Free The Sky Phantom by Carolyn G. Keene Page A

soldier’s uniform.
    “Bruce!” she cried out. “Am I glad to see you!”
    He led her onto the dance floor and said, “I guess I got here just in the nick of time, and I suppose you’re surprised to see me. Pop Hamilton invited several of the instructors at Excello to come to the party.”
    Nancy said she was happy to hear this. When the music stopped, Bruce remarked, “It’s warm in here. Would you mind walking outside with me?”
    “Of course not,” Nancy replied.
    Bruce said, “I’d like to talk to you about tomorrow morning’s flying lesson. Also, I wanted to tell you that the school telephoned Roger Paine’s home again. His parents still have not heard from him, and I think they’re getting the FBI to make a search. So you may have company in your sleuthing.”
    Nancy said she thought the Paines were certainly doing the right thing. “As you know, I suspected foul play from the start,” she added.
    Bruce asked if she had had any new hunches. “Most of yours turn out to be correct guesses.”
    Nancy thanked him for the compliment, then said she would never forget the amazing experience of flying inside the big cloud, with the fantastic magnetic black formation.
    “That giant was like a sky phantom,” she said. “He could change shape whenever anything disturbed him.”
    Suddenly she realized that Bruce was not listening attentively. She looked sideways at him.
    He apologized. “I was just thinking about something I’d like to do tomorrow in our lesson,” he said. “We’ll try a new spot, where the winds and terrain are different from any place where we have been.”
    “That sounds interesting,” said Nancy. “I’ll be on time.”
    Bruce looked at her intently. “I have a surprise for you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Yes, the secret will have to wait until tomorrow.”

CHAPTER XII
    Breaking the Code
    DURING the evening, Nancy speculated on the secret that Bruce declined to tell her. She tried several ways to get him to divulge it, but failed. The pilot merely grinned and refused to commit himself.
    The next morning he arrived early in his car and the two drove to the Excello Flying School. Bruce’s plane was ready, so he and his pupil climbed aboard.
    “Do you want me to take the controls?” Nancy asked him.
    “I certainly do,” Bruce said. “Well, I’ll tell you where we’re going. That’s the secret.” He grinned. “I can have my mysteries too. We’re flying to an entirely different location this time—in fact, one that is flat and reasonably smooth. If we come down, taxiing won’t be so difficult. But before we do that, I’m going to teach you something about accidental spins.”
    Nancy gasped at the thought of possibly spinning right down to the ground, but she said nothing to Bruce.
    In about half an hour, they reached the practice area. “Ready?” Bruce asked.
    “Quite,” Nancy replied.
    Bruce rolled into a steep turn. “Do you remember how you accidentally spun over the top during a previous lesson?” he asked.
    “How could I forget?” Nancy answered.
    “I’m going to demonstrate a similar situation to you,” the instructor declared. “However, this time we’ll spin out of the bottom of the turn, rather than over the top.”
    Nancy braced herself as Bruce tightened the turn to the left. Then suddenly he pulled the stick back with a snap and shoved the left rudder pedal forward. A split second later the plane whipped into a vicious spin.
    Nancy grabbed the sides of her pilot’s seat. “Oh!” she murmured.
    After several turns Bruce recovered from the maneuver.
    “Whew!” Nancy sighed. “What a ride!”
    “Rough, isn’t it?” Bruce said, “but I want to be certain that you fully understand these maneuvers so you won’t get into trouble in the future.”
    “May I try one?” the girl flier asked nervously. Then she told herself she must be calm.
    Guided by her instructor, Nancy manipulated the controls. Her first attempt merely resulted