ild yell above the roar of the engine.
"They've seen us! They're running out of the house. They're shooting at
us with rifles, Dave!"

Freddy could have saved his breath on the last. The sharp bark of rifle
fire came plainly to Dave's ears as he hunched forward over the
controls. And almost in the same instant he heard the blood chilling
whine of nickel-jacketed lead messengers of death streaking past not
very high above his head. Impulsively he ducked lower in the pit, and
shoved the throttle wide open. The plane was already bouncing over the
ground on its wheels, with the tail up, and then added gas fed to the
engine caused the ship practically to leap forward like a high strung
race horse quitting the barrier.

The sudden burst of speed flung Dave back in the seat, and for one
horrible instant his hands were almost torn from the Dep wheel, and his
feet yanked free of the rudder pedals. He caught himself in the nick of
time, however, swerved the plane clear of a sudden dip in the surface of
the field, and then gently hauled the Dep wheel back toward his stomach.

For a long moment the wheels of the plane seemed to cling to the ground.
Then they lifted clear and the Arado went nosing up toward the golden
washed blue sky. Clamped air burst from Dave's lungs like an exploding
shell. He coughed, and shook sweat from his face, and held the ship at
the correct angle of climb. The engine in the nose sang such a sweet
song of power that for a moment or so it was in tune with the song of
wild joy in Dave's heart. The Arado, as he had rightly guessed, was a
cinch to handle. It was light as a feather and responded instantly to a
touch on the control wheel, or on the rudder pedals.

As the plane climbed upward he twisted around in the seat and looked at
Freddy. The English youth was staring down back at the field they had
just left. Dave followed his look and saw the twenty or thirty figures
garbed in German military uniforms on the field. At least half of them
were firing furiously with rifles. The others were shaking their fists,
and making angry gestures for the plane to return and land. Dave grinned
and shook his head.

"You can just bet we won't come back!" he shouted into the roar of the
engine. "We're not _that_ crazy!"

Freddy heard him and turned front. The English youth's eyes danced with
excitement. He grinned at Dave, and then suddenly seemed to remember the
little scene last night after Dave had removed the scr