Chapter Fourteen

Page One News

The day was clear and warm, a beautiful June-time, and the special was soon speeding over the flat country of northern Indiana. There was only one stop scheduled between Chicago and New York, that at Cleveland, where the tanks would be filled with fuel.

Jane prepared an appetizing lunch and Mrs. Van Verity Vanness ate it with evident relish as they skirted the south sh.o.r.e of Lake Erie. That over, she insisted that Jane explain how she had happened to join the air line.

The elderly woman was a good listener and Jane told in detail of her last day at Good Samaritan and how Miss Hardy had recommended her for the position with the Federated Airways.

"I'd never heard of stewardesses on the planes until you came aboard at Cheyenne," said Mrs. Van Verity Vanness. "Have you been flying long?"

Jane smiled for her pa.s.senger was going to be in for a surprise.

"This is my first regular trip," she confessed. "All of the girls go into service tomorrow."

"Then I predict a fine future for you. Why, I thought you were a veteran of hundreds of miles of flying."

It was a sincere compliment and Jane glowed inwardly. She had been so anxious to make a good impression on her first flight.

At Cleveland another message from New York rea.s.sured Mrs. Van Verity Vanness and again she was shielded from reporters. No one was allowed out on the ramp, but cameras clicked as Jane stepped out of the cabin for a breath of air. Then they were racing eastward again, with the next stop the Newark airport.

They flew high over the rugged Alleghenies and then dropped down over Jersey toward the metropolis. The end of the long flight was near and Jane felt greatly relieved.

Mrs. Van Verity Vanness summoned her as they swung over the Newark airport.

"Wouldn't you like to join me, traveling as my nurse and companion?"

she asked.

It was a question that left Jane speechless. She had never considered such a possibility.

"As soon as my son is well, I plan to leave on a round-the-world trip.

We would be gone a year."

It was a tempting offer, almost irresistible, but the zest of flying was deep in Jane and she shook her head.

"I don't believe I would be happy leaving the air line now," she said.

"There seems to be a real future for girls in aviation and I want to make the most of my opportunity."

The other woman sighed. "I was afraid that would be your answer and you are probably right. But I've grown dreadfully fond of you. If there is anything I can do at any time, don't hesitate to call on me."

"Thank you," said Jane.

The plane rolled to a stop in the Newark hangar of the Federated line and a huge limousine with two motorcycle officers flanking it, drew up to the cabin door.

"Good-bye, my dear," said Mrs. Van Verity Vanness as she stepped into the limousine to be whirled away toward New York to the tune of screaming sirens.

Jane was a little breathless. It had been such an exciting trip all the way from Cheyenne. Now she wondered just when she would start back. An official hurried toward her.

"Reporters are almost tearing the waiting room to pieces," he said.

"They couldn't see Mrs. Van Verity Vanness but they insist on talking with you. You'd better tell them what happened this morning."

"But I don't know what to say," protested Jane.

"Just answer their questions."

In the waiting room a dozen men of a.s.sorted ages, and three women, awaited Jane. The moment she entered they started firing questions at her.

"How had Mrs. Van Verity Vanness acted when the bandit plane swooped down on them? How had Jane felt? What had she served her pa.s.senger at mealtime? Had Mrs. Van Verity Vanness commented on the financial situation?"

It was a steady barrage and Jane's head whirled as she tried to answer them all. Finally she threw up her hands and sank down in a chair in despair.

"Can't you see I'm all tired out?" she cried. "Please let me alone."

She buried her head in her arms and her body shook with the sobs of nervous exhaustion for the strain of the long flight and caring for the wealthy pa.s.senger had been more than Jane had realized.

"She's a plucky kid," she heard one reporter say as the newspaper people trooped out of the room.

In a few minutes Jane felt more composed and she went into the operations office.

"What time do I start west?" she asked the chief dispatcher.

"All of the s.p.a.ce is taken until the 8:18 west in the morning. You'd better take a cab to a hotel and get some sleep."

Then Jane remembered that she was without funds. It was their first pay day in Cheyenne, but she was hundreds of miles from there.

"I guess I'll just wait here until the plane goes," she said.

The dispatcher was busy and failed to notice Jane's fatigue or he might have guessed that she was in an embarra.s.sing situation. Jane washed her face and hands and walked outside to watch the sun go down behind the Jersey hills.

She was hungry, but the tri-motor she had come in on had been trundled away to a distant hangar and there was little chance that she could find it and rummage through the pantry for anything to eat.

Jane skimmed through the magazines in the waiting room and selected one on aviation. She had hardly settled herself when a young woman burst into the room.

"Where's Jane Cameron?" demanded the newcomer.

"I'm Jane Cameron," replied the stewardess.

"What a break! I'm Ruthe Harrigan, special writer for the _New York Globe_. Late as usual in getting my a.s.signment. Afraid I had missed you. How about your story? Sold it to anyone yet?"

"Why, no," stammered the surprised Jane. "I talked to a number of reporters but they didn't say anything about paying me."

"They wouldn't," snorted the newcomer. "Let's hop outside and get a bite to eat. Then we'll make a deal for your first-person story of the battle with the bandits."

Ruthe Harrigan led Jane to a comfortable restaurant only a block from the hangar and after sizzling steaks had been served, plied Jane with questions.

"I'm after a first-person story of what happened on your trip in," she explained. "We'll pay you well for permission to use your name above the story."