The Argosy, March 1907 — page 172: what you’re looking at

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

Weve € y id ad , > > Pa 1! ’ : re! iy 8 PRE “ARGOSY. Palty. He was = foncer to vedic on a — pile of straw, while Adams ran for a _ physician. : And to think my own creation bit me!” moaned the professor as he waited for the medical man. Meanwhile the Elesketer, full of joy in its new-found freedom, was sailing through the air at a fast rate. Its wings buzzed merrily and the great trunk, tipped on the end with a mosquito’s bill, ‘much enlarged, swung to and fro as though seeking a victim worthy of it. The Elesketer had tasted human blood and was thirsting for more. “Qn and on it sailed until at last it ‘was far from the place where Profes- sor Jonkin had created it, and was mov- ing over the great Jersey meadows near the Passaic and MHackensack rivers. This was the haunt of the famous Jer- sey mosquitoes; their home and breeding- place for centuries. Instinct, probably, carried the Elesketer there. Faster and faster flapped the wings. Up and down moved the trunk-bill. Far down below him on the earth th Elesketer observed something. stirring. With far-seeing eyes he noted that the _dark mass was a score or more of men. They were out on the broad meadows, in pursuit of the ordinary mosquito. The boards of health of New Jersey had combined, and sounded the death-knell of the Culex anopheles. By means of a mixture of kerosene oil, citronella, and other vile concoctions sprayed over the meadows the insect pests were being killed by thesmillion. ° The men wore long rubber boots, and masks protected their faces from the bites of the buzzing insects, while their hands were encased in rubber gloves. But the Elesketer knew naught of this. He only saw down below him some men, his natural prey as far as his mosquito instincts were concerned. He was hungry. He was starving, for the bite he had taken out of the profes- sor had only whetted his appetite. Like an eagle swooping upon a hap- less quarry, the Elesketer folded its wings and darted downward toward the hapless men. The heavy body moved quickly through the air, and the whirr of it soon attracted the attention of the meadow: -sprayers. admitted Professor Jonkin. a At first they. thoaght + it was the oS 33 proach of a swarm of mosquitoes. Then, as they made out the details in the con-_ struction of the Elesketer there was a scramble to escape. But when the Elesketer got within fifty feet of the earth, and was select- ing, as his first victim, a large fat man, a queer thing happened. ‘The fleeing ex- terminators observed the beast to be mak- ing frantic efforts to fly upward again. It seemed to be struggling against some overpowering influence. “It’s the fumes! The fumes of the kerosene oil and other stuff!” cried the fat man, who, not being as fast-footed as his companions, was obliged to linger. behind. “ The fumes are killing the flying elephant,” for such he believed the thing to be. And that was exactly what was taking place. Being more of a mosquito than it was an elephant the Elesketer was suc- cumbing to the effects of the mosquito “poison. In another instant the ascending fumes had overpowered the Elesketer. With a last- effort to flap the large wings and rise above the smell of the kerosene and citronella the Elesketer, with a mournful trumpeting, fell heavily to the marsh, toppled over into a deep pool, which had been sprayed with the mixture, and was drowned, struggling with its final breath to escape. The mosquito instincts had prevailed at last and caused the death of the huge . beast. Full of wonder, the men came back to view the monstrosity. They could only see a little of it protruding above the water, and this slowly sank from ok 1 few bubbles that floated to the sur- face. . As for the professor, it required sev- eral applications of the -strongest kind. of ammonia and other drugs before the swelling went down, and he had a stiff neck for several days. When he heard what had happened to” his Elesketer he was very sorrowful for a time, but brightened up when Adams. suggested that it would be a bad thing if it had bitten many people. “Yes, I suppose it’s all for the best,” “Tm glad and then nothing remained but < comicbooks.co - a “we