A CHASE IN THE NIGHT
Following the excited announcement by Mike that an airship was
prowling about over the mountains and Leroy's sudden cry of
exultation at the prospect of a struggle for supremacy above the
clouds, there was for a moment absolute silence in the hotel room
where the boys stood. Finally Pedro entered and closed the door.
Ned walked to a window and looked out. The day was fading, and
already the feet of the distant mountains were wrapped in purple
twilight. The window faced the north, giving a fair view of the
city and the Andes as they strung along in that direction, looking
like a chain of bald heads lifting from the obscurity of a fog. The
airship was not in sight from where he stood.
Pedro saw what he was looking for and stepped to his side, one hand
pointing off to the east.
"Out there!" he said.
"When did you first see it?" asked Leroy, not waiting for Ned to
conduct the cross-examination.
The Indian talked with Mike for a moment.
The latter did not seem to understand all that was said to him, but
presently he turned to Ned.
"He says he saw it only a minute before he came here," he explained.
"He says a lot more that I can't understand. I've been here only a
month, and I'm not quick at learning new speech."
"Ask him if he knows whether she landed anywhere near the city," Ned
directed.
The Indian did not know. The airship was over the mountains when he
first saw it, and that was all he could say about it.
"Do you think we've been followed down here?" asked Jimmie.
"Of course!" Leroy broke in. "What else would an airship be here
for just at this time? And if she wasn't sneaking about after us,
what would she be hanging up there in the sky for? Why doesn't she
come down to town, like we did?"
"It may be that the arrival of this airship just at this time is a
coincidence," Ned said, "but it seems to me that there is something
significant about it. I have felt all along that we were not yet
rid of the rascals who tried to make us trouble at San Francisco."
"Some one must want the cattle concession that Lyman has pretty
badly," Leroy ventured. "Well, we'll, have to run away from them, I
take it!"
"Then how are we going to find out where this Lyman person is?"
demanded Jimmie. "No, Sir!" he went on, rubbing his freckled nose
in meditation. "We've just naturally got to bust 'em up!"
The proposition was indeed a serious one. If the airship was really
there to take note of the activities of the boys on the Nelson, the
situation could hardly be improved by following either line of
conduct suggested by the boys.
Nothing could be gained by "running away" from the unwelcome
visitor. Nothing was to be gained by following the advice to "bust
'em up." A race would only serve to draw the Nelson away from the
point of action, away from the place where Lyman was held in
captivity. To "bust 'em up" would be to set all the official rings
of Paraguay in operation against the lads, place the Boy Scouts
under the ban of the law!
"If we only knew just where to find this Lyman person," Jimmie went
on, "we might swoop down an' get him an' give the lobsters a run for
their money."
"Perhaps," Ned suggested, "we'd better wait for this new navigator
of the air to show us where he is."
"I see him doing it!" cried Leroy.
"You bet he will!" Jimmie cut in. "He'll hang around the point of
danger! He'll show us where the man is by standing guard over him!
What?"
"That's my idea," Ned replied, "still, he may devote his energies to
keeping track of us. One can never tell what an enemy will do."
"Well," Leroy said, "I'm going back to the Nelson. There's a chance
of the lobster dropping down and trying to cripple her."
"A very good idea," Ned agreed.
Jimmie and Mike hastened away with Leroy, but Pedro remained at the
request of Ned. A plan for meeting the emergency was already
forming in the active brain of the Boy Scout, and an important
detail depended on information which the Indian might be able to
give.
Before opening the question, however, Ned, motioning to the Indian
to follow, made his way to the flat roof of the hotel building.
There he found several men, smoking, chatting, and watching the
airship, now almost directly over the city. In Peru many houses are
built with especial reference to providing a lounging place on the
roof.
It was growing darker, and the lights of the airship shone brightly
against the dimming sky. The aviator was now circling around the
city, dropping lower at times, then skimming in spirals to a higher
point. While Ned stood watching the machine, realizing that the
fellow in charge was no novice in aviation, a gentleman whom he had
noticed three times before that day observing him closely advanced
and stood by his side. He was a well dressed, clean-shaven man of
perhaps thirty, with an intelligent face, a bustling manner, and a
suit of clothes which Jimmie would have described as "loud enough to
lead a circus parade."
"Evidently an American commercial traveler," Ned thought, as the
stranger stood by his side a moment without speaking, his eyes fixed
on the airship.
"She goes some, eh?" the stranger observed, presently.
"The aviator seems to know his business," Ned admitted.
"You came in an aeroplane yourself, didn't you?" asked the other.
Ned answered in the affirmative.
"Thought so," the other went on. "Hadn't seen you about the city
until this afternoon, and some one said you came in an airship.
Where from?"
"New York," Ned replied, half amused at the impertinence of the
question.
"Good old town!" the other exclaimed. "Hot old town! I like it.
There's something always going on there. I'm from New York myself,
but I'm selling goods for a Chicago firm--steam pumps! I've got the
best steam pump in seven countries! Came here to sell to a mining
company. Nothing doing. What's your name? Mine is Thomas Q.
Collins."
"Nestor," Ned replied, shortly.
"And you're out for fun?"
"That's the idea." Ned did not think it necessary to enter into
details.
"Hope you get all that's coming to you! Say, will you give me a
ride in that machine of yours? I went out to see it today. Looks
to me like it could knock the spots off anything of the kind in the
world. I don't know anything about airships, but I do know about
steam pumps, and also about machinery. I know a good piece of work
when I see it. That boat of yours is a peach!"
"It isn't my machine," Ned replied, "but if we remain here over
tomorrow I'll see about granting your request."
The two talked for a moment longer, and then Collins left the roof.
Later, Ned saw him moving through the street below in the direction
of the place where the Nelson had been left. The boy hardly knew
what to make of Collins. He might be a steam pump salesman, just as
he had described himself, and, again, he might be a spy sent out by
Lyman's enemies to discover the plans of the Boy Scouts--even to
wreck the Nelson if possible. He decided to, if possible, learn
something of the fellow before taking him on board the aeroplane.
After a time the strange airship fluttered away to the north and
then Ned and Pedro descended to the former's room. Sitting at the
north window, the two could see the lights of the aeroplane dropping
downward, and they concluded that the aviator was seeking a resting
place for the night.
"He's going to bed in Inca Valley," Pedro said, watching the
descending bird. "It is a good place to hide the machine."
The words were spoken in pretty good Spanish, and Ned turned quickly
and asked:
"You speak Spanish then?"
The question was asked in Spanish, and the Indian's face brightened.
"Yes," he said, "but I never suspected that you knew the language."
"Only a smattering of it," laughed Ned, "but, still, I think you can
understand what I say to you. As I want you to do most of the
talking, we may get on very well together."
"What do you want to know?" asked Pedro.
"First, I want you, after we have had our talk, to go out into the
city and find out, if you can, all about that aeroplane. I want to
know if it has ever been seen here before, if the aviator comes to
the city after descending, if he is a stranger here--all about him,
in fact."
The Indian bowed.
"Then," Ned went on, "I want you to find out whether the machine is
well guarded. I also want to know what kind of a machine it is, and
where it came from. If you think it advisable I want you to get
into conversation with the aviator and see what kind of a chap he
is."
Another bow from the Indian, whose face expressed pleasure at the
prospective employment. Ned pondered for a moment, as if not quite
certain of his ground, and then asked:
"How, well are you acquainted with the country lying between Lima
and Asuncion?"
"Oh," was the astonished reply, "but that is a long, long
distance--two, three thousand miles."
"Yes, I know, but have you ever been over the Andes?"
"Oh, yes. I am a guide."
Ned pondered a moment.
"How far east and south?" he asked, then.
"To Lake Titicaca."
"That is on the boundary between Peru and Bolivia?"
"Yes."
"And you know that country--the country around the lake?"
"Very well, indeed."
"It is a long way from Asuncion?"
"It is barely a third of the way. You will see on the map."
"Well," Ned said, after a short silence, "I may as well tell you
what I want. I want to be directed to a place in the mountains
where I can securely hide our aeroplane. It must be a hiding place
absolutely out of sight, especially from the sky. Do you
understand?"
The Indian nodded, a knowing smile on his dusky face.
"You mean to hide from the other airship?" he asked.
"Yes."
"There are caverns near Lake Titicaca."
"So I understand. Caverns which defy exploration. But, you see, I
must have a hiding place from which the airship can be brought out
with speed and returned in the same way."
"To dodge out and in? Yes, I comprehend."
The two dwelt over the maps and plans until; Leroy and Jimmie came
romping in to report that all was quiet at the machine, and that
Mike was to remain on guard until midnight, when Jimmie was to
relieve him. Then Pedro went out in the city to listen to such talk
of the strange airship as was floating about the streets. He was
back in a couple of hours with the information that the airship had
not landed in the city, and that it had never been seen there
before.
"It seems to me," Ned said after the Indian ceased speaking, "that
now is our time. We ought to be a long way from Lima before dawn."
"The other fellow'll see us!" Leroy objected.
"We'll have to chance that," Ned replied. "We needn't have any
lights you know, and the motors make very little noise. Get your
traps ready, boys!"
It was arranged that Pedro was to remain, under pay, in Lima,
storing up such information as he could secure against the day of
the return of the Nelson. Mike was to remain with him, of course,
as there would be no room on the Nelson for him. The young man when
told of the plans, objected strenuously to being left, but was
finally consoled by the promise that the aeroplane would be sent
back after him when opportunity offered.
It was after midnight when all the arrangements were made and the
boys passed out of their rooms into the hotel lobby. At that hour
they thought the driver of the other aeroplane would be likely to be
sleeping. At the very door of the hotel they came upon Mr. Thomas
Q. Collins! He strolled up as Ned stepped into the doorway and
extended his hand. Ned took it, gave it a perfunctory grasp, and
attempted to paw on.
"If you don't mind," Collins said, with a persuasive mile, "I'll
walk with you if you are going out to your aeroplane. I've been to
bed and find that I can't sleep."
"All right," Ned replied, thinking that he would rather have the man
with him than on his way to report the departure of the Nelson. "We
are just going to look the ship over--perhaps take a little spin.
Come along."
"I should like very much to go with you, in case you decide to go
sailing tonight," Collins said. "Perhaps you may be able to arrange
it?"
"I'm afraid not tonight," Ned replied, wondering just what this new
acquaintance was up to. "However," he added, "you may as well come
along and look over the ship."
Collins seemed glad of even this slight concession on the part of
the boy, and walked along briskly. Presently, however, he began to
fall back, talking with Jimmie, who was a few paces behind. Then,
before very long, the little fellow missed Collins. He had
disappeared in a dark alley. Ned worried over this when informed of
the fellow's strange and contradictory conduct. The man might have
gone to make report to the other aviator! This was not a pleasant
reflection.
Mike was found sitting in front of the Nelson, talking with a native
who was trying to learn all about an aeroplane from, a boy who knew
nothing about it himself! It took only a short time to make ready
for flight, then the Nelson was up and away, making little noise as
she cut the air, her great planes flashing in the light of the moon.
"This is pretty poor, I guess!" Leroy exclaimed, glancing over the
mighty map of sea and plain and mountain. "How fast do you want to
go?"
"At full speed," Ned replied.
"I should say it would be full speed!" Jimmie said, half covering
his mouth with his hand, to keep his words from being blown back
down his throat. "That is," he added, "if you want to make a
sneak!"
Ned turned away to the north and saw the white planes of the strange
aeroplane gleaming in the moonlight. She seemed to stand still for
an instant, and then sped off to the southeast. Ned sighed with
apprehension, but Leroy laughed.
"Come along, you!" he cried, looking back. "If you want a race,
come on, and I'll give you the run of your life!"