The Wilmington morning star., 1940-11-02
Before The Blitzkrieq
Continued From Page Eight

Continued From Page Eight
previously onto a slip Of paper be
fore him.
&c. calling x. Have just had or
ders 10 descend. Only vague, no
ton that we are somewhere ovel
Germany. Ground invisible because
of clouds. G.1313 has just gohe
dowa-we follow now. Will repor,
first opportunity. Tony. Tony"
Damn it! What was happening
out there, wherever it was? Cur
could look after himself, all right,
but if he had come down into 6
nest of enemies. A shot or g
knock on the head!
Devil take it, why had he sem
Gun on this assignment? The job
had to be done, but there were
others who could have done it.
But possibly not SO well, and eff
cheney was everything on a job like
this one. No, it had to be Gun
there. But that didn't make hi.
anxiety any the less.
He rose, and strobe to the dool
Of the wireless closet, jerking i
open n%ervously.
ANY news?"
The operator, who knew x well
gave him a quick glance.
mot yet, sir! Why don't yol
take a bit of rest, sir? I can lie
you know Immediately anything
comes through"
mo, that's all right, Bates,
thanks very much. "a rather stane
by for the moment"
He turned away, but did no
close the door. For a little while
he paced the office, just to stretch
his legs. Finally came to a halt by
the window, looking out over the
minister. The early morning sur
gilded the chimney pots and tn
smoke rose, lazily and peacefully
toward the blue of the sky. Stand
ing there x saw a momentary vi
sion-of those peaceful roofs an.
chimneys shattered and broken; o
red flames that roared angrily III
and screams Of the injured. tn
changing of fire engine and am
bulance gongs-and of a thin, wick
ed cloud of blue vapor carryin,
alton, and thought of the labor ane
And he saw that, against such
happening, the life of Gun Cotto1
of a hundred Gun Cottons -
counted as nothing at all, even i
it put off the catastrophe for only
SO much as a day. And he knew
that Gun himself would feel jus
that way about it, and so felt bet
ter for a few moments.
But Toni?
He glanced at his watch. Ter
minutes after seven. It might bt
hours before he got another re
port through. Or it might come any
minute. Or, of course, it might no
come at all. From now on, al
might be silence. . .as though
Gun Cotton had never been at all
He was sitting in his chair agar
now, and the operator could see
him through the open door. He
looked at his chief with commiser
alton, and thought of the labor and
strain and bloody sweat given by
such men for a public who hae
never heard of them at all.
Suddenly he registered attention
and turned to his instrument. Their
he called sharply:
Something coming through STRIP
x sprang from his chair, anc
walked to the door,. The operator
was already scribbling rapidly or
a slip Of paper. Presently he hand
ed the result to X, who hurried
back to his table, and decided:
&C. to x. Landed in some queer
place in the hills. Three men ir
G.1313. Two mechanics and man
who calls himself Trent, in Air
Force uniform which doesn't quite
tit. Latter asked questions about
secret plane. l am supposed to be
Hazeldeane's Observation-Disclosures
l think I should be bumped off. We
have been instructed to follow
them again, and are doing so.
While we were away from X. o. o.
they refueled her, and put compass
and speedometer out of action.
Why not the radio? We cannot,
therefore, trace our course, but ap;
pear at present to be heading in
about S: E. Will report again in
80 minutes. or if anything hap
pens. Tony"
ks relief was enormous. So they
were still alive, and unhurt! He
had the capacity for sleeping in
s%natches. as and when opportunity
occurred. He left instructions with
the operator. and went into the