“Huh! I cal’late these kiotes jest hate all Government men like a cat does agettin’ its feet wet,” hazarded Perk, shrugging his shoulders.
“Oh worse, far worse than that, buddy,” Jack assured him amiably; “they know how their lives are at stake, and to them a Secret Service man takes on the shape of a noose, or the electric chair. Whenever it comes to a fight between the two of us, and that crowd, it’s got to be to the death, with no mercy shown.”
“I savvy, partner,” Perk told him, firmly; “knowed that much right along. Doant skeer me any, either, ’cause my life’s been made up o’ takin’ chances—over in France in that ole sausage balloon company—then in circus stunts in a ricketty airship that was always agoin’ to blow up with us—after that servin’ with the Canadian Mounties up in the Northwest Territory, like yeou know ’bout; and last but not least, the times I been with yeou ascootin’ raound the hull country, ahaulin’ in smugglers, bootleggers, flim-flam artists, bogus money-makers, check raisers, an’ sech nasty fry. I jest dote on runnin’ close chances—it’s sure the life that suits Gabe Perkiser.”
“The first job we’re going to tackle is along the line of making a safe and sane landing—you get that of course, Perk?” continued practical Jack.
“Nawthin’ else, partner,” answered the other, without hesitation; “seems like ever’thing depends on that same. But aint it like lookin’ fur a needle in a haystack to reckon on findin’ that ere one little patch o’ level ground he wrote was the on’y place where a ship could come daown, an’ not crash?”
“I’m going to correct you there, brother,” Jack was saying; “there is yet another landing field, and even a much better one; but out of our reach, for according to Simeon it lies inside the Hole-in-the-Wall valley where these fugitives from the Law have their hangout. He even so much as hinted that they had some kind of a plane themselves, which was in frequent use between this section of country, and certain cities where they had secret connections, and started much of their counterfeit stuff into circulation, to the mystification of the authorities, who could never seem to pick up their trail.”
“Jest so, Jack, ole hoss, the air doant ever leave a trail, which makes it right hard fur such fellers as us to get agoin’ straight. Ready to start on aour way, be yeou, partner?”
“Yes, but I want you to keep on using the glasses right along,” Jack told him. “If we had the misfortune to overlap that single open patch of ground, we’d be all at sea, and must double back, so as to go over the ground again, which would increase the chances of our being discovered, or heard by some of the outlaws possibly out hunting, or going to and fro.”
“I’ll do my level best to hit on the mark, Jack; jest go as slow as yeou kin, so’s to gimme every chance to count. Haow far ’bout do yeou figger goin’ on this tack, I want to know?”
“Well, this target we’ve struck he said on his paper map was something like twenty miles away from the entrance to the hidden valley—you remember that of course, Perk? The landing field, as we’ve got to call it from now on, would be some six or seven miles away from their Haunt; and consequently I expect to cover twelve miles, more or less, before I’m looking to have you tell me you’ve sighted our goal. If ever you used those sharp eyes of yours to advantage, now’s the time for an extra effort, partner.”