by E. J. Craine
IX
THE MAIL MUST GO THROUGH
"Bellowing Bulls," Bob yelled at the top of his lungs as he realizedthat something catastrophic was taking place in the air and that thegood-natured young pilot was in danger of his life.
"Blistering blazes," Jim exclaimed. Neither boy could hear the other'sejaculation, but they were tense and rigid as they sat for a paralyzedinstant staring through the darkness toward that flaming plane which wasbeginning to drop like some kind of lost star out of the blackness ofthe sky.
Mechanically young Caldwell kicked the rudder, his fingers adjusted thecontrols, and Her Highness came around with a screech of the windthrough the struts and a shrill whine of the wires. He opened her upwide, zoomed, then leveling off, raced toward that flaming, careeningplane. With lightning rapidity the boy calculated to a nicety the speedof the doomed mail-plane, and into both their brains flashed the ghastlyquestion as to the sort of spot on to which she was making her plunge.Was it smooth open country, or was it thick forests where the fire wouldspread and become a violent furnace before it could be subdued, or wasit into some little sleeping village, whose residents would be seriouslyjeopardized?
As she made her way downward the plane cast a bright glow about herself,like a funeral bier, but the light only accentuated the night beyond therim. At racing speed Her Highness cut through the heavens like a thinstreak of brightness, and in a minute she was above her falling fellow.The altimeter read three thousand feet, so Bob climbed higher, circledwhen he was sure he would have the grade he wanted, then, tipping thenose almost vertical, he raced downward, the engine roaring. It wasbreath-taking, but both boys were keenly alert. In a moment they werebeside the burning plane and following it, at a safe distance, towardthe ground.
They could see the mail pilot struggling with the controls, then henoticed them, grinned, and with a wave of his hand, he stopped thebattle, loosened his safety strap, and stepped over the rim of thecock-pit. He seemed as cool as if he were doing a stunt at afair-ground. A moment later he waved again, then jumped into space,making as wide a leap as possible. The two machines plunged on and theman's body seemed to roll, then drop swiftly, then the parachuteblossomed out wide and white as it spread open to save him.
"Whew," Bob whistled softly. He could not watch the escaping pilot amoment longer, but he switched on all the light he had in an effort topick out a landing place. One thing they were positive of, they were notover a village, for there wasn't even a fueling signal visible. On theywent, and at last Jim caught his step-brother's shoulder.
"Woods," he said, making his lips form the word so the boy would get it,and Bob nodded that he understood. By this time they were so close tothe ground that the descending furnace cast a brighter glow, and theycould see the tree tops standing out like sentinels. At five hundredfeet Bob pulled Her Highness out of the mad drop, leveled off andcircled in swift short turns. He maintained the height, and the twolooked over the side. Presently they saw the pilot dropping toward themfor his speed had been checked by the parachute. At the same instantthere was a dull thud and the mail plane smashed into the ground. Theflames leaped furiously, and while they ate hungrily at their prey, theylighted the vicinity brilliantly.
"Over there," Jim pointed, and Bob looked. He saw a clear place, andshutting off the motor, glided to a landing. Before Her Highness came toa full stop, Jim was out of the cock-pit. He glanced anxiously at thework of destruction, then looked up to And the pilot, but he gasped withdismay as he discovered that the fellow was over trees and seemed unableto spill enough air to guide himself out of their reach. In a second ahuge branch caught the silk and held it firmly, while the man dangledlike a pendulum thirty feet above the hard ground. A fall would meanbroken bones.
As the step-brothers were Texans first and foremost, ranchers' sons,they never went anywhere without a rope. In fact they would have felt asif they were not fully dressed, so now long lariats were coiled undertheir seats. It took only a second to secure them, then the two racedtoward the tree.
"Hey you lads, get the mail out of the plane," the pilot shouted when hesaw them approaching.
"You go back and do that while I get him down," Jim said quickly to hisbrother. "The three of us can probably save it all."
"Take my rope." Bob handed it over, then started to save the mail or asmuch of it as he could, while Austin ran on to the tree.
"Be careful. I'm trying to figure out a way to get onto the branch, butif I swing. I'll come down," the pilot called.
"I'll look out. Hold yourself steady." Jim had the rope in his hands,but a flying suit is a cumbersome garment and hampering. He stood awayon a slight knoll, gave the lariat a few expert turns, then sent itforth. It shot under the pilot's feet, opened wide, rose quickly and wasjerked securely.
"Good work, Buddy," the pilot called.
"Fix it so it won't cut you and I'll get in that nearest tree," Jimanswered. He was already beside the tree, and looping the end of therope about his wrist as he started to climb. It was no easy task toprevent the lariat from tangling with the branches, but luckily the treewas a yellow pine, and one side of its trunk had only a few short stubs.The boy went like a monkey and was soon a few feet higher than thepilot. He fastened the end of the rope to a stout branch, took aninstant to decide what his next move would be, then he made up his mind,and began to crawl out closer to the man he was trying to save.
"Careful that doesn't smash," the chap warned.
"All right. Get loose from your parachute. I'll make a hitch here, soyou'll come just under me--"
"Sure that will hold us both?"
"It's a good green branch."
"You make your hitch, then get back to the trunk," the pilot proposed."It will be safer." Jim obeyed. Hanging on with one hand, he leanedforward to watch. The pilot released himself from the straps, then easedhimself by hanging on with one hand. Finally he let go, and swungbeneath by the lariat. Vigorously he sent his body forward, grasped thebranch, hauled himself upright, then made his way to his rescuer.
"All O. K."
"I'll tell the world. Come along and we'll help the kid." Scrambling tothe ground was much simpler than making the ascent, and presently theyjoined young Bob, who was courageously hauling out bags of mail.
"Gosh," he whistled.
"Here, take hold." The pilot directed the work and in a few minutes themail bags were all out of the compartment, and none too soon, for theflames had gained great headway, and were swiftly devouring the plane.They dragged the bags to a safe distance.
"I say, we have some Pyrene," Bob announced; "I was a boob not to thinkof it before." He ran for the tank, they helped him with the tiny hose,and in a few minutes the blaze was extinguished. The darkness seemed tosettle about them more thickly than ever, but the light from HerHighness showed clearly so they could see their way to the plane.Quickly the mail pilot glanced over it and he smiled with admiration.
"Some grand little bus," he told them.
"You bet. Where can we take you?"
"To Albany. We got to get the mail there too," the pilot informed themand the brothers glanced at each other. Her Highness would certainlycarry the three of them and some freight, but whether she was capable ofsuch a load was another matter. "The mail must get through," the pilotrepeated. "We'll try it," Jim responded.
"One of you fellows might stay here," the pilot suggested.
"That won't be necessary," Jim said quickly. Taking the mail to Albanywould be a task, but coming back to find the one left behind would be anall night's job. Anyway, Her Highness had never been pressed intoservice for such an emergency and he was determined to leave nothingbehind if that could be avoided. The mail man was already dragging bagsfrom the pile. Luckily none of them were very bulky and the three set towork to fit them into the freight compartment. That full, what was leftwas stored in the extra passenger seat.
"I'll sit back there," Bob offered. "I'm smallest."
"A
ll right," Jim agreed. He was rather glad the younger boy had made thesuggestion. Caldwell had piloted Her Highness through her latest hazardand must be fagged. "Pile in." He took a moment to inspect the strip hewould follow in the take-off, then leaped to his own seat. The thirdair-man was beside him.
"I'm much obliged to you lads for what you did for me tonight," he said."You don't know what a relief it was to see you tearing to help me. Hadan idea that your backs were turned in my direction and didn't hope thatyou had seen me."
"I was watching you as we went along. We were about a mile over, so ofcourse we came back," Jim replied casually. "Glad we were able to get toyou in time."
Further conversation was impossible, for the boy opened the throttle andHer Highness roared. The engine ran smoothly, the machine started, butit seemed to Jim as if she would never lift. He could see the pinesleaping toward them, then up went her nose and she was off the ground,soared laboriously and dangerously close to the trees, then began toclimb. That part accomplished, Austin was relieved, and he concentratedon the long grill ahead of him. He wished that he had discussed thecourse with this man who must know every inch of air along his route,but the whole affair had taken but a short time. The excitement haddriven a great many things from his mind, so now he began to calculatehis course, tracing it on the map. In coming up from Texas the boys hadstopped off to see the capital city and its twin across the river. Hecould depend upon the pilot to direct him to the proper field, so comingdown would be all right.
The unaccustomed load made Her Highness' management quite different fromordinary occasions when she had carried only an extra passenger, but themail had to go through, regardless of men and machines, and the youthfulpart-owner of the plane was proud of her performance now, but he hopedhard that they would meet nothing on the way which would add to theirdifficulties. He thought of the Fentons. They were early birds andprobably in bed long ago, but Bob's aunt was a nervous woman and shemight not sleep soundly because of their absence. They could let herknow from Albany what was delaying them, but that might only add to heranxiety. Well, they had to make the best of it and it was rather anhonor to be entrusted with U. S. mail. He tried to imagine what the bagscontained. Probably a great many of the letters were highly important.People would not be sending their communications by the swiftest way ifthe matters were not urgent.
On, on, and on they soared through the night. The clock on the dial saidtwelve thirty. It seemed much longer than that since they had left theirjolly hosts in Canada. Once the mail pilot touched his arm, then raisinghis hand as if he were an orchestra leader, he motioned to go higher,Jim nodded that he understood, so began to climb. They were fifteenthousand feet when he got the signal to level off. Then he pointed tothe speaking tube, and the pilot nodded that he would use it if he hadanything to say. One o'clock came, and one-thirty. They had been goingover an hour. Probably the mail was late, for Jim was sure the regularplane was a fast bus. Her Highness could do high speed too, but not withsuch a load. It was nearly two o'clock when the pilot picked up the tubeand gave directions. Later he pointed.
"There's the field." It was brilliantly lighted and the boy could seefigures moving about the drome. As he glided down he noticed men lookingat him curiously. He decided that they expected the mail plane and weresurprised at his arrival. When he came to a stop a chap ran to thefuselage.
"Seen anything of Mason--the--"
"Right here, Old Timer," Mason said quickly.
"Thank the Lord. We got word that a blazing plane was sighted, and we'vebeen on pins and needles ever since. A couple of Canadians are outtrying to locate you."
"I'm O. K., and so is the mail, thanks to these youngsters." Masonprepared to hop out, and he turned to Jim. "You didn't tell me yourname. I'm Phil Mason."
"Mine's Jim Austin, and my step-brother is Bob Caldwell. We've beenvisiting relatives in Vermont," Jim explained. By that time Bob was outof his seat and a couple of men were removing the bags.
"Glad to know you lads. You want to bunk here the rest of the night--"
"Thanks, no, but I should appreciate a supply of gas. I'm not sure Ihave enough to make the trip back," Jim answered.
"Gas, of course, you can have all you want. Here you--" He shouteddirections, and a mechanic came on the run. The task of re-fueling wasaccomplished with efficiency, but the boys had to shake hands with a lotof relieved pilots who were grateful that one of their number was notlying wrecked and helpless miles away. Finally they permitted thebuddies to go, and this time Bob was beside his brother.
"Want me to pilot, old man?" he offered.
"Did you get any sleep back there?" Jim demanded.
"No, I watched the duplicate controls. Thought you might need help."
"Then you sit beside me and take a nap now. If I get so my eyes won'tstay open. I'll wake you up and let you do the work," Jim promised.
"So long, Buddies," Mason shouted, just as the throttle was opened. Bobwaved his hand, and Jim nodded. Taking off on the drome was simple, andin a moment Her Highness, no longer loaded to the hilt, leaped into theair.
"Great old girl," Jim exclaimed proudly, and the plane respondedeagerly. The course was set, and while they went, roaring back towardthe northern part of Vermont, Bob's head nodded and finally droppedforward as sleep overtook him. Jim grinned affectionately at the youngfellow and made up his mind that he wouldn't disturb that rest if hecould possibly help it.
The trip home was uneventful but Jim did have to blink hard severaltimes to keep his eyes open. However, he managed it, but the firststreaks of dawn were softening the sky before the Fenton Cove met histired vision. With a whistle of relief that at last it was over, heglided down toward the carriage house, and as the plane shot forward, heheard the house door open quickly.
"Is that you, boys?" Mrs. Fenton's tone was distressed. Then Bob wokeup, blinked, and stared.
"Thunder and Mars, why didn't you let me do part of it?" he demanded.
"We're all right," Jim shouted to Aunt Belle, and added to hisstep-brother, "I'll let you have the honor of putting her ladyship up ifyou like."
"You'd better," Bob growled. "Next time I won't go to sleep. You go inand hop to bed. I'll explain to Aunt Belle." That arrangement wasentirely satisfactory to Jim, and in five minutes he was in their room,in ten minutes he was stretched out in his pajamas and sound asleep. Itwas noon when he opened his eyes. Bob was on the second cot and was justturning over.
"Hello, Old Timer."
"Hello yourself. What day is it?"
"Same one. Say, Jim did you notice the lake when we got home?"
"Didn't notice a blooming thing. Is the house afloat?"
"Not yet. It rained some more. Woke me up about nine o'clock. I'dthought of going over today and have a talk with Hezzy, but I changed mymind," Bob announced.
"Wise lad."
"You never did cotton up to Hezzy did you?"
"Not so you could notice it."
"Well, I've been doing some thinking. Seems kind of queer to me that heshould have sneaked under those trees yesterday when we were going over.I've been wondering what he was doing on that side of the property. Ifit was all right, what the heck did he dodge us for?"
"Ask me another," Jim yawned. "Did your Aunt think we had flown to thebottom of the lake?"
"She sure did, but luckily she didn't miss us until she got up. Our doorwas open and she saw the beds--then she got scared for fair and cameflying down stairs. About that time we came rolling in. I am glad shedidn't have any more time to fret."
"Same here." Just then they heard Mrs. Fenton come tip-toeing up thestairs and they both closed their eyes tight, then began to snoremelodiously. Anyone could tell that it was a pretense.
"I was just coming to see if you boys aren't ready to have something toeat. You must be starved," she exclaimed.
"We are," they wailed.
"Well, dinner's all ready. You get into your bath-robes and come rightdown. No one will mind and I guess you deserve some privileges. S
omeonecalled up this morning to know if you got home all right, and I guessyou did more than Bob told me." She looked reproachfully at her nephewand shook her finger. "Now, hustle up--I've got huckleberry pie--" Theywere out of bed before the words were fairly uttered, so she hurriedback to her duties and the two boys were close at her heels, donningbath robes as they came. They did take time to have a good cold splash,and glance at the lake, which had risen two feet higher.
Mr. and Mrs. Fenton tried to look cheerful and to joke during the meal,but it was not a success, for the menacing water creeping steadilytoward them had already seeped into the cellar, and on the road in frontof the house the boys could see automobiles, trucks, hay wagons, andeven a team of oxen hitched to a great cart, plugging slowly forward.The vehicles were every one of them piled high with household effectsand the people of the island whose homes were already below the dangerline, were looking for a safe place to settle until Champlain shouldrecede within bounds. The meal over, the two boys went to the veranda atthe back. There was something terrible about the whole situation, andthey wondered dully what could be done about it. Just waiting was nerveracking. For a minute they watched the water, which was muddy as itthrashed in the rising wind, and beyond the cove they could seebranches, whole trees, rails of fences, boxes, and all sorts of wreckagetossed on the waves.
"Let's get out of sight of it," Bob proposed, so they went to the frontof the house, but the view there was no less depressing. An old mantrudged through the water driving his cow, and right behind him, seatedon a queer old carriage was his wife driving a horse that lifted hishoofs wearily and wheezed with every step. At that moment an automobiledrove to the door, and a huge man, with a booming voice, stuck his headout of the window.
"Can I get something to eat here?"
"Come right in," Mrs. Fenton answered. The man climbed out clumsily, andright behind him came a smaller man who had been completely concealed byhis companion.
"This is a blasted neck of the woods," the big fellow bellowed.
"Let's sit over here," Bob suggested. He didn't think the newcomer addedanything attractive to the prevailing discomfort. The fellow talked andcussed the weather, but the small man didn't utter a word. It wasn'tuntil they were eating that he ventured to speak.
"I told you, Burnam, this was a fool's errand," he declared. The big manbrought his fist down on the table so hard that the china jumped.
"Don't I know you did. Well, I'm telling you that they are hidingsomewhere around here, understand, and I'm going to find them. You canget on the train and go to blazes if you like, see!" The words and thetone made the boys jump, then Jim gripped Bob's arm.
"Shhhhsss." He pointed to the end of the veranda. Bob looked and wassurprised to see Corso standing like a statue close to the step. Helooked as if something had struck him paralyzed, but he recoveredhimself in a second, leaped nimbly to the veranda, stepped with amazingswiftness to the window and cautiously peeped in. It was just one briefglance he got of the room and the tourists, but it seemed to be enough.He jumped lightly as a cat to the ground, crouched, then disappearedaround the corner of the house.
"What do you know about that," Bob exclaimed, then added quickly, "Don'ttell me to ask you another. Let's go up and get our clothes on."