walking along a deserted by-road, his
hands in his breeches pockets, his forage cap at the back of his head,
looked up and shaded his eyes. Something as big as a house-fly, and
black as that, was moving with painful slowness across the skies.

Now, there is only one machine that makes a noise like a buzz-saw going
about its lawful business, and that is a British battle-plane, and that
this was such a machine, Tam knew.

Why it should be flying at that height and in a direction opposite to
that in which the battle-line lay, was a mystery.

Usually a machine begins to drop as it reaches our lines, even though
its destination may be far beyond the aerodromes immediately behind the
line--even, as in this case, when it was heading straight for the sea
and the English coast. Nor was it customary for an aeroplane bound for
"Blighty" to begin its voyage from some point behind the German lines.
Tam stood for fully five minutes watching the leisurely speck winging
westward; then he retraced his steps to the aerodrome.

He found at the entrance a little group of officers who were equally
interested.

"What do you make of that bus, Tam?" asked Blackie.

"She's British," said Tam cautiously.

He reached out his hands for the glasses that Blackie was offering, and
focused them on the disappearing machine. Long and silently he watched
her. The sun had been behind a cloud, but now one ray caught the
aeroplane for a moment and turned her into a sparkling star of light.
Tam put down his glasses.

"Yon's Mr. Craig's," he said impressively.

"Craig's machine? What makes you think so?"

"Sir-r," said Tam, "I wad know her anywheer. Yon's Mr. Craig's 'bus,
right enough."

Blackie turned quickly and ran to his office. He spun the handle of the
telephone and gave a number.

"That you, Calais? There's a Boche flying one of our machines gone in
your direction--yes, one that came down in his lines last week. A
Fairlight battle-plane. She's flying at sixteen thousand feet. Warn
Dover."

He hung up the telephone and turned back.

Holiday-makers at a certain British coast town were treated to the
spectacle of an alarm.

They gathered on the sands and on the front and watched a dozen English
machines trekking upward in wide circles until they also were hovering
specks in the sky. They saw them wheel suddenly and pass out to sea and
then those who possessed strong glasses noted a new speck coming from
the east and presently thirteen