CHAPTER XII
ODDENEMIES FACE TO FACE
"Je-ru-salem crickets!" Perk told himself as he stared, "I do b'lievethat's the same Curtiss-Robin crate we saw before, an' making direct forthis here section o' the map in the bargain! Now I wonder what he wantsto barge in for when things seem to be doin' their prettiest for usfellers? Guess I'd better get ready for boarders. If that smart guy tooka notion to swoop down for a close-up o' these mangrove islands, he'd beapt to pick me up, 'specially if he happens to own a pair o' glasses,which stands to reason he sure does. Huh! what a bother. Better be slow'bout foolin' with a buzz-saw, that's all I c'n say to him."
No sooner said than done, which was Perk's usual way of playing thegame. He changed his position for one that offered less chance fordiscovery and while about it Perk started to build up something in theshape of a formidable fortification.
"What luck to have all these logs lyin' around when I need them," hewent on to tell himself with many a dry chuckle. "Guess now they had 'emaboard to pull the wool over the eyes o' any customs men that happenedto board the sloop lookin' for contraband stuff--meant to claim they wasfetchin' mahogany logs to a States market. Gee whiz! they sure are atough proposition to move around but here's the cutest little fort anyplayboy could wish for. Let him come along--who cares a red cent what hedoes, so long's I got this here machine-gun with plenty o' cartridges inthe belts to riddle things with. Ring up the curtain, an' let the playstart. Makes me think I'm back in the old line again along the Argonne,an' say, jest 'magine how it all works out with one o' them same Hunpilots swooping down on me! It sure is to laugh, boys."
By this time the oncoming plane was drawing perilously near and Perkwisely settled himself so that he could see all that occurred.
He possessed a pair of marvelously keen eyes and while it would havesimplified matters considerably had he been handling those wonderfulbinoculars, just the same he could get on without them.
By close application he was able to see a figure bending over the ledgeof the cabin window, apparently scrutinizing the queer combination ofmangrove patches and crooked water passages between. The plane wasrushing down a steep slant in a clever dive, or glide, so that with thepassage of each second the chances for the pilot to make a discoveryincreased.
"Gosh! but ain't this the life, though?" muttered the watcher, thrilledto the core with what was hovering over his head yet not so much asmaking the slightest movement that would attract attention. If discoverymust come, Perk was determined that no act of his would hasten it alongand no responsibility for the tragedy--if such there followed--could belaid at his door.
He had discovered some time back that the rival crate resembled theirown, in that it was in the amphibian class--could hop-off either fromthe land or when on the water.
Really he had taken it for granted that such would turn out to be thecase, since occasions without number must arise when, for instance, thesmugglers wished to take alien Chinamen from some schooner or speedboatby means of which the first part of their journey to the Promised Landhad been carried through, when it would be necessary for the plane todrop alongside the boat from Cuba or other foreign ports and make thetransfer.
The prospect was far from displeasing to Perk--he felt positive that itwould be the first time on record when one of Uncle Sam's Secret Servicemen fought it out with a taxiing seaplane on the subtropical waters ofthe great gulf.
The outcome of course was hidden behind a haze of mystery--one, or bothof those engaged might never live to tell the story but then that sortof uncertainty had been his daily portion during his thrilling serviceon the French front and its coming to the surface again after all theseyears of less arduous labor only made Perk hug himself, theoreticallyspeaking.
Now the flying ship was passing directly over his place of concealment,although at rather a high ceiling. Would the Argus-eyed pilot make anysuspicious discovery, or, failing to do so, continue his scrutiny alongthe many leagues of similar mangrove islands stretching far into thesouth?
Perk saw him pass the spot, which caused him to imagine the game was alloff, and he would have nothing but his trouble for his pains. Indeed asense of heavy disappointment had even begun to grip his heart when hesaw the other suddenly bank and swing as though meaning to come backagain.
"Zowie! kinder looks like he _did_ glimpse somethin' that struckhim as wuth a second scrutiny," chuckled the anxious watcher, thatdelicious thrill once more sweeping over his whole frame.
Indeed, it was a moment of more or less suspense, although Perk wastelling himself he did not care a particle whether the smuggler pilotdiscovered the mast of the sloop, with its camouflaged deck below ornot.
He was only hoping that the other might not take a notion to flyoverhead and try to drop some sort of a miserable bomb down upon thespot where things looked a bit suspicious to him. Possibly Perk stillseemed to get a faint whiff of the tear-gas that had drenched thesmugglers' boat at the time he himself hurled those two bombs with suchdeadly accuracy and the possibility of being himself made the target ofa similar attack was anything but pleasing for him to contemplate.
This time the Curtiss-Robin sped past not much more than three hundredfeet above, so that he could plainly make out a head, with itsprotecting helmet, earflaps, and goggles, that was projected from thecabin.
"Darn his nerve, if he ain't wavin' his hand to me to say, 'I see youlittle boy, you're it!' Spotted me, danged if he didn't, by ginger! an'now the fun's a'goin' to start right along. Wow! this is what I like,an' pays up for a wheen o' lazy days. How the blood does leap through afeller's veins when he feels he's in action again. Oscar, old boy,here's wishin' you all the compliments o' the season an' I herebypromise to send back whatever you throw me. Go on and do your stuff, oldhoss--I'm on to your game okay!"
He found further cause for congratulation when he made certain that theplane was now headed for the smiling surface of the little bay close by,showing that the pilot intended to make his little splash, and take alook at the hidden sloop with its illicit cargo of many cases that hadbeen so mysteriously snatched from the hands of those with whom he wasin close association.
This was as Perk would have it if given any decision in the matter. Oncethe amphibian started to taxi toward him and they would be placed on thesame footing, each with a machine-gun to back him up and formerexperience in handling such a weapon equally balanced. Could anything befairer than that, Perk asked himself, preparing for business at the dropof the hat?
The plane had made contact with the water and was floating there like anenormous aquatic fowl of some unknown species. Now the pilot was makinga right turn as though meaning to come down on Perk with the westernbreeze--his motor was keeping up more or less of a furore, which toldPerk that shrewd though these up-to-date contraband runners might be, atleast they had slipped a cog by failing to keep up with the inventionsof the times, for undoubtedly this pilot had no silencer aboard hiscraft to effectually muffle the exhaust of his engine.
However, this was no time to bother about such minor things when themain issue was whether he was destined to "get" the ex-war ace, or theother put him out of action when the battle was on.
Perk shifted his gun so that its muzzle kept following the movingseaplane in its advance. Let Oscar but make a start in his projectedbombardment, and Perk stood ready to answer with a similar fusilade thatmust rather astonish the other, for as yet he could have no assurancethat the concealed sloop was manned--doubtless he would figure theseized craft had been hidden here and temporarily abandoned until suchconvenient time as the captors could return with recruits and run it tosome port where the confiscated shipment might be turned over to theproper authorities.
Just the same Oscar Gleeb might think it good policy to make sure of hisground by spraying the boat's deck with a round or two of searchingmissiles before attempting to board it.
Whatever way the cat was going to jump, Perk knew the issue was bound tobe joined before many more seconds slipped past, and he hel
d himselfready.