Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-21
CHAPTER VII.

Thirty hours In the air. and Jimmy
sat in the rear seat Of the Homing
Pigeon as it tore it's way over the
, State of Washington toward Seattle.
They had refueled last at Pasco and
were nearing the end Of the long
fight.
He was going to make his ship.
| with time to spare. Jimmy comforted
about In his cramped seat to stretch
! his muscles. He was healthily tired,
| but not exhausted.
| Loafng in the after cockpit. the he'll
melted head If his pilot stuck up
stonily ahead. Jimmy thought of the
weary hours which We're ending. He
specialized idly as to the identity of the
mysterious individual who had res
| cued him when 1t seemed that his
entire venture was ignominiously lost
who had sped him to Chicago
| through the night at a hundred and
| seventy miles an hour: and who then.
without waiting to be thanked, had
| disa ppeared.
! Damn good egg, ANYHOW, whoever
| he was" he supplied aloud.
| Jimmy stared with unseeing eyes
| into the distant haze indicative of ap-
| preaching darkness. The motor was
! droning with rhythmic regularity, and
| the speed indicator revealed that they
were nearing their destination at bet
| ter than one hundred and five miles
an hour.
| During the long hours just past he
! and his pilot had alternated at the
stick. finding their way through night
and daylight over the broad expanses
Of Illinois. Iowa. Nebraska and
m " E,-i6 Cd ht. . he
| friendly beacons of the air mail serv.
ice. they had pursued an answering
| course to Omaha In the night. where
| the task Of refueling had gained them
a few minutes respite from the strain
| Cheyenne. another refueling point
had come and gone in the early dawn
and a short time later they chad
crossed the hump at an altitude
which caused n ringing in their al
most deafened ears and a quickenins
| of the pulses. Following the tracks
Of the Union Pacific, they had come
| upon Rock Springs and again awaited
| themselves. of the hospitality of the
| Air Mail Service.
| Then off TO the westward again
| But it lad grown steadily warmer
and before they landed on The out
| skirts of Salt Lake City they had beer
! forced to seek a higher altitude tc
escape the heat waves arising from
the desert waste below. They ha6
seen the mercury rise until it passed
the hundred mark. and II had gone
even higher as the sun approached It's
zenith, a nd they were far out in the
desert separating Salt Lake City from
Elko. New. the next landing place.
| Into Idaho they flew, crossing the
Oregon boundary. and thence into
Washington. with fertile ground speed
ing under them during the long hours
! of the afternoon. Now. with late aft
| ernoon and cooler atmosphere, the
| fresh tang of salt water was like per
fume to the dust-clogged nostrils Cf
| the flyers.
| 4 hundred miles more. Another
hour and they would be safe on the
/ Seattle landing field. Still another
| hour and he would he safe aboard the
Adrienne, with three hours to spare
The ship sailed at midnight.
| Where was Rogers? Jimmy unused
| EIe had not arrived at the haywood
| field prior TO his departure in Tho
Homing Pigeon. Jimmy had not seer
his rival. in fact. since the previous
afternoon. when the millionaire's plane
! had taken the lead shortly after cross
| ing into New Jersey.
Had he suffered an accident or was
he somewhere in the haze to the
eastward. speeding with every ounce
of available mechanical energy to
reach Seattle by sailing time?
or one thing Jimmy was certain
Rogers was not ahead. The time h,
had gained through the assistance o
! the mysterious flyer had made il pos
| sible for him to gain lead, which h,
/ knew he had maintained.
oh Gle hi
made Jimmy lean over the side. II,
gave smile of relief as he saw
through the haze ahead the glimmer
ing early lights at the edge of Sea It'll,
twinkling through the dusk! In a few
minutes more the landing field wa.
located. and the plane circled over it
In a long, graceful circling glide