a light was circling swiftly, darting hither and thither like a will o’ the wisp. No mail plane would behave like that. Dick decided that here was his quarry.

Silently the Mohawk came down till it was not more than five hundred feet above its unsuspecting prey, the loud drone of whose engine came clearly on the air. Dick swung round in a circle, following every movement of the machine below, with a swift precision which Yvette keenly appreciated.

Dick had made up his mind that the offices above the aeroplane shed probably held the key to the problem they had to solve. He knew he could destroy the machine itself. But that would not be enough if the plans remained intact; a new machine could quickly be built. If he could destroy the plans, on the other hand, there would be at least a lot of delay, which would enable the French agents to perfect their plans for discovering the secret. In all probability, he reasoned, the office would serve as the draughtsmen’s workroom, and if this were so, a well-placed bomb might destroy the labour of months.

So he watched and waited, until at length they saw the German aeroplane going home. It came down in a wonderfully steep descent which was enough to tell Dick that the Germans had indeed made a discovery of great importance, and landed so slowly that Dick could hardly believe his eyes. But, at least, he saw enough to be sure that the descent was not the vertical drop of his own helicopter. His secret remained his own!

Close beside the shed a couple of hooded airmen alighted. Lights were switched on and they began a careful examination of the machine. Five hundred feet above Dick watched the figures with interest.

Suddenly the men below stiffened and looked skyward, listening intently. Evidently they had caught the faint sound of Dick’s propellers.

A glance through his bomb sights showed Dick that he was in the position he desired. There was now no possible escape for the craft below.

Then one of the men pointed upward. Even in the darkness he had caught a glimpse of the Mohawk.

Dick’s hand shot to the bomb controls and he pulled a trigger. A petrol bomb fell squarely on the German plane and burst with a soft explosion, barely audible.

A sheet of fire followed, and in an instant the German plane was a mass of flames, fed by the petrol which streamed from its tanks. One of the Germans was caught 

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