CHAPTER XVIII
THE MASTER CROOK
One thing Perk noticed with more or less satisfaction as they drewcloser to the surface of the water was the fact that quite a stiffbreeze seemed to be blowing out of the north. The waves were running upalong the shore with considerable vigor and noise while the dead leaveshanging from the palmetto trees fringing the bank above the meagre beachkept up a loud rustling, such as would effectually drown any ordinarysplash made by the contact of their pontoons with the surface of thelake.
Conditions could hardly have been more favorable for an undetectedlanding--the time was late, so that it hardly seemed as though any onewould be abroad, the moon kept dodging behind successive clumps of darkclouds that had swept up from the southwest and everything seemed to bearranged just as Jack would have wished.
Perk had received instructions from his mate to keep on the watch forcertain landmarks that would serve to tell them they were not fardistant from their intended location. When in due time he made out thewooded point that jutted out so commandingly from the mainland and hadcommunicated that fact to the pilot, Jack turned the nose of his craftsharply downward, proving that the decisive moment was at hand.
Noted for his ability to carry through a delicate landing, Jackcertainly never did a prettier drop into a body of water, fresh or salt,with less disturbance than on this momentous occasion, and they weresoon riding like a wild duck, just within sight of the shore.
There were no signs of anything stirring along the waterfront, Perkobserved, and yet if his suspicions were correct, there must have beenconsiderable activity around that same spot, with a ship coming in ladenwith stupefied Chinamen, terrified by making such a trip from Cuba orsome Mexican port in a "flying devil" that could soar up among the veryclouds and span the widest of angry seas--perhaps on the other hand theincoming aircraft would bring a cargo of precious cases, each almostworth its weight in silver or maybe the skipper would carry a smallpacket in his pocket that might contain a duke's ransom in diamonds thatwould never pay custom duties to the Government.
No wonder then Perk was thrilled to the core with the sense of mysterythat brooded over this most peculiar locality--to him it already assumeda condition bordering on some of those miraculous things he couldremember once reading in his boyhood's favorite book "The ArabianNight's Entertainment," the glamour of which had never entirely lefthim.
But already Jack was casting about, as though eager to find some placeof concealment where they could stow the ship away and so prevent pryingeyes from making a disastrous discovery--disastrous at least to thoseplans upon which Jack was depending for the successful outcome of hisdangerous mission.
"We've got to taxi up the shore a mile or so," he was telling Perk inthe softest manner possible, although the noise made by the rollingwaves and the clashing dead palmetto leaves dangling from the loftycrowns of the numerous trees would have deadened voices raised even totheir natural pitch.
"So," was all Perk allowed himself to say, but it testified to hisunderstanding of the policy involved in Jack's general scheme of things.
This was done as quietly as the conditions allowed, and how fortunate itwas they had held off from crossing over from the gulf until the middleof the night--but then it might be expected that Jack would consider allsuch things in laying out his movements.
In the end they managed to get the amphibian between two jutting bankswhere the vegetation was so dense that there was no chance of a trail orroad passing that way. In the early morning Jack planned to once againconceal his ship, even as the captured sloop had been camouflaged byPerk's clever use of green stuff.
"That part of the job's done and without any slip-up," Jack was saying,vastly relieved, "and now we can take things easy for a spell, duringwhich time I'll try and post you as far as I can about this queer fish,Oswald Kearns, and what they've begun to suspect he's been doing allthis while."
"In the first place he's about as wealthy as any one would want to be,so the reason for his playing this game doesn't lie back of a desire toaccumulate money. Some say he must have run afoul of the customs servicein the days when he hadn't fallen heir to his fortune and all this isjust spite work to get even--a crazy idea, but there may be a germ oftruth in it after all."
"He has a wonderful place not far out of Miami--they all say it's aregular palace, where he entertains lavishly and yet not at any timehave they known of a raid staged on his castle, as some call therambling stone building that shelters a curio collection equal to any inthe art museums of New York City."
"Every little while Oswald Kearns disappears and no one seems to knowhis whereabouts--some guess he's fond of tarpon fishing and goes outwith a pal to indulge in the sport, his destination being kept secret sothat the common herd can't swarm about the fishing grounds and annoyhim; then another lot say he is not the bachelor he makes out, but has alittle cozy home somewhere else with a wife who detests society andthat's where he goes when away from the Miami paradise."
"Both of these guesses are wide of the truth--what they told me up atthe Treasury Department set me thinking and I found some papers aboardthat sloop we captured that opened up a startling line of action thatmight be unbelievable if it were any other man than the eccentric OswaldKearns."
"By the way, Perk, after I'd committed the contents of those papers tomemory I sent them by registered mail to Headquarters because, you see,something might happen to us before we get to the end of this journeyand I reckoned the Department would like to be able to take advantage ofour discoveries."
"You did jest right there, partner," Perk told him--he was sitting theredrinking it all in with the utmost eagerness. "It sure would be a pityif we kicked off an' Uncle Sam couldn't profit by what work we'd done.But what you've already told me 'bout this here queer guy gets my goat,like as not there never was a feller as full o' kinks as he is."
"I'm pretty certain of that, partner," Jack assured him, "there's nodoubt about his having been gassed in the war and that might account forhis actions--he's dippy along certain lines and he finds this way ofdefying the Government gives him the one big thrill he wants. It'salmost incredible, I own up, but I believe we're going to prove itbefore we quit.
"Some men you know find this excitement in driving a speeding car alongthe beach up at Daytona at a hundred miles and more an hour, others goout and hunt tigers in India, lions and elephants in wildest Africa, butwith this wealthy sportsman the craze takes the form of snapping hisfingers in contempt at Uncle Sam's Coast Guard and all the revenue menin Florida.
"I was a bit skeptical at first, it all seemed so silly, such a whimseyfor a rich man to fancy--taking such big risks just for the thrill hegot--but the more I picked up about the man the less inclined I becameto doubt, and by now I'm convinced it is the truth."
"But what makes him keep all this smuggling business clear of thiswonderful show place near Miami?" asked Perk, apparently still gropingas though in a daze.
"Just wants to be living his double life," explained Jack, "with oneline never crossing the other--you might call it a Jekyll and Hyde sortof an existence. But the truth will come out in broad daylight if everwe _do_ round him up and catch him with the goods."
"Er--'bout how long will we be in makin' some sort o' start, boss?"asked Perk anxiously.
"We may have to stick around here for some days while we do a little spywork and lay our net," Jack told him. "A great deal depends on, how theland lies and what success we strike in making our approach--you knowhow it is with all golfers--approach means a whole lot to them. But ifwe have the good fortune to nab our man after making certain we haveplenty of convincing evidence to be used against him, why there's ourboat ready to spirit him away before his gang can forcibly take him offour hands."