The Boy Allies with the Cossacks.

by Clair W. Hayes.

CHAPTER I.

FLYING.

"What's that below, Hal?"

The speaker was Chester Crawford, an American lad of some 16 years.

Hal Paine allowed his eyes to turn from the steering wheel and glanced over the side of the flying aeroplane.

"I don't see anything," he replied, after a careful scrutiny below.

"Neither do I, now," said Chester, straining his eyes.

At this moment the third occupant of the machine made his presence known.

"Woof! Woof!" he exclaimed.

The third speaker was Marquis, a dog.

"Woof! Woof!" he barked again.

Hal, with a quick move, slackened the speed of the aeroplane, and let it glide gently closer to the earth.

"Must be something wrong," he confided to Chester, "or Marquis wouldn't be barking like that."

Both lads peered into the darkness that engulfed them on all sides. As far as the eye could penetrate there was nothing but blackness, solid, intense.

"Let's go a little lower, Hal," whispered Chester.

Under Hal's firm hand the aeroplane came down gently, until at last it was soaring close to the treetops. And now, suddenly, both lads made out the cause of Marquis's uneasiness.

Beneath them were thousands upon thousands of armed men. To the north, to the south, and to the east and west the dense ma.s.s of humanity stretched out. Hal and Chester, flying close to the earth, at last could make out moving forms below them.

Suddenly it became light. Not broad daylight, but the darkness gave way enough for the lads to distinguish what lay below them. The dawn of another day was breaking.

At the same instant that the lads made out the huge ma.s.s of humanity upon the ground their presence in the air was discovered. There came the sound of a single shot and the whiz of a bullet, as it sped close to Hal's ear.

With a quick movement the lad sent the plane soaring high in the air once more. So sudden was the movement that Chester, caught unprepared, lost his balance, and saved himself from tumbling to the ground only by clutching the side of the machine. Marquis also had a narrow escape from being thrown out. He let out a loud yelp of fear, as he was thrown violently against Chester. The lad threw out a hand and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, just as it seemed he would plunge to certain destruction.

"Say!" he called to Hal, when he finally regained his breath and his head. "What's the matter with you? You almost dumped us both out."

"Did I?" replied Hal briefly. "Well, as long as you didn't fall it's all right. We had to come up suddenly, or the chances were we would have gone down suddenly. But it's my fault. I should have given you warning.

Are you hurt?"

"No," replied Chester.

"I'll be careful next time," said Hal. "You'll have to forgive me this once."

"Say no more about it," answered Chester. "But what was the cause of this sudden rise?"

"Cause!" repeated Hal in astonishment. "You don't mean to tell me you don't know the cause? Didn't you hear that shot?"

"Yes, I heard it. But how do you know whether it was fired by friend or foe?"

"I can't see as that would make any difference if it happened to hit us.

However, I'm morally certain they were Germans."

"Well, maybe they were. What are we going to do now?"

"We'll stay up here until we are absolutely certain we have pa.s.sed over the German lines. Then we'll come down."

The machine was high in the air now, and, peering intently over the side, as he did, Chester was unable to make out anything below in the early morning light.

But in the rear, soaring high in the air, although neither lad realized it, a new danger threatened. When the presence of the boys' plane had been discovered, a German craft had immediately risen, and was now in pursuit.

Glancing over his shoulder, Chester was the first to discover that they were followed. At the same moment that he perceived the pursuing machine there came a shot from the enemy.

There was no need for Chester to cry out to Hal. The sound of the shot told the latter of their danger, and he immediately threw the speed lever over as far as it would go.

The machine bounded forward.

But the pursuer also came on faster than before; and, while it was apparent that he was not lessening the distance between the two craft, he nevertheless was still in range, and his rifle continued to crack.

However, neither the machine nor its three occupants were struck.

Chester took a snap shot at the other craft with his revolver, but the bullet fell short. While the enemy could pepper them at will with his rifle, a bullet from the lad's revolver could not reach him.

Hal heard the sound of Chester's revolver, and called out:

"Did you hit him?"

"No!" Chester shouted back, "he's too far behind. But he'll get us in a minute if we don't do something." To himself he added: "If I only had a rifle!"

"You be ready with your revolver," Hal called to his friend, "and I'll soon fix that. It's our only chance."

Abruptly he slackened the speed of the machine, and swiftly the enemy came on. So suddenly had Hal acted that the man at the wheel of the pursuing machine could not act promptly enough, and was within range of Chester's revolver before he could slow down.

As the first machine righted after its abrupt halt, Chester took deliberate aim and fired, even at the moment that a bullet pa.s.sed close to his head.

There was a yell from the pursuing machine. A man leaped suddenly to his feet, shaking the frail craft violently as he did so, waved his arms once, twice, and toppled into s.p.a.ce.

"I got one of 'em," Chester shouted to Hal, and his lips shut grimly.