CHAPTER XII
RACING AN AIRSHIP
It was a hot, oppressive day when Bert set out from Ralston. But he hadhad a restful sleep, and felt in fine trim for anything. He had eaten ahearty breakfast, and this no doubt added to his feeling of buoyancy andsatisfaction with life in general. In addition, his mount was actingbeautifully, purring along with the deep-throated exhaust that tells itsown story of fine adjustments and perfect carburetion.
The country through which he traveled was very flat, and for mile aftermile he glided easily along, encountering no obstructions worthy of thename. The road was smooth, and, contrary to the general run of roadsin this section, comparatively free from sand and dust. The fresh,invigorating air added to his feeling of exhilaration, and he wastempted to "open 'er up" and do a little speeding.
He had about decided to do so, when suddenly he became conscious ofhearing some noise not proceeding from his machine.
At first he thought it must be an automobile coming up back of him, but,as he glanced over his shoulder, he could see no sign of one, althoughthe road stretched out for miles without a break.
Instantly his mind grasped the significance of the sound.
"It must be an aeroplane," he thought, and, glancing upward, was notmuch surprised to see one outlined against the clear blue of the sky.
"Well, well," thought Bert, "this is an unexpected pleasure. I didn'tknow there was an aeroplane within two hundred miles of here."
The aeroplane, which proved to be of the biplane type, was evidentlydescending. At first, Bert had stopped to get a good look at it, butthen, feeling that he had no time to lose, had remounted and resumed hisjourney.
But as he went along, he knew that the 'plane was still descendingbecause of the increasing noise of its exhaust. In the same way he couldtell that the machine was overtaking him, but at first the thought oftrying to beat it never entered his head. Even in all his varied andexciting adventures he had never had a brush with such an adversary.
In an incredibly short time, however, the aeroplane was directly overhis head, and he glanced upward. As he did so, the aviator leanedforward slightly, and waved his gloved hand. Bert waved in reply, andthen the airman made a gesture which Bert interpreted, and rightly, asbeing a challenge.
Needless to say, our hero was not one to decline such an invitation, andaccordingly he opened his throttle a little. Instantly his exhaustchanged from its deep grumble to a harsh bark, and his machine leapedforward.
In answer to this, the aviator fed more gas to _his_ motor, and hisgraceful machine soared forward in advance of Bert and the "BlueStreak."
"Oho!" thought Bert, "this will never do," and he gave his powerfulmachine more throttle, at the same time advancing the spark to thelimit. That last fraction of an inch of spark sent his machine surgingahead like some wild thing let loose, and he leaned far down to escapethe terrific resistance caused by the wind. The road streamed awaybehind him, and he had a thrill of exultation as he felt his machineleap forward in response to the slightest touch of the throttle.
His adversary in the air was not to be easily outdistanced, however, andhe kept up with Bert, refusing to be shaken off.
Bert felt that now was the time to take the lead, if possible, andaccordingly he opened the throttle almost to the limit, although hestill held something in reserve.
The powerful motor responded nobly, and the machine skimmed over thesun-baked road at a terrific pace. The bird-man did his best to squeezea little more speed out of his whirling motor, but was unable to copewith the rushing, roaring little speck down below him. At last he wasforced to a realization of this, and abruptly cut down his speed.
Bert continued his headlong flight for a short time, but finding thatthe aeroplane did not pass him, concluded that it must have fallenbehind. Accordingly, he slackened his own speed, but very gradually, forhe was too wise to risk disaster by slowing down too suddenly.
Soon his speed had abated sufficiently to allow the use of the brakes,and he brought his machine to a standstill. Lifting it onto its stand,he pushed his goggles up on his forehead, and looked around for his laterival.
He made out the aeroplane at no great distance, and could see that itwas making preparations to land. When the aviator reached a point almostover Bert's head, he shut off his engine entirely, and, describing agreat spiral, landed gently on the ground not a hundred yards from whereBert and the "Blue Streak" were standing.
Bert immediately ran toward him, and the aviator stepped stiffly fromhis seat and held out his hand.
"You've got a mighty fast machine there, comrade," he said, with a grin,as Bert shook hands with him. "I thought my 'plane was pretty good, butI guess your motor bike is better."
"Well, it isn't so bad, perhaps," replied Bert, unable no matter howhard he tried, to keep a little note of pride out of his voice. "Imanage to get a little action out of it once in a while."
"I should say you did," agreed his late rival, "but what are you doingway out here a thousand miles from nowhere, more or less?"
"I might ask the same question of you," replied Bert, with a smile, "butas you beat me to it, I'll answer yours first."
Bert then proceeded to outline briefly the contest in which he wasengaged, but, before he had gone far, his companion interrupted him.
"Oh, I know all about that!" he exclaimed. "And so you're one of thechaps in the transcontinental race, are you? Well, you haven't got somuch further to go, considering the distance you've covered already."
"No, I guess the worst of it is over," agreed Bert, "although I've beentold that there are some very bad roads ahead of me."
"You're right, there are," replied the aviator, "and that's where I havean advantage over you. I don't have to worry over road conditions."
Bert saw that he was a little chagrined over his defeat, and so foreboreto argue the merits of motorcycle versus airship.
"Just the same," he thought to himself, "I'm a whole lot more likely toget where I want to go than he is."
Then he and his new-found companion fell into a discussion regardingvarious types of motors, and inspected each other's machines withinterest. By the time this was over it was high noon, and Bert proposedthat they eat lunch together.
The aviator agreed heartily to this, and accordingly they unpacked theirlunches and, sitting in the shade of one of the aeroplane wings, made ahearty meal.
When the last crumb had been disposed of, they shook hands withexpressions of mutual regard, and the aviator was very cordial inwishing Bert all kinds of success in the contest. Then they saidgood-bye, and resumed their respective journeys. Bert watched theairship ascend in great spirals, until it was a mere speck in thedistance, winging rapidly eastward.
Before starting, Bert looked over his machine carefully, in order toassure himself that nothing had been loosened by the vibration caused bythe high speed. Everything seemed in perfect shape, and in less timethan it takes to tell he was "eating up space" in a fashion thatpromised to land him speedily at his destination.
But before he had gone many miles, he found the road, which up to nowhad been exceptionally good, becoming more and more sandy, and he wasforced to go slowly and pick his way very carefully. As the sand grewdeeper his machine evinced a very decided tendency to skid, and he wasforced to exert all his strength to keep the front wheel pointedstraight ahead.
Soon he shifted to low gear, and crawled forward at a pace little fasterthan a brisk walk. He now had reason, as indeed he had a score of timesso far, to bless the foresight that had led him to purchase a two-speedmachine. Without this, he felt that the accomplishment of his task wouldbe well-nigh hopeless.
The heat became more and more oppressive, and the alkali dust on hisface smarted and blistered. At intervals he would dismount, take a drinkfrom his canteen, and give his motor a chance to cool off.
Then he would start on again, resolved to reach the next town beforenightfall. What with the many interruptions and the slow pace, however,darkness overto
ok him while yet he was more than ten miles from hisdestination.
Dismounting, he lighted his lamp, and once more took up the forwardflight. The air, from being excessively hot, now became quite theopposite, and he felt chilled to the bone. He kept doggedly on,nevertheless, and at last his perseverance was rewarded by his catchinga glimpse of the lights of the town for which he was bound. At the sametime the road became much better, and he covered the intervening mile ortwo at good speed.
The town was not a large one, but it could afford a square meal and agood bed, and that was all that Bert asked for. He had a hard time totear himself away from the other guests, who were very much interestedin his adventures, and plied him with innumerable questions.
At last he managed to say good-night, and fifteen minutes afterward wassunk in the deep, dreamless sleep of utter but healthy exhaustion.