Fighting in France Part 26

"Shall we drop a bomb on them?" cried Earl eagerly. "We want them to know that we're alive, you know."

"Don't do it," cautioned Jacques. "It would probably be wasted here."

"There's another shot," cried Leon. "Behind us this time."

"Let's hope their aim continues as poor as that," said Jacques. "We want to get those dispatches to Colonel Erhard at Flambeau before anything happens to us."

"We'll be over hostile territory all the way, won't we?" asked Earl.

"We will," replied Jacques, "and we'll be fired at all the way too. If they should send a couple of machines up after us we might have to run for it."

"I don't know where we'd run to," said Leon grimly.

"Nor I," admitted Jacques. "Let's hope that we can out-distance any machines that start to chase us."

"Do you think this machine is faster than the German ones?" asked Earl.

"Faster than most of them," replied Jacques. "Probably not as speedy as those new _fokkers_ though; they go like the wind, but they are too light and I doubt if one of them could do us a great deal of harm."

They pa.s.sed over many towns and hamlets; the green fields of France lay spread out beneath them like some soft green carpet. It all appeared very beautiful and peaceful now that they were some miles back of the firing line. An occasional puff of smoke around them, however, showed that they still traversed hostile territory; at least it was land held by the invader.

Once a German machine rose from its hangar far below and set out in pursuit of the speeding monoplane; it was quickly out-distanced, however, and soon abandoned the chase. Without any special incident the three young friends progressed until far ahead of them they could make out the faint outlines of the Vosges.

"There are the mountains," cried Jacques.

"Sure enough," exclaimed Earl. "Well we've had a pretty easy trip of it, haven't we? It has been a regular pleasure jaunt."

"We're not there yet," warned Leon.

CHAPTER XX

AT FLAMBEAU

Closer and closer they came to the mountains. Presently it was possible to make out the different summits, all of them wrapped in a blue haze.

"Do you know where Flambeau is, Jacques?" queried Earl.

"I do."

"We'll have to cross the firing line again, won't we?"

"Yes; pretty soon now too, I think."

"Do you know where it runs here?" asked Leon. "If it should follow the top of some of these mountains we'd have to ascend much higher than we are now to be out of range, wouldn't we?"

"We certainly would. Keep your eyes open and see if you can see any signs of trenches; we ought to be pretty close now."

The foothills were below them now. The wooded slopes were cut and gashed by gullies and ravines and now and then a fertile valley appeared. The hills grew in size rapidly, however, and it was not long before the mountains themselves were underneath them. Once or twice a cloud wrapped them in its damp folds and it was with a feeling of relief when they emerged into the sunlight again.

"Whew, it's cold," exclaimed Leon slapping his hands together.

"My hands are cold too," said Jacques. "You have the best of me though for I can't warm them the way you are doing."

"Please don't try," laughed Earl. "I'd rather that you should have cold hands than we should all go spinning down to earth."

"Well I'll--" Jacques began when Leon suddenly interrupted him.

"There are the trenches," he exclaimed. "See them? They run right across that valley."

"That's right," agreed Jacques. "Let's see; we must be fairly close to our destination by now." He consulted his map.

"I hope so," exclaimed Earl. "I'm cold and hungry."

"Right over that next summit," said Jacques. "If our luck only holds out a few minutes longer we're all right."

They crossed the firing line which appeared very far away in the distant valley. They pa.s.sed over the summit of the mountain Jacques had indicated and far below them they saw a tiny hamlet; a white church with its pointed steeple stood in the center of the little cl.u.s.ter of houses.

"There's Flambeau," announced Jacques.

"Good," cried Earl. "Where do we land? In that big field behind the church?"

"That seems to be the only place, doesn't it?"

"As far as I can see it is," remarked Leon.

"All right," said Jacques. "Here we go."

The monoplane dipped and began to descend in great circles. The young pilot shut off the motor and in silence, except for the noise of the air rus.h.i.+ng through the wings, it swooped downward.

Earl did not enjoy this as much as he had the previous flying. As they came nearer and nearer to earth he could see the trees and fields rus.h.i.+ng past beneath them and the sensation of speed was very great.

He felt slightly nauseated and clung tightly to the sides of his seat.

Jacques was most skillful, however. He maneuvered the monoplane until they were directly over the field where they intended to make a landing. Then he suddenly shot downward until they were but a few yards above the ground; suddenly he straightened out the machine and they came to earth gracefully and without a jar. The monoplane ran along the ground for a short distance and came to a stop.

A squad of soldiers in the blue uniform of France came hurrying forward to greet the aviators.

"Is this Flambeau?" demanded Jacques of the corporal.

"It is," replied the man addressed.

"And Colonel Erhard is here?"

"He is. Do you wish to see him?"

"I have some most important dispatches for him."