The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-08-22
cHAPrER -.

F1arr NEAR THE CLOUDS.
-. AwoKE both the secretary and
Mr.. Grayman IS soon as the new
situation developed. and they
- came out on deck. Mr. Grantham
Immediately fell in with my opinion.
THE rascal Inns another port there"
he said. 81 wish the other aerOs would
come up"
-,rhe skyIark.' 1 replied. will soon
be here. but we, cannot wait Tor her-
Pnyton has either run ont of power or
he means TO make stand. We are SO
close upon him that he VIII have TO
make a stand anyhow or else try to
escape under our guns, and If know
Ethan Haight's style Of shooting the
fellow won't run far"
but remember. sir. my daughter is
aboard broke In Grayman- "aer LIE
must not be endangered"
..SureIy not,'' 1 replied. yet you
see yourself that SOME risk must be
taken. What shall y TO do is to
disable the Chameleon. a she'll into
her motors or the breaking OF one OF
her aeroplanes would do il"
.sBut then she might be precipitated
to the ground
ssESut she Is not likely to be- She would
hufter down, IL she fell ut all. ike
wounded bird Remember how the
Eagle behaved last night, and she was
badly hit. Then, Of course, Payton has
parachutes, and he would save his
prisoners in that way"
~Pm not so sure OF that" said the
secretary. "He you'd probably think
only of saving MS own neck. But real
IL. Graynan, the danger of a tumble
Is slight. In the battle above the Eng
isla channel between the French and
British aero squadrons during the last
war. thirty fllers were completely dis
abIed. shot to pieces, as far as any
further utility as fighting machines
was concerned, but not one OF them
fell into the water. All succeeded IN
Swimming to land on one side OF the
other"
Elf we can" said l, ''we'u stop him
before he can get Sfiy-"
.'You think he is on this side OK the
hummock7" asked the secretary.
''Ethan thinks so. but Is not sure.
We'll have to look closely now
While we we're talking we had drawn
up within n couple OF miles Of the hum
mock. which was Il round hill covered
with timber and rising to height OF
perhaps $50 feet out OF a broad. level
plain. where there were few trees and
vegetation OF all kinds except grass
was scanty | now slowed up. for
didn't want to run into an ambush.
Seeing nothing suspicious in the vicin'
ity of the hill from our side, l couclud-
ed to circle 1t, keeping u good ohing
and n sharp outlook.
"Coufound the fellow" exclaimed
the secretary. "WhPre can ne have
gone? He must have a hole in the
ground"
"Perhaps he is among the timber on
the hill" said, ana upon this Thought
ord Tered the steersmHn to rise. Mt III"
same time turning inward. We had
not risen. more than fifty feet when
Ethan Hnight shouted:
There he goes!'
"Wheref' cried Mr.. Grantham and
in breath. running to Ethan's side
us he stood by his gun n the bow.
"I,oJv down almost n t'other side
o. the hummock," replied Ethan, point
ing. Hes as green as n grusshopper'
but l kin sight i'm
And Ethan began to manipulate his
gun.
It was several seconds before sue
ceeded in catching sight OF the Cha ,
meleon, which, verify. us Ethan had
said. was as green as IL Grnsshoppert
and as hard to spy against the verdure
that covered the plain, for she was
running almost in contact with the
ground. II we had not edged round
the hill toward the west so quickly be
would probably have got clean away
under the shelter of the hill.
Payton's ruse was so simple and yet
so perfectly executed that 1t made me
redden with vexation. why he had
not tried similar game during the
night 1 could not imagine. unless he
thought thar he could easily distance
us and gave up that idea after he
found that the Osprey was hanging on
after daylight. He had merely drop
ned down on the hither side OF the
wooded hill. lone elevation in the
midst of the plain changed his color.
crept round the base of the Hill. keep
ing opposite to us. whom he could-
doubtless see through the trcetops all
the while, and when he found him
self on the southern side and we on
the northern had stolen away like
Sinking fox.
Now he was or for the south at the
top of his speed Already he was fully
three miles away ana gaining dis
tance Mt every stroke.
.Tor heavens sake. Ethan" I shout
ed, why don't you freT