he idea
to his heart that possibly the chance might be given Jack and himself to
locate some of these land stations where all this flagrant smuggling
business was going on--the prospect of their's being the force to deal
the outlaw organization a killing blow brought in its train the thrill
he loved so well.

Then came the moment when Jack banked and changed his course radically,
heading directly into the east where lay the peninsula of Ponce de Leon,
seeker after the Spring of Eternal Youth, and finding instead, a land of
flowers.

Perk knew what this evidently meant--that Jack had flown far enough up
the west coast and was now bent on making for that inland sheet of fresh
water he had mentioned to his comrade as a likely place for them to drop
down and pass the balance of the night.

The uncertainty was keeping Perk keyed up to a high tension--something
told him in no uncertain tones that Jack had a vastly more important
reason for attaining that lake than the mere desire to avoid attracting
attention--just what it might mean he could not guess, for when he
attempted to solve the enigma he found himself floundering in a
shoreless sea of doubt and uncertainty that was baffling, to say the
least.

Perk was mumbling to himself as if he might be on the verge of reaching
some sort of decision. He bent forward several times as if about to make
an important remark and on each occasion drew back, as though he could
hardly decide how to approach the matter he had in his mind. Then he
would chuckle, as if it might have its humorous side as well as a
serious one.

Already had they reached a point where he could easily see the shore
several thousand feet below and now Jack was sliding down as if bent on
striking a ceiling that would be only a few hundred feet above the
palmetto fringe Perk could distinguish running along the coast.

It seemed a fitting time for him to give Jack the start he contemplated
and so, summoning his courage, Perk began to talk in as unconcerned a
tone as possible.

"Partner, would you mind tellin' me what about this here Oswald Kearns?"

CHAPTER XVII

OKEECHOBEE THE MYSTERIOUS

"Say that again, Perk!" demanded the startled pilot, as though that
apparently innocent question had given him a severe jolt.

"Oswald Kearns--kinder queer name, I kinder guess now, an' I'm wonderin'
if I ever heard it before--that's all, Jack."

The pilot was busy with his work in handling the ship and the