THE GIRL FLYERS ON ADVENTURE ISLAND

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Hazardous Flight

2. Pursued by a Flying Foe

3. Tropic Storm

4. Island Prisoners

5. The Cave of Wonder

6. Trapped!

7. Crashed!

8. Jump

ON ADVENTURE ISLAND

CHAPTER I

Hazardous Flight

Flying a mile high above the rolling hills of the countryside, Terry Mapes suddenly put Skybird, her little blue-and-gold monoplane, into a series of loops. She was feeling good, her brown eyes were keenly alive and her slight boyish figure sat erect as she handled the controls of her plane. And being a young and lively girl, she wanted to turn somersaults in the sky to express her joy.

Her twin sister, strapped in the rear cockpit, spoke to her through the earphones, “Quit your circus stunts, Terry, and keep going! We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”

“You guessed it, Prim. That’s why I’m feeling so full of pep!” answered Terry and her voice died away as she put Skybird into another loop among the clouds.

The next minute her plane was on an even keel and Prim repeated: “Terry, will you stop clowning? Save that pep! You’ll need it before we get to South America.”

“Don’t I know it! I’ll be good and tired before I reach Peru, but right now I feel like a million dollars. I wouldn’t change places with the President of the United States or the Prince of Wales,” said Terry with a laugh. “I’m perfectly satisfied to be Terry Mapes, airplane pilot on a secret errand to the wilds of South America.”

“And I,” interrupted Prim, settling back for a comfortable trip, “would rather be just Prim, the twin sister of the cleverest girl flyer who ever did a barrel roll.—But I wish she’d cut out the stunts for the present!”

Dick Mapes, the father of the girls was an old airmail pilot. He had taught both girls to fly. The home-loving Prim had become a good pilot but she was not as fond of the sport as her sister. Prim was a pretty blonde type, inclined to plumpness, easy-going and gay, while Terry was serious, high strung and nervous, Terry loved to fly and now that her father was crippled from an accident and still unable to leave his wheel chair, she was trusted with many important air jobs.

To Terry it was not half so venturesome to cut up antics in the air as it would have been to race in a motor boat or automobile. She always felt perfectly safe and perfectly happy when she could put a thousand feet of air between her plane and the earth.

Prim, in spite of her protests, had perfect confidence in her twin sister’s ability to handle her plane and whether she was stunting or flying straight. Prim could feel sure of a happy landing and enjoy herself.

At last Terry had worked off her excitement. She leveled out her plane and throttled the engine down to a steady cruising speed. Terry’s success as a flyer was due to the fact that the girl understood her plane thoroughly and treated it with respect. Apart from an occasional burst of speed to work off her excess energy and a few stunts to keep her in practice, Terry kept her plane on a level keel and never overtaxed it.

Mile after mile sped by below them and Terry’s mind was racing ahead to the work she had to do, a mission which might be full of perils and thrilling hazards.

Since the day when her father had started out with such high hopes of success in the venture of The Dick Mapes Flying Field, things had gone all wrong with him. He had obtained an option on a large tract of land at Elmwood from the owner, Peter Langley who lived at a small gold mine in the wilds of Peru, and it was this field that had aroused the envy of his business rival, Joe Arnold.

Most of Dick’s misfortunes had come through the jealousy of this unscrupulous flyer. Joe Arnold was anxious to get control of Dick Mapes’ field, as it was situated near his own and was at a safe point for carrying on his illegal business. If he could once get this field he would be isolated and not run the risk of being seen when loading and unloading his planes.

Joe Arnold was a dangerous rival. He would stop at nothing to carry out his schemes. And for the last two years he had kept Dick Mapes and his helpers in a state of anxiety. At first there had only been slight inconveniences, mishaps that were annoying, but through his agent, Bud Hyslop, who worked as mechanic for Mapes, Joe was able to learn all the plans of the field. He grew bolder and with Bud to carry out his orders, the field was the scene of frequent accidents.

Suspicion pointed to Bud after the crash in which Dick Mapes was injured. Dick was a careful pilot and always checked up on his plane before starting out on a trip. Yet as soon as he was in the air that day, he found that someone had been tampering with his plane. It was too late to save himself. The plane crashed from a height of five hundred feet. It was a miracle that