Airship Part 9

Covered by scores of rifles, Fosterd.y.k.e, Kenyon, and Bramsdean headed the crew of the airs.h.i.+p. Completely bewildered by the aggressive nature of their reception, and not knowing what fate would befall them, the position of the British airmen was critical in the extreme. Yet they bore themselves calmly and bravely, scorning to let their captors know that inwardly at least they "felt the breeze."

Deftly, as if they were well used to performing the operation, two half-breeds searched the baronet for concealed weapons. The rest of the crew were subjected to the same treatment. Finding nothing in the nature of arms, the searchers looked rather astonished and disappointed.

A gorgeously uniformed man, evidently the commandant of the band, walked up to the baronet and saluted with an elaborate flourish. There was little doubt about it; he had already come to the conclusion that a mistake had occurred, and that he rather feared the consequences.

"Americano, senor?" he asked.

"No," replied Fosterd.y.k.e. "English."

"Madre de Dios!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the commandant in ill-concealed consternation. He shouted something to his followers. After a brief interval, a tall, olive-featured follower, whose black oiled locks fell on his shoulders, slouched forward and announced-- "Me speak English. Vot you do here?"

Mutual explanations took a considerable time; but eventually Fosterd.y.k.e and his companions gleaned the salient facts for the reason of the attack and capture of the "Golden Hind."

In the tropical mists the airs.h.i.+p had landed not in the Panama Zone but in a neighbouring republic, which, as is by no means an unusual occurrence, was indulging in a little political diversion in the shape of a revolution. Just at present there was no means of ascertaining which was the predominant faction, but one side had gained possession of an old airs.h.i.+p--purchased at a disposal sale of one of the Entente countries. This airs.h.i.+p, hastily fitted out and provided with bombs and machine-guns, was known to be on the point of operating against the Federals. The latter were therefore expecting the raiding airs.h.i.+p when the "Golden Hind," miles out of her course owing to the mists and a side wind that, unknown to the navigating officers, had blown her well to leeward, fired her detonating rockets almost immediately over the Federal party's main force.

The Federals knew nothing of the Round the World Race; but their anxiety to make amends was most marked. They offered to provide unlimited supplies of petrol, and to render any a.s.sistance that lay in their power; but the fact remained that the hasty fusillade had caused considerable damage to the "Golden Hind."

At first Fosterd.y.k.e thought that the airs.h.i.+p was out of the running. Kenyon and Bramsdean were of the same opinion, for the loss of brodium through the punctured ballonets seemed a fatal obstacle to the immediate resumption of the flight.

Further examination revealed the fact that half the number of the ballonets were holed. Of these almost every one could be patched and made gas-tight, since the rifle-bullets, being of small calibre and of high velocity, had bored minute holes. But what was far more serious was the shortage of brodium. Even by releasing the contents of the reserve cylinders it was doubtful whether there was sufficient to lift the airs.h.i.+p.

"We'll have a good try, anyway," declared Fosterd.y.k.e. "Once we get her up we'll rely on our planes to get us across the Atlantic. Thank goodness the motors are intact! I wonder if there's much damage done to the navigation-room. Several bullets came unpleasantly close to our heads, I remember."

Examination resulted in the knowledge that although the aluminium sides of the nacelle had been liberally peppered, most of the nickel bullets had penetrated both sides without doing vital damage. What was the most serious injury was caused to the propellers of Nos. 5 and 6 motors, the feather-edged blades being chipped by bullets. Since the spare blades had already been used earlier in the voyage replacement was out of the question. The ragged edges meant at least a reduction of ten miles an hour, even if the blades did not fly to pieces when the propellers were running at maximum speed.

During the rest of the night the crew worked with a will--patching, mending, and "doping" the holed fabric and carefully testing each repaired ballonet with compressed air before refilling it with the precious brodium.

Meanwhile, the Federals brought quant.i.ties of petrol, employing teams of mules for the purpose, their petrol dump being a good five miles from the scene of the "Golden Hind's" unfortunate landing. Every drop had to be pa.s.sed through a fine gauze strainer before being allowed to enter the tanks, since foreign matter in the fuel might easily result in motor trouble.

Anxious to make amends, the commandant also presented the baronet with a quant.i.ty of excellent tobacco and cigars, several native cakes made of maize, an earthenware bowl filled with good b.u.t.ter, and a wicker crate of fresh fruit.

By dawn the refitting of the "Golden Hind" was accomplished as far as lay in the power of the dauntless crew. Now came the crucial test: would the airs.h.i.+p rise under the lifting power of the reduced volume of brodium?

At seven o'clock the huge fabric showed signs of buoyancy. A quarter of an hour later the recording instruments showed that only another thousand cubic feet of gas was necessary to overcome the force of gravity.

"We haven't that quant.i.ty, sir," reported Chief Air Mechanic Hayward. "But I would suggest, sir, that we release our reserve gas into the for'ard ballonets. That will lift her nose clear of the ground, and the propellers will do the rest. Once we're up, sir, it will be as easy as sh.e.l.ling peas."

"We can but try it," replied Fosterd.y.k.e. "At any rate, if we can make Panama we will manage with hydrogen for the remaining ballonets. Right-o! Pa.s.s the word when you're ready."

At seven-thirty the crew were at their stations. The for'ard portion of the airs.h.i.+p was straining at the guide ropes. The declutched motors, purring gently at a quarter throttle, were awaiting the order that would transform them into propulsive forces. Until the planes could be brought into action the "Golden Hind" was much in the nature of a rocket soaring obliquely under the influence of a self-contained impulsive charge.

Throwing open one of the windows of the riddled navigation-room, Fosterd.y.k.e surveyed the crowd below. The Federal troops, in spite of their bizarre uniforms and varied equipment, were fairly well disciplined. Those not actually engaged in holding down the airs.h.i.+p were formed up at about fifty yards from the nacelle, interested spectators of the largest airs.h.i.+p that had ever pa.s.sed over the territory of the Central American Republic.

"Let go!" shouted the baronet.

The order, interpreted by the Creole who claimed to have a knowledge of English, was obeyed promptly. The men seemed to have an inkling of what would happen if they did not, and they dropped the guide ropes as though they were hot irons.

Simultaneously, as the bows of the "Golden Hind" lifted, Kenyon telegraphed for "full ahead."

With four of the propellers purring in their accustomed way and the two after ones roaring like gigantic buzzers, as the jagged edges revolved rapidly in the air, the "Golden Hind" ascended obliquely, with her major axis inclined at an angle of forty degrees to the horizontal.

The Federal troops were waving their nondescript headgear and brandis.h.i.+ng their rifles in token of farewell. Doubtless they were cheering and shouting also, but the noise of the airs.h.i.+p's propellers out-voiced all extraneous sounds.

At a height of one thousand feet the six planes were trimmed and brought into action, with the result that the "Golden Hind" settled down on almost an even keel.

Four minutes later the scene of the unfortunate "regrettable incident" was lost to sight.

"Thanks be, we're up!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Fosterd.y.k.e.

CHAPTER XX.

--WIRELESS REPORTS.

"Kenyon!" exclaimed the baronet.

"Sir?"

"We'll cut Panama," was Fosterd.y.k.e's astounding decision. "We'll carry straight away on. She's doing splendidly, shortage of brodium notwithstanding. We've plenty of fuel, so it's a dash for Madeira."

"How about reporting at the Panama control?" asked Kenneth.

"I'll risk omitting that," replied Sir Reginald. "Being mixed up in a potty revolution is quite sufficient excuse for non-compliance with regulations. It isn't as if we were bound to report ourselves, as in the case of Auckland. Bramsdean, you might ask the wireless operator to report us to Panama, and enquire if there's any news of our rivals. Last night's affair has given von Sinzig a very useful lead, I'm afraid."

Peter hastened to give the necessary orders. Presently he returned.

"No news of the Hun, sir," he reported. "The Yankee airs.h.i.+p made a bad landing at Port Denison, Queensland, and was totally destroyed by fire."

"Hard lines," remarked Fosterd.y.k.e, feelingly. "Commodore Nye is a good sport. I hope he wasn't injured?"

"Far from it," replied Bramsdean. "In fact he's reported to have cabled to Melbourne asking the Victorian Government if they can sell him a Vickers-Vimy, so that he can continue the contest."

"Good luck to him, then!" exclaimed the baronet. "And the j.a.p?"

"Looks like a winner, sir," replied Peter. "The quadruplane is reported pa.s.sing over Calcutta."

"Next to beating Fritz myself, the j.a.p is the fellow I hope will do it," remarked Fosterd.y.k.e. "By Jove! I'd like to know where von Sinzig is and what he's doing."

The "Golden Hind," now virtually a heavier-than-air machine, was doing her level best to make up for the unlucky contretemps that had delayed her for eight precious hours. Unaccountably the reduction of the volume of brodium in her ballonets, although the rigid aluminium envelope had not appreciably contracted, had resulted in a marked increase of speed. Judging by the time she took to cover the distance between Panama and Nevis, in the Lesser Antilles--a distance of 1250 miles--her speed over the water was not far short of 190 miles an hour.

"If those two props had not been crippled," lamented Kenyon, "we'd be doing a good two hundred."

"I'm content," rejoined Fosterd.y.k.e, "provided we can keep it up. If we don't lap Z64 in another twelve hours, you can jolly well boot me, Kenyon!"

A few minutes later the wireless operator appeared and handed Fosterd.y.k.e a long written message.

The baronet's face was a study of varying emotions as he read the news. Kenyon, watching him, wondered what had happened. Not that he was surprised; after the experiences of the last week or so, it would take something very much out of the common to take Kenneth Kenyon aback.

"Evidently our friend von Sinzig has b.u.t.ted in where he didn't ought," remarked Fosterd.y.k.e, handing his companion the slip of paper.

It was a general Marconigram communication to the Press Agency, and read as follows: "Hobart, Tasmania, Thursday. The schooner Myrtle, Abraham Prout, master, arrived here this morning in a damaged condition. Her master reports that in lat. 43 15' S., long. 141 20' E., the schooner was. .h.i.t by a falling object, which Captain Prout subsequently brought into port. Examination showed that the object in question was an airs.h.i.+p observation box or basket. In it, fortunately intact, and with the safety vane locking the detonator-pin, was an incendiary bomb stamped with the broad arrow. Experts here agree that the bomb is certainly not a British Government's missile, and by certain markings on the observation basket it is safe to a.s.sume that it belonged to a German airs.h.i.+p. The basket and the bomb are being forwarded to the Commonwealth Air Board Headquarters at Sydney."

Then came another report: "Fremantle, Western Australia, Thursday. Investigations amongst the ruins of the aerodrome destroyed by fire yesterday morning have resulted in the finding of the remains of an aerial torpedo bearing the British Government mark. This discovery completely upsets the original theory as to the cause of the outbreak. Various rumours are afloat, but pending an official declaration on the subject, the Press is requested to confine reports to the actual known facts. A further communication will be made as soon as definite information is forthcoming."

"Yes, von Sinzig is getting desperate," remarked Kenyon. "It's a dead cert that he thought we were berthed in the Fremantle aerodrome that night. But how in the name of goodness did he get so far south? It was reported he went direct from Java to New Zealand, pa.s.sing north of Australia."

"He reported, you mean," corrected Fosterd.y.k.e. "Trying to throw dust in one's eyes is an old trick of Fritz's. Personally, I don't believe he took the northern route, and that he picked up our wireless announcing our intention of making Fremantle, and then tried to do us in."

"He's done for himself, any old way," declared Kenyon. "I wonder if a Hun can ever be a sportsman?"

"I wonder," echoed the baronet. "I've come across a good many Huns during the last five years, but I'm hanged if I ever met one who knew how to play the game."

Half an hour later the "Golden Hind" intercepted a wireless message to the effect that the British, American, and French Governments had issued joint instructions for the German airs.h.i.+p Z64 to be detained at the next landing-place.

"That looks like business," commented Kenyon. "Von Sinzig's out of the running."

"Unless he contrives to land in Spanish territory," added the baronet. "There are the Canary Islands, for instance. He could, and probably will, claim immunity as a political offender. I don't think he can be extradited. You see, it has to be proved to the hilt that he actually and by deliberate intent dropped a bomb on the aerodrome. No, I fancy we haven't lost our Hun rival yet. He stands a chance of romping home, so it's up to us to beat Z64."

"I'd like to know what the blighter's doing now," said Kenneth, tentatively. "Perhaps he's within fifty miles of us."

"Provided he's fifty miles behind us, I won't worry my head about him," declared Sir Reginald. "I'm not particularly keen on coming in touch with him on a dark night. He might try his hand at another dirty trick."

CHAPTER XXI.

--VON SINZIG'S BID FOR SAFETY.

Count Karl von Sinzig was in a particularly bad temper. He had just learned, by picking up various wireless messages, that "the cat was out of the bag." In other words, the discovery of the lost observation basket had landed him in a very awkward predicament.

He blamed everyone and everybody save himself. The luckless Unter-Leutnant, Hans Leutter, came in for a very bad time because he hadn't got rid of the second bomb. The petty officer, who had conscientiously seen that the bottle-screws securing the basket were properly made fast, was bullied and browbeaten because the basket was torn away. The rest of the crew, the makers of the airs.h.i.+p, and every person having anything to do with the aerial contest also came in for abuse.

The count was also puzzled at not being able to intercept any messages from the "Golden Hind" after the one announcing her approach to Panama. Z64 had reported at Colon, when, according to the latest information, the British airs.h.i.+p was hard on the heels of her German rival.

And now, almost the final straw, came the general wireless message declaring that Z64 was proscribed and liable to be detained should she touch at any place belonging to either of the entente nations.

Fosterd.y.k.e had accurately gauged his rival's intentions. The knowledge that his guilty secret was out compelled von Sinzig to change his plans and make for Teneriffe, whence, having replenished fuel, he ought to be easily able to complete the last stage of the round the world voyage.

When about 300 miles to the westward of the Canaries, but farther to the north than von Sinzig hoped to be, owing to a strong side-drift, Z64 encountered a violent storm. In order to try to avoid the worst of the terrific wind and rain, the airs.h.i.+p began to ascend, hoping to find better conditions in the rarefied atmosphere.

Z64 was ascending obliquely under the action of her huge horizontal rudders and was pa.s.sing through a dense cloud when a vivid flash of lightning, followed almost immediately by a deafening crash of thunder, appeared to penetrate the airs.h.i.+p through and through.

Almost every man on board shouted with terror. They were fully convinced that the hydrogen had ignited. There was a frantic rush for the life-saving parachutes, until Unter-Leutnant Hans Leutter rea.s.sured the panic-stricken crew with the information that the gas-bag had not taken fire.

Meanwhile the airs.h.i.+p, left to its own devices, since the helmsman had abandoned the wheel, had turned eight degrees to port and was travelling at a rate of 120 miles an hour on a course N. by W.

Von Sinzig, who "had the wind up" as badly as anybody, was nowhere to be found for some time. Leutter even came to the conclusion that his superior officer had leapt overboard when the alarm of fire had been raised; but after a lapse of twenty-five minutes the count re-appeared, looking very grey and haggard.

"I think I must have been stunned, Herr Leutter," he said in explanation.

His subordinate accepted the excuse without smiling incredulously. He had seen his chief bolting for his very life. He certainly did not look like being stunned.

"Take charge for a while," continued von Sinzig. "I am not feeling well. I must go to my cabin and lie down."

He staggered aft along the narrow catwalk, while the Unter-Leutnant gave orders for the airs.h.i.+p to be brought back on her original course.

It was easier said than done. The gigantic gas-bag was see-sawing erratically. She had difficulty in answering to her helm, and in spite of the fact that the horizontal rudders were trimmed for ascending, the airs.h.i.+p was decreasing her alt.i.tude.

Then reports began to come in from the still "jumpy" crew. The engineer reported that the after propeller was damaged; another man announced that there was a large gash in the aluminium envelope, and that several of the after ballonets were leaking rapidly.

Further examination revealed the grave fact that one of the propeller blades had fractured, and the flying piece of metal had penetrated the gas-bag at about eighty feet from the after-end. So great had been the velocity of the broken blade that it had practically wrecked every gas compartment in the stern of the envelope.

Unter-Leutnant Leutter sent a man to inform von Sinzig. He had to do that, although he would have preferred to act upon his own initiative. He was decidedly "fed up" with his arrogant and craven skipper.

The count arrived quickly. He led off by abusing Leutter in front of several of the crew for having disturbed him; then, on being told of what had occurred, he changed completely round and complimented his subordinate on his sagacity.

"Z64's done, Herr kapitan," declared Hans Leutter. "She's sinking rapidly. Half an hour, perhaps, will find her falling into the sea. We must take steps to safeguard ourselves."

"Quite true," agreed the count. "Although there will be enough buoyancy in the envelope to keep it afloat for hours--days even. What do you propose to do?"

"Throw overboard everything of a weighty nature, Herr kapitan," replied the Unter-Leutnant. "We can empty the petrol tanks, since we have no further use for the motors. Meanwhile we must send out a general wireless call for a.s.sistance to all s.h.i.+ps within a hundred or two hundred kilometres of us."

Count Karl von Sinzig thought this quite an excellent idea. At least, he said so. At the back of his mind he had a hazy notion that even now there was a chance of winning the Chauva.s.se Prize. There was nothing in the conditions forbidding a compet.i.tor---- His ruminations were interrupted by the appearance of the wireless operator, who reported that both the transmitter and the receiver were out of action, and that the wireless cabin bore signs of having been struck by lightning.

"Can't you effect repairs?" demanded von Sinzig.

"I am sorry I cannot, Herr kapitan," replied the operator.

"A useful wireless man you are!" commented the count, caustically.

The man saluted and backed away from his chief, congratulating himself that he had come off so lightly. But von Sinzig was rather pleased than otherwise that the wireless was out of action. It furnished him with a good excuse to put a certain little plan into execution.

"Are there any vessels in sight?" he asked.

A look-out man had been scanning the wide expanse of sea for the last ten minutes.