Hardly had they done so before the flames began breaking out fiercely from the back of the house, and, driven by the strong wind, they were uncomfortably close to the coach house roof. No time was lost in placing the woman and her infant in the _Sea Eagle_, after which the air craft was started. Dr. Perkins rose to a suitable height from which to make a safe descent, and then swept down to the ground, carrying the first woman and child in the history of the world to be saved from a blazing building by aeroplane.
The woman soon recovered after some friends of the neighborhood had taken her and her child to a nearby dwelling.
The owner of the building, and the husband of the woman who had been so bravely rescued, now came bustling up, his face beaming with grat.i.tude.
At the moment he was not thinking of the fire but of the brave strangers from the sky who had saved his wife and child.
"I don"t know who you are, or where you came from," he exclaimed, "but you literally dropped from the skies when all hope appeared lost. I was in town buying stock, and on my way out I saw the flames coming from my home. Knowing my wife and child had retired I dreaded to think what would have happened if they had not been aroused. I arrived here in time to find my worst fears realized. How can I ever thank you for what you have done?"
"Oh, we only tried to do what we could," said Frank modestly; "we saw the fire and came down to see if we couldn"t help."
"I owe the lives of my wife and child to your quickness and courage, and that wonderful airship of yours," vehemently declared the man, whose name was Winfield Thomas, a wealthy farmer. "It was a real blessing you happened along as you did."
Dr. Perkins and the boys could only repeat how glad they were to have done what they could. Without waiting much longer, except to congratulate Mrs. Thomas on her quick recovery, and to express the hope that she would feel no bad effects from her experience, the voyage was shortly resumed. But the adventure at the burning farm house long remained in the boys" memory, and strengthened their attachment to the _Sea Eagle_.
Nearing New Orleans they caught a wireless message from Billy Barnes telling them that he had secured quarters for the _Sea Eagle_ in Algiers, a suburb across the river from the city. That night one stage of the trip was concluded when, in answer to a signal given with a blue lamp, they dropped into a field on the outskirts of Algiers and housed the _Sea Eagle_ in a large barn.
"Thunder and turtles!" cried Pudge when that night in the St. Charles Hotel they were relating their adventures. "You fellows have all the fun and we do all the work."
"Never mind, Pudge," said Frank; "I guess we"ll have adventures in plenty ahead of us when we try to locate the wreck of the _Belle of New Orleans_."
"Which will be as soon as possible," said Dr. Perkins. "Our trip has taken us longer than I antic.i.p.ated, and there is a strong chance that Duval may have got ahead of us."
"There"s another reason for hurrying," declared Billy, who had just wired to his paper a long account of the _Sea Eagle"s_ trip; "they say that the river is rising. There have been unprecedented rainstorms and the levees are weakening. Negroes are at work on them all along the line, but they doubt if they can make them hold if the river keeps rising."
CHAPTER XXVII.-CAPTURED BY AeROPLANE.
During the short time that they had been in the city Ben Stubbs and his two young companions had done wonders in the way of collecting equipment for the purpose of rifling the treasure which it was expected lay in the submerged hulk of the _Belle of New Orleans_. A diving suit with pumping apparatus of the latest type, blocks and tackles and hand spikes were among the things laid in stock. Ben had also invested in a new device, a submarine searchlight. The choice of this last was warmly approved by Dr. Perkins.
"I was wondering how it would be possible to find one"s way about the sunken ship without some such article," he said approvingly, and old Ben"s rugged face glowed with satisfaction.
"Trust an old timer, sir, for remembering those things," he said.
"Indeed, n.o.body could have selected a more complete outfit," rejoined Dr. Perkins.
The inventory of the goods was taken the next morning, and hiring a boat the stuff was transported to Algiers, where the _Sea Eagle_ had been looked after over night by a couple of darkies.
As they crossed the river in a hired boat they noticed how swiftly the current ran and how discolored it was. The negro who rowed them commented on it, too.
"Dey be po"ful big flood befo" long, genelmen," he opined, "an" when ole man Mississip" git up on his hind lags ain"t nuffin" kin stop him. Dem lebees dey go jes lak so much straw er hay."
"All the more reason for our making haste," said Dr. Perkins, addressing the others; "it would be hard fortune indeed if Ben were to be robbed of his fortune by a flood."
The shed which had sheltered the _Sea Eagle_ overnight was close to the water"s edge so that the goods were soon transported on board. All was found to be in good shape, and the two darkies, who had watched the air craft overnight, received an extra gratuity for their pains. The adventurers had been particular not to give out any details of their flight, and it was expected that they would stay in New Orleans for some days before proceeding, so that no curious crowd, only a few negroes and stragglers, were on hand to see them start.
Dr. Perkins had an excellent chart of the river, showing distinctly the location of Black Bayou, which lay back from the river amidst a maze of other wriggly creeks and water courses. The _Belle of New Orleans_ had been on her way to a "far back" plantation to pick up cotton, when she blew up, which accounted for the wreck being submerged in such an out of the way place.
As they flew along the river, but far above it, they could see human beings, busy as ants, working along the levees, strengthening them against the dreaded floods which already had devastated whole sections of country in Ohio and farther up the mighty stream. At length the course of the _Sea Eagle_ was changed till she was flying over a perfect maze of water courses and bayous, winding in and out of a dense forest.
From above, it looked like a lace work of water overlying a piece of dark green plush.
But the map showed a landmark for Black Bayou. Harry"s plan was marked "Ruined plantation house and sugar mill." Frank was the first to spy out this important "bearing." The _Sea Eagle_ was at that time not very far up, and the gaunt walls and desolate overgrown buildings of the once prosperous place could be seen clearly. "Giant cypress with three forks," was the next marking, and, sure enough, on a little patch of an island, not far from the ruined plantation, they presently saw a gaunt dead tree answering this description.
"Bayous and bullfrogs! We"re getting hot now!" cried Pudge excitedly.
"Ben, I believe that that rascal was telling the truth after all."
"I"m inclined to think so, too, Master Pudge," rejoined Ben; "and look-look there-that must be the Catfish Island marked on the plan. See, it"s just the shape of one of them critters."
"So it is, Ben," cried Frank, peering down. "Goodness, this _is_ exciting, though. Just think, in a short time we shall know if our flight for a fortune is--"
"A fizzle or not," interrupted the slangy Pudge.
"Right off Catfish Island two points to the north," read out Harry.
Dr. Perkins glanced at the compa.s.s and slightly altered the direction of the _Sea Eagle;_ then he allowed the great craft to drop gently to rest on the waters of Black Bayou.
Harry referred to the plan again.
"North a hundred yards to the Lone Pine Island."
"There it is," cried Frank, indicating a small spot of land on which a dead pine reared its bare trunk.
Hardly had he spoken when a canoe shot round a bend in a small bayou just ahead of them, and a wild-looking man, who had been paddling it, checked his frail craft. His unkempt whiskers covered him almost to his waist, and his clothes were ragged to a degree. But none of them thought of this as the swamp dweller so unexpectedly came into view.
"Is this the Black Bayou?" they cried almost in chorus.
The other nodded and stared wildly and half in alarm at the strange-looking craft that confronted him.
"_Oui!_ Thees Black Bayou," he rejoined in soft, broken accents; "what you want, eh?"
"Did you ever hear tell of the _Belle of New Orleans?_" asked Ben, in a voice that shook with suppressed excitement.
To his astonishment the Acadian-for the weird figure in the boat was one of those strange dwellers of the cypress swamps-burst into a loud laugh.
"Oh ho! Oh ho!" he cackled; "what you want wid zee _Belle of New Orleans_, eh? What you want weez her?"
Ben hesitated, and before he could reply the other burst into another weird cackling laugh, and held up a small object.
"You want zee pearl, zee gold, hey? Zey all gone! See, I have one. Zee men who come here two day ago give it me for help zem. Adieu!"
Before anybody on the _Sea Eagle_ could utter a word the fellow gave a deft stroke of his paddle and his canoe shot off into the trackless paths of the swamps.
"Well, what under the sun!" burst out Frank, while Pudge weakly e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed:
"Centipedes and spongecakes!"