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.
Large, Generous Sample Old
Time Remedy Sent Free to
Every Reader of This Article
More than forty years ago, good
old Pastor Koenig began the man
ufacture of Pastor Koenig’s Ner
vine, a remedy recommended for
the relief of nervousness, epilepsy,
sleeplessness and kindred aliments.
The remedy was made after the
formula of old German doctors.
The sales soon Increased, and an
other factory was added. Today there
are Koenig factories In the old
world and Pastor Koenig’s Nervine
Is sold in every land and clime.
Try it and be convinced. It will
only cost you a postal to write for
the large, generous sample.
Address: Koenig Medicine Co.,
104." No. Wells St., Chicago, Illinois.
Kindly mention your local paper.
To Reclaim Peat Lands
Plans for the reclamation of vast
peat lands In Scotland are being dis
cussed. It is asserted that If the task
is undertaken it will mean great pros
perity for the country. Efforts along
tlds line have been made before with
great financial loss to the promoters,
but those back of the present scheme
declare they will carry it through to
success.
They’re Peaches
Constantine (to clerk in store)—1
Want a peck of apples.
Clerk—Do you want Baldwins?
Constantine—Sure. Did you tiiink I
Wanted some with itair on?
Very Evident
“That coat, sir, tits you like a
glove.”
“So I can see! The sleeves com
pletely cover my hands.”
It May 8e
Urgent
When your^
Children Cry
for It
Castorla Is a comfort when Baby la
fretful. No sooner taken than the little
one Js at ease. If restless, a few drops
soon bring contentment. No harm done,
for Castorla is a baby remedy, meant
for babies. Perfectly safe to give the
voungest infant; you have the doctors’
word for that 1 It is a vegetable pro
duct and you could use it every day.
But it’s in an emergency that Castorla
means most. Some night when consti
pation must he relieved—or colic pains
—or other suffering. Never be without
It; some mothers keep an extra bottle,
unopened, to make sure there will al
ways be Castorla in the house. It is
effective for older children, too; read
the book that comes with It,
No Choice
Ganna—Mou are fools to marry.
Walska—Yes, but what else Is there
for women to marry?—Pathfinder.
The Reflections of a Young
Married Woman mm
are not pleasant if
she is delicate, run
down, or over- J
worked. She feels M
“played - out." Her
b m i 1 e s and good
spirits have taken >
flight. It worries her
husband as well as
herself.
One woman *am:— I was In poor health for
several years after I was married and not until
I was advised to try Ur. Pierce's Favorite Pro
scription did X notice any improvement. A
very small amount of this remedy save me
wonderful benefit, I became well and stranger
than 1 ever had been. A year or so later came
a baby boy—my only child. Now I am well
and happy, so of course I always recommend
Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription.”—Mrs Meda
Crank, 615 W. Pearl St., Savannah, Mo.
At your neighborhood store. Extra
large bottles, liquid $1.35; Tablets
$1.35 and 65 cents.
Write Dr. Pierce’s, Buffalo, N. Y., if
you desire free medical advice.
Don't tender advice until you find
out what kind is wanted.
For Colds -
/***
How many people you know end their colds with Bayer Aspirin!
And how often you’ve heard of its prompt relief of sore throat or
tonsilitis. No wonder millions take it for colds, neuralgia,
rheumatism; and the aches and pains that go with them. The won
der is that anyone still worries through a winter without these
tablets! They relieve quickly, yet have no effect whatever on the
heart. Friends have told you Bayer Aspirin is marvelous; doctors
have declared it harmless. Every druggist lias it, with proven direc
tions. Why not put it to the test ?
The Perfumed Touch that
makes your toilet complete
Cutieiira f
Tsilci35i3 Powder
The finishing touch to the daintiest
toilet. Cooling, refreshing, and de- /
lightful'y perfumed and medicated, it /
imparts t > the person a delicate and I
distinftive fragrance and leaves the /
skin sweet and wholesome.
Sold every? here. Talcum 21c. Soap 25c. |
Ointment 25c. Sample each free. Address: I
"Cuticura,” Dept. B6, Malden, Mast. 1