that you would not consider shooting a German a
good turn?" asked Harry, who was slightly in the lead.

"A good turn to whom?" asked Ned, following closely upon Jack's heels.
"Would shooting be a good turn to the 'shootee'?"

"Well, I don't know about that," answered Jack. "I can easily
understand how some fellows might consider it a disadvantage."

"My word," put in David, as the little party prepared to descend into
the subterranean cavern which they termed their base of supplies,
"these poor fellows here are not able to know whether it's a
disadvantage or not. Just look at that poor chap lying there."

As he spoke David pointed toward the form of a Russian soldier lying in
a huddled heap upon the stone floor amidst a tangle of debris.

Jack shuddered as he gazed upon the spectacle for an instant.

"I guess I won't want to shoot any Germans," he said. "And I guess
that might include other folks besides Germans, too."

"Let's hurry on, boys," urged Ned. "This awful war business will get
on my nerves directly. Let's get our supplies and make our getaway."

Luckily for the little party, the German occupants of the defeated city
were busily engaged in occupations that required all their attention.
Hence the work of provisioning the Eagle was accomplished without
untoward incident. In a very short time the boys had succeeded in
placing aboard the air craft sufficient fuel and provisions from the
abandoned stores to satisfy the demand of even Jack and Harry, who well
remembered the hunger with which they had been assailed at the time of
their entrance into the stricken war zone.

"Is everything all ready now?" asked Jack, wiping the sweat from his
forehead. "Have we got everything we need, Ned?"

"Yes, I think we have everything," Ned replied, glancing quickly but
carefully over the mechanism of the giant plane.

"Just one minute, then," urged Jack. "While you're warming up the
engine I'll slip back and pick up one of those rifles I saw, for use in
case of emergency. Something, you know, might happen."

Ned laughed as Jack darted away. Turning to the others, he said:

"If we're not careful Jack will soon be as bloodthirsty as Jimmie
himself. But," he went on, "it might come in handy at that."

Preferring not to use the self-starter, for the sake of quiet, Ned
turned an electric switch which controlled a circuit leading to a
contrivance designed by Harry for just such an emergency. This
delicate p