“Right first time,” said Dulcie. “David has told you. Well, Wally tried to give me a rush. Gee, he was a wet smack! And he wouldn’t take hints. I was bored to tears, and the boys all offered to take him off and kill him. But all that doesn’t explain why he has it in for David.”
“Visibility increasin’,” commented Red. “David doesn’t just shun you, Miss Hammond. That wouldn’t just please Wally. But that’s only part of it.”
Speaking in a low tone, he told her how, almost four years ago, David had passed his entrance exams to the pilots’ school, while Cram had failed. He told her a great deal about Wally, as man and boy.
“He’s not as bad as I make out, perhaps,” he finished, “but even as a boy Wally always magnified every slight or injury to Mr. Walter Cram, and retaliated on a big scale.”
“I think it’s a shame!” cried Dulcie. “It makes me have a horrid feeling.”
“Well, we’ll just keep an eye out, and see what we see,” said Red as he went off in search of a possible loose screw.
Dulcie liked Red. She liked his bright smile, and the twinkle in his blue eyes. She didn’t care who he was, or whence he came. He was so true, so merry, and so unassuming that he could be any man’s friend. Yes, she liked Red, and she liked David. She certainly did like David.
During the lunch hour the Moonbeam sped smoothly along at an altitude of one thousand feet. Dulcie declared that it was like being on an ocean liner, only nicer. She proved a joy unspeakable to the young reporters, the professors regarded her with apparent curiosity, and even Mr. Hamilton induced her to talk to him a while. Tea-time was one of the pleasantest hours of the day. No one suffered but Koko, the little dog, who stuffed on cakes, and groaned for hours afterwards.
That night the company dispersed very early. The altitude, the crisp untainted air and the novelty combined to make everyone sleepy. Mr. Hammond was in the best of spirits. Tail winds had helped them on, they had used all the engines, and were already three hours ahead of the schedule of the Graf Zeppelin.
Thursday morning, the seventeenth of June, found the ship sailing serenely along over a floor of heavy clouds. The sun shone brightly, and the air was even, but there was a low humming in the wires that disturbed David. He found Red in his cubicle, and told him that he looked for a storm.