The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash Part 37

The boys answered something, they hardly knew what. Frank in his nervousness looked at his watch. The strain was becoming painful. At last, to their intense relief, they rose from supper and the little officer shut himself in his own cabin. Outside, the boys could hear the feet of the two armed sentries crunching on the snow.

"The outrush of gas will stupefy them," whispered Frank, "we shall have nothing to fear from them after the explosion takes place."

"When is it due?" gasped Billy, with a ghastly attempt at a smile.

"At any moment now. It is impossible to calculate the exact time. But within half an hour we should know our fate."

Silently the boys and the professor waited, although the scientist was so nervous that he strode up and down the cabin floor.

Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud shout from the engine room.

"The gas! The gas! We are--"

The sentence was never finished.

There was a sudden convulsion of the entire fabric of the big dirigible--as if a giant hand from without were shaking her like a puppy shakes a rat.

She seemed to lift from the ground in a convulsive leap and settled back with a crash that smashed every pane of gla.s.s and split her stout sides.

At the same instant, there was an ear-splitting roar as if a boiler had exploded and a flash of ruddy flame.

The exploding gas had caught fire--possibly from a spark from the electric radiators as the bag and their supporting framework was ripped apart by the explosion.

Dazed and half stunned, the boys groped about in total darkness; for the explosion had extinguished every light on the s.h.i.+p.

"Boys, where are you?"

It was Frank calling.

"Great heavens, what a sensation!" gasped the professor, half choked by the powerful fumes of the hydrogen gas which filled the air.

Rapidly the others answered to Frank and groped through the darkness toward his voice. Before them was the shattered side of the cabin.

Through the gap was the sky. They could see the bright antarctic stars gleaming. Beyond the rent they knew lay freedom, provided the marauders had not molested their aeroplane.

It was the work of a second to stagger through the opening made by the explosion and gain the fresh air, which they inhaled in great mouthfuls. Then began the dash for the aeroplane.

In the wild confusion that reigned following the explosion, their absence, so far as they could perceive, had not been noticed. As Frank had guessed, the two sentries were knocked senseless by the explosion and the fugitives stumbled over their unconscious figures rec.u.mbent on the snow.

Gasping and staggering they plunged on in the direction they knew the Golden Eagle lay. It was not more than a mile distant, but before they reached their goal the professor gave out and the boys had to half-drag, half-carry him over the frozen surface. They were bitterly cold, too, and the thought of the blankets and warm clothing aboard the Golden Eagle lent them additional strength--as much so, in fact, as the peril that lay behind them.

"Can you see her?" gasped Harry, after about fifteen minutes of this heart-breaking work.

"Yes. I think so at least. There seems to be a dark object on the snow ahead. If only they have not molested her," panted Frank.

"If they have, it's all up," exclaimed Billy Barnes. At the same moment Harry breathed:

"Hark!"

Borne over the frozen ground they could hear shouts.

"They have discovered our escape!" exclaimed Frank, "it's a race for life now."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "It's a Race for Life Now."]

His words threw fresh determination into all. Even the professor made a desperate struggle. A few more paces and there was no doubt that the dark object ahead was the Golden Eagle. Only one anxiety now remained.

Was she unharmed?

Bang!

It was a shot from the men of the dirigible.

"They are firing after us," exclaimed Billy.

"They can fire all they want to if they come as wide of the mark as that," said Frank; "they are shooting at random to scare us."

A few seconds later they gained the side of the Golden Eagle and, worn and harried as they were, they could not forbear setting up a cheer as they found that the aeroplane was in perfect shape.

Hastily they cranked the Golden Eagle motor up, blue flame and sharp reports bursting from her exhausts as they did so. The engine was working perfectly,--every cylinder taking up its work as the sparks began to occur rhythmically.

"We've put the fat in the fire now," exclaimed Frank, as he took his seat at the steering wheel. "If they could not locate us before, the noise of the exhaust and the blue flame will betray us to them."

"Well, it can't be helped," shouted Harry, above the roar of the engine. "We've got to get every ounce of power out of her to-night."

The other lad nodded and as he did so a sound like a bee in flight fell on the adventurers' ears--a bullet.

It was followed by several reports.

"They've got the range," cried Harry.

"They won't have it long," said his brother as he threw in the clutch and rapidly the Golden Eagle sped forward, cras.h.i.+ng faster and faster over the frozen surface as her young driver worked the engine up to full speed.

In a few seconds more they felt the aeroplane begin to lift and soar into the night air.

They were exploding skyward to safety, while far below them their baffled captors were firing aimlessly in the hope of a random shot shattering some vital part of the aeroplane.

But no such thing happened and as the boys sped toward the west, bound for Camp Hazzard, they sent out a wireless message. Again and again they tried but without success. They could not raise an answer.

"Of course we can't raise them. They are on the march!" shouted Frank suddenly.

"On the motor-sledge bound for the Viking s.h.i.+p," cried Billy, "they should be there to-morrow."

"Say, fellows, we have done it now," cried Frank, with a sudden twinge.

"What's the matter?" inquired the professor.

"Why, they will arrive there to find the others in possession and no sign of us. They'll think we ran away without even putting up a fight."

"We'll have to try to pick them up in the daylight," was the reply; "we know about the route along which they'll drive and from this alt.i.tude we can't miss them if they are anywhere within miles of us."