A Viking of the Sky

A Story of a Boy Who Gained Success in Aeronautics "Oh, how I wish I was up there!" muttered Hal Dane to himself as he cocked an eye upward into the far heights of the moonlit sky. In mind, Hal Dane was already just below the stars, riding the clouds in a winged ship; before him, on imaginary instrument board, ticked the latest thing in indicator, controller, tachometer. And all the while, like the other half of a dual personality, his hands and feet mechanically guided his rattletrap old truck along the ruts of the lonesome country road. On the downgrades Hal's left hand with skill of long practice chocked a brakeless wheel with a wooden block, and on the upgrades his right foot judiciously kicked a wire that let on extra "juice" for the pull.