lane. Miss Hardy looked older and her eyes appeared tired.
She must have had a hard year with the new classes of girls at Good
Samaritan, thought Jane.

They roared off the field, flashed over the muddy Missouri, and then
struck out across the rolling farm land of western Iowa. The country
was fresh, with the green of the pastures contrasting sharply against
the black of the corn fields, in which the first spears of the new
stalks were starting to peep through the top soil.

Several times on their swift flight over Iowa, Jane stopped to talk
with Miss Hardy, who appeared to be enjoying the trip immensely. It was
a non-stop hop from Omaha that afternoon and almost before they knew
it, the graceful craft was settling down on the Chicago field.

"I've enjoyed the trip so much I'm going in and make my reservation for
the return flight," said Miss Hardy, as Jane helped her out of the
plane.

"Then I'll look forward to having you booked on my plane," said Jane.
"Thanks so much for your recommendation last year. It helped a great
deal in getting jobs for Sue and me."

Sue arrived the next morning on the slower _Night Flyer_ and found that
she was booked out that night for the return to Cheyenne. Business
eastbound had been heavier than the westbound traffic, and as a result
there were more girls at the Chicago airport than needed. Jane was
assigned to fly back with Sue, resuming her regular schedule from
Cheyenne on the _Coast to Coast_ on the second day.

When Sue got her passenger list, there were only four, all of them
going through to the coast.

"Looks like an easy trip," she told Jane.

Two traveling men were the first aboard and they were followed a few
minutes later by a woman of about forty, who was accompanied by a
curly-haired boy of seven or eight.

Sue nudged Jane sharply.

"Those people are down as Mrs. Henry Smith and son, but that boy looks
like Jackie Condon, the famous movie star."

Jane looked again. The boy certainly resembled the lad she had seen on
the screen so many times in the last two years. His salary was reported
to be fabulous, his weekly pay so large the figures dazzled.

Two minutes before starting time, there was a jam at the gate and two
men, well dressed, with dark, smooth faces, hurried forward, waving
tickets.

"You're just in time," said Sue, taking their tickets and assigning
them to forward chairs.

They nodded and entered the plane. Jane standing beside the landing
sta