t closer to the planes and he is turning
it over in his mind. He will have a scheme soon, and when he does,
it will go through all right."

Macpherson had a scheme, but just how and when to try to put it into
operation was the question. He had a talk with Parks, the head
instructor, one afternoon, and told Parks about the Brighton boys
and their keenness to learn more about flying.

"You could do with those kids," said Mac "They are really too big by
now to be called kids, as a matter of fact. Why, they will be flying
soon themselves. Why don't you ask the major if you can't have two
of them down here to help clean and tune up the school machines?
It is a bit irregular, but so is their being here at all. I don't
see why, if the Old Man can use them around the offices, we can't
have a couple of them here. I have had the young Frenchman here
with me now for some time, and he is worth a lot to me. He says two
others, one named Hill and the other Little, want to get down to
the hangars. Be a good chap and ask the major about it."

Parks did. The major was very busy at the time, and said, "I guess
so," and let the matter go at that. Parks passed that laconic
permission on to the sergeant-major, and the two boys reported to
Parks forthwith.

That left Bob Haines, Harry Corwin, Archie Fox and Dicky Mann at
headquarters to be generally useful. They had come to be on the best
of terms with the sergeant-major, and when they pointed out to him
that the three boys in the hangars were "having all the fun," he
suggested that he so assign them to duty that but two of them would
be "on" at the same time. Thus when Bob and Dicky Mann were standing
ready for whatever might be required of them, Harry and Archie were
free to spend their time in the hangars, where the sergeant-major
could lay his hand on them in case of sudden calls.

Thus the summer was not far advanced before the Brighton boys were
in the very thick of the flying game, not as onlookers, but as parts
of the machine into which the various component parts of the camp
and its numerous units were rapidly becoming merged.

If they had not tried to learn, the Brighton boys must have picked up
some general information about aeroplanes and flying. With their
special eagerness they were rapidly becoming well acquainted with
most details of the work of the airmen. No casual word in their
hearing fell on barren ground. When one of them mastered a new idea,
he p