XII
IN THE COLORADO CANYON COUNTRY
Ever since hopping off at Cheyenne their course had been more or lessdirectly southwest, for Jack, on consulting his chart, had figured thatthis would take them close to their intended goal.
Only in a general way was he able to decide as to where they must be onthis morning after their long flight through that enormous fog belt.Strange as it might seem, thus far they had glimpsed nothing positivethat would give them their exact location, but just the same Jack was socertain about his figuring, knowing what distance they had covered sincethe start, that he did not concern himself greatly over this question.
In good time something would come along to clear things up nicely, andonce they got their bearings if would be possible to pick up the gamewith heart and soul enlisted in its carrying out.
"Now would you b'lieve it partner," Perk was saying at one time muchlater in the morning, with the same wilderness covering the face of theearth far below as wide as eye could reach, "if there ain't one o' thempirates o' the air spreadin' himself to try an' cut across our path,like he wanted to take a close-up o' sech a queer contraption that keepson makin' all them roarin' noises. I call him a feathered hijacker,'cause he lies in wait tryin' to hold up industrious fish-hawks whenthey been an' grabbed a dinner outen the river, an' robbin' 'em o' it."
"Oh! I reckon now you're meaning an eagle, eh Perk?"
"Old Baldhead, the great American fraud that Uncle Sam keeps stampin' onhis coins. A loafer an' a shark, too lazy to do his own huntin' an'stealin' his grub from the hard workin' osprey. See him cuttin' it forall he's worth, tryin' to butt in on us! Hey, mebbe the ornery fool'sgot a big notion we're tryin' to put the laugh on him, an' means to giveus the defy--a fool notion, I'd call it. Let him try hittin' up againstthe side o' our fuselage an' see what happens to _him_, that's all."
Jack evinced sudden interest, as was proven by his saying sharply:
"But see here that may not be all, as you think! What if the fool birdplunges madly at our ship? Instead of butting his head against thefuselage he might strike our propeller, which would knock himgalley-west, but also disable our craft. Perk, better get out thatsub-machine gun of yours and be ready to settle his hash if it seemslikely he can head us off."
"Hot ziggetty dog! I never though o' _that_, partner!" cried the nowthoroughly alarmed Perk hastening to scramble out of his seat, dive backand drag out the firearm with which he had done such gallant service notso long ago.
"Watch the rascal," Jack was telling him in steadying tones, "and if itlooks as though he'll reach us, start gunning for him, otherwise holdyour fire out of respect for the motto on our gold coins. Sit pretty,partner--I'm depending on you to do a good job."
Jack changed his course a trifle, as if intending to give the chargingbird a chance to live to another day. In this way the chase was mademore stern and the possibility of a fatal contact between bird and theman-made king of the upper air rendered less likely.
Perk, crouching there with ready gun, held himself prepared to pour outa hot fusilade if it became absolutely necessary. He had to judge thevelocity of the eagle's advance and also note how Jack was so skillfullyedging away to the left in order to avoid slaughtering the brave butmisguided bird.
After all it was a false alarm, for the eagle shot past at least twentyfeet back of their rudder, going "for all he was worth" as Perkafterwards explained it and by the time he could swerve, the plane wasso far away that the baffled bird felt compelled to give up the pursuit,though doing so grudgingly, Perk decided.
He hardly knew whether to be inclined to jeer at the foolish actions ofthe king of the air, or give him a cheer on account of so brashlycharging the great bulk that he must have considered a rival in hisspecial field. At least there was no need of making use of the gun whichhe hastened to put back in its former nook where it could easily besnatched up in case of any sudden emergency.
"Mebbe it's jest as well I didn't have to riddle the old jay," Perk toldhimself as he resumed his seat and his glasses. "May be a buccaneer,like some folks say, but he's got good grit and won't take a dare fromeven a Zeppelin, should one come sailin' along in his happy huntin'grounds."
The morning was wearing away with the amphibian keeping up its merrypace and the country showing no signs of betterment. Civilization was amillion miles distant, one would imagine, when looking down on thoseamazing masses of rocky peaks over which they were winging their way.Judging from what they saw hour after hour, Jack could well believe thatchanges there had been only to a small degree since Columbus firstsighted these shores hundreds of years back. Indeed, for thousands uponthousands of years those giant fingers of rock had been pointing to theblue sky above, just as they saw them now.
They ate some food about noon, washing it down with a few gulps of waterthey carried in a jug. Strange that even Perk had not remarked uponbeing hungry, which was such a remarkable thing for him that Jackconcluded his mind for once had been taken off the subject of eating andwas fully occupied with the strange mission upon which they wereengaged.
Several times Jack asked the observer whether he could make out anysigns of a river bed ahead and seemed surprised and a bit disappointedwhen Perk replied in the negative.
"Unless I'm away off my base," Jack finally told his companion, "weought to be somewhere in the vicinity of the Colorado and the enormouscanyon through which it makes its way down to the Gulf of California."
Perk displayed a sudden fresh interest in matters.
"I swan, partner," he remarked in considerable agitation, "does that'ere mean we might set eyes on that monster hole in the ground I've readso much about? Are we close to the Colorado River where she runs 'longthrough the Rainbow gorge and the towerin' cliffs rear their red, blue,green and yeller walls hundreds o' feet high on both sides?"
"You said it Perk. Chances are we'll set eyes on that big hole in theground they call the Colorado Canyon before we strike another night."
"Je-ru-salem crickets buddy! That sounds good to me!" exulted Perk,visibly stirred by the thrilling information. "Allers did sorter hanker'bout lampin' that pictur', an' it'll please me plenty if dreams do cometrue."
This kept him quiet for some time, though he worked his glasses with afresher zeal as though bent on missing nothing that seemed worth lookingat. But thus far not the slightest object had been sighted that mightturn out to be of special interest to any one looking for a smashedplane.
The sun was now well down the western heavens and Perk was beginning tofear the prophecy of his companion would fail to come true, whensomething caught his vigilant eye far in the distance and on which hefocussed his binoculars. He looked long and steadily before announcinghis discovery to Jack.
"I kinder guess partner, we're there all right," he finally burst out.
"And what makes you feel that way, Perk?"
"From the signs ahead I figger we're gettin' close to a big sink and Ic'n see the sun glintin' from somethin' shiny yonder--might be thathotel they got on the top o' the west wall, if I remember straight.Yes-siree, it's jest like I'm tellin' you matey, the old river must liedown in that deep canyon. Gee whiz! it makes me near goofy jest to thinkhow I'm goin' to see the biggest canyon in the whole world, with paintedwalls an' all sorts o' queer relics o' ancient Injuns scattered around.Hot ziggetty dog! ain't I glad they sent us out this way though! If on'ywe c'n find that boy, I'll be the happiest chap on earth, an' that's nolie either."
That was Perk's usual way of arriving at a decision without makingcertain. Jack on the other hand, was accustomed to holding himself incheck until he had actually proven it a certainty and even then herarely gave way to any outburst of joy, leaving that to his moreexcitable comrade.
In due time they found themselves looking down on one of the mostwonderful sights that can be found anywhere in the wide world. Aspectacle unmatched in any other land which people come thousands ofmiles to feast their enraptured eyes upon
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Wings Over the Rockies; Or, Jack Ralston's New Cloud Chaser Page 12