The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-16
THE SKY-MAN
BY
HENRY KITCHELL WEBSTER
Axssor l,rsih Sam;sel Merrinl ef Calumet *
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company.

miracle once when men first did it
"of course" she admitted, but you
do that by tncking"
That's the way do it---by tack
ing. and the force Of gravity Is my
keel"
And in a calm " she asked
Its never really calm up there;
it's always alive. restless. always flow
ing this way and that. sometimes in
grea; placid. even rivers, with banks
as clearly marked, almost. as the
/ banks OF a stream of water And
then, again. in storms
| He interrupted himself with short
! laugh, and then asked her an absurd
question. Can YOU imagine sea of
thick moIasses? II you can, try TO
think what II would be like In a
storm: and then you will know how
water storms seem to me. who live in
I the air. Those waves in the sky,
! when they're angry, shoot you aloft
I or mile, whIrling, and then drop
, you again. as II of the edge of n pre-
J cipice, with nothing. nothing at all,
I but sheer vacancy, beneath your wings.
IL blows so hard sometimes that even
! the aibatross or frigate-btrd can't lie
! up, hove-to, against 1t. They have to
| turn and scud. and give the storm its
will with them, just like the lesser
| fowl. / had TO do that once, and IL
| is the only time In my life that |
have ever felt an overmastering ter
ror."
she looked at him curiously. And.
yet you must have faced death thou
sand times she haZarded.
1T wasn't the prospect OF death
that frightened me-" he answered
thoughtfully. 1T was just plain panic
! just the intrinsic terror of the II
tan himself, who seemed to be drunk
and heaving the world about. Thai
doesn't sound very sensible. perhaps
you understand the thing ! mean"
She did not answer. but sat for q
while, thoughtfuliy silent, her chin or
her knees, her arms embracing them
and her eyes focused no nearer thar
on the patch of dusky orange at the
horizon.
How long have you lived like this?'
she asked abruptly.
Really lived? Only three months
or SO. / spent the better part of fiv,
years learning to fly"
And you have flown all over tn,
world ?"
! All OhNl liAlS LIipSb uGEBTlSu
OF it."
} There was another silence. Thel
she said, And what a contempt you
must have for us--for us. poor wing
less creatures, who cannot cross a lit
tie assure in a rock or a bit of ope,
: water without such toilsome LABOR
es, that must be the feeling--con
+, tempt: 1t could hardly be pity
III that's true" he reJoined quick
: Is. its only poetic justice. I'v
!, only achieved toward the world tn
/. feeling which the world held for me.
The words were spoken harshly, alt
" ruptly. as II his memory. had jus
= tasted something intolerably bite
!, The manner of the words, no less tina
- the sense of them, startled her, an
= she checked n movement TO turn an
!, look into his face. Instead she trie
; to recall 1t as it had looked when sll
> had first stood confronting him, be
fore the twilight had faded
It was a strange face. as she remen
bered IL, but this, she reflected, wa
: probably due to the incongruous Ell
feet OF his deeply tanned skin wit
n his very light, n-bleached hair.
q sensitive face. finely chiseled, almos
# beautifui--and young. but with an In
/: explicable stamp of premature ae
4 upon IL. 1t had not struck her at a
q az tragic face. And yet the NEAR
- ing OF those last words of his uttere
II as they were. had been tragic enough
x AT least you have magnificeI
r revenge" was all she said. And the
4, there was another silence. She hei
It self was trying To think of somethin
to say. for she realized that his cor
fession had been involuntary, and tn;
d the silence must be distressing hin
u But 1t was he himself who broh
II the silence with "a natural. matter 20
fact question. You say a searchin
" party has set out from the yacht
II Have they been long ashore ?"
o They set out only a little afte
= sunrise. We came into the bay wit
e the last of yesterdays twilight, an
- the sight of those huts at the edge
the shore" her voice battered a lit
nearly made us hope that the impo
/. sibie might prove true. We fired OF
= signal cannon two or three times an
then sent up come rockets, withoi
y getting any answer. II was too lat
10 10 go ashore in the dark; so we ha
:. to wait few hours for another SUI
rise. The few of us who were left o
h the yacht expected them back to-da
before dark fell. But suppose there
nothing 10 worry about in their M
u coming, They went equipped to pa.
:, night ashore. II necessary Yo
( don't advise me to begin worrytn
o about them, do you2'
a tTo be continued)