The Sky Detectives; Or, How Jack Ralston Got His Man

CHAPTER IX
COACHING PERK

Of course it was in keeping with this exchange of confidences that Jack should relate all that had happened to them since their arrival in Atlanta to secure the ship awaiting them, load it to capacity for a long voyage, and finally start off from Candler Field.

Mr. Adkins listened eagerly to this modest account of what had already happened to them as a starter in the hunt they had undertaken; and he was visibly thrilled at hearing of the bitter night chase, the desperate tactics undertaken by the pair of human wolves aboard the Ryan monoplane; and particularly when Jack finally described in vivid language the astounding act of Perk in first shattering the bothersome searchlight, to follow this with his lucky random shot that bore into the gas tank of the pursuing craft and brought about an explosion.

Possibly the urbane gentleman had never in all his life listened to so ghastly a true story as the graphic one thus modestly related by one of the two participants; looking at them, with Jack so calm and modest, giving all the credit to his grinning accomplice, he must have decided in his astute mind that at last Slippery Slim was going to have a pair of human bloodhounds on his trail such as all his ingenuity and vindictiveness combined could not throw into the discard.

“Let me have,” he went on to say to Jack, “as good a description as possible of those same bills your friend Scotty found in that pocketbook dropped among his clothing by the unknown party whom you believe was looking for your letter of instructions from Washington.”

When Jack complied with this request the other nodded his head approvingly.

“No question but what they were of the same stripe as all the others that have been brought to our attention,” he told Jack. “You must know it’s been a mooted question as to whether the plates from which these notes are being printed in vast quantities (that make it a gold mine for the gang) are counterfeits engraved by some master in the art or stolen property, which have somehow never been missed by the plant where much of the printing is done for the Treasury Department – the bills are so perfect that cashiers and tellers are all at sea over the facts, so that something of a near panic has resulted in banking circles as a result of this unknown quantity. Remember these are the old type of banknotes, and not the new abbreviated form of currency, so that it is more difficult to discover the actual facts.”

“It will all come out in the wash, sir,” remarked Perk, sagaciously, with a sly wink at his pal.

“Just so, Perk,” observed the gentlemanly official, smilingly; “but I’m more concerned about your plan of campaign than anything else right now. During the time you stop over here in Orleans I mean to keep you posted with regard to any fresh news that comes in to Headquarters for there is hardly a day when we do not learn of additional discoveries connected with this deluge of phony money that’s been dumped on the whole Southwest by this hard working gang. I am telling you everything that’s known or suspected, so that you can figure out your best line of action.”

“We understand that, Mr. Adkins,” said Jack, nodding, “and you can rest assured we appreciate your kindness more than I can tell you. Before we jump off you will know what we’ve decided to do, so as to pick up a warm trail; and after that, sir, don’t be worried if you fail to hear a single word from us for days, weeks, or even months; but depend upon it we’ll be working on the job every minute.”

“And never forget, I beg of you, that this man is a devil for cruelty and craftiness – I’m sure you’ll not delude yourselves that his arrest will be an easy task; for as good men as were ever on the roll of our Secret Service Department have fallen down on the job.”

“Thank you again, sir, for your warning; but we’re not meaning to feel anything like over-confidence, so as to let the bars down. I understand from my having been picked to take up this case, that the knowledge of myself and my assistant here along the line of aviation cut a big figure in the appointment, since it has been learned that Slim himself makes use of a flying boat possibly to cross over from the wilds of Mexico, it being suspected he has his plant hidden away somewhere among the mountains, where he doubtless keeps peace with the authorities by paying tribute that insures his being left undisturbed. We hope to change all that sooner or later, sir.”

“I admire your modesty, Jack,” continued the Government official, who had warmed toward the pair during the short time he had known them, and seemed to take a personal interest in their fortunes. “Remember to keep in touch with Headquarters while in the city, so as to notify me in case you need any assistance – I can later on place a posse of oldtime Texas Rangers at your service, if the occasion arises for a necessity to show force – they are now working for the Government as border patrols, and as you can understand, are the same rough-riding, fearless type that played such a leading figure in the early history of the Lone Star State; for we have authority that covers such matters. And I’ll be one of the first to extend you my hearty congratulations should you win out, and bring in your man; as I’ve no doubt your good pal here used to do when, as you’ve told me, he used to work with the Canadian Mounted Police force, in years gone by.”

“It won’t be our fault, sir, if we make a flop o’ the job,” asserted Perk, who believed he ought to get in an occasional word; although there were a good many things he did not wholly understand, and which he would depend on Jack to further explain when opportunity arose.

Mr. Adkins shook them both cordially by the hand, and took his departure, leaving them to digest all the startling facts he had placed in their possession. By slow degrees they would figure things out, and sketch their plan of operation; then would come the hour when once more they must depend on their wings to carry them many hundreds of miles toward the scene of action, where the air would be surcharged with dynamite, while deadly enemies might be lying in ambush, ready to take them by surprise.

Perk started to spring his questions, and Jack was only too glad to make the necessary explanations; for it was necessary that they work in complete harmony if they hoped to be successful.

As far as they had gone, things looked hopeful to Jack, as he marshalled the facts that had lately been placed in their possession. He was satisfied that when every item had been arranged in its rightful sequence they could fashion a plan of campaign that would at least have a better chance for winning out than any of those utilized by former detectives, who had not possessed the essential wings so as to meet Slippery Slim on his own chosen ground.

“No tellin’ just how long we’ll stick it out in this burgh, I guess, buddy?” suggested Perk, some time later, as they continued to take things easy, resting up after a hard night’s flight, and meaning to get around the city after noon and lunch time had come and passed.

“Couldn’t say as yet, Perk; we’ve got to comb out the stuff as handed over by our new friend, Mr. Adkins, and discard everything that doesn’t pan out as being worth while. Then there were a few leaders he dropped that, if followed up, might turn out to be leading clues, the possession of which would possibly turn the tide of battle. I’m meaning not to let anything make me show undue speed – Rome wasn’t built in a day, we’ve got to recollect, and so shape things from the standpoint of ‘safety first’.”

“Huh! that’s the boy!” gurgled the pleased Perk; “me, don’t I remember that story o’ the hare an’ the tortoise runnin’ a race, which the turtle won ’cause he never even stopped to rest up; while the rabbit, thinkin’ he could run loops around such a plodder, lay down to take a nap, overslept himself, and when he got to the goal there was Old Leatherback awaitin’ to turn the big laugh on him.”

Perk wound up with one of his rollicking laughs; everything seemed to create merriment in his soul just now, after that royal breakfast; though perhaps he was running away ahead of the dry facts, and counting his chickens before they were hatched out of the shell. But Perk was confident the sly fox of a Slim would find himself snagged in the net one of these days, and the clever guy who handled things would turn out to be an aviator and sky detective named Jack Ralston.

Jack some time afterwards, had just aroused from a short nap, when Perk, who had been pondering and grumbling to himself, tossed out another question, as if to disclose what was troubling him:

“How about it, old hoss, do you b’lieve them dicks we left behind after they’d floated down from a high ceilin’ with their chutes, got outen the scrape, so they could a hiked to some nearby village or town, an’ took the first train headed for Orleans, reckonin’ we must a’been on the jump thisaways?”

“I’d say the chances all point that way, Perk,” Jack told him, without the slightest hesitation.

“Jumpin’ crickets! if that’s a fact why, a feller might run acrost the slick pair any old minute – meet ’em right face to face!” Perk went on to say, as if the fact gave him more or less concern.

“I suppose then you’d recognize the chappies with just one look, eh, what about that, partner?” asked Jack, laughingly; at which the other grinned a bit foolishly, to admit he had serious doubts on that score.

“Shucks! didn’t either o’ us get a peep-in at their monikers, worse luck – had them helmets and goggles in place right away, like they didn’t mean to give us a single look-in. S’pose now they got the high sign on us boys?”

“On a venture I’d say that was always possible,” replied Jack, soberly; for this very point had occurred to him, and was as yet unsettled in his mind. “Nobody knows how long they may have been in Atlanta – Mr. Adkins assured us Slim seemed to have all sorts of strings out, so as to learn in advance of any bunch of Government agents taking the field against his giant bogus money monopoly; and for all we can tell those two may have been spying on us most of the time we were around Candler Field, getting our ship ready to take to the air.”

“Rotten luck, I’m sayin’, and too much one-sided to suit me,” growled Perk, frowning savagely. “Here we got to do our work in the dark; while that smart cuss holds all the high cards in the pack, an’ c’n trump our ace any time he takes a notion.”

“No need to worry about that, comrade,” said Jack, soothingly. “You must remember that when we move along we mean to disappear as if heading into the thickest belt of pea soup fog ever seen – in that way they’ll lose all trace of us, and we can play our cards as we choose, making up for a different breed of sky travelers, so as to dope the cleverest kind of spies he can send out. While they’re left guessing what’s become of us we’ll be doing our little tracking job, and hour by hour, day after day, keep on creeping closer to their secret stronghold, wherever that may prove to be. Those are some of the things we figured on doing, Perk, don’t forget.”

The one addressed made no reply, but as he let his head fall back, as if he meant to pick up a few winks of sleep, there came a look of rapt admiration on his weather-beaten face that bespoke the utmost confidence in his best pal.

CHAPTER X
LAYING PLANS

After a noonday lunch Jack and his partner spent most of the afternoon in carrying out the various duties that were seemingly on their program. Among other things Jack visited the Federal building, and was closeted for more than an hour with Mr. Adkins.

The latter official had conceived a great fancy for young Ralston, and went to no end of trouble so as to post him with regard to what he was likely to run up against while endeavoring to close in on Slippery Slim. With his accustomed sagacity Jack made notes of some of the facts thus laid before him; but since these were in shorthand, and would be utterly unintelligible to any outside party, should they chance to fall into enemy hands, there was no danger that any mischief would follow.

By degrees he was filling up with scraps of description, and everything connected with former attempts at locating the hideout, where all this unlawful scrip was being turned off the press, to flood the Southwest.

That was always his way of doing – when given a tough job Jack would live alongside it, breathing the very atmosphere of the undertaking, until he found himself sympathetic with the aims and ambitions of the criminals whose apprehension was placed on his shoulders by his Big Boss.

“We’ll have dinner early, Perk,” he told the other, who had been carrying out a number of special duties while Jack was busy elsewhere, “so as to retire to our room at the hotel. No going out after nightfall for us just at present, especially in a strange city, where some sneak might waylay us coming back from the theater. All that sort of pleasure must be put out of our heads just at present.”

“Huh! guess you’re hittin’ the nail on the head, old hoss, when you say that,” grunted Perk, who very probably had already picked out just the screen play he wanted so badly to see; but he was a good scout, and able to put duty above pleasure, when the occasion arose for making a personal sacrifice.

“Another thing,” continued Jack, “there’s no telling what night flying we’re bound to be up against, in trying to keep our movements secret; so it’d be wise for us both to enjoy all the extra sleep that comes our way.”

“I get you, partner,” assented Perk, subordinating his desires to the slogan which he knew was Jack’s watchword – “safety first”. “When I’ve stowed away all the grub I c’n hold mebbe I’ll be ready to hit the hay, to stick it out till cock-crow around daylight – an’ then some. Pretty fair sleeper, they always called me across the big pond – crawl out as the last horn was blowin’, rub my eyes a bit, get aboard my fightin’ crate, an’ step off to knock another Heine pilot down afore botherin’ ’bout my breakfast – all in a day’s doings with Gabe Perkiser. Sabbe that, partner?”

“Yes, I know you like a book,” Jack told him with a smile.

“Get a bellyfull when you had that confab with Mr. Adkins?” demanded Perk.

“I’m filled up to the brim with all kinds of material, which by degrees I’ll have to sort out, keeping only what strikes me as essential,” came the answer.

“I see – sorter separatin’ the chaff from the wheat,” mused Perk; “an’ if it’s a fair question, old hoss, which way do we head when we take off?”

“You might call it due northeast,” Jack told him; and then, as his companion uttered a startled exclamation, as though vastly surprised, Jack gave a quick glance around as if to make certain that no one was dogging their footsteps, after which he lowered his voice almost to a whisper, to add: “but that would be only for a blind, in case hostile eyes were watching our departure from the flying field; for after we’ve cleared a dozen or more miles we can make a complete circle, and point the nose of our boat squarely west!”

“Good boy!” snapped the relieved Perk; “sounds a heap more like it. You sure did throw a big scare into me, Jack, ’cause it’d been ’bout settled ’tween us that the game had ought to be played out there in the boundless waste spaces around the border.”

“Yes, everything points that way so far,” he was assured; “but no more talkie at present, Perk – we’ll keep bottled up until inside four walls, where no spy can steal our thunder. Slim’s knocked the underpinning away from a bunch of fine schemes looking to his undoing, simply by finding out what the big game happened to be, and then bursting the bubble by a scoop. We don’t intend to dish our business that way if it can be helped.”

“Wall,” drawled Perk, with his best Yankee effect, “guess not if we know our stuff, an’ c’n roll our hoop.”

As they walked along toward their hotel Perk kept up a constant lookout, as though endeavoring to make some more or less thrilling discovery – never a man, black or white, did they meet but that he was made the object of a severe scrutiny by the suspicious one; however, they reached their objective without his having run across any reason for making a decision; and shortly afterwards they were securely lodged in their room, the door locked, and a couple of easy chairs inviting them to take things comfortable, which they lost no time in doing, being wearied from so much trotting about – flying men as a rule not enjoying a reputation for pedestrian feats.

A long and serious confab followed, both speaking in low tones; Jack on his part explained the mass of information he had accumulated, and answered the flood of questions asked by his comrade, as well as he was able; until he found a chance to go deeper into things himself he could not make definite statements concerning a number of points that were a bit hazy, and needed confirmation.

Thus the afternoon waned, and the time came when they were ready to think of the essential “eats”. Of course it was Perk who brought this subject up, for he chanced to have a tremendous appetite, and was apt to give considerable time to figuring what his next menu would be – indeed, half the enjoyment in his estimation lay in thus building air castles along the line of “grub”.

Remembering that little episode up in Atlanta, where some unknown party had made such a “rat’s nest” of Scotty’s adjoining room, evidently under a mistaken belief it belonged to himself and Perk, Jack made sure to carry all his important papers on his person, properly secured, so that no deft hand of a sneak thief could negotiate their abstraction.

“All ready, partner,” he told Perk, at the time looking out of the window, holding back the curtains to see the better who chanced to be walking along the opposite pavement.

“You never said sweeter words than them, old boy; I sure was close to faintin’, my tummy feelin’ like the bottom was adroppin’ out – soup an’ such soft stuffs, while fillin’ at the time don’t stay with me any great while – I crave solids mostly. On your way then, Jack!”

Jack had marshalled all the facts that had been placed in his possession, weeded a few out as worthless, and by the time their discussion ended had told his companion that the Finger of Destiny was pointing out their future course as lying over the almost boundless plains of Texas, across New Mexico, and deep into Arizona deserts, to the wild country along the border not far distant from the spot at which the Gila river forms a junction with the larger Colorado; where the latter serves as a watery boundary line between Arizona and Southeastern California, with Old Mexico less than thirty miles distant as the crow flies.

It would be a big jump for them, but the flood of bad currency undoubtedly had its start somewhere in this hostile region, and spread out like an open fan, northwest into San Diego and Los Angeles – northward up to Salt Lake City – and in the northeast as far as Oklahoma. To effectually break it up it was necessary that they go to the fountain head, so as to destroy the very roots of the noisome poison ivy plant.

They spent more than half an hour dining, and needless to say Perk enjoyed himself to his heart’s content – who wouldn’t if he had a pocketfull of ready cash, furnished by a bountiful Uncle Sam; a bill of fare bristling with all kinds of tempting dishes such as Perk doted on; and to complete the combination having been born with a healthy, unbridled appetite?

It was just commencing to get dusk when they emerged from the restaurant and started back to the hotel, some two blocks distant. Perk, as usual, kept turning his head this way and that very much like a wolf scalp-hunter looking for his suspicious quarry. Presently he picked at Jack’s sleeve, and bending his head until his lips almost touched the other’s ear he observed in a sibilant whisper!

“Listen, partner – we got a clam doggin’ us like a bloodhound on the track o’ a runaway nigger from a convict camp back in Alabam – get that, do you?”