ean of those encumbrances we'll be in fit
shape to delve deeper into the game and see what we get out of the
grab-bag. Anyway, don't expect me until you see me heading this way and
keep a sharp lookout, for from all accounts this crowd we're up against
is said to be a tricky combination, always stepping on their toes and
doing big things."

"Yeah, we've heard lots o' that kind o' stuff but just the same the lads
makin' up the crew o' this sloop didn't keep their eyes open, or they'd
never been taken unawares by them hijackers. Leave it to Gabe Perkiser
to hold fast to what he's got; they'd have to be a regiment, armed with
machine-guns, bombs, an' even gas, to knock _me_ off'n my perch an'
I don't mean that for boastin' either, Jack."

Later on Jack decided it would be just as well for him to jump off and
be on his way to Tampa. Contrary winds or something else might delay his
arrival, and an early start was bound to be of much help toward bringing
a quick return.

He first used the binoculars in order to scan the heavens as well as
they could be covered when he was so surrounded by those strange
mangrove islands and discovering no sign of any cruising, spying crate,
he bade Perk goodbye and taxied in the direction of the open gulf, which
he knew lay due west.

Perk answered his signal ere the amphibian turned a bend in the tortuous
channel and saw Jack vanish from view; nor could he long detect any
sound to indicate the presence of an airship since cautious Jack had
again made use of that wonderful "silencer" which they had found so
useful while conducting their search during the preceding night. Then
the appointed guardian of the captured contraband sloop turned his
attention to matters which had to do with his making the tied-up craft
as thoroughly invisible from the upper air as he knew how.

CHAPTER XI

PERK HOLDS THE FORT

First of all Perk set about getting the one boat that had been left
aboard the smuggler sloop into the water as he would need it for
conveying his green material with which he intended to cover the exposed
deck.

There was little trouble about accomplishing that and when he dropped
into the rowboat with a pair of excellent oars in his possession, he
felt considerably encouraged.

So he started to poke around, hoping to run across some island that was
more than a mere patch of the omnipresent mangrove tangle. This he
succeeded in doing without much loss of time and his pleasur