Levanter still pleaded.
“Don’t try to put the responsibility of your evil deeds on me,” said
Mary angrily. “You don’t have to commit these crimes, and you know it.
Nothing you say will change my mind about you, or about your proposal.
I won’t have anything to do with you, no matter what you promised.”
The steely determination which shone in Mary’s eyes stung and hurt him
to the point of madness. He shook with anger and anguish. Suddenly a
wave of passion swept through his frame. Lunging forward, he violently
grasped Mary in his arms and pulled her toward him. She struggled
desparately.
“You’ll do as I want you to do,” he exclaimed savagely.
In sheer desperation Mary slapped and scratched her captor. Their
interlocked figures swayed and wriggled in the room as Levanter,
actuated by the unreasoning passion that engulfed him, struggled
desparately to overpower Mary.
Suddenly in the midst of the struggle, just as the strength of Mary was
about to give out, the door of the room opened, and Walter Johnston,
the chief lieutenant rushed in. He was the man who had tried to kiss
Mary on the first day of her arrival on the island and had received a
violent blow from Levanter for his pains. He had been attracted to the
room by the sound of the struggle, and rushed to investigate. Taking
the situation in at a glance, he strode over and separated the two.
As Levanter released his hold on Mary he turned ferociously upon his
aide and aimed a terrific blow at the intruder. Johnston, fresh and
alert, easily avoided the blow and in turn planted one on the face of
his chief which sent the latter sprawling on the floor.
“What’s the idea?” asked Johnston. “You don’t think you are going to
pull anything over on me, do you? I’ll tell you right now that don’t go
with me. What I can’t do, you can’t do, chief, and that ought to about
settle it.”
Levanter slowly rose from the floor.
“This is my affair, Johnston.”
“Oh, no, Boss,” replied Johnston smoothly, “you’ve got it wrong. It’s
my affair, too. We sink or swim together, and what’s good enough for
me, is good enough for you. That’s only fair.”
“What do you mean?” asked Levanter.
“What I say,” replied Johnston, “you are trying to do something you
stopped me from doing, and that don’t go--see!”
While the two men thus disputed, Mary, with her hand over her
palpitating heart, stood in the corner, panting from her exertions
in resisting Levanter. Her eyes followed every movement of the two
men, and she listened keenly to each word that passed between them.
For upwards of half an hour they engaged in a rapid fire of violent
argument, then gradually the heat of the altercation spent itself. As
it subsided, Levanter said with a smile slowly growing upon his face:
“Let’s forget it, Johnston. If we quarrel we are lost. You don’t
understand the situation. Miss Ingleton is an old friend of mine, and I
asked her to marry me. The reason I stopped you from molesting her the
day she came here was because I was still waiting for her answer, and
I hoped to marry her. Now she has refused to marry me. So it’s no use
quarreling about her.”
“Well, that’s alright, you leave her alone and I’ll do the same,” said
Johnston.
Then turning to Mary, he added:
“You tell me, Miss, if he tries to interfere with you in any way.”
To this Mary made no reply, but she experienced a feeling of great
relief. The struggle she had just undergone with Levanter had left her
exhausted and had caused her great alarm, although it had awakened
in her a lively feeling of resentment and determination to fight for
her safety and honor to the very last. A hundred desperate thoughts
had been engendered in her mind while the altercation between the two
men was raging. She would plunge into the sea as soon as she got out
of the room. Then came the determination to kill Levanter with the
first weapon that came to hand, should he attempt to molest her again.
Finally she had decided she would destroy Levanter, his crew, and
herself with one of his liquid bombs.
Then the altercation between the two men came to an end, and its
outcome rent the curtain of her fears and disclosed the clear path
of safety before her. She realized that the bad blood that had been
stirred up between Levanter and Johnston spelled freedom from danger
for her, at least for a time, and she determined to be wary and never
be with either one of them alone, or go anywhere where one of them
could be alone with her.
She could therefore allay her fears for several days at least, allowing
for a reasonable time to hear from Redmond. Then should such time
elapse without hearing from him by wireless, she would know that he
had failed in his attempt to get to Honolulu, and then she could think
the situation over and make whatever plans were necessary under those
circumstances. Until that time she was now determined to compose her
mind and wait patiently and hopefully.
By the time these thoughts had revolved themselves in her mind she was
thoroughly recovered from her exertions and emotions. With a rapid but
cold glance at the two men, Mary turned around and walked out of the
room. She went into the wireless room. A glance at her watch showed her
that it was almost time for the news schedule of the naval wireless
station at Honolulu.
She sat down at the instrument table and picked up the receivers which
she carefully adjusted to her head. Then, after delicately adjusting
the apparatus in front of her, she picked up a pencil and began to
write as the news message came in.
Mechanically she wrote down word by word the first item of the
despatch, her mind following its import just as mechanically. As the
sentence terminated her hand had already began to write the word
“stop” which normally came at the end of each item. She had already
got the first letter of the customary word on the paper before her,
when suddenly she arrested the movement of her hand and listened more
intently. In place of the usual “stop” a new signal was coming. Within
her mind she repeated it as it came.
It was composed of three letters “QVT.”
The full meaning of the signal burst in upon her thoughts. Joyously she
pulled the receivers off her head, flung them on the instrument table
and with all the fervor of her soul exclaimed, “Thank God!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
For several days after she had received the welcome wireless signal
which informed her of Howard Redmond’s safe arrival in Honolulu, Mary
Ingleton constantly speculated on the possibilities of her early escape
from her island prison. Ever since her terrific struggle with the
aerial pirate shortly before she received the wireless signal she had
been greatly perturbed. Would Redmond be able to get assistance quickly
and come to her rescue before Levanter tried to molest her again? Would
Johnston keep his promise and interfere against his chief, if Levanter
should again force his unwelcome attentions upon her; or would Levanter
succeed in placating his assistant by some arrangement and then renew
his attentions? These were the thoughts which ran successively and
repeatedly through Mary’s mind and disquieted her greatly. Her fears
were greatly enhanced by the persistency with which she dwelled upon
them, for the lack of anything else to do.
Since the incident with Levanter that was ended by the abrupt
appearance of Johnston, she had not been molested again. Levanter had
remained aloof from her and busied himself with the affairs of his
criminal enterprise. The repair work on the airplane that had been
started just before Redmond’s departure had not yet been completed, and
Levanter was busy each day superintending it. It included a complete
overhaul of both the machine and its engine.
While dwelling on the problems before her, Mary was considerably
worried that Levanter might at any moment walk over to the place
where the wreck of the Hilo was lying piled up on the beach and there
discover that the lifeboat of the schooner was missing. The more she
thought of this possibility the more worried she became, for she
felt certain that if the fact that the lifeboat was gone should be
discovered, Levanter would logically surmise that a stranger had been
on the island. She was sure that in that case the strange disappearance
of Harrison would again crop up in his mind and arouse his suspicions.
As she turned this problem over in her mind Mary tried to think of
some way of solving it. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. Why not get
hold of one of Levanter’s chemical bombs at the first opportunity,
plant it under the Hilo and blow the schooner to fragments? This done,
there would not be any possible chance of the pirate’s discovering the
disappearance of the lifeboat, and all fears on that score would be
eliminated.
No sooner had the idea occurred to her than Mary began revolving in her
mind a possible way of putting it into effect. In the first place she
did not know just how the bombs were operated. All she knew about them
was what Levanter had told her in a casual way at different times. She
knew that they were filled with liquid gas and that there was a special
detonating arrangement that broke down the vacuum of the container and
released the gas so rapidly that it emerged with terrific explosive
force. How this detonating device worked she did not know.
She fully realized that it would be extremely difficult to obtain one
of the bombs and very dangerous to place it underneath the Hilo in such
manner as to ensure the destruction of the schooner. Before she could
attempt this, therefore, she had to find out how to handle the bombs,
also if there was any way in which they could be exploded by a time
arrangement, so as to enable her to get away to safety before the bomb
exploded after she had placed it under the Hilo.
Having recognized these facts, she decided, after further thought on
the matter, that the only way to obtain the necessary information would
be from Levanter himself. In order to do so, she realized that she
would have to get on speaking terms with him again. This was extremely
repugnant to her, but she decided that it could not be avoided under
the circumstances. Therefore she made up her mind to submerge her
own feelings in order to achieve the purpose she had in view, which
was very vital to her safety and indispensable for her escape from
the island. She relied upon the quick return of Howard Redmond to
counteract any advances that Levanter might make after she had resumed
speaking relations with him.
Now that she had made this decision Mary waited until Levanter was in a
good humor and not pre-occupied with the repair work on his airplane.
At the first available opportunity she approached him and said:
“I have been thinking things over, and it seems to me that it is very
silly for us to be sulky. I am perfectly willing to be friendly with
you, if you will not try to interfere with me again as you did the
other day. Why can’t you promise me to act like a man and put an end to
this ridiculous situation?”
“What’s the idea?” asked Levanter in reply, “I thought you said you
hated me.”
“Well, you must admit that was your own fault,” replied Mary. “After
thinking it over I don’t believe that you were really responsible for
your actions then, so I am willing to forgive you, if you will only
promise not to do anything like that again.”
“I don’t quite understand you,” said Levanter suspiciously. “There must
be some reason for the sudden change in your attitude now. What is it?”
“Well, I am very lonesome here, and it is very unpleasant not to be
able to talk to anyone.”
Levanter began to thaw with this explanation, and he actually smiled.
Did she really mean what she said?
“Well, I think you are right to a certain point. I am glad that you
are at last beginning to realize that there is no escape from fate.
That makes things much simpler for us. I don’t see though why I should
promise you anything. I can say this however. I may be blamed for my
actions, but I don’t have to defend any motives. I love you, I have
always loved you, and I believe I shall always love you.”
“Well, I accept your apology,” said Mary. “But why can’t you forget
what you have just said? You know I don’t love you. I have said that
often enough for you to realize it. I have always been determined to
marry no one but the man I love. I don’t intend to marry anyone. Let us
agree to bury the hatchet, forget all these things and live amicably,
since I must stay on the island. But tell me, what are your intentions
toward me. Surely you are not going to keep me here all my life.
Surely, you don’t intend to live here yourself, do you?”
“I don’t know yet,” replied Levanter. “I haven’t made up my mind what I
am going to do. Why do you ask that?”
“Oh, I was just wondering what you intend to do. It explains my reason
for wanting to be on speaking terms with you again. I didn’t think that
you would live here forever. I felt sure that some time you would quit
this island, and of course I didn’t expect you to be so cruel as to
leave me here after you left. I was sure that when you did leave, you
would find some way to let me get back to my parents.”
“You can go back to them immediately if you promise to marry me,”
declared Levanter.
“Now, there you are again, returning to that forbidden subject,”
replied Mary. “Why can’t you agree to forget that. You know what my
answer is now.”
Suddenly, as she reached this stage in the conversation, an opening
occurred to Mary. She would dissemble her real feelings and hold out a
hope to the man she despised and hated. Intuitively she felt certain
that he would immediately jump at the possibility offered indirectly
to him and promise not to interfere with her again while she was on
the island. Then having obtained this promise, she could go about her
task of destroying the Hilo and lay such other plans to assist Howard
Redmond when he returned, as were possible under whatever circumstances
might develop. These thoughts flashed quickly through her mind as she
was talking, and with only a slight pause to go over them again and
make sure of herself, she continued:
“Of course, whether my answer will always be ‘No’, I cannot say at
the present, but you will not get me to change my mind if you keep on
forcing your attentions upon me, that is certain.”
Mary had angled well and caught her victim on the well prepared
hook. Like a fish Levanter rose to the bait and grasped it. The hope
contained in Mary’s simple statement arose before Levanter with all its
possibilities.
“I think you are right,” he replied slowly. “What I did the other day
was done in the heat of passion, and I was not really responsible. I am
very sorry and I hope you will forgive me.”
As he said this Levanter extended his hand toward Mary. She grasped
it and shook hands with him on the compact. She did it with an
apparent show of sincerity, but in her heart there was the bitterest
of feelings. She despised herself for doing it, and she still more
despised the man whose hand she shook. She consoled herself, however,
with the thought that what she had done was necessary to her own safety
and freedom, and that the treachery of the man who held her in his
power could only be overcome by stratagem on her part, much as she
disliked to employ it.
Following the conclusion of the compact, the two continued to converse
generally until Levanter was called away by the men working on the
airplane. Mary felt that it would be extremely unwise to question the
sky pirate on any matter concerning his enterprise so shortly after the
reconciliation with him. It would be much better to wait a few days
she thought and be extremely friendly with him until he was completely
disarmed regarding her intentions before she asked him any questions.
Otherwise, she argued with herself, he might guess the reason for such
pertinent questions and know that she had approached him solely to get
the information wanted.
And so several days passed by without further incident of any kind.
Each day Mary made it a point to chat with her captor on some trivial
subjects, in order to get him completely off his guard. Meanwhile she
had been thinking over the details of her plan. She knew that as long
as Levanter was busy with the repair work on his airplane there was
very little chance that he would go over to that part of the harbor
where the Hilo was lying beached.
As soon as the repair work was completed, however, there was every
possibility that he might go over there and discover that the lifeboat
was missing. Consequently there was no time to be lost in completing
her arrangements.
If she were successful in the task of destroying the Hilo she could
take similar steps against the remarkable airplane of Levanter. If she
could only shatter one of its wings, or damage its hull, it would be
impossible for the sky pirate to take the air again for several months,
while there was the possibility that the machine might be completely
wrecked. Even if it were only slightly damaged it would give Redmond
sufficient time to organize any help that he might need in getting back
to the island and rescuing her.
No sooner had this thought occurred to her than Mary began to debate in
her mind whether it would not be better to go right out and blow up the
airplane instead of the schooner Hilo. If the airplane were destroyed,
she argued, it would not make any difference whether Levanter
discovered that the Hilo’s boat was missing or not, because he could
not leave the island anyhow. If she succeeded in doing this completely
it would be a very important thing, and she might be able to do it
without attracting suspicion if she went about it carefully. In fact,
she continued in her mental argument, Levanter might think that the
explosion had been caused by a bomb left on the airplane.
Should she try to blow up the airplane or the Hilo? That was now the
all important question in her mind. If she made her attempt on the
airplane and failed she might not get another chance, and there was
a very great possibility of failure until she had learned how to
handle the bombs properly. In the event of failure through premature
explosion, or any other similar cause, both Levanter and his crew would
be extremely careful with the remaining bombs, particularly as to where
they left them, and her chances of getting another would be eliminated.
On the other hand if she made the attempt on the schooner Hilo and
it was unsuccessful, she felt certain that Levanter would attribute
the explosion to the washing up of one of his mines ashore, and
then she would have another chance to try again. Besides, she would
learn something from her failure if she did fail. If her attempt was
successful, Levanter and his men might still think that the explosion
was from one of the mines washed up from the sea. In that case she
would have sufficient knowledge in the use of the mines to make the
attempt on the airplane at the earliest possible moment.
About a week after Mary had made her reconciliation with Levanter the
opportunity she had been looking for arrived. She was conversing with
her captor, and he was in an exceptionally good humor. While she was
talking with him, Johnston came over and said:
“Say, Boss, we’ve used up all our supply of metal, we’ll have to get
some more somewhere for the extra vacuum containers.”
After the two men had discussed this for a little while Johnston left
and went over to the workshop. As Levanter turned back to her Mary
asked:
“Aren’t you afraid that one of the bombs might wash up from the sea and
explode?”
“Oh, no,” he replied. “There wouldn’t be any danger unless they were
thrown violently against some object. They have a contact detonator,
and as long as the detonator didn’t touch anything they would be
harmless.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” replied Mary, “because I was a little
alarmed over it.”
“You needn’t be, there’s no danger,” declared Levanter.
“Well, you know that’s stupid of me,” said Mary, “I always thought that
bombs and explosive things went off with some kind of a fuse, some kind
of timing arrangement, if you get what I mean.”
“They can be made to explode that way,” replied Levanter, “but my bombs
are not constructed to explode with time fuses, although they could be
set to go off at any predetermined time. Only the shells we use in the
guns have the timing arrangement.”
“How interesting, but of course I am very ignorant of those terrible
things. I thought they all went off by time.”
“Oh, no. Of course, I am very proud of those bombs because they are
my own invention,” continued Levanter. “The bombs are put in the sea
for protection against any fool government war-vessels that might come
snooping around. A time fuse wouldn’t be of any use for that purpose,
because we don’t know when they might come along. If they do come here
they will hit one of those mines we’ve got laid around the island and
explode it. That would be the end of the snooper.”
“But that’s terrible!” exclaimed Mary, her horror at the thought
momentarily overcoming her effort to dissemble her real feelings.
“That’s downright murder!”
“Oh, don’t worry Mary,” replied Levanter soothingly. “We don’t expect
any of them around here. It’s only a precautionary measure I was
compelled to take to protect us here. Even if they did come and strike
one of the mines we could rescue the crew and make them prisoners. You
see we could then use them as hostages, and they wouldn’t be able to go
back and disclose my secret place.”
“But how would you be able to control such a large number of men?”
persisted Mary.
“Well, if such a thing were to happen we would find some means of doing
it, but we don’t expect such a thing. Anyway, Mary, you know it can
be stopped any time you say the word,” said Levanter looking at her
significantly.
“Oh, please, please don’t. You promised not to talk about that, can’t
you keep your word?” entreated Mary.
“Alright, let’s forget it. I don’t see how this conversation started.
I’m so confounded proud of these bombs that I suppose I went too far in
talking about them. It can’t be very interesting to you.”
“I realize that you must be proud of them,” agreed Mary, “and really
I am very much interested in them, although it’s too deep for me to
understand, but I should like to see how you make them. I have never
been inside your workshop, and it would help me to pass the time away.”
“That’s alright,” said Levanter, “you can come in any time.”
After a further brief conversation he offered to take her over the
shop right away. She readily assented because she was impatient to get
her task completed, especially as the repair work on the airplane was
almost done.
They strolled over to the house where the entire mechanical plant
of Levanter was installed. He showed her the distilling plant with
which he made his alcoholic fuel. Then he led her into the room where
the liquid oxygen was produced that gave him the energy to fly his
airplane. He explained it all to Mary, and she listened carefully,
although somewhat impatiently.
Next he took her into the room where the vacuum containers for the
liquid gas were made. There were two types of containers, one to carry
the fuel for the airplane, and the other for use as bombs. In the
former there was a remarkable siphon arrangement that permitted the
liquid gas to flow freely into the engine, where its expansion was
allowed to take place in such manner that the energy spent by the gas
in expanding from the liquid to the gaseous state was fully utilized in
the propulsion of the airplane.
The second type of container was equipped with a vacuum cap that
included the detonator, thus making the whole thing a very ingenious
bomb when filled with the liquid gas. Levanter explained to Mary that
a little charcoal was included in the container, as it added to the
explosive force of the liquid gas.