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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1929)
Jumping Meridians By LINTON WELLS and NEL3 LEROY JORGENSEN 22 If Jimmy wrecked the plane, he was to pay for it; if he broke his neck at the same time—all concerned shrugged their shoulders, waved their bands, and indicated that even that would not cause a break up of tlie soviet states. It <could be endured. ^ “Fair enough!” the Ameri can grinned. “Come on Mon- i •ieur le Commissar. I demand that you bid me au re voir 1” That official was more than willing. The dilapidated Ford carried thp entire party to the landing field—a circum stance which caused Jimmy *to comment aguin on the differ- i cncc accorded prisoners and persons of importance, lie was conscious of a deep surge of delight and satisfaction at light of the field, in his mind a vivid recollection of the last time he had seen it. He won dered whether the sentry who had captured him could see. Carefully he inspected the ■hip in which he was to make the wild flight. It was a Junker, and lie nodded approv ingly: he knew the type well and had a certain familiarity with it. Within half an hour, he and his pilot were ready to start. The propeller was turning over idly. Jimmy glanced over the field, a hint of doubt in his manner. Only one or two lights marked it; they were not sufficient for a take off. He glanced at the Ford’s headlights and had them switched on to their full pow er. These would have to suf fice and provide the horizon for his ascent. lie touched the throttle and apark, advancing and retard ing the motor to warm it. They would not land until dawn, he reflected, so landing lights would not he essential, once they managed to get off this dark field and into the sky. Frowning, he made ready; hut with all his confidence in him self, he felt none too certain. The most skillful of pilots would have hesitated on thut strange field in a strange ship. Jimmy’s face was set, even though he smiled as, leaning over, he tossed a hand in cheery adieu to the assistant commissar, and then taxied to a position at the farther end of the field. Overhead was darkness. The ground was enveloped in the blanket of night. A scant three stars glimmered feebly in the purple vault above him. Jle turned neatly, took a deep breath, and advanced throttle and spark together. No mat ter what lay ahead, he had to get. up. Presently he was roaring back down the field, a trail of sparks shooting out from un der his fuselage. His hands clung to the stick; the wheels of the ship touched and skimmed alternately. Then— j it came! A stone, carelessly tossed into the fairway, made the plane slip sidewise at an alarming angle. The landing * gear having struck it, it bounded into the air. The re serve pilot gtftped, white faced, as he leaned over the cowling, his hands reaching out nervously for the wheel, j But Jimmy, scarce!)' glancing at him, brushed him aside. It was a desperate moment. At any second, now, the plane might tip forward on its nose, which would mean a ground smash and—death. Jimmy, his hands gripping the ;stiek tenaciously—the only •sign that he understood the i ■dread possibility confronting him—drew it sharply toward liis stomach. The ship reacted j immediately; its nose pointed upward. In the next second, however, j he was rewarded by the sound of a tearing crash and a thud against the tail. But he was clear of the ground. With every second he was gaining altitude. The final awful moment was passed. But he knew', even as he sought his height, that his safety had cost him the loss of his tail skid; that tearing grind had meant nothing less than that. Tomorrow morning, landing would be a precarious job. For the moment, however, he told himself, he was safe—free of Viatka; after all the dangers of the night, he was once more in the air, with the chance still before him of reaching Mos cow, 600 miles distant—in time to catch the ship for Konigs berg. The morning could take care of itself. Jimmy circled once; and then, using the lights of the Ford on the field helow as his point of departure, set his course due west. The pilot, who had been staring at him as though he had taken flight with a madman, let a slow, un derstanding smile creep over his swarthy features; and then, with a sigh that was con tented as the circumstances would allow, he dropped back in his seat and let his eyes close. Meanwhile, Jimmy Brandon was so completely at home in the pilot’s seat that driving became an automatic tiling, and he let his mind rnn back over the hours just passed. Back—and forward, too, to ward those to come. After all, lie was still in the race; after even he had resigned himself before what had appeared to be the inevitable. It was a zestful thought; no matter what happened now, he knew he must win. Someone had helped him. Chuck Harvey’s message from Moscow had got to Viatka be fore the train connecting with the Konigaberg plane was due in the former city. In other words, no news of Jimmy’s plight could have got to his friends through train guards or any of the passengers who had waited for arrival. Some one had wired ahead—someone had known enough to wire to Harvey. If he could only meet her! thought Jimmy—that mysteri ous, elusive creature in black silk—his lady of narcisse noir! He doubted not for a single in stant that it was she who had come to his aid again. Had he thought of the possibilities, he might have guessed that she would do tliis. She knew him, then—but she must know him, else how could she have done so much already for his sake? Once the wiry, irresponsible Harvey had got the message, Jimmy could visualize what had happened. Harvey, of course, knew of bis trip; it had been broadcast into every newspaper office in the world by this time. Hut Harvey couldn’t have known, until it was morning and too late, that his friend was not on the train bearing toward Moscow over the ground below, even as the hig Junker tore ahead through the clouds. The young corre spondent had gone at otiee to influential friends, and from them, armed with papers of all sorts, to the Narkomindel—the Russian foreign office. Jimmy could imagine, realizing it all now at leisure, what the tele grams on the assistant com missar’s desk must have con tained, lie smiled. An instant later, the smile died on his lips as he thought of the reason for his predicament. Rogers! He no longer doubted it. It re mained, of course, to be proved —a duty that he promised himself to attend to. It was early dawn when the relief pilot tapped him on the arm and pointed toward thi ( west. Nosing the plane down slightly, the American saw' in the distance, through a rift in the rose and blue mists of early dawn, the ancient spires and roofs of Moscow limned by the first golden lights of the sun. Ills heart gave a little leap of excitement. Moscow! Af ter Moscow came a civilization with which he was more than familiar—the last leg of this wearing journey. Despite the tensity of his chilled muscles, he felt freed in an instant from the nervous strain of the past five hours of flight through Stygian darkness over the un mapped plains of Russia. There had been times, once the long charge through space was under way, when neither he nor his companion had been able to distinguish even a ground light. Only the finely developed sense of balance in the two men had enabled them to keep the ship on an even keel. They had relieved each other at the stick at intervals, without conversation. Jimmy woidd give the control a shake and his companion, sitting be side him, would grip the wheel while he relaxed. 1 lie night had been bitterly cold; Jimmy knew that the trip would remain in his mind for a long time. While off duty, lie had spent his time massaging aching, tightened muscles and attempting to de termine how nearly the plane was following the right course. Only an occasional star gleamed through the black ness—a star that made the im penetrable dark all the more real and palpable. The broken tail-skid had been forgotten. That was a thing for the morning to take care of. Should he crack up the ship on making the landing at Moscow, Jimmy knew that every dollar he possessed would have to go to repair it. lie gave little thought to his own danger; if he made his land ing safely, lie would he in time to catch the Konigsberg plane—for the present, that was all that mattered. Barring a rail accident, of course, Rogers would also catch the plane. That would put them neck and neck again. Three weeks, exactly 21 days, it had been since he and his arrival had shaken hands on the steps of their club on Fifth avenue. Jimmy somehow felt ages older; New York, in spite of the fact that he was nearing it, was worlds away, lie was, strangely, in some new existence, in which even Fran ces had no real place. There was only himself—and the girl of the narcisse noir, who was part of this mad adventure. iinoiner Aveea—oniy eigni days at most, and the race would be over. Either he or Rogers would be standing on the same brownstone steps, and around the corner would be the broAvnstone steps of Frances Lassiter’s home, Avhere the final crown of victory, which was to have meant more than fame and international renown, Avould be bestowed. Jimmy remembered looking forward to that moment, to the hurried dash around the corner that faced the park. Somehow, the thought lacked its accustomed thrill, lie even mentioned the name of Frances aloud, in a little Avhisper, as he had been Avont to do of old. Yet bis pulses failed to re spond. Had he tired? he wondered. Or was he umvorthy? Or Avas it only that the delicate odor of black naricssus arose in Cireean fumes to confuse his thoughts ? He shook his head Avith an abrupt gesture. There was I work to be done. The sun \ came full over his shoulder, leapt free of the horizon, and Jimmy turned Avith a gasp at the beauty of the scene. Clouds sped by on a level with his keel, crimson and orange-tint ed; below, the plains of Rus sia had taken on a misty, fairv like web that made rainbows of the first rays. Slowly he turned hlsr eyes | back. Moscow spread out be fore him, a vivid changing tapestry of the east, set like an ancient jewel in the Occi dent. He picked out the old towers and spires of the Krem lin, somnolent now with sleep and early dawn, wreathed in the gentle strands of mist stili wavering between him and the earth; and upon sight of the broad lauding field, he veered slightly to the left. A few more minutes— There was only one hope for a safe landing. Jimmy sur veyed the field from aloft for a full five minutes, his engine roaring over the tiny shacks at its edge, until he was cer tain that he had been seen Then he pointed the nose of his ship into the wind, while tha Russian pilot stared and held his breath. I he Junker commenced to settle in a long, graceful glide, its propeller barely revolving. Jimmy noticed with relief that one or two men had run out on the field. If they did not see his predicament, he was lost. At last, judging distance and balance with hairbreadth pre cision, his eyes narrowed to slits and his hands gripped to the wheel like steel bracelets, he placed the wheels of his un dercarriage on the ground as gently as a bird lands. The pilot beside him gave an involuntary gasp of admira tion. Silently, Jimmy rolled across the field, his features set. Ilis companion was sit ting forward intently. Then the field mechanics, catching sight of the damaged tail-skid, ran forward. The great bird teetered backward and for ward precariously; Jimmy fought to keep the tail clear of the ground. One of the mechanics grabbed a wing. Another caught hold of the tail and ran along be side it. A third came up. Jim my, with a sigh of relief, cut his switch and the giant ship stood still, unharmed. For a moment there was utter silence while the American and Rus sian stared at each other; then, slowly, a grin broke on their faces. The Russian put out his hand. As he took it, a yell was car ried across the field on the early morning breeze, and Jim my heard his name in the first English voice he remembered for some time. “Jimmy—Brandon !M He turned cheerily. “Chuck Harvey! Come here, you cub!” CHAPTER XX Uii-spattercu, r ea - e y e a, haggard from want of sleep * and the strain of the long night, Jimmy clambered from the cockpit of the Junker to greet the man who had re lieved him as news correspon dent in Moscow. Chuck Har vey might have been a younger replica of himself—cocksure, in a prepossessing, pleasant way, swaggering as IVArtag nan might have swaggered, and smiling a winning, white toothed smile which took away all lthe sling of his utter self confidence and implanted a new confidence in the same breath. “I might have known you’d do it!” was his greeting. “Af ter I’d got off the telegrams— and they were hot ones, by the way!—I started figuring out your position. Knew you had to make that Konigsberg plane, and l know there was just one way you could do it— so l figured you’d take the one way if you had to break up the whole union of soviet states.” “I very nearly did,” Jimmy returned. “It was your tele grams, though, that made this possible. They scared the as sistant commissar so complete ly that all I had to do was make plans.” (TO BE CONTINUED) --- - Chicago.—Baby Paul Boehme l “as normal and healthy as the av erage child" but his heart and liver are on the right side of his body. “It’s a case of dextra cardia,” says Dr P. L. Hussey, who made the dis covery, “due to an embryonic ab normality, but it does not affect him physically in any way.” The Master Farmer. L. G. Yochum. master farmer of Saunders county, is not without eomo little reputation outside the limit of his own locality. He served in the legislature once, a state cornhusking contest was held on h!s farm at another tuna and now he has been honored as one whose career in agriculture is worthy oi spec al mention. But it Is doubt fir’ if he wi 11 ever be widely known a he deserves to be. We are not so sure but that th story of Mr. Yochum's life woui furnish more practical inspiratio to the little boys in the wliit ■Minted school houses which do Nebraska plains than stories of such men as Washington, Lincoln and other national heroes. These boys have a slim chance of ever be coming Washingtons of Lincolns but they have every chance in the world of becoming L G. Yochums which means that they can become successful farmers and public spir ited and admirable citizens at the same time. The story of this master farmer s the story we so often like to re peat of the poor boy who achieved, i not riches, at least a comfortable smpetence. And iie did it by the :ood old copy book method of :hrift and diligence. As a bov ho turuad his face tier' his Ohio home toward the west. He worked as a farm hand for a year in Illinois and invested his earn ings in a ticket to Nebraska. He saved $250 out of his wages as a farm laborer for the next two years. With this capital he undertook to farm for himself as a renter. It took hint 28 years to achieve his ambition to farm his own land and, when he did it, it was to subdue a faun grown up, as he describes it, with sunflowers and cockleburs. In the 16 years he has farmed that land he has bought it to a state of cultivation which makes it one of the show farms of the state. This Is a simple story. On the curfaca li secuns to lack *r>riii acrl romance. But dig into the details of it under the surface and you will find it packed with these qualities Introduce the drouth and hall, the untimely rains at harvest time insect nests, credit difficulties, poor markets, inflation, deflation, and there begins to unfold to you not just a tale of plodding labor but something which is in the old myths of the heroes who went out to slay dragons. --»».—■ - In Australia there are at least 20 species of animals that are avi ators—flying squirrels, flying opos sums, flying mice and even flying h*«ar* Some Marriage Dream* That Don’t Come True During the present season 23,000 prospective chorus girls applied for employment with New York city’s the atrical producers. Most of them came from small towns and cities from all over the country. About 5,000 found Jobs with "shows," good, bad and In different. What became of the other 20,000 It would be difficult to say. The average professional life of chorus girls Is three short years and they may expect many weeks of idleness In this period. There always Is an over abundant supply of new ones to select from every fall. Perhaps 130 attain to speaking parts In plays In one sea son. The rest are rarely heard of again. Most stage-struck girls dream of brilliant marriages to men of wealth but that Is an Illusive dream. O. O. McIntyre, New York theatrical critic, says not more than ten chorus girls have married millionaires in the last ten years and most of these matches have ended in divorce. Every department of housekeeping needs T.ed Cross Ball Blue. Equally good for kitchen towels, table linen, sheets and pillowcases, etc.—Adv. Huh! Brown—Does your daughter read much? Black—Well, from the kind of mag azines and books I see her bring home I should say not much. 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