“How are we going to force him down?” asked Ollie Jacobs.
“Leave that to me,” answered Ducroy confidently. “There’s more than one way of doing that.”
“Let’s go and eat,” Newt suggested. “I’m half starved.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ollie agreed. “There’s a little restaurant near here. What do you figure on doing, Giles? Do you think we should stay right here at the airport until the twenty-eighth?”
“No,” said Ducroy firmly. “I don’t. The authorities are apt to find us if we stay in one place for any length of time. We’ll have to keep going. We’ll move around from one place to the other until the time comes. We can’t afford to be nabbed now. And after the twenty-eighth we’ll clear out for good.”
The three men moved up toward the front of the hangar, left the building, and went on across the flying field toward a small restaurant in the distance. There was a little lunch counter nearby but the men ignored it for the more pretentious eating place.
Frank and Joe Hardy slipped quickly into the hangar through the side door. Instead of clearing up the mystery that puzzled them, the conversation they had just overheard confused them more than ever. That some criminal coup was in the wind for the night of the twenty-eighth was no longer in doubt, but what it was and where it was to take place still remained unrevealed.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” said Frank, as he looked at the airplane in the hangar; “but I know we’ve got to be on hand if we can possibly manage it.”
“How can we be on hand if they’re going to keep flying from place to place for the next two days?” asked Joe.
“We’ve got to keep track of them somehow.” Frank moved about, inspecting the airplane. “I’d just like to reserve a back seat in this plane for the next forty-eight hours.”
“That idea isn’t as silly as it sounds!” declared Joe. “Why can’t we?”
Frank laughed. “How can we? They’d simply kick us out, for we’d certainly be seen.”
“Not if we went about it right.” Joe was excited as the possibilities of his idea became more apparent. “Why can’t we be stowaways? Don’t you remember the time we hid ourselves in the back of the automobile when we solved the Shore Road mystery? We could hide here too. I’ve heard of airplane stowaways before.”
“It’s a nervy idea,” said Frank. “I wonder where we could hide?” He moved down toward the rear of the plane. Suddenly he halted. “Just what we want, Joe! Here’s an opening.” He thrust the sliding door aside and looked into the dark interior. The tail of the plane was hollow and he could see a substantial hiding place. Considerable space was available for freight or baggage and, inasmuch as Ducroy and his friends were travelling light, there was plenty of room for the two boys.
“How about it?” asked Joe.
“I’m game. But how about food? We’ll be in there for quite a while, you know.”
“We’ll get sandwiches and water. Some blankets too, for that matter. We’ll simply stow away in there and make ourselves comfortable. Then, if anything happens, we’ll be right on hand.”
“We’ll be right on hand too if the plane crashes,” Frank reminded his brother. “Perhaps we’ll weight it down too much.”
“I don’t think so. This plane is designed to carry baggage, and if that space is empty, we’ll never be noticed. I think we can get away with it, provided we have any luck at all. It’s easily our best chance of keeping in touch with Ducroy and his gang. If they’re going to be flying around the country trying to dodge the authorities, we shan’t have much chance of keeping our eyes on them in our car.”
“That’s right, too.” Frank made up his mind. “I’m with you, Joe. And now’s our chance. Let’s get water and sandwiches and get into the plane while we have time.”
It seemed a mad scheme, but the brothers knew the importance of keeping close to Ducroy and his friends. Some crime had been planned for the night of the twenty-eighth, and the Hardy boys knew they must not lose track of their quarry for a moment. It would have been obviously impossible to follow the meanderings of the airplane from the ground.
They hastened over to the little lunch counter and laid in a stock of provisions. Several bottles of milk, a huge bottle of water, some cake and a stock of sandwiches constituted their supplies. At the lunch counter they spied two heavy automobile robes, and as it was too late to return to their own roadster, they bought the robes and entrusted the lunch counter man with the duty of driving their own car to a garage for safekeeping. This he promised to do. Doubtless he wondered the reason for the boys’ purchases, but he was a man who believed in minding his own business and he exhibited no surprise or curiosity.
Frank and Joe hurried back into the hangar. They tossed the robes into their hiding place in the plane, arranged them comfortably, then stowed away the food and water.
“All set?” asked Frank finally.
“All set.”
Joe began to scramble into the plane.
“Just in time, too,” said the brother.
“Why?” asked Joe, in a muffled voice, as he crouched back on one of the automobile robes.
“Giles Ducroy and his friends are coming back across the flying field.”
Frank got into the plane. Quickly he closed the door. The two boys waited apprehensively. Had their presence been detected? Would the lunch-counter man mention having seen them? Would Ducroy glance into the baggage compartment before leaving?
But nothing happened. They heard the three men come into the hangar. They heard them moving about, evidently preparing for departure. Finally, they heard Ducroy’s voice:
“Get in. We’re away again.”
The plane was trundled out on the field. A moment later the motor roared, the machine bumped its way across the field, then the bumping motion ceased and the Hardy boys knew that they were
