sooner. Watch the Taube that's rising. Watch it all the time, and
tell me everything it does!"

He spoke with the most intense energy and earnestness, and John knew
that he had some great fear in regard to the upper Taube. So, he never
took his eyes from it, and he noted that it was not only rising fast,
but that its gain was perceptible. As it was his first flight it did not
occur to him in those moments of excitement that his own weight was
holding back the _Arrow_, and Lannes had been willing to risk death
rather than tell him.

"They're coming very fast," he said to Lannes, "and the upper machine
seems to be the swifter of the two."

"Naturally. That's the reason why it's now the upper one. Is it above us
yet?"

"No, but in fifteen minutes more it will be, at the present rate of
speed."

"About how much higher above us do you think it is?"

"A thousand feet maybe, but I never calculated distances of this kind
before."

"Likely it's near enough. Let me know when it's about to come directly
over us, and on your life don't fail!"

John watched with all his eyes. He saw the hovering shape, and he caught
a glimpse of the arm of the man who steered. But it became to his fancy
a great bird which, with its comrade below, pursued them. That name,
Taube, the dove, called so from its shape, was very unfitting.

While he was watching he saw the Taube swoop down at least five hundred
feet, and at the same time make a burst of speed forward.

"It will be over us! almost directly! within a minute!" he shouted to
Lannes.

The _Arrow_ swerved to on side with such suddenness that John reeled
hard against his seat, despite the strap that held him. At the same
moment he caught a glimpse of some small object shooting past the
_Arrow_.

"What was it? what was it?" he cried.

"A bomb," replied Lannes. "That was the reason why I didn't want either
of the Taubes to get above us. I was sure they had bombs, and if one of
them fell upon us, well, nobody would ever find our pieces. Hold hard
now, we're going to do a lot of zigzagging, because that fellow probably
has more bombs, where the one he just dropped came from."

John's interest in what followed was, in a measure, scientific. He
realized afterward that he should have been terribly frightened. In
fact, he felt more fear later on, but at that moment the emotions that
produce fear were atrophied. The extraordinary nature of his situation
caused instead wonder and keen a