The Washington times., 1913-10-08


alton. AS have already said. 1 do
| not pretend to call myself an aviator.
| save in the sense that / had made a
number Of flights without breaking any
bones. purely for the purpose Of test
ing an invention. Never in my life had
attempted flying in darkness, and
once I had been badly frightened In e
protracted search for safe landing
during the rapidly growing dusk of a
late October afternoon. Yet here I was
stars and a faint show of moonlight
to guide me. save for the street lamps
that glowed below-aRd a girl with me.
l began to note some things. however
with satisfaction. The air was very
steady; it felt sound" There seemed
remembered that very little had been
blowing all day. The temperature was
quite comfortable, for the day had been
unusually warm.
The machine was acting well, too. I
tried no experiments with It: it was no
time to be venturesome. Yet rs We ran
on steadily, without pitching or tipping.
my confidence waxed.
For 10 minutes took no note Of our,
course. but held on until we had passed
the last suburb. and the infequency OF
lights below us told me that We had
left the city behind US. I glanced again
at Mary. She had edged forward a lit
tie, so that her chin was extended be-
yond the front Of the lower wing, and
her eyes were staring directly down.
ward. ! was afraid she would become
dizzy, and shouted at her to close her
eyes.
Instead she shook her head, turned
her face toward me, and-there was
still enough moonlight for me to be
sure Of it-smiled. Her lips We're franz
Ing something, and bent my head over
as far as I could to catch the words
All could hear was:
And wonderfU!'
There was q woman for you, yinton,
the gloomy house, the terror of the
chimney. all the mad dashin4 about the
garden like a trapped animal, had van
ished from her mind. She was exultins
In new and glorious experience!
was thankful that she realized moth
ing OF our real danger, but had a mind
only for the excitement of the adven-
ture and the thrill Of an exhilaratins
sensat on For myself, could not dis
miss our peril from my mind. Even an
expert airman In my place would not
have relished the situation. I knew
very well that no tanks with which this
type OF machine was equipped would
mold nearly enough gasoline to carry
US on until daylight. even If the engine
ran true; while the hazards of an at
tempted landing in the darkness were
too great to be considered with equan.
unity.
Furthermore. knew little or nothing
about the country below US. All that /
could make out from our present eleya>
ton-and I did not care to try a closer
inspection-were occasional farmhouses
and barns. groves Of trees, rolling bits
OF clearing, and now and then a low hill,
l had yet seen no unobstructed field of
sufficient size or flatness to tempt me
to alight; indeed. II We had passed over
any l might easily have missed 1t in the
1t was not until we had been going
for at least a quarter of an hour Ieav.
Ing the city farther and farther behind
US, that suddenly thought of my com
pass, and then laughed aloud in ioy
Here was test to the last point-a real
test! The compass would guide uSI
inere was small storage battery at
tric bulb for illumination Of the diaIs
although l had never needed this arti-
hcial light before. Now felt for the
switch that closed the circuit and turn.
ed It. A glow Of white light fell unon
the top OF the compass case, and I bent
over the instrument
The next instant 1 could not suppress.
shattered. and the remaining one which
indicated only the side drift of the ma
chine. was utterly meaningless and use-
less without the others. For a momen,
l Imagined that Lazare had bungIed the
lob OF installing the instrument ano
a naa wrecked II: then 1 bent closer, ana
bullet from either yinton's .uto
matte or Purvis' big service pistol. fired
wildly at US In the dark. had hit the
campass case and hopelessly DESTROYED
the recording dials. The compass. for
well have been safely in storage In
washington. l was aloft In the night
with nothing bu the stars to steer by,
No longer was even the slender cres-
cent OF the woon visible. A chill Of fear
came over me. What II we were going
eastward? 1t wiuld not take many miles
of travel In that direction to bring us
over the sea. And once over the sea
well. that would be the end,
l tiited the elevating rudder. and as
cended for several minutes, trying to !
locate the pointers of the Big Dipper, |
from which I might get line on the
pole star. But l knew practically |
nothing Of astronomy. and the diamond |
IKE dots In the black sky were so null |
titudinous and confusing that none |
seemed familiar to me.
Still climbing. I let my glance sweep |
the horizon, and over my shoulder, at |
last. I caught glimpse of the moon.
1 had been gradually describing an
swung the machine about until we were
headed directly toward the silver cres-
cent. This was at least in a general
westerly direction. and way from the
sea-
I knew the moon would last but a
little while longer. and 1 did not care to
fly higher, SO as to keep 1t for an addi-
tional time as a guide. So / marked
above 1t. at a considerable height in the
sky, a very bright star, directly to the
left of which were two others Of some
what lesser brflliance. This group / |
fixed in my mind marking the west,
and I made up my mind to keep the
machine, at any cost, pointed steadily
in that direction.
Now | began to be concerned about |
our elevation, and for the first time re-
membered that there was a barograpn
attached to the compass-box. / twisted
the little flexible arm that held the
alsetrtc bulb around, 10 a. to illuminate