Dave Dawson snorted and made gestures with his two hands.
“Listen to the guy!” he grunted. “Did Colonel Welsh drop any hints? My dear young man, for your education, Colonel Welsh is chief of all U.S. Intelligence Services—Army, Navy, and Air Corps. Very few people know that, however. He—”
“Yes, yes, go on!” Freddy Farmer cut in sarcastically. “He is mostly known as a colonel of infantry, but that is just a cover for his real job. It was Colonel Welsh who arranged for us to be transferred out of the Royal Air Force to duty with the American forces. Our first job was with the Pacific Fleet, and—and although you did your best to get our necks broken, I did manage to save the day for us.[[1]] Right you are! So much for Colonel Welsh’s personal history. What I want to know is, did he give you an inkling of what our next job would be?”
“As I was about to say,” Dave said patiently, “Colonel Welsh is the kind of a man who wouldn’t even let his own shadow know when he was going to take another step. So that means he told me absolutely nothing. Of course he did mention—but skip it. Let it slide.”
“No, certainly not!” Freddy Farmer cried eagerly. “What did he mention? Go on, Dave! Tell me!”
“Well, he is a very understanding man,” Dawson said gravely. “He knows the load I have to carry when you are around. So—well, he mentioned something about how if I’d like to leave you behind next time—why, it would be okay by him. He—Hey! Watch it! I’ve only got two arms! Don’t break both of them, you wild man!”
The last was caused by Freddy Farmer dropping down on top of him, and for the next few minutes the sands of Laguna Beach were flying in all directions. Eventually Dave broke free and leaped to his feet.
“Just what I mean!” he panted. “A very dangerous guy to have around. Never can tell when he’s going to go nuts. See you in the Pacific, Apple Cheeks!”
“Call me Apple Cheeks?” Freddy roared. “Why, I’ll—”
Freddy didn’t finish. By then Dave was a streak of sun-tanned lightning heading for the water. The English born ace sped after him, and for the next fifteen or twenty minutes they forgot the war cares of the world and were just a couple of red-blooded fellows having a swell time in the water. But when they came up onto the beach again and dropped down on the sand, a tiny cloud seemed to steal across the face of the warm sun and they unconsciously looked at each other, grave-eyed and grim.