THE RESCUE FROM THE BIPLANE
“I wonder if they are strapped to the seats of that biplane?”
“More than likely. They usually strap themselves and their passengers
fast to keep from falling out.”
“If they can’t loosen the straps they’ll surely be drowned.”
“Come on, fellows, row for all you’re worth! A second gained may mean a
life!” yelled Jack.
“Say, wasn’t that Ruth Stevenson?” came from the second boat.
“Yes,” answered Fred. “Hurry up! We’ve got to save them!”
All this conversation came in jerks, for every cadet was working
frantically at his oar in a mad endeavor to reach the sinking
aeroplane. They were almost up to the spot when they heard a queer
gurgle and suddenly the big flying machine slid from view under the
surface of the lake.
“It’s going down!” cried Randy, glancing hastily around.
By this time the first rowboat had reached the scene of the accident
and all of the boys threw down their oars to get a better view of the
situation. The water was much disturbed, and in the foam created by the
disappearing flying machine could be seen two men struggling, one with
some sort of strap fastened around him.
“Help! Help! I can’t swim!” cried one of the men, and Jack recognized
Mr. Stevenson’s voice.
“Help! I’m being pulled down! Help!” gasped the aviator.
“Go after him, fellows! I’m going after Mr. Stevenson!” called out
Randy, and immediately leaped overboard, followed by his brother.
“Where is Ruth?” questioned Jack anxiously, for the girl from
Clearwater Hall was one of his dearest friends.
He had scarcely spoken when he saw an arm appear a short distance away.
Then Ruth’s head bobbed up and the girl uttered another cry.
“Help me! I can’t move my feet! Help me!”
By this time the second boat was close at hand and a glance showed Jack
and Fred that the aviator was already clambering on board. Another
glance showed Randy and Andy supporting Mr. Stevenson.
“I’m coming, Ruth! Keep up!” cried Jack, and leaping to the bow of the
rowboat he made a quick, slanting dive overboard which brought him
within a few feet of where the girl was floundering. He knew that Ruth
was a fair swimmer and realized that something must be radically wrong
if she could not keep herself afloat.
“Oh, Jack! Jack! Is that you?” gasped the girl. “Help me! My feet are
all tangled up!”
“I’m coming, Ruth,” he reassured her. And then he yelled back to his
cousin: “Fred, bring the boat up here, quick!”
The stout young Rover hastened to comply, and while he was doing this
Jack continued to swim swiftly towards the hapless girl. He caught hold
of Ruth’s arm just as she was about to go down a second time.
“Grab hold, Ruth. I’ll support you,” he said. “What is holding you?”
“I don’t know. A strap, I guess. I had one around me and it loosened
and slipped to my knees.”
“Just hang over my shoulders and you’ll be all right,” answered the
young major. “I was afraid you had been hurt.”
“But, Jack! I can’t move my feet at all!”
“Never mind. We’ll soon have you on board the boat.”
“Where is daddy?”
“Andy and Randy went for him. I’m sure they’ll save him. We’ve got two
boats here, and four cadets in each; so there is plenty of assistance
at hand.”
At that instant Fred came alongside with the boat and it was the work
of but a few seconds to place the dripping girl aboard. Then Jack
followed. As Ruth had said, a strap had become tangled around her
knees, but this was now disposed of.
In the meantime Andy and Randy had reached Mr. Stevenson, and with
something of an effort they managed to get that gentleman over to the
vicinity of the second boat. Ruth’s father was somewhat excited, and
this was but natural. He could not swim, and, moreover, he had received
a blow in the side which pained him considerably.
“My daughter? Where is my daughter?” he questioned as soon as he had
hold of the side of the boat.
“Jack and Fred went after her,” answered Spouter. “There they are, over
yonder. Jack is supporting her.”
“Thank heaven then she isn’t drowned!” said Mr. Stevenson, shuddering.
“I’d have gone after her myself; but what can a man do if he can’t
swim? After this I’ll advocate that every boy and girl be forced to
learn to swim,” he added, with emphasis.
“Either that or keep away from the water,” returned Andy grimly.
“Oh, Jack, what a terrible experience!” came from Ruth, when she could
regain her breath. “I thought surely I was going down to the bottom of
the lake. And how good of you to come to my aid!”
“You don’t suppose I was going to let you drown, Ruth?” he answered
quickly.
“I have to thank you too, Fred,” went on the girl.
“Oh, I didn’t do so much,” answered the stout Rover modestly. “It’s
mighty lucky we happened to be in this vicinity,” he went on.
“And just to think I was going to surprise you, Jack!” continued Ruth.
“Surprise me?”
“Yes. By sending you a picture of daddy and me in the aeroplane. You
see, my father came to Haven Point last night and called on me this
morning, and he happened to know the men who are running the aero
corporation. So when I begged him to take me up he agreed and we had
our photographs taken just when we started.” She paused and gave a
sudden shiver. “Oh, if daddy had been drowned, what would I have done!”
A little later the two boats came together and Mr. Stevenson joined his
daughter in the craft manned by the Rovers.
“I scraped my side on the machine when we came down so suddenly,”
explained Ruth’s father. “It hurts me yet. I think I’ll see a doctor
about it when I go ashore. I must have scraped the skin pretty hard, if
nothing more,” and he winced.
“We’ll row for Haven Point right away,” answered Jack.
“I suppose that’s the last of my biplane,” said the aviator. “How deep
is the lake around here, do any of you know?”
“I don’t believe it’s very deep right here,” answered Gif. “Do you see
that sandy beach over on the island yonder? Well, that sandbar extends
out in this direction.”
“Then maybe the machine didn’t sink as far down as I thought it might,”
went on Tom Bossick, for such was his name. “I’d like to mark this spot
if I could.”
“Maybe you could dive overboard again and find out what became of the
flying machine,” suggested Dan Soppinger. “That is, unless you feel
too weak.”
“Oh, I’m all right. I went through a good deal worse than this when I
was flying for Uncle Sam in France,” said Bossick, with a grin. “If you
fellows are not in a hurry I’d like to find out what did become of the
old lady.”
“If you fellows want to stay here with the aviator, we’ll take Mr.
Stevenson and Ruth over to Haven Point,” said Jack.
“All right, go ahead,” answered Gif readily. “We’ll take the aviator
over later, after he has located his machine. I suppose, if it’s only
in shallow water, it might be raised again?”
“So I was thinking,” answered Tom Bossick.
A minute later the two boats separated and the four Rovers took up the
task of rowing to Haven Point.
“It’s mighty lucky for us that there’s no wind and the sun is so warm,”
said Jack, as he glanced at the water still dripping from his own
garments and those worn by the others who had been in the lake.
“We’ll create a sight when we reach the town,” was Randy’s comment.
“I guess everybody will want to know what happened to the flying
machine and if the folks on board were rescued,” put in Fred. “You
three will be regular heroes,” and he gave something of an envious
glance at his cousins.
“Oh, say, Fred! Can that hero stuff,” put in Andy quickly. “Anybody
would have done what we did if only they had had the chance.”
“Nevertheless, I’m very thankful to all of you,” said Mr. Stevenson.
“Are you sure you weren’t hurt quite a good deal, Mr. Stevenson?”
questioned Jack. He noted that the face of Ruth’s father was pale and
haggard.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s very much, Jack. Of course, we came down so
hard it gave us all a terrible jolt.”
“It was like one of those roller-coaster boats hitting the water at a
seaside resort,” remarked Randy.
“A good deal worse than that!” cried Ruth. “You know, we came down nose
first, as they say. Why, for an instant I thought I was going to be
thrown out on my face. And, you must remember, we were several hundred
feet up in the air when we started to fall.”
“Oh, I know you came down pretty hard,” answered Andy. “Why, the water
splashed in every direction!”
After this there was a brief period of silence, the boys bending
vigorously to their oars, feeling that the Stevensons would like to
get ashore and to shelter as soon as possible.
“I am staying at the Haven Point House,” said Mr. Stevenson. “I’ll
go right up there and get an extra room for Ruth, and then we can
telephone to Clearwater Hall and have some of the girls bring her some
dry clothing. And I’ll have a doctor look her over, as well as find out
what’s the matter with my side. I don’t think it’s much, but I want him
to make sure. I have trouble enough these days without becoming sick,”
he added, with a thoughtful look on his face.
As anticipated, their coming to one of the docks of the town created
not a little excitement. A number of persons had seen the erratic
movements of the biplane and had witnessed its disappearance into the
lake, and the news had spread that the aviator and his passengers
were probably drowned. Several boats had put out to the scene of the
disaster, but these now returned. A crowd surrounded the Stevensons
and the cadets, asking numerous questions. But Jack soon obtained a
taxicab, and into this the Stevensons were hurried and the driver was
directed to take them at once to the hotel.
“We’ll be up after a while,” said Jack. “I want to telephone to Colonel
Colby first, to let him know we’ll be late in getting back. I don’t
want to leave here until I find out what condition your father is
really in.”
With the Stevensons gone, the Rover boys told the crowd some of the
particulars of what had happened.
“I think I know what was the trouble,” said another aviator who was
present, a man who occasionally took Tom Bossick’s place. “Tom and I
were going over the motor a couple of days ago, and I noticed that it
wasn’t as fast to the framework as it might be. It’s my opinion it
worked loose, and that threw the machine off its keel.”
“The aviator didn’t say what went wrong,” answered Fred. “Perhaps he
didn’t know himself. But one thing is sure――the biplane bobbed around
from one side to the other several times before it headed down into the
lake.”
“Well, they can all be thankful they escaped with their lives,” said
one of the bystanders, and in this statement everybody concurred.
The Rover boys telephoned to the military academy and gave the head of
that institution a few of the particulars of what had occurred. Colonel
Colby had heard nothing about the aeroplane accident, and was, of
course, much surprised. He readily gave the boys permission to remain
in town for an hour longer in order that they might ascertain more of
Mr. Stevenson’s real condition.
A motor boat had been sent to the scene of the wreck, and this
presently returned with Tom Bossick on board.
“The cadets in the other rowboat have returned to their school,” said
the aviator. “We found that the aeroplane was under less than twenty
feet of water, so I have hopes that we can raise her and maybe have
her repaired, or at least save the engine. I think she rests on that
sandbar one of you young fellows mentioned.”
“And what went wrong?” questioned Fred eagerly.
“I think the motor got loose somehow. We’ll have to investigate after
we raise the biplane――if we ever do.”
A little later the four Rover boys went to the hotel. There they
encountered Jack’s sister Martha and Fred’s sister Mary, who had
just come over from Clearwater Hall with some dry clothing for Ruth.
Of course the two Rover girls were greatly excited, and they rushed
at their brothers and their cousins, demanding to know if they were
perfectly all right.
“Sure we are!” declared Fred. “Why, I wasn’t even in the water!”
“But the rest of you are dripping wet,” declared Martha.
“We’re all right,” answered Jack. “But what we want to know is how Mr.
Stevenson and Ruth are.”
“Ruth says the bath didn’t hurt her a bit,” answered Mary. “But she is
rather worried about her father.”
A few minutes later Ruth came forth. Her hair was still wet and done up
fantastically in a towel, but she wore the dry clothes the other girls
had brought her.
“I’m perfectly all right,” she said to Jack.
“What about your dad?”
“The doctor says he’ll have to keep very quiet for a few days,” went on
the girl soberly. “He received a blow in the side just under the right
arm. He is all black and blue.”
“He seemed to be very haggard, Ruth,” remarked the young major.
At this Ruth Stevenson gave Jack a look which he found hard to
interpret. She caught Jack’s hand and drew him a little to one side.
“Dad has been having a whole lot of trouble lately,” she whispered.
“Some time I’ll tell you all about it――or at least as much as I know of
it.”