The Washington times., 1937-12-11

Sitting on the edge OF thu
ragged cot. he listened to tn
monotonous pacing of the guard
outside. the distant rumble o
artillery at the front. some twent,
miles away. A smell of ripe olives
Of oranges, of fish, hung in tn
still air.
Dave glanced about the room
Massive seventeenth century ma
sonry which for three hundred
years had defled all efforts at es
cape.
Scratched upon it were scores oi
names, of initials. of dates. Otter
during the past two months Dave
had tried to picture the men whC
so laboriously cut them into the
stone.
Black-bearded hildagoS, rebel
liouS peasants, grenadiers of Ma
poleon's army. And now an Amer
ican aviator. Dave smiled crook
edly, shook his head.
Madness from the beginning, oi
course. He had had no interest
in either side. Their struggles
meant nothing to him. 1t was for
Mary, really, that he had come
to Spain.
Things had been different in
the old days, when he was ace
transport pilot for Trans-Amer.
ican, on the Los Angeles. Chicago
run. An apartment on LaSalle
Street, and Mary waiting for his
return from the coast Mary
with her dark mahogany hair,
her smoke-blue eyes, her brave,
cheerful smile.
FATAL CRACK-UP
So long ago, it seemed
Every rip he had brought her
something from Los Angeles, some
present. Flowers, fruit, bottle
of wine little things that
seemed to mean so much to her.
And along with them, the gossip
Of Hollywood, tales of the celeb
rites whom he had flown. Two
days with Mary, two gay exciting
days, and then another hop to the
coast, another stop-over. another
return trip. A man couldn't have
asked for more, until until
the crack-up.
T. hadn't been his fault. He had
done everything possible, after
the radio went bad. Just luck
that he had been unhurt while
six passengers were killed. The
air lines all knew it wasn't his
fault, but
They gave his job to kid with
only one-tenth Of his experience,
but a clear record. More of a risk
than he, Dave, could be, but the
passengers wouldn't know that.
Months of looking for work, Of
living from hand to mouth. No
ore wanted pilot who'd piled his
plane up and he didn't know
any trade except flying.
The day Mary hooked her we'd
ding ring that had hurt him
more than anything. So brave,
she had been, so uncomplaining.
Then, out of a clear sky. the offer
to go to Spain. Big dough and all
expenses how could man
refuse when his wife was living in
one dirty room. depending on
charity?
And he wasn't hired to kill.
Only to train men to fly. An in
Structor. There was danger, Of
course, from enemy air raids. but
who wouldn't risk a little danger
for a girl like Mary?
His high school Spanish was
meager, the country either cold
and rainy or hot and dusty.
Enemy air raids and red tape
Poor food and unfamiliar foreign
planes. But every month a check
was placed in Mary's account at
home.
After eight months he'd wanted
to go back. They had enough
money now to buy plane, and he
knew he could secure plenty Of
work on the Coast by flying rich
movie people on special trips.
Getting back, however, was not
so easy. The military authorities
wouldn't hear of it. He had be-
come an important part of their
war machine; his requests that he
be allowed to return met only po-
lite refusals; he realized that he
wax little more than captive.
BIG OFFENSIVE
Then, suddenly, the big enemy
offensive. Thousands of men. hun
dredS of planes. On his side.
planes and pilots grew increas-
ingly scarce. At last the training
ships, the instructors. were or
dered to the front.
No chance to argue. to object.
Almost before he knew it, he
found himself over the lines with
a machine gun in front of him.
and cloud of enemy ships diving
out of the sun. Dave remembered
little of that fight.
The training ship was slow, un.
wieldly. the enemy. fast. Wheel.
ing, rolling, spinning machine
gun fire doing a staccato tap
dance. rows of black dots that
appeared as if by magic in the
fuselage until suddenly the
motor coughed out.
Instinctively he had jockeyed
the ship to the ground, watched
the helmeted figures run toward
him, their rifles ready. A week
later he had found himself here.
In fha old citadel q toricnrnnr IInd