back to
fight, the German pilot dumped his full load of bombs, and they exploded
in the wilderness below. That didn't help him any. Well, the bomber
crashed, and _no one bailed out_! That struck the Lockheed pilot as
being queer and as there was some smooth ground close by, he landed to
take a look at his victim. He said it was not a pretty sight. _But_
there were only three aboard, whereas a Junkers Ju-88 usually has a crew
of at least six. Not one of those three had made any attempt to leave
the plane as it fell earthward. Do you know why?"

The senior officer paused and seemed to wait.

"No, sir," Freddy Farmer spoke up impulsively. "Why, sir?"

"Because there were _no_ parachute packs aboard the plane!" the other
replied at once. "In fact, the plane was stripped bare of everything
that was not absolutely essential to flying and fighting. There were no
identification papers on any of the crew, though the Lockheed pilot
could tell from decoration ribbons that all were veteran airmen. There
was nothing except this navigation chart. The Lockheed pilot said that
one of the men was holding it as though he had been about to destroy it,
but was stopped by the crash. By that I mean, in one hand he clutched
the chart and in the other a cigarette lighter. Anyway, the Lockheed
pilot brought the map back to me, and as soon as I took one look at it
I knew the reason for the constant patrolling of those Nazi bombers. I
know exactly what they are."

"It sounds like a suicide outfit to me," Dawson murmured as the major
general paused. "They must be waiting for the President and his party to
arrive. Then they'll let go with the whole works, to say nothing of
their own lives."

"There's no doubt about it!" Major General Hawker agreed grimly. "I'm as
convinced of that as though they had come and told me so. If they know
_when_ the President and Mr. Churchill will arrive, I don't know.
Perhaps they will receive that signal from somebody right here in
Casablanca. The way they have let convoys alone and have avoided air
battle, at the deliberate sacrifice of one of their own, is proof
positive that they are waiting for the one big opportunity. And even
though the President's life, and Mr. Churchill's life, were spared, the
loss of other lives would be almost as disastrous to the Allied cause.
In short, so long as that German suicide squadron remains in existence,
a terrible danger hangs over the entire civilized world. No matter how