“Mio,” he called softly. It was more by intuition than hearing that she located the caller for above them the destroyer was circling as close as it dared.
Jim wished that the parachutes had dark instead of light covers whose course could be followed through the night. He gave his undivided attention to his companion, and showed her how to catch hold of the ropes in order to spill air and direct her progress. She carefully followed his instructions, and at last they began to settle below the mist. Austin wasn’t sure that he had been over the valley when they jumped, and he strained to see what was below them. At first he could make out nothing but rolling mist, then, to one side, he caught a glimpse of fire, like a camp fire in the woods and he prayed that they were not coming down into a pack of the enemies.
CHAPTER IX
TAKEN FOR A RIDE
As they descended suspended like some kind of Christmas ornaments from the huge parachutes Austin had to keep on the alert that his companion came through the experience safely, but his mind was busy with various other matters as well. He could hear the plane that had set their own on fire circling above them and while he realized that for a time its pilot was forced to keep his distance he knew the man could have easily punctured their parachutes and riddled their bodies with bullets, but he did nothing of the sort, which did not seem in keeping with his former vicious determination to get them out of the sky. This was puzzling and something to be considered soberly.
The De Castro’s plane had shot down, buried its nose in the earth, and blazed so furiously for a moment that it lighted the vicinity in spite of the fog. Austin spilled air and saw that Mrs. Gonzalas did likewise so they would not land on the burning mass. They drifted past it, saw the brothers just a bit lower, and vague shapes wavered toward them, like arms reaching up. On the opposite side of the ruined airship was the bon-fire, but although Jim strained his ears to hear, not a voice reached him. He thought it might be possible that the campers were asleep, but that seemed hardly probable for surely the fusillade of shots above the valley must have been startling enough to have aroused the most sound sleeper.
The fact that there was no sign of activity added to the boy’s anxiety. Surely if it were merely a coincidence that they were dropping on someone’s camp, that someone would be moving about in an effort to fathom the mystery of a battle in the air. Just then they began to settle below a grove of trees and Jim, whose eyes were on the ground, sent their bodies a few feet further to escape branches. In a moment they would be on their feet, and they were.
“That was fine. I saw a fire, so we are fortunate to have fallen near someone,” Mrs. Gonzalas said happily. Just then her husband succeeded in releasing himself from the chute and rushing to her closed her in a warm embrace.
“Mio, you are safe,” he choked, while his brother thoughtfully undid straps for the woman.
“That fire, we will investigate,” Arto suggested.