Hal turned the situation over in his mind as the craft sped on.
"I don’t know how," he told himself, "but I’ve lost the map. That much is certain. What a dunderhead I must be, by Jove! Well, what shall I do now?"
"Well," he said aloud at length, "there is no need alarming the others, but if I don’t have a map to show the safety zones at certain hours, I’ll just naturally have to get there without one. That’s all there is about that."
With Hal to decide was to act. He acted now, and without further thought of the danger that lay ahead.
The speed of the plane increased, and it soared higher into the heavens.
"It’s safer up here," the lad told himself.
The airplane had now passed from over the German lines, so it was clear that the danger that Hal feared, whatever it was, was not from German aircraft. What worried the lad was the fact that he might be unable to run safely the gauntlet of allied machines that were patrolling the sky.
Once sighted by allied pilots, Hal knew, and there would be trouble. Any plane approaching from the direction of the German lines, and not in that section of the field designated as a safety zone by General Dupree, Hal was perfectly well aware, would incur the suspicion of whatever allied airman sighted it.
"He might let me explain, and he might not," the lad told himself. "Best way, I guess, is to keep out of their reach."
The lad made out the forms of several sky fighters several miles away. Of these he had no fear, however, for the distance was too great and they seemed, if anything, to be moving away from his machine. But soon the boy saw half a dozen craft, in close battle formation, bearing down on him.
"Here they come, ready for business," he muttered, "and they’re Frenchmen, too, judging from here. Well, we’ll have to go up a little higher and see if we can’t dodge them."
But the craft bearing the German peace envoys had been sighted by the pilot of the air fleet, and the entire squadron now dashed toward Hal.
Came a rifle shot from the distance and Hal heard the whine of a bullet not a great distance from his ear.
"Too close for comfort," the lad muttered. "Now here is a case where I’m sorry the French air fighters are such confounded good marksmen. I’ll have to see what this craft can offer in the way of speed."