Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-09-08

Even let myself begin to hope yet,
must J. not--yet?'
Il don't know" said Tom. The fel-
low seemed haif-crazed: seemed. al
most, to have lost the power Of speech
from long disuse OF II. But he meant
to take US somewhere. that was clear
enough from hts gestures. II ! could
only have seen you before began to
blurf the thing out, I'd have spared
you the suspense until there was some
thing to tell. I'm sorry. Jeanne"
Its queer" she said. at the end Of
a rather long silence. I'm sure there
was no Portuguese In fathers expedi-
ton. Except for two or three Swedes
and Norwegians. they were all Amer
leans. know the name OF every man
who sailed In his ship"
He might have taken some one on
at st. Michaels." suggested the elder
Fanshaw.
aYes," she said little obviously.
only he never thought much Of south
ern Europeans as sea-faring men,"
There ives another silence after
that She rose presently and began
sweeping the shore line with pris-
matte binocular which was slung
across across her shoulders. The two
men exchanged glances behind her.
the elder, one Of inquiry, his son.
reluctant negative. No. 1t would
clearly be insane to build any hope on
the incident.
At last she let the glass fall from
her listiess hand and turned to them,
her face haggard with the torture Of
impossible hope. Il wish my sky
man would cone"-she said forlornly.
come whirling down out OF the air.
with news OF them"
your sky-man?" said Tom Fanshaw
questioningly.
Here was something to talk about
at last, and the old gentleman seized
the chance 1t Afforded.
yes. we've another mystery" he
said. See what you can do toward
solving It." With that for an introduc-
ton, he plunged into a humorous ac-
count OF Jeanne's report Of her adj
venture of the night before. OF the man
who had dropped down from the sky. in
the middle Of the night and talked to
her awhile. and then flown away again.
"She was really out on the ice foe"
he said: 80 much concede; but
when assure her that she dreamed
the rest. she is skeptical about my ex-
PLANTATION"
but even you can't explain" she
protested, how could dream about
an Eskimo throwing-stick. and then
bring It back to the yacht with me
when l was wide-awake. and show It
to you at the breakfast table this
morning"
"Tn have to admit said the old
gentleman. that my explanation
doesn't adequately account for that"
The expression OF the younger
mans face was perplexed rather than
incredulous.
But, my boy" cried the elder man,
'think Of Il, He comes down out OF
the sky and says he just dropped In
from Point Barrow; and that's SOC
miles away. That's just as impossible
as It would be to materialize an Esk
mo throwing-stick out Of . dream
very bit"
mo, hardly that" said Tom jtidici
ally. What was his aeroplane like
What was it made Of? Did you notice
it particularly
yes" she said; Il helped him fold
1t up. It was made of bladders and
bamboo and catgut. he said"
And his motorg" cried Tom "Wha'
was his motor like?"
There was no motor at all" sh'
said; lust wings"
There you see, Tom interrupted
his father, absolute moonshine."
But still the younger man shook
doubtful head. NO." he said. "th'
things not impossible-not inconceiv
able, at least. The big birds can A.
that far, and think nothing Of IT,"
The old man snorted: "They'r'
built that way Think of the immens
strength Of their wing muscles"
| Not SO enormous" said the young
l r man. Il dissected the wing Of al
albatross once to see. It's not b.
main strength they keep afioat In tn
air: it's by catching the trick Of IT,
That's what he said" the girl erie
eagerly "He told me he could a
across the north pole. from Dawso
City to st. Petersburg. and when
asked him II he could keep flying. d,
ing all the time like that, he said I'll
biggest birds didn't ny; they sailet
and he said he sailed. too, and II
force OF gravity was his keel"
10 Her story was making its impre'
n sion on the younger man. at leas
n even II his father was as imperviou
"A to 1t as he still seemed.
s We'll, If you dreamed that" sal
Tom, 1T was a mighty intelliger
dream, I'll say that for It."
4. But 1t wasn't a dream At all" sh
cried. Didn't / help him take II
thing apart and fold 1t up into bul
. die? And didn't he say that he W.
y n tax payer. and that his name va
- Philip Cayley7"
g, fTo BE coNTINUED.)
l