Islands in the Air | Page 4

made for the plane. Just then McCann ran up with a blue print and asked the Professor a question.
"Certainly, certainly," chimed in Van Beck. "We do not wish to trespass."
The professor had been poring over a large blue print spread open in the sun when he rose to rebuke his Dutch friend. Now he walked away with McCann and I followed. We were absent but a few minutes, and when we turned back instead of seeing Van Beck getting into the plane I observed him turning away from the blue print and I thought I saw him hastily thrust a black object into the capacious pocket of his long black duster. There were no workmen near at the time and as I had no witnesses and could not be sure I resolved to say nothing about it. Smiling graciously Van Beck ambled to the plane, took his seat by Greta's side and they were off with a wave of the hand.
The Professor was furious over the unexpected visit.
"What is Greta thinking about?" he stormed. "Has she no respect for her brother and his work? Please God he didn't learn anything--but maybe he did," he added fearfully. "He has a devilish way of learning things. What do you think?"
I assured him I did not think it likely any of our secrets had leaked out in so short a space of time. And I was in no amiable mood. Van Beck seemed to be exercising an hypnotic influence over Greta and I resented it bitterly. However, shortly afterward I had reason to be thankful for the episode and the resultant lecture which the Professor gave Greta. She was seen less often in Van Beck's company and devoted herself closer to me and the work of her eccentric brother. Nor did we see any more of Van Beck nosing around. He was seen but little about town and seemed to keep pretty close to the class room. Near mid--summer we heard he had obtained a vacation and had gone abroad for a time.
The Professor breathed a sigh of relief. "We are rid of him for a time," he said gratefully. "Before he returns the danger will be past."
A Disappearance
WEEK after week rolled away, the mellow days of September were at hand and the islands were nearing completion. Then one morning as the Professor and I stepped from the plane we were met by McCann with the startling intelligence that the office had been entered during the night, but a cursory examination had revealed nothing disturbed.
The Professor stared blankly a moment, then rushed away to the office. We followed breathlessly.
The outer door had been forced, its lock being broken, but beyond this no damage had been done so far as we could discover. Anxiously we ran over the papers--not a print was missing.
"Nothing gone," said the Professor. "Yet the place has been entered. What for?"
"Perhaps the thief was frightened away before he could grab anything," Isuggested.
"I don't see how he got in," said McCann. "I have made sure that every guard was at his post throughout the night."
"I hold you personally responsible, McCann," said the Professor severely. "See that it doesn't happen again." And with that he turned and walked away leaving McCann with a crestfallen air.
I felt sorry for the Scotchman. He seemed devoted to the Professor, and I believed the rebuke to be undeserved.
The ridge which the Professor had selected for his daring experiment was the center of an unbroken wilderness far remote from any human habitation. It was fifty miles from the university, and was a land of no roads and but few dim trails. The ridge dropped away to the north and to the south in a series of valleys heavily clothed in virgin timber. It was admirably situated for a secret enterprise. The vicinity was never visited save by hunters, and this was not the hunting season. Even the route of the mail planes was far to the north.
One night not long after the forced entrance to the office McCann disappeared. The chief electrician had called at his office as usual the next morning. He was not there. Nor could he be found anywhere on the grounds. As it was against the rules for any one to leave the premises under any circumstances, without a permit from the Professor, we stared in blank dismay. A careful search of the surrounding woods brought no clue. We followed up a rumor that he had been seen in his car driving out of the city at daybreak, but we could not verify it.
The Professor, wild with suspense, anxiety and remorse for having criticised his faithful aid, rummaged among his papers and discovered that the blue prints covering secret parts of one of his giant condensers were missing.
The scene that followed I will