"
Delaunois took one hand from the steering rudder and turned glistening
eyes upon John.
"It's a knightly adventure," he said. "It will appeal to Frenchmen when
they hear of it, and yet more to Frenchwomen. I should like to shake the
hand of this American, John Scott, and since he is not here, I will, if
you will let me, shake the hand of his nearest French relative, Jean
Castel."
He opened his gloved palm and John's met it in a strong grasp.
"I'm glad," said Delaunois, "that I saw you, and that I am able to give
you this lift. We're over the edge of the mountains now, and presently
we'll cross the French lines. I think I'd better go up a considerable
distance, as they won't know we're French, and they might give us a few
shots."
The machine rose fast and it grew intensely cold. John looked down now
upon a country, containing much forest for Europe, and sparsely
inhabited. But he saw far beneath them trenches and other earthworks
manned with French soldiers. Several officers were examining them
through glasses, but Delaunois sailed gracefully over the line, circled
around a slender peak where he was hidden completely from their view,
and then dropped down in a forest of larch and pine. "So far as I know,"
he said, when the plane rested on the snow, "nobody has seen our
descent. We're well beyond the French lines here, but you'll find
German forts four or five miles ahead.
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