CHAPTER XIV
ARRESTED FOR SMUGGLING
The Nelson swept out of the air like a bird and landed so close tothe fire that Ned felt the warmth of it on his face. The wheels cutthe earth at first, under the force of the quick descent, thenstopped.
The firelight shone on the white planes, bringing them out stronglyagainst the darkness, and Ned knew that he could not remain there aminute without being discovered by the alleged officers of thelittle republic he was just then warring against. When he landedthe men were out of sight around the ledge, but they of course sawthe aeroplane and came running back.
Lyman, or a man Ned believed to be the cattleman whose financialoperations had stirred up an international row, stood moodily by thefire when the Nelson dropped down, almost on top of his head. Hesprang away, rubbed his eyes as if trying to awake himself from abad dream, and then stood stock still, watching.
"Lyman?" Ned called.
There was no reply, and Ned spoke the name again.
"Yes, Lyman," the man by the fire answered, then. "What new wrinkleis this?" he added, stepping a little closer to the machine.
"If you're Lyman," Ned replied, hastily, "you can't get in here anytoo quickly. Those fellows will be here directly, with Thomas Q.Collins in the lead, if my boys do their duty. There will be littlechance for either of us then. Jump in!"
"But I've never been on one of those things, and I'm afraid," Lymansaid, with a shrug of the shoulders. "I'm afraid I'd fall out."
A shot came from the ledge, and Ned reached for the button whichwould start the motors going.
"You've only a minute to decide," he said. "I've come a long way tofind you. If you reject this chance you won't get another."
"Well," Lyman cried, stepping up to the seat, very shaky as tonerves and pale as death, "I may as well die from a fall as from abullet or a knife. If Collins is coming back with the officers,I'll have to do something."
The instant he was in his seat, Ned threw the leather straps abouthis legs and wrists and buckled them tight. Lyman shivered withfright.
"I thought so!" he cried, mistaking Ned's motives. "This is onlyanother trick!"
The wheels bumped for an instant over the inequalities of thesurface, the machine rocked lightly, then the planes lifted into theair, the propellers running like mad. A few ineffectual shots camefrom the men who were running down from the ledge. Ned saw Jimmieand Jackson chasing Collins out of the valley, heard their shots,and then, in a few moments, saw them at the mouth of the tunnel.
In five minutes more the Nelson was out of all danger, purringthrough the darkness like a contented cat. Lyman sat moodily in hisharness, saying not a word, but fully convinced that this was onlyanother trick of his enemies. Directly the boy slowed the motorsdown so as to make conversation possible.
"Well," he said, turning on one of the electric bulbs so as to seethe face of his passenger, "what do you think of the Nelson? Peach,isn't she?"
"Where are you taking me?" was the only reply to the question.
"That is for you to say. We are not very far from Sicuani, Peru,and from there you can secure transportation back to Asuncion--ifyou think it safe to go there, under the circumstances. About ahundred miles to the north is Cuzco. You can go there and preparefor your visit to Asuncion if you care to. Then, over here inBolivia, is Sucre. It might be well for you to go there. Anyway,it is up to you."
"Who is doing this?" asked Lyman, suspiciously.
"I can't see as that makes any difference to you," Ned replied.
"I was in the hope," Lyman went on, "when you came down upon me sounexpectedly, that my friends had found me. You speak English likea New York man," he went on. "Perhaps you live over there?"
"Yes," was the reply. "I live in New York, when I am home."
"Nice little old rotten government we've got!" almost shouted Lyman."The people at Washington let any crooked little republic doanything it has a mind to do to a citizen of the United States.They're too busy getting themselves into office and keeping in topay any attention to their duties. England wouldn't stand for aminute the tricks that have been played on me, not by businessrivals, but by the government of Paraguay! England protects hercitizens, wherever they are!"
"Well," Ned replied, with a laugh, "you may be right about England,but you are wrong about Uncle Sam. He looks after his own, too; ifhe didn't I wouldn't be here now. You wouldn't be on earth!"
"Do you mean to say--"
Lyman hesitated, and Ned went on and told him as much of the historyof the expedition as he thought it necessary for the cattleman toknow.
"And now," he concluded, "Where do you want to go?"
"I want you to go with me, wherever I go," was the reply. "And Ithink we'd better go straight to Asuncion."
"Do you think that a safe plan?"
"Oh, yes; they won't dare abduct me again."
"Then," Ned added, "we may as well get on the way. Asuncion issomewhere about twelve hundred miles from here, and we've got tomake it by daylight."
"What's that?" asked Lyman, hardly believing he had heard aright."You would better say in two days."
"The Nelson can make it in eight hours," Ned replied, "if we don'tdrop into any holes in the air or adverse currents."
"Holes in the air!" repeated Lyman.
"Sure," answered Ned. "The atmosphere surrounding the earth is justlike the water in the large reservoirs--there are deep places andshallow places, holes you can drop in, and currents like the GulfStream current, the Japanese current, which warms the northernstates and British Columbia, and the Arctic Humboldt current, whichsends a cold stream down the Pacific coast of South America. If wehave no difficulties with these rivers of the air, and the wind doesnot come up too strong, we can make Asuncion by six o'clock in themorning. It is about ten now."
"What sort of an airship have you here?" demanded Lyman, amazed atthe thought of running at the rate of two hundred miles an hour or ahundred and fifty, at least.
"She was built for speed and endurance," was the reply. "Now coveryour face with this mask, unless you want to have your breath blownout of the back of your head, and we'll get under way."
That was a night ride which neither of the participants ever forgot.The first part of the night was dark. Then a moon shone down from acloudless sky, showing all the beauties of that magnificent country.
The mountains, the forests, the headwaters of the rivers which helpto make the Amazon, were under their feet. Now and then they sweptover a point of light which denoted the presence of a small town.Occasionally the cry of frightened wild beasts--the vicious mountainlion, the savage tiger cat, the prowling puma--came up to theirears.
After a short run to the southeast, Ned wheeled about and struckstraight off to the east. The wind was growing stronger, and theNelson was not making as good time as the boy desired.
There was a fierce current about the top of Mt. Sorata, which issomething over 21,000 feet in height, and again Ned swung off to thenorth. Dropping down, then, he swept into the valley of the Beniriver, which joins the Madeira river, some distance beyond theBolivian border.
He knew that at the eastern rim of Bolivia there was a series ofhigh mountain ranges which would protect him from the drifts blowingover from the Atlantic--Serre Geral, Serre Paxecis, SerreAguapehy--and he reasoned that he could make better speed under thelee of these elevations. So he swept down the valley of the Beniuntil it joined with the Madeira, crossed a line of hills, and madefor the Serre Geral range, something under a hundred miles away.
As the Nelson cleared the valley, however, Lyman gave Ned a punch inthe ribs with an elbow and nodded toward the ground. His wristswere fast in the harness so he could not use his hands. Ned lookeddown and instantly dropped the Nelson a few hundred feet.
Some distance down the Madeira, in the center of the stream, werethe lights of a boat which seemed to be anchored there. Ned sweptcloser and tried his best to make out the outlines of the craft, b
uthe could not do it without descending close to the river, and thishe did not care to do.
"It looks like the Black Bear," he thought, as he shot up into theair again, "but of coarse it can't be. Those Boy Scouts are notfools enough to bring her up into this country."
So he came to the protection of the mountains and proceeded southtoward Asuncion at a speed which caused Lyman to gasp for breath.Of course he was ignorant of the fact that Frank, Jack, and Harryhad started out, during his absence, to explore the headwaters ofthe Amazon, hoping to come upon the Nelson before returning.
As for the lads on the Black Bear, they did not even know that theNelson was so close to them that night. It was three nights laterthat they first saw the aeroplane drifting above them. Asunciondoes not at all compare in beauty or in thrift with the othercapital cities of South America. The government of the republic isso unstable that business men are loath to make heavy investmentsthere.
For one thing the town is poorly lighted, and when Ned came, in viewof the place at five O'clock the few street lamps were already out.People were abroad at that early hour, however, and small crowdssoon gathered on the street corners to watch the great airshipapproach.
What Ned could not see was the intense excitement around thegovernment offices. In ten minutes from the time the airship showedabove the city, messengers were out in the streets and officials ofthe lower rank were headed for their offices. In a few minutes thisalarm was communicated to police headquarters and to the militarystation where the governor's guard was stationed.
If the boy had been able to understand the situation below, if hehad known that Asuncion had been communicated with from Lima andalso from Sicuani, he would have given the city a wide berth. Hesaw the gathering of crowds below, of course, but naturallyattributed this to curiosity. He had no doubt that the Nelson wasthe first airship ever seen at Asuncion.
"Where are you going to take me?" asked Lyman, as the machine sloweddown and he found himself able to speak.
"To the American consul," was the reply.
Lyman sighed and shook his head.
"I'm afraid he will take little interest in me," he said.
"Doubtless," Ned replied, "he has received instructions fromWashington. Anyway, I fail to see how they can molest you now, evenif they have the inclination to do so. You just go about yourbusiness as usual, and leave this abduction matter to the future.You can gain nothing now by stirring that up. Report to the consuland go on about your business as if nothing had happened."
"That is the only thing there is to do," Lyman responded, with asigh. "Still, I'm suspicious of those chaps. They'll have sometrick ready."
Before long Ned found a level spot not far from the capitol buildingwhere he could, drop the Nelson. When he headed for that localityhe was followed through the streets below by a shouting, howlingmob.
"I can't understand this," he thought, and Lyman was still moresuspicious.
At last the Nelson was brought to the surface of the earth and Nedand Lyman stepped out, very willing to stretch their legs after sucha long ride. They had been in the air about twice the time set forendurance by noted aviators.
They did not get much of a chance to stretch their legs, however,for they bumped into a squad of soldiers on stepping out of theirseats.
"You are under arrest!" a gaily-dressed officer said, flashing hissword out of its scabbard.
"What for?" demanded Ned, speaking in Spanish.
"Smuggling!" was the reply.
Ned laughed heartily. Arrested for smuggling!
"Search us, and search the machine, then," he replied, "and let usgo on about our business. We have no time to lose."
"In time! In time!" was the drawling reply. "Such things are notdone so quickly here! In three-four days--in a week--in three, fourweeks, perhaps. In the meantime you go to the jail."
Ned thought of the swiftly-slipping days, of the peril Jimmie andJackson were in, of Leroy in prison at Lima, and was about ready tofight. The officer refused to take him to the president, or to theAmerican consul. In a quarter of an hour he was in a cell, alone,wondering what had been done with Lyman, and also wondering whatwould become of the Nelson.
He knew that the charge of smuggling, of bringing goods into therepublic by means of an airship, would be held against him as longas it pleased his accusers to keep him in prison. That would beuntil the concession expired and, possibly, until the Nelson lay atotal wreck in the streets.
He saw no one who could give him any information as to what wasgoing on in the outside until the morning of the 21st, after he hadbeen incarcerated forty-eight hours. Then a turnkey unlocked hisdoor and motioned him out.
"For trial?" Ned asked, hopefully.
"It is the wish of the president," was the reply.
"But what, why, when--"
"You have yet to see," was the impertinent reply. "You have yet tosee if you can do these things to our countree!"
And so, mystified and, if the truth must be told, not a littlediscouraged, Ned was led through the prison corridors, his mindfilled wit thoughts of Leroy, Jimmie, the Nelson, and, strangelyenough, the Black Bear!