"Good!" cried Jack.
"That sounds like business!" commented Tom.
"In regard to your father," went on the major, addressing Jack's chum, "we will be on the watch for him, or any news of him, and, no matter where you are, unless you are captured by the Germans, you shall be informed as soon as possible."
"Is there any chance of being made prisoners?" asked Jack, and it might be noted that he did not use the word "danger."
"There is always that chance for an airman," replied the major. "But when I add that it may be possible that one or both of you will take a flight over the Rhine, you can judge, with the hold Germany has on French possessions, what the danger is."
"Over the Rhine!" exclaimed Tom. "Why, that's a flight of two or three hundred miles from Paris."
"Yes, but with the new type of Italian plane which you may use, it is not impossible in a single flight," said the major. "However, we will talk of that later. Just now I have come to tell you that you are to rejoin your comrades at the Lafayette Escadrille for a time. There arrangements will be made for the perilous venture I spoke of—the silencing of the big guns that are bombarding Paris. I wish you all success, young gentlemen."
"Thanks," murmured Jack.
"We consider it an honor to be picked for such duty," added Tom. "Are any others going to be in the game?"
"Oh, yes. We shall need a picked corps of the best airmen we have, French and Americans, and it will be no easy matter then. The Germans have probably been planning this for a long time, and they, no doubt, have taken every possible precaution against surprise or failure. But with the help of you brave Americans we shall win!"