“The short walk will do me good,” added Watkins, but Ralph decided to ride.
“Carson told us the whole story and says I’m to fly over in the morning and land near Auburn,” he said. “Will you be there?”
“That’s hard to say, but if I’m not you wait for me even if you have to stay there a couple of days.”
“Sounds like a vacation trip.”
“It may be anything but that.” Then, thinking of the big amphibian and Jack Sladek and his bodyguards, he added: “The amphibian Sladek came in is in the hangar next to the one we use. If I leave you at the field, do you suppose you could fix it so they’d be delayed several hours getting their motor started in the morning?”
“It’s as good as done,” said Ralph. “With this flight on tomorrow I’ll have an excuse to visit the field.”
Tim left Ralph at the airport and sped on alone toward the valley of the mighty Cedar.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A Sudden Attack
For the first fifty miles of the trip the roads were hard-surfaced and Tim sped along at a fast pace, the long, powerful coupe eating up the miles. But after that it was harder going. The roads were poorly marked and badly rutted. Tim was forced to drive well under thirty miles an hour and as he neared the valley the country grew more rugged, the road turning and twisting, climbing laboriously up one hill and then skidding down another.
He lost almost half an hour when he ran into a local shower and had to get out and put on the chains. Once or twice the big coupe skidded badly but he managed to hold it on to the road. At dawn he was deep into the valley of the Cedar, the narrow road was dry again, and he took off the chains.