The Sky Detectives; Or How Jack Ralston Got His Man Read online

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  AVIATION

  THE SKY DETECTIVES

  OR

  How Jack Ralston Got His Man

  BY

  AMBROSE NEWCOMB

  Author of "Eagles of the Sky," etc., etc.

  THE GOLDSMITH PUBLISHING CO.

  CHICAGO

  The Sky Detectives Copyright 1930 The Goldsmith Publishing Co. Made in U.S.A.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I READY FOR THE TAKEOFF 13 II THE LUCK OF SCOTTY 23 III HEADED SOUTH 32 IV THE GRIM PURSUER 40 V A DUEL IN THE AIR 47 VI PARACHUTE JUMPERS 55 VII STRIKING THE FOG BELT 64 VIII NEW ORLEANS, FIRST STOP 71 IX COACHING PERK 79 X LAYING PLANS 89 XI THE NIGHT ALARM 97 XII PLAYING WITH FIRE 104 XIII THE HOP-OFF 113 XIV SKIRTING THE GULF 120 XV PERK AS A FIRE FIGHTER 127 XVI IN THE GRIP OF THE STORM 136 XVII A FIGHT WELL WON 143 XVIII THE DESERTED SHACK 152 XIX FORTUNE KNOCKS AT THE DOOR 161 XX SPRINGING THE TRAP 168 XXI PICKING UP CLUES 177 XXII OVER ARIZONA DESERTS 184 XXIII ON TO THE COLORADO 193 XXIV SIMEON GROWS DESPERATE 200 XXV THE STAGE SET FOR BATTLE 209 XXVI ON THE FACE OF THE MOON 217 XXVII THE SIERRA MADRE CHAIN 225 XXVIII CLOSE TO THE TIGER'S LAIR 232 XXIX NEARING THE GOAL 239 XXX JACK GETS HIS MAN 247

  THE SKY DETECTIVES

  CHAPTER I

  READY FOR THE TAKE-OFF

  It was a day in the late Fall when Jack Ralston, accompanied by his bestpal, Gabe Perkiser, known simply as "Perk" by all his friends, foundthemselves climbing out of a hired taxi that had halted on the border ofCandler Flying Field just a short distance out of Atlanta, Georgia.

  "Huh! reg'lar mob out here today, seems like," observed Perk, as he tooknote of the triple line of cars parked around the field, with itsnumerous up-to-date hangars, and with ships coming and going every fewminutes.

  "Yes, you see Perk, it happens to be a big day at stunt flying, with fatprizes for the winners. All the better for us, I'd say, since ourtake-off will hardly make a ripple in the pond, with all this confusiongoing on."

  "Sure thing, my boy," continued Perk, with one of his humorous grinsthat betokened a good-natured chap; "and privacy's just what we crave. Iguess now that might be the mail comin' from down East an' New York?"

  "A rotten guess then, Perk," chortled the other; "Eastern mail boat wasdue here at six-ten this morning; the Pitcairn Aviation concern handlethat route, as well as the run between Atlanta and Miami down inFlorida; and I'm telling you for a fact the boys holding the stick with_that_ corporation are nearly always on time to the dot, come storm,come fog as thick as pea-soup. The schedule I glimpsed at the Atlantapost office gave the time of the East Coast ship as seven-thirty P. M.;that from New Orleans at six-thirty P. M.; and the one from Chicagoabout the same time. So you see it couldn't be a mail crate droppingdown right now, unless they'd had to make a forced landing, and losttime in making repairs."

  "Yeah, come to think of it I sure did hear a bus passin' over just atpeep o' day," admitted Perk. "Let's have a look-in while we're here, andsee what a bag o' tricks these stunt flyers are holdin' up theirsleeves, so's to give this crowd a row o' thrills."

  "Suits me, Perk; no great hurry about our jumping off, so long as wepull the gun before dark sets in."

  "Shucks! little difference it makes on a patch as well lighted as thisCandler Field o' your home city, old boy; and with a flashlight beaconset every ten miles all the way down to Orleans, to keep us on ourcourse. Look at that guy fairly burning the air like hot cakes--he mustbe tryin' to beat the speed record, I guess, Jack."

  "Hardly a day comes without some record going by the board," remarkedJack, who had a reputation as a safe and sane pilot, although onoccasion he had been known to put through some tricks so death-defyingas to make the hearts of the spectators seem to jump up in their throatswith the thrill.

  Perk was quite correct when he stated that Atlanta was the home city ofhis close friend and chum; although Jack's family had moved away yearsback, and become fruit raisers in far-off California. Still, havingspent some years in the Georgia capital Jack always liked to drop in andrenew a limited number of old friendships when opportunity offered.

  Jack Ralston had begun his aviation work starting at the lowest round,that of a Gypsy pilot, flying an ancient boat at County Fairs andHarvest Home gatherings; doing aerial stunts, and "bailing out" by meansof a parachute while another pilot ran the ship; also taking up airminded "sand-bags" as passengers at so much each person.

  From this modest beginning he had finally accepted a position with anaircraft corporation having contracts with the Post Office Department atWashington for carrying the mails, and later on express matter as well;and last of all working for Uncle Sam through joining the Secret Servicecorps of skillful detectives, whose activities covered every part of theNation, and even to adjacent countries as well.

  When the Government wearied of the bold doings of one "Slippery Slim"Garrabrant, and decided to "clip the wings" of that audacious freebooterand bogus-money crook, it was only natural they should pick Jack forthis service. The reasons for doing so were many, but what counted mostwas Jack's well known cleverness as an all-round air pilot; for ithappened that the slick rogue who had been giving the revenue men such awild-goose chase, with his thumb held up to his nose, so to speak, washimself a remarkable master of the air lanes, he having been an ace as aflying pilot over with the army on the Argonne front in France.

  Since as a rule this troublesome offender carried on his boldenterprises by means of a handy plane--frequently with a singleassistant, who helped handle both ship and cargo--the man thus selectedto put a crimp in his activities was likewise given full permission toengage a helper from the same arm of the Government forces, one who mustof course know something about the handling of a plane, so that in caseof necessity he could serve as co-pilot.

  Jack lost no time in picking Gabe Perkiser, otherwise known simply as"Perk"--a man who had supped with adventure since he was "knee high to aduck"--a half Yankee--half Canuck, drifting into the army, and servingwith the sausage observation balloon corps over in France; from whichpatriotic occupation he later on became a champion light-weight boxer.Leaving the ring while as yet undefeated he served for several yearswith the Canadian Mounted Police. Here his smartness in usually fetchingback his man, no matter what the difficulties that had to be surmounted,attracted the attention of
a gentleman connected with Uncle Sam's SecretService, just then moose hunting over the northern border, who finallyinfluenced Perk to join up with his force.

  Jack and the other had met under peculiar conditions when both weretracking a bunch of check raisers floating across the country andleaving a wide swath of victims in their path. They had become more thanfriends, although meeting but seldom; then, when the opportunity camefor Jack to call upon Perk to join him in the new job that had beenturned over to his charge, the latter had responded with alacrity.

  So here they were, on the threshold of an affair that promised to engagetheir united talents in running down the leader of the most troublesomegang of counterfeit currency makers known to the Government agents inthe last ten years.

  Every clue possessed at Headquarters had been turned over to Jack at thetime he was given authority to carry on as the situation demanded;although this information was a bit limited, and much was left to theshrewdness of the two trail hounds themselves.

  There was no hurry at all, and Jack had always been one of thosecautious workers who meant to provide for all sorts of emergencies. Onlytoo well did he know how many a splendid undertaking went on the rocksfrom lack of foreseeing the next move on the part of the astutecriminals whose apprehension meant so much to the Government, as well asthe folks they were victimizing.

  But by now he had decided everything was arranged so far as human meanswould permit, and that it was high time they started on their longchase. Their boat, a Stinson Detroiter, a monoplane with a WrightWhirlwind motor, and reckoned to be an unusually swift craft, wasalready loaded, and ready for immediate departure. It had been stored inone of the big hangars connected with the Candler Flying Field but couldbe taxied into position when Jack felt ready to skip off.

  Their flying togs were also contained in a locker in the same hangar,and could be donned in a jiffy, even to the 'chute harness that was sofamiliar to Jack, and a constant reminder of early experiences when hewas accustomed to carry out his daily program of "quitting the ship"with as much _sang froid_ as though the jump into space from a fivethousand foot ceiling were absolutely next to nothing.

  But plainly Perk was becoming a bit restless, as though eager to be onhis way; which fact doubtless influenced Jack to eventually give theword that took them to their hangar. Here they commenced preparing for anight flight that was expected to land them in New Orleans, where Jackwas to interview a certain representative of the Government service,from whom he anticipated receiving a few valuable tips that would givethem something tangible and serve as a beginning of their arduous chase.

  While they were thus engaged someone hailed them with a boisterousgreeting, at which Perk grinned, and made a suitable reply.

  "Hey, Scotty, this your night off, is it--got in from your route okay,and stepped out to see the boys cut a few figger-eights in the sky--justcan't keep away from the game, even when you got a lay-off? What's new,old hoss?"

  "They told me at the house you expected to step off tonight, boys--isthat a fact, or did they slip an easy one over me, I want to know?"demanded the other, who was apparently a mail pilot friend of theirs--infact, having the adjoining room at the small hotel where they werestopping.

  "Yes," Jack told him, secretive as usual, "we're going further, andboosting the Stinson Detroiter ship by showing what it has to set itabove most other boats. Plans not fully arranged as yet, but we're onour way; so it's good-bye, and good luck to you, Scotty."

  "How about that news, Scotty?" the insistent Perk went on to demand,being by nature one of those stubborn chaps who can never be happy untilthey get what they are after, no matter how trivial it may seem.

  The air mail pilot scratched his head, and then with a grin answeredPerk's question.

  "Nothing much along the line of aviation; but something queer happenedto me--say, did you boys sleep at home last night while I was on theroad?"

  "We sure did," Perk told him, and then added: "What makes you ask that,old hoss?"

  "Didn't hear any sort of racket in my den did you, fellows?" continuedthe other; at which Perk, after exchanging a look of bewilderment withhis pal, hastened to answer.

  "Not a thing, Scotty; but then you know I sleep like a log; and it'dhave to be a thunderclap to wake me up; what's been going on?"

  "You got me guessing, Perk," said the other, with a look of disgust;"only when I got in this morning I found my room looking like ahurricane had struck it, my things tossed out of drawers, my trunkbroken open, and say, you never saw such a dirty mess. Course I askedthe boss what it meant; but he was as much surprised as I was--talkedwith every servant from the cook down to Mary the chamber maid; butnobody could tell a darned thing about it."

  Again Jack and Perk exchanged a swift glance, as though the same ideahad struck both of them. Scotty did not appear to notice this, being tooworked up with the mystery that had so suddenly gripped his fortunes.

  "Did you lose anything worth while, Scotty?" Jack asked, in a voice thatsuggested sympathy; but to his surprise the other shook his head in thenegative, and even grinned as he lifted his heavy eyebrows to say:

  "That's the funny part of it, boys; whoever the sneak thief was, hedidn't even dent me a little bit--so far as I c'n see not a blessedthing is missing--fact is, I'm even better off than before he paid thatqueer visit, 'cause he left this old pocketbook mixed up with my traps;and it ain't mine for a fact, though I'm meaning to spend the little wadof dough it holds. Like manna coming down to the children of Israel inthe Wilderness, wouldn't you say, boys?"

  "Lucky old hoss you are, Scotty," remarked Perk, enviously; while Jacknodded his head as though to echo the sentiment.