Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-08-02
THE SKY
PIRATE
n
BY Jarrett P. SERVISS
Il
Copyright by Frank A. Munsey
Company
(Continued.1

voice rose too high, and Payton heard
the sound. Instantly he stood erect,
and bis eyes peercd straight at the
Grow. But the fire blinded him, and
he did not sec us.
Crouch" I whispered in Ethan's
ear. "and lie STILL
Payton stepped quickly round on our
side Of the fire. The Indian dropped
his meat and also turned to look. Then
both vanished.
"Skeedaddled, by jingo." exclaimed
Ethan.
Which way had they gone? Prob
ably directly ahead, because only in
that direction would they have the con-
tnued shelter of the brush. This ex-
tended away In a comparatively mar
row belt as far as we could see, and 1t
was unusually thick and tall. I or
dered the steersman to skim close
above 1t at a speed a little exceeding
that Of a good runner. But when we
had advanced nearly as far as l thought
that the iugtttves could have gone we
stopped and lowered, carefully watch
- IA 1oN tAS WAC -
movement and no sound.
The brush, intermingled with a few
stunted trees, extended, as ] have said,
In q belt which was not more than
ten rods broad, but apparently inter
minable toward the southwest. made
mp my mind that 1t followed the course
of a sluggish stream or a chain of
swamps. On either side of 1t lay a
stretch Of bare country, and the moon,
now rising, began to illumine this
sufficiently to have enabled US to see
any object as large as a man MOVING
across 1t.
/ determined to beat" this belt thor
oughly, keeping so close to the top 0.
the bushes that the fugitiyes woult
not dare attempt to dodge back be
meath Is.
1t was slow, tedious, nerve rackfn!
work as we swept from side to side
but doggedly l kept at it, con1den
that the quarry would be driven OIL
ahead.
1 now longed for daylight, and a
last 1t came. In a short time the SKY
became bright, and we could see tht
| ground through the brush. CHANGING
ahead, 1 was delighted to perceive tina
within a short distance the belt raj
out, ending In an open country.
I Suddenly a shot rang from the bush
es a little in advance, and the nfemaI
at my side fell dead without a groan
Another shot followed, and 1 felt
sting in my right shoulder. A third
fattened on the muzzle Of Ethan's gun
They were at bay and In ambush.
"F1re, Ethan-lreP' I shouted.
His gun belched its blue fame, and
the shell exploded in a clump OF bush
es directly ahead and 80 close to uf
that some Of the fragments few bach
and struck the aero. he had fired Il
the point from which he guessed thsi
the shots had come, and evidently his
Judgment had been good, for we saw
the bushes moving violently as If some
one were running through them. In q
minute we sailed directly over the spot
where the shell had struck, and, look
ing down, | saw the Indian expiring
on the ground. But Payton had again
escaped.
speed ahead!' I called.
But now came a provoking accident.
We had been sailing so close to the
bushes that some Of them had become
entangled with u aeroplane, and the
shock threw us all from our feet. We
were detained perhaps fifteen minutes.
TLo. r,1 rorn ahn,,t +u-antu ro rdS q n Il
forged ahead. I now saw the termi-
nation Of the belt Of brush, and, look
ing beyond 1t, beheld the fugitive, who
had got upon a high rock and was
awaiting US, rife in hand.
Payton was making his last stand
and doing 1t in his own manner He
made not the slightest attempt at con-
cealment, but coolly brought his wea-
pom to his shoulder as we approached.
His hat had fallen off, and his dark
hair was waving in the morning
breeze.
His situation was not so desperate as
1t may seem. / could not call off
either my steersman or my engineer
from his work, and l myself could not
on account of my wound handle my
rifle. But Ethan was there with his
gun, and that, after all, gave US an
immense advantage, to say nothing of
the mobility of the aero. But II he
should shoot down the steersman we
should be in a fix.
ETHAN, it depends upon you," I said.
The gunner took a quick sight and
fred. The shell hit the rock and ex-
ploded with a fearful report. When
the smoke cleared away Payton was
gone. We cautiously approached the