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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6904.txt b/6904.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82a0ca0 --- /dev/null +++ b/6904.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6647 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Boy Scouts in an Airship, by G. Harvey Ralphson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Boy Scouts in an Airship + or, The Warning From the Sky + +Author: G. Harvey Ralphson + +Posting Date: October 14, 2012 [EBook #6904] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY SCOUTS IN AN AIRSHIP *** + + + + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + + + + + + + + + +Boy Scouts in an Airship; + +or, The Warning From the Sky + +BY G. HARVEY RALPHSON + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SPIES IN THE BOY SCOUT CAMP + + +Gates, the United States Secret Service man, closed the door gently +and remained standing just inside the room, his head bent forward in +a listening attitude. Ned Nestor and Jimmie McGraw, Boy Scouts of +the Wolf Patrol, New York City, who had been standing by a window, +looking out on a crowded San Francisco street, previous to the +sudden appearance of the Secret Service man, turned toward the +entrance with smiles on their faces. + +They evidently thought that Gates was posing, as so many detectives +have a silly habit of doing, and so gave little heed to the hand he +lifted in warning. The boys knew little about Gates at that time, +and so may be pardoned for the uncomplimentary thoughts with which +they noted his theatrical conduct. + +Young Nestor had been engaged by the United States government to +undertake a difficult and dangerous mission to South America, and +Gates had been sent on from Washington to post him as to the details +of the case. The boys had waited at the San Francisco hotel three +days for the arrival of the Secret Service man, and waited +impatiently, as Sam Leroy, who was to be the third member of the +party, was anxious for the safety of his aeroplane, the Nelson, in +which the trip to "the roof of the world" was to be made. + +The Nelson was lying, guarded night, and day, in a field just out of +the city, on the Pacific side, and Leroy was impatiently keeping his +eyes on the guards most of the time. There was a subconscious +notion in the minds of all the boys that there were enemies about, +and that the aeroplane would never be fully out of danger until she +was well over the ocean on her way south. Gates had arrived only +that morning, and now the lads were eager to be off. + +A couple of hours before his appearance in the room that morning, +the Secret Service agent had left the boys in the lobby below to +arrange for the necessary papers and funds for the mission. Before +going out, however, he had been informed of the boys' suspicions, +and had made light of the idea that the aeroplane was in danger from +secret enemies, pointing to the fact that no one was supposed to +know anything about the proposed journey save the boys and himself +as conclusive evidence that the suspicion of constant surveillance +was not well founded. + +Now, on his return, his cautious movements indicated that he, too, +was alarmed and on his guard. While Ned was wondering what it was +that had so changed Gates' point of view, there came a quick, +imperative knock on the door of the room, which was occupied by Ned +and Jimmie as a sleeping apartment. + +Instantly, almost before the sound of the knock died away, Gates +opened the door and stepped forward. The man who stood in the +corridor, facing the doorway, was tall, slender, dark of complexion, +like a Spaniard or a Mexican. His black hair was long, straight, +thin; his black eyes were bright, treacherous, too close together, +with a little vertical wrinkle between the brows. He was dressed in +a neat brown business suit of expensive material. + +When the door was opened he stepped forward and glanced into the +interior of the room, apparently with the purpose of entering. But +when Gates moved aside to give him passageway he drew back, the set +smile on his face vanishing as he bowed low and swung his slender +hands out in elaborate gesture. + +"Pardon!" he said. "I have made a mistake in the room." + +He was about to move away when Gates gritted out a question. + +"For whom were you looking?" he asked. "We may be able to direct you +to your friend," he added, more courteously, his alert eyes taking +in every detail of the man's face, figure and dress. + +"It is nothing!" was the quick reply. "I will make inquiries at the +office--which, undoubtedly, I should have done before." + +In a moment he was gone, moving gracefully toward the elevator. +Gates watched his elegant, well-dressed figure with a smile of quiet +satisfaction. When the visitor gained the elevator, he turned and +bowed at the still open doorway, and the Secret Service man +recognized the grin on his face as expressive of triumph rather than +apology. + +"What did he want?" asked Jimmie, as Gates, closed the door. + +Gates did not answer the question immediately. Instead he asked +one: + +"Ever see that fellow before?" + +Jimmie shook his head, but Ned looked grave as he answered: + +"I have seen him about the hotel--frequently. He seems to have a +suite off this corridor, or the one above it." + +At this moment the door was opened again and Sam Leroy bounced into +the room, his eyes shining with enthusiasm, his muscles tense with +the joy of youth and health. He drew back when he saw Gates, whom +he had not met before, and looked questioningly at Ned. + +"This is Lieutenant Gates, for whom we have been waiting," Ned said, +"and this, Lieutenant, is Sam Leroy, who is to take us to South +America in his aeroplane." + +"I hope the machine is above reproach as to strength and speed," +laughed Gates, as the two shook hands cordially, "for there is +likely to be doings down there." + +"The Nelson is warranted for work and wind," said Ned. "She crossed +the continent in a rush and spied on us through British Columbia and +on down the Columbia river, not long ago, and I can recommend her as +a very desirable bird of the air." + +"She's all sound now," Leroy said, "but there's no knowing how long +she will be if we don't get her out of San Francisco. There was a +couple of men hanging around her last night, and one of them went +away with a bullet in his leg. I'm glad you're here, Lieutenant, +for now we can get away--quick!" + +"Did you get a good look at either of the two men you speak of?" +asked Ned, his mind going back to what seemed to him to be a secret +conspiracy against the Nelson. + +"One of them," Leroy answered, "was tall, slender, dark; with long +straight hair and eyes like a snake. I noticed, too, that he had a +habit of moistening his lips with the end of his tongue, and that +made me think of a snake thrusting out his tongue. I got a shot at +the other fellow, but not at this one." + +Gates and Ned looked at each other with nods of mutual +understanding. This was a pretty good description of the man who +had just stood before the door of that room. Then the lieutenant +turned to Jimmie. + +"You asked a moment ago," he said, "what the fellow wanted here. +Now I think I can tell you. He wanted to confirm his suspicions +that the four of us axe working together. He has been sleuthing +about the corridors all the morning, watching me; and his mission to +this room was to make sure that my business in San Francisco is with +Ned--that we are working together." + +"He's sure doing a lot of Sherlock Holmes stunts," Jimmie declared. +"And I reckon he's next to his job, for he appears to have inspected +all the points of interest, from the field where the Nelson is to +the room where the plans are being made." + +"Yes," Leroy said, his manner showing apprehension as well as anger, +"but how the Old Scratch did he get his knowledge, of what, we are +about to do? I thought no one in the West knew except us four. And +what's he trying to do, anyway? What difference does it make to him +if we do go to South America in an aeroplane?" + +"I have a notion," Gates replied, "that he objects to your going in +an airship because you will make such swift time. Let me tell you +something more about this case. Then you will be able to understand +why efforts may be made to prevent your going to South America, in +an airship or in any other way." + +"It's just the airship they've been after so far," Leroy +interrupted. "They haven't troubled us--and they'd better not!" + +"I imagine," said the lieutenant, gravely, "that their activities +will broaden out as they get warmed up to their work. Understand? +What I mean is this: You boys are risking your lives in undertaking +this mission. You will be followed and spied upon from the minute +you leave San Francisco, and the chances will be all against you +when you reach your field of operations. Even the Government cannot +protect you in your undertaking, for the Government is not supposed +to know anything about this case." + +"We are to do something by stealth, then, which the diplomats of the +State department are too cautious to undertake?" asked Ned. + +"That is it exactly," was the reply. "If the State department +should take cognizance of the situation down there and make any sort +of a demand, war would be certain to follow in case the demand was +denied, which it would be. Therefore, the State department does not +wish to make a demand. Still, the American who is in trouble must +be protected. You are to go and get him out of his dungeon, or +wherever he may be, and the Department of State will wink at what +you do and look innocent." + +"Aw, why don't they send a warship to do the job?" demanded Jimmie. + +"Because," replied the lieutenant, "Uncle Sam has taken the +republics of South America under his protection, and he does not +care to spank them in the presence of all the nations of the earth! +He wants to get this man Lyman--Horace M. Lyman, to be exact--out of +the clutches of a crooked gang in Paraguay without wasting money and +lives. Hence the arrangement with you boys." + +"I have read something about the Lyman case," Ned observed, "but I +have forgotten all the material points, I guess." + +"Lyman," Gates went on, "took up his residence in Paraguay some +years ago and opened negotiations with the government for a cattle +concession. The lands known as the 'Chaco' district, lying between +the Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers, are said to be the best for +grazing purposes in all South America. Years ago they were +considered worthless swamps, but this is all changed now. + +"Well, Lyman entered into negotiations with the president of this +alleged republic and got his concession. There is no knowing how +much he paid for it, for every new president of Paraguay--and they +have new ones quite frequently down there--seems to do business on +the theory that what he doesn't get while the getting is good he +never will get at all. There have been four or five new official +heads of this alleged republic within a couple of years. + +"The country is on the verge of revolution most of the time and as +the army goes so goes the election. Jara was made prisoner last +July, and one Rojes put in power. Now, in order to keep in good +standing with the army, the government is obliged to have generals +who are loyal to whoever is in power. These generals must be paid +for their services, of course. + +"It seems that Lyman fell under the displeasure of one of these +powerful military chaps, probably because he refused to give up all +his profits in the cattle business. Anyway, Lyman disappeared from +home, quite suddenly, and his manager was notified that settlement +could be made with one Senor Lopez, an army chief, said to be a +relative of a former president. So Lopez was appealed to. + +"Now Lopez is a slippery chap. He denied knowing anything about +Lyman, but declared that unless the cattleman appeared shortly and +took up his work on the cattle concession the grant would be taken +from him. That is like South American justice. Lock a man up and +then deprive him of his rights because he can't appear and claim +them!" + +"Must be a fine healthy country!" Jimmie interposed. + +"It is all of that," laughed the lieutenant. "Then this manager, I +think his name is Coye, appealed to the United States consul and the +consul to the president. Nothing doing! Lyman, they insisted, had +not been molested by the authorities. But Lyman's people in this +country are kicking up an awful row, and something must be done. + +"There is no doubt that the cattleman, is locked up in some of the +old military prisons of the country, yet the State department can't +get him out. The president offers any assistance in his power, of +course! Lopez weeps when the matter is mentioned to him--weeps at +the unfounded suspicions which are being cast upon him! So there +you are! The only hope for Lyman lies in some such method as has +been planned. If you fail, the situation will be desperate, +indeed." + +"Why don't Lyman buy the fellow off?" asked Jimmie. + +"The purpose of Lopez in pursuing the course referred to is +undoubtedly to find an excuse for robbing Lyman of the concession +and selling it to another at a much greater price. So others +besides the general and Lyman are concerned in this mix-up." + +"You refer to a person, or corporation, waiting to buy the +concession?" asked Ned, the reason for the surveillance in San +Francisco coming to him like a flash. + +"That is it." + +"And these prospective concessionaires are looking to it that Lyman +gets no aid from this country?" + +"I had not looked at the matter in that way, had not thought of +their venturing over here, but presume you are right." + +"Look here," Leroy asked, "are you figuring it out that the people +who are trying to steal or cripple the Nelson came here from +Paraguay for the express purpose of watching this Lyman case and +preventing his friends from assisting him?" + +"You state the case in a way which gives it a good deal of +importance," Gates replied, "But I believe you state it correctly. +Just how the men who hope to gain the concession if Lyman loses it +came to understand the attitude of our Government is more than I can +imagine, but it is quite clear to me that they do understand the +situation--that they are thoroughly posted as to every move that has +been made by the Government and by the friends of the cattleman." + +"It is a good thing to know that we are likely to be chased to South +America," Ned said, "for we know exactly what to expect, and shall +be on our guard." + +"Chased to South America!" laughed Leroy. "They'll have to go some +if the keep up with the little old Nelson! She can fly some--if you +want to know!" + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A FOX JOINS THE WOLVES + + +Nelson hung like a great gull over New Orleans one hot morning in +early August. The boys who occupied seats on the light aluminum +form under the sixty-foot wings glimpsed the Gulf of Mexico in the +distance, while directly their feet ran the crooked streets of the +French Quarter. + +The departure from San Francisco had been for a delayed for a long +time because of the non-arrival of important instructions from +Washington, and because of a slight injury to the aeroplane while +out on what Leroy called an "exercise run." Lieutenant Gates had +remained with the boys until they started on their long flight to +the mouth of the great Mississippi river, and had then returned to +Washington. + +I had first been the intention to proceed due from San Francisco, +then wing toward the east where the coast of Peru showed. This plan +was opposed by the lieutenant, for the reason that an airship far +out on the Pacific ocean, directly in the steamship route, would be +likely to attract attention sailing over the southwestern states and +Central America. Daring aviators now venture in all directions and +at all altitudes above the solid earth, but they are still cautious +about proceeding far out over the merciless waters of the oceans +which rim the continent of North America. + +So, yielding to the wishes of the lieutenant, the Nelson had been +directed by her navigators across California, Arizona, New Mexico, +Texas and Louisiana until the great city of the South lay spread out +before them. The distance covered by the airship in this flight was +not far from thirty-five hundred miles, and the Nelson, leaving the +coast city on Monday morning, August 7, had covered the run so as to +reach New Orleans late Wednesday afternoon. + +The boys might, it is true, have speeded up and made the distance in +thirty-six hours, or less but they realized the necessity of taking +good care of themselves, and so they had rested in quiet places both +Monday and Tuesday night, landing about midnight and sleeping until +long after daylight. Having provisions with them, they had not +found it necessary to land except when gasoline was obtained at +Santa Fe. + +The machine had attracted little attention on the route, for it was +painted a dull gray, and its aluminum motors gave forth little +sound. It was two merits of the machine, which had been invented by +young Leroy, that it could navigate in a clear sky a mile up without +being observed from below, and could also run to within a short +distance of the earth without making herself conspicuous by the +popping of her motors. The United States authorities are now +adapting these two qualities to the government airships to be used +in the military service. + +The boys remained in New Orleans until Thursday morning, August 10, +and then, with full provision baskets and gasoline tanks, they set +out across the Gulf of Mexico. They soon sighted Yucatan, which is +really a province of Mexico, darted over British Honduras, and swung +over the forests of Guatemala, the one country in Central America +which is never bothered with revolutions. + +When an ambitious person wants to wrest the reins of government from +the officials in charge, they take him out and stand him up against +a stone wall, with a firing squad in front. This manner of +preventing revolutions is believed to be conducive to peace and also +to the sanctity of human lives. Jimmie, who had been reading up on +South and Central America while waiting in San Francisco, explained +many points of interest as the Nelson sped on her way. + +They took on more gasoline at Panama, and Ned and Jimmie were very +glad to renew their acquaintance with that now model city. Those +who have read the former books of this series will remember that the +Boy Scouts at one time had a commission to stand guard over the +great Gatun dam. + +They did not remain long in Panama, however, as they were anxious to +get to the scene of their future operations. They were all +anticipating great fun in exploring "the roof of the world," which +extends from Colombia to Argentina, north and south, through +Equator, Peru, and Bolivia, more than 2,000 miles, or as far as from +New York City to Denver. In many directions from this "roof" may be +seen villages, cattle, sheep, llamas, and evidences of mining. + +The boys made good progress down the coast of tropical South +America. They had heard much of Peru, and were surprised to see +only a great strip of sand, lying like a desert, between the Pacific +and the mountains. Now and then a little stream, fed by the melting +snows in the Andes, comes trailing out toward the sea, but it is +usually smaller at its mouth than at its source for the reason that +the precious water is utilized for irrigation purposes. Wherever +there is water crops grow luxuriantly. + +Thus far they had not been molested in any way. Indeed, considering +the speed with which they had traveled, it would have been difficult +for any one to have meddled with their plans. They were therefore +in excellent spirits when they landed at Lima, which is the one +large city of the country. + +Lima, however, is not built on the coast, Callao being the seaport +of the metropolis. Lima is a modern city in every way, with, +handsome streets, electric lights, and all that any modern city has +in the way of amusements. + +The Nelson was anchored on the morning of August 14, in a +sequestered spot, and the boys, after answering many foolish +questions, laid plans to look over the wonderful city. It was +necessary to station a strong guard about the machine, for the +natives--many of whom spoke the English language fairly well--were +overly curious concerning the man-made bird. + +In answer to all questions as to their plans, the lads replied that +they were seeking the headwaters of the Amazon, and would soon pass +over the Andes and drift down into Brazil. This was not far from +the actual truth, as it really was the Intention to return home by +that route after their mission had been accomplished. + +"But the wind is always from the east," was often urged against this +plan, as explained by Jimmie, who lingered about the Nelson while +the others were at the hotel. + +When it was explained to the doubters that the Nelson was capable of +making a hundred miles an hour against a stiff breeze, the natives +seemed to doubt the veracity of the boys. The Peruvians knew little +of airships, and when Jimmie exhibited to them daily newspapers +showing how Germany was building a fleet of three hundred airships +to use in case of war, they still looked incredulous. + +"Look here, fellers," Jimmie explained to them, later in the +afternoon of the arrival, as a group of curious ones stood about the +roped-in enclosure where the Nelson lay, "I guess you don't know +much about the navigation of the air. It used to be risky; now it +is no more so than riding on a railroad train." + +"You say it well!" + +The words were spoken in good English, seemingly in a boy's voice, +and Jimmie peered through his audience in order to catch a glimpse +of the speaker. Presently, above the heads which surrounded him, +the boy saw a hand and arm extended. The palm was out, the thumb +and little finger flat and crossed, the three remaining fingers held +straight out. The full salute of the Boy Scouts. + +"Say, you!" the lad cried out, greatly pleased at finding a Boy +Scout there. "Where did you get that?" + +"Scouted for it!" was the reply. + +"What does it read?" + +"Be prepared!" + +"Where from?" was the next question. + +"Fox Patrol, Chicago." + +"You must be pretty foxy," Jimmie laughed, "to get away off here." + +The member of the Fox Patrol now made his way through the crowd and +extended a hand to Jimmie. + +"You don't look as if it paid to be a Fox," laughed the latter. + +The boy certainly did look like a tramp. He was a lad of about +sixteen, well formed as to figure and attractive as to feature, with +bright blue eyes, long, fair hair, and a complexion which would have +been perfect only for the grime upon it. He blushed as Jimmie +looked him over, and involuntarily turned his eyes down to his +ragged clothing and broken shoes. + +"Forget that!" Jimmie cried, in a moment. "I didn't mean anything +by it. Where you stopping?" + +The fact was that Jimmie suspected from the appearance of the lad +that he was hungry as well as ragged and dirty. He certainly looked +hungry. The boy hesitated before replying, his hands deep in his +trousers pockets, his eyes on the ground. Then a whimsical smile +came to his face and he looked Jimmie squarely in the face. + +"No use of lyin' about it," he said. "I'm stoppin' down here at the +Blue Sky Hotel. It's a dandy place to stop at. They never present +a board bill." + +Jimmie sat back on the rope which was drawn about the Nelson to keep +meddlesome ones away from the machine and burst into a roar of +laughter. The crowd looked on stupidly, glancing from boy to boy, +and then at one another, as if wondering if these Americans always +went crazy when they met in a foreign land. + +"I know that Blue Sky Hotel," Jimmie said, presently, "though I've +never heard it called by that name before. I had a room in one, in +Central Park, New York, until a sparrow cop drove me out of it. I +liked it because I didn't have to dress for dinner there," he added, +whimsically. + +"The feed is rather slim," observed the other. + +"It's run on the European plan," grinned Jimmie. "You get your +sleepins, an' no one cares whether you get your eatin's or not. +What's your name?" + +"Dougherty--Mike Dougherty, Clark street, south of Van Buren!" + +"I guess you must be French," Jimmie grinned. + +"You've guessed it. Now, what's your name, and what are you boys +doin' here with this old sky-ship?" + +"I'll tell you all about it when we get back to the hotel," Jimmie +replied. "Do you know any of the gazabos about here? I want some +one to watch the ginks who are watchin' the mutts who are watchin' +the aeroplane." + +Dougherty laughed at this suggestion of a treble surveillance and +pointed out a lanky looking individual who was studying the machine +closely from the outer side of the roped-circle. + +"That's Pedro," he said. "He's all right. About all I've had to +eat since I came here he's given me. He's a Peruvian Indian, and in +need of money. Give him a dollar, and he'll guard your guards a +month, and never leave the machine, night or day." + +"Does he talk United States?" + +"Oh, just a little." + +Pedro talked quite a little United States, as Jimmie called it, and +a bargain was soon struck with him. Then the two boys started away +together. First they visited a clothing store, where Jimmie looked +at the best suits in stock, and measured Dougherty cautiously with +his eyes. A full outfit of under and outer clothing provided, they +proceeded to the hotel, where Jimmie ushered his new-found friend +into a commodious bathroom. + +"Remove some of your real estate," the boy said, "an' hop into these +new clothes. They ain't very nobby, but the best I could get here." + +Mike Dougherty stood looking at Jimmie for a moment as if he could +not believe what he heard. It had been a long time since he had +been clean and properly clothed. Then there came a suspicious +moisture to his keen eyes and he turned away. + +"Oh, well," he said, with a tremble in his clear young voice, "mebbe +I'll be able to pay you back some day. Just now I'm--" + +"Cut it out!" Jimmie replied. "You hain't got anythin' on me. I've +been there meself, an' the Boy Scout that helped me out told me to +pass it along. That's what I'm doin' now, and there's nothin' more +to be said. When you get washed and dressed, come on to No. 4, +that's the second room from this tub, on the left of the corridor, +an' I'll show you the rest of the bunch." + +Jimmie went away to No. 4, where Ned and Sam Leroy were waiting for +him. Somehow, it seemed to Ned that Jimmie kept him waiting about +half the time when they were in a strange city. The little fellow +had a way of wandering off alone and forgetting all about time in +his delight at the strange things he saw. When he entered No. 4 he +found Ned standing near the door. + +"Were you out there before?" Ned asked, pointing to the corridor, as +Jimmie stepped inside. + +"Just got here," was the reply. "Found a Boy Scout from the Fox +Patrol, Chicago, an' brought him along with me. He's washin' some +of the Peruvian scenery off his frame, now, an' will soon be along." + +Then Jimmie told of his discovery of Mike Dougherty, of his leaving +a treble guard around the Nelson, and of numerous other adventures +in the city, which, not being in any way connected with this +narrative, are not set down here. + +"I'm glad you brought this boy Mike here," Ned said, at the +conclusion of the story. "We need some one who knows something +about Lima to keep us posted." + +"About what?" asked Jimmie. + +"We're spotted!" Leroy cried out, before Ned could answer the +question. "The wireless is swifter than the Nelson!" + +"How do you know?" demanded the little fellow. "How do you know +we're spotted?" + +"Oh, Ned's been doping it out," was the reply. "He'll tell you, I +guess." + +"You thought you'd take the cream off the sensation!" laughed Ned. +"Well, that is the boy of it! All I know about it, Jimmie," he +continued, "is that I've been receiving telegrams which simply mean +nothing. They are from people I have never heard of, and are most +mysteriously worded." + +"There's one that tells you to get out of the country," suggested +Leroy. + +"Yes, but the others seem to infer that the man who sent them is out +of his mind. The three received are from Washington, San Francisco, +and New Orleans." + +"What have the messages to do with our being spotted?" asked Jimmie. +"I don't see any connection." + +"Stupid!" cried Leroy. "Can't you see the wires were sent to locate +Ned? The person who delivered them to him sure wired back that they +had been delivered to Ned in person--in other words, that he has +reached Lima on his journey to Paraguay." + +"I see!" Jimmie said, slowly. "It's clever, eh?" + +"Too clever," Ned said. "I don't like the looks of it. It means, +of course, that the people who are trying to get the cattle +concession away from Mr. Lyman have secret agents here. And that +means that everything we do at Lima will be watched and reported." + +"Reported to whom?" asked Leroy. + +"Probably to this military person, Senor Lopez, who is on the job +with both hands out," suggested Jimmie. "Well? What about it?" + +"I think," Leroy cut in, "that we'd better be getting out of this. +They can't follow us after we get up in the air." + +Here a knock came on the door, and Jimmie admitted Mike and +presented him to his chums. The boy looked trim and handsome in his +new suit, and all took a great liking to him. While they discussed +their plans another interruption took place, and then Jimmie saw +Pedro at the door, beckoning excitedly to Mike Dougherty. The boy +talked with the Indian for a short time, and then turned to Ned, +excitement showing in his face. + +"He says there's another airship here," Mike said. "Prowling over +the mountains." + +"They can't follow us in the air, eh?" cried Leroy. "I guess this +is going some!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BLACK BEARS ON THE AMAZON + + +The handsome club room of the Black Bear Patrol, in the city of New +York, was situated on the top floor of the magnificent residence of +Attorney Bosworth, one of the leading corporation lawyers in the +country. Jack Bosworth, the lawyer's only son, was a member of the +Black Bear Patrol, and the club room had been fitted up at his +request. + +It was in this room that Ned Nestor, Jimmie McGraw, Jack Bosworth, +Harry Stevens, and Frank Shaw had planned their motor-boat trip down +the Columbia river, as described in the first volume of this series. +Jack, Harry and Frank had returned to New York from San Francisco +when Ned had decided to accept the Secret Service mission to +Paraguay, at the conclusion of the motor-boat vacation on the +Columbia, leaving the two boats, the Black Bear and the Wolf, stored +at Portland, Oregon. + +One evening--the evening of the 1st of August, to be exact--while +Ned, Sam, and Jimmie were still in San Francisco, awaiting the slow +action of the State department at Washington, Jack, Frank and Harry +met in the club room for the purpose of "sobbing together," as they +expressed it. They had left their friends in San Francisco +reluctantly because of orders from home, and now they understood +that they might have gone with Ned and Jimmie if they had only +explained to their parents the purpose of the mission. + +"I suppose," Frank Shaw said, at the end of a long pause in the +conversation, "I suppose Ned and the others are out over the Andes +by this time." + +"No," replied Jack. "I heard from Jimmie by wire today, and they +are still in Frisco, and likely to remain there nearly a week +longer." + +"If the airship was only large enough!" sighed Harry. + +"We might still get there in time!" Frank suggested, eagerly. + +"The Nelson wouldn't carry us if we were there," Jack exclaimed, in +a disgusted tone. "I wish the Black Bear had wings! Say, wouldn't +that be a peach? We could run over to Paraguay and scare the life +out of the boys!" + +"What good would it do if she had wings?" demanded Frank. "She is +in storage at Portland, Oregon." + +"No," replied Harry Stevens, whose father, a noted maker of +automobiles, had presented the motor-boats to his son, "I ordered +the boats sent on here the day after we left the coast. We can +take a trip up the Hudson, anyway." + +Jack walked thoughtfully around the room for a moment and then +turned back to the others, looking moodily out of a window. + +"I've got it!" he shouted, slapping Frank on the back. + +"I should say you had!" remarked Frank. "What do you take for it?" + +"I say I've got an idea!" Jack explained, jumping up and down and +swinging his hands over his head. "A peach of an idea!" + +"Does it hurt?" asked Harry. + +"Oh, cut out that funny stuff!" Jack cried. "When will the two +motor-boats be here?" + +Harry counted on the fingers of his left hand. + +"We've been home two days," he said, "and we were four days getting +to Chicago. There we laid over a day, and came on here in twenty +hours. We are eight days from the Pacific coast. That right?" + +"It seems to be." + +"Well, then, it is seven days since I ordered the Black Bear and the +Wolf sent on here in a special express car. They ought to be here +now." + +"Then," shouted Jack, pulling Harry around the room, "we're all +right--fit as a brass band at a free lunch! Whoo-pee!" + +"It must be hungry," Frank exclaimed, regarding Jack with seeming +terror. "Does it ever bite when it puts out these signals of +distress?" + +"Don't get too funny!" Jack warned. + +"Then loosen up on this alleged idea!" Frank replied. + +Jack rushed across the room and brought out an atlas of the world, +which he dumped on the floor and opened. + +"Look here, fellows!" he said, squatting over the map of South +America, his chin almost on his knees. + +"We're looking," grinned Frank. "What about it?" + +"Here we are in New York," Jack went on. "Here they are in San +Francisco. Now, they've got to sail to Paraguay, which is just +about twice as far from San Francisco as is New York. Anyway, +that's the way it looks on the map." + +"It is all of that distance," Harry put in. + +"Well," Jack continued, "as I said before, here we are in New York, +with the mouth of the Amazon river about as far away as San +Francisco, perhaps a little farther." + +"Well?" demanded Harry. + +"I begin to see the point!" Frank admitted. "But will the folks +stand for it?" + +"Mine will," Harry answered. "Dad didn't make the Black Bear to lie +in storage. He'll stand for it, all right." + +"So will mine," Frank said, then. "I'll tell him I'll send him a +lot of news for his paper." + +Frank's father was owner and editor of the Planet, one of the +leading morning newspapers in the big city, and it was always a +fiction of the boy's that he was going out in the interest of the +paper when he wandered off on a trip with the Boy Scouts. + +"I'm afraid you can't make that work again," laughed Jack. "Ned +says that you sent only four postal cards and six letters back from +Panama." + +"Well, wasn't that going some?" asked Frank. + +"Of course, only Ned says the postal cards carried the +correspondence for the Planet, and the letters carried requests for +more money!" + +"Anyway," Frank insisted, "Dad will stand for it. What is it?" + +"Well," Jack went on, "I'm sure my Dad will let me go. He wants me +to go about all I can. Says it brightens a fellow to rub up against +the rough places of the world." + +"There's rough corners enough in South America," laughed Harry. + +"Now, let us get down to figures," Jack continued. "We ought to be +able to get to the mouth of the Amazon on a fast boat, with the +Black Bear and the Wolf on board, in a week or ten days-say ten +days. About that time they will be getting into Paraguay. What do +you think of it?" + +"Fine!" cried Harry. + +"The best ever!" Frank responded. "But what then? We can't run up +to Paraguay in the Black Bear." + +"We can get away up in the Andes," answered Jack, with the map of +Brazil before him. "See these crooked little lines? Well, those +are rivers. Just see how far we can go in a motor boat." + +"But that won't bring us to the aeroplane," Frank objected. + +"Yes, it will," Harry answered. "They are coming back by way of the +Amazon valley, and we can't miss them. Oh, what's the use? Suppose +we begin packing?" + +"Well, I don't know exactly what we are to do after we get up the +Amazon," Harry laughed, "but I'm game to go. There are head-hunters +and cannibals up there, and we may find a little amusement." + +"We're going after Ned and Jimmie," Jack explained. "This is a +relief expedition! After they get to Paraguay they'll snatch that +Lyman person out of the cold, damp dungeon keep he is supposed to be +in and then sail off over the Amazon valley. There's where we catch +up with them. Do you suppose we can find a ship going to the mouth +of the Amazon early in the morning?" + +"You certainly are fierce when you get started!" laughed Harry. +"Well," he added, "you can't get ready any too soon to please me." + +It was two days before the boys found a vessel going their way, and +even then Jack insisted that his father bribed the owners to run off +their course in order to set the boys and their motorboats down at +the mouth of the Amazon river. The boat, however, was a fast one, +equal in speed to a modern ocean liner; and in ten days from the +time of starting from New York--on the 12th of August--the boys were +stemming the current of the great river--more like a shoreless sea +there at the mouth than a river! + +"Huh!" Frank exclaimed, as they left the island of Joannes to the +south, "this is no river! It is a blooming sea!" + +"Pretty near three hundred miles wide at the delta, including that +big island," Harry said. "It is some river, eh?" + +"Four thousand miles long!" Jack contributed. "It is navigable for +commercial purposes for 2,200 miles, and our boats can go up clear +to the foot of the Andes." + +"Boats went there in the days of Columbus," Frank said. "A +companion of Columbus first discovered this great delta. The river +fertilizes two million square miles of territory, and is the +greatest water system in the world." + +"Why," Harry observed, desiring to contribute something startling to +the discussion of the river, "the current is so strong that it +carries fresh water and sand five hundred miles out into the +Atlantic Ocean. It is just a fresh water river in a salt water sea +for five hundred miles!" + +That night the boys kept the engines of the Black Bear going, one +remaining on watch all through the dark hours. They had plenty of +gasoline in the tank, and the tender, the Wolf, was carrying a load +of fuel which Jack declared would last them until the end of the +year! + +It may be well to state here that the Black Bear, the Boy Scout +motorboat, was a specially constructed vessel, built by Harry's +father for river work. The materials were light yet strong, and the +boat could easily be taken apart and put together again when +occasion required. Between the cross-grained slices of tough wood +of which the craft was built were plates of steel, thus rendering +the boat virtually bullet proof. + +The Black Bear was constructed so that it could be almost entirely +thrown open to the sunshine when so desired or closed tightly +against cold or rain. The roof could be rolled up in a bundle in +the middle like the curtain of a modern desk. The sides were +composed of oblong panels which could be inserted in grooved steel +uprights when it was desired to close in the interior of the boat. +The motors were very powerful. + +In fact, it was just such a boat as was needed on the trip the boys +had in mind. It had done excellent service on the Columbia, and +nothing less could be expected of it on the Amazon. The Wolf, which +was merely a tender, was watertight in construction, being shaped +like a banana, and was towed by the motor-boat. Here the extra +stocks of gasoline, provisions, and ammunition were packed. The +interior of the Wolf was about six feet by eighteen in size, while +the distance from rounded floor to convex roof was about four feet. + +On both sides of the interior were gasoline tanks, which also +extended under the floor, lifting the bottom of the interior space +three feet. Above the tanks were spaces for provisions and +ammunition. The space between the tanks and the lockers was about +two feet, and here one might ride in comfort, after getting used to +the rolling of the boat. There were tight glass panels of thick +plate glass at the ends and the top. + +Ventilators and loopholes, controlled by wires from the center, were +cut in the ends and protected by sliding covers. Lying in the +passageway, one might look out at either end, and shoot out, too, if +occasion required. When fully loaded, the Wolf was submerged about +half its height. On the top was a staff from which floated an +American flag. The boys were very proud of the Wolf, and Jimmie had +often declared, on the Columbia river trip, that he would some day +take an exciting ride in it. + +During their passage up the river the boys were often hailed from +passing craft, but they took little heed, as they did not care to +lose time gratifying the curiosity of those they met. Indeed, if +they had stopped to talk with all who hailed them, they would have +made slow progress. Up to about sixty years ago the Amazon was +closed to all save Brazilian vessels, but now it is open to the +commerce of the world. + +There are now vessels coming from and going to all parts of Europe +and America from Amazon ports. There are lines of great steamers on +the main stream, lines of smaller steamers on the big tributaries, +and launches and small craft of all sizes on the affluent branches. +Often the passing ships, steamers, launches, etc., almost took the +form of a procession on the lower waters. + +Everywhere the smaller ships were gathering the products of the +great Amazon basin-rubber, cocoanuts, hardwoods, dyewoods, pelts, +tropical fruits and other commodities. Every year over three +million tons of products come down the great river. The Amazon +drains a country as large as the United States east of the +Mississippi. Its feeders reach the Andes, draining watersheds +within a hundred miles of the Pacific ocean. It has tributaries +fifteen hundred miles long. + +It did not take the Black Bear very long to pass the green islands +near the delta. The river there looks like an ocean. In fact, the +main branch of the Amazon is from fifty miles to two hundred miles +in width. Some of the tributaries are a hundred miles wide. It is +from fifty to two hundred feet deep. The water is always dark +colored because of the wash brought down from the uplands. For a +long time it did not seem possible to the boys that they were +sailing on a river instead of an ocean. + +"Ned and the boys must be over Paraguay now," Jack said, one day, +after they had been on the river nearly a week without accident or +important incident of any kind. + +"Yes," Frank replied, "they must be there by this time. Jimmie said +they were to leave San Francisco on the 7th, or about that time. It +would take a week or more to get to Lima, for they couldn't remain +in the air long at a time, and the resting spells would set them +back a little. Suppose they got to Lima on the 14th, which was last +Monday, they could rest up and go prowling over that dirty little +republic--which is not a republic at all, but a despotism tempered +by revolution." + +"I'd like to know just what course Ned has decided on," Harry said. +"I don't see how he's going to get to Mr. Lyman." + +"He'll find a way," Jack insisted. "He always has, and he always +will." + +It will be seen that the boys were tolerably accurate in their +estimates of the speed of the Nelson. On the day they were +discussing the possible location of the big airship, which was the +18th of August, the Nelson was in the center of as pretty a muss as +Ned had ever mixed with. + +The boys in the Black Bear put on all speed, traveling nights as +well as days, and before long began watching the heavens, for an +aeroplane. But the lads on the Nelson were not looking for a boat +poking her nose toward the Andes--"a relief expedition," as Jack +called it! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +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!" + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +JIMMIE TAKES A RUN IN THE AIR + + +The white aeroplane flashed by, going farther to the east, and Ned +laid a hand on Leroy's arm as he was about to increase speed. + +"Don't hurry," he said, almost screaming the words into the boy's +ear. + +"I don't want him to beat me!" the driver called back. + +"Let him go," Ned commanded. "Play about the scenery a little +while, and then we'll go back to Lima." + +"Let me catch him!" pleaded Leroy. "Just let me chase around him a +couple of times. I want to see him make a sneak when he sees the +Nelson in action!" + +"Can you do it?" asked Ned. + +"Sure I can do it. Just give me a chance. There isn't a machine in +the world that can win a race against the Nelson!" + +"I'm sure of that," Ned answered, "and I hope that fellow over there +won't find it out right away. Let him think he can go by us like we +were tied to a cloud, if he wants to. There will come a time when +his confidence in his machine will cost him his job!" + +Leroy saw that Ned was really in earnest in the expressed wish to +deceive the aviator of the rival aeroplane, and also saw that there +was good reason for doing so, so he shut off the motors and started +to volplane downward. + +"No," Ned said, "that's not right. Make him think we're trying to +catch him. Give him the impression that we want to overhaul him, +but haven't the speed." + +"The Nelson will blush red with shame to be bested by a water wagon +like that!" Leroy grumbled, but he did as requested. + +The white aeroplane's driver appeared to take the bait. He +loitered, as if waiting for the Nelson to come up, then circled away +from her in great wide swaths. Once he swept around the Nelson, and +Leroy almost shed tears of chagrin. + +"Just see him!" the boy wailed. "He thinks I've got a dirt cart +here! He is putting it all over me! I can go two miles to his one, +and yet I'm taking all his guff! Let me get at him! I'll run him +down!" + +In a short time the stranger, apparently satisfied that he could +outfly the Nelson, should he desire to do so, moved off to the south +and soon disappeared in the distance. + +"Now what?" asked Leroy, half angrily. + +"He'll watch for us," Ned replied, "but he won't find us chasing +him. Go through some of your flip-flaps and then go back toward +Lima. I want to say a few words to that Mr. Thomas Q. Collins." + +Half mollified at the thought of getting a little speed out of the +Nelson, Leroy drove straight for the zenith. Up, up, up he went, +onward toward the stars, shining no brighter for his approach, yet +luring him on. All the world below was flooded with moonlight and +starlight. The mountains were dim in spots, where higher peaks +dominated the light, the Pacific shone in the radiance of the night. +The blue dome of heaven rounded away like a precious bowl set with +diamonds. + +The roofs of Lima drew closer together, apparently, and the whole +town looked like a little cluttered point of land. And the +mountains and the sea stretched away endlessly, and earth took on +the look of a great rug woven with invisible stripes. Up, up, up, +until the air became thin and the lungs staggered for breath. + +Then the motors were shut off and the ocean and the mountain chains +seemed to rise up to meet the aeroplane, sailing at the speed of +the fastest express. Over the water and down until even Jimmie +clutched Ned's arm and gave forth an exclamation of alarm. Then a +turn of a lever sent the Nelson skimming over Calleo and back toward +Lima. Avoiding the vacant space where the Nelson had rested before, +Leroy, under Ned's directions, landed on the dry sand some distance +away. + +"Of course that other chap will find us when he comes back," Ned +said, when the boys stood on solid ground again, "but we'll try to +make him think we're hanging around Peru just for the fun of it." + +"Perhaps he won't come back," suggested Leroy. "Then I'll lose my +chance of showing him what the Nelson can do." + +"I have an idea that he'll be back by morning," Ned replied. + +In this the boy was right, for the white aeroplane showed in a +couple of hours, just about dawn, circled around the city, hovered +for a moment over the Nelson, and then went off to the north again. + +"It is a certainty that she is here to butt into our game!" Jimmie +said, as the white planes disappeared. "She'll start when we start, +an' stop when we stop, an' there won't be any getting away from her. +How does she get into the air so quick after we cut loose? That's +what I'd like to know." + +"Some system of signals, undoubtedly," Ned answered. "Now," he +continued, "we'll cuddle up in our blankets here and sleep as long +as the natives will let us. Who'll keep awake?" + +Each one wanted to be the one to stand guard, but the point was +decided by the appearance of Mike and Pedro, who had watched the +maneuvers of the Nelson, had noted her landing place, and hastened +forward. Thus relieved of the care of the machine, the three boys +hastened to the hotel and were soon sound asleep. + +It was noon when Ned awoke, brought out of a deep slumber by an +impatient knocking at his door. He was out of bed in an instant +and, clad only in his pajamas, opened the door and looked out. Mr. +Thomas Q. Collins stood in the corridor with a look of alarm on his +face. + +"Thought I'd never get you out," he said, stepping, uninvited, into +the room and taking a chair. "Thought that you ought to know what's +been going on." + +Ned had little confidence in Collins. The fellow's strange conduct +of the night before naturally made the boy suspicious. After +requesting a ride in the Nelson, or, at least, the company of the +Boy Scouts to the place where the machine had been left, he had +disappeared without a word of explanation. + +It seemed to Ned that he had good grounds for the belief that +Collins had spied around until he had learned that the aeroplane was +going up, and had then communicated the information to the man on +the white machine. At least, the strange aviator had shown in the +air directly after the disappearance of Collins. + +But it was no part of Ned's purpose to permit Collins to see that he +was suspected. It was rather his idea to keep on good terms with +the fellow and watch him for any evidences of treachery. He +therefore greeted him cordially and asked: + +"Something interesting going on in the city? We did not return +until nearly dawn, and I've been asleep ever since." + +"You haven't heard about the attack on our aeroplane, then?" asked +Collins, looking Ned over keenly. + +The boy tried not to exhibit the least emotion or excitement at the +disturbing question. Leaning back in the chair he had taken, he +asked: + +"The curiosity of the people got the better of their courtesy, eh? +I have been afraid of that. Well, I hope the Nelson was not +seriously injured." + +Thomas Q. Collins had the appearance of one who had expected to +unwrap a great sensation and had failed. His face was a study. + +"Well, no," he replied. "The fact is, when the rush was made the +aeroplane shot up into the air." + +"Then one of the boys must have been there," Ned said, calmly, +although his heart was beating like a drum. + +"The little fellow was there, the one you call Jimmie," was the +reply. + +"And he went into the air alone?" + +"No; at the last minute a Peruvian Indian who has been hanging about +the machine ever since you came here went with him." + +"Then there is no danger," Ned replied, really feeling relieved at +the thought that Jimmie was not alone in the aeroplane. "The lad +will bring the Nelson back in good time. Anyway, he is entitled to +a little excursion, 'all by his lonely,' as he puts it." + +"He can operate the machine?" + +"Certainly. He can handle the Nelson easily." + +Thomas Q. Collins regarded Ned steadily for a moment, his brusque, +salesmanship manner all gone, and then asked: + +"'Where are you going from here?" + +The fellow was showing his hand at last! Or was this just natural +curiosity? At that moment Ned was more interested in discovering +something about the attack on the Nelson than in fighting off +personal and impertinent questions, so he said: + +"We haven't made up our minds as to our future course. By the way, +what was the cause of the attack on the aeroplane?" + +"Oh," replied Collins, frowning slightly, "there were a lot of +people gathered about the ropes, and one of your guards was a little +coarse in protecting your property, and there was a blow struck, +then the mob rushed the roped-in enclosure. I think there was no +one seriously injured." + +"I wonder if the other aviator is also having trouble with his +machine?" asked Ned, anxious to know what Collins would say about +the white aeroplane. + +"I don't know about that," Collins replied. "In fact, the other +fellow went off to the south soon after the departure of the +Nelson." + +"Chased Jimmie up, eh?" + +"Well, anxious for a race, it seemed to me." + +"Has the Nelson returned?" asked Ned, then. + +Collins shook his head. + +"If you'll excuse me, then," Ned said, presently. "I'll dress and +take breakfast and go down to see what's doing." + +"Your breakfast will be luncheon, I guess," laughed Collins. "I was +on my way to the dining room when I thought of you. If you don't +mind I'll wait for you in the lobby. These natives are not very +good table companions. I'm sick for the sight of my own countrymen, +anyway, and I can't tell you how glad I am to see you here." + +Collins went out and closed the door and Ned set about his toilet. +He did not know what to make of the alleged steam pump salesman. At +times he appeared to be perfectly frank and honest, then there would +come to his eyes a look of half-concealed cunning and greed which +put the boy on his guard. + +However, Ned thought, the correct way to fathom the fellow's +intentions would be to remain in his company as much as possible. +So the boy bathed and dressed and went down to Collins in the lobby +with a cheerful face. + +During the meal Collins talked incessantly of the country and his +prospects in South America. Ned listened, saying little, even in +the short spaces of silence. He was waiting for the fellow to +strike some chord which tuned with his actions of the night before. +At last it came. + +"I'm thinking of going over to Asuncion," he said, when the meal was +nearly over. "There are mines over that way, and I may stand a +chance of selling a pump. Rotten luck in Peru, and I can't afford +to spend all this expense money and not sell a thing. I hear that +there are a few Americans over in Paraguay," he added, tentatively, +smiling over at Ned. + +"I know very little about the country," Ned said, coolly, fearful +that Collins would drop that line of conversation, "and I never +heard that foreigners of any sort were made welcome in Paraguay. I +don't think we'll go out of our way any to visit that hot little +republic." + +Collins looked disappointed. Ned could see that. In a moment he +tried again to bring the subject out, but Ned seemed entirely +indifferent. + +When the two left the hotel and walked in the direction of the sand +lot where the Nelson had been left, the boy was fully satisfied that +Collins was in league with his enemies. For all he knew, the fellow +might be the very man who was trying to get Lyman's concession away +from him. This might be the man who was bribing the crooked +military chief to make it impossible for the cattle man to carry out +his contract. + +"What time did the Nelson leave?" Ned asked, as they drew near a +little group of natives standing on the sand lot. + +"Not far from nine," was the reply. + +"I didn't think Jimmie would be out that early," laughed Ned. "He +is a little sleepy head, ordinarily." + +Pushing their way into the center of the little crowd, Ned and +Collins found Leroy and Mike Dougherty engaged in a heated debate +with a police officer who was threatening arrest. Ned stepped back +so as not to attract the attention of the boys, and kept his eyes +fixed on Collins. In a moment he saw that gentleman give an +impatient gesture which seemed to urge the officer on. + +Ned thought fast for a moment. He was considering whether or not he +had been brought there for the purpose of getting into a row in defense +of his chums and being arrested with them. He was heartily glad that +the Nelson was out of the way, although he would have been better +pleased had he been safe aboard of her. + +"These Peruvian officers are too fresh!" Collins said, in a moment. +"What do you mean by molesting these boys?" he added, in Spanish, +turning to the officer. + +"They are charged with assault," the latter replied. + +"By whom?" asked Ned, also speaking in Spanish. + +"They struck half a dozen citizens," was the indefinite reply. "We +must take them to jail." + +"I'll give you a bump in the eye if you come near me!" Leroy put in, +as he searched the sky eagerly for some sign of the Nelson. + +"That wouldn't help matters any," Ned said, speaking in English. +"Go along with the officer, and I'll pay your fine." + +Collins looked annoyed at this cautious advice. He came nearer to +Ned and whispered: + +"The courts are slow and uncertain here. It may be weeks before the +boys will be restored to liberty if they are locked up. If we could +get them away into the mountains until the Nelson returns that would +end the whole affair." + +"And so you want to get me mixed up in it, too!" thought Ned, as the +officer glared at him. "You want to get me on a charge of resisting +arrest! When we get out of here, Mr. Thomas Q. Collins, I'll see +that you get what's coming to you!" + +If Collins could have known what was passing in Ned's mind, could +have understood how suspicious the boy was of him, he would not have +urged the lads, in English, to cut and run. By doing so he merely +confirmed Ned's unfavorable opinion of him. From that moment Ned +knew him for what he was, and resolved to get him out of the way in +some manner. + +Leroy and Mike paid little attention to what Collins said, as a +shake of the head from Ned gave them to understand what was passing +in his mind. In a moment Ned stepped to the side of the policeman. + +"You are all right, officer," he said. "You are only doing your +duty. The boys will go with you, and I'll pay their fines." + +But, as Ned discovered, it is easier to get into jail in Peru than +it is to get out. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NED IS GUILTY OF LARCENY + + +Night came on and no Nelson showed in the sky. Ned wandered +restlessly about the rather handsome city, anxious for the aeroplane +as well as for the boys who were in the city prison. Collins was +always with him, at first, expressing sympathy and suggesting plans +for getting the prisoners out on bail. The complainant in the case, +it was claimed by the officers, was too badly injured to appear in +court. + +Ned grew sick of the constant talking of the fellow at last, and +went to his room, saying that he was due for a little sleep. But +the boy, as may well be imagined, did not sleep. Instead, he sat by +his window watching the sky. + +Where had Jimmie gone with the machine? This question was always in +his mind. Had he met with an accident and was he lying, crushed +from a long fall, in some mountain canyon? Had the pursuing +aeroplane overtaken him and destroyed or captured the Nelson? + +It was not like the little fellow to disappear so utterly. Even +supposing he was afraid to return to Lima, he ought to understand +how anxious his friends would be and signal them from the upper air. +Surely, Ned reasoned, this would be safe, for the hostile machine +could not approach the Nelson in speed, and, after giving a +reassuring signal, the boy could disappear in the mountains again. + +It was dark now in the room where Ned was, and he sat looking out at +the sky in the hope of seeing the welcome lights of the aeroplane. +Presently, he saw a flicker of light off to the east. It increased +in size rapidly, and Ned knew that it was an airship he saw +approaching at wonderful speed, but he had no means of knowing +whether it was Jimmie on the Nelson or the hostile aviator. + +If it was Jimmie, he thought, there would be a signal directly. He +waited eagerly, but no signal showed. Presently the airship drifted +off to the north, and Ned saw the glint of moonlight on white +planes. It was the hostile ship, sure enough, but why had she +abandoned pursuit of the Nelson? + +Ned resolved to secure a closer view of the airship, but the next +question was how to avoid Collins, who was at that moment pacing to +and fro in front of the hotel. The alleged salesman would be apt to +accost him as soon as he appeared and insist on going with him. + +He had had enough of Collins. He had no doubt that the fellow was +in the conspiracy against him. It seemed reasonable that he had +been warned by wire of the approach of the Boy Scouts, and had +hastened to Lima to intercept them. Ned thought over the situation +deliberately, and then a daring smile came to his face. + +"I wonder if I can?" + +He chuckled as he asked himself the question. + +"I wonder if I can?" + +He paced his room for a moment, and then continued. + +"If he goes with me, there will be less suspicion, provided I am +right in my estimate of the fellow. We may be even left alone with +the aeroplane! Ah, that would be too good to come true!" + +The boy watched the sky to the east from the roof as well as from +his window, but there were no signs of the aeroplane which Jimmie +had taken away. + +"The little rascal knows what he is doing!" Ned told himself, "but I +wish he would let me know, too! I reckon I'll take a chance on the +plan. I'll try anything once, as the Bowery boys say." + +Having settled the vexed question in his own mind, Ned went +whistling down the broad stairway and came out in the lobby. Just +as he had figured, Collins sat where he could keep an eye on the +front entrance. When Ned appeared the fellow arose and stepped over +to him. + +"There is nothing new, I'm afraid," Collins said. "I've just been +over to the police station, and nothing can be done tonight." + +Ned thought that Collins must have made pretty good time to get over +to the police station and back during the short space of time he had +been out of sight, but he did not say so. + +"Anything new about the aeroplane?" asked Ned. "I saw the white one +come back." + +"Perhaps she can give us the information we want about your ship, +or, perhaps the aviator can," he added with a laugh. + +"Why not go and see?" asked Ned, his heart bounding with hope and +excitement as he noted how eagerly Collins took the bait. "Can we +get a motor-car here? The machine must be quite a distance away." + +"It does look that way," Collins replied, with a yawn, "and we may +as well take a car, if we can find one. I hope you don't mind my +going with you." + +"Why, I wouldn't go alone!" Ned replied, speaking with perfect +truth, as Collins discovered later on. "You don't know how glad I +am to find you up and ready for a little adventure!" + +Collins, in turn, told how pleased he was to be of service, and the +two found a motor-car and started off, taking a road which ran along +a level strip of land which lay between the sand and the mountains. +They had proceeded a couple of miles when a motor-car appeared in +sight just ahead of them, traveling toward the city. + +Collins arose in his seat and waved his hand frantically. + +"I believe that's Sherman!" he cried. "Sherman's here for a rival +steam pump firm, but I'll be good to him, especially as there is +nothing doing in the way of trade. Hey, there, Sherm!" he shouted +as the two cars drew nearer. "Pull up and give an account of +yourself!" + +Sherman was a dark-faced, black-haired, bewhiskered fellow of +perhaps forty. He was dressed in a dark business suit and wore +glasses. The two men talked shop for a moment, and then Collins +asked: + +"Where have you been?" + +"Just out for a ride," was the reply. + +"You saw the airship come down?" + +"Of come, but I'm not interested in airships." + +"Then you haven't been out there?" + +"Hardly. It doesn't interest me--this aviation craze." + +"Then you don't know whether the aviator is out there or not?" +continued Collins. + +"Why, yes, I do know about that," Sherman replied. "I heard this +driver of mine talking Spanish with a shoofer we met, and learned +from the mix-up in tongues that the aviator has gone to the city, +leaving a couple of natives in charge of the machine." + +Ned's heart bounded so fiercely that he feared that Collins would +hear its quick beats! The aviator was not there. Only two +Peruvians, timid chaps at best! Mr. Thomas Q. Collins might receive +his reward for his treachery sooner than he imagined, the boy +thought! + +"Well, so long!" Collins cried. "We'll see you in the city +tonight." + +The cars parted, each going its separate way, and Ned and Collins +were soon within sight of the white aeroplane, which lay in a valley +a short distance from the road. The spot where it lay was well +irrigated, and fruits and vegetables were growing all around the +rope which had been strung about the machine. The aviator had +evidently paid a good price for the privilege of landing there. + +A short distance away from the site of the machine was a small +house, a tiny affair, with plenty of porches and a flat roof. As +the two men left the car and advanced toward the machine a man left +the porch and walked in their direction. + +"Probably the farmer," Collins said. "We may have to pay for the +privilege of looking over the machine." + +Much to the amazement of the boy, the man who approached from the +porch spoke to the two in English. + +"What do you want?" he asked. + +Ned waited for Collins to make a reply. If Collins really was in +the conspiracy against Lyman, he would probably show his hand within +the next few minutes. Just as Ned anticipated Collins gave the +other a sly signal before he opened his mouth. Ned was not supposed +to see this evidence of a common understanding, but his watchful +eyes caught not only that but the answering sign of the other. + +"We came up to look over the machine," Collins said. + +"Well, you keep away from it," the other replied, fixing his eyes +keenly on the face of the boy. + +"This lad," Collins said, then, motioning toward Ned, "knows +something about an aeroplane, and wants to inspect this one." + +A sly wink followed the remark. It was getting rather cheap to Ned. +The collusion between the two was so evident that their attempts to +conceal it appeared very slazy. + +"Yes," Ned put in, "I'd like to look the machine over." + +"You came in that other aeroplane?" was asked. + +Ned nodded, and Collins broke in: + +"He's an expert, but he has no machine just at present. A member of +his party took his machine away this morning," he added, with a +chuckle. + +"So Rowan said," the alleged farmer replied. + +"Rowan?" repeated Ned. "Is that the name of the aviator who runs +this machine?" + +"Yes; he is a New York man. Do you know him?" + +Ned replied that he had heard of him, knew him to be a splendid +operator, but had never met him. + +After some further talk Ned and Collins were given permission to +look at the machine, which was called the Vixen. Collins expressed +his thanks in elaborate language, but Ned went straight to the +Vixen, which was then guarded by a Peruvian Indian. He was weary of +the cheap pretense of the other. + +"This is a peach of a machine," the alleged farmer explained, +following Ned as he walked about the great planes. "See here! No +cranking at all! You just get into the seat, which will carry two +nicely, and push this button. That releases a spring which whirls +the propellers until the spark is made, then off you go." + +Ned admired the arrangement fully, as he was expected to do. The +Nelson was fitted out in the same way, but he did not say so. +Presently the Indian left the circle created by the rope and, going +into the shelter of the porch, left Collins and Ned with the alleged +farmer, who announced that his name was Yerkes. + +Ned thought this action on the part of the Indian was in obedience +to a signal from Collins, but could not be too sure of it. Then +Collins and Yerkes trailed about after Ned as he wandered around the +airship. The boy saw the former remove certain bits of wood which +blocked the wheels of the Vixen, also he saw Yerkes, testing the +gasoline gauge and looking the carburetor over carefully. + +"It is all right," the boy thought. "Two hearts with but a single +thought, two souls that beat as one--or the reverse anyway, they are +thinking of giving me a ride in this old ice wagon! Pretty soon +they'll be asking me to get up on the seat and see how easy it is. +Then one of them will slip this harness about me--the harness +provided for timid riders--and I'll be off in the air--a prisoner!" + +Collins and Yerkes tinkered about the aeroplane for some moments, +while Ned seemed to be studying the machine. The boy was anxious +for the decisive moment to come. + +Finally Yerkes, went back to the porch and stood there in +conversation with the Indian for a number of minutes. + +When he returned Collins stepped forward toward the seat. + +Knowing that the time for action had come, Ned sprang into the +driver's seat. Collins looked vexed at the movement, but Ned +laughed down at him. + +"I won't hurt your old machine," the boy said. "Get up here, so we +can see how it rides." + +Collins obeyed, first giving Yerkes a significant look which was not +lost on the watchful boy. + +The harness for the visitor's seat was a peculiar one, as Ned had +noted with considerable satisfaction. There were leather cuffs for +the wrists and a broad leg band which prevented the guest leaving +his seat. The cuffs held the hands close together in the lap, the +idea being to prevent a timid person from grasping the arm of the +driver in a moment of terror. + +"Move on over!" Collins called, as he stepped up, "and I'll see if I +can take you out of the valley without breaking your neck. Don't +say a word to Yerkes about his race with the Nelson," he added, in a +whisper. "He got beaten, and doesn't like to talk about it." + +Ned noticed but remained where he was, so Collins reluctantly took +the other seat. As he did so Yerkes stepped forward, and the Indian +stationed himself at the back of the machine, where he could give it +a push down the incline which lay before it, and against which the +wheels had been blocked. + +As soon as Collins was fairly in the seat, Ned gave the harness a +quick snap, and the click of metal told him that the cuffs had +closed about Collins' wrists, that the broad strap which held him +down was in position. Then he pushed the button and the spark +caught. The Vixen moved down the incline. + +Collins tried to lift his hands, but was unable to do so, so he +lifted his voice instead! Yerkes, in the whirr of the machine, +doubtless mistook the voice for that of the boy, for he paid no +attention to it. + +"Help! Help!" roared Collins. "Stop the machine! He's got me tied +down! Stop it, you fool! Stop it!" + +Yerkes and the Indian looked stolidly on with grins on their faces, +and Ned stuck an elbow into Collins' ribs. + +"Keep still," he said, "or I'll have to put you out of the speech +habit. I've got you just where you expected to get me, and you +ought not to kick about the accommodations." + +"Yerkes!" yelled Collins. "Why don't you stop the machine? Catch +hold of the propellers and yank them off! Put a bullet through this +young fiend! Anything to stop the crazy thing. I tell you he's got +me tied in!" + +Then Yerkes, recognizing the voice, sprang toward the propellers. +He made a brisk spring, but was too late. The blades were just +about an inch out of his reach. Foiled in this attempt, he drew a +revolver and began firing foolish shots at the machine, none of +which came near the mark. + +In a moment the Vixen was under full speed, the ground dropped away, +and the last Ned saw of Yerkes and the Indian they were performing a +dance of rage on the growing vegetables below. Straight to the +south the machine flew, the motors popping like mad. + +The boy saw little crowds in the lighted streets below, looking and +pointing up at the aeroplane, and then the city streets faded away +into a dull mat, and there were only the silent peaks, the sea, and +the deep, dim valleys. + +Then Ned turned to his prisoner, who had by this time given over the +useless struggle against the harness. Collins' eyes were fixed on +the moonlit Pacific, away off to the west, and the boy's eyes +followed those of his captive. + +A steamer was creeping into the shallow harbor at Calleo, and the +dark spot on the sand showed that a crowd was there to greet her. +The Vixen was too far away for Ned to see the surf boats getting +ready to take off the passengers and freight, but he knew that they +were there. + +It was now eleven o'clock, and the moon was well up in the sky. The +ribs of the Andes lay like silver in its light. Strain his eyes as +he might, there was no indication of the Nelson. + +"Fine view!" Ned said, presently, giving Collins a nudge in the ribs +with his elbow. "How do you like it?" + +Thomas Q. Collins was near bursting with rage. He hitched about in +his seat, but to no purpose. + +"What does this mean?" he finally found words to say, screaming at +the top of his voice, for the Vixen was now making good speed. + +"I preferred to be the host rather than the guest," the boy said, +with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"I don't know what you mean by that," Collins replied. + +"You meant to capture me tonight?" asked Ned. + +"Nothing of the kind!" roared Collins. + +"You got Leroy and Mike in jail, and you thought you'd burst up this +relief expedition by putting me out of the way," Ned went on. "Now, +we'll see who'll be put out of the way." + +"What are you here for?" asked Collins. + +"You know very well," replied Ned. "But it is too much exertion to +talk at this speed. Wait until we land and I'll tell you all about +your intentions! Understand? All about your intentions." + +"Much you know about them," shrieked Collins. + +Ned made no reply to this, for, away off to the southeast, he caught +sight of the dipping lights of an airship which might or might not +be the Nelson. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLACK BEAR IN TROUBLE + + +One still night on the Amazon Jack Bosworth got out a map and turned +a flashlight on it. Frank and Harry stood looking over his +shoulder. + +"Right here," Jack said, presently, "is where we leave the main +stream of the Amazon and take to the Madeira." + +"How do you know that stream is the Madeira?" asked Frank. "We have +passed so many large tributaries that I'm all mixed up." + +"And why not try some other stream?" Harry questioned. "I've heard +that the Madeira is full of falls and rapids." + +"Anyway," Jack insisted, "it takes us away up into the Andes, almost +to Lake Titicaca, and that's all any stream will do. As for the +falls and rapids, do you expect any stream to creep down from that +great plateau without jumping off occasionally?" + +"All right," Frank cut in. "Go your own way to destruction! But +how do you know that rippling sheet of water off there," swinging an +arm to the south, "is the Madeira river? It looks like a lake to +me." + +"I found out while you were asleep this morning," Jack replied. "A +chap came along in a launch and I asked him all about it. He said +he had just come from the Andes, and advised me to turn back." + +"Kind-hearted little fellow, eh?" laughed Harry. + +"He wasn't very little," answered Jack. "He was six feet two, and +was coming out with a finger off and a cut across a cheek bone which +will last him for a spell, I guess. He cut his finger off because a +poisoned arrow struck it." + +"Cannibals?" asked Harry, with a laugh. + +"The same," replied Jack. "Said they chased him for miles." + +"We'll curb their appetites with lead," Harry observed. + +"If we see them first," added Jack. + +So the Black Bear was turned into the Madeira river, which is +something like seven hundred miles long, and drains the wooded +country where the black sheep of the land of Brazil live. Away up +in the hills it is fed by the Beni river, which has its source in +the mountains east of Lake Titicaca. + + More than once the boys were obliged to haul their motor boat out +on a rocky "bench," take it to pieces, carry it and most of the +stock around rapids, and then put it together and load up again. +Still, they made good time, and on the evening of the third day +found themselves at the junction with the Beni river. + +They were now in a wild and dangerous country. The forests swarmed +with wild game, the thickets were full of serpents, and the trees +were often crowded with monkeys. For two days they had seen no +natives. This was suspicious as it was certain that they had +penetrated to the home of the cannibal tribes so greatly dreaded by +hunters and explorers. + +It was on the evening of the 21st of August that Jack sent the Black +Bear into a little creek, shut off the power, and turned to put up +the panels. It was not very warm, but the atmosphere was sticky and +heavy with the breath of the woods. + +"We'll smother in there tonight," Frank said, observing the actions +of the other. "Why not leave some of 'em out?" + +"If you want a poisoned arrow nestling in your ribs you can sleep +outside," Jack answered. "For my part, I want to wake up in this +good old world in the morning." + +"I don't think there's any danger yet," Frank said. + +But the panels were put up and supper prepared. By this time the +lads had become accustomed to preparing their own meals, as well as +providing the fish from the river, and the repast was soon over. +Then Jack lay back and gazed through the one glass panel of the top +of the Black Bear. + +It was a dark, lowering night. The wind is usually from the east in +that part of Brazil. Blowing over the Atlantic it gathers up +moisture to dump on the eastern slope of the Andes. The summits +drain the clouds and makes Peru a dry country. It was murky now, +and the clouds hung low. + +"What do you see up there, Jack?" asked Frank. "Trying to study +astronomy, with not a star in sight?" + +"There you are wrong," Jack replied. "There is at least one star in +sight." + +"With that mass of clouds drifting over the sky?" laughed Harry. "I +reckon you must be seeing things not present to the senses!" + +"Come and look, then," Jack invited. "Look straight up, and you'll +see a star." + +Frank placed himself under the glass panel and looked up. + +"Well?" Jack demanded, in a tone of triumph. + +"It's something," Frank exclaimed, "but I don't believe it is a +star." + +"It may be a reflector at the top of the Flatiron building," grinned +Jack. "What is it, if it isn't a star?" + +"Look yourself!" cried Frank. + +The boys were all looking now. They saw the light which Jack had +mistaken for a star flashing to and fro under the clouds like a +firefly. It rushed earthward with amazing speed for an instant, +then spiraled upward again. Once it came directly over the Black +Bear, and seemed about to drop down. + +Jack threw a couple of panels open, and then the whirr of motors +reached their ears. Frank sprang outside and turned a flashlight +upward. + +"There's your star!" he shouted to Jack. + +"Quick!" Harry cried. "Wigwag with that light. It is the Nelson! +They may be able to see us!" + +"Yell, every soul of you!" directed Frank. "Yell! She is going +away!" + +The boys waved their lights frantically and shouted at the top of +their voices, but the light in the sky crept away to the west and +soon disappeared, evidently passing above the clouds which lay like +a black blanket over the Brazilian forests. + +"Great heavens!" Jack sighed. "If we could only have made them +hear! I'll bet they've been to Paraguay and released Lyman. Now +they're going back home! Fine show we now stand of having any fun +with them!" + +"They went west," Harry corrected. "That isn't the way home!" + +"I'd like to know just what success they have had," Jack went on. +"Say," he continued, "can't we do something to attract their +attention? Why not set fire to some big dry tree and let her blaze +up?" + +"I just can't have it this way!" Harry said. "I can't stand it to +have them come so close to us and then go away without knowing we +are here. We've got to bring them down in some way." + +"But they've gone!" Frank declared, gravely. + +"If we make a big blaze," Jack hastened to say, "the reflection on +the clouds will attract their attention, and they'll come back. +They won't be able to see the fire itself, of course, but they'll +see the reflection, and that will bring them down to investigate. +Then we'll fire our revolvers and wigwag with blazing sticks until +they see who we are." + +"It may not be the Nelson," Harry suggested. + +"I don't believe there's any other aeroplane sailing about the roof +of the world," Frank replied. "Of course it is the Nelson!" + +"Perhaps the Nelson was followed," Harry went on. "I've heard of +such things. The chap in that machine may be looking for Ned. +Anyway," he added, "it won't do any harm to let the aviator, whoever +he is, know that we are here. Come on, let's go ashore and build a +big fire." + +"I certainly would give a year's growth to know whether that is the +Nelson," Harry said, as the boys sought the shore and began +gathering dry wood, which, it may be well to add, was not easy to +find, as there had been quite a shower during the day. "For all we +know," he continued, "there may be another aeroplane here. If the +people who are trying for the Lyman concession are as active here as +they seem to have been in Paraguay, they may have half a dozen +airships out after the Nelson." + +Finally a quantity of wood which was fairly dry was secured, and +Jack bundled it up against a dead tree which seemed to run straight +up into the sky until it touched the clouds. But when the boys came +to apply matches they discovered that the wood was not dry enough to +be ignited in that way. + +"I'll get a gallon of gasoline and pour over it," Frank explained. +"Then we can run like blazes when we touch her off. What?" + +The gasoline was brought, and the blaze started with a mighty +concussion of the air. A portion of the highly inflammable fluid +had entered a great crevice in the dead tree, with the result that +there was an explosion which resounded through the forests for +miles. Then the flames mounted the tree, which was soon blazing +like a great torch. + +"I guess that will attract their attention!" Jack said, shielding +his face from the intense heat. + +"Yes," Frank replied, "and I'm afraid it will attract the attention +of others, too. You know we were told to sneak through this country +like little mice!" + +"It is too late now!" Jack said, a shadow of anxiety coming over his +face. "We are in for it, I guess. What shall we do?" + +Above the crackling of the flames, above the drawing and sighing of +the wind, there now came a strange sound which seemed to proceed +from the fire-tinted clouds above. Now and then branches of the +nearby trees stirred mysteriously, and at times a wild shriek rose +above the monotonous chattering. + +"Monkeys!" cried Jack. "They've come out to help us bring the +airship to earth. Good little beasts!" + +"Don't be in too much of a hurry to give the little devils a +certificate of good character!" Harry answered. "They may make +trouble for us." + +After a time the foolish, wrinkled faces of the monkeys were seen +peering from trees. Then, above the din they made, above the +crackling of the fire, constantly mounting higher, came a scream +almost like that of a child. + +"That's a jaguar!" Harry declared, "a South American tiger, and we'd +better be getting toward the boat." + +"The animals won't come near the fire," Frank said. "We may as well +remain here and see the menagerie." + +Directly it seemed to the excited lads that all the wild animals in +South America were assembled about their signal. Harry declared +that he heard the call of the red wolf, the scream of the tiger cat, +the wail of the puma, the vicious snarling of the wild dog. + +While the boys listened to the chorus their efforts to attract the +attention of the aeroplane had produced, there came into the discord +another sound--the hissing of a monster serpent. Heretofore the +boys had little to do with Brazilian forms of animal life, for they +had kept near the middle of the main stream of the Amazon, and also +about in the center of the Madeira and the much smaller Beni, which +was only a creek when compared with the other rivers. + +Occasionally they had seen a monster cayman nosing against the +current, and at times their progress had been retarded by turtles, +but they had never before seen anything like this. Their fire had +certainly brought out a combination in nature which would have been +decidedly interesting if it hadn't been so threatening. + +"Me for the boat!" Jack said, with a shiver, as the serpent launched +his head and a third of his body from the tree and swept about in +widening circles. "I never could endure snakes!" + +"I'm going to take a shot at it," Frank said. "I'd like to see him +take a tumble into the fire." + +"Better let him alone," Harry advised. + +Frank was about to fire when Jack caught his arm and held up his +hand in a listening attitude. + +"What is it?" Frank asked. + +"Human voices!" was the quick reply. + +"Inhuman voices, I should say," Harry observed, after a second of +silence. + +A chant unlike anything the boys had ever heard before undulated +through the forest. It rose and fell with the gusts of wind, and +always nearer to the fire. + +"This is a new one on me!" Jack cried. "It is also another reason +for getting to the boat! Come on, fellows!" + +"I'm not going to run until I find out what that is," insisted +Frank. "I'm going to write a newspaper story about this menagerie!" + +"If you want your story published in this world," Jack cried, "you'd +better get under cover, for that's the chant of the head hunters!" + +"Wow!" cried Frank, and he beat both his chums to the boat. + + "I guess we've started something!" Jack said, as he busied himself +putting up the few panels which had been removed when they went +ashore. "Now, some one push that button, and I'll get the Black +Bear out of this creek. A good old scout like the Black Bear has no +business associating with the wild animals on shore." + +"Right you are!" shouted Harry, and the propellers began moving. +Still, the boat made no progress to the rear, the reverse being on. + +"What's doing?" demanded Jack. "You'd better hurry, for the head +hunters are coming right along. See that big chief over there? +He's got a club that would level the Singer building at a blow!" + +"I can't make her back," Harry complained. "There's something the +matter below her in the stream. It was all clear when we came in." + +In an instant all was intense excitement on board the motor boat. +There was only one way in which the savages could reach them, and +that was to block their passage out and starve them to death! Had +this system been resorted to? Had the cunning savages obstructed +the little stream while the lads were busy building their fire and +observing their menagerie, as they called it? + +These questions were in the minds of all as efforts to back the +Black Bear were redoubled. Finally Jack opened a panel at the rear +and looked out, a thing he should have done at first. + +What he saw was a large log blocking the channel. The propellers +were pounding against it, and one of them was broken. + +"I guess the little brown men have got us good and plenty," he said, +slowly, as he reached forward and shut off the power. "While we +were playing about the blaze they plugged the river." + +"They can't get in here, anyway!" Frank consoled. + +"No; they'll wait for us to get good and hungry and go out!" Jack +replied. + +The situation was a serious one. The head hunters now appeared in +the open space about the blazing tree and shook their spears and +their clubs at the boat. Now and then an arrow with a poisoned tip +struck the side of the Black Bear. + +"They'll never leave until they get us!" Jack said, presently, "and +so we may as well get a few of them. Get your guns, boys." + +"Just you wait, old hard luck prophet," Frank exclaimed. "Look up +through the glass panel above your head and tell me what you see." + +"Well," Jack replied, "it looks like we had established +communication with the Nelson at last. And also with the Greatest +Show on Earth!" he added, as a mighty roar went up from the shore. + +The other boys crowded the panel and looked out. The clouds above +were red with the reflection of the blazing tree, yet against the +mass a different light blazed out. This light moved about, from +north to south and back again, as if searching out the reason for +the strange happenings below. + +The popping of her motors could be plainly heard, and so it was +probable that those on the airship could hear the wild animal +concert which was going on in the woods. Harry pushed a panel aside +and fired three quick shots. The aeroplane wavered above the river +a moment and then drifted away. + +"They must know there's somebody down here in trouble!" said Harry. +"Why don't they throw down dynamite? That would give the savages +all the heads they wanted for a time, I guess." + +The boys fired again and again, flashed their lights in wigwag +signals, but the aeroplane did not come nearer. Instead it whirled +swiftly about in a circle for a moment and then shot out of sight +beyond the clouds. + +And every moment the circle of savage faces gathered closer about +the Black Bear, effectively blocked in the narrow stream. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE VIXEN TAKES A TUMBLE + + +While Ned, from the driver's seat on the aeroplane he had so +cleverly taken from the enemy, watched the distant light flashing +over the mountains, the bulk of an airship came into view. While +the boy was cheering himself with the hope that he would soon be in +touch with Jimmie, however, the light disappeared, and the dark body +of the machine was no longer visible. + +"There's been an accident!" Collins muttered maliciously, in Ned's +ear. "That little chap can't run an aeroplane!" + +"What is there over in that direction?" Ned asked, without replying +to the other's suggestion of evil. "Can one land there?" + +"Not in the night," was the sullen reply. "Unless you want to +commit suicide and murder me in the bargain, you'd better keep in +the air." + +"What's over there?" repeated Ned. + +"Mountains," was the surly reply. + +Ned pointed to a dark stretch below. + +"That must be a valley," he said. "Anyway," he went on, "I'm going +down, and if we come to a point where it is jump or go down with the +machine, I'll cut you loose, so you'll have the same chance for your +worthless life that I do. That's more than you would do for me +under the circumstances!" + +Ned guided the Vixen to, as near as he could make out, the location +of the other airship at the time of her disappearance and dropped +down. As he swept toward the earth the peaks of the Andes rose +above him. + +Down, down, down he dropped, looking out keenly for trees and jagged +rocks. At last he saw a level stretch of land just below. The +rains had carried sand and ruble down from the mountains and filled +a valley perhaps three hundred feet in diameter with the wash of the +slopes. This formed what seemed to be a pretty good landing spot, +and Ned managed to bring the rubber-tired wheels of the airship down +without mishap. + +Then, rolling swiftly under the impetus given by the now shut-off +motors, the wheels carried the bulk of the ship along for some +distance and dropped. Ned felt himself falling. + +Thomas Q. Collins cried out in fright, and tried to kick himself +free from the harness, but the leather straps held. When the drop +ended there was, a jar and a crash, and the planes lay in a confused +heap in the bottom of a depression well stocked as to floor and +sides with jagged rocks. + +In descending, the dragging propellers had loosened some of the +rocks, and they, rolling down the declivities after the machine, had +fallen upon and crushed the planes. Several great boulders thunked +near Ned's head, and Collins set up a great howl as a small stone +landed on the back of his neck. + +Although the stars were shining brightly and the moon was abroad, it +was quite dark down in the hole into which the Vixen had fallen. +Ned could see slanting walls on all sides, and glimpse, above, the +slope of the deceiving level which had first caught the wheels, but +that was about all. + +Finding himself uninjured, his first move was to get out his +searchlight and make an inspection of Thomas Q. Collins, who was +roaring like a wounded bull. + +"Are you hurt?" the boy asked. + +"Hurt!" howled the captive. "My head is broken, and my arms are +smashed! What do you mean by tying me up and then wrecking the +machine?" + +Ned searched the fellow's clothing, removed a revolver and a dagger, +and then snapped off the harness which still held him to the seat. +Collins stretched himself and lunged at the boy. + +"Keep away!" warned Ned. + +"I'll show you that no Bowery kid can double-cross me!" Collins +screamed, paying no attention to the automatic in Ned's hand. "I'll +show you!" + +The next moment Ned would have fired, with the intention of wounding +the enraged fellow, but a boulder intervened, and Collins went down, +striking his head on a rock. When the boy bent over he found him to +be unconscious. + +Bringing the leather straps of the harness into use again, Ned bound +the man's hands behind his back, so as to prevent a second attack, +and set out to look for water. He had not long to look, for a tiny +spring bubbled out of the bottom of the pit and found its way toward +the valley below through a crevice in the rock. In a short time +Collins, under the influence of a right cold bath, sat up and +addressed the boy in language which would not have been considered +suitable in the presence of a lady. + +"You've done it now!" the alleged steam pump salesman cried. +"You've dumped us into a pit in the heart of the Andes, and we'll +starve before any one comes to our assistance. Take this strap off +my wrists, or I'll have your life!" + +"You're an excitable party," Ned laughed. "You want your own way! +I've been wondering, while I've been giving you first aid to the +indignant, what your name really is, and where you live." + +"You'd better be trying to ascertain where we are," declared +Collins, "and what chance we have of getting out alive." + +"I think I can tell you about where we are," Ned replied. "We were +in the air not far from five hours. The Vixen will run about sixty +miles an hour, therefore we are not fax from three hundred miles +from Lima, in a southeast direction. Do you know if we are near any +town?" + +Collins sulked a short time and then nodded toward a great peak +which rose above all the others in the distance. + +"That may be Vilcanota," he said. + +"Old Vilcanota seems to be a whale," Ned observed, looking up at the +snow cap. + +"Over 17,000 feet high," was the sullen rejoinder. + +"Well," the boy went on, "if that really is Vilcanota, we are still +in the land of the living. In fact, we can't be more than +twenty-five miles from a town, and there is a railroad--so my maps +say--over to the east. It ends at Sicuani, and there the upper +branch of the Uacayli river begins. This river empties into the +Amazon at the head of steamboat navigation, the maps say." + +"You seem to know a lot about this part of South America," gritted +Collins. + +"And over to the south," Ned went on, "is Lake Titicaca, and over +the mountains from that body of water is Coroico, where the Beni +river starts on its long run to the Amazon, by way of the Madeira +river." + +"Well," snapped Collins, drawing hard at the strap which held his +wrists, "you can't sit here and figure yourself out of this hole. +Why don't you do something?" + +"Why, I thought it might be a good plan to wait until dawn," laughed +Ned. "Then I may be able to repair this machine." + +"Repair nothing!" stormed Collins. "And in the meantime, I presume +you think you are going to keep me tied up like a calf going to +market?" + +"About that way," Ned responded, whereat the captive snorted out his +rage and rolled over on his face and pretended to be asleep. + +In a short time dawn shone on the tops of the tallest mountains, and +directly it crept slowly down into the pit where the wrecked +aeroplane lay. By this time Ned had mapped out a course of action. + +The aeroplane he had seen in the night had descended not far from +this spot, and he had decided to climb to some convenient height and +look about for it. If he could come upon the Nelson, in good +sailing condition, there would be no need of repairing the Vixen, or +trying to do so. + +Collins had counterfeited sleep until, utterly exhausted, he had +actually dropped off into slumber, so Ned had no captive to watch +for the time being. Before leaving for a tour of inspection he +examined the broken planes and discovered that it would be +impossible for him to repair them, at least without the necessary +tools and materials. + +Climbing to the level bit of sand, then, he faced the east and began +the ascent of a mountain spur which seemed to reach the very +heavens. It was a beautiful morning, the air being sharp and clear +at that height. Ned felt that he could have enjoyed the beauties of +nature more fully, however, if he had something in the way of +breakfast! + +He climbed steadily for an hour, and then came to a narrow ledge +which seemed to surround one of the lower peaks of the mountain. +Passing around to the south, he heard a shout, then a fall--a +bumping fall which told of a body bouncing from one rocky level to +another. + +He ran around the angle ahead of him and came out on a shelf-like +elevation from which a green little valley, half way up the side of +the mountain, might be seen. In the center of the valley, carefully +blocked against sudden motion, lay the Nelson. + +Ned could have danced with delight. The aeroplane appeared to be in +perfect condition, but there was no one insight. Jimmie and Pedro +must be about somewhere, the boy thought, as he considered the most +practical way of reaching the valley, but where were they? + +He was about to call out in the hope of arousing one of the aviators +to action when he saw a hand waving at him from underneath the gray +planes. A more careful inspection of the spot revealed the dirty +face of little Jimmie, who was lying on his face, an automatic in +each hand. Pedro was nowhere to be seen. + +Ned watched the signaling hand for an instant and then, in response +to what it said to him, scudded around the angle of rock by which he +had reached the shelf. As he did so an arrow whizzed past his right +ear and blunted against the rocky wall. + +The situation was not difficult to understand. Jimmie had dropped +the Nelson into the little valley and had there been attacked, +either by savages or those interested in the defeat of the Boy Scout +expedition to Paraguay, though how the latter could have reached +that lonely spot so soon after the landing of the aeroplane was a +mystery which the boy could not fathom. + +Following the attack, Jimmie had hidden under the planes, and Pedro +had probably taken to his heels. The situation explained, +doubtless, why the boy had not returned with the airship. He had +been held there by the enemies, virtually a prisoner. + +After a short pause, during which Ned listened intently for some +sound of pursuit, the boy moved cautiously to the shoulder of rock +and looked around it to the shelf. There was no one in sight, so +he pressed on, and once more came within view of the aeroplane. + +Back of the planes he saw a head lifted from the lip of a gully +which cut the valley like a trench. It was not the head of a +savage, nor yet the head of a Peruvian mountaineer, for it was +covered down to the eyebrows by a flat-topped leather automobile cap +which was adorned with driving goggles! Evidently an American! + +While Ned, himself unseen, watched the cap and the goggles, the +wearer lifted himself and looked up over the edge of the gully. He +wore a gray suit, tailor-made, from all appearances. + +Back of him three ill-visaged Peruvian Indians also raised +themselves to get a view of what was doing in front. + +So the savages were led by an American! Instead of the automatic of +civilized warfare, the enemy was resorting to the poisoned arrow of +the barbarian! + +An American there and in automobile costume! Where was the machine, +and how in the name of all that was wonderful had it been brought to +that rough country? + +And why were the enemies crouching there, when their only opponent +was a boy, hidden if his position may be so termed--under the planes +of an airship--planes which would offer little resistance to an +arrow or a bullet? + +But while the boy looked and wondered a shot came from the very +shelf on which he stood, and one of the exposed Indians dropped in +his tracks. Then the situation became a bit clearer. + +Pedro had escaped from the valley to the shelf of rock, and was +standing guard there shooting whenever the attacking party attempted +to reach the aeroplane. + +In a moment the automobile cap and goggle and the evil faces of the +Indians disappeared from view. The attacking party had dropped back +into the gully, which was some distance from the machine. + +Waiting a moment, in order to make sure that no one was stirring +behind the shoulder of rock, Ned called softly: + +"Pedro!" + +"Hello!" came the answer back. + +"'Where are you?" asked Ned, recognizing the voice of the Peruvian +he had talked with at Lima. + +"In a notch of the rock," came the answer, in Spanish. + +Ned moved along the shelf, and soon came to where Pedro stood, +sheltered by a jutting ledge. The journey was not accomplished +without attracting the attention of the others, for an arrow whizzed +past his head as he crept into the angle with Pedro. + +Pedro expressed great joy at the arrival of the boy, and explained +that the situation as then shown had existed since dawn. On the +afternoon of the previous day Jimmie, being then about to return to +Lima, had found it necessary to land in order to repair a slight +break in a plane. + +The driver of the pursuing Vixen, noting the temporary disablement, +had circled around the valley for a short time and then returned to +Lima. It was Pedro's idea that the Vixen would not return with +assistance, but with enemies who would destroy the machine, leaving +Jimmie and himself to find their way out of the mountains as best +they could. + +Jimmie, Pedro said, had been unable to fix the Nelson for flight +until about daylight, and then the attacking party had appeared. +Since then it had been impossible to get the machine into the air, +as every motion at the airship brought a bullet or a poisoned arrow. + +Just before Ned's arrival, an Indian had, by making a long journey +around the cliff, gained the shelf of rock where Pedro was +stationed, and been caught unawares and thrown down into the valley. +It was the cry and the fall of this foe that Ned had heard. + +"But," Ned said, "the Vixen must have summoned some one active in +the conspiracy before returning to Lima, for the man over there came +in an automobile, and did not come very far either. He certainly +did not come from Lima, which is more than three hundred miles +away." + +"He might have come from Sicuani," replied Pedro. "That is over to +the east, and not more than twenty miles off. I have heard that +there is a path by means of which a motor car can reach this place. +Yes, he must have gone to Sicuani, otherwise this man of the motor +car would not be here," Pedro added. + +This cleared the situation not a little, and Ned was now encouraged +to make an attempt to reach the Nelson, which Pedro declared to be +in good condition for flight. If the others had come in an +automobile, there could not be many of them. Probably not more than +six in all, and two had been wounded, or killed. + +Pedro insisted that, with Ned guarding him from the shelf, he could +reach the machine, but the boy thought it wiser to make the +desperate journey himself. Even if the Indian reached the Nelson, +the two of them might not be able to get the machine into the air, +as Jimmie had had little experience in running a plane. + +So, after explaining to Pedro that he would be taken up later, Ned +began the task of making his way down the almost perpendicular face +of the cliff. Much to his surprise, there were no hostile +demonstrations from the gully in which the attackers had disappeared +a short time before. + +Instead of shots and the whiz of arrows, the boy heard, when half +way down the slope, the distant whirr of a motor car! + +"There is some trick in the wind," Ned thought. "They would never +run away in that manner because of the wounding of two Indians and +the arrival of one boy from the outside." + +It was deathly still in the valley where the aeroplane lay. Sounds +from a distance came with remarkable distinctness, so the popping of +the motors of the automobile were plainly heard, and the direction +taken by the machine was thus made known. + +Jimmie sprang up, uninjured, as Ned advanced and the two grasped +hands with more than ordinary feeling. Almost the first thing +Jimmie said was: + +"I saw the lights of the Vixen last night, but thought the other +fellows would be in charge of her. How did you manage to geezle +her?" + +"We stole her--and smashed her." Ned laughed, telling the remainder +of the story in as few words as possible. + +Presently Pedro came down from the cliff and went over to the place +where the man he had thrown down the declivity had fallen. He found +him quite dead. With a solemn shake of the head he laid the body in +a sheltered nook and joined the others. + +It took only a brief examination of the machine to show that she was +in as good condition as ever, and Ned prepared to mount and leave +the valley. Then the popping of additional motors broke out on the +still air, and Jimmie grinned. + +"I guess you didn't smash the Vixen much," he said. "Anyway that +man in the motor car seems to have repaired her broken wings. +Probably had the tools to do it with him. They've got some dirty +scheme on!" + +"Yes," Ned replied, grimly, "or they wouldn't have left the gully. +Collins will be on deck again in about a minute!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A TRAGEDY IN THE AIR + + +"Then we'd better be gettin' up in the air, so we can see what's +going on," Jimmie replied. "I'd like to see where the motor car +goes." + +"We can satisfy our curiosity on that point without going up in the +air," Ned answered. "The Vixen was left just over that cliff. +There is a valley--a dent in the slope of the mountain--on each side +of that elevation, and the Vixen and the motor car are in one of +them and the Nelson in the other." + +Jimmie started away on a run almost before Ned had finished +speaking. In a few moments he was seen on the shelf, then he darted +around the shoulder of rock and was lost to view. The popping of +the motors continued. + +Ned hesitated a moment, uncertain as to the advisability of leaving +the machine in the sole care of the Indian, and then followed. When +he gained the shelf on the opposite side he saw the Vixen slowly +lifting in the air. The automobile stood above her, on the level +yet treacherous spot where Ned had landed. In it were Thomas Q. +Collins and the man he had seen in the automobile cap and goggles! + +The Vixen did not look to be in good repair, just as Ned had +supposed, for the newcomer had had only a short time to work over +her, but for all that she was slowly leaving the narrow pit into +which she had tumbled. Her motors were working, but did not appear +to be doing any lifting. + +Then Ned saw that a rope attached to the machine was doing the work. +The motor car, moving very slowly forward, was pulling her up the +steep acclivity, her rubber-tired wheels drawing and bounding +against the rocks. + +"If they get her up on that level space," Jimmie predicted, "they'll +get her up in the air. You can see where they've been patching the +planes, and the motors are workin' all right." + +"What I'm interested in, just now," Ned said, "is that automobile. +I'd like to find the highway through which she entered that valley. +It must be through some tunnel, for there's no path over the +slopes." + +"Then we'll keep out of sight an' watch," Jimmie observed. "See +there!" he cried, as the wheels of the Vixen struck the level area. +"She'll be in the air directly. One of the niggers is gettin' in!" + +"What's that he's loading on?" asked Ned. + +"Stones, as I'm a living boy!" he went on, excitedly. "Jump for the +Nelson, kid, and get her into the air! You see what they are going +to do?" + +It was quite evident what the intentions of the others were. The +Indians were loading the Vixen down with sharp-pointed stones and +long wisps of dry grass; out from the nooks of the valley by +Collins, who had now left the automobile. + +"We've just got to get the Nelson up in the air!" Jimmie cried. +"They're gettin' ready to drop stones an' blazin' grass down on her +planes. We've just got to get there before the Vixen sails over +her!" + +Stopping no longer to observe the motor car, or watch her course out +of the valley, both boys dashed around the shoulder of rock and +began working their way down into the place where the Nelson lay, +with Pedro, all unconscious of the approaching danger, sitting in +the driver's seat and wondering if he was ever going to eat again! + +The whirr of the motors in the air soon told the sweating lads that +the Vixen was rising from the ground. Just how they had managed to +repair her so quickly was a wonder to Ned, but he had no time to +consider that side of the case then. + +"Do you see her yet?" panted Jimmie, as the two paused a moment on +their toilsome way downwards. + +"Not yet," was the reply, and Ned almost dropped a dozen feet and +caught on the point of a rock which jutted out from the wall. + +"Gee!" cried Jimmie. "That was a tumble! Got a good hold, there? +Then catch me!" + +Before Ned could remonstrate the reckless little fellow had dropped. +The impact of his body forced Ned from the crevice in which he +clung, and together they rolled down a score of feet, bringing up in +an angle from which a fall would have been fatal. + +Ned came out of the tumble unharmed, but Jimmie lay like a rag in +his arms as he straightened out and looked upward. The Vixen was +rising over the cliff! + +Ned drew his automatic and fired three quick shots in the air, but +the aeroplane sailed on, apparently unharmed. In a moment she was +directly above the Nelson, and Pedro was fleeing for his life. + +Standing there helpless, with the unconscious boy in his arms, Ned +saw the driver of the Vixen rain great stones down on the frail +planes of the Nelson. Then a puff of smoke came from the driver's +seat, and Ned saw that the wisps of straw were being ignited to +finish the work begun by the rocks. + +He fired volley after volley at the man who was doing the mischief, +but he was so unnerved and excited that his bullets went wild. The +crash of stones on the breaking planes sounded louder to him than +did the explosions of his own revolver. + +In a moment a blazing wisp of dry grass, or straw, dropped from the +Vixen and sifted through the still air, the individual pieces of the +bundle falling apart. Some of the little swirls of flame died out +as the material passed downward, but others held, and dropped on the +wounded planes! + +Ned shouted to Pedro, ordering him to smother else incipient blaze +with his coat, or anything the he could find, but the Peruvian was +nowhere to be seen. Terrified at the movements of the aeroplane, he +had hidden in the rocks. + +Again and again the man on the Vixen lighted wisps of dry grass and +hurled them down. Directly the planes were in a blaze. Ned laid +Jimmie down on a narrow ledge and finished emptying his revolver, +but to no purpose. He had never done such bad shooting in his life. + +But Fate was abroad in the Andes that morning! + +Presently the driver of the Vixen dropped his last wisp and shot +upward, apparently not caring to engage in combat with the boy who +had used him for a target so unsuccessfully. + +As the aeroplane passed across the top of the valley, Ned saw a +little tongue of flame on the under plane. The driver evidently did +not understand his peril, for he mounted higher and drove straight +to the north. + +Ned watched the finger of flame grow as it bit into the fine fabric +of the plane with something like awe in his heart. If the driver +did not see his danger instantly and hasten down, nothing could save +him. + +While the boy watched, almost breathlessly, Jimmie stirred and +opened his eyes. He had a bad cut on his forehead, but otherwise +seemed to have suffered little from his terrible fall. + +"Gee!" he cried, looking up at Ned with a grin. "I guess I took a +drop too much!" + +Ned did not answer. He was too busy watching the tragedy which was +taking place in the air. Jimmie followed the direction of his eyes +and caught his breath with a gasp of horror. + +"He'll burn up!" he cried. + +Both planes were now on fire, and the driver knew of his peril. It +seemed to Ned that the fellow's clothes were on fire, too, for he +writhed and twisted about as he turned the aeroplane downward. + +"He'll get his'n!" Jimmie declared. + +The Vixen came down almost like a shot, leaving a trail of flame and +smoke behind her. Then the end came. + +The charred planes gave way and the frame dropped, carrying the +driver with it. They whirled over and over in the air as they came +down. The fall must have been fully five hundred feet, and Ned knew +that it would be useless for him to seek the man who had worked so +much mischief to the Nelson with a view of doing him any service. + +Below, the Nelson was sending up sheets of flame. Pedro now ran out +of his hiding place and attempted to check the fire, but his efforts +availed nothing. + +"It is gone, all right!" Jimmie said, with a sigh. "Now, how are we +goin' to get out of here? That's what I'd like to know." + +"We'll have to get out the same way the others do," Ned replied. +"They have lost their aeroplane too." + +"Yes," agreed the little fellow, "but they have a motor car, and +we've only our shanks' horses!" + +Ned extinguished the burning woodwork on the Nelson and made a hasty +estimate of the damage done. + +"The motors are not injured," he reported. "If we can get something +that will do for planes, we can get her out." + +"Then," said Jimmie, "I reckon it's me for the highway! I'll chase +that automobile into where it came from. I'll bet I'll find cloth +of some kind there." + +"It might be better to send Pedro," said Ned. + +"All right!" the little fellow agreed. "Then you and I can sleuth +about this rotten country in search of gold! They say there's gold +in these hills!" + +The purr of the motor car's engines now came again, and Pedro +hastened up the ledge and followed down into the valley where she +lay. In a moment she was out of sight, and the Peruvian was moving +toward a rift in the wall of rock to the east. + +But Ned, watching from above, saw that there was only one person in +the car. Mr. Thomas Q. Collins had been left behind! + +"That's strange!" Ned mused. "Why should he remain here? What +further mischief has the fellow in mind?" + +When Ned returned to the machine he found Jimmie busy polishing the +scorched steel work. + +"All she needs is new planes!" the lad cried. + +"Jimmie," Ned asked, "when you came here yesterday, did the Vixen +follow you closely, or did she stand off and on, as seamen say, and +take note of your course indifferently? What I want to know is +this: Did the driver seem anyway excited when you speeded over this +way? + +"He followed tight to my heels," replied the little fellow. "Then, +when he saw me land, he whirled about and went away." + +An idea which seemed almost too good to be true was slowly forming +in Ned's brain. Why had the Vixen always followed the Nelson? Why +had she spied upon her without in any way interfering? + +Again, why had Thomas Q. Collins been left there in the wilderness? +Surely there were no accommodations in sight in those valleys--nothing +to subsist on, no shelter from the weather. + +He might, it is true, have remained out of a spirit of revenge, +hoping to punish Ned for his treatment of him, but this explanation +did not appeal to the boy. With the Nelson hopelessly out of +repair, he could well afford to leave the lads to their fate, as the +chances that they would be able to get out alive--being strangers to +that country and, supposedly, to mountain work--were about one to +ten. + +And so, Ned reasoned, there must be some other incentive for the +action taken by Collins. He had a subconscious impression that he +knew what that incentive was, but hardly dared to whisper it to +himself. + +The boy's reverie was interrupted by Jimmie, who had been running +back and forth in the valley in quest of wild berries, or something +which would serve as food. + +"I could eat a whale!" the little fellow shouted. + +"Catch a hare and cook him," Ned suggested. + +"The hares here are not exactly like our rabbits, but they are good +to eat. If you go over into the little jungle below, at the end of +this bowl, you might find one." + +Ned, still wondering if what he hoped might be true, turned to the +cliff which separated the two valleys and began a careful inspection +of the rock formation. Away around to the east, under the shelf +which ran like a terrace around the elevation, he came upon what he +was looking for. + +The shelf extended outward from the face of the rock, and under it, +setting back into the cliff perhaps a dozen feet, was a cavern which +looked out on the valley where the Nelson lay, but from which the +machine itself was not in sight. + +The floor of the cavern showed traces of human habitation. It had +undoubtedly been occupied as a shelter from storms by mountaineers +for centuries. + +But the evidences of occupation which Ned saw were not those showing +distant use. There was a tiny fire burning in a crevice which +served as a chimney, carrying the smoke far up into the sky before +discharging it. + +Scattered about the fire were tin cans, some empty, some containing +food of various kinds. Thrown over a heap of broken boxes in a +corner was a coat--a tailor-made coat of fine material. + +On a little ledge at the rear were a safety razor, a small mirror, +and a shaving mug. Ned picked up the coat and thrust a hand into an +inside pocket. That, he thought, would be an easy way to ascertain +the identity of the owner. + +In a moment he drew forth a folded paper, covered with figures in +pencil. The figures were in columns, as if the maker had been +setting down items of expense and adding them up. The total was in +the millions. The calculations of a cattleman, covering shipments +and receipts! + +Ned continued his search of the coat and presently came upon a +packet of letters, all enclosed in envelopes and neatly ticketed on +the back. They were enclosed in a rubber band, and showed careful +handling. + +And the envelopes, every one of them, were addressed to Dr. Horace +M. Lyman, Asuncion, Paraguay! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DINNER IS SERVED + + +Ned stepped to the mouth of the cavern and looked out. Jimmie was +making his way back to the machine, empty handed and evidently +dejected. Ned gave a sharp whistle and beckoned to the lad when he +looked up. + +He did not care to make any unnecessary noise there, for he believed +that Collins was not far away. + +He was now half convinced that Lyman had been secreted in that +vicinity after being abducted from Paraguay; that he had been +closely guarded and comfortably provided for, the idea being to keep +him out of Paraguay until his concession reverted to the government. + +It was his notion, too, that Lyman had inhabited this cavern until +the appearance of the Nelson, when he had been removed by his +attendants and placed in custody in some other natural hiding place. + +Whether he was still in that locality the boy could not say, but of +one thing he was certain. That was that Lyman had not been taken +away in the motor car. + +And so the quest had been shifted! There would now be no need of +proceeding to Asuncion. Probably to prevent getting mixed up in the +crooked game, the plotters in Paraguay had ordered those interested +in the disappearance of Lyman to get him out of the alleged +republic. + +This would account for his being in the mountains of Peru. It might +also account for the presence in Lima of the Vixen and Mr. Thomas Q. +Collins. + +The telegrams without meaning which Ned had received on his arrival +at Lima pointed out the fact that the conspirators knew that the +Nelson was heading for that city as a base of operations. Ned's +receipting for the telegrams was proof positive that he had arrived. + +"A very pretty plot!" Ned thought, as he waited for Jimmie to make +his way up the face of the cliff to the mouth of the cavern. + +"Gee!" the little fellow cried, as his head showed above the level +of the floor of the hiding place. "I never was so hungry in me +blameless life!" + +Ned backed up so as to conceal the tinned food. + +"What will you give for a couple of tins of pork and beans?" he +asked, with a provoking smile. + +"I'll sign a check for any amount!" grinned the boy. + +Ned stepped aside, disclosing the food, and handed Jimmie a small +hatchet which he had found under the rubbish. + +"Go to it!" he said. + +Jimmie almost dropped with amazement. It was like getting water out +of the desert. Like finding milk in the heart of a rock. Like +uncovering snowballs from a bed of hot coals! American tinned goods +in the mountains of Peru! + +The boy examined the cans attentively. They were all correct on the +outside. Then he cut one open with the hatchet and brought out a +spoonful of beans on the corner of the implement. + +"Wow!" he cried, in a moment. "They're all right! Come on an' fill +up!" + +Both boys fell to, and the supply of tinned food was considerably +diminished before they had finished their breakfast. Then, fearful +that the owners of the food might seek to remove it before another +meal time came, they carried a considerable portion of the cans away +and hid them in a small cache near the Nelson. + +"We won't starve for a few days," Jimmie said, when this work had +been finished. + +"Now, tell me what it all means. I wanted to ask you before, but, +somehow, I couldn't keep my mouth empty long enough to talk. What +about it?" + +"I think," Ned replied, "that we have blundered on the country +residence of Mr. Horace M. Lyman!" + +"What does he come up here for?" asked the little fellow. "Ain't he +got no sense?" + +"The decision wasn't up to him, I take it," laughed Ned. "The +schemers in that crooked little country wanted to get him out of the +way, so they wouldn't be getting into a quarrel with the little old +U. S. A." + +"I don't see him anywhere around," the other said. + +"He doesn't seem to be on exhibition, and that's a fact," Ned +replied. + +"Perhaps," Jimmie grinned, "we'd better look up this Thomas Q. +Collins! I guess, he could lead us to him." + +"No doubt of that," Ned admitted. + +Having securely hidden the tinned food, the boys still lingered in +the vicinity of the Nelson. The machine lay shining in the +sunlight, seeming to look reproachfully up at the boys, accusing +them of getting her into a very bad predicament. + +"Good old girl!" Jimmie cried, stroking the motors. "We'll get you +out of this mix-up, all right!" + +"If we do," Ned replied, studying the ground about the machine, +"we'll have to get cover somewhere and watch her night and day." +He pointed to footprints close up to the motors as he spoke, and +Jimmie began measuring the impressions in the soft earth. + +"They've been here since we landed, all right," the boy exclaimed, +in a minute. "We never left these tracks. They're big enough for +an elephant to make!" + +"They were made by muckers," Ned continued. "You know the kind of +shoes the men who work in mines wear? Big ones, looking more like a +mud scow than a shoe. They have turned some of the copper workers +loose on us, little man." + +"Gee! How long will it take Pedro to get back?" + +"Probably three days, if he has no bad luck--if they let him come +back at all," Ned answered. + +"You can take it from me that they won't let him come back at all if +they have anything to say about it!" the lad muttered. "I reckon +I'll have to go an' find him." + +"I think it will take both of us to prevent the Nelson being broken +up," was Ned's reply. "We shall, as I have already said, have to +guard it night and day. And, besides, we've got to keep out of the +way of bullets and poisoned arrows." + +"This is a cute little excursion, when you look at it up one side +and down the other," Jimmie grunted. "We've left Leroy in trouble +at Lima, and we've got the Nelson all banged up. Perhaps they'll +hang Leroy before we get back!" + +"Cheer up!" laughed Ned. "The worst is yet to come!" + +"And here it comes!" cried the little fellow, as a handkerchief +which might once have been white fluttered above a boulder not far +away, held aloft and waved frantically back and forth by a hand +which could only faintly be seen. + +"Come on out!" Ned shouted. + +A figure lifted from behind the rock and stood straight up, waving a +dilapidated slouch hat, now, instead of a handkerchief. The fellow +wore a suit of clothes which was much too small for him, so that his +wrists and ankles protruded a good six inches. The clothes were +dirty and ragged too, and the man's face looked as if it had been a +long time since it had been brought into contact with water. + +At a motion from Ned he advanced toward the machine. Ned thought he +had never seen a sadder face on a human being. + +"Looks like Calamity!" Jimmie muttered + +"Have you boys got anything to eat?" asked the stranger, rubbing his +palms over the waist band of his ill-fitting trousers. + +"You look like you needed something to eat!" Jimmie put in. "How +long you been sleuthin' at us from that rock?" + +"Not long," was the reply, in a slow, sober tone. "Just a minute. +I fell down a mountain not so very long ago." + +"Then," said Jimmie, pointing to the wound on his head, "you haven't +got anything on me. I'm quite a hand at fallin' down precipices, +myself!" + +"You didn't say if you had anything to eat," insisted the stranger. +"I'm so hungry that I could eat a fried griddle." + +"Well," replied Ned, "we're just out of fried griddles, but we've +got a tin of beans we might give you." + +"Slave for life if you do!" drawled the other. "I've been wandering +in the mountains for more than a week, and am so empty that it will +require several tins to fill me up, but if one is the limit, why--" + +Jimmie uncovered the cache and brought out a can of beans, which he +opened with the hatchet and presented to the other, with a grave +bow. + +"Dinner is served, me lud!" he said. + +The stranger did not wait for formalities. He had no knife, fork, +or spoon, but he managed to remove the beans from the can and convey +them to his mouth without the aid of such artificial aids to the +hungry. He sighed when the can was empty, and wiped his hands on +the grass at his feet. + +"How did you get in here?" asked Ned, then, curious to know how any +one could have the nerve to face a mountain journey in the condition +this man was in. + +"I came after the mother lode," was the reply. + +"Have you got it in your pocket?" asked the little fellow. + +"I didn't say I found it," was the grave reply. "I said I came in +here looking for it. There was a party left Sicuani, over to the +east, two weeks ago, and I trailed in behind. You see, I had a fool +idea that these people were on the track of a big gold find, and so +just naturally sneaked along. They had an automobile. I walked. +They had plenty of provisions. I had no one to grub-stake me. They +feasted while I starved, but the way is rough and slow, especially +when tires break, and I managed to keep up with them until two days +ago. Then they got away from me." + +"Did you find gold?" asked Ned. + +The stranger shook his head. + +"Nothing doing!" he said. "I've been grubstaked all over Australia, +and up the Yukon, and over Death Valley, but I have never found a +spot where there's so little gold as there is in these hills." + +"So, you are an American tourist?" asked Ned. + +"I am," was the grave reply. "I stowed away on a ship bound for +Asuncion and got a job shoveling coal to pay for the rottenest grub +I ever ate. When we got up the river to Asuncion I hired out to a +man to herd cattle. That was worse, only the air was not so +confining." + +"So you left and went to Sicuani?" asked Ned. + +"Exactly, after many days. I liked the cattle business all right, +but I had to move on. Horace M. Lyman is a good chap to--" + +"Wait!" Ned said. "It was Horace M. Lyman you worked for, eh?" + +"Sure. He's an American, and a fine fellow." + +"Well," Jimmie cut in, "you're likely to see him if you stick around +here. They geezled him, so another gazabo could get his +concession." + +"And marooned him off here? Is that it?" asked the stranger. +"Well, there's a pair of us, then, that don't find anything +nourishing in the scenery. Where is he?" + +"We haven't found him yet," Ned answered, "but we're on the trail. +If you had one more can of beans, do you think you could help us +hunt him up?" + +"Certainly. Of course. I'll do that without the beans, but--" + +"I see," Ned answered. "You haven't the strength, just now, to do +much looking. All right, we'll fat you up, and then--" + +Ned did not complete the sentence, for a long, wavering call came +from the west, and the stranger started off in that direction +without a word of explanation. Ned wondered for a moment whether +this fellow wasn't another hypocrite of the Collins stripe. + +"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "Suppose you tell us something about +that call?" + +"I'm agreeable," replied the other. "Don't you know what that +coo-coo-ee-ee is? Then you've never lived in the cattle country. +That is a cowboy salute, pard, and my private opinion is that Horace +M. Lyman is the party that uttered it." + +"Then he's not far away," Jimmie said. + +"Suppose I answer him?" asked the stranger. + +"Go on an' do it," the little fellow advised, and Ned nodded. + +The cod-coo-ee-ee which the ex-cowboy emitted rang through the +valley and came back in weird echoes from the crags around. + +"Now he knows there's some one here looking after him," the stranger +explained. "He knows that Old Mose Jackson is right on the job. +What might your name be, pard?" he added, turning to Ned. + +"Nestor," was the reply. + +"Ned Nestor, of course!" Jackson exclaimed. "I read about you being +in Mexico, and in the Canal Zone. Strange I should bump into you +away off here! And I'll bet this is Jimmie? What?" + +"The same!" the little fellow replied. "Ned can't lose me!" + +Hardly had the words left the boy's mouth when a bullet came zipping +through the air. It struck a metal section of the Nelson and +flattened out. + +"Before now," Jackson said, coolly, "when I've found myself on the +open plain with redskins popping away at me I've dug a hole in the +ground and stowed myself away in it. What do you think of the +notion, pard?" + +"It looks good to me!" Jimmie cried. "But," he went on, "We've got +nothing to dig with, so we'll just have to move back to that gully, +an' take the grub with us." + +The change was soon made, the Nelson being run back to the edge of +the trench-like depression, and then the three awaited the next move +on the part of the enemy. + +Presently a shout was heard, and then the flashily-dressed figure of +Mr. Thomas Q. Collins appeared on the shelf of rock. + +"Don't shoot!" he cried, swinging both hands aloft. "I want to come +down and talk with you." + +"There's some trick in that!" Jimmie said. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A STICK OF DYNAMITE + + +"If we could only get out of this cul-de-sac," Jack said, as the +savages gathered closer about the Black Bear, "and make the Beni +river, we could leave them behind like they were painted on the +trees." + +"There ought to be some way," Frank mused. + +Harry, who had been rummaging in a trunk of clothing and tools which +stood under the bridge which half concealed the motors, now came +forward with a package in his hand. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Dynamite!" was the cool reply. + +"That ought to induce them to go on about their business--if +properly administered," Jack said. "I didn't know we had any on +board." + +"I didn't know what we might come across up here," Harry replied. +"Shall we light a fuse and give one of these persuaders a toss over +into that mess?" + +"It would amount to wholesale murder," Frank replied. + +Harry's face hardened as he held up a hand for silence. The howling on the +banks of the little stream was now almost deafening, and every second there +came the thunk of arrows against the boat. + +"You see what they would do to us," he said. + +"Yes, I know," Jack said, "but we are supposed to be civilized! It +would be a wicked thing to do, to murder fifty or a hundred of those +savages. Suppose we toss a stick where it will do little damage and +still attract their attention from the boat? Then we might get that +log out of the way." + +"We'll see what show we have for getting it out of the way-the log, +I mean," Jack replied. + +He cautiously opened one of the lower panels at the rear and looked +out. The log which blocked the narrow channel was afloat, for it +was the trunk of a dry tree, and the water was deep. What held it +in place was the end which lay on the shore. It had been rolled in +at a point where the bank was low, and at least two-thirds of it lay +on the ground. + +"I'd like to know how they got it in there!" Jack said. "It looks +too big for a hundred men to handle." + +"Anyway, there it is," Frank replied, "and there the propellers +are--one of them broken. Can we make speed with that busted wing?" + +"We've got to," Harry said. "Just hear the devils! They will rush +the boat in about a minute!" + +The cries coming from the forest were now blood-curdling in their +ferocity. The cannibals were evidently working themselves into a +pitch of excitement which would give them courage to charge the +Black Bear. + +Now and then the frightened howl of some wild beast was heard in the +distance, adding not a little to the excitement of the scene. The +tree which had been set on fire to attract the attention of the +airship still blazed, sending a twist of flame far up into the sky. + +In the glare of the fire the savages looked like fiends ready for +any act of deviltry. Now and then three figures larger than the +rest stood together as if in conference, and then the shouts grew +louder, and the line about the boat closer drawn. + +"I've got a notion that we can make pretty good speed with that +broken wing," Jack mused. "Anyway, we can drift down stream if we +can't steam up stream, and that will take us out of this mess." + +"Then let's blow that log up with dynamite," suggested Frank. + +"Yes," said Jack, "and finish the propellers!" + +"Blow up the shore end," continued Frank. "Who can pitch it so that +it will knock that blooming dry wood into the stream?" + +"I'm willing to try," Harry said. "I used to pitch a tricky ball! +I'll get a fuse ready, open a panel, and give it a throw. While I +have the panel open, though, you fellows open up a loophole in front +and do some shooting out of it to attract attention. I don't want +any poisoned arrows biting me." + +This was agreed to, and Harry arranged a fuse and prepared to throw +it. When Jack opened a panel in front and sent a volley of bullets +ashore, the boy pushed open a panel in the rear and, waiting until +the attention of the savages was attracted to the front of the boat, +tossed out the dynamite. + +It hurled through the air, flashing in the red light of the fire, +and landed at the very end of the fallen tree, rolling into the +angle between the wood and the earth. A fine throw! + +Harry yelled to Jack to close his panel, and all three boys stood on +the tips of their toes, fingers in ears. In a moment the explosion +came. + +The Black Bear rocked violently, so that it was with difficulty the +boys kept their footing. Wild cries of distress and fright came +from the forest, and, in a few seconds, the crash of falling trees. +The dynamite had done its work well, at least, so far as noise was +concerned. They could not yet see what effect the explosion had had +on the tree. + +Had it loosened the obstructing log so that the boat could pass out +into the Beni river? Had the concussion damaged the propellers so +that the trip up the valley of the Amazon would have to be +abandoned? + +These questions were in the minds of all three boys as Jack +cautiously opened a rear panel and looked out. The first thing he +saw was the log, splintered and broken into half a dozen pieces, +floating down stream. + +The explosion had whirled the great trunk high up in the air and +brought it down, broken, in the channel of the stream. There seemed +nothing to do now but to set the motors at work and run out of the +dangerous position. + +But the motors refused to work. Something more than showed on the +surface was the matter with them. Harry looked out at the rear and +saw a great red patch of earth without a single human being in +sight. The fire was still burning brightly, but there were no +savages dancing about in its fierce light. + +At the sound of the explosion the head hunters had taken to their +heels. At first view, no one seemed to have been injured by the +dynamite, but, on giving the scene a closer inspection, the boy saw +three bodies lying near where the log had been. They might be dead +or only stunned; the lad had no means of knowing. + +While Harry watched for some sign of life, the roar of a wild animal +came from the forest, and he knew that a tiger cat was approaching. +The humans--if the man-eating savages may be so termed--were still +running, it appeared, while the wild beasts of prey were returning +to the scene of the explosion. + +"Come," Harry cried, "we must get out of this now if we can get the +propellers to working. There is no one in sight, only three men +lying near where the log lay, and there are man-eating animals +coming, so I'd rather not see what takes place next." + +Jack threw open another panel and stepped out. The roar in the +forest was growing again, but no savage was in sight. He moved to +the back of the boat and bent down to look at the propellers. + +"I can't see from here!" he shouted, in a moment. "Look out for me, +you fellows!" + +Like a shot he was in the river, diving under the stem of the Black +Bear. Harry and Frank, knowing the rivers of that district to be +swarming with caymen, grouped at the rear and watched with anxious +eyes for the reappearance of their chum. + +In a few seconds Jack's face appeared above the surface of the +water. He seized a rope passed to him and climbed on board, shaking +the water from his clothing like a great dog. + +"It is all right," he said, as soon as he could get his breath. +"There was a piece of the log wedged in back of the paddles and I +got it out. Get a pole and push. She's in the mud, I guess." + +The pole was used before the motors were turned on again, and the +Black Bear was soon out of the little creek, sailing slowly down the +Beni. However, the boat did not behave well, and it was decided to +tie up for a day and go over her carefully. The propellers needed +fixing, and there might be some other injury which had not been +discovered. + +Not caring to strain the weakened propellers, they permitted the +boat to drift down stream. + +When a mile away the illumination of the fire which had been so +injudiciously set could still be seen distinctly, and when the boys +listened they could hear the cries of the savages and the fierce +howls of the wild beasts. + +During the day the boys had passed a level plateau on the east bank +of the river, and it was decided to float down to that, as they +could beach the Black Bear there and work without danger of being +attacked from the shelter of a forest. + +They gained the spot about midnight and anchored some distance out, +resolved to take no chances on the shore that night. The stream was +quite wide, and they opened the top panels so as to get what fresh +air they could. + +Jack was the first one to see the airship hovering over them. + +"Look!" he cried. "Look! Look! We've just got to attract their +attention in some way! See! They are going away again! Confound +the luck!" + +The airship seemed about to dip down, then it floated off to the +west and whirled to the south. + +"They're signaling!" Harry cried. + +This seemed to be true, for there were lights moving about in the +air in queer combinations. + +"Get a glass!" shouted Jack, in great excitement. "We'll soon see +about this!" + +But the airship seemed interested in the spot where the fire was +burning, and did not remain overhead long enough for the boys to get +a good view of her. At last she disappeared entirely. + +Although anchored out in the stream, which was at least two hundred +feet wide at that point, the lads kept a close watch of the shores +that night. Once, just before dawn, they caught the sound of +paddles, but the canoe which appeared on the west soon sneaked away. + +The hubbub on shore kept up all night long. The beasts took up the +chorus when the savage tribesmen retreated. + +"Beautiful country this!" Jack said, as the sun rose over the great +valley. "I think I'll like to live here always--not!" + +"Yes," grunted Frank, whose eyes were heavy with the long watch, +"even on the Great White Way, the enthusiasm quiets down after three +o'clock." + +"It is all in the game!" grinned Harry. "We came out here for +excitement, and you mustn't complain when you get it." + +After breakfast, which was keenly enjoyed, the Black Bear was +beached on the cast banks and the injury to the propellers examined. +Some of the blades were broken while others were strained. + +"Well," Harry said, as he scratched his head in deliberation, "we've +got extra blades, and we've got the tools, and I don't know as we're +in a hurry anyway. We've got all the time there is!" + +"Not if we catch the Nelson before it gets out of the country," Jack +objected. "This is the 22d of August, and the Nelson must have +sighted Lima about the 14th, so you see we've got to do some sailing +if we get to the headwaters of the Beni before the boys get back +home." + +If they had only known, the lads might not have been so anxious to +get on, for the boys with the Nelson were having troubles of their +own about that time. Besides, there were difficulties ahead much +greater than those entailed by the breaking of the blades of the +propellers. + +They worked all day at repairing the injuries, and at night were +ready to proceed. It was dark again, and there seemed to be a great +commotion on shore. + +"For one," Frank observed, "I don't like the idea of going on up an +unknown river in the night. There are rapids, and there may be +obstructions. And then we may follow off some tributary which will +land us in some swamp after an all night ride." + +"I'm not anxious to go on tonight," Harry contributed, "for I'd like +to see what that mess on shore will amount to. There's something +besides the appearance of the Black Bear exciting those fuzzy little +natives, and we may miss something if we run away. I wouldn't like +to do that." + +So it was decided to remain where they were until morning. The +panels were put up, leaving only the openings for ventilation, and +the Wolf was brought close alongside. + +Frank got the first watch in the drawing of sticks, and stationed +himself at the prow, where he could look out on the river. Jack and +Harry were soon asleep. + +About midnight a great clamor arose on the west bank. In a moment +it was echoed from the opposite shore. There was a beating of +drums--the foolish drums which the natives made so crudely--and long +chants, rising in the darkness like the monotonous melodies the boys +had heard in the cotton fields of the South. + +Frank shook Jack and Harry out of their bunks, much to the disgust +of the two sleepy-heads. They did not need to ask questions as to +the reason for this, for the chant was coming nearer, and the drums +were beating like mad. + +"They're arranging an attack!" Jack said, turning a searchlight out +of the front loophole. "I can see half a dozen canoes hanging off +and on at a bend above. I guess we made a mistake in stopping +here." + +"Perhaps we'd better drop down the river," Harry suggested. "I +don't want those heathens swarming over the Black Bear." + +Jack went to the stern and looked out on the swirling river from +that point. + +"If we do," he said, in a moment, "we'll bunt into a fleet of war +canoes. We've got to put on all speed and drive ahead." + +"Why not drop back?" asked Harry. + +"Because," was the reply, "we can go up stream about as fast as we +can go down stream, and the canoes can't. We'll shut everything +tight but the loopholes and go through them like a shot through +paper. If they board us we'll have to open up and drop them into +the river with our automatics." + +"Put the big light out in front then," Harry said, "and stand there +and tell me which way to steer, and let her go!" + +The next moment the Black Bear, closely followed by the Wolf, was +nearing the canoes, now drawn up in line of battle in front. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BRIBE OF HALF A MILLION + + +"What do you want to talk about?" asked Ned, as Thomas Q. Collins +advanced a step, both hands still high above his head, as an +indication that he was unarmed. + +"I want to reach an understanding with you," was the reply. + +"About what?" + +"About--well, about your errand here." + +"Oh! Well, what about it?" + +Collins hesitated a moment and then asked: + +"Why can't I come to you and sit down? I'm not armed. This is not +an easy or a dignified position for me to hold." + +"You say you are not armed," Ned replied. "Will you say as much for +the savages who are with you in this dirty game?" + +"There are no savages here with me," Collins protested. "Your +Indian killed one by throwing him from the ledge, one was killed +when the Vixen burned and dropped, and one was shot by one of your +boys. The other went away with the motor car. You must have seen +them riding away?" + +"There were five people with him when he first came out here in the +car," Jackson said, under his breath. "Ask him where the other +white man now is." + +"Did you see the other white man?" asked Ned of Jackson. + +"Not distinctly." + +"Would you have recognized him if it had been Lyman?" + +"I might. I can't say. I wasn't very near to them. They kept me +scouting over the hills to keep them in sight." + +"Well," Collins called out, impatiently, "are you going to let me +come in for a talk? If not, I'll go back and bring some shooters +out here." + +Without answering that special question, veiled, as it was, with a +threat, Ned asked the one proposed by Jackson. + +"Where is the white man who was with you when you first came here in +the car?" + +"I did not come in a motor car," was the reply. "I came in the +Vixen." + +"That's a lie!" Jackson whispered. "The Vixen, if that is what they +call their airship, never showed up until a few days ago. I tried +to signal to the driver; or, rather, I did signal to him, but he +ignored me. This man Collins came in with the car more than two +weeks ago, and went out in it, too, and the other white man +remained. The next time he came, he was in the Vixen." + +"Who is that fellow who is filling you with prejudice against me?" +demanded Collins, presently. "It looks like a man wanted for +stealing cattle from the Lyman ranch." + +"Why didn't you communicate with him, if you were so hungry?" asked +Ned of Jackson, suspiciously. "You say he has been here at least twice." + + +Jackson frowned and looked away. Then his forehead flushed and he +said: + +"I guess there's no use lying about it. I was accused of running +cattle off the Lyman range. That is the man who accused me. I +never did. He knows that. Now you know why I didn't approach him +and ask for food." + +"Well," insisted the boy, "why didn't you browse around and find the +white man he left here? That is what he came in here for, isn't it--to +hide some one he wanted out of the way?" + +"I thought he came to look for gold," was the reply. "Now, about +the other question. I did try to find the man he left here. I +wanted to eat with him! I knew there was some one in the hills, but +I never found him. It beats the Old Scratch where he is!" + +"Come, come!" Collins cried, impatiently, "you can do your visiting +after we have our talk. Shall I come to you, or will you come to +me?" + +"Don't you go out there!" Jimmie warned. "He's got some one hidden. +You'll be shot if you do. Tell him to come here." + +"Keep your hands up and come here," Ned ordered, thinking this good +advice. + +He had already experienced the treachery of the fellow, and did not +care to take any chances. Collins came along sullenly, stood stock +still, while Jimmie searched him, and then sat down on the framework +of the Nelson. + +"That aeroplane would look handsomer," Ned said, grimly, "if your +men had not set it on fire." + +"That was war!" Collins replied. "It is war still, unless we can +come to some kind of agreement." + +"I haven't much faith in your word," Ned replied. "You played a +dirty game on me at Lima, you know." + +"The chances of war!" Collins replied. "Now," he went on, "we can +come to terms without any reference to the International Peace +Congress, if we want to. I'll admit that if things were a little +different I wouldn't be asking for terms, but that is neither here +nor there. I want your assistance." + +"On the level?" demanded Jimmie. + +Jackson grinned scornfully, and Collins glared at both. + +"The man we brought out here--merely as a matter of business--has +disappeared," Collins went on. "We left him in the little cavern +where you found his coat and the food. He's got away." + +"You refer to Lyman?" + +"Of course." + +"You were keeping him a prisoner until his concession should lapse?" + +"That's only business." + +"When does it lapse, in case he does not appear and make payment?" + +"On the 31st of August." + +"And this is the 18th?" + +"I think so. I'm pretty well mixed as to time, as well as +everything else." + +"Then he has only fourteen days in which to get back to Asuncion and +make a large payment?" + +"That is just it." + +"And he is lost?" + +"Yes." + +"When did you see him last?" + +"You remember how I came to be here? You brought me, trussed up +like a hen in that aeroplane harness. Well, when the Vixen went +into that pit and you went away to look over the scenery, I knew +that the motor car would be along soon, so I didn't try to get away. +I knew what would happen if I did. You'd shoot! Just as soon as +the car came and I was released--the car brought in food for +Lyman--I sent a man over to the cave to find Lyman. He wasn't there. +Understand? He wasn't there." + +"But there were live embers in the cave when I got there," Ned said. + +"I know. That was built by one of my men, who wanted to make +coffee, but didn't. The food you stole was brought in by the car as +I said before. You found Lyman's coat, didn't you?" + +"Yes, and a packet of letters." + +"I knew what you were in Lima for from the first. I knew of your +mission before you left San Francisco. So I did not lie to you when +you asked if the man who was brought in, something over two weeks +ago, in a motor car was Lyman. I knew that you knew. You see, we +had to get him out of Paraguay when it was learned that the United +States had placed the Lyman affair in the hands of the Secret +Service." + +"Go on," Ned said. "You are getting pretty close to the point now." + +"I thought at first," Collins went on, "that you had blundered into +this district just by blind luck. Now I know better. I gave myself +away by my fool antics at Lima. Then the Vixen showing up and +chasing the Nelson around increased your suspicions. Oh, I know how +it happened. You fooled us all. We led you right to the spot where +Lyman was hidden by our attempts to mislead you. More fools we!" + +"You have stated the case correctly," Ned said. "If you had kept +away from me at Lima, and the Vixen had kept out of sight, I should +have gone straight on to Asuncion, and should have been wasting my +time there this minute." + +"Yes, that's the truth! Well, now I've been perfectly frank with +you, and I want you to be equally honest with me. Do you know where +Lyman is?" + +"I do not." + +"You haven't seen him?" + +"Never saw him." + +"If you find him, what do you propose doing?" + +"I shall take him back to Asuncion and see that he gets justice." + +"Acting as a Secret Service man of the United States?" + +"No, as an individual." + +"But you are in the employ of the government?" + +"Yes, but I'm not authorized to mix the two countries up in a war." + +"Yes, I know, but your government will back you in whatever you do. +That is the point with me. If you report no cause for interference +down in Paraguay, there will be no danger of our getting into +trouble. Your government wouldn't make a demand for Lyman's +release, although it was understood he was kept in duress by a high +official of the republic. Still, it sends you out to act +unofficially. Now, this being the case, you are the person I want +to talk with." + +"Well?" + +"I want you to help find Lyman, and then I want you to help me come +to terms with him--we can't fight the United States!" + +"In other words, you want me to betray my trust and help you rob +him?" + +"No. There are two sides to everything--where there are not three, +or more. So there are two sides to this cattle concession business. +I think that Lyman will be glad to settle if we find him--if he does +not know that the United States has Secret Service men on the +ground!" + +"So you really do want to buy my silence?" + +"I want to make sure that you will not attempt to defeat our plans." + +"Nothing doing," Ned replied. + +"Wait!" Collins continued. "You haven't heard me out. We'll see +that Lyman gets all his money out of the deal, with something +besides, and also that you get a quarter of a million dollars for +saying nothing." + +"Nothing doing!" Ned repeated. + +Collins actually gasped with amazement. He had offered bribes +before, but had never started out with so large a sum. And he had +never been denied! + +"Understand the proposition," Collins said, presently, as soon as he +could catch his breath, "it is not you we want. We don't care a +continental cuss for you. What we want is for you to keep quiet +after we find Lyman. It is the Secret Service of the United States +we axe afraid of. I'll make it half a million." + +"It must be a rich concession," Ned said. + +"It is, and Lyman got it for a song, for no one ever supposed that +swamp would make good grazing ground." + +"I guess Mr. Lyman will earn all he gets out of it," Ned laughed. + +"He will never get anything out of it, unless he comes to terms with +me," Collins said, impatiently. "We'll find some way to keep him +out of Asuncion until after the 31st. It is a long way from here to +Paraguay!" + +"All the more reason why we should get busy looking for him," Ned +said. + +"And when we find him?" asked Collins, tentatively. + +"I shall take him back to Asuncion." + +"Then you'd better not find him," threatened Collins. "If you're +going to oppose me, I'll leave it to you to look him up. I'll go +back to Asuncion and bring men out here who will see that you never +leave the mountains." + +"Gee! That's a cheerful proposition!" grinned Jimmie. + +Collins, disgusted at his failure to either bribe or frighten the +boys, started away, but Jackson laid a heavy hand on his shoulder +and swung him around. + +"Wait a minute!" he said. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Collins. + +"You're not going to Asuncion after help," Jackson said. "I have a +little score to settle with you myself! You're the man who accused +me of running off cattle. Well, you're going to remain right here +with me until I go out with you and give you a chance to make that +right." + +Collins glanced at Ned. + +"Is this by your order?" he asked. + +Ned shook his head. + +"I have no present quarrel with you," he said. + +Collins started away again, but Jackson thrust him back, not any too +gently. + +"If you make a touse," he said, "I'll tie you up. Now," he added, +as Collins, almost foaming with rage, threw himself on the ground, +"I want you to tell me where you left that tent." + +Both Ned and Jimmie sprang to their feet at the mention of the word. + +"A tent! Here!" + +Collins snarled out some impertinent reply, and Ned asked: + +"Did they bring in a tent?" + +"You bet they did!" Jackson answered. "This fine-haired duck with +the circus parade clothes wasn't going to sleep in no cavern. He +was going to have a nice, soft, cool bed under a tent while he was +waiting for the Lyman concession to lapse. He was reared a pet--he +was!" + +The ex-cowboy was so enraged at Collins for the insinuations he had +cast upon him that he pushed up to where he lay and would have +assaulted him if Ned had not interposed. + +"Let him alone," the boy said. "We'll leave the law to make payment +in his case. Are you going to tell us where the tent is, Collins?" +he added, turning to the angry captive. + +"I guess you can get along without the tent," Collins said. "You +won't have to remain here long. I've got men coming in. They may +be here at any moment. Officers of the Republic of Paraguay!" + +"I shall be glad to meet them!" Ned laughed. "If you'll tell me +where the tent is I'll be able to entertain them properly." + +"Aw, I can find the tent if it is around here anywhere!" Jimmie +broke in. + +"What do you want of it?" demanded Collins + +"A little tent cloth," Ned smiled, "would make a serviceable machine +of the Nelson. We could make new planes in no time. What do you +think of the idea?" + +"I'm not going to have the tent cut up," shouted Collins. + +"I guess yes," Jimmie said, provokingly. "You burned our planes, +and you've got to supply material for new ones." + +The little fellow darted away as he spoke, working his way over the +ledges which separated the two dents on the mountain sides. In a +short time Ned heard him calling and saw him looking down from the +shelf above the cavern. + +"Come on up," the lad cried. "I can see the tent over in the other +valley, and there's another automobile coming. What do you think of +that? This must be a regular station on the underground railroad +between Asuncion and Lymanville!" + +Ned lost no time in gaining the ledge. The white body of the tent +was in plain sight, just where the men had dropped it out of the +machine. The two boys hastened into the depression, seized the +canvas in their arms, and started back toward the Nelson. On the +shelf again, Ned asked: + +"Where did you see a motor car?" + +"Over east," was the reply. "There's a tunnel under the range off +that way. I take it that a river ran there once, draining this +valley." + +Presently the machine appeared in the valley from which the Vixen +had slipped off into the pit. There were four men in the two seats. +One was the Indian in goggles who had driven the car away, the +others were white men. The car could not have gone far, so these +men must have been picked up just outside. + +The boys carried the canvas down to the Nelson and began the work of +making new planes, keeping close watch, but leaving the newcomers to +do the calling if there was any to be done. There was plenty of +canvas and the tools necessary for the work were found in the +Nelson's tool chest. Collins watched the doings angrily. + +"These men," he finally said, "are officers. Two from Paraguay and +one from Peru. They have warrants for your arrest." + +He started to his feet as if to join the others as he spoke, but +Jackson saw that he did not get very far. + +"Tell your friends," Jackson said, "that we're too busy to be +bothered now. We'll soon have this aeroplane fixed, and then we'll +give an imitation of men sailing out of this mess. Lyman knows a +friend is here, for he heard my cowboy call. He will soon come out +of his hole, and we'll take him back to Asuncion--just to prevent +international complications!" he added with a grin. + +The work of preparing the new planes progressed swiftly, but before +it was completed the men who had arrived in the automobile appeared +on the ledge and called down to those below. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE NELSON IN THE SKY + + +"Well," Ned called back, as the new arrivals shouted down from the +ledge, "what do you want?" + +"We want to talk with you." + +"Cripes," Jimmie grinned, "we're in good demand today. The stock of +Boy Scouts must be gettin' shy!" + +"Go on and talk, then," Ned answered, well satisfied as to what the +fellows wanted. + +"Shall we come down there?" + +"You stay away!" Jimmie replied. "We're a little particular about +our company!" + +"Is that little runt speaking for you?" demanded the man on the +ledge. "If he is, we'll do something besides talk." + +"For the present he is," Ned replied. "What can I do for you?" + +"You can surrender yourself. We have warrants for your arrest." + +"Couldn't think of it!" was the cool reply. "We prefer to remain at +liberty." + +"I told you!" Collins grunted, rising from his reclining position +and moving toward the ledge. "I told you that you'd get into +trouble. You'll sweat for this!" + +Jackson caught him by the shoulder and whirled him back. + +"You stay here!" the ex-cowboy gritted. "The less trouble you make +the better treatment you will receive." + +"What are you doing to Collins?" asked the newcomer. "Tell him to +come up here." + +"I'm being held a prisoner!" Collins shouted. "Train your guns on +these kids and drive them off. And find Lyman. He left the cavern, +but he's somewhere about, for he answered a cowboy call not long +ago." + +"We already have Lyman!" was the answer. "He thought we were the +friends who had called him and joined us. We'll take care of him, +all right." + +"That's fine business--not!" grunted Jimmie. + +Ned was not a little disappointed by the announcement. With Lyman +in the hands of his enemies, it might be impossible to get him back +to Asuncion in time to save his concession. + +And here was another difficulty, one which might bring on a war +between the United States and Paraguay. Ned, as an official of the +United States Secret Service, now knew that those high in authority +in the government of Paraguay were involved in the attempt to +defraud Lyman of his rights. This had been only suspected before. + +So long as only private interests were interfering with the treaty +rights, so long as the government of the unruly republic was not +mixed up in the attempt to cheat an American citizen out of his +property, the government at Washington might well restrain its hand. +But when the government of Paraguay itself, as Ned now believed, was +involved in the crooked game, that was an entirely different matter. + +Ned believed that a full disclosure of the facts in the case would +send warships to Asuncion. He believed that an international +complication might breed open war unless he succeeded in getting +Lyman away without open conflict with the authorities of the little +republic. But how? + +Well, the State Department at Washington had trusted him, and he +would do his best. The thing to do at that time, it appeared to +him, was to await the action of the newcomers. They might be +officers of Paraguay, with authority to make arrests in Peru, and +they might be only four-flushers. He must temporize until he found +out what they proposed to do in the matter. + +And, then, he reasoned, if they had Lyman, he had Collins! That was +not so bad! Perhaps an exchange of prisoners might be made! This +did not seem very likely, but still there was hope. Collins, for +all he knew, might be the man who expected to profit by the robbery +of the American cattleman. + +"So Mr. Lyman is there with you?" Ned called back. "Send him over +here. I want to talk with him." + +A harsh laugh was the only answer to this. + +"You may as well come to terms with me," Collins exclaimed. "You +have no chance of winning now. I like your nerve, but you're +butting into too strong a game for a lad of your years." + +"I shall have to take chances," Ned replied. "What will those men +do with Lyman?" + +"I don't know!" + +"I know!" Jimmie cried. "They'll kill him!" + +"I don't think they'll do that," Collins remarked, with a wicked +sneer, "but it would clear the atmosphere if he should fall down a +mountain!" + +"If he does," Ned declared, flushing with anger at the brutality of +the remark, "you will also take a tumble. If he is injured in any +way, you'll answer to me for it." + +"You wait!" warned Collins. "I've handled cases like this before. +I can give you cards and spades and beat you out. You'll be getting +hungry before long." + +"And the Nelson will be ready for flight before long," Ned replied. + +During all this conversation Jackson and Jimmie had kept steadily at +work sewing the new, strong canvas taken from the tent on the frame +of the planes. They could not make a very neat job of it, but they +did their work well. Ned had hope of getting out of the valley that +very night. Presently the men on the ledge withdrew for a time, and +Ned began a closer examination of the Nelson. To his disgust he +discovered that the gasoline was very low in the great tanks. Built +for long flights, the Nelson's tanks were very large, fitted to +carry a supply which would last a couple of days. Ned did not quite +understand why the supply should be short after a run of only three +or four hundred miles. + +"I've got an idea!" Jimmie said, catching the worried look on Ned's +face. + +"I'm afraid it will take something more than an idea to get the +Nelson back to Lima," Ned replied in a low tone, for he did not care +to have Collins informed of this new difficulty. + +Collins, however, had been watching the movements of the boys +closely, and at once surmised what the trouble was. He laughed +insultingly as he pointed to the great tanks. + +"Empty?" he snarled. "I knew it. Now will you be good!" + +"Shut up!" raged Jackson, who was only too anxious to get a pretext +for attacking Collins. "We've heard enough from you!" + +"'Tie him up!" ordered Ned. "He's likely to make a run for it, and +then we should have to shoot him. Tie him up good and tight." + +"You'll be sorry if you do!" threatened the captive. + +Notwithstanding this threat, the fellow was bound hand and foot. +During the process of the work, which was performed none too gently +by Jackson, Collins called out to his friends in the other valley, +but there was no response. They were probably too busy with their +plotting against the boys to hear the shouts. + +This business completed, Jimmie beckoned Ned aside. + +"Here's my idea," he said. "The Vixen's tanks didn't blow up when +she burned and dropped. When it comes night I can go and get the +gasoline. The tanks were full, were they not?" + +"Yes, chock full. The driver seemed to have fitted her out for a +long run. But we may be able to get the stuff before dark. The +Vixen did not land in the valley where they are, but in a canyon +over to the west. Suppose you go over there and see what the +chances are?" + +"All right!" replied the boy. "And if the tanks of the Vixen are +not full, we'll steal the fuel out of that automobile when it gets +dark!" + +"That's a good idea, too!" laughed Ned. + +Jimmie hastened away, keeping in the gully as long as possible and +dodging around friendly cliffs when it came to climbing over the +ridge which shut in the valley on the west. The gully cut across +the valley, east and west, and was very deep at the east end. + +After the disappearance of the boy, Ned removed Collins to the deep +end of the cut and placed Jackson there as a guard. He did not want +the captive to know what was going on, as a shout to his friends, if +they again visited the ledge, might put them in possession of the +facts regarding the empty tanks of the Nelson. Then it would be an +easy matter for them to prevent the getting of the gasoline from the +wrecked Vixen. + +Then Ned, hearing no more from the alleged officers, went to work on +the planes, and succeeded in getting a long strip sewed in before +Jimmie returned with his report. + +"The tanks are almost full," the lad said, "and all we've got to do +is to unscrew a couple of burrs and lug them right over here. We +can't do that until, after dark, for they would shoot at us. +Where's Collins?" + +Ned pointed to the gully. + +"Well," the boy continued, "when I got up on that ridge, I could see +the men over in the other valley. They are getting reinforcements +from somewhere. Anyway, I saw half a dozen Indians standing around. +They've got a fire and are cooking dinner. Then I saw one of the +white men pointing, and I'll tell you right now what they're going +to do! They're going to station men around this little old crater +and keep us in here until we starve, unless we give in." + +"They forget that there's an air route," laughed Ned. + +"Suppose we get up there on the Nelson!" exclaimed the boy. "And +suppose they shoot us off! That wouldn't be funny, would it?" + +"We've got to go in the night, then," Ned said. "But before we go I +want to have a talk with those fellows." + +"Then you'll get a word with Lyman, if you can?" + +"That wasn't a bluff, then? They have captured him again?" + +"Oh, yes, they've got him with them, all right. Anyway, there's +four white men, and only three came in the car. Guess it's Lyman, +sure enough!" + +"What is he doing?" + +"Just walking about. They haven't got him tied up, at least the man +I took for Lyman isn't. He looks mad enough to bite nails, though!" + +"That is a wonder," Ned said. "It may be that they are trying to +make terms with him." + +"Of course!" replied the boy. + +Along in the afternoon one of the alleged officers appeared on the +ledge again. He appeared to be somewhat excited, and Ned suspected +that something had gone wrong with the other party. However, he +remained quiet, waiting for the other to make his errand known. +After a short silence the fellow asked: + +"What has become of Collins?" + +"He is still here," Ned answered. + +"Held against his will?" + +"Well, he is still doing some kicking." + +"You'll be sorry if you don't let him go." + +"How will you trade prisoners?" asked Ned. "Send Lyman down here +and we'll send Collins up to you." + +"Oh, Lyman doesn't want to leave us," was the reply. "We've +arranged a settlement with him." + +Ned did not believe this. He knew that the Lyman concession was a +valuable one, and that the cattleman would put up a long fight +before sacrificing it. + +"Send him down here then," Ned answered. "If he is voluntarily +staying with you, he can return if he wants to. Send him down!" + +"He is afraid you'll try some trick on him," was the reply. + +The whole afternoon passed in just such conversation as this--talk +which brought no results worth mentioning. Ned did not believe that +Lyman was remaining with the newcomers voluntarily. He did not +believe that Lyman was suspicious of him. + +The men in the other valley frequently visited the ledge and talked +with Ned, but the boy saw that they were quietly making arrangements +to surround him. Now and then the figure of an Indian appeared on +the elevations about the valley, which was the crater of an extinct +volcano. + +A little study showed Ned that in some long forgotten time the two +valleys had formed a great crater, and that this had been cut in two +by the elevation of a mass in the center. High up above this dead +crater, on the north, stretched the bulk of the mountain, the +eruption having taken place on its south slope. + +But while Ned talked with the visitors, argued with them, +threatened, he kept at work on the planes, and at nightfall had them +completed. The canvas had been put on double and sewed on very +strongly, so the boy believed that it was as good a machine as ever +that he contemplated getting out that night. + +"But," argued Jimmie, when the plans were laid, "we can't all go in +the Nelson. How are you going to carry Lyman, Jackson and me?" + +Jimmie thought for a moment and then added: "But we haven't got +Lyman yet. We'll have to come back after him, I take it, after we +land Jackson outside." + +"But I'm going to get him," Ned replied, "if this machine works all +right. I'm going to leave you and Jackson here. What about that?" + +"If you can grab Lyman," Jimmie grinned in disbelief, "I'll be +willing to stay here as long as the grub lasts!" + +"I'm going to get him," Ned replied. "I don't know how, but I've +just got to get him back to Asuncion before the 31st." + +"And what about Collins?" + +"We'll have to let him go. When I get out, let him go, and then you +two will have to hide away until I can come back after you." + +"All right," replied Jimmie, with a sigh. "Only hurry back! I +don't want to starve to death here." + +After dark Ned, Jackson and Jimmie lugged the tanks of the wrecked +Vixen over to the valley and dumped the gasoline into the Nelson's +tanks. Even this accession did not quite fill the latter. + +"Wish we could get to the motor car," Jimmie suggested. + +"Now," Ned said, "I want you two to kick up an awful rumpus here, +directly. Shoot and do all the yelling possible. Let Collins loose +and chase him! He deserves it! Then, when the fellows over there +run up on the ledge to see what is doing, I'll swoop down in the +aeroplane and pick up Lyman--that is, if he is willing to come with +me. If he isn't, I can't get him, that's all." + +"Then, when we get up in the air, we take to our heels?" + +"Exactly. If you don't these fellows will make trouble for you. +Hide, but keep making to the east. When I come back after you I'll +come in from that way." + +"How long will it be?" asked the lad, who did not quite like the +notion of being left there with Jackson. + +"I can't say," was the reply. "I may leave Lyman in the nearest +town, or he may want to go to Asuncion. I may be back by daylight, +and I may be gone two days. I hope to be back by daylight." + +"All right," Jimmie grunted. "We'll keep off to the east, and when +you return you can pick us up before they know what's going on. +Here's hoping you get Lyman!" + +"I'll get him!" Ned replied, shutting his teeth hard together. + +So, all arrangements made, Jimmie crept up on the ledge, about nine +o'clock, and looked over into the twin valley. + +There was a campfire burning, and Lyman, or the man the boy took for +the cattleman, sat close beside it. The others were walking about. +Now and then an Indian stepped inside the circle of light cast by +the fire, consulted with the others for a moment, and disappeared +again. + +It was certain that the alleged officers were preparing to advance +on the boys, bent on putting the Nelson out of commission for good. +The planes had not been repaired any too quickly. When Jimmie +reported Ned stepped into the machine. + +"When I get within sight of those in that valley," he said, "make +all the noise you can. If you can cause them to think you're +killing Collins, all the better. Make him yell! I'll go straight +up and drop down by that fire before they get over their +excitement." + +A few strong shoves, a dozen revolutions of the rubber-tired wheels, +and the Nelson left the ground, as strong and capable as ever. The +motors made little noise, and no signs of discovery came from the +other side until the machine was high up. Then a few ineffectual +shots were fired at her. + +Jimmie and Jackson began their part of the performance promptly by +shooting and yelling. They loosened Collins, much to that +gentleman's delight, and started him off in the dim light on a run. +As Jackson took great delight in landing his bullets close to +Collins' feet, the alleged salesman ran for dear life toward the +ledge, screaming and calling for help at every jump. + +This was exactly what the others wanted, and in a short time they +saw a huddle of dark figures on the ledge. In the excitement the +firing on the Nelson had ceased. + +Jackson and Jimmie were not long in getting out of the valley after +that. They whirled around the elevation between the two valleys, +sometimes feeling their way in the darkness, climbed over a ledge, +and made for the black entrance to the tunnel through which Jackson +had entered. + +When they were at the mouth of the tunnel they turned and looked +back. The Nelson was lifting from the valley where the fire had +been seen, whirling up, up into the night sky. They could not +determine from where they stood whether there were two or one on the +big aeroplane. They had no means of knowing whether Ned had +succeeded or failed. + +The two watched the dim bulk of the aeroplane as it winged over +their heads. Now and then, after it was too late to do her any +harm, a few vengeful shots were fired at her. The fact that Ned +kept going convinced them that he had picked up Lyman and was on the +way out with him. + +After the aeroplane had disappeared from sight Jackson and Jimmie +hurried on through the dark tunnel, which, as has been said, was +merely the dry channel of a stream which had cut its way out of the +valley years before. Jimmie proposed that they remain there all +night, but Jackson objected to this. + +Their pursuers knew that he knew of the tunnel, he explained, in +support of his objection, as they were aware that he had entered the +valley by that route, so they would naturally look there for them. + +This was convincing, of course, and the two hastened on their way, +lighted by the little searchlight. For a long time there were no +indications of pursuit, then a popping roar came beating down the +passage. + +"That's the automobile!" Jimmie cried. "Sounds like an express +train, eh?" + +"It certainly does," Jackson replied, "and it is up to us to get out +of the way, somewhere. They won't take extra pains to catch us +alive." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARRESTED FOR SMUGGLING + + +The Nelson swept out of the air like a bird and landed so close to +the fire that Ned felt the warmth of it on his face. The wheels cut +the earth at first, under the force of the quick descent, then +stopped. + +The firelight shone on the white planes, bringing them out strongly +against the darkness, and Ned knew that he could not remain there a +minute without being discovered by the alleged officers of the +little republic he was just then warring against. When he landed +the men were out of sight around the ledge, but they of course saw +the aeroplane and came running back. + +Lyman, or a man Ned believed to be the cattleman whose financial +operations had stirred up an international row, stood moodily by the +fire when the Nelson dropped down, almost on top of his head. He +sprang away, rubbed his eyes as if trying to awake himself from a +bad dream, and then stood stock still, watching. + +"Lyman?" Ned called. + +There was no reply, and Ned spoke the name again. + +"Yes, Lyman," the man by the fire answered, then. "What new wrinkle +is this?" he added, stepping a little closer to the machine. + +"If you're Lyman," Ned replied, hastily, "you can't get in here any +too quickly. Those fellows will be here directly, with Thomas Q. +Collins in the lead, if my boys do their duty. There will be little +chance for either of us then. Jump in!" + +"But I've never been on one of those things, and I'm afraid," Lyman +said, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I'm afraid I'd fall out." + +A shot came from the ledge, and Ned reached for the button which +would start the motors going. + +"You've only a minute to decide," he said. "I've come a long way to +find you. If you reject this chance you won't get another." + +"Well," Lyman cried, stepping up to the seat, very shaky as to +nerves and pale as death, "I may as well die from a fall as from a +bullet or a knife. If Collins is coming back with the officers, +I'll have to do something." + +The instant he was in his seat, Ned threw the leather straps about +his legs and wrists and buckled them tight. Lyman shivered with +fright. + +"I thought so!" he cried, mistaking Ned's motives. "This is only +another trick!" + +The wheels bumped for an instant over the inequalities of the +surface, the machine rocked lightly, then the planes lifted into the +air, the propellers running like mad. A few ineffectual shots came +from the men who were running down from the ledge. Ned saw Jimmie +and Jackson chasing Collins out of the valley, heard their shots, +and then, in a few moments, saw them at the mouth of the tunnel. + +In five minutes more the Nelson was out of all danger, purring +through the darkness like a contented cat. Lyman sat moodily in his +harness, saying not a word, but fully convinced that this was only +another trick of his enemies. Directly the boy slowed the motors +down so as to make conversation possible. + +"Well," he said, turning on one of the electric bulbs so as to see +the face of his passenger, "what do you think of the Nelson? Peach, +isn't she?" + +"Where are you taking me?" was the only reply to the question. + +"That is for you to say. We are not very far from Sicuani, Peru, +and from there you can secure transportation back to Asuncion--if +you think it safe to go there, under the circumstances. About a +hundred miles to the north is Cuzco. You can go there and prepare +for your visit to Asuncion if you care to. Then, over here in +Bolivia, is Sucre. It might be well for you to go there. Anyway, +it is up to you." + +"Who is doing this?" asked Lyman, suspiciously. + +"I can't see as that makes any difference to you," Ned replied. + +"I was in the hope," Lyman went on, "when you came down upon me so +unexpectedly, that my friends had found me. You speak English like +a New York man," he went on. "Perhaps you live over there?" + +"Yes," was the reply. "I live in New York, when I am home." + +"Nice little old rotten government we've got!" almost shouted Lyman. +"The people at Washington let any crooked little republic do +anything it has a mind to do to a citizen of the United States. +They're too busy getting themselves into office and keeping in to +pay any attention to their duties. England wouldn't stand for a +minute the tricks that have been played on me, not by business +rivals, but by the government of Paraguay! England protects her +citizens, wherever they are!" + +"Well," Ned replied, with a laugh, "you may be right about England, +but you are wrong about Uncle Sam. He looks after his own, too; if +he didn't I wouldn't be here now. You wouldn't be on earth!" + +"Do you mean to say--" + +Lyman hesitated, and Ned went on and told him as much of the history +of the expedition as he thought it necessary for the cattleman to +know. + +"And now," he concluded, "Where do you want to go?" + +"I want you to go with me, wherever I go," was the reply. "And I +think we'd better go straight to Asuncion." + +"Do you think that a safe plan?" + +"Oh, yes; they won't dare abduct me again." + +"Then," Ned added, "we may as well get on the way. Asuncion is +somewhere about twelve hundred miles from here, and we've got to +make it by daylight." + +"What's that?" asked Lyman, hardly believing he had heard aright. +"You would better say in two days." + +"The Nelson can make it in eight hours," Ned replied, "if we don't +drop into any holes in the air or adverse currents." + +"Holes in the air!" repeated Lyman. + +"Sure," answered Ned. "The atmosphere surrounding the earth is just +like the water in the large reservoirs--there are deep places and +shallow places, holes you can drop in, and currents like the Gulf +Stream current, the Japanese current, which warms the northern +states and British Columbia, and the Arctic Humboldt current, which +sends a cold stream down the Pacific coast of South America. If we +have no difficulties with these rivers of the air, and the wind does +not come up too strong, we can make Asuncion by six o'clock in the +morning. It is about ten now." + +"What sort of an airship have you here?" demanded Lyman, amazed at +the thought of running at the rate of two hundred miles an hour or a +hundred and fifty, at least. + +"She was built for speed and endurance," was the reply. "Now cover +your face with this mask, unless you want to have your breath blown +out of the back of your head, and we'll get under way." + +That was a night ride which neither of the participants ever forgot. +The first part of the night was dark. Then a moon shone down from a +cloudless sky, showing all the beauties of that magnificent country. + +The mountains, the forests, the headwaters of the rivers which help +to make the Amazon, were under their feet. Now and then they swept +over a point of light which denoted the presence of a small town. +Occasionally the cry of frightened wild beasts--the vicious mountain +lion, the savage tiger cat, the prowling puma--came up to their +ears. + +After a short run to the southeast, Ned wheeled about and struck +straight off to the east. The wind was growing stronger, and the +Nelson was not making as good time as the boy desired. + +There was a fierce current about the top of Mt. Sorata, which is +something over 21,000 feet in height, and again Ned swung off to the +north. Dropping down, then, he swept into the valley of the Beni +river, which joins the Madeira river, some distance beyond the +Bolivian border. + +He knew that at the eastern rim of Bolivia there was a series of +high mountain ranges which would protect him from the drifts blowing +over from the Atlantic--Serre Geral, Serre Paxecis, Serre +Aguapehy--and he reasoned that he could make better speed under the +lee of these elevations. So he swept down the valley of the Beni +until it joined with the Madeira, crossed a line of hills, and made +for the Serre Geral range, something under a hundred miles away. + +As the Nelson cleared the valley, however, Lyman gave Ned a punch in +the ribs with an elbow and nodded toward the ground. His wrists +were fast in the harness so he could not use his hands. Ned looked +down and instantly dropped the Nelson a few hundred feet. + +Some distance down the Madeira, in the center of the stream, were +the lights of a boat which seemed to be anchored there. Ned swept +closer and tried his best to make out the outlines of the craft, but +he could not do it without descending close to the river, and this +he did not care to do. + +"It looks like the Black Bear," he thought, as he shot up into the +air again, "but of coarse it can't be. Those Boy Scouts are not +fools enough to bring her up into this country." + +So he came to the protection of the mountains and proceeded south +toward Asuncion at a speed which caused Lyman to gasp for breath. +Of course he was ignorant of the fact that Frank, Jack, and Harry +had started out, during his absence, to explore the headwaters of +the Amazon, hoping to come upon the Nelson before returning. + +As for the lads on the Black Bear, they did not even know that the +Nelson was so close to them that night. It was three nights later +that they first saw the aeroplane drifting above them. Asuncion +does not at all compare in beauty or in thrift with the other +capital cities of South America. The government of the republic is +so unstable that business men are loath to make heavy investments +there. + +For one thing the town is poorly lighted, and when Ned came, in view +of the place at five O'clock the few street lamps were already out. +People were abroad at that early hour, however, and small crowds +soon gathered on the street corners to watch the great airship +approach. + +What Ned could not see was the intense excitement around the +government offices. In ten minutes from the time the airship showed +above the city, messengers were out in the streets and officials of +the lower rank were headed for their offices. In a few minutes this +alarm was communicated to police headquarters and to the military +station where the governor's guard was stationed. + +If the boy had been able to understand the situation below, if he +had known that Asuncion had been communicated with from Lima and +also from Sicuani, he would have given the city a wide berth. He +saw the gathering of crowds below, of course, but naturally +attributed this to curiosity. He had no doubt that the Nelson was +the first airship ever seen at Asuncion. + +"Where are you going to take me?" asked Lyman, as the machine slowed +down and he found himself able to speak. + +"To the American consul," was the reply. + +Lyman sighed and shook his head. + +"I'm afraid he will take little interest in me," he said. + +"Doubtless," Ned replied, "he has received instructions from +Washington. Anyway, I fail to see how they can molest you now, even +if they have the inclination to do so. You just go about your +business as usual, and leave this abduction matter to the future. +You can gain nothing now by stirring that up. Report to the consul +and go on about your business as if nothing had happened." + +"That is the only thing there is to do," Lyman responded, with a +sigh. "Still, I'm suspicious of those chaps. They'll have some +trick ready." + +Before long Ned found a level spot not far from the capitol building +where he could, drop the Nelson. When he headed for that locality +he was followed through the streets below by a shouting, howling +mob. + +"I can't understand this," he thought, and Lyman was still more +suspicious. + +At last the Nelson was brought to the surface of the earth and Ned +and Lyman stepped out, very willing to stretch their legs after such +a long ride. They had been in the air about twice the time set for +endurance by noted aviators. + +They did not get much of a chance to stretch their legs, however, +for they bumped into a squad of soldiers on stepping out of their +seats. + +"You are under arrest!" a gaily-dressed officer said, flashing his +sword out of its scabbard. + +"What for?" demanded Ned, speaking in Spanish. + +"Smuggling!" was the reply. + +Ned laughed heartily. Arrested for smuggling! + +"Search us, and search the machine, then," he replied, "and let us +go on about our business. We have no time to lose." + +"In time! In time!" was the drawling reply. "Such things are not +done so quickly here! In three-four days--in a week--in three, four +weeks, perhaps. In the meantime you go to the jail." + +Ned thought of the swiftly-slipping days, of the peril Jimmie and +Jackson were in, of Leroy in prison at Lima, and was about ready to +fight. The officer refused to take him to the president, or to the +American consul. In a quarter of an hour he was in a cell, alone, +wondering what had been done with Lyman, and also wondering what +would become of the Nelson. + +He knew that the charge of smuggling, of bringing goods into the +republic by means of an airship, would be held against him as long +as it pleased his accusers to keep him in prison. That would be +until the concession expired and, possibly, until the Nelson lay a +total wreck in the streets. + +He saw no one who could give him any information as to what was +going on in the outside until the morning of the 21st, after he had +been incarcerated forty-eight hours. Then a turnkey unlocked his +door and motioned him out. + +"For trial?" Ned asked, hopefully. + +"It is the wish of the president," was the reply. + +"But what, why, when--" + +"You have yet to see," was the impertinent reply. "You have yet to +see if you can do these things to our countree!" + +And so, mystified and, if the truth must be told, not a little +discouraged, Ned was led through the prison corridors, his mind +filled wit thoughts of Leroy, Jimmie, the Nelson, and, strangely +enough, the Black Bear! + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE WARNING FROM THE SKY + + +There was a shock when the prow of the Black Bear struck a canoe +which lay full in its path. The momentum was retarded for only a +second. Then the motor boat was beyond the line of war canoes with +their screaming, gesticulating occupants. + +Looking out of the rear ventilator, Frank saw a smashed canoe +running down with the current, with a dozen or more natives clinging +to it. But there was still a large number of canoes up the river, +and the Black Bear was struck more than once by forceless bullets +and poisoned arrows as she sped past them. + +Armed with modern rifles, the Indians would have made short work of +the occupants of the Black Bear, but the muskets they used were old +and mostly out of condition. The arrows were far more deadly, +although they stood less chance of penetrating the tough panels. + +"Now," Harry said, as they passed a racing fleet of Indian boats, +"we can open up a little and get a breath of fresh air! I'm just +about suffocated!" + +"Not just yet," Jack, who was at the front, said, "for there's a +mess of the black scamps just ahead. They are on the bank, both +banks, and seem to be waiting for something to happen. I wonder +what it can be?" + +"Some trap, I suppose," Harry gritted. "Well, all we can do is to +ran on through them, if they come out in boats, and get out of their +reach. We ought to be able to be out of this blasted country in a +couple of hours." + +"That's all right," Jack replied, "but you just listen a moment." + +But the racing motors shut out all individual sounds, and Harry shut +them down for a minute. Seeing this, Jack dropped an anchor at the +prow, and the boat lay pulling at the cable in the current. + +"What did you do that for?" asked Frank, addressing both boys from +the stem. + +"Listen!" commanded Jack. + +"Look!" ordered Harry. + +What Frank heard was the heavy, continuous roar of a waterfall. +What he saw, as he crowded up under the plate glass panel in the +top, were the lights of an airship! + +"I tell you," Harry cried, excitedly, "that that's the Nelson. You +can't fool me about that." + +"Why doesn't she come down, then?" demanded Jack. + +"Because she doesn't know that this is the Black Bear. That is an +easy one! If she did she'd be here in a second." + +The boys studied the lights a moment and then turned their attention +to the Indians, who were now making a great clamor. In a short time +it was easy to see what they were up to. + +Above roared the falls and the rapids. At this point in the Beni +river there is a swift drop from the mountain plateau above. It +will be remembered that the Beni reaches away up into the Illimani +mountains, with its springs not far distant from the summit of the +Andes. + +Where the boys were the Paredon and the Paderneira, falls and the +Araras and the Misericordia rapids made the navigation of the river, +even in the protected Black Bear, impossible for many miles. The +Indians seemed to understand this, for they had gathered at the foot +of the falls, possibly expecting to see the craft attempt the +ascent. + +Jack watched them from the prow for a time and then asked: + +"What's that they are throwing into the river?" + +"Logs!" replied Harry, looking out over Jack's shoulder, "and +brush!" + +"Well, of all the--" + +The sentence was not finished. Frank, at the stern, gave a yell and +fired out of the loophole. "Come here!" he shouted, then, "if you +want to see what the devils are doing. This takes the cake!" + +A glance showed the others what the plot against them was. Harry +went to his locker for his revolver and Jack drew his from a pocket. + +"I guess it is a fight now!" Frank said. "You see what they are +doing?" + +"Of course. Anybody can see that." + +Jack reached out of the opening and fired a perfect volley down +stream. Frank crowded against him to look out. + +"Never touched them!" he cried. + +"No," Jack went on, "they're forming a bridge with their canoes and +running logs and brush down against it. They've got an obstruction +already that the Black Bear never can get through." + +"What's the matter with dynamite?" asked Harry. + +"Oh, we can use dynamite as long as we have it," was the reply, "but +there will be Indians on guard there long after we are out of the +stuff." + +"I guess that's right!" with a sober drawing of the lips. + +"I'll tell you what we've got to do," Harry said, presently. "We've +got to put on full power and try to run up the rapids." + +"Why, there is noise enough for a ten-foot fall," Frank replied. + +"We've got to risk it," Jack went on. + +"Now, you just wait," Frank cut in. "I don't think you've got this +thing sized up right at all. Harry," he continued, "who does this +boat belong to?" + +"To the Black Bear Patrol," was the reply. "You know that well +enough." + +"Then we can do what we please with it, so long as we make it right +with the other members of the Patrol?" + +"Why, of course." + +Jack looked at his chums with a grin. + +"What are you figuring on?" he asked. "One would think you were +planning to blow the Black Bear into smithereens." + +"That's about it," Frank replied. + +"And go to kingdom come with her?" laughed Jack. "Not any of that +for me. I'm headed, eventually, for little old N.Y." + +"I'm tired of fooling with these cannibals," Frank explained. "We +haven't molested them, and yet they are after our scalps. They'll +get them, too, if something isn't done--and done right away, at +that." + +"I'm with you!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm willing to try anything once. +Only let me in on the secret!" he added, chuckling. + + "You had it right," Frank said. "What I propose is to blow the +Black Bear into smithereens, and about a thousand of those +bloodthirsty natives with it. The world will be all the better for +their being out of it. They are worse than the savage beasts in the +forests." + +"But what is to become of us?" asked Harry. + +Frank pointed to the Wolf, tugging at the cable which held her nose +to the stem of the Black Bear. + +"We'll be safe in there when the explosion takes place," he said. + +Jack clapped the speaker on the shoulder. + +"You're all right!" he cried. + +Harry looked mystified for a moment, and then said, speaking loudly +in order that his voice might be heard above the shouts of the +savages and the beating of arrows against the panels of the boat: + +"It looks as if we'd have to do it. I hate to leave the Black Bear +in such a mess away off here in South America, but I don't see how +we are to get her out. The Wolf will carry us all right, I +suppose?" he said, tentatively. + +"Sure thing!" Frank replied. "I've been thinking it all out. We'll +do it this way: When we get ready we'll put on full speed ahead on +the motors, with the prow turned against that obstruction below. +Then we'll hop into the Wolf and shut everything down tight. The +Black Bear will weaken the jam below, and the sharp nose of the Wolf +will poke through the rest of the logs and canoes. And there you +are!" + +"Free of the natives, and bobbing down the river in safety!" cried +Jack. "That looks good to me!" + +"But about the dynamite?" asked Harry. + +"Well," Frank replied, "we've got to use the Black Bear for a +battering ram anyway, and she'll be all smashed up, so we may as +well go the whole hog with her. We'll put a lot of dynamite down +under the motors and fix a cap so it will blow up when the +concussion comes. By that time the natives will be swarming around +her, and they'll get what's coming to them." + +"And where will we be when the explosion is rocking this half of the +world?" demanded Harry. "Up in the air?" + +"We'll be a cuddled up in the Wolf, between the lockers, with plenty +of grub and ammunition, sailing down the river in a bullet-proof +vessel. This move will burst up our meeting with the Nelson, of +course, but there is no other way. They'll get us if we remain +here." + +While this talk had been going on, the cannibals had drawn nearer to +the Black Bear, pressing forward from both banks in canoes and +pounding at the panels with their arrows. It seemed only a question +of time when they would board the craft and force the panels. Their +shouts of victory were shrill and exasperating. + +"You see how it is," Frank said, "the Black Bear can never be pushed +up over the falls, and we can never get her past the obstructions +below, even by the use of dynamite. If we could blow the those logs +out of the way, the Indians would board us instantly. We could give +them only a charge or two of dynamite and a few shots before they +would be inside. Now' we can drift down the river in the Wolf +without fear of entertaining man-eaters on board. They may get on +top of the boat, but they can never get inside." + +"And so we'll have to give up our trip!" wailed Harry. "We'll have +to drift down stream in that hot hole and take a steamer at the +nearest river town!" + +"It strikes me," Frank observed, "that it is a mighty good thing +we've got that hot hole to drift down stream in. If the Black Bear +had only been constructed on the principle of the Wolf, we'd be in a +position to give these heathens the laugh. Well, let us pull the +Wolf up and throw out stuff enough to give us room. Then we'll get +out the dynamite." + +The boys drew the Wolf up by the cable as Frank tried to elude the +watchful eyes of the savages long enough to open the hatch on top +and climb inside, but a dozen arrows whizzed by his head when he +looked out. + +"Can't do it!" he said. + +"Never in the world!" Jack assented. + +"Another good scheme gone wrong!" Harry ejaculated. "What next?" + +"Dynamite," almost shouted Jack. "We'll give them dynamite as long +as it lasts, and then ram the logs below." + +"We may kill, a couple of hundred," Frank said, "but it seems to me +that there will be about ten thousand left." + +The boys were indeed in a tight box. With their automatics and +their dynamite they might keep the natives at bay for a time, but in +the end they would be obliged to surrender or starve to death. + +"Well," Jack said, grimly, "let's get out the dynamite. I want to +see some of these devils blown up!" + +Just then an arrow struck the plate glass panel at the top of the +Black Bear's deck covering and Jack looked up. He gazed a moment in +wonder and then let out a shout that rose above the yelling of the +savages and the pounding of arrows against the panels of the Black +Bear. + +"Glory be!" he shouted. + +Frank and Harry crowded to his side and looked up. + +"It is the Nelson!" Harry exclaimed. + +"You bet it is!" Frank admitted. + +"Good old Ned!" Jack roared. + +The aeroplane was only a few yards above the Black Bear. Already +the natives were slinking away in their canoes. Those on the banks +were slowly withdrawing into the shelter of the forests. + +"They're running away!" Jack cried. "Now we'll have some fun with +good old Ned Nestor!" + +For a moment it looked as if the statement was correct; as if the +natives, alarmed at the sight of the aeroplane would disappear from +sight without a fight. But this supposition was soon disproved. + +As the Nelson came nearer, a dozen bullets from the forests struck +her planes. The boys, in the boat raised the panel and shouted to +the aviator to look out for poisoned arrows. + +Then the aeroplane shot up again. They could see that there was +only one person on the machine, and that he was busy arranging +something which looked like a stick of dynamite which he held in his +hands. + +In a moment something grim and sinister whirled and hissed through +the air, and then there came a terrific explosion in the forest to +the right. Trees were leveled, and a great hole showed in the bank. +In an instant, following close on the roar of the dynamite, there +came a chorus of cries from savage throats-cries of fear, of terror, +of rage--and then silence. + +For a moment it seemed as if the forests held no forms of animal +life, then the sharp call of the tiger-cat, the wail of the puma, +the chattering of the monkeys, came to the ears of the listening +boys. + +"I guess this coming act will consist of a feed for the wild +beasts!" Jack said. + +For a long time there was no sound of savage life in the forests, +save that from the throats of beasts of prey, scenting blood and +slowly drawing closer to the river's banks. The boys on the Black +Bear looked into each other's faces and wondered. + +"They didn't act that way when we exploded dynamite!" Jack said. + +"No. They came right back at us!" Frank replied. + +"I take it that they think there's something supernatural in this +dropping of dynamite from the sky," Harry observed. "Anyway, they +seem to have taken themselves off, and we'll open up and signal to +the Nelson! Say, won't it be fine to see good old Ned Nestor again? +I wonder how he knew we were here?" + +"And I wonder where Jimmie and Leroy are?" Harry reflected. "There +is only one person on the machine, and that must be Ned." + +Jack was about to throw open the top panels when he caught sight of +the aeroplane again, nearer to the water than before. + +"What's Ned doing?" he asked, pointing upward. + +"Talking!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Wigwagging!" Harry broke out. "Now, let us see what he says." + +Slowly to the right and left, up and down, an electric bulb flashed +in the sky. Harry counted. + +"That's C;" he said, "and that's 'a,' and that's 'u,' and that's +'t,' and now 'i,' and 'o,' and 'n.' 'Caution!' That means that +we've got to stand pat for a time yet." + +"It also means," Jack said, "that we've made no mistake about that +being the Nelson, with a Boy Scout on board. Those wigwag signals +show the supposition to be true." + +"Well," Harry puzzled, "he wouldn't be sending us a warning from the +sky if there wasn't some danger we were not aware of. There is +something going on that we are not wise to." + +There was a short silence on board and then Frank remarked: + +"We must be nearer the falls than we thought, for the water seems to +be a ripple about us. Rear it! I'm going to look out and see it +looks like." + +In a moment he was jamming the panel shut and springing the slides +over the loopholes and the ventilators. + +Jack sprang to the prow, not knowing what danger threatened, but +obeying the sudden gestures of his chum to close every opening. +Before he sprung the steel panel over the ventilator he glanced +out on the river. + +"Great heavens!" he cried. "Get your guns, boys!" + +The whole surface of the stream, as far as the boy's eyes reached, +seemed covered with savage heads, floating, drifting, down upon the +Black Bear. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RED FIRE FROM THE SKY + + +Under the light of the moon the rushing river seemed full of +leering, cruel eyes. The bodies of the swimming savages were not +visible--only the upturned faces and the threatening eyes, with now +and then a hand or the point of a glistening shoulder. There +appeared to be thousands of the cannibals; their mass reaching from +shore to shore. + +Then, while the boys looked, expecting every instant to hear the +sound of feet outside the panels, a rocket shot out from the Nelson +and a score of parti-colored balls curved and hissed toward the +earth. + +"Gee!" Jack cried. "He's giving them a fourth-of-July celebration!" + +"Hope it scares them off," said Harry. + +Looking through the heavy glass panel at the top, they saw a rain of +red fire drop down on the swirling river. For a moment the whole +upper air, then river and forest, was painted a bloody red by the +burning powder. + +Cries came from the river, and the mass of floating heads parted and +swung swiftly toward the shores; then silence. The aeroplane +circled about cautiously and then dropped down lower. Jack opened +the panel. + +"Hello the boat!" cried a voice from the aviator's seat. + +"Hello, Ned!" all three boys called back. + +"How do you know it's Ned?" was asked. + +"We saw that beautiful face of yours in the red fire," replied Jack. +"How are we going to get out of here? They've blockaded the river +below, and the falls are above." + +"I presume I have dynamite enough to blow up that improvised dam," +replied Ned. "Why didn't you do it?" + +Before Jack could explain the situation, the Nelson drifted past, +and he knew that his voice would not carry to her. + +"I'm going to open up now," Harry said, as the Nelson drifted out of +range of the glass pane. "I'm pretty near choked in here." + +"Nice time we would have had in the Wolf," laughed Jack. + +"Anyway," urged Harry, "we should have been in her in a minute if +the Nelson hadn't shown up. Say, won't they give us the laugh in +New York? Came away off out here alone, and then had to be rescued +by Ned!" + + Very cautiously the panels giving on the stern were opened. There +were no savages in view. The banks of the stream seemed as quiet +and harmless as a thicket in Central Park. + +"I guess the rocket and the red fire got them!" grinned Frank. + +"Yes, but they won't stay scared forever!" Harry put in. "We'd +better be getting out of this before they come back to their +senses." + +"They never had any senses!" claimed Jack. + +Looking out from the interior, now guarded only by the panels at the +front and sides, the boys saw Ned drop half a dozen sticks of +dynamite on the logs and brush which had been floated down on top of +a number of canoes. In some places the logs had pushed up until +they were high above the surface of the water. + +The pressure of the current was continually making the obstruction +more compact. The canoes seemed to have been bound firmly together +and stretched from shore to shore. At least the moorings were +strong, for the logs were heavy and the current pulled heavily at +them. + +The explosions made great havoc with the barricade, and presently +the line was broken and the whole mass swung shoreward or drifted +down stream. + +Then Ned called out: + +"Now drop down stream and I will join you." + +"Better look out where you land!" Harry called back. + +"I hope I won't get into any such scrape as you did," Ned replied. + +"Oh, you're not out of it yet!" laughed Frank. "These woods are +full of man-eaters. Look out where you go, and we'll find a place +for you to come down." + +The anchor of the Black Bear was lifted and the power turned on. In +a minute she was going down stream at a thirty-mile gait. + +Directly they passed the wrecked barricade, rolling and tumbling in +the waters, the canoes either broken or half full of water. The +Nelson still led the way down the stream. + +"I guess he's never going to stop." + +"Wonder if he's going back to New York?" + +"Perhaps he's lost control!" + +The boys looked and wondered as the aeroplane drifted on to the +north and cast. They were miles from the scene of the battle now, +but the airship went on. + +Presently they saw the purpose of the aviator in making this long +run. A little nest of houses flashed out on the river bank, with +here and there a light showing, and here the onward course of the +Nelson became a circling descent. + +In the east there was a faint line of dawn in the sky when the Black +Bear was pushed up to a primitive wharf. The aeroplane was still +circling in the air. + +"He wants us to pick out a spot for him to land on," Jack said. +"There's one over by that hill," he added. + +When Ned saw the three boys gather at the spot indicated and motion +to him to come down he lost no time in doing so. When he stepped +out of his seat all three lads were upon him. One would have +thought they were determined to tear him in pieces the way they +seized his hands, his legs, and pulled at his neck. + +"You old fraud!" + +"How did you know?" + +"You're a nice old chaperon!" + +For a moment Ned could not say a word, then he pushed the boys away +and sat down on the ground. + +"You're a nice bunch!" he said. + +"Sure!" said Jack. + +"The people back there thought so much of us that they wanted us to +remain to dinner!" grinned Harry. + +"There ain't no better people!" Frank insisted. + +"How did you happen to get out here?" demanded Ned. "Why, you +fellows ought to have a chaperon. Those cannibals would have had a +good dinner today if the Nelson hadn't come that way." + +"Now, don't crow over us!" pleaded Frank. "We know all about it. +You've gotten us out of many a scrape, but this is the large event. +We take off our hats to you. Now, where's Jimmie and Leroy?" + +"I don't know," answered Ned, gravely. + +"I guess you are the one who needs a--" + +"I guess you are right," Ned replied. "I've been up against the +pricks good and plenty since I left you. If I get to New York +alive, I'm going to stay there for good." + +"Where did you leave Leroy?" asked Frank. + +"In jail!" + +"Wow!" cried all three boys. + +"And Jimmie? I don't see how you happened to lose him." + +"Jimmie is lost in the Peruvian mountains," Ned said. + +"Well, why don't we go and get him?" asked Harry. + +"Yes," laughed Frank. "We might ride in the Black Bear over the +storm-tossed summits of the Andes!" + +"At least," Ned said, "you boys can help me a lot. I have my hands +full. We can all ride the Nelson, I take it. She was built to +carry three average-weight men, you know, and I think she ought to +manage three boys and one man!" + +"Oh, you man!" laughed Jack, poking Ned in the side. "You man who +has to come to the three boys for help!" + +"Tell us about it," Frank said. + +"The quicker we start in on the search for Jimmie the quicker he +will be found," Harry insisted. + +It was not much of a town where the Nelson had landed. There were a +few native houses and a great warehouse, at one end of which was a +small office. Such river products as came from up stream were +packed there to await transportation down to the Amazon. + +By the time the sun was up a score or more natives and a couple of +British traders were gathered about the aeroplane and the Black +Bear. One of the traders, Mr. Hamlin, invited the boys to his home +for breakfast, and left some of his employees on guard at the Nelson +and the Black Bear. + +During the breakfast Ned recounted his adventures, to which the host +listened with the closest attention. Frank then told of the cruise +of the Black Bear, adding that they had hoped to reach the very last +yard of water flowing down the Andes slope to the east. + +"It is wonderful what American Boy Scouts will accomplish!" Mr. +Hamlin said, when the tales had been told. "A few years ago no boy +of your age would have undertaken such a duty as sent you to +Paraguay," he added, addressing Ned, "and no boys would have dared +to navigate the Beni river," he continued, smiling at the three +bright faces on the other side of the table. + +"The Boy Scout training makes for courage and resourcefulness," Ned +said. "We have not been caught in many traps. In fact, I think we +are now up against the very worst situation we have ever +encountered." + +"But you haven't yet told us how you got out of jail at Asuncion, +only that you got in on a smuggling charge and were released. Who +brought about the release?" + +"The president of the Republic," was the reply. "He learned of the +matter and ordered me brought before him. Well, I had been +searched, and the Nelson had been searched, and nothing found, so I +was let go. The president also ordered the Nelson returned to me. +It had been appropriated by an official who had declared it +forfeited. Not a bad chap that president, still, I think he saw +Uncle Sam in the background!" + +"And about this man Lyman?" + +"I was told that he had gone back to his concession. I went out +there in the airship, but failed to find him. After we find Jimmie +and get Leroy out of the jail at Lima I'm going to find Lyman once +more." + +"This," Jack said, "is the 23d of August. Now, we saw you last +night, the 22d, and the night before, the 21st. Why didn't you come +down then?" + +"Because I was not certain that it was the Black Bear, and because I +wanted to investigate the place where I last saw Jimmie and the man +Jackson. I was over the boat longer ago than the night of the 21st, +but you did not know it, I guess." + +"Well, you came at the right time, when you did come," Jack said. +"I only wish you hadn't found us in such a pickle!" + +"It doesn't seem to me," Mr. Hamlin suggested, "that the Nelson +ought to carry four. You may have to go pretty fast. Now, one of +you can remain with me, in welcome, and look after the Black Bear. +I have plenty of gasoline, and we can amuse ourselves with trips on +the river. Later, you can come back after the boat." + +"I think I'd better stay," Harry Stevens said. "I'm not stuck on +long rides in the air. Besides, you can do just as well without me. +How far is it to the place where you left Jimmie and this man +Jackson?" + +Ned took out his pocket map and bent over it. + +"Here we are," he said, presently, "in the valley of the Madeira, +with a range of mountains on each side. Below are the rapids and +the falls. You must have had a sweet time traveling up from Fort +San Antonio. You passed about three hundred miles of swift rapids +and falls. How many times did you have to take the Black Bear to +pieces?" + +"Not once there," was the reply. "We managed to steam up. But, +say, we had a lovely time getting up over one waterfall!" + +"Well," Ned went on, "here we are at the big bend of the upper +Madeira. We are not far from a thousand miles from the place where +I found Lyman. We can get there by nightfall." + +"Not for me," Jack said, with a shrug of the shoulders. "We should +have to ride continuously to make it in that time, and I don't like +to remain in the air that long. We ought to have five rests of an +hour each, and get there in the morning." + +"Yes," Ned replied, "I'm getting tired of long rides myself. We'll +go slower." + +After breakfast the boys went to the Black Bear and looked her over. +The propeller which had been broken could easily be repaired, they +found, so they left that matter to Harry, replenished the tanks of +the Nelson with gasoline, and prepared for the long journey back to +the mountains of Peru. + +"When are you coming back?" asked Harry, as the three mounted the +machine. + +"In three days," replied Ned. "And we'll bring Jimmie with us." + +"If they haven't fed him to the mountain lions before now!" Harry +said, with a strange premonition of evil in his heart. + +And the Nelson was up and away, and Harry set to work cleaning up +the motor boat, hoping to forget in toil how lonely and apprehensive +he was. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +USING BOY SCOUTS FOR BAIT! + + +Alarmed by the swift approach of the motor car in the tunnel, Jimmie +and Jackson took to their heels and made swift progress toward the +east entrance, throwing the searchlight about and keeping their eyes +out for some hiding place as they ran. + +Before long it became evident that they could not long maintain the +pace they had taken. The motor car was gaining on them rapidly, as +they knew by the steady approach of the clamor which the engines +were making. + +"Gee!" cried Jimmie, at last. "No use! I've got to drop in +somewhere!" + +Jackson was as ready to stop running as was Jimmie, so they drew up +against the wall and Jimmie shut off the light from his electric +candle. + +"Do you think they saw that light?" asked Jimmie, pushing close to +the rock wall. "I hope not." + +"Probably not, as there was always an angle between us," was the +whispered reply, "but their light is coming around that angle now. +Stand close!" + +It was of little use to stand close. + +Under the great lamps every crack and crevice of the tunnel walls +was in plain sight to the occupants of the car. The two fugitives +might as well have attempted concealment under the limelight in the +center of the stage of a Broadway theatre! + +Jimmie's hand was on his automatic as the car halted in front of +him. Jackson saw what was in the boy's mind and laid a hand on his +arm. + +"None of that!" he said. + +"Well, I'm not goin' to be--" + +Jackson forced the revolver out of the boy's hand as he brought it +out of his pocket. + +"They've got us," he whispered, "and will be only too glad of an +excuse to shoot us down in cold blood." + +"Well!" + +This from Thomas Q. Collins, who sat in the front seat, looking at +the two as if he could bite them in pieces! + +Jimmie looked sullenly toward his automatic, in Jackson's hand, and +said not a word. Jackson stepped forward. + +"You've got us!" he said. + +"You bet we have!" gloated Collins. "Where did that Nestor boy go +with the man he picked up by the fire?" + +"Did he get him?" asked Jimmie. + +"Yes, he got him, worse luck!" was the reply. "Where did he go with +him?" + +"Don't know," replied Jimmie. + +"I'll find a way to make you know!" gritted Collins. "Do you +fellows know what it is to be hungry?" + +"Honest," Jackson cut in, "we don't know where Nestor went with +Lyman. When he left us, he was not certain that he could get him. +Thought Lyman might not want to go away with a stranger on such +short notice." + +"Oh, what's the use?" demanded one of the others. "The fellow has +gone back to Asuncion. That's easy to figure out. Who set you boys +at work on this case?" he added, in a moment, at a whisper from his +seat-mate. + +"Ned set me at work," Jimmie answered. + +"Yes, but who set him at work?" + +"I'll tell you," Jackson said, with a smile of satisfaction on his +face, "the United States government set Ned at work. You'd better +watch out how you butt up against the Secret Service men." + +"That's just what I told you!" sneered Collins. "You wouldn't +believe me. Now what do you think?" + +The speaker left his seat in the machine and walked over to where +Jackson was standing, the revolver still in his hand. + +"Give me that gun!" he demanded. + +Jackson passed it over without a word of protest. + +"Now your own gun," Collins demanded, extending his hand. + +"I have no gun," was the reply. "You know that very well." + +"I thought you might have stolen one since leaving the cow country," +snarled the other. "There is no knowing what kind of property you +light-fingered gentlemen will acquire." + +"You're a liar, Collins," Jackson said, coolly. "You know I never +ran off the cattle which were missed. I believe you stole them!" + +Collins advanced angrily toward the speaker, but one of his company +drew him back. + +"Cut it out!" he said. "There will be plenty of time later on." + +"What are you going to do with us?" asked Jimmie. + +"You'll see!" Collins replied. "I wonder how you would like a game +of chase-the-bullet? Similar to the one you gave me not long ago?" + +"Like it fine," Jimmie grinned, "if it didn't do me no more harm +than it did you. Never touched you!" + +"It may be different in your case," Collins threatened. + +After consulting together in whispers for some moments, the men +loaded Jimmie and Jackson into the crowded motor car and put on the +reverse movement. In half an hour, the progress being slow, they +came to the valley where the campfire was still burning. Here they +all alighted. + +Half a dozen Peruvian Indians of vicious appearance now came +forward, and Collins gave them instructions in an undertone, after +which the two captives were led away to the cavern in which Lyman +had been sheltered up to the time of the arrival of the Nelson. One +of the Indians remained outside while the others hastened away. + +"Well," Jimmie said, as he looked gloomily at the discouraged +Jackson, "what do you think of this? I'd like to push the face of +that Collins person in so it would mix with the back curtain." + +"We're in for it!" moaned Jackson. + +"Aw, what can they do to us?" demanded the little fellow. + +"They can keep us here until we die of starvation," replied Jackson. +"I've had a turn with starvation, and know what it's like." + +Jimmie reached under his coat and brought out a can of beans. + +"Here," he said, "get busy on this." + +"They took mine away when they searched me for a gun," said Jackson. + +"Buck up!" advised Jimmie. "We've got to figure out some way to +give them the slip. What?" + +"Yes, I suppose so!" + +Jackson had counted on getting back to civilization without further +difficulties, on the arrival of the Nelson, and now he was +completely discouraged. Jimmie sat on the floor of the cavern and +eyed him quizzically. + +"Ned will come back after us," the little one said, presently. "You +put your bloomin' trust in Ned, an' you'll come a four-time winner +out of the box. I know. I've been out with him before." + +"But how will he ever find us here?" asked Jackson. + +"How did he ever find Lyman?" demanded the boy. "You hush your +kickin' an' leave it all to Ned. Guess he knows enough to get us +out of this sink of iniquity! That boy eats 'em alive!" + +"I can't see why they should keep us here," Jackson remarked, +presently, prying off the top of the can of beans with his pocket +knife. "Why don't they go back to Asuncion and look after that +cattle concession?" + +"Because they've got some one there to look out for it for them," +replied the boy. "They're waitin' here for Ned to come back an' get +us, if anybody should ask you," he went on, his cheerful smile not +at all matching the serious import of his words. "This Collins +person has cards up his sleeve, an' he wants to get hold of Ned. +He's set his trap with us for bait." + +"You're a cheerful little cuss!" grinned Jackson, beginning to see +the dangerous side of the situation. "And what are we going to do +when Ned comes back? Let them soak him?" + +"Not so you could notice it," was the reply. "When Ned comes back +we'll be out at the other end of that tunnel, an' he'll swoop do in +in the Nelson an' pick us up, an' we'll be back in little old N. Y. +before you can say scat." + +"But how can we--" + +The entrance to the cavern was darkened for a moment and then the +flashily-dressed form of Collins made its appearance. + +"What's that about getting back to little old N. Y.?" he asked. +"When do you start for Manhattan Island?" + +"You heard, then?" asked Jackson. + +"Of course." + +"Well?" + +"Well, we'll see that you don't get away until this Ned comes back +after you. We need him in our business." + +"He'll land Lyman at Asuncion before you see him again," Jimmie +said. + +"Not a doubt of it," was the sullen reply, "but don't you ever think +we haven't got people there who will look out for our interests. +Lyman won't be at liberty long, and your Ned will come back here to +get what's coming to him." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed the boy, putting on a bold front, but +inwardly fearful that the situation was a tragic one. + +Leaving the captives with this cheering (?) information, Collins +went back to his companions, leaving the Indian still on guard. For +a time the Indian stood stolidly in front of the cave, then, looking +carefully about to see that he was not observed by his employers, he +faced the opening and uttered one English word: + +"Prepared." + +Jackson opened his eyes in amazement, but Jimmie saw an extended +hand and sprang forward. The Indian's right hand was extended +toward the boy, palm up, the thumb and little finger meeting across +the palm and crossed, the remaining fingers straight out. + +"You mean, 'Be prepared'?" Jimmie asked. + +"'Be prepared,"' repeated the other, like one rehearsing a lesson. + +"Gee!" laughed the boy. "Here's a Boy Scout lingerin' in little old +Peru! Now wouldn't that stop a clock?" + +"You just wait a minute," Jackson said, hopefully. "I think I can +talk with this chap a little in Spanish." + +Then followed a great picking of words to match gestures, and +gestures to explain words, during which the full salute of the Boy +Scouts of America was often repeated by the Indian. Then Jackson +said: + +"He says that there were Boy Scouts down here six months ago, and +that he guided them through the mountain passes to the headwaters of +the Beni river. From there they went through to the valley of the +Amazon in a boat--a steam launch." + +Jimmie reached under his waistcoat collar and produced his Wolf +badge, pointing to it with his finger inquiringly. The Indian shook +his head. + +"Not Wolves," the boy said, in a moment. "Let's see if they were +Black Bears." + +When a Black Bear badge which belonged to Jack Bosworth was shown +the Indian still shook his head. Then he pointed to the sky and +whirled his hand around significantly, finishing with a waving, +flying motion. + +"I see!" cried Jimmie. "They were Eagles!" + +"This ought to help some," Jackson observed, his face growing more +cheerful. + +"Of course it will," replied the boy. "Ask him if he wants to get +out of this blasted country and go to New York. We'll take him if +he'll get us out on the east slope before Ned gets back." + +Jackson talked with the Indian again, but did not seem to be able to +come to terms with him. + +"He doesn't want to commit himself," the ex-cattleman said. "We'll +have to wait until he thinks it over." + +The Indian seemed moody and sullen for the next few hours. When +dawn came and the little fire which had blazed in the cavern all +night went out, he was called away and another native placed on +guard. + +"That settles it," Jimmie said. "We lose!" + +"I'm the losenest feller you ever seen," said Jackson. "I never won +a bet in my life. You're unlucky to get dumped in a mess with me." + +About the time Ned and Lyman landed in Asuncion the boys in the +cavern began looking for his return. They were not permitted to +leave the cavern, but they watched the eastern sky intently every +minute. + +They watched the sky, too, during the long days when Ned was in +prison at Asuncion. Late on the afternoon of the 21st, as the +reader knows, Ned searched the eastern slope for them but they did +not see him. On the morning of the 23d they were taken from the +cave and placed in full sight on the eastern slope, where they would +be sure to be seen from the sky. They did not know what to make of +this at first, but directly, when they saw Indians, heavily armed, +stationed in hiding places all about them, they understood. + +Jimmie had expressed the situation exactly. The cowards were +baiting their trap for Ned with his friends. + +Unless some means of warning him could be found, Ned would drop down +to his death if he landed to rescue the ones he had left behind. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE END OF A LONG CHASE + + +On the 23d of August the Nelson, with Ned, Jack, and Frank on board, +was sweeping over the mountains and valleys of Bolivia and Peru +toward the twin valleys in which Jimmie and Jackson had been left. +Plenty of provisions and gasoline had been taken on at the Hamlin +storehouse, and the lads were well equipped for a week's cruise in +the air. + +They did not urge the aeroplane to its fullest speed, nor did they +remain in the air longer than a couple of hours at a time. It had +been decided to strike the eastern slope of the range just before +dawn, so the Nelson was allowed to loiter on the way. Jack +afterwards declared that Ned slept half the time! + +Had the first decision, to run to the twin valleys as swiftly as +possible, been held to, the two prisoners, guarded on that eastern +slope, would have seen the Nelson coming toward their relief. + +At the same time, on landing, Ned and his companions would have been +confronted with armed Indians demanding immediate surrender. This +would not have been according to the notions of the boys on the +aeroplane, as they had figured that Jimmie and Jackson would be able +to keep out of the hands of the Collins gang. + +The 23d dawned slowly, with the Nelson loitering over the great +brown and green map of South America and the boys tiring their eyes +looking for the glistening planes of the aeroplane. The captives +were provided with food, but it was decidedly cold on the +mountainside when night came. + +All that day and all that night the guards lay in wait in +sequestered places, waiting for the Nelson. Although his only hope +of immediate rescue lay in the arrival of the Nelson, Jimmie wished +every minute of the time that Ned would in some manner be warned +away from that dangerous locality. + +Just before dawn of the 24th Jimmie, who had fallen into a light +slumber, felt Jackson pulling at his arm. + +"Wake up!" the man whispered. "There is a light in the sky!" + +Jimmie was on his feet in an instant. Away off over a parallel +ridge to the east, a ridge not so high as the one on which they +stood, and which formed only a slight elevation in the general +slope, a single light twinkled and swung up and down in the half +light between night and morning. "That's the Nelson, all right!" +Jimmie declared. "Ned is coming! Good old Ned! Now, what can we +do to keep him from being murdered?" the boy added, tearfully. + +"I give it up!" replied Jackson. "All we can do is to give them +some signals and tell them to keep away." + +Jimmie sprang out to one of the guards, who already stood erect, +watching the light with his gun in his hand. The guard looked +curiously at Jimmie as he advanced, his hands clasping his +shoulders, his body shivering as from extreme cold. The Indian was +cold, too, so it did not take him long to make out the boy's +meaning. + +Jimmie next pointed to sticks lying about, and to bunches of dry +grass which stood in some of the crevices of the rocks. The guard +nodded consent for a fire and Jimmie raced about like mad collecting +principally dry grass. + +Jackson ran to help him, piling his gatherings all on one heap. + +"Make three piles!" Jimmie cried. "I want three fires! Three +bright fires! Make three heaps!" + +The three heaps grew fast. They were not arranged in a row on a +level, but mounted one above another on the slope. Jimmies idea was +to so place the fires one above the other, some thing like notches +cut in a tree trunk. + +The reason for this is apparent. Three fires in a line facing the +point signaled to signal "Good News." Three notches cut in a tree +trunk, one above another, mean "Important Warning!" Now the +question was, would Ned understand that the fires represented +warning notches, one above the other, and keep away until some safe +plan for landing could be arranged? + +If he accepted the signal as "Good News" signs, he would drop down +to death. If he read them as Jimmie intended he should, he would +sail away and wait for a more favorable opportunity. + +When the three fires were going the Indian guards gathered about in +order to warm themselves. Jimmie and Jackson hovered near them, +too, but they never shifted their eyes from the light in the sky. + +The Nelson hovered over the elevation to the east for a second, and +then, much to the amazement of the lad, whirled about and shot +downward, out of sight. The guards watched the light as long as it +showed and then turned to the fires again. + +Daylight came swiftly, and a finger of sunlight lay on the crest of +the mountains when the' machine was in the air again. It was, +perhaps, three miles away, across deep and dangerous canyons which +it would require hours of the hardest kind of traveling to cross on +foot. + +Sailing low, almost touching minor elevations at times, the great +airship came on, straight to the spot where the boys stood--where +the Indians awaited them with guns in their hands! + +In a moment Jimmie saw why this course was being taken. Unless the +rascals in the twin valleys had seen the light when it first +appeared they would not see it at all, for the bulk of the mountain +shut off their view of the rough country over which Ned was +traveling. + +Ned did not seem to mind the fire signals. Perhaps, Jimmie thought, +he had recognized the warning as a "Good News" signal. In that case +the boy thought, the end of everything, for them, would come right +there! + +Moving slowly and softly, with little noise of motor or propeller, +the Nelson approached the spot, circled about, and dropped in a +little depression just below the place where Jimmie was standing. +Then the strangest thing happened! + +The boy had expected to hear rifle shots, to see his friends +attacked, perhaps murdered before his eyes. But the first one to +spring from the machine was the Indian who had given the Boy Scout +salute some days before! + +The Indians on guard saluted him gravely and stood eyeing the +aeroplane critically. No hostile move was made. It was the +strangest thing! Where had Ned taken the Indian up, and why had the +latter volunteered to render this assistance? + +It was no use to wonder, so Jimmie and Jackson sprang toward the +machine, grasped Ned by the hand, and swung into seats. The Indian +who had piloted the Nelson to the place and prevented an attack by +the guards, stood with his arms folded across his broad breast. For +a moment Ned grasped his hand. The others followed, with what +emotion may well be understood, and the Nelson was away, purring +through the sweet air of the morning as if there were no perils at +all in life! + +Later revelations showed that the Indian, wishing to protect the Boy +Scouts, had made his way to the elevation where the Nelson had first +dropped down, signaled to Ned, and informed him of the plans of the +Collins people. Frank and Jack had been left farther down the +slope, as it was feared that the Nelson would not be able to get +away with so much weight to carry. It is almost needless to say +that the Indian was rewarded for his loyalty to the Boy Scouts, and +that he carried back with him enough money to make each of the +guards a substantial present. + +When the Nelson first rose above the rim of the twin valleys shrill +cries came from the direction of the cavern, and half a dozen shots +were fired. But all to no purpose. The last the boys saw of +Collins and his adherents they were shouting angrily at the Indians, +who were rapidly disappearing from sight over the west wall. + +After a time the aeroplane dropped down again, and Jimmie's eyes +nearly popped out of his head when he saw Jack and Frank sitting +complacently on a rock watching him with grins on their faces. The +greeting of the three boys may well be imagined. + +"You're a nice bunch!" Jimmie cried, after many handshakes and much +pulling about. "We left you on the way to little old N.Y. Where +you been?" + +"We just took a run in the Black Bear!" was the reply. + +"The Black Bear!" repeated the little fellow actually rubbing his +eyes to see if he was awake. "Where is the Black Bear?" + +"Down in the Madeira river," laughed Ned, "and there's no knowing +where she would have been by this time only for the--" + +"Cut it out, Ned!" broke in Jack. "Let us break it to him gently. +He'll have fun enough with us without getting it all in a bunch!" + +Jackson was introduced to the two boys, and then a council of war +was held. It was finally decided that Jackson should be taken to +Sicuani in the Nelson and left there, with money enough to make his +way out. Pedro was found at Sicuani and richly rewarded. He did +not return to Lima. + +Then Ned was to return for the boys and proceed straight to +Asuncion, where the search for the missing cattleman was to be +renewed. This programme was carried out. Later the boys met +Jackson in New York and royally entertained him at the Black Bear +club room and saw that he secured a fine position. + +When the Nelson reached Asuncion Ned proceeded directly to the +office of the president, taking the boys with him. There the story +of the trip was told, and Frank and Jack saw to it that Ned's +official position was made known to the head of the republic. + +"And so this Mr. Thomas Q. Collins is the man at the bottom of the +trouble?" asked the official. "Well, he will be taken care of if he +returns here. And this military chief? He shall be sent out of the +country!" + +It transpired later on that the president had been deceived in the +two men, and that Collins had secured the assistance of the general +by false statements and by offers of large sums of money in case the +cattle concession was taken from Lyman. A good many officials were +found to be mixed up in the conspiracy, and there were numerous +vacancies in the government service. + +"And now," the president said, after the whole truth was known, "the +next thing to do is to find Lyman and restore him to his rights." + +"It seems to me," Ned suggested, "that this general ought to be able +to produce him in Asuncion in a few hours' time." + +"It may be so," admitted the official. "At least, we'll see what +can be done in that direction." + +Lyman was safe in his home in one day. When the general learned +that it was the wish of the president that the cattleman should be +brought forth, the thing was as good as accomplished. + +"It seems to me," Ned said to the boys, that night, "that this thing +has been settled without much help from me. All the president +needed was to be set right." + +"What he needed," laughed Jack, "was the proof that Collins had +abducted Lyman, and that he was prepared to prevent his return to +Asuncion until his concession had expired. Perhaps you can tell me +how all this proof could have been obtained if you had not +undertaken the job offered you by the Secret Service men at San +Francisco?" + +"Of course he can't," Jimmie put in. "Lyman man would have died +there in the mountains and Collins would have taken over his +property. The president might have been in with the deal at first, +but he certainly wasn't willing to stand for such coarse work." + +"And when Lyman didn't show up, his heirs would have demanded the +property, and then there would have been an international +quarrel--perhaps work for gunboats," Frank added. "I think the case +was settled just right, and in the right way." + +"And what does this Lyman person say?" asked Jimmie. + +"Not a thing!" cried Jack. "He just offers Ned all the money there +is in the world in the shape of a reward. I should have taken it!" + +"I know better," Ned commented. "We don't need his money, any more +than we need the half million or so Collins offered us." + +"Wonder what Collins will do now?" asked Frank. + +"He'll duck!" replied Jimmie. + +The little fellow was right. Thomas Q. Collins was heard of no +more, either in Paraguay or Peru. When Ned, leaving the others at +Asuncion, speeded over to Lima he found Leroy and Mike lounging +about the hotel, waiting anxiously for news from their chums. They +had been released on the day following Collins' departure, there +being no one to press the charge of assault and battery against +them. + +Now there was work cut out for the Nelson. She carried Ned, Mike +and Leroy over to Asuncion and then made two long trips to the +little town on the Madeira where the Black Bear lay. + +The meeting between the boys and Harry was an enthusiastic one, and +the latter pointed with a good deal of pride to the motor boat, good +as new and as bright and clean as a new gold piece. + +After a few days spent exploring the country up the Beni, the boys +started home, their errand satisfactorily accomplished. Jimmie +decided to go with Jack, Frank, Harry and Mike in the motor boat, +leaving the Nelson to Ned and Leroy. + +"One thing I'd like to do," Jimmie said, as the Black Bear lay +waiting for the boys, "and that is to go up into that cannibal +country and have some fun with the fellows who captured the Black +Bear and made the occupants of it look like thirty cents in postage +stamps!" + +"They never did capture the Black Bear!" yelled Frank. "They tried +to, and got dynamited for their pains. That's what they got." + +"And of course," tormented the little fellow, "you wished the Nelson +had stayed away, and left you all the glory--not!" + +"Well," Jack interposed, "we didn't get tied up in a mountain cave +by a lot of cheap skates. We never got where we had to let an +Indian get us out of a mess." + +"Rats!" shouted Jimmie. "Ned would have recognized our fire signals +and remained away! We could have gotten off without the Indian." + +"You say it well!" laughed Frank. "I think that fire signal was +punk!" + +And so the lads roasted each other all the way down the Amazon, with +the Nelson sailing above them, dropping down at night and, perhaps, +changing passengers each day. + +"I wish I had the frame of the Vixen," Leroy said, one day. "I +could make a fine aeroplane out of it. Shame to have an airship +smashed like that!" + +Ned pointed to the planes of the Nelson. + +"You've got quite a job making this little lady look like new," he +said. "Those tent canvas planes look rather cheap." + +"I'll have the new planes in place in a week after we get back to +New York," said the other. + +"And send the repair bill to the government," advised Ned. "It will +be paid without a cross word." + +At the mouth of the Amazon the Black Bear was taken apart and packed +aboard a fast steamer bound for New York. The five boys accompanied +her, of course, while Ned and Leroy completed the trip home in the +Nelson. When the four reached the Black Bear club room they found +Ned there with a mass of letters and telegrams before him. + +"Look here, lads," he said, "we've got more trouble on hand. You +know about the revolution in China, and all that? Well, there's a +lot of gold which belongs to the republic been dumped in the sea, +and I've got to go and help get it out!" + +"Let 'em get their own gold," Jimmie said. + +"But in this case, it is claimed that there was fraud in the +shipment of gold, also, that the vessel carrying it was rammed for +the purpose of concealing the fraud. Anyway, Uncle Sam wants me to +look it up." + +"What's he got to do with it?" asked Frank. + +"Something connected with the sub-treasury," laughed Ned. "That is +all I can say to you about it." + +"And how you goin' to get it?" demanded Jimmie. + +"By working with a submarine," was the reply. + +"Down in the bottom of the sea!" sang Frank. + +"Well," Ned said, presently, "figure the thing out for yourselves. +Find out if you can get permission to go, and all that. The +government will provide the submarine and all the supplies, of +course, and land us near the spot we are to search." + +But the story of the search for the gold is quite another tale. It +will be found in the third volume of this series, entitled: + +"Boy Scouts in a Submarine; or, Searching an Ocean Floor." + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Boy Scouts in an Airship, by G. Harvey Ralphson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY SCOUTS IN AN AIRSHIP *** + +***** This file should be named 6904.txt or 6904.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/0/6904/ + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Harvey Ralphson + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6904] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 10, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY SCOUTS IN AN AIRSHIP *** + + + + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + + + + +Boy Scouts in an Airship; + +or, The Warning From the Sky + +BY G. HARVEY RALPHSON + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SPIES IN THE BOY SCOUT CAMP + + +Gates, the United States Secret Service man, closed the door gently +and remained standing just inside the room, his head bent forward in +a listening attitude. Ned Nestor and Jimmie McGraw, Boy Scouts of +the Wolf Patrol, New York City, who had been standing by a window, +looking out on a crowded San Francisco street, previous to the +sudden appearance of the Secret Service man, turned toward the +entrance with smiles on their faces. + +They evidently thought that Gates was posing, as so many detectives +have a silly habit of doing, and so gave little heed to the hand he +lifted in warning. The boys knew little about Gates at that time, +and so may be pardoned for the uncomplimentary thoughts with which +they noted his theatrical conduct. + +Young Nestor had been engaged by the United States government to +undertake a difficult and dangerous mission to South America, and +Gates had been sent on from Washington to post him as to the details +of the case. The boys had waited at the San Francisco hotel three +days for the arrival of the Secret Service man, and waited +impatiently, as Sam Leroy, who was to be the third member of the +party, was anxious for the safety of his aeroplane, the Nelson, in +which the trip to "the roof of the world" was to be made. + +The Nelson was lying, guarded night, and day, in a field just out of +the city, on the Pacific side, and Leroy was impatiently keeping his +eyes on the guards most of the time. There was a subconscious +notion in the minds of all the boys that there were enemies about, +and that the aeroplane would never be fully out of danger until she +was well over the ocean on her way south. Gates had arrived only +that morning, and now the lads were eager to be off. + +A couple of hours before his appearance in the room that morning, +the Secret Service agent had left the boys in the lobby below to +arrange for the necessary papers and funds for the mission. Before +going out, however, he had been informed of the boys' suspicions, +and had made light of the idea that the aeroplane was in danger from +secret enemies, pointing to the fact that no one was supposed to +know anything about the proposed journey save the boys and himself +as conclusive evidence that the suspicion of constant surveillance +was not well founded. + +Now, on his return, his cautious movements indicated that he, too, +was alarmed and on his guard. While Ned was wondering what it was +that had so changed Gates' point of view, there came a quick, +imperative knock on the door of the room, which was occupied by Ned +and Jimmie as a sleeping apartment. + +Instantly, almost before the sound of the knock died away, Gates +opened the door and stepped forward. The man who stood in the +corridor, facing the doorway, was tall, slender, dark of complexion, +like a Spaniard or a Mexican. His black hair was long, straight, +thin; his black eyes were bright, treacherous, too close together, +with a little vertical wrinkle between the brows. He was dressed in +a neat brown business suit of expensive material. + +When the door was opened he stepped forward and glanced into the +interior of the room, apparently with the purpose of entering. But +when Gates moved aside to give him passageway he drew back, the set +smile on his face vanishing as he bowed low and swung his slender +hands out in elaborate gesture. + +"Pardon!" he said. "I have made a mistake in the room." + +He was about to move away when Gates gritted out a question. + +"For whom were you looking?" he asked. "We may be able to direct you +to your friend," he added, more courteously, his alert eyes taking +in every detail of the man's face, figure and dress. + +"It is nothing!" was the quick reply. "I will make inquiries at the +office--which, undoubtedly, I should have done before." + +In a moment he was gone, moving gracefully toward the elevator. +Gates watched his elegant, well-dressed figure with a smile of quiet +satisfaction. When the visitor gained the elevator, he turned and +bowed at the still open doorway, and the Secret Service man +recognized the grin on his face as expressive of triumph rather than +apology. + +"What did he want?" asked Jimmie, as Gates, closed the door. + +Gates did not answer the question immediately. Instead he asked +one: + +"Ever see that fellow before?" + +Jimmie shook his head, but Ned looked grave as he answered: + +"I have seen him about the hotel--frequently. He seems to have a +suite off this corridor, or the one above it." + +At this moment the door was opened again and Sam Leroy bounced into +the room, his eyes shining with enthusiasm, his muscles tense with +the joy of youth and health. He drew back when he saw Gates, whom +he had not met before, and looked questioningly at Ned. + +"This is Lieutenant Gates, for whom we have been waiting," Ned said, +"and this, Lieutenant, is Sam Leroy, who is to take us to South +America in his aeroplane." + +"I hope the machine is above reproach as to strength and speed," +laughed Gates, as the two shook hands cordially, "for there is +likely to be doings down there." + +"The Nelson is warranted for work and wind," said Ned. "She crossed +the continent in a rush and spied on us through British Columbia and +on down the Columbia river, not long ago, and I can recommend her as +a very desirable bird of the air." + +"She's all sound now," Leroy said, "but there's no knowing how long +she will be if we don't get her out of San Francisco. There was a +couple of men hanging around her last night, and one of them went +away with a bullet in his leg. I'm glad you're here, Lieutenant, +for now we can get away--quick!" + +"Did you get a good look at either of the two men you speak of?" +asked Ned, his mind going back to what seemed to him to be a secret +conspiracy against the Nelson. + +"One of them," Leroy answered, "was tall, slender, dark; with long +straight hair and eyes like a snake. I noticed, too, that he had a +habit of moistening his lips with the end of his tongue, and that +made me think of a snake thrusting out his tongue. I got a shot at +the other fellow, but not at this one." + +Gates and Ned looked at each other with nods of mutual +understanding. This was a pretty good description of the man who +had just stood before the door of that room. Then the lieutenant +turned to Jimmie. + +"You asked a moment ago," he said, "what the fellow wanted here. +Now I think I can tell you. He wanted to confirm his suspicions +that the four of us axe working together. He has been sleuthing +about the corridors all the morning, watching me; and his mission to +this room was to make sure that my business in San Francisco is with +Ned--that we are working together." + +"He's sure doing a lot of Sherlock Holmes stunts," Jimmie declared. +"And I reckon he's next to his job, for he appears to have inspected +all the points of interest, from the field where the Nelson is to +the room where the plans are being made." + +"Yes," Leroy said, his manner showing apprehension as well as anger, +"but how the Old Scratch did he get his knowledge, of what, we are +about to do? I thought no one in the West knew except us four. And +what's he trying to do, anyway? What difference does it make to him +if we do go to South America in an aeroplane?" + +"I have a notion," Gates replied, "that he objects to your going in +an airship because you will make such swift time. Let me tell you +something more about this case. Then you will be able to understand +why efforts may be made to prevent your going to South America, in +an airship or in any other way." + +"It's just the airship they've been after so far," Leroy +interrupted. "They haven't troubled us--and they'd better not!" + +"I imagine," said the lieutenant, gravely, "that their activities +will broaden out as they get warmed up to their work. Understand? +What I mean is this: You boys are risking your lives in undertaking +this mission. You will be followed and spied upon from the minute +you leave San Francisco, and the chances will be all against you +when you reach your field of operations. Even the Government cannot +protect you in your undertaking, for the Government is not supposed +to know anything about this case." + +"We are to do something by stealth, then, which the diplomats of the +State department are too cautious to undertake?" asked Ned. + +"That is it exactly," was the reply. "If the State department +should take cognizance of the situation down there and make any sort +of a demand, war would be certain to follow in case the demand was +denied, which it would be. Therefore, the State department does not +wish to make a demand. Still, the American who is in trouble must +be protected. You are to go and get him out of his dungeon, or +wherever he may be, and the Department of State will wink at what +you do and look innocent." + +"Aw, why don't they send a warship to do the job?" demanded Jimmie. + +"Because," replied the lieutenant, "Uncle Sam has taken the +republics of South America under his protection, and he does not +care to spank them in the presence of all the nations of the earth! +He wants to get this man Lyman--Horace M. Lyman, to be exact--out of +the clutches of a crooked gang in Paraguay without wasting money and +lives. Hence the arrangement with you boys." + +"I have read something about the Lyman case," Ned observed, "but I +have forgotten all the material points, I guess." + +"Lyman," Gates went on, "took up his residence in Paraguay some +years ago and opened negotiations with the government for a cattle +concession. The lands known as the 'Chaco' district, lying between +the Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers, are said to be the best for +grazing purposes in all South America. Years ago they were +considered worthless swamps, but this is all changed now. + +"Well, Lyman entered into negotiations with the president of this +alleged republic and got his concession. There is no knowing how +much he paid for it, for every new president of Paraguay--and they +have new ones quite frequently down there--seems to do business on +the theory that what he doesn't get while the getting is good he +never will get at all. There have been four or five new official +heads of this alleged republic within a couple of years. + +"The country is on the verge of revolution most of the time and as +the army goes so goes the election. Jara was made prisoner last +July, and one Rojes put in power. Now, in order to keep in good +standing with the army, the government is obliged to have generals +who are loyal to whoever is in power. These generals must be paid +for their services, of course. + +"It seems that Lyman fell under the displeasure of one of these +powerful military chaps, probably because he refused to give up all +his profits in the cattle business. Anyway, Lyman disappeared from +home, quite suddenly, and his manager was notified that settlement +could be made with one Senor Lopez, an army chief, said to be a +relative of a former president. So Lopez was appealed to. + +"Now Lopez is a slippery chap. He denied knowing anything about +Lyman, but declared that unless the cattleman appeared shortly and +took up his work on the cattle concession the grant would be taken +from him. That is like South American justice. Lock a man up and +then deprive him of his rights because he can't appear and claim +them!" + +"Must be a fine healthy country!" Jimmie interposed. + +"It is all of that," laughed the lieutenant. "Then this manager, I +think his name is Coye, appealed to the United States consul and the +consul to the president. Nothing doing! Lyman, they insisted, had +not been molested by the authorities. But Lyman's people in this +country are kicking up an awful row, and something must be done. + +"There is no doubt that the cattleman, is locked up in some of the +old military prisons of the country, yet the State department can't +get him out. The president offers any assistance in his power, of +course! Lopez weeps when the matter is mentioned to him--weeps at +the unfounded suspicions which are being cast upon him! So there +you are! The only hope for Lyman lies in some such method as has +been planned. If you fail, the situation will be desperate, +indeed." + +"Why don't Lyman buy the fellow off?" asked Jimmie. + +"The purpose of Lopez in pursuing the course referred to is +undoubtedly to find an excuse for robbing Lyman of the concession +and selling it to another at a much greater price. So others +besides the general and Lyman are concerned in this mix-up." + +"You refer to a person, or corporation, waiting to buy the +concession?" asked Ned, the reason for the surveillance in San +Francisco coming to him like a flash. + +"That is it." + +"And these prospective concessionaires are looking to it that Lyman +gets no aid from this country?" + +"I had not looked at the matter in that way, had not thought of +their venturing over here, but presume you are right." + +"Look here," Leroy asked, "are you figuring it out that the people +who are trying to steal or cripple the Nelson came here from +Paraguay for the express purpose of watching this Lyman case and +preventing his friends from assisting him?" + +"You state the case in a way which gives it a good deal of +importance," Gates replied, "But I believe you state it correctly. +Just how the men who hope to gain the concession if Lyman loses it +came to understand the attitude of our Government is more than I can +imagine, but it is quite clear to me that they do understand the +situation--that they are thoroughly posted as to every move that has +been made by the Government and by the friends of the cattleman." + +"It is a good thing to know that we are likely to be chased to South +America," Ned said, "for we know exactly what to expect, and shall +be on our guard." + +"Chased to South America!" laughed Leroy. "They'll have to go some +if the keep up with the little old Nelson! She can fly some--if you +want to know!" + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A FOX JOINS THE WOLVES + + +Nelson hung like a great gull over New Orleans one hot morning in +early August. The boys who occupied seats on the light aluminum +form under the sixty-foot wings glimpsed the Gulf of Mexico in the +distance, while directly their feet ran the crooked streets of the +French Quarter. + +The departure from San Francisco had been for a delayed for a long +time because of the non-arrival of important instructions from +Washington, and because of a slight injury to the aeroplane while +out on what Leroy called an "exercise run." Lieutenant Gates had +remained with the boys until they started on their long flight to +the mouth of the great Mississippi river, and had then returned to +Washington. + +I had first been the intention to proceed due from San Francisco, +then wing toward the east where the coast of Peru showed. This plan +was opposed by the lieutenant, for the reason that an airship far +out on the Pacific ocean, directly in the steamship route, would be +likely to attract attention sailing over the southwestern states and +Central America. Daring aviators now venture in all directions and +at all altitudes above the solid earth, but they are still cautious +about proceeding far out over the merciless waters of the oceans +which rim the continent of North America. + +So, yielding to the wishes of the lieutenant, the Nelson had been +directed by her navigators across California, Arizona, New Mexico, +Texas and Louisiana until the great city of the South lay spread out +before them. The distance covered by the airship in this flight was +not far from thirty-five hundred miles, and the Nelson, leaving the +coast city on Monday morning, August 7, had covered the run so as to +reach New Orleans late Wednesday afternoon. + +The boys might, it is true, have speeded up and made the distance in +thirty-six hours, or less but they realized the necessity of taking +good care of themselves, and so they had rested in quiet places both +Monday and Tuesday night, landing about midnight and sleeping until +long after daylight. Having provisions with them, they had not +found it necessary to land except when gasoline was obtained at +Santa Fe. + +The machine had attracted little attention on the route, for it was +painted a dull gray, and its aluminum motors gave forth little +sound. It was two merits of the machine, which had been invented by +young Leroy, that it could navigate in a clear sky a mile up without +being observed from below, and could also run to within a short +distance of the earth without making herself conspicuous by the +popping of her motors. The United States authorities are now +adapting these two qualities to the government airships to be used +in the military service. + +The boys remained in New Orleans until Thursday morning, August 10, +and then, with full provision baskets and gasoline tanks, they set +out across the Gulf of Mexico. They soon sighted Yucatan, which is +really a province of Mexico, darted over British Honduras, and swung +over the forests of Guatemala, the one country in Central America +which is never bothered with revolutions. + +When an ambitious person wants to wrest the reins of government from +the officials in charge, they take him out and stand him up against +a stone wall, with a firing squad in front. This manner of +preventing revolutions is believed to be conducive to peace and also +to the sanctity of human lives. Jimmie, who had been reading up on +South and Central America while waiting in San Francisco, explained +many points of interest as the Nelson sped on her way. + +They took on more gasoline at Panama, and Ned and Jimmie were very +glad to renew their acquaintance with that now model city. Those +who have read the former books of this series will remember that the +Boy Scouts at one time had a commission to stand guard over the +great Gatun dam. + +They did not remain long in Panama, however, as they were anxious to +get to the scene of their future operations. They were all +anticipating great fun in exploring "the roof of the world," which +extends from Colombia to Argentina, north and south, through +Equator, Peru, and Bolivia, more than 2,000 miles, or as far as from +New York City to Denver. In many directions from this "roof" may be +seen villages, cattle, sheep, llamas, and evidences of mining. + +The boys made good progress down the coast of tropical South +America. They had heard much of Peru, and were surprised to see +only a great strip of sand, lying like a desert, between the Pacific +and the mountains. Now and then a little stream, fed by the melting +snows in the Andes, comes trailing out toward the sea, but it is +usually smaller at its mouth than at its source for the reason that +the precious water is utilized for irrigation purposes. Wherever +there is water crops grow luxuriantly. + +Thus far they had not been molested in any way. Indeed, considering +the speed with which they had traveled, it would have been difficult +for any one to have meddled with their plans. They were therefore +in excellent spirits when they landed at Lima, which is the one +large city of the country. + +Lima, however, is not built on the coast, Callao being the seaport +of the metropolis. Lima is a modern city in every way, with, +handsome streets, electric lights, and all that any modern city has +in the way of amusements. + +The Nelson was anchored on the morning of August 14, in a +sequestered spot, and the boys, after answering many foolish +questions, laid plans to look over the wonderful city. It was +necessary to station a strong guard about the machine, for the +natives--many of whom spoke the English language fairly well--were +overly curious concerning the man-made bird. + +In answer to all questions as to their plans, the lads replied that +they were seeking the headwaters of the Amazon, and would soon pass +over the Andes and drift down into Brazil. This was not far from +the actual truth, as it really was the Intention to return home by +that route after their mission had been accomplished. + +"But the wind is always from the east," was often urged against this +plan, as explained by Jimmie, who lingered about the Nelson while +the others were at the hotel. + +When it was explained to the doubters that the Nelson was capable of +making a hundred miles an hour against a stiff breeze, the natives +seemed to doubt the veracity of the boys. The Peruvians knew little +of airships, and when Jimmie exhibited to them daily newspapers +showing how Germany was building a fleet of three hundred airships +to use in case of war, they still looked incredulous. + +"Look here, fellers," Jimmie explained to them, later in the +afternoon of the arrival, as a group of curious ones stood about the +roped-in enclosure where the Nelson lay, "I guess you don't know +much about the navigation of the air. It used to be risky; now it +is no more so than riding on a railroad train." + +"You say it well!" + +The words were spoken in good English, seemingly in a boy's voice, +and Jimmie peered through his audience in order to catch a glimpse +of the speaker. Presently, above the heads which surrounded him, +the boy saw a hand and arm extended. The palm was out, the thumb +and little finger flat and crossed, the three remaining fingers held +straight out. The full salute of the Boy Scouts. + +"Say, you!" the lad cried out, greatly pleased at finding a Boy +Scout there. "Where did you get that?" + +"Scouted for it!" was the reply. + +"What does it read?" + +"Be prepared!" + +"Where from?" was the next question. + +"Fox Patrol, Chicago." + +"You must be pretty foxy," Jimmie laughed, "to get away off here." + +The member of the Fox Patrol now made his way through the crowd and +extended a hand to Jimmie. + +"You don't look as if it paid to be a Fox," laughed the latter. + +The boy certainly did look like a tramp. He was a lad of about +sixteen, well formed as to figure and attractive as to feature, with +bright blue eyes, long, fair hair, and a complexion which would have +been perfect only for the grime upon it. He blushed as Jimmie +looked him over, and involuntarily turned his eyes down to his +ragged clothing and broken shoes. + +"Forget that!" Jimmie cried, in a moment. "I didn't mean anything +by it. Where you stopping?" + +The fact was that Jimmie suspected from the appearance of the lad +that he was hungry as well as ragged and dirty. He certainly looked +hungry. The boy hesitated before replying, his hands deep in his +trousers pockets, his eyes on the ground. Then a whimsical smile +came to his face and he looked Jimmie squarely in the face. + +"No use of lyin' about it," he said. "I'm stoppin' down here at the +Blue Sky Hotel. It's a dandy place to stop at. They never present +a board bill." + +Jimmie sat back on the rope which was drawn about the Nelson to keep +meddlesome ones away from the machine and burst into a roar of +laughter. The crowd looked on stupidly, glancing from boy to boy, +and then at one another, as if wondering if these Americans always +went crazy when they met in a foreign land. + +"I know that Blue Sky Hotel," Jimmie said, presently, "though I've +never heard it called by that name before. I had a room in one, in +Central Park, New York, until a sparrow cop drove me out of it. I +liked it because I didn't have to dress for dinner there," he added, +whimsically. + +"The feed is rather slim," observed the other. + +"It's run on the European plan," grinned Jimmie. "You get your +sleepins, an' no one cares whether you get your eatin's or not. +What's your name?" + +"Dougherty--Mike Dougherty, Clark street, south of Van Buren!" + +"I guess you must be French," Jimmie grinned. + +"You've guessed it. Now, what's your name, and what are you boys +doin' here with this old sky-ship?" + +"I'll tell you all about it when we get back to the hotel," Jimmie +replied. "Do you know any of the gazabos about here? I want some +one to watch the ginks who are watchin' the mutts who are watchin' +the aeroplane." + +Dougherty laughed at this suggestion of a treble surveillance and +pointed out a lanky looking individual who was studying the machine +closely from the outer side of the roped-circle. + +"That's Pedro," he said. "He's all right. About all I've had to +eat since I came here he's given me. He's a Peruvian Indian, and in +need of money. Give him a dollar, and he'll guard your guards a +month, and never leave the machine, night or day." + +"Does he talk United States?" + +"Oh, just a little." + +Pedro talked quite a little United States, as Jimmie called it, and +a bargain was soon struck with him. Then the two boys started away +together. First they visited a clothing store, where Jimmie looked +at the best suits in stock, and measured Dougherty cautiously with +his eyes. A full outfit of under and outer clothing provided, they +proceeded to the hotel, where Jimmie ushered his new-found friend +into a commodious bathroom. + +"Remove some of your real estate," the boy said, "an' hop into these +new clothes. They ain't very nobby, but the best I could get here." + +Mike Dougherty stood looking at Jimmie for a moment as if he could +not believe what he heard. It had been a long time since he had +been clean and properly clothed. Then there came a suspicious +moisture to his keen eyes and he turned away. + +"Oh, well," he said, with a tremble in his clear young voice, "mebbe +I'll be able to pay you back some day. Just now I'm--" + +"Cut it out!" Jimmie replied. "You hain't got anythin' on me. I've +been there meself, an' the Boy Scout that helped me out told me to +pass it along. That's what I'm doin' now, and there's nothin' more +to be said. When you get washed and dressed, come on to No. 4, +that's the second room from this tub, on the left of the corridor, +an' I'll show you the rest of the bunch." + +Jimmie went away to No. 4, where Ned and Sam Leroy were waiting for +him. Somehow, it seemed to Ned that Jimmie kept him waiting about +half the time when they were in a strange city. The little fellow +had a way of wandering off alone and forgetting all about time in +his delight at the strange things he saw. When he entered No. 4 he +found Ned standing near the door. + +"Were you out there before?" Ned asked, pointing to the corridor, as +Jimmie stepped inside. + +"Just got here," was the reply. "Found a Boy Scout from the Fox +Patrol, Chicago, an' brought him along with me. He's washin' some +of the Peruvian scenery off his frame, now, an' will soon be along." + +Then Jimmie told of his discovery of Mike Dougherty, of his leaving +a treble guard around the Nelson, and of numerous other adventures +in the city, which, not being in any way connected with this +narrative, are not set down here. + +"I'm glad you brought this boy Mike here," Ned said, at the +conclusion of the story. "We need some one who knows something +about Lima to keep us posted." + +"About what?" asked Jimmie. + +"We're spotted!" Leroy cried out, before Ned could answer the +question. "The wireless is swifter than the Nelson!" + +"How do you know?" demanded the little fellow. "How do you know +we're spotted?" + +"Oh, Ned's been doping it out," was the reply. "He'll tell you, I +guess." + +"You thought you'd take the cream off the sensation!" laughed Ned. +"Well, that is the boy of it! All I know about it, Jimmie," he +continued, "is that I've been receiving telegrams which simply mean +nothing. They are from people I have never heard of, and are most +mysteriously worded." + +"There's one that tells you to get out of the country," suggested +Leroy. + +"Yes, but the others seem to infer that the man who sent them is out +of his mind. The three received are from Washington, San Francisco, +and New Orleans." + +"What have the messages to do with our being spotted?" asked Jimmie. +"I don't see any connection." + +"Stupid!" cried Leroy. "Can't you see the wires were sent to locate +Ned? The person who delivered them to him sure wired back that they +had been delivered to Ned in person--in other words, that he has +reached Lima on his journey to Paraguay." + +"I see!" Jimmie said, slowly. "It's clever, eh?" + +"Too clever," Ned said. "I don't like the looks of it. It means, +of course, that the people who are trying to get the cattle +concession away from Mr. Lyman have secret agents here. And that +means that everything we do at Lima will be watched and reported." + +"Reported to whom?" asked Leroy. + +"Probably to this military person, Senor Lopez, who is on the job +with both hands out," suggested Jimmie. "Well? What about it?" + +"I think," Leroy cut in, "that we'd better be getting out of this. +They can't follow us after we get up in the air." + +Here a knock came on the door, and Jimmie admitted Mike and +presented him to his chums. The boy looked trim and handsome in his +new suit, and all took a great liking to him. While they discussed +their plans another interruption took place, and then Jimmie saw +Pedro at the door, beckoning excitedly to Mike Dougherty. The boy +talked with the Indian for a short time, and then turned to Ned, +excitement showing in his face. + +"He says there's another airship here," Mike said. "Prowling over +the mountains." + +"They can't follow us in the air, eh?" cried Leroy. "I guess this +is going some!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +BLACK BEARS ON THE AMAZON + + +The handsome club room of the Black Bear Patrol, in the city of New +York, was situated on the top floor of the magnificent residence of +Attorney Bosworth, one of the leading corporation lawyers in the +country. Jack Bosworth, the lawyer's only son, was a member of the +Black Bear Patrol, and the club room had been fitted up at his +request. + +It was in this room that Ned Nestor, Jimmie McGraw, Jack Bosworth, +Harry Stevens, and Frank Shaw had planned their motor-boat trip down +the Columbia river, as described in the first volume of this series. +Jack, Harry and Frank had returned to New York from San Francisco +when Ned had decided to accept the Secret Service mission to +Paraguay, at the conclusion of the motor-boat vacation on the +Columbia, leaving the two boats, the Black Bear and the Wolf, stored +at Portland, Oregon. + +One evening--the evening of the 1st of August, to be exact--while +Ned, Sam, and Jimmie were still in San Francisco, awaiting the slow +action of the State department at Washington, Jack, Frank and Harry +met in the club room for the purpose of "sobbing together," as they +expressed it. They had left their friends in San Francisco +reluctantly because of orders from home, and now they understood +that they might have gone with Ned and Jimmie if they had only +explained to their parents the purpose of the mission. + +"I suppose," Frank Shaw said, at the end of a long pause in the +conversation, "I suppose Ned and the others are out over the Andes +by this time." + +"No," replied Jack. "I heard from Jimmie by wire today, and they +are still in Frisco, and likely to remain there nearly a week +longer." + +"If the airship was only large enough!" sighed Harry. + +"We might still get there in time!" Frank suggested, eagerly. + +"The Nelson wouldn't carry us if we were there," Jack exclaimed, in +a disgusted tone. "I wish the Black Bear had wings! Say, wouldn't +that be a peach? We could run over to Paraguay and scare the life +out of the boys!" + +"What good would it do if she had wings?" demanded Frank. "She is +in storage at Portland, Oregon." + +"No," replied Harry Stevens, whose father, a noted maker of +automobiles, had presented the motor-boats to his son, "I ordered +the boats sent on here the day after we left the coast. We can +take a trip up the Hudson, anyway." + +Jack walked thoughtfully around the room for a moment and then +turned back to the others, looking moodily out of a window. + +"I've got it!" he shouted, slapping Frank on the back. + +"I should say you had!" remarked Frank. "What do you take for it?" + +"I say I've got an idea!" Jack explained, jumping up and down and +swinging his hands over his head. "A peach of an idea!" + +"Does it hurt?" asked Harry. + +"Oh, cut out that funny stuff!" Jack cried. "When will the two +motor-boats be here?" + +Harry counted on the fingers of his left hand. + +"We've been home two days," he said, "and we were four days getting +to Chicago. There we laid over a day, and came on here in twenty +hours. We are eight days from the Pacific coast. That right?" + +"It seems to be." + +"Well, then, it is seven days since I ordered the Black Bear and the +Wolf sent on here in a special express car. They ought to be here +now." + +"Then," shouted Jack, pulling Harry around the room, "we're all +right--fit as a brass band at a free lunch! Whoo-pee!" + +"It must be hungry," Frank exclaimed, regarding Jack with seeming +terror. "Does it ever bite when it puts out these signals of +distress?" + +"Don't get too funny!" Jack warned. + +"Then loosen up on this alleged idea!" Frank replied. + +Jack rushed across the room and brought out an atlas of the world, +which he dumped on the floor and opened. + +"Look here, fellows!" he said, squatting over the map of South +America, his chin almost on his knees. + +"We're looking," grinned Frank. "What about it?" + +"Here we are in New York," Jack went on. "Here they are in San +Francisco. Now, they've got to sail to Paraguay, which is just +about twice as far from San Francisco as is New York. Anyway, +that's the way it looks on the map." + +"It is all of that distance," Harry put in. + +"Well," Jack continued, "as I said before, here we are in New York, +with the mouth of the Amazon river about as far away as San +Francisco, perhaps a little farther." + +"Well?" demanded Harry. + +"I begin to see the point!" Frank admitted. "But will the folks +stand for it?" + +"Mine will," Harry answered. "Dad didn't make the Black Bear to lie +in storage. He'll stand for it, all right." + +"So will mine," Frank said, then. "I'll tell him I'll send him a +lot of news for his paper." + +Frank's father was owner and editor of the Planet, one of the +leading morning newspapers in the big city, and it was always a +fiction of the boy's that he was going out in the interest of the +paper when he wandered off on a trip with the Boy Scouts. + +"I'm afraid you can't make that work again," laughed Jack. "Ned +says that you sent only four postal cards and six letters back from +Panama." + +"Well, wasn't that going some?" asked Frank. + +"Of course, only Ned says the postal cards carried the +correspondence for the Planet, and the letters carried requests for +more money!" + +"Anyway," Frank insisted, "Dad will stand for it. What is it?" + +"Well," Jack went on, "I'm sure my Dad will let me go. He wants me +to go about all I can. Says it brightens a fellow to rub up against +the rough places of the world." + +"There's rough corners enough in South America," laughed Harry. + +"Now, let us get down to figures," Jack continued. "We ought to be +able to get to the mouth of the Amazon on a fast boat, with the +Black Bear and the Wolf on board, in a week or ten days-say ten +days. About that time they will be getting into Paraguay. What do +you think of it?" + +"Fine!" cried Harry. + +"The best ever!" Frank responded. "But what then? We can't run up +to Paraguay in the Black Bear." + +"We can get away up in the Andes," answered Jack, with the map of +Brazil before him. "See these crooked little lines? Well, those +are rivers. Just see how far we can go in a motor boat." + +"But that won't bring us to the aeroplane," Frank objected. + +"Yes, it will," Harry answered. "They are coming back by way of the +Amazon valley, and we can't miss them. Oh, what's the use? Suppose +we begin packing?" + +"Well, I don't know exactly what we are to do after we get up the +Amazon," Harry laughed, "but I'm game to go. There are head-hunters +and cannibals up there, and we may find a little amusement." + +"We're going after Ned and Jimmie," Jack explained. "This is a +relief expedition! After they get to Paraguay they'll snatch that +Lyman person out of the cold, damp dungeon keep he is supposed to be +in and then sail off over the Amazon valley. There's where we catch +up with them. Do you suppose we can find a ship going to the mouth +of the Amazon early in the morning?" + +"You certainly are fierce when you get started!" laughed Harry. +"Well," he added, "you can't get ready any too soon to please me." + +It was two days before the boys found a vessel going their way, and +even then Jack insisted that his father bribed the owners to run off +their course in order to set the boys and their motorboats down at +the mouth of the Amazon river. The boat, however, was a fast one, +equal in speed to a modern ocean liner; and in ten days from the +time of starting from New York--on the 12th of August--the boys were +stemming the current of the great river--more like a shoreless sea +there at the mouth than a river! + +"Huh!" Frank exclaimed, as they left the island of Joannes to the +south, "this is no river! It is a blooming sea!" + +"Pretty near three hundred miles wide at the delta, including that +big island," Harry said. "It is some river, eh?" + +"Four thousand miles long!" Jack contributed. "It is navigable for +commercial purposes for 2,200 miles, and our boats can go up clear +to the foot of the Andes." + +"Boats went there in the days of Columbus," Frank said. "A +companion of Columbus first discovered this great delta. The river +fertilizes two million square miles of territory, and is the +greatest water system in the world." + +"Why," Harry observed, desiring to contribute something startling to +the discussion of the river, "the current is so strong that it +carries fresh water and sand five hundred miles out into the +Atlantic Ocean. It is just a fresh water river in a salt water sea +for five hundred miles!" + +That night the boys kept the engines of the Black Bear going, one +remaining on watch all through the dark hours. They had plenty of +gasoline in the tank, and the tender, the Wolf, was carrying a load +of fuel which Jack declared would last them until the end of the +year! + +It may be well to state here that the Black Bear, the Boy Scout +motorboat, was a specially constructed vessel, built by Harry's +father for river work. The materials were light yet strong, and the +boat could easily be taken apart and put together again when +occasion required. Between the cross-grained slices of tough wood +of which the craft was built were plates of steel, thus rendering +the boat virtually bullet proof. + +The Black Bear was constructed so that it could be almost entirely +thrown open to the sunshine when so desired or closed tightly +against cold or rain. The roof could be rolled up in a bundle in +the middle like the curtain of a modern desk. The sides were +composed of oblong panels which could be inserted in grooved steel +uprights when it was desired to close in the interior of the boat. +The motors were very powerful. + +In fact, it was just such a boat as was needed on the trip the boys +had in mind. It had done excellent service on the Columbia, and +nothing less could be expected of it on the Amazon. The Wolf, which +was merely a tender, was watertight in construction, being shaped +like a banana, and was towed by the motor-boat. Here the extra +stocks of gasoline, provisions, and ammunition were packed. The +interior of the Wolf was about six feet by eighteen in size, while +the distance from rounded floor to convex roof was about four feet. + +On both sides of the interior were gasoline tanks, which also +extended under the floor, lifting the bottom of the interior space +three feet. Above the tanks were spaces for provisions and +ammunition. The space between the tanks and the lockers was about +two feet, and here one might ride in comfort, after getting used to +the rolling of the boat. There were tight glass panels of thick +plate glass at the ends and the top. + +Ventilators and loopholes, controlled by wires from the center, were +cut in the ends and protected by sliding covers. Lying in the +passageway, one might look out at either end, and shoot out, too, if +occasion required. When fully loaded, the Wolf was submerged about +half its height. On the top was a staff from which floated an +American flag. The boys were very proud of the Wolf, and Jimmie had +often declared, on the Columbia river trip, that he would some day +take an exciting ride in it. + +During their passage up the river the boys were often hailed from +passing craft, but they took little heed, as they did not care to +lose time gratifying the curiosity of those they met. Indeed, if +they had stopped to talk with all who hailed them, they would have +made slow progress. Up to about sixty years ago the Amazon was +closed to all save Brazilian vessels, but now it is open to the +commerce of the world. + +There are now vessels coming from and going to all parts of Europe +and America from Amazon ports. There are lines of great steamers on +the main stream, lines of smaller steamers on the big tributaries, +and launches and small craft of all sizes on the affluent branches. +Often the passing ships, steamers, launches, etc., almost took the +form of a procession on the lower waters. + +Everywhere the smaller ships were gathering the products of the +great Amazon basin-rubber, cocoanuts, hardwoods, dyewoods, pelts, +tropical fruits and other commodities. Every year over three +million tons of products come down the great river. The Amazon +drains a country as large as the United States east of the +Mississippi. Its feeders reach the Andes, draining watersheds +within a hundred miles of the Pacific ocean. It has tributaries +fifteen hundred miles long. + +It did not take the Black Bear very long to pass the green islands +near the delta. The river there looks like an ocean. In fact, the +main branch of the Amazon is from fifty miles to two hundred miles +in width. Some of the tributaries are a hundred miles wide. It is +from fifty to two hundred feet deep. The water is always dark +colored because of the wash brought down from the uplands. For a +long time it did not seem possible to the boys that they were +sailing on a river instead of an ocean. + +"Ned and the boys must be over Paraguay now," Jack said, one day, +after they had been on the river nearly a week without accident or +important incident of any kind. + +"Yes," Frank replied, "they must be there by this time. Jimmie said +they were to leave San Francisco on the 7th, or about that time. It +would take a week or more to get to Lima, for they couldn't remain +in the air long at a time, and the resting spells would set them +back a little. Suppose they got to Lima on the 14th, which was last +Monday, they could rest up and go prowling over that dirty little +republic--which is not a republic at all, but a despotism tempered +by revolution." + +"I'd like to know just what course Ned has decided on," Harry said. +"I don't see how he's going to get to Mr. Lyman." + +"He'll find a way," Jack insisted. "He always has, and he always +will." + +It will be seen that the boys were tolerably accurate in their +estimates of the speed of the Nelson. On the day they were +discussing the possible location of the big airship, which was the +18th of August, the Nelson was in the center of as pretty a muss as +Ned had ever mixed with. + +The boys in the Black Bear put on all speed, traveling nights as +well as days, and before long began watching the heavens, for an +aeroplane. But the lads on the Nelson were not looking for a boat +poking her nose toward the Andes--"a relief expedition," as Jack +called it! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +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!" + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +JIMMIE TAKES A RUN IN THE AIR + + +The white aeroplane flashed by, going farther to the east, and Ned +laid a hand on Leroy's arm as he was about to increase speed. + +"Don't hurry," he said, almost screaming the words into the boy's +ear. + +"I don't want him to beat me!" the driver called back. + +"Let him go," Ned commanded. "Play about the scenery a little +while, and then we'll go back to Lima." + +"Let me catch him!" pleaded Leroy. "Just let me chase around him a +couple of times. I want to see him make a sneak when he sees the +Nelson in action!" + +"Can you do it?" asked Ned. + +"Sure I can do it. Just give me a chance. There isn't a machine in +the world that can win a race against the Nelson!" + +"I'm sure of that," Ned answered, "and I hope that fellow over there +won't find it out right away. Let him think he can go by us like we +were tied to a cloud, if he wants to. There will come a time when +his confidence in his machine will cost him his job!" + +Leroy saw that Ned was really in earnest in the expressed wish to +deceive the aviator of the rival aeroplane, and also saw that there +was good reason for doing so, so he shut off the motors and started +to volplane downward. + +"No," Ned said, "that's not right. Make him think we're trying to +catch him. Give him the impression that we want to overhaul him, +but haven't the speed." + +"The Nelson will blush red with shame to be bested by a water wagon +like that!" Leroy grumbled, but he did as requested. + +The white aeroplane's driver appeared to take the bait. He +loitered, as if waiting for the Nelson to come up, then circled away +from her in great wide swaths. Once he swept around the Nelson, and +Leroy almost shed tears of chagrin. + +"Just see him!" the boy wailed. "He thinks I've got a dirt cart +here! He is putting it all over me! I can go two miles to his one, +and yet I'm taking all his guff! Let me get at him! I'll run him +down!" + +In a short time the stranger, apparently satisfied that he could +outfly the Nelson, should he desire to do so, moved off to the south +and soon disappeared in the distance. + +"Now what?" asked Leroy, half angrily. + +"He'll watch for us," Ned replied, "but he won't find us chasing +him. Go through some of your flip-flaps and then go back toward +Lima. I want to say a few words to that Mr. Thomas Q. Collins." + +Half mollified at the thought of getting a little speed out of the +Nelson, Leroy drove straight for the zenith. Up, up, up he went, +onward toward the stars, shining no brighter for his approach, yet +luring him on. All the world below was flooded with moonlight and +starlight. The mountains were dim in spots, where higher peaks +dominated the light, the Pacific shone in the radiance of the night. +The blue dome of heaven rounded away like a precious bowl set with +diamonds. + +The roofs of Lima drew closer together, apparently, and the whole +town looked like a little cluttered point of land. And the +mountains and the sea stretched away endlessly, and earth took on +the look of a great rug woven with invisible stripes. Up, up, up, +until the air became thin and the lungs staggered for breath. + +Then the motors were shut off and the ocean and the mountain chains +seemed to rise up to meet the aeroplane, sailing at the speed of +the, fastest express. Over the water and down until even Jimmie +clutched Ned's arm and gave forth an exclamation of alarm. Then a +turn of a lever sent the Nelson skimming over Calleo and back toward +Lima. Avoiding the vacant space where the Nelson had rested before, +Leroy, under Ned's directions, landed on the dry sand some distance +away. + +"Of course that other chap will find us when he comes back," Ned +said, when the boys stood on solid ground again, "but we'll try to +make him think we're hanging around Peru just for the fun of it." + +"Perhaps he won't come back," suggested Leroy. "Then I'll lose my +chance of showing him what the Nelson can do." + +"I have an idea that he'll be back by morning," Ned replied. + +In this the boy was right, for the white aeroplane showed in a +couple of hours, just about dawn, circled around the city, hovered +for a moment over the Nelson, and then went off to the north again. + +"It is a certainty that she is here to butt into our game!" Jimmie +said, as the white planes disappeared. "She'll start when we start, +an' stop when we stop, an' there won't be any getting away from her. +How does she get into the air so quick after we cut loose? That's +what I'd like to know." + +"Some system of signals, undoubtedly," Ned answered. "Now," he +continued, "we'll cuddle up in our blankets here and sleep as long +as the natives will let us. Who'll keep awake?" + +Each one wanted to be the one to stand guard, but the point was +decided by the appearance of Mike and Pedro, who had watched the +maneuvers of the Nelson, had noted her landing place, and hastened +forward. Thus relieved of the care of the machine, the three boys +hastened to the hotel and were soon sound asleep. + +It was noon when Ned awoke, brought out of a deep slumber by an +impatient knocking at his door. He was out of bed in an instant +and, clad only in his pajamas, opened the door and looked out. Mr. +Thomas Q. Collins stood in the corridor with a look of alarm on his +face. + +"Thought I'd never get you out," he said, stepping, uninvited, into +the room and taking a chair. "Thought that you ought to know what's +been going on." + +Ned had little confidence in Collins. The fellow's strange conduct +of the night before naturally made the boy suspicious. After +requesting a ride in the Nelson, or, at least, the company of the +Boy Scouts to the place where the machine had been left, he had +disappeared without a word of explanation. + +It seemed to Ned that he had good grounds for the belief that +Collins had spied around until he had learned that the aeroplane was +going up, and had then communicated the information to the man on +the white machine. At least, the strange aviator had shown in the +air directly after the disappearance of Collins. + +But it was no part of Ned's purpose to permit Collins to see that he +was suspected. It was rather his idea to keep on good terms with +the fellow and watch him for any evidences of treachery. He +therefore greeted him cordially and asked: + +"Something interesting going on in the city? We did not return +until nearly dawn, and I've been asleep ever since." + +"You haven't heard about the attack on our aeroplane, then?" asked +Collins, looking Ned over keenly. + +The boy tried not to exhibit the least emotion or excitement at the +disturbing question. Leaning back in the chair he had taken, he +asked: + +"The curiosity of the people got the better of their courtesy, eh? +I have been afraid of that. Well, I hope the Nelson was not +seriously injured." + +Thomas Q. Collins had the appearance of one who had expected to +unwrap a great sensation and had failed. His face was a study. + +"Well, no," he replied. "The fact is, when the rush was made the +aeroplane shot up into the air." + +"Then one of the boys must have been there," Ned said, calmly, +although his heart was beating like a drum. + +"The little fellow was there, the one you call Jimmie," was the +reply. + +"And he went into the air alone?" + +"No; at the last minute a Peruvian Indian who has been hanging about +the machine ever since you came here went with him." + +"Then there is no danger," Ned replied, really feeling relieved at +the thought that Jimmie was not alone in the aeroplane. "The lad +will bring the Nelson back in good time. Anyway, he is entitled to +a little excursion, 'all by his lonely,' as he puts it." + +"He can operate the machine?" + +"Certainly. He can handle the Nelson easily." + +Thomas Q. Collins regarded Ned steadily for a moment, his brusque, +salesmanship manner all gone, and then asked: + +"'Where are you going from here?" + +The fellow was showing his hand at last! Or was this just natural +curiosity? At that moment Ned was more interested in discovering +something about the attack on the Nelson than in fighting off +personal and impertinent questions, so he said: + +"We haven't made up our minds as to our future course. By the way, +what was the cause of the attack on the aeroplane?" + +"Oh," replied Collins, frowning slightly, "there were a lot of +people gathered about the ropes, and one of your guards was a little +coarse in protecting your property, and there was a blow struck, +then the mob rushed the roped-in enclosure. I think there was no +one seriously injured." + +"I wonder if the other aviator is also having trouble with his +machine?" asked Ned, anxious to know what Collins would say about +the white aeroplane. + +"I don't know about that," Collins replied. "In fact, the other +fellow went off to the south soon after the departure of the +Nelson." + +"Chased Jimmie up, eh?" + +"Well, anxious for a race, it seemed to me." + +"Has the Nelson returned?" asked Ned, then. + +Collins shook his head. + +"If you'll excuse me, then," Ned said, presently. "I'll dress and +take breakfast and go down to see what's doing." + +"Your breakfast will be luncheon, I guess," laughed Collins. "I was +on my way to the dining room when I thought of you. If you don't +mind I'll wait for you in the lobby. These natives are not very +good table companions. I'm sick for the sight of my own countrymen, +anyway, and I can't tell you how glad I am to see you here." + +Collins went out and closed the door and Ned set about his toilet. +He did not know what to make of the alleged steam pump salesman. At +times he appeared to be perfectly frank and honest, then there would +come to his eyes a look of half-concealed cunning and greed which +put the boy on his guard. + +However, Ned thought, the correct way to fathom the fellow's +intentions would be to remain in his company as much as possible. +So the boy bathed and dressed and went down to Collins in the lobby +with a cheerful face. + +During the meal Collins talked incessantly of the country and his +prospects in South America. Ned listened, saying little, even in +the short spaces of silence. He was waiting for the fellow to +strike some chord which tuned with his actions of the night before. +At last it came. + +"I'm thinking of going over to Asuncion," he said, when the meal was +nearly over. "There are mines over that way, and I may stand a +chance of selling a pump. Rotten luck in Peru, and I can't afford +to spend all this expense money and not sell a thing. I hear that +there are a few Americans over in Paraguay," he added, tentatively, +smiling over at Ned. + +"I know very little about the country," Ned said, coolly, fearful +that Collins would drop that line of conversation, "and I never +heard that foreigners of any sort were made welcome in Paraguay. I +don't think we'll go out of our way any to visit that hot little +republic." + +Collins looked disappointed. Ned could see that. In a moment he +tried again to bring the subject out, but Ned seemed entirely +indifferent. + +When the two left the hotel and walked in the direction of the sand +lot where the Nelson had been left, the boy was fully satisfied that +Collins was in league with his enemies. For all he knew, the fellow +might be the very man who was trying to get Lyman's concession away +from him. This might be the man who was bribing the crooked +military chief to make it impossible for the cattle man to carry out +his contract. + +"What time did the Nelson leave?" Ned asked, as they drew near a +little group of natives standing on the sand lot. + +"Not far from nine," was the reply. + +"I didn't think Jimmie would be out that early," laughed Ned. "He +is a little sleepy head, ordinarily." + +Pushing their way into the center of the little crowd, Ned and +Collins found Leroy and Mike Dougherty engaged in a heated debate +with a police officer who was threatening arrest. Ned stepped back +so as not to attract the attention of the boys, and kept his eyes +fixed on Collins. In a moment he saw that gentleman give an +impatient gesture which seemed to urge the officer on. + +Ned thought fast for a moment. He was considering whether or not he +had been brought there for the purpose of getting into a row in defense +of his chums and being arrested with them. He was heartily glad that +the Nelson was out of the way, although he would have been better +pleased had he been safe aboard of her. + +"These Peruvian officers are too fresh!" Collins said, in a moment. +"What do you mean by molesting these boys?" he added, in Spanish, +turning to the officer. + +"They are charged with assault," the latter replied. + +"By whom?" asked Ned, also speaking in Spanish. + +"They struck half a dozen citizens," was the indefinite reply. "We +must take them to jail." + +"I'll give you a bump in the eye if you come near me!" Leroy put in, +as he searched the sky eagerly for some sign of the Nelson. + +"That wouldn't help matters any," Ned said, speaking in English. +"Go along with the officer, and I'll pay your fine." + +Collins looked annoyed at this cautious advice. He came nearer to +Ned and whispered: + +"The courts are slow and uncertain here. It may be weeks before the +boys will be restored to liberty if they are locked up. If we could +get them away into the mountains until the Nelson returns that would +end the whole affair." + +"And so you want to get me mixed up in it, too!" thought Ned, as the +officer glared at him. "You want to get me on a charge of resisting +arrest! When we get out of here, Mr. Thomas Q. Collins, I'll see +that you get what's coming to you!" + +If Collins could have known what was passing in Ned's mind, could +have understood how suspicious the boy was of him, he would not have +urged the lads, in English, to cut and run. By doing so he merely +confirmed Ned's unfavorable opinion of him. From that moment Ned +knew him for what he was, and resolved to get him out of the way in +some manner. + +Leroy and Mike paid little attention to what Collins said, as a +shake of the head from Ned gave them to understand what was passing +in his mind. In a moment Ned stepped to the side of the policeman. + +"You are all right, officer," he said. "You are only doing your +duty. The boys will go with you, and I'll pay their fines." + +But, as Ned discovered, it is easier to get into jail in Peru than +it is to get out. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NED IS GUILTY OF LARCENY + + +Night came on and no Nelson showed in the sky. Ned wandered +restlessly about the rather handsome city, anxious for the aeroplane +as well as for the boys who were in the city prison. Collins was +always with him, at first, expressing sympathy and suggesting plans +for getting the prisoners out on bail. The complainant in the case, +it was claimed by the officers, was too badly injured to appear in +court. + +Ned grew sick of the constant talking of the fellow at last, and +went to his room, saying that he was due for a little sleep. But +the boy, as may well be imagined, did not sleep. Instead, he sat by +his window watching the sky. + +Where had Jimmie gone with the machine? This question was always in +his mind. Had he met with an accident and was he lying, crushed +from a long fall, in some mountain canyon? Had the pursuing +aeroplane overtaken him and destroyed or captured the Nelson? + +It was not like the little fellow to disappear so utterly. Even +supposing he was afraid to return to Lima, he ought to understand +how anxious his friends would be and signal them from the upper air. +Surely, Ned reasoned, this would be safe, for the hostile machine +could not approach the Nelson in speed, and, after giving a +reassuring signal, the boy could disappear in the mountains again. + +It was dark now in the room where Ned was, and he sat looking out at +the sky in the hope of seeing the welcome lights of the aeroplane. +Presently, he saw a flicker of light off to the east. It increased +in size rapidly, and Ned knew that it was an airship he saw +approaching at wonderful speed, but he had no means of knowing +whether it was Jimmie on the Nelson or the hostile aviator. + +If it was Jimmie, he thought, there would be a signal directly. He +waited eagerly, but no signal showed. Presently the airship drifted +off to the north, and Ned saw the glint of moonlight on white +planes. It was the hostile ship, sure enough, but why had she +abandoned pursuit of the Nelson? + +Ned resolved to secure a closer view of the airship, but the next +question was how to avoid Collins, who was at that moment pacing to +and fro in front of the hotel. The alleged salesman would be apt to +accost him as soon as he appeared and insist on going with him. + +He had had enough of Collins. He had no doubt that the fellow was +in the conspiracy against him. It seemed reasonable that he had +been warned by wire of the approach of the Boy Scouts, and had +hastened to Lima to intercept them. Ned thought over the situation +deliberately, and then a daring smile came to his face. + +"I wonder if I can?" + +He chuckled as he asked himself the question. + +"I wonder if I can?" + +He paced his room for a moment, and then continued. + +"If he goes with me, there will be less suspicion, provided I am +right in my estimate of the fellow. We may be even left alone with +the aeroplane! Ah, that would be too good to come true!" + +The boy watched the sky to the east from the roof as well as from +his window, but there were no signs of the aeroplane which Jimmie +had taken away. + +"The little rascal knows what he is doing!" Ned told himself, "but I +wish he would let me know, too! I reckon I'll take a chance on the +plan. I'll try anything once, as the Bowery boys say." + +Having settled the vexed question in his own mind, Ned went +whistling down the broad stairway and came out in the lobby. Just +as he had figured, Collins sat where he could keep an eye on the +front entrance. When Ned appeared the fellow arose and stepped over +to him. + +"There is nothing new, I'm afraid," Collins said. "I've just been +over to the police station, and nothing can be done tonight." + +Ned thought that Collins must have made pretty good time to get over +to the police station and back during the short space of time he had +been out of sight, but he did not say so. + +"Anything new about the aeroplane?" asked Ned. "I saw the white one +come back." + +"Perhaps she can give us the information we want about your ship, +or, perhaps the aviator can," he added with a laugh. + +"Why not go and see?" asked Ned, his heart bounding with hope and +excitement as he noted how eagerly Collins took the bait. "Can we +get a motor-car here? The machine must be quite a distance away." + +"It does look that way," Collins replied, with a yawn, "and we may +as well take a car, if we can find one. I hope you don't mind my +going with you." + +"Why, I wouldn't go alone!" Ned replied, speaking with perfect +truth, as Collins discovered later on. "You don't know how glad I +am to find you up and ready for a little adventure!" + +Collins, in turn, told how pleased he was to be of service, and the +two found a motor-car and started off, taking a road which ran along +a level strip of land which lay between the sand and the mountains. +They had proceeded a couple of miles when a motor-car appeared in +sight just ahead of them, traveling toward the city. + +Collins arose in his seat and waved his hand frantically. + +"I believe that's Sherman!" he cried. "Sherman's here for a rival +steam pump firm, but I'll be good to him, especially as there is +nothing doing in the way of trade. Hey, there, Sherm!" he shouted +as the two cars drew nearer. "Pull up and give an account of +yourself!" + +Sherman was a dark-faced, black-haired, bewhiskered fellow of +perhaps forty. He was dressed in a dark business suit and wore +glasses. The two men talked shop for a moment, and then Collins +asked: + +"Where have you been?" + +"Just out for a ride," was the reply. + +"You saw the airship come down?" + +"Of come, but I'm not interested in airships." + +"Then you haven't been out there?" + +"Hardly. It doesn't interest me--this aviation craze." + +"Then you don't know whether the aviator is out there or not?" +continued Collins. + +"Why, yes, I do know about that," Sherman replied. "I heard this +driver of mine talking Spanish with a shoofer we met, and learned +from the mix-up in tongues that the aviator has gone to the city, +leaving a couple of natives in charge of the machine." + +Ned's heart bounded so fiercely that he feared that Collins would +hear its quick beats! The aviator was not there. Only two +Peruvians, timid chaps at best! Mr. Thomas Q. Collins might receive +his reward for his treachery sooner than he imagined, the boy +thought! + +"Well, so long!" Collins cried. "We'll see you in the city +tonight." + +The cars parted, each going its separate way, and Ned and Collins +were soon within sight of the white aeroplane, which lay in a valley +a short distance from the road. The spot where it lay was well +irrigated, and fruits and vegetables were growing all around the +rope which had been strung about the machine. The aviator had +evidently paid a good price for the privilege of landing there. + +A short distance away from the site of the machine was a small +house, a tiny affair, with plenty of porches and a flat roof. As +the two men left the car and advanced toward the machine a man left +the porch and walked in their direction. + +"Probably the farmer," Collins said. "We may have to pay for the +privilege of looking over the machine." + +Much to the amazement of the boy, the man who approached from the +porch spoke to the two in English. + +"What do you want?" he asked. + +Ned waited for Collins to make a reply. If Collins really was in +the conspiracy against Lyman, he would probably show his hand within +the next few minutes. Just as Ned anticipated Collins gave the +other a sly signal before he opened his mouth. Ned was not supposed +to see this evidence of a common understanding, but his watchful +eyes caught not only that but the answering sign of the other. + +"We came up to look over the machine," Collins said. + +"Well, you keep away from it," the other replied, fixing his eyes +keenly on the face of the boy. + +"This lad," Collins said, then, motioning toward Ned, "knows +something about an aeroplane, and wants to inspect this one." + +A sly wink followed the remark. It was getting rather cheap to Ned. +The collusion between the two was so evident that their attempts to +conceal it appeared very slazy. + +"Yes," Ned put in, "I'd like to look the machine over." + +"You came in that other aeroplane?" was asked. + +Ned nodded, and Collins broke in: + +"He's an expert, but he has no machine just at present. A member of +his party took his machine away this morning," he added, with a +chuckle. + +"So Rowan said," the alleged farmer replied. + +"Rowan?" repeated Ned. "Is that the name of the aviator who runs +this machine?" + +"Yes; he is a New York man. Do you know him?" + +Ned replied that he had heard of him, knew him to be a splendid +operator, but had never met him. + +After some further talk Ned and Collins were given permission to +look at the machine, which was called the Vixen. Collins expressed +his thanks in elaborate language, but Ned went straight to the +Vixen, which was then guarded by a Peruvian Indian. He was weary of +the cheap pretense of the other. + +"This is a peach of a machine," the alleged farmer explained, +following Ned as he walked about the great planes. "See here! No +cranking at all! You just get into the seat, which will carry two +nicely, and push this button. That releases a spring which whirls +the propellers until the spark is made, then off you go." + +Ned admired the arrangement fully, as he was expected to do. The +Nelson was fitted out in the same way, but he did not say so. +Presently the Indian left the circle created by the rope and, going +into the shelter of the porch, left Collins and Ned with the alleged +farmer, who announced that his name was Yerkes. + +Ned thought this action on the part of the Indian was in obedience +to a signal from Collins, but could not be too sure of it. Then +Collins and Yerkes trailed about after Ned as he wandered around the +airship. The boy saw the former remove certain bits of wood which +blocked the wheels of the Vixen, also he saw Yerkes, testing the +gasoline gauge and looking the carburetor over carefully. + +"It is all right," the boy thought. "Two hearts with but a single +thought, two souls that beat as one--or the reverse anyway, they are +thinking of giving me a ride in this old ice wagon! Pretty soon +they'll be asking me to get up on the seat and see how easy it is. +Then one of them will slip this harness about me--the harness +provided for timid riders--and I'll be off in the air--a prisoner!" + +Collins and Yerkes tinkered about the aeroplane for some moments, +while Ned seemed to be studying the machine. The boy was anxious +for the decisive moment to come. + +Finally Yerkes, went back to the porch and stood there in +conversation with the Indian for a number of minutes. + +When he returned Collins stepped forward toward the seat. + +Knowing that the time for action had come, Ned sprang into the +driver's seat. Collins looked vexed at the movement, but Ned +laughed down at him. + +"I won't hurt your old machine," the boy said. "Get up here, so we +can see how it rides." + +Collins obeyed, first giving Yerkes a significant look which was not +lost on the watchful boy. + +The harness for the visitor's seat was a peculiar one, as Ned had +noted with considerable satisfaction. There were leather cuffs for +the wrists and a broad leg band which prevented the guest leaving +his seat. The cuffs held the hands close together in the lap, the +idea being to prevent a timid person from grasping the arm of the +driver in a moment of terror. + +"Move on over!" Collins called, as he stepped up, "and I'll see if I +can take you out of the valley without breaking your neck. Don't +say a word to Yerkes about his race with the Nelson," he added, in a +whisper. "He got beaten, and doesn't like to talk about it." + +Ned noticed but remained where he was, so Collins reluctantly took +the other seat. As he did so Yerkes stepped forward, and the Indian +stationed himself at the back of the machine, where he could give it +a push down the incline which lay before it, and against which the +wheels had been blocked. + +As soon as Collins was fairly in the seat, Ned gave the harness a +quick snap, and the click of metal told him that the cuffs had +closed about Collins' wrists, that the broad strap which held him +down was in position. Then he pushed the button and the spark +caught. The Vixen moved down the incline. + +Collins tried to lift his hands, but was unable to do so, so he +lifted his voice instead! Yerkes, in the whirr of the machine, +doubtless mistook the voice for that of the boy, for he paid no +attention to it. + +"Help! Help!" roared Collins. "Stop the machine! He's got me tied +down! Stop it, you fool! Stop it!" + +Yerkes and the Indian looked stolidly on with grins on their faces, +and Ned stuck an elbow into Collins' ribs. + +"Keep still," he said, "or I'll have to put you out of the speech +habit. I've got you just where you expected to get me, and you +ought not to kick about the accommodations." + +"Yerkes!" yelled Collins. "Why don't you stop the machine? Catch +hold of the propellers and yank them off! Put a bullet through this +young fiend! Anything to stop the crazy thing. I tell you he's got +me tied in!" + +Then Yerkes, recognizing the voice, sprang toward the propellers. +He made a brisk spring, but was too late. The blades were just +about an inch out of his reach. Foiled in this attempt, he drew a +revolver and began firing foolish shots at the machine, none of +which came near the mark. + +In a moment the Vixen was under full speed, the ground dropped away, +and the last Ned saw of Yerkes and the Indian they were performing a +dance of rage on the growing vegetables below. Straight to the +south the machine flew, the motors popping like mad. + +The boy saw little crowds in the lighted streets below, looking and +pointing up at the aeroplane, and then the city streets faded away +into a dull mat, and there were only the silent peaks, the sea, and +the deep, dim valleys. + +Then Ned turned to his prisoner, who had by this time given over the +useless struggle against the harness. Collins' eyes were fixed on +the moonlit Pacific, away off to the west, and the boy's eyes +followed those of his captive. + +A steamer was creeping into the shallow harbor at Calleo, and the +dark spot on the sand showed that a crowd was there to greet her. +The Vixen was too far away for Ned to see the surf boats getting +ready to take off the passengers and freight, but he knew that they +were there. + +It was now eleven o'clock, and the moon was well up in the sky. The +ribs of the Andes lay like silver in its light. Strain his eyes as +he might, there was no indication of the Nelson. + +"Fine view!" Ned said, presently, giving Collins a nudge in the ribs +with his elbow. "How do you like it?" + +Thomas Q. Collins was near bursting with rage. He hitched about in +his seat, but to no purpose. + +"What does this mean?" he finally found words to say, screaming at +the top of his voice, for the Vixen was now making good speed. + +"I preferred to be the host rather than the guest," the boy said, +with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"I don't know what you mean by that," Collins replied. + +"You meant to capture me tonight?" asked Ned. + +"Nothing of the kind!" roared Collins. + +"You got Leroy and Mike in jail, and you thought you'd burst up this +relief expedition by putting me out of the way," Ned went on. "Now, +we'll see who'll be put out of the way." + +"What are you here for?" asked Collins. + +"You know very well," replied Ned. "But it is too much exertion to +talk at this speed. Wait until we land and I'll tell you all about +your intentions! Understand? All about your intentions." + +"Much you know about them," shrieked Collins. + +Ned made no reply to this, for, away off to the southeast, he caught +sight of the dipping lights of an airship which might or might not +be the Nelson. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLACK BEAR IN TROUBLE + + +One still night on the Amazon Jack Bosworth got out a map and turned +a flashlight on it. Frank and Harry stood looking over his +shoulder. + +"Right here," Jack said, presently, "is where we leave the main +stream of the Amazon and take to the Madeira." + +"How do you know that stream is the Madeira?" asked Frank. "We have +passed so many large tributaries that I'm all mixed up." + +"And why not try some other stream?" Harry questioned. "I've heard +that the Madeira is full of falls and rapids." + +"Anyway," Jack insisted, "it takes us away up into the Andes, almost +to Lake Titicaca, and that's all any stream will do. As for the +falls and rapids, do you expect any stream to creep down from that +great plateau without jumping off occasionally?" + +"All right," Frank cut in. "Go your own way to destruction! But +how do you know that rippling sheet of water off there," swinging an +arm to the south, "is the Madeira river? It looks like a lake to +me." + +"I found out while you were asleep this morning," Jack replied. "A +chap came along in a launch and I asked him all about it. He said +he had just come from the Andes, and advised me to turn back." + +"Kind-hearted little fellow, eh?" laughed Harry. + +"He wasn't very little," answered Jack. "He was six feet two, and +was coming out with a finger off and a cut across a cheek bone which +will last him for a spell, I guess. He cut his finger off because a +poisoned arrow struck it." + +"Cannibals?" asked Harry, with a laugh. + +"The same," replied Jack. "Said they chased him for miles." + +"We'll curb their appetites with lead," Harry observed. + +"If we see them first," added Jack. + +So the Black Bear was turned into the Madeira river, which is +something like seven hundred miles long, and drains the wooded +country where the black sheep of the land of Brazil live. Away up +in the hills it is fed by the Beni river, which has its source in +the mountains east of Lake Titicaca. + + More than once the boys were obliged to haul their motor boat out +on a rocky "bench," take it to pieces, carry it and most of the +stock around rapids, and then put it together and load up again. +Still, they made good time, and on the evening of the third day +found themselves at the junction with the Beni river. + +They were now in a wild and dangerous country. The forests swarmed +with wild game, the thickets were full of serpents, and the trees +were often crowded with monkeys. For two days they had seen no +natives. This was suspicious as it was certain that they had +penetrated to the home of the cannibal tribes so greatly dreaded by +hunters and explorers. + +It was on the evening of the 21st of August that Jack sent the Black +Bear into a little creek, shut off the power, and turned to put up +the panels. It was not very warm, but the atmosphere was sticky and +heavy with the breath of the woods. + +"We'll smother in there tonight," Frank said, observing the actions +of the other. "Why not leave some of 'em out?" + +"If you want a poisoned arrow nestling in your ribs you can sleep +outside," Jack answered. "For my part, I want to wake up in this +good old world in the morning." + +"I don't think there's any danger yet," Frank said. + +But the panels were put up and supper prepared. By this time the +lads had become accustomed to preparing their own meals, as well as +providing the fish from the river, and the repast was soon over. +Then Jack lay back and gazed through the one glass panel of the top +of the Black Bear. + +It was a dark, lowering night. The wind is usually from the east in +that part of Brazil. Blowing over the Atlantic it gathers up +moisture to dump on the eastern slope of the Andes. The summits +drain the clouds and makes Peru a dry country. It was murky now, +and the clouds hung low. + +"What do you see up there, Jack?" asked Frank. "Trying to study +astronomy, with not a star in sight?" + +"There you are wrong," Jack replied. "There is at least one star in +sight." + +"With that mass of clouds drifting over the sky?" laughed Harry. "I +reckon you must be seeing things not present to the senses!" + +"Come and look, then," Jack invited. "Look straight up, and you'll +see a star." + +Frank placed himself under the glass panel and looked up. + +"Well?" Jack demanded, in a tone of triumph. + +"It's something," Frank exclaimed, "but I don't believe it is a +star." + +"It may be a reflector at the top of the Flatiron building," grinned +Jack. "What is it, if it isn't a star?" + +"Look yourself!" cried Frank. + +The boys were all looking now. They saw the light which Jack had +mistaken for a star flashing to and fro under the clouds like a +firefly. It rushed earthward with amazing speed for an instant, +then spiraled upward again. Once it came directly over the Black +Bear, and seemed about to drop down. + +Jack threw a couple of panels open, and then the whirr of motors +reached their ears. Frank sprang outside and turned a flashlight +upward. + +"There's your star!" he shouted to Jack. + +"Quick!" Harry cried. "Wigwag with that light. It is the Nelson! +They may be able to see us!" + +"Yell, every soul of you!" directed Frank. "Yell! She is going +away!" + +The boys waved their lights frantically and shouted at the top of +their voices, but the light in the sky crept away to the west and +soon disappeared, evidently passing above the clouds which lay like +a black blanket over the Brazilian forests. + +"Great heavens!" Jack sighed. "If we could only have made them +hear! I'll bet they've been to Paraguay and released Lyman. Now +they're going back home! Fine show we now stand of having any fun +with them!" + +"They went west," Harry corrected. "That isn't the way home!" + +"I'd like to know just what success they have had," Jack went on. +"Say," he continued, "can't we do something to attract their +attention? Why not set fire to some big dry tree and let her blaze +up?" + +"I just can't have it this way!" Harry said. "I can't stand it to +have them come so close to us and then go away without knowing we +are here. We've got to bring them down in some way." + +"But they've gone!" Frank declared, gravely. + +"If we make a big blaze," Jack hastened to say, "the reflection on +the clouds will attract their attention, and they'll come back. +They won't be able to see the fire itself, of course, but they'll +see the reflection, and that will bring them down to investigate. +Then we'll fire our revolvers and wigwag with blazing sticks until +they see who we are." + +"It may not be the Nelson," Harry suggested. + +"I don't believe there's any other aeroplane sailing about the roof +of the world," Frank replied. "Of course it is the Nelson!" + +"Perhaps the Nelson was followed," Harry went on. "I've heard of +such things. The chap in that machine may be looking for Ned. +Anyway," he added, "it won't do any harm to let the aviator, whoever +he is, know that we are here. Come on, let's go ashore and build a +big fire." + +"I certainly would give a year's growth to know whether that is the +Nelson," Harry said, as the boys sought the shore and began +gathering dry wood, which, it may be well to add, was not easy to +find, as there had been quite a shower during the day. "For all we +know," he continued, "there may be another aeroplane here. If the +people who are trying for the Lyman concession are as active here as +they seem to have been in Paraguay, they may have half a dozen +airships out after the Nelson." + +Finally a quantity of wood which was fairly dry was secured, and +Jack bundled it up against a dead tree which seemed to run straight +up into the sky until it touched the clouds. But when the boys came +to apply matches they discovered that the wood was not dry enough to +be ignited in that way. + +"I'll get a gallon of gasoline and pour over it," Frank explained. +"Then we can run like blazes when we touch her off. What?" + +The gasoline was brought, and the blaze started with a mighty +concussion of the air. A portion of the highly inflammable fluid +had entered a great crevice in the dead tree, with the result that +there was an explosion which resounded through the forests for +miles. Then the flames mounted the tree, which was soon blazing +like a great torch. + +"I guess that will attract their attention!" Jack said, shielding +his face from the intense heat. + +"Yes," Frank replied, "and I'm afraid it will attract the attention +of others, too. You know we were told to sneak through this country +like little mice!" + +"It is too late now!" Jack said, a shadow of anxiety coming over his +face. "We are in for it, I guess. What shall we do?" + +Above the crackling of the flames, above the drawing and sighing of +the wind, there now came a strange sound which seemed to proceed +from the fire-tinted clouds above. Now and then branches of the +nearby trees stirred mysteriously, and at times a wild shriek rose +above the monotonous chattering. + +"Monkeys!" cried Jack. "They've come out to help us bring the +airship to earth. Good little beasts!" + +"Don't be in too much of a hurry to give the little devils a +certificate of good character!" Harry answered. "They may make +trouble for us." + +After a time the foolish, wrinkled faces of the monkeys were seen +peering from trees. Then, above the din they made, above the +crackling of the fire, constantly mounting higher, came a scream +almost like that of a child. + +"That's a jaguar!" Harry declared, "a South American tiger, and we'd +better be getting toward the boat." + +"The animals won't come near the fire," Frank said. "We may as well +remain here and see the menagerie." + +Directly it seemed to the excited lads that all the wild animals in +South America were assembled about their signal. Harry declared +that he heard the call of the red wolf, the scream of the tiger cat, +the wail of the puma, the vicious snarling of the wild dog. + +While the boys listened to the chorus their efforts to attract the +attention of the aeroplane had produced, there came into the discord +another sound--the hissing of a monster serpent. Heretofore the +boys had little to do with Brazilian forms of animal life, for they +had kept near the middle of the main stream of the Amazon, and also +about in the center of the Madeira and the much smaller Beni, which +was only a creek when compared with the other rivers. + +Occasionally they had seen a monster cayman nosing against the +current, and at times their progress had been retarded by turtles, +but they had never before seen anything like this. Their fire had +certainly brought out a combination in nature which would have been +decidedly interesting if it hadn't been so threatening. + +"Me for the boat!" Jack said, with a shiver, as the serpent launched +his head and a third of his body from the tree and swept about in +widening circles. "I never could endure snakes!" + +"I'm going to take a shot at it," Frank said. "I'd like to see him +take a tumble into the fire." + +"Better let him alone," Harry advised. + +Frank was about to fire when Jack caught his arm and held up his +hand in a listening attitude. + +"What is it?" Frank asked. + +"Human voices!" was the quick reply. + +"Inhuman voices, I should say," Harry observed, after a second of +silence. + +A chant unlike anything the boys had ever heard before undulated +through the forest. It rose and fell with the gusts of wind, and +always nearer to the fire. + +"This is a new one on me!" Jack cried. "It is also another reason +for getting to the boat! Come on, fellows!" + +"I'm not going to run until I find out what that is," insisted +Frank. "I'm going to write a newspaper story about this menagerie!" + +"If you want your story published in this world," Jack cried, "you'd +better get under cover, for that's the chant of the head hunters!" + +"Wow!" cried Frank, and he beat both his chums to the boat. + + "I guess we've started something!" Jack said, as he busied himself +putting up the few panels which had been removed when they went +ashore. "Now, some one push that button, and I'll get the Black +Bear out of this creek. A good old scout like the Black Bear has no +business associating with the wild animals on shore." + +"Right you are!" shouted Harry, and the propellers began moving. +Still, the boat made no progress to the rear, the reverse being on. + +"What's doing?" demanded Jack. "You'd better hurry, for the head +hunters are coming right along. See that big chief over there? +He's got a club that would level the Singer building at a blow!" + +"I can't make her back," Harry complained. "There's something the +matter below her in the stream. It was all clear when we came in." + +In an instant all was intense excitement on board the motor boat. +There was only one way in which the savages could reach them, and +that was to block their passage out and starve them to death! Had +this system been resorted to? Had the cunning savages obstructed +the little stream while the lads were busy building their fire and +observing their menagerie, as they called it? + +These questions were in the minds of all as efforts to back the +Black Bear were redoubled. Finally Jack opened a panel at the rear +and looked out, a thing he should have done at first. + +What he saw was a large log blocking the channel. The propellers +were pounding against it, and one of them was broken. + +"I guess the little brown men have got us good and plenty," he said, +slowly, as he reached forward and shut off the power. "While we +were playing about the blaze they plugged the river." + +"They can't get in here, anyway!" Frank consoled. + +"No; they'll wait for us to get good and hungry and go out!" Jack +replied. + +The situation was a serious one. The head hunters now appeared in +the open space about the blazing tree and shook their spears and +their clubs at the boat. Now and then an arrow with a poisoned tip +struck the side of the Black Bear. + +"They'll never leave until they get us!" Jack said, presently, "and +so we may as well get a few of them. Get your guns, boys." + +"Just you wait, old hard luck prophet," Frank exclaimed. "Look up +through the glass panel above your head and tell me what you see." + +"Well," Jack replied, "it looks like we had established +communication with the Nelson at last. And also with the Greatest +Show on Earth!" he added, as a mighty roar went up from the shore. + +The other boys crowded the panel and looked out. The clouds above +were red with the reflection of the blazing tree, yet against the +mass a different light blazed out. This light moved about, from +north to south and back again, as if searching out the reason for +the strange happenings below. + +The popping of her motors could be plainly heard, and so it was +probable that those on the airship could hear the wild animal +concert which was going on in the woods. Harry pushed a panel aside +and fired three quick shots. The aeroplane wavered above the river +a moment and then drifted away. + +"They must know there's somebody down here in trouble!" said Harry. +"Why don't they throw down dynamite? That would give the savages +all the heads they wanted for a time, I guess." + +The boys fired again and again, flashed their lights in wigwag +signals, but the aeroplane did not come nearer. Instead it whirled +swiftly about in a circle for a moment and then shot out of sight +beyond the clouds. + +And every moment the circle of savage faces gathered closer about +the Black Bear, effectively blocked in the narrow stream. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE VIXEN TAKES A TUMBLE + + +While Ned, from the driver's seat on the aeroplane he had so +cleverly taken from the enemy, watched the distant light flashing +over the mountains, the bulk of an airship came into view. While +the boy was cheering himself with the hope that he would soon be in +touch with Jimmie, however, the light disappeared, and the dark body +of the machine was no longer visible. + +"There's been an accident!" Collins muttered maliciously, in Ned's +ear. "That little chap can't run an aeroplane!" + +"What is there over in that direction?" Ned asked, without replying +to the other's suggestion of evil. "Can one land there?" + +"Not in the night," was the sullen reply. "Unless you want to +commit suicide and murder me in the bargain, you'd better keep in +the air." + +"What's over there?" repeated Ned. + +"Mountains," was the surly reply. + +Ned pointed to a dark stretch below. + +"That must be a valley," he said. "Anyway," he went on, "I'm going +down, and if we come to a point where it is jump or go down with the +machine, I'll cut you loose, so you'll have the same chance for your +worthless life that I do. That's more than you would do for me +under the circumstances!" + +Ned guided the Vixen to, as near as he could make out, the location +of the other airship at the time of her disappearance and dropped +down. As he swept toward the earth the peaks of the Andes rose +above him. + +Down, down, down he dropped, looking out keenly for trees and jagged +rocks. At last he saw a level stretch of land just below. The +rains had carried sand and ruble down from the mountains and filled +a valley perhaps three hundred feet in diameter with the wash of the +slopes. This formed what seemed to be a pretty good landing spot, +and Ned managed to bring the rubber-tired wheels of the airship down +without mishap. + +Then, rolling swiftly under the impetus given by the now shut-off +motors, the wheels carried the bulk of the ship along for some +distance and dropped. Ned felt himself falling. + +Thomas Q. Collins cried out in fright, and tried to kick himself +free from the harness, but the leather straps held. When the drop +ended there was, a jar and a crash, and the planes lay in a confused +heap in the bottom of a depression well stocked as to floor and +sides with jagged rocks. + +In descending, the dragging propellers had loosened some of the +rocks, and they, rolling down the declivities after the machine, had +fallen upon and crushed the planes. Several great boulders thunked +near Ned's head, and Collins set up a great howl as a small stone +landed on the back of his neck. + +Although the stars were shining brightly and the moon was abroad, it +was quite dark down in the hole into which the Vixen had fallen. +Ned could see slanting walls on all sides, and glimpse, above, the +slope of the deceiving level which had first caught the wheels, but +that was about all. + +Finding himself uninjured, his first move was to get out his +searchlight and make an inspection of Thomas Q. Collins, who was +roaring like a wounded bull. + +"Are you hurt?" the boy asked. + +"Hurt!" howled the captive. "My head is broken, and my arms are +smashed! What do you mean by tying me up and then wrecking the +machine?" + +Ned searched the fellow's clothing, removed a revolver and a dagger, +and then snapped off the harness which still held him to the seat. +Collins stretched himself and lunged at the boy. + +"Keep away!" warned Ned. + +"I'll show you that no Bowery kid can double-cross me!" Collins +screamed, paying no attention to the automatic in Ned's hand. "I'll +show you!" + +The next moment Ned would have fired, with the intention of wounding +the enraged fellow, but a boulder intervened, and Collins went down, +striking his head on a rock. When the boy bent over he found him to +be unconscious. + +Bringing the leather straps of the harness into use again, Ned bound +the man's hands behind his back, so as to prevent a second attack, +and set out to look for water. He had not long to look, for a tiny +spring bubbled out of the bottom of the pit and found its way toward +the valley below through a crevice in the rock. In a short time +Collins, under the influence of a right cold bath, sat up and +addressed the boy in language which would not have been considered +suitable in the presence of a lady. + +"You've done it now!" the alleged steam pump salesman cried. +"You've dumped us into a pit in the heart of the Andes, and we'll +starve before any one comes to our assistance. Take this strap off +my wrists, or I'll have your life!" + +"You're an excitable party," Ned laughed. "You want your own way! +I've been wondering, while I've been giving you first aid to the +indignant, what your name really is, and where you live." + +"You'd better be trying to ascertain where we are," declared +Collins, "and what chance we have of getting out alive." + +"I think I can tell you about where we are," Ned replied. "We were +in the air not far from five hours. The Vixen will run about sixty +miles an hour, therefore we are not fax from three hundred miles +from Lima, in a southeast direction. Do you know if we are near any +town?" + +Collins sulked a short time and then nodded toward a great peak +which rose above all the others in the distance. + +"That may be Vilcanota," he said. + +"Old Vilcanota seems to be a whale," Ned observed, looking up at the +snow cap. + +"Over 17,000 feet high," was the sullen rejoinder. + +"Well," the boy went on, "if that really is Vilcanota, we are still +in the land of the living. In fact, we can't be more than +twenty-five miles from a town, and there is a railroad--so my maps +say--over to the east. It ends at Sicuani, and there the upper +branch of the Uacayli river begins. This river empties into the +Amazon at the head of steamboat navigation, the maps say." + +"You seem to know a lot about this part of South America," gritted +Collins. + +"And over to the south," Ned went on, "is Lake Titicaca, and over +the mountains from that body of water is Coroico, where the Beni +river starts on its long run to the Amazon, by way of the Madeira +river." + +"Well," snapped Collins, drawing hard at the strap which held his +wrists, "you can't sit here and figure yourself out of this hole. +Why don't you do something?" + +"Why, I thought it might be a good plan to wait until dawn," laughed +Ned. "Then I may be able to repair this machine." + +"Repair nothing!" stormed Collins. "And in the meantime, I presume +you think you are going to keep me tied up like a calf going to +market?" + +"About that way," Ned responded, whereat the captive snorted out his +rage and rolled over on his face and pretended to be asleep. + +In a short time dawn shone on the tops of the tallest mountains, and +directly it crept slowly down into the pit where the wrecked +aeroplane lay. By this time Ned had mapped out a course of action. + +The aeroplane he had seen in the night had descended not far from +this spot, and he had decided to climb to some convenient height and +look about for it. If he could come upon the Nelson, in good +sailing condition, there would be no need of repairing the Vixen, or +trying to do so. + +Collins had counterfeited sleep until, utterly exhausted, he had +actually dropped off into slumber, so Ned had no captive to watch +for the time being. Before leaving for a tour of inspection he +examined the broken planes and discovered that it would be +impossible for him to repair them, at least without the necessary +tools and materials. + +Climbing to the level bit of sand, then, he faced the east and began +the ascent of a mountain spur which seemed to reach the very +heavens. It was a beautiful morning, the air being sharp and clear +at that height. Ned felt that he could have enjoyed the beauties of +nature more fully, however, if he had something in the way of +breakfast! + +He climbed steadily for an hour, and then came to a narrow ledge +which seemed to surround one of the lower peaks of the mountain. +Passing around to the south, he heard a shout, then a fall--a +bumping fall which told of a body bouncing from one rocky level to +another. + +He ran around the angle ahead of him and came out on a shelf-like +elevation from which a green little valley, half way up the side of +the mountain, might be seen. In the center of the valley, carefully +blocked against sudden motion, lay the Nelson. + +Ned could have danced with delight. The aeroplane appeared to be in +perfect condition, but there was no one insight. Jimmie and Pedro +must be about somewhere, the boy thought, as he considered the most +practical way of reaching the valley, but where were they? + +He was about to call out in the hope of arousing one of the aviators +to action when he saw a hand waving at him from underneath the gray +planes. A more careful inspection of the spot revealed the dirty +face of little Jimmie, who was lying on his face, an automatic in +each hand. Pedro was nowhere to be seen. + +Ned watched the signaling hand for an instant and then, in response +to what it said to him, scudded around the angle of rock by which he +had reached the shelf. As he did so an arrow whizzed past his right +ear and blunted against the rocky wall. + +The situation was not difficult to understand. Jimmie had dropped +the Nelson into the little valley and had there been attacked, +either by savages or those interested in the defeat of the Boy Scout +expedition to Paraguay, though how the latter could have reached +that lonely spot so soon after the landing of the aeroplane was a +mystery which the boy could not fathom. + +Following the attack, Jimmie had hidden under the planes, and Pedro +had probably taken to his heels. The situation explained, +doubtless, why the boy had not returned with the airship. He had +been held there by the enemies, virtually a prisoner. + +After a short pause, during which Ned listened intently for some +sound of pursuit, the boy moved cautiously to the shoulder of rock +and looked around it to the shelf. There was no one in sight, so +he pressed on, and once more came within view of the aeroplane. + +Back of the planes he saw a head lifted from the lip of a gully +which cut the valley like a trench. It was not the head of a +savage, nor yet the head of a Peruvian mountaineer, for it was +covered down to the eyebrows by a flat-topped leather automobile cap +which was adorned with driving goggles! Evidently an American! + +While Ned, himself unseen, watched the cap and the goggles, the +wearer lifted himself and looked up over the edge of the gully. He +wore a gray suit, tailor-made, from all appearances. + +Back of him three ill-visaged Peruvian Indians also raised +themselves to get a view of what was doing in front. + +So the savages were led by an American! Instead of the automatic of +civilized warfare, the enemy was resorting to the poisoned arrow of +the barbarian! + +An American there and in automobile costume! Where was the machine, +and how in the name of all that was wonderful had it been brought to +that rough country? + +And why were the enemies crouching there, when their only opponent +was a boy, hidden if his position may be so termed--under the planes +of an airship--planes which would offer little resistance to an +arrow or a bullet? + +But while the boy looked and wondered a shot came from the very +shelf on which he stood, and one of the exposed Indians dropped in +his tracks. Then the situation became a bit clearer. + +Pedro had escaped from the valley to the shelf of rock, and was +standing guard there shooting whenever the attacking party attempted +to reach the aeroplane. + +In a moment the automobile cap and goggle and the evil faces of the +Indians disappeared from view. The attacking party had dropped back +into the gully, which was some distance from the machine. + +Waiting a moment, in order to make sure that no one was stirring +behind the shoulder of rock, Ned called softly: + +"Pedro!" + +"Hello!" came the answer back. + +"'Where are you?" asked Ned, recognizing the voice of the Peruvian +he had talked with at Lima. + +"In a notch of the rock," came the answer, in Spanish. + +Ned moved along the shelf, and soon came to where Pedro stood, +sheltered by a jutting ledge. The journey was not accomplished +without attracting the attention of the others, for an arrow whizzed +past his head as he crept into the angle with Pedro. + +Pedro expressed great joy at the arrival of the boy, and explained +that the situation as then shown had existed since dawn. On the +afternoon of the previous day Jimmie, being then about to return to +Lima, had found it necessary to land in order to repair a slight +break in a plane. + +The driver of the pursuing Vixen, noting the temporary disablement, +had circled around the valley for a short time and then returned to +Lima. It was Pedro's idea that the Vixen would not return with +assistance, but with enemies who would destroy the machine, leaving +Jimmie and himself to find their way out of the mountains as best +they could. + +Jimmie, Pedro said, had been unable to fix the Nelson for flight +until about daylight, and then the attacking party had appeared. +Since then it had been impossible to get the machine into the air, +as every motion at the airship brought a bullet or a poisoned arrow. + +Just before Ned's arrival, an Indian had, by making a long journey +around the cliff, gained the shelf of rock where Pedro was +stationed, and been caught unawares and thrown down into the valley. +It was the cry and the fall of this foe that Ned had heard. + +"But," Ned said, "the Vixen must have summoned some one active in +the conspiracy before returning to Lima, for the man over there came +in an automobile, and did not come very far either. He certainly +did not come from Lima, which is more than three hundred miles +away." + +"He might have come from Sicuani," replied Pedro. "That is over to +the east, and not more than twenty miles off. I have heard that +there is a path by means of which a motor car can reach this place. +Yes, he must have gone to Sicuani, otherwise this man of the motor +car would not be here," Pedro added. + +This cleared the situation not a little, and Ned was now encouraged +to make an attempt to reach the Nelson, which Pedro declared to be +in good condition for flight. If the others had come in an +automobile, there could not be many of them. Probably not more than +six in all, and two had been wounded, or killed. + +Pedro insisted that, with Ned guarding him from the shelf, he could +reach the machine, but the boy thought it wiser to make the +desperate journey himself. Even if the Indian reached the Nelson, +the two of them might not be able to get the machine into the air, +as Jimmie had had little experience in running a plane. + +So, after explaining to Pedro that he would be taken up later, Ned +began the task of making his way down the almost perpendicular face +of the cliff. Much to his surprise, there were no hostile +demonstrations from the gully in which the attackers had disappeared +a short time before. + +Instead of shots and the whiz of arrows, the boy heard, when half +way down the slope, the distant whirr of a motor car! + +"There is some trick in the wind," Ned thought. "They would never +run away in that manner because of the wounding of two Indians and +the arrival of one boy from the outside." + +It was deathly still in the valley where the aeroplane lay. Sounds +from a distance came with remarkable distinctness, so the popping of +the motors of the automobile were plainly heard, and the direction +taken by the machine was thus made known. + +Jimmie sprang up, uninjured, as Ned advanced and the two grasped +hands with more than ordinary feeling. Almost the first thing +Jimmie said was: + +"I saw the lights of the Vixen last night, but thought the other +fellows would be in charge of her. How did you manage to geezle +her?" + +"We stole her--and smashed her." Ned laughed, telling the remainder +of the story in as few words as possible. + +Presently Pedro came down from the cliff and went over to the place +where the man he had thrown down the declivity had fallen. He found +him quite dead. With a solemn shake of the head he laid the body in +a sheltered nook and joined the others. + +It took only a brief examination of the machine to show that she was +in as good condition as ever, and Ned prepared to mount and leave +the valley. Then the popping of additional motors broke out on the +still air, and Jimmie grinned. + +"I guess you didn't smash the Vixen much," he said. "Anyway that +man in the motor car seems to have repaired her broken wings. +Probably had the tools to do it with him. They've got some dirty +scheme on!" + +"Yes," Ned replied, grimly, "or they wouldn't have left the gully. +Collins will be on deck again in about a minute!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A TRAGEDY IN THE AIR + + +"Then we'd better be gettin' up in the air, so we can see what's +going on," Jimmie replied. "I'd like to see where the motor car +goes." + +"We can satisfy our curiosity on that point without going up in the +air," Ned answered. "The Vixen was left just over that cliff. +There is a valley--a dent in the slope of the mountain--on each side +of that elevation, and the Vixen and the motor car are in one of +them and the Nelson in the other." + +Jimmie started away on a run almost before Ned had finished +speaking. In a few moments he was seen on the shelf, then he darted +around the shoulder of rock and was lost to view. The popping of +the motors continued. + +Ned hesitated a moment, uncertain as to the advisability of leaving +the machine in the sole care of the Indian, and then followed. When +he gained the shelf on the opposite side he saw the Vixen slowly +lifting in the air. The automobile stood above her, on the level +yet treacherous spot where Ned had landed. In it were Thomas Q. +Collins and the man he had seen in the automobile cap and goggles! + +The Vixen did not look to be in good repair, just as Ned had +supposed, for the newcomer had had only a short time to work over +her, but for all that she was slowly leaving the narrow pit into +which she had tumbled. Her motors were working, but did not appear +to be doing any lifting. + +Then Ned saw that a rope attached to the machine was doing the work. +The motor car, moving very slowly forward, was pulling her up the +steep acclivity, her rubber-tired wheels drawing and bounding +against the rocks. + +"If they get her up on that level space," Jimmie predicted, "they'll +get her up in the air. You can see where they've been patching the +planes, and the motors are workin' all right." + +"What I'm interested in, just now," Ned said, "is that automobile. +I'd like to find the highway through which she entered that valley. +It must be through some tunnel, for there's no path over the +slopes." + +"Then we'll keep out of sight an' watch," Jimmie observed. "See +there!" he cried, as the wheels of the Vixen struck the level area. +"She'll be in the air directly. One of the niggers is gettin' in!" + +"What's that he's loading on?" asked Ned. + +"Stones, as I'm a living boy!" he went on, excitedly. "Jump for the +Nelson, kid, and get her into the air! You see what they are going +to do?" + +It was quite evident what the intentions of the others were. The +Indians were loading the Vixen down with sharp-pointed stones and +long wisps of dry grass; out from the nooks of the valley by +Collins, who had now left the automobile. + +"We've just got to get the Nelson up in the air!" Jimmie cried. +"They're gettin' ready to drop stones an' blazin' grass down on her +planes. We've just got to get there before the Vixen sails over +her!" + +Stopping no longer to observe the motor car, or watch her course out +of the valley, both boys dashed around the shoulder of rock and +began working their way down into the place where the Nelson lay, +with Pedro, all unconscious of the approaching danger, sitting in +the driver's seat and wondering if he was ever going to eat again! + +The whirr of the motors in the air soon told the sweating lads that +the Vixen was rising from the ground. Just how they had managed to +repair her so quickly was a wonder to Ned, but he had no time to +consider that side of the case then. + +"Do you see her yet?" panted Jimmie, as the two paused a moment on +their toilsome way downwards. + +"Not yet," was the reply, and Ned almost dropped a dozen feet and +caught on the point of a rock which jutted out from the wall. + +"Gee!" cried Jimmie. "That was a tumble! Got a good hold, there? +Then catch me!" + +Before Ned could remonstrate the reckless little fellow had dropped. +The impact of his body forced Ned from the crevice in which he +clung, and together they rolled down a score of feet, bringing up in +an angle from which a fall would have been fatal. + +Ned came out of the tumble unharmed, but Jimmie lay like a rag in +his arms as he straightened out and looked upward. The Vixen was +rising over the cliff! + +Ned drew his automatic and fired three quick shots in the air, but +the aeroplane sailed on, apparently unharmed. In a moment she was +directly above the Nelson, and Pedro was fleeing for his life. + +Standing there helpless, with the unconscious boy in his arms, Ned +saw the driver of the Vixen rain great stones down on the frail +planes of the Nelson. Then a puff of smoke came from the driver's +seat, and Ned saw that the wisps of straw were being ignited to +finish the work begun by the rocks. + +He fired volley after volley at the man who was doing the mischief, +but he was so unnerved and excited that his bullets went wild. The +crash of stones on the breaking planes sounded louder to him than +did the explosions of his own revolver. + +In a moment a blazing wisp of dry grass, or straw, dropped from the +Vixen and sifted through the still air, the individual pieces of the +bundle falling apart. Some of the little swirls of flame died out +as the material passed downward, but others held, and dropped on the +wounded planes! + +Ned shouted to Pedro, ordering him to smother else incipient blaze +with his coat, or anything the he could find, but the Peruvian was +nowhere to be seen. Terrified at the movements of the aeroplane, he +had hidden in the rocks. + +Again and again the man on the Vixen lighted wisps of dry grass and +hurled them down. Directly the planes were in a blaze. Ned laid +Jimmie down on a narrow ledge and finished emptying his revolver, +but to no purpose. He had never done such bad shooting in his life. + +But Fate was abroad in the Andes that morning! + +Presently the driver of the Vixen dropped his last wisp and shot +upward, apparently not caring to engage in combat with the boy who +had used him for a target so unsuccessfully. + +As the aeroplane passed across the top of the valley, Ned saw a +little tongue of flame on the under plane. The driver evidently did +not understand his peril, for he mounted higher and drove straight +to the north. + +Ned watched the finger of flame grow as it bit into the fine fabric +of the plane with something like awe in his heart. If the driver +did not see his danger instantly and hasten down, nothing could save +him. + +While the boy watched, almost breathlessly, Jimmie stirred and +opened his eyes. He had a bad cut on his forehead, but otherwise +seemed to have suffered little from his terrible fall. + +"Gee!" he cried, looking up at Ned with a grin. "I guess I took a +drop too much!" + +Ned did not answer. He was too busy watching the tragedy which was +taking place in the air. Jimmie followed the direction of his eyes +and caught his breath with a gasp of horror. + +"He'll burn up!" he cried. + +Both planes were now on fire, and the driver knew of his peril. It +seemed to Ned that the fellow's clothes were on fire, too, for he +writhed and twisted about as he turned the aeroplane downward. + +"He'll get his'n!" Jimmie declared. + +The Vixen came down almost like a shot, leaving a trail of flame and +smoke behind her. Then the end came. + +The charred planes gave way and the frame dropped, carrying the +driver with it. They whirled over and over in the air as they came +down. The fall must have been fully five hundred feet, and Ned knew +that it would be useless for him to seek the man who had worked so +much mischief to the Nelson with a view of doing him any service. + +Below, the Nelson was sending up sheets of flame. Pedro now ran out +of his hiding place and attempted to check the fire, but his efforts +availed nothing. + +"It is gone, all right!" Jimmie said, with a sigh. "Now, how are we +goin' to get out of here? That's what I'd like to know." + +"We'll have to get out the same way the others do," Ned replied. +"They have lost their aeroplane too." + +"Yes," agreed the little fellow, "but they have a motor car, and +we've only our shanks' horses!" + +Ned extinguished the burning woodwork on the Nelson and made a hasty +estimate of the damage done. + +"The motors are not injured," he reported. "If we can get something +that will do for planes, we can get her out." + +"Then," said Jimmie, "I reckon it's me for the highway! I'll chase +that automobile into where it came from. I'll bet I'll find cloth +of some kind there." + +"It might be better to send Pedro," said Ned. + +"All right!" the little fellow agreed. "Then you and I can sleuth +about this rotten country in search of gold! They say there's gold +in these hills!" + +The purr of the motor car's engines now came again, and Pedro +hastened up the ledge and followed down into the valley where she +lay. In a moment she was out of sight, and the Peruvian was moving +toward a rift in the wall of rock to the east. + +But Ned, watching from above, saw that there was only one person in +the car. Mr. Thomas Q. Collins had been left behind! + +"That's strange!" Ned mused. "Why should he remain here? What +further mischief has the fellow in mind?" + +When Ned returned to the machine he found Jimmie busy polishing the +scorched steel work. + +"All she needs is new planes!" the lad cried. + +"Jimmie," Ned asked, "when you came here yesterday, did the Vixen +follow you closely, or did she stand off and on, as seamen say, and +take note of your course indifferently? What I want to know is +this: Did the driver seem anyway excited when you speeded over this +way? + +"He followed tight to my heels," replied the little fellow. "Then, +when he saw me land, he whirled about and went away." + +An idea which seemed almost too good to be true was slowly forming +in Ned's brain. Why had the Vixen always followed the Nelson? Why +had she spied upon her without in any way interfering? + +Again, why had Thomas Q. Collins been left there in the wilderness? +Surely there were no accommodations in sight in those valleys--nothing +to subsist on, no shelter from the weather. + +He might, it is true, have remained out of a spirit of revenge, +hoping to punish Ned for his treatment of him, but this explanation +did not appeal to the boy. With the Nelson hopelessly out of +repair, he could well afford to leave the lads to their fate, as the +chances that they would be able to get out alive--being strangers to +that country and, supposedly, to mountain work--were about one to +ten. + +And so, Ned reasoned, there must be some other incentive for the +action taken by Collins. He had a subconscious impression that he +knew what that incentive was, but hardly dared to whisper it to +himself. + +The boy's reverie was interrupted by Jimmie, who had been running +back and forth in the valley in quest of wild berries, or something +which would serve as food. + +"I could eat a whale!" the little fellow shouted. + +"Catch a hare and cook him," Ned suggested. + +"The hares here are not exactly like our rabbits, but they are good +to eat. If you go over into the little jungle below, at the end of +this bowl, you might find one." + +Ned, still wondering if what he hoped might be true, turned to the +cliff which separated the two valleys and began a careful inspection +of the rock formation. Away around to the east, under the shelf +which ran like a terrace around the elevation, he came upon what he +was looking for. + +The shelf extended outward from the face of the rock, and under it, +setting back into the cliff perhaps a dozen feet, was a cavern which +looked out on the valley where the Nelson lay, but from which the +machine itself was not in sight. + +The floor of the cavern showed traces of human habitation. It had +undoubtedly been occupied as a shelter from storms by mountaineers +for centuries. + +But the evidences of occupation which Ned saw were not those showing +distant use. There was a tiny fire burning in a crevice which +served as a chimney, carrying the smoke far up into the sky before +discharging it. + +Scattered about the fire were tin cans, some empty, some containing +food of various kinds. Thrown over a heap of broken boxes in a +corner was a coat--a tailor-made coat of fine material. + +On a little ledge at the rear were a safety razor, a small mirror, +and a shaving mug. Ned picked up the coat and thrust a hand into an +inside pocket. That, he thought, would be an easy way to ascertain +the identity of the owner. + +In a moment he drew forth a folded paper, covered with figures in +pencil. The figures were in columns, as if the maker had been +setting down items of expense and adding them up. The total was in +the millions. The calculations of a cattleman, covering shipments +and receipts! + +Ned continued his search of the coat and presently came upon a +packet of letters, all enclosed in envelopes and neatly ticketed on +the back. They were enclosed in a rubber band, and showed careful +handling. + +And the envelopes, every one of them, were addressed to Dr. Horace +M. Lyman, Asuncion, Paraguay! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DINNER IS SERVED + + +Ned stepped to the mouth of the cavern and looked out. Jimmie was +making his way back to the machine, empty handed and evidently +dejected. Ned gave a sharp whistle and beckoned to the lad when he +looked up. + +He did not care to make any unnecessary noise there, for he believed +that Collins was not far away. + +He was now half convinced that Lyman had been secreted in that +vicinity after being abducted from Paraguay; that he had been +closely guarded and comfortably provided for, the idea being to keep +him out of Paraguay until his concession reverted to the government. + +It was his notion, too, that Lyman had inhabited this cavern until +the appearance of the Nelson, when he had been removed by his +attendants and placed in custody in some other natural hiding place. + +Whether he was still in that locality the boy could not say, but of +one thing he was certain. That was that Lyman had not been taken +away in the motor car. + +And so the quest had been shifted! There would now be no need of +proceeding to Asuncion. Probably to prevent getting mixed up in the +crooked game, the plotters in Paraguay had ordered those interested +in the disappearance of Lyman to get him out of the alleged +republic. + +This would account for his being in the mountains of Peru. It might +also account for the presence in Lima of the Vixen and Mr. Thomas Q. +Collins. + +The telegrams without meaning which Ned had received on his arrival +at Lima pointed out the fact that the conspirators knew that the +Nelson was heading for that city as a base of operations. Ned's +receipting for the telegrams was proof positive that he had arrived. + +"A very pretty plot!" Ned thought, as he waited for Jimmie to make +his way up the face of the cliff to the mouth of the cavern. + +"Gee!" the little fellow cried, as his head showed above the level +of the floor of the hiding place. "I never was so hungry in me +blameless life!" + +Ned backed up so as to conceal the tinned food. + +"What will you give for a couple of tins of pork and beans?" he +asked, with a provoking smile. + +"I'll sign a check for any amount!" grinned the boy. + +Ned stepped aside, disclosing the food, and handed Jimmie a small +hatchet which he had found under the rubbish. + +"Go to it!" he said. + +Jimmie almost dropped with amazement. It was like getting water out +of the desert. Like finding milk in the heart of a rock. Like +uncovering snowballs from a bed of hot coals! American tinned goods +in the mountains of Peru! + +The boy examined the cans attentively. They were all correct on the +outside. Then he cut one open with the hatchet and brought out a +spoonful of beans on the corner of the implement. + +"Wow!" he cried, in a moment. "They're all right! Come on an' fill +up!" + +Both boys fell to, and the supply of tinned food was considerably +diminished before they had finished their breakfast. Then, fearful +that the owners of the food might seek to remove it before another +meal time came, they carried a considerable portion of the cans away +and hid them in a small cache near the Nelson. + +"We won't starve for a few days," Jimmie said, when this work had +been finished. + +"Now, tell me what it all means. I wanted to ask you before, but, +somehow, I couldn't keep my mouth empty long enough to talk. What +about it?" + +"I think," Ned replied, "that we have blundered on the country +residence of Mr. Horace M. Lyman!" + +"What does he come up here for?" asked the little fellow. "Ain't he +got no sense?" + +"The decision wasn't up to him, I take it," laughed Ned. "The +schemers in that crooked little country wanted to get him out of the +way, so they wouldn't be getting into a quarrel with the little old +U. S. A." + +"I don't see him anywhere around," the other said. + +"He doesn't seem to be on exhibition, and that's a fact," Ned +replied. + +"Perhaps," Jimmie grinned, "we'd better look up this Thomas Q. +Collins! I guess, he could lead us to him." + +"No doubt of that," Ned admitted. + +Having securely hidden the tinned food, the boys still lingered in +the vicinity of the Nelson. The machine lay shining in the +sunlight, seeming to look reproachfully up at the boys, accusing +them of getting her into a very bad predicament. + +"Good old girl!" Jimmie cried, stroking the motors. "We'll get you +out of this mix-up, all right!" + +"If we do," Ned replied, studying the ground about the machine, +"we'll have to get cover somewhere and watch her night and day." +He pointed to footprints close up to the motors as he spoke, and +Jimmie began measuring the impressions in the soft earth. + +"They've been here since we landed, all right," the boy exclaimed, +in a minute. "We never left these tracks. They're big enough for +an elephant to make!" + +"They were made by muckers," Ned continued. "You know the kind of +shoes the men who work in mines wear? Big ones, looking more like a +mud scow than a shoe. They have turned some of the copper workers +loose on us, little man." + +"Gee! How long will it take Pedro to get back?" + +"Probably three days, if he has no bad luck--if they let him come +back at all," Ned answered. + +"You can take it from me that they won't let him come back at all if +they have anything to say about it!" the lad muttered. "I reckon +I'll have to go an' find him." + +"I think it will take both of us to prevent the Nelson being broken +up," was Ned's reply. "We shall, as I have already said, have to +guard it night and day. And, besides, we've got to keep out of the +way of bullets and poisoned arrows." + +"This is a cute little excursion, when you look at it up one side +and down the other," Jimmie grunted. "We've left Leroy in trouble +at Lima, and we've got the Nelson all banged up. Perhaps they'll +hang Leroy before we get back!" + +"Cheer up!" laughed Ned. "The worst is yet to come!" + +"And here it comes!" cried the little fellow, as a handkerchief +which might once have been white fluttered above a boulder not far +away, held aloft and waved frantically back and forth by a hand +which could only faintly be seen. + +"Come on out!" Ned shouted. + +A figure lifted from behind the rock and stood straight up, waving a +dilapidated slouch hat, now, instead of a handkerchief. The fellow +wore a suit of clothes which was much too small for him, so that his +wrists and ankles protruded a good six inches. The clothes were +dirty and ragged too, and the man's face looked as if it had been a +long time since it had been brought into contact with water. + +At a motion from Ned he advanced toward the machine. Ned thought he +had never seen a sadder face on a human being. + +"Looks like Calamity!" Jimmie muttered + +"Have you boys got anything to eat?" asked the stranger, rubbing his +palms over the waist band of his ill-fitting trousers. + +"You look like you needed something to eat!" Jimmie put in. "How +long you been sleuthin' at us from that rock?" + +"Not long," was the reply, in a slow, sober tone. "Just a minute. +I fell down a mountain not so very long ago." + +"Then," said Jimmie, pointing to the wound on his head, "you haven't +got anything on me. I'm quite a hand at fallin' down precipices, +myself!" + +"You didn't say if you had anything to eat," insisted the stranger. +"I'm so hungry that I could eat a fried griddle." + +"Well," replied Ned, "we're just out of fried griddles, but we've +got a tin of beans we might give you." + +"Slave for life if you do!" drawled the other. "I've been wandering +in the mountains for more than a week, and am so empty that it will +require several tins to fill me up, but if one is the limit, why--" + +Jimmie uncovered the cache and brought out a can of beans, which he +opened with the hatchet and presented to the other, with a grave +bow. + +"Dinner is served, me lud!" he said. + +The stranger did not wait for formalities. He had no knife, fork, +or spoon, but he managed to remove the beans from the can and convey +them to his mouth without the aid of such artificial aids to the +hungry. He sighed when the can was empty, and wiped his hands on +the grass at his feet. + +"How did you get in here?" asked Ned, then, curious to know how any +one could have the nerve to face a mountain journey in the condition +this man was in. + +"I came after the mother lode," was the reply. + +"Have you got it in your pocket?" asked the little fellow. + +"I didn't say I found it," was the grave reply. "I said I came in +here looking for it. There was a party left Sicuani, over to the +east, two weeks ago, and I trailed in behind. You see, I had a fool +idea that these people were on the track of a big gold find, and so +just naturally sneaked along. They had an automobile. I walked. +They had plenty of provisions. I had no one to grub-stake me. They +feasted while I starved, but the way is rough and slow, especially +when tires break, and I managed to keep up with them until two days +ago. Then they got away from me." + +"Did you find gold?" asked Ned. + +The stranger shook his head. + +"Nothing doing!" he said. "I've been grubstaked all over Australia, +and up the Yukon, and over Death Valley, but I have never found a +spot where there's so little gold as there is in these hills." + +"So, you are an American tourist?" asked Ned. + +"I am," was the grave reply. "I stowed away on a ship bound for +Asuncion and got a job shoveling coal to pay for the rottenest grub +I ever ate. When we got up the river to Asuncion I hired out to a +man to herd cattle. That was worse, only the air was not so +confining." + +"So you left and went to Sicuani?" asked Ned. + +"Exactly, after many days. I liked the cattle business all right, +but I had to move on. Horace M. Lyman is a good chap to--" + +"Wait!" Ned said. "It was Horace M. Lyman you worked for, eh?" + +"Sure. He's an American, and a fine fellow." + +"Well," Jimmie cut in, "you're likely to see him if you stick around +here. They geezled him, so another gazabo could get his +concession." + +"And marooned him off here? Is that it?" asked the stranger. +"Well, there's a pair of us, then, that don't find anything +nourishing in the scenery. Where is he?" + +"We haven't found him yet," Ned answered, "but we're on the trail. +If you had one more can of beans, do you think you could help us +hunt him up?" + +"Certainly. Of course. I'll do that without the beans, but--" + +"I see," Ned answered. "You haven't the strength, just now, to do +much looking. All right, we'll fat you up, and then--" + +Ned did not complete the sentence, for a long, wavering call came +from the west, and the stranger started off in that direction +without a word of explanation. Ned wondered for a moment whether +this fellow wasn't another hypocrite of the Collins stripe. + +"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "Suppose you tell us something about +that call?" + +"I'm agreeable," replied the other. "Don't you know what that +coo-coo-ee-ee is? Then you've never lived in the cattle country. +That is a cowboy salute, pard, and my private opinion is that Horace +M. Lyman is the party that uttered it." + +"Then he's not far away," Jimmie said. + +"Suppose I answer him?" asked the stranger. + +"Go on an' do it," the little fellow advised, and Ned nodded. + +The cod-coo-ee-ee which the ex-cowboy emitted rang through the +valley and came back in weird echoes from the crags around. + +"Now he knows there's some one here looking after him," the stranger +explained. "He knows that Old Mose Jackson is right on the job. +What might your name be, pard?" he added, turning to Ned. + +"Nestor," was the reply. + +"Ned Nestor, of course!" Jackson exclaimed. "I read about you being +in Mexico, and in the Canal Zone. Strange I should bump into you +away off here! And I'll bet this is Jimmie? What?" + +"The same!" the little fellow replied. "Ned can't lose me!" + +Hardly had the words left the boy's mouth when a bullet came zipping +through the air. It struck a metal section of the Nelson and +flattened out. + +"Before now," Jackson said, coolly, "when I've found myself on the +open plain with redskins popping away at me I've dug a hole in the +ground and stowed myself away in it. What do you think of the +notion, pard?" + +"It looks good to me!" Jimmie cried. "But," he went on, "We've got +nothing to dig with, so we'll just have to move back to that gully, +an' take the grub with us." + +The change was soon made, the Nelson being run back to the edge of +the trench-like depression, and then the three awaited the next move +on the part of the enemy. + +Presently a shout was heard, and then the flashily-dressed figure of +Mr. Thomas Q. Collins appeared on the shelf of rock. + +"Don't shoot!" he cried, swinging both hands aloft. "I want to come +down and talk with you." + +"There's some trick in that!" Jimmie said. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A STICK OF DYNAMITE + + +"If we could only get out of this cul-de-sac," Jack said, as the +savages gathered closer about the Black Bear, "and make the Beni +river, we could leave them behind like they were painted on the +trees." + +"There ought to be some way," Frank mused. + +Harry, who had been rummaging in a trunk of clothing and tools which +stood under the bridge which half concealed the motors, now came +forward with a package in his hand. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Dynamite!" was the cool reply. + +"That ought to induce them to go on about their business--if +properly administered," Jack said. "I didn't know we had any on +board." + +"I didn't know what we might come across up here," Harry replied. +"Shall we light a fuse and give one of these persuaders a toss over +into that mess?" + +"It would amount to wholesale murder," Frank replied. + +Harry's face hardened as he held up a hand for silence. The howling on the +banks of the little stream was now almost deafening, and every second there +came the thunk of arrows against the boat. + +"You see what they would do to us," he said. + +"Yes, I know," Jack said, "but we are supposed to be civilized! It +would be a wicked thing to do, to murder fifty or a hundred of those +savages. Suppose we toss a stick where it will do little damage and +still attract their attention from the boat? Then we might get that +log out of the way." + +"We'll see what show we have for getting it out of the way-the log, +I mean," Jack replied. + +He cautiously opened one of the lower panels at the rear and looked +out. The log which blocked the narrow channel was afloat, for it +was the trunk of a dry tree, and the water was deep. What held it +in place was the end which lay on the shore. It had been rolled in +at a point where the bank was low, and at least two-thirds of it lay +on the ground. + +"I'd like to know how they got it in there!" Jack said. "It looks +too big for a hundred men to handle." + +"Anyway, there it is," Frank replied, "and there the propellers +are--one of them broken. Can we make speed with that busted wing?" + +"We've got to," Harry said. "Just hear the devils! They will rush +the boat in about a minute!" + +The cries coming from the forest were now blood-curdling in their +ferocity. The cannibals were evidently working themselves into a +pitch of excitement which would give them courage to charge the +Black Bear. + +Now and then the frightened howl of some wild beast was heard in the +distance, adding not a little to the excitement of the scene. The +tree which had been set on fire to attract the attention of the +airship still blazed, sending a twist of flame far up into the sky. + +In the glare of the fire the savages looked like fiends ready for +any act of deviltry. Now and then three figures larger than the +rest stood together as if in conference, and then the shouts grew +louder, and the line about the boat closer drawn. + +"I've got a notion that we can make pretty good speed with that +broken wing," Jack mused. "Anyway, we can drift down stream if we +can't steam up stream, and that will take us out of this mess." + +"Then let's blow that log up with dynamite," suggested Frank. + +"Yes," said Jack, "and finish the propellers!" + +"Blow up the shore end," continued Frank. "Who can pitch it so that +it will knock that blooming dry wood into the stream?" + +"I'm willing to try," Harry said. "I used to pitch a tricky ball! +I'll get a fuse ready, open a panel, and give it a throw. While I +have the panel open, though, you fellows open up a loophole in front +and do some shooting out of it to attract attention. I don't want +any poisoned arrows biting me." + +This was agreed to, and Harry arranged a fuse and prepared to throw +it. When Jack opened a panel in front and sent a volley of bullets +ashore, the boy pushed open a panel in the rear and, waiting until +the attention of the savages was attracted to the front of the boat, +tossed out the dynamite. + +It hurled through the air, flashing in the red light of the fire, +and landed at the very end of the fallen tree, rolling into the +angle between the wood and the earth. A fine throw! + +Harry yelled to Jack to close his panel, and all three boys stood on +the tips of their toes, fingers in ears. In a moment the explosion +came. + +The Black Bear rocked violently, so that it was with difficulty the +boys kept their footing. Wild cries of distress and fright came +from the forest, and, in a few seconds, the crash of falling trees. +The dynamite had done its work well, at least, so far as noise was +concerned. They could not yet see what effect the explosion had had +on the tree. + +Had it loosened the obstructing log so that the boat could pass out +into the Beni river? Had the concussion damaged the propellers so +that the trip up the valley of the Amazon would have to be +abandoned? + +These questions were in the minds of all three boys as Jack +cautiously opened a rear panel and looked out. The first thing he +saw was the log, splintered and broken into half a dozen pieces, +floating down stream. + +The explosion had whirled the great trunk high up in the air and +brought it down, broken, in the channel of the stream. There seemed +nothing to do now but to set the motors at work and run out of the +dangerous position. + +But the motors refused to work. Something more than showed on the +surface was the matter with them. Harry looked out at the rear and +saw a great red patch of earth without a single human being in +sight. The fire was still burning brightly, but there were no +savages dancing about in its fierce light. + +At the sound of the explosion the head hunters had taken to their +heels. At first view, no one seemed to have been injured by the +dynamite, but, on giving the scene a closer inspection, the boy saw +three bodies lying near where the log had been. They might be dead +or only stunned; the lad had no means of knowing. + +While Harry watched for some sign of life, the roar of a wild animal +came from the forest, and he knew that a tiger cat was approaching. +The humans--if the man-eating savages may be so termed--were still +running, it appeared, while the wild beasts of prey were returning +to the scene of the explosion. + +"Come," Harry cried, "we must get out of this now if we can get the +propellers to working. There is no one in sight, only three men +lying near where the log lay, and there are man-eating animals +coming, so I'd rather not see what takes place next." + +Jack threw open another panel and stepped out. The roar in the +forest was growing again, but no savage was in sight. He moved to +the back of the boat and bent down to look at the propellers. + +"I can't see from here!" he shouted, in a moment. "Look out for me, +you fellows!" + +Like a shot he was in the river, diving under the stem of the Black +Bear. Harry and Frank, knowing the rivers of that district to be +swarming with caymen, grouped at the rear and watched with anxious +eyes for the reappearance of their chum. + +In a few seconds Jack's face appeared above the surface of the +water. He seized a rope passed to him and climbed on board, shaking +the water from his clothing like a great dog. + +"It is all right," he said, as soon as he could get his breath. +"There was a piece of the log wedged in back of the paddles and I +got it out. Get a pole and push. She's in the mud, I guess." + +The pole was used before the motors were turned on again, and the +Black Bear was soon out of the little creek, sailing slowly down the +Beni. However, the boat did not behave well, and it was decided to +tie up for a day and go over her carefully. The propellers needed +fixing, and there might be some other injury which had not been +discovered. + +Not caring to strain the weakened propellers, they permitted the +boat to drift down stream. + +When a mile away the illumination of the fire which had been so +injudiciously set could still be seen distinctly, and when the boys +listened they could hear the cries of the savages and the fierce +howls of the wild beasts. + +During the day the boys had passed a level plateau on the east bank +of the river, and it was decided to float down to that, as they +could beach the Black Bear there and work without danger of being +attacked from the shelter of a forest. + +They gained the spot about midnight and anchored some distance out, +resolved to take no chances on the shore that night. The stream was +quite wide, and they opened the top panels so as to get what fresh +air they could. + +Jack was the first one to see the airship hovering over them. + +"Look!" he cried. "Look! Look! We've just got to attract their +attention in some way! See! They are going away again! Confound +the luck!" + +The airship seemed about to dip down, then it floated off to the +west and whirled to the south. + +"They're signaling!" Harry cried. + +This seemed to be true, for there were lights moving about in the +air in queer combinations. + +"Get a glass!" shouted Jack, in great excitement. "We'll soon see +about this!" + +But the airship seemed interested in the spot where the fire was +burning, and did not remain overhead long enough for the boys to get +a good view of her. At last she disappeared entirely. + +Although anchored out in the stream, which was at least two hundred +feet wide at that point, the lads kept a close watch of the shores +that night. Once, just before dawn, they caught the sound of +paddles, but the canoe which appeared on the west soon sneaked away. + +The hubbub on shore kept up all night long. The beasts took up the +chorus when the savage tribesmen retreated. + +"Beautiful country this!" Jack said, as the, sun rose over the great +valley. "I think I'll like to live here always--not!" + +"Yes," grunted Frank, whose eyes were heavy with the long watch, +"even on the Great White Way, the enthusiasm quiets down after three +o'clock." + +"It is all in the game!" grinned Harry. "We came out here for +excitement, and you mustn't complain when you get it." + +After breakfast, which was keenly enjoyed, the Black Bear was +beached on the cast banks and the injury to the propellers examined. +Some of the blades were broken while others were strained. + +"Well," Harry said, as he scratched his head in deliberation, "we've +got extra blades, and we've got the tools, and I don't know as we're +in a hurry anyway. We've got all the time there is!" + +"Not if we catch the Nelson before it gets out of the country," Jack +objected. "This is the 22d of August, and the Nelson must have +sighted Lima about the 14th, so you see we've got to do some sailing +if we get to the headwaters of the Beni before the boys get back +home." + +If they had only known, the lads might not have been so anxious to +get on, for the boys with the Nelson were having troubles of their +own about that time. Besides, there were difficulties ahead much +greater than those entailed by the breaking of the blades of the +propellers. + +They worked all day at repairing the injuries, and at night were +ready to proceed. It was dark again, and there seemed to be a great +commotion on shore. + +"For one," Frank observed, "I don't like the idea of going on up an +unknown river in the night. There are rapids, and there may be +obstructions. And then we may follow off some tributary which will +land us in some swamp after an all night ride." + +"I'm not anxious to go on tonight," Harry contributed, "for I'd like +to see what that mess on shore will amount to. There's something +besides the appearance of the Black Bear exciting those fuzzy little +natives, and we may miss something if we run away. I wouldn't like +to do that." + +So it was decided to remain where they were until morning. The +panels were put up, leaving only the openings for ventilation, and +the Wolf was brought close alongside. + +Frank got the first watch in the drawing of sticks, and stationed +himself at the prow, where he could look out on the river. Jack and +Harry were soon asleep. + +About midnight a great clamor arose on the west bank. In a moment +it was echoed from the opposite shore. There was a beating of +drums--the foolish drums which the natives made so crudely--and long +chants, rising in the darkness like the monotonous melodies the boys +had heard in the cotton fields of the South. + +Frank shook Jack and Harry out of their bunks, much to the disgust +of the two sleepy-heads. They did not need to ask questions as to +the reason for this, for the chant was coming nearer, and the drums +were beating like mad. + +"They're arranging an attack!" Jack said, turning a searchlight out +of the front loophole. "I can see half a dozen canoes hanging off +and on at a bend above. I guess we made a mistake in stopping +here." + +"Perhaps we'd better drop down the river," Harry suggested. "I +don't want those heathens swarming over the Black Bear." + +Jack went to the stern and looked out on the swirling river from +that point. + +"If we do," he said, in a moment, "we'll bunt into a fleet of war +canoes. We've got to put on all speed and drive ahead." + +"Why not drop back?" asked Harry. + +"Because," was the reply, "we can go up stream about as fast as we +can go down stream, and the canoes can't. We'll shut everything +tight but the loopholes and go through them like a shot through +paper. If they board us we'll have to open up and drop them into +the river with our automatics." + +"Put the big light out in front then," Harry said, "and stand there +and tell me which way to steer, and let her go!" + +The next moment the Black Bear, closely followed by the Wolf, was +nearing the canoes, now drawn up in line of battle in front. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BRIBE OF HALF A MILLION + + +"What do you want to talk about?" asked Ned, as Thomas Q. Collins +advanced a step, both hands still high above his head, as an +indication that he was unarmed. + +"I want to reach an understanding with you," was the reply. + +"About what?" + +"About--well, about your errand here." + +"Oh! Well, what about it?" + +Collins hesitated a moment and then asked: + +"Why can't I come to you and sit down? I'm not armed. This is not +an easy or a dignified position for me to hold." + +"You say you are not armed," Ned replied. "Will you say as much for +the savages who are with you in this dirty game?" + +"There are no savages here with me," Collins protested. "Your +Indian killed one by throwing him from the ledge, one was killed +when the Vixen burned and dropped, and one was shot by one of your +boys. The other went away with the motor car. You must have seen +them riding away?" + +"There were five people with him when he first came out here in the +car," Jackson said, under his breath. "Ask him where the other +white man now is." + +"Did you see the other white man?" asked Ned of Jackson. + +"Not distinctly." + +"Would you have recognized him if it had been Lyman?" + +"I might. I can't say. I wasn't very near to them. They kept me +scouting over the hills to keep them in sight." + +"Well," Collins called out, impatiently, "are you going to let me +come in for a talk? If not, I'll go back and bring some shooters +out here." + +Without answering that special question, veiled, as it was, with a +threat, Ned asked the one proposed by Jackson. + +"Where is the white man who was with you when you first came here in +the car?" + +"I did not come in a motor car," was the reply. "I came in the +Vixen." + +"That's a lie!" Jackson whispered. "The Vixen, if that is what they +call their airship, never showed up until a few days ago. I tried +to signal to the driver; or, rather, I did signal to him, but he +ignored me. This man Collins came in with the car more than two +weeks ago, and went out in it, too, and the other white man +remained. The next time he came, he was in the Vixen." + +"Who is that fellow who is filling you with prejudice against me?" +demanded Collins, presently. "It looks like a man wanted for +stealing cattle from the Lyman ranch." + +"Why didn't you communicate with him, if you were so hungry?" asked +Ned of Jackson, suspiciously. "You say he has been here at least twice." + + +Jackson frowned and looked away. Then his forehead flushed and he +said: + +"I guess there's no use lying about it. I was accused of running +cattle off the Lyman range. That is the man who accused me. I +never did. He knows that. Now you know why I didn't approach him +and ask for food." + +"Well," insisted the boy, "why didn't you browse around and find the +white man he left here? That is what he came in here for, isn't it--to +hide some one he wanted out of the way?" + +"I thought he came to look for gold," was the reply. "Now, about +the other question. I did try to find the man he left here. I +wanted to eat with him! I knew there was some one in the hills, but +I never found him. It beats the Old Scratch where he is!" + +"Come, come!" Collins cried, impatiently, "you can do your visiting +after we have our talk. Shall I come to you, or will you come to +me?" + +"Don't you go out there!" Jimmie warned. "He's got some one hidden. +You'll be shot if you do. Tell him to come here." + +"Keep your hands up and come here," Ned ordered, thinking this good +advice. + +He had already experienced the treachery of the fellow, and did not +care to take any chances. Collins came along sullenly, stood stock +still, while Jimmie searched him, and then sat down on the framework +of the Nelson. + +"That aeroplane would look handsomer," Ned said, grimly, "if your +men had not set it on fire." + +"That was war!" Collins replied. "It is war still, unless we can +come to some kind of agreement." + +"I haven't much faith in your word," Ned replied. "You played a +dirty game on me at Lima, you know." + +"The chances of war!" Collins replied. "Now," he went on, "we can +come to terms without any reference to the International Peace +Congress, if we want to. I'll admit that if things were a little +different I wouldn't be asking for terms, but that is neither here +nor there. I want your assistance." + +"On the level?" demanded Jimmie. + +Jackson grinned scornfully, and Collins glared at both. + +"The man we brought out here--merely as a matter of business--has +disappeared," Collins went on. "We left him in the little cavern +where you found his coat and the food. He's got away." + +"You refer to Lyman?" + +"Of course." + +"You were keeping him a prisoner until his concession should lapse?" + +"That's only business." + +"When does it lapse, in case he does not appear and make payment?" + +"On the 31st of August." + +"And this is the 18th?" + +"I think so. I'm pretty well mixed as to time, as well as +everything else." + +"Then he has only fourteen days in which to get back to Asuncion and +make a large payment?" + +"That is just it." + +"And he is lost?" + +"Yes." + +"When did you see him last?" + +"You remember how I came to be here? You brought me, trussed up +like a hen in that aeroplane harness. Well, when the Vixen went +into that pit and you went away to look over the scenery, I knew +that the motor car would be along soon, so I didn't try to get away. +I knew what would happen if I did. You'd shoot! Just as soon as +the car came and I was released--the car brought in food for Lyman-- +I sent a man over to the cave to find Lyman. He wasn't there. +Understand? He wasn't there." + +"But there were live embers in the cave when I got there," Ned said. + +"I know. That was built by one of my men, who wanted to make +coffee, but didn't. The food you stole was brought in by the car as +I said before. You found Lyman's coat, didn't you?" + +"Yes, and a packet of letters." + +"I knew what you were in Lima for from the first. I knew of your +mission before you left San Francisco. So I did not lie to you when +you asked if the man who was brought in, something over two weeks +ago, in a motor car was Lyman. I knew that you knew. You see, we +had to get him out of Paraguay when it was learned that the United +States had placed the Lyman affair in the hands of the Secret +Service." + +"Go on," Ned said. "You are getting pretty close to the point now." + +"I thought at first," Collins went on, "that you had blundered into +this district just by blind luck. Now I know better. I gave myself +away by my fool antics at Lima. Then the Vixen showing up and +chasing the Nelson around increased your suspicions. Oh, I know how +it happened. You fooled us all. We led you right to the spot where +Lyman was hidden by our attempts to mislead you. More fools we!" + +"You have stated the case correctly," Ned said. "If you had kept +away from me at Lima, and the Vixen had kept out of sight, I should +have gone straight on to Asuncion, and should have been wasting my +time there this minute." + +"Yes, that's the truth! Well, now I've been perfectly frank with +you, and I want you to be equally honest with me. Do you know where +Lyman is?" + +"I do not." + +"You haven't seen him?" + +"Never saw him." + +"If you find him, what do you propose doing?" + +"I shall take him back to Asuncion and see that he gets justice." + +"Acting as a Secret Service man of the United States?" + +"No, as an individual." + +"But you are in the employ of the government?" + +"Yes, but I'm not authorized to mix the two countries up in a war." + +"Yes, I know, but your government will back you in whatever you do. +That is the point with me. If you report no cause for interference +down in Paraguay, there will be no danger of our getting into +trouble. Your government wouldn't make a demand for Lyman's +release, although it was understood he was kept in duress by a high +official of the republic. Still, it sends you out to act +unofficially. Now, this being the case, you are the person I want +to talk with." + +"Well?" + +"I want you to help find Lyman, and then I want you to help me come +to terms with him--we can't fight the United States!" + +"In other words, you want me to betray my trust and help you rob +him?" + +"No. There are two sides to everything--where there are not three, +or more. So there are two sides to this cattle concession business. +I think that Lyman will be glad to settle if we find him--if he does +not know that the United States has Secret Service men on the +ground!" + +"So you really do want to buy my silence?" + +"I want to make sure that you will not attempt to defeat our plans." + +"Nothing doing," Ned replied. + +"Wait!" Collins continued. "You haven't heard me out. We'll see +that Lyman gets all his money out of the deal, with something +besides, and also that you get a quarter of a million dollars for +saying nothing." + +"Nothing doing!" Ned repeated. + +Collins actually gasped with amazement. He had offered bribes +before, but had never started out with so large a sum. And he had +never been denied! + +"Understand the proposition," Collins said, presently, as soon as he +could catch his breath, "it is not you we want. We don't care a +continental cuss for you. What we want is for you to keep quiet +after we find Lyman. It is the Secret Service of the United States +we axe afraid of. I'll make it half a million." + +"It must be a rich concession," Ned said. + +"It is, and Lyman got it for a song, for no one ever supposed that +swamp would make good grazing ground." + +"I guess Mr. Lyman will earn all he gets out of it," Ned laughed. + +"He will never get anything out of it, unless he comes to terms with +me," Collins said, impatiently. "We'll find some way to keep him +out of Asuncion until after the 31st. It is a long way from here to +Paraguay!" + +"All the more reason why we should get busy looking for him," Ned +said. + +"And when we find him?" asked Collins, tentatively. + +"I shall take him back to Asuncion." + +"Then you'd better not find him," threatened Collins. "If you're +going to oppose me, I'll leave it to you to look him up. I'll go +back to Asuncion and bring men out here who will see that you never +leave the mountains." + +"Gee! That's a cheerful proposition!" grinned Jimmie. + +Collins, disgusted at his failure to either bribe or frighten the +boys, started away, but Jackson laid a heavy hand on his shoulder +and swung him around. + +"Wait a minute!" he said. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Collins. + +"You're not going to Asuncion after help," Jackson said. "I have a +little score to settle with you myself! You're the man who accused +me of running off cattle. Well, you're going to remain right here +with me until I go out with you and give you a chance to make that +right." + +Collins glanced at Ned. + +"Is this by your order?" he asked. + +Ned shook his head. + +"I have no present quarrel with you," he said. + +Collins started away again, but Jackson thrust him back, not any too +gently. + +"If you make a touse," he said, "I'll tie you up. Now," he added, +as Collins, almost foaming with rage, threw himself on the ground, +"I want you to tell me where you left that tent." + +Both Ned and Jimmie sprang to their feet at the mention of the word. + +"A tent! Here!" + +Collins snarled out some impertinent reply, and Ned asked: + +"Did they bring in a tent?" + +"You bet they did!" Jackson answered. "This fine-haired duck with +the circus parade clothes wasn't going to sleep in no cavern. He +was going to have a nice, soft, cool bed under a tent while he was +waiting for the Lyman concession to lapse. He was reared a pet--he +was!" + +The ex-cowboy was so enraged at Collins for the insinuations he had +cast upon him that he pushed up to where he lay and would have +assaulted him if Ned had not interposed. + +"Let him alone," the boy said. "We'll leave the law to make payment +in his case. Are you going to tell us where the tent is, Collins?" +he added, turning to the angry captive. + +"I guess you can get along without the tent," Collins said. "You +won't have to remain here long. I've got men coming in. They may +be here at any moment. Officers of the Republic of Paraguay!" + +"I shall be glad to meet them!" Ned laughed. "If you'll tell me +where the tent is I'll be able to entertain them properly." + +"Aw, I can find the tent if it is around here anywhere!" Jimmie +broke in. + +"What do you want of it?" demanded Collins + +"A little tent cloth," Ned smiled, "would make a serviceable machine +of the Nelson. We could make new planes in no time. What do you +think of the idea?" + +"I'm not going to have the tent cut up," shouted Collins. + +"I guess yes," Jimmie said, provokingly. "You burned our planes, +and you've got to supply material for new ones." + +The little fellow darted away as he spoke, working his way over the +ledges which separated the two dents on the mountain sides. In a +short time Ned heard him calling and saw him looking down from the +shelf above the cavern. + +"Come on up," the lad cried. "I can see the tent over in the other +valley, and there's another automobile coming. What do you think of +that? This must be a regular station on the underground railroad +between Asuncion and Lymanville!" + +Ned lost no time in gaining the ledge. The white body of the tent +was in plain sight, just where the men had dropped it out of the +machine. The two boys hastened into the depression, seized the +canvas in their arms, and started back toward the Nelson. On the +shelf again, Ned asked: + +"Where did you see a motor car?" + +"Over east," was the reply. "There's a tunnel under the range off +that way. I take it that a river ran there once, draining this +valley." + +Presently the machine appeared in the valley from which the Vixen +had slipped off into the pit. There were four men in the two seats. +One was the Indian in goggles who had driven the car away, the +others were white men. The car could not have gone far, so these +men must have been picked up just outside. + +The boys carried the canvas down to the Nelson and began the work of +making new planes, keeping close watch, but leaving the newcomers to +do the calling if there was any to be done. There was plenty of +canvas and the tools necessary for the work were found in the +Nelson's tool chest. Collins watched the doings angrily. + +"These men," he finally said, "are officers. Two from Paraguay and +one from Peru. They have warrants for your arrest." + +He started to his feet as if to join the others as he spoke, but +Jackson saw that he did not get very far. + +"Tell your friends," Jackson said, "that we're too busy to be +bothered now. We'll soon have this aeroplane fixed, and then we'll +give an imitation of men sailing out of this mess. Lyman knows a +friend is here, for he heard my cowboy call. He will soon come out +of his hole, and we'll take him back to Asuncion--just to prevent +international complications!" he added with a grin. + +The work of preparing the new planes progressed swiftly, but before +it was completed the men who had arrived in the automobile appeared +on the ledge and called down to those below. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE NELSON IN THE SKY + + +"Well," Ned called back, as the new arrivals shouted down from the +ledge, "what do you want?" + +"We want to talk with you." + +"Cripes," Jimmie grinned, "we're in good demand today. The stock of +Boy Scouts must be gettin' shy!" + +"Go on and talk, then," Ned answered, well satisfied as to what the +fellows wanted. + +"Shall we come down there?" + +"You stay away!" Jimmie replied. "We're a little particular about +our company!" + +"Is that little runt speaking for you?" demanded the man on the +ledge. "If he is, we'll do something besides talk." + +"For the present he is," Ned replied. "What can I do for you?" + +"You can surrender yourself. We have warrants for your arrest." + +"Couldn't think of it!" was the cool reply. "We prefer to remain at +liberty." + +"I told you!" Collins grunted, rising from his reclining position +and moving toward the ledge. "I told you that you'd get into +trouble. You'll sweat for this!" + +Jackson caught him by the shoulder and whirled him back. + +"You stay here!" the ex-cowboy gritted. "The less trouble you make +the better treatment you will receive." + +"What are you doing to Collins?" asked the newcomer. "Tell him to +come up here." + +"I'm being held a prisoner!" Collins shouted. "Train your guns on +these kids and drive them off. And find Lyman. He left the cavern, +but he's somewhere about, for he answered a cowboy call not long +ago." + +"We already have Lyman!" was the answer. "He thought we were the +friends who had called him and joined us. We'll take care of him, +all right." + +"That's fine business--not!" grunted Jimmie. + +Ned was not a little disappointed by the announcement. With Lyman +in the hands of his enemies, it might be impossible to get him back +to Asuncion in time to save his concession. + +And here was another difficulty, one which might bring on a war +between the United States and Paraguay. Ned, as an official of the +United States Secret Service, now knew that those high in authority +in the government of Paraguay were involved in the attempt to +defraud Lyman of his rights. This had been only suspected before. + +So long as only private interests were interfering with the treaty +rights, so long as the government of the unruly republic was not +mixed up in the attempt to cheat an American citizen out of his +property, the government at Washington might well restrain its hand. +But when the government of Paraguay itself, as Ned now believed, was +involved in the crooked game, that was an entirely different matter. + +Ned believed that a full disclosure of the facts in the case would +send warships to Asuncion. He believed that an international +complication might breed open war unless he succeeded in getting +Lyman away without open conflict with the authorities of the little +republic. But how? + +Well, the State Department at Washington had trusted him, and he +would do his best. The thing to do at that time, it appeared to +him, was to await the action of the newcomers. They might be +officers of Paraguay, with authority to make arrests in Peru, and +they might be only four-flushers. He must temporize until he found +out what they proposed to do in the matter. + +And, then, he reasoned, if they had Lyman, he had Collins! That was +not so bad! Perhaps an exchange of prisoners might be made! This +did not seem very likely, but still there was hope. Collins, for +all he knew, might be the man who expected to profit by the robbery +of the American cattleman. + +"So Mr. Lyman is there with you?" Ned called back. "Send him over +here. I want to talk with him." + +A harsh laugh was the only answer to this. + +"You may as well come to terms with me," Collins exclaimed. "You +have no chance of winning now. I like your nerve, but you're +butting into too strong a game for a lad of your years." + +"I shall have to take chances," Ned replied. "What will those men +do with Lyman?" + +"I don't know!" + +"I know!" Jimmie cried. "They'll kill him!" + +"I don't think they'll do that," Collins remarked, with a wicked +sneer, "but it would clear the atmosphere if he should fall down a +mountain!" + +"If he does," Ned declared, flushing with anger at the brutality of +the remark, "you will also take a tumble. If he is injured in any +way, you'll answer to me for it." + +"You wait!" warned Collins. "I've handled cases like this before. +I can give you cards and spades and beat you out. You'll be getting +hungry before long." + +"And the Nelson will be ready for flight before long," Ned replied. + +During all this conversation Jackson and Jimmie had kept steadily at +work sewing the new, strong canvas taken from the tent on the frame +of the planes. They could not make a very neat job of it, but they +did their work well. Ned had hope of getting out of the valley that +very night. Presently the men on the ledge withdrew for a time, and +Ned began a closer examination of the Nelson. To his disgust he +discovered that the gasoline was very low in the great tanks. Built +for long flights, the Nelson's tanks were very large, fitted to +carry a supply which would last a couple of days. Ned did not quite +understand why the supply should be short after a run of only three +or four hundred miles. + +"I've got an idea!" Jimmie said, catching the worried look on Ned's +face. + +"I'm afraid it will take something more than an idea to get the +Nelson back to Lima," Ned replied in a low tone, for he did not care +to have Collins informed of this new difficulty. + +Collins, however, had been watching the movements of the boys +closely, and at once surmised what the trouble was. He laughed +insultingly as he pointed to the great tanks. + +"Empty?" he snarled. "I knew it. Now will you be good!" + +"Shut up!" raged Jackson, who was only too anxious to get a pretext +for attacking Collins. "We've heard enough from you!" + +"'Tie him up!" ordered Ned. "He's likely to make a run for it, and +then we should have to shoot him. Tie him up good and tight." + +"You'll be sorry if you do!" threatened the captive. + +Notwithstanding this threat, the fellow was bound hand and foot. +During the process of the work, which was performed none too gently +by Jackson, Collins called out to his friends in the other valley, +but there was no response. They were probably too busy with their +plotting against the boys to hear the shouts. + +This business completed, Jimmie beckoned Ned aside. + +"Here's my idea," he said. "The Vixen's tanks didn't blow up when +she burned and dropped. When it comes night I can go and get the +gasoline. The tanks were full, were they not?" + +"Yes, chock full. The driver seemed to have fitted her out for a +long run. But we may be able to get the stuff before dark. The +Vixen did not land in the valley where they are, but in a canyon +over to the west. Suppose you go over there and see what the +chances are?" + +"All right!" replied the boy. "And if the tanks of the Vixen are +not full, we'll steal the fuel out of that automobile when it gets +dark!" + +"That's a good idea, too!" laughed Ned. + +Jimmie hastened away, keeping in the gully as long as possible and +dodging around friendly cliffs when it came to climbing over the +ridge which shut in the valley on the west. The gully cut across +the valley, east and west, and was very deep at the east end. + +After the disappearance of the boy, Ned removed Collins to the deep +end of the cut and placed Jackson there as a guard. He did not want +the captive to know what was going on, as a shout to his friends, if +they again visited the ledge, might put them in possession of the +facts regarding the empty tanks of the Nelson. Then it would be an +easy matter for them to prevent the getting of the gasoline from the +wrecked Vixen. + +Then Ned, hearing no more from the alleged officers, went to work on +the planes, and succeeded in getting a long strip sewed in before +Jimmie returned with his report. + +"The tanks are almost full," the lad said, "and all we've got to do +is to unscrew a couple of burrs and lug them right over here. We +can't do that until, after dark, for they would shoot at us. +Where's Collins?" + +Ned pointed to the gully. + +"Well," the boy continued, "when I got up on that ridge, I could see +the men over in the other valley. They are getting reinforcements +from somewhere. Anyway, I saw half a dozen Indians standing around. +They've got a fire and are cooking dinner. Then I saw one of the +white men pointing, and I'll tell you right now what they're going +to do! They're going to station men around this little old crater +and keep us in here until we starve, unless we give in." + +"They forget that there's an air route," laughed Ned. + +"Suppose we get up there on the Nelson!" exclaimed the boy. "And +suppose they shoot us off! That wouldn't be funny, would it?" + +"We've got to go in the night, then," Ned said. "But before we go I +want to have a talk with those fellows." + +"Then you'll get a word with Lyman, if you can?" + +"That wasn't a bluff, then? They have captured him again?" + +"Oh, yes, they've got him with them, all right. Anyway, there's +four white men, and only three came in the car. Guess it's Lyman, +sure enough!" + +"What is he doing?" + +"Just walking about. They haven't got him tied up, at least the man +I took for Lyman isn't. He looks mad enough to bite nails, though!" + +"That is a wonder," Ned said. "It may be that they are trying to +make terms with him." + +"Of course!" replied the boy. + +Along in the afternoon one of the alleged officers appeared on the +ledge again. He appeared to be somewhat excited, and Ned suspected +that something had gone wrong with the other party. However, he +remained quiet, waiting for the other to make his errand known. +After a short silence the fellow asked: + +"What has become of Collins?" + +"He is still here," Ned answered. + +"Held against his will?" + +"Well, he is still doing some kicking." + +"You'll be sorry if you don't let him go." + +"How will you trade prisoners?" asked Ned. "Send Lyman down here +and we'll send Collins up to you." + +"Oh, Lyman doesn't want to leave us," was the reply. "We've +arranged a settlement with him." + +Ned did not believe this. He knew that the Lyman concession was a +valuable one, and that the cattleman would put up a long fight +before sacrificing it. + +"Send him down here then," Ned answered. "If he is voluntarily +staying with you, he can return if he wants to. Send him down!" + +"He is afraid you'll try some trick on him," was the reply. + +The whole afternoon passed in just such conversation as this--talk +which brought no results worth mentioning. Ned did not believe that +Lyman was remaining with the newcomers voluntarily. He did not +believe that Lyman was suspicious of him. + +The men in the other valley frequently visited the ledge and talked +with Ned, but the boy saw that they were quietly making arrangements +to surround him. Now and then the figure of an Indian appeared on +the elevations about the valley, which was the crater of an extinct +volcano. + +A little study showed Ned that in some long forgotten time the two +valleys had formed a great crater, and that this had been cut in two +by the elevation of a mass in the center. High up above this dead +crater, on the north, stretched the bulk of the mountain, the +eruption having taken place on its south slope. + +But while Ned talked with the visitors, argued with them, +threatened, he kept at work on the planes, and at nightfall had them +completed. The canvas had been put on double and sewed on very +strongly, so the boy believed that it was as good a machine as ever +that he contemplated getting out that night. + +"But," argued Jimmie, when the plans were laid, "we can't all go in +the Nelson. How are you going to carry Lyman, Jackson and me?" + +Jimmie thought for a moment and then added: "But we haven't got +Lyman yet. We'll have to come back after him, I take it, after we +land Jackson outside." + +"But I'm going to get him," Ned replied, "if this machine works all +right. I'm going to leave you and Jackson here. What about that?" + +"If you can grab Lyman," Jimmie grinned in disbelief, "I'll be +willing to stay here as long as the grub lasts!" + +"I'm going to get him," Ned replied. "I don't know how, but I've +just got to get him back to Asuncion before the 31st." + +"And what about Collins?" + +"We'll have to let him go. When I get out, let him go, and then you +two will have to hide away until I can come back after you." + +"All right," replied Jimmie, with a sigh. "Only hurry back! I +don't want to starve to death here." + +After dark Ned, Jackson and Jimmie lugged the tanks of the wrecked +Vixen over to the valley and dumped the gasoline into the Nelson's +tanks. Even this accession did not quite fill the latter. + +"Wish we could get to the motor car," Jimmie suggested. + +"Now," Ned said, "I want you two to kick up an awful rumpus here, +directly. Shoot and do all the yelling possible. Let Collins loose +and chase him! He deserves it! Then, when the fellows over there +run up on the ledge to see what is doing, I'll swoop down in the +aeroplane and pick up Lyman--that is, if he is willing to come with +me. If he isn't, I can't get him, that's all." + +"Then, when we get up in the air, we take to our heels?" + +"Exactly. If you don't these fellows will make trouble for you. +Hide, but keep making to the east. When I come back after you I'll +come in from that way." + +"How long will it be?" asked the lad, who did not quite like the +notion of being left there with Jackson. + +"I can't say," was the reply. "I may leave Lyman in the nearest +town, or he may want to go to Asuncion. I may be back by daylight, +and I may be gone two days. I hope to be back by daylight." + +"All right," Jimmie grunted. "We'll keep off to the east, and when +you return you can pick us up before they know what's going on. +Here's hoping you get Lyman!" + +"I'll get him!" Ned replied, shutting his teeth hard together. + +So, all arrangements made, Jimmie crept up on the ledge, about nine +o'clock, and looked over into the twin valley. + +There was a campfire burning, and Lyman, or the man the boy took for +the cattleman, sat close beside it. The others were walking about. +Now and then an Indian stepped inside the circle of light cast by +the fire, consulted with the others for a moment, and disappeared +again. + +It was certain that the alleged officers were preparing to advance +on the boys, bent on putting the Nelson out of commission for good. +The planes had not been repaired any too quickly. When Jimmie +reported Ned stepped into the machine. + +"When I get within sight of those in that valley," he said, "make +all the noise you can. If you can cause them to think you're +killing Collins, all the better. Make him yell! I'll go straight +up and drop down by that fire before they get over their +excitement." + +A few strong shoves, a dozen revolutions of the rubber-tired wheels, +and the Nelson left the ground, as strong and capable as ever. The +motors made little noise, and no signs of discovery came from the +other side until the machine was high up. Then a few ineffectual +shots were fired at her. + +Jimmie and Jackson began their part of the performance promptly by +shooting and yelling. They loosened Collins, much to that +gentleman's delight, and started him off in the dim light on a run. +As Jackson took great delight in landing his bullets close to +Collins' feet, the alleged salesman ran for dear life toward the +ledge, screaming and calling for help at every jump. + +This was exactly what the others wanted, and in a short time they +saw a huddle of dark figures on the ledge. In the excitement the +firing on the Nelson had ceased. + +Jackson and Jimmie were not long in getting out of the valley after +that. They whirled around the elevation between the two valleys, +sometimes feeling their way in the darkness, climbed over a ledge, +and made for the black entrance to the tunnel through which Jackson +had entered. + +When they were at the mouth of the tunnel they turned and looked +back. The Nelson was lifting from the valley where the fire had +been seen, whirling up, up into the night sky. They could not +determine from where they stood whether there were two or one on the +big aeroplane. They had no means of knowing whether Ned had +succeeded or failed. + +The two watched the dim bulk of the aeroplane as it winged over +their heads. Now and then, after it was too late to do her any +harm, a few vengeful shots were fired at her. The fact that Ned +kept going convinced them that he had picked up Lyman and was on the +way out with him. + +After the aeroplane had disappeared from sight Jackson and Jimmie +hurried on through the dark tunnel, which, as has been said, was +merely the dry channel of a stream which had cut its way out of the +valley years before. Jimmie proposed that they remain there all +night, but Jackson objected to this. + +Their pursuers knew that he knew of the tunnel, he explained, in +support of his objection, as they were aware that he had entered the +valley by that route, so they would naturally look there for them. + +This was convincing, of course, and the two hastened on their way, +lighted by the little searchlight. For a long time there were no +indications of pursuit, then a popping roar came beating down the +passage. + +"That's the automobile!" Jimmie cried. "Sounds like an express +train, eh?" + +"It certainly does," Jackson replied, "and it is up to us to get out +of the way, somewhere. They won't take extra pains to catch us +alive." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ARRESTED FOR SMUGGLING + + +The Nelson swept out of the air like a bird and landed so close to +the fire that Ned felt the warmth of it on his face. The wheels cut +the earth at first, under the force of the quick descent, then +stopped. + +The firelight shone on the white planes, bringing them out strongly +against the darkness, and Ned knew that he could not remain there a +minute without being discovered by the alleged officers of the +little republic he was just then warring against. When he landed +the men were out of sight around the ledge, but they of course saw +the aeroplane and came running back. + +Lyman, or a man Ned believed to be the cattleman whose financial +operations had stirred up an international row, stood moodily by the +fire when the Nelson dropped down, almost on top of his head. He +sprang away, rubbed his eyes as if trying to awake himself from a +bad dream, and then stood stock still, watching. + +"Lyman?" Ned called. + +There was no reply, and Ned spoke the name again. + +"Yes, Lyman," the man by the fire answered, then. "What new wrinkle +is this?" he added, stepping a little closer to the machine. + +"If you're Lyman," Ned replied, hastily, "you can't get in here any +too quickly. Those fellows will be here directly, with Thomas Q. +Collins in the lead, if my boys do their duty. There will be little +chance for either of us then. Jump in!" + +"But I've never been on one of those things, and I'm afraid," Lyman +said, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I'm afraid I'd fall out." + +A shot came from the ledge, and Ned reached for the button which +would start the motors going. + +"You've only a minute to decide," he said. "I've come a long way to +find you. If you reject this chance you won't get another." + +"Well," Lyman cried, stepping up to the seat, very shaky as to +nerves and pale as death, "I may as well die from a fall as from a +bullet or a knife. If Collins is coming back with the officers, +I'll have to do something." + +The instant he was in his seat, Ned threw the leather straps about +his legs and wrists and buckled them tight. Lyman shivered with +fright. + +"I thought so!" he cried, mistaking Ned's motives. "This is only +another trick!" + +The wheels bumped for an instant over the inequalities of the +surface, the machine rocked lightly, then the planes lifted into the +air, the propellers running like mad. A few ineffectual shots came +from the men who were running down from the ledge. Ned saw Jimmie +and Jackson chasing Collins out of the valley, heard their shots, +and then, in a few moments, saw them at the mouth of the tunnel. + +In five minutes more the Nelson was out of all danger, purring +through the darkness like a contented cat. Lyman sat moodily in his +harness, saying not a word, but fully convinced that this was only +another trick of his enemies. Directly the boy slowed the motors +down so as to make conversation possible. + +"Well," he said, turning on one of the electric bulbs so as to see +the face of his passenger, "what do you think of the Nelson? Peach, +isn't she?" + +"Where are you taking me?" was the only reply to the question. + +"That is for you to say. We are not very far from Sicuani, Peru, +and from there you can secure transportation back to Asuncion--if +you think it safe to go there, under the circumstances. About a +hundred miles to the north is Cuzco. You can go there and prepare +for your visit to Asuncion if you care to. Then, over here in +Bolivia, is Sucre. It might be well for you to go there. Anyway, +it is up to you." + +"Who is doing this?" asked Lyman, suspiciously. + +"I can't see as that makes any difference to you," Ned replied. + +"I was in the hope," Lyman went on, "when you came down upon me so +unexpectedly, that my friends had found me. You speak English like +a New York man," he went on. "Perhaps you live over there?" + +"Yes," was the reply. "I live in New York, when I am home." + +"Nice little old rotten government we've got!" almost shouted Lyman. +"The people at Washington let any crooked little republic do +anything it has a mind to do to a citizen of the United States. +They're too busy getting themselves into office and keeping in to +pay any attention to their duties. England wouldn't stand for a +minute the tricks that have been played on me, not by business +rivals, but by the government of Paraguay! England protects her +citizens, wherever they are!" + +"Well," Ned replied, with a laugh, "you may be right about England, +but you are wrong about Uncle Sam. He looks after his own, too; if +he didn't I wouldn't be here now. You wouldn't be on earth!" + +"Do you mean to say--" + +Lyman hesitated, and Ned went on and told him as much of the history +of the expedition as he thought it necessary for the cattleman to +know. + +"And now," he concluded, "Where do you want to go?" + +"I want you to go with me, wherever I go," was the reply. "And I +think we'd better go straight to Asuncion." + +"Do you think that a safe plan?" + +"Oh, yes; they won't dare abduct me again." + +"Then," Ned added, "we may as well get on the way. Asuncion is +somewhere about twelve hundred miles from here, and we've got to +make it by daylight." + +"What's that?" asked Lyman, hardly believing he had heard aright. +"You would better say in two days." + +"The Nelson can make it in eight hours," Ned replied, "if we don't +drop into any holes in the air or adverse currents." + +"Holes in the air!" repeated Lyman. + +"Sure," answered Ned. "The atmosphere surrounding the earth is just +like the water in the large reservoirs--there are deep places and +shallow places, holes you can drop in, and currents like the Gulf +Stream current, the Japanese current, which warms the northern +states and British Columbia, and the Arctic Humboldt current, which +sends a cold stream down the Pacific coast of South America. If we +have no difficulties with these rivers of the air, and the wind does +not come up too strong, we can make Asuncion by six o'clock in the +morning. It is about ten now." + +"What sort of an airship have you here?" demanded Lyman, amazed at +the thought of running at the rate of two hundred miles an hour or a +hundred and fifty, at least. + +"She was built for speed and endurance," was the reply. "Now cover +your face with this mask, unless you want to have your breath blown +out of the back of your head, and we'll get under way." + +That was a night ride which neither of the participants ever forgot. +The first part of the night was dark. Then a moon shone down from a +cloudless sky, showing all the beauties of that magnificent country. + +The mountains, the forests, the headwaters of the rivers which help +to make the Amazon, were under their feet. Now and then they swept +over a point of light which denoted the presence of a small town. +Occasionally the cry of frightened wild beasts--the vicious mountain +lion, the savage tiger cat, the prowling puma--came up to their +ears. + +After a short run to the southeast, Ned wheeled about and struck +straight off to the east. The wind was growing stronger, and the +Nelson was not making as good time as the boy desired. + +There was a fierce current about the top of Mt. Sorata, which is +something over 21,000 feet in height, and again Ned swung off to the +north. Dropping down, then, he swept into the valley of the Beni +river, which joins the Madeira river, some distance beyond the +Bolivian border. + +He knew that at the eastern rim of Bolivia there was a series of +high mountain ranges which would protect him from the drifts blowing +over from the Atlantic--Serre Geral, Serre Paxecis, Serre +Aguapehy--and he reasoned that he could make better speed under the +lee of these elevations. So he swept down the valley of the Beni +until it joined with the Madeira, crossed a line of hills, and made +for the Serre Geral range, something under a hundred miles away. + +As the Nelson cleared the valley, however, Lyman gave Ned a punch in +the ribs with an elbow and nodded toward the ground. His wrists +were fast in the harness so he could not use his hands. Ned looked +down and instantly dropped the Nelson a few hundred feet. + +Some distance down the Madeira, in the center of the stream, were +the lights of a boat which seemed to be anchored there. Ned swept +closer and tried his best to make out the outlines of the craft, but +he could not do it without descending close to the river, and this +he did not care to do. + +"It looks like the Black Bear," he thought, as he shot up into the +air again, "but of coarse it can't be. Those Boy Scouts are not +fools enough to bring her up into this country." + +So he came to the protection of the mountains and proceeded south +toward Asuncion at a speed which caused Lyman to gasp for breath. +Of course he was ignorant of the fact that Frank, Jack, and Harry +had started out, during his absence, to explore the headwaters of +the Amazon, hoping to come upon the Nelson before returning. + +As for the lads on the Black Bear, they did not even know that the +Nelson was so close to them that night. It was three nights later +that they first saw the aeroplane drifting above them. Asuncion +does not at all compare in beauty or in thrift with the other +capital cities of South America. The government of the republic is +so unstable that business men are loath to make heavy investments +there. + +For one thing the town is poorly lighted, and when Ned came, in view +of the place at five O'clock the few street lamps were already out. +People were abroad at that early hour, however, and small crowds +soon gathered on the street corners to watch the great airship +approach. + +What Ned could not see was the intense excitement around the +government offices. In ten minutes from the time the airship showed +above the city, messengers were out in the streets and officials of +the lower rank were headed for their offices. In a few minutes this +alarm was communicated to police headquarters and to the military +station where the governor's guard was stationed. + +If the boy had been able to understand the situation below, if he +had known that Asuncion had been communicated with from Lima and +also from Sicuani, he would have given the city a wide berth. He +saw the gathering of crowds below, of course, but naturally +attributed this to curiosity. He had no doubt that the Nelson was +the first airship ever seen at Asuncion. + +"Where are you going to take me?" asked Lyman, as the machine slowed +down and he found himself able to speak. + +"To the American consul," was the reply. + +Lyman sighed and shook his head. + +"I'm afraid he will take little interest in me," he said. + +"Doubtless," Ned replied, "he has received instructions from +Washington. Anyway, I fail to see how they can molest you now, even +if they have the inclination to do so. You just go about your +business as usual, and leave this abduction matter to the future. +You can gain nothing now by stirring that up. Report to the consul +and go on about your business as if nothing had happened." + +"That is the only thing there is to do," Lyman responded, with a +sigh. "Still, I'm suspicious of those chaps. They'll have some +trick ready." + +Before long Ned found a level spot not far from the capitol building +where he could, drop the Nelson. When he headed for that locality +he was followed through the streets below by a shouting, howling +mob. + +"I can't understand this," he thought, and Lyman was still more +suspicious. + +At last the Nelson was brought to the surface of the earth and Ned +and Lyman stepped out, very willing to stretch their legs after such +a long ride. They had been in the air about twice the time set for +endurance by noted aviators. + +They did not get much of a chance to stretch their legs, however, +for they bumped into a squad of soldiers on stepping out of their +seats. + +"You are under arrest!" a gaily-dressed officer said, flashing his +sword out of its scabbard. + +"What for?" demanded Ned, speaking in Spanish. + +"Smuggling!" was the reply. + +Ned laughed heartily. Arrested for smuggling! + +"Search us, and search the machine, then," he replied, "and let us +go on about our business. We have no time to lose." + +"In time! In time!" was the drawling reply. "Such things are not +done so quickly here! In three-four days--in a week--in three, four +weeks, perhaps. In the meantime you go to the jail." + +Ned thought of the swiftly-slipping days, of the peril Jimmie and +Jackson were in, of Leroy in prison at Lima, and was about ready to +fight. The officer refused to take him to the president, or to the +American consul. In a quarter of an hour he was in a cell, alone, +wondering what had been done with Lyman, and also wondering what +would become of the Nelson. + +He knew that the charge of smuggling, of bringing goods into the +republic by means of an airship, would be held against him as long +as it pleased his accusers to keep him in prison. That would be +until the concession expired and, possibly, until the Nelson lay a +total wreck in the streets. + +He saw no one who could give him any information as to what was +going on in the outside until the morning of the 21st, after he had +been incarcerated forty-eight hours. Then a turnkey unlocked his +door and motioned him out. + +"For trial?" Ned asked, hopefully. + +"It is the wish of the president," was the reply. + +"But what, why, when--" + +"You have yet to see," was the impertinent reply. "You have yet to +see if you can do these things to our countree!" + +And so, mystified and, if the truth must be told, not a little +discouraged, Ned was led through the prison corridors, his mind +filled wit thoughts of Leroy, Jimmie, the Nelson, an, strangely +enough, the Black Bear! + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE WARNING FROM THE SKY + + +There was a shock when the prow of the Black Bear struck a canoe +which lay full in its path. The momentum was retarded for only a +second. Then the motor boat was beyond the line of war canoes with +their screaming, gesticulating occupants. + +Looking out of the rear ventilator, Frank saw a smashed canoe +running down with the current, with a dozen or more natives clinging +to it. But there was still a large number of canoes up the river, +and the Black Bear was struck more than once by forceless bullets +and poisoned arrows as she sped past them. + +Armed with modern rifles, the Indians would have made short work of +the occupants of the Black Bear, but the muskets they used were old +and mostly out of condition. The arrows were far more deadly, +although they stood less chance of penetrating the tough panels. + +"Now," Harry said, as they passed a racing fleet of Indian boats, +"we can open up a little and get a breath of fresh air! I'm just +about suffocated!" + +"Not just yet," Jack, who was at the front, said, "for there's a +mess of the black scamps just ahead. They are on the bank, both +banks, and seem to be waiting for something to happen. I wonder +what it can be?" + +"Some trap, I suppose," Harry gritted. "Well, all we can do is to +ran on through them, if they come out in boats, and get out of their +reach. We ought to be able to be out of this blasted country in a +couple of hours." + +"That's all right," Jack replied, "but you just listen a moment." + +But the racing motors shut out all individual sounds, and Harry shut +them down for a minute. Seeing this, Jack dropped an anchor at the +prow, and the boat lay pulling at the cable in the current. + +"What did you do that for?" asked Frank, addressing both boys from +the stem. + +"Listen!" commanded Jack. + +"Look!" ordered Harry. + +What Frank heard was the heavy, continuous roar of a waterfall. +What he saw, as he crowded up under the plate glass panel in the +top, were the lights of an airship! + +"I tell you," Harry cried, excitedly, "that that's the Nelson. You +can't fool me about that." + +"Why doesn't she come down, then?" demanded Jack. + +"Because she doesn't know that this is the Black Bear. That is an +easy one! If she did she'd be here in a second." + +The boys studied the lights a moment and then turned their attention +to the Indians, who were now making a great clamor. In a short time +it was easy to see what they were up to. + +Above roared the falls and the rapids. At this point in the Beni +river there is a swift drop from the mountain plateau above. It +will be remembered that the Beni reaches away up into the Illimani +mountains, with its springs not far distant from the summit of the +Andes. + +Where the boys were the Paredon and the Paderneira, falls and the +Araras and the Misericordia rapids made the navigation of the river, +even in the protected Black Bear, impossible for many miles. The +Indians seemed to understand this, for they had gathered at the foot +of the falls, possibly expecting to see the craft attempt the +ascent. + +Jack watched them from the prow for a time and then asked: + +"What's that they are throwing into the river?" + +"Logs!" replied Harry, looking out over Jack's shoulder, "and +brush!" + +"Well, of all the--" + +The sentence was not finished. Frank, at the stern, gave a yell and +fired out of the loophole. "Come here!" he shouted, then, "if you +want to see what the devils are doing. This takes the cake!" + +A glance showed the others what the plot against them was. Harry +went to his locker for his revolver and Jack drew his from a pocket. + +"I guess it is a fight now!" Frank said. "You see what they are +doing?" + +"Of course. Anybody can see that." + +Jack reached out of the opening and fired a perfect volley down +stream. Frank crowded against him to look out. + +"Never touched them!" he cried. + +"No," Jack went on, "they're forming a bridge with their canoes and +running logs and brush down against it. They've got an obstruction +already that the Black Bear never can get through." + +"What's the matter with dynamite?" asked Harry. + +"Oh, we can use dynamite as long as we have it," was the reply, "but +there will be Indians on guard there long after we are out of the +stuff." + +"I guess that's right!" with a sober drawing of the lips. + +"I'll tell you what we've got to do," Harry said, presently. "We've +got to put on full power and try to run up the rapids." + +"Why, there is noise enough for a ten-foot fall," Frank replied. + +"We've got to risk it," Jack went on. + +"Now, you just wait," Frank cut in. "I don't think you've got this +thing sized up right at all. Harry," he continued, "who does this +boat belong to?" + +"To the Black Bear Patrol," was the reply. "You know that well +enough." + +"Then we can do what we please with it, so long as we make it right +with the other members of the Patrol?" + +"Why, of course." + +Jack looked at his chums with a grin. + +"What are you figuring on?" he asked. "One would think you were +planning to blow the Black Bear into smithereens." + +"That's about it," Frank replied. + +"And go to kingdom come with her?" laughed Jack. "Not any of that +for me. I'm headed, eventually, for little old N.Y." + +"I'm tired of fooling with these cannibals," Frank explained. "We +haven't molested them, and yet they are after our scalps. They'll +get them, too, if something isn't done--and done right away, at +that." + +"I'm with you!" Jack exclaimed. "I'm willing to try anything once. +Only let me in on the secret!" he added, chuckling. + + "You had it right," Frank said. "What I propose is to blow the +Black Bear into smithereens, and about a thousand of those +bloodthirsty natives with it. The world will be all the better for +their being out of it. They are worse than the savage beasts in the +forests." + +"But what is to become of us?" asked Harry. + +Frank pointed to the Wolf, tugging at the cable which held her nose +to the stem of the Black Bear. + +"We'll be safe in there when the explosion takes place," he said. + +Jack clapped the speaker on the shoulder. + +"You're all right!" he cried. + +Harry looked mystified for a moment, and then said, speaking loudly +in order that his voice might be heard above the shouts of the +savages and the beating of arrows against the panels of the boat: + +"It looks as if we'd have to do it. I hate to leave the Black Bear +in such a mess away off here in South America, but I don't see how +we are to get her out. The Wolf will carry us all right, I +suppose?" he said, tentatively. + +"Sure thing!" Frank replied. "I've been thinking it all out. We'll +do it this way: When we get ready we'll put on full speed ahead on +the motors, with the prow turned against that obstruction below. +Then we'll hop into the Wolf and shut everything down tight. The +Black Bear will weaken the jam below, and the sharp nose of the Wolf +will poke through the rest of the logs and canoes. And there you +are!" + +"Free of the natives, and bobbing down the, river in safety!" cried +Jack. "That looks good to me!" + +"But about the dynamite?" asked Harry. + +"Well," Frank replied, "we've got to use the Black Bear for a +battering ram anyway, and she'll be all smashed up, so we may as +well go the whole hog with her. We'll put a lot of dynamite down +under the motors and fix a cap so it will blow up when the +concussion comes. By that time the natives will be swarming around +her, and they'll get what's coming to them." + +"And where will we be when the explosion is rocking this half of the +world?" demanded Harry. "Up in the air?" + +"We'll be a cuddled up in the Wolf, between the lockers, with plenty +of grub and ammunition, sailing down the river in a bullet-proof +vessel. This move will burst up our meeting with the Nelson, of +course, but there is no other way. They'll get us if we remain +here." + +While this talk had been going on, the cannibals had drawn nearer to +the Black Bear, pressing forward from both banks in canoes and +pounding at the panels with their arrows. It seemed only a question +of time when they would board the craft and force the panels. Their +shouts of victory were shrill and exasperating. + +"You see how it is," Frank said, "the Black Bear can never be pushed +up over the falls, and we can never get her past the obstructions +below, even by the use of dynamite. If we could blow the those logs +out of the way, the Indians would board us instantly. We could give +them only a charge or two of dynamite and a few shots before they +would be inside. Now' we can drift down the river in the Wolf +without fear of entertaining man-eaters on board. They may get on +top of the boat, but they can never get inside." + +"And so we'll have to give up our trip!" wailed Harry. "We'll have +to drift down stream in that hot hole and take a steamer at the +nearest river town!" + +"It strikes me," Frank observed, "that it is a mighty good thing +we've got that hot hole to drift down stream in. If the Black Bear +had only been constructed on the principle of the Wolf, we'd be in a +position to give these heathens the laugh. Well, let us pull the +Wolf up and throw out stuff enough to give us room. Then we'll get +out the dynamite." + +The boys drew the Wolf up by the cable as Frank tried to elude the +watchful eyes of the savages long enough to open the hatch on top +and climb inside, but a dozen arrows whizzed by his head when he +looked out. + +"Can't do it!" he said. + +"Never in the world!" Jack assented. + +"Another good scheme gone wrong!" Harry ejaculated. "What next?" + +"Dynamite," almost shouted Jack. "We'll give them dynamite as long +as it lasts, and then ram the logs below." + +"We may kill, a couple of hundred," Frank said, "but it seems to me +that there will be about ten thousand left." + +The boys were indeed in a tight box. With their automatics and +their dynamite they might keep the natives at bay for a time, but in +the end they would be obliged to surrender or starve to death. + +"Well," Jack said, grimly, "let's get out the dynamite. I want to +see some of these devils blown up!" + +Just then an arrow struck the plate glass panel at the top of the +Black Bear's deck covering and Jack looked up. He gazed a moment in +wonder and then let out a shout that rose above the yelling of the +savages and the pounding of arrows against the panels of the Black +Bear. + +"Glory be!" he shouted. + +Frank and Harry crowded to his side and looked up. + +"It is the Nelson!" Harry exclaimed. + +"You bet it is!" Frank admitted. + +"Good old Ned!" Jack roared. + +The aeroplane was only a few yards above the Black Bear. Already +the natives were slinking away in their canoes. Those on the banks +were slowly withdrawing into the shelter of the forests. + +"They're running away!" Jack cried. "Now we'll have some fun with +good old Ned Nestor!" + +For a moment it looked as if the statement was correct; as if the +natives, alarmed at the sight of the aeroplane would disappear from +sight without a fight. But this supposition was soon disproved. + +As the Nelson came nearer, a dozen bullets from the forests struck +her planes. The boys, in the boat raised the panel and shouted to +the aviator to look out for poisoned arrows. + +Then the aeroplane shot up again. They could see that there was +only one person on the machine, and that he was busy arranging +something which looked like a stick of dynamite which he held in his +hands. + +In a moment something grim and sinister whirled and hissed through +the air, and then there came a terrific explosion in the forest to +the right. Trees were leveled, and a great hole showed in the bank. +In an instant, following close on the roar of the dynamite, there +came a chorus of cries from savage throats-cries of fear, of terror, +of rage--and then silence. + +For a moment it seemed as if the forests held no forms of animal +life, then the sharp call of the tiger-cat, the wail of the puma, +the chattering of the monkeys, came to the ears of the listening +boys. + +"I guess this coming act will consist of a feed for the wild +beasts!" Jack said. + +For a long time there was no sound of savage life in the forests, +save that from the throats of beasts of prey, scenting blood and +slowly drawing closer to the river's banks. The boys on the Black +Bear looked into each other's faces and wondered. + +"They didn't act that way when we exploded dynamite!" Jack said. + +"No. They came right back at us!" Frank replied. + +"I take it that they think there's something supernatural in this +dropping of dynamite from the sky," Harry observed. "Anyway, they +seem to have taken themselves off, and we'll open up and signal to +the Nelson! Say, won't it be fine to see good old Ned Nestor again? +I wonder how he knew we were here?" + +"And I wonder where Jimmie and Leroy are?" Harry reflected. "There +is only one person on the machine, and that must be Ned." + +Jack was about to throw open the top panels when he caught sight of +the aeroplane again, nearer to the water than before. + +"What's Ned doing?" he asked, pointing upward. + +"Talking!" exclaimed Frank. + +"Wigwagging!" Harry broke out. "Now, let us see what he says." + +Slowly to the right and left, up and down, an electric bulb flashed +in the sky. Harry counted. + +"That's C;" he said, "and that's 'a,' and that's 'u,' and that's +'t,' and now 'i,' and 'o,' and 'n.' 'Caution!' That means that +we've got to stand pat for a time yet." + +"It also means," Jack said, "that we've made no mistake about that +being the Nelson, with a Boy Scout on board. Those wigwag signals +show the supposition to be true." + +"Well," Harry puzzled, "he wouldn't be sending us a warning from the +sky if there wasn't some danger we were not aware of. There is +something going on that we are not wise to." + +There was a short silence on board and then Frank remarked: + +"We must be nearer the falls than we thought, for the water seems to +be a ripple about us. Rear it! I'm going to look out and see it +looks like." + +In a moment he was jamming the panel shut and springing the slides +over the loopholes and the ventilators. + +Jack sprang to the prow, not knowing what danger threatened, but +obeying the sudden gestures of his chum to close every opening. +Before he sprung the steel panel over the ventilator he glanced +out on the river. + +"Great heavens!" he cried. "Get your guns, boys!" + +The whole surface of the stream, as far as the boy's eyes reached, +seemed covered with savage heads, floating, drifting, down upon the +Black Bear. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RED FIRE FROM THE SKY + + +Under the light of the moon the rushing river seemed full of +leering, cruel eyes. The bodies of the swimming savages were not +visible--only the upturned faces and the threatening eyes, with now +and then a hand or the point of a glistening shoulder. There +appeared to be thousands of the cannibals; their mass reaching from +shore to shore. + +Then, while the boys looked, expecting every instant to hear the +sound of feet outside the panels, a rocket shot out from the Nelson +and a score of parti-colored balls curved and hissed toward the +earth. + +"Gee!" Jack cried. "He's giving them a fourth-of-July celebration!" + +"Hope it scares them off," said Harry. + +Looking through the heavy glass panel at the top, they saw a rain of +red fire drop down on the swirling river. For a moment the whole +upper air, then river and forest, was painted a bloody red by the +burning powder. + +Cries came from the river, and the mass of floating heads parted and +swung swiftly toward the shores; then silence. The aeroplane +circled about cautiously and then dropped down lower. Jack opened +the panel. + +"Hello the boat!" cried a voice from the aviator's seat. + +"Hello, Ned!" all three boys called back. + +"How do you know it's Ned?" was asked. + +"We saw that beautiful face of yours in the red fire," replied Jack. +"How are we going to get out of here? They've blockaded the river +below, and the falls are above." + +"I presume I have dynamite enough to blow up that improvised dam," +replied Ned. "Why didn't you do it?" + +Before Jack could explain the situation, the Nelson drifted past, +and he knew that his voice would not carry to her. + +"I'm going to open up now," Harry said, as the Nelson drifted out of +range of the glass pane. "I'm pretty near choked in here." + +"Nice time we would have had in the Wolf," laughed Jack. + +"Anyway," urged Harry, "we should have been in her in a minute if +the Nelson hadn't shown up. Say, won't they give us the laugh in +New York? Came away off out here alone, and then had to be rescued +by Ned!" + + Very cautiously the panels giving on the stern were opened. There +were no savages in view. The banks of the stream seemed as quiet +and harmless as a thicket in Central Park. + +"I guess the rocket and the red fire got them!" grinned Frank. + +"Yes, but they won't stay scared forever!" Harry put in. "We'd +better be getting out of this before they come back to their +senses." + +"They never had any senses!" claimed Jack. + +Looking out from the interior, now guarded only by the panels at the +front and sides, the boys saw Ned drop half a dozen sticks of +dynamite on the logs and brush which had been floated down on top of +a number of canoes. In some places the logs had pushed up until +they were high above the surface of the water. + +The pressure of the current was continually making the obstruction +more compact. The canoes seemed to have been bound firmly together +and stretched from shore to shore. At least the moorings were +strong, for the logs were heavy and the current pulled heavily at +them. + +The explosions made great havoc with the barricade, and presently +the line was broken and the whole mass swung shoreward or drifted +down stream. + +Then Ned called out: + +"Now drop down stream and I will join you." + +"Better look out where you land!" Harry called back. + +"I hope I won't get into any such scrape as you did," Ned replied. + +"Oh, you're not out of it yet!" laughed Frank. "These woods are +full of man-eaters. Look out where you go, and we'll find a place +for you to come down." + +The anchor of the Black Bear was lifted and the power turned on. In +a minute she was going down stream at a thirty-mile gait. + +Directly they passed the wrecked barricade, rolling and tumbling in +the waters, the canoes either broken or half full of water. The +Nelson still led the way down the stream. + +"I guess he's never going to stop." + +"Wonder if he's going back to New York?" + +"Perhaps he's lost control!" + +The boys looked and wondered as the aeroplane drifted on to the +north and cast. They were miles from the scene of the battle now, +but the airship went on. + +Presently they saw the purpose of the aviator in making this long +run. A little nest of houses flashed out on the river bank, with +here and there a light showing, and here the onward course of the +Nelson became a circling descent. + +In the east there was a faint line of dawn in the sky when the Black +Bear was pushed up to a primitive wharf. The aeroplane was still +circling in the air. + +"He wants us to pick out a spot for him to land on," Jack said. +"There's one over by that hill," he added. + +When Ned saw the three boys gather at the spot indicated and motion +to him to come down he lost no time in doing so. When he stepped +out of his seat all three lads were upon him. One would have +thought they were determined to tear him in pieces the way they +seized his hands, his legs, and pulled at his neck. + +"You old fraud!" + +"How did you know?" + +"You're a nice old chaperon!" + +For a moment Ned could not say a word, then he pushed the boys away +and sat down on the ground. + +"You're a nice bunch!" he said. + +"Sure!" said Jack. + +"The people back there thought so much of us that they wanted us to +remain to dinner!" grinned Harry. + +"There ain't no better people!" Frank insisted. + +"How did you happen to get out here?" demanded Ned. "Why, you +fellows ought to have a chaperon. Those cannibals would have had a +good dinner today if the Nelson hadn't come that way." + +"Now, don't crow over us!" pleaded Frank. "We know all about it. +You've gotten us out of many a scrape, but this is the large event. +We take off our hats to you. Now, where's Jimmie and Leroy?" + +"I don't know," answered Ned, gravely. + +"I guess you are the one who needs a--" + +"I guess you are right," Ned replied. "I've been up against the +pricks good and plenty since I left you. If I get to New York +alive, I'm going to stay there for good." + +"Where did you leave Leroy?" asked Frank. + +"In jail!" + +"Wow!" cried all three boys. + +"And Jimmie? I don't see how you happened to lose him." + +"Jimmie is lost in the Peruvian mountains," Ned said. + +"Well, why don't we go and get him?" asked Harry. + +"Yes," laughed Frank. "We might ride in the Black Bear over the +storm-tossed summits of the Andes!" + +"At least," Ned said, "you boys can help me a lot. I have my hands +full. We can all ride the Nelson, I take it. She was built to +carry three average-weight men, you know, and I think she ought to +manage three boys and one man!" + +"Oh, you man!" laughed Jack, poking Ned in the side. "You man who +has to come to the three boys for help!" + +"Tell us about it," Frank said. + +"The quicker we start in on the search for Jimmie the quicker he +will be found," Harry insisted. + +It was not much of a town where the Nelson had landed. There were a +few native houses and a great warehouse, at one end of which was a +small office. Such river products as came from up stream were +packed there to await transportation down to the Amazon. + +By the time the sun was up a score or more natives and a couple of +British traders were gathered about the aeroplane and the Black +Bear. One of the traders, Mr. Hamlin, invited the boys to his home +for breakfast, and left some of his employees on guard at the Nelson +and the Black Bear. + +During the breakfast Ned recounted his adventures, to which the host +listened with the closest attention. Frank then told of the cruise +of the Black Bear, adding that they had hoped to reach the very last +yard of water flowing down the Andes slope to the east. + +"It is wonderful what American Boy Scouts will accomplish!" Mr. +Hamlin said, when the tales had been told. "A few years ago no boy +of your age would have undertaken such a duty as sent you to +Paraguay," he added, addressing Ned, "and no boys would have dared +to navigate the Beni river," he continued, smiling at the three +bright faces on the other side of the table. + +"The Boy Scout training makes for courage and resourcefulness," Ned +said. "We have not been caught in many traps. In fact, I think we +are now up against the very worst situation we have ever +encountered." + +"But you haven't yet told us how you got out of jail at Asuncion, +only that you got in on a smuggling charge and were released. Who +brought about the release?" + +"The president of the Republic," was the reply. "He learned of the +matter and ordered me brought before him. Well, I had been +searched, and the Nelson had been searched, and nothing found, so I +was let go. The president also ordered the Nelson returned to me. +It had been appropriated by an official who had declared it +forfeited. Not a bad chap that president, still, I think he saw +Uncle Sam in the background!" + +"And about this man Lyman?" + +"I was told that he had gone back to his concession. I went out +there in the airship, but failed to find him. After we find Jimmie +and get Leroy out of the jail at Lima I'm going to find Lyman once +more." + +"This," Jack said, "is the 23d of August. Now, we saw you last +night, the 22d, and the night before, the 21st. Why didn't you come +down then?" + +"Because I was not certain that it was the Black Bear, and because I +wanted to investigate the place where I last saw Jimmie and the man +Jackson. I was over the boat longer ago than the night of the 21st, +but you did not know it, I guess." + +"Well, you came at the right time, when you did come," Jack said. +"I only wish you hadn't found us in such a pickle!" + +"It doesn't seem to me," Mr. Hamlin suggested, "that the Nelson +ought to carry four. You may have to go pretty fast. Now, one of +you can remain with me, in welcome, and look after the Black Bear. +I have plenty of gasoline, and we can amuse ourselves with trips on +the river. Later, you can come back after the boat." + +"I think I'd better stay," Harry Stevens said. "I'm not stuck on +long rides in the air. Besides, you can do just as well without me. +How far is it to the place where you left Jimmie and this man +Jackson?" + +Ned took out his pocket map and bent over it. + +"Here we are," he said, presently, "in the valley of the Madeira, +with a range of mountains on each side. Below are the rapids and +the falls. You must have had a sweet time traveling up from Fort +San Antonio. You passed about three hundred miles of swift rapids +and falls. How many times did you have to take the Black Bear to +pieces?" + +"Not once there," was the reply. "We managed to steam up. But, +say, we had a lovely time getting up over one waterfall!" + +"Well," Ned went on, "here we are at the big bend of the upper +Madeira. We are not far from a thousand miles from the place where +I found Lyman. We can get there by nightfall." + +"Not for me," Jack said, with a shrug of the shoulders. "We should +have to ride continuously to make it in that time, and I don't like +to remain in the air that long. We ought to have five rests of an +hour each, and get there in the morning." + +"Yes," Ned replied, "I'm getting tired of long rides myself. We'll +go slower." + +After breakfast the boys went to the Black Bear and looked her over. +The propeller which had been broken could easily be repaired, they +found, so they left that matter to Harry, replenished the tanks of +the Nelson with gasoline, and prepared for the long journey back to +the mountains of Peru. + +"When are you coming back?" asked Harry, as the three mounted the +machine. + +"In three days," replied Ned. "And we'll bring Jimmie with us." + +"If they haven't fed him to the mountain lions before now!" Harry +said, with a strange premonition of evil in his heart. + +And the Nelson was up and away, and Harry set to work cleaning up +the motor boat, hoping to forget in toil how lonely and apprehensive +he was. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +USING BOY SCOUTS FOR BAIT! + + +Alarmed by the swift approach of the motor car in the tunnel, Jimmie +and Jackson took to their heels and made swift progress toward the +east entrance, throwing the searchlight about and keeping their eyes +out for some hiding place as they ran. + +Before long it became evident that they could not long maintain the +pace they had taken. The motor car was gaining on them rapidly, as +they knew by the steady approach of the clamor which the engines +were making. + +"Gee!" cried Jimmie, at last. "No use! I've got to drop in +somewhere!" + +Jackson was as ready to stop running as was Jimmie, so they drew up +against the wall and Jimmie shut off the light from his electric +candle. + +"Do you think they saw that light?" asked Jimmie, pushing close to +the rock wall. "I hope not." + +"Probably not, as there was always an angle between us," was the +whispered reply, "but their light is coming around that angle now. +Stand close!" + +It was of little use to stand close. + +Under the great lamps every crack and crevice of the tunnel walls +was in plain sight to the occupants of the car. The two fugitives +might as well have attempted concealment under the limelight in the +center of the stage of a Broadway theatre! + +Jimmie's hand was on his automatic as the car halted in front of +him. Jackson saw what was in the boy's mind and laid a hand on his +arm. + +"None of that!" he said. + +"Well, I'm not goin' to be--" + +Jackson forced the revolver out of the boy's hand as he brought it +out of his pocket. + +"They've got us," he whispered, "and will be only too glad of an +excuse to shoot us down in cold blood." + +"Well!" + +This from Thomas Q. Collins, who sat in the front seat, looking at +the two as if he could bite them in pieces! + +Jimmie looked sullenly toward his automatic, in Jackson's hand, and +said not a word. Jackson stepped forward. + +"You've got us!" he said. + +"You bet we have!" gloated Collins. "Where did that Nestor boy go +with the man he picked up by the fire?" + +"Did he get him?" asked Jimmie. + +"Yes, he got him, worse luck!" was the reply. "Where did he go with +him?" + +"Don't know," replied Jimmie. + +"I'll find a way to make you know!" gritted Collins. "Do you +fellows know what it is to be hungry?" + +"Honest," Jackson cut in, "we don't know where Nestor went with +Lyman. When he left us, he was not certain that he could get him. +Thought Lyman might not want to go away with a stranger on such +short notice." + +"Oh, what's the use?" demanded one of the others. "The fellow has +gone back to Asuncion. That's easy to figure out. Who set you boys +at work on this case?" he added, in a moment, at a whisper from his +seat-mate. + +"Ned set me at work," Jimmie answered. + +"Yes, but who set him at work?" + +"I'll tell you," Jackson said, with a smile of satisfaction on his +face, "the United States government set Ned at work. You'd better +watch out how you butt up against the Secret Service men." + +"That's just what I told you!" sneered Collins. "You wouldn't +believe me. Now what do you think?" + +The speaker left his seat in the machine and walked over to where +Jackson was standing, the revolver still in his hand. + +"Give me that gun!" he demanded. + +Jackson passed it over without a word of protest. + +"Now your own gun," Collins demanded, extending his hand. + +"I have no gun," was the reply. "You know that very well." + +"I thought you might have stolen one since leaving the cow country," +snarled the other. "There is no knowing what kind of property you +light-fingered gentlemen will acquire." + +"You're a liar, Collins," Jackson said, coolly. "You know I never +ran off the cattle which were missed. I believe you stole them!" + +Collins advanced angrily toward the speaker, but one of his company +drew him back. + +"Cut it out!" he said. "There will be plenty of time later on." + +"What are you going to do with us?" asked Jimmie. + +"You'll see!" Collins replied. "I wonder how you would like a game +of chase-the-bullet? Similar to the one you gave me not long ago?" + +"Like it fine," Jimmie grinned, "if it didn't do me no more harm +than it did you. Never touched you!" + +"It may be different in your case," Collins threatened. + +After consulting together in whispers for some moments, the men +loaded Jimmie and Jackson into the crowded motor car and put on the +reverse movement. In half an hour, the progress being slow, they +came to the valley where the campfire was still burning. Here they +all alighted. + +Half a dozen Peruvian Indians of vicious appearance now came +forward, and Collins gave them instructions in an undertone, after +which the two captives were led away to the cavern in which Lyman +had been sheltered up to the time of the arrival of the Nelson. One +of the Indians remained outside while the others hastened away. + +"Well," Jimmie said, as he looked gloomily at the discouraged +Jackson, "what do you think of this? I'd like to push the face of +that Collins person in so it would mix with the back curtain." + +"We're in for it!" moaned Jackson. + +"Aw, what can they do to us?" demanded the little fellow. + +"They can keep us here until we die of starvation," replied Jackson. +"I've had a turn with starvation, and know what it's like." + +Jimmie reached under his coat and brought out a can of beans. + +"Here," he said, "get busy on this." + +"They took mine away when they searched me for a gun," said Jackson. + +"Buck up!" advised Jimmie. "We've got to figure out some way to +give them the slip. What?" + +"Yes, I suppose so!" + +Jackson had counted on getting back to civilization without further +difficulties, on the arrival of the Nelson, and now he was +completely discouraged. Jimmie sat on the floor of the cavern and +eyed him quizzically. + +"Ned will come back after us," the little one said, presently. "You +put your bloomin' trust in Ned, an' you'll come a four-time winner +out of the box. I know. I've been out with him before." + +"But how will he ever find us here?" asked Jackson. + +"How did he ever find Lyman?" demanded the boy. "You hush your +kickin' an' leave it all to Ned. Guess he knows enough to get us +out of this sink of iniquity! That boy eats 'em alive!" + +"I can't see why they should keep us here," Jackson remarked, +presently, prying off the top of the can of beans with his pocket +knife. "Why don't they go back to Asuncion and look after that +cattle concession?" + +"Because they've got some one there to look out for it for them," +replied the boy. "They're waitin' here for Ned to come back an' get +us, if anybody should ask you," he went on, his cheerful smile not +at all matching the serious import of his words. "This Collins +person has cards up his sleeve, an' he wants to get hold of Ned. +He's set his trap with us for bait." + +"You're a cheerful little cuss!" grinned Jackson, beginning to see +the dangerous side of the situation. "And what are we going to do +when Ned comes back? Let them soak him?" + +"Not so you could notice it," was the reply. "When Ned comes back +we'll be out at the other end of that tunnel, an' he'll swoop do in +in the Nelson an' pick us up, an' we'll be back in little old N. Y. +before you can say scat." + +"But how can we--" + +The entrance to the cavern was darkened for a moment and then the +flashily-dressed form of Collins made its appearance. + +"What's that about getting back to little old N. Y.?" he asked. +"When do you start for Manhattan Island?" + +"You heard, then?" asked Jackson. + +"Of course." + +"Well?" + +"Well, we'll see that you don't get away until this Ned comes back +after you. We need him in our business." + +"He'll land Lyman at Asuncion before you see him again," Jimmie +said. + +"Not a doubt of it," was the sullen reply, "but don't you ever think +we haven't got people there who will look out for our interests. +Lyman won't be at liberty long, and your Ned will come back here to +get what's coming to him." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed the boy, putting on a bold front, but +inwardly fearful that the situation was a tragic one. + +Leaving the captives with this cheering (?) information, Collins +went back to his companions, leaving the Indian still on guard. For +a time the Indian stood stolidly in front of the cave, then, looking +carefully about to see that he was not observed by his employers, he +faced the opening and uttered one English word: + +"Prepared." + +Jackson opened his eyes in amazement, but Jimmie saw an extended +hand and sprang forward. The Indian's right hand was extended +toward the boy, palm up, the thumb and little finger meeting across +the palm and crossed, the remaining fingers straight out. + +"You mean, 'Be prepared'?" Jimmie asked. + +"'Be prepared,"' repeated the other, like one rehearsing a lesson. + +"Gee!" laughed the boy. "Here's a Boy Scout lingerin' in little old +Peru! Now wouldn't that stop a clock?" + +"You just wait a minute," Jackson said, hopefully. "I think I can +talk with this chap a little in Spanish." + +Then followed a great picking of words to match gestures, and +gestures to explain words, during which the full salute of the Boy +Scouts of America was often repeated by the Indian. Then Jackson +said: + +"He says that there were Boy Scouts down here six months ago, and +that he guided them through the mountain passes to the headwaters of +the Beni river. From there they went through to the valley of the +Amazon in a boat--a steam launch." + +Jimmie reached under his waistcoat collar and produced his Wolf +badge, pointing to it with his finger inquiringly. The Indian shook +his head. + +"Not Wolves," the boy said, in a moment. "Let's see if they were +Black Bears." + +When a Black Bear badge which belonged to Jack Bosworth was shown +the Indian still shook his head. Then he pointed to the sky and +whirled his hand around significantly, finishing with a waving, +flying motion. + +"I see!" cried Jimmie. "They were Eagles!" + +"This ought to help some," Jackson observed, his face growing more +cheerful. + +"Of course it will," replied the boy. "Ask him if he wants to get +out of this blasted country and go to New York. We'll take him if +he'll get us out on the east slope before Ned gets back." + +Jackson talked with the Indian again, but did not seem to be able to +come to terms with him. + +"He doesn't want to commit himself," the ex-cattleman said. "We'll +have to wait until he thinks it over." + +The Indian seemed moody and sullen for the next few hours. When +dawn came and the little fire which had blazed in the cavern all +night went out, he was called away and another native placed on +guard. + +"That settles it," Jimmie said. "We lose!" + +"I'm the losenest feller you ever seen," said Jackson. "I never won +a bet in my life. You're unlucky to get dumped in a mess with me." + +About the time Ned and Lyman landed in Asuncion the boys in the +cavern began looking for his return. They were not permitted to +leave the cavern, but they watched the eastern sky intently every +minute. + +They watched the sky, too, during the long days when Ned was in +prison at Asuncion. Late on the afternoon of the 21st, as the +reader knows, Ned searched the eastern slope for them but they did +not see him. On the morning of the 23d they were taken from the +cave and placed in full sight on the eastern slope, where they would +be sure to be seen from the sky. They did not know what to make of +this at first, but directly, when they saw Indians, heavily armed, +stationed in hiding places all about them, they understood. + +Jimmie had expressed the situation exactly. The cowards were +baiting their trap for Ned with his friends. + +Unless some means of warning him could be found, Ned would drop down +to his death if he landed to rescue the ones he had left behind. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE END OF A LONG CHASE + + +On the 23d of August the Nelson, with Ned, Jack, and Frank on board, +was sweeping over the mountains and valleys of Bolivia and Peru +toward the twin valleys in which Jimmie and Jackson had been left. +Plenty of provisions and gasoline had been taken on at the Hamlin +storehouse, and the lads were well equipped for a week's cruise in +the air. + +They did not urge the aeroplane to its fullest speed, nor did they +remain in the air longer than a couple of hours at a time. It had +been decided to strike the eastern slope of the range just before +dawn, so the Nelson was allowed to loiter on the way. Jack +afterwards declared that Ned slept half the time! + +Had the first decision, to run to the twin valleys as swiftly as +possible, been held to, the two prisoners, guarded on that eastern +slope, would have seen the Nelson coming toward their relief. + +At the same time, on landing, Ned and his companions would have been +confronted with armed Indians demanding immediate surrender. This +would not have been according to the notions of the boys on the +aeroplane, as they had figured that Jimmie and Jackson would be able +to keep out of the hands of the Collins gang. + +The 23d dawned slowly, with the Nelson loitering over the great +brown and green map of South America and the boys tiring their eyes +looking for the glistening planes of the aeroplane. The captives +were provided with food, but it was decidedly cold on the +mountainside when night came. + +All that day and all that night the guards lay in wait in +sequestered places, waiting for the Nelson. Although his only hope +of immediate rescue lay in the arrival of the Nelson, Jimmie wished +every minute of the time that Ned would in some manner be warned +away from that dangerous locality. + +Just before dawn of the 24th Jimmie, who had fallen into a light +slumber, felt Jackson pulling at his arm. + +"Wake up!" the man whispered. "There is a light in the sky!" + +Jimmie was on his feet in an instant. Away off over a parallel +ridge to the east, a ridge not so high as the one on which they +stood, and which formed only a slight elevation in the general +slope, a single light twinkled and swung up and down in the half +light between night and morning. "That's the Nelson, all right!" +Jimmie declared. "Ned is coming! Good old Ned! Now, what can we +do to keep him from being murdered?" the boy added, tearfully. + +"I give it up!" replied Jackson. "All we can do is to give them +some signals and tell them to keep away." + +Jimmie sprang out to one of the guards, who already stood erect, +watching the light with his gun in his hand. The guard looked +curiously at Jimmie as he advanced, his hands clasping his +shoulders, his body shivering as from extreme cold. The Indian was +cold, too, so it did not take him long to make out the boy's +meaning. + +Jimmie next pointed to sticks lying about, and to bunches of dry +grass which stood in some of the crevices of the rocks. The guard +nodded consent for a fire and Jimmie raced about like mad collecting +principally dry grass. + +Jackson ran to help him, piling his gatherings all on one heap. + +"Make three piles!" Jimmie cried. "I want three fires! Three +bright fires! Make three heaps!" + +The three heaps grew fast. They were not arranged in a row on a +level, but mounted one above another on the slope. Jimmies idea was +to so place the fires one above the other, some thing like notches +cut in a tree trunk. + +The reason for this is apparent. Three fires in a line facing the +point signaled to signal "Good News." Three notches cut in a tree +trunk, one above another, mean "Important Warning!" Now the +question was, would Ned understand that the fires represented +warning notches, one above the other, and keep away until some safe +plan for landing could be arranged? + +If he accepted the signal as "Good News" signs, he would drop down +to death. If he read them as Jimmie intended he should, he would +sail away and wait for a more favorable opportunity. + +When the three fires were going the Indian guards gathered about in +order to warm themselves. Jimmie and Jackson hovered near them, +too, but they never shifted their eyes from the light in the sky. + +The Nelson hovered over the elevation to the east for a second, and +then, much to the amazement of the lad, whirled about and shot +downward, out of sight. The guards watched the light as long as it +showed and then turned to the fires again. + +Daylight came swiftly, and a finger of sunlight lay on the crest of +the mountains when the' machine was in the air again. It was, +perhaps, three miles away, across deep and dangerous canyons which +it would require hours of the hardest kind of traveling to cross on +foot. + +Sailing low, almost touching minor elevations at times, the great +airship came on, straight to the spot where the boys stood--where +the Indians awaited them with guns in their hands! + +In a moment Jimmie saw why this course was being taken. Unless the +rascals in the twin valleys had seen the light when it first +appeared they would not see it at all, for the bulk of the mountain +shut off their view of the rough country over which Ned was +traveling. + +Ned did not seem to mind the fire signals. Perhaps, Jimmie thought, +he had recognized the warning as a "Good News" signal. In that case +the boy thought, the end of everything, for them, would come right +there! + +Moving slowly and softly, with little noise of motor or propeller, +the Nelson approached the spot, circled about, and dropped in a +little depression just below the place where Jimmie was standing. +Then the strangest thing happened! + +The boy had expected to hear rifle shots, to see his friends +attacked, perhaps murdered before his eyes. But the first one to +spring from the machine was the Indian who had given the Boy Scout +salute some days before! + +The Indians on guard saluted him gravely and stood eyeing the +aeroplane critically. No hostile move was made. It was the +strangest thing! Where had Ned taken the Indian up, and why had the +latter volunteered to render this assistance? + +It was no use to wonder, so Jimmie and Jackson sprang toward the +machine, grasped Ned by the hand, and swung into seats. The Indian +who had piloted the Nelson to the place and prevented an attack by +the guards, stood with his arms folded across his broad breast. For +a moment Ned grasped his hand. The others followed, with what +emotion may well be understood, and the Nelson was away, purring +through the sweet air of the morning as if there were no perils at +all in life! + +Later revelations showed that the Indian, wishing to protect the Boy +Scouts, had made his way to the elevation where the Nelson had first +dropped down, signaled to Ned, and informed him of the plans of the +Collins people. Frank and Jack had been left farther down the +slope, as it was feared that the Nelson would not be able to get +away with so much weight to carry. It is almost needless to say +that the Indian was rewarded for his loyalty to the Boy Scouts, and +that he carried back with him enough money to make each of the +guards a substantial present. + +When the Nelson first rose above the rim of the twin valleys shrill +cries came from the direction of the cavern, and half a dozen shots +were fired. But all to no purpose. The last the boys saw of +Collins and his adherents they were shouting angrily at the Indians, +who were rapidly disappearing from sight over the west wall. + +After a time the aeroplane dropped down again, and Jimmie's eyes +nearly popped out of his head when he saw Jack and Frank sitting +complacently on a rock watching him with grins on their faces. The +greeting of the three boys may well be imagined. + +"You're a nice bunch!" Jimmie cried, after many handshakes and much +pulling about. "We left you on the way to little old N.Y. Where +you been?" + +"We just took a run in the Black Bear!" was the reply. + +"The Black Bear!" repeated the little fellow actually rubbing his +eyes to see if he was awake. "Where is the Black Bear?" + +"Down in the Madeira river," laughed Ned, "and there's no knowing +where she would have been by this time only for the--" + +"Cut it out, Ned!" broke in Jack. "Let us break it to him gently. +He'll have fun enough with us without getting it all in a bunch!" + +Jackson was introduced to the two boys, and then a council of war +was held. It was finally decided that Jackson should be taken to +Sicuani in the Nelson and left there, with money enough to make his +way out. Pedro was found at Sicuani and richly rewarded. He did +not return to Lima. + +Then Ned was to return for the boys and proceed straight to +Asuncion, where the search for the missing cattleman was to be +renewed. This programme was carried out. Later the boys met +Jackson in New York and royally entertained him at the Black Bear +club room and saw that he secured a fine position. + +When the Nelson reached Asuncion Ned proceeded directly to the +office of the president, taking the boys with him. There the story +of the trip was told, and Frank and Jack saw to it that Ned's +official position was made known to the head of the republic. + +"And so this Mr. Thomas Q. Collins is the man at the bottom of the +trouble?" asked the official. "Well, he will be taken care of if he +returns here. And this military chief? He shall be sent out of the +country!" + +It transpired later on that the president had been deceived in the +two men, and that Collins had secured the assistance of the general +by false statements and by offers of large sums of money in case the +cattle concession was taken from Lyman. A good many officials were +found to be mixed up in the conspiracy, and there were numerous +vacancies in the government service. + +"And now," the president said, after the whole truth was known, "the +next thing to do is to find Lyman and restore him to his rights." + +"It seems to me," Ned suggested, "that this general ought to be able +to produce him in Asuncion in a few hours' time." + +"It may be so," admitted the official. "At least, we'll see what +can be done in that direction." + +Lyman was safe in his home in one day. When the general learned +that it was the wish of the president that the cattleman should be +brought forth, the thing was as good as accomplished. + +"It seems to me," Ned said to the boys, that night, "that this thing +has been settled without much help from me. All the president +needed was to be set right." + +"What he needed," laughed Jack, "was the proof that Collins had +abducted Lyman, and that he was prepared to prevent his return to +Asuncion until his concession had expired. Perhaps you can tell me +how all this proof could have been obtained if you had not +undertaken the job offered you by the Secret Service men at San +Francisco?" + +"Of course he can't," Jimmie put in. "Lyman man would have died +there in the mountains and Collins would have taken over his +property. The president might have been in with the deal at first, +but he certainly wasn't willing to stand for such coarse work." + +"And when Lyman didn't show up, his heirs would have demanded the +property, and then there would have been an international quarrel-- +perhaps work for gunboats," Frank added. "I think the case was +settled just right, and in the right way." + +"And what does this Lyman person say?" asked Jimmie. + +"Not a thing!" cried Jack. "He just offers Ned all the money there +is in the world in the shape of a reward. I should have taken it!" + +"I know better," Ned commented. "We don't need his money, any more +than we need the half million or so Collins offered us." + +"Wonder what Collins will do now?" asked Frank. + +"He'll duck!" replied Jimmie. + +The little fellow was right. Thomas Q. Collins was heard of no +more, either in Paraguay or Peru. When Ned, leaving the others at +Asuncion, speeded over to Lima he found Leroy and Mike lounging +about the hotel, waiting anxiously for news from their chums. They +had been released on the day following Collins' departure, there +being no one to press the charge of assault and battery against +them. + +Now there was work cut out for the Nelson. She carried Ned, Mike +and Leroy over to Asuncion and then made two long trips to the +little town on the Madeira where the Black Bear lay. + +The meeting between the boys and Harry was an enthusiastic one, and +the latter pointed with a good deal of pride to the motor boat, good +as new and as bright and clean as a new gold piece. + +After a few days spent exploring the country up the Beni, the boys +started home, their errand satisfactorily accomplished. Jimmie +decided to go with Jack, Frank, Harry and Mike in the motor boat, +leaving the Nelson to Ned and Leroy. + +"One thing I'd like to do," Jimmie said, as the Black Bear lay +waiting for the boys, "and that is to go up into that cannibal +country and have some fun with the fellows who captured the Black +Bear and made the occupants of it look like thirty cents in postage +stamps!" + +"They never did capture the Black Bear!" yelled Frank. "They tried +to, and got dynamited for their pains. That's what they got." + +"And of course," tormented the little fellow, "you wished the Nelson +had stayed away, and left you all the glory--not!" + +"Well," Jack interposed, "we didn't get tied up in a mountain cave +by a lot of cheap skates. We never got where we had to let an +Indian get us out of a mess." + +"Rats!" shouted Jimmie. "Ned would have recognized our fire signals +and remained away! We could have gotten off without the Indian." + +"You say it well!" laughed Frank. "I think that fire signal was +punk!" + +And so the lads roasted each other all the way down the Amazon, with +the Nelson sailing above them, dropping down at night and, perhaps, +changing passengers each day. + +"I wish I had the frame of the Vixen," Leroy said, one day. "I +could make a fine aeroplane out of it. Shame to have an airship +smashed like that!" + +Ned pointed to the planes of the Nelson. + +"You've got quite a job making this little lady look like new," he +said. "Those tent canvas planes look rather cheap." + +"I'll have the new planes in place in a week after we get back to +New York," said the other. + +"And send the repair bill to the government," advised Ned. "It will +be paid without a cross word." + +At the mouth of the Amazon the Black Bear was taken apart and packed +aboard a fast steamer bound for New York. The five boys accompanied +her, of course, while Ned and Leroy completed the trip home in the +Nelson. When the four reached the Black Bear club room they found +Ned there with a mass of letters and telegrams before him. + +"Look here, lads," he said, "we've got more trouble on hand. You +know about the revolution in China, and all that? Well, there's a +lot of gold which belongs to the republic been dumped in the sea, +and I've got to go and help get it out!" + +"Let 'em get their own gold," Jimmie said. + +"But in this case, it is claimed that there was fraud in the +shipment of gold, also, that the vessel carrying it was rammed for +the purpose of concealing the fraud. Anyway, Uncle Sam wants me to +look it up." + +"What's he got to do with it?" asked Frank. + +"Something connected with the sub-treasury," laughed Ned. "That is +all I can say to you about it." + +"And how you goin' to get it?" demanded Jimmie. + +"By working with a submarine," was the reply. + +"Down in the bottom of the sea!" sang Frank. + +"Well," Ned said, presently, "figure the thing out for yourselves. +Find out if you can get permission to go, and all that. The +government will provide the submarine and all the supplies, of +course, and land us near the spot we are to search." + +But the story of the search for the gold is quite another tale. It +will be found in the third volume of this series, entitled: + +"Boy Scouts in a Submarine; or, Searching an Ocean Floor." + + +THE END + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Boy Scouts in an Airship, by G. Harvey Ralphson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOY SCOUTS IN AN AIRSHIP *** + +This file should be named bsars10.txt or bsars10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, bsars11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, bsars10a.txt + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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