Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-26
CHAPTER VIII
On1ean

Now realized why the black pirate hat
kept me engrossed with his strange tale.
For miles he had sensed the approach ot
succor; and but for that single tell.tale
| glance the battleship would have been di
rectly above us In another moment, and the
| boarding party, which was doubtless ever
now swinging in their harness from the
ships keel would have swarmed our deck
I was too old a hand in aerial warfare
| to be at a loss now for the right maneuver
| simultaneously l reversed the engines and
| dropped the little vessel sheer hundred
feet.
Above my head could see the dangling
| forms OF the boarding party as the battle
| ship raced over us. Then l rose at q sharp
| angle, throwing my speed lever TO Its last
| notch.
Like bolt from a crossbow. my splendid
| craft shot its steel PROV straight at the
| whirrng propelers of the giant above us,
| If l could but touch them the huge bulk
would be disabled for hours, and escape
once more possible
At the same instant the sun shot above
the horizon, disclosing a hundred grim,
| black faces peering over the stern of the
battleshp upon us.
At sight of us n shout OF rage went UP
from a hundred throats. Orders were
shouted, but it was too late to save the
giant propellers and with crash we ram
med them.
Instantly with the shock of impact I
reversed my engine, but my PROV was
wedged in the hole II had made in the bat
tleship's stern. Only second hung there
before tearing away, but that second was
amply long to swarm my deck with black
devils.
There was no fight. In the first place
there was no room to fight We were Sim
ply submerged by numbers Then, as
swords menaced me, command from
Xodar stayed the hands of his fellows.
Secure them" he said; but do not In
jure them"
Several of the pirates already had re-
leased Nodar He now personally attended
to my disarmIng, and saw that l was
properly bound. At least he thought that
the binding was secure,
1t would have been had been Martian,
but 1 had to smile at the puny strands that
confined my wrists. When the time came
l could snap them as IL they had been cot
ton string.
The girl they bound also and then they
fastened us together. In the meantime they
had brought our craft alongside the disabled
battleship, and soon We were transported to
the latters deck.
Fully thousand black men manned the
great engine of destruction. Her decks
were crowded with them as they pressed
forward as far as discipline would permit
to get glimpse of their captives,
Inc BlFls beauty elClleu many Drutal
comments and vulgar jests. II was evil
dent that these self-thought supermen
were far inferior TO the red men of Bar
SOON in refinement and in chiyalry.
My close-cropped black hair and thern
complexion were the subjects of much
comment. When Xodar told his fellow
mobiles of my fighting ability and strange
origin they crowded about me with numer-
Gus questions
The fact that 1 wore the harness and
metal OF thern who had been killed by
a member of my party convinced them that
| was an enemy OF their hereditary foes,
and placed me on better footing In their
estimation.
Without exception the blacks We're
handsome men and well built, The officers
were conspicuous through the magnihcenGe
of their respondent trappings. Many har-
nesses were so encrusted with gold, pati-
num- silver and precious stones as 70 en-
trely hide the leather beneath.
The harness Of the commanding ofhcer
was a solid mass OF diamonds Against
the ebony background OF his skin they
blazed out with a peculiarly accentuated
effulgence. The whole scene was enchant-
ing
The handsome men, the barbaric splen-
dor OF their accoutrements, the polished
skeel wood Of the deck. the gloriously
grained sorapus OF the cabins, inlaid with
priceless jewels and precious metals IN
intricate and beautiful design; the burn
ished gold handrails, the shining metal OF
the guns
Phaidor and I We're taken below decks
where, still fast bound, we were thrown
into a small compartment which contained
only a single portfolio. AS our escort left
us they barred the door behind them.
We could hear the men worSins on the
propellers, and from the port-hole we could
see that the vessel was drifting lazily to-
ward the south
CONTINUED TOMORROW