the bitter taste of burned gunpowder. The faint
trembling of the earth, or rather of the air just above it, went on, and
John, turning about in his little bower, surveyed the heavens from all
quarters.

He saw shapes, faint, dark and floating on every horizon, but none of
them came near until a full half-hour had elapsed. Then one shot out of
the west, sailed toward the northeast, but curving suddenly, came back
in the direction of the tree. As the shape grew larger and more defined
John's heart began to throb. He had seen many aeroplanes that day, and
most of them had been swift and graceful, but none was as swift and
graceful as the one that was now coming.

It was a machine, beautiful in shape, and as lithe and fast as the
darting swallow. There could be none other like it in the heavens, and
his heart throbbed harder. Intuition, perhaps, was back of knowledge and
he never for a moment doubted that it was he for whom they had looked so
long.

The aeroplane seemed fairly to shoot out of space. First its outlines
became visible, and then the man at the rudder. He came straight toward
the tree, dropped low and circled about it, while John rushed from the
vines and cried as loud as he could:

"Lannes! Lannes, it's me! John Scott! I've been waiting for you!"

The _Arrow_ dropped further, barely touched the earth, and Lannes,
leaning over, shouted to John in tones, tense and sharp with command:

"Give the plane a shove with all your might, and jump in. For God's sake
don't linger, man! Jump!"

The impulse communicated by Lannes was so powerful that before he knew
what he was doing John pushed the _Arrow_ violently and sprang into the
extra seat, just as it was leaving the earth.

Lannes gave the rudder a strong twist and the aeroplane shot up like a
mounting bird. John got back his breath and presence of mind.

"Wait, Philip! Wait!" he cried. "We're leaving behind our friend Weber!
He's down there, somewhere by the river!"

Lannes made no reply. The _Arrow_ continued its rise, sharp and swift,
and John heard a crackling sound below. Little missiles, steel and
deadly, shot by them. One passed so close to his face that his breath
went again. When he recovered it once more the _Arrow_, its inmates,
unharmed, was far above the range of rifles, flying in a circle.

"Look down, John," said Lannes.

CHAPTER X

OLD FRIENDS

John, obeying Lannes' command, glanced down, as one looks over the side
of a ship