Amazing Stories, Vol. 2, No. 1 — page 41: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

9 * ok Be Fp « ‘at es PA 6s : oe 3 A we 4 j except behind the bars for some little time. Any- how, to-night will tell, I’m hoping.” CHAPTER IX Arrival of the Conspirators by the Air-Route. The Pursuit. The Airplane Disabled IDNIGHT. The government plant at Jackson was wrapped in shadows and over it brooded a deep quiet, broken only by the gurgle and lap of the waters of the river as they slipped past the island. Three figures silently stole out of the cottage of Captain Thompson, made their way to the vicin- ity of the laboratory building, and were merged with the darkness. Had one been able to see them he would have discovered them prostrate on the ground where they could command the main door to the building. Thus ten minutes passed. Then faintly to their ears came the droning whine of a high-powered motor, beating swiftly and accurately on its many cylinders. Abruptly it was shut off, there was the swish of a heavy body rushing through the air above the heads of the concealed three and a huge shape, like a bird that soars with wings extended, circled smartly over the river, slid downward and, cutting the water sharply for fifty yards, came to rest near the shore of the island. -_ None of the three budged or spoke. The current bore the seaplane in until it gently nosed the bank and a man leaped ashore, busied himself for a few minutes, apparently turning the plane and making it secure with a rope, then stole up the pathway to the laboratory door. Evidently his coming was expected, for the door swung open and he disappeared within. “Stay here,” commanded one of the three watchers as he rose and crept away in the direction of the seaplane. He clambered into the cockpit, fumbled briefly with a knowing hand among the intricacies under the instrument board, and rejoined the others. “T disconnected his ignition,” whispered Captain Thompson and sank back into his former position in the shadows. He was barely in time, too, for the laboratory door opened and this time two figures emerged, each bearing in his arms what appeared to be a heavy box. These they stowed away in the plane and returned, disappearing inside the build- ing again. “This is the time we nail them,” came from one of the watchers. It was Barry, to whom had fallen the task of directing the capture. volvers ready and have your hand on the switch, Goodwin.” Finding a Second Criminal eh the laboratory door opened, again the two figures emerged and made their way to the plane. Had there been eyes in the back of their heads, however, they would have seen the trio get to their feet and assume the position of runners waiting for the crack of the gun that would send them awa:. “Now!” snapped Barry, and he and Captain Thompson dashed for the men at the plane. In- panty, fo eS the switch in his mone and nee ne = Ata ere on Sy ake é AMAZING STORIES torboat and made comfortable. “Have your re- =? \ace ot ¥ eS ae ate a ‘7 tv - Soa * > a Toe Py . ~ ot S45 PI ” 3 av rites a Be Be SR ee, pas ee te oe, een ee ee ee , “5. bev VAn? te ; tee ae } from the top of two nearby buildings giant search- lights burst into radiance, illuminating the scene as if it were day. “Throw up .your hands, quick,” shouted the government detective, aiming his revolver. The result was startling. One of the cornered men sprang upon the other. “Yes, you’re caught, you damned thief,” roared the voice of Jim Elston, the electrician. “I’ve got him, captain! I’ve got him!” | From the other, taken by surprise as he was, came a maddened cry in the high, nasal tones of the platinum pirate. “Take that, you double-crosser,” he grated vindictively and, bringing his revolver down upon the electrician’s head, he flung the electrician from him and sprang into the plane. The three pursuers had closed in by now. They stood a few yards away, the muzzles of their weapons trained upon the man in the plane as he wildly sought to start its motor. “It’s no use, Porter,” called Barry. “The wires are disconnected. Throw up your hands or you die.” With a cry that acknowledged defeat, the plati- num pirate obeyed. A moment later the govern- ment man had climbed up beside him and snapped handcuffs upon his wrists. Jim Elston still lay where he had fallen. From a wound on the head where the butt of the platinum pirate’s revolver had crashed with terrific force in that momentary struggle the blood was trickling down and the unconscious man moaned softly. “IT hope he dies, the double-crosser,” snarled Porter as he and his captor paused beside the inanimate form over which Goodwin and Thompson were feverishly working. But he got no rise from the others. “We'd better get him to the hospital over on the mainland,” said the army officer. ‘He’ll live, probably, but he got a nasty crack. Funny, too, it’s almost identical with the wound that put Old Peter out of action. Retribution, I would say.” So after a few minutes in the laboratory during which Goodwin took fingerprints of both Porter and Elston, the injured man was carried to the mo- Then the sullen prisoner was taken aboard and Barry and Captain Thompson set off for the mainland with them. Goodwin declined to go. He had work to do, he said with a mysterious smile and turned back to the laboratory. Dawn was breaking when, hollow-eyed and hag- gard, he gazed with satisfaction upon the result of his labors spread out on a table before him: A dozen negatives, developed and dried and a print of. each; four sets of fingerprints, all classified; a talking machine record. It was there that Barry and Thompson found him upon their return. Elston was conscious, the captain said, and insisted that as soon as he was able to talk he would explain his share in the affair so satisfactorily that instead of being a suspected accomplice, with a policeman on guard at his bed- side, he would be hailed as a hero and crook-catcher. “The way he jumped on Porter has almost con- vinced me that we were wrong in suspecting Jim,” said the captain. im carry out the boxes containing the platinum, but he insists: that it was 3 all, a ae of his scheme to. - as34 | | . h is fs = oc “5 - 5.18 ¢, hens: : is 4% Miaka Roa : ° | a a lt =a" AS nal oJ * oy 3 “ we eh ae SO Te cele Rea ale . ; . ., .* -