Elinor’s eyes were searching the field for a glimpse of two familiar figures as she ran in and out in a zigzag fashion, between men and planes until she spied Lefty and Panama far down in the line, near the ship of the flight commander.
She hurried down the field, struggling to brush back her hair and keep her cape closed with one hand, while in the other, she held two packages neatly wrapped in white paper.
Reaching the fuselage of a plane a little away from where Panama and Lefty were standing, she stopped and attempted to catch the boy’s eyes without Panama becoming cognizant of her presence. Her efforts were without avail, for just as she waved her hand, Williams turned about and caught sight of her instantly.
Seeing the girl at that early hour thrilled the sergeant to the tips of his toes and his face lighted up with a look of joy and surprise over this unexpected pleasure.
He waved back to her, believing that her salutation was meant for him, and then turning, slapped Lefty upon the back and yelled, “Look! There’s Elinor! Jumpin’ cats, she got up in the middle of the night to say good-by to me!”
Lefty pretended not to hear as he toyed with the hub of one of the landing gear wheels, though he felt his heart beating faster at even the very mention of the girl’s name.
Panama gazed at him in bewilderment, not quite comprehending the boy’s indifference, and then repeated his original announcement of Elinor’s arrival.
Phelps responded by rising, and without even glancing in the direction Elinor was approaching, walked around the side of the plane and climbed up into the rear cockpit to examine the machine gun. A sickening feeling came over him as cold beads of perspiration moistened his forehead.
He felt a dull, terrible thud in his heart over the prospect of having to again face Elinor after what Panama had confided to him only the afternoon previous.
When she gave him her photograph the morning before, he had promised to see her that night and go into town to a movie, but after what Williams had told him, it was too great a temptation to even as much as trust himself now in her company. He loved her as he had never loved any woman. From the very first moment he had set eyes upon her back in San Diego the day he passed his medical test, his head had been filled with dreams of a pleasant future spent with this girl as his life’s partner. Now that Panama admitted harboring the same hopes, Lefty firmly believed that it was his duty to step aside and concede his place to the man who had not alone befriended him, but saved his life at the risk of his own.