CHAPTER XXVI.--THE BOY AVIATORS' PLUCK.
But it was almost a week later that the 1,400 odd miles down the coastto Fernandina, Florida, and from thence overland to the Crescent City,were completed. Storms and minor accidents spun out the voyage to thislength, although Dr. Perkins had calculated on making a faster run. Infact, his aim had been to make about 500 miles a day, with night flightsto help out, if possible.
Many interesting incidents, which it would require another volume tochronicle in detail, marked the trip. Off Savannah the _Sea Eagle_ toweda disabled motor boat, containing a pleasure party, into port, and ashort time later flew above the Atlantic squadron of the United Statesfleet bound south for target practice. Aerial greetings were exchangedby wireless between the _Sea Eagle_ and Uncle Sam's bulldogs of theocean.
The next day the _Sea Eagle_ was once more enabled to render aerialambulance service by taking an injured keeper from a lighthouse offFernandina into port, and arranging for a substitute to be sent out atonce. At every city they stopped they received a great reception, for bythis time the flight of the _Sea Eagle_ had received the attention ofthe country through the medium of the newspapers.
Possibly one incident may be worth chronicling in more detail. Thisoccurred when, a short time after rising for a night flight from Eufala,Alabama, to the Mississippi State line, Frank descried, through sometrees, what he thought was the rising moon.
"That's the funniest-looking moon I ever saw," declared Harry, whohappened to be doing duty as engineer.
"Why, what's the matter with it?" demanded Frank.
"Why, it's red."
"Probably caused by the mist from some marshlands," decided Dr. Perkins,who was resting, while Frank guided the _Sea Eagle_, at which he hadbecome quite expert. But the next moment he changed his opinion.
"It isn't the moon at all. It's the glare from a fire, and a big one,too. Let's hurry up, boys."
Neither Frank nor Harry needed any urging, and the _Sea Eagle_ was soontraversing the air so fast that the wind sang in their ears. As theyraced along the glare grew brighter and angrier, glowing with a lambentred core from which flames could be seen leaping skyward like a nest offiery serpents.
A few minutes brought them into full view of the conflagration. Itproved to be a fine old farm-house. The front of the place was a mass offlame, and the blaze appeared to be bursting through the roof. Men couldbe seen running about the grounds like a nest of disturbed ants, andothers were hastening on foot, in autos and in buggies, from everydirection.
Nobody paid any attention to the oncoming aeroplane in the excitement,and when it dropped to earth on the lawn in front of the blazingbuilding, there was the liveliest sort of confusion. Some of the farmersdid not know what to make of the visitor from the skies, but their moreenlightened neighbors soon informed them, and recalled the newspaperaccounts they had read of the _Sea Eagle's_ great flight.
"Anybody in the building?" shouted Frank, jumping from the _Sea Eagle_as the craft came to a standstill.
Nobody answered for a moment, but suddenly, from the back of thebuilding, came a piercing scream.
"Help! Help!"
"Goodness, that's a woman calling!" exclaimed Frank. "Come on, Harry."
Both boys dashed round to the rear of the blazing mansion, and there, ata third-story window, they saw a woman with a baby in her arms, leaningout and frantically calling for help.
"Get a ladder!" shouted Frank.
"No time to hunt for it," cried Harry. "We'll have to try another way."
"What do you mean?"
"See the flat roof of that coach house over there? If we had a board wecould make a bridge from it to the window."
"But how are we to get to the roof of the coach house?"
"Fly there."
"What! in the _Sea Eagle_?"
"Why not? The roof is flat and big enough to give us room to land if weare careful."
"Cracky! I think you're right. Has anybody got a board?"
"Here you are," exclaimed a man who had darted off to a lumber pile whenhe overheard Harry's plan.
"Good! I think this will be long enough. Come on, Harry, let's lose notime. See, the flames are almost at that part of the house."
At top speed the two boys ran back to the _Sea Eagle_, calling to Dr.Perkins to join them. Hastily they explained what they meant to do. Dr.Perkins was inclined to doubt if the plan was feasible, but as itappeared to be the only way to save the woman and the child, he agreedto attempt it, grave though the risk of disaster to the _Sea Eagle_appeared to be.
While the excited men gathered about, and the woman's cries still filledthe air, the _Sea Eagle_ was started up, and after circling about,dropped to the coach house roof. The big craft landed without mishap,but Frank reversed the engines barely in time to prevent her fromrolling off. However, with the front wheels of the substructure on thevery brink of the cornice, the _Sea Eagle_ came obediently to astandstill.
They had brought the board with them, and it was shoved across to thewoman, who saw at once what they intended to do. She secured it to theledge of the window at which she had been standing, and Frank worked hisway across the plank bridge and took the child in his arms. He recrossedin safety with it, and then came the woman's turn to trust herself tothe frail bridge. But she hesitated till smoke was pouring into theroom, and then, fairly driven to try the slender support, she began tocross it.
From the coach house roof the boys called encouragingly to her, for theplank was far too weak to bear the weight of two persons. Even underFrank and the baby it had sagged ominously. Something in the woman'sface as she neared the end of her journey caused Frank to reach outtoward her. It was well that he had the foresight to do so, for as shereached the end of her journey she suddenly fainted.
Another instant and she would have fallen forty feet to the ground, butFrank caught her dress in a strong grip. Luckily, it was of stoutmaterial and did not rip as he seized it. Dr. Perkins and Harry came tohis aid the next minute, and with their united strength they managed todraw the woman's limp form to safety.
Hardly had they done so before the flames began breaking out fiercelyfrom the back of the house, and, driven by the strong wind, they wereuncomfortably close to the coach house roof. No time was lost in placingthe woman and her infant in the _Sea Eagle_, after which the air craftwas started. Dr. Perkins rose to a suitable height from which to make asafe descent, and then swept down to the ground, carrying the firstwoman and child in the history of the world to be saved from a blazingbuilding by aeroplane.
The woman soon recovered after some friends of the neighborhood hadtaken her and her child to a nearby dwelling.
The owner of the building, and the husband of the woman who had been sobravely rescued, now came bustling up, his face beaming with gratitude.At the moment he was not thinking of the fire but of the brave strangersfrom the sky who had saved his wife and child.
"I don't know who you are, or where you came from," he exclaimed, "butyou literally dropped from the skies when all hope appeared lost. I wasin town buying stock, and on my way out I saw the flames coming from myhome. Knowing my wife and child had retired I dreaded to think whatwould have happened if they had not been aroused. I arrived here in timeto find my worst fears realized. How can I ever thank you for what youhave done?"
"Oh, we only tried to do what we could," said Frank modestly; "we sawthe fire and came down to see if we couldn't help."
"I owe the lives of my wife and child to your quickness and courage, andthat wonderful airship of yours," vehemently declared the man, whosename was Winfield Thomas, a wealthy farmer. "It was a real blessing youhappened along as you did."
Dr. Perkins and the boys could only repeat how glad they were to havedone what they could. Without waiting much longer, except tocongratulate Mrs. Thomas on her quick recovery, and to express the hopethat she would feel no bad effects from her experience, the voyage wasshortly resumed. But the adventure at the burning farm house longremained in the boys' memory,
and strengthened their attachment to the_Sea Eagle_.
Nearing New Orleans they caught a wireless message from Billy Barnestelling them that he had secured quarters for the _Sea Eagle_ inAlgiers, a suburb across the river from the city. That night one stageof the trip was concluded when, in answer to a signal given with a bluelamp, they dropped into a field on the outskirts of Algiers and housedthe _Sea Eagle_ in a large barn.
"Thunder and turtles!" cried Pudge when that night in the St. CharlesHotel they were relating their adventures. "You fellows have all the funand we do all the work."
"Never mind, Pudge," said Frank; "I guess we'll have adventures inplenty ahead of us when we try to locate the wreck of the _Belle of NewOrleans_."
"Which will be as soon as possible," said Dr. Perkins. "Our trip hastaken us longer than I anticipated, and there is a strong chance thatDuval may have got ahead of us."
"There's another reason for hurrying," declared Billy, who had justwired to his paper a long account of the _Sea Eagle's_ trip; "they saythat the river is rising. There have been unprecedented rainstorms andthe levees are weakening. Negroes are at work on them all along theline, but they doubt if they can make them hold if the river keepsrising."