Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1911-09-14

! There's the Chameleon, lootenant"
he said. pointing.
1t was fact. Family visible in the
gloom. her form revealed by the light
from behind. the famous aero lay on
her cradle at the shore of the lake.
/ Ethan touched me again.
/ Say the word. lootehant, an l kin
send a shell into her thet'll put her
out o. commission. Then how's he
goin' to git away?"
1t seemed a good idea. but l felt
bound to consult Mr.. Grantham.
1T might be the best thing to do"
he said. "if you were sure Of hitting
a vital spot But in the darkness I'm
doubtful of that"
'It's resky shot. sir" put in Ethan.
'but if you'll let me try it I'll bet a
Connecticut cigar that the Chame-
leon III not fly ag'in for awhile"
But Mr.. Grantham shook his head.
IA better way" he whispered,
''would be to drop silently down across
the lake and seize her where she lies"
"But they would see us approach
1
there ahead of them. and at signal
the other aeros would be upon them"
/ After a little further whispering we
finally settled upon this plan against
my better Judgment and greatly to the
disappointment of Ethan Haight. who
went off grumbling. AS it turned out.
Ethan's idea was the best.
j In dead silence got the men all
ready for a rush the moment we
should reach the side of the Chame-
leon, and then. rising a little to clear
the shafts of light from the windows.
we began cautiously to cross the lake.
We were about halfway across and
had dropped nearer the water and I
was congratulating myself on our
prospective success when a flash like
blue lightning came from the Chame-
leon, followed by the loud whish of
an electric gun. which blended with a
sharp ssplintering report as a shell
struck the Eagle.
! We were upset by the shock. and
the Eagle veered from her course, her
nose shooting up in the air. while one
of her aeroplanes dipped and swept
the water like broken wing. In an
instant another shell came, which also
struck us. ripping up part of the
deck and narrowly missing her mo-
tors.
We were the surprised party and
surprised with a vengeance. PaytOn.
as we afterward learned. always had
a crew aboard the Chameleon, and
even when they were in their home
port" they did not altogether relax
their vigilance.
Luckily nobody aboard us was hit
but the damage done was sufficient to
render the Eagle virtually unmanage
able
The noise produced an immediate eff
| feet upon the people In the lodge
There were the sounds of running to
and fro. doors were slammed. agonized
screams reached our ears. and in an
Incredibly brief time we saw three
men dragging two women down the
short path from the building to the
i Chameleon.
"For Gods sake" cried the secretary
"do something quick. Payton is run
ming away with his prisoners"
But we were powerless to interfere,
the Eagle lowering and dipping like a
wounded bird over the lake and refus-
ing to answer. her helm. We could not
even return the fire, for neither of our
guns could be brought to bear, and If
they could have been we might have
killed the prisoners as they were car
ried aboard.
managed to signal the other aeros
to close in. doubt if they noticed the
signals, but they endeavored to close
just the same. saw the blpe flashes
from two or three of their guns as
they swept down over the trees to the
lake. but the shells exploded in the
forest beyond, and a minute later the
Chameleon rose like frightened hawk
in short, swift spirals. making straight
UP into the darkening heavens.
The Skylark. which ! recognized by
her rig. darted after her, and saw
several shots fred, but evidently with
out effect, and the Chameleon, sud
denly changing her ascent to hori-
zontal course. rushed away with amaz-
ing speed while the Skylark continued
to chase her. The other three moved
confusedly about. and shouted to the
Osprey to drop down by us.
"Here," | said to Lieutenant Osborn,
her commander. take charge of the
Eagle and beach her. I'll take the o.
prey with my crew, and you can trans
fer yours to the Eagle. Quick. nowv
The transfer was effected in less
than FIVE minutes, and Immediately
rose out of the shadow of the trees,
commanding the Grow and the Bobo-
| link to follow ME at full speed. Mr..
Grayman and the secretary, of course,
accompanied me aboard the Osprey. It
was desperate move, but the only