Air Wonder Stories, July 1929 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT 25 “Say, Jimmy,” he pleaded, like any kid, “I’m coming with you, old man—you're taking me with you, aren't you?” “It means starting about three in the morning, Dan.” “That doesn’t matter, Jimmy. along——” I said he could, and he danced a little breakdown to show how pleased he was. Dan Lamont’s an awful kid in some ways, for all his high position in the scientific world. We drove down to the Battery in good time, and waited to see the Merlin come in. Dan’s man drove the roadster away, and presently my father arrived. Dick Schuyler had his seaplane moored a little way along, and he waved his hand. In a little time I spotted my bus like a dot in the clouds, as Milliken came speeding across Brooklyn, before turning north into the Upper Bay. He was flying good and high, and to an outsider seemed to be overshooting the point for making a safe angle. I took a look out of the corner of my eye at Dickie Schuyler, and he was standing up in the cockpit of his boat, yelling to attract my attention, “What's the matter, Dickie?’ I yelled. “That your boat?” Veg tt “That fellow’s going to crash her—too steep an angle?” I waved my hand serenely, and he dropped back into his seat to watch, open-mouthed. I fancy he expected to see Milliken turn back or spiral to the right height for planing into the landing-place, but he stood up to watch again when the Mezlin began her hovering flight down. My father touched my arm. “That’s something new, Jimmy?” he asked. “Two years’ work in that, dad,” I said. He just patted me on the shoulder. The Merlin touched the water about twenty yards out, and taxied slowly up to the jetty. The landing-stage crew turned her, and we all got aboard, Milliken giving up the pilot seat to me. I waved my hand to Dickie Schuyler to show that I was ready, and we both took off together. In that particular flight we didn’t go much above four hundred kilometres per, but we left the police boat well behind. In fact, the Merlin was berthed and we were all on the jetty waiting when Dickie landed. “You've got some bus, Jimmy,” was all he said at that time—but he had a lot to say later on. This projected trip out to the Pammassic knocked my idea, of making Milliken one of the council of war, clean on the head. I might have trusted an- other of my fellows to go over the Merlin prepara- tory to the flight, but I knew that Milliken would not let anyone else do it. An extra gasoline tank had to be shipped and fixed with new connections, and the job wanted a sure hand. Milliken promised that everything would be ready by three o'clock, and picked out a squad of the more skilled mechanics to do the work. He took it for granted that he would come with me on the flight, and I knew that it would be useless to argue with him, but he agreed to take a bit of sleep when the job of fixing the extra tank was well in hand. So I had to leave it at that. I'd like to come ? We had to let Dick Schuyler get off his opinions of the Merlin at dinner before we could fall to dis- cussing the robberies seriously. And I am afraid that the dinner was unduly prolonged before I satis- fied his curiosity by the aid of a whole thick pad of scribbling paper. The funny thing was that neither the banker nor the man of science seemed to be bored by the arguments. Dan and my father were as keen as a mustard box. When at length we had the Merlin thoroughly explained, we were ready for coffee and other drinks in the smoking room, and there Dan and I put forward our theory of the robbery. The Air Wins “TPINKERTON & Co.,” said Dick. “I’m pleased to meet you. I often wondered who you were. Well, well—so you're only you, after all!” “Don’t you think it’s feasible?” I demanded. “Ah, if you come. to feasible—it’s just feasible, Mr. Pinkerton—or are you the Co.?” “T wish you'd quit kidding, Dickie,” I said. “Do you consider the notion reasonable?” “Reasonable? Mr, Pinkerton, I fe Then Danny and I[ both sat on him. “T'll be good—I'll be very good!” he yelled presently. “Shurrup, Jimmy! Stop it! I'll be good!” We let him go, and after telling us that we were a couple of thugs, he became very sound on weights and gases and hot air of that sort. He had the latest statistics about dirigibles at his finger-tips. “T think you may discount the Finn’s blue-wall idea, It would be very dangerous for a dirigible of any size worth talking about to come down so near the buildings. On a night like last night, with the wind there was, there would always be a good deal of drift, and a dirigible is not the sort of thing you can push away from a wall, as you doa ship’s boat from a quayside.” “I'm inclined to agree with you,’ Dick went on, “that the Wall Street robberies are linked up with the gasoline and store affairs in Newark. The dope links them up. But why drag in an airship to ex- plain the possibility of the job being done by one gang—to explain the need for the gasoline? I can’t see an airship dropping down on Newark and not being spotted. You've worked out that one four- thousand-kilo truck could handle the gold?” “That's right,” I said. “How far is the gasoline station from the bay side?” “Not far, but it stands on a canal running into Newark Bay.” “That will do my business,’ Dick said trium- phantly. “Suppose we just put a jolly old motor- ship—not big—say about twenty tons—alongside our nice little gasoline station. On land, we have our four-thousand-kilo truck. The motor-ship drifts down to the gasoline station, and whangs in the dope—gas, or whatever it is, then proceeds to run a pipe up to the tank. It takes its fuel. In the meantime the gang with the truck is operating on Schomberg’s Stores. When that is done, the truck moves off across the Hudson by the Cortlandt Street Ferry, which runs all night. It drops its dope in Broadway and down Wall Street. The gang bursts the banks and collects the goods, and off out of the district to a private wharf, say, on the Jersey City side of Newark Bay, to where the jolly little comnliclooolks.comn