"The army aviators!" someone cried, nor was there any rebuke from
the officers. "The army aviators!"

"At ease!" came the order, for the commandant realized that the
students could hardly be expected to stand at attention when there
was the chance to see an airship land.

Then a few seconds later, the two craft came gently down to the
ground, undulating until they could drop as lightly as a boy's kite.
And, as they came to a stop with the application of the drag brake,
after rolling a short distance on the bicycle wheels, the craft were
surrounded by the eager cadets.



CHAPTER V
SUSPICIONS


Casting aside the straps that bound them to their machines, the army
aviators leaped lightly from their seats. The big propellers, from
which the power had been cut off, as the birdmen started to volplane
to the ground, ceased revolving, and the hum and roar of the
powerful motors was no more heard.

In their big, leather helmets, and leather jackets, and with their
enormous goggles on, the birdmen looked like anything but
spick-and-span soldiers of Uncle Sam. But dress in the army has
undergone a radical change. The "fuss and feathers" are gradually
disappearing, and utility is the word. It was so in regard to the