me. I'm giving up a flight lieutenant's job."

"You'll still be leader and we'll demand the Red Flight label. We'll
have three of the meanest brutes that ever rolled out on a line to make
the other boys jealous." Stan slapped Allison on the back. "Let's go."

They reported to the Wing Commander, then shifted their things to B-7.
Later they went over to the hangar to have a look at the Hawk. Allison
said very little, but O'Malley was as tickled as a kid with a new top.
He went over everything and the only thing he crabbed about was the
cramped quarters furnished for the copilot, who handled the bomb release
and the extra guns.

They checked in at their new mess and Stan felt better. He looked in at
the briefing room and found it presided over by a fat young man with a
broad smile. In the mess he met no one he knew. Everything looked fine
and he settled down to watch O'Malley devour a pie.

O'Malley finished his pie and looked hungerly across the room at the
counter in the corner. He shook his head sadly.

"If I eat one more me lunch will be spoilt sure."

Stan grinned as he glanced at his wrist watch. It lacked a half-hour
until official eating time.

After lunch they made further arrangements for their new job. Allison
was to fly with them in a Spitfire. O'Malley went along with Stan as a
gunner and student, with care of the bomb racks in his hands. With
everything set and ready to go, the revised and rehashed Red Flight
prepared to take a little outing. Being on test work gave them plenty of
freedom to choose their own jobs.

They slipped away without much notice being taken of the new ship.
Everyone was busy with his own job and paid no attention to the big
fighter sliding out on its tricycle landing gear with a Spitfire nosing
right after it.

Stan settled back to have some fun with Allison. Out of the corner of
his eyes he watched the vertical speed indicator and a wide grin spread
over his face. The Hendee Hawk was going up at a terrific pace. Already
the Spitfire was far behind. Stan knew Allison would fly the wings off
the Spitfire to keep him from getting away. He laughed softly.

He kicked her over and into a tight bank and she zoomed around, boring
away. He kicked her back and looped in a dizzy blur of speed. Allison
shot in below him and Stan came around to knife past his pal. He glanced
back and there was a happy, vacant grin on O'Malley's homely face, as he
absorbed the drone of the 2,000-horsepo