g to be glad to get
back home once more. This doesn't look civilized to me."

"We are headed toward home," replied Jack in an effort to cheer his
friend. "We'll be out of this in a little while, and then--good-by war
and fights and Kaiser and all for one good, long time!"

"We're a long ways from Tipperary yet, boys. Don't crow too soon,"
advised Harry, as he trained the glasses on the approaching planes.

"What can you see, Harry?" asked Ned, giving his attention to the
levers. "Are they still heading toward us?"

"That's just what they're doing!" declared Harry. "They're coming
fast, too. Can't we coax a little more speed out of this old tub?"

"You speak as if this were a ship in the water," responded Ned. "I
want you to understand that this is an aeroplane and that it is
performing a most remarkable feat in carrying five boys and two grown
men, besides a quantity of luggage and supplies."

"I guess our ideas were all right, eh, Ned?" said Jack, as he ran an
admiring eye over the rigging of the craft. "It's some boat!"

"It certainly is some boat!" declared Ned. "And I wish--"

"What Ned wished was never known, for at that instant a sharp report
was heard and a bullet sang its way through the rigging of the Eagle
with a vicious twang that made the boys wince.

"Wow!" was Jack's ejaculation. "That's too close for comfort!"

"May I reply to them?" asked Dave, picking up one of the German rifles
that had been brought aboard. "I think I can get the range."

"I'd rather not shoot too close to them," Ned answered, manipulating
the levers and valves in an effort to obtain more speed. "Perhaps we
can run away from both. In that case we won't have to shoot any one."

"I think I'll take a crack at their propeller," announced Dave. "Maybe
I can send a bullet through that, and if I can it will stop them."

As he spoke Dave took a quick sight, resting the rifle across the rim
of the fuselage. A sharp detonation echoed above the hum of the
motors. Dave peered eagerly toward the plane at which he had aimed.

"I got 'em, I got 'em!" he announced, slapping his thigh in glee.

"Who did you get?" asked Ned, without turning his head.

"I am sure I winged their propeller!" declared Dave, gleefully. "I
aimed right at the circle in which the blades travel, and I'm sure I
saw splinters from the wooden blades. They're slowing up, too!"

"Sure enough!" cried Harry, peering through the glasses. "You're some