Part 15 (1/2)
Really Jack was saying this so as to comfort his ht of the diaht affect his desire to do any prowling around after nightfall which would throw the entire burden of so doing on his, Jack's shoulders Besides, there was a fair chance that the snake would have withdrawn frouardian of the swamp trail and taken himself off to other pastures
They resu a watchful eye out for other lurking perils--hoere they to know but that an angry bobcat, bent on disputing this invasion of his tangled real from some li his keen claws, tearing and stripping and snarling like a devil, such as these beasts alere reckoned in such sections of the country as he, Perk, had hunted
Ten ht his chuer pressed on his own lips to betoken the necessity for silence, pointed to soht his attention And Perk, looking, saw a sight that afforded him a sense of satisfaction both deep and profound
CHAPTER XXI
THE MYSTERIOUS COQUINA SHACK
”Hot Ziggetty! so _this_ is where he dropped down, is it?” Perk wasin subdued excite on its pontoons in a sheltered little cove, ”a bus, partner, that clipped past away over our heads, an'
the woozy pilot never dreamin' our crate ithin a hundred uess the pirate roost must lie around here so, Perk,” whispered Jack, ”and chances are it's hid in the midst of that live-oak cluh and dry”
”I swan but this is gettin' real excitin' an' suits me okay,” breathed the duly thrilled Perk, who felt there was no longer any reason for calling things taested Jack almost as equally pleased over their success as his nervous chuet a squint at the shack, let's try, buddy”
He lost no ti apparently figured out that such a course would give theratify their curiosity
It proved to be a wise lie, built of coquina rock and altogether attractive in appearance, proving that the Big Boss never hesitated to spend led Perk, stretching his neck so as to see better through the narrow opening that served them as a lookout, ”some toney, strikes me, considerin' the desolate country round-about this section Must be his high-hat tastes foller hioes--sorter dude, I'd call hireed Jack, ”I understood he ran in that groove but just the same they say this Kearns is a real he-man an' can put up a warm scrap when necessary--the dude racket is only a thin veneer hiding the genuine article I arned never to let hiet a chance to beat me to the draw--some call him a rattlesnake, only he lacks that reptile's honesty in always giving warning when about to strike Don't forget, Perk, in dealing with this slick article you've got to be on your guard every ht a'been fooled, an' treated hiuy Looky thar, will you, boy--two--three fellers jest swarone into a huddle like they had soame to set up Wonder now if one o' the bunch could be _him_!”
”I reckon not, Perk,” came in a low tone from Jack, whose head was only a few inches away froiven to me I even saw a snapshot taken of several society folks in front o' his Mia in the center One of this lot's the flyinghis greasy dungarees and has his hel-off any minute now; a second chap is short and thick, not at all like the one we've coainst, while the third, while tall, looks like a roughneck skipper of a speedboat”
”Guess you hit the nail on the head, Jack,” muttered the convinced Perk, for they were at so trio, and their whispers could never have been heard with the dead leaves on nearby pal hipped by the gusts of wind
Both of the spiesin review through their activethe conspirators so earnestly talking and gesticulating Frolances in the quarter where the tri up and down like a restive horse eager to be off
What did they fetch on their voyage through the upper air lanes, co from some unknown port--hardly ”case stuff,” Jack told hia crate would be li to crash the gates of the country that banned soed courier carried a batch of precious stones from far-away Paris, forwarded in a round-about, surreptitious way and intended to reach a ready market in the wealthiest country in the world, of course, without paying the usual heavy custo alone would likely reach well into six figures
The trio seeht have been, for they sauntered down to the edge of the water where the arees proceeded to embark by means of a s rope of the a off to pick up another cargo, I reckon,” Jack ventured ”And so this is where our friend has his secret hideout at such ti show place near Mia, I'd call it and the chances are he's been keeping up this double play racket for many months, perhaps even for years, for he ca for tarpon down around the Ten Thousand Islands where we lay concealed lately”
”But what's the big idea, partner?” Perk wanted to knohy under the sun does he play both ends o' this queer game--what's the sense o' his havin' this wee shack in the wilderness when he could carry on his racket just as well on the eastern shore?”
”Just because he fancies the idea of keeping his two personalities as far apart as possible, Perk Uncle Sam's Coast Guards, revenue officers and even Secret Service men fairly swarm around Miami most of the year so they'd be apt to ant Oswald Kearns in his society functions if he had his pals dodging in and out of his princely palace He prefers to drop over here in this desolate place instead when he has a lot of business to transact He's a wonder, all right, in his double line, Perk, and not to be underrated, understand”
”See, ”there goes the Lockheed-Vega spinnin' out o' the lagoon to the open lake so's to get up enough speed for the take-off Must be sohty special to coax that pilot to risk bein' seen in open daylight So he used to fish in theo, did he, Jack?”
”Sure did, and they told o down there used to be a notorious sulf-strea over at Fort Lauderdale on the eastern shore and waiting to get a heust two years back Of course, he hadn't started his real career of criuide for Roosevelt, Zane Grey, the writer, and some other famous sportsmen”