Part 33 (2/2)
A STERN CHASE
”Gee! I'm mighty glad Otto and Fritz came along just as they did to bring us these spark plugs and rifles!” Jimmie announced as the Eagle soared over the surrounding woods.
”It was rather kind of them,” answered Jack. ”It looks like we might need them, too, if those are German planes up there.”
”Wouldn't it be a good idea to rise as high as we can, Ned?” asked Harry. ”If we get well up, we'll be able to see where we are and can have some idea where we are going.”
”Up we go,” agreed Ned at the levers, as he tilted the planes for an ascent. ”I'm sure we need to get some idea of our location.”
”They see us!” cried Harry, who had been using the binoculars. ”I think they're both heading toward us now! They're coming fast, too!”
”Let them come!” declared Dave. ”If the Eagle lives up to the reputation Jimmie has given her, we'll be able to outdistance them.”
”Maybe we would on a straight-away run,” agreed Harry, ”but we are one to their two, and they probably have guns aboard.”
”What's the chances of landing and meeting them on a more equal footing?” inquired Jack. ”Is that at all possible?”
”It's possible to land,” replied Ned, ”but I don't think we'd have as good a chance as we have up here. Look down there and see.”
”Where are all the soldiers?” asked Harry, presently. ”I can't see a single soldier anywhere. But,” he added, ”the guns are fired.”
”They are all in bomb-proof trenches or else back of the hilltops,”
said Ned. ”I believe that those aeroplanes are scouting around to give word to the gunners whether their aim has been correct or not.”
”Well, if this is war,” observed Dave, ”I'm going to be glad to get back home once more. This doesn't look civilized to me.”
”We are headed toward home,” replied Jack in an effort to cheer his friend. ”We'll be out of this in a little while, and then--good-by war and fights and Kaiser and all for one good, long time!”
”We're a long ways from Tipperary yet, boys. Don't crow too soon,”
advised Harry, as he trained the gla.s.ses on the approaching planes.
”What can you see, Harry?” asked Ned, giving his attention to the levers. ”Are they still heading toward us?”
”That's just what they're doing!” declared Harry. ”They're coming fast, too. Can't we coax a little more speed out of this old tub?”
”You speak as if this were a s.h.i.+p in the water,” responded Ned. ”I want you to understand that this is an aeroplane and that it is performing a most remarkable feat in carrying five boys and two grown men, besides a quant.i.ty of luggage and supplies.”
”I guess our ideas were all right, eh, Ned?” said Jack, as he ran an admiring eye over the rigging of the craft. ”It's some boat!”
”It certainly is some boat!” declared Ned. ”And I wish--”
”What Ned wished was never known, for at that instant a sharp report was heard and a bullet sang its way through the rigging of the Eagle with a vicious tw.a.n.g that made the boys wince.
”Wow!” was Jack's e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n. ”That's too close for comfort!”
”May I reply to them?” asked Dave, picking up one of the German rifles that had been brought aboard. ”I think I can get the range.”
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