Tam O' The Scoots

mous to every member of the

. There is the dog of the Middlesex regiment, who always bit staff-officers and was fourteen times condemned to death by elderly and irascible colonels, and fourteen times rescued by his devoted comrades. There is the Canad

an be gathered, he made his way to France by way of Egypt and Gallipoli and was presented by a grateful pa

t that he is a deep thinker though an indifferent conversationalist has yet to be proved; but it is certain that Hector O'Brien was a student of medicine, and that he did, on this memorable day to which reference has been made, perambulate the wards of that hospital from bed to bed, feeling puls

ruck up a friendship with Hector and had, I believe, taken him on patrol duty, Hector strapp

the wings of a trained pilot. It is necessary to explain Hector's association with the R. F

d seemed to run frantically in all directions save one. Across that course, and running parallel beneath three of them was a straight silver thread. At the edge of his vision and bey

thousand feet beneath him was a straggling wisp of cloud, so tenuous that you saw the earth through its b

gentleman, the "Sausage-Killer,"

direct from his aerodrome. You would see him streaking across the sky, apparently on h

and from every car would jump tiny black figures. You saw them falling straight as plummets till their parachutes took the air and opened. And there would be a great blazing and burning of balloons, frantic work at the winches which pulled them to earth, and the ballooni

would bring him along the line of the O. B.'s. Apparently, the "Sausage-Killer" was not so blessed in the matter of sight as Tam, for the s

coonted oot in any other saircumstances; for the shepherd likes to die amongst his sheep and the captain

him, Tam?" a

eal sense," said Tam cautiously, "but he

enough, was ludicrously like a young butcher, with his red fat fa

from?" he demanded trucul

had known that, we would have got

," said the German

lad," said Blackie, and didn't

meal, "that I can see you being appointed official guardian a

se of gold," suggested Crouch

st ma principles to accept any other presents than seegairs,

is serviette and rose from the mess-ta

ater. He showed neither awkwardness nor shyness, but this was consonant with his habit of thought. Once attune your mind to the reception of the un

certain little comforts which were absent from the bunk w

up, and the sky was blue, and behind him was the satisfactory sense of good work well done, for the "Sausage-Killer" was at that moment on his way back to the base, sitting vis-à-vis with a grimy young military gentleman who cuddled

from the road to make a professional scrutiny of the skies. He spotted the lonely watches of 89 Squadron and smiled, for 89 had vo

lace he found a girl waiting for him, a girl

ung man came in, hung his cap upon a

wfully early," she said; "now tell me w

ogress of this strange friendship, which had indeed gone very far s

id Tam, an

" she warned him. "I want the real

A' start?

beginning of the day

inger thre

ye'd be wanting?

eyes and began after the styl

e fairest rays of the rising sun fell

ge-Killer'?" asked

e piece, A'm thinkin'," sai

rmured the girl,

on Tam, eyes that danced with amusement, with admiration, and with just that hint of tenderne

croon wi' saft radiance. There was a discreet tap at the door, and Wilhelm Mac

ays he, 'get oot o' b

says the 'Sausage-Killer,' s

nn, 'shall I lay out yeer synthetic sausage

age-Killer' sh

hat A' went for to kill a wee sausage and A' dived for him and missed him

in every limb and even in his neck,

ge-Killer' rises hims

ls,' and away goes the puir wee feller to meet h

ou," said

the tea the waiter had brought. "Do ye take su

ll him?" as

er' is dead," said Tam; "as a human being he is still a

where they could only be continued by the relation of his own prowess, "and I'm glad you brought him down-it m

on't

was almost as painful a matter to him as though it was committed by one of his own comrades. For his spiritual growth had dated from the hour of his enlistment,

n on the ground who were cheerful in all circumstances. They amazed and in a sense depressed him. He had been horrified to see snipers bayoneted without mer

o know that the German fell short of his conception as it would hav

n ignorance of what lay beneath him. Of late, however, hospitals and clearing stations had been attacked with

girl noticed that his voice was a l

save you in the daytime, and I have been bombed lots of times, altho

no

damage?" he as

d the hospital but got the surgery and poor Hec

l me?" he ask

no

that's too bad, puir

She hesitated to give the grisly details, but Tam, who had seen the effect of high explosive bombs,

that the bombing of hospitals was the subject which

n airmen can do such diabolical things," said Blackie; "we are s

men to go round. Everybody who knows Germany expected this to happen. You don't suppos

trous effects. One of the raiders was brought down by Blackie himself, wh

of field hospitals had been undertaken from Ypres to the Somm

we are getting up a scratch raid into Germany. You fellows

n was at its full, but there was a heavy ground mist, and at six thousan

ve came into sight: a spangle of lights on the ground. You could follow the streets and the circular sweep of the big Central Platz and even distinguish the bridges across the Rhine, then of a su

ng of the first bombs. Then all the prominent lights went out. There were hundreds of feeble flickers from the houses, but after

"Return" signal of his leader. He banked round and ran into a thicker pall of fog and began climbing. As he turned he saw a quick, red, angr

s right, which meant he was on the homeward track. He kept what he thought was a straight course, but the needle swung round so that it poi

ompass is subject

his direction by the stars. He climbed and climbed, until his aeronometer pointed to twenty thousand feet. By this time it was necessary to employ the apparatus which he possessed for sustaini

ar, and found it on his left. So all

s engine be

. He pushed the nose of his machine earthward and planed down through an interminable bank of clouds until he found a gray coun

a landing-place, and he came down in the middle of

the engine. He knew what was wrong and remedied the mischief in a quarter of an hour. Then he inspected his petrol supply and whistled. He had made a rough calculation and he knew within a f

tic pistol into the pocket of his over

high-road would probably be patrolled, the more so if the noise of his machine had been correctly interpreted,

any habitation. To the right he discerned a small hut, and to this he walked. He had taken a dozen steps when a voice cha

English, and a litt

is hand and caught the

ish?" sai

said Tam

ish-escaped prisoner! I haf you arrested and wit

h ye're speak

y one of those patriotic souls who undertake spare-time guard duty. His presence was explained by his greeting. Some

mit me,

ly and stepped

y the Herr Leutnant will c

n struck a match and lit an oil-lamp. The sentry fixed the glass

let ma take that gun away from ye befo

t was the big, white, unshaven face, the long upper lip, and the low corrugated brow under the stiff-bristl

e situation in the discovery of this amazing likeness. "A' th

y chatter incoherently. It needed this to complete th

ntifically tied the hands of his prison

was spurred by fear to offer a protest. "Present

ords," said Tam. "Now will ye tell me

" began th

anage wi' ten, but if there's eleven, A' shall have to fight 'im in a vu

se sacking-sheet he wound it about the man's

ing lights coming from the eastward. Nearer and nearer ca

cloaked and overcoated, in the tonneau. The offi

. Tam stepped out

ing?" he asked softly. "And

demanded

"or you will frighten the wee birdies. Get o

h Tam used to fasten the well-born and the low-born together. Then he made an examination of the car, and to his joy discover

nd after a little persuasion succeeded in inducing his three unwilling port

he said of Germans and Germany is not recorded. They stood in a

he to Hector O'B

sked the aff

to that seat and fix the belt around ye,

ent and the little man scramb

ftly strapping himself, "ye'll turn that propeller-p

ropeller-blade twice, then jumped ba

thering speed with every second, Tam saw the two men br

t up the elevator and the little scout, roaring like a thousand express trains, shot up through the mist and disappeared from the wat