The patriot. (Glenmora, La.) 1918-1955, 1919-04-04

| 10 tell the truth. we were Il strange
sight. in our long rubber clOaks, and
vizor caps and the masks across our
| faces.
The butler near the door must have
made some movement, for Ashcroft
revolver barked sharply and the fell
low coughed and clawed and crumpled
across a little table full of empty
| dishes.
My lord rose slowly to his feet and
his tlorid face worked in fury. lie
was no coward, if he did have other
defects.
What do you want?" he said.
Ashcroft waited until the little
wreath of acrid smoke had lifted and
then stepped forward.
We had no time to lose now. 1t
was unfortunate thai we had 20 Kill
| the butler No doubt the sharp report
had reused the curiosity of some in
| Quisitive citizens, and it was only Il
matter of time when help might appear
on the roof.
'You will unfasten your shirt-studS
and drop them on the table in front
Of you" he said CURLY.
He waved his pistol and the rest
slank-stsssa,k. And then while covered
them he went swiftly 70 Mrs: Cafen-
dar and undid the nj Pee, holding i
up for 0 moment in ~ ssht I'D u s4Ei
of sfoating satisfacETdR, and <thef
slipped it into his pocket.
| swept the studs into the palm on
my hand.
There were six of them. large ana
| blue-white, and they clinked together
musicalIy as l took them. | could see
the lord of Coventry quivering in I'M
| potent rage with his hands above his
head: then Ashcroft whiStled and we
| backed through the shrubbery.
How we half-ran. half-stumhled
across the black darkness of the roof;
| do not remember.
| recollect Ashcroft working With
sobbing curses at the propellerS. the
sudden roar of the GnOme as she spun
| in a shrieking circle, we rolled for
ward shot over the edge, dipped with
| a sickening sensation to what seemed
| certain destructiOn-caught the wind
on our forward planes and mounted
steadily.
For moment there was a splendid
sensation in it all, a sense of power
and disdain for the impOtent little
| things that ran and shouted in the
! streets thousand feet below us anG
turned up white faces in the yellow
lights. gesticulating comically.
I think they shot at us.
When we had got up 1000 feet we
turned a little, and l could just make
out the dark outline of Staten Island
in the bay below.
Then the Will-o'the-Wisp quivered
and plunged and righted again and
Swerved and shot upward in an odd
manner.
] turned to Ashcroft.
He had Slumped in grotesque man
ned to the back Of the seat, and there
was a trickle of blood running down
| the shoulder of his coat. A sudden
gust of wind rocked the aerOplane to
one side and we dropped and shot for
| ward with frightful speed down an
| invisible tOboggan.
With a desperate effort l righted
| the planes, and for an instant we sang
along steadily.
Then I lost control.
Two thousand feet in the air l lost
| control of the aeroplane. Another de-
! scent and another upward lurch as
/ recovered. We were rocking furiously
now.
l dared to glance down. What
saw was that Ashcroft had fallen so
that the engine connection was be-
You'd my reach. 1 could not stop 1t.
A sudden glare blinded my eyes.
The Will-o'-the-Wisp had dropped
| into the path of the searchlight, and
| for an instant l looked down into the
heart of the dazzling radiance.
/ must have raised the planes again,
for we shot upward the searchlight
! swept by, and fed into the darkness,
helpless on the back of the throbbing
monster with a dead man for pas
| senger
| Then there came crack from some
where in the maze of wires that netted
and crossed behind me.
In the white glare as the searchlight
caught us again, Ashcroft's eyes looked
up at me in an unseeing manner.
I think it was the left wing that
gave way the Will-o'-the-Wisp rico
chetted from side TO side in drunken
fashion-collapsed In mid-air. and then
turned over and over and hurtled
| downward.
l don't know how managed it.
The shock of the water revived me a
bit was more dazed than hurt-and
there were one or two bits of wreckage
floating about after | managed to dive
and shed my heavy coat and get out
| from under all that was left of the
WiIl-o'-the-Wisp.
| I could see the searchlight playing
about on the water in search of us
and 1t finally got the machine. bat
kept out of its reach and padded
away.
A tug was going by rather slowly
and she almost ran me down in the
| darkness, but ! managed to get hold