With the motor working perfectly despite their enforced stay in the valley, they headed eastward and in little more than an hour were skimming over King’s Bay.
When they landed, both adventurers tumbled from their plane and raced for the radio station where they made arrangements with the operator to send their stories to the News as fast as they could be written.
Ralph wrote the story of their flight over the top of the world and failure to discover land while Tim wove his discovery of the Viking tomb into a powerful, dramatic tale that within a few hours was to fascinate the reading public of America.
The operator was still busy sending their copy over the ether waves when he stopped for a moment.
“There’s a couple of messages for you,” he said to Tim. “Shall I take them?”
“Go ahead,” replied the flying reporter.
The operator’s fingers flew as he copied the messages and then handed them to Tim.
The flying reporter’s eyes dimmed and his hands shook as he read the first message, then re-read it to be sure that he was not mistaken.
“To Tim Murphy,
Aviation Editor,