Irwin R. Franklyn

“ A familiar noise was heard coming from the sky as each man sat up instantly with ears trained, looking to each other to see if the purr from above was real or just the machinations of a mind going loco from exposure to the sun.
They shaded their eyes from the blinding glare of the sun with their hands and gazed heavenward, searching the clear blue sky for huge, dark objects flying toward the south and Managua.
At that moment, two thousand feet above, the planes of the Tenth Marine Aero Squadron appeared over the ridge of Los Agualo, flying in the direction of the capital in battle formation. ”

“ Panama muttered, biting off a chew of tobacco, just as the ball was shot to Lefty, who made a terrific drive over the left tackle, gaining twenty yards, with the ball now on the Harvard thirty-yard line.
At the conclusion of this perfect play, the roars of the Yale rooters echoed and reechoed through the vast stadium, with every man, woman and child on the New Haven side up and on their toes, tingling with excitement and shouting themselves hoarse. ”

“ The mechanic pulled the limp boy to the other side of the wing, placing his own windjammer under Steve’s head as a pillow, leaving himself exposed now to the swarm of crawling ants that were already upon the sleeve of his shirt.
Steve’s eyes seemed to see something in the sky above and with every bit of remaining strength left in his body, pulled at the other man’s arm and shouted: “Lefty, look! There’s the planes—they’ve found us!”
Not without a sharp thrill of excitement, the other man raised his eyes heavenward only to see a swarm of black buzzards flying over their heads. ”

“ The air was filled with planes, droves of them, flying in formation, casting their shadows over the Marine Aviation Base at Pensacola, Florida, like a great body of locusts.
Suddenly, a lone pursuit plane flew over the field like a majestic eagle.
The pilot pushed the stick forward and the plane slowly glided down toward earth, an almost human thing, beautiful to gaze upon, graceful as a large bird and perfectly handled at the controls by an expert airman. ”

“ Whether it was to be Yale or Harvard who would emerge from the game, showered in the glory of victory, was a question of time, but whether or not the men and women, whose eyes were fascinated by the action of the teams in the field, were really alive with interest, could be told by the expressions registered upon their tense faces—the faces of all but one man.
Panama Williams had been dragged to the Yale Bowl by two of his buddies from the Marine Aviation Base at San Diego, who were also on a leave of absence in the East. ”

“ From the moment that Lefty grasped the fact that Panama was in love with the same girl whom he idolized, the boy’s heart sunk within him.
He realized that all was fair in love and war—but not in this case when the other man was his best friend. Besides, he tried to tell himself, he had no right to even think of Elinor so long as Panama wanted her. He knew her first, and then again, maybe she really loved the sergeant and—no, that couldn’t be so, but the one thing vividly certain was the fact that Panama had befriended him when the rest of the world had turned their backs. ”

“ Unmindful of her interruption or the abject pain of remorse and disappointment that was gripping the heart of this girl whom he truly worshiped himself, Lefty rambled on: “There are a lot of men in this world who would be made the happiest creatures alive with the knowledge that you cared for them—good men, successful, honest and faithful, but if you searched far and wide, over the four corners of the earth, you would never find another Panama. ”

“ With a hurried and warm smile, Elinor clasped Panama’s hand again and ran to the door, opening it and entering, leaving the sergeant to stand motionless, gazing after her.
When the door had closed again, he picked up his campaign hat and crossed the room, intending to leave. As he passed Elinor’s desk, his eyes fell upon the large green blotter where several snapshots of the nurse smiled up at him. ”

“ His words gave her new spirit and she stepped before him, blocking his path as her words bristled with anger. “So that’s the extent of your friendship, after all he tried to do for you?” she cried. “Panama, you’re the blindest of the blind! Lefty is the sweetest boy in all the world—and I love him!”
“Elinor!” the man protested in an effort to save himself from further wounds directed at his heart. ”

“ He loved her as he had never loved any woman. From the very first moment he had set eyes upon her back in San Diego the day he passed his medical test, his head had been filled with dreams of a pleasant future spent with this girl as his life’s partner. Now that Panama admitted harboring the same hopes, Lefty firmly believed that it was his duty to step aside and concede his place to the man who had not alone befriended him, but saved his life at the risk of his own. ”

“ Upon my honor, I swear that Lefty, never in his life, has made love to me—I made love to him!”
Panama’s eyes grew wide and questioning and his face turned a chalk white at this revelation.
“Elinor—you’re—you’re telling me the truth?”
“I’ve never been more honest in my life,” she insisted. “That boy thinks the sun rises and sets upon you. He would have rather sacrificed his very life than cause you one single moment of pain. Now he’s gone—perhaps dying in the impenetrable swamps of the jungle. Can’t you do something? ”

“ Refused his own property, Lefty made a mad rush at Steve, knocking the weaker man to the ground and pouncing upon him.
Much to the merriment of the onlookers, these two rolled over and over again with Lefty, pounding away unmercifully at Steve’s face and body, crying out for the return of his wallet and papers.
Panama broke through the circle of men and, once within the center of the make-shift ring, gazed down at the two soldiers struggling just as Lefty cried out: “If you tell anyone who I am, I’ll kill you!” ”

“ As Lefty cautiously made his way up the steps of the veranda, making certain that there were no interfering military police near by who might spoil his evening, he saw many white civilians mixing with the native visitors; waiters bustling in and out between rows of tables, bringing and taking orders, and the five-piece string orchestra in the rear, playing a vigorous accompaniment for a lovely and shapely dark-skinned girl, wearing a large sombrero, a silk blouse and a wide, colorful skirt. She was dancing a Spanish fandango in the center of the tiled floor. ”

“ Elinor then broke the long silence by asking about Panama with an assumed air of deep interest.
The very mention of his best friend’s name filled Lefty with renewed enthusiasm. Thankful to Elinor for bringing up a topic that completely placed him at ease, he once more became his own loquacious self.
“Panama? Say—he’s great! Whenever they buck up against a tough proposition around here, they elect him to face it. I overheard the major say that he was the best pilot in the squadron!” ”

“ Panama loosened one of his hands from Elinor’s and reached for a plug of tobacco in his blouse pocket. “Yeah. He don’t know it, but I am.”
“I think that’s immense of you,” she said, with a ring of sincerity in her voice.
The sergeant indifferently bit off a large chew of tobacco and placed the remainder of the plug back in his pocket. “Aw, that’s nothin’. He’s a good kid! You know somethin’, Elinor? He’s got blue blood in his veins—an’ he’s been to college too! You should hear that guy talk! Baby, what an awful lot of language he has parked under his bean. ”

“ Panama looked with longing and surprised eyes at the package and then at Elinor. He stumbled from one foot to the other, tried to speak but somehow couldn’t find the words, and then, with hesitance, lifted his hand and accepted the box.
“Gee, this is swell! Oh, boy—I didn’t think you’d remember me like this!” He turned about, grinning from ear to ear, and looked up at Lefty, shouting, “Hey, kid! Look what Santa Claus just brought me!” ”

“ Panama boasted with profound admiration for his friend’s mental capacity. “If it was me, I’d run right over now and she’d probably hand me the bum’s rush! Don’t you see how much I need your help? That’s what that education stuff does for a guy!”
“All right, all right, now let’s forget about it until to-night then,” Lefty said impatiently. “I said I’d do it, so it’s as good as done!”
Panama shrugged his shoulders and walked over to his cot, disappointed with the boy’s unsympathetic attitude. Suddenly something struck him and he looked at the other man with a grave expression of doubt. ”

“ Panama followed the man with his eyes and as Steve adjusted his Gasborne helmet, the sergeant issued the word to “give her the gun.”
Every man’s eyes followed the course of Steve’s plane as she taxied down the field, making a careless and sloppy take-off.
“Do you see what he did?” Panama roared angrily, turning to Lefty and pointing after Steve’s rising plane. “He forgot everything I told him. The lame-brained son of a half-wit tries to take off before he gets flying speed. Now when he comes down, you take your hop, and don’t make the same mistake!” ”

“ Lefty made a leap for Panama’s throat, backing the Marine against the wall and, raising his fist, prepared to crash it into the face of his antagonist.
Williams brought his senses into action, raised his arm to avoid the blow and, at the same time, used his left shoulder to push the boy off of him.
The excited college man would have been clay in the hands of the trained fighter who had faced and beaten men twice his size the world over, yet Panama was not in the mood for whipping the boy, especially as he realized now how much his idle taunting had hurt Phelps. ”

“ As his feet once more touched ground, he handed his parachute to a waiting mechanic and reached into the pocket of his blouse for a chew of tobacco.
Lefty’s heart leaped with joy for here was a friend among this great, countless group of strange, indifferent enlisted men and officers.
Here was a man, the one person in all the world who had instilled a feeling of confidence within him when everyone else delighted in ridiculing his unfortunate play.
“That’s Sergeant Williams,” announced a corporal assigned to watch the new squad of rookies. “He’s the man who will instruct you fellows.” ”

“ Shaded by large tropical trees, it was difficult for anyone flying overhead to penetrate through the thick foliage and see below to the swamp, but because of Steve’s weakened condition and Lefty’s refusal to leave his comrade, the men stuck it out, hoping against hope that somehow, some way they would be rescued.
For days, Graham lay upon the remains of the plane’s lower wing with the upper part shading him from the sun, a helpless, dying shadow of what was once a man, tortured inwardly from a severe, untreated wound and outwardly by thousands of mosquitoes and biting ants. ”

“ Do you know why he shielded himself behind that indifferent attitude?”
“No, and I ain’t much interested!” Panama barked.
“Well, you should be! He pretended that he didn’t love me because he thought that I belonged to you, because he was too fair, too decent to rob another man of something that he valued himself more than life. I’ve never loved you, I’ve never belonged to you! Lefty had as much right to try and win my love as you did!”
“Elinor, please—I don’t want to listen!” the love-torn soldier beseeched vainly. ”

“ Panama looked up and saw Lefty for the first time and beckoned to him. “Come on over to the tent, kid. I think I’ve got it!”
Williams waved to the others and started across the field, followed by Lefty.
Once inside of their tent, Panama threw his helmet on his cot and pulled off his windjammer as the boy sat on a box, silent and indifferent, rolling himself a cigarette. Free of his flying togs at last, the sergeant turned and confronted his friend with a familiar eagerness and suppressed excitement lighting his face that was still dirty from smoke, wind and oil. ”