told him, his mouth well filled just then with the sandwich he was
enjoying. "Why, today they have cross-country airships that carry
complete dining outfits with a first-class chef in attendance, also
sleeping berths to be made up when night draws close. You'll have to get
a move on, buddy, for the procession is already at your heels and
threatening to take your number."
Perk grinned and knocked that head of his again.
"Guess you said somethin' that time, partner. These youngsters sure have
old chaps like me on the run for keeps. But I got a notion there are a
few things the ol' guys c'n still manage an' as long as I'm able I
reckon to keep goin', with aviation my chief diet."
"Well," said Perk, "never give up the ship as long as you've got an
ounce of steam left in the boiler," and Jack turned his head once more
to the supply of dry food and cold coffee that Perk had set out for his
attention.
An hour afterwards he insisted on taking the controls once more. Perk,
in hopes that he might be thinking of dropping down when some tempting
lake came in sight, said nothing, though figuring on broaching the
subject presently when the sun sank a little further toward the western
horizon.
The obstreperous head wind that had delayed them for so long still hung
on, though very likely it would die out at sunset. If they had failed to
cover all the ground such a run might have given them, at least they
were far advanced on their way.
Then something happened, for suddenly Perk missed the steady roar of the
motor and on looking up discovered the ship was pointing down as though
in a direct glide. His first belief was that, just as he had hoped, Jack
was bent on taking advantage of an opportunity to drop down on some lake
ahead.
"Goin' to use the pontoons again, eh partner?" he called out as if to
show his companion he himself had been figuring on the chances of doing
that thing when to his amazement he heard Jack saying in a steady voice:
"Case of necessity--got to make a dead-stick landing--hold yourself
steady now, Perk, and leave it to me!"
XVII
JACK'S DEAD STICK LANDING
Perk proved game all right--not the least bit flustrated or upset but
just took it as a matter of course--an incident likely to bob up in the
checkered life of any airman and with which doubtless he had himself
been acquainted in days that were long since gone.
He did, however glance swiftly ahead toward the spot where in all
probability, barring further accidents, the amphibian would be apt to
make contact.
"Gee whiz! what born luck that guy does have!" was what flashed through
his brain for what did he see before him but a sheet of water, one of
those lovely little lakes over which they had passed again and again and
which at all times had excited both his curiosity and his envy.
"Oh! if _on'y_ he c'n make it," Perk kept saying half to himself and
perhaps hardly conscious of his eagerness in the matter, for only too
well did he know how lessened their chances of avoiding a bad crash
would be if they could hit that water harbor when they struck on a
slant.
It was a critical moment for the success or failure of the entire
expedition, for even though neither of them were killed outright they
might be injured so seriously that the object of the flight must sink
into oblivion in comparison with the task of getting the wounded one to
a doctor.
Then in addition to those chances, what if their ship became totally
disabled? At that distance from civilization it would be next to
impossible for it to be salvaged and in consequence the costly amphibian
would prove a total loss.
No wonder then, that for the brief few seconds previous to their
pontoons striking, both of the chums found their hearts ceasing to beat
in so far as their knowledge told them--at any rate, they held their
breath in anticipation of the worst.
To be sure there was an enormous amount of splashing as though some
ancient rock had chosen to alight in that little mountain lake. Once
Perk was sure they must capsize and lose everything but just in the nick
of time Jack cleverly shifted his position and this seemed to right the
boat.
Jack had done wonderfully, considering the handicap under which he
labored. The spot where they struck was about two-thirds across the lake
so that it turned out they had plenty of room to glide ahead after the
first rude shock was over.
The two occupants of the cabin boat turned, as if by some instinct, to
grin at each other. No one, to observe their apparent indifference,
would have dreamed what a close shave they had just encountered for
landing with the stick absolutely inert is not the nicest thing in the
world and has caused more than a few bad crashes in which life was
snuffed out or at least sadly battered.
"Huh! couldn't a done it any better myself," remarked Perk, making a wry
face as though to tell his pal to interpret those words in the light of
a joke which circumstances did not bother Jack in the least. He had a
high estimation of his comrade's abilities and pluck and rather fancied
Perk might be a bit better than himself in some things connected with
flying. No ace is such a complete master of his calling that he has no
rival worthy of the name.
"Well, we're down, seems like," ventured Perk after taking a survey all
around the wonderful little body of sparkling icy water where they had
so miraculously dropped from near the clouds.
"That part is attended to, and sooner than I had figured," stated Jack
with a shrug of his shoulders that spoke volumes.
"Say, was you meanin' to pick out one o' these lakes for a campin' place
tonight, eh, ol' hoss?" demanded Perk, "'cause I had it all fixed to
coax you to do that thing. Kinder hankerin' some for a layout ashore,
where we c'n have a cookin' fire, an' stretch our legs as we feel like."
Jack nodded in the affirmative.
"I had that all arranged in my mind, partner," he admitted, "but from
the way things turned out, the ship didn't mean to wait on my pleasure.
You'd think she had fallen in love with this special body of water, from
the hurry she was in to make it. Just the same we got off mighty lucky,
boy."
"Sure did, Jack, and now the next question is, can we hop off from here
when the right time comes along?"
"No trouble about that, I reckon," replied Jack after a quick glance
around. "These steep mountains shut things in kind of tight but just
remember, brother, that these are not the old days, when ships needed a
half mile down-grade runway so's to get up enough speed to be lifted
from the ground and the same goes for an amphibian or seaplane."
"Hot ziggetty dog! guess you must mean the notched wings, eh, partner?"
blurted out Perk.
"Just so, and I calculate I can take her out of this hole in the
mountains as slick as grease,--when we're ready to get busy," was Jack's
superbly confident declaration, said not as a boast, but with the calm
assurance of one who knew what he was talking about.
"Wonder what did ail the boat to make that stick go dead so you couldn't
get a wiggle outen it?" Perk mused as though something brought his
thoughts suddenly around to the fact that thus far neither of them had
any thorough knowledge concerning this cause of the sudden forced
landing.
"We'll get around to that right away," the other told him, "but even if
we should learn what we want to know, and must find out, there'd be no
reason for us to climb out of this snug nest this afternoon that I can
see."
"Bully for you, Jack, ol' hoss, I was jest hopin' that'd be our
programme. Kinder took a likin' for these sweet little lakes an'
wouldn't mind spendin' a night on the bank o' this one. Might somethin'
turn up to give us a whirl--never c'n tell, I guess, what's goin' on
away off here in the wilds, where two-legged critters are as scarce as
hens' teeth."
That was the same old Perk showing his deep-seated love for action. It
had grown upon him over across the big water, at the time he was with
the balloon corps in France, and became a part of his very nature ever
since so that he could not keep from sighing for a change whenever
stagnation set in.
Accordingly Jack led the way and they began a minute examination of the
stalled motor. Both of them were more or less proficient in all matters
connected with airplane engines, although it seemed as though a new
species of trouble was springing up every little while, requiring fresh
study in order to master the problem.
A whole hour was spent in checking things up before Jack discovered what
ailed the hitherto perfect mechanism in which he had come to place the
most implicit confidence. He proceeded to show Perk what he had thus
found out and to demonstrate the surest way to correct the fault.
"After all, that's one on me," Perk soon frankly admitted, "but I kinder
guess you've solved the riddle, ol' hoss. Next thing to find out is
whether we c'n fix it out here so far from everything."
"No great trouble about that, partner," said Jack. "You play a while and
let me dig around--not any too much room for two guys to work in and
fact is I won't need any help--if I do I'll call you."
"Okay with me, Jack, since our left wing jest tips the shore I guess
I'll step off an' have a look around. Everything looks quiet enough, so
mebbe there'll be no need o' me luggin' that heavy machine-gun along."
"Suit yourself about that, partner," remarked Jack in an absent-minded
way, as though his thoughts were pretty much taken up with the job he
had on hand.
So Perk went ashore and began to prowl around, that being one of his
customary amusements when the opportunity presented itself. He walked
here and there so as to get various glimpses of the glorious sheet of
water--bent down and drank his fill, remarking upon its ice-cold
character, coming as it did from melting snow on the caps of near-by
mountains or possibly from some hidden glacier that dated back many
centuries.
All around him was a dead silence, broken from time to time by a
chinking sound, made as he knew, by Jack laboring at the stubborn motor.
"Huh! seems like this might be a dead country away up here," Perk told
himself as he continued to climb around among the masses of huge rocks
that in the centuries past must have rolled down the abrupt slopes. "Not
a hoof or a claw movin', when I kinder spected to glimpse a bear mebbe
or it might be a panther, p'raps a Canada lynx."
"Hey Perk!" he heard Jack calling and then came the loud staccato notes
of the motor, sounding as sweet music in Perk's ears.
XVIII
AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
The rejuvenated motor continued to sing most merrily as Perk hastened to
cover the back trail leading to the ship nesting upon the quiet lake.
"Huh! I jest knew Jack could get the hang o' things," he told himself in
high glee, "makes a big clatter I'll tell the world, but after you've
been forced to drop down agin your will, they ain't nuthin' in natur so
sweet as the drummin' o' a ship's motor. Some fine day mebbe we'll have
the good luck to be runnin' a boat with twin motors, so if one kicks off
the duplicate c'n carry on."
After he joined his mate and duly examined what Jack had done, the sound
of the beating motor ceased since there was no need of wasting any more
juice to celebrate the happy occasion.
"That trouble will never happen again with me," Jack was saying with
grim earnestness. "I know just how it must have come about and expect to
put the kibosh on any repetition."
"Jest as you've said to me many a time, partner," Perk spoke up, "an
ounce o' prevention's a heap better'n a pound o' cure. Learnin'
somethin' new ev'ry day, seems like, but it's okay if on'y you keep the
same trick from springin' up again an' gettin' your goat"
They took things easy and lay around for another hour and more. Jack, as
usual, consulted his chart and did some figuring. Perk, quite content to
let the Chief do most of the planning, amused himself in various ways,
as was his habit when they were not flying. Puttering with this little
thing, poking around the stores as if to figure just how many more meals
would exhaust what he had laid in so bountifully and bring them near
starvation and tiring at length of this sort of thing he lapsed into
inaction, puffing at his beloved pipe and indulging possibly in
daydreams.
Once Jack chanced to turn an inquiring eye in his direction to see him
nodding his head, and counting his fingers, as though adding up some
score.
"At it again, I bet a cookey," Jack thereupon told himself, holding back
the casual remark he had intended making, "browsing on that same old
game of trying to remember a name by going over the whole alphabet again
and again. Poor old Perk, how that defective memory does bother him.
He'll get no peace of mind until he happens to strike what he's fishing
for and since I never did hear the boy's full name mentioned I just
can't help him a mite."
Jack had guessed aright, for just then Perk was saying to himself in a
low but earnest tone, something of the old formula:
"Sufferin' cats! it sure began with an R I bet my boots! Randolph, no,
don't jest sound right to my ear--Ratcliff, Randall, Ratterman--strikes
me it ended in man--Rodman--hang the luck, what the devil _is_ the
matter with my think-box? Did you ever know sech a tantalizin'
mess--just openin' my trap to say it out loud when before I could get
the right word out it slipped me like a wet cake o' soap on the bathroom
floor when you set a foot on it. I'm sure hoodooed for keeps, an' it's
no good."
By this time the afternoon was wearing away and before long night would
be putting a dark blanket over the deep notch in the mountains. Perk
suddenly came out of his fit of abstraction to remark cheerily:
"Guess now it's 'bout time I got busy ashore, an' started that 'ere
fire. I gathered some firewood ready an' it ain't goin' to take much
time to get supper goin'."
Accordingly he began to fill his arms with the things previously set
aside, consisting for the most part of food, coffee pot, skillet and
last but not least, the dependable machine-gun with which a provident
Government had fitted out its flying detective squad when starting them
on their way to rounding up lawbreakers who were in many instances
taking to the air.
"Call me when you're ready or need any help, brother," Jack told him, he
being still engaged in his extensive figuring and marking places on his
handy little chart, as though mapping out his campaign as well as such a
thing was possible.
Perk had his blaze going in almost record time, for he was an adept at
fire-building. Later on, from the delicious odors that came stealing to
his olfactories, Jack knew that supper was on the way.
Having by then finished his work, he laid things aside and for the next
ten minutes watched the busy one on shore at his pleasing task. It was
certainly a picture that was bound to arise again and again in Jack's
mind. The star-studded heavens against which towering mountain peaks
were outlined, the lapping of little wavelets on the shore where there
chanced to be a narrow strip of sandy beach, the neighboring small bunch
of pines through which an evening breeze was sighing as if playing
Nature's Eolian harp in a lullaby for the lately departed day, the rocky
shore line, bordering that limpid gem of a lake where he could hear an
occasional trout breaking water--taken in all it was a dream, as Jack
told himself more than a few times.
"First call to supper--all that's hungry get goin' while things are hot!
I ain't meanin' to wait more'n three shakes o' a lamb's tail 'fore I
pitches in. Hi! there, partner, shake a leg!"
The bill of fare may not have been very extensive, but there was an
abundance of substantial food and best of all ravenous appetites to be
satiated. Perk was as happy as a lark and a dozen times demanded of his
comrade if he had ever partaken of anything that tasted better than the
slice of ham with the fried eggs to give it the proper caper, after
which the coffee came in for his flattery.
"Course I know right well it's awful f'r the cook to praise his own
work, but I jest can't help sayin' it's a swell supper, taken in all.
Another piece o' fried ham, ol' pard, tho' sorry there ain't no more
eggs at all--lucky what I laid by didn't get smashed in the
runnin'--which goes to show what a good packer I am--might even get a
job with that gang o' mule skinners an' their loads o' moonshine stuff."
Never had Jack seen his chum more joyous as after he had filled up with
the appetizing camp supper. He beamed on his mate and only for having
laid in such a big supply of grub asserted he'd be tempted to try the
fishing as there were surely trout in the lake from their incessant
jumping along about sundown when insects skittered about on the surface
and mealtime had come for the finny tribes.
In the midst of his chattering Perk suddenly stopped and appeared to be
intently listening.
"Well, I guess now," he remarked, grinning, "I was away off my base when
I says there ain't nary a wild animal inside o' twenty miles o' this
spot 'cause listen to 'em yappin', will you, partner?"
"Wolves I reckon," observed Jack who had also caught the distant sounds.
"Jest what they be," Perk continued triumphantly, "an' sounds to me like
they made some sort o' a killin' an' are all het up with the victory.
There, died out like snuffin' a candle out, showin' they got started on
the grub. Queer what different tastes critters have. Some like their
venison raw while others aim to cook it to a turn over red coals an'
chaw it while hot. But venison sure is _good_ any which way you cook it
over a real camp-fire."
Jack saw him lick his lips with his tongue as though even the mention of
that chief standby of a hunter's feast made his mouth water. Perk
certainly did think a heap of his eats, as he so often frankly admitted.
They heard nothing further from the wolf pack but at least the
circumstance had assured Perk that the rocky mountain sides were not as
lacking in big game as he had been convinced earlier in the evening. So
too, no doubt he was telling himself that it might pay to keep his gun
within reach when the time came for them to hit the hay as he usually
termed the act of turning in.
They remained ashore for another hour or so, just on account of the
change. The rocks were anything but comfortable as a seat, but Perk
managed to find a quantity of moss near by which added to their ease
when judiciously applied.
Finally Jack proposed going aboard the ship.
"Me too, Boss!" sang out Perk, "'cause I'm sorter tired an' feel like
gettin' rested up. Things look okay to me an' mebbe we'll have a quiet
night--if on'y them hungry wolves get filled up an' don't ketch wind o'
our bein' in the neighborhood. Hugh! if they know what's good for 'em
they'll give this lakeshore a wide berth while me'n my ol' chattergun
are on deck."
XIX
PERK GETS A SHOCK
An hour later and both of them were sound asleep, having comfortable
let-down cots in the sheltering cabin that were a wonderful improvement
over the way they used to double-up in the cramped cockpit of the ship
they handled before this fine amphibian was placed in their charge by
Uncle Sam.
The night moved on and for some hours nothing occurred to annoy them.
Perk had become addicted to waking about once so often and as a rule he
used to sit up and yawn as he took a look around.
It may have been an hour or so after midnight when, on thus arousing, he
caught a sound that caused him to omit the customary yawn, though he
certainly sat up with a jerk and appeared to be listening.
Almost mechanically too, his right hand groped for something alongside
his cot and it was his gun he presently pulled up. The sounds he had
heard once more broke out--savage, ominous sounds they were too,
undoubtedly proceeding from one or more wild beasts aroused to a
fighting spirit.
"Huh! bobcats, I'd say, if you asked me, neighbor, an' hoppin' mad in
the bargain. Must be a pair o' 'em an' they ain't mates either. Guess
now two ol' rivals must a met head-on along some trail an' each is a
sassin' t' other, darin' him to knock a chip off'n his shoulder an' see
what he gets. Gosh amighty! but wouldn't I jest like to lamp that 'ere
duel the wust kind, but I knows aheap better'n to set out an' spy on
'em. Just as like as not they'd forget all their mad agin' each other
an' set on me for keeps. Thar they go agin, licketty-split, snarlin',
screechin' and scrappin' for all that's out. I'm tellin' the wide world
the hair's sure flyin' in big patches while _that_ caterwaulin' keeps
grindin' out."
It kept Perk sitting there fully ten minutes before finally dying out
nor did he ever know whether one or both quarreling creatures had been
extinguished, like the famous cats of Kilkenny, each of which thought
"there was one cat too many."
"Some circus, b'lieve me," Perk told himself, with many a chuckle, for
he had been vastly amused and entertained by that aggregation of furious
sounds, "but it's okay with me so long's they scrap 'mong themselves an'
leave us alone. I ain't lost no kitty as I know of, an' there's some
more sleep I c'n make use of if they put the brakes on their whoopin'
things up."
With that he snuggled down once more and forgot all his troubles for the
balance of the night. If there were any further ancient feuds still to
be settled among the old-time inhabitants of that section, Perk was
unaware of the slaughter for he did not open his eyes until the first
peep of dawn announced the coming of another day.
Jack still slept, it would seem, for he lay there like a mummy while
Perk proceeded to crawl out and get into his clothes with the full
intention of slipping ashore, reviving the fire and starting to prepare
breakfast. Apparently his enormous supper of the previous evening must
have digested and that awful vacuum he detested so much was already
calling for help.
He chanced to have a sore toe that gave him a painful twitch every
little while and not feeling disposed to tramp around collecting fuel
until he had remedied this physical distress, he sat down to pull off
his footgear and fasten a little wad of cotton between the offending
member and its neighbor.
Once while thus busily engaged Perk imagined he caught a slight thud, as
of something striking a root or fallen branch. He raised his head to
listen, with those ravenous timber wolves flashing into his mind but
then everything seemed nice and quiet again so that believing he had
only imagined he heard suspicious sounds he once more bent down to
complete his little task.
Then, without hardly any warning, there suddenly burst forth the most
diabolical sound Perk had ever heard in all his life. Something similar
to the braying of army mules over in France, he thought.
Perk probably felt his blood run cold, for that frightful racket was not
more than twenty feet distant. Wildly he stared, expecting to see some
savage beast, perhaps with the stripes of a real jungle tiger, come
leaping from behind the adjacent rock heaps and make directly for him,
unarmed as he was.
Regaining the use of his limbs Perk turned tail and made for the
friendly left wing of the ship, taking huge jumps and anticipating that
some supple body was apt to land on his back despite his haste.
Jack was there in full sight and worse luck, he did not even seem to
have thought to snatch up the handy gun when that frightful roar echoed
and re-echoed up and down hill in the valley of the silver lake.
"G--et th' gun, quick--tigers, lions, an' nobody knows what not--on the
rampage to beat the band, too!"
Jack stared and then seemed to fairly double-up as though to him there
might be something worth laughing at in the hurried retreat of his pal.
"He's more scared than you can be, Perk!" he managed to cry out. "See
him making off, will you, taking steps that are nearly as long as your
own. Watch him shake those new horns of his, as if to tell you he'd be
willing to fight it out only his head pieces are so new like, and soft!"
"W-hy--what in tarnation thunder is that big monster, Jack?" gasped the
astonished Perk, staring with all his might after the towering beast
that was passing out of sight around a vast mound of tumbledown rocks.
"Only a bull moose, partner--he must have heard you make some sound and
reckoned it was an old rival of his, which was what made him give that
roar. I never ran across a moose up to now, but I know what they can do.
If it had been in the Fall of the year, when his horns, just rutting
lately, were firm and hard, you'd have had him jumping you mighty
quick."