pecial plane for almost any
activity of this multi-millionaire widow was worth a half column of
space. Instead, Jane read the alarming news that a mail plane had been
robbed early that morning by aerial bandits. The ship, a Bertold single
engined plane, had been shot down in southeastern Iowa on the Kansas
City to Chicago run and more than a hundred thousand in currency taken
from the registered mail pouch which it carried. The pilot had been
seriously wounded by the two bandits, who had used a machine gun to
force the mail ship down.

Jane resolved right then and there to keep all of the papers away from
Mrs. Van Verity Vanness. If aerial bandits were operating, it was
entirely within the realm of possibility for them to attack a special
chartered by a woman as wealthy as her companion.

The tri-motor hurled through the night, the speed increasing as Charlie
Fischer pushed it up another thousand feet to benefit by an even
stronger tail wind at that altitude. They roared along at between 165
and 170 miles an hour, nearly 50 miles above the usual cruising speed
of a plane of that type.

Below them winked the revolving beacons which lighted the
transcontinental airway at night. Occasionally they sighted the dim
gleams from some prairie town.

Mrs. Van Verity Vanness let the magazine drop into her lap as she
closed her eyes, now thoroughly relaxed and without fear of anything
happening to the plane. It was 11:30 and Jane leaned over and spoke to
her companion.

"I'll bring the bouillon and sandwiches right away. Then you can go to
sleep."

Mrs. Van Verity Vanness nodded contentedly and Jane went back to her
pantry.

The bouillon, golden brown, smelled delicious as it gurgled out of the
thermos jug and the sandwiches were almost paper thin with a tasty
filling of olives and salad dressing.

Jane put the lunch on a silver tray and carried it into the cabin where
she placed it on a small portable table which she had put between the
seats.

"Several hours ago I thought I'd never be able to eat again," smiled
the woman of millions, "but this actually appeals to me."

Jane agreed, for Miss Comstock had personally prepared the lunch and it
should be delicious. The bouillon was expertly flavored and the
sandwiches were the kind that made even the daintiest eaters hunger for
more.

When the last sandwich had disappeared and the second cup of bouillon
was only a memory, Mrs. Van Verity Vanness leaned back in her chai