The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1935-08-23

VOWdIO L1lSI1. JOll1l, LI11l, SL11dl4s 4AdAAoW
~shouldered, pale and thin faced. long
slicked straight back from his rather
ordinary forehead, his close set, watery
blue eyes shining a. a result of the
flattering attention he had just re-
ceived, was walking toward them with
the nervously cocksure stride of the
little man who, though physically and
personally insignificant, is riding high
because Of accomplishment.
ped, terse speech of efficiency. We'll
60 straight through to Philadelphia this
hop"
The three ships TAXED out onto the
field. They faced into the wind. They
roared loudly, kicked up yellow clouds
of rolling dust behind them and began
to move slowly across the airport. They
gathered speed at the head of a column
from the dust. They drew closer to-
gether and formed like wild geese into a
V-shaped formation.
Saunders watched Joe's ship bobbing
up and down in front and to the LETT
OF him. He saw Johnny's ship bobbing
up and down off to his left and abreast
Of his own ship. The air was rougher
than it had been. Saunders saw the
great black blotch that was Cleveland
slip slowly past far beneath him to his
left. A few white clouds appeared above
of the sky. =.
The fiat, northern part of Ohio crept
slowly past beneath. Smoky Youngs-
town, with its river winding like a huge
snake through it, moved in under the
formation and then slowly faded into
the distance behind.
The first low, rolling, western part OF
the Allegheny mountains in western
Pennsylvania slid in underneath and
der the formation. Saunders noticed
that the clouds were getting thicker
and coming lower. Joe kept the for
nation under the clouds.
Half an hour later the clouds had
become solid above them and the
mountains rough beneath. Saunders
noted that they were Swimming just
under the clouds and figured that they
were flying about a thousand feet above
the tops Of the mountains.
A little while later the formation
passed over a ridge. Saunders noted
that the bottoms of the clouds were
only a few hundred feet above the top
of the ridge.
zoe viii probably turn around and
go back pretty soon," he thought. He
still thought of Joe as conservative.
Joe didn't turn around. He led the
formation On and on into the noun
tains. He led it lower and lower as
the clouds thickened and the ceiling
came down. -
Saunders saw another ridge looming
ahead in the low hanging mist: Joe led
the formation on over it. Saunders
noticed that Joe's ship was just skim
ming the trees and that even so 1t was
sometimes dimmed a little by some OF
the fog. When the formation came out
into the next valley Saunders felt bet
cts too thick to go back now" he
thought. Joe will probably search for
a field here in this valley"
But Joe didn't. He flew straight to-
ward the next ridge. The ridge loomed
dark and green ahead. Saunders saw
the thick, dark, wet, gray cloud stuff
hanging low in the trees on top of the
I'VE can't get through here" Saun-
ders thought. What the hell has gocs
ten into Joe?" When did he get to
be n Of these Observation-Disclosures
em-down boys?"
Saunders thought about the flight
over Lake st. Clair and over Lake Erie.
Then a whole train of incidents which
hadn't meant much to him at the time
crowded throuh his brain. He re-
membered how Joe had started flying
closer formations after he had won the
Hurlitzer race. He remembered some
stunning exhibitions pretty close to the
ground that Joe had put on since he
had won the race. Saunders hadn't
thought much about those things in
Joe's flying. He certainly hadn't
thought about them as changes. He
had taken them merely as good work
on .Joe'S part. But now they took on q
different light. Saunders remembered
how Joe had been lionized since he
had won the race He remembered the
things the speakers at banquets had
said about Joe; how they had lauded
him and painted him as a bold, dashing
creature.
The formation was starting over the
ridge. The clouds swirled in thick and
low. Saunders pulled in close to Joe
so he wouldn't lost sight of him in the
stuff. He noticed Johnny pull in, too.
He saw the wet trees skimming past