Argosy All-Story Weekly, November 12, 1927 — page 45: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

KERRY OF THE AIR MAIL. You’re not going back there to start. We are taking a little pleasure run together.” With no controls in the passenger de- partment, Glenn found himself hopeless. He looked dismally at the empty socket that had contained the second joy-stick. VIL. However, Kerry had not come com- pletely unprepared. Runyon had seemed ‘all right” to him previously, but, like Dick Sheldon, he had found that the ex- periences of the past few weeks had planted suspicion of almost any stranger in his heart. He had been discussing a few moments previously the fact that Philip Hatton was not present at the air field, rather an ir- regular development, considering that he had three planes entered in the race. He had wondered if there was any significance in this fact. He now realized that there had been. No matter what raw work was pulled, it would be difficult to prove anything against Hat- ton. Very likely Hatton had paid over a sizable sum to Runyon as a bribe, and very likely both realized that there would be a searching investigation of Kerry’s kidnap- ing by Runyon. He assumed that Runyon would have some alibi ready, that even if it did not fully convince would shield Hatton; then Runyon, although in bad odor generally, could buy himself an old plane and go barnstorming about the country. A man who could be bribed would not be apt to worry about the reputation he left behind. Glenn sat back, as if defeated. The field was fast receding from view. He could not get hold of the joy-stick. Runyon had that gun. And precious moments were slipping by. Glenn felt for his parachute, and then, taking a pair of pliers from the pocket of his flying coat, he suddenly reached over the side of the ship and deliberately cut the gas-control wire running to the carbu- retor. Then he pulled the end of it so that the gas was cut off. : With an oath Runyon was working fever- ishly at the dead throttle, and Glenn stood 519 upon the cowl of the plane and leaped. It was his last chance, for Sheldon, for Betty, for Dick and himself. The dead plane had been caught in a de- scending air current and was dangerously low for a jump, but Glenn knew that luck was with him when he felt the riser jerk on his shoulders and the leg straps tighten. A couple of minutes before he landed in a gully at the side of a road he saw the Runyon plane hit the ground a number of rods away from the road, and nose over, and Runyon get out groggily and start to flag an automobile coming along the road. There was a moment’s parley, and then he saw Runyon climb into the car and the latter speed along the road which, a few miles back, would skirt the air field. Run- yon was getting back to the field first with his story, whatever it would be. At any event, he meant to keep Kerry out of the race. And he had already put the other Sheldon plane out of commis- sion. Things looked dark for the Sheldon interests. As Glenn landed, he pulled in the shroud lines and extricated himself from the para- chute, which he left in a tangled mass by - the roadside. He set off at a full run down toward the field. An automobile passed him. He yelled desperately to be given a ride. The driver paid no attention to him. He rounded a curve, and saw that sev- eral cars filled with curiosity seekers were speeding back along the road. Undoubt- edly the occupants had seen him come down in the parachute, and had seen the plane crash, and believed that there was more excitement in this quarter than at the flying field. He stopped one of the cars, a powerful one, made quick explanations, and, after a heart-breaking lapse of time, it seemed to him, was allowed to get in. The young man at the wheel smelled of liquor, which, instead of giving him the usual reckless- ness, seemed to make him aware of the necessity for cautious driving. The big car plodded along the road, woefully slow. In desperation Glenn crowded the young fellow away from the wheel, took it himself, and turned down a roadway which he knew (e(0) oOLO KS AMUN (E@