Air Wonder Stories, July 1929 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

24 hand. “Did you hear any noise?” I asked. The lips twitched desperately, and a silly smile came into the Finn’s face, *"Whisper—whisper— sper. Binz-z-z!” he imitated. “’N I d’n’ know any more, please.” We left it at that, for it was painful to talk to the man, he had such terrible difficulty in talking— or even thinking. ; “Dare we interpret the maunderings of that dipso- maniac into evidence for the airship idea, Jimmy?” Dan asked when we were in his roadster again. “Let's,” said I, “and see what it leads to.” “He got up for another drink, you know,” said Dan. “It might all be drunken imagination.” “Possibly. The only concrete thing about it is the cabin—which might be the gondola of a dirigible.” “And the blue wall, Jimmy—the blue wall? Some effect of alcohol on the eyes, maybe?” “Maybe,” I agreed. ‘‘Unless—unless what he saw was the side of the airship eS “Could an airship venture so low?” “How can I tell, Dan? If the crooks came out of an airship at all, it would be less likely to be spotted if it came as low as possible over the area of operations, where all the inhabitants were un- conscious. The higher it remained, the wider the field from which it was visible. You’ve got to re- member that the Metallurgical is only a little less than the Woolworth, and that the few overhead cables still in existence are well under roof height. Say your supposed airship had a width of just under thirty metres—there’s nothing to ston it from nestling in Broadway.” Dan let out a chuckle. “Columbus! This is deep stuff, Jimmy, We'll have to do a lot of sleuthing before we're through.” “Tl tell you what, Dan. I’m going to get Dick Schuyler on the phone, and ask him to join us to- night at Hazeldene. With the old man and Milliken well have a fine old council of war—a regular powwow.” “Flas Dickie any sense?” “You bet you,” said I, “Dickie not only has sense, but he knows more about lighter-than-air machines than I do. I don’t favour that sort of flying at all.” When we arrived at Dan’s laboratory, he went off to see his research merchants who had been working on the tarnished gold. I didn’t go with him, being on the phone to Dick Schuyler. I was lucky enough to find my man at home with his squadron, and he fell in with the idea of joining the party at Hazeldene. “T'd like to come across on your new bus, Jimmy,” he said, “but I’m on duty again at five in the morning. I'll fly over on my own bus if you can berth her for me,” “Tons of room, Dick,” I told him. “When do you start for Hazeldene?” “At seven from the Battery stage.” “Right,” said he. “I'll start with you,” “Very well, old son,” I said. “We'll wait for you at the other end.” I heard a splutter come over the phone. “Now, what the devil do you mean by that, Jimmy Boon?’ Dick demanded. “T have to inform you that my bus is the quickest thing in the ATR WONDER STORIES service,” “Can she do five hundred per?” I asked casually. “Good Lord!” he yelled. “Can the Merlin?” “Start at seven and see for yourself,” said I, and rung off, Dan came back just then, but had no discovery to report. “My fellows:are in the air,” he said, “That locket and coin of yours have got them going. There seems to be the faintest trace of a radio-activity filming the gold, but they have not determined what it is yet. I’ve indicated new tests, and they'll work late on them. The thing’s a puzzle.” He went off to pack a kit-bag, and while I waited I ran through some newspapers we had brought on the way up town. The columns were crammed with talk of the robbery, and it was evident that business was badly jolted. Every paper spoke of the “panic” on Wall Street, of the run on the branches of the banks, and none of them could make head or tail of the radium mystery. Since the passing of the Personal Liberty Laws, which restored to Americans the right, among other things, to drink when and where they liked, and what they liked, the newspapers had not shown such scare lines. But in all the mass of written stuff there was not a single helpful word. The phone buzzer went, and I found my father at the other end of the wire. Ready For Business “@AY—is that you, Jimmy? Your father speaking. Is that new plane of yours up to picking a passenger off a liner which is now thirty-six hours away from Sandy Hook?” “That'll be about fifteen hundred kilometres away —eh?” The old man swore. “Durn your new-fangled measures, son,” he said. “TJ make it nine hundred American miles ” “Same thing. When do you want him to be in New York?” “Could you land him at the Battery at ten to- morrow?” “Yes. I can pick him—or her—up in good time for that.” “T said ‘him,’ Jimmy. Lord Almeric Plauscarden, deputy governor of the Bank of England, it is. He’s on the Parnassic due off Sandy Hook on Wednesday morning.” “Right. Vl do it.” “Thank you, son. Ill radio him to expect you— when?” “Just before six to-morrow morning.” “Good, See you at the Battery presently.” If the old man had patted me on the back phys- ically, he would have pleased me less. There was something in the casual way he had proposed the trip, a certainty of my straight answer, that made me feel good and chesty. I’m sure if I had said no, he’d have taken it as casually. The feeling had not worn off when Dan Lamont came back with a small kit-bag in his hand. “What's the smug contentment for, Jimmy?” he asked. “Have you just heard that the President has resigned and that you’ve been offered the job?” I told him, and his eyes lightened up. comnliclooolks.com