Roy J. Snell

“ It was not a loud scream but enough for a voice said:
“Mary! What are you doing here? What has happened?”
“Sparky! Oh! I’m so glad!” She staggered to her feet.
“What is it?” He was near now.
“The Lady in Black! She was in the plane. She broke open a box. She knows the secret of our cargo. She—she’s a spy. Perhaps she has the roll of papyrus. She will escape and she must not!
“There!” Her voice rose as there came the sound of an airplane motor. “There’s a plane! Someone is with her. They must have stolen a plane. They will get away!” ”

“ She did not answer, only pointed forward and down, then set her plane climbing toward a cloud, at the same time driving the engines into a tremendous roar. Four powerful enemy fighters were all but upon them and, as if bent upon suicide and destruction, racing straight on. If these pilots had rejoiced because of their rare find, their exultation was short lived, for, darting from a cloud, a flying fury sprang straight at their leader.
“Ramsey!” Mary exclaimed. “It’s Ramsey! He’ll be killed!”
“Give me the controls,” Sparky’s voice was quiet. After slowing the motors, he continued to climb. ”

“ Land! Africa! I’ll soon be abroad. The long hop is nearing its end.” She wanted to shout for joy, to scream, but this she knew was not expected of the co-pilot of a big ship so all she said was:
“Sparky! Sparky! Wake up! We’re nearing land, and I don’t know the way to that secret airfield.”
“What—what?” Sparky groaned sleepily. “It can’t be land. I just stretched out here a minute ago.”
“Yes, I know.” Mary laughed for sheer joy. “It’s land all the same. I think I see a camel. Come and see.” ”

“ Mary agreed. “We always come back—sometimes.”
“Mary,” said Sparky, “I’m going over our plane, every bit of it. People who open secret cargoes also put emery in engines, cut fuel pipes and all that. When we go over those peaks, everything has to be right.”
“It certainly does.” Mary was seeing again those cold, white slopes where a plane forced to land goes rolling down, down, down, to dizzy depths below.
“I’ll go get a cup of coffee,” she said dreamily.
“And have a good rest,” said Sparky. “We may go over the big top yet today. That all depends.” ”

“ What was the cargo they carried? Once again this question came up to intrigue but not to disturb her. Neither she nor Sparky had tried hard to guess the answer. “We shall know,” she assured herself. “It won’t be long now.”
Why were all those bombers heading for China in such haste? Would they help retake Burma and with it the Burma Road? Would they help defend Russia from possible Jap attack? Would they bomb Tokio? She could not guess the answer, but having visited that field hospital, she hoped as never before that they were headed for Tokio. ”

“ Sparky demanded.
“Not so loud, my friend,” the Arab spoke in a hoarse whisper, at the same time completely covering the roll. “There are those who would kill me for having this roll.”
“They would kill me as quickly,” Mary declared.
“Ah, but they shall not know. It shall be at your Chateau one minute before you go. You fly to Persia. I do not ask, I know. I shall not speak. I am always to be trusted. In Persia they do not care for papyrus. There you are safe. Wherever you go, you are safe.” ”

“ Janet exclaimed. “Do they expect just you and me to fly the Atlantic, alone?”
“Why not?” Mary asked, teasingly. “Oh, well—” she added, “Sparky told me tonight that he and I would go on alone.”
“Nice going,” Janet’s tone was a trifle cold.
“Oh, Janet!” Mary put out a hand. “Don’t look at it that way. There’s something aboard the Lone Star that just has to go through. I wish I could tell you what it is. I can’t because I don’t know. Naturally, it’s better that a man pilot the plane, one who has flown the Atlantic many times. ”

“ Sparky said. “They’ll give the old ship a real going over. We’ll get a few hours of good, sound sleep. And then—”
“We’ll be off.” Mary thrilled to the tips of her toes. “Off for the Old World. We’re going abroad, Sparky! Just think! Really going abroad!”
“It’s just another trip for me,” Sparky laughed low. “But if you get a kick out of it, that’s just fine.”
“Get a kick out of it!” she exclaimed. “Of course I will. If the time ever comes when I no longer get a kick out of things, I’ll be ready to die.”
“Guess you’re right at that,” Sparky agreed. ”

“ For a time after that nothing but the low rush of the river and the croaking of the ‘Why’ frog disturbed the silence of the jungle. Then, suddenly, Mary whispered:
“Listen!”
“Singing,” Sparky whispered back after a tense moment. “Natives on the river.”
“The moon has gone behind the hills. They’re coming back. The natives are coming.”
“Yes, and let them come,” Sparky rattled his sub-machine gun. “If they’re peaceful, things will be all right. If not—” He rattled the gun once more. “This is war. The Lone Star and her secret cargo must go through!” ”

“ Mary flew the ship while Sparky drank hot coffee and soup, and munched hot cheese sandwiches. Then he took the controls while she carried on with the lunch box.
But when it was all over and they began once more to climb, weighty problems once more bore down upon Mary’s tired brain. Would they again climb high and fly too far, then become oxygen-drunk again? She hated to ask Sparky and yet—
Thousands of weary miles lay ahead, miles where danger lurked all the way. Then, too, there was their precious cargo. ”

“ Sparky cursed some small, foreign plane that, taxiing across the field, caused him to swing sharply to the right.
“Looks like he did that on purpose,” said Mary.
“May have, at that,” was the reply. “There are some Hitler sympathizers down this way.
“Well,” he sighed ten seconds later. “I fooled him. Now the runway’s clear, so here we go.” The powerful motors roared in unison. They rose sharply toward the stars. Ten minutes later they were out over the blue-black sea and still slowly climbing.
“The sea is so black,” Mary thought. “The sky is all filled with night. ”

“ Down deep in her heart Mary was hoping that Sparky would have things all fixed for her trip to Burma with the quinine. She really had her heart set on that trip. To visit a real battlefield, to see the men who for months had been fighting in mud and blood for victory. ”

“ Mary drew a long breath, “if you’ve been a good girl and if the gods are kind, you get a trip round the world, practically free.”
“Tell us about this marvelous trip,” another girl said.
Mary allowed herself a fleeting thought of all the grand boys of the bombing flight waiting at the airport, then launched herself into the bright, hilarious, sober, breath-taking story of her journey. The crackup in the Brazilian jungle, the beachcomber of Brazil, the Jap spy, the Woman in Black, the battle over the desert with Burt Ramsey as hero, the missing traveling bag of Persia were all there. ”

“ WHERE ARE THEY? “Oh! They’re gone!” Mary exclaimed in dismay as they came in sight of the airfield.
“What? They can’t be!”
“But they are! The bombers are gone. The field is practically empty.”
It was true. Warnings of an approaching storm had sent the big bomber squadron roaring on its way over the mountains. But Mary and Sparky landed a moment later with plenty of room to spare.
To Mary this was a great disappointment. She dearly loved being in a parade, always had. And flying in a great formation like that was a big parade. ”

“ At least she did not sleep, just lay there, wrapped in her robe, staring into the darkness, listening to the roar of the motors and thinking, thinking.
Her father was somewhere in Africa. She knew that and no more. It would seem strange to pass over him in the night and not to see him at all. Yet, that might happen. There was no time for looking around, no time for anything. They must go on and on.
When two hours had passed, she was back at Sparky’s side asking for the controls.
“I can’t sleep,” she explained. “Flying over the desert is fascinating. You don’t care a whoop about it.” ”

“ Mary confided. “This ship is mined.”
“Mined!” Janet stared.
“It certainly is! And by our own people. This is one ship our enemies will never take apart piece by piece, nor its cargo either. In case of a crash, it will be torn to ribbons.”
“That—why, that’s terrible,” Janet’s voice was husky.
“Not as bad as it seems,” was the slow reply. “Only fire will set off the explosives. Bumping won’t do it. There’s a fuse, too. I know right where it is. No, they’ll never get the Lone Star or her cargo. And there’s nothing they’d like half as much to do. But they won’t get her. Never! Never. ”

“ This, they discovered, was truer than they had thought, for the cold or the push and bang of the storm had damaged their radio. Try as she might, Mary could raise no one.
For a time, flying by instrument, Sparky flew across what he hoped was low, level land. Since he could not be sure of this, he still flew high among the thick clouds. ”

“ Mary exclaimed. “How long it is. Must be fifty camels. And the shadows seem darker than the camels. Oh! I wish we could stay a week!”
“Well, we can’t,” Sparky warned. “Few hours at best. Our right engine isn’t acting properly. Has to be tuned up for this desert air, I guess. That’ll give you a breathing spell. Make the most of it.”
The camel shadows on the desert were long. The sun was almost down when at last their plane came to rest on that long, narrow runway there in the desert. ”

“ But now, she shuddered.
“They hope to tire us, run us out of gas, something.” Sparky tested his supply of fuel. “They’ve got a long way to go yet. But we must be careful. A forced landing on these white slopes means death!”
“We must save enough gas to take us back.”
“Exactly that.”
Once more Mary’s mind was working. Was this to be an endurance race, endurance of plane, of fuel, and human courage?
“Hardly that,” she told herself. “We should be up with them in less than a half hour.” ”

“ Scottie grinned.
“We’ll leave Mary in charge of the plane,” said Sparky. “Think you can manage that?”
“What am I to guard it from in this wild place?” Mary asked. “The Monkeys of the Snows or something?”
“You never can tell,” Sparky did not smile. “And, by the way, there’s a one-legged Chinese boy who will help you out in a pinch. He has a sub-machine gun that someone loaned him. It’s a businesslike affair and I shouldn’t wonder if he could shoot it. He’s looking for a low-flying Zero plane. Perhaps you can find one for him. He calls himself Hop Sing. Sometimes he hops and sometimes he sings.” ”

“ Sparky spoke rapidly. “It’s in a hidden underground room, two drums of it.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Nothing. These people, like gremlins, gnomes, or something, are going to do it for us. They’ll get the plane back on the road. That’s what they’re doing now.” The plane gave a sudden lurch.
“And then?”
“Then some of them will pull and push the plane down the road while the women and children remove enough turnips and earth from the airfield to make us a runway.”
“And then we’ll fuel up and take off. How sweet!” ”

“ By some good chance, Ramsey found himself facing his on-coming opponent. He must have pressed the firing button and given her the works for the enemy plane appeared to fall to pieces in mid-air—not, however, until its pilot had sent one more burst of fire into Ramsey’s smoking plane.
“He’s on fire! He’s going down!” Mary shouted. At that moment she was seeing war in all its stark naked horror.
“There! Your friend Ramsey’s out of the plane,” Sparky said quietly as ever.
“Good!” The girl settled back. “His parachute is open. He’s coming down. But, Sparky! we’ll be right beneath him!” ”

“ In desperation Mary set her motors going at a dangerous rate.
“If that burned motor fails me now—” Her heart paused, then raced on.
“Good girl!” Sparky encouraged her. “We’re leaving them behind. They can’t go much farther, not at this altitude. You, you’re looking white around the lips. Here! I’ll take the controls.”
She staggered from her place, leaned for a space of seconds then, looking down, watched the fighter planes still battling their way upward. With shaking hands she reached for the machine gun. “This can’t be the journey’s end,” she murmured. ”

“ Mary Mason, the little girl who piloted a big plane, favored her with a smile.
After that, save for the slow drone of motors, there was quiet in the cabin, a tense sort of calm, such as comes before a storm. After a time the blonde-haired Janet said:
“Sparky’s motors didn’t stop all by themselves.”
“Of course they didn’t. Sparky’s too good a pilot for that.”
“He sure is. It’s the work of the enemy. That’s what it is. He knows. He’s after us, after you and Sparky, Don and me. ”

“ Judy said as they slid smoothly over a paved street.
“Yes, I suppose so,” Mary agreed. “But business is business. We haven’t much time. I must always be in touch with Sparky.”
“We’ll arrange it that way,” Judy promised. “We’ll not be away from the phone more than an hour at any time.”
“That will be swell. You see, we have part of a ship load of quinine.”
“Quinine!” Judy exclaimed.
“It’s for Burma.”
“Oh! You are a public benefactor! What a wonderful privilege, to fly half way round the world to bring health back to hundreds of our boys!”
“It has its drawbacks,” Mary spoke slowly. ”

“ Sparky said to Scottie.
“When we went for that Jap after our plane had been shot up?” Scottie spoke slowly. “Yes, that’s right, we did. But if you had seen that Jap in his plane with Uncle Sam’s face painted where it was and you knew what that rat of a monkey had done,—”
“That’s right,” Sparky grinned, “I’d have gone after him.”
“Of course you would,” Mary agreed. “Any real man would have done just that. There are some things in this war that can be passed up. ”

“ In the past two days it’s been San Francisco to Denver, to Chicago, to Miami!”
“To Caracas, and then to the heart of a jungle where headhunters beat on hollow logs inviting their friends to a feast.” Janet laughed in spite of herself.
“This will be just a pause,” Mary insisted stoutly. “After that it will be Para, to Dakar in Africa, Dakar to Egypt and the pyramids, Egypt to Persia—”
“Under the Persian moon,” Janet sang softly.
And then:
“Watch!” Mary exclaimed. “There’s the clearing. Sparky has spotted it. He’s preparing to circle. He’s going down!”
Suddenly Mary set her motors thundering. ”

“ Once a week officers motor from long distances and bring the ladies. The Colonel’s lady,” he laughed. “I tried to get your partner Sparky in on the dance,” he added. “He turned me down, said he needed the time for getting the plane in shape, but he did promise to have dinner with us.”
“Dad, he’s wonderful, Sparky is,” Mary enthused. “The only trouble with him is,” a wistful note stole into her voice, “he’s just a machine, like those engines he watches so carefully.”
“You’re lucky to have a partner like that. There’s only one in a hundred like him. ”