The Phantom Airman. Rowland Walker
know it, I know it–look here!" and the colonel handed him the batch of cables and wireless messages which showed how the Scorpion had already got to work.
"H'm! and there will be worse to follow," added the airman after he had glanced through the list.
"Now, tell me briefly what you have found, Keane, after which we must get to work to devise some immediate plan to thwart these aerial brigands. But first take off your flying gear, and sit by the fire, for you must be hungry, tired and numbed after that cold night ride." Then, ringing for his attendant, he ordered up more strong coffee and sandwiches.
"Thanks, Colonel, I will not refuse. It was indeed a cold ride, and we had no time to get refreshments before leaving the aerodrome at Cologne this evening," said Sharpe, as he divested himself of his heavy gear, sat by the fire and enjoyed the coffee which soon arrived.
A few moments later, the three men were engaged in serious conversation, although the hour of midnight had long since been tolled out by Big Ben.
"You sent me," Keane was saying, "to discover the whereabouts of this great German engineer and man of science, this brain wave whose perverted genius is likely to cost us so dear."
"And you were unable to find any trace of him?" interposed the chief.
"Well, we were unable to come into contact with him, for we found that since peace was concluded he had vacated his professorial chair at Heidelberg University, where he had been engaged for some considerable time, not only on some mechanical production, but in an attempt to discover some unknown force, evidently a new kind of highly compressed gas to be used for propulsive purposes."
"Had he been successful?"
"That, it was impossible to find out during our short stay over there," replied Keane, "but I discovered from someone who had been in close touch with him just about the time peace was signed, that he had expressed himself in very hopeful terms."
"Was he a very communicative type of man, then, did you learn?"
"No; on the contrary, he seldom spoke of his work, but on this occasion, when he communicated this information, he was very much annoyed at the defeat of Germany, and considered that his country had been betrayed into a hasty peace."
"And what happened to him after that?" asked the colonel.
"Shortly afterwards he disappeared completely, taking with him all the apparatus connected with his research work, also a highly skilled mechanic who had been specially trained by him for a number of years. But he left not a trace of himself or his work," said the captain, pausing for a moment to light a cigarette.
"Do you think he is acting under any instructions from his authorities?"
"No, certainly not; he distrusts his present Government entirely, and considers them traitors to the Fatherland."
There was another brief silence, whilst the three men, wrapt in deep thought, sat looking into the fire, or watched the rings of tobacco smoke curling upwards to the ceiling. At last, Captain Sharpe observed:–
"A powerful intellect like that did not suddenly disappear in this way without some ulterior motive, Colonel Tempest."
"Obviously not," returned the latter briefly, for he was deep in contemplation, and his mind was searching for some clue. At length he turned to the senior captain and said:–
"This silent engine theory, Keane, what do you think of it?"
Keane shook his head doubtfully, and the colonel handed to him once more the recent wireless message from Delhi, adding merely:–
"Do you think it possible?"
"Scarcely," replied Keane carefully, "but with a master mind like this, one never knows. It will be necessary for you to consult the most eminent professors of science and chemistry at once."
"I intend to visit Professor Verne at his house first thing to-morrow, or rather to-day, for it is already morning."
"But the aeroplane," added Sharpe, who had been perusing the Delhi message, "this also must have been specially built for this new gas."
"Given the one, the other would naturally follow, and would be the lesser task of the two, for this man is a great engineer as well," said Keane.
"It is a deep well of mystery," continued Tempest after another pause; "but something must be done at once. To-morrow the morning papers will be full of it. Next day Parliament meets, and questions will be asked, and it will all come upon us. I shall have to meet the Home Secretary as soon as I have interviewed Professor Verne, and Lord Hamilton will not be easily satisfied. The public will also be clamouring for information on the subject, and they will have to be appeased and calmed. The Stock Exchange will begin to talk also, and to demand compensation for the companies whose properties have been damaged. Insurance rates, marine and otherwise, will be raised, and Lloyd's underwriters will not fail to make a fuss. Now, gentlemen, what steps can we take to deal with these raiders in the immediate future?"
Send us after this mystery 'plane on fast scouts with plenty of machine-gun ammunition," urged Sharpe.
"I cannot spare you for that, but I have already ordered strong patrols of aerial police to search for the brigands. I must have you here or somewhere within call. At any rate, I cannot let you go further than Germany. It may be necessary to send you there again."
"On what account, sir?" asked Keane.
"To find the aerodrome which this raider calls 'home,' for he must have a rendezvous somewhere if only to obtain supplies and repairs."
"And that secret aerodrome must be somewhere in Germany, hidden away in some out-of-the-way place," ventured Sharpe.
"But in what part of Germany?" asked the commissioner.
"Let me see," cried Keane, rising to his feet, and walking across the room to where the large map of Germany hung upon the wall–"why, it must be in the Schwarzwald!"
"The Schwarzwald!" exclaimed the other two.
"Yes, it is by far the best hiding-place in the whole country. One may tramp for days and never see a soul. It must be somewhere in the Schwarzwald."
"Then to the Schwarzwald you must go to-morrow, adopting whatever disguises you desire, and you must find this hidden spot where the conspiracy has been hatched," concluded the colonel.
CHAPTER V
THE AERIAL LINER
The airship liner, Empress of India, was preparing to leave her moorings, just outside the ancient city of Delhi, for Cairo and London. This mammoth airship was one of the finest vessels which sailed regularly from London, east and west, girdling the world, and linking up the British Empire along the All-Red Route. She had few passengers, as she carried an unusually heavy cargo of mails for Egypt and England, and a considerable amount of specie for the Bank of England. Several persons of note, however, figured amongst her saloon passengers, including the Maharajah of Bangapore, an Anglo-Indian judge, and a retired colonel of the Indian army.
She was timed to depart at mid-day, and during the morning mailplanes had been arriving from every part of India with their cargoes of mail-bags, already sorted for the western trip.
The great mammoth now rode easily with the wind, moored by three stout cables to the great tower which rose above the roof gardens of the air-station. An electric lift conveyed the passengers and mails to the summit of this lofty tower, from whence a covered-in gangway led to the long corridors which lined the interior of the rigid airship.
"Have all the engines been tested?" the captain asks of the chief engineer, as he comes aboard with his navigating officer.
"Yes, sir."
"All the passengers aboard?" he asks next of the ground officer.
"All except the maharajah, Captain, and I expect him any moment."
"Excellent," replied the skipper. "There's a good deal of bullion aboard from the Indian banks, I hear, and the rajah himself is likely touring a lot of valuables with him, I understand, as he is to attend several court functions at St. James's Palace."
"Yes,