But he would take no one. That was Billings; if there was
any especially difficult or dangerous work to be done, that one man
could do, Billings always did it himself. If he needed assistance,
he never called for volunteers--just selected the man or men he
considered best qualified for the duty. He said that he considered
the principles underlying all volunteer service fundamentally wrong,
and that it seemed to him that calling for volunteers reflected
upon the courage and loyalty of the entire command.
We rolled the plane down to the water's edge, and Billings mounted
the pilot's seat. There was a moment's delay as he assured
himself that he had everything necessary. Jimmy Hollis went over
his armament and ammunition to see that nothing had been omitted.
Besides pistol and rifle, there was the machine-gun mounted in
front of him on the plane, and ammunition for all three. Bowen's
account of the terrors of Caspak had impressed us all with the
necessity for proper means of defense.
At last all was ready. The motor was started, and we pushed the
plane out into the surf. A moment later, and she was skimming
seaward. Gently she rose from the surface of the water, executed
a wide spiral as she mounted rapidly, circled once far above us
and then disappeared over the crest of the cliffs. We all stood
silent and expectant, our eyes glued upon the towering summit above
us.
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