The almost incessant roar of the guns, together with the crash of bursting shrapnel shells far above them had effectually drowned that dull, distant sound which from time to time had come to their ears, being caused by heavy ordnance battering some fortified place near the coast. Jack had even suggested that it might be the British battleships bombarding Zeebrugge, in order to damage the submarine base the Kaiser had instituted there. Twice again did Amos have occasion to declare he believed the Taube had certainly received its finishing stroke, for it acted in an eccentric manner, and seemed to flutter like a wounded eagle of the skies. When on both occasions he saw that it recovered in time to elude the swoop of the Allies’ machines his praise grew louder than ever. “I’m almost ready to wish that fellow gets away scot-free, Jack; he certainly deserves to win out!” he declared, enthusiastically. “I reckon he’s got something with him he considers worth fighting for to the last gasp,” remarked the other; “but every minute this thing keeps up his chances decrease. He makes me think of a winded steer tottering along, and so exhausted that it seems a shame to rope him. There, that time he must have been badly battered when the shrapnel burst close alongside!” “He’s winging down again, all right!” exclaimed Amos, “and this time it means he’s got to the end of his rope. His engine has been put out of commission most likely; and, Jack, see, he’s heading right at us!” “That’s right!” echoed the other; “and p’raps we’ll be in at the death, after all!” The Taube was falling very fast, despite every effort of the expert pilot to volplane earthward without the use of his engine. Apparently the machine must have been badly crippled by the shower of shrapnel to which it was lately exposed, and in addition the daring aviator may have received wounds that prevented him from properly fulfilling his duties. As the two boys stood there staring, they saw the aeroplane sailing lower and lower until it seemed to be almost skimming the surface of the earth. “There! he’s jumped out into that patch of bushes over yonder!” exclaimed Amos in renewed excitement, “and the machine has pitched down further on. He did his level best, Jack, but the game was too one-sided for him. Wonder is he living or dead?” CHAPTER IV. THE TELL-TALE CHART. Jack noticed that the other two aeroplanes had withdrawn as though the pilots felt satisfied with having hurled the Taube to the ground. That particular section of country was so rough that they evidently had no intention of trying to effect a landing. Amos even suggested that possibly they had not come out of the encounter unscathed, and that the aviators were glad of a chance to retire from the battle in the air. “We must see how badly he is hurt, Amos,” said the Western boy, as he started toward the spot where the venturesome birdman had plunged from his falling machine into the scrub bushes.