“That’s what he thought,” Brand laughed low. “Perhaps he still thinks it, in a way. But he’ll join up. You wait! The young Lord says he will, and he usually knows.”
“The—the young Lord?” Cherry whispered.
“Yes, there’s part of the secret. He’s had two week’s leave. He’s been training us in the back pasture. Of course we’ve each done a lot of flying but this is special, regular fighting stuff, parachutes and everything. And, Cherry, cross your heart and hope to die if I tell you?”
“Cross—cross my heart.”
“All right. Dave’s already been in a day fight. He and the young Lord got a Dornier! Boy, that was great! I wish I’d been in it with them.”
“Dave in an air battle?” The girl stared.
“Certainly was, and did his part nobly.”
While Cherry sat listening, breathless, Brand described Dave’s adventure in the clouds that day over England and the channel.
“Dave never whispered a word about it to me,” she said when the story was told. Her shining eyes showed that the American boy stood out in her mind as a hero.
“Dave can keep a secret,” said Brand. “That’s why we all like him.”