Evening star., 1952-09-13

vi.
But the soreness over his faith
er's death lessened gradually, ant
Willie began to enjoy Pearl Har
Dor. His coding duties involvet
eight hours a day of drudgery il
a cement vault underground, an,
this hardship soothed his con
science. He avoided the girls ant
the liquor for a couple of weeks
but then the admiral had anothe
party. and Willie got drunk, ant
soon he was back at the old round
Honolulu was full Of easy pleas
ures.
He continued writing tremen
dously affectionate letters to May
He had decided that she was no
too old to waste a year or two. HI
might marry her, he might not
But their relationship was to,
valuable an experience" to be Gu
short. Mays letters were all tina
could be desired: Long, loving
CHEEKY. and usually containin,
good news. She was enjoying col
lege, though she felt like a grand
mother. she said. among the fresh
men. Her marks were high, an,
the language in her letters i'm
proved each month.
The roommateS lay on thei
cots, reading newly arrived mai
one sultry July afternoon. File
buzzed at the screens. thougl
there was no attraction inside tn
room but the smell of hot dr.
wood. Keefer lolling on his side
naked except for white shorts, hi
hairy stomach bulging over tn
waistband, raised himself on on
elbow and asked: whats tn
name of your ship again-Caint
amt it?"
"Yes." said Willie. absorbed i
a letter from May.
"Well listen, boy, I think m
brother Tom is on that ship!"
/ Willie glanced up in surprise.
II think it's the Caine," sal
Keefer. Never can make out m
,pap's doggone handwriting. Here
how do you read this?"
Willie Deciphers Writing
Willie peered at the word indi
Gated by Keefer's thumb. Cain
all right"
Sure enough. They sent hin
there from communications schoo
Whaddya know!"
j Fine. It's a lucky break. It'll b
like having a relative on boare
Does he like the ship?"
Hell. no. He wrote Pop it's tn
foulest bucket in the Navy-Bu
that don't mean nothing" h
Iadded quickly, seeing Willie winc.
Hell, don't take anything Tor
says too serious. Toms queer a
a three-dollar bill. The Caine'
probably a great ship if he don
like it."
1t was the first of Septembe
when Willie and Keefer staggere,
into the BOO at 4 in the morn
ing, full of hog meat and whisk
which they had consumed at
hilarious luau.
Next thing Willie knew, he wa
being shaken. and a strange voic
was whispering loudly, Keith
Keith? Are you Keith?"
He opened his eyes. Day wa
just dawning. In the dim light h
saw a short, Swarthy ensign il
shapeless frayed khakis standin
over him.
eyes, I'm Keith"
Better come along. I'm Payn
ter, from the Caine."
"The Caine?" Willie sat ur
"She's here?"
yep. We're showing off at O80
to do some target towing. Ge
your gear together"
Look, I'll be glad to repor
aboard, Paynter, but I'm stil
attached to the officer pool here.
mo, you're not. That's all fixeC
We've got a visual dispatch de
Itaching you. We've been waitin
flor you a long time, Keith"
He said it pleasantly, but Will
felt obliged to defend himself.
did what I could. Missed you b
a few hours back in May when yo
|shoved off. They stuck me int
the officer pool"
Hell, I wouldn't blame you
you never showed up," said Payn
tier.
"Are we leaving Pearl for good? ?
"Why?"
"If we are I'll wake up Rolan
and say good-by."
mo. We're not leaving for goot
At least not according to orders.
Dump Truck Waiting"
Outside the BOO in the Chi
misty morning stood a small gra
Navy dump truck. mot yer
classy" said Paynter, 'but that
all I could get at S in the morn
ing. Pile in"
At the head of steps leadin
down to the fleet landing tn
truck pulled up. Paynter honkeo
Three sailors lying in a half
canopied greasy gray boat along
side the dock rose wearily an
mounted the steps. They loade
'IWillie's gear into the boat Will
|Paynter turned the truck into
car pool a few yards down tn
road. The two officers stepped int
the boat and sat on cracked blac
leather seats inside the canopy.
"All right, Meatball, shove off
said Paynter to the coxswain,
fat sailor dressed in amazingl
dirty rags. with pure-white ne
hat tilted forward almost to h!
nose.
A bell changed in Willie's es
and he jumped. His head was n
more than an inch from the bel
!. He shifted to another cushion
The boat engineer started up til
, motor. after several failures whic