attie.

"Both ships will be there within five minutes of each other. Besides,
Sue is to be on the _Flyer_ regularly, and she might just as well get
acquainted with the regular pilots who are on that run."

Mattie was silent, but it was obvious that she was anything but pleased
at Miss Comstock's decision, and Jane knew more than ever, that Mattie
was going to cause trouble for everyone else in the ranks of the
stewardess corps.

Chapter Sixteen

Through the Fog

The first section of the _Night Flier_ came in from the west three
minutes ahead of schedule and with a capacity load. While the
passengers stretched their legs and visited about the flight over the
mountains from Salt Lake, Sue stowed her kit away in the pantry.

With departure time at hand, she forgot the nervousness which had
gripped her earlier and became a calm, self-contained nurse.

"The best of luck," whispered Jane as she squeezed her friend's hand.

Sue herded her passengers into the cabin and closed the door. The
landing stage was wheeled away and the _Night Flyer_ lumbered out of
the hangar on the first lap of the long flight to Chicago.

Jane watched the lights of the plane until they were pin-points in the
east.

It was Sue's task to make her passengers comfortable for the night and
she went along the aisle, adjusting seats, turning off lights, and
bringing out the thick, warm blankets from the supply closet. In half
an hour she had the task completed and only one passenger, an elderly
man, had elected to read, selecting a Cheyenne paper with the latest
news.

As they sped east, Sue wondered at her own nervousness which had been
so evident before the flight. Now everything seemed so matter-of-fact.
She felt as though she had been flying for years.

A woman who had come through from 'Frisco was getting off at North
Platte and Sue roused her just before they swooped down on the field.
In ten minutes they were away again, with a radio order to stop at
Grand Island to pick up a passenger for Chicago and another coast
passenger would disembark at Lincoln.

The _Night Flyer_ made most of the local stops, and as a result was
anything but popular with the pilots. Most of the new men on the line
drew the thankless job of piloting the _Flyer_, and the crew of Sue's
ship had been on only a little more than a month.

With a fair tail wind, they kept on time despite all of their stops,
and they soared away from Omaha and over the muddy