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!