Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1916-07-05

aiming WIFI Wudt uciipciaIioA "e'
possible, the aviator emptied the clil
Of its cartridges in less Man a minute
The reports rang out against the
drum of the motor with an accent az
vicious as the cracking of black
snake whip.
Momentarily, Lanyard doubted II q
single bullet had taken effect He
could not, with his swimming vision
detect any sign Of damage in the can
vas Of the valkyr.
He saw the empty automatic slip
from Vauquelins numb and nerveless
/ fingers, and vanish.
| A frightful fascination kept his gaze
constant to the soaring Valkyr. Be
yond it, down, deep down, a mile Of
emptiness, was that golden floor OF
tumbled cloud, waiting.
He saw the monoplane halt abruptly
in its strong onward surge-as If It
had run, full tilt, head on against an
invisible obstacle - and for what
seemed round minute, it hung so.
veering and wabbling, muzzling the
wind. Then. like sounding whale,
1t turned and dived headlong, propel-
Ter spinning like top.
Down through an eighth of mile
of space it plunged plummetlike; then,
perhaps caught in flaw Of wind, 1t
turned sidewise and began to revolve,
at first slowly, but with increasing
rapidity in it's fatally swift descent.
Toward the beginning Of it's revolu-
tons something was thrown off, some
thing small, dark and sprawling-like
that glove which Lanyard had discard
ed. But this object dropped with a
speed even greater than that Of the
Valkyr; in brace of seconds had d.
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 a 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 silence
that rang with an accent as dreadful
as II it were the very crack of doom.
And. its propeller no longer gripping
the air, the aeroplane drifted on at
eyer-lessening speed. until at length
1t had no way whatever, and rested
without motion Of any sort, as 1t might
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 II 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
grtmace and barely perceptible
shrug.
Momentarily gathering momentum.
the biplane sped downward with re-
sistless rush, with the speed of
great wind, with 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 Unreasonable
void, they swept down and ever down
In long series OF sickening swoops.
broken by pauses Of negligible dura-
lion. And though they approached it
On long slant, the floor of vapor rose
70 meet them with the rapidity of
mighty, rushing wave; and in trice
he biplane was lowering an instant
before plunging down into it's cold,
gray heart.
In that flash of hesitation, while still
he adventurer gasped for breath and
paved at his streaming eyes with an
lching hand. pierced through and
through with cold. the fog showed it.
'elf as something less substantial
han 1t had seemed: blurs of color
,eered through its folds of gauze, and
With these the rounded summit Of q
,rownish knoll.
Then they lunged on, down out Of
he bleak, bright sunshine into the
DOL twilight depths of clinging va
'ors; and the good green earth lifted
is warm bosom to receive them.
fitting its nose. fluttering as though
Undecided, the Parrot settled grace
ully, with scarcely Jar, upon wide
weep of untitled land covered with
hort, coarse grass.
For some time the three remained in
heir perches like petrified things,
ute moveless. and-with the possible
reception of the extraordinarily con-
cious.
But presently Lanyard became aware
nat he was regularly filling his lungs
nth air, sweet, damp, wholesome, and.
comparison, warm, and that the
lood was tingling painfully in his
alf-frozen hands and feet.
He sighed as one waking from a
TRANCE dream and looked round.
At the same time the aviator be-
Tired himself and began a bit stiff1y
} climb down from his place.
Feeling the earth beneath his feet,