CHAPTER XI
PERK HOLDS THE FORT
First of all Perk set about getting the one boat that had been leftaboard the smuggler sloop into the water as he would need it forconveying his green material with which he intended to cover the exposeddeck.
There was little trouble about accomplishing that and when he droppedinto the rowboat with a pair of excellent oars in his possession, hefelt considerably encouraged.
So he started to poke around, hoping to run across some island that wasmore than a mere patch of the omnipresent mangrove tangle. This hesucceeded in doing without much loss of time and his pleasure redoubledat finding a mass of dwarf saw palmetto that would yield him a plentifulsupply of fronds with their queer serrated edges such as would stabcruelly unless one took care to handle them properly.
Here, too, were some young palmetto trees with the new leaves withineasy reach. Working with a vim Perk speedily loaded his small boat withgreen stuff, after which he returned to the sloop and proceeded toscatter his material to the best advantage all over any exposed part ofthe contraband vessel.
It necessitated a second trip before he felt satisfied for whatever hisshortcomings might be in other respects, Perk always tried to fulfillhis whole duty whenever he tackled a job.
By the time he had finished he was "reeking wet" as he called it, with"honest-to-goodness sweat," not perspiration, but it was worth all itcost to be able to feel that the sharpest vision on the part of a skypilot passing over the spot, and even equipped with powerful binoculars,would not be able to detect the presence of the sequestered runawaysloop.
"Good enough," he told himself, as he lay down to rest a bit and scanthe blue heavens so as to learn whether there was any sign of a cloudchaser from horizon to horizon where the clumps of mangroves allowed hima clear vision.
Several times he gave a little start, and proceeded to strain his eyesso as to make doubly sure, but in every instance the moving dot he hadnoted far away to the north or nor'east proved to be a circling buzzard,keeping up his eternal weaving to and fro in search of a belatedbreakfast after his own peculiar kind.
So the time passed, and Perk even dozed, lying there amidst his "PalmSunday greens," as he fancifully called the camouflage stuff, for theclimbing sun kept getting warmer, and induced somnolence, especiallyafter such an eventful night as the one he and Jack had just passed.
Later in the morning he sat up, took another cautious look around at theclear sky, and then proceeded to enjoy a good, old-fashioned smoke, forPerk was a lover of his under-slung pipe _a la Dawes_.
Noon found him thus, picturing his chum arriving at Tampa andinterviewing the Government official who could give him what assistancehe required so as to turn over the captured sloop and the contraband itcarried, both above and below decks.
At one time Perk out of curiosity--as well as a desire to be in acondition to state the amount of spoils he and Jack had "corraled" intheir swoop upon the fighting smugglers and hijackers--took a pad ofpaper and a pencil and proceeded to go over the entire vessel, securinga rough invoice of the numerous piled-up cases bearing that foreign,burnt brand.
Then a temptation gripped him, and, as he took another "eyeful" sweep ofthe azure arch overhead, to again find the coast clear, he torturedhimself with the vision of a pot of boiling coffee to go with hisotherwise dry midday snack of lunch.
"Huh! no use talkin', I jest _can't_ stand it any longer--got tohave my coffee if I want to keep happy as a clam at high tide. Nothin'to prevent me paddlin' across once more to where I got these heregreens. I noticed heaps an' heaps o' dry wood, broken branches, stems o'palmetto leaves an' such dandy trash for a quick fire. Might as welltote the machine-gun along, so's to be ready for anything that comes--itcould be a frisky twelve-foot 'gator wantin' to climb me or mebbe one o'them sly painters I been told they got down in this queer old country.Anyway, here you go, Perk, coffee pot an' all."
He was soon busily engaged in building his little fire, hoping nohostile eyes might detect the trailing smoke ascending above the tops ofthat palmetto clump. Then came the pleasing task of watching his coffeepot as it stood on the tilting firewood, a job that required constantvigilance if he hoped to save its precious contents from spilling.
Presently the odor began to fill him with delight and later on he foundhimself sitting cross-legged, like a Turk, and swallowing gulp aftergulp of the amber fluid he loved so well.
Taken altogether it proved to be as satisfactory a little lunch as Perkhad partaken of in some time. After finishing the entire contents of hiscoffee pot, he concluded it would be just as well for him to clean up,destroying all signs of the fire, and return to the sloop.
He had good reason to shake hands with himself because of thisexhibition of caution, for later on, as the afternoon began to lengthen,with the sun starting down toward the western horizon, he suddenly beganto catch faint sounds such as sent a sudden thrill through his wholenervous system.
"Dang it if I ain't hearin' somethin' right like human voices," he toldhimself, cocking up his head the better to listen, and applying a cuppedhand to his right ear. "Yep, that's a fact, an' over in that quarter toboot," nodding toward the northeast where his instinct told him themainland must lie, even if some miles distant.
So, too, he decided later that the suspicious sounds kept growinglouder, from which fact he judged the speakers were slowly but surelyapproaching his hiding place.
"All right, let 'em come along," Perk muttered grimly as he clutchedthat deadly little hand machine-gun with which he could pour a rain ofmissiles in a comparatively speedy passage of time. "They can't ditchme, I kinder guess, an' nobody ain't agoin' to grab this crate if I haveto shoot up the hull mob o' galoots."
Nevertheless, since there was always a fair chance that the secretedsloop might escape discovery, Perk finally concluded to dispose of hisown person, at the same time meaning to keep in readiness to give theintruders a hot reception, did the occasion warrant such a course.
Then he could hear what he knew to be the splash of oars, and squeakingsounds of the row-locks. But he had already discounted this fact,knowing as he did the impossibility of anyone ever reaching the fringeof that vast wilderness of mangrove islands in which many a fishermanhad been lost, never to find his way out of the myriad of zigzagchannels without the possession of some manner of boat.
On they came until finally Perk realized they were just around thecorner, for he could pick up every word that was uttered as well as seespecks of foam from the working oars as it carried past, the tide beingon the ebb just then.
"Told yuh it was a steamer runnin' past thet sent up yer smoke trail,Zeb," a harsh jeering voice was saying, accompanying the words with astring of oaths as though he felt more or less "mad" because of theexertion necessitated in working at the oars so long and on a bootlesserrand at that.
"Wall," came another drawling voice in which keen disappointment couldbe detected. "I judged it shore lay in this direction, but like yuhsays, it must'a ben a steamer out yonder on the gulf--mebbe thet rev'nueboat they done tole us to watch out fur er else some o' them spongersfrum up Tarpon Springs way. Anyhow, I got all I wants o' exercise so Imove weuns call hit a day an' get back to the shanty."
"Yas, thet's the best thing we kin do," agreed the other, with a snarlin his heavy voice, "we got heaps o' work ahead tonight, if so be thetFritz airpilot does drop over with his batch o' yeller boys like weunsbeen told he'd do. I'd like tuh see the whole caboodle o' Chinks droppedinter the middle o' the gulf, I hate 'em so, but thar's good money inthe game, we happens tuh know, Zeb, which I jest caint hold back onnowhow. Les go!"
Greatly to the relief of the listening Perk he heard the sound ofsplashing gradually recede until finally it died away completely. Thisgave him a feeling bordering on relief, for while Perk was an old handat the fighting game and stood ready to give a good account of hisability to defend their prize; at the same time he had no violent desireto open up on the two occupants of the unseen rowboat nor yet was the
idea of the sloop being discovered at all to his taste.
"Lucky lads you might count yourselves if on'y you knew how I was layin'right here in ambush, ready to sink that boat an' make the biggest sorto' a splash. An' I'm guessin' I got off right smart 'bout that cookin'fire racket, come to think of it--might a'spilled the beans all right,and made all sort o' trouble for our crowd."
Talking in this fashion to himself, Perk again set about taking thingscomfortably nor did he ever hear of that pair again. Still, he treasuredup in his mind what he had heard the man with the harsh voice say inconnection with the smuggling of unwelcome Chinese immigrants who wereready to pay so well for an opportunity to beat the Governmentregulations in their eagerness to join the foreign colony in MottStreet, New York City, where the vast majority of them were bound. Itwould naturally interest Jack when he heard the news, although it couldhardly be considered startling, since they already knew full well thissort of thing was being carried on by daring airplane pilots in theservice of the far-flung smuggling combine.
By now it was well past the middle of the afternoon. Light fleecy, whiteclouds had been drifting up from the direction of the Dry Tortugas andKey West but this far they did not look at all portentous, as though anykind of a storm might be brewing. Perk hoped that would not turn out tobe the case since they had work planned for a part of the coming night,which would be greatly hampered by unsettled weather.
Then, on making one of his habitual observations of the upper air, hediscovered a moving speck that he soon decided must be a plane headingin his direction. At first Perk fancied it must be Jack on his way back,but later on he realized the air craft bore a great resemblance to theCurtiss-Robin boat which they had figured belonged to the Hun pilot,Oscar Gleeb.