Eagles of the Sky; Or, With Jack Ralston Along the Air Lanes

by Ambrose Newcomb

  CHAPTER XXIX

  A LAST RESORT

  Meanwhile how fared Jack in his share of the attempt to corner thedefiant and persistent law-breaker?

  He had crept around the corner after leaving his chum, fully convincedthat some sort of heroic measures must be brought to bear on the uglysituation if they hoped to succeed.

  One thing had already been amply proved--this was the unmistakable factthat Oswald Kearns must be having one of his occasional brain sprees,the result of his wartime gassing when he was apt to tip over hisbalance and for the time being imagine himself beset by a myriad ofbitter foes whom it was his duty, as well as privilege, to mow down,regardless of everything. Acting under this delusion he was doubtlessresting under the belief that these were Hun machine-gun squads secretedin nests in the Argonne and that he was duly recruited by Heaven toround them up, disseminate their number, and fetch a goodly bunch intothe American lines as prisoners of war.

  His readiness to shatter the door of his own lodge was evidence of hisobsession, Jack firmly believed and from which he deduced the opinionthat as long as his equipment held out he was ready to keep up that hotbombardment under the belief that the enemy were falling like deadleaves in the frosts of late Fall.

  This being the case, Jack understood how exceedingly careful he must benot to expose even the tip of his nose, since everybody said Oswald wasa most wonderful hand with firearms.

  No sooner had he turned the corner of the rock shack than he made adiscovery that gave him some satisfaction. At least the man inside hadnot considered it necessary that he extinguish the lamp for there was acertain amount of light coming from the window--only tiny lances,showing that some sort of shade had been drawn down as far as it wouldcome.

  So Jack crawled hastily forward, bent on taking a peep if it could beaccomplished without too much risk. Having gained a position directlyunder the window, he considered just how he must go about it and sodiscovered that a plant of some sort--perhaps a young orange tree, wasgrowing alongside the shack.

  Taking hold of a sprig, he gently moved it across a portion of theopening and on finding it attracted no attention from within he nextpushed his head up with the bunch of green foliage.

  This resulted in giving him a quick survey of the interior--he could seewhat had come before his vision on his previous survey but at first hefailed to discover any human presence. The fact gave him a feeling ofchagrin, under the impression that Kearns might in some mysterious wayhave been able to quit the rock house without being discovered and thatthey had been outwitted.

  In that brief period of time Jack seemed to glimpse all manner ofstrange tunnels leading from the secret retreat of the smuggler tocertain exits back in the pine woods, craftily constructed for just suchan emergency as had now come to pass.

  Then he suddenly changed his mind on realizing how next to impossible itwould have been to construct such underground exits when the nearpresence of great Okeechobee would make digging quite out of thequestion, since water must of necessity seep into any such passage andfill it full.

  Jack, looking further, had just managed to discover a leg that wasthrust into view when Perk's first rock crashed on the roof, making aterrific noise. Following this came a burst of gunfire with the acridpowder-smoke filling the room and making seeing next to impossible.

  Jack crouched down to do a little thinking as well as listen to theexchange of compliments between the warring forces--every louddetonation as a lump of coquina rock fell on the roof would be followedby its complement of rapid gunfire, just as though the man at bay wasbound to keep up his side of the battle even if he had to create ashortage in his ammunition supply.

  It was fierce work, yet bordering on the ludicrous, Jack told himself,meanwhile wondering just how long Perk's heap of missiles would persist,also what was bound to happen when the rock pile was gone. Doubtless thenear-demented man inside must be working up to a feverish pitch underthe impression that he was specially designed by Providence toannihilate the whole German army and open a clear path to an Alliedmarch all the way to Berlin!

  Then silence came--a silence that seemed to brood over the scene ofhostilities as might a sea fog drifting in along the coast and bafflingthe most skillful of flyers.

  Jack had discovered a stick that was some three feet in length andremembering an old and often tried trick known to frontiersmen away backin the Kentucky days of Daniel Boone, he meant to try it out in order tosee if the ammunition of the besieged man had run out on him ornot--something that was really essential he should know beforeproceeding to extremes and breaking into the fortress that was holdinghimself and Perk so persistently at bay.

  Removing his leather cap with its dangling earlaps, he perched it on thepoint of his stick and proceeded to elevate the contrivance so that itmight be seen by the vigilant eyes within.

  The result was all that he could have asked, showing that this venerableIndian trick was just as workable as in the days of old.

  A single shot sounded dully within the shack--there was a tinkling soundas if a speeding bullet had bored a hole through a pane of glass anddown fell his helmet. Jack picked it up and chuckled to find he couldpoke an investigating finger through a hole that had certainly not beenthere before. What great luck his head had not been inside that helmet,he was telling himself on thus learning the wonderful accuracy of themarksman.

  Things were again at a standstill, for as long as the half dementedKearns was able to make such excellent use of his firearm it would besuicide for either of them to try and break into the shack.

  One thing Jack had managed to discover with that brief peep back of thefriendly bunch of orange leaves--there was a little heap of papers inthe fireplace, also the precious book he yearned to possess--yes, and hecould even make out a smudge as though a match had been used to start aconflagration but owing to some puff of contrary air the blaze hadfizzled and gone out--an especially providential favor in their behalfJack had told himself.

  Still, at any moment now the man with the crooked mind was apt to noticehow his purpose had been baffled. Then he would make a second andpossibly more successful attempt to destroy all incriminating evidenceas to his connection with the smuggling of rum, aliens and preciousstones into the country, contrary to the laws of the land.

  What could he do should this crisis come upon him, Jack was askinghimself as he crouched there and counted the minutes passing by? Therewas only one means for counteracting such a move on the part of theenemy and Jack had already convinced himself the occasion was fully ripefor it to be tried out.

  On a previous occasion the same thing had handily proved its efficacy,so why not again? Desperate cases require desperate remedies, he kepttelling himself as he groped in his pocket and extracted some smallobject therefrom, holding it tightly clinched while he again moved theorange leaves across the lower part of the window without extracting ashot from the guardian of the shack.

  Then he nerved himself to take a look and received a shock for he wasjust in time to see Kearns down on his knees striking a match which hehastened to apply to the crumpled papers.

  Seeing there was not a second to waste, Jack proceeded to hurl thetear-bomb he had been holding in his fist straight through the glass, soas to strike against the stone chimney and be shattered, releasing itspowerful contents that would almost instantly fill the room and blindthe man whose fingers held the burning match.