SKIRTING THE GULF
There was some shooting going on back there, for although of course the
watchful Perk failed to catch the sound of discharges of guns, he did
see flash after flash, proclaiming that the police, under the impression
that important criminals were beating them to it, wished to show their
warlike spirit by such a bombardment.
If the flying missiles came anywhere near the ascending plane that fact
was not manifest to the two occupants of the cockpit; their movements
must have been too speedy for such an attack to be successful and almost
immediately they had risen beyond the danger line.
Perk was feeling vastly relieved, for it would have been a bad beginning
of their special mission were they detained for days in the Southern
city, while the agents of the great counterfeit league held the upper
hand.
He could see with the last glimpse he had of the aviation field that all
this lively accompaniment to their take-off had created considerable
excitement—people were running back and forth, like milling cattle when
stampeded in a furious thunder storm and Perk even fancied there was
some sort of a movement as though a ship would be sent after them in
pursuit.
That troubled him not a bit, because already they were leaving the field
far in their wake, and would really be lost in the gathering shadows of
coming night before any pursuit plane left the ground.
Besides, had they not already had one experience along those lines, and
completely worsted the persistent enemy, sending their boat down in
spirals of flames, with the two occupants forced to “bail out” in order
to save their lives?
So Perk put that possibility completely out of his mind and busied
himself with more practical affairs. First of all he was desirous of
communicating with his comrade and to do this they must have those
indispensible head-phones clapped to their ears.
He was already applying his own pair with a confidence inspired by
frequent applications, after which he managed to get Jack equipped with
the other pair.
Steadily they continued to ascend, and swing around until they faced the
east, following the plan Jack had outlined to his mate. Not too high did
the pilot urge his craft, since such a course was apt to bring them in
the sunlight that still lingered along the upper air lanes.
“Well, they turned out to be a hot bunch all right, partner,” was what
Perk observed, when he had the harness adjusted and the ear-phone means
of communication in shape for use.
“You reckon they must have fetched the police out with them, do you,
Perk?” demanded the one at the stick, as he kept an eye on his dials
spread across the black dashboard in front of the cockpit.
“Yeah! just what they did, old hoss,” returned the other, vehemently,
but accompanying his remark with a loud chuckle that told of secret
amusement, he being excessively fond of anything that smacked of a joke;
“an’ they kept up a runnin’ fire at us, let me tell you—could see the
flashes spittin’ like fire crackers on the Fourth o’ July.”
“All of which sounds like they must have told a pretty wild and woolly
yarn to the cops, to make them want us as bad as that, eh, Perk?”
“Makes me think they got an idea this ain’t goin’ to be just a ordinary
man-hunt, but something worth while; we should worry, Jack. Mebbe they
a’ready see the handwritin’ on the wall, an’ mean to try an’ upset us in
the start, ’fore we get agoin’ full tilt. Notice you’ve gone an’ headed
east, partner.”
“It may fool them; but whether it does or not, Perk, such a move’s our
proper caper. When we’ve gone something like ten or fifteen miles we’ll
get on the curve, swing around to the south, and then when in sight of
the gulf turn due west; after that we’ll be on our way to the place
where our work is waiting for us.”
“Huh! had an idea you’d just climb till out o’ sight, an’ then cross
over the city and river—how ’bout it, Jack?”
“Too much risk to begin with,” came the ready reply, showing how Jack
always planned ahead; “you know how a rushing boat can be heard clearly
even when lost to sight among the clouds. It might be those same smart
chaps, backed by the authority of the police, would commandeer a ship,
and cruise around over the city, so as to learn if we _did_ come back so
as to line out into the heart of Texas; to make sure such a giveaway of
our plans can’t upset our calculations we’ll cross the delta of the
Mississippi close to where it joins its muddy waters with the gulf.”
“I get you now, partner, an’ let me say I guess that’s the safest game
we c’n play. Time don’t count anything wuth while with us on this trip
but results are what we crave.”
“You said it that time, boy, the Big Boss has confidence in our being
able to fetch home the bacon, and we’re bound to prove he didn’t make
any mistake in putting us on the job.”
All this time they continued to zoom along like a frightened wild duck,
and it was not long before Jack was turning the nose of his ship toward
the south. The night had not as yet settled down over the earth,
although they were holding an altitude of several thousand feet and by
straining his eyes a bit Perk was able to distinguish objects far
below—he could tell when they passed over a large sheet of water,
probably Lake Ponchartrain, with narrower cuts winding through vast
marshes, and seas of waving reeds; also begin to catch fugitive glimpses
of the still distant Mexican Gulf stretching away to the mysterious
south.
This was all deeply interesting to Perk, always on the lookout for fresh
and novel scenes; for as it happened, thus far in all his wanderings he
had really never looked upon that historical sheet of salt water;
although reading many a rattling romance of the days when buccaneers and
pirates haunted the sub-tropical waters of that same gulf, lying in wait
for the Spanish galleons laden with gold bars taken from the prodigally
rich mines of Mexico and Central America.
In Perk’s mind those historical personages, like Blackbeard, and his
fellow rovers of the Black Flag, lent a glamour to the great body of
water that was apt to thrill him through and through whenever he allowed
his gaze to fall upon its restless surface, and dark secrets of the past
ages.
Shortly afterwards their course was again altered, with the ship
swinging into the west. It would seem to have been something like
extreme caution on Jack’s part but from all accounts, as well as from
their own experience with the desperate gang that had given Uncle Sam so
much trouble, the scoundrels had a tremendous game at stage, and were
ready to go to any lengths to protect the profitable conspiracy from
being smashed.
“Safety before speed” had always been Jack’s slogan, which could be
accounted one of the leading reasons for the success that had come to
him in the various vocations he had followed—as a county fair
barn-stormer, then in the regular air mail service, and now finally with
the celebrated Secret Service arm of the Government, entrusted with one
of the most abnormal duties ever given out to its members.
It was not too dark for Perk to know when they were passing over the
several outlets to the mighty river; indeed, he was even able to
distinguish an ocean going steamship heading up toward the city of New
Orleans; for its lights were plainly in evidence and those who chanced
to be on deck could probably catch the throb of their motor, since the
air was unusually still, allowing sounds to be heard at great distances,
especially when in the air.
Then finally they left the water behind, and found themselves passing
over great stretches of sugarcane, and bamboo thickets, with cabins of
the humble blacks in little hamlets, sometimes villages of the lowlands,
where, as Perk plainly recollected, recent terrible floods had wrought
such damage.
So the night wore on, and thus far nothing had occurred to cause them
the slightest worry. If their cunning enemies suspected them of planning
to go west, and baiting the chief in his lair, there was nothing as yet
to show that they were making arrangements to intercept the air
adventurers on their way.
An hour—two of them passed, and still they kept making rapid progress.
The moon was long above the eastern horizon, although occasionally
obscured by passing clouds but Perk told himself it was a pretty fair
night, all things considered, and that he had “no kick coming.”