The fact that the third machine followed the _Louise_ so savagely, so persistently, convinced the boys that the driver had not as yet communicated with Phillips or Mendosa. In fact, one question asked by Phillips of Kit that morning demonstrated that the outlaws had not yet been found. Jimmie headed at first straight for the ocean. There was exhilaration in the swift passage over the white-capped waves below. He swung over the headland from which the first signal light had been seen on the previous evening. Then he turned straight south and passed the second promontory. He saw that the schooner which had been seen the night before still lay at anchor, and that her deck was crowded with humanity. “Chinks!” he thought. “Waiting to be taken to the land of promise!” The same thought occurred to Kit, and the boy pointed downward as they cut the air above the deck. “Smugglers!” the boy said. Jimmie heard the word only faintly and nodded. Back from the ocean, they swung almost to the right of way of the Southern Pacific railroad. Below them opened great gorges in which a city might be hidden. There were immense forests which seemed of sufficient size to furnish a world in fuel for a thousand years. Here and there small rivulets trickled down the rugged mountainsides and joined larger streams, trailing off into the interior. It was like viewing a magic panorama. The exciting race continued until long after noon. The _Louise_ was by far the swifter machine of the two, and so the pursuer was obliged to resort to every trick known to aviators in order to keep her in view. The strain on the rear aeroplane was much greater than that on the _Louise_. The result of this was that the latter machine lasted longer in the swift competition. About the middle of the afternoon, she began moving away from her pursuer and soon lost sight of her entirely. Then Jimmie, after dropping down behind a summit, reduced speed in order to exchange ideas with his companion. “Did you see where she went, Kit?” he asked. “She just lagged behind!” was the reply. “There may be some trick about it!” suggested Jimmie. “If you leave it to me,” Kit went on, “there’s something the matter with her spark plug. I noticed her limping along half an hour before we lost sight of her.” “In that case,” Jimmie explained, “he’ll have to make a landing in order to repair the damage, and, if he hasn’t got an extra plug with him, he can’t repair it at all.” “What does the situation suggest to you?” asked Kit with a laugh. “Dinner-time!” replied Jimmie. “That’s the idea!” Kit responded. “And we may as well go over into the valley we left this morning,” Jimmie went on, “because the boys will be wondering what has become of us.” “It was a bad thing to do, running off like that!” exclaimed Kit.