CHAPTER IV

MOLOKAI AT LAST

They found that they had landed about fifty feet from the water line but not knowing whether it was high or low tide they pushed the plane some hundred feet farther up the beach. By this time darkness had come and, together with the fog, they could hardly see their hands before their faces. Still they all realized that it might have been much worse and no one was disposed to grumble.

“How about some eats?” Gordon asked as soon as they were sure they had the plane in a safe place.

“What do you mean eats?” Bill demanded.

“What does one usually mean when he says eats?” Gordon retorted.

“You’ve had all the eats you’re going to get to-night. Why we ate only an hour or so ago and besides you’re not hungry, it’s only a habit,” Bill told him.

“Maybe you’re right,” Gordon sighed. “I forgot we’re on short rations.”

“I’m sorry, but we’ll need all we’ve got for breakfast to-morrow morning,” Bill consoled him.

“If I starve before then don’t forget that I forgive you,” Gordon told him.

“Thanks for those kind words. They sure take a load off my mind,” Bill laughed.

“Well, seeing as how there doesn’t seem anything else to do and that we got up fairly early I move we go to bed,” Gordon proposed a few minutes later.

“Not a bad idea,” Rogers agreed. “Where are we going to sleep?”

“I guess it’s the sand for us,” Bill told him. “I wouldn’t want to get very far away from the plane and with our blankets it won’t be so bad.”

It was not cold although a cool wind had sprung up and they were hopeful that it would clear away the fog by morning.

“I’ve slept in lots worse places than this,” Gordon declared a few minutes later. “This sand was laid soft side up.”

“It’s not half bad,” Rogers agreed. “And, believe me, I’m going to sleep.”

They were all sleepy and wasted no more time in talking. Some time later Bill opened his eyes and sat up. Something had disturbed his sleep but, for a moment, he had no idea what it was. Then he was conscious of a strange sound off to his right and seemingly not far away. It began with a low rumble not unlike distant thunder but soon began to change, getting more volume and of a higher note until it rose to a shrill shriek and finally died away in the low rumble with which it had started. Perhaps the whole thing had lasted a minute.

“Did you hear anything?” he heard Gordon whisper not loud enough for him to hear unless he was awake.

“I’ll say I did,” he whispered back. “Did it wake you up?”

“Something did.”

“It was enough to wake the dead.”

“Didn’t sound like any animal I’ve ever heard.” This last was from Rogers and they knew that he too had been awakened.

“There it goes again,” Gordon said.

This time the sound was about the same except that it did not last as long.

“Spooks,” Gordon whispered as the wail died away.

“No spooks ever had lungs substantial enough to make a noise like that,” Rogers told him.

The wind was still blowing and they noticed that the fog had nearly cleared although it was very dark.

“What time is it?” Gordon asked. “My watch has stopped. Forgot to wind it.”

“Quarter past two,” Bill told him.

For nearly half an hour they listened to the strange sound which recurred at frequent intervals. Then it stopped.

“If anyone could have seen us when we landed I’d be inclined to think it was someone trying to scare us,” Bill said as he stretched out on the sand again.

“Any guy that could do that naturally wouldn’t have to try very hard,” Gordon told them.

“Which may be true although it doesn’t make any sense,” Bill declared.

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“What you said.”

“I’ll leave it to Steve if it didn’t.”

“I think I got your meaning,” Rogers chuckled.

“There, smarty,” Gordon jeered.

“All right, my mistake. Let’s go to sleep.”

When Bill awoke again it was broad daylight and the sun was shining. The fog had entirely cleared and the sky was cloudless. A glance at his watch told him that it was nearly seven o’clock and he spoke to the others.

“You fellows going to sleep all day?”

As soon as he had the others really awake, he looked about him. In front stretched the ocean while back of them and some hundred feet distant grew a thick forest of a variety of tropical trees. The broad hard beach stretched in either distance as far as he could see.

“Well, we sure had plenty of room to land after all,” he remarked.

“I’ll say we did,” Gordon agreed as he got up and stretched himself. “How about breakfast?”

“Always thinking of your tummy,” Bill laughed as he began dragging what was left of their supply of food from the plane. “I hope the coffee in this last vacuum bottle is hot.”

It was and they made a fairly satisfactory breakfast although Gordon insisted that it was far below par.

“Now,” Rogers began as soon as they had finished, “I suppose the first thing in order is to try and find out where we are.”

“And locate a base of supplies,” Gordon added.

“Say,” Gordon asked as they were getting ready to hop off, “did we hear something in the night or did I dream it?”

“If you dreamed it I reckon I did too,” Bill told him.

“And that includes me also,” Rogers added.

“What was it?” Gordon added.

“Don’t you wish you knew?” Rogers mocked.

“Do you know?”

“Haven’t an idea.”

“How about you, Bill?”

“Same way.”

“But don’t you think we ought to know what it was?”

“Maybe, but I don’t know how we’re going to. We’ve got other things of more importance on hand just now,” Bill told him.

“Perhaps and perhaps not,” Gordon retorted. “Anyhow I’d hate most awfully to have whatever it was making it get hold of me.”

“Some things aren’t so bad as they sound,” Rogers smiled.

“Well, that thing could be a whole lot better and then be bad enough,” Gordon told him.

They had decided that the best plan was to go up in the plane and see what they could see. So, a few minutes after they had finished eating, they were once again in the air which was remarkably clear.

“This can’t be the right island,” Gordon declared as soon as they were up about a hundred feet, “it isn’t large enough.”

“From this map of the islands I think this is Kahoolawe,” Rogers said. “It looks to be about the right size and over there that big island must be Maui.”

“Then Molokai ought to be about sixty miles a little east of north from here,” Bill suggested.

“Exactly,” Rogers agreed.

So Bill headed the plane nearly north and they flew along at an altitude of about six hundred feet.

“That must be Lanai over there to the left,” Rogers announced a few minutes later.

“And Molokai straight ahead,” Gordon added.

“Righto,” Bill agreed.

“It can’t be more than a hundred miles to Honolulu,” Rogers said. “How about going there and laying in supplies?”

“Oh, boy, right where I live,” Gordon chuckled.

“We’ll really attract less attention in a large place like Honolulu than if we land near some small town and we don’t want to make ourselves any more conspicuous than is necessary the way I figure it,” Rogers explained.

“I think you’re right,” Bill agreed giving the wheel a slight turn to the left.

“According to that old map our stamping ground is not far from that point,” Rogers said as, a half hour later, they passed over the western end of Molokai.

“And it doesn’t look to me as though that end of the island is very thickly populated,” Gordon declared as he gazed over the side of the cockpit.

“It isn’t,” Rogers told him. “That’s Laau Point and there’s no settlement within about twenty miles of it.”

“Can’t make us mad, eh?” Gordon chuckled.

“No, the fewer the better,” Bill told him.

It was just ten o’clock when the Albatross settled to the ground on the outskirts of the city. Contrary to their hopes, however, the plane had been sighted and there was a large and, as Gordon afterward declared, a very mixed reception committee ready to greet them. In fact it seemed to them that about every nation on the globe was represented. Everyone wanted to shake hands with them and for the better part of an hour they were kept busy at the task. Also everyone wanted to know where they came from and all about them and when they learned that they were from the States their greeting was all the more cordial.

Finally and with great difficulty Rogers made it clear that they were going to remain on the island only long enough to lay in some supplies and that they would positively submit to no receptions or other demonstrations much as they appreciated their very cordial welcome.

Immediately a man, evidently an American, stepped forward and informed them that his car was at their disposal for as long a time as they wished to make use of it.

“You go with him and get what we need and Gordon and I will stay here with the plane,” Bill whispered to Rogers and he nodded assent. “I’ll get back as soon as I can,” he promised.

After he had driven away with the man the crowd continued to besiege the boys with questions as to where they were going and what they were going to do and why they couldn’t stay. To all of which they gave more or less evasive answers.

“What island is this,” Gordon asked one of them.

“Ohau.”

“Oh, I’m all right, but what’s the name of this island?”

“Ohau,” the man again replied.

“Is he trying to get funny with me?” Gordon whispered to Bill.

“He only told you what you asked him,” Bill whispered back trying to keep from laughing.

“You mean——”

“Sure, that’s the name of the island, O-H-A-U.”

“Oh,” Gordon grinned. “I thought he was asking after my health.”

It was just noon when Rogers returned with the back of the car nearly filled with packages of all shapes and sizes.

“I’ve got our dinner here,” he told them indicating a package which he had been carrying in his lap. “Thought we’d eat on the way back instead of going to a hotel.”

“Good idea,” Bill told him.

They hurried as rapidly as possible in transferring the parcels to the compartment back of the seats in the plane and by half past twelve were ready to start back. The man who had loaned his car begged them to remain on the island as his guests for as long a time as they might wish, but they soon convinced him of the impossibility of such a visit and thanked him most cordially for his kindness in helping them. He told them his name was James Borden and that he lived in the city and begged them to come and see him whenever they could.

“Now how about that box with our dinner in it?” Gordon asked as soon as the plane was headed south.

“Here it is,” Rogers laughed as he reached back behind his seat. “Go to it.”

They flew along slowly while eating and it was nearly two o’clock when they arrived over Laau Point and prepared to land.

“Doesn’t look exactly like a paradise,” Gordon declared as the plane settled down about a hundred yards from the rocky coast.

“Well, we didn’t come here for a picnic,” Bill reminded him.

“Maybe we’ll have one just the same,” Rogers added.

It was not a pleasant looking prospect so far as the country itself appeared. It was very rocky for as far as they could see and there were but few trees in sight.

“I thought these tropical islands were covered with palms and beautiful flowers and all that sort of thing,” Gordon said as he hopped from the cockpit.

“Then this must be the exception that proves the rule,” Bill told him.

“Well we’re here anyhow and that’s the main thing. Where are we going to live?”

“One place looks about as good as another,” Bill told him as he glanced about. “We’ve got the pup tents and about all we need is to find a soft place to pitch them.”

“Most of these rocks look kind of hard to me,” Gordon grinned.

“Looks rather inviting over there,” Rogers said pointing to a place about a hundred feet from where they were standing.

They hurried over and found a nearly circular spot of sand hemmed in by rocks on all sides. It was about twelve feet in diameter and, as Gordon said, the sand looked reasonably soft.

“Probably it’s as good as we’ll find and at any rate we’ll be rather inconspicuous here,” Bill declared.

“But we ought to get the plane nearer,” Gordon told them.

“Nothing difficult about that,” Bill assured him. “You tell me where you want it and I’ll have it there in nothing flat.”

By skillful manipulation of the two propellers he kept his promise and by three o’clock they had the little tents up and, as Gordon said, “were all fixed for light housekeeping.”