're a
bird."

"So I am at times," laughed John. "A bird without the feathers. Come
now, brace up! Remember that the solid earth is always below you, a long
way below, perhaps, but it's there, and Friend Caumartin is bound to
deliver you soon to your rightful master, Captain Daniel Colton, who
will talk to you like an affectionate but stern parent."

"For Heaven's sake, let's start and get away from this wild Yankee,"
said Carstairs.

"But you won't get away from me," rejoined John. "Lannes and I in the
_Arrow_ will watch over you all the way, and, if we can, rescue you,
should your plane break down."

Caumartin supplied Wharton and Carstairs with suitable coats and caps,
and they took their places unflinchingly in the big plane. Their hearts
may have been beating hard, but they would not let their hands tremble.

"I suppose the _Omnibus_ starts first, Philip, doesn't it?" asked John.

"Yes," replied Lannes, smiling, "and we can overtake it. _Omnibus_ is a
good name for it. We'll call it that. It looks awkward, John, but it's
one of the safest machines built."

Plenty of willing hands gave the _Omnibus_ a lift and then did a like
service for the _Arrow_. As they rose, aviators and passengers alike
waved a farewell to Lord James Ivor, and he and the Englishmen about him
waved back. But the thousands lying on the grass slept heavily on, while
the cannon on their utmost fringe thundered and crashed and the German
cannon crashed and thundered, replying.

The _Arrow_ kept close to the _Omnibus_, so close that John could see
the white faces of Wharton and Carstairs and their hands clenching the
sides. But he remembered his own original experience, and he was not
disposed to jest at them now.

"They're air-sick--as I was," he said to Lannes. "Call to them to look
westward at the troops," said Lannes. "Great portions of the French and
English armies are now visible, and such a sight will make them forget
their natural apprehensions."

Lannes was right. When they beheld the magnificent panorama spread out
for them the color came back into the faces of Carstairs and Wharton,
and their clenched fingers relaxed. The spectacle was indeed grand and
gorgeous as they looked up at the sky, down at the earth, and at the
line where they met. The sun was now low, but mighty terraces of red and
gold rose in the west, making it a blaze of varied colors. In the east
the terraces were silver and silver gray, and the light there was