Page:Air Service Boys Flying for France.djvu/125

120 were found there, men who had made their names famous in their work.

Tom was, of course, in his element, and, quiet, studious and industrious, he soon became a favorite with his instructors, who were quick to recognize that his former American instructor had said truly when he pronounced the youth a natural-born aviator.

Only those with previous experience were allowed in the sector to which the chums were assigned. Novices had other places, where their first blundering work might not act as a menace to those who were near the end of their work in the school.

The various types of French machines interested Tom in particular, from the start, for they differed vastly from anything he had as yet handled. The little Nieuport especially held his attention, for he knew very well that that was the airplane in general use on the French front for fighting. It is capable of making the most extraordinary speed, and can, moreover, be manipulated by an expert with the ease that an accomplished horseman on the plains handles his broncho, and can perform the most amazing feats in the air that any one can imagine.

Tom fondled the first Nieuport he came across lovingly, and imagined himself mounted in the