CHAPTER VII
ON THE AIR-LINE TO CHARLESTON
Jimmy was leaping from a taxi that had come whirling almost up to thespot where their ship was in the act of taking off. Perk in that hastylook--when truth to tell he had no business to be taking his eyes awayfrom his course ahead, lest he make a slip that would upset all theircalculations--had seen the printer's ink man heading in leaps towardtheir plane--yes, and sure enough he was holding a pad of paper in onehand, and doubtless a sharpened pencil in the other, a typicalup-to-the-minute knight of the press bent on snatching up his facts onthe run.
Then Perk--still paying strict attention to his special task--gave agrunt of satisfaction, coupled with derision. To himself he must havebeen thinking, if not saying, "that's the time we jest made a slickget-away by the skin o' aour teeth--yeou're five seconds too late,Jimmy, boy--try some o' yeour tricks on slower game, not we-uns.Whoopla! here she goes!"
As they were just then about to leave the ground and start their upwardclimb of course it was absolutely out of the question for the oneholding the stick to twist his head around so as to see what theirtormentor was doing; but then he felt certain Jack must be taking ineverything that occurred, and in good time he would be told of eachlittle incident.
Perk had his instructions, and knew just what he was doing. Accordingly,when the ship had reached a comfortable ceiling of say half a thousandfeet, he banked, and swung around so as to head toward the southwest.
"Shore thing," Perk was telling himself, in a spirit of pride andastuteness. "Sense the gent's is aimin' to git a black bear in themcanebrakes o' ole Louisiana, we gotter be headin' thataways at thestart. Hoopla! aint it jest the limit, apullin' the wool over the eyeso' one o' the darnedest sharpest newspaper boys as ever was?"
It had been arranged that they were to keep on that course for a brieftime, and when sufficient distance had been covered--so that the hum oftheir exhaust could no longer be heard at Candler Field--they wouldchange to another quarter, swing around the distant city, pick up thelight at Stone Mountain, and from that point industriously follow thebeacons that flashed every ten miles or so all the way to Richmond,Virginia.
Jack soon displaced his assistant pilot at the controls, and Perk wasable to take hold of other special duties, such as were usually left tohis direction.
One of the very first things he carried out was to attach the harness ofthe invaluable telephone, that, when connected with their ears allowedof such exchange of views as they saw fit to indulge in; and Perk wasburning up with eagerness to find out what Jack must have seen afterthey made their start.
The big ship was speeding at a merry clip, and before long StoneMountain would be reached with the first beacon flashing its welcomelight to beckon them on their well marked course.
"Was that _him_ as I guess--reckoned I done seed, jest as we started tomove, hey, partner?" Perk demanded; and as Jack knew only too well hewould have no peace until he handed over such information as hepossessed, he lost no time in making answer.
"No other, brother--he came in a taxi, and was in such a hurry it'splain to be seen he'd picked up a clew at the hotel that sent himwhooping things up, and burning the minutes until he got there atCandler Field. Unfortunately--for Jimmy--he dallied a half minute toolong, trying to get some lead from that night clerk, and so we slippedone off on him."
"Yeou doant reckon as haow he'd be so brash as to hire a ship, to tryan' sit on aour tail, do yeou, ole hoss?" demanded Perk, who had evenlooked back once or twice, as though such a possibility had begun tobother him.
"Not a Chinaman's chance of such a happening, Wally--we've got a clearfield ahead of us, and I feel pretty certain that's the last we'll seeof our friend Jimmy. Just the same, leave it to him to concoct athrilling yarn to feed to his readers to-morrow morning--imaginationwill supply the missing facts; and I'd like to set eyes on what hehatches up."
"Me too, partner," echoed Perk, greedily; "an' if it's possible while wehang aout araound Charleston I'm meanin' to look up all the Atlantapapers, and read all the air news they carry."
"Go to it, partner; but that must be Stone Mountain over there on ourlarboard quarter; look sharp, and you'll glimpse a flashing light, forwe're about to pick up our first beacon."
"Bully for that, 'cause afterwards it'll be the softest sailin' ever,with aour course charted aout fur us most all the way."
"I'm holding her down a bit," explained Jack, "because we'd better stickto the beacons until dawn; after that we can depend on our compass andchart to carry us the rest of the way to Charleston."
"I get yeou, ole hoss, an' agree with yeou to a hair. No hurry whatever,yeou done tole me the Chief sez in his cipher letter o'instructions--slow an' sure, that's agoin' to be aour motto thiscampaign," and Jack must have chuckled to hear the impetuous Perk saythat, it was so foreign to his customary way of rushing things.
The line of beacons was now picked up, and Perk could see sometimes asmany as three at the same time--the one they were passing over; thatleft behind shortly before; and still a third faint flash at somedistance beyond.
They had climbed to a ceiling of some two thousand feet, which mightstill be increased when passing over such outspurs of the Allegheny orSmoky Range Mountains as would be met on the regular air mail course toRichmond.
As the air seemed unusually free from any vestige of fog, being veryclear, of course visibility was prime, which fact added to Perk'shappiness, he being unduly fond of such favorable weather conditions.
Such a voluble chap could not keep silent long, when it was so easy tochat with an accommodating companion; and hence presently Perk foundsomething else to mention to the working pilot.
"I say, partner," he sang out, "tell me who yeour friend was, the pilotI seen yeou talkin' with, an' who sure seemed to be 'quainted withyeou."
"Knew you had that question up your sleeve, buddy," Jack replied, alwaysready to satisfy any reasonable amount of curiosity on the part of hischum, "Yes, he was an old friend of mine, and I expect you've heard mespeak of him more than a few times--one of the most adept pilotsconnected with the Curtiss people,--no other than Doug Davis, who backin twenty-nine won the country's speed race at Cleveland, with a recordof a hundred-and-ninety miles an hour."
"Gee whiz! haow I'd liked to amet up with him!" exclaimed Perk, showinga trace of keen disappointment in his tone.
"I'd have introduced you, partner, only the conditions wouldn't admitit." Jack threw out as a bit of apology.
"But, say--what if that speed hound, Jimmy, happened to learn he wasatalkin' with yeou, wouldn't your friend Doug be apt to give us away,withaout knowin' the reasons why we wanted to keep shady right naow?"
Jack gave him the laugh.
"Not on your life, buddy," he announced, without hesitation; "I managedto let Doug know what line I was in, and how just at present I'm a NewYork millionaire sportsman and aviator, Rodman Warrington by name,headed toward some shooting-grounds for a whack at big game. He's a ladyou could never catch asleep at the switch; and make up your mind oursecret's as safe with him as anything could be. Jimmy'd have all histrouble for his pains, if he ever tried to pump Doug Davis, who's askeen as they make them in our line."
"But, partner, didn't he introduce yeou to another pilot--I reckon Iseen him adoin' that same, an' heow yeou shook hands with the otherguy."
"Yes, but I'd already tipped Doug off, and he strung his friend with thestory we've hatched up about our meaning to try the shooting in thosewonderful canebrakes in Louisiana. And that's all he'll ever tellconnected with my identity, till the cows come home, or water runsuphill."
"An' who did the other chap happen to be, if it's a fair question, suh?"continued Perk, who, once he started on an investigating tour, neverwould let go until he had extracted every particle of informationavailable.
"Sorry that I didn't catch his name clearly; but Doug told me he wasconnected with the U. S. Air Reserve Corps operations functioning thereat
Candler Field," Jack explained.
He certainly stirred up something when he said that.
"Well, well, what dye know 'baout that naow," gushed Perk, apparentlythrilled more or less by what he had just heard. "I've been gettin' windo' that ere movement, and meanin' to look it up whenever the chanctdrifted along."
"A most interesting subject, buddy, and one I'd think you'd want to lookinto, seeing you're a veteran of flying in the Great War over in France,and could join without any trouble. From what Doug told me, and whatI've read concerning the game, the organization is growing strongerevery day--made up of men especially fitted to step in and man fightingplanes, should any occasion arise, such as another foreign war. Right inthe southeast district there are something over two-hundred-and-thirtypilot members, who could be mustered by Uncle Sam in an emergency, justtwenty-two of whom belong in Atlanta, Doug told me."
"Wheel haow fine that'd be fo' a feller o' my makeup," Perk chortled, inglee. "I done gue--reckons, suh, as haow they may have meetin's, an' allthat sorter thing--how 'baout it, partner?"
"That's one of the necessary things about the Air Reserve OfficersCorps," continued Jack who evidently considered the organization anespecially fine thing for the airminded public to support. "All throughthe winter they meet twice a week in classes, to keep up with modernmilitary and aviation activities; and they get their new up-to-dateflying experience by taking off in one of five army training ships keptready in the new reserve hangar at Candler Field--these are an OilCurtiss Falcon regular attack plane; a 2-B Douglass dual control basictraining ship, with 450 horsepower engines; and three other primarytraining ships. All the equipment connected with the Fourth Corps hangaris at Atlanta headquarters,--so Doug told me, and he ought to know ifany one does."
"Gee whiz! an' to think o' what I been missin' all this time," moanedpoor Perk, disconsolately. "Mebbe though it wouldn't ever do to applyfo' admission to such a organization, 'jest 'cause we-uns gotter to hidaour light under a bushel, while serving aour Uncle Sam in his oleSecret Service. Dye know I got half a mind to throw it all up, an' goback to carryin' the air mail, when a guy could show his own face, an'not live under a dark cloud;--but not so long as _yeou_ sticks on thejob, partner, I doant break away ever."