"It won't be my fault if I am not home again within thirty-six hours," he soliloquised. "So here goes. I wonder what von Secker will say when he wakes up?"
CHAPTER XV
GAME TO THE LAST
Having covered a considerable distance Athol sat down behind a tree and made a hearty meal of some meat pies which he had taken the precaution to buy in Weert. By this time the excitement and lack of sufficient sleep were beginning to tell very forcibly. Even as he ate he felt himself nodding drowsily.
It was growing very warm as the sun rose higher in the heavens. The air was close and oppressive. Away to the southward, dark copper-coloured clouds were working up against the light breeze. There was every indication of a thunderstorm breaking at no distant time.
Presently a dull intermittent buzzing sound fell upon the lad's ears.
"An aeroplane," he muttered drowsily, hardly able to evince any interest in the familiar noise, until by the erratic sound of the engine he knew that something was amiss.
"Another Aviatik out of its bearings, I suppose," he said to himself. Then he looked upwards, trying to detect the plane against the dazzling light overhead.
The sound of the motor increased in volume. Chagrined at his failure to locate the source of the noise, Athol's interest deepened. He scanned the sky until he perceived the hitherto elusive machine.