The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1910-02-27
VIRGINIA Of the.
Al r L A N F. S
BY HERBERT QUICK. AUTHOR OF DOUBLE TROUBLE

seward side ran the darker line of
toy aeroplane--a matter of ap-
pearance more than use-and slung
beneath by a gossamer nacelle,
steady as the deck of a liner, hung:
her gloomy car, the engine room
astern,, the three great screws half
invisible, like the vibrant wings of
bees. On the. forward deck was. a
splotch of white and red, like a
brilliant gown, and grouped about
1t were two or three darker forms
of men.
How she cracks ont" cried the
young man. mo end of power
the new 10 cylinder, fan type en-
gines suppose Ts '1ne s~t'
She'll be wuth about fo' bits
when we get through, Miste' The
odo'," said the captain. "Ain't she
sheerin' OFF," go
She was, though with no Knowl-
edge of them. She veered to the
north and stood inland as if to
cross the Little Lagoon,-that
beautiful salt lake which for ten
miles lies within sound of the gulf
surf, but separated from it by
little wilderness of dunes-then by
a majestic swooping movement she
threw her whole vast sweep of
broadside open to their gaze. The
captains DINNER eye now made out
the woman and the two men on
her deck, while Theodore Carson's.
keen for such sight, and armed
with the glass, observed that the
woman wore a broad hat of vivid
red, a scarf of the same color, and
"a woman would have told him
pique gown. The young man who
did not wish to be discovered
knew only that it was white.
They're past the Palmetto beach
resorts" observed Carson. "and-"
Eight mile past" interrupted
captain. They're on this side O.
Bon Secour."
Making for the hotels on the
lagoon" said the young man.
"They bette moor" said the
fisherman. "They's a norther CON-
in out"
Carson scanned the skys for signs
Of the "norther," but saw nothing
more threatening than blue sky
barred by few white scarfs of
cloud putting up from the north.
II see no signs of blow that
she can't be held to by her en-.
gines," said he. "The sky looks
fine" 81,
"They'l sho' hev a fight to keep
from BLOWN out to sea-" returned
the captain, confess they tie up.
What. they dom now, Miste' Theo-
DOR
why" said Carson, studying the
aeronat with the glass. and clipping
off his sentences as the astounding
evolution Of the incident far up
there In the blue rendered every
utterance obsolete before 1t was
finished. why. they have thrown
off a package Of It's mech
anism of some sort >.
in operation. and They're
making tow Of It,. :. i. They
are reversing and rounding to. See
them drift off! They're excited and
all aback about something -. :.
Heavens! See that thing shoot up!
It's some sort OF helicopter. I be-
lieve-and the girls alone in It.
Captain! Alone, say! Why did
they She's lost control
she's. lost! It's shooting over this
way and coming down! 1t will,
1t will ; My God! My Godn
The thing had parted from the
great aeronat like an insect scared
from its seat on some great animal
1t was a little speck topped with
a broader. mushroom shaped SHIN
mer which Carson knew for the re.
volving blades of a helicopter. that
insidiuous toy that promised so
much for the conquest of the air
and paid so little. For a moment
It paused. sucked along in the
wake of the huge ship as II In tow;
then, as though released from the
pull of gravity, II shot skyward,
leaving the silver air ship far be-
low, as a flv might speed from a
floating bubble. The two specta-
tors drew their breaths sharply in.
their hearts frozen In fascinated
apprehension.
The air ship floated 1900 feet,
perhaps, above the tall lines in the
slashes of the narrow isthmus
which divides the lagoon from the
gulf. The slow Tapping buzzards
on their wav to some reported feast
over near Three Rivers never no.
ticed the glittering bilge of the
giant craft. so high she scared
above them but the helicopter flew
like rocket. I'm above the balanced
shin. so straight into the cool
heights of the inane that those re.
naming on the deck 1t had left lost
1t. behind the overhanging hull of
the aeronat.
But the men on the beach saw II.
saw IL rise skyward like a boys
dart until they shuddered at the
abyss that yawned between II and
the earth: saw 1t struck by the far
advanced loftier vanguard OF the
north wind predicted by the fisher
captain: saw II hurled southwark
before the blast like a feather; and
then. as II with slowing engine,
saw It fall. with the red hat and
white dress glimmering appealingly
from under the shimmering helices.
curving obliduely toward them,
like a projectile hurled outward and
downward from the battlements OF
highest heaven. And Carson grip
ped the barnacled column fiercely:
he thought Of the girl In the red