Captain Brice and were in the air in less than five minutes after they had received the word from Bob.  
The Captain had long before explained his plan to the boy.
 
“Jim and I reckoned that he’ll likely make about seventy-five or eighty miles an hour, and will probably go towards Boston. That will bring him somewhere over Augusta at the end of the first hour. So I’m planning to be in that vicinity at about that time and we ought to pick him up. Of course it’s largely guesswork and if he goes off in another direction we’ll be out of luck, that’s all.”
 
As the big plane left the ground Jack experienced a thrill such as he had never had before. He had often dreamed of chasing an enemy plane through the air but had never dared hope that he might actually take part in such a flight. The Captain had provided him with a powerful field glass and he knew that his part in the game was to catch sight of the other machine.
 
He began using the glasses almost as soon as they started.
 
“It won’t do any harm and he may be coming more in this direction than we think,” he told himself.
 
But for nearly an hour he saw nothing more closely resembling an airship than a distant .
 
“Keep an eye peeled,” Captain Brice shouted back. “We’re apt to pick him up most any time now.”
 
The words had hardly left the Captain’s lips when Jack saw through the glass a which sent a thrill of excitement through his body. Was it the plane or only another bird? It was higher than they and too far off for him to be sure. He waited a few minutes and then handed the glass to the Captain pointing toward the speck as he did so.
 
Captain Brice looked through the glass for several minutes then he handed it back with a nod of his head. Immediately after he changed the direction of their flight slightly and, as Jack again got the focus, he realized that the chase had begun in good earnest. Yes, there was no longer any doubt as to the identity of the distant object. It was a plane and he did not hesitate in feeling sure that it was the one they were after.
 
Faster and faster the plane pushed its way through the air and nearer and nearer they drew to their .
 
So far as Jack could see the distant never from his course which was south-westerly.
 
“I’ll bet he’s planning to hit either Boston or New York,” he thought.
 
It was soon evident that they were rapidly the other flyer and before long Jack could easily make out the form of the driver with the aid of the glass. Just then Captain Brice turned in his seat.
 
“I’m going to slow her down a bit,” he shouted.
 
As he Jack keeping his eyes on the plane ahead now not more that an eighth of a mile away, saw the man turn his head.
 
“He’s seen us,” he shouted.
 
The fact was at once evident for, as their machine slowed up the other began to draw away. Seeing this Captain Brice at once increased his speed but to his he was no longer able to decrease the distance between the two planes.
 
“He’s got some speed there,” he shouted back as he gave his plane the last .
 
And now Jack saw that the machine ahead was changing its course. In a large arc he swung until in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes he was heading back nearly due north.
 
“He’s going to try and get back over the border,” Captain Brice shouted turning his head.
 
For a moment Jack looked downward. They were about three thousand feet high and below he could see the tumbling waters of the ocean. He was unable to repress a as the thought of what would happen should anything go wrong with the plane came to him.
 
“Guess it would be no worse than dropping on the land though,” he thought as he looked ahead once more.
 
As he kept his eyes on the plane ahead it was soon evident to the boy that they were doing little if any better than holding their own.
 
Captain Brice again turned his head.
 
“It’s might queer,” he shouted. “I thought I had the fastest flyer in the country but that fellow’s got one just as fast and I’m not sure but what he can beat us.”
 
Glancing down again Jack saw that they were once more over the land. So far as he could judge their relative position did not change a particle during the next hour.
 
“We must be nearly up to Canada,” he thought.
 
For some time the had been increasing his altitude and now as Jack glanced down he was hardly able to see the earth.
 
“I think we’re gaining a bit,” Captain Brice shouted.
 
He had hardly spoken the words when a sound like the bursting of a bomb came to Jack’s ears above the of the motor. Almost at the same instant a sheet of flame seemed to leap from the plane now only a short distance ahead. Jack stared as one fascinated at the sight. For a moment the plane seemed to like a wounded bird and then it began to fall.
 
Over and over the stricken plane turned as it hurtled toward the earth.
 
At the sound of the explosion Captain Brice had turned off the gas and as Jack, leaning far over, watched the falling plane, he was making as short a turn as possible.
 
“Poor fellow. That’s the end of him,” he said in a low tone easily audible now that the motor was still.
 
The blazing plane at the moment disappeared in a piece of woods.
 
Captain Brice continued to let his plane drift until they were within a few hundred feet of the earth when he started the engine again.
 
“Look out for a good place to land,” he shouted.
 
But it was some little time before they were able to pick out a suitable landing field, but finally Jack saw a large level spot and it out to the Captain.
 
“All right we’ll go down.”
 
And down they went landing a few minutes later. The big plane sped along the ground and at last came to a stop not thirty feet from a big farm house.
 
“I don’t know whether we can call this a success or not,” the Captain said as he climbed out of the machine.
 
“Well, one thing is certain,” Jack returned. “Whoever was to get that load of whiskey will have to go without it.”
 
“No doubt of that.”
 
Just then the front door of the house opened and a man closely followed by a woman came out.
 
“Good day, sir,” the Captain said snatching off his and cap.
 
“’Tis that all right,” the man replied with a smile. “Ye been out taking a spin I reckon.”
 
“You might call it that,” the Captain answered. “But can you tell us where ............