as to be told
the facts the information must come from Lieutenant Beverly himself.

"Oh! By the way, that Berlin trip will have to wait," chuckled the
lieutenant, making up his mind that a clean breast of the whole matter
must follow. "Fact is, Major, we're after larger game than that would
prove to be; something calculated to stagger you a bit, I think."

"You're certainly puzzling me by what you say, Colin," declared the
major, betraying a growing curiosity in voice and manner. "I'd like to
know for a fact what you could call larger game than a non-stop flight to
Berlin and back, starting from the Channel here. Are you planning a trip
to the moon, after Jules Verne's yarn?"

"No. But something that has as yet never been attempted," came the steady
reply. "It is a flight across the Atlantic to America in the big bomber
plane, and starting this very night!"

CHAPTER XV

THE LONG FLIGHT BEGUN

Major Denning was greatly astonished when Lieutenant Beverly made so
astounding an assertion.

"Well, I wouldn't put anything past you Yankees," he presently remarked,
with a dry chuckle. "But this is something of a Herculean task you're
planning, Colin. A flight of over three thousand miles is a greater
undertaking than any plane has so far been able to carry through. And if
you should meet with trouble, the jig is up with you all!"

"We understand what we're up against, I assure you," Tom replied. "The
plan is entirely Lieutenant Beverly's, sir. Sergeant Parmly has reason to
get home before the _La Bretagne_ reaches New York harbor, and she's
already three days out. Learning this, our good friend here made a
thrilling proposition, which we eagerly accepted. That's the story in a
nutshell, Major Denning."

"I must say I admire your nerve, that's all," exploded the other,
shaking hands with all of them. "Just the type of chap I'd like to tie up
with. My word! if I could get leave, and there was room for one more
aboard the big bomber, I'd beg of you to take me in. But I wish you every
luck in the wide world. My word, fancy the nerve of it!"

"We must remember not to speak a word so that any of the men can guess
what our real destination is," Beverly cautioned, as they continued along
the path. "Only my right-hand agent here knows the truth, and he means to
keep it dark."

"But they must suspect something unusual," suggested Tom.

"It's hinted that we are aiming at Berlin, don't you know?" pursued the
lieutena