The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-11-03

THE GALLANT OFFICER FELL WITH A Bull
LET THROUGH HIS BRAIN.
the hand Of the leader who had spoken
flashed. with the wicked smack Of the
modern arm Of precision. not audible
dozen rods away. and the gallant Of
ficer fell with bullet through his
brain. 1t was all over in half min
ute. Captain Phelan was dead, and
his eight men. including the engineer
and steersman. were helpless prison
ers on their own deck. The element
Of surprise had played even a greater
part in this brief tragedy than the
commissioner had expected. Alfonso
Payton had begun to turn the tables on
his foes with his usual elan. But as
yet he had by no means finished the
job.
"Aboardv' he commanded sharply.
His men sprang upon the Chameleon.
and she was away in flash. Running
low again. she headed down the river
for second piece Of woods. where an
other of the hidden aeros floated
among the treetops. Here similar
scene was enacted. Even more utter
ly unprepared than their unfortunate
comrades. these policemen were taking
an early breakfast. Some OF them
were knocked over with the cups in
their hands.
Captain Billings, their commander,
was seized from behind by PGyton be-
fore he even knew that IN enemy was
aboard Rot man had a weapon
ready. and not shot was fred. The
captives were gagged and bound like
the others. and the Chameleon was Off
again for her third victim, on the north
side OF the river.
This time there was fight. but Il
most unequal one. because the surprise
was virtually as complete as in the
first two cases. The Chameleon bad
indeed been seen quarter Of II minute
before the attack. but unluckily she
was mistaken by Captain Campbell FOR
one of his consorts. and while he was
beating his brains to understand what
she wanted there Payton ana his men
leaped aboard almost unopposed.
Even then Campbell probably never
comprehended that it was the famous
Sky Pirate who had attacked him. |
He had no time to think of anything |
except the fact there was an attack, |
and, having his pistol in his hand, he |
shot the first man who put his foot |
on his deck.
Immediately bullet passed through |
his own heart. His men rallied gal |
lantly. but only three Of them sue
ceeded in getting hold Of their weap- |
ons
Payton pushed the assault like a
demon. His pistol leveled two of |
these men with shots so nearly stimuli
taneous that their reports blended.
The third was Drained with his own |
weapon by one Of the Chameleon's
crew, who showed the strength and
agility Of an acrobat In the mean
time the other five. being unable to
reach their weapons. were easily over
powered, gagged and bound.
Not sound of this struggle reached
the fourth aero. something less than
third Of mile distant. Indeed. the
shots could not have been heard as
far as the edge of the little woodland
In which the fight occurred. This. by
the way. is one of the disadvantages
Of our modern firearms--if they do
not betray ones location to the enc
my. they equally fail to convey infor-
nation to friends.
The fourth aero. under Captain
Burns. was situated westward from
the bluff. Payton once more ran the
Chameleon near the ground until he
reached the edge of the woods. then
rose quickly above the trees. located
his prey in spite Of its fancied securi-