an Jane had ever had before and she fingered the
check carefully. Now she could go to a hotel, have the finest room,
enjoy the choicest food, and still have what to her was wealth.

For two hours Ruthe Harrigan plied her with questions while she beat a
heavy tattoo on the typewriter. When she was through she had nine pages
of copy to send to her office.

"It's a good story," smiled the reporter, "even if you did make us pay
through the nose for it."

Jane cashed her check at the field and had it converted into travelers'
checks of small denominations. Then she took a taxi to a recommended
hotel and by 11 o'clock was sound asleep, while across the river in New
York the presses of the _Globe_ were rolling out her own story of the
encounter with the aerial bandits.

Chapter Fifteen

"Hello Heroine"

Jane was up at seven the next morning and a few minutes later, went
down to breakfast. In the lobby she purchased copies of all of the
morning papers and went into the grill for breakfast.

An excellent picture of herself stared up from the front page of the
_Globe_ and underneath the picture was a two column headline informing
_Globe_ readers that they were about to read Jane Cameron's own story
of the battle with the bandits.

Jane flushed and looked up to make sure no one had recognized her. But
there were only a few at breakfast at that hour and she read the story
from opening paragraph to the final dash. Jane had to admit that Ruthe
Harrigan had done an excellent job of writing. The story was thrilling,
from start to finish.

After breakfast Jane bought half a dozen copies of the _Globe_, paid
her hotel bill, and took a taxi to the field. A pass was ready for her
and the 8:18 was on the line, warming up for the trip west.

A messenger approached Jane with a message and she signed for it.
Inside was a brief note from Mrs. Van Verity Vanness expressing her
appreciation and with it a check, "a little token of my gratitude,"
wrote Jane's passenger. The stewardess' eyes blinked as she looked at
the check. It was for one thousand dollars!

Jane's knees felt weak and she grasped a nearby handrail for support. A
thousand dollars! Why, it didn't seem possible. But it was possible,
for a thousand dollars was only pin money to the millions which Mrs.
Van Verity Vanness controlled.

Jane felt almost uncomfortably rich. There had been $500 for selling
the story and now the thousand dollar check. She had spent les