The young pilot sprawled flat on the surface of the fin, arms outstretched. The cloth to complete the patch was fastened on his back.
With chilled hands he opened the top of the cement pot and seized the brush. The rip in the fin was about twelve feet long and two feet wide. Andy slapped the cement on the back end first, shut the top of the pot, readied for the patch, and put the end in place before the cement had a chance to cool. The Goliath was drifting through the storm and Andy had patched the end of the hole which received the greatest force of the wind.
He worked forward carefully, stopping now to apply the cement liberally, then unrolling the patch, and moving ahead another foot to repeat the operation. In the fin beneath, he could hear Mac, the rigger, shouting encouragement. He needed it. He was worn almost to the breaking point by the responsibility which had been on his shoulders ever since the Goliath left the airport at Montreal. Tears froze to his cheeks and he cried aloud at the pain in his cold white hands. His movements were mechanical. Slap on the cement, unroll the patch, slap on the cement, unroll the patch.
Suddenly there was no more cement to put on, no more cloth to unroll. The job was done. The danger that the fin might be ripped off by the wind was over. Andy closed his eyes and his numbed hands slipped. There was a sensation of falling and he knew that he was slipping off the fin but he was in a lethargy, unable to help himself. He felt himself dip over the edge of the fin; knew he was falling into the storm and darkness.
When he opened his eyes half an hour later he was in the warmth of one of the rear engine rooms. Bert and Harry were beside him.
“What happened while I was on the fin?” demanded Andy.
“The cold got you,” replied Bert, “and you slipped off. Good thing we had a rope around you.”
“Is the fin all right?” Andy asked eagerly.
Mac Glassgow, the chief rigger who had remained in the background, stepped up.
“Best job of patching I ever saw,” he exclaimed. “We’ll have no more trouble with that fin this trip.”