“It’s a long lane that has no turning, remember,” remarked Jack, as they commenced to walk along at a smart pace.
“My brother simply told me in one of his short letters that he had taken that name because it belonged to our mother, who was a Bradford. I’m certain it was under it he must have enlisted. Just how he could get a berth in the British army, being by birth an American, puzzles me; but then he may have hoodwinked them about that; and they were in such need of likely fellows as Frank, they shut their eyes and took him on.”
So they conversed as they walked along. Half a mile was soon covered. Jack had learned to keep his eyes about him constantly. It was the education of the ranch that caused him to do this more than any suspicion of threatening peril. So it came about he again made a discovery that Amos failed to note.
“Look up, Amos!” he exclaimed, suddenly.
“Why, there’s another aeroplane!” cried the other, as he obeyed; “two of them in fact, making three in all. The air is full of the big dragon-flies, seems like; and Jack, wouldn’t you say two of them are manœuvring around the other one that’s built along different lines?”
“Unless I miss my guess,” said Jack, soberly, “that’s a German machine. They use the Taube model almost exclusively, as it seems to answer their purposes. Now, I’ve got a notion that Taube pilot must have been doing some scouting, and was trying to make his own lines when he was cut off by these aeroplanes of the Allies. Look how they block his efforts to get past, will you? He rises and falls, but every time one of the other machines is in the way.”
“There, did you see that puff of smoke from the German craft?” cried Amos. “Yes, and both of the others are shooting, too. Why, Jack, just to think of it; we’re watching a regular battle in the air between rival monoplanes! Doesn’t it make your blood tingle to see them manœuvre?”
“The Taube man is getting in hot quarters, I should say,” observed the ranch boy, as they stood and stared. “There goes a gun from over where the British force is advancing; yes, and listen to the bombardment, would you? They are firing shrapnel. You can see the white puffs of smoke where the shells burst.”
“He’s doing his best to get clear, for a fact, Jack. That pilot is daring enough, and so far seems to have held his own. Somehow I can’t help but admire him, even if our sympathies are with the Allies.”
“A brave man is worth admiring, no matter on which side he fights,” was the comment of the second boy; “but there isn’t much chance he’ll be able to slip by his enemies. They’re too swift for the Taube man, it seems like. And when he drops down, those gunners are going to fairly pelt him with shrapnel.”