Captured
Caution prevented the Hardy boys from going closer to the fallen plane.
They had not been seen by Ducroy or the others, and they now realized
that it would be folly to play into their hands at this moment. They
were outnumbered and they saw that they might easily be disarmed if they
took reckless chances. Frank suddenly halted and grasped Joe by the arm.
“We’re foolish to come out in the open like this. We’re just as liable
to be shot.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” replied Joe. “What do you think we’d
better do?”
“They’ll be coming back to the plane. I think we ought to wait here for
them and hold them up when they come back. They’ll be off their guard
then and probably they’ll be loaded down with stuff from the other
plane.”
Without further parley, the lads turned and ran back. In the gloom they
had not been seen. They crouched in the shadow of the disabled plane and
watched the activities of the others.
The pilot, after his first shock of surprise, had quickly thrown up his
hands. Ducroy and the others advanced toward him.
“What’s the idea?” the lads heard the pilot saying.
“We haven’t time to talk to you,” growled Ducroy, holding a revolver
against the man’s body. “We want those mail bags you have here.”
“Bandits, are you?” snapped the pilot “You’ll suffer for this. You tried
to kill me!”
“You’re not dead yet,” said Ollie Jacobs callously.
“You flung a rope down from your plane and it tangled up in my propeller
shaft. It’s just by luck that I wasn’t killed in the crack-up. Just
wait. You’ll pay for this night’s work.”
“We’ll get paid,” chuckled Ducroy. “Get in there, Newt, and heave out
those mail bags.”
The pilot was helpless under the menace of the drawn revolvers. He was
forced to stand by while Newt Pipps scrambled into the plane, found the
mail bags, and began throwing them out to the ground.
“I’ll take care of this fellow,” said Ducroy. “Ollie, you can start
bringing those bags up to the other plane. Work fast. Some of these
farmers around here may have heard the plane crash and they might be
along any minute to investigate.”
Ollie Jacobs, pocketing his revolver, sprang forward and seized two of
the heavy mail bags. He flung them over his shoulder and hastened back
toward the plane, where the Hardy boys awaited him.
Nearer and nearer he came. The boys crouched in readiness.
Jacobs reached the plane. He did not see the lurking shadows. He was
just reaching forward to open the door of the baggage compartment for
the reception of the stolen mail bags when Frank Hardy stepped out and
swiftly pressed a revolver against his side.
“Up with your hands, Jacobs! Not a word out of you!”
Ollie Jacobs gave a strangled exclamation of surprise. Then he dropped
the mail bags. His arms shot into the air.
“Who—who are you?” he stammered.
“Keep quiet! One word out of you——” Frank prodded him with the
revolver to emphasize his command.
Ollie Jacobs was frightened into silence. From where they were standing,
the scene could not be observed by Ducroy. Frank and Joe backed their
captive up against the side of the plane and bade him be quiet.
A moment later they heard Ducroy shouting.
“Ollie! What’s keeping you? Hurry back here and get these other bags.”
Jacobs stirred restlessly, but Frank jammed the revolver against his
ribs. He was helpless, and he knew it.
“Ollie!”
Ducroy was becoming angry.
“What on earth has happened to him? Here, Newt! Keep this man covered
while I go and see what’s the matter.”
A moment later the Hardy boys heard Ducroy running toward the plane. He
came around the side, muttering to himself. Joe was waiting in
readiness. He leaped out and thrust his revolver against Ducroy’s chest.
“Hands up, Ducroy!”
Ducroy gave a shout of dismay, stepped back, but when he saw the
revolver he raised his arms.
“Get back over here beside Jacobs.”
Reluctantly, Ducroy did as he was told. Frank went swiftly through the
pockets of each man and disarmed them both.
“Now,” he said to Joe, “if you’ll keep this pair covered, I’ll go back
and attend to friend Newt.”
Joe, with a revolver in each hand, eyed his captives warily. But Ducroy
and Jacobs, unarmed, had too much respect for the menacing weapons and
the determined boy who held them, to make any rash break for liberty.
Frank, his revolver in readiness, went over toward the other plane where
Newt Pipps was holding the pilot at bay. At the sound of his footsteps,
Newt called out:
“What’s the matter, Ducroy? I thought I heard you shout.”
“Everything’s all right,” growled Frank.
Apparently, Newt was deceived, for he did not look around. It is certain
that he got the shock of his life when he felt a revolver muzzle pressed
against his back and heard a stern voice say:
“Up with your hands, Newt! Drop that gun immediately!”
With a squeal of amazement, Newt Pipps whirled around, lowering his
weapon as he did so. At the same moment the pilot, who had been watching
his chance, sprang forward, seized the fellow’s wrist and wrenched the
weapon from him. There was a brief struggle, and Newt Pipps was
overpowered.
“The others are back at the other plane,” Frank told the pilot. “My
brother has them covered.”
“Good!” said the aviator, dealing Newt a hearty kick. “Now get along
there, you!”
They propelled the luckless Newt ahead of them across the field until
they reached the other plane, where they found Joe still on guard over
his captives.
“Try to rob the air mail, would you?” gloated the pilot, as Newt was
lined up beside the others. “You mighty nearly got away with it, too.
But not this time!”
Ducroy leaned forward, peering at his captors in the gloom. It was then
that he recognized the Hardy boys.
“I thought so!” he muttered bitterly. “The Hardy boys! Although how on
earth the two of you got here is beyond me.”
“This means jail!” moaned Newt Pipps. “Oh, why did I ever let myself be
argued into this! I knew we’d never get away with it! I said so from the
start!”
“Shut up,” snarled Ollie Jacobs. “Shut up and take your medicine like a
man. We’re licked; but we would have been well away if it hadn’t been
for those Hardy boys.”
“You lads certainly came along in the nick of time,” said the pilot of
the mail plane. “You couldn’t have got here better if you had planned it
from the start. There is about fifty thousand dollars in cash in those
mail bags. That’s what this gang were after. They circled my machine and
dropped a tangle of ropes over the propeller. I had to make a landing,
and nearly lost my life in the bargain.”
“We did plan it from the start,” Frank told him quietly. “We have been
following these men for three days, trying to find what they were up
to.”
“Following us!” cried Ducroy. “How could you follow us? We’ve flown
hundreds of miles in the last three days.”
“And we flew with you. We’ve been quite comfortable back in the tail of
the plane.”
A startled exclamation burst from Ducroy.
“So that’s what was wrong! I thought there was something mighty queer
about the way that machine was acting. And I never even looked! The two
of you right on our trail from the start!”
His ejaculations of surprise and disgust were echoed by Ollie Jacobs and
Newt Pipps. As for the pilot, he was hilarious in his admiration of the
Hardy boys.
“You were trailing them all the way!” he exclaimed. “Well, that’s the
best I’ve ever heard. And they thinking they’d make a neat clean-up!
Boys, when I report this to the post office department you’ll hear some
fine things said about yourselves for this night’s work.”
Joe rummaged about in the plane and found a length of rope. He cut this
into convenient pieces, and while Frank covered the three bandits with
his revolver, Joe and the pilot made quick work of binding them hand and
foot.
The trio had just been safely trussed up when they heard the clatter of
an automobile in a road near by, saw the beam of headlights, and then
they heard a hoarse voice:
“What’s going on over there?”
“Who are you?” shouted the pilot.
“I’m the sheriff of this here county, and I want to know what
monkeyshines are going on over there. I have a shotgun with me, and I’m
ready to use it; hurry up and answer.”
“You’re as welcome as the flowers in May, sheriff,” yelled the pilot
jubilantly. “Come along with your shotgun. We’ve got some prisoners here
for you.”