Imaginary wars and battles -- Fiction; Science fiction
Towards sundown the forward planes were manned and in quick
succession shot down the runways and took to the air. Ethel and her
companions were below air the time and hardly knew what was going
on. Their luggage had been taken up some time ago, except for an
extra kima, which they had been ordered to put on. In their turn
they were now called out and ordered to go above, that is, the names
of the men were called and Ethel knew that she was listed as Madame
Komoru, a thing that made her shiver every time it was brought to
her attention.
An exclamation or astonishment escaped the lips of the more
impulsive American girl as she came on deck; for as far as the eye
could see the gray flat tops of the war vessels were covered with
the drab-winged planes, while every few seconds a plane shot into
the air and joined an endless winged line that stretched away to the
northeast.
"Komoru eighty-five: Oshima eighty-six."
The intent of that command was clear and Ethel was soon settled
immediately behind the young secretary in the little bamboo car of a
Japanese plane-of-war.
The propeller started with a shrill musical hum; they raced down the
runway; dipped for a second toward the water; rose, and sailed
swiftly up and on toward the dark line of Mexico, that lay in the
evening shadow cast by the curved surface of the Pacific Ocean.
(To be continued.)
PART TWO.
In the Clutch of the War-God
THE TALE OF THE ORIENT'S INVASION OF THE OCCIDENT, AS CHRONICLED IN
THE HUMANICULTURE SOCIETY'S "NOTES ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY".
By Milo Hastings
Synopsis of Previous Installment: In the year
1958, Ethel Calvert, a daughter of an American
grain-merchant, residing in Japan, because of her
father's death in an anti-foreign riot, is forced
to take refuge with Madame Oshima, the French wife
of a Japanese scientist. She becomes accustomed to
the mode of living followed by the Japanese, and
is finally persuaded to adopt the costume of the
land of her exile. War is declared between Japan
and the United States, and Professor Oshima, and
Komoru, his Secretary, together with Madame Oshima
and Ethel Calvert, sail for United States in a
Japanese war vessel. When near the Pacific Coast,
the many men and women who have been passengers on
the vessel, leave the ship by means of aeroplanes,
and sail eastwardly over Southern California.
The air cut by Ethel's face at a ninety-mile gait, and she gripped
nervously at the hand-rails of the car. Then, regaining confidence,
she began to drink in the novel view about her. Ahead were the
drab-winged aeroplanes growing smaller and smaller until they became
mere specks against the darkening sky. She turned to the rear and
watched the myriads of humans, like birds, rising from the
transports that still lay in the sunshine. There were literally
thousands of them. She wondered if human eyes had ever before
witnessed so marvelous a sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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