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

CHAPTER XXII
OVER ARIZONA DESERTS

Perk must have dreamed about that hot coffee treat he had been promising himself, for when Jack opened his eyes he found his comrade already watching the bubbling pot, from which delightful odors were commencing to escape in the way of steam.

They enjoyed quite a decent little breakfast, what with the ambrosia contained in their aluminum cups together with some crackers and jam, after the crisp bacon had been disposed of. Jack offered some to their prisoner, but the man sadly shook his head, as if to say he had no appetite whatever.

He was not a bad looking fellow, only with a weak sort of chin, and evidently built along a line that could be easily tempted to go wrong if the inducement were only gilded enough. Jack felt sorry for him, especially since he had learned about his family; and was determined to do what he could so as to get Simeon off, should his information prove of any value to their cause.

Once breakfast was disposed of they all went over to where the ship lay. By this time Simeon had found that they really planned to carry him off with them, a startling fact that added to his alarm, for apparently he had never been up in a plane, and a species of stage-fright made him shake as if he had the ague.

But there was no other way to work things, for should they set him free the chances were the man, forgetting his promise, would try to send out some kind of warning to Slippery Slim, and in the end he and Perk were apt to pay dearly for their slip-up, perhaps even with their own lives.

When playing such a desperate game with so canny a lawbreaker it would be the height of folly to let the dictates of tender hearts turn them from the path of “safety first,” and Simeon must continue to “take his medicine,” even though the innocent ones at home suffered for his misdeeds – he had never considered others whom his evil actions had doubtless harmed, when they found themselves arrested for passing worthless bills, and how could he expect these sworn officers of the law to go easy with him when caught in the act?

Perk now began to wonder just how they would be able to “tote” a third party in the limited accommodations afforded by the double cockpit of their ship. It was bound to prove a tight squeeze, and not so comfortable but then why grumble on account of a trifle like that, when Fortune was giving them such a glad hand all the while?

He began to shift things around some while Jack was busy checking the motor, struts, undergear, and propeller, with the design of condensing, and making more room.

“Funny how you c’n jam things into such a small compass when you really an’ truly try,” he told Jack, when he had finished his task. “I kinder guess I’ll be able to fix him okay, ’cause he’s no great shakes at size, an’, seems like to me, he’s shrinkin’ right afore my eyes, he’s that shaky. Then it’s only for the day, I figger; how ’bout that, Jack?”

“I’ve planned all that out, partner,” he was told. “As soon as we get over to the California border we’ll give him in charge of some sheriff to keep in the hoosgow till we’ve made our killing, and are ready to deliver the whole batch to Uncle Sam’s nearest U. S. District Attorney, at Los Angeles or San Diego. That clear to you, Perk?”

“I’d say it was, boss, an’ here’s hopin’ we’ll get there with both feet when the end shows up, our prisoners hobbled, an’ with nice new steel bracelets decoratin’ their wrists. Now to get the gent aboard the boat, an’ stowed away. Shucks! he acts like he might be scared out o’ a year’s growth – some sillies get that way ’bout goin’ up in a skyscraper the fust time.”

His scorn for such a weakling showed in his face as he helped Simeon to clamber into the cockpit. The man was as white as a sheet, and trembling as if expecting to meet with some dire end in short order, once he left the firm ground and took to the boundless air. His groans were heartrending, and Jack felt sorry for the wretch but for once Perk displayed no signs of sympathy, it was all so silly in his opinion.

He proceeded to take precautions by fastening the greenhorn in by means of a stout strap which would prevent his falling out should conditions necessitate a sudden banking on the part of the pilot, or a fierce gust of wind cause the ship to give a unannounced plunge.

“All ready, Jack,” announced Perk, after completing these arrangements.

“I’ll be with you inside of three minutes,” he was told, and as the ground ahead had been examined, and found to be fairly good for the wheels to trundle over, there seemed to be nothing more that could be done, only put things to the test.

It was “some rough,” as Perk told himself, when violently shaken once or twice but they managed to get up sufficient speed to admit of Jack lifting her when the right time arrived. Then they were off, rising like a bird, and almost immediately opening up the village that nestled there two miles off, at the foot of the low ridge.

Jack headed straight into the west, for that was their route “as the crow flew.” He cared not at all that they would pass directly over the settlement, for few of the people were apt to be abroad at such an early hour, nor would they be any the wiser for seeing a plane pass overhead at such a low altitude.

Perk, looking down, found himself wondering which of the modest cottages in line of his vision chanced to be the home Simeon had spoken of with such a catch in his voice. The man had temporarily forgotten about his fears concerning his own safety, while being carried so high above the surface of the earth – he was stretching his neck, and eagerly focussing his staring eyes on one spot, which evidently held all that he held dear. Perk ignored his recent sensation of scorn, and actually felt sorry for the man.

“Poor guy,” he was saying under his breath, though the other could not have heard him had he shouted at the top of his lungs, on account of the racket being kicked up by combined motor and propeller, “he feels right bad ’cause he’s goin’ off without a chanct to say goodbye. Well, I on’y hope this will be a lesson to Simeon, an’ he’ll quit playin’ with a buzz-saw, which is the long arm o’ our Uncle Samuel.”

Simeon tried his best to keep tabs of the lonely little hamlet until it was no longer possible to distinguish objects, owing to the several miles of distance the speeding plane had covered; then he fell back in his seat, and let his head drop on his chest, while his body shook with emotion. In that dreadful moment he would undoubtedly have only too gladly given all he had in the wide world for a chance to undo the wrongs he had committed in his haste to get rich.

“Shucks! he orter thought o’ that before, while the goin’ was good!” was Perk’s comment, who had seen just such short-sighted men more than once before in his eventful life, and had a philosophical mind concerning all such late repentances. “But I’m sure sorry for them that are agoin’ to suffer the most – he deserves all he’ll get, but they’re the innocent ducks.”

The plane soared along its set course, and as they were not at more than something like five thousand feet altitude, Perk could see very well, when he adjusted the binoculars they carried of necessity, so as to be able to spy out conditions before trusting themselves to land, being naturally a bit suspicious while thus drawing steadily nearer to what might well be called enemy land.

From time to time he found himself gazing down with considerable curiosity upon scenes which were mostly foreign to his eyes – he had only too often scrutinized pictures where uncounted troops belonging to the enemy were encamped, or on the march, with monster guns making the very air quiver with the tumult of their discharges; where rival pilots came up in answer to his insulting challenge, to engage him in deadly combat – he had seen many an unlucky or less skillful airman go down with his whirling, blazing coffin, yielding up his life as a tribute to what he called patriotism – all these and a multitude of similar thrilling spectacles could be unrolled in memory as he thus sailed the azure sky, and saw Jack meet and conquer successive air pockets lying in wait to give him battle; and yet this was actually the first time Perk had ever focussed his gaze upon a genuine cattle ranch, and saw stock being driven to market, or it might be mavericks branded; so that he found himself entranced with the panorama spread before him as they glided over the prairies of New Mexico.

There cropped up other and like interesting sights when the wilder sector of country was reached, with its deep gullies, its bare-topped mountain peaks – perhaps stretches of desolate desert where nothing could be seen save billowy sandy wastes, except possibly patches of yucca, sage, greasewood, and prickly pear cactus.

When, his interest increasing, Perk begged his comrade to drop down so as to give him a nearer view of these strange sights, he was able to increase his knowledge concerning the myriad of strange sights to be picked up when touring by air in new territories – now he could make out the fantastic Joshua trees that seemed to be engaged in a shimmering dance in the blazing sunlight; moving shadows that sometimes crossed the line of his vision he made out to be buzzards on the wing, circling in search of their carrion meal; while others on the ground he recognized as coyotes skulking along, frightened by the sight and noise coming from far over their heads, and trying to reach their secret dens in some rocky canyon or defile.

Noon came in due time, with the ship keeping up its steady grind, and having left hundreds of miles in its wake.

Perk began to realize that he had eaten his breakfast at an unearthly hour, and concluding that a bite of something, together with a swig of water from their jug, might go well, he mentioned the interesting fact that the usual lunch hour had come, at which Jack nodded his head, as if to leave all that sort of thing to the discretion of his trusted pard.

So they had a pick-up snack, which was quite acceptable to the two airmen, able to enjoy their meals even while cutting capers up among the clouds. It was another thing to the novice Simeon, whose appetite had not come back, though he did manage to swallow a few bites, and have a drink of cold water to wash things down. By slow degrees he was getting the upper hand of his dreadful fears, for while familiarity could not be said to bring contempt, nevertheless he was becoming accustomed to the conditions, and could even display a trace of curiosity when looking down on some unusually interesting spectacle to which Perk was pointing so eagerly.

If things continued to exist as they had been doing all morning it was likely – Jack at one time told his co-pilot in answer to a question – that they would be close to the California border by sunset, or shortly afterwards; since even then they were well along across Arizona, with fair skies still beckoning them on their way.

CHAPTER XXIII
ON TO THE COLORADO

“Listen, Perk, I’ve got something you should know – something that hinges on a change of plans.”

Jack was saying this at a time when, relieved from the controls he could enter into one of the little confabs that their use of the ear-phones allowed. All Perk had to do was to lean forward and while still handling the stick drink in whatever his co-pilot chose to say.

“Yeah! spit it out then, partner,” was his familiar way of inviting confidence and which meant so much with those who knew Perk’s peculiar sayings best.

To be sure Simeon Hawkins was sitting close beside Perk, and what Jack meant to confide in his running mate could never be intended for his ears but despite this elbow to elbow touch there was not the slightest risk of his being able to pick up a single word, owing to the clamor kicked up by motor exhaust and propeller.

“We’re going on a bit further than was arranged,” said Jack, concisely.

“Huh! meanin’ we don’t pull up when we strike the border, eh, what, Jack?”

“Just that, brother – the going is good, and we might as well keep moving till we drop down on the Metropolitan Airport grounds.”

“Whoopee! you mean at Los Angeles, don’t you, old hoss?” demanded Perk, apparently considerably surprised by his pal’s bald statement.

“Righto, Perk.”

“How come, Jack?”

“Get this fixed in your noodle,” said the resting chief pilot – “circumstances often alter cases, they tell us; well, when we figured on halting at or near the border, close to the Gila River, things hadn’t happened such as have hit us since then.”

“Meanin’ the storm, Jack?”

“That was one thing,” admitted the other.

“Knockin’ us out o’ our reckonin’, like, an’ makin’ us take a forced landin’ on the open prairie where we run across that flimsy ol’ shack – does that cover what you mean, Jack?”

“After a fashion it does,” the other told him, adding: “like the play of Hamlet, with Hamlet left out, it falls flat. You omitted the chief reason for my making this change in plans.”

“I guess you must mean Simeon here, eh boy?” asked Perk, as if suddenly waking up to the fact.

“Sure thing – what are we going to do with him, tell me, Perk? It’d be impossible for us to lug him everywhere we mean to go, flying across into Mexico, and baiting the wolf in his own lair, as you might say. He’d be a constant hindrance to our being free to act besides, we’d run a fat chance of having him give us away, just when we thought it was all over but the shouting.”

“I get you, Jack – it means you don’t trust his promises to lend us a helpin’ hand, and goin’ back on his pals – ain’t that the idea?”

“You said it,” replied Jack, never bothering to drop his voice a particle, knowing as he did that without the aid of those valuable ear-phones Simeon, humped up against the side of Perk, could not have caught what was said even though it had been shouted at the top of his voice.

“Well, what then, partner?” continued Perk, apparently still groping in the dark.

“Nothing to hinder our tripping right along till we fetch up at Angeles, when we can find a way to hand him over to the Federal agents located there. He’s connected with the big gang against which Uncle Sam’s declared war to the knife; and as a material witness, ready to turn State’s evidence, they’ll be only too well pleased to hold him incommunicado, so he can’t do a thing to warn the bunch the big push is on.”

“Okay, Jack. Sounds mighty good to me, you bet. I’d never a cudgeled my brains enough to hatch up an idea like that; takes you to think o’ clever dodges, old hoss.”

“Then we’ll consider it settled, eh, Perk?”

“Just what we will,” came the confident reply. “’Bout when ought we raise the last beacon on the road to Angeles, an’ lamp the field lights at that same Metropolitan Airport?”

“Oh! if everything goes well, you might call it along toward midnight,” Jack assured him.

“Got aplenty o’ gas to carry on that far, I’d guess?” hazarded Perk.

“It’s to be hoped so,” said Jack; “because there’s some mighty tough stretches of country between the Colorado and the big Pacific city.”

“Yeah! so I understand, Jack.”

“And it would be a bad job for us if we had to hit the ground where you couldn’t scrape up a decent landing place with a fine-tooth comb. When I take the stick again, Perk, maybe you’d better have a look in, so’s to get tabs on our fuel tank, and tell me how it stands. From the dial finger yonder I figure we’ll have a lot more than enough to see us through.”

“That’s right, boss,” affirmed Perk, after casting a hasty glance at the tell-tale figures so plainly marked.

“That settles it then,” with which remark Jack showed by his actions that further conversation was needless.

And Simeon sat there through it all, never once dreaming how his fate was being so calmly settled; doubtless he imagined the consultation had been about something connected with the running of the cloud-chaser, and covered facts such as would have been all Greek to him, even had he been able to listen in.

Perk was not at all bothered by this change of plans on the part of the head pilot – it mattered little when they managed to drop down at the airport – chances were the ground lights were kept on full through the whole of each night, since air mail planes would be apt to come and go, some of them having been thrown out of their regular schedules by dense mountain fogs, or head winds that cut down the customary speed.

Perk, also, was well acquainted with the courtesy to be encountered at all such well conducted flying fields, where every one would be eager to do whatever was possible for the comfort of those who chose to visit such ports, and show little or no undo curiosity connected with the reason for their coming.

True, they might turn out to be a bit short with the “eats;” but Perk, who knew the ways of his pal so well, felt certain Jack would see to it they had a chance to “fill up” as soon as they could strike an open restaurant, of which there should be no lack in such a wide-open city as Los Angeles, with its sporty crowds at Hollywood.

The afternoon was moving on apace, and there cropped up fresh thrilling sights every little while, for Perk to stare at through his useful glasses. They were following the course of the famous Gila River toward its confluence with the still better known Colorado, which hundreds of miles further north passed through the Grand Canyon country, most majestic in a panorama sense of any region on the face of the globe.

Along about nightfall they might expect to pass over Yuma, located close to the junction of the two rivers. Perk wondered once or twice why his pal had not decided to land there, and turn the prisoner over to some one in authority; but he felt certain Jack had good reasons for not attempting this.

“Mebbe, now,” Perk told himself, with Jack again running the ship, while he attended to some of his own manifold duties; “he guessed there might be a bad crowd at Yuma – fellers apt to be in cahoots with the same gang o’ daredevils Simeon here was connected with; and who might even try to effect his escape, so as to shut his trap – even go so far as to knife the poor skunk to make sure he didn’t peach. Oh! yeah, that’s the way Jack looked at it, bet your boots it must be.”

Soon afterwards the sun gave notice that it was about to withdraw behind the line of mountains lying toward the west. Jack had his bearings, and expected to be able to pick up the flash beacons arranged for the convenience of the air mail corps in their night flights to and from Los Angeles. So thoroughly has this all been mapped out, with the signals to be found about every ten miles, that a pilot can see as many as three ahead at one time, depending on the altitude at which he may be flying.

Such wise precautions had been taken that would make night flying just as safe and easy as during the daytime one thing only cropping up from time to time to raise trouble, and cause delay was the presence of the fogs that were apt to rise from the deep canyons, to blot out those friendly gleams of flashing light marking the air mail course from start to finish.

CHAPTER XXIV
SIMEON GROWS DESPERATE

It was commencing to grow dusk when they sighted the lights of Yuma, that town on the railroad leading to Los Angeles. Such a thing as a plane flying overhead was so common these modern days as to hardly excite any comment – they came and went, with seldom anything out of the usual taking place although not so very far away, among the mountains, one of the most dreadful of all air tragedies known to the annals of flying had taken place, when the great liner City of San Francisco, lost in a storm, struck head-on against a rocky cliff, shattering the ship and causing the death of every one of those aboard, some seven souls in all.

Now they had left Yuma far in their rear, and Jack was watching to pick up the first flash beacon on the way to the Coast.

The weather continued to favor them, the heavens being almost devoid of any semblance of clouds, and the air quite cool at the height they maintained while heading into the beckoning west.

Over deserts and mountainous stretches they kept swinging along, to the constant accompaniment of the customary chorus of a bustling plane threading the mighty air lanes of the skies. The silvery stars came out in battalions to sprinkle the azure heavens like innumerable bright lanterns, such as could be seen in Old Japan during carnival times.

This was the life, Perk told himself again and again, sitting there after he had munched his scanty portion of their meagre supper, Simeon having again declined to share with them – what air pilot who has tasted of the joys of such hours could ever dream of forsaking his vocation, so long as Fortune allowed him to retain his vision, hearing, and the faculty for guiding an onrushing ship through the realms of unlimited space – not he for one, Perk assured himself, drawing in huge draughts of the clear air, and watching the wonderful beacons as they passed them by, threading the pathway of the stars as it were, straight toward their distant goal.

The night wore on, with the voyagers making splendid progress.

Jack had made no miscalculation when saying he believed they would fetch up at their destination somewhere about the midnight hour; for it still lacked more or less of that time when in the near distance they glimpsed lights telling that the city, and its nearby aviation field, must be close at hand.

Then they found themselves circling over the port, which, just as Jack had fancied would be the case, was lighted most brilliantly. Even as they sighted the field they noted a ship settling down, evidently an air mail plane that had been held up by some dense fog belt which they had fortunately missed.

“Soft snap I’d call it, droppin’ down with all them field lights to show the ground, so a feller c’n see a rock the size o’ a baseball,” was what the tickled Perk was telling himself while Jack was proceeding to make the terminal drop, with several ground attendants hurrying up so as to lend any assistance needed.

He had received his instructions from Jack, and removed the handcuffs from the wrists of the prisoner. There was no necessity for letting everybody know the facts and the sight of a man wearing steel bracelets, and gripped by an attendant never fails to excite keen curiosity with most people and especially would this be the case if he had just come by the air route from some unknown and therefore mysterious quarter.

He would keep his arm through that of Simeon, and inform him in a forcible whisper that should he attempt any “funny business” it would be at the risk of being shot down without further warning.

Jack would attend to everything necessary, such as having their crate stowed away in some convenient hangar, where it could be recovered at any time, by paying such charges as were customary.

To be sure Perk was questioned by several of the men while Jack saw that the ship was being taken care of but when he chose, Perk could keep a still tongue in his head and since he paid no attention to what was said, and never opened his mouth in the least, possibly they concluded he must be both deaf and dumb.

Perk may have chuckled deep down in his throat when he heard a few of the disgusted remarks some of the men exchanged concerning his lack of speech and hearing but he kept his own counsel; and in the end Jack came up saying he had secured a taxi to carry them to a small hotel down in the heart of the city, recommended by one of the hostlers who seemed to know what he was talking about.

Simeon had looked a bit anxious, as though wondering how their arrival at Los Angeles would affect his wretched fortunes but he made no attempt to appeal to the crowd for help. Undoubtedly he was firmly convinced that the grim Perk must be a man of his word, and that any attempt on his part to break away would prove a most serious matter indeed.

“Yeah!” Perk was telling himself under his breath when he took note of this humble disposition on the part of Simeon, “Guess now he feels it’s a heap better to be a live fool than a dead hero; an’ by jinks I don’t blame the beggar for thinkin’ thataways either.”

They were soon all three safely lodged in the taxi – which fortunately had remained up to this late hour, the driver hoping to pick up a fare – and heading for the nearby city.

Later on they entered the small hotel, and found it all the obliging ground attache at the port had said. Jack registered the party, all of them under fictitious names, since it paid to exercise due caution when on the track of big game just as it would for the big game hunter to make no sound when advancing upon an enormous tusker or “rogue” elephant whose spoor he had been trailing through forest and jungle.

“Would it be possible for us to have some supper sent up to our room?” Jack asked the night clerk who shrugged his shoulders as if dubious concerning his ability to accommodate them.

“Kindly try to have it done, if double price will have any effect,” continued Jack, using his most gracious smile that usually accomplished his purpose and at that the clerk responded by saying he would do his best but it was of course most unusual, and he hoped they would not make any complaint if the variety was not all they might wish.

“Quantity is the chief thing that interests us,” said Jack; “you see, we have come by air, and fell short of food while on our way, so that my two pals here are very near being starved; so whatever you send make it a fairly bountiful spread, please.”

Then they were shown to their room, which contained a double bed and a cot.

“I kinder guess now, partner,” said Perk, after flashing a glance around the apartment, fronting on a back lot, though up in the third story of the building, “you an’ me better share the bed, while Simeon gets his little nap on the sofy.”

“That goes, Perk,” his comrade told him “and after we’ve had supper we’ll hit the hay. After such a broken night as we had back a ways some sleep ought to be welcome, I reckon.”

“Huh! hope we don’t have to wait too tarnel long for the grub,” Perk was saying, dismally rubbing his stomach, as if to show how flat it seemed.

Jack engaged him in conversation of a general character, just to keep his mind from dwelling on the subject of eating for once Perk let himself believe he was in danger of famishing and he just could not subside but must commence to marshal all the known dishes of which he was especially fond, and keep on taunting and tantalizing himself by stringing them off as might a glib-tongued waiter in any restaurant.

After quite a tiresome wait there was a knock at the door, which Perk hastened to answer. Two waiters strode in, bearing trays laden with a pretty substantial assortment of food – quite a satisfactory display, Jack thought, considering the late hour, and that probably the regular kitchen force must have long ago turned in or else gone home.

The table fairly groaned under the assortment – Perk pertinently mentioned the fact, adding that he guessed he’d do his share of groaning after he had finished his supper which Jack did not doubt in the least, having a knowledge concerning the other’s vast appetite, and unbridled disposition to make a pig of himself at such times when food was plentiful.

Simeon Hawkins was coaxed to sit down with them and as his state of mind seemed to have improved quite a little, he also partook of food of which he most certainly was much in need, having fasted so long and abstemiously.

When this ceremony had been carried through to a finish, the supply of visible victuals had been wonderfully reduced; and even Perk was heard to declare he could not eat another bite, which meant he was like a stuffed turkey, fit for the Thanksgiving table.

Before turning in, Perk took occasion to “talk like a Dutch uncle,” as he termed it, to Simeon, assuring him he need not be in too upset a state of mind concerning his future, since Jack had said he was bound to do all he could to have him let go, because of what he had confided to them, and such assistance he would be able to lend the Government in convicting the head men of the lawless conspiracy along the counterfeiting line.

The other nodded his head as though he understood that, having embarked in the game of throwing down Slippery Slim, he realized there was nothing else for him to do but go through to the windup.

So confiding Perk, thinking things would run smoothly, took off some of his outer garments, and rolled into bed, as it afterwards turned out, happily choosing that side of the same nearest to the windows of their room.

Jack soon followed, and the last thing he noticed ere snapping off the light was the humbled Simeon wrapped in a blanket, and lying there flat on his back, as though meaning to get what sleep he could during that fragment of the night still remaining.

Perk was, so far as appearances went, sound asleep; but then sometimes things are not just what they seem. To tell the truth, Perk had made up his mind ere lying down that he would “sleep with one eye open,” as he called it, meaning it was his intention to keep on the alert, ready to jump out of bed at the least sign of trouble.

Perhaps when he thus decided it was with a hazy idea they might have some sort of unwelcome visitor during the night; he could not just decide how this could be but then those unprincipled agents of the counterfeiter king – like the fellow who had rifled the belongings of Scotty, the air mail pilot in Atlanta – were liable to turn up anywhere, everywhere, when least expected, and try to manipulate their bold games.

Hearing some sort of sound as of a person moving, Perk suddenly sat straight up in bed, to see their prisoner in the act of crawling over the sill of the nearby window, evidently bent on giving them the slip!