"It's a wonder you got back, sir," he reported. "Why the motors didn't konk out puzzles me, and there's hardly a strut2 that's perfect. No, sir; I can't pass her. May as well set her on fire and have done with it."
And so GV 7, after a week of gallant3 and strenuous4 service, received her death-warrant. At the best of times the life of an aeroplane is a brief one, and in active-service conditions the wastage is simply astounding5. Every machine must be of the very best workmanship possible and kept in perfect tune6, otherwise it must be scrapped7 and replaced by another of the vast quantity turned out in the numerous air-craft factories at home.
Derek heard the mandate8, against which there was no appeal, with genuine regret. In a few days he had gained an affection for his old 'bus, much as a cavalryman9 does for his charger. Nevertheless he realized that the verdict was a just one. He, too, could not help wondering how the badly-scarred biplane had brought down her crew in safety, for there were thirty-three holes in the wings and tail-planes and seven perforations of the fuselage, while most of the struts10 were chipped and several of the tension-wires severed11.
Accordingly the motors were removed, together with the more important fittings. These towed to a safe distance, the doomed12 battleplane was set on fire. Her late pilot watched her burn. It was a sight that fascinated him. It was as though he had destroyed a favourite dog. He waited until nothing but a charred13 mass remained, and then made his way back to the newly-erected aerodrome—quite twenty miles farther back than the one abandoned on the night of his first flight across the enemy lines.
"I'll have to find the Equipment Officer," thought Derek, "and get him to let me have another 'bus. Wonder where his show is?"
Failing to find the desired officer, Derek turned to enquire14 of a goggled15 and leather-coated pilot who was literally16 smothered17 with grease and castor oil.
"Bless me, Daventry! Who on earth expected to run across you in this Johnny Horner hole?"
For some moments Derek stared at the apparition18 in perplexity, unable to recognize either the voice or its owner.
"Give it up!" he replied. "Hanged if I can fix you, George."
"What! Forgotten poor little Johnny Kaye! An' we vowed19 life-long friendship an' all that any-old-thing sort of tosh, old bean!"
The two pilots shook hands.
"I've been here a week on different stunts," continued Kaye. "They don't forget to work you here, by Jove! Not that I mind though. Derek, old man, I had the time of my life yesterday, when two Huns thought they had me cold. Led 'em a pretty dance, and finally persuaded them to collide. One Boche plopped fairly on top of my tail-plane, and I had cold feet pretty badly until I looped and let him slide off. The funny thing was that I hadn't a single round of ammunition20 left. How long have you been here? You were asking for the Equipment Officer, I believe. There's his show. Smithers is his name. He'll fix you up with anything you want, from a double-seater to a cotter-pin."
Linking arms with Kaye, Derek made his way by means of a duck-board track to the Nissen but wherein the Equipment Officer held court. Smithers was a grey-haired lieutenant21 of fifty, who, heart and soul devoted22 to his work, was obsessed23 by the idea that he was the one and only man who did any real work in the aerodrome.
"State your wants briefly," he began, before Derek could say a word. "I'm terribly busy."
Derek did so. The Equipment Officer consulted a board festooned with red, blue, and yellow tabs.
"A single-seater is all I can manage just at present. Suit? Good. EG 19's the bird. Mornin'."
Enquiries at the hangars showed that EG 19 had alighted, owing to slight engine defects, in a field at a distance of two miles from the aerodrome. That occurred three days previously24, and the former pilot had been sent away to another squadron. Repairs had been effected, and the machine was now ready for flight.
"I'll take a tender," declared Derek. "Come along, old man, and keep me company. You can return in the tender, you know."
"Right-o!" agreed Kaye, divesting25 himself of his flying-coat and tossing it to an orderly. "Just as likely I'll tramp back after I've seen you started."
The tender, a covered-in Ford26 van, was soon forthcoming, and the two chums seated themselves under the canvas tilt27. The view was strictly28 limited to the ground already covered, but this mattered little, since the two pilots had plenty to talk about.
The road was typically French. It ran in a straight line as far as the eye could see. In the centre was a strip of pavé, interrupted at frequent intervals29 by shell-holes—some of recent origin, others filled in with material that was subsiding30 badly. On either side of the pavé was nothing more nor less than a morass31, the road being torn up by ceaseless heavy traffic. Bordering the highway on either hand were tall, leafless trees, many of them having been splintered and cut down by shell-fire.
Swinging along the mud-covered pavé was a battalion32 newly arrived from the base—men with shoulders hunched33 under the weight of their equipment. They were marching at ease—incongruous term. Most of them were smoking. Some were carrying their comrades' rifles in addition to their own. Others were tugging34 at their new equipment to ease the cutting strain upon their shoulders. Few, very few, were limping. It was not the fault of the army that they limped, for the army takes particular pains to equip the men with good marching-boots. It was the neglect of ordinary precautions that was punishing them.
They marched well notwithstanding. Weeks of hard training were apparent in the bearing of the Tommies, as, with tunics36 unbuttoned at the neck, revealing bronzed throats that blended with the sombre khaki uniforms, they moved along the highway at the regulation pace of three and a half miles an hour.
"Those fellows will give a good account of themselves, I guess," remarked Kaye. "Sometimes, old thing, I almost wish that I were in the infantry37."
"They get all the kicks," rejoined Daventry. "Our guns start strafing the Boche. Boche gets angry and starts to shell back. Shell what? Not our guns so much as the poor beggars of infantry in the trenches38. They always get it in the neck."
"All the same, I envy 'em," continued Kaye. "We don't get a chance of surging over the top in a yelling, cheering mob. That's life, if you like. Were you ever in the neighbourhood of Courcelette? If—— Hallo! What's this? A Boche?"
High over—three thousand feet—a large German biplane was circling as if looking for a quarry39. The Hun was alone, for practically every available machine was up and away from the aerodrome. Either the hostile airman was engaged in taking aerial photographs of the "back areas", or else he had spotted40 the battalion moving slowly in column of route.
The troops were fully41 aware of the undesirable42 presence of the Boche airman, and now came a test of discipline. It was one of those occasions when a British soldier must not look danger in the face, for a quadruple line of upturned faces would be clearly visible to the Hun pilot, while the battalion might escape notice by keeping their heads bent43 down.
Derek and his companion remained perfectly44 still, taking doubtful cover under a gaunt tree. From where they stood they could watch practically the whole of the now motionless column. Officers and men, although tempted45 to see what was going on up above, were standing35 rigid46, not knowing whether a bomb might scatter47 wounds and death amongst the compact crowd of troops.
"Good heavens!" whispered Derek, although there was not the slightest reason why he should have lowered his voice. "I believe Fritz has spotted the column. He's coming down to make sure."
"You're right, old man, I think," agreed Kaye. "There'll be an unholy mess of things in——"
Bang.
A violent concussion48 almost deafened49 the two airmen. It was only a paramount50 feeling that the Tommies might roar at them that prevented Derek and his companion from throwing themselves flat upon the ground. Turning, they heard the metallic51 clang of a breech-block being swung home, and were just in time to see the long pole-like chase of an anti-air-craft gun rise from a cleverly camouflaged52 pit not twenty yards from where they stood.
There was no need for a second shot. The shell from the "anti" burst with mathematical precision right in front of the black-crossed aeroplane, and the next instant the machine began to fall earthwards.
It was not until the enemy biplane crashed that the Tommies were aware of the turn of events, and a roar of cheering burst from eight hundred throats.
"Pretty shot that," remarked Kaye approvingly. "Hanged if I knew that there was an A.A. battery about here."
The appearance of half a dozen men wearing crested53 steel helmets helped to solve the problem. It was a French anti-air-craft gun, cunningly concealed54 in a camouflaged shell-hole, that had scored the direct hit, and the Frenchmen showed their delight with typical Gallic exuberance55.
Within a few minutes the highway resumed its usual war-time aspect. The battalion moved on; horse and motor transport scurried56 to and fro; while a gang of Chinese coolies set to work to remove the debris57 of the crashed Hun machine, and to mend the hole in the pavé where the raider's bomb had fallen.
EG 19 was found at the indicated spot, the air-mechanics having completed the slight adjustments necessary for the machine to resume flight.
Derek examined his new steed critically. The biplane showed signs of being a "flyer" in the truest sense of the word. With a comparatively short fuselage and wing-spread, it looked a businesslike craft. Being a one-seater, the pilot had to do everything necessary when in flight, even to work the two automatic-guns, one of which was mounted in front of the "office", the other, for use when being pursued, was immediately in rear of the seat.
"Nice little 'bus," declared Kaye, as he helped his chum to don his leather coat. "I've had 'em, and know what they'll do. Well, good luck, old man. S'pose you'll get back to the aerodrome before me. Gadfathers! I guess we'll be on the same patrol to-morrow, and then there'll be dirty work at the cross-roads."
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1
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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2
strut
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| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
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3
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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5
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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6
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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7
scrapped
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| 废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架 | |
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mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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cavalryman
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| 骑兵 | |
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struts
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| （框架的）支杆( strut的名词复数 )； 支柱； 趾高气扬的步态； （尤指跳舞或表演时）卖弄 | |
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11
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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12
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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13
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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14
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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15
goggled
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| adj.戴护目镜的v.睁大眼睛瞪视， （惊讶的）转动眼珠( goggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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17
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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18
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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22
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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24
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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25
divesting
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| v.剥夺( divest的现在分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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27
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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29
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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30
subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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morass
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| n.沼泽，困境 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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34
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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35
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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36
tunics
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| n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍 | |
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37
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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38
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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39
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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40
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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41
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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42
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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43
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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44
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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45
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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46
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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47
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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48
concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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49
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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50
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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51
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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52
camouflaged
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| v.隐蔽( camouflage的过去式和过去分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰 | |
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53
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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54
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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55
exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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56
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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