Now for a landing. Emerging from the pass, Frank mounted high and then, with engine shut off, began to descend on a long gradual slide, intending to pancake at the end and to drop as lightly as possible. With the wheels torn loose, as they suspected, any other method of alighting would be impossible. They would be shaken up, but would have to brace themselves for the shock and take things as easily as possible. While they were still in the air, they saw in the distance dashing along the base of the Great Mountain Wall, a score of mounted revolutionists, followed by a considerable number afoot, and knew that aid for the defenders of the barricade was on the way. Well, thanks to Roy Stone’s gas bombs, the effects of which had incapacitated a large portion of the Janissaries, the re-inforcements would be in time. In fact, sweeping into the valley of Korakum, they would be able to turn the tables on the enemy. These thoughts rushed through the minds of all, as Amrath communicated the meaning of the tiny figures which, as he alone carried glasses, were plainest to him. Then came the pancake, and the final drop. But in the end the plane received little damage nor were its occupants much thrown about. The carriage holding the wheels, torn loose in front when the wheels scraped the upper edge of the Coliseum’s tiers of seats, was still firmly fastened at the rear. Thus, the wheels hung slantwise. Had Frank, ignorant of what had occurred, attempted the usual landing, the results would have been disastrous. But by pancaking and dropping, the wheels were pushed up against the bottom of the plane and held firmly in place, instead of being torn entirely from the fastenings. The result was that the plane, although racketted about a bit, suffered no more than in a bumpy landing, and came to rest without burying nose or wings in the sand as had been feared would be the case. All climbed stiffly out, and the next minute Frank and Bob were hugging each other like a couple of kids, and thumping each other on the back with terrific whacks. In the meantime, Roy Stone and Amrath stood aside, and it was not until Frank and he had pummelled each other to their mutual satisfaction that Bob turned to the aviator. “Haven’t had much chance for personal conversation with you up there in the plane, Stone,” he said, as he wrung the other’s hand. “But I want to tell you—Oh, shucks, what’s the use? I can’t sling language much. Only, I will say I never got more benefit out of a fight in my life than out of that one with you in the cave back in Old Mexico.”