The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ride 'em and weep This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Ride 'em and weep Author: Raoul Fauconnier Whitfield Release date: July 9, 2026 [eBook #79062] Language: English Original publication: New York, NY: The Consolidated Magazines Corporation, 1926 Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79062 Credits: Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net) *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDE 'EM AND WEEP *** [Illustration: Wherein the rivalry of Happy Hennessy and the parachute-jumper for the favor of fair Mary starts new excitement at a rough-riding air circus.] RIDE ’EM AND WEEP by Raoul Fauconnier Whitfield It wasn’t that this red-headed bird didn’t know ships. He did. In the first place he had those goggle-cuts around the eyes—and I figured from the first second my baby-blue eyes glimpsed his fire-top, that he’d crashed them far and wide. Bert Billings, who runs the “Billings Air Circus,” looks up from a pile of high-test gas bills, and greets the new arrival cheerfully. “I’m betting you’re Happy Hennessy,” he says. “—Sometimes known as Red. An’ you’re down in Texas to tie up with the roughest ridin’ air circus what is. Am I right?” This red-headed boy never blinks an eyelash. He’s tall and thin, and his face is a perfect brown. “What is, _right now_,” he says slowly. “But not what _was_. I just come from an outfit, man, where we landed the crates upside down, an’ did outside loops to cool our toes off. Out in California we used to zoom ’em with the engine throttled down just to get a kick out of it. I can remember the time that—” Bert interrupts with a chuckle. “That you fell out of a loop into two airholes an’ a dozen left-handed cotter-pins. Happy, you’ve come to the right outfit this time. “Where that bunch you left stopped—that’s where we _start_ down here! Tell him, Gus!” “Happy,” I says, innocent-like, “the boss is right. I can tell by your face that you’ve set ’em down fast and furious, an’ that more than a few has nosed over on you. But you don’t know nothin’ yet, Red. We always land cross-wind down here—an’ the boss has a set rule that we gotta side-slip to within six inches of the ground. We got a master mechanic who hates engines to hit smooth-like; and the boss gives a grand prize for the guy that takes a ship off with the most cylinders missing—” “That,” this red-headed bird interrupts, “aint nothin’. Out in California we flew ’em without usin’ the controls unless we was in a sixty-mile gale, an’ we never—” And right there the boss got sore. Bert’s like that. He can stand just so much—and no more. I guess he had visions of a two-months’ no-crash record being shot to pieces. The Billings outfit was sane and safety-first, and this red-headed bird had the boss wind up from the start, even if Bert did try a bluff. “Happy,” he says slowly, “you got a sweet rep back of you. Since Jake ‘went West’ last week we’ve been short-handed. But none of the boys has even strained a landing gear in the last month—not countin’ the tail-spin that Jake neglected to come out of—an’ we don’t want no epidemic brought along by you. Am I getting across?” Well, this lean bird looks serious-like for several seconds, an’ then just grins. “Boss,” he says slowly, “I got right sick of them excitin’ times in California. An’ I like the Texas scenery. I’m a safety-first pilot, an’ I really handle a stick as careful as a maiden-lady handles an honest-to-God marriage opportunity.” The boss stared, and then nodded his head. But this red-topped bird didn’t fool _me_ none. I’d seen ’em like that before. It takes a neck-crackin’ crash to cure the wild ones, and then the only kind of flyin’ they do is with harps. “Apple soup!” I mutters (very much to myself) and clears out of the office to put the rest of the gang wise to what’s with us. It looks like things aint going to be so quietlike—with Happy on the payroll. We sure had a queer-lookin’ bunch of ships out in the canvas hangars. They were rambling wrecks with wings on, but the boys handled them gentle-like, and the boss kept them out of the rain as much as business allowed. There was two D.H.’s, a couple of ancient Curtiss two-seaters, one Nieuport and a few mixed breeds. We was doing sky-writing, plane-to-plane jumpin’, wing-stuff, and the ordinary variety of stunting and passenger joy-hopping. In them days there was coin in the game. There is yet—for a few. Well, I made it my business to be among them present when Happy Hennessy gives the ships the two-eye. An’ it sure was worth it. The red-headed one looked with his eyes and felt with his long fingers—an’ rambled off a past history of each plane that was so close to the mark that it was scary-like. An’ finally, with Pack Kennedy right behind him, he reaches the Curtiss two-seater with “Mary” painted in big, black letters on her fuselage sides. I seen trouble comin’ then—with that slow grin spreadin’ on Happy’s face. “Now aint that sweet!” he says in that drawl of his. “Whose particular little pet is _she_?” Pack Kennedy scowls. Kennedy gets his leadin’ name because of the fact that he’s our “chute” man. Seventy-two parachute drops in three months—an’ not even a twisted ankle! Not so bad, I figures, and it looks as if Happy has picked the wrong bird this time. “She’s my hop-off ship,” Pack says, calm-like—but I knows he’s boilin’ inside. “Gus here—he flies her. Got any kick?” The red-headed one just grins all the more. He winks at me. “I’ll bet your girl christened her with a bottle of vi-o-let perfume,” he says, lookin’ at Pack again. “Where I come from they numbers their ships—don’t name ’em pretty-like.” “If you like that system,” shoots back Kennedy, “why the hell don’t you go back to where you came from?” Which, I figures, was straight to the point. But this Happy Hennessy wasn’t gettin’ the least bit flustered. Nothin’ like that. Instead he just grins at Pack. “Maybe,” he says casual-like, “I can teach you guys a few new tricks. Mind if I take _Mary_ up for a loop or two—or is she just for you, private-like?” Pack’s face is kinda white. You see, Happy aint wise to the fact that Pack’s crazy over this kid Mary. She’s a looker, and it aint no secret that Pack and she is figurin’ on gettin’ hooked up before the outfit clears Texas. “Mister,” says our star jumper, “I been readin’ about you in some old papers. You seem to be some wild sky-stunter. An’ maybe you are. The boss here lets any pilot on the payroll take any ship up above. That’s his business method. That includes—” Pack kinda swallows hard—“this two-seater, here. Take her up, Mister. Personally, I hope she bounces you out into plenty of non-supportin’ air! I don’t like you, Mister. You strike me like a fresh guy. There’s the ships.” Pack gestured with both sun-browned hands. “An’ all I gotta say is ride ’em an’ weep!” Which I figured was a pretty good-sized mouthful. But Happy didn’t seem to figure things that way. “Roll this sweet-named one out!” he instructs the ground crew. “I aim to see if she’s got what them opery guys call temper’ment.” Right then and there we all knew that Bert’s outfit was too small to hold both Pack and Happy. And when we seen what the red-headed one did to _Mary_, while Pack stood near the hangars and muttered to himself, we commenced makin’ little bets with ourselves as to the exact length of time required before the two boys would tangle. Stunts? Say, the lanky one from California put the two-seater through every trick a ship can do, and keep her wings—and a few others, too. He pulled a pretty falling leaf coming down, went into a vertical slip at five hundred feet, and held her in it until I closed my eyes. When I opened them she was landing sweet and pretty. And while the ground crew’s getting the two-seater in her hangar again Happy strolls over to where Pack is tryin’ to calm his nerves with a cigarette. “She aint bad,” Happy says, calm-like. “Considerin’ the name you tacked on her she aint _half_ bad.” Pack says nothin’. For myself, I don’t think that silk-hopper _could_ have said anythin’. He was too sore. In fact, he was even sorer than that. He just _looks_ at Happy. I seen a killer look at a judge that had just sentenced him to life, a few years back—an’ the look that killer gave the judge was mild compared to the one Pack gives Happy. It was one of those looks that means trouble with a capital T. * * * * * Mary Thomas is one of these good-lookin’ kids, slim and tall and athletic. She drives a blue roadster out to the hangars every day or so—an’ what I mean she _drives_ it! Pack is crazy about her, an’ she seems crazy about Pack. At least that’s the way the crowd had things figured. But she’s a woman—and there aint no _real_ way of figurin’ a woman. She drives out the day after Happy blows in, and just by luck that bird is up above givin’ the little ship her daily dozen. Well, the kid’s eyes is turned high, and she spots that kind of flyin’ as somethin’ else again. Not that the rest of us can’t fly—but Happy can and does. “Who is up in the sky, Gus?” Mary says to me, I bein’ the nearest to the blue roadster. I grins. “That,” I says, effective-like, “is the California Comet—Happy Hennessy. When it comes to ridin’ them high and wide he’s hotter than the color of his hair—so _he_ says.” “The gentleman,” Mary observes with a certain grimness, her eyes watching two sweet Immelmans and a barrel-roll, “has reason for such an observation.” Well, that afternoon I was slated to take off the two-seater, with Pack as the hopper-off, at some sort of a convention holdin’ out in the ball-park on the outskirts of Dallas. An’ I was busy prayin’ that Happy didn’t crack her up. She’s a good ship, patches an’ all. Happy gets her down pretty, an’ the first thing I know Tex Connell is introducin’ him to Pack’s girl. Aint that sweet? An’ the answer is—it aint! Pack’s in town buyin’ a gross of his favorite chewin’ gum, an’ he don’t see the eyes the two of them make at each other. But I see—an’ I know right then that Mary Thomas aint slated to help things along none. I been wrong a few times in my life—but not this time. Pack is in a bad humor—and he makes a rotten jump at the Dallas convention. He gives me a scare as I circle around him on his way down. Pack can guide a ’chute when he wants to—but this afternoon he don’t even hit the convention field. He misses the ball-park—and lands twenty feet from the right-of-way of the Texas and Southern Railroad, with a train roaring along. An’ he gets a badly sprained ankle out of it. That’s where Happy comes in. The first thing I know _he’s_ doin’ the jump stuff for the “Billings Air Circus”—and he’s doin’ it good, too. Pack’s just grouchin’ along. And the girl’s smilin’ at both of them. “Pretty quick now,” says Tex Connell,—who’s been tied up to a woman twice, an’ should know,—“there’s goin’ to be a smash.” I nods at the time. But the smash comes sooner than I figures, and from a different direction. I sets a D.H. down a bit fast, a week before we’re slated to clear out of Dallas, an’ she blows a tire an’ noses over on me. I’m slow gettin’ my head away from the cowl—an’ when I come back to things Bert is tellin’ the boys that I’ll have to rest up a bit. Then he pulls it. “Pack’s ankle is all right now,” he says easy-like. “The way I figure things, an’ with us short-handed, Happy’ll fly the Curtiss hop-off ship—an’ Pack can make the last jump in this here vicinity.” I groans at that, but the boss thinks it’s on account of my head. An’ it aint up to me to say nothin’. Happy flyin’ the two-seater—an’ Pack making the leap! The two of them together—up there where there aint no traffic cops to butt in! “Ride ’em—an’ weep!” I mutters to myself, but Bert hears me. “He’s off his nut,” he tells the gang. “An’ I thought he had a hard head, before he got this bump!” The boss is sympathetic like that. * * * * * Pack an’ Happy wasn’t speakin’ when they climbed into the two-seater to get into the air for the final hop-off. Dallas was celebratin’ Old Home Week, or one of them things that cities like to celebrate to take the citizens’ minds off taxes for a day or so. “Take it easy,” I advises, but knowin’ that neither of ’em will pay any attention to me. “We’ve been havin’ a few unhappy landings around the outfit, an’ a change of atmosphere will do us all good. An’ if you guys—” “Tell Mary,” says Happy in that loud voice of his, “that I’ll take good care of any of her boy-friends that the boss sends up with me.” I frowns at that. Pack, fumbling with his parachute-pack, kinda hisses between his teeth. But he says nothin’ until he was ready to climb into the rear cockpit. “Too bad you aint flyin’ me, Gus,” he says then, plenty loud enough. “I always did enjoy the stuntin’ you pulled before I got loose. Guess it’ll be kinda mild this trip.” An’ Happy, in the front cockpit, tunin’ up the engine, just grins. Which hits me hard an’ gives me the first real idea I’ve had in a couple of years. I goes close to Happy, an’ he bends his head down. “Be yourself!” I mutters in his ear, above the roar of the engine. “If you get Pack rattled on his jump I’ll—” “Yeah,” the red-headed one comes back, interruptin’ me, “the air sure is quiet. Nice day for stuntin’, aint it?” Pack was to make his jump over the ball-park, same as he’d done several times before. An’ the ball-park bein’ only about two miles from the field in which we was hangin’ out, we had the day-glasses ready after the two-seater got into the air. I was wonderin’ where the girl was. She always came out to the field before Pack made a jump, but today she hadn’t shown. Lately, for that matter, she had come out to see Happy about as much as Pack. Maybe more—I aint up on the signs, not bein’ an expert. I was pretty worried—an’ I’ll admit it. Them boys up in the sky wasn’t spillin’ over with love for each other. An’ the outfit had been gettin’ some bad breaks lately. Well, at five thousand feet, almost directly over our hangars, an’ a couple of miles from where he should have pulled a few stunts, Happy let loose. I groaned when I seen him start. Barrels, Immelmans, loops in succession, slips—two tight spins. And then a zoom into a stall. “Hell!” I heard Tex mutter, beside me. “That Curtiss can’t stand the gaff. If he doesn’t lay off the sharp stuff pretty quick—” * * * * * Tex broke off, an’ I stiffens. The two-seater engine is missin’ badly. Then there’s a sharp clatter—back-fire. Back-fire aint nice in the air. Too risky. I hears Tex mutter again—and then, with the ship fallin’ off into a spin, I sees the black cloud of smoke—comin’ right up off the engine. The ship is burnin’! There’s no roar from the engine now. She’s dead. The nose comes down, an’ I can see the smoke cover up both cockpits as it streams out an’ up. Then the ship’s comin’ down, an’ I can see that this bird Happy is usin’ his noodle. He’s tryin’ to slip her down, an’ keep the black stuff and flames away from the cockpits. At three thousand I see the wing surface start to go—an’ I figures then that the game’s up. The ship’s out of the slip an’ in a spin, with black smoke trailin’ back of her an’ remindin’ me of the “flaming coffin” D.H.’s of the war. “Pack can jump for it!” I hears Tex mutter. “Why the hell aint he over the side by this time?” She’s out of the spin, plungin’ straight down now, two thousand feet off the ground. An’ then we see it! Two figures close together, through a break in the smoke—both of ’em half out of the cockpit! An’ as the black streams over them again, Tex groans. “Fightin’!” he mutters. “Can you beat it? Fightin’ with the ship fallin’—” The ship’s plungin’ straight down now, an’ behind her she leaves that trail of smoke, thinner than right around her. Then, out of the smoke, we see ’em. Two figures—two dark streaks! Tex lets out a yell. “They got clear!” he howls. “If the ’chutes open—” An’ they did just that. The two-seater crashes to earth with a dull roar as the bunch hops into the two flivvers on the field, and drives toward the gently falling ’chutes. I takes a good look with the glasses. Pack is movin’ in his harness—but Happy is just danglin’ below the white silk of his. “Closer to the engine!” I mutters, grim-like. “The smoke and flames got him an’—” I breaks off talkin’ to myself. That thought gives me a jolt. I’m standin’ there thinkin’—when the flivvers gets away—an’ I’m left. An’ that’s why the kid hands me the letter, a couple of minutes later, when he drives up in a light truck. It’s addressed to me—an’ I reads it in a daze, wonderin’ how bad the boys is burned, an’ tryin’ to get over the kick the whole business has handed me. An’ the letter hands me another wallop. I read it twice—and then twice again. Three hours later I reads it to two boys whose faces an’ hands are bandaged tighter than one of them hospital dummies the young docs practise on. When I finish Pack mumbles a few words: “Eloped with a kiwi! Can you beat it? One of them second-louie instructors over to Kelly Field! Well, I’ll be damned!” “A ground bird!” Happy mutters, with more difficulty, because of more bandages. “I bet he never flew higher’n a kid’s kite! Aint it hell?” * * * * * An’ me, I just grins, thinkin’ of the girl throwin’ the boys over for a ground instructor with a nice shiny uniform. An’ I’m thinkin’ of Pack helpin’ Happy get clear of the front cockpit, stickin’ to him until they _both_ could get out of that flamin’ mess. An’ then I’m thinkin’ of the girl again. Safety first—for her. I can see Pack grinnin’ through them slits in the bandages—grinnin’ at Happy. An’ Happy’s tryin’ to grin back. It takes a sense of humor to sky-chase, I figures. But it’s Pack that makes me sure of that little point. I guess he’s thinkin’ of that louie—an’ the girl. “Ride ’em—an’ weep!” he mutters, an’ Happy pulls somethin’ that sounds almost like a chuckle. [Transcriber’s Note: This story appeared in The Blue Book Magazine, July, 1926. It is believed to be in the public domain in the United States; copyright status may differ in other countries.] *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RIDE 'EM AND WEEP *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. START: FULL LICENSE THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg electronic works 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. 1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when you share it without charge with others. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg License. 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works provided that: • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work. • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. 1.F. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516, Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate. Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org. This website includes information about Project Gutenberg, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.