ver fainted
before--never."

"It's like this," said Tom, and Jack seemed content, now, to let his
chum play the chief role. "When one of us goes down in his machine back
of the enemy's lines, those left over here never really know what has
happened for a few days."

"And how do they know then?' she asked.

"The German airmen are more decent than some of the other Hun forces
we're fighting," explained Torn. "Generally after they capture one of
our escadrille members, dead or alive, they fly over our lines a few
days later and drop a cap, or a glove, or something that belongs to the
prisoner. Sometimes they attach a note, written by one of their airmen
or from the prisoner, giving news of his condition."

"And you think they may do this in my brother's case?" asked Nellie.

"They are very likely to," assented Tom, and Jack, to whom the girl
looked for confirmation, nodded, his agreement.

"How long shall we have to wait?" Harry's sister asked.

"There is no telling," said Tom "Sometimes it's a week before their
airmen get a chance to fly over our lines. It all depends."

"On what?"

"On how the battle goes," answered Tom. "If there is much fighting, and
many engagements in the air, the Boches don't get a chance to fly over
and drop tokens of our men they may have shot down. We do the same for
them, so it's six of one and a half dozen of the other. Often for a week
we don't get a chance to let them know about prisoners we have, because
the fighting is so severe."

"Will it be that way now?" the girl went on.

"Hard to say--we don't have the ordering of battles," replied Jack. "But
it's been rather quiet for a few days, and it's likely to continue so.
If it does one of their men may fly over to-morrow, or the next day, and
drop something your brother wore--or even a note from him."

"Oh, I hope they do the last!" she murmured. "If I could have a note
from him I'd be the happiest girl alive I I'd know, then, that he was
all right."

"He may be," said Tom, trying to be hopeful. "You see Du Boise, who was
with Harry when the fight took place, is himself wounded, so he can't
tell us much about it."

"Yes, they told me that my brother's companion reached here badly
hurt. He is so brave! I wish they would let me help take care of him. I
understand a great deal about wounds, and I'm not at all afraid of the
sight of blood. It was silly of me to faint just now, but--I--I couldn't
help it. I'd been counting so much