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Title: The terrors of the upper air
Author: Frank Orndorff
Release date: April 27, 2024 [eBook #73477]
Language: English
Original publication: New York, NY: Experimenter Publishing Company, 1928
Credits: Roger Frank and Sue Clark
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TERRORS OF THE UPPER AIR ***
[Illustration: “They got poor Dexter. He went first, after we had
enlarged the hole, and before he had dropped five hundred feet, the
monsters were after him. He was helpless in the parachute.”]
Our knowledge of the upper air is very limited. The highest point a
human being has ever ascended in a free balloon is about seven miles.
What exists beyond this, we do not know. Our new author presents a very
unusual, as well as complex situation, with a typical O. Henry ending.
As to ourselves, we enjoyed the story hugely and the chances are that
you will too.
THE TERRORS OF THE UPPER AIR
by Frank Orndorff
Pemberton, the Great Detective, renowned as never having failed to get his
man, spoke to the Secretary of the President of the State Fair, and passed
on to the President’s office door marked “Private.” He entered without
knocking.
“Well! What happening is responsible for this visit?” The President sprang
up and grasped Pemberton’s hand and pulled a chair out for him. “You are
not in the habit of calling on me lately except on business. Who are the
unlucky people at the Fair that you want? For my guess is that you are
after some poor birds.”
Pemberton sat down and placed his hat on the President’s desk. “You are
right to call them birds. I am after your human birds, and they can’t
particularly be called ‘poor’--not now, anyhow.”
“What!” exclaimed the President, as he half rose in his seat, “surely you
are not after Kidwell and Dexter, the aviators who are flying for the
Fair.”
“The very two men I am after.”
“But what have they done? It must be something serious.”
“It is serious. You remember the Windsor Bank Robbery of over a week ago,
where the cashier was killed and nearly a half a million dollars, mostly
in large bills was stolen? The two men who did the job escaped in an auto.
They were chased to a large wooded tract just about nightfall. When the
pursuers closed in, they found the car but the men and the money were
gone.”
“I remember that and also the mystery of their escape from the hundreds of
men that surrounded the woods.”
“They did not escape _through_ this fence of men, but _over_ them. As soon
as I had gone over the ground, I found tracks of where an aeroplane had made
a short run in a break in the woods and could easily have shot upwards
above the trees and away. The place was far enough from the edge of the
woods, to enable the roar of the motor to go unheard as the two men fled
away in the night.
“The run to the woods and the flight in the aeroplane was most likely
planned ahead by the two men and would have remained undiscovered had it
not been for a mark made in the soft ground by two small cuts in one of
the aeroplane tires. It was one chance in a thousand that we ever found
the aeroplane tracks and one in a million that it left the print of these
two small cuts in the tire’s tread. Hundreds of aeroplanes are being
driven across that part of the country each day and it would have been
practically impossible to find the one that made the track if it had not
been for the two small cuts. My men have informed me that the aeroplane of
Kidwell and Dexter has a tire on it with two small cuts the same size and
distance apart as the two marks left in the woods. I have just arrived and
we expect to arrest the two aviators within the next few minutes. I
thought I would notify you first, as I realize it will stop your
exhibition flight for the Fair.”
“If these two men are murderers and robbers, as you state, I want you to
arrest them at once--exhibition flight or no exhibition flight. You will
have to hurry or wait until--listen--” The President broke off and turned
his head to one side to hear better.
A roar of a multitude cheering came to the two listening men--the huge
crowd at the Grand Stand were splitting the air with deafening cheers for
something. “They are up and off.” The President continued after listening
awhile. “You will have to wait until they come down. They are up to beat
the world’s highest altitude record. Here is one of our advertisements for
today. Read it.”
Pemberton took the paper that was handed him and read the following:
“WILL TRY TO BEAT THE WORLD’S
HIGHEST ALTITUDE RECORD”
STATE FAIR--AUGUST 25, 19--
Kidwell and Dexter--the world’s most daredevil aviators will try to beat
the world’s highest altitude record for an aeroplane. They will use the
latest type of aeroplane with new wing devices for climbing and flying
in the rarefied air of miles above the earth. They will carry an extra
supply of oxygen. They will have the latest thing in wireless telephone
instruments and will be in constant communication with the receiving
station established in front of the Grand Stand. To the receiving
instrument will be attached a sound magnifier and those within a radius
of several hundred feet can listen to the account from the aviators’ own
lips as they circle up--up--up.
Don’t Forget the Place and Date
Pemberton handed the paper back and inquired, “How long will it take them
to make the flight?”
“About two or three hours is all they figured they would need,” he
answered.
Pemberton decided to go to the receiving station to listen, and the
President went with him.
The two men made their way across the crowded Fair Grounds until they came
in front of the large Grand Stand. Here a crowd of several thousand people
were jammed around a platform on which were a few men, and a table of
instruments, the largest part of which were four huge phonograph-like
horns that faced in four directions. They made their way through the crowd
and had just climbed to the platform, when a voice issued from the horns.
The words were:
“Have just reached three thousand feet.”
Looking upwards, Pemberton could see a speck circling above and rapidly
growing smaller. It was the aeroplane winging its way ever higher and
higher. He leaned over to the President, “How is it we can hear their
voices and can not hear the roar of the motor? On the ground it was
impossible to hear a voice because of the deafening roar of an aeroplane
motor.”
The President leaned over and tapped one of the men on the shoulder, who
was tinkering with the instrument, and said, “Billy, tell Mr. Pemberton
here about the wireless telephone--tell him why one can hear a voice from
above and yet not hear the roar of the motors.”
Billy dropped into a chair next to Pemberton and keeping one eye on the
instrument, explained:
“Kidwell and Dexter are using the same kind of wireless telephone
instruments that our aviators in France had begun to use when the war
ended, to communicate with each other and with headquarters. You know
sound is vibration of the air and travels in waves and in a straight line
unless turned aside by something. The aviator’s instrument is like a
helmet and covers most of his head. The receivers are flat and lie over
his ears. The outside sound is deadened by the padding in the helmet and
it was found that it would be necessary for the padding to cover most of
the lower jaw to kill the outside sound. The mouth-piece, the part they
talk into, is fastened directly in front of the mouth. It is padded to
stop the outside sound. Only a tube-like opening directly even with the
person’s mouth is left unpadded. There are three or four small holes in
the tube and when the person talks, his voice is thrown straight through
the small openings and makes the instrument work while other sounds pass
by as the waves do not get a straight entrance to the diaphragm.”
“Both the receivers and the mouth-piece have wires running to a plug in
the side of the aeroplane which connects with the batteries and instrument
that send the wireless waves in all directions and reach us; they also
catch any that we should send and transfer it to speech when it reaches
the ears. Instead of the usual receiving instrument, we have hooked on a
sound magnifier here, so that everybody can hear directly. Now the very--”
“One mile up and everything is running fine.”
The voice of one of the men from the speck above spoke from the horns. A
cheer greeted the announcement.
* * * * *
“Who is doing the talking?” Pemberton asked.
“Kidwell will do all the talking because it is he who is equipped with the
long distance sending and receiving apparatus. Dexter can talk with
Kidwell and Kidwell can talk with Dexter by changing the plug at the side
of the machine, so he is directly connected with Dexter. Dexter is the
pilot in the rear seat and will drive unless something happens. If
something should happen, Kidwell can drive as they have double controls.”
“Hey, below! We are having fun up here chasing toy balloons. Those that
have been let loose on the Fair Grounds have reached this far up. There
are twenty or thirty in sight. We have run down three or four. One was
thrown back by the propeller’s draft and hit Old “Dex” on the head and
busted. He would have jumped out of his seat if he were not tied down with
a safety belt. Thought part of the machinery had hit him, I guess. We are
climbing in circles and staying over the Fair Grounds as nearly as we can.
The hand on our instrument is gradually crawling near two miles and we can
begin to tell it is getting very cold. We feel sorry for you poor land
mortals below sweating in that 100 degrees in the shade. But say, ‘you
don’t have to stay in the shade’--Ha, Ha!”
The sound of Kidwell’s laughter from two miles above roared through the
horns. It ceased and no other sound came from above for several minutes.
“Got another balloon; caught it alive this time; going to tie my pipe to
it and drop it overboard. The pipe will pull it down. Tell the kids down
there I will give five dollars to the one who gets it and I will wring
their necks if any of them busts my pipe. Here she goes--”
Cheers and laughter greeted this last announcement and many small boys
jammed in the crowd began to crowd and squirm frantically to get out into
the center field where they could watch for Kidwell’s pipe pulling a toy
balloon down.
“You below! We are going to have trouble in just a minute. Saw several
balloons above us snatched and rushed east at a speed that makes us look
like a snail. It’s one of those terrific wind currents that different
persons have discovered two or three miles up. We will be O. K. when we
get in it, but going from slow to fast air is going to give us some rough
riding. We are starting; I can feel our old machine beginning to pitch.
Here we go!-- God, we are pitching and spinning like a leaf. We are on our
tail--now we are upside down. Over we go sideways--now we are level--whew,
we just made a complete flip-flop. It’s a wonder we hold together--we are
rocking and pitching like a row boat on a stormy ocean.
“We are getting up in the main current and don’t pitch so much. It is all
I can do to hold my dinner down. I’m sea-sick--we are heading west, but I
think we are losing several miles a minute as this terrific air current
drifts us east.”
A deadly hush fell on the crowd below as they pictured the aeroplane being
tossed and pitched about in one of the mighty air currents that are found
miles above the earth. They could see the two men fighting to keep their
machine right side up, as they fought through the eddies and whirls at the
edge of the current and into the steady but fast moving air of the center.
When Kidwell announced that they had made it, a mighty cheer went up.
Several minutes passed and no sound came from the men miles
above--then----
“Hurrah for the Liberty Motor--we just had another fight to get out of the
big current and are now in still air above it. We were pitched and flung
about, upside down and every which way, just as when we entered it. Our
Motor did not miss a lick. Old “Dex” got sick. I saw him gulping and raise
his helmet and lean over, but nothing happened. Now we are riding
smoothly. We are heading straight west instead of circling so as to gain
the distance we were carried backwards in the big air current. It is
getting cold. We are using oxygen from our tanks as the air is mighty thin
here--Dex has just called my attention to our instrument--what do you
reckon she reads?--whoop--she has touched it. She’s reached thirty
thousand feet. We’ll make it. We’ll break that old world’s altitude
record.”
A roar that shook the Grand Stand went up from the listening crowd below.
For ten minutes they cheered and flung things in the air in their
excitement. A few more minutes and the world’s highest altitude record
would belong to America once more. The cheering died down and then broke
out afresh.
“What is the world’s record?” Pemberton leaned over and shouted above the
din into the president’s ear.
“A little less than thirty-five thousand feet,” the President answered in
one of the partly quiet spells of the crowd.
“Thirty-one thousand” came from the horns,--only those right against them
could hear, but they began to relay the news. “Thirty-one thousand.”
Another deafening cheer rang out. The crowd became silent as the President
raised his hand for silence and pointed to the horns.
“Thirty-two thousand and Old Dex grinning like a frog.”
This time only a laugh from the crowd greeted the announcement. They would
hold their cheers for the last as they wanted to hear all now.
“It’s just about there--now it’s closer--just a little
more--near--nearer---- Gee, it moves slowly--just ready to touch--now it
touches--whoopee--it’s over--we have reached the world’s altitude
record--now we have passed it.”
The Grand Stand roared and shook as the crowd below let loose. Hats flew
high in the air, men thumped each other like boys. Once more the world’s
altitude record belonged to America--to the United States--brought to it
by the two dauntless aviators, far out of sight in the vast space above.
Those in the Grand Stand began to stamp and shout in unison and stopped
only when the stand threatened to break under the strains of the thousands
of thumping feet. At the rear of the mass of people, a boy with a toy
balloon struggled to get through to the platform.
“Hey, kid, look out or you’ll get hurt crowding in like that,” a man
addressed him.
“I caught the pipe,” the boy cried as he held aloft a pipe tied to the
balloon string.
“Kidwell’s pipe--Kidwell’s pipe”--the man shouted as he gathered the boy
up and held him above the crowd’s head. From hand to hand they passed the
boy to the platform, where the President of the Fair met him and led him
to the front of the platform where the boy held up the toy balloon with
the pipe tied to it. The boy was still panting, for he had caught the pipe
nearly a quarter of a mile away and had run all the way back to the crowd,
while other boys chased him. The President took a five dollar bill from
his pocket and gave it to the boy and took possession of the pipe. The boy
struck through the crowd, headed for the refreshment stands, while the
President returned to his seat.
“Forty thousand feet up and cold as fifty North Poles.”
The people became quiet with awe. Not satisfied with breaking the world’s
altitude record, these two daredevils were steadily climbing higher and
higher. Forty thousand feet--miles high--how far would they go?
“We have just noticed a queer color of the air just a short way to our
west, although we can hardly call it color. It might be just our
imagination; anyway Dex has headed the machine in that direction--yes we
notice the difference more as we get closer--turn her Dex--turn her-- My
God it’s a whirlwind--loop her back, Dex--turn----”
The last, regarding turning the machine, came from the horns in a shout
and must have been meant for Dexter. It broke off suddenly as Kidwell must
have changed the plug from below to connect with Dexter.
* * * * *
Thousands of eyes unconsciously looked upward, although all knew that it
was impossible to see to the great height the aeroplane had attained. But
all realized that something serious was happening miles above. What had
happened? Would the aeroplane come flying down from above and land a
shattered wreck?
Minutes passed and no voice was heard through the horn. The suspense
became unbearable. Several more minutes passed and at last came--
“Hello, below,--we thought we were gone that time. We ran into a whirling
draft of air of cyclone speed. Our machine was caught in it and we were
pitched over and over like a feather, whirling, tossing, and tumbling. We
were flung up--up--and up. We don’t know how far up we are now, because we
were carried upward for many minutes at many miles a minute. Our
instrument only registers sixty thousand feet and the hand reached that
mark long before we were pitched out of the whirling mass and into still
air. The current seems to come up and then turn east and we were flung to
the top side. We must be fifteen or twenty miles high--way above any
height we dreamed a person could fly. Our motor does not run as smoothly
as it did below, but it is doing fairly well. We still have to use our own
supply of oxygen. The movements of the machine are rather slow and
sluggish. It might be that we are flying in air hurled up in that mighty
up-rushing funnel of air from below. We can not understand it. We are
circling about, getting our nerve back to make a dive for the earth. If we
get through the high eastward current of air and miss the upward
whirlwind, we will be O. K. If we hit the upward whirlwind, we will be
flung back like a leaf. We can feel the intense cold through all our furs.
It must be fifty degrees below zero. Nothing but space, space, space, as
far as you can see and in every direction. You feel like loosening, your
belt, stepping on the edge of the machine and stepping off
into--nothing--you feel as though there were no world--no God--No----”
The voice broke off and then continued with a note of excitement in it.
“We have made a discovery; there are clouds up here--Dex just pointed
several out to me and we are headed for them. They seem very dense as we
get nearer.”
For several minutes the voice stopped and those below talked in suppressed
excitement. They were past the cheering stage now. What had happened miles
above the earth had made them curious and started them thinking. Then the
voice came, quivering with a tone of excitement.
“People, below! I am going to make a statement to you that will seem
unbelievable, a statement that will upset all past theories of the upper
air. If I were not sure of bringing down proofs of my statements, I would
not make it and I don’t even ask you to believe it, until we come back.
“People, below--there is vegetable and animal life here. We are now flying
above a floating island of vegetable substance while around us and above
are hundreds of other floating islands of the same substance. I have
managed to catch a small handful of the substance as it floated in the air
between the larger bodies of the same thing.
“It is nearly transparent, but has a pale greenish color. It is spongy and
tough, being made up of a rubber-like material full of thousands of small
gas pockets. It must be this gas that keeps it afloat at this great
height. It grows on long rope-like branches like sea-kelp or some kind of
moss. What we took for clouds were great masses of this plant matted
together and floating about. I believe we could walk on these islands, but
it would be impossible to land our aeroplane for it would sink too deep to
get it out again.
* * * * *
“We have seen a small bat-like animal fly from one island to another.
Another of the same kind of creatures is flying alongside us and keeps
turning its head to watch us as though it wonders what we are. I believe
it is as much surprised to see us as we are to see it. Dex has just
notified me that he will try to run it down and wants me to catch or kill
it. We must bring down proofs or we would never dare tell of such things
as are up here. Here we go--we are after the bat-like animal. Zip!--the
blamed little thing is gone; it was just fooling along with us and when we
whirled to reach it, it shot away like a bullet. They are too speedy for
us to run down. I was close enough to see that it was nearly the size and
shape of a bat, except that it had a head like a bird with large owl-like
eyes, and had a beak instead of a mouth with teeth. It was of the same
pale sickly green like the plants we have found.
“Dex has spied something else ahead and is pointing for me to see but I
fail to make it out. Now I see it. It is something long twisting through
the air. It is turning and coming this way. It is another animal, or a
reptile for it is more like a snake. No, not like a snake either, for it
is about ten feet long and flat as can be. Its head is also formed with a
beak. It looks like a huge ribbon floating through the air. It has turned
and is flying above and to one side of us, looking down at us while it
winds its way along. If we can get within striking distance, I will take a
swipe at it with a wrench. I would like to bring it down--Look out,
Dex--now--hold her steady.”
The last came in a shouted command and must have been meant for Dexter,
then----
“That queer snake-like thing turned and in a flash had straightened out in
a line and shot down on us like a bullet. It hit the top of our right wing
and went through as though the wing were a spider web. Then it struck one
of our stay wires and was split long ways for a foot or more. It clung to
the wire, thrashing about, a blood of that pale greenish color oozing out.
When I was ready to go out on the wing and try to get it, it fell on the
lower plane and was blown off. It fell below to the plant island over
which we are flying now. If it had struck either of us, it would have been
death. A short distance more and we will make the dive for earth as our
oxygen supply is getting low. I have been catching stray pieces of the
plants of which the islands are made and have a bunch packed in the bottom
of my cockpit. There is also a large bunch caught in the wires of our left
wing and several small bunches caught in other places. These might hold
fast until we get down. I have been wondering if the change of pressure on
the plant and animals--if we can catch any animals to bring down--will
cause them to contract. The effect on them should be just the opposite of
the effect on the fish that have been brought up from two miles or more
under the sea; when they came up, the pressure was so much less that some
swelled up and exploded. I believe these animals would be pressed together
more if brought to the denser air of the earth’s surface. This plant up
here might be made good use of below at some future time and if--of all
the sights--what monsters! What fierce fighting monsters. Look at the
great gashes they are tearing in each other. They can’t last.
“Oh, I forgot, you below--we just turned a half circle around the end of a
medium sized floating island and have come upon one of the most awful
battles between two of the biggest and fiercest of monsters. One is like a
large flying alligator, except that it has a huge beak and large bat-like
wings. The other is shaped like an octopus, but has flat arms and two
large balloon-like appendages on its back. It has a hellish beak. They are
closed in one biting, clawing and choking mass. We are circling them and
watching. The flying alligator just laid open one of the devil-fish of the
air’s balloons. It shrank as though it were full of gas. Now they are
whirling on the air so fast you can hardly tell what is happening. The
alligator has lost the use of one of its wings. The octopus has wrapped
several of its arms around it. They are starting to sink. They’re
dropping, two of the arms, bitten off. Everything up here is that sickly
green, both monsters are that color and they are bleeding the green blood
--if it is blood. They are now covered with gashes all over their bodies.
They can’t last much longer. There goes the other balloon. It shrinks--now
they are falling.
* * * * *
“They don’t stop fighting. We are following them down and still circling
around them. The two fighting air demons have fallen on the big island
below us. They are hardly able to move. The alligator devil is now on top
and rending the octopus to shreds. Its days are over. The flying
alligator--for I don’t know what else to call it--is victor, but it will
never be able to fly again. One wing is completely torn in shreds and the
other is not much better. Its body is full of big wounds. The din of their
screams and clashing of their beaks must have been awful. Where they came
from or what they were fighting about, we do not know. It was one of the
most terrific and most awe-inspiring sights, man ever witnessed.
“The flying alligator has risen on its hind legs and is trying to lunge
itself into the air, but it can only flutter like a broken-winged bird. It
is giving out its cry, as we can see by the motion of its beak.
“Dex shut off the motor for an instant and drifted close over its head. It
uttered a piercing scream like a thousand wild cat whistles, and lunged up
for us. I hate to think what would have happened if it had been able to
fly. I believe it would have rent us in pieces in a second. We are leaving
here right now, for Dex has pointed out another flying alligator about a
mile away, which is coming this way. It must be answering the wounded
one’s cries. It is traveling fast and coming from the north. We can see
its giant, bat-like wings beating the air and it rises and falls at each
stroke. We are speeding westward and as soon as we reach the edge of this
extra large floating island over which we are flying, we will dive for the
earth. We can not see the edge, but it cannot be over a mile or so. We
have left the wounded flying alligator about a half mile back, and the
other monster has already reached it and has circled above it once.
“God, it has turned and is headed after us, its huge wings beating faster
than before. We must reach the edge and dive, for it travels twice as fast
as our sluggish-acting machine. I am not scared, for I can see the edge
about two miles ahead and we will reach it before the demon can overtake
us. Another has dropped from above where the wounded alligator is and it,
also, is now headed after us. Miles above the earth and being chased by
two hideous monsters. Have you ever noticed birds flying? When they beat
their wings downwards, they not only go forward, but partly upward as
well, and when they raise their wings for another stroke, they sink a
little instead of keeping a straight course ahead. That is the way these
demons fly. Dex is giving our machine all it will take.
“The two demons are going fast, but we will reach the edge before they can
catch us. God help us, another monster and straight ahead. We can not go
that way and must turn south or north. No, not north for I see two coming
from that direction. We are nearly surrounded and our only hope is south.
I see the edge south, but it is a mile farther away than west. But we will
make it. I don’t see any of the demons coming from that direction. Our
machine is roaring at full speed, but we are not making over fifty or
sixty miles in this rarefied air. The demons of this upper air are flying
twice as fast and now there are nearly a dozen close on our trail and
swiftly gaining.... We are near the edge and our danger is over. A minute
more and we would have been lost, for now there are two monsters in front
of us. We are surrounded, but we will reach the edge and will head down
like a bullet before they can get near enough to head us off. Their
screams are bringing other monsters from all directions.
“Just passed one of those hideous flying devil-fish and see another ahead
and above us. We are just at the edge and are tipping down for our long
dive. Will be with you in a few---- Dex, Dex, look out for the devil-fish.
For God’s sake, look, Dex---- Oh, God, too late-- We are done. Our
propeller is shattered, we are falling. Look out below-- No, we have
fallen on the edge of the island. We are tearing through. No we have
stopped. God, we are in a fix. The devil-fish flung itself at us and into
our propeller and wrecked it and blocked the controls and we fell straight
down. We are within a few hundred feet of the edge, the weight of the
machine has sunk us until we rest in a sloping crater about fifty feet
deep. The monsters are arriving and flying in circles above us. Our motor
is quiet and when we raise our receivers, the screams and snapping of
their giant beaks almost deafen us. Our only hope now is to reach the edge
and trust ourselves to our safety parachutes.”
For several minutes the horns were quiet and the people jammed around them
listening for further word from the two men in the void above. They
whispered together in low under-tones and every minute or so their eyes
traveled upward in an attempt to pierce the blind of the miles distance.
But in vain. At last--it seemed hours, though it was only a few
minutes--the voice came again.
“We took our parachutes from their holders on the side of the machine and
started up to the top of the sink-hole we are in. The monsters began to
come closer as we neared the top and one made a dive for us, so we
retreated to the machine. They seem to be afraid to come into this pit we
are in. We found a place on one side of the pit where the vegetable has
been pulled until it has pulled apart and we can see below. We are going
to this hole now and enlarge it sufficiently to enable us to drop
through--all is clear below--so good-bye, but watch for us to come sailing
down soon. We are carrying oxygen tanks with us to breathe.”
The voice ceased and the crowd began to watch above for any specks that
might turn out to be the two men and their parachutes. Many minutes
passed, then the voice came, a voice filled with a tone of despair and
terror.
* * * * *
“They got poor Dexter. He went first, after we had enlarged the hole, and
before he had dropped five hundred feet a dozen of the monsters were after
him. Helpless in the parachute, they dived on him and dragged him up to
the top of the island and tore him to shreds. Now they are screaming and
snapping their beaks above this pit and are swooping nearer and nearer.
Their taste of blood seems to have made them wilder. I will fight them
from the cockpit and if I can hold out until night, I might drop through
the hole and escape in the darkness. I have broken a spar loose for a
club. They are coming closer. I struck at that one. It just missed my
head. They are gathering in a bunch. They are diving for me in one mass.
I’m lost--Good-bye.”
A shriek of a man in mortal agony and terror rang out in the air, followed
by a shriek from the crowd. Then all was still. The people knew all was
over in the far upper air. Men stood gazing upward, ghastly white, while
women buried their faces in their hands and wept.
A dull thud was heard at the far side of the infield and people began to
gather there on a run. A hole showed where something had fallen with
enough force to bury itself. Hurriedly digging, they unearthed an oxygen
tank, one of the tanks that Kidwell and Dexter had taken up with them. A
cry from some people as they pointed aloft drew thousands of eyes in that
direction. Fluttering and falling, something was coming down. Several
hands grabbed it as soon as it came within reach. One uttered a cry and
let go. He held up his hands in horror. They were wet with fresh blood.
A broken and torn part of an aeroplane wing, spattered with red blood,
fell. Kidwell and the aeroplane must have been torn to pieces by the
demons of the far upper air, and the tank and pieces of the plane
scattered over the edge of the floating vegetable island, must have fallen
to earth.
Another shout and once more all looked aloft. The air was full in all
directions with thousands of fluttering pieces that looked like paper.
When they fell among the crowd a shout of surprise went up.
“Money--Money--One dollar bills.”
Over the ground for miles around the Fair Grounds there fell a shower of
one dollar bills. This was the last thing ever heard or seen of the two
men and the aeroplane.
A few weeks later Pemberton and the President of the State Fair were
talking in the President’s office. The President spoke:
“I have had two different planes up since Kidwell and Dexter were lost.
The men went armed with shot guns and prepared for trouble. They were
unable to find any upward current of air and they cruised all around in
search of it. I am informed, though, that such a current would not
necessarily always be in the same place, else it might stop altogether,
just like winds near the earth. I have given up hope of anybody reaching
the scene of the awful tragedy above.”
“If there ever was an awful tragedy above,” Pemberton added. The President
looked at him in blank surprise.
“What?”
“I say if there ever was an awful tragedy above--if Kidwell and Dexter
ever did get over two or three miles high.”
“What? Don’t you think that Kidwell and Dexter were killed by the monsters
many miles above the earth, as they described? Why do you think they
weren’t?”
Pemberton slowly answered:
“I don’t know what to think. There is no reason for my doubting the truth
of their death miles above the earth. I have gone over it all hundreds of
times, yet I can not make up my mind whether far above float the remains
of two of the bravest men, or whether far away on the earth’s surface are
two of the slickest rascals that ever lived. Did what Dexter described
really happen or did they fly above out of our sight and concoct the
story? Did they cast down an oxygen tank, smear blood on a piece of plane
that they might have taken with them for the purpose, and cast it down to
fool us? A small cut on a finger might have furnished the blood, and they
might have cast down part of the stolen money. Why did only one dollar
bills come down? Where are the half-million dollars of large bills? They
could be floating far above with the wrecked plane. Where is the upward
whirlwind? Still, it might have moved or died out. We might have listened
to one of the most awful death struggles, or we might have been the
victims of one of the cleverest jokes ever played on the public. And the
men escaped with half a million dollars. Who knows?
THE END
[Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in the Winter Edition, 1928 issue
of _Amazing Stories Quarterly_ magazine.]
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