Fighting in France Part 24

His companions were not slow to follow his example and a moment later they were whizzing at breakneck speed along the highway.

"Where are we being sent?" demanded Earl, who all this time had been consumed with intense curiosity.

Jacques merely shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know," he said.

"Say," exclaimed Leon suddenly, "what's this driver trying to do; kill us? Personally I'd rather be killed in battle if I must die. An automobile accident seems out of place in war."

"He's going some all right, isn't he?" cried Earl. "I'd like it th----"

His words were suddenly cut short. The driver swung the car sharply to the right to avoid a huge sh.e.l.l-hole blown in the middle of the highway; he did not slacken his speed one bit, however. Earl was thrown off the seat violently and found himself on the floor of the car; Jacques landed there beside him at the same time.

"This is pretty bad," exclaimed Earl. "I agree with you, Leon; he ought to stop it."

"But he won't," announced Jacques. "They all go like this."

"Well, I'll certainly be glad when it's over," said Earl grimly. "I can't get up onto the seat again."

"Don't try," advised Jacques. "We'll soon be there."

"If we're not all dead," murmured Earl.

Presently, however, the speed slackened and the machine came to a stop.

An aviation field with hangars all around appeared some half mile distant.

"Here we are," announced the orderly, stepping from the car.

"How fast were we going there, Leon?" inquired Earl as they hastened to follow their guide.

"Seventy miles an hour," said Leon. "Did you like it?"

"I did _not_," said Earl warmly. "That's too fast for me."

"Wait until we get into our aeroplane," warned Jacques. "We'll travel a hundred miles an hour easily."

"There are no sh.e.l.l-holes in the air anyway," said Earl. "We can't be wrecked that way as we nearly were back there on the road."

"Don't you believe it," exclaimed Jacques. "When they begin firing at us from the German trenches you'll find there are plenty of sh.e.l.l-holes in the air all right."

"By the way, haven't you any idea where we're going?"

"None at all. All I know is that this orderly is instructed to take us somewhere over here where we'll get our orders."

"Who was that man who talked to us?" asked Leon. "They called him 'general.'"

"That was General Petain," said Jacques. "Didn't you know him?"

"I never saw him before. Was that really he?"

General Petain was the man made famous by his splendid defense of Verdun and he was a popular hero with the soldiers.

"Who was the third man?" asked Earl.

"I don't know who he was."

The first faint streaks of dawn were just beginning to color the eastern sky as the little party stopped in front of a vine-covered cottage, just to one side of the aviation field.

"Here I leave you," announced their guide. "You are to report to Major Villier." He immediately turned on his heel and walked away.

Jacques led the way inside. The young soldiers were evidently expected for they were led without delay into the presence of an officer seated under a lamp, intently studying a map. He looked up as the three boys entered the room.

"Which one of you is Private Dineau?" he inquired.

"I am," announced Jacques stepping forward.

"Good," exclaimed the major. "Here are dispatches which you are to deliver to Colonel Erhard. He is in command at the village of Flambeau in the Vosges Mountains. The dispatches are important and should reach him at the earliest possible moment." As he spoke he handed a small packet to Jacques.

"Your aeroplane is waiting for you," he continued. "It will contain everything you will have need of and I wish you a good trip and a safe return, I would suggest that your two aides who look so very much alike go and see that everything is in readiness. Meanwhile I will point out Flambeau to you on the map and the best route for you to follow."

The major smiled at the two brothers who immediately departed, and guided by a soldier hastened across the aviation field to the spot where a big armored monoplane was just being trundled out of its hangar. A machine-gun was mounted on board and several bombs were also to be carried.

"Here are coats for you," said one of the men as the two brothers approached the machine. "You will find it cold up among the clouds today."

"How about food?" inquired Earl. He was always particular about that.

"Two days' rations for three men," said the soldier. "That is more than you'll need if all goes well but it's a good plan to be prepared."

"I think so too," agreed Earl. "What horsepower is this machine?"

"One hundred."

"Whew!" whistled Earl. "She ought to be able to make time."

"She can," said the soldier confidently. "Just wait until young Dineau gets hold of her. He'll make her sail; he's a wonder, that boy. It's a shame he ever got out of the aviation corps."

"He was good all right, wasn't he?" demanded Leon.

"Good?" exclaimed the man. "I should say he was good. Why I'll bet that if he had stuck to the flying corps he'd have bagged a dozen Boche machines by this time."

"He's reckless though," said Leon.

"Not reckless, but daring," insisted the soldier. "He doesn't know fear."

"Here he comes now," observed Earl.

CHAPTER XIX