CHAPTER XXII
OVER ARIZONA DESERTS
Perk must have dreamed about that hot coffee treat he had been promisinghimself, for when Jack opened his eyes he found his comrade alreadywatching the bubbling pot, from which delightful odors were commencingto escape in the way of steam.
They enjoyed quite a decent little breakfast, what with the ambrosiacontained in their aluminum cups together with some crackers and jam,after the crisp bacon had been disposed of. Jack offered some to theirprisoner, but the man sadly shook his head, as if to say he had noappetite whatever.
He was not a bad looking fellow, only with a weak sort of chin, andevidently built along a line that could be easily tempted to go wrong ifthe inducement were only gilded enough. Jack felt sorry for him,especially since he had learned about his family; and was determined todo what he could so as to get Simeon off, should his information proveof any value to their cause.
Once breakfast was disposed of they all went over to where the ship lay.By this time Simeon had found that they really planned to carry him offwith them, a startling fact that added to his alarm, for apparently hehad never been up in a plane, and a species of stage-fright made himshake as if he had the ague.
But there was no other way to work things, for should they set him freethe chances were the man, forgetting his promise, would try to send outsome kind of warning to Slippery Slim, and in the end he and Perk wereapt to pay dearly for their slip-up, perhaps even with their own lives.
When playing such a desperate game with so canny a lawbreaker it wouldbe the height of folly to let the dictates of tender hearts turn themfrom the path of "safety first," and Simeon must continue to "take hismedicine," even though the innocent ones at home suffered for hismisdeeds--he had never considered others whom his evil actions haddoubtless harmed, when they found themselves arrested for passingworthless bills, and how could he expect these sworn officers of the lawto go easy with him when caught in the act?
Perk now began to wonder just how they would be able to "tote" a thirdparty in the limited accommodations afforded by the double cockpit oftheir ship. It was bound to prove a tight squeeze, and not socomfortable but then why grumble on account of a trifle like that, whenFortune was giving them such a glad hand all the while?
He began to shift things around some while Jack was busy checking themotor, struts, undergear, and propeller, with the design of condensing,and making more room.
"Funny how you c'n jam things into such a small compass when you reallyan' truly try," he told Jack, when he had finished his task. "I kinderguess I'll be able to fix him okay, 'cause he's no great shakes at size,an', seems like to me, he's shrinkin' right afore my eyes, he's thatshaky. Then it's only for the day, I figger; how 'bout that, Jack?"
"I've planned all that out, partner," he was told. "As soon as we getover to the California border we'll give him in charge of some sheriffto keep in the hoosgow till we've made our killing, and are ready todeliver the whole batch to Uncle Sam's nearest U. S. District Attorney,at Los Angeles or San Diego. That clear to you, Perk?"
"I'd say it was, boss, an' here's hopin' we'll get there with both feetwhen the end shows up, our prisoners hobbled, an' with nice new steelbracelets decoratin' their wrists. Now to get the gent aboard the boat,an' stowed away. Shucks! he acts like he might be scared out o' a year'sgrowth--some sillies get that way 'bout goin' up in a skyscraper thefust time."
His scorn for such a weakling showed in his face as he helped Simeon toclamber into the cockpit. The man was as white as a sheet, and tremblingas if expecting to meet with some dire end in short order, once he leftthe firm ground and took to the boundless air. His groans wereheartrending, and Jack felt sorry for the wretch but for once Perkdisplayed no signs of sympathy, it was all so silly in his opinion.
He proceeded to take precautions by fastening the greenhorn in by meansof a stout strap which would prevent his falling out should conditionsnecessitate a sudden banking on the part of the pilot, or a fierce gustof wind cause the ship to give a unannounced plunge.
"All ready, Jack," announced Perk, after completing these arrangements.
"I'll be with you inside of three minutes," he was told, and as theground ahead had been examined, and found to be fairly good for thewheels to trundle over, there seemed to be nothing more that could bedone, only put things to the test.
It was "some rough," as Perk told himself, when violently shaken once ortwice but they managed to get up sufficient speed to admit of Jacklifting her when the right time arrived. Then they were off, rising likea bird, and almost immediately opening up the village that nestled theretwo miles off, at the foot of the low ridge.
Jack headed straight into the west, for that was their route "as thecrow flew." He cared not at all that they would pass directly over thesettlement, for few of the people were apt to be abroad at such an earlyhour, nor would they be any the wiser for seeing a plane pass overheadat such a low altitude.
Perk, looking down, found himself wondering which of the modest cottagesin line of his vision chanced to be the home Simeon had spoken of withsuch a catch in his voice. The man had temporarily forgotten about hisfears concerning his own safety, while being carried so high above thesurface of the earth--he was stretching his neck, and eagerly focussinghis staring eyes on one spot, which evidently held all that he helddear. Perk ignored his recent sensation of scorn, and actually feltsorry for the man.
"Poor guy," he was saying under his breath, though the other could nothave heard him had he shouted at the top of his lungs, on account of theracket being kicked up by combined motor and propeller, "he feels rightbad 'cause he's goin' off without a chanct to say goodbye. Well, I on'yhope this will be a lesson to Simeon, an' he'll quit playin' with abuzz-saw, which is the long arm o' our Uncle Samuel."
Simeon tried his best to keep tabs of the lonely little hamlet until itwas no longer possible to distinguish objects, owing to the severalmiles of distance the speeding plane had covered; then he fell back inhis seat, and let his head drop on his chest, while his body shook withemotion. In that dreadful moment he would undoubtedly have only toogladly given all he had in the wide world for a chance to undo thewrongs he had committed in his haste to get rich.
"Shucks! he orter thought o' that before, while the goin' was good!" wasPerk's comment, who had seen just such short-sighted men more than oncebefore in his eventful life, and had a philosophical mind concerning allsuch late repentances. "But I'm sure sorry for them that are agoin' tosuffer the most--he deserves all he'll get, but they're the innocentducks."
The plane soared along its set course, and as they were not at more thansomething like five thousand feet altitude, Perk could see very well,when he adjusted the binoculars they carried of necessity, so as to beable to spy out conditions before trusting themselves to land, beingnaturally a bit suspicious while thus drawing steadily nearer to whatmight well be called enemy land.
From time to time he found himself gazing down with considerablecuriosity upon scenes which were mostly foreign to his eyes--he had onlytoo often scrutinized pictures where uncounted troops belonging to theenemy were encamped, or on the march, with monster guns making the veryair quiver with the tumult of their discharges; where rival pilots cameup in answer to his insulting challenge, to engage him in deadlycombat--he had seen many an unlucky or less skillful airman go down withhis whirling, blazing coffin, yielding up his life as a tribute to whathe called patriotism--all these and a multitude of similar thrillingspectacles could be unrolled in memory as he thus sailed the azure sky,and saw Jack meet and conquer successive air pockets lying in wait togive him battle; and yet this was actually the first time Perk had everfocussed his gaze upon a genuine cattle ranch, and saw stock beingdriven to market, or it might be mavericks branded; so that he foundhimself entranced with the panorama spread before him as they glidedover the prairies of New Mexico.
There cropped up other and like interesting sights when the wi
ldersector of country was reached, with its deep gullies, its bare-toppedmountain peaks--perhaps stretches of desolate desert where nothing couldbe seen save billowy sandy wastes, except possibly patches of yucca,sage, greasewood, and prickly pear cactus.
When, his interest increasing, Perk begged his comrade to drop down soas to give him a nearer view of these strange sights, he was able toincrease his knowledge concerning the myriad of strange sights to bepicked up when touring by air in new territories--now he could make outthe fantastic Joshua trees that seemed to be engaged in a shimmeringdance in the blazing sunlight; moving shadows that sometimes crossed theline of his vision he made out to be buzzards on the wing, circling insearch of their carrion meal; while others on the ground he recognizedas coyotes skulking along, frightened by the sight and noise coming fromfar over their heads, and trying to reach their secret dens in somerocky canyon or defile.
Noon came in due time, with the ship keeping up its steady grind, andhaving left hundreds of miles in its wake.
Perk began to realize that he had eaten his breakfast at an unearthlyhour, and concluding that a bite of something, together with a swig ofwater from their jug, might go well, he mentioned the interesting factthat the usual lunch hour had come, at which Jack nodded his head, as ifto leave all that sort of thing to the discretion of his trusted pard.
So they had a pick-up snack, which was quite acceptable to the twoairmen, able to enjoy their meals even while cutting capers up among theclouds. It was another thing to the novice Simeon, whose appetite hadnot come back, though he did manage to swallow a few bites, and have adrink of cold water to wash things down. By slow degrees he was gettingthe upper hand of his dreadful fears, for while familiarity could not besaid to bring contempt, nevertheless he was becoming accustomed to theconditions, and could even display a trace of curiosity when lookingdown on some unusually interesting spectacle to which Perk was pointingso eagerly.
If things continued to exist as they had been doing all morning it waslikely--Jack at one time told his co-pilot in answer to a question--thatthey would be close to the California border by sunset, or shortlyafterwards; since even then they were well along across Arizona, withfair skies still beckoning them on their way.