Evening star., 1924-12-08
CHAPTER 1.
The Coming of the Mystery

~ that in his look which drove
sIeepiness out OF me ana
broueht me quickly to my feet be-
side him.
What's the matter, dad?'
THE bank, son." he said, quietly
sths bank has been robbed. how
soon do you think you could land me
ct the Battery"
II was all could do to refrain
from srlattering out string or Ques-
tions. Ssd 1t not been for the grim
ness of the old mans expression
should have thought then that ne
was walking in his sleep. But there
was no mistaking that he was clean
awake and in deadly earnest.
What I did was to put hand under
Tho pillow for my watch. l said
nothing. was not going to be
beaten in GOODNESS by my own father,
hut I did some quick thinking. MY
roadster was in the garage, so the
five miles between the house and my
hangar on the beach was small de-
tail / had to decide at once If l
should risk taking the old man across
Long Island on the only machine 1
had ready for the air that chilly
, morning. This was an ancient sea-
plane, built in 1925, and now held
together by pieces of string and tin
a
on stability 1 had pared her wing
area down to the absolute minimum,
and she asked for deal of handling.
AsI reached for my watch I kept
my eyes on my fathers face. 1t
was as placidly grim as could be,
hut I eaw that he was betting on me
10 get him over to his old bank in
quick time. So, almost before I had
seen on my watch that the time was
half past six, l had decided to risk
his neck and mine on the ancient bus.
Get the hangar on the phone, dad,
told him. Ask Milliken to warm
up the Sieve right away, and have
her run out in less than ten minutes.
Then put on some thick clothing
while I get into overalls and pull out
the roadster You'll find me outside.
I'll have you at the Battery inside
40 minutes"
The old man took his orders like
soldier.
The Sieve" he repeated. Right"
Off he went, while I got into my
flying kit. L went down to the gar
age, and had the car out on the drive
with her engine turning over prettily
before he Joined me again.
Good man, that mechanic of yours
son, he grunted in approval; doesn
waste time in talk
Once out on the turnpike, I let the
car full out, and we were alongside
the hangar we'll inside 10 minutes.
Millikin already had the old seaplane
in the water. and when l saw afresh
how stubby her wings were. L had
10 stifle my misgivings all over again
, She looked terribly inadequate to
carry the only father | have. But
before ! had time to express my
aualms. even if | had wanted to. the
old man was out OF the car and down
on the jetty. With a. nod TO Milli-
ken. he climbed into the cockpit, and
there was nothing to do but follow
him.
MflIlken swung the propeller to
contact and l knew at once that.
however patchy the structure OF the
Sieve might be. her heart was as
sound as ever. The note of her en-
gine was good to hear. When 1 felt
the strain was right, l dropped the
signal to the mechanic. Milliken re-
leased the patent mooring, and we
shot out to sea with a muttered fluff
fufter- fluff" from the floats. as of
big pebbles SKINNED over the water
Then I pulled the stick. and the old
bus took to the air like bird
let her climb east just far enough
for the turn. then swung her into
dead course for the New York Bat
terry, a hundred and thirty kilome-
tiers away.
It was the first time my father had
flown with me. though / must say he
had always shown an interest in. my
aeronautical research work and, be-
fore the sale Of a few patents of
mine had made me independent of
him, had always been ready to dip
his hands deep in his pockets to help
me In the years since the European
war. where I suppose as a cub flyer
I got the flying germ into my blood.
my father had never tried me out
rs a pilot and 7 had often wondered
what opinion he had of me. But as
! thought that gray March morning,
Of the certainty with which he had
depended on my help and of the way
hc had gone about the business, [
couldn't help growing chesty as
realized how clearly he took my skill
for granted.
As soon as we were properly set
on our course I took A look back at
the. old fellow. He was sitting hump
Cd up in the passengers seat. with
only his eyes and the tip of his nose
showing through his voluminous
wraps. 4 grim calm was eloquent
even in those features. He caught
my eye when ] looked back at him.
and he nodded serenely. I don't know
how it was. but it dawned on me
Just then that I had large sized af-
sire, and I turned my attention to
getting all I could out of the old bus
for him. We fattened out to a nifty
go kilometers the hour.
I hadn't wasted any of the old
mans time by asking him questions,
hut I'll confess that the robbery of
the bank had reused in me lively
curiosity. The roar of the unsilenced
engine put all conversation clean out
nf possibility, and ] did not want to
have him unwrap in that cold rush
Of air to put on the headpiece of the
phone. So I had to keep mumchance
and speculate about the affair.
There was enough material for
speculation The premises of the Ma
tional Metallurgical, of which my
father was president were generally
believed to be absolutely burglar
proof. The building on Broadway
swas comparatively new. It's safes
and strong-rooms were supposed to
lie the last word in appliances for
the thwarting of cracksmen, and the
president was immensely proud of
them Altogether, I came to the con-
clusion that this sudden flight to-
ward the Battery and Wall street
was the result of some swindle by a
5orger or by a. dishonest official, rath-
ar than of burglary. ] knew it must
have been something big to- put the
old man in such hurry, but l was
far from realizing then, with the old
Sieve fattened out and roaring above
the misty trees of Long Island: Just
how big a thing I was headed for.
NV father has since admitted that at
the time his conception, too. OF what
Athe future held came little nearer
the truth than my own.
must explain at this point in my
story that what / write in the fol-
lowing pages can only be personal