Omaha daily bee., 1910-06-26

locked water, she might yet be saved-and
she was not the girl to give up.
She studied the machinery, trying TO
apply her picked UP knowledge OF engines.
Here was the thing with which TO stop IL
she felt sure of that; but to stop 1t sud-
denly was mere suicide, a swift fall to
death Some means there must be, she
knew, to ease 1t down: but she saw nothing
she dared touch. That was the horror OF
it-she dared touch nothing. She could
only sit there awaiting whatever might be-
tide. away up in the awful isolation Of the
sky, with a demon machine that buzzed
in ferocous energy and mounted upward
She was growing calmer now. It would
surely slow down of itself, she reasoned;
and II it did not-well, she had escaped
from Silberberg. anyhow. It was a clean,
unsulied place in which 10 meet the end.
She would rather live-but-already ma
lures ether, which makes death easy, was
stealing into possession of her senses.
And then the north wind struck. The
puff smote her cheek, the helicopter yielded
to 1t and swept southwark, like a feather
before a fan. The lagoon moved from
under her, pulling the gulf after It She
was blowing out to sea- As the new
thought added itself to her conception Of
the desperate situation, the sinking OF her
heart told her that until now she had
never given UP hope. She reached out to
stop the engine; but as the vision passed
through her mind OF falling. falling like
the stick of a rocket. being dashed to
pieces on the earth. and nuEzled over by
wild hogs until some one discovered her.
she withdrew her trembling hand again.
deliberately choosing a grave in the sea.
Then a voice seemed TO speak in her ear
from the chill solitude senseless words. as
of one stammering, like the phantasms of
voices heard in the delirium of fever,
finally growing distinct, and repeating over
and over a command: "Retard the sparkr'
It said, 'retard the sparkv'
The Roc was far below and to the north,
now, the gulf breakers foamed nearer ana
nearer. and still rang in her ears the
ghostly command, "Retard the spark"
She tried TO remember about epgines-but
this one was so diffeent. Aimlessly she
put her hand out, touched a little sliding
thing, and paused. afraid TO move It, yet
quite confident that It was the thing to
move. She would fall now, II she fell into
the green water of the gulf-that was q
grim sort Of comfort. She was moving the
sliding thing and thought the buzz Of the
helices less strenuous. The grounds land
scape OF almost pure white picked out in
dark green blotches of rosemary and bas-
tard spruce-the ground seemed rising to
her. The roar OF the breakers swelled in
her ears, like the crescendo of some ire
nendous, up-rushing music-and she realized
that she was falling, in a great parabola
that might carry her into the sea- or might
dash her upon the drlftwood and wTeckags
OF the beach. BY the breadth of a hair
she advanced the spark and the helieopteY
assumed more level slant, toward the
frothing water, and above the driftwood
suddenly the machine careened. and she
thought she had struck. 10 be dashed
broken to the ground, lost. She had not
seen Theodore Carson on that highest
dune; but he had graspsd the painter az
1t dragged over him. and II was he who
had thrown the flying machine from its
level swoop, even as 1t jerked him down
the dune, with Captain Harrod elinginR
10 his legs. dragging them almost TO the
waters edge. The car swung horribly;
and, finally, spilled from II by its careen-
ing, there fell out OF It a mass OF red hat
crimson scarf, pique and silken fallalA.
The helicopter tore loose and fled out 70
sea before the gale; and this young man
who did not care for visitors found himself
burdened with one IN the form OF a rather
good looking girl. as he could see even IN
the chaos OF her land fall, who lay In the
soft sand apparently unhurt but in q
dead faifa-come TO him literally out q
the sky. 49,
ro Be coatinusd-l