XXIII
PERK LOSES HIS VOICE
Knowing that one of Perk’s failings lay along the line of talking a bit too much on occasion, Jack had taken pains to warn him against too much loquacity when making a night halt in this mountain town.
He had had occasion to take his pal to task along similar lines more than a few times in the past. Perk was too apt to forget that secrecy was always a leading card with all reliable members of the service in which he was enlisted.
That he emphasized this fact on the present occasion did not mean there was a particular reason for keeping the lid on, lest some desperate character hiding in the isolated place from the long arm of the Government’s deputies try to do them harm—but simply on general principles.
Only too well did Jack know there were men who had reason to hate all having any connection whatever with the Secret Service—men who had been sent to Atlanta or Leavenworth, to pay the debt they owed organized society. Through the entire period of their incarceration never a day had passed without their renewing a vow to sometime or other to get even with the members of that organization responsible for their imprisonment.
When their wheels came in contact with the ground in a perfect three point landing, they found themselves greeted by a number of men, ready to proffer any assistance that might be required, especially when it became known that the strangers intended to stay over night.
The presence of a girl pilot aboard the visiting craft also aroused additional curiosity for likely enough this may have been the very first time the town had ever played host to a genuine aviatrix.
Perk, to make doubly certain he did not babble, decided to play dumb as much as lay within his power. He could talk hoarsely as though suffering from a bad cold and loss of voice, a tricky game that gave him secret amusement, Jack rather suspected.
Jack soon learned they would surely find good accommodations at one of the hotels and a man who introduced himself as Caleb Cushman kindly volunteered to carry them there in his five-passenger car, handily near by.
This neighborly offer Jack immediately accepted, asking the other if he could wait a few minutes until some arrangement was made for storing their crate in a convenient hangar. Everybody seemed eager to oblige, and Jack really had to choose between three separate generous offers from as many parties.