A BATTLE ROYAL
Jack, being desirous of ascertaining just what was taking place over
where the sloop laden with contraband was anchored, did his best glide
or coast, a feature at which he was most competent.
When the engine ceased to function and the whizzing propeller lost much
of its dizzy momentum, both he and Perk strained their ears so as to
catch any sound calculated to inform them as to what was going on.
The trick proved worth while, for plainly they could make out human
voices; also a certain rumbling sound that Jack imagined might be caused
by the rush back and forth of a small hand truck on which cases of
imported liquid refreshment were loaded.
This told the story to the effect that the speed launch must have
reached the schooner and was lying alongside with its intended cargo
being delivered with no loss of time. Probably, if everything went with
machine-like precision, the speed boat would soon be fully laden and
started back toward some secret haven where big motor trucks would be
waiting to transport the cargo to Tampa, St. Petersburg, or some other
city to the north.
Meanwhile the second boat was due around that time--they could hear her
hoarse exhaust as she bucked the billows rolling in toward the shore
line and a moving light about half a mile distant betrayed her position.
If one thing tickled Perk more than another just then it was the
realization that he and Jack held aces in the game--their possession of
that almost priceless muffler, by means of which they could approach
fairly close without the working motor betraying their coming, gave them
an enormous advantage.
"We sure have got the upper hand in this tangle," Perk was telling
himself in great glee as he listened to the chugging of the second
transfer boat. "Huh! I kinder guess them guys been sleepin' at the
switch not to savvy what a bully thing one o' these here silencers'd be
to the smugglin' game. Looks like it might be a walk-over for our team,
if the luck on'y holds good."
Jack had about decided on his course of action. He did not mean that
either of those boats should get safely ashore with their loads, if he
had anything to say about it, and he reckoned he had.
Still, it was not politic to be too quick on the trigger--they could
just continue to hang around and be ready to pounce down on their
intended prey after the fashion of a hungry eagle striking a fat duck
that had been selected out of the flock on the feeding grounds.
One thing he did do was to cut his intended wide circle short and again
head toward the scene of action, a move that certainly afforded the
eager Perk more or less satisfaction, he being thrilled with the
expectation of breaking into the game without much more loss of time.
But you never can tell just what may happen when rival forces are
striving against one another. The best laid plans often go wrong and
there was always a chance of the unexpected happening.
Hardly had the airship whipped around again so as to head into the north
than Perk became aware of the fact that there was a sudden accesssion of
weird noises springing up from the goal toward which they were now
aiming. Jack, too must have caught the increased volume, for he sheered
off as if to hold back a bit so as to grasp the meaning of the new
racket.
Men were no longer simply talking or laughing as they so cheerfully
labored in transferring some of the contraband from the sloop to the
deck of the speedboat--their voices were raised to shouts in which
surprise, even the element of near-panic, could be detected.
Then came a flash, succeeded by a sharp report, undoubtedly standing for
the discharge of some species of firearm! Others of a similar character
immediately followed until there were all the elements of a genuine
rough and tumble fight discernible in the growing confusion and uproar.
Perk was astounded by such unaccountable goings-on. Whatever could
possess these smugglers to start a fight among themselves, when such a
disturbance was likely to be heard by any Coast Guard boat that might
happen to be cruising within ten miles of the spot and bring down all
manner of serious trouble on their heads, certainly breaking up the fine
combination that had been effected for that especial delivery?
"Holy smoke! they sure must a'gone looney!" Perk was telling himself,
lost in wonder and dismay, for he began to suspect that this would be
apt to mix their own plans and upset all Jack's calculations.
It would seem to be the only explanation possible--that some of the case
goods had been tampered with, the result being that the willing workers
were not only hilarious, but ready to start a rough-house then and there
on the deck of the schooner.
Then suddenly remembering how both he and Jack had their head-phone
harness attached, and could thus exchange words when they pleased, Perk
broke loose in his usual impulsive fashion, seeking the light which he
somehow had reason to believe his chum could give him.
"Gee whiz! partner, what's broke loose, would you say?" he demanded.
"Them guys act like they'd been tryin' out the high power stuff they
fetched all the way from the Bahamas. Danged if it don't sound to me
like a reg'lar old Irish Tipperary Fair fight--listen to 'em shootin'
things up to beat the band! Say, if they keep agoin' like that, they'll
smash every case they got an' we won't find any evidence to grab. Got a
line on the racket, old boss?"
"It's a fight, and a lively one at that," admitted the pilot, "but I
reckon you're away off when you figure it's a ruction between those on
the schooner and the boys of that speedboat."
"You got me guessin' partner," said the puzzled Perk; "then who's mixed
up in the shindy, I want to know?"
"Sounds a whole lot like hijackers to me, Perk."
"Ginger pop! Is _that_ what it means then, Jack--some tough guys
been out there on the gulf keepin' a close watch on the schooner that
came up the coast loaded to the gun'ls with case goods, an' crept in
with small boats to make a big haul! Listen to 'em squabble, will you,
boy? What wouldn't I give for daylight so's to see that boss
shindy--shootin' keeps a'goin' on like the old days over there--wow!
They must be a bunch o' rotten marksmen, or the whole lot'd be wiped out
afore this time. What're we a'goin' to do 'bout it, Jack--we ought to
have some say what's to be done with all that stuff--no use bein' eagles
o' the skies if we gotter stick around an' let a measly set o' hawks get
away with the game."
"Don't worry, that's what we're _not_ aiming to do!" snapped Jack,
as he banked, and once again headed in the direction of the spot where
all that wild commotion was taking place.
"I get you, boy--the machine-gun, is it?" barked Perk, starting up from
his seat as though to make ready.
Before he could throw off his head-harness Jack stopped him.
"Wait--you got me wrong--let the gun lie where it is. You know we never
expect to use it unless our lives are in danger. Get the bombs,
Perk--the simple tear bombs--they ought to fill the bill!"
Perk evidently not only understood now but was fully in sympathy with
the scheme Jack had hatched out under the spur of necessity--quick
thinking was one of young Ralston's strong points and his cleverness
along those lines had served him wonderfully on more than a few previous
occasions, where the situation looked desperate.
They were sliding down a steep glide with the engine shut off. The deck
of the nearby schooner was plainly visible due to the lights aboard, and
the successive discharges of firearms, each looked like a miniature
flash of lightning. As they approached the scene of confusion the racket
grew in volume,--a dozen men seemed to be whooping things up as though
under the impression that the battle could be won by sheer noise--and
broken heads.
Perk kept his wits, and managed to locate the small stock of tear bombs
that had been given into their charge, with the idea they might find
them more or less useful should they strike a superior force of reckless
law breakers and get into what Perk would call a "jam."
Already he had succeeded in clutching a couple of the round missiles
that were charged with the acrid gas that could play such havoc with
human eyes as to render the strongest men as weak as babes and settled
down in a position where he could throw them to advantage.