Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-11-04
By H. G. WELLS
Copyright. 1914. BY H. G. WELLS

S'ouuS. lue WOrlu was WlOe. ana
they had had luck in not coming close
to any soaring sentinel Their mac hine
was painted pale gray that lay al
most invisibly over the cloud levels be-
| low. But now the east was flushing
with the near ascent of the sun. Der.
| lin was but score of miles ahead. and
the luck Of the Frenchmen held. BY
imperceptible degrees the clouds below
dissolved.
Away to the northeastward in a
cloudless pool of gathering light and
with all its nocturnal Examinations
still blazing was Berlin. The left fn-
ger OF the steersman verified roads and
open spaces below upon the mica COW
cred square Of map that was fastened
by his wheel. There, in q series of
lakelike expansions was the Havel
away to the right. over by those for.
ests must be Spandau There the river
split about the Potsdam island. and
right ahead was Charlottenburg. cleft
by a great thoroughfare that fell like
an indicating beam Of light straight to
the imperial headquarters. There, plain
enough. was the Thiergarten: beyond
rose the imperial palace. and to the
right those tall buildings, those cluster
ing bef1agged. bemasted roofs. must be
the offices in which the central Euro.
pean staff was housed. 1t was all cold,
" clear and colorless in the dawn.
He looked up suddenly as humming
sound grew out of nothing and became
swiftly louder. Nearly overhead Ger
man aeroplane was circling down from
! an immense height to challenge him.
He made a gesture with his left arm
to the gloomy man behind and then
gripped his little wheel with both
hands. crouched over it and twisted his
| neck to look upward. He was atten-
tive, tightly strung. but quite contemp-
tuous Of their ability to hurt him. No
Outfy him. or. indeed. any one Of the
best Frenchmen. He imagined they
might strike at him as hawk strikes.
but they were men coming down out
Of the bitter cold up there, in a hun
cry, sp1ritless morning mood. They
came slanting down like sword
swung by a lazy man, and not so rap.
idly, but that he was able to slip away
from under them and get between
them and Berlin. They began chal-
longing him in German with a mega
phone when they were still perhaps
mile away. The words came to him,
rolled up into mere blob of hoarse
eound. Then, gathering alarm from
his grim silence, they gave chase and
swept down hundred yards above
him perhaps and couple Of hundred
behind. They were beginning to un.
derstand what he was. He ceased to
watch them and concentrated himself
on the city ahead, and for time the
two aeroplanes raced.
A bullet came tearing through the
air by him, as though some one was
tearing paper. A second followed.
Something tapped the machine.
1t was time to act. The broad ave
nues, the park, the palaces below rush
ed, widening out nearer and nearer to
them.
"Ready!" said the steersman.
The gaunt face hardened to grim.
ness, and with both hands the bomb
thrower lifted the big atomic bomb
from the box and steadie1 1t against
the side. 1t was black sphere two
feet in diameter. Between its handles
was little cellulo1d stud. and to this
he bent his head until his lips touched
it. Then he had to bite in order to let
the air in upon the inducive. Sure of
Its accessibility, he craned his neck
over the side of the aeroplane and
judged his pace and distance. Then
very quickly he bent forward, bit the
stud and hoisted the bomb over the
side
Round" he whispered 1naudibly.
The bomb flashed binding scarlet in
midair and fell, a descending column
of blaze eddying spirally in the midst
Of whirlwfnd. Both the aeroplanes
We're tossed like shuttlecocks, hurled
high and sideways. and the steersman
| with cleaning eyes and set teeth
fought In great banking curves for q
balance. The gaunt man chung tight
| with hands and knees; his nostrils d.
lated, his teeth biting his lips. He was
firmly strapped.
When he could look down again it
was like looking down upon the crater
Of a small volcano. In the open gar
den before the imperial castle a shud-
| dering star of evil splendor spurted
and poured up smoke and fame to.
ward them like an accusation. They
were too high to distinguish people
clearly or mark the bombs effect upon
the building until suddenly the facade
tottered and crumbled before the fare
as sugar dissolves In water. The man
| stared for moment. showed all his
long teeth, and then staggered into the
cramped standing position his straps
permitted, hoisted out and bit another
bomb and sent it down after its fel.
low.
The explosion came this time more
directly underneath the aeroplane and
shot it upward edgeways. The bomb
box tipped to the point of disgorge-
ment, and the bomb thrower was pitch
ed forward upon the third bomb with
his face close to its celluloid stud. he
clutched its handles and, with sud-
den gust Of determination that the
thing should not escape him, bit its
stud. Before he could hurl it over the
monoplane was slipping sideways.
Everything was falling sideways. In
stinctively he gave himself up to grip
ping, his body holding the bomb in its
place.
Then that bomb had exploded, and