, 1912-06-20

VIII no, because he will prefer 20
come on hy night In order to run the
less risk
..Thar's what be did BEFORE" said
MT Grayman
"AIl right then" said the secretary.
swell assume that mat will be his
course. But we have no time to lose.
We must catch him before he starts.
Fortunately. Allan, ! nave ordered
your aero and four other cracks to be
ready to leave Washington, fully armed
and provisioned. on the receipt OF a
dispatch from me RI tell them to
come on at once. Now. Grayman. you
can go along or not, as you prefer"
an GO" said Mr.. Grayman promptly.
Mr.. Grantnam. in MS dispatch. had
the foresight to order the aero to meet
us at a little town II 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 1 was delighted to recognize
the Eagle lowering over the little town.
The four other aeros we're running
abou near. and q crowd had already
gathered about the station and In the
street, watching them
WED better get aboard az quickly
as possible" said Mr.. Grantham. Lets
walk a little way up the hill. out Of
town. and m signal the aeros to drop
down for us"
In response to the signal w of the
aeros. the Crow and the Eagle. swooped
down to the earth. My men were re-
joiced to see me. and | to set foot once
more on the deck Of my beloved dier.
She had her full complement, but the
other was a little short. SO | sent W
men aboard the Crow to make room
for the secretary and Mr.. Grayman
without Weighing the Eagle too much.
wanted to have her in good running
trim.
"Now, Lieutenant Allan" said Mr..
Grantham as soon as we were aboard
and afiy, you are in immediate COM
mand of this fleet. | 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. rs the fiers
are all duly armed Inc p~rovisioned,
there is nothing to prevent our max
ing a start immediately"
No one could have been more eager
to start than | was. Instantly | ran
up the signal to get under way. the
others being instructed to follow my
lead. Besides the Crow. already men
toned. there wore the Osprey, the
Bobolink and the Skylark, all. as | was
glad to see. the best oilers in the serv-
fee, although | believed that none Of
them could keep pace with the Eagle
in a race.
The electric gun hnd already been In
vented, and each of the aeros carried
two of these terrible weapons, OF a
caliber of two n 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 nc report, but a sharp whish
AZ IN II phoJCNtiiS 'CaNCo a.
muxzle. These projectiles at that
time had an effective range of three
miles. but when fred from an eleva
don they would often fall 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 runners In craftsmanship. and |
had on the Eagle a Connecticut yam
kee, Ethan Haight. who was practi
cally a dead shot and a great favortte
among the men We carried no drop
ping bombs, like the navy aeros. but
each had a stand OF automatic rides
n pistols. besides cutlasses. The full
complement was ten men, including
the commander. the engineer and the
steersman. On this occasion our en-
tire tiotilla carried thirty eight lighting
men. my W crew comprising only
eight men, including myself. after I
had made room for my two visitors.
There was a quick response to my
signal to get under way. and IN a few
minutes. TO the great admiration of
the people below. the whole feet. with
its ~aeroplanes flashing in the sun was
speeding northward. the Eagle In the
lead.