VI
A BLOW IN THE DARK
Jack was naturally intensely shaken by this outburst from his companion.His first act was to whirl around and look hastily in the quarterindicated where he discovered quite a bunch of men clustered around someobject from which wisps of smoke seemed to still be rising on the clearmorning air.
He and Perk exchanged startled looks as though the same sudden thoughthad gripped their hearts.
"Queer I didn't notice a thing before, Perk, though I saw a crowdgathered--but then that's a common occurrence out here where so manyinteresting things keep on happening. Sure enough, the Gibbons' hangarhas gone up--such accidents don't come along often in any modernaviation field."
"Accidents!" blurted out Perk steaming up--"lay off that stuff, ol'hoss--ev'ry little movement has a meanin' o' its own--up to lastafternoon it was our ship that snuggled in that hangar, don't forgitthat, my boy. Talk to me 'bout luck, we hit it sky-high that time. Let'sgo see what's happened, and how they talk 'bout it in the bargain."
This proposal Jack was only too willing to stamp with his approval sothey hurried toward the bunch of men--pilots, mechanics, visitors andriffraff chancing to be at the field just then and now engaged instaring at the ruins of the new hangar, doubtless exchanging opinions asto how the conflagration had occurred in the dead of night.
"Huh!" Jack heard his comrade saying as if to himself as they approachedthe cluster of men, "seems like we got up against a reg'lar roundup o'fire--last night that tenement, an' now today the hangar we been usin'to shelter our boat. Hot ziggetty dog! but ain't life queer though?"
Everybody was turning to stare at them as they came along. Undoubtedlyit was generally known that their ship had been stored in the destroyedshelter while Mr. Spencer Gibbons was away and that it was only on thepreceding afternoon on coming back from a flight that they hadtransferred it to another hangar Jack had been able to hire since theowner of the one they had been using had wired he would be home shortlyafter dark.
"When and how did this happen?" Jack asked one of the pilots as he tookin the fact that the remains of a plane could be seen amidst thewreckage--apparently an explosion had taken place, for much of thecharred material of which the hangar had consisted was scattered aroundthe near vicinity.
"They tell us around about midnight," came the answer for the pilot knewJack as a fellow craftsman, although a stranger to Salt Lake Cityaviation circles. "The alarm was given by the pilot of an incoming mailship making port hours late on account of heavy fog in the mountains.Queer, too, they say, how quick it all came about--fire was blazingfurious like when discovered, and nothing could be done to save Mr.Gibbons' fine ship. There he is yonder, talking to some newspaper boys."
Jack went over to tell the other how he was shocked to see what hadhappened to his property and to ask if anything was known as to theorigin of the conflagration.
"Seems to be pretty much a mystery, they all tell me," the genialsportsman informed him, not showing any signs of being at all worriedalthough undoubtedly deeply mystified. "You fellows were in some luck toget your ship out before this nasty thing came along which I'm glad toknow. Of course I'm well insured and can replace my Pitcairn Mailwingreadily enough, only I'd gotten that one working like magic. I'm glad noother hangar caught when mine burned. I've offered five hundred dollarsfor any information that will prove that this was a set-up job for ithappens that on one other occasion something similar to this came myway. You see, I was unlucky enough to make a few enemies in Wall Streetwho've never forgiven me for knocking them out on a big deal."
Mr. Gibbons laughed and seemed in no wise bothered by his recent loss,only Jack noticed how his eyes seemed to glint like sparks from steelwhen mentioning the fact that he had unscrupulous enemies in thecommercial world.
Jack hung around for some little time, talking to several of thosepresent and asking numerous questions but learning next to nothing. If,as some of the ground attendants seemed to believe, it was an incendiaryact, those who took big chances in carrying it out must have plannedcarefully and fixed matters not only to make a certainty of the shipsheltered within the hangar being destroyed, but also covering theirtracks with great skill.
Finally he started over to the other hangar and Perk, seeing him gopulled his freight, as he would have called it, to hasten after hischum.
"Huh! looks like a fine sight for sore eyes," Perk declared with glee,"to see our boat standin' there safe an' sound tho' I'm sure sorryMister Fitzgibbons--I mean Gibbons, had to lose his crate--no fault o'ourn I'll tell the world, Jack."
"To be sure we could hardly be blamed for what happened," returned theother with a deep meaning in his voice and manner that caused Perk tostart and then blurt out:
"By jinks! partner, does it look to you like some crazy snooper set fireto the hangar under the belief that our ship was locked in there?"
"Between you and me and the lamp-post, buddy, that just struck me aspossible, though I've no proof to back me up in saying it."
"Another o' them slick hunches o' yourn, eh partner?" Perk hastened tosay and then, scratching his chin in a way he had when seriouslyconsidering some debatable proposition that puzzled him very much, headded: "can't for the love o' mike guess how anybody could learn jestwho an' what we might be but it's a risky line we're engaged in, buddy,an' some o' these here smart crooks have accomplices they say even inthe service o' Uncle Sam. It's possible a whisper leaked out an' havin'some fish to fry, word was sent to some o' the big gang out here at SaltLake City to do for us, or wipe our ship off the face o' the earthinstanter. Gee whiz! but that sure does make things look mixed-up forus, ol' hoss."
"For one thing," said Jack, firmly, "after this I never mean to leaveour boat in a strange hangar without hiring a guard to watch over itevery hour of every night, no matter what the cost to Uncle Sam. Ireckon they keep some insurance on these crates, but it would be whattime and instruments and charts we lost that would knock us thehardest."
"But how could anybody know what sorter job we're goin' to wrestle withnext, even 'fore we got a glimmer o' it ourselves?" querulously demandedthe bewildered Perk, up in the air again apparently for there seemed tobe a vast number of things of which he was densely ignorant.
Jack laughed and shook his head.
"Some fine day perhaps we'll get on the inside track of these strangedoings, brother but right now I'm just as much in the dark as you. All Iknow is that for some little time rumors have been going around at andclose to Headquarters but so far as I understand the matter up tolately, the mysterious party responsible for such give-aways hasn't beenlocated. So it's within the bounds of reason for me to suspect we'vefallen under the ban and have had some sort of secret enemy set on ourtrack."
"Huh!" snorted Perk indignantly, "kinder like that Oswald Kearnsemployed one o' his critters to do us a bad turn--you know, that bigrum-runner we nailed down in Florida not so very long back an' whosetrial hasn't come along so far, we've heard."
"Just like that," Jack told him, "although I hardly believe it could beany of his dirty work. Still, it's going to pay us to keep our eyespeeled right along and never imagine the coast is clear just because wedon't happen to see any ugly character around. Such scamps usuallymanage to hide themselves daytimes, to slip out after dark and do theirtricks."
Soon afterwards they had tooled their ship to the runway close at hand,made the dash, and started skyward like a bird. For two hours they triedout various capers so as to make certain they had complete control ofthe wonderful amphibian that had been placed at Jack's disposal by thoseat the Secret Service Bureau in Washington, intent on equipping theirtrusted agents with the best going, so that no failure might be laid attheir door due to insufficient backing.
They were back again by one that same afternoon, it being against Jack'sbetter judgment to remain away more than a few hours at a time. He knewthat at any day a message from Washington, in secret cipher, was apt tocome along an
d which, for aught he knew, would call for them to startout without any unnecessary delay and he wished to be on hand to receiveit.
To save time he and Perk dropped into the dining room of the hotelwithout visiting the office so they might have dinner before going up totheir room. This was pretty much of a daily habit with them and so farthere had not been any disadvantage arising from the arrangement.
They had almost finished their dessert when one of the bellhops camealong and being familiar with the pair from rubbing up against them sooften, he asked no questions but laid down a telegraph envelopeaddressed to Mr. John Jacob Astorbilt.
"Gosh!"
That was all Perk could gasp when he saw that presumably the orders theyhad been expecting for so long must have arrived. He watched Jack reachout and pick up the sealed envelope--noted that there did not seem to bethe slightest quiver of his hand--indeed, if it were an ordinary dunningepistle Jack could not have acted more carelessly--so far as outwardmanifestations showed--than was the case just then.
He opened the envelope and then, still as cool as a cucumber grown inthe shade of a cornstalk, drew out the enclosure which Perk's devouringeyes told him was unusually long.
Food was quite forgotten--for once--by the enthralled Perk who satthere, fascinated, watching Jack's face as though in anticipation ofbeing able to tell from what he might read there something of the natureof the communication that had been telegraphed from far distantWashington.
It was quite useless, however. Had Jack been glancing over a casualinvitation to some party he could not have evinced more unconcern. Ofcourse the message was so fashioned that in order to glean its fullmeaning a recourse to his code would be necessary but then as Perk knew,Jack would be able to pick up a word here and there and in this way getan inkling as to its purport.