Evening star., 1938-11-20

"coib liol lly IulAS ~ ldot ~ was
- ing better than hundred an hour and
when it landed in Hollweg she was supposed
to get married
The plane had taken off from Vrdna an
hour and half ago, had crossed the frontier
into let us say 1lystrla - and by special
permission was flying across the southern
talend of that country. 1t must not land in
1lystria. of course. Its passengers must not
even carry cameras to snap the mountain
scenery. If it landed, passengers and crew
must be arrested and searched and be charged
with being spies. Then they must remain in
Jail until their respective nations had fumed
and protested to the full satisfaction of the
ruling party.
That prospect was almost attractive to
Janice. now As soon as the plane had taken
off she had felt panic coming on. Marriage to
Chester was so sensible an arrangement that
she felt deep dstrust of it. She almost wished
that something would happen to cause land
ing, even in Ilystra: but the plane bored
serenely onward.
Out of the windows the mountainous land
scape of southern Ilystria spread out mag
niicently There were forests. looking like
rough green carpets Here and there were viii
lagos, and now and again highways, and once
or twice Janice had seen ancient strongholds
dating back to the days of the Tartars and
before.
Inside the ship. besides Janice there was
the pilot and man in frock coat with
brsting black beard. That was Rossi, though
Janice didn't find it out till later. There was
dingy man with so self-effacing an air that
anybody of experience in Central Europe
would have classed him as spy. And there
was Chester who was so correct that on his
way to be married he felt noble rather than
lucky and who was serenely confident that
Janice was fortunate girl to be marrying
him. The only flaw in his contentment was an
uneasy fear that Janice might not be entirely
worthy to be Mrs Chester Van Bleeck. She
had shown. once or twice. a certain lack of
appreciation of that status.
The Vrdna- Hollweg plane roared on. There
seemed nothing but the muCh-publiclzed
happy landing ahead. Janice would meet her
aunt and her aunt would go with Janice and
Chester to the American consulate, and there
they would be married. The air trip was to
give Janice aunt the pleasure of sentimental
tears.
Like all the rest of it. it now seemed less
than an enhancing prospect. But Janice was
in the act of telling herself feverishly that
everybody felt this way before they were
married. when the man with the glossy
whiskers got up from his seat.
He moved forward in the aisle until he
reached position just behind the dingy man
in the bowler hat From his pocket he drew
revolver With his left hand he suddenly
removed the bowler hat and on the instant hit
the uncovered head with the pistol butt.
Janice instinctively reached out to Chester.
Then she saw Chesters face. 1t was very
white He looked sick He moistened his lips
and stared blankly.
The man with glossy whiskers turned his
revolver swiftly upon Chester He bent over
and shouted in his ear. Chester did not stir.
The whiskered man went up to the pilot and
pressed his revolver muzzle against the pilots
skull He shouted. up there. The whole plane
quivered erratically. For space of seconds it
held Waveringly on its course, and then banked.
1t swung off its proper line, which was east,
1t headed almost due north. The whiskered
man - Rossi - glanced back at the dingy
man he had stunned and at Janice and
Chester. His eyes were entirely without
menace He surveyed the mountainous scenery
ha1our Suddenly he ct Jared int emily IaniCe