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

by Ambrose Newcomb

  CHAPTER XXX

  FETCHING IN THEIR MAN

  There was now no further need for caution.

  Jack saw the man inside stagger to his feet, drop his gun and throw bothhands up to his face--he was starting to rub his eyes as though they hadalready commenced to feel the terrible effect of the pungent acid thatwould start the tears flowing in streams and render him temporarilyblind before he could exercise his brain sufficiently to unbar the doorand rush outside.

  But already that tiny blaze on the open hearth was increasing, and wouldpresently gain such headway as to threaten the utter destruction of theprecious papers that they had come so far and braved all sorts ofdangers to get. Something must be done instantly in order to preventthis threatening catastrophe.

  So Jack, always quick to act, with one smashing blow sent the entirewindow sash flying into the room. He did not even stop to learn whetherhe had cut himself, but gave an upward spring, gained a precariousknee-hold on the window-sill and allowed himself to fall inside the roomwith its unseen gas contents which would of necessity act upon his eyeseven as it already had done in the case of his intended prey.

  Across to the fireplace went Jack--he could never tell just how he madethat trip of a dozen feet with his sight already growing dim and hissenses commencing to reel, but he knew that he started to stamp outevery atom of those greedy flames, working like one possessed.

  Then he clutched the reeling man by the arm and dragged him across tothe window and bundled him out with as little ceremony as if he had beena sack of oats.

  Blinded himself by this time and hardly knowing what he was doing, Jackmanaged to climb through the opening and drop down on top of thewrithing figure on the ground.

  Here Perk found them both as he came full tilt around the corner,realizing something not down on the bills as far as his knowledge went,must have taken place.

  "Jack--what's happened--are you bad hurt, buddy?" Perk demandedexcitedly as he bent down over his chum.

  "All right--only had to use the tear-gas again--be better rightoff--don't let Kearns get away on your life!"

  "Hot ziggetty! you jest bet I won't old hoss!" whooped the delightedPerk as he squatted alongside the still writhing Oswald, his automaticheld in readiness only waiting for Jack to recover enough to take thingsin charge.

  "Look in the room--see if the papers are safe--in the fireplace--hestarted to burn the whole batch and beat us to the scratch--had to givehim the whole works to save 'em!"

  Thus enlightened, Perk stood up and took a look then burst out in ajoyous shout that would have done credit to any cow-puncher on earth.

  "It's all dandy, Jack--papers safe an' we got our man ditto. Mebbe nowI'll soon get a chance to treat my tummy to some decent grub, 'cause myribs're stickin' to my backbone, I'm that empty."

  Before long Jack's eyes ceased to sting and his vision once more becamealmost normal. By then, too, Kearns had come to his senses, with Perkkeeping him subdued by means of prodding a weapon in his ribs.

  Jack hunted around and found some rope with which they temporarily boundthe arms and ankles of their prisoner. That accomplished he made hasteto secure all the papers as well as the ledger which Kearns had been soeager to destroy when realizing that at last his scorn for the minionsof the law had reaped its inevitable result--the pitcher gone once toooften to the well--and that his game was up.

  "What next, Boss?" Perk was asking, "mean to kidnap both o' these guysJack?"

  "It'll make our chances better with one showing a yellow streak andturning on his employer for State's evidence," was Jack's quickrejoinder, the idea being quite to Perk's liking as he speedily mademanifest.

  "Jumpin' jimcracks! we c'n tote the pair right nifty an' I'm meanin' tosee that other guy gets all that's comin' to him, after that nasty crackon the coco he gimme with them irons. Say Jack, take a look at my headan' see if it's sound still--gee whiz! but it felt like the sky'd gonean' dropped down on me."

  Jack speedily reassured him that although there was a lovely lump on thetop of his head, it was nothing very serious. It was understood thatthere was not a minute to waste if they were wise. The Lockheed-Vegamight blow in any time and give them trouble.

  "We'll get both the prisoners together and Perk, you stand guard overthem while I taxi our boat around here so as to save ourselves the jobof moving them along the trail. Is it all right with you, buddy?"

  "Sure is," came the ready reply. "I'll start a little chin with ourhonorable guest here an' see how he likes the idee o' sittin' up nextMr. Philip Ridgeway o' the Treasury Department an' findin' out that thistime he's in the soup for keeps."

  Already the prisoner had recovered his customary nerve for on hearingwhat Perk was saying he broke out in a laugh.

  "Looks a bit serious for me, I own up, boys," he said. "I give youcredit for being ace high above all your class, for you've played aclever game and beat me by a mile. So that was tear-gas you tossed intothe room, was it?--thought I recognized the smell and I want to tellyou, once that hits a chap's eyes and he doesn't care if a churchsteeple topples down on him, he's that paralyzed."

  Jack lost no time in starting back to where the ship was hidden andhaving negotiated the distance along the perilous trail without runningafoul of anything, he managed to toss the palmetto leaves overboardsince there was no further necessity for camouflage. After coaxing hischarge out of the narrow slip, and once on the open lake, he taxied downto the cove close to the coquina rock shack.

  They managed to lug their prisoners aboard and stowed them away as wellas circumstances permitted. Then Jack gave her the gun and they wereoff.

  Once they found themselves on their way at a three thousand-foot ceilingand headed almost due northwest with Tampa as their goal, Perk slappedhis pal on the back and gave vent to his high spirits.

  "Oh how joyful it does seem, partner," he was saying, "to be startin' onthe home stretch with our game played to a finish, the ducks bagged an'nigh ready for the spit. Somethin' to crow about this time, I guess boy.Mebbe the Big Boss up at Washington ain't goin' to be tickled pink whenhe gets the news an' knows we've grabbed Oswald by the heels withevidence aplenty to send him to Atlanta for a term o' years. This nightflight promises to be the happiest ever for the pair o' us. I know I'mactin' like a loon, partner, but I jest can't help it--such bullyoccasions are too few an' far between in our line. An' now I wonderwhere we'll be sent for the next big job we tackle?"

  "We'll know all that soon enough Perk," he was told by his comrade. "Wedeserve a little rest after this business is cleaned up, then we'll beready to start out fresh and dandy, no matter if it takes us to the WildWest this time."

  "Huh! why not?" grunted Perk with the air of one who was utterlyindifferent as to whether he was given a mission that would take him tothe other side of the world, as long as he had at his side the pal whomhe loved so well and the backing of the Government to stand forexpenses.

  "We've worked the Mexican border to the limit, have jest cleaned up theworst smugglin' bunch along the Florida coast an' when the call comesfor us to take a fling over the Colorado canyon, or above the snowcapped mountain ranges, it'll find us ready an' all to the good!"

  Although at the time Perk had not the slightest idea that he was posingas a prophet, it will be seen that such was the case as the title of thenext story in this series will indicate, it being "_Wings Over theRockies; or Jack Ralston's New Cloud-Chaser._"

  THE END