Wings Over the Rockies; Or, Jack Ralston's New Cloud Chaser Read online

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  WINGS OVER THE ROCKIES

  Or

  Jack Ralston's New Cloud Chaser

  by

  AMBROSE NEWCOMB

  Author of "The Sky Detectives," "Eaglesof the Sky," etc., etc.

  Published byThe Goldsmith Publishing Co.Chicago

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  Copyright 1930The Goldsmith Publishing Co.

  Made in U. S. A.

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  CONTENTS

  I WAITING FOR ORDERS II PERK GROWS SUSPICIOUS III THE HOLD-UP IV A CHANCE CLUE V WHEN A COG SLIPPED VI CYCLONE PROVES GAME VII THEY ARE OFF VIII BIRDS OF A FEATHER IX THE THREATENING CRASH X FLYING BLIND XI AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY XII IN THE COLORADO CANYON COUNTRY XIII A STRANDED PLANE XIV JACK MAKES A DISCOVERY XV THE HAND OF FATE XVI SUZANNE INSISTS XVII THE CAMP IN THE CANYON XVIII THE VIGILANT GUARD XIX OVER-ZEALOUS PERK XX AN UNSUBDUED SPIRIT XXI COMBING THE MOUNTAIN-TOPS XXII AN AIR-MAIL WAY STATION XXIII PERK LOSES HIS VOICE XXIV ONE CHANCE IN A THOUSAND XXV THE NEVER-SAY-DIE SPIRIT XXVI CRATER LAKE XXVII THE END OF THE TRAIL XXVIII AROUND THE CAMPFIRE XXIX NO PROWLERS ALLOWED XXX BRINGING IN THEIR MAN

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  Wings Over The Rockies

  CHAPTER I

  WAITING FOR ORDERS

  "Hot ziggetty dog! I kinder guess now Jack, we've been an' put the newcloud-chaser through every trick we've got up our sleeves--flopped herover on her back, righted her, to turn turtle again, done nose-dives an'Immelmann turns, made a shivery sixteen thousand foot ceilin' foraltitude--an' now, after all this circus stunt business, we figger she'sa real ship, queen o' the air-ways."

  "Perk, you never said truer words and I'm sure proud of the fact thatour Big Boss up at Washington appreciated that little Florida job we putthrough last winter, so's to put us in charge of such a swell aircraft."

  "Ginger pop! we used to reckon our old crate some punkins at speedin',when _real_ flyin' was needed but shucks! with this cracker-jack boat wecould make all kinds o' rings 'round the old bus or else my name ain'tGabe Perkiser."

  The young leather clad pilot at the controls, as if to still furtheremphasize his good opinion of the spanking, up-to-date plane they hadfor some days been joyfully testing out, volplaned down on a long coastjust as though a merciless enemy craft were on their tail with ababbling machine-gun keeping up an intermittent fire and a hail ofbullets filling the air around them.

  Then he leveled off, attained a dizzy speed, turned, banked, and cameroaring back to execute a dazzling monster figure-eight sweep.

  "Great stuff, old hoss!" cried the exultant Perk for they had theirearphones adjusted so as to be able to exchange comments at will,despite any racket caused by the madly racing motor and spinningpropeller combined.

  "I reckon that will be enough juice used up for today," Jack Ralston wassaying in a thoroughly satisfied tone, "and now we'd better make abee-line for our landing field. It'll be the same old story,--a ganggathering around to admire our new boat--and all trying to find out justwho we are and what big air company we're connected with."

  Thereupon Perk chuckled in a queer way he had, evidently vastly amused.

  "We got 'em right goofy with guessin', partner, for a fact. How thecurious minded boobs do try to squeeze a few grains o' information outof us with their foxy questions. I've heard some wise-cracks along themlines silly enough to make a hoss laugh an' all o' the remarks ain'tjest as complimentary as I'd like, not by a long shot."

  "Little we care," remarked Jack, adjusting his goggles to a moresatisfactory angle and releasing the ear flaps of his helmet. They hadleft the frigid altitude where they had climbed almost as though shotupward by some monster cannon, thanks to the novel wings with which thenew ship was equipped.

  "Huh! let 'em try to outsmart us," Perk went on to say, a bitscornfully. "We c'n jest keep our lips buttoned tight an' mind our ownbusiness. Won't be long, anyway, I guess, till we hear from Headquartersan' have to jump off on some fresh stunt, roundin' up the slick crookswho keep puttin' their thumbs on their noses an' wigglin' their fingersat Uncle Sam's Secret Service boys--counterfeiters, smugglers, alienscrossing the borders, booze from out on the high seas, makers o'moonshine in the mountings and on the burnin' deserts like Death Valleyan' such riffraff that scoffs at the law!"

  Perk, as he was generally called by his friends, was really a World Warveteran, having served aboard a "sausage" observation balloon and lateron as a fighting pilot of more than average bravery and ability. He didhis "daily dozen" through the whole desperate series of conflicts in theArgonne with a fair number of "flaming coffins" placed to hiscredit--enemy ships shot down on fire.

  Since quitting the army after the Armistice put a stop to allhostilities, Perk had passed through quite a number of vocations thatappealed to the unrest in his blood, demanding so strenuously a callingbuilt upon more or less continual excitement.

  He had been a barn-storming pilot, giving exhibitions of recklessparachute jumping from high altitudes and similar stunts at county fairsand other public gatherings and had also spent several years as a valuedmember of the Mounted Police up in the Canadian Northwest country. Hefinally was drafted into Uncle Sam's Secret Service by reason of anofficial having met up with him when moose hunting in the tracklesswilds of northern British Columbia.

  When Jack Ralston, who himself had gained a little fame in the SecretService on account of generally bringing in his man, was selected topilot a speedy ship he picked Gabe Perkiser whom he had known for sometime and whose companionable disposition as well as unquestioned couragemade him an ideal pal--in Jack's eyes at least.

  Their first assignment called for service carrying the flyers over theMexican border to apprehend a notorious character who had long been athorn in the flesh of the Washington authorities, since he came andwent, mostly via the air route, crashing Uncle Sam's frontier gate withcargoes of undesirable aliens, usually Chinese, willing to pay as muchas a thousand dollars per head for an opportunity to enter the States,forbidden ground to those of their race.[1]

  Having, despite all difficulties, carried out their instructions to theletter and handed over their man to the nearest U. S. District Attorneyfor prosecution, Jack and Perk were later on dispatched with theirefficient plane to the Gulf Coast of Florida, there to break up apowerful combination of smugglers through whose bold and lawlessventures, by air and sea, the whole Southern country was being submergedin a flood of foreign brands of liquor.

  Again the two pals proved their calibre and brought home the bacon,having dealt the rum-runners a severe jolt and actually kidnaped thechief offender.[2]

  Now they were daily anticipating still another assignment which, foraught they knew might carry them to the Maine border or even toAlaska--all sectors of our
wide country look alike to energetic SecretService agents especially when they have magical wings with which toannihilate space and carry them through cloudland at a hundred miles andmore an hour.

  It looked very much as though their excellent record was being fullyappreciated at Headquarters for there had come to them a wonderfullyequipped new ship, carrying many lately discovered and new inventionscalculated to lighten the labors of the man at the controls as well asto secure a degree of safety never before attained in any craft.

  Jack was heading for the home port, quite satisfied with the finishingcheck-up of the amazing attributes of their new acquisition, and as forPerk, he could hardly contain himself, such was his enthusiasm inconnection with their trying-out process.

  "Beats anything that carries wings," he vowed in his characteristicfashion, "and it's bound to be a poor day for any guy who thinks he c'nget away from this race hoss o' the skies. See how she snorts on hercourse will you, partner, and us agoin' at mor'n a hundred an' thirtyright now! This is the life for me, an' I wouldn't care much if my legsgot so cramped I couldn't walk a mile--some birds are like that, Iunderstand, buzzards f'r instance fairly wobble on the ground but ableto put the kibosh on most other feathered folks when they take off intheir clumsy way."

  Jack did not show much desire to keep up the conversation--the fact ofthe matter was he felt more or less tired after a long day in the cloudsand much preferred to pay strict attention to the many dials on theblack dashboard just in front, with which he was by degrees becomingfamiliar.

  The afternoon was drawing near its close, with the sun drawing closer tothe mountainous horizon off to the west. So after swinging on their wayfor half an hour they were able to glimpse their destination which wasthe Cheyenne, Wyoming, airport.

  "Keep up your bluffing when we land Perk, remember," warned Jack as hestarted to circle at a height of a thousand feet and could see a numberof people running this way and that, undoubtedly in their endeavor to beclose by when their landing gear struck the ground.

  This wonderful new plane, and the mysterious pair of pals handling ithad continued to excite the curiosity not only of pilots using thefield, but aviation bugs who haunted the place as well. These folks wereenthusiasts over the exploits of noted flyers, but not venturesomeenough themselves to wish to become pilots, even though they were of theright calibre. However, they knew considerable about ships and theirfurniture so as to be able to appreciate anything exceedingly novelalong those lines.

  "Watch my smoke, partner," said Perk complacently enough. "I'm notagoin' to let any o' that mob crab my game. Men in our class don't goaround doin' their stuff in the open, like they was magicians throwin' afit. We got to know how to mix things a heap an' pull the wool over theeyes o' the crowd. So far as they need to know, we're jest a couple o'guys out for a lark an' with shekels to burn."

  "That's the ticket Perk, keep the racket going up to the time we pullout of Cheyenne no matter which way we climb. Well, here goes to knockour tail on the ground again then for a bite of supper at the Emporiumand a look in at some show. I'm getting a bit tired of this inaction, totell you the honest truth. I reckon both of us will be glad to get ournext orders and cut loose with our nobby ship."

  "You said a mouthful buddy that time," observed Perk as he raised hishands with the intention of removing the earphones since they were atthe end of their afternoon check-up, delightfully happy because theirplane had shown its exceedingly strong points.

  Now they were circling for the last time and those below, discoveringjust about where they meant to land, had started on the run, apparentlyeager to be on hand in order to obtain a fresh close-up of themysterious chums who had been hanging around the airport for such alength of time.

  Never had a boat dropped down more lightly than did their craft--Jackcould not help giving his mate a look of overpowering joy at the slightimpact, which was returned in full measure by the proud Perk whoanticipated wonderful things to come when they got going for fair upamong the clouds or dodging through the canyons of the mighty Rockies,wherever the hand of Fate, and orders from Headquarters, took them.

  So the landing was made and the wonder ship safely housed in the hangarthey had hired which could be securely locked to keep curious minded orunscrupulous people from trying to get a line on its several novelfeatures.

  A short but serious-looking chap came up to have a few words withJack--this was the party who had been hired especially to keep watch andward over their highly prized aerial steed. Cal Stevens had beenrecommended as a man to be trusted and although he had no positiveknowledge of their identity, he did know they were clean sportsmen andmen of their word. Consequently Jack felt the precious ship given intotheir charge by the Government would be carefully guarded throughouteach night.

  They left the field with several figures trailing after them for themystery hovering over their movements had piqued the curiosity of anumber of men. All manner of queer stories, resting on insecurefoundations, had been rumored so that people pointed them out in thestreet and some wise-acres even gained considerable notoriety bypretending to know it all, though under a pledge to keep their secretinviolate.

  It became even necessary to resort to expedients in order to shake thesesnoopers as the indignant Perk called them and usually a vehicle of somesort offered them an easy way to beat out the clan. On this particularevening, however, a big car occupied by several men whom they did notremember having noticed before, kept after their own vehicle up to thevery door of the modest house in which they had a room.

  "I say it's a danged shame," stormed the angry Perk as the two of themstarted to strip and get into ordinary citizen's clothing so they wouldnot attract unpleasant attention while eating their supper and attendingthe movies later on--"that pesky car kept on our tail right up to thedoor an' chances are it's parked somewhere out there right now, awaitin'for us to hike over to the Emporium restaurant. Riles me for fair,partner, an' for two cents I'd like to stand them hoboes on their heads,on'y I guess that'd be fool's play for me."

  "It certainly would, Perk," his chum assured him as they dressed. "Menin the detective line never want to draw attention to themselves foronce it's known what calling they're engaged in and a lot of their valueto their employers is lost. That's just why the detectives in big citieslike New York wear masks when suspects are lined up each morning forinspection. You know that, of course, Perk, but I'm just reminding youbecause if you get all 'het up' you might say or do something that wouldspill the beans for us."

  "I'll cool down right away, Jack old hoss," the other assured himcontritely. "That's my greatest weakness you know, an' I'm countin' onmy best pal to keep a finger on my pulse so's to check me up when Ithreaten to run loose with my too ready tongue. Wait a minute, Jack,till I get a paper so I c'n read up on the dope as I munch my feed. I'mwanting to learn whether anything's been heard from our mutual friend,Buddy Warner, the best air mail pilot on the job today."

  "I certainly hope he's turned up since we jumped off this morning," saidJack with more than his customary earnestness. "There must be a dozen ortwo ships scouring the country in search of Buddy." This pilot had neverreached his port of call two days back and is believed to be downsomewhere in that wild country among the big hills and canyons, eitherdead or badly hurt and needing a helping hand right away.

  Perk gave a hurried glance at the scare-heads on the front page of thenewspaper he had purchased and then grunted dismally.

  "Nothin' doin' so far, partner," he announced with a sigh that welled upfrom the very depths of his warm, friendly heart. "More ships a'startin'out from every-which-way. A happenin' like this, when the lost guychances to be a friendly dick that everybody likes, seems to arouse thatsportsman spirit that you find in all air pilot circles. It gets to be areg'lar _fever_, with even famous flyers givin' up vacations they'd beenlookin' forward to for weeks, just to start out an' try to locate thelost man. Huh! nothin'd tickle me more than a chance to lend a handmyself, on'y we're in the Government's employ an
d can no more quit ourjob than air mail lads could throw the letter sacks in the discard andsail around peekin' into every gulch an' hidin' place in the mountainsin hopes o' bein' the lucky guy to fetch Buddy back."

  "I'm mighty sorry nothing's been found out," said Jack, "but the boysare sure to comb every rod of ground again and again until it's certainhe can't be located. But here's our restaurant Perk, so let's drop inand dine."

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  Footnote 1:

  See the first volume of this Series, "_The Sky Detectives_."

  Footnote 2:

  See the preceding story entitled, "_Eagles of the Sky_."