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The Plane Is Christened · The Non-Stop Stowaway

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  Chapter four of The Non Stop Stowaway. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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  LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by voice over Leon The Non Stop Stowaway
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  by Clayton Knight, The plane is christened Kiwi. Awoke with a dread,
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  feeling that something was wrong. It was daybreak, light was just beginning to
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  come in the window. Then he remembered that Dad and Jack had not come
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  back in the plaine. Hurriedly dressing, he tiptoed down the stairs, opened
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  the door on to the porch, and without disturbing anyone, made his way
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  down the path. The robins and the grackles were making a great racket in
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  an old pine tree near a little lake in Bert's yard. He followed the
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  shore, hurried on through the lumber yard and out to the road. The
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  way to the field was by this time well known to him, and he
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  started off at a fast clip. He felt that he must get over to
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  the field and get some news of Dad. There were a few people on
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  the road, and he had gone perhaps half a mile before anyone overtook him.
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  The first car whizzed by, but another coming along soon after pulled up
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  beside him, and the man leaned out and called want a ride, Bob?
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  How far are you going? Kiwi was not sure that he ought to
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  get into this stranger's car, but the man, dressed in dark clothes,
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  a blue shirt and a cap with a shiny peak, seemed thoroughly friendly,
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  so he hopped in. The car started off with a clatter and rattle.
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  As Kiwi said that he was going over to the flying field that's right on
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  my way, the man said, I'm just going over to take out the
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  four fifty nine. Are you a flyer? Kiwi as well? Not exactly.
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  As a matter of fact, I'm a fireman on the Long Island Railroad.
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  But I see lots of these flyers as my train passes by the field.
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  One of these days, I'm going to get one of them to take
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  me up. I've been up lots of times, Kiwi replied proudly. They
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  chattered on and Kiwi told the man who he was and how his father was
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  planning a non stop flight to India. The fireman said a little incredulously,
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  are you going to ki We had to admit rather shamefacedly that he wasn't,
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  at least Dad had said he wasn't, But I'd like to, and I've
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  heard that India is a very nice place. Dad says. They have elephants
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  there, the same as they have in the circus, except they are everywhere.
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  The people wear turbans and bright colored clothes, and even the men wear
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  ear rings. The firemen looked a bit skeptical as to that he had seen
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  such things at the movies, but really did not believe they were true.
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  As they turned the corner into the road that led past the field, he
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  stopped and let Kiwi out. As Kiwi thanked him for the ride, he
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  said, tell your dad, I'm coming over for a ride one of these
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  days. I don't think he'll take you. Kiwi answered, you have to
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  tease him a lot for rides. As the car started away, it came
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  over Kiwi that he did not know where Dad was. Just then, he
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  might be down almost anywhere along the coast. There seemed to be no one
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  at the field. He followed the road down toward their hangar, clambered through
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  the fence and came up through the tall grass at the back. He heard
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  voices inside the hangar and stopped. It might be Dad. He heard god'sgrave
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  saying something, and then a strange voice broke in, But you're going it
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  too fast, old fellow. They'll catch on to you. Wait till just
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  before they hop that's time enough. This sounded funny to Kiwi, and he
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  wondered who could be talking to Cosgrave in this manner. He hurried around to
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  the front, opened the little door and went into the empty hangar, making
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  his way to the room partitioned off at the back. The wind carried the
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  small front door too with a bang, and the voices he had heard suddenly
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  ceased. As he opened the inner door, Cosgrave was just standing up and
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  starting for it. Kiwi looked at the other man, but it was no
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  one he had seen before. He was neatly dressed and had a tiny black
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  mustache. Cosgrave said, in a strange voice, Oh, hello, Kiwi,
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  what are you doing around here so early? I came over to find
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  out what happened to Dad. Oh he's all right. We got a message
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  during the night that he had landed near Trenton. Just some little vibration trouble
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  with the engine, which they'll fix up first thing this morning, and probably
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  be back here by noon. After a long pause, the stranger lit a
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  cigarette and said to Cosgrave, well, I'll be running along. You've phone
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  me later, will you, And with a backward glance at Kiwi, he
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  walked out. About two o'clock that afternoon, the plane returned. Dad said
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  the plane had performed wonderfully until after they left Washington. They had been able
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  to form a good idea of its speed and its new fuel consumption. They
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  were flying a compass course over the clouds off Norfolk when a slight vibration had
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  started in the engine. Since it had not been bad enough to worry them,
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  they had kept on. However, as they had continued north near Cape
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  May, it had grown worse, and although it was dark when they reached
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  Trenton, they decided to risk a landing at a strange field rather than strain
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  the engine bearers. They tried for some time to locate the aerodrome, and
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  finally concluded that they had better try to land on a large flat field some
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  miles out from the town. With the aid of one of their parachute flares,
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  which they dropped, they had landed with little difficulty. With flashlights,
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  they were able to locate the trouble. Two bolts holding the engine to its
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  frame had become loosened, and the cotter pins from both were missing. They
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  had attracted the attention of a passing motorist, who took Jack to a telephone
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  while Dad stayed with the plane. Jack had tried without much success to telephone
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  through to Burt and to the field, and finally had sent telegrams instead.
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  They tied the wing tips of the plane to some fence posts, and a
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  state policeman offered to watch it till morning. The policemen also directed them to
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  a place where they spent the night. In the morning, it was the
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  work of but a few minutes to put the plane into good shape, and
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  with a parting wave to the policemen and a few people who had gathered to
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  see them take off, they left without further difficulty. They had landed at
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  their own field. This long test had reassured the skipper and Jack on many
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  points, and there seemed little more to do to the plane. The letters
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  and the number of their license NX DASH nine five three had been painted on
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  the top of the right hand and on the bottom of the left hand wing,
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  and on the tail. The man who had done this, had asked
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  about a name, but Jack and the skipper had been unable to agree on
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  one. The backers of the flight, having had word that the plane was
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  nearly ready for the takeoff, wrote the skipper that they would be at the
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  field by the end of the week. One of them suggested in the letter
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  that there should be a formal christening. It would help the publicity. The
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  fact that he had a very attractive daughter who photographed well may have put the
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  idea into his head. Kiwi's excitement ran high at all these new preparations.
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  His new uniform had been delivered and he had strutted about the houseboat with it
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  on. Both Dad and Jack were immensely pleased at his new appearance, and
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  Jack promised to go with him to the barber for a last trimming up.
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  The makers of Kiwi's uniform had added a touch of their own and had sewed
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  on a small pair of embroidered wings, but on this point Dad was firm
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  the wings could not be worn, for he said, you are not a
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  pilot, Kiwi, and until you have learned to fly, no wings.
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  This started Kiwi often knew on his demands to be taught to fly. He
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  had worked on Jack on every possible occasion to get a promise of instruction from
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  him, but so far no definite promise had been made. Jack at odd
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  times had been teaching him the wireless code. By now Kiwi knew it by
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  heart, and every evening when possible, Jack would get him to learn the
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  sing of the letters. Tacked over Kiwi's bed was this card with the dots
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  and the dashes and the letters They stood for Continental Wireless Code for use of
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  planes and ships at C A dot do, B dot dot dot, dot,
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  c dot dot dot dot, d dot dot dot, e dot,
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  f dot dot dot dot, g dot dot dot, h dot dot dot,
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  dot, I dot dot, j dot dot dot, do, k
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  dot dot do, L dot dot dot, m dot do, n dot
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  dot, O dot dot do, p dot dot dot dot, q dot
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  dot dot do, r dot do dot, s dot dot dot t do
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  you dot dot do v dot dot dot do W dot dot do x do
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  dot dot do y do dot do do z dot dot dot dot, comma
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  dot do dot do dot do, period dot, dot, dot, dot,
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  dot, dot, question mark, dot, dot dot dot dot dot
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  one dot do do dot do two dot dot dot dot do three dot dot
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  dot do do four dot dot dot dot do five, dot dot dot dot
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  dot six, dot dot dot dot dot seven, dad dot dot dot eight
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  Da da da dot dot nine Da Da da da dot zero Da do do
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  do da. On Saturday afternoon, the party arrived with the attractive daughter,
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  her mother, and a bottle of what they hoped was pre war champagne.
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  The field was crowded. A small platform had been built and the machine wheeled
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  up to it so that the attractive daughter could just reach the big propeller.
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  Both Billings and Cosgrave had spent the whole morning cleaning and polishing the plane until
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  it shone. Jack, the Skipper, and Kiwi were all in their uniforms
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  as they stood on the little platform in the bright sun, to the tune
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  of clicking movie cameras. The bottle of champagne was brought down smartly on the
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  metal propeller, and the young girls said, in a clear voice, I
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  christened the dauntless and wish thee all the luck in the world for thy big
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  adventure. The crowd cheered, and the golden liquid foamed and bubbled as it
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  ran down the long blade of the propeller. Everyone was happy, any doubt
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  of their success seemed out of place on this bright, sunny afternoon. Dad
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  and Jack's confidence in their machine and in themselves radiated from them. End of
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  Chapter four,