But what had happened to Wallace? Let us go over the day’s events and find out.
Wallace completed his flying lesson at about nine-thirty. He mounted his bicycle and quickly left the airport, eager to return to town to be with the boys who depended upon him to pitch in the game. He peddled along steadily. Just as he was about to enter the outskirts of the town, he heard a hissing sound. Jumping off his wheel, he discovered that his rear tire was fast going flat. There was nothing to do but walk and push his bike along. Less than a quarter of a mile further on, he came to Jim’s filling station and he decided that he might as well patch his tire right then and there. He found Jim busy greasing a car. “Hello, there,” he called out, “how’re the young aviators getting along?”
“Fine, Jim. Do you mind if I use your shop to patch a hole in my tire?”
“Not at all. Help yourself.”
“Thanks, Jim.”
Wallace walked into the shop. He knew where to find the materials and tools he needed. Losing no time, he set himself to his job. It didn’t take him long. Then in about ten minutes, as he was coming out of the shop, he stopped dead in his tracks. He was just inside the doorway and he saw Jim gassing a Ford roadster. But it was the man at the wheel that caused him to freeze in his tracks. It was the stranger—the man who had tried to convince them to move camp up in the mountains. Wallace for the moment forgot all about the baseball game and thought only of how he could follow the man. He quickly stored the bicycle away in a corner where it wouldn’t be noticed, then he entered the office through the shop and emerged by the opposite door which placed him in a strategic position behind the wall. Wallace heard the grind of the gears as the driver started off. As the car passed him, he sprang forth and jumped onto the bumper in back of the car, holding tightly to the spare tire.
Wallace wondered where the driver was heading, when suddenly the car made a right turn and Wallace realized that this was the road to the mountain. For some seconds he was worried as well as mystified. If the driver was going up to the mountain, there was no telling when he would return and Wallace became afraid that he might miss the game. On the other hand, his curiosity was aroused, for he knew that the road ran for about five miles to the foot of the mountain and then it became a foot path. How then could he go all the way up in the car? The only alternative was to wait and see.
Wallace hung on for dear life. At approximately a quarter of a mile before the end of the road, there was a farm house. As far as he knew, no one lived there. Yet a driveway, which appeared to be in constant use, led off the road and was kept closed by a double-door gate. The car turned off the road into this driveway without stopping and the automobile pushed the doors apart. The doors of the gate were on swinging hinges, and swung back again into place as soon as the automobile passed. In the meanwhile the car proceeded to the back of the house. Wallace feared that he might be discovered, yet there was nothing he could think of doing, should he be noticed. To his relief, however, the car kept moving beyond the house, passed between two large elm trees and then came out on a one lane dirt road. Looking back, Wallace saw that the dirt road was entirely hidden by trees and could not be seen from the main road. He marveled at the deception and cleverness of the gang of arms smugglers—for by now he was convinced that they were arms smugglers—and wondered whether it was worth it for them to go such lengths of deception. But the fact that they did, showed that they must have considered it worth the trouble and expense.
In the meanwhile, the car rode along, the wheels sinking into holes and bouncing over rocks. More than one time Wallace was nearly thrown, but he managed to hold on. On either side of the dirt road were the woods. The road turned and twisted in many directions but always headed toward where he was sure the cave was situated. Judging by the speed and the time, the car had gone about ten miles beyond the main road. The driver stopped suddenly, leaving the car in the middle of the road. In the next instant the stranger was out of the car and at once entered the woods. His heart palpitating, Wallace hid behind the car and waited. He was anxious not to lose his man but he was still more anxious not to be caught. Who knows what they might do to him if they ever laid hands on him! Arms smugglers were obliged by necessity to be tough, hard men and would have no mercy on anyone who might give them away. Wallace shuddered as these thoughts flew through his mind. Yet he was undaunted and would not turn back.