Hugh McAlister

“ Nine o’clock; fifteen minutes past; and then—three long blasts from the city’s sirens sent men, women and children rushing for vantage points. Traffic came spontaneously to an end.
She had come; the silver ship, the Moonbeam! Her engines roaring, her silver gray sides gleaming in the searchlights, she appeared suddenly as she dropped through a floor of mist, and hung so low over the city that it was easy to see the passengers crowded at the windows of the cabin. The usual calm of the Japanese disappeared, and wild shouts of “Banzai!” rent the air. ”

“ The crew’s quarters were searched. Men in their soft overalls and felt shoes swarmed over the catwalks in the vast hull and looked in every conceivable place where a packet of papers might have been hidden. A cloud rested on the Moonbeam. Everyone was anxious and angry.
The case seemed more flagrant on account of David’s popularity. Not a man of the ship, officers, passengers or crew, who was not wholly devoted to the young captain. Everyone rejoiced in his success. The manner in which he had piloted the ship through storm and calm aroused in them an unselfish pride. ”

“ Behind and over him were human beings; the passengers, officers, and crew, all sleeping serenely and confidently in this immensity of space. Europe was slipping by beneath them. Somehow David discovered that its civilization and its eager interest in their progress was a comfort, a spiritual safeguard. Now, indeed, they were about to fare into a wild and savage country, where there were no hangars, and no materials for repairs. No landing crews would swarm over the Siberian wastes to seize the ropes and ease the stranger to the earth, should she desire to come. ”

“ On the bent and sagging running board sat its owners, David Ellison and Red Ryan. Over three years had passed since the day David had been enrolled as a student in the Goodlow school for apprentices; three years of hard and often discouraging work, but the work had developed him. He was no longer a diffident boy. Manhood sat easily on his broad shoulders. Looking at him, Red Ryan’s honest and loyal heart swelled with pride. He wondered if David had the least idea of his own success. ”

“ It was not yet dawn, but a vast mob packed the field. For months the building of the great dirigible had been followed, detail by detail, by an interested public. Her plans, charts and dimensions had appeared in all the leading newspapers and magazines, accompanied by long articles.
Finally came the news of her completion. The announcement of the round-the-world flight as her maiden effort was the spark which caused the enthusiasm of the public to burst into flame. A year ago they had watched the detailed accounts of the Graf Zeppelin, as radiograms marked her flight. ”

“ At seven that evening, going ninety-eight miles an hour, they passed Chicago, the city roaring back at their roaring engines.
At eleven Detroit appeared, her forests of chimneys belching flames of greeting, while hundreds of brazen factory whistles screeched their welcome.
No one on the ship thought of bed. The passengers, crowded into the salon, watched the calm starlit night, listened to the thunder of the engines, and talked. At twelve the myriad lights of Cleveland appeared, crossed and recrossed below them, like chains of diamonds and fire opals. ”

“ The Moonbeam was trying to surpass the record of their own Graf Zeppelin, but there was no resentment.
One ferocious-looking and red-faced general in the Air Corps stared hard at David as he walked away, then exploded, “And where iss your captain?”
“There is our captain and pilot, general,” said Mr. Hammond, bowing.
“Gott in Himmel, he iss a poy, chust a poy! Do you Americans set children, then, to sail your ships?”
“Not quite, general,” answered Mr. Hammond, smiling, “but Captain Ellison is one in a million; a genius in his chosen field. ”

“ Last night in the car I know that chauffeur understood what he said. These people are so perfectly and beautifully polite; so gentle, and self-effacing, and yet so efficient. You must meet Prince Hata, Red. He simply oozes aristocracy, yet Doctor Trigg hugged him and called him his dear boy, and now he’s taken them off to find old jade and tombstones. And that man last night who put us in the car. He never smiled when dear Doctor Trigg spouted his Japanese at him. He was so proud of his Japanese and, Red, he had looked at the wrong line in the book! ”

“ Later, as they entered the observation room, after removing their overalls, Red grunted. “Everything looks okay,” he said, “but I wish Miss Hammond was at home in her own house, instead of bummin’ along up here a mile or so from anything more solid and endurin’ than a stiff breeze.”
“You’re right,” said David. “Honest, Red, she is the nicest kid, and such a good sport.”
“I think so,” said Red. “Gosh, did you feel the car shake then? We struck a crack in the wind. Yep, Miss Hammond is the real thing, all right. She is so nice to everybody. Why, she treats me just as good as she does you, Dave.” ”

“ Now, spurning the reclaimed earth, they have taken their indomitable courage and their boundless enthusiasm, Sims, into the limitless sea of the air, whose currents and eddies and tempests are more treacherous and terrible than ever beset any ocean. ”

“ The ground crew used the largest of the Japanese dirigibles for their maneuvers.
The weather was hot, but beautiful and clear. All nature seemed in league to show Japan at its loveliest. At Tokio, as the morning passed, thousands of tireless eyes searched the sky for the first sight of their splendid visitor. Afternoon came, and dragged by, and still the masses of people watched and listened for the siren which was to sound the tidings of her arrival. Newsboys swarmed everywhere, with extras containing the latest reports of the ship’s location. ”

“ He knew Dulcie Hammond.
“She didn’t bother with a choice. She says the ship is named Moonbeam.”
“It is a splendid name. Harry, you don’t know how fine that ship is going to be. She will be the most beautiful ship in the air.”
“I want her to be,” said Mr. Hammond with a dogged, grim look that Colonel Porter knew of old. “I am planning to show that ship to the world, Port. She has got to be perfect. What do you think of following the course of the Graf Zeppelin, for a starter, and beating the G. Z.’s time?” ”

“ John Harrison Hammond, who added the strength of his millions to the Goodlow holdings at Ayre.
The erection of the great new hangar, or dock, was a story in itself. Even in this day of architectural and engineering miracles, the building was unbelievably huge. It was the largest airport factory and dock in the world. Its floor was a vast concrete spread, the largest uninterrupted floor area yet built. Over this rose the dock structure, a cavernous semi-paraboloid building. From the passing airplane, it looked like a peanut or a silkworm cocoon. ”

“ They saw skeins of queer raw silk, and were given a strand for a souvenir.
Then they went down to the wharves; and saw the agile little fishermen on their slow-moving boats.
“Those boats look nice and peaceful,” said Red, staring at a dark, sullen ship.
“Their dreadnaughts, over at Yokohama, are not so peaceful. They have to have ’em for protection,” said David. “All countries have to have protective navies.”
“They sure looked as though they could protect, all right.”
“We will try to go to Yokohama,” said the guide, “but not today. Not plenty enough time.” ”

“ The last workmen crawled out of the hull, while decorators reverently closed the door of the great passenger gondola. Every bag, cord, wire, seam, every bolt and screw had been tested and retested. She hung aloft in the vast hangar, a beautiful and majestic thing, ready for the infinite. David gazed and gazed.
“Before I managed to ditch school,” said Red unexpectedly at his side, “they read us about a place called Mount Olympus. Grand big women lived there. Goddesses. Not real, you know, but I got an awful kick out of ’em. And the Moonbeam; ain’t she a goddess? ”

“ THE CONTROL ROOM Mr. Hammond had no occasion to worry over Dulcie’s welcome. After a hearty laugh all round at her father’s expense, she became, as Doctor Trigg said, “the child of the regiment.” Her sunny presence raised the morale of the whole ship. Only Red groaned.
“We’ve got to keep topside-upside now, whatever happens,” he said.
Doctor Trigg took her under his special care, muttering to Doctor Sims, “More youthful enthusiasm, my boy; more youthful enthusiasm! She wants to fly, too, you see.” ”

“ Am startin’ on a world cruise in the Moonbeam on the fifteenth of June. What’s to be done about it?’ That will stop him all right.”
“I can’t think of a greater thing to have happen to us,” mused David. “Around the world, Red! Get it? Seeing all those countries, and meeting so many people. The first American dirigible to fly around the world!”
“Yes,” said Red, “and having those blessed engines right where I can keep an eye on them, day and night. Going full blast, and me with an ear for every beat. I’m just crazy with joy, Dave. Let’s go and get a sody.” ”

“ When he saw me, he quit kicking Van Arden and grabbed me. David was a welcome sight. Fact is,” he suddenly sobered, “he would have done for me, Davie. I never saw anything like his strength. You’d have thought I was a baby. Why, he was choking me and trying to tap me with the wrench, all at the same time.”
“Have more tea,” Dulcie shuddered. “And you, too, David.”
“Thanks, no. I’m all bucked up,” said David, and left them to go forward.
“Take the wheel, David, while I see how Fraine is,” Mr. Hammond said, as David came again into the control room. ”

“ Then began such a story of Japan and of Tokio that the past lived and the present blossomed for them. The Japanese, he said, had never been a roving people. They did not live by conquest. Japan’s rulers are well beloved, guiding their industrious subjects with kindly wisdom, as they forge ahead in agriculture and the arts on a high plane of civilization. Centuries ago, while all the rest of the world was new and racked by conflict, civil and foreign, the Japanese were taught to read and write. ”

“ The luncheon lasted far into the afternoon. The ceremonies attending the presentation of the medals were long and dignified. When the big, glittering, bejeweled bauble had been pinned on Mr. Hammond’s coat, with many suave and pleasant words from the donors, and when Mr. Hammond had replied with thanks and prophecies for the welding of nations through aviation, David felt his muscles tighten. Now he would get a medal pinned on him, but he wouldn’t have to speak. He hadn’t spoken in Friedrichshafen, so why here? ”

“ David flushed, then looked at her squarely. “You are the best of all, Dulcie. The best little pal; the truest, squarest kid. All I hope is that you won’t forget me when we get back to Ayre.”
“Don’t you worry,” Dulcie said grimly. “You can’t escape, poor dear! I’m a big, rough woman, Davie. Didn’t you see daddy, all six-feet-three of him, trying to sneak off in the Moonbeam without me? What happened, I ask you?”
David laughed. “Gosh, you would have scared anyone.”
“Well, then, have another cup of tea, to celebrate.” ”

“ That night the company dispersed very early. The altitude, the crisp untainted air and the novelty combined to make everyone sleepy. Mr. Hammond was in the best of spirits. Tail winds had helped them on, they had used all the engines, and were already three hours ahead of the schedule of the Graf Zeppelin.
Thursday morning, the seventeenth of June, found the ship sailing serenely along over a floor of heavy clouds. The sun shone brightly, and the air was even, but there was a low humming in the wires that disturbed David. He found Red in his cubicle, and told him that he looked for a storm. ”

“ When I get home I am going to learn to speak German and French and Spanish, some Italian, a little Scandahoovian, and enough Czechoslovakian to put me across.”
“You are going to be busy,” Dulcie said grimly.
“Well, joking aside,” David continued, “an aviator ought to be able to speak something beside the good old mother tongue. It makes me ashamed to grin and flap and contort my face at these people who are doing everything that can be done to make our visit pleasant, and showering us with presents, beside. And we can only thank them through an interpreter. I’ve always suspected those guys. ”

“ Yes, she liked Red, and she liked David. She certainly did like David.
During the lunch hour the Moonbeam sped smoothly along at an altitude of one thousand feet. Dulcie declared that it was like being on an ocean liner, only nicer. She proved a joy unspeakable to the young reporters, the professors regarded her with apparent curiosity, and even Mr. Hamilton induced her to talk to him a while. Tea-time was one of the pleasantest hours of the day. No one suffered but Koko, the little dog, who stuffed on cakes, and groaned for hours afterwards. ”

“ Stores of tourmalines, chrysoberyls, and lovely pale aquamarines hide in the Urals.”
“And the endless trickle of bloodstained gold and gems seeps slowly out, year after year and generation after generation, to trick and beautify and amuse the world,” said Doctor Sims. “Gr-r-r-r-r!”
“History repeats itself forever,” said Mr. Hamilton.
“There are other riches, too,” Doctor Trigg went on. “North of us, as I make out our present position, lie vast deposits of unmined oil. Whole lakes of it have escaped from the earth, and have spread over acres of sodden ground.”
“Hmmm,” said Wally. ”

“ High spirits prevailed, and an ever-increasing sense of friendliness. A pool was made on the day’s mileage, and wagers as to the exact hour and minute of sighting land. Late in the afternoon the youngest reporter exclaimed, “Say, d’you know that it’s tomorrow that we gain a day? We go to bed Monday night and wake up Monday morning. Gee, isn’t that funny?”
“Har, no!” said Doctor Sims. “What’s a day lost or gained in the immensity of time?”
“Time has no immensity, except in perspective,” said Doctor Trigg. “An extra day may be of paramount importance to our young friend.” ”

“ Hammond’s daughter named her. She’s the Moonbeam.”
“That’s all right,” said Red approvingly. “I give the girl credit. The Moonbeam! Faith, it grows on me, Davie. Moonbeam!”
“I like it,” said David. “Pretty, and easy to say, but not silly.”
“Well, here’s wishin’ her all the luck in the world,” said Red. “And the same to us. They just got to let me go when she takes her first try-out. I’d no sooner let those engines out of my sight first off than I’d use an umbrella for a ’chute.”
“Better not let the engine crews hear you, you conceited devil! They think they’re pretty kippy themselves.” ”