Linda Carlton, Air Pilot. Lavell Edith

some such longing. Perhaps it was her father who had been responsible for it. Restless and unhappy after her mother's death, he had given his baby to his sister to take care of, and had wandered from one place to another, only coming home every year or so, to see how Linda was growing. As if to make up to her for his absences, he brought her marvelous presents – presents that were intended rather for a boy than for a girl. Early in life she had learned to shoot a gun, ride a horse, and drive a car. No wonder that she dreamed of airplanes!

      Her aunt, on the other hand, disapproved of this way of bringing up a girl. She wanted Linda to be just like the other fashionable wealthy young ladies in Spring City, to spend her time at parties and at the Country Club, and later to marry a rich man – like Ralph Clavering. Naturally the words of the class prophet pleased her.

      Nor had she any idea that Linda did not agree with her, for her niece had always kept her dreams to herself. There was no use talking about them, Linda thought, for her aunt would never understand.

      "And I guess the prophet was about right," continued Miss Carlton. "Any girl that gets seven bunches of flowers from seven different boys, won't have any difficulty getting married."

      "But I don't want to get married, Aunt Emily!" protested Linda.

      "Not yet, dear – of course. Why, you're only seventeen! I couldn't spare you now – just when you're free to be at home with me. Besides, I think every girl should have two years at least to do exactly as she pleases!"

      Exactly as she pleases! Why, that would mean learning to fly! Oh, if Aunt Emily could know the fierce longing in her heart to become a really fine pilot, to train herself to make her mark in the world!

      "So I want you to have a happy, care-free summer," continued the other, totally unaware of her niece's thoughts. "At first I thought we would go abroad, but on the whole that would be too strenuous, after this hectic year. The other girls' mothers agree with me. Mrs. Haydock and I were talking about it today, and we've practically decided to go to a charming resort on Lake Michigan that she says is most exclusive. There you can be with all your best friends."

      Linda said nothing; she just couldn't be enthusiastic about wasting three months in that fashion. When she had been hoping to stay at home and enroll for a course at the Spring City Flying School!

      "You'd like that, wouldn't you, dear?" persisted Miss Carlton, as Linda steered her car through the wide gates of their spacious estate. "You could swim and drive and play tennis and dance to your heart's content! With Louise – and – and – the Claverings! Mrs. Haydock told me they are going there too. Why, you'd meet all the right people!"

      Linda sighed. Aunt Emily's ideas of the right people were not exactly hers – particularly at the present time. She wanted to meet flyers, men and women noted in the field of aviation, not merely wealthy society folk. But she could not say that to her aunt; the latter was afraid of airplanes, and had only grudgingly given her consent that Linda go up in one. Naturally she had never mentioned her accident.

      "Well, we'll talk our plans over later," said Miss Carlton, when Linda failed to make a reply. "I guess you're too tired to think about anything now. And," she added as she stepped from the car, "don't you want to leave your car here, and let Thomas put it away?"

      "No, thank you, Auntie," she replied, for she did not like even so capable a chauffeur as Thomas to touch her precious roadster. "It'll only take a minute."

      As Linda walked slowly back to the house, she was thinking of Ted Mackay. For she believed those wilted flowers at her waist were his. There had been no card, but they had come from a small flower shop at the other end of Spring City – not the expensive shop that most of her friends patronized. She would go over to the school soon, and thank him. But she would have to tell him that she was obliged to give up her own plans for the summer! Tears of disappointment came into her eyes, and she wondered if there weren't some way it could be arranged. Maybe if she asked her father…

      The thought of her father drove everything out of her mind. He hadn't even bothered to come home! Nothing else seemed to matter.

      As she entered the living-room, she found her aunt waiting for her.

      "Come in, dear – and get some rest," said Miss Carlton. "You look so tired that you actually seem unhappy."

      Linda forced a smile.

      "Is something worrying you, dear? Or is it just the heat and the rush?"

      "I don't know," answered the girl, sinking into a deep chair by the window. "I – I – guess I'm just foolish, Aunt Emily." There was a catch in her voice. "But I'm so disappointed that Daddy didn't come for my Commencement. And I wrote to the ranch three times to remind him!"

      Miss Carlton nodded; her brother's ways were past her understanding. How anybody could be so indifferent to such a lovely daughter as Linda! And yet when he was home, no father could be more affectionate. It was just that he was absent-minded, that he hated to be tied down to dates and places. He might be at his ranch in Texas now, or he might have wandered off to Egypt or to South America, without even telling his family. He had been like that, ever since Linda's mother had died.

      "I'm not so surprised at that as I am at his not sending you a present," commented Miss Carlton. "He may never have received your letters – or he may drop in a week late… But you mustn't let that worry you, Linda – you have to take your father as he is… And you must get some rest for tomorrow."

      "Tomorrow?" repeated the girl, vaguely.

      "Yes. The Junior League Picnic. You haven't told me whom you invited."

      "Why – I – a – "

      "You forgot to invite anybody!" laughed Miss Carlton. "I know you – why, you're something like your father about social engagements, my dear! And of course all the nicest boys will be asked already! I know that Louise is going with Ralph Clavering – Mrs. Haydock told me today."

      "That's fine," commented Linda, indifferently. "They're great pals."

      "But whom will you ask? At this late date?"

      "I really think I'd rather stay home, Auntie, if you don't mind. Because – well – Daddy might come – and I'd hate to be so far away. They're going all the way over to Grier's woods, I recall hearing Dot say, and you know that's at least fifteen miles."

      "Of course, dear – do just as you like," replied her aunt, putting her motherly arms around her. "Only don't count too much on your father's coming!"

      So Linda went to bed that night, little thinking that her plans would be changed the following morning, and that, in later years, she was to look back upon that day as one of the most wonderful of her whole life!

      Chapter III

      Her Father's Gift

      As Linda had no plans for the day after her class exercises, she had intended to sleep late. But the arrival of her chum, Louise Haydock, accompanied by Ralph Clavering and his Harvard room-mate, Maurice Stetson, changed things for her.

      At half-past eight her aunt came into her bedroom, half apologetically, half smiling.

      "Linda dear, I want you to wake up," she said. "You have company."

      "Yes?" replied the girl sleepily.

      "You are rested, aren't you? And it's so much cooler. It's a real June day – the kind the poets write about!"

      Linda sat up in bed, and blinked her eyes. Then suddenly she thought of her father. Did Aunt Emily mean he had come?

      "Daddy?" she asked excitedly. "Do you mean he's here?"

      Miss Carlton's smile faded; she had not meant to mislead her niece. It was cruel to disappoint her.

      "No, dear. It's only Louise – with Ralph and another boy. They want you to wake up, and go on the picnic."

      "Oh, I see… But you know I didn't invite anybody, Aunt Emily."

      "That's just it. You're to go with this other boy. He's Ralph's room-mate, and he's here on a visit. You will go, won't you, dear?"

      "Yes, of course, if Lou wants me to. I'll get dressed right away… And