"You would see nothing at all if we ran into one of those fragments of shells," coolly suggested the officer, "but never mind, you will do some diving in a few minutes."
Billy got the signal to dip at the juncture of the turnpikes, and to hold a level and lower course along the line of battle, marked here by infantry fighting between the seemingly crawling columns far below.
"Down!"
The colonel's order was peremptory, and Billy forthwith volplaned toward the earth.
CHAPTER IX.
THE LUMINOUS KITE.
The biplane had hardly scudded its length on the turnpike, when the colonel leaped from the machine, his sudden appearance greeted by salvos, both of cheers and an extra round of rifle discharge.
Billy sat like a statue in the machine, facing a reserve force of grim, gray-garbed veterans standing at attention.
The front rank soldiers eyed the boy curiously, no doubt wondering that one of his years should be serving in the capacity of a full-fledged military aviator on a mission so supremely perilous.