saw his tense face peering over the cockpit. Behind him boomed the
camera ship, recording every movement of the planes.

The flames, whipped by the wind, mounted and Jane knew there was little
time to lose. They were down to 1,200 feet and she steeled herself for
the leap from the plane.

It was her first jump and she hesitated for a moment. Desperately she
tried the controls again but there was no hope there. The plane was
falling at an alarming rate of speed.

Jane crouched in the seat, making sure that the chute was clear of any
obstructions. It took nerve and a cool head to do what was ahead. At
1,000 feet she shot out of the plane, doubling over twice as she
tumbled through the air.

The blazing biplane roared past her and she pulled the chute ring,
using both hands. Behind her the pilot chute cracked out and then the
great silken umbrella filled with air. Her plunge downward was stopped
suddenly and she found herself drifting 800 feet above the ground.

The leap from the plane had been so sudden Jane had no time to analyze
her feelings while she fell, but now, swinging below the parachute, she
felt weak and sick.

The biplane spun downward, smoke and flame shooting from the fuselage.
Close behind it followed Charlie, riding it to the ground, while above
hovered the camera ship.

Jane was swinging under the chute in a wide arc. That would never do
for she would be slapped hard against the ground. Pulling on the lines
above, she checked the swinging. There was a slight wind from the north
that would take her down on the Cheyenne airport.

Jane watched the biplane closely as it neared the ground. It struck,
nose first and then disappeared in a volcano of smoke and flame.

Jane closed her eyes and when she opened them she had drifted past the
scene of the wrecked plane and was coming down over the north boundary
of the airport. A car from the main building was racing toward her.
Jane recognized the ambulance trailing after it. They were taking no
chances.

She tried to relax as the chute neared the ground. She knew that tense
muscles might result in a broken bone for landing in a parachute was
anything but a lark.

Three field mechanics jumped from the car and ran to catch Jane as she
landed. One of them managed to reach her in time to ease the shock of
the fall, but she got a severe jar.

They helped Jane out of the chute harness and she stepped clear just as
Miss Comstock arrived aboard the ambulance.