“Now we’ll have to go it alone,” she said soberly.
“Nothing new about that,” Sparky grinned. “We’ve made it alone practically all the way and you’re bound to admit that we’ve had all the luck any flier could ask.”
“Yes, all the luck,” Mary repeated slowly.
“You’re tired, Mary,” Sparky said with a show of sympathy.
“Yes, I guess I am. Can’t take it after all, I guess.”
“Can’t take it! Man! Oh! Man!” he roared. “Listen to you talk!”
Just then Scottie came over from Sparky’s plane.
“I covered up the box that the spy pried open,” he said. “Then I changed the loading so it’s on the bottom. And believe it or not,” he added, “I didn’t peek.”
“The secret compartment?” Mary’s voice rose. “Had it been broken open?”
“Don’t know a thing about a secret compartment,” was Scottie’s reply. “I went over the cabin with a fine-toothed comb. Everything but that box seemed okay.”