said Dennis to himself. "I wonder why that old
dodderer is so long? I must get back and see how poor Laval is getting
on, and then, heigh-ho for La Belle France!"

As he straightened his back the dull thud of galloping hoofs made him
turn round, and to his dismay he saw a couple of German officers
approaching across the sandy plain.

"By Jupiter! Talk about bluff now!" he thought. "Thank goodness they're
coming from the right direction!" And drawing himself stiffly up, he
saluted as they reined in below him.

They were both of high rank--one of them a colonel; and it was the
colonel who spoke first as he and his companion flung themselves from
their horses.

"You heard it?" he cried in a voice that thrilled with excitement.

"Everyone within twenty miles must have heard it, Herr Colonel," said
Dennis solemnly.

"Do you know the extent of the damage?" was the next question.

"I do not. I had a little trouble with my engines, and was just on the
point of going there to see what had happened."

It was perhaps the worst thing he could have said, for the two officers
immediately climbed up and squeezed themselves into the observer's
cockpit.

"Quick! You will carry us there. It is a command!" said the colonel. And
Dennis's eyes roved in vain round the pilot's seat for any sign of a
weapon.

He bent down under pretence of examining the shaft of the steering-wheel
to collect his thoughts and compose his features, and then a thought
came to him.

Had they been on the ground he would have pleaded that his engines were
still wrong, but it was too late now.

"I will take you willingly, Herr Colonel," he said. And, sitting down,
he passed the two ends of the securing strap round his waist, and drew
the buckle tight.

"You are a long time, young man," said the colonel's companion.

"We are off now," replied Dennis, starting the engines to avoid any
awkward questioning, and breathing a silent prayer that they were all
right.

He thought of Laval, too, and wondered what he would think when he heard
the whir; and it was as well that he did not know what was happening to
his French friend, or possibly he would have failed to keep his nerve
for the task he had set himself!

The horses shied, and bolted across the plain, but no one thought of
them as the Aviatik ran uneasily forward over the soft ground and rose
like a bird.

For a few minutes they mounted skyward, climbing slowly, and the stout
General tried to ma