The Elbert County tribune., 1916-05-12

Straight out to sea I flew. guiding
my course by the new eastern sun. un-
til the land was only low line behind
me. And presently even that failed.
Now nothing was visible but the broad
expanse of the ocean. Here and there
| rising and falling like a cork upon-the
waters. l saw a tiny steamship. no big
ger than toy boat And even these
disappeared at last. leaving me alone
with the sun and the sea and the
+, wheeling gulls.
Hour after hour went by. Upon a
| favoring wind / sped. ever southwark.
while behind me the busy motor
hummed and sang. "Charlesl Cbarlesl"
That was its refrain. thought OF the
| incredible dangers that | had passed
NOW the journey was almost ended.
and there was little more to overcome
| | sWooped lower. until | almost
SKINNED the surface of the waters. TAX
| ing sheer pleasure in the splash of
the spray and the undulating wayes
that rose and fell as far as the eve
| could stretch in every direction. As
the sun neared the zenith | changed
my course. little by little, until flew
Immediately toward 1t. In the midst
of my exultation. however, suddenly
an awful thought occurred to me.
What If | should miss Corsica."
1t sobered me. Heaven help me
then, for l should fly straight south
ward until l reached Africa. or fell in.
TO the sea. And after night straight,
an even comparatively straight, course
| would be impossible.
The sun crossed the zenith and
blazed in the west. Now l changed
my course little by little, until the sun
was on my right hand. BY four O'Clock
should have sighted Corsica; By s:x
must reach Scouto. for twilight
would then be approaching. The sun
began perceptibly to decline. 1t was
half way down in the sky And sull
no sight of landl
Another thought now came to mind
for the first time and added to my
fears. What If Zeuxis should, after all,
refuse to return with me-? And, fur.
ther. what If the added weight impeded
the aeroplane!
But forced these thoughts from me
and strove desperately forward, as
though by sheer effort of mentality l
could add to the speed of the insensats
mechanism. 1t must be four O'Clock
Another half hour passed-an hour.
The sea was changing from blue to
black; in the northeast heavy thunder.
clouds were looming up. l did not
dare think now. My brain whlrled,
the heavens appeared to spin; the sun.
like fiery Cyclopean eye, drew near
to the horizon. That eye would close;
and then-good night to life and all
my hopes for Charles
For my own life I cared nothing,
but the thought of what would befalI
him was a torment 1t sent the blood
| coursing furiously through my veins
and my heart hammered like ham
| mer of doom. Six oclocki-for the
sun dipped and its fiery edge touched
| the water-line. There, immeasurably
| expanded in apparent size. it hid itself
behind the murky clouds and seemed
| to leer horribly at me on its passage
| into the depths of ocean. was hope
| lessly lost now. could only shape my
course mechanically southwark. But
| where was /? | stared out over the
pitch-black waters. stirring restlessly
beneath the rising wind. One hour
more. perhaps little longer, and
then
| NY dChtu, MY DOuy aGHeO,
and an insurmountable lassitude
weighed down my eyelids. Involun.
tarily l closed them for an instant
Then opening them, cried out with
Joy.
For far in the distance | saw the
tiniest blur of brown upon the face OF
the sea. 1t was SO far to port that. had
| not closed my eyes and SO relieved
them from the strain of gazing over
the sea. should never have seen it.
But as the suns rim dipped under
the sea I coursed over a high and
rock-bound shore toward white little
town set on a hill. dropped into the
market square. and from the houses
men came running up. shouting in
some unintelligible speech. When the
machine rested they ventured near
and formed circle round me at a re-
spectful distance. crossing themselves
and staring in amazement.
Where am II" demanded in al
most all that knew of Italian.
One hero strutted toward me. toss
ing back his long cloak. and answered:
"Scouto"
l had flown all along the coast OF
Corsica, to land. by some most fortu
nate coincidence of fate, at the pre-
else locality of my destination,
He knew me too. and began tremb
than that alone. For. as | stared into
the mans face | recognized-Zeuxis!
But the coincidence was greater
ling at the knees. Then. with a wild
cry. he fell face down upon the stones
Small wonder when, deeming himself
secure. he saw me swoop out of the
| skies drag him ir i,riI