hat time of night was puzzling for class work was over
hours before and none of the girls had been assigned to regular duty.
That was to come day after tomorrow, when the final minor alterations
on their uniforms had been completed and the last test passed.

The other girls crowded near the telephone, all of them anxious for the
news from the field.

The operations office answered promptly and Jane gave them her name.
The night manager poured his message into her ear in a staccato too
fast for the other girls to hear. Jane tingled all over as she listened
and her reply was mechanical.

"I'll be there right away," she promised.

"Where are you going right away?" demanded Sue.

"Chicago," smiled Jane, turning from the telephone and dashing upstairs
two steps at a time.

The other girls raced after to find Jane in her room already pulling
off her dress.

"Sue, get my uniform out," begged Jane as she struggled with her dress,
"and Grace, see if you can find those new smoked-grey hose in the top
drawer of the dresser. Alice, run some water in the tub. I've got to be
at the field in twenty minutes."

"But what's it all about?" Sue insisted as the girls rushed to help
Jane.

"There's a special plane from the west coast going through to New York
with Mrs. Van Verity Vanness, who is worth a billion or so, aboard.
It's on a fast schedule for she is rushing to New York to the bedside
of a son who is seriously ill. Salt Lake radioed that Mrs. Van Verity
Vanness was anything but comfortable and the general manager has
ordered a stewardess aboard to see what can be done to make her happier
the rest of the way to Chicago."

"How lucky!" exclaimed Sue. "Why, you're getting the first assignment
and you'll be flying nearly two days ahead of any of the rest of us."

"I'm not so sure I'm lucky," replied Jane as she splashed vigorously in
the tub. "Any woman who has as many millions as Mrs. Van Verity Vanness
is bound to be mighty particular. It would be just my luck to have her
sick all of the way in and have a complaint lodged against me."

"But if she likes you and the service, she'll probably give you a real
compliment," said Sue.

"And maybe a present," added Alice.

"Now you're all getting too far ahead," protested Jane. "I've got to
get to the field first of all."

When Jane returned to her room, the girls had her uniform all ready for
her to step into. The smoke-green serge fitted Jane snugly and the
beret perche