CHAPTER XVIII
_In Pursuit of the "Pursuit"_
From the moment that Ted Mackay had been shot by the thief who stoleKitty Clavering's necklace, everything had gone wrong for him. Not onlyhad he been wounded and forced to lose time from work, but the newplane, which was worth thousands of dollars to his company, had beenstolen. And, in view of the fact that the robber was not a licensedpilot, it was very unlikely that the plane would stand the test, evenif it were ever recovered.
Then, added to his other troubles, Ted had been accused of being inleague with the thief! Ralph Clavering believed he was guilty, and sodid Mr. Carlton. But what worried him most was whether Linda thought sotoo.
The little nurse at the hospital had been a great comfort, believing inTed as she did, implicitly, from the first. But when he had gone home,he said nothing to his mother of the suspicions aroused against him.The good woman had enough to worry about, with the unhappy life sheled, and the constant menace of his father's returning in trouble orin need of money. But Ted's conscience was clear; all the detective'sin the world could not make him a criminal when he knew that he wasinnocent.
He wasn't surprised, however, when two men arrived at his home the dayafter he had reached it. Two plainclothes men, with warrants for hisarrest.
His first anxiety was of course for his mother. If she should believethat he was following in his father's footsteps! Why, at her age, andafter all she had been through, the shock might kill her! Her onecomfort in life had always been that her three children were fine,honest citizens, that her teaching and training had been rewarded.
Fortunately when the detectives arrived, she was out in the back yard,working in her little garden. But what could Ted do? To argue withthese men would only arouse her attention, bring her hurrying to thefront porch to see what was the matter. For she seemed to live in dailyfear of trouble between her husband and the law.
"But you have no evidence to arrest me," Ted objected, quietly, inanswer to the man's brusque statement.
"You are wrong there! We have evidence. The gasoline agent, who soldyou gas for the plane. The description fits you perfectly--a great bigfellow, with red hair. Besides, you were caught in the very place wherethe other thief escaped."
"But I had nothing to do with it! I can prove it!"
"How?"
"By other men in the company----"
"Are they here?" interrupted the detective, with a hard, sneering look.
"No--but----"
"Then you will come with us until such time as you prove yourinnocence. One of us will go inside with you while you get whateverthings you want."
Ted looked about him helplessly. Oh, how could he keep the news fromhis mother? It would break her heart!
And his career! What would this sort of thing do to that? Did itmean that, just as he was hoping to make his mark in the world, andrendering valuable assistance to his family, all must stop? With agesture of utter despair he gazed up into the skies, where he heard thenoise of an airplane, coming nearer and lower.
For a moment the other men forgot their duties, and likewise lookedup into the air. For the plane was certainly flying very low indeed,actually circling over their heads. And its roar was insistent; itwould not be ignored.
At last it became plain to Ted that the pilot wanted to land. So theyoung man held up his arm and pointed to field on the right of hishouse.
Wondering what its business could be, and interested in the plane aseverybody is, although it is a common sight, the detectives waited tofind out what would happen.
What they actually saw was certainly worth looking at. The pilot was anexperienced flyer, and his landing, in the small area of this field,was as neat as anything they had ever witnessed. Both men watched withadmiration and awe.
When the motor had been turned off, and the pilot stepped from theplane, Ted recognized him instantly. Sam Hunter--the best salesman, themost experienced flyer of their company!
"Sam!" he exclaimed with genuine pleasure, for although Ted had beenwith his firm only a short time, this man was an old friend.
"Ted! Old boy! How are you?" cried the other, clasping his hand in ahearty handshake. "How's the shoulder?"
"Pretty good," replied Ted. "I'm ready to go back to work, if I takeit a little easy. But--" he paused and glanced at the two men besidehim--"these fellows don't want to let me."
"Doctors?" inquired Sam, though Ted's manner of referring to themseemed queer--almost rude. He hadn't introduced them--a courtesy duethem if they were doctors, or men in any way worthy of respect.
"They're detectives," explained Ted. "Sorry I can't introduce you, Sam,but they did not favor me with their names. They've come here with awarrant for my arrest."
"By heck!" ejaculated Sam. "Then the little lady was right! The prettyaviatrix who was so worried about you! And I'm just in time!"
"I don't know what you mean."
Sam put his hand into his pocket, and produced the paper which Mr.Jordan had dictated and three of the men had signed. He handed it tothe detectives, both of whom read it at once.
"All right," said one of them, briefly, as he handed it back to Sam."Good-by."
Without another word they turned and fled to their automobile andimmediately drove away.
Ted stood gazing at Sam in amazement, unable to understand what hisfriend had done, how he had been able to accomplish what seemed like amiracle. In a few words the latter told him of Linda's visit, and herinsistence upon the written alibi.
He finished his explanation and Ted had just time to warn Sam not tomention the matter to his mother, when the latter appeared, dressed ina clean linen, beaming at both the boys.
"Are you willing to have me take Ted back again?" asked Sam, after hehad been introduced. "Because we need him, if he's well enough to go."
"I'll be sorry to lose him, of course," she answered with a motherlysmile. "But I always want Ted to do his duty. And I think he'll be allright if he is careful. But first let me give you an early supper, sothat you can do most of your flying by daylight."
Sam accepted the invitation with pleasure, and as the boys sat down atfive o'clock to that splendid home-cooked meal, it seemed to Ted thathe was perfectly happy again. He knew now that his company believed inhis innocence; best of all, he had the reassurance that Linda Carltonshared that opinion!
It was good to be in a plane again, he thought, as they took off, halfan hour later. Good to be up in the skies, with Sam--who was a friendindeed!
The whole trip was pleasant, and Mr. Jordan's greeting was just ascordial as Sam's. When the former heard what a life-saver his messagehad been, he was more impressed than ever with the cleverness of thetwo girls who had visited him.
"And if you'd like to see them and thank them yourself," he continued,"I'll arrange for you to combine it with a visit to our Denver field.The girls are out there in Colorado, they said--'Sunny Hills', Ibelieve the name of the village is."
"Thank you, sir!" cried Ted, in delight and gratitude. "I don't deservethat--after letting that other plane get away from me!"
"Not your fault a bit!" protested the older man. "We've got insurance.Still--if you could happen to sell one on your trip, it would be a bighelp to us."
"I'll do my best, Mr. Jordan. Now--when do I start?"
"Tomorrow morning. At dawn, if you like."
So it happened that when Linda and Louise were taking off for theirtrip to Texas, that was halted so sadly, Ted Mackay, at the very samehour, was flying to Denver.
He reached his destination without mishap, and went back to Sunny Hillsthat night. He had some difficulty in finding the place, stopping asthe girls had, at the airport to inquire, and reaching the Stillmanestate about ten o'clock that night.
Thinking naturally that the airplane was Linda's, and that the girlswere back again for some reason, Roger and his brothers went out towelcome them.
Ted explained quickly that he was a friend of Miss Carlton--it was thefirst time he had ever made such a
statement, and there was pride inhis tone--and that, as he had just been to Denver, he wanted to stopover here and see her for a few minutes.
"Shucks! That's too bad!" exclaimed Roger with regret. "Miss Carltonleft this morning for her father's ranch in Texas."
Ted's smile faded; the ranch was the one place where he could not visitLinda.
"But you must come in and make yourself at home. Stay all night--youwon't want to fly any more tonight. Why!" he cried, noticing Ted'sbandage, "you've been hurt!"
"Last week," replied the other. "It's almost well now. But--really,Mr. Stillman, though I thank you, I have no right to impose on yourhospitality!"
"It's a pleasure, I'm sure. Besides, I want to look at your plane bydaylight. I'm in the market for a new airplane. My old one's beingrepaired now, but it's so hopelessly out of date I thought I'd try totrade it in."
Instantly Ted became the business man, the salesman, and while heaccepted Roger's invitation to put his plane into the other's hangar,he told of all its merits.
So interested were they that they talked for an hour before they wentinto the house. Then Roger was all apologies, for he knew Ted had hadno supper.
He hunted his mother, who was sitting disconsolately at the telephone.
"I'm worried about the girls," she told them. "They didn't phone fromthe ranch, as they promised, and I have just finished calling it, bylong distance. They haven't arrived."
"But they had plenty of time!" insisted Roger. "They started at seveno'clock this morning!"
"Something must have happened," said Mrs. Stillman, anxiously."Airplanes are so dangerous!"
"I think I know why--if anything did happen," explained Roger, slowly."It isn't airplanes that are so dangerous as inexperienced pilots. Ifound out that Dan had Linda's plane out last night, alone."
"Dan?" Mrs. Stillman was horrified. "But he never flew alone in hislife!"
"No, because I saw to it that he didn't. But he admitted that heborrowed the Arrow last night."
"This is serious," put in Ted. "We ought to do something--right away!"
"What can we do? I made the girls a map, but they may be off theircourse. I have no plane--and your time's not your own, Mr. Mackay."
"But I'll have to do something!" cried Ted, excitedly. "Even if I losemy job on account of it! It may be a question of life or death!"
"I'll tell you what I'll do," decided Roger. "I'll buy that plane ofyours. I want it anyhow. And tomorrow morning at dawn we'll go on asearch.... Now, mother, can you give Mr. Mackay something to eat--and aroom?"
Gratefully the young man accepted the hospitable offers of his newfriends and, pleased with the sale he had put through, he fellinstantly asleep, not to awaken until Roger both knocked at his doorand threw pillows at him the next morning.
He dressed and they left in short order, after a hearty breakfast,however, and armed with a lunch perhaps not so dainty as that providedfor the girls, but at least as satisfying. Roger reconstructed the map,like the one he had made for Linda, and they flew straight for thenearest airport.
Unfortunately, however, they got no information there, no news of awreck, or of two girls flying in a biplane. But their time was notwasted, for they took the opportunity to question one of the flyers whoseemed familiar with the territory around him. They asked particularlyabout the more lonely, desolate parts of the near-by country, where anairplane accident would not quickly be discovered.
"There's a stretch about ten miles south of here," the man informedthem, indicating a spot on Roger's rough map. "Not a farm or a village,as far as I know, except one old shack where a German lives. He hidthere during the War, because he didn't want to be sent home, and hehas continued to live on there ever since. He has a sort of garden, Ibelieve--just enough to keep him alive--with the fish he catches. And afew apple trees. Once in a while he drives in here with his apples. Icould tell you pretty near where he lives, because I was stranded thereonce myself. You could drop down and ask him if he heard any planes."
Eagerly the two young men marked the spot and set off once more intheir plane, flying in the direction indicated. Before nine o'clockthey came to the shack, which was the building that Linda and Louisehad spied at a distance. They found the man frying fish on a fire infront of his tumble-down house.
Their landing had been of sufficient distance to avoid frighteninghim, but near enough for him to hear them. They hurried towards him,Roger almost shouting the question about the girls, before he actuallyreached him.
But, like Linda and Louise, when they tried to talk to this man, Rogerreceived a shrug of his shoulders in reply, and a muttered, "Nichtversteh."
Unlike the girls, however, Roger commanded a good knowledge of German,and he translated the question with ease into the foreign language.
To both flyers' unbounded delight, they were rewarded with theinformation that they so longed to hear. The girls were safe--and notfar away!