Right then she flung her arms around my neck, hugged me close, and kissed me one, two, three times right on the lips, and said, “Oh, Benny!” And after that I wasn’t nearly in my right mind. I dived into the locker, shed my overalls, and eased out again. With one last look at her, I dived into the crowd and lost myself.
Jane hurried into the locker, and in a minute she was out, in my coveralls and helmet and goggles. I could hardly believe my eyes, she looked so much like me! It was sure astonishin’. She eased back toward the planes, just when a guy in a megaphone was shoutin’ the last warnin’. Jane walked right past Ned and Mr. Alton and made for the plane.
“I’ve got to get into the ship!” Ned said. “Say, where’s Jane? Ain’t she goin’ to wish me good luck?”
They looked around for her, while she was within ten feet of ’em.
“Say, Benny, have you seen Jane?” Ned hollered at her; and she wags her head: no!
The last minute is gone; and Ned is forced to his plane. Jane was already in when he got there; he climbs in, not givin’ her any special notice. There is a poppin’ and roarin’ of motors all around, up and down the line. Greaseballs turn the Alton over, and she sings a sweet tune. The whole line-up is stirrin’ up a tornado when bang! a shot-gun goes off—which means the race is started!
The Stormbird tears off like a maniac, lifts, climbs steady, and then deadheads on. Thirty seconds pass, forty, fifty, sixty. Then, bango! the gun goes off again, and the Imp plane stretches itself out across the sand. It lifts, roars, pulls on, and flies in the wake of the Stormbird.
Ned Knight bends to his stick and glues his eyes to the instrument. The seconds are tickin’ off. Forty—fifty—sixty! Whacko! The gun! Ned stomps on the gas. Away goes the Alton. It takes off quick, climbs fast and, roarin’ high, plows into the sky.
And I, back on the field, watch it go with tears in my eyes!
One by one, at sixty-second intervals, the planes take off, and soon they’re parading along the sky, and trailin’ out of sight. Once they’re gone, there is nothin’ to do but wait for reports along the way. The crowd lingers, and I avoid Mr. Alton. He goes to his car; I just float around. What’s happenin’ to Ned and Jane now, I wonder? What’s goin to happen to ’em as they drive across half a dozen states. Are they goin’ to pull onto Long Island and get down to Curtiss first? Oh, Lord!