Gypsies of the Air

by Bess Moyer

  CHAPTER II

  Thwarted Plans

  Dick Mapes had started in as a flyer when the game was new. For yearshe had been an air mail pilot and then had established a field of hisown for training and commercial flying.

  The Dick Mapes Flying Field began with great promise, for Dick wasacknowledged to be one of the best aviators in the country and peoplehad confidence in him.

  At first Dick had been terribly disappointed that he had no son tofollow him in his glorious profession. But on Christmas when Terry andPrim were three years old, Alice had given them each a rosy-cheekeddoll while Dick had presented them with toy airplanes. Terry took onelook at the doll and thrust it aside carelessly, but the airplane shehugged in her tiny arms, and squealed with delight. The lessdemonstrative Prim calmly laid aside the plane and rocking back andforth sang a lullaby to her doll.

  “Terry’s a chip off the old block,” said Alice with a laugh. “You’llbe 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. Oneflyer in the Mapes family is plenty. Besides women will soon get tiredof this dangerous sport.”

  “Don’t be too sure of that, Alice. I’d like to have Terry learn to flyand know all there is to know about airplanes. That is if she takes toit.”

  And Terry really started her training the next day. Dick put her intohis big plane and placed her tiny hands on the controls. Although themotor was still, the child screamed with delight and pulling back onthe stick cried, “Up, up!”

  Dick hugged her to him. “You’ve got a great life ahead of you, littledaughter,” 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 sparethe time necessary to watch her play.

  Prim was her mother’s girl, more home-loving, and not nearly so fullof spirit.

  “We’ll make a flyer of her, too,” declared Dick, not wanting to bepartial. “But I doubt if she’ll take to it the way Terry does. I thinkTerry has a talent for flying.”

  Alice laughed heartily at this joke, for how could Dick tell at thatage 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 aduck takes to the water, but with Prim it was always hard work andwhile she had done the necessary solo flying to entitle her to apilot’s license, Dick was never quite sure of her. She did not loveflying as Terry did. She had an indifference to things that frightenedhim.

  But to Terry it was the breath of life. She had the air sense whichher twin sister lacked.

  At sixteen Terry not only was an expert flyer but was a good mechanicas well. And in the venture of the flying field, Dick called her his“right hand man” and declared that she could do more work andunderstood more about planes than Bud Hyslop, his helper.

  Allan Graham and Syd Ames had been Dick’s first student flyers. Andfor 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 histime in the Mapes household.

  Allan was the son of a wealthy business man and the boy had persuadedhis father to back Dick financially. Bennett Graham only half believedin the plan. He didn’t like flying and he wished with all his heartthat Allan would choose some other profession. He even blamed DickMapes for encouraging the boy to continue against his will.

  However Allan, this sturdy, broad shouldered youth, usually got hisown way. And what he wanted now from his father was a partnership inthe Dick Mapes Flying Field.

  Dick had secured an option on a large tract of land belonging to PeterLangley, a strange old man, who lived at his small silver mine inPeru. He had given little thought to this strip of land that he owned,for it had been considered waste until the airplane brought about anew use for it.

  With the option settled, Bennett Graham finally put up money fortransport planes and agreed to stand back of Dick’s venture untilsuccess was certain.

  As Dick had been a lucky pilot, he had no difficulty in gettingcontracts for his airplane transportation service. Everything lookedgood. Success was certain.

  Then had come the crash!

  Dick had gone over his plane thoroughly before starting out on animportant trip. The plane was in order, the engine running true. Thenhalf an hour later Dick had crashed.

  At the hospital his wife and daughters looked on his still form andwere given no hope of his recovery. “And if he lives, he’ll be acripple for the rest of his life,” the doctors had predicted. “A wheelchair is all he can hope for.”

  “Pray, Allan, pray that Dad will die,” Terry whispered with a sob asAllan put his arm tenderly about her. “Death would be better, farbetter, than a broken body. He mustn’t live! I could never bear to seeDad in a wheel chair!”

  Allan caught her meaning. He could understand. A flyer who had piloteda plane through the sky, had shot up above the clouds and been alonein the heavens, would never be happy in a wheel chair. Looking down atthe death-like face of his friend, Dick Mapes, Allan too prayed thathe might die.

  But Dick Mapes did not die. His recovery was like a miracle, so thedoctors said, and while he stormed at the wheel chair, even that wasonly to be for a little while. A famous specialist gave him promise ofbeing able to walk and get back to flying within a few years.

  Allan Graham and Syd Ames carried on the business as well as theycould, but new contracts did not come as rapidly as when Dick was incharge.

  Then, for some reason, after the accident, Bennett Graham suddenlylost what little enthusiasm he had and refused any further help, evenintimated that he wanted to withdraw his offer of standing behindDick’s field.

  Allan pleaded with his father. But it was no use. Then the father, inhis 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 thefather. “You’ve nothing to gain by sticking to Dick. He’s down andout, a failure, a cripple, and it’s my opinion that he’ll never be anybetter.”

  “No!” answered Allan. “I couldn’t break away now. Anyway I want towork 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 youngbusiness man like Joe Arnold whose field is next to Dick’s?” suggestedBennett Graham. “Arnold’s a good flyer and all he needs is more roomout there.”

  Allan snorted in disgust. “Joe Arnold! I hate that fellow! He’s not asquare-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 ofmoney and will be a big man in the aviation field some day. Think itover and don’t let a big opportunity like this slip by. If you decideto go in with Joe Arnold I’ll back you for any amount you need, but Ihave no more faith in Dick Mapes.”

  Allan thought over his father’s refusal for a long time then wentstraight to the point.

  “What’s the matter with Dick Mapes? What have you got against him? Youseem to have no confidence in him.”

  “That’s right, son. I have lost faith in him. I’ve had some veryunfavorable 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 thestand 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 servicehas been almost perfect. This is the first serious accident. And it’sthe first plane he ever crashed since he got his license.”

  But even Allan could not deny that since Dick had established hisfield one thing after another had happened that might have come fromcarelessness. There had been minor accidents, fo
rced landings withengine trouble that had delayed delivery of goods. A plane had burnedon 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 ofDick’s that the plane was burned,” retorted Allan.

  “Why wasn’t it? How do you explain the matter? You said yourself thecircumstances were suspicious. How do you clear Dick ofresponsibility?” asked his father.

  “Dick had nothing whatever to do with that fire. And if he’d listen tome 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 ifyour friend Mapes was the incompetent one.”

  “I know one thing,” declared Allan excitedly. “If I were the boss outthere, I’d fire Bud. He’s always making trouble. I’m half afraid ofwhat he may do next.” Allan stormed out of the room, angry anddisappointed. The boy could not bear to have his friend Dickcriticized, 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 kepthoping that with kindness the boy could be persuaded to do his workproperly.

  Terry and Prim had never cared for Bud Hyslop and it was due to Budthat Terry had become the expert mechanic she was.

  “Women haven’t any business around an airplane,” Bud had told Terrythe first day he had come on the field. “The kitchen is where theybelong, 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 stickto it.”

  And stick to it he did, which made Terry take up the challenge andgetting into cover-alls, which were soon well daubed with grease, shemastered every detail of her plane. And she loved the work. This wasin the days when she had flown one of Dick’s planes to which they hadgiven the name of _The Crate_. It was an old model, patched andre-patched, but Dick declared that it was still a fine craft.

  Terry and Prim had liked _The Crate_. It was an old friend. But theywere the proudest girls in Elmwood when their father presented themwith _Skybird_, the little blue-and-gold monoplane, a tiny amphibian.This gift was a reward of merit. Dick had been criticized for allowinghis daughters to spend so much time on learning to fly, so he hadtalked it over with the girls and promised them that if they led theirclass in at least two subjects and graduated with honors they were tohave a plane of their own, and would be allowed to take out theirpilot licenses.

  The girls buckled down to work and made good. Terry led in threesubjects and Prim was a close second.

  Their knowledge of planes stood them in good stead. After Dick’saccident when contracts did not come, Terry took matters into her ownhands and advertised for women flying students. Dick from his wheelchair directed the lessons and Terry demonstrated and took them up forflying instruction. This had come to be their chief source of income.

  Allan Graham decided that he would make a record by flying theAtlantic 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 forthe field.

  Terry liked to teach others to fly but she had higher ambitions thanthat for herself. She longed to take that flight across the ocean, andthere had been a secret struggle as to whether she would start out onher own or remain with her father in his misfortune.

  It was hard to give up all the time. She also had the feeling that shecould make more money by getting out and doing something to bring herfame quickly.

  It was with a bitter heart that she listened to Allan and Syd whenthey announced their intention to make the flight to Paris. Terryhastened to her room to fight it out with her rebellious heart. Whywas it that Allan Graham always got everything he wanted? He and Sydboth were lucky. All they had to do was desire a thing and the way wassmoothed out for them to get exactly what they wanted, while she onlyhad to wish and all the powers in the world combined to keep her fromgetting 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 tostart out for their great adventure, Terry bade them goodbye with asmile. 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 ofher disappointment.

  Only Prim, her twin sister, guessed at the truth. She was close toTerry in thought, and understood. Slipping her hand in her sister’s,she said:

  “Someday Terry, we’ll take that little jump together!” The forcedsmile left Terry’s face and tears started to her eyes but only for asecond. Then she shouted as she waved her hand toward _The Comet_:

  “Good luck and happy landing!”