Bruce nodded again. “Every man knew his job, of course. We had done it time and again in practice. I destroyed my bombsight. All our bombs had already been spilled, but I saw that the bomb-bay doors were tightly closed, ready for the plane to hit the water.”
“What was the use of taking all those precautions when you had to jump anyhow?”
“You know that bombsight, Nancy, is America’s own prize possession. No bombardier leaves that for anybody to investigate. St. Peter wouldn’t ever let anybody through the pearly gates who had left that little instrument intact behind him.”
Nancy smiled in spite of her heavy heart. “I don’t see how you can keep up your joking like that.”
“Better to laugh than cry.”
Janice, who was on duty, came to take Bruce’s tray away. When she had gone Nancy asked, “You didn’t see Tommy jump after you hit the water?”
“No. I think he meant to ditch the plane after we were out. He loved that bird like something human. He meant to stick to her till the last minute.”
“Then you think he went down with her to the bottom—like a captain with his ship?”
“Oh, no! If he landed on the water O.K. there’d be a few minutes when he could get out and try to swim to one of the rubber boats.”
“Oh, you had rubber boats?”