CHAPTER VII-A Close Shave
The next two weeks were hectic ones for Pat, the Captain and their two friends, with Pat teaching the boys to fly, the boys learning to fly, the Captain generally directing all activities, and three of them planning and preparing for their flight to the Adirondacks. Hal couldn"t go. It was with real sorrow that he told them that his mother would not permit him to go with them. Hal was beginning to enjoy better his flights into the air, and his companionship with his new friends. Pat did not frighten him at all now, and his happiest hours were those that he spent with him, Bob and Captain Bill. He knew that he would be very lonesome if they went off without him, but no amount of persuasion on his part would move his mother in her determination that he should not go. She had so many arguments on her side that Hal was completely floored when he tried to point out to her the reasons why it would be perfectly safe for him to go with his friends.
Bob was downcast. He knew that he would have a good time with Pat and Bill, but he knew too that he"d have a better time if someone his own age were along. After all, he couldn"t do anything as well as Pat and Bill. He couldn"t fly a plane, although he was learning rapidly, and would soon be able to take a solo flight; he couldn"t shoot as accurately as they; nor land a mountain trout so well. Hal, who was also a novice, would have been just as inexpert as he was at all these things, and would have made him feel not quite so stupid. And then there were always things to talk about to Hal that the others wouldn"t be able to understand-in fact, Hal and he spoke a language of their own. It would have been fun if Hal could have come along-but if he couldn"t go, he couldn"t go. Bob decided that he"d better take the matter philosophically. So he joined in the plans of the Captain and Pat with all his usual energy. Hal helped, too, Even if he was not going with them, he wanted to get the thrill at least of being in on the start.
They were all down at the airport every day, rain or shine. Pat gave them a good background of ground work, and then let them fly with him.
Bob, with his natural quickness, could have flown solo almost after his first flight, but Pat would not take the responsibility of letting the boy go up alone.
Hal, on the other hand, had more obstacles to overcome. The first was the terror that he had felt on his first flight. However, after repeated flights, and the feeling of power that he gained from actually having the controls in his hands, he overcame his fear enough to fly with Pat, and fly well.
Two days before their departure for the mountains, Pat and Bill decided that the boys ought to make their solo flights, so that Hal would have made a solo flight before they left him.
Pat had taken the Marianne up into the air, had "taken a look about,"
and landed her again. He turned to the two boys and asked, "who"s first?"
"Me," said Bob.
"All right," said Pat, and Bob climbed into the c.o.c.kpit smiling confidently.
"See you soon," called Bob, and waved a hand in farewell. He taxied the plane out over the runway, turned her nose into the wind, and felt her rise from the ground. He felt a thrill of power as the machine responded to the slightest movement of the stick. He had control of all the boundless energy stored in that motor, and could direct this huge craft in any direction he chose. He felt the blast of wind against his face.
He was off the ground now, flying low, just clearing a small tool house.
He pointed the nose of the Marianne up and climbed slowly, then leveled off again. His instruments showed that he was flying at about a thousand feet up. The motor sounded good. The air was smooth. Bob felt a keen exhilaration. He wanted to shout in triumph. At last he was flying a plane, alone.
Again he pointed the nose up into the air, and climbed to about 5,000 feet. The sky was clear and cloudless. He lost all track of time and s.p.a.ce. He seemed to be by himself in the universe. But he knew that he wasn"t. The others would be expecting him back. Reluctantly he banked and turned around, and headed once more for the airport. He throttled down the motor and glided swiftly to earth. He saw the gra.s.s below turn green as he approached it; he leveled off. In his excitement, he kept the tail of the plane a little too high, his front wheels landed too soon, and he felt for a breath-taking moment that he was going over on his nose. But the Marianne righted herself, and taxied docilely along the ground.
Bob jumped out, pushing back his goggles. "How was that?" he shouted to Pat and Bill, who came running up to him.
Pat glowered. "What a landing!" he said, in disgust. "Young man, is that the sort of landing I taught you?"
Bob"s smile faded, and he looked crestfallen. "I didn"t level off," he said.
"Of course you didn"t. A blind man could tell you that." Then Pat"s voice suddenly changed. "But you handled her like a veteran," he said.
"You"ve got the makings of an ace in you, lad."
Bob"s ready grin spread quickly over his face again. "Did I really?" he cried. "Bill, what did you think?" He was perfectly willing to hear himself praised, now that he was sure that his performance has been good.
"Oh, you"re all right," said Bill grudgingly. "How about Hal? It"s his turn now." He turned to Hal. "You show this young fellow how to make a three point landing," he said, and gave Hal a little clap on the shoulder.
Hal came forward. He was unusually silent, and his face was pale. He had struggled with his fear and he felt that he had conquered it. He had come to have confidence in his handling of the Marianne with Pat or Bill in the other c.o.c.kpit, ready to take the controls if anything went wrong.
Now he would have confidence taking her up alone. He set his jaw grimly and got into the c.o.c.kpit. The motor was warm, and sounded good. Hal took the Marianne into the air with a grace that made Pat and Bill look at each other with surprise and congratulation.
"The kid"s got the stuff, all right," said Bill. "I knew he had. Who said he didn"t have nerve?"
"He"s better for it, too," said Pat. "It"s done him good, all right."
They watched the plane climbing into the cloudless skies. Then suddenly the sound of the motor ceased. "Good grief," cried Pat. The others were too horrified even to cry out. They saw the plane stall, then fall nose down, spiraling as it went.
When he heard the motor conk, Hal"s heart stood still. He tried the stick frantically. The rudder, the ailerons, would not respond. The throttle brought no answering roar of power. The Marianne had become suddenly a mad thing, an enemy, bent on his destruction. She side-slipped, her nose dipped down, an she went into a tailspin.
Hal was frantic. His first impulse was to pull up on the stick, in order to bring up the tail. Then some glint of reason came through his terror, and he remembered Pat"s warning that this was the last thing he should do to pull himself up. But what had Pat said? He couldn"t remember. Then suddenly it came to him. Push forward on your stick! With an effort he made himself push forward. The Marianne gave a convulsive shudder. But the action had taken her out of her spin. With a feeling of unutterable relief Hal felt her come out of her spin and go into a glide. He looked over the side of the plane. He was rushing toward a brick building, at the furthest end of the airport! There was nothing to do now but crash.
He was too close to stretch out the glide!
With a last desperate movement, Hal opened the throttle of his engine.
The motor caught! With a thrill of joy he heard the roar of the motor as it started again, and felt the stick respond to his touch. He pulled back the stick, the nose of the plane lifted, and he zoomed into the air.
Down on the ground Pat, Bill and Bob had gone through the tortures of the d.a.m.ned, watching Hal fall to what seemed certain death, while they stood helplessly below. When they saw him zoom once more into the air, their hearts bounded with him.
"The gas-line must have been clogged!" shouted Pat. "It cleared itself out when they dived!"
"Thank G.o.d," said Bill.
Bob could say nothing, but kept shouting Hal, Hal, Hal, over and over again. Hal was gliding in, now, to land.
He got out of the c.o.c.kpit, white and shaking. The others, beside themselves with joy, surrounded him, shaking his hand, hugging him, patting his shoulder. But Hal did not seem to notice what was happening.
"You handled that plane like Lindbergh!" shouted Pat. "Good boy."
But all that Hal said was, "I"m never going up again."
Pat had gone over to the plane to look it over. "It seems all right," he said, turning off the motor that he had tested. "But there must have been a bit of dirt in the line leading from the gas tank. You had a lucky escape, lad. It was quick thinking that you did up there. I"m proud of you."
But Captain Bill saw that Hal was in no mood for praise. He knew, too, that the best cure for the boy was to take him right up again into the air, so that he would have no time to develop a phobia against going up.
But he would not risk taking up the Marianne until it had had a thorough overhauling.
The Captain put his arm around Hal"s shoulder. "You mustn"t say that you"re never going up again, Hal, old man," he said. "You proved yourself up there. You"re going to make a great flyer."
"It was great, Hal, great," said Bob. "I would have crashed the old bus and killed myself. I couldn"t have kept my head."
Hal said nothing except that he wanted to go home. Pat stayed behind with the plane while the other three went over to the parking lot to get their machine. "Don"t say anything to my mother, whatever you do," said Hal. "I don"t want her to worry. After all, nothing really happened to me, and why should she be frightened for nothing?"
Bob and the Captain promised to say nothing. In fact, they spoke very little on the way home. Hal was worn out emotionally and the others were occupied with their own thoughts.
The Captain was worried by the new turn that affairs had taken. He was disappointed that all the progress that had been made in Hal"s education had been ruined on the first solo flight. It would have been all right if he had been able to take Hal into the air again, but he couldn"t.
Tomorrow they would be too busy with their preparations to do any flying, and the day after that, they would start for the Adirondacks, leaving Hal behind. Without his friends, and with the memory of his terror fresh in his mind, Hal would fall back into his old fears, and be actually worse off than ever. The time to cure Hal was at once, if at all.
Captain Bill had an idea. He thought about it rather carefully most of the way home, and when they were almost home, he broached his plan.
"Say, Hal, how about coming over tonight-with your mother? I"m going to tell my story after dinner, tonight, and I thought maybe she"d like to hear it."
Hal was rather surprised. His mother rarely visited, and did not see very much of the Martins. In fact, she had been to the Martins only twice since they had been neighbors, and one of those visits had been to return Mrs. Martin"s formal call upon her new neighbor when the Greggs had moved into the house next door. But Hal said, "Why, I"ll ask Mother.
I don"t think she"s busy, and I guess she"d like to hear your story, Captain Bill. I"ve been telling her about the stories, you know."
"Good," laughed the Captain. "Don"t tell her too much, though. I want her to come to hear them."
"I think she"ll like to come," said Hal. Thinking it over, he felt convinced that his mother should hear Captain Bill"s story that night.
He knew she would enjoy the evening with them all. They were a jolly lot, and Mrs. Martin often was lonesome when Hal went off and left her alone. She would be better for a night of company. And perhaps-well, Hal could not dare to hope-perhaps she would approve more of his going on a trip with these men if she knew how splendid they were. But then Hal shuddered. They were going to fly to the mountains. And he was never going to fly in a plane again. He felt that he would rather do anything in the world than put himself in a position again where he might experience the awful horror of feeling himself going into a nose dive.
They let Hal off at his home. When Bob and the Captain were alone, Bob asked why Bill had thought of inviting Hal"s mother to hear his story that night.