Gypsies of the Air

by Bess Moyer

Terry and Prim had never cared for Bud Hyslop and it was due to Bud that Terry had become the expert mechanic she was.

“Women haven’t any business around an airplane,” Bud had told Terry the first day he had come on the field. “The kitchen is where they belong, and they should be made to stay there. And if they must fly, let them do their own repair work. That’s what I say, and I’ll stick to it.”

And stick to it he did, which made Terry take up the challenge and getting into cover-alls, which were soon well daubed with grease, she mastered every detail of her plane. And she loved the work. This was in the days when she had flown one of Dick’s planes to which they had given the name of The Crate. It was an old model, patched and re-patched, but Dick declared that it was still a fine craft.

Terry and Prim had liked The Crate. It was an old friend. But they were the proudest girls in Elmwood when their father presented them with Skybird, the little blue-and-gold monoplane, a tiny amphibian. This gift was a reward of merit. Dick had been criticized for allowing his daughters to spend so much time on learning to fly, so he had talked it over with the girls and promised them that if they led their class in at least two subjects and graduated with honors they were to have a plane of their own, and would be allowed to take out their pilot licenses.

The girls buckled down to work and made good. Terry led in three subjects and Prim was a close second.

Their knowledge of planes stood them in good stead. After Dick’s accident when contracts did not come, Terry took matters into her own hands and advertised for women flying students. Dick from his wheel chair directed the lessons and Terry demonstrated and took them up for flying instruction. This had come to be their chief source of income.

Allan Graham decided that he would make a record by flying the Atlantic and in this way bring distinction to Dick’s training school. And as a famous flyer, he would be able to draw down big contracts for the field.

Terry liked to teach others to fly but she had higher ambitions than that for herself. She longed to take that flight across the ocean, and there had been a secret struggle as to whether she would start out on her own or remain with her father in his misfortune.

It was hard to give up all the time. She also had the feeling that she could make more money by getting out and doing something to bring her fame quickly.

It was with a bitter heart that she listened to Allan and Syd when they announced their intention to make the flight to Paris. Terry hastened to her room to fight it out with her rebellious heart. Why was it that Allan Graham always got everything he wanted? He and Syd both were lucky. All they had to do was desire a thing and the way was smoothed out for them to get exactly what they wanted, while she only had to wish and all the powers in the world combined to keep her from getting it, or at least so she thought.