The Phantom Airman

"The same, sir."

"And the professor, Keane? I sent you to track the professor. Have you found him?"

"He is our prisoner, Colonel," and Keane bowed stiffly, and pointed to the half-hidden hangar, where the two prisoners, who were now partly roused, had been safely secured.

An exclamation of pleasure and surprise broke from this dour-looking man when he heard this news, and his face became wreathed with smiles as he advanced to both Keane and Sharpe, shook them warmly by the hand, and said:–

"Thank you, my boys; I knew if it could be done you would do it, though I could ill spare you for the job. Yesterday my reputation was in shreds; I am to be charged with inefficiency, and a public enquiry is to be held. But you two wolf cubs have re-established my character; I can never thank you enough. Now lead on, show us this evil-minded genius! Professor Verne here, who has come in the second Bristol, with Captain Hooper, is anxious to see him. He may redeem him yet from the error of his ways, and it is vital that this secret of his should be in other and better hands, else it will always be a danger to the public."

So, whilst the party were conducted indoors, and shown the marvels of the modern house of alchemy, the two professors were introduced, and began a series of disputations, very embittered at first, as the German, though relieved of his bonds, and made as comfortable as the circumstances would permit, resolutely refused to give any particulars of his discovery, or even to display the slightest amiability towards his distinguished visitor, though they were not unknown to each other, and had even studied at Heidelberg together in their younger days.

Meanwhile, all possible steps were taken to prepare for the possible arrival of the Scorpion. The Bristol machines, after being carefully stowed away in a gap between the trees, were so camouflaged by branches of pine and larch that they presented but a very indistinct object from the air, and, unless their presence were known, might easily remain unobserved.

After some time had been spent in examining the highly developed and intricate mechanism of the devil's workshop, as the place was now called, the Commissioner suddenly turned upon his chief mentor, and said:–

"By the way, Keane, have you discovered any drawings or designs of this wonderful aeroplane? I don't see any amongst this pile of papers, and the professor does not seem inclined to help us at all."

"No, sir. We have searched the place carefully, but we have found nothing. Part of the machine could certainly be reconstructed from those spares, but all the important parts are missing. I have an overwhelming curiosity to see the machine, though, and hope that I may not have this pleasure much longer delayed."

"Then we have nothing but these photographs," returned the captain.

"Photographs?" echoed Keane.

"Yes. Why, I forgot to tell you in the bewilderment and excitement of the last hour, that Captain Watson here managed to secure three snapshots of the raider in mid-air, whilst his airship was being attacked."

"It was the boy Gadget who secured them, sir," interposed the air-skipper, anxious to give credit where credit was due.

"Oh, yes, Keane, I ought to say that it was a smart little beggar called Gadget, a stowaway, who really secured the photographs, and hid them away from the brigand. We must see that the little chap is properly rewarded when we return."

"Let me see the pictures, sir," requested Keane, eager to get some idea of his future opponent.

"Here they are. I have had them developed and enlarged. They should be extremely useful to us, as we shall shortly have to encounter this Sultan Selim, Air King of the Hamadian Desert, the world's greatest bandit, who had the audacity to send me this document by the captain."

And here the colonel, having retailed the whole story of the fight in the desert, showed the brigand's letter, which had been brought to London the previous day by the fast aeroplane which had carried the skipper of the air-liner.

Keane turned in amazement from the clear photographs of the phantom-bird to the brief, audacious letter of the phantom airman, and read as follows:–

"To Colonel Tempest, D.S.O., M.C.,

Commissioner of Aerial Police, Scotland Yard, London, W.C.

"Greetings from Sultan Selim, Air King of the Hamadian Desert. I regret to inform you that of late there has been a serious increase of aerial crime in these regions. The frequent passing of large airships containing mails and other commodities, without due payment of tribute to my customs officials, is a serious infringement of the laws of my dominion. This action not only imperils the liberties of small communities, but is also a crafty form of aerial brigandage, inasmuch as it defrauds my exchequer of its just and equitable revenue. This practice must cease forthwith, and I have taken steps to-day which, in my opinion, will render it unwise for this shameful trespass to continue. The bearer of this letter will give you further details of the action which I have been compelled to take on behalf of my subjects. Your five missing scouts will be found between the wells of Nefud and the Hedjaz coast. I have destroyed their machines as a salutary warning to future violaters of these my dominions."

Keane could scarcely restrain a smile when he laid down this wily, half-humorous, half-threatening epistolary from the aerial pirate.

"What do you think of it?" asked the colonel.

"It's a topping letter, sir, but I think he's trying hard to be funny, this von Spitzer, as you call him. A German with a sense of humour, sir, that's the best way to regard him," replied the airman.

"Humour indeed!" rasped out the colonel, becoming ruffled. "It's confounded impudence, and worse, when you remember that, apart from the damage to the airship, which is considerable, there is a net loss of specie and other valuables–to wit, the Maharajah's jewels–which is estimated at a quarter of a million sterling. I only hope and pray that we may encounter and waylay this bandit before he does any more damage. The deuce only knows what he'll do next, or where he'll go."

"Ireland is to be the scene of his next adventure, sir," remarked Keane.

"Ireland?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"I heard the professor say so. They are to work hand in hand with the revolutionists there, and stir up strife which will make that unhappy land a still greater thorn in the side of Great Britain."

"Just what I feared!" exclaimed the now irate commissioner. "That explains partly those mysterious messages and rumours floating about Dingle Bay, and unfortunately I have had to withdraw nearly all the aerial police from that quarter to send them out east."

"You might as well recall them, sir."

"Why?"

"The raider has left the Hamadian Desert by this time, and is in hiding somewhere, but will call here on his way to Ireland."

"H'm! We're being thoroughly fooled, and if you hadn't found this demon's nest I should have gone mad. At any rate I should have been compelled to resign my post."

"Still, public opinion had to be satisfied, and you sent the patrols where the public demanded that they should be sent. Besides, if you recall them now, this raider will probably pick up your messages and change his tactics. I can tell you this, Colonel, that while he can get his necessary supplies of uranis, and a few extra spares from the workshop here, this von Spitzer intends to carry out his mad policy of destroying the civilized world by piecemeal. It is all part of a great plan to save Germany from the evil consequences of the Peace terms. But, whilst we hold this citadel, and retain these two men captive, his activities are limited to his present supply of this secret element–uranis."

The colonel swore under his breath, and went to examine the prisoners, to make sure that there was no chance of their escaping, for he felt the truth of Keane's words. He now felt grateful that the airman had not responded to the message for his recall, although it had amounted to a serious breach of discipline.

"Ah, well," he said at length, "it only remains to capture this raider, and the whole system of their clever and daring attempt to convulse the Allies, break up their international system of mail transit, stop the intercourse of civilized nations, and cause a world revolution–all these things will fail."

So their efforts were redoubled to make preparations to capture the wonder 'plane, should it descend on the aerodrome. A couple of machine guns were found, and mounted, under the charge of Sharpe and Captain Hooper, though the skipper of the airliner pointed out that the Scorpion carried bullet-proof armour.

"You will need to hit her in a vital spot," he said, "so that your first burst may be your last, or she will be up again like a helicopter."

"Then we must have the two Bristols ready," urged the colonel, "though it's a deuce of a hole to get out of with this new type of a Bristol Fighter."

"And the petrol, sir?" asked Keane, who, was rather anxious on this point, for he hoped that the Scorpion would become his victim in the coming air fight.

"There may be sufficient for another two hours, certainly not more."

"That means unless the Scorpion chooses to stay and fight, she'll simply leave us."

"Von Spitzer will fight unless I stop him!" called out the professor from behind the curtains, where he was confined under the charge of his colleague of other days, for he had been listening to the conversation.

"So much the better!" replied Keane, tartly.

"And when the fight is over there won't be many of you left alive to tell the story," came the rejoinder.

CHAPTER XXII

AN AERIAL DUEL