A man with a rifle is about to take a shot at it. Bang! There it
goes! But I can't see that the bullet has damaged our flag. Look, how it
whips about and snaps defiance! Now, all the men except the aviator
himself have out glasses and are studying the phenomenon of our signal.
They come above the tree, and I think they're going to make a swoop
around the grove near the ground. Lie close, Weber! As I found out once
before, a thick forest is the best defense against aeroplanes. They
can't get through the screen of boughs."
They heard a whirring and drumming, and the biplane not more than fifty
feet above the earth made several circles about the little wood. John
saw the men in it very clearly. He could even discern the German cast of
countenance where all except the one at the wheel that controlled the
two rudders had thrown back their hoods and taken off their glasses.
The three carried rifles which they held ready for use, in case they
detected an enemy.
Whirling around like a vast primeval bird of prey the biplane began to
rise, as if disappointed of a victim, and winding upward was soon above
the trees. Then John heard the rapid crackle of rifles.
"Shooting at our flag again!" he exclaimed.
But the whizz of a bullet that buried itself in the earth near him told
him better.
"It isn't possible that they've seen us!" he exclaimed.
"No," said Weber, "they're merely peppering the woods and vines in the
hope that they'll hit a concealed enemy, if such there should be.
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