Lost in the Air

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.
Lost in the Air
By ROY J. SNELL
1920
Let's get a breath of fresh air. Bruce Manning yawned and stretched, then slid off his high stool at the bookkeeping desk. Barney Menter followed his example.
They had been together only a few days, these two, but already they were pals. This was not to be wondered at, for both had been discharged recently from army aviation service—Bruce in Canada and Barney in the United States. Each had served his country well. Now they were employed in the work of developing the wilds of Northern Canada near Hudson Bay. And there are no regions more romantic than this with all its half-gleaned history and its million secrets of wonder, wealth and beauty.
As they stood in the doorway, gazing at the forest-lined river and distant bluffs, hearing the clang of steel on steel, as construction work went forward, catching the roar of cataracts in Nelson River, and tingling with the keen air of the northern summer, life seemed a new creation, so different was it from the days of war.
What's this? Bruce was looking at a file containing bills-of-lading, a messenger had handed him.
Car 564963, C. P. R., consigned to Major A. Bronson. Airplane and supplies. He read it aloud and whistled. Barney jumped to snatch it from him.
Stand back! Give me air, Bruce gasped. An airplane at the present end of the Hudson Bay Railroad! What's doing now? What are they up to? Going to quit construction here and use planes the rest of the way? Fancy freighting wheat, fish, furs and whale blubber by airplanes! Both lads laughed at the idea.
I don't wish his pilot any bad luck, said Barney. But if he must die by breaking his neck, or something, I hope he does it before he reaches the Hudson Bay terminus. I'd like to take his place in that big air-bird. Say, wouldn't it be glorious!