Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/346

 motioned to the pair of bombs in the rack. "That will drive 'em all to the cellars; then keep circling above 'em, as if to lay more eggs to keep 'em there. O'Malley and I'll rush the castle."

"You two alone?" the Englishman asked.

"Alone?" Gerry laughed. "Lay your eggs, old hawk! Lay your eggs; and two's a crowd for that castle tonight! The only danger's getting lost in the halls! But in case someone shows, lend us your pistol—we have one. Then lay your eggs—close but not on; and keep flying above ten minutes more!"

The occupants of the Schloss von Fallenbosch all had been aroused many minutes earlier by the burst of the first bombs in the city. The detonations, followed immediately by the alarm and by the sound of the anti-aircraft guns replying, had sent the citizens of Mannheim scurrying to their cellars. The allied raiders never attacked intentionally the dwelling places of the city; their objectives were solely the chemical and munition works; but the German population—knowing how their own flyers bombed open cities indiscriminately—always expected similar assaults upon themselves. Moreover, they well knew the difficulties of identifying objectives from high in the air and the greater difficulty of confining attack to a limited area; then there were the machine-gun bullets from the aerial battle and the bits of shrapnel showering back upon the city.

But the schloss heretofore had been quite removed from attack; it was far enough from the city to be in small danger from the falling shells of the high angle guns. So Oberst-Lieutenant von Fallenbosch and his aids,