The San Francisco call., 1910-01-15
He RAC for tie
w L A. Nj 5 T r Q 7 II 7

the boys, while the hired man hour-
ished the long saw blade of the ice
cutter. This was too much for the
Praireville Aero club. Some one cut
the measuring line where it was tied
to the fence, and they all bolted, drag
ging bobsled and measuring reel after
them. Frank, who, after vainly try
ing to rally his forces, summoned up
his nerve and waited--to give that ex-
PLANTATION!
He might just as well have explained
to a cyclone; both men rushed on him
before he could speak two words, and
he struggled vainly in their grasp.
They opened the gate and dragged him
into the yard, while young Turner
snarled:
you young whelp, so you tried TO
smash the greenhouse did you? Well.
I've got you now, and-hey-whats
that" he exclaimed, as he suddenly
caught sight OF the balloon and aero
plane. Frank tried to tell him, but he
only laughed savagely and commanded
the hired man to pull them down.
But the dogs'll get themw protested
Frank, almost tearfully. as Turner
started to untangle the aeroplane from
the rose bush
'Hi, Nero. Hi, Bruno! Sic emi
This'n teach you young cubs to keep
off other peoples property Tear em
up thereW And poor Frank was COM
peAed to witness the utter destruction
of his greatest aerial creation the
Peacemaker. The two mastiffs bit and
clawed and tore it until it was only
a broken mass of sticks and battered
red cambric rags
Then, after this cruel and totally
unnecessary act of meanness had taken
place old Turner ordered "Si' Green to
climb up and throw down the balloon
to similar destruction, while he struck
Frank every time he tried to break
away from him.
ST. got ladder, set it up against
the side Of the greenhouse and ascend
ed to the top. Then he tried to reach
the Snail. but it took a long stretch
and he made one more effort, having
climbed to the top of the ladder which
projected above the roof edge. He.
leaned far over and was just able TO
touch the paper balloon when the lad
der slipped. His weight at the top was
too much for its stability. He made a
frantic effort to regain his balance but
couldn't, and over he went.
: There was "a tremendous smash Of
breaking glass, and with one terrible
yell the hired man vanished through
the enormous hole he had made in the
greenhouse roof
But something was occurring below.
too. The hired mans disaster startled
Turner so that he inyoluntarily Ioos-
ened his hold on Frank who took in
stant advantage OF his opportunity.
managed to break away from him and
shot across the greenhouse yard out
into the road, free. His late captor
was evidently too concerned with the
greenhouse calamity to make an. at
tempt at pursuit and Frank was soon
joined by the boider members of the
Aero club a little way up the road and
triumphantly escorted back to the aero
drome. Here he recounted to his aston
~ - l. .
doom and the retribution that had so
swiftly evertaken the meanest man in
Prairie county. Then Frank further
astonished them by saying that he
would positively announce the winner
inside Of three minutes-and he did
Here is his announcements
Snail Qength from starting point to
fence, 1928 feet, and greenhouse yard,
81 feet). total. 905 feet; Swallow, 881
feet; Red Filler, SIT feet Snail wins
and Jim Spencer takes the Williams
trophy.
Say, but you're thick lot" con-
cluded Frank. impatientiy, as he saw
the crowds incredulous. looks. "A 2
year old child could see how / got my
figures. or course didn't have time to
measure the line that's up at old Tur-
ner's. but 1t was part of the reel
wasn't II? Now. you saved the reel,
and there was exactly 1000 feet on the
reel before it was cut Now wouldn't
the missing part back at Turner's be as
long as the difference between the part
on the reel and 1000 feet? OF course
1t would. Resides that these figures al
low over 20 feet extra for all possible
errors. as Snail wins by "a feet"
Then they caught on" All misun-
derstandings were cleared away and
three cheers were given Jim" Spencer
the winner. and three more for Frank
Thus ended the first balloon flight of
the Prairieville aero club. The Night
was tame, but its results were ex-
citing enough to satisfy even Frank
who took the loss of his greatest air
ship phlosophieally. tor by II only he
had been able to settle the ownership
of the Williams trophy.
Turner'S hired man escaped from his