Evening journal., 1910-07-26
A New Method of
Rescue
By ROCKFORD KING
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association

EtOpie NouutIeu WY l tOOh SQcu III
terest IN aeroplanes. why 1 contin-
ually practiced at driving them. why
| studied different makes Then, when
had taken flight into a distant
land. no one knew where. and after
my return all my interest In air navi-
cation bad vanished. they wondered
still more.
/ have been great traveller. though
l am not yet thirty years old. Some
years ago while in Russia / made the
acquaintance. followed by the friend
ship. Of member Of the American EN-.
bassy OF ST. Petersburg. In this way
I saw something OF court life there.
One night az a function a. the Winter
palace ] was introduced to the daugh-
ter of a general In the Russian service.
Not for an earldom would | give her
name. so l shall call her Sophia. In
my travels have picked up number
Of foreign languages. Russian ! speak
tolerabiy. and Sophia spoke some Eng
hsh There usually comes In mans
life. II il comes when be is young.
some woman who appeals to him as no
other woman has ever appealed to him.
From the moment | met Sophia
knew that one had risen up in my path
whom must possess. else the vitality
had passed out of my life.
went TO my hotel after my hrst
meeting with her to lie awake half
the night with the comfort one feels
in having found mate, and the other
half dreamed of her. From that
time for several months ! WIS With
her as often as Russian etiquette
allows. ! danced with her. skated
with her. ! met her at the opera and
on court gala occasions. She gave me
unmistakable signs that In me she had
found what I had found In her. But.
when ] came 20 tell her my story her
whole manner changed.
NO. no. mol" she moaned II have
permitted myself TO sink into a dream.
You have awakened me. have done
very wrong. Go away from me. For.
get me-"
What there was between her and me
that led her TO talk thus | could not
induce her 10 tell. left Russia and
tried to forget her. ! continued my
travels. but the interest for me had
gone out OF the curiosities OF travel.
The pyramids. the Coliseum. the
works Of art that had before fascinat-
ed me. we're now unable to move me.
One day took up a newspaper and
sn'v by telegraph from Russia that a
conspiracy against the life Of the car
had been discovered and that the
daughter OF a prominent general had
been implicated. Something told me
that she was Sophia. returned 10
St Petersburg TO learn that my antici-
patton was correct NThe girl | loved
had already been sent TO Siberia. Now
! understood her action toward me.
] felt that a great work had sprung
up before me--the work of liberating
Sophia. A famous traveller was IN ST
Petersburg At the time and was about
10 start. with the permission OF the
Russian government. to write up the
condition Of Siberian exilcs sue
I ceeded in inducing him TO appoint me
his secretary. or amanuensis In this
/ 4
/ had made up my mind to free. On
arriving in the prison region ! learned
that Sophia's father had been enabled
to secure for her simply exile. not i'm
prisonment. She was living in a hui
close by a prison. Escape for her was
as impossible as If she had been with
in stone walls. But her position was
encouragement for me. whose lif'
work was to take her out Of Siberia.
/ saw her. talked with her and tol(
her that during the same month TAU
GUST the following year TO expect m'
with means by which TO give her he
freedom
That autumn and winter wa
known TO be one of the principal devo
tees to the navigation Of the air.
tried every kind Of aeroplane that ha,
been invented. made long flight
both by day and by night. Jew t
the Land Of the Midnight Sun In th
dead OF winter. that ] might becom
used TO flying in the cold tried 70
no prizes entered no contests. | work
ed with one purpose IN view. Tha
was to make a flight TO Russia. swoo
down by the hut in which lived m
love and bear her away to freedom.
pass over the details OF study b
which ! found a machine especial
adapted for my purpose. l transpor
ed it by SEE 20 Sweden. From theI
to my destination was not far. but
must make the journey Mt one fligl
with one supply OF fuel. One mornlr
] rose to a height Of 500 feet an
drove my machine eastward. / pu
posely kept at considerable heigl
till l stood directly over the sophya
hut that l might attract the least 20
sible attention From where ] WI
poised was a slanting course down
the hut. ] hoped that she might
outside. but she was not. ] descend'
TO her door. All was silent \ WI
about to leave the machine TO emit
the hut when ! saw her face at d
window. and IN another moment 81
was sitting beside me on the machin
had provided for starting by 6ttil
my machine with apparatus especial
adapted to the purpose. and, thoui
!. keepers were by this time runnil