by Edith Lavell
CHAPTER VIII
_The Robbery_
"Let's don't say anything about our little mishap," whispered Linda,as the flying couple got out of their plane. "For one thing, I'd justas soon not boast about stunts in front of Aunt Emily. She would beworried all the more."
"And I'm not any too proud of the fact that I was so careless about avaluable necklace," returned Ralph. "So we'll keep it our secret."
There was no time for further words. Everybody rushed at them, shoutingjoyous welcomes. Louise was the first to kiss Linda--then all theothers, and finally her aunt.
"Thank Heaven you're safe!" cried the latter. "I couldn't eat a bite oflunch, I was so uneasy."
"Of course we're safe," assured Ralph. "And maybe if we'd come bymotor, we should have had an accident. There was a big smash-up--twoautomobiles--outside of Spring City this morning."
"Isn't the air up here wonderful!" exclaimed Miss Carlton. "After thatstuffy town of ours!"
"I think the _airport_ is wonderful," replied Linda, "for so small aplace. But as for the air--well, don't forget Auntie dear, that Ralphand I have been having marvelous air--up in the skies!"
"Hope you didn't give him the air," remarked Maurice Stetson, solemnly.
Kitty Clavering gave the young man a withering look, and inquired ofthe flyers when they might hope for rides. "Oh, I don't mean today,"she added, "for I know you must both be nearly dead."
"Not a bit of it!" denied Linda, who still looked as fresh as aflower in her becoming blue and white suit. "But it's supposed to bewise to have a mechanic go over your plane each time you fly. Just aprecaution, you see."
"A very good rule to follow," commented Miss Carlton. "Now everybodyget into their cars, and we'll go over to our bungalow for someginger-ale and sandwiches."
"Just a moment, please!" interrupted a voice at her elbow, and everyoneturned to see a newspaper man with a camera. "Pictures, please!"
Linda and Ralph smilingly agreed, and their friends stepped aside. Thenthey all piled into the three machines that were waiting for them;while the strangers who had been watching commented on the beautifulbiplane, and the handsome couple who had been flying it, and wonderedwhether they were married.
"Did you bring my necklace, Ralph?" asked Kitty Clavering, as he gotinto her roadster with her and Maurice.
"Surest thing!" he replied, as if nothing at all had happened on theway. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the pasteboard box, withthe French jeweler's name engraved on the lid.
"Thanks a lot," she replied. "Maurry, you take care of it till we gethome, so long as you're sitting in the middle. Mind you don't lose it!I think as much of that as Linda does of her plane."
"But not as much of it as you do of me?" asked the youth, flippantly.
"A thousand times more! Like the old question people always ask marriedmen: 'If your mother and your wife were drowning, which one would yousave?' Well, if you and the necklace were drowning, I'd go after mynecklace!"
"Righto. Necklaces, no matter how valuable, have never been known toswim. I do."
It was only a five minute ride from the airport to Miss Carlton'sbungalow, so Kitty waited until they had all gone inside the pleasantliving-room to open her box, and gaze at her beloved treasure once more.
"I'm dying to see it again," she said, as she took the box fromMaurice's hand. "If I had my way, I wouldn't keep it in a safe-depositvault. I like it where I can look at it."
She took off the rubber bands and opened the box, displaying the velvetcase inside. But when she unfastened the clasp, her expression ofdelight changed abruptly to one of horror. The case was empty!
Her exclamation of distress was pitiful to hear. Her dearestpossession--gone!
"Ralph!" she cried with torturing accusation. "Ralph! Are you teasingme?"
Her brother's face became ghastly white.
"What--what's wrong--Kit?" he stammered.
"My necklace! Oh, what has happened?" She burst out crying.
Everybody crowded around and gazed in consternation at the empty box,looking questioningly at Ralph, to see whether it could possibly beintended as a joke. But he did not need to tell them of his innocence;he looked almost as stricken as his sister. He knew now that it hadbeen stolen by the man who pretended to be a pilot! And he hadactually made twenty dollars out of Ralph besides, for the transaction!What fools they had been, never to open the box!
"It's all my fault!" cried Linda, contritely. "My silly, foolish,childishness, for wanting to show off!"
Nobody of course had any idea what she was talking about--nobody exceptRalph.
"No! No! It was mine!" he protested. "My carelessness!"
"Then you both knew!" exclaimed Kitty, raising her head, which she hadburied on Linda's shoulder while she sobbed. "Oh, how cruel, not toprepare me!"
"On my honor, we didn't!" averred Ralph, and from the look on his face,his sister knew that he was telling the truth.
"Explain what you meant, then," she commanded.
"Let me tell you," put in Linda. "But sit down, Kit dear. You're liableto faint.... You see, we were robbed, and too foolish to suspect it. Weeven paid the robber twenty dollars for doing the job."
"So you said," Kitty remarked, impatiently. "Do you mean that you sawsomebody take it--right under your eyes?" She had dropped down on thecouch, and her pale little face was pitiful to see. The tears still randown her cheeks, washing tiny rivers through the powder. Luckily shewas not a girl who used rouge, or she would have looked ridiculous. Asit was, she gave the appearance of a very unhappy child.
"Exactly!" explained Linda. "Or rather, we might have, if we had hadsense enough to realize it. I wanted to try a couple of loops, and westarted quite high, but by the time we had finished, we were over anopen field. It was then that Ralph suddenly realized that the box haddropped out of his pocket when the plane was on its side. So we decidedto land, and search the field."
"And somebody had already picked it up?" demanded Dot, excitedly.
"No. Another airplane--I had noticed it before--landed soon after wecame down. The pilot walked over and asked us if we were in trouble."
"And you stupids told him all about the fifty-thousand-dollarnecklace!" cried Louise, in disgust.
"No, we didn't! We were smart enough to know that wouldn't be wise. Wethought we knew him, though--we had seen him at the Spring City FlyingSchool. But we did tell him we had lost a necklace, and he said he hadpicked something up. As a matter of fact, we had noticed him stoopover."
"And you took it and thanked him, and never looked inside!" cried Kitty.
"I'm afraid you're right," admitted Ralph. "We thought he was a friend,following us for our protection, at the orders of the school."
"Well, then, why was he following you?" demanded Kitty, incredulously.
"He must have overheard us talking about the necklace," answered Lindaslowly, for she was trying to think the thing out. "Yes--that is whatI believe he was doing all the time, Ralph. Now I remember--the day wegot our licenses!"
"You mean you went around the school shouting the news that you werecarrying pearls to Green Falls in an airplane?" asked the unhappy girl.
"Of course not! Only the men at the bank--the safe-depositvault--really knew about it. And of course they're absolutelytrustworthy! Except maybe this one man--who was fixing his car outsidethe aviation field. We never thought he was listening--why we couldn'teven see him!"
"Children," interrupted Miss Carlton, who had been patiently waitingto serve the refreshments, "wouldn't you all feel better if you atesomething? Then we can discuss what are the best steps to take tocapture the thief."
They agreed, but Linda and Ralph and Kitty were all extremely nervous;they hated to lose any time. Ralph decided to telephone to a lawyer atonce in Spring City, to put expert detectives on the job, and to get intouch with the Flying School.
"Lucky the necklace was insured," remarked Maurice Stetson, as he drankhis ginger-ale.
"Yes, but Dad will neve
r get me another!" moaned Kitty, disconsolately."He'll say I was careless, and invest the insurance in bonds, to bekept in trust till I'm older--or something like that." She started tocry afresh. "And I only wore the necklace twice--at graduation and atthe class dance!"
Linda watched her sorrow with more than sympathy--with remorse. It washer fault, she was sure! Of course she couldn't imagine caring so muchfor a pearl necklace, when such lovely imitations were made, but itwasn't her place to judge. Kitty probably wouldn't understand why sheloved her Arrow so much.
Slowly, painfully, she came to her decision. She rose and went over tothe couch where Kitty was sitting, and crowded in between the latterand Dot.
"It's my fault, Kit," she said, "and of course I can't pay for it--butI can help. I'm--I'm--going to sell my airplane, and--give you themoney. Then you can start buying a new one--a couple of pearls at atime."
Kitty squeezed her hand affectionately.
"You're a dear, Linda, but I couldn't possibly let you do that.Besides, it was really Ralph's fault."
"Of course it was!" put in the young man, returning from making histelephone call. "But we're going to catch that thief!" he announced,with conviction. "I've just been talking with Lieutenant Kingsberryat the field, and he says that fellow didn't even have a license,that they only took him on temporarily, as sort of errand boy. And hedeliberately stole that plane!"
"I thought he was about the poorest pilot I ever saw!" cried Linda,jumping up excitedly at this piece of news. "He'll probably crash,sooner or later.... Ralph!" Her eyes were shining with inspiration...."Let's go out after him--ourselves!"
"Lieutenant Kingsberry is broadcasting the news all over--to all theairports," replied the young man. "Everybody will be watching for him.Do you think there would be any use in our going?"
"Yes! Yes! We might be just the ones to spot him! Oh, come on!"
"But haven't you had enough flying for today, Linda?" inquired MissCarlton, anxiously.
"We won't go far, Auntie dear," answered the girl. "Just around to thenearest airports, and see if anybody has any information. The practiceof landing and taking-off again will be good for us both.... And youneedn't worry one bit!... Now, who'll drive us over to our 'Pursuit'?"
"'Pursuit' is right," remarked Maurice. "Your plane has the right name,Linda!"
Louise immediately offered her services, and in less than five minutesthe young pilots had washed their faces and were ready to start. Tenminutes later they climbed into the cockpit on the runway of theairport, and, this time with Ralph at the controls, they took off forthe nearest airport.
Ralph was delighted to be piloting a plane again, and in his enthusiasmhe almost forgot the seriousness of his mission. A king of the air,he thought, and his lips were smiling. But Linda could not forget soeasily.
Like most young men, he loved going fast, and as soon as he was highenough, he let the plane out to her maximum speed. Over the clouds theysailed, at a rate of seventy miles an hour, yet they did not seem tobe traveling fast. Linda had no sense of danger, yet it was the firstflight she had ever made that she did not thoroughly enjoy, for, unlikeRalph, she could not for one moment forget Kitty's tragedy.
Twenty minutes, however, was all that was needed to reach their firstport, and Ralph, not quite so skilled or so careful as Linda, made,nevertheless a pretty landing. It was a large field, evidently designedfor amateur sport flyers, and there were a number of licensed mechanicsin readiness to greet new arrivals.
Ralph lost no time in telling his story to the first man who cameforward. Had they any information so far? he inquired.
"Only of a wreck about fifteen miles away," replied the latter. "Thatmay be your man--if, as you say, he is not an experienced pilot."
"Can you give us directions?" put in Linda excitedly.
"Certainly," replied the other, taking a map from his pocket, andindicating the position of the wreck. "We've already sent a doctor anda nurse--and telephoned for an ambulance." Marking the spot, he handedthe map to Ralph.
Jumping into the plane at once, Linda took control, for she felt surerof herself than of her companion in an emergency. The boy was soabsent-minded, so likely to forget things in his excitement.
Their destination was a field again, but not a large one, this time,and already a small crowd, gathered from passing automobiles, hadcollected. Here landing was not so easy as in the airports designed forthat very purpose. But the girl knew just what she was doing, and shehandled the situation with a dexterity that would have brought creditto a far more experienced pilot.
Over against an embankment, its wings smashed to pieces, a plane waslying on its side, mutely testifying to the truth of the mechanic'sstatement.
"There's the wreck!" cried Ralph, as he and Linda stepped on theground. "Do you think it's the Waco?"
Grabbing her companion's arm, Linda ran forward eagerly. When they werewithin fifty yards of it, she knew that it was the very plane theywere seeking.
"It is! Oh, Ralph! Even the license number--so I'm sure! Remember?Look! Do you suppose that man was killed?"
"Would serve him right!" muttered the boy, resentfully. "Stealing anecklace, and crashing a plane that wasn't his! But let's go over andhave a peep at him--there's the ambulance."
The crowd, which was still gathering, although the field was in anisolated spot, was being held back by a policeman, for the ambulancewas ready to start. Ralph dashed forward, anxious to get a look at thethief before it departed.
"Not that we could claim the necklace now," he explained to Linda,whose arm he was holding, "for we haven't any proofs of our ownership.But at least we could warn the cop to look out for it."
"Back! Back!" shouted the officer, for the driver was tooting his horn.
"Oh, please wait a minute!" begged Linda. "Please let me see the manwho is inside!"
The policeman regarded the girl doubtfully, but she was so eager in herpleading that he thought perhaps she had a good reason. Perhaps the maninside the ambulance meant something to her; he decided to grant herrequest.
"Take a look, miss," he agreed. "But be quick about it."
Stepping ahead of Ralph, Linda climbed upon the back step of the car,and peered anxiously into it, past the white-clad interne, to theunconscious figure on the stretcher. Suddenly she started violently,and clung to the door of the ambulance for support. It was incredible,impossible! Her knees shook, her hands fell to her side, and she swayedbackward in a faint. In an instant Ralph's arms were around her; hecarried her out of the crowd.
The unconscious man in the ambulance was none other than Ted Mackay!