Van Powell

“ Garry held out his hand, hesitatingly, lost in wonder that the man knew about the spectral visitations that mystified the Airlane Guard. “Hear, now. Put over head.” He gestured. Garry, widening the strings, slipped the pouch over his head. “Keep inside coat. Go home. Put in box for seven day! Not touch! Then—open!”
“Why?” demanded Garry, surprised but suspicious.
“Why! That is good charm, boy! You worry about ghost wings.”
He made a clutching motion of fingers and thumb, as though wielding a pair of scissors.
“You see ghost wings! I make charm to clip ghost wing!” ”

“ Garry knew the tear-gas and its effect. He hesitated.
“Shame!” he cried. “You can’t escape. Even if you did fool us by taking us to look for your own self, at the start, you can’t fool us any longer.” He was talking against time, getting his feet set.
“Come and turn that prop, or I’ll—throw this!”
Garry changed his tactics; meaning to leap, ducking the missile, he altered his plan. “All right!” he agreed, docile with pretended fear.
He moved toward the propeller, stepping on the edges of the boards.
He saw the electric crash launch floating just beyond the nose of the ship. ”

“ But that Power above and beyond man’s puny hates, sometimes called Luck, oftener known as a good “break,” had caused the mail pilot to neglect to return his elevators to neutral; slightly raised, the tail surface caught the full effect of his own deadly slip-stream, sending the nose sharply upward, and thus making that fury of disturbed air pass only the tractor propeller of Don’s craft—so that its upper blades at their best speed were able to draw him up beyond the danger of worse than an instant of horrifying danger. ”

“ Chick, belligerent and impulsive, followed John.
“What did you mean by throwing that smoke flare in on us?” he demanded. “You might have suffocated us!”
“I did not throw anything!” the young Indian retorted, cool and quiet, as he steadied his father. “We watched, that is all. Some one else is to blame, not I. And—when I find him!——”
Garry, seeing his face, felt glad that he was not the target of an emotion that contorted the copper-colored face into the mask of a veritable fury.
“Let’s go to the hangar,” Don suggested. “Maybe we can talk this out.” ”

“ Garry realized that the man in that ship of doom was beside himself with passion, beyond reason. Don’s hand pressed the throttle. His own engine revved up smartly. The upper blades whirled faster.
“Can he climb away in time?” Garry gasped. Mr. McLeod, behind him, shouting, futile, helpless, gave up waving his arms at the mail flyer and watched Garry with wondering eyes as the young and inexpert pilot at the controls of the Dragonfly began also to increase his speed. ”

“ In ten minutes, while Chick watched, and kept an eye on Doc and on the control chief, who stood watching in the hangar doorway, Don revved up the newly warmed engine, lifted the tailskid from the concrete, the chocks were dragged from under the wheels, and up from the runway leaped the Dart, with Garry, adjusting the Gossport, transferred from the other craft. They would scotch the Demon of the Swamps—or do their best to end his unexplained but menacing career.
Stars twinkled in the night sky as they roared straight for the haunt of mysteries. And the Demon was ready for them! ”

“ Garry, observing, indicated the flicker. It was more vivid than the intermittent glow of marsh gas which they saw in spots where rotted vegetation gave off its luminous aura.
“He is trying to lure us down, I’m sure,” Garry declared.
Adjusting the controls so that the ship, well-balanced, flew itself for a moment, Don scribbled a note, passing it to Garry.
“I don’t know,” Garry responded, reading and considering the communication. “It might be safe and it might not to go down. I know we can’t get anywhere flying around up here; but anybody as deadly as that Demon is dangerous to get close to.” ”

“ Chick, as Don altered the course to get the wing out of his line of vision, sent over a parachute flare, lighting up the scene with its white, revealing gleam.
Don saw their adversary.
From that had come the rockets: he felt sure of it. ”

“ Scott had flown over the marsh at night, conducting tests of new lighting equipment, spotlight, searchlight and beacon.
“If you’re afraid,” he added, “try whistling, Chick, my boy! I’ve heard that ghosts won’t come around if you whistle.”
Usually Garry did not tease his younger chum; but Chick had been so confident of his own bravery, had so insistently begged to be one of the “spook trappers,” that Chick’s terror in the face of darkness—and of nothing worse, so far—prompted him to be a little sarcastic. ”

“ As soon as they swept beyond the cottages that backed their small yards on the undrained swamp, Chick sent overside his first white-light parachute flare.
“It’s only for safety’s sake,” he muttered. “That young Indian, if he knows the swamp at all, has had time to get across to the Dart. But he might try to fool us, and stop to hide. Not likely—but we must be sure!”
He, and Garry, watched over the side, a little afraid that with the craft of his forefathers the red-skinned John might so cleverly crouch in the eel grass that they might not see him. ”

“ The helicopter, rising almost straight up, had an advantage. But Don did not let that concern him. His teeth were tight, clenched, with determination wrinkling his eye-corners.
The Demon had gone too far. Evidently he had meant to lure them in the airplane, only to “finish them off” in some fashion. Garry’s unexpected appearance in the launch had upset those purposes. The Demon, taking advantage of the new chase, getting back to his craft, meant to escape, to lie hidden somewhere, ready to visit more of his menacing attacks on innocent folk. ”

“ Dark, almost black, yet not distinct and sharp, because of the mist he supposed, that mystical, phantasmic craft grew large—and was blotted from view by the bright flash of the distant storm.
Gone! Absolutely vanished! Once seen, for a bare instant, the strange and ghostly mirage had disappeared when the blaze of the lightning faded.
Immediately Garry, cool and self-contained, sent over the side a parachute-flare, self-igniting with the jerk as the ’chute opened to sustain the vivid, unearthly light in mid-sky, slowly dropping.
Chick cowered. ”

“ If you see signs of any other ship than the mail ’plane—it’s due soon—let Garry send over a green flare if it’s in the air, or have Chick fire a red Verey if it goes up off the earth or water—and you go around on wingtip to point to it and start after it, and I’ll come up on a slanting course, and we can corner the fellow, and end the mystery of the Spectre in the Clouds.”
“Why not come up in the Dragonfly, and let Don fly the Dart, too?” Garry suggested.
“The Dragonfly isn’t fast. The Dart is. If the ‘spook’ pilot sees you young lads cruising around, he’ll think it’s just a joy-hop. ”

“ Don chose to stick quite closely over the area which had been the scene of one real mishap and several other narrowly averted crashes.
The spectre had always appeared over the swamp.
“I wish they’d start draining it,” Don mused, thinking of the gloomy marsh below his trucks. “Those engineers spend so much time surveying! If they’d get their men out there, and start work, there’d soon be no dark place close to the airport, and the ghost would go away. Or—if anybody should be trying to ruin Uncle Bruce’s new real estate development and the airport business, they’d see it was no use and quit!” ”

“ With the mail pouches drawn to the cockpit floor, with Garry, his hands free, aiding, Chick got quickly and safely back to his place.
“Oh-kay!” he shrilled, delightedly, as he snapped on his safety belt.
Gunning up at Garry’s relayed signal, Don made his climbing turn.
They were pointing straight for the airport when he revved up to his full power.
The mail flight would be a success.
All they had to do was to fly straight, top speed, set down and be applauded. They need not cross the swamps of so much mystery and fear. They could come in from the East, landing sidewise to the wind. ”

“ The control chief and the others will all come here to see that everything is right, and for the arrival of the midnight passenger ’plane from the Maine Summer resorts. I’ll stay here and you, Don, and Chick, take the Dart, fly to where the helicopter is, with the projector and film, and when I give a beam signal that they are here, you two, in the helicopter, pick a cloud they can all see, and ‘put on your show.’ The minute that everybody sees how simply it is done, the ghost’s claws will be pulled—no pilot will be afraid and maybe—maybe your uncle will get a whale of a lot of business. ”

“ Chick cried, “you have been camouflaging! You covered your trail by putting suspicion on others. That tracing, in this place, puts suspicion on the theatre man, Toby Tew, because he was one who’d know how to do the ghost trick with an old airplane crash film and a projector.”
“You put the key to the locker where you hid the projector you used at the hangars, late at night, in the control chief’s vest, because he might have been able to cast airplane shadows on clouds with the searchlight beam!” Don spoke crisply, “and—you camouflaged the map—but, then, you overdid it!” ”

“ Then he rejoined Don, the chocks were removed, and as he stepped away, with a wave, Don, alone, sent the Dart aloft.
Hardly waiting to see the fleet raft begin its trip toward the scene of their many mysteries, Garry hurried down to the wharf and water runway, down which the land-and-water types of craft were sent from the hangar: to one side was a landing stage for passengers from seaplanes, and at the end of that lay tied the “crash boat,” a swift, electrically propelled cruising launch kept always ready in case of any mishaps to seaplanes or other craft over the bay. ”

“ Chick seemed inclined to take Garry’s side, to suspect the man who operated a theatre and, thereby, knew most about the projection of images from and through moving picture films.
Don sent his eyes from wall to wall, from cupboard of spare instruments to unlocked desk drawers.
“Tew is the one to blame,” Chick persisted. “Vance told the truth about that tracing; he put his initials on it by chance, the way I’d make little stars in my geography book when I’d try to memorize the capitals of the South-Central States.”
“But—oh, shucks! What’s the good. I don’t know who it is. ”

“ Garry suggested. “All pioneer work has to fail before it succeeds. They ought to let you have another chance.”
“I suppose they would.”
“See!” urged Don, “Scott could meet the ship. He’d never dive for any ghost,” with a grin. “He likes spooks!”
“I’d like to bring in the ocean mail, too,” Scott agreed.
“Well——”
“You’re elected!” Chick exulted. “It’s as good as done. And with, the chart tracing identified and claimed, it doesn’t make any difference how it got into the old boathouse. Maybe I ought to apologize to Doc for accusing him. I do! ”

“ He knew that once he got near the ceiling, that highest point to which an engine can carry an airplane, he would be on equal terms with the Demon, because he could fly past, or execute some other maneuver, by which his propeller blast would upset control of those large top blades, cause the other ship to drop, whereupon, above it, and ever alert to guard against more deadly rockets from the improvised “gun” he saw on the ship’s side, Don could drive down his foe. ”

“ Into the intense blackness of the room they crowded, and, by sense of touch Don extracted from the inner spool of the roll, an inch or so of film, while Garry washed out the developing tank used for the films they took of new craft for making half-tone engravings, pictures for circulars, catalogues and “trade paper” illustrations.
Chick, mixing a fresh charge of pyro, with sodium sulphite and the right amount of carbonate, from ready-prepared packets, enclosed the film in a roll of rubber-edged material that let the developer seep in but keep the fabric from touching the delicate film surface. ”

“ In darkness Chick removed the film, handling its container gingerly as he immersed it in the hypo fixing bath to “set” the image. They gave it about half a minute of darkness in the fixing bath.
“Now we can see it,” he decided. “Switch on the——”
The door swung sharply outward.
There came a blinding flash, and with it the dense smoke of some pungent, gas-reeking chemical. Eyes smarted and watered. Staggering back from the surprise attack, totally unexpected, Don, Garry and Chick took an instant to cower back against the wall, shielding their faces. ”

“ The Dragonfly could not go into and come out of aerial “stunt” positions with the same facility that the Dart had. The Dart, though, was so “touchy” that, with its margin of quick answering to controls, quick “stunting” possibilities, it was far less easy to keep in stable flying control.
“We can’t out-maneuver the Dart, if they once get into the air,” Garry decided, “but, then, the Dart isn’t as easy to hold steady as our ’bus is. One thing in our favor will be that Don knows this ship better than John understands the Dart. ”

“ Garry’s words were shouted in the same instant.
“No! Only one can go in the two-place Dart!” said Don. “She’s all fueled up for the flight, you know, but there aren’t three places.” “But—” began Chick.
“I need one of you for ground work,” Don cried. “I have a plan! Two of us go aloft, fly back to the swamp. Maybe we can get there before the Thing has a chance to set down. Maybe we can fly around until we locate it. But somebody has to stay here in the control tower!” ”