Adventure Magazine, March 1916 — page 70: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

68 tion to startle her into an admission that she knew something of the fate of his friend, to force her to go with him down the shore to insist that the men there set Phil at lib- erty. Now he found het accompanying him willingly, even eagerly, showing by her anx- iety to solve the mystery and that she was in no way culpable. With the machine in the water, he went back to the tents and slipped Carl’s revol- ver into his pocket. His lips were closed in a grim line. He was determined now to go to the last extremity if he found either Phil or the girl in danger. She came down to the shore with a self- reliant smile upon her beautiful face. “T have had a battle with my timidity,” she said, “and I have won. That is,” she temporized, “I think [have won. But you must forgive me if I become frightened when we get very high. Shall we go very high?” He shook his head with a Pesssulned smile. “Only so high as is necessary for safety,” he said. “IT will come down lower when you tell me to. But I do not think you You will be fascinated with the won- derful sensations of flying two—three—four thousand feet above the earth.” She shuddered in feigned terror. “Oh, please!’ she cried. ““You must not take me so high.” He understood her mood and humored her in it. It was evident that she had de- termined to thrust from her as far as pos- sible the deeper fears of the tragedy that menaced her if her uncle should prove to be the scoundrel that Ward felt certain he was. “Our flight today,” he said, “will be for speed, not height. We must get there as quickly as possible.” “Oh, yes; and get our unpleasant duty over with. I had almost managed to make myself forget it.” He helped her into her seat in the hull and, with a final inspection of the machine, threw over the rear-starter and the roar of the Gnome reverberated through the air. He leaned over to her, his lips close to her — ear. “You need not be afraid of the engine,” he shouted. “You will get used to the noise in a little while.”’ She smiled up with no show of timidity. “T have sixty horse-power in my speed- Adventure boat at home,” she called. as much noise as this.”’ HE GUIDED the machine down the cove, listening carefully to the motor. Then, satisfied that it was working smoothly, he threw on more power and the hydro-aeroplane leaped forward, flinging up great sheets of white water from its blunt bow as it planed at ever-increas- ing speed. With a final look at the girl to see that she was not frightened, he drew his wheel toward him and the machine, flinging itself free of the restraint of the water, lifted, sag- ged a moment, lifted again and then head- ed upward in a strong, steady climb. Nel- lie Blaydon leaned over to him, her eyes gleaming with delight. “Why,” she cried, “it does not seem as though we were rising at all. It seems as though the earth were sinking beneath us and we were fixed firmly in space.” He smiled at her enthusiasm. A little touch of healthy color had crept into each of her cheeks and her lips were parted as she breathed in deeply of the rushing air. Slowly and almost imperceptibly, he kept the machine on its ascending angle, guiding “It makes quite it over the safe waters of the cove and turn- ing at the inlet to head down the shore. At slightly over five hundred feet high, he leveled out. It was not the best altitude for safety, but he did not want to be high enough for the men in the camp to see the machine over the tree-tops and, with the water so near, he felt that he could easily glide to its surface if the motor should stop. But the Gnome roared evenly and steadily without missing an explosion. Soon he could see the, break in the trees to the right that meant the head of the long cove where he had landed the night he had followed Nellie Blaydon—it seemed ages ago. He swerved over to it, headed down and, cutting off his spark, volplaned to the smooth waters inside. It was a matter of a few minutes only to work his way up until the keel of his hull grated on the sloping sand of the beach. The girl beside him drew a deep breath of ecstasy. “That was glorious!” she exclaimed. “Glorious! Some day, when things have brightened, when there are no troubles and no suspicions and no heartaches, I want you to take me for a long flight. And—”’ she comichbooks (E@)