Evening star., 1936-01-12
The Lost Airplane Mystery W poxcs BY MORGAN

stafford AIR Transport Co. which opsr-
ely city q sembroke and ssnth srsnch Whers
Stafford planes connect with the AksocizLtd
sranse9ntinsnssal srlnsrs NJ stsfoDd I'd
has a sood chance because he has profit;
able contract with the Norheck GheWicsl
s sasinss. na'IM and SuI RUIN stsffoPd' '"e '''e'N
w one ,ans shase one soas nrSn
with q load Of druss. That niaht Hal re-
turns from night school and gets word 70
Jon Jonssy S0Rei teii. him to Be- at work at The
asxt %SsnnEs ths hsye
Mr. Stafford and Eddie Moore. his other
ace pilot. are starting on searching ex-
petition at dawn.
INSTALLMENT III.
r TAL had set his alarm clock for
5 the next morning. He
dressed hastily. tiptoed down
u = to the kitchen, and got his
own breakfast. At S minutes to 6
he was at the airport.
He found Jonesy in the hangar,
working on the Robin, which would
make the regular scheduled flight to
South Branch that day. Steve Ste
venson, who usually acted as copilot
on the daily run, was going to take
it out alone unless Eddie Moore got
back from his searching expedition
in time.
A few quick questions to Jonesy
and Hal learned that Eddie and Mr..
Stafford. each flying an open cock
pit plane. had taken off short time
before. There was still no word of
Shade, and they intended to scan
every inch of the ground between
Pembroke and South Branch in an
effort to find him and the Hawk.
"It don't look so good" said Jonesy
seriously. Shades a fine pilot. and
nothing but mighty serious trouble
could set him down. If he'd been
able to make one of the landing fields
between here and South Branch, he'd
have let us know Immediately. Looks
like he must have cracked up+-and in
this country, you know what that
| means"
Hal nodded, meanwhile pulling on
his jumper. Was Mr.. Stafford wor-
ried?" he inquired.
Jonesy spat expressively. "Plenty!"
he said.
HAL worked hard for several hours
without interruption. At
Miss Weldon, who handled the details
Of the airport Office, arrived for work,
and short time later she came
hurrying out to the hangers.
Il just had call from Arrow" she
announced. They said they were
sorry to hear about Shade. and Of
fered to take care of our passengers
on today's flights if we couldn't han
die them"
Jonesy checked a profane outburst
| just in time. How did they find out
about Shade in such a hurry" he
demanded.
It suppose through the airport at
South Branch Hal suggested.
yeah" JoneSy admitted. But
they're awful willing to carry our pas
sengers, aren't they? What did you
say to 'em, Miss Wieldon?"
The girl smiled. II said they were
very kind. but we could handle things
very nicely ourselves"
"Goodl" snorted Jonesy. "You tell
'em!"
Shortly before noon they heard the
| familiar drone of motors in the dis
tance and hurried from the hangers
to watch Mr.. Stafford and Eddie land
their ships only a few seconds apart.
Mr.. Stafiords face was tense with
worry as he climbed out of the cockpit
and raised his goggles.
mot a trace Of Shade anywhere. u
he snapped. Hes simply dropped
from sight as though the earth had
swallowed him up. It's incredible!"
Eddie Moore shook his head. y
don't get it," he muttered. Il know
just about every foot of the terrain
from here to South Branch. The
weather last night was ideal. and there
is no reason why Shade should have
been of his course. I looked in every
likely spot where he might have
tried to 60 down II he was In trouble,
and couldn't find a thing"
THERE'S only one explanation" /"
said Mr.. Stafford. He must
have cracked up in the mountains
somewhere, and gone into the trees,
where We can't see him from the air.
If that's the case, it may be days
| before we find him. The only thing
G Of History