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So the day was at length appointed; it was to be the feast of St. Andrew, and to take place at Oxenford, which had been assigned to Edmund's dominions; for he insisted that it should be celebrated with all the pomp the presence of a king could lend. It was now the season of the falling leaf and there were only a few we...
First and foremost was the king of Southern England, the valiant Ironside, and his attendant and friend Alfgar; Elfwyn and Father Cuthbert from Aescendune, with the Lady Hilda and Ethelgiva; Herstan, his wife Bertha, and son Hermann, from Clifton, with his sisters; and Ethelm, the new bishop of Dorchester, the successo...
"How the wind howls without tonight!" observed Edmund; "it makes one value the blessing of a quiet home and a cheerful fireside. How often, Alfgar, have you and I lain on such nights under the shelter of a canvas tent, or even of a bush." "Often, indeed, my liege; but those days are gone, perhaps for ever." "They had t...
"Well, time will show; meanwhile, how is the new hall at Aescendune getting on, Elfwyn?" "It will be ready by next spring; then the young people must make it their home. Our home in the woods has proved a shelter to us through such troublous days that Hilda and I are loath to leave it. But, meanwhile, they must live wi...
"That is well," observed the bishop, "and as it should be--God's house first, and then man's." "Well, Hermann," said Edmund, addressing his young friend, whose career in arms he had closely watched since the attack upon the hall at Clifton, "how do you like the prospect of a long peace?" "A peaceful life has its deligh...
"The excitement of war blinds one to the risk." "So it should, or there would be no war at all. What does my father the bishop think of the matter?" "That wars are necessary evils, only justifiable when fighting, as you, my lord, have done, for home and altar, but they are no true children of the Prince of Peace who de...
"And yet I fear I must plead guilty of delighting in a gallant charge. It stirs the blood, till it flows like fire in the veins. The feeling is glorious." "Yet not one to be encouraged, save when it enables one to perform necessary deeds of daring for some worthy object, such as holy Scripture praises in the heroes of ...
"Your sister, the Princess Elgitha?" "Well, I will see her. No, I will not." "It is too late, Edmund. You must see me," said a sweet voice, and a lady, attired in mourning weeds, stood beside him. "It is but seven months, Edmund, since we lost our father. Shall his children rend and devour each other?" "I do not want t...
"Stay, Edmund, do not slander the husband before his wife." "This is a business! What am I to say? I cannot dissemble, and pretend to love him, were he ten times my brother-in-law." "Nor can I ask it," said a deep voice behind, and Edric stood before Edmund, his eyes cast down, his hands meekly clasped. "Edmund, I have...
"But now I repent me of my wickedness. It burdens me so heavily that, but for your sister, I would retire into a monastery, and there end my days." "It would be the best thing you could do." "It would indeed." This conference had taken place at the end of the great hall, which was a very spacious chamber, and the speak...
"Edmund," cried his sister, "I see what you will do. You will make me a widow; for Edric cannot live if you refuse him forgiveness. Night after night he tosses on his uneasy bed, and wishes that it were day. Surely, Edmund, you have need of forgiveness yourself, yet you refuse to forgive." "You preach like a bishop, bu...
"What am I to do?" he said. "My country's wounds, inflicted by this man, yet bleed. Am I to give him the hand of friendship?" "I do not deserve it," said Edric, meekly. "My lord," said the bishop, gravely, "man may not refuse forgiveness to his fellow worm; but, Edric, hast thou truly repented of thy sin before God and...
"Where?" "In my sad retreat, my castle in Mercia." "But some public reparation is due. Art thou willing to accept such penance as the Church, in consideration of thy perjuries, thy murders, which man may not avenge, since treaties protect thee--but which God will surely remember, if thou repent not--to accept such pena...
"It shall be duly considered and delivered to thee; and in consideration of that fact, I think, my lord, you cannot, as a Christian man, refuse to be reconciled." "O Edmund, my brother, be merciful!" said Elgitha. "I yield," said Edmund, "but not tonight," he said, as Edric stretched out his hand, reddened by many a da...
A cloud was evidently on his spirits that night, which did not wear off the rest of the evening. The party separated at what would now be called an early hour. The bishop and Father Cuthbert lodged at the monastic house of Osney; Elfwyn, his wife and child, as also Herstan, with his little party, were accommodated in t...
"Edric Streorn?" Alfgar added no more. "Couldst thou forgive him?" "I would try."
"His hand is red with blood. Think of Sigeferth, of Morcar, of Elfhelm, nay, of a hundred others; then think not how he has plotted against my life, but how he made my own father hate and disown me; while he, the pampered favourite, swayed all the councils and betrayed the land. O Alfgar! couldst thou forgive him?" "He...
"I hardly know; but after the reconciliation I must admit him as my guest, for my sister is with him, if he chooses to stay; but I hope that will not be the case." "His ill-omened presence would cast a gloom upon St. Andrew's day." "It would indeed; it shall be avoided if possible. And now let us commend ourselves to t...
On the morrow before the altar of St. Frideswide, the king and Edric had their places in the choir. One very touching ceremony, handed down from early times, was still observed in England--the "kiss of peace," occurring at some period before the close of the canon of the mass, when all the members of the cathedral chap...
When the holy rite was ended, Edmund invited Edric and Elgitha to become his guests. Edric knew the old palace well. He had occupied it one well-remembered season, during which, in that very banqueting hall where we have introduced our readers, Sigeferth and Morcar, the earls of the seven burghs, were treacherously mur...
So was it with this treacherous penitent. His presence, however, somewhat chilled the conversation, and they broke up early; the more so as it was a vigil, the vigil of St. Andrew, and men strictly observed the law of the Church on such subjects in those days. When he bade Edmund goodnight, Edric said: "You cannot tell...
Edmund thought of the holy thorn; but Edric continued: "And you will be glad to hear that the bishop has decided upon my penance. It is to be a pilgrimage to the Holy Land." "I am heartily glad to hear it," said Edmund, speaking the very truth, although he did try to forgive as he hoped to be forgiven. And they separat...
Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of the happy lovers, Alfgar and Ethelgiva. The morrow was to unite them. The ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes complete, and richly adorning them--Hilda, Bertha, and Ethelgiva, with many skilful handmaidens. They had almost finished thei...
But the kiss was suspended. The whole party stood silent and breathless; for a loud and bitter cry, as of one in extreme anguish, broke upon the silence of the night. Ethelgiva uttered but one word as she bounded towards the staircase, for she knew the voice: "Alfgar!" CHAPTER XXIII. WHO HATH DONE THIS DEED?
Alfgar never saw his beloved lord enter his chamber with a look of greater weariness than he bore that night. "It has been a hard fight, old friend," said the familiar king, "but we have conquered; for my part, I would far sooner have stood out against him, battle-axe in hand, than have met this struggle, could I have ...
"I can well believe that, my lord." "Well, if my path has been beset with foes, so has it with friends. Such love as yours, Alfgar, I say as yours has been!--well, few kings share such affections." "My lord, you first loved me; at least you saved me from a fearful death." "And you have warded off death from me again an...
"My lord, you praise me more than I can feel I deserve." "Not more than I feel you deserve, and yet were not this your last night as my companion, were not tomorrow's ceremony to separate us, perhaps for ever, I do not think I should thus overwhelm your modesty. "You blush like a girl," said he, laughingly. He lingered...
"Have you seen the messenger Canute sent me?" "Yes; I entertained him at the buttery as you requested." "Well, he came with a proposal from Canute that we should join in building and endowing a church at Assingdun, where a priest may ever say mass for the souls of our dead, whether English or Dane. Of course I have acc...
"'Beware,' he said, 'of Edric; his apparent desire of reconciliation cannot be trusted;' and he added that Edric was like a certain person who wanted to become a monk when he was sick." "I fear he speaks the truth." "But I cannot act upon his advice; it is too late now. I have striven to do what I thought, and the bish...
About half-an-hour after midnight Alfgar awoke with a strange impression upon his mind that some one was in the room. It was very dark and stormy, and the wind, finding its way through crevices in the ill-built house, would account for many noises, but there was something stirring which was not the wind, and the impres...
He could control his apprehensions no longer, and rose gently from his bed, so as not to warn the foe, on the one hand, should one be present, or if, as he strove to believe, all was fancy, not to awake Edmund. No one was in his own little room, that he felt rather than saw in a moment; but some one might be in Edmund'...
Alas! those lips were never to speak again while time lasted. At length the first deep emotion passed away, and left the unhappy Alfgar comparatively master of himself, whereupon he left the chamber, and cried aloud for help. It was his cry which the ladies heard in their distant bower. The piercing cry, "Help! Edmund,...
"Help! Edmund, the king, is slain!" They (the men) rushed to the chamber, and, passing through Alfgar's little room, beheld, by the light of many torches, Edmund bathed in his own blood, which still dripped with monotonous but terrible sound on the floor. Edric entered, and with woe, real or affected (no one could tell...
"Here," said Alfgar, extending it. "Why, Alfgar, it is your own dagger," said Elfwyn; "one which he gave you himself." Alfgar uttered a plaintive and pitiful cry. Edric possessed himself of the blood-stained weapon.
"Alfgar," said he, "you must have slept soundly. Tell us what you heard and saw." He briefly related the particulars with which the reader is acquainted. "But how could they enter? Was your door unfastened?" "No; it was bolted on the inside, even as I left it last night."
"Bolted on the inside! then they must have entered through the window," said Edric, noting the words. "Impossible," said both the thanes; "they are barred, both of them--heavily barred." "We can no longer assist our departed lord save by our prayers," said Edric. "God be thanked, he died friends with me. I shall value ...
"So help me God!" said all present, one after the other. "We are then of one heart and soul, and no tie of kindred, no friendship, shall bar our common action. And now we must rouse the reeve and burgesses; the gates of the city must be closed, that none escape. I will send members of the guard to do this, and when the...
Oh, how the thought of the conversation last night came back to him now--the warning of Canute, the loving words of affection which had been spoken to him by those lips now cold in death! All the imperfections of his character now faded away; he seemed so brave, yet so loving, so invincible in combat, yet so gentle and...
"We have met together under the most awful responsibility which could fall upon subjects. Edmund, our king, has been murdered, and by whom we know not." All were silent. "I grieve to say," he continued, "that there is but one upon whom our suspicions can now fall with any shadow of probability--one who is now absent, f...
"We have," said they with bursting hearts, for they foresaw what accusation Edric was about to bring. "I grieve, then, to say," he continued, "that this natural affection must be bitterly tried, for there is but one to whom my words can apply. Meanwhile, I will put a few questions. With whose dagger was the deed commit...
"Alfgar's." "Who incautiously, as if forgetting himself, stated that he found the door bolted on the inside?" "Alfgar." "But the motive--the motive? The poor fellow loved him as he loved his own father."
"I cannot explain that difficulty, but I can suggest one motive which may already have suggested itself to several. But let me ask of what nation is Alfgar?" "A Dane; but an Englishman by long habit." "I can answer for that," said Elfwyn. "Once a Dane always a Dane. Now a secret messenger arrived from Canute yesterday,...
All were silent. At length Edric continued, "none can deny that we have grounds for our suspicions." "Yes, I do deny it," said Elfwyn, "the more so when I remember who makes the accusation." "You do well to reproach me; I deserve it, I confess, and more than deserve it. Yes, I was Edmund's enemy once; but perhaps you r...
"We do, we do," cried all but Elfwyn and Herstan; but they were utterly outvoted, and the order was given to the captain of the hus-carles to arrest Alfgar. Alfgar, desolate and almost distracted, not heeding that he was not summoned to the council, as he might so naturally have expected to be, wandered mechanically ab...
"It is my painful duty to arrest you and make you my prisoner." "On what charge?" said the astonished Alfgar. "The murder of the king." CHAPTER XXIV. THE ORDEAL.
The news of the murder of Edmund spread far and wide, and awakened deep sorrow and indignation, not only amongst his friends and subjects, but even amongst his former enemies, the Danes, now rapidly yielding to the civilising and softening influences of Christianity, following therein the notable example of their king,...
"Alfgar, my son!" said Elfwyn, finding the poor prisoner did not speak, "do you not know us?" "Indeed I do; but do you believe me guilty, nay, even capable of--" He could add no more, but they saw that if they doubted they would hear no more from him--that he scorned self-defence. "Guilty!--no, God forbid! we alone in ...
"I thank you; you have taken away the bitterness of death--and Ethelgiva?" "Would die for her conviction of your truth." "Thank God!" he said fervently, his face brightening at once; tears, indeed, rolled down his cheeks, but they seemed rather of gratitude than grief. "We wanted to see, my son, whether you could aid u...
"I knew it made against me, but I couldn't lie, it was fast inside." "Then how could the foe have gained admittance?" "I could not discover that, but I think there must have been some secret door. Edric had perhaps lived in the Place before; he once resided in Oxenford." "He did, and in that very house," said Herstan. ...
"That may supply a clue, I know no other possible one." "But how, then, did he get your dagger?" "I think our wine was drugged the night before, or I should not have slept so soundly. I remember with what difficulty I seemed to throw off a kind of nightmare which oppressed me, and to come to myself." "Then I will get a...
"Do so cautiously, my father, very cautiously, for if Edric suspects you are on his track, he will plot against your life too, and Ethelgiva will have no protector. "Oh, this was to have been my wedding day, my wedding day!" and he clasped his hands in agony; then the thought of his master--his slain lord--returned, an...
Meanwhile the crafty Edric, who excused himself from attendance on the solemnities, tarried at Oxenford, and with him tarried also Elfwyn, Herstan, and the other friends of the unfortunate prisoner, to secure, as they were able, that justice should be rendered him. A special court of justice was speedily organised, whe...
But amongst those who stood nearest to the place he must occupy were his betrothed, her mother, Bertha, and young Hermann, who had already got into several quarrels through his fierce espousing of the cause of the accused. He entered at last under a guard, calm and dignified, in spite of his suffering. He met the gaze ...
"Were you present when the late king retired to rest?" "I was." "Who shared his chamber?" "The prisoner slept in an antechamber."
"Was there a fastening to the outer door of the antechamber?" "Yes; a strong bolt." "Could it be opened from the exterior?" "It could not."
"Was there any other entrance to the royal apartments?" "None." The dagger was produced, and Elfwyn was examined. "Do you recognise the weapon?"
"I do; it was Alfgar's." "How do you recognise it?" "It was richly carved about the handle. The letter E is stamped upon it, with a crown." "Whence did the prisoner obtain it?"
"The king gave it him." (Sensation.) "Did you see it on the night of the murder?" "I did." "Under what circumstances?"
"The accused held it dripping with blood in his hands, and said he found it sticking in the corpse." Other witnesses were also called to prove these facts. The accused was then heard in his own defence, and he repeated with great simplicity and candour the circumstances so well known to our readers; and concluded: "I c...
The bishop here spoke. "It is my office," said he, "by the canons of King Athelstane, to assist secular judges in purging away accusations, therefore I will ask the accused a few questions." "Had you any cause of suspicion against any other person--anything to point out the doer of this evil deed?" "All men loved him s...
"And who was that one?" "He sits to judge me." "Nay," cried the bishop, "we all beheld the reconciliation in St. Frideswide's church." "The king himself was warned not to trust to the reconciliation."
"By whom?" "His brother sovereign." "Canute?" And here Edric perceptibly changed colour.
"Even so." "Your proofs," said the bishop--"nay, my lord Edric, trust your reputation to the justice of God and the court." "The messenger from Canute, who came here on the vigil of St. Andrew." "Where is he?"
"He has returned to Canute," said Elfwyn. "Aught else?" "Only I would bid you remember that the ealdorman Edric sought in like manner reconciliation with Elfhelm of Shrewsbury, and all men know what followed." Here Edric interrupted--"I do not sit here to be judged, but to judge. These accusations cannot be heard."
"There is a judgment seat above where you will not be able to make that plea," said the prisoner solemnly. "Alfgar," said the bishop, "this counter-accusation cannot be received; have you aught else to urge?" "None. I commit my cause to God." The court retired.
The pause was long and painful. It afterwards transpired that the bishop pleaded in Alfgar's favour, while Herstan ably seconded him; but all was in vain. Edric's eloquence, and the strong circumstantial evidence against the prisoner, carried the day, and the ealdorman even proposed that execution should be speedy, "le...
“Less than two weeks,” Barry Blake responded. “Somehow time doesn’t count much with wartime friendships. It seems as if I’d known you for months—Moira.” A low laugh bubbled in the girl’s throat. It wasn’t a giggle—just a good-humored, friendly chuckle. Lieutenant Moira Stevens rose several points in Barry’s estimation ...
“So the Old Man is here—in this hospital,” he said at last. “When do you think I might see him? I—I’d like to talk with him about _Sweet Rosy O’Grady_ ... tell him she’s not beyond repair.” “I’ll ask the medical officer in charge, Barry,” the girl promised, as she rose to her feet. “Come, now! It’s time you were gettin...
“Nothing so pleasant,” Barry grinned. “The Japs raided our airport the next night after you came to this hospital. The raid was a cover-up for a landing of paratroops and field guns on a ridge above the field. I got cut up a few days later helping to clean them out with tommy-guns and grenades. All of _Rosy’s_ crew wen...
“Nurse Stevens,” the Old Man replied with a wry smile, “you’ve knocked out all my guns. I’m completely at your mercy, and you know it.” “In that case, sir,” Moira said, “Lieutenant Blake and I will leave you to make the best landing you can.... Come along, Barry! Time is up.” As she pulled the young co-pilot toward the...
In his later conversations with the Old Man, nothing was ever said about the Captain’s missing arm. They talked as though one of these days would see him again at the wheel of a flying fort. But both men knew that it was all talk. Before long Tex O’Grady would be back at home in the States with the only person in the w...
Moira Stevens wrinkled her pretty nose at him. “As a nurse I have no interest in perfect physical specimens,” she replied. “Sick men are my job. But if you haven’t forgotten me when this war is over, it might be fun to get together and compare notes.” She flashed him a smile that took the chill out of her words. “Hmmm!...
The colonel in charge gave Barry an examination that overlooked nothing. “You’re fit for service, Lieutenant,” he said. “If you were my age, you’d be in bed for another six weeks. Be thankful that nineteen years heals just twice as fast as forty-five! Er—by the way—at eleven thirty you will report to Captain O’Grady on...
Barry glanced at the time—eleven-thirty. Recalling that he was there by order of the colonel gave him courage. He waited until O’Grady recognized him, then stepped forward and saluted. “General Morse,” the captain said with grave formality, “this is Lieutenant Barry Blake, who brought our crippled Fortress home after t...
“Sit down with me, son,” O’Grady invited him. “Moira Stevens will join us in a few minutes for lunch. There’ll be just the three of us. You don’t know how pleased I am, Barry, that I could be present to see you decorated with the Purple Heart.” Barry touched the bright medal wonderingly. “I feel, somehow, as if it ough...
CHAPTER TWELVE NEW GUINEA GARDENS Reporting for duty at the Queensland repair base, Barry ran into surprises still more bewildering. The first was the news that he was promoted to first lieutenant; the second, that he would be given command immediately of a Flying Fortress. The ship and crew, he was told, were now wait...
There was even a tall, wide-shouldered figure in flying togs, leaning against the plane’s tail. He looked like Captain O’Grady from a distance. But he couldn’t be! Barry wiped his hand across his eyes, and walked toward the ship. The tall fellow looked up. He wasn’t the Old Man—he was _Hap Newton_! Hap let out a whoop ...
Barry turned to the open hatch, but he had no chance to enter. Men were boiling out of it as if the ship were too hot for them. In five seconds they were all around him. Fred Marmon, Cracker Jackson, Tony Romani, Curly Levitt, and Soapy Babbitt, with his broken shoulder still a little stiff, but useable. “Where’s Danny...
“He got transferred, Barry,” Curly Levitt said quietly. “It was just after the medical-corps men carried you back to the dressing station on Grassy Ridge. A bunch of us were trying to capture a Jap field gun. We ducked into a slit trench and started tossing hand grenades, but the Japs chucked them right back at us befo...
“Chick Enders!” Barry cried, making a grab for his old friend. “How did you get _here_?” “The same way Hap Newton did,” answered Chick, grinning from ear to ear. “I was the bombardier who bailed out with him from the B-26.” “Boys,” said Barry Blake, turning to face his crew, “I know that in a few seconds I’m going to w...
“It’s too good to be true, finding you all here—and _Sweet Rosy O’Grady_ too! I’m going to say hello to her before she vanishes in a pink fog, or something!” Understanding chuckles followed him as he dived into _Rosy’s_ open hatchway. “We’ll leave him alone with her for a few minutes,” Curly Levitt suggested. “Mess cal...
“Not much excitement on the way,” Fred Marmon commented; as the crew headed toward their waiting ship. “There’s nothing in the interior but mountains and jungles and wild men. Even the Japs steer clear of it, they tell me!” “You’ll have plenty of excitement once we reach the northern coast, Fred,” Barry told him. “The ...
“They patched her up in New Guinea—enough to fly her back to this Queensland repair base,” Curly Levitt explained. “Here they gave her a complete overhauling. Most of her replaced parts came from other wrecked ships—” “Like Hap and me!” spoke up Chick Enders. “Yes, you’re battle-tested, too,” Barry laughed. “By the way...
“Mine, too—unless he’s toned down a lot,” agreed Chick. “This war does queer things to people. It may have let the wind out of Crayle and showed him that he wasn’t such a hot pilot as he thought. I hope so, anyway.” “I believe you’ve got hopes for Hirohito, too,” Hap Newton scoffed. “Let’s forget Crayle until he does s...
“All right, Chick,” Barry replied. “But we won’t do any hedgehopping with a quarter of a million dollars worth of Fortress. If the air isn’t bumpy I might take _Rosy_ down to five hundred feet—when and if you spot a thatch-roofed metropolis.” “Don’t try to thrill ’em by dropping an egg on the town pump,” said Hap Newto...
“There’s your village!” Barry exclaimed. “Looks like a busy place, too. They’re clearing more grassland for garden space, if I’m not mistaken.” Looking down through the plastiglass of the big bomber’s nose, her crew could distinguish twenty or thirty human figures at one end of the cultivated section. Suddenly the nati...
“Not by a long shot!” the homely bombardier replied. “I wish you’d turn back for another look, Barry. There’s something blamed queer about that village. Several things, to be truthful.” There was a grim note in Chick’s voice that Barry recognized. His bombardier was in deadly earnest. “Okay,” he said shortly. “Slap on ...
For wordless moments every man in the cockpit gazed at the orderly patchwork of little fields below. Suddenly Barry grasped the truth. “Look at the pattern down there, Hap!” he exclaimed. “They’ve broken it up pretty cleverly with camouflage, but the cleared place is L-shaped. If that isn’t an airport I’m cockeyed.” “T...
“Man all the guns!” Barry’s order crackled in the headsets. “Cracker, be ready to strafe any antiaircraft before they can pot us....” He broke off as the white lines of tracer bullets streaked upward from a patch of bushes at one side of the field. Other guns opened fire. Small bullet holes appeared suddenly in the bom...
“Why didn’t they throw any flak at us?” Curly Levitt asked. “A field as big as that ought to be protected by more than machine gun fire.” “The airport isn’t completed yet,” Barry pointed out. “The Japs probably haven’t had a chance to bring in heavier installations. There wasn’t even a camouflaged plane in sight—nothin...
They left the runways looking like a raw, black wound in the earth, with a thick cloud of dust hanging over it. All their bombs had struck with the accuracy of rifle bullets, five-hundred-pounders that flung the twisted steel matting high in the air. “Get the exact position of this spot, Curly,” Barry Blake said, as he...
As the field came in sight, Barry noted that it was scooped out of the tropical forest, not far from the sea. A United Nations transport vessel lay just beyond the beach. It was unloading by means of lighters. In this manner the new airdromes all up and down the coast would be quickly furnished with equipment and defen...
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND No familiar faces greeted _Rosy O’Grady’s_ crew at the Mau River airport. A new bomber command was based there. Three more forts, Barry learned, were due to join it within the week. Until they arrived there would be no mass raids on enemy targets. _Rosy’s_ first job was a reconnaissance flight to the ...
At 10,000 feet, Barry Blake turned westward. As they flew along the coast, the gunners in the top and tail turrets watched the sky for Jap planes. The pilots and the bombardier scanned air and sea ahead. Suddenly Chick Enders leaned forward on his perch in the nose, with a shout of discovery. “What do you see now, bomb...
“It is, at that!” cried Hap Newton. “A boat of some kind must have put into a hidden cove there.” “That island isn’t big enough to shelter any vessel that could make such a wide wake,” Barry Blake declared. “Could the island itself be moving, Chick?” “It is!” the _Rosy’s_ bombardier yelped. “The thing is a Jap vessel c...
Chick groaned. “Why did you pass up such a chance, Barry?” he asked. “We could have laid an egg right in the middle of that floating brush heap.” “Two reasons,” the young skipper replied. “First, there are four ships at least in that floating island, and two or more may be cruisers. Splitting their formation would only...
“Tail gunner from pilot:” he said through the interphone. “Let me know as soon as that fake island is out of sight.” A few minutes later Tony Romani’s voice came through. “Pilot from tail gunner: Floating island has dropped below the bulge of the coastline.... Are we going back, sir?” “Right now, Tony!” the skipper tol...
Keeping the land mass of New Guinea between him and the Jap vessels, Barry turned his plane around. Lower and lower he took her, until _Sweet Rosy O’Grady_ was skimming only a few hundred feet above the sea. Tree tops nearly grazed her belly turret as she swept over a blunt headland, into sight of the camouflaged ships...
“Roger!” Chick’s answer came back ... and an instant later: “Bombs away!” Hard upon his words came the blast—a multiple explosion so terrific that it tossed the great Fortress like a feather. Later her crew found that it had torn all the fabric off her ailerons and elevators. Barry climbed his ship, and came back. Ther...
Barry Blake swung his ship shoreward and nosed down. “We’ll risk the shell-fire,” he said briefly. “Our first job is to destroy those Japs landing on the beach. Be ready to fire all guns.” At a thousand feet the big bomber roared between the burning ships and the shore. Her nose and tail and belly turrets spat .50-cali...