“Terrible!” he agreed with conviction. “Just at the end of the rainy season! It’s awful having your rest period broken into by a gal in an army uniform.” He winked at the two buck privates who helped man his gun, and they laughed.
Paying not the least attention to this unflattering bit of drama, the girl went about her work. Removing a short steel tube from the cart, she connected it with a large paper balloon, then turned on a valve. A hissing sound followed. The balloon inflated rapidly and pulled at the cord that held it to the cart. After attaching a metal ball about a foot in diameter to the balloon, she allowed it to float skyward. It rose rapidly.
Squinting his eyes, the sergeant said: “You expect me to hit that steel ball after it gets into the clouds?”
“If your shell explodes within fifteen feet of the balloon the balloon will burst and the steel ball will come down,” she explained with the patient tone of a born teacher. “If you burst the balloon, you score. Hit the steel ball and you score double. Get me?” she asked.
“Oh, sure. But when do you score?” he asked.
“If you score, I score.” Her smile was broad and friendly.
“Fair enough,” the sergeant grinned. “Well, boys, we’ll give it a real try, huh?”
“Sure! Oh, sure!” came from his crew.
The balloon went up. In silence they watched it rise to at last disappear in the clouds.
At once the girl with wind-blown hair got busy with her instruments. “I’m feeling for the steel ball,” she explained. “I’ll have it presently.”