stioning.

"Yes, sir?" in quiet friendliness.

Drake tossed a roll of bills on the counter.

"We're thinking of taking the night plane to Winnipeg," he said
indecisively. "Any empty berths?"

The clerk grinned.

"Fortunately for you," he said, "there aren't any priority passengers
tonight. The Winnipeg job has been full of flyers headed for the
Canadian border for the past two weeks. Nothing of importance tonight.
Five berths available."

Drake looked around curiously.

"Have you a passenger named George Lardner?" he asked.

The clerk took down a small file and thumbed through it. He shook his
head.

"No. Had you planned to meet him here?"

Drake smiled.

"We had a date," he admitted. "George Lardner is headed for the same
destination. He'll no doubt catch a later plane and meet us in
Winnipeg."

The clerk was penning figures rapidly across the ticket.

"You won't lack for entertainment," he laughed in a low voice. "That
gang at the door call themselves Harry's Rhythm Rascals. Headed for a
dance job up there."

"I'd rather have a quiet berth," Drake admitted. "Need sleep more than
I need rhythm."

The clerk collected the two fares and said sleepily,

"Your plane will take off in twenty minutes, sir. May as well get
aboard. The berths are made up."

"Thanks." Drake pocketed the tickets and motioned for Adams to follow.
As they passed Harry's Rhythm Rascals, Drake watched one of the men
turn slowly and follow him.

"That guy must be the tuba player," Puffy said quickly. "He sure looks
as though he'd been pushed around."

The luggage was disposed of and in ten minutes Drake was lying quietly
under the dome of the plane. A sudden throb of motors came from up
ahead. With half closed eyes he wondered, if at the end of this mad
journey, Sylvia Fanton might be waiting for him. George Lardner
wouldn't be far away. Although the plane trip had started like a wild
goose chase, at least he was headed in the general direction of
trouble, and the grandest girl he had ever met. Turning restlessly on
one side, he was aware that the bumpy ground was no longer under the
plane and the three great motors were purring smoothly as they drifted
ahead through the starlit night.

* * * * *

"Jim!--Jim!" Drake opened one eye with effort, remembered that he was
in a plane bound for Winnipeg, and sat up. Through the parted curtain
he could see the dark earth underneath sprinkled occasiona