Part 9 (2/2)

Then again, in order to get the best work from his firearms and have his hands free, he knew he should fix matters so he could drop the controls and pay strict attention to his other job

Perk was lying low, holding himself in readiness for action He believed he would be as he had piled up, but just the same he did duck his head involuntarily at the first crack of theso lovingly, as though it ht be an old and valued ”baby” in his estimation

But just the sa to keep the other in ignorance of how e, and Perk was quick to accept it

So the din was further increased by a second barrage, chiher key, but on the whole playing skillfully and ned

How the chatter of those two rapid-fire guns did carry on, with the splinters flying every-which way as theof the sloop's deck

Perk was co his head down, lest he be potted in that rain of bullets the other fighter was pouring in on him Consequently he could hardly be expected to do hi under a sie, for he really had little in the way of a barricade to intercept the shower to which he was being subjected

Lucky for hiood sense to stop his advance with considerable distance separating him from the hidden sloop--had they been closer there was not one chance in ten that soe would not have placed his seaplane out of coh the pilot hi shot up froallantry such as had ever distinguished the air fighters on both sides in those days that tried , as the rapid-fire guns both became silent, while their hot barrels cooled off a bit

”Not so you could notice it,” Perk shouted ”Jest wanted to exchange a feords with you, if you're Oscar Gleeb, an' it's true that you was a live-wire over there in France an' the Argonne--say, is that all to the good, Mister Pilot?”

The other did not answer immediately Plainly he must have been considerably astonished at the queer turn the engageain possibly he did not exactly like the idea of being coht be only a trap to ensnare hirantly

”What's that an to suspect he must have touched up the other with one of the bullets that struck the seaplane

”Oh! nothin'out the complaisant Perk, cheerfully, ”on'y I wanted to let you knoas over there in the saood luck to send down a few o' you Hun pilots in a blazin' coffin

Wondered now if htn't a had a private scrap o' our own in them bully times Allers did hanker to have a talk-fest with you, sense I heard 'bout you bein' one o' thereeted this ayp are you to want to talk things over while we got this scrap on?” bellowed the helmeted man in the shot torn cabin of the amphibian ”That's our boat you're standin' on, and we need it in our business, see? Give you three minutes to clear out, for I', Oscar old hoss, but when you do it'll be feet first, for I'm fixed to fill your carcass so full o' lead it wouldn't need any cannon ball to sink you if you died at sea So ettin' my hand in so far, but what's comin' next'll be a whole lot different, bet your boots!”

The other did not show the white feather but immediately set to work once more with his weapon No sooner was its chatter ”on the air” than Perk started giving his own gun a chance to show its worth Thissplinters began to scatter, worrying Perk not a little, for strange to say he dreaded lest one of thement in his anatomy and this troubled hi bullet

It was quite hile it lasted, but presently Perk realized that the opposition had suddenly ceased Being a polite onist on even ter If Oscar had decided to advance once ive and take, he, Perk, could prove hiine of the aor and Perk, cautiously lifting his head, saw that the plane was really in ht s--that the other had had quite enough of this exchange of hot fire and was pulling out, or else that in his crafty Ger so the fort

Faster and faster was the taxiing airshi+p rushi+ng through the water and Perk continued to hold his fire, realizing that the fight was over

”Go to it, Oscar old hoss!” he burst out, as he grasped this clinching finish of the strange engagee of compliments, each apparently able to move off under his own steaood

There, he's lifted his crate in one big pull an' I kinder guess he ain't hurt much either, else he couldn't show so much steam Wall, here Perk's been left in possession, after all that bluff he put up But it sure was a dandy jig while it lasted”

At that Perk began to laugh as though the true perspective had flashed before his eyes for then, and later on, too, he was ready to declare that a more ridiculous as well as unprofitable battle had never been waged between two rival pilots of the upper air lanes

Now the fleeing shi+p hadzooh bent on picking out an entirely different direction fro with an irove islands

”Huh! that strikes azed after the shi+p, noing smaller and sht a reht to keep Oh well, I've had , and it's just as e both cahts an' runs away, ht another day,' that old sayin' has it which is sure a true thing Hey! what's this ered I had--blood on my hand, yep, an' on my face ditto Guess one o' them nasty zippin' bullets must a creased my ear, and fetched the juice a little Shucks! nothin' to bother about I'd say”