He pulled the cord. More gliding downward. A slight shock that told him the parachute was open; then the earth came up to meet him.
At first a blurred impression, it resolved itself into fields and pastures, an orchard, a farmhouse, and last of all, a small girl dressed in red.
Johnny came down standing. He ran a few steps. His parachute folded up. He lurched a step or two, then stood still not thirty feet from a very much surprised little girl who fairly danced, in spite of her crutches.
“Where did you come from?” she demanded. “I looked, and you were not there. Then I looked again and you were. How funny!”
“Yes,” said Johnny, “it is strange. But then, this is a strange world.
“I came down from the air to bring you a doll. Curlie sent it—Curlie Carson.”
“Yes,” said Johnny. “She shuts her eyes when she sleeps. And she can talk a little. But the best part is her dress. See! It is all made of real money! There is another dress underneath. So tell your daddy to take off this green dress and use it buying things for you.”
“Oh!” The little girl stared. She did not understand all this. But she took the doll.
“Her father may not understand it either,” Johnny told himself. “Guess I’ll leave it that way, at that.”
“Good-bye, little girl. Have a good time.”
He gathered up his parachute and started for the road.
“Aren’t you going back into the air?” she asked.
He climbed over the fence, caught a ride on a passing truck, and was gone.
That night there was surprise and great rejoicing in the little unpainted farmhouse that lay beneath the great Air Mail route to New York. And many were the happy days that followed.
It is safe to say that Greasy Thumb and his gang never guessed the final disposition of their ill-gotten gain—their marked money.
Johnny Thompson was back at the shack in the city. Drew Lane and Tom Howe were there. So too was “The Ferret,” and two heavy-set Federal men. But the center of attention was a certain slim miss in a plain, dark gray suit—Joyce Mills.
“I have the whole story,” she said impressively, as the last man to arrive drew up a chair. “The trail leads north to the woods and lakes of Michigan.”
“Did he tell you where the loot is hidden?” It was a Federal man who spoke.