The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-05-07
The Pursuit of the Planes.
Copyright, 1912. By Harry Irving Greene}
CHAPTER Viii.

we'll Just rising from the nearby
range, where he had doubtless been .
roosting as he watched, swinging vide
over the plain perhaps two miles dis
tant and two thousand feet up, mar
velously distinct in the tenuous noun
tain air, the Flying Man was floating
and soaring with occasional sweeps Of .
his thin pinions. Alan had witnessed /
his fight with the Inflated Putnam, .
but North, now seeing him for the .
first time, was fairly awed at the Won
derful poise and ease of the enemy's /
fight. For perhaps five seconds he !
gazed at him in fascination as he con
tinued to squeeze his companions arm .
with an undiminished grip, then re-
leased his hold and gasped:
Shade of Darius Green! Now that's .
what 1 call fying!"
He was speaking in a fierce, harsh .
whisper, already working frantically /
at his engine Don't you dare look
up-don't you dare make a move. /
They will all see him in another min
ute and then things will be turned up
side down. l want to get away early /
and avoid the rush. He sprang into
his seat and grasped his operating
gear. Make way, there" he Toared
at the stragglers about 4 am going
to start, and when l do I'll be a cy-
clone on wheels. Make way, MAKE
WAY!" Like sheep charged by a
raging wolf, they scattered before the
great monoplane, and North. throwing
on the power, shot forward and sprang
lightly into the air like a bounded
rubber ball With his propeller whir-
ring at topmost speed he turned at
a dizzy slant and as a bee goes for
it's hive so did he head onward and
upward for the marvel beyond that
f1oated so buoyantly in the Impid air.
Instantly wild tumult and hOarse
uproar burst forth. A hundred voices
beloved the discovery at once and in
half a dozen seconds a score Of avia-
tors had leaped upon their seats with
fierce shouts of warning to the fleeing
crowd. Monoplanes and biplanes
streaked the earth as they achieved
their momentum for the upward leap.
| Twenty great propellers were Whir-
ring, churning, roaring all at once.
Then rising in buzzing fight like a
covey Of mammoth grouse, they went
| whistling away in tWos, threes and
clusters in the wake Of North, whose
powerful Blue Dragon" was splitting
| the air at nearly ninety miles an hour.
Belts and Fairfield, the last to rise,
| collided before they had fairly left the
| ground and came down with crash
| 1E TT7ov,orSIvr~-
! receiving awkward tumbles, but
| springing to their feet practically IN
! hurt. Their machines, however, We're
| temporarily disabled, and calling down
| maledictiOns upon their luck and each
| others heads they could only stand
| rooted to the spot like other men and
watch their companions in the mad
| million-dollar chase, when but for
! little i'll fortune they would have been
/ close in their wake. The greatest op-
| portunity of lifetime had gone a.
| glimmering because someone in his
! frantic haste had Oiuldered. Small
! wonder that their rage was boundless.
And now once more the Flying Man
| seemed to have made up his mind to
! test them out en- masse as he had done
! Putnam individually before he mad
slain him. For q minute after North
| had made his start the other remained
like q spider suspended at the end of
his thread, floating practically mo-
tionless in the air, then as the cloud
! OF other planes arose and with his
foremost foe more than half way TO
| him he became active. Throwing him
| self forward upon horizontal in much
the same position as though ne was
about to swim in water, he gave a
| mighty beat of his wings. Like a
darling fish he leaped forward hun
| dred feet. and starting in a mighty
! circle went whistling out over the
plain, his score OF puTsuers instantly
| changing their course to a tangent ia
order to cut him off. And seeing that
| they bid fair to do so the pursued one
| straightened his course into direct
! flight, and with his face turned back
! ward over his shoulder led them
/ straight away. For the next mile the
+, Blue Dragon and about half a dozen Of
the fastest OF the machines seemed to
be holding their own with him, while
( the rest, unable to keep up the terrific
pace, gradually strung out behind like
a kites long tail. Whittier he was
leading them none but himself could
guess, but as for the pursuers they
/ cared little provided they could keep
! him in sight. Whether they ran the
race and fought the fight over jagged
mountain tops Or level ground made
little difference TO these seasoned sail
ors of the upper air sea, whose con
| slant close association with death
! had made them almost COntemptuOus
Of it, and as grayhounEs course a hare
/ they went whistling on with strained
muscles and eyes glued upon the black
streak that sped as an arrow before
them. Whether the pursued one was
/ doing his best or only trifing with
! them they could only conjecture.
| but this much was evident, doing
their own best as they were.
/ they were barely holding their own
! with him. North, still retaining his
| initial advantage over his nearest com
| petitor, could not see that he had
/ gained a foot upon the enemy. To
the spectators upon the ground and
now far behind, the ones in the air
/ appeared but distant floating sDecks.
| Then one by one even the specks dis
| appeared and great sobbing sigh of
! relaxation weIled from the bosom of
the watching city.
Fire minutes had elapsed since
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