"That's the worst of it. Millions of 'em and all armed and ready. John, I've chosen our road. We'll go north by west, and I think we'd better rise high. During the night the German machines are likely to hang low, and we may be able to pass over 'em without detection. What do you think of those clouds?"
"They're not drifting much. They may hide us as a fog hides a ship at sea."
The Arrow began to soar. The Uhlans and the grove soon faded away, and they rode among the clouds. John's watch showed that it was about three o'clock in the morning. He no longer felt the chill of the air in those upper regions. Excitement and suspense made his blood leap, warm, through his veins.
Lannes, after his long sleep, was stronger and keener than ever. His hand on the steering rudder knew no uncertainty, and always he peered through the clouds for a sign of the foe, who, he knew well, was to be dreaded so much. John, glasses at eye, sought the same enemy.
But they heard and saw nothing, save the sights and sounds of the elements. A cold, wet wind flew across their faces, and the planet below once more turned in space, invisible to eye.
"One could almost think," said John, "that we don't turn with it, that we hang here in the void, while it whirls about, independent of us."
"I wish that were so," said Lannes with a laugh. "Then we could stay where we are, while it turned around enough beneath us to take the Germans far away. But don't you hear a faint buzzing there to the west, John?"
"Yes, I was just about to speak of it, and I know the sound, too. It's one of the big Zeppelins."
"Then it's likely to be much below. I judge from the presence of the trees that, we must be somewhere near the German outposts."
"I wish that we dared to descend enough to see."