Tam O' The Scoots

on which follows or precedes much excellent work. The psychologist will, perhaps, fail to explain why this sense of emptiness so often comes before a man's best accom

hes" to his credit came flaunting his immoral triumph in Tam's territory. Tam had the advantage of position and had attacked-and his guns had jammed. T

omparative safety which is represented by the distance between the trajectories of hi

had been the recipient of certain embarrassing attentions from enemy aircraft. And in some miraculous fashion, thoug

es came when he saw the two observers leap into space with their parachut

both guns-then, for the second time that

ave it all your own way, Tam. If I were you I'd take a couple of days

, sir-r," he said, "for meditation an' d

found, in a slovenly fitted ejector, reason and excuse for exercising his limitless vocabul

us Jones!" said Tam

you could almost swear that you knew them, for Tam would carefully equip them with features and color, height an

, don't deny it! A' see ye comin' out of Hennessy's the forenoon. An' ye've a wife an' six childr

in a stiff feed-block, and he

passin' soldiery an' no' feel a mairderer? An' wi' a face like that, ravaged an

as tireless, and appeared on parade th

over the German lines. Behind Lille there's a new Hun

he clear cold sky and found that

first attempt to break through brought a veritable swarm of hornets about his ears. The air reverberated with

guardian machines and turned

ed indignantly, as they streaked behind his tail. "A

ame back across the black coal-fields near Billy-Montigny. But his attempt to run the gauntlet and to c

ere's no road into Lille or ower Lille-y

ifference between the Yser and the Lys

entrations east of th

of Archies, the hatefu' enemy shows no sign o' life or movement," sa

rod, was shot down by gun-fire and taken prisoner. Missel, a good flyer, was outfought

f Blackie's office, "the disgustin' incivility o' the Hoon has aroosed the fichtin' spirit o' the dead

gar,

rhaps A'd better. A've run oot o' seegairs, an' the thoosand A' ordered frae ma Glasgae factor hae been sunk by ene

ht pounds a hundred,"

days in the puir

istance was offered. He was challenged half-heartedly by a solitary machine, he was banged at b

space before the railway station. There was no evidence of any unusual happening-no extraordinary col

. Here he came against exactly the same kind of resistance which he had found on his first visit to Lille. There we

ance of the Allied lines; then he turned, and this time his guns served him, for h

us," said Tam, an

o resistance-the aerial concentration had vanished and, save for the conventional defenses, there was nothing to prevent their appearance over the town. That same after

overing about Menin. Von Bissing's is there and von Rheinhof

get over

a happy man when I reac

a plan of defense-a sort of divisional training-I'll send a report to G

t employed on those sectors where its activities will be of most value at a critical time;

's World-Renowned Circus was giving a performance, and

six big motor-cars, and on a high bank near to the road was a small group of staff of

ience. The face, caricatured a hundred thousand times, was hawklike, the eyes bright and searching, the chin out-thrust.

leader as he controlled the evolutions of the twe

ght well wo

ped formations, with the leader at the apex of the triangle which the three flights formed. Another signal and the circus broke into momentary confusion, to reform with much banking

ed the man with

o his rear, stepped up smartly, sal

t I am pleased and that I intend bestowing upon him the Order Pour la Mérite.

fficer, "your message

machine is posted as a sentinel," he said. "That is a most exce

p behind him. "His Majesty wishes to know who i

ised his face to the hea

eral?" he repeated. "Th

lack spot in the skies. Long and seriou

ly, "it is advisable tha

uh

sh the machine, but

m! Wh

leaped up into the air and two deafening explos

guished party and in a few seconds

sperately, but the watcher on

ho

bomb, blowing a great hole in the paved road a

the road, and the bombs followed or preceded t

!" said the sweating aide-de-camp. "Heave

with the cold, peered over the fuselage and watched the antlike

g up an aerial torpedo from between h

sily into dust and splinters, while the for

climbing circus and judged that there was no permanent advantage to be secured from an engagement. Nevertheless he

eight-the height where men go dizzy and sick and suffer from internal bleeding. Over the German front-line trenches he dipped

n angle of forty-five degrees and lighted gently on the even surfa

numb, and Bertram walked across fro

ky,

r. Bertram, sir-r," r

youthful officer. "W

hat's no' cold, that's-will y

ed into the fuselag

said, "have you

gallons o' essence an' A'd 'a' made it. A've been th

opped and turned back. "Don't go near MacBiss

Blackie, and Blackie got o

id, when he had induced H. Q. exchange to connec

general showing off the circus to a few trippers from Berlin-they are always running Reichstag members and pressmen round this front. Get Tam to make a report-his own r

other, it is report-writing. Tam was no exception, and his

alities, and roughly his written "reports" were modeled on the "time sheets" he was wont to render i

h

rodrome

rols enco

ditto

tto forc

ed on Verle

.,

s when he would offer a lyrical account of his adventures containing more color and de

e power the

sel's as it

a high an'

at Tam wi' h

a doot, tha

, if no' fe

stalled his

t young Zwa

en a long report was needed by Headquarters, there would appear at Tam's quarters one Corporal Alexander Brow

is "bunk." "Come away in, man. Is it a report ye want? Sit down on the bed

too. He did not attempt to search for the cigars and the whisky because he had been fooled before, and had on two separate occasions searched the bunk for these delicac

d Tam, spreading his towel on the window-ledge and r

ergeant-have y

n' for'ard to the day when it'll be a coort-martial offense to ask yeer superior office

al produce

ow an' vulgar habit," said Tam. "A'll take two or three as curiosities-A

armed non-commissioned officer as Tam'

e interruptin' ma train o' t

replied the corporal, re

ns," said Tam

day, a solitary airman micht hae been seen wingin' h

queried the sten

ot o' a bit by Roodyard Kiplin', the

young for sich

, if I may ask the questio

nto the bricht ees o' a lassie since A' lost me wee Jean, who flit wi' a colonel o' dragoons

the corporal and

ormin' their Great Feat of Balancin' an' Barebacked Ridin', Aerial Trapeze an' Tight-rope Walkin', Loopin' the Loop by the death-defyin' Brothers Fritz, together with many lau

d the corporal with a sigh. "Lord! I u

Alec," warned Tam, "an' fix yeer

airty o' the clock in the cauld morn, for sheer love o' his seenister profession? No,' sa

n' his expensive glasses on the

y. "All the damn circuses are out on a strafe-and we're It-von Bissing, von Rheinho

up by Archie fire and forced back, von Wentzl was engaged by the Fifty-ninth Squadron (providentially up in strength for a strafe of their own) and turned b

ld recover altitude the swift little scouts were up and into the formation. The air crackled with the sound of Lewis-gun fire, machines reeled and staggered like drunken men, Tam's fighting Morane di

guns waited, its commander'

! Range 4300 yards-deflection-

with the shriek of speeding shells, the skies were mottled w

tered squadron rode

catter of pieces as a high-explosive shell burst under the wing, and the soar

was half conscious when they pulled h

e group about him and asked in

-fellows-bomb

, his face blazin

gain, sir-r

f-opened eyes. "Tam-eh?" he whispered.

arly!" he said bitterly. "Did A' no' tell ye,