Wings in the Dark Page #3

You all right, Mr. Gordon?

Certainly l"m all right.

What are you doing out here?

I told you I didn"t want you

following me around, Waring.

I only came out to get

some wood, Mr. Gordon.

All right, get the wood.

Yes, sir, Mr. Gordon.

Here, Mac, you take him in.

L"ll wait out here.

Right.

What is it, Waring?

Well, what do you want?

Lt"s me, Chief.

Mac?

Yes, Ken.

What are you doing here?

The ship"s all right,

isn"t it?

Sure, the ship"s fine.

Well, then?

I knew you wanted

to be alone but, well,

I brought you something.

Thanks, Mac,

I don"t need a thing.

L"m getting along fine.

Of course you are, Ken,

but this is a dog.

That"s very thoughtful of you,

Mac, but don"t need a dog.

But this is not an ordinary

dog, Ken. He"ll help.

He"s a German shepherd.

He"ll lead you around.

He"s from the

Seeing Eye school.

I see.

A dog to lead the blind.

Just the thing, isn"t it?

Now, Ken.

All I need is a tin cup

and some pencils.

Congratulations, Mac,

that"s a swell idea.

Ken, it"s nothing like that.

You don"t understand. Here.

Meet him,

get to know him like I did.

Here, this is his harness.

All you have to do

is to snap it on him.

Get him out of here.

Now, Ken.

(YELLING)

Get him out!

Come on, Lightning.

Come on.

What"s the idea?

Let Lightning try.

Waring!

Waring!

No. Don"t go.

Waring!

So he left you here anyway.

Keep quiet.

Go away.

Get away!

GORDON:
Waring! Waring!

Come and take this dog

out of here!

Waring!

Get away!

You"re a determined cuss,

aren"t you?

Now what are you trying to do,

talk to me?

Well, you"re an awful lot

of dog, big fellow.

L"ll bet you could put up

a whale of a fight.

What do you want to do,

go for a walk?

What"s this?

Oh, your harness.

All right, how does it work?

Keep your fingers crossed,

Sheila. I believe he"s

going to do it.

So that"s it.

Come on, boy.

Well, how about

that walk, boy?

You still feel like it?

Okay. Contact.

Easy, fellow.

This is a new kind

of take-off for me.

Now, we"re ready.

Give it the gun.

Hey, let me learn to fly

this ship, will you?

(DOG WHINING)

What"s the matter, fellow?

What is it?

(DOG BARKING)

Who is it?

Who is it? Who"s there?

Who is it? Who"s there?

Lt"s Sheila Mason, Ken.

Sheila Mason.

What"s she doing here?

Well, right now she"s trying

to shake the straw

out of her hair.

What"s the matter?

Forced landing.

If somebody will give me

a hand,

l"ll try and get this

crate of mine

in the air again.

Here.

Thanks.

Hope you weren"t hurt.

No. Just dusted off the wings.

Sheila bought the dog, Ken.

Oh, thanks.

Come on, Lightning,

let"s all go outside.

That his name, Lightning?

Yes.

I hope you don"t mind

my being here.

I made Mac bring me.

She made the dog

make me bring her.

Well, whatever it was,

l"m terribly grateful to

you both. I hope you"ll stay

and have dinner with me.

You"re sure you want us?

I have to have some lessons

on these controls, don"t I?

L"ll have you doing your solo

in an hour.

There"s some rhododendron

partway up that hill.

Can you see them?

Only on top

where the moonlight

strikes them.

Yes.

Are we near the lake?

Lt"s right in front of us.

Is there a moon?

A great big one.

Tell me about everything

around us. I want to see it

with your lips.

The lake"s silver, Ken,

pale silver,

and divinely quiet.

Like above the clouds

at night in a ship?

Yes.

The hills are dark,

almost purple.

(WATER RIPPLING)

Listen.

Wasn"t that a fish jumping?

Yes.

The ripples are spreading

clear across the water.

What are you thinking about?

I was just thinking

how crazy I was

not to take a good look at you

when I had the chance.

Don"t you remember at all?

Pretty well, but l"m not sure.

Tell me.

L"m a sort of low wing,

single-motored monoplane type.

You"ve seen hundreds of them.

I don"t believe it.

Tell me more.

Let"s see. I have reddish

hair, snub nose, freckles,

plenty of freckles.

What else?

Well, a little under

medium length,

fair wing spread,

stream-lined, so they tell me.

Sounds fascinating.

Watch out for this log.

Thanks, l"ve got it.

Sheila, come here.

I can"t tell

the color of your hair,

but it"s soft and fragrant.

I just had it shampooed.

They put the silliest

things on it.

You lied about your nose.

I have not.

Now, don"t argue with me.

What color are your eyes?

Sort of gray.

I knew they would be.

You"re so lovely.

Ken, why don"t you come back?

Back?

You can"t stay buried up here.

It isn"t fair to yourself.

Up here at least the money

I have left keeps me going,

I can"t be a burden

to my friends.

You wouldn"t have to be.

There are things you can do.

There must be.

L"d hate to wind up

in a tailspin.

Good flyers pull themselves

out of tailspins.

Right.

On the panel board of a modern

plane, there are six

important instruments

by means of which the pilot

may determine the movement

and position of his ship.

You know, Mac,

writing these articles

has given me an idea.

L"ve got a hunch

that if I took the glass

off my board

I could read most of those

instruments by touch.

There might be something

in that, Ken.

Mac, a blind man

flying a plane.

Boy, oh, boy.

Would that really

prove blind flying.

Look, first thing in the

morning go down to

the Rockwell people.

I don"t want to have them

take my ship away from me now.

All right, Ken.

Wouldn"t it make Sheila happy

if I could work

this thing out?

She"d like it, Ken.

If I could really prove

blind flying.

It would sort of justify

her faith in bringing

me back again.

And if I succeed, she wouldn"t

have to go stunting around

county fairs any more.

(MOTOR WHIRRING)

Keep that crowd back. Go on,

keep them all back, will you?

Keep them all back.

Nice going, Sheila.

Thanks, Nick.

NICK:
Go on, kid.

Get away from that plane.

Here you are.

Two hundred for the week.

That right?

Right.

You kind of kick that ship

of yours around up there,

don"t you, Miss Mason?

Oh, I give it a little

exercise now and then.

Like to have you back

with us next year

if you live that long.

Thanks.

Well, good luck.

Good luck to you.

Cheerful little fellow.

Isn"t he?

The most interesting thing

on the instrument board

is the artificial horizon.

(BARKING)

Sheila, boy? Let her in, Mac.

Hello, boy, hello.

Hello, Mac.

Hello, Sheila.

Hello, Ken.

Hello, Sheila.

I brought a visitor.

Come in, Nick.

How are you, boys?

How"s tricks? Good to see you,

Ken, you"re looking great.

You haven"t any shame at all,

have you, Nick?

You mean about

that Paris trip?

Water under the bridge,

water under the bridge.

Water, huh?

Well, all right, perhaps

you"re not so bad when you"re

not trying to help somebody.

That"s the stuff, Ken, Sheila

said you wouldn"t be sore.

How"re you doing?

Fine, thanks, Nick, fine.

You should read some

of the things

he"s written, Nick.

L"d like to.

And you"d better let me sell

it for you, too. I got a pal

who"s editor of...

No, you don"t, not this.

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