“Follow the coast south and keep outside the Government limit,” Mrs. Pollzoff directed after they had been in the air about an hour. “Have you plenty of gas? I want to remain up several hours.”
“Plenty,” Roberta assured her but she was becoming really puzzled about her passenger. It could not be possible that Mrs. Pollzoff was in search of vessels carrying liquor, for she never showed the slightest interest in ships of any description when they were sighted, but this was the first time she expressed a desire to keep beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. The request was strange and the girl pilot felt oddly disturbed by it.
But if Mrs. Pollzoff was doing anything forbidden by the laws of the United States, she gave no sign of it during the hours which followed. Her glasses swept the water as they had every other day, and if she noticed the ships, large or small, plowing through them, she was remarkably successful in keeping the fact to herself. Except for her usual directions regarding the course they were to follow, she said nothing more; and at noon she signified her desire to return to land. She requested that they come down on the southern part of New Jersey, but here she merely led the way to a restaurant where she ordered lunch for both of them.
Seated across from her, Roberta noted that she might be about thirty-five years old, and her mouth, which was rather large, was set firmly, like a mask. Without consulting her companion, she ordered an excellent meal, and after the first course was set before them, her face relaxed somewhat, as if she suddenly realized her duties as a hostess.
“You are an excellent pilot, Miss Langwell,” she remarked. There was a musical quality to her voice, as if she might sing a good contralto, and when her eyes softened it gave her features an expression of real charm.
“Thank you,” Roberta replied, a bit at a loss. Since she had started to wonder about her passenger a feeling of awkwardness came over her, and she flushed with embarrassment.
“There is little money these days in commercial piloting, I am informed,” Mrs. Pollzoff went on in a chatty sort of fashion as if she were filling in the gap with small talk.
“I like the work,” the girl answered.
“You doubtless have many passengers and various experiences?”
“I guess we all do,” Roberta replied. Something inside her warned her that perhaps it would be just as well if she did not become too confidential over her work. Since she had won her own license she had learned much about human nature, and every day she was adding to that store of knowledge, either through her own experiences or those of her co-pilots, so her bump of caution was developing rapidly.