Bill Barnes Air Adventurer, July 1935 — page 81: what you’re looking at

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

AIR ADVENTURER 79 XITI—RE-ENFORCEMENTS RED cut his engine and swooped to earth beside Bill’s Scarlet Stormer, the transport and Sandy’s Eaglet. One glance told him that the little Eaglet had been perforated with machine-gun bul- lets. The dural wings and tubular steel fuselage resembled a sieve for straining vegetables. The extra gas tank beneath the fuselage had been drilled by a half dozen bullets. The rudder had almost been torn from its post. Sandy stood regarding his ship with something akin to tears in his eyes. “Gosh, Bill he said, . They cer: tainly shot my buttons off!’ “It seems to me,” Bill answered, gruffly, “you didn’t do so badly by them. You not only shot the buttons off two of their ships. You completely un- dressed them. They’ll have to use em for kindling.” Sandy’s face brightened. Even that much praise from Bill was something to cherish. His boyish face became wreathed in smiles. Suddenly the smiles disappeared—as quickly as they had ap- peared. “But we didn’t find Shorty,” he said. “T was worried about that when Cy began bombing them. Suppose Shorty was locked up in one of those brick buildings Cy tore out of the ground.” Bill Barnes didn’t answer. He had thought about that, too. The thought had seered his mind like a contact with white-hot metal. He shook his head slowly from side to side. “T didn’t expect to run into anything like that place up here,” he said. “TI expected we might have some trouble with those gray fighters. But I didn’t expect to run into a fort armed with all the modern equipment for offense and defense. “We're right where we started and we haven’t located Shorty,” he went on, bitterly. “There is only one thing to do. But first we must get the Eaglet back inside the transport if you think she'll hang together that long. Ill take the transport into the air and you follow me in the Eaglet.” “O. K., Bill,’”’ Sandy said. Bill made sure that Sandy was wear- ing his parachute before he took the big transport off the ground in a long, low climb. Sandy followed a few min- utes later. He leveled the Eaglet at three thousand feet and took a course directly behind and just below the trans- port. “Take it easy, kid,” Bill said over the radiophone. “Come in easy. Your landing hook may have been struck and weakened.” “Easy it is, Bill,’ Sandy answered. He brought the Eaglet up under the transport slowly. Perspiration oozed from Bill’s forehead as he felt the mon- ster ship tremble and buck. He fought his controls to hold it steady as the trapeze lifted the little fighter up into the bowels of the big ship. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the lifting mechanism stop and heard the under- side of the fuselage slip into place. A couple of minutes later Sandy fell into the port pilot’s seat on the bridge. His face was grimy and black from powder smoke and perspiration. He shook his head slowly from side to side. ‘‘What are we going to do now, Bill?” he asked. “One Snorter gone and the Eaglet useless. This has been a tough trip. “We'll make out, kid,” Bill said, easily. “I’m going to land beside the Snorter. We have two fighting ships left. But that’s all our enemies have. When we get down on the ground I’m going to take Red and Cy, and the trans- port gunners, and do a little reconnoiter- ing. You'll have to stay to guard the transport and the Snorter. J——” “Gosh, Bill!’ Sandy pleaded. “I’m all right. Why can’t I go with you?” “You’ve had enough to last you for oO CoOL Ghook CO