Airplane Boys in the Black Woods

d of t

t be having a nightmare," exclaimed Bob in horror as th

day and get out of here as fast as we can, b

e going to

ang on to is the fact that we

ion of ancient stones. It was doubtless the removal of this support which had caused the huge thing to fall and destroy the dwarf; but the lone white man in possession of the treasure appeared to be absolutely unaffected by the tragedy. He finally succeeded in

ounger boy's sleeve and the pa

top they proceeded to the last elevation and arriving there found that it was a huge plateau which had been leveled carefully. There were several streams whi

e which they could see grew deeper and wider as it twisted toward the ruins of the ancient city. In one place they saw a wall which had evidently been built to re-enforce the land and prevent the soil from being washed away, but in places the stone work had falle

course through those woods, and ge

ob agreed. "It loo

l reckoning, noted several easily followed marks by which to set a course, then with a final glance around at the scene made ready to start, but before they took a step they heard a scrambling and a moment late

been blind for all the attention he paid to them. As he drew nearer they could see his lips moving, and soon they

gh in the balancing maneuver, the box tipped and teetered precariously. Mills jerked it tight and then a mass of the shining contents was spilled and went tumbling to the ground. "Riches, riches, and I am awake. Let it stay, let it stay-I have it all. I have it all, t

n at last Mills was out of

s he let them fall again through his fingers, the Buddies' eyes met. Mechanicall

htmares, if the sandman can beat all this adventure he's going some. Seven dead men, a crazy

get g

quite steep, and finally they were standing on the clear space they had picked out from the terrace. The site was bare except for a couple of rather large growths more than half way across, and the Sky Buddies notic

g around," Jim remarked cheerfull

avens closely, while Jim devoted himself to getting acquainted with the vicinity. "Not a wing

ith you?" he demanded, but he stared at this pal anxio

and hearty that a sleepy echo caught it up and passed it around experimentall

We'll never get anything done

s began to roll down his cheeks and h

Bob repeated

t it up and it came

strain of the past twenty-four hours, and he didn't wonder. "Come on, Pal, snap out of it-that won't do

ll over," Jim

me what has set you off-I don

N

business, Old Man, we've got to

n he made a slight gesture which seeme

ent. "Ha-ha-ha-ha." It was a soul-satisfying bellow which shook him from head to foot for several minutes, then he pulled himself together. "We don't want to make any mistake." With

e plane began to stand out from the cove

ou laughed,"

to think, after all that traveling-millions of miles it seemed-then to come right back to the place we started

uin and Bradshaw had found us-the plane almost under our noses, howling c

ke a look at the other one. Shall we leav

ng in separate planes, Buddy, but they

nd have a doctor or someone sent back to get Mills. He'll be all right for a few hours and it ought not to

planes. If we leave him here, he might come out, just get enough sense t

et's ge

out of the way, had wiped the sticky bodies of dead butterflies off the propellers and other parts, examined

is great. All

," Bob r

bellow

hine started taxiing swiftly, curved, its nose went up gracefully, then it began to climb, zooming swiftly until it reached the elevation Jim had attained. That done the boys smiled with satisfaction, circled about the spot in wide turns only climbing slightly. They took in the entire

eveled off, pointed their noses toward the sea, and with courses set, raced at high speed toward their goal. Mi

it drew close and the Flying Buddies could see two men in her, one with a glass to his eyes, and in a moment the man waved; it seemed as if he were jumping up and down in the cock-pit, and the boys grinned widely as they r

erful to be going back to them, those kindly Britishers

ntacted with an entirely different sort of creature; it was rather like being dragged through miles of clinging, slimy mud, and what he wanted most of all at that moment was a good bath, but he didn't expect there was water enough in the world to rid them of the unwholesome association of Lang and his gang. Then he saw Bob pointing west of them and glanced in that direction. There were two other tiny specks which also zipped about and came rushing toward them swiftly as an arrow shot from a strong shaft. The boys slackened their own speed, and presently the two planes were racing along

have yo

you h

appened

get blo

try has been lo

that you are

ons were hurled so fast it was impossible to answer, but in a mom

nd freshen up a bit?" he asked casually as if t

e in the world," Jim answered, an

can do, jus

chokily, for he hoped hard that she had not been t

te top hole, you kn

ow to let them know that you came in under your own power,

ly was not suffering the agony of suspen

" Captain Se

be hungry and worn, although they did not look so bad-certainly not nearly so bad as if some airman had found them beneath the remains of a wrecked or burned machine. Thank God for that! Thank Him especially for the sake of their

smiled cordially. "You know t

ot," Jim sa

's coming now. Decent sort of old sawbones. Let him give

at all," Jim a

ng to do. Er, if you could dig a scratch, no matter how little, just enough to make him think you may be

t," the b