CHAPTER VII
A WHITE ELEPHANT ON THEIR HANDS
"Come on in, Jack old hoss, the water's fine!" was the way Perk greetedhis chum after gaining the deck of the captured rum-runner.
"First make that rope fast somehow so we'll run no risk of losing ourfloating crate," Jack advised him.
"Yeah, that's just what I'm goin' to do, buddy," continued the other, ashe proceeded to make fast to the sloop's wheel after which Jack managedto clamber aboard.
There were lanterns scattered around, and in the haste with which theafflicted crew had abandoned their ship no one had bothered aboutextinguishing them. By means of the meagre illumination afforded bythem, the two airmen were able to take a fairly comprehensive survey oftheir surroundings.
"Huh! I kinder guessed we'd find a bunch o' the scrappin' crittersstretched out, an' lookin' all bloody like," ventured Perk, withpossibly a shadow of regret in his voice and manner, "but shucks! nevera one do I set my lamps on. Here's a case or two o' wet goods beenbusted open, seems like, in all that kickup an' mebbe now some o' thewild boys got a taste that helped keep 'em in the roarin', tearin' fightthey had but looks as if every man must a' been mighty keen on jumpin'his bail. Wow! I can't blame 'em any, if the way my eyes feel is a fairsample o' what they got served out to 'em!"
"You said it, partner," echoed Jack, "but keep from rubbing it in, ifyou know what's good for you. The gas is being carried away right alongby the breeze, so let's forget it and take a look around."
"Let's," echoed Perk, always more or less curious and eager to "peek"when the chance offered.
It seemed as though they were alone on the anchored sloop that wasrising and falling on the long rollers coming in off the wide gulf.Piles of cases lay on the deck around them, ready to be transferred tosuch smaller craft as were expected to draw alongside with orders forthem from some mysterious central clearing house. Possibly there weremany more similar packages down below, for the sloop was evidentlyheavily laden.
Now and then the voluble member of the firm would let out a crispexclamation as though those keen eyes of his had run across some visiblesign of the recent rough-house disagreement that tickled him more orless.
"We sure broke in on a sweet little party all right, Jack," he observed,at one time with a chuckle, "see, here's a broken bottle that I guessmust a' been smashed on some poor guy's bean and from the blood spotshereabout he had a plenty, but still he managed to skip out when thegrand march started. An' looky what I found--a coat that's tore intoshreds. Gee whiz! but that was some hot tamale scrap, believe me. I'dgive somethin' for a chance to look in on the round."
Jack was apparently puzzling his own head over something that did nothit him as so very humorous.
"Yes," he told Perk, with a grimace, "we've made a bully capture allright, partner, but when you come to think twice it may be we've got awhite elephant on our hands after all."
"Huh! what d'ye mean by sayin' that, old pal?" questioned the other, whoapparently saw nothing in the affair calculated to create any tendencytoward dismay in his mind. "You got me in a tail spin, partner--lift thelid, won't you, an' gimme a look in?"
"Well, we've got the rum-boat okay, haven't we?" demanded Jack.
"Looks thataways, I guess," Perk admitted.
"Just so, and what d'ye reckon we're going to do with it?" continued thehead pilot, hitting straight from the shoulder as usual.
"Why--er--ginger pop! that's so, old hoss, _what?_ Mebbe now theshoe's on the other foot, an' it's the blamed sloop that's got us heldup. Would it be proper to set the bally boat afire and see all this hotstuff go up in flames? or we might knock a hole in the bottom, an' sinkher right where she stands, though that might get us in Dutch with ourpeople, since the rum-runners could come around an' salvage this casestuff again. Only way to settle the puzzle'd be for us to have a bargainday sale, opening case after case, knockin' the neck off each and everybottle and makin' all the fish in this corner o' the gulf dizzy with amixture o' rum an' seawater."
Jack laughed at hearing all this wild stuff come from the bewilderedPerk.
"Strikes me I'm not going to get much satisfaction from you, partner,"he bluntly told the other. "Our folks expect to see some evidence toprove the big yarn we're bound to tell--about our dropping those tearbombs and scattering the fighting hijackers and rum-runners and all thatstuff which means that by hook or by crook we've just _got_ to getclear with this sloop and all the contraband that's aboard--hand it overto some of Uncle Sam's agents along the gulf coast, whose addresses Iwas given before leaving Washington, to be used in just suchcircumstances as these. So try again, and see if you can suggest someway it can be put through."
Thereupon Perk started scratching his tousled head in a fashion healways followed when given a problem to solve, since his wits were aptto be a bit rusty and in need of oiling so as to cause them to functionproperly.
"Wouldn't that jar you?" he finally exploded, "we jest can't load ourcrate with the bally stuff, 'cause it couldn't lift a tenth o' the cargowe grabbed so easy-like. An' as to towin' the sloop after us by ahawser, it'd be too much like a caterpiller creepin' along. I own upit's got me buffaloed. Jack, an' if anything's goin' to be done it'sbound to come out o' your own coco."
"No hurry at all, brother," the other told him, little chance of thoselads making back this way in a hurry, since they got the scare of theirlives tonight. "Let's look around some more and possibly a suggestionwill pop up to give us the glad hand and see us out of the mire."
"Suits me okay old hoss," agreed Perk, nodding his head confidently asthough he had known all along that such a clever partner as Jack wouldhave a spare card up his sleeve to play when things began to lookunusually gloomy.
Perk picked up one of the lanterns, for he knew they would need somesort of illumination if they intended to explore the regions below deckwhich he termed the "hold," not being much of a sea-going man, althoughcapable of filling quite a number of different callings from engineer toair pilot.
He had not taken half a dozen steps after descending the short flight ofsteps leading below when he came to a sudden halt.
"Glory be! what was that?--sounded real like a groan, Jack!" heexclaimed, trying to peer into the gloom of the hold, where there seemedto be row after row of the same type of wooden cases with foreigninscriptions burned on them.
"Just what it was, Perk," agreed his chum, pressing close behind theholder of the lantern, "lift the light a bit, I think I can make outsomething stretched out flat--yes, it must be a man, I'm certain."
"Kinder guessed we'd run across one or two o' the scrappers knocked outan' left behind in the getaway rush," commented Perk who had drawn hisautomatic before starting to explore the lower regions of therum-runner, not knowing what they were apt to meet there.
He continued to advance, and presently they were bending over a dismallooking object, undoubtedly a man who might be a member of the crew,judging from his rough sea clothes and his bare feet.
There could be no question but that he had been in the fight, since hisface was bloody and his general appearance betokened rough treatment.Undoubtedly he had been senseless at the time the tear-gas penetratedevery part of the small vessel, and was only now coming to.
Jack lost no time in examining the pitiful looking object while Perkwaited to hear what his verdict would be. After all the old fighter boreno malice toward any of these reckless men who were so assiduouslyengaged in breaking the law of the land by running contraband goods intoUncle Sam's domains and he was just as willing to bind up the wounds ofthis luckless adventurer as if the other had only been an ordinarysailor in sore trouble.
"Nothing serious, it seems," was Jack's decision. "He has had a prettyhard knock that started the blood from his nose and as like as not laidhim out here senseless for there's a fine big lump on his head."
"So we'll have _one_ prisoner to fetch in after all," chortledPerk, as if pleased by the prospect of being able to produce a witnessto testify to the work they had j
ust accomplished.
Eagles of the Sky; Or, With Jack Ralston Along the Air Lanes Page 7
