The contest in the air now grew so exciting that nearly all the engineers stopped work to witness it. One of the American airmen could evidently get no speed out of his machine, and soon he fell behind. But the other three kept on, and one of them presently came close to one of the enemy planes. Then came a sudden flash of fire, and the German plane was seen to crumple up and come down, a mile or more beyond the edge of the forest.
“Hurrah! they’ve got one of them anyhow,” exclaimed Ben.
“And now for the other!” added Shadow.
The flight of the other plane continued, but soon it was evident the German felt he could not escape by straight flying. He suddenly made a dive to the northward, and then began to mount higher and higher, circling and twisting first in one direction and then in another. The three Americans went after him as quickly as they could, firing their machine-guns whenever it seemed advantageous to do so. The American airmen had, of course, to be careful so that they might not fire into each other.
“That’s a battle royal, all right enough,” was Dave’s comment, as the contest kept up as vigorously as ever. “If that German escapes he’ll certainly have won his liberty.”
The fourth American plane had now dropped back still further, and soon it began to head for the aviation camp, suffering probably from engine or other trouble. Then one of the other planes began to move away. A minute later its motor began to miss fire, and then stopped completely.
“See, he’s out of it!” cried Roger. “He’s going to volplane to the ground.”
“He’ll be lucky if he reaches the ground without breaking his neck,” announced Phil. And he was right; the second American had all he could do to bring his machine down in safety beyond the big trees of the forest.
With but two of the Americans left in the fight, the German airman seemed to pluck up courage. He did not attempt to do any firing, but made a new turn or two, and then started away, as if to try once more for the German lines.
But now he reckoned without the cleverness of one of the American airmen. This fellow put on a sudden burst of speed and, like a bird on the wing, he came directly behind the German. His machine-gun began to spit spitefully, and a moment later those on the ground far below saw a portion of the German plane drop away from the machine proper.