“That spalpeen—”

“Now, now,” Stan cut in. “No names named.”

“I said a spalpeen let you down,” O’Malley growled.

“And what happened to you?”

O’Malley grinned. “Me? Oh, I had the boys tuck an extra sixty gallons o’ gas aboard. The colonel said we was to handle fixing the tanks, so I fixed mine like that.”

“You dropped out of sight at Huls in a hurry,” Stan said.

“I ran out of ammunition, and havin’ a spot of extra gas, I did a bit o’ sight-seein’,” O’Malley explained. “An’ did I get an eyeful!”

The four youngsters sighed and got to their feet. It was time for them to shove off.

“See you when I got time to tell you how I chased a Nazi birdman right down on a British landing strip,” O’Malley called after them.

“You’ve been stringing the kids along,” Stan said.