Billy impulsively stepped forward. "How do you do, Colonel?"
The officer instantly turned in his stride to inspect the speaker. "Hello, Boy Aviator," was his hearty greeting. "How under the sun did you ever get here?"
"Same old way," said Billy, "the airline, of course."
"And here's the other one," the colonel reaching for Henri's shoulder.
"By the way," continued the big soldier, "this must be a field day for flyers. Here, Hume, come and see what the wind brought in."
The officer addressed moved at quickstep in response to this invitation. It was the aviation lieutenant from Hamburg. He grinned from ear to ear when he laid eyes on his former charges.
"Can't lose you if I try," he exclaimed. "Have you enlisted with us?"
"No," laughed Billy, "we're still driving cars for the good merchant from your town," with the backward point of the thumb at Roque, who was engaged in close confab with a group of staff members near by.
"Did you blow in with Schneider, too?" asked the lieutenant. "I just want to say that you will bore a hole in a stone wall sometime if you train with that fellow. Nature didn't give him red hair without reason."