"In our business," he said, "we receive many strange calls. So I was not much surprised. I may as well tell you, however, that the clerk, who can be trusted, knows that I am here."
He shot a searching glance at his hosts.
Mr. Temple nodded.
"I see," he said. "We might have been enemies trying to lure you into a trap. That was a wise precaution on your part. But," he added, leaning forward, "we are not enemies; merely good citizens who have come into possession of certain information which we believe you ought to have."
"Wait a minute," said Inspector Burton, in a low voice, and leaping to his feet, he gained the door in two strides, threw it open, peered out, then disappeared.
CHAPTER IV
ENTER INSPECTOR BURTON
While the others still sat where he had left them, regarding each other in speechless surprise, Inspector Burton returned, closed and locked the door, and resumed his chair as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
"Thought I heard someone listening outside the door," he explained.
"When I opened it there was n.o.body in sight. Your room is only two doors from an angle in the hall. So I ran to the turning and looked along the corridor, but it was empty."
"Now, what is it?" he asked.
Mr. Temple explained, and when he had concluded, Frank once more rehea.r.s.ed the sc.r.a.ps of conversation which he had overheard the two low-voiced men drop on the observation platform of their train the previous night.
Inspector Burton"s eyes blazed with satisfaction. He pounded one clenched hand into the palm of the other, repeating the gesture several times.
"Good," said he. "Good."
Turning to Frank he commanded:
"Describe these men for me."
Frank complied. At the description of the man who had scrutinized Frank on the train and whom Frank believed he had seen again at breakfast, Inspector Burton uttered an exclamation.
"Do you know him?" asked Frank, eagerly.
"Indeed I do," said Inspector Burton. "I believe I saw him in the lobby downstairs, although he did not see me as far as I could tell. He was lurking behind a pillar."
"Who is he?"
"He"s a man of many aliases. Folwell will do as well as any other.
"Black George" is his name in the underworld, because of his swarthy complexion and raven black hair. He"s the leader of a powerful gang of underworld characters, a gang with ramifications in many cities not only here but on the China Coast, too. He"s been responsible for many deviltries on the Pacific Coast for years, but we have never been able to lay anything definite at his door. It"ll be a feather in the cap of any man who can get the goods on "Black George"."
Frank was excited, and showed it. His chums were, too. Mr. Temple could not restrain an exclamation.
"Then what this young man overheard will be of some value to you?" he demanded.
"Value?" repeated Inspector Burton. "It will, indeed. Lately the smuggling of Chinese coolies into the country has enormously increased.
We know they are coming in but we cannot stop them. We suspected, of course, that there was a leak somewhere in our forces. We have managed to stop the smuggling across the border on land pretty well. But all our efforts to put a stop to bringing in of Chinese by water have been unavailing. We have a fleet of fast revenue cutters and sub chasers operating off the coast of Southern California, but somehow the coolie smugglers coming up from Mexico manage to elude us in the night and land their human cargo in some unlocated cove whence, undoubtedly, they are whisked inland by waiting motor cars and hidden."
"I should think you could patrol the whole coast, if necessary, and locate the rendezvous," said Jack.
Inspector Burton shook his head with a wry smile.
"My young friend," said he, "if you knew more about the ways of government, you would think differently. We have to do a tremendous amount of work on small appropriations and with a limited force. Ours is not a spectacular branch of the service, and the gentlemen in Congress see no occasion to spend money on us. They prefer to spend it where it will show. Moreover, now that the World War has increased the national debt, they are shouting for economy. Instead of giving us more men and money, the men who hold the purse strings are cutting us down."
Mr. Temple nodded understandingly.
"But this tip about Handby," said Frank, returning to the first subject, "won"t that help you?"
"It will, indeed," said Inspector Burton. "Handby is employed in Southern California, operating out of Los Angeles and San Diego. Just to show you how valuable I consider your information, I"ll say that since sitting here I have made up my mind to make a trip immediately to the south myself. Handby shall be put under surveillance at once."
"Won"t you arrest him and try to make him confess?" queried Jack.
"No. That would scare off the others. I"ll watch Handby in hope that he will lead us to his a.s.sociates, and thus we will be enabled to scoop in a number of the crooks and break up the smuggling ring."
"About this radio station in the cove?" said Frank. "You remember? I told you I overheard "Black George" telling his companion the radio at the cove would keep in touch with the coolie boats?"
Inspector Burton nodded.
"That"s important, of course," he said. "But as I told you we haven"t sufficient men to make a systematic search of the coast. We"ll have to depend on Handby to betray the station to us."
"Not necessarily," interrupted Jack.
Inspector Burton glanced at him inquiringly.
"The government certainly has a powerful radio station or two out here on the Pacific Coast," said Jack. "Hasn"t it?"
"Why, yes," answered Inspector Burton. "There"s a big one right here in San Francisco. But, to tell you the truth, I"ve never paid much attention to radio."
"Well, Jack has," said Mr. Temple, smiling. "He and his father are radio fans. They have several big stations of their own under special government license, on Long Island and in New Mexico. Jack probably knows more about radio than about anything else."
"I don"t know whether to take that as a compliment or a slap," laughed Jack.
"A compliment, my boy, a compliment," said Mr. Temple, patting him on the shoulder.
"Well," said Jack, "I"ll confess I was caging a bit when I asked whether the government had stations out here. I know it has. You know, you fellows"-turning to his chums-"how dad and I have studied the history of radio development. I remember that as far back as 1910 or 1912 the Federal Telegraph Company carried on radio experiments out here between stations at San Francisco, Stockton, Sacramento and Los Angeles."
"Is that so?" said Inspector Burton, regarding Jack with increased respect. "Well, what did you mean awhile ago when you intimated it wasn"t necessary to trail Handby in order to locate the smuggling ring"s radio plant."
"Can you obtain the use of the government radio stations?" countered Jack.
"Certainly."
"Well, then, to begin with, we can obtain the approximate location of the smugglers" radio. Of course, they will speak in code, and probably they will use a high wave length in order to avoid the confusion of any amateur sending stations cutting in. Let the government stations here and at Los Angeles tune until they pick up code. If it is weak here and strong at Los Angeles, then the station sending code is nearer the latter city."