Evening star., 1924-12-24
The Arkzof the Covenant /
A Story of Mystery and Adventure
80 80 =. BY VICTOR MCCLURE.
-. -. q
BY VICTOR MCCLURE.
1924, BY Harper 4 Brrth.rs.

or the steer town, SnOrtly aIter L" o..
While we' inspected the engines a
boy o was, sent out to bring US ;in a
QUICK LUNCH, which Miliiken and ]
ate as we made ,our inspection! The
engines were splendid, and the charts
Of their tests showed wide mar
gin Of efficiency. They were ready.
to be Grated Ffor their journey: /
gota idea, and; turned TO, Mflliken.
Say. .Milliken,' ] said, why don't
We" r, -,
take them with u.s. he finished
with a grin. IT WAS just thinking
what pity it was to leave them to
the mercyeof' the railroads. .,t-
Can she. do it?~
can she do it."E Mnliken repeated
scornfully Huh"
The job presented. no great DIM.
Guilty We unshipped. the Limousine
top of the Merlin. then laid stout
battens across the floor of the cabin.
The gines, We're eSbrought,@one
after the other, on travelling crane
into the boat-shed, and were low
cred into the open cabin. To pre-
serve our flying. balance, We had to
bring them forward almost up against
the pilot s. seat. The, job was over
and the top replaced by 4 o clock,
and we set off for Long Island, 60o
kiiOmeters away.
As we passed over the northern
spurs of the Alleghenies. with their
little towns and hamlets dotted about, II
seemed to me. with all my thoughts
on the raids that it was not outside
possibility for a camoutlaged airship
shed to be concealed among their
woods and valleys There were wide
spaces enough, sparsely inhabited,
where the secrecy. of such a base
could be preserved for good length
of time, sufficient-except for acci-
dent. at any rate-to enapie inc
raiders TO carry out quite a number
Of operations before making their
getaway.
Remembering the wide areas OF
thiply populated land in this modern
America, even within a Few hours
striking distance of the crowded
Eastern States, 1t came to me that
the hunt for the lair of the marau-
ders could easily be a long one. 1t
was amazing TO think that the ar
ship could so easily descend on
town. without observation and van
ish, so to speak. in thin air. In none
of the raids so far had there been
any reliable story of the vessel hav-
ing been seen-eXcept for the dream
of the besotted Finn. klenski. There
had been the usual crop of lies, fan
tastic enough to defeat themselves,
but the clear. unstrained evidence of
the credible witness was lacking.
Although none of the raids had
been attended by loss of life, there
was something terrible in the silent
approach in the middle of the night,
the uncanny, power of robbing all
80 crf In ha
rapid operations in the dead quiet
and In the steaEhy retreat when the
work was done, 1t did not need the
recollection. OF the ye-wrecking
first sight of the helpless Parnassic
TO make ones hair prickle at the
thought of the marvellous potency in
the hands of creatures more def
nitely malign than the raiders had
shown themselves.
AS / thought of these things a
whimsical notion came to me, and
turned to Milliken.
II wonder if they use the Boon
double silencer?" I said.
Shouldn't be surprised, he re-
turned. picking up my thought with
that queer quicknes of his. There
was mechanic down at the Louis
VILE levee who had been awake all
night. He never heard the slightest
hum
was he out of doors during the
time Of the raid at all?"
Yes
"And saw nothing?
Not a thing"
Did you ask him IL he looked up
at the SKYE"
mo, I didn't bother. He was an
air mechanic, I tell you"
I had to grin at Milliken's sparing
way of making inquiries He knew
too we'll that an air mechanic would
be sure to glance up at the wind in.
diCator, and every now and then look
for any change in the weather.
Funny thing if they're using my
silencer," I said.
Huh said Milliken, and I had to
guess whether he agreed or other
wise with my sense of the curious.
CONTINUED in Tomorrow's Starr