Chapter XX: The Crash

Startled by Slim Tyler's cry of warning, in which Jerry joined, Dick Mylert looked up.

Two great birds were swooping down upon him with raucous cries, talons outspread.

Dick started to clamber down, but one of the birds, bigger than an eagle, struck him a heavy blow with one of its wings and he fell for a dozen feet.

His feet slipped out from under him as they touched the icy surface and he fell on his back.

"Cover your eyes, Dick!" screamed Slim, as he saw the creatures making for Dick's face.

Dick, though confused and bewildered, had sense enough left to follow the injunction and threw both arms tightly over his eyes. The angry birds tore at his arms, their beaks drawing blood.

Slim and Jerry launched themselves against the creatures, their arms and fists working like flails. The ferocity of their onslaught drove the feathered assailants back for the moment, but they returned promptly to the attack.

With their left arms shielding their eyes, Slim and Jerry yanked Dick to his feet and the three fought their way back to the plane, while again and again the maddened birds swooped down upon them, beating them heavily with their wings, striking at them with talons, and trying ever to get at their eyes with their beaks.

"Hold them off for another minute," panted Slim, as he leaped over the side of the plane and grabbed a rifle.

The gun cracked and one of the birds fell lifeless. Another shot broke the wing of the other and it flopped helpless to the ground. Slim fired once more and killed it.

Then he rejoined his comrades, who were leaning, gasping, against the side of the plane.

"They haven't touched your eyes, have they?" he inquired anxiously.

"No," panted Jerry. "But it wasn't for the want of trying. I'm bleeding like a stuck pig."

"My eyes are all right," gasped Dick. "But that fall knocked all my teeth loose. I can feel each one of them move as I touch them with my tongue."

"They'll tighten up in a day or two," Slim consoled him. "Gee, but I'm glad that we've got rid of those pirates!" as he viewed the feathered heaps on the ice.

"They were bad medicine," grunted Jerry. "But let's break out the first aid kit and get some iodine and bandages."

They helped to bind up each other's wounds, which were plentiful. But they were so relieved that their eyes were left that they bore the pain with philosophy.

"How about that scientific curiosity of yours, Dick?" asked Slim quizzically.

"Gone! Squelched!" replied Dick emphatically. "I'll never go bird-nesting in the Arctic again. Gee, but those fellows were fierce! What are they, anyway?"

"Auks, I guess, or something of the sort," replied Slim, with a glance at the huge creatures. "Mild enough when they are let alone, but tough bozos when it comes to defending their nests. Can't blame them. I like their spunk, and I'm sorry we had to kill them."

They rested for a few minutes and then prepared for their flight of exploration.

"Just what are your plans, Slim?" asked Dick.

"Simply to keep flying as long as daylight lasts," replied Slim, as he climbed into the cockpit and took his seat at the controls. "While Jerry or I guide the plane, the others will study the ice beneath with the field glasses. We'll be able to cover a good many hundred square miles of territory every day. We'll fly as low as we dare and yet keep out of the way of the mountain peaks. Each day we'll cover a separate section. We'll go over the whole of Greenland as with a fine toothed comb."

"How about the gasoline?" asked Jerry. "We're using up a good many gallons with every day we fly."

"I know," admitted Slim. "That's a problem. But we'll keep aloft as long as we can, and when the supply runs low we'll make for one of the Danish towns along the coast, where we can replenish. I hope, though, that it won't come to that."

They made an excellent take-off and mounted into the skies.

The sun was still shining brightly as Slim Tyler headed toward the center of the island. The visibility was fine, and they had no difficulty with their glasses in seeing the landscape beneath.

For hours and hours they flew on their quest without detecting any signs of human life. Animal life there was, reindeer, foxes, ermines, hares and musk oxen, though how some of them could find a living in those ice-covered wastes it was hard to imagine. From time to time these could be seen as mere dark specks on the ice-clad surface.

"If a fellow were lost here and had his rifle, he might live on game," remarked Jerry.

"A slim chance," returned Dick. "There'd be no cover, and he couldn't get close enough for a shot without being seen. No, this is anything but a hunter's paradise. If a fellow got stranded here, his best bet would be to streak it to some of the settlements along the coast."

Time wore on until mid-afternoon with not a sign of anything human to reward their quest. Then a haze began to rise and obscure their sight.

"By Jove!" exclaimed Slim suddenly, just as he was about reluctantly to put aside his glasses. "I thought I saw something then that looked like a camp."

"Where?" asked Jerry, who at the moment was guiding the plane.

"Down there," replied Slim, pointing to a deep valley a little to the right. "Hang it, it's fading away now as this fog grows thicker. We'll have to wait till it lifts. But keep circling around in this vicinity, Jerry, so that we shan't get away from this spot."

"Why couldn't the fog have waited a little longer?" grumbled Dick. "It's maddening to have it come up just now."

"What did the thing look like, Slim?" asked Jerry eagerly.

"Oh, it was vague enough," admitted the young aviator. "But there seemed to be a lot of things scattered around and I thought I could see some figures moving."

"Moving!" repeated Jerry, with huge satisfaction. "That's cheering. Movement means life."

"Of course, we don't want to let our hopes rise too high," cautioned Slim. "It may have been a party of Eskimos or Danish trappers."

"Even that would be something," put in Dick. "We might get some valuable information from them as to the whereabouts of Boyd and his party."

"That's true," agreed Slim. "Gee, fellows, I feel happier now than at any time since we landed in Greenland!"

The fog grew thicker. It soon wrapped the plane as in a pall. The _Hope_ seemed like a ghost wandering through the darkness. The wet, clammy folds penetrated through everything, even the heavy clothing of the young aviators.

Slim Tyler bent over Jerry and consulted the instruments.

"Better lift her a little higher, Jerry," he said, with a touch of uneasiness. "These mountains around here----"

A huge black mass loomed up in front of them. There was a crash, and everything went black before Slim Tyler's eyes!