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Peril from the Sky






Dare to read: Нэнси Дрю и Братья Харди

(https://vk.com/daretoreadndrus)

ПРИЯТНОГО ЧТЕНИЯ!

Franklin W. Dixon

Hardy Boys Mystery Stories: Volume Nine

 

The Great Airport Mystery

Copyright by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Published by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

This is original text, 1930

 

A plot to take another man's job involves a downed plane and the return of a man presumed dead.

 

CHAPTER I

Peril from the Sky

 

" It's certainly great to have an airport so close to Barmet Bay, " said Frank Hardy.

" I wish we could go up in an airplane some time, " returned Joe, his brother.

" Wouldn't you he scared! "

" Me? Would you! "

" No."

" Then I wouldn't be scared either. Look at the record holders! Where would they be now if they'd been afraid to go up in an airplane! "

" That's right, " said Frank. " Airplanes are pretty safe nowadays. Almost as safe as this car of ours."

The two Hardy brothers were driving on the Shore Road, leading out of Bayport and skirting Barmet Bay, in their new roadster. It was springtime. Snow had disappeared from hillsides and the blue waters of the bay sparkled in the sunlight. Their destination this afternoon was the new airport, a few miles out of the city.

" I'm glad winter is over, even if we did have a lot of fun on Cabin Island, " said Joe. " It won't be long now before we're through school."

" If we pass our exams, " Frank reminded him, calmly.

" You'll pass all right. I'm not so sure about myself. I had to work mighty hard to catch up to you."

" Yes, but I lost a term that year I was sick. Anyway, our marks have been good this year. We should get through. Isn't it funny-when we're going to high school we wish we were out of it and now that we are in our last term I'm rather sorry to leave."

" Me, too, " said Joe. " Wonder where we'll be next fall? "

" College, I guess."

" Mother has her mind set on a college course for both of us. So far as I'm concerned I'd rather go into detective work with dad."

" It would certainly be more exciting. Still, we'd have a good time at college, I imagine, " observed Frank.

He turned the car into a road that branched off the main highway. This road led toward the airport that had been constructed back of Bayport the previous summer.

" Wonder why they built the airport so far out, " Joe said.

" They have to have plenty of ground. It was the only place available. Then, there's a railway siding near by and a train always meets the mail planes, " Frank explained. " Dad was telling me all about it the other evening. They use the port for commercial flying too, and I hear they do a lot of business and hope to do more."

" An airmail pilot must have lots of nerve. It's marvelous that they nearly always bring the mail through on time. And lots faster than trains. I wish we knew one of the pilots. He might take us up for a flight."

" Chet Morton and the rest of the fellows would be green with envy, " rejoined Frank.

The roadster bounced along the rutted road toward the airport. A signpost near by conveyed the information that the flying field was three miles away. A little later, as the car came over the brow of a hill the Hardy boys could see the great flat field lying in the valley below. In front of a hangar they could see a plane with silver wings.

" Chances are we'll both have a plane of our own in about ten years, " Joe said. " Everybody will be flying then, and think nothing of it."

Frank applied the brakes as the roadster descended the steep grade. In a few minutes they had reached the foot of the hill. The car raced along the level road toward the airport.

The boys had often seen the airplanes flying over the city, but they had never been in close proximity to one of the machines and now they were excited over the prospect.

" Perhaps, " said Frank, " we'll even meet one of the pilots and have a chance to talk to him and hear about some of his adventures."

Joe turned in his seat and looked back.

" Why, there's a plane now! " he exclaimed. " We'll be able to see it land."

Above the roar of the car the boys could hear the hum of an approaching airplane. It came swooping down out of the sky beyond the hill.

" Seems to be flying mighty queerly, " commented Frank. " Usually they go along as smoothly as a bird."

" Nothing smooth about that one. Maybe the pilot's in trouble."

The flight of the plane was indeed erratic. It was going from side to side in a jerky fashion and it seemed to be flying much closer to the ground than safety warranted.

" He'll never reach the airport at that rate, " said Frank, looking back again. " He should be higher up than that. Look! He's coming straight down, and the airport is a couple of miles away! "

" I hope he doesn't land on the road. He might hit us."

" If he lands on the road he's in for a nasty crash. A plane has to have plenty of room to move around in."

Between steering the roadster and eying the plane, Frank Hardy was well occupied. Joe kept looking back and staring at the descending machine.

" I believe that fellow is in trouble, " he said. " He's coming down right this way."

They could see the airplane quite clearly now. They could even see the figure of the pilot in the cockpit. The machine was descending at terrific speed in a long glide that made it seem inevitable that the plane would fall far short of the airport.

Frank stepped on the accelerator. The car leaped forward, raising a cloud of dust. But the speed of the car was as nothing compared with the speed of the plane. The distance between them diminished, and the plane was steadily nearing the ground.

" Great Caesar! That fellow is coming down on top of us! " shouted Joe, in alarm.

''Not if I can help it, " returned Frank grimly.

Joe looked up. He could even distinguish details of the understructure of the airplane now. The roar of its engine was deafening. Lower and lower it came.

For a moment the plane flew level. Its nose raised and it gained altitude. Joe breathed a sigh of relief. Then the big machine dipped again. He could see the propeller blades flashing in the sun.

The roadster was traveling at sixty miles an hour. Frank did not dare raise his eyes from the road. He crouched over the wheel.

" Where is he now? " he snapped.

" Right behind us! And coming down every minute! "

Joe was really frightened. There was no hope that the plane would ever reach the airport, for it was flying too close to the ground. He wondered if the pilot was merely trying to scare them. But the plane was diving toward them in such headlong fashion that he quickly abandoned this explanation.

Powerful though the roadster was, the speed of the plane was much greater. It was scarcely two hundred feet from the ground now and its nose was pointing down at a dangerous angle. In a few more seconds there would be a crash, and, from the angle of flight, it seemed almost certain that the heavy machine would crash directly on top of the roadster!

The car roared ahead, the noise of its engine drowned in the gigantic throbbing of the airplane's motor. The plane came nearer and nearer, diving at almost incredible speed.

" We're done for! " groaned Joe.

Unless a miracle intervened the plane would crash directly on top of the Hardy boys' car!

 


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