That affair being over, Jack, breathing hard, now allowed himself to pay
some attention to what was going on in other quarters. At the same time
he proceeded to introduce a fresh belt of cartridges into the hungry maw
of the machine gun, in case they were forced into another engagement.
Above them the battle still raged, though of course Jack could not decide
which side might be getting the better of it. His interest focused
chiefly on the bombing machines, which he found were now far away, moving
along in erratic courses as their pilots strove to get in exact position
for a successful blowing up of the bridge.
Jack could count only three of them. Unless the fourth had wandered far
afield it looked as though disaster had overtaken its crew. No matter,
even such a catastrophe must not deter those remaining from seeking by
every means in their power to reach their objective.
Even as he stared downward Jack saw another of those brilliant flashes
that proclaimed the bursting of a bomb. He felt a sense of chagrin steal
over him, because so far no explosive seemed to have succeeded in
attaining the great end sought. The bridge still stood intact, if
deserted, for he could catch glimpses of it when the smoke clouds were
drifted aside by the night breeze.
Fires were now burning in several quarters, started undoubtedly by some
of the bombs that had missed their intended objective. These lighted up
the scene and gave it a weird, almost terrifying aspect as witnessed from
far above.
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