Chapter XIX
The Hoax Discovered
It was Harriman Smith who brought Linda the news that the Lightcap flight was a fraud.
Linda had not turned on the radio that morning, when the newspaper flashed forth the story of Mabel and Joyce Lightcap's successful arrival in Paris. While they were over the ocean, Linda had followed their progress with the keenest interest, but now that they were being fêted, it was more than she could bear to listen to the accounts of the celebration.
She was just finishing her coffee when Harry burst in. Good old Harry, whom she hadn't seen since Thanksgiving! Here, she thought, was a friend indeed, who would not rejoice with the others merely because she was safe, even though she had to forfeit her greatest ambition. Deep in her heart she knew that he realized her disappointment and sympathized.
"You can still win, Linda!" he cried exultantly, pulling her from her chair by grasping both her hands. "The Lightcaps are a fake!"
"A fake?" she repeated, in a daze.
"Yes. Joyce happens to be a man! Masquerading as a girl! And he's been discovered, of course."
Wild with excitement, Linda clutched the boy's hands to steady herself. It was all so impossible, so unbelievable!