"But I"m up in the air when it comes to knowin" what else he"s stuck in his pockets," Perk told himself, though somehow he managed to refrain from asking questions nor did Jack seem anxious to enter into any explanations.
"We"ll leave things here all fixed so as to make a quick take-off," was what the chief pilot remarked as they prepared to step ash.o.r.e and while he did not see fit to offer any explanation with regard to just what he had in mind, Perk felt thrilled to believe there was already some daring plan taking form in his comrade"s wide-awake brain that might be carried out if only the conditions seemed favorable, and the weather proved considerate.
As they walked slowly along Jack kept frequently snapping his light on and off so that they could take an instantaneous inventory of what lay just beyond their feet for the night proved exceedingly dark although all that would be changed after a while, when the late moon climbed into sight.
Perk, just as he promised himself, had made certain to pick up that serviceable pole with which he had dispatched the rattlesnake and this he kept poking out ahead, as if to stir up any lurking reptile that might be lying coiled in the path.
His nervousness increased as they drew near the spot where the one-sided fight had taken place. He had apparently been brooding over the matter, wondering if the mate of his victim could have come upon the scene of the tragedy and sensing what had happened, was lurking thereabouts, bent on exacting a terrible revenge in payment for the untimely demise of her partner.
When he felt certain they had pa.s.sed this particular narrow part of the trail, Perk began to breathe easier, but he soon had reason to fear lest he was crowing too soon for just then he felt Jack buck up against him and heard him saying in a low but distinct voice:
"Hold up and listen, partner!"
CHAPTER XXIV
ON HANDS AND KNEES
Even while Jack was saying those few words, Perk had recovered from his sudden alarm, since he already knew the reason for the other"s bringing him to a halt.
"Huh! that crate"s startin" off again, seems like," he muttered.
Indeed, it was a foregone certainty for the splash of water told the story as well as the abrupt explosions of a working motor. Then, too, these suggestive sounds all came from directly ahead.
Then Perk had another gripping fear which he imagined must have also seized his companion--that the chief object of their concern might be a pa.s.senger aboard that ship, heading once more across the state to Miami and that in consequence, all of Jack"s carefully laid plans would meet the same untimely fate as befalls an ambitious soap-bubble when struck by a stray puff of air.
So they continued to stand there and listen to the telltale sounds with sinking hearts. Perk in particular seemed to be dreadfully put out by this fresh upset and was grinding his strong teeth as though desirous of letting out an explosive but restrained by the fact of Jack being so close at hand.
"Gee whiz! this here is what I call tough luck, Boss," he grumbled, more because he hoped Jack might be able to dispel his fit of the blues in some way or other, having a much clearer vision than he himself possessed.
"Oh! I don"t know, partner," said Jack in a wholesome, optimistic tone.
"It looks a little dark, but just wait a minute or so before you croak--after all, the thing may not be so bad--it doesn"t pay to jump at conclusions."
"Shucks! that"s me all over, old hoss, but I"m sure glad to hear you say the last chance ain"t snuffed out yet," mumbled Perk contritely, but at least he had gained his point which was to coax Jack to mix a little good cheer in with the gloom that had descended on his, Perk"s soul.
"There, he"s off!" declared Jack as a significant change in the clatter so thoroughly understood by any airman announced the hop-off from the surface of the lake.
"An" nothin" happened to give him a spill, either," Perk went on to say and the disconsolate vein in his tone told plainly enough how he had been secretly hugging to his heart a hope that the motor of the Lockheed-Vega crate might suddenly develop some fault, compelling the flight to be abandoned in its inception.
"Even that fact may yet turn out to be the best thing we could wish for," Jack told him confidently, being built on the order of a fellow who could see something to rejoice over in nearly every occurrence, no matter how thick the gloom surrounding it.
"There he swings up an" is off--a slick jump, b"lieve me an" that guy"s some square shooter in the bargain--knows his business okay anyway. But Jack, tell me, you don"t think he"s got our man alongside him, do you?"
"Well, one thing seems to tell me that isn"t a fact, Perk."
"Yeah, an" what might that be?" demanded the other quickly.
"Notice that he"s already banking, so as to lay his course toward Cape Sable--square in the south--get that, don"t you Perk?"
"I swan, but you"re right there, Jack--which looks kinder like he didn"t mean to strike out for Miami, don"t it?"
"More than likely he"s. .h.i.tting out for Cuba, or if he veers to the west, it"s Mexico or Honduras he means to head for."
Perk heaved a big sigh of relief.
"Hot ziggetty! but that sounds good to me, partner," he observed with renewed animation as hope again sang a sweet song in his heart. "Then there"s a real chance he ain"t got our man alongside."
They stood there and continued to listen as the sounds made by the flight of the retreating seaplane gradually grew fainter and even for brief spells died out altogether.
"He"s out o" the pictur" anyhow," Perk finally commented when they could no longer catch the least thud of the working motor--only a more pleasing sound in the shape of gentle wavelets running up the sh.o.r.e of the great lake being borne to their ears.
"Yes, and since that"s settled we"d better be making a further move ahead," Jack was saying, in his sensible way.
Accordingly the advance was renewed, nor did they take any less precaution because of the departure of the flying boat.
As before, Jack continued to frequently make good use of his little flashlight, which proved its worth just as had been expected. So speedy were the flashes that it did not seem possible for any one to notice them unless he chanced to be on the watch for something suspicious and Jack hardly antic.i.p.ated such a thing as that.
Apparently the one who had planned the raid believed there was only one course for them to pursue and that was to keep on as though everything was just as they had hoped. Even though an adverse Fate chose to cheat them them of their intended prey on this particular occasion there would be other days to come,--and had he not promised to trap his man as well as to procure all needful proof to secure his conviction?
They were soon drawing close to their goal--already Jack had glimpsed a shred of light gleaming through the intervening brush which proved most conclusively that the shack could not be wholly deserted.
"Good enough!" Perk whispered when this comforting fact had been brought to his attention, "we"ll get his goat yet, partner."
Their progress was slowed up at this point for Jack no longer believed it good policy to make use of his flashlight. They had to partly feel their way along, using both hands and feet to detect the presence of any obstacle that was apt to cause them trouble.
Still, the night was long and there was no desire to make haste--if they waited until those in the shack were apt to be sound asleep it would be much easier to carry out their plan of campaign without any chance of interruption.
Now they could get faint glimpses of the little cove, which the visiting planes were wont to use as a hiding place, taxiing thither after splashing down on the surface of the nearby lake.
Perk made a mental note of the fact that the cove was quite empty, no hostile crate bobbing up and down on the water--possibly this induced the dreamer to indulge in a hope that should the occasion warrant such a thing, they might taxi their own ship around and make use of that snug harbor safe from any ordinary gale that chanced to strike treacherous Okeechobee.
Now they could see the light much better and even make out that it came from a certain window of the coquina shack--up to then Perk acknowledged to himself that he had not known whether the modest little building boasted of windows or not, having discovered no evidence of their presence.
So, too, he now made but a certain dark spot just beyond the shack which he strongly suspected might be the well shed of which the more observant Jack had spoken earlier in one of their pow-wows.
Now that he found himself so near the spot where it seemed likely he could refresh his dry throat with a cup of fresh water, Perk was growing wild with the eager desire to be doing so. He Wondered whether his companion could have forgotten his promise and even opened his mouth to remind him concerning it but thought better of it for already Jack had changed the line of his advance and was beginning to steer his pal in the direction of the well.
In order not to take any unnecessary chances it was found that they must make a little detour in order to get past that shaft of light proceeding from the window in the rear of the shack. Perk even begrudged the brief time taken in making this half circuit, though recognizing the wisdom governing Jack"s change of course. He dared not try to whisper now, lest his hoa.r.s.eness cause him to make a sound so harsh and loud that it might be carried to hostile ears and be the cause of their undoing.
Then, after another delay when Jack imagined he had caught a suspicious little scratching sound, as of something moving, they drew up on hands and knees alongside what seemed to be a rustic shelter covering an opening with a real windla.s.s, rope and all, to fill Perk"s heart with joy in the belief that his throat was in a fair way of having its roughness relieved in short order.
CHAPTER XXV