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CONTENTS
Preface xxv
Acknowledgements xxxii

CH A P T ER 1 MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES

The Strategic Importance of Managing Human Resources 4
Satisfying Multiple Stakeholders 4
Owners and Investors 5
Society 6
Customers 8
Other Organizations 8
Organizational Members (The Employees) 9
Gaining and Sustaining a Competitive Advantage 11
Employees Who Are a Source of Added Value 11
Employees Who Are Rare 12
An HRM System That Can’t Be Copied 12
A Framework for Managing Human Resources 13
The Importance of HRM Strategies and the Organization’s External and
­Internal Environments 14
Activities for Managing Human Resources 16
The HR Triad 19
HR Professionals Provide Special Expertise 19
Line Managers 21
Employees Share Responsibility 23

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Managing Human

Resources 24
Looking Ahead: Five Special Themes 24
Managing with Teams 25
Managing with Diversity and Inclusion 26
Managing with Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility 26
Managing with New Technologies 28
Managing with Metrics and Analytics 29

vii
viii CONTENTS

Current Issues 31
The Changing Role of the HR Function 31
Employee Engagement 31
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 32
TERMS TO REMEMBER 33
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 33
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 34
CASE STUDY: CAN KNIGHTS APPAREL SATISFY ALL OF ITS STAKEHOLDERS
AND SURVIVE? 35

CH A P T ER 2 FORMULATING AND IMPLEMENTING HRM

STRATEGIES
The Importance of Formulating and Implementing HRM Strategies 40
Elements of the Environment for Managing Human Resources 41
Formulating and Implementing HRM Strategies 42
The HR Triad 42
THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Formulating and
Implementing HRM Strategies 43
Understanding the External Environment 43
The Economic Landscape 44
The Demographic Landscape 45
The Socio-Cultural Landscape 48
The Political Landscape 48
Understanding the Internal Environment 49
Technology 49
Company Culture 51
Business Strategies 55
Financial, Organizational, Reputation, and Human Resources 56
HRM Strategies 56
Strategic Alignment 57
Types of HRM Strategies 57
HRM Strategy Formulation 59
Aligning HRM Strategy Formulation with the Business Strategy 60
Specifying Strategic Objectives 61
Designing an Integrated HRM System to Achieve Strategic Objectives 62
HRM Strategy Implementation 63
Reasons for Resistance 64
Overcoming Resistance 64
Review and Revise 67
 CONTENTS ix

Current Issues 68
Managing a Multi-Generational Workplace 68
Mergers and Acquisitions 70
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 71
TERMS TO REMEMBER 72
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 72
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 73
CASE STUDY: LEVI STRAUSS & COMPANY 75

CH A P T ER 3 ENSURING FAIR TREATMENT AND LEGAL

COMPLIANCE
The Strategic Importance of Fairness and Legal Compliance 80
Society’s Concerns About Fairness 80
Concerns of the Labor Force 80
Customers Win When Employers Treat Employees Fairly 81
The HR Triad 81
HR Professionals 81

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities to Ensure Fair Treatment and

Legal Compliance 82
Line Managers 82
Other Employees 82
What Fairness Means to Employees 83
Distributive Justice 83
Procedural Justice 84
Interactional Justice 84
Reactions to Unjust Treatment 85
The Legal Landscape 85
Societal Factors 86
Laws 86
Agencies 89
Courts 89
Company Responses 90
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 91
The EEOC 91
Categories of Discrimination Covered by Title VII 93
Harassment 94
Defending Discrimination Allegations 97
Other Discrimination Laws and Executive Orders 99
Age Discrimination in Employment Act 99
x CONTENTS

Americans with Disabilities Act 100

Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act 101
Executive Orders 11246, 11375, 11478, and 13672 102
Settling Disputes 103
Company Grievance Procedures 103
Mediation and Arbitration 104
Using the Courts to Settle Disputes 105
Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives for Ensuring Fair Treatment 106
Who is Covered by Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives? 106
A Culture of Inclusion 106
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives 109
Economic Benefits of Diversity 111
Current Issues 112
Sexual Orientation 112
Autism in the Workplace 112
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 113
TERMS TO REMEMBER 115
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 115
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 116
CASE STUDY: UNITED WAY AND THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 119

CH A P T ER 4 USING JOB ANALYSIS AND COMPETENCY MODELING

The Strategic Importance of Job Analysis and
Competency Modeling 126
Foundation for an Integrated HRM System 126
Changing Cultures and Implementing New Strategies 127
Adopting New Technology 128
Complying with Laws and Regulations 129
The HR Triad 130
THE HR TRIAD: R
 oles and Responsibilities in Job Analysis and
Competency Modeling 131
Specific Terminology 132
Positions, Jobs, and Occupations 132
Job Analysis 133
Competency Modeling 134
Job Descriptions and Job Specifications 134
Career Paths 134
Sources of Information Used in Job Analysis and Competency
Modeling 136
Job Incumbents 137
 CONTENTS xi

Supervisors 137
Trained Job Analysts 137
Customers 138
Methods of Collecting Information 138
Individual and Group Interviews 138
Observations 139
Questionnaires 140
Standardized Approaches to Job Analysis 140
Time-and-Motion Studies 140
Ergonomic Analysis 141
Occupational Information Network (O*NET) 141
Position Analysis Questionnaire 143
Management Position Description Questionnaire 144
Customized Approach to Job Analysis 145
Developing a Customized Inventory 145
Analyzing and Interpreting the Data 147
Advantages and Disadvantages 148
Analyzing Needed Competencies 149
Standardized Approach 149
Customized Approach 150
Competency Inventories 152
Current Issues 155
The Decline of Job Analysis? 155
The Importance of Documenting Competency Modeling 156
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 157
TERMS TO REMEMBER 158
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 158
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 159
CASE STUDY: JOB DESCRIPTIONS AT HITEK 159

CH A P T ER 5 MANAGING TALENT THROUGH WORKFORCE

PLANNING, RECRUITMENT, AND RETENTION
The Strategic Importance of Managing Talent Through Workforce
Planning, Recruitment, and Retention 166
Improving Productivity 167
Reducing Labor Costs 168
Staying Competitive 169
Workforce Planning, Recruitment, and Retention Within an Integrated
HRM System 169
Other HR Activities 169
The External and Internal Environments 171
xii CONTENTS

The HR Triad 173

HR Professionals 173
Line Managers 173

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Managing Talent 174

Other Employees 175
Workforce Planning 175
Workforce Forecasts 175
Succession Planning 177
Recruiting Sources and Methods 178
Recruiting from the Internal Labor Market 179
Recruiting from the External Labor Market 181
Attracting Unconventional Employees 186
Using Metrics and Analytics to Manage the Talent
Supply Chain 189
Recruitment from the Applicant’s Perspective 190
Company Reputation 191
The Recruitment Experience 192
Perceptions of Fit 193
Ethical Recruiting Practices 193
Talent Retention 195
Understanding the Reasons for Turnover 195
Reducing Unwanted Turnover 197
Current Issues 198
Avoiding Layoffs 198
Recruitment and Retention of Older Workers 200
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 201
TERMS TO REMEMBER 203
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 203
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 204
CASE STUDY: DOWNSIZING: ANATHEMA TO CORPORATE LOYALTY? 206

CH A P T ER 6 SELECTING EMPLOYEES TO FIT THE JOB

AND THE ORGANIZATION
The Strategic Importance of Selecting Employees to Fit the Job
and the Organization 210
Obtaining a Capable Workforce 210
Company Reputation 211
Maximizing the Economic Utility of Selection Practices 212
 CONTENTS xiii

Selection Within an Integrated HRM System 215

Other HR Activities 215
The External and Internal Environments 217
The HR Triad 220

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities in Selecting Employees 221

Line Managers 221
HR Professionals 222
Other Employees 222
Designing the Selection Process 222
Establish the Criteria of Interest 223
Choosing Predictors 223
Choosing Assessment Techniques 224
Deciding When to Measure Each Predictor 227
Synthesizing Information to Choose Appropriate Candidates 227
Techniques for Screening Job Applicants 229
Personal History Assessments 229
Background Verification and Reference Checks 231
Medical Tests 233
Job Interviews 234
Screening Job Interviews 234
Structured Job Interviews 235
Unstructured Job Interviews 237
Panel Interviews 237
Video Interviews 238
Interview Effectiveness 238
Other Techniques for Assessing Screened Job Applicants 238
Ability Tests 238
Job Knowledge Tests 239
Personality Tests 241
Work Simulations 243
Assessment Centers 243
Current Issues 244
Affirmative Action 245
Controversial Predictors 246
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 248
TERMS TO REMEMBER 249
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 250
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 250
CASE STUDY: SELECTING PATIENT ESCORTS 252
xiv CONTENTS

CH A P T ER 7 TRAINING AND DEVELOPING A COMPETITIVE

WORKFORCE
The Strategic Importance of Training and Developing a Competitive
Workforce 258
Improving Competitiveness 258
Improving Productivity 260
Increasing Employee Attraction, Retention, and Motivation 260
Training and Development Practices Within an Integrated HRM
System 261
Other HR Activities 261
The External and Internal Environments 263
The HR Triad 266
Line Managers 267

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities in Training and

Development 267
Other Employees 268
HR Professionals 268
Determining Training and Development Needs 268
Organizational Needs Analysis 269
Job Needs Analysis 269
Person Needs Analysis 270
Demographic Needs Analysis 271
Determining Learning Objectives 272
Improving Cognitive Knowledge 272
Developing Skills 273
Influencing Affective Responses 274
Encouraging Ethical Behavior 274
Team Building 275
Determining Who Provides the Training 277
Supervisors and Other Managers 278
Coworkers 278
Internal or External Subject Matter Experts 278
The Trainee 279
Determining the Format for Training and Development
Activities 279
E-Learning 279
On the Job 281
On Site but Not on the Job 283
Off the Job 284
Creating Conditions to Maximize Learning and Development 286
Set the Stage for Learning 286
 CONTENTS xv

Create Conditions to Increase Learning During Training and Development

Activities 287
Maintaining Performance after Training 288
Evaluating Training Effectiveness 289
Trainee Reactions 289
Trainee Learning 290
Trainee Behaviors 290
Performance Outcomes 290
Return on Investment 290
Current Issues 290
Diversity Training 291
Using Gamification for Training 292
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 294
TERMS TO REMEMBER 295
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 295
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 296
CASE STUDY: SEEING THE FOREST AND THE TREES 298

CH A P T ER 8 CONDUCTING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The Strategic Importance of Conducting Performance
Management 302
Enhance Motivation 302
Improve Individual and Organizational Performance 305
Support Strategic Objectives 306
Performance Management Within an Integrated HRM System 307
The Internal Environment 307
The External Environment 310
Other HR Activities 312
The HR Triad 313
Line Managers 313

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Performance

Management 314
Other Employees 315
HR Professionals 315
What to Measure 316
Personal Traits 316
Behaviors 317
Objective Results 318
Multiple Criteria 318
Timing of Performance Management 319
Focal-Point Approach 320
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xvi CONTENTS

Anniversary Approach 320

Natural Time Span of the Job Approach 321
Continuous Approach 321
Who Participates 322
Supervisors 322
Self-Appraisal 322
Peers 323
Subordinates 323
Customers 324
360-Degree Appraisals 324
Crowdsourced Feedback 325
How to Measure Performance 326
Comparative Formats 326
Absolute Standards Formats 327
Results-Based Formats 331
Ratingless Appraisals 332
The Performance Rating Process 332
Rating Errors 332
Improving Rater Accuracy 333
Providing Feedback 335
Understanding Attributions 335
Timing 335
Preparation 336
Content of the Discussion 336
Follow-Up 336
When Nothing Else Works 338
Current Issues 339
Monitoring Through Technology 339
Focusing on Development 340
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 340
TERMS TO REMEMBER 342
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 342
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 343
CASE STUDY: CROWDSOURCING FEEDBACK 345

CH A P T ER 9 DEVELOPING AN APPROACH TO TOTAL

COMPENSATION
The Strategic Importance of Total Compensation 350
Attract, Motivate, and Retain Talent 350
 CONTENTS xvii

Implement the Business Strategy 354

Improve Productivity 355
Contain Costs 355
Total Compensation Within an Integrated HRM System 356
Other HR Activities 357
The External Environment 358
The Internal Environment 362
The HR Triad 365
HR Professionals 365

THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Total Compensation 365

Line Managers 366
Other Employees 367
Establish the Internal Value of Jobs 367
Objectives of Job Evaluation 367
Job Ranking Method of Job Evaluation 368
Job Classification Method of Job Evaluation 368
Point-Factor Rating Method of Job Evaluation 369
Competency-Based Methods of Job Evaluation 372
Skill-Based Pay 373
Use External Market Rates to Set Pay Levels 374
Step 1: Determine External Market Pay Rates 374
Step 2: Establish the Market Pay Policy 376
Step 3: Set the Organization Pay Policy 376
Design the Internal Pay Structure 377
Job-Based Pay Grades and Ranges 378
Competency-Based Pay Structure 379
Skill-Based Pay Structure 379
Make Adjustments 379
Balancing Internal and External Equity 379
Changes Over Time 380
Achieving Individual Equity 380
Current Issues 381
Raising the Minimum Wage 381
Executive Compensation 382
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 383
TERMS TO REMEMBER 383
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 384
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 384
xviii CONTENTS

CH A P T ER 10 USING PERFORMANCE-BASED PAY TO ACHIEVE

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
The Strategic Importance of Using Performance-Based Pay 388
Support Strategic Objectives 388
Manage Labor Costs 390
Attract, Retain, and Motivate Talent 390
Performance-Based Pay Within an Integrated
HRM System 391
Other HR Activities 392
The Internal Environment 393
The External Environment 395
The HR Triad 396
THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Using Performance-Based
Pay to Achieve Strategic Objectives 397
Line Managers and HR Professionals 397
Other Employees 397
Design Choices for Performance-Based Pay 398
Types of Performance-Based Pay 398
Rewards 399
Performance Measures 402
Linking Performance to Rewards 405
Implementation Issues 405
Evaluating Effectiveness 406
Gaining Employee Acceptance 407
Recognition Awards 408
Spot Awards 410
Peer-to-Peer Awards 411
Awards for Suggestions 411
Merit Pay 411
Performance Measures 412
Merit Awards 412
Linking Performance to Merit Awards 413
Incentive Pay 414
Individual Incentives 414
Team Incentives 416
Companywide Incentives 418
Pay That Puts Earnings at Risk 419
Commissions 420
Stock Ownership 421
 CONTENTS xix

Current Issues 424

New Uses of Analytics 424
Ethical Considerations 425
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 426
TERMS TO REMEMBER 427
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 427
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 428

CH A P T ER 11 PROVIDING EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

The Strategic Importance of Providing Employee Benefits 432
Increase Productivity 433
Contain Costs 433
Improve Attraction and Retention 433
Support Business Strategies 434
Employee Benefits Within an Integrated HRM System 434
Other HR Activities 435
The External Environment 436
The Internal Environment 439
The HR Triad 441
Mandatory Benefits 441
THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities for Providing Employee
Benefits 442
Social Security Insurance 442
Unemployment Compensation 443
Workers’ Compensation and Disability Insurance 443
Family and Medical Leave 444
Voluntary Benefits: Retirement Savings Plans and Pensions 444
Defined Benefit Plans 445
Defined Contribution Plans 446
Cash Balance Plans 448
Legal Considerations 449
Voluntary Benefits: Health Care 450
Medical Care 450
Wellness Programs 452
Employee Assistance Programs 453
Voluntary Benefits: Paid Leave 454
Off-the-Job Paid Leave 454
On-the-Job Paid Leave 456
Voluntary Benefits: Work/Life and Other Benefits 457
xx CONTENTS

Work/Life Benefits 457

Other Voluntary Benefits 459
Administrative Issues in Management Employee Benefits 460
What to Include in the Benefits Package 460
Determining the Level of Flexibility 461
Communicating the Benefits Offered to Employees 461
Current Issues 462
Containing the Escalating Cost of Health Care 462
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 464
CHAPTER SUMMARY WITH LEARNING GOALS 465
TERMS TO REMEMBER 466
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING 466
PROJECTS TO EXTEND YOUR LEARNING 467
CASE STUDY: WHO’S BENEFITING? 470

CH A P T ER 12 PROMOTING AND IMPROVING EMPLOYEE SAFETY,

HEALTH, AND WELL-BEING
The Strategic Importance of Workplace Safety, Health, and
Well-Being 474
Enhance Productivity 474
Contain Costs 475
Attract and Retain Talent 476
Support Business Strategy 476
Promoting and Improving Safety, Health, and Well-Being Within an
Integrated HRM System 476
Other HR Activities 477
The Internal Environment 479
The External Environment 481
The HR Triad 485
THE HR TRIAD: Roles and Responsibilities in Promoting and Improving
Workplace Safety, Health, and Well-Being 486
Workplace Safety Hazards 486
Occupational Accidents 487
Occupational Injuries 488
Workplace Violence 490
Workplace Hazards to Health and Well-Being 490
Occupational Illnesses 490
Hazards to Mental Health 491
Workplace Stressors 492
Job Burnout 494
Random documents with unrelated
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seaplane but his landing, as I explained the location—
well, you saw it when you flew over—his landing was
made a couple of hundred yards away. I got the
gardener to take me to the place, yesterday, in the
hydroplane. There was a big, sunken log close to the
torn ’chute.”

“Did he see you, that day?”

“No. He tried to swim over, turned sick, crawled onto

some mud that was out of water and stayed there. I
guess he fainted. When he managed to get there, we
had taken Tommy Larsen away—so he’s cleared!”

“I don’t see that!”

“Why—Sandy! We left with the pilot—I mean, Jeff did.

Then the hydroplane came for me, and when he got
there, afterward, don’t you see that if he was guilty of
anything, he’d have taken the chewing gum?”

“He might have seen that one chunk was gone,

suspected that the hiding place was discovered and left
the rest——”

“Suspicious Sandy!” Dick laughed. “With twenty-nine

lovely emeralds to recover—and a rubber boat to get
away in!”

“All right! All right! He’s an innocent man.”

“As innocent as the man I helped capture—Mr. Everdail’s 115

friend, that man we put on the wrecking tug for five
hours.”

“Everybody is innocent,” declared Dick. “Sandy, my

advice to you, for your birthday, tomorrow, is to turn
over a new leaf and instead of looking for people to
suspect, try to think where those emeralds can be.”

“They’re not on the yacht, you say,” Larry said to take

away the sting to Sandy’s pride. “They aren’t in the old
house. They were taken from the captain’s safe—where
did they go?”

“You tell me who knew the way to get into the captain’s
safe and I’ll try to get the emeralds.”

“Captain Parks says no one ever was told that

combination.”

“All right, Dick,” Sandy replied to the chum who had just
spoken. “You’ve answered Larry’s question.”

“Golly-glory-gracious! It does look that way!”

“Who else could be safer? He says the emeralds were

gone and his word is his bond! Oh, yes!”

“Then the emeralds won’t be found,” concluded Dick.

“Captain Parks has been ashore, and away, hours at a
time, here and in Maine.”

“Let’s see if Mr. Everdail won’t listen to us about that,

now.”

Dick’s suggestion was followed. 116

The millionaire listened gravely to their statement and

broke into a hearty laugh.

“As I live and breathe!” he said. “You members of Jeff’s

Sky Patrol are working for the wrong side. You ought to
be with that London lad, who suspects my wife and her
cousin, Miss Serena, and me! Oh—this is great! You’re
helping me a whole lot. I think I must increase the
allowances for Suspicious Sandy, Detective Dick and—er
—Follow-the-Leader Larry.”

He turned his frowning lips and smiling eyes on the

latter.

“I’m amazed at you, though. Jeff says you’ve got good

judgment.”

“Captain Parks had opportunity—he knew you would

take his word—no one else knew his safe combination.
Isn’t that common sense, sir?”

“It’s a kind of sense that’s common enough—but——”

“Who else could get the emeralds?” persisted Sandy.

“Well, let’s see. Besides Captain Parks, there’s—” his

voice trailed off; once he shook his head at some
thought; once he scowled; finally he shook his head
defiantly.

“As I live and breathe—it looks—but I won’t believe it!

Not Billy Parks. He’s——”

“All right, sir,” Larry said. “We thought we ought to 117

report what came into our minds. But we can’t prove
anything, of course.”

“All right, my boy. Watch him, trail him, whatever you

like. I’ll give you each a thousand dollars if you can
prove——”

“How can we, unless we catch him—and the emeralds

are gone——”
The millionaire swung on Sandy as the youth spoke.

“Wait—let me finish. A thousand dollars if you’ll prove—

Parks is innocent!”

“Oh!”

He turned, dismissing them as he greeted his cousin,

Miss Serena, who had declared that his wife would be
better off alone to rest in the quiet camp in Maine. Miss
Serena, with a will of her own, had come back,
determined, if the rich man proposed to stay at his old
estate, that she would assemble a group of servants
and manage the house for him. The three chums sidled
out, neither of the three counting on the payment of
that, to them, large sum.

“There’s money we’ll never get,” said Sandy.

The others agreed.

Sandy’s birthday dawned hot, but clear, with a good,

steady south wind blowing.

The rich man had not forgotten Sandy. A fine set of 118
books awaited him at the breakfast table, a set of
engineering books that he would prize and study for
many years.

Larry’s remembrance, a radium-dial wrist watch, and

Dick’s gift, the set of drawing implements he coveted,
delighted him. Jeff’s modest but earnestly presented
“luck charm” secured from his gypsy fortune teller was
accepted with a grave, grateful word—but Sandy had
hard work not to break into a wild laugh.

“How old are you, buddy,” Jeff asked.

“Thirteen!”

Jeff’s face grew sober.

“And this is Friday!” he murmured.

“Surely it is,” laughed Larry, and then, in a lower tone,

he urged, “now, Jeff——”

“No, sir! I won’t go up, today, even if you did plan to

surprise——”

“You would spoil it!” Larry was unable to keep from

being annoyed, almost angry, because Jeff had spoiled a
surprise.

“We might as well tell you, Sandy, now that it’s ‘all off’,”
Dick said. “We were going to give you another present—
a hop over your own house in Flatbush—with Larry for
pilot! But——”

“Oh, never mind Jeff. Let’s go!”

“Don’t be silly, Jeff,” Mr. Everdail chided the pilot. “Check 119
over everything and then go up. You know mighty well
that accidents don’t come from ‘hoodoos’. They come
from lack of precaution on the pilot’s part. The weather
charts for today give perfect flying weather. The
airplane is in fine shape. Go ahead—give the lads a
treat!”

“On your heads be it!” Jeff said somberly.

He did not neglect his duty. For all his nonsense about
omens and such things, he gave the airplane a careful
checkup, warmed up the engine for Larry himself and
made sure that everything he could foresee was
provided for.

Sandy, thrilled at the prospect of a hop with his own

comrade doing the control job, was full of fun and jokes.

Dick, no less eager to see Larry perform his new duties,

wasn’t behind Sandy in good humor.

Larry, though quiet, was both confident and calm.

He did not forget to assure himself, by a final look at the

windsock indicating the wind direction, that the breeze
had not shifted.

Neither did he “dust” the hangar, nor lose his straight

course as he taxied across the field at an angle to turn,
without scraping wings or digging up turf with the tail
skid.

A final test, with chocks under the wheels, the signal for 120
the wheels to be cleared by the caretaker, a spurt of the
gun for several seconds to get the craft rolling as the
elevators were operated to lift the tail free, a run at
increasing speed, picked up quickly because of the short
runway—stick back, lifting elevators so the propeller
blast drove the tail lower and the nose higher—and they
left the ground.

Stick back from neutral, after leveling off for a bare two
seconds to regain flying speed, and they climbed, the
engine roaring, Jeff nodding but making no comment
through the speaking tube he still used. Dick shouted a
hurrah! Sandy joined him.

Over the hangar they rose, and Larry, holding a more

gentle angle to avert a stall, continued upward until his
altimeter gave him a good five hundred feet.

Then, choosing a distant steeple as in direct line with

the course he would fly toward Brooklyn, to be out of
any airline around the airports, he made a climbing
turn, steadied the craft, straightening out, went two
thousand feet higher to be doubly safe—and drew back
his throttle to cruising speed.

“Who says this airplane is hoodooed?” shouted Sandy,

jubilantly.

And then—the hoodoo struck!

121
 CHAPTER XIV
DICK HANDLES A CONTROL JOB

Flying close to three thousand feet above Oyster Bay,

level and stable, the airplane seemed to be in perfect
condition.

Jeff, for all his superstition, would have given it as a

pilot’s opinion that only some mistake on Larry’s part, or
a quitting engine, leaving them with a dead stick, could
cause danger.

Just the same the unexpected happened!

“There’s where President Roosevelt lies,” Dick, in the

last seat, because their places were rearranged by
Larry’s position as pilot, indicated to Sandy, just ahead
of him, the cemetery beneath them.

Very tiny, in its iron fenced enclosure, the last resting

place of a national idol, was almost invisible with its
simple headstone; but Dick’s statement was understood
by Sandy to mean the location more than the exact
spot.

“I’ll get Jeff to ask Larry to spiral down for a better

look,” Sandy decided.

He transmitted the suggestion.

“Sandy wants to see President Roosevelt’s place in the 122
cemetery,” Jeff spoke into the tube of the Gossport
helmet Larry still used.

“There it is, just off our left wing, buddy. That’s right—
stick goes to the left and a touch of left rudder, but
when you moved the stick sidewise to adjust the
ailerons you neglected that-there bit of forward
movement to tip us down into a glide. Remember, it’s
the double use of the stick that works ailerons and
elevators both.”

Larry had overlooked that point for the instant. It was

his only difficulty in flying, to recollect always to control
all the different movements together. The joystick,
operating the wing-flap ailerons by the left-or-right,
lateral movement, also raised or depressed the elevators
by forward-or-backward movement. However, in any
lateral position, the forward and backward set of the
stick worked the elevators and in executing a control
maneuver, even as simple as going into a bank
combined with a turning glide, or downward spiral, the
movement of the stick should be both slightly sidewise,
for sufficient bank, and, with the same movement,
slightly forward, for depressing the nose into a glide,
returning the stick from slightly forward back to neutral
to avoid over-depressing the nose into too steep a glide;
if not put back in neutral when the right angle was
attained, the depressed elevators would continue to
turn the forward part of the craft more steeply
downward.

“Not too steep, Larry. Back with the stick.” 123

Just at the instant that Larry was about to obey Jeff’s

instruction a gust of air, coming up warm, tilted the
lifted wing more, and as he corrected for that, trying to
get the wing up and the nose higher for a flatter spiral,
his movement was a little too sharp, and the sensitive
controls, working perfectly, but too sharply handled,
sent the craft into an opposite bank, rolling it like a ship
in the trough of a sidewise wave.

Also, Larry meant to try to draw the stick backward at

the same time, coordinating both corrections; but Jeff, a
little less calm than usual because of the superstitious
fears that kept riding him, neglected to speak the words
by which he would inform Larry that he was “taking
over” until the correction was made.

By that neglect, both drew back on the stick at the

identical instant, and the nose came up much too
sharply.

Larry, not aware that Jeff meant to handle the job, 124
almost pulled the stick away from Jeff in his anxiety to
get the nose down again, and Dick, in the last seat,
thought he felt a sort of thud.

“Hands off! I’ll take over!” Jeff said tardily.

He drew back on the stick for, with the throttle rather

wide—because Larry had feared a stall as the nose went
up and had thrust the throttle control sharply forward—
the craft began to go down in a very steep glide, not
quite a dive, but with engine on full gun, sending it in a
sharp angle toward earth.

Naturally, when he pulled back on the stick and it did

not yield, Jeff shouted through the speaking tube, “Let
go!” for he thought Larry had lost his head and was
fighting his control.
Larry was not doing anything. He had removed his hand
from the stick, his feet merely touched the rudder bar.

Jeff called out something.

They did not realize his words, but Sandy saw his
expression.

Almost as though he had been able to hear, Sandy knew

Jeff’s idea.

“The jinx has got us.”

Jeff cut the gun swiftly, and came out of the bank
pointed toward the wide, shimmering waters of Oyster
Bay.

“What’s the matter?” Larry swung his head to call back.

“Stick’s jammed!” Jeff grunted through the tube. 125

“Jammed?”

“Stuck. It won’t come back. It’s the jinx! Hoodoo! We’re

heading down for the bay and I can’t get the nose up!”

Dick, from the back place, saw Jeff struggling with the
stick.

If he did not hear, at least his flying study informed him

that something had gone amiss.

Equally, his quick mind arrived at a good guess at the

trouble.

The only reason Jeff would swing toward the water and
give up working with the stick must be that the stick
would not operate the elevators.
And that, to Dick, spelled disaster.

Its speed accelerated at the start by the engine the

airplane picked up speed rapidly because its nose was
steadily going down.

Jeff tugged madly again.

The stick, part of an installed auxiliary control for

instruction work, snapped out of its bed.

Jeff flung it disgustedly out to the side.

Larry sat quietly, knowing well that in no time they

would be diving toward a wet, deep bay—and the end!

Sandy, not fully aware of the situation, but tense, 126

thought of his ’chute, in the seat-pack. Would there be
time? Could he use it? He waited, watching Jeff and
Larry.

None of the three noticed Dick.

Seconds counted, he knew.

If the stick was jammed, it might be possible to get into

the fuselage. There he might operate the elevator cable
by hand enough to get that nose up more, flatten the
glide, maybe enough to enable Larry, who alone had a
stick, to swing around and come down on land—
somehow.

A crack-up would not be as bad, perhaps, as a plunge, a

dive into the bay!

Before his mind flashed the recollection that in

construction plans he had seen provision for getting into
the after part of the fuselage.

Not wasting a second, he was already free from his

safety belt, climbing with agile quickness for all his
plumpness, onto the fuselage.

It was a fearful risk.

Their speed sent them through the air so fast that the
wind was a gale there on the unprotected top fabric of
the fuselage.

With his cotton-stuffed ears tortured by the pressure,

with the fierce wind tearing at him, Dick clutched the
seat top as he tore away the fabric flap covering a sort
of manhole back of his place.

Headfirst he plunged in, scrambling, instantly beginning 127

to seek the points where the control cables passed
through channeled guides at each side.

He was in a dark, stuffy, closely confined and narrow

space, his legs hanging out in the roaring gale, unable
to see, half suffocated by the fumes collected in that
restricted area.

He found a cable with exploring hands.

He tugged at it.

It was slack. That told his feverishly acute intelligence

that it was the cable whose lever did not operate. He
had seen that Jeff, when he flung the stick forward to
try to free it, had been able to pull it back again without
operating the elevators.
Almost as his hand touched the cable and twitched at it,
his other hand, as he lay with his weight on his chin,
face and chest, contacted something else—a large,
roundish object, feeling like a spare landing wheel tire.

He knew as though the light photographed the truth to

his eyes, that this tire-like object had moved, shifted,
fallen onto the cable, wedging it.

Instantly Dick pushed it into the center of the small

space.

Gripping the cable, he twitched it sharply once—twice—

three times!

In the dark, he did not know how close the water was. 128
He could not tell if his alertness had been able to give
back the use of the elevators in time.

Larry, his hand idly on the useless stick, felt it twitch

three times.

Automatically he tested it. It came back, and the nose

began to come up a trifle. He did not dare over-control.
He had learned that lesson!

The water was rushing up at them—but the stick—might

——

Seconds to go!

He must not drag the ship out of that dive too swiftly—a
wing might be torn off.

But with his nerves taut, by sheer power of his cool will
forcing himself to work steadily but not sharply, he
brought the nose up, closing his eyes to that wild
nightmare of water seeming to be leaping toward the
airplane.

Jeff shut his eyes. Then he opened them again. No use

to try a jump, no use to do anything but be ready if——

Sandy braced himself.

The airplane was flattening out!

Larry was operating the stick!

The nose came up steadily—with a fraction of time to

the good, they began to come out of the glide to level
flight.

Larry braced himself against the slap of the wheels into 129
the surface water. That might offer just enough
resistance to nose them in.

He must be ready to open the throttle and pull up the

nose—but he must not do it too soon, or do it at all in
his strained, excited state—he might go too far.

Level! The airplane skimmed, it seemed to Larry, inches

above the slightly ruffled water.

Gently he drew back the stick, opening the throttle

carefully.

“Golly-to-gosh!” he muttered, “that was close——”

When he had lifted the craft and headed for home, he

glanced back.

Two legs waved over the last cockpit place.

And in that ridiculous position Dick, a hero upside down,
came to earth at the end of Sandy’s birthday flight—on
the thirteenth, a Friday, as Jeff, white and shaken,
hastened to remind them.

“But you sure done some swell control job,” he told

Dick.

“Thanks,” Dick retorted, without smiling.

He turned to Larry.

“You did the trick, Larry,” he declared. “I only loosened

the cables—freed them——”

“What made them jam, I wonder?” mused Sandy. 130

“The jinx!”

Dick turned on Jeff.

“Yes,” he said very quietly for him. “The jinx! The

hoodoo. I think it’s broken, though—in fact, I know it
is.”

“Why?”

“Because.” Dick began to chuckle, “I’ve thought of a

sure way to break it.”

“How?” Jeff was regaining his color and his curiosity.

But Dick grinned and shook his head.

He knew the answer to the puzzle of the missing

emeralds!
 131

CHAPTER XV
A TRAP IS BAITED

“Glad to hear you think the hoodoo is busted,” Jeff

commented. “Me, I don’t care. I’ve taken my last hop in
that-there crate. I’m shaking like a leaf, even now.”

“Why don’t you go to your room and have a lie down?”

suggested Dick.

Jeff decided that Dick had the right idea.

Dick watched him go along the gravel path, watched

him climb to the side veranda of the big house, pausing
for a moment to tell the newly installed housemaid
about his recent adventure.

“I think I’ll go get some lunch,” observed Larry.

“Wait!” urged Dick, but said no more.

Mr. Everdail’s cousin, Miss Serena, evidently hearing the

voices, came out on the veranda and listened.

“She’s coming out to ‘make over us,’ as she calls it.” 132
Sandy saw the elderly, stern-faced, but kindly lady
descend the steps and come rapidly toward them.

“My! My!” she called, coming closer. “What is this I hear

from Jeff?”
“We had a little trouble,” Dick said. “Somehow the cable
for the ‘flippers’ got jammed, but Larry got us out of the
trouble like a born flyer.”

“Yes,” laughed Larry. “After Dick guessed what to do so

I could work the stick.”

“Oh, I only crawled back to loosen the cable.” Dick tried

to make his exploit seem unimportant. “First time I ever
flew around standing on my head,” he broke into his
infectious gurgle of laughter. “Sandy, did I look like a
frog stuck in the mud?”

“Whatever you looked like,” Sandy retorted, “you did a

mighty big thing, crawling out onto that open covering
in the wind, risking being snatched off or slipping, or
having the airplane shake loose your grip!”

“I agree with Sandy,” Miss Serena declared. “It was a

very fine thing——”

“I think so,” agreed Sandy. “He gave me one gift for my

birthday at breakfast. But just now he made me a
present of my life.”

“He did that for all of us.” Larry put an arm

affectionately around his chum’s shoulders.

“A very fine thing, Dick.” Miss Serena smiled gently. 133

“Now you had better go and lie down, and I’ll have the
maid bring up some hot cocoa and something for you to
eat.”

“That is just what I need, ma’am,” Sandy told her.

“I think we’d better get this crate into the hangar—we’ll

get the gardener and the caretaker and push it in,” Dick
suggested. “I always get over a scare quicker if I’m
busy doing something to take my mind away from it.”

“Very well,” the lady agreed. “I shall have a good lunch

ready when you come in.”

She started away, but turned back.

“What caused the—the—trouble?”

“Jeff calls it a ‘jinx’—a ‘hoodoo’,” responded Dick.

“Jeff is silly,” she said with some annoyance. “There are

no such things.”

“I don’t know—” Larry took up the argument. “It is not

usual for a cable to jam. It might break, but one
shouldn’t get caught.”

“I see. Don’t think for a moment, Lawrence, that it was

caused by anything but Jeff’s carelessness, because of
his fears.”

She went to get their lunch ordered.

“Did I play up to you all right?” Larry asked. “I saw you

didn’t want to explain anything.” Dick nodded.

“You did just what I wanted,” he said. “Let’s get the 134
airplane in. Then we can talk.”

With others of the new group of servants they took the

craft to its place.

As soon as they were alone, Dick climbed up onto the

back of the fuselage, dived down into the small space,
while Larry waited an agreed signal, in the after seat,
and pulled his chum out.
“Great snakes!” cried Sandy, then lowering his voice.
“How did that get there?”

Dick, emerging from the fuselage working compartment,

displayed a large, fat, round object.

“The life preserver—from the yacht!” gasped Larry.

“How did it get there?” repeated Sandy, stunned.

“Jeff!” said Dick, briefly.

“Oh, no!” declared Larry. “Jeff is a good pilot. He’d

never leave anything that could shift about and cause
trouble.”

“But how did it get there?” Sandy reiterated. “I thought

——”

“We all thought it went back to the yacht,” Larry

finished his sentence for him.

“It did,” said Dick, seriously. “I know that after Jeff 135
brought it in, the caretaker in the hydroplane took it out
—and I’ve seen it at the stern.”

“Well, this may not be the same one—we can easily find
out.”

Larry hurried from the open hangar, followed by his two

friends. At a trot they went through the grove and down
the path, after Dick, dropping the life preserver onto the
after seat, jumped down.

As soon as the yacht came in sight, they stared toward

the stern.
“That’s queer,” observed Larry. “I see a life preserver
hanging in its regular place. This must be another one!”

The one in the airplane, Dick argued, was “the one”—

and the one on the yacht was a substitute.

“But why was it put there?” demanded Sandy.

Dick eyed him with surprise.

“Suspicions Sandy—asking that?” he teased.

“I’m trying not to suspect anybody. Instead of doing

that I try to believe everybody’s innocent and nothing is
wrong. I’m going to let you do the suspecting.”

“That’s turning the tables on you, Dick,” Larry grinned.

Sobering again he turned back to Sandy.

“I think Dick is working out something we may be able 136

to prove,” he argued. “I think I see his idea. Captain
Parks was the only one who could open the cabin safe.
He is a seaman, and he would know that a life preserver
isn’t bothered with except if somebody is overboard or
in some other emergency. Supposing that he meant to
help some one in America to ‘get away with’ the
emeralds——”

“He would tie them to a life preserver and throw them

over where somebody he ‘expected’ could get them,”
agreed Sandy, with surprising quietness. “Only—a
woman threw the life preserver.”

Dick nodded. Sandy threw another clog into the nicely

developed theory.
“Furthermore, Captain Parks was on the bridge at the
time——”

That all fitted in, Dick asserted.

“I am working on the notion that Captain Parks agreed

with somebody not on the yacht—to get the emeralds.
But he made up his mind to get them all for himself!”

“So he hid them in the life preserver.” Sandy spoke 137

without enthusiasm, making the deduction sound bored
and commonplace, although it ought to have been a
striking surprise, an exclamatory statement. It would
have been, Larry thought to himself, if Sandy had made
it. Was the youngest chum jealous of Dick, displeased
because it was not his own discovery that led to the
hiding place of the jewels—if they were right?

“You thought of the life preserver as a hiding place?”

asked Dick.

Sandy nodded.

“Where else?” he argued. “Captain Parks couldn’t get a

better or safer place, right in front of everybody and
never noticed. If the life preserver was thrown into the
sea—it would be recovered.”

“Doesn’t it get you excited?”

“No, Dick! Why should it? I thought of it. But I’m not
telling all my ideas, any more. I’m not ‘peeved,’ but I
mean to be able to prove this before I accuse anybody
again.”

“We can prove it—come on!”

“No need,” declared Sandy. “I noticed while we were on
the way to Maine that a new life preserver was on the
stern of the yacht. I saw it hadn’t been cut and sewed
up, so the emeralds couldn’t be in that—or in any other
one on the yacht. And, when Dick made his discovery,
just now, I examined the one he found for cuts and
marks of being sewed up.”

“I didn’t notice any,” admitted Larry.

“Bang! Another theory gone up in smoke!” Dick was 138

rueful.

“All the same,” Larry commented, “Jeff didn’t put the

preserver in his fuselage, and Captain Parks could open
his safe and no one else knew how, he declared! There
are some things I can’t work out and I wish I could.”

“Let’s make whoever knows anything—er—let’s make

them work it out for us,” suggested Dick. “Let’s bait a
trap with the life preserver—leave it where it is, get Mr.
Everdail to call everybody together, and we’ll tell what
we found and what we think is in it—and see what we
see.”

Eagerly Larry consented. Sandy nodded quietly.

139
 CHAPTER XVI
THE “BAIT” VANISHES

Simple and clever, Dick’s plan appealed to Mr. Everdail.

His library, that evening, made Sandy think of a “mass

meeting of creditors or stockholders who have been
tricked.”

The room sheltered a mixed assembly. Jeff was there,

and so was the seaplane pilot, Tommy Larsen, and his
former “passenger” supposed to be a special agent from
London.

Miss Serena, with the yacht stewardess, uneasy but

clinging close to the older woman, made up the
representatives of the ladies’ side, while Captain Parks,
his chef, mate, engineer and their helpers and crew,
with the caretaker and all the new servants, filled one
end of the room.

“Now you know why there was so much excitement as 140

the yacht came in,” Mr. Everdail completed a long
speech in which he told the astonished gathering about
the missing emeralds. “That is, those of you know who
didn’t know before,” he added meaningly, and went on
quickly. “I decided to tell you because somebody on that
yacht was ‘in cahoots’ with somebody else, and if any of
you know who it is, it will be worth ten thousand dollars
to you to point out the right one and help me prove
you’re right!”

“That will start something!” mused Larry as many

exclaimed, and others looked startled at the disclosure
of the large reward.

By agreement Mr. Everdail watched the sailors and

servants to note the effect of his story. Sandy, without
doing it openly, watched Jeff. Larry’s eyes covertly
observed Tommy Larsen and his associate and Dick
noted the action and expression of Captain Parks.

“There’s some one who knows something!” Larry

decided as he saw the passenger of the cracked-up
seaplane bend forward, intent, but without a trace of
expression. He had the sort of face that can completely
conceal its owner’s emotions.

“I’ve discovered that Captain Parks has a hand in this

somehow,” Larry determined, as he saw the mariner’s
eyes shift. Larry followed the swift, instantly changed
direction of the seaman’s glance.

“He looked smack at the stewardess,” Larry added to 141

himself.

Sandy’s watchfulness drew blank.

“Jeff didn’t turn a hair,” Sandy murmured under his

breath. “He knew all about it, of course. But—just you
wait, Jefferson-boy, till Mr. Everdail ‘springs’ the trap.”

As soon as the sensation created by the large offer was

over, everybody looked suspiciously at his or her own
neighbor.
No one spoke.

The millionaire waited a decent interval for someone to

come forward, and Miss Serena finally broke the spell of
silence by saying, quietly:

“You won’t find out anything by that, Atley.”

“Why not?”

“Because—” She spoke in harmony with her name,

pronouncing her words serenely:

“Because—the person who threw the jewels off the

Tramp—isn’t here—and wasn’t suspected or seen.”

“As I live and breathe!” The rich man rose, while Dick,
Larry and Sandy almost bounced out of their chairs.

“Serena, explain that!” he added.

“It was your wife’s French maid—Mimi!” she said quietly.

“How do you know?” 142

“Did you see her?” broke in Sandy, astonished.

“I did not see her,” Miss Serena replied to Sandy while

she answered the older man’s question in the same
breath. “But I saw a glimpse of dress just afterward.”
Her expression showed confident assurance.

“Why, Miss Serena!” Jeff was stunned. “I didn’t know

you was one of these-here detectives.”

“I’m a woman and I use my eyes,” she responded

quietly. “A woman needs only to catch a flash of a dress
to identify it. Mimi’s maid’s outfit has a distinctive cap—
and I saw her cap just as she turned into the after cabin
—I was on the bridge. I went there immediately but she
had gone out through the galley door and I could not
locate her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” her cousin demanded.

“There was no need. She had taken only the imitations

—the ones you found.”

“But she knew them,” objected Dick. “She wouldn’t

throw over the wrong ones and she couldn’t get the
right ones.”

“She threw over both sets!”

The Sky Patrol gasped in unison. So did all the others. 143

“But she couldn’t get the real ones!” persisted Dick.

“She did not know she was throwing them over!”

There was another chorus of amazed exclamations.

“Explain that,” commanded the millionaire sharply.

“She—did—not—know—that the real emeralds—had

been—hidden—in the life preserver she used!”

“Who put the real ones there?” Larry spoke abruptly in

the astonished silence.

He did not need to have her reply. Captain Parks was

red and white by turns.

“I hid them to keep them secure!” he stammered,

turning toward his employer. “I had no wish to take
them. I felt—sure—nobody knew the combination of the
cabin safe—but I couldn’t say that a clever man, some
‘Jimmy Valentine’ fellow, might not get in. So I decided
to hide the real emeralds—and what was safer than a
life preserver?”

While eyes were fixed on him, surprised, accusing,

unbelieving, he spoke haltingly to his employer:

“I hope you’ll take my word for it, sir.” 144

The millionaire hesitated.

“I believe you!” Larry spoke earnestly, reassuringly. “It’s

a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

“But how did you get them into the life preserver?”
asked Sandy.

“Took off part of the cover, cut the rubber, put them in,
wrapped in oiled silk to make a tight pack, then used
some rubber patching cement I keep for torn rubber
coats or boot patching, and with a hot electric iron I
vulcanized the rubber together and put back the
covering.”

“Then there weren’t any stitches to be discovered!”

exclaimed Dick.

“None!”

“Then we’re all right!” Larry leaped to his feet. “We can
restore the jewels!”

“Certainly we can!” agreed Sandy. “And Mr. Everdail can

telegraph his wife to have Mimi arrested——”
“And she will have to tell who was her partner,” added
Dick.

“Now you had better go and get that life preserver, and 145
we’ll cut it open,” suggested Mr. Everdail. “I guess it’s
safe enough hidden in the tail of Jeff’s plane—” He was
baiting their trap. “Don’t look so surprised, Jeff—that
was what caused your ‘hoodooed’ crate to go out of
control—but we don’t suspect you of putting it there!”

Sandy, Dick and Larry had left the room by the time he
completed his sentence.

Reaching the hangar, with Mr. Everdail’s private key they

opened the smaller door, and used a flashlight to locate,
reach and climb to the tail of the airplane’s fuselage.

“Now—out comes—why!——”

Dick and Sandy saw Larry’s dazed face.

Instantly they knew the worst!

146
 CHAPTER XVII
A FIGHT FOR A FORTUNE

Into the waiting assemblage in the Everdail library

plunged Sandy with a white, frightened face and his
breath coming in gasps after his run.

“It’s—gone! Mr. Everdail—the life—preserver——”

“Gone? That can’t be!”

“It is, sir!”

“I don’t see how—” Mr. Everdail was thinking, as was

Sandy, that with everyone whom they suspected, except
the maid Miss Serena had accused, present in that
room, the loss of the carefully hidden object must be
impossible.

“When did you last see it, wherever you had it?” asked
the man from London, cool and practical.

“Just before—the meeting here, sir!”

“It was—where?”

“We left it where Dick had discovered it—in the fuselage 147
of Jeff’s airplane. One of us watched, taking turns, all
afternoon. Just before we came in here we made sure it
was all right, and Larry, who has the longest reach,
pushed it in as far as he could get it and still be able to
take it out again.”

“Could that girl, Mimi, have come back?” Jeff wondered.

“Whether she did or not,” the pilot, Tommy Larsen,

jumped up, “if the life preserver was safe an hour ago,
and gone now, it was taken during that hour. Maybe
within the last few——”

“Yes—I think it was in the last few minutes!” Sandy

declared. “We didn’t talk about the emeralds being
hidden in it until almost the last thing before we went to
fetch it here.”

“Let’s search the estate!” urged the pilot.

“Come on, everybody—spread out—” cried Jeff. “We’ll

get that-there girl——”

“Wait!” begged Sandy. “Everybody will get mixed up and

hunt in the same places. We ought to organize——”

“Sound common sense,” commented Miss Serena. “But

if you ask——”

Sandy guessed that she would have given her opinion, if

asked, that the search was useless.

She was given no time for the comment. Leaving her 148
with the white-faced stewardess and the pilot, whose
injuries prevented him from being of much use due to
his evident weakness, the others, under Mr. Everdail,
were grouped into parties. Given a definite territory,
each set out, one group to search the grove under Jeff’s
leadership, another to cover the shore section,
boathouse and boats, with Captain Parks and his men in
the party. Others, under the mate and engineer, divided
the rest of the searchers to beat the further and less
cultivated woods on the estate and to walk the roads,
while Miss Serena gladly agreed to telephone to outlying
estates, and to the nearby town to have a watch kept
for any unknown person, woman or man.

“Where’s Larry—and Dick?” asked Jeff, as Sandy ran

beside him.

“Searching the hangar——”

“But it was locked and all doors down,” Jeff grunted.

“Why waste time there?”

“I guess we thought, just at first, somebody might have

hidden the preserver somewhere—we thought we saw
somebody in the hangar the day the mystery started,
but we found no one, so Dick thought——”

“Well, go tell them to come and help me in the grove.

Don’t waste time there!”

Sandy separated from the superstitious one, as the 149

latter rushed among the trees, muttering that some
omen had warned him of trouble.

As the beaters separated, and widened the circle of

their search, the sounds of calls, shouts, voices
identifying one another grew fainter.

Sandy, reaching his comrades, compared notes.

“They’ve organized and started,” Sandy reported. “What

have you two found?”
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