They were all staring upward, and the old man
followed their gaze.
For an hour past, there had been streaking through the air frightful
roarings enveloped in yellowish vapors, strips of cloud which seemed
to contain wheels revolving with frenzied rotation. They were the
projectiles of the heavy German artillery which, fired from various
distances, threw their great shells over the castle. Certainly that
could not be what was interesting the officials!
He half shut his eyes in order to see better, and finally near the
edge of a cloud, he distinguished a species of mosquito flashing in
the sunlight. Between brief intervals of silence, could be heard the
distant, faint buzz announcing its presence. The officers nodded their
heads. "Franzosen!" Desnoyers thought so, too. He could not believe that
the enemy's two black crosses were between those wings. Instead he saw
with his mind's eye, two tricolored rings like the circular spots which
color the fluttering wings of butterflies.
This explained the agitation of the Germans. The French air-bird
remained motionless for a few seconds over the castle, regardless of
the white bubbles exploding underneath and around it. In vain the cannon
nearest hurled their deadly fire. It wheeled rapidly, and returned to
the place from which it came.
"It must have taken in the whole situation," thought the old Frenchman.
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