stan wilson led his pals to a small shack on the waterfront and halted before a flimsy door of matting. over the door and along the wall were chinese characters painted in red. below the characters was a faded poster showing a slender american girl in a riding habit and wearing a cocky little hat. the girl was holding high a glass of coca cola. stan pointed to the familiar advertisement.
“looks like home,” he said.
“it sure does,” allison agreed. “those confounded soft drink ads are plastered all over the world.”
“here is where you sign up. i was down yesterday,” stan said. “still want to head for china?”
16 o’malley eyed the dilapidated building, then his eyes moved up and down the street crowded with similar shacks.
“sure, an’ i’m struck dumb with admiration by the elegance o’ their headquarters, but if they have planes and petrol i’m joinin’ up.”
“they have both,” stan assured him.
“suppose we have a look inside,” allison suggested.
stan tapped on the wall beside the door. after a brief wait the matting swung aside and a brown face appeared. two glittering, black eyes regarded them. the doorman was a malay, smaller than the average. his lips were stained red from chewing betel nut and his skin was a rich red-brown.
“come,” he beckoned softly.
stan shoved o’malley forward and allison dropped in behind. they entered a small room lighted by yellow rays which filtered in through a screen covering a high window. the room was divided into two parts by a long grass curtain decorated with painted cherry trees and mountains. against this backdrop sat a gaunt chinese17 at a small desk. he wore a white jacket and a pair of billowing pants. his deep-set eyes peered out at the three fliers from unmoving lids. slowly he lifted a bony hand to his chin and fingered its carved outline.
“welcome,” he said in a soft voice. “welcome and please sit down.”
the only place to sit was on a bench before the desk or upon one of the many cushions scattered about on the floor. the boys seated themselves on the bench.
“general, i have brought two men who hope to join the china air force. they are the men commander beakin reported upon, and the same men i told you about,” stan explained.
“i am grateful. china is grateful. to have three aces from the royal air corps is indeed a great gift.” the general’s voice was smooth and controlled, but his eyes were searching and watchful.
“there was to be another man. he should be here,” stan said.
the thin, yellow lips parted in a smile. “mr. munson asked to come one hour later. he informed me he had an engagement.”
18 “sure, an’ i’m thinkin’ this nick munson is a bad one,” o’malley broke in.
the general beamed upon o’malley. “it is good to be of a suspicious nature. however, we have checked the credentials mr. munson presented and find them eminently satisfactory. he boasts overmuch, perhaps, but china has great need of instructors and pilots.”
“we’ll handle the spalpeen, general. we’ll break his neck if he gets funny,” o’malley assured the officer.
“he may well break his own neck if he does the things he tells us are easy for him,” the general said without smiling.
“we are prepared to be watchful, that is what lieutenant o’malley means,” allison explained.
“i believe as much, and so we will get on with the few details which must be settled. first, i must warn you that efforts are being made to prevent recruited pilots from reaching china.” he smiled and went on with hardly a pause. “you will be paid one thousand dollars a month in american money for your services. you will be under the orders19 of our renowned general, chiang kai-shek, as regular officers of the china air force. i have made out the papers you will need to present at the air base from which you will fly. once you have reported you will not carry these papers on your person. should you be forced down behind enemy lines or be in danger of capture, you will divest yourself of your uniform under which you will wear chinese clothing. this is for your personal safety.”
“so the japs won’t shoot us on sight?” o’malley asked.
“they seldom shoot prisoners. they use them for bayonet drill, lashed to a post.” the general’s eyes were hard and clear.
o’malley straightened aggressively and started to say something uncomplimentary about the japs. stan broke in.
“thanks, general.”
o’malley got to his feet and thrust out a huge hand. the general took it and gripped it.
“don’t you worry, sor. ’tis no japs will be botherin’ yer supplies once we get up north,” o’malley said gravely.
20 the general laughed. “you are most wonderful boys. i wish you good luck, and, as they say, happy landings.”
stan hesitated, then faced the general. “where did you learn to speak english, sir? many of your phrases sound very familiar.”
“i come from san francisco, where i was born. like yourselves i am a foreigner helping a great people resist an aggressor. when the liberty of china is secure i shall return to san francisco and my law practice.” there was a twinkle in the eyes of the general.
march allison laughed his old, cynical laugh. “a yank,” he said and snapped a smart salute which the general returned.
out on the street a minute later he turned to stan. “what is his name?”
“tom miller,” stan replied.
o’malley stopped and looked at stan. “what sort of a country have you got over there?” he demanded. “by the shades o’ st. patrick, if that general is tom miller, i’m chiang himself.”
“we have irish policemen, chinese lawyers21 and hindu doctors,” stan said without a smile.
“i’m going over there after the war,” o’malley declared. “just to have a good look.”
at that moment the malay boy who had admitted them to the presence of general miller appeared.
“come, please,” he said.
they followed him toward the waterfront. at a small fruit stand they met a short chinese youth dressed in white duck pants and wearing a flat, straw hat. their malay guide bobbed his head and spoke in chinese to the youth. the youth smiled at the three fliers, revealing two rows of even white teeth.
“welcome to the china air arm. i am tom koo, flight officer.”
“i am stan wilson. this is bill o’malley and march allison,” stan said. “allison will command our flight.”
o’malley was looking closely at the soldier. tom koo was dressed the same as a thousand other chinese they had passed on the waterfront. suddenly he asked, “you come from san francisco?”
22 “yes,” tom koo answered, “but how did you know?”
“i’m an expert,” o’malley answered. “anyway, no man could fail to recognize a yank.” o’malley grinned broadly and tom koo looked greatly pleased. he turned to stan.
“you, too, are an american?”
“i sure am, and we’ll show up the irish and the british, tom,” stan said very seriously.
the chinese flier laughed softly. “that will be a very difficult thing to do. you see, i am informed of the records of majors allison and o’malley.”
“it’s action we crave, spitfires and japs,” o’malley broke in.
“japs you shall have in large numbers,” tom said. “and spies and crooks and saboteurs to add to the excitement.” the smile faded from his face and he looked grim. “but first you have a boat ride which will take you to an island where we have a flying field. it is best that you do not return to your barracks. your bags will be forwarded to you.”
23 the three walked beside tom koo. about them milled shouting and laughing tamil and hindu traders, expounding the value of their wares. in the midst of such a group stood a fat chinese. his shrill voice rose above the tumult and the shouting. tom shoved his way toward the fat boatman.
the boatman did not seem to see them, but others turned to look. the fliers wore street clothing and were taken for tourists who would have money to spend.
“i will go on. you will speak to the boatman. say you wish to take a boat ride.” tom koo moved away after giving these instructions in a low voice.
stan was closest to the burly chinese. “we want to see things. have you a boat for hire?”
the boatman turned and his black eyes fixed upon the three fliers. his round, fat stomach bulged above the sash he had knotted around it. his head was shaven and smooth and his face was wrinkled into a mass of genial furrows. he was almost an exact copy of the little statues of the god of happiness they had seen displayed in the24 shop windows. he bowed stiffly and placed a huge straw hat on his head.
“you payee—big?” he asked.
“sure,” allison said. “american silver dollars.”
the fat man looked around, then headed toward a junk moored at the wharf. the boat was high-pooped, square-sterned, made of carved wood, and staring popeyes were painted on the bows. on its deck was mounted a gun of a model which had been in use a hundred years before. stepping on board, the three fliers found deck chairs under a canvass awning.
seating themselves, they watched the chinese boatman maneuver his craft into the bay by using a long pole. the junk slowly proceeded away from the wharf, clearing the hundreds of odd-looking craft moored there.
a breeze fanned lazily over them and the boatman hoisted a huge sail. the junk lumbered slowly out across the oily waters. stan noticed that the man kept watching the shore. he wondered what the fat boatman25 was looking for. junks and other craft were coming in or putting out, and a motorboat darted out from among the moored vessels. the boatman grunted and shrugged his shoulders as he gave his attention to his sail.
after that nothing happened in the bay, so stan gave his attention to the shore line falling away astern and to wondering if the american instructor would get out to the island.
a number of small islands loomed ahead. the junk skirted the green patches so closely that they could see the natives going about their daily lives. the details of their tiny, palm-leaf shacks, standing on stilts over the water, could be seen clearly.
the day was hot and steamy and the tide was running low. the receding waters left vast, flat banks of slimy, stinking mud, alive with crawling creatures chased by long-legged birds. along the bank myriad mangrove trees hugged the shore, their naked, crooked roots exposed.
“reminds me of a basket o’ slimy, wrigglin’26 snakes,” o’malley observed sourly.
“it all smells very rare,” allison said with a grin.
stan was not watching the shore ahead, he was looking at a motorboat which had appeared off one of the small islands. it was the same boat that had put out into the bay at singapore. it was cutting toward them, sending a white wedge of water foaming back from its prow. the chinese boatman saw it and burst into a high-pitched chatter.
“looks like we might have our first taste of the stuff tom koo spoke about,” stan said.
o’malley watched the oncoming boat with interest. “sure, an’ we might have a bit of excitement,” he said eagerly.
“we may have to make a detour to rangoon,” allison said softly.
“our boatman is scared stiff,” stan observed.
“if we had our service pistols we might have some fun,” allison said. “but all we have are our fists.”
o’malley grinned wolfishly. he had gotten up and was leaning over the rail. the27 motorboat circled the junk and came alongside. it was filled with little brown men armed with long poles. a chunky fellow stood in the prow. he shouted up to the boatman.
“yer delayin’ the parade!” o’malley shouted down at the man in the prow. “get that raft out of our way!”
the leader of the crew looked up at o’malley, then turned and began chattering to his crew. at that moment a white man appeared from a little cabin in the rear of the motorboat. stan and allison got up quickly. the man was nick munson. he stood looking up at o’malley.
“i missed the junk and set out to overtake you. i’ll be aboard in a minute,” he called to them. ducking back into the cabin he came out with a bag.
“well, jest imagine that,” o’malley drawled.
stan looked over at o’malley and suddenly his eyes narrowed. o’malley was sliding a service pistol into the ample pocket of his trousers. he moved close to the irishman.
28 “how come you filched a gun?” he asked. “we were to turn them in before we left london.”
“i’m that absent-minded,” o’malley said with a grin. “i got so used to the feel o’ nora snugglin’ in me pocket that i jest couldn’t part with her.”
allison looked at stan and there was a glint in his eyes. “sometimes that irisher shows a glimmer of brilliance,” he said.
nick munson clambered aboard the junk. dropping his bag, he wiped his forehead and sank into a chair. he spoke two words to the boatman in chinese.
“i reckon you learned to speak chinese in a united states plane factory,” stan said, and his eyes locked with munson’s.
“i picked up a few words along the waterfront in frisco,” nick answered.
the motorboat roared away and the junk moved on its slow course around a small island beyond which they could see a larger expanse of land. stan sat back and watched nick munson who was giving o’malley a big line about dive bombers. o’malley was taking29 it all in and grinning amiably at munson.
presently they sighted low buildings on the island, then the gray and silver forms of several transport and bomber planes rose into view. as the junk moved closer they saw that the island was humming with activity. malays and chinese ran about and many white men mingled with them.
“hudsons and p–40’s,” stan said.
“fine stuff,” o’malley chimed in. “they got full armament.”
“china, here we come!” stan shouted.
allison leaned back and there was a sardonic look on his face. he puffed out his cheeks as he watched.
“not bad, old man, not bad at all.”
nick munson stood up, his eyes moving swiftly over the scene, taking in all the details. his lips curved into a smile.
“ideal spot for an attack, no cover, nothing.” he spoke slowly as though pleased with the idea.
