Afterwards Perk kept himself busy doing a number of things that had some connection with their comfort along the “grub line,” as he termed it.
Jethro seemed content to just take things comfortably; while Jack found an abundance of employment in making up his notes. This was carried out in the code language, so that if he had the hard luck to fall into the hands of the enemy they would not be able to discover what all the queer marks really stood for—without a knowledge concerning the key it would seem more or less like the silly scribbling of a child.
Then, too, Jack allowed himself to figure out what would be the nature of their next undertaking, following out their plan for striking telling blows at everything that helped to build up the strategic working of the smuggler ring’s illicit business.
“It should be tried out if another of those speedboats makes shore while we’re hanging around up there,” he told himself, after one of these spells of deep thinking; “anything that goes to create a feeling of genuine consternation in that mob comes along our line of action. We’ve prepared for all those kind of little surprises, and mustn’t lose any chance that drifts our way, that’s absolutely certain. Well, we’ll wait and see what turns up to-night.”
At noon Perk once again disappeared back of the screen of brush, vines and dense foliage, to concoct another fragrant and much relished meal. At night they would have to fare on cold stuff, as Jack hesitated to risk the glow of a fire so near the river, where some sort of boat might be passing, with a chance of discovery that would spell disaster to all their pet schemes.
As the afternoon moved along Jack cast uneasy glances up at the sky, where openings in the heavy belt of trees allowed of a fragmentary survey.
“Seems a little like rain, fellows,” he told his mates; whereupon both of the others took a good look, and pronounced their several opinions.
Jethro, Jack found, proved to be one of those natural weather oracles such as may occasionally be run across among the natives in southern sections of the country; and his opinion struck both the others as sound and reasonable.
He even in his quaint fashion, and in the lingo of cracker land, explained on what he based his prophecy that, while the clouds might persist there would be no rain fall inside of twelve to twenty hours; although beyond that he was not prepared to say, and felt there was a fair chance the clouds would wet things pretty well before giving way to clear skies again.
“Mebbe then we kin put in one more good blast ’fore we git housed up here in aour houseboat,” Perk advanced, as both his opinion and his secret wish.