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The Girl Aviators on Golden Wings By: Margaret Burnham |
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THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS By Margaret Burnham CHAPTER I THE GREAT ALKALI
"And so this is the great Nevada desert!" Peggy Prescott wrinkled her nose rather disdainfully as she gazed
from the open window of the car out over the white, glittering
expanse dotted here and there with gloomy looking clumps of sage
brush through which they had been traveling for some little time
past. "This is it," nodded her brother Roy; "what do you think of it,
sis?" "Um er, I shall have to wait a while before I answer that,"
rejoined Peggy judicially. "Well, here's Jimsy; let's ask him," cried Roy, as a lad of his own
age, accompanied by a slender, graceful girl, came down the aisle of
the car and approached the section in which the two young Prescotts
were sitting. "Jimsy Bancroft," demanded Roy, "we are now on the great Nevada
desert, or on the edge of it. Does it meet with your approval?" "There's plenty of it anyhow," laughed Jimsy, "and really it's very
much like what I expected it would be." "I feel like a regular cowgirl or a er well, what the newspapers
call a typical Westerner already," said Jess Bancroft, Jimsy's
sister. "Only typical Westerners don't protect their delicate complexions
from dust with cold cream," laughed Peggy, holding up a finger
reprovingly. "As if any beauty magazine won't tell you it's a
woman's duty to take the greatest care of her complexion," parried
Jess. "Roy and I have been sitting out on the observation platform
on the last coach that is, we sat there till the dust drove us in." She shook the folds of a long, light pongee automobile coat she wore
and a little cloud of dust arose. They all coughed as the pungent
stuff circulated. "Ugh," cried Roy, "it makes your eyes smart." "That's the alkali in it," quoth Jimsy sagely, "alkali is " "Very unpleasant," coughed Peggy. "But as we are likely to have to endure it for the next few weeks,"
struck in Roy, "we might as well lose no time in getting accustomed
to it." "Well girls and boys," came a deep, pleasant voice behind them, "we
shall be in Blue Creek in a short time now, so gather up your
belongings. I'll take care of the aeroplane outfits and the other
stuff in the baggage car," he went on, "and here comes Miss Prescott
now." The lady referred to was a sweet faced woman of some fifty years of
age, though it was easy to see that the years had dealt kindly with
her during her placid life in the village of Sandy Beach, on Long
Island, New York, where she had made, her home. Miss Prescott was
the aunt of the two Prescott children, and since their father's
death some time before had been both mother and father to them their
own mother having passed away when they were but small children. As readers of the first volume of this series know, Mr. Prescott had
been an inventor of some distinction. Dying, he had confided to his
son and daughter his plans for a non capsizable aeroplane of great
power. His son had promised to carry on the work, and had devoted
his legacy to this purpose. In that volume, which was called "The Girl Aviators and the Phantom
Airship," it will be recalled, it was told how Peggy had been of
material aid to her brother in his plans and hopes, and had, in
reality, "saved the day" for him when he fell into the hands of some
enemies. This occurred on the eve of a great aeroplane contest in
which Roy had entered in the hopes of winning the first prize. With
the money thus obtained he planned to pay off a mortgage held on
Miss Prescott's home by an unscrupulous old banker, whose son was
the prime mover in the plots against Roy. One of the means adopted to force him to sell his secrets was the
manipulation of a phantom aeroplane which, for a time, sadly puzzled
the lad and his sister. The mystery was solved in a strange way,
however, and almost at the same time, the baffling problem of what
had become of Mrs. Bancroft's jewels was also unraveled... Continue reading book >>
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