“Get them?” cried Captain Raymond.
“They got us,” said Tim. “We spotted their burning car and landed to have a look. While we were hunting around their wrecked machine they slipped behind us and stole the Good News. If you look east, you may see a speck against the clouds. That’s the Good News and they’re in it.”
Captain Raymond stared incredulously at Tim.
“You mean to tell me you let them steal your plane?” he demanded.
“I’m afraid that’s about right,” put in Ralph. “We didn’t exactly offer them the plane but they helped themselves anyway.”
Captain Raymond broke into a hearty laugh, but stopped abruptly as he saw the expressions on the faces of Tim and Ralph.
“You wouldn’t blame me for laughing,” he said, “if you could have seen the woebegone looks on your faces just now. Come on, cheer up. They pulled a fast one on you this time but they won’t do it again. We were pretty close this time; next time we’ll be close enough so we can land them in jail. Pile into the car, boys and we’ll swing further east, picking up what information we can on the direction in which they are heading.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Twenty-five miles east of the place where the bandits had stolen the Good News, Tim, Ralph and the state police came upon the crumpled remains of the plane.
From all indications the bandits had landed safely, then opened the throttle and sent the Good News charging into a clump of trees. The wings of the crimson plane had folded back along the fuselage, the propeller was splintered into a thousand bits and it was generally ready for the scrap heap.