Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-11


does it happen that well, anyway, what q
need is pilot or two, brave and good enough
to hold of until he's needed and keen enough
to go in at the proper instant. I thought
Westcott would do. told Westcott about
Harper. I can't f1y all the patrols myself BY
the way. there was q Boone in the tn Squad
ron last Summer. Did WELL 1 believe. a.
brother Of yours?"
mo" said Boone. But I knew the man.
He was-lost. Good night captain. Who are
the new men going over in the morning?"
SATISFYING the guard, Glenn Boone entered
~ B-hangar. He found plane No. Q and ex-
amined the loop handle Of the choke wire. 70
would be quite simple. He took a pair of pliers
and piece Of broken brass SHIN from the side
bench and returned to the plane. In 10 min-
utes he had the choke blocked partially open.
Then he went to the paint shop and picked up
a strip Of camouflaged linen. Fifteen minutes
later he lay IN his blankets staring at the
ceiling.
The early patrol got away. At any rate SICK
of them did. Westcott's engine missed badly
enough to keep him down, and his plane res
manned on the line while its pilot and crew.
went to breakfast. It remained on the Inns
for perhaps i've minutes and it was back On
the line 10 minutes before the fight came home.
There had been fight over the Bots de Banthe~
vile. Two Fokkers went down and the Eight~
zenith lost no one.
Teddy Wattrous made himself a little ridicsa-
lous in the mess shack, trying to thank four
of the fellows for saving his life. They denied
the honor. 'T don't care" he persisted; both
times they had me cold until Spad-how do
know which Of you?-dropped ON the FokkeE
from above. I wasn't paying any attention -
numbers. I don't believe that Spad had d
number"
Capt Boyd read out the list for the after4
noon. It was A-i9ights affair. by the way;
Lieut. Boone" he turned TO his gun man.
there's q new plane. No. IA, sent up from
Colombey., wish you'd check the sights and
get it ready to 60"
George Duncan found him in quarters bind
ing up what seemed 70 be q bullet crease across
the back of his hand. He held it up, laughing.
"Look at this, George. Even kiwi can get
wounded, you see. I got too close on the test
range today Lucky It didn't knock the WRIST
bone. You leading this Alright patrol2"
Alright landed with a strange tale that
evening. Their mission had been to protect q
flight Of day-bombers on a raid to Dun-sur-
Meuse and they had expected action when they
passed 'Fokker corner" where the line bent
and the enemy could fly in from two sides.
But there was no action. Although they sighted
Fokkers, like Summer flies, in the distance, they
were not attacked. The bombers and their
Spad protection were too well organized 10
invite it and they dropped heavy cargo On
Dun-sur-Meuse and flew safely home, q well
come respite for the bombers.
The curious part of it was that a strange
Spad had hooked on the end of Alright as 10
Gus position IS meters above and to the rear
all the way, near enough to be along and tOo
far for Identification. The plane bore neither
number nor squadron stripe nor any insignia
save for the red white and blue concentr1c
circles Of the allies.
Even unimaginative George Duncan verified
the circumstances. At first he had been SuSpi-
cious. It was not unknown for the enemy to
fly captured plane. They decided finally that
some one from another squadron had become
lost and joined on for safety At least the older
men decided that. The less experienced when
that strange Spad appeared again and again
at the rear Of the Eighteenth's flights on some
dangerous patrol or protection during the next
10 days, began to whisper half jocularly about
phantoms and guardian angels, all that mystery
stuff. They remembered Teddy Wattrous' story.
And then came that fight over Grandpre with
a swarm Of those red-bodied, white-winged fel-
lows who carried the checker board insignia
of the enemys crack crcuses which all too fire.
quently for the less experienced Americans was
the sign Of doom. The Eighteenth sent down
three of those red hornets and gave the lives
of Reynolds, Curtlet and Bob Thompson in ex-
change. Nearly everybody, at some instant, ha0
seen the strange Spad, nose down, guns abla7es
looming out OF tracer fire, everywhere in that
whirlng sky. They saw him ride the checker
board who got Curlett until it burst into flames
almost under his wheels The story Of the
guardian angel carried little more weight
that night. ,s-r5
A ND the next morning Glenn Boone pursued
his routine work with the planes in c.
hangar. mechanic named Martin, an almost
ludicrous figure, standing at salute in his work
jeans said: Capt. Boyd was in here asking
questions last night, lieutenant. II followed
your orders"
Boone was instantly alert. Did he see the
new plane? How does it look now? All right
then, Martin, you viii continue to obey my