Leap

Last week Pilot Joe Kirton, his resignation in, got ready to make his last flight for Hillman Saloon Coaches & Airways Co. (London-Paris). Presently two girls who had been pacing back & forth at Stapleford Airdrome boarded his plane. They sucked nervously at cigarets. Said one: "Darling, wouldn't John have loved to be with us?" The two passengers had tickets for all six seats in the plane, explained that four friends were expected. The friends never arrived. After the take-off the girls complained of a draught, asked Pilot Kirton to close the door between cockpit and cabin. As he headed over the Channel in bumpy air, he opened the door again, looked back to see if his passengers were comfortable. The two girls were gone. . . .

The girls were Elizabeth and Jane du Bois, only children of Coert du Bois, U. S. Consul General at Naples. Jane, 20, dominated her 23-year old sister. Both were sensitive, high-strung. Few weeks before, they had become very much attached to two British Royal Air Force officers who had been delayed at Naples on a flight to Singapore. One of the officers planned to break his engagement to a Bedfordshire dancing instructress to marry Jane. The other officer had an "understanding" with Elizabeth. Few hours after the officers left Naples they crashed in Sicily, died in flames.

Next day the Sisters du Bois left for London, where they took a room at the Ritz. Hotel employes noticed they were continually weeping. They attended a service for the dead flyers at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Next morning they motored down to Stapleford. . . .

Upminister workmen saw the Sisters du Bois leap from Pilot Kirton's plane. Hands clasped together, they fell 4,000 ft., landed in a cabbage patch. Jane's wristwatch, its crystal unbroken, still ticked near her corpse.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.