The baggage was weighed, checked and placed on a small cart to be wheeled into the hangar when the plane arrived.
The dispatcher stuck his head out of the operations room.
“Charlie Fischer wants the flood light,” he said.
Jane wondered who Charlie Fischer was and just why he wanted the flood light, but to the field manager that message appeared important for he hurried into the hangar. A moment later a flood of blue light illuminated the field and the drone of engines could be heard.
Lights flashed on in the hangar and Jane and Sue left the waiting room. Two stars appeared to be descending out of the west and the hulk of a great tri-motor biplane drifted into the brilliant light of the field.
The plane settled gently and rolled smoothly along the crushed-rock runway. Its motors boomed as the pilot swung it into the hangar.
Jane and Sue looked at the big ship apprehensively. It didn’t seem possible that the three motors could lift the great plane off the ground and hurl it through the air at two miles a minute.
The ground crew wheeled the portable steps up to the cabin and the pilot and co-pilot came down. They were young, clean-cut chaps.
The pilot hastened into the operations room to obtain the latest reports on the weather between University City and Chicago while the co-pilot supervised the refueling.
Jane saw the baggage cart wheeled alongside the plane and their bags disappeared into the forward hold. Then the night manager was at their side.