d themselves secure from the daring French airmen.

With the exception of the historic raid upon Karlsruhe they had seldom
journeyed so far afield.

For a moment the engines ceased working, and Laval shouted to his
companion: "We must be close to the place now. There should be a hill
covered with pine trees in front of us, and the hangar lies within a
league beyond it on a flat plain."

"Then yonder it is!" cried Dennis. "There is no end of a strong light
showing ahead. That ragged edge that looms against it must be your tree
tops."

"Good!" replied the pilot. "Get your bombs ready. When I shut off again
we shall he as nearly above the spot as one can judge."

He restarted the engines. In the distance a curious yellow glow outlined
the hill, and as they sailed clear of the pines the glow resolved itself
into a considerable illumination, for which the pilot steered.

Rows of electric lamps formed a huge parallelogram, in the centre of
which was a long black object, undoubtedly the airship hangar.

"By Jupiter!" yelled Dennis; "we're in luck to-night! The Zeppelin's
coming out!"

He forgot that his words were completely drowned, and he received a
sudden shock when the brilliant beam of a searchlight flashed up from
the ground, and, after a circling swoop, found them and held them in its
fierce eye. Every stay and rivet was as clearly visible to him as though
it had been noonday, and it was a trying moment.

As another light challenged them, and asked "Who are you?" he remembered
Laval's previous instructions, and showing his signal lamp, replied in
the Morse code, "Blumberger, returning from reconnaissance beyond
Muelhausen."

Blumberger was lying dead under the mackintosh in the cornfield near
Bar-le-Duc, and Dennis was wearing his outer garments; but the message
had been understood, and was followed by the command: "L30 coming out
now. Be careful until all is clear; then report, Blumberger!"

"Yes, we will be very careful!" muttered Claude Laval, who had read off
the message at the same time; and flying slowly at scarcely more than
five hundred feet above the ground he steered towards the hangar.

Out of the giant shed the great grey nose of the Zeppelin came gliding
into view, shining like some silver thing in the light of the electric
lamps, the army of men who guided its movements looking like so many
busy ants as the searchlights switched off the Aviatik and focused on
the airship, evidently for their