Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1912-02-16

noticed a faint glow from the base
ment in which the mechanism was To-
Gated. Over my head the boats hung
idly and emptily against the sky.
An arm was round my throat, COM
messing it so that I could utter no
sound. My head was forced back I'LL
the vertebrate felt on the point OF
breaking; and I was staring into the
malignant eyes of, Shay.
He was quite mad, furiously and In
coherently mad, and, as he helo me
in his powerful grip, he babbled out
his triumph.
1--WE got your friend" he cried.
''But you'll come first and he'll wait in
the engine house. I'll mash you, you
sneaking lawyer I'll smash you, Ill
crash you into plum pudding and lay
you down in Earis Court Road. I've
proved it," he went on, gesticulatlng
wildly with one hand but never re-
! leasing his strangle hold. "One more,
| two more bodies found tomorrow and
all London will go crazy over my in
| strument: You don't want to ole,
Langton? Why, you will be martyr
to. science, you will prove the truth
of what I told the world, you will as
sist me to overcome the interests
who have fought down my invention
| for the benefit of the human race.
Come along, come along, come JOY
fully, Langton. I am going to ex-
plain it to you before you go through
| the air"
/ was as helpless as an infant in his
clasp. Still throttling me, he dragged
me up the flight of wooden steps that
| led to the Aerial Ride and derosite |
| me in one of the motionless boats that
swung round a wooden platform. Then,
gibbering like a mailman and uttering
meaningless cries, he gagged me and
began binding my arms and legs with
a coil of new cord.
"You know the principle OF this
flight" he said in. calmer tones. you
know how the centrifugal force keeps
the boats out from the center OF the
pole and keeps you in that boat. o,
what a ride you'll have! We neve:
send our patrons at a speed greater
than twenty miles an hour, but mJ
perfected engine will work up to one
hundred and twenty. Langton, you'll
go whizzing round and round at the
speed of an express train, and you'll
be horizontal with the ground and the
boat will go sailing upon her side
and yet you won't fall out because of
the centrifugal power"
He gave one last twist to the cords
that bound me and glared into my
eyes.
"But suppose I suddenly shut off
the engine? What them" he asked.
A smile fiickered across his face. "I'll
tell you, Langton," he said. What
happens when you whirl the pail of
water round and round your head and
suddenly stop? What happens to the
water? Does it stay in the pail? Or
does it go through the air? Langton,
you're going through the air. The
sudden cessation of the centrifugal
force, converted into energy, will
throw you just about as hard as cam
non ball.
"You may land in the Earl's Court
Road or you may land in the Preston
Road or in Bromley street. | can't
promise for certain, but my aim is i'm
proving. and I can assure you of four
hundred yards clean travelling over
the rooftops." He ceased and broke
into revilings. He struck me several
times, kicked me with his heels, and,
in his uncomfortable rage seemed on
the point of numbering me. Then,
tearing himself away with a shout of
final defiance, he left me.
l heard the mechanism begin whir-
ring in the engine house and felt the
boat begin to move. 1t glided gently
at first, but soon it's motion was &C
tolerated. Now I was flying high in
the air over the grounds; faster and
faster ] flew, till the trees, the build
ings and the night shadows were moth
ing but blur under me. The speed
was inconceivable! it was as though I
were dashed to the engine of some
train which spun on its circular course
at about twice the speed of the Chica-
go flyer. My brain reeled, my senses
were deserving me; terror, even, fed
from my benumbed consciousness and
waited calmly for that supreme mo-
ment when the power suddenly ar
rested, I should be sent flying out Of
the boat and through the air, over the
revolving housetops. Each moment
seemed an eternity. Would that cul-
mination never arrive? And even as
wondered I felt a shock that Jared
each nerve in me; binding light, an
awful sound in my ears and l lost
consciousness.
When I opened my eyes I was still
In the boat. But my bonds were un-
fastened and Crewe was bending over
me, rubbing my chafed and tingling
limbs. My head swum dizzily.
tits all right, Langton," he said
cheerily. "The watchmen have him
under guard in the engine house."
I stared at Crewe, hardly yet con-
scious of my surroundings, memory
slowly flltering back through her &C
customed courses.
What happened to you?" I NUT
tered, striving to recall the occur
rences Of that period after Crewe's
departure.
Crewe sat by me in the boat and