Lannes called to him loudly:
"You've saved us all!"
Wharton looked rather white, but he shouted back:
"I had no other choice."
The French aeroplanes were around them now, their motors drumming
steadily and the aviators shouting congratulations to Lannes and
Caumartin, whom they knew well. It was a friendly group, full of pride
and exultation, and the _Arrow_ and the _Omnibus_ had a triumphant
escort. Soon they were directly over the French, and then they began
their descent. As usual, when they reached the army they made it amid
cheers, and the first man who greeted John was short and young but with
a face of pride.
"You have come back to us out of the air, Monsieur Scott," he said, "and
I salute you."
It was Pierre Louis Bougainville, made a colonel already for
extraordinary, almost unprecedented, valor and ability in so young a
man. John recognized his rank by his uniform, and he acknowledged it
gladly.
"It's true, I have come back, Colonel Bougainville," he said, "and right
glad I am to come. I see that your country has had no cause to complain
of you in the last week."
"Nor of hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen," said Bougainville. "Your
company, the Strangers, is close at hand, and here is your captain now."
Captain Daniel Colton, thin and ascetic, walked forward. John gave him
his best salute and said:
"Captain Colton, I beg to report to you for duty."
A light smile passed swiftly over Cotton's face.
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