Evening star., 1925-01-21
CONTINUED from Yesterdays Starr

1t was New ear eve ana nlEht
OF bright moonlight that paled the
tropical galaxy of stars. The Ark of
the Covenant foated down the main
cavern on her own power. We had
fixed taut cables Crosswise over the
walls and roof of the cave, so that
sha would rub against no rock sur
fanA For a moment she hung steady
over che entrance basin, then I nod
ded TO the chief, who was by my
side. He gently pulled round the
ascent indicator as I belled for half
speed, and the ship rose smoothly by
the head as we gathered way.
We shot up at surprising speed,
and on the instant I knew Of GER
tainty that ! was In command of the
finest craft that ever sailed on sea
or in air. She was a living thing,
obedient, gentle, strong. We tested
her thoroughly against the wind and
with it, and her highest speed was
well over 800 kilomcters an hour.
Her balance was perfect
We closed all apertuTes and turned
on the compressed air, which was
also fed TO the engines, and we gave
her full gas. We rose at diZzying
speed. so that I began to have fears
for our balloonets. We touched a
height close on 5000 meters, and the
earth was lost to US. Higher We
went, and ii was certain that no
known machine could reach US. Yet
we found resistance enough tor the
propellers 10 cruise az good speed.
We knew that we were safe from all
pursuit when we chose
Wa came down again and tested
her for drift, for her turn. She drift
ed little, and with the help Of the
piyoted stern cabin she could come
about almost inside her own length.
The chief accepted the wonderful
performance of the ship with the
greatest calm, for I think he never
had a doubt Of her capacity. What
concerned him more was the work
ing of the various instruments he
had invented for our use. First of
these was The navigating globe.
This was nothing less than the
earth in miniature. For it's control
the chief had utilized not only the
magnetic rays of the earth, but also in
some extraordinary way the pull OF the
world as il revolVed on its axis. The
ball, which was the earth in replica,
thus was always poised in exactly
the same relation TO the ship a : the
earth itself. The globe swung on an
elaborate system Of gymbals, and its
core was taken up by series or
magnets. The whole of this compli-
closed in a gas-flled chamber, the top
Of which was pierced for lens,
through which the Illuminated por-
tion of the globe directly under was
thrown masnif1ed by a camera OBJ
scura on vertical ground glass
screen. The ground glass screen was
crossed by two hairlines, their inter-
section giving the position of the
ship over the earth, and the vertical
i. ID. 4NY.rs
nent, the chief bade me fix my own
course for some place recognizable,
making my own reckoning, and he
covered the gTound-glasS with
cloth.
l fixed on Caracas, and put the ship
in that direction at full speed. On
my mettle, I took no chances. I cal
culated drift and everything that
might throw us out of our course, and
when we arrived over the city and
pulled the cloth from the indicator
the crossed hairs stood clean on the
dot representing the place
1t was on a plain of the hills be
hind Caracas that l was first intro
duced 10 the. directive rays which
controlled the cloud of anesth etizing
gas, for here the chief had glass
bomb filled with the liquid gas and
dropped haphazard on the plain,
Below US the gas widened into a
luminous cloud. The chief was work
ing with a box affair which had sort
of lens arrangement on one side and
was connected TO the high tension
circuit. He and TbetfeFd manipu-
lated this box through a hatch in the
cabin floor. As l watched l saw the
cloud take shape and move across the
plain. now one way, now the other.
We were drifting on the wind with
stopped engines, but the cloud was
made to travel in advance of us or
across our path at the will Of the
chief AS | watched / saw the cloud
move toward a series of dots-cattle
of some sort--on the plain. 1t en-
veloped them, and, whatever they
were, horses or steers, they were all
lying on their sides when it had
passed.
at is enough" said the chief.
"Have you killed them, sir?" I
asked. And he looked at me very
mildly.
"why. what a question" he said.
~And from you. Seton! No, no, my
friend, they are only asleep"
As he spoke he moved the box back
and forward quickly, and below the
gas cloud was broken and began to
disperse.
THAT is well for one morning" the
chief said, rising Now, Seton, let
us be back at the plateau with the
dawn"
In the west the moon was low
down and darkness was spreading
over the land. Below us no light
CLEANED, nor often did we catch the
faint sheen of water save only when
we sped over the OrinoCo itself
Darkness for a. space but for the
light of the stars, and then came that
cold tinge of gray in the east.
Quickly faded the gray into pale
topaz and chrysoprase. until, as We
slanted down to the basin Of our cave
IL was lost in the glory Of the risen
sun. Our trial trip was over with
abundant success.
Two DAYS after our initial voyage
we almost lost the first Ark Of the
Covenant as a total wreck, and a little
later il seemed likely that both our
ships would be damaged beyond re
pair
The second ship still lay in her
stocks, waiting for any improvements
that might be suggested by the per-
fofmanCe of her sister ship, We had
taken out Ark of the Covenant | on
continued tests, and we had been
azzEsEz*z5F<ss4