Faces 182
XXIII A Pugnacious Rattler 189
XXIV On Hands and Knees 196
XXV Perk Demands More Water 203
XXVI The Fight at the Well 211
XXVII At Bay 218
XXVIII The Come-Back 225
XXIX A Last Resort 232
XXX Fetching in Their Man 239

EAGLES OF THE SKY

CHAPTER I

READY FOR BUSINESS

When the "Big Boss" at Secret Service Headquarters in Washington sent
Jack Ralston and his pal, Gabe Perkiser, to Florida with orders to comb
the entire Gulf Coast from the Ten Thousand Islands as far north as
Pensacola and break up the defiant league of smugglers, great and small,
that had for so long been playing a game of hide-and-seek with the Coast
Guard revenue officers, the task thus assigned was particularly to the
liking of those two bold and dependable sky detectives.

They loved nothing better than _action_--never felt entirely happy
unless matching their wits against those of skulking law breakers--while
to sup with danger, and run across all manner of thrilling
adventures--that was a daily yearning with them.

Since so much of their work must of necessity take them over that vast
stretch of salt water lying between the Florida coast and the far
distant Mexican shore line, the wise men in Washington had supplied Jack
with a speedy plane of the amphibian type, capable of making landings
either on shore or in any of the numerous inlets dotting the coast, it
being equipped with both aluminum pontoons and adjustable wheels.

Jack had spent several days at the Capital, conferring with various high
officials, being thus put in possession of every available scrap of
reliable information at the disposal of the Department.

He had also been given documents of authority, calling upon each and
every Government agent in all Florida to afford him any possible
assistance, should he require such backing while learning the identity
of the "higher-up" capitalists guilty of financing the secret clique
that had been giving the revenue men such trouble recently.

The fact was well known that besides the valuable _caches_ of unset
diamonds, and other precious stones, coming surreptitiousl