“Won’t that plane ever come?” Beverly fretted, wiping perspiration from her neck. “We’ve been here an age now!”
“Only ten minutes,” Kathleen corrected.
“Well, it seems a year. Maybe there’s been a mix-up about plans,” Beverly went on. “I wish I’d stayed in camp. This trip will be hard and tiring.”
“Good experience though,” Judy said, continuing to scan the azure, almost cloudless sky. “It will be a test of skill to find our way to the right place, administer first aid, make improvised litters and carry our victims to help.”
“I hope we’re the first to get there,” Kathleen declared. “So far, Beaver Patrol hasn’t shown up too well in the camp competitions. That’s because all of the girls haven’t been together, especially in the evening. This is our chance.”
Judy suddenly sprang to her feet. She had been the first in the group to sight the Civil Air Patrol plane winging in from the east.
“Here it comes!” she cried. “They’ll be dropping a message in a moment. Watch sharp!”
All of the patrols now were alert and ready. The Scouts who had equipped themselves with field glasses, trained them on the approaching plane.
Its wings flashing in the sunlight, the ship came in low enough for the girls to see the forms of the pilot and his passenger. Three times the plane circled the tableland. Then on the fourth trip over, the message tube was dropped.
It missed the open table top by twenty feet, landing amid the trees and brush just below where the Beaver Patrol girls had taken their stand.