human
Out of essence--he's got to come down, said Harry, appraisingly, to Dick.
gpt
He'll manage it all right, too. He knows his business through and through, that chap.
human
I wonder where he'll land,
gpt
He's got to pick an open space, of course, said Harry.
human
And there aren't so many of them around here. By Jove!
gpt
Look! He's certainly coming down fast!
human
Yes--and, I say, I think he's heading for this meadow! Come on--start that motor, Dick!
gpt
Why? Don't you want him to see us?
human
I don't mind him seeing us--I don't want him to see the car, explained Harry.
gpt
We'll run it around that bend, out of sight from the meadow.
human
Why shouldn't he see it?
gpt
Because if he's out of petrol he'll want to take all we've got and we may not want him to have it. We don't know who he is, yet.
human
He may have seen it as he was coming down--the car, I mean, he said.
gpt
But I doubt it. He's got other things to watch. That meadow for one--and all his levers and his wheel. Guiding an aeroplane in a coast like that down the air is no easy job.
human
Have you ever been up, Harry?
gpt
Yes, often. I've never driven one myself, but I believe I could if I had to. I've watched other people handle them so often that I know just about everything that has to be done.
human
That's an English monoplane. I've seen them ever so often, said Dick.
gpt
It's an army machine, I mean. See its number? It's just coming in sight of us now. Wouldn't I like to fly her though?
human
I'd like to know what it's doing around here, said Harry.
gpt
And it seems funny to me if an English army aviator has started out without enough petrol in his tank to see him through any flight he might be making. And wouldn't he have headed for one of his supply stations as soon as he found he was running short, instead of coming down in country like this?
human
Do you think it's another spy?
gpt
I don't think anything about it yet, Dick. But I'm not going to be caught napping. That's a Bleriot--and the British army flying corps uses Bleriots. But anyone with the money can buy one and make it look like an English army 'plane. Remember that.