The Twenty-Eighth

The next day was the twenty-seventh and the Hardy boys knew that they had another day to put in before Ducroy and his friends would be ready for the mysterious coup for which they had laid so many plans.

Frank and Joe were up early, and after a substantial breakfast at the farmhouse they said good-bye to the good-natured farmer and his wife, then hastened across the fields toward the airport again. There were a few signs of life about the hangars; some mechanics were busy at a plane out in the field; a new machine " was preparing for a take-off. But the Ducroy plane was deserted and the lads saw that they were in good time to conceal themselves again.

With a fresh supply of water and sandwiches which they had obtained at the farmhouse, they went casually over to the plane, looked around to see that they were not observed, and then, when the coast seemed clear, they slipped quietly into their hiding place.

" Another day ahead of us! " said Frank. " I wish this was the morning of the twenty-eighth instead of only the twenty-seventh."

" We'll get through somehow. I hope they don't keep flying around all day. It gets mighty monotonous being cooped up like this in here."

Frank made himself more comfortable on his automobile robe.

" We could be worse off. We have lots to eat and drink, and we don't have to worry about steering the plane."

" I like to see where I'm going, " said Joe dubiously.

" As long as Ducroy stays sober he isn't a bad pilot, " returned Frank. " I guess the other pair will see that he's fit to take the controls before they'll fly with him. Their necks are just as precious to them as ours are to us."

" Guess we'd better keep quiet now. They may be along any minute."

The lads lapsed into silence. In about half an hour they could hear voices and then came footsteps.

" Just a short jump today, " they heard Ducroy saying. " Just a short jump, and then we'll lay low until to-morrow night."

" Where are we going? " asked Newt Pippg quickly.

" You'll know when we get there."

" I wish we could have stayed here, " insisted Newt. " I could have stood another two hours' sleep easily."

" If we stick around here we'll be liable to find ourselves sleeping in jail, " said Ollie Jacobs. " I got the scare of my life when that cop came up and spoke to us."

" I thought we were sunk, " admitted Ducroy. " He had been eying us for quite a while and I was getting nervous. I was sure he had spotted us."

" You stood him off all right. That was pretty good, telling him we were stunt pilots on our way to Hollywood. He swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker."

" Just the same, " observed Ducroy, " you see how easy it is to run into trouble. If that cop had been a little wiser we might have been in the jug right now. And if he starts talking to some other cop and describes us, we may find ourselves in trouble yet. So the sooner we get out of here the better."

This sentiment seemed to find favor with the others, for there was considerable bustling around as they prepared to take off again. In due time the propellor began to whirl, the engine burst into a roar the plane quivered. The boys heard a shout from Ducroy, and then the airplane moved slowly off across the field.

It bumped and rocked along, its progress becoming smoother as it gathered speed; then it left the ground, the body of the plane tilted a little as it began to climb. After a while it banked, circled about, then, straightened in swift flight.

It was hot and stuffy back in the compartment where the Hardy boys had hidden themselves, but they comforted themselves by remembering that Ducroy had said this was to be only a short jump. After that, the rascals evidently planned to lie in hiding until the night of the twenty-eighth.

The plane drummed along at a good speed for some time. Then the nose dipped so suddenly that the lads were flung forward. Their weight being thrown ahead, the tail was suddenly lighter and the plane went into a sudden dive. They heard a yell of alarm from one of the men in the forward part of the machine, but the plane straightened out as swiftly as it had lost balance. Frank and Joe had been frightened for the moment but they soon regained their accustomed positions again and clung tightly to the racks while the plane descended in sweeping circles.

It went into a long glide finally, then the wheels bumped against the ground. It rose into the air, bumped again, then taxied across a field until it gradually came to a stop. The motor was suddenly shut. off.

" What happened? " they heard Newt Pipps shout, in alarm.

" Lost control there for a minute, " Ducroy answered. " She went into a dive a lot faster than I had figured on."

" I thought we were going to crash, " declared Newt shakily.

" Not with me at the controls, " boasted Ducroy. " I don't know what went wrong, but it didn't take me long to straighten her out."

" It was just as if we had some baggage in the back and it shifted forward, " said Ollie Jacobs.

The Hardy boys were breathless with apprehension. Perhaps Ducroy would be tempted to investigate!

" Well, there's no baggage, " insisted Ducroy, " It's just the plane. I'm not quite used to it yet."

" I'll be glad when this business is over, " said Newt. " I don't like this flying business, anyway. Solid earth is good enough for me any day. When this job is over and I get my" share of the money it'll be a long time before anyone tempts me into an airplane again."

" Where are we now? " asked Ollie. " This isn't a flying field."

" It's better, " returned Ducroy. " This is an abandoned farm. We're quite safe here. If anyone comes to investigate, we'll just say we ran out of gas and have to wait here for a while until we get a fresh supply."

" We'll stay here until to-morrow night, then? " asked Newt.

" There's a little village about a mile away. We can go there and stay overnight and loaf around to-morrow. It's a lot better than hanging around a flying field where people are apt to ask questions."

" This suits me all right, " said Ollie Jacobs,, " I didn't like the idea of hopping around from place to place the way we were doing. The plane is safe enough here, I guess."

" A few farmers may drop around to have a look at it, but I don't think there's any danger of anyone stealing it, " said Ducroy. " We might as well go on into the village."

" I'm hungry, " declared Newt. " This flying gives me an appetite. Let's go and get something to eat."

The Hardy boys listened as the voices diminished in the distance. When they could no longer hear the trio, Frank opened the side door and peeped out. He could see Ducroy and the others climbing over a fence at the other side of a wide field. The men went out to the road and then trudged on toward a little village lying in a hollow about a mile away.

The boys breathed sighs of relief as they scrambled out.

" This is luck! " said Frank. " No more flying until tomorrow night."

" I hope we don't have to stay inside the plane until then. Those fellows are apt to come hack at any minute."

" I don't think so. You heard what they said. They intend to stay here until to-morrow night. As long as we show up here in good time to hide ourselves before they leave, we're all right." Frank strode up and down the field, taking the kinks out of his legs. " Let's take our sandwiches and go over to that abandoned farmhouse. We can stay there quite comfortably until it's time to leave."

Joe agreed. " We'll have to keep an eye on the road. We can't afford to let them see us getting into the plane and we can't afford to let them start without us."

" We've stayed with them so far and we've got to stay with them to the finish, " declared Frank. " I only wish we knew where this business is going to end."

They took their package of food from the plane and went across the field toward the farmhouse. It had been abandoned for some years and was in a bad state of repair, but it sufficed for their purpose. The boys spent the greater part of the day exploring the place, and toward mid-afternoon Frank suggested that they might as well sleep there that night.

They went back to the plane, which had been undisturbed, and removed the automobile robes, bringing them back to the house.

" We'll have to sleep on the floor tonight, " laughed Frank.

" I don't care where we sleep, as long as we get these rascals where we want them."

They found a spring down in the orchard, and the cold spring water served to make more palatable the sandwiches the farmer's wife had made for them that morning. Toward evening they went into one of the upper rooms of the house and looked out over the field toward the plane. There they saw three figures walking across the field.

" I hope they're not going to start off again, " said Joe, in alarm.

" They've probably just come back to see if the plane is all right."

The three men were Giles Ducroy and his companions, and their errand was evidently as Frank had suggested. Ducroy went over the plane very carefully. Then he went toward the back and suddenly pulled open the door in the side. The boys saw him peer into the interior of the plane.

" Boy, isn't it lucky we didn't stay there! " exclaimed Joe.

" I hope he doesn't find that water bottle. We left it there. Remember! "

But Ducroy's inspection was brief. He drew back, closed the door again and turned to the others with an expressive gesture. Frank and Joe realized that he had merely made the inspection to satisfy the others that there was no baggage in the plane. Evidently the water bottle had gone unnoticed.

The trio stayed only a few minutes, then went back across the field again toward the village.

" That's that! " said Frank. " We're all right now until to-morrow night. We'll go over some time in the afternoon, hide ourselves and then wait for things to happen."

The boys stayed in the empty farmhouse that night, and they slept soundly in the automobile robes, despite the hardness of the floor. The gray light of dawn was just shining through the window when Frank heard a sound that awakened him with a start.

It was the throbbing roar of an airplane engine!

He got up and scrambled over to the window. When he looked out he was just in time to see a figure clambering into the cockpit of the plane out in the field. Then the machine began to move across the pasture; its speed increased; it rose from the ground, skimmed above the fence, rose higher and higher into the air and then headed far off beyond the village.

Joe, in the meantime, had been aroused by the noise of the engine, and he too witnessed the airplane's flight.

Disheartened and discouraged, the boys looked glumly at one another.

" I guess that means we're licked, " said Joe, at last.