A PRISONER
Having ascertained that there were two planes in the air, Mrs. Pollzoff
opened her throttle again, turned the machine as if she were returning
to the field and glanced at the indicator to be sure that her nose and
tail lights were on. Looking toward the other machines she mentally
calculated their course and watched the one which was coming to the
south of her. She noted with a scowl that when she came around it
swerved off its route considerably, but the second pilot exhibited his
lack of interest in her movements by rushing steadily forward, zooming
to be well out of her way, and passing on toward the Canadian border.
“If you are following me I shall give you a good run for your money,”
the woman snapped furiously.
She lifted Nike’s nose, climbed gradually to seven thousand feet,
leveled off, then proceeded at an even keel, racing at the machine’s
top speed; then she started to descend, going more and more slowly,
until the altimeter registered two thousand feet. At that level she
shut off her engine a moment to listen, glanced at the chart, and then
convinced that the larger plane was determined to keep tabs on her, she
shut off the lights, and risked a smash-up by gliding to a thousand
feet. She could see the larger plane high and in back of her, the roar
of its engine sufficient to drown that of Nike; then she opened the
throttle, keeping the head and tail lights out, throwing a cover over
the dim light in the cock-pit, and began to climb slowly.
Nike rushed swiftly forward at its highest speed, lifting gradually
and Mrs. Pollzoff kept her eyes on the covered control-board, shielding
it so that the glow could not be seen by anyone in the air. Twice she
glanced over her shoulder and through the blackness of the starless
heavens could see the other plane moving more swiftly now toward
the spot where its pilot must have calculated that she had made her
landing. It was descending gradually and with a chuckle of satisfaction
over the scheme she had planned to shake off possible pursuers, she
lifted Nike’s nose again and climbed more steeply. At ten thousand feet
she came around in a wide sweep then reset her course for the northwest
which they had been following since the take-off.
Occasionally she looked at the unconscious girl beside her, and once,
when she saw by the clock how long it had been since Roberta passed
beyond the realm of consciousness, she pressed her finger over the
girl’s wrist. In a moment she ascertained that the pulse was beating,
although very slowly, then she drew up the gauntlet and unhooked the
throat band of the coat.
“If you die, I don’t give a care, but I’d rather you wouldn’t, for
I’m going to take a lot of the conceit out of you and your friends
before I get through with you. But die if you want to, for I’ll drop
you overboard into one of the lakes. This part of the world is full of
them and you’ll go down so far they will never be able to tell that
you didn’t do it naturally. I’ll see to that.” She spoke as if she
expected to be heard and understood, but Nike had hit a mighty rough
place in the air and for the next five minutes demanded every bit of
her attention.
Making a careful survey of the heavens and the world beneath her, she
bared her teeth and grinned maliciously, because there wasn’t a sign
of another plane. She calculated that by the time the second pilot had
shut off his engine to descend, if he did, Nike was too far on its way
for them to hear its engine, so would be lost to them for good.
“And they won’t pick me up again,” she declared with satisfaction, but
although she felt confident that she was safe from pursuit, she made it
her business to be alert every moment.
The fact that the night was dark and there were no stars, helped
her, for the instant a plane’s light flashed into the sky she would
be able to see it easily. By that time a stiff wind was blowing. It
shrieked dismally through the struts and braces, and Nike plugged on
and on with a wail of protest. One thing she watched with the greatest
care was the engine, for she did not know how it would stand up on an
endurance flight. But it was hitting steadily, behaving quite as if it
had not traveled for hours and seemed perfectly capable of going on
indefinitely.
They had crossed the border and were well into Canada when a slight
movement on the part of her prisoner warned her that the girl was
regaining consciousness. She glanced at the white face, saw the
head move slightly, the lips part, but the movement ceased after a
minute, and Roberta sank back into a state of unconsciousness. With so
many things to observe, Mrs. Pollzoff grew less cautious and folded
the cover she had spread over the cock-pit lights, but she dimmed
everything except those she actually needed to read the dials in front
of her. The wind was shrieking now, so she tried to set a course which
would keep her out of the storm which she knew as surely rising, and
continued the flight without showing a light.
According to the chart they were rushing over a mountainous section and
here she zoomed high, lest they meet an obstruction. Her experience
with altimeters had not included the latest model on Nike so she was
fearful lest the instrument fail to warn her in time to avoid collision
with the immovable face of a rocky cliff. Then examining the chart,
she swerved sharply out of her course and suddenly, from far ahead she
saw another plane circling in wide sweeps. It carried four lights, two
blue, one red and the other green.
The sight of this airman gave Mrs. Pollzoff no terrors, for she blinked
one of her lights for a moment, then switched it out again. This she
repeated twice and flew steadily on until five minutes later the two
machines were flying side by side, the other plane, which was larger,
slightly above Nike.
In the meantime Roberta had returned to consciousness and was fully
aware of what was going on about her. The drug she had been given had
caused a sort of paralysis but her mind had cleared several minutes
before she stirred. The first thing she knew was the fact that Mrs.
Pollzoff’s fingers were pressed against her wrist but at that time she
was utterly unable to move so much as an eyelash, so she remained as if
still completely under the influence of the dope which had been given
to her in something she ate. Her head ached furiously, and it seemed as
if pins and needles were pricking her whole body.
Slowly the sensation, except the headache, faded, and she was able to
think. She tried to remember of what Mrs. Pollzoff had accused her when
the drug began to take effect, but she couldn’t remember. By the feel
of the plane, the girl Sky-Pilot was able to tell something of how
they were flying and she tried to form a plan of escape. As her body
recovered she had ventured to move, and in this way had ascertained
that she was strapped tightly and was helpless in the passenger seat.
The effort to move had been excruciating and when she relaxed again it
was as much exhaustion as design.
By the shrill whistle through the struts Roberta knew that they were
flying against a high wind, and as Nike bucked forward, her engine
roaring, and every part of her wailing a protest, she was sure that
Mrs. Pollzoff must be fully occupied with the task of keeping the
plane balanced. There were times when it fairly jumped, others when it
half twisted, and more when the wings dipped under the force of the
on-rushing storm, and creaked as if they were being ripped off the
fuselage.
Cautiously the girl lifted one eyelid and verified her calculations
for Mrs. Pollzoff was leaning far forward in the seat, battling with
every ounce of strength and knowledge she possessed. There was almost
no light in the cock-pit and Roberta wondered if they were flying
without head and tail lights. She wished she could get a glimpse of the
control board. What she wanted to see most was the clock, which would
tell her how long she had been unconscious. She reasoned that it was
not likely they had landed anywhere; for a trussed girl would certainly
arouse suspicion and immediate demands for an explanation. If the fact
that she was bound went unobserved, still it would be noticed that she
was either asleep or ill; someone would be sure to investigate.
If they had not landed, and had traveled any length of time at the
speed they were going, the gas supply must be nearly exhausted.
Venturing to open her eyes wide and look at the sky all she could see
was pitch darkness so that did not help her discover how long she
had been unconscious, but she had a positive hunch that it had been
some hours. If this was right they would be compelled to land soon to
replenish the fuel supply.
Mrs. Pollzoff had drawn on her gauntlets, but she hadn’t made a very
smooth job of it. There was a rip in the lining of the right one and
Roberta’s finger had gone in the wrong way. It was the hand nearest the
outside of the cock-pit, so she risked moving it slightly, then she
wondered if she couldn’t do something after all to leave a clue as to
which way she went. All of her flying clothes were marked with a stamp
in indelible ink with her full name. This included the inside of her
gauntlet cuffs.
Roberta’s heart hammered hopefully as she stealthily wriggled her
fingers, pressing them tightly to her side and moving her arm back. She
couldn’t do this more than half an inch, but repeating the performance
patiently and with the utmost caution she finally succeeded in getting
her hand well out. Then, waiting a moment, the next time _Nike_ gave
a bump, she flipped the glove as high as she could, and with one
half-opened eye, she rejoiced to see that the plane dropped sharply,
the wind caught the thing as if it were a leaf and bore it off into the
darkness. The girl knew that it would probably land miles from where it
left her and she prayed that it would be found soon. She knew, also,
that it would probably be some time before her absence or disappearance
was noticed. Mrs. Langwell would have the letters from Charleston, and
when no more arrived she would start an inquiry. Her dad would get in
touch with Mr. Trowbridge or Mr. Wallace.
Even though she was no longer an employee of the Lurtiss Airplane
Company, Roberta hadn’t the slightest doubt that the firm, its entire
force if necessary, would be put out to search for her. She could
hear Phil Fisher’s wrathful explosions, and see Larry marching out
after the best machine, climbing grimly into its cock-pit and roaring
furiously off in pursuit. Thinking of the loyalty of every one of them
she wondered if Mrs. Pollzoff realized it and hoped hard that the
woman didn’t. Of course everyone knew perfectly well that any pilot,
man or woman, who was lost immediately became the focus of the world’s
attention until the plane appeared or the wreck was discovered; but
everyone could not appreciate the perfect camaraderie which existed in
the firm’s organization; especially among the flyers. If it was rumored
that Miss Langwell was missing nothing would be left undone to locate
her.
Roberta had no doubt that Mrs. Pollzoff would take every possible
precaution, and now the girl thought of the possibility of escaping
when they came down for fuel. She tried again to catch a glimpse of the
control board but that was hopeless, so she gave it up. It was a strain
to remain in the same position but she forced herself to do it for she
was positive that the instant her captor realized that she had come to
her senses, she would take further precautions to see that there was no
opportunity for her to get away.
Suddenly, on the wind which came to her, she smelled a strong tang
of salt water; enough so that she decided they were nearing one of
the coasts and that the storm was coming from there. The air was only
intermittently salty so she guessed they were still some distance away
from the ocean, whichever one it was. Then through the darkness and
to her right, she saw a plane flying high and carrying four lights.
Almost at once the lights on Nike were flashed, then Roberta was sure
that they had been traveling without them. Evidently the woman had been
afraid of some one’s following after her. Now the course was changed
sharply and presently Nike was racing to the left of a plane about
twice as large as her own.
Although Roberta wanted to see what this was all about she dared not
move, for she was sure that the other machine carried no friend of
hers. Peeping cautiously she saw the machine zoom up sharply, they
seemed to be going through some sort of maneuver. Mrs. Pollzoff had
raised herself in the pilot’s seat as far as the safety strap would
permit, then in a moment the larger plane came around to the right. The
girl Sky-Pilot promptly closed her eyes lest its pilot warn the woman
that she was awake.
Twice the two planes circled, then the larger one rose sharply on
Roberta’s side, and a moment later she could see the underside of a
monoplane; its huge floats looking like the bottoms of small flat
boats. In another second something like a weight dropped into Roberta’s
lap and instantly Mrs. Pollzoff caught it up, so the girl decided that
her captor must be receiving a message, or sending one by the other
pilot, but the next instant something dragged across her knees and
unable to contain herself any longer, she raised her lids, only to
close them again quickly, for the woman was standing over her. At the
moment her face was raised, but then she looked down.
What the girl Sky-Pilot saw made her gasp in astonishment and fear,
for Mrs. Pollzoff was hauling in a long tube, which must mean that she
was going to refuel from the air and not come down at all, at least
until the supply was depleted. She might take on a full supply, as much
as they had had when they left Charleston, and unless the woman went to
sleep over the stick, she could keep going until the following day.
Sick with horror, Roberta tried to make her brain function properly,
but it was filled with the wildest terrors and in spite of warm
clothing, she felt as cold as if she were wearing summer clothing.
In the day time, under the best of conditions, what the two planes
were trying to do could be accomplished with skilled pilots at
both controls, but in the middle of the night, with a woman at the
receiving end of the tube who had been disqualified as a flyer, it was
a desperately risky undertaking. Nike’s nose might be jammed up into
the other plane’s underpinning or drop so low that the tube would be
broken and the machine sprayed with the highly inflammable mixture. A
dozen things could happen so quickly to make a smash-up inevitable. She
wondered dully why Mrs. Pollzoff didn’t take in new containers, which
would be less dangerous, and when the girl recalled that the woman had
been considered incompetent as a pilot, she was no longer surprised.
Probably her examiners had realized that she was too foolhardy to trust
with a license.
There were a number of slips, disconnections and reconnections during
the performance, and it seemed to Roberta as if hours passed before the
work was finally achieved and she felt the long tube with its heavy
weight being dragged across her knees again and at last heard them
thump and bump against the side of Nike while the other pilot hauled
them up to his own machine. Then Mrs. Pollzoff resumed her seat and her
appropriated task, but the girl felt her slip down as if weary from
the strain. She opened her eyes a bit to see if the woman was able to
do anything more and found that she was busy with the controls, and
circling in a wide sweep, the second plane was soaring out of her way,
the end of the tube extending behind. Then it disappeared from sight.
Again Roberta’s nostrils were filled with that strong odor from the
sea and Nike zoomed courageously forward, carrying with her every
vestige of hope that she might help herself or get help when they were
forced to land. There was not a chance in the world that they could
come down for hours, unless the engine gave them trouble, and no one
knew better than the girl Sky-Pilot that every inch of her plane’s
machinery was the best possible and that it would stand long hours of
the hardest grilling without showing a sign of weakness. She wondered
over and over why Mrs. Pollzoff had kidnaped her and tried to remember
what the woman had said as she was losing consciousness, but her head
ached with the effort. Then she thought of the glove she had dropped
and resolved to get the other one off and send it after the first if
possible.
Removing the right gauntlet, which was furthest from Mrs. Pollzoff’s
side had been comparatively easy, but slipping out of the other which
was placed close to the rip-ring of her parachute and almost under the
woman’s nose, was a more dangerous undertaking, but Roberta wasn’t
built of the stuff that quits; she knew that a quitter never wins and
a winner never quits, so she watched until her companion was leaning
far enough forward so that the motion of the arm would not attract her
attention. Fortunately for Roberta, the woman decided to dim the lights
in the cock-pit, so she herself could not see so easily and must keep
close to the control-board to watch the dials.
Slowly and cautiously, the girl wriggled her fingers until finally
they were partly out of the gauntlet, then she managed to slip it
along toward her right hand, hoping to draw it across her lap and
throw it as she had the other. Just then, Mrs. Pollzoff tipped Nike’s
nose at a sharp angle and climbed swiftly for several minutes, then
leveled and shut off her motor. By that time the smell of salt water
permeated the air and Roberta was desperately anxious to get the glove
over before they reached the shore line where it might be lost in the
ocean. In this project Mrs. Pollzoff helped her by leaning far over
her own side of the plane, searching beneath her, and Roberta clearly
heard the pounding of the breakers. With a slight twist of her body she
transferred the gauntlet to her right hand, and with a second flip of
her fingers, sent it over the side.
Mrs. Pollzoff settled quickly back into her seat while the heavens
were split with a million tongues of forked lightning, and after a
breathless instant, a terrific crack of thunder boomed and crashed as
if bent on the destruction of the whole universe.