“But surely the people would have notified the authorities,” Bruce put in.
“I suppose so,” Brent admitted.
“Besides,” added Janet, “how did she get out of the plane? If the branch that pinned her into the seat was too heavy for you to lift, certainly she couldn’t have.”
Brent shook his head. “I don’t know where she is, but I’ve got to find her. I blame myself for the whole mess.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Valerie said quickly and the others agreed with her. “You couldn’t tell the storm would come up or that you would run out of gasoline.”
“But I should never have left her in the plane!” Brent said restlessly.
“You had to get help,” Bruce said. “You thought you were doing the best thing. It was the only thing——”
“I know,” Brent said hastily, “but just the same——” he stood up. “I’ve got to get back to the airport. We are flying up again tonight, but I’ll be back in a day or two—to let you know how things are going.”
“Do you think I might be able to help up there?” Bruce asked eagerly.
Brent looked at him. “Honestly I don’t. There are hundreds of people looking for her—police, newspaper men and all. Everyone knows about Gale—it was in all the papers and broadcast on the radio. I don’t believe there are three people within a radius of hundreds of miles that haven’t seen her picture in the newspapers or heard about her. Sooner or later something will come to light.”