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{{frabfp046.png}} || eagles of the sky ||

ocr>   guessed a tpreviously, so cleverly had these transfer
fix>   guessed at previously, so cleverly had these transfer
bases been kept concealed from the most skillful
of the Government agents. Perk himself
felt confident that they were as yet only on the
threshold of still more important discoveries.

It was one of Perk's peculiar little eccentricities
that he could do better thinking if only
he had a bit of chewing gum between his teeth,
just to keep some muscles at work, he said, and in
some mysterious fashion having this energy pass
from his working jaws to his brain and hasten
its activities.

So what did he do now but fumble in a pocket
of his oily dungarees and produce a slab of his
favorite brand, Perk thrusting it into his mouth
and savagely rolling it between his teeth, really
believed this helped his brain to function more
easily.

Perhaps it may have done so--some people
have all manner of strange hallucinations, which,
being favored, bring satisfaction to their train of
thought. If Perk actually believed in his remedy
that was half the battle and no other person's
business whatsoever.

Looking out to sea he could still find that lone
beacon, even without the aid of his binoculars.
It was easy for such an imaginative fellow to
picture in his mind the lingering sloop, loaded
to the gunwales with case goods, worth almost a

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