nts.

Jack was besieged for a full account of the matter. He, being an
obliging person, gladly told everything he knew. Naturally the mystery
attached to the discovery of the message of warning tied to the poor
little partly collapsed child's balloon aroused considerable curiosity
and speculation among the aviators.

The way some of them pumped Jack made him laugh; but he assured them he
was just about as "deep in the mud as they were in the mire."

"I've told you all about the woman named Mrs. Neumann," he repeated for
the tenth time. "And she's the only one I can think of who would be apt
to care a cent whether Jack Parmly happened to be alive or dead. If
anybody can give a better guess I'd like to hear it."

They did considerable "guessing," but after all it became the consensus
of opinion that the grateful Mrs. Neumann was responsible. And so
finally they let it go at that; for the day had begun, and there was an
abundance of work to be accomplished before the sun set again.

"But this is certain," said one of the leading flyers of the escadrille,
seriously; "if the Boches mean to stop playing fair it's bound to
demoralize the service. Up to now there's been an unwritten set of rules
to the game, which both sides have lived up to. I shall hate to see them
discarded, and brutal methods put in their place."

Others were of the opinion that there might have been something personal
connected with the attempt to kill Jack, through that shabby trick. The
German spy might have had a private grievance against the youth, they
said, which he meant to pay off in his own dastardly way.

No matter which turned out to be the truth, it was not pleasant for Jack
to believe he had become an object of hatred to some mysterious prowler,
and that possibly other secret attempts on his life might be made from
time to time.

That day passed, and another followed. There did not seem to be much
stirring on either side of the line; but such a lull frequently proved
the precursor of some gigantic battle, for which the armies were
preparing.

Of course, when the wind and weather permitted, there was always plenty
of excitement among the airplane escadrilles. All manner of little
expeditions were organized and carried out.

Now it was an attempt to get above that string of "sausage" balloons
used for observation purposes only, so that a few well-dropped bombs
might play havoc among them.

As these were always defended by a force of