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s'e4rtSJHerbert Quick
i
4
A New Airship Serial by
Author of "DOUBLE TROUBLE
GINIA
j4 of the
SsAIR LANES
(Copyright. ltlO, by Bobba-Marrm ro.?
CH AFTER XV CtUd.
"t uawl to think It quit a trick," said
Craighead, "for tha bird to find thlr
way north In spring; but, pnhawt I ran
do it In tha night. A continent la aa tra
yla aa a quarter aeutlon. Tha (ooaa ian't
a much wlaer than I aa I always thoucht.
If Mr. Bryant had coma with u. ha'd
never have written "To a Water Fowl."
Tbcre'd have bean no mystery In tha
goose's 'certain flight' up her wbtrt ba
can aea things."
"Baa that big stratus cloud T" asked Car
een . "Shall wa go over or under It?"
Personally." replied Craighead. "l'Ta
been under a oloud long enough."
Tha stratus waa an Immense vapor aheat
half a mile above tha earth. Underneath
were the gloom and duUnesa of cloudy
weather; but above It tha aun ahon with
a brhjhtnesa augmented by the brilliancy
reflected from the upper surface of the
oloud aa from a great glittering plain of
anow. Tha auu waa past the meridian, and
shining warm; but on tha wing, over that
great expanse of pearl, the air felt not
eold, but "caller." and they put on their
top coat a. Field at drro-oumulus clouda
Ave tnilea above the vaporous plain were
eniaUcated on It by their own mottled
shadow. Ilka great dusters of foliage sil
houetted on an illimitable ground of wool,
"."be ahadow of tha Virginia ran with her
aaroaa tha oloud. like a black bat. haloed
fca tha nnapaakabla glory of a triple rain
bow wbioh ringed tha aoudding ahadow
about In oonoentrlo circles, aa bright so
rafulgeat la dye, ao glorloua In their ming
ling liaeo, that the voyagers, glanoing
from radiance to radiance, lowered their
volcea to tha thrill of a beauty too intense
for apaech.
The Immense engines were moving more
regularly than clockwork, keeping the
pledge of their inakera that. If supplied
with fuel and oil. they would run without
a altigla atop until worn out the perfection
ef the internal combustion angina, once so
untrustworthy. Craighead, past the first
surprise of tha beauty of the rloudsoape,
looked down at the three rainbows which
trailed behind tl-ein now like rings or
lambent fire, and criticised the outlook.
"This Is. to con a phia," said he.
"rottBti, rotten! Where are those right
angles that make up tiie peculiar allure
ment of the American lands'spe? Where
ere the airtight lutes ttial cons't; its real
beauty? And not a talent medicine or
breakfast food linn as far as we ran see--rotten'.
When we own th.ii lanes, we
must have improvements lmifn.i of those
dlsgustini; rin of color, v.- rru:st lav
everything off n rrctanui.tiir b'ocks. and
put up pliuis adverilsliiy iin't airy lots
mafc-mftcent Mew n 8'atin addition to
Nlmbusville. We must establish the Strato
I'umulua club house at tlio Sign of the
Hall-Fellow-Well llet-devpted to high
jinks for the Ai'ixtmmo.lattnn of exalted
personage, inrludlns. of course, the Air
Apparent of ilia Kaiiiiiiii lrnastv. We
munt open th Alto-Sttatua opera house
there blne 1 biiev,' no Soprano elouda
end the ruinulo-Nlmbus Kleetrlc Com
lanv a Thunder Plant; hev, Qin'ral'"
"I in glad," said Carson, "to get a'ov
profits. Thank Heaven, clouds can't b
commercialised."
"Can't eh?" sneered Craighead. "You
have made good with this machine, I'll
have to admit; but you lack financial re
sourcefulness. I've got to dig out the by
products of tha company myself. One of
them has Just occurred to me. We'll lease
altea for captive balloons all along our
lanea of licensed air navigation, and aell
tha right to throw ads for Johnson's Gum
Drops and Mother Hubbard's Obesity Reg
ulator on tha shining levels of tha cloud
floor. It can ba dona by a almple me
chanism If it Isn't Invented. I ll Invent It
lo an odd moment. And we'll sell exclusive
rights to throw colored pictures of Kil
larney and 8nator Clark's house, and
moving plotures of tha great Sags Brush
Hen House Robbery on the thunder clouda
In alternation with pralaes of Peterson' e
Planetry Paint and Bug worth's Insecticide.
Why, hang you. witless youth, let me out.
while I work these things up, right now!"
"I'll go down, and show you where you'll
drop," said Carson; "but I can't stop."
"Going down? Floor below?" asked
Craighead. "Wherefore, O brave skip
per?" "I want to see where we ore," said
Corson. "This la Ilk an open ocean. I
wont to compare the map with tb land
acape." Obedient to tha tilted rudders, the Vir
ginia pointed her prow downward; bar pro
peller bladea hurled her swiftly forward
and toward tha earth, and aha plunged Into
tha oold etrea.nl of tha stratus oloud. Into
mist and whit aoarfa of lacy fog, and tha
anowy obaourlty of an aerial bllssard.
Craighead gasped at the chill and tha
blindness.
"Ring for a guide." sa d he. "I'm lost."
He was not lost for long: for the Vir
ginia clove the fleecy hoodwink, and
emerged through it lower levels Into the
clsar shadows of the nether air. They could
feel tha warmth radiated from the ground,
balmy with earthy scents. The landscape
waa utterly changed. Far off to the west
was tha blue line of th highlands. Its
peaks lost In hsie. Below were farms
planted In corn and wheat and tobacco,
from which came up the lowing of ca'tle,
the crowing of cock and. more distinct of
all. the barking of dogs. Far to the north
east Isy a shining river, widening at tha
limit of vision Into a broad estuary; and
Just within a ght could be discerned the
rluetered spires and towers of a city! Car
eon lookod the landscape over and studied
his map.
"1 wonder If it's possible." said he, "that
that's lUrhmond?"
"If so," answered Craighead, "let me
adopt dr. Greelev'a war cry. 'On to Rich
mond!" Bui, to coin an expression, what's
th matter with ita being Philadelphia?
It'a ao peaceful under Its tlmovhfi of
Quaker drab. But If not the City of Broth
erly Graft, let'e have it Richmond "
"But It must be the James." cried Car
eon.. 'X'ra ghesd, we've msde Richmond
three boure quicker than I thought It ios
aible! A atork. or a Canada goose, couldn't
have covered the dlatance and they aoine
tlmea go 100 mi lee an hour! Why"
"Iet ua enult aver yon Insufferable
plates." cried Craighead. ' Ut fly rings
around 'em! I,et s sail circles around the
snobs!"
Craighead, scanning the southeast with his
field glasses, had discovered at a distance
of alx or seven miles, a bugs silver aoronat
steering northward and to its passengers
he referred with many gestures. Carson
trained his binocular on her and grew
tense aa a greyhound at alght of a distant
wolf. The aeronat waa of the Condor typa .
and of th largeat slse, with bow rudders,
and along her side ran tha line of a vesti
gial aeroplane. Still at th som unheard
of speed, Theodore threw over th tiller
and made for the airship. Craighead looked
at him In wonder.
"Why so obedient, O Knight of th Con
gealed Countenance all ao suddenly ?"
"That ship looks," said Carson, advanc
ing th 'spark and crowding th engines
until the wind of flight swept tb aeronef
Ilk a gale, "like th Roc!"
After a few minute on a straight course
to Intersect that of the aeronat, Carson
threw the Virginia up Into the cloud. Aa
the earth was blotted from sight he com
pared tha direction of th aoronat with
the points of the compasa, making a raeu
tal calculation aa to dlstanoe and the speed
of the two ships, and in another moment
they emerged on th shining upper levels
of th cloud, which, Ilka a shimmering
screen between the Virginia and th other
craft, hid their approach to aaah ether.
On below th curtain and on abor it,
tha airship of th futur and th airship
of th past flew on converging courses.
Carson held his watch aa It ticked off th
time for th five or six miles of distance,
set th rudders for a downward dip,
plunged through the cloud for th third
time, and darted downward out of th
vapor Ilk a swift Into a chimney.
They looked about and aaw nothing. Th
aeronat waa Invlalble. And yet, above th
purring of th machinery, cam to their
ears the tremor from powerful engines, the
whirring of screws close at bond. Could
the Condor have ascended into the cloud
as they descended from It? It waa possi
ble, but th sounds were approaching, not
receding; and voices now mingled with th
ounda of machinery voloe coming closer
and closer.
"My God, Carson!" shouted Craighead.
"Tou'r going foul of her. Look down!"
Just In time Carson looked. From th
clear depths of air below, tha great bubble
of silver arose, swelling in her swift ap
proach. A collision meant ruin for th
aeronat. and probably destruction to th
Virginia. Th propelling blade of th
aeronef would out th envelop of th gaa
bolder Ilka paper; and tha two ahlps, In
a hug mass of tangled wreckage, would
fall to the earth In death and ruin: or the
escaping gaa from the aeronat, Ignited from
the exhaust of thu Virginia's enpinea.
might explode, hurling the fragments of
both vessels far and wide and Carson saw
In th ruin th fair form of Virginia
Buares hurled to earth and crushed to
formlessness below.
There had been no time to check their
downward career; salvation lay solely in
a awlft dart to evade the rising peril.
Quick as lightning "arsm tlirew on full
speed forward. Tu Virginia obeyed her
machinery and as she swooped to the
aeronat s starboard, the latter arnae
awlftly; the Virginia's strn rudder srnsod
the gss bag and was all but carried away;
a cord of the suspension sv Ktem of the air
ship snapped with a detonation that set
the huge fabric in a tremble; there rose
a cry from the deck of the hitherto un
conscious monster, as her people realised
th fearful fact thst here In these dlssy
heights they were In collision with some
thing, and as the Virginia rams In sight
past the Immense bilge they saw white
visages turnd upward to them, as mieht
appear the doomed traveler s fnce when
assa'led by th roc of Arsb fable; and
aa they sheered off, a man came running
out of the cabin with a gun In his hand,
a If with some wild notion of giving battle
to the Invlalble destroyer which l ad swept
down upon them from the fleecy heights
of the cloud
Th Virginia was half a m It from the
airship before the crew of the latter had
time to assure themselves of her safety.
Th great aeronat had not changed her
course, but wa still cracking on at th't
height of her speed toward Richmond like
a whole at which a sword fish had made a
vicious slash and missed. Th Virginia
went aatern aa well as athwart the course
of the other craft, and a she sheered to
starboard, the aeronef and aeronat aped
from each other at the sum of their two
speeds perhaps four miles a minute. Th
people on the latter must have thought the
other gone forever, when an astonishing
thing happened. The aeronef wheeled about
and gave chase nay, she gave chase so
swiftly that she swelled visibly in Iter
swift overhauling of the aeronat. In a tlm
so short that it seemed like a breath, th
Virginia,, on a level now with th other's
deck, came in close astern, then sheered
off and deliberately run around the big Con
dor as she stood on her course at full speed.
As a falcon might describe circles about
the head of a hawker, the Virginia went
About the Condor. As she crossed the
bows a cry went out from the great ship'
engine room a cry of mingled fear and
astonishment astonishment that any aerial
craft dared lay herself across a speeding
Condor's bows, fear of a collision, and the
dread which comes to those who see them
selves In the power of another. Why did
this new craft so course about them? It
waa som new engine of aviation that wa
sure. And with suoh Incredible speed and
such unheard-of mobility, what more pro
fitable trad could opn to her than th
aerial hunt and spoiling of the "dirigibles,"
with their passenger lists of millionaires?
So as Carson cam up on his second cir
cumnavigation of th Condor, there stood
at th rail of th big airship two or thre
men with guns, who made threatening
gesture and shouted to him to stand off
or they would shoot.
"What ahip Is that?" cried Carson.
"None of your damn busineaa!" was ths
teply. "You stand off or we'll shoot!"
"Shoot, If you dare!" cried Carson.
"Don't you see that I can go above where
you can't shoot and rip your gas-bag In
perfect safety? Com low, answer my
que: ton. Why, confound It, It I wanted
to do you any harm, don't you e you'r
in my powr? Don't be llly."
Momethlng In the boy' ton reassured
th aeronat.
"Thi I th Daedalus of Spokane," was
th reply. "What devilish thing 1 that?"
'Th Virginia of of Corson a Landing In
Alabama." replied Theodore.
Tou will pardon u for our abrupt
descent to your level," said Cratghood
suavely. "Ordinarily, th Virginia prefer
a higher plan. W wer trictly In nuhl
bu a moment ago, and on materializing
we found ouraelvea descending on you like
a duck on a June bug. We busted one of
your suspension cords for which we are
sorry; but tha gods bump into things when
they come down from Olympus."
"Whose aeronef 1 that?" asked th man
who seemed In command.
"It's mine," said Theodore; "I built her."
"Well," said the man on the other deck,
"you'vu got the world by the tall; and if
ou need money to swing it, Just apply to
Calvin J. Fry of Spokane If you've got
clear title to the mechanism."
"Thank you." said Theodore. ' I
thought you might be an acquaintance. I
think we'll leave you, now."
"But wait," said Mr. Frv. "Let me han
dle your foreign rights I can get next. I
know the Japaneae foreign loin ster; snd
China's looking for something like that.
Hold on Hatton, will you let a mechanical
devU'a-darnlng-needl like thst leave the
Daedalus behind as If anchored? Hold on,
please"
Rut the Virginia, gently Increasing her
speed, left the hustling Calvin J. Fry ges
ticulating far out of hearing
"That, to originate a locution." ssid
f relwhead, "ought to hold them for a brief
period. Looks ss If they were bxck-pejal-ing
"
'1 will find them," aald Carson, evidently
meaning something else, "if they have hid
den her In the farthest cove of that thun
der cloud." V
Highly lmproba'.'I. deown't ye krieow,"
suggested Cra'ghad. "that they should c
lect such a demnltlon insanitary place for
th young person. Doubtless we'll run
across 'em In New York. By the way
dinner! I have th honor to report that
the ahlp 1 without grub, and I starving!"
"I shall not stop," said Theodore, "this
side of New York."
"Very well, Ir," aaid Craighead. "I still
have my boot heels. Doubtless I shall do
very well with them. 1 suppose you see
that w are butting into weather, dead
ahead and on both bows?"
"Certainly. It's th area of local
storme."
Past Richmond, they left the domed cap
ltol at Washington far to port, passed be
tween Baltimore and Dover, and directly
over Philadelphia, where Carson made a
wide circle above tha vast aerial harbor,
scanning the bertha for a hug silver aero
nat of the Condor type but finding none.
It was growing dusk, and the west and
northweat were ramparted wtlh towering
thunder heads, quivering with lightning,
toward which Carson burled th Virginia
like a bullet. The town-studded suburban
region of New Jersey swept under them as
if drawn by swift mechanism; and the
harbor of New York lay beneath, alive
with shipping. The lights wer already
burning, and th far-spread Babylon of the
modern world hung Ilk a fairy dream
from tha foreground to tb farther rim of
th concave cup of th earth. Th castel
lated marge of th city stood, Incredibly
lofty, clear to th water's edge, reared ao
high In air as to challenge th airship It
self In altitude. Carson was amaxed and
stunned. II had nvr seen New York,
and hi Idea were all Inadequate to th
actualities befor him. The streets flashed
Into sight as tb Virginia paased into posi
tions permitting a view of th bottom of
on metropolitan canyon after another
flashed Into view aa long lines of arc
lights and gorgeous electric signs a per
fectly unimag nable tanlo and jt ngl of
lights of all colors; and then the soaring
craft would pass on, the streets would be
snuffed out by the tall buildings th
Illuminated roof and th towering cliffs
of lighted windows becoming a great plain
of glimmering constellations. Th boy was
afraid th hug city, roaring up at them
Ilk a ravening beast struck him with ter
ror. It was so unreal, ao sinister, so like
a gorgeous nightmare of feverish human
achievement, that It seemed unthinkable
that It could hold for him aught but dan
gar and struggle, and, perhaps, defeat
"Why dost otroi about Ilk a sand-hill
erans?" said Cralghaad. Wby don't you
iightr
"Like th sand hill sran," replied Car
son. "I'm afraid. Where can we alight?"
"Gad!" said Craighead, "I never thought
of that! New York ha always reached
out for me so lovingly, that th idea of
ther being any difficulty In getting Into
her mbrac never entered my brain. W
or a llttl by of knowledge of bow to
get In from above, aren't we?"
"What ar th harbor rules?" asked Car
son. "Hanged If I know." replied Crslghesd.
"The ground has always seemed adejust
as a way in before. Can t you follow the
crowd?"
"There s not an airship to he sen." said
Carson. "They've been driven In by the
night and th weather. Is It safe to drop
into any harbor we may happen to find?"
"What else are we to do'" cried Craig
head. "It s coming on to storm; and I'm
hungry; and there's th Great Whit Way
beckoning! We must land."
"No." replied Carson. "I'm afraid. And
I think it better by all means to go out
to the country, and come into New York
by day. And that's what I'm going to do."
It waa quite dark now, save for the
moon, which, nearly full, waa climbing th'
eastern sky, still clear. The land to the
south and east would earapa the storm for
hours To the northwest towered th
pearly clouds palpitant with Itghtn ng
Craighead, rompialnlngly assenting to his
companion's plan of retreat from Manhat
tan until day, expected Theodore to turn
the Virginia from foul weather to some far
Ntw Jersey village, and was astonlahed
win n he entered upon a swifl flight up the
Hudson, which lay shining in the moon
light, lared with the wakes of bouts. Far
ahead, on both sides, quivered th light
ning of the storm; and from afar came tho
rumbling of thunder. Csrson seemed to be
seeking night In the heart of a thunder
norm. Craighead seized his arm and tried
to glean something of his mood from a
scrutiny of his face.
"I know how impolite it is to ask about
such aberrations," said he, "from experi
ence. But may I Inquire why you seem
determined to enter upon an unseemly
frolic with the Storm King? No. by James,
you've passed the Storm King, and you've
headed for th Catskllls the confoundedi.'st
place for thunder and lightning In these
parts. What about you?"
"I'm going to th Catskllls." sold Theo
dore. "Before I sleep, I'm going to find
Hhayne's Hold!"
CHAPTER XVI.
SHAYNhi S HOLD.
With a complaining, mutinous crew, and
a captain sullenly silent, the Virginia
fared north along the Hudson with her
cargo of dreams and fears. Theodore, at
the tiller, between glances at the compass
and the chart, watched the silver ribbon
of the river broadening into the placid lake
of Tappan Zee, contracting to a thread be
tween Peeksklll and West Point, and lost
altogether In a sheet of rain that roared
down across Poughkecpsle.
"I never supposed," remarked Craighead,
as they passed far east of West Point to
eacape the thunder storm, "that I'd ever
be able to look so scornfully down on this
oradle of our nation's heroism and flub
dub, which lost Its olilefost Jews when It
expelled me. Proud neat of warriors with
indrawn stomachs, I scorn ye! If X knew
where y were, within a leagu or ao. I'd
shake off the dust of my feet against ye.
I laugh in your upturned face ba ha!"
Carson waa still silent, aa he avoided
th local shower that drenched th decka
of th night boats, gained Its rear, orossed
th Hudson In a alow drlsxl at Kingston
and stood northwest toward heavy dens
masses of towering clouds, vivid with In
cessant lightning, screening th high peaks
of the Catskllls and Shayns's Hold.
"I'm distinctly for this trip now!" eried
Craighead. "Talk about excitement! Why.
when before did man that Is born of woman
make a night flight Into th whither,
dodging thunder storms by tb way? What
Is more lvatlng than to cast eontempt
Into the teeth of the element by dancing
up Into tha very front of a cloud-burst,
and getting away by superior foot work?
Tli watery kingdom whos ambitious head
spit's In the face of Heaven why it's mod
est and retiring compared with us! The
armies of the tempest encamp against us.
they compass us about, they vaunt their
strength even as a gladiator, thsy speak In
thunder across th leagu ea, saying, Let
the left wing advance yonder, and the
right w-ing hold the hills, while the
center ruHhr In with the trampling charge
of its wind and downpour-ami we ahall
Ret these mortals, good and plenty!' And
then we outf'anlt them on the enst and
give them the contumelious ha-ha. and
hang on their rear threatening th'lr com
munications with Medicine Hat and Kim
loops, by James! And it they do surround
us, we'll rise Into the inane as has fre
quently been my habit anyhow-and we'll
soar over the topmoat domes of their en
campment of destruction and dampness
and stat'eal electricity, and we'll drop
down outside the lines dry within and
without. This Is sport for a king or a
hippogrlff. On, on, say I, and yet aga n,
on!"
"That's all right ss pure fancy," replied
Carson, "but if we ever get hemmed In
among these storms, we'll not get out bv
going over them."
"Why not?" asked Craighead "I'll not
hear that there are limits to the achieve
ments of this flying exclamation point, for
the prospectl upon which I am mentallv
engaged niul speak of the pleasures of
tornado baiting, anj the following of the
spoor of the typhoon and the sirocco. Why,
not bin die tho tempest, caitiff?"
"Those highest towrs." replied Carson,
pointing to the thunder heads now again
snowy In the moonlight, "are thirty, foriyv
fifty thousand feet high."
"Well, what do we care?" protested
Craighead. "It wouldn't hurt any more
to fall thst far, than from where we are.
Come, better logic, sirrah!"
"The upper strata," raid Carson, "are
snow and ice and frost."
"Better to feel a frost." said Craihesd.
"than to be one. Sir Dugonet. Come, thou'rt
unhorsed!"
"And the atmosphere up there," went on
Carson, "Is too rare for the Virginia's
foothold; or for breath. Before we got.
above those domes, the engines would be
put to It to keep her at a standstill."
"Then, sir." said Craighead, "you have
enlisted the great, safe, sane and conser
vative Craighead In a wildcat promotion
of a machine in which. In eurmountlr.g an
ordinary thunder head, we shall be suo
cessively stalled, frozen to death, and suf
focated! Am I right, Colonul Carson?"
Carson was questioning th altimeter
tatoscope as to whether or not their alti
tude would carry them over the peaks which
must now be fast rising beneath them. Far
to the north glowed the lights of som
great hotel Ilk a swarin of stationary
fireflies. Beneath was darkness and mys
tery, though once be heard a dog's bark-
the last sound lost In aerial traveling,
Craighead waited as If tor a reply.
"By your alienee." said he, "you confess.
Let me out. I am hurt to the heart. To
have fooled away so much time on such m
dinky thing! Let ms out! I would fain
walk back to Sherry's."
The simile of an advancing army quit
obviously described the approaching stornv
Like a vast arcb the clouds marched on,
covering the mountains far to right and
left, the black nimbus on which they were
based sweeping the earth with a Hailing
veil of rain. By abandoning the Catskllls,
the aeronef might have evaded the trug
gle, but her commander seemed te have n
notion of retreat. Though terrified by tha
lights and towers and multitudinous lite
of New Tork, he drove his craft unshrtnk.
Ingly into the teeth of thunder and light
ning and wind and rain.
"Put on your oilskins," said be to Craig
bead.
"It's humiliating." said Craighead, "but I
reckon I must."
"There's an opening render In the rain,"
said Carson. "If it doesn't elose up, w
may slip through to th back of th atornt
again!"
As if the wings of th advancing army
luiil ext-nded ita line until thy pulled
apurt in the center, the ruin opened wher
Carson pointed. At that moment the whole
heaven was black, save wher the moon,
now riding high, touched th cloud sutiv
mite with Hvr; but In an Instant a sud
den discharge of looped and linked light
ning lit up the whole northwest, and Craig
head saw through to the rear of the ram
aa through a window, tha base nf which
was the hills, Its upper limit a str.tlght
horizontal line of black nlmbux, lis e'iVs
nilhty and indefinite with encroaching
downpour.
' We must go lower." said Carson, 'and
pass under. The rain Is closing In. but I
reckon we can slip through, prcltv drv "
The oncoming black arch-lighted to
whiteness when the llghtii'tig Mazed
swelled fearfully as they a pprnached, Ita
raliil'ss gap narrowing momently. It was
a race with the elements. The penultv, If
they lost, was. to be sure, notbintt mots
than a drenching; but It was none the le
exeltlni! for that The curtains of wt"r,
drawn aside as If to let th travelers
through, swung together as they ao
proached. The edgia of the cloud curled
under, rolled by the contending currents,
the llghtn'ng became almost Incessant
"Whoop'" crld Cranhesd. "The Vir.
ginla wins' I guess I'll stay In this dial
for a while after all! ',, f Hole ln-1h
Cloud, 1 renew my fltv!"
(To Be Continued )
