The Aerial Burglars (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE RACE AND THE RESCUE 7E had succeeded ! At last, by means of the Volante, the winged automobile so wonderfully designed and controlled by Warren Mitchell, we had struck a lethal blow at Wharfbridge Egan, that accursed gold- sucking Yankee vampire. At last the ruin and death of Warren's father and of mine seemed in the way of being avenged with a satisfying vengeance. Emeralds, rubies, and diamonds, the proudest spoil of Egan's great museum, lay in dazzling profusion on the table of the smoking-room of the old Essex manor house, which my friend and chief had acquired that he might prosecute his researches into the principles of aerialnavigation within the privacy of its noble grounds. After we left the watchman of the museum shouting and gesticulating madly in the sombre dignity of starlight night, that seemed to us to look with compassionate contempt upon his excitement, we had raced home at a giddy pace before a following wind, and the Volante was housed, and we were gloating over the gems within doors ere the first scent of dawn had spread above to the plane of our passage. " By God ! " cried Warren, as he passed his hands through the mass of jewels, sending innumerable glints of rainbow light flashing from the facets as they shuffled to his touch, " what a superb lot! Why, man, they are worth a couple of million sterling if they are worth a penny. And I know he relies upon them as a reserve fund. The pictures and statuary were all mortgaged when the Valparaiso Development Company smashed, but he has always kept these as a last resource.It's the beginning of the end for him, be his wealth what it may." " Then after all," I said, with a sigh of relief, " we may be able to end our campaign of spoliation of the spoilers before long." Mitchell lau...