The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-04-27

| swept INTO the air. Its little sigma
lights cleaning like stars. Anothe
followed and another, until the
had embarked on their perilous voy
age whose ending no one could pro
! phesy.
Planes Gradually Disappear.
Gradually the blinking eyes Of TIT
plane disappeared, and we stood ant
. counted the minutes as we strained
our eyes towards the battle line
where the flights would cross. Sud
denly a stream Of balls of fire begar
, to mount high into the air over TIT
trenches. The airmen had reached
the land Of hate and their punish.
ment began in earnest.
The deluge continued, and the
shrapnel flashed in ever increasing
numbers. German searchlights went
peering through the clouds, and we
learned later that one ray rested
squarely on a British plane. 1t was
a heartbrealdng moment for the pilot
and observer. Their chances were
small, but the light moved on and up
ward and the plane was again en-
lveloped In darkness.
All the planes but one were across
the line at last The one machine
came wheeling back, flashing its per-
sonal signal as it felt its way towards
home. A signal from the ground
answered and the plane circled slowly
down and came bobbing across the
| field. Engine trouble had forced a re-
/ turn, but there had been no accident.
4 Tt neared the hour for the other
! planes to be coming back. The squad
ron commander was pacing up and
down the field like a Gagged tiger. His
nerves were strained almost to the
breaking point, and he made no effort
| to conceal IL. His boys, the lads
whom he loved like a brother, were
out there over the boche guns. He
himself had spent many bitter days
and nights In a fighting plane, and he
knew the hell the flight was going
through at the moment. And so he
stamped about unhappily, with his
peering eyes ever on the eastern hor-
rizon, watching for the twin stars
which would herald the return OF at
least one of the wanderers.
Finally a set of lights appeared and
swung swiftly towards the west.
Dash, dot dash, dash" went the
code
Its Brown and Little" sighed the
commander, and he was of post haste
toward the landing place. The ma
chine circled and perched.
That you, Brown" the commander
demanded anxiously. Everything
all right?"
@Boys" Chief Concern.
He didn't ask whether they had
reached their objective. or whether
they had dropped their bombs. Were
his boys all right?
Brown and Little are all right, sir,
came the reply.
Ten times more the same thing
happened, the planes sometimes ar
irving in groups. One pilot and his
observer were still out. We waited
long time, and they did not ap-
pear. The commander took himself
off to be alone, and the other officers
whispered quietly among them
selves. There was tragedy in the
air. Two of the finest men in the
service were still unaccounted for.
Meantime this pilot and observer
were struggling to win hundred
to-one chance against them with
death as the penalty for failure. Out
over the German lines their engine
went dead while they were at a
height Of perhaps 1000 feet. They
dropped thousand feet, and then
the pilot got his engine working
again systematically. Up they crawl |
ed to their former altitude with
their nose towards home, and then |
the engine gave a final gasp and |
died.
All the probabilities were that
they would crash and be smashed to |
pieces. There was only one thing |
which could possibly prevent IL. and 1
that was an iron nerve in the pilots /
box. He coolly started to coast west
wards. On he came until his signal |
lights showed clearly to the watch 1
ers IN the aerodrOme. 1t was like 4
the flight Of a phantom machine,
with its soundless engine. The i
pilot got near the aerodrome and I
then hesitated. He was lost and /
was coming down rapidly. He sig
nailed wildly and a score OF answer
ing lights flashed back. He swerv-
ed and came swooping down into
the aerodrome, saved by a few
yards.
They All Get aek.
The men were all back and we
went to the commanders office to
hear them give their reports. They
entered in twos and threes, their
helmets pushed back, but still wear
ing their bulky garments that made
them look like Arctic explorers. or
'teddybears." But what a change
In their demeanor. They were no +
longer the laughing, TESTING crowd of
TWO hours before. They were pale
ana haggard, and their eyes were
strained and brilliant No need for
them to say what they had been
through. Their faces told the story.
One by one they told briefly what
they had done. They had. or tEev
had not, reached their objective The
Hun hate? Very bad, indeed hut
not a subject for discussion. Their
reports were taken and they moved
lu1etly away. They wanted to be !
Business ls All Habit.
The Bostonian paused for a mo- /
nent by The Associated Press cor
The big youth sim .
wore smile, but he was subdued /
ne chauffeur" had had a hard trim /
hat night. He pulled out his nine {
nd filled IL reaectiveIy.
IhlS business Of bombing Is an r.
lapit he remarked philosophicaIlv.
. ne crammed the tobacco down. +
The British army has a habit 81 {
ending us out, and we have a habit
Z going and bombing the Hun Anil
habits just like smoking. though :
erhaps not quite SO pleasant"
we shook hands and he went avvavr b
Q MS billet, his great frame com 2
letely filling the ONCE door as he G
topped out.