Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-01
animation and whatever repairs are necessary,

animation and whateverrepairs are necessary,
Sir. ...
Very we'll. Do so at once!"
Within few minutes the Norma had found
lower level and her searchlights were bringing
into view the ground beneath. They were
travelling slowly over primeval forest in far
upper Canada. A spot came to view where
there were no trees, and into this, like a Grip
pied bird the Norma came to stop and rested.
The Emperor watched the first attempts to
define the difficulty with anxiety, and then,
yielding to his desire for a sight of the open,
asked for and obtained the opening of the port,
through which he sauntered into the night,
Without observing what was round him, he
stood leaning against the shell of the radio
plane, thinking with annoyance of the difficult
ties of state which might accrue if his absence
extended over day. He was aroused by the
sounds of hammering and rending within, and
reentered the craft, which was now flooded
with a binding glare of radiance brought into
life by the ceaselessly turning dynamos.
On their knees, with uniforms cast aside,
and recklessly tearing away the carefully
wrought woodwork of the paneled side, were
the Admiral and the engineer, while back of
them the distracted Chancellor of the Empire
held a short crowbar in his hands and dis
played muscular arms which had been barred
to the elbow
Il am sorry, Your Majesty" apologized the
afraid that confused handling of the levers
has exposed weakness. cross current, a
burned insulation, and a bad connection have
fused our wires somewhere, and we may be
DELAYED for short time
How long!"
Il cannot say Aside from the delay, there
need be no apprehension, because we have
abundant food. We shall have to uncover the
damaged section before we can estimate the
length of our stay
turned on his heel and strobe out into the open
air again. What a fool he had been to intrust
himself to a strange mechanism which at best
was treacherous A days delay would not
mean much; but what if they were detained
for many. The waning moon had risen, and
in its light he marched up and down a stretch
of turf with military precision, until his anger
began to disappear and his natural philosophy
to afford relaxation. He became conscious of
the beauties of the night and the wilderness,
and as time went on he was engrossed in con-
templating them.
Only the moon and he seemed in possession
of this cleft of the forest, this grass carpeted
glade in the center of whose breadth a hurrying
brook threw strange ribbons of light upward.
Bordering this asylum of the wilderness were
the illimitable shadows cast by lofty spruce,
fir, and hemlock trees, which thrust their slen-
der plumes like curious observers high above
the denser growths of scrubby birch and Jack
pine. Here and there were splotches of light
where the moon found ragged openings, max
ing of the woods a royal robe spotted without
regularity. 1t was a world Of enchantment,
mysterious in its stiffness, mystic in its beauty
and alluring in its stateliness. Cares of state
were forgotten, and he was yielding to its
spell, when a voice at his elbow speaking in
his native tongue interrupted his meditations.
your Majesty" the Chancellor said, they
have found the break, and say that with the
tools at command it will require several days
perhaps to repair it. Admiral Bevins ex-
presses his regrets and
"Gon ii, Himmel!' burst from the En-
peror's lips, and with gesture of hopelessness
he waved his subject away and began an agi-
tated march backward and forward, while the
Chancellor returned to render what assistance
he could.
To be continued next Sunday