Adventure Magazine Cover — page 173: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Direct Methods Miners and hill-billys and their sort always figure army men and an airplane are there for some purpose. Consequently we always go on a trip well prepared with food, and heavily armed.” He watched the effect of his words.on his listeners. He was disappointed. His ex- planation of the artillery the Martin carried, besides what he had said about the ship being from Langham Field, apparently had no effect in lightening the heavy sus- picion that he could feel in the very air about him. - “Well, if you’ll be good enough to give me the pail and show me where the water is ’ll go back to the food,” he said. The fat man led him outside and around the corner to a small tent which sheltered a stove. A plank table with benches was beside it. A young Italian who appeared to be the cook gave them a pail. “The spring is right down the path. You can’t miss it,’’ said the guide. His small eyes did'not meet Graves’ re- gard for more than a second. The government man got the water and went back to the Martin. He found Hink- ley already there. “Find out anything?” he asked as he set down the pail. “‘There’s a tent and three men on the top of a steep cliff right above the road. They all seem to be foreigners. And you ought to see the cliff on the lower side of the road. Anybody that stepped off that would have time enough to say his prayers and make a will before he hit bottom. Those three men could hold that road against an army if they had a machine-gun. I came near getting shot myself. They said they were camping.” “Tt sure looks like a musical comedy war,” remarked Broughton, sitting cross-legged on the motor. “There may not be so much comic opera stuff about it, at that,’’ stated Graves, re- moving the cigar from his mouth. “It’s bad.” | He told ‘them briefly of his experience, and then went on: “The size of the matter is, gentlemen, that those men are up to big things. They’re so big and Hayden is in such a predicament that in my opinion he will take no chances. It was only the luck of having an operative over here who happened to be very familiar 167 with Hayden that caused us to know he was here. In view of the questions he asked me about the difficulty of finding a wrecked plane in these mountains, plus what he is, I believe he plans to kill us, burn the plane, and then bury the motors or something. I expect that if I am right it will happen tonight.” His words were as calm and precise as though he were discussing the weather. He replaced the cigar in his mouth and puffed it slowly. : “Somehow or other I can’t believe they would go that far on suspicion,” said Hink- ley. -* Phey “Are playing for big stakes, lieutenant,” Graves cut in. “And you cannot figure them as normal. Somers has killed men— he was in jail ten years. Hayden would sanction anything necessary for the success of his project. What are our three lives to them, compared to the prizes they are play- ing for, or the results of their being run down?” “Lots of people will have seen our ship passing over,” suggested Broughton. ‘They may figure that the army will just say an- other wreck and let it go, but an investiga- tion might be embarrassing.” “They could kill us in such a way that it would look like a wreck,” said Graves. Burn our bodies with the plane, or some- thing like that.” Both airmen nodded. “Well, what are you going to do about it?’’? Hinkley inquired. “Tf you'll pardon me, Mr. Graves, I have a scheme that might work,” announced Broughton. ‘It’s no better than a fifty- fifty shot, but I believe that you’re right, the more I think of it, and in that case I believe our chances of ever getting Hayden and getting out of here are about as good as the old snowball in I’ve got a crazy idea we could take off here.”’ Hinkley was not greatly surprized, but Graves was. “You really think so?” he inquired with the nearest approach to eagerness that the flyers had ever seen him show. Broughton nodded. “On account of the slope, only half a load of gas and oil now, and the fact that even if we stall completely getting over those trees that the mountainside is so steep we can nose down and get up speed. What do you think, Larry?” Go NOOK (C@ S|