Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-28

billion hornets lie felt vast. tremendous
lassitudc, inside his head Il seemed as
Z though huge. merclleaa pressure were
grinding az his very brain His breath came
only slowly and with great dinicmty
"My God Z" he painted "oh. for a little
fuell on. Tor chancc--a chance 10 fight.
FOR liter
nut chance there was none, now He.
fore his eyes there seemed TO darken. TO
dazzle, strange aud moving curtain
! Through H. piercing Il with a supreme cf-
,or, Of the viii. he caught dim sight OF the
| dlal OF the chrunumctcr, Subcunsclously
he noted that 4: marked i1.25
How long had they been sAiiingP In
vain his waverng Intelligence battered at
tho problem Now, "a In dolirium, he
faucicd u had been only minutes then Il
seemed hours Like an insane man hr
laughcd--hc tried tn Ecrcam--he raved And
only the stout straps that had held them
both prevented him from icapinE free OF
the hurtlng machine.
Crack" :"
A lashing had Elvcn wayi Part OF the
loft hand plane had broken loose. Drunk
emily, whirling head over like an plbutross
shot In midair, the Pauillac plunged
II righted. Hwcrvcd, shot far ahead. then
once again somcrraultcd.
Stern had dlsjointcd. crazy thoughts OF
Rlr-pressurc. condensation and compensation
resistance, abstruHc formulate TO him Il
hcNTltu tnhl Nnmo klEAntiC problem IN
decentralization were being hurled at him.
10 Eolve--it seemed that. blind. deaf dumb
some sinister and Ehoul-liko demon were
Railing him until ho answcred--nnd that
he could not answer
lie had n dim realization OF Etralning
mndly at his straps tlll the veins started biz
and swollen IN his hammerlng brows Then
consciousness lapscd.
Ldpscd. yet came agan--nnd with II pain
An awful pain In the oar-drums. that
roHrcd and cracked without cease
Breath llo was fighting for breath!
II was nightmare horrible dream
OF darkness and mighty booming wind
dream OF Htiiing vaporA and an endless
void that sucked them down. down, etern-
ally!
DelusIona came. and mockng vIsIona OF
safety. Both hands flung out ~ though
to clutch tho roaring gale, he fought the
intangible
Again he lost all knowledge
ANA once Hgnln--how long after, how
could he knowg--h came to some partial
realization Of tortured existence
In one OF the mad downward rushes--
rushes which ended In long spiral Blnnt--
his staring, hloodshot eyes that sought 90
pierce the murk seemed 20 behold glm-
mer duh Elcam of light
The engineer screamed imprecationa
mingled with Wild demonlac laughter.
Another hallueinatlon :" was his thought.
but II lts motif IT'S Hell-then welcome
Hell! Welcome even that, for a chance 10
stop"
\ sweep OF the 0Paulllac hid tho light
from view. Even that fnintest ray van
ished But--whRtP II came again. Much
nearer now, and brighter Aud-another
Eleam Another stlll Three OF them
and they were real
with a tremendous effort. Stern nxed his
tevered eyes upon tho lights
I'm M n vata than .nau,sa
speeding. Blue and ghaHtly through the
dense vapors, spinning IN gddy gyratons
as the machine wheeled catapulted and |
slid from one long slant 10 another, their |
relative positions stlll remained fixed.
And. with nDal Kicker or intelligence
stern knew they were no ngmeht OF his |
brain,
Lights Beatrice Lights, lights real
lights - he sought to scream
but even as he fought TO shake her from
the swoOn that wrapped her senses. his own
last fragment of strength deserted him.
lie had one final sonse impression OF n
swift upshootlng OF the lights. a sudden
Frightening OF those three radiant points,
Then came sudden CLEAN as though OF
waters. black and stlll.
CLEAN. blue and uncanny. across the
nky surface OF some vast, mysterious. hid
Zen sea.
Up rushed tho lights at him up rushed
he sea OF jetty blacks
Stern shouted somo wild. incoherent thing
Crash
A shock A frlghtfu impact, swift sud
len. annlhlatluE
Then In a mad and lashlng struggle, an
knowledge and all feeling vanished utterly.
IND the blacknesa OF oblivion received him |
nto its insensate bosom.
CONTINUED TOMORROW