Ingals, or Amy Johnson. "Oh, it will be so wonderful to have your name, Bess!"
"I guess I could work it in," replied the other. "Though I'm usually pretty busy with my own flying. I happen to be out of a job now, but don't forget I'm a working girl!"
"Of course. But just having your name would mean so much to us! If you'd only consent to be president!"
Louise coughed irritably; this wasn't her idea of a business meeting. She had taken an instant dislike to Miss Hulbert, with her conceited manner.
"I'm afraid I couldn't do that," replied the latter. "I might accept a minor office, like secretary or treasurer, just so that you could have one experienced flyer on your list. But hardly president – I haven't time."
"One, indeed!" repeated Louise, scornfully. "I want to tell you, Miss Hulbert, that Miss Carlton is a wonderful aviatrix!"
"Oh, is that so?" smiled the older girl, as one might smile at a child. "I'm sorry, I'd forgotten Kitty did mention that one of you, besides her brother, had been flying a couple of months."
Linda blushed and Louise opened her mouth to make an angry retort, but Kitty spoke first.
"Two months seems a lot to us, but of course it's nothing to anybody like Miss Hulbert, who has handled all sorts of planes for the last three years. And has actually had instruction from men high up in the Flying Corps!.. Now, suppose we elect officers – two boys and two girls."
"I nominate Kitty Clavering for president," said Miss Hulbert, with an affectionate smile.
"And I move the nominations be closed," said the lieutenant. "It was Kitty's idea to have the club, and Kitty's father is making it possible, so I think Kitty is the only person for president."
Everybody seemed to agree with him; the election was unanimous.
Joe Elliston was then made vice-president, and Ralph secretary.
The latter, who had been waiting for a chance to nominate Linda for an office, spoke up at last, when it was time to choose a treasurer. But she declined.
"I'm afraid I can't stand, Ralph," she said. "You see, Lou and I decided definitely this morning to go away to school."
Miss Hulbert raised her eyebrows.
"But aren't you the young lady who's supposed to be so interested in aviation?" she asked, cuttingly. "If you really cared, I should think you'd give up finishing-school, or college, or whatever it is, for a chance like this. You get a great deal of experience from a flying club."
"Linda has had plenty of experience!" interrupted Louise, sharply.
"Really? And you got your license when, Miss Carlton?"
"In July," murmured Linda, in embarrassment. "But I am going to a ground school, Miss Hulbert, to qualify as a mechanic."
"How interesting! But really, Miss Carlton, let me tell you, it's a waste of time. There's no more reason for a girl to learn the engine of an airplane, than for her to know the engine of an automobile. You can't often fix things up in the air anyway."
Linda shrugged her shoulders; she had no desire to get into an argument. But neither had she any intention of giving up her cherished ambition. Ted Mackay, that wonderful young pilot who had taken her for her very first flight, and who had later rescued Louise and herself from the wilderness, was firm in the belief that this was the next step for her to take.
"Then I nominate Miss Hulbert," said Kitty, immediately. "Now don't forget, Bess, you said you'd consider it!" She looked imploringly at the older girl; it was plain to be seen that she admired her tremendously.
Without further discussion the nomination was made unanimous.
Jim Valier suddenly stood up and stretched. He was so tall and thin that he had been nicknamed "String Bean," and everybody said he was the laziest member of the crowd.
"I'm all tired out with this hard work," he announced. "Let the president do the rest – appointing committees, and what not. Now Kitty, when do we eat?"
Everybody roared. Intimate as they all were with Kitty Clavering, Jim was the only one who would have asked such a question.
"We ate everything they had in the house last night at the party," snapped Dot Crowley.
"Where are your manners, Jim?"
Laughingly, Kitty rang the bell and the usual refreshments appeared. While they were eating, Linda and Louise had drifted off to a corner of the room, away from Bess Hulbert, whom they both disliked, and Linda was showing her handkerchief to several of the girls and telling where her father had gotten it. Turning about to put her tea-cup on the tray, she saw Bess beside her, listening intently to her explanation.
"May I see it?" she asked, rather abruptly.
"Certainly," replied Linda, surprised that a girl like Miss Hulbert would care for such a dainty thing.
"You said outside of Montreal, didn't you?" she inquired. "I believe I know the convent you mean. 'Our Lady of Mercy,' isn't it?"
"Yes, I believe it is," answered Linda. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing. Only I've been there – I know Canada pretty well."
"Fortunately you don't have to go to Canada to get one. My father is buying them for the finer stores all over the country. You can get them almost anywhere – in any of the big cities."
Miss Hulbert raised her eyebrows.
"Quite an idea," she remarked. "Nobody ever would think of making money from nuns!"
It was an insult, of course, to her father, and Linda would have replied, but just at that moment Lieutenant Hulbert clapped his hands for silence.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted. "May I say something?"
"If we can go on eating while we listen," said Jim.
"You've had enough, String Bean!" put in Dot. "Go on, Lieutenant Hulbert. All the important people are listening."
"I have an exciting piece of news," explained the young officer. "A wealthy woman by the name of Mrs. Rodman Hallowell has just offered a prize of twenty-five thousand dollars to the first girl, or girls, who fly from New York to Paris, without a man's accompanying them. You know, of course, that this has never been done. Maybe such an undertaking is beyond this club, but anyway it's something to keep in mind. You can never tell how fast you'll progress, once you start flying."
"Oh, Bess!" cried Kitty. "Why don't you do it?"
"I would," replied the girl, coolly, as if she were sure of her ability, "if I had a suitable plane. But there's no use attempting it in the poor old boat I fly."
"Everybody says nobody but Sis could make it go," put in Lieutenant Hulbert, proudly. "It's one the Army gave up."
"I understand its temperament," explained his sister. "It's a Jenny – but somehow I manage her. And I never went to a ground school, either," she added, to Linda.
"Maybe the club could finance you," suggested Kitty. "Think of the honor it would mean to us!"
"That's awfully sweet of you, Kitty dear. But we'll talk about it later. Nobody will be trying for the prize over the winter, and by spring we'll see how our finances are."
Linda sat perfectly still, drinking in every word. Oh, if she could only win that prize! She and Louise! But how could they hope to, against such an experienced flyer as Miss Hulbert? What a bitter pill it would be to swallow, to watch her money going towards helping a girl like that to win! If it were even Dot, or Kitty – any one of her real friends!
Scarcely knowing what she was doing, she said good-by to her hostess, and followed Louise out of the house.
Chapter IV
The Ground School
"I certainly don't care for that woman!" announced Louise emphatically, as she got into Linda's roadster.
"Miss Hulbert?" inquired her chum.
"Yes. You might think she were the one and only queen of the air! And it's all so silly. Imagine