“It’s Willie and War all right!” Ken chortled. “They’ll probably drop a message because they can’t hope to land. I hope they’ve picked up some information that’s worth while!”
The plane circled three times. Mr. Livingston and the Scouts signaled their readiness to receive a message.
At length the cylinder was dropped. It flashed down, but was caught in a strong gust of wind, and deflected from its target. Jack saw it fall into a clump of bushes near the river.
Even as he and Ken started off to retrieve the cylinder, Rhodes came hurriedly across the bridge. From the grim expression of his face and his manner of walking, the Scouts instantly knew that he had seen the cylinder dropped from the plane.
“Quick!” Mr. Livingston urged the two Explorers. “Don’t let him see that message. If he gets it, all our plans will be ruined!”
Chapter 23
TRAILING RHODES
Scrambling over rocks and through a tangle of vines and bush, the two Scouts sought to obtain the cylinder before the mining engineer could do so.
At the risk of a bad fall, Jack half slid down a steep slope. The cylinder had tumbled into a crevice but he retrieved it before Rhodes could get there.
There was no opportunity to examine the message. In a matter of moments, Rhodes had joined him, moving cautiously because of his useless arm.
“Let me have that cylinder!” the engineer ordered.