"Yes, because he means to alight in the field," added Merritt.
Tubby suddenly comprehended what it must apparently mean. He hastened to scramble to his feet again, and no sooner had he accomplished this than he was, of course, busily engaged with his questions.
"Was that an aëroplane, Rob?"
"It certainly was," he was informed.
"Then that signal was for the pilot; that was what it meant by 'safe landing here' and 'coast clear!' Oh! I begin to see it all now. The 'important news' he mentioned in his message must be something a spy has gathered, and which he wants this air-pilot to carry back to the German lines for him? Am I on the right track, Rob?"
"Yes; that's about what it all means, Tubby."
"Then that machine must have been one of the Taube aëroplanes they told us about?"
"We expect it is," replied the obliging Rob.
"It must have landed by now, then, hasn't it?"
"As we can hear nothing moving, that's about the way things stand," replied the patrol leader.