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Page 71
"I think Lannes will surely see that flag," said Weber.
"Why do you have such great confidence in his coming?" asked John.
"He inspires confidence, when you see him, and there's his reputation.
I've an idea that he'll be carrying dispatches between the two wings of
the French army, dispatches of vast importance, since the different
French forces have to cooperate now along a line of four or five score
miles. Of course the telephone and the telegraph are at work, too, but
the value of the aeroplane as a scout and dispatch bearer cannot be over
estimated."
"One is coming now," said John, "and I think it has been attracted by
our flag. I take it to be German."
"Then we'd better keep very close. Still, there's little chance of our
being seen here, and the aviators, even if they suspect a presence,
can't afford to descend, leave their planes and search for anybody."
"I agree with you there. One can remain here in comparative safety and
watch the results of our signal. That machine is coming fast and I'm
quite sure it's German."
"An armored machine with two men and a light rapid fire gun in it.
Beyond a doubt it will circle about our tree."
The plane was very near now, and assuredly it was German. John could
discern the Teutonic cast of their countenances, as the two men in it
leaned over and looked at the flag. They dropped lower and lower and
then flew in circles about the tree. John, despite his anxiety and
suspense, could not fail to notice the humorous phase of it. The plane
certainly could not effect a landing in the boughs, and if it descended
to the ground in order that one of their number might get out, climb the
tree and capture the flag, they would incur the danger of a sudden swoop
from French machines. Besides, the flag would be of no value to them,
unless they knew who put it there and why.
"The Germans, of course, see that it's a French flag," he said to
Weber. "I wonder what they're going to do."
"I think they'll have to leave it," said Weber, "because I can now see
other aeroplanes to the west, aeroplanes which may be French, and they
dare not linger too long."
"And our little flag may make a big disturbance in the heavens."
"So it seems."
The German plane made circle after circle around the tree, finally drew
off to some distance, and then, as it wavered back and forth, its
machine gun began to spit fire. Little boughs and leaves cut from the
tree fell to the ground, but the flag, untouched, fluttered defiantly in
the light breeze.
"They're trying to shoot it down," said John, "and with such an unsteady
gun platform they've missed every time."
"I doubt whether they'll continue firing," said Weber. "An aeroplane
doesn't carry any great amount of ammunition and they can't afford to
waste much."
"They're through now," said John. "See, they're flying away toward the
east, and unless my imagination deceives me, their machine actually
looks crestfallen, while our flag is snapping away in the wind, haughty
and defiant."
"A vivid fancy yours, Mr. Scott, but it's easy to imagine that German
machine looking cheap, because that's just the way the men on board it
must feel. Suppose we sit down here and take our ease. No flying man
can see through those vines over our heads, and we can watch in safety.
We're sure to draw other scouts of the air, while for us it's an
interesting and comparatively safe experience."
"Our flag is certainly an attraction," said John, making himself
comfortable on the ground. "There's a bird of passage now, coming down
from the north as swift as a swallow."
"It's a little monoplane," said Weber, "and it certainly resembles a
swallow, as it comes like a flash toward this tree. I thought at first
it might be Lannes in the _Arrow_, but the plane is too small, and it's
of German make."
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