,l)4t 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR6013.U41A2 
 
 The air pirate. 
 
 3 1924 013 622 513 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013622513 
 
The Air Pimte 
 
Some Ranger Gull Books 
 
 HIS aSAOE'S OBACE 
 
 BACK TO LILAC LAND 
 
 THE OIQABETTE SMOKES 
 
 FOBTALONE 
 
 THE 8EBF 
 
 THE BOUSE OF TORMENT . „ , 
 1 Novels 
 
 WHEN SATAN BULED J 
 
 THE HABVES% OF LOVE 
 A STOBY OF THE STAGE 
 THE PBICE OF PITY 
 
 \Biatorical 
 
The Air Pirate 
 
 By Ranger Gull, Author of "The Ser/r 
 "Back to Lilac Land," " The Snare of the Fowler, etc. 
 
 LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT. LTD. 
 PATERNOSTER HOUSE. E.C. 
 
Webicntion 
 
 TO PERCY BURTON, Esq. 
 
 In memory of a certain celebrated walk 
 from Great Holland to Frinton^on-Sea, 
 and the salmon we met at the end of it. 
 With all good wishes from the Author. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. — The Commissioner of Air Police for 
 Great Britain rides to Plymouth 
 IN Good Company . . . . g 
 II. — Fate of the Transatlantic Air- 
 Liner " Albatros" ... 24 
 III. — " Cold-blooded Piracy in the High 
 
 Air" 39 
 
 IV. — The Newspapers in Full Cry . . 55 
 V. — ^The Familiar Spirit of Mr. van 
 
 Adams 67 
 
 VI.-^Mr. Danjuro, Thinking Machine, 
 
 explains Himself .... 83 
 VII. — ^The curious Fight in the Res- 
 taurant 99 
 
 VIII. — The Hunting Instinct is stimulated 
 
 BY a Procession . . . .111 
 IX. — The Man with the Wicked Face . 128 
 X. — Sir John Custance comes upon the 
 
 House of Helzephron . . . 138 
 XI. — "The Air Wolves are hunting 
 
 to-night ! " . ... . .150 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGB 
 
 XII.— The Killing of Michael Feddon . 165 
 XIII. — The Secret that puzzled two Conti- 
 nents 176 
 
 XIV. — ^The Air' Pirate at last . . . 187 
 
 XV.-^Led out to die 203 
 
 XVI. — The Hounds from Thibet and Mr. 
 Vargus ; WITH a Discovery on 
 
 BOARD THE PiRATE . . . . 2l6 
 
 XVII. — ^The Moment of Triumph . . . 236 
 
 XVIII.— The Golden Dream .... 253 
 
 XiX. — Last Flight of the Pirate Airship . 266 
 
 Epilogue 277 
 
THE AIR PIRATE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 TH^P COMMISSIONER OF AIR POLICE FOR GREAT 
 BRITAIN RIDES TO PLYMOUTH IN GOOD COMPANY 
 
 NEARLY two years ago a leading London 
 daily newspaper said : " The Government 
 have assured us that all danger from present and 
 ■ future air piracies is now over, and that the 
 recent events which so startled and horrified both 
 this country and the United States of America 
 can never recur. For our own part we accept 
 that assurance, and we do not think that the 
 Commissioner of Air Police for the British Govern- 
 ment will be caught napping again. 
 
 " In saying this we do not in the least mean to 
 imply that Sir John Custance could either have 
 foreseen or prevented the astounding mid-Atlantic 
 tragedies. Sir John, though barely thirty years 
 of agBj is an official in every way worthy of his high 
 position, an organizer of exceptional ability and 
 a pilot of practical experience. Press and public 
 
 9 
 
ic The Air Pirate 
 
 are perfectly well aware that it, is owing to his 
 personal exertions that our magnificent Trans- 
 atlantic air-liners are no longer stricken down by 
 the Night Terror of the immediate past. And in 
 saying this much, we have both a suggestion and 
 a request to make. 
 
 " The inner history of the piracies is only fully 
 known to one man. It is a story, we understand, 
 that puts the imagination of the boldest writer 
 of fiction to shame. Such parts of it as have been 
 made public hint at a story of absorbing interest 
 behind. The bad old days of censorship and 
 secrecy have vanished with the occasions that 
 made them necessary. We suggest that a full 
 and detailed ' story ' of the first — and we trust the 
 last— Air Pirate should be written, and given to 
 the world. And we call upon that most popular 
 public man. Sir John Custance, to do this for us. 
 He alone knows everything." 
 
 At the time that it appeared I read the above 
 to Charles Thumbwood, my little valet, as I 
 finished breakfast, in my Half Moon Street 
 chambers. 
 
 ", Not quite correct, Charles. You know almost 
 as much about it, as I do. To say nothing of a 
 certain friend . . ." 
 
 " I wouldn't say that, Sir John," said Charles, 
 brushing my light overcoat. " Though I rode part 
 of the course alongside of you ; to say nothing of 
 
The Air Pirate ii 
 
 Mr. Danjuro." Thumbwood was a jockey before 
 I took him into my service. " Are you going to 
 write it all down, Sir John ? " 
 
 " That depends on several things, and on one 
 person especially. I must think it all over." 
 
 Think it over I did as I drove to my offices in 
 Whitehall — ^the Scotland Yard ot the Air — and 
 I discussed it afterwards with a certain lady. . . . 
 
 Which is how the following narrative came to be 
 written, though I did not complete it until the 
 best part of two years had elapsed. 
 
 II 
 
 I never did any flying during the Great War, 
 I was too young, being only fifteen and at Eton 
 when Peace was signed. But from the very 
 earliest days that I can remember aviation fas- 
 cinated me as nothing else could. My father, 
 the first baronet, left me a moderate fortune. 
 He died when I was eighteen, and instead of going 
 to Oxford, I entered as a cadet in the R.F.C. 
 It is not necessary to detail how, when I had 
 earned my wings, I joined the civil side of flying 
 and became a pilot-commander in the Transatlantic 
 Service. I had a good deal of influence behind 
 me, and, to cut a long story short, at twenty-eight 
 I was Assistant, and at thirty Chief Commissioner ' 
 of the British Air Police. I was answerable to 
 
12 The Air Pirate 
 
 Government alone, and, within its limits, my 
 powers were absolute. 
 
 It was on a morning in late June, the 25th to 
 be exact, when the wheels began to move, I date 
 the start of everything from that morning. About 
 one o'clock on the preceding night Thumbwood 
 had waked me from refreshing sleep. A wireless 
 message, in code, had been received at Whitehall. 
 It was addressed to me personally, and was from 
 the Controller of the White Star Air Line at Ply- 
 mouth. My people at Whitehall, on nig^t duty, 
 thought it of sufficient importance to send on even 
 at this hour. 
 
 As soon as I was thoronghly awake, and had 
 done cursing Thumbwood, I reaijd the message. 
 It only said that a matter of the gravest import- 
 ance required my personal presence at Plymouth, 
 and would I come down at once. 
 
 Now considerable experience of the fussy great 
 men who controlled the air-liner companies, which 
 linked up England with all parts of the world, had 
 made me somewhat sceptical of these urgent 
 demands for my presence. More than once I had 
 to explain that I was not at the beck and call of 
 any commercial magnate, and if I had made myself 
 disliked in certain quarters I had, at least, made 
 my office respected. 
 
 Accordingly I scribbled instructions to the 
 chief inspector on duty that he should send a 
 
The Air Pirate is 
 
 wireless to Plymouth requesting further details. 
 Then I went to sleep again. 
 
 As a matter of fact, I was going to Plymouth 
 the next morning in any case, though on private 
 business. Sir Joshua Johnson, Controller of the 
 White Star Line, did not, of course, know that. 
 His midnight message was a coincidence. 
 
 I could have flown down from Whitehall in my fast 
 police yacht in an hour, but, as it happened, I was 
 going to train from Paddington. Sir Joshua 
 could wait until I turned up^ some time after 
 lunch. 
 
 How well I remember the morning of my depar- 
 ture from town. The long departure platform at 
 Paddington was crowded with well-dressed, happy- 
 looking people, as I stood by the door of my 
 reserved carriage in the Riviera Express — ^that 
 superb train, with its curved roof, which runs to 
 Plymouth without a stop. 
 
 Thutobwood, invaluable little man, filled the 
 carriage with flowers, great bunches of white lilac 
 -and June roses, and the station-master, who came 
 up for a chat, looked curiously at the bower my 
 valet had made. The Chief Commissioner of Air 
 Police was nOt wont to travel lik^ that ! 
 
 For my part, I was wildly exhilarated, and at 
 the same time, as nervous as a boy making his first 
 flight. To-day might prove one of the happiest 
 or quite the most miserable of my life. I was going 
 
14 The Air Pirate 
 
 to put it to the test. Confound it, why didn't 
 Connie come ? 
 
 On this morning Miss Constance Shepherd, the 
 young hght-comedy actress, adored of London, 
 and to me the rose of all the roses, was travelling 
 down to Plymouth to catch the air-liner starting 
 from that port to New York at eight-thirty this 
 evening. And she had promised to travel with 
 me I 
 
 Would she have done so, I kept on asking 
 myself, if she didn't know quite well what I meant 
 to say to her ? Or was it just friendliness ? I 
 knew she liked me. 
 
 • . . Why didn't she come ? Here it was, only 
 eight minutes before the train started. As I 
 searched the platform, with an eye that strove to 
 appear calm and unconcerned, I saw faces that I 
 knew — faces of theatrical celebrities, two or three 
 of the prettiest girls in England, a handsome, 
 hook-nosed young man, who was, perhaps, the best 
 known theatrical manager in London, two eminent 
 comedians carrying bouquets. And the Press 
 photpgraphers were beginning to arrange their 
 cameras. . . . 
 
 I had completely forgotten what a tremendous 
 celebrity dear little Connie was. I might have 
 known they'd have given her a send-off on her 
 way to the States. All the same, it annoyed me, 
 as it seemed to be annoying a tall, hatchet-faced 
 
The Air Pirate 15 
 
 man in Donegal tweeds, who scjowled at the little 
 crowd. Was he a friend, too, I wondered ? 
 
 She came at last, very late of course, and after 
 a brief smile at me, underwent the public cere- 
 monies of the occasion, while I — ^I OMjn it — retired 
 into the carriage for a minute or two. But I 
 saw the cameras click, and the girls embrace, and 
 the crowd of sightseers trying to push into the 
 charmed circle, and then Connie was in the cor- 
 ridor, leaning 'out of the window, waving and smiling 
 as the train began to move to an accompaniment 
 of loud cheers. 
 
 " My dear Connie, royalty isn't in it ! " I said, 
 as she stepped laughingly into the carriage, and 
 I pushed the sliding door home. 
 
 "Oh, they're dears I " she said, "and they do 
 really mean well, despite the fact that we shall 
 all be in the picture papers to-morrow morning, 
 and that's good for business." 
 
 " I thought you were never coming." 
 
 " It is an impression I convey," she answered ; 
 " but I'm very careful, really. My maid was here 
 with the luggage half an hour ago. What lovely 
 flowers you have got for me, John ! " 
 
 She lay back in her seat as the train gathered 
 speed and Ealing flashed by with a roar, and I 
 feasted my eyes on the fairest picture in the 
 world. 
 
 She wore a simple travelling coat and skirt of 
 
16 The Air Pirate 
 
 white piqu6, and the white lilac was all about her, 
 framing her face as she held up a branch to inhale 
 its fragrance. All England knew that face in 
 the day%|iwhen little Connie sang and danced 
 herself into the heart of the public, but none knew 
 it as well as I. 
 
 How can I describe that marvellous hair of 
 dark chestnut, those deep amethyst eyes, and the 
 perfect bow of lips which were truer to the exact 
 colour of coral than any I have ever seen ? It only 
 makes a catalogue after all. It's the expression — 
 the soul, if you like — ^that makes the true face ; 
 and here was one so frank and kind and sweet 
 that when one looked it seemed as if hands were 
 placed beneath the heart, lifting it up ! 
 
 On one other day only did I see her more lovely 
 than she was now. 
 
 Well, it was too early to say what I wanted to 
 say, and, besides, I was nervous as yet. We 
 hadn't settled down. As I expected, her breakfast 
 had consisted of tea and a macaroon, so I pro- 
 duced a basket — lunch was to come later — in 
 which a silver box of caviare sandwiches was sur- 
 rounded by crushed iee in a larger box of zinc. 
 There was also iced hock and seltzer water. We 
 both felt more at home in a few minutes. 
 
 We had lit our cigarettes, and I was thinking 
 hard, when someone passing along the corridor 
 looked in upon us for a moment. I had an iqa- 
 
The Air Pirate 17 
 
 pression of a brown face and a scowl. It was the 
 man in tweeds that I had noticed at Padding- 
 ton. 
 
 " That beast ! " said Connie suddenly. 
 
 I turned and looked at her. She was frowning 
 adorably, and I thought she looked rather pale. 
 
 "D'you know him, then ? " 
 
 " I did, and I simply hate him." 
 
 " Who is he ? " 
 
 " I expect you've heard his name, John. Most 
 people have in town. He is Henry Helzephron, 
 a big man in your way once." 
 
 I did know the name as that of a pilot of extra- 
 ordinary courage and ability during the Great 
 War. He had gained the Victoria Cross when a 
 lad of twenty, and his exploits during two won- 
 derful years formed part of the history of aviation. 
 He had not flown for years now, and divided his 
 time between the more dissipated haunts of the 
 West End and an estate he had somewhere in 
 Devon or Cornwall, a " has-been " with a sinister 
 reputation, a lounger of thirty-six. 
 
 " I know. ' Hawk Helzephron ' he used to be 
 called. Gone all to pieces, I understand. But 
 how do you know him, dear ? " 
 
 " He did me the honour to ask (me to marry 
 him about two months ago," she answered, " and 
 since then he is always putting himself in my way. 
 He does not speak, but he comes to the theatre 
 
 3 
 
18 The Air Pirate 
 
 and glferes. I lim ftlt(^&ys meeting him, and 1 hate 
 the sight of him. He makes me afraid. ..." 
 
 Here was my chance and I took it like a shot. 
 She should never be unprotected from Helzephrons 
 and all the tribe who haUnt the stage door any 
 more ! 
 
 A successful aviator takes instantaneous deci- 
 sions. He must. If he hesitates he's lost. 
 
 What I said, as the Riviera Express hurled itself 
 through the summer noon, is not part of this 
 narrative. I daresay I was no more original than 
 most men, but the results were eminently satisfac- 
 tory folr, as we ran past the towers and v^inding 
 river of Exeter, Connie and I were engaged. 
 
 I rfemettiber that 1 luggfed the ring out of my 
 ■^vaistcoat pocket— -slipphires and -diahiotids, a 
 tbp-shelf ring I — precisely as we glided through 
 Exeter Station. 
 
 " 0-oh I " said Coftnie, as the thing winked 
 and shoiie in the sunlight ; and then : " You 
 wretch ! I'll never forgive you — neV6r \ 
 
 I wondered what was the matter. In fact, 
 I aisked her. 
 
 " You made so sure of me that you aotually 
 bought this beforehand ! " 
 
 " It doesn't do to leave anything tb chance," 
 I said, and I made her put it on, and gave her 
 Several other thiiigs of no particular importance 
 While she was doing it 
 
The Air Pirate 19 
 
 For the rest of the journey, past the red cHffs 
 and blue seas of Teignmouth and Paignton, we 
 had a long and happy talk, finding out — of course 
 — all sorts of delightful things abotit each other 
 which we had only suspect^ before. 
 
 Perhaps there is nothing fresher and more 
 delightful in life than those first few hours of 
 revelation, when a man and a girl who love each 
 other have, at last, become engaged. It is like 
 coming into harbour after an anxious voyage, 
 and yet, all the time there is the splendid know- 
 ledge that there are new and marvellous seas 
 waiting to be explored, this time — together ! 
 
 Connie was to act in New York for a month and 
 in Boston for a fortnight. It was a ' star ' engage- 
 ment, and six weeks would soon pass. Besides, 
 now that Plymouth was barely thirty hours from 
 New York, there was nothing to prevent me from 
 popping over once or twice to see her. I was 
 responsible to no one for my time, and half a 
 dozen quite real matters in connection with my 
 job {would provide a valid excuse. After the six 
 weeks were over, why, then, we would be married ! 
 
 " There is absolutely no reason on earth why 
 we should wait," I told her, in sublime ignorance 
 of what the Fates had in store for both of us. 
 " I'll have a special licence ready, and the day you 
 land again on this side you shall be Lady Custance, 
 darling ! " 
 
 2* 
 
20 The Air Pirate 
 
 So it was settled, lightly and happily enough,' 
 and when we left the train at Plymouth Station 
 there was not a cloud in the sky or in our hearts. 
 
 I found that Mr. Thumbwood had been making 
 excellent use of his time, even as his master had, 
 for the little man was assisting a demure and well- 
 looking maiden to collect luggage, who turned out 
 to be Connie's maid, Wilson. 
 
 We left them to it and drove to the Royal Hotel, 
 not before I had seen the train start again on its 
 journey to Cornwall, with Mr. Helzephron — whom 
 I had quite forgotten — istanding in the corridor 
 and regarding us with a malignant scowl upon his 
 hawk-like, dissipated countenance. But Mr. Helze- 
 phron, and all other men alive, were about six a 
 penny to me just then. 
 
 Connie was to leave the sea-drome at eight- 
 thirty in that fine flying-liner Atlantis. She was a 
 Royal Mail ship, and about the fastest and finest 
 flyer in the Transatlantic service, with a carrying 
 capacity of three hundred and fifty passengers, 
 and a thousand tons dead weight of cargo. Her 
 crew numbered forty, and she was commanded by 
 Captain Swainson, one of the most reliable pilot 
 commanders in the air. He was a man I both 
 knew and liked. 
 
 Connie wanted a rest and a sleep. " At least, 
 I want to be alone to think it all over ! " she said, 
 so she went up to her room in the hotel at once. 
 
The Air Pirate 21 
 
 I arranged to call for her at five, when we would 
 go for a stroll and afterwards have an early dinner. 
 Then I washed my hands and strolled into the 
 famous long bar of the hotel for a sandwich and 
 a whisky and soda, before proceeding to the offices 
 of the White Star Line on the Hoe. 
 
 As I munched, my sandwich I wondered what 
 ^ the affair was that had made Sir Joshua Johnson 
 send me a wireless message in the middle of the 
 night — a time when obese old gentlemen should 
 be fast asleep in bed. I had told my people at 
 Whitehall to ask for further particulars, but I 
 had not the least intention of being bothered with 
 them — or any police business whatever — until 
 I had settled my own personal affairs with Connie. 
 Accordingly, when I left my chambers in the 
 morning to go to Paddington, I sent a message to 
 Whitehall to say that I was proceeding to Ply- 
 mouth during the day, and would wait till my 
 arrival to hear what the business was. Muir 
 Lockhart, my assistant, would perfectly under- 
 stand, and was quite capable of dealing with any- 
 thing that might come along. ^ 
 
 The long bar was, as usual, full of naval 
 officers, with a sprinkling of Air Merchant Service 
 men in their uniform of grey, silver and light blue. 
 I saw no one that I knew, until the swing-doors 
 leading into the hotel were flung open, and a wiry 
 little man in the black and silver uniform of my 
 
22 The Air Pirate 
 
 own corps came hurriedly in. His peaked cap, 
 with the silver wings and sword badge, was pushed 
 back on his head, and he was in a state of unen- 
 viable heat and perspiration. He was Pilot 
 Superintendent Lashmar, chief of the Ocean Patrol 
 stationed at Plymouth, with equal rank to a 
 lieutenant-commander in the Navy, and one of 
 my most trusted officers in the West. 
 
 He went up to the bar and ordered a " Idng 
 glass of iced ginger-beer, with a dash of gin in it," 
 and then I clapped him on the shoulder. He 
 wheeled round in a second, and when he saw who 
 it was his face changed from anxiety to relief. 
 
 " Thank Heaven you're come, sir," he said, as 
 he saluted. " We've been signalling to Whitehall 
 all the morning, and all we could get was that you 
 were on your way. I've been backwards and for- 
 wards from the A.P. Headquarters to the White 
 Star Office a dozen times." 
 
 " I came down by train, Mr, Lashmar,* I said, 
 realizing in an instant that there really was some- 
 thing important afoot, and that by bad luck I 
 was behind time. Sir Joshua Johnson was all 
 very well, but when my own people began to send 
 out signals — ^that was quite another matter. 
 
 " We thought you'd fly down in the yacht, sir, 
 and we've been sending wireless trying to pick 
 you up." 
 " I couldn't. I have had some most important 
 
The Air Pirate 28 
 
 business to attend to. Anyhow, I'm here now. 
 What's it all about ? " 
 
 " You haven't heard anything, sir ? " he asked 
 in amazement. 
 
 Again I cursed my luck, but I wasn't going to 
 give it away. " We'll go round to Sir Joshua 
 Johnson at once," was all I said. 
 
 " That will be best, sir, and then every detail 
 can be put before you in sequence. I have my 
 report with me, written up to date. I think I've 
 taken all possible measures up to the present, but, 
 of course, we've been waiting for you. Sir Joshua, 
 as you may imagine, is half out of his wits." 
 
 " He's not had very far to travel, then," I said 
 to gain time. All this was so much Greek to me, 
 and I had to walk warily. 
 
 In a minute more Lashmar and I were on the 
 Hoe and approaching the stately offices of the Line, 
 which stood in the very centre of that famous 
 promenade above the blue waters of the Sound. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 FATE OF THE TRANS-ATLANTIC 
 AIR-LINER " ALBATROS " 
 
 THERE were a good many people in both the 
 ante-room and the secretaries' room as I 
 was led to Sir Joshua. I was immediately aware 
 of an unusual stir and excitement, and people 
 nodded and whispered as I passed — " That's Sir 
 John Custance, the Police Commissioner." " I 
 expect there's some news," were two of the sotto 
 voce remarks I heard. 
 
 Sir Joshua sat in his own magnificent apartment, 
 •with the great window looking out over Drake's 
 Island and Mount Edgcombe to the horizon. A 
 tray and a decanter showed that he had lunched 
 there, and there was a good deal of cigar smoke 
 in the air. 
 
 Sir Joshua was a tall and corpulent man of 
 nearly seventy, with a red face with little purple 
 veins in the cheeks, a thatch of snow-white hajr 
 and close whiskers. He had been an early pioneer 
 of commercial flying, and had reaped his reward 
 
 24 
 
The Air Pirate -25 
 
 in the control of the finest air fleet in the world 
 and the Lord knows how many millions of money* 
 He was distinctly an able and upright man, and 
 his only faults were a slight pomposity and a 
 mistaken idea that the Commissioner of A.P. 
 for Great Britain was a sort of unpaid official of 
 The White Star Line ! A good many of the 
 great air-shipping magnates had tried to take that 
 line in the past — and been snubbed for their pains ! 
 
 Sir Joshua was not pompous this afternoon, 
 and his face was twitching as he shook hands. 
 
 " Thank God you're come. Sir John," he said, 
 " I am almost out of my mind with worry and 
 anxiety. You will agree with me that this affair 
 is as grave as it well can be ? " 
 
 To that I was diplomatically silent. What I 
 said was : " I have seen Superintendent Pilot 
 Lashmar. What I want now, Sir Joshua, as a 
 preliminary, is a brief and exact account from 
 your own lips." 
 
 " Sit down," he said, pushing a padded chair 
 towards me and handing a box of cigars. " You 
 shall have it in a nutshell." He sat down opposite 
 to me, pulled some papers towards him with a 
 hand that shook a little, and began to read. 
 
 ..." Our liner Albatros, carrying the mails, 
 left New York yesterday morning about seven a.m., 
 American time. She was consequently due here 
 at Plymouth about six-thirty thi* afternoon—- 
 
26. The Air Pirate 
 
 Greenwich. The weather conditions at the ten 
 thousand feet mail^ship level were perfect. In 
 addition to the mails tjiere were about two hundred 
 passengers, and she carried, though this was 
 known only to a few officials, a parcel of par- 
 ticularly fine Brazilian diamonds, consigned from 
 Tiffany's of New York to Aaron and Harris, the 
 dealers in precious stones, of Hatton Garden. 
 The jewels were in the ship's safe, in charge of the 
 purser. Various ships — I have the full list — 
 sighted the Albatros during the day and exchanged 
 signals, whUe-she duly reported herself by wireless 
 as she passed each lightship, as soon as dusk 
 fell. The ightships, as you know, are a hundred 
 miles apart from the Fastnet to Long Island, and 
 are connected by cable with our telegraph room 
 here. The indicating dials register, degree by 
 geographical degree, the exact position of any of 
 our ships when in the air. This record is printed 
 on a tape beneath each dial, and each record is 
 examined every hour or two by a clerk." 
 
 Of course, I knew all this. The minutest 
 detail of the system was familiar. I wished that 
 Sir Joshua would " cut the cackle aijd come to the 
 'osses." No doubt my face showed something 
 of what I felt, for Sir Joshua half apologized. 
 
 " You see. Sir John," he said, " I thought it best 
 to prepare some sort of short and coherent state- 
 ment for the. Press. As yet they have got hold 
 
The Air Pirate 27 
 
 of nothing, but we can't possibly keep it much 
 longer. Even you couldn't, with all your powers. 
 And what I am reading is this statement. I par- 
 ticularly want you to hear it, as, of course, it rests 
 with you if it shall be published in this form or 
 not." 
 I bowed, and Sir Joshua continued : 
 " At ten o'clock last night the clerk on duty 
 examined the tapes. When he came to the one 
 recording the progress of the Albatros, he found 
 that for two hours there was no record of her at 
 all. The last record was that she had passed 
 and signalled to Lightship A. 70 that all was 
 well. A two hours' gap is so unusual, owing to 
 the — er — perfection of our organization, that the 
 clerk was alarmed, and reported the matter to a 
 superior upstairs. 
 
 "A general call to all our ships in the air at 
 that moment was at once sent out, and in a few 
 minutes responses' were received from several of 
 them to the effect that the Albatros had not been 
 sighted. Nor was there any answer from the ship 
 herself. A signal to Lightship A. 71, the next 
 guide-boat the Albatros should have passed, 
 elicited the information that she had never done 
 so. By eleven o'clock all these facts were known 
 in this oflBce. The night staff here became 
 seriously alarmed. By a fortunate coincidence I 
 was attending a performance at the Theatre Royal 
 
28 The Air Pirate 
 
 dose by, with Lady Johnson and my daughters. 
 This was known, and a messenger caught me at 
 the close of the play, and I came round at once. 
 I had not been in the offices for five minutes, 
 when news of the most extraordinary and sensa- 
 tional character began to come in from our 
 receiving station by the Citadel. 
 
 " Captain Pring, one of our most reliable pilot 
 commanders, was in charge of the Albatros. The 
 message was from him, and this is the gist of it. 
 At sundown the Albatros was flying on the ten- 
 thousand-foot level. The Lightship A. 70 was 
 some twenty miles astern. No other airships were 
 in sight, when the look-out man reported a boat 
 coming up at great speed from the east. The 
 Albatros was doing her steady ninety knots, but 
 as the two ships approached, it was seen that 
 the stranger, a much smaller boat, was flying at 
 an almost incredible rate. Pring reports that 
 she was doing a sixteen to eighteen second mile, 
 but there is doubtless a mistake in the message. 
 
 " The boat showed no distinguishing lights, and 
 failed to signal, as she flashed past the liner at the 
 distance of half a mile. There were several 
 curious features about her which attracted atten- 
 tion, though what these were we do not yet know. 
 This strange ship turned and came up with the 
 Albatros, actually flying round her in spirals with 
 the greatest ease. Then, without the slightest 
 
The Air Pirate 29 
 
 warning, she opened fire on our vessel, and the 
 first shell, obviously by design, blew away our 
 wireless." 
 
 My heart simply bounded within me. This was 
 news with a vengeance I I had to exercise all 
 my self-control not to pour out a stream of frantic 
 questions. It was beyond thinking ! Such a 
 thing had not happened since the League of Nations 
 came into being. It might mean hideous war once 
 more — anything ! 
 
 Sir Joshua had paused to drink a glass of water. 
 He understood the immense gravity of this news 
 as well as I did, and his voice was unsteady as he 
 went on in answer to my nod ! 
 
 " The Albatros was helpless. Since the inter- 
 national agreement that only naval, military and 
 police ships may fly armed, she had no possible 
 means of defence. Flight, even, was impossible, 
 and the loss of her wireless forbade her to sunimon 
 help. Then the anonymous ship turned a machine 
 gun on her rudder and. shot it out of gear. There 
 was nothing for it but to descend to the water 
 and rest on her floats. Pring was forced to give 
 the order, and she planed down. The other ship 
 followed and took the water not two hundred 
 yards away. 
 
 " She then signalled in Morse code, with a 
 Klaxon horn, that she was sending men aboard 
 the Albatros, and that if the captain or crew 
 
^0 The Air Pirate 
 
 offered the slightest resistance she'd blow her to 
 pieces. They launched a Berthon collapsible 
 boat from a door in the stern fusilage. There 
 were four men in her, rll armed with large- 
 calibre automatic pfstols, and wearing pilot's hoods 
 and masks with talc eye-pieces, so that it was 
 impossible to identify them. Pring could do 
 nothing at all. He had the passengers to con- 
 sider. These ruffians cleared out the safe and 
 the women's jewel-cases— they left the mails 
 alone — and in ten minutes they were back again 
 with the loot. The ship lifted and went off in 
 the dark at two hundred miles an houi-, leaving 
 the Albatros helpless upon the water. 
 
 " It was a business of several hours to rig up 
 a makeshift rudder, but, fortunately, her search- 
 lights were all right, and she kept on signalling 
 with these until she was sighted by a big cargo 
 steamer, a Baltimore to Cadiz boat, coming up 
 from the south, the Sant lago. She took off the 
 passengers and is bringing them home ; she's 
 only a fifteen-knot boat, but I have already 
 dispatched one of our smaller liners to pick her 
 up and take the passengers aboard. They ou^t 
 to be here some time to-morrow. 
 
 " The Sant lago has wirel^s, and was able to 
 communicate, not only with us, but also with th^ 
 air-yacht May Flower, which she sighted on the 
 four-thousand-foot level at dawn. The May 
 
The Air Pirate 8i 
 
 Flower belongs to Mr. Van Adams, the Phila- 
 delphia millionaire, who is crossing to England 
 with a party of friends. She came down to the 
 water and took up Commander Pring and the 
 second officer, and should be here by tea-time this 
 afternoon. Then we shall know more of this 
 unprecedented, this deplorable business." 
 
 " And the Albatros, Sir Joshua ? " 
 
 " A small crew was left on her, and an emer- 
 gency tender and workmen started at dawn. She 
 ought to be flying again to-night." 
 
 I had all the available facts at last, and long 
 before Sir Joshua had finished my mind was busy 
 as a mill. There was going to be the very biggest 
 sort of commotion over this. England and 
 America would be in a blaze of fury within twenty- 
 four hours, and every flying man, from the skippers 
 of the lordly London-Brindisi-Bombay boats, or 
 the Transatlantic Line, to the sporting commercial 
 traveller in a secondhand 50 h.p. trussed-girder 
 blow-fly, would be wagging the admonishing 
 finger at me, 
 
 " Thank you, Sir Joshua. Most lucid, if I may 
 say so. As a clear statement of fact, combined 
 W^ith a sense of vivid narrative, your account could 
 hardly be improved on." 
 
 " You think. Sir John . . ." 
 
 " When the time comes to make a statement for 
 the newspapers I would not alter a word.' 
 
32 The Air Pirate 
 
 Thus did the tongue of the flatterer evade a 
 situation that might have been a trifle awkward 
 for me. I rose at that. " I must leave you now, 
 Sir Joshua," I said, " as I have a great deal to 
 see to and must rejoin Mr. Lashmar. Steps have 
 already been taken, and later on in the day I 
 shall be able to tell you more. Meanwhile I shall 
 see Captain Pring directly the May Flower arrives, 
 and before anyone else. Our future action must 
 depend a great deal on his statement." 
 
 This was said in my curtest official manner, 
 and then I got out of the room as quickly as I 
 possibly could. Lashmar was waiting, and I took 
 him by the arm and hurried him out of the office. 
 
 " I've only just heard full details, Lashmar, 
 and pretty bad they are. Now has anything been 
 done — ^by us, I mean ? " 
 
 " I had two of o;ir patrol ships out at two- 
 thirty this morning cruising over a wide area, sir. 
 They are out still, and reporting every hour. No 
 results, no strange airship seen anywhere. I've 
 been out myself up and down the Irish coast and 
 round the Scillies this morning, more for form's 
 sake than anything else. And I've. cabled the 
 whole story, as far as we know it, to the States." 
 
 " Good ! Any reply from them ? " 
 
 " Their police ships are out from Cape Breton 
 to the Bermudas, but they don't seem to have 
 sighted anything out of the ordinary as yet." 
 
The Air Pirate 33 
 
 " Of course, it would be like looking for a needle 
 in a haystack along that huge stretch, eight hundred 
 miles if it's an inch. But, as far as I can see, it's 
 up to them ; not us." 
 " You. think so, sir?" 
 
 " Why, yes. It's a case of skeer rank and 
 daring piracy. It's been organized with great 
 skill, and the pirates, whoever they are, have com- 
 mand of something quite out-size in the way 
 of a ship. ^ There isn't a works in England where 
 such a boat could be built without our knowing 
 about it before it was launched. And it's dead 
 certain that there's nowhere in these little islands 
 to hide her. Every single bit of spruce and piano 
 wire with a motor-bicycle engine that can fly ten 
 yards has to be registered and licensed by me. 
 No, this is an American stunt." 
 
 We had been crossing the Hoe as we talked, in 
 the direction of the Citadel, and we now came to 
 the long, low building of Dartmoor stone, which 
 is the Plymouth Headquarters of the A.P. It is 
 perched on the edge of the cliff, and within five 
 yards of the spot where Sir Francis Drake is said 
 to have finished his game of bowls when the 
 Armada was coming up Channel. 
 
 We passed through the gates, where the police 
 sentry presented arms, and began to walk up and 
 down the terrace. 
 " Signal to Southampton," I ordered, " and get 
 
 3 
 
34 The Air Pirate 
 
 a couple of their fastest boats here at once. They 
 may be useful in an emergency, and it will look as 
 if we are doing something. Ready for action, of 
 course, and with full service ammunition and 
 bombs. Sir Joshua may have a fit if he likes, 
 but there is nothing to be done until we know 
 more-sunless you can suggest anything ? " 
 
 The little man shook his head. He was keen as 
 a terrier, of course, and he had already acted with 
 great promptitude and wisdom. 
 
 Just then an orderly came out on to the terrace 
 and handed me a signal. 
 
 I read it out to Lashmar : " Air-yacht May 
 Flower just passed St. Mary's doing ninety knots." 
 It was from our most westerly A.P. station on 
 Tresco in the Scillies. Lashmar made a rough 
 calculation : " Twenty-five miles west-sou' -west 
 of Land's End, add another seventy — she'll be 
 here just under the hour, sir." 
 
 " Then I tell you what, Mr. Lashmar, go and 
 meet her and escort her home. Not a living soul 
 must speak to Captain Pring before I do — ^not 
 even Sir Joshua or any of the White Star people. 
 Give that as my orders when you meet the yacht. 
 But put it very politely to Mr. Van Adams — ^my 
 compliments and that sort of thing. He's the sort 
 of person who could buy the goodwill of the 
 universe for ready money. Make your escort 
 appear a compliment from the Government ! " 
 
The Air Pirate 35 
 
 Lashmar never wasted words. He understood 
 exactly, saluted, and hurried to the electric railway, 
 which ran down like a chute into the sea-drome 
 far below. I lit a cigarette and watched, and it 
 was a sight worth watching. 
 
 Beyond stretched the largest sea-drome in 
 Great Britain, a harbour within a harbour, sur- 
 rounded by massive concrete walls. In the 
 roughest weather, when even within the distant 
 breakwater the Sound is turbulent, the sea-drome 
 is calm as a duck-pond. Now it was like a sheet 
 of polished silver, and resting on their great 
 floats at their moorings were three gigantic air- 
 liners, with electric launches and motor-boats 
 plying between them and the landing-stages. 
 
 Right in the Centre was the splendid Atlantis, 
 graceful as a swan, by which Connie was to leave 
 for the States in a few hours. She was surroimded 
 by a swarm of boats no bigger than water-beetles 
 from where I stood. 
 
 A bell rang, there was a rumbling sound, and 
 from a tunnel just beneath me the car, with Lash- 
 mar in it, shot down to the water like a stone 
 running down a house roof. As the car dwindled 
 to a punt, a match-box, and finally a postage 
 stamp, I heard the creak and swish of the sema- 
 phore behind me on the roof of the station. On 
 the far side of the sea-drome was our Patrol Ship 
 No. 1, -stream-line fusilage, with the familiar red, 
 
 3* 
 
36 The Air Pirate 
 
 white and blue Jine, snow-white planes, guns fore 
 and aft, and twin propellers of phosphor bronze 
 winking white-hot in the afternoon sun. 
 
 The semaphore was sighted in five seconds. I 
 got a pair of glasses, and saw that the engines were 
 already " ticking over " as Lashmar jumped into 
 a launch and went over the pool, with a cream- 
 white wake behind him and two ostrich plumes of 
 spray six feet high at the bows. He was on 
 board in less time than it takes to write it. ■ I heard 
 the faint throbbing of the four high-compression 
 engines change to the drone of a hornet. No. 1 
 Patrol slid over the water until her floats lifted — 
 lifted until they barely touched the surface, and 
 she was clear. One clean spiral over Pinklecombe 
 way, and then, as she mounted, she turned and 
 was off over Rams Head like an arrow from a bow. 
 Though I say it that shouldn't, my officers and 
 men of the A.P. were just about as good as they're 
 made ! 
 
 There was a good three-quarters of an hour to 
 spare, and the Royal Hotel was not four minutes 
 away. After the recent excitements a cup of tea 
 with Cqnnie seemed just the thing. As I legged 
 it over the Hoe, I realized that I might be very 
 busy for some time, and, in consequence, late for 
 dinner. I must tell my girl that something of 
 great importance had happened, though, in any case, 
 I was determined to see her off, come what might. 
 
The Air Pirate 37 
 
 Then I remembered something. As Chief Com- 
 missioner I had absolute control over the air- 
 ports of England in a time of crisis. In any case, 
 it would be as well to, .close the sea-drome in pre- 
 paration for the May Flower's arrival. I should 
 then be certain that no one could possibly get at 
 Captain Pring before I could. And if I chose 
 to detain even the Royal Mail for half an hour 
 later on in the evening — ^under the circumstances ! 
 — no one would say me nay. 
 
 There is a telephone box in the hall of the Royal 
 Hotel. In thirty seconds my orders were given, 
 and not a living soul would enter or leave Ply- 
 mouth sea-drome without my permission. Then 
 I strolled into the winter gardens, where I found 
 Connie sitting at a little table among tubs of 
 azaleas and listening to the strains of a ladies' 
 orchestra. 
 
 " I've half an hour and ten minutes exactly, 
 darling," I said, putting my watch on the table 
 and helping her to early strawberries. " Tell me 
 when the time's up, and then I must rush away 
 for an hour before we dine." 
 
 Straightway I forgot all about the AlbatroSi 
 Captain Pring, and the mysterious armed ship in 
 mid-Atlantic. 
 
 Knowing what I know now, I wonder how I 
 could have taken it so lightly, even then. But 
 grave and serious as the affair was, amazing, too, 
 
38 The Air Pirate 
 
 in its boldness, an elaborate and unexpected 
 masterpiece of crime, it seemed remote and very 
 far away, like something one reads of in a foreign 
 newspaper, never conceiving that it can have any- 
 thing to do with one's own personal life. 
 
 If only I could have peeped but a little way 
 into the future ! 
 
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." 
 
 39 
 
40 The Air Pirate 
 
 " 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 dis- 
 entangle 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 air- 
 ship. 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 
 
The Air Pirate 41 
 
 coast never saw anything of her. The Air Police 
 of the U.S.A. have questioned every registered 
 boat, Transatlantic and coastal *rade, 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," 
 
42 The Air Pirate 
 
 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 Cap- 
 tain 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'U swear to all I say. . . ." 
 
 He looked at the second oj0&cer, 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 I " 
 
 " The man who runs her, or the man who built 
 her, has solved another problem. He's produced 
 silent engines- at last 1 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 Air Pirate 43 
 
 " 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 busi- 
 ness. 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. Riekaby here. I'll spring another surprise 
 on you. Sir John, and then I've done. Those 
 chaps were English, every one oj 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 ofijcer spoke. " Captain Pring is 
 
44 The Air Pirate 
 
 perfectly right, sir," he said modestly. " I'll 
 swear that they had been public school or 'Varsity 
 ^en at some time or other." 
 
 " Where were you ? " I asked quifckly. 
 
 " Harrow, sir^" 
 
 I nodded. Here was another astounding fact 
 for consideration when I was alone. 
 
 " And then, after a time," Pring continued, 
 " the Sant logo 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." 
 
The Air Pirate 45 
 
 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 sig- 
 nificantly. 
 
 " 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'U know that the police boats 
 of two hemispheres are out looking for him in 
 
46 The Air Pirate 
 
 swarms by now. He'll figure that out, siu-e. 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 com-age 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. 
 
The Air Pirate 47 
 
 " Dearest old John ! " she said once, " what is 
 it ? You're sad, inside of you, and you're pre- 
 tending 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 organiza- 
 tion I must solve at once. Forgive me, sweet- 
 heart ! " 
 
 " 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 pre- 
 occupied 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 
 
48 The Air Pirate 
 
 she had brought with hpr from London were 
 already on board the Atlantis, and Wilson arid 
 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, Captaiii Swainscm. 
 
 The big, bearded man was sitting alohe 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 1 
 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, ! " 
 
The Air Pirate 49 
 
 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 congratula- 
 tions I " 
 
 " 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 ? Wpll, this is news ! 
 
 4 
 
50 The Air Pirate 
 
 Now I understand, about that escort I 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 Roiie of Summer." 
 
 I'm not emotional, but when I hear that tune 
 to-day — thsmk. 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 innu- 
 merable 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 
 
The Air Pirate 51 
 
 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^anes. There was a 
 long and confidential ''wifeless " to my assistant, 
 Muir Lockhart, in Ldhdoft, 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 
 
 4* 
 
52 The Air Pirate 
 
 " 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 wh'eire 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 conimend 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 excite- 
 ment, natural anywhere, btit 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, never- 
 theless, a sensation of the first magnitude. I was 
 recognized and pointed to ; a naval captain even 
 
The Air Pirate 53 
 
 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 coiffidential 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 ? " 
 
64 The Air Pirate 
 
 " 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. Com- 
 mander 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. Thumb- 
 wood 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 fiew away with them." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE NEWSPAPERS IN FULL CRY 
 
 YOU are to imagine, if you please, the private 
 room of the Chief Commissioner of Air 
 Police at Whitehall. 
 
 A soft Turkey carpet of dull brick-reds and 
 blues covers the parquet floor. The walls are 
 hung with pictures of famous airmen of the past, 
 inventors, fighters, pioneers of the greatjcommer- 
 cial service of air-liners which now fills the skies 
 and has shrunk the planet — for all practical 
 purposes — ^to a fifth of its former size. There are 
 two or three huge writing-tables covered with 
 crimson morocco ; the chairs are thickly padded 
 and luxurious. A range of tall windows looks 
 down upon the endless stir and movement of the 
 wide street, where the nerves of Empire meet 
 in one central ganglion. 
 
 Standing by one of these windows is a light- 
 haired young man of thirty in a lounge suit of 
 dark blue. He wears a ralher heavy, carefully- 
 trimmed moustache, and his face is seamed and 
 furrowed^with anxiety and grey from want of rest. 
 
 Thus you see me in London, two days after 
 55 
 
56 The Air Pirate 
 
 Thumbwood brought the terrible news to my 
 bedroom in the hotel at Plymouth. 
 
 General Sir Hercules Nichelson, Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Royal Flying Corps, had been with 
 me for half a^ hour, and was just taking his leave. 
 
 " Then all that is satisfactorily arranged, Sir 
 John," he said. " We shall supplement your 
 patrol ships with three war-shit)s at Plymouth 
 and three at the Scillies. They will, of course, 
 be air cruisers, both faster and better armed 
 than your boats, and between us both we shall put 
 an end to this pest "before many days are over." 
 
 " I sincerely trust so," I said. "And I do not 
 see how it is possible that there should be any 
 further outrages. The net will be too close. 
 America, with its much greater coastal area, is 
 taking extraordinary precautions." " 
 
 " It will be impossible for these devilish scoun- 
 drels to escape," the General repeated with con- 
 fidence — ^the onus of it all was not falling upon 
 him ! — " and now, we quite understand one 
 another." 
 
 " Perfectly, I think. Sir Hercules." 
 
 " Your chief station officer is to be in full 
 command, under you, at each air-port." 
 
 " It was your suggestion. Sir Hercules, and since 
 it came from you, I do think it would be best. 
 My men are always patrolling the air-lines. The 
 organization is complete already." 
 
The Air Pirate 57 
 
 " Exactly. And as for my fellows, they will 
 be proud to serve under such gallant and experi- 
 enced officers as those of the A.P." 
 
 " It's kind of you to say so." 
 
 " Not at all. It is the truth. And now, as 
 an older man, let me give you^ a little advice, 
 if I am not taking a liberty. Don't let this affect 
 you too ntiuch, Sir John. Every sane man knows 
 that neither you nor anyone else could have 
 avoided what has happened, or have provided 
 against it. It is a great thing to have an acute 
 sense of responsibility ; I honour you for it. But 
 don't overdo it. I know the strain you are 
 enduring. Don't let it go too far. If you were 
 to break down now, that would be a final 
 disaster. ..." 
 
 The kind, white-haired old man shook me warmly 
 by the hand, and left the room. 
 
 Almost immediately young Bickenhall, my 
 private secretary, came in. " Here is the morn- 
 ing's Press, sir," he said, and upon my table he 
 put down various columns cut from the journals 
 of that morning — all dealing with the sensational 
 and terrible events on the Atlantic that were now 
 the common knowledge of the world. 
 
 I sat down to glance through them — I was 
 keeping an iron grip upon myself these times — 
 in order to gauge public opinion. It occurs to 
 me that, in order to acquaint you with the progress 
 
58 The Air Pirate 
 
 of events from my awakening at Plymouth till 
 the morning of which I speak, I cannot do better 
 than quote a paragraph here and there from the 
 daily papers. It will bring us up to date more 
 quickly and concisely than in any other way. 
 
 This, then, from one of the leading London 
 journals, a weighty, somewhat ponderous sheet, 
 with considerable influence : 
 
 "... We have given an account of the first 
 attack upon the air-liner Albairos, under com- 
 mand of Captain Pring, whose conduct in such a 
 trying situation did not deviate from the best 
 traditions of our British aviators. Most people 
 would have thought that after such a dastardly 
 outrage, the unknown pirate would have been 
 content to rest upon his infamous laurels and 
 retire to his lair, with the valuable booty he had 
 secured. But it was not so. With an audacity 
 unparalleled in the annals of crime, this vulture, 
 on the very next night, commits an outrage which, 
 for ferocity and daring, makes the first one seem 
 like a mere frolic. 
 
 "It is now possible to disentangle something of 
 the truth from the various conflicting stories that 
 have reached us, and it is, moreover, confirmed 
 in its essential details by the authorities of the 
 Air Police at Whitehall, who have issued a guarded 
 statement. 
 
The Air Pirate 59 
 
 " It appears that two nights ago the famous air- 
 liner Atlantis left the Plymouth sea-drome about 
 nine in the evening. The Captain, Commander 
 Pilot Swainson, was one of the best known and 
 trusted officers in the Transatlantic service. He 
 did not anticipate the slightest danger. Sir John 
 Custance, Chief Commissioner of the Air Police 
 of Great Britain, was himself at Plymouth, having 
 hurried down from London upon receiving news 
 of the first piracy. Sir John insisted that the 
 Atlantis should be escorted, for half of her journey 
 to America, by the armed Patrol Ship '1,' under 
 command of Superintendent Pilot-Commander 
 Lashmar, D.S.O., himself an officer of great dis- 
 tinction. Half-way across the Atlantic the liner 
 was to be met by a similar escort of the United 
 States A.P., and let us here say that it is difficult 
 to tell what Other precautions Sir John Custance 
 could have devised. 
 
 " The Atlantis carried the Royal Mail and a 
 full complement of passengers, among whom 
 were some distinguished names. Mr. Bootfeller, 
 of the United States Senate, Mr. Greenwell, the 
 well-known publisher, the Duke of Perth, and 
 ' Walty Priest,' the cinema ' star,' were among 
 the men, while in the list of ladies was Miss Con- 
 stance Shepherd, a young actress, of whom it is 
 not too much to say that she has endeared herself 
 to the British public. 
 
60 The Air Pirate 
 
 " About two o'clock in the morning disastrous 
 and terrible news began to filter through to the 
 Plymouth wireless stations. It can be sum- 
 marized as fpUows : When not more than two 
 hundred and fifty miles west of Ireland, the patrol 
 ship, which was flying three miles or so behind 
 the Atlantis, was suddenly attacked by an unknown 
 airship. The moon had set, the ten-thousand-feet 
 level was dark, and the attack was delivered 
 without the slightest warning. Patrol Ship No. 1 
 was inst9,ntly disabled by a rain of shells. Cap- 
 tain Lashmar was shot dead, and with him 
 perished all of the crew except three men, one of 
 whom was so seriously wounded that his life is 
 despaired of, the other two being only slightly 
 wounded. 
 
 " An utter wreck, the patrol ship w^as just able 
 to descend to the water, where she rested like a 
 wounded and dying bird. 
 
 " Meanwhile the unknown ship caught up with 
 the Atlantis and commenced — as in the case of 
 the Albatros — with shooting away her wireless 
 aerials. The rudder and stern propeller were 
 then destroyed, and the great lin^r forced to plane 
 to the surface of the water. Six masked and 
 armed ruffians went aboard of her, and a sys- 
 tematic looting of the ship commenced. Captain 
 Swainson could not bear this. He drew a revolver 
 and shot one of the pirates dead. Then, calling 
 
The Air Pirate 6i 
 
 on^^his crew to assist him, he made a determined 
 rush, regardless of consequences. The fight was 
 unequal. Captain Swainson was the only defender 
 who carried fire-arms, while the robbers were 
 provided with heavy automatic pistols. 
 
 " Five men of the Atlantis were killed almost 
 instantly, and the rest cowed, while the systematic 
 robbery continued. And now, alas ! ' horrors 
 upon horror's head accumulate.' Their evil work 
 completed, the ruffians sought out Miss Constance 
 Shepherd and her maid. Miss Wilson, from among 
 the passengers. These unfortunate ladies were 
 forced at the pistol's mouth to embark upon the 
 pirates' small boat, in which they were rowed 
 rapidly to the pirate ship and taken on board. The 
 ship then rose from the water and was lost to sight. 
 , " Meanwhile two heroes were at work. On 
 board the broken patrol ship two able navigators, 
 Paget and Fowles, were wounded, indeed, but not 
 entirely disabled. Both men had some knowledge 
 of wireless, and with superhuman toil, as the 
 hours went on, they contrived to rig up a tem- 
 porary apparatus which, at last, served to send out 
 a brief account of the disaster and a call for help. 
 
 " When rescue ships arrived at early dawn, they 
 found that the patrol ship had drifted close to the 
 Atlantis, and that Dr. Weatherall, the surgteonof 
 the liner, had swum aboard the No. 1 and rendered 
 what help he could to the wounded men. 
 
62 The Air Pirate 
 
 " Press representatives are at Plymouth, but, 
 so far, few of the passengers of the Atlantis have 
 been able, and none have been allowed by the 
 authorities, to make personal statements for 
 publication. This embargo, we are assured, will 
 be removed by this evening. 
 
 " This is a precise account of what has happened. 
 We must now turn to the consideration of the 
 situation. ..." 
 
 Another journal, a weekly one this time, headed 
 its remancs with a portrait of my unhappy self. 
 Underneath was written : " The Man the Atlantic 
 Pirates tricked ! " The rag had an immense 
 circulation in all the tap rooms of England. 
 
 Well, I would see what the blackguards of the 
 country were reading about me. Shrewd young 
 Bickenhall wouldn't have brought the unclean 
 thing in if he hadn't thought it worth while. I 
 give it for what it's worth : 
 
 " Poor Johnny Custance ! You're up against 
 it good and thick to-day, and no mistake, and 
 Paul Pry " — ^this was the signature of the tout 
 who wrote the article — " can't say he's very sorry 
 for you. For some time past a little bird has 
 been whispering in the clubs that all is not well 
 in the State of Denmark — ^to wit, the office of the 
 Commissioner of Air Police at Whitehall. The 
 aristocratic young gentlemen who daily con- 
 
The Air Pirate 68 
 
 descend to drop into this palatial edifice for an 
 hour or two have long held the reputation of being 
 the best dressed of all our minor Government 
 officials, and, considering the salaries they draw 
 from the public purse, this is not surprising. 
 But I have never yet heard that they did any 
 work worth mentioning, or, indeed, anything to 
 justify their precious and beautiful existence. 
 
 " Flying Police we must have, and never has 
 the necessity for them been greater than at this 
 moment ; but there is a vast deal of difference 
 from the handy pilot of a patrol ship at Plymouth 
 or Portland and the bureaucratic popinjays of 
 Pall Mall. 
 
 " Sir John Custance, Bart., is the typical 
 Government official of the musical comedy or the 
 comic paper. He is an aristocrat who, after a 
 short experience in the air, is shoved into the 
 highly-paid and responsible position he holds 
 without any reason that the man in the street can 
 understand. A baronet, and, if report speaks 
 truly, a man of considerable private means, I 
 have — ^in common with many other people — 
 often asked myself what possible qualification 
 this young gentleman can have for his job. 
 Johnny is a most estimable person, no doubt, in 
 private life. I have heard it remarked that his 
 moustache is one of the most perfect things in 
 the West End of London, and he is frequently to 
 
64 The Air Pirate * 
 
 be seen adorning a stall or box at the Parthenon 
 Theatre. But few people have ever taken him 
 seriously as the head of our Air Police, and now 
 nobody will." 
 
 There was a row of stars here, as' if Mr. Paul 
 Pry paused for breath, or was stopping to pick 
 up another handful of mud, and then he went on 
 again : 
 
 " If the nation is called upon to pay thousands 
 and thousands a year for the upkeep of an efficient 
 service of Air Police, it is entitled to see that it 
 gets it, and that the man in charge is able to 
 provide it. What has happened ? A crew of 
 murdering ruffians in an airship have looted two of 
 our greatest air-liners, slaughtered several people, 
 kidnapped one of our inos^ popular actresses, 
 and escaped scot-free. Vanished into the wide ! 
 While Sir John Custance twiddles his thumbs in 
 Whitehall and calls upon the air forces of the 
 Admiralty and War Office to supplement his own 
 miserably inefficient organization. 
 
 " As usual, we are not without some very 
 special and exclusive information in this office. 
 My readers know from past experience that their 
 Paul is not easily caught napping. I believe that 
 I shall have something to say that will startle 
 everyone in next week's pumber, though, for 
 certain reasons, I cannot be more explicit at 
 
The Air Pirate 65 
 
 present. Before concluding these remarks, how- 
 ever, I must say a word or two about the extra- 
 ordinary and sinister disappearance of delightful 
 Constance Shepherd. Sad as it is to hear of brave 
 men shot down while doing their duty, there is 
 something peculiarly terrible in the carrying off of 
 the little lady to whom London owes so much. 
 Dear little Connie ! We of Bohemia knew and 
 loved you well ! Many is the happy hour that Paul 
 Pry has spent in your company, many the bumper 
 of bubbly water he has quaffed to your success ! 
 
 " No one could possibly have foreseen such a 
 tragic ending to the American journey which Miss 
 Shepherd set out upon with such high hopes. 
 And yet, there was not wanting a slight shadow 
 of premonition. Only a week ago she said to me : 
 ' Paul, I'm not so sure, after all, that everything 
 will go well. There are certain things. I can't 
 
 tell you of them ' But I must refrain from 
 
 betraying a confidence. Let it be enough to say 
 that my little friend had her moments of dejection, 
 when she was not entirely happy about the future." 
 
 I put down the paper and rang for Bickenhall. 
 " You've read this, I suppose ? " I asked, pointing 
 to it. 
 
 He nodded. " Lies, of course," he said ; 
 " mere words to fill up the column." 
 
 " No doubt. Still, the man hints all sorts of 
 
 5 
 
66 The Air Pirate 
 
 things, damn him ! And one can't neglect any- 
 possible clue." I was in a raging fury, and Bicken- 
 hall saw it, though he was far from suspecting the 
 true cause. 
 
 " The office is in the Strand," he said, " three 
 minutes by taxi. I'll go and interview this Paul 
 Pry and put the fear of God into him." 
 
 I knew my Bickenhall. He is an energetic and 
 hefty young man, and though I had little hopes 
 that he would discover anything of value, I had 
 a shrewd suspicion that Mr. Paul Pry was about 
 to experience a peculiarly unpleasant ten minutes. 
 
 I was right in both my conjectures. 
 
 The secretary returned in half an hour. " Just 
 a ramp," he said.- " I found a greasy ruffian 
 smelling of gin in a back room, and frightened 
 him out of his life. He's never met Miss Shepherd, 
 and has no private information whatever. Will 
 apologize in any manner you like." 
 
 I am not going to bother you with what the 
 journalists wrote. There were hundreds of columns 
 of suggestions, conjecture, reproof, alarm, and so 
 forth. On the whole my department was let 
 down fairly lightly, and I was glad. Please don't 
 think that I cared twopence for myself. I did not. 
 But I should have bitterly resented any serious 
 reflections on my staff, officers and men, who 
 were, and are, as able and loyal a body as can be 
 found anywhere in the world. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE FAMILIAR SPIRIT OF MR. VAN ADAMS 
 
 AT mid-day I had an appointment with the 
 Home Secretary. He received me with 
 the utmost kindness, and we had half an hour of 
 highly confidential talk. The purport of it will 
 appear later. This is not the place for it. 
 
 Towards the end I informed him that I had a 
 request to make. 
 
 " Tell me," he answered at once, " and let me 
 repeat that the Government has every confidence 
 in you. Sir John. Don't take this too hardly, I 
 beg of you." 
 
 I had a sudden impulse. " I trust," I said, 
 " that my anxiety for the public welfare is in no 
 degree overshadowed by a private sorrow. Indeed, 
 I am sure that it isn't. But, if I may speak in 
 confidence, I should like you to know, sir, that 
 I was engaged to be married to Miss Constance 
 Shepherd." 
 
 There was a perceptible silence. I heard the 
 great man take a long inward breath, and murmur 
 
 67 5* 
 
68 * ■ The Air Pirate 
 
 to himself, " Poor fellow ! " Then he did the 
 right, the quite perfect thing : he stretched out 
 his hand, and took mine in a firm, warm grasp. 
 
 When I could speak, I returned to business. 
 
 " My request, sir, is this. I want to disappear 
 for a month." 
 
 " Disappear, Sir John ? " 
 
 " That's what it amounts to. Practically, I 
 am going to ask for four weeks' leave of absence. 
 It must be private, though. If the news were 
 published the public would misunderstand, and 
 think I was deserting my post in a time of difficulty 
 and danger." 
 
 " Whereas ? " 
 
 " Whereas I want to investigate this affair in 
 my own way. I believe that the theories of the 
 Press and public, and also those of Scotland Yard 
 — with whom I have been in consultation — are 
 quite wrong. Nor do my communications with 
 America give me any reason to change my opinion. 
 This is a matter of life and death to me. I owe 
 the Government, who have promoted me so rapidly 
 to the high position I occupy, a solution of this 
 mystery. I owe tjiem and the public that the 
 fiends who have committed these outrages 
 should be brought to justice. And, if God allows 
 me, I will do it. My honour and that of my depart- 
 ment are at stake. Those two things come before 
 anything else. In addition, I have the private 
 
The Air Pirate 69 
 
 reasons of which I have told you, /fnd, in order 
 to succeed, I am persuaded that my way is the 
 only way." 
 
 " You have certainly the strongest motives a 
 man well could have to urge you on. But can 
 you be a little more explicit ? " 
 
 " I want to leave Mr. Muir Lockhart in charge 
 at the office. He is perfectly capable of taking 
 charge. He has everything at his fingers' ends. 
 And I shall arrange that he can always com- 
 municate with me at any time." 
 
 The Home Secretary thought for a moment, 
 and drummed with his fingers on the arm of his 
 chair. He had been a famous barrister, and 
 renowned for the perfection of his turn-out. 
 His finger-nails were pink and polished as the 
 light fell upon them, and I wondered if he had 
 them manicured. 
 
 Then he looked up. " Very well, do as you like," 
 he said suddenly. " I take it that you know 
 what you're about. And heartfelt good wishes 
 for your success." 
 
 . . . This is how I plunged into a series of 
 dangerous adventures, a dark underworld of 
 crime and almost superhuman cunning, probably 
 without parallel in modern times. 
 
 Arrangements were soon made at Whitehall. 
 Muir Lockhart was an understanding man, and 
 by three o'clock in the afternoon I walked out into 
 
70 The Air Pirate 
 
 the sunshine ^free from all official cares for a 
 month. I took a long, deep breath as I crossed 
 the Horse Guards Parade and made my way to 
 the long, green vista of the Mall. '* The first act 
 is over," I thought. " The "curtain is rising on 
 the real drama. Somewhere in this world there 
 is a man whose discovery and death I owe to 
 Society and to myself." 
 
 And I was a man who never failed to pay a 
 debt. 
 
 I have given you but little indication of my 
 mental state during the last few days. It won't 
 bear much writing about even now. A cold fury, 
 instead of blood, came and went in my veins, and 
 my heart was ice. Every now and again, especi- 
 ally when I was alone^ agony for which there is, 
 there can be, no name got hold of me, and sported 
 with me as the wind sports with a leaf. I suppose 
 I had a tiny foretaste of what is felt by a soul 
 that is eternally damned. I dared not think too 
 much of Constance and her fate. If I had let 
 myself go that way the running waters would have 
 risen and overwhelmed me utterly. But, thank 
 God, my intellect held. The streak of hardness 
 which had served me so well in my career, and had 
 enabled me to push to the top at an early age, 
 came to the rescue now. Every faculty was sharp- 
 ened ; the will concentrated to a single purpose. 
 I was alone, and I walked in darkness, but I was 
 
The Air Pirate 71 
 
 conscious of Power — charged to the brim as a 
 battery is charged with the electric fluid. As I 
 walked calmly up St. James', on the way to my 
 chambers, I doubt if a more single-minded and 
 dangerous man than I walked the streets of 
 London. 
 
 And I knew, by some mysterious intuition, that 
 I should succeed in the task before me. I had not, 
 as yet, more than the most rudimentary idea how 
 I was going to set about it, but I should succeed. 
 Don't misunderstand me. I had hardly any hope 
 of seeing my dear love alive again. I believed 
 that all the joy of life was finally extinguished. 
 But justice — call it vengeance rather — ^remained^ 
 and I was as sure that I was the chosen instru' 
 ment of that as I was that I had just passed 
 between Marlborough House and the Palace of 
 St. James. 
 
 My expensive but delightful chapbers in Half 
 Moon Street were on the second floor — sitting-room, 
 dining-roono, bed and dressing rooms and bath. 
 
 The sitting-room was panelled in cedar-wood, 
 which had been stained a delicate olive-green, with 
 the mouldings of the panels picked out in dull 
 gold. Connie and her gay young friends, when 
 they came to have tea with me, or supper after 
 the theatre, used to say that it i was one of the 
 most charming rooms in London. 
 
 I had spent an infinity of time and money on 
 
72 The Air Pirate 
 
 it, determined that it should be " just s<J." For 
 instance, the barpet was from Kairowan in Tunisia, 
 and had taken a whole family of Arab weavers 
 five years to make. Never was there a more 
 perfect blue — not the crude peacock colour of 
 the cheaper Oriental rugs, but a blue infused with 
 a silver-ash shade, contrasting marvellotfely with 
 the warm brick-reds and tawny yellows. It was 
 a bargain at four hundred pounds. 
 
 I had hung only half a dozen pictures in this 
 room, all modern and all good. My " Boys 
 Bathing," by Charles Conder — -better known as 
 the painter of marvellous fans — was a masterpiece 
 of sunlight and sea foam which made me the 
 envy of half the collectors in town. Then I had 
 a William Nicholson — " Chelsea Ware " — ^that 
 was extraordinarily fascinating. It was just some 
 old Chelsea plates and a jug standing on a taBle. 
 It doesn't sound fascinating, I know, but the 
 painting was so brilliant, there was such vision in 
 the way it was seen, that one could look at it for 
 hours. 
 
 There was an open hearth of rough red brick 
 in the room, deep and square, and when there 
 was a fire it burned in a gipsy brazier of iron. I 
 had a lot of trouble to get this last of the right 
 shape, and finally it had to be made for me, 
 from the design of an artist in Birmingham. 
 
 Such a room, with its perfect colour harmonies 
 
The Air Pirate 73 
 
 and severe lines, required no knick-knacks. No- 
 thing small or petty, however beautiful in itself, 
 could be allowed there. I had two cabinets of 
 magnificent china in my dining-room, but china 
 would have been quite out of place here. Along 
 one wall, about four feet from the floor, was a 
 sin^e shelf of old pewter — cups and flagons of 
 the Tudor period with the double-rose hall-mark — 
 and that was all. 
 
 As I entered and flung myself wearily into a 
 chair, the afternoon sunlight poured in through 
 the half-drawn curtains of sea-green silk. In the 
 ceiling a hidden electric fan was whirring, and the 
 room was deliciously cool. And as I looked 
 round, the place seemed hateful beyond all ex- 
 pression. I was sick of it, loathed its beauty and 
 comfort ; an insane desire came to take a hammer 
 and wreak havoc there as my eyes fell on the only 
 photograph in the room. It was one of Constance, 
 in a frame of dull silver, studded with turquoises, 
 and she had given it to me no longer than a fort- 
 night ago. 
 
 Thumbwood slept at the top of the house. He 
 came in, after I had been resting for a few 
 minutes. 
 
 " I've made the necessary arrangements, 
 Charles," I said, " and we shall start operations at 
 once." I had no secrets from this devoted friend 
 and servant. 
 
74 The Air Pirate 
 
 " Glad to hear it. Sir John. I've been round 
 the town this morning, and there's a lot of 
 talk." 
 
 He followed me into the sitting-room and 
 brought me cigars. 
 
 " You see," he went on confidentially, " a 
 gentleman's servant, especially if he belongs to 
 the club just off Jermyn Street, and more specially 
 still if he's been a racing man, hears all that's 
 going on quicker than anyone. This morning 
 I've been talking to tbe porters and valetsjof two 
 of the best clubs. Sir John. Then I 'ad a crack 
 with Meggit, the bookmaker, what does all the 
 St. James' smaller commissions, and after that 
 I strolled to the Parthenon Theatre, and took out 
 the stage door-keeper and filled him up and 
 made 'im talk a bit. 'Im and me is great friends 
 consequent of my taking so many messages and 
 flowers for you, sir, when Miss Shepherd was 
 acting there." 
 
 " Ah ! I see you haven't wasted your time." 
 I smiled inwardly at Thumbwood's idea of helping 
 me. 
 
 " No, Sir John. I've learned a lot of fimny 
 little things, just trifles, so to say, but they may 
 prove useful later on. There's one thing you ought 
 to know at once. Them theatricals have been 
 talking, and it's all over town that Miss Shepherd 
 travelled down to Plymouth with you. It's 
 
The Air Pirate 75 
 
 certain to be in the papers this afternoon, if it 
 ain't already^ There's been half a dozen re- 
 porters buzzing round the theatre this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 I ground my teeth with anger, but only for a 
 moment. Of course, the thing was inevitable. 
 There was only one thing to do. 
 
 I took up the telephone on the writing-table 
 and got put on to the Evening Wire. " I am Sir 
 John> Custance," I said to the editor. " I hear 
 that there is a good deal of talk going about 
 London in respect of Miss Constance Shepherd 
 and myself. To avoid the least misconception, 
 I authorize you to state, in your next edition, 
 that Miss Shepherd and I were engaged to be 
 married. I'll send my servant down to your 
 office at once, with a note confirming this con- 
 versation." 
 
 It was the only way, much as I hated it, to stop 
 malicious gossip, and I scribbled a chit to the 
 editor. 
 
 " Get into a taxi and take that at once," I said 
 to Thumbwood. As I gave him the letter, there 
 was a ring at the front-door bell. 
 
 The little man went out and I heard voices, 
 one harsh and deep, that seemed familiar. 
 
 " Who is it ? " I asked as Charles returned. 
 " I can't see anyone. ..." 
 
 " Wouldn't take any denial, sir. It's the 
 
^76 The Air Pirate 
 
 American gentleman who picked up Captain 
 Pring after the attack on the Albatros. Says he 
 must see you." 
 
 " Mr. Van Adams ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sir John." 
 
 " Show him in." 
 
 A moment afterwards I was shaking hands 
 with the thickset man whose jaw was like a 
 pike's and whose eyes resembled animated steel. 
 Thumbwood went off with the letter. I heard 
 the front door close after him. 
 
 Now I don't suppose at that moment I would 
 have seen any other man in London unconnected 
 with my office at Whitehall. I didn't want to 
 see ^the millionaire, but directly he was inside the 
 room my irritation vanished. He had meant to 
 see me. He had now accomplished his end, and 
 I had a firm conviction that sentries with fixed 
 bayonets wouldn't have kept him out. 
 
 He sat down quietly in the chair I indicated, and 
 took a cigar with great deliberation. I was not 
 in the least impatient. I knew now that I was 
 glad that he had come, and waited for him to 
 bpgin. When he did speak the harsh voice was 
 considerably modified, and no one whatever could 
 have said that Mte was an American. 
 
 " Any success I may have made in life," he said 
 without preliminary, " has come from the faculty 
 of judging men. I started, as a youth, with this 
 
The Air Pirate 77 
 
 power in a more than ordinary degree. I've been 
 developing it ever since." 
 
 He puffed thoughtfully at his cigar. He had 
 said this with calm determination, not in the 
 least%s if he were speaking of himself, but merely 
 as a man stating a fact which would be useful a 
 little later on. 
 
 For my part I said nothing. I felt as though 
 I was playing a sort of decorous game with rigid 
 rules. To speak then would be to revoke ! 
 
 "... And, though the ordinary man does 
 not like to hear such a statement, I have a pretty 
 good idea of you. Sir John. You're not an ordinary 
 man. That's why I'm here. I'll put it in two 
 words. I want to help you. I can help you. 
 It is for you to say if you want me." 
 » Now there could only be one answer to a ques- 
 tion like that. The man in my arm-chair w^s one 
 of the most powerful men on earth. Moreover, 
 his reputation stood high. He was no financial 
 pirate. The whole world trusted him. 
 
 " I answer that, Mr. Van Adams, with a single 
 word : .Thank you." 
 
 He nodded as if pleased. " Quite ! " he said, 
 and then, half turning in his chair, " of course 
 I don't ask you to tell me any official secrets. . . ." 
 
 I laughed at that. The Government would have 
 let this man know all there was to be known 
 upon his simple request. 
 
 10 
 
78 The Air Pirate 
 
 He saw that I understood. " There are none 
 for one thing," I told him. " You know exactly 
 as much as my department knows, as I told the 
 Home Secretary this morning. There are no 
 developments, except, of course, the protective 
 measures we and the States are taking. The 
 one thing I can tell you, and which is in strict 
 confidence, is that I have arranged for my official 
 duties to be carried on by my assistant for a 
 month. From this afternoon I am absolutely free 
 to do what I Uke and go where I like. No one 
 will know of this but my confidential servant. 
 I intend to devote this evening to mapping out 
 a plan of campaign." 
 
 " That's good. Sir John, That is just what I 
 wanted to hear. Let me explain my motives. 
 They are not complicated. One is that, as one of 
 the chief money-brokers of th6 world, I naturally 
 want to prevent any financial panic. Next, I am 
 a bit of a sportsman in my way. I like hunting 
 things down. This pursuit appeals to me a good 
 deal. And, last-— when I was five-and-thirty, 
 a desperate gang of crooks in San Francisco kid- 
 napped my little daughter Pearl — she that is 
 Duchess of Shropshire now — and held her up to 
 ransom. It was before you took notice, for I'm 
 close on seventy, but the episode created some 
 considerable stir at the time. I can pretty well 
 guess what you are going through now." 
 
The Air Pirate T9 
 
 As he looked at me his eyes were no longer like 
 living steel, nor his jaw like a pike's. 
 
 So he also knew I I mumbled something or 
 other. 
 
 " Quite," he answered quickly, and then went 
 on : " In thinking over various ways in which 
 I could be of use I have come to a certain con- 
 clusion. Money, I suppose, won't help you — 
 though, of course, any sum is available ? " 
 
 "~I have the Government behind me, and I my- 
 self am not poor, thank you." 
 
 " It is as I thought. In England I myself can 
 do nothing personally that others cannot do as 
 well. In America I have every sort of in- 
 fluence. ..." , 
 
 I looked him in the face. " I am not going to 
 trouble about America in the very least." 
 
 " Quite ! I see what you mean. And I am 
 absolutely of your opinion. Now I'll come to 
 what I can do for you." 
 
 He rose slowly from his chair and came up to me. 
 When he spoke he had dropped his voice a full 
 tone. 
 
 " I must let you into one or two little secrets 
 about myself," he said. " In the first place, a 
 man so rich as I am does not become so without 
 making powerful and unscrupulous enemies. 
 Also, American methods are direct. It will 
 probably surprise you to hear that my life has 
 
80 The Air Pirate 
 
 been attempted twelve or fifteen times, but that 
 is the case. Some of the methods were diabolically 
 ingenious, too ! However, I stand here to-day, 
 quite unharmed and quite safe. Why ? I'll tell 
 you. 
 
 " Quite early in my successful career I saw 
 what would happen. I watched other men assas- 
 sinated, and was determined that it shouldn't 
 happen to me. How was it to be avoided ? I 
 thought that point out very carefully, and came 
 to a conclusion. I must find, and then attach to 
 my person, someone of extraordinary intelligence, 
 cunning, skill and personal prowess. My ambi- 
 tions ran high. I wanted someone who would 
 devote his whole life to my service, a familiar 
 spirit, no less ! It took me three years of steady 
 work to find that familiar Spirit— to discover the 
 exact combination of qualities I required. But a 
 multi-millionaire is the Magician of 'to-day, and 
 I have a Genie as clever and infallible as any out 
 of the old ' Arabian Nights.' I pay him the salary 
 of a cinema star, and I say, meaning every word 
 of it, that there isn't another like him in the world. 
 Do you think this tall talk, Sir John ? " 
 
 It was certainly amazing, but I could not but 
 believe him. 
 
 " You startle and you interest me deeply," I 
 replied. " You are to be congratulated." 
 
 " I am — on a unique human possession. WeB, 
 
The Air Pirate 81 
 
 you can't have failed to see what I'm driving at. 
 I will lend you this man, place his services entirely 
 at your disposal, for a month ! " 
 
 For a moment or two I was silent. I believed 
 every word that Van Adams said, and I was not 
 hesitating — only just letting the offer, and what 
 it meant, sink into my mind. It became plain. 
 It was like the offer of a rope-ladder to a man in 
 prison, a light and a pickaxe to an entombed 
 miner, 
 
 " It is the most generous offer I've ever heard 
 of, Mr. Van Adams. I can't express my thanks. 
 You really mean this ? " 
 
 " I do. And as an ounce of proof is worth a ton 
 of talk — allow me to introduce you to Mr. Dan- 
 juro ! " 
 
 He turned round as he spoke and I with him. 
 Then I gave a cry of astonishment, which I could 
 not have kept back to save my life. 
 
 Standing some yard or so away was a little 
 Japanese gentleman, not much more than five 
 feet high. He wore gold pince-nez, a neat blue 
 lounge suit and brown boots. There was nothing 
 noticeable about him in any way, except an 
 unusually fine cranial development — a massive 
 forehead and a great space between the corners of 
 the dark eyes and the ears. 
 
 " Good heavens, how did he get here ? " I 
 said. 
 
 6 
 
82 The Air Pirate 
 
 Van Adams laughed. " I daresay he'll tell you ; 
 I don't know," he answered. " I just told him 
 to be here. I wanted to give you an object lesson, 
 in fact. Now, Mr. Danjuro knows all that I know. 
 You can trust him absolutely. He knows what 
 is in front of him, and he knows where to find 
 me when I'm wanted. Now I'll leave you together 
 and say good-afternoon." 
 
 He was gone almost before I could thank him. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MR. DANJURO, THINKING MACHINE, EXPLAINS 
 HIMSELF 
 
 " \^/^^'^ ^^" ®^* ^^"^ ^ " ^ ^^^^ foolishly. 
 • ' The little Japanese bowed politely and 
 
 did so. 
 
 I was at a loss what to say. My mind was in 
 a whirl. I wanted to laugh, to call Van Adams 
 back, but my dominating sensation was one of 
 supreme annoyance. So this natty, commonplace 
 little Asiatic was the millionaire's " familiar 
 spirit " ! He was unique, was he I I cursed 
 myself for several kinds of fool to have saddled 
 myself with this amazing stranger at the begin- 
 ning of my work. At any rate, I reflected irrit- 
 ably, as I sat down opposite, I could easily send 
 him off on some wild-goose chase or another. . . . 
 Yes ! I was never more annoyed in my life, 
 and my annoyance lasted for exactly sixty 
 seconds. Without the slightest embarrassment 
 of any sort, and with no preliminaries at all, Mr. 
 Danjuro plunged into business. His voice was 
 
 83 6* 
 
84 The Air Pirate 
 
 clear and low. He had no accent of any kind^ 
 though his English was a trifle pedantic and 
 scholarly. He spoke as impersonally as a gramo- 
 phone. 
 
 "... I am entirely with you, Sir John, in 
 your opinion that it is not in the United States of 
 America, but here — in England^-that we shall 
 solve the mystery surrounding this diEirk business." 
 
 " But I never said ..." 
 
 He smiled faintly, almost wearily. " And since 
 I have^the great honour to be associated with you, 
 I trust you will allow me to suggest a plan of 
 campaign." 
 
 " I was going to try and think one out to- 
 night." 
 
 " It is a privilege to assist. I have come in 
 contact with many crafty and malignant criminals 
 during the last thirty years, but here one detects 
 a master. It will be a pleasure indeed to hunt 
 him down. Have I your honourable permission 
 to smoke ? " 
 
 With one hand he produced a square of rice 
 paper and a pinch of tobacco from his pocket, 
 and rolled a cigarette on his knee like a conjuring 
 trick. He had not raised his voice, but a sudden 
 gleam came into the oblique black eyes which 
 suggested the deep but hidden ferocity of his race. 
 
 He resumed. " From all I have gathered, and 
 I have talked much with Captain Pring, Mr. 
 
The Air Pirate 85 
 
 Rickaby and the passengers of the Albatros, we 
 have to look for a man who is (1) an aviator in 
 the first rank ; (2) an inventor and mechanical 
 genius, or able to command the services of 
 such; (3) a person of some wealth or able to 
 procure money." 
 
 I followed him completely and said so. From 
 what we already knew these deductions were 
 perfectly fair ones. 
 
 " I thank you. Now we come to the man 
 himself. I believe him to be a person of education, 
 and one who has held a good social position. He 
 is also desperate in his circumstances, and a person 
 to whom material pleasure is the highest good." 
 
 " Rickaby said that the^men who came aboard 
 the Albatros spoke like educated people." 
 
 " Yes. Our field of search^already begins to 
 grow narrower. Am I right in saying that every 
 aviator in this country must pass an examination 
 and be licensed before he is allowed to fly ? " 
 
 " It is so. All aviators, professional or amateur, 
 must have a licence from the Air Police. This is 
 registered. I have already had the records for 
 the past ten years searched at Whitehall. But 
 this has ■ yielded no result. There is no one 
 who could possibly be our man." 
 
 " It was^well thought of, Sir John, if I may say 
 so. But^in my opinion we shall have to go back 
 a good deal further than ten years. We now 
 
86 The Air Pirate 
 
 come to the question of the pirate airship itself 
 and its peculiar qualities. Let us fix upon one 
 — ^the silence of its engines. I am aware that the 
 constructors of motor engines have been busy 
 upon this problem for years." 
 
 " And with little result. The problem has not 
 been solved." 
 
 " Except by our unknown friends. I have 
 already examined all the recent patents of silencing 
 devices at your patent office here. I spent yester- 
 day morning there, and found nothing. The 
 significance of that is obvious. Any ordinary 
 inventor who had discovered something of such 
 iniportance would protect it at once. We can 
 therefore make up our minds that in no regular 
 motor-engineering works throughout this country 
 has the complete silencer been evolved. It would 
 be impossible for the most brilliant inventor to keep 
 such a thing entirely to himself." 
 
 " Again the field shrinks ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sir John. We now have a man of the 
 character already indicated, who, as he has un- 
 doubtedly constructed silent engines, must have 
 done so in secret. He must have had private 
 engineering works in order to make an important 
 part of his machines. The point is, where ? On 
 the Continent ? I think not. He would be 
 watched far more carefully than in this country. 
 America is still more unlikely. Let us assume 
 
The Air Pirate sr 
 
 England. Having done so, we can, I think, safely 
 deduce that for obvious reasons this man and his 
 confederates — ^for we know he has them — ^would 
 endeavour to build his pirate ship as near as 
 possible to the place he intended to use as the base 
 of his operations.' And that baae — ^if your experi- 
 ence bears me out — is certainly somewhere or 
 other on the coast ? " 
 
 " Of course, one would say that it must be so, 
 Mr. Danjuro. And yet it seems impossible. The 
 whole coast of England is patrolled by the coast- 
 guards. For all practical purposes England is 
 no bigger than a pocket-handkerchief. I thought 
 of Scotland and the Northern Isles. I thought 
 of wild places on the Irish coast. I have had 
 a fleet of airships surveying and photographing 
 these places for the last two days. No hangar 
 bigger than a motor-shed could have escaped 
 their notice. All the land police of the villages 
 round the coasts have been interrogated by 
 Scotland Yard. Nothing, nothing whatever has 
 been seen." 
 
 I spoke with some passion, for I felt it. The 
 sense of impotence was maddening. 
 
 The Japanese rolled another cigarette. As he 
 did so the door opened and Thumbwood came in. 
 
 " I delivered your note, Sir John, and the 
 editor's compliments and thanks." 
 
 " Charles," I said, " this gentleman here is Mr. 
 
88 The Air Pirate 
 
 Danjuro. He is going to help us. Mr. Danjuro 
 is "r— I hesitated for a moment, really it was 
 difficult to describe him ! — " is one of the fore- 
 most detectives in the world ! " 
 
 Thumbwood's hand went up to his forehead 
 in the stable boy's salute. Then, as he saw my 
 guest full-face, he started. " I saw you this 
 morning, sir," he said. " You were talking to 
 old Mrs. Jessop, the dresser at the Parthenon 
 Theatre. It was in the ' Blue Dragon,' just 
 round the corner by the stage-door," 
 
 " And you were with the stage-door keeper. A 
 curious coincidence," Mr.v Danjuro replied, with 
 his weary smile, and at a look from me Thumb- 
 wood, very puzzled indeed, left the room. 
 
 " I spent part of this morning at the Parthenon 
 Theatre, Sir John. Your servant apparently 
 thought of doing the same thing. A man of con- 
 siderable acumen ? — I imagined so. To proceed. 
 Now that we have cleared away a few preliminary 
 obstructions, we arrive at a point which I regard 
 as of great significance. You are engaged— I 
 speak of intimate matters, but purely in my 
 character of a consultant — ^to Miss Constance 
 Shepherd, a young lady of beauty and celebrity." 
 
 . . . Confound the fellow, he spoke of Connie 
 as if she were a fish ! 
 
 " That is so," I told him. ^ 
 
 " That young lady was kidnapped by the 
 
The Air Pirate 89 
 
 unknown airman. From among all the passengers 
 she and her maid were singled out. Now that 
 fact — upon which you must have already pon- 
 dered considerably — is a key fact. Was it done 
 for the purpose of holding this lady up to ransom ? 
 I see the suggestion has been made in the Press. 
 I answer no. In the first place, it would be 
 altogether too dangerous a game, and the attempt 
 would certainly lead to discovery. Secondly, 
 there were other people on board who would have 
 been more profitable prey. The Duke of Perth, 
 for instance, or the cinema actor who receives 
 sixty thousand pounds a year. Now it is extremely 
 improbable that in the rush and excitement of 
 the attack and robbery of the Atlantis, the pirate 
 leader was suddenly struck by a pretty face. 
 Indeed, we know from accounts of the passengers 
 that Miss Shepherd was deliberately searched for. 
 That indicates with certainty that the pirate knew 
 she was on board, and had a design of capturing 
 her. In its turn, this predicates a former acquaint- 
 ance, and, undoubtedly, a repulse in the past. 
 Hence my inquiries and my interview with the 
 theatre dresser this morning. 
 
 I astonished that little man. It was the first 
 and last time. Leaping up in my chair, I believe 
 I shouted like a madman. At any rate, Thumb- 
 wood was inside the room before I could find 
 words to speak. 
 
90 The Air Pirate 
 
 Something had flashed upon me, white-hot and 
 sudden, as an electric advertisement flashes out 
 upon one at night. It was something that I had 
 entirely and utterly forgotten until now. 
 
 " There was a man," I gasped, " a scoundrel 
 who had been annoying Miss Shepherd fojr a long 
 time. He wanted to marry her. She told me of 
 it. And he was once a celebrated flying man ! " 
 
 " Long ago, in the Great War," said Danjuro 
 calmly. " Major Helzephron, V.C. I was aware 
 of it." 
 
 " And one of the boys if ever there was one, 
 sir ! " Thumbwood broke in. " Warned off the 
 course everywhere. I've got a bit of information 
 too!" 
 
 I stared at them, trembling with excitement. 
 And then reality, like a cold douche of water, 
 brought me to my senses. Of course, it was im- 
 possible. The thing was a mere coincidence. 
 Why, while the first ship — ^the Albatros — had been 
 attacked, this man, Helzephron, was in London ! 
 He had travelled west in the same train with me 
 and Connie. 
 
 " May I ask exactly what you know, Sir John ? " 
 
 ... I told Danjuro precisely what had hap- 
 pened at Paddington and how Connie herself had 
 explained it. 
 
 He listened to me in attentive silence. When I 
 had finished, I saw that a small leather pocket- 
 
The Air Pirate 91 
 
 book had appeared in his hands — everything 
 that the fellow did had the uncanny effect of a 
 clever trick — ^and he was turning over the leaves. 
 
 'f So far," he began, " in the consideration of 
 this problem we have been eliminating impossi- 
 bilities, or improbabilities so strong that they 
 amount to that. This has left us with a small 
 residuum of fact, unproved fact, but sufficient 
 to work from. One thing emerges clearly. It is 
 the nature and personality of our unknown friend. 
 It is not too much to say that he must be very 
 like what we have imagined him to be. A certain 
 person appears dimly on the scene — ^this Major 
 Helzephron. Let us see how his personality 
 squares with the personality we have been deducing. 
 Mr. Thumbwood has apparently collected some 
 information. I have done so, too. Let us pool 
 results ! " He looked at Charles, who blushed. 
 
 " Out with it, Charles ; you've done splendidly," 
 I said. 
 
 " Well, Sir John, I found out that this'gentleman 
 is a pretty bad wrong-'un, judging by the company 
 he keeps. And he used to annoy Miss Shepherd 
 something chronic. He'd wait at the stage-door 
 and try and speak to her when she got into the 
 car after the performance, and he was always 
 leaving notes and flowers with the stage-door 
 keeper. Miss Shepherd would never take them. 
 She always sent them back from her room. It 
 
92 The Air Pirate 
 
 got so bad at last that she complained to the 
 stage manager, and he had a plain clothes man 
 from Vine Street there one night. Major Helzeph- 
 ron was told off pretty plainly, I hear. He used 
 to come very nasty sometimes, and once or twice 
 he was fair blotto ! And Mr. Meggit, the com- 
 mission agent, knows him well. He's done a lot 
 of racing in his time, and no open scandal. But 
 he knows how to work the market, and the best 
 men won't lay him the odds no more." 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders. It was only what 
 one expected. The man was one of the fast black- 
 guards who infest the West End of London ; that 
 was all. There were dozens like him. The 
 facts only seemed to prove that he could not 
 possibly be connected with the Atla,ntic outrages. 
 
 " You see ? " I said to the Japanese, sure that 
 he would follow my thought. Then I thanked 
 good little Charles and he left the room. 
 
 " That is the surface," Danjuro replied. " I 
 cross-examined a woman who was in constant 
 attendance on Miss Shepherd.' From her I learnt 
 just what your servant has discovered. But I 
 went a little deeper. It is a case of genuine over- 
 mastering passion on the part of this man. 
 Nothing less. He is of a dangerous age for that 
 to come to him, certainly over forty-five years. 
 A^woman knows. But that is not all." 
 
 " So far we have learnt nothing of importance." 
 
The Air Pirate 93 
 
 I was getting restive, I wanted to be doing some- 
 thing. And yet, what was there to do ? If I 
 had thought all night by myself I could not have 
 mapped out the situation more clearly. And as 
 I looked at the little man, half lost in a big saddle- 
 bag chair, I felt ashamed of my irritation. A 
 brain packed in ice was there, a logical machine 
 of the first order. I could not expect humanity, 
 sympathy, from such a one. Still, it would have 
 helped ! Hadn't I lost the one thing that made 
 life worth living ? What might not be happening 
 to Connie even now ? 
 
 ... He read my thoughts like a book, 
 confound him ! 
 
 " I understand your feelings, believe me. Sir 
 John," he said, " but I must go my own way. 
 We have not been talking for an hour yet ! And 
 if it is any consolation for you to know, let me say 
 that it is imperative that we leave London 
 to-night." 
 
 " My nerves are strained. Please go on," I 
 answered. " I can hardly tell you what a godsend 
 your appearance on the scene really is to me." 
 
 " In my business as agent and guard to my 
 patron, Mr. Van Adams, it is always necessary 
 that I keep more or less in touch with a certain 
 circle of what I may describe as the aristocracy, 
 the brains of International Crime. It has proved 
 useful. After my visit to the Parthenon this 
 
94 The Air Pirate 
 
 morning I called upon an old acquaintaniee, the 
 Honourable James Brookfield." 
 
 " Lord Slidon's son ? The man who got five 
 years ..." 
 
 " Yes. Of course, everyone knows his name. 
 He made one little slip. - Mr. Brookfield is very 
 acute, and a'great student of character. Entirely 
 incapable of understanding a man or woman of 
 decent morals and normal instincts, he is infallible 
 in his judgment of the criminal type. Mr. Brook- 
 field owes me any little service he can render, 
 and I supplemented my request for information 
 with a note for fifty pounds." 
 
 " And you learnt . . . ? " 
 
 " That Major Helzephron is all we have just 
 heard, but a far more sinister and formidable 
 person than anyone suspects. He is a man of 
 marked intellectual powers. Below the veneer 
 of coarse pleasures and fast life in London and 
 Paris, there is something that glows like a hot 
 coal. His appearances in town are irregular and 
 fitful. His real life, Brookfield is certain of this, 
 is lived far away from cities. And it is a life 
 with a purpose." 
 
 Quite suddenly and unexpectedly Mr. Danjuro 
 began to reveal himself. 
 
 The last words were spoken in a changed voice. 
 The flatness and monotony had vanished. The 
 words vibrated in the room, and I felt the •thrill 
 
The Air Pirate 95 
 
 of them. It was the power of- personality, and 
 from then onwards I was hand in glove with this 
 bizarre thinking machine that Fate had sent me. 
 
 I 'tried to emulate Danjuro's dispassionate and 
 scientific method. 
 
 " It is curious," I said, " that a real intellect 
 should care to spend part of its time in rake- 
 helling round the low clubs, the gambling-rooms 
 and stage-doors of London. Such a thing is 
 known, but it is rare." 
 
 " You put your finger instantly upon what 
 seems a weak spot in myi character sketch. But 
 let us assume that it has been done with a deep 
 motive." 
 
 " Ah ! " He knew, or suspected, something 
 more. He referred to his notebook. 
 
 " Two years ago a certain Mr. Herbert Gas- 
 coigne was expelled from Christ Church College, 
 Oxford." * 
 
 " Sent down, we call it ; but go on." 
 
 " The case was a bad one. The young man 
 had established a sort of gambling club and 
 ruined several of his contemporaries. It was 
 discovered that he was using a roulette wheel 
 that had been tampered with. He came to 
 London and drifted into the worst gang of 
 swindlers. Major Helzephron met him. They 
 became very friendly. The younger man was 
 obviously under the influence of the elder 
 
96 The Air Pirate 
 
 Finally Gascoigne deserted his old haunts and 
 has disappeared." 
 
 I began to see light. 
 
 " On several occasions my astute friend, Mr. 
 Brookfield, has witnessed precisely the same 
 phenomenon. Some young man of the upper 
 classes has been ruined socially, and our enigmatic 
 friend has taken him up, been seen about with 
 him, and so forth. Finally the young man 
 vanishes." 
 
 " It is not philanthropy, Mr. Danjuro." 
 
 "It is not, and it gives rise to curious specula- 
 tions. Where could a Napoleonic criminal, pa- 
 tiently planning and meditating a stupendous coup, 
 find a better recruiting ground than among the 
 desperate and ruined young men of his own class ? 
 The plan Js in itself evidence of genius. They 
 speak his language, he understands their way of 
 thought ; there are a thousand bonds between 
 them. I can conceive no more solid and formid- 
 able combination than just this. The one last 
 virtue reitiaining to these desperate and outcast 
 young men will be loyalty to their leader. 
 Society has cast them out, therefore they will 
 make war on Society. Given that attitude of 
 mind, a leader like Major Helzephron, and a plan 
 so daring, and the thing becomes plain as daylight. 
 And if this man had not fallen into an over- 
 mastering passion for Miss Shepherd there would 
 
The Air Pirate 97 
 
 have been no means of getting on his^ trail at 
 all." 
 
 It was only with great difficulty that I could 
 control my thoughts. We seemed miles nearer 
 the truth'^than I had been an hour ago. Then 
 one idea emerged clearly. 
 
 " Quite so. And isn't it all in our favour that 
 we, and we alone, are in a position to connect 
 Helzephron with the piracy ? He will think him- 
 self perfectly secure ? " 
 
 " I do not for a moment believe," Danjuro replied 
 with emphasis, " that a single soul besides our- 
 selves has the least suspicion. The man will have 
 taken supreme care to cover his tracks. My 
 inquiries could have suggested nothing to the 
 people I interviewed. Mr. Brookfield thinks I 
 required my information for quite another reason. 
 Yes, Sir John, we have a task of immense difficulty 
 and danger before us. You must recognize that 
 to the full. My sincere belief is that it would be 
 somewhat safer to venture into a cage of cobras 
 than where we have to go. But " — ^he took out 
 his watch — ^" it is five o'clock. Let us say that the 
 game begins at this moment ! Very well. We, 
 and not the enemy, have scored the first point ! " 
 
 He suddenly glided from his chair with a single 
 sinuous movement. As he stood up he was trans- 
 formed. The bland modern look faded from his 
 face. It grew terrible. The eyes narrowed to 
 
 7 
 
98 The Air Pirate 
 
 slits of light, the square jaw protruded, the grey- 
 lips were caught up in a tiger-grin, and the slim 
 body seemed to swell out with iron muscle like 
 a wrestler stripped in the arena. 
 
 You have seen some of the real old Japanese 
 colour-prints, pictures of the ancient Samurai or 
 the frightful Akudogi shouting at you — yes ? 
 The flat, awful stolidity, the incarnate hate. . . . 
 
 Then you have seen something of what I saw 
 then. 
 
 Wow ! Millionaire Van Adams was well served ! 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE CURIOUS FIGHT IN THE RESTAURANT 
 
 " TT is a good deal to ask. Sir John," said 
 
 -»- Danjuro briskly, " but, for the moment, 
 will you place yourself entirely in my hands ? " 
 
 " I am perfectly content to do so." 
 
 " Then permit me to press the bell." He did so. 
 
 " I left a black bag in the hall," Danjuro said 
 politely when Thumbwood came in. " Would you 
 please let me have It ? " 
 
 The bag was brought, Danjuro placed it on the 
 table and opened it. 
 
 " You are very well known. Sir John," he re- 
 marked. " Major Helzephron and his friends 
 have either seen you at some time or other, or 
 have CM^ainly seen the numerous pictures of you 
 that have appeared in the newspapers during the 
 last few days. It is imperative that you change 
 your appearance at once. , I foresaw that and 
 have brought materials." 
 
 I am afraid I whistled with dismay. The idea 
 99 7* 
 
100 The Air Pirate 
 
 didn't please me in the very least. " Is it really 
 necessary ? . . ." 
 
 " Absolutely. But it will not inconvenience you. 
 Will you go into your bedroom and clip off your 
 moustache with scissors, afterwards shaving the 
 upper lip clean ? You see, the man who leaves 
 London to-night must not in the least resemble 
 the Chief Commissioner of Air Police." 
 
 I went and did it. I had to. When the opera- 
 tion was over I shouldn't have known myself, 
 it made such a difference. I never knew that I 
 had such a grim and forbidding mouth ! 
 
 I returned to the sitting-room. Mr. Danjuro 
 did not make the least comment, but he removed 
 my collar and tie with the deftness of a barber 
 and fastened a towel round my neck. Then he 
 sponged my skin all over with some faintly pink 
 stuff out of a bottle. When he had done that, 
 he began on my hair with something else, and 
 finally my eyebrows. 
 
 " May I ask what you are doing ? " I said after 
 a time. 
 
 " I am dyeing your hair black. Sir John. The 
 dye can be removed at any time. The appearance 
 is absolutely natural. The drug I am using is not 
 generally known. I procure it from a friend in 
 the Honcho Dori at Yokohama, and also the liquid 
 which has already changed your skin from blond to . 
 swarthy. I will treat your hands in a minute." 
 
The Air Pirate loi 
 
 I suppose I was three-quarters of an hour under 
 his ministrations before he stepped back and 
 looked at me critically. " Part your hair in the 
 centre, instead of at the side, wear a low collar 
 instead of a high one, and spectacles — ^they can be 
 of plain glass — and you need not have the slightest 
 fear of recognition. In fact. Sir John, as far as 
 outward appearance goes, you have already 
 ceased to exist ! " 
 
 There was a mirror over the mantel-shelf. I 
 stood up and looked. It was marvellous ! It 
 was uncanny, too. A dark-haired, dark-skinned 
 stranger leered out of the glass at me, and I turned 
 away with mingled feelings of amazement and 
 disgust. 
 
 " Do you drive an automobile ? " the Japanese 
 asked. 
 
 I jijmped at the suddenness of the question, for 
 
 my thoughts were far away. " Yes, I have a 
 
 touring car of my own in a neighbouring^ garage." 
 
 " It will be better not to use it. We shall take 
 
 one of Mr. Van Adams' cars. It is ready." 
 
 I laughed. " I've a lot to hear yet, you know, 
 Mr. Danjuro, though I have placed myself in your 
 hands without reserve. But you made very sure 
 of me beforehand, didn't you ? " 
 
 " It is Mr. Van Adams' command," he answered 
 simply, and I reflected that here, indeed, was a 
 man with a single soul. 
 
102 The Air Pirate 
 
 " We shall leave London at midnight," he went 
 on, " and drive through the whole of the night. 
 I, also, am an expert chauffeur, and we can relieve 
 each other." 
 
 " Thumb wood can drive, too. Of course we 
 take him with us ? " 
 
 " He will be of the greatest assistance. Now, 
 Sir John, if you want to take a little sleep, now is 
 the time. I should like to consult with your 
 servant, if I may, and have a chat with him. 
 We shall have a good deal to do with one 
 another." 
 
 Strangely enough, I did feel drowsy, despite my 
 excitement. A couple of hours' sleep would 
 refresh me wonderfully, and I knew it. 
 
 " Very well ; I think it is a good suggestion. 
 Say for two hours." 
 
 " By all means. I will carry out some other 
 arrangements meanwhile. You shall have full 
 explanations later on, and I thank you sincerely 
 for the confidence you have reposed in me." 
 
 While we were talking we had left the room and 
 crossed the hall. 
 
 " A pleasant sleep," he said, politely operiiftg 
 the door for me. " We will go and have a look 
 at Major Helzephron later on." 
 
 " What r' 1 shouted. 
 
 " He is in London. I have never seen him and 
 I must certainly do so." 
 
The Air Pirate 103 
 
 " In London ? " I cried, a dozen conflicting 
 thoughts crowding and crushing into my mind. 
 
 "... It is the reason that we leave London 
 to-night." 
 
 Then he had shut the door on me and was gone, 
 I had known him less than two hours. I was a 
 man accustomed to rule, whose whole life was spent 
 in giving orders, and I lay down on my jaed like 
 a lamb without a further question. And, what is 
 more, I did exactly as Mr. Danjuro had said. I 
 fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. 
 
 At a little after eight Mr. Danjuro and myself 
 sat at dinner at the Restaurant Mille Colonnes. 
 Most people know that expensive and luxurious 
 home of epicures, with Nicholas, its stout and 
 arrogant proprietor, and M. Dulae, its famous 
 chef. 
 
 We sat in the south gallery, at the extreme end, 
 against the wall. The electric lights in the roof 
 above us had been extinguished, and our table 
 was lighted by candles in red shades. Indeed, we 
 sat in a sort of darkness which must have made us 
 almost invisible to the other diners, most of whom 
 sat in the longer arm of the gallery at right angles 
 to our own. 
 
 We, on the contrary, could see everything. We 
 could look over the gilded rail into the hall of the 
 restaurant below, and every detail of the gallery 
 on our own level was clear and distinct, though 
 
104 The Air Pirate 
 
 there was such a towering erection of flowers and 
 ferns in the centre of our table that it obscured 
 what would otherwise have been a perfect view. 
 
 I wore a low, turned-down collar and a dark 
 flannel suit. Danjuro, also, had changed his 
 clothes, and, in some real but indefinite way, his 
 appearance. He wore a flannel suit and a straw 
 hat, and also a necktie which I suddenly spotted 
 as that of my old college, Christ Church, Oxford. 
 But the extraordinary thing about him was that 
 he seemed fifteen years younger. 
 
 He had promised to explain at the " Mille 
 Colonnes." As we began upon the salted prawns 
 and the stuffed olives he did so. 
 
 " You are now Mr. Johns, an Oxford tutor. Sir 
 John. I am a young Japanese gentleman, my 
 own name will serve, whom you are coaching. We 
 are going into the country with this disguise. 
 It is one which will easily account for your being 
 in the company of an Asiatic gentleman, and 
 which you will have no difficulty in sustaining." 
 
 It was, indeed, a simple and excellent plan for 
 avoiding undue curiosity. I said so, and then : 
 " Now perhaps you will tell me where we are 
 going. I have my ideas. . . ." 
 
 " We are going west," he answered gravely. 
 " To Cornwall." 
 
 My heart beat fast. It was what I wanted him 
 to say. " To, the home of Helzephron ? " 
 
The Air Pirate 105 
 
 " Yes. For it is there we shall be in the ver|^ 
 centre of the web. In those far western solitudes, 
 despite the recent opening up of the Duchy to 
 tourists, there are still vast spaces of lonely moor- 
 land and unvisited coast where one may walk for 
 half a day and meet no living soul. There is a 
 great Hinterland between the little town of St. 
 , Ives and the Land's End that for all practical 
 purposes is unknown and unexplored. Later on, 
 I will show you certain maps. ... It is in one of 
 the remotest spots of all that Major Helzephron 
 has his house. I tell you, Sir John," he continued, 
 with a sort of passion, " that in those lost and 
 forgotten solitudes, where England stretches out 
 her granite foot to spurn the Atlantic, strange 
 secrets lie hid to-day I On those grey and lonely 
 moors, where the last Druids practised their 
 mysterious rites, and which are still covered with 
 sinister memorials of the past, lies the explanation 
 of the terror which is troubling the world ! 'There, 
 and there only, shall we discover the secrets of 
 the air, and — if human skill and determination 
 are of any avail — ^Miss Constance Shepherd ! " 
 
 An obsequious waiter came with iced consommi. 
 He was followed by the great Nicholas himself , 
 bulging out of his buttoned frock-coat — ^Nicholas 
 never wore evening dress — who bowed low and 
 had a whispered confabulation with Danjuro. 
 
 I remarked on this unusual honour. " I do 
 
106 The Air. Pirate 
 
 what I wish here," the Japanese replied. " It 
 is, of course, through Mr. Van Adams, I hold 
 this place in the hollow of my hand — as you will 
 presently see ! " 
 
 He gave one of his rare and weary smiles, and 
 then said quietly : " Please do not get up or 
 move. Major Helzephron has just come into the 
 gallery ! " 
 
 I could not have moved. His words turned me 
 to stone. 
 
 " I felt sure," he went on, " that for a day or 
 two Helzephron would show himself in London. 
 Knowing what we know — or at least suspect — 
 such a move was a certainty. He is in the habit 
 of coming here. He booked his usual seat at this 
 restaurant, and his usual box at the Parthenon 
 Theatre — and for reasons obvious to you and me, 
 if to no one else in the world ! I confess to an 
 anxiety to look upon this man." 
 
 " You have had this corner darkened ? " I said 
 quickly. " No one can see t« here ? " 
 
 " Not clearly. And Helzephron would not know 
 who we are if he did see us. But, as he is sure 
 to come upon us in Cornwall, it is better to take 
 no risks. To that end I have had a little device 
 arranged for us which proved of great service 
 to me once in Chicago." 
 
 He bent forward to the mass of ferns and flowers 
 in the centre of the table, disarranging the gre'enery 
 
The Air Pirate 107 
 
 at its base. At once a green-painted tube became 
 visible, and then a slanting mirror, the size of a 
 postcard. 
 
 " What on earth is that ? " I whispered. 
 
 " An adaptation of the periscope 1 " he replied, 
 taking a magnifying glass from his pocket, adjust- 
 ing it, and bending oVer the mirror. " The lens is 
 focussed upon Helzephron's table. With this 
 magnifier I enlarge the image in the mirror. 
 Ah ! So that is the honourable gentleman ! " 
 
 A faint hissing noise came from him. His face 
 stiffened into fixed and horrible intentness as he 
 stared through his magnifier at the little oblong 
 of mirror. 
 
 " Shi-ban, Go-ban, hei ! " he muttered. " There 
 are two, then. I expect the younger man is the 
 Honourable Herbert Gascoigne, of whom we have 
 heard ! " 
 
 The hissing noise continued, the ecstasy of atten- 
 tion did not relax for two or three minutes. 
 
 At last Danjuro looked up. His face, which 
 had seemed carved out of jade, relaxed. 
 
 " Will you take my seat ? " he said politely, 
 handing me his reading-glass. " A little drama 
 will commence in a few minutes. It will interest 
 you ! " 
 
 I gave him a glance of interrogation as we 
 exchanged chairs. 
 
 " We shall be in Cornwall to-morrow, and in 
 
108 The Air Pirate 
 
 advance of our friends," he whispered. " But, 
 in order that we may carry out our preliminary 
 inquiries quite undisturbed, I have thought out 
 a little plan by which, if all goes well, Major Hel- 
 zephron will be detained in London for a day 
 or two — you will see." 
 
 ^ Trembling with eagerness I stared down at the 
 mirror. 
 
 The periscope was perfectly focussed. The 
 addition of the reading-glass made everything 
 perfectly clear. , 
 
 Two men in evening clothes were seated at a 
 table. Their heads were close together, and 
 they were talking earnestly. One was a tall, 
 handsome boy of two-and-twenty, with a fair 
 complexion and a reckless,' dissipated cast of face. 
 Young as he was, evil experience had marked 
 him, and his smile was that of a much older 
 man. 
 
 But I scarcely cast a glance on him as I stared 
 at the coloured, moving miniature of " Hawk 
 Helzephron." The man's face was deeply tanned ; 
 above the brows a magnificent dome of white 
 forehead went up to a thatch of dark red hair — 
 the forehead of a thinker if ever I saw one. The 
 face below was seamed and lined everywhere. 
 The thin nose curved out and down like that of 
 a bird of prey. The mouth was large, well- 
 shaped, but compressed, the chin a wedge of resolu- 
 
The Air Pirate 109 
 
 tion. And, as he talked, I saw a pair of slightly 
 protruding eyes, cold and fierce. The whole aspect 
 of the man was ferocious and formidable to a 
 degree. 
 
 " Watch ! " whispered Danjuro. 
 
 I watched, and this is what I saw. 
 
 Into the picture came a thick-set, brutal- 
 looking man, with a blazing diamond in his shirt- 
 front. He was passing Helzephron's table when 
 his dinner jacket caught a wine-glass and swept 
 it to the floor. 
 
 The hawk-faced man looked up with a scowl 
 and said something just as the portly Nicholas arid 
 a waiter appeared in the background, as if passing 
 casually by. 
 
 The thick-seli man bent down till his face was 
 close to Helzephron's. He Said something also, 
 with an unpleasant smile. 
 
 Instantly Helzephron leapt up and drove his fist 
 full into the other's face. 
 
 The fight that followed ended very speedily. 
 The thick-set man took the blow calmly. Then, 
 without heat, and in a fashion which instantly 
 told me the truth of the matter, he set about 
 Helzephron, hitting him where and when he chose, 
 until a shouting crowd of guests and waiters 
 separated the combatants and a policeman and 
 conmiissionaire hixrried them away from the 
 gallery. 
 
110 The Air Pirate 
 
 During all the tumult Mr. Danjuro sat quietly 
 smoking a cigarette. 
 
 " That was Mr. Wag Ashton, the pugilist," he 
 remarked. " Honourable Nicholas and the waiter 
 saw that the honourable Helzephron struck him 
 first. I think the Major will be resting for a day 
 or two before Mr. Ashton summonses him for 
 assault." 
 
 I felt faint with surprise and amazement. 
 
 " So you, you arranged ..." 
 
 He interrupted me, " Now let us finish our 
 dinner in peace," he said. " Some river trout, 
 metmier, are coming." 
 
 An hour afterwards, with myself at the wheel, 
 a huge sixty horse-power Limousine, loaded with 
 luggage and with Messrs. Danjuro and Thumb- 
 wood inside, was rolling down the Piccadilly slope. 
 
 To Penzance. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE HUNTING INSTINCT IS STIMULATED BY A 
 PROCESSION 
 
 THE big car rolled down Piccadilly. She 
 was a beauty to handle, as I discovered 
 in the first two minutes. The very latest type of 
 electric starter, a magnificent lighting installation 
 — every convenience was ready to my hand. I 
 was in an extraordinary state of mind as I steered 
 the car through the late theatre and restaurant 
 traffic, purely mechanically and without conscious 
 thought about it. 
 
 The predominant sensation was one of immense 
 overwhelming relief at the prospect of action. 
 Mere oflice activities, the planning of guard and 
 patrol ships, conferences with pilots and officials, 
 had been quite^ powerless to calm the terrible 
 fever of unrest within me. It was commanding 
 other people to do things, not doing them myself. 
 I knew all the time that I should have been happier 
 piloting one of the war-planes over the Atlantic. 
 Now,^at any rate, I was doing something real. I 
 
 III 
 
112 The Air Pirate 
 
 was actually setting out, in my own person, upon 
 a definite quest. I^ might be all moonshine, I 
 was well aware that many hard-headed people 
 would have laughed at this expedition, consider- 
 ing the slender evidence I had. They would have 
 talked about " circumstantial evidence," the folly 
 of pure assumption, and so forth. " Behold this 
 dreamer cometh ! " would have been their 
 attitude. 
 
 And although I was driving the big car up Park 
 Lane for Oxford Street and the road to the West, 
 I did feel as if I were in a dream. My whole life 
 had been altered by the events of the past few 
 days, ruined for ever it might be. To-night its 
 stream was violently diverted from its course. 
 Everything with which I was familiar had flashed 
 away, and I was on the brink of the fantastic and 
 unknown. There was not a man in London setting 
 out upon so strange an errand, under circum- 
 stances so unprecedented, as I was this night. We 
 slid by a huge white house, set back from the 
 railings, and with all its windows looking out over 
 the Park. It was the London palace that Mr. 
 Van Adams had built for himself during the last 
 five years, and the strangeness of my affair was 
 intensified at the sight. 
 
 Only a few hours ago the great man had been 
 sitting in my chambers, and introducing the enig- 
 matic figure that sat behind me in the car. Here 
 
The Air Pirate lis 
 
 was a dream figure indeed ! It was impossible 
 to think of Danjuro as a human being. He was 
 just a brain, a specialized force, devoted to one 
 object, and probably, as Van Adams had hinted, 
 the supreme force of its kind in existence. Already 
 I had placed myself in his hands, and not only my 
 personal interests, dear as those were to me, but 
 my responsibilities to the State as well, and that 
 was no small thing for him to have achieved in 
 so short a space of time. The unique detachment 
 and concentration that was sitting behind me had 
 an almost magical effect upon one's mind and 
 will. 'With such help, surely, I could not fail ? 
 
 I fell to thinking of what the Japanese had 
 already achieved, the quiet and masterly skill of 
 his analysis, the cold audacity of his plot to keep 
 Helzephron in London, the neatness and finish of 
 his operations as witnessed by the periscope upon 
 the dinner-table at the " Mille Colonnes." Surely, 
 Helzephron, or whoever was the master-criminal, 
 was a doomed man with Danjuro on his track ? 
 
 We were running out of Ealing now, and traffic 
 was almost gone in the long, straight westward 
 road among the acres of market gardens and glass- - 
 houses that fringe the western approach to the 
 metropolis. I let out the powerful engines, and 
 as the car leapt like a spurred horse, myjheart leapt 
 up into anger at the name Helzephron. 
 
 Connie — ^poor, lost Connie — ^had told me herself 
 
 8 
 
114 The Air Pirate 
 
 how the man had pestered her, and I had seen him 
 at Paddington with my own eyes. The investiga- 
 tions at the Parthenon Theatre by Thumbwood 
 and Danjuro had put the details in the picture, 
 and an ugly one it was. The man, V.C. as he was, 
 had a bad reputation enough. I had watched him 
 that-very evening, marked every Hne upon the 
 hawk-like, cruel face, and thrillexi when the vulgar 
 pugilist attacked him. It was the next best 
 thing to thrashing him myself ! Yet — I record 
 this as an interesting point of my psychology at 
 the beginning of the enterprise — I was disgusted 
 with and loathed the man only. I did not hate 
 him, for 1 found it, even now, impossible to believe 
 that he was the abductor of my girl. 
 
 Understand me if you can. Danjuro had con- 
 vinced my intellect, but not my heart. My state 
 was the reverse of the ordinary state in sucK'a 
 situation. Plenty of people believe in anything 
 — a religion for example — by faith, and cannot 
 justify their faith intellectually. Their belief is 
 always confident and strong. I believed intellec- 
 tually, but had no faith, which was why this 
 quest seemed shadow-like and a thing in a dream. 
 No doubt, the lonjg night drive and my curious 
 companion — I was alwaj^s conscious of him — 
 intensified the impression of unreality. 
 
 About three in the morning Danjuro spoke 
 through the tube and insisted on relieving me. 
 
The Air Pirate lis 
 
 I stopped the huge car in a dark, tree-bordered 
 road, where the moonlight lay in pools and patches 
 of silver, and exchanged seats with the little 
 man. As I stood on the road and stamped with 
 my feet to restore the circulation, the night-breeze 
 rustled in the leaves, and far away I heard the 
 nightjar spinning. Never was such a still and 
 solitary place. Danjuro's face in the moonlight 
 seemed as immobile and lifeless as one of those 
 Japanese masks of wax with eyes of opalescent 
 glass that you can buy in the Oriental shops. 
 
 I got inside and, suddenly weary, sank back 
 in the luxuriously cushioned seat. The car 
 started 'again, and Thumb wood switched on a 
 light in the roof. He produced a Thermos flask 
 of hot soup, which I found delicious and refreshing. 
 
 " How have you been getting on with Mr. 
 Danjuro ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Very well, thank you, Sir John. He knows 
 everything, I do believe. If there's one thing 
 where I should detect a man who was talking 
 through 'is 'at, it's 'osses. Stands to reason. 
 But this gentleman knows 'osses like a blooming 
 trainer, sir. And as for the games of the crooks 
 in the ring and on the course, he's wide to every one 
 of 'em. I generally carries a pack of cards in my 
 pocket, sir, and I've got one with me now. The 
 things 'e showed me passes belief. I've seen a 
 good deal of that sort of work, but Mr. Danjuro's 
 
 8* 
 
116 The Air Pirate 
 
 an easy winner. I wouldn't play poker with 'im, 
 no, nor 'alfpenny nap, for a fistful o' thick 'uns t " 
 
 We breakfasted at Exeter, and I had the oppor- 
 tunity of a shave and a bath. I remember that 
 when I was half-way up the hotel stairs a horrid 
 thought struck me, and I hurried down again to 
 consult Danjuro. 
 
 How would the stuff he had put on my skin 
 stand hot water and soap ? 
 
 He reassured me, however. Nothing would 
 remove the beastly stuff but a preparation he 
 carried with him, and I bathed in peace. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning when we started 
 again, and for many miles our rout6 lay close to 
 the smiling Devon sea. The waves were sapphire 
 blue, framed in the red sandstone rocks, and the 
 sky resembled a great hollow turquoise. It was 
 a bright morning, and one side of me rejoiced in it ; 
 but the thought of my girl was always there, a 
 constant sullen pain, for which the morning held 
 no anodyne. 
 
 Thumbwood drove on this stretch of the journey, 
 and Danjuro sat inside studying innumerable maps, 
 and now and then making notes in a pocket-book. 
 I wondered what thoughts were seething and 
 bubbling behind that massive dome of skull. 
 
 Apart from the scenery, there was plenty to 
 interest a Commissioner of Air, Police. The sky 
 was speckled with small private planes, con- 
 
The Air Pirate 117 
 
 verging upon Plymouth or Exeter from many a 
 pleasant country residence. There was no longer 
 any need for the professional man or the prosperous 
 tradesman to live within a very few miles' of his 
 place of business. Men flew to their day's work, 
 and from considerable distances, and as a matter 
 of course. A mile or two out at sea one distin- 
 guished the large steady-going passenger airships 
 by which England was now ringed, and occasion- 
 ally the Royal Mail boats cut the sky like javelins. 
 More than once I spotted one of my police patrols. 
 It was curious to remember that I, who sat here 
 with a stained face and shaven lip, bowling along 
 the Devon roads at a miserable forty miles an hour, 
 had supreme control of all those aerial argosies. 
 
 There were few cars upon the roads at this early 
 hour. Contrary to general opinion fifteen years 
 ago, the popularity of flying had by no means killed 
 the automobile. It had lessened their numbers 
 in an appreciable degree, and made the roads 
 more pleasant. I should, of course, have preferred 
 to reach our destination, or, at any rate, to have 
 travelled the greater part of the way towards it 
 by airship. The system of registration and the 
 police regulations — ^framed by myself — ^would have 
 given too much away. My actual identity and 
 purpose might not have been discovered, but we 
 should have been easily traced, and Helzephron 
 — ^if hfe was what we suspected^-would be the first 
 
118 The Air Pirate 
 
 to hear of a private aeroplane making its appear- 
 ance in the solitudes where he lived. 
 
 Towards midday we were approaching Ply- 
 mouth, when I began to feel uneasy. The agony 
 I had endured there a day or two ago, when 
 Thumbwood burst into my bedroom with news 
 of the Atlantis disaster, clouded my memory. I 
 felt that I never wished to see the pride of Devon 
 again. This, though, was merely weakness which 
 I crushed down. More practical considerations 
 occurred to me. I made Charles stop the ear 
 and got inside with Danjuro. 
 
 " Look here," I said, " hadn't we better run 
 straight through the town and get on into Corn- 
 wall ? We can lunch at St. Germans or some- 
 where." 
 
 " You have some special reason for avoiding 
 Plymouth, Sir John ? " Danjuro asked politely. 
 
 " Well, it's the air-port for America. One of 
 my largest stations is there. Dozens and dozens 
 of people know me. I've always been a familiar 
 figure in Plymouth, and never more so than 
 lately, of course." 
 
 The Japanese gave his little weary smile. " I do 
 not think you realize the alteration in your 
 appearance," he said. " I assure you, and I am 
 an expert in these matters, that no one at all 
 would ever recognize you. I had proposed to stop 
 in Plymouth for at least a couple of hours." 
 
The Air Pirate 119 
 
 " Why, exactly ? " 
 
 " For several reasons. One is that I shall be 
 able to purchase some local Cornish maps and a 
 directory or two, which I need, and found no 
 opportunity of procuring in London. But that 
 is not all. Here we are in the very centre of ak 
 matters, as far as the Atlantic is concerned. The 
 place is still seething with excitement. Nothing 
 else but the piracies is spoken of. The town is 
 packed with correspondents of the principal Euro- 
 pean newspapers. It is in a ferment. I much 
 wish to go about with my ears open for an hour 
 or two. I do think, Sir John, that it would be 
 unwise to neglect this opportunity, for you as well 
 as myself. There is no knowing what we may 
 pick up." 
 
 " You're certain about my disguise ? " 
 
 " Perfectly certain. You will not, of course, 
 enter into long conversations with anyone who 
 knows you well, as your voice would betray you. 
 Otherwise you may rest secure." 
 
 " Yes, that's the weak point," I replied. " I've 
 always heard that, however perfectly a man may 
 be disguised, you cannot disguise his voice." 
 
 He rolled a cigarette with the quick snatching 
 movement of his fingers that always struck me as 
 a miracle of dexterity. 
 
 " It is not true," he remarked. " I have 
 invented five methods, three mechanical and two 
 
120 The Air Pirate 
 
 medical or chemical, whichever you like to call 
 them. When we have leisure I will show you. 
 But there is no need for anjrthing of the sort in 
 your case. It will give you confidence, Sir John, 
 to test the completeness of your new appearance. 
 If you will go to the Royal Hotel and lunch there 
 — keeping awake to hear the general talk — I will 
 join you about three." 
 
 " Very well," I replied, though with some reluct- 
 ance, " and the car ? " 
 
 "Mr. Thumbwood has been 'with you at the 
 ' Royal,' and he is not disguised. It would be better 
 that he should not approach the hotel. We will 
 put you down a short distance away. I will 
 remain in the car and direct Thumbwood where 
 to go." 
 
 Nothing escaped this little man ! He seemed 
 to foresee and provide for everything, and when 
 I alighted five minutes afterwards, some two 
 hundred yards from the hotel, I felt fairly seciu-e 
 in my new character as Mr. Johns, the don of 
 Christ Church, Oxford. 
 
 Immediately I was in the street I became aware 
 — you know how one does ? — ^that the Japanese 
 was right, and Plymouth was in a ferment. Lon- 
 don is too vast for anything but a national calamity 
 to make any alteration in the outward appear- 
 ance of things, and even then it takes a sharp eye 
 and a man well versed in the psychology of crowds 
 
The Air Pirate 121 
 
 to detect anything ^unusual. Not so a big provin- 
 cial town. 
 
 As I walked along the classic fa9ade of the 
 theatre and . turned the corner to the main en- 
 trance of the hotel, I saw one thought on every 
 face and heard one single topic of discussion. 
 The streets, always so gay and cheerful with 
 military aijd naval uniforms, seemed more crowded 
 than their wont, and there was a definite electricity 
 in the air. I know that I felt stimulated, en- 
 couraged to persist, and as I ascended the massive 
 steps of the hotel, my clean-shaven lips smiled to 
 think with what interest I should be regarded if 
 anyone had but^an inkling of whom I was and upon 
 what mission. 
 
 And then I had a shock. 
 
 Standing in the big lounge-hall, and talking to 
 a man in a black morning-coat and a silk hat, was 
 my second in G<^mand — Muir Lockhart, Assistant 
 Commissioner of Air Police ! He was in uniform, 
 a special uniform that we both wore upon cere- 
 monial occasions only. 
 
 " Yes," he was saying, " I'm down here repre- 
 senting the Chief." 
 
 I dared not stay to listen, but I walked towards 
 them as slowly as I could. Muir Lockhart has a 
 somewhat high, penetrating voice. 
 
 " When did you come down ? " asked the other 
 man. 
 
122 The Air Pirate 
 
 " Arrived half an hour ago, flew down from 
 Whitehall this morning," said Muir Lockhart. ^ 
 
 " Then Sir John Custance isn't coming ? " 
 
 My assistant shook his head. "Utterly im- 
 possible," he said. " Sir John cannot leave town 
 just now. He must be at the head of things ; 
 can't possibly be spared. I saw him this morning 
 before I left ; he had been working all night and 
 was nearly dead. ' Explain my position to them,' 
 he said ; ' nothing but strict duty would keep 
 me away from Plymouth to-day.' So, you see 
 how it is, Mr. Mayor ? " 
 
 " Oh, quite, qtiite ! Well, I must be getting 
 round to the Guildhall. You will march up your 
 men at half -past one ? Thank you." 
 
 The man in the silk hat, who I realized must be 
 the Mayor of Plymouth, hurried away. I was left 
 face to face with Muir Lockhart. 
 
 He stared at me, not offensively, but in such 
 a way that he could not have missed a detail of 
 my appearance ; he always was an observant 
 beggar. Then he passed by without a sign of 
 recognition. Good ! I reflected, if my own 
 colleague, who saw me for several hours each day, 
 did not know me, no one else would. It seemed 
 a good omen, and I blessed Danjuro in my heart. 
 
 And what a splendid liar Muir Lockhart was ! 
 He knew that I had gone away on my own, and 
 he hadn't the least idea in the world where I was ! 
 
The Air Pirate 123 
 
 It was^a^temptation to discover myself, but I 
 refrained. 
 
 I was- very puzzled. What on earth was he 
 doing here in^uniform, and talking to the Mayor 
 about ? I hadn't a suspicion of the truth even 
 then, and I had a curious sense of being out of 
 things, forgotten and on the scrap-heap ! The 
 long drive had made me hungry and I thought 
 about lunch. Before going into the coffee-room 
 I wished to remove the stains of travel, so I went 
 down the corridor to the lavatory. 
 
 When I entered a man in his shirt-sleeves was 
 bending over one of the basins and sluicing him- 
 self with many splashes. As I was washing my 
 own swarthy hands he emerged from a towel and 
 gave me a casual glance. 
 
 It was Mr. Van Adams ! 
 
 I could not repress a violent start, the thing 
 was so sudden. What did this gathering of the 
 dans mean ? He noticed my movement at once, 
 and looked at me with inquiry in his eyes. The 
 lavatory was quite empty save for our two selves, 
 and my decision was taken at once. 
 
 " Mr. Van Adams ? " I asked. 
 
 " Sure ! " he replied. " You have the floor — 
 shoot ! " 
 
 " You don't know me ? " 
 
 " Not from the great Lum-tum, though your 
 voice is kind of homey." 
 
124 The Air Pirate 
 
 " I'm Sir John Custance. Danjuro's been faking 
 me up. He's down here with me." 
 
 " Gee ! " said Mr. Van Adams. " Aren't you 
 the fresh thing now, Sir John ? So you're down 
 for the obsequies incog. ? That's what I've come 
 for — matter of respect. Flew down from Park 
 Lane after breakfast." 
 
 " I'm on my way west. We only stopped here 
 for an hour or two, as Danjuro had some busi- 
 ness." 
 
 " I've ordered lunch in a private room over- 
 looking the square. Come right up. Sir John, 
 you'll be able to see everything from there." 
 
 " Thank you. But I'm still in the dark. I'm 
 right away from the office now, as you know. I 
 saw Commander Muir Lockhart here just now,% 
 but I couldn't speak to him. • . ." 
 
 He took me by the arm and led me along the 
 corridor to the lift, " Captain Lashmar, of your 
 force and the five men of ,the patrol boat are 
 being buried to-day," he said ; " also Captain 
 Swainson, of the Atlantis, and the boys murdered 
 on his ship." 
 
 I flushed under my dye. I had never heard a 
 word of it. I felt an absolute beast as we entered 
 the private room, and I tried to explain to the 
 millionaire. 
 
 " Think you callous and unfeeling ? " he said 
 in answer. " Guess I know better than that. 
 
The Air Pirate 125 
 
 my friend. You're out to prevent just such a 
 spectacle as we're going to witness from ever 
 happening again. You're playing a better game 
 than prancing along at the head of a procession. 
 You're getting busy at the heart of things. Now 
 sit down and share the pork bosom and beans, or 
 whatever they've given us. And tell me all about 
 it." 
 
 We sat down to lunch, and after a glass of 
 Burgundy, I told Van Adams of all that had 
 occiurred, and also expressed my complete confi- 
 dence in Danjuro. 
 
 "You're right," he said. "There isn't an 
 investigator on the globe that'd carry a tune to 
 him. He has his orders to stick to you right 
 through and he'll carry them out. That little 
 man's got a brain like the Mammoth Cave, and he's 
 without hiunan passions, save only one — he'd 
 *go to hell in a paper suit for me ! See here — — " 
 and the millionaire told me a string of anecdotes 
 about the; uncanny little Jap that would make the 
 fortunes of a writer of Romance- 
 He was still on the same subject when he stopped 
 in the middle of a sentence. 
 
 The noise in the square outside was suddenly 
 hushed, and we heard a muffled chord of music. 
 Rising from our chairs we went to the windows. 
 Everywhere, as far as eye could reach, was a black 
 sea of heads, from among which the slender clock- 
 
126 The Air Pirate 
 
 tower on its islancl in the centre rose like a 
 sentinel. 
 
 The pavements were lined by troops, soldiers 
 and sailors An equal proportions, and there was 
 a flutter as of falling leaves as every head was 
 bared and the piercing sweetness of Chopin's 
 " Funeral March " filled all the air. 
 
 Then they came, following the band : thirteen 
 coffins covered with flowers, thirteen brave heroes, 
 who would never slant down the long reaches of 
 the upper air again. 
 
 After the hearses walked Paget and Fowles, 
 the two heroic airmen who had called the rescuing 
 ship by wireless, and then came the chaplains and 
 Muir Lockhart. 
 
 For my part I saw the whole procession in a 
 dream. The head of the Transatlantic Air Line, 
 the Mayor and Corporation in their robes — ^the 
 stately funereal pomp of it all seemed unsub- 
 stantial and unreal. 
 
 Mr. Van Adams was kneeling a yard or two away 
 from the window. His head was bent, he had 
 a crucifix and a string of golden beads in his hands, 
 and was saying prayers. Who would have 
 thought it of this master of millions with the 
 pike-like jaw ? I suppose he was a Catholic. 
 
 But my mind was far away, above the heaving 
 wastes of the Atlantic, and I saw an unnamed, 
 unknown ship rushing through the air, at a speed 
 
The Air Pirate 127 
 
 .undreamed of hitherto in the history of flight. 
 And in the pilot's seat I had a vision of a hawk- 
 faced man with cruel eyes and a smile upon his 
 hard, thin lips. . . . 
 
 I stood there for so long that the very tail of 
 the procession was passing by, and Mr. Van Adams 
 rose from his prayers with the sign of the Cross, 
 and touched me on the arm. 
 
 " Look ! " he said, pointing down into the 
 street. 
 
 I followed his finger and saw Danjuro standing 
 on the opposite kerb. He was looking after the 
 cortege, and his face, with the expression on it, 
 was quite clear to see. . . . 
 
 In an instant I came out of my dream. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE MAN WITH THE WICKED FACE 
 
 ON the morning after our arrival I stepped 
 out of my bedroom window at Penzance 
 and stood upon the balcony. 
 
 Many times had I flown over Cornwall ; never 
 had I set foot in the Duchy until now. Plymouth 
 had always been my furthest west. 
 
 The sea was blue as the Mediterranean, the sky 
 a huge hollow turquoise, the air all Arabia. Away 
 in the bay St. Michael's Mount, crowned with 
 towers, gleamed like a vision of the New Jerusalem 
 in some old monkish missal — and the heart 
 within me was so hard, stern, and full of deadly 
 purpose that no summer seas nor balmy western 
 winds could touch the rigour of my mood. 
 
 For we were on the battlefield now. There 
 was no more vagueness nor speculation. I, in 
 the place I occupied, owed a debt to society, and 
 to myself a personal and bitter revenge. And 
 those debts should be paid. 
 
 Danjuro knocked and entered the bedroom. 
 128 
 
The Air Pirate 129 
 
 Yesterday afternoon, within half an hour of our 
 arrival at Penzance, he had disappeared, teUing 
 me not to wait up for him, as he could not say 
 what time he would return. I accordingly went 
 to bed early, for I was tired out, and had not 
 seen him until now, 
 
 " I have been very busy, Sir John," he said. 
 " In the characters of a mining engineer at one 
 place and agent for a foreign shipping firm at 
 another, I have been making some very necessary 
 inquiries. I engaged a local motor — our own 
 would hardly have suited the part — and I have 
 covered a great deal of country." 
 
 " And your exact object ? " 
 
 " I have two. One is to discover any private 
 engineering works where special engines could 
 have been made in secret. You will remember 
 that we both came to the conclusion that the 
 Air Pirate could have obtained silent engines in 
 no other way. The other is — ^petrol." 
 
 " Petrol ! I never thought of that ! I s^e 
 what you mean." 
 
 " Precisely, Sir John. An airship such as the 
 one we are after must have a constant supply of 
 petrol, and, of course, consumes enormous quan- 
 tities. When I can connect a certain private 
 individual with the receipt of such quantities, we 
 are another step forward." 
 
 " How have you got on ? " I asked eagerly. 
 
 9 
 
130 The Air Pirate 
 
 " I have nothing definite. But there are certain 
 indications — slight, oh, very slight ! — which I ana- 
 following up. I will go into everything with you 
 this evening. Meanwhile you have your own 
 day mapped out." 
 
 " Yes. I have studied the local maps and asked 
 a good many questions. After breakfast I shall 
 walk over the moors to this little lonely village of 
 Zerran. It is about eight miles away from here, 
 and, I understand, not more than one and a half 
 from Tregeraint Sea House, which is the home of 
 Major Helzephron. There is a fair-sized old- 
 fashioned inn on the cliffs where we shall probably 
 be able to get rooms." 
 
 " And settle down to our reading party," he 
 replied, with a sudden gleam in his narrow eyes. 
 " I have the Greek texts of Plato's ' Republic ' 
 and the ' Meno ' in my portmanteau ; it is wise 
 to pay attention to details ! We sMiall, then, meet 
 at dinner this evening, and I dxpect that your 
 news will be of great importance. With your 
 permission, I shall take honourable Thumbwood 
 with me. He will be useful." 
 
 After breakfast, ^th some sandwiches aad a 
 flask, I set out, passing down the main street of 
 the far western town, and by the last station in 
 England, till I found myself mounting a -winding 
 road which led upwards through a suburb towards 
 the moorlands. 
 
The Air Pirate 131 
 
 The air was heavy with the perfume of innu- 
 merable flowers. Tall palm-trees grew in the 
 gardens of old granite houses, a sub-tropical flora 
 flourished everywhere, and it was difficult to 
 believe that one was in England. The hedges 
 were luxuriant with ferns that grow in hot-houses 
 elsewhere. Royal Osmunda and Maidenhair, and 
 every moment the road grew steeper. 
 
 If you look at the map of Cornwall you will 
 see that the extremity of the county forms a 
 sort of peninsula. Penzance is on the south, ^nd 
 faces the English Channel on the south. My back 
 was now turned to this, and I was walking due 
 north, towards my objective, the vast and little 
 known " Hinterland " of mountainous moor and 
 savage coast which lies between the Channel and 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 As I went, tjie warmth and colour, the riot of 
 Nature all rouitji, seemed as unreal as a dream. It 
 brought no e^gf or healing to my soul. Deep, 
 deep down, tm)ugh controlled and prisoned by 
 the will, an unending agony was lying, I'm not 
 going to insist upon this, or often obtrude it in my 
 story. But you must not think that, until the 
 very end, I knew a moment's peace. My dear 
 love and her awful fate were ever before me, and 
 all the sights and sounds of Nature in this western 
 paradise breathed nothing but her name. 
 
 ... At last the habitations of man grew fewer. 
 
 9* 
 
132 The Air Pirate 
 
 Gardens gave place to sloping fields enclosed by 
 " hedges " of stone, and at length a long, level 
 sky-line above and in front showed me that the 
 moors were close. 
 
 I reached the top at last, and took in a great 
 breath of the sweetest, most exhilarating air that 
 I have ever known. The unfenced road stretched 
 away ahead of me for miles, a long, white ribbon 
 laid upon the heath and yellow gorse. I was on 
 a vast plateau of gold and brown and purple. To 
 the left great hills crowned with rock granite 
 tors cut into the sky, and to the right was the 
 jagged sumimit of Came Zerran, three miles away 
 as the crow flies. At its foot, on the edge of mighty 
 cliffs that fell away a sheer three hundred feet to 
 the ocean, I knew lay the little village that I 
 sought. 
 
 I looked at my map for a moment, took out my 
 pocket compass, and then plunged into the 
 heather. Already I had a good idea of the lie of 
 the country — it is an instinct with your flying 
 man — and I realized that an accurate knowledge 
 of it would prove invaluable in the task before me. 
 
 I met no living soul during that first walk over 
 the moor. Larks were singing high above in the 
 blue ; a pair of the rare Cornish choughs, with 
 their scarlet bills, flew screeching from the summit' 
 of a lichen-qovered rock as big as a house ; but 
 until I got to Carne Zerran, and looked down to 
 
The Air Pirate • 138 
 
 the narrow strip of pasture lands and corn- 
 fields that lie along the cliffs, there was no sign of 
 human habitation. 
 
 Far down below I saw a church tower and a 
 little cluster of grey houses. Beyond was the 
 coast-line, with a creamy froth of breakers at the 
 foot of the jagged cliffs, and the Atlantic, " Mother 
 of Oceans," beyond. There was no land between 
 me and New York ! I suppose that in all the glory 
 of sun and colour, superb spaces of sea and sky, 
 I stood alone, and looked upon a scene as fair as 
 any on this earth. But as I focussed my binoculars, 
 and swept the coast, my only thought was that 
 here — if anywhere at all — was the heart of the 
 mystery I had come to solve. 
 
 Well ! It was a fitting setting, in its lonely vast- 
 ness. Anything might happen here among these 
 Druid-haunted hills, A crafty fiend, a man 
 with a great intellect and Satan in his soul, might 
 well find this his proper theatre ! 
 
 About a'mile from the village, and just below 
 me, I saw the cliffs bent inwards between two 
 projecting headlands. This must be the Zerran 
 Cove of the map, an<^ — yes, seemingly upon the 
 very edge of the precipice was a long, grey building, 
 which could be none other than " The Miners' 
 Arms." 
 
 I began the descent, leaping from rock to rock, 
 where the adders lay basking in the sun. After a 
 
134 The Air Pirate 
 
 few hundred yards, I struck a gorge, through 
 which a stream fell towards the sea. Here I 
 found a well-defined path, which looped down- 
 wards to the ruins of a deserted tin-mine. I saw, 
 as I passed it, the windowless engine-house, and 
 the gaunt timbers of the winding gear still in place. 
 The gibbet-like erection and the dumps of useless 
 stuff covered with rank dock leaves made a forlorn 
 and ugly picture in that narrow gorge where the 
 sun hardly penetrated. 
 
 I passed it soon, and came out upon the main 
 coach road from St. Ives to Land's End, and, 
 crossing this, found a side lane, which took me 
 direct to the remote hostelry I had seen from the 
 heights above. 
 
 It was a large place, covered with ivy, and no 
 doubt did a considerable trade eighty years before, 
 when the innumerable tin-mines on the moor were 
 all at work. Now it seemed forgotten by the 
 world, and all asleep in the sun. " An ideal base 
 for our operations ! " I -thought, as I strode 
 through an open door into a long, low room, 
 with a stone floor and heavily timbered roof. 
 
 It was cool, and so dark after the blazing 
 sunshine that, for a moment, I could see nothing, 
 though I heard a sound of stertorous breathing. 
 When my eyes became accustomed to the gloom 
 I saw that there was a man asleep by the little 
 counter. He sat on a bench which ran along the 
 
The Air Pirate 135 
 
 wall, and his head was buried in his arms, which 
 rested on a beer-stained table. By his side stood 
 a bottle half full of whisky. 
 
 Supposing him to be the landlord — and no 
 engaging figure at that — I touched him on the 
 shoulder. It was like springing a trap ! In- 
 stantly he snatched away his arms and sat up. 
 For a second sleep held him. Then it passed 
 away like a breath on glass, and if ever I saw fear 
 on a man's face I saw it then. 
 
 He was dressed in a blue jersey and an alpaca 
 coat, oil-stained and dirty. His hands were the 
 hands of a mechanic, with grimy nails. But it 
 was his face that held me. It was sleek 
 and cunning. There was a curious mixture of 
 refinement and wickedness. He seemed like a 
 naturally sensitive man, whom circumstances, 
 indulgence, or some special temptation, had led 
 very deeply astray. 
 
 I noted all this while he stared at me with a 
 drooping jaw and bloodshot eyes. His skin had 
 turned dead-white, like the belly of a fish, and 
 whatever he was thinking I felt that I would not 
 have that man's conscience for a million. 
 
 " I want you," I said — ^they were the first words 
 that came. 
 
 He made an inarticulate noise. 
 
 " You are the landlord, aren't you ? " 
 
 At that he gave a long breath and his rigidity 
 
136 The Air Pirate 
 
 relaxed. He snatched at the whisky bottle, 
 poured some into a glass and drank it off neat. 
 
 " Lord, how you startled me ! " he said glibly. 
 " I was far away — dreaming— rand you frightened 
 me out of my life ! " 
 
 It was my turn to be amazed, though I showed 
 nothing. The fellow spoke with a cultivated 
 voice and accent which were impossible to. mistake. 
 He was not what I had thought him, 
 
 " I am very sorry," I said ; " you must please 
 excuse me. But I naturally thought ..." 
 
 " Of course you did ! " he said, and a civil but 
 Ugly smile came on his clever, unpleasant face. 
 "As a matter of fact, Trewhella, the landlord, 
 has just gone to the village ior a few minutes. 
 He asked me to keep house for him. He's almost 
 due back now." % 
 
 Thanking him urbanely, I sat down, my mind 
 working very quickly. He offered me some 
 whisky, and though it was the last thing I Avanted, 
 I accepted after a show of reluctance. He was 
 watching me out of the corners of his eyes the 
 whole time. 
 
 " Can you tell me," I said, with great openness 
 of manner, " if I can get rooms here, or in Zerran 
 village ? " 
 
 He became alert at once. " Rooms, to stay in, 
 do you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes. I am an Oxford tutor, and I have a 
 
The Air Pirate isr 
 
 young foreign gentleman in my charge whom I am 
 coaching, I want a quiet place for three or four 
 weeks, and this seems ideal for the purpose." 
 
 His face cleared. " I should imagine so," he 
 replied. " I know Trewhella does let some- 
 times," ^ 
 
 " You live here ? " I remarked, with polite 
 indifference. 
 
 " I have been here for a year," he answered. 
 " I am, as a matter of fact, a mining engineer: — 
 hence these clothes ! I belong to a little private 
 syndicate of friends who are opening up a> disused 
 tin-mine, on the moor not far away. Ah, here is 
 the landlord ! Trewhella, this gentleman wishes 
 to speak to you." And then to me : " Good- 
 morning, sir. No doubt, if ypu come here, I and 
 my friends will see something of you* We are 
 mostly public-school and University men our- 
 selves, and we often Jook in her^f an evening after 
 our day's wofk." 
 
 He waved his hand and went out into the 
 sunshines 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 IE JOHN CUSTANCE COMES UPON THE HOUSE OF 
 HELZEPHRON 
 
 MR. TREWHELLA was an elderly Cornish- 
 man, with welcoming manners, the native 
 shrewdness of his race, but without guile. We 
 got on famously from the word "go." He had 
 three bedrooms and a large sitting-room to let. 
 His wife, who had driven into St, Ives, was, he 
 asserted, a gQod cook. As for Thumbwood, he 
 could wait on us and live with the landlord and 
 his wife. Finally, there was an empty barn 
 which would hold our car very comfortably. 
 
 " And what would you be thinking of paying, 
 zur ? " asked Mr. Trewhella. 
 
 " I shall leave that to you. I may tell you that 
 the gehtleman I am preparing for his Oxford 
 examination is wealthy. He is a Japanese noble- 
 man, and as long as you make us comfortable ..." 
 
 This had the desired effect. The landlord 
 became expansive in his slow way, and showed me 
 
 138 
 
The Air Pirate 139 
 
 all over the premises of his quaint and rambling 
 dwelling. It was a wild and fantastic spot, an 
 ancient haunt of smugglers and wreckers, I learnt. 
 The back-yard opened straight into the short 
 pneumatic turf above the cliffs, the brink of which 
 was not more than two hundred yards away. 
 Here the stream, which flowed past the inn, 
 descended in a series of miniature cataracts to a 
 tiny cove of deep-green water, almost enclosed by 
 two towering precipices, crowned with jagged spires 
 and pinnacles of rock. There was a little scimitar 
 of golden sand far down at the water's edge, and 
 the scene was one of savage grandeur that I have 
 rarely known surpassed in all my travels. 
 
 As he stood on the height and looked down, 
 I saw something which seemed strangely out of 
 place. A line of street rails, with wooden rollers 
 at intervals between them, fell at a dizzy angle 
 from a spot some ten yards away on the turf, 
 ending abruptly on the level, and in front of a 
 smallish hut of corrugated iron, 
 
 " What is the rail for ? " I asked. " Surely you 
 don't haul the boats " — there were two of them 
 lying on the beach — " right up to the top of the 
 cliff ! It must be two hundred and fifty feet ! " 
 
 " Nigher three hundred, zur. No. Them rails 
 belong to bring up machinery and stores for 
 Tregeraint Mine by Carne Zerran. They do come 
 by sea in a lil' steamboat. 'Tes more convenient 
 
140 The Air Pirate 
 
 so. There be a lil' oil engine in that shed to haul 
 'em up in trucks. I let the land, for 'tes all mine 
 down-along, and they do pay me ten pound a 
 year." 
 
 We strolled back to the house, Mr. Trewhella 
 proposing a Cornish pasty and beer for lunch. 
 
 " Now you mention it, that gentleman who was 
 keeping house for you just now said that he was 
 a mining engineer." 
 
 The landlord's big, weather-beaten face wrinkled 
 like a stained window. He began to heave and 
 chuckle, finally exploding in a bellow of laughter. 
 
 " Mr. Vargus ! " he spluttered, " Mr. Vargus ! 
 He thinks he be a mining engineer, but a knows 
 no more about it than my pig ! He be a clever 
 gentleman, sure 'nuf. He do have some braave 
 knowledge to machinery, I'll allow. But mining, 
 and tin-mining ! " 
 
 Mr. Trewhella could find no further words to 
 express his contempt for the mining attainments 
 of my friend with the refined and evil face. 
 
 " You see," the landlord continued, as we ate 
 our pasties, " I'm an old mine-captain myself, 
 bred and born to it. 'Tedn't likely as I could be 
 deceived. When I heered that a gentleman had 
 come into Tregeraint Manor and the old mine, 
 and proposed to work it, I laughed, I did. I know 
 every inch of Wheal Tregeraint, and fifty years 
 ago it was a fine property. To-day them amatoors 
 
The Air Pirate 141 
 
 up along'U never get enough tin out to oxidize, 
 let alone smelt." 
 
 " Who are they, then, Mr. Trewhella ? " 
 " That's what lots of folk asked when they first 
 come here in twos and threes. They're gentlemen, 
 zur, like yourself, that's what they are. Never 
 was such a thing known in these parts, though 
 folk are used to 'em now; There's Mr. Helzephron, 
 a Cornishman himself, and should know better, 
 Mr. Vargus, you seed, Mr. Gascoigne, a mad young 
 devil if you like, and near a dozen more. They all 
 live together in the great house on the cliff and 
 work the mine theyselves. Never no one else 
 allowed. They cooks and does for themselves, 
 just as if they was in a mining camp in California." 
 " No women, servants or anything ? " 
 " Never an apron. My missus belong to say 
 they lives like Popish monks, which she see when 
 travelling with a lady among the Eyetalians. 
 ' Not so, my tender dear,' says I. ' I never 
 heered that Popish monks spent most of their 
 evenings in the village inn with a bottle of Scotch 
 whisky afore each man, and precious little left by 
 closing time ! ' " 
 
 " A hard-drinking lot then ? " 
 
 " Wonderful at their liquor. I tell you, zur, 
 
 it's good for me ! Now I've got used to them and 
 
 their funny ways, I wish they'd stay for ever. 
 
 Speaking from a strictly business point of view. 
 
142 The Air Pirate 
 
 that is. But soon they'll find out they've lost 
 their money and they'll jack it up. 'Tes not in 
 reason as they can go on, though they do, seem 
 so full of hope and certainty, as you mind to up ! 
 But I know." 
 
 He was obviously pleased with my interest in 
 his talk. I wondered what he would have said 
 if he had known who I was and why I was there ? 
 Under a calm exterior, a professor munching 
 potato pasty ! I was filled with a furious excite- 
 ment. The man's gossip was worth a sovereign 
 a word. Here was, moment by moment, what 
 looked like complete confirmation of our suspi- 
 cions. And yet, even as I realized this, I realized 
 also how infernally clever the scheme was. With- 
 out the clue which Danjuro and myself alone 
 possessed, there was nothing in the world to 
 connect Helzephron and Tregeraint with the 
 business that was ruffling the calm of two con- 
 tinents. 
 
 It was not my game to ask more direct ques- 
 tions than I could help. It was better to let the 
 racy stream flow on, with a word of comment 
 now and then. I ventured a calculated one now. 
 
 " Fools and their money are soon parted," 
 said I. 
 
 " You may say that, zur ! And they've pom-ed 
 out money like water. Electric light, pal sorts 
 o' cases full of new-fangled machinery, and that 
 
The Air Pirate 143 
 
 mystery made about the silly old mine you'd 
 think it was a seam of diamonds." 
 
 " It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, 
 Mr. Trewhella ! " I rose from the table as I spoke. 
 " But what you say about a dozen or more gentle- 
 men drinking nearly a bottle of whisky each 
 rather surprises me. I'm no foe to honest enjoy- 
 ment, but . • ." 
 
 I put on a slight primness of manner, as became 
 the character I sustained. 
 
 The landlord nodded vigorously. " 'Tes so ! " 
 he agreed, " and most onusual. They be gentle- 
 folk, sure 'nuff, but shall I tell 'ee what I think ? " 
 
 " What's that ? " 
 
 " I think as most of 'em's dropped out, so to 
 speak. I shouldn't be frightened if as their 
 families didn't have anything to say to 'em, 
 and they've nowhere much else to go. Mr. Hel- 
 zephron knows what he's about, he do. I judge 
 by a kind o' reckless way they have, 'specially the 
 younger gentlemen. They don't seem to mind 
 about ordinary things same as most. Well, I 
 suppose this fool tin-mining keeps 'em out£of 
 mischief." 
 
 I wondered. 
 
 When I set out|upon the return journey I took 
 another route. I found from the landlord that by 
 skirting the coast for a mile in the direction of St. 
 
144 The Air Pirate 
 
 Ives I could come upon a moorland path that 
 would take me to the little railway-station of St. 
 Erth. I could then catch a train for Penzance. 
 My ostensible reason was to vary my walk, my 
 real one that by this change of plan I should pass 
 by and have a view of Tregeraint Mine and 
 the Manor House. 
 
 " Not that you'll see much or get close," said 
 Mr. Trewhella. 
 
 " How is that ? " I asked. 
 
 " I told you that Mr. Helzephron " — ^apparently 
 the hawk-faced man had dropped his military title 
 in Cornwall — " do make a mystery of his peddling 
 mine. He goes further than that. The mine 
 buildings and the house are surrounded by two 
 fences of barbed-wire and the Manor by a, high 
 wall. ' Trespassers,' notice boards belong to say, 
 ' will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the 
 law ' ! " 
 
 " Well, I shan't attempt to trespass, Mr. 
 Trewhella ! " 
 
 The landlord laughed. " Mine prospectin's not 
 in the way of a lamed gentleman like yourself. 
 Maybe it's as well. Mr. Helzephron has got two 
 dogs he turns out at night, and terrible ugly 
 customers they be. Mr. Vargus do tell me that 
 they be Tibetan mastiffs, which am the largest 
 dogs in the world. They look like a sour-faced 
 Newfoundland with heavy ears, only bigger." 
 
The Air Pirate 145 
 
 I tramped away from " The Miners' Arms." 
 Although I recognized the fact that we were only 
 at the fringe of discovery, my mind was made up. 
 Thick darkness surrounded me, but I was con- 
 vinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Major 
 Helzephron, and no other, was the man for whom 
 the whole world was hunting. 
 
 And as I thought of him and the crew of lost 
 and reckless men who did his will, the fair land- 
 scape seemed to darken, the sweet airs to be 
 tainted. , . . 
 
 The path I traversed was the coastguard's path, 
 as I could see by the white-washed boulders to 
 serve as a guide by night. It was never more 
 than two or three yards away from the brink 
 of the savage precipices that fell for two hundred 
 and fifty feet sheer to the water. The ocean was 
 on my left ; on the right the great hill, known 
 as Came Zerran, towered up, and the edge of the 
 high moors cut the sky. On that side it was as 
 though one were walking at the bottom of a cup. 
 After about half a mile of the path, it suddenly 
 left the cliff edge, and turned inland. For several 
 hundred yards the brink was guarded by a semi- 
 circle of barbed-wire fence, which made it im- 
 possible to approach. A nbtice board informed 
 the wayfarer that here, owing to old mining 
 operations, the cliff was extremely dangerous. 
 It looked so, indeed. The edge was broken 
 
 10 
 
146 The Air Pirate 
 
 and irregular. I saw that it ran out in a curious 
 headland for a considerable way, a mere wall of 
 rock with a razor-back path on the top, which curved 
 round again and ran parallel to the cliff on which 
 I was, making a mighty chasm from which rose 
 the cries of innumerable sea-birds. There was a 
 narrow mouth seawards, and another headland 
 jutted out to make a cove like the one at the inn, 
 though that, of course, had no winding canon 
 at the end. 
 
 I crept up to the brink, where the wire fence 
 began, and, lying down, with one arm round the 
 first post, peered over. 
 
 It was a terrible place. The rock overhung so 
 for hundreds of yards that I could not see the 
 bottom. But the other side of the cation was 
 clear to view, a great wall of black rock, where 
 sea-hawks nested, and inaccessible to the boldest 
 climber. To the right the cove seemed to be of 
 fair size from horn to horn, but it was no tranquil 
 spot like the one at the back of the inn. Even 
 on a calm day like the present, the Atlantic ground 
 swell poured in with tremendous force, and was 
 broken with ferocious whirlpools and spray- 
 fountains by toothed rock-ledges a foot or two 
 below the surface. The smallest boat could not 
 have entered Tregeraint Cove and lived there for 
 a moment. 
 
 For some reason or other the place affected 
 
The Air Pirate I4r 
 
 me most unpleasantly, and it was with a little 
 shudder that I retreated and skirted the fence 
 which guarded the dangerous part of the cliff. 
 When I had passed by this, the path turned at 
 right angles and went inland. 
 
 As I turned I saw, perhaps a furlong away, the 
 house of Helzephron. 
 
 It lay upon the eastern slope of Came Zerran, 
 an ancient, grim-looking house of granite, long, 
 low, and of considerable size. A few stunted 
 trees grew round about, and a fairly extensive 
 domain of gardens, as I supposed, surrounded by a 
 high wall. Using my prism glasses, 1 could see 
 that this wall was topped by iron spikes. Of 
 course, I was considerably below Tregeraint as 
 on the sloping hill-side, and it lay quite open to 
 view. Higher up, and beyond the house, was 
 the derrick, engine-house and sheds of. the mine, 
 with here and there dumps of debris and various 
 sheds. 
 
 Although the wire fences, which I soon made 
 out, went round the whole property, it lay quite 
 open to the view. And when I had passed it, 
 and climbed to the table-land of the moor beyond, 
 I saw that it would be even more open to the eyes 
 — spread out like a map, in short. 
 
 One thing was already certain. There was 
 nothing whatever in the nature of a hangar, no 
 building that could possibly shelter even an 
 
 10* 
 
148 The Air Pirate 
 
 ordinary four or five seater biplane, to say nothing 
 of an air cruiser. 
 
 I was not disappointed, because I had hardly 
 expected to meet with anything of the kind. 
 The pirate ship, you will remember, was — ^like all 
 the big long-distance airships — a cross between 
 what used to be known in the old days as the 
 " seaplane " and the " flying-boat." True, some 
 of our war aeroplanes of quite large size were 
 fitted with floats that could be raised, and wheels 
 for land work in addition. 
 
 This might be the case with the pirate. But it 
 was not to be thought of for a moment that a man 
 of Helzephron's intelligence would dare to house 
 his extraordinary ship where any one of my police 
 could have investigated simply by showing his 
 badge of office. The land policeman and the 
 coastguards of the whole English coastline had 
 already reported on every hangar and aerodrome 
 in the kingdom. If Helzephron was the man 
 I believed him, I was well aware that we were only 
 At the beginning of the duel. 
 
 I mounted up past the wire fences and the mine. 
 I did not dare to use my glasses in passing, for I 
 saw in the distance one or two figures of men 
 strolling about by the engine-house and derrick. 
 But when I was at last among the heather at the 
 top, I lay down, and took a long survey of the 
 buildings, drawing a careful map in my pocket- 
 
The Air Pirate 149 
 
 book, which might prove of great use later 
 on. 
 
 I waited half an hour at the little station of 
 St. Erth, and then caught a train to Penzance, 
 arriving at the hotel about tea-time. As I came 
 into the lounge, after a wash and brush up, I saw 
 Danjuro sitting in one corner. He had a pile of 
 newspapers round him, and I saw that the London 
 journals had arrived. 
 
 He handed me one of them as I sat down. A 
 paragraph among the police news was marked in 
 pencil. 
 
 Major Helzephron had been taken to Vine Street 
 Police Station, and locked up for the night, 
 charged with an aggravated assault on Mr. Wag 
 Ashton at the Mille Colonnes Restaurant, on the 
 evidence of M. Nicholas and the head-waiter. 
 
 A medical man had attended the Court on behalf 
 of the prosecutor, to say that Mr. Ashton was 
 too unwell to appear until the morrow. Upon his 
 promising to attend the Court the next day. Major 
 Helzephron was admitted to bail. 
 
 " That gives us nearly two clear days," said 
 Danjuro. " When Ashton does appear, he will 
 not press the case, and will own that he gave 
 provocation; Helzephron will be fined, perhaps 
 let off. I see that Honourable Ashton battered 
 him a good deal ! And now, your news, Sir John, 
 if you please." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 " THE AIB WOLVES ARE HUNTING TO-NIGHT ! " 
 
 HE made no comment, and did not interrupt 
 me until I had completely finished, nor 
 did his inscrutable face give any indication of 
 what he thought. 
 
 " My own investigations," he said, " can be 
 told in a few words. The small steamship which 
 brings supplies to the cove behind the inn is 
 the private property of Helzephron, and she is 
 a great deal faster and much better engined than 
 most people are aware. She lies at the little port 
 of Hayle, which is on the main line from Ply- 
 mouth to Penzance, in St. Ives Bay. At certain 
 times large quantities oj petrol arrive in separate 
 consignments jrom different parts oJ the country. 
 The Sea Chill is loaded to her capacity, and then 
 makes the short voyage to Zerran Cove." 
 
 " That's the last link ! " I said, " No one could 
 doubt now ! " 
 
 " There is another, still more interesting fact. 
 Hayle was once a place of much greater importance 
 
 150 
 
The Air Pirate 15 1 
 
 than it is at present. There were large foundries 
 and engineering works there in the past. These 
 have been abandoned, owing to the silting up of 
 the harbour, for many years, as only vessels of 
 small draught can enter easily to-day. But the 
 foundry buildings remain. From time^to time a 
 portion of them has been let for this or that small 
 enterprise. Three years ago Helzephron rented a 
 part of the works and installed machinery. He had 
 about twenty labourers, but the real work, what- 
 ever it was, took place in a large experimental 
 shed, to which no one was admitted but he and 
 his friends. They were already at Zerran, and 
 used to drive over in motors every day. It was 
 locally known that some new machinery for 
 Wheal Tregeraint was being made. Many ship- 
 pings took place from Hayle to Zerran Cove." 
 " But the ship, the Pirate Ship itself ? " 
 " Who can tell ? We go step by step in the 
 dark. Many theories have crossed my mind. I 
 have dismissed them all. I want to approach 
 this, the most sinister problem of all, with a blank 
 mind. We can do nothing till we are on the spot. 
 Our preliminary work is over, but the real labour 
 begins." 
 
 " A sinister problem enough," I answered 
 bitterly. " But not the most trouble to me. I 
 tell you, Danjuro, that as I lay among the heather 
 and looked down upon that lonely house, as I 
 
152 The Air Pirate 
 
 thought of the devilish crew that live there, for 
 a moment my heart turned to water, and the 
 agony was more than I could endure. She may 
 be there, at this moment, defenceless and in the 
 power . . ." 
 
 I could not go on. I covered my face with my 
 hands, and was nearer breaking down than ever 
 before. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. " It 
 has never left my mind, either. Do not give way, 
 for the moment of action has come. We go to 
 the inn at Zerran to-night— within the hour." 
 
 " To-night ! " 
 
 " Yes. We cannot afford to waste a moment. 
 Helzephron is kept in London. One great danger 
 is removed from our path. We shall never have 
 a better opportunity than now. In dealing with 
 enemies such as ours, we must strike quickly and 
 strongly when they think themselves most secure. 
 Before dawn we must have penetrated the inmost 
 secrets of Tregeraint." 
 
 I had by now grown accustomed to regard Dan- 
 juro as the leader of our enterprise. His decision 
 was like cool water to a man dying of thirst in a 
 desert. I stood up, absolutely myself. " There 
 is, of course, no reason why we should not install 
 ourselves at Zerran to-night instead of to-morrow 
 morning. Trewhella won't mind," I said. 
 
 " I will order the car in an hour. Meanwhile, I 
 have one or two things to do. Perhaps you will 
 
The Air Pirate 153 
 
 settle the hotel bill, Sir John, and tell the people 
 that we are leaving ? . . . " 
 
 It was a stiflingly hot night as the car climbed 
 up to the moors, and in the glare of our headlights 
 the gorse and heather by the roadside streamed 
 swiftly like some golden cinema, leaving a more 
 sable dark before and behind them. Danjuro, 
 by my side, was lost in thought. The massive 
 head hung upon his chest. About half-way on 
 our journey he said a curious thing. " This 
 would be an ideal night for another raid in the air- 
 lanes of the Atlantic." 
 
 I did not answer, for I, also, was thinking deeply. 
 So it was for to-night ! We crossed swords, fired 
 the first shot, what you will, with our cunning 
 enemy in a few hours. What would they bring 
 forth ? 
 
 I felt no fear, only a deep resolution not to fail 
 in rescue and the execution of Justice. I was 
 happier than I had been for days, for it is thought 
 that turns the bones to pith and thins the blood, 
 not action. And, as we flashed down the dark 
 moor road to where the lights of the solitary inn 
 showed yellow, I sent a wordless prayer to the 
 Throne of Justice and Mercy. And, as if an answer 
 was truly and instantly vouchsafed, there came 
 into my mind these words iiom the ninety-first 
 Psalm : " I will deliver thee from the snare of the 
 hunter." 
 
154 The Air Pirate 
 
 And after that I put mere abstract thought away 
 from me. 
 
 As we rolled up silently to the inn, we 
 heard a great noise of singing from the long room. A 
 tall woman came out of aside door, and I explained 
 that we had decided to come earlier than we had 
 planned. She was a comely, good-humoured 
 dame, who made no trouble about our arrival. 
 Both bedrooms and sitting-rooms were prepared, 
 and when Thumbwood had taken the car round 
 to the barn, he went upstairs to unpack the 
 baggage. Mr. Trewhella appeared from the bar. 
 I introduced Danjuro, and we arranged to have 
 some supper at half-past ten. 
 
 Meanwhile the singing continued in great volume, 
 mingled with the twanging chords of a banjo. 
 
 " Your guests are merry to-night," said Danjuro. 
 
 " It's the gentlemen from the mine, sir," said the 
 landlord. " It's one of their nights off, so to speak. 
 Would you like to join 'em for half an hour ? " 
 
 " I think not on our first night. But they sing 
 very well. As a foreigner I am interested in all 
 English customs ; may I take a peep ? . . ." 
 
 He had gone to the communicating door as he 
 spoke, and pulling aside a red curtain which 
 covered the upper half of glass, he looked through. 
 I did the same. 
 
 The long room was full of people and tobacco 
 smoke. With a single exception, that of Mr. 
 
The Air Pirate 155 
 
 Vargus, they were all quite young men, ranging, 
 I should say, from three-and-twenty to thirty. 
 Most of them were dressed in old tweed suits, but 
 the material and cut told their own tale, and spoke 
 of the " right " kind of tailor. At first glance 
 they might have been a collection of naval officers 
 or senior undergraduates, but only at first glance. 
 My eyes roved from iace to face, and on each I 
 saw the loss of innocence and honour. Some were 
 cunning ; others had a brutality in ill accord with 
 their youth, and there was a hard bravado in the 
 eyes of all. It was sickening. One felt that one 
 had suddenly looked upon something that should 
 remain hidden. In that haze of smoke lurked all 
 that was vaguely horrible, all that was monstrous 
 and evil in the universe. 
 
 I almost wanted to spit upon the floor, in an 
 uncontrollable gesture of repudiation. As I turned, 
 I saw the landlord looking at me. 
 
 " A promising lot of young devils," said I, 
 " You do see it too, zur ? " he replied, and then 
 Danjuro touched my arm, and I turned to look 
 again. A man, without a hat, had just entered 
 the room from the outside. He sat in a chair 
 which he had obviously occupied before, for he 
 was in naval uniform, and his cap was lying there. 
 He was a big, foolish-looking fellow, far gone in 
 drink, but despite that his face was the only whole^ 
 some one there. 
 
156 The Air Pirate 
 
 " Who is that ? " I whispered to Trewhella, as 
 Mr. Vargus poured a generous allowance of rum 
 into the new-comer's glass. 
 
 " That's Billy Pengelly, our coastguard. The 
 gentlemen do make a lot of him, and he's none 
 the better for't, for Billy's one as likes his drop. 
 Still, he goes and sleeps it off, and he belong to 
 be strong as a bull. And in these lone parts 
 there's not often anyone to see if he's on the 
 watch or not." 
 
 A tall boy with a banjo took up his instrument 
 and twanged the chords. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen ! " he shouted in a clear fresh 
 tenor, " a chorus ! " And without further pre- 
 liminary he dashed into nothing less than the 
 "Pirate's Chanty" from "Treasure Island": 
 
 " Fifteen men on the dead man's chest !• 
 Yo, ho ! and a bottle of rum ! " 
 
 The inn rocked with the volume of sound. I 
 stood there fascinated, with a sort of horror. 
 The thing — knowing what I knew — ^was so daring 
 and grim that, more than anything else, it showed 
 me with whom we had to deal. 
 
 The application was lost upon Danjuro, but 
 I told him what it meant in French, and he nodded 
 with contracted eyes. 
 
 " Drink, and the devil had done Jor the rest, 
 Yo, ho ! and a bottle oj rum ! " 
 
The Air Pirate 157 
 
 One would have thought that the room could not 
 contain the noise, and that the very windows 
 must be shattered, and in the very middle of it 
 I heard something else — the urgent, throbbing 
 sound of an engine. 
 
 Danjuro heard it as soon as I did. " Motor- 
 bicycle," he whispered 
 
 The sound grew insistent. Whoever was coming 
 rode hell for leather and with the exhaust open. 
 Then there was a succession of reports, a grinding 
 noise, and the door of the bar was flung suddenly 
 open. 
 
 A tall man in goggles and overalls covered with 
 dust walked in. As he did so, the pirate chant 
 stopped with dramatic suddenness, and the singers 
 jumped to their feet. Then he removed his 
 glasses and his cap. 
 
 It was Major Helzephron. 
 
 They clustered round him thickly, and to each 
 one he said a quiet word. In every case, when 
 this happened, the man spoken to nodded and 
 vanished into the night. I could hear them 
 running outside the inn. Lastly, Helzephron took 
 Vargus by the arm, and they also passed out. I 
 could see the man more plainly than ever before. 
 There was a great bruise round about the left eye, 
 and the face was pale. But it blazed with will 
 and purpose, and the cruel mouth was set in a 
 malicious and abominable smile. . ^ 
 
158 The Air Pirate 
 
 " The wolves are htmting to-night ! " Danjuro 
 said to me two minutes later in my bedroom, and 
 once again his iace was like a demon of Old Japan. 
 " Helzephron will not appear at the police court 
 to'-morrow. He has arranged it somehow, and, 
 after all, it is a trivial affair. He has ridden 
 down from London during the day." 
 
 " You mean that there is going to be a raid 
 to-night ? " 
 
 " I feel sure of it. Why else should Helzephron 
 rush from London ? And you observed the 
 manner of his confederates. Don't you see this — 
 with all his cunning precautions the pirate is 
 far too clever not to know that his career must 
 be a short one. He cannot hope to remain con- 
 cealed for any great length of time. His object 
 is to obtain an immense fortune quickly. Already 
 I calculate he has stolen jewels and money to the 
 value of two hundred thousand pounds. A few 
 more such coups and he can disband his crew and 
 disappear for ever. Speed fs the essence of his 
 plan." 
 
 " But we must do something, we must stop 
 it. ..." 
 
 " Our opportunity for action is improved. Sir 
 John. In the first place, you must take steps to 
 concentrate a fleet of patrol ships in this neigh- 
 bourhood." - 
 
 " The car is here. I can write official telegrams 
 
The Air Pirate 159 
 
 in code to Plymouth and London. Within an 
 hour the hinterland and the sea from here to Scilly 
 can be covered with a swarm of ships. St. Iv^ 
 is only six miles away." 
 
 " Write the dispatches at once. I will call 
 Thumbwood, who must take them in, together 
 with an official note from you to the postmaster." 
 I unlocked my portfolio and wrote the wires. 
 There should be such an invasion of the air to-night 
 as Far West Cornwall had never known ! 
 
 Thumbwood appeared, I gave him full -instruc- 
 tions, and heard the Rolls-Royce start below. 
 " And now, our part ! " I said to Danjuro. 
 "If we are right in our conjecture, the pirates 
 will shortly leave Tregeraint on their expedition. 
 How they will join the airship or where we don't 
 know. But we may safely assume that the house 
 will be left in charge of one or at most two men. 
 The others will all be wanted to man the ship ; 
 it is a simple calculation. Here is your chance. 
 You must get inside Tregeraint, obtain conclusive 
 evidence, and if the poor lady is there alive, bring 
 her away in safety. Perhaps to-night the Pirate 
 Ship will make its last cruise ! Our presence here, 
 our identity, is quite unsuspected. A concentration 
 of hostile airships in this neighbourhood is the last 
 thing Helzephron will expect to-night." 
 " And you, my friend ? " 
 " I would that I could come with you, for you 
 
160 The Air Pirate 
 
 go in danger of your life, but, as I see it, my 
 work should be different. Someone, in view of 
 its escape, must solve the mystery of the Pirate 
 Ship itself. I have a theory already ; I must put 
 it to proof. There are boats in the cove below^--- 
 I see that the moon is rising, I know what I must 
 do. But, even so, I will come with you, Sir John, 
 if you say so." 
 
 I shook my head. " No, I will go alone. It is 
 my job." 
 
 Then Danjuro did a strange thing. He took 
 my hand, bowed over it and kissed it ! " Y6u also 
 are of the Samurai ! " he said. 
 
 In a minute more he carried in a heavy bag from 
 his own bedroom, and produced from it a mis«ellany 
 of objects. 
 
 " Here is a twelve-shot automatic, with a dozen 
 cartridge clips," he said. " You know all about 
 the working of it ? I thought so. This pair of 
 wire-cutters you will need for the barbed fence. 
 These two keys with adjustable wards — you turn 
 the milled screw at the end to adjust thein — will 
 open any ordinary lock. Here also is an extremely 
 powerful steel lever, with a wedge end. In the 
 hands of. a strong man like yourself it will wrench 
 open most windows or doors." 
 
 God knows there was no lightness in my hearty 
 but in the usual English way at serious moments, 
 I laughed. 
 
The Air Pirate lei 
 
 " The Complete Burglar ! " I said. 
 
 Danjuro looked at me with a glance as cold as ice. 
 
 " I am in most deadly earnest, Sir John. You 
 
 know what my experience has been. Well, I say 
 
 deliberately that I have never been in such peril 
 
 as you are going into." 
 
 " I meant nothing. And what is this ? " I 
 had taken up a little leather tube with a lens at 
 one end. 
 
 " A powerful electric torch. But it is more 
 than that. You can instantly reverse it in your 
 hand, and if you press this stud, the plated bottom 
 flies open, and by means of a spring an ounce of 
 cayenne pepper is projected for several yards. 
 It will stop anyone and operates instantaneously. 
 A little thing I invented and have found most . 
 useful. These handcuffs are of papier mach6 
 , and weigh practically nothing. They are from 
 Japan and tough as the hardest steel. You may 
 require them. And I never go on an expedition 
 without this tiny bottle of chloroform and pad. 
 You can stow everything about you with ease, 
 and the combined weight is as nothing." 
 
 I did so, and it was as he said. Then a thought 
 struck me. 
 
 " Armed and prepared like this, I feel certain 
 that I shall get in. But there are two Tibetan 
 mastiffs let loose in the grounds at night. I 
 CA^. shoot them, but the noise of the report ..." 
 
 II 
 
162 The Air Pirate 
 
 " That is provided for, Sir John. You see this 
 gun ? " 
 
 " It looks Uke a short-barrelled rook-rifle, except 
 for the great thickness at the breech." 
 
 " It holds ten conical bullets. They are hollow- 
 nosed and expand on impact. The point is that 
 the gun is perfectly noiseless. Powder is not 
 used at all. The propelling power is liquefied 
 carbonic-acid gas, and all that is heard at the 
 moment of firing is a sharp snap. With this you 
 can stalk the dogs and kill them easily enough. 
 Do not forget your hunting flask and brandy and 
 water. And for concentrated food, should you 
 be detained in hiding, though I and Thumbwood 
 will be coming to look after you if you don't 
 appear by morning, these solid chocolate cakes are 
 invaluable." 
 
 All this was done quickly, and with the most 
 business-like precision. Although my sense of 
 humour told me that I was like the White Knight 
 in "Alice in Wonderland," I did realize that I 
 should be a terribly nasty customer to tackle, and 
 I was grateful. 
 
 While we had been talking there came sounds 
 from below of the closing of the inn, and shortly 
 after we were called to supper. 
 
 " Don't you stay up any longer, Mr, Trewhella," 
 I _said. " You must want your rest. As for us, 
 we are late, birds. Both I and my fiiend some- 
 
The Air Pirate 163 
 
 times take a five minutes' stroll last thing before 
 we turn in. That won't inconvenience you ? " 
 
 " Bless your life, no, zur. You do as you're 
 a mind here. 'Tesn't like "vl town. The key of 
 the front door hangs on a nail by the side. And 
 if you should be going out later, Billy Pengelly's 
 in the empty pigsty, a sleeping off what he's had, 
 and there's a bucket of cold water on the wall. 
 In half an hour's time or so I know as he'd be grate- 
 ful for having it poured over 'en ! " 
 
 We promised to perform what was evidently one 
 of the amenities of this primitive place and Mr. 
 Trewhella withdrew. 
 
 " That coastguard may be useful to me," Dan- 
 juro said. " And now. Sir John, I don't want 
 to hurry you, but my advice is that you start. 
 I don't suppose that the band has left Tregeraint 
 yet. But there are a hundred hiding-places on 
 the moor all round the domain, and you may be 
 able to see which way they go before you make 
 your own attempt. I shall be on the trail in a 
 very few minutes after you." 
 
 " And Charles ? He will be back shortly." 
 
 " I shall need him. I know he would wish to 
 be with you. Sir John, but I believe your chances 
 are better alone. I shall not leave until he returns, 
 provided he is not unduly detained." 
 
 He went to the window and pulled aside the 
 
 curtain. " A waning moon," he said, " which 
 
 II* 
 
164 The Air Pirate 
 
 will be at full power about midnight, when there 
 may be such a battle in the air as ithe world will 
 hear with wonder ! " 
 
 I saw to my gear. It fitted about me very 
 comfortably. 
 
 " Well, good-night," I said, and without further 
 words I went quietly out of the house. 
 
 When I got a hundred yards away I turned and 
 looked at it, all silvered in the moon. The air 
 was sweet with the perfume of shy moorland flowers 
 that give up all their treasure to the night. The 
 Atlantic, far below, made a sound like fairy 
 dreams, and on the distant slopes of Carne Zerran 
 an owl sounded his melancholy oboe note. 
 
 A lov^ly^ight, gentlem<in ! 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE KILLING OF MICHAEL ,FEDDON 
 
 THE moon was in its last quarter, and shed a 
 faint spectral light over the moor as I came 
 quietly up to the first of the batrbed-wire fences 
 that surrounded Tregeraint. I lay down in the 
 heath, certain that I was quite invisible^ and 
 waited. 
 
 An hour had hardly elapsed since the band had 
 left " The Miners' Arms." Were they still here, 
 or had they set out for their unknown destination ? 
 I could not hear a sound of any kind. From where 
 I lay the high wall hid the house, and among the 
 mine buildings higher up there was neither light 
 nor movement. Tregeraint might have been 
 deserted for a hundred years, and the roaring 
 company of the inn had vanished into thin air. 
 And strain my eyes as I would, there was no sign 
 of the great Tibetan dogs. 
 
 I remained motionless for a quarter of an hour 
 
 I by the illuminated dial of my watch. Then, as 
 
 nothing happened, I began operations. The wire 
 
 165 
 
166 The Air Pirate 
 
 was tough and intricate, but ten minutes' work 
 with Danjuro's powerful cutters disposed of it 
 sufficiently for me to crawl through both the first 
 and second fence without a scratch. I stood now 
 in the lower portion of a large, oblong paddock of 
 short grass, all grey in the moon. The surrounding 
 wall of the Manor was about a hundred yards up 
 the slope, and with the gas rifle on my arm I glided 
 over the intervening space like a ghost. My boots 
 were soled with india-rubber and I made no sound 
 at all. 
 
 I found the wall to be ten or eleven feet 
 high. It was crowned with a cheval defrise of iron 
 spikes, and, owing to its height and smooth surface, 
 quite insurmountable. But I knew there must 
 be an entrance somewhere, and never expected 
 to climb the barrier, and I began a cautious circuit. 
 About half-way round the extent I came to a 
 wooden door set in the wall. It was a mere 
 postern, not more than five feet high, and had 
 a barred grille in the centre of about a foot square. 
 I reflected that this must be a side or garden exit, 
 and that the main gate was probably on the other 
 side, facing the mine-head. But it was all the 
 better for my purpose if this was so, and I took 
 out my steel " jemmy " and prepared to tackle it. 
 
 My intention was to prise it open with my 
 tool, for I am a very powerful man, but suddenly 
 another idea occurred to me. The bars of the 
 
The Air Pirate ler 
 
 grille were old and rusted. As there was no 
 key-hole in the door, it was obviously secured 
 by bolts. I inserted my lever, and without 
 putting out my full strength, and with little more 
 sound than is made by the striking of a match, 
 soon had three of the bars out of the wood and 
 lying on the grass. 
 
 My arms are long. I pushed my right through 
 and my fingers, after a little groping, caught the 
 handle of the bolt, which slid back easily enough. 
 It had been oiled and showed that the door, which 
 sAYung back at once, was in constant use. 
 
 I stepped within, treading like a cat, and closed 
 the door behind me. I stood in a large and 
 neglected garden, where shrubs and flowers grew 
 as they would and formed a miniature jungle, 
 through which I could see the dark fagade of the 
 house, now quite close. Everything was as still 
 as death, and I listened with strained attention 
 for several minutes. So far the work had been 
 ridiculously easy» but as I crept up a moss-grown 
 path towards the building every nerve was on the 
 alert. I was not afraid, I think I can truly say so, 
 but there was a chill on my soul. This old house, 
 with its atmosphere of robbery and murder,^ its 
 singular and formidable inhabitants, the unknown 
 dangers of the approach, and, above all, the thought 
 that Connie might be within it, all combined to 
 wrap me in a terrible gloom of the spirit. Yet, 
 
168 The Air Pirate 
 
 looking back, I see that this was well. It 
 hardened all my resolution and made me terrible. 
 
 I had no thought of it then, but now I can see 
 the grim horror of such a being as I had become 
 approaching the house step by step. . . . 
 
 All the lower windows were shuttered. There 
 was not a gleam of light anywhere as I followed 
 the path and came to the front, where there was 
 a grass-grown gravel sweep and iron gates in the 
 wall. This part of the house was plain and un- 
 adorned, save for a pillared porch and steps leading 
 down to the drive. A thick growth of ivy covered 
 it from the ground to the first-floor windows, 
 and after I had gently tried the heavy front dopr, 
 which, as I expected, was locked, this suggested 
 a mode of entrance. If I could climb up and get 
 on to the roof of the porch, it might be possible 
 to force the central bedroom window, which I 
 eould see was unshuttered. 
 
 The ivy was of ancient growth, the stems thick 
 and tough. Any schoolboy could have mounted 
 to the top of the porch. And any boy could have 
 pushed back the catch of the window with the 
 blade of his pocket-knife, opened it and stepped 
 inside. 
 
 I stood in a bedroom, dark, except for a little 
 pool of moonlight by the window. I felt curtains, 
 and I drew them before I switched on my torch. 
 It was an ordinary bedroom, very untidy, fur- 
 
The Air Pirate ice 
 
 nished with a suite of painted deal. There was, 
 however, a great saucer-bath full of water, and a 
 pair of Indian clubs. The wall was hung with 
 photographs of football teams, and in an open 
 drawer of the little dressing-table was a pile of gold 
 and notes. 
 
 Commonplace enough, like an undergraduate's 
 room at Oxford, but, nevertheless, it affected me 
 unpleasantly. It was like a sudden intimacy 
 with something abominable, as I opened the door 
 inch by inch, and felt for the powerful pistol in 
 my pocket. My heart hung poised for an instant 
 as I stepped out into a dark corridor, and then 
 I gave a gasp, and my 'heart almost stopped 
 beating. 
 
 I stood at the head of broad, shallow stairs. 
 Below was a large hall, dimly lit, and pouring up 
 to me in a volume of sound came the melodious 
 thunder of a piano played by a master hand ! 
 
 At first my knees grew weak, and I clutched 
 the shadowy banisters to save me from falling. 
 Constance ! Who could be playing in this evil 
 house but she ! I can never forget the agonized 
 pang of mingled joy and horror that I felt. But 
 as I crouched and listened, the fierce emotion passed 
 away. Whoever was playing, it was not my girl. 
 A lost soul made that music. 
 
 I glided down the stairs. Certainly the wolves 
 had left their lair, though in what manner I could 
 
iro The Air Pirate 
 
 not divine. The house was inhabited by but one 
 or two people at most. All the doors along the 
 corridor stood open, as if the rooms had been left 
 in a hurry. The building felt deserted, empty of 
 its usual inhabitants. . . . 
 
 A dim light came from an open door at the 
 right of th^ hall. I peeped in and saw a long 
 shadowy room of great size. The walls were 
 panelled and hung here and there with pictures, 
 the floor carpeted. Two immense oak tables, 
 with their complement of chairs, went up and 
 down the centre, and it hardly needed a butler's 
 hatch in the wall, doubtless communicaiting with 
 the kitchen, to tell me that this was the dining- 
 room of Helzephron and his buccaneers. - 
 
 At the far end, and opposite the entrance door, 
 was a wide and lofty archway, half covered by a 
 curtain. It led to another room beyond, and it 
 was from this that a bright light streamed, and 
 the sound of music came. 
 
 I placed my gas rifle on the floor by the wall, 
 took out my automatic, unlocking the safety catch, 
 and went to the curtain on tiptoe. There was an 
 alcove at the side, where some shelves had been, 
 and this was perfectly dark. I marked it as a 
 possible hiding-place, and then pulled the curtain 
 aside for half an inch. Just as I did so there was 
 a clash of prelude, and the pianist began the 
 enchanted Third Ballade of Chopin. 
 
The Air Pirate 171 
 
 It was the man known to me as Vargus, the man 
 with the smooth voice, the face that was evil and 
 refined. He sat at a magnificent grand piano, 
 swaying a little on his stool. . . . 
 
 Do you know that marvellous composition of 
 Chopin's ? Most people have heard it at least once 
 or twice in their lives, played by some maestro. 
 I have heard the renderings of the great pianists 
 of the world, but none played as this man played. 
 
 A terrible remorse informed the unearthly music. 
 It was as though the player strained with every 
 power of his being to recapture something irre- 
 vocably lost. When he came to that strange 
 passage which has been so often compared to the 
 soft cantering of a horse, the pain in the lovely 
 chords was unbearable. The artist, Aubrey 
 Beardsley, made a wonderful drawing of this 
 passage — a spectral white charger ambling through 
 a dark wood of pines, bearing a lady in a cloak of 
 black velvet. The picture rose before my eyes 
 as I stood, but it flashed away, and words of awful 
 significance took its place in my mind and fitted 
 themselves to the closing chords. . . . 
 
 " Night and day he was among the tombs, and on 
 the hills, crying out and beating himself with stones." 
 
 As you may know, the piece ends in a furious 
 welter of sound. It had just concluded, and the 
 player sat motionless as a wax doll, when another 
 
172 The Air Pirate 
 
 figure heaved itself into my line of vision, a biiriy 
 giant, with red hair and a heavy, sullen face. 
 
 "Now you've finished that row," he 
 
 growled, " we'd better be moving. We may get 
 signals coming through soon. And I suppose 
 I must fieed the canaries ! " 
 
 I knew the man at once. There was no possir 
 bility of mistake. It was Michael Peddon, the 
 famous Rugby international, and six years ago 
 the idol of the public. It was said that he was the 
 finest back that England load ever seen. In the 
 height of his career he had been mixed up in a 
 horrible, criminal scandal, and received five years' 
 penal servitude. » 
 
 I swallowed in my throat with loathing, but the 
 next words drove all thought of Feddon's career 
 from my mind. 
 
 " Everything is ready on a tray in the kitchen, 
 and the soup is on the electric stove. It will be 
 hot by now," said Vargus, in his soft, creamy 
 voice. 
 
 " I'll get it, and I wish the damned business 
 was over. I said from the first that when the 
 Chief brought those two women here we ran more 
 risk than ever before. It'll turn out badly yet. 
 Mark my words, Vargus." 
 
 Vargus took up a bottle which stood on a table 
 by the piano. It was brandy, and he poured out 
 two glasses half full, adding soda from a siphon. 
 
The Air Pirate irs 
 
 " Here's luck ; not a bit of it," he said. " If 
 an goes well to-night, a couple more expeditions 
 will see us finished, with a hundred thousand each, 
 and scattered all over the globe. We all have our 
 fancies. The Chiefs is this Shepherd girl. Well, 
 in another fortnight he'll disappear with her. 
 Every man to his taste." 
 
 Feddon swallowed his brandy at a gulp. " She'll 
 lead him a dance yet ! " he said. " I never saw 
 such a spitfire. I hate going near her, and I wish 
 it wasn't my turn to stay at home. I'd tame her, 
 though, if she were mine. I wouldn't stand her 
 pretty ways and the things she says, like the Chief 
 does. He's mad about the girl." 
 
 " And what would you do, my beefy friend ? " 
 said Vargus, with his abominable smile. 
 
 Feddon touched his middle. He was wearing a 
 leather belt. " Take this to her," he said, " and 
 beat her black and blue." 
 
 Vargus rose, grinning. " Well, get the food," 
 he said. " I'll go down at once. You'll find me 
 in the wireless cabin." 
 
 Feddon lurched forward. I had just time to 
 press myself into the alcove, when he came through 
 the curtain and strode heavily through the room 
 into the hall. 
 
 Vargus went to a tall mirror by the piano, as I 
 watched him breathlessly. He did something 
 that I could not see, and it swung open like a door. 
 
174 The Air Pirate 
 
 There was the snap of an electric switch, and I 
 saw him step into a lift, pull a rope, and sink out 
 of sight, leaving the door open. 
 
 He could not have sunk ten feet when I was in 
 the room. It was large and square, furnished with 
 something like luxury, and brilliantly lit with 
 electric globes. 
 
 There was an arm-chair in full view of the 
 archway. I sat down, and it was still warm from 
 its last occupant. That seemed to me anmsing, 
 and I smiled. 
 
 Something clanked, a soft swishing noise changed 
 to a distant rumble, and the lift came into sight. 
 I had it covered, but it was empty — waiting for 
 the man who was going to " feed the canaries." 
 
 I waited for him, too. There was a box of 
 cigarettes close by. I lit one and smoked quietly. 
 Then I heard him coming through the dining- 
 room, his footsteps and the rattle of a tray. 
 
 The half-drawn curtain bellied out and was 
 pushed aside. Feddon stood there with the tray 
 in his hands and the light shining on his ugly red 
 hair. 
 
 He saw me. His mouth opened and his eyes 
 started out. He seemed unutterably foolish, like 
 a great cod, and I laughed aloud. 
 
 But he was quick, oh, quick and clever ! Like 
 the famous footballer that he was ! In a 
 second he had ducked, and the loaded tray was 
 
The Air Pirate 175 
 
 skimming across the room straight at my head, 
 as he hurled himself after it, quick as a snake 
 strikes. 
 
 I was ready, though. He was not. My first 
 shot broke his shoulder and stopped* him for an 
 instant. Then, with a roar of pain and fury, he 
 came on again, and I shot him through the heart 
 when he was three feet away. 
 
 Mr. Feddon would feed no more canaries. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE SECRET THAT PUZZLED TWO CONTINENTS 
 
 I STOOD looking down at Michael FeSidon's 
 body. I was stunned. For the man I had 
 just killed I cared nothing, felt no emotion. I 
 had saved him from the drop ; that was all. 
 But^^ though I had been convinced that Danjuro's 
 and my own suspicions were absolute fact, the 
 full realization had come so suddenly that it 
 clouded the mind. 
 
 Constance was here, and she was unharmed ! 
 
 I had, indeed, penetrated into the very centre 
 of this lair of the air-wolves, and already had 
 enough evidence to hang the lot. For a minute 
 the mingled joy and relief was so great that I 
 could not grasp them. 
 
 The brandy bottle of Mr. Vargus was still on 
 the side table. I stepped over the body — ^the 
 leather belt which he had proposed as an instru- 
 ment of correction for Constance was in full view— 
 and helped myself sparingly. Almost imme- 
 diately my brain cleared. 
 
 176 
 
The Air Pirate 177 
 
 I listened intently. The two shots from my 
 automatic had alarmed no one. The sinister 
 house was as silent as before. It seemed quite 
 certain that Feddon and Vargus alone remained 
 to guard it. Even the two Tibetan mastiffs of 
 which I had heard so much had disappeared. 
 
 To my right, the tall mirror swung on its hinges, 
 and the lift beyond was lit by a globe in the roof. 
 To what it led I did not know, probably some 
 cellar where poor Constance and her maid were 
 imprisoned, though a lift seemed superfluous. 
 At any rate, Vargus — ^the next person to tackle 
 — was down there, and it was long odds that I 
 could not get the better of him. Moreover, and 
 this was in my favour, he was expecting Feddon, 
 and the arrival of the lift would not startle him at 
 first, if he were close by. 
 
 I examined the lift. It was electrically operated, 
 and of a type perfectly familiar to me, fitted with 
 an automatic magnetic brake. I saw that it 
 travelled from its secret recess behind the mirror 
 to one other spot only, stopping nowhere on the 
 way. A touch of the rope started it, and it would 
 stop itself when its journey was done. 
 
 Well, there was no use waiting. Again I must 
 plunge into the unknown. Connie was waiting ! 
 I wondered how honourable Danjuro was getting 
 on, and laid myself loi^ odds that he wasn't 
 having such an exciting time as I was ! How he 
 
 12 
 
178 The Air Pirate 
 
 would stare if he came back to "The Miners' Arms " 
 in a few hours and found me there with Connie, 
 and the artistic Mr. Vargus cooling down in the 
 patent papier mdchS handcuffs from Japan ! 
 Mr. Trewhella of the inn had shown me a large 
 pig, which he called " Gladys," and of which he 
 was fond. There was a vacant and stoutly-built 
 sty next door, which would be an excellent 
 place of confinement for the interpreter of Chopin ! 
 . . . Yes, I thought these thoughts, even at 
 that moment. I was madly exhilarated. Every- 
 thing had gone so easily and well. I stepped into 
 the lift humming a song. IT was the old chanty 
 that the pirates had roared in the inn two short 
 hours ago : 
 
 " Fifteen men on the dead man's chest." 
 
 There was a looking-glass on one side of the lift 
 — probably the thing had been bought entire at 
 some sale — and I saw myself in it. The song died 
 away. Whose was this grim and terrible face, 
 gashed with deep lines, with eyes that smouldered 
 with a red light ? Mine ? I have told you how 
 Danjuro looked when the bloodhound that he was 
 emerged for an instant from behind the bland 
 Oriental mask. There was not a pin to choose 
 between us. 
 
 The li^sank slowly. Every second I expected 
 the soft jerk of its stopping. But the seconds 
 
The Air Pirate 179 
 
 went on. Down and down, what cellar was it 
 that lay so low ? Were we dropping to the centre 
 of the earth ? It seemed an age before the motion 
 slowed, and I had already obtained an inkling of 
 the truth when a dim archway rose up before 
 me, and the machine came to rest. 
 
 This was no cellar. I was deep down in 
 Tregeraint Mine, which must run under the house 
 itself ! In the necessity for fox-like caution, I 
 did not follow out the thought — not yet. But I 
 believe that the subconscious brain had already 
 seen far into the mystery. . . . 
 
 I stepped out into a mine cutting. The walls 
 were cut in the rock, and the roof here and there 
 shored up with heavy timber props. It was wide 
 enough for two men to walk abreast, and quite 
 eight feet high. Every fifteen yards or so hung 
 a roughly-wired electric lamp, and the floor was 
 beaten hard by the passage of many feet. The air 
 was hot and stagnant. 
 
 I prowled down this passage without a sound, 
 my pistol in my hand, ready to shoot at sight, but 
 for what seemed an interminable time I met no 
 one, and saw nothing but the damp walls, here 
 and there sparkling with yellow pyrites and the 
 green of copper. 
 
 There came at length a rough wooden door, 
 which swung easily open, and beyond a much 
 narrower and higher passage than before, a more 
 
 12* 
 
180 The Air Pirate 
 
 natural cleft in the immemorial rock, it seemed, 
 owing nothing to the agency of human hands. It 
 dripped with water. Hitherto I had been walking 
 on a level, now I trod a fairly steep descent, while 
 the path was no longer straight, but full of fan- 
 tastic twistings. Each moment the air grew 
 cooler, and each moment a deep, murmurous 
 noise, like very faint and muffled drums, grew 
 louder. 
 
 The lights, now suspended from a thick and tarry 
 cable, were less frequent than' at first, and the 
 place was full of shadows. But as for the noise, 
 that could only be one thing, the Atlantic ground- 
 swell. I was approaching the sea, doubtless by 
 one of the old mine " adits," made for ventilation 
 many years ago and long before the invention of 
 the electric fan. 
 
 The narrow way ended in a door. It was 
 latched but not locked, and I pushed it slowly open. 
 Immediately there was a' sense of vast and gloomy 
 space. I say " gloomy," for it was not absolutely 
 dark. Here and there hung dim, yellow lights. . . . 
 
 Advancing a step or two upon a floor of hard 
 earth on sand^ I found myself in a vast cavern. 
 It seemed as large as the shell of a cathedral, and 
 for organ there was the plangent, echoing sound of 
 sea waves. The sound came from my right, and 
 was carried on a current of sweet, brine-laden air. 
 Peering through the darkness, I seemed to be 
 
The Air Pirate 181 
 
 aware of a faint, ghostly radiance, a considerable 
 distance away. 
 
 I had lost the capacity for amazementj but not 
 of quick thinking. In a lightning flash of realiza- 
 tion I knew that I had penetrated to the heart 
 of Helzephron's secret, even before my thoughts 
 arranged themselves in sequence. And then, as 
 near as possible coincident with my stepping 
 through the door, I heard a shout. 
 
 Someone had seen me. . . . 
 
 The shout came from the other side of the long, 
 aisle-shaped cave. Simultaneously, half-way up 
 the side, at a height of thirty feet from the floor, 
 there was a sudden illumination. I saw a broad 
 ledge in the wall, railed round, with a ladder 
 staircase descending from it. A little black figure 
 was leaning over the rail, and it was from this 
 that the shouting came. It did not need his words 
 to tell me that here was a wireless station. I 
 could see the drum and the battery shelf quite 
 distinctly. 
 
 " A signal ! " he shouted, and I knew that he 
 took me for the dead man above. " They're 
 coming back ! The sky swarms with armed 
 patrols and warships. They've had to run for it, 
 but the Chief thinks he's shaken them off. I must 
 switch on the guides ! " 
 
 I gave an answering shout, keying my voice 
 down to something like Feddon's bass growl. 
 
182 The Air Pirate 
 
 " It's C.Q.D. !— CQ.D. ! " came in a shrill 
 voice of alarm, and Mr. Vargus ran down the 
 ladder like an ape. 
 
 C.Q.D. ! The signal of " extreme danger." 
 Well, I rather thought it was ! 
 
 Where I stood I was in deep shadow, and my 
 face could not possibly be seen. I was much the 
 same height and build as the dead man, and Vargus 
 ran down the cave without the least suspicion. 
 He had gone to his left, my right, to where I had 
 already seen a pale light, and I followed him, 
 more slowly, at a distance of some ten yards. It 
 was a natural instinct enough. My only idea was 
 to silence him, find Constance, and fly from the 
 horrible place. I could not know that I was 
 making a fatal mistake. 
 
 I was running forward into complete under- 
 standing. The great cave turned a little to the 
 right. It opened out every second until at 
 length I saw the mouth, wide as that of the 
 largest-sized hangar on an aerodrome, flooded 
 with moonlight ! 
 
 Opposite, sixty yards away, was a precipitous 
 wall of black rock ; between it and the mouth of 
 the cave a terrible chasm, which fell sheer to the 
 water. It was all clear now. Far above, on the 
 top of the cliffs, was that fenced-in part with the 
 '* dangerous " notice boards. You will remember 
 that I had lain down by the side of this fence and 
 
The Air Pirate 188 
 
 peered downwards. I had looked into the same 
 gulf that I was now looking into from a much 
 lower altitude. And the rock there overhung so 
 greatly that there was no. possible indication of 
 the cave mouth where I now stood. 
 
 Moreover, the cave itself turned inward from 
 the sea, running parallel to the cliff. From the 
 sea, as Jrom the land, the opening oj the cave was 
 entirely hidden. 
 
 Vargus was fumbling at a switch-board. He 
 pulled down a vulcanite handle ; there was a green 
 spark, and lights at the top, bottom and sides of 
 the entrance glowed out brightly. 
 
 Imagine an illuminated rabbit-hole in the side 
 of a railway embankment, and you have an exact 
 miniature of what this vast secret cave had now 
 become. Go a little further and think of a bat 
 whose lair was in this hole, and was guided to it 
 by the lights. . . . 
 
 Vargus snapped another and smaller switch. 
 I watched him with a sense of complete detach- 
 ment. I knew, as well as if I had been told, that 
 he was lighting guiding lamps somewhere on the 
 two headlands that guarded the entrance to the 
 cave outside. No thought of danger came to me ; 
 I think joy at this complete discovery, and wonder 
 at the stupendous cunning and achievement of 
 it all were my only emotions. 
 
 " They may be here at any moment, Feddon. 
 
184 The Air Pirate 
 
 I tell you I don't like it at all. I told the Chief 
 that it was madness not to lie low for a bit. But 
 you know what he is. The Government has got 
 the tip somehow, the Cornish seas are humming 
 with enemies. That fellow, Custance, is smart as 
 they make them. ..." 
 
 He was moving towards me as these words came 
 from him in a nervous, disjointed stream of words. 
 Then he saw me, and stopped bang in the middle 
 of a sentence. 
 
 It was my moment. 
 
 " How do you do, Mr. Vargus," I said. " You 
 mentioned my name. Indeed, you paid me a 
 compliment for which I thank you. I thought 
 I'd drop in for a chat. Sorry to find Major 
 Helzephron out." 
 
 I never saw a man in such deadly fear. His 
 face went the colour of cheese, and a horrible 
 choking noise began in his throat. He staggered 
 to within a yard of the brink ; another step and 
 he would have plunged into the abyss. 
 
 " You, you, you ! " he said, the last word in a 
 dreadful whisper. 
 
 " The Oxford professor-^-yes. Mr. Vargus, I 
 am a lover of music, and you have entertained me 
 royally to-night. But you have played Chopin 
 for the last time in this world." 
 
 I lifted the pistol and covered his heart. His 
 yellow mask quivered and was still. " Quickly, 
 
The Air Pirate 185 
 
 please," he said, and there was even a faint smile 
 of relief about his pallid lips. 
 
 He could face death gladly, and I knew why. 
 To have shot him there and cast his body to the 
 void would have been a mercy. I had other uses 
 for Mr. Vargus. • 
 
 My pistol hand was steady as a rock. With the 
 left I took out Danjuro's handcuffs and walked 
 up to him. 
 
 " Not yet," I said, when I was within a foot. 
 
 He saw what I meant. As comprehension leapt 
 into his eyes he tried to step back. He nearly 
 did it, but I was just too quick for him. I caught 
 his ankle with the crook of my right foot, and he 
 crashed on his back with his head and shoulders 
 actually over the chasm. Before he could move 
 again I had jerked him backwards by the legs, and 
 had him handcuffed. 
 
 I pulled him to his feet by his collar, and half 
 marched, half carried him back into the cave. 
 He was nothing more than a bundle of clothes 
 in my hands. 
 
 " Now," I said, " take me at once to the place 
 where Miss Shepherd is confined, and, though I 
 make no prranises, it may go less hardly with you 
 than the rest." 
 
 He twisted his head and tried to look me in the 
 face. " If I do, will you shoot me ? " he whis- 
 pered, fawning on me like a beaten dog. " For 
 
186 The Air Pirate 
 
 God's sake shoot me, or give me an opportunity 
 to shoot myself." 
 
 " The hangman will save you the trouble," I 
 answered brutally. " Now then, march ! " He 
 gave a great wail of despair. 
 
 " Ah, you don't know what I was once ! " he 
 cried, and there was such a horror of remorse, 
 a damnation so profound in that cry of agony, 
 that a fiend would have been moved. 
 
 " I heard you play the Third Ballade," I an- 
 swered, and my voice was no longer firm. 
 
 " Death, please. Death." 
 
 " Take me quickly to Miss Shepherd. Then 
 perhaps — I can't kill you myself, but ..." 
 
 It was as though my words poured a new life 
 into his veins. His knees still knocked together 
 in a loathsome paralysis, but he made effort to 
 shamble forward. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE Am PIRATE AT LAST 
 
 V ARGUS was silent now. Our feet made 
 no noise upon the sandy floor of the cave. 
 It was then that I heard something like a cat 
 purring. 
 
 Unconsciously I stopped to listen. No, it 
 wasn't a cat, it was the faint drone of some night 
 beetle ; it was . . . 
 
 On the right wall of the cavern, remember that 
 my back was turned to its mouth and the sea — 
 there was a sudden flash of white light. 
 
 The rest happened in five seconds. 
 
 The light leapt out from the wall, and instan- 
 taneously the vast vaulted place was brilliantly 
 illuminated. I had a fleeting vision of wooden 
 galleries, a workshop and smithy, piles of stores, 
 and then I wheeled round with a shout of terror. 
 The drone had leapt up to a deep, menacing note, 
 like the E string of a double bass. A circular 
 furnace of white light in the centre of a gigantic 
 shadow rushed at me with incredible speed. 
 
 A blast of wind struck me like the shell from 
 187 
 
188 The Air Pirate 
 
 a six-inch gun ; the drone rose to the echoing 
 shout of an army as the Pirate Airship entered 
 the cave that was its home. • 
 
 I had just the millionth part of a second in 
 which to realize the truth before my head struck ; 
 the wind seemed to tear out my very vitals, and 
 I knew nothing more. 
 
 Once, when I was a boy at the seaside in Wales, 
 I dived into a deep rock pool, and, deceived by the 
 clearness of the water, hit my head against a sub- 
 merged ledge, and for several seconds was stunned. 
 There was no one with me, but, fortunately, I 
 recovered in time, and with bursting lungs re- 
 gained the surface. 
 
 The experience was repeated now, or so it 
 seemed, with a curious subconscious memory. I 
 thought that I was rushing violently upwards 
 towards the light out of a well of darkness. Each 
 moment the radiance increased and my speed 
 grew greater. There was a sound as of many 
 waters in my ears. 
 
 I opened my ears. The light was brilliant, 
 painful. Also, it moved and flashed, and so it 
 was not the sun of twenty years before beating 
 down. . . . 
 
 Someone spoke : " Yes, it's the man himself. 
 He's shaved off his moustache, and his hair and 
 
The- Air Pirate 189 
 
 skin are dyed. He's a fair chap really. Look at 
 his lower neck and chest. It's Sir John Custance 
 right enough ! " 
 
 I lay and listened. Although I heard every 
 word, and perceived that an electric torch was 
 dancing about, the conversation hardly seemed 
 to concern me. 
 
 There was another voice : " Vargus said he 
 admitted it, but Vargus has fainted again." 
 
 Hands felt me all over. Things were taken 
 from my pockets, and there were sharp exclama- 
 sions of surprise. Somebody gave a long, low 
 whistle. 
 
 " No bones broken. His eyes are opening. Give 
 me that flash, Gascoigne." 
 
 Someone poured brandy down my throat — 
 I knew it was brandy — and I moved my limbs 
 and groaned. 
 
 Then I heard a shout as a door that I could not 
 see was burst open. " Feddon's killed ! " came 
 in a high, excited voice. " Poor old Teddy's 
 shot through the heart,'? 
 
 I think it was at this precise moment that 1 
 regained full consciousness, and realized that I 
 was not badly hurt. My whole body felt as if 
 it had been severely beaten, but instinct told me 
 that there was no real damage. As for the shock, 
 it was not until several hours afterwards that I 
 felt its effect, though then it meant collapse. 
 
190 The Air Pirate 
 
 I lay perfectly still, this time by design, and 
 closed my eyes. Everything had come back to 
 me ; I remembered every incident from the 
 moment I had cut the barbed wire to that when 
 I had escaped, by a miracle, death from the 
 returning Pirate Ship. 
 
 My first thought was one of bitter disappoint- 
 ment. So they had run the gauntlet, after all ! 
 The mystery ship had escaped the swarm of 
 cruisers and patrol boats that were looking for 
 her. I believe I ground my teeth with rage. 
 A- second afterwards I groaned out loud. The 
 sound was wrung from my very heart. I was 
 too late to rescue Constance now. . ., . 
 
 All round me there was a buzz of low-pitched 
 voices. Without any trouble at all, I could 
 detect the note of fear and consternation. And it 
 was tonic. My plight seemed desperate enough, 
 but there was a chance yet. They had taken 
 my weapons from me, but others might prove as 
 valuable. The pirates were disorg£uiized, alarmed. 
 Well, craft should meet craft ! Surely, the moment 
 was favourable ? 
 
 I was in a dimly-lit place, surrounded by dark 
 figures. How long I lay thus I do not know, 
 probably for no great space of time. At any 
 rate, I had not been in full possession of my 
 faculties for many minutes when a door opened, 
 and a voice spoke in accents of authority. 
 
The Air Pirate 191 
 
 It was a voice that I had never heard before, 
 but I knew whose it was, 
 
 " I have made a careful examination of the 
 house," came in clear, well-bred tones, " and 
 there is no one there. It is the same outside 
 and all round the fence. I let the dogs loose and 
 they discovered nothing." 
 
 " How did this " — I was kicked brutally in the 
 side — " get in, Chief ? " asked a yoice. 
 
 "Cut the fence wire, and managed to open the 
 door in the east wall. Then climbed the porch 
 and entered through Feddon's bedroom. Th« 
 dogs followed the scent and showed. That 
 doesn't matter much now. The point is that 
 he's here." 
 
 " And we know what to deduce from that ! " 
 I heard, and pricked up my ears. My friend 
 Mr. Vargus had revived then ! There was 
 a soft malignancy in his voice that made -me 
 shudder. 
 
 " Vargus is right. It is fairly certain that the 
 game's up as far as this place is concejnpd. 
 They've marked us down, sure enough. In a few 
 minutes I shall take steps to find out exactly 
 how much they do know. Meanwhile we appear 
 to have some time before us, and we must carry 
 out the emergency plan that we've so often 
 rehearsed. Gascoigne, Jones and Sutton, Pointz, 
 fill all the petrol tanks to full capacity, load 
 
192 The Air Pirate 
 
 emergency stores, examine and reverse ship. 
 When finished, report to me in my room." 
 
 The men hurried away. 
 
 " Philips and Minver get on to the moor and 
 report any man or body of men advancing on 
 the house. You will take rifles and act as out- 
 posts. At any sign of approach, don't hesitate 
 to fire. Then fall back on the house." 
 
 " Shall we take the dogs. Chief ? They would 
 be useful." 
 
 " No, I shall need them. The rest of you will 
 hold the house till the last moment. Then get 
 into the lift and come down. It will take them 
 some time to find out the way and follow, while 
 one man can hold the passages for any length of 
 time. We shall all be fifty miles out at sea before 
 anyone can break in down here, and all the swag 
 is packed ready to go on board. Vargus, you 
 will stay down here and help me in what I've got 
 to do." 
 
 Several other men left the room. 
 
 In a lower voice, though I heard every word, 
 Helzephron went on talking to his lieutenant. 
 
 "... Mind you, I don't actually expect an 
 attack in force, but we must be prepared. For all 
 we know, there may be a hundred men waiting 
 on the moor. One thing is certain. They know 
 where, or whereabouts we are, or that gentleman 
 on the floor would not have got ijij nor all those 
 
The Air Pirate 193 
 
 ships be cruising about outside. So we must be 
 off with all we can take to our emergency base 
 in the Hebrides. Once outside, nothing can touch 
 us, of course, and we'd get up to sixteen thousand 
 feet at once. Barometer readings make it pretty 
 certain that it will be cloudy at dawn, and it's 
 a million chances to one against our even being 
 seen." 
 
 I lay not three yards away. I had not noticed 
 it until now, but my ankles were tied together, 
 and, weak as I was, any physical effort was im- 
 possible. Helzephron had talked over his plans 
 with an absolute disregard of my presence. He 
 may or may not have known that I was conscious ; 
 quite obviously he didn't care twopence one way 
 or the other. And that meant one thing and 
 one thing only. 
 
 Before the Pirate Ship fled from its lair for the 
 last time John Custance would have ceased to 
 exist in the body, 
 
 "... Now for Sir John. How do you feel, 
 Vargus ? You took a nasty toss, and it's damned 
 lucky for you we turned up when we did ! Do you 
 feel strong enough to drag Sir John into my room ? 
 If so, I'll go ahead and turn on the lights." 
 
 " I'm quite strong enough for (hat," said Mr. 
 Vargus, with a nasty laugh, and, in a few seconds he 
 had me by the heels, and was towing me like a 
 log over an uneven floor. It was only by stiffen- 
 
 * 13 
 
194 The Air Pirate 
 
 ing the muscles of my neck till they cracked that 
 I could keep my head from bruising badly. Then 
 a cloth of some sort was dropped on my face and 
 tied round my head. I felt myself carried for 
 a yard or two, put into a chair with an upright 
 back, and then lashed securely to it by strong 
 cords. 
 
 " I'll call you when I want you again," said the 
 voice of Helzephron. " Go and help the others 
 load the ship. And remember that we must take 
 every round of ammunition we can stow in her. 
 Twenty-four hours' rations will be ample.. We 
 can renew those at any time. Shells are quite 
 another matter. Sacrifice everything to them." 
 
 A door closed. I heard the creak of a chaic 
 as Helzephron sat down. There was a long 
 silence, and through the cloth I could feel that 
 he was watching me. 
 
 The duel to the death began. I was as a naked 
 man before another w^th a sword. I braced every 
 nerve and stiffened my will ! 
 
 " You are in a very unpleasant predicament. 
 Sir John Custance." 
 
 The voice was passionless, feven a little weary. 
 
 " I think it's mutual, Mr. Helzephron," was 
 my answer, and I put an accent on the " Mister." 
 He should have no honourable military title from 
 me. 
 
 " Well, that is possible. Indeed, I admit that 
 
The Air Pirate 195 
 
 you have seriously deranged my plans. But the 
 trumps are mine, after all. With yotir intelligence 
 you must be aware that you have a very short 
 time to hve." 
 
 " I don't doubt that, but I dispute your esti- 
 mate of your hand." 
 " May I ask why ? " 
 
 " With pleasure. I don't care twopence about 
 my own life in comparison with my duty to 
 sodety. You care a good deal for yours, and you 
 also have a short time in front of you. If it is 
 any satisfaction to you to know, you're in a net 
 from which even the particular minor devils that 
 preside over thieves can't free you." 
 
 Thus I lied bravely. A good deal, I thought, 
 might depend on my ability to get the scoundrel 
 into a furious rage, and, anyway, it was a delight 
 to insult him. 
 A sharp breath told me that I had drawn blood. 
 " You use dangerous language, Sir John. You'll 
 be sorry if you go on." 
 
 " Now, look here," I rapped out, in the tone 
 I should have used to an impudent ofl&ce boy, 
 " please understand that you can't frighten me. 
 I know that bounders of your type don't under- 
 stand a gentleman and how he feels about things. 
 I only assure you that you will waste your time. 
 And time ought " — I said it with meaning — " to 
 be worth more to you now than all the valuables 
 
 13 V 
 
196 The Air Pirate 
 
 you picked from the pockets of the Atlantis 
 passengers." 
 
 He came up to me, and I thought that this 
 was the moment. But he only tore the cloth 
 from my head and returned to his chair. 
 
 I looked round with interest. The room, no 
 doubt part of the cavern system into which the 
 mine had penetrated, was matchboarded all 
 round. The boarding was painted white, and a 
 cluster of electrics hung from the ceiling. There 
 was a carpet on the floor, a cpuple of arm-chairs, 
 a writing-table, and a big steel safe. In one 
 corner was another door than the entrance one, 
 partly concealed by a green curtain hanging from 
 a brass rod. 
 
 Helzephron himself sat opposite. The hand- 
 some, hawk-like face was badly bruised. He 
 stared at me with concentrated malignancy. Then 
 he smiled, with a flash of large white teeth. 
 
 " Really, I should hardly have known you," 
 he said. 
 
 " I should have recognized you anywhere, even 
 with the bruises ! " I replied. " Mr. Ashton left 
 you your teeth, I see." 
 
 His face grew dark. He nodded twice. " I 
 thought that," he said, half to himself. 
 
 " I saw the whole thing, and it was most 
 amusing, Mr. Helzephron. I was sitting in the 
 smaller arm of the gallery at the ' Mille Colonnes,' 
 
The Air Pirate 19T 
 
 behind a centre-piece of flowers. I, and my com- 
 panion, had concealed a periscope in the flowers, 
 and got the whole thing framed, as it were. It 
 gave a zest to the Burgundy. But I thought 
 you'd have made a better fight of it ! " 
 
 The man leapt from his chair with a savage curse 
 and took two steps towards me, with clenched fist 
 and lifted arm. 
 
 I looked up in that convulsed and purple face. 
 " Quite so ! " I said qiiietly. " I'm tied up. It's 
 quite safe to hit me." 
 
 If he was going to torture me, and I had few 
 illusions on the matter, I was having my innings 
 now. He had been a gentleman once, he had 
 been a brave soldier. It was because I knew this 
 that I could stab him. 
 
 He didn't strike. He began to walk up and 
 down the room, swallowing his rage with an 
 almost superhuman effort — being what he was. 
 Perhaps shame helped him, perhaps it was cun- 
 ning, but he sat down again, and though he 
 trembled, his voice was calm. 
 
 " So you think me a coward, do you ? " he said. 
 " I'll do you the justice to say that you're none." 
 
 My mind was working with an insight that it 
 has never possessed before or since. The key to 
 the man's psychology was in my hand at last. 
 
 All criminals are vain. In great criminals 
 vanity assumes colossal proportions until it 
 
198 The Air Pirate 
 
 becomes a real madness. Criminologists call it 
 megalomania. It is egotism fostered and in- 
 dulged to the point of monstrosity, when all moral 
 considerations are swept away, and the subject 
 thinks himself- superior to all law, and glories in 
 his greatness. 
 
 Lord oj himself, that heritage of woe ! I think 
 Byron said that. 
 
 " You've correctly expressed me," I told him. 
 
 " Perhaps your detective work has not gone 
 so far as to inform you that I hold the Victoria 
 Cross ? " Yes ! he was mad ! No sane man 
 of his extraction would have sa,id that. 
 
 " It is a distinction above all others, Mr. Hel- 
 aephron. And you'll have another very soon. 
 Indeed, you'll never be forgotten. You'll be 
 historic as the one V.C. who was degraded. 
 They'll do it the day before they hang you at 
 Pentonville, and it will be in the Gazette." 
 
 He grew quite white, whether from anger or 
 shame I do not know. But I went on. Something 
 inside me that was not myself seemed to be 
 speaking. 
 
 " You've been living quite an artificial life, 
 you see, surroimded by your amicable young 
 friends and the artistic Mr. Vargus. You, no doubt, 
 think of yourself as of a very glorious order. 
 Making war on society, Ajax defying the thunder. 
 King of the air, and all that sort of thing. I'll 
 
The Air Pirate 199 
 
 bet anything you've compared yourself to 
 Napoleon a thousand times !*• It's the way the 
 late Kaiser of Germany fell. It's called megalo- 
 mania. But you aren't anything of the sort, you 
 know. You are a cowardly thief, who steals and 
 murders for the sake of his pocket. You asked 
 me a question and I've answered it." 
 
 He heard each word. His eyes became glassy 
 and his jaw dropped. For all the world he was 
 like an evil child who hears the truth about 
 itself, and all the power was wiped out of his face 
 as chalk marks are wiped off a blackboard. 
 
 He got up abruptly, and left the room by the 
 curtained door. He was away for ten minutes. 
 When he returned he was his old self, but with 
 an addition — he had been drinking back his 
 devilishness. There was a strong odour of 
 brandy as he entered. His eyes were full and 
 liquid, and he was amazingly vital. I knew that 
 I could hurt him no longer. He wore impene- 
 trable armour. He sat down and lit a cigarette. 
 He smiled with an evil good-humour. It was 
 his hour now. 
 
 "Well, we've got acquainted at last," he began 
 in an easy conversational tone. " You've been 
 excessively clever in hunting me down, and your 
 powers of insult are exceptional. I admit again 
 that you have smoked me out here, but as to 
 putting an end to my activities, that's a very 
 
200 The Air Pirate 
 
 different story. Your people can't get at me 
 once I'm out of this snug retreat, and they can't 
 force an entry here until I'm gone. So much as 
 between the Commissioner of Police and the 
 Pirate. You've had your say and I've had mine." 
 
 " Then there is nothing more to be said." 
 
 " Excuse me, as man to man, there's a good deal. 
 I purchased an evening paper on the afternoon 
 of the evening when I was attacked by your hired 
 bully." ^ 
 
 At last the conversation was growing interesting. 
 
 " With stolen money ? " I asked impudently. 
 But it fell dead flat. I don't think he even heard 
 me. 
 
 "The paper made public some news that I had 
 already gathered from another source. The news 
 of your engagement, Sir John Custance." 
 
 We stared at each other in dead silence for half 
 a minute. 
 
 " To Miss Constance Shepherd," he went on. 
 
 I said nothing. 
 
 "... Who at this moment is not twenty 
 yards away from you, &nd who will fly with me 
 to-night to where all your police boats will never 
 find us." 
 
 " By force." 
 
 "Well, up to the present I admit that I have 
 had to take the law into my own hands. I am 
 a man who believes in getting what he wants. 
 
The Air Pirate < 201 
 
 Your arrival, the fact that you're my guest for 
 a short time, has given my thoughts quite a new 
 direction." 
 
 I saw that there was a deep and sinister meaning 
 in what he said, but not an inkling of the abomin- 
 able truth came to me. He understood that from 
 my face, and he laughed out loud. 
 
 " Oh, this is going to be enormously refresh- 
 ing ! " he cried. " This is going to make every- 
 thing worth while ! " 
 
 My heart turned to stone as I watched that 
 unholy merriment. 
 
 When he had finished laughing, he said : " Miss 
 Shepherd does not know as yet that I have the 
 honour of entertaining you. I am about to inform 
 her. And then, if she wishes it, as no doubt she 
 will, you must really meet. Journeys end, in 
 lovers' meetings, they say." 
 
 He was about to add something when there 
 was a knock at the door. Mr. Vargus came in. 
 
 " All loaded," he said, looking nervously at me, 
 as if wondering what had passed during his 
 absence. " All loaded and everything ready for 
 a start. The others have gone up to the house." 
 " Well, there's nothing to report, or they would 
 have telephoned down. There is no hurry for 
 an hour yet. . . ." 
 
 Helzephron took the short man by the arm and 
 drew him into a corner of the room. The;^ whis- 
 
202 The Air Pirate 
 
 pered together for nearly ten minutes. I could 
 not catch a word. 
 
 Then Vargus nodded with an air of triumphant 
 comprehension, and left the room. 
 
 " On second thoughts," said Helzephron, " I 
 am not going to prepare Miss Shepherd. We will 
 let it be in the nature of a pleasant surprise." 
 
 He disappeared through the green-curtained 
 door. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 LED OUT TO DIE 
 
 IN relating what is immediately to follow I shall 
 do so with as plain and unvarnished a narra- 
 tive as my pen can command. You will read of 
 what Constance and I endured, but do not ask 
 me to do more than hint at the anger of my soul. 
 It is impossible to describe, at least it would 
 require the pen of a Dante or a Milton, nor would 
 I describe it if I could. It is bad enough to live 
 that hour again even faintly and in imagination. 
 To call it up into full memory — soul memory — is 
 a task for which I have not the least inclination. 
 You shall, therefore, have the facts with very little 
 comment upon them. 
 
 I think it's about all you'll need. 
 
 Helzephron was away for a considerable time. 
 During his absence Vargus peeped in once and 
 looked at me. I won't describe his face. 
 
 When the hawk-faced man returned, he dragged 
 my chair to the far end of the room, and pushed 
 the writing-table in front of it to form a barrier. 
 
 203 
 
204 The Air Pirate 
 
 There was a deliberation in all he did that was 
 inexpressibly alarming. His lips were drawn 
 in a tight smile, so that I could see the teeth. . . . 
 
 He set a chair over against the wall opposite, 
 and then he went again through the curtained door. 
 A moment afterwards he entered, followed by 
 Connie. 
 
 The room grew whirlingly dark and cleared. I 
 could not speak, for my throat seemed to be closing 
 up, but I saw my girl very distinctly. 
 
 She was, as I had never seen her, deadly pale, 
 with large, dark rings under her eyes and all the 
 joy of life ironed out of her sweet face. Yet she 
 was not thinner and there were no lines. The 
 colour had gone from her cheeks and the lustre 
 from her hair, but I somehow thought that her 
 physical health had not suffered alarmingly. 
 
 When she spoke I knew that this was true, and 
 I knew why. Her indomitable spirit remained. 
 The sunny courage of the past had condensed 
 within her soul and turned to unconquerable 
 purpose. Her voice was so full of scorn that it 
 cut even me like the lash of a whip. It was a 
 marvel that the tall man could have borne it for 
 a moment. 
 
 But his eyes had a red light in them, like the 
 eyes of a hound — mad. 
 
 " What new devilry is this ? " the girl said, as 
 her eyes fell upon me, trussed up there behind the 
 
The Air Pirate 205 
 
 table. " Do you suppose that I want any further 
 evidence to tell me from where you come and 
 whom you serve ? " 
 
 " Look at this gentleman 5 look at him well." 
 
 " Another of your unhappy prisoners ! So you 
 add torture to your crimes. And you dare to make 
 me witness it ! " 
 
 She turned in a fury of disgust and loathing, and 
 made a step towards the door. But befoj^ she 
 moved further — God Ijless her ! — she said : " You 
 have fallen into the hands of a very horrid 
 scoundrel, sir, but ..." ' 
 
 At that I managed to cry out : " Connie, dearest, 
 don't you know me ? " 
 
 I ought not to have been so sudden. I cursed 
 myself for it. It was just as if I had struck her 
 down, for she reeled, and fell into the chair in a 
 swoon. 
 
 ^ I myself was near to it. There was a rush as of 
 cataracts, a sensation of drowning. When I 
 recovered, the maid, Wilson, was ministering to her 
 mistress ; there was a sound of pouring liquid, 
 though I could see nothing, for Helzephron stood 
 directly in front of me, watching what went on. 
 
 " Look here, Helzephron," I said hoarsely. 
 " This can't go on. For God's sake stop it ! Get 
 her away before she recovers and do what you 
 like to me." I thought desperately for something 
 that would move him. 
 
206 The Air Pirate 
 
 He turned round slowly. "^Too late now," he 
 said slowly. " You've got to go through with 
 it, both of yxiVL." 
 
 The malice had faded out of his eyes. He spoke 
 dreamily : " There is no other way. ..." 
 
 He moved away and leant against the wall' at 
 the side, looking down moodily at Constance, who 
 was coming to herself. Her eyes opened, and 
 'V Helzephron made an impatient gesture with his 
 arm. The maid, Wilson, vanished like a ghost. I 
 could see that she, poor thing, went in terrible 
 fear. 
 
 I spoke out directly I thought Connie could 
 understand. I was desperately determined to have 
 my say. It might be the last chance. To my 
 surprise, though I soon understood the reason, 
 Helzephron did not interrupt. 
 
 " Yes, it is I, Constance. I'm disguised ; that 
 is why you didn't know me. Darling, it's going to 
 be all right. Be brave a little longer ! " 
 
 I saw comprehension dawn in her eyes, and 
 then they blazed out into love. " John ! You've 
 come at last. It's been weary waiting. But you 
 are tied up." Her voice changed. " You're in 
 the power of this man, too ! " 
 
 " For this moment I may be-; but that is 
 nothing. He is tracked down and his hour 'has 
 come. He knows it. I made a mistake and he 
 captured me, but outside the forces are converging, 
 
The Air Pirate 207 
 
 and for him the whole world is now no wider than 
 this little room." 
 
 Helzephron made no sign. From his great 
 height he stared down at us like a stone figure. 
 I doubt if he either saw or heard. 
 
 " Tell me quickly — he has not ill-used you, he 
 has not laid hands on you, hurt you. ..." 
 
 A bitter laugh burst from her. " He has stolen 
 me away from life and kept me here a prisoner. 
 But there has been food to eat, and the cage is 
 gilded with the proceeds of his thefts. He knows 
 well enough that if he dared to touch me I should 
 kill myself. No power on earth and none of his 
 cunning precautions could prevent it, and that 
 also he knows. Thank God his time has come," 
 
 " Tell me everything, quickly. A lot depends 
 on it." How could I explain that he was going 
 to kill me, that he could and would do so long 
 before there was any chance of help arriving ? 
 
 " He has dared," she said, and I never knew that 
 a woman's voice could be so hard, " dared to offer 
 me what he calls love. The word is hideous in 
 such a mouth. He has raved, threatened and 
 implored me to — ^to marry him — ^to fly away with 
 him and be his wife." 
 
 She shuddered terribly and sank back in the 
 chair, as if exhausted. I racked my brains for 
 words. What could I say or do ? That she would 
 kill herself rather than yield an inch I was certain. 
 
208 The Air Pirate 
 
 But he could still prolong her torture. The 
 chances were that he would get away in his mar- 
 vellous ship for a time. On ^;he other hand, it 
 might well be that the searching airships were in 
 such force by now that even the Pirate Ship could 
 not escape. There would be a battle in the air. 
 She would be shot to pieces by our cruisers' heavy 
 guns. And Connie would be on board. . . . 
 
 What could I say ? 
 
 Helzephron stood up from the wall. With slow 
 movements he lit a cigarette, but his hand was 
 trembling as if in a palsy. He spoke to Constance. 
 
 " You have already told me that you love Sir 
 John Custance," he said. " I heard that from 
 your own lips two days ago. But ' love^ means 
 many "^things. And you may well have said it to 
 keep me at arm's length. Sir John Custance is 
 here now, and in my power. What of him and you ? " 
 
 Connie looked at him for a moment without a 
 word. There was not a trace of fear in her eyes. 
 " I will tell you," she said at length. " That man 
 is my man, and I am his woman from now until 
 the end of time and for all eternity. You cannot 
 understand, I know. But if words have meaning, 
 mme are plain enough." 
 
 Helzephron suddenly threw away his cigarette 
 jHid gave what seemed to be a sigh of relief. The 
 sound, the gesture, were startling. I could not 
 understand. . . . 
 
The Air Pirate 209 
 
 " Well," he said, " that is another, and the last, 
 illusion gone. My life has been a succession of lost 
 illusions, I think. I loved you, and I love you 
 still, with all the force and power of a nature 
 which, whatever else it may be, is stronger than 
 that of most men -in this feeble >vorld. I would 
 have given you a love so rich, abundant and 
 wonderful that you would have forgotten your 
 passion for this man. Mine would have consumed 
 it utterly. And you would have responded. 
 You think not, but I know better. It would have 
 been flame and flame, love. Nov? I see that it 
 is indeed too late." 
 
 His tones were not raised ; there was nothing 
 particularly eloquent in the actual words he spoke. 
 But to me they tolled like a great bell — a bell 
 that tolls while the iron gates of hell are opening 
 slowly. . . . 
 
 " Yes, too late ! " Connie said quickly. " And 
 you see it now ! It could never have been. And 
 now you will let us go ! Oh, be quick ! Untie 
 John, please do ; it must be hurting him so ! " 
 
 For the first and last time that night two tears 
 rolled down my cheeks. 
 
 I suppose that for a brief space there had been 
 some lingering nobility in Helzephron's mind, some 
 flicker of life in that dark soul. The man had not 
 always been under the dominion of evil. 
 
 But now I saw, without possibility of mistake, 
 
 14 
 
210 The Air Pirate 
 
 the final eclipse of good. It was a visible thing, 
 the last awful act in the terrible drama of his life, 
 and it took place before one's eyes like crystals 
 dissolving in a glass. 
 
 He looked steadfastly at Constance. 
 
 " Sir John can go," he said, " for all the debt of 
 ill-will I owe him, he can go from here unharmed. 
 My dear girl, it rests entirely with you ! " 
 
 She did not understand. 
 
 " Oh, then let him go now, at once." 
 
 " That man," he answered, " lives, or dies a 
 peculiarly unpleasant death ; goes free, or is 
 nothing but a heap of clothes in half an hour, as 
 you shall decide, Constance." 
 
 By the slow dilation of her eyes, I think she 
 knew what he would say. 
 
 - " It is like this," he went on. " If I cannot 
 have Love, the real thing, at least Fate has put 
 it in my power to demand — and have ! — ^the 
 second best, the semblance of it. The moment that 
 you give me your solemn promise to marry me, 
 Sir John walks out on to the moor." 
 
 I gave Constance one swift, warning look. 
 Would the man believe that another was as base 
 as he himself? Everything depended on that. 
 
 " You cannot do it, Constance," I said, with a 
 careful tremor in my voice, trying to suggest a 
 slight dawn of hope, and again I sent her a signal 
 of caution. 
 
The Air Pirate 211 
 
 Helzephron gave an almost imperceptible start, 
 and a faint smile began to play about his cruel 
 lips. 
 
 The fish was rising. 
 
 " It would be a martyrdom," I went on. " What 
 is my|life worth — even to the State" — ^I^ thought 
 that was a clever touch — " in exchange for such 
 a sacrifice ? " 
 
 Praise God for her quick wits ! She saw that 
 I was acting, and fell into her part with supreme 
 naturalnessi A wail of pain came from her, and 
 she covered her face with her hands. " I cannot 
 let you die," she cried. " Do I not love you ? Is 
 not your Ufe of supreme value ? " 
 
 I spoke in a tone of hardly veiled eagerness : 
 " But your, own happiness, what of that ? " 
 
 Connie made a passionate gestiu*e of rentm- 
 q^ation. She turned to our torturer. " Sir," 
 she said, " have you no mercy, no compassion ? " 
 
 " I have nothing but one overmastering need." 
 
 " Then leave us. Let me be alone with Sir 
 John for a few minutes." She beckoned to him 
 and he came, leaning his head low. 
 
 " Go," she whispered. " I cannot persuade him 
 while you are here. Leave us alone and I will 
 do my best." 
 
 The fool was wax in her hands. That one 
 confidential whisper seemed to have transformed 
 him. 
 
 14* 
 
212 The Air Pirate 
 
 " Yes, I'll go," he said, but I heard every word. 
 "I don't think our friend will take much per- 
 suading ! You may be glad to marry a man, 
 after all ! " 
 
 He was half-way to the door when suspicion 
 took hold of him. " How do I know that you 
 won't be up to some trick?" he snarled; "try 
 to loose him or something ? Not that there 
 would be any chance of esci^pe if you did." 
 
 " I give you my Word of honour," Connie 
 answered, " or you can tie me up, too. That would 
 be the Ji>est way. Fasten me in this chair so that 
 I can't move." 
 
 Helzephron shook his head impatiently. Then 
 the door banged and we were alone. 
 
 I began to speak at once. There was no time 
 to waste. 
 
 " Dearest love of my heart, it is good-bye. 
 We have managed to snatch these few moments 
 for farewell." 
 
 Her face shone with love and courage as she 
 smiled at me. " Is there no way, darling ? " 
 
 " None. This is the end. We have fooled 
 that devil for a minute. When he returns 
 and finds out the end will come quickly. Now, 
 listen. . . ." 
 
 In a few sentences I told her exactly how matters 
 stood, and of my certainty that Helzephron's course 
 was almost rim. Nor did I disguise from her that 
 
The Air Pirate 213 
 
 in any attack upon the Pirate Ship her own fate 
 was sure. 
 
 " What does it matter ? I should kill myself, 
 anyhow, rather than submit to oiie touch from 
 him. I have the means ready. Oh, my love, I 
 am prouder of you at this moment than I ever 
 was ! " 
 
 How I rejoiced in her ! Never for a single 
 instant had she believed that I would let her do 
 this thing. It was not even spoken of between us. 
 It was worth while dying for love and trust like 
 this! 
 
 " And you see, dear love," she went on, " it 
 will not be long. We shall be together again in 
 a few hours, never to part any more. . . ." 
 
 Very solemnly and quietly we said farewell. 
 Neither of us was unhappy. A great exaltation 
 and peace consoled us, but the moment is too 
 sacred for description here. 
 
 I gave one last look at her serene and radiant 
 face, striving to image it upon my brain, so that 
 it should be the last thing I saw, and then I 
 called for Helzephron with a strong voice. 
 
 From the first instant that he stepped into the 
 room and saw our faces, he knew the truth. 
 
 He was very quiet, but his eyes shone again 
 with the dull red light thtit you may sometimes 
 see in a dog's eyes. One could almost have pitied 
 him, for he was as one who desired even one drop 
 
214 The Air Pirate 
 
 of living water to cool his tongue and was tormented 
 in a flame. 
 
 I was praying hard for one boon — ^that Con- 
 stance should not see me die. It seemed that my 
 prayer was answered, for he led her roughly to the 
 curtained door and pushed her through. 
 
 He whistled, and Vargus came in through the 
 other door. The movements of both men were 
 detached and business-like. I had the odd fancy 
 that this was exactly how the paid executioner 
 goes about his work in the prisons. 
 
 Once more the cloth was tied over my head, the 
 chair was lifted, and I was carried away. The 
 swinging motion lasted a long time. I must have 
 been taken a considerable distance from the room 
 of my agony when the chair was finally set down. 
 I heard the plangent beating of waves and felt 
 cool airs. I was in the central cavern once more, 
 and near to the mouth of it. So that was it! 
 They were going to throw me to the whirlpools 
 and the rocks below ! . . . 
 
 I felt strong and slender fingers about my 
 neck — ^Vargus the pianist ! — and shuddered at the 
 contact. The cloth was removed. It was as I 
 thought : all round was the cathedral-like cave, 
 but now dozens of lights were turned on, incli;^ling 
 a great blue arc-lamp suspended from the roof, 
 and all the shadows and mystery were gone. 
 Not far away, resting upon rubber-covered 
 
The Air Pirate 215 
 
 wheels, which were dropped below the floats by 
 an adaptation of the Raynor-Wallis patent, was 
 the great Pirate Ship, towering up under the 
 domed roof, spreading her great planes from side 
 to side, lovely in her lines, an awful instrument of 
 power. Even at that supreme moment I longed 
 to examine her, to go aboard and make acquaint- 
 ance with the wonders she held. 
 
 The ruling passion of a man's life dies hard t 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE HOUKDS FKOM THIBET AND MB. VARGUS ; WITH 
 A DISCOVERY ON "BOARD THE PIRATE 
 
 THEY turned my chair so that I faced the 
 mouth of the cave, which was some thirty 
 yards av^ay. The moon had set. The short 
 summer night was over, and the first grey hint of 
 the dawn, that I should never see, was near. - 
 
 Helzephron sat down on a stool a few yards 
 away from me. His back was to the cavern 
 mouth. He spoke a word to Vargus, who padded 
 away behind me. 
 
 " Why are we waiting ? " I said. 
 
 " Because you had the misfortune to hear my 
 friend Vargus pouring his soul out at the piano. 
 Sir John." 
 
 " I am still rather in the dark." 
 
 " I have no objection to satisfying a curiosity 
 which is legitimate under the circumstances. I 
 was going to put a pistol to your ear and throw 
 you into the cove. But Mr. Vargus has fantastic 
 tastes, and you have put his back up. He asked 
 
 216 
 
The Air Pirate 217 
 
 me a favour, and as I owe him a good deal, I could 
 not refuse it. But I see he is returning. You 
 shall have a concrete explanation." 
 
 From, somejvhere behind me I heard the pad- 
 ding of footsteps, accompanied by a curious 
 scuffling noise and the sound of heavy breathing. 
 Then Helzephron gave a short bark of laughter, 
 and Vargus came round the chair. 
 
 Then I knew. 
 
 On leather leashes Vargus held two monstrous 
 dogs. Each one was as big as a newly-born calf. 
 They were like Newfoundlands, and yet unlike, 
 for there Avas a great bull-dog jowl to each. . . . 
 
 " My Tibetan mastiffs," said Helzephron. 
 " Death by dogs for a dog ! " 
 
 Vargus brought the brutes within two yards of 
 me. Their teeth were bared, their hackles rose, 
 there was the dull red light in their eyes, too, but 
 not a sound came from either. 
 
 Both men watched me intently, but they got 
 none of the satisfaction that they hoped. It was 
 simply that the bitterness of death was over. 
 That was all. Fear was something that I was no 
 longer capable of feeling. To be worried to death 
 by mastiffs was just like any other death, then. I 
 understood how it was that martyrs for religion, 
 or any cause in which they believed, died so quietly. 
 
 Helzephron cursed deeply. " Get it over," 
 he said. " Take the dogs to the far end ef the 
 
218 The Air Pirate 
 
 cave. When I blow this whistle let them go. 
 You'll hear them running up behind you, Sir 
 John," he said, with an insane chuckle. 
 
 Vargus disappeared^ 
 
 I stared out at the cave mouth. Esich moment 
 it grew lighter. I thought that I should have 
 liked to have seen one more summer dawn. But 
 Helzephron was lifting his whistle ; and then the 
 mouth of the cave seemed to recede and shrink 
 to the size of a mere window. 
 
 A mere window. With idle curiosity I saw how 
 a fat spider was slowly descending his swinging 
 thread, and I was a child again, seated at the 
 nursery window. ^ . . 
 
 The whistle blew a shrill, echoing blast. 
 
 At once my mind awoke to full consciousness, 
 and I braced myself to ctie without a cry. The 
 cave mouth became itself again, and the spider . . . 
 
 Hanging by one arm and a leg, half-way down a 
 stout rope, was a short, thick-set figure. ... * 
 
 As the rapid thud of the racing dogs grew loud 
 the figure's right arm raised itself. 
 
 Bang! Crash! Bang! Crash! a wild howl 
 of pain, thunderous echoes rolling down the 
 cavern, and Helzephron on his feet in time to see 
 something bounding towards him like an india- 
 rubber ball. 
 
 I knew who that was. I had one glimpse of a 
 terrible grinning face as Danjuro leapt at the 
 
The Air Pirate 219 
 
 hawk-faced man ; heard a strangled scream and 
 a long, crunching crack, and saw two whirling 
 figures crash to the floor. 
 
 I can't express the suddenness of it all. Before 
 my brain could register the impression, another 
 person was sprinting by me, yelling like a fiend. 
 Then Danjuro rose from the floor — alone — ^and 
 my ropes were being divided, my stiff limbs 
 rubbed, and a calm, exultant voice remarked : 
 " Exit Honourable Helzephron." 
 
 I began to laugh weakly. 
 
 " You were just in time, Danjuro. Have you 
 killed him ? " 
 
 He was about to reply when there was a 
 divefsiori. 
 
 Charles Thumbwood appeared. He had Mr. 
 Vargus by the collar, and was kicking him along 
 to the accompaniment of flowers of language that 
 I shall not attempt to reproduce. 
 
 ''"Caught 'im at the telephone," gasped Charles. 
 " Gr-r-r, you little swine " — a furious kick — 
 " Gr-r-r, you slime-lapping leper you ! 'E was 
 telephoning to 'is friends, Sir^ohn. Thank Gawd 
 we come in time. Sir John ! Gr-r-r, there's one 
 as you won't forget in an 'urry ! " and lifting Mr. 
 Vargus several inches from the floor with a final 
 kick. Little Thumbwood flung him away, began 
 to feel me all over with trembling hands, and burst 
 intoTa flood of tears. 
 
220 The Air Pirate 
 
 But I had caught his words. The tdephone J 
 We should have all the band upon us in two 
 minutes, desperate and fighting for their lives. 
 
 " Quick ! " I shouted, " follow me. We must 
 get Miss Shepherd safe. There isn't a moment 
 to lose." 
 
 I don't know how I did it, and the first few 
 yards were like running on red-hot ploughshares ; 
 but I got going, and raced down the great cave, 
 past the Pirate Ship, to the door at the end. 
 
 I noticed a door on the left as I ran. It was 
 the one by which I had first entered, the one 
 that marked the passage leading to the lift. 
 
 " Block that somehow ! " I called to Thumb- 
 wood. " It may keep them back for a minute or 
 two. Shoot anyone who breaks through." 
 
 He understood and stopped at once. I saw him 
 dragging up some cases to make cover and lying 
 down behind them, as I turned just outside the 
 door which led to the ante-room to Helzephron's 
 private sanctum. 
 
 . . . We found Constance upon her knees in a 
 richly furnished room. Her maid, Wilson, was 
 weeping and trembling in a corner. As we burst 
 in she shrieked with terror. 
 
 But Constance fainted dead away. 
 
 I took that unfortimate woman, Wilson, and 
 shook her into sanity. There was nothing else 
 to be done, and I remember that it seemed quite 
 
The Air Pirate 221 
 
 natural and obvious at the time. I knew that we 
 hadn't a moment to lose, and I was in a state of 
 abnormal excitement. 
 
 When she had regained some sort of control, 
 which was in less than a minute, I ordered her 
 to attend to Constance, and, when she came to 
 herself, to tell her that we were all saved and 
 Helzephron Was powerless. Then I hurried out 
 into the cave. 
 
 Danjuro and Thumbwood were working like 
 demons. Piles of boxes and other impedimenta 
 had been erected in two strategic positions com- 
 manding the door. Behind each pile were two 
 or three automatic rifles and many clips of am- 
 mtmition. Just as I came up Danjuro went to 
 the door and opened it wide. 
 
 I grasped his idea at once. As you may remem- 
 ber from my former description, the passage was a 
 mere cleft in the rock. Certainly not more than 
 one man could walk abreast, and he could be shot 
 down the moment he turned the corner. A child 
 who could shoot straight would have been able to 
 hold the passage, and behind the barrier on the 
 floor of the cave would have been safe enough. 
 
 " I trust honourable lady quite safe ? " said 
 Danjuro in his quiet, silky voice. 
 
 " Yes ; the maid's attending to her. Thank God 
 that unutterable scoundrel has not harmed her." 
 
 Then I remembered something. Danjuro's face 
 
222 The Air Pirate 
 
 vr&s perfectly placid and ordinary. The grinning 
 devil-mask had Vanished as if it had never been. 
 To look at him no one would have guessed that 
 he was anything but a peaceable little Eastern 
 student, such as you may see by the dozen any 
 day round about the Law Courts in town. He 
 rolled a cigarette in his conjuring way as I spoke, 
 and yet, a few moments ago those slender hands 
 had just broken the neck of the Master Criminal 
 of Europe ! 
 
 " Look here, old chap," I said. " I haven't 
 had a moment to thank you. You and Charles 
 arrived in the very nick of time. A few seconds 
 more and I should have been done for ; and as 
 for Miss Shepherd ..." 
 
 I couldn't go on. I just held out my hand. 
 
 He didn't take it — cold-blooded little beggar ! 
 He just bowed politdy and murmm-ed something 
 that sounded like " Glad to be of any help ! " 
 Then he brightened up. " I think, Sir John," 
 he said, " that we can reckon ourselves ^s quite 
 safe from any intrusion now ! " and he waved his 
 hand towards the open door. 
 
 " Let 'em ajl come ! " remarked Thumb wood. 
 
 Then, quite suddenly, the floor of the cave 
 seemed to heave up and down. The great arc 
 lights which made it as bright as day began to 
 wheel round like fireworks, and I fainted for the 
 second time. 
 
The Air Pirate 223 
 
 When I recovered it was to find myself in the 
 late Helzephron's own room. Something cold was 
 on my forehead and something chilly and scented 
 trickled down my face. I opened my e^es, and 
 Constance was kneeling by my side. 
 
 " My love, my dear love ! " she whispered. 
 " I never thought that I should see you alive 
 again. Oh, thank God, thank God ! " 
 
 Then her arms were round me, and for a long 
 time we spoke no word. I think I know what 
 the man who was called back from death in 
 Palestine long ago must have felt. . . . 
 
 She gave me food and wine, and at last, though 
 J felt physically weak and shaken, my mind 
 worked again, and I stood up. We were alone 
 in the room, and no sound came from outside, so 
 I concluded that all was safe for the present. 
 
 " A little Japanese carried you in here," Connie 
 said, " as easily as if you were a child. I had 
 just come to myself, and I thought, oh, John, I 
 thought that you had been killed, and that he 
 was one of those awful people. But he shouted 
 out at once that what Wilson said was true and 
 we were saved. I believed him, in spite of the 
 shock his appearance gave me at first, and when 
 he had put you down gently in this chair he 
 hurried away. John, who is he, and how are we 
 saved ? " 
 
 " We owe everything to him," I answered 
 
224 The Air Pirate 
 
 gravely. " He killed Helzephron with his own 
 hands " — I did not tell her about the dogs just 
 then — " and in a few hours we shall be back in the 
 world. We can never, as long as we live, pay our 
 debt to Danjuro." 
 
 In as short a time as I could, I explained every- 
 thing to her, from the first moment when I had 
 heard of her capture until now. I walked about 
 the room as I did so, and new life flowed into my 
 cramped liriibs. When I had smoked a cigarette, 
 I felt almost normal again. 
 
 " Now, deari" I said, when my story was over, 
 " we aren't exs^ctly out of the wood yet, though 
 there's nothing whatever to be alarmed at. Go 
 into your own room and collect your things 
 together ; whatever you want to take away with 
 you. Stay here with Wilson till I come again. 
 I may be some time. There are a good many 
 things to straighten out." 
 
 One more embrace and I left her, sobbing with 
 great happiness, and, passing through the ante- 
 room, hurried out into the great cave. 
 
 My first glance was towards the door of the 
 rock passage leading to the lift. It was still 
 open. Sitting on the barrier twelve yards or so 
 away was Thumbwood. A rifle lay across his 
 knees and he was placidly smoking his pipe. 
 
 "All right?" I shouted. 
 
 " All O.K., Sir John," he answered, standing up. 
 
The Air Pirate 225 
 
 "Not a sign of anyone. As a matter of fact, 
 Mr. Danjuro and me have ascertained that this 
 'ere dog-fancier 'adn't time to get through to his 
 friends upstairs. I got 'old of 'im just as he was 
 topping the fence." 
 
 I followed his glance, and I saw Mr. Vargus, 
 trussed like a fowl, on the floor a yard or two 
 away. 
 
 I had quite forgotten that ingenious and artistic 
 person, and I started. He was a sorry sight 
 enough, dirty, blood-stained and horrible, as his 
 pale, wicked face stared up at me. He said 
 nothing, and I shuddered as I looked at him — 
 shuddered as I had never done at Helzephron. 
 
 " Where's Mr. Danjuro ? " I asked. 
 
 " Up at the mouth of the cave. Sir John. I 
 was to send you to him directly you came." 
 
 I nodded, turned, and began to walk up the 
 great cave. The Pirate Airship lay there, gleam- 
 ing and wonderful. There was a light steel ladder 
 at her side as I passed, leading up into the fuselage, 
 and it was only by «, stroiig effort of will that I 
 could keep myself from mounting it and exploring 
 the mechanical marvels that I knew she contained. 
 However, I resisted the temptation and hurried 
 on. The lights depending from the roof grew 
 dimmer each moment as I drew near the curving 
 entrance. " It must be full day outside," I 
 thought, as the fresh sea-air came to meet me, and 
 
 15 
 
226 The Air Pirate 
 
 then, as I turned round the bend, I saw the squat, 
 black figure of the Japanese silhouetted against 
 the rosy fires of sunrise. 
 
 Danjuro was standing motionless. He was 
 looking down at some humped objasts upon the 
 ground. The rope, like a wisp of spider's web, 
 swung gently to and fro. There was not a sound 
 save the soft murmur of the sea far down below. 
 
 " I'm all right now," I said, and he tiu:ned to 
 me without a start, though he could not have 
 heard me coming. 
 
 His face was calm, but wrinkled up in every 
 direction. He looked like a man of immense age, 
 and his narrow eyes were full of brooding, sombre 
 light. Almost at his feet lay the body of Hel- 
 zephron. It had been decently disposed with the 
 hands upon the breast, and the morning Kght 
 played over the hawk-like, bronzed face and 
 open eyes in which there was now no cruelty. 
 
 The dead man was august as he lay there. 
 There was a certain nobility about the features. 
 He did not look like a scoundrel, and alLresent- 
 ment and hate passed away from me for ever as 
 I looked at him. 
 
 The two huge dogs, one with a bullet through 
 its brain, the other shot in the chest and through 
 the heart as it was in the act of leaping, were 
 hideous objects. - . . 
 
 When I looked Up again the wrinkles had gone 
 
The Air Pirate 22r 
 
 from Danjuro's face, the sombre expression from 
 his eyes. It was a magical change, but I was long 
 past wonder at anything in connection with him. 
 
 " We will have those dogs skinned," he remarked 
 in his ordinary voice. " They will make a fine rug 
 for your house, Sir John." 
 
 " No doubt ; but we've got to get out of this 
 first. Remember that there are a dozen desperate 
 scoundrels not far away. And I don't see either 
 Miss Shepherd or myself returning to the world 
 up that rope ! By the way, I haven't heard 
 how you managed to get here in time." 
 
 He told me the story shortly enough. There 
 was not an unnecessary detail and no comment 
 whatever. Thumbwood supplied the lacking 
 picturesqueness some days later. But even as 
 Danjuro told it, I realized the marvellous saga- 
 city and contempt of danger that had saved us. 
 
 It seemed that when he had arrived at Zerran, 
 the idea of a cave, either natural or enlarged by 
 pretended mining operations, was already in his 
 mind. As soon as I had left the inn on my expedi- 
 tion, Danjuro and Thumbwood had taken one of 
 Trewhella's boats and set out eastwards along 
 the coast. The Japanese had already taken his 
 bearings, and knew that Tregeraint House would 
 be a little to the left of the jagged peak of Came 
 Zerran.. They cruised along into the moonlight 
 until they picked up their mark, and not two 
 
 15* 
 
228 The Air Pirate 
 
 hundred yards further on struck the entrance to 
 the S-shaped cove. Then Danjuro had no longer 
 any doubts. No boat could live in that cauldron 
 of the waves, but it seemed a man could, for our 
 rescuers proved it ! 
 
 He stripped and went in — I learnt afterwards 
 that he was as much at home in the water as a 
 seal, and, of course, like so many of his country- 
 men, he was simply a mass of steel mUscIes. 
 In twenty minutes the secret was a secret no 
 longer. 
 
 Danjuro's next move was to row back to Zerran 
 Cove at top speed, and hasten up the cliff path to 
 the inn. Here he disinterred the coastguard from 
 the pigsty and roused him to immediate action. 
 
 Ropes and crowbars were procured, the fenced- 
 off " dangerous " area on the cliff-top invaded, 
 and Danjuro, with Charles, descended in the nick 
 of time. But there was more than this. The 
 coastguard had his orders. Directly the two 
 men disappeared over the brink he was instructed 
 to make all haste to the watch-house, some two 
 miles away in the direction of St. Ives. Prom 
 there the Chief Boatswain was to telephone all 
 along the coast to the various stations, and also 
 to the police at St. Ives, Camborne and Penzance. 
 
 " In three or four hours, perhaps sooner," 
 Danjuro concluded, " an armed force should be 
 concentrating on the moors upon the house above. 
 
The Air Pirate 229 
 
 The pifates will be desperate, and will put up 
 a fight — at least, I think so, but the end is 
 certain." 
 
 " And meantime, all we can do is to wait here 
 until something happens ? " 
 
 " That is as you please. Sir John," he answered, 
 looking at me curiously. 
 
 For a minute I did not see what he meant, but 
 then a great idea dawned upon me. 
 
 " The Pirate Ship ! " I burst out. 
 
 " I have always heard that Sir John Custance 
 is a skilled pilot," he said with a bow. 
 
 I saw it all clearly. There was a gorgeous, 
 dramatic end to it all well within my grasp ! It 
 would be soniething to make the whole world 
 gasp ! The Pirate Ship was, I knew, already 
 loaded with the proceeds of the pirates' robberies. 
 It was not only full of loot, but prepared in every 
 way for a long cruise. Helzephron and his 
 ruffians had planned an almost immediate escape 
 from the cave to some new refuge of which I had 
 heard them speak. Doubtless, if things had gone 
 right with them, they would have been off by 
 now, with my mangled body tossed in the whirl- 
 pools below and Constance still a prisoner. Hel- 
 zephron would have mounted to a great height, and 
 trusted to his immense superiority in speed over 
 all the airships in existence for escape. I have 
 little doubt that, had things fallen out as he 
 
280 The Air Pirate 
 
 planned, he would have been able to carry out 
 his scheme. But God disposes. . . . 
 
 There was nothing, so I thought at the moment, 
 to prevent me from piloting the airship out of its 
 lair. Once in the sky I could make a bee-line for 
 Plymouth, and get there in a little more than half 
 an hour — if it was indeed true that the mys- 
 terious ship could do her two hundred and forty 
 M.P.H. To swoop down to Plymouth sea-drome 
 with Constance, the Pirate Ship and the recovered 
 treasure ! That would, indeed, be a triumph such 
 as is given to few men to experience. I have a 
 fairly vivid imagination, and I saw it all in one 
 radiant picture. 
 
 " Let's go and have a look at the ship at once," 
 I said, and almost ran back into the cavern, 
 where she towered up and threw black velvet 
 shadows in the fierce blue light that streamed 
 down from the suspended arcs. Danjuro followed. 
 
 As I swung myself over the side and descended 
 a short ladder, I found myself in a roomy main 
 cabin. A switch to my hand illuminated it, and 
 even then I saw that the ship had been designed 
 by a master hand. Below the port-holes, filled 
 with toughened glass and provided with shutters 
 of a design that was new to me, ran a continuous 
 seat of woven camels' hair cord, easily con- 
 vertible into sleeping bunks for half a dozen 
 people. Thefe was an electric stove of polished 
 
The Air Pirate 231 
 
 aluminium for cooking, and an electric radiator 
 for warming the cabin, clustering round a central 
 supporting column. I saw also that there was 
 a very complete telephone installation connecting 
 this main cabin with the pilot's room forward. 
 
 Under the seats was a collection of wooden 
 cases and a box of japanned steel, which I judged, 
 aid rightly, contained the treasure taken from 
 the Albatros and the Atlantis. A sliding door aft 
 led into a store-room, which seemed to contain 
 everjrthing necessary for a cruise of several days. 
 I noticed boxes of expensive cigars, bottles of 
 whisky and liqueurs, tinned oysters, larks* 
 asparagus, such as wealthy yachtsmen provide 
 themselves with. The dogs did themselves well I 
 
 Leading out of this was a final cabin fitted with 
 tools of every sort, a rack of automatic rifles and 
 pistols, and several thousand rounds of small- 
 arms ammunition. Here also, with a padded 
 door, was a little compartment for the wireless 
 operator, and I pictured one of the black-hearted 
 scoundrels sitting there and .picking up the 
 messages from airships of the trade routes with a 
 grin upon his face. 
 
 Danjuro came with me and looked about him 
 quickly, but with no change of expression. " So 
 far, so good," I said to him ; " but all this is un- 
 important, really, though it is very complete. 
 What really matters is the pilot's cabin, the 
 
232 The Air Pirate 
 
 engines, controlling gear, petrol supply, and so on. 
 Let's go forward. Do you understand anything 
 about airships ? " 
 
 " A very little, Sir John," he replied, and — 90 
 petty are we all at times — I felt a perceptible Uirill 
 of pleasure at hearing there was at least some- 
 thing pf which this paragon was ignorant. 
 
 " Never had occasion to study them ? " I asked, 
 as we passed again through the main cabin. 
 
 " I have watched the pilot in Honourable Van 
 Adams' yacht the Mai/ Fiower, but that is all. ..." 
 
 I hardly heard him, for I waslin the pilot's room 
 at last. 
 
 I saw at a glance that here w^ere a number of 
 things absolutely new to me, and so to all the 
 aviators of the world. I am not going to be tech- 
 nical. This narrative is written for the general 
 reader, and my expert conclusions have been 
 published elsewhere. I can but indicate some of 
 the wonders of mechanical skill with which I was 
 confronted. 
 
 For instance, the designer of the ship was the 
 first man to solve the problem of easy control. 
 Up to the present all pilots had controlled their 
 ships — ^the movements of planes and rudders, etc. 
 — ^with a certain amount of manual labour. It is 
 true that recent inventions had minimized this ; 
 ball-bearings, the rack and pinion, had made the 
 main control levers and wheels much easier to 
 
The Air Pirate 233 
 
 move than they were in the old days of the Great 
 War — when flying first began to come into its 
 own. But there was still a great deal of physical 
 strain, which greatly lessened eflieiency upon a 
 long cruise. Moreover, the instant decision neces- 
 sary to be taken by an aviator — ^when a fraction 
 of a second may spell safety or ruin — ^had been 
 always hampered by the comparative mechanical 
 slowness of control. 
 
 In the Pirate Ship this disability did not exist. 
 Just as the largest ocean-going liner — sea-ship, not 
 airship, I mean — can be steered by a wheel not 
 more than two feet in diameter by the invention 
 of the steam steering gear, so the Pirate Ship 
 was controlled by a series of little wheels and 
 levers, covered with leather, that looked like toys. 
 
 Electricity had been brought into play; and a 
 touch of the pilot's hand was magnified into 
 power that in an instant would deflect a mighty 
 lifting plane or vast rudder. 
 
 TJie fuel capacity of the ship was immense. 
 She carried as much petrol, in the huge and 
 ingeniously contrived tanks below the fuselage, 
 as one of the great air-liners, though she was 
 not a fifth of the size. I saw at once that she 
 could keep the air for days. 
 
 Examining the cockpit, in which two quick-firing 
 guns' were placed, I found them both of the very 
 latest pattern, and mounted with a swivel device 
 
234 The Air Pirate 
 
 that was far in advance of anjrthing attempted 
 hitherto. Only the great battle-planes of the 
 world's air navies could mount guns of such power, 
 and she could circle round them with ease while 
 in full flight. 
 
 But it was when I mounted to the little deck 
 above, and began to examine the two huge six- 
 cylinder engines, that my admiration and interest 
 grew beyond all bounds. The chief triumph of 
 all, the silencing mechanism that reduced the 
 ordinary roar of air engines to no more than the 
 hum of a dynamo, did not at once become clear. 
 It would have been necessary to take the machines 
 to pieces to have discovered everything ; but an 
 examination of the exhausts put me on the track, 
 and I marvelled at the creation of a master-mind. 
 
 I was looking at the twin propellers, which had 
 a curve that was new to me, and even material 
 that I could not immediately define, when Danjuro 
 hailed me from the pilot's room. 
 
 I tumbled down to find the little man bending 
 over the various controls ranged in front of the 
 pilot's seat. 
 
 " It seems to me. Sir John," he said, " pray 
 correct me if I am wrong, that there is something 
 wanting here. I know little about airships, but 
 something of electricity, and can quite under- 
 stand this system. But it seems to me that a 
 key-part of the mechanism has been removed." 
 
The Air Pirate 235 
 
 He pulled over a lever a few inches long. Its 
 movement should have been registered upon a 
 dial above, but the needle never moved. 
 
 " Do that again ! " I cried, and, mounting a 
 step, put my head into the little dome of glass 
 in the cabin roof which commanded the whole 
 length of the ship. One of the tilting planes by 
 the rudder should have moved when the lever 
 was pulled over. 
 
 It remained motionless, 
 
 " One of the honourable gentlemen upstairs has 
 got a small but very essential piece of linking 
 apparatus in his pocket," said Danjuro. 
 
 It was only too true. A moment's reflection 
 satisfied me of that, and I stared blankly at my 
 companion. 
 
 My gorgeous, if somewhat vainglorious, plan was 
 knocked on the head. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE MOMENT OF TRIUMPH 
 
 I DESCENDED from the airship in silence. 
 Danjuro followed me. Thumbwood was 
 still on guard. The bundle that was Mr. Vargus 
 lay upon the ground, and a face like a white wedge 
 of venom stared up at us. There was no sign of 
 the enemy, but I felt that we should not be left 
 in peace much longer, and my disappointment 
 at the discovery on board the pirate was keen. 
 
 " There is still a chance," Danjuro whispered 
 in my ear. " And with your permission, Sir John, 
 I am going to try it." 
 
 I nodded, and he stepped up to Vargus and 
 pulled him up into a sitting posture, propping him 
 against the barrier. 
 
 " There is a part of the control mechanism of 
 the, airship missing," Danjuro said, with silky 
 politeness. 
 
 Vargus grinned suddenly, a momentary rictus 
 that came and went, utterly horrible. 
 
 236 
 
The Air Pirate 237 
 
 " And we want that piece of the machine," the 
 Japanese went on. 
 
 Vargus spoke, in his peculiar oily voice. " Then 
 you may go on wanting, you putty-faced little 
 spawn of a monkey." 
 
 I cannot hope to describe the depth of poisonous 
 hate the man put into the words. His accent was 
 cultured and refined ; the great dome of the blood- 
 stained fdrehead spoke loudly of intellect, yet the 
 voice somehow reeked of the pit. I know that it 
 struck me cold, and I saw the rifle in Thumb- 
 wood's hands was shaking. Although this was 
 the man who had devised an abominable death for 
 me, I can honestly say that I felt no personal 
 resentment. I can't account for it, but it was 
 so. 
 
 I should have welcomed that, rather than the 
 inward loathing, like a shudder of the soul, at 
 something inhuman and unclean. 
 
 What Danjuro felt I don't know, but he didn't 
 turn a hair. 
 
 " I think you will assist us," he said. 
 
 For answer the thing below spat in his face. 
 
 I expected to see Danjuro leap upon him and 
 strangle him where he sat. I shouldn't have 
 raised a finger to stop it. But it was not so. The 
 little man stepped aside and carefully wipe4 his 
 face with a silk handkerchief that seemed to come 
 from nowhere. Then he went behind Mr. Vargus 
 
238 The Air Pirate 
 
 and began to feel his head all over, with quick, 
 delicate movements of his fingers. 
 
 "How can you touch him?" I cried, hardly 
 knowing what I said, for the thing was ugly and 
 uncanny beyond belief. Danjuro was like some 
 sinister phrenologist in a nightmare, feeling the 
 bumps of a devil. 
 
 " I know now what I wanted to know about him," 
 Danjuro purred after a moment. " I never 
 doubted the intelligence. Sir John. It is very 
 marked. And there is great energy and courage 
 of a sort. But our friend who spits has one little 
 failing. He is afraid of physical pain." 
 
 " You're not going to . . . ? " 
 
 Danjuro looked me full in the eyes, and in his 
 I saw a stony resolution that I was in no state 
 to combat. 
 
 " I will go and see Miss Shepherd," I said, and 
 turning on my heel, walked quickly to the inner 
 end of the cavern. As I went I heard Danjuro 
 ask Thumbwood for a box of matches. . . . 
 
 I am quite aware that there are lots of soft- 
 hearted people who will say I ought never to have 
 allowed Danjuro to do what he did. Well, they 
 must have their own opinion, that's all. I believe 
 it was nothing like so bad as the cat-o'-nine-tails 
 which is constantly administered in our prisons, 
 and under the circumstances I think it was 
 justifiable. Call me what names you like as you 
 
The Air Pirate 239 
 
 read this — ^you have not seen Mr. Vargus and his 
 dogs, nor spent a smdl eternity in the pirates' 
 cave. 
 
 . . . Constance was wonderfully recovered. I 
 spent a minute or two with her, and then returned 
 to the scene of action. 
 
 Mr. Vargus was speaking in a quick, panting 
 voice, and these were the words I heard : 
 
 " Gascoigne, Mr. Gascoigne ; he has it. He was 
 our second pilot. It was always in his charge." 
 
 Danjuro gave his little weary smile. Then he 
 put his hand gently upon my arm and drew me 
 away to the other side of the cave. 
 
 " We will now summon honourable Gascoigne," 
 he said. "He is the young gentleman we saw 
 with late honourable Helzephron at the ' Mille 
 Colonnes.' The little necessary piece of the me- 
 chanism in his possession is, I have just learnt, 
 generally referred to as ' the link.' " 
 
 " But how . . . ? " I was beginning, when 
 he pointed to a telephone instrument upon a 
 screen of tongue-and-groove boarding. " This 
 communicates with the house," he whispered. 
 " Mr. Vargus nearly got through recently, you will 
 remember, just before the good Thumbwood caught 
 him." 
 
 He raised the instrument to his mouth and ear. 
 
 In a second or two a bell rang and Danjuro 
 began to speak. I nearly jumped out of my 
 
240 The Air Pirate 
 
 boots. The words were simple enough, but tht 
 voice with its oily refinement was the voice of 
 Mr. Vargus ! 
 
 " Is that you, Gascoigne ? Yes, Vargus speak- 
 ing. The Chief says you are to come down at 
 once and bring the control link with you. What ? 
 No, the others are to wait till they're sent for. 
 What ? Oh, yes, quite dead. I wish you could 
 have seen it ! " 
 
 It was a triumph of mimicry that I shall never 
 forget, the more so as it was the only occasion on 
 which I heard this marvellous man attempt 
 anything of the sort. Heaven knows what other 
 talents he must have possessed ! 
 
 " The young gentleman was asking about you, 
 Sir John. He seemed quite curious about your 
 end ! » 
 
 I smiled grimly. " What are you going to do ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 In answer he hurried back to the open door 
 and crouched down in the shadow by its side. I 
 motioned to Thumbwood to lie down behind the 
 barrier which was exactly facing the passage, and 
 drawing my autoixiatic pistol, which I had regained 
 from Helzephron's room, I retired to the opposite 
 side of the door and outside the line of direct 
 vision. 
 
 There was silence for a minute or so, and then, 
 far away in the rock, I heard a hollow rumble 
 
The Air Pirate 241 
 
 and the clank of a gate. The lift had descended 
 and Gascoigne was on his way. A few seconds 
 afterwards I heard a merry whistle, fresh and 
 sweet, as if the performer had not a care in the 
 world. He was whistling the lilting tune of a 
 popular song which all the street boys were singing 
 at that time : 
 
 " Merry Maudie met her j ate at Margate ! " 
 
 Callous young dog ! In a moment he would not 
 be so cheerful. . . . 
 
 I had left it to that concentrated muscle, Dan- 
 juro, though I stood ready to help if necessary. 
 But I knew that he was a supreme exponent of 
 jiu-jitsu — teste the hideous death Helzephron died 
 — and I had little fear. Indeed, I found myself 
 looking on with a detached and interested curiosity 
 as one might at a prize-fight. I wondered if 
 Danjuro would kill him or not. And if you had 
 supped so full of horrors as I had in that awful 
 cave, you'd have felt like that, too ! 
 
 . . . For a second I saw Gascoigne in the full 
 light from the roof and framed by the archway, 
 like a picture. It was the same young fellow, 
 with the dissipated f^ce, that I had seen at the 
 restaurant, though he had not been among the 
 singing pirates at the , inn. He was extremely 
 handsome still, with the face of a lost angel. 
 As a boy at school he must have been beautiful. 
 
 i6 
 
242 The Air Pirate 
 
 Then the squat shadow that crouched by the 
 lintel of the door, like a monstrous toad, expanded 
 swiftly. Danjuro caught Gascoigne by the right 
 hand with the speed of lightning, and pulled the 
 arm out straight with a jerk. Then, as the 
 young man was falling forward, the left arm of 
 the Japanese shot out under his captive's rigid 
 right and the hand seized the lapel of Gascoigne's 
 coat. He was powerless. If he made the slightest 
 movement Danjuro would have broken his arm 
 like a pipe-stem. He could not swing round and 
 hit with his left, and I saw his mouth open with 
 foolish amazement like the mouth of a fish, as his 
 legs were kicked from under him, and he fell back 
 with his assailant on the top of hitn. 
 
 I tied his ankles together with neatness and 
 dispatch, while I listened to a sickening flood of 
 blasphemous profanity that flowed from the clear- 
 cut lips of this ci-devant gentleman in a ceaseless 
 stream. More and more I realized what a crew 
 of utter devils Helzephron had got round him. 
 
 At last he was bound, and Danjuro took from 
 him a leather box, which he wore suspended round 
 his shoulders by a strap. He handed it to me, and, 
 opening it, I found it was the control link that we 
 sought. 
 
 " You can fit that in all right. Sir John ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I don't think it presents any diffi- 
 culty." 
 
The Air Pirate 248 
 
 " Very well, then, in a 'few minutes we will 
 start ;' that is, if you think you can take the 
 ship out of this place ? " 
 
 I had already considered that and decided that 
 I could. It was a ticklish job enough, and would 
 require the most delicate care, especially with an 
 untried ship. But in the past I had landed on the 
 deck of a moving battleship, and there were few 
 stunts that were not familiar to me. I felt I 
 could do it. 
 
 " I don't think I shall let you down," I said, 
 and hurried to the ship. 
 
 Five minutes showed me that I had got the 
 hang of the apparatus and that electrical con- 
 nection was restored, and I spent a further ten 
 in thoroughly ^amining and getting accustomed 
 to the controls. Moreover, I made one new and 
 startling discovery. 
 
 ' There was no need, in this marvellous ship, for 
 mechanics to swing the propeller at the start. 
 Again electricity from the ship's dynamo was 
 employed, and the starting device was a miracle 
 of ingenuity, worked from the pilot's cabin. 
 
 Mr. Vargus, though I offered to loosen his bonds 
 at the feet, absolutely refused to walk, and Dan- 
 juro carried him up the ladder and threw him 
 upon the floor of the cabin like a sack of corn, 
 Gascoigne, now very white and silent, was more 
 amenable. It seems that Vargus had acquainted 
 
 i6* 
 
244 The Air Pirate 
 
 him with everything that had passed as they lay 
 together on the ground. 
 
 " I'll go all right, sir," he said to me, as I helped 
 him to his feet. 
 
 As I had the muzzle of my pistol in the small of 
 his back, he douldn't well do anything else, but 
 he lost nothing by being civil. 
 
 " I can't believe that the Chief's dead and 
 everything's finished," he said, with a curious 
 sort of sob. I realized that all sense of right and 
 wrong had left this youth early. He was the 
 true stuff of which criminals are made, incapable 
 of putting himself in the place of his victims, and 
 while bitterly conscious of defeat and punishment 
 to come, incapable of remorse. 
 
 Without a trace of pose this man behaved just 
 as if he were an officer captured by the enemy in 
 war-time, and I dare swear he felt just like that. 
 There is only one thing to do with these abnormals 
 that get themselves born now and then — destroy 
 them. 
 
 Morally I felt sure that G^scoigne was not a 
 hundredth part so responsible as Vargus. But 
 one was born a criminal, and, from that point of 
 view, insane. The other had had the capabilities 
 of sainthood, but had opened his soul to the 
 Dweller on the Threshold and was doubly lost. 
 
 We went slowly towards the ship. " Good old 
 bird ! " he said, as any public schoolboy might 
 
The Air Pirate 2*5 
 
 have said it. " I expect this'U be the last cruise 
 I ever take in her." 
 
 " Or in any ship at all," I answered. " I suppose 
 you've no illusions as to what's in store for you ? " 
 
 "No, I suppose it's a hanging job," he replied, 
 and I assented, though, as you will learn, both his 
 anticipations were to prove wrong. 
 
 Danjuro and I shifted Vargus out of the main 
 cabin into the small one where the tools and 
 spare parts were stored. We didn't want Constance 
 to see him, and he was so well secured that he 
 couldn't possibly do any harm. 
 
 Gascoigne we left for the present on one of the 
 seats, and I hurried to fetch the two women, 
 passing Thumbwood, still at his post, 
 
 " Everything is arranged," I called out, as I 
 ran through Helzephron's room. " We are going 
 to fly to Plymouth at once in the Pirate Ship." 
 
 The maid Wilson shrieked. 
 
 " Oh, Sir John, that awful ship ! I couldn't 
 go in 'er again, not for my life. Let's go in a taxi. 
 Miss, please 'ave a taxi ; I couldn't face the ship." 
 
 " You'll lose your life quickly enough if you 
 stay," I said to the yelping fool, though. Heaven 
 knows, the poor soul had gone through enough 
 to turn her mind entirely. Her mouth grew like 
 a round O, and I was preparing for another 
 shriek when I suddenly thought of something. 
 
 " Miss Connie will be quite safe with me," I 
 
246 The Air Pirate 
 
 said quickly, " and I shall put you in charge of 
 Charles Thumbwood. You remember him ? He'll 
 look after you all right, Wilson." 
 
 It acted like a charm. J. had remembered 
 Charles's attention to the pretty maid in the train. 
 
 "Ow!" said Wilson. "Is Mr. Thumbwood 
 here, then, Sir John ? " 
 
 " Very much so. You will be his especial charge, 
 and the journey won't take more than three- 
 quarters of an hour." 
 
 The girl picked up the dressing-bag, which she 
 had dropped upon the floor. " Then that will 
 be all right," she said with a flush, and I wondered 
 if she thought Charles was going to pilot the ship 
 himself. How true it is that Faith can move 
 mountains ! No doubt Constance felt just the 
 same about me as Mary Wilson did about Charles. 
 
 . . . We had come out into the cave, and had 
 walked a few yards towards the looming bulk of 
 the ship, when the telephone bell on the cave-side 
 ahead of us rang furiously. It kept on like an 
 alarm-clock, and telling the girls to remain still 
 for a moment, I ran up and unhooked the receiver. 
 
 A voice was bawling at the other end, so loud 
 that the words rang and buzzed one into the 
 other, and I could only distinguish one or two. 
 I heard enough to know what had happened, 
 though. 
 
 " Chief . . . coastguard police . . . rifles ... all 
 
The Air Pirate 247 
 
 round the house on the moor were coming down 
 . . . two of us stay . . . hold till last moment. . , ." 
 
 So that was it ! Billy Pengelly, the coastguard, 
 had made good. The wires had been at work 
 while we had been about our mole-like warfare 
 underground. The avengers were among the gorse 
 and heather, and the remainder of the pirates 
 were doomed. . . . 
 
 " Come on," I shouted to Connie, realizing that 
 there was literally not a moment to lose, and, 
 alarmed by the excitement in my voice, they 
 started to run. 
 
 When they had come up to me, and I started 
 to run with them towards the ship, there was a 
 sudden thunderous report. Looking to the right, 
 I saw that Thumbwood had taken cover, and 
 was lying on his stomach behind the barrier. 
 The open door was but a dim oblong of yellow light 
 at that distance, and I could not see a yard down 
 the passage in the rocks. 
 
 Thumbwood fired again, and the echoing roar 
 had not died away when something went by my 
 ear with a vicious zipp, and I heard the splash of 
 a bullet upon the granite. 
 
 The pirates were coming down in force, and, 
 finding themselves between Scylla and Charybdis, 
 had turned at bay. 
 
 I knew Thumbwood woul4 keep them where 
 they were for a minute or two, and I raced to the 
 
248 The Air Pirate 
 
 ship with Connie at my side. Wilson had fainted, 
 and we had to drag her between us. 
 
 Half-way up the light, steep accommodation 
 ladder Danjuro was waiting, perfectly calm and 
 unconcerned. We handed up the unconscious 
 maid, and he disappeared with her in a second. 
 Then Connie was helped up the ladder, while the 
 whole cavern began to thunder with & fusillade of 
 rapid firing. 
 
 " The police and coastguards are Surrounding the 
 house," I shouted, " and the rest of the crew ha-^e 
 come down, and are trying to fight their way 
 into the cave." 
 
 " It is what I thought, Sir John. Those gentle- 
 men must be considerably surprised at their recep- 
 tion ! We can shoot them all down before they 
 get out of the passage. Perhaps, now that rescue 
 is at hand, we had better wait and do so ? " 
 
 His eyes were glistening ; I saw the light of 
 slaughter in them. For an instant I hesitated. 
 What he said was sane enough, The risk was 
 comparatively small ; it would only be postponing 
 the triumphal flight. 
 
 Then I took a decision — it rested with me, and 
 I was alone responsible. " We mustn't shoot them 
 all down," I shouted through the din,, for bullets 
 were streaming into the cave behind as though 
 they were pumped from a hose. " Some of them 
 must be brought tp justice. We had better be 
 
The Air Pirate 249 
 
 off and leave the coastguards and police to deal 
 with them." 
 
 Thus I spoke. I said what I honestly thought 
 was best at the moment, though perhaps my 
 mind was a little influenced by the natural and 
 terrible anxiety to get my girl away from further 
 horrors. 
 
 At any rate, I decided, and all my life long I 
 shall never cease to regret it. 
 
 " Very good," said Danjuro. " Up into the 
 pilot's <;abin, quick. Sir John. You are indispens- 
 able there. Prepare for an instant start. I will 
 run and fetch Thumbwood. We shall have to fire 
 thirty or forty rounds quickly into the passage 
 to keep them back. Of course, they are firing 
 automatic pistols round the bend now, and not 
 exposing themselves any more. After we have 
 fired we shall run for the ship. You will hear 
 me shout and then start like lightning ! " 
 
 He slipped past me, and, crouching almost to 
 the ground, ran back towards Thumbwood like 
 some great cat. 
 
 I flung myself aboard. Constance was attending 
 to Wilson in the main cabin. Gascoigne was lying 
 bound where he had been thrown, but his eyes 
 were blazing with excitement. 
 
 I put a stop to that at once. " The remainder 
 of your friends are being shot down," I said 
 curtly. " Lucky for you to be here." 
 
250 The Air Pirate 
 
 All the animation died out of his face. And, as 
 I didn't want to leave him alone with Connie — 
 it seemed a desecration that he should be in the 
 same place with her even for a moment — I whipped 
 out my knife, cut the bonds^at his feet, and pushed 
 him into the pilot's cabin, making him lie upon the 
 floor at my side as I got into the swivel chair. I 
 could shoot, him dead in an instant if he moved. 
 
 Then I sat rigid, with my hand upon the switch 
 which started the engines. 
 
 In reality, I know now that the time of waiting 
 was very short, but it seemed an eternity to me. 
 For the first time my nerves felt upon the point of 
 giving way. My hand trembled. I began to 
 think of the narrow S-shaped passage between 
 high walls of rock to the sea, and realized the 
 appalling nature of the task before me. A mere 
 touch of the planes upon those iron barriers, and 
 all the long struggle would prove unavailing, the 
 triumph turn to a defeat in which my girl and I, 
 the superman Danjuro, and faithful Thumbwood 
 would lose our hard-won lives. 
 
 One touch and the ship would crumple up like 
 paper and fall like a stone into the cruel cauldron 
 of jagged rock and furious waves far below. 
 
 There came a voice from the floor. Had the 
 prisoner divined something of my thoughts ? 
 
 "... Look here. Sir John, you're up against 
 a nasty job. It's the very devil getting out of here 
 
The Air Pirate 251 
 
 if you don't know the way and haven't practised 
 it." 
 
 Something in the young fellow's voice told me 
 that this was not mockery. He was, moreover, 
 the second pilot of the Pirate Ship, trained by 
 Helzephron himself. 
 
 " I did not ask you to speak," I answered. 
 
 " No, but really it's no end of a stunt. The 
 controls are ten times as sensitive as in an ordinary 
 machine. If you were the best pilot living, you'd 
 find it hard to manage in a ship that's quite new 
 to you, and has all sorts of habits and tricks that 
 no other has." 
 
 He^ spoke truly enough, and I knew it, but it 
 was none the less unpleasant to hear. 
 
 " I suppose you're afraid for your damned skin," 
 I sneered. 
 
 " Oh, come, draw it mild," he replied. " I only 
 spoke to try and help you. I know, when I'm 
 beaten, and I don't bear any malice." 
 
 " If I do take you safely out, it will only mean 
 the gallows." 
 
 " Oh, no, it won't 1 " he said. " I shall turn 
 King's evidence. There are lots of things I know 
 that no one else except Vargus knows now. I 
 shall get let off with fifteen years. Bet you a 
 fiver, if you like. It's to my interest to help you 
 out." 
 
 I can generally tell when a man is sincere, and 
 
252 The Air Pirate 
 
 I realized that this young scoundrel was, despite — 
 and perhaps because of — the baseness of his motive. 
 
 " Help me ? " 
 
 " Yes, out of the passage. Once you get in clear 
 air y6u'll fly her easily enough — and you'll be as- 
 tonished, by Jove 1 But you'd better let me pilot 
 you. It's the lift and the sharp right bank that 
 are so difficult. ..." 
 
 " Get up," I said. 
 
 He scrambled to his feet, 
 
 " Stand there ! " He leaned against the wall 
 at my side, his hands tied behind him and his arms 
 tightly bound. 
 
 He was about to speak, when suddenly we both 
 started. Something had happened. For a mo- 
 ment I did not realize what it was. Then I knew. 
 The continuous thunder of rifle fire had stopped. 
 Everything was dead silent. I'd hardly become 
 conscious qf the fact when there was a loud shout. 
 
 " Let her go, Sir John ! Let her go ! " 
 
 Danjuro stumbled into the cabin, panting like 
 a whippet. 
 
 I pulled over the switch and then the lever of 
 the starting mechanism. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE GOLDEN DEEAM 
 
 ' I ^HE strangely-shaped propellers bit the air 
 ■^ at once, the walls of the cavern, flooded 
 with spectral light, slid backwards, and as the ship 
 swerved round the curve towards the entrance, 
 the day leapt at us. 
 
 Wow ! but it was touch and go during the next 
 ten seconds. If it had not been for Gascoigne 
 I am sure that I should never have gone through. 
 The great ship shot out of its lair like a dart ; 
 a touch upon the little steering-wheel and she was 
 banking in the terrible right-hand turn ; the 
 granite walls seemed rushing to meet and crush 
 her, and only the quick, steady words of command 
 from the prisoner, which like an automaton I 
 obeyed, got her finally into the straight. . . . 
 
 And then — oh, then — I opened out the mar- 
 vellous engines ; she seemed to shake herself 
 for an instant like a bird poised for a long flight, 
 and, humming like a wasp, she shot up and out 
 to sea. . . . 
 
 253 
 
254 The Air Pirate 
 
 The needle upon the speed indicator quivered 
 round its dial, moving ever upwards. Eighty, a 
 hundred, a hundred arid fifty — and thirty more-^ 
 we were doing nearly two hundred miles an hour, 
 straight out over the Atlantic before I had a thought 
 of our destination, or of anything but the supreme 
 glory of that rush up the dawn wind. 
 
 The whole morning Avorld was blue and gold; 
 new-built and beautiful. Far below, the Mother 
 of Oceans lay in an unwrinkled sheet of sapphire, 
 " as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire." 
 A tiny purple cloud upon the horizon was the Isles 
 of Seilly, sleeping under the sun. 
 
 Connie stole in and stood by my side, her hand 
 upon my shoulder, and I knew that her heart also 
 was full to overflowing, as memory flared up and 
 down in us like th*e flame of a lamp in a drau^t. 
 It was a moment so exquisite, so full of gratitude 
 to God, that no words of mine can do more than 
 hint at it. For we had escaped from hell and the 
 snare of devils, and knew it in one lightning flash 
 of gratitude and joy. 
 
 As she stared out at the sea and sky, which 
 
 glowed like the pavements of the New Jemsalem, 
 
 Connie quoted some words from Milton — ^the song 
 
 of the released spirit in his epilogue of " Comus " : 
 
 " To the Ocean now I fly, 
 And those happy dimes which lie 
 Where Day never shuts bis eyej 
 Upin the broad fields of the sky.", . 
 
The Air Pirate 255 
 
 And then, as I glanced at the compass card and 
 
 made a great sweep round, so that we faced the 
 
 jagged coasts of Cornwall onpe again, she whispered, 
 
 with a proud note in her voice : 
 
 " For still the Lord is Lord of Might 
 In deeds, in deeds, he takes delight." 
 
 Then, with a tiny pressure of my arm, she went back 
 to the other cabin. 
 
 I had not noticed Danjuro for the last few 
 minutes. He had led Gascoigne behind me as 
 soon as we had made the passage. Now he 
 reappeared. 
 
 " Danjuro ! " I cried, " this ship is wonderful 
 beyond all imagining ! There isn't her equal in 
 the whole woi'ld. She'll revolutionize flying. It's 
 a perfect joy to pilot her ! " 
 
 Danjuro nodded calmly ; he was not given to 
 enthusiasms, this man with a panther in his soul. 
 " I have been speaking with the prisoner," he 
 said. 
 
 " With Vargus ? " 
 
 " No, though I have been to look at him, and he 
 is quite safe. With Gascoigne, and he has sug- 
 gested something that has not occurred to either 
 of us, Sir John." 
 
 " His help will all tell in his favoiu: when it 
 comes to the trial. What is it now ? " 
 
 " Something eminently sensible and pressing ! 
 As you see, this ship is quite unmistakable. Any 
 
256 The Air Pirate 
 
 pilot would recognize her from the descriptions 
 which have been circulated. We are now ap- 
 proaching the coast again and about to fly to 
 Plymouth. The air must be full of armed patrol 
 ships, and, whatever our speed, if we escape being 
 shot down en route, we should certainly be blown 
 to pieces on approaching the sea-drome ! " 
 
 I flushed up. I had been an incredible ass 
 never to have thought of that before. It was only 
 too true. Nobody could possibly know that we 
 had captured the Pirate Ship. . . . 
 
 I reduced our speed to half of what it had been. 
 " What are we to do ? " I said. 
 
 " There is a complete wireless installation on 
 board the ship. Can you operate it, Sir John ? " 
 
 " No. Even if I could leave the controls, that 
 would be impossible. I know nothing about it, 
 unfortunately." 
 
 " Nor I, Sir John. It is a gap in my knowledge 
 that I propose to remedy shortly. But this Gas- 
 coigne is an operator, and offers to send any 
 message." 
 
 " I suppose we can trust him ? He certainly 
 saved us from disaster coming out of the cavern." 
 
 I shuddered ; I did not want to think of that 
 blood-stained hole of horror any more. 
 
 " Yes, I think he can be trusted. He has every- 
 thing to gain, and can do no harm that I can see. 
 I cannot operate the keys of the apparatus, but I 
 
The Air Pirate 257 
 
 know the Morse code, and if I stand by him I 
 can check each letter as he sends it out." 
 
 Then I had an inspiration too. " Good ! 
 And now I think I can make it quite sure. I can 
 remember the private code of the Air PoUce with 
 hardly a gap. We will call up Plymouth, and all 
 the police boats now flying, in that private code. 
 Meanwhile, we had better run out to sea again 
 while you are taking it down." 
 
 Again I turned the ship, and as we spiralled 
 up and out again, I formed the message in my 
 mind and translated it, word for Word, into the 
 letters of the code, which Danjuro took down in 
 pencil upon a sheet of his pocket-book. 
 
 When I had finished, and as the message was 
 necessarily rather a long one it took some time, 
 Danjuro marched Gascoigne away to the rear 
 cabin, where Vargus was lying. It was there, you 
 may remember, that the wireless apparatus was 
 installed. 
 
 We were now reaching a great height, far above 
 any of the regular air-lanes, and I felt quite secure 
 from any attack. Land, sea, every reminder of 
 the world below, had vanished utterly. With 
 hardly a soimd from the magic engines we floated 
 in a haze of gold chrysophrase. It was like a 
 happy dream, though never was dream so beautiful. 
 Connie stole in again. " I thought I would leave 
 Thumbwood and Wilson alone," she said. " They 
 
 r7 
 
258 The Air Pirate 
 
 have been sitting side by side and whispering to 
 each other ever since we started. Neither of 
 them seems to have the least curiosity as to where 
 we are or where we're going." « 
 
 " How thoughtful of you, dearest ! Was that 
 the only reason you came in here ! " 
 
 The rest of the conversation is not a part of 
 this story. It lasted a long time as we droned 
 round great five-mile circles of the upper air. 
 And then a telephone rang at my ear. 
 
 Danjuro was speaking. The message had been 
 received at Plymouth, -and an answer had been 
 coming through for the last ten minutes. He 
 was writing it down, letter by Jjetter, from Gas- 
 coigne's dictation. Shortly afterwards he brought 
 it in to me, and as I read it off the world closed 
 round me again and fairyland vanished. 
 
 Triumph filled my veins and reddened my blood. 
 The message came from Muir Lockhart, who was 
 at Plymouth again, and was one shout of wonder 
 acnd congratulation. " The whole world will thank 
 you," it concluded. 
 
 For a little time I was intoxicated by that 
 message. I saw myself a hero, vindicated a 
 thousand times in the eyes of all men, the Chief 
 of Air Police whose name would be historical. 
 I think there are few men of my age who would 
 not have had their moment of vainglory ; we are 
 made so. But as I read the message to the man 
 
The Air Pirate 259 
 
 who had brought it, 1 realized that I had done 
 nothing, after all, and that everything was due 
 to his marvellous brilliancy and courage. 
 
 Thank Heaven that I realized it without a pang 
 of envy, and I told him what I thought of him in 
 no unstinted way. 
 
 He heard me to the end with no change of 
 countenance. When I had done, he said : " You 
 have been very kind, Sir John, and I greatly 
 appreciate what you have said. If, indeed, you 
 are indebted to me in any way for the help I 
 have been able to give, you can repay me, if you 
 will." 
 
 " To the half of my kingdom ! " I said, with a 
 laugh, though I was in dead earnest all the same. 
 
 " That is a promise, Sir John ? " He looked 
 down at me with magnetic eyes. ' 
 
 " A promise, Danjuro." 
 
 " Then, while I live, I ask you to say nothing 
 whatever of my part in this affair. I wish it kept 
 as secret as possible ; some little part must leak 
 out ; there will be investigations, public trials, 
 and so forth. But much can be kept secret, and 
 it rests with you and Thumbwood. And as I have 
 your promise, my mind is at rest." 
 
 " But this is madness, Danjuro ! You are owed 
 the thanks of two continents. You ..." 
 
 He interrupted me. 
 
 " I want nothing of the sort. I have had your 
 
 17* 
 
260 The Air Pirate 
 
 thanks, and that is sufficient. The work itself is 
 enough. My usefulness to Mr. Van Adams, the 
 endeavour of my whole life, would be destroyed if 
 anything were known." 
 
 Reluctantly I promised. " But Mr. Van AdantTs, 
 I shall tell him everything ! " I said. 
 
 Danjuro bowed his head. A faint flush came 
 into his yellow face. " If you think I have done 
 anything worth it," he replied, with a curious and 
 touching silence. 
 
 And this was the man with the panther in his 
 soul ! For the American millionaire he had 
 supreme love, with devotion — worship — and for no 
 one and nothing else on earth above or below it. 
 
 A man with a single obsession, a man of one 
 idea. Well, most of the great men in life have 
 been that. . . . 
 
 I steered for Plymouth at full speed, coming 
 down to three thousand feet. In a flash the 
 jagged coast, fringed with a thin line of white, 
 came clear to view. We sped from the Atlantic, 
 over the narrow peninsula of land which divides 
 it from the Channel, and then turned east. The 
 Bay, with St. Michael's Mount looking like a tiny 
 white pebble, gave place to the long, menacing 
 snout of the Lizard, and, as a few minutes later 
 we neared Falmouth, a flight of airships rose from 
 the water of that mighty harbour and came up 
 to join us like a flock of gulls, the big Klaxon 
 
The Air Pirate 261 
 
 electric horns blaring a welcome. Dead Man's 
 Rock and Gall Island, Looe, Mevagissey, Fowey — 
 all slipped a^ay astern, and the bluff outlines of 
 Rame Head, from which the Devon watchers 
 first signalled the Armada, came rushing into 
 view. I had been speeding far ahead, turning 
 back, flying all round the escorting patrol boats, 
 which were doing all they knew, letting them see 
 what a wonder had come into our hands, and 
 rejoicing more and more in the powers of the ship, 
 as I found them one by one. Now I slowed down, 
 and signalled by horn to the leading vessel of the 
 flotilla. 
 
 As we turned and entered Plymouth Sound, 
 the others spread themselves out in a great wedge, 
 of which I was leader, like a skein of wild geese 
 upon the wing. A salute of guns boomed out as 
 we flew high on the Breakwater, and all the bells ' 
 of Plymouth were ringing as I swooped down into 
 the sea-drome. 
 
 And all this time, for three-quarters of an hour 
 or more, our two prisoners had been alone together 
 in the aft cabin, where the tools and spare parts 
 were stored. Neither I nor Danjuro had given 
 them a further thought, and it was the one fatal 
 mistake we made upon that morning of triumph. 
 
 Thumbwood had, however, been in to look at 
 them once or twice, and had seen nothing <iis- 
 turbirig. Certainly, when some of my men came 
 
262 The Air Pirate 
 
 to take them to the station, they were lying sullen 
 in their bonds, and not saying a word to each 
 other of any kind. 
 
 But by that time the mischief was doubtless 
 done. 
 
 Space begins to press upon me. There are still 
 two strange and unforgettable scenes to add to 
 this narrative, further tragedies to set down. The 
 last scene of all, which I have called " The Epi- 
 logue," was not written for a year aft^ theearlier 
 part of this story, which is now published as a. 
 whole for the first time*. Why this is so will 
 become clear as you read on, if you care to follow 
 me to the very end. 
 
 But as I would not weary you, I will only indi- 
 cate the happenings during the rest of that day 
 at Plymouth in the briefest possible fashion. I 
 am impatient to bring the story up to the hour of 
 eleven-thirty of the same night. 
 
 Immediately we were at rest on the placid waters 
 of the sea-drome, Muir Lockhart, with a strong 
 force of Air Police, came aboard. Constance and 
 her maid Were taken in a motor-boat to one of 
 my patrol ships, which started with them for the 
 Hounslow Aerodrome within half an hour of our 
 arrival. We both of us thought it best that she 
 should proceed to London immediately, and going 
 
The Air Pirate 263 
 
 by air in a Government sKip, she Would escape all 
 annoyance and publicity. 
 
 All approach to the sea-drome was barred, and 
 though the Hoe was crowded with spectators, 
 none of them could approach anywhere near to us. 
 When I had given Lockhart an outline of what 
 had occurred, the two prisoners were taken over 
 the pool with a strong guard, and run up in the 
 private lift to the A.P. station, where there was 
 a strong cell ready to receive them. Then I was 
 free to show my colleague, himself an expert 
 airman, the wonders of our capture. 
 
 I was doing this — we were in the pilot's cabin — 
 when one of my men came in and said that a 
 motor-launch had come alongside from the private 
 air-yacht May Flower, which was moored not a 
 hundred yards away. I had noticed, when 
 descending, that a magnificent yacht was close 
 by, but I did not identify it as Mr. Van Adams' 
 ship. It appeared that he had been sleeping 
 aboard for the last two or three nights, since he 
 had flown down from London for the funeral, and 
 was now alongside. 
 
 Van Adams, of course, was an exception to all 
 ordinary rules, and in a minute he was shaking 
 hands in the private saloon and betraying a most 
 lively curiosity as to our adventures. I put Dan- 
 juro to satisfy him, and when we had discussed 
 a bottle of Helzephron's champagne, I left a 
 
264 The Air Pirate 
 
 couple of trusted men to guard the ship, and went 
 ashore. Danjuro returned to the May Flower 
 with his patron. 
 
 The rest of the day was a whirl of business and 
 excitement, though I managed to get three hours 
 much needed sleep in the afternoon. 
 
 Wires from the Government, from America, from 
 Royalty, poured in, in a never-ceasing stream. 
 There were innumerable officials to see, the corre- 
 spondents of the great newspapers to satisfy with 
 some sort of story — a hundred things to do and 
 arrange for. The whole of England was in a fer- 
 ment, and the stone building of the Air Police on the 
 Hoe was, for a few hours, the centre of it all. 
 The air was thick with patrol ships, warning off 
 aviators of all kinds from approaching the Pirate 
 Ship, which lay at rest and harmless by the north 
 wall of the pool. 
 
 Just before I retired to rest the news of what 
 was called " The Battle of the Moor " began to 
 come through. The pirates, seeing their ship 
 gone, had rushed up again into the house, and had 
 held it with the courage of desperation. Only 
 three of them had survived, and were now locked 
 up in the police-station at Penzance. 
 
 ... It would take many pages to detail the 
 events of that crowded day, which did not end for 
 me until ten o'clock at night, for I was forced to 
 attend a congratulatory dinner at the " Royal." 
 
The Air Pirate 265 
 
 Previous to that I had found it necessary to 
 summon Danjuro from the May Flower, where he 
 had remained quietly with Mr. Van Adams during 
 the day. It was necessary that I should be 
 restored to something like my former self, and only 
 Danjuro could make me blond again ! My 
 moustache, alas ! he could not restore. 
 
 I had arranged to sleep at the station, where 
 there were several bedrooms, and about ten-thirty 
 I passed the sentry and entered the grounds. 
 
 Plymouth was now quiet. It was a hot, dark 
 night, with neither moon nor stars. During the 
 day the Weather had changed, and now thunder 
 muttered far away at sea and amethyst sheet- 
 lightning flickered upon the horizon. 
 
 Now and again a drop of hot rain fell. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 LAST FLIGHT OF THE PIRATE AIRSHIP 
 
 THE station superintendent met me in- the 
 office, which was brilliantly lit and cooled 
 by an electric fan. 
 
 " I expect you're feeling pretty well done, Sir 
 John," he said. 
 
 " I feel pretty tired, Johnson, I own." 
 
 " There's a big thunderstorm coming up, not 
 a doubt of it. The air'U be cooler afterwards. 
 All the arrangements about the prisoners are 
 made, sir." 
 
 The staff had been in communication with 
 London all (day upon this matter, but I had not 
 heard the result. I inquired from the superin- 
 tendent now. 
 
 " Our two birds. Sir John, and the three they've 
 got at Penzance are to travel to London to-night. 
 They'll be brought up at Bow Street for a minute 
 or two, and remanded for a week to suit your 
 convenience. The Home Office will communicate 
 with you, sir." 
 
 266 
 
The Air Pirate 267 
 
 " Very well. How are they going ? " 
 
 " The night mail train leaves Penzance at 
 twelve, and gets here at two. The other three 
 will be on board and well guarded. Our prisoners 
 will join the train at Mill Bay Station. I've 
 detailed Prosser and Moore to escort them." 
 
 " See that the men are well armed. How are 
 the prisoners ? " 
 
 " Very quiet, sir. They seem to realize that 
 it's all up with them. They've taken their food 
 all right." 
 
 " They are both together ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sir John. You see, we've only the one 
 cell that is absolutely safe. But that can't make 
 any difference. A man looks in every half-hour. 
 They can't hear him coming, and he reports that 
 they don't even talk." 
 
 " They're not handcuffed ? " 
 
 " No, I didn't think it necessary, sir. They will 
 be, and chained together, too, when they leave for 
 the train. We searched them thoroughly, and 
 took everything they had on them away half an 
 hour after they were brought in. Would you 
 like to see them, sir ? " 
 
 " I don't think so, Johnson. I've been a good 
 deal too much in their society during the last 
 day or two. I don't want to look at that Vargus 
 again until he's in the dock, and I'm giving 
 evidence against him." 
 
268 The Air Pirate 
 
 " He's a wicked-looking customer, if ever I saw 
 one," said the inspector, with a face of disgust. 
 " Well, good-night, sir, and I hope you'll sleep 
 well. I've told the station attendant to have 
 your bath ready at «ght. He'll call you then." 
 
 The good Johnson went away, and I was left 
 alone. My head ached, and I felt disinclined for 
 sleep at once. I undressed, however, smd sat in 
 pyjamas as I smoked a final pipe. There was 
 whisky, soda and a bowl of ice, and I took a peg, 
 I felt singularly low and dispirited. It was, I 
 supposed, the inevitable reaction of the nerves 
 after all I had endured, combined with the heavy 
 pressure of the atmosphere and the electric ten- 
 sion of the storm. At any rate, I remember 
 feeling — as everyone does at times — that the 
 greatest triumphs and successes were worth very- 
 little, after all, when once they were achieved. 
 There is bitterness at the bottom of every cup — 
 surgit amari aliquidr— and life was a poor thing at 
 best. And I fell to reflecting on the evil and misery 
 that can be wrought by one man. 
 
 The gaunt spectre of Hawk Helzephron haunted 
 my mind, and the long row of dead men that must 
 be laid to his account, the brave fellows of my own 
 service, the Transatlantic people — ^to say nothing 
 of the black scoundrels that he Had made and 
 tempted, who had been hurried into eternity with 
 their crimes unrepented. . . . 
 
The Air Pirate 269 
 
 It was a morbid train of thought, but I was 
 worn out, and the dark hour had its way with 
 me, until I thought of Connie and her merciful 
 preservation from harm, my own rescue. Then, 
 rather ashamed of myself, I made an effort to 
 banish these gloomy imaginings, said my prayers, 
 and got into bed. 
 
 All the same, as I fell asleep, the stammer of 
 the approaching thunder and the white glare of 
 lightning, which now and then flashed into the 
 darkened room, seemed like the growling of those 
 awful dogs and the glare of the advancing airship 
 in the cave. . . . 
 
 I think now that I must have had some, uncon- 
 scious premonition of the tragedy which was 
 racing towards me all the time. 
 
 ... I was awakened sharply and suddenly, 
 at first I thought by a flash of lightning. But 
 it was not so. The electrics had been suddenly 
 turned on, and there were men in uniform round 
 my bed. The wind ihad risen and was whistling 
 outside. A deluge of thunder rain was in pro- 
 gress, and great sheets of water were flung against 
 the window. 
 
 I saw Superintendent Johnson. His face was 
 white as linen. 
 
 " What is it ? " I shouted. 
 
 He shouted in answer, and I heard his voice 
 above the tumult of the storm. 
 
270 The Air Pirate 
 
 " The prisoners, Sir John," he waUed. " They've 
 got away. They picked the lock of the cell some- 
 how, got into the passage, and broke the bars of 
 the window at the end. We none of us heard 
 a^sound ! " 
 
 I leapt out of bed and began to bellow orders 
 for pursuit — until I saw Johnson's terrified face 
 again, and knew that I had not heard all. 
 
 "... They got down to the water somehow, 
 sir. They must have climbed down the lift rails. 
 And they swam to the ship, i 4 " 
 
 " Good God ! What ship ? " 
 
 " Their own ship, Sir John. Somehow or other 
 they managed to get on board ; we've just 
 heard. . . ." 
 
 " Where are they ? " 
 
 " They did for the two men on board, and must 
 have managed to start the engines — the ship's gone. 
 The searchlights are all over the pool, and there's 
 no trace of her. They were seen, Sir John, I . . ." 
 
 He broke off short, the words drying up in his 
 mouth. All the other men shrank together in a 
 frightened group as Danjuro came slowly into the 
 room. 
 
 I have never seen a figure so awe-inspiring, or 
 terrible. 
 
 In moments of supreme emotion a European 
 grows chalk-white, an Asiatic grey. 
 
 The Japanese was livid grey now, and his face 
 
The Air Pirate 271 
 
 seemed carved with fantastic gashes — grey rubber 
 slashed with a knife. He was like a man who had 
 slept a thousand years and wakened to find him- 
 self old, and in hell. 
 
 He came slowly up to me, moving like a thing 
 on wheels drawn by a cord, and when he was close, 
 he spoke. 
 
 I can never recall his voice without an almost 
 physical state of fear. Suppose that you could 
 go with Dante to that gate over which is written, 
 '* Abandon hope all ye who enter here," And 
 suppose, as you stood there and listened, you 
 heard a well-known voice far do\TO, saying, " I 
 am tormented in this flame. ..." 
 
 Well, Danjuro's voice was like that. 
 
 " During a lull in the storm," he said, as if 
 repeating a lesson, " I went up on the deck of the 
 May Flower for a breath of air. Mr. Van Adams 
 accompanied me. We were looking over the water 
 to the Pirate Ship, when I saw lights flashing up 
 and down through the portholes of the fuselage. It 
 struck me as strange. We wondered what the 
 two men in charge could be doing. As we watched, 
 we were just able to distinguish two men coming 
 up on deck. Then there came a vivid flash of 
 lightning, and I saw everything plainly. The 
 two men were Vargus and Gascoigne, and they 
 were carrying the body of a man in uniform, 
 which they lowered into the~water." 
 
272 The Air Pirate 
 
 Inspector Johnson gave a quick gasp. Danjuro 
 continued : 
 
 " Without a moment's delay I got a couple of 
 pistols, and Mr. Van Adams and I jumped into the 
 electric launch, which was moored alongside the 
 May Flower, though on the other side to that 
 which faced the Pirate. There was no time to 
 summon help. We shot out into the pool just as 
 the storm began again with thunder-claps and a 
 deluge of water. We were within a few yards of 
 the ship and making ready to board her, when 
 Mr, Van Adams flashed a powerful electric torch, 
 and I saw Vargus with a knife in his hand hacking 
 at the mooring ropes. At the same time I noticed 
 that the lights in the pilot's cabin had been turned 
 on. 
 
 " I took a snap-shot at Vargus and missed him. 
 Almost simultaneously he fired directly at the 
 light of the torch which Mr. Van Adams held. 
 The bullet went through Mr. Van Adams' heart, 
 and he fell back dead in my arms — I was steering 
 the launch. I fired off all the cartridges in my 
 pistol, but the thunder drowned the noise. The 
 Pirate Ship began to move. I saw the lights 
 in her side moving along — and then she lifted and 
 disappeared." 
 
 The awful voice ceased, and all of us in that 
 room stood like waxen figures in a show. 
 
The Air Pirate 273 
 
 For three days the Press and public were kept 
 in entire ignorance of what had happened during 
 the storm. 
 
 Upon the fourth, just as I was beginning to 
 think that all my measures were in vain and that 
 the Pirate Ship had vanished utterly, the Head 
 Office in Whitehall received two long telegrams 
 from the Prefect of Finist^re in France and the 
 Chief of Police 6f Quimper, the old cathedral city 
 in Brittany. 
 
 On one of the wild and lonely Breton moors a 
 goat-herd had discovered the wreckage of a large 
 airship. By it was the body of a young man, but 
 only one body. The telegrams urgently asked 
 me to come over at once. 
 
 I did so, in my fastest patrol boat. Lying in a 
 wild wilderness of gorse and heather were the 
 remains of the Pirate Ship. It had been 
 destroyed beyond possibility of reconstruction, and 
 destroyed methodically and deliberately while at 
 rest upon the ground. There was no doubt about 
 that. The body I afterwards saw in the Morgue 
 at Quimper was that of Gascoigne. He had not 
 met his death by any accidental means, but had 
 been stabbed in the back. 
 
 He must have been dead for quite two days 
 before the goat-herd made his discovery, and of 
 Vargus, living or dead, there was not a trace. 
 
 I was back in London again that night, and 
 
 i8 
 
274 The Air Pirate 
 
 just as I was going to bed in Half Moon Street 
 the bell of the flat rang. Thumbwood went to 
 the door and announced that Mr. Danjuro wished 
 to see me. 
 
 He was in evening dress, and quite his old self 
 again to outward appearances, except that his 
 black hair had turned an iron grey. 
 
 For a moment or two we discussed details of the 
 inquest that had been held in camera upon poor 
 Van Adams, arrangements made for the trial of 
 the three surviving pirates, and so on. Then I 
 told him what I had seen at Quimper. 
 
 " Mr. Muir Lockhart told me of the telegrams 
 from France," he said. " I called at Whitehall, 
 but you had already started for Quimper, Sir 
 John. I must apologize for such a late call, but 
 I was anxious to hear your news. Now I see my 
 way clear." 
 
 " I suppose, after your great loss, you will go 
 back to America, or perhaps Japan, and settle 
 down ? " 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 " You know," I continued, " that if you cared 
 for it, there is a highly-paid and important position 
 open to you with the Air Police ? Nothing would 
 give me greater pleasure, as you know, than to 
 have you as a colleague." 
 
 " I thank you. Sir John, but I have other work 
 to do. I am a rich man, but that only interests 
 
The Air Pirate 275 
 
 me, inasmuch as it is a means to an end. When 
 that end is reached ..." 
 
 He made a curious gesture with his arm, which 
 I did not understand. 
 
 " May I ask what your work is ? " 
 
 He looked at me with surprise. "^ 
 
 " Vargus is still alive," he said simply. 
 
 " He will be caught soon. The police of the 
 world are looking for him, if he is alive." 
 
 " I think it will be a long pursuit, Sir John. He 
 has got off with the treasure, and I know one or 
 two things about him which axe not generally 
 known. I do not think that Mr. Vargus will 
 fall into the hands of the police." 
 
 " Then you . . . ? " 
 
 " It is my work. I owe the spirit of my patron 
 this man's blood, and I shall pay the debt. Were 
 he to hide in the depths of the sea, sooner or later 
 I shall find him. There is no power strong enough 
 in life to keep us two apart." 
 
 He had dropped his voice. The words hissed 
 like a knife upon a strop. 
 
 " I wish you good luck," I said at length, and 
 was about to say more, to express my gratitude 
 again, when he cut me short. 
 
 " I am leaving for Paris in half an hour," he 
 said, " and must bid you farewell. Sir John. Convey 
 my humble compliments to Miss Shepherd," and 
 with a low bow and a frigid handshake he was gone. 
 
 i8* 
 
276 The Air Pirate 
 
 Six weeks afterwards, on the day before my 
 wedding, I received a magnificent Japanese vase 
 of the old Satsuma enamel, but the card enclosed 
 bore no address. 
 
 I did not see this extraordinary being again for 
 nearly two years. Of that meeting I shall write 
 in the following short epilogue. 
 
EPILOGUE 
 
 TN the winter of 19— I was at Monte Carlo 
 -*- for three weeks, taking a short holiday 
 alone, and also looking out for a villa at Roque- 
 brune or Mentone for- my wife, who was to come 
 out with the baby as soon as the house had been 
 secured. 
 
 Now and again I went into the " Rooms " and 
 staked a louis or two upon an even chance or a 
 transversale at roulette ; but, speaking generally, 
 the Casino bored me. The cosmopolitan crowd 
 of smart people — ^like champagne corks floating 
 on a cesspool — the professional gamblers, with 
 their veil of decorous indifference concealing a 
 fierce greed for money whidh they have no* 
 earned — a sprinkling of wood-ash over a glowing 
 fire — presented little interest, and I much pre- 
 ferred long walks and drives in the earthly paradise 
 of Les Alpes Maritimes. 
 
 I stayed at the Metropole Hotel, making it the 
 base of my excursions, and one evening, after 
 dinner, I paid one of my rare visits to the Casino. 
 
 277 
 
278 The Air Pirate 
 
 I wandered about the gilded, stuffy saloons, with 
 their illuminations of oil-lamps — so that no enter- 
 prising gentleman may cut the electric wires and 
 make off with the money on the tables ! — ^the low 
 voices and almost sanctimonious manner of the 
 players, the over-dressed demi-mondaines who 
 glide about with their hard, evil eyes. The place 
 was very full. All the chairs round the roulette 
 tables were occupied, and people were standing 
 behind the chairs as well. As I am tall, I was able 
 to reach over and place my stakes, and I did so 
 several times. When I had lost four louis with 
 monotonous regularity, I decided that it was not 
 worth while, and thought I would go and smoke, 
 for, contrary to the usual pictures in the maga- 
 zines, smoking is not allowed in the roulette or 
 trente-et-quarante rooms. 
 
 So I went out into the Atrium, the great pillared 
 entrance hall, which looks like an important pro- 
 vincial corn exchange, and lit a cigarette. The 
 place was fairly full of people, walking up and 
 down, or reading the latest telegrams, which are 
 fixed up upon a green-baize screen, and I was 
 watching them idly when,^ coming round the 
 corner from the cloak-room, I saw — Danjuro ! 
 
 My heart gave a sudden leap, the sight of him 
 was so utterly unexpected and recalled so much. 
 To tell the truth, he seemed to belong to a long 
 past and forgotten dream, for Connie and I, by 
 
The Air Pirate 279 
 
 mutual consent, hardly ever spoke of the days 
 of the pirates. 
 
 Danjuro was about fifteen yards away. I saw 
 his face distinctly, and was certain that I was 
 not mistaken. Then he looked up, and I could 
 swear that he saw and recognized me. 
 
 Be that as it may, he turned and slipped round 
 the corner like a weasel, and when I got there he 
 had vanished. I made a search, of course, though 
 I knew how futile it would be if he wished to avoid 
 me, and the result was as I expected. There 
 wasn't a trace of him anywhere, and none of the 
 attendants or door-keepers had seen a Japanese 
 gentleman anywhere. 
 
 I went for a walk on the terrace in the moon- 
 light, and then returned to the hotel and sought, 
 my bed. For a long time I could not sleep. The 
 sight of Danjuro had made me restless. A legion 
 of memorises trooped through the brain, and 
 curiosity marshalled the procession. What was 
 that enigmatic and sinister being doing here ? 
 Was he still upon his ruthless quest, moving 
 through the panorama of European life like some 
 wandering Jew of vengeance ? Nothing had 
 ever been heard of Vargus again. For my part, 
 I shared the opinion of the police bureaux of the 
 Continent, that the soft-voiced and malignant 
 scoundrel was dead. 
 
 It was pathetic to think of Danjuro prowling 
 
280 The Air Pirate 
 
 through Hfe to avenge his patron, wasting his 
 magnificent powers upon a hopeless quest. 
 Pathetic, yes — so ran my thoughts — but one can't 
 think of Danjuro as an ordinary human being. 
 He was simply a single idea, clothed in flesh, a 
 marvellous machine designed for one operation 
 only, a specialist so perfect that he became a 
 monomaniac. , 
 
 Poor Van Adams, to protect and serve him had 
 been Danjuro' s whole life. Every faculty of 
 mind and body had been devoted to that one end. 
 And yet he must have loved the American to have 
 served him so ? And if he could love he was 
 human ! 
 
 I wrestled with the problem till dawn, and got 
 no nearer a solution. I knew that, despite our 
 companionship in peril and the extraordinary adven- 
 tures we had gone through together, if Van Adams 
 had lived and for any reason had told Danjuro 
 to put me out of the way, the little man would 
 have executed the job with neatness, dispatch, 
 and an entire absence of compunction, 
 
 I decided that Danjuro, as a subject of psycho- 
 logical analysis, was quite beyond me, and 
 did my best to forget the incident. With an 
 effort I managed to do so, and got a few hours' 
 sleep before Thumbwood called me. I said 
 nothing to him of having seen Danjuro, for he 
 also is unwilling to talk much of the days of 
 
The Air Pirate 281 
 
 terror — perhaps because his wife, Wilson, that was, 
 and is still, Connie's handmaid — so strenuously 
 objects to it. 
 
 About half-past eleven I left the hotel and 
 strolled to the foot of the funicular railway which 
 hauls one up from the narrow ledge of land on 
 which Monte Carlo stands to the heights of La 
 Turbie. I designed to lunch at the excellent hotel 
 at the top in the clear mountain air, and then to 
 walk along the Upper Corniche towards Roque- 
 brune, Eze, and the mountains above Mentone. 
 There is much to explore in these high regions — 
 ruins of Roman and medieval forts, built as a 
 defence against the raiding Moors of the Mediter- 
 ranean, and here and there delightful villas 
 among pine-woods and olive groves, far from the 
 haunts of men. 
 
 It was a house of this description, a mountain 
 hermitage, that I wished to find and take for six 
 months. I knew that they were occasionally to 
 be let, but somewhat difficult to come across upon 
 the books of the agents. In Monte Carlo I had 
 been assured that personal exploration was the best 
 and quickest way. 
 
 I lunched at La Turbie on a magnificent bouilla- 
 baisse and riz-de-veau, and after an interval set 
 out upon my walk. It was a magnificent after- 
 noon, the air golden clear. Far away out to sea 
 Corsica lay like a dim cloud. The mountain side 
 
282 The Air Pirate 
 
 fell in terrace after terrace of olives to groups of 
 painted houses looking like toys. Away, to the 
 right were the red roofs and gleaming white build- 
 ings of the Monte Carlo palaces, and the pro- 
 montory of the Tete du Chien was perfectly out- 
 lined in the azure of the sea. 
 
 " Yes," I thought, " upon this great height is 
 the place to live when one comes to the C6te 
 d'Azur, and I won't go home to-night until I 
 have found something. ..." And I began to 
 climb by a byrpath. 
 
 The afternoon was hot. After a mile or two 
 I rested in the shade of a great rock and fell asleep. 
 When I awoke the sun, which sets early in winter, 
 even on the Riviera, was declining. I was not 
 quite sure of my direction, but thought that I 
 could make Roquebrune by an oblique path over 
 the spur of the mountain, and from there easily 
 descend to Cap Martin and get a carriage, and take 
 the tram which crawls along the cliff to Monte 
 Carlo. So I set out. 
 
 The path, however, did not prove to be the 
 right one, and it was twilight, or that extremely 
 short interval which does duty for it in the south, 
 before I came to three or four stone huts fronting 
 a plateau with an enclosure full of goats. I ex- 
 plained my predicament to a swarthy woman 
 who sat knitting at a door, and she gave me direc- 
 tions. She also said, in mingled French and 
 
The Air Pirate 283 
 
 Italian, for the frontier was not five miles away, 
 that there would be a small empty villa to be let 
 a mile onwards — at least, she believed so. 
 
 " Can you tell me the name of the owner, 
 madame ? " I asked. 
 
 " But, no, m'sieu. It is a new gentleman. He 
 has bought the villa and the larger one, which is 
 close to it but higher up the hill. He is a scholar 
 of some sort, and lives quite alone, so he cannot 
 want the smaller house on the road. It was, 
 moreover, always let in the time of the last owner, 
 M. Visguis, of Nice." 
 
 I thanked the good dame, refused a cup of 
 goats' milk, gave hei»a five-franc piece and started 
 on my way again rejoicing. My luck was in. 
 This mountain chalet would be just the thing, 
 and I made up my mind to interview the recluse 
 on my way home. 
 
 The sun sank, and night came up with a rush 
 out of the Mediterranean. Everything was dead 
 still. There are no birds in these solitudes, and 
 the hum of day insects was over. Although the 
 moon rose almost at once and gave sufficient light 
 to steer by, the place was eerie. Immense rocks 
 threw ashen shadows. The stone pines stood 
 like silent sentinels, and the huge coronet of 
 jewels — ^topaz against black velvet — that was 
 Monte Carlo seemed a hundred miles away. 
 
 Following my directions, I came at length to the 
 
284 The Air Pirate 
 
 garden wall of a fairly large villa, painted all 
 along the sides, with gigantic and melancholy trees, 
 and the moonlight shed a ghostly radiance upon 
 it. This, I knew, was the house in occupation. 
 The one that might be let was lower down the 
 slope and on the other side of the road — ^to my 
 right. I could just see the roof of it as I peered 
 over the parapet. 
 
 Pushing open a wooden gate, I went up the 
 garden path towards the Villa Turquoise — ^that 
 I had discovered was its name. Tree frogs were 
 croaking round the house, but as it was winter, 
 there were no friendly fireflies ; once or twice 
 the fans of a palm clicked with a dry, rustling 
 noise. 
 
 It was difficult to find the door as I came up to 
 the villa, but after a moment, I saw a broad band 
 of yellow light coming from the side, and turned 
 towards it. I walked upon the turf of a little 
 lawn, and threaded my way between orange and 
 pepper trees, with here and there a bush of Cape 
 gooseberries. 
 
 And up to that moment I never had a suspicion 
 or a qualm. Indeed, I felt at peace with myself 
 and all the world, washed and purified by the 
 sweet Alpine air and all the loveliness my eyes, 
 had looked upon that day. Then I heard, clear, 
 strong and sudden, a chord of music on a piano. 
 
 I stopped dead still. 
 
The Air Pirate 285 
 
 Again that crash of sound, and then a smooth 
 and mellow arpeggio, as masterly fingers ran up 
 and down the keys of a magnificent instrument. 
 
 I grew cold, suddenly and horribly cold. 
 
 I could see nothing but a long French window 
 glowing orange with light in the dark side of the 
 house. I had heard nothing but some chords 
 upon a grand piano. 
 
 But in that moment, though subconsciously, I 
 knew. 
 
 I moved forward in little automatic jerks, listen- 
 ing with a dreadful fear, a sick certainty. The 
 second before I came to the window and looked 
 inside, it began. 
 
 Played by a master hand, I heard the opening 
 notes of the Third Ballade of Chopin. . . . 
 
 Another step, and, in the darkness myself, I 
 could see into the room. 
 
 The musician was Mr. Vargus. 
 
 He had grown a Httle moustache, which was 
 waxed at the ends, and a small black imperial on 
 his chin. He was also much fatter than when I 
 had seen him last, and he wore a smoking jacket 
 of purple velvet. On one finger was a diamond 
 ring, which flashed in the lamplight as the firm, 
 powerful hands rose and fell. 
 
 There was a soft smile in the sly eyes as he 
 interpreted the beautiful, fantastic music. 
 
 I am going to tell you what happened without 
 
286 The Air Pirate 
 
 comment or any reference whatever to my own 
 feelings. 
 
 The melody progressed to that marvellous 
 passage which Beardsley saw in line as a white 
 horse ambling through a dark wood of pines, 
 ridden by a lady in a dress of black velvet. 
 
 At the opening chords of the theme a door 
 behind the player opened quietly. He heard 
 nothing. ^ 
 
 An awful and august figure entered. 
 
 It was Danjuro, but not the Danjuro I had ever 
 known. 
 
 He wore a robe of yellow silk with wide kimono 
 sleeves, and a sash of purple round his waist. 
 Into the sash was thrust the long scabbard of an 
 ancient Japanese sword — a scabbard of tortoise- 
 shell and silver. His hair was differently arranged, 
 his lips compressed into a single line. The eyes, 
 which seemed curiously elongated, glittered like 
 black lacquer in a high light. 
 
 He crept forward and touched Vargus on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 The man in the velvet Coat leapt up with a 
 short, sharp cry. Then he whipped round and 
 came face to face with Danjuro. 
 
 They remained, staring into each other's eyes 
 for several seconds. 
 
 1 saw a ghostly change beginning in the pirate's 
 face. Inch by inch something crept over it like a veil 
 
The Air Pirate 28T 
 
 as life ebbed away. Then he fell in a crumpled 
 heap upon the carpet. 
 
 The Japanese looked down at him without a 
 change in his dreadful stony glare. Then he bent 
 down and pulled the limp form out straight, 
 turning it with its face downwards. He drew the 
 sword and lifted it high above his head. 
 
 As it gleamed I shut my eyes. . . . 
 
 When I looked again^ sick with the sickness 
 of death itself, the figure in the^ yellow robe had 
 raised both arms above its head. The sleeves 
 had slipped away and the coils of muscle stood 
 out upon the brown flesh. 
 
 Danjuro's lips were parted. He seemed to be 
 speaking rapidly to something above him. His 
 whole face was irradiated with joy, and the sworti 
 in his right hand shone like a tall flame. 
 
 He remained there for some little time. Then 
 he lowered his arms, and taking a square of purple 
 silk from his breast, he cleansed the sword, and 
 I knew what he was going to do. 
 
 He placed the jewelled hilt upon the carpet 
 and adjusted the point at his waist, steadying the 
 blade with his left hand. Then, with a loud cry, 
 as if of exaltation, he fell heavily forward. . . . 
 
 He had gone tq his own place in the way ap- 
 pointed to the Heroes of Old Japan. 
 
 THE END 
 
PBISTBD AT 
 
 THE CBAPBL BIV£R PBKSS 
 
 KIKGSTOS, StmRET. 
 
Paternoster House, 
 
 Paternoster Row, 
 London, E.C, 
 
 July, 1919. 
 
 Messrs. HURST g BLACKEH'S 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW BOOKS 
 
 FOR THE AUTUMN OF 1919 
 
 An Important Book 
 By HARRY FURNISS 
 
 My Bohemian Days 
 
 With over 120 illustrations from original 
 
 and characteristic drawings by 
 
 this famous artist. 
 
 In one volume, demy cloth, l6s. net. 
 
 As a famous caricaturist and humorous artist the author 
 has intimate knowledge of the Ufe of which he writes. He 
 knew Bohemia from the inside, and was closely associated 
 with many of the interesting people who are introduced into 
 his book. He carries his humour into his writing, and there 
 are numbers of good stories to help him. The book not only 
 makes enjoyable reading, but it also throws a good deal of 
 light on a number of well-known characters in the world of 
 Bohemia and the atmosphere in which they lived. The 
 many drawings by the author which illustrate the book are 
 a special feature, and greatly add to its interest. 
 
A New Volume of the famous 
 
 Memoirs of William Hickey 
 
 Edited by ALFRED SPENCER 
 
 /« rf«»y ivo, cloth gilt, 15 s. net. 
 
 This third volume continues the memoirs from 1782, and 
 will be found as fascinating as those which have already been 
 published. It contains much interesting matter concerning 
 East India in the old Colonial days, and a number of interest- 
 ing letters arising out of the retention of Hickey and his 
 companion, Charlotte Barry, as prisoners by the French on 
 their way out to Calcutta. It is possible that the work may 
 be completed' with this volume, but' a fourth volume may 
 perhaps be necessary. The price of the present volum.e has, 
 owing to increased costs of production, been advanced to 
 15s. net, and the price of the first two volumes has also had 
 to be increased. 
 
 Reprints are now ready of Vol. 1. (the Third Edition) and Vol. II. 
 
 (the Second Edition) (.IT49 to 1782), each In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 
 
 ISa, net. Vol. II. contains photogravure portraits. 
 
 A few short extracts from scores of columns of 
 Reviews : 
 
 The Atkcnaum : " One of the most interestiug eighteenth-century documents that 
 have appeared for some time." ' 
 
 The Times : " Fascinating for its honesty and vividness ;-it is difficult to give any 
 idea of the spontaneous vivacity of the narration ; it is of remarkable interest." 
 
 The Spectator : " Deserves, both for its human and historical interest, to be widely 
 studied." 
 
 Daily Telegraph : "A * iind * of really important interest, likely to take an important 
 place among eighteenth-century documents." 
 
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 were they fiction they would be called * xmmatchable pictures of the time.' " 
 
 r/« Globe: " A glorious book. Its period is a little later than Tom Jones, but 
 the splendid roUiddng spirit is the same. No lover of English literature cau fail to' 
 enjoy to the utmost the virile jolly picture it represents."' 
 
 Daily Express : " One of the most absorbingly interesting books of recent times." 
 
A dellgbtful volume 
 By LADY CATHERINE MILNES GASKELL 
 
 A Woman's Soul 
 
 By the Author of " Friends Round the Wrekin," " A Shropshire 
 Lass and Lad," etc. 
 
 In demy, cloth, l6s. net. 
 
 Under a thin guise of fiction Lady Catherine Milnes 
 Gaskell has written a most sympathetic and entertaining 
 account of her experiences during the war, and those of her 
 friends and neighbours. Like many other ladies of position 
 she threw herself heart- and soul into the every-day drudgery 
 of hospital work and the numerous duties of those who under- 
 took the responsibilities of large country estates in the absence 
 of their owners ; and she gives us in a most delightful story 
 a very true insight into the activities, thoughts and feelings 
 of a class which did a great deal of war work, and said very 
 little about it. 
 
 Her previous books have already established her as a 
 close observer of human nature and- a writer with a wide, 
 tolerant outlook and a style of unusuaj distinction. 
 
 Sonne Press opinions on the Author's work: 
 
 '* The book, fresh and alive, reads as if it were an actual record of her life." — Times. 
 
 " It is the real thing that interests this pleasant author, the real aspect of nature, 
 the real romance of the countryside, the real meaning of life." — Daily Telegrai^. 
 
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 " AH that she writes she invests with an air of delicate distinction." — Spectator. 
 
 3 
 
Just Ready 
 
 A TIMELY AND IMPORTANT BOOK 
 
 The New Traffic 
 
 (Aircraft) 
 
 By W. H. BERRY 
 
 Editor of Tie Car and Aviation and Author of " Aircraft in War 
 and Commerce,'' " Fighting Aeroplanes," &c. 
 
 In or. ivo, bound with frontispiece and a wrapper in colours, 
 
 3s, 6d. neti 
 
 One of the greatest problems of the day is to determine how aircraft can 
 be turned to the best advantage in the service of the country. The war is 
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 and mails, and for the convenience and pleasure of the private user have only 
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 the present position and what may be expected in the future. Already 
 passenger and mail services are being established, and it will probably not be 
 long before many men will be using aeroplanes in the way they now use cars, 
 only they will be able to go where cars cannot, and at a much quiclcer 
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 The book is particularly timely in view of the enormous interest now being 
 taken by the press in the subject of the future uses of aircraft 
 
 Just Publlsbed 
 
 Elizabethan Ulster 
 
 By LORD ERKEST HAMILTON 
 
 Author of " The First Seven Divisions" (21st Edition), "The 
 Soul of Ulster," etc. 
 
 In demy 8ti3. cloth, I6s. net. 
 
 " A very full and detailed story of the beginnings of Ulster he has made a history, 
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 " A picturesque story of lawless chiefs, unruly clans, ruthless soldiers, and crafty 
 but bewildered statesmen." — Atheruswn. 
 
 *' This history is studiously impartial ... a valuable and important contributioB 
 to Xrish history." — Scotsman. 
 
NEW NOVELS p 
 
 For the AUTUMN, 1919. ! 
 
 Each in crown 8v0, cloth, 6s. pd. net. 
 
 Sanity Jane 
 
 By COUNTESS BARCYNSKA 
 
 Author of " The Honey Pot " {6oth Thousand), " Love Maggy," etc. 
 
 This novel is almost certain to be in very great demand. 
 It is a live book, and Sanity is a very real girl. The book 
 is distinctive, and a most intriguing situation is created when 
 the man Sanity loves believes her to be the woman — a 
 stranger to him — ^who is to provide the compromising cir- 
 cumstances necessary for his wife to obtain, " by arrange- 
 ment," her divorce. The author, in taking Sanity through 
 her very interesting career, deals in her characteristic manner 
 with life and people as one finds them to-day. 
 
 The Death Drum 
 
 By MARGARET PETERSON 
 
 Author of "To Love," "ButterHy Wings," 
 "The Lure of the Little Drum," etc. 
 
 As in her last novel, " The Sword Points of Love," Miss 
 Peterson has chosen East Africa as the background for her 
 new story. It is based on a native superstition that very 
 few white people know an3rthing about, but which ma,y in 
 time cause trouble. It has, at any rate, provided the author 
 with a fine idea for her novel, and she has made the best 
 possible use of it. The book is absorbingly interesting, full 
 of thrilling incident and adventure, and with many touches 
 of native life that are particularly effective, coming as they 
 do from one who is living among them< 
 
 5 
 
Panther 
 
 A Comedy of Morals 
 
 By R. A. FOSTER-MELLIAR 
 
 Author of "Blindstone," "And Betty Too," etc. 
 
 A novel of country life, in which there is a good mixture of 
 love-making, hunting, intrigue, and almost murder. Two well- 
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 uncertainty as to what will happen to them is well kept up. There 
 are some very interesting characters capitally portrayed, and, 
 above all, there is a really good story well told in uncommonly 
 good writing. 
 
 The Air Pirate 
 
 By C. RANGER-GULL 
 
 Author of "The Snare of the Fowler," etc. 
 
 The author dates his story forward, when rapid transit and 
 transport will be carried on by air. One of the great points about 
 it is that the author is the first in the field with his idea. The 
 Air Pirate, a mysterious figure, who had been a. daring airman in 
 the Great War, has his lair in Cornwall, and raids the Atlantic 
 with a wonderful airship. There is a love story, in which a young 
 English baronet of the Government Air Police is the hero and a 
 beautiful young actress the heroine. She is carried oflE to Corn- 
 wall by the pirate, who is in love with her, in his airship, and then 
 follow many thrilling adventures in the efforts of her young lover 
 to discover her. One sensation follows another rapidly, and the 
 reader is kept in breathless suspense all through. It is the best 
 thing the author has yet done. ' 
 
 Love and the Cardinal 
 
 By J. H. SYMONS 
 
 Author of "The Supreme Mystery" 
 
 A story of the days of Cardinal Wolsey and the Court of Henry 
 VIII. It will appeal to all who like a good historical romance. 
 The hero, a young esquire, finds Wolsey, when he was but a poor 
 psifish priest, in the village pillory and sets him free. When next 
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 whpsp daughter he worships. Wolsey helps the hero and brings 
 him to Court. There are jjlottings and jealousies and narrow 
 escapes, but in the end Love is triumphant. 
 
spade Work 
 
 By Mrs. HENRY DUDENEY 
 
 Author of "Candlelight," etc. 
 Another of the Author's stories of Sussex 
 
 Caroline Beech and her mother, with the airs of a duchess 
 who has had to do the work of a cook, and Enoch Wood, 
 the musician who demands fame above all things, and Juniper 
 Sadgrove, with her glorious voice, are the characters whose 
 interplay form the plot of Mrs. Dudeney's latest novel. SJie 
 has set the scene in her loved Sussex, and her description of 
 the old-world village and its inhabitants is most delightful. 
 Enoch's career is the rock on which the ship of his love may 
 be wrecked, but the development of the stpry will hold the 
 reader's attention to the last page. 
 
 The Green Shoes of April 
 
 By RACHEL SWETE MACNAMARA 
 
 Author of "Morning Joy," "Lark's Gate," etc. 
 
 An Irish love story out of the common, and with many 
 ups and downs, but with a happy ending. It is, as one expects 
 from Miss Macnamara, unusually well written with excellent 
 character drawing. Jasper Lysaght made a mistaken mar- 
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 together but a little while, when he meets his true mate, but 
 a maliciously interfering grandmother and wounded pride 
 separate them. They come together again and marry, 
 Jasper believing himself free, but his first wife reappears. 
 All, however, comes right in the end, 
 
 7 
 
Shooting Stars 
 
 By SOPHIE KERR 
 
 An intensely dramatic novel of married life — the story of 
 Harleth Crossey ("as self-willed as a shooting star and about as 
 uncomfortable around the house "), and his wife Marcia — she made 
 all the concessions, all the adjustments and all the compromises 
 until — something happened. 
 
 You might have called it a rebellion ; it was -a. startling, if 
 cruel awakening as well. 
 
 The Master Mind 
 
 By FERGUS HUME 
 
 Author of "The Mystery of A Hansom Cab," " Heart of Ice." etc. 
 
 In the working out of the plot and the discovery of the master 
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 impossibly wicked ; the heroine is a charming natural girl, the^ 
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 theft, and it might all have happened. A good readable story. ' 
 
 A Whirlwind of Passion 
 
 By EDNA WORTHLEY UNDERWOOD 
 
 The publishers have pleasure in introducing the author with 
 this novel. It is perhaps not too much to say that since " Quo 
 Vadis," no more powerful historical romance has been produced. 
 The story is most dramatic, and the central figure is the great 
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 sudden death. It is a brilliant book, full of life, movement and 
 colour, and it is of particular interest at the present time. 
 
 8 
 
Greea Ladies 
 
 By DOUGLAS NEWTON 
 
 Author of " The War Cach^," etc. 
 
 A charming story told in a delightful manner, recalling the 
 work of Henry Harland. The scene is in Hampshire, where some 
 mystery attaches to the lady owner of a house occupied tem- 
 porarily by a much-travelled man, who is recovering his health. 
 How he becomes interested in the lady, how he gradually discovers 
 her story, how he labours to free her from the cloud that oppresses 
 her, and finally is made happy by her, is so daintily and beautifully 
 related, that one wishes to ready many of the pages over again. 
 Mr. Douglas Newton goes a, long step forward with this novel, 
 which reveals him in a new capacity. 
 
 Embers 
 
 By JULES DEPREND 
 
 A novel that won a $10,000 prize in America. 
 
 This story of life among the French Canadians on the American 
 border is refreshingly outside the common run of novels. It is 
 remarkable for its terseness of expression and as a convincing piece 
 of realism. It is as strong and virile as Balzac, and its story so 
 absorbing with its many dramatic situations, that it holds the 
 attention from beginning to end. Against his father's wishes, the 
 hero takes up a course of study with a view to becoming a priest. 
 During his holidays he sees much of a neighbour's daughter, who 
 had been a companion of his childhood. How he succumbs, then 
 decides to continue his studies abroad, and eventually returns to 
 his sweetheart and child is told in this powerful book, of which 
 it may be said that it is not onljr a fine piece of work, but one of 
 genius. 
 
 Firecracker Jas&e 
 
 By ALICE CALHOUna HAINES 
 
 A breathless romance of the Mexican border, with a spirited 
 heroine, a good sportswoxnan with a high sense of honour. How 
 she is, under stress, married by her Mexican cousin and plunged into 
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 her escape, and how the love tangle is unravelled, and she is left 
 with her real love mate, makes thrilling reading. The story is 
 full of adventure, vivacious and fresh. 
 
The Cabin (La Barraca) 
 
 By V. BLASCO IBANEZ 
 
 Author of " The Four Horsemen of the Apoealypse," etc. 
 
 Over a Quarter of a Million copies of this author's work have 
 already been sold in English speaking countries. 
 
 This may be said to be the masterpiece of a novelist who 
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 a hard-working farmer and his- family are oppressed and 
 wronged by his neighbours, who had determined that the 
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 communal hatred is thus worked out to its logical conclusion. 
 The story seems to write itself, so simply, and perfectly is it 
 done. It is a remarkable work of art. 
 
 The Terrible Island 
 
 By BEATRICE GRiMSHAW 
 
 Author of " In the Strange South Seas," " Red Bob of the Islands," etc. 
 
 This Story has all the charm and glamour of the South 
 Seas and a background of grim mystery, which make a plot 
 full of thrills as well as of delightful romance. " The Lady 
 of Sea," who appears in such strange fashion and so charms 
 the hearts of Flower and Owen Ireland, is a delicious heroine, 
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 Jim " is a remarkable character creation. A novel that will 
 well support the author's great reputation. 
 
 Messrs. HURST & BLACKETT announce that they have taken 
 over the publication of the very popular book — 
 
 Honeymoon Dialogues 
 
 By JAMES JAMES 
 
 of which a large edition (the lOth) is now ready. 
 
 In crown 8i>o, cloth, aith picture Wrapper, 4S. 6d. net. 
 
 lO 
 
SOME VERY SUCCESSFUL NOVELS. 
 
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 The Holiday Husband 
 
 2nd Edition By DOLF WYLLARDE 
 
 " A story of such temptation as must come to many girls." — Daily Mail, 
 
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 2nd Edition By MARGARET PETERSON 
 
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 Who Cares ? 
 
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 Nurse Benson 
 
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 '* A particularly readable novel . . . exactly the kind for the holiday kit." — 
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 Morning Joy 
 
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 *' Characters well drawn ... we admire the novel for diction and balance. — 
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 Winding Paths 
 
 Some There are — 
 
 Where the Strange Roads Go Down 
 
 Follow After 
 
 By COSMO HAMILTON 
 
 Scandal sth Edition 
 
 By CYNTHIA STOCKLEY 
 
 Poppy 177th Thousand 
 
 The Claw 128th Thousand 
 
 Also specially bound, 3/6 net. 
 
 A Gift Edition of Gertrude Page's 
 famous book 
 
 Two Lovers and a Lighthouse 
 
 Which has been described as one of the 
 most beautiful love stories ever written. 
 
 12 
 
STANDARD BOOKS ON THE HORSE. 
 
 By Capt. M. HORACE HAYES, F.R.C.V.S. 
 
 POINTS OF THE HORSE 
 
 A Treatise ou the Ood formation, Siovemeuts, Breeds and Bvolutilon of the Horx!, 
 with 6&8 lUotiiratiouH. ReriiieU and enlarged edition, and 279 Ulustratious add'jd. 
 1 roL, super royal Svo, cloth gilt and gilt top, 34a. 
 
 VETERINARY NOTES. For Horse Owner* 
 
 An Illustrated Munual of Horse Medicine and Surgery written in aimple langiwge. 
 A New (the 8th) Kditlon, brouKht up to date by various Experts in Veterinary Science. 
 One vol., demy 8to, clotb gilt, 156. net, with over 200 Iliustratioas. This notable 
 work has maintained its supremacy for 37 years. 
 
 STABLE MANAGEMENT AND EXERCISE: a 
 
 Book for Horse Owners and Students 
 
 Revised and Jintargnd Edition. Hlustrated by Drauings and numermt* 
 
 Reproduetiom of Phoiographi taken speciatly /or thU vork. 
 
 In one vol.^ demjf 8«o, cloth gilt. 128. net. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED HORSEBREAKING 
 
 Revised and Enlarged Edition, with 130 IlluatrationB from Drawings by J. H. 
 Oswald Brown and From Photographs specially taken for the work. One vol., demy 
 Svo, cloth gilt, 12a. net. 
 
 RevUed and Enlarged Edition, In one vo2., demp Svo, doth^ 189. nai, wtth 
 upwardi o/ 250 reproductions of Photograph! and Drawingi. 
 
 RIDING AND HUNTING 
 
 Sx-pUed and Enlarged Edition. In one vol.^ 
 upwardi o/ 250 reproductions of Phot 
 
 FRIEDBERGER & FROHNER'S 
 VETERINARY PATHOLOGY X'^^:Xi^^^ 
 
 With notes on Bacteriology by Prof. R. Tahner Hewlett, M.D., D.P,H 
 Revised and Eularged Edition, re-tniuslated. i vols., demy Svo, olotli gilt, 21a. net. 
 
 By MRS. HAYES 
 
 THE HORSEWOMAN : a Practical Guide. 
 
 Originally edUfd by II" 'o" Captain U, B. BA YES. BtvUed BMHim, Enlarged. 
 In OIK vol., demy Svo, cloth gilt, 12s. net, uUh 166 Ulnitraliom. 
 
 By JAMES FILLIS 
 
 Beuyer en ehef to tJu Gentnil Cavalry Sctiool at SI. Peleriburg. • 
 
 BREAKING AND RIDING. Whh Military Coomenlarie., 
 
 Translated by Vaptain M. H. HAYES. With 70 tlluM rations from Photograph* amd 
 Sketches taken on the spot. In one ml.^ demy Svo, cloth gilt, ISs. net* 
 
 ** A higher authority there could not be." — Field, 
 
 MODERN POLO By capt. E. D. miller 
 
 In demy, 8 vo, cloth gilt, with about 150 illuatrations and diagrams of «trhich 
 over oO arc entirely new to the work, 16s. net. 
 
Hurst S Biackett's 21- ^^ Novels 
 
 Each volume bound, and with a most attractive picture 
 wrapper in colours. 
 
 Fate and Drusilla 
 
 By Alice and Claude Askew 
 Love Maggy By countess Baircynska 
 
 The Golden Triangle 
 
 By Maurice Le Blanc 
 
 The Crystal Stopper 
 
 By Maurice Le Blanc 
 
 The Bombshell 
 
 By Maurice Le Bleinc 
 
 To Right the Wrong 
 
 By Edna Lyall 
 
 In Spite of All ^^ ^,^^ ^^^^^ 
 Love's Burden 
 
 By Margaret Peterson 
 
 Fate and the Watcher 
 
 By Margaret Peterson 
 
 Love Wins 
 
 By Effie Adelaide Rowlands 
 Bequeathed By Beatrice Whitby 
 
Hurst S Blackett's 21- Novels 
 
 Already Published. 
 
 Each volume bound and with a 
 most attractive picture wrapper 
 
 Drusilla's Point of View 
 A Question of Quality 
 The Honey Pot - - - 
 The Youngest Miss Mowbray 
 Red Bob of the Islands 
 Behold and See - - - 
 Heart of Ice . - - 
 The Hardy Norseman 
 Knight Errant - - - 
 We Two - - _ - 
 Won by Waiting 
 In the Golden Days - 
 Donovan - - - - 
 Two Lovers and a Lighthouse 
 The Edge O' Beyond - 
 Paddy the Next Best Thing 
 Love in the Wilderness 
 The Silent Rancher - 
 The Rhodesian - - - 
 The Great Splendour - 
 
 IS 
 
 By Madame Albanesi 
 Madame Alba&esi 
 Countess Barcynska 
 Mrs. B. M. Croker 
 Beatrice Grimshaw 
 Lilith Hope 
 Fergus Hume 
 Edna Lyall 
 Edna Lyall 
 Edna Lyall 
 Edna Lyall 
 Edna Lyall 
 Edna Lyall 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 Gertrude Page 
 
Hurst S Blackeft's 2/- }iQnh- continued 
 
 To Love - . . - 
 Butterfly Wings - - - 
 Spies of the Kaiser - 
 Secrets of the Foreign OfHce 
 The House of the Wicked - 
 The Man from Downing Street 
 The Devil's Carnival 
 The Ides of March 
 
 Worlds End 
 
 Shadows of Flames 
 Pan's Mountain - 
 The Long Lane's Turning - 
 Lavender's Love Story 
 The Man with the Money • 
 
 The Woman Who Lived Again 
 
 The Turnstile of Night 
 
 Williamson 
 Also by WM. LE QUEUX 
 
 Tk Life Story of the Ex-Crown Princess of Saxony 
 
 Told by Herself and related by Wm. Le Queux. 
 Rasputin n"l»e amazing true story of tlie Rascal Monk) 
 
 180th Thousand 
 
 And a New Volume 
 
 The Secret Shame of the Kaiser 
 
 This Book of Gtartiinsc revelations, which is probably destined to 
 be as popular as the Author's " Rasputin," the Rascal Mook 
 (180th thousand), is now published for the first time. 
 l6 
 
 Margaret Peterson 
 Margi&ret Peterson 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Wm. Le Queux 
 Mrs. Baillie 
 
 Reynolds 
 
 Amelie Rives 
 
 (Priacsss Troubetzkoy) 
 
 Amelie Rives 
 
 (Princess Troubetzkoy) 
 
 Amelie Rives 
 
 (Princess Troubetzkoy) 
 
 Hallie Srminie 
 
 Rives 
 Effie Adelaide 
 
 Rowlands 
 Effie Adelaide 
 
 Rowlands 
 Lindsay Russell 
 Mrs. C. N.