Air Wonder Stories, July 1929 — page 81: what you’re looking at

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

MEN WITH WINGS 79 Again the whistle, and the two parties were gal- vaniged into action, With a great roar of their wings and with equal speed the two contingents headed directly for each other so that it appeared as if there was to be a head-on collision. They met and now we were treated to a sight that was intensely stirring, an aerial sham-battle. Their only Weapon was a small blunt stick that was brought from a pocket. Its tip was chalked with red, The trick appeared to be in parrying with one’s op- ponent until one or the other was marked by the red stick. The stricken one immediately dropped out of the battle, And such flying there was, such banking, such whirling, such spins, such spirals, such flying as never before witnessed. The battle lasted no more than ten minutes, one after another of the vanquished falling out tntil the trees were literally covered with them as they watched for the end. A roar went up when the Patriarch’s snowy bosom was marked with red! No more than two thousand were left in the air when the whistle shrilled again. The majority of those remaining in the air had variegated wings and only a few hundred of the solid colored remained aloft, The-yictory was given to the former. At times, my informant told me that there were battles between male and female and although the male predominated to a great degree the female contingents often won. Now the companies again took their places in the air, and there followed a half hour of:drill with the huge body moving as one man, turning, twisting, dropping, soaring, charging and retreating. I saw again the formation of the circle as each man and woman scattered at a command and flew outward and upward until a tremendous circle was formed, a circle of five ranks rising higher and higher. When the drill was done Miss Lois came for me and carried me to the ground again. She was scarcely winded from the trial. She left me as she hurried to her duties in the hospital. CHAPTER EIGHT Jim Takes A Mate AYS went by and yet I received no orders from the Patriarch. The fact that I was allowed to remain idle pointed to the con- clusion that he was still considering my application to organize a news sheet; but I could only wonder at the Patriarch’s procrastination. I could see no reason for him to hesitate. By now I knew all the ins and outs of the city. Twice I made a half-hearted attempt to escape knowing beforehand the futility of such a course, and I was thwarted each time, I spent a great deal of time with Wormley who was still waiting for his leg to heal. And one day a summons came. [had been called before the Patriarch! I was all a-quiver, but the cold visage of the black-winged man chilled me. “Jim Kennedy,” said he, “I have learned that twice you have made an attempt to leave bounds! Your reason, please!” I shrugged my shoulders. “I was merely seeking proof, sire,” I answered as laconically as I could. And I saw that my answer was an almost imper- ceptible smile. “The second charge against you . . is that you have been with us .,. five weeks ... yet you have not performed the first duty that is expected of you! And that is to take to yourself a mate.” Again I shrugged my shoulders. “The women of Mentor are all beautiful,” I said lamely, thinking instead of the beauty of Miss Lois. “All the more reason you should have chosen. Mentor has a purpose in the world, and it is the duty ef every man and woman within her gates to do what he or she can to further our work, and he who shirks that duty is of no use to us! Our way of dealing with such as you... is simple. Since you do not choose for yourself, we choose for you!” He clapped his hands shortly, I was hot under the collar and I was ready to tell him what I thought of him and his nation when the door opened and in came Miss Lois! “We do not beat around the bush in Mentor,” went on the dictator. “We have no silly conven- tions, nor prattle by which we try to disguise our purpose here, We know to build a great nation we must have a foundation on which to build, and our foundation necessarily is strength. That strength is our young |” “This young woman,’ he went on, “is one of our finest specimens of girlhood. She is of a direct line of eight generations of the alated, and because of the strength of her blood you are commanded to take her to mate in hope that you can bring forth a child that is worthy of Mentor! Let me hear differently and things will go hard with you.” I listened wordlessly to the harangue. The man’s cold-blooded eugenic creed disgusted me and I felt that I should stand up for my rights as a man and tell him what I thought of him and his noxious doctrine, only the presence of the girl standing quietly by, held me back. Seething within I demanded, “Has Miss Lois nothing to say to this?” The man must have read my feelings in my face and for the first time I saw a true smile on his lips, “Lois has already announced the fact that she is quite willing to accept you, Jim Kennedy. In that you are to be complimented.” I don’t know what emotion swept me then. I was suddenly elated and at the same time greatly em- barassed. I stole a glance at the girl’s face and she was not looking at me nor appeared embar- rassed in any way. Such procedure was the rule in Mentor. Concluding that the interview was over I waited only for the word of dismissal. Yet the Patriarch was not through. “Today,” he stated, “a shipment from Cuzco has arrived, In Section Three of the.third level you will find all the necessary equipment for the work you have asked to carry out. You are permitted to choose what youths you will need in your project. We shall expect weekly reports from you and [ shall require that you confer with me on the policy which I wish you to pursue, That is all now. You may retire!” So. that was the way the Patriarch did things, My heart suddenly grew warm. I took several steps forward and stretched out my hand. Pa- triarch Mentor took it and we clasped hands hearti- ly. It was the beginining of our friendship! commiclooolks.comn .