As will be seen by the reader, he was only a short distance in the rear of the _Louise_ and the _Bertha_. The _Ann_ was a much more powerful machine than either of the ones owned by the boys, and Havens was noted for his reckless driving, so it is quite possible that he would have caught a glimpse of the two flying machines at some stage of the journey if the latter had kept farther to the north as had been agreed upon. As Havens swept rapidly over the country he was more than satisfied with the steps he had taken to prevent pursuit. But he was out of touch with the boys as well as with his business associates! He still considered the situation a desirable one for the reason that he was also out of touch with the mercenaries who had given him such a bad night on the water front! And so, flying swiftly, stopping only to rest for a few hours at time, and for gasoline and provisions, Havens crossed the continent in his powerful machine, and, one morning, caught sight of the pretty little city of Monterey, nestling on the border of the bay of the same name. His next task would be to locate the _Louise_ and the _Bertha_. CHAPTER XIII. IN RANGER UNIFORM. “Speaking about sleep,” Ben observed, as Kit made the remark that he never expected to get any more, “reminds me that we can’t go on like this forever. It will soon be daylight, now, and the chances are that the fellow in the other flying machine will lie low for a time for the same reason that we shall. In other words, he won’t want to attract undue attention by hovering over the mountains in plain sight of forest rangers and tourists.” “That’s a mighty pleasant conclusion!” laughed Jimmie. “It means that all we’ve got to do now is to leave one man to guard the machines and sleep all day!” “I’ll do the watching stunt,” offered Kit. “I had a great sleep back there in the other canyon.” “You might have had a longer one if you hadn’t followed Jimmie into the cavern,” suggested Carl. “Well,” replied Kit, “you fellows made so much noise that I couldn’t sleep, and I saw Jimmie’s light disappearing in the cave, and so I just naturally sneaked in after him! I got there just in time, too,” he went on, “for I believe those Chinks would have devoured Jimmie if they hadn’t seen some one else coming!” “Speaking of Chinks,” laughed Carl, “I wonder what that Chink thought when he saw us heading our machines directly for the precipice.” “It’s a good bet that he didn’t stop long enough to think,” Ben suggested. “The chances are that he flew back to his companions in the cave at a pace that set his pigtail straight out in the air.” “You found him tied up, didn’t you?” asked Ben. “We sure did,” replied Kit. “Then why should he go back to the people who served him a trick like that?” asked Ben. “That’s a fact,” Jimmie replied, “I never thought of that.”