THIS week we have a story from the pen of the Navy’s own Allan R. Bosworth. Bosworth wrote a couple dozen stories with Humpy & Tex over the course of ten years from 1930 through 1939, mostly in the pages of War Aces and War Birds. The stories are centered around the naval air base at Ile Tudy, France. “Humpy” Campbell, a short thickset boatswain’s mate, first class who was prone to be spitting great sopping globs of tabacco juice, was a veteran seaplane pilot who would soon rate two hashmarks—his observer, Tex Malone, boatswain’s mate, second class, was a D.O.W. man fresh from the Texas Panhandle. Everybody marveled at the fact that the latter had made one of the navy’s most difficult ratings almost overnight—but the answer lay in his ability with the omnipresent rope he constantly carried.

Humpy and Tex inadvertently Shanghai the wrong man and find themselves with an admiral on their hands who would like nothing more than to court martial the two of them until their thin explanations somehow work out to be real! “Noah’s Ark” by the Navy’s own Allan R. Bosworth is from the pages of the June 1931 War Aces.

Noah’s Ark was a nice peaceful crate ’til Humpy and Tex shanghaied an Admiral. Then they proved that three is a crowd—for the Heinies.

• Download “Noah’s Ark” (June 1931, War Aces)