"Heigho! what's all this fuss and feathers about?" demanded the old retired traveler, as he came limping along, with his crutch and cane.
Several neighbors accompanied him, having been aroused by the clamor.
"Same old story, sir," remarked the disgusted Andy, still clutching his bruised toe tenderly. "They've been trying to beat us one way, if they couldn't another."
Frank gave him a nudge.
"Be careful what you say, Andy," he remarked. "There is no proof as yet that any one we knew had a hand in this business. You may get in trouble if you mention names offhand. Go slow now. We'll find out the truth later on, perhaps."
So Andy, taking heed, managed to tell what had happened without directly accusing any one. Nevertheless, it was not difficult for those who listened to guess where his suspicions lay. And perhaps they thought, after all that had occurred in the past, with the hand of Puss Carberry moving the pieces on the chessboard, that Andy was justified in believing as he did.
After a while the excitement died away. The boys had opened the shed and made sure that no lingering spark remained to threaten their beloved little aeroplane with destruction. But it was all right and they feasted their eyes on it, as if they never before realized how precious it had become.
"Getting to be a regular thing, seems to me, these night alarms, boys," remarked one of the neighbors, for not long before they had been aroused in the middle of the night when the two jewelry thieves tried to steal the aeroplane and were baffled in their design by the two boys, sleeping at the time in the shed, so as to guard their flying machine.
"If one watchman ain't enough I'll get three—half a dozen if necessary," declared Colonel Josiah, as he glared at the offending Shea and pounded on the turf with his heavy cane. "But these lads are going to be protected, if it takes my last dollar. I'll get a Gatling gun and train it here, so we can blow the rascals to smithereens if they try such a dastardly job again."
But everybody knew that the genial old colonel did considerable talking and blustering, but was harmless withal.
Shea promised to remain awake the balance of the night. He even went to the house and armed himself with a big horse pistol that the colonel owned and which had many a story connected with its keeping company with the traveler in foreign lands.
"Huh! I've got half a notion to camp right here again, like we did that other time, Frank," said Andy, before they locked the wide doors of the shed. "Here's my cot and blankets, you see, just as I left 'em."
"No need of that, Andy," returned his chum, smiling. "After all this rumpus you couldn't hire that fellow to come back here tonight. He may be ten miles away by now. Wonder if that's the last I'll see of my wheel?"
"Now," continued Andy, "if you're addressing that to me I'd like to prophesy that you'll find the bike somewhere off the road a mile or two away, where the fellow pitched it when he concluded to make a sneakbackto town."
"There you go, barking up that same tree again. I never saw such a positive fellow as you are," declared the other, smiling. "Your name ought to be Thomas, for you seem to doubt everything that you can't just understand."
"Well, if not Puss, who, then?" demanded Andy, aggressively.
"I confess that I don't know at this minute," admitted Frank. "But I hope to discover the truth in some way. Remember how that other time, when some one tried to injure us by sneaking in here and cutting the canvas wings of our monoplane all to flinders, I picked up a playing card and we afterwards traced it to the owner?
"Yes," cried the other, instantly, "and wasn't that party Puss Carberry all right?"
"It sure was," laughed Frank. "But forget this thing for now. Perhaps tomorrow we may be able to find some clue that will tell which way the wind blows—it might be the print of a shoe in the earth or something like that. Lots of ways to pick up information, if only you keep your wits at work."
"Yes," returned Andy, "and if it's Frank Bird who's doing the thinking. But perhaps it would be silly in me sleeping out here tonight. I'd better be traipsing back to bed right now, because, you see, I'm only half dressed and it's chilly."
"Good. I'll see you to the house, because I've got to walk home, now that my wheel has gone up the flume," remarked Frank.
"What's the matter with you using mine?" demanded the other. "That plug you put in holds dandy, and there's nothing the matter with it right now. Same old place, under the side porch here. Guess the lamp is on the bum, but you hardly need that. If a cop holds you up, explain what happened."
"All right, I guess I might as well ride as walk. But I hope I get my wheel back. It's nearly new, you know, and cost a heap," Frank remarked, as he dove under the stoop, to presently appear dragging the other bicycle.
"Apply to Puss and Company for further information," called Andy, holding the door open a crack to shoot the words out and then closing it.
Frank, laughing at the obstinate ways of his chum, pushed the machine out to the road and was soon moving along. Evidently he lacked the same confidence in Andy's wheel that he felt in his own, for he made no attempt to speed as he went toward town and home.
Fortunately he met no policeman, who might ask impertinent questions as to just why he was riding after dark without a light. And reaching home he found his father sitting up in his office waiting to hear his report.
Dr. Bird was quite satisfied with what Frank had to say in regard to the condition of the sick girl. He knew that the boy was well up in medicine, even though he had never tried to push him in the least. Frank gave evidence of being what is known as a "natural born doctor," keenly alive to everything pertaining to surgery. More than once he had set broken limbs for dogs and cats and done it in a manner that aroused the warmest praise from his father, who, deep down in his heart, knew the boy had it in him to become a famous surgeon, if he kept along in this path when he came to take up his life pursuit.
Frank believed he ought to tell about the dastardly attempt to destroy the monoplane. And, of course, the good doctor, who always thought the best of people, was horrified to hear his story.
He shook his head sadly after Frank had finished.
"I don't know what people are coming to nowadays," he remarked. "No matter who did that mean act, it was wicked. Man or boy, he ought to be severely punished for it. The rights of property seems to be getting less respect every year. It puzzles me to lay the blame for this spirit at the right door. But things were not so in my young days, Frank. We live in fast times, my boy, fast times!"
Frank thought so himself, as he went off to his room. Imagine his father, some forty years ago, ever dreaming of building an air-ship and speeding through the upper currents, perhaps thousands of feet above the earth, at the rate of a mile a minute! And yet that was what he and Andy had been doing, thinking nothing of the feat, as they became accustomed to its performance.
Fast times, indeed!
Frank did not allow the startling incidents of the night to keep him awake. He knew just how to get a grip on himself and put all these things out of his mind, once his head touched the pillow.
Time enough in the morning to begin worrying about that lost wheel and trying to figure out who the firebug could have been.
At breakfast Frank had to go over the whole story again for the benefit of Janet, who had heard enough about it from the doctor before her brother came down to whet her appetite for more.
Frank could see that she shared the suspicions entertained by Andy. Janet knew Puss Carberry of old and despised him most heartily. At one time he had taken a great liking to Frank's pretty sister, but when she learned what his nature was Janet had cut him dead on the street. And from that day on she had believed Puss capable of almost anything.
"Even after you saved his life yesterday, too!" she exclaimed, indignantly.
"Hold on there, sis," cried Frank, laughing. "You're as bad as Andy, who is ready to condemn on general principles. We haven't got a scrap of evidence to prove Puss guilty. Just as like as not he would show analibiif we accused him of it, and prove that he was at home all evening. So please don't mention his name to anybody or I may get in a scrape."
"But you're going to find out, aren't you!" demanded Janet.
"I surely hope to, and recover my poor bike in the bargain. Luckily I've got my name and address scratched on the underpart of the frame, if the finder only takes the trouble to look. And now I'm off downtown, to speak to Chief Waller about it."
Ten minutes later Frank dropped off in front of police headquarters. And no sooner had he alighted than the lad discovered that there was a buzz of excitement about the place, for several men were conferring and the chief himself seemed disturbed. He looked eagerly at Frank as the boy came forward and started to relate what had occurred on the preceding night out near the residence of Colonel Josiah Whympers.
Immediately the face of the chief began to light up and an eager glow shine in his eyes. It seemed as though what Frank was telling must have given him a connecting link that he had found himself badly in need of.
"Now we know where he went!" he exclaimed, calling to one of his men. "Go out to Colonel Josiah Whympers', Green, and see what traces you can get of him." Then once more turning to the astonished boy, he went on: "You see, we had a jail delivery here last night. A desperate scoundrel managed to slip away undetected and we only found it out this morning. And the man who got out was your old friend, Jules Garrone, the French aviator, who was caught by the help of the Bird boys and their bully little aeroplane! Get that, Frank?"
"Then it was Jules who set fire to our shed!" exclaimed the boy, astounded.
"None other, you may be sure," replied Chief Waller, nodding his head.
"And made off on my wheel?" continued Frank, beginning to grasp the truth.
"That's just what he did," went on the official. "Found he couldn't steal your aeroplane and was bound to lay his hands on something belonging to the Birds that would carry him out of danger. Glad you came, Frank. I'll just call up all the surrounding towns and ask if a bicyclist has been seen there. I hope you can describe the wheel so they might know it."
"Yes, I even know the number. Besides, I've got my address scratched on the under-part of the frame. But whatever do you suppose Jules wanted to set our hangar on fire for?" Frank asked.
"Huh!" replied the chief; "don't know, unless it was a spirit of revenge. Some of these French rascals have the same nature as the Corsican or the Sicilian and hug the idea of revenge to their hearts."
"Revenge!" Frank cried. "But when did we ever injure them? Oh, yes, I forgot! We chased them off at the time they tried to steal our aeroplane, and they even neglected to take those two suit cases of jewelry with them, so the stolen property was recovered."
"Yes," the chief went on, "and that wasn't all, either. Remember that it was you Bird boys who discovered that they were hiding in the old shack deep in the forest. You saw them near there when you were sailing over that region in your airship and reported to me. And so we surrounded the cabin and nabbed our game. It may be they learned who gave them away, and Jules, on finding himself at large, made up his mind to get even before running off."
Turning to the phone on his desk the chief now started to call up several of the neighboring towns. Some were only six or eight miles away, while others might be double that and more.
Frank knew where the road ran that passed the Whympers place and when finally the police head got Shelby he pricked up his ears. Immediately he saw Chief Waller show signs of sudden interest. A smile crept over his face as though he were hearing news that pleased him. Then he engaged in a hurried conversation with the police official at the other end of the wire, after which he turned to Frank.
"I think I've located your wheel, Frank," he observed.
"Over at Shelby, you mean?" queried the other.
The chief nodded in the affirmative.
"Yes, over at Shelby," he said. "It seems that early this morning a wagon belonging to a countryman coming in to market was stopped by something lying on the road. Getting down, the farmer found that it was a man, badly injured, as if he had taken a header from a wheel. And, indeed, a bicycle was found close by, with some parts of it damaged, as if it had been run at full speed against a rock, sending the rider ten feet away, where he landed on his head and was knocked out."
"Was it my wheel?" asked Frank.
"He described it, for the farmer brought both man and wheel to police headquarters, and there can be no doubt but that it's yours. And the unfortunate rider answers to Jules. Now, I'm going to get an automobile at the garage and go over. If you want to go along I'd be glad to have you, Frank."
"I certainly would," replied the boy, quickly. "I hope the poor fellow didn't go so far as to break his neck. But let me go after a machine for you, chief. I've got an errand at the garage anyhow, as my dad wants a mechanic sent up to potter at his little runabout, out of commission as usual. He's ordered a better car, you know, and is only waiting for it to be delivered. Shall I go?"
"Yes. Tuttle will know which machine I generally use when on official business, for you see the town pays the bill. Be back as soon as you can, Frank."
"Yes, sir," replied the other, hastening away.
The mystery was now solved, and, after all, Puss had been proven innocent on this last count. Frank laughed to think how amazed Andy would likely be when he heard the news.
"I only hope he doesn't happen to run across Puss before I get a chance to open his eyes," he was saying to himself, as he headed for the nearby garage. "Because I really believe Andy is mad enough to challenge our old enemy and throw the accusation in his teeth. Then there would be a high old mix-up, with Puss in the right for once."
It did not take him long to deliver both messages. He saw a mechanic start off to tackle the disabled runabout for the doctor, so he could carry out his round of morning visits by ten o'clock. And then a chauffeur ran a car out of the garage into which he invited Frank to jump.
When they arrived at police headquarters the chief was awaiting them. Evidently he was not at all averse to this delightful spin across country on a fine July morning and with nothing to pay. Official business might sometimes prove worth cultivating.
Presently they were off. Frank, of course, knew every rod of the way. He had more than a few times made the trip over to Shelby on his wheel in company with Andy. And since they had taken to the air they had looked down upon that road for miles, as they whirled along hundreds of feet up, discovering features about the landscape that they had never dreamed of before they had this "bird's-eye view," as Andy delighted to call it, playing upon their own name.
In due time they reached Shelby and drew up in front of the building where the police held forth. The first one to meet their eyes as they entered was a familiar figure seated in a chair and attended by a doctor and a couple of officers.
"It's Jules, sure enough!" said Frank, as, despite the many bandages about the head of the man, he recognized the dapper little French aviator with whom he had had more or less trouble in the past.
And Jules grinned as he saw them. His spirit was not crushed, even though it began to look as though he might be the football of fate.
"It ees ze fortunes of war, messiers," he said, wincing at the pain speech caused him. "And after all, it was ze machine of ze young inventor zat downed me. I am von lucky man not to haf been five thousand feet up in ze air when it occur. Had eet been ze monoplane zat kicked me, pouf! poor Jules he would haf been as flat as ze pancake. As eet is, after I haf serve my time I am yet alive."
Frank found his bicycle badly damaged. In fact, the front wheel was smashed beyond recovery, for it had been driven against some stone at a tremendous pace. Strange to say, the lamp had gone through it all without any apparent damage.
"A few dollars will fix it up, all right," he said, cheerfully. "And I guess I ought to be thankful ever to see it again."
So he placed the wheel in the back of the big touring car. The doctor announced that Jules might be moved without danger if they were careful, and this Chief Waller promised he would be.
"You're giving us a heap of bother, Jules," he said, after the captured rascal had been safety stowed away in the tonneau of the car, with the chief beside him and Frank mounting to the front with the chauffeur. "But this winds you up. I understand your trial comes off tomorrow and you'll soon be snug in the pen."
"Zat was ze knowledge zat urge me to break out," remarked the prisoner, blandly.
"Well," remarked the other, with a tightening of his lips, "we'll make sure you don't get another opportunity, that's all."
Frank watched as they drew near the place of Colonel Josiah. He anticipated that the prisoner would be eager to look across the field to where the shed stood. Nor was Frank surprised to hear him give a low cry.
"Eet is wonderful, ze luck zey haf!" Jules remarked, as he discovered that the hangar had not burned to the ground as he expected, and after that he relapsed into gloomy silence.
Frank had caught sight of Andy passing along the street ahead and entering the Bloomsbury postoffice. So as soon as he could get his broken wheel into the bicycle store, where he left orders for its being fixed at once, he hurried off, in hopes of intercepting his cousin and breaking the great news.
He was just in time to see Andy coming out of the building and staring hard at something he held in his hand. Frank could see that it was a letter and he also noticed that his chum was unusually pale.
"Now I wonder what he's got?" asked Frank, talking to himself, as many boys often do at times. "Looks like a letter, too. Once in a while the colonel asks him to go down when the mail comes in and see if there is an important one for him, which he can't wait for the carrier to bring out. And Andy has got one this time, sure."
A moment later and he came upon Andy, who at sight of his chum showed signs of relief.
"I'm awful glad you came along, Frank," he said, seizing the other by the sleeve; "I was at your house and they told me you had gone downtown somewhere. Then, as the mail was in, I remembered Colonel Josiah was expecting one of his letters from London, and so I dropped over. But there was nothing for him. Mr. Guthrie handed me out this and said he guessed it was for me. Oh, look where it is from, Frank! Do you think—can it be possible that it means some news, after all this time, from my father?"
Frank saw it was rather a bulky letter and that the postmark showed a station in South America. Remembering all that had passed between them in connection with this country he understood the cause of Andy's great emotion.
"I was almost afraid to open it, Frank," said the other, brokenly.
"Well, do it now," remarked Frank, and Andy tore the end off hurriedly.
He appeared to read hungrily for a minute, and then gave a cry of amazement.
"Oh!" he said, taking in a big breath, "how strange! how wonderful!"
Frank Bird could restrain his curiosity no longer.
"What is it, Andy?" he asked, as he laid an affectionate arm across the shoulders of his cousin.
The other turned his eyes upon Frank, and there was something in their depths that stirred the other tremendously.
"Is it about your father, Andy?" he demanded, eagerness plainly showing in his whole manner; for he understood what a hold the subject had on his chum.
Andy nodded, and as soon as he could command his quivering voice, said:
"Yes, nothing more than a letter from the grave, I fear! See, Frank, written in his own dear hand. Oh! to think of it, that at least three months ago he was alive, even though a prisoner, the sport of fate."
"A prisoner!" echoed Frank, astonished. "Whatever can you mean? Did he fall into the hands of some of those strange Indians we have been reading about, who have their homes around the headwaters of the Orinoco River in Venezuela?"
This time Andy shook his head in the negative.
"It is stranger than that—almost beyond belief!" he replied. "My poor father has for months been imprisoned in a great valley, surrounded by impassable cliffs. Don't you remember something of the sort occurred in one of Captain Mayne Reid's books, where the young plant hunters found themselves prisoners in that way? But here, Frank, look for yourself."
"Where does the letter come from, in the beginning?" asked the other, quietly, wishing to advance by slow degrees, so that he could understand everything.
"A town in Columbia, called Barranquila," replied Andy, readily enough. "I'm not sure, but I think it lies at the mouth of the big Magdalena River, and is upon the coast. You know I've just devoured the map of that region for months, and every name is familiar to me."
"Besides this queer communication, which you say is from your father,"Frank went on, "there seems to be another letter?"
"That is from Señor José Almirez. Read it, Frank, and you will begin to understand."
The letter was in a crabbed hand, apparently unused to writing inEnglish, though grammatically correct. And this was what Frank saw:
"To Señor Andrew Bird:
"I received the enclosed from a correspondent and customer, one Carlos Mendoza, located in the vicinity of Manangue, a town about one hundred and fifty miles up-river.
"He is a grower of cocoa in the rich valley. I do not enclose his letter, because it is written in Spanish. But it simply says that he found the written communication close to his plantation house one morning in April of this year. At first he could not understand how it came there. Then, upon having the writing translated, he noticed that the missive was attached to what seemed to be a little parachute, or balloon, made up of a fragment of silk belonging to a balloon. Knowing that I had spent several years in Washington, in the service of my country, he finally concluded to send the same to me. I have the honor to transmit it to the address given in the communication.
"With respect, and expressing a willingness to help you all I may, SeñorAndrew Bird, believe me to be most sincerely yours,
"José Costilena Almirez."
Frank read this amazing communication, and then turned to stare at his cousin.
"No, don't stop yet!" exclaimed the trembling Andy. "Read the other, the missive that Carlos Mendoza picked up on his cocoa plantation, in the valley of the Magdalena River."
And so Frank again turned his attention to the enclosure that had been sent on by the friendly merchant of Columbia.
It seemed to be a sheet of thin but pliable bark from a tree, and in some respects reminded Frank of birch bark, which he had often used in lieu of paper, when in the woods. The juice of some berry had afforded ink; and doubtless the college professor had easily made a pen from a bird's quill. And this was what Frank read, a small portion of the communication being missing, as though it had received rough usage somewhere, en route:
"Whoever finds this, I pray that it be forwarded to Andrew Bird, in the town of Bloomsbury, State of New York, U. S. A. In my balloon I was carried away by a sudden storm while crossing the Isthmus of Panama. As near as I can calculate I was swept some three hundred miles, more or less, in a south-easterly direction, much of the time above the clouds. Then something happened, and I felt myself falling. Giving myself up for lost, I awoke from a swoon to find myself in the branches of a tree, with the wreck of the balloon near me. A merciful Providence has saved my life, but I fear only to prolong my agony of soul. For months now I have been a prisoner in a remarkable valley, a sink-pit, enclosed by inaccessible cliffs. Many times have I struggled to climb to their top, but only to meet defeat.
"All this time I have sustained life by means of fruits that grow in abundance in this tropical valley. In the hope that I may manage to communicate my horrible condition to the outside world I have made scores of small parachutes, and when the breeze at the top of the cliffs appeared favorable, send them up by means of hot air, each carrying a message to my son. God in His infinite wisdom only knows if one of these will ever reach him. I shall continue to have hope, and sustain life as long as my mind remains—
"Professor Philip B——"
When he had finished this astonishing document Frank turned to his chum.
"Oh! what a remarkable thing! I never heard its equal in all my life. To think that your father has been alive all these months, though a prisoner in that cliff-bordered valley! But Andy, don't you see that now nothing is going to keep us from going down there, and finding him? Here is the clue you wanted, only instead of discovering his sad fate you are going to rescue him, and bring him home again!"
They reached out and gripped hands. There was something in that act to stamp the more than brotherly feeling existing between them.
"Do you think we could do it, Frank?" exclaimed Andy, more than ever willing that his clear-eyed chum should take the lead in this most eventful moment of his whole young life.
"Sure I do," answered the comforter, readily. "Didn't we conquer one battery of cliffs that were said to be insurmountable, when we sailed in our dandy little monoplane up to the crown of Old Thunder Top, and snatched that silver cup for a prize? Make up your mind, my boy, that that was just meant to get us in practice for better things. The time's come for us to show what we're made of. And instead of a silver cup, the prize this time will be—"
"My father's life!" murmured Andy, tears in his eyes, as he again squeezed that faithful hand which held his so firmly.
"That's right," Frank continued. "We can go straight to this fine Spanish gentleman, Señor Almirez, and get all the points he knows. From there we'll get up-river to this valley town and visit Carlos Mendozo on his cocoa plantation. Depend on it he'll be able to set us on the track, somehow or other."
"Oh! it seems like a strange dream," said Andy, as he raised the piece of bark to his young lips, and passionately kissed it, regardless of the fact that some one passing the post office might notice him.
"Well, you want to wake up right away then," remarked Frank, smiling, "because we've just got to get a hustle on us, if we're going to start on this wonderful trip. Here's where our aeroplane is going to help us out. Just imagine how we can pass over regions where it would be next to impossible for us to navigate on foot—mountainous country, tropical valleys where wild beasts roam and poisonous snakes abound; and jungles where the natives have to cut a passage foot by foot, I understand, with theirmachetes. And to think that we can sail freely over it all, looking for that spot where that bark letter came from."
"Come, let's go home!" exclaimed Andy. "I'm sure Colonel Josiah will be tremendously interested in what we've learned. He'll be the most disappointed man in the whole U.S. just because he's so crippled that he can't go along. For many years he's traveled in every country under the sun. Perhaps he might tell us more about the interior of Colombia than we know right now."
Accordingly they hurried away. Frank came near forgetting the news he had been bearing at the time he met his cousin. But then, that was hardly to be wondered at. The capture of the escaped robber was of minor importance when compared with this wonderful business connected with Professor Bird.
And just as Andy had said, Colonel Josiahwastremendously interested when he heard about it, and with his own eyes looked upon the letter that had come from a living tomb.
"Somebody pinch me," he said, looking at the boys almost helplessly. "I surely must be asleep, and dreaming this. It seems too strange to be true. Philip alive all these months, and in that terrible situation, while we were enjoying the good things of the world up here. It is monstrous! You must go down there with as little delay as possible, Andrew. Who knows but what it may be your blessed good fortune to rescue your dear father, and bring him back with you. Money—all you need; and the prayers of an old man go with you."
"But think," said Andy, uneasily, "this was written three months ago. What may not have happened in all that time? There must be beasts in that sunken valley, and doubtless many poisonous reptiles. Perhaps—"
"Hold on!" cried Frank, interrupting him, "don't you go to imagining all sorts of terrible things. He had been there at least nine months already. Nothing had happened to injure him. He does not even hint at such a thing; but says he means to sustain his life as long as he retains his proper mind. Your father was not in the least like you, Andy. He possessed a wonderfully well-poised mind, and laid out his plans with deliberation. Believe me, the chances are ten to one he is still there, and waiting. We are going to find him. Don't allow any other idea to take possession of your head. Find him, do you hear?"
Of course that sort of talk had its effect on Andy, and he braced up. They began to make preparations and plans without delay. The monoplane was taken apart, and carefully crated. Then Frank ran down to the city and returned with several duplicate parts, secured at an aeroplane agency he knew of, and which would come in handy in case of an accident in that strange country, where they must depend entirely on themselves.
For two days there was a tremendous lot of bustle around both homes. Dr. Bird had no longer any valid excuse for refusing Frank permission to go, since it was a mission of mercy that beckoned the boys on to that South American mountainous region. Besides, he had always been very fond of his elder brother, who had done so much to make the name of Bird famous, in college and out; even though the professor had thought best to make his old friend, Colonel Josiah, his boy's guardian instead of the physician.
The aeroplane had been shipped to New York, to be put upon a steamer sailing for Maracaibo, in Venezuela, and which they expected to take also. From this port they would have to make their way to the mouth of the Magdalena River by means of some smaller craft. But with virtually unlimited means to back them, the boys did not fear but that they could overcome any difficulties that might arise in their path. Indeed, Frank had a disposition that would never allow anything to balk his plans, if it were at all within the power of human nature to accomplish results.
The last thing they heard, just before leaving Bloomsbury, was that Puss Carberry and his crony, Sandy Hollingshead, had gone away, taking their biplane along; and it was said that they expected to do wonderful stunts with their airship somewhere in the South. But our two boys were too deeply interested in their own fortunes to give more than a passing thought to the flitting of their rivals. Besides, it would not seem that there could be one chance in a thousand that they would ever run across Puss and Sandy in all that great country, lying south of the Caribbean Sea, and north of the mighty Amazon.
And one morning Frank and Andy said goodbye to those whose best wishes were wafted after them, taking train to New York City, so as to go aboard the steamer, that was scheduled to sail that P.M.
"Oh! how glad I am to think we've arrived at last!"
Andy uttered these words as he stood at the rail of a small but staunch steam yacht, of rather ancient vintage, that he and Frank had leased when arriving at Maracaibo, the city on the bay of the same name, from whence so much of Venezuela's coffee is shipped to the States.
It had belonged to some Englishman who, becoming stranded at this South American port while on a globe circling trip, was forced to let it go; and the agents gladly secured a crew for the adventurous young Americans, who were bound up the Magdalena River for some unknown purpose.
"Yes," observed Frank, who leaned on the same rail close beside him, "there's the town of Barranquila, all right. We've navigated the five hundred miles in this little steam craft" with only a few break-downs of the machinery, and just two days' delay. And the second step on our journey comes to a close."
"The third ought to take us to that valley town up the river; ain't I right?" asked the anxious Andy.
"Sure. As near as I can make it, Magangue must be not over two hundred miles upstream. With good luck we can cover that in a couple of days," returned Frank.
"But why do you say good luck?" demanded his cousin, suspiciously.
"Oh! well, we are now in the land of tomorrow, you remember," laughedFrank.
"You mean where they put off everything they can, saying 'no hurry; plenty of time, señors all; the world was not made in a day'? Is that it?" Andy went on.
"Partly. I was also thinking of another thing," admitted Frank.
"Yes, and I bet I can give a mighty good guess what it is, old fellow."
"Perhaps you can," Frank said, a little gravely. "Suppose you spout it out."
"You've been pondering on what old Quito was telling us, in his broken English, about this little revolution that has been slumbering around the region of the Magdalena River of late. You have a hunch that we may just be unlucky enough to run across some of those ragged chaps, who want to upset the present government of Colombia, and seat some old ex-president fossil in the chair again."
"Anyhow, you're a fine guesser, Andy," admitted Frank.
"Then that's what was on your mind?" asked the other. "I've noticed you frown a whole lot lately, which is unusual for my cheery pard, Frank."
"Oh! well," observed Frank, calmly, "I acknowledge the corn. I was wondering whether we might be troubled by any of those fellows while we were navigating this river. I hope they'll just let us severely alone. But you know, Andy, just as Colonel Josiah warned us, these Colombians don't have any too much love for Yankees, ever since that Panama rebellion, when, as they believe, our government openly assisted the people of the Isthmus throw off the Colombian yoke, because we just had to control that strip of territory for the canal."
"But why should the revolutionists want to stop us?" insisted his cousin. "We are here only on a private quest. We seek no gold mines or cocoa plantations. Our only object is a mission of mercy. And besides, if these men are in open rebellion, they ought to be glad to see anybody that their government detests, Yankees or not."
"Well," pursued Frank, with a cautious glance around, "I was thinking that some of the people in Maracaibo took altogether too much interest in our little monoplane. A lot of dark-faced men hovered around, and asked many questions. They have heard and read much about the wonderful things being done today in aeronautics, but have seen little or nothing."
"Frank, that's so!" exclaimed Andy, quickly. "Please go on. You are gripping my attention a heap, I admit. Tell me, do you suspect that some of those same chaps may have been Colombians?"
"I'm dead sure of it, and more than that, old Quito gave me to understand he believed they were connected with the junta that was pushing this new revolution in Colombia."
"Yes?" Andy said, in a way that plainly invited further explanation.
"Stop and think," Frank continued. "Suppose now, they conceived the idea that it would further their forlorn cause a heap if they only had such an airship, and could threaten to drop all sorts of bombs into the camps of the government troops!"
"Good gracious! I suppose that is so. I never thought of that, Frank!"
"You know how nervous and excitable these people are? Don't you think they'd give the government the worst scare it ever had? And couldn't they make almost any sort of terms of settlement?" Frank demanded.
"Yes, that's true. Then you imagine those fellows may have planned to somehow steal our aeroplane, and that they've sent word ahead to their friends along the Magdalena to look out for us?" was Andy's startling question.
"Partly that. But don't you see, Andy, the little monoplane would be utterly useless to them unless they had some one who knew how to run it?"
The other gave utterance to a low whistle, just to indicate how his feelings had been stirred.
"You mean they might try to captureusin the bargain, and force us to operate the aeroplane? But suppose we did, what would hinder our just sailing away, once we got up in the clouds? Tell me that, Frank?"
"Oh! well, I'm not looking that far ahead," smiled the other. "Possibly they might only let one of us go up, keeping the other as a hostage. Or perhaps, there might be a fearless revolutionist officer aboard with that one, sworn to shoot at the first sign of treachery. But don't let us cross a bridge until we come to it."
"That's right. We don't want to fall into the hands of any ragtag revolutionists, and we won't! We've got our work laid out for us, and nothing must stop us. All the same I'm going to keep an eye on that precious case in which our aeroplane is boxed, as well as the engine. And Frank, I'm carrying the little shooting-iron Colonel Josiah gave me as a parting present."
"Ditto myself," replied the other, in a low tone, as one of the crew happened to draw near, while getting ready to make a landing at the wharf. "He told us that down in this country it paid to be ready for trouble; though I keep hoping we're not going to have anything of the sort."
It was toward noon when they steamed up to the town that nestled near the mouth of the great Magdalena River. Of course it was hot, for the season of the year made that a foregone conclusion; but both boys were dressed in suitable attire, and also wore pith helmets calculated to allow a current of air fan the head.
Andy was shivering in a mixture between hope and fear. In this city they would meet the writer of that pleasant letter, Señor José Almirez. What if he had received further intelligence from the correspondent up-river since the time he had mailed that letter? What if some terrible news awaited the coming of the daring young Yankees, who had ventured to this faraway country, bent on solving the mystery connected with the long absence of Professor Bird?
But, as usual, it was Frank who buoyed his spirit up. There never was a chum more devoted to the interests of his friend. Andy would long since have succumbed to his fears but for the cheery words of the other.
It was said to be the rainy season in this country that lay in the tropics. Up on the high mountain peaks lay snow the year around; but in the low lands, and along the valleys and sides of the uplifts, they could grow coffee, cocoa, bananas pineapples, oranges and all manner of similar products.
A small crowd gathered at the wharf to see the little steam yacht come in. Perhaps the former English wandering owner had been here before, and some of them even recognized the vessel.
Scowls greeted her passengers when it was discovered that they were not English but Americans. Frank and Andy paid little heed to these frowns. They did not mean to leave the boat, if so be it were possible to have Señor Almirez come aboard. And for that purpose they had written to him ahead of time, telling him how they expected to reach Barranquila about a certain date.
Several breakdowns of the engine had delayed them, so that they were even now two days behind time. On this account, as well as through prudence, they meant to stop here as briefly as possible.
Immediately their purser went ashore to make inquiries, and purchase a lot of fruits that could be taken on the river voyage; though for that matter they might expect to get anything they wanted at various villages along the route.
Frank was looking the crowd over closely.
"I think I see him, Andy," he remarked, presently.
"You mean Señor José?" asked his cousin, eagerly. "I've been watching that middle-aged gentleman who seems to be pressing close in on the flank of the crowd. There, see, he is speaking to Manuel, our purser, now, asking him some question. He looks up here at us; yes, and waves his hand, with a smile! That must be Señor José, all right, Frank."
"I'm going down to meet him, to fetch him aboard," declared Frank, after both boys had answered the signals of the dark-faced gentleman in the white linen suit, and who was also wearing a Panama straw hat.
Three minutes later and Frank reappeared, having the other in tow.
Just as both of them had suspected it was Señor José. Receiving their communication from Maracaibo, he had been on the watch.
"And he tells me, Andy, that there has been no new development since he wrote. So that fear of yours must be set at rest. Just depend on it, we're in this game to win out, and your dear father is going to be found," Frank went on.
Presently they were deep in conversation. The boys found Señor José a very intelligent gentleman indeed. He had spent some years in Washington in connection with the embassy of his government, so that he not only spoke and wrote English well, but had a high opinion of Americans; something that the vast majority of his fellow-countrymen failed to acquire, being possibly fed on stories that may have had their inception in German or English trade sources.
From him Frank extracted all the information he could concerning the wonderful country lying between Magangue and the Isthmus of Panama, covering possibly some three hundred miles. It was little enough. Most of it, he declared was aterra incognita, being utterly unknown land.
"But," continued the obliging señor, "you will certainly be able to learn more concerning this when you see my fellow-countryman, Señor Mendoza; for all his life has he lived there at Magangue, and surely he must know something of that country to the south."
"We shall leave here with as little delay as possible," observed Frank. "I have sent our purser, Manuel, to comply with the custom duties, and secure us a few supplies. When he comes aboard again we expect to start."
"It is just as well," remarked the other, significantly, and seeming to be relieved. "Because, there is an uneasy feeling in Barranquila just at present. Agents of the revolutionary junta have been here. They are very active. And from secret sources I happen to know that they are aware of the strange cargo you are bringing with you."
"You must mean our aeroplane, Señor?" remarked Frank, quickly.
"Si, Señor Bird," the other continued, nodding his head. "It has become known that the two young Americanos are of the new and wonderful aeronauts, with whom nothing is impossible. And if you remained here any length of time I fear lest even my government might seek to find some excuse for appropriating your little airship. The talk is all in that direction now. Colombia is ripe to take a forward step, and have an aviation corps."
"Well," said Frank, "under the circumstances we would seriously object to having our monoplane confiscated now, because upon it we depend wholly in our search. But I thought you were perhaps about to warn us to look out for these revolutionists while passing up the river."
"It would be wise, Señor," observed the amiable Colombian ex-diplomat. "They have agents here; and I happen to know that one is even now on the wharf, observing. Possibly he seeks to communicate with some spy who chances to be a member of your crew. So you see, it must pay you to be always on your guard, and prepared!"
"There comes Manuel!" remarked Andy, after they had been nearly an hour talking on the deck of the little power boat.
"Yes," remarked his cousin, who was also on the watch, "and trailing behind him I can see several native carts containing fruits and new supplies. Manuel surely means that we shall not go hungry while on the river."
"Then I shall be going, my friends," said Señor José. "I have told you all I know. I have warned you to beware of the revolutionists along the river bank. I have even given you a hint that to delay longer in Barranquila might endanger your enterprise; since the government is just now very anxious to acquire such wonderful modern agents of warfare, as your aeroplane. It only remains to shake your hands, both,amigos, and wish you every good fortune your valor deserves."
They squeezed the hand of the fine old Colombian gentleman with vigor. Never would Andy forget how he had spoken concerning his interest in the sacred duty that had brought the son of the missing aeronaut to his country.
Frank had given strict orders that none of the crew should go ashore, and also that no strangers be permitted to board the craft while they lay there at the old wooden wharf.
"But," said Andy, when they were speaking about this matter, as preparations began to leave the port, "that hasn't prevented the crew from holding an animated confab with those ashore. There has been a constant jabbering and laughing between our fellows and those others."
"Yes," admitted Frank, "and I've seen several of the crew talking mysteriously with some of those chaps. I wish now the señor had thought to indicate which was the secret agent of the revolutionists he saw on the dock. But all the same I've marked the two fellows I suspect, and I'm going to keep a close eye on Enrique, and the little fellow with the quick motions we call 'Cospita,' because he's forever ejaculating like that."
"And if you find out that they're meddling with the boxes?" asked Andy.
"H'm! I guess it'll be a bad day for Enrique and the jumping-jack, that's all," laughed his cousin. "But there goes the cable, and it looks like we might be off at last."
"I'm not sorry, for many things!" declared Andy, with a sigh of positive relief. "The good señor got me scared by what he said about his government wanting just such things as our little 'Bug'; and that the officials might have orders to find some sort of ridiculous excuse for grabbing it."
"Same here," admitted Frank. "In fact, that bothered me a whole lot more than the chances of trouble along the river from the boys who want to get their man seated in the president's chair, where he could hand out the loaves and the fishes. We can resist them, and be backed by authority; but if the government officers once took us in we'd have to give up our job. And that would break your heart, Andy."
"Yes," said the other, drawing a long breath, "I'm afraid it would. Listen! There goes the whistle. I told the pilot not to make more fuss than he could help when we drew out."
"Which was quite right. I'm watching that little chap, Cospita. See him wave his hand to some one ashore? Yes, and that surely looked like a signal the fellow returned. We are going to have trouble with that boy yet, Andy."
"Well, that will be bad for Cospita," was all the other remarked; for he was eagerly watching the growing space between the boat and the shore.
"Look, Frank," he remarked, after a little time had elapsed, "as sure as you live, there is an officer in uniform just arrived on the dock, and backed by a squad of soldiers! He seems to be surprised at discovering that we have gone! Now he beckons, and waves his hat! Listen to him shouting something in Spanish through his hands. I guess we didn't get away from Barranquila five minutes too soon!"
"It looks like it," said Frank, grimly. "But we've complied with the law of the land, and nothing short of a cannon could make us turn back now. All the same, I'm going to the pilot house, and keep an eye on Felipe. I think he's trustworthy; but an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure always."
"Good for you!" Andy shot after his departing chum; though he himself remained there by the rail, watching what took place ashore.
Frank quickly entered the pilot house. Here a dark-faced, middle-aged man handled the wheel. Frank immediately noticed that he was listening to what the gold braided officer ashore was shouting angrily. He also looked a bit troubled.
"What does he say, Felipe?" demanded the young aviator.
"He commands us to return, señor," replied the other.
"Well, pay no attention to him, Felipe. We have complied with all the regulations and red tape necessary. The American consul will back us up. It is your business to simply steer this boat up the river until we arrive at Magangue."
"Si, señor. But when I return they will surely make the trouble for me," replied the pilot, shrugging his narrow shoulders.
"Not at all, Felipe," declared Frank. "You can swear that we made you do as we wished; that you dared not turn back, since your life was in danger. We stand ready to shoulder all the blame there is."
The dusky face of the old river pilot, whom they had fortunately run across in Maracaibo, became wreathed in a smile.
"Perhaps the young señor would not mind showing the Capitan?" he suggested.
Frank grasped his meaning; and pretending to scowl darkly, he drew out the revolver which Colonel Josiah had made him promise to carry while down in this explosive country.
"Now, Felipe," he said, as he clapped the weapon deliberately against the head of the pilot, "your gay Capitan can easily see what I am doing, and will understand what it means. You keep right on up-river; and if you dare disobey it will be bad for you, Felipe!"
The shrewd old pilot tried to smother an expansive grin as he replied:
"Si, señor, I am in your hands; do with me what you will. I dare not refuse longer. See, I have made one effort to turn about; but you threaten, and I give it up. He no longer calls. He knows old Felipe is powerless. It is well!"
Frank stood by him until the wharf was dimmed by distance. Then he hastened to rejoin his cousin and chum, who was mightily pleased to hear all about it.
"Do you think they will chase after us?" queried Andy, still worried.
"Oh! I guess not. It isn't so serious as all that. They know they can get us when we come down the river, no doubt," replied Frank, carelessly.
"Then I'll care precious little what becomes of the Bug," observed Andy, with a sigh of relief.
"I suppose you mean that by that time you'll either have found your father; or else given up the search as hopeless. Is that it, old fellow?" Frank asked.
"Yes, one or the other. And now, we've got time to remember the other warning good old Señor José gave us."
"About the revolutionists trying to stop us on the way and get our cargo? Yes," Frank went on, "that must be on our minds constantly. I'm going to talk with old Felipe about it soon. I have a hunch that he can be depended on to back us up, for he's got a grudge against the man these fellows want to send back into the presidential chair. Señor José told me Felipe lost all his family through the persecution of that man and his party."
"A bully good thing to know," assented Andy. "For we can be dead sure of Felipe all the time; and through him get pointers about the rest of the crew. There are a few goats among the sheep, and when we make sure of it, I'm just going to pay them off, and chuck them ashore in any old place."
"Now that's what I call a clever scheme," Frank declared. "They would have no kick coming, because, you see, no Spanish American could ever complain of getting his wages without having to do any work!"
"I guess not," Andy remarked, grinning assent.
Upon further conference it was decided to divide the day and night into watches, so that one of them could be on deck and alert all of the time, while the other secured some sleep.
Treachery, they knew, would be likely to crop out during the night time. Those on board may have found some means of telling their confederates ashore about what time the boat would reach a given point. And by means of some native method of telegraphing, such as by means of wigwag flags, or "smokes," the news could be hurried up the river much in advance of the vessel that was butting against the strong current of the swollen Magdalena.
Then Frank went forward to have a long talk with the trusty pilot. He took Felipe into his confidence, telling him for the first time all about their sacred mission to this region of Colombia. And in this way, as well as by promising to double his regular wages, Frank quite won the old fellow's heart.
In return Felipe was able to give his employer considerable valuable information connected with the crew. Frank mentioned no names, and hence he was satisfied that he had made no mistake in his calculations, when among the list of "suspects" given by the pilot, both Enrique and little "Cospita" were included.
"We must get rid of them both as soon as possible," he announced. "So just before night sets in, draw the boat to shore near some village or town. Then I shall pay both men off, get their signatures to the fact, and insist on their going ashore. Meanwhile, as you find opportunity, post a few of the faithful ones to the fact that we suspect them of being insurrectoes."
Felipe declared that the idea was superb. He was growing more and more fond of these venturesome young Americanos, who were so generous, so brave, and who had come all this great distance, actuated by such a noble purpose. So many a man may easily feel when his salary has been unexpectedly doubled.
During the balance of that afternoon the two young aviators continued to alternately sit upon the deck, and wander about the boat, watching things. Frank had the precious aeroplane locked up in the spacious lazerette, which being also used as a storeroom for extra supplies, that the circumstance need not be looked upon as singular.
"I'm determined that no ill may happen to that machine, if I can help it," he said to his chum, when speaking of what he had had done.
And Andy, of course, fully endorsed his course.
So the sun began to draw closer to the western horizon, represented by the distant mountains where the chief inland town of the province, Sabanalarga, lay.
Felipe had spoken of a place on the eastern bank of the river, where they could draw in, and put the two suspects ashore. And Frank told Andy to back him up in what he was about to do.
"There's the town ahead, only a little place, but it answers our purpose, for they can never say we deserted them in the howling wilderness," and Frank, who had been counting out some money, started to make his way down to the waist of the vessel, where most of the crew had gathered, wondering what the object of the landing might be.
Enrique and "Cospita" were surely very much astonished and alarmed when told that their services were needed no longer—that it was ascertained they were carrying too many men; and also that they were to receive full pay for the time they had engaged.
Of course they started to make objections, and the air was filled with various excited exclamations; but Frank proved as firm as adamant, and showed the automatic revolver sticking from his pocket all the while, a fact that kept the two men from venturing to do more than shout.
Clutching their money they were pushed ashore by members of the crew, who doubtless could give a pretty good guess as to what the whole thing meant, since they had talked with Felipe.
"A good riddance of bad rubbish!" declared Andy, as the boat again started up the river, leaving a pair of yelling natives behind, making all sorts of furious gestures with both arms.
"Yes," pursued Frank, reflectively, "and if we wanted any more evidence that we nipped a conspiracy to seize the vessel in the bud, there it is in their anger at being paid for not working. Nothing like that was ever known before down in this country, as Felipe says. And now, Andy, I feel that we're another step nearer the carrying out of your great task."
"Oh! I hope so," said the other, his face marked by an eagerness that told of the one sole wish of his youthful heart.
Frank took the first watch.
It was to begin about ten o'clock that night; for both of them had remained on deck, talking, up to that hour. The night was so comfortable after the hot day that they disliked going into the sleeping quarters. These happened to face the deck, however, so that the vessel was admirably suited to cruising in tropical regions.
"Every thing seems to be going on decently right now," remarked Andy, yawning, as he prepared to have a few hours' sleep.
"That's so," returned his chum. "But while we've got some of the faithful ones on duty, we mustn't forget that there may be other snakes aboard. Enrique and the little shouter may not have been all the sympathizers with the revolutionists. And not for a minute will we relax our vigilance."
That was Frank's way; and just now Andy fully approved of it. His heart was so set upon having a chance to use the monoplane in the endeavor to discover that strange cliff-enclosed valley, where his father was imprisoned, that he did not mean to take any chances of losing out through over confidence.
So he packed off to his berth, while Frank prepared for three hours of lonely vigil. He expected to make the rounds just about once in so often, and have a few words with the man at the wheel. Felipe had declared that it was his intention to keep busy himself through the night, since he dared not trust the wheel in the hands of an inexperienced pilot while darkness lasted.
In the morning he could give directions, and allow an assistant to do the work, while he secured some rest.
There was no moon after early in the evening, when the young queen of the night disappeared in the west, leaving the bright stars to control the skies.
The boat continued to make good headway against the current, though at this season of the year the Magdalena is bank full with the summer rains, which fall almost every afternoon in a deluge.
A searchlight sent a dazzling shaft of light far ahead on the troubled surface of the booming flood. This was an absolute necessity, for otherwise it would have been too dangerous bucking against that tide; laden as the river was with floating tree trunks of gigantic size, that had been swept from their resting-places in the lowlands above.
Once Frank had seen a wild animal crouched on one of these great logs. The boat passed so very close to the floating refuge of the beast that ere darkness claimed the strange craft with its stranger cargo, Frank had been able to see the tawny hide of the crouching beast, and note the quick, jerky motion of its long tail.
Upon hurrying to the pilot house and making inquiries of Felipe he learned that, just as he suspected, the animal was a jaguar, the most feared inhabitant of the tropical forests away off at the headwaters of the Magdalena and Orinoco rivers.
There was a spice of peril hovering over the progress of the little boat during every hour of that night. It might come in the sudden leap of a wild animal, that judged any port would be better than a floating log. Then there was a chance of their running afoul of a monster derelict, in the shape of a drifting snag, that might punch a hole in their bow, and bring about trouble.
On top of all was this unseen peril from the revolutionists, who were making the Magdalena country the center of their renewed activity, for some reason or other, and had their minds set on securing the first aeroplane ever known to be in Colombia.
The time passed away. When three hours had really gone, and all seemed well, Frank awoke his chum. Generous to a fault, he might have held out much longer, for he did not feel exhausted; but Andy, who knew him like a book, had made him promise faithfully, on his word of honor, that he would arouse him at exactly the time agreed upon.
"Everything lovely, and the goose hangs high!" Frank said, as the other joined him presently on deck.
"That's good," replied Andy. "And as it is now one o'clock, with no trouble doing, looks good to me that we'll pull through the night without a mess."
"You never can tell," observed the careful Frank. "And the only way to do is to act just as if you felt positive something was bound to crop up."
"I know it," came the reply, as Andy started to walk up and down a bit, so as to get the last remnant of drowsiness out of his system.
For an hour he found little trouble in keeping awake. He made frequent trips to where Felipe stood at his wheel, his keen eyes keeping constant vigil ahead, in order that he might steer clear of such snags as threatened to stove a hole in the hull of the steam yacht.
Now and then Andy could see one of the crew moving about; but as some of them must have duties to perform, even in the night, he did not look upon this as a suspicious circumstance. Only, he made sure that no one wandered in the near vicinity of the locked lazerette, where the precious monoplane lay, securely crated.
In some places the river proved much narrower than in others. And, of course, it was here they had their greatest trouble. The current was increased, for one thing. Then the floating objects swept forward with more speed, so that it required additional dexterity in order to avoid them.
But old Felipe knew his business well. Andy believed they had made no mistake in leaving matters fully in his hands.
It was about the end of his second hour that the pilot volunteered some information that gave Andy more or less uneasiness.
"Just ahead, young señor," he said, when for the fifth time the boy entered his deck pilot house, "we come to the narrowest place in the whole river at this section. And there, if anywhere, I expect that they will be waiting for us."
"Do you mean the revolutionists?" exclaimed Andy, interested instantly.
"No other, señor. If we manage to get past there, all will be well. But they may be encamped on both shores, and demand that we draw in under penalty of being fired on," Felipe went on, without removing his snapping black eyes for even a single second from the ever-moving panorama of shifting water and floating debris, that the searchlight disclosed ahead of the laboring boat.
"But nothing must tempt us to obey; no matter if they send volleys aboard. The distance is too far for them to do much damage; and I hear they are as a rule pretty punk shooters."
Felipe may hardly have known what that word meant, but he could give a guess.
"But sometimes, young señor, they even have cannon!" he remarked.
"You don't say!" ejaculated Andy, in new alarm; but he quickly caught himself, and went on. "Let 'em try it then. We'll just shut off the searchlight, and take our chances for a while with the old floaters on the river. Then perhaps they won't see anything to bang away at. Anyhow, just make up your mind, Felipe, we don't haul in, not while the blessed old tub keeps above water."
"It is good to hear such brave talk," said the old pilot, chuckling. "Me, I will keep going straight ahead, no matter what comes, until I have the order from you to turn the boat. Yes, let them shoot, señor. After all, I do not believe they could hit the side of a palace in this dark."
All the same Andy thought he ought to arouse his cousin, and make Frank aware of the new threatening peril.
On hearing the facts, Frank agreed with all the one on guard said, even to being ready to extinguish the useful searchlight when the critical moment arrived.
"We'll just have to take chances, that's all," he declared. "Even if we came swat up against one of those floaters, that's no reason we'd be snagged and sunk. They make these boats pretty strong, over there across the big pond, and I guess our hull could stand a hard punch."
"Yes," remarked Andy, feeling easier, now that Frank was on deck, ready to take matters in his able hands; "and after all, it's a choice between two bad things, in which we pick out the lesser. Hang the old insurrectoes, I say! Why can't they just pay attention to their own business, and let us two peaceful Bird boys alone?"
"Well," laughed his chum, "you know how it is yourself, when you want something pretty hard. And they've got the notion in their stubborn heads that if they only had a modern, up-to-date aeroplane, they could just make the miserly old government come to terms instanter. Don't blame them too much, Andy. Maybe you and I would do the same thing—if we were Colombians, and on the outs."