eight
o'clock
And three brilliant beams shot into the night sky , one of them focusing the Aviatik and the two others instantly joining it , to show the anti-aircraft gunners their target . Laval dived -- a breathless , daring swoop down -- as two shells burst above their heads ; but , quick as he was , a shower of bullets rained through one of the wings . Dennis could see the holes when the searchlights got them again , and the side of the fuselage was pitted with dents . Right and left , above and below , in front and behind them , the whole sky was suddenly alive with shell bursts ; and into the observer 's brain came the recollection that he had an interview with General Joffre at eight o'clock that morning ! He found himself actually smiling at the thought , and wishing that he could speak to the man in front of him -- the helmeted man with rounded shoulders bent over his wheel , who pressed levers and bent the control pillar this way and that , as he sent the biplane zigzagging through the heavens with a suddenness that bumped Dennis about , and threatened more than once to fling him out into eternity . He did not feel the cold , although it was intense ; and he had the presence of mind to pass a strap round his waist and fasten himself in . And then he crouched there , marvelling at their luck and the iron nerve of his companion , who , so far , was responsible for their escape .