est gleam of light anywhere proved that settlers were
indeed few and far between and this fact would also explain just why
Oswald Kearns, wishing for secrecy and isolation, had selected this
region as best suited to his purpose.

Now Jack was dropping steadily, his silencer in full play--it was time
for Perk to get busy and through the use of his marine night glasses
keep his pilot posted regarding what lay below them.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE MASTER CROOK

One thing Perk noticed with more or less satisfaction as they drew
closer to the surface of the water was the fact that quite a stiff
breeze seemed to be blowing out of the north. The waves were running up
along the shore with considerable vigor and noise while the dead leaves
hanging from the palmetto trees fringing the bank above the meagre beach
kept up a loud rustling, such as would effectually drown any ordinary
splash made by the contact of their pontoons with the surface of the
lake.

Conditions could hardly have been more favorable for an undetected
landing--the time was late, so that it hardly seemed as though any one
would be abroad, the moon kept dodging behind successive clumps of dark
clouds that had swept up from the southwest and everything seemed to be
arranged just as Jack would have wished.

Perk had received instructions from his mate to keep on the watch for
certain landmarks that would serve to tell them they were not far
distant from their intended location. When in due time he made out the
wooded point that jutted out so commandingly from the mainland and had
communicated that fact to the pilot, Jack turned the nose of his craft
sharply downward, proving that the decisive moment was at hand.

Noted for his ability to carry through a delicate landing, Jack
certainly never did a prettier drop into a body of water, fresh or salt,
with less disturbance than on this momentous occasion, and they were
soon riding like a wild duck, just within sight of the shore.

There were no signs of anything stirring along the waterfront, Perk
observed, and yet if his suspicions were correct, there must have been
considerable activity around that same spot, with a ship coming in laden
with stupefied Chinamen, terrified by making such a trip from Cuba or
some Mexican port in a "flying devil" that could soar up among the very
clouds and span the widest of angry seas--perhaps on the other hand the
incoming aircraft would bring a cargo of precious cases, ea