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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44862 ***
+
+[Illustration: Both girls waved their arms and their coats in the air
+as signals of distress.
+
+                                                      (Page 214)
+]
+
+
+
+
+
+LINDA CARLTON
+AIR PILOT
+
+By EDITH LAVELL
+
+[Illustration]
+
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING
+COMPANY
+
+Akron, Ohio      New York
+
+
+
+
+Copyright MCMXXXI
+
+THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+Linda Carlton, Air Pilot
+
+_Made in the United States of America_
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY HUSBAND
+
+VICTOR LAMASURE LAVELL
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                    PAGE
+
+    I. A DANGEROUS RIDE                     7
+
+   II. GRADUATION                          14
+
+  III. HER FATHER'S GIFT                   28
+
+   IV. SUMMER PLANS                        43
+
+    V. THE FIRST LESSON IN FLYING          56
+
+   VI. WINNING HER LICENSE                 69
+
+  VII. THE FLIGHT TO GREEN FALLS           81
+
+ VIII. THE ROBBERY                         92
+
+   IX. SUSPICIONS                         106
+
+    X. IN THE HOSPITAL                    114
+
+   XI. AN ANXIOUS DAY FOR LINDA           126
+
+  XII. THE SEARCH FOR THE THIEF           139
+
+ XIII. THE MASQUE BALL                    151
+
+  XIV. THE FLYING TRIP                    160
+
+   XV. SUNNY HILLS                        171
+
+  XVI. THE ACCIDENT                       183
+
+ XVII. THE LOST NECKLACE                  194
+
+XVIII. IN PURSUIT OF THE "PURSUIT"        201
+
+  XIX. RESCUED                            213
+
+   XX. THE RACE AGAINST DEATH             225
+
+  XXI. HONORS FOR LINDA                   234
+
+
+
+
+LINDA CARLTON, AIR PILOT
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+_A Dangerous Ride_
+
+
+A blue sports roadster, driven by a girl in a lovely crêpe suit of
+the same color, threaded its way through the traffic of Spring City's
+streets to the concrete road that led to the aviation field on the
+outskirts. Passing the city's limits, the car sped along under the
+easy assurance of its competent driver, whose eyes were bluer than
+its paint, deeper than the dress that she was wearing. They were
+shining now with happiness, for the end of this ride promised the most
+thrilling experience of her life. That afternoon Linda Carlton was to
+have her first flight in an airplane!
+
+She parked her car outside of the field and locked it cautiously.
+Jumping out, she fairly skipped inside the boundary.
+
+A tall, good-looking young man in a flier's suit came from one of the
+hangars to meet her.
+
+"Miss Carlton?" he said, extending his hand.
+
+"Yes--Mr. Mackay. You see I'm here--a little early, I expect. You
+haven't forgotten your promise?"
+
+His pleasant face darkened, and he looked doubtfully at the sky.
+
+"I'm afraid it may rain, Miss Carlton. We've suspended pleasure trips
+for today. But perhaps tomorrow----"
+
+"Oh, no!" she cried in deep disappointment, and the young man believed
+that her eyes grew moist. "I can't get away tomorrow, or any other
+day this week. You see I'm a senior at school, and I'm just rushed to
+death."
+
+"Well, that's too bad," he said, looking again at the sky. "And of
+course it may not rain after all. But orders are orders, you know."
+
+The girl looked down at the ground, probably, he thought, to hide the
+tears that would come to her eyes. She was so pretty, so serious, so
+anxious to go up. It evidently wasn't only a whim with her; she really
+wanted to fly--like Amelia Earhart, and Elinor Smith. How he hated to
+deny her!
+
+"Isn't there something you could do?" she finally asked. "Take me up as
+one of your friends--not as a visitor to the aviation field.... Why,
+Mr. Mackay, suppose your sister came to see you today, wouldn't you be
+allowed to take her up?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, smiling. "But that would be on my responsibility,
+not the school's."
+
+"Then," she pleaded, and she was radiant again with enthusiasm,
+"couldn't _I_ be your responsibility?"
+
+He nodded, won over to her wishes.
+
+"If you put it that way, Miss Carlton, I can't refuse! But I'll have to
+take you in the plane I'm working on now--making some tests with--and
+it isn't the most reliable plane in the world. Not one we use to take
+visitors up in."
+
+"But if it's safe enough for you, it's safe enough for me. I'm
+satisfied."
+
+"I'm afraid your parents wouldn't be," he objected.
+
+"There I think you're wrong," she asserted. "My father believes
+in taking chances. He has always let me do dangerous things--ride
+horseback, and drive a car and swim far out in the ocean.... And my
+mother is dead."
+
+"Very well, then," agreed Mackay. "Please come over here with me. I
+have been trying to fix up an old biplane, and I think I have her in
+shape now. But we'll both wear parachutes for precaution."
+
+Her heart fluttering wildly from happiness, but not at all from fear,
+Linda accompanied the young flier across the huge field to the runway,
+where a biplane was resting in readiness for its test. Mackay put her
+into the cockpit, examined the engine again, and the parachutes, helped
+her to fasten one of the latter on, in case of an accident, and started
+the motor. A minute later the plane taxied forward, faster and faster,
+until it rose from the ground.
+
+"Oh!" cried Linda, in a tone of deepest joy, although her companion
+could not hear her for the roar of the motor. "Oh, I'm so happy!"
+
+Up, up, up they went, until they reached the clouds, where the
+atmosphere seemed misty and foggy. But it did not matter to Linda that
+the sky was not blue; nothing could spoil the ecstasy she experienced
+in knowing that at last she was where she had always longed to be.
+
+Never for a moment was she the least bit dizzy. The sensation of
+floating through the air was more marvelous than anything she had ever
+dreamed of.
+
+For some minutes she just allowed herself to dream of the future when
+she herself would be in control of a plane, sailing thus through the
+skies. Then she remembered with a start that if she ever expected her
+ambitions to be fulfilled, it would be necessary to learn how flying
+was accomplished. She began to examine everything in the cockpit.
+It was too noisy to ask her companion any questions, but she watched
+him carefully and tried to figure out what she could for herself. She
+identified the joystick, which controlled the plane, and she recognized
+the compass and the altimeter, which registered the height--now sixteen
+hundred feet--to which they had climbed. All the while she made mental
+notes of questions she would ask her pilot when they reached the ground.
+
+Up, up they went until at last they were beyond the clouds, and saw the
+bright sunshine about them. It was symbolic to Linda; she resolved that
+in after life, whenever she was unhappy or distressed, she would fly on
+wings to the clear sunlight above. It was almost as if there she would
+actually find God.
+
+She was so happy that it was some time before she noticed the queer
+sound the motor was making. Then, glancing questioningly at her
+companion, she saw a tight, drawn look about his lips, a ghastly pallor
+in his face. Something was evidently wrong! The motor made an uneven
+sound, threatening to stall, and the plane went into a tail-spin.
+Mackay was frantically leaning forward, doing something she did not
+understand.
+
+"Motor's dying!" he cried, as he managed to right the plane. His voice
+shook with greater dread than he had ever before experienced. For,
+fearless though he was for himself, he was scared to death for the
+pretty girl at his side.
+
+What a fool he had been, he thought, to allow her to come! He would
+give his own chances of safety that minute if she could be sure of her
+life! So young, so sweet, so utterably lovely! A great lump rose in his
+throat, as he took another look at his engine. But he was helpless.
+
+Grim with terror, he pointed to her parachute. And then, to his
+amazement, he realized how perfectly calm she was!
+
+"You step off first," he said, thankful they both had their parachutes.
+"I'll stay with the plane as long as I can."
+
+Never in his life did Ted Mackay go through such a horrible moment as
+that instant when Linda Carlton, at a height of two thousand feet,
+stepped so bravely from the edge of the plane into the yawning space
+below. Even if he himself were killed, he could never know sharper
+agony. Yet the girl herself was gamely smiling!
+
+He managed to pilot the plane a little farther, in the hope that when
+it did crash, it would not come anywhere near her, and then, when he
+could no longer keep it from falling, he stepped off himself.
+
+Down he went, and his parachute opened with perfection, but he, in his
+tenseness, thought only of Linda, and of her luck with hers. And he
+prayed as he had never prayed before in his life, not even at his most
+perilous moments, where death seemed most certain.
+
+No descent ever seemed so slow, so prolonged, but at last he reached
+the ground. And there, still smiling at him, was lovely Linda Carlton!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+_Graduation_
+
+
+"Thank Heaven you're safe!" cried Ted Mackay, as he disentangled
+himself from his parachute. "You certainly are a game little sport,
+Miss Carlton!"
+
+"I don't see why," returned Linda. "People jump from planes with
+parachutes every day!"
+
+"I know. But it was all so sudden. And it is always a pity when
+anyone's first flight ends disastrously. It makes you feel that you
+never want to see an airplane again."
+
+"Well, it won't make me feel that way," replied the girl, lightly. "I'd
+go up again right away if you'd take me."
+
+"I'm afraid I can't. But I'm mighty glad to hear you talk that way. I
+think you're cut out for a flier. Now let's hunt the wreck."
+
+After they had located the damaged plane, and examined its shattered
+pieces, they hiked back to the aviation field together, talking all the
+while about flying. Linda asked Ted one question after another, which
+he answered as well as he could without having a plane to demonstrate,
+and he promised to lend her some books on the subject.
+
+"You must come over and take a course of instruction at our Flying
+School," he advised. "As soon as you can."
+
+"Oh, I hope to!" she assured him, eagerly. "Maybe after I graduate.
+Why, I'm almost eighteen! Most boys of my age who cared as much about
+it as I do would have been flying a couple of years. Because you can
+get a license when you're sixteen, can't you?"
+
+"Yes.... It's going to be fun to teach you," he added, as they
+approached the field, and Linda stopped beside her car. "Good-by! I'll
+expect to see you soon!"
+
+His hope, however, was not fulfilled until two weeks later, when Linda
+again slipped over to the field, between engagements, for another ride
+in the air. This time she was only one among a group of visitors, and
+she went up in a plane that was both new and trustworthy.
+
+Her time was so limited--it was a week before Commencement--that she
+had only chance for a few words with Ted Mackay. She told him that her
+class-day was the following Friday, and she timidly invited him to a
+dance which she was giving at her home the night before the event.
+
+"Thanks awfully," he said, more thrilled than he dared tell her at the
+invitation, "but I couldn't possibly come.... You see, Miss Carlton--I
+wouldn't fit in with your set."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed Linda in disappointment, "We're not snobs, just
+because we go to Miss Graham's school!"
+
+"Well, then, put it this way," he added: "I'm absolutely on my own--and
+I don't even have evening clothes!"
+
+She smiled at his frankness, but she did not know that he told only
+part of his story--that he was supporting his mother and helping to put
+his younger sister through High School.
+
+"All right, then--have it your own way--Ted," she agreed, holding out
+her hand. "I'll hope to see you some time after class-day."
+
+From that hour on, it seemed as if every moment was filled with more
+things than she could possibly do. At last Friday came--as hot as any
+day in mid-summer, though it was still early June.
+
+Soon after two o'clock the audience began to arrive, and at half-past,
+the twenty-two graduates, in their white dresses, with their large
+bouquets or American Beauties or pink rose-buds, filed in to take
+their seats on the flower-decked platform in the garden of the school
+grounds.
+
+Fans waved, and the flowers wilted visibly, but nobody seemed to
+notice. For with the exercises the fun began, and everybody listened
+intently to the jokes and the compliments which came in turn to each
+and every member of Linda Carlton's class.
+
+After Louise Haydock, the president, made her brief speech of greeting,
+the presenter took charge, and her remarks and her presents were
+clever without being cruel. Most of the latter she had purchased from
+the five-and-ten, but they all carried a point. To Linda Carlton she
+gave a toy car, because she thought that was what the latter was most
+interested in, and then she asked her to wait a moment, that she had
+something else for her.
+
+Linda stood still, smiling shyly, and wondering whether her next gift
+would have anything to do with airplanes.
+
+"Linda," continued the presenter, "we have this bracelet for you--in
+token of our affection. You have been voted the most popular girl in
+the class."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Linda, and her eyelids fluttered in embarrassment. She
+was so surprised that she didn't know what to say. Some of the other
+girls, who had been secretly hoping for this honor, which was always
+kept as a surprise until class-day, had even prepared speeches. But
+Linda had never given the matter a thought.
+
+"I--I--thank you so much," she finally managed to stammer, as she
+stepped forward to receive the bracelet.
+
+The audience stirred and clapped, for the girl was a favorite with
+everybody in Spring City.
+
+"She certainly looks sweet today," whispered Mrs. Haydock, the mother
+of Linda's best friend. "There is nothing so becoming as white."
+
+"Yes," agreed her aunt, who had taken care of Linda ever since her own
+mother had died when she was only a baby, "but I do wish she hadn't
+worn those flowers. She had half a dozen bouquets of American Beauties,
+and she picked out those ordinary pink roses! Sometimes Linda is queer."
+
+"Yes, but who sent them?" inquired the other woman. "Probably the
+reason lies there! Ralph Clavering?"
+
+"Ralph Clavering wouldn't buy a cheap bouquet like that--with all his
+father's millions!" exclaimed Miss Carlton. "No; he did send flowers,
+but Linda didn't wear them. These had no card."
+
+Their conversation stopped abruptly, for the class prophet was
+being introduced. Twenty-one girls on the platform leaned forward
+expectantly, anxious to hear what the future held in store for them.
+Of course nobody actually believed that this girl could foretell their
+lives, but it was always fascinating to speculate about their fortunes.
+
+She began with the customary jokes.
+
+"Sara Wheeler" (the thinnest girl in the class), "is going into the
+food business, but will eat up the profits. However, she'll weigh two
+hundred pounds before she goes bankrupt....
+
+"Sue Emery, on the contrary, will finally succeed in reducing her
+weight--when she gets away from these girls and stops talking about it,
+instead of doing it--until she becomes Hollywood's star dancer....
+
+"Linda Carlton and Louise Haydock--the double l's, we call them,
+because they are always together--will both marry wealthy men and
+become the society leaders of Spring City...."
+
+At these words, Linda's Aunt Emily nudged Louise's mother, and smiled.
+
+"That would suit us, wouldn't it, Mrs. Haydock?" she asked.
+
+"Just what we want for our girls!" nodded her companion, in
+satisfaction.
+
+It was over at last, the fun and the excitement, the class-day that
+the girls would keep in their memories for the rest of their lives.
+Hot, but happy, the graduates came down from the platform to find their
+friends and their families. Some of them wanted to linger, to talk
+things over, but Linda Carlton was anxious to get away. It had been
+wonderful to receive that beautiful bracelet, but somehow it would
+spoil it to talk about it.
+
+And, in spite of all her happiness, there was a little hurt in her
+heart. Her father hadn't come home for his only child's graduation!
+
+She came to where her aunt was standing, and put her arm through hers.
+
+"Are you ready, Aunt Emily?" she asked.
+
+"Of course, dear--if you want to go so soon. But wouldn't you like to
+stay and see your friends, and thank them?"
+
+"Oh, I'll write notes," replied Linda.
+
+"There's Ralph Clavering over there," remarked Miss Carlton, nodding in
+the direction of a tall, well-dressed young man on the other side of
+the lawn. "You could thank him for his flowers. He'll probably think
+it queer if you don't, especially since you didn't wear them."
+
+Linda smiled carelessly.
+
+"Ralph Clavering probably sent roses to half a dozen girls today,"
+she said lightly. "It's his boast that he's in love with the whole
+class!... No, I want to go home, Auntie. I'm tired."
+
+"Certainly, dear. We'll go right away."
+
+Nodding to friends as they walked across the beautiful garden where
+the out-door exercises had been held, they came to Linda's shining
+sports roadster, parked just outside the gate. It had been her father's
+present to her on the day that she was sixteen, and she had taken such
+care of it that even now, after a year and a half, it looked almost new.
+
+"I think it was wonderful for you to receive the bracelet as the most
+popular girl," Miss Carlton said, as she got into the car. "Everything
+was really perfect--even the prophecy about your future."
+
+Linda frowned at the recollection of those words; she hadn't liked that
+prophecy at all. As perhaps only Ted Mackay realized, her ambition was
+to fly, to fly so expertly that she could go to strange lands, do a
+man's work perhaps, carry out missions of importance. She wanted to be
+known as one of the best--if not _the_ best--aviatrix in America!
+
+Ever since she was a child she had had some such longing. Perhaps it
+was her father who had been responsible for it. Restless and unhappy
+after her mother's death, he had given his baby to his sister to take
+care of, and had wandered from one place to another, only coming home
+every year or so, to see how Linda was growing. As if to make up to
+her for his absences, he brought her marvelous presents--presents that
+were intended rather for a boy than for a girl. Early in life she had
+learned to shoot a gun, ride a horse, and drive a car. No wonder that
+she dreamed of airplanes!
+
+Her aunt, on the other hand, disapproved of this way of bringing up a
+girl. She wanted Linda to be just like the other fashionable wealthy
+young ladies in Spring City, to spend her time at parties and at the
+Country Club, and later to marry a rich man--like Ralph Clavering.
+Naturally the words of the class prophet pleased her.
+
+Nor had she any idea that Linda did not agree with her, for her niece
+had always kept her dreams to herself. There was no use talking about
+them, Linda thought, for her aunt would never understand.
+
+"And I guess the prophet was about right," continued Miss Carlton. "Any
+girl that gets seven bunches of flowers from seven different boys,
+won't have any difficulty getting married."
+
+"But I don't want to get married, Aunt Emily!" protested Linda.
+
+"Not yet, dear--of course. Why, you're only seventeen! I couldn't spare
+you now--just when you're free to be at home with me. Besides, I think
+every girl should have two years at least to do exactly as she pleases!"
+
+Exactly as she pleases! Why, that would mean learning to fly! Oh, if
+Aunt Emily could know the fierce longing in her heart to become a
+really fine pilot, to train herself to make her mark in the world!
+
+"So I want you to have a happy, care-free summer," continued the other,
+totally unaware of her niece's thoughts. "At first I thought we would
+go abroad, but on the whole that would be too strenuous, after this
+hectic year. The other girls' mothers agree with me. Mrs. Haydock and I
+were talking about it today, and we've practically decided to go to a
+charming resort on Lake Michigan that she says is most exclusive. There
+you can be with all your best friends."
+
+Linda said nothing; she just couldn't be enthusiastic about wasting
+three months in that fashion. When she had been hoping to stay at home
+and enroll for a course at the Spring City Flying School!
+
+"You'd like that, wouldn't you, dear?" persisted Miss Carlton, as Linda
+steered her car through the wide gates of their spacious estate. "You
+could swim and drive and play tennis and dance to your heart's content!
+With Louise--and--and--the Claverings! Mrs. Haydock told me they are
+going there too. Why, you'd meet all the right people!"
+
+Linda sighed. Aunt Emily's ideas of the right people were not exactly
+hers--particularly at the present time. She wanted to meet flyers, men
+and women noted in the field of aviation, not merely wealthy society
+folk. But she could not say that to her aunt; the latter was afraid of
+airplanes, and had only grudgingly given her consent that Linda go up
+in one. Naturally she had never mentioned her accident.
+
+"Well, we'll talk our plans over later," said Miss Carlton, when Linda
+failed to make a reply. "I guess you're too tired to think about
+anything now. And," she added as she stepped from the car, "don't you
+want to leave your car here, and let Thomas put it away?"
+
+"No, thank you, Auntie," she replied, for she did not like even so
+capable a chauffeur as Thomas to touch her precious roadster. "It'll
+only take a minute."
+
+As Linda walked slowly back to the house, she was thinking of Ted
+Mackay. For she believed those wilted flowers at her waist were his.
+There had been no card, but they had come from a small flower shop at
+the other end of Spring City--not the expensive shop that most of her
+friends patronized. She would go over to the school soon, and thank
+him. But she would have to tell him that she was obliged to give up her
+own plans for the summer! Tears of disappointment came into her eyes,
+and she wondered if there weren't some way it could be arranged. Maybe
+if she asked her father....
+
+The thought of her father drove everything out of her mind. He hadn't
+even bothered to come home! Nothing else seemed to matter.
+
+As she entered the living-room, she found her aunt waiting for her.
+
+"Come in, dear--and get some rest," said Miss Carlton. "You look so
+tired that you actually seem unhappy."
+
+Linda forced a smile.
+
+"Is something worrying you, dear? Or is it just the heat and the rush?"
+
+"I don't know," answered the girl, sinking into a deep chair by the
+window. "I--I--guess I'm just foolish, Aunt Emily." There was a catch
+in her voice. "But I'm so disappointed that Daddy didn't come for my
+Commencement. And I wrote to the ranch three times to remind him!"
+
+Miss Carlton nodded; her brother's ways were past her understanding.
+How anybody could be so indifferent to such a lovely daughter as Linda!
+And yet when he was home, no father could be more affectionate. It was
+just that he was absent-minded, that he hated to be tied down to dates
+and places. He might be at his ranch in Texas now, or he might have
+wandered off to Egypt or to South America, without even telling his
+family. He had been like that, ever since Linda's mother had died.
+
+"I'm not so surprised at that as I am at his not sending you a
+present," commented Miss Carlton. "He may never have received your
+letters--or he may drop in a week late.... But you mustn't let that
+worry you, Linda--you have to take your father as he is.... And you
+must get some rest for tomorrow."
+
+"Tomorrow?" repeated the girl, vaguely.
+
+"Yes. The Junior League Picnic. You haven't told me whom you invited."
+
+"Why--I--a----"
+
+"You forgot to invite anybody!" laughed Miss Carlton. "I know you--why,
+you're something like your father about social engagements, my dear!
+And of course all the nicest boys will be asked already! I know that
+Louise is going with Ralph Clavering--Mrs. Haydock told me today."
+
+"That's fine," commented Linda, indifferently. "They're great pals."
+
+"But whom will you ask? At this late date?"
+
+"I really think I'd rather stay home, Auntie, if you don't mind.
+Because--well--Daddy might come--and I'd hate to be so far away.
+They're going all the way over to Grier's woods, I recall hearing Dot
+say, and you know that's at least fifteen miles."
+
+"Of course, dear--do just as you like," replied her aunt, putting her
+motherly arms around her. "Only don't count too much on your father's
+coming!"
+
+So Linda went to bed that night, little thinking that her plans would
+be changed the following morning, and that, in later years, she was to
+look back upon that day as one of the most wonderful of her whole life!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+_Her Father's Gift_
+
+
+As Linda had no plans for the day after her class exercises, she had
+intended to sleep late. But the arrival of her chum, Louise Haydock,
+accompanied by Ralph Clavering and his Harvard room-mate, Maurice
+Stetson, changed things for her.
+
+At half-past eight her aunt came into her bedroom, half apologetically,
+half smiling.
+
+"Linda dear, I want you to wake up," she said. "You have company."
+
+"Yes?" replied the girl sleepily.
+
+"You are rested, aren't you? And it's so much cooler. It's a real June
+day--the kind the poets write about!"
+
+Linda sat up in bed, and blinked her eyes. Then suddenly she thought of
+her father. Did Aunt Emily mean he had come?
+
+"Daddy?" she asked excitedly. "Do you mean he's here?"
+
+Miss Carlton's smile faded; she had not meant to mislead her niece. It
+was cruel to disappoint her.
+
+"No, dear. It's only Louise--with Ralph and another boy. They want you
+to wake up, and go on the picnic."
+
+"Oh, I see.... But you know I didn't invite anybody, Aunt Emily."
+
+"That's just it. You're to go with this other boy. He's Ralph's
+room-mate, and he's here on a visit. You will go, won't you, dear?"
+
+"Yes, of course, if Lou wants me to. I'll get dressed right away....
+And Auntie, may I have some strawberries up here, to eat after I take
+my shower? That's all the breakfast I'll want."
+
+"Certainly, dear. I'll send Anna up right away. And how soon shall I
+tell Louise that you'll be ready?"
+
+"Ten minutes!"
+
+Linda jumped out of bed, and began to sing as she took her cold shower.
+It was a wonderful day--a good world after all! Of course the picnic
+would be fun; she was glad now that she wasn't going to miss it. Lou
+was a peach to arrange things for her in this way! And it would be
+exciting to meet a new man. She wondered what he would be like, and
+hoped she would find him nice. But, even if she didn't, it wouldn't be
+necessary to stay with him all day. There wasn't much "two's-ing" in
+their crowd.
+
+Ten minutes later she found her visitors on the porch, singing and
+amusing themselves, for Miss Carlton had gone to oversee the packing of
+Linda's lunch. Ralph introduced his friend, Maurice Stetson, a short,
+light-haired youth, who was utterly at ease with everybody, and who
+seemed to think that he was born to be funny. Indeed, he called himself
+"the prince of wise-crackers." Linda, who was both sensitive and shy,
+was afraid she would be made uncomfortable by his comments.
+
+"Miss _Linda_ Carlton," he repeated, solemnly shaking her hand. "The
+famous Lindy's namesake?... Let's see--what year was that when he flew
+the Atlantic? About twenty-seven? Why, you can't be more than three
+years old!"
+
+Linda smiled; she really couldn't laugh at the silly remark, though the
+others seemed to think him exceedingly witty.
+
+"And is your ambition flying?" he asked.
+
+Linda blushed; she had no desire to admit her dreams and ambitions to
+the general public.
+
+"Doesn't everybody want to fly now-a-days?" she countered.
+
+"Not your uncle Maurice!" replied the youth, gravely. "My dad gave me a
+plane, and I wrecked it. I'm through! My flying almost took me to the
+angels!"
+
+"What's this?" interrupted Miss Carlton, coming out on the porch with a
+hamper of lunch for the picnic. "You've been in an airplane accident?"
+
+"And how!" he replied, feelingly.
+
+"Now you see, Linda! You better not go over to that field again! I'm so
+afraid of planes!"
+
+"All right, Aunt Emily," replied the girl, graciously. "You needn't
+worry today, anyhow. We're going to the picnic in cars."
+
+But, had Miss Carlton seen Maurice Stetson behind the wheel of his
+yellow sports roadster, hitting seventy-five miles an hour, and all the
+while keeping up a conversation not only with Linda beside him, but
+with the couple in the rumble-seat as well, she would not have felt so
+satisfied.
+
+Nevertheless, nothing happened, and the picnic promised to be lots of
+fun. The girls had selected a beautiful wooded spot outside of the
+city, where a lovely stream widened into a small lake, deep enough for
+swimming.
+
+Most of the others had already arrived in their cars, when Louise's
+party drove up. Two large tents, on opposite sides of the lake, had
+been set up early in the morning for bath-houses.
+
+"Everybody into their suits!" cried Sara Wheeler, who seemed to be
+managing the picnic, because her mother was the chaperon. "First one
+into the water gets a prize!"
+
+"Then I get it, without even trying," remarked Harriman Smith, a nice
+boy, and a particular friend of Linda's, "because I have mine on now! I
+got dressed in it this morning, and carried my other clothing."
+
+"Lazy brute!" exclaimed Maurice, enviously, wishing that he had thought
+of such a labor-saving device.
+
+In fifteen minutes the whole crowd were in the water, diving and
+swimming, and ducking each other, and finally dividing off into sides
+for a game of water-polo. It was only when they actually smelled the
+steaks that Mrs. Wheeler's cooks were broiling, that they were finally
+induced to leave the lake and get dressed.
+
+A treasure-hunt through the woods was the program for the afternoon.
+Linda, who had expected to be coupled with Maurice Stetson for this
+event, was agreeably surprised to find herself with Ralph Clavering.
+Louise's doing, in all probability! No doubt she guessed that her chum
+did not care for Maurice.
+
+They walked along slowly, keeping their eyes on the ground for all
+possible clews, chatting at intervals about the class-day and the
+usual gossip, and now and then, when they met other couples, stopping
+to compare notes. Finally Ralph spoke about his plans for the summer
+months.
+
+"I'm hoping to persuade your aunt to go to Green Falls with us, Linda,"
+he said. "There will be quite a bunch of us together. Dot Crowley, Sue,
+Sally Wheeler, and of course Lou and Kit--from your sorority, and some
+of the boys from our frat, besides several from Spring City. Harry
+Smith's going to get a job as a life-guard, and Maurice has promised to
+go. We ought to be able to make whoopee, all right!"
+
+"Sounds good," admitted Linda, absently.
+
+"Yes, and I really think we could pull off some serious work there."
+
+"Serious work?" repeated Linda. As far as she knew, Ralph had never
+done any real work in his life.
+
+"Yeah. In the competitions, I mean. I think if we go after it tooth and
+nail, you and I'd make a pretty good team to pull down the cup for the
+tennis doubles. They have a big meet at the end of the season that's
+the talk of the whole Great Lakes region.... And Sally swings a mean
+club in golf. And look at Louise's diving!"
+
+"Yes, that's true," agreed Linda. She had always liked golf and tennis
+and swimming, but somehow this year they had all lost their charm. It
+was different after you graduated, she decided. Then you wanted to make
+something out of your life--like Ted Mackay. There was no more time to
+be wasted.
+
+"Promise me you'll go," begged Ralph, leaning over eagerly and putting
+his hand on her arm.
+
+Instinctively she drew it away, but before she could answer, Louise and
+Maurice appeared from a cross-path that was hidden by tall bushes.
+
+"Why, there's my little Lindy!" cried Maurice, though Linda was several
+inches taller than he was. "Grieving for papa?"
+
+"Shedding tears," laughed Linda. But the words made her think of her
+own father, and she grew sober. Suppose he were home now--waiting for
+her! He never stayed more than a day; how she would hate to miss him!
+
+"Has anybody found the treasure yet?" she inquired.
+
+"I've found _two_ treasures," replied Maurice complacently, looking
+first at Louise and then at Linda.
+
+"Forget it!" commanded Louise, tersely, lifting her head. She, like
+Linda, was tall, but in that the resemblance ended. Her dark, sleek
+hair was short and almost straight, and she wore earrings--even in
+swimming. She said she felt undressed without them--"practically
+immodest," were her exact words.
+
+"No, but really--?" persisted Linda.
+
+A wild shout from Dot Crowley, followed by a chorus of "Whoopee!" from
+half a dozen others, answered Linda's question immediately. Dot always
+was lucky. The others ran to the spot where the crowd was gathered,
+and Dot, a tiny, vivacious blonde, who could take child's parts in the
+amateur plays, was holding two boxes of golf balls triumphantly up to
+view.
+
+"Do I have to give one box to that lazy kid?" she demanded, pointing
+scornfully at her long-legged partner, Jim Valier, who had been
+languidly following her around. At the time when she had discovered the
+prize, he was lolling under a tree, resting his "weary bones," as he
+said, smoking a cigarette.
+
+"Sure you do!" he drawled. "Didn't I supply the brains to our combine?"
+
+"Brains!" repeated Dot. "Where did you get 'em? I'll have to have you
+arrested for stealing 'em, if that's the case! But here--take your box!"
+
+"Couldn't possibly," he said, waving them aside with his cigarette
+holder. "Besides, I hardly ever play golf. Too fatiguing."
+
+"How about your school-girl figure?" asked Maurice. "Aren't you afraid
+if you don't exercise, you'll lose it?"
+
+Everybody, even Linda, laughed, for Jim Valier was about the world's
+thinnest youth.
+
+"He's really afraid somebody will mistake him for a golf-stick, and
+bang a ball with him," remarked Ralph.
+
+In groups, and some in pairs, the whole crowd went back to the lake.
+After all that exercise and excitement, everybody wanted another dip
+to cool off. It was six o'clock by the time they all piled into their
+cars, and half-past when Linda reached home.
+
+Hoping to find her father, as she had been hoping every day that
+week, she dashed up the steps quickly, merely waving good-by to
+her companions as the sports car shot from the driveway. And then,
+miraculously, she saw his beloved face at the door!
+
+"Daddy!" she cried rapturously, rushing breathlessly into his arms.
+
+He was taller than Linda, with a straight, lithe figure like that of
+a much younger man. His hair was dark, with just a little gray at the
+temples, and his skin deeply tanned from his out-door life. A sort of
+habitual smile played about his lips, as if he had made up his mind to
+find life pleasant, no matter what came.
+
+"My dear little girl!" he said, quietly, patting her hair. "Will you
+forgive me for coming a day too late? Your Aunt Emily tells me that
+both Commencement and class-day are over--and you are an old Grad now!"
+
+"Yes, but I don't mind, Daddy, so long as you came today!" she replied,
+squeezing his hand. "Maybe it's better this way, because I've been so
+rushed lately that I wouldn't have had much time to see you."
+
+"You must tell me all about everything," he said, drawing her arm
+through his, and leading her down the steps of the porch. Of course
+he thought he meant what he said, but Linda knew from experience that
+if she did tell him, he wouldn't be listening. A dreamy expression so
+often came into his eyes when she chattered, and she would wonder what
+he was thinking of. Strange lands--or his ranch out west--or perhaps
+her mother?
+
+"Where are we going?" she asked. "I really ought to dress for dinner,
+Daddy. You know what picnics are."
+
+"Yes, To be sure. But I want to show you your graduation present."
+
+"My present?" There was excitement in her tone; it was sure to be
+something wonderful--and unusual. All the girls were wild with envy
+when Kitty Clavering received a real pearl necklace from her father.
+All--except Linda. She had no desire for pearls, or for any jewelry,
+for that matter. She had known that her father's present would be much
+more thrilling. At least--if he didn't forget!
+
+"You didn't think your old Dad would forget you, did you, Honey?" he
+asked.
+
+"No--no--of course not.... But, Daddy, where is it? Why are we going
+out back of the house?"
+
+"We have to walk over to our big field across the creek," he explained,
+mysteriously.
+
+"The big field? Why?... That's a hot walk, Daddy. No shade at all!
+If you want a nice walk, we ought to go in the other direction, down
+towards the orchard, where there are some trees."
+
+"Trees are the one thing we don't want," he replied, solemnly. "You're
+going to hate trees, after you get my present, daughter."
+
+"Hate--trees?" Linda's eyes were traveling all over the landscape,
+scanning it in vain for a clew. And then, as they mounted a slight
+incline, the thing came into sight. The marvelous, wonderful present!
+Too good to be true! Her heart stopped beating, her legs shook. She
+clutched at her father for support.
+
+A beautiful, shining airplane! A superb Arrow Sport! The very kind she
+had been reading about, had been longing some day to possess! And even
+a hangar, to keep it in safety!
+
+"Daddy!" she gasped, hoarsely.
+
+He was watching her face, rapturously.
+
+"You like it?"
+
+"Oh!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck, and suddenly
+bursting into tears. "How could you know that I wanted it so much?"
+
+He patted her hair, a little embarrassed by her emotion.
+
+"I just tried to imagine what I would want most if I were your age....
+You know, dear, you're your father's own girl! You look like your
+mother, but you're much more like me.... A strange mixture...." He was
+talking more to himself now, for Linda was almost running, pulling him
+along excitedly. "Feminine beauty--with masculine ambition...."
+
+But Linda was not listening. She had reached the plane now, and was
+walking around it, enthralled. Touching its smooth surface, to make
+sure that it was not only a dream. Dashing back to hug her father,
+and then climbing into the cockpit, to examine the controls, the
+instruments, the upholstery. If she lived to be a hundred years old, no
+other moment could hold greater happiness than this!
+
+Her father smiled softly in satisfaction. He wanted her to have all
+the happiness that he had somehow missed. Money couldn't buy it for
+him; but money spent for his daughter could bring it to him in the only
+possible way now.
+
+"You're not a bit afraid?" he asked, though he knew from her shining
+eyes that his question was unnecessary.
+
+"Dad!"
+
+"And now the question is, who can teach you to fly? Unfortunately, the
+man who brought it here for me couldn't stay, even to explain things to
+you--although of course there is a booklet. But I understand there's an
+air school here at Spring City...."
+
+"Yes! Yes!" she interrupted. "I've been there--been up with one of the
+instructors. Can we drive over for him tonight?"
+
+"My dear, you can't take a lesson at night," he reminded her. "You know
+that."
+
+"Oh, of course not!" she agreed, laughing at her own folly. "But
+tomorrow?"
+
+"Yes, certainly. At least we can see about it. You have to pass a
+physical examination first, I understand."
+
+"And I want to take the regular commercial pilot's course, Daddy! I
+want to go to the bottom, and learn all about planes, and flying. May
+I?"
+
+"I don't see why not.... You needn't stop for the expense."
+
+Linda blushed; she hadn't been thinking of the expense--she never did.
+But perhaps she ought to now, for the plane must have cost a lot of
+money. At the present, however, something else was worrying her.
+
+"It was the time I was thinking of," she admitted. "Aunt Emily wants
+to go away in a week or so. And oh, Dad, I just couldn't bear to leave
+this!" There were actually tears in her eyes.
+
+"Of course not, dear. Well, we'll see if we can't compromise with
+your aunt. Stay at home the rest of June and July, be content with a
+private pilot's license for the present, and then go away _in_ your
+plane in August. Wouldn't that suit you?"
+
+"To the ground--I mean to the skies!" corrected the happy girl.
+
+"And now we must get back to dinner," he reminded her. "Aunt Emily's
+waiting."
+
+Solemnly, tenderly, as a mother might kiss her baby, Linda leaned over
+and kissed the beautiful plane. Then giving her hand to her father,
+she walked back to the house with him in silence, knowing that now her
+greatest dream was fulfilled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+_Summer Plans_
+
+
+The news of Linda's magnificent present spread like wildfire. She never
+knew how it got about, for she didn't call anybody. In fact, she would
+have preferred to keep it a secret for that evening at least, and just
+spend her time over the booklet, talking things over with her father.
+
+But of course the rest of the crowd couldn't understand that. These
+young people, who saw their parents every day of their lives, just
+couldn't believe that a normal fun-loving girl like Linda would prefer
+a father's society to theirs. They didn't know that Linda had always
+longed to know him better, to understand him, to talk over with him
+her greatest dreams and ambitions. Because there had been nobody to
+talk to in that intimate fashion. Aunt Emily never had understood her,
+and never would. The kind-hearted woman saw, of course, that her niece
+was pleased with her graduation present, but she could not realize the
+girl's overwhelming joy in the possession of a plane. To her, even a
+string of imitation pearls would have been more desirable.
+
+They talked their plans over at dinner, Linda's father taking her side
+in urging that the vacation be postponed until August.
+
+"You don't mind, do you, Emily?" he asked his sister.
+
+"Well, I can't say I don't mind," she replied, a little sharply. "But
+of course I wouldn't spoil Linda's fun. But I am wondering whether you
+have been wise, Tom. Linda is tired out; instead of going to school and
+learning some more, she ought to be resting.... But your presents have
+never shown a great deal of wisdom, I fear."
+
+Her brother laughed.
+
+"Sometimes it's better to be foolish," he remarked.
+
+"Not if Linda breaks her neck!"
+
+"Which she isn't going to do!" contradicted Mr. Carlton, confidently.
+"Linda's careful--and she's thorough. I know that, from the way she
+drives her car--and takes care of it."
+
+"Cars and airplanes are different matters!"
+
+"Not so different as you might think. In some ways, cars are more
+dangerous, because you have to consider traffic--what the other fellow
+is going to do. And there's so much room in the skies!"
+
+"But if something goes wrong--there's nobody there to help her,"
+objected Miss Carlton.
+
+"Well, Emily, you'd be amazed at the perfection of the airplanes they
+are putting out now-a-days. They're as different from the old-fashioned
+ones of the World War, as the first two-cylinder automobiles from the
+sixes and eights of today."
+
+"But there still are a lot of crashes--and deaths," insisted his sister.
+
+"That doesn't say Linda will crash! Linda is going to be a good
+pilot--learn it all thoroughly!... Why, Emily, you don't think I'd be
+willing to take any chances with my only child, do you--if I didn't
+consider it safe?"
+
+He smiled fondly at Linda, but his sister drew down the corners of her
+mouth a trifle scornfully. As if his affection could compare with hers,
+though Linda wasn't her own child! He saw the girl two or three times a
+year at the most, while Aunt Emily was with her every day of her life!
+
+"Well," she added, "I'm afraid you'll feel out of the crowd by the time
+August comes and they have been together all that time at Green Falls!"
+
+"Do you mind missing it, my dear?" her father asked, gently.
+
+"Not a bit!" replied Linda immediately, her eyes shining at the thought
+of what she was gaining.
+
+Miss Carlton abruptly changed the subject.
+
+"Do you remember a man named Clavering, Tom?" she asked.
+
+"I remember the name. Connected with oil, wasn't he? Very wealthy?"
+
+"A millionaire, I think," replied Miss Carlton, as if the news were the
+most important thing in the world. "Well, he has bought an estate just
+outside of Spring City, and his daughter has just graduated in Linda's
+class."
+
+"Yes?" remarked her brother, wondering what possible difference that
+could make to him.
+
+"Well, the Claverings are planning to spend the summer at Green Falls,
+on Lake Michigan--the resort that Mrs. Haydock and I have selected....
+And there is a son in Harvard, who is going to be there."
+
+"Yes?" It still didn't dawn on the man what his sister meant. Perhaps
+that was because he was not worldly, and money and position didn't
+mean much to him. Or perhaps it was because it had never occurred to
+him that his little Linda was old enough to be thinking about getting
+married.
+
+"You certainly are slow at comprehension at times, Tom," she said, "for
+a smart man. Do I have to tell you in so many words that young Ralph
+Clavering is interested in Linda?"
+
+Linda blushed, and Mr. Carlton opened his eyes wide in amazement.
+
+"Well! Well! Well!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Dad!" protested Linda, nervously. "Don't be so serious! Aunt Emily
+thinks that because she loves me, everybody thinks I'm grand. But as a
+matter of fact, Ralph Clavering doesn't like me any better than half a
+dozen other girls. And I don't believe he likes me nearly so well as
+Louise--though I haven't given the matter any thought."
+
+"How any boy could fall for Louise Haydock is more than I can see!" put
+in Miss Carlton. "She is a nice girl, but she has ruined what looks
+she had by cutting her hair off so short, and wearing those dreadful
+earrings all the time----"
+
+"Aunt Emily!" interrupted Linda. "Please don't forget that Louise is my
+best friend!"
+
+"Even so, I don't have to admire her appearance, do I?"
+
+In a man's fashion, Mr. Carlton was getting very tired of this small
+talk. He stirred restlessly.
+
+"Well, it's settled then, about the summer, isn't it?" he asked. "I'd
+like to drive over early tomorrow morning to this Flying School, and
+make the arrangements about your course. Because tomorrow night I'm
+taking the sleeper back to the ranch."
+
+"Dad!" cried Linda, in disappointment. "You don't have to go that soon,
+do you? Oh, I wanted you to see me fly!"
+
+"I'll be back again, as soon as I can. But just now I'm having trouble
+with some Mexicans who came over the border and have been threatening
+us. I've got to be on the job. My help aren't any too reliable."
+
+"You won't be in any danger will you, Daddy?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
+
+"Guess not," he replied.
+
+At the conclusion of the meal, Miss Carlton, who always liked to have
+Linda's young friends about, suggested that she call some of them on
+the telephone and give them her news, inviting them over to celebrate
+with her. But Linda shook her head.
+
+"There's only one person I'd like to tell about it," she said, "and
+I'm afraid I couldn't reach him by phone, for I don't know where he
+lives. That's a boy over at the school, who has taken me up a couple of
+times."
+
+But, as friends like this did not interest her, Miss Carlton dismissed
+the subject and went out to consult her cook. Linda's father, however,
+felt differently.
+
+"What's his name?" he asked, indulgently. "Maybe we could locate him,
+if we put in a call at the school. There would probably be somebody
+about who would know his address."
+
+"Ted Mackay," answered Linda.
+
+Mr. Carlton's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and the smile died from his
+lips. His daughter trembled. What could he possibly have against Ted?
+
+"What's the fellow look like?"
+
+"He's big--with red hair, and blue eyes, Why? Do you know him, Daddy?"
+
+"Think I know his father--to my sorrow. Same name--description fits,
+too. Likable chap, when you first meet him, isn't he? Looks honest and
+kind, and all that?"
+
+"Oh yes, Daddy! And he is so nice, too. And so clever!"
+
+"I don't doubt it. So is his father--in his own way. Well, if he's
+the son of the man I know, you're to keep away from him. Do you
+understand, daughter?"
+
+"Yes, but Daddy, don't you think it's only fair to give me a reason?"
+she pleaded.
+
+"I'd rather not. Can't you take my judgment as worth something, Linda?"
+He spoke sternly.
+
+The tears came to Linda's eyes, and she looked away.
+
+"Mayn't I even speak to him?" she asked, finally.
+
+"Oh, certainly. Never cut anybody--it's a sign of a little mind to
+stoop to such childishness. But don't be friendly with him. I dare say
+there are other instructors at the field, and I'll arrange for someone
+else to teach you."
+
+The door-bell rang three times, but before the maid could answer it,
+Louise Haydock dashed into the house, followed by Kitty and Ralph
+Clavering, and finally, Maurice Stetson.
+
+"Whoopee!" cried Ralph, almost running into Linda's father, who was
+standing in the dining-room doorway.
+
+"Darling!" exclaimed Louise, embracing her chum excitedly. "We heard
+the news! Congratulations!"
+
+"And naturally we couldn't wait to see your plane," added Kitty. "But
+are you sure you've finished dinner?"
+
+"Yes, indeed," replied Linda, introducing her father to everybody
+except Louise, who of course knew him.
+
+"If it only isn't too dark to see it!" exclaimed Louise. "We've all
+brought flashlights."
+
+"Then we better trail out immediately," laughed Linda. "And I'll get
+Aunt Emily. She has only seen it from a distance."
+
+"Better wait for the rest of the crowd," suggested Ralph. "I saw Dot
+trying to round up some more. They ought to be here any minute."
+
+"Then we might as well wait. Aunt Emily'll be here in a minute."
+
+"What kind of plane is it, Linda?" inquired Maurice. "You're 'Lindy'
+Junior now aren't you--just as I predicted," he added.
+
+"It's a 'Pursuit,'" answered Linda, ignoring his second remark. "An
+Arrow Sport."
+
+"Open cockpit?" asked Ralph.
+
+"Yes. See--here's its picture." She waved the folder towards the boys.
+"It's supposed to be a wonderful little plane for a beginner!"
+
+"From now on, Linda'll talk of nothing but joysticks and ailerons
+and--" began Maurice, but he was interrupted by the arrival of Dot
+Crowley and six other young people, all of whom had been packed in her
+small car.
+
+It was just as she liked it to be, Aunt Emily thought, as she joined
+the merry, singing group, and started out with them towards the field
+beyond the house. Mr. Carlton did not go with them this time, and later
+on, Linda had reason to be thankful for his absence.
+
+It was quite dark now, but both the moon and the stars shone brightly,
+and the plane was clearly visible. The exclamations of delight and
+praise from her guests were enthusiastic enough to satisfy any proud
+owner of such a glorious prize. Linda was happier than ever.
+
+The boys were naturally interested in the mechanics of the plane, the
+girls in the upholstery of the seats, the charming, deep cushions,
+which could be removed if it were necessary to use a parachute. They
+turned on their flashlights, and walked about the biplane, not a little
+in awe at the idea of Linda's piloting it through the skies.
+
+"It only holds two people," remarked Dot, regretfully. "I wonder if we
+could pile in extras, like I do with my car."
+
+"I'm afraid not," replied Linda. "But I can take everybody up in
+turn--after I get my license. I am hoping to bring it to Green Falls in
+August."
+
+Satisfied at last that they had seen as much as possible for the
+present, they started to turn back, when Maurice suddenly spied a
+lonely figure at the top of the incline, some fifty yards away.
+
+"What ho!" he exclaimed. "Who can that be? Yo-ho-ho!" he cried, making
+a funnel with his hands.
+
+"Not anybody in our crowd," replied Jim Valier, "or he would answer.
+Hope it isn't a thief--with designs on your new plane."
+
+"We better chase him!" said Jackson Stiles, who was always ready for
+adventure, "Come on, fellows, let's rush him!"
+
+The boys darted off, all except Jim Valier, who said gallantly that
+he had better stay as protection for the ladies, though of course
+everybody knew it was only because he was too lazy to run. The girls
+laughed and chattered while they were gone--all except Linda, who
+waited nervously to find out what success they had had.
+
+In less than three minutes, however, they had returned, shamefacedly
+admitting defeat.
+
+"Maybe the fellow couldn't sprint!" announced Ralph. "I'll bet he's a
+track-runner----"
+
+"Or a chicken thief!" suggested Maurice.
+
+"Do you think he is a tramp?" inquired Miss Carlton, relieved that the
+man had disappeared. Tramps were so dirty, so unpleasant!
+
+"Don't think so. Big fellow--not badly dressed, as far as we could see.
+Had red hair."
+
+"Too bad we couldn't catch him," remarked Maurice, always ready with
+his jokes, "for his hair was bright enough to light up the plane. We
+wouldn't have needed our flashes."
+
+"Might have set the 'Pursuit' on fire!" suggested Jim.
+
+Linda frowned uneasily. The description sounded like Ted Mackay. But
+how did he know that she had a plane, and if he had happened to see
+it, why didn't he come to the house, and ask her permission to examine
+it? After all, it was on their own property--nobody had any right to
+intrude. She thought darkly of what her father had said, and hoped
+that there wasn't anything crooked about Ted. Why, he seemed more of
+a friend to her than any of these people--except of course her Aunt
+Emily, and Louise!
+
+By the time they had reached the house, everybody had forgotten the
+incident, for Louise turned on the radio, and without consulting Linda,
+they all decided to dance. Ralph claimed the latter for the first waltz.
+
+"So this will make a change in your summer plans," he said, as if the
+idea were not wholly to his liking.
+
+"Yes. We're not going to Green Falls till August--maybe not then, if I
+don't succeed in getting a private pilot's license before that."
+
+"But what about me?" he inquired, and the admiring look he gave her
+would have pleased Miss Carlton, had she noticed it.
+
+Linda looked puzzled.
+
+"You? Why--you'll never miss me! With all your girl friends!"
+
+"No; I've decided I'm not going to miss you," he said, quietly.
+"Because I'm going to stay right here in Spring City, and learn to fly
+along with you!"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes. The thing fascinates me. I want a plane, too! I'm going to touch
+my Dad for one when I get home tonight!"
+
+"But you've promised everybody you'll go to Green Falls!"
+
+"So I will--August first!"
+
+And so, much to Miss Carlton's delight, when the rest of the crowd left
+Spring City the following week, Ralph Clavering stayed at home with a
+couple of the servants, and enrolled at the same time as Linda, at the
+Spring City Flying School.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+_The First Lesson in Flying_
+
+
+Early the next morning, Linda wakened her father and hurried him
+through his breakfast. There wasn't a moment to be lost, she told him
+excitedly, like a child waiting to open her Christmas stocking. She
+had her car under the portico before he had finished his second cup of
+coffee.
+
+"Don't drive so fast that you are killed on the way," cautioned her
+aunt. "Remember, dear, you have the rest of your life to fly that
+plane!"
+
+But the present moment is the only time of importance to young people,
+and Linda scarcely took in what she was saying. Besides, the caution
+was unnecessary; unlike Dot Crowley and Maurice Stetson, she had too
+much respect for her car to mistreat it by careless driving. Linda
+loved her roadster as a cavalry general loves his horse.
+
+"You want to do most of your learning on your own plane, don't you,
+daughter?" asked her father, as he sat down beside her. "I mean--you'd
+rather bring your instructor back with us, and fly it, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Of course, if that is possible. But don't you suppose I have to go in
+a class with others, Daddy?"
+
+"Probably not--for it is a small school. Besides, I can arrange for you
+to have private lessons. It will hurry things up for you."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Daddy!... But later, I want to go to a regular ground
+school, if you will let me." Her tone was as eager as any boy's,
+starting out on his life work. "And study airplane construction, and
+wireless--and--and----"
+
+He smiled at her approvingly. What a girl!
+
+"You are ambitious, my dear," he said, but there was pride in his
+words. "I don't see why not, though.... Only, not all at once. As your
+Aunt Emily reminded you, you have the rest of your life."
+
+"I can't bear to fool!" she exclaimed, impatiently. "Now that I have
+graduated, I want to get somewhere."
+
+"You're bound to--unless you fly in circles," he remarked, lightly.
+
+"I mean--oh, you know what I mean, Daddy! And you do understand, don't
+you?"
+
+"Well, not exactly. You don't expect to be one of those independent
+girls who insist upon earning their own living, do you, dear?"
+
+"I don't know...." Somehow, she couldn't explain. Nobody understood
+just what she wanted except Ted Mackay, and that was because he had
+the same sort of goal himself. Ted Mackay! The memory of her father's
+command hurt her. Must she really give up his friendship? But why?
+She wanted to ask her father, but he was looking off in the distance,
+apparently lost in his own thoughts.
+
+So she drove the remainder of the way in silence, absorbed by her own
+dreams.
+
+The field was outside of Spring City, covering an area of thirty acres,
+and surrounded by the white fence that was now being used so much by
+airports. Three large hangars, containing probably half a dozen planes,
+occupied one side of the field, and, near the entrance was a large
+building, evidently used as an office and school for the theoretical
+part of the courses.
+
+"You have been here before, Linda?" asked her father, as the girl
+locked her car.
+
+"Yes--a couple of times. I feel almost at home."
+
+Scarcely were they inside the grounds, when Ted Mackay, looking huge
+and handsome in his flyer's suit, came out of the office building.
+He recognized Linda at once, and his blue eyes lighted up in a smile
+of welcome. Since he wore his helmet, his red hair was not visible,
+and Linda, glancing apprehensively at her father, knew that the latter
+had no idea who Ted was. But, nervous as she was over the meeting that
+was about to take place, she could not help feeling proud of Ted, and
+warmed by the frankness of his happy smile.
+
+"Linda!" he cried. (She had called him Ted the second time she met him,
+so he reciprocated.) "I owe you an apology--and a confession!"
+
+"Yes?" replied Linda, glancing fearfully at her father, though she knew
+that he had not yet realized who the young man was, or his expression
+would not have been so beneficent. "But first I want you to meet my
+father," she said. "Dad--this is Ted Mackay."
+
+She was vexed at herself that she was actually stammering. Acting just
+like a child! Yet she couldn't forget how stern her father could be.
+She recalled the day that, as a child, she had sneaked off and played
+with Louise when her chum had whooping cough. Her father happened to
+come home--and announced that he would take care of her punishment.
+And what a punishment! For three whole weeks he made her stay in the
+house, without a single companion except her Aunt Emily! He said he'd
+teach her to obey.
+
+But he wasn't storming, or even frowning now. Merely looking politely
+indifferent, perhaps a trifle superior. He made no motion to shake
+hands with Ted.
+
+"How do you do?" he said. "Would you be kind enough to take us to the
+man in charge of this field?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," replied Ted.
+
+Immediately, as if he intended to give the young people no chance for
+personal conversation, Mr. Carlton began to ask about the courses that
+were offered.
+
+Ted answered his questions, explaining that Miss Carlton would probably
+want to become a private pilot at first.
+
+"You have to pass a physical examination," he said, "and get a permit
+from the Government. Then you must have at least eighteen hours of
+flying experience--ten with someone else with you, eight of solo
+flying. There is a written examination, too--all about the rules and
+regulations that make up the laws of the air. Of course there isn't
+a lot of traffic, like with the driving of cars," he explained,
+smilingly, "but you'd be surprised at how many rules there are!"
+
+They had been crossing the field while he talked, and they stopped
+now at the main building. With a nod of dismissal that was curt, and
+yet not quite rude, for a muttered, "Thank you," accompanied it, Mr.
+Carlton left Ted, and took his daughter inside.
+
+A middle-aged man, dressed in a khaki shirt and breeches, was seated at
+a desk. He looked up as they entered.
+
+"My name is Carlton," began Linda's father, "and this is my daughter.
+I have bought her a plane, and I have come over to arrange about some
+lessons in flying."
+
+Lieutenant Kingsberry, a former Army officer, asked them to be seated,
+and went over about the same explanation that Ted had given, saying
+that he would be delighted to register Linda, provided that she passed
+the physical examination.
+
+"I suppose it is not so unusual now to have girls as students?"
+inquired Mr. Carlton.
+
+"Not for many of the schools," replied the lieutenant. "But it just
+happens that we so far have not enrolled any of the fair sex. Your
+daughter will be the first. When does she wish to start?"
+
+"As soon as possible," replied Mr. Carlton.
+
+"Now!" Linda could not help adding.
+
+"Well, I don't see why not," agreed the lieutenant, leniently. "At
+least Miss Carlton could take the physical examination, because one of
+our doctors is here now. And if she passes that, Mackay can give her
+the first lesson."
+
+Linda's expression of delight suddenly died on her lips. For she
+glanced at her father, and saw the queer, drawn look about his mouth at
+the mention of Ted's name.
+
+"This--Mackay--" he said slowly, "he isn't your only instructor?"
+
+"He is our best."
+
+"I prefer someone else. Can you arrange it?"
+
+"Why--I suppose so. But if it is only personal reasons, I think you are
+making a mistake, Mr. Carlton. Mackay is our most reliable flyer--by
+far our best instructor. We don't expect to have him here more than a
+month or so. He's had a good offer from a big company."
+
+Linda was glancing shyly, pleadingly, at her father, but he did not
+even see her.
+
+"Unfortunately I found this young man's father to be most
+unreliable--untrustworthy--during the period that I employed him on
+my ranch. The fact is, we are not yet through with the trouble that
+he started. So you can understand why I should refuse to trust my
+daughter to his son. It is an unpleasant but true fact that children
+inherit their father's weaknesses. I should not have a comfortable
+minute, being miles away, and knowing that she was in his hands."
+
+"Of coarse I will accept your decision, Mr. Carlton," replied
+Lieutenant Kingsberry, "and see that your wishes are carried out. I
+will summon the second ranking instructor--H. B. Taylor."
+
+He called his office boy, a young man learning to fly, and working
+his way at the same time, and gave the necessary message. A couple of
+minutes later the man came in, dressed like Ted, but somehow he seemed
+insignificant to Linda--as if he were the one who was not reliable. She
+sighed.
+
+Her father remained with the lieutenant and the instructor while
+she went into the doctor's office for her physical examination. She
+knew that her eyesight was good, but she felt a little nervous when
+the doctor examined her heart. It was fluttering so! Suppose all the
+excitement had been too much for her--and she did not pass! What good
+would her lovely plane be to her, if she were never allowed to pilot it
+herself?
+
+But she need not have been alarmed, for she came through with flying
+colors. Then young Taylor took her over to one of the planes, and began
+to explain about the joystick, the rudder, the ailerons, and everything
+else he could think of, in words of one syllable.
+
+Linda glanced at him, frowning. Did he think she was a baby. Or was
+it because she was a girl that his manner seemed so superior, so
+condescending? Why, he was wasting a lot of time! Ted would have had
+her up in the air by this time, perhaps letting her guide the plane
+herself.
+
+"I am familiar with all these terms, Mr. Taylor," she interrupted. "You
+see I have been up twice--with Mr. Mackay. And I've read a couple of
+books."
+
+The young man regarded her haughtily.
+
+"It is necessary, Miss Carlton, that you go through the regular
+lessons, regardless of what you knew beforehand," he answered coldly.
+"And whatever Mr. Mackay may have shown you--as a friend--has nothing
+to do with these lessons, so long as I, not he, am your instructor."
+
+"But I want to go up today!" she protested, eagerly.
+
+"It is not our custom to take students up on the first day, Miss
+Carlton.... Now, have you a notebook and pencil?"
+
+"In my car." She tried to answer naturally, but she was keenly
+disappointed.
+
+"Then will you please go and get them," he said, seating himself in
+the cockpit of the plane which he had been using to illustrate his
+statements.
+
+Obediently, but half-heartedly, Linda started back for the road where
+her car was parked. She had gone about half-way when she came upon her
+father, accompanied by Ralph Clavering, dressed like herself, in his
+riding outfit.
+
+"Hello, Linda!" he cried. "Passed your physical exam, didn't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," she answered. "So you're really going to learn, too?"
+
+"I most certainly am. And your father has consented to let us take our
+lessons together. Won't that be fun?"
+
+"Linda," interrupted her father, as he saw her start away, "where are
+you going? I want to tell you something."
+
+"Yes, Daddy?" A wild hope surged in her heart that perhaps he had
+changed his mind about Ted. It wasn't only that she had taken a dislike
+to H. B. Taylor--it was rather that she had not confidence in him as
+a teacher. He might be all right as a pilot, but instructing others
+was a different matter. And he would never really feel any personal
+interest in her progress, or understand her, like Ted. His attitude
+almost said that he thought it was silly of girls to want to fly!
+
+But she ought to have known her father better than to think he would
+change his mind.
+
+"I should like to take your car and go home now, if you don't mind," he
+said, "because I have some work to do today that is urgent--some people
+to see about business. And Mr. Clavering has very kindly offered to
+drive you home. Is that all right? I know you don't like other people
+to run your car----"
+
+"Oh, Daddy, you're different," she said, forcing a smile. "Of course I
+don't mind your driving it.... But I'm sorry you can't wait for us."
+
+Promising to meet Ralph in a couple of minutes, she walked out to the
+entrance of the field with her father.
+
+"I need not tell you, dear," he said, "that my decision about Mackay
+is final. And I want you to have as little to do with him as possible,
+while you are here. It's for your own good, daughter. I can see that
+girls might find the young man attractive. But it is well to steer
+clear of such people. Have all the fun you like with your own friends."
+
+"Yes, Daddy," she managed to reply.
+
+"I guess young Clavering will see to it that your time at home, after
+most of the others go away for the summer, is not dull. And if you
+pass your course and get your license, you can fly your plane to Green
+Falls. I will make arrangements about a place to keep it. I dare say
+they have maps at the school."
+
+"Yes--and thank you so much--for everything, Daddy," she said. She
+mustn't let him see that she was disappointed, after all he had done
+for her! He might be right about Ted--but she didn't think so. Whatever
+Ted's father might be, she felt sure that Ted was one of the finest
+young Americans that she had ever known.
+
+Securing her notebook, and handing over her keys to her father, she
+hurried back to the field, and finished her lesson with Ralph at her
+side. As they walked out together, she looked about shyly for Ted. It
+wouldn't do any harm for her just to speak to him; after all he did
+want to tell her something. At last she spotted him, across the field
+beside one of the planes--in overalls and jumper now, his red hair
+brilliant in the sunlight.
+
+"Do you know I believe that's the fellow we chased last night!"
+exclaimed Ralph. "Do you know him?"
+
+"Yes, I've met him. He took me up a couple of times."
+
+"You know him? Then why was he sneaking around so funny last night? Why
+didn't he come over and speak to you?"
+
+"He's shy," replied Linda, jumping to the only conclusion that seemed
+feasible, and her explanation must have been correct, for Ted never
+looked up from his work as the young couple passed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+_Winning Her License_
+
+
+The next few weeks were the most interesting, the most exciting, of
+Linda's whole life. Every day she drove over to the Flying School
+with Ralph, and gained first her theoretical, and then her practical
+knowledge.
+
+Both she and Ralph were surprised to find that it was so simple a
+matter to handle a plane. By the middle of July they were accustomed
+to stepping into the cockpits by themselves, nosing their planes into
+the wind, and rising to a height of fifteen hundred feet, without even
+a tremor. Anxiously they counted their hours of solo flying, not only
+that their licenses would be approved, but because they both wanted to
+try some stunts. They had studied the principles of loops, Immelman
+turns, barrel rolls, and falling leaves, and they were wild to try them
+out for themselves.
+
+Finally, after they had both passed their written examinations, and
+were only waiting for their licenses to come through, Mr. Taylor
+allowed them both to try an inside loop and an Immelman turn. Linda's
+happiness was so great that she felt she just had to tell somebody, so
+she went home and wrote to her father. Unfortunately, she thought it
+wiser to say nothing about stunts to her aunt.
+
+Miss Carlton still insisted that she would never get into a plane, not
+even Linda's. "It's too dangerous," she objected, when her niece was
+begging her to go for a ride. "I might be killed--and then who would
+take care of you? And besides, I don't see how anybody could learn to
+fly in the short time you've been at it."
+
+"But Aunt Emily," explained Linda patiently, "it really is easier than
+driving a car. Once you are off the ground, the plane practically flies
+itself. And the higher you are, the safer."
+
+Miss Carlton shuddered.
+
+"I can't believe that, dear. Because the higher you are, the farther
+you have to fall!"
+
+"But you have all that chance to regain control of your plane,"
+insisted her niece. "Crashes practically always come on the
+ground--it's very rare indeed that two planes crash in the air, even
+when they are flying in Army formation."
+
+"How soon do you think you'll get your license?" inquired Miss
+Carlton, showing that Linda's words had made no impression at all upon
+her. She was anxious to get away now; Spring City was becoming very hot.
+
+"Any time now," replied the girl, her eyes shining with anticipation.
+"I have done all the required solo flying--and more too."
+
+"Solo flying? Do you mean you've been up alone? Without even Ralph?"
+
+"Yes, of course! And I love it, Aunt Emily! Oh, if you could just
+try it once, you'd never be afraid again. It is the most wonderful
+sensation--up in the skies, all alone! Free as a bird!" She paused
+abruptly, smiling at her own enthusiasm. She did not often talk like
+this to anybody, though there was a great deal of poetry in her make-up.
+
+"Well, dear, I'm glad you like it," said Miss Carlton, in a
+matter-of-fact tone. "But don't overdo it. And don't go in for any
+stunts."
+
+Ralph Clavering, who had been making it his habit to come over to see
+Linda every evening, now that all his other friends had gone away,
+arrived on the porch in time to hear Miss Carlton's admonition. He
+was about to say something, for he was very proud of his successful
+"acrobatic flying," when he caught Linda's frown of warning. Of course
+there was no use of worrying the timid woman, who was worried enough
+already.
+
+He sat on the railing, dangling his legs, and carelessly lighting a
+cigarette, as if he were very much at home.
+
+"Linda's little 'Pursuit' is a daisy, Miss Carlton," he said. "It
+really has a most marvelous motor--and all sorts of safety devices.
+There's not a thing for you to worry about.... I wish I had one like
+it!"
+
+Linda regarded him sympathetically. It was hard luck that his father,
+with all his money, refused to buy Ralph a plane! But he had been
+promised one the following year--if he graduated from college without
+any conditions. Evidently Mr. Clavering was using it as a spur to his
+son's ambition, for Ralph had never been keen about his studies. Good
+times came first with him; besides, he argued, what was the use of
+learning to make money, when his father already had more than they
+could spend?
+
+"What are you children going to do this evening?" asked Miss Carlton,
+though it was nine o'clock now, and there wouldn't be much evening
+left, for Linda insisted upon going to bed early.
+
+"I'd like to map out our trip to Green Falls," the latter replied. "And
+then we could show our plan to Lieutenant Kingsberry, and see where
+the airports are located along the way, in case we have to land."
+
+"Why not Taylor?" inquired Ralph, teasingly, for he knew that Linda did
+not care much about her instructor.
+
+She gave the boy a withering look.
+
+"Well, then--Redhead? He ought to know. By the way, I never see you
+talking to him, Linda!"
+
+"I never get a chance. He's always busy, and besides, you're usually
+with me. I guess he's too shy to intrude."
+
+Nevertheless, she decided that she must have one talk with Ted Mackay
+before she left the school, to clear up matters that had never been
+discussed. All during the next week she watched for her opportunity,
+but it did not come until her final day at the school--the day when she
+received her license as a private pilot.
+
+Wild with joy at her success, she asked where Ted was, and ran over to
+the hangar where he happened to be working. For once, Ralph was not
+with her; he had not yet landed the plane he had been flying.
+
+"Mr. Mackay!" she cried joyously--she was afraid to call him "Ted" now,
+for he seemed like such a stranger. "I'm a real pilot! I can fly my
+own plane now, wherever I want to go!"
+
+The young man came over solemnly and shook hands with her.
+
+"May I be the first to congratulate you?" he asked.
+
+"Not the first. Lieutenant Kingsberry has done so already. But, of
+course, in a way he doesn't count."
+
+"And this is only your beginning, I know!" he said, his blue eyes
+sparkling with enthusiasm. "You're going to a ground school in the
+fall--as we used to talk about--aren't you?"
+
+"Yes, I hope so." She hesitated, and looked down at the ground, digging
+the toe of a dainty slipper--entirely feminine, in spite of her flyer's
+costume--into the dust. She felt shy, and embarrassed; it was so hard
+to hurt Ted, and yet she didn't dare disobey her father. "Ted," she
+said, finally, "could I have just one little talk with you, to clear
+things up--before I go away?"
+
+"I've been longing for it," he confessed, eagerly. "But I'd decided
+that you were through with me, on account of my actions that night you
+got your plane--when I sneaked over to see it. One of the boys heard it
+roaring over our heads, and ran out to see where it was landing. So,
+when he came back with the news that it was in your field, I knew it
+must be yours. When I went over to see it myself--I--I was hoping you'd
+come out alone--and we could gloat over it together! And then all that
+crowd showed up, and your aunt too--I was sure it was she--and I just
+lost my nerve and ran. It looked pretty queer, I guess."
+
+"No, only why didn't you come to the house first?" she inquired.
+
+"I was afraid the butler would say, 'Miss Carlton is not at home'--the
+way the rich young ladies' butlers always do in the novels."
+
+"Only we haven't any butler," laughed Linda.
+
+"Well, you have a strict aunt--and a father that's made of steel!"
+
+"Don't!" cried the girl, in an offended tone. "You mustn't say a word
+against my father, or I never will talk to you. But that brings me to
+what I wanted to say.... My father has no time for you, on account of
+your father. It seems that a man by the same name worked for him on
+the ranch in Texas--and was untrustworthy. Could that have been your
+father?"
+
+"I'm afraid it was," admitted Ted, sadly.
+
+"So you see why he selected Mr. Taylor to teach me to fly...." Tears
+almost came into her eyes, as she saw how sorrowful Ted was looking.
+"I think it's absurd, myself," she admitted. "But I suppose Daddy means
+it for the best.... I'm--not to be friends with you, Ted.... And, oh,
+I'm so sorry!"
+
+"I'm sorry too, Linda," the boy said slowly. "But somehow I never
+believed we could be real friends. I'm not like you--I don't believe in
+fairy stories."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean that the poor young man, who has a disgrace to live down, isn't
+likely to be friends with the rich, beautiful girl--in real life.... So
+I guess it's good-by...." He held out his hand.
+
+"Oh, but I'll at least see you again!" she protested. "Tomorrow I'm
+going to fly my plane over here and back--all by myself!"
+
+"That's wonderful--I wish I could be here to see you do it," he
+answered regretfully. "But unfortunately I am leaving myself tomorrow.
+I'm taking a job as salesman for a plane construction company in Kansas
+City."
+
+"Congratulations!" cried Linda, pleased at his advancement. "Well, good
+luck--and good-by!"
+
+"And, by the way," he added, "I want to thank you for wearing my poor
+little flowers at your class-day. I saw you--through the fence. I was
+so glad they held the affair out-of-doors!"
+
+"Then they were from you?" she asked, ashamed that she had forgotten to
+thank him. "I thought so, but I wasn't sure. I meant to ask you. They
+were lovely."
+
+"I am going to give you a card of my firm," said Ted, reaching into his
+pocket. "So that you will know where I am, in case you need any help
+with your Arrow.... You--you--don't mind?"
+
+"I'll be very thankful to have it," she reassured him. "You know, Ted,
+I have an awful lot of confidence in you!"
+
+And, with a final pressure of her hand, he turned to go, and she,
+looking about, saw Ralph Clavering walking towards her.
+
+"What's the big idea?" he asked her, when he reached her side, and Ted
+had disappeared. "Holding hands with Red?" His tone was irritable.
+
+"I was just saying good-by," she explained. "He's leaving tomorrow for
+a job in Kansas City."
+
+"Flying?"
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"Well, we'll be flying away soon, too," he added, more cheerfully. "I
+had a letter from Kit this morning, and she wants us surely at Green
+Falls for July thirty-first. It's the Midsummer Ball, and the big event
+of the season--socially. She told me to tell you and Miss Carlton to be
+sure not to miss it."
+
+"Oh, I'll be ready by Saturday," replied Linda. "Aunt Emily has been
+doing all the shopping, so I hardly need to do anything.... By the way,
+did Kit give you any gossip about the crowd?"
+
+"Let me see," muttered Ralph, as he took her arm possessively while
+they walked across the field, in the hope that Ted Mackay would see
+them. "She did have quite a bit to say--but it was mostly about Maurry."
+
+"Maurice Stetson? What's he been doing?"
+
+"Rushing Kit, evidently. And she seems to like it.... And she said
+Harry Smith has a life-guard's job, and is spending all his spare time
+with Lou."
+
+"I haven't heard from Lou in ages," remarked Linda. "But I guess it's
+partly my fault. I haven't had time to answer her letters." Then,
+changing the subject, as they came out to the road where Linda's car
+was parked, "You're going to fly up with me in the 'Pursuit,' aren't
+you, Ralph?"
+
+"Surest thing! We'll fly everywhere together--from now on. Just like
+Mr. and Mrs. Lindy!"
+
+"Only we won't!" she answered abruptly, laughing at him.
+
+As they stepped up to the roadster, they almost fell over a man who
+came out from a shabby coupé in front of theirs. He had evidently been
+leaning over, fixing something.
+
+"Want any help?" asked Ralph, though Linda knew he hadn't the slightest
+idea of giving any.
+
+"No, thanks," muttered the man, without looking up. "Engine trouble."
+
+"Engine trouble!" repeated Linda, sympathetically. Then, turning to
+Ralph. "Suppose something like that should happen to us--on the way to
+Green Falls!"
+
+"Well, it won't!" replied Ralph reassuringly. "The motor's just about
+perfect in that little plane of yours! No--but I tell you what, Linda,
+you better bring your gun along. That crazy sister of mine expects me
+to bring her pearls up for the Midsummer Ball!"
+
+"Real pearls--at a summer resort!" cried Linda, as she slipped the key
+into her lock, and started her engine. "She's taking an awful chance!"
+
+"That's what I think. But of course they're insured. And so long as
+she's succeeded in getting Dad's permission, it's not my business
+to stop her.... By the way, it's a fancy-dress affair. What sort of
+costume will you wear?"
+
+"I don't know. I guess I'll leave it to Aunt Emily."
+
+But when she got back home, she forgot all about pearls and dresses and
+mid-summer balls. Nothing mattered to her, but the glorious fact that
+at last she was a real flyer!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+_The Flight to Green Falls_
+
+
+The first thing that Linda thought of when she opened her eyes the
+following morning was the glorious fact that she was now a real pilot.
+She could take her plane anywhere--to Green Falls, to her father's
+ranch in Texas, wherever she wanted to go--and nobody could stop her.
+The freedom of the world and of the skies was hers.
+
+But she had no intention of taking it any farther than the Spring City
+Flying School that day. She would spend the morning there, watching one
+of the licensed mechanics give it a thorough inspection, in readiness
+for the flight to Green Falls on the following day.
+
+She wished that it might be Ted Mackay who would go over the plane. She
+had such confidence in his knowledge, his thoroughness. Besides, it
+would be fun to spend the morning with him, asking him questions, and
+talking things over.
+
+Naturally, that was impossible. When Linda reached the field she found
+that Ted already had gone, and a number of changes had been made. H.
+B. Taylor was now first-ranking instructor, and the young man who had
+been acting as office boy, or orderly, or whatever they chose to call
+him, had passed his course and was promoted to the rank of instructor.
+Another man took his place--an older man this time, and Linda thought
+probably it was the poor fellow who had been having engine trouble with
+his shabby coupé the preceding day. Everything seemed different, and
+Linda was somehow glad that she was leaving. The place would never be
+the same to her without Ted Mackay.
+
+About noon she received the mechanic's O.K. upon her plane, and flew
+home in time for lunch. Her aunt had finished packing, and was as
+excited as a child about going to Green Falls, and again taking up
+their customary social life among their friends.
+
+"I have bought a new flying suit for you, dear," she said to her niece,
+as the girl entered the library. "Unwrap it and see how you like it."
+
+Linda eagerly unfastened the strings and lifted out a pair of white
+flannel knickers, with a jaunty blue sweater and helmet of knitted
+silk, just the color of her eyes. The whole costume was charming, and
+a lovely change from the dark riding breeches she had been using for
+flying.
+
+"It's perfect, Aunt Emily!" she cried, realizing for the first time
+that she had never cared for what she was now wearing. "And it was so
+sweet of you to think of getting it for me!"
+
+"I never could see why girls have to look masculine," replied her aunt.
+"Of course I can understand that skirts are impractical, but they make
+these suits so pretty now-a-days. And I want you to look nice the very
+first minute you arrive at Green Falls. First impressions are always so
+important and there is sure to be a crowd there to greet you."
+
+Linda was only too delighted to wear it the next day, which dawned
+clear and warm for her flight. Miss Carlton left early in the morning,
+by train, so that she would be at Green Falls in plenty of time to
+welcome the flyers.
+
+Ralph came over for Linda about half-past nine. Carrying their lunch,
+the young people started on their first real adventure in the air.
+
+The young man, too, wore a new suit of spotless white flannel, and,
+as they walked, tall and slender and straight, they made perhaps the
+best-looking pair of flyers in America. But neither was conscious of
+that; both were too much excited about their first trip in the air to
+give even a passing thought to their appearances.
+
+"Are you sure that you have the precious necklace?" asked Linda, as
+they made their way across the field in back of her house.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Ralph. "I went to the safe-deposit vault this
+morning to get it. That was one reason why I didn't want to start
+early. I had to wait for the bank to open."
+
+"Kit would be horribly disappointed if we didn't bring it," returned
+Linda. "I honestly think she loves those pearls as much as I do my
+'Pursuit'!"
+
+"Queer taste," remarked the boy. "If I had them, I'd sell them and buy
+a biplane!"
+
+"Of course you would," said Linda approvingly. "Even if you do insist
+upon talking baby-talk!"
+
+"Baby-talk?"
+
+"Certainly. 'Buy a biplane'--sounds like 'Bye, Bye, Baby,' doesn't it?"
+
+Ralph smiled, but they both forgot immediately what they were saying,
+for they were beside the plane now, ready to start on their flight.
+Linda was not at all nervous about the journey, only thrilled and
+happy. She climbed into the cockpit with the same assurance that she
+entered her car, and her take-off was just as easy, just as natural. It
+seemed now as if she piloted the biplane by instinct; with the sureness
+of a bird it rose into the air to a gradual height of fifteen hundred
+feet. For she had been cautioned again and again that there was safety
+in height.
+
+They flew along without any attempt at conversation, for it was
+difficult to hear above the roar of the motor. But Linda was so
+happy that she hummed softly to herself, and most of the time she
+was smiling. Ralph, with a map in his lap, kept a close watch on the
+compass.
+
+For some time they did not see any other planes in the sky, and then
+at last one came into view. As it drew closer, it occurred to Linda to
+wonder whether she was being followed.
+
+"Who do you suppose that is?" shouted Ralph, above the noise of the
+motor.
+
+"I think it's somebody from our school--maybe Taylor," she replied.
+"Perhaps Dad ordered them to follow us--for safety--or maybe it was Ted
+Mackay's idea."
+
+As the plane drifted off to one side, they thought no more about the
+matter. But it was noon now; the sun stood high overhead, and both of
+the young people were astonished to find how hungry they were.
+
+"I want to try a couple of stunts before we eat," Linda told Ralph.
+"You're game, aren't you?"
+
+"Surest thing!" replied the boy, with delight. "We've got plenty of
+height--and a spectator too, for that matter." The other plane had just
+come back into sight.
+
+Linda's eyes were shining with excitement, yet inside she was perfectly
+cool. Hadn't she made inside loops and Immelman turns often at school,
+and didn't she know exactly what to do? With perfect poise, she swung
+the plane into a loop, and completed it without any difficulty. Pleased
+with her success, she tried it again and again.
+
+"You must think you're Laura Ingalls!" shouted Ralph, catching his
+breath. "Trying to beat her record?"
+
+"Hardly," smiled Linda, for the famous aviatrix he mentioned held the
+record at that time with nine hundred and eighty consecutive inside
+loops, at a speed of four and a half loops a minute.
+
+The plane was righted now, but Linda suddenly noticed that Ralph was
+acting awfully queer, hanging over the side, and hunting frantically
+in the pockets of the sweater which he had put over the seat. She
+believed he must be ill; certainly his face was ghastly white.
+
+"Ralph!" she cried, fearfully. "What's the matter?"
+
+"I've lost the necklace!" he screamed in terror. "Must have fallen out
+of my pocket!"
+
+"Oh!" wailed Linda, aghast at the meaning of his words. "Are you sure?"
+
+"Positive!"
+
+"Then we'll land immediately. We're over a field, so we ought to be
+able to find it. Now--keep your eye on the compass!"
+
+Gradually, and with easy skill, she turned the biplane into the wind
+and descended, finally coming down into a large flat field, evidently a
+pasture ground for some horses. Ralph was the first to jump out.
+
+"We went a little south to land," he said, "so it must have dropped up
+there."
+
+"Was it in a box?" questioned Linda.
+
+"Yes, fortunately. A white velvet box, inside a larger pasteboard one,
+with three rubber bands around it. That ought to make it easier to
+find."
+
+Linda, however, had her doubts; the field was so big! Besides, what
+proof had Ralph that he had lost it at that particular minute--when
+she was making her loops. She remembered that he had taken off his
+sweater an hour ago, when he felt too warm, and had carelessly hung it
+over the side, forgetful of the precious box in its pocket. That was
+the trouble with being so rich! Many times she had noticed how heedless
+both Kitty and Ralph were about valuables.
+
+They walked silently across the field, their eyes on the ground, their
+minds filled with remorse. Ten minutes passed, and they had not found
+it.
+
+"Let's go back and eat our lunch," suggested Ralph, consulting his
+watch. "It's almost one o'clock, and we'll feel better if we eat. After
+all, we have plenty of time--Green Falls is only about twenty miles
+farther. We could search all afternoon, if necessary."
+
+"Yes, only Aunt Emily would nearly die of anxiety. She'd be sure we had
+been killed, if we didn't arrive before supper."
+
+They went back to the plane and took out the dainty lunch which Miss
+Carlton's cook had packed that morning for them. But, hungry though
+they were, the meal was not the pleasant picnic they had been hoping
+for. Both were too unhappy to enjoy what they were eating.
+
+Presently the noise of a motor overhead attracted their attention, and,
+looking up, they saw a plane in descent. When it was low enough to
+identify, they knew that it was the one that had been following them.
+
+"It's the 'Waco' from our school!" cried Linda. "I recognize it now. He
+must think we're in trouble. I wonder who's piloting?"
+
+The plane made a rather poor landing at the far end of the field,
+perhaps half a mile away. They could distinguish a man getting out of
+the cockpit, but of course at that distance they could not identify
+him. However, he seemed to be coming slowly towards them.
+
+As he advanced nearer and nearer Linda noticed that he wore an ordinary
+suit of clothing--not a flyer's uniform, and he kept his hand in his
+pocket. But she still did not recognize him--unless he was that new
+man the school had taken on the preceding day. Once he stooped over,
+as if he were picking something up, and Linda's heart beat wildly with
+hope. Could it be that he had found the necklace? Apparently, though,
+it was only a plant that he had pulled up by the roots, for when he
+straightened himself, he seemed to be examining its leaves.
+
+"In trouble?" he shouted, as soon as he was within hearing distance.
+
+Ralph jumped up and ran towards him, shaking his head in the negative.
+
+"No trouble with the plane," he replied. "But we've lost a little
+box--with a necklace in it. You haven't seen it, have you?"
+
+"Why, yes," answered the man slowly, "I did pick up a box." And he
+put his other hand in his pocket, and drew out the very article.
+Fortunately it had not been broken; even the rubber bands were still
+tightly around it. He handed it to Ralph.
+
+"Oh, thank you a thousand times!" cried Linda, too relieved to believe
+her eyes. "The necklace was a graduation present to this man's sister,
+and she values it very highly!"
+
+"Well, if that's all, I'll be off," said the man, as he watched Ralph
+put the box into his pocket.
+
+"No, I must reward you," insisted the boy, taking out a twenty-dollar
+bill. "And by the way, you're from the Spring City Flying School,
+aren't you? We recognized the plane."
+
+The other nodded, and seemed in a hurry to be off. Already he was
+twenty feet away.
+
+"It was awfully nice of you to follow us, and look after us," called
+Linda, "but really we don't need protection. We're getting along
+finely!"
+
+But the man was running now, and could hardly have heard what Linda was
+saying. In a couple of minutes they heard the motor start, and with a
+clumsy take-off, the plane ascended.
+
+"A queer cuss," remarked Ralph. "And I can't see that he's much of a
+flyer. You and I are both better--by a long shot.... But anyhow, we've
+got the necklace!" He put his arms around Linda and hugged her, and she
+was too happy to protest. What a miracle it was to have found it!
+
+"That will teach me a lesson," said Ralph, as he helped Linda gather up
+the lunch. "I'm going to be more careful now. I've put the necklace in
+my most inside pocket!"
+
+"And I'm not going in for any more acrobatics for a while," added Linda.
+
+They climbed into the cockpit, and started the motor without wasting
+any more time. Half an hour later they made a graceful landing at Green
+Falls' Airport, for a group of a hundred spectators to witness and
+admire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+_The Robbery_
+
+
+"Let's don't say anything about our little mishap," whispered Linda,
+as the flying couple got out of their plane. "For one thing, I'd just
+as soon not boast about stunts in front of Aunt Emily. She would be
+worried all the more."
+
+"And I'm not any too proud of the fact that I was so careless about a
+valuable necklace," returned Ralph. "So we'll keep it our secret."
+
+There was no time for further words. Everybody rushed at them, shouting
+joyous welcomes. Louise was the first to kiss Linda--then all the
+others, and finally her aunt.
+
+"Thank Heaven you're safe!" cried the latter. "I couldn't eat a bite of
+lunch, I was so uneasy."
+
+"Of course we're safe," assured Ralph. "And maybe if we'd come by
+motor, we should have had an accident. There was a big smash-up--two
+automobiles--outside of Spring City this morning."
+
+"Isn't the air up here wonderful!" exclaimed Miss Carlton. "After that
+stuffy town of ours!"
+
+"I think the _airport_ is wonderful," replied Linda, "for so small a
+place. But as for the air--well, don't forget Auntie dear, that Ralph
+and I have been having marvelous air--up in the skies!"
+
+"Hope you didn't give him the air," remarked Maurice Stetson, solemnly.
+
+Kitty Clavering gave the young man a withering look, and inquired of
+the flyers when they might hope for rides. "Oh, I don't mean today,"
+she added, "for I know you must both be nearly dead."
+
+"Not a bit of it!" denied Linda, who still looked as fresh as a
+flower in her becoming blue and white suit. "But it's supposed to be
+wise to have a mechanic go over your plane each time you fly. Just a
+precaution, you see."
+
+"A very good rule to follow," commented Miss Carlton. "Now everybody
+get into their cars, and we'll go over to our bungalow for some
+ginger-ale and sandwiches."
+
+"Just a moment, please!" interrupted a voice at her elbow, and everyone
+turned to see a newspaper man with a camera. "Pictures, please!"
+
+Linda and Ralph smilingly agreed, and their friends stepped aside. Then
+they all piled into the three machines that were waiting for them;
+while the strangers who had been watching commented on the beautiful
+biplane, and the handsome couple who had been flying it, and wondered
+whether they were married.
+
+"Did you bring my necklace, Ralph?" asked Kitty Clavering, as he got
+into her roadster with her and Maurice.
+
+"Surest thing!" he replied, as if nothing at all had happened on the
+way. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pasteboard box, with
+the French jeweler's name engraved on the lid.
+
+"Thanks a lot," she replied. "Maurry, you take care of it till we get
+home, so long as you're sitting in the middle. Mind you don't lose it!
+I think as much of that as Linda does of her plane."
+
+"But not as much of it as you do of me?" asked the youth, flippantly.
+
+"A thousand times more! Like the old question people always ask married
+men: 'If your mother and your wife were drowning, which one would you
+save?' Well, if you and the necklace were drowning, I'd go after my
+necklace!"
+
+"Righto. Necklaces, no matter how valuable, have never been known to
+swim. I do."
+
+It was only a five minute ride from the airport to Miss Carlton's
+bungalow, so Kitty waited until they had all gone inside the pleasant
+living-room to open her box, and gaze at her beloved treasure once more.
+
+"I'm dying to see it again," she said, as she took the box from
+Maurice's hand. "If I had my way, I wouldn't keep it in a safe-deposit
+vault. I like it where I can look at it."
+
+She took off the rubber bands and opened the box, displaying the velvet
+case inside. But when she unfastened the clasp, her expression of
+delight changed abruptly to one of horror. The case was empty!
+
+Her exclamation of distress was pitiful to hear. Her dearest
+possession--gone!
+
+"Ralph!" she cried with torturing accusation. "Ralph! Are you teasing
+me?"
+
+Her brother's face became ghastly white.
+
+"What--what's wrong--Kit?" he stammered.
+
+"My necklace! Oh, what has happened?" She burst out crying.
+
+Everybody crowded around and gazed in consternation at the empty box,
+looking questioningly at Ralph, to see whether it could possibly be
+intended as a joke. But he did not need to tell them of his innocence;
+he looked almost as stricken as his sister. He knew now that it had
+been stolen by the man who pretended to be a pilot! And he had
+actually made twenty dollars out of Ralph besides, for the transaction!
+What fools they had been, never to open the box!
+
+"It's all my fault!" cried Linda, contritely. "My silly, foolish,
+childishness, for wanting to show off!"
+
+Nobody of course had any idea what she was talking about--nobody except
+Ralph.
+
+"No! No! It was mine!" he protested. "My carelessness!"
+
+"Then you both knew!" exclaimed Kitty, raising her head, which she had
+buried on Linda's shoulder while she sobbed. "Oh, how cruel, not to
+prepare me!"
+
+"On my honor, we didn't!" averred Ralph, and from the look on his face,
+his sister knew that he was telling the truth.
+
+"Explain what you meant, then," she commanded.
+
+"Let me tell you," put in Linda. "But sit down, Kit dear. You're liable
+to faint.... You see, we were robbed, and too foolish to suspect it. We
+even paid the robber twenty dollars for doing the job."
+
+"So you said," Kitty remarked, impatiently. "Do you mean that you saw
+somebody take it--right under your eyes?" She had dropped down on the
+couch, and her pale little face was pitiful to see. The tears still ran
+down her cheeks, washing tiny rivers through the powder. Luckily she
+was not a girl who used rouge, or she would have looked ridiculous. As
+it was, she gave the appearance of a very unhappy child.
+
+"Exactly!" explained Linda. "Or rather, we might have, if we had had
+sense enough to realize it. I wanted to try a couple of loops, and we
+started quite high, but by the time we had finished, we were over an
+open field. It was then that Ralph suddenly realized that the box had
+dropped out of his pocket when the plane was on its side. So we decided
+to land, and search the field."
+
+"And somebody had already picked it up?" demanded Dot, excitedly.
+
+"No. Another airplane--I had noticed it before--landed soon after we
+came down. The pilot walked over and asked us if we were in trouble."
+
+"And you stupids told him all about the fifty-thousand-dollar
+necklace!" cried Louise, in disgust.
+
+"No, we didn't! We were smart enough to know that wouldn't be wise. We
+thought we knew him, though--we had seen him at the Spring City Flying
+School. But we did tell him we had lost a necklace, and he said he had
+picked something up. As a matter of fact, we had noticed him stoop
+over."
+
+"And you took it and thanked him, and never looked inside!" cried Kitty.
+
+"I'm afraid you're right," admitted Ralph. "We thought he was a friend,
+following us for our protection, at the orders of the school."
+
+"Well, then, why was he following you?" demanded Kitty, incredulously.
+
+"He must have overheard us talking about the necklace," answered Linda
+slowly, for she was trying to think the thing out. "Yes--that is what
+I believe he was doing all the time, Ralph. Now I remember--the day we
+got our licenses!"
+
+"You mean you went around the school shouting the news that you were
+carrying pearls to Green Falls in an airplane?" asked the unhappy girl.
+
+"Of course not! Only the men at the bank--the safe-deposit
+vault--really knew about it. And of course they're absolutely
+trustworthy! Except maybe this one man--who was fixing his car outside
+the aviation field. We never thought he was listening--why we couldn't
+even see him!"
+
+"Children," interrupted Miss Carlton, who had been patiently waiting
+to serve the refreshments, "wouldn't you all feel better if you ate
+something? Then we can discuss what are the best steps to take to
+capture the thief."
+
+They agreed, but Linda and Ralph and Kitty were all extremely nervous;
+they hated to lose any time. Ralph decided to telephone to a lawyer at
+once in Spring City, to put expert detectives on the job, and to get in
+touch with the Flying School.
+
+"Lucky the necklace was insured," remarked Maurice Stetson, as he drank
+his ginger-ale.
+
+"Yes, but Dad will never get me another!" moaned Kitty, disconsolately.
+"He'll say I was careless, and invest the insurance in bonds, to be
+kept in trust till I'm older--or something like that." She started to
+cry afresh. "And I only wore the necklace twice--at graduation and at
+the class dance!"
+
+Linda watched her sorrow with more than sympathy--with remorse. It was
+her fault, she was sure! Of course she couldn't imagine caring so much
+for a pearl necklace, when such lovely imitations were made, but it
+wasn't her place to judge. Kitty probably wouldn't understand why she
+loved her Arrow so much.
+
+Slowly, painfully, she came to her decision. She rose and went over to
+the couch where Kitty was sitting, and crowded in between the latter
+and Dot.
+
+"It's my fault, Kit," she said, "and of course I can't pay for it--but
+I can help. I'm--I'm--going to sell my airplane, and--give you the
+money. Then you can start buying a new one--a couple of pearls at a
+time."
+
+Kitty squeezed her hand affectionately.
+
+"You're a dear, Linda, but I couldn't possibly let you do that.
+Besides, it was really Ralph's fault."
+
+"Of course it was!" put in the young man, returning from making his
+telephone call. "But we're going to catch that thief!" he announced,
+with conviction. "I've just been talking with Lieutenant Kingsberry
+at the field, and he says that fellow didn't even have a license,
+that they only took him on temporarily, as sort of errand boy. And he
+deliberately stole that plane!"
+
+"I thought he was about the poorest pilot I ever saw!" cried Linda,
+jumping up excitedly at this piece of news. "He'll probably crash,
+sooner or later.... Ralph!" Her eyes were shining with inspiration....
+"Let's go out after him--ourselves!"
+
+"Lieutenant Kingsberry is broadcasting the news all over--to all the
+airports," replied the young man. "Everybody will be watching for him.
+Do you think there would be any use in our going?"
+
+"Yes! Yes! We might be just the ones to spot him! Oh, come on!"
+
+"But haven't you had enough flying for today, Linda?" inquired Miss
+Carlton, anxiously.
+
+"We won't go far, Auntie dear," answered the girl. "Just around to the
+nearest airports, and see if anybody has any information. The practice
+of landing and taking-off again will be good for us both.... And you
+needn't worry one bit!... Now, who'll drive us over to our 'Pursuit'?"
+
+"'Pursuit' is right," remarked Maurice. "Your plane has the right name,
+Linda!"
+
+Louise immediately offered her services, and in less than five minutes
+the young pilots had washed their faces and were ready to start. Ten
+minutes later they climbed into the cockpit on the runway of the
+airport, and, this time with Ralph at the controls, they took off for
+the nearest airport.
+
+Ralph was delighted to be piloting a plane again, and in his enthusiasm
+he almost forgot the seriousness of his mission. A king of the air,
+he thought, and his lips were smiling. But Linda could not forget so
+easily.
+
+Like most young men, he loved going fast, and as soon as he was high
+enough, he let the plane out to her maximum speed. Over the clouds they
+sailed, at a rate of seventy miles an hour, yet they did not seem to
+be traveling fast. Linda had no sense of danger, yet it was the first
+flight she had ever made that she did not thoroughly enjoy, for, unlike
+Ralph, she could not for one moment forget Kitty's tragedy.
+
+Twenty minutes, however, was all that was needed to reach their first
+port, and Ralph, not quite so skilled or so careful as Linda, made,
+nevertheless a pretty landing. It was a large field, evidently designed
+for amateur sport flyers, and there were a number of licensed mechanics
+in readiness to greet new arrivals.
+
+Ralph lost no time in telling his story to the first man who came
+forward. Had they any information so far? he inquired.
+
+"Only of a wreck about fifteen miles away," replied the latter. "That
+may be your man--if, as you say, he is not an experienced pilot."
+
+"Can you give us directions?" put in Linda excitedly.
+
+"Certainly," replied the other, taking a map from his pocket, and
+indicating the position of the wreck. "We've already sent a doctor and
+a nurse--and telephoned for an ambulance." Marking the spot, he handed
+the map to Ralph.
+
+Jumping into the plane at once, Linda took control, for she felt surer
+of herself than of her companion in an emergency. The boy was so
+absent-minded, so likely to forget things in his excitement.
+
+Their destination was a field again, but not a large one, this time,
+and already a small crowd, gathered from passing automobiles, had
+collected. Here landing was not so easy as in the airports designed for
+that very purpose. But the girl knew just what she was doing, and she
+handled the situation with a dexterity that would have brought credit
+to a far more experienced pilot.
+
+Over against an embankment, its wings smashed to pieces, a plane was
+lying on its side, mutely testifying to the truth of the mechanic's
+statement.
+
+"There's the wreck!" cried Ralph, as he and Linda stepped on the
+ground. "Do you think it's the Waco?"
+
+Grabbing her companion's arm, Linda ran forward eagerly. When they were
+within fifty yards of it, she knew that it was the very plane they
+were seeking.
+
+"It is! Oh, Ralph! Even the license number--so I'm sure! Remember?
+Look! Do you suppose that man was killed?"
+
+"Would serve him right!" muttered the boy, resentfully. "Stealing a
+necklace, and crashing a plane that wasn't his! But let's go over and
+have a peep at him--there's the ambulance."
+
+The crowd, which was still gathering, although the field was in an
+isolated spot, was being held back by a policeman, for the ambulance
+was ready to start. Ralph dashed forward, anxious to get a look at the
+thief before it departed.
+
+"Not that we could claim the necklace now," he explained to Linda,
+whose arm he was holding, "for we haven't any proofs of our ownership.
+But at least we could warn the cop to look out for it."
+
+"Back! Back!" shouted the officer, for the driver was tooting his horn.
+
+"Oh, please wait a minute!" begged Linda. "Please let me see the man
+who is inside!"
+
+The policeman regarded the girl doubtfully, but she was so eager in her
+pleading that he thought perhaps she had a good reason. Perhaps the man
+inside the ambulance meant something to her; he decided to grant her
+request.
+
+"Take a look, miss," he agreed. "But be quick about it."
+
+Stepping ahead of Ralph, Linda climbed upon the back step of the car,
+and peered anxiously into it, past the white-clad interne, to the
+unconscious figure on the stretcher. Suddenly she started violently,
+and clung to the door of the ambulance for support. It was incredible,
+impossible! Her knees shook, her hands fell to her side, and she swayed
+backward in a faint. In an instant Ralph's arms were around her; he
+carried her out of the crowd.
+
+The unconscious man in the ambulance was none other than Ted Mackay!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+_Suspicions_
+
+
+Someone from the crowd handed Ralph a cup filled with water, and before
+they had gone half a dozen steps, Linda had recovered consciousness.
+She dropped down to the ground and stared questioningly about her.
+
+"What was it, my dear?" asked Ralph gently, as he held the water to her
+lips. "Was the man hurt so horribly?"
+
+"No--it wasn't that," replied Linda slowly, remembering all that had
+happened. "It was just--oh, Ralph! I hate to tell you!"
+
+"Please tell me, Linda," he begged.
+
+She looked about her for a moment. The ambulance had gone, and the
+crowd, seeing that the girl was all right, began to withdraw, some to
+examine the shattered plane, others to go back to their cars parked
+along the roadside. There was nobody listening now, so she decided to
+answer Ralph's question.
+
+"It wasn't our thief at all," she said. "It was--Ted Mackay."
+
+"Ted Mackay?" he repeated, as if he could not believe his ears.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then how do you explain it? That couldn't have been Mackay we met on
+that field--Mackay disguised, or anything?"
+
+"No. He wasn't tall enough. And he had black hair. Oh, Ralph, I'm sure
+of that!"
+
+"Then how do you explain it?"
+
+"I don't explain it," she said weakly.
+
+He said nothing more, but he knew that she was not only terribly
+disappointed in not being able to trace the necklace, but that she was
+entertaining grave doubts about Mackay's part in the whole miserable
+affair. Were he and this thief in partnership, playing a wicked game,
+and had Ted hired the man because he would not let them know his part
+in the robbery?
+
+But there was no use talking about that now, for Ralph realized that
+Linda was almost ready to collapse. Drawing her arm through his, he
+led her silently back to the Pursuit, and put her into the cockpit,
+indicating that he would pilot them back to Green Falls. Not a word did
+she utter during the entire flight homeward; she drooped listlessly
+back in her seat, with an expression of disappointment and despair on
+her face. How she wished that she had not come!
+
+No one was waiting for them at the airport, so they took a taxi to Miss
+Carlton's bungalow. They found the latter on the porch, with only Kitty
+and Maurice beside her.
+
+"Any news?" demanded the girl, jumping out of the hammock, and rushing
+down the steps before the taxi had been stopped.
+
+"Some news, yes," replied Linda, while Ralph paid the driver. "But I'm
+afraid it doesn't mean much. Ralph will tell you all about it."
+
+But the young man was not willing to tell his story until he had asked
+Miss Carlton to take care of Linda.
+
+"She fainted at the field," he explained. "The hot sun and the crowd, I
+expect." He did not want to speak of Ted Mackay before her, while she
+felt so ill. "So if you'll take Linda up to her room, Miss Carlton,
+I'll tell Kitty what I know--and tell you later."
+
+The words aroused Linda's aunt immediately, and she lost interest in
+the necklace temporarily. What were a few pearls, anyway, in comparison
+to her precious girl? She hurried her off to bed, and Ralph turned to
+Kitty and Maurice.
+
+"You see it was this way," he began, and Kitty stamped her foot in
+exasperation.
+
+"Don't be so slow, Ralph!" she commanded.
+
+"Why, here comes Linda's father!" interrupted Maurice, as another taxi
+stopped at the bungalow. "What do you think of that?"
+
+Kitty looked vexed. Another interruption! But Ralph was already on his
+feet, greeting him, and explaining the absence of Linda and her aunt.
+
+"And I was just going to tell Kitty about our pursuit of the thief," he
+added, "so if you care to hear the story, Mr. Carlton, perhaps you will
+sit here with us?"
+
+The older man was glad to comply with the request. Naturally, anything
+that was connected with Linda's first flights was of paramount interest
+to him.
+
+So, in spite of Kitty's impatience, her brother began the story with
+the day that he and Linda received their licenses, and ended it with
+the latter's identification of Ted Mackay, unconscious on the stretcher
+in the ambulance.
+
+"Mackay!" repeated Mr. Carlton, shaking his head knowingly. "So he was
+the brains of the crime!"
+
+"I'm afraid so, sir. And I'm afraid that's what made Linda faint."
+
+"Of course it is! She believed in that fellow. But I warned her not to
+trust him. You see his father worked for me out in Texas and he's an
+unprincipled fellow. Stole from everybody--not only myself, but even
+the rest of the help. And got into a mix-up with some Mexicans, and
+turned them against me.... Yes, it must run in the family. The father
+may even be in on this necklace robbery. I don't know where he is now."
+
+"That explains a good deal," mused Ralph, who had been listening
+thoughtfully. "I never did like Ted Mackay." He would not admit even to
+himself that jealousy was the main reason for this dislike. "Besides,
+Linda probably told him about the Midsummer Ball, and our carrying
+Kit's necklace to Green Falls. I thought it was funny if that other
+chap caught on so quickly."
+
+"Did Linda see much of Mackay while she was at the school?" her father
+asked, sharply.
+
+"I can't say that, although I wasn't always with her. Towards the end
+of our time we did so much solo flying, that when I was up in the
+air I didn't know where she was, although she was usually up too--in
+another plane. But one time I did find her in a pretty intimate
+conversation--and that was right before we left. She probably told him
+then."
+
+"Too bad! Too bad!" muttered Mr. Carlton, regretfully. He was wishing
+now that he had sent Linda to some other flying school.
+
+At this moment, Miss Carlton, having left Linda asleep in her room,
+came out on the porch to see her young guests. She showed no surprise
+at finding her brother; for fifteen years she had been accustomed to
+having him drop in when least expected, without a moment's notice.
+
+"Well, Tom," was all that she said, as she presented her cheek for his
+brotherly kiss. "I suppose these children have told you the news."
+
+"Yes, and if you don't mind, Emily, I think I'll drive over with them
+to see Mr. Clavering," he added, for the young people had all risen,
+and were showing signs of departure. "I'd like to have a talk with
+him--at least if you'll excuse me."
+
+"Certainly," replied his sister. "And will you be back in time for
+dinner?"
+
+"I'll come home in half an hour," stated her brother, laughing, for he
+always teased her about her insistence upon his promptness.
+
+It was natural that he should want to meet Kitty's parents, that he
+might at least offer to do his part in trying to recover or make good
+the girl's loss.
+
+But Mr. Clavering seemed to take the matter almost lightly.
+
+"Of course it's too bad," he said, "but as long as it is only a theft,
+and not an injury to one of the children, I think it's foolish to
+worry. And, after all, we may get insurance."
+
+"_May_ get insurance?" repeated Mr. Carlton, frowning. "Why shouldn't
+you get it? I thought that was what insurance was for!"
+
+"I'm afraid ordinary insurance will not cover travel by air," explained
+the other man.
+
+At these words his daughter burst into tears. Her last hope was gone!
+
+"I never thought of that," said Mr. Carlton, gravely. "That makes a
+difference.... Well, Mr. Clavering, in that case, I guess we had better
+divide the obligation. I'll raise my twenty-five thousand--the necklace
+was worth fifty, I understand--as soon as I can."
+
+"You'll do nothing of the sort!" protested the other, firmly. "Your
+daughter was not the least bit at fault. It was natural for her to try
+her stunts--she wouldn't be human if she didn't! I put the whole blame
+upon Ralph."
+
+"No! No----"
+
+"Yes, yes! I won't hear anything else. But we'll wait and give the
+detectives time. If we have caught the leader, as you and Ralph think,
+it ought to be an easy matter to locate the accomplice. At least,
+provided Mackay doesn't die."
+
+"That's true!" exclaimed Ralph. "I never thought of that. We better get
+over to the hospital to see him as soon as possible."
+
+"How about tomorrow morning?" suggested Mr. Carlton. "I'd like to go
+with you, my boy--I've had some experience in dealing with criminals,
+ever since the episode with Mackay's father."
+
+"I'll be delighted to have you," replied Ralph. "And in the meantime,
+I'll call my detective and put him on the other man's trail."
+
+So while Linda slept peacefully at home, her father and her best boy
+friend made plans to verify their suspicions against Ted Mackay, lying
+helpless in the hospital, twenty-five miles from Green Falls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+_In the Hospital_
+
+
+When Ted Mackay opened his eyes at the hospital the following morning,
+he did not know where he was. Although he had regained consciousness
+when the orderlies brought him in from the ambulance the day before, it
+had not lasted long. An anesthetic was immediately administered, for
+it was necessary to cut into his arm, and later a drug was given to
+make him sleep. So, for the moment, he could not understand why he was
+here--in a ward, undoubtedly, judging from the long row of cots against
+the wall.
+
+A dull aching pain in his arm and shoulder made him glance suspiciously
+at his left side. They were bandaged, of course. And then suddenly he
+remembered.
+
+He had been sent out with a new plane, from his company in Kansas
+City, to make delivery to a purchaser in Buffalo. Just before he
+left, a radio message had been received from the Spring City Flying
+School, asking all pilots and mechanics to look out for a stolen Waco.
+Naturally, Ted remembered the plane.
+
+He had been flying quite low, to make certain tests with the plane he
+was delivering, over the fields beyond Green Falls, when he suddenly
+noticed a wreck. Complying with the regulations of the Department
+of Commerce, he descended in order to report the casualty and to
+render assistance, if possible. Smashed as it was, he recognized it
+immediately as the old Waco, which he had so often piloted at Spring
+City. He looked about for the pilot, dreading to find his shattered
+body in the cockpit.
+
+He had been leaning over, peering into the bushes, when a gun went off
+at his back, hitting him on the left arm, near the shoulder. Reeling
+about sharply, he just had time to see a shabbily dressed man run for
+the new plane. And then everything went black; he couldn't recall what
+happened, or how he got to the hospital.
+
+"The company's new plane!" he suddenly exclaimed aloud, attempting to
+sit up in his cot. "It's gone!"
+
+He looked about helplessly for the nurse, for anybody, to verify his
+fears. But nobody came, although down the hall he could hear footsteps
+of people busy on their early morning duties.
+
+Warned by the pain in his shoulder, he sank back on his pillow to wait,
+and as he lay there quietly, he went back over the events of the past
+week that had been so eventful for him. He thought of Linda Carlton, of
+the pride and joy in her beautiful eyes when she had won her license.
+And of her farewell! A farewell that might easily be forever! Yet
+through no fault of his own, merely because his father had disgraced
+himself.
+
+It had always been like that with Ted; it seemed as if his father had
+tried to spoil his whole life. Just when the boy was ready to enter
+High School, Mr. Mackay had been dismissed from his job for stealing
+from the cash-drawer of the store where he was employed. The judge had
+let him off, for he knew what a splendid woman Mrs. Mackay was, and
+Ted and his older sister had gone to work to pay the debt. It was hard
+sledding after that; Mr. Mackay wandered off, working now in one place
+and now in another, and Ted put off his hopes of study for a while.
+Then, just as the family were getting ahead, and Ted had started in at
+an aviation school, the man came back for more money. The last they
+heard of him was a year ago, when he had written that he had a real
+job on a ranch in Texas. But evidently he had done something wrong
+there, or Mr. Carlton would not be so bitter against his son.
+
+Ted's shoulder was hurting him badly, and his thoughts were not
+pleasant, so he uttered a weary sigh.
+
+"Well! Well!" exclaimed a cheery voice at the door. "Is the world as
+sad as all that?"
+
+Ted's mouth relaxed into a smile, the smile that had won him so many
+friends at the Spring City Flying School. He had not heard the nurse, a
+pretty probationer, who just entered the ward.
+
+"How's the shoulder this morning?" she asked him brightly. "You're
+looking better, Mr. Mackay."
+
+"I'm all right," replied Ted, wondering how she knew his name. "But can
+you give me any news of my plane?"
+
+"Your plane was wrecked, wasn't it?" she inquired.
+
+"No--I hope not! That was the other fellow's plane. The fellow that
+shot me."
+
+"Oh, I see. Then there were two planes?"
+
+"Certainly. Didn't you know?... You seem to know my name----"
+
+"There were some letters in your pocket--don't you remember? And the
+address of a company in Kansas City.... But I don't think anybody
+realizes that there were _two_ planes--that you didn't wreck yours."
+
+"Oh, but I wouldn't wreck a plane in that way!" he protested. "I
+think too much of them!" His face lighted up with the enthusiasm he
+always showed when he talked about flying. "But I've got to get to a
+telephone!" he added. "I must notify my company immediately of the
+loss."
+
+"Probably your company knows all about it," she replied. "Anyway, you
+can't do anything now--except lie still while I take your temperature.
+And then eat your breakfast. After your wound is dressed--if the doctor
+agrees----"
+
+"But I've got to get dressed right away! I want to notify them so that
+they can catch that bandit!"
+
+"Yes, yes. In due time. You must be patient."
+
+"You say they didn't know about that other fellow!" he cried,
+excitedly. "I tell you----"
+
+He stopped suddenly, for he saw that his nurse had gone off to another
+cot. There was no use trying to argue with nurses, he learned, for
+they had to follow the rules laid down by the doctors and the hospital
+authorities.
+
+So, for the next two hours he did exactly as he was told, not even
+making an attempt to dress. For his nurse had informed him that he must
+stay there at least another day.
+
+He was dozing when a representative from his company called to see him.
+But the man urged the nurse not to disturb him, saying that he would
+come again the following morning. She told him what she knew of Ted's
+story, and of his anxiety over the stolen plane, and he promised to
+send out scouts in its pursuit.
+
+Ted's next two visitors were not so thoughtful of his welfare. Mr.
+Carlton and Ralph Clavering, who made the trip unknown to Linda,
+arrived about eleven o'clock, and asked that the young man be awakened
+at once.
+
+"I think you had better come back tomorrow, if you want to talk to Mr.
+Mackay," said the nurse, noticing that the two men were not any too
+friendly towards her patient, for they had not even inquired how he
+was. "He mustn't be disturbed."
+
+"Then we'll wait until he wakes up," replied Mr. Carlton, firmly. "It's
+very important that we speak with him as soon as possible."
+
+"You're from his company?" she asked.
+
+"No, we're not."
+
+"Just friends?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then may I ask what reason you have for wishing to see Mr. Mackay at
+this particular time?"
+
+"Business. Very important business. We think he is involved in the
+theft of a very expensive necklace."
+
+"No!" cried the nurse, aghast. It couldn't be true! Why, she had never
+seen anybody with franker eyes or a more truthful, honest face than
+this young man with the wounded arm! There must be some mistake.
+
+"Did he act as if he wanted to get out of the hospital as quickly as
+possible?" asked Ralph, shrewdly.
+
+"Why, yes--but that was only natural. All men, especially young men,
+are impatient about staying here. Only last week, the day after a man
+was operated on for appendicitis, he said he had to get back to his
+office--he just had to! You should have heard him rave. We laughed at
+him."
+
+"Well, we'll sit down here in the reception room and read the
+magazines," announced Mr. Carlton. "And you send us word when he wakes
+up."
+
+There was nothing further she could do, but somehow she was against
+them. Already she was on Ted's side. She didn't believe he was one of
+those wicked gangsters you read about in the papers. Why, he was only a
+boy! A boy tremendously interested in aviation. She could see his eyes
+shine when he talked about flying, and the absolute tragedy he believed
+it to be because, a fine plane had been wrecked. It seemed worse to him
+than being shot. Poor fellow! He would get well, of course, but was
+this going to cripple him so he wouldn't be able to fly?
+
+About twelve o'clock, when it was time for the lunch trays to be
+brought in, he awakened. But the nurse had no intention of informing
+those two men in the waiting-room.
+
+However, they did not wait to be informed. Perhaps Mr. Carlton
+suspected that the nurse was against him, or perhaps it was merely that
+he knew that he hadn't much longer to stay--it was imperative that he
+return to his ranch that night. Anyway, he and Ralph strolled down the
+hall and found Ted eating his lunch. They walked right into the ward
+without asking the nurse's permission.
+
+"How d'do, Mackay," said Mr. Carlton, briefly. "How's your wound?"
+
+"Better, thank you, sir," replied Ted, smiling. He had recognized
+Linda's father instantly, and a feeling of joy surged through him.
+What a decent thing for the man to do! Probably Linda had heard of his
+accident, and asked him to come to inquire for him. Of course he was
+totally unaware of the loss of the pearls; he had no idea that the
+thief who had taken the two planes had done so for the sole purpose of
+stealing a necklace.
+
+Remembering Ralph, too, he managed to smile at him also.
+
+"You certainly managed to wreck your plane," remarked Mr. Carlton, not
+knowing exactly how to begin. "You're in luck that you weren't killed!"
+
+"I didn't wreck _my_ plane, sir," corrected Ted, quietly. "It was the
+fellow who shot me that wrecked his--or rather the school's, for he had
+stolen it from the Spring City Flying School, you know. Then he shot at
+me, and flew off in my plane."
+
+"Oh, is that so?" Mr. Carlton, raised his brows, and his eyes narrowed.
+He didn't believe a word of it.
+
+"And--er--how did you and this thief happen to be together?" he
+inquired.
+
+"I was taking a new plane to Buffalo, and flying low, making some
+tests, when I spotted the wreck. So I brought mine down."
+
+"You knew, then, that he had stolen Miss Clavering's pearls?"
+
+"What?" cried Ted, starting upright in bed, and then, shocked by the
+pain from his sudden movement, dropping back to his pillow.
+
+"You never heard of a valuable pearl necklace that this young man was
+carrying from Spring City to his sister, by my daughter's plane?"
+persisted Mr. Carlton. His tone was mocking, insulting.
+
+"On my honor, Mr. Carlton----"
+
+"Come now, Mackay," interrupted Ralph. "Why not make a clean breast of
+it? We know you--or this other fellow--heard Linda and me discussing
+it at the field, and we know you used him as an accomplice. We saw him
+hanging around outside----"
+
+"You are making a big mistake, Mackay," put in Mr. Carlton, "if you
+don't confess everything now. I'd be willing to give you another
+chance--if you tell us how you can get a hold of that fellow, and
+get the necklace back. I know you weren't brought up right--it's not
+exactly your fault if you don't know right from wrong----"
+
+But this was too much for Ted to bear. The man was insulting his
+mother! If he hadn't been Linda's father, Ted would have struck him,
+crippled though he was. Instead, overpowered by nervous exhaustion, he
+let out a terrific scream that at least stopped the abuse.
+
+"I do know right from wrong!" he cried. "My mother is the finest woman
+that ever lived, and she knew what to teach her children! What you say
+is a lie!"
+
+By this time everybody in the ward was looking and listening in
+breathless interest, and the head nurse, attracted by the noise,
+stopped in the corridor.
+
+"You men will leave at once," she commanded, from the doorway, and Mr.
+Carlton, who was so used to giving orders to others, found that for
+once he had to obey. He and Ralph picked up their hats and were gone
+without another word.
+
+After that, Ted was quite ill. His temperature went up, and he became
+delirious. The little nurse was both angry and remorseful. It was her
+fault, she thought, for not keeping those dreadful men out. Accusing an
+innocent boy like her patient!
+
+The visitors, however, went away dismayed. They hadn't proved a thing.
+
+"Unfortunately I have to leave tonight right after dinner," said Mr.
+Carlton, as Ralph drove him back to his sister's. "I guess we'll have
+to turn the whole thing over to the detectives."
+
+"Well, we'll see what Greer and his men can do," replied the other.
+"One good thing, Mackay can't get away from us, crippled as he is. And
+the other fellow is such a poor pilot that he'll crash sooner or later."
+
+"If he doesn't get out of the country first," muttered Mr. Carlton,
+dolefully.
+
+"What does Linda think about the affair?" inquired Ralph, for he had
+not seen the girl since her aunt helped her to go to bed the preceding
+afternoon.
+
+"I don't know. I haven't seen her. She was still asleep when I left
+this morning."
+
+"I imagine she believes Mackay guilty. That's what knocked her over so
+yesterday."
+
+"Well, she'll get over that," returned her father, briefly. And he
+invited Ralph to come into the house for luncheon.
+
+The young man, however, had the good taste to decline. It would be a
+ticklish situation at best--and besides, Linda ought to have some time
+to be alone with her father, if he were leaving so soon.
+
+"But tell Linda I'll be over after dinner," he added. "The bunch is
+planning a canoe party."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+_An Anxious Day for Linda_
+
+
+Never in her life did Linda remember being so exhausted as she had been
+on the evening of her flight to Green Falls. With her Aunt Emily's help
+she had somehow gotten into bed, and eaten the supper of milk-toast
+which the maid had brought to her.
+
+Inside of an hour she was fast asleep, not to awaken until eleven
+o'clock the following morning, although her aunt, still a little
+worried about her fainting, was in and out of her room three times. It
+was upon the last occasion that she finally opened her eyes.
+
+"Oh, such a good sleep, Aunt Emily!" she murmured, contentedly.
+
+"Do you feel better, dear?" inquired the other.
+
+"Just fine, thanks. And hungry."
+
+"I'll have Anna bring you up some fruit, and then you can have lunch
+with us. Or would you rather have a regular breakfast in bed?"
+
+"Just the fruit, please, Aunt Emily," replied Linda. How kind, how
+thoughtful, her aunt always was! No real mother could ever be more so.
+"You are so good to me, Auntie!" she cried, impulsively catching the
+older woman's hand.
+
+"And you're always so appreciative, dear," responded her aunt,
+affectionately. "I don't think most young girls are like you. They just
+expect their parents to do everything. Older people like thanks."
+
+"I guess everybody likes to be thanked, when they deserve it...." She
+jumped out of bed, and slipped into a chiffon negligee that hung over
+the chair. "And now I'll hurry with my bath!"
+
+"Yes, dear--because your father arrived yesterday, after you had gone
+to bed. He'll be here for lunch, but he has to leave right after
+supper."
+
+"Is he downstairs now?" asked Linda, excitedly.
+
+"I don't know whether he has come in or not. He went somewhere with
+Ralph this morning."
+
+"With Ralph?"
+
+"Yes. Something about the theft, I believe.... Well, dear, I'll send up
+some raspberries--or would you rather have cantaloupe?"
+
+"Cantaloupe, I think, Aunt Emily," replied Linda, as Miss Carlton left
+the room.
+
+Some of the happiness with which Linda awoke seemed to vanish at her
+aunt's statement about her father and Ralph. She had forgotten for the
+moment about the necklace--that airplane accident, and the shock of
+finding Ted Mackay. What could it all mean? Was Ted really involved in
+the affair?
+
+By this time her father must know about him, since her Aunt Emily said
+he was with Ralph. What were they up to now? If Ted really were in
+league with the thief, would they put him in prison too? She hated the
+thought of such a thing--it did not seem possible. Surely, there must
+be some explanation. All of a sudden she longed fiercely to see the
+boy, to hear the story from his own lips. But he was in a hospital,
+unconscious--perhaps dying!
+
+Anna came in with the cantaloupe as Linda finished her bath, and she
+sat on the edge of the bed to eat it. She made a pretty picture, her
+soft curly hair damp from the water, her cheeks pink with color after
+the cold shower, her charming blue negligee wrapped about her slender
+figure. She looked like a lady of leisure enjoying her late breakfast
+as if it were a regular thing; not an aviation student who arose every
+morning at seven o'clock and put in a hard day's work at school.
+
+When she entered the living-room, she found her father there waiting
+for her. She was all in white now, white linen sports suit, and white
+shoes. He held out his arms invitingly, and she leaped gracefully into
+his lap.
+
+"Daddy dear!"
+
+"Linda!"
+
+"You didn't mind my not waking up for supper last night, did you?" she
+asked, after she had kissed him. "I would have been too tired to talk."
+
+"Of course not! It was the wisest thing to do. Sometimes when you force
+yourself to keep awake after a strain like that, you find you cannot go
+to sleep again. But you're rested now?"
+
+"Fresh as a freshman," she replied, laughing.
+
+"And I'm mighty proud of my little girl," he added, affectionately,
+"for passing your examination and flying all the way up here without
+any mishaps."
+
+Linda's face grew sober, and her eyelids fluttered.
+
+"But--I didn't, Daddy. You--you heard about the necklace?"
+
+"Yes. That was too bad, but I can't see that it was in any way
+your fault. You'd be a queer flyer if you didn't want to test your
+knowledge."
+
+"Then you don't really blame me?" she asked eagerly. Her father's
+approval had always meant so much to her.
+
+"Of course not. It was the boy's carelessness. He agrees with me, and
+so do his father and mother. I went over to see them last night."
+
+"Ralph hasn't heard anything more, has he?" she asked anxiously. How
+she longed for news of Ted! But she was afraid to mention his name to
+her father.
+
+Mr. Carlton, however, answered her unspoken wish.
+
+"No," he said. "We drove over to see Mackay at the hospital this
+morning, and tried to talk to him. But he wouldn't admit a thing. He
+became hysterical when we accused him, and the nurse had to ask us to
+go away. We're as much in the dark as ever."
+
+Linda got up quietly and went over to a chair. Somehow she wouldn't sit
+on her father's lap when he held such widely different opinions from
+her own. But Mr. Carlton did not seem to notice that she had gone. He
+sat perfectly still, thinking.
+
+"You really believe Ted--Mr. Mackay--had a part in the horrible thing?"
+she asked, dismally.
+
+"I don't think there is a doubt of it."
+
+"But how do you explain the fact that he was shot? Surely, if he and
+this thief were working together, one wouldn't shoot the other!"
+
+Her father shook his head, and smiled indulgently. What a child she
+was! What did she know about the wickedness of criminals?
+
+"I'm sorry to tell you, dear, that in spite of that old proverb about
+there being honor among thieves, there isn't much. They are so utterly
+selfish and unprincipled that if one finds that his pal is getting the
+better of him, he doesn't hesitate to wound--and oftentimes kill--the
+other. If Mackay was making off with the necklace, and this other
+fellow saw that all his work had been for nothing, one could hardly
+blame him for shooting.... No, I'm afraid that doesn't prove a thing."
+
+Linda sighed; everything seemed hopelessly black for Ted.
+
+"Will they put him in jail?" she asked.
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"Mr. Mackay."
+
+"Of course, when he is well enough. Our detectives will see to that.
+We can't actually convict him till we have more evidence. But we can
+force him to tell what he knows about this other thief."
+
+A lump came into Linda's throat, and she felt as if she couldn't talk
+any more. For the time being, even her interest in her plane was gone.
+It had brought so much unhappiness--first to Kitty, and now to Ted
+Mackay.
+
+She was thankful when her aunt came into the room, to take her mind
+from her morbid thoughts. At the same time, Anna announced luncheon.
+
+"What are you planning to do this afternoon, dear?" inquired her Aunt
+Emily, as she ate her iced fruit-cup. "Because I want part of your
+time."
+
+"Certainly, Aunt Emily. But tell me, have you decided you would like to
+go up in the Pursuit?"
+
+"No, no--nothing like that. I want to live a little while longer,
+dear--Green Falls is so pleasant! But, seriously," she added, "I do
+want you to do something for me. I want you to try on your costume for
+the Midsummer Ball. I had to order it without asking you, dear, for of
+course you were too busy learning to fly, and it hadn't come when we
+left Spring City. But I think it is very charming--and I hope you will
+like it."
+
+"I'm sure I shall. But, Aunt Emily, I could have worn my flyer's suit,
+and saved you all that trouble."
+
+"You're going to get tired enough of that suit, attractive though
+it is. Besides, everybody would know you. And I like you to look
+especially pretty--in fluffy, feminine things. I have chosen the
+costume of Queen Mab for you."
+
+"Oh, that will be adorable!" cried Linda, her eyes sparkling with
+pleasure, for she too loved dainty things.
+
+"And may I see you when you are trying it on?" put in Mr. Carlton "Your
+mother once wore something like that in a fairy play--and she was very
+beautiful. I'd like to see whether you remind me of her."
+
+"Certainly, Daddy. I'll put it on right after lunch. And then I'll do
+whatever you want. Take you up for a ride, if you would like it."
+
+"I think you're too tired for that," he replied. "No--I'll wait till
+the next time I come. Besides, the mechanics ought to have a chance to
+go over your motor before you fly it again. Don't forget the promises
+you made to me."
+
+"I won't forget, Daddy. I'll telephone over to the airport this
+afternoon."
+
+"By the way, daughter, have you ever tried jumping with a parachute?
+Did they make you do that at school?"
+
+At his question, Miss Carlton suddenly stopped eating and gazed at the
+girl in terror. Surely Linda would not do such a hazardous thing as
+that!
+
+"Yes, Daddy," replied Linda, blushing, for she did not want to say
+anything about her jump with Ted Mackay. "Lieutenant Kingsberry himself
+was with me. Mr. Taylor didn't want to let me try it--I don't think
+he has much use for girls who want to fly--so I went straight to the
+Lieutenant. He went up with me himself."
+
+"Wasn't it a dreadful experience?" asked her aunt, with a shudder.
+
+"No--not terrible at all. I felt a little queer before the parachute
+opened, but after that it was delightful. Just softly floating down
+from the skies. I loved it."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you did it," remarked her father. "Because now you
+won't be afraid if you ever have to."
+
+"I am hoping I won't have to--with my Pursuit. Not that I'd be afraid,
+but because it would be the end of my plane. Think of just leaving it
+alone, to crash!"
+
+"It would be too bad, of course--but I could buy you another plane. We
+couldn't buy another daughter, could we, Emily?" he asked his sister.
+
+"Don't talk about it!" begged Miss Carlton, miserably.
+
+"All right," agreed Linda. "Suppose Daddy tells me what he would like
+to do this afternoon--after I try on the costume."
+
+"Sure you don't want to be with your young friends?" he inquired.
+
+"I'll have all the rest of the summer for them."
+
+"Then let's go for a little drive in your roadster. Out to some pretty
+road. And come back in time to go swimming with your crowd."
+
+"I'd love that, Daddy!" she exclaimed. Then, turning to her aunt, "But
+is my car here, Aunt Emily? Did Thomas bring it up all right?"
+
+It was strange indeed, that she had forgotten to ask about it. Always
+before she had driven it herself, while Thomas, the chauffeur took
+charge of her aunt's limousine. This time he had hired a friend to
+drive the other, and brought hers himself.
+
+"Yes, he drove it up yesterday," replied her aunt.
+
+The hours that followed would have been very pleasant for Linda, had
+she not felt underneath her cheeriness, a growing anxiety about Ted
+Mackay. After their little outing, she and her father put on their
+bathing-suits and joined the group at the lake. In the diving, the
+racing, the polo game, Mr. Carlton proved a match for the young people;
+indeed he was the ringleader in suggesting tricks to the more daring
+members of the crowd. Even Louise, who had always stood somewhat in awe
+of him because he was sterner than her own parents, had to admit that
+he was a good sport.
+
+Ralph, who had not counted upon seeing Linda until evening, was
+delighted to find her at the lake, and tried immediately to date her as
+his partner for the canoe trip of the evening. But Linda shyly refused,
+telling him that her aunt was one of the chaperons, and the only
+partner she was willing to have. She shrank from the thought of talking
+to Ralph about Ted, or the robbery; she decided not to see him alone.
+
+Early after supper Mr. Carlton departed in a taxi, and Linda and her
+aunt drove over to Louise's bungalow to join the group for the canoe
+trip. There were a dozen young people besides themselves, and Mr. and
+Mrs. Haydock, too. Six canoes had been chartered.
+
+"Canoeing will seem kind of tame after flying, I guess," remarked Dot
+Crowley, as the young people walked over to the lake. "By the way, how
+soon will you take me for a fly?"
+
+"Anybody might take you for a fly," remarked Maurice Stetson. "You buzz
+around so!"
+
+Linda smiled, but she answered Dot's question immediately. Maybe the
+latter was as keen about airplanes as she was herself! You never could
+tell.
+
+"In a few days," she said. "For the time being I want to hold myself
+and my plane in readiness to chase that thief--if we ever get the
+chance!"
+
+"You still worrying about those pearls?" inquired Maurice, lightly.
+
+"Naturally," answered Linda.
+
+"Well, I command you to forget it. Kitty'll soon get over it. Anybody
+as beautiful as Kit is, doesn't need pearls. Besides, when she marries
+me, I'll buy her a bigger string!"
+
+"You mean _if_, not _when_, don't you?" countered Kitty. But she was
+evidently in high spirits again, thanks perhaps to the young man who
+made no secret of this adoration.
+
+There wasn't much opportunity for conversation, however. Jim Valier had
+brought his mandolin, and from the moment when the canoes pushed off
+until they were tied at the opposite side of the lake, where the young
+people made a fire and toasted marshmallows, everybody sang. Linda
+naturally joined in with the music, but only with her lips. Her heart
+was still heavy with the misfortune the preceding day had brought.
+
+On the way home she made up her mind to telephone the hospital the
+following morning. At least she could inquire about Ted--and maybe--oh,
+how she hoped it would be possible--she could speak with him, and
+hear from his own lips the explanation of his connection with the
+unfortunate robbery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+_The Search for the Thief_
+
+
+For the first time in her life, Linda Carlton was thankful that
+her father was not at home. He would object to her calling Ted at
+the hospital, but now it was impossible to ask his permission.
+Nevertheless, she was trembling when she took off the receiver and gave
+the hospital's number.
+
+"Mr. Mackay left last night," the attendant told her, "to go to his
+home. He was very much better."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Linda, hopefully. That was good news indeed. But she
+wanted to learn more.
+
+"Would it be possible for me to talk to his nurse?" she inquired. "I
+really have something important to ask."
+
+The attendant hesitated; it was not their custom to call nurses from
+their duties to answer inquiries about their patients. But Linda's
+voice was so eager that the man decided for once to waive the rule.
+
+"If you will hold the line a minute," he said, "I will see whether she
+is busy. You don't know which nurse it was?"
+
+"No. Probably one of the ward nurses."
+
+Linda was forced to wait several minutes, but in the end she was
+rewarded. A cheerful girl's voice informed her that its owner had taken
+charge of Ted Mackay while he was at the hospital.
+
+"But are you a friend or an enemy of Mr. Mackay, Miss----?" she
+inquired, cautiously. "Carlton is my name," answered Linda. "And I am a
+friend."
+
+"I'm glad to hear that. Mr. Mackay is such a nice boy that it is a
+shame he has to have enemies.... Now, what can I do for you?"
+
+"Tell me what you know of his story," replied Linda. "You see I only
+know that he was shot and that his enemies are trying to connect him
+with a thief who stole a valuable necklace. I know it can't be true. It
+just can't!" She was talking rapidly, excitedly. "I knew if I could see
+him he could explain everything. But he's gone!"
+
+"Yes, he went home last night. To his mother's. But I can tell you
+the facts, for he told me the whole story. He was piloting another
+plane--for his company--and spotted a wreck. It proved to be this
+thief, who evidently wasn't hurt by the crash, and so shot Mr. Mackay
+and made off in his new plane. It seems perfectly simple to me. I don't
+see how anybody could possibly accuse Mr. Mackay, when he was actually
+wounded himself."
+
+"How does his company feel about it?" asked Linda.
+
+"Same as we do. He is to go back to his job in a day or two, as soon as
+he feels rested."
+
+"Thank goodness!" cried Linda. "Then everything is O.K. Oh, you can't
+know how thankful I am! And so grateful to you!"
+
+"You're entirely welcome," concluded the young nurse, pleased to have
+been of some help.
+
+Linda began to sing as she replaced the receiver, and she went out
+on the porch in search of her aunt. She just had to tell somebody
+about Ted's innocence, and the weight which had been taken from her
+heart at the nurse's reassuring words. Miss Carlton had not heard any
+particulars about the story; indeed she scarcely knew who Ted Mackay
+was. So, omitting the parachute jump, Linda began at the beginning and
+related everything she knew about him, since that day last April when
+she had met him at the Red Cross Fair, and he had promised to take her
+up in an airplane.
+
+"And you don't think he's wicked, just because his father is, do you,
+Aunt Emily?" she asked, anxiously.
+
+"No, of course not, dear. It wouldn't be fair to jump to any such
+conclusion as that. Every human being has a right to be judged on his
+own merits--not his parents'."
+
+"That's what I think," agreed Linda. "But Daddy says----"
+
+"Hello, everybody!" interrupted a gay young voice from the hedge in
+front of the bungalow, and, turning about, Linda saw Ralph Clavering
+striding up the path.
+
+"Hello!" she answered, trying to make her voice cordial. Such a
+handsome boy, so charming--why did he have to be so unfair to Ted? Poor
+Ted, who had never had one-tenth of Ralph's advantages!
+
+"I've got news!" he cried, as he took the steps two at a time, and
+swung into a chair.
+
+"About the necklace?" demanded Miss Carlton, immediately.
+
+"Yes. From our detectives. They have spotted a gas-station that sold
+a can of gasoline to a red-headed fellow who said he wanted it for an
+airplane."
+
+"Really, Ralph!" exclaimed Linda, scornfully. "You don't call that
+news, do you? There must be plenty of red-haired pilots in our part of
+the country."
+
+"I know. But that isn't all. This agent carried the gas over in his car
+to a field where the plane was waiting, and he says there was another
+chap in it who answered the description of our thief."
+
+"Was the plane a Waco?" questioned Linda, keenly.
+
+"The fellow wasn't sure, but when Greer described it, he thought it
+was."
+
+"And is that all?" Miss Carlton's tone showed disappointment.
+
+"'Is that all?'" repeated Ralph, in amazement. "Why, that's plenty!"
+
+"I don't see how that will help you to catch your thief," remarked the
+woman.
+
+"But it will! Greer has telephoned the hospital, and located Mackay
+today. If he really has gone home, as he said, and hasn't run away,
+he'll be put through a third degree that'll make him tell where the
+thief is hiding. Because he must be hiding. He couldn't go very far on
+the gas in that plane, and all the airports and gasoline stations have
+been warned to watch out for him."
+
+Linda's eyes were blazing with anger. How could Ralph be so prejudiced,
+so cruel?
+
+"But Ted doesn't know any more about that thief than we do!" she
+protested, vehemently. "I talked with his nurse this morning--and she
+knew all about it. Ted met that thief by accident!"
+
+"By accident is right," remarked Ralph, with a scornful smile. "But
+never mind, Linda--don't you worry about it any more. Let's talk about
+the masque ball tonight. You're going with me, aren't you?"
+
+"I certainly am not!" announced the girl, haughtily. "I wouldn't go
+with anybody who could be so unfair----".
+
+"Children!" interrupted Miss Carlton, distressed at their inclination
+to quarrel. She had been so happy about the friendship between Ralph
+and Linda--it was eminently right! When her niece did decide to get
+married--though she hoped such an event was still far off--she couldn't
+imagine any young man who would suit her so well as Ralph Clavering.
+Such family! Such social position! And plenty of money! For Miss
+Carlton was always afraid that sometime her brother might lose his.
+He was so careless about it, he spent it so recklessly upon both his
+sister and his daughter. And, though the older woman had enough of her
+own securely invested in bonds to take care of her old age, she feared
+for Linda. Educated as she had been at that expensive private school,
+she was in no way trained to earn a living. She did not dream that
+Linda would be only too delighted to go into aviation as if she were a
+boy on her own responsibility--like Ted Mackay!
+
+"If I admit I'm jealous of Redhead, and say I'm sorry," conceded Ralph,
+"will you forgive me and go to the dance with me tonight?"
+
+His beautiful dark eyes were pleading, and for a moment Linda almost
+weakened, thinking of all their experiences together, and especially
+that moment when they both had thought they were so happy, in regaining
+the box that supposedly held the necklace. But she remembered Ted, and
+the cruel gruelling he would be subjected to very soon, because of
+Ralph's suspicions, and she closed her lips tightly.
+
+"Not unless you promise to call off your detectives from Ted Mackay,"
+she pronounced, firmly.
+
+"But I can't do that--couldn't now, even if I wanted to. It's too late."
+
+"Then I'm not going to the party with you."
+
+"But Linda, dear," put in Miss Carlton, going towards the screen door
+in her embarrassment at being a witness to the quarrel, "it's too late
+to arrange to go with anybody else. All the other girls already have
+their partners!"
+
+"I'll go with you, Auntie!" replied the girl, complacently. "Lots of
+girls go with their parents."
+
+"Very well," agreed her aunt, disappearing into the living-room, with
+the unpleasant thought that it was only the unpopular girls who were
+forced into such a situation.
+
+As soon as she had gone, Ralph came over to Linda's chair. But he was
+afraid to touch even her hand--she looked so aloof and determined.
+
+"Linda--after all we've been to each other----" he began.
+
+She stood up, holding her head high.
+
+"I think you'll have to excuse me, Ralph," she said. "I'm very busy."
+
+"All right," he returned, sullenly. "Have it your own way, then! I'll
+get Louise to go with me."
+
+"Very well. Good-by." Her tone was icy; she did not even offer to shake
+hands with him.
+
+Ralph turned and hurried down the steps, angry at himself for pleading
+so hard, angrier at her for being so cold. No girl ever thought of
+treating him--Ralph Clavering--like that before! The very idea! Most
+young ladies would be only too delighted at his invitation! And all for
+the sake of a penniless, dishonest, red-headed pilot! For Ralph had not
+yet learned that there were some things which he could not buy with his
+father's millions.
+
+So he strode to the nearest telephone booth, and called Louise Haydock
+who, although she was flattered by the invitation, did not immediately
+accept. She had already promised Harriman Smith, and she so informed
+Ralph.
+
+"Well, there isn't any law that says a girl can't go with two men, is
+there?" he demanded. "If she happens to be popular enough! Can't we all
+three go together?"
+
+"Why aren't you going with Linda?" inquired Louise, shrewdly.
+
+"We've quarreled," he admitted.
+
+"Then make it up!" she advised. "Pull yourself together, Ralph--and
+apologize."
+
+"I tried to, but it was no good. No, we're off!"
+
+"Then Linda hasn't any partner?"
+
+"She says she's going with her aunt," muttered Ralph.
+
+"Oh, that won't do!" exclaimed Louise. "Wait, Ralph, I'll fix
+everything. I'll get Harry to take Linda--he's crazy about her
+anyhow--and then I'll go with you."
+
+"O.K., Lou. You're the little sport!"
+
+"And fixer," added the girl, to herself, as she bade Ralph good-by, and
+called first Harry and then Miss Carlton.
+
+Louise's suggestion seemed like an act of Providence to the older
+woman; it would have been mortifying indeed to her to have Linda appear
+at the ball without a masculine escort, as if the girl were a mere
+wallflower. Harriman Smith had been most agreeable about the whole
+arrangement; anything Louise decided suited him, he told her. And
+Linda, too, was delighted with the news.
+
+She came out of her bedroom while her aunt was talking on the
+telephone, dressed in her flyer's suit.
+
+"Where are you going dear?" inquired Miss Carlton, in anxious surprise.
+
+"I'm going scouting," explained Linda. "I think I'll fly around--pretty
+low--and look for wrecks. I have a hunch that that thief has smashed
+his plane by now. He was such a poor pilot, you know I told you."
+
+"Well, be careful," cautioned her aunt. "But so long as you fly low, I
+won't worry."
+
+Linda smiled to herself. If Aunt Emily only realized how infinitely
+more dangerous it was to fly low than high!
+
+She found her Pursuit in perfect condition, and had it taken to the
+runway, where she taxied off without the least difficulty. She climbed
+to about fifteen hundred feet, and flew over past the hospital and the
+field where the Waco had been smashed. Then she carefully came lower,
+using her glasses to watch the ground as she flew.
+
+The country was open--there were no buildings and few trees, so she
+felt safe in keeping within sight of the ground. She was flying along
+confidently, when suddenly a long pole seemed almost on top of her.
+Swerving sharply upward, she just avoided striking some wires that the
+pole was supporting.
+
+"Oh!" she gasped. "What a lucky break! Suppose I hadn't had a foolproof
+plane!" For she knew that her Arrow had been designed especially for
+amateurs like herself.
+
+"Crazy of me to fly so near to the ground!" she exclaimed, in
+self-contempt. "After all the warnings I've had! I deserve a crash!"
+And she continued to climb upward to safety.
+
+As she flew onward, steadying her thoughts, she decided that it was
+senseless to try to hunt the thief with a plane. If she wanted to look
+for him it would be much more reasonable to use her car--or to hike. So
+she abandoned that project entirely.
+
+But as she continued her flight towards Green Falls, it suddenly
+occurred to her that she might help Ted in another way. She could
+establish his alibi for him--by means of his company! That red-haired
+man that the agent claimed he saw with the thief couldn't have
+been Ted, and she would take means of proving it. Then, if Ralph's
+detectives insisted upon throwing him into prison, there would be a way
+to have him released.
+
+So she flew back to the airport, confident that her morning had not
+been entirely wasted, and, to her aunt's relief, she arrived home in
+time for lunch.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+_The Masque Ball_
+
+
+The gay young set at Green Falls to which Linda belonged had planned
+nothing for that afternoon except the regular swim, for the ball would
+be late, and the donning of their costumes would take a good deal of
+time. Linda, however, even passed up the swim in favor of a nap, for
+she was very tired. Besides, she had no desire to meet Ralph at the
+lake or anywhere else.
+
+Like all the social affairs at this charming resort, the masque
+ball--the greatest event of the season, with the possible exception
+of the field day at the close--began early. Dinner at the Carltons
+was over by half-past seven, and, after assuring herself that Linda's
+costume was to her satisfaction, Miss Carlton left the bungalow. She
+was a patroness, of course, and she wanted to get to the Casino early,
+to pass final judgment upon the decorations and the music.
+
+Harriman Smith arrived at half-past eight, in a taxi, for as one of
+the poorer members of the crowd, he did not possess a car of his own.
+Linda, in the filmy dress of the fairy queen, with a crown of golden
+stars about her hair, welcomed him into the bungalow.
+
+"Linda!" exclaimed the young man, in positive awe. "I never saw anyone
+so beautiful in my whole life!"
+
+She smiled shyly, pleased at the compliment. But of course as yet he
+had not seen the other girls in their costumes!
+
+"It's the dress," she explained modestly. "If there's any credit, it
+should go to Aunt Emily. She selected it.... I like your costume, too,
+Harry. You're Robin Hood, aren't you?"
+
+"Yes--I'm glad you can recognize me, anyway.... But Linda, seriously, I
+just know you'll take the prize for the most beautiful woman!"
+
+"I didn't know there was a prize."
+
+"Of course there is. And for the most handsome man. And the best
+dancers--and the funniest.... Probably some more I don't remember....
+But I guess you never think much about prizes."
+
+"I do about some prizes," she admitted. "Cups for endurance flights,
+and high altitudes--and things like that!"
+
+"Naturally--trust you to be up on anything connected with airplanes. I
+suppose you'll be winning some of them yourself sometime. But when it
+comes to social events----"
+
+"Well, you're often the same way, Harry," she teased. "Look at the
+parties you passed up last winter, just because of your engineering
+course!"
+
+The boy smiled, not at all displeased by the observation, for he was
+a youth who took his studies seriously. Unlike Maurice Stetson and
+Ralph Clavering, who seemed interested only in the fraternities and the
+sports at college, he went there with the idea of working. And he liked
+Linda all the better for recognizing his ambition and understanding it.
+
+"But we oughtn't to stand here talking, forgetting all about your
+taxi," Linda reminded her companion. "Why don't you dismiss it, and
+take my car?"
+
+"A queen mustn't drive!" he protested. "And you wouldn't like me to run
+your car----"
+
+"I don't mind you, Harry. You're never careless. It's people like
+Maurice that I can't bear to see handle it."
+
+"I don't blame you one bit," he said, and realizing that she would
+really prefer to go in her own roadster, he did as she suggested.
+
+All the way to the Casino they both carefully avoided any mention of
+Kitty Clavering's loss, or, in fact, of anything distasteful--even
+the quarrel with Ralph and the change of plans which had thrown them
+together as partners. Linda asked him how the different members of the
+crowd had paired off, and Harry told her as much as he had happened to
+learn at the lake that afternoon. Kit and Maurice were of course going
+together, and Dot Crowley and Jim Valier--the smallest and the tallest
+members of their set. Sara Wheeler had promised Jackson Stiles, and
+Harry seemed to recall that Sue Emery was accompanying Joe Sinclair. He
+did not mention Louise and Ralph.
+
+It was just a little before nine when they reached the Casino, gayly
+lighted with Japanese lanterns, and decorated with flowers and
+streamers. The wide French windows of the dance hall were all thrown
+open, and the huge verandas were as beautifully lighted as the inside
+of the Casino. Strains of music floated out from the orchestra, which
+was already in place. Upstairs there would be bridge tables for the
+older members of the party and the supper would be served on the
+roof-garden.
+
+As the couple entered the wide doors of the Casino, a surging of
+pride swept through the young man because of the girl at his side. In
+spite of her mask, people must recognize Linda Carlton, so stately, so
+lovely, so charming! With what wisdom her aunt had chosen that costume!
+The girl was every inch a queen.
+
+In the dressing-room there was naturally a great deal of excitement,
+for the girls were all trying to identify each other. Linda spotted
+Louise immediately--dressed as an Egyptian Princess. Her costume was
+unusual, daring; she stood out among all the others as a sunflower
+might among a bunch of spring blossoms. And of course she wore huge,
+odd, earrings.
+
+"Linda, you're sweet!" she cried, starting forward to kiss her chum,
+and stopping just in time as she remembered the make-up on her lips,
+and the amount of time she had consumed putting it there.
+
+"Sh!" warned Linda. "Don't give me away!"
+
+"I won't, darling. But everybody will know you anyhow. Come on--you
+couldn't possibly improve yourself! And we must hurry. I hear them
+lining up now for the grand march."
+
+A laughing, happy group, the girls made their way back to the ballroom
+where their partners claimed them. It amused Linda--and yet it hurt
+her a little, too--to see Ralph Clavering lead Louise away without even
+seeming to notice her. But Harry Smith was right there too, as if to
+protect his partner from any unpleasantness.
+
+The music of the grand march rolled out triumphantly, and the couples
+fell into step, circling the big room, and walking past the committee
+on the raised platform, whose members were to pass judgment on the
+costumes for the awarding of the prizes. As Linda walked demurely at
+Harry's side, past this intent, solemn body of men and women, she never
+lifted her eyes. She was all the more amazed when, a couple of minutes
+later, she heard a childish voice cry out above the music.
+
+"Does 'ou fink me cute?" and, turning about, Linda recognized Dot
+Crowley, dressed as a little school-girl, and actually calling
+attention to herself. Of course everybody laughed; you just had
+to smile at Dot. And her long-legged partner, Jim Valier, dressed
+appropriately as Uncle Sam, looked so out-of-place at her side.
+
+The costumes were really marvelous; if Linda had not come for any
+other reason than to see them, it would have been worth while. There
+were several hundred people at the ball the proceeds of which were
+given entirely to charity, and though there were naturally many
+repetitions--numerous George and Martha Washingtons, Pierrots and
+Pierrettes, clowns and gypsies, there were also many unusual ones.
+But although she did not realize it, there was no one in that whole
+assembly so charmingly beautiful as Linda Carlton.
+
+The grand march consumed almost an hour, after which the judges
+withdrew to make their decisions, and then the dancing began.
+
+The floor was perfect and the music excellent; Linda fell into step
+with her partner and gave herself up to the enjoyment the pastime
+always afforded her. Whenever she had a good partner like Harry--or
+Ralph--she always experienced a marvelous sensation of floating along
+to the strains of the music, a sensation that somehow reminded her
+of flying. And then they passed Ralph and Louise, and Linda wondered
+whether the former would ask her to dance.
+
+After that she danced with all the boys she knew, in turn--all except
+Ralph. Even when Harry managed a dance with Louise, while Linda was
+dancing with a stag, Ralph did not cut in. But this did not spoil her
+good time, for she felt that she had been in the right, championing
+Ted, even though her father was on the other side.
+
+Ralph's avoidance of her niece had not escaped Miss Carlton's eyes,
+and she sighed. Why was there always some drawback to rich people, she
+wondered? But perhaps Ralph would get over his childishness when he
+grew older. And in the meantime Linda did not lack for attention.
+
+Just before the party went up to the roof for supper, the prizes were
+awarded. Linda Carlton won first prize for the women--and, ludicrous
+as it was, Ralph Clavering, as King Arthur, was selected first among
+the men. They walked across the floor together, Linda giving him a shy
+smile. To Louise and Harry, and Miss Carlton, who knew about the tiff,
+the coincidence was very amusing.
+
+Two other guests whom Linda did not know were awarded the prizes for
+the funniest costumes, and, to their own amazement, Louise and Ralph
+were called out as the couple who had given the best exhibition of
+dancing. There was no shyness as these two stepped forward. Ralph,
+looking roguish, held out his arms and whistled a tune, and as Louise
+slipped into them, they waltzed across the floor.
+
+The supper was gorgeous in every detail: the food was excellent,
+the service perfect. Linda felt that she had never been to quite so
+magnificent a party before.
+
+"You do like all this, don't you, Linda?" asked her partner, as they
+finished their ice-cream, molded in fancy forms, like small dolls
+or figurines, in pastel colors. "You really like parties? Because I
+sometimes wonder----"
+
+"I love them," replied the girl, her eyes shining. "That is, when they
+come once or twice a summer, like this. But I would get awfully tired
+of them if I had nothing else."
+
+"But next winter," he reminded her, "when you are a débutante----"
+
+"I'm going to try not to be," she interrupted. "If I can slide out of
+it, without hurting Aunt Emily's feelings. I want to go to a ground
+school, and study aviation seriously."
+
+"You mean make it your life work?" he asked, respectfully.
+
+"Yes--seriously."
+
+But it was no time to talk; the music had started again, and everybody
+wanted to make good use of the last, best hour of the party.
+
+And so for all that evening, Linda Carlton was the care-free, popular
+girl that her Aunt Emily loved her to be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+_The Flying Trip_
+
+
+About eight o'clock the following morning while her friends were still
+sleeping, Linda Carlton, clad in a bathing-suit and a beach robe,
+dashed down to the lake. She thought an early morning swim before
+anyone was up would clear her brain and give her a chance to think over
+her plans and come to a decision. If possible, she meant to get in
+touch with Ted's company before the detectives arrived at his home to
+arrest him.
+
+She had thought, naturally, that she would find the lake deserted,
+for everybody ought to be tired out after last night's party. She was
+therefore amazed and a little annoyed to see some one else already in
+swimming.
+
+"I'll go in the other direction," she decided, but before she was even
+in the water she heard a familiar voice calling her.
+
+"Linda!" cried Louise Haydock, waving her arms, and starting to swim
+rapidly towards her. "Ho--Linda!"
+
+"Lou!"
+
+"Yes--me!" shouted the other girl. "But did you say 'Who' or 'You'?"
+
+"I said 'Lou'!" replied Linda, laughing good-naturedly. It was a relief
+to find the other bather was her chum.
+
+They were within talking distance now, and Louise hurried to the shore.
+They sat down together and gossiped about the party, Louise laughing
+over Ralph's childishness in trying to keep up the quarrel with Linda.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Linda," she added, "I'm bored with him. As
+a matter of fact, I'm fed up with most of the boys. Harry's all
+right, but he has so little time. All the others are so pleased with
+themselves. They think we can't get along without them!"
+
+"Well, can we?" teased Linda.
+
+"Why not? Except for dances----"
+
+Linda dug her toes into the sand and smiled.
+
+"That's the trouble with us. There's always some 'except.' We ought to
+make up our minds to stay away from dancing, if we really want them to
+get over their superiority complex."
+
+"It would be pretty dull in the evenings--we'd have to find something
+else to take its place...." Louise paused to watch an airplane that
+was flying overhead. "Linda!" she cried, abruptly, "I have it! Let's
+go off on a trip--just the two of us--in your plane! Be gone a week or
+two!"
+
+Linda grabbed her chum's hands in delight. What a marvelous idea! The
+freedom! The adventure of it! And she could link it up with her own
+errand to Kansas City.
+
+"Oh, I'd adore that, Lou!" she exclaimed. "Would you really trust
+yourself to me? Honestly? You wouldn't be afraid?"
+
+Louise put her arm about the other girl and hugged her tightly.
+
+"Of course I would! I have an awful lot of confidence in you. And I'd
+love it!"
+
+Linda's brow darkened suddenly. For as always, she had to think of
+others besides herself.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded Louise, watching her companion's face.
+
+"I am thinking of Aunt Emily--and your mother," answered Linda.
+"Wondering whether they'd give their consent--and if they did, would
+they worry themselves to death?"
+
+"Mother would be all right--I can manage her, and Dad too," said
+Louise confidently. "And, after all, think of the flying that girls do
+now-a-days. A little picnic like this is tame, compared to flying from
+England to Australia."
+
+"Yes, I know--but Aunt Emily's so scary about planes."
+
+"Well, I tell you what we could do--we could map out our whole trip
+beforehand, and decide where we would land each night. We could
+probably get the names of the hotels where we would stay. And each
+evening after supper, we could telephone the people at home."
+
+"That's an idea!" agreed Linda, enthusiastically.
+
+"You wouldn't want to camp out, anyway, would you? They would be sure
+to object to that--just two girls alone."
+
+"No; we'd have to buy a lot of equipment, and I'd hate to load down the
+plane. But I'm afraid Aunt Emily would even object to our staying alone
+at hotels. You know how particular she is."
+
+Louise was silent a moment, thinking it was too pleasant an idea to
+give up at once. She'd have to devise a way out of their difficulty.
+
+"I'll tell you," she announced, finally. "We can plan to stop with
+people we know each night--or at a hotel where some friend is staying.
+We surely can round up some relatives and friends!"
+
+"That's it!" cried Linda, joyfully. "That ought to be easy! And we can
+send telegrams ahead. But the places will have to have some sort of
+airports."
+
+"Oh, most every town has some kind of landing place," said Louise. "I
+don't think that need worry us."
+
+"There's another thing," added Linda, slowly. "I'd want to start today.
+Because I must go to Kansas City as fast as I can." And she explained
+to Louise her plan about establishing Ted's alibi.
+
+Louise leaped into the air in her excitement and approval.
+
+"That's great! You know me, Linda--I always hate to wait about
+anything. We can pack our suit-cases and send our wires in an hour if
+we hustle. Hurry up! Hop in for a dip, and come right back!"
+
+Ten minutes later they dashed breathless and wet into the dining-room
+of the Carlton bungalow, where Miss Carlton was eating a leisurely
+breakfast. In their excitement over their idea they could scarcely
+explain it. But at last the older woman understood; she heard them out,
+and gave her rather reluctant consent.
+
+"If you don't make the trip too long," she added.
+
+"A week?"
+
+"Isn't four days enough? Then we would have to arrange only two
+stopping places--the same one coming back. And I am sure I could do
+that very easily."
+
+The girls agreed, delighted even with a compromise. Nothing they had
+ever done promised to be half so thrilling.
+
+They would fly southwest, making their first stop Kansas City, where
+Ted's firm was located. Searching through her address-book, Miss
+Carlton remembered that she had a cousin living in a hotel in that city
+and she wired her immediately to reserve a room for the girls for that
+night, and to chaperon their visit.
+
+"And then we'll fly to Sunny Hills--as our destination!" cried Louise,
+with happy inspiration. "It's in Colorado--where my Aunt Margaret and
+Uncle John live! Oh, we'll have no end of fun there!"
+
+"You're sure they won't mind?" asked Linda.
+
+"They'll be tickled to death. They have a huge place--sort of a
+farm--and six children. Of course they're not children now--several of
+them are married--but they always keep open house. We used to go there
+a lot when I was a kid."
+
+"All right--you send that wire," agreed Linda, as she hastily
+swallowed some food, "and I'll get ready and go down to my plane, and
+see that it's O.K."
+
+"How about some lunch?" suggested her Aunt Emily.
+
+"Oh, yes, please--if you don't mind!"
+
+In an incredibly short time the girls were dressed, their suit-cases
+packed, the wires sent, and the lunch in readiness. About half-past
+ten, without saying a word of good-by to anyone except Miss Carlton and
+Louise's parents, they took off.
+
+The sky was clear and blue, without even a cloud to threaten them with
+fog or storm. It was Louise's first ride in a plane, yet she was not a
+bit afraid. She said she had never been so thrilled before.
+
+"I'm getting the craze, Linda!" she shouted, above the noise of the
+motor. "If I only had a suit like yours!"
+
+She was wearing her riding-breeches and a tan sweater-blouse, with a
+close-fitting hat of the same color--a costume, which though neat and
+appropriate, had none of the style and charm of her companion's.
+
+"But you can't wear earrings!" teased Linda, pulling at Louise's ears
+to make sure that the other girl heard and understood what she was
+saying.
+
+"In the suit-case!" returned Louise, laughing and pointing towards the
+article she named.
+
+But neither of the girls wanted to try to talk. They were content to
+rise higher and higher into the air, to feel the glorious sensation of
+smooth flying, knowing that everything was just right. Both of them
+began to sing.
+
+On, on they went, over fields and towns, watching their map and their
+instruments, dipping now and then to catch a glimpse of the landscape
+below, climbing back to the heights for safety. As the clock on their
+plane neared twelve, they realized they were hungry, because breakfast
+had been such a sketchy affair for them both. Louise untied the box,
+and they ate joyously. Their first meal in the air!
+
+It was still early when they arrived at Kansas City, and Linda flew a
+straight, swift course to the large grounds that were occupied by the
+company for which Ted Mackay worked. Without the slightest mishap or
+difficulty Linda brought her plane to a perfect landing in the large
+area set aside for that purpose.
+
+A nice-looking young man in a flyer's uniform came to them in welcome.
+His face showed no surprise; it was evidently an every-day occurrence
+to meet feminine pilots.
+
+"I would like to speak to the sales-manager," said Linda, after she had
+answered his greeting, and made sure that this was the right place. "I
+want to make some inquiries about Ted Mackay."
+
+"All right," agreed the young man. "I'll take you to Mr. Jordan
+immediately."
+
+But when they were introduced, Linda felt suddenly shy. What right
+had she, she asked herself, to pry into Ted's affairs? She wasn't a
+relative--or even a friend, if she adhered to her father's command. So
+it was Louise who came to the rescue, as she always did in emergencies,
+and proceeded to take charge of the interview.
+
+"You see," she explained, "the people who had that valuable necklace
+stolen are pretty much perturbed over the whole affair--and naturally
+they hired detectives. Well, Mr. Jordan--you know what detectives are!
+They bungle everything."
+
+"Yes?" remarked the man, looking smilingly from one girl to the other,
+thinking that they, too, were rather excited.
+
+"And just because they found Mr. Mackay by the stolen plane, and
+because they located a gasoline agent who swears that he sold gas to a
+red-haired man for that same plane earlier in the day, they're sure Mr.
+Mackay is a thief."
+
+"And they're going to his home--to arrest him!" put in Linda, now more
+at ease.
+
+"But they can't prove anything," Mr. Jordan assured them, calmly.
+
+"Oh, but they say they'll put third degree on him, or whatever it is,
+and force him to a confession. And--and--think of his poor mother!"
+
+"But what do you girls want me to do?" he asked. "I don't see how I can
+stop them!"
+
+"We just want you to establish his alibi," explained Louise. "Write
+down everything Mr. Mackay did from early morning till the time he
+started off in that new plane."
+
+"O.K.!" exclaimed Mr. Jordan, a light breaking over his face. "That's
+easy! We had a salesmen's meeting at the Winton Hotel, and lunched
+together. I can swear Mackay was there--and so can half a dozen others.
+We came back here about three o'clock, and Mackay was looking over
+the plane and studying his maps for about half an hour. Then he took
+off--for Buffalo."
+
+"That's just what we want!" cried Linda, and Louise added, "wonderful!"
+and squeezed the elderly man's hand. He smiled at her as if she were
+his daughter.
+
+"And will you dictate that to a stenographer, and send a copy to Ted by
+air-mail?" urged Linda.
+
+"Certainly," he agreed.
+
+"And now," added Linda, "will one of your mechanics look over my plane
+and put it away till tomorrow? We want to get our suit-cases, and taxi
+to my cousin's hotel."
+
+So, half an hour later, when the girls were making themselves known
+to the elderly couple who were expecting them, they spoke joyously of
+the perfect success of their first day's adventure, but they did not
+mention their mission on Ted Mackay's behalf.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+_Sunny Hills_
+
+
+The girls' visit with the elderly couple at the hotel at Kansas City
+was restful, but uneventful. As soon as they arrived, Linda telephoned
+to her aunt over long distance, and made a satisfactory report. Dinner
+and the movies occupied their evening.
+
+Early the next morning they bade their host and hostess a temporary
+farewell--for they were scheduled to return in a couple of days--and
+took a taxi to the airplane company where their Arrow was being kept.
+
+"It's a little cloudy, girls," observed Mr. Jordan as he came over to
+meet them. "But I don't think it will actually storm before night. Are
+you going far?"
+
+"To a place called 'Sunny Hills'," replied Louise, producing her map.
+"In Colorado."
+
+The man studied it for a few minutes, and then pointed out their best
+course.
+
+"And your plane's O.K.," he added. "She certainly is a neat little
+boat."
+
+"I'm fond of her myself!" replied Linda, her eyes shining as they
+always did when she spoke of her most precious possession.
+
+"And have you had any word from Mr. Mackay?" asked Louise.
+
+"Yes. He's coming back today," answered Mr. Jordan. "I sent a plane for
+him, with the letter you suggested. The pilot wired last night that he
+arrived safely, and both men would be back on the job tomorrow."
+
+"He didn't say anything about the detectives?"
+
+"Not a word."
+
+"Then everything must be all right!" breathed Linda, with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+"Well, good-by," concluded Mr. Jordan, as the girls stepped into their
+plane. "And fly carefully. That's rather lonely country you're passing
+over."
+
+"But the skies are safe!" returned Linda, as she started her motor.
+
+It was indeed a more desolate stretch of land than any they had flown
+over before. The girls noticed this as they sped on, the miles piling
+up in rapid succession.
+
+This time they carried no lunch, for they had hesitated to ask at the
+hotel, and as the hours passed, they grew very hungry. Moreover, the
+sky was so cloudy that the sun was totally obscured, and they had to
+be guided entirely by instruments. Two or three times they seemed to
+get off their course, and it was almost five o'clock when they finally
+landed at an airport and inquired their way to Sunny Hills.
+
+"It's about five miles north," they were told. "But wouldn't you rather
+leave your plane and taxi over?" their informer suggested.
+
+"No, thanks," replied Linda. "Because we want to have our plane there,
+to use it if we need it, and to show to our friends. But we would love
+to have something to eat, if you can tell us where there is a stand for
+refreshments."
+
+While the man was leading them to a sandwich booth, a mechanic came up
+and filled the plane with gas, and at Linda's request, looked it over
+hastily. Fifteen minutes later the girls took off again, having been
+assured that there was a field for landing at Sunny Hills, because, it
+seemed, the owner--or possibly the owner's son--had a plane.
+
+As they descended over the field in back of the huge country house
+that was the home of the Stillmans the girls observed numerous people
+running out of the doors and from the porches to be on hand to welcome
+them. By the time they had landed, Louise counted seventeen.
+
+"Hello, everybody!" she shouted, as the noise of the motor died. "Get
+our wire?"
+
+"Surest thing!" answered a man of about thirty, tall and heavily-built,
+and smiling.
+
+An elderly woman was pressing through the throng, holding out her arms
+to Louise.
+
+"Aunt Margaret!" cried the girl, rapturously. "I'm so glad to see you!
+And I want to introduce my chum--Linda Carlton."
+
+"I am more than delighted to meet you, my dear," said Mrs. Stillman,
+pressing Linda's hand--"I am _proud_ to meet you!"
+
+"Thank you," murmured the girl, her eyelids fluttering in
+embarrassment, for she felt that as yet she had done nothing to merit
+praise.
+
+"And now I'll tell you everybody's name," continued the older woman.
+"Though I know you can't possibly remember them."
+
+She proceeded to introduce her friends and her children--the latter all
+younger than Roger, the man who had first spoken to them, and evidently
+her oldest son. There were four small children among the group, two of
+them grandchildren of Mrs. Stillman.
+
+"I want you girls to use my hangar," offered Roger, immediately. "My
+plane's away getting repaired. So shall I put yours away for you?"
+
+"Oh, thanks!" replied Linda, gratefully. "It's so nice to find another
+pilot--to do the honors, and the work!"
+
+As the happy, noisy group walked with the two girls back to the house,
+they asked all sorts of questions at once, about the trip, the plane,
+the relatives back home. Louise and Linda answered as fast as they
+could, but finally gave up, laughing in their confusion.
+
+"Now everybody stop talking!" commanded Mrs. Stillman, and though her
+tone was jovial, Linda could see at once that she meant what she said,
+and that she was used to being obeyed.
+
+"Our brave flyers must be awfully tired, and this is no way to treat
+them, before they have even had a drink of water. Elsie," she nodded to
+a girl about Linda's age, "I want you to take the girls to their room,
+and I'll send up their suit-cases and some iced tea. And then they are
+going to have peace until dinner-time!"
+
+"Oh, Aunt Margaret, we're not so tired," protested Louise. Still, the
+thought of a cool shower, iced tea, and a few minutes for a nap was
+very pleasant.
+
+Elsie and Louise, who had been great friends when they were younger,
+spending several long, happy summers together, were both delighted
+at the chance of renewing their friendship. Linda, too, found Elsie
+charming, and the three girls were soon chatting merrily over their
+iced tea.
+
+"I want you to tell me the news of your family first," said Louise.
+"And begin in order, so Linda can get them straightened out. I
+mean--which ones are married, and which have children, and all that
+sort of thing."
+
+"Yes, do," urged Linda. "I only know Roger--because he is a pilot--and
+you, by name."
+
+A knock at the door interrupted them, and when Elsie answered it, two
+young men brought in the girls' suit-cases.
+
+"The twins," explained their sister. "Dan and David. It really isn't
+hard to tell them apart, if you look closely."
+
+"I remember!" cried Louise. "Your hair is curlier, isn't it, Dan? And
+David has a broken finger."
+
+"Righto," agreed the latter, holding up his finger for inspection, and
+keeping his eyes on Linda. He had fallen for her charms already.
+
+"You're excused," said Elsie, tersely.
+
+"With many thanks," added Linda, graciously.
+
+"Now begin over again," urged Louise, when the boys had gone. She began
+to open the suit-cases and to pull out the negligees, so that they
+could be perfectly comfortable.
+
+"Well," continued Elsie, settling back in the pretty cretonne-covered
+chair that matched all the furnishings of the lovely, yet simple
+bedroom, "you know Aunt Margaret, of course. Those other two elderly
+women are friends--no need for you to learn their names.
+
+"Of us, Roger is the oldest--he's thirty-one--and he isn't married.
+He's had dozens of girls, but I think he loves being a bachelor.
+He goes in for all kinds of racing--motorboat, automobile, and now
+airplane. And he adores young girls. You want to watch your step,
+Linda, for we're always expecting him to marry all of a sudden
+sometime. To somebody a whole lot younger!"
+
+Linda smiled, and Louise shook her head knowingly.
+
+"Linda's wise," she remarked.
+
+"And Anita's the next oldest," went on Elsie. "I guess you didn't
+recognize her, did you, Louise? The stout woman, with those two
+children clinging to her."
+
+"No, I didn't!" exclaimed her cousin. "But remember, it's been ten
+years since our family were here. I do recall her now--she was a High
+School graduate that summer. And so thin!"
+
+"Well, she's fat now, and so is her husband. You'll see him
+tonight--they're spending the summer here. They have two kids.... The
+twins come next--they're twenty-three, and then my other married sister
+Jennie. You remember Jen?"
+
+"Naturally!"
+
+"And I'm the baby!" concluded Elsie, cheerfully.
+
+"But does that account for that whole crowd?" asked Linda. "Lou said
+she counted seventeen."
+
+"Oh, the others were gardeners, and gardeners' children, and servants.
+There are twelve of us at dinner every night, with father and Anita's
+husband. And you girls will make fourteen."
+
+"I always thought it would be wonderful to have a big family," sighed
+Linda. "My aunt and I live all alone, except once in a while when my
+father comes home."
+
+"All the more reason why you should spend a couple of weeks with us!"
+urged Elsie, cordially.
+
+"We'd love to, but we can't," answered Louise. "But we'll promise to
+come oftener, now that Linda has her Arrow."
+
+"And that reminds me," put in Linda, "that we must call our folks."
+
+Elsie handed her a telephone, which was on a little table beside the
+bed, and made her excuses and left them alone. It was almost time to
+dress for dinner.
+
+Before the girls had answered the summons of the gong, the rain, which
+had been threatening all day long, came in torrents. But it did not
+dampen the spirits of the happy group that was gathered about the long
+table.
+
+David Stillman, a starry-eyed young man with a serious expression, had
+managed to persuade his mother to let him sit next to Linda on her
+left, while Roger, the eldest, had naturally preëmpted the place on her
+right. The younger man, it seemed, believed her to be the ideal girl he
+had always dreamed of. He tried almost immediately to make her promise
+to play tennis with him, to go canoeing and swimming. Roger, on the
+other hand, saw two days' fun ahead of him, playing with the girls and
+the plane, and he made up his mind not to give his younger brother a
+chance.
+
+Sizing up Linda immediately as a girl seriously interested in aviation,
+he began to talk on that subject, shutting out poor David completely.
+He told her about his plane, and the trips he had made, and the races
+he had won.
+
+"But you are a new pilot, aren't you?" he asked her.
+
+"Yes, why?" she asked. "Did I do anything wrong?"
+
+"No, indeed! You fly like an old-timer. But what I mean is, you haven't
+gone in for any competitions yet, have you? Air-derbys, endurance
+flights--height records?"
+
+"No, I haven't had time."
+
+"But you will?"
+
+"I don't know. I want to do something. But just what...."
+
+"You have a wonderful opportunity," continued Roger. "Because you have
+ambition, and time, and youth--and enough money to back you." He paused
+to eat a generous slice of roast-beef. Unlike David, who was staring
+moodily at his plate and playing with his food, Roger ate with enormous
+appetite. "You see, the trouble with most of us is, that we haven't the
+time and the money. And the very rich are seldom ambitious."
+
+"I am hoping to do something next year," Linda announced, slowly. "But
+not until I study some more."
+
+"Wise girl!" was his comment. "I wish my kid brother--Dan--were of the
+same opinion. I can hardly keep him out of my plane--and he hasn't even
+a license. He's a perfect pest."
+
+"Won't you please talk to me?" entreated a voice on the other side, and
+turning her head, Linda realized for the first time how she had been
+neglecting David.
+
+"I'll give you all the rest of the dinner-time!" she said, laughingly.
+But the conversation at once became so general that she did not have a
+chance to keep her promise.
+
+After dinner the rain abated, but nobody went out except Dan, who said
+he was always looking for adventure. But in such a crowd, they did
+not miss him; the young people danced and sang and played pool and
+ping-pong in the game-room.
+
+They were just finishing some lemonade and cake which Mrs. Stillman had
+brought out for their refreshment, when a telegram arrived for Linda.
+Her mind flew instantly to Ted Mackay, wondering whether he had been
+arrested in spite of all her efforts to help him.
+
+But the news proved worse than anything she had expected. It was from
+her aunt.
+
+"Your father seriously hurt. Fly to ranch at once."
+
+Helplessly, she handed the telegram to Mrs. Stillman, who read it aloud
+to the others. Heroically, Linda managed to keep from crying.
+
+"Thank Heaven for the Pursuit!" cried Louise, who had her arms about
+her chum. "We'll get there in no time."
+
+"Let me go with you," suggested Roger.
+
+"No--thank you," stammered Linda, clinging to Louise. "I need Lou--more
+than anybody."
+
+"Well, then, I'll map out your course for you," offered the young man.
+"It's strange country to you?"
+
+"Yes. I've never been to this ranch before. Dad had another one that
+I used to visit, when I was a child." And she gave Roger the exact
+location.
+
+Ten minutes later, with their arms still entwined, Linda and Louise
+went up to their room, having exacted a promise from Mrs. Stillman to
+waken them at five o'clock the following morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+_The Accident_
+
+
+At seven o'clock the following morning, after eating the hearty
+breakfast upon which Mrs. Stillman insisted, the girls entered the
+Pursuit, and taxied off, waving farewell to Elsie, Roger, and their
+hostess. Of the large family, only these three--and the cook--had
+risen in time to say good-by. Even David had overslept; but his eldest
+brother was on hand to help the girls get their start.
+
+Fortunately, the rain was over, and both Linda and Roger believed that,
+barring mishaps, the flyers should reach their destination early in the
+afternoon. With this hope, both girls kept their spirits high; they
+refused to worry about Linda's father until they saw for themselves.
+For Miss Carlton was likely to look upon the dark side of things, and
+it was probable too that the help at the ranch were frightened by the
+accident to their employer.
+
+Tears of gratitude came to Linda's eyes when she saw the enormous lunch
+which Mrs. Stillman had been able to provide at such short notice, and
+she did not know how to thank the kind woman or her son. So she merely
+smiled gratefully, and waved good-by.
+
+Louise kept the map of their course in her lap, and for two hours they
+flew on, making no attempt to talk, but every once in a while pressing
+each other's hand in sympathy and affection.
+
+As the sun was growing hotter and higher in the sky, Linda was
+beginning to wonder whether they were not somewhat off their course.
+She examined the map.
+
+"We ought to be nearing that town!" she shouted, pointing to a spot
+which Roger indicated by a large dot on the map. "And I don't believe
+that we are."
+
+"Fly lower!" suggested Louise. "Let's see!"
+
+Cautiously the young pilot descended, but though both girls looked
+eagerly, there were no roofs or other evidences of a town. An almost
+continuous expanse of shrubbery seemed to cover the ground, and Linda
+did not care to land.
+
+So she went higher again, and pointed her plane south, trusting that
+they were right.
+
+For two hours more they continued to fly without seeing any of the
+landmarks for which they were so eagerly watching. Afterwards Linda
+remarked that she believed they had been going in a circle.
+
+The sun was almost directly overhead now, and both girls were feeling
+hungry, for their breakfast, though substantial, had been an early one.
+They were just considering opening their box to eat, when Linda noticed
+a queer noise in the motor.
+
+"Something's wrong, Lou!" she shouted, trying to smile as if she were
+not worried. "We'll have to land."
+
+"Here?" gasped Louise, in horror.
+
+"Yes. Watch the ground! We must find a good place."
+
+Louise was gazing about at the sky and the horizon, when, turning
+around, she happened to glance at her companion's face. A set look had
+come into Linda's eyes, her lips were rigid. Uneven, yet deafening,
+was the threatening sound of the motor. Suddenly it let off a terrific
+explosion.
+
+"Will we be killed?" screamed Louise, hoarsely.
+
+Linda did not try to answer. She needed every ounce of brain power, of
+energy for the test that was ahead of her. She was working frantically
+with the joystick. So Louise too, kept quiet, and looked over the side
+of the plane--and prayed.
+
+At first it seemed they were dropping terrifically; but gradually,
+frightened though she was, she could feel that some safety device was
+taking hold. The speed was lessening. Down, down they went, but more
+gradually now.
+
+And then they were close enough to the ground to see it. A woods of
+stumpy trees stretched under them, but over to the right was a field.
+Would Linda be able to guide the plane there, or must they be dashed
+against the tree-tops, to meet a sickening death?
+
+How would it feel to be dead, Louise wondered. And oh, her poor mother
+and father! Even in those few seconds, it seemed as if her whole life
+flashed before her, and although she was really a very sweet girl, she
+believed herself a monster of ingratitude. Not a bit like Linda--who
+was always thinking of her Aunt Emily and her father!
+
+Linda, on the other hand, had no time for any such thoughts. She was
+working as she had never worked before, guiding her stricken plane.
+And--miracle of miracles--they were passing the tree-tops! They were
+over a field of weeds.
+
+"Thank God!" cried Louise, reverently.
+
+"Wait!" whispered Linda, not sure yet that they were safe.
+
+The landing was not easy. The plane came down and hit the ground and
+bounced up again. Suppose it should pancake? Linda held her breath,
+suffering greater agony than Louise, who knew less of the dangers. But
+in a moment the valiant little Arrow came to a stop, in the shrubbery.
+
+In a rapture of relief and thanksgiving, Louise grasped Linda and
+kissed her, while the tears ran down the young pilot's face. For a
+moment the girls sat thus in silent embrace, each too filled with
+emotion to speak.
+
+"Come, let's get out, Lou," said Linda, finally, and shakily they both
+stepped from the plane.
+
+"I wonder where we are," remarked Louise, trying to make her voice
+sound natural.
+
+"We'll get out our maps and study the situation. But first let's eat.
+I'm simply famished. It must be noon at least."
+
+They found upon consulting Louise's wrist-watch that it was ten minutes
+of one.
+
+Resolutely deciding to be cheerful, they opened the hamper which
+Louise's Aunt Margaret had packed. What a delicious lunch!
+
+There was a whole roast chicken, and tiny dainty lettuce
+sandwiches--at least a dozen of them. Pears and cherries, and lemonade
+in a thermos bottle. And a beautiful little layer cake evidently baked
+just especially for them, though how the cook had managed it, they
+had no idea. They spread out the paper cloth and attacked the food
+ravenously.
+
+"It looks pretty desolate around here," remarked Louise, as she nibbled
+at a chicken leg. "I don't see a house in sight."
+
+"Or a road either, for that matter," returned Linda. "I wish we could
+get to a telephone--and send a call for assistance."
+
+They ate silently for a while. How good the food tasted! In spite of
+their distress and worry, both girls enjoyed that lunch.
+
+"Have you any idea what is wrong with the plane?" asked Louise, as she
+broke off a piece of chocolate cake. "It was all right yesterday."
+
+"Yes. That mechanic at the airport gave it a hasty examination. Funny
+he didn't notice anything so serious as this.... Louise, do you suppose
+that Roger could have done anything to it?"
+
+"No," answered Louise, thoughtfully. "No; I think Roger knows what he's
+about. But I have an idea, Linda."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Do you remember hearing a plane very close to the house when we were
+playing ping-pong last night?"
+
+"Yes. I thought it was the air-mail."
+
+"So did I. But I believe now it was the Pursuit--with Dan piloting!"
+
+"Dan Stillman?"
+
+"Yes. He's a regular daredevil. And you know Roger won't let him fly
+his plane."
+
+A pained look came into Linda's eyes, as if she herself had been
+mistreated.
+
+"Oh, Lou, that seems awful," she said. "He wouldn't do a thing like
+that, would he?"
+
+"He must have. Remember, he went out right after supper. And he's so
+conceited. He wouldn't think he could hurt it. But I'll tell you how
+to find out--look at the gas. You remember you had her filled at that
+airport."
+
+Holding their cake in their hands, both girls dashed excitedly back
+to the plane and looked at the dial which indicated how much gasoline
+was left. And, sure enough, the supply was running low! Too low to be
+accounted for by the flying they had done that morning. In fact, it was
+almost gone.
+
+"You're right!" cried Linda. "Oh, Lou, now we're in a worse pickle than
+ever. We'll never get to Daddy!" The tears ran down her cheeks.
+
+"Don't!" urged her chum, putting her arms around the other girl.
+"Don't give up yet! We'll find somebody--on some road--who will send a
+mechanic to us. And we'll be at the ranch before night!"
+
+"I hope so!" replied Linda, bravely trying to keep up her courage.
+
+They went back to the spot where their lunch was spread--luckily there
+was plenty left for supper, in case they needed it--and packed the
+remainder again. Then, arm in arm, they set out in quest of a road.
+They walked in an easterly direction; that much they knew from the sun.
+
+What they saw appeared to be a flat country, without even any fences or
+signs of cultivation. Gazing off in the distance, they could faintly
+distinguish the outline of a house--but it might be five miles away, or
+it might be fifteen. Or it might not be a house at all; perhaps just
+some abandoned building or mill.
+
+For half an hour they walked aimlessly onward, till they finally
+reached a dirt road.
+
+"This is encouraging," said Louise, hopefully. "Let's drop down and
+wait here till something passes. We don't want to get too far from the
+plane--if we get out of sight, we might not be able to find our way
+back."
+
+They sat down on some moss by a small tree and consulted the time. It
+was half-past two.
+
+Everything was extremely still. No noise of motor or traffic anywhere.
+No voices. So strange after the places they were used to, for even
+Green Falls was noisy. And the birds were quiet, too--or perhaps there
+weren't many, for there were no big trees.
+
+Linda yawned. "I'm so sleepy."
+
+"Take a nap," suggested Louise. "You deserve one!"
+
+"Hardly fair," returned the other. "Aren't you sleepy too?"
+
+"Not so sleepy as you are. Go ahead! I'll wake you if anything comes
+along."
+
+"And suppose nothing does?"
+
+"Then I'll wake you anyway at three o'clock. We'll have to strike out
+in some other direction."
+
+So Linda curled up and went to sleep, and Louise, yawning, wondered how
+she could possibly manage to keep awake. The whole atmosphere was so
+drowsy--and there was nothing to do.
+
+"If only there were a place to swim," she thought, regretfully. "Cold
+water would make me a different girl!"
+
+But there wasn't any water at all, as far as she knew; indeed, she and
+Linda didn't dare wash in the small supply they carried with them. For
+they might need it for drinking.
+
+She never knew how it happened, but soon she too was peacefully asleep.
+For two whole hours both girls slept the dreamless sleep of fatigue.
+Then, at a quarter of five they were suddenly awakened by the rattle of
+an old, tumble-down cart, pulled by a haggard horse. The girls sat up
+with a start, and looked at each other and laughed.
+
+Jumping to her feet in an instant, Louise ran hastily towards the
+driver. He was staring at them with great curiosity.
+
+"We have been in an airplane accident, and we want to get to a
+telephone--" began Louise.
+
+But the man only shook his head and grinned.
+
+"Nicht versteh'," he replied, helplessly.
+
+"He's a foreigner," said Louise, turning back to where Linda was
+standing. "A German, who doesn't understand English."
+
+"I can speak German," said Linda. "At least, I had some, Freshman year.
+Let me try him!"
+
+But already he was driving away.
+
+"Wo ghen Sie?" called Linda. "Warte!"
+
+He stopped driving, evidently amazed at her words, and pointed to the
+road ahead of him.
+
+Encouraged by this display of intelligence, Louise jumped up on the
+cart, and waved her arms in the direction of the airplane, in the field
+half a mile away.
+
+"We want _help_!" she cried. Then, turning to Linda, "What's the German
+word for help?"
+
+"I don't know," answered the other girl. "But I think he understands.
+If he does meet anybody, I think he'd send them to us."
+
+So Louise climbed down again, and waved good-by to the man as he
+continued on with his cart, and, faintly encouraged, the girls went
+back to the plane to eat their supper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+_The Lost Necklace_
+
+
+Many thoughts raced through Linda's mind, as she and Louise sat beside
+the airplane, nibbling at their frugal supper. For this time, they had
+decided to eat sparingly; nobody knew how long they might have to stay
+there, without any more food.
+
+But all of Linda's thoughts were regrets. Regret that her father had
+met with an accident, regret that Dan Stillman had borrowed her Arrow,
+regret that she was unable to locate the trouble herself and repair it.
+
+Louise, with her usual practical cheerfulness, interrupted these gloomy
+meditations.
+
+"We have three good hours of daylight left, Linda," she announced,
+glancing at her watch. "To try another direction. There must be a real
+road around here somewhere--where automobiles go. Texas isn't the end
+of the world."
+
+"If we're actually in Texas!" returned Linda. "It may be Oklahoma, for
+all we know."
+
+"But Oklahoma has roads, too. Come on, finish your cake! We must
+hurry."
+
+Taking their coats along, for the night gave promise of being cooler,
+the girls set off in the opposite direction from the one they had
+taken that afternoon. This time they had to go right through the
+shrubbery--the dangerous shrubbery which had threatened disaster to
+their landing.
+
+"This is awful!" exclaimed Louise, pausing to pull a brier from her
+sweater. "There can't be any road here."
+
+"On the contrary, I think we'll be more likely to find one, once we get
+through this. The very fact that we can't see beyond is hopeful."
+
+"That's true," admitted Louise, starting on again.
+
+They walked for some time, carefully picking their way through the
+undergrowth, thankful that they were wearing breeches. At last they
+came to a more open space, and stopped to look about them.
+
+"No road!" exclaimed Louise, in disappointment.
+
+"But that looks like a stream over there, Lou--between those two
+banks!" cried Linda.
+
+"Oh, if it only is! Then we could have a swim!"
+
+"If we ought to take the time."
+
+"I think we might as well, Linda, because it's going to get too dark
+for us to take a chance getting lost tonight. Let's have our swim and
+go back to the plane to sleep. Then tomorrow morning we'll start to
+hike--if we have to go all the way to the ranch on foot!"
+
+"We won't have to do that, because we have plenty of money," Linda
+reminded her. "Once we get back to civilization, our dollars will be
+some good. And, even if we have to leave the Pursuit, and never see her
+again, it would be worth it to get to Daddy!"
+
+Having come to this decision, the girls hurried rapidly towards the
+stream, and then, taking off their flyers' suits carefully, under cover
+of their coats, in case there should be some human being around, they
+both plunged in.
+
+The water felt cold, and oh, so refreshing! They swam happily for some
+minutes, forgetful of all their worries, in the joy of the invigorating
+pastime.
+
+When they had gone some distance, Linda suddenly realized how swift the
+current was, out in the middle of the creek. Already they were several
+hundred yards downstream.
+
+"Lou!" she called. "We must be careful of this current!"
+
+Her chum did not answer, and Linda suddenly experienced another
+sickening moment of dread. Suppose Louise were unconscious! She turned
+around, but she could not see the other girl.
+
+However, the creek turned sharply at this point, and Linda reassured
+herself with the hope that Louise was beyond the bend. She swam in to
+where it was shallow enough for her to stand up, and cupped her hands
+and called.
+
+"Lou! Oh, Lou!"
+
+"Yes!" came the instant reply. "Around the bend."
+
+Linda hurried around the cliff which separated her chum from sight, and
+there, to her amazement, she beheld a shattered airplane. The wings and
+the propeller were gone--had evidently been floated out on the stream
+and swept away on the current, and the plane itself was smashed to
+pieces. Louise was standing beside it, holding a man's coat in her hand.
+
+"Ye gods!" cried Linda, shocked by the horror of such a wreck. "How
+terrible!"
+
+But Louise was searching the pockets of the coat madly, excitedly, as
+if she had no thought for the man who had been killed.
+
+"Look, Linda!" she cried triumphantly. "I had an inspiration it might
+be your thief! I've got it!"
+
+"What?" demanded the other.
+
+"The necklace!"
+
+Both girls held their breath while Louise steadied her nervous fingers
+and opened the box--a cheap pasteboard affair, totally unlike the
+original one in which Kitty Clavering's pearls had been sold. To
+Linda's unbelieving eyes, she held up the costly jewels.
+
+Louise dropped down on the ground, absolutely overcome with emotion,
+and Linda sat beside her, examining the necklace for herself, as if she
+could not believe her eyes. But there was no doubt about it; it was the
+real thing this time.
+
+"That man didn't know much about flying," remarked Linda, finally. "I
+suppose, though, he realized that his only chance of escape lay in
+getting over the border.... But Lou, if his coat is here, why isn't he?"
+
+"He probably took off his coat before anything happened. But his body
+may be somewhere in the wreckage. I--I'd just as soon not see it,
+wouldn't you, Linda?"
+
+"Of course not," replied the other, with a shudder of repulsion. "Come
+on, Lou, let's go. But don't let's try to swim with that necklace. I'd
+rather walk."
+
+"So would I."
+
+Both girls scrambled to their feet, and started back towards their
+coats. Suddenly Linda stopped, horrified by what she saw. Over in a
+little cove, away from the main stream, were not one, but two bodies,
+half floating, half caught on the shore by the weeds and underbrush.
+
+"It's the thief, all right," she managed to say. "And I wonder who the
+other man was."
+
+Louise squinted her eyes; she had no desire to go any closer, and in
+the fading light it was hard to see clearly.
+
+"He looks--as--if--he had red hair," she announced, slowly. "That would
+explain about the gasoline agent, who tried to put the blame on Ted
+Mackay."
+
+"Of course!" cried Linda. "Isn't it all horrible? As if any necklace
+could be worth this! I wonder when it happened."
+
+"Probably last night, during the storm. That would be too much for an
+inexperienced flyer."
+
+"Of course."
+
+The girls picked up their clothing and dressed hurriedly, reaching the
+plane just as it was beginning to get dark.
+
+"Let's make a fire," suggested Linda, "and tell each other stories till
+we get sleepy. We mustn't try to go to sleep too early on this hard
+ground, especially after having had naps."
+
+"Are you scared at all, Linda?" asked Louise.
+
+"No. What of? Ghosts--or tramps?"
+
+"Both."
+
+"Well, I'm not afraid of tramps or robbers because I have my
+pistol--Daddy made me promise to take it with me on all my flights--and
+I'm just not going to let myself be worried about ghosts. After all,
+those two dead men deserved their fate, didn't they? And I mean to
+forget them. Now, tell me a story!"
+
+"What about?"
+
+"Some nice new novel you've read that I haven't."
+
+So Louise began the story of "Father Means Well"--a very amusing book
+she had just finished, and the girls kept their camp-fire going until
+eleven o'clock. Then, when both were certain that they were sleepy,
+they spread out Louise's raincoat on the ground, and, crawling close
+together, put Linda's on top of them. Almost instantly they were
+asleep, forgetful of accidents and thieves, not to waken until the sun
+was brightly shining again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+_In Pursuit of the "Pursuit"_
+
+
+From the moment that Ted Mackay had been shot by the thief who stole
+Kitty Clavering's necklace, everything had gone wrong for him. Not only
+had he been wounded and forced to lose time from work, but the new
+plane, which was worth thousands of dollars to his company, had been
+stolen. And, in view of the fact that the robber was not a licensed
+pilot, it was very unlikely that the plane would stand the test, even
+if it were ever recovered.
+
+Then, added to his other troubles, Ted had been accused of being in
+league with the thief! Ralph Clavering believed he was guilty, and so
+did Mr. Carlton. But what worried him most was whether Linda thought so
+too.
+
+The little nurse at the hospital had been a great comfort, believing in
+Ted as she did, implicitly, from the first. But when he had gone home,
+he said nothing to his mother of the suspicions aroused against him.
+The good woman had enough to worry about, with the unhappy life she
+led, and the constant menace of his father's returning in trouble or
+in need of money. But Ted's conscience was clear; all the detective's
+in the world could not make him a criminal when he knew that he was
+innocent.
+
+He wasn't surprised, however, when two men arrived at his home the day
+after he had reached it. Two plainclothes men, with warrants for his
+arrest.
+
+His first anxiety was of course for his mother. If she should believe
+that he was following in his father's footsteps! Why, at her age, and
+after all she had been through, the shock might kill her! Her one
+comfort in life had always been that her three children were fine,
+honest citizens, that her teaching and training had been rewarded.
+
+Fortunately when the detectives arrived, she was out in the back yard,
+working in her little garden. But what could Ted do? To argue with
+these men would only arouse her attention, bring her hurrying to the
+front porch to see what was the matter. For she seemed to live in daily
+fear of trouble between her husband and the law.
+
+"But you have no evidence to arrest me," Ted objected, quietly, in
+answer to the man's brusque statement.
+
+"You are wrong there! We have evidence. The gasoline agent, who sold
+you gas for the plane. The description fits you perfectly--a great big
+fellow, with red hair. Besides, you were caught in the very place where
+the other thief escaped."
+
+"But I had nothing to do with it! I can prove it!"
+
+"How?"
+
+"By other men in the company----"
+
+"Are they here?" interrupted the detective, with a hard, sneering look.
+
+"No--but----"
+
+"Then you will come with us until such time as you prove your
+innocence. One of us will go inside with you while you get whatever
+things you want."
+
+Ted looked about him helplessly. Oh, how could he keep the news from
+his mother? It would break her heart!
+
+And his career! What would this sort of thing do to that? Did it
+mean that, just as he was hoping to make his mark in the world, and
+rendering valuable assistance to his family, all must stop? With a
+gesture of utter despair he gazed up into the skies, where he heard the
+noise of an airplane, coming nearer and lower.
+
+For a moment the other men forgot their duties, and likewise looked
+up into the air. For the plane was certainly flying very low indeed,
+actually circling over their heads. And its roar was insistent; it
+would not be ignored.
+
+At last it became plain to Ted that the pilot wanted to land. So the
+young man held up his arm and pointed to field on the right of his
+house.
+
+Wondering what its business could be, and interested in the plane as
+everybody is, although it is a common sight, the detectives waited to
+find out what would happen.
+
+What they actually saw was certainly worth looking at. The pilot was an
+experienced flyer, and his landing, in the small area of this field,
+was as neat as anything they had ever witnessed. Both men watched with
+admiration and awe.
+
+When the motor had been turned off, and the pilot stepped from the
+plane, Ted recognized him instantly. Sam Hunter--the best salesman, the
+most experienced flyer of their company!
+
+"Sam!" he exclaimed with genuine pleasure, for although Ted had been
+with his firm only a short time, this man was an old friend.
+
+"Ted! Old boy! How are you?" cried the other, clasping his hand in a
+hearty handshake. "How's the shoulder?"
+
+"Pretty good," replied Ted. "I'm ready to go back to work, if I take
+it a little easy. But--" he paused and glanced at the two men beside
+him--"these fellows don't want to let me."
+
+"Doctors?" inquired Sam, though Ted's manner of referring to them
+seemed queer--almost rude. He hadn't introduced them--a courtesy due
+them if they were doctors, or men in any way worthy of respect.
+
+"They're detectives," explained Ted. "Sorry I can't introduce you, Sam,
+but they did not favor me with their names. They've come here with a
+warrant for my arrest."
+
+"By heck!" ejaculated Sam. "Then the little lady was right! The pretty
+aviatrix who was so worried about you! And I'm just in time!"
+
+"I don't know what you mean."
+
+Sam put his hand into his pocket, and produced the paper which Mr.
+Jordan had dictated and three of the men had signed. He handed it to
+the detectives, both of whom read it at once.
+
+"All right," said one of them, briefly, as he handed it back to Sam.
+"Good-by."
+
+Without another word they turned and fled to their automobile and
+immediately drove away.
+
+Ted stood gazing at Sam in amazement, unable to understand what his
+friend had done, how he had been able to accomplish what seemed like a
+miracle. In a few words the latter told him of Linda's visit, and her
+insistence upon the written alibi.
+
+He finished his explanation and Ted had just time to warn Sam not to
+mention the matter to his mother, when the latter appeared, dressed in
+a clean linen, beaming at both the boys.
+
+"Are you willing to have me take Ted back again?" asked Sam, after he
+had been introduced. "Because we need him, if he's well enough to go."
+
+"I'll be sorry to lose him, of course," she answered with a motherly
+smile. "But I always want Ted to do his duty. And I think he'll be all
+right if he is careful. But first let me give you an early supper, so
+that you can do most of your flying by daylight."
+
+Sam accepted the invitation with pleasure, and as the boys sat down at
+five o'clock to that splendid home-cooked meal, it seemed to Ted that
+he was perfectly happy again. He knew now that his company believed in
+his innocence; best of all, he had the reassurance that Linda Carlton
+shared that opinion!
+
+It was good to be in a plane again, he thought, as they took off, half
+an hour later. Good to be up in the skies, with Sam--who was a friend
+indeed!
+
+The whole trip was pleasant, and Mr. Jordan's greeting was just as
+cordial as Sam's. When the former heard what a life-saver his message
+had been, he was more impressed than ever with the cleverness of the
+two girls who had visited him.
+
+"And if you'd like to see them and thank them yourself," he continued,
+"I'll arrange for you to combine it with a visit to our Denver field.
+The girls are out there in Colorado, they said--'Sunny Hills', I
+believe the name of the village is."
+
+"Thank you, sir!" cried Ted, in delight and gratitude. "I don't deserve
+that--after letting that other plane get away from me!"
+
+"Not your fault a bit!" protested the older man. "We've got insurance.
+Still--if you could happen to sell one on your trip, it would be a big
+help to us."
+
+"I'll do my best, Mr. Jordan. Now--when do I start?"
+
+"Tomorrow morning. At dawn, if you like."
+
+So it happened that when Linda and Louise were taking off for their
+trip to Texas, that was halted so sadly, Ted Mackay, at the very same
+hour, was flying to Denver.
+
+He reached his destination without mishap, and went back to Sunny Hills
+that night. He had some difficulty in finding the place, stopping as
+the girls had, at the airport to inquire, and reaching the Stillman
+estate about ten o'clock that night.
+
+Thinking naturally that the airplane was Linda's, and that the girls
+were back again for some reason, Roger and his brothers went out to
+welcome them.
+
+Ted explained quickly that he was a friend of Miss Carlton--it was the
+first time he had ever made such a statement, and there was pride in
+his tone--and that, as he had just been to Denver, he wanted to stop
+over here and see her for a few minutes.
+
+"Shucks! That's too bad!" exclaimed Roger with regret. "Miss Carlton
+left this morning for her father's ranch in Texas."
+
+Ted's smile faded; the ranch was the one place where he could not visit
+Linda.
+
+"But you must come in and make yourself at home. Stay all night--you
+won't want to fly any more tonight. Why!" he cried, noticing Ted's
+bandage, "you've been hurt!"
+
+"Last week," replied the other. "It's almost well now. But--really,
+Mr. Stillman, though I thank you, I have no right to impose on your
+hospitality!"
+
+"It's a pleasure, I'm sure. Besides, I want to look at your plane by
+daylight. I'm in the market for a new airplane. My old one's being
+repaired now, but it's so hopelessly out of date I thought I'd try to
+trade it in."
+
+Instantly Ted became the business man, the salesman, and while he
+accepted Roger's invitation to put his plane into the other's hangar,
+he told of all its merits.
+
+So interested were they that they talked for an hour before they went
+into the house. Then Roger was all apologies, for he knew Ted had had
+no supper.
+
+He hunted his mother, who was sitting disconsolately at the telephone.
+
+"I'm worried about the girls," she told them. "They didn't phone from
+the ranch, as they promised, and I have just finished calling it, by
+long distance. They haven't arrived."
+
+"But they had plenty of time!" insisted Roger. "They started at seven
+o'clock this morning!"
+
+"Something must have happened," said Mrs. Stillman, anxiously.
+"Airplanes are so dangerous!"
+
+"I think I know why--if anything did happen," explained Roger, slowly.
+"It isn't airplanes that are so dangerous as inexperienced pilots. I
+found out that Dan had Linda's plane out last night, alone."
+
+"Dan?" Mrs. Stillman was horrified. "But he never flew alone in his
+life!"
+
+"No, because I saw to it that he didn't. But he admitted that he
+borrowed the Arrow last night."
+
+"This is serious," put in Ted. "We ought to do something--right away!"
+
+"What can we do? I made the girls a map, but they may be off their
+course. I have no plane--and your time's not your own, Mr. Mackay."
+
+"But I'll have to do something!" cried Ted, excitedly. "Even if I lose
+my job on account of it! It may be a question of life or death!"
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do," decided Roger. "I'll buy that plane of
+yours. I want it anyhow. And tomorrow morning at dawn we'll go on a
+search.... Now, mother, can you give Mr. Mackay something to eat--and a
+room?"
+
+Gratefully the young man accepted the hospitable offers of his new
+friends and, pleased with the sale he had put through, he fell
+instantly asleep, not to awaken until Roger both knocked at his door
+and threw pillows at him the next morning.
+
+He dressed and they left in short order, after a hearty breakfast,
+however, and armed with a lunch perhaps not so dainty as that provided
+for the girls, but at least as satisfying. Roger reconstructed the map,
+like the one he had made for Linda, and they flew straight for the
+nearest airport.
+
+Unfortunately, however, they got no information there, no news of a
+wreck, or of two girls flying in a biplane. But their time was not
+wasted, for they took the opportunity to question one of the flyers who
+seemed familiar with the territory around him. They asked particularly
+about the more lonely, desolate parts of the near-by country, where an
+airplane accident would not quickly be discovered.
+
+"There's a stretch about ten miles south of here," the man informed
+them, indicating a spot on Roger's rough map. "Not a farm or a village,
+as far as I know, except one old shack where a German lives. He hid
+there during the War, because he didn't want to be sent home, and he
+has continued to live on there ever since. He has a sort of garden, I
+believe--just enough to keep him alive--with the fish he catches. And a
+few apple trees. Once in a while he drives in here with his apples. I
+could tell you pretty near where he lives, because I was stranded there
+once myself. You could drop down and ask him if he heard any planes."
+
+Eagerly the two young men marked the spot and set off once more in
+their plane, flying in the direction indicated. Before nine o'clock
+they came to the shack, which was the building that Linda and Louise
+had spied at a distance. They found the man frying fish on a fire in
+front of his tumble-down house.
+
+Their landing had been of sufficient distance to avoid frightening
+him, but near enough for him to hear them. They hurried towards him,
+Roger almost shouting the question about the girls, before he actually
+reached him.
+
+But, like Linda and Louise, when they tried to talk to this man, Roger
+received a shrug of his shoulders in reply, and a muttered, "Nicht
+versteh."
+
+Unlike the girls, however, Roger commanded a good knowledge of German,
+and he translated the question with ease into the foreign language.
+
+To both flyers' unbounded delight, they were rewarded with the
+information that they so longed to hear. The girls were safe--and not
+far away!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+_Rescued_
+
+
+When the girls awakened at practically the same time--for Louise, in
+stirring, moved against Linda--they were horrified to see that it was
+half past eight by their wrist watches.
+
+"Two hours wasted!" groaned Louise. "And it's going to be hot today!
+Oh, Linda, why didn't we wake up at six?"
+
+"Next time I'll bring an alarm clock," laughed her companion. "Come on,
+let's straighten ourselves up. I--I--believe I'd rather not swim!"
+
+"No, indeed!" agreed Louise, recalling the horror they had witnessed
+the night before. "We'll use what water we have--we can't carry much on
+our hike anyway.... Now, let's see what we have for breakfast."
+
+"There's some fruit left, and a little bit of chicken. With water to
+drink we'll have a fine meal."
+
+They sat down beside the plane to eat, and both girls seemed to enjoy
+their breakfast, meager as it was. For each had resolutely made up her
+mind to be cheerful.
+
+"Are the pearls safe?" asked Linda, as she gathered up the chicken
+bones.
+
+"In my pocket!" replied Louise, taking them out for examination. "How
+about your pistol?"
+
+"O.K.... Lou! Look! A plane!"
+
+Both girls jumped instantly to their feet and waved their arms and
+their coats in the air as signals of distress. If only the pilot would
+look down and see them!
+
+He was flying low enough to make this perfectly possible, but a moment
+later his ascent sent a sickening disappointment into their hearts. He
+was going away without even seeing them! Useless to yell; no one could
+possibly hear above the deafening noise. To be so near to a rescue, and
+then to have it fail them in the end!
+
+It was Linda, with her knowledge of flying, who was the first to
+realize that the aviator wasn't really going away, that he was only
+retreating farther into the field to make a safe landing, clear of them
+and their plane. In her ecstasy she hugged Louise tightly.
+
+"He's coming down, Lou! To rescue us!"
+
+"How do you know?" demanded the other, incredulously. "He seems to be
+going farther away to me!"
+
+"No, he isn't! It's only to land clear of us. Lou, it must be Roger!"
+
+"Roger? Why? How!"
+
+"Because he would investigate, when we failed to telephone!"
+
+"But suppose it's another bandit--like--you know! Get your revolver!"
+
+"It's right here. But don't worry, Lou. Look! He's on the ground!"
+
+The pilot brought the beautiful new cabin monoplane expertly to a stop
+and shut off the engine. To the girls' amazement two men, not one,
+stepped out. Both of them were old friends!
+
+"Roger! Ted!" cried both the girls at once, in their delight in
+recognizing them. They felt as if they had been rescued from a desert
+island.
+
+"You're both safe? Unhurt?" cried Roger, excitedly.
+
+"Thank God!" murmured Ted, reverently.
+
+"Yes--safe, but stranded," replied Louise. "We've only seen one person
+since noon yesterday--and he couldn't speak English!"
+
+"Nevertheless, he's the one you owe the rescue to!" replied Roger.
+
+"You saw him?" demanded Linda, incredulously. "But you must have been
+out hunting for us, first, Roger. Oh, I think you're just wonderful!"
+
+"No--the credit goes to Mr. Mackay," returned Roger, modestly. "And
+the German fellow, with his apple-cart." And he proceeded to relate in
+detail everything that had led to their pursuit and discovery.
+
+"Your shoulder is all right, Ted?" inquired Linda, after she heard that
+he was back at his job.
+
+"Yes, fine, thank you. And I can never thank you enough for what you
+did for me, Linda! I'll tell you all about it later."
+
+"Oh, that was nothing!" protested the girl lightly. Then, turning
+anxiously to Roger, "Have you any news of my father?"
+
+"He is alive, but that is all my mother could learn last night from
+the housekeeper over the telephone. But don't worry--you'll be there
+yourself in a few hours!"
+
+"How?" she asked, glancing helplessly at her plane. "There's something
+wrong with my motor. It may take a long time to fix--and--if I go by
+train--Daddy might--" she stopped; she just couldn't say "die."
+
+"You're flying in my new plane!" Roger informed her. "Which I have just
+purchased from Mr. Mackay. We'll leave right away, or as soon as he
+examines yours, so he can tell me what to send out to him here. We'll
+stop somewhere and phone for help."
+
+"Roger, would you really do that?" cried Linda, in relief. "That would
+be wonderful!"
+
+"A pleasure!" he said. "Now--tell us what happened to you."
+
+"I really don't know, except that the motor acted awfully queer. But I
+was lucky enough to make a safe landing."
+
+"It was just dreadful," put in Louise. "I was absolutely certain we
+were going to be killed. Linda was wonderful."
+
+"She's a fine little pilot," said Ted, admiringly. "Shows she can keep
+her head in an emergency--and that's one of the most important things
+for an aviator.... Now, let's have a look at the plane."
+
+They all went with him while he examined it.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't fix it without some new parts, and some special
+tools," he said, making notes as he spoke. "But it's nothing that
+can't be repaired quickly. If you'll telephone our Denver field, Mr.
+Stillman, and read this note to the mechanic, they'll send a man out.
+And as soon as it's fixed, I'll pilot it to you at the ranch, Linda....
+Be sure to give me the directions.... Now, have you girls had anything
+to eat?"
+
+"Oh, yes, we had supper last night," answered Louise, "left over from
+our picnic lunch, and we even saved some fruit and some chicken for
+breakfast."
+
+"Then you people might as well start," urged Ted. "No use wasting time."
+
+"One thing more," added Louise, while Linda busied herself writing the
+directions for Ted, "we almost forgot! We found a wrecked plane last
+night--two men dead--and recovered the necklace!"
+
+"What?" demanded Ted, in consternation.
+
+Roger, however, did not know what they were talking about, and no one
+had time to explain.
+
+"The wreck's over by a stream--about half a mile beyond those bushes,"
+Louise informed Ted. "You can explore it while you're waiting."
+
+"And maybe salvage some of it!" added Ted, hopefully.
+
+Five minutes later the other three took off in the new plane, Louise
+somehow sitting on Linda's lap. It wasn't very comfortable, but it
+would not be for far. They would descend at the nearest landing place,
+Roger getting in touch with Denver, while Louise called Miss Carlton,
+Mrs. Stillman, and her parents, and then summoned a taxicab, to take
+her to a railroad station.
+
+The rest of the trip was smooth and uneventful. Once only did they make
+a stop after Louise left--that time to get some lunch at a hotel in
+Fort Worth. In another hour they reached the ranch and landed right on
+Mr. Carlton's field, for Linda knew from former directions just where
+the best spot would be.
+
+"Come in with me, Roger," she invited, trying to keep her voice steady.
+
+They approached the house, an old-fashioned, rambling affair, and
+knocked at the screen door. A middle-aged woman, neatly dressed, came
+through the hall.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Cates," said Linda. "I am Mr. Carlton's daughter,
+and this is Mr. Stillman, who has brought me in his plane."
+
+"Good afternoon," replied the older woman. "Come right in, my dear.
+I've been expecting you."
+
+Linda had been watching her face, to try to ascertain from her
+expression whether the news of her father was bad.
+
+"How--how--is Daddy?" she asked, with trembling lips, as she and Roger
+followed Mrs. Cates into the big room where her father evidently spent
+most of his indoor hours. A huge fireplace occupied most of one wall,
+and there were many book-shelves. A table, a few chairs, and an old
+couch were all the other furnishings, so that the great room looked
+almost empty and desolate without its master.
+
+"He is still alive--but unconscious," sighed Mrs. Cates, shaking her
+head mournfully. Her expression was one of resignation; she felt sure
+that Mr. Carlton could not get better.
+
+"Unconscious!" repeated Linda. "Has he been so, long?"
+
+"Ever since his fall. He was riding a new horse--that he never should
+have bought--and was thrown down a steep bank. His leg is broken, but
+worse than that, he suffered severe internal injuries. Dr. Winston is
+afraid there ain't much hope."
+
+The words were the cruelest Linda had ever heard; she burst out crying,
+and hid her face on Mrs. Cates' motherly shoulder. Roger Stillman
+remained standing, embarrassed. He did not know what to do.
+
+He coughed slightly, and Linda looked up, ashamed of herself for
+breaking down.
+
+"Is there anything at all, Linda, that I can do for you?" he asked. "Or
+for you, Mrs. Cates?"
+
+"I'm afraid not, thank you, Roger," replied the girl. "But don't you
+want something to eat before you start back?"
+
+"No, thanks. I ought to be home early this evening, and I'll get supper
+then. I'm not a bit hungry now." And with a sympathetic handshake, he
+left her.
+
+"Would you like to go to your room, my dear--or do you want to see your
+father first?" asked the housekeeper. "I have him here on the ground
+floor."
+
+"I want to see Daddy!" replied Linda, wiping the tears from her eyes.
+
+The older woman led her across the hall to a room where the door was
+open, and she caught sight of her father, lying almost lifeless upon
+the bed. Impulsively Linda rushed in to him. It just didn't seem
+possible that he wouldn't recognize her, and hold out his arms to
+receive her!
+
+But he continued to lie death-like upon the bed, his head motionless
+upon the pillow. His eyes were closed.
+
+"Daddy! Daddy darling!" she cried, in a voice that shook with pain.
+Dropping to her knees, she knelt beside his bed, and covered his limp
+hand with kisses.
+
+But there was no response whatever to her greeting!
+
+For some time she stayed there, praying that he would get better. Mrs.
+Cates had left them alone, but in half an hour she came back.
+
+"Come, my dear, you must get some rest. Take off your clothing, and
+wash your face and hands and lie down for a while. Then perhaps you
+will be able to eat some supper."
+
+Obediently Linda did as she was told, for she realized that the
+housekeeper was only trying to be kind. And, after a short nap, she had
+to admit that she felt better.
+
+"Any change, Mrs. Cates?" was her first question, when she sat down to
+supper with the woman and her husband. The rest of the help ate in the
+kitchen, but Mrs. Cates realized that this was no time for the girl to
+be alone.
+
+"No. Not a bit."
+
+"Oughtn't there to be a trained nurse?"
+
+"Dr. Winston didn't think so. I'm doing what needs to be done."
+
+"When will the doctor be back?"
+
+"Tonight, after supper."
+
+Somehow Linda felt dissatisfied, as if enough were not being done.
+Another doctor should have been called in--a surgeon, perhaps. And
+surely a trained nurse.
+
+She spoke of these things to Dr. Winston when he came over about eight
+o'clock that evening. But he shook his head.
+
+"I'm afraid nothing can save your father, my child," he said. "There's
+only one chance in a thousand he might get well, if we operated. And
+there's only one surgeon in the United States who ever had any success
+with that sort of operation."
+
+"But if there is _one_!" cried Linda, eagerly jumping to the tiny hope
+his words suggested. "We must get that surgeon! Who is he? Where is
+he?" She was talking rapidly, excitedly, almost incoherently.
+
+"He is a Dr. Lineaweaver. A marvelous man. But I happen to know he is
+away on his vacation now."
+
+"Where does he go?"
+
+"That I don't know."
+
+"But you know where he lives?"
+
+"Yes. St. Louis."
+
+"Then won't you please call his home and find out where he is, and I'll
+go for him as soon as I get my plane back."
+
+The doctor shook his head sorrowfully.
+
+"I'm afraid it's too late, my child. I--I--doubt if your father will
+live through the night. And you couldn't fly at night--even if your
+plane were here."
+
+"I can--and will! And I think I hear my plane now--yes, I'm sure that's
+it. Get me the address--quick--and you put in the call while I run out
+and see my plane! And try to get a trained nurse immediately. I'll be
+back before dawn--unless the surgeon's in Europe or Canada!"
+
+And, dashing in to give her father one kiss, she hurried out to find
+faithful Ted Mackay, alighting from her beloved Arrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+_The Race against Death_
+
+
+"Ted!"
+
+"Linda!"
+
+"You can't know how thankful I am to see you!" cried the girl.
+"It--it--may mean that I can save my father's life!" And she told him
+of her plans.
+
+"If I could only go with you!" sighed the young man. "I hate to think
+of you flying alone at night!"
+
+"But you do believe I'm capable, don't you, Ted?" Linda's eyes searched
+his for the truth; she was not asking for flattery, she really wanted
+his opinion.
+
+"Yes indeed I do!" Ted answered, with assurance. "But it's always safer
+for two pilots to go together. However, the Pursuit is in fine shape
+now--and filled up with gas.... Linda, I have something to tell you."
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"About the wreck--and--those thieves.... The other dead man was my
+father."
+
+"Your father! Ted!" Every bit of color left the girl's face. What a
+dreadful, ghastly thing to happen to anybody, and especially to a fine
+boy like Ted! To come upon his father, dead, in that abrupt fashion,
+and to know, worst of all, that he had died in disgrace!
+
+Finding no words to express her sympathy, she pressed his hand tightly
+in silence.
+
+"So you see how much I have to do--why I can't go with you," he
+continued. "I have reported the wreck to my company, and made
+arrangements about my father's body. But I must go right home to my
+mother."
+
+"But how do you explain it all, Ted?" Linda asked.
+
+"I think my father was paying one of his regular visits to the Spring
+City Flying School--he came there once in so often to get money from
+me--and he was disappointed to find I had gone. Whether he knew that
+other man before, I don't know, but it would seem probable that he did.
+Together they must have cooked up the scheme to follow your plane and
+get the necklace.... That is why it is really fortunate the man got the
+necklace by a ruse. You see he was armed with a gun--as I later found
+out, and if he had had to fight for the jewels, I'm sure he wouldn't
+have hesitated to fire on you!"
+
+"And I suppose your father's being involved would explain why you were
+suspected," added Linda. "You look like him, I believe."
+
+"Yes. To my regret."
+
+"But perhaps it's better as it is," concluded Linda. "Don't you feel
+so, Ted?"
+
+"Yes, I do. It--will be so much easier for my mother.... But Linda, we
+mustn't stand here talking. Every minute is precious to you."
+
+"No. I can't go till Dr. Winston comes out with the surgeon's address.
+He's putting in a long distance call. However, I will go in and change
+into my flyer's suit, if you don't mind," she added.
+
+Five minutes later she reappeared with the information that Dr.
+Lineaweaver was in Louisiana--at a small seaport town which Ted
+instantly located on a map that he gave to Linda.
+
+"I won't even start off with you," the young man said, "because that
+would mean an extra stop for you. Now--are you sure you are all
+right--and that you can stay awake?"
+
+"Yes, I'm sure," replied the girl, forcing a smile. "Mrs. Cates has
+just given me a thermos bottle full of coffee, and a sandwich, to help
+me!"
+
+A moment later she climbed into the cockpit and started the motor.
+The Pursuit, whose engine purred with the smooth even whir of one in
+perfect order, gained speed until it rose into the air. It was Linda's
+first flight at night.
+
+Darkness was all around her, but overhead the stars shone brightly, and
+the moon came from behind a cloud to light her way. Strange, lonely,
+mysterious, it seemed to her, as she flew through the night, but
+nevertheless thrilling. Gradually a sense of peace settled over her,
+as if a Divine Providence was surely guiding her, and she experienced
+the firm conviction that everything was right, that she was going to be
+successful in her mission to save her father's life.
+
+For the first time she realized how much her confidence had to do
+with Ted Mackay. Because he had repaired and inspected the motor, she
+felt certain there would be no accident, and a successful flight was
+a good omen for the operation. Moreover, she had great faith in Dr.
+Lineaweaver. If he would only promise to come!
+
+The hours passed, the moon set, the night grew darker. But the solitary
+girl flew on, swift and straight to her course, steadfast in her
+undertaking. About two o'clock she arrived at the little seaport, found
+a landing place back of the one big hotel, and went inside.
+
+Fortunately a night clerk was on duty, and he rose immediately to
+greet her. The flyer's costume identified her so that he had no need to
+ask what a girl of her age was doing alone at this early hour of the
+morning.
+
+"Can you tell me where Dr. Lineaweaver, the surgeon, can be located?"
+she inquired. "I want him immediately--it is a question of my father's
+life."
+
+Her voice was steady now; there was no danger of tears. She seemed
+almost mature as she spoke the words.
+
+"Yes," replied the clerk. "He is staying at Dr. Grayson's bungalow--a
+couple of blocks away. They come over here for their meals."
+
+"Could you get him on the telephone for me?"
+
+"Certainly. I'll let you talk with him."
+
+Although the clerk put in the call immediately, there was no answer for
+several minutes. A fishing trip had tired both doctors, and they were
+sleeping soundly. At last, however, there came a reply, and Linda took
+the telephone.
+
+In a few words the unhappy girl apologized for the call at that hour,
+and during the surgeon's holiday, and briefly told her story. Eagerly
+she pleaded with him to dress and come immediately, informing him that
+she had her plane waiting.
+
+"You mean you flew from Texas alone--at this hour of the night!"
+exclaimed the surgeon.
+
+"Yes. But you needn't be afraid, Doctor, to go with me. I'm quite
+experienced. Oh please, please, say yes!"
+
+"I'll be at the hotel in ten minutes," replied the great man. "And
+meanwhile, you get something to eat."
+
+Linda sank gratefully into a chair, thinking that the hardest part of
+her task was over--the winning of Dr. Lineaweaver's consent to break
+into his vacation and go back with her. Now, if her father only lived
+until they returned, all would surely be well!
+
+Still keeping herself in control, she ate her sandwich and drank her
+coffee, while she waited for the doctor to come. True to his word, he
+appeared in exactly ten minutes.
+
+The flight back to the ranch was much pleasanter than the one to the
+seaport. No longer was Linda alone; it was a comfort to have the great
+surgeon with her, to know that he would do all in his power to save her
+father. The darkness gradually faded, giving place to a faint gray, and
+finally to a beautiful, inspiring sunrise. A dawn that perhaps meant
+new life to her father!
+
+It did not take Dr. Lineaweaver long to realize that Linda was an
+accomplished pilot, and he settled back into his seat in full enjoyment
+of the ride. His surprise at her youth--she was much younger than he
+had supposed from the telephone conversation--gradually gave way to
+admiration of her skill and her poise. He had no fear for his own
+safety; he was confident that she would make the journey without a
+mishap.
+
+About seven o'clock she brought the Pursuit to a stop on the field that
+belonged to her father's ranch. Cates was already there to greet them.
+
+"Is my father still alive?" she demanded, with the first indication of
+any strain in her voice.
+
+"Yes," came the reassuring reply. "He is just the same."
+
+"And did you succeed in getting a nurse?"
+
+"Yes. Dr. Winston's here too.... Now, the Mrs. said to bring you both
+in for a hot breakfast."
+
+Linda was so excited that she did not see how she could possibly eat,
+but when she realized that the surgeon must take time for something,
+she finally agreed. But first she tiptoed in for a look at her father,
+and gave him a kiss that was really a prayer. A white-clad nurse
+smiled at her, and she believed hopefully that all was well.
+
+The inaction, the weary, tense waiting of the next two hours was
+more difficult for Linda than her flight to Louisiana, alone in the
+darkness. She had nothing to do. Sleep was out of the question, yet she
+was terribly tired. But she could not sit still; aimlessly she followed
+Mrs. Cates around, begging for work. At last the good woman, realizing
+that the girl could not rest, set her to washing dishes and preparing
+vegetables for the noon-day meal.
+
+But finally the operation was over, and Linda's heart stood still as
+she heard Dr. Winston coming out of her father's room. Suppose it had
+all been in vain! She covered her face with her hands, she dared not
+trust herself to look into his eyes, that would tell her, before he
+could utter the words, whether her father had lived.
+
+And then came the glorious news that set her heart to singing as if the
+whole world had been recreated in joy and happiness:
+
+"Your father is doing nicely, Miss Carlton.... Dr. Lineaweaver believes
+that he will get well."
+
+Now the tears came in floods, tears of thankfulness and gladness, and
+she hugged Mrs. Cates in her ecstasy.
+
+"It was a wonderful operation," continued Dr. Winston. "Dr. Lineaweaver
+is the greatest surgeon I have ever had the honor to watch."
+
+"Thank God! Thank God!" murmured Mrs. Cates, reverently.... "And now,
+honey, you must go and get some sleep!"
+
+"Not till I've thanked Dr. Lineaweaver!" protested Linda, and she ran
+off like a happy child, unmindful of the terrible strain she had just
+been through.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+_Honors for Linda_
+
+
+When Linda was permitted, the following day, to go in to see her
+father, she found him conscious, but she knew from his expression that
+he was suffering severe pain. However, he managed a feeble smile as she
+entered, that sent a surge of joy to her heart.
+
+"Daddy!" she exclaimed, her voice choked with thankfulness, "you are
+going to get well!"
+
+He gave an almost imperceptible nod.
+
+"Yes, dear, thanks to you," he managed to murmur.
+
+"You mean thanks to the Pursuit--and to Dr. Lineaweaver," she
+corrected. She wanted to add Ted Mackay's name to the list, but she
+felt it would not be wise.
+
+Her father smiled; it was like Linda to disclaim any credit for herself.
+
+"I phoned Aunt Emily last night," she added, "and she is coming out in
+a couple of days."
+
+"Well, don't let her make a fuss over me," was his unexpected reply.
+
+Linda squeezed his hand jubilantly; he was talking like himself again!
+
+She did not stay with him long--the nurse thought fifteen minutes was
+enough--but she was satisfied. Now that she felt sure he was getting
+better, time no longer hung heavy on her hands. There was so much to
+do at the ranch--so many activities that she enjoyed. Hiking, fishing,
+riding horseback, even helping Cates with the kitchen garden or driving
+the battered Ford into Fort Worth on errands.
+
+Her aunt arrived a few days later, bringing a trunk as usual.
+Linda laughed at the idea of carrying so many clothes to a
+ranch--she practically lived in her old riding-breeches and khaki
+shirt-waists--but Miss Carlton could not be comfortable unless she was
+perfectly dressed.
+
+"Linda, my darling!" exclaimed the older woman, as they kissed each
+other. "Think how near I came to losing you!"
+
+"Oh, no, Aunt Emily, you mustn't say that! Even though Lou and I were
+stranded, there was no danger of our dying. We could have hiked the
+whole way home, if it had been necessary."
+
+"But you _almost_ had a serious accident!"
+
+"Well, we didn't. And since my plane saved Daddy's life, you're
+converted to them now, aren't you?" pleaded the girl.
+
+"I do think they're useful," admitted the other. "And I really believe
+that you are an exceptionally fine pilot, my dear."
+
+"It's awfully sweet of you to say that, Aunt Emily.... But don't let's
+talk about it any more. Come in and see Daddy. He's expecting you."
+
+Miss Carlton was amazed and delighted to find that her brother's
+progress had been so rapid, and she began to talk immediately about
+taking him back to Green Falls with her, in a week or so. He could
+bring his nurse with him, perhaps charter a private car.
+
+"Must we go back so soon, Aunt Emily?" asked Linda. "I love it here!"
+
+"It's too wild for me," replied Miss Carlton. "And too lonely. Besides,
+we have to be on hand for Field Day. It's the biggest event of the
+summer at Green Falls."
+
+"All right," agreed Linda pleasantly. "Whatever you say."
+
+"By the way, did you tell your father about finding the necklace? When
+Louise came home with it, I thought Kitty Clavering'd go crazy! Such a
+queer circumstance, too--you girls finding it the way you did!"
+
+"No, I didn't tell Daddy yet," replied Linda, blushing. She had been
+afraid to bring Ted's name, or his father's, into the conversation with
+her father, when he was still so ill.
+
+"You see, Daddy," she explained, turning to him, as he lay there
+quietly on his bed, "Lou and I were taking a trip in the Pursuit,
+and something went wrong with the motor, forcing us to land in a
+desolate spot. After our picnic supper, while Lou and I went swimming,
+we--we--came upon a wrecked plane, and--and--two dead men. The two
+thieves!" She paused, but suddenly remembered that her aunt did not
+know that one of the men was Ted's father, for that fact had been
+ascertained after Louise left. "And we got the necklace!"
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Mr. Carlton, in amazement at their luck, and horror
+at the experience. "Pretty sickening for you two girls! But, by the
+way, did the other fellow have red hair?"
+
+"Yes, he did. Though Lou and I only saw him from a distance. We didn't
+want to go too near, for luckily the necklace was in the man's coat
+beside the wreck, and the bodies were some distance away."
+
+Seeing that the subject was unpleasant to Linda, Mr. Carlton never
+mentioned it to her again during her entire visit.
+
+Three weeks passed happily, and her father was sitting up in his chair,
+when her aunt's restlessness became so apparent that Linda was willing
+to go back to Green Falls.
+
+"You see I'm on the committee for Field Day, my dear," explained Miss
+Carlton, apologetically. "Besides, I hope you can take part in the
+events."
+
+"How could I, Aunt Emily? I'm not in practice for golf or tennis, or
+any of the contests. I'm afraid I'd be a joke."
+
+"I thought perhaps you might enter the airplane competitions,"
+suggested her aunt, to Linda's consternation.
+
+"Do you really mean it, Aunt Emily?" cried the girl, in delight. "Why,
+I'd adore that!"
+
+"Well, we'll see what the program calls for. If it isn't anything too
+dangerous, like parachute jumping.... And another thing--it is very
+important for you to be on hand, because Louise is planning a surprise
+that you don't want to miss."
+
+"Is she going to announce her engagement to Ralph Clavering, or
+Harriman Smith?"
+
+"Not that I know of! She isn't engaged to Ralph, is she?"
+
+"She wasn't when I last saw her. But absence often lends enchantment,
+you know!"
+
+Miss Carlton looked searchingly into her niece's eyes, but she could
+see only laughter in them. "Wouldn't you mind a bit, Linda, if Louise
+married Ralph?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes, certainly I'd mind," replied the girl seriously, "I don't think
+Ralph--or any other boy we know--is good enough for Lou!"
+
+"Oh, is that all?"
+
+"Yes, that's all. Marriage is too serious for either of us--yet.... Now
+tell me, Auntie, what you meant by that surprise!"
+
+"You wait and see! It's something you'll like."
+
+Linda thought perhaps it was the delightful party that greeted her when
+she landed, three days later, at Green Falls. All of the old crowd were
+there to welcome her--Louise and Dot Crowley, the two Claverings, Jim
+Valier and Harriman Smith, Sara Wheeler, Sue Emery, Maurice Stetson,
+and Joe Sinclair. They presented her with a beautiful little silver
+airplane, a model for her desk, which served a useful purpose as a
+stamp-box. Miss Carlton, who had arrived the day before by train, had
+arranged an elaborate dinner for the whole party.
+
+There was so much to talk about--the championships the young people
+were hoping to win, the airplane stunts for which two noted flyers had
+been engaged, the contests in flying that anyone with a private pilot's
+license might enter. In this last event they were all hoping to star
+Linda.
+
+"Even a race, Linda," said Ralph, who seemed to have forgotten all
+about their quarrel. "You'll enter, won't you?"
+
+"Yes, indeed!" replied the girl, her eyes shining with anticipation.
+"Aunt Emily has already given her consent."
+
+Thinking there had been enough talking and too little dancing, Kitty
+Clavering suggested that they turn on the radio. She was wearing her
+pearl necklace, and rushing over every few minutes to kiss Linda or
+Louise, in appreciation of their having recovered it.
+
+"This is to be our last party, for almost a week," she said. "Ralph
+says we all have to go in training--though I'd never win anything if
+I trained for years. But I can't do much, with all the rest of you
+practicing tennis and golf and swimming every minute, and going to bed
+at ten o'clock! So let's make this party good!"
+
+The evening passed happily, and no one but Kitty seemed to resent the
+fact that they gave up social activities and late hours for a few
+days. They all worked seriously at their own particular sports, and
+Linda practiced loops and speeding with her plane.
+
+Labor Day dawned, hot but clear--splendid weather for the out-door
+event of the season. The Casino and the grounds around it were gayly
+decorated for the fête; a band supplied music whenever there was a
+lull, and refreshment-booths everywhere offered an opportunity for the
+guests to eat outside, if they did not prefer the more formal luncheon
+and dinner served at the restaurant.
+
+Golf tournaments, swimming races and diving contests were on the
+program for the morning, and the finals in tennis were to be played
+off soon after lunch. Then came archery and quoits, drills by the Boy
+Scouts and a pageant by the Girl Scouts. The last thing before supper
+was the exhibition of flying.
+
+Linda had decided not to go to the grounds in the morning, for she
+wanted to have a mechanic inspect her plane, to ascertain that
+everything was just right before her participation in the most
+spectacular event of the day. She arrived soon after luncheon in the
+Pursuit, leaving it at the runway behind the grounds, and strolling
+over to the tennis matches, watched Ralph capture the men's singles'
+cup, and Dot Crowley take the women's.
+
+She found the archery contest interesting, and almost wished she had
+entered, for her father had taught her the art of the bow. However, on
+the whole she was satisfied to concentrate all her energy upon flying.
+
+The acrobatics came first on the program; two aviators of considerable
+repute in their profession had been advertised, although their names
+had not yet been divulged. What was Linda's amazement, when she heard
+Edward Mackay and Sam Hunter being introduced by the chairman! This had
+been her aunt's doing, no doubt, for the latter was on the committee.
+Was this the surprise she had so mysteriously mentioned, and if so,
+what was Louise's part in it?
+
+A hush fell over the huge throng as they watched the two flyers ascend
+into the air and demonstrate all sorts of stunts for their amusement.
+The falling leaf, the Immelman turn, the inside loop, and the much more
+difficult outside loop--and a number of others to which even Linda
+could not give a name. Then finally, from a height of five thousand
+feet, Ted Mackay stepped off in a parachute and came safely to the
+ground.
+
+While she had been watching these skillful yet dangerous performances,
+Linda's heart beat fast with excitement, her breath came in little
+gasps of fear or relief, as the stunt began fearfully or ended in
+safety. But now that her own turn was coming, she was surprisingly calm
+and self-possessed.
+
+With five other amateur flyers, all of whom were young men, she taxied
+along the runway and took off into the air, mounting to fifteen hundred
+feet, carefully keeping clear of her opponents. The looping began; she
+completed one inside loop after another, until she had scored six.
+Then she realized that she was too near the ground to take a chance
+with another, and it was too late to ascend again. With the wisdom of
+an Earhart or a Lindbergh, who never sacrifices safety for the sake of
+foolish publicity, she cautiously landed. A few minutes later the other
+planes all came down. Only one pilot, a college boy whom she had just
+met, scored over her by completing ten loops.
+
+After a short interval of rest, the signal that was to start the race
+was given, and a moment later the gun went off, and six planes ascended
+again, this time aiming for speed.
+
+As the Pursuit soared smoothly upward and then straight ahead, Linda
+experienced a great surge of pride--not for herself, but for her
+wonderful little plane. It was almost as if it were a living thing,
+like a beloved horse. So light, so easy to guide, so sure of its power!
+On and on it sped, forging its way ahead, passing now one plane and
+then another until it came abreast of the leader. The thrill, the
+intoxication of the race took possession of the young aviatrix, and she
+urged it on to its fullest speed.
+
+Now she was passing the one that had looked like the winner from the
+first! The shouts of her friends below were inaudible to her, but she
+could feel their applause in her heart. In another second the gun went
+off with a loud explosion which even the pilots could hear. The race
+was over; Linda Carlton, the only feminine entry, had won!
+
+Her friends, even acquaintances and strangers, almost mobbed her when
+she finally landed. And the college boy who had come in second was
+nicest of all. He and Ralph, forming a seat with their hands, carried
+her high above their shoulders, through the crowd to the Casino where
+the prizes were to be awarded.
+
+Two cups had been provided as a reward for the looping and the racing,
+and, amid the applause of hundreds, Linda and her new friend received
+them. But that was not all; the chairman held up his arm for silence.
+
+"I have another privilege!" he shouted, and the people suddenly became
+quiet. "Our club, which among other things fosters aviation for useful
+purposes, and is always on the lookout for deeds of courage which
+result in the saving of life, wishes to make an award for such an
+action. We have discovered, entirely unknown to her, that Miss Carlton
+made a record flight to bring a noted surgeon to her dying father, in
+time to perform the operation that saved his life. I therefore take
+great pleasure in awarding this medal to Miss Linda Carlton, of Green
+Falls!"
+
+A deep wave of color surged over the girl's face as she listened to
+her own name in connection with the speaker's words. Was it possible
+that this great honor should come to her, when she had merely performed
+her duty, and been thankful to be able to do it? Her knees shook, her
+eyelids fluttered, as she blushingly stepped forward again. But she
+caught sight of Louise among the crowd--Lou, who had arranged this as
+her surprise--and then she saw her aunt, with Ted beside her, and she
+suddenly felt at ease, and smiled.
+
+It was over at last, the applause and the congratulations, and Linda
+was walking with these three back to her plane when she noticed a
+wheelchair, pushed by a white-clad nurse. It must be--it was--her
+father!
+
+"Daddy!" she cried, pushing her way through the crowd to him. "You are
+here! How wonderful!"
+
+"It is you who are wonderful, my dear girl!" he returned. "I am prouder
+than I have ever been in my life!"
+
+"Daddy--" she lowered her voice--"you don't mind my being with Ted
+Mackay? Because Aunt Emily----"
+
+"Of course not!" he interrupted. "I know all about the boy's part in
+saving you--your aunt told me. I--I--am ready to admit I was wrong. You
+will forgive me?"
+
+"Why, of course!" She smiled joyfully; there was so much to be happy
+about now. "And may I have him for a friend?" she asked, timidly.
+
+"So long as you don't marry him--or anybody else--for a long time!"
+
+Her reply was reassuring:
+
+"I won't, Daddy dear! My career as a flyer has only just begun!"
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Linda Carlton, Air Pilot, by Edith Lavell
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44862 ***