Show I FICTION D DOLL DOLIe FOR LUC LUCK C CD D By y GENE E GILBERT JL I Cornet DALMEn pALMER soared oared through the Ik sky with a light heart burt tie lie was leaving len leave in tag ing a hard life We behind year yean of to mouth existence years yean of depending on occasional charter tripe trip anI and the Ute student abl able to pa pay the high rates on his hb bl big machine The future opened opined before him He ne would get let a new ship on one of those thoe range long all metal jobs job no ICO in ill for tor long long competitive race roc And ADd he hi would have a swell swell looking looking girl with a pile of dough to pa pay the bills billi He lie glanced at the instrument board law saw that everything was wai all aU right The cabin ship roared steadily stead ily 1 over Connecticut at four tour thousand thou sand saed feet There were scattered clouds cloud beneath him but not enough to hide the ground His fits luck was wu breaking right for the first time Just right Reaching up he patted the mascot ot swinging from the roof on a length of ribbon It was a small all doll black of face with two pearl buttons set et In the satin for tor eyes a piece of f red silk Illk stitched across the lower halt half of the face for tor a mouth It was garbed in a loud plaid dress green greeD and red That stuffed rag little figure fleure had been hanging in this ship hip for over two years yeara Palmer had hac come to believe believe be bee lieve leave it was Wal lucky The girl who had loaned him the down payment on the machine had bad put tt It there ther He n. I Ithe had met her one olle summer when he I bad been barnstorming with a small old ship and the they had knocked around together for three months She had been pretty prett sure lure of hen herself elf Palmer recalled loaned him money mone talked about how we were going to make a fortune with the larger ship He recalled the night when they bad won the doll doU at a small mall ca carnival oar car in one of the ring toss game games He JIe had bed made up his mind already to pull out sometime soon And it ft had bad annoyed him somewhat to se seher see her having such a gay a time But Buthe Buthe he be could not tell her there was no need to Ba say goodbye tearfully and have her bawl and carry en in in front of him On their wa way home she ahe had bad insisted insisted in In- listed that they go 0 to the geld field where his ship was Wal staked down downin in n the open and sit lit in the cabin for a few minutes She had been big bl and light blonde and tal tale Just before the they had bad left lett the ubin she had hall pinned the thing thine to the upholstery on the ceiling our luck Eric she had said laId As Aa long as she's there well we'll always be safe lafe Palmer had bad smiled kissed herand berand her ber herand and taken her home At dawn of the same morning he had taken off and come com East He lIe had bad never returned Once In lit a while a letter from her had caught up with him but he be had not answered What was waa the use ue He had Intended to send lend her hr back the loan when he could He lIe was grateful for the help and everything But how could he explain without hurting her that they were just not suited to each other mea the tho letters letter had bad topped stopped he had thought that she ah had understood Then Thea some come fellow who had bad known them both had I handed banded him a clipping without a I word She had bad been killed In a crossing croslin accident It seemed that her ber car had bad stalled on the tracks and that the she had made no effort to get out The fellow evidently thought she tto had bad done don it on OD put pure pose Palmer knew better botter That girl had bad had bad character she ahe would not Dot ha have done away with herself over a few It hundred bucks buckl and a broken engagement He bad had been tempted to take that doll down Then he ha had reasoned rea yea owed that it would be in a way M 1 z x e ed er d r r r rm 4 m at a ix f 4 e X f lie He Jerked the doll loose and tossed It U out through the open side window an admission of remorse And he had nothing to blame himself for tor The Th doll doU had brought him luck at last lut Eleanore She had bad looks and background and money mone Furthermore Further more she had the kind of a spirit he liked which he be needed close to him To her a ship wasn't something something some thing to work for a small house houle for tor an ordinary living She enjoyed what he enjoyed fame tame her name In Inthe inthe the papers She loved him him all aU right but she che would always understand that he must take lo long chances AHEAD HEAD A HEAD he saw saw law the small field geld where she was waiting The They would drive to her home be married married mar mar- ried and fly away He He tipped Upped his left wing banked lazily over a geld field A bright spot Of color detached detached de de- de Itself from a long sleek dark car Eleanore waving her scarf That was service already service already III His ml girl waiting for him with a sixteen cylinder bus complete with chauffeur His IUs spirits surged higher This was a private airport no inspector would be around so h bet he was safe sate in giving riving her a show He slammed the motor full fuU on nosed down then hauled the ship up and over In hi a aUght tight loop He lIe leveled off and eased her around a few whig whig-overs wing and and level flight Bight again Something caught his hI eye the doll swinging from the roof grinning grin ning He lIe smiled and slapped it like a punching bag a few times Umes glanced at his hi altimeter He still lUll had fifteen hundred feet One last stunt and then he could land He lie circled the field geld once more swung around and when he was wu almost over ov oven er en the car shoved the throttle fullon full fullon fullon on and dove in a screaming creaming fall The moving doll again agam attracted his hll glance Eleanore had tightened her lips Ups when he had told her it was a souvenir from a dame before he I got serious with her It might be tactful to ditch it it now scarcely now scarcely the the- memento for a perfect honeymoon honeymoon honey moon A small sacrifice to love He reached out out but jerked it loose and tossed It out through the open side window and pulled the wheel ba back ek to neutral Eleanore was standing still sun bj bl b I Ithe the side of the car he noticed and i he decided to level off No need to frighten her He hauled back further fur ther on the wheel It yielded an inch and and stuck He lIe pulled again harder hard er and the wheel stuck the stuck the wheel stuck stuck- He must get her nose up level leveloff off off off-he he was doing better than two hundred and the ground was close Too close e 0 e Caught between the horizontal stabilizer and the counterweight for the elevators the small black doll in the loud green and red plaid dress seemed to widen the grin oIher oi 01 oiher her scarlet satin mouth |