The Great Airport Mystery

“Why, there’s a plane now!” he exclaimed. “We’ll be able to see it land.”

Above the roar of the car the boys could hear the hum of an approaching airplane. It came swooping down out of the sky beyond the hill.

“Seems to be flying mighty queerly,” commented Frank. “Usually they go along as smoothly as a bird.”

“Nothing smooth about that one. Maybe the pilot’s in trouble.”

The flight of the plane was indeed erratic. It was going from side to side in a jerky fashion and it seemed to be flying much closer to the ground than safety warranted.

“He’ll never reach the airport at that rate,” said Frank, looking back again. “He should be higher up than that. Look! He’s coming straight down, and the airport is a couple of miles away!”

“I hope he doesn’t land on the road. He might hit us.”

“If he lands on the road he’s in for a nasty crash. A plane has to have plenty of room to move around in.”

Between steering the roadster and eying the plane, Frank Hardy was well occupied. Joe kept looking back and staring at the descending machine.

“I believe that fellow is in trouble,” he said. “He’s coming down right this way.”

They could see the airplane quite clearly now. They could even see the figure of the pilot in the cockpit. The machine was descending at terrific speed in a long glide that made it seem inevitable that the plane would fall far short of the airport.

As they pressed close against the logs of the cabin they could hear a murmur of voices. They soon found a convenient chink in the logs where they could peep through. There, in the dimly lighted interior of the building, they saw Giles Ducroy, Ollie Jacobs, and Newt Pipps seated about a rude table, with a bottle and glasses before them.

“I tell you,” Ducroy was saying, “I know what I’m talking about. I’m giving you fellows a chance that lots of other men would jump at.”

“It sounds good,” admitted Jacobs, a short, ill-favored man with squint eyes. “But it’s mighty risky.”

“Nothing venture, nothing gain,” said Ducroy, taking a swig from the bottle.

“That’s true,” said Newt Pipps. “But I’m not anxious to get a bullet through me.”

“Bullets, nothing!” scoffed Ducroy. “We’ll get away with this as smooth as silk.”

“Maybe,” demurred Jacobs. “You say the money is sure to be there, all right?”

“I know it will be there. I wouldn’t tell you fellows about it if I wasn’t sure.”

Newt Pipps shrugged. “Well, I’m as brave as the next man,” he said, “but this is a mighty big job. It’s bigger than any I’ve ever tackled yet, and I can’t say I like it.”

“The bigger the job, the bigger the profit,” remarked Ducroy.

“Yes, and the bigger the risks, too.”

Ollie Jacobs looked around uneasily.

“Don’t talk so loud,” he said. “If anybody hears us, we’re done for.”

“Who could hear us?” demanded Ducroy, who was evidently half intoxicated. “That’s why I picked this cabin for a meeting place. There’s nobody within miles.”

“Not if we went about it right.” Joe was excited as the possibilities of his idea became more apparent. “Why can’t we be stowaways? Don’t you remember the time we hid ourselves in the back of the automobile when we solved the Shore Road mystery? We could hide here too. I’ve heard of airplane stowaways before.”

“It’s a nervy idea,” said Frank. “I wonder where we could hide?” He moved down toward the rear of the plane. Suddenly he halted. “Just what we want, Joe! Here’s an opening.” He thrust the sliding door aside and looked into the dark interior. The tail of the plane was hollow and he could see a substantial hiding place. Considerable space was available for freight or baggage and, inasmuch as Ducroy and his friends were travelling light, there was plenty of room for the two boys.

“How about it?” asked Joe.

“I’m game. But how about food? We’ll be in there for quite a while, you know.”

“We’ll get sandwiches and water. Some blankets too, for that matter. We’ll simply stow away in there and make ourselves comfortable. Then, if anything happens, we’ll be right on hand.”

“We’ll be right on hand too if the plane crashes,” Frank reminded his brother. “Perhaps we’ll weight it down too much.”

“I don’t think so. This plane is designed to carry baggage, and if that space is empty, we’ll never be noticed. I think we can get away with it, provided we have any luck at all.