The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aces Up, by Covington Clarke

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Title: Aces Up

Author: Covington Clarke

Release Date: December 17, 2009 [EBook #30698]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ACES UP

By

Covington Clarke

THE REILLY & LEE CO.

CHICAGO--NEW YORK

ACES UP

COPYRIGHT 1929 BY THE REILLY & LEE CO.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

"By the shore of life and the
gate of breath,
There are more things waiting
for men than death."

ACES UP

CHAPTER I

The New Instructor

1

Tex Yancey, called "The Flying Fool" by his comrades in the --th Pursuit
Squadron of the American Expeditionary Force, entered the mess hall with
lips pressed into a thin, mirthless grin that seemed entirely
inappropriate in one who was thirty minutes late to mess and must
therefore make out with what was left. The other members of the squadron
had finished their meal and were now engaged in the usual after-dinner
practice of spinning some tall yarns.

Yancey stalked slowly to his place at the long table, but instead of
seating himself stood with hands thrust deep into his pockets and with
his long, thin legs spread wide apart. For a full minute he stood there,
seeming to be mildly interested in the tale that Hank Porter was
telling. But those who knew Tex, as did the members of this squadron,
knew that the cynical smile on his thin lips was but the forerunner of
some mirthless thing from which only "The Flying Fool" would be able to
wring a laugh. His was such a grotesque sense of humor; a highly
impractical practical joke was his idea of a riotous time. Someone in
the squadron, who had once felt the sting of one of his pranks, had
called him a fool, and another member had responded, "Yeah, he's a fool,
all right--but a flyin' fool!" The tribute had become a nickname, and
Yancey rather reveled in it.

Just now his smile was masking some grim joke and his eyes held the mild
light of pity.

"Well, Hank," he drawled at last, when Porter had wound up his st