Air Wonder Stories, July 1929 — page 32: what you’re looking at

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

30 AIR WONDER STORIES craft to do the job in. They must have been damned smart!” Just then the purser came running in, and when he saw the strong-room door, he let out a wail of despair. Sir Peter cut the lamentations short. “Step down to Lord Almeric Pluscarden’s cabin, Strachan,” he said, ‘My compliments to him, and will he come here at once?” “But the strong-room, sir!—the strong-room! It has been broken into!” “Dammit, Strachan!” the captain said testily. "We can see that. Kindly take my message to Lord Aimeric. Crying won't help us.” He turned to a telephone on the wall of the cabin. “Lucky the exchange is automatic,” he said grim- ly, “or I wouldn't be able to get through to my bridge, I suppose. That you, Boscence? Any report from the engine-room? Good! Now the first morn- ing watch will come on duty, and be relieved at eight as usual. Carry on!” “The engine-room reports a good head of steam,” he turned to us and said. “The automatic oil feed in the stoke-hold has been going on all the time. Ah, the engines!” We felt the vibration of the ship’s engines under our feet as Lord Almeric Pluscarden came into the cabin. I had expected somehow to see an elderly man, probably white-haired and rubicund, but the newcomer was a slenderly built, dark-skinned, dark- haired man, apparently of about forty-odd, alert in manner, and athletic-looking. I found out later that he was close on sixty. “Hullo! What has happened, Weatherly?’ he asked at once, when he saw the ravished strong- room. “T’m damned if I know, Lord Almeric,” said the captain, with a finger pointed at the spoiled door, “but that’s the chief thing that has happened. How it came about—well—here’s your pilot, Mr. Boon, and his friend, Mr, Lamont. They’ve got a story that'll take your breath away.” “Kind of you to put your machine at my dis- posal, Mr. Boon,” said Lord Almeric. “Y’m afraid you’ve had a cold flight. Very sporting of you to accompany him, Mr. Lamont. I’m grateful to you both. And now—this story?” Between us Dan and I told of the Wall Street robberies, of our theories, and of our coming to the Parnassic. Lord Almeric asked a shrewd ques- tion or two, then Sir Peter gave a fuller account of the stopping of the ship. “I am very much a layman in aeronautical mat- ters,’ Lord Almeric said when we had finished, “and I do not know if there are any other points to be made for or against your idea of the airship— beyond those you make yourselves. I must say you put a fair case, which is considerably strengthened by this act of piracy. Whatever may be the mode of operation, we are certainly faced by a remarkable organization. But I should not, 1f I] were you, Weatherly, dismiss the possibility of the gold still remaining on the ship. I suggest that a thorough search be made of the ship and of the passengers’ baggage. You will not, of course, except my luggage from examination——” “Surely, Lord Almeric—” the captain protested. “T insist,” said the other, “and I am sure that Miss Torrance will say the same. Miss Torrance,” he explained to me—"if you can take her—is your other passenger, my niece and secretary.” “Only too glad, Lord Almeric,” said I, a little taken aback at the idea of carrying a woman. “But I’m afraid we damaged the starboard float getting aboard, and if we have to come down on the way back—well—it'll be a bit inconvenient. We'll get wet, at least,” “You don’t anticipate a forced descent, Mr. Boon?” “No,” I said, “but you never know your luck. Then there’s the difficulty of taking off from the awning: es “Bless my soul,” said Lord Almeric, “you don't mean to say that you put your seaplane aboard on the awning?” “T did—and I’m afraid I’ve ripped off some of your canvas, Sir Peter, in doing it.” “T'll worry about that, young man,” the captain said, ‘““when somebody has ripped a slab off the strong-room door, and ripped five million florins off my ship!” He glared at the damaged door, tugging his little beard the while as if to drag from it some solution of the mystery, “Fifty years I’ve been at sea,” he said thickly, “man and boy, and, by thunder, I’ve never come across anything like it! It’s bewildering—exasperat- ing—God, it’s heart-breaking! On my ship—Lord Almeric—on my ship! The disgrace of it!” “Peter Weatherly,” his lordship said, with some- thing that was good to hear in his voice, “this piracy concerns me, as a governor of the Bank of England, very nearly—and I can tell you that for my own part not one atom of blame attaches to you.” “But I stopped the ship, my lord, and gave the blighters their chance!” “For Heaven’s sake, Peter,” Lord Almeric said in an altered tone—equally good to hear—‘“get the ridiculous notion out of your Head that anybody is going fe pick a bone with you over anything you've one! He went over and put a hand on the sailor’s shoulder to shake him, “Be assured, old friend,” he said. “It will take more than this to shake the clean record of fifty years!” : “But it’s such an exasperating thing! It leaves a fellow so helpless! I’m going through the ship with a fine sieve presently, but I feel it in my bones that whoever has swiped the kopecks has got clean away, Still, it has to be done. We can’t leave any- thing to chance.” “That is right,” said Lord Almeric. “And now, I suppose I’d better be getting a start made. I shall put what you say to Miss Torrance, Mr. Boon— ut if I know anything of her, it won’t deter her from joining us. fast——” “There’s plenty to eat on the Merlin, Lord Al- meric,” said I, “and if the lady is coming, and won’t mind picnicking for once—why, we'll get away as soon as Sir Peter will permit us.” “T shall have to go over your boat for form’s sake,” said Sir Peter. “Come along. I’ll do it now, and then we'll see what we can do to get you off without mishap,” But you must have some break- comnliclooolks.com