Ambrose Newcomb

“ Was it any wonder that such should be the case when three full days had now crept along since the air-mail pilot vanished into the realms of space, and never a single word coming back to explain his fate?
For the sake of this brave girl, so ready to risk her own life in the service of the one she loved, he must try to keep up a confident front. If it was ordained that she too must see her hopes crushed, at least he and Perk would have the satisfaction of knowing they had done everything in their power to bring her great joy. ”

“ Perk, noting this, nodded his head as though feeling positive the other was going to fall in love with flying. Dashing across the plains on a cow pony, pursued by made-up Indians and all that regular sort of stuff must seem mighty tame to him after moving through the air at the rate of possibly a hundred and fifty miles an hour with the motor and propeller keeping up a constant roaring sound and all with the consciousness that he was several miles above the earth, amidst floating fleecy clouds, with even the high-flying eagle far, far beneath. ”

“ Now they had begun to circle the lake itself and once directly over the body of water, Jack could see it was indeed a real gem. A small but select sheet that, save for the presence of the hermit close by, had probably never been fished by a single white man. A perfect trout preserve, he told himself, in the ecstasy of a born fisherman.
It was what Perk would call a “reg’lar cinch.” There was not the slightest reason to hold back, for never an obstacle could Jack discover calculated to give them trouble in making contact with the water. ”

“ Me for a pilot’s license, boys and when I’ve done my fifty hours of solo flying and get my papers, behold me making a bee-line for Washington and breaking into Uncle Sam’s Secret Service corps. I’m a fade-out as a movie actor, and I feel that my star of destiny calls on me to be a cloud chaser, getting after law breakers in the air across the land from the Atlantic seaboard to the Gold Coast ”

“ When Perk came back ten minutes later and washed his hands down at the river brink, Jack only chuckled, as though it tickled him to notice how the flinty-hearted Perk—only with regard to his indifference toward all female persons—had discovered that there might still be a few—not many, perhaps—girls who were sincere and loyal to the one to whom they had pledged their hearts—lucky Buddy Warner, with all this uncertainty regarding his fate—at the worst there would be some one to always mourn his passing. ”

“ Jack took special pains to give the ambitious comrade such a ride as he could never have imagined, even in his wildest dreams—he put the new boat through all manner of ordinary stunts, even turning over so that they kept going ahead at a fair pace while flying upside-down—he went through dizzy revolutions, banked sharply and carried on generally as skillful pilots seem to take great delight in doing. ”

“ At such a time as this the air pilot finds himself depending wholly on the accuracy of his instruments, backed by his ability to read them without the slightest error. Perk was well up in all this and had no doubt of his judgment in carrying on. Flying blind is what these gallant sailors of the airways call such a condition, though the only recognition of the encompassing danger is a cutting down of their swift pace. ”

“ The consequent thrill that accompanies such a voyage through a sea of fog comes to every pilot; although in time they become so accustomed to the conditions that it fails to affect them as in the beginning. Should the bravest of men, though a beginner in aviation, ever experience such a wild night ride through space and heavy fog it would give him a sense of anticipation that could come through no other source, whether on sea or land. ”

“ THE CAMP IN THE CANYON Things immediately began to happen, and for the time being amidst the excitement of showing Perk just where the stores and things were located aboard the stranded Stinson-Detroiter, Miss Cramer seemed to temporarily forget the load of trouble she was carrying on her little shoulders.
Indeed, as Jack had already sized her up, she was rather a remarkable sort of a girl—so sensible, so level-headed, and truly brave in the bargain. Under such a heavy strain he felt certain ninety-nine girls out of a hundred would have given way to their helplessness, and collapsed ”

“ So Jack had to tell her how the entire world of flyers were like a company of blood brothers; an injury to one being resented by the entire calling—that their universal braving of the elements, and meeting similar perils in their daily work, made a bond like no other on earth, a kinship of like interests. ”

“ The odors that soon began to permeate the atmosphere all around that lonesome spot caused Jack to show uneasiness, as though he could hardly wait for Perk to call them to partake of the glorious feast.
“Why, if this keeps on much longer,” he told himself as he walked up and down near by as a very hungry man is apt to do when waiting for supper to be put upon the table, especially if it is in camp, where appetite reigns above ordinary likes and dislikes, “he’ll have the whole neighborhood saturated with the smell of whatever he’s cooking. ”

“ You can understand just why that could be when I tell you her name is Suzanne Cramer and that she is Buddy Warner’s sweetheart!”
Bart immediately displayed the most intense interest it seemed, just as wise Jack had figured out. He was a family man and in full sympathy with everything that had to do with the fortunes of honest, clean minded young people—for Jack knew there was a heap of truth in that old saying to the effect that “all the world loves a lover” and he was now playing the game for all it was worth. ”

“ Once they were all ashore, dripping wet, but heedless of so little a thing under the circumstances. The master of this lonely region led them along what seemed to be a narrow, well trodden path, circulating among the piled-up rocks and trees, until presently they reached a rude shack from the stone chimney of which arose the tell-tale smoke that had been their guiding beacon in discovering the retreat of the recluse.
Suzanne dashed ahead of their guide and they heard her joyous cries as they reached the open door. She was down on her knees, her arms around a figure stretched out on a rude cot. ”

“ Perhaps by this time Jack may have also awakened but Perk gave no heed to such a possibility. As the self-appointed guardian of the slumbering camp it was up to him to stand like a rock in its defense.
No right or left tackle on the gridiron ever made a more furious plunge in an effort to stop the hurtling progress of the enemy player carrying the pigskin toward the goal posts than Perk set in motion just then, urged on as with a goad by the necessity for clutching that firearm upon which he was depending so much. ”

“ Perk was a busy and willing worker for the next half hour, dodging in and out, bending over his cooking fire that had been coaxed to a point approaching perfection with several pots and pans resting on the large gridiron that the ex-hermit evidently used principally for roasting his potatoes in their skins, he being no great hand at achieving culinary triumphs. ”

“ The morning was wearing away with the amphibian keeping up its merry pace and the country showing no signs of betterment. Civilization was a million miles distant, one would imagine, when looking down on those amazing masses of rocky peaks over which they were winging their way. Judging from what they saw hour after hour, Jack could well believe that changes there had been only to a small degree since Columbus first sighted these shores hundreds of years back. ”

“ Perk was saying as he continued to stare with great eagerness. “Jest about like huntin’ for a needle in a haystack as to ’spect to find a cracked bus in all that awful scramble.”
“Oh! we haven’t got to where the trail is warm yet, partner,” Jack informed him, “though of course it isn’t going to do any harm for you to scour the ground as we cut along. When a thing’s lost, the chances are it happens to be lying just where nobody suspects—I’ve found that out myself more than a few times.” ”

“ Cyclone’s enthusiasm fairly bubbled over at times as he listened to some of the accounts of adventures that had befallen both Jack and Perk in days gone by.
“The more I hear from you boys the sicker I get over the way I’m wasting my young life with foolish cowboy stunts and make believe fights in the pictures. It’s pretty much a fake business and gets on my nerves—even many of the most thrilling scenes are fakes of the worst kind—pulling the wool over the eyes of the simple public. ”

“ Perk gave all the signs of annoyance—he clenched his fist, frowned most horribly and drew a long breath as though his feelings threatened to overwhelm him entirely.
“Oh! we landed that gent behind the bars all right,” Jack remarked, taking things much more coolly than the excitable one, “but it’s hard to keep a man with a big wad of long-green shut up—he hires a celebrated lawyer, gets out on heavy bail, has his case postponed on one account or another until witnesses disappear and the public forgets what it’s all about. ”

“ Perk thereupon wagged his head as though he began to understand what a skillful way his chum had of getting at the “meat in the cocoanut.”
“No wildcat skirmishin’, an’ heatin’ about the bush for you, eh partner?” he blurted out in sincere admiration. “An’ I’d wager all I got in my jeans you’re bound to hit on the real facts when everything’s figgered up.”
“Don’t be too sure about that brother,” advised Jack, shaking his head as he spoke, “I’ll certainly do my level best, but you never can tell how the cat’s going to jump. It’s one thing to theorize and quite another to hit on what’s the truth. ”

“ At first, somewhat to Jack’s astonishment, he realized the man was trying with might and main to force him toward the open door of the touring car as though it may have been his intention to take him “for a ride.” That significant phrase had become so notorious of late, in accounts of rival gang fights in the big cities of the East, that Jack really began to believe these men aimed to carry him off in their touring car to do something terrible when outside the city limits and then toss him out on the side of the road as a victim to some unknown species of hatred and revenge. ”

“ An air pilot’s ship is to him what the valuable race-horse represents to the track plunger—a thing to be guarded at all times as the day of the great turf events draws closer since some desperate gambler might attempt to dope the animal in order to win his heavy wagers.
So too, it would be a simple thing to disable the motor of a plane or else so damage a wing that it must be out of the question for the craft to pursue its customary duties until it had been taken to a repair shop and put in condition. ”

“ He did not say another word, but humbly handed over the sub-machine-gun to his companion and dropped down near the fire upon which he had tossed a fresh supply of fuel. Secretly he was meaning to be up at peep of day before Suzanne would be stirring, in order to drag the victim of his fusilade some distance away from their camp so that her curious eyes might not be offended by sight of the wreck of a little harmless prairie dog. ”

“ First he became aware of the fact that the abyss was no longer subject to clear visibility—in fact, it would have been next to impossible for him to have made a decent contact with the river surface only that a sudden glow had started up as if by magic.
It was a fire that helped to dissipate the gathering gloom in that particular spot and the one responsible for this welcome illumination must be the unknown aviator whose crate had been wrecked when falling into the vast sink with the gorgeously painted walls. ”

“ What genuine reason could a girl have for such an overwhelming desire for action? Was there any sort of endurance race on the books for women pilots who had recently obtained their necessary flying licenses—or was it some sort of a private wager that caused her to betray so much solicitude? ”

“ Jack’s first inclination was to decide the other must be one of those dudish young chaps who sometimes drift into the ranks of flying men. Not at all weak or yellow when occasion arose to prove their stamina, but so constituted by nature that they can “carry on” and yet show little signs of the ordinary pilot’s addiction to dirt.
He stepped toward the other, leaving to Perk the job of finding some means for securing the end of the rope, possibly to a stake driven into the sand or perhaps to the nearby wreck of the Stinson-Detroiter ship. ”

“ Indeed, the eminent surgeon admitted he rather shunned anything that would be apt to put him in the limelight.
“If there’s anything I’d dislike,” he told them modestly, “it would be to find myself in the spotlight I hope to just slip back into the harness again and the public need know nothing save that I have changed my mind about retiring from the profession for good, having discovered that there is still more or less usefulness in my brain and fingers that ought to be put to the service of suffering humanity.” ”

“ Poor confiding little beast, a victim of mistaken identity.”
“Migosh, a prairie dog!” muttered the astonished and mortified Perk, gazing ruefully down at the huddled mess before him, not too plainly seen on account of the fire flashing up only fitfully, being in need of more fuel.
“It’s all right, Perk old man,” soothed Jack, knowing just how mean his chum must be feeling, with that unseen girl a witness to his upset and her low gurgles of laughter coming distinctly to their ears in the bargain, “your intentions were okay, and you certainly did pot him neatly. ”

“ So familiar had long acquaintance with the various models of flying boats made Jack, that as a rule it required only a single glance to 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,” he was telling himself, “and I’ll be hanged if I ever did know of the mail being 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 might have changed over to this for some reason.” ”