THE RIVALRY OF THE AIRMEN
“Sir, the colonel presents his compliments and commands you to report
to him at once.”
Ted and Stanley had just finished breakfast and were crossing the open
little courtyard between the dining-room of the inn and their own
quarters when the orderly stepped briskly in their path, saluted, and
delivered his message.
“What?” Ted asked, stopping in his tracks.
“Colonel who?” from Stanley, “and what does he want with us?”
“Colonel José Antonio de Estrella, commanding officer of the First Aero
Squadron.”
“Why this great honor? We do not know the colonel and cannot imagine
why he wishes to see us. But of course if he insists, we shall be happy
to pay him a visit. Only he should invite, not command, us; we have put
up with enough ‘commanding and ordering’ in our own army to last us a
long, long time.”
“Are not the _señores_ the flyers who have been expected the past
month? The colonel has been very impatient of the delay.”
“No, we know nothing of the gentlemen you mention, but perhaps we can
be of service, anyway. Take us to the colonel. I guess we can see him
right away.”
The youth saluted and started away at a fast walk, the two Americans
following.
“I told you we were going to get mixed up in that aviation
proposition,” Stanley said. “I knew it the minute I saw that field.”
“Who knows what it may lead to? but I cannot see much to it just yet.
We are being mistaken for some one else, and that is about all that
is clear so far. So soon as the colonel sees us he will recognize his
mistake, apologize profusely, and tell us to go our way.”
“Now that is exactly what we must avoid. We have an opening to do the
very thing that will help us and we must manage to take advantage of
it. Instead of our going to them to beg for a job, they have sent for
us in error, it is true, but what is to prevent us from profiting by
it?”
“You are right, and I only hope we can see the thing through. How much
hard work it would save us if we could fly to the Hidden Valley, to say
nothing of the time we should save!”
They reached the camp in a little over half an hour and were
immediately taken to headquarters, where the adjutant, a second
lieutenant in a brilliant uniform, lost no time in ushering them into
the colonel’s office.
The latter officer was of rather short build but of distinguished
appearance. His hair and long mustaches were snowy white; his eyes were
black. A number of medals and military decorations were pinned to his
coat in a neat row, but one of the first things the Americans observed
was that the wings of a flying officer were lacking.
“It is I who have made a big mistake,” he said as the two entered. “For
the last four weeks I have been expecting two officers from Europe,
but they do not come. Last night, when I heard that two strangers
had arrived in the city, I concluded it must be they. I now see and
acknowledge my mistake and I apologize for troubling the gentlemen.”
“The colonel owes us no apology,” said Stanley in a respectful manner.
“Quite the contrary. It is a great pleasure for us to visit him. If we
can be of service it will please us to help in any way we can. Both my
companion and I have had considerable experience with airplanes.”
“You mean to say you are aviators?” the colonel asked, rising from his
chair. “When and where did you learn to fly and what has been your
experience? Sit down and tell me all about it.”
Ted and Stanley did as they were asked, and for an hour they related
to the officer their various experiences so far as aeronautics were
concerned. He listened intently to all they had to say and asked many
questions.
“It is indeed fortunate for me that you came,” he said when they had
finished, “for I need your help and can offer you good positions. The
manœuvres take place in two months and we must have ships in the air
by that time. Now, when can you begin work? Remember, there is need of
great haste.”
“Will you tell us exactly what is expected of us?” Ted asked. “And then
we shall want to talk the matter over between ourselves. And what is
the remuneration?”
“Your work will be to assemble the machines and to test them thoroughly
before turning them over to the instructors. That will not be an easy
undertaking and, as you know, it is not without danger, for I shall
insist that the test flights be very conclusive; they will include
trips across country of several hours’ duration. I want the planes to
be as safe as possible before we begin taking up students. You will be
subject to my orders only as civilian employees. And the pay is five
hundred _soles_ a month, which is about two hundred and fifty dollars
in the money of your country.”
They thanked the colonel for his offer and returned to the inn.
“What do you think of that for luck?” Ted fairly shouted. “Things are
coming our way so fast it is hard to keep track of them.”
“We could not wish for a better arrangement,” Stanley agreed. “It is
almost too good to be true. Every time we make one of those long test
flights the colonel insists upon, we can drop into Uti and bring out a
load of gold, as much as the ship will carry, and that is considerable.
When we have enough we can resign and go home. We have not been asked
to enlist for any given period of time, so we can quit when we want to,
provided, of course, we give them reasonable notice, so they can get
some one else to take our places.”
That afternoon they sent word to the colonel that they should be ready
to start work on the following morning, and shortly after daybreak a
cart arrived to take their effects to camp, as they were henceforth to
occupy quarters on the military reservation.
The two reported to the officer soon after, and were at once sent to
the hangars, where a number of crates and boxes were stored. These
containers held wings, bodies, and motors, just as they had been packed
for shipment by the manufacturers in the United States. A detachment
of some twenty odd mechanics were placed at their disposal. These men
had been well trained in the theory of aeronautics, and while they
lacked practical experience, showed unbounded enthusiasm for the work,
combined with intelligence and adaptability. Before long the tasks in
hand began in earnest.
Ted and Stanley went about the matter in a systematic, businesslike
way. They called the men together and then divided them into sections,
or crews, and explained in detail what the duties of each would be. A
leader or chief was appointed for each crew. The Americans were to give
orders to the chiefs, and the latter would be held responsible that
these orders were carried out promptly by the men in their charge.
First they examined the bills of lading and invoices. Then they
selected certain of the boxes, checked them off the lists, and had them
removed to the largest hangar, which stood not far away. This required
all of the first day.
The second day they opened the packages and removed the various parts,
subjecting them to inspection, checking them against the lists, and
noting minor breaks that had to be repaired. They also visited the
supply-tent, looked over the tools and materials available, and made
out requisitions for such things as would be needed but which were
lacking.
“It’s beginning to look like business now,” Stanley commented that
night. “The first thing is always to work out a system; after that
everything is easy.”
“Two days is a short time, but it is surprising how many things one can
do. Of course we had a good foundation to build on, for the colonel
had made a good beginning. Too bad there is not a flying officer in
charge of the field; he could understand the whole proposition more
clearly and make allowances for the difficulties we are up against,”
Ted returned.
“So far the colonel has been a prince. He has given us a free hand, and
so long as he continues in that spirit we shall get along all right. If
he were a flyer he would want to boss everything and show us how to do
things, probably in a way different from the one we are accustomed to.”
“Right. I never thought of that.”
It was exactly four weeks later that the first of the planes had been
assembled ready to roll out of the hangar for the final adjustments
and tuning up. The ships were of the two-seater type, similar
to the JN4H’s so commonly used on American flying-fields, and of
sturdy, dependable construction. They had two-hundred-horse-power
eight-cylinder engines, and were rated as capable of making an
air-speed of ninety miles an hour. There were radio sets and
machine-guns, the latter mounted one above the engine and the other on
a turret in the rear cockpit.
Ted and Stanley surveyed their work with pride. The motor roared with
an even, steady purr, or snorted and banged as the mechanician opened
and closed the throttle, while the graceful machine tugged impatiently
in its efforts to free itself from the grasp of the men clinging to the
wings, and to leap the blocks that had been placed under the wheels.
“When shall we take the first spin?” Ted asked as he inspected the
turnbuckles and hit the wire braces with his hand to gauge their
tautness.
“To-morrow, if nothing goes wrong. Think of what a wonderful experience
it will be to soar over the peaks of the Andes; and the first chance
we get we will hop off to the Valley. All our dreaming and planning is
about to bear fruit.”
Just then the colonel accompanied by two officers in strange uniforms
approached.
The colonel introduced the new arrivals to the Americans. “At last
they are here,” he added. “They will have entire charge of the cadets.
You gentlemen will work together in perfect harmony, I hope, in the
best interests of the service.”
Ted and Stanley showed genuine pleasure at making the acquaintance of
the two lieutenants, but the latter seemed cool and reserved, and after
a casual examination of the throbbing ship followed the colonel into
one of the hangars.
A moment later Ted went to the rear of the structure to get a wrench
from the tool-box, and while pawing through the miscellaneous
collection the chest contained, the sound of voices from within reached
his ears.
“I have investigated them thoroughly,” the colonel was saying, “and I
have learned that they have been in Cuzco at least twice before this.
Each time they disappeared on some secret mission into the mountains,
and it is said that they are searching for a lost mine or hidden
treasure. But that is nothing against them; we should do the same if
we had a reason to hope for success in such a venture. I have also
examined their pilot’s books, for which they cabled voluntarily, and
they showed an unusually large number of hours in the air and a record
above reproach. Their work here has been done well. And, besides, they
came to my assistance when I needed them. I sent for them; they did not
beg me for the places.”
“If the colonel will pardon my saying so, the lieutenant and I can
now assume full charge of the work. We do not need the Americans. We
ourselves should supervise the rigging of the ships we are to fly.”
“It is a part of their agreement that they must test the machines
first, so they, not you, will take all the risks. There are enough
duties to keep all of you occupied. Never forget that I am commanding
officer and I shall not tolerate interference with my plans.”
With these words the colonel strode angrily away. For a minute neither
of the two foreigners spoke.
“Those Americans are in everything,” one said finally. “What chance
do we stand while they are here? They do not know the meaning of the
word fear; I have often watched them on the battle-front and I know.
If these two give such exhibitions here as their countrymen did over
there, they and not we will attract all the attention. We must manage
to keep them out of the air.”
“That is easy,” the other replied. “If we cannot keep them from going
up, we can see to it that they come back down in an unexpected way. A
loose pin, a defective strut, or any one of a dozen other things, and
they will not stand in our way again. And no one will ever suspect!”
Ted did not wait to hear more. With a face white with anger he hastened
to where Stanley was clamping the Lewis gun to the iron bars of the
turret.