us a little more about his plans before he makes such breaks. It would take the strain off a little!” he added.
From the valley in which the Bertha lay the boys could not, of course, see what was taking place until the Louise was high up above the lower summits, with the third aeroplane in full pursuit.
“Now, what do you think of that?” demanded Carl. “That fool boy has found the crook’s machine, and the chances are that he’ll be sorry he did it before the day is over!”
“Oh, well,” Ben replied, “we’ll have to wait and see what comes of this absurd trip. Perhaps we’d better be getting something to eat, so as to be ready for a flight if the boy should need assistance.”
While the two were eating a hastily prepared meal, an exclamation of astonishment came from the vicinity of the Bertha, and they both sprang to their feet and chased off in that direction.
At first no one could be seen, then a figure crawled slowly out from under the planes and stood upright.
“The Chink!” exclaimed Ben.
“Now, I wonder how he found his way here?” Carl questioned.
“That’s the fellow we released from captivity over at the first stopping-place, isn’t it?” asked Ben.
“You may search me!” replied Carl. “Negroes and horses and Chinamen all look alike, so far as I’m concerned.”
“Me savvee you!” exclaimed the Chinaman, in most outrageous pidgin English. “Me savvee you, alle same.”
“Where’d you come from?” demanded Ben impatiently.
The Chinaman put a finger to his lips and looked puzzled.
“No can do!” he said.
“Look here!” Ben exclaimed. “How did you ever find this place, anyway? If a Chink fresh from the odorous Orient can walk in on us like this, I’d like to know what an outlaw who really meant business could do!”
“No can do!” repeated the Chinaman.
“You’re the fellow we found tied up, aren’t you?” asked Carl.
“Me savvee you!” was the only reply, the words being accompanied by a foolish grin. “Me savvee you, alle same.”
Ben pointed to the provisions spread on a cloth lying on the turf.
“Hungry?” he asked. “You seem to me to look rather lank!”
“I bet you don’t shake your head at that, and chatter out that everlasting ‘No can do’,” Carl laughed. “Fall to, friend!” he added.
The Chinaman quickly accepted this invitation, and was soon devouring bread and butter, tinned meats, and vegetables, as if he had eaten nothing before for a week. The boys watched laughingly.
“We’re next to you!” Carl cried. “You came to visit on purpose to get a good feed! Look here!” he added as the Chinaman looked up with a submissive grin, “what did those fellows tie you up for?”
“No can do!” answered the Chinaman. “No can do.”
“Go to it!” exclaimed Ben. “Put a couple of pounds of groceries under your belt at our expense and then you may be able to talk United States.”
“No can do,” was the only answer received to this suggestion.
Watching the man critically as he ate the provisions with all the gusto of one near to the point of starvation, Ben thought he saw indications of a different sort of a life in his manner of handling his food.
The fellow’s face expressed only stupidity. His eyes were dull and staring, but the manner in which he brought the food to his mouth was not that of a man who had been trained to eat with chopsticks.
In a moment Ben drew his chum to one side.
“There’s something strange about that Chink,” he said, when they were out of hearing of their strange guest. “He’s not as stupid or as ignorant as he would have us believe. And he never stumbled on us by chance, either! How does the idea strike you?”
“There is no doubt in my mind that the fellow is disguised in manner and speech if not in person,” Carl replied. “For all we know, he may be one of the leaders of the smuggling gang.”
“Then why should the bunch we found in the cavern tie him up?” asked Ben. “You remember the shape in which he was found?”
“I guess we’ll have to decide that we don’t know anything about it!” Carl replied. “We only know that we stirred up a nest of Chinamen, and that they ran away from us like rats. We don’t know where they went to either, although we may have time to find out later on.”
“We might have learned something more concerning the combination right there,” Ben grumbled, “only for the second beacon light and the schooner. Of course we couldn’t remain there with a new bunch of smuggled Celestials swarming about our ears.”
“We don’t know yet whether that schooner landed any Chinamen or not!” suggested Carl. “We had to duck away so fast that we couldn’t see what took place. I wish we’d kept in the air long enough to find out!”
“I don’t wish anything of the kind!” Ben declared. “Daylight was coming on and Mr. Havens told us to keep out of the air except during the night. After we round up Phillips and Mendoza, we may take a throw at the smugglers.”
“Perhaps Jimmie has gone over to the coast now,” suggested Carl.
“Much good it will do him!” grumbled Ben, “with that outlaw machine chasing him up! I’m afraid the boy has got us into serious trouble,” he added, “though I’m sure he meant everything for the best!”
During this conversation the strange visitor had been busy with the provisions. He now drew back and regarded his hosts through half-open eyes. The two boys approached the place where he sat.
“Me savvee you, alle same!” the Chinaman said.
As he spoke he drew one yellow finger across a wrist and an ankle, thus indicating that he remembered them as friends because they had released him. Then he arose to his feet and looked about.
“Savvee him,” he exclaimed pointing to the Bertha. “Savvee mate, alle same!”
The Chinaman pointed straight to the east as he spoke.
“Do you mean,” asked Ben, “that you saw a machine like that in that direction? How long ago was it?”
“No can do!” replied the Chinaman shaking his head vigorously.
“I believe he understands well enough,” exclaimed Carl. “I believe he knows what we’re talking about!”
The Chinaman gazed stupidly from one boy to the other and then turned away. The lads gazed after him in amazement.
“Where are you going?” asked Ben, and the Chinaman turned back.
“Savvee you, alle same!” he replied and pointed off to the north. “Savvee you, alle same,” he repeated. “No can do.”
“Go to it!” shouted Carl. “Trot along and play you’re in a Chinese laundry on Pell street. We love to see you eat, but we don’t like the exuberance of your conversation!”
In ten minutes’ time the Chinaman, climbing the steep dip of the bowl toward the north, disappeared from view in a thicket.
“Well, of all the consarned, everlasting, inscrutable combinations I ever saw in my life!” exclaimed Carl, “this combination of Chinaman and ignorance and hunger is about the worst! Now, what do you suppose he came in here for, and then went away in broad daylight?”
“He probably came here to fill up!” answered Ben.
“What do you understand he meant by pointing to the Bertha and then pointing east? It seemed to me that he wanted to inform us that he had seen a machine like that in that direction.”
“It might have been the outlaw machine now chasing Jimmie,” suggested Ben. “He might have seen it before it passed over to the coast. It’s a wonder to me that he wouldn’t get out of the country after being trussed up by his own people.”
“It’s just one of the mysteries of the case,” laughed Carl. “We don’t know anything about the Chinaman, or of Jimmie’s motive in going away, or of the smugglers!”
The boys gathered up the remnants of the meal and sat down to wait for the return of their chum. They had remained seated only a short time when Carl called the other’s attention to the glistening planes of a flying machine away to the north and east.
“There’s the Chink’s machine!” he exclaimed.
Both boys sprang to their feet and Ben rushed to the Bertha for a field glass. He looked steadily at the machine for a moment before speaking, then he handed the glass to Carl.
“That’s certainly one of the largest aeroplanes I ever saw!” he cried. “I’ve seen big ones, but I never saw anything like that before! What do you make of it?” he continued as Carl lowered the glass.
“I’ve been thinking,” the latter replied, “that it might be the Ann!”
“If it is,” Ben answered, “she will miss us, for there she goes straight off toward San Francisco. She’ll miss us sure!”
“Why don’t we get up in the air and chase her up?” asked Carl.
“I was just thinking of that,” answered Ben, “but, you see, there’s Jimmie and Kit away, and they’d never be able to find us!”
“Don’t you ever think they won’t be able to find us!” exclaimed Carl. “You can’t hide a flying machine the size of the Bertha by taking it up in the air. First thing we know,” he continued, “we’ll have all four machines bunched. And then there’s likely to be a mix-up!”
“Well,” Ben said, “if we’re going to start after that flying machine, we may as well be getting under way.”
As will be remembered, the Bertha had been overhauled early that very morning, and now it took only a moment to get her into the air. When she came to the lip of the valley the boys saw the large aeroplane sailing northward at great speed. Before Ben put on full power he turned to Carl with an anxious look on his face.
“I shall have all I can attend to at the levers,” he said, “so you’ll have to keep watch for Jimmie and his outlaw escort. Keep your eye on the sky every minute of the time, and if you see two flying machines doing a Marathon, just give me a poke in the ribs with your elbow.”
Carl nodded and Ben put on full speed, after which conversation was, of course, impossible.
The machine ahead was going at terrific speed, and the Bertha for a time had all she could do to keep in sight of her. At that time it was not a question of overhauling their quarry. The plucky little Bertha, however, clung tightly to the chase, and Ben saw crags, canyons, shelves of rock, and grassy valleys go whirling under his feet as one watches a swiftly flying landscape from the window of a mile-a-minute train.
All through the exciting flight Carl kept his glass in use. He searched the sea, now plainly visible to the west, the green landscape to the east, and the rocky summits to the north and south but for a long time, caught no glimpse of what he sought. After the chase had continued a couple of hours the boys felt the machine sinking beneath them. They both knew that there could be no good reason for this, as everything had been in working order only a short time before.
Ben examined the mechanism as carefully as he could from his seat and Carl glanced apprehensively at the tanks. Their judgment told them that everything about the flying machine was exactly as it should be, and yet she kept dropping down without any apparent reason.
Straight ahead was a level summit comparatively clear of rocks. Realizing that something must be done at once, Ben shut off the motors and volplaned down. The machine sank faster and faster, and the boys looked at each other with frightened eyes.
It seemed as if the machine must fall short of the summit!
CHAPTER XVI
THE INSIDE OF A JAIL
As has been said, it was morning when Havens caught sight of the pretty little city of Monterey on the Pacific coast. He had traveled steadily all night, and was very tired, so he decided to drop down near the town and rest during the day. Remembering the instructions he had given to the boys, he had no thought of seeing either the Louise or the Bertha in the air at that time.
The young millionaire had made a very swift flight across the continent. It will be remembered that he had left New York city something like twenty-four hours after the departure of the boys. The Bertha and the Louise had spent fully twenty-four hours at St. Louis waiting for some news of the Ann. On the morning when Havens alighted a short distance from Monterey, the Flying Machine Boys had been on the coast something like twelve hours. It will be understood, therefore, that the Ann had followed not far behind the Louise and Bertha.
While the young millionaire was sleeping at a neat hotel, after breakfast and a refreshing bath, Ben and his chums were discussing the situation in the little grass bowl into which they had dropped the machines during the dark hours.
Before leaving the Ann, Havens had, as he thought, taken extra precautions for her safety. He had landed on a level surface in the outskirts of the town, and had employed the man in charge of the local garage to supply him with gasoline and at the same time station guards about the machine.
While Havens slept a man who gave every indication of having traveled over a long distance in a short time dashed into the hotel office and up to the counter. The clerk eyed him coolly, as became a clerk having a proper respect for his own dignity.
“Havens!” panted the man. “Is Mr. Havens here?”
“He is!” replied the clerk, readjusting the diamond pin in his neck-scarf. “What do you want of Mr. Havens?”
“I want to see him!” was the panting reply.
“He left orders not to be disturbed!” growled the clerk.
“But he told me to let him know if anything happened to his machine!” insisted the other. “Will you send for him?”
“I will not!” answered the clerk impudently.
“Then I shall have to go to his room!”
“I shall see that you don’t!” snarled the young man behind the counter.
“It’s a serious matter!” almost shouted the man in front of the desk.
“Write out a message, explaining your errand,” commanded the clerk, “and I’ll have a boy take it to his room!”
The panting man reached calmly and deliberately over the counter, seized the obstreperous clerk by the collar of his coat, and dragged him over the obstruction. There he gave him such a shaking as a dog might have given a rat, pitched him headlong to the floor, and gaily mounted the stairs, taking three at a jump.
When he reached the top step the hall was ringing with his great bass voice, and a little crowd was gathering below.
“Havens! Havens! Havens!” called the man who had assaulted the clerk.
It was not necessary for him to call many times, for the door of the millionaire’s room opened almost instantly and his tired face looked out on the man who was creating the disturbance.
“I thought I’d never get to you, Mr. Havens!” declared the intruder.
“You must have important information!” smiled the millionaire.
“I think,” the other went on, “that before we stop to discuss possibilities, you’d better get your clothing on and make a break for the field where you left the airship!”
In an instant Havens stood by the little heap of clothing he had discarded not so very long before, and he was soon dressed and ready for the street. Then he turned to the red-faced man at his side.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Rough-house!” was the reply.
“At the flying machine?” asked Havens.
“Yes,” was the disgusted reply. “There’s a man there claiming the machine as stolen property, and there’s a crowd of yaps ready to back him up. When I left, the two men I hired were standing them off with loaded guns, but I don’t know how long they can hold the fort,” he added with a smile. “It looked pretty serious when I left.”
For a moment Havens was almost dazed by the information. It meant that word of his departure, and of that of the boys, had at last reached the friends of Phillips and Mendoza on the Pacific coast. In some manner the nature of his mission was known there at Monterey, and the friends of the two outlaws were already busy.
“The first to do,” Havens suggested, as they passed down the stairway, “is to notify the officers.”
“The fellow who claims the machine insists that he is acting for the officers,” answered Stroup, the garage man.
“Well,” continued Havens, “we’ll have to take the sheriff and the chief of police out there, and find out whether he does represent the officers or not. We can soon settle his case.”
“I’m afraid,” Stroup replied hesitatingly, “that we won’t find any machine there when we get back. It was just a riot!” he continued angrily.
“The machine not there!” shouted Havens leaping for the door.
When he reached the porch in front of the little hotel he missed Stroup and looked back. The garage man stood in front of the clerk and the house detective who were attempting to place him under arrest for the assault recently committed.
Enraged at the delay the young man hastened back into the hotel office.
“What’s the trouble here?” he demanded.
The whiskey-faced man standing beside the clerk tapped a brass badge on the lapel of his coat significantly.
“I’m the house detective!” he declared.
“Glad to know you!” answered Havens. “What’s up?”
“I’m arresting this man for assault and battery, and for resisting an officer. He’s committed an outrageous attack on the clerk.”
Stroup passed an inquiring glance at the millionaire, and Havens quietly amused yet still anxious, gave a slight nod.
The next instant the maul-like fist of the garage man shot out with lightning rapidity, and the clerk and the house detective tumbled over on the floor. Before the clerk could straighten his necktie, or the house detective staunch the flow of blood from his nose, Havens and Stroup were well out of the house and on their way toward the threatened flying machine, both looking rather sober.
As luck would have it, the hotel ’bus was just backing up to the walk a short distance away, and the two fugitives immediately boarded her.
“Drive to the aeroplane!” shouted Stroup.
“Isn’t that rather indefinite?” asked Havens. “We can’t afford to lose any time, you know.”
“Every man, woman, and child in town knows where the flying machine is long before this!” answered the driver with a smile. “I’ve sent three loads out there this morning now,” he added.
As the ’bus lumbered away, half a dozen excited individuals dashed out of the hotel door and shouted for the driver to draw up. For a moment the fellow hesitated and then began pulling on the reins.
“Get a move on! Get a move on!” shouted Stroup.
“But there seems to be other passengers,” argued the driver.
Havens hastily drew a ten-dollar bank-note from his pocket and thrust it through the little opening to the driver.
“I’ll charter the ’bus for the trip!” he said with a smile. “Now run away from the whole bunch.”
“Are you the owner of the machine?” asked the fellow.
“He certainly is!” answered Stroup. “Go faster!”
“I’ll do that,” agreed the driver, “because I think there’s something doing out there.”
As the lumbering old vehicle drew away, lurching from side to side as the horses ran at full speed, the crowd forming in front of the hotel took to the middle of the street and followed on in hot pursuit, shouting at the top of their lungs. Stroup eyed the procession grimly.
“At any rate,” he said, “we’re taking the right course to bring all the officers in the city to the field where the machine lies.”
“I hope they’ll get there before any mischief is done,” said Havens. “But look here,” he went on, “what was the trouble at the hotel? What was that fellow arresting you for?”
“Why, he wouldn’t let me up to your room,” explained Stroup, “and I shook him up a little. It is funny, the way his bones rattled as I dumped him over in a corner of the room.”
“You’ll probably have a fine to pay,” Havens suggested, “but I’ll see that it doesn’t cost you anything.”
“It’s worth a ten-dollar note to get your clutches on a puppy like that!” said Stroup angrily. “He knew very well that my business was important, for he had heard talk about trouble at the machine, and yet he wanted to show his own importance at your expense.”
As the ’bus rolled and swayed down the street, it was followed by a motley procession of hacks, delivery wagons, and private carriages. When at last the aviator came in sight of the field where his machine had been left he saw that it still lay on the ground.
“It’s there yet, all right!” shouted Stroup. “I guess we didn’t get here any too soon, however!”
Those at the machine, the ones endeavoring to remove it under a fraudulent process of law, saw the long line of vehicles trailing up the street with the hotel ’bus at the head. Havens saw the crowd parting and running in different directions, and then the Ann lifted slowly into the air.
At that moment Stroup was by far the more excited man of the two. He opened the ’bus door and stood on the steps outside, waving one hand frantically, his face glowing with excitement.
“Stop her, stop her!” he shouted.
The only answer which came was a cheer from the mob gathered below the now swiftly ascending aeroplane.
When at last the ’bus reached the spot where the flying machine had lain, it was at once surrounded by a crowd of curious and impertinent spectators. Havens sprang to the ground and opened a conversation with the first man he saw.
“I understand that the man who took the machine claims to be an officer,” he said. “Will you point him out to me?”
“I am the officer!” said the fellow sticking out his chest.
“Where are your papers?” demanded Havens.
“A man don’t need no papers,” was the insulting reply, “in order to take possession of stolen property, wherever he can find it!”
Stroup now pushed his way through the crowd to Havens’ side and looked the fellow over with threatening eyes.
“Talk civil!” he advised in a moment.
“Now, Stroup,” said the officer, “don’t you go to butting into this!”
“That’s the man who let the thieves take my machine!” said Havens with suppressed passion.
“That’s too bad,” exclaimed Stroup moving nearer to the officer.
Before Havens could lift a finger or say a word to prevent, Stroup shot out a great fist which landed squarely between the eyes of the officer. The fellow went down in a huddle on the ground, but the next moment the posse he had gathered in order to back him in taking possession of the machine gathered about Havens and Stroup.
“Here, here!” shouted a man in uniform pushing through the crowd. “I arrest both of you fellows!”
“It strikes me,” Havens smiled, “that that really is the best way out of it. This mob begins to look ugly.”
The two men willingly entered the ’bus with the officer and were hastily driven to the city prison. When at last the door was closed and locked against them, Havens turned to Stroup.
“Well,” he said, “for all long-distance, ready-for-action bruisers I ever saw, you certainly take the cake! You’ve assaulted three men and got us both locked up! And yet,” he added, “I rather like it!”
Stroup blushed and grinned and said not a word.