The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-03-05
CHAPTER VII


groundlessness for hope, had fol-
a long time nevertheless hoped,
arbitrarily and with youthful au-.
dacity, leaning the ladder by
which the clouds of his vision, the
transition to a merely rational
hope was uncomfortable, disquiet-
ing. Dreams are so plastic. The
chateau en- Espagne is built of
smoke wreaths and based on
morning mists; but the family
dwelling rises through compro-I
misses with the exactions of other
minds, in blue-prints, elevations,
perspectives, title deeds and
plumbing estimates.
His mind, habituated to the
airy ease of an unuttered faith
in his mastership of the air, felt
the CALLING of reality as he walk
ed westward from the station to-
ward dilapidated Carson's Land
ing. While remorselessly comput-
ing everything relating to the
aeronef, allowing for errors and
providing cannily for the margin
of safety" while certain as expert
ment could make him that it
would fulfill his promise to Mr..
Waddy, he had been, save in his
engineering, visionary, unac-
quainted with the world and it's
margin of safety"
Seated on a stump he sought
mental adjustment before enter
ing his house. He had had his
chance with Shayne, '-the Prince
of the Powers of the Air." and had
thrown it away in hot words to
Shayne, in a blow to Silberberg,
and by leaping from the Roc into
the unknown abyss of night. These
were actualities. The broken de-
Hector of the parachute he carried
proved that, as did the memory of
his foolishness over Shayne's
niece, now happily for ever past.
The sun shone down with April
warmth on the red soil, the Ber-
muda grass sod of the old fields,
the bleaching shingles of the old
house. Blue with magic was the
clump of high pines across the
clearing, the haze and dream of
an Alabama spring. The WOOD
Ipeckers wove festoons of flame
from tree to tree; the tall Spanish
bayonets stood like tree to tree;
the tall Spanish bayonets stood
like a row of saluting guards by
the road; the buckeye touched lew
cry angle of the fence with fire
the oleanders at the corners of the
gallery blushed family pink. He
knew that from the scuppernong
arbor the carpenter bees were
voyaging back and forth, tiny
black aerostats, from the blossoms
to tunneled galleries in the red
cedar rails of the old veranda.
They were boring audibly in the
rail, their sawdust scattered over
1.-THE cypress floor. The whole
familiar scene, so peaceful, so ut
terly at one with the irresponsible
past. aided that enchanting south
ern haze in restoring Illusion, OBJ
lliterating realities, and RELOCATING
to dreamland the incredible Stat
terry Institute, Mr.. Craighead, Mr..
Waddy, his ''reversion to type"
and the great "Carson-Craighead
Aeronef Corporation"
Mr.. Waddy's money and Mr..
Craighead's kilograms saved the
day for the real. The former was
actual currency, and felt COM
forting to his pocket. The latter
proved the objectivity of Craig
head-and If Craighead turned out
to be substantial, anything might
be believed.
The first three yellow dispatch
es had come in one delivery at
Nashville, addressed to Theodore
Carson, the Illustrious Inventor
and Thaumaturge, Care Conduc-
tor, Train rs" Theodore, the
Industrious, could not accumulate
the courage to ask for them, but
the wise conductor had bounced
suddenly upon him and said, 81
reckon you're Mr.. Carson?"
yield not to temptation, fear
or cold feet" the first read. "Your
Uncle Fuller is at the helm" This
was signed "The Great Uncalled, .
with the first two words run to-
Igether as "Thegreat" in tele-
graph operators effort to reduce
to the semblance of a name Mr..
Craighead's nome de guerre. The
second ran: "Have no fear; mo-
nopoly is as clear in the air as on
land. Apologies to Sir Humphrey
Gilbert. None to any one else by
la dam site. Conspuez Shayne.' .
This was signed "Craighead, the
Legal Bloodhound" IAN old
Broom" ran the more mysterious
next, "albeit minus one cover and
dog nevertheless sweeps
clean. He yokes the whirligig to
our car, and sweeps the bowling
lskies!" (Signed) Dandy Jim of
caroline Graybill." The fourth,
!. delivered at Birmingham. was
addressed to General Theodore
Carson, M. A. ("Monopolist of
the Air"), and consisted of ten
repetitions of Eureka" signed
I'D. j. of c." The last came at
Bay Minette, and was too aston
ishing to be explained on any the
DRY consistent with Craighead's
sobriety and sanity. "Caroline's
dad" 1t read, falls dead at UNI
yelling of Broom idea. Sees abso-
lutte cinch, and rises to 1t as per
lifelong custom. Formed today
| Universal Nitratas and Air Prod