trance to the Air Force. He felt that he must carry on an
unfinished work, and few will find fault with him if his actions were
motivated by a slight spirit of revenge. After all, blood is thicker
than water.

Whatever the motives of the two youths, once in the uniform of cadet
flyers, the spirit of service seized them. Side by side, encouraging,
entreating, helping and driving one another they plugged through their
training with their eyes fixed upon the coveted reward of every air
service cadet--a pair of silvered wings!

Together they had won their wings; together they had gone to the front;
together they had gone out on patrol, high above the lines, and met the
enemy. Thereafter, the fortune of one was the fortune of both. Each had
saved the other's life, the culminating tie in their friendship, if
indeed their friendship needed any further tie.

Both had become aces, though in combat work McGee was easily the
superior. This, however, he constantly denied and was forever admiring
Larkin's work. Larkin, if inferior to McGee in a dog fight, was better
disciplined. He could go up in formation, keep his eye on his flight
commander, obey orders, and keep his head when he saw an enemy plane.
McGee, on the contrary, went as wild as a berserker the moment he laid
eyes on a plane bearing the black cross. Orders were forgotten and he
dived, throttle wide open, stick far forward, every thought gone from
his mind but the one compelling urge to get that other plane on the
inside of his ring sight. McGee had his personal faults, but he was a
faultless flyer. The same may be said of Larkin, for men in aerial
combat never make but one vital mistake. Those who become aces have no
great faults; those with great faults become mere tallies for the aces.
Now and then, of course, the grim scorer nods during the game and a
fault goes unpenalized, but as a rule it can be said that a man who can
become an ace may well be called a faultless flyer, for an ace is one
who has rolled up a score of five victories against those whose skill
was less than his own. Of course, there is the element of luck to be
considered, for luck and skill must go hand in hand when youths go
jousting in the clouds. But luck can only attend the skillful. With
skill wanting, luck soon deserts.

Beyond doubt both McGee and Larkin had enjoyed a full measure of luck,
and were still enjoying it. For example, wasn't it luck that had sent
them both down here on the Fren