Rock Island Argus., 1911-09-25

early start for the rendezvous. If be
ran only a hundred miles an hour be
could do the distance to Utica IN six
or seven hours; but, of course. be
won't hurry. He need not start be
fore tomorrow night. and probably be
will not, because he will prefer to
come on by night in order to run the
less risk"
That's what be did before" said
Mr.. Grayman-
"AIl right, then" said the secretary.
Wen assume that that will be his
course. But we have no time to lose.
We must catch him before he starts.
Fortunately, Allan, l have ordered
your aero and four other cracks to be
ready to leave Washington. fully armed
and provtSioned, on the receipt of
dispatch from me. I'll tell them to
come on at once. Now, Grayman, you
can go along or not, as you prefer"
I'm CO." said Mr.. Grayman promptly.
Mr.. Grantham, in his dispatch. had
the foresight to order the aero to meet
us at a little town a considerable dis
lance east of Buffalo. where Mr.. Gray
man and himself would run less risk
of recognition. Accordingly, after a
good meal we went by train to the
designated place, arriving a little be-
fore / O'Clock. AS we descended from
the train l was delighted to recognize
the Eagle lowering over the little town.
The four other aeros were running
about near, and a crowd had already
gathered about the station and in the
street, watching them.
WED better get aboard as quickly
as possible" said Mr.. Grantham. Lets
walk a little way up the hill, out of
down for u.s."
In response to the signal two of the
aeros. the Crow and the Eagle, swooped
down to the earth. Ny men were re-
joiced to see me. and to set foot once
more on the deck of my beloved fier.
She had her fun complement, but the
other was a little short, SO l sent two
men aboard the Crow to make room
for the secretary and Mr.. Grayman
without weighing the Eagle too much.
/ wanted tc have her in good running
trim.
Nov, Lieutenant Allan" said Mr..
and aiy, you are in immediate COM
mand of this feet. i have ordered the
commanders of the other aeros to rec
ognize you as their commanding off,
Ger and the Eagle as their flagship. /
shall continue to advise you. but you
will take charge of all technical de-
tails and give the orders. AS the fiiers
are all duly armed and provisioned,
there is nothing to prevent our max
ing a start immediatelyw
No one could have been more eager
to start than I was. Instantly l ran
up the signal to get under way, the
others being instructed to follow my
lead. Besides the Crow. already men,
toned. there were the Osprey, the
Bobolink and the Skylark, all, as 1 was
glad to see, the best niers in the serv-
ice, although / believed that none of
them could keep pace with the Eagle
in race.
The electric gun had already been In.
vented, and each of the aeros carried
two Of these terrible weapons. of
caliber Of two and a half inches, one
at the stern and the other at the bow.
They fred either shells or solid shot
AS everybody knows. the electric gun
makes no report, but a sharp whish
is heard as the projectile leaves the
muzzle. These projectiles at that
time had an effective range of three
miles, but when fred from an eleva-
ton they would often fan to earth at
a distance twice as great II was,
therefore, necessary to be very careful
in using them over an Inhabited coun-
try. and we used always to run out
over the sea for gun practice. employ
ing unnamed balloons for targets.
One Of our aeros could easily carry a
hundred rounds of ammunition for
each gun.
There was great competition among
the gunners in Workmanship, and
had on the Eagle a Connecticut Yam