Chapter III: Part 3

"Then drop the mudhook, and see what kind of holding bottom you get," Jack told his mate which Perk proceeded to do without loss of time.

Thus they found themselves apparently sheltered in safety behind a barrier that should hold back the riotous winds as well as the waves that would soon be beating heavily against it. With the cabin for shelter they would not have anything to complain about, unless the storm should turn into a regular cyclone and Jack could hardly conceive such a thing possible away out there on the shore of Great Salt Lake, far removed from the hurricane districts of the Mexican Gulf.

XI

A STORMY NIGHT

By this time the forerunners of the gale had arrived with considerable electrical display and reverberating thunder. Of course the two flyers had removed their ear-phones since the motor lay silent and the whirlwind propeller had also ceased to spin around with incalculable speed but when the thunder began to roar at its loudest they found it necessary to shout in order to make themselves heard.

"Say, promises to be some screecher, b'lieve me!" was the way Perk put it when an extraordinarily loud crash almost burst their eardrums, the preceding flash having seared their eyes and nearly blinded them.

"Some fireworks for a fact," conservative Jack admitted frankly, "didn't reckon on such an exhibition so soon. But see here, Perk----"

"Yeah!" snapped the other, showing his readiness to act if anything was needed along the order of further security from the rain that was now drenching the shore line as if a cloud had burst.

"Seems to me you're forgetting something, partner," continued Jack.

"As what, Boss?"

"Isn't it about time for _grub_?" demanded Jack whose face was set in a grin a sudden flash of lightning disclosed.

"Je-hos-i-phat! if that ain't the very first time I ever did forget such a thing as eats!" burst out the chagrined co-pilot. "That's a fact, it is our time for attendin' to the gnawin' down below-stairs. Wait up, buddy, an' I'll fix things up okay in a jiffy."

He was as good as his word, although the measure of action he mentioned has never as yet been exactly settled. Perk knew just where he had put his supplies and trotted them out with alacrity, likewise undoubted pleasure for that sacred rite of eating was one of the duties the war veteran always stood by manfully.

Undoubtedly both of them had partaken of meals under many peculiar conditions but if their comments had any bearing on the subject never before had they dined under such frightfully noisy accompaniments as right then with the cannonading from heaven's heavy artillery constantly booming, the wind howling like a pack of maddened wolves and the waves smashing against that little rocky ridge that sheltered them so bravely.

Perk had lighted the stub end of a candle so that they might not be in complete darkness, for it was as though midnight had arrived, especially between the vivid flashes as streaks of lightning went zigzagging athwart the black dome overhead.

Calmly they continued to munch their sandwiches and take occasional sips of hot coffee from the thermos bottle, Perk having supplied a couple of large aluminum cups for the occasion.

"Don't seem to let up any that I c'n notice," remarked Perk later on when they had taken the edge off their appetites.

"Weather fooled me that time for certain," added Jack frankly, "but then I never did claim to be a good hand at guessing what was coming along in this line. Government reports have always served me decently and even they can't always be depended on. This upset may last most of the night for all we can tell."

"Who cares?" sang out Perk, gaily enough. "I worked in a boiler factory in my salad days an' got used to all kinds o' rackets. Nary a drop o' rain gets in here, you notice comrade, thanks to the swell cabin we've got over our heads. Huh! how many times have I gone through big storms in the open cockpit o' an old-fashioned crate. Been bombarded too aplenty by half a hundred big guns, with shells bursting every-which-way around. Seems like a feller c'n git used to near anything if on'y he runs up against it often enough."

"Snug as two bugs in a rug," agreed Jack lightly. "Here we'll stick it out tonight and go on after morning breaks--no hurry, remember, brother--just take things as they come along and keep in trim for the big push later on."

"That's the ticket, Jack, boy--it sure wins out in the end--no blunders, jest every move carried out like machine work an' we're sure to come in smilin' at the windup."

Later on there was a little letup in the violence of the storm and Perk even felt encouraged enough to predict that the worst was over with possibly a nice, peaceful night's rest ahead.

This, however, proved to be a false deduction on his part for once again the thunder rose to a deafening pitch, with a wind of such velocity that Jack himself felt a little uneasiness, not on account of his own security, but because of the great damage he fancied the surrounding country would suffer in consequence of wind and flood.

"Danged if the ol' thing ain't turned turtle on us an' got started on the back track agin!" complained the humbled Perk. "What I know 'bout weather you could stick in a thimble!"

"But you're wrong when you say it's backed upon us," Jack told him pointedly, "for the wind is still coming from the same old quarter, this is only another section of the same old storm."

"Huh! running this train in sections are they?" continued the disgusted Perk, "wall, I on'y hope they ain't too many more parts to the contraption--I've seen quite enough a'ready."

Having finished their supper they made themselves as comfortable as the conditions allowed. Jack got to figuring, as usual, for he was a great hand at laying out his plans in black and white for reference when the time for action arrived. Perk was poring over some clippings he had picked up at some time or other and which appeared to be of special interest to him.

It was indeed a most eccentric storm, now waning and giving promise of expiring, anon picking up again and squeezing out considerable more water to help finish the flooding of the earth.

Tiring of his reading with a poor light, Perk had for some little time been lying there so quietly that Jack half suspected he might have passed into dreamland. Suddenly he gave a loud grunt and exclaimed:

"Reckon now it might be jest plain Barrowman--an' yet somehow that don't seem to sound quite right--how 'bout Baxter--Banister--Brockman--shucks! what ails me anyhow--my bean ain't worth a red cent when it comes to 'memberin' names--guess I must be goin' a bit loco an' next thing I know I'll have to sew my own name on my coat in case I forget it."

Jack only chuckled, knowing that his chum was going through the same old game of cudgeling his treacherous memory with the usual poor results as of yore.

Later still, and both of them seemed to get more or less sleep though the storm kept up a growling and threatening for hours, as if not content with such damage as it must have already done.

Finally Perk, aroused by signs of daylight, looked out and was highly pleased to discover that not only had dawn really arrived, but that there was not a single cloud to be seen in the entire heavens.

"Hi! partner, wake up!" he called out, "mornin's got here an' that pesky row-maker's cleared out for keeps--goin' to have a clear day for our flight to Spokane. After such a devil o' a blow I kinder guess we might look for fair stuff a hull week o' Sundays. But hold on, I forgot I was sech a poor weather sharp, so don't count on anything I might say--I jest don't know what they got laid up for us flyers, an' that's a fact."

They had a very decent breakfast, for Perk hunted up some dry wood, he calling himself a Maine woods guide these days it appeared, and consequently able to skirmish suitable fuel, even after such a drenching downpour. Then, after starting a cooking fire he produced a lightweight skillet, also a pound of sliced breakfast bacon, some strips of which he proceeded to fry as though quite accustomed to playing the role of camp cook. Then too, he had a new aluminum coffeepot which he meant to christen on that occasion so the appetizing odors of these two breakfast mainstays soon spread around the entire community, doubtless much to the wonder of various chipmunks and red squirrels that frisked here and there among the trees.

Jack said nothing, only nodded his head at witnessing these wonderful revelations as if things suited him all right. Trust sagacious Perk to make ample preparations for the numerous meals they would have to count on while engaged in the future tasks certain to be given into their charge from time to time.

XII

THE LAY-OVER AT SPOKANE

There was no trouble whatever about getting off after Jack had checked his motor and the rest of their ship so as to make certain nothing had suffered during the sway of that extraordinary storm.

As they went along, still keeping above the lake shore much of the way, Perk frequently called out as he discovered by use of the binoculars some particular damage done by the unwelcome visitor of the preceding afternoon and night. Trees were down and obstructing the highway between the various towns--several houses he noticed appeared to have chimneys toppled over or, as was the case in one sad instance, have a tree fall directly on the roof and occasion considerable damage.

Presently they had left the lake in their wake and were also changing the line of their flight more or less. Jack had laid out his plan and felt positive of being able to strike their distant goal in due time, even if he did not have the beacons of the air-mail flyers to guide him.

Somewhere about noon they glimpsed a city ahead which of course must be none other than Spokane. Shortly afterwards they were circling above the aviation field and gradually lowering so as to strike the proper spot. In these air-minded times the coming of a strange plane no longer excited an undue amount of curiosity, since a multitude of private aircraft were daily scouring all sections of the country from Florida to the Canadian border and between both oceans--as Perk was fond of saying they'd soon become as common as dirt.

No sooner had they made contact with the ground than Jack, followed by his companion, jumped out to be greeted by several parties in the same class as themselves--pilots, mechanics and field workers. It was no trouble to get the use of a hangar, since there chanced to be several vacant ones for hire. So too did Jack see fit to engage a promising looking man to stand by their ship and make certain no one tampered with it. A good judge of faces, Jack felt certain he had picked out a dependable man for this duty so that his mind might be free from any worry while in the city attending to his particular business.

Perk, for some reason or other did not seem to care about accompanying him--doubtless in the belief that he would in due time hear everything from his partner. Perhaps too Perk did not happen to have just as much confidence in the hired guard as Jack seemed to feel. The remembrance of that burned garage and badly injured Pitcairn Mailwing crate may have still remained too fresh in his memory to let him recklessly abandon their ship in the midst of a strange airport.

Jack was just as well pleased, for he could carry out his business with better results if the talkative Perk were absent although of course Jack would never be guilty of letting his chum know this little fact.

Perk, having eaten a dry snack before they landed, was not very hungry and he had told Jack to be sure and get his dinner at some restaurant while in the city, so that part of the day's doings was taken care of nicely.

It was several hours afterwards when Jack showed up again. Perk could not notice anything about his appearance to suggest that a monkey wrench had been dropped in the machinery of their projected flight, hence he took it for granted Jack must have had a gratifying confab with Mr. Robert Mills Maxwell, to whom he had been directed to apply, a Government official who would be able to give him the latest news concerning the notorious Hawk and his lawless doings up there in the Northwest Territory where the Canadian Mounted Police held sway.

Perk beckoned to his pal to join him, for at the time he happened to be sitting on a bench not far distant from their hangar and had made up his mind the spot would be an admirable one for them to have their little council of war, after Jack had detailed his adventures in the city.

"How's things?" Perk started in by asking in a general way.

"All serene," came the ready answer accompanied by a nod. "I spent nearly an hour and a half with Mr. Maxwell and found him a most agreeable sort of a gentleman. It was certainly a pleasure to sit and chat with him. He gave me the latest information and just now I'll only say there is to be no change in our program--the whole thing goes through as we figured it." Perk showed signs of sheer pleasure.

"Hot ziggety dog! but I'm right glad to hear that, partner," he remarked eagerly. "I sure do hate to swap hosses when crossin' a stream an' we got things pretty well set up as 'tis. How long will we be stickin' round this Spokane airport, I wonder?"

"Perhaps we may take off in the morning, but a good deal depends on certain things. I may have to see Mr. Maxwell again if he sends out a message by telephone this afternoon. I'm still using my new name, you understand--he thinks it a bright idea, both now and later on when we'll be running across the trail of the man we want most to strike."

"Huh! Mister John Jacob Astorbilt, o' course an' by the same token I'm Gabe Smith, Esq., from the glorious State of Maine an' known as one o' the slickest woods guides goin'. Whoopee! nothin' like layin' it on thick when you're about it. But I want to say that I'll breathe easier after we cut loose from all these strange airports an' strike the open away up in the Canadian bush country."

"Nothing to worry about that I can see, brother," Jack said soothingly, "I can guess what's on your mind and that was a sad sight I admit, seeing such a dandy craft nearly ruined by the fire but I've got a dependable man to watch things here tonight and even if we have a single enemy in Spokane, which I doubt, he'll never get a show down to injure our fine ship."

"Mebbe so Jack, an' already I feel a bit more confidence in the chap you picked up. I've been chattin' with him--he's a married man with a wife an' two kids. More than that I've learned he was raised in that great old State o' Maine an' not fifty miles, as the crow flies, away from the place where I fust saw daylight. Guess now he's okay. We both seem to have knowed a number o' boys an' that kinder makes it feel like we'd been neighbors. Yep, I guess Ike Hobbs is on the square. Mebbe now I might take a notion to run in with you this afternoon, so's to get some eats an' see a picture--been an age since I had a chance to enjoy myself laughin' at one o' them comics on the screen. How 'bout the place you took dinner at--good enough to stand an encore, buddy?"

That was the real Perk all over again--food appealed to him as regularly as the hour rolled around three times a day, and seven days in the week. Jack laughed to hear his comment, and went on to reassure him.

"Plenty good I reckon, Perk old boy and I'll take pleasure in steering you around to the place this evening. Be sure to have your appetite along for they've got a menu almost a yard long so you can have a wide choice."

"Oh! you c'n depend on me carryin' my appetite wherever I wander--jest can't nohow get away from it--haunts me like my shadow an' has ever since I c'n remember. They tells me I never could get filled up like most kids, no matter how they chucked it into me. Any real particular news come your way down thar in town, Jack?"

"A little that was interesting, I'd call it," came the reply, "although it may be we'll never be called upon to handle the proposition but Mr. Maxwell did seem to be a heap interested in the game and I sure enough promised to help him out, if we chanced to run smack into one of those mule trains."

"What's that, buddy? Je-ru-sa-lem crickets! an' do we expect to try an' rustle stolen mules this time? Wall, I never 'spected the time'd come when I'd be a mule wrangler o' all things!"

"Hold everything and go slow about making up your mind," warned Jack, visibly amused by Perk's evident floundering, "this doesn't happen to have anything to do with mule punchers or even rustlers. It's only a little possible sideline that might happen to develop and of which Mr. Maxwell would have to be advised should we strike pay dirt--that's all, Perk."

"In that case," admitted the now reconciled Perk, "mebbe I might stand for even mules in my itemary or whatever it is I'm aimin' to say. I seen the stubborn critters do some mighty fine work over there in France--mules that came all the way from Missouri in the bargain. But whatever can it be mules has got to do with coaxin' us to turn aside from our main trail, I'd like to know?"

"Just what I'm going to tell you, if you give me half a chance, brother," explained Jack. "Here's a little clipping that will explain the whole thing that's got Mr. Maxwell keyed up to a high pitch," and he passed a strip taken from a newspaper to the now deeply interested Perk.

XIII

OVER THE MOUNTAIN TRAILS

This then was what the deeply interested Perk read as he sat there on the isolated bench at the Spokane flying field and it can easily be understood the startling information he soaked in thrilled him to the core:

"The Government agents have been informed of what they suspect
will prove to be a gigantic conspiracy to smuggle liquor in
immense quantities across the border from Canada into this
territory, carried out in an original manner never before
attempted and which has thus far met with unqualified success.

"This conspiracy, it is believed, has resulted in bringing many
thousands of dollars worth of rum over the line, which has been
distributed among the numerous cities of our northwestern
country. Several rum rings have, from all accounts, been using
pack trains, often well camouflaged, in order to avoid contact
with customs officers who might be abroad watching for
undesirables.

"These clever smugglers, it appears, adopted numerous devices to
hide the long lines of plodding, liquor-laden animals and at
times it is claimed they have even driven the mules over United
States forestry service trails.

"So systematized are the wide-spread operations of the rum rings
said to be that a 'traffic manager' has been employed to route
the many pack trains from Canada to secluded places opposite the
sparsely settled and mountainous Okanogan country in north
central Washington.

"Further accounts say that the Pacific manager also watches the
weather and when it snows sends white mules along the trails,
the animals blending with the whiteness of the landscape. When
the ground is bare--bay animals carry the liquor.

"An old time packer who knows how to use the 'diamond hitch' in
strapping pouchlike containers onto the animals' backs it is
claimed is employed to load the mules.

"Heavily armed guards accompany the liquor trains to prevent
hijackers from stealing the packs. Whisky and wines are being
transported over the winding trails, and upon arrival at the
liquor depot all goods smuggled over the border are loaded into
automobiles for transportation into many cities throughout the
Northwest."

"Well, what do you think of that for a corking dodge?" asked Jack when he saw that his companion had gone through the entire clipping.

Perk shrugged his shoulders quaintly in a way that stood for a good many words, but he only said:

"Gosh amighty! but don't it beat all how some men'll go to such heaps o' trouble jest to make a livin', taking all sorts o' chances to get plugged with hot lead or grabbed up and sent to the pen for a spell?"

"It's the day for reckless engineering," declared Jack soberly enough, "with a gold mine always just ahead of the risky scheme. I've heard of some queer games being tried out in connection with the smuggling racket but up to now never had a whisper of anything like the mule pack-train steer."

"Huh! and do you reckon there's any truth in what this paper says or did it jest boil up in the brain o' one o' them reporters, eh Jack ol' hoss?"

"That's what's bothering Mr. Maxwell, it happens," returned the other composedly. "You see, he's responsible to Uncle Sam for keeping things in decent order up here in Oregon and Washington and if such rackets as this can be put through right under his nose, it's bound to get him in bad with the Government. That accounts for him asking me to send him word if we chanced to learn anything worth while about these so-called mule pack-trains, since it would be of some assistance in helping him stamp out the trick."

"Course then partner," went on the eager Perk, "you told the gent we'd be on'y too glad to lend a helpin' hand 'cause to be sure he a'ready knows we're connected with the Secret Service an' runnin' in the same class as he does?"

"That's about the gist of what I told him, Perk and that if the opportunity came our way we'd even go to a lot of trouble so as to help him out. To be sure there might be one chance in ten for us to pick up any worth-while clue but that's dependent on little Lady Luck, as I've heard you say many a time when we were almost muzzled with uncertainty and looking for a lead."

"I'm bound to say the further I get to figgerin' 'bout this queer racket, Jack, the more I like it. Think o' glimpsin' a long string o' mules up in them mountain passes, streamin' along jest like a desert caravan across there in Africa. I've always wanted to lamp such a picture."

Evidently Perk was all keyed up to do everything in his power to lend a helping hand to the Government representative in Spokane of whom Jack had said so many nice things.

He soon settled down after they had lost all trace of the city in the mining sector of the Northwest and proceeded first of all to carry out his accustomed duties with regard to the ship and then when he had time on his hands to begin using his glasses.

It was well worth the trivial effort it cost, that grand view of the mountainous section of country over which they were passing. Here and there Perk could spy little lakes of clear water nestling in secluded valleys or basins and from his elevated position as observer, looking very much like gems in a bold setting.

"Like as not," Perk was telling himself as he looked longingly down on a particularly lovely little sheltered sheet of water, "no white man has ever yanked a gay old trout out o' that lake up to this day! Gee whiz! what wouldn't I give to be settled down alongside that 'ere pond a'flippin' my gang o' flies out over that water an' playin' a three-pound speckled beaut! But no sech luck I kinder guess--not this trip anyway."

They were soon drawing closer to where Jack told him the International Boundary between the States and Canada lay. Of course they would not be apt to know just when they crossed over, since there would be nothing to mark the actual dividing line as happened in Europe where every country is so jealous of the others that each road is guarded, with passports having to be shown and stamped.

His interest grew with their further advance for he could not help remembering what Jack had said concerning those bold international smugglers who were supposed to be continually crossing over from the north with their mule packs laden heavily with the forbidden beverage that was in such great demand among certain circles of law-scoffers.

"Say, mebbe now," Perk told himself at one time--for he had the bad habit of communing with himself on occasion and even seemed to take considerable pleasure in so doing--"I wouldn't be tickled some if on'y I happened to glimpse one of them caravans pullin' through a twistin' mountain trail like I c'n see right down yonder this very minute! An' wouldn't it gimme a heap o' pleasure to swoop down so's to drop a few o' them tear bombs like I did when we blew up the fightin' rum-smugglers and the hijackers that meant to take away their cargo the time we were doin' our huntin' on the gulf coast o' Florida!"[3]

He laughed softly at the recollection of what must have been a pretty stirring piece of action, to judge from what Perk was saying. Then he applied himself with renewed energy to his task of watching that winding mountain trail that vanished again and again, only to bob up shortly afterwards.

"Hugh! somethin' seems to tell me that 'ere must be a well traveled trail an' leadin' down from the north in the bargain," Perk went on to remark as if deeply interested. "I cal'late one o' them 'ere pack mule trains might bob up along that path, if thar's any truth in the stories goin' around and keepin' Mister Robert Mills Maxwell awake nights. It'd be a shame if we missed connections when I know Jack'd give a heap jest to set eyes on the show. Too bad that we'll be losin' all our chances right soon when we strike off to the west. Can you tie it for keepin' a poor feller's nerves all on edge?"

A few minutes afterwards Perk might have been seen to suddenly become rigid, centering his attention on a certain point ahead as though something had caught his strained vision that kept his eyes glued fast.

Jack, intent on his own thoughts and watching his dials with the fidelity of an air pilot who believed in the slogan of safety first, had not become aware of Perk's preoccupied condition so that it gave him something of a little thrill when he felt the other nudge him in the ribs and remark with his peculiar drawl:

"Hot ziggetty dog, partner! Did I hear you say _mules_?"

-----

Footnote 3:

See "Eagles of the Sky."

XIV

THE BOOTLEG PACK-MULE TRAIN

"What's up?" demanded Jack as if he could surmise from his companion's peculiar question that Perk had made a pleasing discovery of some kind.

"Lady Luck's gone an' picked us out again to play us for favorites, ol' hoss," Perk told him, at the same time half rising in his eagerness to point out something far ahead.

Jack possessed very good eyesight and as the sun chanced to favor him just then he could manage to make out a snake-like line of small objects that appeared to be moving slowly along in zigzag fashion, evidently following a crooked mountain trail that wound upwards toward the peak of the divide.

"So, that's one of them, is it?" Jack burst out, himself a bit thrilled by the spectacle after having heard so much concerning the pack-mule trains said to have been adopted by the venturesome souls engaged in smuggling operations across the Canadian border.

"With the glass here, Jack, I c'n make 'em out all to the good," declared the excited Perk--"a fairly big caravan in the bargain, the mules loaded for keeps an' toilin' along jest like they do down in Mexico whar motor cars ain't so plentiful or cheap. Whee! what a sight for sore eyes that is, buddy! Seems like you'll have somethin' to wire Mister Maxwell after all. Nothin' o' a newspaper yarn 'bout _that_ bunch, let me tell the world. Must be all o' twenty animals in that string with several boobs mounted on hosses an' armed in the bargain, 'cause I c'n see the sun glintin' from guns they're holdin' as they ride ahead o' the line an' in the rear to boot."

"That goes with the rest of the story, Perk," said Jack as he started toward a lower altitude as though wishing to secure a better view of the moving cavalcade in order to make assurance doubly certain. "You remember we read in that clipping how they carried an armed guard along to defend the caravan in case it was held up by a bunch of hijackers. Queer how these law-breakers make war on each other in cities, the wilderness, and even along the salt water coasts."

"Huh! got to be a part o' the game these days," grunted wise Perk, "jest like the fish-hawk drops down with a rush, grabs up a fat fish from the lake or lagoon and in turn is robbed by the lordly eagle. I kinder guess now that's about where they got the idea o' hijackin'--snatched a leaf from Nature in fact. But say, what are we goin' to do 'bout this thing--why do you strike down closer, I want to know, Jack?"

"We ought to get a better look in, for one thing," he was informed, "and if you could only work that little camera of mine once or twice so as pick up to a telltale picture of the caravan, it would be the finest evidence we could send by mail to Mr. Maxwell!"

"Glory! that's a great scheme, boy--watch my smoke! I'm some photographer when it comes right down to brass tacks an' I'll prove it by gettin' you the smartest pictur goin' an' that's no lie either."

Perk seemed to know just where everything aboard the big ship could be laid hold of in what he would call jig-time for almost as he spoke he was clutching the small but excellent camera that Jack owned, he being something of a crank along that particular line.

"I'm meaning to swing around once or twice while lowering the ship," he explained to his companion so that Perk might not waste a single cartridge of film in taking a snapshot prematurely, with distance as a handicap.

"Go to it, partner," sang out his mate quite merrily, "I'll do my little bit when you gimme the word. Got her all fixed up for distance an' the sun happens to be jest right--say, ain't that a sweet sight, though with them mules cavortin' like they might be scared by such a monster bird sailin' over their stupid ol' heads? An' see the guards swingin' around, shakin' them guns at us like they meant to shoo us off by lookin' fe-rocious! Zowie! but this is a heap int'restin' I'm sayin', eh Jack?"

"I bet you!" came the short answer, Jack being so taken up with staring at the greatly disturbed pack-train under the swinging airship that he could not find time for further words just then.

Not so loquacious Perk who never knew when to hold his breath since he was peculiarly gifted along that line and could work as well as gabble at the same time.

"Seems like they jest don't know what to think 'bout seein' an airship sailin' over their heads," he went on to say aloud, "an' I kinder guess now some o' them begin to smell a mouse. Think things ain't goin' to run so slick and greased as they've been doin' right along. Another dip like that, buddy, ought to fetch me close enough to get the snap on the bloomin' bunch."

There he held up--for a brief interval. The fact was Perk had not run out of breath but was only so intensely occupied with trying to fix his little camera so that the lens would take in the whole of the lagging mule-pack train that he forgot to keep on speaking.

Really it did seem as though some kindly fortune had conspired to afford all possible assistance in order to successfully carry out this little racket on the part of Perk. Just as his waiting finger pressed the button the entire cavalcade came to a sudden stop. Indeed, if the actors, both two-legged and four-hoofed had intended to make a grand-stand play to the galleries they could hardly have bettered the conditions.

Perk did not stop at his first exposure but with a commendable rapidity turned on another portion of the reel and once again pressed the button, after which he burst into a roar of ecstatic delight.

"Got it that time boys, sure thing an' I bet you all looked pretty for the set-up. Hoopla! Jack, that was a great snap you gave me an' chances are, Mister--er, hey, what's this mean?"

He bellowed the last few words and with a very good reason for something had come to pass that Perk had not reckoned on as part of the program. There was the sudden rattle of firearms from below and--the motor having ceased functioning while Jack continued his smooth dive--all around them could be heard a strange hurtling, hissing sound which an old experienced war veteran like Perk instantly knew must be made by savagely menacing bullets passing in close juxtaposition to their ship.

Then Jack had the situation in hand again as he pulled the stick back against his chest and with a shrill rat-tat-tat they were once more shooting at an upward slant through space, Jack putting his craft through all sorts of angles in hopes of further causing the sharpshooters to miss connection.

Perk had instantly dropped the camera, though luckily it did not go over the side as might have happened. Jack knew his mate was making a swift sweep with his hand and could give a fairly shrewd guess what his object might be, knowing Perk's combative disposition as well as he did.

The worst of the danger was really past, since they had made such a speedy getaway after that first lunge. Anxious to hold the impulsive one in check, since nothing was to be gained from further aggravating the rum-runners, he continued to keep up that eccentric motion until they had climbed sufficiently to prevent Perk from starting hostilities on their side.

"Swing around and let's go down once more partner," implored Perk, keenly disappointed because his golden opportunity had given him the slip.

"Oh! I reckon it isn't worth while," replied Jack evenly as though not nearly so stirred up as his chum seemed to be and as he thus spoke kept on going, with the ship headed due northwest by north.

"But--see here Jack, you don't mean to let 'em have the merry ha ha on us, I sure hope? Why, it's got my blood het up to nigh the boilin' point right now. On'y a little slip so I c'n reach the blamed bunch with my machine-gun. For ol' times' sake I'd like to pepper that crowd good an hard! The nerve o' 'em, dustin' us with that shower o' lead! Might have bust our biler an' then where'd we been, tell me? Jest one swoop an' I'll be satisfied. I could get in a dozen shots before they'd have time to crawl under their' mules."

But Jack was obdurate to his wild entreaties.

"No use Perk," he told the other through means of the handy ear-phone apparatus. "They failed to do us any damage, though their intentions were plain enough and remember, 'he who laughs last laughs best'. If your snapshot turns out fairly decent it's bound to put a lot of those dangerous guys in the soup when Mr. Maxwell fits out a bunch of revenue men to round them up. In other words, brother, because of our little job today the chances are we've put the kibosh on this bootleg mule-train racket and for keeps in the bargain!"

XV

WINGING INTO THE NORTHLAND

Perk was still in a high rage because of their having been subjected to that shower of whistling lead.

"For two cents--if you 'lowed me to do it partner," he boomed with many a shake of his head, "an' swooped down once more, I'd a let loose on them pesky jayhawkers an' rum-runners with my bully o' machine gun. It'd seem jest like ol' times come back agin an' you bet I'd a pickled a few o' the rattlesnake bunch!"

"Remember Perk, we're not up here to pickle anybody. This is only what you might call a little side-show--the big round-up lies further north where we've been given a job to tackle--we're just on our way--that's the whole thing in a nutshell."

As usual Perk soon calmed down, being sensible enough to realize that no injury had been done either their ship or themselves. They had met up with a stirring little adventure and come out of the row with credit which ought to be satisfactory, on their side at least.

"What dye s'pose them yaps think 'bout us flyin' so low down over their heads like we wanted to take a peep at the mule pack train?" he presently asked the one at the stick.

"That's something we can only give a guess at," Jack told him. "They're just naturally suspicious as all lawbreakers are and I reckon right now they're likely comparing notes to try and get a line on our standing."

"Huh! guess now you might mean whether they had anything to fear 'bout our ship or not, eh partner?"

"That's the idea, buddy. Up in this part of the country air craft are a rarity, I should say and they must be a whole lot suspicious after having us dip down as we did. I don't imagine any one saw that you were taking a snapshot of the pack train, for they had no glasses that I noticed."

"Oh! that part worked okay ol' hoss," quickly announced Perk, "I didn't make any show when I snapped the gun off but we sure got 'em guessin' if I know my beans an' I figger I do. If you don't mind mentionin' the fact partner, how do you mean to get in touch with Mister Maxwell so's to let him know what's goin' on up here on these mountain trails?"

"I'll find a way to do that before long," came the confident answer. "Of course, he may not be able to lay a trap for this particular pack-train but they keep on coming, and like as not the next convoy will run up against a snag. Mr. Maxwell I imagine, is a corker of an operator, one who never lets the grass grow under his feet when there's need for quick action. Some fine morning, after we get back from this trip, we'll be apt to read all about how this rum-running business with mules carrying the stuff over the mountains, has been smashed to a powder and all the head men put behind bars."

"Unless I'm away off my guess," further remarked the loquacious Perk--who seemed wound up and just must keep going for so long before cooling off--"that clippin' said somethin' 'bout a warehouse on this side o' the line. Reckon now there's anythin' in that report, Jack?"

"You're a little off the track there, brother," he was told. "No such thing as a warehouse was mentioned. It simply stated that it was believed the pack trains all centered at a certain point where they had big, powerful trucks in waiting to carry the smuggled cases to certain cities where they were in cahoots with the authorities--meaning of course, that the officers sworn to carry out the laws of the country and their own State, are taking graft and closing their eyes to what is going on."

"Huh! nice kettle o' fish when such things c'n go on with the jails so full now they're turnin' the real criminals out to make room for these pizen snakes in the grass."

"That's none of our business, Perk. We're only a part of the Secret Service layout with our work mapped out for us. When we've shown up with results, that's as far as we've got to consider--let the solons do the rest."

Something in Jack's decisive manner of saying this must have warned the talkative one the matter had been threshed out as far as was needful for the time being and that it would be just as well if they relapsed into silence so as to consider other matters that were really more important.

So Perk clamped on the lid and talked only to himself for a long time afterwards, a sport that generally afforded him considerable joy and satisfaction.

Time passed, with their ship keeping up its swift passage, now close to the tops of outlying ridges and anon passing over valleys so far beneath the voyagers that objects to the naked eye assumed very diminutive proportions.

No further mule pack-trains were sighted but then Jack had considered this fact and had no expectation of meeting up with a second caravan. Because of the existing necessity for guarding the high-priced booze they dealt in, so as to be prepared to resist an encounter with bandits known in the rum racket under the name of hijackers, the expeditions could only be sent off at stated periods and there might not be another for a week or two.

It was all pretty wild country over which they swept as on the wings of an eagle heading for the breeding places of its species far up toward the Arctic Circle and in due time Perk began to weary of staring down at such monotonous pictures.

Once they passed over a railroad and he felt thrilled by the thought that man's ability to invade the most inaccessible regions of the earth had put a bit and bridle into the mouth of even so wild a horse as such a land could be compared to in the mind of a visionary fellow like Perk.

On they went, still penetrating deeper into the mysterious northland and heading for that isolated post of the Canadian Mounted Police that was said to be at the extreme edge of the uninhabited stretch lying south of those desolate barrens touching on the Arctic regions where, according to Perk's way of describing things, might be found the jumping-off place that gradually fades away into the near Polar ice-cap.

It was as Jack had learned, a great country for pelts and with signs of gold cropping out of the soil in a myriad of places. The only living human beings likely to be met with would be lone trappers running lines of traps in the dreadful winter season, occasional daring prospectors and stray Indian villagers during the summer when they carried on their annual hunt for meat to be cured for winter use.

Here too, might be found in secret hideouts more than a few fugitives from justice--men who had fled from the long arm of the law and lived the lives of hermits, their hand against all others and compelled by necessity to play the part of desperadoes.

Such a dominating character as the Hawk would not be long amidst such surroundings before he gathered to his standard a select number of like bold spirits. These would be only too willing to follow him in his raids on the stores of isolated fur-takers, white or red, it mattered not, since all men looked alike in their eyes or making occasional more ambitious forays upon some outpost and trading center of the great Hudson Bay Company.

Even the Mounties it seemed had thus far been baffled in all their efforts to break up this powerful and elusive corporation of evildoers, so cleverly handled were the go-getters under the Hawk that they had a rare faculty for slipping out of any trap set for them, just as the Irishman's flea never was where he jabbed his finger down.

It tickled Perk's vanity considerably to think a problem that had so long been too much of a knotty one to be solved by those wonderfully smart members of the Mounties had now, after a fashion, been transferred to the shoulders of himself and comrade--that the stern resolution on the part of the Government at Washington to recapture the criminal who had given the penitentiary at Leavenworth French leave had so worked out as to form a sort of partnership between the Secret Service and the constabulary of the Great Northwest country.

Having himself served in the ranks with some of those Mounties, it was puzzling Perk tremendously as to just how his former comrades had fallen down on the job of bringing in the Hawk. He had always believed that they never failed to get their man, sooner or later, being ready to follow him to the Pole itself if necessary and to ease his worried mind of this strain he now, as usual, turned his batteries on Jack once more.

XVI

BAFFLED BY HEAD WINDS

During the last hour or two their progress had not been so entirely satisfactory as they might have wished, on account of head winds that held them back more or less. This, however, did not give Jack the slightest uneasiness for as he so often told his more impatient companion, they were in no haste and that more battles were won by slow resistless pressure than by mere swiftness, as history would testify.

"Jack," observed Perk when he felt in dire need of receiving information on the special subject that was giving him distress, "c'n you put me wise jest how come the Mounties ain't never yet been able to grab this Hawk, as they call him--the feller we've set out to yank off'n his high perch? From what I know 'bout the boys, thar didn't ever come along any problem they couldn't straighten out. It's a sorter slogan, as you might call it, with the Mounties that once they sets off on the track o' a marked man he's goin' to be fetched in, no matter how far he runs or how many pals he's got to back him up. I'm sure bothered a heap to know what's happened to the force if they've fallen down on this here job."

Jack made light of the matter, however.

"Nothing queer about that, partner," he told the mourning Perk. "Your friends the Mounties are only human after all. It's true they've the reputation of always getting their man but you must take that with a grain of salt, Perk. There must have been occasions--rare enough I'll grant you--when in spite of all they could do their game got away or else kept on giving them the slip until perhaps he got into a row with some of his own gang and was wiped out."

"Yeah! that does seem reasonable I own up, ol' hoss," Perk admitted a bit against his will as the other could understand, "but this critter keeps on thumbin' his nose at 'em and playin' hob with decent folks' affairs. Don't seem as if the boys might be keepin' up with the reputation they had when I chanced to be playin' in their backyard."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, Perk," remonstrated Jack, "we've got to consider that lots of changes have come along in the last few years to alter the conditions. For instance, just see what we're doing right now, hopping along so merrily at the rate of two miles a minute with nobody to hold us up. Suppose the Mounties were hot on the track of a desperado,--then all at once they heard a great clatter and saw an airship rising above the pines with two men aboard, one waving his hat at them and making gestures of disdain--what could they do about such a getaway? He could be a thousand miles distant in ten hours and none of them know whether he went south, east or out over the ocean."

"Hot ziggetty dog! I never did think o' that sorter thing, partner," confessed the awakened Perk, knocking his fist gently against his head as if to stir up his sluggish brain so as to grasp the new condition of affairs as presented by his wideawake chum. "Mebbe now the boys ain't dropped back any, it's on'y that the workaday world has gone an' bust up ahead--'less you keep abreast o' these here inventive times you soon git left in the lurch. Airships that c'n run upside-down--radio that c'n span half the world so's a feller hears King George talkin' right over in London--talkin' movies that you could enjoy even with Byrd down at the Antarctic Polar regions--gosh! it ain't no wonder if the Mounties do once in a great while let their man slip away! We're livin' in too fast an age for old ways to bring in the bacon."

Apparently Perk had plenty to think about since Jack had enlightened him in this fashion, at any rate he asked no further questions but went about his various duties with a thoughtful face.

Now he was making a test to ascertain just how their supply of fuel was holding out and informing the pilot of the result, knowing how this must always be a matter of moment to any one getting so far away from the outskirts of civilization as they were then where they could have scanty hope of adding to their diminishing store in case of near exhaustion.

But on comparing results Perk found no cause for anxiety on this score, since his deductions corresponded with the figures previously obtained by his chum Jack who had a decided flair for making accurate estimates in advance.

Perk made his customary rounds, investigating conditions and with a keen eye seeking the faintest indication of possible faults in the running of the airship.

Then that age-old trouble began to assail him and he realized that he had a most aggravating vacuum that really ought to be attended to if he wished to retain his peace of mind. The sun was as near the zenith and it was high time they had a snack calculated to carry them along until they found a chance to cook a real meal for since they would be apt to settle down with the approach of evening Perk had already made up his mind he would have a genuine camp supper, memories of that recent feast seeming to haunt him most tantalizingly.

Possibly too, the tricky fellow may have had a few little surprises in the way of unusual supplies with which he hoped to bring a happy grin on the face of his comrade--an old scheme with Perk by the way--one word for his pal and two for himself.

Another lovely little lake appeared way down below, making about a score they had glimpsed since starting out on the hop from Spokane that morning, each one presenting some additional novel feature that caused Perk to stare and admire. He even found himself wishing Jack might finally decide to take advantage of the presence of a body of water where they could feel comfortable while the night lasted. Later on Perk figured on suggesting that idea to the pilot for indeed, since ground landing places were so few and far between in that mountainous country, it would seem as though such a policy might be the only one they could adopt.

Jack, when he saw the spread made by his chum, announced himself as ready to assist in making way with the food supply, though he would wait until Perk had taken his toll when he meant to turn the stick over to him for a spell.

This programme was duly carried out and no time lost. Perk compared it to a traveler seated in the diner of a limited express train heading for Los Angeles or New York City.

"But stop and think, brother, how old-fashioned you are right now," Jack told him, his mouth well filled just then with the sandwich he was enjoying. "Why, today they have cross-country airships that carry complete dining outfits with a first-class chef in attendance, also sleeping berths to be made up when night draws close. You'll have to get a move on, buddy, for the procession is already at your heels and threatening to take your number."