“The five years after that were hectic ones. Aviation was still new—interest in it had been stirred up by war flying, and all sorts of men, young, old, every kind, bought up old planes from the government and went barnstorming around the country, taking people up on flights, stunting, flying in air circuses, balloon jumping, and doing anything they could to make money with their tubs. Some of these planes were no more than old junk, and the flyers no more than the rankest amateurs. But there were some of them who were good, and one of these was Hawks. He went dizzily stunting around the country, until’ he got himself the reputation of being just plain crazy, but a great flyer. “There were ups and downs, to be sure. And I don’t mean to be funny, either, my lads. The people in the United States were getting just a little weary of going up in airplanes just for the fun of the thing—they were getting too common. But—there were people down in Mexico who had never seen a plane, much less flown in one, so down to Mexico went Hawks. He gave. Mexico plenty of thrills, and Mexico gave him some, too. The country was unsettled at the time, upset with revolutions. Hawks got a job flying a diplomat from Mexico City to his ranch, because they’d be safer in the air than going by automobile through the mountains. Hawks even tried ranching for a while, but it didn’t work. “He decided to go back to the United States, and when he went back he married Edith Bowie, who hailed from Texas. Down in Texas Hawks flew over the cotton fields with arsenic to kill the boll weevils. He worked in the oil fields, too, as a driller. It was good experience for him. They found out that he could fly, and he got a job piloting officials of the oil company from place to place in the oil country. They found that they were saving time and money. “At this time Lindy flew over the Atlantic. Hawks bought the Spirit of San Diego, which was the sister ship to the Spirit of St. Louis, and flew across the country to greet Lindbergh when he came back. He flew 4,000 miles on a National tour with the Spirit of San Diego, and then 7,000 miles criss-cross. “Luck was with him. He was going to reap his just rewards. He became a member of one of the country’s richest oil companies, as their technical flying expert. He advised them in buying planes, and chose their pilots for them, and in addition, had to sell flying to the country. “And maybe he didn’t set out in earnest to make the country sit up and take notice then! There was a Wasp-motored Lockheed Air Express monoplane at the manufacturers’ in Los Angeles, and it had to be flown to New York. Hawks got the bright idea that he could fly it across the country without a stop. And he did.