CHAPTER XXI 



THE SEARCH FOR HASSELL 

 AND CRAMER 



|HE preparations for the coming 

 of the Rockford flyers, and 

 later our efforts to solve the 

 mystery of their disappearance into the solitude 

 of Greenland, were several times upset by the dif- 

 ficulties of securing contacts through our short- 

 wave wireless plant. We were carrying out 

 changes in the plant itself to render it more effec- 

 tive. These put the plant out of commission for 

 considerable periods, and even when working the 

 long hours of daylight at that season of the year 

 constituted a continual handicap. 



After Hassell had crashed on his first take-off 

 at Rockford, we had learned through the Press 

 broadcast that his plane was badly damaged. By 

 radio we had asked the New York Times whether 



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