Part 14 (2/2)
”Do you go far, Philip?” John asked.
”Forty miles. I could cover the distance quickly in the _Arrow_, but on such a day as this I can't be sure of finding at once the man for whom I'm looking. Besides, we may meet German planes. You've your automatic with you?”
”I'm never without it. I'm ready to help if they come at us. I've been through so much today that I've become blunted to fear.”
”I don't think we'll meet an enemy, but we must be armed and watchful.”
John had not yet looked down, but he knew that the _Arrow_ was rising high. The thunder of the battle died so fast that it became a mere murmur, and the air was thin, pure and cold. When he felt that the _Arrow_ had reached its zenith he put the gla.s.ses to his eyes and looked over.
He saw a world spouting fire. Along a tremendous line curved and broken, thousands of cannon great and small were flas.h.i.+ng, and for miles and miles a continuous coil of whitish smoke marked where the riflemen were at work. Near the center of the line he saw a vast ma.s.s of men advancing and he spoke of it to Lannes.
”I've seen it already,” said the Frenchman. ”That's where a great force of ours is cutting in between the German armies. It's the movement that has saved France, and the mind that planned it was worth a million men to us today.”
”I can well believe it. Now I see running between the hills a s.h.i.+ning ribbon which I take to be a river.”
”That's the Marne. If we can, we'll drive the Germans back across it.
Search the skies that way and see if you can find any of the Taubes.”
”I see some black specks which I take to be the German planes, but they don't grow.”
”Which indicates that they're not coming any nearer. They've had enough of us for the present and it's to their interest too to keep over their own army now. What do you see beneath us?”
”A great mult.i.tude of troops, French, as I can discern the uniform, and by Jove, Lannes, I can trace far beyond the towers and spires of Paris!”
”I knew you could. It marks how near the Germans have come to the capital, but they'll come no nearer. The great days of the French have returned, and we'll surely drive them upon the Marne.”
”Suppose we fly a little lower, Lannes. Then we can get a better view of the field as we go along.”
”I'll do as you say, John. I rose so high, because I thought attack here was less possible, but as no enemy is in sight we'll drop down.”
The _Arrow_ sank gradually, and now both could get a splendid view of a spectacle, such as no man had ever beheld until that day. The sounds of battle were still unheard, but they clearly saw the fire of the cannon, the rapid-firers, and the rifles. It was like a red streak running in curves and zigzags across fifty or maybe a hundred miles of country.
”We continue to cut in,” said Lannes. ”You can see how our armies off there are marching into that great open s.p.a.ce between the Germans.
Unless the extreme German army hastens it will be separated entirely from the rest. Oh, what a day! What a glorious, magnificent day! A day unlike any other in the world's story! Our heads in the dust in the morning and high in the air by night!”
”But we haven't won yet?”
”No, but we are winning enough to know that we will win.”
”How many men do you think are engaged in that battle below?”
”Along all its windings two millions, maybe, or at least a million and a half anyhow. Perhaps n.o.body will ever know.”
Then they relapsed into silence for a little while. The _Arrow_ flew fast and the motor drummed steadily in their ears. Lannes let the aeroplane sink a little lower, and John became conscious of a new sound, akin nevertheless to the throb of the motor. It was the concussion of the battle. The topmost and weakest waves of air hurled off in circles by countless cannon and rifles were reaching them. But they had been softened so much by distance that the sound was not unpleasant, and the _Arrow_ rocked gently as if touched by a light wind.
John never ceased to watch with his gla.s.ses, and in a few minutes he announced that men in gray were below.
<script>