Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-10

with you it must be imasinary. You
Yes" he said. II could do it.
! You're tireless them she asked.
You could go on flying. flying. without
! rest, for week.?
II don't fly" he told her. "or hardly
at all The birds don't fly. not these
great sea birds that live on the wing.
But. then. don't you have to go with
/ the wind?"
You've sailed a boat. haven't your
he asked by way of answer. You put
| up sail to catch the breeze. and then
you make it force your boat right up
| into 1t: make your boat go against the
| wind. by the force of the wind itself.
That was regarded as a miracle once
when men first did it,
''Of course" she admitted. but you do
| that by lacking
That's the way I do it-by lacking.
! 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 flowing this
| way and that, sometimes in great placid
even rivers. with banks as clearly mark
ed. almost. as the banks Of a stream Of
| water And then again. in storms"
He interrupted himself with a short
| laugh. and then asked her an absurd
question. Can you imagine a sea Of
thick molasses? II you can try to think
what il would be like in a storm: and
seem to me. who live in the air. Those
| waves I'm the sky. when they're angry.
shoot you aloft for a mile. whirling. and
then drop you again. as IL off the edge
of a precipice. with nothing. nothing at
all. but sheer vacancy. beneath your
wings. 1t blows so hard sometimes that
even the albatross or frigate bird can't
lie up. hove to. against it.. They have
will with them. just like the lesser fowl
| had to do that once. and II is the only
time in my life that. 1 have ever felt an
overmastering terror
She looked at him curiously. And yet
you must have faced death a thousand
times she hazarded.
1T wasn't the prospect Of death that
frightened me-" he answered. thought
fully. 1T was just plain panic-just the
intrinsic terror of the Titan himself. who
seemed to be drunk and heaving the
world about. That doesn't sound very
sensible; perhaps you understand the
thing / mean.
She did not answer. but sat for awhile
thoughtfully silent. her chin on her knees.
her arms embracing Them and her eyes
focused no nearer than 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. I spent the better part Of five years
learning to fly
And you have flown all over the
WOTlu
IAN over this most deserted patch Of
it."
There was another silence. Then she
said, And what contempt you must
have for us-for us, poor wingless crea-
lures. who cannot cross little assure
in rock or bit Of open water without
such toilsome labor. Yes. that must be
the feeling-contempt; 1t could hardly be
pity"
IF that's true" he rejoined quickly
only inlfice I've nnlV
achieved toward the world the feeling
which the world held for me-"
The words were spoken harshly. alb
ruptly. as If his memory had just tasted
something intolerably bitter. The man
ner of the words. no less than the sense
Of them startled her. and she checked
a movement to turn and look into his
! face. Instead. she tried to recall 1t as 1t
| had looked when she had first stood con-
| fronting him, before the twilight had
faded.
1t was strange face, as she remem-
bered it. but this. she reflected. was
Of his deeply tanned skin with his very
light. sun-bleached hair. A sensitive face.
finely chiseled. almost beautiful-and
young, but with an inexplicable stamp OF
premature age upon It, 1t had not struck
her at all as a tragic face. And yet the
meaning Of those last words of his. ut
tered as they were. had been tragic
enough.
AT least you have a magnificent re-
venge,' was all she said. And then
there was another silence. She herself
was trying to think of something to say.
for she realized that his confession had
been involuntary. and that the silence
must be distressing him.
But 1t was he himself who broke the
silence with natural. matter of fact
question. You say a searching party
has set out from the yacht? Have they
been long ashore"
They set out only a little after sun
rise We came into the bay with the
last Of yesterdays twilight. and the sight
of those huts. at the edge of the
shore" her voice faltered little. near
ly made us hope that the impossible
might prove true. We fired our signal
cannon two or three times and then sent
up some rockets. without getting any an
swer II was too late to go ashore In
the dark; so we had to wait q few hours
for another sunrise. The few of us who
were left on the yacht expected them
| back today before dark fell. But l sup