Air Stories, April 1936 — page 72: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AIR STORIES painted yacht that lay hove-to off as the lift descended, ‘‘you’ve got a shore. Pat was closing rapidly with the Wasp, and he pressed his gun-triggers. The range was rather a long one still, but it was worth trying. The nose of the Wasp came up till the machine was climbing ... now it was going ver- tically up ...now was on its back. A flick half-roll and it was flying straight at the Nimrod, its guns spitting. The fellow meant to ram him—the thought came to Pat in a flash. There was no room to pull up, no time to turn. Pat shot the stick forward and left the seat. His shoulders were compressed into the harness, the blood was driven to his head—nasty feeling. He wouldn’t let the fellow do that again—if he ever got out of the dive in time. Pat was very close to the waves by ~ the time he had flattened out. He must have been doing 400 m.p.h. He’d had a’ shock, and his blood wasup. At the top of the zoom he was still below the Wasp. It dived, but Pat was ready and turned towards it, pulling round again as it went past. Now at last he was on the fellow’s tail. Ravati was trying that loop-cum-half-roll again, but Pat was close up this time and followed him round, saw him half-roll through the Aldis sight, and pressed the triggers. The range was close enough, and he eased the throttle to avoid a collision. The Wasp nosed down vertically, and dived into the sea like a gannet after fish. ‘‘Sorry !’’ said Pat, ‘‘it was a stout effort—but we couldn’t let you get away with it !”’ The yacht was under way again, but Pat ignored her. That part of the busi- ness was no concern of his. He headed north-east and stuck his nose well down. In due course he picked up the ‘‘ Up- roarious’ ’’ directional wireless, and soon afterwards glided down to her landing-deck and hooked his tail in one of the arrester cables. Mechanics rushed up, unhooked him and pushed the Nimrod on the lift. ‘“Up, screen !|’’ shouted the Wing Com- mander, and the screen rose to break the force of the wind. ‘‘Lumme, sir!’’ said Pat’s rigger bullet-hole here !’’ ‘‘Don’t breathe a word about unless I tell you ! ’’ hissed Pat. He made his report. He had shot down the Wasp ; it would sting no more. it AT got James alone in his cabin at last and told him the story of the chase, and of his conviction that the pilot he had seen in the cockpit of the Wasp was none other than Ravati, one-time chauffeur to the landlord of ‘‘ The Goat.’’ ‘‘But why did the fellow want to sink the ‘ Witch’ ?’’ James asked after a pause. ‘‘I can understand that Italy —or almost any other Power, for that matter—would pay handsomely for full details of the Wasp’s innards, but why on earth shoot up that crowd on the ‘Witch ’?”’ ‘*Search me! Just hate, perhaps. Or maybe he did it to distract attention from himself. He may not have done it, in fact. Remember it was a wireless- controlled aeroplane—I’m just about sick of that expression, by the way— and he probably found his guns were registering on the ‘ Witch’ before he had properly got control. But anything might happen with a box of tricks like that. But what are we going to do about it? That’s the point.’’ ‘‘ Better tell all we know.’’ ‘‘But we don’t know anything for certain, remember.’’ ‘‘No, I suppose we don’t, when you come to think of it,’’ James mused, then added, with sudden inspiration, ‘‘ per- haps we’d better regard the whole matter as an official secret—like all you Air Force blokes do when you don’t know the answer to a question ! ”’ ‘*Rudeness apart, that’s not a bad idea,’’ Pat agreed, ‘‘and in true Naval tradition I propose we now adjourn to the bar and splice the main brace. It’s been a trying day !’’ 7 ‘‘ By the way,’’ ejaculated Pat, when drinks had been ordered, ‘‘ were there any casualties on the ‘ Witch’ ? ’”’ ‘‘Not a chance ”? was the reply. ‘“You can’t get rid of politicians as easily as that, my lad ! ”’ 358 lDOOLK