CHAPTER XX

Desperate Flight!

McHucH flicked his radio transmitter to 121.5 megacycles-the international distress frequency.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" he shouted into the microphone. "This is Trimotor-Victor-Victor-Fox! About twenty miles southwest o' Skip-ness radio! Lost all power! Have t' ditch!"

Hexton and his cohorts were pale with fright as they watched the plane sink closer to the water.

"Quick, lads! Jettison the cabin doorl" Mc-Hugh ordered.

Near the door was a red handle. Joe dashed to it and gave a sharp pull. As the door shot off into space, there was a thunderous rush of air through the cabin.

"Sit with your backs against the forward bulkhead!" the pilot yelled. "Clasp your hands behind your heads and brace yourselves!"

Everyone took ditching positions. The wait was 167

168 The Secret Agent on Flight 101

nerve-shattering. Finally the plane hit the water. It bounced off the surface on first contact, then nosed down into the choppy sea with a violent impact. Water gushed into the cabin. As the boys recovered from the shock, Frank turned to see Hexton pushing himself out through the cabin entrance.

"We're sinking fast!" Joe yelled.

"Look!" Chet shouted. "McHugh's unconscious!"

"So are Vordo and Bleeker!" Joe added.

"We must get them out of here!" Frank declared. "I'll take McHughl You two grab the others!"

Clutching the unconscious men, the boys edged their way to the cabin entrance and pushed themselves clear of the sinking aircraft. They were not too far from land and began swimming.

Joe, who was dragging Vordo along with him, looked toward the shore just as Hexton reached it. The magician stumbled ahead and disappeared into the tall grass.

"Hexton's getting away!" Joe shouted.

"We'll have to let him go," Frank replied. "We can't let Vordo and Bleeker drown."

Chet, meanwhile, was too winded to speak, as he swam doggedly on with his heavy burden. Bleeker was a dead weight. The boys had almost made it to shore when a motor launch of the Air-Sea Rescue Service sped toward them.

Desperate Flight! 169

"We received your distress signal," one of the crewmen shouted as the boat pulled alongside. "Anybody missing?"

"No," Joe shouted back. "One man made it to shore."

Vordo and Bleeker began to recover as they were hauled aboard the boat.

"We'd better tie up these two," Frank said. "They're jewel thieves." Rope was produced and the prisoners bound.

Joe and Chet helped McHugh, who groaned and slowly got to his feet. Grief-stricken, he watched the tail of his plane disappear beneath the surface of the water in a bubbling sea of foam.

Joe began going through the prisoners' pockets. "Look!" he cried, holding out several sealskin pouches. They were crammed with jewels.

"Firsthand evidence," said Frank. "Hexton must have the rest. Now that his espionage work has been destroyed, he probably figures on living off the haul he made today."

"Let's ask these UGLI's a few questions," Joe suggested. He turned to Vordo and Bleeker. "How did you kidnap our father?"

The two men glared. "You're getting nothing out of us!" Vordo snarled.

"That's tellin' em, Vordo!" Bleeker snapped. "Too bad the mirror Hexton had you put on the road didn't work out and that Lou missed with

170 The Secret Agent on Flight 101

that sandbag. We'd have been rid of these snoopers long ago! And it's a shame they have a cracker jack pilot who safely landed their plane after you loosened the fuel caps."

When the rescue ship reached shore, the prisoners were turned over to the authorities. The others proceeded to Prestwick in a car lent to McHugh by a friend. Regretfully the three boys bid good-by to the brave pilot.

"You're tops," Joe added, and Frank said. "One of the best sports I ever met I" Chet nodded.

McHugh smiled. "You're the finest lads I ever knew. Come again sometime and have a ride in my new plane."

"We'll do that," Chet answered.

After the pilot had left them, the boys went for a bite to eat. Joe expressed his frustration that Hexton had escaped.

"Where do you think he'll go?" Chet asked. "Ireland, like he said?"

Frank shook his head. "My guess is New York."

Joe's eyes lighted up. "And maybe on Flight 101! It leaves tomorrow morning."

Chet snorted, "An UGLI secret agent on Flight 101!"

"We're going to be on board, too," said Frank. "If he's there, we'll nab him."

The boys informed Inspector Clyde of their plan. They could hardly wait to take off. Next

Desperate Flight! 171

morning they watched intently as the passengers filed aboard.

"Hey!" Joe exclaimed, nudging his brother. "There's that same man we saw on our last flight to New York-the one with the dark glasses and whiskers and cane."

"Well, he can't be Hexton in disguise," Frank commented. "This man's heavier set."

"I don't see anybody that looks like Hexton," Chet lamented.

They observed another elderly bewhiskered man with a cast on his left leg hobble up on crutches. A steward helped him into the plane.

The boys were the last to go aboard. During the flight the boys studied the other passengers but saw nothing suspicious.

When the wheels screeched down at Westboro, Joe stretched his arms wearily. "Guess we drew a blank this time." He sighed.

At the Great Circle Airways ramp, the passengers began to debark.

"Let's keep our seats until everybody's out," Frank whispered. "Watch carefully."

The plane emptied until only the two elderly men, the three boys, and the steward were left. The man with the cast eased himself onto his crutches and started down the aisle.

Joe stiffened. "Hey! Did you see that?" he ·whispered excitedly. "That old man was walking on his injured leg! I'll bet he's a fake."

172 The Secret Agent on Flight 101

"I saw it too," Frank replied. He bolted out of his seat and called, "Wait a minute 1 We want to talk to you!"

The man stopped abruptly. Then he swung one of his crutches at Frank as the youth darted toward him. The other elderly man sprang from his seat and dealt him a blow with his cane that sent him stumbling up the aisle.

"Steward," bellowed the man with the cast, "keep these guys away from me!"

"That voice!" Joe yelled. "It's Hexton's!"

The steward was about to pounce on Frank, when Chet cried out, "This man's wanted by the police!"

Frank leaped at Hexton as the magician again swung his crutch. The young sleuth ducked and lunged forward, crashing into his opponent's midriff. As Hexton fell, his cast struck a seat and broke open. From it, a cascade of jewels spilled into the aisle. At the same moment several men poured in through the passenger door.

Among them was Kenneth Dell. "Looks as if you fellows already have things under control."

Chet picked up two sections of the cast. "It's light plastic," he said, "and looks as if it's made to come apart."

Frank yanked the magician to his feet, and whipped a wig from the man's head. Then he ripped off Hexton's false eyebrows and whiskers.

Desperate Flight! 173

Joe whistled. "Amazing what a little disguise can do to change a man's appearance!"

"You're right!" said the other elderly man.

"We want to thank you, sir, for your help," Joe said gratefully.

"That's all right, Joe," the man replied, chuckling.

Joe! As the boys looked on in amazement, the man removed his dark glasses and a false beard.

"Dad!" the young sleuths exclaimed, overjoyed to see their father.

Then Frank whispered to him, "So you were the secret agent for SKOOL on Flight 101!"

"Yes," Mr. Hardy said quietly. His "aged" slouch was gone, and he pulled himself to his full height. "Sorry to keep my whereabouts a secret. But the job was so dangerous I couldn't risk telling anybody where I was."

"You never were in South Africa?"

"No."

Hexton was livid. "You haven't heard the last of me!" he snarled.

"Save your breath," Joe retorted. "You'll need it when the authorities begin questioning you and the other members of UGLI."

Federal agents arrived to take custody of Hex-ton. The boys learned that Mr. Hardy had cabled Dell to have the agents on hand because he suspected who the "injured" passenger was.

174 The Secret Agent on Flight 101

"I wanted him captured on U.S. soil," the detective said.

"Tell us, Dad," Frank asked eagerly, "how Hexton managed to spirit you away in that vanishing-man device?"

"It was quite a simple trick," Mr. Hardy explained. "The bottom of the plank I was strapped to was a highly polished mirror. After setting it in the frame, the frame was rotated so the mirror side of the plank was angled toward the audience. In this position, it reflected the roof of the enclosure, which was made of the same material as the draperies forming the rear wall. To an observer it looked as if the plank had vanished, including the subject. Meanwhile, a man of the same size and build wearing the identical clothes appeared from the wings."

"That was Lou, then," said Joe. "Bert's double. Chet, old pal, you were right about the trick.

Chet beamed modestly. "It was nothing."

"In my case," Mr. Hardy went on, "Bleeker was hiding in a secret compartment in the base of the device. When Hexton closed the curtain, he popped up and jabbed me with a needle containing a powerful drug. UGLI members always carry these hypodermics for emergencies. I passed out in seconds."

"How did you escape from the lighthouse?" Joe asked.

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Fenton Hardy grinned. "I had a lucky break," he said. "Vordo and Bleeker handcuffed me to the metal railing of the spiral stairway, with my hands behind my back. Fortunately I spotted a short piece of baling wire on the floor. It was a tough job, but I managed to get the wire to stick to the heel of my shoe. Then I bent my leg back far enough so I could reach the wire with my fingers."

"And you picked the lock of your handcuffsl" Joe guessed.

"Yes," Mr. Hardy replied. "It took me hours. Then I sneaked out while Vordo and Bleeker were sleeping and borrowed their dinghy. I had almost reached the mainland when I heard their powerboat coming from the islet. So I capsized the dinghy and swam the rest of the way."

Frank grinned. "You hoped Vordo and Bleeker would find it and think you had drowned."

"Exactly," his father answered. "At least it would keep them guessing."

Mr. Hardy then described his investigations of the Great Circle stewards he suspected. "I used several disguises including a blond wig."

Chet asked him why he had tripped Ross with the cane.

"I thought maybe he had a small package of jewels in his sleeve or under his coat, and it might fall out when he fell. But I was wrong. I also slipped the note into Joe's suitcase."

"What about Mazer, the pilot of the helio-plane?" Joe inquired.

"I believe he was a victim of circumstances," Dell replied. "The authorities are going to let him off with a year's suspension of his pilot's license."

The group got out of the plane and Mr. Dell said good-by. "See you on the next case, Fenton," he called, and hurried off.

Frank and Joe fervently hoped they might be included, but first they were called upon to solve the Mystery of the Whale Tattoo.

"Now, fellows," Mr. Hardy said with a grin, "I suggest we call Jack Wayne and have him fly all us SKOOL boys home."

"SKOOL boys? What do you mean?" Chet asked.

The secret agent grinned. "I think you've all earned places in the organization as junior members!"

THE END

THE SECRET AGENT ON FLIGHT 101

By FRANKLIN W. DIXON

No. 46 in the Hardy Boys series,

This is the original 1967 text.