CHAPTER II
THE CIPHER LETTER
Jack did not seem to be at all surprised when his best pal made thisabrupt announcement; but then he always kept himself prepared for comingevents.
"I was expecting to hear you say that, buddy;" he told his mate; "forthe past fifty miles on, our string up to date had about run through. Ireckon we'll be on foot before many more minutes. Get the airportyet--Wally?"
"Sure do, and right naow I kin glimpse a big--looks like our Fokker,agoin' to drop daown."
"Yes, possibly belongs to either of the latest lines using Candler Fieldfor a base--Eastern Air Transport, for passengers and mail; and SouthernAir Fast Express--covering the route between Los Angeles andAtlanta--both now-a-days carrying capacity loads, the papers have beensaying."
"Shucks! takes yeou to git things daown pat, Big Boss," Perk went on tocomment. "Where do we go from here, Mister?"
"After we've made arrangements for housing our crate," explained Jack,good-naturedly--although he had told his chum the same thing at leasttwice before the present occasion--Perk could be so forgetful, heremembered--"we'll make straight for the Henry Grady Hotel, where we'llfind a letter in code awaiting us, unless there's been a nasty hitch inthe arrangements."
"But--yeou said we had to meet up with some gent here, partner?"
"That's right, too, Wally; but only after I've decoded the letter fromHeadquarters, which is going to put us wise about the nature of ourpresent big adventure. No great hurry to get moving on, as far as I knowat present; so it might be we can hang around Atlanta a day or more. Butboth of us will have to play our parts, and fend off any too inquisitivenewspaper men. I've learned that the Atlanta reporters are keen onpicking up every scrap of aviation news possible, so's to make up astory that will go well. We shun that sort of notoriety, don't forget,brother, as the devil does holy water."
They were by this time circling Candler Field, which seemed to bebustling with feverish activity--planes of various types were eitherlanding, or else starting up; while several could now be seen cruisingat sublime heights, either being put through their paces by pilots, orwhat was more likely carrying excursionists in the shape of "sandbags,"greenhorn air holiday makers, out to get an experience that would givethem a superior advantage over friends who had never as yet gone aloft.
Jack made an exceptionally clever landing, and then turned over thestick to his mate, as if eager to make it appear that Perk was the_real_ article when it came to being the head pilot of the multi-motoredcabin Fokker, that had not the least sign of a name, nor yet a number toidentify it.
A number of men came running toward the rather retired spot where Jackhad purposely come down. Leading them was a little whipper-snapperspecimen, in a rather loud checkered suit, who gave all the recognizedsigns of being a hustling, live-wire newspaper man, always on the scentfor some unusual happening such as could be turned into a thrillingstory,--such keen investigators are to be found at nearly every airportworth while, eager to satisfy the curiosity of the multitude of readerswho are developing air mindedness at a rapid rate.
"Greetings gents;" he started in to say, with a cheerful grin on hissharp features, and holding a pencil in one hand while he had a pad ofblank paper all ready in the other. "If you would kindly give me a fewfacts connected with your identity, where you jumped off, whither bound,and so forth the many readers of my paper would be glad to extend to youa warm welcome to the Gate City of the South."
Jack gravely shook hands with the diligent worker, and obligingly fedhim a little cock-and-bull story, giving the names he and Perk hadrecently taken upon themselves, and merely stating they were from Texas,bound to Atlanta on private business connected with aviation circles. Hedid this to quiet the news gatherer, until they could dispose of theirship, and get started for the hotel in a taxi to be hired near by.
Jack knew the breed to a dot, and felt confident the lively chap wouldfill in enough imaginary details to make an interesting account; so thatwas that, and he was at liberty to turn to the one in authority withwhom arrangements could be made for parking the big Fokker in aconvenient hangar at so much per diem.
Of course wise Jack had seen to it that never the slightest clue couldbe discovered by the shrewdest spy, to indicate what these air travelersreally had in view--he was quite willing that such a sneaky investigatorexamine the ship from one end to the other, and welcome--the gravestdanger of discovery would lie in some indiscreet remark on the part ofPerk; but even this did not give Jack any considerable worry.
They were soon on their way into the heart of wide-awake, bustlingAtlanta, and presently brought up at the noted hostelry, to which theyhad been directed to proceed.
Jack, after dismissing the taxi, followed the hotel attendant who hadseized upon the two bags they had with them. He registered withoutostentation; and no sooner had the clerk taken a look at their names,when about to assign them a double room on the third floor, than heremarked casually:
"A letter waiting for you, Mr. Warrington," and after shuffling a packof envelopes swiftly, he handed Jack a registered letter, bearing theWashington postmark across the stamps.
Jack carefully deposited the same in an inner pocket; then a minutelater they both followed a bellboy into the elevator and ascended.
When finally they found themselves behind a closed door Perk turned aneager face upon his comrade, as he remarked in a low tone, with anervous look all around, as though half expecting to discover someeavesdropper peeping out from a closet, or from behind an easy-chair:
"She kim okay, seems like, Ja--er Mr. Warrington--then things they'rekeepin' on the move, an' we're a step closer to aour field o' operationsthan when we started aout, eh, what, suh?"
"Lock the door, brother--I'm going to get busy decoding this letter,after which you'll know _everything_. Now settle down in that chair, andgive me ten minutes of time for the job--possibly a bit more, since Isee it's rather a long communication."
Perk followed these directions out, and continued to watch the other asa terrier might hover over a hole in the kitchen wall, from which heexpected a rat to thrust out his nose at any second.
Jack took a little more time than he had reckoned on; but, being expertat reading the secret cipher code adopted by the Government, in the endhe had mastered the entire contents of the letter of instructions.
"Pull over this way a little, partner," he told the feverishly waitingPerk. "I want to lower my voice while explaining what it's all about;and we just can't be too careful, since walls sometimes have earsespecially in this day of the hidden dictograph. To begin with," he wenton to add, "we seem to have guessed fairly well that it was bound tohave some connection with the smuggling business along the Atlanticseaboard, between Norfolk and Savannah."
Perk's grin was enormous at hearing this.
"Didn't I jest _know_ that'd be aour job?" he chuckled, evidently vastlypleased at having "hit the target in the bull's eye." "Ever since wecarried on so well daown in Floridy along back, I been 'spectin' Unc.Sam'd root out same kinder game fur us to get busy on onct more."
"But this promises to be the biggest adventure we've ever tackled, barnone, brother," Jack proceeded to explain. "This letter goes on to tellwhat an enormous amount of unlawful stuff is being flooded on thecountry through a powerful syndicate that's said to be backed by someheavy unknown parties with unlimited capital at their control. Ours isgoing to be the task of finding out who they are; and likewise throwinga monkey-wrench into the smoothly running machinery by which they havebeen cheating the Government revenue right along, getting bolder andbolder, so that they virtually snap their fingers under Uncle Sam'snose."
"Gee! that sounds fine to me, ole hoss," gurgled Perk, rubbing his handsvigorously together as he spoke. "I jest kinder allers did yearn totackle things sech as had a tough reputation behind 'em. Course there'sbeen a wheen o' customs men atryin' to squash this combine--it's allersthataways, seems like!"
&
nbsp; "Yes, looks as if the whole business is running true to form, brother,"Jack further admitted. "The Chief candidly tells me they have beenlaying all sorts of clever traps for many moons, only to have theseskip-by-night lads give them the laugh. He hopes we'll meet up withbetter luck."
"If so be it's a fair question, partner, haow do they reckon thistraffic she's bein' kerried on, to slip by the fast customs patrol boatsan' land the cargoes safe an' sound?"
"That's where the crux of the whole affair seems to come in," Jackthrilled the other by saying. "A few craft from Bimini have beenoverhauled, and seized, though as a rule the crew always managed to slipaway, jumping overboard close in among the reeds, and disappearing inthe brush along the river bank. But these occasional seizures never madeeven a dent in the immense operations, the Chief admits."
"How come then, buddy--bet yeou a cookey 'gainst thirty cents they got aline o' flyin' boats doin' the business."
"My stars! how wonderfully keen you are about guessing things; forthat's just what this letter admits; and now we know why they called onus to get in the game--we seem to have made a big hit with the Chief, onaccount of how we managed to use our wings, and beat the Old Nick at hisown game of high-spy."
"Ain't it great, though, to know they do 'preciate _somethin'_ we'vekerried aout? But what's the idee o' aour headin' fur Charleston afterwe kick aout o' this burgh, eh, partner?"
"There are a lot of things to be said and done before we can break intothe game; and we'll get fully posted by the Government agent inCharleston. Besides, we've got to handle another kind of ship,--in factan amphibian, capable of dropping down on water as well as on land, andtaking off the same way."
"Glory be! naow ain't that fine?" Perk exclaimed, ecstatically. "I neveryet had anythin' to do with them crocodile type o' boats, an' never'spected to; so this same is a big s'prise, as well as a pleasure--thankthe Chief fur me whenever yeou're writin', baby."
"Okay, brother," came the ready answer. "Fortunately it happens that I'msomewhat familiar with the handling of that type of boat. Besides, we'reunder orders not to hurry things along at all--to take our own time, andget fully in touch with our new craft before starting on the job forkeeps."
"Air we meanin' to handle this layout all by aour lonesome?" Perkquestioned.
"As a rule, yes; but we are also expected to call upon certain skippersof fleet patrol boats to lend a hand. He's given a list of four rumchasers whose commanders will recognize the signal we give, and placetheir craft at our disposal as long as we wish; so you see we're toreally be in command of a squadron, if the necessity arises. I'm meaningto take down the names of the four customs boats before I destroy thisilluminating letter, according to instructions."
Then Jack went on to speak of other things the letter had contained,with the intention of posting Perk regarding the immensity of the taskbeing given over to their handling.
"He described this wide-stretching conspiracy to smash the Coast Guardservice as a species of octopus, reaching out its myriad of arms, so asto cover the entire coast line--deliveries have been accomplished withalmost clock-like regularity, and the custom service is being made alaughing stock among those in the secret. No wonder the Chief is feelinghot under the collar; for I reckon there never as yet has been a timelike the present, when all the best laid plans of his most skillful andbravest men have gone on the rocks. I've a feeling that if we manage togive this big conspiracy its death blow, there isn't a favor too greatfor the Boss to grant us."
"What's bein' kerried in mostly, partner--does he tell us that?"
"He mentions expensive liquor, of course, as the principal contraband,"Jack informed him "but narcotics as well have been coming, in unknownquantities, straight from China, also some country in the Balkans,Turkey being suspected. Then there are diamonds, and other preciousstones that carry a heavy duty; laces; expensive Havana cigars fromCuban factories; and even Chinese immigrants, so eager to land in thecountry of Opportunity and dollars they are willing to pay enormous sumsfor transportation, with a safe landing guaranteed."
"The more the merrier, sez I," snapped Perk. "Yeou was asayin' a bit agoit's b'lieved they done got rafts o' spies pickin' up secrets o' thecustoms service, so's to trick the boats into startin' aout on falseleads, that leaves the landin' places unguarded--mebbe, naow, ole scout,yeou even goes so far as to reckon that slick newspaper gink might bejest sech a peek-a-boo boy, aout to put the kibosh on aour fine game."
"You never can tell, buddy; if you meet him again play the deaf and dumbracket, which is the only safe plan."