ad made his hawk-like swoop so as to pass completely along the entire
length of the deck--this in order to give his working pal a better
chance to fulfill his assignment.

Even before that missile struck, Perk had instantly changed the other
bomb to his eager right hand and in a rapid-fire way sent it, too,
hurtling downward, to crash further on close to the bow.

Then they were speeding into space beyond the bowsprit of the anchored
rum-runner, with Jack starting to climb in order to bank and swing
around, so as to complete the job if his first endeavor lacked in any
detail.

Lucky indeed for the two aviators that they had their goggles on, else
they too might have suffered from the fumes that so quickly spread in
every direction as though fanned by the night breeze. Perk afterwards
admitted that he had caught a whiff of the penetrating gas despite the
covering helmet and close-fitting goggles but thanks to the haste with
which Jack carried their ship past, the gas had little or no effect.

The clamor still continued, if anything, redoubled, for now the element
of fear had gripped the hearts of every man on board both boats as they
felt that terrible, unseen agency stabbing at their eyes and making the
stoutest writhe with agony and alarm, thinking they must be doomed.

Jack could easily comprehend why they should be demoralized under the
prevailing conditions--there had been enough excitement in the air to
start with when the hijacker crowd boarded the rum-runner and joined
issues with the crews of the two allied boats but when from out of the
skies there descended a swooping monster, apparently about to fall upon
them as might a stray meteor from unlimited space in the firmament, and
that strange, racking pain gripped their eyes, nothing but panic could
describe their condition with any degree of accuracy.

But one element was now lacking in the dreadful turmoil--Perk could no
longer detect the quick percussion of blows, as fists and clubbed
firearms clashed against human bodies backed by a fierce anger that had
been fanned into a blaze by injuries received and a sense of impending
victory, with the spoils in sight.

Apparently every man among them was thinking of nothing save his own
individual sufferings and terror--unable to see with any degree of
certainty, they must be staggering this way and that, colliding with
each other and then one by one either falling into the water or else
jumping aboard the speed