09- Financing an Invention

Jerry, at Pharaoh's. You get a letter too? Yeah, did you?

Uh-huh. It's from my guardian, Mr. Randall. Mine's from my dad, and am I glad to hear from him? I was getting worried. I haven't had a letter since last week. What are you heading for?

I'm going to meet Lee over by the gym. Then we're going down to the lake. Hey, you want to come along? Okay. What did your dad have to say? He took up most of the letter telling me about that new speed ship.

He tested for Hayden Aircraft. That's right. Did say something about him testing out a new kind of airplane? Uh-huh. He says it's the fastest job he's ever flown, and he thinks he might get to fly it in the big air races next month.

Boy, that'll be keen. You know, your dad must be a wonderful pilot. He is. I guess he's just about the best in the country. I'm not just saying that because he's my dad either. It's true.

Yeah, I know. He's tested every kind of a plane there is, from little speed jobs to great transports. And you know what, Jerry? No, what? He's never had one serious accident. Oh, he's nosed over a couple of times, but he never really had a crack-up.

Boy, that's a keen record. All the test pilots I've read about have had plenty of bad crack-ups. Yeah, I know. That's the trouble. What do you mean? Well, just like you say, there isn't one of them that doesn't get it sooner or later.

Dad's just been lucky, that's all. I sure wish he'd quit, Jerry. Oh, no. You don't mean that? Yes, I do. Dad's all I've got in this world. And if he'd crack up, but anything should happen to him, I'd...