Evening star., 1925-01-09
The Ark of the Covenant
Story of Mystery and Adventure
BY VICTOR MCCLURE.
BY Ha.r 4 Rrethsr
Continued from Yesterdays StarN
ID I ICI Oh HdCC Do HE.
Copyright, 1924, By Harper 4 Brothers.

/ Continued from Yesterdays Starr
! My boatman was a Travelled man
| and a linguist, and I was able to
| make him understand what I wanted
He conducted me up the quay. and
! led the way TO a gasoline store sure
! enough, but Ii was somewhere round
| half past in the morning. and there
/ was nobody about. The place was shut
| l was standing grumbling at the
| luck, when suddenly my dago let out
. yell. and began pointing right above
| him into the sky.
! See, senor" he cried Look, look
| Tho airsheep."
A thrill ran up my spine, for there
high above the town--like a tiny
| spear blade Of silver in the growing
| light of the morning. fioated the Ark
| of the Covenant! l was sure of her
There were no two ships of the sam
design in the world-unless they be-
longed to the raiders.
II was CALLING, I need hardly say.
| There lay the Merlin in the roadway
with a parted gasoline pipe, crippled
to certain extent. and with her
tanks more than half empty. And
high above her the quarry sped,
serene and beautiful, heading straight
across the Andes
Mad as ! was. ] had the sense TO
take an accurate bearing OF the air
ships course, then | flung myself
into a useless activity. l yelled at
my dago, and at the others who were
gathering around. I threw money at
them, and made them hustle to find
the man who ran the gasoline sta
tion. AS good luck would have it, he
turned out to be Scotsman, but 1t
was 45 minutes before he made his
appearance, for he lived outside the
town. When ne did come. he came
running. and he was still putting on
his clothes as he came.
In as few words as possible, | ex
planned the situation to him.
bid n Wee" he said. unfiustered.
Lets think. l could give ye petrol
frae tins in the store, but ye'd have
to manhandle it to your plane-and
that'd take time. No. by jingo! I
have a tanker lying at the quayside
bung fu' o the juice. Gould ye
maneuver your boatie alongside? Wen
soon have your tanks fu' il ye
can"
Give me a Scotsman any day for
sense, / hustled McQuharrie into
the boat and we pulled out to the
Merlin. NIilliken had the breakage
fixed, and we TAXED the bus along
side the tanker. In ne time, Nc
Quharrie had a pipe and pump fixed
between the tanker and the plane,
and in little the Merlin's tanks
were brimmiue.
How much is that, Mr.. Mcouhar-
rie?" | asked.
Damned If 1 Know didna meas
ure," he replied. Don't bother wit.
Oft you go, man! I'll send ye a
bill"
But you don't know anything
about me-
Don't 1? Trust me for that. Off
wi ye"
SO he yelled at US from the side of
his tanker, dancing with excitement
the. while. We sheered off while he
waved at US, and we TAXED down the
roadway preparatory to taking off
for our climb over the town.
Milliken and Dan had both seen the
airship, and they confirmed my idea
of her direction. Soon we had left
Guayaquil behind and were climbing.
climbing for our fight over the
Andes. The verdure Of the coastal
strip passed beneath us, and we rose
over still and rugged barrenness.
Up, up we flew, nor did we fiatten to
level fight until over 5000 meters
was showing.
Banks of clouds lay far below US.
To either side and in front of us
stretched the mountains, their peaks
glowing jeweuike in this sun
crimson. saffron, gold-their hollows
and deep canyon, cobalt. purple. indi-
go. Range on range they stretched,
scaur and hump and tooth, cleft and
riven, nodded and hewn. And every
where, an awful stiffness, such still
ness that the steady song of the sea-
plane seemed sacrilege. Below us no
bird flcated, about US no wind stirred,
except for the wind of our own speed
through the bitter air.
All apeftures of the cabin were
closed, we had the heaters on, and
we were breathing oxygen, while
compressed air was being fed TO the
induction of the cylinders. The speed
dial stood at well over 500 kilometers