_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."