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CHAPTER IX.
THRILLING NEWS
“Mumps and mathematics, but I’m glad to see you boys get back safe again!”
Of course that was Pudge, otherwise Ulysses Perkins, expressing his gratitude at the return of the gallant Sea Eagle and the two bold air navigators.
Pudge was close by on the shore when the seaplane ran in to the foot of the wooden trestle, upon which the big seaplane was drawn on the wheeled carriage, built for that purpose, until it was once more safely housed in the hangar.
“Don’t ask a single question, Pudge!” called Billy, “until we’ve got her up the inclined plane, and snugly sheltered from the public view. I guess there must be a thousand people outside trying to see what the Sea Eagle looks like. They must have watched us coming on down the coast, and had a bad case of fright at first, thinking it meant another spell of bomb dropping.”
“Yes, lend us a hand, Pudge,” added Frank, “and help get the machine settled evenly on the little carriage. You know we have it so arranged that she can be hauled up by means of this cable, and by her own motors. I’ll stay aboard to guide things, and you two follow after we’re safely in the hangar, not before.”
Billy knew he meant a rope might possibly break, and it would be dangerous for anyone to be caught upon the trestle by the descending seaplane. Indeed, Billy had a pretty vivid recollection of the narrow escape of the two spies who had barely jumped aside at the time of their downward rush.
Everything went off without the slightest hitch, and the first act of Pudge, after climbing the ascent in company with Billy, was to hastily look over the returned air traveler from the spoon-shaped bow to the opposite extremity.
“Seems to be without a scratch, Frank!” he exclaimed in undeniable glee.
“Why, did you think we had been in some sort of smash-up?” demanded Billy.
“Well, no, not quite so bad as that,” admitted Pudge; “but I knew some of those German spies must have tried pretty hard to capture the craft, and if that failed I reckoned they’d wanted to do something to put her out of commission. Now, please, sit down here and tell me everything.”
“Ours is a long story, Pudge,” said Frank, “as you can judge for yourself when I tell you we’ve been far up over the fighting lines in Belgium, found ourselves bombarded by shrapnel, and threatened by half a dozen Taube flying machines, as well as a Zeppelin!”
“Gosh! all of that?” gasped Pudge.
“Yes,” added Billy, shaking his forefinger at the stout chum, “and before we relate the whole story in detail you’ve got to tell us what happened last night that made you fail to come back when we expected you.”
“Oh! I wanted to, all right,” spluttered Pudge, as though he felt that somehow his bravery or his honor might be involved in the explanation demanded; “but, say, there were three of them, all big husky men, at that, and they caught me unawares just by that turn of the road. It was getting kind of dusk, too, and I never dreamed of trouble till one clapped a hand over my mouth, and the others held me while they tied a bandage around my face. Whee! I was near smothered at first.”
“They were Germans, Pudge?” questioned Billy, interested in the fact that Pudge had also had his share of adventure.
“I heard them talking in German, which made it look that way,” replied the other soberly.
“They didn’t hurt you very much, did they?” asked Billy, looking more closely at their jolly comrade.
“More my feelings than anything else,” replied Pudge, shrugging his fat shoulders disconsolately. “They just kept me there while they waited to catch some sort of signal. I listened, too, and heard some shouting, but that cloth kept me from making out what it meant. Afterward they set me free, and disappeared. I didn’t know what to make of it when I got to the hangar here and found the Sea Eagle gone.”
“You even felt afraid they had grabbed our seaplane, didn’t you?” asked Billy.
“Well, it gave me a bad scare at first,” Pudge admitted, with charming frankness.
“But you got over that later on, eh, Pudge?”
“I did when I heard you calling me from away out somewhere in the dark,” explained the other. “Were you on the water at that time, Frank, because I figured you must be, with that old fog horn sound coming stealing in to me out of that bank of gloom?”
“Yes, that’s where we were, Pudge,” Frank told him. “Now, since you’ve explained all about your own doings, we’ll satisfy your curiosity by telling you the particulars of the trial trip of our sample seaplane. Billy, you can do the talking, if you feel equal to it, while we start a fire here, and warm up with some coffee.”
A fire was soon sending out a fair amount of heat, and the coffee pot placed upon the top of the little sheet-iron stove gave promise of good cheer to come. The aviator boys had enjoyed this social cup many times while working on the assembling of the various parts of the seaplane, so that they had all the necessary accompaniments close by to be used after the coffee had boiled.
Meanwhile Billy had been thrilling Pudge with a recital of all he and Frank had gone through since the fat chum left on his errand. He pictured the dash down the trestle when the determined German secret agents were trying to break in at the doors, so as to seize and run off with the wonderful machine. From that he went on to the adventure in the fog and darkness of the night while they lay on the water of the harbor, and the searching parties came upon them.
Then followed the early morning flight, what amazing things they had seen when passing over the trenches, the fierce bombardment to which they were subjected, the maneuvers of the hostile aircraft, the accident to the motors, and finally their triumphant return to the hangar.
Pudge drew a long breath when the story reached its conclusion.
“And to think that I wasn’t along with you when all those things happened; it’s enough to make anyone weep,” he said, looking so downcast that Frank felt it only right he should try and cheer the poor fellow up.
“Never mind, Pudge,” he told him, “you were doing your duty just as much as any of us. The fact that we made that grand trip over the firing lines doesn’t mean we have any more reason to crow than you do. You can always say that you once had the great luck to be actually taken prisoner by the Germans.”
“Oh! they treated me all right, only that they kept me a prisoner and wouldn’t parole me on my honor not to betray them. Then, that cloth they tied around my face must have been something they picked up, for it seemed like an old rag. But thank goodness it’s all over with now.”
“Yes,” said Billy lightly, “no use ever borrowing trouble about things that are dead and gone. You know they say the mill will never run again with the water that is past. But there’s someone at the door, Frank.”
“I imagine it must be our friend, Major Nixon,” said Frank. “He’s heard that we’ve been away on some sort of trial spin to test things, and has dropped around to learn how we made out.”
“He’s going to be surprised a whole lot when he hears all we’ve got to tell,” said Billy, with a chuckle, as he started over to unfasten the door, upon the panel of which those knocks had been sounded.
It proved that Frank was a good prophet, for the visitor was the red-faced British officer connected with the aviation squad at Dunkirk. His manner betrayed the fact that he had come either to fetch some important news or else to be told something along those lines.
Once again did Billy have to start in. Fortunately, he was a pretty fair story-teller, and enthusiasm with his subject did more or less to help him. The Major was duly thrilled with the graphic account of all the stirring events that had come to Frank and Billy since the afternoon.
Being a man of considerable experience in aviation, though no longer allowed to make an ascent, on account of being subject to dizzy spells, the after effects from a severe accident, Major Nixon at least could enjoy hearing about the exploits of others.
Billy, too, was blunt, and not at all inclined to make himself and chum out to be any sort of heroes. He told the story in a most matter-of-fact way, though reading between the lines the officer was able to picture things about as they happened.
“I’m pleased to hear your grand account of this great seaplane,” he told them when Billy at last told of their safe return to the waiting hangar. “My word, if only we British had fifty like it, I believe we would be in condition to end the war before three months had passed. No Zeppelin would dare enter into the same class. What magnificent craft they would be for protecting the home coast from such bombardments as happened not so very long ago.”
“Well,” said Frank, thinking to strike while the iron was hot, “we’re going to ask that from now on our hangar be guarded against any sort of attack. This seaplane, after certain formalities have been complied with, really will belong to the French Government; so it’s surely up to you to defend the property of your ally from a raid.”
“Your point is well taken, Frank,” the officer told him. “Every hour of the day and night I will see to it that a company of armed guards is stationed around your property, with instructions to defend it against any force of thieves, desperate spies or any other invaders. They will rue the hour they attempt to capture or injure your wonderful seaplane.”
Major Nixon always made it a point to walk around the big air rover, and carefully note its various strong points as developed through the patents of its inventor, Dr. Perkins, U. S. A. He was the only one who had thus far been given the privilege of seeing the odd machine at close quarters; because the boys had the utmost confidence in his honor as a soldier and a gentleman.
It seemed to Billy that the Major spent an unusually long time looking things over on this occasion. Perhaps he wished to verify the statements, to which he had just listened, concerning the stability of the seaplane and its condition for hard service.
When he joined them again, Billy also noticed that there was a most peculiar expression on the other’s red face, of which he could make nothing at the time, although it all came to him afterward.
“Is the seaplane in condition for another trip that might cover several times the distance you did in this trial spin?” he asked.
Billy thought this to be merely a casual question, such as anyone might ask after hearing the story just finished; but Frank, able to see further, believed there might be a meaning behind it.
“All I would have to do would be to replace the liquid fuel that we have used, and after oiling the bearings in a few places, I give you my word, Major Nixon, I would be willing to take the chances of going to Paris and back in the Sea Eagle with as many as two or more companions on the journey.”
Upon hearing that the other smiled as though the answer pleased him. There were numerous attributes connected with Frank Chester calculated to appeal to a man of his observation; and considering the fact that he was an Englishman, usually cold and reserved toward outsiders, the Major had become warmly attached to the boy aviators and their fortunes.
“And now, if you’ll bend your heads toward me, because sometimes the very walls have ears, they say,” he remarked impressively, “I’ll tell you a great secret.”
Realizing that this was no joke, Frank, Billy and even Pudge leaned forward, after which Major Nixon went on to say in a cautious tone hardly more than a whisper:
“It was learned that our friends, the enemy, intended sending out another one of their exasperating raids with half a dozen Taubes. They would drop a few bombs on Dunkirk and Calais and call that a great feat. Now more than thirty seaplanes, guided by some of the most daring of British aviators, plan a gigantic raid on the German sea bases in Belgium to-night, and you can accompany them if you will!”
CHAPTER X.
THE AËROPLANE BOYS IN LUCK
Thrilled by the nature of the communication made by the British officer, Frank, Billy and Pudge stood there staring at one another.
Of course it was not so very difficult for Frank to understand just why this invitation to accompany the raiding party of British aviators had come to them. Back of it all was the French Government, he felt certain. Before going into the business of making heavy investments connected with the new American seaplane patents it was only natural they should desire to witness an efficient test of the machine’s superiority over any aëroplanes they already possessed.
The contemplated raid would afford such a test. Competent critics, those other experienced birdmen, would be near to gauge the capacity of the Sea Eagle. In other words, the French Government did not want to “buy a pig in the poke.” Unless the hybrid sea and aircraft could meet the requirements laid down, they would not dare risk squandering great amounts of money in those hard times to duplicate her model.
Frank was greatly pleased. It seemed as though he and his chums had received a magnificent compliment in being honored with such an invitation.
“Of course, Major Nixon, you have been authorized to see us, and extend this courtesy?” he asked, as a starter.
“I can show you my credentials in that line, Frank,” the genial officer replied, without the least hesitation or embarrassment, which he accordingly proceeded to do, thus relieving the other’s mind in the beginning.
“Everything is shipshape, sir,” said Frank. “Now let us talk about the conditions under which we are to be allowed to accompany the expedition”
“Please keep your voice lowered as much as you can while I instruct you,” begged Major Nixon.
“You are thinking of those German spies who are said to be everywhere?” ventured Frank, who had heard much talk along these lines ever since arriving at Dunkirk.
Indeed, the stories that passed current concerning spies were astonishing. Most of them Frank did not believe in at all, for he knew they were founded on the fears of the people. At the same time the secret agents of the Kaiser were certainly vigilant as well as bold, and if one had to err at all it were better to be on the safe side.
“In times past I haven’t taken much stock in the wild stories that have been going around,” said the soldier, smiling; “but we certainly know there are spies in Dunkirk at this very hour. In fact, you boys have had pretty strong evidence that your operations while here have been watched day by day.”
“Yes,” remarked Billy, “and after what happened last night we are ready to believe almost anything, sir. I remember reading that sometimes the walls have ears, and I guess it may be so.”
“Under such conditions then it is best that we get our heads close together and talk in very low tones,” said the officer. “There are guards posted all around the stockade now, and yet in spite of that precaution some of those German spies are smart enough to play the game.”
“Anchors and aëroplanes, but this is exciting enough to please even a fellow built like you are, Billy!” muttered Pudge, who was mopping his red forehead with his handkerchief, though the others did not consider it any too warm there in the hangar of the great seaplane.
“I am unable to tell you at this minute the exact hour when the start will be made,” Major Nixon whispered. “Much depends on the state of the weather, and the arrival of the fleet of aëroplanes from across the Channel, for most of them will come from England, you understand.”
“Conditions being favorable, then,” observed Frank, “you believe that by another morning the start of the raiding party will take place?”
“Yes, undoubtedly,” came the answer. “We wish to take advantage of the unusually good weather conditions. Then, besides, we have learned through certain sources of information that the Germans on their own hook are planning an extensive dash with their aëroplanes and dirigibles on the coast cities on the Channel. It is in hopes of balking that, as well as accomplishing other results that more than thirty seaplanes will make this stupendous raid on their submarine bases at Ostend, Zeebrugge and Blankenberghe.”
“Sandwiches and sauerkraut!” Pudge was heard to gasp, as though his breath were almost taken away by the magnitude of this assertion; for he had never as yet seen as many as thirty aëroplanes assembled together, and certainly not in action.
“Is that the only motive of the raid, Major Nixon?” Frank asked, for he invariably made it a point to acquire all the information possible.
“Well,” continued the soldier, “to be perfectly frank with you, there are a number of other objects which such a sudden attack is likely to influence. It is aimed to destroy the railway station at Ostend so as to greatly hinder the movement of troop trains and those carrying ammunition and supplies. Then, at Bruges, other damage may be done.”
“But isn’t there still another big object in it?” insisted Frank.
“I suppose you are referring to the great submarine blockade of the coasts of Great Britain which Germany proposes to inaugurate next week?” said Major Nixon. “Yes, although I have not been so informed, I can guess readily enough that by means of this raid it is hoped to extensively damage their submarine base at Zeebrugge, and injure the movement in the beginning.”
“In other words,” said Frank, “Great Britain means to throw down the gage of battle, and warn Germany she can make just as dashing raids as anyone. No one nation is mistress of the air in this world war – as yet.”
Major Nixon smiled as he heard those last two words, and saw the quick look of pride which the young aviator threw toward the monster seaplane that was housed in that hangar.
“It’s plain that you have the utmost confidence in the ability of your machine to wrest that supremacy from the Germans, if once France secures the right to manufacture a fleet of Sea Eagles,” he remarked, as he laid a hand upon the shoulder of Frank Chester, of whom the bluff soldier had become quite fond in the short time they had known each other.
“Then it is understood, Major, that we keep ourselves in readiness to start out so as to be on the move at dawn, for I don’t imagine such a great fleet of aëroplanes would wish to make a start in the darkness of night.”
“No, there is no necessity of such a thing,” came the quick reply. “In fact, one of the objects of this raid is publicity. We do not aim to creep up and damage the enemy in the dark. We want him to see the astonishing sight of such a mass of darting seaplanes descending on his coast towns like a flock of eagles, and destroying military property, not citizens’ private homes, mind you.”
“I think,” said Frank, “I can speak for my friends here as well as myself, Major, when I promise to be ready for the signal. How will we know when to start out, for we shall all sleep here to-night?”
“There is only one condition which you will be asked to meet,” said the other.
“Then tell us what it is, sir.”
“The French Government will expect to have a representative aboard the Sea Eagle during the flight, not to interfere in the slightest degree with your mastery of the seaplane, but simply to take notes concerning her behavior under every sort of condition.”
“We certainly agree to that condition, Major Nixon,” said Frank heartily. “In fact, I should have asked that one be sent out with us. It is a part of our policy to fully satisfy the authorities we’ve been dealing with for nearly a year, now, that everything we claim, and much more, is possible with our advanced model of a hydro-aëroplane.”
“Very good, and I am pleased to know it,” said the officer. “I shall have to go back to town, now, but I will advise the local representative of the Government that you accept the conditions. By early dawn there will appear here a skillful aviator with written credentials, and I hope his ultimate report will be all you boys hoped it to be. My word! I only wish I were going with you, but other duties must claim my attention.”
He shook each one of them warmly by the hand.
“The best of luck, Frank,” were his last words at parting. “I trust that you may have an experience calculated to dwarf anything that has ever come your way.”
Frank, as he contemplated what a thrilling adventure lay before them, fancied that this wish on the part of Major Nixon was in a fair way of coming true. It certainly would be difficult to imagine a more exciting experience than taking part in an aërial raid, where more than thirty seaplanes started out to bombard strongly fortified coast defenses of the enemy, each raider subjected to a continual fire from every known species of anti-aircraft gun known to modern warfare.
After the soldier had left them, the three Boy Aviators sat around and talked in low tones. They had barred the door, and so far as they could see there was not the slightest chance that any eavesdropper could get close enough to overhear what they said. Nevertheless, the caution of Major Nixon had its effect upon them and there was no loud conversation except when ordinary matters were touched upon.
Frank always liked to “potter” around and give little touches of improvement to some part of the seaplane in which he had such a deep interest. No one knew its good and bad qualities as well as Frank; even its inventor had not studied these points as carefully as the young aviator.
So it happened that from time to time the boy made numerous little improvements that he figured would cause the motors to work more smoothly, or strengthen some part of the framework that showed signs of weakness.
Half a dozen times Frank left his two chums, sitting there killing time, to attend to something connected with the plane. He had carefully examined to find what had caused the accident that gave them such a thrill when thousands of feet above the earth.
“The same thing will never occur again, that I’m as sure of as I am of my own name,” he told Billy, when the other asked him about it.
Several hours had passed since the soldier had left them. Pudge, having taken a stroll outside, came back to report that there were at least a dozen British “Tommies” standing guard around the enclosure in which the hangar had been erected.
“It’s a good thing, too,” said Pudge, “because a crowd has come out from town to hang around here in hopes we’ll make a flight to-day. Oilskins and onions, but I should think there must be a hundred people if there’s one. But those Tommies are ready to use their bayonets on the first fellow who tried to climb up and peep over the stockade.”
“There are two guards, I noticed, down by the end of the trestle, where it strikes the water,” observed Billy, who had been moving around.
Frank was doing some little job under the seaplane, and at this moment came sauntering toward his two mates. Billy, happening to glance up at the other’s face was surprised to see that Frank looked excited; at least his eyes sparkled strangely, and there was a grimness in the way he had set his jaws.
Billy, always inclined to be explosive, might have burst out with a question only that he received a quick and expressive look from Frank, accompanied by the placing of a finger on his lips. Then, as Frank dropped into a chair beside them, Billy leaned over to whisper:
“What’s up now, Frank, that you’re looking so mysterious?”
“I’ve just made a discovery, that’s all,” came the same sort of careful reply. “Fact is, after all our precautions we’ve been outwitted, for there’s a spy hidden in the hangar right now!”
