There came a faint buzz at first, followed by a louder noise as the motor began to whir; there was the sound of the whizzing propellers, and the machine shot from the hangar with a lurch.
And at the same moment there came from all sides volleys of rifle and pistol shots. Chester felt a sharp tinge in his left arm, and Hal felt the breeze of a bullet as it flew by his ear. Colonel Anderson was untouched, but Stubbs sent up a howl of anguish.
"I'm shot!" he cried and started to his feet.
The machine rocked crazily as he attempted to rise and Colonel Anderson reached quickly up and seized him by the arm.
"Sit down, you fool!" he commanded. "Do you want to spill us all out?"
Hal threw over the elevating lever and the huge air craft soared into the sky. And not until they had reached an altitude of a thousand feet did Hal straighten the machine out for a level flight.
Then he slowed down a moment to take stock of injuries.
"Hit, Colonel Anderson?" he asked.
"No," was the reply.
"You, Chester?"