Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-04-27

speed even greater than that Of the
Valkyr; in a brace Of seconds had di-
minished to the proportions of gnat;
in another was engulfed in that vast
sea Of golden vapor.
The monoplane itself, scarcely less
precipitate, spun down through the
abyss and plunged to oblivion in the
fog-wrack
And Lanyard was still hanging
against the chest-band, limp and spent
and trying not to give way to deadly
sickness when, of sudden and with
out any warning whatever, the stem
torian chant of the motor ceased and
was blOtted out by that immense
silence Of those vast solitudes Of the
upper air, where never a sound is
heard save the voices Of the elements
at war among themselves-a silence
that rang with an accent as dreadful
as If it were the very crack of doom.
And, its propeller no longer gripping
the air, the aeropIane drifted on at
ever-lessening speed, until at length
it had no way whatever, and rested
L
have been in the cup of some mighty
and invisible hand
Then, with little shudder of hesita-
ton, the planes dipped forward-in-
clined slightly earthward-and began
slowly, and at first, as if reluctantly,
to slip down the long and empty chan
nels Of the air.
At this, rOusing, Lanyard became
aware of his own voice yammering
wildly at Vauquelin:
Good God, man! Why did you do
that?"
Vauquelin answered only with pale
grimace and a barely perceptible
shrug.
Momentarily gathering momentum.
the blplane sped downward with a re-
sistless rush, with the speed of a
great wind with a speed so great that
when Lanyard again attempted speech
the breath was whipped from his lips
and he could utter no sound.
Thus from that awful height, from
the still heart of that immeasurable
void they swept down and ever down
in long series of sickening swoops,
broken by pauses of negligible dura-
ton. And though they approached it
on long slant, the floor of vapor rose
to meet them with the rapidity of a
mighty, rushing wave; and in a trice
the biplane was lowering an instant
before pIunging down into it's cold,
gray heart.
In that flash Of hesitation, while still
the adventurer gasped for breath and
paved at his streaming eyes with an
aching hand, pierced through and
through with cold, the fog showed it
self as something less substantial
than it had seemed; bIurs of color
peered through it's folds of gauze, and
with these the rounded summit of
brownish knoll
Then they Iunged on, down out of
the bleak, bright sunshine into the
cool twilight depths of clinging va
pOrs; and the good green earth lifted
it's warm bosom to receive them
fitting it's nose, fluttering as though
undecided, the Parrot settled grace
fully, with scarcely jar, upon a wide
sweep of untitled land covered with
short, coarse grass.
For some time the three remained in
their perches like petrifed things,
quite moveless, and-with the possible
exception of the extraordinarily con-
scious
But presently Lanyard became aware
that he was regularly filling his lungs
with air, sweet, damp, wholesome, and,
by comparison, warm, and that the
blood was tingling painfully in his
half-frOzen hands and feet.
He sighed as one waking from a
strange dream and looked round
At the same time the aviator be-
stirred himself and began bit stiff1y
to climb down from his place.
Feeling the earth beneath his feet,
he took step or two away from the
machine, Keeling and stumbling like a
drunken man, then turned back.
Come, my friend!" he urged Lam
yard in a voice of strangely normal
intOnation-"look alive-if you're able
and lend me a hand with mademoi-
selle. I'm afraid she has tainted"
And, in fact, the girl was reclining
inertly in the bands of webbing, her
| eyes closed her mouth ajar, her limbs
slackened.
Small blame to her!" Lanyard COM
mented, fumbling clumsily with the
| chest-band. THAT dive was enough
to drive a body mad!"
But I had to do it," the aviator
protested earnestly. 4 dared not re-
main longer up there. | have never
before been afraid in the air, but
after that I was terribly afraid. could
feel myself going-taking leave of my
senses-and l knew l must act if we
| were not to follow that other. God!
| what DEATH"
He paused, shuddered and drew the
back of his hand across his eyes be-
| fore continuing: 80 l cut off the igni-
| ton and volplaned. Here-my hand.
500! All right, eh?"
| ooh, I'm all right" Lanyard insisted
| confidently.
But his confidence was belied by a
| look of daze, for the earth was billow-
ing and Keeling round him as though
bewitched; and before he knew what
had happened he had sat down hard
and was staring foolishly up at the