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AIRPLANE BOYS IN THE BLACK WOODS
by
E. J. CRAINE
The World Syndicate Publishing Co.Cleveland, O. New York, N. Y.
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Copyright, 1932byThe World Syndicate Publishing Company
Printed in the United States of AmericabyThe Commercial Bookbinding Co.Cleveland, O.
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The Airplane Boys accidentally bump into a new mystery which is only solved after many pages of excitement in this seventh book of air adventures.
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CONTENTS
I. A Reception Committee II. Kidnapped III. The Horrible Cavern IV. Ghosts V. The Way Out VI. An Old Enemy VII. The End of the Way VIII. When the Butterflies Die IX. The Ghosts of Bloody Dam X. An Invitation XI. Revenge XII. The Fight in the Passage
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Airplane Boys in the Black Woods
CHAPTER I.
A RECEPTION COMMITTEE
"Holy Clover, that fellow would make his fortune in a dairy, all right,"exclaimed Bob Caldwell glancing over the side of the plane the FlyingBuddies had borrowed while the "Lark," their own splendid machine wasundergoing much needed repairs at the shop of the British hangar inBelize.
"His fortune, how do you make that out?" Jim Austin demanded. "I'llbite, let's have the answer."
"He'd do the biting--that one tooth ought to be great to make holes inSwiss cheese!"
"If I didn't need both hands you would get a wallop that would leave youonly one tooth, then you could start competition," Austin answered."Well," he added as the plane came to a stop, "this sure looks as if youwill find enough different kinds of vegetation, old Horticulturer, mayyour tribe increase."
"Sure does," replied Bob with an eager light in his eyes as they wentfrom one great tree or vine to another. "Wonder who dropped thatone-toother down in this place." The one-toother was a tall, emaciated,dark-skinned individual whose age, judging by the wrinkles on his bodyand face, was in the neighborhood of two hundred. His lips were thick,eyes sunken so deep in his head that they looked like burnt holes in ablanket, his huge mouth was wide open and from the upper jaw was thelone tooth. His only garment was an irregular bit of tiger skinsuspended from a narrow woven grass belt which looked as if it mightonce have been decorated with a long fringe but only a few of thestrands of its ancient grandeur remained. It was impossible to tell,either by his features or color if the man was a native Indian or one ofwhite blood who had been tanned and re-tanned through the long yearsspent in the tropical climate. He stood perfectly still facing the planebut the boys were not sure if he was staring at them or not.
"Suppose he's alive?" Jim whispered.
"He looks as if he'd been there as long as the trees," said Bob, then heraised his voice. "You're looking hearty," he called. At that the queercreature of the forest gave a slight shudder which went from the top ofhis bald head to the soles of his bare feet, one bony arm was raised afew inches from the side of his body, and almost instantly hedisappeared. "Exit, the gentlemen from where!"
"Where in the name of Mark Antony did he go?" exclaimed Austin inamazement.
"Reckon we came, he saw, and fled," supplemented Bob. "Let's have a lookabout. Perhaps we'll have the pleasure of seeing him again, but we don'twant to get too far from the plane, Old Timer, and we'd better watch ourstep. We are two little lads far, far from the home corrals and my guessis that that lad wasn't impressed with our looks."
"Too bad," lamented Bob.
"Yes, reckon you wanted to study that vegetable," Jim grinned.
"He didn't look like any variety of life I've ever run across."
The Sky Buddies climbed out of the cock-pit carefully surveying theirsurroundings and listening intently for a sound of the vanished ancient,but if he had never been near the spot it could not have been morequiet; not even the buzz of an insect disturbed the silence. From theair the boys had soared above a dense forest and it was only by chancethat Caldwell had noticed the small clear space and suggested that theyland and see what it was like. The clearing was less than an acre ofhard soil with a ridge of sharp rocks which protruded like saw-teethdiagonally across. It looked as if sharp-edged slabs of stone had beendropped when the soil was less packed; or it might, hundreds of yearsbefore, been the top-most edge of a wall so arranged as an addedprotection against animals or tribes that might attempt to scale it. Asthe ages had passed accumulated vegetation, falling or shifting rocks,and sands blown from distant miles have filled in the space leaving onlythis trace of what it once was.
Beyond the clear spot, which was highest in the middle, sloping somewhatlike a dome, was the forest. Great trees whose ancient trunks werehundred of years old, grew straight and high. The majority of them, asfar as the Buddies could see, had almost no low branches, but theirmassive limbs started more than half way up the boles, and each oneoverlapped with his neighbor so thick that the intense sun could notpenetrate the foliage. Beneath were smaller growths, many with longtangled roots twisted in grotesque shapes as they clung like giant armsto the rocks and disappeared in the soil. Huge vines with stems as largeas a good-sized sapling, clung tenaciously as they climbed upward, andmany of them were in bloom which gave the place the look of aparticularly beautiful bower.
A few feet from where the boys were standing was a basin, into which aspring of clear water trickled from the crevice of a rock. That too hadthe appearance of great age for the opening through which the water hadfound its way, was worn in a smooth, deep groove. The basin itself wasabout three feet across in the widest place, and nearly as deep wherethe spring fell into it. From the lower edge it ran off in a tinystream, winding about until it disappeared into the forest.
"If we hadn't seen that oldest inhabitant I'd believe that ours are thefirst human feet to hit this place. Say, it's kind of spooky, isn't it!"Bob exclaimed softly.
"It does look as if it has been waiting for a million years," Jimadmitted. His eyes were searching the dome-like surface of the placeupon which they were standing.
"Wonder where the old boy took himself. He might be Enoch. Looks oldenough. Perhaps he just dropped down from heaven to have a look at theworld; maybe wanted to see if it's changed much."
"Go on, he'd wear wings instead of a piece of tiger skin," Jim answered."What do you expect to learn around here, Buddy? You never can get intothe forest, not far, anyway, and you ought to be able to see the samesort of growths where it's less isolated."
"Surely, expect I could, but me hearty, the Elephant's Child has nothingon me for curiosity, and now I'm here--"
"All right, Old Timer, I'm with you to any reasonable extent, but youremember how said Child got his nose pulled. Careful where you putyours," Jim remarked.
"I'll keep him in mind," Bob chuckled.
"Have a look at this," Jim's hand waved to designate the clearing."Suppose it could be the top of some temple that's been buried byearthquakes?"
"Might," Bob agreed thoughtfully and examined the place more closely,but they kept close to the mach
ine. "Reckon we'd better watch closely;that chap may come back with some more angels."
"He might. Lucky we took Bradshaw's helicopter instead of one of theother machines."
"Yes, even at that I'd rather have the 'Lark'."
"Why not wait until she is fixed up then come back in her?" Jimsuggested. There was something awe-inspiring about the whole scene andhe felt that they would be safer with their own plane, which hadnumerous extra instruments, greater speed, and was infinitely more easyto pilot than the Canadian Mounty's machine.
"Aw Buddy, we want to get home sometime! I say, we started out,expecting to be gone not more than a couple of weeks and look how longwe've been hanging around down here. I'd give a tooth right now to forka real bronc and have a grand gallop across the ranches."
"Same here," Jim nodded with a little sigh.
"But since we are here I'd like to see more of what grows in thisclimate. We have to wait for the 'Lark,' the message tube is safe in thehands of Don Haurea instead of in your pocket--"
"Or Arthur Gordon's," supplemented Jim.
"Wow. I say, I bet a jack-straw against the White House that he wascongratulating himself that we didn't take it back from him when he waslaid out so nicely--"
"I'd give a pair of colts to have seen his face when he opened the emptyone. Silver pants, but that was a streak of luck--"
"I'll say it was. That was a mistake as was a mistake," Bob chuckled."Gee, when I saw you let him take it away from you without so much as ayelp I might have known it was flukey. We couldn't put up a fight, alltied around like a pair of hot dogs, but you didn't even squirm. And younever knew that you'd sent it by the mail pilot from La Paz--"
"Didn't discover it until just before Gordon's gang flew over the 'Lark'and dropped the big boy on our wings. Some stunt that was, you have tohand it to him--"
"Yep. I'm going to get the lariats then have a look around; also a drinkof water. That spring looks good enough to be the fountain of life. Betthe old lad who was here must have filled up on it to renew his youth."
"You nut. Going around by the woods?"
"Right the first time. I won't go out of sight though. Maybe you'dbetter stay here. My massive brain informs me that if some fellow shouldcome along and round up that plane we'd be in a fix."
"And how. There are miles of those woods."
"Then some." Being cowboys of no mean standing, the Flying Buddies justnaturally unhooked their ropes from their saddle horns when they changedfrom a horse to a plane, and on more than one occasion that habit oftheir lives had helped them through several mighty serious and tightspots. Now Caldwell got the two lariats, which had been transferred as amatter of course from the "Lark" to the good-natured Canadian'shelicopter when they started on this observation trip. Bob hoped hemight discover, among the wild tropical growths, some fruits, roots orherbs which could be raised advantageously on his mother's own ranch,the Cross-Bar in Texas. He was intensely interested in flying,thoroughly appreciated the joys and practicality of air travel foreither long or short distances, but his love for the land and what mightbe done with the great acreage he would some day own, was uppermost inhis thoughts. The horticultural and chemical department of Don Haurea'simmense laboratory was the one from which he derived the greatestsatisfaction; while electricity and mechanical sciences fascinatedAustin.
"Taking them both?" Jim asked.
"No, thought you might like to have yours handy."
"Thanks, Old Timer. Maybe you'll see how Enoch got away."
"He had no wings so must have dug-in or crawled." Bob strode off brisklytoward the edge of the forest, leaving Jim, the rope hanging loosely inhis hand, to see that nothing happened to the plane. Austin watched theyounger boy stop at the lovely spring, scoop some of the clear water upin his hand, and take a good drink. "Great stuff," he called. "Feel asif I'd knocked off ten years."
"Go on," Jim grinned. "Don't drink any more. I do not know how to takecare of infants."
At that, Bob shied a stone that struck the ground within an inch of hisstep-brother's foot, then proceeded. He reached the rim of the thickwoods, where Jim saw him pause, then start slowly around, scrutinizingeverything that grew. Keeping one eye on the lad, whose white suit madehim easy to follow, Austin glanced around at the ground and began towonder what it had been and what it was. Since his acquaintance with DonHaurea he had seen and been inside many marvelous underground caves,temples, ancient hiding-houses, homes of the once famous race of theYncas, as well as their vast laboratories. He knew that the lost empirehad extended no further north than Quito, hundreds of miles south ofthem, but he knew also that at the time of the Spanish conquest of theAmericas, this northern portion of South America had been inhabited byintelligent Indians whose origin none could trace. They too had builtamazing temples, and it occurred to the boy that five hundred years ago,when the remnant of the conquered tribe had gotten together, some ofthem may have been mobilized from localities far from their originalhomes. It was not straining credulity to reason that some of the templesof the northern tribes might have been utilized to advantage, andcertainly this dome-like clearing of rock, with its gurgling spring,might be over one of them, and the water might be forced through thestones so that the moisture would assure the underground community, ifthere was one, of dense growths which would be an added protectionagainst invasion of their domains.
Jim remembered that the first time they had landed on the high plateau,known to Peruvians as Amy Ran Rocks, they had found an ancient Indianwoman apparently in possession of the place. At that time she hadrecognized the green emerald rings given the Flying Buddies by YnciceaHaurea and had told them to 'go in peace' but today, the ancient who hadstood like a man struck dumb in amazement, had made no suchidentification. Thinking it all over carefully, Jim decided that the AmyRan guardian was probably apprised of the boys' coming, while this man,if he watched an ancient fastness, had heard nothing of the FlyingBuddies.
"Then, again," Jim grinned. "This may all be perfectly natural land,formed so through the ages, and the Indian a lad who lives in the forestas far from the whites as he can get. Our dropping down on him was asurprise, and the minute he got his wind, he beat it. Just the same, hisexit was mighty sudden. He was standing near the water, then he justwasn't. I didn't see him run an inch or drop, but he surely did fade outpronto."
That fact stuck in the boy's mind, and now Bob was some distance fromhis starting point, so Austin moved to the front of the helicopter lesthe lose sight of the youngster. There was an uncanniness about theplace, and Jim wished that his step-brother would hurry with hisinvestigations, but he appreciated the fact that Bob was thoroughlyinterested in what he was doing, and that it would be unfair to urge hisstep-brother to shorten his investigations. They could not possiblylinger in the country many days and this opportunity seemed like anespecially good one which should be made the most of, while it waspossible.
Suddenly, from the east, Austin noticed a thick white cloud movingswiftly toward the coast, and forgetting Caldwell for the moment, hestudied it in puzzled wonder. It certainly was not vapor of any kind, itwas too substantial looking, and another thing he observed was that itdid not move with the wind, which was from the south, although thebreeze did affect its direction somewhat. As it drew closer, he noticedthat it was considerably deeper than when he first picked it out againstthe sky, also from its midst tiny particles, almost like snow, seemed tohesitate and fall.
"What in heck?" Jim had his field glasses slung in a case from hisshoulder, and now he hastily took them out and in a moment was examiningthe strange phenomena. "Well, what do you know about that!" heejaculated.
Magnified by the glasses, the boy saw countless small, whitebutterflies, fluttering and poising in the sunlight. There were myriadsof the tiny insects flying toward him, and as they came, hundreds oftheir number dropped out and tumbled toward the ground as if tooexhausted to continue their journey. As the boy watched in astonishmenthe had no idea of what it was, then suddenly he remembered read
ing thatevery year the butterflies, their life work completed, start in atremendous migration, drifting southeasterly along the sea coast untilthey finally reach the sea, where they drop exhausted into the water anddie by the millions. He knew that science is unable to explain thestrange instinct which prompts them to choose death sometimes thousandsof miles from their breeding ground, and only a few weeks before he hadread an article by someone who had seen this great funeral cortege whenit hovered near a steamer. As the boy recalled, this migration usuallytook place in the autumn, but he decided that probably in differentlocalities the time of year differed.
"Gee, they must be mighty tired," he exclaimed pityingly, "and I'll betthey are leaving a thick white track beneath them." They were getting soclose now that he no longer needed the glass to see what they did. Theouter edges of the "cloud" were thin, as if leaders or scouting partieswere racing in advance, but from the main body so many were falling thatthey must have appeared like a strange sort of storm. Several minutesmore he watched, then he remembered his step-brother, and glanced in thedirection where he had seen Bob a bit earlier, but no white-suited boystood out against the dark background of the dense foliage he had beenexamining, and Jim's heart jumped into his mouth.
"I say--" He moved in the direction Caldwell had been going, then hestopped with a gasp, the shout died on his lips and for the moment Jimwas too paralyzed to make a move.
About half way between the plane and the rim of the woods he saw threetall natives, their bodies naked except for the tiger-skin and the grassbelt such as the ancient had worn; their heads adorned with a high dressof peacock feathers whose many colors shone brilliantly in the sunshine,in one hand each held a long spear with a glistening point, while theother held a number of small, deadly-looking darts. One of the men hadan arm raised, his body was bent slightly toward the woods, and from hisextended hand shot the javeral, cutting sharply like a hissing knifethrough the air, and to Jim's horror, it was flying faster than the eyecould travel, toward young Caldwell's unsuspecting back.