Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

them—cannot with certainty name their nation. So T leave the enigma for each man to form his own opinion. “To go back to the beginning,” resumed Lon after @ pause, “we all know how the invention of your plane completely vanquished our enemies from the east. Beaten and humiliated, it was natural for them to at* tempt to learn the secret of its construction. But=the ironclad discipline of our government’s air forces.pre- vented this. You know, old pal; how I wandered away from you in the clutch of one of my queer spells before the war was over, This time my aberration must have lasted for weeks and months. I can recall-only hazy glimmerings of my. life and actions for some time, I do not ‘know jtst-what happened tome, but I-must have been drugged and kidnapped. “When at last my senses returned in a_ measure, I found myself in a wild, mountainous country contain- ing dense forests and great, level plains. I was sur- prised to find that my companions were orientals be- _ longing toa proud and ancient caste now banished by their government. I was treated graciously, housed: in comfortable quarters and given to understand that they were my friends, Then came the great surprise. ‘Their head man, a rajah, tallsand proud and powerful, came~ to see me. He informed me bluntly that, since I. knew the secrets of my country’s great airplane, Iwas to reveal it to him and to: assist him and his followers in the building of planes like it. He also politely gave me to understand that, unless this information were forthcoming within a reasonable time, my life was to pay the forfeit. “Well, I begged for time to consider this startling proposition; and: while debating it_I was allowed to roam around at will. Then it was that I made some astounding discoveries, “The little valley where I was held a. prisoner har- bored a town of several thousand people, and in its center, ready for operation, was an airplane factory in which the whole population was-expected to work. I discovered that this was an inaccessible region in the north of India, unknown to-the outside world and sel- _ dom visited. It was presided over -by-this rajah who, I take it, was a sort of social_outcast from his particular caste. He was a merciless despot; but everybody there seemed to worship him and worked uncomplainingly under his iron rule. Hazy-as my mind“was, I gathered that this worthy was in the-pay. and confidence of some powerful eastern nation, and that he. was to turn the new planes, when finished, over to it~ Thus this power, while presenting a friendly face to the United States, was secretly planning its destruction. : “At Jast I pretended to: fall in with their plan, but under one subterfuge-and another I delayed the work. T didn’t know-what to-do; but I was determined fo sac- rifice my life rather than-betray my country, But I wanted to live, gain the secrets of this strange band of men and aid in preserving my country. Fate helped to solve my problem. One evening just at twilight while returning alone from a stroll in'the-valley.I saved from assassins the life of a young oriental- of good breeding, education and intelligence. A -low-caste laborer, for some fancied injury, was-about to stab him to the heart when I stepped between them, receiving a flesh wound in my own chest. The young man, Rel- goon by name, from that time on was my friend. So to him I gradually imparted my. desire to: outwit my captors, to escape and to reveal. their secrets to.my government. He agréed readily to aid me, and with a solemn oath pledged his life to my cause, AIR WONDER STORIES “At last, a model of. one of our super-planes ‘was started. I built it-as near like ours as 1 could remem- ber; but I introduced-some changes.. The plane was hardly under way when we were visited by a fleet of beautiful white planes, all manned “by members of the band. I was taken on board one of the planes and given a ride in the air. I was frankly told that these planes possessed some remarkable features, far superior to the American planes which they wished me to study and incorporate in the plane I was building. I was shown the apparatus. of the invisible death ray they carried, which was capable of killing a man at the dis- tance of two thousand-yards, which could be intensified and directed at-a minute target. - “Most-astounding of all, they possessed a devilish contrivance to screen their movements, This was a machine for generating a fog-cloud which they could keep about them as they sailed and in which they could lie concealed forhours,- especially when blended with the real-clouds of the sky. Yet through this cloud they. could send their ray, directing it by means of some hellish electric eyes which I was never able to discover and copy—iny old think-box functions but poorly at times “Now Relgoon and I, working hand in hand, set out not only to-equal these damnable instruments, but also to improve and surpass them. You know, old scout, that I-have always been quite apt in the field of electromagnetism. So, while neglecting to build a cloud creator in the new plane—giving as my reason that owing to the plane’s peculiar, construction it would be best to install it the very last thing—and remembering that one of the most obstinate elements menacing the safety-and. navigation of all planes is fog, we created a fog dissolver. : “When the plane was: ready for the air, but still in- complete in equipment, I invited the rajah and several of-his officers aboard and we went for a trial flight. The plane surpassed all my calculations. It behaved superbly, responding to all-maneuvers with marvelous speed_and precision. The rajah was ‘delighted. He rubbed his hands together in glee, I fancy in anticipa- tion of some nation’s gold that was soon to cross his palm. ‘While he was in this good humor I disclosed my new dissolver, casually reminding him that fog: was one of the most troublesome. and dangerous of the obstacles of aviation, I desired to try out:the invention, and if successful, to install it.on our new planes. He was favorably impressed. with: the-idea, and by radio he ordered one of the white planes to approach us shrouded: in its cloud: mantle, little dreaming that I was fegotiating the collapse of his golden dream. “Tn due time the plane appeared in:its glorious white cloud. T pointed the dissolver, and lo, its. fog was shattered and the plane revealed ina twinkling. Nor could the plane again build up its cloud under the attack of my rays. “The tajah was prodigal in his praise as we rettirned to tawn. He was immensely gratified that- my work had merged without: friction into all his plans. I was given more freedom and was accorded every honor that the little band possessed. The Escape 6¢ A T last the plane was complete, even to the intro- £-\ duction of the projector which sends. out the ray with its poisoning power and its peculiar hue. But, like a fool, at the last minute I neglected to install the fog producer; I was in such a big hurry to get away. Secretly, bit by bit, Relgoon and I provisioned the plane