“Mr. Trowbridge suggested that I pick up some odds and ends for a while and probably in a few weeks things will be better with the company and I can go back. He was sort of shot up when he told me,” Roberta explained.
“I’ll be mighty glad to have my girl home with me for a while,” Mrs. Langwell smiled.
“And it will not be hard on my own feelings, to stay,” she laughed. “I’ve been thinking I may go in for some record-breaking flights—”
“My dear—” her mother protested.
“I don’t mean stunts; just long distance hops.”
“But will Nike carry gas enough for trips?”
“She’ll go a lot, Mummy. You know Nike has been a sort of pet of Mr. Wallace’s and he’s put all sorts of improvements into her. She’s a top-notch bird and no one except us and a few men in the company really know how capable she is, and we’re not telling.”
“Suppose you stay home for a day or two anyway before you fly off from the nest, Honey,” her mother pleaded.
“All right. Tell you what, I’ll take you joy-riding around the skies,” she promised and although Mrs. Langwell made no objection and fully appreciated that flying was a splendid means of travel, she just could not think of herself as a successful joy-rider.
That evening when Mr. Langwell reached home he heard the news with some surprise and questioned Roberta closely. However, he did not make any guesses and did his best to cheer her up.