Chatterbox, 1905 Part 122

'No,' Charlie said, firmly; 'not until we have got your treasure.'

'But do you know what was on that poster?'

'We have a very good idea, I fancy. An order to kill all foreigners, was it not?'

'Yes. Shall we escape?'

'No. Hurry on to Chin Choo's.'

Ping w.a.n.g again led them through narrow, dirty streets until they caught sight of Chin Choo's house. When they were about fifty yards from it, they saw the gates thrown open and the mandarin's palanquin borne out.

From the shouts of the man with the whip who ran ahead of it, they knew that Chin Choo was inside.

'That is good,' Ping w.a.n.g whispered. 'Now that Chin Choo is out, the servants will start gambling and smoking opium. We need not fear being disturbed by them.'

In less than five minutes they arrived at the spot where they had decided to start their undertaking. They looked up and down the road, and, seeing no one about, Ping w.a.n.g climbed the wall.

'It is very easy,' he said, when he reached the top; 'the drop on the other side is only about six feet.'

He disappeared into Chin Choo's grounds and Fred at once scaled the wall. Charlie was about to follow him, and had already climbed five or six feet from the ground, when he heard some one approaching, and, before he was able to decide whether to jump down or continue climbing, his left foot was seized and tugged so viciously that he came down with a rush on top of his a.s.sailant.

In an instant he was on his feet again, ready to defend himself from any further attack. Looking down at the person on whom he had fallen, he saw to his astonishment that it was the cart-woman who had caused him so much annoyance before.

She lay glaring at Charlie, speechless and panting. But he had barely recognised her when he heard a shout of 'Foreigners!' and looking round saw the woman's husband running at him. He jumped quickly aside, and to defend himself s.n.a.t.c.hed up one of the legs of pork, which had been left on the ground.

He rushed at the Chinaman, who, being a great coward, immediately turned about and fled. But Charlie was upon him in a moment, and with the leg of pork dealt him a blow on the back of the head, which sent him sprawling on the ground. A knife fell from his hand and Charlie at once seized it. The woman, seeing what had befallen her husband, scrambled to her feet and toddled to him shouting, 'Foreigners!' as she went. To prevent her being heard Fred clapped his hand over her mouth, and, in spite of her biting it, kept it there.

Meanwhile Ping w.a.n.g and Fred had scrambled back, hearing the noise. They joined Charlie, and between them managed to tie the Chinaman's pigtail round the woman's neck, so that neither could move without difficulty.

'Now let us leave them,' Ping w.a.n.g said, and they started running. But before they had gone many yards they heard the Chinaman and his wife shouting frantically, 'Foreigners! Kill the foreigners!'

Their shouts were heard by others, also, and a man rushed forward to stop them, but Charlie raised his knife threateningly and the fellow ran. Nevertheless, he too shouted 'Foreigners!' and, gathering together some friends, started in pursuit. At every few yards others joined in the chase.

'Where are you going to take us?' Charlie asked of Ping w.a.n.g, after glancing back at the mob pursuing them.

'To the gates,' Ping w.a.n.g answered. 'This is our way.'

They turned into one of the narrow streets which they had traversed earlier in the evening, and, as they ran at full speed along it, here and there men came out of their houses to see what the noise meant. They heard the shouts of 'Foreigners!' but the average Chinaman has a great respect for his skin, and consequently not one of the men who saw the Pages and Ping w.a.n.g rush by attempted to stop them.

'I'm done up,' Ping w.a.n.g gasped before long; 'our only chance is to hide.'

The next street was a short one, and the Pages were surprised after what Ping w.a.n.g had said about being tired to see him sprint along it. They followed close on his heels, and when he stopped at the end of it, they did the same. Instead of crossing the wide road which faced them, Ping w.a.n.g turned to the right, and after walking quickly for about thirty yards made another turn to the right which brought them into a narrow street running parallel with the one down which they had sprinted. There was no one visible; all the residents were evidently at the feast. Ping w.a.n.g stopped at the second house and pressed his hand against the door, which opened. He peeped into the place, and, seeing no one, entered stealthily, the Pages following quickly and equally cautiously. As soon as they were in, Ping w.a.n.g shot the bolt of the door. It was a dark and dirty room in which the fugitives found themselves, and by the faint light of a lantern they could see that it was a poverty-stricken place.

(_Continued on page 374._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Charlie s.n.a.t.c.hed up one of the legs of pork."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He steered his balloon round the Eiffel Tower."]

CRUISERS IN THE CLOUDS.

XI.--MODERN AERONAUTS AND THEIR AIR-s.h.i.+PS.

At an electrical exhibition held at Paris in 1881, most of the sightseers were very interested in a little model balloon which had been made by two famous balloonists, Messrs. Gaston and Albert Tissandier. It was quite unlike any balloon ever seen before. The silk bag for containing the gas was long and pointed at either end, and floated horizontally in the air, so that at a little distance it was not unlike a fish without a tail, though a sheet of canvas, shaped like a fish's tail, was placed beneath the balloon at the rear end to be used as a rudder. Suspended by a number of slender ropes, which met under the centre of the gas-bag, were the car for the sailors and a small electric engine for driving a powerful screw, the wings of which striking against the air would propel the 's.h.i.+p' at the rate of some nine feet a second. The baby balloon may be said to have set the example for all modern air-s.h.i.+ps, though others something like it had been built before. Two years later Messrs. Tissandier made a large copy of their model, and ascended on October 8th, 1883. As the screw succeeded in driving the balloon forward at a greater speed than that at which the wind was blowing, they were able to steer a course, just as the steamboats on the St. Lawrence River are able to shoot the rapids in safety by putting on full steam and over-racing the current. Messrs. Tissandier repeated their experiment in November, 1883, and actually drove their balloon against the wind for a short distance.

As night overtook them while on this triumphant journey they did not attempt to return by balloon to Paris, but descended in the country two hours after leaving the capital.

Such was the first successful effort to steer a balloon, and it was not long before many aeronauts were following in their steps. In 1884 the air-s.h.i.+p 'France,' with Captains Krebs and Renard on board, was watched by a large crowd as it sailed from Meudon, near Paris, and after a wonderful flight came back against the wind to the place from which it started. Five more similar voyages were made, and in each the 'France'

showed great obedience to the rudder and sail. But all these experiments were very expensive, and involved great danger. It was found, moreover, that the machinery necessary for driving the screw could not be made light enough to be really suitable. Thus there was not much heard about steerable balloons until some years later, when M. Santos Dumont began his cruises--and many strange adventures he has had.

Instead of the electric engine used by the Tissandiers, he employed the small petrol engine out of a motor tricycle. With this he started on his aerial voyages. But before we follow him we must look at his s.h.i.+p for a moment. From each end of the long balloon he allows a cord to hang, supporting a small weight. These are to enable him to alter his course upward or downward. If he wishes to travel upwards, he pulls into the car, by means of a thin cord, the weight which is hanging in front.

This, of course, allows the head of the balloon to rise, at the same time changing the angle of the screw in the rear so that it drives the balloon upward. When he pulls the rear weight into the car, the reverse takes place. The car, the engine, and the screw are all suspended from the silk envelope by piano wires, so that it looks, from the ground, as though M. Santos Dumont were moving about in a spider's web.

On one of the first cruises the balloon behaved very well while floating at a great height, but when he descended into denser atmosphere, the gas contracted in the long thin bag, and he saw with horror that it was doubling up 'like a pocket-knife.' This made some of the cords so much tighter than others that at any moment they might cut through the silk and send him to the earth like a stone. Yet it was no use throwing out ballast, though to rise into thinner atmosphere might have put the balloon right again. 'I _must_ descend sooner or later,' thought the aeronaut, 'so why not now?'

Beneath him lay a gra.s.sy stretch of country on which a number of boys were flying their kites. As he rapidly drew nearer, M. Santos Dumont, leaning from his basket, called to them to seize the guide-rope, which had already reached the ground, and _run with it as fast as they could against the wind_. The boys were sharp-witted, and obeyed at once. The speed of the descent was checked by the rush of wind, and the voyager landed in safety.

Misadventures of this sort have only increased the keenness with which M. Santos Dumont pursues his studies. The princ.i.p.al triumph he has yet secured was won some three years ago, when he steered his balloon round the Eiffel Tower and back to the starting-point. It only meant a distance of some fourteen miles in all, but it carried him to fame and honour in half an hour, and the Government of his native country (Brazil) had a gold medal struck to commemorate the event. Never before had the power of navigating the skies been proved so thoroughly. But it was not accomplished without several unsuccessful attempts. On one occasion the engine stopped when the winning-post was only a few yards away. Another time, the balloon lost gas through a faulty valve, and some of the suspension wires slackened so much that they caught in the whirling screw, which was beating itself into shreds. The traveller instantly stopped the engine, and found himself the next moment drifting dangerously near to the Eiffel Tower. It was safer under the circ.u.mstances to let the s.h.i.+p sink, and a few minutes later, like a vessel being driven on the rocks, the aeronaut's car crashed against the roof of a large hotel, the framework of the air-s.h.i.+p lodging itself at last over a deep courtyard, with its occupant in mid-air. From this perilous position he was rescued by a party of firemen. In each of these misadventures M. Santos Dumont reads some lesson for the improvement of his s.h.i.+ps, so that the day _may_ come when he will be able to show us an aerial vessel in which even timid people might travel without anxiety.

THE SLATE'S STORY.

Said the Pencil to the Slate, 'We've been strangers, sir, of late, And 'tis many weeks, I fancy, since we met; There was surely something wrong To have parted us so long; But _if_ I've heard the reason, I forget.'

Then the Slate looked blank, and said, With a voice of pain and dread, 'Ah, yes! for days we've both been in disgrace, For Master Johnny Scott Shunned the lesson he had got, And used us both to draw a funny face.'

'Now, of course, I needn't say That such deeds will never pay-- A fact which Johnny realises now-- For the picture that he drew, With a sunny smile or two, Was rubbed out with a frown upon his brow.

'And the teacher said that day We should both be put away Till Johnny understood his duty plain, And _that_ he now has done, For I hear his laugh of fun: The cloud has pa.s.sed, and--here we are again!'

PUZZLERS FOR WISE HEADS.

16.--ANAGRAMS: NAMES OF FAMOUS MONARCHS.

1. A deer next; lag at her.

2. Real name C. H.

3. Quiz! he bet an eel.

4. A racer! Shut in foes.

5. I. E. into tan tear me.

6. Part coal E.