The Adventure Girls in the Air
By Clair Blank
Gale had often run the motor boat on this short tour, but she had never experienced the thrill of adventure and excitement prevailing tonight. The ship’s prow cut through the water and flung a fine spray over the girl. The island was dark, but the moonlight flung the trees and the little lodge into sharp relief against the sky. A light gleamed faintly through the lodge window, and there Gale went.
There was no electricity on the island, so the lodge was illuminated solely by the fire in the fireplace and a small oil lantern which stood on the little table in a solitary state. A glance told her that the room was empty. Abruptly, her bundle slid to the table, and she sat down while she tried to grasp that the pilot was gone. There had been something mysterious about him. He had tricked them and disappeared at the first opportunity! But how had he left the island? The motorboat had not been here. His aeroplane was out of commission. They had left no means of escape for him.
Suddenly, she thought of the canoe housed in the little adjoining shed. Of course! It would be easy for him to get away with that. No trouble at all, for the bay had been as smooth as glass. Unnecessarily, she went to the shed, taking the lantern with her. There, she stared in amazement. The canoe was safely installed as it had been yesterday. The pilot had not touched it. Then how—he couldn’t have swum to the mainland! She left the shed and was about to enter the lodge when she stiffened to attention and stared down the beach. The moonlight was brilliant as daylight, throwing a silver path on the water and sandy shore. A solitary figure was coming slowly and laboriously along toward the cabin. Setting the lantern down quickly, she ran down the beach to meet him.
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Clair Blank
Blank began her career in Philadelphia as a typist for the Keystone Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Refining Company.
Biography.
In 1940, she became a secretary there and, still living with her parents, earned about $1,500 a year. She joined the American Women’s Voluntary Services during World War II, where she drove U.S. Army officers when they came to town. In 1941, George Elmer Moyer, whom Clair knew while growing up in Allentown, moved to Philadelphia; the two married in 1943. Moyer attained the rank of sergeant while serving in the Army for two years, from February 1944 to February 1946, with a year in foreign service bookended by two six-month periods in domestic service.
A skilled welder, he was employed at the Budd Company after his military service, working on automobiles, tank construction, Chevrolet fenders, and plastics until his retirement. He also studied mechanical engineering, taking night classes at Drexel University. Blank gave birth to two sons, Robert G. and John C. Moyer, born in 1947 and 1953. She died on August 15, 1965, in Philadelphia. Her husband died on February 27, 1998. In addition to the Beverly Gray series, Blank authored four other novels. The first three, comprising the Adventure Girls Series, were published in 1936 by A. L. Burt, which published the Beverly Gray series. Though later reprinted by Saalfield, no new Adventure Girls works were ever published.
In 1940, Gramercy published Blank’s only adult novel, Lover Come Back. At least two manuscripts written by Blank went unpublished. In December 1941, she sent an unsolicited manuscript, Linda Ross at Hamilton, to Grosset & Dunlap. Four months later, it was rejected for publication for “there seems to be a strong prejudice against starting a new mystery series with a school background.” Blank also wrote an unpublished Beverly Gray novel to follow the final volume, Beverly Gray’s Surprise. This work was never printed, as the series was cancelled in 1955. It is possible that a fourth Adventure Girls book was also written, titled The Adventure Girls on Vacation. This book was advertised at the end of the third and final book in the series; it is unclear whether Blank wrote it or intended it before it was cancelled.
Clair Blank
