Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 35: what you’re looking at

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

| ~~ THE PHANTOM OF GALON 513 “Tt's no ordinary ship,” said the captain. A touch of grimness edged his tone: “It must be that damned ‘Flyin’ Dutchman’ of the air, the Phantom.” “The Phantom?” echoed Richard ’in a whisper, and he felt the hair raise on-the nape of his neck. “JT must get up forward and take charge of things!” exclaimed the captain, showing: some agitation, as he rushed along. the darkened corridors toward the control cabin. Like one in a daze, Richard stumbled after him, and at length came into a small, dimly-lighted room where the captain was already giving orders to several of his officers. “Falta!” rang a cold: voice, with a slight foreign accent, from the radiophone..- “Full speed ahead!” bellowed_the captain. The huge motors took-on-a new tone as the speed was increased. Suddenly, without warning, the-fifteen mighty motors, which propelled the ship, ceased to roar ; they seemed to stutter a moment, and then stopped with a wheezing cough, A silence that could almost have been cut with a knife-settled over the huge monster-of the air. For the fraction of a second, every man in the control room stood-aghast, The young wheelsman was the first to break the silence, ~ “My God!” he cried in panic; “We've gone dead!” “Keep cool everyone!” yelled the captain, “and start the atxiliaries!? An instant later the four electric motors on top of the ship whirred, and. their descent was slowly checked. “Every man to his post!” ordered the captain, “and 2 be prepared for. anything. “Can I be of any: assistance?” asked Manning, step- ping forward. The captain then pulled from. his pocket a-beautiful automatic electric pistol and pressed it: into Manning’s hand, “Climb up here to the top of the ship and plug the first pirate that tries to get down here,” he said, and turned to continue giving his orders, A narrow spiral staircase extended from the control room, through a tube, to the upper surface-of the ship. Up this steep helical stairway, the gun gleaming in his hand, climbed Richard Manning, passing at regular intervals the small doors which gave access to the dif- ferent corridors in the ship. As he reached one of these, he heard a stifled scream in the corridor on the other. side,» Waiting to-hear no more, he yanked open the tiny door and-found himself looking down a long hall, which he might have recognized as the one on which his own stateroom: was located. He gave that fact no thought; for there, not five yards away, was Margaret Huntington, the girl of the lace handkerchief, struggling in the grasp of a black- cloaked and hooded figure! As the door came open, the sinister invader straightened and. looked up. For-a moment Manning saw two slits cut in the hood and through them felt. that two coals: of fire were shining upon him. Then the masked man turned and fled down the hall. : “Stop!” yelled. Manning and, raising the automatic, fired. The figure dodged into.a stateroom as the electric bullet exploded into flame against ‘the manolewm door frame, ‘The flash died out instantly, and the door slammed: heavily. “Are you all right, Margaret?” Manning anxiously asked, as he gently raised the girl from the floor. “Yes, I guess so,” she replied weakly, “but oh, Dick, I’m afraid !”—and she relaxed into his arms. As Dick Manning felt that beautiful. creature huddle. closer against him, a strange exuberance swelled in eart — he crushed her to him and smothered her with sses, “T love you, Margaret,” he whispered, “I’m crazy about.you.’ “T love you too, Dick,” she replied, gently pushing him away. and rearranging her hair. “What's all the rumpus?” demanded a bald-headed old gentleman appearing in pajamas: “I heard a shot and I open my door to find some fresh whippersnapper of a boy making love. I tell you I’ll report this to the—” “Save your breath!” broke-in Manning; “that shot you heard was fired at the ‘Phantom’-and he escaped through that door.” Exciting Events B* this time the whole ship was astir; it was, there- fore, quite a crowd that followed Manning into the stateroom through: whose door the hooded: figure had. disappeared, It was with some surprise that Man- ning now noted that the:room was his own! There, on the side opposite the door, a yawning porthole told very plainly how. the “Phantom” had: escaped. A small ladder ran past the porthole from a_gondola,: several yards be- low,-up to the topmost platform of the ship. Next to Manning’s stateroom was that of Herrick; the two rooms-were linked: up by a small bathroom, Manning stepped to Herrick’s door and jerked it open. Herrick, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, sat up in bed. “What in the devil is the idea of waking a man at this time of night?” he grumbled. “Tt’s the Phantom” exclaimed Manning, “The what?” questioned Herrick, suddenly aroused to.interest. The conversation was interrupted by a loud crack- ling noise which: seemed.to come-from above, “Good heavens! what’s that?” exclaimed Herrick, looking: toward the porthole, Manning dashed to it and Jooked out,- but he saw-nothing, Instantly he de- cided-to crawl through that of-his‘own toom-and climb up the ladder to the top of the ship. In spite of the fact that the ports on the Ambassador were somewhat larger than those on surface ships, it was with considerable difficulty that Richard managed to squeeze through, “Geel” he thought to himself, “that ‘Phantom’ fellow must be a sure-enough phantom, to crawl through a hole like this.” At Jast, however, he succeeded, and clung to the tiny ladder with the cool night breeze fan- ning his brow. High above him on the roof of the liner-he could still hear that intermittent crackling. Far below him, somewhere in that black void, lay the gtim- Atlantic, waiting to swallow him up should he make a misstep. A shudder: passed through him-as he thought of the sea over a mile below him; but he steeled his courage and started climbing. For what seemed an age, he climbed, and gradually, as the top was neared, his path curved-to the horizontal. At last; he came-to a position which enabled: him to view the extreme top. Some distance down the length of the ship, to his left, was-a beam of light: streaming out through a manhole. Slightly to. the right of the manhole he could make out a dim black form, around which snapped and popped electrical discharges; and which, he judged, was not over a twentieth the size of the Ambassador. The-intermittent electrical discharges shed a ghastly light over the larger ship, and in the glow he could see two of the whirring propellers that kept--the-great_air-liner moving aloft. Not a single light shone from the Phantom, as he judged it to be, except for the electrical fireworks, comicbooks.co ee ed et ee Oe Se RO Fe ee Sa ee RN See RENT eM ee Ne eee ey i ed lees ee bah oh hein ds ce Eee ls td ie Ake Siete eas li le ee i ee Be FO AE NE BAER TA eee Soe ay ae