BATTLING AT CLOSE QUARTERS

“Let me see!” Sparky’s eyes flashed over the instrument board. “Fuel and oil off, extinguisher on. Good girl!” He patted her shoulder. “You know what to do.”

“I know more than that.” Her lips were in a straight line.

“What’s that?”

“I should have stayed with the ship last night.”

“I don’t see that.”

“Someone tampered with our left motor while you were busy with the other one.”

“Not necessarily. Motors have caught fire many times without tampering. Your motor is set on springs. That’s to prevent vibration. Because of this your fuel and oil must come through flexible tubes.”

“Yes, I know all that,” she broke in. “Sometimes the connection gets loose. Gas drips on the manifold and then there is a fire. All the same—”

“You think our motor was tampered with. Well, I don’t. Anyway, all we can do is to watch everything, fly on one, and hope for the best.”

“And you said this was dangerous country.”

“Very dangerous.”

“Dawn is here.”

“The most dangerous of all. If an enemy fighter spots us, he’s sure to come after us.”

“And then—” She was feeling a little dizzy.

“Then we’ll have to try to defend ourselves. Mind if I leave you for a moment?”

“No—I—I’ll carry on.”

“We’ve got a couple of free machine guns. I’ll have them ready just in case.”

“Must we fight?”

 Prev. P 42/132 next