"Damn it, open that throttle slower and----"
A voice from the rear cockpit broke in on me:
"I hope you never get anyone else as dumb as I am, Lieutenant."
The voice was choked. The kid was crying.
"Hey, listen here," I said, "I give you a lot of hell because I'm as
anxious for you to get this stuff as you are to get it. I wouldn't even
give you hell if I thought you were hopeless. Sit back and relax and
forget it a while now. You'll do better tomorrow."
The cadet started to open his mouth. I turned hastily around and sat
down in my cockpit and opened the throttle wide open. The engine roared.
I didn't hear what the cadet said.
I took off in a sharp climbing turn. I dove low at the ground, flew
under some high-tension wires. I pulled up and dove low at a cow in a
pasture. The cow jumped very amusingly. I pulled up and did a loop. I
came out of the loop very close to the ground. It was all against army
orders. It was all fun. I pulled back up to a respectable altitude and
flew sedately over Brooks Field. I cut the gun to land. I looked back at
the cadet. He was laughing. There were little channels in the dust on
his face where the tears had run down.