“We must be in the Canadian woods!” he whispered, feeling sure that he recognized the terrain.
For another half-hour the plane flew at high altitude and then it speedily began to descend.
“Be ready to do what I tell you, Bud!” Tom whispered. “I’m going to take Johnson by surprise!”
“Okay!” Bud said softly.
During the long ride, Tom had been formulating a plan. He removed his belt and asked Bud for his.
Suddenly the radio silence was broken. They heard Hein say: “Ed, I’ll go in first.”
“I’ll be right on your tail,” Johnson replied.
The plane went into a sweeping bank.
“I must work fast!” Tom told Bud. “When I yell your name, take over the controls!”
“Right.”
STOWAWAYS 73
As quietly as possible Tom opened the compartment door. With a catlike movement he hurled himself at Johnson, looping one of the belts down over the arms of the startled pilot. At the same instant he switched off the radio. His move was just in time to prevent Johnson’s outcry from being heard by Hein.
“Bud!” Tom yelled, jerking Johnson sideways from the seat.
As the man fell to the floor, Bud slipped into Johnson’s place and put on the automatic pilot. Then he turned to help Tom.
Johnson, who had been caught unawares, was quickly bound and gagged.
Tom forced him into the luggage compartment, then called: “Bud, turn on the radio again. We don’t want Hein to become suspicious. I noticed their special wave band is marked 14X.”
Tom crawled back. Bud had leveled the plane, and now at a thousand feet the boys could clearly discern the entire shore line of a large lake, deep in the wilderness.