Wings in the Dark Page #4

Okay, only if you"d let me...

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Excuse me. This just came

for Mr. Gordon and I thought

l"d bring it up.

For me, Mrs. Clark?

What is it?

Well, it"s a letter

from the Hallwell

Publishing Company.

Great.

Here, give it to me.

Wait, Ken, let me open it.

Thank you.

All right, Sheila,

you break the news.

GORDON:
Well, what do

they say?

Well, wait till I see.

GORDON:
Well, what is it,

good news or bad?

A check!

Yes, a check.

Congratulations, Ken.

You"re a full-fledged

author now.

Now I can really go to work.

Sheila, l"ve got an idea

that"ll knock the world

for a loop.

What is it, Ken?

Never mind about that now,

l"ll tell you later.

How much is the check for?

$200.

$200! Mac,

did you hear that?

This cinches it.

Now we go places.

What was your idea?

L"ll have to work

like mad, Sheila,

and if you don"t mind,

l"d rather not tell you now

in case I miss.

It"ll take a lot of money,

of course,

but I can grind out

enough stories to cover that.

Of course you can.

I know you can.

Oh, Mac.

Yes, Ken?

Take good care of that.

Right.

You know, writing is

a great profession.

(SPEAKING WITH

SCOTTISH ACCENT) Right!

What are you trying to do,

kill yourself, or just seeing

how much that crate"ll stand?

They"re paying extra

for those stunts, aren"t they?

Yes, I know, but you don"t

have to chase yourself

all over the sky.

Your job is to get

more of them, that"s all.

And for what,

that"s what I want to know,

for what?

A blind man"s pipe dream.

Nick, you know what"s

going to happen?

A lot of little children

are going to grow up

to hate you.

Hello, Mac.

Hello, Sheila.

Getting any place?

Well, to tell you the truth,

Sheila, I believe we are.

Really?

You mean to say

that business

about the radio beams

and the automatic pilot

really works?

Well, I wouldn"t exactly

say that,

but I will say

it"s got a chance.

MASON:
Honest, Mac?

Yes.

Ken"s working it out

on the model at home,

and l"m following instructions

here on the ship.

Say, I can make something

out of this.

You just try.

All right.

Here, Mac, here"s a check.

This is from some

other magazine.

Sure, I know.

Well, what you don"t know is

how she"s been trying to break

her neck to get those checks!

Don"t listen to him, Mac,

he"s getting soft.

Well, tell Ken l"ll be up

to see him later.

Just a minute, Sheila.

L"ve got something here

that I think you ought

to know about.

Listen to this.

It"s from the Rockwell

Aviation Company.

They own Ken"s plane.

"My dear Mr. Gordon.

"In view of the fact

that your unfortunate accident

"has incapacitated you

from completing the work

on the plane

"we have placed

at your disposal,

"and since we have received

no payment from you

for the last two months,

"we feel forced

to reclaim the ship

"unless a substantial

payment is made

within the next 10 days.

"Yours truly, George Rockwell,

President, Rockwell

Aviation Company."

That"s something else

again, isn"t it?

Lt"s a lot of money.

Yes.

What are you going to do now?

L"m going to borrow your car!

But I tell you, Mr. Rockwell,

he has a chance.

His mechanic is a Scotchman

and even he"s beginning

to believe in it.

Miss Mason, I know Ken

knows his business

or we wouldn"t have let him

have the ship

in the first place.

But a blind man,

putting it in operation

so he can fly,

let"s not fool ourselves.

He"s not trying to build

instruments so that

blind men can fly.

He"s simply trying to perfect

something that even

a blind man can fly.

You"re pretty persuasive.

L"ll tell you what l"ll do,

not that I believe in it,

but for you.

Yes?

L"ll give Ken another

three weeks and that"s final.

Oh, thank you.

If there"s anything to it,

he should know it

by that time.

Goodbye.

Good luck.

Thank you.

See him?

No. Do you?

They"re certainly

giving it a test.

(CRYING)

Hello, Sheila.

Hello, Nick.

Kind of dirty outside,

isn"t it?

Just coffee.

What"s this I hear

about Ken taking

a run-out powder?

Let"s forget that, huh?

All right.

So, Nick,

has anybody been set

for that Moscow flight yet?

What?

You heard me.

So you want to make it

after all?

Well, I have been

giving it some thought.

I see.

Guess you know they moved

Ken"s plane over here

to Roosevelt, don"t you?

Now, what"s that got to do

with me flying from Moscow?

I was just wondering. $25,000

would come in pretty handy

right now, wouldn"t it?

Do I get the job or don"t I?

You know, I sort of like you.

Tell you what

we"ll do, Sheila.

L"m sorry, Ken,

there"s nothing I can do.

Miss Mason was here

several times before,

and for her sake we let you

have the plane weeks and weeks

after we should

have foreclosed.

L"d like to help you,

but my hands are tied, too.

L"m sorry.

L"m sorry, Mr. Gordon,

Mr. Crawford can"t

see you today.

That"s what you"ve

been telling me

for the past two weeks.

L"ve got to see him.

Why don"t you come again

next week?

Thanks.

Can"t you understand, Jack?

You have hundreds of pilots

and thousands of passengers

riding in those planes

of yours out there,

I can make them as safe

as rocking chairs.

But this is

a business proposition.

You must realize I couldn"t

put the company"s money

into experiments

that you can"t even

see to make.

Thank you.

McNAMEE ON RADIO: How do you

do, ladies and gentlemen

of the radio audience?

This is Graham McNamee

speaking.

America"s daring

and darling Sheila Mason,

left the Moscow airport

bound for the USA,

at 6:
20 a.m. Greenwich time.

The whole world is waiting

for news of her nonstop flight

which is being

brought to you

over the facilities

of the ABC

International Hookup.

Miss Mason is flying

the great circle,

which will carry her over

Ireland and Newfoundland

and north of the regular

lane of ship travel.

Her ship is equipped

with radiotelephone

but she may be out of touch

with the world for hours,

and her life depends

on her skill and her ship.

She is flying a powerful,

single-motored monoplane

with a cruising range

of over 6,000 miles.

Unless she runs

into bad weather,

she should put her plane down

at Roosevelt Field

under 40 hours.

A record.

Hello, Halifax.

Hello, Halifax.

Mason calling Halifax.

Mason calling Halifax,

Sheila Mason calling Halifax.

McNAMEE ON RADIO: Here"s the

bulletin you"ve been waiting

for, ladies and gentlemen.

Halifax has gotten

in touch with Sheila Mason.

She reports by radio

that she"s 100 miles

off the banks.

She says that she has been

held up by headwinds,

but her plane is working well.

It begins to look

as if she"ll succeed

in her great flight

from Moscow to New York.

It"s safe to say that every

man, woman and child

in the world hopes so.

Hello, Portland.

Mason calling Portland.

Mason calling Portland.

Sheila Mason calling Portland.

If you can hear me,

come back, please.

If you can hear me,

come back, please.

McNAMEE ON RADIO: Here"s the

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