When Perk came back ten minutes later and washed his hands down at the river brink, Jack only chuckled, as though it tickled him to notice how the flinty-hearted Perk—only with regard to his indifference toward all female persons—had discovered that there might still be a few—not many, perhaps—girls who were sincere and loyal to the one to whom they had pledged their hearts—lucky Buddy Warner, with all this uncertainty regarding his fate—at the worst there would be some one to always mourn his passing.
On came the day, and Perk busied himself in getting a good cooking fire going, remembering what a delicious supper the girl had prepared on the preceding evening; and his mouth now fairly watering with hopes of another turn at that royal ambrosia which some people without sentiment will call plain “coffee.”
Suzanne presently joined them, after washing her pretty face down at the running water, which was icy cold, and most refreshing indeed. Then she busied herself at the fire, ordered the meek and obedient Perk around after the manner of most petty and pretty kitchen tyrants; but the fine odors that were soon filling the rarified air buoyed up Perk’s spirits wonderfully and he raised no rebellion.
And the breakfast to which they soon sat down was just as delicious as fancy had pictured; indeed, the only thing amiss so far as the ravenous Perk could discover was the fact that it might give out before all of them had had a sufficiency.
“Now, let’s get busy transferring that gas to our tank, Perk,” Jack observed, as they finally arose. “We’ll have to get our boat up on the shore, you observe—a case of Mahomet going to the mountain—let’s go, partner.”
This was not so difficult as it might seem; for the sandy shore was shelving, and once Jack gave her the gun the amphibian literally “walked up” to where they wanted her to be, alongside the Stinson-Detroiter plane.
Perk produced a length of small rubber tubing, and made use of it as a siphon. Once the gasoline was started, by suction—Perk attended to that part by sucking the air all out, and getting a mouthful of liquid to pay him for his trouble, which he ejected with a grimace—it continued to flow until the tank aboard the amphibian was plumb full.
“I can scare up several five-gallon empty tins,” suggested the wise Perk, “that might be filled, and stowed away somewhere—that would give us a reserve stock, plenty I guess to carry us to the nearest supply base in case our tank went dry.”
“A mighty good idea, boy,” was Jack’s comment, he being glad to see how the other was recovering from his late depression.
They finally had everything settled—Suzanne had put up her little “sign,” to let curious-minded folks wandering that way know who owned the abandoned crate, and that it was to be let absolutely alone until she came to salvage it. Then, too, she had made up her little package of “essentials,” which she meant to take along when they zoomed off to start the real search for lost Buddy Warner.