South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-12-18


Copyright, 1913, by the Newspaper
Enterprise Association in the
L. ;. and Great Britain.)
CHAPTER V.
We darted off toward the west,
wL<nce we knew the Flying Column
was coming.
At first I did not recognize it as
anything but some OF those long.
straight thin clouds that edge the
horizon 20 often at dawn and even
ing-its outspread TANKS swept the
hilltops so widely, and its mass so
drab and still.
Two things admonished me Of my
mistake-the wonderful swelling OF II
as IL came on. This strange SWELL
ing was TERRIBLE do not know why,
except that we seem to have inherited
from our storm scared ancestry the
instinct Of feeling afraid of a cloud
that grows percepubly larger and
larger as one looks at it--and so this
cloud OF war swelled and grew before
our eyes-until il lost its terror to the
eye and broke in huge. rather deaf
ening hum on the cara hum ike
the beating OF the blower of a loco
motive.
We accelerated the crescendo Of
the roar and the swelling OF the
clouds bulk, by the speed with
we all few to meet the reinforce
ments.
We rose above the lone of the Col
umn's flight, and soon i could over
look II. and the landscape to its rear.
II was a strange sight. Every ma
chine that had suffered from coils
ion or stoppage of engines was in that
rearward view.
Some of them, having cured the
trouble were coming on again like
the wind, some were volplaning
down to earth. some were lying
crushed their crews cprawled MAIN
ed and Hfeless, on the rocks, or
hanging pierced by limbs Of trees, or
lying with their prouuding bones
thdust into the earth Of plowed fields
For the flight OF an earial army in
ordinary march Is attended by more
fatalities than were the battles of the
old times
As this host came on. roaring, but
strangely silent as to human sounds,
likt one OF the elemental forces Of
nature, we saw here and there. a
shapeless mass dart earthward, like
a meteOrite. In each case three men
and a machine went whirling to
earth, and three lives went out in
crushing shock-while the roaring
went on unheeding.
There was no touching or elbows,
none of the support OF companion
ship. Each went to its death or its
victory-or to both-alone.
signalled Hawkins to turn
there was nothing TO be gained by
getting in the rear of the Flying
Column. and probably much 10 be
lost. Travis waved his hand at me.
and I inferred a smile which / could
not see. He pointed towards the
forts
1 looked and saw what had drawn
the correspondents back on our
track. The aerial forces Of the
Army OF Invasion were also on the
wing and the battle shock which
TennysOn so long ago foresaw as
with a prophets vision was immi-
nent,
AS we sped back. gaining a little
on the rest-for I had the best ma
chine In the army-over the fast mar
rowing space between the two forces
II tried TO remember the lines. and
when they came into my mind, kept
repeating the poets description OF
aerial navigation as he imagined it.
when he
Saw the heavens filed with com
merce. argosies of magic sails
pilots OF the purple twilight drop
ping down with costly bales;
and as one sings over in his mind
some irrevelant song, while the
earth falls on the coin of ones best
beloved. I said over to, myself those
verses and thought how far from the
truth they had proved and how
strangely true these others:
Heard the heavens fill with shout
ing. and there rained a ghast-
ly dew
From the nations airy navies
graphing in the central blue