"The thing's starting to climb," Mantell said swiftly. "It's at twelve
o'clock high, making half my speed. I'll try to close in."

In five minutes, Mantell reported again. The strange metallic object
had speeded up, was now making 360 or more.

At 3:08, Mantell's wingman called in. Both he and the other pilot had
seen the weird object. But Mantell had outclimbed them and was lost in
the clouds.

Seven minutes dragged by. The men in the tower sweated out the
silence. Then, at 3:15, Mantell made a hasty contact.

"It's still above me, making my speed or better. I'm going up to
twenty thousand feet. If I'm no closer, I'll abandon chase."

It was his last report.

Minutes later, his fighter disintegrated with terrific force. The
falling wreckage was scattered for thousands of feet.

When Mantell failed to answer the tower, one of his pilots began a
search. Climbing to 33,000 feet, he flew a hundred miles to the south.

But the thing that lured Mantell to his death had vanished from the
sky.

Ten days after Mantell was killed, I learned of a curious sequel to
the Godman affair.