cruisers, winged monoplanes, each with a ed monoplanes, each with a
single pilot only and one machine gun.

"Keep well under them," signaled Blaine to his friend. "Got any
ammunition? What? The devil!"

Orris had replied to Lafe's queries by shaking out the now empty
cartridge sheaves and dropping them again. Lafe, then swooping closer,
Called forth to his mate:

"By its looks this gun is a rebuilt Lewis. Can you use any of mine?
You know the Boches are great in reconstructing captured weapons to
their own use. Get below me and to one side. Hurry up! I'll try to
toss you a sheaf. Here -- damn you!"

This to the German who again evinced signs of life. Having no time to
spare, Blaine jerked the throat cord closer and gave a heavier foot
pressure to the prisoner's twisted arm. Meanwhile with no time to
lose, Orris swooped lower, rising gently under Blaine's right or
starboard side. The latter had to rise in order to toss the weighty
sheaf of cartridges exactly where he wished them to fall -- into
Erwin's lap.

This he did successfully. But in so doing his weight relaxed upon the
Boche's arm. At the same time Orris, in catching the sheaf, allowed
his control grip to relax. The nose of Orris's machine, now rising,
bumped into Lafe's under plane, tilting it up sharply.

Precisely at this juncture, and as Blaine's foot pressure on his
prisoner's arm relaxed, the tilting planes threw him sharply forward,