CHAPTER III

"COLD-BLOODED PIRACY IN THE HIGH AIR"

Pilot-commander Pring was a tall, lean, lantern-jawed officer, who,

though of English nationality, had spent most of his life in America.

His face was still pale and grim with passion and mortification as I

closed the door of my private room at the A.P. Station on him, Mr. Van

Adams, the multi-millionaire, and Mr. Rickaby, second officer of the

_Albatros_.

"Now, gentlemen, sit down, please," I said. "And I will ask Captain

Pring a few questions. Sir Joshua Johnson has given me the main facts,

but I want details. I won't detain you long, but I felt I ought to see

you before anyone else."

"Oh, quite!" said Mr. Van Adams, a fleshy man, with a watchful eye and a

jaw like a pike.

"This is an extraordinary affair, Captain Pring," I went on. "But, thank

goodness, you haven't lost your ship, or any lives. I know what you feel

about the _Albatros_."

"She is father, mother, brother, sister, hired girl and dog under the

waggon to me!" said Pring, and then he blazed up into fury. I

disentangle the few words I can. The majority were too overdressed for

respectable society.

"... His Majesty's Mails! First time in history of flying, and it's

happened to ME! Cold-blooded piracy in the High Air! They'd have blown

us to pieces as soon as look at us! When I get hold of that

slime-lapping leper, the pirate skipper, I won't leave him hide or hair

to cover the wart he calls his heart! ..." and so on, for a good two

minutes by the office chronometer.

I let him rip. It was the quickest way. It's dangerous to throttle down

a man like Pring.

"The Captain is, naturally, furious," I said.

"Oh, quite!" answered Mr. Van Adams.

Then we got to business. "The strange airship, Captain Pring. Let's

begin with that. She approached you flying _West_, I understand?"

"She did, Sir John. Does that put you wise to anything?"

"It would appear that she was coming from Europe. But that was probably

a trick. She might have been waiting about for hours."

"Curious thing, then, that all the ships in the air during the last

thirty hours that were within fifteen hundred miles of the American and

Canadian coast never saw anything of her. The Air Police of the U.S.A.

have questioned every registered boat, Transatlantic and coastal trade,

and not one of them sighted her. And, as you know, Sir John, from Cape

Race to Charleston in summer weather the air's as thick with craft as

gnats over a pond. Ain't that so, Mr. Van Adams, sir?"

"Quite, Captain Pring."

"I see your inference. Well, we'll leave that for a moment. I understand

that there were some peculiar features about this ship. What were they?"

"She's the fastest thing in the air, bar none. That I can swear to. A

pilot of my experience can't well be deceived, and if that ship--she's

one of the very few I've seen with four propellers--can't do two hundred

and forty miles an hour, _without a following wind, mind_, then I'm a

paretic!"

I whistled. Such speeds had been dreamed of but never known. "Nearly

three times hurricane velocity!" I said.

"She'd race the dawn, Sir John! and that's my honest belief. There's

never been such a flying boat before. And she don't carry a crew of more

than twelve or fifteen men, in my opinion. The rest's all engines and

petrol. She ain't more than twice the size of one of your patrol ships,

all over."

This was talking! Each moment the affair grew more tense and

interesting.

"That narrows our field of search no end," I remarked. "A boat like that

can't be built anywhere in the world without leaving traces."

"It colours the cat different, sure," said Captain Pring. "Now, here's

another point. Gum! I'm going to startle you some more, Sir John, but,

as God sees me, I'm speaking truth. Here's Mr. Rickaby here as'll swear

to all I say...."

He looked at the second officer, a good-looking, brown-faced lad. "It's

all gospel, Sir John," he broke in.

"Of course," I said impatiently, "I know you couldn't be mistaken,

Pring, and I won't insult you by thinking you'd pull a Chief

Commissioner's leg over an affair of this importance. What's number two?

Let's have it!"

"The man who runs her, or the man who built her, has solved another

problem. He's produced silent engines at last! That ship's motors don't

make more noise than a June bug! On a dark night she could pass within

two hundred yards of you, and you'd never guess that she was near."

From that moment I saw the thing in its true proportions. From that

moment the air became unsafe. A man-eating tiger let loose upon a quiet

country-side was not a tithe as dangerous.

The three other men saw that I understood.

"The scoundrels who came aboard the _Albatros_ and looted the ship.

What of them?"

"They were masked so's their mothers wouldn't, have known 'em. Armed to

the teeth, too. We'd have downed them quick enough, even at the cost of

a life or two, but there was the pirate with a four-inch gun trained on

us. And she meant business. I did right, Sir John?"

The poor fellow's voice shook, and his face was corrugated with anxiety.

"I should have done exactly the same myself under the circumstances,

Pring. Your first duty was to the women and children under your care.

That view, I am certain, will be accepted by the company and the

Government, to say nothing of the public, when it gets out. About these

men, again, did you judge them to be American or foreigners?"

"They didn't speak much, except, to give a few orders. But what they

_did_ say I heard, every word. I was with them all the time, and so was

Mr. Rickaby here. I'll spring another surprise on you, Sir John, and

then I've done. _Those chaps were English, every one of them._ And,

what's more, they weren't any plug-ugly crowd neither! They were

educated men of some social position, club men at some time or other, or

I'm a short sport!"

The second officer spoke. "Captain Pring is perfectly right, sir," he

said modestly. "I'll swear that they had been public school or 'Varsity

men at some time or other."

"Where were you?" I asked quickly.

"Harrow, sir."

I nodded. Here was another astounding fact for consideration when I was

alone.

"And then, after a time," Pring continued, "the _Sant Iago_ tramp

steamer freighter came up from way down South and rescued us. After that

we sighted the lights of Mr. Van Adams' air yacht, the _May Flower_, and

in answer to our signal he came down and took me and Rickaby aboard."

"Quite," said the laconic millionaire.

"To-night, Captain Pring, I shall want a long talk with you. Now I must

surrender you to Sir Joshua. For the present, I want you all three to

give me your words of honour that you will tell no one at all anything

about the appearance or speed of the ship, that her engines were silent,

or you suspect the ruffians on her to be English. That is most

important. In fact, I must make it an order, under the powers with which

I am invested by the Secretary of State. As an order, it cannot apply,

to you, Mr. Van Adams, but you have been so kind and helpful hitherto

that I feel sure you'll give me your promise? You must see how necessary

it is."

Mr. Van Adams was going to use his word-of-all-work, I saw it coming,

when he changed his mind.

"I'm on," he said instead.

The two pilots gave me their assurances, and we walked out of the office

together. As we went along the terrace Pring pointed down to the

sea-drome, where the millionaire's air yacht, a beautiful boat, painted

cream colour and black, was now resting at her moorings.

"The _Atlantis_ starts to-night," he said significantly.

"She will be escorted by an armed patrol," I said, "until she meets one

of the American A.P. ships in mid-ocean. Surely, you don't think there's

any danger?"

To tell the truth, I had been so concentrated upon the matter in hand

that I had hardly given a thought to the outgoing liner. Can you blame

me? Anyway, duty came before any private considerations. Now, Pring's

remark started a new set of thoughts. I looked at him with great

anxiety. He did not know the whole of my reason, but he saw that I was

disturbed.

"No, Sir John," he answered, "I don't think the danger worth the waggle

of a mule's ear. It was only a passing remark. It stands to reason that

Captain Kidd'll know that the police boats of two hemispheres are out

looking for him in swarms by now. He'll figure that out, sure. If he

was to start any of his stunts within the next few days, he'd have about

as much chance as a fat man in Fiji."

"That's what I thought."

"You may make your mind easy about the _Atlantis_, sir. Besides, as you

say, to put the lid on, she'll be escorted."

"Quite," I said involuntarily, and then we both laughed.

"Royal Hotel at ten-thirty," I said. "I shall be staying there

to-night."

I shall never forget that dinner with Connie. One of her greatest charms

is her serene light-heartedness. It is not silliness or frivolity, don't

think that, but the bloom upon the fruit of a clear and happy nature

whose conscience is at rest. My girl wasn't a fool. She was not ignorant

of evil and the grey sides of life. But they left her untouched. Perhaps

her very simplicity, the gay and stainless courage that she wore like a

flag through life, had helped her to her great success. The British

public might admire and enjoy the work of other artists, but they had

taken little Connie Shepherd to their hearts.

She was gay at our dinner, bubbling over with joy and fun. I did my best

to respond, but it was rather difficult. There was a shadow on my mind,

and it would not go away.

"Dearest old John!" she said once, "what is it? You're sad, inside of

you, and you're pretending you're not!"

"Darling, in an hour or two you'll be gone. How can I be very happy?"

She shook her head. "It's not that. You can't deceive me. I don't want

to part, either, especially on this day of days. But we are both of us

sensible, and we both know it's only for six weeks. You aren't in the

least sentimental--horrid word!--nor am I. We go deeper than that."

"Well, then, to tell you the truth"--and it _was_ the truth--"I am a bit

under the weather, and I can't quite say why. Perhaps it's reaction. But

most probably, it's because I have been hearing some news, a matter in

connection with my work which has excited me. It's a problem of

organization I must solve at once. Forgive me, sweetheart!"

"My dear, if you were not what you are, I should never have said 'yes.'

No one has ever had such a position as you at your age, and I know how

you've fought for it. I _love_ you to be preoccupied about your work."

We finished dinner, however, in a happier mood, and then walked down to

the sea-drome together. Connie's heavy luggage had gone to New York by

steamer a week ago. The two small trunks she had brought with her from

London were already on board the _Atlantis_, and Wilson and Thumbwood

carried a couple of dressing-bags.

It was a perfect evening. The sun, in going to rest, had hung the sky

with banners, golden and glorious. The music of a band upon the pier

came softly up to the terrace of the A.P. Station. Young men and maidens

in summer clothes strolled up and down over the greens, and a

sickle-shaped new moon was rising over Devonport and the Hamoaze.

We went down in the electric car, and boarded the _Atlantis_ from one of

my launches. She was lit up in all her triple decks, as we climbed

aboard by the saloon accommodation ladder, and a steward took Connie and

her maid to her cabin, while I went to find my old friend, Captain

Swainson.

The big, bearded man was sitting alone in his little room. There was a

cup of black coffee by his side, and he was chewing an unlighted cigar.

I saw at once that he had heard something.

"The very man!" he cried, jumping up from his basket chair and gripping

me warmly by the hand. "I heard you were here, Sir John, and I made sure

of seeing you before I started. Now what's all this? Sir Joshua's half

out of his mind with worry, the offices are turned upside down, and Seth

Pring--confound him!--is as close as an oyster!"

I found out that he knew just what Sir Joshua knew, and no more. He was

indignant but quite cool, inclined to minimize the whole affair.

It seemed to me that to tell him the whole truth would serve no good

purpose.

Pilot Superintendent Lashmar, whom I was going to send in command of the

escort, would, of course, know everything.

"Well, I'm sending an escort with you half-way across," I said. "Lashmar

will go--you know him?--in No. 1 Patrol Boat. It's heavily armed, and he

can shoot straighter than any man in the service. Got his experience in

the Great War."

"Escort be blowed!" said hearty Captain Swainson. "I can't think what

old Pring was about to let himself be held up like that--though, of

course, it's just as you wish, Sir John."

"I don't suppose there's the least need of it, Swainson. But this

business'll make a bit of a noise, and it looks well. Now I'll tell you

a secret. I'm engaged to be married! Settled it coming down in the train

this morning."

"The deuce you are! A thousand congratulations!"

"Thanks. What's more, the lady is aboard your ship, and flies to New

York with you to-night. I want you to look after her for me."

"Can a duck swim? Well, this _is_ news! Now I understand about that

escort! But do introduce me, Sir John. It will be more than a pleasure

to make the young lady comfortable."

We went off to seek Connie, and found her sitting behind one of the

multiplex wind-screens on the saloon deck, listening to the music of a

piano and violin that came through the open hatch of the palm-court

below.

I remember that the musicians were playing a selection of old English

airs, sweet, plaintive music, and had just got to "The Last Rose of

Summer."

I'm not emotional, but when I hear that tune to-day--thank goodness, it

isn't often!--I go out of the room.

At a quarter to nine I stood on the Hoe and watched the _Atlantis_ start

for America. Her navigation lights were all turned on; the innumerable

port-holes of the huge fusilage made an amber necklace below the immense

grey planes.

Then, from the towers on the sea-drome wall the "flare-path" shot

out--an avenue of white and steady light to guide the liner outwards.

From the roof of the A.P. Station the compressed air-horn sent out three

long, brazen calls. I had arranged it so. It was my Godspeed to

Constance. Old Swainson answered on his Klaxon, and then the liner began

to move slowly over the glittering water. Every second she increased her

speed and lifted until she rose clear and slanted upwards. I had a

vision of the mysterious silvery thing like a moth in the centre of the

light-beam, and then the flare-path shifted out to sea, and rose till it

was almost at a right angle with the water. The _Atlantis_ was

spiralling up to her ten-thousand-foot level, and in a moment or two she

was nothing more than a speck.

Just as I lost sight of her, Patrol Ship No. 1 lifted and followed like

a hawk after a heron, and then both ships were lost in the night.

The band on Plymouth Pier was still playing. The young men and maidens

were still strolling round the lawns in the moonlight. The air was sweet

and pure, full of laughter and the voices of girls. But I went back to

the station with a heavy heart.

Two shorthand clerks and two telegraphists were waiting for me, and in

the next hour I got through an infinity of work. There was a mass of

telegrams to answer from America. They had been re-wired from Whitehall.

I had to send out fifty or sixty signals to organize a complete patrol

of the Atlantic air-lanes. There was a long and confidential "wireless"

to my assistant, Muir Lockhart, in London, and last, though by no means

least, a condensed report of everything for the Home Secretary. It was

after ten when I had finished, and I walked slowly back to the "Royal,"

dead tired in mind and body. When I came to think of it, I realized that

this had been one of the most eventful and exciting days of my life.

Thumbwood--you will hear a great deal about him before this narrative is

over--was waiting in the hall. He hurried me upstairs to where a tepid

bath dashed with ammonia was waiting. Five minutes in this, a brisk rub

down, a complete change into evening kit, a tea-cup of Bovril with a

tablespoon of brandy and a pinch of celery salt in it--what Thumbwood

called my "bran-mash"--and I was a new man again.

For a perfect valet commend me a man who has had charge of racehorses in

his time!

Then I went down to meet Captain Pring. I saw at once, as I came into

the public rooms of the hotel, that the news was out. Groups of people

were standing together and talking earnestly. There was a buzz of

suppressed excitement, natural anywhere, but particularly so in the

principal air-port of England.

And there were special editions of the evening papers....

These--I got one and looked--had made the most of very scanty material.

Nothing like the whole truth had leaked out, but there was,

nevertheless, a sensation of the first magnitude. I was recognized and

pointed to; a naval captain even spoke, and tried to pump me!--though

he soon found that there was nothing doing--and when Captain Pring came

into the lounge some idiot started to cheer, and there was what the

papers describe as a "scene."

Pring and I supped alone in a private room and had a long confidential

talk, in the course of which I learnt many things. I am not going to

give any details of that talk at present. It was momentous--it is enough

to say that now--and has its proper place further on in the story.

The worthy Captain went at twelve, and I retired to bed. Thumbwood slept

in a dressing-room opening out of my bedroom. By his couch was a

telephone, which I arranged was to be connected with the A.P. Station

all night long. If any signal came Thumbwood was to take it, and, if

important, wake me at once.

... I am going to conclude this first portion of the narrative in as few

lines as possible. Even to-day I shirk the writing of them.

I was awakened suddenly to find my room blazing with light; I afterwards

found that the exact time was 2.30 a.m.

Thumbwood was standing by the bed. "Sir John," he said hoarsely,

"there's a signal!"

One glance at the lad's face was enough, and I set my teeth--hard.

"Bad news?"

"Terrible news, Sir John!"

"Go on."

"_Atlantis_ attacked two hundred miles west of Cork. Captain Swainson

and four other men shot dead. Patrol Boat No. 1 disabled. Commander

Lashmar and most of the crew killed. Signal got through by two survivors

of crew, who managed to repair wireless."

Twice I swallowed with a dry mouth. Thumbwood knew what I wanted to ask.

"The young lady, Sir John, and her maid ..."

"Dead, too?"

"No, Sir John. They were taken from among all the other passengers and

put aboard the pirate ship, which then flew away with them."