THEIR RUNNING SCHEDULE
"Hot-diggetty-dig! What a big snap I shore missed by not bein' jest
'raound the corner, alistenin' while yeou was afeedin' that tall yarn to
'im, what's the name o' that trail hound what builds up thrillin' yarns
fo' the readers o' his paper to swaller?" and after taking a look at the
card still lying on the table Perk continued: "'James Douglas Keating,'
huh! well, Jimmy, mebbe so yeou didn't run up 'gainst a buzz saw when
yeou tackled aour--er, Mr. Rodman Warrington."
"Wait and see," cautioned Jack; "for all I can tell that lad may have
been feeding me some slick medicine when he seemed to fall for my talk
so readily. I'm not going to feel dead certain I scotched the busybody
until we've left Atlanta and Candler Field well in our wake, with
nothing happening to prove a give-away."
"Yeou would, partner--it'd be jest like yeou to say 'mebbe' till things
they got ab-so-lutely certain--never yet knew yeou to jump at
conclusions, so I done reckon yeou was really born to be a scientist.
When do we eat, I'd like to know; things are agettin' near the danger
line with me, right naow, an' there's a 'cry from Macedonia, come on an'
dine.'"
"Let's go," Jack told him, reaching out for his head covering; for they
had both doffed their flying clothes before quitting the ship, and were
in ordinary garments that would not cause comment or unusual notice on
the streets of any city.
Over a very bountiful dinner they continued to "talk shop" in low tones.
Since their table was a bit removed from any other, thanks to Jack
tipping the head waiter bountifully, with the orchestra playing softly,
it seemed almost an impossibility for any hostile ear to catch a single
word they uttered.
Thus Perk was put in possession of further valuable information with
regard to the probable field of their forthcoming adventure, Jack having
managed in his customary clever fashion to get hold of reading matter
covering the entire romantic coast country between Norfolk and Savannah.
"It seems to be a wonderful section, just teeming with queer people and
equally strange sights; and for one I'm a bit eager to look things over.
Just the same, buddy, neither of us must forget even a minute the main
object that's calling us into the coast skyways. We've got a man's size
job on our hands, and some mighty smart people, as well as
devil-may-care ones, to pack up against, so that a slip is apt to set us
back, and for all we know even cost us our lives. I'm saying that not to
scare any one, but because I've posted myself on the game, and know to
what vile ends some of these dicks would go if they thought men of our
trade were holding them under surveillance."
"Well, so be it, partner doant forgit I've heard the whine o' lead pills
close to my ears many a time, so it's an ole story with me!"
"When we manage to get in touch with one or more of the swift Coast
Guard patrol boats things will begin to look brighter---as though there
might be something doing; but that wont come along for quite some time.
We've got to get things down pat, know all about the regular routine
movements of those swift airships, and then begin to cut into their
number--first one must mysteriously disappear, and then a second,
possibly even a third. By that time we'll have certainly thrown a pretty
hefty scare into the bunch, and things are bound to slacken, more or
less."
"Speed the day, sez I, partner caint come any too quick to suit me, an'
that's no lie either," saying which valorous, fire-eating Perk again
attacked his supper; for by this time they had reached the dessert
stage, and were discussing prime apple pie, with the richest of thick
cream to top it off, always one of Perk's favorites, when given his
choice.
It will be noticed that when off duty these minions of the Secret
Service were apt to live like kings, and with reason; for often they had
to put up with scanty rations, and poor at that, when far removed from
restaurant fare, and forced to live off the country. "First a feast, and
then a famine," Perk was accustomed to saying when Jack mildly
reproached him for giving so much thought to what he usually designated
as "the eats."
Perk would have liked very well to have spent an hour or so at some
theatre or other, and had even given a few hints about a screen play at
the Paramount but met with no encouragement from his side partner.
"Best for us not to make any sort of an exhibit of ourselves while we're
in close quarters with that write-up newspaper chap," he told Perk, who,
realizing that Jack meant just what he said, allowed the subject to
drop.
"Kinder gu--er-reckon as haow yeou're 'baout right there, ole hoss," he
admitted, with a slight vein of regret in his voice; "course we kin see
all the picters we want when we've struck the wind-up o' aour
trail--that is, providin' we're still alive, an' kickin' as usual."
"That lad has got me guessing, and no mistake," Jack added; "in one way
I admire such persistence, especially in one of his breed, where there's
a big scramble for fresh news stories; but they can make it a whole lot
disagreeable for other people in the bargain. Makes me think of the
leeches that used to pester us by hanging on in the old swimmin' hole of
my boyhood days--you just couldn't shake the blood-thirsty varments off,
try as you might, they were such stickers."
Finishing their supper they strolled forth in a leisurely fashion, as
if, as Perk himself observed in his quaint way: they had "the whole
evening at their disposal, with nothing to do but kill time."
Picking up a late evening paper on the way to their room at the Henry
Grady Hotel they settled down to be as comfortable as possible, until
the time arrived to make a start.
"We'll get a taxi to take us out to Candler Field," quoth Jack, always
arranging his plans with meticulous certainty; "then change to our
flying togs, and get going as quietly as possible. It's to be hoped that
sticking plaster wont be nosing around out there, to see some mail ship
start off, or come into the airport--you never can tell about such
fly-by-nights, who bob up in the most unexpected places just when you
don't want to see them."
"Huh! yeou said it, partner," Perk added, whimsically; "jest like I used
to see that queer jack-o'-lantern in the country graveyard foggy nights
now here, an' agin over yonder, fur all the world like a ghost huntin'
fur its 'ticular stone to climb under agin."
Jack, having made himself comfortable, commenced glancing over the paper
he had picked up, briefly scanning each page as though skimming the
news.
"Haow 'bout the weather reports, buddy?" asked Perk, later on,
suppressing a big yawn, as though time was hanging somewhat heavily on
his hands, being, as he always proudly declared, "a man of action."
"Just about the same as a while ago--no change in the predictions having
come about," he told the other.
"Like to be no storm agoin' to slap us in the teeth, then, eh, what?"
"I don't see where it could come from, it being clear in almost every
direction, saving possible rain in South Florida; so don't let that
bother you in the least, old scout."
"An' fog--haow 'bout that same, suh? I opines as haow I sorter detest
fog more'n anything I know--'cept mebbe stones in my cherry pie."
"No record of any fog over the air-route east," Jack informed him; "and
you know we mean to follow the flash beacons all the way to Greenville,
South Carolina, where they turn off in the direction of Richmond, while
we shift more to the southeast by south, and head for Charleston. It
looks as though we'd have a nice, even flight all the way, and land in
our port early tomorrow morning--without trying to make any great speed
in the bargain."
Time passed, and it drew near the hour they had selected for their
leaving the hotel. Perk was a bit eager to be going, and began to pack
his bag as a gentle hint to his running mate.
"Finish mine while about it, partner," he was told by his comrade;
"while I'm down below settling our joint account, and securing a taxi.
I'll be back in a short while; and then for business."
"Yeah! that strikes me where I live, buddy. Take yeour time, an' doant
come back atellin' me that pesky Jimmy's squatted in the hotel lobby,
alookin' over everybody as goes aout, er comes in."
Jack was gone as much as ten minutes, and then opened the door quietly,
to have the other snatch a quick inquiring look at his face and say:
"Ev'rything lovely, an' the goose flyin' high, ole hoss?"
"We're going to kick off right away; and so far the coast seems clear."