_Plans for the Ocean Flight_
The last day of the Christmas vacation--New Year's--passed very quickly
for Linda Carlton. The dance had continued until almost dawn, and for
once she stayed to the end. For there was no flight in store for her on
the morrow, or the day after. She could be as sleepy as she wanted to.
Accordingly, her aunt did not wake her until noon, and only then
because her father was taking a late afternoon train back to New York.
"I want to go for a walk with you this afternoon, Daughter," he said,
while she ate her combined breakfast and luncheon. "I would like to
have a talk with you."
"Yes, Daddy," replied Linda, trembling inside, lest he intended to tell
her that he would forbid the ocean flight.
"Can you spare the time--say about three o'clock--from your social
engagements?"
"I haven't any social engagements," she replied. "Lou and I didn't
accept anything for after Christmas Day."
"But I heard your aunt tell Mrs. Clavering this morning on the
telephone that she'd see that you went to Kitty's dinner party."
Linda yawned. She had enjoyed the dance the night before, but it was
enough to last her for a while.
"Is Lou going?" she inquired.
"I couldn't tell you that, my dear. You can call her up."
"All right. But in any case that wouldn't interfere with our walk,
Daddy. I'll be ready at three."
Unlike most of her girl friends, whose days were spent in constant
social activities, Linda was always punctual about her engagements. As
the clock struck three, she appeared in the living-room. Dressed in her
gray squirrel coat and matching beret and cloth boots, she presented
a beautiful picture of up-to-date winter fashions. Linking her arm
affectionately in her father's, she accompanied him out into the crisp,
clear air, and started towards the outskirts of the town.
"Wouldn't you rather be sledding, my dear?" he asked, gazing at her in
admiration.
"No, indeed!" she hastened to reply. "I'd much rather be with you....
Anyway, I suppose there will be a sledding-party after dinner tonight.
Kitty told us to bring our sweaters and riding-breeches."
"Very well.... Have you guessed what I wanted to talk to you about?"
"Yes, I think I have--Daddy," she faltered.
"You have?" he repeated, smiling. "Well, first of all I want to tell
you that I am exceedingly proud of your courage and pluck up there
on the border, and in Canada, and that I think you have proved your
ability to take care of yourself in a plane."
"Daddy!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "I was afraid you and Aunt Emily
would say I could never fly again! After all the anxiety I caused you."
"That is what your aunt would like to say--but I feel differently. What
happened was due to no fault or carelessness of yours, no lack of skill
on your part. A less able pilot would have been killed, I am sure."
"It's awfully sweet of you to say that!"
"Well, I mean it. I'm convinced now that you have a right to go on
with aviation. And I am willing for you to order your plane for the
ocean flight."
A thrill of emotion ran through Linda, so intense that she could not
speak. Clasping his arm tightly with both her hands, she told him in
the only way she could of her great gratitude.
Then she remembered his business.
"You won't need the money, Daddy?" she asked, after a moment.
"No--not now that I feel sure that your trip saved me, and that this
unfair competition will cease. But just to make sure, I'll go to Canada
tomorrow, and visit the Convent myself. I'll wire you results."
"I think," she said slowly, with tears dimming her blue eyes, "that you
are the most wonderful father a girl ever had."
He patted her hand gently, not knowing how to reply, and they walked on
for some time in silence.
It was not until the short winter afternoon was coming to a close, and
they had turned their steps towards home that he mentioned his sister.
"I don't want you to say anything at all of this to your aunt, Linda,"
he cautioned her. "She might play on your unselfishness, and make you
give it up. It is a risk, of course--I understand that, and I know
just how she feels. But we all have to take risks in life; it would
be dull indeed if we didn't. So I think I had better handle the thing
myself--tell her sometime when I happen to come home when you aren't
there. I can win her around to it, I know."
"That would be wonderful, Daddy!" cried the girl, in relief. It had
been worrying her for a long time whenever she thought of securing her
aunt's consent. She even believed that she might weaken herself, if the
older woman used tears and pleading. For Linda could never forget what
a loving foster-mother her Aunt Emily had always been.
"By the way, have you picked out your plane?" her father inquired.
"Yes, indeed! It's a Bellanca--they call it Model J 300. Just built
for ocean flights! Oh, Daddy, it has everything to make it perfect!
A capacity for carrying one hundred and five additional gallons of
gasoline, besides the regular supply in the tanks of one hundred and
eighty gallons! And a Wright three-hundred-horsepower engine, and a
tachometer, and a magnetic compass----"
"There, that's enough, Daughter!" he interrupted, smiling. "I'm afraid
I don't know what all those terms mean. If you're satisfied that it's
the best you can buy----"
"Oh, I am! I'm crazy about it. I'm going to put in my order the minute
I get your telegram."
"And if anything should happen, so that you had to come down in the
water, would it float?" he asked, with an imperceptible shudder. In
spite of his bravery, the thought of Linda over that deep, wide ocean
at night made his flesh creep.
"Yes, Daddy. The tanks permit the plane to float. You can be sure it
will have every modern invention, every safety device there is today.
It will cost about twenty-two thousand dollars!"
"That's right, Daughter," he approved. "If you're going at all, you
must do the thing with the utmost care. Don't try to save money. A few
hundred dollars might mean the difference between disaster and success."
"I know," she answered, solemnly.
As they were approaching the house, they began to talk of other
things, as if by silent agreement. Airplanes and ocean flights were
apparently forgotten, for the moment they were inside, Linda's Aunt
Emily was urging her to get ready for the party. Unfortunately, Louise
was not going. Like Linda, she had been invited at first, but once she
refused, she was not popular enough with Kitty to be asked again. So
Linda could not talk of her trip with anyone; she would have to wait
until the following day, when Louise accompanied her back to the ground
school.
It seemed strange indeed, to get up early the next morning and take
a train back to St. Louis. Both the girls regretted the loss of
the Pursuit, and realized how they were going to miss it, but they
resolutely decided to be good sports and to try to joke about it.
"Don't forget we have to buy tickets," Linda reminded her chum. "Don't
go to the window and ask for high-test gasoline!"
"Won't a train seem slow?" returned Louise. "Oh, well, we won't have to
care about the weather, that's one good thing! Besides, we can sleep."
"As if you ever made a flight without at least one good nap!" teased
the other.
But in spite of their assumed gayety, it seemed like a tiresome,
endless journey, with a change of cars and a wait at the station. It
was afternoon before they finally arrived at their destination.
Both girls had decided to say nothing about their holiday adventure,
but when they reached the school, they found themselves being treated
as heroines. Everybody had read all about them in the papers, and knew
that they had jumped from parachutes and that they had lost the Pursuit.
"But you'll soon be graduating from here, and making all kinds of
money," one of the instructors told Linda hopefully. "And then you will
be able to buy another plane of your own."
(Sooner than you think, Linda said to herself, for no one but Mr.
Eckers at the school knew of her proposed trans-Atlantic flight.)
Both girls plunged headlong into the work, forgetting everything but
the studies that were before them. Only, Linda could not forget to
watch eagerly for the telegram that would mean her father's final
consent.
It arrived three days later, saying that all his business troubles had
vanished, and that he had sold enough of her bonds for her to write a
check for her Bellanca.
Wild with joy, she dashed across the flying field to the hangar where
Louise happened to be taking some notes from Eckers.
"Everything's O.K.!" she cried, as she burst open the door. "We can fly
to Paris, Lou!"
Her chum jumped up and the girls hugged each other in ecstasy, much to
the amusement of the elderly instructor.
"So you're ordering a Bellanca long-distance mono-plane?" he asked.
"Yes. Tonight! Oh, Mr. Eckers, from its pictures, from its description,
it's absolutely marvelous. And as safe as an ocean-liner!"
"Safer!" amended Louise, "Ocean-liners sometimes sink. But never a
Bellanca!"
"We're going to be awfully careful and thorough about our preparations,
Mr. Eckers," Linda explained, as she detached herself from Louise's
arms, and sat down on the edge of his desk. "Just like Lindbergh!"
"Well, I hope you have Lindbergh's success," was the instructor's
fervent wish. "But tell me, Miss Carlton, have you heard of any others
who are planning to try for this prize?"
"Only one so far. She's in England now, having her plane built there, I
believe."
Louise gritted her teeth at the mention of Bess Hulbert, but she said
nothing.
"Then you'll simply have to beat her!" cried the man, enthusiastically.
"It must be an American plane that wins. And American girls!"
"Of course some of our best aviatrices may compete," put in Louise.
"You mean women like Amelia Earhart?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Somehow I don't think she will," said Mr. Eckers. "Miss Earhart is too
good a sport to take honors from a younger, less experienced flyer.
She doesn't go out for sensational glory. She doesn't have to. She has
already won her place."
"But of course some of the younger girls may."
"Yes. But you girls have a better chance than anybody, I think. Better
prepared. Besides, the difficulty is going to be getting a suitable
plane. It would be fool-hardy for anybody to take a chance in a plane
that wasn't super-tested, and super-equipped. And few parents are
going to give their consent, even if they can provide the money.... I
believe your greatest opponent is this English girl."
"Well, we're going to beat her!" announced Louise, defiantly, and she
did not add that she meant to take harsh measures if that young woman
put in an appearance in the United States.
"When do you expect to go?" questioned Eckers.
"The twentieth of May, if the weather is right," replied Linda. "I
believe in luck, and that was Lindy's lucky day."
"And Linda Carlton's!" added Louise, as the girls went off to send
their order.