[Illustration: The boys were certain that if they could have looked down
upon the savages they would have seen them on their knees.]
_The Flying Machine Boys in the Wilds._ _Page 24._
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The Flying Machine Boys
In the Wilds
OR
The Mystery of the Andes
By FRANK WALTON
AUTHOR OF
“The Flying Machine Boys on Secret Service”
“The Flying Machine Boys on Duty”
“The Flying Machine Boys in Mexico”
[Illustration]
A. L. BURT COMPANY
NEW YORK.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1913
BY A. L. BURT COMPANY
-------
THE FLYING MACHINE BOYS IN THE WILDS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. UNDER THE EQUATOR. 3
II. WHAT THE FISHERMEN CAUGHT. 13
III. A MASTERLY RETREAT. 23
IV. PLANNING A MIDNIGHT RIDE. 33
V. A WAIF AND A STRAY. 44
VI. AUTOMOBILE VS. AEROPLANE. 56
VII. A PAIR OF PLANS. 58
VIII. A SPRING FOR LIBERTY. 80
IX. A FINE CURTAIN-RAISER. 92
X. WHERE THE TROUBLE BEGAN. 104
XI. UNDER TROPICAL STARS. 115
XII. THE HAUNTED TEMPLE. 125
XIII. THE CLOSING OF A DOOR. 135
XIV. THE INDIANS HELP SOME! 145
XV. A QUESTION OF MARKSMANSHIP. 155
XVI. BESIEGED IN THE TEMPLE. 165
XVII. THE LOST TELEGRAMS. 177
XVIII. JIMMIE’S AWFUL HUNGER. 188
XIX. WHERE THE PASSAGE ENDED. 199
XX. THE SAVAGES MAKE MORE TROUBLE. 209
XXI. THE MYSTERY OF THE ANDES. 221
XXII. TWO RUNAWAY BOYS! 230
XXIII. TWO RUNAWAY AVIATORS! 239
XXIV. THE END OF THE MYSTERY. 248
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THE FLYING MACHINE BOYS
IN THE WILDS.
CHAPTER I.
UNDER THE EQUATOR.
The Flying Machine Boys were camping under the equator. The _Louise_ and
the _Bertha_, the splendid aeroplanes in which the lads had visited
California and Mexico, lay on a great plateau some fifteen thousand feet
above the level of the Pacific ocean, and two thin tents of light
oiled-silk stood not far away.
Ben Whitcomb and Jimmie Stuart sat at the entrance of one of the tents
shivering with cold, while Glenn Richards and Carl Nichols, in the
interest of increased warmth, chased each other around a miserable
little apology for a fire which alternately blazed and smoldered near
the aeroplanes.
“I begin to understand now how those who freeze to death must suffer!”
declared Ben, his teeth chattering like the “bones” of an end-man in a
minstrel show.
“You give me a pain!” grinned Jimmie. “Here we are almost exactly under
the equator, and yet you talk of being cold!”
The boy’s lips were blue and he swung his arms about his body in the
hope of getting a livelier circulation of blood as he spoke.
“Under the equator!” scoffed Ben. “Better say ‘under the Arctic circle!’
What are we camping here for, anyway?” he added impatiently, springing
to his feet. “Why not drop down into a region where the equator isn’t
covered with ice a foot thick?”
“You wanted to pass a night up here!” laughed Carl, stopping in front of
the two boys, his eyes dancing with mischief, his cheeks flushed from
exercise. “You told us how you wanted to breathe the cool, sweet air of
the hills! Now breathe it!”
“The cool, sweet air of the hills,” Ben retorted, “reminds me of the
atmosphere of the big refrigerator at home.”
Glenn Richards now joined the little group and stood laughing at the
disgusted expression on the face of his chum.
“Didn’t I tell you,” he exclaimed, “that Ecuador is the land of
contradictions? When you come here, you bring a peck or two of quinine
tablets, a bundle or two of mosquito netting, and a couple of bales of
fans. You bring your summer clothing, and don’t expect to wear much of
that. Then you go on a trip up-country and freeze to death where the ice
is about nine thousand feet thick!”
“I know where all the heat goes!” Jimmie declared. “It pours out of
those big peaks you see off there. How do you suppose the earth is going
to keep any warmth in it when it is all running out at volcanoes?”
The boys were, perhaps, twenty miles north of Quito, almost exactly
under the equator. From the plateau on which they were encamped several
ancient volcanoes were in plain view.
“Huh! I guess the volcanoes we see are about burned out!” Carl declared.
“At any rate, I don’t hear of their filling in any valleys with lava.”
“I guess about all they do now is to smoke,” Ben suggested.
“And that’s a bad habit, too!” Glenn Richards grinned.
“Now, I’ll tell you what we’d better do, boys,” Glenn said, after
glancing disapprovingly at the small fire. “We’d better hop on the
machines and drop down about ten thousand feet. I’ve got enough of this
high mountain business.”
“All right!” Jimmie returned. “You know what you said about wanting
experiences which were out of the way. If you think you’ve got one here,
we’ll slide down to the green grass.”
It was late in November and the hot, dry season of the South American
continent was on. Far below the boys could see the dark green of
luxuriant vegetation, while all around them lay the bare brown peaks of
lofty plateaus and lifting mountain cones.
As it was somewhere near the middle of the afternoon, the boys lost no
time in packing their camp equipage and provisions on the aeroplanes. In
order to find a suitable place for a camp lower down they might be
obliged to traverse considerable country.
In describing this part of the continent a traveler once crumpled a
sheet of paper in his hand and tossed it on the table, saying to a
friend as he did so that that was an outline map of the northern part of
South America. There were many gorges and plateaus, but only a few spots
where aeroplanes might land with safety.
After quite a long flight, during which the machines soared around
cliffs and slid into valleys and gorges, the boys found a green valley
watered by the Esmeraldas river. Here they dropped down, and the
shelter-tents were soon ready for occupancy.
“I suppose,” Carl grumbled as provisions were taken from the flying
machines and brought to the vicinity of the fire, “that we’ll have to
fight thousands of kinds of crawling and creeping things before
morning!”
“Well,” Jimmie laughed, “you wouldn’t stay up there where the flying and
creeping things don’t live!”
“My private opinion,” declared Glenn, “is that we ought to spend most of
our time in the air! I wish we could sleep on the machines!”
“Where are we going, anyhow?” demanded Jimmie.
“We’re going to follow the backbone of the South American continent
clear to Cape Horn!” replied Ben. “That is, if our flying machines and
our tempers hold out!”
“I have an idea,” Glenn said, “that we’ll spend most of the time in
Peru, which is probably the oldest country in the world so far as
civilization is concerned.”
“That’s another dream!” exclaimed Carl.
“Look here,” Glenn exclaimed, “there are still temples and palaces in
Peru which date back beyond the remotest reach of tradition. The
earliest Incas believed that many of the fortresses, castles and temples
which they found there were formed by the gods when the world was made.”
“That’s going back a long ways!” laughed Jimmie.
“There’s a lake in Peru called Titicaca on an island in the middle of
which lies an ancient palace and many other structures,” Glenn went on.
“Gathered about it are the remains of a civilization that was old when
the people of Europe consisted of a group of semi-heathen tribes
wandering from place to place. There are palaces surpassing anything to
be seen on the Rhine, and castles which had fallen into decay before
civilization began at the mouth of the Nile.”
“Go to it!” laughed Carl. “Make it good and old while you’re about it!”
“On the island of Titicaca,” continued Glenn, “are marvels in
architecture which make the wonders of Egypt look like thirty cents!
There are massive fortifications perched on the sides of almost
perpendicular cliffs, and even to-day there are large stones carefully
balanced on the verge of precipices, ready to be pushed off at a
moment’s notice and sent crashing down on the legions of an attacking
foe.”
“Those old fellows must have been fighters!” commented Ben.
“They were fighters, all right!” Glenn went on. “They ruled all that
part of the world until the Spaniards came. They were very
superstitious, the sun being an object of worship. The Temple of the
Sun, on the island of Titicaca, was one of the most magnificent
structures ever erected. Outside and inside the walls were lined with
gold and precious stones. The temple was the pride of the Incas, but it
was stripped of its rich covering by the Spaniards. The walls were torn
down and rifled, and the sacred sun was seized and gambled for by the
covetous invaders. Nothing that could be converted into money was
overlooked. And since that time the Incas have become one of the lowest
races on the face of the earth.”
“I suppose we shall be able to inspect a lot of these old temples?”
asked Carl.
“Undoubtedly!” Glenn answered. “Some of them are deserted; some are
occupied by native Indians, and some are said to be frequented by the
spirits of those who erected them.”
“Gee! That sounds good to me!” exclaimed Jimmie.
“A haunted temple might help some!” Carl exclaimed.
“There really is a temple down on Lake Titicaca!” declared Glenn, “which
even Europeans declare to be inhabited by the Evil One.”
“That’s where I’m headed for!” declared Jimmie. “Any old time you show
me a mystery you’ll see me on the job!”
“There’s a mystery there, all right!” Glenn insisted. “The temple stands
on a winding arm of the lake, and is entirely surrounded by broken
country. So difficult is it of access that for years no one attempted to
visit it. Then, a few years ago, a party of Englishmen made their way to
the ruins and found themselves in an atmosphere of mystery almost
resembling magic.”
“What did they see?” asked Ben.
“I don’t remember exactly what they all saw,” Glenn answered. “Their
stories do not agree! Some saw figures in white—the long flowing robes
of priests—some saw strange lights suspended in the air; some heard the
most mournful and terrifying sounds.”
“And these Englishmen were supposed to be people of average
intelligence?” asked Ben.
“There were scientists in the party!” was the reply.
“There is no such word as ghost in the dictionary of the scientist!”
laughed Carl.
“Following the stories told by the visitors,” Glenn went on, “a number
of people visited the vicinity of the temple, and all came away with
tales more vivid and more imaginative than those of the scientists. For
two years now the place has been left entirely alone.”
“We might go there and camp!” suggested Carl.
“I move we take a look at it!” Jimmie cut in. “We can fly down on the
roof and get away before the goblins get us.”
“I’m game for anything you boys decide on,” Glenn declared, “but my
private opinion is that it will be only a waste of time for us to pay
much attention to the haunted temple!”
“The ghosts wouldn’t like us if we should leave their country without
making a formal call!” laughed Carl.
“Who’s going to get supper?” asked Jimmie in a moment. “I feel like I
could eat one of the wild beasts which are said to flourish in this
region!”
“There isn’t much supper to get!” replied Ben, with, a laugh. “All we
have is a couple of pounds of ham, a few eggs, and a lot of tinned
provisions. There’s the river down there. Why don’t one of you boys go
and catch a fish?”
“Aw, I don’t believe there’s any fish in that river!” grinned Jimmie.
“If there are fish there, they’ll be tough eating for they must be
acrobats!”
“Why acrobats?” asked Glenn.
“Because they must stand on their heads and turn handsprings in order to
get something to eat in that swift water!”
“I believe we can get a fish for supper, just the same!” insisted Carl,
“and I’m going to get out a line and an imitation minnow and go try!”
“May the luck of the hungry fisherman go with you!” laughed Ben.
“He’ll have better company than that!” Jimmie grinned. “I’m going along
myself!”
While Glenn and Ben arranged the camp for the night Jimmie and Carl
started away down the slope leading to the river. Directly in front of
the tents the bank was clear of undergrowth, and covered with grass
almost waist high. Lower down, however, to the west, was a great thicket
which seemed to extend for miles. The opposite shore of the stream was
heavily wooded for some distance up. Above, the timber line showed the
bare, brown slopes of mountains.
When the two boys reached the bank of the stream the prospects were not
attractive, the water being broken into rapids and falls by jagged rocks
which occupied the bed of the river at this point. To the west, however,
where the stream entered the forest, the surface of the water appeared
to be unbroken, so the lads made their way in that direction. In a few
minutes their lines were out and almost instantly sharp twitches at the
hooks informed the boys that they were not fishing in barren waters.
But before the first fish was landed an exciting interruption occurred.