The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1919-05-10

linen Ashcroft pushed swiftly by me
anu followed him into the light.
we terrorized them for a moment
10 tell the truth. we were a strange
sight. in our long rubber cloaks, and
vlzor caps and the masks across our
faces.
The butler near the door must have
made some movement, for Ashcroft's
revolver barked sharply and the fell
low coughed and clawed and crumpled
across little table full Of empty
| dishes.
My lord rose slowly to his feet and
his fiOrid face worked in fury. He
was no coward. II 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. II
was unfortunate that we had to Kill
| the butler No doubt the sharp report
had reused the curiosity OF some IN
quisitive citizens, and it was only
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 anG the rest
SUNK back. And then while I covered
them, he went swiftly to Mrs. Calen-
| a ~ n
up for a moment in the light in a sort
Of glOating satisfaction, end then
slipped 1t into his pocket.
1 swept the studs into the palm OF
my hand
There were six Of them, large and
blue-white, and they clinked together
unsteady as I 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-stunbled
across the black darkness of the roofs
l do not remember.
| recollect Ashcroft working with
sobbing curses at the propellers, the
sudden roar of the Gnome as she spun
| in shrieking circle, we rolled for
ward. shot over the edge, dipped with
a sickening sensation to what seemed
| certain estructiOn-caught the wind
on our forward planes and mounted
steadily
For d moment there was splendid
sensation in it all, sense of power
and disdain for the impOtent little
things that ran and shouted in the
streets a thousand feet below us and
turned up white faces in the yellow
lights. gesticulating comically.
think they shot at US.
When we had got up 1000 feet we
turned little and could just make
out the dark outline of Staten Island
in the bay below.
Then the WiIl-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 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 l lost control.
Two thousand feet in the air I lost
control Of the aeroplane. Another de-
scent and another upward lurch as
recovered. We were rocking furiously
now
I dared to glance down. What l
saw was that Ashcroft had fallen so
that the engine connection was be-
yond my reach. could not stop 1t.
A sudden glare blinded my eyes.
The Willie -the-Wisp had dropped
into the path of the searchlight, and
for an instant I 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 q 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.
1 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.
don't know how managed It.
The shock Of the water revived me
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
Will-o'-theW isp.
could see the searchlight playing
about on the water in search of us
and it finally got the machine, but
kept out of it's reach and padded
away.
A tug was going by rather slowly