ay I guess," he assured himself and then, keeping
the prow of his vessel headed due south, he found time to try and
discover where Jack and his soaring crate might be.

The engine was a gas motor and well supplied with an abundance of fuel,
since the winds on their recent voyage around the Florida Keys must have
been favorable as a whole and with the motive power idle there had been
no drain on the gas.

Perk was feeling prime at that particular moment in his checkered
career. It afforded him much pride to thus be in sole charge of a
captured rum-runner with a cargo of contraband aboard. Then, too, all
doubts concerning his ability to serve as an engineer were already
dissipated for the sloop was making fair time and carried a bone in her
teeth, as the white lines of foam running out on either side attested.

Perk was softly singing to himself some marine ditty he had picked up in
the course of his adventurous life afloat and ashore and which had for a
title "Rolling Down to Old Mohea"--it thrilled him to the core to feel
that he was luckily able to afford Jack just the assistance the other
required so as to perfect his plan of campaign.

Now he believed he could glimpse the amphibian overhead--yes, the moon,
poking her nose out from behind a bank of clouds, allowed him to make
certain--Jack had swung back and was circling, so as to keep the sloop
within range of his vision.

"Just like a guardeen angel," mused the enraptured Perk, standing at his
post and sending frequent curious as well as proud glances aloft, "as he
told me he meant to be. Say, ain't this simply great stuff we've
struck?--never felt so joyous in all my life as when I smashed them two
tear-bombs down on the deck here an' busted up that fightin' mob. Zowie!
how quick they got a move on, every single man but the one lone dickey
we found knocked out down below-stairs. Ev'rything movin' along like
silk--who cares whether school keeps or not, with us boys on the top
wave o' success."

Then he concluded to stop premature boasting, knowing very well that as
in a game of baseball nothing is settled until the last man has been put
out.

So the voyage down the coast continued steadily enough, the minutes
running along into hours, with faithful Perk keeping steadfastly at his
new job.

From time to time he would find the plane hovering directly over his
head, and was able to catch certain signals which he could understand
because of a previous arrangem