Part 16 (1/2)
For the hundredth ti knuckles into his tired eyes, stifled the yawn that struggled to get up out of his throat, and took a quick glance at Freddy Farmer seated in the co-pilot's seat And for the hundredth tih so much and still look as fresh as a daisy
”Boy, oh boy!” he finally blurted out ”How do you do it, anyway, Freddy?”
The English youth glanced his ith arched eyebrows
”How do I do what?” he wanted to know
”Look so doggone full of pep,” Dawson told him ”Here I feel like the last rose of summer after a steam roller has run over it, and you look like aso about, huh?”
”Certainly not!” young Farot _that_ old, yet But would you like to know the truth?”
”Well, if you insist on telling runted ”So shoot”
”Well, don't let my looks fool you,” Farmer replied ”I may look fresh, but I definitely am not that way inside Fact is, I'm not quite sure whether I a, I'd be jolly glad if ould sight land”
Dawson started slightly and shot hi Farmer made a faint h which the B-25 was flying The sun had been up for a long time, now, but haze blurred the sun's rays and turned both sea and sky into a driftingabsolutely necessary
”Meaning that I'one haywire,” Freddy said ”We should havebut blasted water down there How's our fuel?”
”Okay, we've got plenty in the tanks,” Dawson said ”If your navigation is all cockeyed, then I'll eat this shi+p Of course, you are a funny sort of gink in lots of ways, , I'll take you every time So relax, pal What's a half hour on an ocean hop? We probably bu,” Farht However, this whole blasted business has been so bal to expect alnored that remark Freddy had certainly hit the nail on the head Of all the jobs they had tackled, this one was certainly the most mixed up and involved It seeone along as planned At every turn so had popped up to toss a monkey wrench into the works and necessitate a complete revision of plans Realization of that caused little fingers of ice to pluck at Dawson's heart The object of all this business was a safe journey by air to Casablanca for the President and the A haywire froht be struck once the President was on his way?
”But I'et off the beam!” Dawson mumbled ”The colonel's secret is still his secret And--and that raider business was just one of those things Darn it! nazi agents just couldn't have found out anything!”
”Just what I've been trying to convince myself of for hours,” he heard Freddy Far it a bit of a difficult job
As you say, though, we're both so blasted tired I feel as though I've been in this aircraft all reed ”I--”
He stopped speaking, straightened up in the seat, and peered into the milky-colored sky off to the left and a little bit ahead He stared until his eyes ached and smarted
”What's thelandfall?”
”No,” Dawson replied sloith a little shake of his head ”I guess I'roup of planes show off there for a split second or so”
”Planes?” young Farmer echoed excitedly ”What type? Maybe it's an escort come out to meet us, and--But no, that couldn't be nobody knoe're conize them, Dave?”
”That's just the point,” Dawson complained as he continued to stare into the milky mass that was the sky ”I'm not dead sure, but I think--Well, if you want to know, they looked like Junkers Ju-88's to ainst England and shi+pping in the Atlantic But s”
”You uess the nazis haven't any long-range bo in this part of the Atlantic We have far, far too lish-born air ace didn't continue He stared off to the left
Dave sensed the sudden movement and impulsively turned his head to look in that direction, too As a result, they both saw the milky sky split apart for a briefon a course almost parallel with theirs The haze and the h for them to see the six-plane formation, and then it promptly closed down and hid all from view But they had seen the shi+ps and before Dawson took another breath he piloted the B-25 down and away on a detour course toward the north