ed belonged to the Hun pilot,
Oscar Gleeb.

CHAPTER XII

ODDENEMIES FACE TO FACE

"Je-ru-salem crickets!" Perk told himself as he stared, "I do b'lieve
that's the same Curtiss-Robin crate we saw before, an' making direct for
this here section o' the map in the bargain! Now I wonder what he wants
to barge in for when things seem to be doin' their prettiest for us
fellers? Guess I'd better get ready for boarders. If that smart guy took
a notion to swoop down for a close-up o' these mangrove islands, he'd be
apt to pick me up, 'specially if he happens to own a pair o' glasses,
which stands to reason he sure does. Huh! what a bother. Better be slow
'bout foolin' with a buzz-saw, that's all I c'n say to him."

No sooner said than done, which was Perk's usual way of playing the
game. He changed his position for one that offered less chance for
discovery and while about it Perk started to build up something in the
shape of a formidable fortification.

"What luck to have all these logs lyin' around when I need them," he
went on to tell himself with many a dry chuckle. "Guess now they had 'em
aboard to pull the wool over the eyes o' any customs men that happened
to board the sloop lookin' for contraband stuff--meant to claim they was
fetchin' mahogany logs to a States market. Gee whiz! they sure are a
tough proposition to move around but here's the cutest little fort any
playboy could wish for. Let him come along--who cares a red cent what he
does, so long's I got this here machine-gun with plenty o' cartridges in
the belts to riddle things with. Ring up the curtain, an' let the play
start. Makes me think I'm back in the old line again along the Argonne,
an' say, jest 'magine how it all works out with one o' them same Hun
pilots swooping down on me! It sure is to laugh, boys."

By this time the oncoming plane was drawing perilously near and Perk
wisely settled himself so that he could see all that occurred.

He possessed a pair of marvelously keen eyes and while it would have
simplified matters considerably had he been handling those wonderful
binoculars, just the same he could get on without them.

By close application he was able to see a figure bending over the ledge
of the cabin window, apparently scrutinizing the queer combination of
mangrove patches and crooked water passages between. The plane was
rushing down a steep slant in a clever dive, or glide, so that with the
passage of each second the chances fo