And then, even as he looked, the higher peak of the mountain appeared
directly underneath; and, with instinctive recklessness, he gave the
“Steering-lever” a yank which turned the machine “on its tail” at a
sharp right-angle--missing a spill by a fraction of a hair--jerked
another lever which tipped it into a practically-perpendicular
“nosedive,” snapped that lever back again and righted himself,
shoved down the helicopter lever and touched the button which shot that
corkscrew-like device aloft going at “Maintenance-of-Altitude” speed,
yanked back the lever of the rear propeller which brought that
instrument rattling back into its pocket where it roared in a harmless
fury--and, with a jolt, came to a full stop; while beads of perspiration
broke out on his forehead at his narrow escape, though a triumphant
smile played about his lips as he thought of the sensation he would
create in the next “Aerial Olympic,” and his brain registered the mental
note for future reference that it was his rear propeller going full
speed “in reverse,” that had held him and saved a spill on that acute,
right-angle turn.
* * * * *
A glance at his “Electro-visional” showed that he was parallel with, and
but a few feet away from, the top of the cliff above Parker Pass; and
the first thing he saw was Esmeralda’s biplane with its nose buried in a
cake of ice. But its “Spark-screen Broadcaster” was humming merrily, and
its rear “spot-light” revealed the details below, behind the “screen,”
in vivid detail.
Directly below the wrecked biplane, he quickly discovered his beloved
Esmeralda standing waist-deep in the snow, with one arm raised as if to
repel an expected attack, and still clad in the “picture-frame” costume
which had caused their row. A glimpse at his “Exterior Temperature”
indicator which registered “60° below zero,” caused a fleeting fear of
dire results from her bare-skinned exposure; but a reflection on the
proven ability of the “female of the species” for facing wintry blasts
in scanty attire, quickly chased his fears away, and he turned his
attention to the direction indicated by her upraised, protesting arm.
And then--TO AN ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, HE DISCOVERED THE FIGURE OF A
MONSTROUS ROYAL BENGAL TIGER ON THE LEDGE ABOVE HER, WHICH WAS POISED IN
THE ATTITUDE FOR ITS FINAL, FATAL SPRING UPON ITS PREY!
With frantic energy he “yanked-down” the “Landing” lever of the
helicopter, grabbed the parachute, pushed the button which “unstoppered”
the “bottle,” and jumped--making the descent in “record” time, but
landing so violently that he was buried in the snow, because, in his
panic, he forgot to pull the string of his parachute until he was
two-thirds down.
A momentary fear of being smothered in the snow, was followed by a spasm
of skilled “football” tactics in “bucking” and squirming his way out;
and, floundering frantically towards his beloved, he yelled at the top
of his voice:
“Esmeralda! My darling! I am here!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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