When it was over and they were sauntering back toward the dance floor he said:
“I’m to be up there with you over the Arabian Desert tomorrow. Rommel’s desert rats have a hidden base somewhere out there. We lose a plane now and then, never get a trace of it. It seems your father doesn’t want you to get lost.”
“I think you’re right.”
“There will be three other escorting planes in the squad. They will all be double seaters. I’ll be in a single-seater, a regular blue devil of a fighting plane.”
“So I’ll be able to recognize you. How grand!” she enthused. “You shall be my knight in shining armor.”
“Sure, it’s like going back to ancient days, when fair ladies and rich treasure in coaches were guarded on their way by armored knights on horseback.”
“Swift steeds you ride now,” she laughed.
“Real enough for all that. The lady is real, too, and the treasure, never forget that.”
“I shall not forget.”
“Have you any notion what the treasure is?”