Produced by Jim Ludwig
by Lieutenant James R. Driscoll
CHAPTERS
I. The Brighton Flying Squadron
II. First Steps
III. In the Air
IV. Off for the Front
V. Jimmy Hill Startles the Veterans
VI. The Fight in the Air
VII. Parker's Story
VIII. Thrills of the Upper Reaches
IX. In the Enemy's Country
X. Planning the Escape
XI. Through the Lines
XII. Pluck and Luck
XIII. The Raid on Essen
XIV. A Furious Battle
"The war will be won in the air."
The headlines in big black type stared at Jimmy Hill as he stood besidethe breakfast table and looked down at the morning paper, which layawaiting his father's coming.
The boys of the Brighton Academy, among whom Jimmy was an acknowledgedleader, had been keenly interested in the war long before the UnitedStates joined hands with the Allies in the struggle to save smallnations from powerful large ones—-the fight to ensure freedom andliberty for all the people of the earth.
A dark, lithe, serious young French lad, Louis Deschamps, whose motherhad brought him from France to America in 1914, and whose father wasa colonel of French Zouaves in the fighting line on the Western Front,was a student at the Academy. Interest in him ran high and with itran as deep an interest in the ebbing and flowing fortunes of France.The few letters Mrs. Deschamps received from Louis' soldier fatherhad been retailed by the proud boy to his fellows in the school untilthey knew them by heart.
Bob Haines' father, too, had helped fan the war-fire in the hearts ofthe boys. Bob was a real favorite with every one. He captained thebaseball team, and could pitch an incurve and a swift drop ball thatmade him a demi-god to those who had vainly tried to hit his twisters.Bob's father was a United States Senator, who, after the sinking ofthe Liusitania, was all for war with Germany. America, in his eyes,was mad to let time run on until she should be dragged into theworld-conflict without spending every effort in a nationalgetting-ready for the inevitable day. Senator Haines' speeches werematter-of-fact——just plain hammering of plain truths in plainEnglish. Many of his utterances in the Senate were quoted in thelocal papers, and Bob's schoolmates read them with enthusiasm whenthey were not too long.
Then, too, a number of the Brighton boys had already entered theservice of Uncle Sam. Several were already at the front and hadwritten thrilling letters of their experiences in the trenches, atclose grip with the Boches. Still more thrilling accounts had comefrom some of their former classmates who were in the Americansubmarine service. Other Brighton boys who had gone out from theiralma mater to fight the good fight for democracy had helped to fanthe flame of patriotism.
So the school gradually became filled with thoughts of war, and almostevery boy from fourteen years of age upward planned in his heart ofhearts to one day get into the fray in some manner if some longed-foropportunity ever presented itself.
Jimmy Hill—-who was fortunate in that his home was within walkingdistance of the Academy—-commenced his breakfast in silence. Mr.Hill read his paper and Mrs. Hill read her letters as they proceededleisurely with the morning meal. The porridge and cream and then twoeggs and a good-sized