The Mena weekly star. (Mena, Ark.) 1904-1977, 1911-01-12
CHATTER /.
The Man win vii cs.

E'of many hourS--Cayle was too
nch of q god today to other with
il exact number of theia-he had
cen flying slowly northwa d down a
lid southerly breeze. Hundreds of
Jet below him was the dazzling. ter
bic expanse of the polar ice pack
bieh shrouds the northern limits OF
- Arctic ocean in its inpenetrable
'etI Of mystery.
IN. A compass, sextant, bottle of
n lilk and revolver comprised, with
lie clothes he wore, and with the
LIhimmering silken wings OF his areo-
lanc. his whole equipment His near
0aBt base of supplies. if you could call
that. was 20-pound tin Of pemmi-
Al, hidden under a stone on the
orth east extremity of Herald island.
20 miles away. The United States
e1cue station at Point Barrow. the
xtreme northerly point Of Alaska,
HE place which he had called home
I-5r the past three months, was pos
IDLY, half as far again away. some
here OF to the southeast
Esd for these past weeks of I'M
| roken arctic sunshine. he had fairly
Aived awning. The earth lad no OBJ
kructions and the air no perils. To-
ay, with his great broad fan-tail
r4wn up arc-wise beneath him. his
lanes pitched slightly forv ard at the
Precise and perilous angle that only
ust did not send him plunging. head
rst. down upon the sullen masses OF
70 below. he lay there, prone, upon
be sheep-skin sleeping bag which
added the framework supporting his
wo wings, as secure as the great full
aar petrol which drew curiously near,
nd then, with wheel and a plunge.
cd away. squawking.
For all practical purposes Cayley
ed learned to fly. The great fan
Iriyen air ship. 100 feet from tip to
fp. which had long lain idle on his
'anch at Sandoval. would probably
|kever leave its house again 1t had
lone yeoman service. Without its
powerful propellers. for the last re-
ource. Cayley would never have been
Eble to try the experiments and get
be practise which had given him the
III for his natural element He had
lutgTown It, He had no more need
motors or whirling fans. The force
4 gravity. the force of the breeze and
be perfectly co-ordinated lnuscles OF
ID own body gave him all the power
. needed now
Perhaps the succeeding generations
humankind may develop an eye
hfch can see ahead wher the body
y wing prone, as a bird les in it's
4&ht Cayley had remedied this de-
ctency with a little silver mirror,
5ightly concave, screwed fast to the
sossbrace which supported his shout
ers Inste.d of bending back his
Lad. or trying to see out through his
'kebrows. he simply cast a backward
lance into this mirror whenever he
fanted to look on ahead It had been
little perplexing at first. but he
0uld see better in it now than with
il unaided eyes.
And now, a minute or two. perhaps.
fter that fulmar had gone squawking
way. he glanced down into his mir
ON, and his oympian calm was
haken with the shock OF surprise.
or what he saw, clearly reflected in
ie little reducing glass, was land.
here was a mountain, and a long
lark line that must be a cliflike
cast.
And II was land that never had
v7n marked on any chart In abso-
1te degrees of latitude he was not,
rom the arctic explorers view, very
ar north. Over on the other side of
be world they run excursion steam
70 Ivory summer nearer TO the pole
ban he was at this moment. Spitz-
erKen. which has had a permanent
|opulation Of $4,000 souls. lies 300
piles farther north than this un-
harted coast which Philip Cayley saw
efore him.
But the great ice cap which covers
be top of the world is irregular i'm
hape, and Just here, northward from
laeka. 1t juts its impenetrable bar
er far down into the Arctic sea.
togers. Collinson and the Inflated De-
|onE all had tried to penetrate
bis barrier. and had been turned |
Sc.
C4yley wheeled sharply UP into the |
|1pd. and SCARED aloft to height of. |
crhaps. q quarter OF mile. Then.
ith long. flashing, shimmering
yeep. he descended, In the arc of a |
FeAt circle, and hung. poised. over
he 1and itself and behind the jutting
BOULDER of the mountain.
The land was narrow-Recked pe-
naula- Mountain and cliff prevented |
m from seeing the immediate coast |
the other side of II; but out little |
|ay to sea he was amazed to discover
pen water. and the smoke like vapor
fat he saw rising over the cliffhead
Ade 1t evident that the opening ex-
nded nearly. II not quite. to the
pr lands edge. II was utterly I'M |
p4cted. for the side Of the PENN /
l4 which he had approached was
9.locked for miles.
~ would have lowered again
Deye the rocky ridge which shut of
View. and gone to investigate this
Aeuomenon at closer range. had I
not, Just then. got the shock of an
hor surprise. greater than the dis
Pvory Of land itself.
The little valley which he hung
|f9ed above was sheltered by a second