CHAPTER VII
THE GREAT DAY ARRIVES
By the time the pilots of the American escadrille began to assemble onthe field where the airplane hangars were clustered, (these being moreor less camouflaged by means of paint cleverly applied to represent theearth), the news concerning the air service boys' narrow escape hadbecome generally known.
Great was the indignation expressed by all. Up to this time there hadappeared to be considerable honor exhibited among-the flying men on bothsides. In fact many curious little courtesies had been exchanged thatseemed to put the aviation service on a plane of its own.
One thing was certain. After that there would be no taking things forgranted. Each pilot meant to satisfy himself as best he could that hisplane was in perfect order before risking his life in the uppercurrents.
Jack was besieged for a full account of the matter. He, being anobliging person, gladly told everything he knew. Naturally the mysteryattached to the discovery of the message of warning tied to the poorlittle partly collapsed child's balloon aroused considerable curiosityand speculation among the aviators.
The way some of them pumped Jack made him laugh; but he assured them hewas just about as "deep in the mud as they were in the mire."
"I've told you all about the woman named Mrs. Neumann," he repeated forthe tenth time. "And she's the only one I can think of who would be aptto care a cent whether Jack Parmly happened to be alive or dead. Ifanybody can give a better guess I'd like to hear it."
They did considerable "guessing," but after all it became the consensusof opinion that the grateful Mrs. Neumann was responsible. And sofinally they let it go at that; for the day had begun, and there was anabundance of work to be accomplished before the sun set again.
"But this is certain," said one of the leading flyers of the escadrille,seriously; "if the Boches mean to stop playing fair it's bound todemoralize the service. Up to now there's been an unwritten set of rulesto the game, which both sides have lived up to. I shall hate to see themdiscarded, and brutal methods put in their place."
Others were of the opinion that there might have been something personalconnected with the attempt to kill Jack, through that shabby trick. TheGerman spy might have had a private grievance against the youth, theysaid, which he meant to pay off in his own dastardly way.
No matter which turned out to be the truth, it was not pleasant for Jackto believe he had become an object of hatred to some mysterious prowler,and that possibly other secret attempts on his life might be made fromtime to time.
That day passed, and another followed. There did not seem to be muchstirring on either side of the line; but such a lull frequently provedthe precursor of some gigantic battle, for which the armies werepreparing.
Of course, when the wind and weather permitted, there was always plentyof excitement among the airplane escadrilles. All manner of littleexpeditions were organized and carried out.
Now it was an attempt to get above that string of "sausage" balloonsused for observation purposes only, so that a few well-dropped bombsmight play havoc among them.
As these were always defended by a force of fighting planes hoveringabove, all primed to give battle on the slightest provocation, theresult of these forays was that a number of hotly-contested fights were"pulled off" high in air.
One pilot brought down another enemy, and increased his score a peg,always a matter of pride with a pilot of a fighting plane. And anotherof the escadrille had the honor of getting above those observationballoons before a couple of them could be hastily pulled down.
Two of his companions engaged the defending Teuton pilots, and fendedthem off purposely, in order to permit the raid. The selected manswooped down like a hawk, passed the Gotha guard, and managed to shoothis bomb downward with unerring aim. One of the balloons was seen toburst into flames, and the second must have met with a like fate, sinceit was perilously near at the time, though the dense smoke obscuredeverything.
All these things and more did Tom and Jack witness through their glassesas those two days passed. Tom especially was waiting to have his wishrealized with as much calmness as he could summon.
"I think it will come to-night, Jack," he told his chum, on the secondafternoon, as they prepared to return to their lodgings.
"Then you believe there's some big move on tap, and that to-morrow abattle will be commenced? And all for the possession of some old ruinedfort, perhaps, that is now only a mass of crumpled masonry and debris!"
"You mustn't forget, Jack, it is the famous name that counts with theseromantic Frenchmen. Douaumont and Vaux mean everything to them, even ifthere is nothing but a great mound of stone, mortar and earth to tellwhere each fort once stood."
"Yes, I suppose you're right, Tom; and then again I was forgetting thatthe retaking of a prominent position which the Germans had capturedmeans a heartening of the whole army. I've heard them talking ofMort-Homme, and Hill Three Hundred and Four, as if those were the mostprecious bits of territory in all France."
"These are sometimes strategic points, you know, keys to a furtheradvance. But there comes the captain now, and he's got his eye on us, assure as you live!" ejaculated Tom, giving a little start, and turning ashade paler than usual, owing to the excess of his emotions, and theanticipation of hearing pleasant news.
The leader of the Lafayette Escadrille smiled as he drew near. He waiteduntil he could speak without being overheard, for it was not always wiseto shout aloud when dealing with matters in which the High Command had adeep interest, such as a pending advance movement.
"It is to-morrow, Raymond," he said quietly, yet with a twinkle in hiseye.
He had taken a great liking to these daring lads who had already madesuch strides toward the goal of becoming "aces" in time, granting thatthey lived through the risky period of their apprenticeship.
"Both?" gasped Jack eagerly.
The head pilot shook his head in the negative.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Parmly, but you'll have to wait a bit longer,"he announced, whereat the other's face fell again, though he gulped, andtried to appear content. "There are several things you must correctbefore you can expect to take such chances. We are short a fightingpilot for to-morrow, and I thought it was time we gave Raymond hisinitiation."
Then as he walked alongside the chums he entered into a minutedescription of the duties that would devolve upon Tom in his first timeup to serve as a guardian to the heavier planes acting as "fire-control"and scouts, or "eyes of the army."
"Of course you are only to butt in if we are outnumbered," the leaderexplained in conclusion. "The experienced and able fliers must take careof such of the enemy as venture to attack our big machines. Some ofthese Boches will be their best men, with records of a dozen or twomachines to their credit. It would be little short of suicide to send anovice up against them, you understand."
Tom was ambitious, and would of course be delighted to prove his metalwhen opposed by a famous ous "ace;" whose name and reputation had longmade him a terror to the French and British airmen. Nevertheless herecognized the wisdom of what the captain was telling him, and promisedto restrain his eagerness until given the prearranged signal that hischance had come.
It made Tom feel proud to know he had won the good opinion of such abrave man as the captain, as well as the friendship of those othergallant souls composing the American squadron of aviators fighting forFrance.
"Still," he said to Jack later on, when they were together in their roomgetting into their ordinary street clothes, "it made me feel a bit cheapwhen he spoke of my being pitted against just an _ordinary_ pilot,some fresh hand as anxious as we are to achieve a reputation. At thesame time that's what we must seem to these veterans of scores of aircombats, all of whom have met with the most thrilling adventures againand again."
Jack managed to hide his bitter disappointment. He realized that hewould never be in the same class as his more brilliant chum. Tom fittedfor becoming an expert in the line had chosen for his calling. On theo
ther hand Jack began to believe that he was a little too slow-wittedever to make a shining success as a fighting aviator, where skill mustbe backed by astonishing quickness of mind and body, as well as_something else_ within the heart that is an inherited birthright.
"Anyhow," he consoled himself by saying, not aloud, but softly, "I canbe the pilot of a bombing machine, and perhaps in time they'll give mecharge of a plane used as fire-control during the battle. That is as farup the pole as I ought to aspire to climb. These chaps in the Lafayetteare one and all picked men, the very cream of the entire service."