Page:Bedford-Jones--Boy Scouts of the Air at Cape Peril.djvu/94



When the pilot had safely landed at Dareville, inquiry brought out the news that Smith had gone to Manteo, a settlement two miles away. It was getting to be a needle hunt in a haystack and, with the wind rising every moment, Hardy was growing desperate. He felt very much as an angry porcupine looks, and expressed himself accordingly to a group of villagers. The offer of an obliging citizen to go post-haste in his auto for the elusive Smith was eagerly accepted.

"If this ain't the dickens!" exploded Hardy to Legs. "If I ever get my hands on that son of a gun, fat chance he'll have to wriggle out till I drive his head into the Kitty Hawk lighthouse. What's the use of getting hot, though!" he concluded. "It's all in a lifetime. Let's go over to that swell hotel there and eat while we're waiting."

Legs began to press the Buffalo Dare mystery.

"Look here," argued the pilot, "my first job 92