Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-15

Yessir, calling me a sissy in sign language"
TSARNED strange" I said when had
stopped laughing. We'll he must be
a nut. But where'd he dig up the plane?
Where'd he learn to fly it? And what's his
number SO we can report him for endangering
commercial ships?"
"He didn't have any number" said Mulhall.
"And, anyway, 1 wouldn't exactly say he'd
endangered us"
You Wouldn't" I snorted. why, you just
said he missed you by hair
Missed us-yes that's exactly the point,
Tom He missed us by so mighty little and yet
he missed us so mighty pretty, that it really
didn't seem dangerous a bit. To see him
percned out there with the wind Tapping his
pants and bullying up the fabric of his old
boroGche. you just knew that anything he did
would be O. x It's hard to explain, but well,
it felt safer to have him miss you by an inch
than to have some of these birds fly past you
in the next county"
SON. I said, Il know you're crazy, but
know what you mean"
which brings right back TO where we
started" said Mulhall. DO you believe in
ghosts?"
mo" I answered But if you see any more
of this one, whoever he is study his stuff and
you'll learn something about flying. They don't
make aviators like that nowadays
1 pondered the incident lot during the next
understand why The old three-wheeled pusher
had vanished from the earth before the war.
Even the Jenny, which is most peoples idea
of an early ship, was as yet undreamed OF when
the pusher held its sway. That anybody should
be flying such curio was incredible. That he
should be flying it over the barren wastes of
the Rocky Mountain foothills was more incred-
ible still And that he should be flying it in
the manner described by Mulhan was simply
beyond words.
1 hoped that I might hear again of this
dviug atavism or whatever it might be called.
But the Summer passed without further report.
Then came the evening when Mulhal1, west
bound with four passengers and the mali, van
isned in a snowstorm He had been sighted
near Arapahce Lodge, but after that we had no
trace He was somewhere in the mountains
of course, but even giant tri-motor IN
mountain range is comparatively as small as a
needle in a haystack We had II planes out
searching next day. At noon I phoned the
operations superintendent for permission to
leave the airport and started east with me-
ctanic at 2 O'Clock. I few somewhat north OF
the regular route, and therefore considerably
north of the territory which the other reheI
planes were covering. They were working on
the theory that the wind which had been
blowing during yesterdays blizzard had carried
Mulhan south of his course, whereas 1t seemed
more probable to me that if one or more OF
his motors had been failing, he would have
over allowed for drift and flown even more
northerly than under normal conditions. AT
any rate the presumption was worth acting
upon
DY quarter past I had crossed to the
eastern foothills without having
thing. It was getting dark so headed for
place called Hollinger's-probaby, from the
way it was marked the map, an obscure
hamlet
Hollinger's turned out to be ranch, and
big one with a spur track leading to 1t from
the main line of the railroad, 9 miles away
AS circled above it, sizing up the terrain, l
saw a great rambling house, with corrals, sios
stables and dipping watts behind it. And sud-
denly, dropping from pole, ] spotted a WIND
stocking such is used 10 indicate the land
ing direction.
''Hollinger'sl" I exclaimed, as I throttled the
motor and headed down. "Honger'sl OF
counsel Wild Ed Hollinger. Eighty-Horse
Houingerl The Original Flying Yahool Why
didn't guess it before?"
In a Mineola sunset almost 20 years ago
group of us were sitting on the grass, slappng
gnats and watching Capt. Baldwin trying to
persuade his new red biplane to fly complete
circle Cap wasn't having much luck. The
highest he could get was rs feet and as soon
as he'd put the rudder over TO coax the old
crate around the drag would start it to set
Ting and he'd have to land. Then he'd taxi
down to the end of the field and try again. 1t
most discouraging.
We were busy watching Cap that none
Of us paid much attention to raw .boned citizen
who had sprawled himself beside us. This
person had a straw suit case, wide black
felt hat, and a weathered, Western look about
him. When I became aware of his presence
he was considering Caps twelfth unsuccessful
afiaunnt with a diSdainfll