Alfred rushed over to the supply depot, and soon had the cameras in his possession, together with extra rolls of films. Ralph accompanied the lieutenant to the hangar to note the placing of the bombs. "Why are the bombs placed with the pointed ends up?" asked Ralph, as the men were placing them in position. "So the fulminate cap can be placed on, preparatory to launching," remarked the foreman. "Why, won't they go off without the cap on? Wouldn't a concussion explode them?" he asked. "Well, it would require a pretty tough jar to make them go off," replied the man. At the appointed time the eighteen machines arose, and started for the east. The sun was full in their faces, but the misty weather made it look like a great red ball, symbolic of the day's work. It was hard to get away from the glare of the sun as they arose to the height which the orders compelled them to take, and at Saarburg some of the machines were actually hit by missiles from the anti-airship guns. The first city of importance to greet their eyes, after leaving Brumath, was Lauterbach, and then Karlsruhe, a city of over 100,000 was sighted. "We are now thirty-five miles from Ludwigshafen," shouted the lieutenant, through the tube. "Keep well to the west of the river, and maintain the same height, until the city is reached." Two miles before Mannheim was reached eight of the machines swerved to the right, and crossed the river, their destination being the town of Oppau, several miles beyond the town, where large manufacturing establishments were turning out ammunition. "We are bound for the chemical factories," said the lieutenant. "See the workmen running about. They have, no doubt, heard of our mission by this time." "Which way shall I point the camera?" asked Alfred. "Straight down," replied the lieutenant. "I am going to signal No. 62 to take the lead, so we will be the fifth in line. That will give you a splendid opportunity to notice the effect of the explosions and to snap them." The lieutenant set the signal, "echelon formation," which means step formation, one machine being ahead and a little to the right or to the left of the succeeding one. In that manner the ten machines flew along, the distance between them being about eight hundred feet, and by this arrangement each succeeding machine was able to observe the effect of the bomb dropped by the machine ahead. Mannheim was avoided, and the machines steered straight for the chemical headquarters on the left side of the stream where No. 62 released the first bomb. Alfred strained his eyes, and saw a flash below. It missed a building, and he shouted the information to Ralph through the tube.