His
hair lifted a little, and a thrill ran down his spine.
He still looked up as he walked along, and there was the sleek shape
again! It had come back out of the white mist, and was circling over the
German planes, flying with the speed and certainty of an eagle. He saw
three of the German machines whirl about and begin to mount as if they
would examine the stranger. But the solitary plane began to rise again
in a series of dazzling circles. Up, up it went, as if it would
penetrate the last and thinnest layer of air, until it reached the dark
and empty void beyond.
The _Arrow_--he was sure it could be no other--was quickly lost in the
infinite heights, and then the German planes were lost, too, but they
soon came back, although the _Arrow_ did not. It had probably returned
to some point over the French line or had gone eastward beyond the
Germans.
John felt that he had again seen a sign. He remembered how he and Lannes
had drawn hope from omens when they were looking at the Arc de Triomphe,
and a similar hope sprang up now. Weber was right! Lannes would come to
his rescue. Some thought or impulse yet unknown would guide him.
Light clouds now drifted up from the southwest, and all the aeroplanes
were hidden, but the heavy murmur of the marching army went on. The
puffing and clashing of innumerable automobiles came from the roads
also, though John soon ceased to pay attention to them. As the hours
passed, he felt an increased weariness.
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