Doc Catch Plane

Then, as they all heard what Doc's sensitive ears had been first to detect, horror seized them.

Kar's plane was starting. The engines were already tossing salvos of sound against the gigantic cliff wall of the crater.

Doc Savage left the spot as from a catapult. No word did he speak. None was needed. His men knew that, should the plane get off, their lot would be very hard indeed. It might take them years to escape the innards of Thunder Island.

Renny, Ham, Monk, Long Tom, Johnny--all five trailed in his wake. But from the way they were left behind, they might have been at a standstill in the rear of the bronze master of speed.

Seemingly gifted with unseen wings, such fabulous leaps did he take over boulders, Doc bore down on the makeshift hangar between the two masses of stone that were larger than skyscrapers. He caught sight of the plane.

It was in motion.

Already, the tail was lifting. Another two hundred yards for speed, and the craft would be off. Doc could see the features of the man in the control cockpit.

Kar was handling the plane!

DOC veered left. He put on speed--although he had been traveling faster than it seemed a human could.

He was trying to intercept the plane! Kar saw his purpose. He kicked rudder. The ship veered a little. But it couldn't turn enough to evade Doc. The runway was rather narrow. Great rocks spotted the sides. The plane could easily crash among these.

For a moment, though, it did seem the ship would escape the mighty bronze man. But a great leap sent his herculean figure sailing upward.

Doc seized a strut which braced the empennage--the rudder and elevators. The plane must have been going forty miles an hour. The wrench would have torn loose the grip of lesser fingers. But the bronze giant held on.

Kar now began to shoot with an automatic pistol. He was excited. He had to aim from a very difficult position. He missed with all his slugs--then had to devote his attention to getting the plane off the crater floor, before it reached the runway end.

The craft lurched. With a moan, it took the air!

- The Land of Terror (1933) Chapter 21