Down, down he came, finally plumping to earth, just outside the broad
shell-hole with a gentle crash. With this the flames burst up anew,
enveloping the crushed wings, and rendering the very nearness a danger.
But the goggled, leather-coated masked man had already sprung out, his
personal belongings in hand, and stumbled up the outer slope of the
crater. Suddenly he was halted by the stern command:
"Hands up -- you!" There was no mistaking Blaine's voice by one who
had often heard it before.
"Why, hullo, Lafe!" And Blaine and Stanley both recognized the wrecked
intruder. "I thought you had made the home base."
Sure enough it was Buck Bangs himself, breathless from exertion, yet
full of vim and energy still. He climbed nimbly up the slope and
gripped Blaine's hand, then stooping, greeted the still weak, yet
slowly recovering Stanley.
"I would have got there," said Blaine, replying to Buck's first remark,
"but my petrol all at once gave out. I barely managed to save a fall
by alighting here. How came you in this fix?"
"That's soon said. While I was fighting that plane that was after you
and you were on the way home, as I thought, along came two other
Boches. Well, we had it hot for a minute or so. I downed one
somewhere along here."
"Yonder it lies," and Blaine pointed at the ruins of the other plane,
near which lay Bauer and the other dead German.
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