y, complaining of a
jamming rudder and heating engine. He took off again in an hour. He
hasn't showed up yet. Perhaps he thought it best to go on to La Ferte."

"Humph!" Cowan retorted, the pointed ends of his moustache twitching.
"Maybe he did! He needs grounding. I'd send him to Observation if the
Chief of Air hadn't ordered us to quit using observation work for
punishment. They crack up those crates too fast. And Siddons is just the
kind to do that sort of trick. He's a good flyer, certainly, but--what
would you do with him, McGee?"

"Oh, I say now--"

"Rats! Mullins, how would you handle him? He's a cold fish, you know."

Mullins gulped. He was not accustomed to having Cowan ask his opinion
about anything. However, here was a golden opportunity.

"Cold or hot, I'd let that bird cool off a little more on the ground.
He's been joy-riding ever since we drew ships. We'll go into action
soon, don't you think?"

"Doubtless."

"Keep him out of the first patrol. He'll come whining to you and he'll
sit up and be nice from then on."

"Hum-m!" Cowan again bent over the maps.

"Anything else, Major?" McGee asked.

"No ... Yes, wait!" he called as McGee reached the door. "You have had a
lot of combat experience, Lieutenant. I don't mind telling you that the
load of responsibility gets heavier as we approach action." He turned
away from the table, walked to the window, and stood gazing out into the
utter blackness of the night. "I wonder," he mused, his voice subdued,
"if any of you truly appreciate the weight of the responsibility."

Mullins glanced at McGee, wonderingly. Both were thinking the same
thoughts. Here was a man, who, until the last forty-eight hours, had
always been quite sufficient unto himself. Now a sudden change had come
over him. One of two things was certain: either he was breaking, and
would soon be taken from command for inefficiency; or he was a strong
man indeed, strong enough to admit weaknesses, unblushingly seek aid,
and make use of all available knowledge.

Mullins, in his own mind, decided it was the former; McGee, in his mind,
was confident that it was the latter, and he warmed to him.

"No matter," Cowan himself made reply to his unanswered question as he
turned from the window with much of his old self-confidence.
"Responsibility is a thing which command imposes--and which I accept.
However, that does not prevent me from profiting by the experience of
others, as I expect to do in yo