And this was the same Jose whom Andy had been saying such hard things against only a short time before; but then circumstances alter cases; and right now Jose was risking his life in defense of the little girl whom he had for some reason kidnapped from her home.
When they had been observing these things some time back they may have been as much as ten miles away from the scene of spirited action; but as the biplane was spinning along at a tremendous pace, in spite of the belief of Andy that it did not seem to be doing its best, this distance was being rapidly diminished.
Whenever the shots came now they were plainly heard, as the air seemed to be directly in the faces of the aeroplane boys while thus heading into the south.
And Andy also noticed that they kept gradually sinking just a little lower as they proceeded. Had he been able to allow himself time to think this over, he must have guessed why Frank was doing this; and that he wanted to avoid being discovered by the Indians until he could suddenly burst upon their vision in a terrifying apparition, frightening them so badly that they would only think of making a hasty flight.
Well, things were going on at such a pace now that whatever the outcome might prove to be, it would soon be over. In a couple of minutes at most the oncoming air wonder must have arrived so close to the scene of the disturbance that its presence could no longer be concealed from the sharp eyes of the Indians. Some warrior whose eyesight had not been so seriously impaired by the strong drink he had purchased from some bootlegger or trader, would while peeping around a sand dune, suddenly discover that dreadful apparition coming straight through the air, with an angry mutter that could only mean the sore displeasure of the Great Spirit, whose messenger this frightful object must be.
And when this occurred, Frank was rather inclined to believe there would be a scamper on the part of the frolicking Indians such as had not been seen on this same desert for many a day.
Luckily they could depend on the stability of their machine; and every particular part of the framework had been carefully gone over just the preceding day by the one whose hand now controlled the levers by means of which the aeroplane was guided on its way through space.
Hence, there was little likelihood of any accident happening. Frank did not allow the thought of such a thing to enter into his calculations. He placed the fullest dependence upon those staunch steel guys and the faithful little motor that never yet had failed him in time of need.
“Oh! will we ever get there?” groaned Andy.
“Keep cool, and hold on; we’re doing fine!” was Frank’s advice.