“To be sure—that had quite escaped my memory, owing to a press of business for the Department. Suppose you come around, say at eight this evening, when I shall be delighted to see you.”
“You can depend on me to be there; I have often wished I could drop in on you informally, and renew our old ties of friendship.”
“Just so, and on my part I shall be most charmed to have you meet my good wife, and the children also, who have heard me speak of you more than a few times.”
Both of them seemed to be enjoying this little chatter, meant to deceive any possible spy who might be looking for someone to make a business call upon the Government agent,—perhaps there might even be such a snake in his office force, some one who had been bought body and soul by the syndicate, which would account for a leakage more than once in the past, calculated to upset certain deeply laid schemes for breaking up the wide-flung conspiracy against Uncle Sam.
“I shall be particularly pleased to meet them, I assure you, cousin,” continued Jack. “At eight you said, sir?”
“Yes, and while you are in the city, later on possibly, I’d like you to fetch around that splendid pilot chap you mentioned, I believe, in one of your letters,—let me see, I think you wrote he was a native of Birmingham, down in our own Alabama close by, a sort of an odd genius, in the bargain, to whom you had become greatly attached.”
“I see you have been well posted, Cousin Casper,” Jack told him, understanding of course how the gentleman must have had a duplicate of the code letter sent on to him, Jack; since they were to work in collusion as a team. “Yes, I shall try to coax him to come with me later on—you know he’s not at all gunshy when in the field, or at the traps, a most excellent shot, and guide; but he doesn’t take much stock in society functions, in which he differs somewhat from myself. I’ll see you then tonight, cousin.”
“We’ll consider that settled; goodbye, Cousin Rodman until eight.”
Jack was laughing as he switched off, as though this part of his mission might be looked upon in the light of a good joke rather than anything really serious. But no one knew better than Jack what lay behind this pretense—how it was to be taken as only a bluff in order to deceive any argus eyes, or hostile listening ears, that might be employed by the powerful syndicate to further the ends of the smugglers of the Carolina coastways.
When Perk heard what had passed he, too, had his little fit of merriment; but looked serious when Jack told him of the warm invitation received concerning his being brought to the home of Mr. Herriott some time later on.