e morning from such a height as this, and you are
probably the only one who has ever done so, after an all-night fight and
flight for life."

"Which makes them look all the better, Philip. It's been a wonderful
night and flight as you call it, but I'll be glad to feel the solid
mountain under my feet. Besides, you need rest, and you need it badly.
Don't try to deny it."

"I won't, because what you say is true, John. My eyes are blurred, and
my arms grow unsteady. In that valley to which we are going nobody can
reach us but by way of the air, but, as you and I know, the air has our
enemies. Do you see any black specks, John?"

"Not one. I never saw a more beautiful morning. It's all silver, and
rose and gold, and it's not desecrated anywhere by a single German
flying machine."

"Try the glasses for a longer look."

John swept the whole horizon with the glasses, save where the mountains
cut in, and reported the same result.

"The heavens are clear of enemies," he said.

"Then in fifteen minutes the _Arrow_ will be resting on the grass, and
we'll be resting with it. Slowly, now! slowly! Doesn't the machine obey
beautifully?"

They sailed over a river, a precipice of stone, rising a sheer two
thousand feet, above pines and waterfalls, and then the _Arrow_ came
softly to rest in a lovely valley, which birds alone could reach before
man took wings unto himself.

The humming of the motor ceased, and the machine itself seemed fairly to
snuggle in the grass, as if it relaxed completely after long and arduous
toil. It was in truth a live thing to John for the time, a third human
being in that tremendous flight. He pulled off his gloves and with his
stiffened fingers stroked the smooth sides of the _Arrow_.

"Good old boy," he said, "you certainly did all that any plane could
do."

"I'm glad you've decided the sex of flying machines," said Lannes,
smiling faintly. "Boats are ladies, but the _Arrow_ must be a gentleman
since you call it 'old boy.'"

"Yes, it's a gentleman, and of the first class, too. It's earned its
rest just as you have, Philip."

"Don't talk nonsense, John. Why, flying has become my trade, and I've
had a tremendously interesting time."

John in common with other Americans had heard much about the "degenerate
French" and the "decadent Latins." But Lannes certainly gave the lie to
the charge. If he had looked for a simile for him in the animal kingdom
he would have compared him with the smooth a