CHAPTER XXI
OVER THE BOUNDARY LINE
It was with the queerest possible feeling that Andy saw the landslipping away, and realized that they were at last launched upon thewater part of the voyage.
It seemed as though they had cast loose from their safe moorings, andwere adrift upon an uncharted sea. When comparing his feelings withother aviators in later times, he learned that every one of them hadexperienced exactly similar sensations the first time they passed out oftouch of land, and found the heaving sea alone beneath them. It was asort of air intoxication; Andy even called it sea-sickness, thoughdoubtless most of it came from imagination alone.
"There they go, Frank!" he called out, not ten minutes later.
The land was far behind them now, and still in the other threedirections they saw only the level surface of the great lake.
His exclamation was called out by a sudden change in the method ofadvance adopted by those in the leading aeroplane. Instead of keepingalong in a direct line the biplane had uptilted and was now shootingdownward in what seemed a terribly perilous way; just as though the pairof precious scoundrels had taken a notion to end the pursuit by seekinga plunge into the water.
But both boys knew differently, and that this was only a volplane,adopted by experienced and rash aviators as a means of reaching thelower air currents more rapidly than by slow spirals; or else undertakenwhen having engine trouble that threatens destruction.
Frank was ready to follow suit. It would not be the first time by longodds that the Bird boys had accomplished this speedy method ofdescending from high altitudes. There was always an exhilaration aboutthe clever trick that appealed irresistibly to their natures; thoughFrank would never have attempted it unless reasonably sure that theconditions were favorable for success.
"Hold fast, Andy!" he remarked, quietly.
The hum of the motor suddenly ceased, and with its cessation thehydroplane was turned head-on toward the surface of the lake, fourthousand feet below.
Down they went, plunging toward what seemed to be instant destruction;but a steady hand was at the wheel, and the pilot knew just what wasnecessary to do at the proper instant in order to bring this rapiddescent to a stop, and right the airship on a level keel.
But there was no time just then to note what the rival aeroplane mightbe doing. Whether the experienced airman in charge managed to stop thatdownward plunge before reaching the surface of the lake; or failing wentto his death, was a matter that did not concern them now, since they hadtheir own affairs to look after.
To tell the truth, Andy's heart seemed to be in his throat as they madethe drop. As yet they had never tried out the new hydroplane in a trickof this sort; and hence really did not know just how it might act;though Frank must have been pretty confident, else he would never haveattempted it.
Given the choice the Bird boys would easily have decided to descend fromtheir lofty height by means of the much safer if slower "spirals," eachcircle seeing the aeroplane lower than before. But since the recklessman in the other air craft led the way, Frank had chosen to follow. Hebelieved that he could accomplish any feat that was possible to CasperBlue, especially now that the old air navigator had a handicap in theway of a crippled arm.
The water seemed rushing up to meet them; so it looked to Andy, whoseanxious gaze was fastened upon the lower depths, as they dipped down inthat terrific swoop. But then, he had seen the same thing when over theland, so that in itself this did not daunt him.
"Oh!"
That exclamation seemed to be forced from Andy's lips when he felt Frankgive a quick turn to the lever that caused the deflecting rudder toagain resume a normal position. The drop of the aeroplane was brought toa gradual stop, and when immediately afterwards the buzz of the motorannounced that the propelling power was again at work, it was no wonderthat the nervous boy expressed his relief by giving vent to that cry.There was a world of gratitude back of that word, it can be set down ascertain; for no matter how confident Andy might have been concerning hiscousin's ability to accomplish wonders, the new hydroplane was as yetuntried in many things.
Now he even dared take his awed gaze from the heaving waters beneath theframework of the aeroplane, and give a thought to those whom they hadchased overland and water for nearly three hours.
"Bully for Casper Blue! He made the riffle too! he's all to the good!"was the way the impulsive Andy announced his discovery to Frank, whojust then could not spare even a second to take his attention off theworking of the motor.
After all, it was not so very strange that the boy should expresshimself in this way. True, the man he was praising was now a criminal,and they sought to effect his arrest in some manner as yet vague anduncertain; but it was not in this light Andy viewed him just then. As abirdsman Casper Blue had proved that he still possessed the nerve andskill to direct a daring flight, and that all the tricks known tocelebrated fliers were at his finger's ends.
Any one who has risked his life up among the clouds must always respectsuch a valiant spirit, even though aware that the object of hisadmiration has in other ways forfeited the esteem of all honorable men.
There was the biplane moving along on a level keel, and not more thantwo hundred feet above the water. And still the course held due north,showing that the desperate men who were thus fleeing from arrest hadnot the slightest intention of changing their plans.
"What do you think of her now, Andy?" asked the pilot, with a quiver ofpride in his voice.
"You must mean our new craft, I take it, Frank; and I want to say thatshe's a real peach, if ever there was one. We never volplaned as easy asthat in our lives, and that's a fact. Why, it was like sliding downhillon a sled, with never a single bump on the way. I could do that all day,and never get enough."
"Dangerous business, all the same," remarked Frank; "and doubly so whenyou don't happen to be well acquainted with your machine. A singlehitch, and we would have struck the water at a terrible rate."
"But all the same we didn't, Frank," the other went on, jubilantly; fornow that this peril was of the past Andy could be his old self again.
"And they did just as well," remarked Frank, always ready to givecredit, even though it might be to a rival, for his nature was generousto a fault.
"Well, that biplane was easier to manage than our hydroplane, with thepontoons underneath," Andy went on to say, grudgingly; for no one couldever convince him that Frank had his superior as an air pilot; and hewould sooner go up to a record height of fifteen thousand feet incompany with his cousin, than accompany the most famous man living.
"It looks like we might be booked for Canada, Frank," he went on to say,a minute later, after they had fallen into the new "stride" comfortably,and were rushing forward on a level stretch, with the surface of thelake close at hand.
"I shouldn't wonder," came the noncommital reply.
Now, Andy knew his cousin like a book. Perhaps it was something in thewords; or on the other hand there may have been an undercurrent of doubtin the way Frank spoke, that aroused the other's suspicion.
"What is it, Frank?" he demanded, "for I reckon you see something thatis all a blank to me? Take me in, won't you?"
"Oh! I was wondering what would happen if they had an accident away outon the lake, that's all," admitted the other.
"Well, in that event I guess it'd be up to the Bird boys to play therescuer act for all it was worth. But Frank, do you think this newmachine of ours could climb up off the water with four aboard? Wouldn'tthat be the limit?"
"To tell you the truth, Andy, I don't know, because we've never had thechance to try it out. With only two of us aboard you know how easy sheclimbed; three passengers she could hoist, but four might faze her. Wecan only wait and see, if ever the chance comes to make the test."
"But you wouldn't hesitate about trying the same, I know, Frank?"
"Of course not," the other remarked, confidently, "and especially whenit might mean life or death to a poor fellow away out here on the lakemiles
from land. If we couldn't rise, we might still be able to floatlike a duck, and hope that some boat would come to the rescue. In theend that would be just the same."
"Do you know," said Andy, "I saw a tug pulling out at full speed fromthe little city on the shore of the lake, close to where we left land;and somehow I seem to have an idea they know all about us, and mean tokeep in touch with us as long as they can, to be handy in case ofaccident. Perhaps, now, my message was phoned to Bloomsbury; and seeingabout where we must be heading if we kept on a northerly course, theyhave wired up here to watch out for us. How about that, Frank; am Isilly to figure that way?"
"I don't see why you should be, Andy. In fact, just as soon as youmentioned about the tug I began wondering if somehow these good peopledidn't know who we were, and what we were chasing after the biplanefor."
They had to speak unusually loud in order to hear, even though theirheads were close together at the time; for the propellers were whirlingwith a hiss, and the hum of the motor added to the noise. But then, itwas all a merry racket that chimed in well with the spirit of the youngaviators; and which gave them much the same pleasure that the splashthrough the foaming water of a ninety-foot racing yacht must awaken inthe heart of an enthusiastic skipper, when he knows that every sail isdrawing to the limit, and all things are working well.
"Have you figured out what we ought to do if by good luck we all getover to the other side, safe and sound?" went on Andy.
"We'll have to leave that," was the reply Frank made. "No use crossing abridge till you come to it, you know, Andy."
"But they'll be safe then, Frank?" "I'm afraid so, even if I don'tpretend to be up in all the international law connected with thepassing of a thief from United States territory to Canada."
"But ain't that a measly shame?" ejaculated the indignant Andy, "tothink of a robber being able to turn, and put his fingers to his noseand wiggle 'em at us, just because he happens to cross the boundaryline. It oughtn't to be that way, Frank!"
"Of course not; and I guess lots of abler chaps than you and me havethought the same; but there it stands, and the two countries won't gettogether to change the law even a little bit. Every year dozens ofembezzlers light out across the border for Canada, where they can spendtheir money, and start for Europe if they feel like it."
"Then perhaps it's the money they take with 'em that the Canadians like;though I wouldn't like to believe such a thing," ventured Andy.
"Hardly that; but both countries are jealous about bringing backpolitical offenders, I've heard Judge Lawson say more than once. Butdon't let's talk any more'n we can help, Andy. We've got our hands fullas it is watching those fellows, and keeping ready to match any trickthey try."
This served to give Andy a new cause for concentrating his attention onthe fleeing biplane once more. As yet the pilot of the leading airshiphad not diverted from his set course; but if he was as tricky as theyhad reason to believe, there was always a chance that he might engineersome scheme, sooner or later, looking to shaking off his pursuers herein the middle of the great lake, where possibly no mortal eye couldwitness the deed, so as to appear against him later on.
With the wind aft, of course the further they advanced the larger grewthe waves; and Andy noticed that they were now of quite respectablesize; though being directly above, he could not tell much about it, onlythat in many spots he saw the white caps breaking, and this served as apointer.
Would the hydroplane be able to ride such a sea in safety, in casenecessity compelled them to alight upon its swelling bosom?
Frank did not seem to doubt it, for he had the utmost confidence in theability of those aluminum pontoons to sustain a great weight withoutsinking. What they would possibly have to fear more than anything else,was the chance of a capsize; and of course this would spell disaster asmuch as anything else.
Once they overtook a sailing schooner that was speeding along with afair breeze. Possibly those aboard thought they were making mostexcellent time, with everything in their favor, but the aeroplanes spedpast the vessel almost as though it were a toy craft.
A faint cheer was heard from those aboard who could be seen wildlywaving head-gear, or red handkerchiefs; just as though what theyconsidered a novel air race had been engineered especially for theiramusement.
When Andy took occasion to look backward again in a short time he wasamazed to discover how far distant the sails of the schooner seemed. Andit was this incident more than anything else that gave him to understandjust what amazing speed the aeroplanes were putting in their mad raceacross the inland sea.
But while up to now the voyage had been without incident worthy ofmention, or accident of any kind, it could hardly be expected that thisimmunity would continue to the very end. The splendid good fortune thathad hovered over both airships was apt to be brought to a suddentermination at any moment, as Frank well knew.