“Quick, Murphy,” said the daredevil. “Come around to the other side. I’ve got something I must tell you.”
When they reached the far side of the tri-motor, Dugan burst forth in voluble explanation.
“Blandin ordered me to crack you up on the tour,” he explained. “That’s why we almost crashed at Newton. When I didn’t get you then, I filed the aileron wires on your ship. I’ve got to get out now, skip the country. I failed to get you and Blandin will break me in two if he ever finds me. Thanks for saving me just now. I’ll repay you some day.”
Before Tim could answer, Dugan had slipped away and was lost in the crowd which had surged through the police lines and gathered around the tri-motor. Tim and Dugan were to meet again but under circumstances that even Tim hardly would have believed possible.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
With the advent of late spring, aviation became the news of the day.
Flyers were planning trans-Atlantic hops, endurance tests and Arctic exploration. The adventure which held Tim’s interest was the Arctic flight which Capt. Rayburn Rutledge, famed explorer, was planning across the top of the world. Not entirely satisfied with the efforts of other aerial explorers, Rutledge still hoped to find a hidden continent under the ice and snow of the Northland.
A great newspaper syndicate had undertaken to finance his trip and Tim’s paper had contributed $1,000. Tim read every word of Rutledge’s plans with avid interest, and made a thorough study of the conditions in the Arctic. It was just the flight he had dreamed about ever since Arthur Winslow, dean of the air mail flyers, had planted the seed in his mind only a few months before.
On his trip to the west coast, Rutledge stopped in Atkinson and in his interview with the explorer, Tim learned in detail of the plans for the flight over the top of the world. Then Rutledge soared over the Great Smokies on his way to Seattle, his embarkation point for Alaska.
The big news came unexpectedly. Rutledge had been injured in an automobile accident in Seattle; was definitely out of the flight for that year, yet the plane was ready, fully equipped, supplies had been shipped to the far north, and every detail cared for. The time for the adventure was ripe.