Ruth Fielding Homeward Bound / A Red Cross Worker's Ocean Perils

th. This route would bring them nearer to the lines of battle. The pilot turned to his passenger and tried to warn him of

is a swift pace anywhere-on the ground or in the air; but as the airplane fell the ai

They were literally standing erect. Stillinger shot another glance at his passenger. Tom's lips were pa

such a height and at such speed is almost the keenest test of courage th

t redress his plane at exactly the right moment

ed his airplane and started the motor once more. They skimmed the

the trenches even from the upper strata of air to which the airplane had first risen. There was a haze hanging over the fighting battalions o

over the rugged line of the Vosges. Had they been nearer to the earth

to that black speck against the cloud, other bursts of smoke betrayed aerial shells. Stillinger's lips mouthed the word,

t of a sudden a group of similar machines, flying like wild geese,

th and east than it was behind the Allied lines, the Germans had

smaller fighting airplanes. It was a surprise attack, and had b

, too, a barrage of aerial shells was thrown up. While from the various aviation camps the Fre

ey were a long way from this point. Stillinger had flown far and wa

en permitted to take up a passenger, and after winging his way along the battle fro

d but to have the canvas cover stripped off to be ready for act

o get into it?"

" commanded Stillinger.

se," said Tom.

is friend. "I presume you c

ank of the farthest Hun squadron. Over the lines the yellow smoke now rolled and billowed. An intense air barrage was being sent up. T

determination of his passenger to help in the fight if need arose, caused h

e group of enemy machines nearest the sea, and as the bursts of artillery

a squadron of flying machines with the German cross painted on the under side of their wings. With

three was greater odds than Americans could obs

s. Once above them, by pitching the nose of his machine, the enemy would be brought under

nger would never have been able to endure the rarified atmosphere at this altitude. Unuse

ree of the eight machines sprang upward to over-reach the American.

s close to the coastline. But so high were they, and so shrouded was the coa

lammy fog-cloud. It offered refuge from the Germans and gave

the high levels. If he could get under them, and slant the nose of his machine sharply upward, the machine gun would do quite as much damage to the un

an airplanes were, Stillinger could only guess. He shut off his engine for a

tuttering reports of an engine-a much heavier engine than that of even a Fokker or

ts exhaust began once more a bulky object was thrust up through the fog below. T

eat shout. He was looking down through the wire stays at the enormous b

moth ships were being used by the Hun only to cross the North Sea and the Channel to bomb English cities. This

the fighting planes attacked the Allied squadrons of the air, thus making a diversion, this big Zeppelin endeavored

ger and Tom Cameron. The fact that the great airship was beneath their airplane

s damage upon the Zeppelin before their own presence-and the