by Roy J. Snell
CHAPTER VII A STRANGE BATTLE
In the meantime the little stewardess, Rosemary Sample, had made her wayback to Chicago. During the time Danby Force was having his fortune toldshe was thinking at intervals of him. She was in her own small room and,as one will, whose mind is not actively engaged in performing a task,she was thinking of many things. Rosemary was, by nature, romantic.Contrary to general opinion, there are few romances between pilots ofthe air and their lady companions. Pilots, as a rule, are married menwith homes they love all the more dearly because of enforced absencefrom them. Rosemary had been obliged to find romance, if any, fromcontact with her passengers. And there had been romances of a sort,though none of serious import. She smiled now as she thought of thegreat banker who more than once had favored her with a smile; of themovie actor, little more than a boy, who had traveled on her ship, onceevery week for four months. "Such a nice boy," she whispered. "He--"
Her thoughts broke off. She listened intently. Over her head was clampeda head-set for receiving messages. Her radio was in tune with thesending sets of all her company's great fleet of airplanes. What messagedid she expect to receive? Often none in particular. She loved thegeneral chatter of the air. "Plane Number 9 taking off from Chicago toNew York." "Plane Number 34 due in Cheyenne at 9:15, twenty minuteslate." "Plane Number 11 grounded by a storm near Troy, New York." Allthis was music to her ears, for was she not part of it all, the greatair-transportation system, not of tomorrow, but of today?
Tonight, however, she half expected a personal message. To each of sixfriends, all stewardesses of the air, she had told what she knew of thedark lady. To each she had said, "If she boards your ship, give my callnumber and let me know. I'll be listening till time for sleep."
The message that for the instant held her attention proveddisappointing. It was not for her. So she went on with her dreaming. Andin those dreams there frequently appeared two faces--a serious one,Danby Force, and a smiling one, Willie VanGeldt.
"How different they are!" she thought to herself. "And yet, if I am notmistaken each has been, or will be, heir to a large fortune. It seemsthat even rich people have their own way of living."
These thoughts did not long hold her fancy. Soon she was dreaming oftrips she would make in the future. No, not trips from Chicago to NewYork, then New York to Chicago. Nothing like that, but long trips intostrange places. She'd collect a pocketful of passes and go wandering.She'd catch a ship across the Canadian prairies to Edmonton, take thenorth going plane and land at last at the mouth of the Mackenzie Riveron the shore of the Arctic. There she'd play with brown Eskimo babiesand tame seals. She would drive dog teams and reindeer, ride inskin-boats and perhaps--just perhaps--hunt polar bear.
When she tired of all this, she'd go flying south through the air, southto Cuba, Panama, Rio and the slow-moving Amazon. Ah yes, this airplanebusiness was quite wonderful, if only you knew how to make the most ofit. And she knew. Ah yes, she, Rosemary Sample, knew.
But first there were other matters to be considered. Willie VanGeldt andhis badly cared for little flivver of the air; Danby Force and his darklady. And--and--
Well, what of the rest? Rosemary had fallen asleep.
She awoke a half hour later and remained so just long enough to removethe head-set, shut off her radio, slip out of her day clothes and intoher dream robes. Then again she fell fast asleep.
The charming little gypsy child who, in her bright colored dress andpurple headdress looked more like an animated doll than a child, playedlittle part in the bit of life drama played at the crest of the mountainby Petite Jeanne and her friends until, after breakfast of bacon, toastand delicious coffee, the members of the party left the hunting lodge towend their way up the mountainside.
They were approaching the skyline landing field. A sharp, bleak wind,whispering of approaching winter, cut at their cheeks and tore away atthe broken and twisted fir trees that made up the advance guard oftimberline.
The little gypsy girl was in the lead. Of a sudden she paused and,pointing excitedly, exclaimed, "See! Teddy bears! And do look! They arealive! One of them stuck his tongue out at me!"
The older members of the party did not share the little girl's happyanimation. To their consternation they discovered two grizzly bear cubshalf hidden among the rocks not a dozen paces away.
"Come!" said Madame, seizing the child's hand. There was a quaver offear in her voice.
"But why?" The child Vida's round face suddenly took on a sober look."They are pretty bears. And they are alive. I know they are."
Jeanne too knew they were alive, and Danby Force knew. They alsorealized that bear-cub twins usually had a mother close by, and a motherbear spelled trouble.
"We--we've got to get out of here!" Danby's words were low, but tensewith emotion. The airplane was still a quarter of a mile away.
"Come!" Madame voiced a sharp command as the child hung back. Nextmoment the child found herself on Danby's shoulder, and they were allhurrying away toward their plane.
Jeanne's heart had gone into a tailspin. Were they going to make it? Wasthe mother bear close at hand, or had she gone some distance in hersearch for food?
One glance back gave Jeanne the answer. "Run! Run!" She uttered thewords before she thought them.
Instantly they sprang into wild flight.
Bears are swift runners. This mother was no exception. Had someone beenstanding upon a rock overlooking the scene, he might have discoveredthat the bear, almost at a bound, had shortened the distance betweenherself and the fleeing ones by half. He would have opened his eyes insheer terror as he saw her, mouth open, tongue lolling out, white teethgleaming, gaining yard by yard until it seemed her breath would burn thesturdy gypsy woman's cheek.
Jeanne led the procession. Danby Force came next. Madame, unaccustomedto running, lagged behind.
Danby heard the beast's hoarse panting. What was to happen? He had noweapon. Yes, one, if it might be called that--a six-foot stick. Thisstick was very hard and stout, sharpened at one end. He had used it asan Alpine staff. As Jeanne reached the plane he threw the gypsy childinto her hands; then swinging about, he sprang to Madame's assistance.He was not a moment too soon. The irate beast was all but upon her.
At sight of this one who dared to turn and face her, the bear paused,reared herself upon her haunches and, for a space of ten seconds, stoodthere, glaring, snarling, frothing at the mouth.
The respite was brief. It was enough to permit Jeanne to drag her fostermother into the plane.
Danby's thought as he turned to face the bear had been that he might setthe stick at such an angle as to bring it into contact with the bear'sribs as she charged. He had heard of hunters practicing this trick. Inthe end his courage failed him. Seeing his chance he dropped the stick,sprang for the plane, fell through the opening then slammed the doorafter him.
"Safe!" he breathed thickly. "But is the battle over? Perhaps it has butbegun. She--she could wreck this plane."
"Oh my poor Dragon Fly!" Jeanne groaned. The great beast hurled herselfagainst the stout door with such a shock as set the whole ship toquivering.
Consternation was written on every face but one in that small cabin. Andwhy not? If their plane were wrecked, what then? Danby Force was in ahurry to get away. Every moment counted. The happiness of an entirecommunity was at stake. Then too the breath of winter was in the air. Atany moment a wild blizzard, sweeping in from the north, might send snowwhirling into every crack and cranny of the mountain. Burying trails,filling canyons with fathomless depths of snow, it might shut them awayfrom all the outside world.
In spite of this, one face was beaming, one pair of sturdy legs werehopping about in high glee. The gypsy child's joy knew no bounds. "Nowthere will be a fight!" she screamed. "The big Dragon Fly has knives onhis nose. They are very sharp. They whirl round and round. You cannotsee them. The big bear cannot see. The big Dragon Fly will bite the bigbear. He will roll down dead!"
/> Listening to this wild chatter, Danby Force received a suddeninspiration.
"Jeanne, start your motor," he said in as quiet a tone as he couldcommand. "She may attack the propeller. If she does, goodbye bear andgoodbye propeller. I don't think she will. We'll have to risk it."
With lips drawn in a straight white line, Jeanne took her place at thewheel, then set the motor purring.
All prepared for a second lunge at the offending box that held herfancied enemies, the bear paused to listen.
Then, with a suddenness that was startling, the motors let out a roar.
"Good!" screamed Vida, the gypsy child. "The big Dragon Fly shouts atthe bear. Now she will run away."
The bear did not run away. Instead, she turned half about to look awayto the rocky ridge where her cubs were hiding. Then it was that Danbyhad one more brilliant idea.
"Jeanne," he shouted in the little French girl's ear, "wheel your planeabout, then start taxiing slowly toward those cubs."
Jeanne's fingers trembled as she grasped one control after another, toset her plane to do Danby's bidding. "What will be the result?" she wasasking herself. Her great fear was that the mother bear would leap atthe propeller. She had no desire to kill this mother, nor did she wishto lose her propeller.
To Jeanne the result was astonishing. No sooner had the "giant insect,"all made of metal, started toward the rocks than the mother bear,fearing no doubt for the safety of her children, started to beat itstime.
"A race!" Vida shouted. "Goody! A race! And the big Dragon Fly willwin!"
She was a greatly disappointed child when, after following the bear fora short distance, the plane swung round, increased its speed, wentcircling about the narrow landing field; then at Danby's shout, "UP!",left the ground to go sailing away among the clouds.
"Well," Danby sighed as he settled back beside Jeanne, "we are out ofthat."
"Yes," Jeanne sighed happily. "We are out, and the big Dragon Fly issafe!"