The Spirit of ST Louis by Charles A. Lindbergh Read Free Book Online Page A

of mail, couldn't it? How much does a Bellanca cost?"
    "I don't know, Bill; but my guess is about ten thousand dollars."
    "Wheeuuu-u-u-u; that's a lot of money. Where are you going to raise it, Slim?"
    "That's what I'm working on now," I tell him. "Major Lambert says he'll put in a thousand dollars. Earl Thompson is interested, and I can put in two thousand myself. I haven't asked anybody else."
    "Say, you're lucky to get Major Lambert interested. That'll help a lot. Did he really say he'd put up a thousand dollars?"
    "He said he would if I could get enough of the right kind of men together."
    Bill hesitates, and then goes on.
    "We'll help as much as we can, Slim, but you know we aren't in a position to put up much money. We're losing dollars every day right now. I've got to go down to the bank and try to raise some more."
    "I know, Bill. I didn't come to you for money. You can help in two other ways. I want to be able to say that the Robertson Aircraft Corporation is in the group that's behind me; and I need your permission to arrange the mail schedule so I can get away for two or three days at a time when it's necessary."
    "You can say we're behind you if that will help any," he says. "But I don't know about the schedule. You know the Post Office won't take excuses. The mail's just got to go through. Can Phil and Nellie handle it alone? Suppose one of them goes down. We wouldn't have a reserve pilot. You three are the only ones who know the route." -
    "I think we can keep the route running all right, Bill. The biggest danger is weather. But you can telegraph me if a plane goes down and I'll take the first train back. If I have to be away too much, we'll train another pilot."
    "Well, be awfully careful, Slim. We mustn't get into trouble with the Post Office. Be sure and fix it up with Phil and Nellie. And keep me posted where you are. Say, that flight ought to be worth a lot for advertising. Have you thought about getting some company to back it? Say, why don't you talk to the Post-Dispatch? They might be willing to put up enough money to cover the whole thing. You could paint the paper's name on the fuselage. Say, it would be great advertising for them. I know one of the editors. Why don't we go down and talk to him?"
    Bill is bubbling over with enthusiasm. You can see how he managed to finance the mail route. Once he gets behind an idea, he makes you believe anything is possible.
    I'm not too happy about the Post-Dispatch suggestion. There's something wrong about flying a billboard to Paris; it's too much like blocking out a mountain vista with an advertisement for beer. Still, if I want to make the flight, I've got to look into all possibilities. One must establish alternatives before he can choose. And Bill's had a lot of experience raising money. He knows that if you set your sights too high the bullets fall short.
    "You make the appointment," I tell him.
    "Fine, Slim, fine. I'll try to make it this week. Say, that's some flight, isn't it?"
    I start out the door, and pause.
    "How's the boy, Bill?" I ask.
    It's a standing joke with the mail pilots. We tell each other that the Major's arms lengthen two inches every time he talks about his baby. Major Bill leans back in his chair, laughs, and stretches his arms out as far as they'll go.
     
    9
     
    I stand in the doorway of the Anglum post office, reading an Associated Press dispatch.
     
     
    BYRD TO FLY ATLANTIC
     
    POLE CONQUEROR PREDICTS
OCEAN CROSSING NEXT YEAR
     
    BRIDGEPORT, CONN., Oct. 28 (AP).—Conquering the Atlantic Ocean by air from New York to London or Paris in a heavier-than-air machine would be accomplished next summer, Lieut. Commander Richard E. Byrd declared here tonight, intimating that he himself would attempt the journey.
    The American naval officer, who commanded the first successful expedition to fly to the North Pole, said that he could make no announcement of the exact plans for an expedition which he admitted were being formulated at