“Mr. Davis,” he said, “I have just been reading the story about Warren Long’s parachute jump last night. I have had a note from Warren Long, too. It seems that when he stepped out of the burning plane he fell head first, and in that position he watched the plane as he dropped. The ship turned over almost as soon as he stepped out of her and dived straight at him, like a flaming arrow. Warren didn’t dare open his ’chute for fear the plane would foul it and he would be killed. So he just kept on falling head first, watching the blazing plane as it tore after him, and hoping the thing would pass him clean and in time. For he wasn’t very high up when he jumped. The ship barely missed him as it shot by. The instant it was past, Warren yanked his rip-cord, and it wasn’t a moment too soon, either. The ’chute opened and kept him up in the air for a few seconds, while the ship hit the ground with a tremendous explosion. The fire that followed was terrific. Fortunately, the wind blew Warren well to one side. But he must have been burned some before he jumped, for he sent me a bit of his parachute, and the silk is badly scorched.”
“Do you know where Warren Long is now?” asked the city editor.
“No, sir. But I suspect he came back to Hadley Airport on a train, and is probably at his home in Plainfield.”
“The story we printed is an A. P. despatch,” said Mr. Davis. “All the papers will have it. Likely that is all the story any of them will carry. We ought to be able to get a good exclusive follow-up story. I’ll send a man over to Hadley to get into touch with Long and get all the details from him. Meantime, I wish you would fly over to Ringtown, where the crash occurred, get all the facts you can there, and take pictures of the burned plane, the spot where the plane crashed, and anything else that will help the story.”
“All right, Mr. Davis. I’ll be off as soon as I can get my plane warmed up. Be sure to tell the man you send to see Warren Long that I want Warren to give him the whole story. Otherwise he won’t talk. But he’ll do anything for me. Good-bye. I’m off.”
CHAPTER II
A Flight in Quest of News
Fairly atremble with eagerness, Jimmy ran out into the hangar and made a rapid inspection of his plane, to see that everything was right. He glanced at the wheels, to see that the chocks were in front of them, then scrambled into the cabin and touched the starter. His engine answered with a roar. Jimmy throttled it down until it was idling gently. For a moment he sat listening to it. Then, satisfied, he climbed out of the ship, and set about completing his preparations for the task ahead of him.
Had Jimmy been a little more experienced in newspaper work he would not have been so excited about this simple assignment that Mr. Davis had given him. All he had to do was to fly a hundred miles or so, gather a few facts, take a few pictures, and get back as quickly as possible. But there was no need to hurry, as there would have been had it been late in the day. Nevertheless, Jimmy was all atingle with enthusiasm and eagerness. He could hardly wait to be at his task.
Jimmy had always been like that about anything in which he was interested. He put his whole soul into whatever he was doing. Doubtless he owed his present job to that very fact. For after he had lost his place as a reserve mail pilot, when Uncle Sam quit flying the mails, Jimmy had really created this present job for himself. He had told Mr. Tom Johnson, the managing editor of the Morning Press, that that newspaper ought to have its own plane and its own pilot. And when Mr. Johnson said that that was the last thing the Morning Press needed, Jimmy had decided to prove to Mr. Johnson that the newspaper really did need a plane and a pilot even though the managing editor thought otherwise. Jimmy proved his point by volunteering to execute two difficult commissions for the Morning Press and then by succeeding in each commission. And in each case he owed his success to his enthusiasm, his whole-hearted devotion to his task, and his refusal to be defeated. In each case perseverance had won for him.