“Being pals, Allen and I pass on bits of information which may come in handy in our work. He told me that there was a grand round-up of criminals at that ranch in Texas, but he also said that two men, the son of one of the leaders and their chauffeur managed to escape the net. Do you happen to know if the man has been captured?”
“He wasn’t a couple of days ago. That’s Arthur Gordon. The sheriff at Crofton had the old ranch guarded by a young deputy. We had to stop there one day before Christmas, and discovered that Gordon was there, but he saw us first,” Jim explained.
“Which means that he got in some dirty work and made his get away.”
“He surely did.” Bob told the story briefly, not leaving out anything and with casual references to Don Haurea, and Seaman was greatly interested.
“He’s a bad boy all right-o. What do you suppose he wanted with carrier pigeons?”
“He must use them to send communication to some long distance point.”
“Yes, of course. It will be well to remember that he has a supply and notify the authorities to be on the watch for them. A plane can trail one easily if it is once spotted. It seems strange that Gordon abandoned your airplane.”
“That occurred to us, but we’re glad he did,” Bob grinned.
“Who wouldn’t be!”
“Probably the young fellow had another means of leaving the State or the country. He may even have had a plane of his own, and of course he would know that a description of your machine would be well broadcasted. He didn’t have gas enough to get very far, so he dropped out where he knew he would find friends and either hid until the matter blew over somewhat, or left immediately,” Mr. Austin volunteered.