how marvelous the skill of those mechanics to whom the task of building
an engine fitted for the work of driving a heavier than air ship at an
amazing pace through space must be.
The more Jack and Perk saw of their new boat, the higher their sincere
admiration soared. If ever perfection was reached in such things it
surely must have been when they put this engine together with an
accuracy that compared favorably with the works of the finest and most
expensive watch that ever came out of Switzerland.
"No necessity for both of us to stick it out when the going is as smooth
as it is right now," suggested Jack, "later on we may strike rough
sledding when both of us will have to keep on deck for many hours.
Suppose Perk, you curl up and take a snooze. I'll promise to wake you up
inside of three hours when you can take charge while I hit the hay--how
about that arrangement, boy?"
"Oh! it's okay any old way with me, partner," replied the other readily
enough for truth to tell Perk was commencing to yawn and show other
signs of being sleepy, though he would willingly have stayed on the job
until morning had there been any necessity for doing so.
"Just ten p. m. right now brother--about half-past twelve, then, I'll
give you a nudge which will mean your watch has arrived while I get a
couple of hours off duty to freshen up. Everything looks up to snuff so
far buddy, and let's hope it will keep on that way right along."
So Perk settled down as comfortably as the limited accommodations
allowed while Jack continued to watch his indicators on the black
dashboard and by the exercise of continual care avoid such traps as
tricky air pockets, such as might fall in their way.
IX
THE THREATENING CRASH
As time passed Jack continued to sit there in charge, frequently
glancing over the side to see if there were any signs of the swirling
beacons especially designed to assist air mail pilots on their way to
some distant goal.
He had figured out that they must, sooner or later, come upon the line
of such beacons and once found it would not be very difficult to
continue following them during the balance of the night.
In the end he was greatly pleased to discover a faint light ahead--in
about ten seconds he glimpsed it again and when this happened for the
third time his last doubt was removed.
As he passed far above the revolving light he changed his course a
little knowing the points of the compass the line of beacons followed,
he must set out to follow them for unless he managed to do the right
thing he could not possibly come across the next whirling glow.
Three, four of the friendly lights designated as "guide-posts of the
air" he passed and all seemed going just as he would wish, when there
came a sudden and unwelcome change.
Perk, sleeping just behind the pilot, felt something come in contact
with his arm and he instinctively understood it was Jack giving him the
prearranged nudge to let him know his rest period had expired and that
it was up to him to take his turn at the controls.
"Huh! I get you, partner," he mumbled, not yet thoroughly aroused,
"watchman, how goes the night, eh Jack, old hoss?"
"Not so good," the other told him.
"I swan now, if this ain't a punk deal!" ventured Perk, in a tone of
injured innocence, "when did this beat in on us, buddy?"
"It's just plain unadulterated fog," Jack told him in a matter-of-fact
tone as though such a thing was to be expected in a night's run where
every possible type of country, from prairie to mountains, could be met
up with and the contrary streams of air were favorable to heavy fogs.
Perk first of all took a single look over the side.
"Ginger pop! a reg'lar pea-soup that's been dished up for us, it sure
is, partner!" he exclaimed, the head phones still being in use so that
talking was no trouble at all even though the racket all around was
deafening.
"Some fog, that's right Perk," admitted the unmoved pilot "the one
you're mixed up with always does seem to be the worst ever."
"How long we been kickin' through this mess?" demanded Perk.
"Oh, something like half an hour more or less I figure," said Jack.
"An' it's now jest three in the mornin'--meanin' some two and a half
more hours before the first peep o' day."
He leaned forward, the better to survey the altitude dial in order to
learn how high Jack had been flying.
"Four thousand feet an' more, eh?" Perk remarked, "I guess that might be
fairly safe, unless there happened to be a stiff mountain range standin'
across our course. Want me to keep that right along, Boss?"
"For another half hour and then we've got to climb as far again--can't
take any chance in a mess like this--I've always got that
Transcontinental Air Transport liner, the _San Francisco_ in my mind
when I strike into a heavy fog."[3]
Perk made a queer sound with his lips as if to indicate that his
feelings ran along the same groove. Indeed, many an air pilot has had
that same terrible tragedy flash before him when plunging onward through
an opaque wall of fog, unable to even see his own wingtips.
"I'm on partner," said Perk as he took over the stick. "Meanin' to get
seven winks o' sleep, ain't you?"
"Not just now," responded Jack, "truth is I'm not a bit sleepy so I'll
just take things easy and do some thinking while you run the ship."
"Expected to meet up with some muck like this I guess, eh, partner?"
"Sure did Perk, only not quite so soon," came the undisturbed reply. "It
seems there's been an unusual amount of dirty weather out this way
lately and we've just slammed into this fog as a feeler. About four,
start to head toward that higher ceiling--no particular hurry I'd say,
according to the chart."
"Okay Boss, I got you," with which Perk relapsed in silence while the
plane continued to speed along with its monotonous roar and hum.
If anything the fog was growing thicker, Perk made up his mind, although
he really had nothing to afford any comparison since they were
completely shut in as by a circular wall, not even a solitary star being
in evidence and certainly not the faintest glimmer of a moving beacon
down below where the unseen earth lay.
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.
Once, when there chanced to be a little change in the scant night
breeze, Perk lifted his head as if to listen but before he could decide
whether he had actually heard something or had been deceived by a strut
snapping back, the feeble air again fell away and left him groping in
ignorance, not wholly satisfied, yet unable to find anything on which to
hang a conjecture.
"Rats! you must be away off your base Perk," he told himself chidingly,
"huh! not a ghost o' a chance in ten thousand--yet it sure did sound
like a ship in action. Must be hearin' things again in the night."
He had slackened the pace somewhat, thinking of that dreadful crash down
amidst the lava beds of the wildest country in the whole Southwest, mind
pictures that made him willing to consider safety first before speed.
Perhaps it was fate that made Perk for once conquer that reckless spirit
of his for there could be no telling what the consequences might have
been otherwise.
Again he lifted his head and assumed the strained attitude that went
with listening intently--the roar of their engine's exhaust seemed to
eclipse any other sound and as if seized with a sudden inspiration, Perk
reached out and brought the silencer into play. This had an immediate
effect--and then too it caused Jack to take notice, for he called out:
"What's the big idea partner--trying things out are you?"
"Listen, Jack--don't you hear it ahead there?" almost shrieked the one
at the stick.
A few seconds passed during which Jack must have been straining his ears
to the utmost. Then he gave a cry that bubbled forth in a mixture of
incredulity and alarm--the only time on record that Perk could remember
Jack showing such an unusual emotion.
"It's a ship, Perk!" he shrilled.
"You bet it is!" echoed the other, dismay in his thick voice.
"Dead ahead of us too and bearing this way," continued Jack as the
portentous sounds grew louder with each passing second. Their own motor
had been throttled down to a mere whisper and thus any other sound was
due to be heard.
A few more dreadful seconds passed with that throbbing sound growing
more and more threatening.
"Must be the east bound air mail!" Jack hastily exclaimed, "make a nose
dive partner, and in a hurry too, for she's right on us!"
-----
Footnote 3:
September, 1929, this wonderful up-to-date giant air liner with eight
persons aboard, became lost in a storm and fog and crashed headlong
into a rocky cliff in the Black Rock Valley, some twenty-six miles
from Gallup, New Mexico, exploded and burned with a total loss of
ship, crew and five passengers. The tragedy of this once volcanic
district sent a wave of horror throughout the entire country and
proved a setback to the cause of aviation. Jack only voiced the
feelings of nearly every pilot in saying what he did.
X
FLYING BLIND
Instantly the head of the ship was pointed downward and they started to
coast--even as this maneuver was in progress and the roar became
deafening, both of them caught a fragmentary glimpse of bright lights
passing just overhead.
It had indeed been a close shave, for only that Perk proved so clever at
the stick they must have met the mail ship head on with the inevitable
result that yet another tragedy of the air would be chronicled in the
morning newspapers with scare headlines fully an inch high.
Perk had lost his voice due to the sudden nerve strain and even
ordinarily cool Jack Ralston waited a brief spell, in order to insure
proper breathing before trying to speak.
"Reckon you got all the thrill you could stand that time, Perk!" he
finally remarked with a little quiver in his voice.
"Beat anything I ever stacked up against--that's right partner," Perk
frankly admitted, doubtless taking in a deep breath of relief.
"Never might happen again in twenty years," said Jack, as if that
feature of the near tragedy affected him most of all. "With all this
wide space all around us, just to think of two airships heading straight
at each other in a fog--who says now we're not watched over by a special
Providence?"
"You said it buddy," Perk agreed. "That sure was a time when that
muffler paid a big interest on its cost an' I kinder guess saved our
lives in the bargain. It pays to advertise an' also to pick up the
newest fixin's along the line o' aviation discoveries an' inventions."
"Just so Perk. If our engine had kept thundering away right along we
might not have been warned in time to get out of the road and let that
stunt-flying air mail pilot squeeze past. He ought to be reported for
hustling along like that in such a thick soup; but since we're still
alive and kicking, I reckon we'll just have to let it drop at that."
"Mebbe you're right there, Jack old bean--strikes me we were hittin' it
up like hot cakes in the bargain an' not so innocent after all. I'm
a'wonderin' if he got wind o' the close call he had--must have lamped
our lights as we ducked and went down like a bullet or the stick o' a
rocket that'd exploded up near the stars. Shucks! I'd jest like to meet
up with that guy sometime an' ask him what his feelin' was--bet you he
was as scart as we felt when he whizzed right over our heads."
"It might be the part of wisdom to climb to a higher level now,
partner," hinted Jack. "Unless I miss my guess that chap was dropping,
as if he'd come down from the upper regions, which gives me an idea he
knew where he was and had been keeping a big ceiling so as to avoid
butting into some mountain peak."
"Here goes then," and with the words Perk commenced to climb, the new
ship being so constructed as to be a great improvement over the old type
of plane, able to ascend at a steep angle without any of those formerly
necessary laborious spirals.
At the height of four thousand feet he again leveled off and kept to the
course Jack had marked out. Perhaps they were over some air mail line
with its friendly flashing beacons winking far below; but that deadly
wall of fog lying under their keel effectually prevented them from
taking advantage of any such guide posts along the way; nor would it
have availed them greatly could they have dropped down to within a few
hundred feet of the earth, for even at such a distance it must have been
utterly out of the question for the keenest vision to have picked up a
beacon or even detect its flash because of the curtain that fairly
smothered them on all sides, above and below.
They no longer conversed, even Perk understanding how serious their
condition must be and holding his usually ready tongue in check, while
Jack took it out in tense thinking, watching the various dials and
figuring just which way they would be going in case of drift.
So half an hour crept by, with no change whatever in the conditions by
which they were surrounded. It was now growing most unbearable, so
monotonous, so very tiresome. A heavy fog is hard enough to bear at any
time but when it stretches along hour after hour, without the slightest
sign of any diminuation, it is bound to get on the stoutest nerves and
produce symptoms bordering on a panic.
"Perhaps we might find some relief if we kept going up," suggested Jack
after some time had passed. "It sort of stifles me to keep in such a
thick mess as this, growing worse all the while."
"Huh, if I wasn't jest thinkin' that way myself partner," Perk declared,
thus showing that it was a case of "me too."
They kept on climbing, although neither could discover much difference
in that miserable opaque blanket. It began to grow much colder too,
although they managed to don some heavier coats which would keep them
from feeling the change in weather conditions to any extent.
"Don't seem to be much use I guess Perk, in all my experience I can't
say I ever ran across a fog that expended such a distance above the
earth. Most times you can get out of the ditch by climbing, but here we
are at a thirteen thousand foot ceiling and it's as black as ever. No
use trying to get above the line--it just can't be done."
"Right you are partner," admitted Perk, leveling off, "though I must say
the breathin' seems a shade easier than down below."
"We'll stick it out here for a while," Jack went on to say, "and it may
be that the coming dawn may bring some sort of a breeze along to scatter
this beastly stuff and let us see what's what."
"Anyway," Perk was saying, as if in relief, "at such a height we ain't
likely to rub noses with any rock pinnacle and to our everlastin' grief
in the bargain. The air's like enough free of mountain peaks around this
section o' country, which is some comfort to a fog-bound pair o' ginks,
I admit."
It was by this time about five o'clock and Perk was banking heavily on
the fact that inside of another half hour, at that extreme height, they
were likely to discover the advance couriers of approaching dawn
commencing to paint the eastern heavens with fingers of delicate shaded
colors.
"Got any sort o' idee where we might be right now, Jack?"
"Why, sitting tight in a nice fog blanket I'd say, brother," replied the
one who was now at the controls, having some time back made the
exchange, easily enough accomplished without the necessity of changing
seats.
"Jokin' aside, Jack, I mean what section o' country might be away down
below-stairs where there's land and green things--how I'd like to rest
my tired peepers on somethin' _green_ for a change."
"I'm not as sure of my figures as I'd like to be Perk, for it's been
hours since we saw anything at all except this fog; but we've covered a
lot of space and must be well on our way to the hunting ground we
started for. Wait until we get out of this mess and then it can be
settled as soon as we strike any town, village or even hamlet, that'll
give us a hint concerning our bearings."
"I'm bothered a little bit just the same," complained Perk.
"What about, old pal?" demanded Jack quickly.
"What if somethin' should happen to our ship--we're a long way from any
place an' well, 'fore you took over the stick Jack, seemed to me there
was a bit o' a holdup to the slick way the boat had been whooping things
up--I might a'been mistaken, but she seemed to be wallowin' some, like
she didn't just feel pleased over the cargo she had to carry."
"Perk, now that you mention it I do believe you're right--I'm not
pushing her much, but she does act sort of sulky, as if tired of this
thing--not that we could blame her for feeling that way. Tell you what,
partner--suppose you climb out and take a look around to see if
everything seems okay."
Accordingly Perk, as if sensing some hidden motive in what the other had
just remarked, left his seat and made his way out to the port wing--the
ship was swaying more or less, dipping and nosing upward as Jack held
her to it, but Perk being quite accustomed to such things had no trouble
whatever. A minute later and he came hurrying back to attach his
earphones again and cry out in a tone filled with more or less
excitement:
"Jack, there is something the matter for sure--fact is there's ice
formin' on both wings, and right heavy at that!"
XI
AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY
"Take over the stick again Perk," said Jack, apparently not very much
astounded by the serious information his mate had just given him, "I
think I'd like to have a look myself; I've never had any great trouble
with ice since I've not been much of a hand to soar up twenty or thirty
thousand feet for an altitude record. Nothing much to worry about
partner. At the worst we will have to drop lower down so the warmer air
will melt the stuff. A ship like this can stand considerable in the way
of a cargo, though it isn't just the proper caper to stow the load on
the wings--far better to have it somewhere inside the fuselage. Here
goes!"
Whereupon Jack crawled out of the cabin and started to make a close
investigation while Perk did the honors along the steering line, more or
less eager to hear his mate's report when he came back from his little
tour.
"It's all right brother," he heard Jack saying, even before the other
regained his customary front seat--"nothing to bother about and we'll
soon knock spots out of what ice has already gathered. Pretty snappy out
here, I notice. We'll drop down to a more comfy level and take chances
with being suffocated by that gruelly stuff. Go to it sonny, I'm inside
the safety line."
Down they went in long slides one after another until the thirteen
thousand became ten, then seven and there Jack told his comrade to "hold
everything" and cut down the speed a bit.
"Daylight's about due I figure," he observed, "and once we cut loose
from this blank curtain and pick up some visibility, we'll not have to
feel nervous about some of those rocky snags that lie in ambush to
impale venturesome aviators when off their course and lost in a maze."
Perk soon afterward realized that what his mate had remarked must be
true, for sure enough over in the east he could manage to detect some
faint signs of a break in the hitherto impenetrable gloom surrounding
them, positive evidence of the fact that morning was "just around the
corner."
"What's more," Perk told himself, in jubilation, "I guess now I c'n feel
a little waft o' a breeze startin' up. Soon as that gets goin' it's
goodbye to Mister Fog. Whew! mebbe I won't be tickled pink when that's
come to pass cause I'm crazy to set eyes on dear old Mother Earth again.
Yes sir, the pesky old fog is commencin' to move out--jest keep it up,
for you never will be missed."
"All over but the shouting Perk," remarked Jack just then as if he could
have understood the tenor of the other's thoughts. "Inside of another
half hour we'll be free from the stuff--wow! I never want to run through
such a siege as this again, particularly in this wild Western country
where peaks are in the majority and every one looking to stab some poor
wandering airship."
"I kinder guess you're itchin' to get our bearings again Jack?" asked
the walking question mark who was never really happy except when in a
position to toss queries at some one.
"Naturally so," Jack told him point blank. "We had to get twisted up
more or less during that drive through fogland, and the sooner I can
pick up my bearings the better I'll be pleased. If you ask me offhand
where we might be, I'd say within a few hundred miles of the spot where
Buddy Warner took off on his last trip."
"Good enough!" crowed Perk, "nothin' like making things fly when you're
about it--no beatin' around the bush for us, partner. Then if we pick
our course as per the information that leaked from that airport where he
left his mail sack an' took on another batch, why we might begin to keep
a watchful eye on the ground in hopes o' makin' some sorter
discovery--is that right?"
"You can begin using the glasses just as soon as we get our first
glimpse of green spots below. Later on we'll drop down until we're not
more than three hundred feet, more or less, above the treetops--if there
are any tall trees in this section of country, which might be a
question--possibly nothing in that line but scrub oaks, mesquite and the
like, stunted stuff that grows on many western mountains and in rocky
canyons."
Perk was in a little heaven of his own later on when calling out that he
could distinctly see the ground, thanks to his binoculars.
Morning had come, with the sun well above the horizon and everything
indicating they had a fair day ahead as frequently happens after a heavy
fog. It was a wild stretch of country now spread beneath the sky
voyagers, with all manner of lofty peaks in every direction, mountain
ranges running criss-cross without the faintest sign of regularity.
"I swan if I'd care to be lost down in that sort o' country," 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."
"Yeah! jest so Boss," grunted the one who handled the binoculars, "an'
if we fall down on the job it ain't goin' to be from not usin' our eyes
to the limit. But say, things keep on pilin' up worse than I ever ran
across in all my whole life--look at what's ahead there--can you beat
it, Jack?"
"Pretty tough stretch of mountain land any way you take it," said Jack
as he swept his eyes around from right to left, "but fortunately we have
nothing to worry about as long as we keep a fairly decent ceiling. Fact
is, I'd call it free-going up here, with a nice cool breeze knocking on
our port quarter and not hindering us any, even if it doesn't push us
along."
"That's right, Jack--after that boring through a fog belt hundreds o'
miles wide, this does seem like a little bit o' Heaven on earth. Mebbe
you've noticed me takin' a look all around once in a while--up in the
air, I mean? Somehow I've been wonderin' why we haven't glimpsed a
single ship since sun-up."
"Do you mean air-mail crates or some of those pilots who're searching
for signs of Buddy Warner?" the other demanded of Perk.
"Either kind, if it's all the same to you, Jack. If we're not so far
away from where the poor chap said his last goodbye as he took off with
his sack of Uncle Sam's mail, strikes me we had ought to've run across
one bus anyway, of all the flock that must be on the wing lookin' for
the boy."