Hazy and indistinct in the distance, it rose by slow degrees against the sky, and then, gently swaying from side to side, remained in a stationary position.
"That's mighty interesting!" cried Don. "We'll each take a look and then skip."
Never forgetting the absolute necessity for using the greatest caution, Don turned his glass on the balloon. He gave a little gasp of astonishment. By the aid of the powerful binocular he could even see the observers in the basket suspended beneath the great, unwieldy monster, and in his eyes those faint and tiny specks assumed a most tremendous interest and importance. It was not very often, he reflected, that Germans were seen as foemen, at liberty and engaged in their work.
And while he was studying them intently there came an interruption—a most startling interruption, and one which brought a cry of the greatest astonishment and alarm from the lips of every one. It was a bright spurt of flame in the midst of a patch of trees close to the château and a frightful, deafening detonation which jarred and shook the tower in the most violent fashion.
The trees instantly vanished, and where they had been rose a huge and cyclonic mass of black smoke mixed with earth, branches and stones—a terrifying spectacle indeed.
Like a flash, the ambulanciers realized the awful truth—the Château de Morancourt was once more being shelled.
[CHAPTER XXI]
A DISCOVERY
Almost stunned by the suddenness of the event, the three nevertheless realized that they had probably brought it upon themselves. Their movements must have been observed by the German airmen, who, perhaps thinking that the ancient château was again going to be used as an observation post, had reported the fact.