The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-01-16
No sign Of the Zeppelin. No word
out of the air.

" 0A0AA O4 SAS
out of the air.
Old Man Trouble paid me a hasty,
hostile, unwelcome call. My tubes
were overheated. I had to extin-
guish a couple Of sudden fires which
threatened to lick into the grease
and spread to the gas, which was
running low. I was beginning 70
feel the physical and mental strain.
I had put the boulder district Tar
behind and was blazing through q
sun-blinding dawn over a measure
less waste Of sand. Miles OF flats
were broken by towering sanded
cliffs and intersperSed with deep,
forbidding canyons.
This was the lair Of ferocious Wild
beasts, the refuge of rowing bands
Of Mongolian brigands. I.
The racket Of my motor must
have penetrated through that
death-like stiffness to a very great
distance. Thus far no evidence OF
Life was visible.
Heres where the Flying Dragon
earns . well-dcserved but darned
untimely rest" / said, after another
examination Of my gas-tank, which
was alarminsly near the zero-point
on the board. And I swooped to
earth!
made = three-point landing on
what from above looked like q hard
surface, only to find my wheels
buried to the hubs when / crawIed
stiffly out to give the ship the once
over.
1T will take more than my own
power to get me out OF those ruts,"
I said to myself, In dismay.
:. With q pair OF green goggles to
break the piercing reflection Of the
sun and prevent sand blindness, I.
looked everywhere. A stiff ground
breeze swtrled sand about me and
the ship. I began to curse myself
for having come down. In q little
while those eddies would pack us In
and we would never get out!
And, another thing!
To my growing uneaSineSs q new
danger was added. The desert which
I had thought deserted had sprung
magically into life. Out Of q nearby
defile, with bloodcurdling screams
and wildly geSticulating rifles, Ral-
Hoped q motley band Of cutthroats.
They were mounted on heavily
packed mules and their numbers
were legion. All were in ragged
uniforms which did not match.
These were not ordinary desert
bandits I saw In a glance. They
were q far-flung wing of the Chi
nese rebel army at war with the
Republic. They had recognized nv
f1vin0 f~nrfroec oc an off;o;oY ,1.n.
OF the government. I was Their
/ did not lose q second. I leaped
inside. banged my doors shut and
studied them through peep-holes.
Bullets ratned against my steel
side.
I was heavily ammunitioned.
Swinging two revolving machine
guns into position, I sprinkled them
with lead. Their chieftain, a burly,
bearded giant, gave a sign and they
Skirmished into q h~alf-retreat and
held q conference.
And then I discovered that they
also carried machine guns on mules
and were supplied with exploding
bombs!
: They meant to blow me to pieces!
I kept a steady flow of bullets
pouring their way, realizing. how
ever, that I was bound for eternity
unless some trick of fate interviewed.
And that's what happened.
Across the skies, hanging low and
behaving oddly. appeared the Yep!
moved laboriously. It looked like
. huge lame canvas duck in dis
tress.
I was forgotten! Screening their
Internal war whoop. the Chinese
rebels 1eveled their machine guns
and rifles skyward and fired like