Chapter XVIII. The Pursuit

"What plan have you in mind?" asked Tom of Mr. Whitford, when some of the Indians had gone back to their shanties, leaving a few staring curiously at the airship, as she rested on the ground, bathed in the glow of her electric lights.

"Well, I think the best thing we can do is just to stay right here, Tom; all night if need be. As Big Foot says, there have been airships passing overhead at frequent intervals. Of course that is not saying that they were the smugglers, but I don't see who else they could be. There's no meet going on, and no continental race. They must be the smugglers."

"I think so," put in Ned.

"Bless my diamond ring!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "But what are you going to do when you see them overhead?"

"Take after them, of course!" exclaimed Tom. "That's what we're here for; isn't it Mr. Whitford?"

"Yes. Do you think you can rise from the ground, and take after them in time to stand a chance of overhauling them, Tom? You know they may go very fast."

"I know, but I don't believe they can beat the Falcon. I'd rather wait down here than hover in the air. It isn't as dark as it was the other night, and they might see us with their glasses. Then they would turn back, and we'd have our trouble for nothing. They've actually got to cross the border with smuggled goods before the law can touch them; haven't they?"

"Yes, I couldn't arrest them on Canadian territory, or over it. I've got to get them on this side of the border. So perhaps it will be as well to lie here. But do you suppose you can hear them or see them, as they fly over?"

"I'm pretty sure I can. The sound of their motor and the whizz of the propellers carries for some distance. And then, too, I'm going to set the searchlight to play a beam up in the air. If that gets focused on 'em, we'll spot 'em all right."

"But suppose they see it, and turn back?"

"I don't believe they will. The beam will come from the ground straight upward you know, and they won't connect it with my ship."

"But that fellow who was sneaking up when Koku caught him, may find some way to warn them that you have come here," suggested Ned.

"He won't get much chance to communicate with his friends, while my men have him," said Mr. Whitford significantly. "I guess we'll take a chance here, Tom."

So it was arranged. Everything on the airship was gotten ready for a quick flight, and then Tom set his great searchlight aglow once more. Its powerful beams cut upward to the clouds, making a wonderful illumination.

"Now all we have to do is to wait and watch," remarked Tom, as he came hack from a last inspection of the apparatus in the motor room.

"And that is sometimes the hardest kind of