Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1908-06-04
For a Daughter Of Science
By Albert w. Tolman
Copyright. by Daily Story Pub. Coz

answered that II was. so far as l
could tell.
where arc your" inquired.
'In my laboratory four or five hun.
bred miles of"
But how can you talk with me?"
by wireless. OF course; how else?"
There was impotence in his tones.
He began to instruct me about
managing the machine. talking rapid.
ly in evident fear that something
might prevent him from finishing.
But where am going?" asked,
as he concluded his directions.
A blindink flash from the instru-
ment hurled me across the room. We
had passed through a thunder-cloud.
When / recovered. found that the
telephone was useless. tried to re.
new the conversation, but no voice re.
piled.
was now thrown on my own re-
sources. The goal of this blind voy.
age could not guess. II was known
only to brain hundreds of miles
back. ! must simply steer east by
north, true to the compass, and trust
that all would be well.
Night fell. The red and green eyes
Of the aeroplanes, like ships run
ming lights, tunneled long colored
paths in the blackening fog, as we
swooped down the wind. Denser grew
the darkness. / opened a bull's-eye
and the strong salt smell of the sea
penetrated my nostrils. Far beneath,
faint and long.drawn. whooped a
siren.
l dared not push my head out to
look down = that would mean 10 risk
having 1t blown off, There was. no
way of measuring our speed. ! only
knew we were whizzing through abb
solute blackness at tremendous
rate, perhaps so, perhaps 200 miles an
hour.
Suddenly the fog thinned. Then we
ran out of it altogether. We were
shooting on under clear starry sky
above the dark-blue sea. Below twin.
killed. the lights Of an occasional ship
or steamer. There was an celebrating
freedom in that glorious rush through
open space. If Geraldine had only been
with me!
Hour after hour our fight continued.
One, two, three by my watch, and
ere long the east began to brighten.
We were flying into the face Of the
dawn.
All at once ! noticed by the gauge
that the gasoline was failing. Lower
and lower II sank. What would hap
pen when that speed-giving fluid was
exhausted? Precipitated into the sea,
l should perish miserably.
Painfully watched tie gauge. Now
only millimeters remained. Soon 1t
would be utterly dry. Already our
speed was slackening. A few leagues
more, and our voyage would end.
Redder and redder burned the east,
and presently the sun peeped above
the horizon. Low and black against
its orb rose a line of cliffs.
Landl But what land? Could we
reach 1t in time?
Taller, blacker. rougher grew the
cliffs. On their top the white houses
of little hamlet clustered round q
The last drop Of gaso-
line was now out of the gauge. Our
speed told that We were
scaling along largely from the i'm.
petus Of our past fight.
. We were heading straight for the |
bluff, now about a hundred rods OIL. i
Should we smash against 1t, death |
was waiting in the surges boiling |
white below. must make last des- /
perate attempt to conserve our dying
power pushed lever, and the ma
chine responded calamity.
In we swooped, just grazing the
and ricochetted along. the
ground. There was a ripping and /
l was thrown against a
brace, and knew no more.
An age-yellowed clipping In my
icrap-book runs as follows:
Married, Aug. 15. at st. Ives, Corn.
vail, Sykes Horton and Geraldine
itch. The bride was given away by
Ter father, Mr.. David Fitch, the Ia
nous American inventor and scien-
list, in whose aeroplane the groom re-
emily made the first successful trip
cross the Atlantic"