Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-22

in such turmoil, Stern had no time 20
think oven Of her n, such moment Of
deadly peril
As n drivor with runaway stallion jerks
aud SAWS and strains upon tho leather 20
regain control 30 now tho man wreStled
with his HtOrm-buffeted machine. less
expert Rcronaut must have gone down to
death in that mad neNua of conflicting cur
rontH: but Stern was cool and full of craft
and scieuco, Against tho blows OF tho huge
tempest no pitted his own skill. tho strength
OF tho stout mechanism, the trained In
stincts OF the born mcchaniclan.
And Htorm-drlven, the blplnne hurtled
Westward. ever westward, through the
gloom. Nor could It's two passengers by
any sight or sound determine what speed
they travelled nt, whittier they went. what
lay behind. or what ahead.
Concepts OF time. too. vanished. Did Il
last one hour or throe7 Five hours. or even
more7 Who could tcll7 Lacking any point
OF contact with reality, merged and
whelmed In that stupondnua chill nightmare.
all wrought OF savage gale. rain, hailblasts.
cloud and seuddlng Vapor, they senscd
nothing but tho nght for life itself the
struggle to keep aloft TIL the cyclone
should have blown Itself out and they could
seek the shelter Of the earth once more.
Reality oamo'back with rift in tho jetty
sky. the faint shine OF n little pale blue
there and--a while iater--a glimpse Of
water. or what seemed to bo such. very far
below.
Moro steady now the currents grew. Stern
voIplnned again; and as the machine alld
down toward earth came into calmer and
moro peaceful stratum,
Down. down through clouds that shifted,
shredded and reaasembled he let tho plane
coast now under control once more; and
all at once there below him. lesa than throe
thousand feet beneath. no saw. dim and
vague aa though In the light OF evening, a
vast sheet OF water that stretched away,
away. till the sight lost IL In II bank OF low
hung vapOrs on the horizon.
'srhe scar thought Stern. with sudden
terror Who could tell7 Perhaps the storm.
wostbound. had veered perhaps II might
have carried them on the Atlantic coast
This might be the ocean, hundred or two
hundred miles from land. And IL SO, then
good-byi
Checking tho descent. hs drove forward
on level wInga, peoring below with wide
eyes. while far above him the remnants OF
the storm fed. routed. and let a shaft OF
pallld sunlight through.
sterns eye caught the light OF that set
ting beam. which still reached that height,
though all below. on earth was dusk; and
now he knew tho west again and found his
sense OF direction.
Tho wind. he psreslved. stlll blew to
WehlWaEl4 Win n lnEiAl VI NNAieA hn
felt. as though by intuition, that It's course
had not varied enough 20 drive him out to
sea-
Though he knew the ripping elatter OF
the engine drowned his voice. he shouted
TO the girl:
Don't be alarmed Only lake down
therel" and with fresh courage gave the
motor all chat ahe would stand.
A lakaT hut what lake7 what sheet
Of water, OF this size, lay in New Englandf
And II not Ia New England. then where
were they7
A lakef One Of the Great Lakss9 Could
that boz Could they have been driven
clear across Massachusetts,, It's whole length,
and over New York State. four hundred
miles or more from the sea. and now bs
speeding over Erie or Ontario9
Stern shuddeTed at the thought. Almost
as well be lost over the sea as over any
one OF these tremendous bodies, Were not
the land near, nothing but death now faced
them for already the fuol-gauge showed
but aeant two gallons. and who could say
how long the way might be 10 shors7
For a moment the engineer lost heart,
but only for moment.
Hla eye. sweeping the distance. caught