CHAPTER XXVII
THE LONE FIGURE
“Well, for the love of guns! how did that get there?” asked Bob.
“Landed after it smashed our carburetor,” was Jerry’s reply. “At leastthat’s my theory.”
“But who shot it at us?” Ned demanded. “Some of those crazy cowboys, Iguess, who got so excited when we made flights over their heads.”
“It wasn’t there when we started out this morning,” said Jerry, “for Iwent over the propeller blades with a fine tooth comb, so to speak. Andcertainly the carburetor was all right.”
“That’s so,” admitted Ned, scratching his head. “Then----”
“The puffs of smoke down below us!” interrupted Bob. “Was it someoneshooting a revolver at us, Jerry?”
“Not a revolver, Bob. That wouldn’t carry as high as we were. Thisis a bullet from a high-powered rifle, and it’s lucky it smashed thecarburetor instead of us.”
“But who in the world could have fired it?” went on Ned. “If it wasthe professor, firing in the air signaling for help, he surely wouldhave seen us and been a bit more careful.”
“It wasn’t the professor,” declared Jerry. “He hasn’t a rifle, and Idoubt if he would know how to fire one if he had.”
“Then you think----” began Bob.
“I think, Chunky, that we’d better look about a bit,” was Jerry’sreply. “There may be some traces here that we could pick up which wouldhelp us solve the cattle mystery.”
“Good idea!” said Ned. “Let’s look about.”
They scurried about the site of their first camp, but it was not soeasy to read any signs there as they had hoped.
“But there was certainly someone here firing at us from shelter, whilewe were up in the air,” declared Ned. “Those puffs of smoke Bob and Isaw were from a rifle, and not a campfire.”
“My idea, too,” put in Jerry. “The question is who was shooting at us,why and where is he?”
“Three questions, and three of us to answer ’em,” remarked Bob. “Forthe first I’ll say it was one of the cattle thieves.”
“Probably,” agreed Jerry. “No one else hostile is in this neighborhood,as far as I know.”
“As for why,” mused Ned, “it must have been because he wanted todisable us, so we couldn’t continue the pursuit.”
“Probably that’s right,” assented Jerry. “And for the thirdquestion--where is he?--that’s for us to find out. I don’t imaginethough, that he’s anywhere around here now. When he saw us coming downhe probably ran away.”
“Or he might be in hiding within ten feet of us, watching us now, andhearing everything we say,” commented Bob, and at his own words helooked half-apprehensively over his shoulder.
The boys stood silent, thinking this last statement over. But as theplace about them gave no sign of life they came to the conclusion thatthe unknown rifleman had made good his escape.
“But just to make sure we’ll have another look around,” suggestedJerry, and they scoured over the fields, penetrated a little way intothe wood and looked behind clumps of bushes. No one did they see,however, and then Jerry remarked:
“Well, let’s look after our airship. We haven’t begun to do any realscouting in her yet. This is only the starting point of our search. Weought to cover a good deal of ground before night.”
“If we can go on,” supplemented Ned.
“Oh, there’s no serious damage done,” Jerry said. “We have a sparecarburetor.”
“Will that bullet in the propeller weaken it any?” Bob inquired.
“Not in the slightest. The old machine will soon be as good as ever.”
It was not quite so easy to put in a new carburetor as Jerry hadthought, however, for the bullet that put out of commission this verynecessary part of the motor’s equipment had also smashed a feed pipe.
There was an extra piece in one of the lockers, however, and this wasinserted after about an hour’s work. A test of the machine showed thatit was again in shape for the duty required of it, and having rolled itto a stretch of level ground the boys prepared to set off once more.
Up and up rose the great bird-like affair of wood, steel and canvas andthe deserted camp was soon but a speck below them.
“Now if that fellow takes it into his head to fire again, and smashesour other carburetor, we’re done for,” observed Ned.
“I don’t believe he will,” responded Jerry, and he proved a trueprophet. For while the tall lad was at the wheel, Ned and Bob kept asharp watch down below. There were no more puffs of smoke, and theairship was soon so high up that no ordinary missile could reach it.
“And now what’s your plan?” asked Ned of his tall chum.
“Well, I think we’ll fly over the mountain in a straight line west fromthe rocky defile, in which the disappearance of the cattle seem to havetaken place. I have an idea there may be some way of getting under themountain, by means of a tunnel, perhaps.”
“It would have to be _some_ tunnel,” observed Ned, for they were flyingacross the flat mountain top now, and could see that it extended forseveral miles.
“Well, it might be one made by nature. Probably is, if there’s one inexistence,” Jerry said.
On and on they flew, now circling to the right, and again to the leftin an endeavor to cover as much ground as possible. But they sawnothing that would lead to a solution of the mystery.
All that day was spent in flying about, peering here and there throughthe powerful glasses, the airship moving along at a low elevation sothe boys might make more careful observations.
“Well, we don’t seem to have done much the first day,” observed Bob, asthey descended to a level, sandy plain as night settled down. “All wecan do is to get something to eat and go to bed.”
“There’s another day to-morrow,” remarked Ned, “so don’t eat upeverything to-night.”
“No danger!” exclaimed Jerry. “Chunky brought along enough for a smallarmy.”
“Well, I’m as hungry as half an army myself!” laughed the stout lad.
“Going to stand guard to-night?” Ned asked, as they proceeded to makethe cabin of the earth-fast airship snug and comfortable.
“Well, I don’t know but that it would be a good idea,” agreed Jerry,after a moment of thought. “Of course we’re a good way from where thatfellow shot at us, but that isn’t saying he hasn’t some confederatesin this place. Yes, it wouldn’t be a bad plan to sit the night out inthree watches. They won’t be such very long ones. I’ll take first, as Ican always sleep better in the rear end of the night.”
“I wake up early, so I’ll take last watch,” volunteered Ned.
This gave Bob the middle watch, and he and Ned went to bed about nineo’clock, Jerry making a fire not far from the airship, so the blazewould serve to illuminate a space around the craft.
Somehow Jerry was distinctly nervous as he assumed his watch. Therehad been strenuous times since he and his chums had come to Square Zranch, and there had been much to cause them worry. Of course, thedisappearance of the professor was the most important. The loss ofthe cattle was serious, naturally, but both Mr. Baker and Mr. Sladewere men of wealth and would not be ruined even if they lost the wholeranch. Still, Jerry and his chums felt an eager desire to solve themystery. They felt the same excitement and determination as when tryingto win a baseball or football championship.
Though Jerry kept eager watch, his vigil was not disturbed save by theapproach of timid animals of the night, which made off at the sight ofthe fire.
Nor were the watches of Bob or Ned fruitful of any results. Nedthought, just as the east was beginning to be light, that he hearda suspicious sound at the rear of the airship. He ran to the placeimmediately but all he saw was a small deer that was nosing the rudderand licking it, doubtless with the hope that it was coated with salt.The animal sprang away in alarm at the lad’s approach.
“Well, this is getting pretty close to our time limit,” observed Jerryas, after breakfast, they set of
f through the air once more. “If wedon’t have any luck now----”
“It’s give up for ours!” declared Ned with a sigh.
It was toward noon, when they were flying over a small valley, thatBob, looking down through the observation window in the floor of thecabin, cried:
“Look, you fellows!”
Ned sprang forward, and Jerry, at the wheel, leaned to one side to look.
Down below, standing on a big rock, was the solitary figure of a man,and he seemed trying to signal to them.