ad slammed into a stone wall. She staggered, let
down one wing, then nosed over. Stan felt the ground slap her and heard
the ripping and tearing of metal as something exploded almost in his
face. A blinding flash of light stabbed at his eyeballs and blinded him.

The Mustang rolled over and over, her sturdy fuselage refusing to
crumple. Stan's one thought was of fire. He pawed aside what was left of
his hatch cover and heaved himself upward and out. Staggering free of
the wreckage, he found himself enveloped in a choking pall of smoke. Off
to his left, a heavy explosion shook the ground. Dirt and sticks and
bits of metal peppered him and the smoke surged away before the
concussion of the explosion. Stan staggered back and as he did so, four
soldiers leaped at him out of the smoke.

One of the men lunged at Stan from the side and two from the rear. He
felt a solid impact on the back of his head and felt himself slumping
forward, then everything went black.

CHAPTER VI

PRISONER

Stan opened his eyes and found himself in a big room with stone walls
and high windows. Sun was streaming in through two of the windows and
gleamed upon piles of straw littering the floor. A dozen Yank airmen and
several R.A.F. men sat on the straw. Stan lifted his hand to the back of
his head and groaned. An R.A.F. man near him said:

"A bit of a tough rap? Can I get you some water? It's all we've seen so
far in the way of refreshments."

"Thanks," Stan said. "But where am I?"

"A Jerry prison. I take it you were one of the boys who bombed the
fighter fields. I'm Captain Prentiss." The Britisher smiled.

"I'm Stan Wilson. I'm not sure I bombed anything. Is there an Irishman
here by the name of O'Malley?"

"Right-o. He was dragged in with you." Prentiss got to his feet. "I'll
go tell him you're awake."

"Thanks." Stan heaved himself to a sitting position and looked around.
Several of the boys nodded to him but none of them got up. All of them
were strangers to Stan, men from flights he had not worked with.

O'Malley came in from a narrow hallway and hurried across the room. When
he saw that Stan was sitting up, a dark scowl on his face turned into a
grin.

"Sure, an' I've been yellin' at them Krauts, tryin' to get them to send
a Doc in to fix you up. They jest laughed at me."

"I don't need a doctor. How did the raid go?"

"The boys say we blew 'em off the map. I talked with a couple of Lib
boys just brought in. We clea