The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-06-12
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE HELENA INDEPENDENT,
CHAPTER XII.
JACK HARDx's APorHEosIs.

CHAPTER XII.
JACK HARDY's APorHEos1s,
TT WAS THE THIRTY-TAIRD DAY
W since the two explorers had departed
> to the unknown north. 70 say that ia
the party loft upon the disabled airshir
these wsrs thifty.thres anxious days. IL u
say very little about IT,. 4
Whsrs were the sergeant and the tutori
Had they achieved their snd3 What VA
their fate2 How neaf homo were they
now2 That word ''homs" was used with
stint. II stuck In the throats. Of the e.
plorers. &.
Al the days passed into weeks the awful
suspicion grew upon them that this airship,
iii refused TO move, would probably be
their tomb. They began TO economize pro
visions. This decision Of the professor,
who had taken charge In the absence Of the
sergeant, WAS made upon the twentieth day,
and brought down the house with gloom.
But what had the inventor bsssn doing
In the meanwhile?
Alternating between wild hope and burst
ing with despair.
Three times had the delicate and ponder
ous machinery Desn taken apart and re-
fitted. Jack and Royal worked like horses
to help him. These two were true to their
promise. Now they began to understand
the meaning Of their commanders instruc-
tions. To DO killed in the front of battle
is not SO hard q fate ~ to be picked of BY
stray bullets while waiting in the rear the
order for advance. It required all the
cheerfulness and invention of the boys to
keep up the inventors courage and their
own. II don't see where our corner lots
are coming In" Jack Hardy would suggest
airily. And how am I going to survey for
that summer hotelY" But jokes and oon-
undrums gave ont in time. BY the twsntl-
eth day no man felt funny.
Once more. old fellow" urged Royal
Sterne for the iftieth time, "I'll bet there's
q dead wire somewhere. or some blamed
screw loose. Let her GO again!"
For the hundredth time the inventor OK.
amined his machinery. It was of no use.
The Asropole ~sullsnly refused to bulge
Her huge fans ~disobeyed. The great stor-
age battery, in itself . new invention,
seemed unable TO give an impulse to the
shy machinery. The Aeropole did not co
quet; it sulksd, Its disease was not the
breaking Of An artery, or the failure of the
heart, nor even hysteria. Her organism
was perfect; her nerves true to their GEN.
tres; her limbs able to ~revolve. It was an
unwillinQnsss to moves
'She must come around all right" urged
the inventor piteously. Every part is per-
feet. Thu power is plenty. She'll wake up
and be herself again." Then he went to
the lever, and his will, acting through it.
waa diorauarda1
This lasted thirty days Then Jack
Hardy began to think.
"Forty-eight hours more and they are
due back," he calculated. "Royal is be-
ginning to have the sulks. There are no
white bears to b shot. I'm in prime order.
'Tisn't so bad as it was one summer on the
plains. I'll bet a cent the professor has
passed some little fool thing by. I'll have
to 90 for Them" he unused. thinking of the
rescue he might be called upon to under
take. Royal would have to stay behind to
dab in the engine room and sly around
generally"
So Jack Hardy crowded in the engine
room, squeezed the protesting inventor to
one side. and dabbled with nuts and at
tachments and wires and screws, as il he
knew all about it.
If I don't strike twelve" he answered.
AT least I CANT make her more contrary
than she it,"
The professor erumbled. but repaired the
damage with sarcastic precision after every
visit,
The thirty third day arrived. Mon in
the Arctic region count time from the dsy
OF a departure or disaster. Fifty times /
during the day before Royal and Jack had
to the top of an elevation at q dis
lance of q few hundred feet, and peersd
with a telescope toward the malign north. /;
Then they would come back to the inventor
with 0Ad fQCaa and in oi1orOo r !
On the tho thirty-third day the suspense
became intolerable, and 80 did tho tempers
of the three men in the Aeropole.
Jack Hardy had failed to connect the
balky machinery, and his state of mind in
particular became u~nmanagsabls. "You
are a pretty inventor to bring us up here.
and be downed by our own machine" be
Dried. I'm tired of you; and AZ for you,"
tn lining towards Royal and putting a pipe
ful in that .Rentlsman's surprised face,
that's the third time you've turned up a
who turned up the Jack that way"
Both men, insulted to tho quick, turned
him, each in his own way. The pro-
lessor too thin and worn to fight. folded
his arms and advanced ~sternly upon Hardy.
He meant to wither him with a look. But
Royal, who had taken boxing lessons in his
IechnoioRical days, squared up to his
friend. flushed and grew pale, and then fat
ly said:
"You lie!'
Jack Hardy. bereft of his senses, % they
oil were By their terrible situation, started
up with the pack Of cards in his hands and
faced his companions. Men who have been ,
imprisoned for weeks in the same narrow
place have learned to loath the companions
they onee loved. They detest everything
themselves. This 10 next TO that ter
rible disease-ennui. It is but Q step 10
murder or suicide. It il q distinct form Of
Jack Rlared at the two. He had already
forgotten that he was tho assailant, M
was already prepared to consider himself
The injured party.
First you |" he cried. Then with all his
might he hurled the pack Of cards straight
the face of the inventor. Prof. Wilder
naturally duoked. The cards hurtled on.
They scattered M separated at the door
the engine-room. Like leaves thew
about. They struck here and
hers. covering vital parts of the strangs
But. even a. they struck their u~nintendsd
mark. there was a low. whizxing sound.
= increased in volume. The stubborn
Electrical engine. silent for q month and a