XIV
JACK MAKES A DISCOVERY
While thus dropping down into the great wide canyon by easy stages, Jackhad taken note of several things, although not for a single secondfailing to keep tabs on his dials and the action of the ship whenmeeting certain baffling currents of air welling up from the depths andwhich might have played havoc with things only for this watchful,never-ceasing care on his part.
First he became aware of the fact that the abyss was no longer subjectto clear visibility--in fact, it would have been next to impossible forhim to have made a decent contact with the river surface only that asudden glow had started up as if by magic.
It was a fire that helped to dissipate the gathering gloom in thatparticular spot and the one responsible for this welcome illuminationmust be the unknown aviator whose crate had been wrecked when fallinginto the vast sink with the gorgeously painted walls.
Evidently he must have gathered a few piles of dry driftwood soplentifully scattered along the banks of the river, and prepared a pyreto which a lighted match could be applied, a cheery blaze following.Jack sensed all this even without distracting his attention from hiswork.
At least this seemed to be proof that the unfortunate pilot had kept hiswits about him, no matter what dire happenings might have come his way.
The sun could not have set--of that Jack felt certain--so the suddenlack of daylight in the vicinity of that deeply imbedded river must havebeen caused by the passing of some heavy cloud over the face of the sun.Jack even remembered noticing a bank of clouds hanging close to thesouthwestern horizon for the last half hour and a favoring breeze comingup must have pushed them across, so as to form a lofty but effectualscreen.
No matter--nothing counted as long as the ship rested happily on thewater with Perk hastening to drop overboard a small but efficientanchor, such as would be apt to take up scant room aboard an amphibian,but prove invaluable on occasions like the present.
This was only a part of Perk's duties, however--when thus anchored theship swung to and fro on its reliable pontoons but they were fullytwenty feet distant from the sandy stretch beyond the river's edge.
The current was anything but friendly and there was a strong possibilitythat the depth between the beach and the anchored boat would prove to beseveral feet, with perhaps pockets twice that, to judge from the way thewater swirled in eddies.
But all that had been considered when equipping the amphibian forservice on land or water. Of what avail would it be to have the pontoonsso handy if, after coming down on some body of water, they must wade orswim in order to make a landing?
Perk was engaged in taking vast breaths into his capacious lungs andthen blowing into some sort of queer rubber contraption which, expandingrapidly, presently assumed the proportions of a squatty littleboat--nothing to boast of so far as appearances went, but capable, whenfully blown up, of ferrying himself and his companion over the few yardsof open water lying between themselves and their coveted landing place.
Without just such an auxiliary, the usefulness of a land and wateraircraft must be considerably cut down, as pilots have long sinceascertained from actual experience. Just as had been the case of thefolding anchor that, with the rubber boat took very little room untilneeded, it paid big dividends in comparison with the small amount oftrouble it gave.
The castaway air pilot was standing near by watching everything they didwith the utmost eagerness. Thus far he had not seen fit to call out, buthis manner proved the intense interest he felt.
Jack waved his hand encouragingly to the other, even while Perk waslaunching the clumsy rubber boat which proved to be so buoyant that itkept bobbing up and down with each movement of the speeding, gurglingcurrent.
The fire was now burning brightly so that the whole immediate vicinityseemed lighted up. Jack involuntarily cast an inquisitive eye in thedirection where the stranded ship lay with one wing dipping in theriver. So familiar had long acquaintance with the various models offlying boats made Jack, that as a rule it required only a single glanceto tell him the make of any ship he was seeing for the first time.
"A single-seat open-cockpit Stinson-Detroiter, if I know my onions," hewas telling himself, "and I'll be hanged if I ever did know of the mailbeing carried in these days aboard one of those older types of craft.Looks like it had been used more or less in the bargain. I understood,somehow or other, that Buddy Warner was using a cabin ship--but he mighthave changed over to this for some reason."
Still this fact was perhaps the entering wedge that started a dimsuspicion in Jack's mind so that after entering the small boat andhaving Perk wield the dumpy paddle, he eyed the waiting figure of thewrecked pilot as if making some sort of decision.
Just then Perk gave one of his queer grunts and in a husky whisper thatbarely reached the ears of his chum went on to say:
"Jack, would you b'lieve me, that there ain't our Buddy a'tall--neverdid set eyes on this here youngster, for a fact. Hot ziggetty dog! nowain't that the rottenest luck ever?"
Jack made no reply, but Perk's discovery only justified the suspicionthat had been forming in his own mind. Then they had had their drop intothe canyon all for naught--at least so far as the discovery of themissing air-mail pilot was concerned.
True, the other was in something of a predicament, but he did not seemto be seriously injured and when another day dawned his need ofassistance would surely be discovered by those connected with the bighotel, so that after all his troubles were only for a brief while.
Still, they had made the swoop and being on hand it would hardly seemdecent and courteous for them to hold back, when possibly they could beof more or less help.
This being the case, Jack held his own counsel and made no answer toPerk's show of disappointment that almost bordered on resentment Hestepped out of the boat on to the sand when the bobbing craft groundedand waited for Perk to toss the rope to him so their clumsy craft mightnot yield to the wooing of that treacherous current and passdown-stream, leaving the pair of them marooned.
Now that he found himself close to the stranger, Jack could see that heappeared to be a mere wisp of a lad. His helmet was on his head, withthe goggles pushed up, he wore what seemed to be almost new dungareesfor they had a fresh appearance in startling contrast with those he andPerk wore over their other clothes to take up all the grease and oilthat of necessity must be met with aboard any ship that required a motorfor propelling purposes.
Jack's first inclination was to decide the other must be one of thosedudish young chaps who sometimes drift into the ranks of flying men. Notat all weak or yellow when occasion arose to prove their stamina, but soconstituted by nature that they can "carry on" and yet show little signsof the ordinary pilot's addiction to dirt.
He stepped toward the other, leaving to Perk the job of finding somemeans for securing the end of the rope, possibly to a stake driven intothe sand or perhaps to the nearby wreck of the Stinson-Detroiter ship.
"Seems that you've had a little mishap, stranger," Jack remarked withone of his pleasant smiles that always won him friends wherever he went."If we can be of any assistance just call on us. It's a part of ourcreed, you know, for air pilots to stand by one another in difficulty.Perhaps your boat may not be so badly smashed but what we can knock itinto shape and get it up out of this queer old hole."
He saw the boy drop the look of anxiety that had marked his face andeven allow his features to relax in a smile.
"I don't know how I can thank you for saying that--I am so eager to getout of this scrape, the worst that ever happened to me, but then I amsomething of a greenhorn pilot as yet, though even that fact couldn'tkeep me from trying my wings. I _must_ get out of this and be on my wayagain."
And even as he listened to those pleading words, Jack realized that thepilot of the crashed Stinson-Detroiter plane was a girl!
Wings Over the Rockies; Or, Jack Ralston's New Cloud Chaser Page 14