Bob, looking down at the desk in front of him, saw a number of letterswhich bore the insignia of the customs service. Several of them werepost-marked from cities in Florida. In addition, there were severalletters from Paris and London.
"When I tell you that I am assigning you to this case, don't think I'maltogether foolish, for both Merritt Hughes and Condon Adams will beworking with you," said the federal chief.
Bob knew what that meant. There would be the same rivalry which hadmarked the radio mystery with Condon Adams and Tully Ross attempting tosolve the case before Bob and his uncle could find the solution.
"I have already had Adams and Hughes in here this morning and haveexplained in detail this case. They have departed on their ownassignments and I shall expect both of you to be on your way to Floridaearly in the afternoon.
"Briefly it will be your task to help bring to justice one of the mostdaring band of jewel smugglers that has ever operated between Europe andthe United States. They are so clever and daring that they have defiedthe efforts of the best detectives in the customs service and we havebeen appealed to for aid in solving the case. Actually, we have verylittle to go upon.
"Apparently this is a small but very versatile band of men. Just how theyget the jewels into this country is one of the mysteries which you mustsolve. One of the few things that we do know is that they apparently areoperating off the Florida coast, reaching this country by the means ofsmall, fast boats. It is going to be your task to attempt to find thebase along the Florida coast where they center their operations."
Waldo Edgar swung around in his chair and turned to a large map of theUnited States which covered the entire wall behind his desk. He picked upa pointer and touched several spots on the Florida section on the map.
"Bob," he instructed, "you are to proceed as rapidly as possible toAtalissa, a small town on the coast. That is to be your headquarters forwe know that somewhere in the territory adjacent to Atalissa thesesmugglers have been operating. I must warn you now that you must useevery precaution to keep your identity secret for this particular sectionof the Florida coast is not friendly toward federal men."
The pointer in the hand of the federal chief moved further along the mapuntil it paused once more at a coastal town.
"You are to go to Nira," he instructed Tully. "I consider that this is asfar south as the smugglers are operating while Atalissa is the northernpoint. Somewhere between these two bases I am sure you will be able touncover information which will be of real value to us."
Waldo Edgar turned back from the map and faced his young agents. Therewas just a trace of a smile on his lips.
"Think you can handle this assignment?" he asked.
Bob was the first to reply.
"I'll handle it if I have to swim along the whole coast of Florida," hesaid.
Waldo Edgar chuckled. "I don't think that will be necessary."
"How about my uncle and Merritt Hughes?" asked Tully. "Will they beworking in the same territory?"
"Yes, they are working on the Florida angle of the case and I expect youto keep them advised of any developments which you are able to uncover.You can reach them in Jacksonville and their telephone number will begiven to you before you leave Washington this afternoon. If you call hereat one o'clock, your complete transportation and expense money will beready for you as well as a written file of all the information which wenow have about the jewel smugglers. Can you be ready by one o'clock?"
"I can go now," said Bob.
"Better go home and throw an extra shirt or two and some socks into atraveling bag," advised the federal chief. "I like to see plenty ofenthusiasm, but you may be gone a good many weeks and you should bethoroughly prepared for a strenuous trip. If you have boots and some goodheavy clothes, be sure to put them in your bag and by all means do not gounarmed."
Waldo Edgar stood up and shook hands with each of them.
"I will not see you again before you go, but I expect great things fromboth of you. I shall watch your reports with interest."
Chapter III "GOOD LUCK" *
Bob and Tully left the office of the federal chief together and descendedin the same elevator to the first floor. Both of them were stirred by astrong feeling of elation for this was their first assignment sincebecoming federal agents.
Bob would have liked to talk the case over with his uncle, but he knewnow that Merritt Hughes was already on his way to Florida and whateverBob was to do on the case he would have to do alone.
"Seems to me you get all the best of these assignments," grumbled Tully."I know something about Florida and Nira is just about the last place inthe world I want to go to."
"I don't see why you should complain," said Bob, "even though Nira maynot be a very pleasant place, for you have a distinct advantage over mesince I have never been to Florida."
They parted as they walked out of the building, and Bob, hailing ataxicab, sped toward the apartment building where he made his home.
Packing was a comparatively simple thing for Bob. He pulled a serviceablebut battered Gladstone bag out of the closet and opened it upon the bed.
Fortunately he had a large supply of freshly laundered clothes and hepacked one side of the bag solid with shirts, socks and underwear. Thatdone he went back to the closet and rummaged around until he found an oldhunting outfit of corduroy trousers and coat.
From one corner of the closet he pulled a pair of heavy boots which weresoft and pliable. The woolen socks which he pulled from the boots hadbeen almost consumed by moths and Bob threw the socks away, making amental note that he would have to buy more either in Washington or whenhe arrived in Florida.
On the third trip to the closet Bob returned with a well-worn gun case inhis hands. He opened the brown leather case and drew forth a specialhunting rifle which had been given to him by his uncle several yearsbefore.
The gun had received excellent care as the gleaming barrel indicated, andBob, sitting down on the edge of the bed, caressed it with hands thatwere almost affectionate. He had nicknamed the gun "Ezekiel" after aneccentric old hunter he had known in his home town in Iowa.
Bob, although not a remarkable shot with a rifle, could be classed asbetter than average, for his eyesight was good and his finger was steadyin its pull on the trigger.
The young federal agent examined the gun carefully. There was more than agood chance that it might be called into use if his Florida tripdeveloped all of the possibilities Waldo Edgar had indicated. Bob sightedthrough the barrel of the gun and smiled to himself as he noted thecleanness of the bore, for he prided himself on the care which he hadgiven the weapon.
There was a small box of ammunition in the gun case and Bob examined theshells. They had been in the case for three months but there was noreason to believe that they had deteriorated for the gun case had beenkept in a warm, dry place.
Bob slipped the rifle back into the case, which was just long enough tofit into his Gladstone bag. He folded up his corduroy outfit and placedthis on top of the rifle. Then the boots went in and on top of them hejammed several soft flannel shirts that could be worn a reasonable timewithout laundering. It was impossible to foretell just what he wouldencounter in Florida and he wanted to be prepared for every possibleemergency.
The packing had taken longer than Bob had expected and when he looked athis watch he realized that there was little time to lose if he expectedto reach the justice department building for his one o'clock appointment.Bob jammed his shaving outfit in on top of his clothes and closed thebag. It fairly bulged with the articles he had packed away and the bigcase was both clumsy and heavy to carry.
Bob looked around his room as he paused at the door. It might be weeksbefore he would return and he would miss the orderly pleasantness of theroom with his comfortable chair and his excellent books.
Then he closed and locked the door and walked down the hallway as rapidlyas he could with his heavy bag. He
summoned a taxi and started for theDepartment of Justice Building where detailed instructions were awaitinghim.
The ride down town took less than ten minutes and Bob reached thebuilding at five minutes to one, just in time to see Tully Ross precedehim through the main entrance.
Bob paid his taxi fare and then left his heavy bag at the informationdesk on the main floor while he was whirled upward in an elevator. Thesame clerk who had greeted him that morning was on duty in the outeroffice and Tully, seated on a bench, was opening a large Manila envelope.
"Your instructions, train tickets, expense money and data on the case areall in this envelope," said the clerk, handing a similar container toBob. "Your train leaves at 1:30 so I suggest that you get to the stationat once and then go into the details of this case after you are on yourway south."
"Thanks a lot," nodded Bob. "I'm on my way."
"Good luck," said the clerk, who looked enviously after Bob, for afterall there were not very many thrills in clerical work.
Chapter IV TULLY'S CHALLENGE *
Tully Ross followed Bob into the elevator and they dropped toward thefirst floor.
"I guess we're taking the same train as far as Jacksonville," said Tully."What a pleasure that's going to be!"
Tully's last words were sneering and vindictive, and a little of Bob'spent-up resentment burst out. Fortunately no one else was in the elevatorat the time.
"You'd better take inventory of yourself, Tully," advised Bob, "or you'regoing to run head-on into trouble. I haven't got it in for you and youcan take full credit for anything that you do. Don't be so blamedsuspicious of everything. You do your work and I'll do mine. The mainthing is going to be to solve this case and I don't care who does it justas long as we are successful. If you'd only warm up a little we could goover this case on the way south this afternoon and we might have someideas that we could both benefit by."
Tully looked suspicious.
"What are you getting at?" he asked.
They were on the main floor again and passengers bound for the upperfloors swept into the elevator.
"We'll take a taxi together to the station and I'll tell you on the waythere," said Bob.
Tully had two smaller bags while Bob had only the large gladstone andthey loaded the bags and themselves into a taxi and started for the unionstation.
"I'm just trying to get at this," said Bob. "Both of us have chances forbrilliant futures in this service if we don't let personal rivalry warpour better judgment. That was a shabby trick of yours in giving thatstory to the newspapers and I rather think you hoped that I would beblamed."
Tully was silent and Bob went on.
"I'm willing to let that pass and some other things that have happened ifyou feel that you're willing to work along with me on this case. The oldsaying that two heads are better than one is certainly true in this kindof work and we can both benefit by it. What do you say?"
Bob's clear, blue eyes bored deep into Tully's brown ones and he held outhis hand.
Tully held Bob's gaze for a moment and then his eyes shifted uneasily. Hemade no motion to take Bob's proffered hand.
"Well, if that's the way you feel about it, I'm glad that we have had adefinite understanding," said Bob.
"I guess that's the way it's got to be," said Tully slowly. "I don't likeyou, Bob, and there's no use in making any bones about it. I'm going tosolve this case even if I have to step all over you in doing it."
"Well, Tully, you just run along and do your best; but I'm serving fairwarning on you right now that if you try to step on any of my toes,you'll wish you hadn't. There's only one way to play this game and that'sto play it fair and square. I'm going to play it that way and I'm goingto win and nothing that you can do will stop me. If it is humanlypossible that case will be solved within the next few weeks."
Tully looked squarely at Bob.
"Is that a challenge?" he asked.
"Call it anything you like."
"Then I say that you won't solve it in two months if you solve it atall."
"Two months it is," retorted Bob, "and by that I mean that every angle ofthis case will be cleaned up and either all of the men connected with itin federal custody or beyond our reach and you can put that down inwriting if you want to."
"I won't do that," sneered Tully, "for it might be too embarrassing tohave to have it recalled when you fail."
"I'm not going to fail," said Bob firmly, and although Tully wouldn'thave admitted it at the time, he had a premonition that Bob wasright--that he would not fail.
Chapter V ON THE SOUTHERN LIMITED *
The taxi pulled up in front of the union station and Bob and Tully,spurning the offers of red caps, carried their luggage into the hugestructure.
The great terminal was alive with activity and through the loud speakersystem the departures of half a dozen famous trains were being announced.
Bob's Gladstone was too heavy to carry very far without shifting it fromhand to hand. When he reached the train shed he put the bag down besidehim and opened the envelope in which his tickets had been placed. HisPullman reservation called for lower five in car 43 on train number 7,the Southern Limited. Tully paused beside Bob.
"Are you in car 43?" he asked.
"Lower five," said Bob.
"Humph," grunted Tully. "What luck I have. There must have been somemistake. I'm in upper five."
"No, I don't think there was any mistake," grinned Bob as he visualizedhow Tully, who was inclined to stoutness, would look scrambling in andout of upper five that night. "Perhaps the clerk who made out thesetickets thought you needed a little exercise."
Picking up their bags they walked to the nearest train gate where theticket inspector checked their tickets and waved them toward the SouthernLimited, which was standing on track number three.
Car 43, in which they were to make their journey southward, was near thecenter of the train and by the time Bob and Tully were comfortably seatedin the car, the porters were making their final calls of "'bo-o-oard."The Southern Limited started slowly but easily picked up speed as thetrucks clicked over the joints.
Travel that day was light and there was only one other passenger on thecar, a man who appeared to be about forty, short, dark, but marked with adistinguishing streak of grey in the center of his head. He was the typeof man who, though he attracted attention, did not inviteacquaintanceship.
Tully continued to grumble at intervals, complaining that it was grosslyunfair for Bob to have a lower berth while he was compelled to climb intoan upper.
But Bob ignored Tully's complaints. The train was soon speeding intoVirginia and with the capital behind Bob took out the envelope with thehistory of the case they were working on. Since they were practicallyalone on the car it would be an ideal time to go over this material andmemorize in detail all of the essential information contained in it.
Tully likewise pulled out the heavy manila envelope which contained acopy of the same report Bob had in his hands but instead of reading itthere Tully went forward into the smoking compartment. Bob knew thatTully did not smoke so it was obvious that Tully had gone forward simplyto get away from him.
There were a dozen closely typed sheets in the report and they reviewedin detail all of the activities of the jewel smugglers which were knownto the federal officials. As he read, Bob was astounded at the daringwith which the smuggling was conducted.
The reports indicated clearly that the headquarters for the smugglingoperations must lie somewhere along the east coast of Florida and thenames of both Nira and Atalissa appeared frequently in the typed reports.It was evident that at least half a dozen federal men, most of them inthe customs service, had been working on the case at various times.
There was one paragraph in their report that struck Bob with unusualforce. It read:
"A conservative estim
ate of the amount of jewels which the gang hassmuggled into this country in the last six months would be at least halfa million dollars. There is no way of knowing just how extensive aretheir operations. Agents are especially warned to use great care in anyapproach to any members of this gang. Agents working on this case shouldgo armed at all times. It is imperative that the men responsible forthese operations be taken into custody at the earliest possible time."
Bob read this paragraph several times and it brought home to him thepossible dangers which he might face in the coming weeks.
The other passenger in the car whose seat was behind Bob got up and wentforward into the smoking compartment where Tully had gone previously.
Bob looked up as the man went past him. The stranger was powerfully builtand Bob especially noticed the breadth and strength of his hands.
Bob thought little of the incident but hoped that Tully would have thegood sense to put away the secret papers when the stranger entered thesmoking compartment. As the train sped through the fertile Virginia farmlands the young federal agent continued his perusal of the report.
The concluding paragraph was such that he read it three or four times.
"From all information at hand, it appears obvious that not more than fivemen are involved in this smuggling enterprise. So far we have been unableto identify positively any member of the gang so all agents are doublywarned against any incautious remarks which might indicate the reason fortheir visit to Florida. In case of any unusual emergency notifyheadquarters by long distance telephone at once."