Battle In The Sky

While those on the ground were so occupied with the fight they did not notice a battle going on above their heads; a battle between two planes.

When the plane landed with the smugglers, Jack was with Paul and Wallace. As soon as the first shot was fired, his first thought was that the crooks might use the plane to escape in. So he whispered to his two companions that he would return to his former station and watch the road; possibly, others of the gang might drive up and it would be best to spy them before they had a chance of becoming acquainted with the situation. Paul thought it was an excellent idea and he permitted Jack to carry out his plan.

As Jack moved noiselessly away, Wallace wanted to enter the conflict and Paul restrained him. Then Paul went away and left Wallace by himself. The latter immediately moved into position and was going to fire when his attention was attracted by a creeping shadow at the farther end of the field. By the form and outline of the moving figure, he guessed it was Jack. And for that reason, he withheld his fire—so that the attention of the smugglers might not be attracted to the figure moving toward the machine.

Jack was a short distance away from the plane when he became aware that someone else—almost at a right angle to him—was also creeping toward the machine. He flattened out in the grass to wait and see who the other creeping figure was. For a short while he lay there hugging the earth, not daring to move or lift his head even slightly to see who the creeping figure might be. After about five minutes, a pebble fell near him and Jack flattened out still more. In a minute another pebble fell near him, followed by a hissing sound. He lifted his head very slightly and out of the corner of his eye saw the other person wave a finger at him. He decided that it must be one of the boys and he continued dragging himself across the earth toward the plane.

Jack and William crept up to the under-carriage of the plane almost simultaneously. William whispered, “Inside.”

Without any further hesitation, William swung himself up and into the plane. Jack waited. A hissing sound came to his ears and he knew it was the signal for him to follow. Up he went and into the plane. Both boys heaved a sigh of relief. William got into the pilot’s seat. “Now to take her up into the air,” he muttered.

“You think you can fly her? She’s a pretty large ship, you know.”

“I can try. In the meanwhile, you go in the back and look around.”

Jack nodded and proceeded to obey. William studied the dashboard as well as all the other gadgets everywhere around him. Though he had never flown this type of ship, he was sure he knew how. Major McCarthy had explained it to him in detail and he now knew exactly what to do. He only hoped that the motor wouldn’t falter or need warming up, because that would necessitate the loss of precious time. But he didn’t think so because the motor was still warm from its previous trip. He was right. Everything went off beautifully. Every single gadget responded to his slightest touch. The motor roared, the ship turned into the wind and giving the ship a sufficient run, it took off like a great bird winging into the sky.

William was thrilled and exhilarated. He felt the power flowing into him through his finger tips which rested lightly on the joystick. Jack came forward “How is she flying?” he asked.

“Beautifully. What did you find back there?”

“Nothing much. Some boxes, a couple of small wooden cases, two revolvers in one of the lockers, and also two boxes of cartridges.”

“You had better bring the revolvers and cartridges here. Most likely we’ll have no opportunity of using them but we might as well be prepared.”

“I thought so too,” answered Jack. “I have them right here.”

“Good.”

They were climbing. When they reached an altitude of about four thousand feet, William guided the machine away so that his companions and all the others below would not see the plane and would think that he had flown away. He flew in an extended circle and kept circling around and around. Jack asked, “What are we going to do now?”

“I don’t know myself. What do you suggest?”

“How about flying to the airport and getting Major McCarthy and maybe the police?”

“I don’t know whether that would be of any help.” responded William. “By the time we come back, their help would be of no use. On the other hand, if we stick around here and watch how the situation below unfolds itself, we may be of some help. They may need our revolvers and ammunition and we might drop them. Or they might need us for something else.”

“That’s true. But then again, if we should land, perhaps those smugglers will get the ship again and make their escape.”

“I can fix that very easily,” explained William. “I’ll cut the ignition.”

“That’s right. Never thought of it.”

The boys continued their circling flight. Some five minutes elapsed when William caught sight of another plane making its appearance on the eastern horizon. Coming nearer, they saw that the machine was heading directly towards them. “You think he’s coming at us?” asked Jack.

“Let’s wait and see.”

The plane was soon upon them. The boys recognized it as a Bristol, a small craft but possessing a powerful motor, modeled after army pursuit planes. The Bristol flanked the boys on their right side and flew along. The pilot was making signs to William which the latter could not understand; besides he was too intent on piloting his plane to pay any attention to him. He called to his companion, “Can you make out what he wants, Jack?”

Jack was already at the window and watching the other craft. “No,” he answered. “He holds his fist up and moves it in a circular motion and then points down. I can’t understand what that means. Can you?”

“Perhaps he wants to land and is asking us about a safe place to land.”

“I doubt it,” answered Jack. “He doesn’t seem to be in any trouble. And coming from the direction he did, he must have passed the Stanhope airport.” There was a pause while Jack continued to watch. “I think he’s using his wireless,” he called out. “See if you can pick him up.”

William inserted a plug and turned a disc on the dashboard. Half a minute later, William nosed his plane into a dive and was off. But the Bristol was right on its tail. “That guy is a confederate of those smugglers,” hissed William. “He was asking if the stuff was on board and we were ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“He didn’t say. Just asked if we were ready.”

The next moment they heard a sharp sound and knew that the pilot of the Bristol had fired at them, the bullet burying itself in some part of the fuselage or wings. William brought the nose up and began to climb. Simultaneously he cried, “Load the revolvers, Jack, and see if you can fire back.”

William wondered what he could do to get the pursuing plane off his trail. He banked and dived again and came up climbing. Jack broke a window, stuck his hand out and fired point blank at the nose of the Bristol. He pulled the trigger fast and emptied his revolver. A bullet must have struck close to the pilot, for the next instant the Bristol dived.

The Bristol was a much faster plane, easier to manoeuver than the craft the boys were in. “What are you going to do now?” queried Jack anxiously.

“I’m going up into the clouds and try to shake him.”

But the next instant Jack cried out, “He’s coming right up and it looks as though he intends to hit you amidships.”

“Fire when he comes close enough, and when I hear you fire the first shot I’ll bank right and dive.”

Jack pulled the trigger and William performed a half arc and dived; the Bristol zoomed past so close that Jack held his breath. William levelled out and began to climb again, hoping this time to reach the clouds. But again the Bristol was upon them and sending bullets into the fuselage and wings. William, however, kept on climbing and Jack frustrated the other fellow’s getting on their tail by firing point blank at the nose of the Bristol. For a moment the enemy craft disappeared and then William discovered it overhead. They heard the muffled thud of bullets sinking into their craft but doing no harm. The next instant William cried, “He’s flying away.”

“You think he has given up?”

“Maybe he—” William left off in the middle of the sentence and gasped as he watched the Bristol execute an Immelmann turn. He intended to fly straight into the craft, firing as he did so and hoping to hit the gas tank, and dive just in time to avoid a crash. William was aware of the manoeuver. “You better lay low, Jack,” he cried.

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.