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

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

of the rough- house?” broke in-a cheery voice, as an- other young man, of about Manning's age, entered a door on the opposite side of the room. “Congratulate me, Dick, old top,” said Manning joyously: “I’m the proud father of a bouncing baby boy, and we're going to name him after you. How does Richard Herrick Manning sound, eh?” “Great! Bob, great,” Herrick replied, “and we will yet make him as famous as his father.” Thus it was that Richard Herrick Manning came into the world traveling at the rate of two hundred miles per: hour, five thousand feet above the Atlantic. He had the honor of being the. first babe to be born crossing the ocean by air. At the time a certain news- paper called him a son of science; but little did anyone ele what a master in the realm of science he was to ecome, Coming of the “Phantom” WENTY-FIVE years had passed since that night; the first flight of the Mercury had become just a memory, a step in the progress of man’s successful efforts to conquer time:and distance. Larger, finer, and more highly-perfected ships had long ago shouldered out the Mercury, which, with the lapse of years, had already passed to the junk-heap. During: the quarter century since that exciting night, Richard’ Herrick Manning had become a very fine specimen of young manhood. At the age of twelve he had begun to take a great interest in science, This, of course, was very pleasing to both his father and his father’s intimate friend, Richard Herrick, after whom the lad had been named, But, when. young Manning was but fifteen, his father and mother met death to- gether in an air disaster. It, therefore, fell to Richard Herrick to be both father and mother to the youthful orphan, “Unele Dick,” as Herrick was called by young Man- ning, proved to be a very efficient guardian, and under such tutelage, by the time the youth had reached twenty, he was not only an athlete of distinction but, without doubt, one of the most..promising young scientists in the United States. During the mornings Herrick and his protégé were to be seen working industriously in the laboratory or workshop; but after lunch all scien- tific apparatus would be laid away, and the afternoons spent.in hunting, fishing, flying, or strenuous sports. After Manning had reached man’s estate, and ac- quired a coveted position as technical advisor for a cer- tain large aircraft corporation,.a change came gradually over the once jolly Herrick. He became moody and irritable, More of ‘his time was'spent in the laboratory and, what was worst of all, he and young Manning began to disagree.on certain matters of science. Grad- ually the gap wideried between the two, who had been almost like father and son. At last Herrick, to avett an open break, moved to. the West. coast; some time later Manning received from him a letter saying that he was engaged in work that would carry him all over the Orient. From then on they corresponded in a desultory way, and young Manning received’ occasional letters from China, India, Java, and many other, places. Dick Manning was just twenty-three when the Phan- tom appeared. The newspapers announced with blazing headlines that the great air-liner Mammoth had been captured and plundered by an unknown craft. A long dispatch followed, which told in detail how. the huge airship had been held up by a strange black ship and - robbed of well over a million dollars in gold. Although AIR WONDER STORIES crime-in the air was not absolutely unknown, never before had a fast ship like the Mammoth been attacked. Because the pirate became inyisible at a short distance, it was given the name, the Phantom. No one on board the Mammoth seemed to know much about the robbery, it had happened so quickly, Men in black cloaks, with black hoods over their heads and. faces, had found their way down from the top of the ship, held up the purser, forced the strong room, carried out the treasure, and bore it aloft. Just-as the alarm was given the pilot saw a dim shape race away and vanish into the night. The papers accepted the incident as the usual part of the day’s news until, only a few days later, another air- liner was attacked ; and this time the victims were sent plunging into the sea. Then followed a reign of terror; surface ships were blown up; cities were bombed, and airships were sent to destruction; always at night, by a black airship which afterward faded away almost in- stantly into the night. The world was aroused ; the United States dispatched ten of the fastest military planes in existence with orders to bring down the pirate ship. At last the pursuers succeeded in getting on the trail and chasing the Phantom for many miles ; but its speed was so great that each time it eluded them. The ship would remain just out of gunshot and, when the high-powered motors of pursuers began to labor under the strain of such speed, the Phantom steadily drew away and left them “holding the bag.” Some’ days later the government planes, flying over the Arizona desert, came upon the Phantom lying, like a huge dragon of old, upon the sand. One of the men later described it as being “just a long black shell, with a point in front like a dagger, and fins at the back.” The aviators dropped bombs; which strangely failed to burst. Then, the planes’ motors became suddenly para- lyzed; and those mighty machines seemed to be clawed from the sky, as easily as a kitten claws a ball of yarn from a chair. Only two men escaped death, and they seemed almost insaneas they told their story. “Tt isn’t natural!” one screamed, like a man de- mented: “TI tell you the devil himself is behind it all! I can see the thing, still, lying there on the burning sand, dead and lifeless, like a huge black torpedo. Then T felt a slight shock pass through my body and, the next thing I- knew, our motors were dead and we were heading for the ground.” A’ slight break occurred in the man’s story at this point, and he shivered as with the ague: “As I crawled out fromthe wreckage of our plane, there the thing was, hanging suspended about fifty feet in the air and making a whistling sound. While I watched, it shot away like a bullet, with a low hissing noise, and disappeared behind the range.” CHAPTER II Herrick’s Return HILE the reign of terror lasted, only one man had the opportunity to view the Phantom at close quarters and lived to tell the tale. A certain young inventor was trying out an electric airplane one evening about dusk. His plane was working; but not to his satisfaction. He was contemplating the necessity of landing, before his batteries went dead; when out of the West came a black shape! Suddenly,.a bright light shone on him; the.thing hovered over his head, and he saw- for a moment a long cigar-shaped craft, sharply. ~ c€omicbooks.com