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they went, since it was necessary that they pass over the German lines at an altitude such as would insure them safety from any furious burst of shrapnel fire from the watchful enemy below.

Had it been a dark night doubtless numberless searchlights would have been brought into play, striving to pick out the machines whose drumming reached the ears of the wakeful enemy below. But when the moon reigned in the heavens it was useless to depend on such artificial light.

Finally Tom saw they had reached the altitude agreed on as the working basis. He could detect ahead of him one or more of the big planes taking flight toward the north. There lay the land of the Teuton, as yet wholly free from invasion, save through just such desperate means as this night expedition.

Far below they could see a myriad of dots of lights. These might be the fires of the hostile armies, for the weather still remained