"We get your meaning--glad you are so prompt to send back word--come right along and get your invoice--the more the merrier, boys. Wind getting rougher, and we ought to be off this shallow sh.o.r.e before it swings around any more. Don"t hold back--Merry Christmas to you all, boys!"
Perk on his part was also trying to keep tabs on all that was going on, not neglecting his duties with the controls, it can be set down as certain. He twisted his neck and cast swift glances first to the right and then in the opposite direction, fascinated by that flashing beacon conversation.
"By gum! if they ain"t holdin" a regular confab with them lights," Perk was telling himself, delighted with his opportunity to witness such a proceeding, knowing as he did what this all meant to himself and Jack.
"That guy on sh.o.r.e is sure some punkins about this signal layout--works jest like a Boy Scout might, sending a message across to another o" the troop standin" on top o" a high peak--makes me think I"m back on the front, with Signal Corps men wigwaggin" for all that"s out. Huh! There goes them twin lights, showin" the chinnin" must be over with both sides posted on the program. Say, ain"t this the boss job though? I guess I never did get half as much fun outen any game I tackled before."
Just then Jack signalled that he wished to handle the stick once more, which the other was indeed not sorry for, since it began to look as though they were close to a critical moment when considerable skill would be required in manipulating the ship so as to accomplish their ends without unduly alarming those they spied upon.
Already they had managed to collect a certain amount of valuable facts which were only guessed at previously, so cleverly had these transfer bases been kept concealed from the most skillful of the Government agents. Perk himself felt confident that they were as yet only on the threshold of still more important discoveries.
It was one of Perk"s peculiar little eccentricities that he could do better thinking if only he had a bit of chewing gum between his teeth, just to keep some muscles at work, he said, and in some mysterious fashion having this energy pa.s.s from his working jaws to his brain and hasten its activities.
So what did he do now but fumble in a pocket of his oily dungarees and produce a slab of his favorite brand, Perk thrusting it into his mouth and savagely rolling it between his teeth, really believed this helped his brain to function more easily.
Perhaps it may have done so--some people have all manner of strange hallucinations, which, being favored, bring satisfaction to their train of thought. If Perk actually believed in his remedy that was half the battle and no other person"s business whatsoever.
Looking out to sea he could still find that lone beacon, even without the aid of his binoculars. It was easy for such an imaginative fellow to picture in his mind the lingering sloop, loaded to the gunwales with case goods, worth almost a millionaire"s ransom--the dark sailors from Bimimi lolling around on deck, ready to up-sail and flee should the slightest sign of a Coast Guard raid make itself manifest. From off toward the distant sh.o.r.e line there came dully to their listening ears the repeated throb of one or more speed boats hastening to lay alongside and transfer their prearranged quota of cases, after which the burden of getting the illicit cargo safely landed would rest on the shoulders of those who manned the smaller smuggler craft.
It was a beautiful little game, Perk was a.s.suring himself, when he realized how everything had been arranged to make things work as though greased. As the isolated places along the gulf coast were without number and the enforcement agents woefully pressed to even half cover their allotted territory, the reason for the few arrests that had rewarded the most strenuous efforts on the part of the Coast Guard could be easily comprehended.
"And that"s just why they picked out Jack, out of all the boys in the service, loaded him up with this here amphibian crate that c"n drop down on land or water, it don"t matter a darn which, got him a sort o" side partner to help make things go and turned him loose to pull in the net.
Huh! we"ll know before long just what this racket is goin" to wind up in, for we"ve made our first move, our hat"s thrown into the ring, and we"ll either make Pike"s Peak, or--bust!"
Presently Perk began to convince himself he could at times pick up the throbbing sound of a humming motor, undoubtedly one of those on their way out to the supply boat off sh.o.r.e some miles and ready to deliver such number of high-priced cases as the lists called for.
Yes, when the night wind veered or shifted a bit he was absolutely certain about picking up the chug-chug-chug that betrayed the presence of the leading speed boat.
About this time Perk noticed two separate things that had a bearing on their mission--the first was that for some reason they no longer romped along at their earlier speed, showing that the pilot had seen fit to slacken his craft to a considerable degree, though keeping up steerage way. The second thing that struck Perk was the fact that they were slowly but surely making a decided swing off to the west, which if continued would make their immediate course a complete circle.
"Go to it, old hoss!" he was saying, just as if he expected the other to hear every word which was out of the question with that whirring propeller keeping up its low, sing-song tone. "You got "em beat a mile when it comes to playin" safe, that"s right. Don"t want to rile the water an" let everybody in on the fact that we"re hangin" around here, waitin" for somethin" to turn up. "Sides, it ain"t good policy to make the ten-strike till they got the stuff on board the chuggin" speed boat."
He was intensely interested in Jack"s play for time and listened with his heart almost up in his throat, fearing lest the steady chugging should suddenly stop and the game be thrown by default. But no, it was keeping on in perfect rhythm, sounding in Perk"s ear something like the tattoo of a machine-gun in action and sending out its swarm of leaden missiles--a sound that had long ago become so familiar to his ears as never to be forgotten, despite the lapse of time.
Surely by now that leading boat must be getting close to the schooner so that the transfer would soon be an accomplished fact, after which the return trip was due to be started which was when they meant to break into the game.
"Ginger pop! if I don"t ketch the grumble o" a second tug further away, and I guess now a consid"able bigger craft than the leadin" one. Get a move on, fellers--the dinner gong"s struck and the grub"s on the table waitin" to be swallered--first come, first served"s the rule things go by, so stir your stumps, an" put in the best licks you know how--an" may the devil take the hindmost. Hey there! that drummin" noise, it"s stopped--wonder if they got out to the sloop or else smell a rat an" are lyin" low till they make it a dead certainty? Gosh, but ain"t this all mighty thrillin" though, and how it does tickle me most to death,"
muttering which Perk, still listening, actually held his breath the better to catch any sound from below.
CHAPTER V
A BATTLE ROYAL
Jack, being desirous of ascertaining just what was taking place over where the sloop laden with contraband was anch.o.r.ed, 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 hoa.r.s.e exhaust as she bucked the billows rolling in toward the sh.o.r.e 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 m.u.f.fler, 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 ash.o.r.e 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.