"Don't you remember, Dave?" he asked. "Or has the sun dulled your memory, too? We saw an air battle. We saw the planes fall. Don't you remember?"
"Oh, that?" Dave echoed with a shrug. "What was important about that?"
"So you saw the air battle, eh?" the German colonel asked quickly. "You saw the planes fall, perhaps?"
Both Freddy and Dave hesitated. Both had the same sudden feeling that the German was trying to lead them into some kind of a word trap. Just what they replied to his questions might make all the difference in the world as to their own safety. Finally Dave spoke.
"Yes, we saw the planes fall," he said.
The two Germans leaned forward slightly, and suppressed excitement showed on their faces.
"How many?" the colonel asked.
"Five," Dave answered promptly. "Three Nazi, one Italian, and one of ours."
"That British plane," the German major spoke up suddenly. "You say you saw it fall to the ground? What happened to the pilot and observer? They jumped with their parachutes, eh?"
Dave shook his head.