times he escaped death by the breadth of a
hair. Not for nothing was he called one of the best pilots in the
service, second only to Hay.

He bagged another of the Slavs, and began to think of getting away.
Praed had proved himself, but had been killed in doing so. He's got
the dope on Hill 333. Now for the getaway.

As he whirled, another Slav plane--the one that had got Praed--dove
down from above. And, in the last second of the ghostly light of the
flares, Lance's bewildered eyes saw the face of the man inside it.

_That face was Praed's!_

Praed, inside an enemy scout! Praed firing at him! Praed, not dead!

Lance was dumbfounded. He almost died, just then, for he felt his
senses stagger, and relaxed his maneuvering. Praed! What--how--He
couldn't begin to reckon it out.

If the flares hadn't died at that instant, Lance must have been shot
down. Luckily, they expired; pitch darkness washed over everything.
The lights on the Slav planes switched on, their prying beams
fingering the sky for Lance's plane. But Lance was somewhat himself
again. He jammed the accelerator down, dove headlong, flattened out
and streaked for home. The speed of the Goshawk snatched him
faithfully from the jaws of the Slavs. He left then milling behind.
Left Praed with them!

* * * * *

Colonel Douglas was waiting for him. Lance's face must have been a
study, for the elder man laughed shortly. "You need a drink!" he
decided, and poured out a stiff tot of rum. Lance downed it with a
nervous gulp and sprawled in a chair, the glass held weakly in
quivering fingers.

Dead silence brooded over the whole base. Even the muttering guns were
still. One green-shaded light threw the maps on Douglas' desk into
glaring prominence; besides that, there was no illumination anywhere
in the 'drome. Lance knew he had a thumping headache and that his eyes
were lumps of pain. The glass fell from his hand and crashed on the
floor. It seemed to stir the young captain, for at last he looked up
and met the colonel's inquiring gaze.

"Well?" The colonel was terse.

"I saw Praed shot down," Lance mumbled, as if to himself, "and then I
saw him--"

"Wait!" Douglas strode rapidly to the door which led to the other
rooms of the building. After glancing to right and left, with an
explanatory "Walls sometimes have ears, you know!" he locked the door
carefully again, came back, and said:

"Talk in a whisper! How about Hill 333?"