Adventure Magazine, March 1916 — page 93: what you’re looking at

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

pete. ee eS ~~ tee —— 23-4 aga r~ Pee ea ae ” a a oe * nies as; fae "mae, * eta Ls ee Ma ~ 7 ee . — ~ Sy : - _ The Secret of Caprice below. Finally, seeing the trembling needle creep around, he swung over northward and flew for the station. Hardly settled on his course he saw far ahead, another of those long, thin fingers of white light that had proved a beacon for him on his trip down. He realized at once - that it was the train bearing Greiner, com- ing down the long southward reach of the railroad from the Junction to the bend in the line below the hills. He took his bearings and cut off his mo- tor. Coasting down in a long, easy vol- plane, he strained his eyes over the side, and in a few minutes made out a tiny dot of light twinkling below. It was the light at Hackett’s station. He circled and de- scended. Five hundred yards to the north of it he saw a broad stretch of field, its boundaries clearly marked by the deeper shadows of the woodland that encompassed it. It was impossible in the darkness to tell whether or not it was smooth enough for a good land- ing, but it was the only available place in sight, so he muttered a prayer for luck, and headed for it. They came to earth with a jolting and jarring that threatened to crumple the little wheels beneath the hull. They were never intended for such landings. He had at- tached them in his own factory after a de- sign which was the result of his wide\experi- menting for a combination land-and-water machine, but he thanked his good fortune now that, when the work had been done, it had been done by his best workmen, and with the best material. The machine careened drunkenly as its momentum carried it over the rough earth. “Good Lord!” Carter exclaimed as it finally came to rest. “‘Do you always land that way?” “Not since I left school in France,” Ward answered. ‘Come on; let’s see who is at the station to meet Greiner.” They crept carefully through the thick woodland, making long detours to avoid heavy patches of underbrush, and going so slowly that the train was already whistling in an agonizing shriek on its approach to the bend. It was a ramshackle bit of.a place. There was only along platform with a tiny wooden house in the center of it, and beside the house, the pole that held thedamp and the levers which operated the signal for the stopping of the trains. Inside the > house the rattling of the telegraph instru- ment sounded loud and clear in the silence of the night. While they watched, two men stepped _ out from the shadows of the underbrush across the railroad. One carried a lantern. They crossed to the platform, set down the lantern and waited. It was too dark to see them clearly, but | Ward was sure, as one’of them lifted the lan- tern to turn its flame lower, that the man’s face was so swarthy as to be notable. His heart beat faster, and he felt that he was at last nearing his goal. With another shriek of the whistle and — the grinding of brakes the train roared up to the station and stopped. One man de- scended, the conductor waved his lantern, — and the train pulled out again. As it started into motion Ward saw the swarthy man approach the newcomer and speak to him. They stood talking for some minutes and then the swarthy man called to his companion, who, taking up the lantern, joined them, and the three crossed the tracks and plunged into the underbrush on the other side. “Well, Tl be ——!” Ward muttered. “Carl isn’t with him. ° I wonder what has happened?” “Only one way to find out and that’s fol- low them,’’ declared Carter, and he led Sed way carefully, On the = side of the station they saw the lantern flitting among the trees at some | distance. The men had not taken a path into thick growth as it had appeared from their first position. When they reached the spot they found that a rude dirt road led from the station in among the trees, and it was down this that ‘the trio ahead were — walking. Suddenly Ward heard a rustling sound in the bushes alongside the road ahead of him : He had just time to warn his companion, and draw him back, when the rustling grew louder, and against the light of the lantern ahead they made out the shadows of three men creeping from the undergrowth. As the last one came out Ward started at some familiar movement, and then recognized him. It was Carl Loder. Ward whistled softly, a whistle that Carl knew well, and the mechanician stopped and wheeled about. “You, Chief?” he whispered, and when 000) (E©) Ale CS (E(0)