“Good for at least twenty-four hours,” he replied. “But that’s not the only danger, Miss Carlton.” He shook his head ominously. “This is sure suicide,” he predicted.
“Why?” demanded Dot. “Isn’t the motor in perfect condition? There isn’t anything wrong, is there?”
“No. She’s O.K. Oiled her up a bit, and tightened a few screws. It isn’t that. But you’ll run into a typhoon, or lose your way—”
“It’s a pretty straight course,” said Linda. “We’re on the Tropic of Cancer now, and Hawaii is just a little below it. It looks like pretty easy navigating to me.”
“You’re welcome to it. And—happy landing!”
Linda and Dot lost no time in getting started. Five minutes later the Sky Rocket was triumphantly rising into the air, heading straight towards the ocean. Over the weeds and rough seashore growth on the beach, past the waves breaking on the shore of the Pacific! The sun had not yet risen, but it was light enough to see where they were going. On they flew; now the waves seemed higher, but the air was calm.
There was little wind, so Linda continued to fly low, so that they could make use of the cushion of air on top of the water. And it was thrilling to watch the ocean—more exciting than seeing it from the deck of a boat.
“It does seem calmer than the Atlantic,” observed Dot, in a loud tone. Seated side by side as they were in the companion cockpit, it was not necessary to use the speaking-tube, and for this advantage they were grateful. “They say that’s why it was called the ‘Pacific.’”
“It’s beautiful, anyway,” returned Linda, admiringly.
On and on they flew, ever westward, as the sun rose in its full glory behind them. Soon the land was lost to view; there were no vessels in sight—only limitless sky and ocean, and two girls alone in that vast, empty universe. But both girls were in high spirits; neither was the least bit afraid.
Climbing a little higher, Linda opened her throttle to its maximum, and found themselves travelling at a speed of a hundred and fifty miles an hour. The girls laughed and sang at the joy of the exhilarating motion, but they did not attempt to talk. There was so much to think about—the fun of the flight, and the triumph of landing in Hawaii, ahead of that boat, the “Mona.” Oh, if they only made it!
Water everywhere—and the sky overhead. Noontime came, with the sun right above them, and the girls realized that it had been a long time since they had eaten. Dot made a dive for the coffee and sandwiches, divided off as they were in portions for lunch and supper and breakfast, and both girls ate ravenously. When they had finished she insisted that Linda take a rest.
With a yawn and a stretch, Linda willingly complied, and gave the controls over to the other girl. It would afford her not only an opportunity to relax, but a chance to study the maps as well.
“We’ve covered eight hundred miles already,” she shouted in Dot’s ear. “And we’re sticking straight to our course.”
“How’s the gas holding out?” returned her companion.
“Fine. I think we’ll have some left over, at this rate.... Now Dot, if you’re all right, I think I’ll take forty winks. Even that blazing sun doesn’t seem to keep me from being sleepy.”
The other girl nodded, and Linda slipped off to sleep. Even the bumps in the air seemed to have no effect upon her slumbers; for an hour perhaps, she slept soundly, while Dot continued on the flight. Then, all of a sudden she was abruptly awakened by a terrified cry from her companion. The plane was dropping—it seemed to be diving right into the ocean—into the very jaws of death!
For one brief moment Linda thought of the life-boat, but that did not seem feasible now. Instinctively she grabbed the stick, and pulled it back sharply. The Sky Rocket wobbled almost on the surface of the water, and at that very moment a hideous, terrifying shark poked its head above the surface!
For one awful second death stared them in the face. Not the easy death of drowning, but a horrible torturing agony at the jaws of a ferocious fish. The plane seemed to hover uncertainly for a moment; then with a sudden lightning speed it gathered control and started to climb upward—to safety!
Linda let out a gasp of relief, and Dot sobbed in contrition as the Sky Rocket soared into the air.
“I don’t know how I could have done it,” wailed Dot. “All of a sudden, it seemed as if we were headed straight for the ocean, and nothing could stop us. If you hadn’t taken hold that very instant, we’d have been killed.”
“It was a lucky escape,” returned Linda. “And from now on we’ll make it a point to fly higher, even if we can’t use the wind to such advantage, as we could right over the water.”
The afternoon passed, with the motor still functioning perfectly. The wind increased somewhat, but not enough to disturb Linda greatly. She was continuing to fly high, for she didn’t want to run any risk of hitting that deep, terrifying ocean again. A little before sunset they sighted a ship.
“I’m going a little lower,” she shouted to Dot. “Get your glasses. We’ll see whether that’s the ‘Mona.’”
“It is!” exclaimed Dot, a few minutes later. “I suppose we’re too far south to meet the regular Los Angeles-Hawaii lines. But we must be following about the same course as the ‘Mona.’”
“Keep a watch-out for the girl-friend!” advised Linda.
Down they glided, keeping the ship in sight until they were about a hundred feet over the water. It was a small boat—not nearly so large as the regular San Francisco-Hawaii line; and they could see the people hurrying to the deck, peering through their glasses, and waving and shouting in greeting. Dot, too, did her share of the searching.
“I don’t see them,” she said.
Linda looked intently, but she could not distinguish the passengers’ faces. However, she did not think it was likely that Sprague or his wife would be waving to them. They would surely recognize the plane.
“Probably they’ve been keeping off the decks,” she said. “Hiding, as much as possible, without arousing suspicion.”
“Maybe the girl’s seasick,” observed Dot. “I only hope she doesn’t pass out and get buried at sea, before we ever have a look at her, or a chance to collect that five thousand,” remarked Dot.
Linda regained her height, and sped onward, determined to get to Hawaii well in advance of the boat, and to lie in wait for the criminals. The blood was rushing through her veins, and she was thrilled with the chase, but she resolutely kept calm. The worst of the trip—the black night—was ahead of her, and she needed every ounce she had of energy and nerve.
The plane was still doing well over a hundred miles an hour, and going forward with mighty gains, eating up the miles. The sun set and once again the girls ate some sandwiches and drank more coffee.
“I’m almost afraid to offer to take the controls and let you rest,” said Dot, humbly. “After the way I fell down before.”
“It was the Sky Rocket that did the falling,” laughed Linda. “But I guess that wouldn’t happen again. You’ll stay up high, I’m thinking.”
“You’ll trust me again?”
“Certainly, Dot. Don’t be so foolish. Besides, I want to do a little calculating.”
Relaxing back in her seat, Linda consulted her maps and her sextant, when suddenly she heard a queer noise. The motor was knocking in a strange, ominous way that almost made the girls’ hearts stop beating. Was it going dead? Panic-stricken, Dot looked down on the ocean, hoping that she could see the “Mona,” or some other ship that might rescue them, and Linda’s thoughts turned to the wireless.
The tapping was growing worse; the engine seemed to be dying. Linda racked her brain for a reason; surely the gas hadn’t given out. Telling Dot to keep on guiding the plane, she examined the feed-valve. And here she located the trouble!
A broad smile of relief spread over her face. “I can fix that, easily,” she assured her companion. “Just hang on for a couple of minutes.”
She was as good as her word; soon the knocking ceased, and the engine was running as smoothly as when the Sky Rocket left Cape San Lucas. And Linda herself was back at the controls, urging Dot to avail herself of a nap while she had the chance.
It was entirely dark now, and the stars were shining in the sky, and reflected in the ocean, making a beautiful picture for the girls as they flew on. Phosphorescent lights, too, played through the water, reminding Linda of the dangerous life beneath.
Towards ten o’clock, while Dot was taking her nap, they had one more terrifying experience. Suddenly, for no reason at all, they started to fall. Yet the engine was not dead, nor was their motion slow enough for a stall. There was only one explanation, of course: an air-pocket. Down, down they came, like an elevator whose cords have been broken. Dot wakened up with a scream and the beads of perspiration stood out on Linda’s forehead, for she believed that this time the sea was really about to swallow them.
But she had been flying high, and this proved to be her salvation. She tried banking the plane, first on one side and then on the other, breaking the fall, but making both herself and Dot dizzy with the sickening motion. Her head swam; she hardly knew what she was doing, and there was the black water beneath them. But at last a current of air swept under the wings, assuring her that she was out of danger once more. Making a sharp turn away from the air-pocket, she found her plane responding to the stick as she started to climb back again to the height she had lost.
The girls breathed freely again, and Dot, now wide awake, produced coffee from the thermos bottle, for they felt in need of a stimulant. But, as the plane flew fearlessly on, and the flight again became monotonous, Dot fell asleep once more, and Linda continued, waking and watchful.
She watched the stars fade gradually from the sky, and the first gray light play over the sea. Tensely alert, she glanced eagerly at her speedometer. If her calculations were correct, there were only three hundred miles more to go!
It was considerably lighter when Dot finally opened her eyes.
“Fine companion I am!” she exclaimed, in shame. “To go to sleep like that. Leaving you as lonely as you were on your Atlantic flight!”
Linda reached over and touched her hand affectionately.
“Don’t you believe it, Dot!” she said. “It makes a big difference, having you here.... And if you’re awake now, I’d like to have you take control. I want to do some figuring. Now that we’re getting so near, I want to locate the islands. Suppose we’d miss them, after coming all this distance!”
“Suppose we would!” repeated Dot. “And never realize it till we landed on the coast of Australia!”
“We’d know it before then. Our gas would give out somewhere in the middle of the ocean.”
“Well, we’re not going to miss them!”
It was, as Linda said, one of the most difficult parts of the flight, to locate those tiny dots of islands in the vast expanse of ocean. But Linda was a good navigator, and she made her calculations correctly. They were, she discovered, only about fifty miles off their course—an error which was easily remedied, since their gas supply was adequate.
“A hundred miles more!” she announced, when she finally resumed control. “Now we can watch for the sea-gulls!”
Nearer and nearer to their destination they came. Now Dot spied some fishing craft with her glasses, and that fact told her that the shore must be near. Her excitement was so intense that she could hardly sit still. The end of her first ocean flight! Her first landing from over the water!
“We’re coming!” she shouted, in wild exultation.
Linda was almost equally thrilled, although her pulse was calmer. It had been less terrifying, less difficult, less nerve-racking than the solitary, long flight over the Atlantic. But she was nevertheless excited.
Now the cliffs rose from the ocean, and the waves broke against the shore, showing their white-caps. And, as if to stage a dramatic arrival, the sun rose in all its glory, shedding its beams over the land and water.
The green island of Molokai was beneath them!
But this was not their destination, and Linda pressed on.
“Aren’t you going to land?” cried Dot, in disappointment.
“No,” returned Linda. “We are making for the island of Oahu. I must come down in Honolulu.”
On they flew, past Molokai, directing their course southwest, over the indigo waters of the Pacific, now so beautiful in the sunlight, then swinging north towards the capital city of the Hawaiian Islands. Now they saw speed boats and launches on the waves; they passed the great Diamond Head, and Waikiki beach, and hovered at last over the Rogers Airport on the coast.
“Honolulu!” cried Linda, joyously. “We are here!”
As the girls looked beneath them, it seemed for a moment as if the airport were a bed of flowers. Garlands of leis and gardenias filled the air with a strange and wonderful fragrance. Then, as Linda dropped lower, she realized that these flowers were all in the arms of people standing about the ground. People of every race and color.
“Who are all those people?” demanded Dot. “Do you suppose there’s been an accident?”
“Oh, I hope not!” replied Linda. “I’ll keep on flying over the field until they scatter. I mustn’t hurt anybody.” She brought the Sky Rocket lower, and gave a signal that she wanted to land.
But already policemen were busily pushing the crowd back, making a clear runway for the plane. When Linda thought it was safe, she gracefully glided to the ground.
Even above the noise of the engine, the girls heard the wild shouts of the multitude.
“Hello, Linda Carlton! Hello, Dot Crowley!” seemed to rise from every direction, and flowers were strewn in their path. “Welcome to Oahu!”
The girls stared at each other a moment in consternation, not understanding how these people could possibly be informed of their names. But only a moment, for the crowd rushed in, and it took all the policemen’s efforts to hold them in check. A small and select group of half a dozen or so were admitted close to the plane.
From this group, a couple of young fliers stepped forward and lifted the girls right out of the cockpit.
“Congratulations to the first girls to cross the Pacific!” they cried, as they put garlands of leis around their necks. Then, with Linda and Dot on their shoulders, high over the heads of the crowd, the boys carried them to a waiting car.
“Aloha!” shouted everyone as they passed. “To our heroines of the air!”
“But how did you know about us?” gasped Dot, as she found herself miraculously seated in a shining, low car at the edge of the flying field. “We didn’t tell anybody about it.”
Both the young men grinned broadly.
“A special late edition came out last night with the announcement,” explained one of the boys. “A Los Angeles paper. And every newspaper in the United States and Hawaii will run the story this morning. Besides, a ship you flew over yesterday sent a radio that you had been sighted!”
The car moved slowly through the space blocked off by the policemen, and Linda and Dot smiled and waved to the crowd as they passed.
“Where are we going now?” asked Linda.
“To the Governor’s mansion. There’s a big breakfast waiting for you. Then there will be a reception tonight. Did you know that you will receive an award of ten thousand dollars, to be shared between you?”
Linda and Dot looked at each other in amazement. They had undertaken the flight with no thought of glory or reward, and they were winning applause from the whole world. It was nothing short of miraculous!
But what would their own relatives think? Miss Carlton, and Mr. and Mrs. Crowley—and Linda’s father, who hadn’t even been informed of the project? Was it too late now to send them telegrams?
“We each get five thousand dollars?” repeated Dot, incredulously. “But why? Who is giving it?”
“A wealthy woman in Honolulu promised that amount some time ago to the first woman to fly to Hawaii from the coast of America. The only point she stipulated was that there was to be no man in the plane. So, if two girls made the flight, she said she would divide the prize.”
“So you’ll get the five thousand back that you lost, Linda!” exclaimed Dot. “Now you won’t have to catch that girl.”
“But I’m going to catch her,” Linda insisted. “Not for the money, especially, but because I’ve made up my mind to do it.”
The automobile threaded its way through the streets of Honolulu, on to the Governor’s mansion. Here the girls were received with the greatest cordiality by the chief executive’s wife. A lovely breakfast, to which all the important aviators of the island were invited, was served on the wide veranda, and a suite of rooms had been set aside for the girls’ visit.
“I suppose you will want to take a nap first,” said their charming hostess. “Then, after you have rested, perhaps you would like to go down to our beach and bathe.”
“We’d love it!” cried Dot, eagerly. “Think of the thrill of going in bathing in October!”
“Then this evening,” continued the older woman, “is the banquet, followed by a reception in your honor at the hotel. And Mrs. Dinwitty, the donor of the award, will present you with your checks.”
“It’s all just too wonderful!” exclaimed Dot. “But what shall we do for clothes? We can’t attend receptions in flying-suits!”
“I’ll see that they are provided,” promised the other. “We have marvellous shops in our city, and now that I know your sizes, it will be easy enough to order a supply.”
As soon as she had left them, Linda went to the telephone in her room.
“I must call the police before we go to sleep,” she said to Dot. “We might miss our criminals.”
The reply, however, was reassuring.
“The ‘Mona’ doesn’t dock till noon tomorrow,” an official assured her. “And we have detailed men to help you. We got in touch with the Los Angeles police after we got your wireless, and we made out a warrant for the arrest of the girl. We’ll call you when the ship docks.”
Reassured now, and at ease for the rest of the day, the girls slept all morning in the beautiful bedroom set aside for their visit, and after luncheon they were driven to the famous Waikiki beach, and lay on the sand and later rode the waves of the Pacific on the long, narrow boards which they had so often seen pictured in the movies. There was so much to do and see and enjoy that they wished that they might spend at least a month in this Paradise of the Pacific, as the Hawaiian Islands are so often called.
“It’s hard to think of crime and criminals in a spot like this,” remarked Linda, as she lay on the sand and gazed at the deep blue sky above her. “I purposely haven’t mentioned them to our hostess—because I didn’t want to spoil things. Today has been so perfect.”
And perfect it continued to be, until the girls finally closed their eyes in sleep that night. The dinner and the reception were gorgeous affairs, yet the kindness of the Governor and his wife prevented them from becoming stilted and formal. Even Linda felt no embarrassment when she was called out and presented with the check. For Dot was at her side, equal to the occasion with a clever little speech of acceptance and thanks.
Excitement had kept the girls going during the first day, but the next morning reaction set in and they felt as if they wanted to sleep forever. Their thoughtful hostess, realizing just what they had been through, decided not to have them wakened. Telegrams and flowers began to arrive, but she saw no need of disturbing Linda and Dot. She did not know that they were counting on meeting the ship that was scheduled to dock at noon.
At last, however, Linda opened her eyes and reached for her wrist-watch that lay on the tiny table between her bed and Dot’s. It said twenty minutes after twelve!
She picked it up and examined it closely, unable to believe her eyes.
“Dot!” she cried. “We’ve overslept! Do you suppose the police have called? And we’ve missed them?”
“Missed—who—whom—I mean?” inquired her companion, sleepily.
“The couple we’re after! Sprague and that girl! Oh, Dot, wake up!”
“What shall we do?” asked Dot, realizing at last the seriousness of the situation.
“Get dressed at once!” replied Linda, as she rang the bell for the maid.
Almost miraculously the latter appeared in answer to the summons, with fresh sports-clothing for both the girls. And bringing telegrams and boxes of flowers.
“Have the police telephoned?” asked Linda, to the maid’s amazement.
“Police? Oh, no, ma’am. There’s been some calls for you, but not from the police. Are you expectin’ them?” She eyed the girls suspiciously, as if she thought they might be criminals.
“Yes,” replied Linda, her fingers already on the telephone, giving the number to the operator.
“This is Linda Carlton,” she announced. “Has the ‘Mona’ docked yet?”
“No, ma’am. But she’s due any minute now, and the Chief gave me orders to call you. We’ve got a warrant ready for Mrs. Leslie Sprague—is that right?”
“That’s it!” replied Linda, grinning with satisfaction. “And we’ll be right over—so hold all the passengers until we get a look at them.”
“O.K., Miss Carlton. See you later!”
Linda replaced the receiver, and turned to the maid, who was still awaiting her orders.
“Do you think we could have our breakfast right away—and then have a car take us to the flying field?” she asked. “Please ask your mistress—and tell her that it’s terribly important.”
“Aren’t you even going to read those telegrams?” inquired Dot, a trifle disappointed. After all, it was her first big air triumph, and she wanted to enjoy the victory to its utmost. But, instead, Linda must be rushing off immediately.
“When we come back!” returned the latter, as she put on the pretty white linen suit with which her hostess had provided her.
Dot sighed, and proceeded to dress. There was no stopping Linda, once she had made up her mind to do something.
“I could go alone, Dot,” Linda remarked, as they started for the dining-room. “Then you’d have a chance to enjoy yourself this afternoon.”
“No,” replied her chum. “It isn’t going to take long, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You know how I despise that man Sprague—I want to gloat over his capture.”
They ate a hasty meal that was both breakfast and lunch, and got into a car with a native chauffeur, that was waiting for them in the driveway. A few minutes later they arrived at the dock, just as the passengers from the “Mona” were about to be discharged.
It would have been difficult to press through the crowds of native children, with their flowers of welcome for the arriving visitors, had the girls not had the aid of the Chief of Police. Clearing a passage for himself and his companions, he led them right on board the “Mona.” The Captain came forward to meet them, beaming proudly at the two brave aviatrixes, as he shook their hands.
“Congratulations, Miss Carlton and Miss Crowley!” he exclaimed. “You did a valiant thing!”
“Thank you so much,” replied Linda, modestly. She had no desire to talk of her flight over the Pacific; her one absorbing interest now was the capture of the girl whom she had pursued so far.
“Stand here,” continued the Captain, “and you can watch the passengers as they go by.”
Two by two the people on board the “Mona” walked over the gangplank to the pier, as Linda and Dot, their hearts beating fast with excitement, peered intently into their faces.
A dozen couples hurried by, then three lone passengers straggled along as if in no haste at all. But still no girl that even remotely resembled Linda. And no sign of Leslie Sprague.
“Is—that—all?” faltered Linda, unable to believe that they really had not come.
“Here’s one more couple. They’re still awful seasick,” explained the Captain, and Linda and Dot strained their necks to catch the first glimpse of these last people, just emerging from the cabin.
But their hopes were immediately dashed to the ground. The couple were elderly; their hair gray, their faces wrinkled.
“Maybe it’s a disguise,” whispered Dot, suspiciously.
The Captain shook his head.
“No. I know these people well. Cousins of mine, by the name of Rankin. Lived on Oahu all their lives.”
Linda heaved a deep sigh of disappointment.
“And you’re sure that’s positively all the passengers who sailed from Cape San Lucas?” she asked.
“All except a couple that docked at the island of Lanai. A planter who lives there part of every year—and often makes the trip. I know him well—have brought him across half a dozen times. He had a new bride with him this trip.”
“A new bride!” repeated Linda. “Did she look like me?”
The Captain regarded her closely.
“Believe she did.... But that man’s not a criminal. He couldn’t be the fellow you want.”
“Well, whether the man is or not, the girl is!” cried Linda. “What name did they give?”
“Steve Long is the man’s name. He didn’t have to give it—I know him.”
“Light hair—light moustache?” she questioned.
“Sissy-looking!” added Dot.
The Captain smiled.
“That must be your man,” he agreed.
“So we have to fly to Lanai,” muttered Linda, turning to the Chief of Police. “Can you help me out?”
“You mean go with you?”
“No, not necessarily. I’d rather not overload the plane.... Isn’t there somebody on the island who would help us?”
“Of course there is. I can send a wireless to our agent over there, and you can report to him. He can give you native police, if you need them. And give you the warrant for the girl’s arrest.”
They completed their arrangements, and had the chauffeur drive them immediately to the airport, where the Sky Rocket had been resting since their landing the preceding morning. Here they dismissed the car, asking the driver to make their explanations to his mistress, assuring her that they would be back in time for dinner. Linda then went in search of her plane.
“What sort of shape is she in?” she asked, as she spied the Sky Rocket in a hangar, with a mechanic beside her.
“Fine!” replied the man. “We did some overhauling on her yesterday—a few minor repairs, and filled her up with gas and oil. She’s fit as a fiddle now.... But why? You girls aren’t thinking of flying back over the ocean, are you?”
“No!” laughed Linda. “Once is enough. But we want to go to one of the islands—Lanai, to be exact—to do some scouting. We’re after a criminal.”
“A criminal?”
“Two criminals, rather. Forgers—thieves. They came across on the ‘Mona,’ and we thought they’d dock here—but they got off at Lanai instead.”
“By heck!” exclaimed the mechanic in amazement. “What will modern girls take up next?”
“Can you tell us what that island is like?” asked Dot.
“Well, it’s not like Oahu,” he replied. “Not a place that tourists visit much. No hotels and stores—or cities. Mostly pineapple plantations there—not many white people, except some of the owners.... But I’ll get you a map, and show you just where to land if you want to go to the agent’s office first. He can tell you all about it.”
He disappeared into an office, and returned with the map in question, marking the best spot on the beach for Linda to make her landing. Then he had the Sky Rocket pushed out on the runway, and the engine started.
“Watch the planes that arrive and leave here,” Linda shouted into his ear as she climbed into the cockpit.
“I’ll be on the job!” the man assured her. “And happy landings to you!”
The Sky Rocket taxied along the runway, and left the ground a minute later, as if it, too, were eager to be in the skies again, on the chase. Over the beach of Waikiki, past Diamond Head, southeast over the Pacific Ocean again, Linda directed her course, sure that at last she was within sight of her goal.
The girls had been away from Spring City for ten days when Mr. Carlton, Linda’s father, returned from his trip abroad and arrived at his sister’s home, expecting, naturally, to see his daughter.
“Hello, Emily!” he exclaimed, walking in as he so often did, without any notice, and kissing his sister nonchalantly, as if he had been absent a week instead of six months. “Where’s Linda?”
“Hollywood,” was his sister’s reply.
“No!” exclaimed the man, in a tone of deepest disappointment. It had always been a matter of extreme satisfaction to him that Linda had never been carried away by the lure of fame and fortune, and accepted a motion-picture contract.
“Don’t look so horrified, Tom!” laughed Miss Carlton. “I only wish she were safely acting for the movies. Instead of that, she’s chasing wildly around Mexico after a couple of criminals.”
“Mexico!”
“Yes. And I’m so afraid of bandits there.”
“Now, Emily, you’re judging Mexico by the movies. That sort of stuff has gone out long ago. Mexico City is as civilized as New York.”
“Mexico City—yes. But that isn’t where Linda’s telegram is from, and that isn’t where she’ll be. Trust her to find some lonely wilderness! Oh, I’m so worried. In fact, I’m packing now to go out to Los Angeles.”
Her brother sat down and lighted a cigarette.
“You might as well tell me the story,” he said.
Miss Carlton made it as brief as possible and showed her brother the telegrams she had received thus far. The man listened quietly, more worried than he cared to admit to his sister, but then and there he decided to go with her.
He would have preferred to fly by the commercial air-line, in order to save time, but since Miss Carlton stubbornly refused to get into a plane, he agreed to take the fast train on which she had already engaged passage.
A few hours later, just as they were about to leave the house, a very excited young man rushed into the living-room, without even waiting to ring the doorbell. It was Ralph Clavering, who always had the right to come and go as he pleased.
“I’ve just heard the news about Linda and Dot!” he exclaimed. “And so Jim Valier and I are flying to the coast in my autogiro immediately.”
“What news?” demanded Miss Carlton, turning pale. Did he know more than she did—and had something terrible happened to her darling niece?
“About chasing off to Mexico. Dot’s mother showed me the telegrams. Believe me, I’m scared this time. Those girls may be dead by now.”
“Now—now—Ralph, please be a little more tactful!” urged Mr. Carlton. “Don’t scare my sister to death with your gloomy conjectures.”
“I’m scared to death myself,” muttered the boy, sullenly. “That’s why I’m going. There’s nobody out there to help her—not even Ted Mackay, or that young reporter that saved her from burning to death. I’ve got to go!”
“Of course, that’s fine of you,” agreed Mr. Carlton. “But don’t get all worked up about it. I’m betting on Linda and Dot every time!”
“How about your college work?” questioned Miss Carlton.
“I can’t be annoyed with classes when my best girl’s in danger,” replied Ralph. “And Jim feels the same way about Dot.”
“We’re just ready to go too,” announced Miss Carlton. “But not by plane.”
Ralph smiled; he did not need to be told that.
And so that morning in early October four people departed from Spring City to go to the rescue of those two daring young fliers, who never expected help from anyone.
When the news came that Linda and Dot had safely reached Honolulu, Ralph and Jim had already arrived at the Los Angeles airport, and Miss Carlton and her brother were well on their way to the West.
Their train had stopped at Santa Fe for a few moments, and newsboys were shouting the story.
“Two girls fly the Pacific!” they screamed. “All about the flight to Hawaii!”
Mr. Carlton looked at his sister.
“Could it be Linda and Dot?” he demanded.
Miss Carlton nodded.
“Of course. They would. I knew it. The Pacific Ocean would be too much of a temptation to Linda, once she was out here. I’ve been fearing it all along.”
“But you don’t have to fear it any longer—if it really is they who did it. It’ll be over by now—and the danger past.”
He stepped to the platform and bought a paper. And, sure enough, his daughter’s and Dot’s pictures stared at him from the front page.
There was no hiding his pride now. His eyes shone with happiness; he looked like a small boy who sees his favorite pitcher win a baseball game.
“Look! Look! Emily!” he cried, as he came back to her chair. “Read what it says for yourself!” And she noticed that his hands were actually shaking.
A wave of pride and admiration surged over Miss Carlton as she read about the two dauntless girls. The first of their sex to make this flight over the gigantic ocean—from the United States to Hawaii. They had evidently made up their minds in a hurry, and had not told anyone except the people at the airport from which they took off.
But the feat had evidently not been accepted so casually by others, for already, they read, the girls were being feted. Entertained by the Governor of Hawaii—a reception planned in their honor—and five thousand dollars apiece to be presented to them!
“And to think we came out to rescue them!” laughed Miss Carlton.
“I wonder what Ralph and Jim will think of this news,” remarked her brother.
“Ralph will probably be jealous because he didn’t make the flight with Linda—instead of Dot. But Jim will just be filled with admiration.”
“I like Jim,” observed Mr. Carlton.
“Yes, so does everybody,” agreed his sister. “He’s so good-natured, even if he is lazy. But he’s really true-blue, all the way through. And if Dot marries him, she’ll certainly keep him stepping.”
“Do you still want Linda to marry Ralph, Emily?” inquired the other. “I remember how excited you were at her graduation, because he had evidently fallen so hard for her. With all his wealth and social position.”
The woman smiled a little and shook her head.
“I’ve learned my lesson, Tom,” she said, “in this year and a half since Linda’s been out of school. I had expected her to have a year of parties—to ‘come out,’ you know—and then marry some nice young man. But Linda has plans of her own, and I realize now that I might as well save my time as to try to arrange anything for her.... And, as for wealth and social position—well, they simply mean nothing in her life. Besides, she doesn’t need them; I can see that. Linda could go anywhere, be accepted at Court, if she wanted to, because of what she has accomplished herself.”
“I’m glad you’ve got so much sense, Emily! Lots of women of your age wouldn’t see that at all.”
“I didn’t at first. But I do now. And so I think, when she marries, it must be somebody as big as herself. It won’t be Ralph Clavering—unless he does cave-man stuff, and actually kidnaps her.”
“Even then, she’d probably find a way to escape. She always does get out of the most difficult situations.”
“Yes. When Linda marries, I think it will be love at first sight—on the spur of the moment, just as she evidently decided to take this flight to Hawaii. It will seem to her to be the one, the only thing to do—and she’ll do it. I’m sorry, for I’d love a big wedding for her—she’d make such a beautiful bride—but I’m not going to count on it.”
Mr. Carlton nodded approvingly. Like most men, he couldn’t see the use of the big fuss a formal wedding entailed. But though he knew Linda was tremendously interested in aviation, he didn’t want her to miss the happiness that marriage would bring her. His own had been blissfully happy during its short duration, until his wife died at her baby daughter’s birth.
“Yes, Linda will decide for herself,” he muttered. “I only hope that the man will be worthy of her.”
“He couldn’t be. No mere man could possibly equal Linda,” remarked Miss Carlton.
“How you love to tease, Emily!” retorted her brother. “But I guess you’re right at that.”
The rest of the journey seemed longer than ever, now, to the impatient couple who longed to be with the girls to celebrate their great triumph with them. Never did a train seem to move so slowly. But at last it arrived at Los Angeles, about seven o’clock of the night on which Linda and Dot came down in the wilds of Oahu, at the cabin of their enemies.
“We’ll take a boat to Honolulu tomorrow,” announced Miss Carlton. “I only wish we could take it right away—if there were only one sailing.”
From out of the crowd on the platform two young men, hatless and sun-burned, edged their way toward the Carltons. Both were tall, so that they could easily be seen above the heads of the other people around.
“Greetings, Miss Carlton!” called Ralph Clavering, before he had even reached them. “We’ve got bad news.”
“Bad news!” repeated Mr. Carlton, in consternation. “But we read in the papers that the girls arrived safely in Honolulu!”
“Yes. They did, sir. But they’re lost again!”
Miss Carlton seized Ralph’s arm, to steady herself, and looked into his face.