Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1915-01-23

curved hook, which was evidently
designed to serve as a grapple on
anything which the machines might
strike. At the oack of each was a
small propeller with several blades,
and from the top there projected a
couple of short uprights, between
which stretched what looked like a
wire.
So far as Gafford could see, they
resembled nothing s. much as a
series of duplicate models of a new
form of fying-machine.
But the thing which arrested his
attention above all else, sent his
heart into his mouth and under
standing to his mind was the fact
that the things were blue! The
bodies, the widespread wings, the
little runners of the skids, even the
tiny propellers, were bright, semi
transparent blue, like that of the
sky!
In that moment Gafford knew that
he was looking az the blue bombs
and knew all that Oshitu had meant.
Here they were-finished, ready.
Launched againS, an enemy, their
color alone would make them practi-
cally invisible or a clear day. Only
by catching them against back
ground or a cloud could their men,
ace be seen, and then only by an
expert eye; for they would move
swiftly. and their irregular outline
of body and wing and skid might
easily be mistaken for rift in any
cloud they crossed.
Gafford's heart pounded in his
breast as he watched their approach
on the train and foresaw all that
they might mean. Sent against a
fleet or an army, they could hover
above the doomed with never a sign
of their presence.
Not until from a seemingly clear
sky came the flash Of their explosion
and their death burst over the heads
unsuspecting, would it be realized
that they were there. The fiendish
ingenuity of their design appalled,
him. The horror of their potential
power gripped his breath in his
throat. At the same time he real
lied that the circular structure was
a magazine in which they were
stored against the time of their
need.
The sight of the train-load of
death spurred him TO action. He
wriggled back from the lip of the
ledge and crawled into his cave.
Once there, he drew out his little
mirror and the bottle of stain and
went carefully over his face, arms,
body and limbs, renewing their tint,
as he now did each day.
That finished, he rolled his blar-
kets and threw them over his Shout
der, left the cave, and plunged into
the underground, slanting down the
side of the mountain toward the
railroad Consciously or uncon-
sciously, he had determined to reach
the track and walk openly into the
bomb plant. There he would apply
for work and risk all on the one
chance, or, at least, so he thought.
The sight of TIE things in their
finished form had made him impa-
tient of all delay, fired all the ad-
venturous spirit which had thus far
to risk everything in an attempt TO
destroy them and remove their rlen-
ace from his race In that moment
thought of self
DO lOT SOnlt IaiIt ne went onward
in line which led obliquely forward
and down. In fact, he had almost
regained the right-of-way of the
service railroad when a new sound
arrested his ear. 1t was the pant Of
a motor ascending a hill. With the
instinct of caution returninc he sank
down and listened screened by a
friendly bush. Tie throb of the APP
preaching car came IN, turned off
just below him, and died in a last
whecze. Gafford Strengthened and
began to slip tows I'd it through the
trees and bushes. Presently he came
in sight of a recently built hut.
1t was of concrete construction,
like the factory buildings, and he
coult see that it stood on the banks
Of the little brook which had given
him drink earlier in the dav. His
eyes picked out tho reason for this
in the raceway Of a water-wheel,
through which foamed stream of
water. Before the hut stood a
powerful roadster auto, and man
was just unlocking the door.
He was tall with u first impress
sion of great physical strength, clad
in brown khaki, with a figure UNI
usual in its breadth of shoulder for
Japan. Then, as he turned Gafford
all but cried out, for the face he
looked upon was white. A black
beard, cut squarely, covered its
lower portion, and above it a fat,
Slavic conformation rose to a shock
of black hair. half concealed by a
round cap.
The man made some remark TO
the chauffeur of the car. and the
machine swung and fled away along
a well-defned road. The white man
stood and gazed after il for a mo-
ment, nodded his head slowly,
turned and went into the hut. CAT
ford watched him in a passing spec
ulation which climaxed in the NUT
tered "Karlof" which passed his
lips. He felt certain, beyond doubt,
that this was the man whom Oshitu
had named as the inventor of the
bombs.
Gafford crouched down and waited
to see what might happen. Almost
at once there came to his ears the
purring hum of a dynamo. He nod