These things do not necessitate their being noted here, although to Jack they meant a great deal, serving to fasten in concrete form fragments of his view of the situation; and by degrees make a complete whole, thus giving him the grasp he required to accomplish his end.
Mr. Herriott answered slowly, as though anxious to make no mistake that might cost the bold workers unnecessary trouble or risk. He might have been a lawyer on the stand, so studiously did he tell whatever he happened to know of the point Jack was trying to have made clear.
Jack was wonderfully heartened—with such a clean spoken and well informed witness in the chair he could already see things were bound to speed along, and bring him much grist for the mill.
When in the end his list of queries was finished, Mr. Herriott hastened to assure him he stood ready to answer any others that might occur to his new-found friend later on; for Jack had already mentioned how he and Perk would “stay around,” possibly for as long as ten days, or two weeks, there was so much to learn, such great need for him to investigate many regions in that wilderness of swamp and watercourses marking the northward shore line.
So far as he had gone in the matter, Jack felt much encouraged; although knowing full well by far the worst was yet to come. These preliminaries seemed only in the nature of skirmishes, with the fierce battle in prospect.
Mr. Herriott had told him many things having a distinct bearing on the great adventure; mention of which will be made later on, when Jack starts posting his chum.
This was only the first of several interviews he expected to hold with the accommodating Government representative, as step by step he climbed the heights, and reached the climax just before plunging into the fray, on the principle that it was his duty to “hew close to the line, let the chips fall where they willed.”
It was after ten when Jack arrived at the hotel. Feeling particularly dry before ascending to their room, he satisfied his thirst by stepping into the convenient drugstore, and supping a cold cream soda. This was on the principle that if he knew Perk—and he had reason to believe he surely did—the other might be expected to shower him with questions of every variety, in his eagerness to learn how their plans were progressing; so that his throat would soon become too dry to keep up the chatter necessary to appease the voracious one.
He found Perk drowsing in his chair, the evening paper scattered all over the floor, as it had been tossed aside after being perused in search of such items along the line of aviation and Government work in suppressing lawless breaks in the customs service and coast patrol, always matters of supreme importance in the eyes of a loyal and industrious Secret Service man.
Perk jumped up when the door opened, as if suddenly realizing that after all he had neglected to fasten it as Jack had advised.