Evening star., 1941-10-28

among them was picture. I think
it was yours
He didn't look at Glare as he spoke
and his face was solemn, almost as
if it hurt him to talk about 1t.
Yes, it was mine," Glare said.
Roger and 1 were-good friends
He'd have gone places in avia-
tion," Clay said. He had a lot Of
crazy ideas about how planes should
be built and none of them were any
good, but he was the type that
would have hit on something some
day and made himself fortune. A
swell kid. I really liked him."
Were all his ideas so crazy"
Glare asked quietly.
Clare Is Puzzled.
Clay's glance was sharp at first,
but it Immediately softened. Il
didn't mean that disreSpectfully,
he said He knew a lot about
planes. 1t was just that none Of his
stuff was practical" He paused q
moment, seeming to debate whether
to add something to that or not.
And then, hesitantly, he said, Just
a couple of days before the crash 1
told him of an idea of mine and he
got all worked up about it. 1t was
Just a sketchy thing. not even clear
in my own mind at the time. I was
awfully disappointed when he was
killed. He'd have got big bang
out of developing thing like that"
Glare thought, how easily it would
have been to misjudge Clay Hanley.
Here I was taking everything Eddie
Franklin said as If it were Gospel,
and still what Clay says is just as
reasonable. The idea Eddie thinks
was Rogers was really Clay's, and
they simply talked about it together.
Clay thought Roger could help him
on it, and because Roger mentioned
| it to Eddie, Eddie thinks it was
Rogers own idea.
Out OF her reverie she heard Clay
/ speaking and she felt the touch of
his hand. Care to dance?" he was
saying, and she nodded and got up.
Clay was q good dancer. He was
several inches taller than Glare and
she liked the feel of his strong chin
as it brushed her hair from time to
time. She liked, too. the way he
looked down at her. his head back
and his dark hair glistening smooth,
his mouth open in q broad grin,
when she said something to him.
And when he laughed he held her
little tighter all unconsciously, and
when he realized 1t Immediately re-
laxed his grip.
More About Betty.
They sat at the table most Of the
evening, dancing only occasionally
and Clay told her something Of his
past. He'd gotten his college de-
gree back in Is and then taken up
flying. He hadn't liked the idea OF
working for his father in the big
Hanley electric plant out West. and
so he made profession of aviation
For several years he flew transports
out of Chicago, then he had private
plotting job with big steel mag
nate. He'd flown in South America
for over a year and then he went to
Spain and flew for the Loyalists
He'd come back from there with q
fair amount of money and then
gone into the test pilot game: II
was just beginning to boom then and
there were plenty Of opportunities
He'd flown for Billet for three years
he said.
That's how I go to know Betty
Crowell,' he said. "She saw my
name once in correspondence OF
your dad'stBillet is q competitor oi
Crandon-and she took 1t upon her
self to write me q nice little letter
I got q kick out OF that and wrote
her back. She was interested In
flying and told her everything she
wanted to know. Several times she
said in her letters that some day
was going to have to teach her te
fly; that she wouldn't take lessons
from any one else"
"She got what she wanted" Glare
said. "She usually does"
Clay laughed. She'll never be
good flyer, though. I'm going to d.
all I can to teach her. but I'm afraic
she'll never made the grade. It'll
tough in q way. She's nuts about
planes, always has been, guess"
Clare hadn't given much thought
to the number OF drinks Clay hat
but by 1890 she noticed that hi!
face was a little flushed and he wal
being particularly careful about pro-
nouncing his words. She glanced
| at her watch, exaggerating the ges
ture, and looked up surprised.
Clare Berates Herself.
IT had no idea it was so late,
she said. Don't you think we'd bet
ter go?"
"Oh, no, Clay said, grinninl
broadly. Lets have another drink
anyway" He summoned the waiter
pushing his glass to the edge Of tn
! table. Two more" he said.
| mo, not for me-" Clare SAT-
| quickly. Really, I've had enough
I would like to dance again, though.
"Okay, we'l dance" Clay got t.