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Chapter Nineteen
Needed – One Pilot
Jane and Sue looked at Alice incredulously.
“Do you mean to stand there and tell me that Roscoe James and the Mammoth Film Company are going to make a motion picture here at the Cheyenne field?” demanded Sue.
“I’m not going to stand and tell you,” sighed Alice, dropping into a chair. “I’m going to ease my weary legs, but at the same time, I’ll repeat that the local field is going to be used for the background of the next Roscoe James feature production.”
“Maybe we’ll get a chance to work as extras,” gasped Sue.
“About all we can hope to do is to be on the sidelines looking on,” said Alice. “Mr. James was talking to the operations manager when I left the field. The company will be here next week to start work on the outdoor scenes, all of which will be filmed here.”
“What luck for me,” put in Jane. “I’ve only one round trip to Chicago scheduled. That means I’ll have most of the week here, where I can watch the company at work.”
“And if they need a cook, maybe it will be my chance to get in the movies,” added Mrs. Murphy as she hurried in from the kitchen. Little of the girls’ conversation escaped Mrs. Murphy and she had kept an ear finely tuned to their talk about the coming of the film company.
Jane was scheduled east the next morning on the Coast to Coast. Just before the ship came in from Salt Lake City, she saw the famous film director in conference with the operations manager. With them was Charlie Fischer. After a time he ambled over to talk with Jane.
“Going to be great doings here,” grinned Charlie. “I’m in the movies already.”
“What are you going to do?”
“They’ve got to have some stunt flying and they can’t afford to have the leading man risk his neck. I’m elected to pilot the ship. Means a lot of fun and quite a few extra shekels.”
“Try and get me a job as an extra,” urged Jane.
“I’ll do my best, but the star might object.”
When Jane returned from Chicago a part of the technical crew had arrived and equipment was being set up at the field. Every girl in the stewardess corps was hopeful that she might be selected for some extra role for all of them secretly cherished the desire to be a film star.
Grace, coming in from the west on a late plane, rushed in and woke them.
“Who do you suppose came in with me?” she gasped.
“Probably Gary Macklin,” said Sue, naming the latest Hollywood favorite.
“Good guess,” said Grace.
“Do you mean Gary Macklin is going to have the leading role in the picture here?” demanded Alice, now thoroughly awake.
“That’s just what I mean, and his leading lady is going to be Claudette Barrett. She came in on the same plane.”
“My favorite combination,” breathed Sue. “I think I’ll ask for a leave of absence.”
“Not much chance of your getting that, for business on the line is picking up every day,” said Jane.
“You should comment, with only one trip scheduled next week. How about trading schedules?”
“I should say not. I’m just as anxious as you are to see how a film is made,” smiled Jane.
“Does anyone know what the story is about?” Alice asked.
“I heard Mr. Macklin and Miss Barrett talking about it when we stopped at Rock Springs. Miss Barrett is going to have the role of a stewardess and Mr. Macklin plays the part of the ace pilot of the line.”
“Charlie Fischer should have that role,” put in Sue.
“Charlie’s going to do the stunt flying,” said Jane.
“If Miss Barrett’s going to be a stewardess, we ought to see quite a bit of her,” Alice said hopefully. “If there’s anything dangerous to be done, we might even get a chance to double for her.”
More members of the cast of “The Sky Riders,” as the film was tentatively titled, arrived over the week-end and on Monday morning the company was ready to start shooting the scenes.
The Cheyenne airport had been given a thorough cleaning and everything from fences and lights around the border to the wind sock on the beacon tower had been touched up.
Jane, due out on the Coast to Coast, watched the company assembling. Roscoe James, the director, was a giant of a man, well over six feet in height and broad of shoulder.
A taxi rolled up and Claudette Barrett, the leading woman, stepped out. She was a trifle taller than Jane, with brown hair and brown eyes, and Jane was surprised to see the film star wearing the uniform of a Federated Airways stewardess. It was perfectly tailored and Miss Barrett even had the jaunty little beret fitted snugly over her carefully marcelled hair. She had a pleasant smile and spoke to several members of the company.
Another cab arrived and Gary Macklin, tall, dark and strikingly handsome, jumped out. He gave Jane the impression of always being in a hurry and of having an abundance of energy.
A camera crew had its equipment ready and when the Coast to Coast came into view, started grinding away. The big plane landed smoothly and rolled into the hangar.
Jane forced herself to turn to her duties and she went forward to relieve the stewardess who had come in from Salt Lake City, taking over the passenger list and making sure that her own supplies were placed aboard the plane. She was stowing the lunch away in the pantry when someone spoke to her and she turned to face Claudette Barrett.
“I hope I won’t bother you,” said the film star, “but since I’m supposed to be a stewardess, I’ve got to learn something about the business.” She had a pleasant smile and Jane felt an instant liking for this attractive girl of the films.
“I’ll be glad to show you whatever I can. I’m Jane Cameron.”
“Why, I’ve read lots about you. You were the stewardess who was with Mrs. Van Verity Vanness when bandits tried to abduct her. I was in New York at the time and read all about it in the Globe. What a thrilling experience that must have been.”
“I wouldn’t want very many of them,” confessed Jane.
“Go ahead with your work. I’ll just watch and ask questions.” Jane stowed the contents of the large hamper away in the pantry and looked at her watch.
“We’ve only three more minutes here. It’s time now to get the passengers back into the plane.”
Jane led the way outside. Over in front of the commissary Sue, Alice and Grace were watching the proceedings enviously.
“My roommates are all anxious to meet you,” Jane said, “and they’ll be glad to give you any assistance possible.”
“I’m going to need it,” smiled the film star.
The girls were almost overwhelmed when Jane brought Miss Barrett to meet them, but they found her so natural and interested in their work that they were soon conversing with her freely.
The last Jane saw of them as the Coast to Coast roared away, they were taking Miss Barrett into the stewardess headquarters.
When Jane returned on Wednesday, the film company was in the midst of active shooting. Two of the big tri-motored transports had been chartered for use and were landing and taking off for special shots of the field while camera crews on the ground photographed them.
At dinner that night, the girls told Jane how they had been drafted as extras for a crowd scene in the hangar.
“It was thrilling,” said Alice. “Just think, actually in the movies.”
“We even got paid just for standing around. I’d almost have been willing to pay them,” put in Grace.
“The worst of it is,” mourned Sue, “more crowd scenes are scheduled for shooting tomorrow and we’re all scheduled out.”
“All except lucky Jane, who’s in for the rest of the week,” said Grace.
“I’ll try and skip around in the crowd scenes and take the places of all of you,” Jane consoled them.
“Mrs. Murphy’s going to be the Cheyenne star in the picture,” chuckled Sue. “The director saw her at the field and he drafted her for a comedy role. It was taken this morning and was as funny as could be. They dressed Mrs. Murphy up in an old-fashioned outfit with a bonnet and a parrot in a cage. She was taking her first trip by plane and all she had to do was to look flustered and talk about her fear.”
“Yes, and Mrs. Murphy’s never been up,” added Grace. “When she started toward the plane she forgot all about being in a movie and began to get scared. By the time she reached the steps, she wasn’t acting and Miss Barrett and Mr. Macklin had to almost force her into the ship. Mrs. Murphy’s brogue was so thick you could cut it and the whole film crew laughed until they were just about worn out. Mrs. Murphy got a hundred dollars for the scene and she’s tickled to death.”
All the girls were scheduled out on early ships the next morning and Jane went to the field with them. Even at that hour, Director James was on hand making plans for the day’s schedule.
After the early planes had cleared the field, Jane saw him talking to Charlie Fischer, who had been given a leave of absence to do the stunt flying. A few minutes later Charlie came over and joined her.
“This is my big day,” he said. “If I do all of the tricks they want me to, I’ll go crazy.”
“What do you have to do?”
“They’re practically re-enacting the scene of the bandit plane attacking us, and I’ve got to fly the bandit ship. They had a chap from Denver slated to come up and do that while I flew the army plane which arrived just in time. Now I’ll have to fly the bandit plane through a lot of maneuvers and then come down, get another ship which will be painted like an army plane, and do some more stunts all around one of the tri-motors.”
“But that won’t seem like an aerial battle.”
“The director says they can cut the film in the laboratory so it will look all right. Of course he’d like to have both the bandit and the army ships up at the same time, but he’s short a pilot and the scene must be filmed this morning. Hiring these big tri-motors is cutting heavily into his expense budget.”
“Why not let me fly one of the ships?” suggested Jane. “If you were in the other one, I know I’d get along all right.”
Charlie looked at her sharply.
“Golly, Jane, I never thought of that. Say, my ship is the one that’s been painted up as the bandit plane. You could fly that with your eyes shut and I could take the army plane.”
“I know we could do it,” said Jane.
“Then here goes. We’re on our way to see the director right now.”
Chapter Twenty
Down in Flames
Director James was giving orders to the camera crew which was to go aloft in one of the tri-motors. He appeared tired and worried and his greeting to Charlie Fischer was short.
“I’m not looking for any more extras,” he growled as he saw Jane with the flyer.
“Sure, sure,” agreed Charlie, who had a soothing and persuasive way, “but you do need an extra pilot and you need one in a hurry. This girl can handle one of the planes. I know, I trained her to fly.”
The director stared at Charlie.
“Tell me another one,” he snorted.
“Listen,” said Charlie, “I’m not kidding. This is straight from the shoulder. You let this girl go up in my plane and she’ll do all of the tricks your cameras can catch and a few more thrown in. She’s a natural flyer, knows the feel of a plane, becomes a part of it from the second she gets into the cockpit.”
Director James looked thoughtful. “We do need another pilot,” he admitted, “but I hate to think of a girl trying all of those stunts.”
Jane decided it was time to say a word.
“If I fly Charlie’s plane, I know I can handle the assignment,” she said eagerly. “With Charlie in the other ship there’ll be little chance of anything going wrong. I’d like to have the opportunity to try it.”
The director looked at his watch.
“We start shooting in half an hour,” he decided. “We’ll take a chance.”
“Come on, Jane. We’ve got to work fast,” said Charlie, seizing her arm and almost pulling her after him. “Get into boots and breeches. You’re going to wear a chute. If anything should happen you’ll be ready for it.”
“But, Charlie, I’ve never used a chute,” protested Jane.
“There’s always a first time,” said Charlie darkly. “Now mind what I tell you.”
Jane hurried into the stewardess quarters where she kept her flying clothes in a locker. Miss Comstock came in while she was changing.
“What’s this I hear about you piloting one of the planes for the movie people?” she asked.
“I’m going to be a bold, bad bandit,” smiled Jane. “They’re short a flyer and can’t wait for another man to come up from Denver.”
“But don’t you think it’s rather dangerous? I don’t want to lose my star stewardess.”
“Nothing will happen,” promised Jane. “I’ll be flying Charlie’s ship and I could do that blindfolded.”
She pulled her boots on and tied a scarlet scarf around her bobbed hair. In brown boots, white breeches, a soft white silk shirt open at the neck and the flaming scarf around her hair, Jane was a striking picture.
“Look out,” cautioned Miss Comstock, “or the film people will be offering you a contract.”
“No chance. You’ve got to be able to act.” Jane dabbed a bit of fresh powder on her cheeks and hurried out to greet Charlie Fischer. The tall pilot was wearing one chute pack and he carried another in his arms.
“Just about time to start,” he said. “The ships are over on the ramp warming up.”
Jane looked at Charlie’s plane. The speedy old biplane had been repainted and now was shining black. Just beyond it was a smaller and faster biplane painted to represent an army pursuit craft. It was this ship that Charlie was to handle.
Director James was waiting between the planes. He eyed Jane approvingly as she approached for she looked cool and business-like.
“You’re to fly as though attacking the No. 1 transport,” he told Jane. “Keep away from the second ship with the camera crew. Make it look good. We’ve got a machine gun mounted on your plane and when you dash in, pull the trigger and send bursts of blanks at the transport.”
While he was giving his instructions, the first transport roared into the air. As soon as the drone of the motors faded, he continued.
“On signal from the camera plane, Charlie will drop down on you. I want you two to make it look like a good aerial dog-fight. Twist and turn and do plenty of power diving. When you see a red flag waved from the camera plane, go into a dive and jerk the smoke pot lever that’s been rigged into your plane. That will release a cloud of smoke and make it appear that you’re going down in flames. All of this must be done above 3,000 feet. At 1,000 feet you level off for we won’t try to follow you with the cameras below that point. Think you understand everything?”
“I’m sure I do,” replied Jane.
“Don’t you worry,” put in Charlie. “This is going to be the best air action your cameras ever caught.”
Jane adjusted the straps of her parachute and Charlie boosted her into the cockpit of his biplane.
“If anything goes wrong,” he told her, “just bale over the side and after you’re clear, jerk the ring. Don’t worry about the ship. I made the movie people sign a guarantee to replace it, if anything should happen.”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” said Jane firmly.
“Atta girl. Let’s go.”
Charlie ran to the other plane and hoisted his long legs into the cockpit. Jane opened the motor of the biplane, waved to Miss Comstock, who was standing nearby, and then sped across the field.
It was a glorious summer morning and to the north and west the peaks of the majestic Rockies reared their heads above the clouds which obscured their lower levels. Jane tingled with the zest of her adventure. She was actually in the movies. Of course she was just doing a stunt, but when “The Sky Riders” came to Cheyenne she would have the pleasure of knowing that she had piloted one of the planes in an important piece of action.
Above Jane the first tri-motor, the plane she was to attack, was climbing steadily while the second of the big ships, with the director and main camera crew, was wheeling off the field. Charlie was already in the air, following her fast.
It took them fifteen minutes to get into position for action and at a signal from the director in the second tri-motor, the first plane lined away west, simulating a transport in regular flight. Jane, who was a thousand feet above the transport, jammed the throttle on full and dove for the big plane.
The wings of her biplane trembled under the crashing dive, but she knew the plane’s capabilities and her heart thrilled as she roared down on the big ship.
The machine gun spouted flame and smoke as she pulled the trigger. She flashed past the tri-motor, nosed up, and poured another volley of fake bullets at the big ship. Now the chase was on in earnest, the pilots of the tri-motor making every attempt to elude the pursuer and Jane was astounded at the tricky flying which could be done with one of the big transports.
Back and forth they roared through the sky, twisting and turning, until it became a real game. Then the roar of another motor came to Jane’s ears and she looked back to see Charlie dropping down on her. That was her cue to stop chasing the tri-motor and attempt to save herself.
She dropped her own plane into a quick, twisting dive, that caught Charlie unawares and he missed her the first time, but he came fighting back, his own machine gun spouting blanks. For twenty minutes they twisted and turned, first Charlie gaining the advantage and then Jane. Then she saw a red flag waving from the camera plane. It was the signal for the dive on which she was to release the smoke pot.
Charlie was well above her, diving again. Jane waited until his plane was almost on her. Then she spun her own ship into a twisting plunge and tripped the trigger of the smoke pot apparatus.
Almost instantly a cloud of thick, heavy smoke rolled out of the fuselage behind her and Charlie’s plane disappeared for a second in the smoke screen.
Jane watched the altimeter. She had been up 3,100 feet when she released the smoke pot. At a thousand feet above ground she was to level off and scoot back to the Cheyenne field.
She had been too busy warding off Charlie’s attack to watch just where they were and was surprised to find herself just north of the home field. For all Jane knew they might have been thirty miles away.
The biplane spun down dizzily, the speed increasing until the wing wires screamed in protest. But it was good action and Jane knew the movie cameras would catch every bit of it as the smoking plane thundered toward the ground.
She felt remarkably cool as the speed increased. She had every confidence in the sturdy old biplane and at 1,800 feet she pulled the stick back a bit to see how the plane responded. To her horror there was no lessening in the angle of the dive and she turned quickly. The controls had jammed and the tail of her plane was ablaze, set afire in some way by the smoke pot.
Chapter Twenty-one
Too Much Action
For a moment sickening panic gripped Jane. Then she remembered that Charlie had insisted that she wear a parachute and there was plenty of time for her to bail out of the falling plane.
Jane looked back. Charlie’s ship sped out of the trail of smoke and she saw his tense face peering over the cockpit. Behind him boomed the camera ship, recording every movement of the planes.
The flames, whipped by the wind, mounted and Jane knew there was little time to lose. They were down to 1,200 feet and she steeled herself for the leap from the plane.
It was her first jump and she hesitated for a moment. Desperately she tried the controls again but there was no hope there. The plane was falling at an alarming rate of speed.
Jane crouched in the seat, making sure that the chute was clear of any obstructions. It took nerve and a cool head to do what was ahead. At 1,000 feet she shot out of the plane, doubling over twice as she tumbled through the air.
The blazing biplane roared past her and she pulled the chute ring, using both hands. Behind her the pilot chute cracked out and then the great silken umbrella filled with air. Her plunge downward was stopped suddenly and she found herself drifting 800 feet above the ground.
The leap from the plane had been so sudden Jane had no time to analyze her feelings while she fell, but now, swinging below the parachute, she felt weak and sick.
The biplane spun downward, smoke and flame shooting from the fuselage. Close behind it followed Charlie, riding it to the ground, while above hovered the camera ship.
Jane was swinging under the chute in a wide arc. That would never do for she would be slapped hard against the ground. Pulling on the lines above, she checked the swinging. There was a slight wind from the north that would take her down on the Cheyenne airport.
Jane watched the biplane closely as it neared the ground. It struck, nose first and then disappeared in a volcano of smoke and flame.
Jane closed her eyes and when she opened them she had drifted past the scene of the wrecked plane and was coming down over the north boundary of the airport. A car from the main building was racing toward her. Jane recognized the ambulance trailing after it. They were taking no chances.
She tried to relax as the chute neared the ground. She knew that tense muscles might result in a broken bone for landing in a parachute was anything but a lark.
Three field mechanics jumped from the car and ran to catch Jane as she landed. One of them managed to reach her in time to ease the shock of the fall, but she got a severe jar.
They helped Jane out of the chute harness and she stepped clear just as Miss Comstock arrived aboard the ambulance.
“Are you hurt, Jane?” she asked anxiously.
“Just scared a little,” confessed Jane, who now felt trembly all over.
“I was so afraid you weren’t going to jump in time,” said the chief stewardess. “I’m about ready to go to the hospital myself.”
Just then Charlie Fischer pan-caked in for a quick landing, leaped from his plane and ran toward them.
“All right, Jane?” he asked.
“Yes, but your plane’s a wreck,” she replied, pointing beyond the north boundary of the field where flames were licking around the remains of the biplane.
“Forget about the plane,” growled Charlie, “just as long as you came out all right.”
Jane entered the field car and Miss Comstock accompanied her, the mechanics remaining to fold up the parachute. While on their way back to the administration building, the camera plane landed. As soon as it reached the hangar, the director leaped out and hurried toward Jane.
Before he could reach her, Charlie, who had taxied his plane across the field, cut in. He was raging mad at the slip-shod work of the movie men who had made the installation of the smoke pot in the ship Jane had flown.
“You ought to be kicked clear off the field,” he shouted at the director. “There wasn’t any danger in the stunt until we had to depend on the work of some of your men and then everything went wrong. I’ve a good notion to sock somebody.”
“It was a regrettable accident,” admitted the director, attempting to placate the angry Charlie, “and the company is willing to pay Miss Cameron handsomely for her work.”
“Fat lot of good that would have done her if she hadn’t got down all right,” snorted Charlie.
“I’m very sorry the smoke pot set the plane on fire,” said the director turning to Jane. “As you know I was hesitant about having you fly at all.”
“I don’t blame you for the accident,” replied Jane. “We did so much twisting and turning up there that the smoke pot was probably dislodged. I hope it didn’t spoil your film.”
The director smiled. “I think we’ve probably the best airplane shots ever made for the cameramen were able to follow your ship until it crashed. Of course we’ll have to cut a few feet where you jumped, but that can be done very easily.”
Jane’s work was over and she wanted to get away and be alone for a time. Perhaps she’d even cry a little for the tension had been terrific. She slipped away and went to Mrs. Murphy’s where she undressed, took a refreshing bath, and went to bed. It was early evening when she wakened and went down stairs.
Mrs. Murphy emerged from the kitchen.
“A gentleman called a time ago and left this letter for you. I think he was from the film company.”
Jane looked at the letter. The return address was that of the leading hotel in the city. She opened the envelope and drew out a crisp check. It was made payable to Jane Cameron in the amount of $250 and was signed by Roscoe James for the Mammoth Film Company.
Jane’s eyes blurred. Why that check would more than equal all of the money she had spent learning how to fly, but she decided that she wouldn’t want to do film stunts for a living.
There was a note with the check and Jane read it eagerly.
“Dear Miss Cameron: We are showing early shots of the film tonight at the hotel at eight. The scenes taken this morning will be included and we would like to have you present. The check is in appreciation of your fine work. Cordially, Roscoe James.”
Jane’s heart leaped. She wouldn’t have to wait until the picture was completed and released. She could see the pictures of the airplane action that night.
“Mrs. Murphy,” she called, “we’re going to the hotel at eight o’clock. They’re showing scenes of the picture which have been taken at Cheyenne.”
“What a pity the other girls aren’t here,” said Mrs. Murphy. “I’m all in a bustle I’m that excited. Do you suppose I took well?”
“I’m sure you did.”
“But did they invite me to see the pictures?” asked Mrs. Murphy anxiously.
“Well, they didn’t exactly mention you by name, but I know they won’t object. You get your hat and we’ll go along. We’ve only a little more than time enough to get there now.”
“But you’ve had no supper, Jane.”
“I’m not hungry. I’m too excited.”
“Well, you’re going to eat,” said Mrs. Murphy firmly, who believed that food was necessary at regular intervals. “There’s several sandwiches and a glass of milk in the ice box. You eat that while I’m fixing my hair.”
When they reached the hotel, Charlie Fischer and Miss Comstock were waiting in the lobby.
“This is going to be a real treat,” smiled Miss Comstock. “I never thought I’d be in a movie, even as an extra in a crowd scene.”
“And I never dreamed that I would pilot a plane with cameras recording the scene,” admitted Jane.
“You might add that you never dreamed you would have to take to a chute to get down,” put in Charlie.
“You’re right and once is enough,” said Jane firmly.
The pictures were to be shown in the ballroom. While they waited, Miss Barrett and Gary Macklin came out of the dining room. They paused to visit, awaiting the arrival of the director.
“I hear I missed some unusual action by staying in bed this morning,” smiled Miss Barrett.
“It was too much action,” said Charlie.
“How did you ever have the nerve to jump?” the film star asked Jane.
“It wasn’t nerve,” replied Jane, “it was just a case of necessity.”
The director arrived and they went into the ballroom where a screen had been erected at one end and a portable projector placed at the other.
“We’re going to run through everything we’ve taken,” explained the director as the company, including cameramen and technicians, gathered. Turning to the Federated Airways people, he explained, “Of course there is no sound on the print we’re running tonight. The noise of the airplane engines will be produced in the home studio and worked into the sound track later.”
They found seats and the lights were turned off. There was no title to precede the start of the actual picture, the first scene being of the Cheyenne airport with the Coast to Coast Limited coming in from the west. Jane started as she recognized the familiar action which had taken place only that Monday morning. She saw herself walking across the concrete floor to speak to the incoming stewardess. Then she entered the cabin and a few seconds later another stewardess walked across the hangar.
Jane smiled for the second girl was Claudette Barrett, looking exceedingly attractive in the uniform of a Federated Airways stewardess. Then there was a shot of the plane taking off, and, after that, pictures of Miss Barrett and Gary Macklin talking in the shadows of one of the great tri-motors, several shots showing the leading man at the controls of one of the big planes, and a number showing him in the cockpit of the army plane which Charlie had flown that morning.
Pictures of the planes coming in at night, especially, thrilled Jane. In the crowd scenes she saw Sue, Alice, Grace and Miss Comstock. Then came the unforgettable scene, with Mrs. Murphy trying to make up her mind about getting aboard the plane, and the efforts of Miss Barrett and Gary Macklin to convince her that flying was safe. The entire group burst into hearty laughter and the director leaned back to speak to Miss Barrett.
“That’s one of the best bits of natural comedy I’ve seen in years,” Jane heard him say.
The picture swung into the air action which had been taken that morning, showing the departure of the tri-motor. Then Jane saw the black plane which she had piloted bearing down on the transport and she leaned forward in her chair. This was her part of the picture. Her mouth felt dry and her brow was hot as she watched the black plane dart toward the unsuspecting tri-motor.
Smoke and flame shot from the gun on her plane as she maneuvered to force the transport down. The camera range had been too long to get a glimpse of Jane’s face and reveal that a girl was flying the plane, but her scarf, which had been wound around her head, trailed over the edge of the cockpit, whipping in the wind.
The director turned to an assistant. “Make a note that when we take the close-up shots in the studio there must be a scarf tied to the helmet of the pilot of the bandit plane.”
Out of the clouds dropped Charlie Fischer in the army plane, roaring down upon Jane and the black ship. For the next few minutes Jane was almost breathless as she watched the maneuvers in the air. It was more thrilling than she had dared to imagine, and the cameras had caught every twist and turn of the plane. Then came the last dive by Charlie and the puff of smoke from the black biplane, which fell away in a twisting dive.
Jane, watching intently, saw flames lick out of the fuselage and seconds later she catapulted from the burning plane. The cameras, following the blazing ship, failed to show her chute open, but they kept the focus on the plane until it smashed into the ground, a flaming mass of wreckage.
