Thwarted Plans
Dick Mapes had started in as a flyer when the game was new. For years
he had been an air mail pilot and then had established a field of his
own for training and commercial flying.
The Dick Mapes Flying Field began with great promise, for Dick was
acknowledged to be one of the best aviators in the country and people
had confidence in him.
At first Dick had been terribly disappointed that he had no son to
follow him in his glorious profession. But on Christmas when Terry and
Prim were three years old, Alice had given them each a rosy-cheeked
doll while Dick had presented them with toy airplanes. Terry took one
look at the doll and thrust it aside carelessly, but the airplane she
hugged in her tiny arms, and squealed with delight. The less
demonstrative Prim calmly laid aside the plane and rocking back and
forth sang a lullaby to her doll.
“Terry’s a chip off the old block,” said Alice with a laugh. “You’ll
be trying to make a flyer out of her.”
“That’s an idea!” replied Dick as he watched the child intently.
“There’s a great future for women flyers, I’m sure of it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Dick Mapes! I was only saying that in fun. One
flyer in the Mapes family is plenty. Besides women will soon get tired
of this dangerous sport.”
“Don’t be too sure of that, Alice. I’d like to have Terry learn to fly
and know all there is to know about airplanes. That is if she takes to
it.”
And Terry really started her training the next day. Dick put her into
his big plane and placed her tiny hands on the controls. Although the
motor was still, the child screamed with delight and pulling back on
the stick cried, “Up, up!”
Dick hugged her to him. “You’ve got a great life ahead of you, little
daughter,” he said. “That’s right, you _are_ a chip off the old block.
You’re like your Dad, you’re a born flyer.” And from that time on,
Terry played in Dick’s big airplane whenever her father could spare
the time necessary to watch her play.
Prim was her mother’s girl, more home-loving, and not nearly so full
of spirit.
“We’ll make a flyer of her, too,” declared Dick, not wanting to be
partial. “But I doubt if she’ll take to it the way Terry does. I think
Terry has a talent for flying.”
Alice laughed heartily at this joke, for how could Dick tell at that
age whether Terry would be able to fly a plane or not?
But Dick was right. As the girls grew older, Terry took to flying as a
duck takes to the water, but with Prim it was always hard work and
while she had done the necessary solo flying to entitle her to a
pilot’s license, Dick was never quite sure of her. She did not love
flying as Terry did. She had an indifference to things that frightened
him.
But to Terry it was the breath of life. She had the air sense which
her twin sister lacked.
At sixteen Terry not only was an expert flyer but was a good mechanic
as well. And in the venture of the flying field, Dick called her his
“right hand man” and declared that she could do more work and
understood more about planes than Bud Hyslop, his helper.
Allan Graham and Syd Ames had been Dick’s first student flyers. And
for that reason he felt as if they belonged to him. Syd was an orphan,
the son of a flying buddy of Dick’s, and the boy spent most of his
time in the Mapes household.
Allan was the son of a wealthy business man and the boy had persuaded
his father to back Dick financially. Bennett Graham only half believed
in the plan. He didn’t like flying and he wished with all his heart
that Allan would choose some other profession. He even blamed Dick
Mapes for encouraging the boy to continue against his will.
However Allan, this sturdy, broad shouldered youth, usually got his
own way. And what he wanted now from his father was a partnership in
the Dick Mapes Flying Field.
Dick had secured an option on a large tract of land belonging to Peter
Langley, a strange old man, who lived at his small silver mine in
Peru. He had given little thought to this strip of land that he owned,
for it had been considered waste until the airplane brought about a
new use for it.
With the option settled, Bennett Graham finally put up money for
transport planes and agreed to stand back of Dick’s venture until
success was certain.
As Dick had been a lucky pilot, he had no difficulty in getting
contracts for his airplane transportation service. Everything looked
good. Success was certain.
Then had come the crash!
Dick had gone over his plane thoroughly before starting out on an
important trip. The plane was in order, the engine running true. Then
half an hour later Dick had crashed.
At the hospital his wife and daughters looked on his still form and
were given no hope of his recovery. “And if he lives, he’ll be a
cripple for the rest of his life,” the doctors had predicted. “A wheel
chair is all he can hope for.”
“Pray, Allan, pray that Dad will die,” Terry whispered with a sob as
Allan put his arm tenderly about her. “Death would be better, far
better, than a broken body. He mustn’t live! I could never bear to see
Dad in a wheel chair!”
Allan caught her meaning. He could understand. A flyer who had piloted
a plane through the sky, had shot up above the clouds and been alone
in the heavens, would never be happy in a wheel chair. Looking down at
the death-like face of his friend, Dick Mapes, Allan too prayed that
he might die.
But Dick Mapes did not die. His recovery was like a miracle, so the
doctors said, and while he stormed at the wheel chair, even that was
only to be for a little while. A famous specialist gave him promise of
being able to walk and get back to flying within a few years.
Allan Graham and Syd Ames carried on the business as well as they
could, but new contracts did not come as rapidly as when Dick was in
charge.
Then, for some reason, after the accident, Bennett Graham suddenly
lost what little enthusiasm he had and refused any further help, even
intimated that he wanted to withdraw his offer of standing behind
Dick’s field.
Allan pleaded with his father. But it was no use. Then the father, in
his turn, tried to persuade the son to leave the Mapes Field.
“Break loose and I’ll start you in a field of your own,” promised the
father. “You’ve nothing to gain by sticking to Dick. He’s down and
out, a failure, a cripple, and it’s my opinion that he’ll never be any
better.”
“No!” answered Allan. “I couldn’t break away now. Anyway I want to
work with him. I want to make the field a success. I’m his partner.”
“If you want a partnership, why not go in with a promising young
business man like Joe Arnold whose field is next to Dick’s?” suggested
Bennett Graham. “Arnold’s a good flyer and all he needs is more room
out there.”
Allan snorted in disgust. “Joe Arnold! I hate that fellow! He’s not a
square-shooter. No one on our field has any respect for him.”
“That’s jealousy. It’s well known that Joe Arnold is making a lot of
money and will be a big man in the aviation field some day. Think it
over and don’t let a big opportunity like this slip by. If you decide
to go in with Joe Arnold I’ll back you for any amount you need, but I
have no more faith in Dick Mapes.”
Allan thought over his father’s refusal for a long time then went
straight to the point.
“What’s the matter with Dick Mapes? What have you got against him? You
seem to have no confidence in him.”
“That’s right, son. I have lost faith in him. I’ve had some very
unfavorable reports about him.”
“What have you heard?” Allan demanded. “It’s only fair to tell me.”
“It’s something serious, you may be sure, or I would never take the
stand I do. But at the present time I do not care to say what it is.
Enough for you to know is that he is incompetent.”
“That’s nonsense. Father. You know that his record in the air service
has been almost perfect. This is the first serious accident. And it’s
the first plane he ever crashed since he got his license.”
But even Allan could not deny that since Dick had established his
field one thing after another had happened that might have come from
carelessness. There had been minor accidents, forced landings with
engine trouble that had delayed delivery of goods. A plane had burned
on the field under suspicious circumstances.
Bennett Graham reminded the boy of these mishaps.
“But you know well enough that it was not from any carelessness of
Dick’s that the plane was burned,” retorted Allan.
“Why wasn’t it? How do you explain the matter? You said yourself the
circumstances were suspicious. How do you clear Dick of
responsibility?” asked his father.
“Dick had nothing whatever to do with that fire. And if he’d listen to
me and discharge Bud Hyslop, that good-for-nothing mechanic he has,
there wouldn’t be so many accidents. I’m certain of that.”
“I’ve also made inquiries about young Hyslop,” returned the father.
“He’s a rough chap but I’ve heard nothing against him. It looks as if
your friend Mapes was the incompetent one.”
“I know one thing,” declared Allan excitedly. “If I were the boss out
there, I’d fire Bud. He’s always making trouble. I’m half afraid of
what he may do next.” Allan stormed out of the room, angry and
disappointed. The boy could not bear to have his friend Dick
criticized, especially now that he was down and out and needed him.
Dick was the best hearted man in the world and a real pal to all boys.
That accounted for his unwillingness to let Bud Hyslop go. He kept
hoping that with kindness the boy could be persuaded to do his work
properly.
Terry and Prim had never cared for Bud Hyslop and it was due to Bud
that Terry had become the expert mechanic she was.
“Women haven’t any business around an airplane,” Bud had told Terry
the first day he had come on the field. “The kitchen is where they
belong, and they should be made to stay there. And if they _must_ fly,
let them do their own repair work. That’s what I say, and I’ll stick
to it.”
And stick to it he did, which made Terry take up the challenge and
getting into cover-alls, which were soon well daubed with grease, she
mastered every detail of her plane. And she loved the work. This was
in the days when she had flown one of Dick’s planes to which they had
given the name of _The Crate_. It was an old model, patched and
re-patched, but Dick declared that it was still a fine craft.
Terry and Prim had liked _The Crate_. It was an old friend. But they
were the proudest girls in Elmwood when their father presented them
with _Skybird_, the little blue-and-gold monoplane, a tiny amphibian.
This gift was a reward of merit. Dick had been criticized for allowing
his daughters to spend so much time on learning to fly, so he had
talked it over with the girls and promised them that if they led their
class in at least two subjects and graduated with honors they were to
have a plane of their own, and would be allowed to take out their
pilot licenses.
The girls buckled down to work and made good. Terry led in three
subjects and Prim was a close second.
Their knowledge of planes stood them in good stead. After Dick’s
accident when contracts did not come, Terry took matters into her own
hands and advertised for women flying students. Dick from his wheel
chair directed the lessons and Terry demonstrated and took them up for
flying instruction. This had come to be their chief source of income.
Allan Graham decided that he would make a record by flying the
Atlantic and in this way bring distinction to Dick’s training school.
And as a famous flyer, he would be able to draw down big contracts for
the field.
Terry liked to teach others to fly but she had higher ambitions than
that for herself. She longed to take that flight across the ocean, and
there had been a secret struggle as to whether she would start out on
her own or remain with her father in his misfortune.
It was hard to give up all the time. She also had the feeling that she
could make more money by getting out and doing something to bring her
fame quickly.
It was with a bitter heart that she listened to Allan and Syd when
they announced their intention to make the flight to Paris. Terry
hastened to her room to fight it out with her rebellious heart. Why
was it that Allan Graham always got everything he wanted? He and Syd
both were lucky. All they had to do was desire a thing and the way was
smoothed out for them to get exactly what they wanted, while she only
had to wish and all the powers in the world combined to keep her from
getting it, or at least so she thought.
“I always have bad breaks! I’m out of luck! Everything is against me!”
she declared one day.
Yet when Allan and Syd leaped into their plane, _The Comet_, ready to
start out for their great adventure, Terry bade them goodbye with a
smile. Not for worlds would she show anyone how much she wanted to go.
And she was especially careful not to let her father get any hint of
her disappointment.
Only Prim, her twin sister, guessed at the truth. She was close to
Terry in thought, and understood. Slipping her hand in her sister’s,
she said:
“Someday Terry, we’ll take that little jump together!” The forced
smile left Terry’s face and tears started to her eyes but only for a
second. Then she shouted as she waved her hand toward _The Comet_:
“Good luck and happy landing!”