“How about tonight? Suppose the Jerries hit tonight?” Allison asked.
“We’ll get off early and be there for any raid. I’ll ask the naval commander not to report us out until midnight. That will throw Garret off,” Stan said.
“How soon can we hit the trail?” O’Malley asked.
“Two or three hours will have them in shape. You come with me and I’ll show you all you need to know about a Hawk to make her do things,” he said to Allison.
Stan and Allison headed toward the nearest ship. O’Malley stretched himself out in the sun and closed his eyes. He figured he already knew more about a Hawk than the Hendee aeronautical officials.
CHAPTER X
GROUND SLEUTHING
Three Hendee Hawks nosed out across the navy field and roared south. Stan’s ship formed the spearhead of a sharp V. O’Malley refused to keep still. He sang and talked about everything he could think of, which was a wide range of subjects. Allison held the right hand slot and said nothing. Stan held the big motor up ahead of him at a pace that would have ripped the pistons out of any other ship. He felt at home with the engine up in front of him instead of at his back.
The take-off had been later than he had planned, but with the terrific cruising speed the Hawks could maintain, they would reach London early. Dusk filled the earth below and the stars came out. Stan couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was need for speed. He could not drive that uneasiness out of his mind or bury it under other thoughts. He was sure Allison was as worried as he. O’Malley didn’t appear to have a worry at all.
Hours later they sighted London. They sighted it because of the thick muck of flaming shells and the searchlights knifing back and forth through the mass of bursting steel. The Jerries were at it again and seemed to have slipped inside the balloons and the ring of Ack-Ack guns.