Virginia
of the
Air Lanes
A ROMANCE OF
FLYING
By
Herbert Quick
Copyright. 1909. y tli Bobbi
Merrill Company
CHAPTER XVII.
A BATTLE FOR THE AIR.
w
HAT Is the business. Mr.
Craighead, of the Univer
sal Nitrates and Air Prod
ucts company?"
Mr. Craighead, looting down Into
Broadway from the window of his of
fice, turned to the group of reporters.
"Gentlemen." said he, "you are crass
Roman soldiery. I am Archimedes
making calculations, and Instead of
allowing him to equate bis equations
you javelin him with questions. Tell
the journalistic Marcelli who sent you
that Ark won't be disturbed!"
"But about the Universal Nitrates
and Air Products company." said a fat
man with perpetually poised pencil.
"and its connection with the aeronef
company?"
"Merely fortuitous." replied Craig
head. ' "The aerouef company Is an
ephemeral agency for profit and I
scorn It!" '
"But you are a director?"
"Oh. yes! Oh. yes!" replied Craig
head. "But the greater things had not
occurred to me when I went into it I
was 111. I was under a claim. I was
chemicalizing In that reaction which
results in the product known as tung
state of alcoholism or magalo-conver
satlon. A natural monopolist General
Theodo' Cahsou, M. A., took advantage
of my weakness and got me Into It.
Honor rooted In dishonor stands, and
faith unfaithful keeps me falsely true,
and I stay with him in his fight with
Aerostatic Power. Then I shall give
my whole attention to the Universal
Nitrates and Air Products company.
which is to the Carson-Craighead aero
nef as the rings of Saturn to those of
a faro bank. And, to originate a
phrase, that's going some!"
"You're really good, Mr. Craighead,"
said a girl reporter, "and If the
tungstate of your alcoholic days was
worse than this you ought to have
taken something for It"
"I tried to." confessed Craighead,
"but Dr. WItherspoon expelled me!"
"But here's the situation as we get
It If we're wrong, we'll stay wrong
unless you set us right"
"'Oh, cursed spite!'" recited Craig
head.
"No more tungstate. If you please,'
sold the young woman. "The Air
Products company was a wildcat look
ing West Virginia formation to" ber
she read from a clipping" to extract
free nitrogen from the air by the
Craighead method or otherwise, for
the purpose of obtaining fertilizers to
thereby increase the capacity of the
earth for supporting population' "
"Is that" cried he frantically, "in
our articles? Then all is lost! Let me
take It!".
With shaking hand Craighead took
down the telephone and asked for Mr
Fllley.
"This you. Fllley r he queried.
"Here's something that ruins us. A
split infinitive in the articles. Won't
hurt anything? Won't huve to be done
over? And we call ourselves civilized!"
Cralgheiid handed the paper back.
"You huve shocked me," Raid he.
"But never mind. dearie! I know not
whether to rejoice for the Air Product
company or weep foi Institution that
allow such h solecism to he legul as 'to
thereby increase.' "
"Well." said the reporter. "It goes
on to suy 'Htid for securing all rights
In the atmosphere necessary for Its
complete reduction to possession for
the production of nitrates, ozones and
all other atmospheric derivatives and
for the securing of exclusive rights In
the air over lands for all purposes
whatsoever.' Now, that." sutd she,
" 'for all purposes whatsoever,' Isn't
thnt"prettybroad?
"A broad Intellect composed It."
"These rights happen -merely hap
pento gridiron every state In squares
marked by grants and leases to the
Air Products company?"
"My child." said Craighead, "do you
understand the Craighead method of
extracting nitrates from the atmos
phere by spontaneous discharges of
statical electricity from electrodes sus
pended over the earth's surface?"
"No." she said. "Do you?"
"It Is one of my specialties," snld he
"If I might hnve you all to myself for
an evening 1 would explain, but for the
nonce by by!"
Mr. Craighead took much pleasure
In bis position as press representative
of the Carson-Craighead Aeronef com
pany. The Virginia, her builder and
the contest with Aerostatic Power
were matters on which the greot dal
lies had men at work nlgbt and day.
This visit to the neighborhood of
Shayne's Hold was a tantalizing mys
tery. The mouutaln Inn where tte
Virginia had been laid up for repairs
had been visited bv reporters and the
luipobsiljlllty of burlucu communlea
tluu Lul'.vivii It uud Shay lie's Hold
pointed 0111. Tin.' mysterious Craig
head ha 1 leased for the Aeronef cor
nontlon the vacant aerodrome ou the
roof of this very building, gone "back
to the Inn. whence the Virginia had
sailed to their leased rt nitlilu Hi)
hour, and not by Shayne's Hold, after
which Craighead was the news center
from which eumuated the most as
tounding niedley of scientific, psycho
logic, mystical and mystifying news
ever heard.
Then Home one discovered that on
the day the Carsou-Cralghe-id company
hud been formed the Universal Ni
trates and Air Products company was
born, with directors and stockholders
identical with those of the Aeronef
company, and that they had spent a
great campaign fund in getting leases
and grants for the extraction from the
atmosphere of nitrates and the like lu
lines like those of Scotch plaid all over
the contluenu The air over almost
every highway had beeti granted away
by the owners of the fee-the very
streets of New York being covered
so far ns to cut the city Into nearly a
hundred Irregular blocks. The other
great cities were similarly grldlroned.
The space over the smaller rivers and
streams was mostly sold to the Air
Products company. The mystery In
this so stimulated curiosity that It
caused more excitement than the Vir
ginia herself, for these seemingly
worthless rights over farms, streams,
roads and streets were like a huge
spider's web spun as a net over the
world Europe and Asia as well as
America. Some one with great re
sources was up to something big.
Something was to be caught In the
net but what?
Craighead and Carson dined with
Mr. Fllley, Mr. Waddy's personal rep
resentative, a little man with a great,
scantily thatched bead and no body
who ate lobster and green turtle soup
and drank port and grew paler every
day.
"When shall we know?" asked Theo
dore. Soon." replied Fllley. "We'll cover
the whole country with Injunctions
this afternoon and get a hearing here
in a few days. In a very few weeks
we shall win the greatest legal tri
umph of recent times or suuffed out!"
That night began the series of sen
sations that made so memorable the
war for the use of the air. In the
courts of every federal district and the
state courts of West Virginia Mr. Fll
ley filed bis Injunction suits against
the owner of every known airship and
by the clause used In labor disputes
bound all persons, whether named or
not, who might with the defendants or
Independently design trespass against
the plaintiff's rights.
The bill In New York recited that
the plaintiff was the owner of all
rights of navigation lu the air In cer
tain described belts or bands surround
ing the city of New York, dividing It
Into portions, and grldironlng the con
tinent; that the defendanis hud In the
past habitually trespassed on these by
flying over them In airships; that the
passage to or from the city of New
York over the sea. the river or other
route was impossible save by such
trespass, and therefore Injunction was
asked prohibiting the defendants, tuelr
servants uud all other persons from
departing from or coming to the said
city of New York through the air own
ed by the plaintiff or from navigating
any aerial craft across. ovei or through
the real property of the plaintiff where
soever situated.
Flnley Shifyne'e name led the list of
defendants, followed by that of the
Aerostatic Power company aud p:ige
after page of names of people owning
aerial craft and airships everywhere
were hemmed In by the "real proper
ty" of the plaintiff, like whalers frozen
in the Ice. The "real property" wus
that wonderful spider's net of grants,
and the plaintiff was the Universal
Nitrates and Air Products company:
Craighead's opium dream was explain
ed. The relation between the twin
companies was disclosed. Two perfect
ly weli known "legal principles "were
here united In un audacious attempt to
monopolize the air, the rights attach
Ing to ownership of land and that of
Injunction to prevent trespass or nui
sance. Public and press were struck with
amazement. The unthinking laughed
at the unheard of and preposterous
claim to private control of the atmos
phere. Lawyers began poring over
cases dealing with rights In and over
land, with crowing dubiety as to the
outcome of the case of the "Universal
Nitrates and Air Products company
versus Shayne et al."
When the case came on to be beard
the laugh hud disappeared, the very
army of lowyers appearing for the de
fendant rendering It a serious matter.
Craighead sat In court with Fllley, his
hair rumpled, his crooked nose high.
In a suit of legal black, drawing more
attention than did Carson, whose face,
bleached of the gulf beach tan. had
assumed the pallor of the scholar,
while vast responsibilities had been
Imparting to blm an atmosphere of dis
tinction. He sat scanning the people
of the defense Shayne. SUberberg and
other great financial figures.
While the pleadings and nflldavlts
were read Craighead sketched the
bailiffs, shuttled his feet and drummed
on the table until the court tapped for
silence.
"We will hear from the plaintiff."
said Justice McFadden, "and as the
facts seem practically undisputed"
"But your honor," protested the
counsel for the defendauts. "we cer
tainly do not admit"
"For present purposes," replied the
Justice, "the showing seems ample that
plaintiff owns certain rights In lands
so distributed that the defendauts
must pass over them In going from
place to place; that the defendants
have habitually done so and that the
situation constitutes a threat that this
will be rcpeuted. Tho defendants by
claiming the right to pass these lines
confess this for present purposes. We
will therefore "hear from-plaint I IT s
counsel on the law."
Mr. Fllley gathered up his paers:
but. wl'b a professional sounding "May
it please the court" that duuifoumled
Fllley and drew from the Justice a re
quest for the gentleman's name. Craig
head rose.
"CraluUeud." said he In response to
the eourtV query. "I will offer a few
remarks the law ami then yield to
my learned colleague, who will lay be
fore your honors the fertile attempts of
the courts to crystallize It In prece
dents. The law is fully as plain as the
nose on the face of the most Roman of
your honors. As to Its righteousness,
it is as moral as landownersblp. That
it has not heretofore been applied has
been owing to the stupidity of the
legal profession, to the aslninlty of
landowners and to the fact that the
law is so plain, for that which la all
around ever remains undetected, like
the pressure of the atmosphere or the
picture with trees and clouds repre
senting faces or animals. And as when
once the cat In the landscape Is seen
the landscape fades, and one can see
nothing but the cat so In this case
when the law Is once made plain your
honors will be able to see nothing else.
We are taking the liberty of unsealing
the blind eyes of the courts."
Mr. Fllley was outraged at the ef
frontery of this unlicensed actor in
thus taking the scene, but to make a
disturbance now would be worse than
to let him go on, and Mr. Fllley sat
down frowning and hoping that Craig
head's offense might escape discovery.
" 'Cujus ad solum, ejus est usque ad
coelum.' " went ou Craighead, "is the
maxim on which we stand, the mean
ing of which has been decided In hun
dreds of cases and. strange to say, is
still clear 'lie who owns land owns
to the sky.' He has us much moral
right to the sky as to the surface.
The man with a deed to a square mile
of the surface of this planet under
this law owns a great pyramid, apex
Ing at the earth's center and extending
out Into space In diverging lines In
finitely, so that If he can show that
these lines of boundary take in Mars
and her canals he would have a per
fect case against the Martians for rent
of fields and tolls over waterways if
be could get service and bring the de
fendants Into court. 1
"Land! Land! The urstlc word
that rules the world! The woman who
ejaculates 'Good land!" conjures by a
thing more potent than all the gods of
Olympus.
"The air nbove our land Is a part of
It. You know It. Why else have you
recognized Uelmer's appeal. lut) Penn
sylvania state, as good law? What
was that ense? A bay window many
feet above the sidewalk was declared
a nuisance because It Jutted out into
the air that was a part of the street
And see also Bybee versus the state,
04 Indiana. You hang, your cornice or
string 11 wire lu my air and I will bale
you Info court. Don't presume to fly
a kite over my land except by my con
sent; you have no right. And remepj
ber that the city or Cleveland was
mulcted in the sum of $."i.ikm for
swlnsrlng 11 bridge a few time n day
a hundred feet alxive an Inch strip of
land
"How mu.'h more am I damnified by
the airship, whlcb may Jrop a mon
key wrench, a spana-x, a gob of bal
last or a casual remark Into my priva
cy? Aeronefs will fall Into the rural
silo, drug ropes will rip up barbed
wire, and Pyramus and Tblsbe In their
Arcadian wooing may be smothered
under falling gas bags or torn asunder
by dragging anchors Inserted in their
fluttering hearts! I shudder, your bon
ors, at what may happen when the air
Is populous with flying jiggers, pop
popplug ubout raining ballast and
wine bottles aud bacou rinds and stale
bananas and hot coffee aud soft boiled
eggs and lobster a lu Newburg on a
lost and undoue reoubllc. aud when I
ih udder perscms'of Xnllmiry "sensitive
ness fly Into fragments with the shlv
ers. for 1 am no, light and habitual
shudderer.
"I have spoken In my weak way of
what might make a landholder un
willing to huve his air used as a high
way. But be doesn't have to give a
reason be can show his deed and tell
the whole world to go to to the cap
tain's oflice and settle. Your honors, I
adjure you to cling to your unbroken
precedents and uphold property, on
which society is based. To say that
we do not own these strips of land,
but only rights in the air. Is foolishness
of the damphest sort The landowner
may sell the surface and keep the
minerals or sell the mineral rights
down to China and keep the surface.
Our grantors owned and sold these
rights to us. It Is slanderous to say
that we have hornswoggled to coin
a phrase the farmers by promising
cheap nitrates by the Craighead moth
od. It is my Intention to take a few
moments some day to perfect the
Craighead method and begin to extract
nitrogen, but that Is another narra
tive. The point is that we've got those
rights. We have what nobody ever
baa before-the proof that defendants
pass over our lands, because they have
to. Nobody else ever had lands hem
rolng In everybody. We have. This
makes our proof simply pie, and we
call upon you to protect us In the
name of the law of landownersblp, on
Which every government In all the
world Is founded.
"Tbc say we seek to enslave travel-
ers. This absurdity applies as forcibly
to surface rights or mines. If the trav
eler can't pay our scale let hlra go by
public highways or by bout or rail or
stay at home. We anticipate that
rights to air navigation will become
more and more valuable. We expect
to charge whatever the situation
makes possible. This Is ns moral as
Increasing rent for lands. We shall
jTimt licenses or not. ns we please
We inn v demand title to nil patents on
airship Inventions "Before " allowing
them to be used, thus applying the
rules you and your predecessors have
so wisely laid down. 'He who owns
land owns to the sky! How beautiful
the principle! Whut a stimulus to en
terprise It offers In cornering space!
Our getting of these rights may be a
horse on Mr. Shayne. but the rules of
the game and what a game It Is. your
bonors!-glve us the pot. The costs
constitute the klttv."
Justice McFadden tapped on the
desk, and Craighead paused.
"Your language. Mr. Craighead."
said he. "Is unusual, though your
points seem well taken."
"You're on!" ejaculated Craighead.
"You're on! In fact, to speak gram-
marlanly. 'You're on. your honor:
you're honest! "
A bailiff Interrupted by handing a
note to the astonished court
"Mr. Craighead." said Justice Mc
Fadden. "It is suggested that you are
not a licensed practitioner at this bar
or at any other. This extraordinary
address of yours leads the court to
doubt What Is the fact? I thought I
recognized you as a member of this
bar. Have we not met?"
"Your honor." said Craighead, "stud-
led language under me."
"Language!" roared the Justice.
When?"
"I was your teacher In English
and drawing." replied Craighead. "In
Schlosser's billiard parlors English
and drawing, with Incidental Instruc
tion In the use of the globes; also dry
nursing, the masse and the follow!"
"Remove him from the bar, Mr.
Bailiff!" thundered the court. "Take
him to Jail!"
'Stung In the samo old aching
spot!" cried Craighead. "Still the
great uncalled! But know ye, proud
judges, I have been expelled from
worse places than this! What barm
have I done ye? Fllley, get me out of
this'"
CHAPTER XVIII.
ALOKE ON AH ISLAND IN AIR.
THE bailiff, a tottering old func
tionary with a white mustache
of Blsmarcklan fierceness, wa
rily laid a raptorial ciaw on
Crnlghcad's sleeve.
"Amateur day In court!" he hissed
In the bailiff'? ear. "The hook! Tho
book! 1 go, but my logic sticks! Stone
walls do uot"
Mr. Fllley here Interposed to such
effect that Craighead was fined, ex
pelled and set free. Mr. Fllley's mas
terly address was based on the law
luld down by Craighead, reference to
which Dually evoked a smile from the
justices. In a week an Injunction was
Issued as prayed. The airships of the
whole uutlon were tied up; the Uni
versal Nitrates and Air Products com
pany made the Carson-Craighead Aero
nef company Its sole licensee; the Car
son aeronefs were the only flying ma
chines which could be used; the law
of real property was vindicated; Aero
static Power dropped to nominal
prices; Craighead was suddenly recog
nized as the most overshadowing gen
ius legal strategy had ever known;
Carson stood high In finance and diplo
macy; the factories for manufactur
ing flying machines were offered to
him at his own terns, payable In Car-
ou-Cralghead stocks; thousands of
men were put to work on the Carson
aeronefs; the Waddy family began to
occupy space In newspapers and mag
azines; the world of finance whirled
about and readjusted Itself to the ex
plosion-all of which look time.
And In the midst of the first excite
ment the following item appeared in a
newspaper:
A bizarre result of the McFadden deci
sion Is the marooning of Mr. Flnley
Shayne, erstwhile prince of the powers of
the air, at Shayne's Hold, where the Roo
was enjoined. There la no egress from
the hold save by airship. The Carson
crowd has the air rights surrounding the
mountain, and Mr. Shayne and his fam
ily have no means of getting away except
by violating the Injunctions.
No craft save the Carson aeronef, the
Virginia, can go to them or anywhere,
and Mr. Shayne will starve rather than
allow her to land. This sounds Ilka a
joke, but Mr. Shayne takes It seriously.
The castaways are Mr. and Mrs. Shayne,
Miss Buarea and Mr. Max SUberberg.
Carson approached Craighead with
this paper, his finger pointing to the
Item. Craighead read it with glee.
"When Shayue has eaten the last
poisoned rat" snld he, "and worn his
knees raw snaring rattlesnakes off the
cliff for food I'll go to him and say:
'Proud ex-plute, if on your bandaged
knees you beg my kingly clemency I'll
give you this sandwich and bottle of
beer; otherwise s-s-s-s-s-tarve, and be
anged to you! Either that or wire
him permission to depart in the Roc.
Which sayest thou?"
"I have wired him offer of the li
cense," said Carson, "and he declined
Insultingly. Then I offered to come
for them In the Virginia."
"And he answered?"
"That ho would shoot me or any
man In my employ that dared Invade
bis air over Shayne's Hold!"
Mr. Carson brooded over the fact
that the very writ of Injunction that
mudo him master of the air confined
the girl for whom bo had striven In a
petit trlanon on a mountain top with
Max SUberberg.
But If the victor felt a ferment of
spirits, what of Mr. Shayne and the
castaways In a palace?
SUberberg was upending an aft
ernoon with Virginia ou the Shayue
grounds.
"We are alone," snld SUberberg, "on
an Islnnd In the air. Are you sorry?"
Virginia was thinking of the victory
of Curson. He had been great in work
Ii.ii i : : f. his creation, and now he had
made war on her "Uncle Flnley, the
tiger of the Stock Exchange, Is his
very den and won! But yet this last
victory was not like the first' This
was the old story of finding how to
exploit the world by monopoly; that
was doing, creating. Yet Theodore
had mortally offended ner in that mat
ter of being ber uncle. Ail was over
between them. Yet she finally an
swered SUberberg Inconsistently.
"No." said she. "1 am not very sor
ry. But I shall need my band now to
hold my dress out of the dew."
"Tell me once more that you nre not
sorry, please," said he.
"I uui uot." she reassured him. "In
fact. 1-1 am rather glad. Mr. SUber
berg." "Max!" Hald be unctuously. "Let It
be Max, your fellow prisoner!"
"Well. Max. theu!"
Virginia now systematically h!d from
SUberberg. dinners and forced Inter
views hrtngliu 110 advancement to hi
courtship
One blowy day It culminated. Vlr
g.nla from a summer house opening
toward New York braved the moist
gusts and swept the sky with her
tieldglasses for well, for something.
SUberberg followed her, swearing in
wardly at the perversity of the girl,
and as he found her things began to
happen. Far over to the southeast
and driving fast before the gale came
the only flying machine In America
free of the McFadden Interdict. Un
fortunate SUberberg!
At the same hour Mrs. Shayne burst
into Shayne's deu. her breath short
her face flushed, her attire and coif
fure disarranged. Shayne knew the
symptoms.
"Oh. tell me It Isn't true!" she cried.
"Tell me that I am not humiliated, ac
tually controlled, by that bandit from
the Alabama forest!"
Mr. Shayne begged her to calm her
slf. "It's only an Injunction," urged Mr.
Shayne. "We can't use the Boo be
cause the court forbids It"
"At that mn Carson's request!" I
tell you. Flnley Shayue. It Is a trick of
the proleturlats to Immure us here and
come at their leisure and kill us!"
"My dear, my dear!" urged Mr.
THE BOOK I THB BOOK I 1 00 J BUT MI
LOGIO STICKS I
Sliajne. "That Is 'quite Impossible!
We could go In tho Roc rather than be
murdered."
"You imprison me and then Insulf
me. Coward! If going In the Roc la
so easy, why don't we go? I thought I
was married to a man!"
- Shayne sprang to his feet
! "Marie," said he. "tho Roc will be
ready In half an hour! I'll show you
I'm no coward! Get ready! Call Vlr
glnla and SUberberg! Hurry!"
Mrs. Shayne knew better than to try
stopping him. He yelled messages and
orders Into telephones. He Issued hur
ry calls for valets and maids. The
forcefulncHS that had made him what
he was came uppermost
Suddenly Into Shayne's den burst
SUberberg, his face red, his whole
being simmering hot
"I'm done with you!" spluttered Rll
berberg. "Get me away from here 11
you're a gentleman!"
"If I wasn't I'd have yon kicked
off!" said Shayne. "You can't Jump on
me. If you are my guest! I'll"
"She's refused me In a wny I can't
stand." protested SUberberg, with
hands uptlung. "She said 1 was dis
gusting! I can't stay!"
. "Well," answered Shayne, "the Roc
sails at once."
Tho other members of the Imprisoned
party were at the garago before SUber
berg, Mrs. Shayne in the cabin, Vir
ginia and Shayne In animated debate
on tho platform.
"Well." Shayne was saying to her,
"stay, then, like a simpleton! But how
are you to get nway? I don't know
how long the courts will keep this up,
aud our running the Injunction won't
make It any shorter!"
"It's blowing awfully." said SUber
berg.
Nobody noticed hltn but tho pilot.
"I know It sir." snld he. "It's fool
hardy to take this gns bag out."
"Shayne," said SUberberg, "tho pilot
says It's not fit to go out."
"Then stay," answered Shayne,
"You're welcome to the house."
"But Shayne." cried SUberberg, "it
may moan getting whirled out to sea
or"-
"Out to Bea!" sneered Sliayno. "And
tho wind southeast. Stay If you're
afraid. Virginia. Mr. Silberbcrg's go
ing to stay with you."
Virginia walked aboard with a look
of disdain, the bitterest cut of all.
Tho winches drew back the leaves of
tho great roof to let out the Roc, and
the surge of the outer air filled the
garage with windy tumults. SUber
berg suddenly revived to :ro nud leap
ed to (he gang;tl.i:;!;. n. V. st
s P
v 'V..-- vae cnlers to lay a
lead for Teinagiiul In spite of
course dead for lemagiiul in apl
the northwesterly wind back of the)
clouds. By waiting for tlie turn of the)
wliid they iniTht have made New
York, but every tulle of northing took
them farther from th. central "low"
and Into a larger circle of the huge)
whirl of tho gale. The pilot knew that
Temagnmi was out of the question,
though the wind blew dead toward It
nay. because of that fact for a high,
wind never blows straight, but always
In a circle about the "low." So
Shayne, violating the rules of weather
outside to make sunshine within, was)
jiot surprised when told that they went
approaching the line of reversal the
turn of the wind.
"Head against It." ordered Shayne,
"aud cross Lake Ontario before dark it
you can."
"It looks more thnn we can face."
said the pilot. "If It Is shall we run
before It and try for a Pennsylvania
port?"
"Use your best Judgment" said
Shayne.
"Yea, sir," said the pilot, whose best
judgment had been to stay boused.
"And you may want to know, air,
there's some sort of craft astern and
overhauling us."
"The devil!" ejaculated Shayne
"I'll take a look nt ber."
The binoculars revealed an aeronef
perhaps five miles astern, with wide)
wings, In which he could seo theBbliu
iner of blades In rapid revolution. The
exclusive rights of tho Virginia, the
singular swiftness and power of tho
flight of this aeronef and the shimmer
In her wings nssured Shayne that be
was pursued by the machine which
had wrecked his mouopoly. They
wanted to put him In jail for breaking
their injunction, ho raged. Tho shame
of It he, Flnley Shayne, a fugitive
for sailing God's free air In his own
ship! And the danger of It, too, for
Canada and safety now looked utterly
unattainable.
The mountains slipped from under
them, aud the farms and villages took
their places on the moving concave of
the earth ns tho big ship made speed
toward the Mohawk. Tho Roc wan
struck by an opposing gale; a sudden
hurricane smote her decks as her mo
mentum drove her through tho north
wind. She turned before It The
great concave panorama below slowly
reversed and began paying off to the
north as the vast neronnt drifted like
a bubble to tho south before the
fiercest blow Rho had ever dared en
counter. Canada was out of tho question.
Shayue ::!'.. 'i;;:
"If we reach an aerial harbor," said
Shnyne through the speaking tube,
"what do you think of trying a land
big?" I
"She'd rip to strings," said the pilot
"We'd be killed."
To tho pursuing Carson the Roo
seemed doomed to tho aerostat ship
wreck a shattering fall In landing or
watery extinction In tho open sea.
And Virginia! Agonizing for ber, Car
son followed, watching like a wrecker
when a full rigged ship drives on a
reef.
And yet. even after her turn, all
eeraed well with the Roc. The sea
lar south and east. Northing was Im
possible; but, edging luto the gal
with all the power of her screws, the
worked stanchly off into the west
Yet Carson knew It was a losing fight;
and Shayne walked the deck In agon)
as she gavo ground at last before the
wind, which bowled In across th
Pennsylvania mountains and beat the
great hunted creature to the Dl
ware at Philadelphia.
Virginia came on deck. "Where are
we, uncle?" said she.
"Oh, we're all right!"
Time enough for the trouble whe
the crisis came, for shipwreck In aerial
voyaging; has no tossing before the
cyclone ere the final plunge, no wre
tie with the waves, no tiring at tht
pumps, no roaring of white surf scab
bardlng the teeth of the reef. All b
steady aud comfortable until under
neath yawns destruction. Though ev
ery moment inevitably marked a lost
of gas lu the balloon once out at sea,
they must keep up to win the far Afri
can const or to bear around the whirl
to Nova Scotia or Labrador, and la
that quadrant was rain. Before that
could be done the huge gas holdet
would grow wrinkled, flabby, weak;
tho car would drag her down, tht
stronger ones would cut everything
away to lighten the ship, the weaket
would drop luto the brine with no hope
save In the prayer time accorded bj
the life preservers, aud finally the last
man clinging to the fragments of the
nacello would see the huge mass oi
flapping silk and gum and tin foil drop
into the waves, himself utterly lost in
the utter desolation of hopeless aolr
tude food for tho fishes.
Virginia, again on deck, stood gazing
ahead, not knowing that their actuaf
flight was astern. She thought she
wus looking toward her destination.
She had lost sight of the Virginia, and
she was not sorry or displeased to
have Carson give chase unsuccessful
ly. She was very angry with him.
Suddenly she looked astern and was
amazed that such a body of water
had been passed without her knowing
It, as one journeying over a prairie
might feel to look behind and see an
ocean. The subtle expression of the
tossing waves told her that this was
tho open sea. For miles and miles she
saw great waves bursting In Immense
explosions of spindrift and spray,
wept clean of shipping, the glassy
rear of tho racing billows throwing
back to her eyes sinister glints from
tho rare gleams of tho western sun.
and out Into this fierce fight of the
elements the Roc was drifting stem
on In spite of the frended thrust of
her great screws Ink) tho suck of the
gale.
(Continued to Page 8).