The Banner Boy Scouts in the Air

The two machines flew against each other. Just as soon as the enemy fired the first shot he banked and pulled the nose of the ship up. He still had to climb a thousand feet to get among the clouds. He decided to risk it even if the Bristol got on his tail. “The other pilot certainly must be a clever one,” he thought. Besides, the Bristol was a lighter and faster craft and with the other fellow’s obvious experience, he couldn’t help being out-manoeuvered. His safety depended upon getting into the clouds and shaking the enemy. “Jack,” cried William, “is he following?”

“Yes,” was the reply, “but he doesn’t seem to be decided what to do next. He has stopped firing.”

“Perhaps he has run out of ammunition.”

“Perhaps. But he also seems to be aware of your effort to get among the clouds. He is following closely though.”

William glanced and saw that he was rapidly approaching an altitude of eight thousand feet. Seeing a cloud which appeared like a mountain of cotton wool in front of him, he headed for it. Billow upon billow of clouds rose for thousands of feet above them. In a minute the machine plunged into the cloud mass and they saw nothing but white all around them. They flew into the mouth of a deep cloud valley. Directly below them they saw the snowy floor rolling away. On either side were white walls that rose upwards to the blue ceiling of the sky. In a few moments, the machine plunged nose first into another mountainous cloud. William executed a left bank.

“What are you doing?” questioned Jack.

“Doubling back on my track.”

“What for? He may be out there waiting for you.”

“Let him. If he is I’ll dive for the clouds again. If he is not there and we have lost him, then all the better. We want to be as close to the cave as possible.”

William timed himself. After seven or eight minutes of flying he called out, “I’m getting out of the clouds.”

And the next instant they dived. Out in the open again, both boys looked everywhere for the enemy plane but there wasn’t a speck in sight. Both boys heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at each other. “You did it this time,” asserted Jack.

“There’s the clearing,” announced William and pointed.

“That’s right. Are you going to land now?”

“I’ll first circle the field a couple of times.”

He proceeded to do so. Some moments later, William cried, “Look they are waving.”

“Yes, it’s the boys. I can recognize Paul, Wallace, Mr. Woods. They all seem to be there.”

“I’m going to land,” announced William.

“All right.”

William fixed his attention on the field and prepared. Jack remarked, “Wonder why they are hiding?”

“Perhaps because they are not sure we are the ones flying this ship.”

“Very probable.”

William made a perfect landing and Jack and he jumped out of the plane waving their handkerchiefs. The boys ran out of their hiding places and cheered the two young aviators. Tom Woods looked on benignly and laughed. Funny, but he had gotten to like these boys a great deal; it’ll be tough, he mused, to leave them when the whole mess was finally cleared up.

CHAPTER XXI

Night Encounter

The boys and Tom Woods squatted on the ground in a circle. They were pretty well satisfied with their day’s accomplishments. There were a few things yet left to be done. Paul, addressing the government agent, said, “I guess it’s up to you now to decide what’s to be done next.”

Tom fingered his bearded chin, smiled, and replied, “Well I don’t know about that. It seems to me that you fellows have done more to capture and annihilate this gang of smugglers than I have.” He paused and mused for a moment. “I want to tell you boys,” he added, “that I’m mighty pleased with you. I’ve never come across a more lively, energetic and smart bunch of boys than you are.”

There was an embarrassing silence. Wallace spoke up and remarked, “It’s very nice of you to say that, but I don’t think we are any different than other boys. We are about the average, and the average boy, if you give him a chance, is a pretty lively chap and a nice person to have around.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” said Mr. Woods. “Though, of course, I don’t know whether you’re right or not. I hope you are. However, this has nothing to do with the matter at hand. Paul, what do you think we ought to do now. It’s getting dark and we have to work fast.”

Paul hesitated. “I suppose all those wooden cases and boxes in the cave have to be removed?” he asked.

“Yes, of course. That’s very important.”

“In that case, we couldn’t do it tonight. In half an hour, it’ll be pitch dark, and it would take more time than that to load the stuff on the plane. Once it gets dark, you can’t take the plane off the ground.”

“Well, what’s your suggestion?”

“That we camp here overnight, keep careful watch and do everything in the morning.”

“How about that fellow in the Bristol? You think he may come back here for any reason?”

Most of the boys were undecided and Tom Woods did not express his opinion but waited for the others to say something first. William said, “I don’t think he will come back. He must realize that something happened to his companions and that he will be awaited with open arms, so to speak, if he returns.”

Tom asked, “Any more suggestions?” Pause. Silence. “I want you to express your opinions because it’s very important. Although I have already decided on what to do, you may bring to my attention something I had forgotten to consider.”

Paul said, “Suppose you tell us your plan and if any one of us thinks that it should be altered we will speak up.”

“That’s well said. My plan is to take my prisoner and the dead man in the car and go down to the farm house. There I will pick up the other prisoner, who is hurt and requires medical attention, and the other dead gangster, and have the town police care for them. All of that shouldn’t take me more than about an hour and a half to two hours. Then I’ll return, spend the night here with you and tomorrow morning we will finish our job.”

Ken said, “You can’t go alone. You will have two prisoners and—”

“I didn’t expect to,” interrupted Tom. “I was considering taking one of you boys along.”

“The plan sounds all right,” spoke up Paul.

“You think you could hold the fort until I return?” the government agent asked.

Several of the boys grinned and nodded. Tom laughed and muttered, “It’s foolish to ask, I guess, but—”

It was decided that they would pitch camp for the night a short distance above the cave. Ken went with Tom Woods, Bobolink was left behind to keep a watch at the cave while the others returned to camp to get their knapsacks and things. Just as soon as they returned, which was in a little over an hour, William got busy preparing supper for the boys, while the others went about attending to other things. Around the campfire, Nuthin’ said, “Now that this thing is over, what are we going to do next?”

“P-p-plenty of things,” answered Bluff.

“And this thing is not over yet,” added Wallace.

“You expect that guy to return?” queried Nuthin’.

“You can’t tell,” spoke up Paul. “He may or he may not. Most likely he won’t. But then we have quite a bit of work for tomorrow.”

“Do you think we will be able to load all those cases and boxes onto the plane?” asked Bobolink.

They all turned their heads in the direction of the plane but it was too dark for them to see it. Wallace assured them all with the assertion, “Of course it will.”

“It will be a mighty heavy load,” responded Bobolink. “Who will fly it?”

“Who do you think?” demanded Nuthin’. “There is only one fellow who is going to do it.”

They were all aware whom he meant, yet they were eager to hear the name mentioned. The question was on the lips of each one of them, but only Bobolink asked, “Who?”

“William, of course,” replied Nuthin’ with finality.

Soon Ken and Tom Woods returned. The boys hailed them and wanted to know how everything went. Ken burst out, “You should have seen Chief of Police Bates—I mean his face; it turned all colors as Mr. Woods told him who he was and what it was all about. And his eyes—they almost popped out of his head.”

“I can imagine,” interposed Jack.

“He wanted to send his whole police force to watch the cave over night,” added Ken.

The boys laughed quietly. The government agent sat down in front of the fire and stroked his beard as he laughed to himself. Ken continued, “Well, Mr Woods assured him that we didn’t need any police protection—”

“Ha, ha, ha,” laughed the boys. “Police protection! Ha, ha, ha,” laughed the youngsters and slapped each other on the back.

“—and,” continued Ken, “Tha we would take care of everything.”

“Absolutely!” exclaimed one of the boys.

“We most certainly will”—that from someone else.

Eventually the boys quieted down and they sprawled around the campfire and talked aimlessly. The conversation turned to the airplane and William was asked, “How does she fly?”

“Swell. Beautifully,” was the answer.

“If we only had a ship like that!” dreamed Bobolink.

Paul lay on his back and stared at the blue sky and the stars. “If!” he muttered. “If! It’s like asking for the moon. That plane is worth at least anywhere between twenty and twenty-five thousand dollars. More I think.”

“Twenty-five thousand dollars!” exclaimed Bobolink. “Paul, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Why. You think it’s worth much more?”

“More? There isn’t so much money in the world.”

The boys laughed heartily; even Tom Woods enjoyed the humor of it. The agent remarked casually, “Why, Bobolink, twenty-five thousand dollars isn’t such an awful lot of money.”

“It’s plenty. Too much,” was the retort.

Again the boys laughed. The government agent said off-hand, “So you boys would like to have a plane like that, eh?”

The boys stopped laughing and all of them sat up and strained their ears. “What was that you said?” asked Jack.

Tom Woods smiled, “I merely asked whether you boys would like to own a plane like that?”

Some of the boys grinned at the very thought of possessing such a machine. William said, “We certainly would. It’s a beauty.”

“Well,” muttered the agent, “maybe I can fix that.”

Several of the boys cried out simultaneously, “How? How can you do it?”

“I don’t know myself,” replied the agent nonchalantly and rubbing his chin. “I didn’t say I could or that I would. I simply said maybe.”

“Oh!” sighed several of the boys.

They felt the wind taken out of their sails and their possessing such a machine remained a dream.

They lingered around the fire a while longer. Somebody remarked that it was time to turn in for the night. Addressing the agent, Paul asked, “Mr. Woods, do you think we ought to keep guard all through the night?”

“What do you think?”

“My opinion is that we should. We can designate now who is to be on the first, second, third shift and so on and change guard every hour.”

“I don’t think it’s really necessary. I am pretty certain that that pilot won’t return or any other member of the gang. But—” he mused, “Of course,” he added, “we could do it just to be on the safe side.”

“I think we should,” spoke up Jack.

“How about it, fellows? Are you all agreed that we keep watch?”

“Yes, of course,” agreed Bobolink.

“S-s-sure,” stuttered Bluff.

“Certainly,”—that from Nuthin’.

“Who will take the first watch?” asked Paul.

“I will,” cried Nuthin’.

“The second?”

“I,”—that from Bluff.

And so on. As it finally turned out the boys were to go on guard as follows: Nuthin’, Bluff, William, Wallace, Paul, Ken, Bobolink and Jack.

“You left me out,” interrupted the government agent.

“You ought to rest, Mr. Woods,” explained Jack.

“Well,” drawled the agent, “I guess I should. But don’t any of you start shooting if I should come upon you to pay you a visit any time during the night.”

Nuthin’ went on guard and the boys turned in for the night. They were all rather tired and it didn’t take them long to fall asleep. Bluff muttered sleepily as he was awakened to go on watch next. As soon as he walked off, Tom Woods crept out from under his blankets, with the help of some rocks and such things he formed the outline of a person asleep and himself slinked out of camp so quietly that no one was any the wiser.

Everything went along nicely and quietly until it came to Paul’s watch. He sat on a stone and listened carefully to every sound, watching intently for any moving shadows. Suddenly the dull echo of a pistol shot shattered the stillness of the night. He jumped to his feet and grasped firmer hold of the automatic in his hand. For several seconds he debated what to do. He realized it would be foolhardy to do anything himself. The wisest course was to awaken the camp. He sprinted to camp but Ken and William were already up and pulling on their trousers. “What’s up?” demanded Ken.

“What was that shot?” William asked anxiously.

“Don’t know,” Paul replied hurriedly. “Awaken everybody.”

Ken cried, “Wake up Mr. Woods.”

Paul ran to do so but, naturally, he did not find the agent.

The discovery so shocked him that for a moment he couldn’t speak. Finally he regained his voice and shouted, “Mr. Woods isn’t here!”

By now all the boys were awakened and they came running up. They saw the stones and sticks that the agent had used to shape a form resembling a person. “Say,” cried Wallace, “what do you think this is about?”

“What do you think he is up to?” questioned Nuthin’.

“You don’t suspect him of doing anything wrong?” William wanted to know.

Paul interrupted the argument and called for silence. “Never mind quibbling, fellows,” he said. “Let’s see what we can do. We have to do something.”

“Let’s all spread out and make a thorough search,” asserted Bobolink.

“That’s no good,” countered Jack. “Whoever fired that shot might fire at any one of us in the dark.”

“Wait a minute, fellows,” called Paul. “Let’s first build a fire so that the camp will be illuminated. Everybody, however, keep in the background so that no one will be fired at. As for me, I have an automatic. I’ll take Jack with me and we will go down to the cave and investigate. Wallace, you have the only other revolver, haven’t you?” The latter nodded. “In that case you remain here and shoot any stranger who steps into the circle of the campfire. Everybody else stay out of sight.”

He wheeled around on his heel and was on the point of proceeding when he stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Tom Woods and another man who was bound and gagged. The agent had the light of his flashlight shining upon himself and his companion. All of the boys were shocked into silence and rooted in their tracks. The government agent was quietly smiling. Breaking the silence, he said, “You need not bother, fellows.” Pause. “I am sorry I had to put one over on you.” Again a short pause. “I have a visitor here; I hope you don’t mind.”

“B-b-but,” someone stuttered, and it was not Bluff.

“Never mind. I’ll explain everything. I heard Paul suggest building a fire; I think it is a good idea.”

In a short while, the boys had built a roaring, blazing campfire. There was no sleep any more so all the boys formed a semi-circle before the spitting, burning logs. Tom Woods tied up his prisoner hand and foot and removed the handkerchief from his mouth. “Hungry?” the agent asked his prisoner.

The man shook his head and growled. Tom sat there placidly, his revolver in his lap. The boys waited but the latter did not offer to speak. Finally Paul ventured to say, “Do you, er, mind explaining the mystery?”

The man grinned. “What do you want me to tell you?”

“You might start at the very beginning and save us asking you a lot of questions,” Jack said.

“Well,” he began, speaking low and lazily, “I really had no idea that he would show up. And by the way, this is the pilot.”

William and Jack nodded. They had suspected it, but were not quite sure.

“As I was saying,” continued the government agent, “I really had no suspicion that he would return. But I figured that if he did take it into his head to do so, what would be his object? He certainly would not take it upon himself to rescue his friends. That would be foolish and stupid. But if he still insisted on coming, he would have a good reason for doing so. For example, he might want to get something, something valuable. Then where would he go?”

He paused and waited for someone to answer. Jack did, saying, “To the cave.”

“Quite right,” responded the agent. “Therefore, not wanting to take any chances, I decided to guard the cave all night long. But I also didn’t want to scare you boys in case one of you should discover that I was gone. So I used the stones and sticks to give the impression that I was still here and fast asleep.”

“But why didn’t you tell us?” demanded Wallace.

“I didn’t want you boys to be uneasy.”

He waited for more questions but none were asked. Jack said, “Do you mind continuing?”

“There isn’t much left. He came and I nabbed him.”

Nuthin’ wagged his head. “But why should he come?” he asked. “Seems to me that only a fool would do that, under the circumstances.”

“Yes, that’s right,” added Bobolink.

The agent smiled. “He’s really no fool and he had a very good reason for coming.”

“What?” Several of the boys shot that question simultaneously.

“A big bunch of money. Maybe ten, fifteen or twenty thousand dollars. Perhaps more. I haven’t counted it yet.”

“Where is it?”

“In the cave. I guess it is perfectly safe until morning.”

There was silence, some of the boys, especially Bobolink, trying to imagine how much money twenty thousand dollars was. Jack asked, “But how do you know he came to get the money?”

“That’s simple. I watched him until he found what he was looking for and then I showed myself and told him who I was. And he very courteously and promptly surrendered.”

“What about the shot?” asked Paul.

“That was his fault,” and the agent nodded in the prisoner’s direction. “He accidentally discharged his gun.”

For some while the boys sat there humbly, silently thinking over Tom Woods’ story. Paul rose, stretched himself and yawned. “Some night!” he drawled. “I’m going back for some more sleep.”

All the other boys did likewise, except Bobolink whose watch it was. And after him, Jack.

In the morning, Tom Woods took his prisoner to town and returned in about an hour, carrying under his arm a small package. When asked what was in the package, he merely said that it contained several sticks of dynamite. But when pressed to tell what he was going to use it for, he laughed and replied, “Wait and see.”

Instead of loading all the cases of guns and boxes of ammunition onto the plane, the government agent had a truck come from town to transport the load. It took the truck driver and the boys several hours to cart all the cases and boxes from the cave to the truck. When it was at last done, the agent called the boys together and said, “Now you’ll see the purpose of the dynamite.”

He strung together the several pieces of dynamite, attached a fuse to it and buried the bundle of explosives at the mouth of the cave; then he laid out the fuse for about twenty feet and lit it. As he did so he and the boys retreated some distance. “Why are you doing that?” asked Jack.

“To shut up the mouth of the cave.”

“Yes, but what for?”

“To prevent anyone from using it again as those smugglers did.”

“But the rear exit of the cave will be available,” asserted Wallace.

“You boys stuffed it up, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but somebody is liable to find it.”

“They’ll have a hard time finding it.”

Jack asked, “It would be all right if we used the cave occasionally—that is, using the rear exit, and closing it up when we left, would that be all right?”

Tom Woods smiled. “As a matter of fact,” he drawled, “I had that in mind when I decided to close up the front entrance to the cave. Otherwise I would blow up the whole thing.”

Just then there was an explosion and the front part of the cave fell in. The boys sighed and walked to the plane. They all climbed in and William took the pilot’s seat. The agent relaxed in his seat and said casually, “Now show me what a good pilot you are, William.”

The motor roared. William taxied the plane across and then lifted it off the ground. Tom Woods leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes; a deep sigh escaped from between his lips and he relaxed utterly, all the tenseness and anxiety of these last days leaving him.

CHAPTER XXII

“The Cave”

William circled the airport. Paul looked out of the window and cried. “Say, look at that crowd of people below!”

The boys looked down and uttered exclamations of surprise. “I wonder what it’s all about?” exclaimed Wallace.

“Perhaps it’s a committee to welcome us,” asserted the government agent, opening his eyes as he spoke.

“To welcome us!” Bobolink cried. “What for?”

Ken shouted to the pilot, “Just keep on flying, William. Never mind landing. We don’t want any welcoming committee.”

William guided the plane down to a perfect landing. Just as soon as the machine came to a stop, the crowd came running toward it. The boys were swallowed up by the mass of people. There were reporters, newspaper photographers and other cranks who asked them a thousand questions and tore at their clothes and hair. But the boys did not mind all that. They were afraid for the safety of the plane. Although it was not theirs yet, it was a valuable machine and it would be a shame if it were harmed in any way.

However, Major McCarthy and two of his mechanics pushed their way through the crowd. Without stopping to greet them, he called upon the boys to help clear a path to wheel the plane into one of the hangars. “It is much safer than leaving it out here,” he added.

The boys fell to and the machine was stored away. Then they had a hard time getting through to the office. Most of the boys were angry rather than pleased by the reception. “I wish I knew what this is all about,” demanded Ken.

The Major smiled. “Perhaps you are not aware of it,” he informed them, “but you are heroes.”

“Heroes!” exclaimed Bobolink. “What kind of heroes?”

McCarthy shrugged his shoulders, “I couldn’t tell you what kind. Just plain heroes, I guess.”

Nuthin’ waved the suggestion of heroism away. He had a word for it. “Phooey!” he muttered under his breath.

“But how did the news get out, that is something I should be interested to know.”—that from Paul.

“I guess the police couldn’t keep it from prying reporters,” mumbled the government agent.

“Let’s forget it and go home,” remarked Jack.

“That’s a swell idea,” added William. “And just as soon as I get home—”

Ken interrupted, “You are going to do what?”

“Practice the piano,” suggested Nuthin’.

“He will change his tie,” counter-suggested Paul.

“—I’m going to take a bath,” concluded William.

The boys laughed and Tom Woods joined in. “What are you going to do now, fellows?” he asked.

“Go home,” answered Jack.

“I mean, what are your plans?”

“We don’t have any,” Paul informed him.

Using two cars, the Major’s and one belonging to a mechanic, Tom Woods and the boys were taken to town. At police headquarters, Tom got out. “So long, boys,” he called. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

The boys waved. The agent walked off and they continued their way home.

At the home of each of the boys, a similar scene was enacted that day. Coming home, Paul found his mother waiting for him. As soon as he stepped over the threshhold, she fell on his neck and kissed and hugged him. Putting his arms around her, he found that she was trembling. Not knowing the reason for it, he was puzzled. He said, “Mother, is there anything wrong? You are trembling all over.”

“There is nothing wrong with me. It’s you. Are you all right? Not hurt or wounded or anything?” she questioned anxiously.

“Why, no! Of course not. I’m perfectly all right.” And to prove it he began to go through a series of stretching and bending exercises.

His mother looked sternly at him. “The idea of the thing!” she exclaimed. “You said you were going camping and all the time you knew that you and your friends were going there to catch a gang of smugglers. You might have gotten hurt. You might even have been killed.”