“I hope I can measure up to your expectations. Sir,” Delaney said.
“You may leave, Major,” Douglass said.
“And you may take the Scotch with you.” Delaney looked surprised.
“If I took it with me,” Douglass said, “I would never make it to Whithey “Thank you,” Delaney said.
“By the time I get back, Jack,” Douglass said, “I expect you to have made up your mind about who’ll take over your squadron.”
lONE]
Four men were on hand to greet Canidy, Dolan, and Darmstadter in the
B25.
One was a British officer wearing the red beret of a parachutist. The pips
of a captain were on the shoulders of a sweater. Around his neck he wore a white silk scarf. There were two other Englishmen in British uniform. They were hatless and without insignia of rank. All three of the English had Sten submachine guns. The fourth man was in civilian clothing, a tieless white shirt, a double-breasted, heavy suit jacket, and baggy, unmatching trousers.
The British officer came to attention and saluted, an almost parade-ground salute, his hand, palm outward, quivering as he touched his temple with his fingertips.
“Afternoon, gentlemen,” he said casually.
“My name is Hughson. Welcome to Vis.”
Canidy returned the salute.
“You’re the aircraft commander, Major?
“Captain Hughson asked.
Canidy jerked his thumb upward to the cockpit of the B25G.
“Commander Dolan’s the aircraft commander,” he said.
“With his permission, of course,” Captain Hughson said, “I would suggest the thing to do is get the aircraft under cover.”
“How do we do that?” Canidy asked.
Hughson gestured toward the hillside. Darmstadter saw there was a short, steep-sided indentation in the rocky hillside, a natural revetment, and that above it were rolls of camouflage netting.
As if reading his mind, the British officer said, “Except as netting, the camouflage isn’t worth a damn. Unless, of course, we wish to give the impression that a North Africa wadi has been miraculously transplanted to the island.”
“What do you do?” Canidy asked, chuckling.
“We artistically arrange local evergreens atop the netting,” Hughson said.
“And devoutly pray that it works.”
“Let’s get at it, then,” Canidy said.
Capt. Hughson raised his hand above his head and snapped his fingers.
Eight Englishmen, in various combinations of uniform, trotted up. One of them, with sergeant’s chevrons sewn to his rough woolen jacket, stamped his foot and gave the captain a quivering-hand salute.
“Sir! “he barked.
Darmstadter saw Canidy’s eyebrows go up at the noncom’s parade-ground behavior.
“Would you have the chaps roll the aircraft into the revetment?” the British officer asked conversationally.
“Sir!” the sergeant barked, and stamped his boot again.
The English soldiers, without further orders, went to the B-25G and started to push it. When they had trouble getting it moving, Canidy went to the left wheel, put his back against it, and tried to help. Darmstadter went to the other wheel and did the same thing. As he heaved, he saw that neither the British officer nor the civilian was helping. They even seemed surprised that Canidy] and Darmstadter were lending a hand. i’ Once the initial inertia was overcome, their help was no longer needed, ( and they walked back to where the captain and the civilian stood, i Darmstadter saw Dolan finally drop through the access hatch, and then, S taking a quick look around to see what was going on, begin to give directions] to the pushers.
“Commander Dolan, you say?” the British captain asked.
“Right,” Canidy said, “and this is Lieutenant Darmstadter.”
The two shook Darmstadter’s hand.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Canidy said to the civilian.
“Ferniany,” the civilian said.
“Yachtsman,” Canidy said, confirming his suspicion that the civilian was the OSS agent.
“We try not to use that identification unless we have to,” Ferniany said.
“We’re among friends, I think,” Canidy said.
They all watched as the B-25G was turned and then rolled backward into | the natural revetment. And they continued watching as the British soldiers, | with a skill that could only have come from practice, unrolled the camouflage!
net and propped it up over the airplane with trunks of young pine trees, then covered the camouflage netting with branches.
Then Dolan walked over to them, and there was an exchange of salutes between Dolan and the British officer. Darmstadter saw that Dolan was as surprised by the display of parade-ground military courtesy as Canidy had been.