The Washington times., 1913-10-09

am kneelihS. IL ioohS AAe
An instant later she raised her finger,
to her face, and then put her hand clos,
to my nose.
| Gasolene!
The discovery startled me so much tha
| had the air been tumultuous. instead o
still and steady, l believe I should hav.
upset the plans then and there. One o.
| the tanks was leaking, and perhap.
both, Our fuel WAS disappearing:
could not tell how rapidly.
Tank leaking!" shouted at her. 'Se,
II YOU can find 1t.
l removed one hand long enough from
the levers to indicate the twin tanks
and then bent my eyes downward. We
were still passing over what seemed t.
be an unbroken forest, although tn,
darkness doubtless aided in the illusion
Two or three times l glanced back al
her. She was on her knees. cropping with
her hands over the exterior OF the
tanks that held our precious power
supply. Presently she edged her way tc
my side again and cried, her voice
raised shrill above the noise of the en-.
CINE:
~ found it! Stopped it with my hand,
only one Tank" shouted.
"Only one," she answered. 1T was a
little round hole"
l understood then. The plane had beer
struck by more than one bullet. No,
only was my compass wrecked, but the
craftsmanship Of either Finton or Pur-
much. only time could tell. Not until
then did I begin to realize what a mar
vel 1t was that neither of us had been
hit, and that neither the engine nor
the screw had been damaged.
More vigilantly than ever now l kept
a watch below for clear places. The re-
duction OF our cruising radius might
prove the gravest sort of a calamity. II
the character Of the country over which
We were passing should continue unfa-
vorable. I did not care to alarm the
girl by telling her my fears. although ]
yined the situation without any explain
alton from me. She resumed her prone
position on the plane, and turned her
eyes downward again.
Presently l heard her cry out again.
As 1 looked at her she was pointing be-
followed the direction Of her finger. The
outlines Of the earth had completely
disappeared All / could see was some
thing that seemed to match the sky
above, save for the fact that there were
no stars in II.
It was Impossible that We had risen
far without my knowledge; at any rate.
so far as to lose the outlines OF things
below us. ! turned and consulted the
barograph. 1t registered only $50 feet.
Again looked down beneath my
knees. Still the same smooth, opaque
surface. Could it be water? I could
think Of no such extensive sheet so
near Baltimore, to the west: whatever
this was, it seemed to spread out be-
low us as far as the eye could reach in
the darkness.
Puzzled. | allowed the machine to dip
gradually. keeping my eyes alternately
upon the barograph. which recorded our
varying attitudes and upon the curious
phenomena below, Four hundred feet
Still there was no sign Of earth.
/ slid down to the 250-foot level. but
could not see a single landmark Then
l glanced upward again to mark my
guiding stars. and failed to find them.
More than that. every star seemed to
have vanished from the sky!
| became conscious of a damp cool
ness on my cheek and the first sensa-
ton OF chill through my thin coat. Then
l Understood. We were In a fog.
The barograph was reading only 200
feet now. / altered the position of the
eIeyating planes and assembled rapidly.
At 300 feet l could discern faint white
dots about US: at $50 We were out in
the clear sky again. and my triangle
of stars was visible ahead of me.
kept on to the U0-foot level and
then let the machine drive ahead on an
even keel Below us the earth was
still invisible. completely covered by a
thick layer of night fog.
Fine business for an amateur aviator,
Night. fog, unknown country beneath
a doubtful gasoline supply-and no COM
pass!