It did not take them long to cover the intervening ground, for by rare
good luck the rest-house of the Y. M. C. A. happened to be within
reasonable reach of the aviation field.

A new development in affairs had by then taken place. There was a rattle
of machine-gun fire from high up in the air that seemed very significant
to the Air Service boys.

"Some of the fellows were on the ground--went up--engaged the Boche! Oh,
boy, how I envy them!"

Jack gasped out these words as he ran on. He was short of breath, or he
might have said more. The others did not reply, partly for the same
reason, and then again because of similar views. Knowing the intrepid
nature of the boys so well, any one of their friends would have felt
confident that both Tom and Harry were feeling jealous of those whom
fortune had picked out to shower favors on by allowing them to be the
first aloft and after the Boche. But now they had reached the field.

Everything seemed in the greatest confusion there--men dashing this way
and that, yelling, asking questions, giving orders to hostlers, getting
machines ready for flight, preparing to go aloft to share in the pursuit
of the enemy planes.

There had been some damage done, Tom could see; just how much it was
impossible for him even to guess. But several bombs had struck close
enough to smash a number of planes, as the debris scattered around
disclosed. Great was the relief of the three pilots on learning that
their machines had not been in the list of those scrapped. It might have
taken many days before they could be supplied with fresh "mounts," such
was the demand upon the cargo space of the French railway leading to
this sector of the front. That would surely have been considered little
short of a calamity by such ambitious fighters as Jack Parmly, Tom
Raymond, and Harry Leroy.

"No observer on hand, Jack. Would you mind going up with me?" Tom called
out almost immediately.

Nothing would please Jack better than being once more the flying
companion of his dearest comrade. To get a chance at the German airmen
he stood ready to accept any position offered him. And, besides, he
would have the handling of one gun, at any rate.

"You'd better believe I will, Tom!" he cried excitedly. "Harry, there's
your assistant, with your plane ready. Get going, fellows!"

The racket still continued above, though with a fresh American air pilot
leaving the ground every quarter minute the chances were the Huns w