to find myself in the spotlight I hope to just slip back into the
harness again and the public need know nothing save that I have changed
my mind about retiring from the profession for good, having discovered
that there is still more or less usefulness in my brain and fingers that
ought to be put to the service of suffering humanity."
So it was arranged and without more delay than was absolutely necessary
they managed to get Buddy aboard the amphibian, Jack and Perk having
arranged an original floating dock that could be pushed alongside the
cloud-chaser, rather than try to work the plane ashore.
The transfer was duly carried out and with such care that Buddy felt
very little pain. Next the air mail, so long delayed in delivery, was
stacked in various cavities so as to not take up more room than was
necessary together with a rather messy bundle, Perk's prized future
bearskin rug which he seemed to value more highly every time he gave it
a look.
Everything was now ready for the hopoff and Jack figured on no trouble
whatever in effecting that since the lake was long enough to permit a
fair run and immediately after leaving the water he expected to start
banking so as to circle and climb upward.
Dr. Reeves shook each of his new found friends by the hand and was
unusually warm in saying his goodbye to the happy Suzanne. The bravery
shown by the newly fledged aviatrix in taking great chances of meeting
disaster when striking out to join those who were searching for signs to
tell where the young air mail pilot had crashed, aroused his full
admiration and he did not hesitate to tell Suzanne as much, greatly to
the delight of the listening Buddy.
Standing on the sandy shore of Crater Lake the man who had come back
watched the wonderful amphibian, of which the two pilots were so proud,
rush across the surface of the lake, the first modern flying boat to
ever splash through those ice-cold waters, and then jumping upward,
cleave the air like a monster bird, circling twice, three times, to
finally take off in a bee line for the town where Jack and the others
had passed the preceding night.
They arrived at their destination before an hour had passed and amidst
the most intense excitement and a growing, cheering mob of men, women
and children, the injured mail pilot was taken to the hospital, there to
be cared for until Dr. Reeves joined him later on.
Of course Suzanne refused to be parted from her Buddy. She claimed to be
a pretty fair nurse and indeed, her very presence acted like a tonic to
the patient who could not keep his sparkling eyes off her pretty face
for more than a minute at a time.
Jack had impressed every one with his desire for secrecy. If it could be
avoided, no mention of his name or that of Perk, or their pictures, was
to be given to the bustling newspaper men who would quickly be rushing
in from every quarter by motor, train and airship, eager as hounds in
the leash to grab up bits of news that could be woven into one of the
most thrilling stories of the day to set the whole country agog, east,
west, north and south.
Thanks to the care thus taken, the real facts connected with the finding
of Buddy Warner were fairly well kept from the public press. All sorts
of fantastic accounts were published and some even managed to bring out
the names of the pair most intimately connected with the great stunt but
they were so distorted that Perk had considerable fun in trying to make
them out. He declared a wizard would have his hands full with the job
and that most people must believe the modest heroes, who fled before
being interviewed were foreigners, to judge from their unpronouncable
names.
Wishing to finish his work as soon as possible so that he and Perk could
clear out before most of the keen-eyed reporters arrived, Jack concluded
to hurry back to the lake, pick up Dr. Reeves and what few things he
would like to carry away from the hideout where he had spent so many
solitary years and once he had been landed in the airport, say a hurried
goodbye to all and pull out eastward bound for Cheyenne.
That was the way Jack Ralston usually put things through. While most
others would be still making up their plan of campaign, Jack was apt to
be doing things with a rush and getting results. They had followed the
best rules of the great organization in which they were humble cogs, let
no grass grow under their feet, found what they sought and, with a
Garrison finish, brought in the man they were after and whose name was
on everybody's lips during those few hectic days.
Duty done, it was up to them to vanish from the picture in order to keep
the public from knowing how the Government's Secret Service had been
mainly responsible for the finding of the missing air-mail pilot.
And so that same afternoon, while fresh squads of eager newspaper men
were arriving hourly at the hitherto almost unknown town that had become
famous over night, Jack and his pal were bound east, with a
consciousness that another triumph could be laid at their door, even if,
as happened so many times, the full story must be kept under cover so
that the people of the underworld, in which so many of the activities of
the Service were conducted might not be made familiar with the names and
faces of its most energetic workers and thus be placed on their guard.
Of course it would not be long before further instructions might be
expected from the Washington Headquarters detailing Jack and Perk to
some fresh field of labor where once more they would find themselves
pitted against some of the most nimble-witted lawbreakers known to
modern days. That the adventurous pair would acquit themselves with
credit can be taken for granted for they were always earnest, hard
workers and as a rule able to accomplish the most difficult of jobs
submitted to their charge by those who managed all such matters in the
National Capital.
In the pages of the next volume of this series of thrilling stories
covering the exploits of the Sky Detectives, the title of which is "_The
Sky Pilot's Great Chase_; or, _Jack Ralston's Dead-Stick Landing_" will
be found further lively happenings when the daring pair are sent forth
to cross the international boundary and speed into the far North in the
effort to apprehend a fugitive from justice whose arrest and return to
Washington had become a matter of the greatest moment to the
authorities. How they outwit the lawbreakers and finally get their man,
makes this a story replete with thrills and exciting situations.