this emergency. When my organization is formed again, perhaps I shall return. My campaign is over for the present, but there will be another!"
The voice died away. There was silence for a moment, and then the brilliant light flashed again, flooded the lawn, almost blinded the men there.
"There is a letter by the alley gate!" The voice of the Black Star now came to them faintly. "Good night, gentlemen!"
"Gone!" the chief gasped. "Gone!"
"But how on earth" Kowen began.
"That letter!" Verbeck cried. "Let's get it!"
They hurried to the alley gate, and there they found the letter, as the Black Star had said. They carried it back to the police automobile, and read it in front of the searchlight.
Gentlemen: If you have this letter, it means that my plans have been ruined, and that I have been forced to escape. I cannot neglect this chance to tell you how futile have been your efforts.
Have you wondered how I spoke to you out of the sky? Have you worried about the bright light? Are you surprised at the way I escaped you just now?
I have in my organization a wonderful man. He is a mechanical genius gone wrong. He has perfected airplanes as no man dreams they can be perfected. I have been using an airplane—but it is a noiseless airplane! Can you imagine what that would mean if the world had the secret? An airplane, as the public knows it, heralds its approach. With this, I can sail at
