He gazed down at her for a moment and then took her slim hand in his, pressing it gently and making no attempt to hide the thrill even this slight contact gave him.
She responded with an inviting and tender look that made him forget every promise he had made to himself. For one brief moment, he and this girl were the only two people in the entire world and it was inevitable that the first thought that came to his mind was to hop out of the plane, hold her tightly in his arms and shower her lovely, tempting lips with kisses.
All at once, he boldly awoke with the annoying realization that he was selfishly enacting a love scene with his dearest friend’s girl, and Panama only a stone’s throw away from them. Much to Elinor’s bewilderment, Lefty quickly assumed a belligerent attitude, saying, “Why did you have to come down here this morning?”
For the moment, his thoughtless words cut straight through to her heart, bringing a faint sign of tears to her eyes; then all at once, something within her instinctively lifted the shroud of mystery that enveloped Lefty and she saw right through him, completely understanding his purpose of assumed indifference.
As they both stood silently gazing at each other, Elinor was turning over the problem in her mind whether or not it might be best to inform Lefty exactly how she felt toward Panama, when the sergeant came bursting in upon them in a mad hurry to get away.
Without even glancing up at the boy again, Elinor shook hands with Panama, called out a cheery farewell and ran off to join a group of nurses who stood near by, watching the spectacular take-off.
The large siren atop of the central hangar blew shrilly and with it came the mingled shouts of men and a renewed bustling activity through the line of planes, the motors of which were all purring with a deafening roar now.
Panama climbed up into the cockpit, smiling triumphantly and waving with enthusiasm to Elinor. He turned and slapped Lefty on the back in a jubilant mood, pointing to where the girl was standing. “See that, boy,” he announced boastfully. “Don’t you wish you had a girl like her?”
Lefty threw off Panama’s hand disgustedly without making comment and dropped down in his seat, strapping on his helmet and pulling the large Visionaire goggles over his eyes just as the sound of the bugle to take off came to the ears of all.
A wild shout arose from the men seated in the line of planes as each pilot exultantly gave his ship “the gun,” taxiing down the great field into formation, waiting a moment for the final sign from the commander.