Stowaway to Mars Read Online Free PDF Page B

part of the route had been tampered with and the subsequent disinterment of a case of dynamite (with detonator and wires attached) had roused indignation and speculation to feverish heats. The assurance that Dale himself was continually guarded by two or more armed police detectives met with immense popular appreciation. The song, 'Curty, the King of the Clouds', written at the time of the first Equatorial Flight, had been revived and stood in frequency of performance second only to the National Anthem. For the last fortnight the Press had really let itself go, and in loyal response to its efforts the public was prepared to invade the Plain on a scale perturbing to the authorities.
    The first active sign of preparation in the grey light of that historic Monday was the ascent of more than a dozen small captive balloons, painted a bright yellow, and ranged in a circle about the scene of operations. Within the perimeter they marked no craft save police patrols was to be permitted at any height whatever, and it was considered likely that the five mile circle would insure an ample margin of safety. Half a dozen police gyrocurts rose and set themselves to hover in positions strategic for the control of traffic both by land and air.'
    The first great charaplane of the day came booming out of the west. It landed to deposit its passengers, and within five minutes had taken off again to fetch another load. Machines of every kind from the dainty flipabout to the massive gyrobus, all with the early morning sunlight glancing from brightly painted bodies beneath swirling white sails, started to float in from each quarter, and the task of directing them to their appointed parks began in earnest. Within half an hour of the first car's arrival the congested road traffic had slowed to a tedious, bottom gear crawl.
    The crowds began to pour from the 'plane parks and carparks, making for their enclosures and, the favoured few, for the stands. Hawkers in good voice offered silver trinkets in the form of miniature rockets, picture postcards of Dale, pictures of the rocketship itself and printed handkerchiefs as suitable mementoes of the occasion. A hundred camp kitchens began to cater for the hungry. Half a dozen loudspeakers burst into the inevitable 'Curty, the King of the Clouds'. A number of persons were already failing to Find the Lady. And still it was only eight a.m.
    Somewhere about nine thirty Police Gyrocurt Number 4 came hovering close to Number 5. Number 4's pilot picked up a megaphone and shouted across:
    'Just look at 'em down there. Bill. Like a bloomin' ant'eap, ain't it?'
    Bill, in Number 5, nodded.
    'If they keep on comin' in at this rate, we'll lave to start parking them vertical,' he bawled back.
    That part of the Plain which lay below them had undergone a transformation. Outside the five mile circle of the beacon balloons acres of country were covered with parked cars and 'planes. From them crowds of black dots were stippled inwards, growing denser as they converged. The barrier which held the public back out of harm's way appeared already as a solid black ring two miles in diameter and of greater thickness on the western side where the several stands, broadcasting and observation towers and various other temporary structures were situated. Finally, in splendid isolation in the exact centre, could be seen the Gloria Mundi herself.
    The portable sheds of those who had attended to the last tests and adjustments had been cleared away leaving only discoloured rectangles of grass to show where they had stood for the last fortnight. Gone also was the galvanized iron fence which had served to keep back the curious during that time, and the rocket, still shrouded in canvas, was left with a cordon of police as her only guard.
    By midday the crowd was still swelling. The refreshment stalls were beginning to wonder whether the supply would hold out, and in accordance with economic laws were raising their prices. A self appointed prophet