Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1926-12-10
HOW HE
LANDED A
SCOOP"
By VICTOR REDcLIFFE

* NO thOToughfare.T
- ITO the east7"
The country ablaze and
four battalions lining the frontier"
Adrian North made a gesture Of de-
spair Then he said to himself:
"And In twenty-four hours my news
may be stale 70
Great news, he considered, COM
prised the information in his posses
sion-details of the recent movement
Of the German forces, of a battle
sternly censored and the future plans
Of the advancing phalanx.
To get this to the nearest French
point and thence to his chief in Lon
don for American transmission, was
the one palpitating impulse Of his life
at the present moment. 1t meant a
decided SCOOP" 1t meant the appro-
baton Of Bruce Marshall, the chief Of
the press correspondents corps In
London-and LOra, his fayorite daugh-
ter, and equally a favorite with
Adrian, was with her father.
Adrian left the consulate at q loss
how to proceed. The orders of the
invading army were strict To at
tempt to break through the lines
would probably cost him his life. He
finally shrugged his shoulders re-
signedly.
Il suppose l ought to be thankful
that l have not been shut up as
spy like a good many other ALIENS"
he reflected. my precious scoop is
wasted material, It seems. What is II,
my manf"
Adrian interrupted himself to I'D
dress a diminutive, shrewq-faced tel-
low, who skunk rather than giided
alongside Of him.
You wish to leave the cityr OBJ
served the stranger, ipGndetngly.
who says sol" challenged Adrian.
with suspicion.
II overheard your inquiries at the
consulate"
"OhF
And 1t is in my power to assist
you"
I'm what wey1"
'If you wish to leave the country,
and have nerve"
what kind Of nerveT" Intercepted
Adrian.
"A kind that is not afraid of stray
shots. or flight 10 % rshlp a HoT.
sand feet up In the aIT
you interest me" Sd Adrian, sip-
ply, "and a spicS II dAhgek Won't
daunt me-"
Very good" observed the man. ut
will cost you one hundred doiiaH."
THAT is cheap enough" spoke Ad-
rian, readily.
Come with me, then. / have q
relative who is-well Emugglsr. He
makes trip over tie Eep5 border
tonight. He can make tpoM for one
Let me be that ohep Bald Adrian,
laconically.
Follow me-"
Half an hour later Adrian North
stood with bis guide N RA Sarden Of
a deserted chateau. Near BY the friend
of his companion was Getting ready a
miniature Zeppelin. It was Of the
dlrlglble type, but the aerilQns, wings
and control mechanism we're those 81
Il monoplane. When the operator bad
finished the imitation Of the gas bag
be carried out dozen or more rough
canvas sacks and loaded them into
the airplane.
There were two seats, and having
received the 500 from Adrian the CD.
orator motioned him to the one behind
him.
Il make no guarantee as to time OF
location" he spoke sententiously. %
am to land you anywhere on French
territory"
Yes, that is the bargain" assentet
Adrian.
Il have my own business to attend
to as take you along" continued thu
aviator. CLOSE your eyes II Its de
tails disturb YOU"
The dirigible was shortly afiOat. L
was a model of beauty and efficiency
and Its operator seemed to understand
his business thoroughly. Then, wal
aloft, Adrian noticed something thai
convinced him that things were MOI
what they seemed. His companion
might have once been smuggler Il
he was one now, he was certainly Oh
rapport with the army encamped di
rectly beneath them. Every once II
while he touched an electric buttoI
with his foot. Immediately Their,
would shoot out from the tail of tn,
airplane some quick, snappy fiashe
OF deep yellow light. There was littl,
doubt, to Adrian's way OF thinking
that he was showing his colors t
watchers among the army, for tn,
flashes had the system and continuit,
OF code.
It was II moonless night. As tn,
machine got beyond the soldier guard
ed district, no more signals wer,
shown 1t sailed forward swiftly ant
nolselessly. Once, In Il cloud Of mist
they caught the whirring sound of tn,
propeller Of some other airshlp neal
TO them, but passed on their way un
challenged and apparently unseen.
Once, too, of II sudden, as they wer,
taking lower level to skim a vale,
between two lofty ranges, there sud
denly blazed out from below fusil
lade from some thicket. No missiles
reached the dlrigiblc however, and il
operator put on speed with derislv,
laugh.
Adrian experienced some curiosit,
as to the sacks that Uttered the bot
tom OF the balloon.
You seem to have quite lOaC
Asre," he observed