CHAPTER XXII
A TERRIBLE MOMENT ON OLD THUNDER TOP.
That settled it!
Andy had been holding in his breath while this short conversation was being held between the rival pilots of the aircraft, with voices raised to shouts.
"Are you going to give it up, Frank?" he questioned anxiously, as the other once more let his new Kinkaid engine out to its utmost, so that they began to forge to the front again.
Frank hardly knew what to do. Prudence dictated that he decline to risk his life and that of his cousin in such a foolhardy attempt to fulfill the conditions of the race. And yet he did hate most unmercifully to show the white feather. What lad with red blood in his veins does not? And then there was Andy, who, seeing his state of wavering uncertainty, began to plead with him to try the thing.
"Frank, don't let 'em crow over us!" he went on, the fever still in his blood. "We can do it, all right, you know. It'd only take a few minutes to wheel around that bald old peak three times; and then a long dip will carry us clear to the campus. Frank, head for Old Thunder Top! Show him he ain't the only Bloomsbury aviator that's got nerve!"
And so Frank decided. Possibly he might regret his choice when it was too late; but having taken the jump, he began to gradually rise, so as to get on a level with the high peak.
"He's right after us, Frank!" commented Andy, seeking by that means to keep the determination of his cousin from growing slack.
"So is the storm!" thought Frank, as he realized that already some of the advance couriers of the cloud bank had raced up, and were even then around them.
Sitting there, with his teeth pressed firmly together, Frank realized that by deciding on accepting the challenge Percy had so scornfully thrown to him, he had indeed taken big chances.
Would they ever live to finish that race; or must the wind, when it finally bore down upon them, send both aeroplanes, together with their occupants, to a terrible fate far below?
It was now too late to change his course. And besides, Frank was not even at this moment fully ready to throw up the sponge. Perhaps the storm would kindly hold off a little longer, as sometimes happened, and give them a fair chance to go around the peak of the bald mountain thrice before heading for home.
"Hang the old clouds!" cried Andy. "The folks won't be able to follow us around each time. And if Percy chooses to turn tail, and cut for home, declaring that he did the bend three times who's going to prove it a lie, tell me?"
"Oh, some of them have fine glasses, and you may be sure they're on us about every second. They'd get his number, all right; just let him try some of that funny business, that's all," Frank replied.
Andy said no more. Truth to tell, the conditions surrounding them were by now beginning to look fearfully desperate, with those billowing clouds at times shutting out all view of the earth so far below.
Frank had only eyes for the rocky top of the mountain, though he knew that he must presently also keep constant watch for the rival aeroplane; for Percy might elect to pass around the other way, there being no stipulated course about it; and in that event there was always the chance of a collision.
When racing such a reckless fellow, one had to make his eyes do double duty, as Frank Bird had learned long ago.
He could see the pair of white-headed eagles soaring around the top of the mountain, as though glorying in the battle of Nature's forces that was so soon to be opened. Frank inwardly wished they were as capable of finding shelter as those sagacious birds.
"Watch out for the other biplane, Andy!" he called, in the ear of his chum, as he started on his first circuit around Old Thunder Top.
His last words were fairly drowned in a peal of thunder, that seemed to announce the near approach of the gale. Even then there was possibly time for them to have made Bloomsbury, had they been content with just one spin around the bald knob of the great rocky height. But the conditions of the race said three; and Percy meant to hold them to the letter of the contract.
Frank well knew that far away in the home town anxious hearts were beating, as loving eyes kept glued to the fieldglasses—he could easily understand that not a few among the applauding spectators would ten thousand times rather the race were lost than that these terrible chances were taken. Yet he had started, and there could be no help for it now, however much he would have liked to give the thing up.
Doubtless others were admiring the pluck shown; but then these had no personal interest in the lives of the young adventurers.
They had now finished the first circuit and were starting on the second. Under normal conditions it would have been next to nothing to Frank to guide his biplane around the head of Old Thunder Top twice more. But with such dreadful surroundings it required all the nerve of which he could boast not to turn and shoot downward after making that initial circuit.
The clouds were beginning to scurry around them now, showing that the wind was arriving. Frank knew this when he once more started around the peak, for he met it head on.
This meant another peril. He had to keep his wits fully about him, lest a sudden flaw tilt the biplane over. And it was at that moment of uncertainty that the young aviator had reason to rejoice because of that new device under the aeroplane whereby an automatic balance was maintained between the planes.
Birdmen who have attempted to show their ability to manage an aeroplane close to a big city like New York claim that their greatest danger arises from the numerous gusts of wind that come out of the deep canyons formed by the skyscraper buildings.
"There they go!" screeched Andy, suddenly.
Frank received something of a start, for the other aeroplane shot past not more than thirty feet away from the tip of his port plane. It had been a narrow escape from a calamity that might have cost all their lives; for Percy, for some unaccountable reason, had chosen to pass around the summit of Old Thunder Top in just the opposite way from that they had taken.
How foolhardy to keep this up! It was next door to madness, Frank concluded. He was determined to have nothing more to do with it, but give over the idea of fulfilling the conditions of the race.
Was it too late to think of making the home town? Would the hovering gale swoop down on them when half way, and in the twinkling of an eye wind up their mortal careers?
Frank had learned his lesson. He was grimly determined that if good fortune allowed him to get out of this scrape alive he would never again allow himself to be tempted into a thing that he positively knew to be rash beyond all description.
But it might be too late now. The storm would soon come riding along with a rush and a roar. Sorry, indeed, the frail aeroplane caught in its merciless grip. A handful of straw would not be scattered more quickly by the onrushing blast than the pitiful frame that went to make up the imitation bird.
Even the eagles had mounted higher out of reach of the storm; or else sought some snug retreat among the rocks, where they could bid it defiance; at any rate had utterly lost all sight of the king birds.
But where was Bloomsbury? How would he know which way to turn, when desirous of fleeing before the threatening storm? The clouds had gathered in such force that it was now utterly impossible to see the earth far below. And how pitiful to think of those two little aeroplanes isolated so far away from any shelter.
At such a time it behooved one to do his thinking quickly. Andy was really of no use just then, for he had become really frightened by the darkness gathering around them; realizing at last what folly it had been in accepting that dare on the part of reckless Percy. So Frank knew that he must depend entirely upon himself, if he yet hoped to escape the consequence of their rashness.
Another thought flashed across the active mind of Frank Bird just then. Would it be possible for them to alight on the summit of Old Thunder Top? And even granted that such a difficult feat might be safely engineered, could they find any way of staying there while the storm raged?
He made up his mind on the spur of the moment. It was simply madness to think of shooting downward now. The storm hung low, and most of its violence would be apt to pass by beneath the height marking that lofty crown. Yes, the safest thing for them in the long run would be to land on the rock, as they had done several times before, and then seek to save their lives, no matter what became of the biplane.
Money would purchase another aeroplane; but money could never restore a lost life. So Frank reduced the speed at which he was rushing around the top of the rocky mountain.
If the wind would only hold back another minute he believed he would be able to make it. But Andy must know, for he would have to hold himself ready to jump at the proper second, so as to stop the fluttering air craft before it went beyond the further edge.
At least one thing was in his favor as he turned back to make the second circuit, as Andy believed; the air currents were from the west, and they faced them now; hence the biplane was in the proper shape to effect a landing; birds almost invariably drop to earth facing the breeze, and not with it.
"I'm going to land on top, Andy!" he shouted, knowing that the other would be panic-stricken by the fact that he had shut off nearly all the power.
"Oh! why?" cried his cousin.
"It's our only chance; we could never get to the ground! Be ready to jump like you did before! Watch out, now, Andy!"
"I'm ready, Frank!"
Andy tried to control his voice when he shouted this; but it was quavering sadly, what with his fright, and belief that the very end of all things had probably come for them. The lightning was flashing savagely, and the boom of the thunder down below sounded like the discharge of tons of dynamite.
It was just in between these sounds, when a silence of a few seconds happened to brood over the wild scene, that Frank heard loud cries. They came from the top of the rock close by, just where they were heading for at that very moment.
"They've struck the rock, and been smashed!" shrieked Andy, whose face was undoubtedly the color of a piece of yellow parchment, if the horrible state of his feelings was any index.
Frank had already guessed as much himself; but just then it became necessary that he give his whole and undivided attention to their own chances for making a landing; or else, if a flaw of wind came just at the wrong time their aeroplane might also meet with the same fate that had overtaken that of Percy.
"Now! jump, Andy!" he called, as the bicycle wheels struck the surface of the rocky plateau.
Even the rising wind assisted in halting their progress, and both boys were able to drop out of their seats. Most fellows would have immediately thrown themselves down on the rock, thinking only of saving their lives; for there was real danger of their being swept off the exposed plateau, should the wind become very violent, as was to be expected at such an altitude.
Even at such a frightful time Frank's ready wits did not desert him. He instantly seized a stout rope, and commenced fastening the engine of the biplane to an upturned point of rock, which seemed just made for an anchorage. Andy caught the spirit that animated his cousin, and did what he could to secure the biplane; not that either of them had much hope of its being spared to them.
They had hardly managed to do all that lay in their power when with a roar the storm broke. The next few minutes would decide whether they were to retain their grip on life, or be hurled down to the cruel rocks below.
Frank clutched his cousin by the arm, and began dragging him across the top of the plateau, both of them bending low so as to escape the worst of the wind's fury. And from the confident manner in which he drew Andy, the latter began to pluck up fresh hope; for it seemed possible that Frank knew of some sort of refuge.