284.

Unto a certain numeral one letter join—sad fate!

What first was solitary, you now annihilate.

[Answer]

285.

My FIRST was heard to “hurtle in the sky,

When foes in conflict met in olden time”;

My SECOND none can yield without a sigh,

Though it has oft been forfeited by crime;

My WHOLE, its ancient uses gone, is found