XXI
OLD JIMMY, THE FACTOR
It hardly needed these vigorous words from the startled Perk to tell Jack something unusual was the matter at the trading post. Just as his comrade had declared, some sort of minor building was smouldering, smoke ascending in lazy spirals and occasionally a tiny burst of flame telling where a fresh bit of unburned wood must have fallen to the heat still hanging over the ruins.
Then too, the actions of the parties standing in a clump near the general store and fur repository added to his belief for they did look very much disturbed as if almost tempted to make a break for the shelter of the nearby forest.
That was easily understood, for up to the present time it must have been a rare event for an airplane to come circling over that remote trading post—indeed, perhaps never before had such a thrilling event occurred.
“Jack, you’re meanin’ to drop down, ain’t you?” sang out the worried Perk.
“I reckon to,” came the steady answer, “when you’ve shown me the open field you said lay close by—that was even enough for a fairly decent landing.”
“Why, there it is right now, partner—over on the right, this side o’ the tall timber yonder,” and Perk thrust out a hand so as to make his meaning quite clear.
“I see it Perk, boy, and must take your word for it we’ll have a chance to make contact without a spill. We’ve got to find out what’s been going on around here lately, that’s about all there is to it.” “I c’n jest wager it’s some dirty work o’ that timber wolf, Hawk,” asserted the other vigorously, “an’ if he’s so much as hurt a hair o’ Ol’ Jimmy McGregor’s gray head it’s goin’ to cost him dear, an’ that’s no lie either!”
Jack said nothing further, just paid strict attention to his business. He was scanning the rather contracted field so as to figure where he should drop down, with a bit of open space ahead for a short run after hitting the earth.
He had made several circles around the place before coasting earthward as his severe training as a pilot had taught him to do ere making the last dip. In another half minute the wheels had struck and the amphibian was slowing up in its forward thrust.