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clear, crisp, ominous. |
"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this program of dance music to |
bring you a special bulletin. Flash! Midland University campus. Dr. |
H. Logan MacDowell, president of this institution, vanished suddenly |
five minutes ago from the midst of a group of friends gathered at his |
home to discuss two similar occurrences at Midland within the past week. |
"Police efforts to solve the mystery were hampered by the ensuing |
panic. A diabolic plot against the persons of eminent American |
educators is feared by observers " |
The rest was lost to us. Frenzied footsteps beat a tappity-tappity path |
to the door of my apartment, and nervous hands beat wooden panels. A |
sweet, familiar voice, now high-pitched in fright, cried, |
"Jim! Jim Blakeson! Quick " |
The door and sheer courage were all that sustained her. As I opened |
the first, the second gave out. And Helen MacDowell moaned gently and |
collapsed into my arms! |
CHAPTER II |
Unexpected Journey |
I yelled, "Get some water, Hank! And some brandy!" |
I carried her to the studio lounge. Hank came back with two glasses. I |
gulped the brandy swiftly, and held the water to her lips. Pretty soon |
she spluttered, pushed the glass away, and opened her eyes. |
"Oh, Jim! The most dreadful thing has happened to daddy. We You!" |
Hank swallowed convulsively and essayed a grin. |
"'Lo, Helen." |
Helen MacDowell's fingers made motions like shears on a rampage. Her |
eyes roved. She asked thoughtfully, |
"Jim, where's that paperknife you used to have? The long one? I'm going |
to stab somebody in the back!" |
"Look, sugar," I pleaded, "Hank's come to help us. We have more |
important things to worry about now than your injured ego. After we've |
cleared up this trouble, you can have him alone in a dark room for ten |
minutes " |
"Is that," she demanded fretfully, "a promise?" |
But her bitterness subsided; anxiety rekindled in her eyes. That, and |
the recollection of a shocking moment. |
"Daddy disappeared, Jim! Right from the middle of a group. He was |
standing at my side; his shoulder was almost touching mine. Then all of |
a sudden he was gone! Like that!" |
Under any other circumstances, I would have guessed that the old |
wind-bag had finally blown up and drifted away. But there was precedent |
now for his Houdini act. One with sinister overtones. Three men and an |
animated gumshoe detective had vanished. |
But I said, in a voice that I hoped wouldn't sound too much like a dish |
of unchilled tapioca, |
"Now, don't worry, Helen. Everything's going to be all right. There |
must be a logical explanation for this. Hank's just the man to " |
And then there it was again! |
A blinding flash of light. A weird vibrancy tingling my body, drawing |
taut the tiny hairs of my forearms and neck. Light motes dancing |
giddily before my eyes, coalescing to form the figure of a man. A |
wavering, mobile figure, from the uppermost nebulosity of which |
emanated a piteous, hollow voice. |
"Skleeva! Skleeva " |
Then a swift, dulled paling of the light. Burning white tarnished |
into red-ochre, red-ochre brazened, the green palpitated to a deep |
blue-indigo. The figure before my eyes took on form and substance. |
I saw with a sense of stark disbelief it was tall and lanky as Hank |
himself, that it wore a uniform of some sort, that its eyes were not |
unfriendly but haggard and despairing. And then, |
"Ombiggs!" wailed our impossible visitor. "Ombiggs! Skleeva?" |
And vanished! |
I stood still. Very, very still It was not courage. It was rivets in |
the soles of my feet. My brain clamored, |
"Go, boys, go!" But my knees were clattering and banging like the |
fenders of a T-model Ford. |
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