Germans in the second trenches would have no chance of going back through that deadly hailstorm of shells; they must either die at their posts, or surrender, he saw.
So fifteen minutes later Tom dropped to the field, ran his plane up close to the hangar, and then as a figure dashed wildly toward him, started to climb wearily from his seat.
Of course it was Jack. He was wild with delight, and was swinging his cap above his head with all the animation of a schoolboy.
"Oh! to think that I saw it all, Tom!" was what he cried, as he seized the hand of his chum, and squeezed it fiercely, almost crying in his excitement.
"You did!" exclaimed the other. "How did that happen, when I had the glasses aloft with me?"
"Oh, I borrowed a pair from an obliging French officer. When he understood that you were my chum, and that it was your first trial at combat in the air, he gladly accommodated me. They are willing to do almost anything for us Americans. My heart was up in my throat every time you rushed at that terrible Boche pilot!"
"But how could you pick me out at that distance?" demanded Tom incredulously, for it seemed almost unbelievable.
