Page:Edgar Wallace--Tam o the Scoots.djvu/262

 brought down a week before. It did not skim down but landed awkwardly, swaying from side to side until it came to a standstill.

Blackie was racing across the field. He reached the machine and took one glance at the pilot. Then he turned to the mechanic who followed at his heels.

"’Phone an ambulance," he said; "they've got Tam at last."

For Tam sat limply in his seat, his chin on his breast, his hand still clasped about the bloody grip of his machine-gun.

The matron beckoned Vera.

"Here's your last job, Vera," she said with a smile. "Take your car to the aerodrome. One of the pilots has been killed."

Vera stared. "At the aerodrome?"

Control it as she might, her voice shook.

"Yes—didn't you see the fight in the air?"

"I came out as it was finishing—oh, may I take the ambulance?"

The matron looked at her in wonder.