When Tim and Ralph parted in the foothills of the Great Smokies, Ralph took up his search for George Mitchell, pilot of the missing westbound mail.
Throughout the morning Ralph conducted his fruitless quest and when noon came he was forced to turn back from the mountains and seek a ranch or village where he could refuel his plane. Ralph’s ship was slightly smaller than Tim’s and consequently had a longer cruising radius with the same fuel load.
Ten miles north of the regular air mail route lay the village of Rubio and Ralph set the mail plane down in a pasture east of the town. The noise of the plane had drawn the attention of the villagers and they swarmed to the field.
Ralph quickly explained his needs and the owner of the village garage brought out a truck loaded with gasoline. Refueling of the mail ship was soon accomplished and Ralph then hastened into the village where he went to the only restaurant and managed to secure a good, warm meal. He ordered a large lunch prepared and packed and by the time he had finished his dinner the lunch was ready. He paid for the food and walked back to the plane.
Several of the village boys volunteered to hold the wings while Ralph warmed the motor. He gave the new fuel a thorough test and then signalled for the boys to let go.
The propeller sliced through the air and its blast created a small blizzard which hid the crowd of villagers in a smother of snow.
The mail ship gathered momentum, bumped over the uneven ground and finally bounced into the air.
Ralph headed back for the air mail route to resume his search. Back and forth he cruised, confining his search to the foothills of the mountains for there was slight chance that Mitchell would have reached the Great Smokies.
The afternoon wore on and Ralph’s hopes of finding the missing flyer that day lessened. It was slow and tedious work cruising over the rolling hills whose slopes were covered by dense growths of trees, principally pines.
If Mitchell had come down in one of the forests it might be weeks before he would be found.