CHAPTER XIV
ON THE OBSERVER'S PLATFORM
Red lunged up, awake in an instant. "What's that?" he demanded.
"The plans are gone; you were right."
Red, swearing softly and fervently, commenced to throw on his clothes.
"No use cussing," said David. "We've got to think what to do. I justleft the wheel, and what you said kind of worried me, so I thought I'dhide 'em. I opened the case, and they were gone."
"Did you look around?" asked Red.
"Of course; but they are not in the cabin."
"What's the time?"
"Three."
Trouble came scrambling up, curled around in Red's lap, and commenced topurr. Automatically Red scratched the small ear.
"Gone!" he repeated. "Well, they have got to be somewhere. Just onething to do, Dave. Go to Mr. Hammond the minute he's up, and tell himthe whole thing. It's a dirty scandal, of course, but those plans mustbe found. Let's go down."
"Easy does it," warned David. "Don't want to wake anybody."
Silently, thoroughly, they searched every inch of David's room. Theplans were not there. They could not sleep, so they sat in the salon andsmoked. There Mr. Hammond found them when, as usual, he came out atdawn. Briefly they told him what had happened.
"By George," he said, "that's a rotten shame! Who on earth would do it?Whom do you suspect?"
"Well, sir," said Red grimly, "my brother always says, 'Don't ever losetime suspectin' anybody. Look for a motive'."
"There's a good deal in that, but I confess I don't see any motives justnow. Wonder if there is any coffee left over. This has upset me."
"I'll make some, sir, if you can keep the cook from stabbin' me later,"said Red, and he went into the spotless galley.
While Red made coffee, David explained something of the nature of thedevice minutely described in the stolen plans, what he had hoped itwould mean to dirigible navigation, and his high hopes of winning theGoodlow School prize with it. When Red returned with the steamingpercolator Mr. Hammond tested the brew with evident satisfaction.
"Perfect," he said. "Now I can think. We have been talking thisinvention over, Red. Why, it is a great thing! Just what we have beengroping for. If it is a success, it is immensely valuable. The papersmust be found."
"They must," said Red, "for it will work. I know it!"
"I wouldn't have had such a thing happen for anything," mused Mr.Hammond. "With the ship full of newspaper correspondents lappingeverything up for copy! But we can't side-step. We will have a meetingright after breakfast."
To avoid crowding the salon, Mr. Hammond divided the meeting. Thepassengers, officers, and three engineers met first. Mr. Hammond laidthe case before them, and each man was searched. Afterward the crew andthe rest of the engineers gathered. There was a general demand, led byWally, for a search of everybody's personal belongings. Committees wereformed, every garment was examined, every cushion probed, hangings takendown, books and magazines gone over leaf by leaf.
The crew's quarters were searched. Men in their soft overalls and feltshoes swarmed over the catwalks in the vast hull and looked in everyconceivable place where a packet of papers might have been hidden. Acloud rested on the Moonbeam. Everyone was anxious and angry.
The case seemed more flagrant on account of David's popularity. Not aman of the ship, officers, passengers or crew, who was not whollydevoted to the young captain. Everyone rejoiced in his success. Themanner in which he had piloted the ship through storm and calm arousedin them an unselfish pride. They were back of him, ready to do anything.Yet here someone had stolen from him something more than money. They hadstolen his hopes and his ambitions.
David had spent every leisure hour for months on his invention. Therewas a time limit on the entrants for the contest. All papers must be inthe hands of the judges no later than the fifteenth of July, ten daysafter they were scheduled to reach Lakehurst. The plans could not bereconstructed in ten weeks.
During the morning Doctor Sims and David met in the passageway.
"Well, young man, whom are you suspecting?" demanded the professor.
"No one," replied David. "I've been advised to look for a motive."
"Correct; but there might be several motives. Jealousy, vanity, thedesire for money or fame, revenge--a wide choice."
"Envy, hatred, and malice all point just one way with me," said Red,when David repeated the professor's words to him, "but it can't be.Wally wouldn't dare do such a thing."
"Oh, Lord, there you go on Wally again! What in thunder would he do sucha crazy fool thing for? Why, he even owns shares in the Moonbeam."
"Yeah?" sneered Red. "And what's it got him, the poor devil? Write-upsand interviews perhaps, but underneath is the sting of being cooped upwith a bunch of people that can't abide the sight of him. Can't you see,you blind bat, that he's never on the in with them? Not on the poker, orpools, or their jokes, unless he butts in. And he feels it. You comealong, and it's 'Hi, captain, join us,' and 'Come over with us and sitdown, captain,' and so on. I swear, sometimes I am sorry for him, evenif his grandfather did swap farms with my grandfather."
"Look at my hand," said David absently. A broad purple stain spreadacross the palm.
"How did you get that?" asked Red.
"It's indelible lead. I must have spilled some leads out of my suitcasewhen I was turning over things to find that envelope. I was on my handsand knees, and must have pressed my hand down pretty hard. My palm wasmoist, and the darned thing spread the way it always does. Beastlystuff! It won't wash off."
"Mechanic's paste ought to fix it," said Red. "Where is the pencil?"
"Clipped to my lost notebook. 'Anyone returning plans may keep pencil,and no questions asked'," David said ruefully.
Things went badly all that day. The ship lagged along in a head wind,all five engines going at top speed, every engineer at his post. It wasgenerally known, now, that David had no copy of the lost plans. So thethief could make the invention public under the name of an accomplice.
Mr. Hammond stayed in the chart room, watching the indicator as itruthlessly registered the speed of the ship, the conviction growingsteadily that they would never be able to beat the record of their greatpredecessor, the Graf Zeppelin.
David hovered over the wheel. He was sick at heart. Little thingsbothered him. The blue stain on the palm of his hand annoyed him. Themechanic's paste had not worked very well.
After luncheon Mr. Hammond instituted another search for the missingplans, but in vain. Just one more night, and they would reach LosAngeles, and the plans would walk off for good. Mr. Hammond decided tosearch every man before he left the ship.
When afternoon tea was served, Dulcie coaxed David from the controlroom.
"You haven't spoken to me for days," she said.
"I'm rather upset, Dulcie," he replied, "and pretty poor company."
"You are always good company, Davie," she said, comfortingly. "Some goodhot tea will pep you up. Cakes?"
David sipped his tea in silence.
"I wish you wouldn't worry," Dulcie said presently. "Dad thinks he canadvertise it so the thief won't dare to use your plans at all."
"That won't work, Dulcie. You see, every scratch I had ever made on thesubject was in that envelope, and it would only be my word against his."
"Couldn't Red swear he had seen it?"
"Yes, and then some pals of the thief could swear that they had actuallyhelped construct it."
"Dad's going to search every man as he gets off the ship at LosAngeles."
"What's to keep him from weighting it, and tossing it out of the shipsome good place outside the city? He could easily go back for it."
"My word, David, what an awful thought!"
"I think the plans are gone for good, Dulcie, but if they are, I'm notgoing to crab over it. My luck holds yet. Nothing can ever take awayfrom me the fact that I have been captain of the Moonbeam. I havelearned a lot, and I have
made some good friends."
"I come in there, Davie," said Dulcie decidedly.
David flushed, then looked at her squarely. "You are the best of all,Dulcie. The best little pal; the truest, squarest kid. All I hope isthat you won't forget me when we get back to Ayre."
"Don't you worry," Dulcie said grimly. "You can't escape, poor dear! I'ma big, rough woman, Davie. Didn't you see daddy, all six-feet-three ofhim, trying to sneak off in the Moonbeam without me? What happened, Iask you?"
David laughed. "Gosh, you would have scared anyone."
"Well, then, have another cup of tea, to celebrate."
As he reached for the cup, Dulcie pointed to his palm. "What's that bluesmudge?" she asked.
"Off an indelible pencil," David answered carelessly.
"Oh, won't it come off? Wally has one on his hand, too. He asked me whatwould take it off."
"Mechanic's paste takes some of it off," David replied.
Presently David went back to his cabin and lay down on the bunk. He hadspent a sleepless night, and the day had been a hard and depressing one.He half dozed, but his subconscious mind worked busily on, and presentlyhe seemed to hear Dulcie speak.
"Wally has one on his hand, too."
Wally! David lifted his hand and looked at the aniline stain spreadingacross the palm; the stain where he had rested his hand on the brokenbit of indelible lead. There had been a splash of water on the floor. Itmust have softened the lead. Indelible pencils were always like that.Wally had a stain on his hand, too, did he?
David got up and, squaring his muscular shoulders, buttoned his coat.The action was automatic--the gesture of a man buckling on armor. Hewent to the control room, gave a brief order, then went swiftly toCram's door, knocked, and turned the knob. Wally was reading.
"Cram, you have never been up on the observer's platform, have you?"David asked smoothly.
"Oh, hello, Ellison," said Wally. "No, I've never been up in flight. Iwent up there back in Ayre before the Moonbeam was finished."
"It's a great sight over the ocean, especially now, at sunset. Comealong, won't you? I'm going up for a minute. There's just time beforedinner."
Wally hesitated, then rose with evident reluctance. "All right," hesaid. "I suppose I ought to be able to say I'd been up there in flight,but it's the last thing I'll care for, I bet."
He followed David into the hull, through devious ways up ladders andalong narrow catwalks.
"This doesn't appeal to me," he growled when at last he crawled throughthe trap and emerged on the small platform on the dizzy top of the ship.The platform was surrounded by a strong wire railing, but it lookedunstable to Wally, who tested it with his hand as David followed throughthe trap.
This platform is seldom used, except in war time. David stepped up and,slamming down the trap door, stood upon it and faced Wally. The lastexotic colors of the Pacific sunset reddened the illimitable space inwhich they seemed to swing along--the two men cut off from all elseliving. David was silent.
"Well, I don't like it," Wally admitted after a moment. "Too darned muchsky! You get a roll up here that you don't feel in the ship, too. Andit's cold. Why isn't this railing higher? It isn't safe; just comes tomy waist. So if you'll just step off that trap, Ellison, we'll go down."
"Not yet, Cram." David spoke quite gently. "I don't want you to miss anyof this. We are riding high--higher every minute. I ordered the shipsent up a mile or so, and we are climbing fast.
"Imagine," he went on, "how easy it would be for a good husky chap, likeme, for instance, to heave another chap over. He'd go bouncing down theside of the ship, clutching, but finding nothing to grab. Then--well,that would be about all. I wonder how long you would have to think, toremember, before you lost consciousness."
"Lord, what a morbid mind! You want to watch out for yourself," saidWally with a forced laugh. The sunset shone full on his face. He waschalk white. A sickly fear was spreading through him. "Come on, Ellison,let's go down. Thanks for the view. I've had enough of it. Come on."
"No hurry," said David. He stood against the sunset. That or the factthat there was nothing to measure him by, no familiar scale of size,made his big muscular figure look gigantic to Wally's horrified gaze.For Wally was suddenly tasting a terror past his comprehension. The manwas mad. Ellison was mad--mad--mad--mad. The words filled his brain likethe beat of a drum.
"Come on, Davie, old chap, let's go down," he coaxed.
"No!" thundered David. He took a single step toward Wally across thelittle platform. With one hand he caught him by the lapels of his coat,and shook him gently.
Wally screamed.
"Stop that!" said David. He took up Wally's right hand and looked at it.He nodded at the purple stain he saw there. "Where is it?" he asked.
"Where's what?" chattered Wally.
"You know. The envelope--my plans."
"How do I know?" cried Wally shrilly. "You think I took them? Well, Ididn't. What would I want with your plans? Let go of me!" He pushed atDavid's hand. It was a grip of steel. "Let go, I tell you! I want to godown!"
"No," said David. "Where is the envelope, Cram? You know."
"I don't know anything about it, you fool!" cried Cram. "I'll fix youfor this! Open that trap!"
"Where is the envelope with my papers? If I have to ask you that again,I'll fight you, Cram, right up here--"
"You mean you'll murder me!" Cram suddenly screamed. "Help! help!" Hisvoice, thin and shattered, was torn to tatters by the wind and driftedinto space. He suddenly slumped at David's feet, writhing.
Strangely, David's anger turned to pity. He pulled the cringing objectupright. "Come, Cram," he said.
"I'll tell, I'll tell!" Cram screamed. "Let me down! The envelope isstuck under the bottom of the love birds' cage," he was panting. "InTrigg's room. I took it! Go look! It's there!"
"Is this the truth?" demanded David.
"I swear it," groaned Cram. "God's own truth!"
"You will have to pay for this, Cram," said David, tightening his graspon Cram's arm. "You will do just what I say. If you don't, I shall makeyou wish that you were dead." Anger rose in him again. "You poorthieving cur, you! I ought to--"
"Oh, don't, David, don't! I can't stand any more! I'll do anything yousay, only take me down from this place."
David stooped, opened the trap, and still keeping a hand on hisshoulder, shoved Wally down the ladder, along the catwalk, down the rearladder into the passage that led into the cabins and the salon. Thesound of voices came to them. Everyone was at dinner.
David pushed his prisoner into Doctor Trigg's room. The awakened lovebirds scolded softly as Cram felt under the floor of the cage. It stoodon the table on four short brass legs. He fumbled a moment, then thrustsomething into David's hand. It was the missing envelope. David glancedinside. The papers were undisturbed.
"Come on," he said grimly.
He shoved Cram before him into the salon, and stopped. Everyone lookedup. There was a silence. He held up the envelope, and at the same timepushed Cram forward.
"This man has something to say to you," he said.