They followed the tracks for the greater part of the trip to Eugene. The country was fairly open along the railroad, with many small towns at intervals. Streams and creeks ran down from the timbered hills and crossed the tracks to join large rivers which emptied into the Pacific. The farther north they flew, the more dense became the smoke. Appearances would indicate that the Governor was right when he said that there was danger of the whole timbered area burning.
Bill saw the Willamette Valley open up ahead just as he reached Cottage Grove. It was the first real open country that he had seen since leaving the Medford Valley. The other valleys had been so narrow that they looked entirely too small to amount to much from the airman’s point of view, but Willamette was wide and had numerous farms, orchards and open spaces. It was a real valley, but after their flight from San Francisco to Roseburg the pilots knew that such wide-open spaces would seldom be found in the Northwest woods.
Almost immediately after losing sight of Cottage Grove, Bill saw several railroads converging and knew that Eugene was not far off. A little later he jumped his plane over a small ridge and the city lay almost at his feet. He saw the airdrome with the other Squadron ships and led his formation low toward the flying field. He made a circle of the town and then gave the signal for landing.
The planes came down to the ground, the pilots and mechanics jumped out of the cockpits and the planes were lined up with those from the other Flight. The Squadron was united again. It was ready for the strenuous work of aerial forest patrol.
CHAPTER XII—A FOREST PATROL BASE
That night the officers and enlisted men secured living accommodations in the town. After the truck train arrived, the enlisted personnel would all be quartered in tents on the aviation field. In the meantime they must occupy temporary billets in the hotels.
The next morning the Squadron personnel were out at the aviation field quite early, for there was much work to be done. The only available buildings on the field were a large frame structure which was to be used as a storehouse, and a small one which was to be used as headquarters. The officers were installing the furnishings required to change the frame shack into an office. The mechanics were working on the planes, performing the necessary maintenance and servicing required after a flight.
Batten, the Engineering Officer, was making arrangements to insure the planes being in serviceable condition the next day. Maxwell, the Operating Officer, was busily engaged in plastering maps of Oregon all over the walls of his office. Liggett, the Radio Officer, was checking radio sets on the planes and supervising the erection of a radio hut some distance away from the landing field proper.
Bill was inspecting the planes of his Flight when he heard someone say, “Hello, old-timer, who would have expected to see you here?”
Bill turned and saw Earl Simmons, the corpulent forest supervisor from the Cascade National Forest.