t the speedy
aircraft to the place named by the young inventor in his telephone
message. There were still several hours of daylight left, and Tom
counted on them to allow him to rise in the air and look down on the
tanks possible hiding place.

"One thing's sure," he told Ned: "I know the limit of her speed, and
she can't be farther off than at some place within a circle of about
one hundred and twenty-five miles from my house. And it's in the
direction we're in. So if I circle around up above, I may spot her."

"I hope so," murmured Ned.

It was arranged that Mr. Damon should take the automobile back, with
Tom's mechanician in it, and Tom and Ned would scout around in the
aircraft, which carried only two.

"You ought to have a machine gun with you, Tom, if you plan to attack
those fellows to get back the tank," Ned said.

"Oh, I don't imagine I'll need it," he said. "Anyhow, a machine gun
wouldn't be of much effect against the tank. And they can't fire on us,
for there wasn't any ammunition for the guns in Tank A, unless they got
some of their own, and I hardly believe they'd do that. I'll take a
chance, anyhow."

And so the search from the air began. It was disappointing at first.
Around and around circled Tom and Ned, their eyes peering eagerly down
from the heights for a sight of the tank, possibly hidden in some
little-known ravine or gully.

Back and forth, like a speck in the sky, Tom guided the Hawk, while Ned
took observation after observation with the binoculars.

At last, when the low-sinking sun gave warning that night would soon be
upon them, Ned's glasses picked up something on the ground far below
that made him sit suddenly straighter in his seat.

"What is it?" asked Tom through the speaking apparatus, feeling the
movement on the part of his chum.

"I see something down there, Tom," was the answer. "It doesn't look
like the tank, and yet it doesn't look as a clump of trees and bushes
ought to look. Have a peep yourself. It's just beyond that river,
against the side of the hill--a lonesome place, too."

Tom took the glasses while Ned assumed control of the Hawk, there being
a dual system for operating and steering her.

No sooner had the young inventor got the focus on what Ned had
indicated than he gave a cry.

"What is it?" asked the young bank clerk.

"Camouflaged!" cried Tom, and without stopping to explain what he
meant, he handed the binoculars back to Ned and began to guide the Ha