THE CURTISS-ROBIN PLANE
Jack, a bit startled by his companion's sudden exclamation, took a good
look and hastened to remark:
"Reckon now you hit the nail on the head that time, Perk and it's
heading this way in the bargain. Why d'ye suppose we didn't see the
crate before?"
"Huh! I kinder guess now," Perk went on to say, "she bust out o' that
little fog cloud right to the south--a'swoopin' up the coast, you
notice, partner, don't you?"
"Sure is," assented Jack, as though that small circumstance assumed some
importance in his eyes, as well as those of his comrade.
"Ginger pop! but mebee I ain't glad we didn't show any hurry to kick off
this camouflage green stuff, thinkin' it'd served its purpose okay and
could be knocked into the discard. See how they keep dodging' in an' out
like they might be scourin' every foot o' shore line, little bays back
o' these mangrove islands an' all. Strikes me they're a'searchin' for
somethin', Jack, which might be the pair o' us, eh, what?"
"Right you are!" snapped Jack, without hesitating a second.
"Which, I take it, would mean there might a'been some sort o' little
leak up at Headquarters, hang the luck, when we figured we'd got the
gang buffaloed right smart. Don't think they c'n lamp us lyin' here, do
you, Boss?"
"Small chance of that, boy, if only we lie low, and make no move apt to
attract their attention," Perk was told in a confident tone that
effectually calmed his rising alarm.
He hastened to settle down in a position where he could thrust his
glasses between interstices in the green covering of the fusilage and
wings so as to keep close tabs on the advancing plane without making any
particular movement of arms or body.
"How?" asked Jack, a few seconds later, when he fancied his mate must
have made up his mind as to the identity of the flying ship.
"Curtiss-Robin crate, that's right, Jack an' the same we saw before,"
replied the observer, excitedly. "Hey! guess now they got a glass up
there too. I sure saw the sun shinin' on somethin' bright, 'cause the
old boy's still on deck to chaps that high up."
"I've discounted that fact long ago, Perk; men engaged in the desperate
game they're playing night after night would need such a useful
instrument, so's to keep a sharp lookout for Coast Guard boats or
bunches of revenue men lying in ambush close to the place they expected
to land a wet cargo, or a couple of high-pay Chinks, it might be."
"Then you got an idea they must have a spy up in Washington--a sneaker
who c'n find out what's bein' hatched up so's to cook their goose an'
that he manages to get warnin' down here to the workin' crews so's to
put 'em on their guard--is that it, partner?"
"Looks that way--that's all I can say, Perk. Now lie low and don't do
any talking, though with their crate kicking up all that row I reckon
there'd be small chance of their hearing us even if we shouted."
Perk was chuckling to himself at a great rate and could not keep from
taking advantage of the invitation Jack had really extended to say:
"Yeah! an' I kinder guess now we got one thing they ain't, which is a
silencer on our engine that'll keep it muzzled, even if it does knock
off a bit o' our speed when we happen to use it. Luckiest thing ever you
managed to get the Big Boss to send us such a bully contrivance that
seems to work jest great. Listen to the racket they're kickin' up right
now--enough to tell any chump ten miles off a crate's headin' his way.
Jerusalem crickets! but ain't I glad we're fixed as we are."
The ship far up in the heavens was almost directly over them by this
time and Perk relapsed into silence, being vastly interested in watching
it passing over.
Possibly he had his eyes glued on the figures--there were two occupants
in the Robin's cabin he could easily see--leaning over and doubtless
closely scrutinizing the intricacies of the ragged shoreline below,
hoping to make important discoveries.
If the leading figure, piloting the craft, was actually Oscar Gleeb,
onetime noted Hun ace over in the Argonne, it might be Perk, with his
past war history rising up to thrill him afresh, may have found himself
half expecting to hear a terrific explosion close by on the shore as the
German flier let drop some sort of bomb, with the idea of striking their
concealed bus which his keen eyes might have detected despite their
wonderful camouflage.
But nothing like that came to pass and the cruising ship kept moving in
a northerly direction, growing less distinct as miles were being covered
at the fast clip it swept along.
"Cripes! that was worth somthin' to glimpse, bet your sweet life,
partner," Perk finally observed as he ventured to make a little
movement, feeling dreadfully cramped and the danger of discovery growing
momentarily less as the first shades of coming evening began to gather
around the secluded cove. "Jest as like as not they started away down
toward the tip o' the mainland, an' hev been examinin' every mile o' the
coast, bent on doin' a clean job while they're at it. An' if they meet
up with no luck mebbe now they'll make up their minds it was only a
false alarm, and let her go at that."
Presently they could no longer glimpse the faintest sign of the scout
plane--when last seen it was still heading up the coast as though making
for some destination where action awaited the members of its daring
crew.
"The passing of that crate settles one thing, anyway," observed Jack
presently.
"As what, partner?" queried Perk, who had already begun to denude the
anchored amphibian of its covering, as though it was settled they need
no longer fear being spied upon from above.
"We needn't bother striking into the south when starting out to look for
suspicious lights, such as would tell of business being put
through--those boys are right now heading for their rendezvous and it's
our game to chase after them, as soon as nightfall makes it safe to get
a move on."
"That suits me fine, Jack old hoss. I'm right sick o' keepin' our nose
stuck so close to the ground--me for the high places where I c'n get my
lungs filled with clean air--this swamp stuff don't make no sort o' hit
with me, I'm tellin' you. Gosh! looky at that bunch o' measly big
pelicans flappin' their wings as they fly close to the water, headin' to
some island where they have a rookery, like as not. An' Jack, honest to
goodness if I didn't see the head an' knobby eyes o' a monster scaly
'gator stickin' up out o' the water in the lagoon jest now. Got me
goofy, this sorter thing, an' I'm asighin' for the air lanes two miles
high."
"I understand just how you feel, Perk, but hold your horses a bit. Hurry
is something we've got to fight shy of in this game of hide-and-seek
with these dangerous smugglers of the gulf coast. As smart a group of
men as we can ever claim to be, have bucked up against the gang and
dropped out of the chase--more than a few of whom have disappeared
mysteriously, and up at Headquarters it's believed they've met with foul
play. This big Mex gulf hides a heap of secrets and has ever since old
Blackbeard and that crowd of buccaneers used to sink Spanish galleons
after looting them of their gold cargo and sending hundreds of poor
wretches to a watery grave."
"I'm wise to all them facts, partner," piped up Perk, grinning amiably,
"an' I sure don't hanker after bein' sent down to that port o' missin'
men in no hurry. I'll stick it out on this line jest as long as you say
an' try to keep from grumblin'. Thar goes the last o' the rotten stuff
overboard, Boss, an' we're all clear again. While we're a'waitin' till
the last speck o' daylight slickers away, wouldn't it be right smart if
we set our teeth in some o' that fine grub I laid in, to keep us from
starvin' to death?"
"Suits me okay, buddy; suppose you trot it out and we'll pas the time
away bolstering up our strength--no telling what we may have before us
tonight if we happen to strike rich pay-dirt."
Accordingly they busied themselves with what to Perk especially was a
most agreeable occupation, for it must be confessed that the Maine lad
possessed a fairly good appetite while his capacity for storing away
good things was something close to marvelous.
So the night settled down around them--sounds indicative of a Florida
coast camping ground began to make themselves manifest--mullet jumped up
out of the brackish water where some stream emptied its tide straight
from the Everglades into the gulf, to fall back again with resounding
splashes. Now and then there was a rush, and a great deal of agitation
of the water close to one of the mangrove islands, showing where some
fierce piratical deep water fish was making an evening meal of the
unlucky mullet--several wild ducks came spinning along from other shore
places to settle further in where the reedy islands offered effectual
shelter from night-raiding owls and hawks that could see in the dark.
"Gee whiz!" Perk was saying as he finished eating and started to put
away what sandwiches and other stuff had been left over, "this sure must
be a dandy place to do some shore shootin' an' if I hadn't other fish to
fry I'd like to hang around a week'r so, takin' toll o' ducks, turkey,
an' deer up on the mainland, with like as not a bobcat, or even a
panther in the bargain!"
"All very fine for those who are down here sporting for sport, brother,"
Jack told him, "but our bunch has another kind of game to pull in and
you've got to forget all this temptation so as to buckle down to
business. Reckon it's time for us to be hopping-off and getting that
taste of cool, clean air a mile or so up. Shake a leg, buddy, and we'll
shove off."
Jack, of course, had long since figured just what he meant to do when
the moment arrived to leave their hiding place and take to their wings
again, so after their little anchor had been drawn out of the mud,
carefully washed, and then stowed away where it would take little room
and not be in the way, each of the occupants of the double cockpit set
about carrying out their customary duties when a launching was in order.
"All set, Mister Pilot!" remarked Perk, finally, "give her the gun,
boy!"
With only a fraction of the rush and roar usually connected with a
start, the amphibian, with cut-out choked down, commenced to glide
through the water of the partly enclosed bay, heading straight for the
jaws of land beyond which lay the open and mighty gulf.