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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:43 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:43 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/44348-0.txt b/44348-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ee9f43 --- /dev/null +++ b/44348-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6348 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44348 *** + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + +THE GREAT +ADVENTURE +SERIES + +Percy F. Westerman: + +THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND" +TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS +THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE +WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE + +Rowland Walker: + +THE PHANTOM AIRMAN +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS +DEVILLE McKEENE: + THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY + AIRMAN +BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE +BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V 2 +OSCAR DANBY, V.C. + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & CO. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDOND, W.I. + + +[Frontispiece: "DOWN, DOWN WENT THE BLAZING MASS FOR A COUPLE OF +THOUSAND FEET."] + + +DASTRAL OF THE +FLYING CORPS + + + +BY +ROWLAND WALKER + +AUTHOR OF "BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2," "THE TREASURE +GALLEON," "OSCAR DANBY, V.C." ETC., ETC. + +[Illustration: Publisher logo] + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & Co. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.I. + + +MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN +_First Published 1917_ +_Frequently reprinted_ + + + To + THE PILOTS, + OBSERVERS AND AIR-MECHANICS + OF + THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS, + THIS + STORY OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL + IS + Dedicated + + +PREFACE + +THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 opened the floodgates of hatred between the +nations which took part and this stirring story, written when +feelings were at their highest, conveys a true impression of the +attitude adopted towards our enemies. No epithet was considered too +strong for a German and whilst the narrative thus conveys the real +atmosphere and conditions under which the tragic event was fought out +it should be borne in mind that the animosities engendered by war are +now happily a thing of the past. Therefore, the reader, whilst +enjoying to the full this thrilling tale, will do well to remember +that old enmities have passed away and that we are now reconciled to +the Central Powers who were opposed to us. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + II. THE FERRY PILOT + III. OVER THE GERMAN LINES + IV. STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + V. A BOMBING RAID + VI. A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + VII. COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + VIII. THE RAID ON KRUPPS + IX. THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + X. HIMMELMAN'S LAST FIGHT + XI. "BLIGHTY" + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name." + --SCOTT. + +AT the time of which I write, the smoke of battle still filled the +air. The freedom of men and nations, the heritage of the ages, hung +in the balance, so that even brave men were often filled with doubt +and despair. + +The German guns were thundering at the gates of Verdun, seeking a new +pathway to Paris, for the ever-growing British army had barred the +northern route to the capital of France and the shores of the English +Channel. But even the attempt to hack a way through Verdun was doomed +to failure, and the first rift of blue in a clouded sky was soon to +appear. + +Against that glittering wall of steel, where the heroic sons of +France lined the trenches against the tyrant, hundreds of thousands +of Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons were doomed to fall, and the best +blood of Germany was already flowing like rivers, for, though the +_poilus_ during times of great pressure slowly yielded the outer +forts inch by inch, yet the price which the enemy paid for their +advance was far too dear. + +The future hung heavy with fate, and the civilised world looked on +amazed, as the western armies, locked in the grip of death, swayed to +and fro. The earth trembled with the shock of battle, and the very +air vibrated with the whir-r-r of the fierce birds of prey, the +wonderful product of the new age. Land and sea did not suffice as in +days gone by, for in the heavens the struggle for freedom must also +be fought. And many great men were beginning to say that the side +which gained the mastery of the air, would also gain the mastery of +Europe and the world. + +In no country was this recognised more than in England, and at early +dawn even remote villages were often stirred, and the inhabitants +thrilled by the advent of the whirring 'planes and air-scouts, whose +daring pilots were preparing to wrest the mastery of the air from the +enemy. + +The most daring of our English youths left the public schools and +universities, and strained every nerve, risking death a hundred +times, to gain the coveted brevet of a pilot's "wings" in the Royal +Flying Corps. + +So it happened that, during one fine morning in the early summer of +1916, a group of men, some of them wearing on the left breast of +their service tunics the afore-mentioned brevet, were watching a +young pilot undergoing his final test in the air before gaining his +wings. The place where this occurred was over an aerodrome, somewhere +near London. + +"Phew! there he goes again. Just look at that spiral!" cried one of +the onlookers. + +"Ha! Now he's going to loop; watch him!" exclaimed another. + +The daring aviator, who was flying a new two-seater fighting machine +with a twelve-cylindered engine, capable of giving over fourteen +hundred revolutions a minute, seemed perfectly oblivious of the +danger he was in, as seen by those below, for he careered through +space at a speed varying from eighty to nearly one hundred and twenty +miles an hour, and performed the most amazing spirals, twists, and +gymnastic gyrations imaginable. + +The people below, even the pilots, watched him with bated breath, and +sometimes with thumping hearts. They felt somehow that he was +overdoing it, and sooner or later he would crash to earth and certain +death Several times even the experts, who were there to judge him, +and award him the coveted brevet, felt sure that the youth had lost +control of the 'plane, for she swerved so suddenly, and banked so +swiftly, as she came round, that one of them exclaimed:-- + +"Good heavens, he's going to crash!" + +"Phew! Just look there, he's met an air-pocket, and it's all over +with the young devil," shouted a civilian, evidently a representative +of the New Air Board. + +But, strange to say, all their prophecies were wrong, for, recovering +himself, the daring young flyer, Dastral as he was called, had the +machine under perfect control, and was just as easy and comfortable +up there at three thousand feet--and far happier--than if he had been +in an arm-chair in the officers' mess at the aerodrome. + +"There's a nose dive for you!" cried the major who commanded the +Squadron at the aerodrome, and who had done more than any one to +encourage the lad, and bring him out. As he spoke, the youth was +speeding to earth in a thrilling nose-dive which must have been at +the rate of anything approaching a hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +For an instant it seemed as if the prediction of one of the gloomy +prophets would now be fulfilled and the aviator would crash; but no, +after a dive of a thousand feet Dastral, as cool as a cucumber, +jammed over the controls, flattened out for a few seconds, looped +three times in succession, then spiralling and banking with wonderful +and mathematical precision, shut off the engine, and volplaned down +to the ground, touching the earth lightly at the rate of some fifty +miles an hour, taxied across the level turf, and brought up within +ten yards of the astonished spectators. + +"Humph! He's won his wings, major," exclaimed one of the small crowd. + +"So he has," cried another. "He knows all the tricks of the air." + +"Yes," exclaimed a third; "if he keeps on like that, he will prove a +match for Himmelman himself, some day, should he ever chance to meet +with him." + +Now Himmelman was the crack German flyer--the Air-Fiend of the +western front--the man who had made the German Flying Corps what it +was, and had earned for it the great traditions it had already won. + +A moment later, the youth leapt lightly from the cockpit, gave his +hand to his observer to help him down, and, stepping lightly up to +his Commanding Officer, saluted smartly. + +"Capital, Dastral! You shall have your wings to-morrow. If anybody +has ever won them you have," exclaimed the major, grasping the lad's +hand, and greeting him warmly. + +"Thank you, sir. It's very kind of you to say so," replied Dastral. + +"Not at all. You've won them yourself, my boy, and I congratulate +you. But, I say, you played the very devil up there. There are very +few of our fellows who can do those monkey-tricks without crashing. +It's a mercy you're alive, boy." + +"Oh, it was only an extra turn or two, sir, just for the spectators. +But, Jock, here, sir, my observer, is he all right for his brevet +also?" + +"Yes, he shall be gazetted and granted an observer's wing. I will get +them through orders at once." + +Once more Dastral thanked his chief, and, followed by Jock Fisker, +his chum, who had entered the air service with him, and who was +destined to accompany him through many an exciting air duel in the +future, they returned to the machine, which was already being keenly +examined by a group of the privileged onlookers, before the +air-mechanics returned it to the shed. + +Shortly afterwards, as Dastral and Jock were preparing to leave the +aerodrome, the major came by, and, seeing that the young pilot wanted +to speak to him, he said:-- + +"Well, what is it, Dastral?" + +"Sir, now that I have gained my wings, I should like to be posted +overseas as soon as possible, so as to join some active squadron with +the Expeditionary Force in France. Would it be possible for you to +push my request forward?" + +"Humph! Rather early yet, isn't it, my boy?" + +"Perhaps it is rather early, sir," replied the youth, blushing like a +girl as he faced the C.O. "But I should like to take part in an +air-fight before the scrapping finishes." + +"We've a long way to go yet, Dastral, before it is finished. Still, +as you are so keen, I will see what I can do. But it will take at +least another fortnight to get the thing through. At any rate I will +communicate with Wing Headquarters, and through them with the War +Office. Perhaps General Henderson will accede to your request," added +the major, for he well understood the lad's eagerness. He had felt it +himself, and had already seen a good deal of that air-fighting of +which the youth spoke, as the ribbons below his wings indicated, for +he was the winner of the D.S.O. and also the Military Cross. + +"Thank you, sir," and the pilot saluted again, but cast a sidelong +glance at Jock, who stood a few paces away, and was already fretting +in his soul lest Dastral should be sent away without him. + +The major caught the glance and understood, for he turned sharply +round after a few steps, and said:-- + +"And Jock, what about him?" smiling blandly at the lads. + +"He is of age, sir, he can speak for himself," replied Dastral. "But +I should like him to go overseas with me. We have done most of our +training together, and we thoroughly understand each other, and I +know that he's just dying to go with me, sir." + +"Is that so, Jock?" asked the major, looking at the Scotch laddie, +who had scarcely finished his course at Glasgow University when the +war called him from his studies. + +"Oh, yes, sir, I'd give all I possess to go overseas with Dastral." +And the youth's eyes shone with joy at the very possibility of the +event coming off, for he had feared that they were now to be +separated. + +"Very well. Don't expect too much, but possess your souls in patience +for another fortnight or so. Goodbye!" + +"Good-bye, sir!" and once more after the customary salute, the youths +went their way, wondering how soon they would be in France, within +sound of the guns. + +For the next fortnight they were busy every day at the aerodrome, +trying new machines, testing, carrying out imaginary reconnaissances +over the German lines, bombing raids, studying war maps and plans, +night flying and a score of other things that would prove useful when +they found themselves in France. + +One morning, about two weeks later, a telegram was delivered to +Dastral at his rooms. It came from the War Office, and ran as +follows:-- + + +"Second Lieutenant Dastral and his observer to proceed overseas +forthwith, on one of the new fighting 'planes, and to report his +arrival at -- Squadron, British Expeditionary Force, France." + + +After the customary interview with the C.O., it was arranged that +early next morning the two aviators were to make their first attempt +at flying the Channel. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FERRY PILOT + + +IT was an hour before dawn, and the stars had not yet faded from the +skies, when a group of air mechanics at one of the aerodromes just +north of London were busy about the ailerons and fuselage of a new +machine, which was destined to fly across the Channel that day, and +to join one of the British Squadrons on the other side. + +The secret of the machine had been well kept, and only a favoured few +had been permitted to see the "hornet," as she was called. Great +things were claimed for her when she joined one of the active +squadrons, now fighting in France for the supremacy of the air. + +Just a few folk in Old Blighty had been scared by the advent of the +Fokker, the new German aeroplane which had recently come into +existence, and for which such wonderful things were being claimed +daily by the German "wireless." + +"Double up there, you sleepy imps!" yelled Old Snorty, the aerodrome +sergeant-major, a short, stout, florid, shiver-my-timbers type of +disciplinarian. And another squad of sleepy air-mechanics, just out +from their blankets, doubled up smartly to give a hand. + +In a few minutes the hornet in question was ready for her long flight +overseas. Every wire and strut had been carefully examined and +proved, for men's lives depended upon the testing, and oiling, and +straining. And now the silent, filmy thing was waiting only for the +pilot and observer. + +A sound of footsteps upon the soft turf of the aerodrome was heard, +and voices carried lightly down the soft morning air. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry, standing near by, and at +the same instant a hand lamp was flashed in the direction of the +newcomers. + +The sentry, however, appeared to recognise sonic important +personality approaching, like the mastiff who knows, as if by +instinct, the approach of his master, for, without waiting for an +answer to his challenge, he shouted:-- + +"Guard, turn out!" + +And instantly, the men in the guard tent turned out in time to salute +the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, who came by with Dastral, the +pilot, and Fisker, the observer. + +Simultaneously, the air mechanics sprang to attention, as they stood +about the hornet. Then, after a couple of minutes spent in chatting +with the adventurers, who were about to sail forth on the wings of +the morning, the O.C. and the pilot flung away their cigarettes and +gave a few apparently casual glances over the framework by the aid of +the hand-lamps. + +"Better load up with a few twenty pound bombs, Dastral," laughed the +O.C. "You may have the chance of using one going over seas. You never +know your luck." + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth. + +A moment later the pilot and observer were seated in the biplane, +snugly wrapped in their thick leather coats, their hands encased in +huge gauntlets, and their helmets tightly drawn about their ears, +ready for the morning adventure. + +Dastral gave a final glance around, his hand already on the controls, +then gave a nod to the chief of the ground staff. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, followed by "Stand clear!" + +"Whiz-z-z!" went the huge blades, and, as the pilot switched on the +current, the engines--powerful 100 horse-power ones, capable of some +1400 or 1500 revolutions a minute--broke into their wonderful song, +and with a final word of parting from the Squadron Commander, the +machine taxied off rapidly over the level turf. + +"Burr-r-r-r!" + +The air seemed full of a mighty sound, and a terrible vibration +filled the heavens. It was the song of the aeroplane. + +At a hundred yards, in response to a very slight movement of the +joy-stick, the winged creature leapt into the air, then circled +around once or twice, climbing rapidly up to a couple of thousand +feet, and made off south by south-east. + +The first whisper of dawn came out of the east as the hornet headed +off towards the great city, for a filmy streak of grey, followed by a +saffron tint, appeared in the sky low down on their left hand. The +stars overhead began to fade and disappear, as though withdrawn into +the vaulted dome overhead. Then the saffron turned to crimson, and +soon the eastern horizon was aflame with light, for, as the machine +rose higher and higher, the horizon broadened, and the whole earth +seemed to lie at her feet. + +Now they were over the city, and the pilot laughed joyously, for he +was exhilarated by the bracing air which rushed past him at a +tremendous rate. + +"Look there, Jock," he cried, pointing down far below, where, through +the gloom which still enfolded the lower regions, a faint silvery +streak showed where the majestic Thames rolled down under its many +bridges to the sea. + +Jock Fisker, his chum and observer, who was destined to see many an +adventure with Dastral in the near future, peered over the side of +the fuselage, and noted the river and the many spires of the great +city. He saw the thin spire of St. Bride's reaching up towards him, +St. Martin's, and St. Clement Danes'; and then, as the upper rim of +the sun appeared above the horizon, he saw the blue-grey dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral, and caught the flash of the sun upon the golden +cross above it. + +"How glorious!" Dastral ejaculated, half turning his head every now +and then for Fisker to hear, as some impulse moved him but half the +words were lost, or carried on by the rushing air into infinitude. + +Soon, they left the southern outskirts of London far behind, and, as +the daylight broadened, they looked upon the Surrey Downs, and the +wide heath of the rolling countryside. Village after village they +passed, with its red tiled roofs and church spire pointing +heavenwards, but onwards, always onwards, they sped towards the white +cliffs and the sea. + +The slender, filmy thing had found herself this morning, for the +R.A.F. engines were working splendidly, doing already nearly fifteen +hundred revolutions a minute. Vibrating with an intensity that was +perfectly marvellous, considering her fragile build, with every +strut, bolt and wire in perfect unison, the hornet sailed +majestically along at over eighty miles an hour, as though on a +pleasure trip, instead of a life and death errand; for in reality she +was bound overseas to join the forces in their fight for freedom's +cause. + +Now they were in Kent, the garden of England, and far below were the +cherry orchards and the hop-fields. With his glasses Jock could now +and then pick out a few farm labourers, already trudging along the +roads, or working in the fields. + +"There is the railway, Dastral!" shouted the observer, as he picked +up the narrow thread of metals winding along towards Tunbridge. + +"Yes, I see it now," replied his comrade, bringing his glasses to +bear on the object for which he had been keenly searching for some +minutes. + +"Straight road now. Give her a few more points eastward." + +Dastral altered the controls a little, and, banking slightly, the +hornet came round smartly upon her new course, which, for the rest of +the journey to the coast, was almost due east. + +The continuous roar of the engines and the whir-r-r of the propeller +made conversation almost impossible, except for a few short, jerky +sentences, uttered in a loud, shrill voice, and accompanied by +corresponding gestures. + +The world beneath them was waking up now, for the two aviators could +see the smoke ascending from the chimneys of a few scattered +farmhouses and cottages. The birds, too, were astir, and the larks, +mounting up towards the sun, made sweet music which was drowned in +the whir-r-r of that strange-looking bird of prey, which sailed +serenely above them. Instinct, however, made the songsters shrink and +flee away from that hawk-like menace with stretched-out wings, for +they evidently feared that it might swoop down upon and destroy them. + +"Dover!" shouted the observer suddenly, as the Cinque Port came into +view. + +"Yes, by Jove! So it is. I hope they won't turn the guns of the fort +upon us." + +"No fear. They'll have been warned of our coming by now." + +A minute later, they opened out the sea, the forts, and Shakespeare's +Cliff, and within another three minutes they had crossed the boundary +of sea and land, and at a tremendous altitude were gliding over the +Channel. + +"Nine thousand!" yelled Dastral, turning his head towards Jock, after +casting a brief glance at his indicator. + +"Now let her rip," cried the other, for in climbing to get the +required height to rush the Channel, the machine had lost speed. + +"Right-o!" came the answer. + +So, in order to get speed quickly, Dastral did a little nose dive of +about three hundred feet, then flattened out again, intending to rush +the Channel at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, lest they should +slip unconsciously into an air-pocket. + +As he did so, he noticed a flash of fire followed by a puff of white +smoke down at the Castle. + +"A signal!" shouted Jock, who had noticed the occurrence at the same +instant. + +"Yes, they want to speak to us," and with a circling sweep the +machine came round as Dastral pulled the joy-stick hard over, and +swept back again until he hung right over Dover Castle. + +"Can you make it out, old man?" asked the pilot. + +"Yes, I have it," cried Fisker, whose eyes had been glued to a spot +on the Castle grounds just at the top of the hill overlooking the +naval harbour. + +"What is it? Do they want us to go down?" + +"No. The Commander of the fort says there are several enemy +submarines in the Channel, and requests us to keep a sharp look-out +for them as we cross over." + +"Cheery-o, Jock! That's good news. I'm going to drop down a bit, +then. There's a D.S.O. for you if you spot one. Here goes!" And with +that, Dastral jammed over the controls again, and did a neat nose +dive of two thousand feet, looping the loop once or twice just to +express his joy, and give vent to his feelings. + +Jock had picked up this information from a few white strips of +calico, which had been stretched out in a curious fashion within the +Castle grounds. To a trained observer like Fisker, it was mere +child's play to read a code signal like that. + +And now the daring joy-riders, keenly watched by hundreds of eyes far +down below, left the shore once again, and the naval harbour with its +shipping, and headed for the French coast, watching the surface of +the sea as though they would read its secret. + +"East-south-east, Dastral! That's the course till we sight the +opposite shore," shouted Jock to his comrade, who, he thought, in his +excitement and eagerness to spot a submarine lurking in the depths, +might miss his way, as many a brave aviator before him had done. + +"Right-o!" came the answer to this reminder, for the French coast was +hid as yet in the morning mist. Then the course was altered slightly +once again, in order to make a proper landfall on the other side. + +They were flying low now, much lower than the usual regulations +permitted, for it is necessary to keep a good altitude in crossing +the Channel, not only because of the chance of running into a stray +air-pocket, but to enable one to 'plane to safety should anything go +wrong with the engines, for only a seaplane can ride the waves like a +ship; and this was no seaplane they were riding to-day. + +Far down below them they could see the patrol boats hunting for their +prey. They could also see the mine-sweepers at work, clearing the +fairway from those foul nests of floating mines which the crafty foe +had been busy laying with their submarines. Once or twice they +thought they could make out some dark-grey object like a mine or +sunken vessel beneath the surface of the water. + +A string of mine-sweepers were stretched out below them now. They +could see them distinctly, could see even the long nets that trailed +between them, for the sun was gaining power and the morning mists +were rolling away. The grey expanse of water took on another hue, +changing from a dull grey to a greenish tint, with patches here and +there of deep blue, where the water deepened, or the surface of the +mirror reflected a corresponding patch of the azure above. + +Keenly now they searched the face of the deep for any dark speck, +for, from an aeroplane, it is possible to look far down, often even +to the bed of the sea; but as yet they saw nothing, save an +occasional piece of wreckage, which had probably detached itself and +floated from the treacherous Goodwins, away to the eastward and the +northward--those treacherous shoals which hold the remains of so many +gallant barques and vessels, from the Roman galley to the modern +liner. + +They had not long left the mine-sweepers on their port quarter when +Jock, through his glasses, noted something like a string of +porpoises, which, owing to the motion of the waves, appeared to be +travelling along. They seemed so regular and orderly in their +movement, however, that he was about to pass them over. Thinking, +however, that he would like to call Dastral's attention to them, he +shouted:-- + +"Starboard bow, Dastral! Look at 'em! What are they? Not mines, +surely. Look like porpoises, only they're not dark enough, and they +don't tumble about much." + +Dastral peered over the side of the cockpit and looked down. + +"Can't say," he ejaculated. + +"Let's go down a bit lower, old man," said Fisker. + +"Aye, aye. Hold tight!" cried the pilot, for he noticed that Jock was +standing up and leaning over, unstrapped. + +"Right away! I'm all right," replied the observer, squatting down, +and pressing his knees against the knee-board, which is the life-line +of the aeroplane. + +And down they went in a graceful nose-dive till they were within five +hundred feet of the surface of the water, with the engines shut off. +Then, as they flattened out, both men peered over the side again, and +Dastral was the first to exclaim:-- + +"Porpoises be hanged! They're German mines. A whole string of them +floating about in the fairway, ready for the first ship that comes +along. The dirty Huns!" + +"Snakes alive! So they are. Now I can make them out quite plainly; I +can even see the horns and contacts through my glasses. Phew! +There'll be a deuce of a mess shortly unless they're cleared up." + +"Look alive, old man, or there'll be trouble!" shouted the pilot. + +"How so?" + +"See that ocean tramp coming up Channel. She's a seven thousand +tonner, and her cargo's worth a couple of hundred thousand. She'll be +right on the string of mines directly, and then--gee whiz!--there'll +be fireworks, and another valuable cargo will have gone to Davy +Jones' locker." + +The mine-sweepers were about a couple of miles away by this time, but +the Commodore of the little fleet had seen the rapid nose-dive of the +hornet, and knew that something unusual was happening. + +He had already strung out the signal for a boat to detach its nets +and proceed at full steam to the spot, for he thought that the +machine was coming down with engine trouble. + +It was his duty, therefore, to save the men, and, if possible, salve +the aeroplane also. Dastral saw the signal through his glasses, and +watched the vessel cast off her nets to come up. His immediate +concern, therefore, was for the tramp steamer surging up Channel, and +nearing the end of her long voyage from Valparaiso to London. At all +costs to the aeroplane, she must be saved from the deadly mines +towards which she was now heading directly. The tide was with her, +and she was coming up rapidly. In another five minutes she would be +in the cunningly laid trap. + +For the moment, Dastral continued to circle over the mine bed, hoping +thereby to warn off the tramp. Of this she appeared to take no +notice, though undoubtedly a score of eyes were watching his +gymnastic gyrations from the deck and bridge of the vessel. + +"Try the gun, Jock. Quick!" + +"Rip-r-r-r-r-r!" went the Lewis gun, as Jock pressed the button and +fired off half a drum of ammunition. + +Even yet, the tramp steamer did not seem to understand, for her +captain did not charge her course. + +"Is she fitted with wireless?" yelled Dastral. + +"Yes," answered the observer, putting down his glasses into the +socket for an instant. + +"Then give her a message on the international code. It's her last +chance. She'll be on the infernal things in another two minutes." + +"Right-o! Here goes!" and, uncoiling the long aerial wire, he tapped +out just one word on the sending key:-- + +"M I N E S!!!" + +"Good. If that fails, the ship's done for!" ejaculated Fisker, as he +watched eagerly for the ship to change her course. + +On came the vessel, quite oblivious of the danger. She was less than +a cable's length from the string of mines, and still steaming fast, +when Dastral noted some movement about the deck, where a dozen or so +of the crew stood just for'ard of the bridge, in the waist, gazing +intently at the 'plane. + +"Heavens! It's too late!" gasped the pilot, as he saw the steamer's +bows running dead on towards the very centre of the floating mines. + +"No, she may just do it," he ventured to his observer, as he saw the +sudden commotion on board. + +Suddenly, out of the wireless room, the operator, evidently carrying +the message, dashed up the companion way to the bridge, flourishing a +piece of paper in his hand, and shouted:-- + +"Mines in the vicinity, sir!" + +Then it was that the captain realised the danger he was in, for the +mine-sweeper coming up on the starboard bow was also flying the +signal for her to heave to. + +Dashing to the wheelhouse door, a few paces away from where he had +been standing, the captain shouted to the man at the helm, + +"Hard-a-starboard!" + +And though the tide was with her, the good ship swung round smartly, +only in the very nick of time, for, as she turned, one of the deadly +mines was within two feet of her stern, and the wash from her screw +and the rapid movement of her rudder as she came round, caused the +nearest mine to come into contact with a piece of wreckage, at which +there was a terrific roar, and a huge column of water was lifted up +and hurled some two hundred feet into the air. + +Then followed a more terrible spectacle, for one after another the +whole string of mines went off, as though they had been countermined. +It was just as if there had been a sub-aqueous earthquake, for a +prolonged roar of thunder, earsplitting and nerve-racking, +immediately followed, while the sea for hundreds of yards around rose +up like a huge waterspout, and for some minutes the whole surface of +the water, hitherto placid, broke into tumultuous waves. + +The tramp steamer received fifty tons of water upon her decks, but +save for a slight starting of the plates in her stern, she was +untouched. Nevertheless, she had to keep the pumps constantly in use +for the remainder of her voyage. + +After circling round the spot for another few minutes to speak with +the Commodore of the fleet of mine-sweepers, Dastral turned the +hornet's head once again towards the enemy's coast, and the captain +of the tramp steamer dipped his pennant and gave a long blast on the +siren, as a token of gratitude for the service rendered. + +The aviators were well pleased with themselves for the part they had +taken in the little adventure, which had not been without its +thrills, and a spice of danger. + +They were now almost in mid-Channel, and could see both shores. There +were the white cliffs of Old Albion behind them, while in front, a +little on their left, Cape Grisnez rose out of the water. Below them +several liners, transports and colliers, could be seen making either +up or down Channel, or for one of the ports on the English or French +coasts. Turning round to Fisker, the pilot shouted through the +speaking tube:-- + +"Sorry it wasn't a German submarine, old fellow. There'll be no +D.S.O. for us for picking up a string of floating mines." + +"Ah, well. Better luck next time," called back the observer. + +"The place is too well patrolled now for the Huns' submarines to show +themselves about here. Gemini! but I'd give my brevet and six months' +pay to spot one this journey. It would be some find." + +The observer did not reply immediately. He was keenly searching the +opposite shore to find the breakwater at the entrance to Boulogne +harbour. + +"Can you see it yet?" called the pilot, noting an anxious look on +Jock's face. "Yes," replied the latter. "Better give her another two +points south, and then we shall just about hit the canal below the +town. Our instructions were to follow it to the main aerodrome." + +"Aye, aye," answered the pilot, altering the controls slightly, and +bringing her head round upon a more southerly course. + +Shortly after this, the town and harbour of Boulogne came into full +view to the naked eye. Their intention was to leave it a little on +their left, and, then making a landfall of a certain railhead and +canal, take a short cross-country flight to the big aerodrome behind +the British lines. They now began to regard themselves as nearly at +the end of their journey, and had no expectation of a still greater +adventure before them--an adventure which would prevent them reaching +their destination, at any rate, that day. + +Only some five or six miles of sea now lay between them and the land, +and they were right over the track of the transports, which made a +continuous line of traffic between the two shores, when Fisker, who +had taken up his glasses again in order to watch a batch of +troopships, escorted by a couple of destroyers, suddenly turned them +on to a large four tunnelled hospital ship, which, coming out of the +harbour, crowded with wounded and war-worn men, was ploughing its +solitary way towards Old Blighty, without any other escort or +protector than the Red Cross flag. + +Suddenly, as he watched the stately vessel moving along at +twenty-five knots, with the huge combers falling away from her bow, +and a long milk-white trail from her stern, he started suddenly, and +lowered his glasses, almost shrieking at the top of his voice:-- + +"See there, Dastral! Quick!" + +"Where away?" cried the pilot, turning round sharply, and catching a +glimpse of Fisker's horrified face. + +"There!" exclaimed the observer, laconically, pointing with his hand +in the direction of the hospital ship. + +Dastral looked in the direction indicated. + +"The brutes!" he gasped. "Not if I can prevent it." + +That which had called forth these horrified expressions was nothing +more or less than a lurking German submarine, hidden beneath the +water, but with a few inches of periscope above the surface, +manoeuvring to bring the huge hospital ship within its range. It had +evidently watched the procession of transports pass by, but, fearing +that it might be rammed by one of the destroyers if it revealed its +presence, it had waited for some other tasty morsel to come along. +Unfortunately, there was nothing she could touch but this hospital +ship. + +With any other nation, a vessel flying the sacred emblem of humanity, +which floated from the masthead of the ship, would have been immune +from attack. But to the Hun no code of morals seems to hold good. Nor +was any crime to be regarded as such if only some damage could be +inflicted upon the enemy. + +"Ach, wohl, mein herr!" the German ober-lieutenant in the submarine +was remarking to his superior officer at that moment. "The verdomt +transports are gone, and there's nothing but a big 'hospital ship +steaming by. Shall we loose a leetle tin fish at her? You can't trust +these English; they're probably transporting materials of war. There +are sure to be some staff officers on her decks anyhow. What say you, +mein herr?" + +"Sink the blamed hooker, Fritz! We can say that she tried to ram us, +when we make out our report. No one will be any the wiser, for dead +men can't tell tales. He, he! Ho, ho!" + +And already the commander's hand was upon the lever in the +conning-tower which controlled the torpedo tubes in the bow. +Hesitating just for a second, as though battling with the last shreds +of a lingering conscience, he pulled the lever. + +"Swiss-s-s-h!" came the sound as the deadly missile left the tube and +entered the water. + +"Good heavens! She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the +very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, +and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of +the deadly torpedo. + +Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the _Galicia_, the +big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the +spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the +enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel +just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by +a few feet. + +Then commenced a stern chase, for the _Galicia_, seeing the imminent +danger that she was in, sought refuge in flight. Placing her stern +towards the oncoming submarine, she fled down Channel, hoping thereby +to save her precious cargo of wounded heroes. + +"Donner and blitz!" exclaimed the commander to his lieutenant. "We +have missed her. That will never do. We must sink her now at any +cost, or the American cables will be full of the affair, and the +anger of the neutral world will be turned against us once more." + +"What shall we do, mein herr?" asked the lieutenant of the submarine. +"She can do twenty-five knots and we can only do seventeen while we +are submerged." + +"We must run her awash, and give her three-inch shells with the deck +guns. The transports and patrols are some distance off now." + +"She will be calling back the destroyers by now with her wireless, +mein herr." + +"Gott in Himmel! but we must risk it. There may just be time. I wish +we had let the blamed hooker go by." + +Then, with a few round oaths, he switched down the periscope, pulled +over the lever that drove the water out of the ballast tanks, and, as +the boat came to the surface, he had the hatch unshipped, and ordered +his gun crew to stations, calling them dachshunds, and a few more +vile names. + +As soon as the submarine came to the surface, the electric motors +were stopped, and the surface engines started so that every knot +could be got out of them. + +"All clear!" had been reported to him by the lieutenant, and as +regards the narrow horizon which can be surveyed from the periscope +of a submerged vessel, all was indeed clear, for they had not seen +the hornet which was buzzing overhead, silently dipping and +nose-diving with her engines shut off, and rapidly manoeuvring like +an angry wasp, waiting but an opportunity to get at its victim. + +So intent was the submarine commander upon his prey, with one eye on +the hospital ship and another on the horizon, watching for the patrol +boats, which he knew would be sure to return, that he had even got +his deck-gun to work, and was firing rapidly at the _Galicia_, when +to his dismay he heard, just over his head, the whir-r-r-r-r of the +aeroplane, as Dastral started his engine again. + +"Mein Gott, was ist das?" he cried. + +"Ach, Himmel, but we are lost!" came the cry from the gunners and the +ober-lieutenant. + +"Dachshunds!--you verdomt fools, turn the gun on the aeroplane!" +yelled the irate commander, but he realised that he had lost the +game. + +Nearer and nearer came that dreaded enemy, with its angry buzz, till +but a hundred feet above the broad, whale-like back of the submarine, +for Dastral, having but the two twenty-pound bombs in his carrier, +determined not to miss his chance. + +"Be careful, Jock!" he shouted. "Drop it right on her conning-tower. +Take no risks." + +"Right-o, old fellow!" Jock had replied, his hand on the bomb +release. "She's giving us shrapnel, though. Look out!" + +"Spit . . . Bang! Spit . . . Bang!" came the bursting shrapnel from +the quick-firing gun on the deck of the submarine, and a shot hitting +the left aileron of the warplane, just as the observer was releasing +the first bomb, caused her to roll and bank so much that the bomb +fell into the sea, just a few inches from the starboard beam of the +boat. + +"Great heavens, you've missed him!" shouted Dastral, as the bomb, +which was fitted with a contact fuse, sank down harmlessly into the +sea. + +Jock bit his lips, which were white with anger at his failure, and +placed his hand once more on the bomb release. It was his last bomb. +If they failed this time they were done, for already they had lost +several struts and wires, and the planes had been holed in a score of +places. + +Even Dastral's face was pale, though not with fear, as he jammed the +rudder bar over with his feet, and using the joy-stick as well, came +round swiftly once more, dropping down to within fifty feet of his +enemy. + +"Great Scott! She's preparing to submerge, Jock. For heaven's sake +don't miss her this time!" + +Jock did not reply, but taking true aim just as they were directly +over the boat, he dropped his second and last bomb fairly and +squarely on the conning-tower. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m!" came the sound as the bomb descended swiftly +and exploded right amidships, splitting the conning tower open, just +as it was being closed ready for the boat to descend. + +A blinding sheet of flame shot up into the sky, scorching both the +pilot and the observer, and a crashing noise followed the explosion, +as the submarine, her deck split open and rent in twain, opened out, +then sank like a stone, carrying down with her the twenty-two men who +manned her. + +A few minutes afterwards the only trace of the pirates was an +ever-extending patch of oil which floated on the surface of the +water, punctured here and there by the air bubbles which forced their +way through the patch. + +So suddenly did she disappear from view that even the airmen, +scorched and bruised and bleeding from slight shrapnel wounds, were +amazed at the work of their hands. Dastral was the first to recover +speech, however. + +"Well done, Jock!" he cried. "Thus may all pirates perish who fire on +the Red Cross flag." + +The observer did not reply, however, for he had fallen forward in a +dead faint, from sheer excitement and loss of blood; perhaps most of +all from sheer fear of failure with his last bomb. And now his head +was resting against the wind screen just in front of the cockpit. + +"Jock! Jock! What's the matter?" Dastral called to him. + +The observer made an effort to rouse himself, for he had only +momentarily lost consciousness. He lifted up his head, tugged at his +leather helmet, and managed at last to pull it off. + +"Great Scott! You're wounded!" exclaimed Dastral as he saw the blood +streaming from his companion's face. + +"It's all right now. I feel better, Dastral. Carry on! The petrol +tank overhead here is leaking, and we're about run out. But I've sent +a message to the destroyers on the wireless and here they come." + +Dastral turned sharply, and looked in the direction which Jock had +indicated by slightly raising his hand. + +"Yes. Hurrah! Here they come!" he cried. + +And indeed there was no mistaking that long trail of black smoke just +a couple of miles away, nor the white trail of foam as the combers +broke and fell away from the two snake-like boats, which were coming +up full pelt, for they had been drawn to the spot by the sound of the +firing even before they had picked up Jock's message. + +Nor did they come a moment too soon, for the aeroplane was wounded as +well as her crew. Her work was done, at any rate for the next few +days, until she had been overhauled by the smart air-mechanics, +fitters and riggers of the Royal Flying Corps. The engine was missing +too, very badly, for the petrol tank was pierced in several places, +and the supply had almost run out. The planes and struts were damaged +and in parts shot away, so much so, that, as Dastral jammed over the +controls and banked to bring her round, with her head towards the +rapidly approaching patrols, one of the wings collapsed, and she +slithered down, slipping sideways into the sea, now only some thirty +feet below her. + +"Jump, Jock! Jump!" cried Dastral. And both the aviators, having +managed to free themselves, leapt out as the singed and broken +air-wasp lightly struck the waves. + +Fortunately the life-saving jackets, which all the ferry pilots are +compelled to wear when crossing the Channel, ensured their safety, +once they managed to disentangle themselves from the wreckage of the +'plane. + +"This way, Jock. Let us keep together. Here come the destroyers!" +shouted the pilot. And the next instant, they heard a strong voice +shout out-- + +"Hard-a-starboard there! Jam her over, man!" + +And immediately after the same voice shouted to the man at the engine +room telegraph-- + +"Full speed astern!" + +Two minutes later both the aviators were safe on board the destroyer. +A signal from her slender masthead caused the other boat to sweep +round, pick up the wrecked warplane, which was already settling down, +and to tow her into port. + +So ended the adventure of the ferry-pilot and his companion. And next +morning, after a good night's rest at the Hotel de l'Europe in +Boulogne, a short message in a pink envelope, which was placed on the +breakfast tray, informed the youthful and daring heroes that-- + +"His Majesty, King George the Fifth, desires to congratulate and to +thank Lieutenants Dastral and Fisker, of the Royal Flying Corps, for, +when on active service, their gallantry and courage in attacking and +sinking the enemy submarine U41, and to confer upon them the +COMPANIONSHIP OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +OVER THE GERMAN LINES + + +"WE must have been born under a lucky star, Jock, to win the D.S.O. +as well as the thanks of the King, for that trifling little incident +which occurred yesterday," said Dastral as they sat down to a +substantial breakfast that morning, in the dainty little coffee-room +which looked out on to the English Channel. + +"It was a stroke of luck, anyhow, to encounter that U boat just when +we did. We should have made a landfall in another five minutes, and +then we should have missed her altogether," replied his companion, +pausing for an instant in his attack on the coffee and hot rolls. + +"And the hospital ship?" queried the pilot. + +"Ah, the brutes! But we were one too many for them," replied Jock. "I +had the time of my life during that short fight. I'd just love a +scrap like that every day. Almost wish I'd joined the R.N.A.S. now. +What say you, old fellow? Besides, the odds were all on our side. The +Hun never so much as suspected our presence, else he wouldn't have +shown himself as he did." + +"Just wait a few days, Jock, till we join our fellows down at the +Squadron, and you'll have all the excitement you want." + +"You mean?" went on the observer, looking up into the pilot's face as +he helped himself to another portion of grilled ham and fried eggs. + +"I mean," Dastral continued, without waiting for Jock to finish his +sentence, "I mean, wait till we get orders from the new Squadron +Commander to go over the German lines. The odds will not be so much +in our favour." + +"H'm! I wonder what it's like to be over there with the shrapnel +bursting all around you, and miles and miles of trenches below you, +with the 'Archies' spitting at you all the time with continuous +bursts of fire, and the very heavens full of air-pockets." + +"And half a dozen Fokkers coming up out of the horizon to scuttle +you, and give you a spinning nose-dive of ten thousand feet into No +Man's land, with your petrol tank blazing, and your engine missing, +eh? Go on, you veritable misanthrope!" and here both the young heroes +burst into a fit of laughter at the woeful, nerve-shattering picture +which they had both been drawing. + +Thus they continued to talk about the future which lay immediately +before them. Yet all these things they were to see, and much more, +ere they were many months older. They were full of life and vigour, +and in action they were to prove daring and resourceful; yet they +were wise in this, that they did not under-estimate either the task +that lay before them, or the enemy they were to meet. + +Their chief concern for the present, however, was centred on the +broken aeroplane, with which they had started from England on the +previous day for their first flight overseas. "I wonder what's become +of the hornet," said Dastral, a few moments later, as they sat by the +fireside, and settled down to a smoke. + +"We shall hear shortly, as you have wired to the O.C. reporting the +incident. Besides, the destroyer is sure to have brought her in, even +if she is badly damaged." + +Shortly after this the telephone bell in the corridor rang. A maid +appeared, and after a very pretty French curtsey, said:-- + +"Monsieur le Commandant Dastral, s'il vous plait?" + +"Ah, oui, Mademoiselle, qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" asked Dastral, +rising to his feet, and returning the pretty maid's curtsey. + +"C'est pour vous, ce message téléphonique." + +"Merci, mam'selle," replied Dastral, as he hastened to the telephone +box. + +"Hullo! Who is that?" asked a voice some twenty or thirty miles away. + +"Lieutenant Dastral, of the Flying Corps. Who is that, please?" + +"Major Bulford, Squadron Commander, speaking from the aerodrome at +St. Champau." + +"Yes, sir!" replied Dastral smartly, springing unconsciously to +attention, although the voice was so far away from him. + +"Good-morning, Dastral. Congratulations, my boy. I have heard all +about your adventures yesterday from my Adjutant. You've started +well! You're just the man we're wanting here. We're having warm work +with the Boches this week. You're a lucky dog to run into a German +submarine on your first trip over." + +"Oh, it was my observer, sir. He spotted the blamed thing, and bombed +her. It was as easy as winking. Just a stroke of luck, sir, that's +all." + +"Well, I hope your luck 'll keep in. We shall be glad to see you as +soon as you can come over. Are you both all right?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite all right, 'cept for a slight chill through being in +the water for a few minutes." + +"Well, better stay where you are a couple of days if you are +comfortable, and then come on here." + +"Thank you, sir. Yes, we're quite comfortable here, and we'll report +at the aerodrome in a couple of days." + +"Right. Good-bye. Oh, I say! Are you there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I was going to tell you that the machine arrived here about an hour +ago. It's some 'bus' and I like the look of her, except that she's +badly smashed, and will be in the hands of the riggers and mechanics +for four or five days before she can be used again." + +"Oh, that's not so bad. I feared she would be useless after the crash +she got, sir. How did you get her there so quickly?" + +"Oh, we received word from the harbourmaster that she had been +brought in by a destroyer, and we immediately sent down a couple of +tenders with trailers and brought her on here this morning. Good-bye. +The fellows here are all anxious to meet you." + +"Good-bye, sir." + +As soon as he had rung off Dastral rushed back into the room to tell +Jock all about his chat with the O.C. of the Squadron at St. Champau, +and especially about the two days' extra leave. + +"Good!" ejaculated his friend. "Seems a decent sort of chap, eh?" + +"Rather a sport, I should say, old man." + +"Capital. That little affair of ours yesterday seems to have done us +no harm. It'll probably give us a good entree into the new mess. Hope +they're all decent fellows there." + +So they spent half the morning resting after their exciting +adventures of the previous day, and reading the papers, some of which +gave censored accounts of the event. The two days passed all too +quickly, and on the third morning they were both awakened just before +dawn by the rep-r-r-r of a motor bicycle, which pulled up sharply +outside the hotel. + +It was "Brat" the despatch rider of the -- Squadron, who had come post +haste from Major Bulford, with an urgent message which ran as +follows:-- + + + "To Lieutenant Dastral, D.S.O., + "Hotel de l'Europe, + "Boulogne-sur-Mer. + "Be prepared to join Squadron immediately. + Tender will call for you within an hour. + "JOHN BULFORD, _Major_." + + +Two hours later both the young officers were on their way to St. +Champau, where they arrived before noon. + +They received a warm welcome at the mess and were congratulated upon +their recent adventure. They soon found that plenty of work and +adventure awaited them on the morrow. The incessant roar of the +British artillery, which was carrying out an intense bombardment of +the whole front, amazed and bewildered them, for preparations were +already in progress for the Somme "push." + +Away to the eastward, the line of battle was clearly demarked. Shells +were bursting in mid-air, and during the afternoon a huge mine was +exploded under the enemy's trenches, which shook the earth for twenty +miles around, and hurled thousands of tons of timber, rocks, and clay +into the air, making a crater of huge diameter, towards which the +British advanced and later in the day captured and consolidated the +position. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, a flight of aeroplanes, which +had been over the German lines, returned. Two of them had been badly +hit and one of the observers had been seriously wounded. They +reported having encountered several flights of enemy 'planes, which, +however, had avoided them and made off eastward. They also reported +some unusual activity behind the enemy's lines, but, the weather +having become dull, and the sky overcast, they were unable to make a +full reconnaissance. + +"H'm. There must be a further reconnaissance at dawn," the O.C. had +remarked, after receiving their report. Then, turning to Dastral, he +said: + +"Lieutenant Dastral." + +"Yes, sir," replied the young pilot, advancing towards his superior +officer, and saluting smartly. + +"The mechanics and riggers have been working day and night on your +new machine since we received it. They will continue the work through +the night, and I want you to supervise it, so that it will be ready +before to-morrow. I want you to use it as soon as possible. We have +lost so many of our machines lately over there," and here the O.C. +made a gesture with his right hand towards that line of fire and +blood, where the British and French troops held back the enemy's +hordes. + +"Nothing will give me greater pleasure, sir," replied the intrepid +youth, glowing with pride at the thought that he was to be made use +of so quickly. + +"And--er--I want you to carefully study the map of the section in +which we are working. It will be absolutely necessary for you to know +every road, hamlet and village marked on that map, before you go +over. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then get to work at once, my dear fellow. I have great hopes of you, +and if you continue as you have begun, I can promise you it will not +be long before you are made a Flight-Commander." + +Dastral blushed deeply at this compliment, for he was but a boy in +years, despite his courage and resource. Leaving the Commander's +presence, he went direct to the shed, where he found Jock, who was +not only a brilliant observer but a first-rate mechanic, and already +had the work in hand, having been drawn there by his affection for +the filmy thing that had already brought them across the seas, and +had served them so well during at least one great adventure. + +"Well, how is she, Jock?" were his first words. + +"Ripping!" replied the observer, handling the delicate creature as +though she were a lady. "I've already been round her. The engine and +propellor are quite sound now. The new petrol tank and feed are +already fitted, and in another couple of hours she'll be as perfect +as when she left England." + +"Good!" exclaimed Dastral, who had the greatest confidence in the +lad's judgment in these matters, and was prepared to back him against +any expert in aerodynamics, or the mechanism of any aeroplane in +existence. + +"What say you to a trip in her this evening? There'll be plenty of +time before dusk, old fellow." + +"Yes, I'm quite agreed, even if it's only a joy-ride to try her, for +to-morrow we go over there," said the pilot, flinging away the stump +of his cigar, and jerking his thumb in the direction of his shoulder. + +"Over where?" asked Jock, straightening himself from the stooping +position he had assumed, to examine the baffle-plates on the +propeller. + +"Over the German lines," came the reply. + +"Really! You mean it, and so soon?" + +"Yes, to-morrow at dawn we go over on a reconnaissance; C.O.'s +orders." + +"Good!" exclaimed the observer, throwing down a spanner which he +still held in his hand. + +"And here's a map of the section in front of our lines. We must spend +the evening over it." + +So that evening, after the machine had been got quite ready for her +next flight, they spent four hours over the map, scaling it out, and +committing to memory the names of villages, hamlets, rivers, canals, +roads and railway lines, so that when they retired to bed, the whole +of the map was actually photographed upon their minds. + +Morning came at length, and at the first whisper of dawn, having +received their detailed orders from the Squadron-Commander, four or +five aeroplanes were wheeled out on to the aerodrome, then taxied off +quickly and disappeared in the dark. The last of the flight was the +hornet, with Dastral and Jock starting on their first real venture +over the enemy's lines. + +After climbing rapidly, and circling round the aerodrome once or +twice, the machines made off, each to reconnoitre the section of the +line allotted to it. + +The hornet carried two Lewis guns, with plenty of ammunition, for +when an aerial patrol sets out on a flight, one never knows what +duels he may have to engage in before he returns. The hornet had this +advantage over the other machines, which were of an older pattern: +she had a higher speed, was a better climber, and with her improved +controls she could manoeuvre more quickly than any other machine yet +made. + +"Gee whiz!" cried Jock down the speaking tube, which ended close to +the pilot's ear, "but she's climbing." + +"What is it?" yelled back the pilot, half turning his head so that +his mouth came near to the end of the tube. + +"Three thousand feet," came the answer. + +"Good! Then we'll make a bee-line and cross the trenches. Look out +for 'Archie'!" + +The dawn had broken by now, and away in the east the gloom was +lifting, but down below it was still wrapped in mist and darkness. It +was the hour of standing-to. Down below thousands of eyes would be +straining through the obscurity to find that speck in the heavens +whence came that whir-r-ring sound. + +But upward and onward went the hornet With a stern, strong beat of +power in her twelve-cylindered engine. Nearer and nearer she came to +that long line which stretched from the sand-dunes of Belgium away to +Switzerland. The observer was already keenly surveying the landscape +through his glasses as the light broadened, and the countryside +revealed itself. + +A silvery streak lay beneath them; it was the River Ancre. Now a +broad white patch of roadway came into view. It was the main road +from Albert to Bapaume. As they came out of a bank of rolling mist +and fog, a few red roofs and a church tower next came into view, +standing just where four roads met. + +"Contalmaison?" queried Dastral, and Jock, after a brief reference to +his waterproof map, called back: + +"Yes, and Bazentin on the left." + +They were now almost over the trenches, and far beneath they could +discern hundreds of tiny points of fires. + +"What are they?" asked the pilot again, and the observer who had been +scanning those red sparks for a couple of minutes replied, + +"Fires in the British trenches. Men cooking their morning rations. +Can't you smell the bacon?" + +Dastral laughed and sniffed the keen morning air, as though in +reality he could make out the fragrant aroma of the morning dish, +about which those cold, wet, and shivering heroes of the trenches +were standing, ankle-deep in mud and clay. + +"The poor devils!" added the pilot, altering his controls slightly, +and wheeling round to the south to pick up the enemy's lines more +clearly at a point where they made a sharp curve. + +They could now clearly see both the British and the German trenches. +Three long, scarred and ragged lines of brown earth showed clearly +where the enemy's front-line, reserve and support trenches stood. +Long, twisting lines of similar demarcation showed where the +communication trenches ran. + +Now they were over No Man's land, sailing along serenely, and the +artillery down below had already opened the morning concert on both +fronts, when-- + +"Biff, puff----!" came a time-fuse shrapnel and burst scarcely a +hundred feet in front of the machine. Then another and another as the +"Archies" below spotted the hornet, and tried to give her a packet. + +Suddenly they were in a cloud of yellow smoke and half-poisonous +fumes, which made them gasp and sputter. Then, owing to the bursting +of the shells and the heavy concussions they found themselves in a +succession of air-pockets. + +"Look out, Jock!" cried Dastral, as the machine rocked and swayed, +banking over once or twice as though she had been hit. + +For several minutes they ran the gauntlet of this heavy fire from the +German A.A. guns, but the terrific speed at which they were +travelling--now nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour--soon +carried them beyond the range of the enemy's guns. + +Then it was that the day's work really began. Their orders were to +reconnoitre behind the enemy's lines and to report by wireless code +any occurrence, such as the threat of a massed attack by infantry, +the moving of transport columns, or the locating of heavy artillery. +It was also necessary, above all, to watch the skies for the +appearance of hostile aircraft. + +The other 'planes which started with the hornet that morning are seen +low down on the horizon, to the north and the south. They also are +searching all the terrain for any signs of activity on the part of +the Boche. + +Spurts of flame, like jets of fire, are seen in many places. These +are the German fieldguns firing upon the British trenches. The +observer does not make any particular note of these; he is out for +bigger game. + +Suddenly, the observer steadies his glasses, resting his arm for a +moment on the side of the fuselage. The loop line of the +Combles-Ginchy railway is just ahead of them and slightly on their +right. Though it is very early yet, Jock notices that the line about +Ginchy is crowded with traffic. + +"Ahoy there, Dastral!" he calls down the speaking tube. + +"Yes," comes back the laconic answer. + +"Railway line blocked with traffic. Troops detraining, I think. Put +her over a bit." + +"Right-o!" + +Dastral jams over the rudder bar with his foot and, responding to her +huge tail rudder the hornet comes round in a swift circle, banking a +little as the joy-stick is also put over. Then Jock takes another +view, exclaiming, as he does so, + +"Yes, by Jove, there must be a whole division of them. Here goes!" + +And dropping the glasses into the pocket prepared for them, he +rapidly uncoils the long pendant wire, and begins to tap the keys of +his instrument. + +"Caught them on the nap, Jock, eh? Stroke of luck. Case of the early +bird. Tell the heavies to give 'em hell, old man," shouted Dastral, +but the conversation was carried away into the morning breeze, for +jock was already sending the message which would shortly bring the +thunder. + +"Zip-zip-zip, zur-r-r-r, zip!" went the brief coded message, back +over Longueval and Ginchy; over Contalmaison and the trenches to +where the British heavy batteries were waiting. + +Behind the Ancre, in a little dug-out, an expert operator catches up +the message. He has been waiting for it impatiently since dawn. The +brief tapping which his receiver picks up, tells him exactly the spot +on the terrain behind the enemy's lines where the thunder is needed. +The whole map is scaled out into tiny sections and sub-sections, each +with a number or letter to indicate the point where the concentrated +fire is needed. + +"Quick!" cries the operator to the little exchange. "Give me H.Q. +Heavy Batteries." Then as the reply comes through he gives: + +"A-2-3. Concentrated fire!" + +Within four minutes, while the hornet still circles over the luckless +Germans, now alive to their danger and rushing over each other in +their haste to finish the detrainment of the column, flashes of fire +are seen away to the west, and through the air comes a heavy +explosive shell. It is followed by another and yet another. As they +explode, the observer sees the earth blotted out from view for a few +seconds. He notes how near the first shots fall to the target. Then +he taps his keys once more. + +"Zur, zip-zip!" cries the machine, and the next shell falls into the +midst of the column, destroying nearly a whole train. And so for +another ten minutes the airmen remain, altering the range until at +least a dozen direct hits are scored, and the damage done to the +railway, the trains, and the division or so of men is tremendous. + +Very quickly, however, the men are scattered and placed out of +danger, hiding in the woods, and under hedges and trees where they +cannot be seen. + +The Germans, aware of that dangerous pest overhead, have rushed up +anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and have also telephoned to the +nearest aerodromes for their beloved Fokkers. So shortly after, +having done as much damage as possible in a short space of time, the +hornet moves off to reconnoitre further afield. + +"Watch for their verdomt Fokkers, Jock," cries the pilot. "They may +appear at any minute. Himmelman himself may be in the neighbourhood." + +"Himmelman?" queries Jock, more to himself than to his comrade, as he +looks round uneasily, for on the previous day he had heard some tall +tales of the doings of this crack German flyer. + +Then as they move off and open out the engine to gain speed, Jock +sweeps the horizon for a sight of enemy 'planes, for a strange +curiosity grips him at the thought of Himmelman, and he wonders half +aloud whether it will ever be his fate to meet this renowned airman, +who was said to have brought down more machines than any other man +living. + +But there is little time for soliloquy in the life of an airman in +war time. He must ever be on the _qui vive_. And so for another half +an hour, seeing no enemy 'planes to engage and remembering that he is +out first of all for a reconnaissance, he watches the ground more and +more closely. + +They have moved south some distance by this time, and have crossed +the railway near Cléry. Below them they see the narrow waters of the +Somme, glistening in the sunshine, for by now the sun is up, and +there is the promise of a brilliant day. Jock is keenly watching the +white road that leads from Peronne to Albert. + +"Ah! Ah!" He gasps. "What is that dark object that breaks the white, +sunlit road, as though some dark shadow has fallen across it?" + +He points it out to the pilot, with a few gestures, and Dastral +spirals round, and makes off towards the place at a rapid rate. + +As they approach the spot Jock scrutinises it yet more closely, for +it looks suspicious. Then suddenly putting aside his glasses once +more, he calls out, + +"Enemy column on the march!" + +"The deuce it is?" queries the pilot. + +"Yes, ammunition column, I think, but we'll soon find out." + +Then the tapping begins again, and the message is flung across the +battle-ground and is picked up. With a swift mental calculation the +observer has reckoned up when the head of the column will reach a +certain point in the road, where a bridge carries the road over a +tributary of the Somme. + +"Swis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" comes the first heavy fifteen-inch shell. + +It is a little short and another message on the keys is necessary. + +This time the shell falls plump right into the middle of the column, +for so accurately are the guns trained, that, though they cannot see +the object they are firing at, if the message sent only gives the +exact position on the map, a direct hit is soon gained. + +The consternation of the Germans can be better imagined than +described. Thinking themselves in comparative security so far behind +the lines, a huge shell without the slightest warning explodes near +by, and the next lands clean in the middle of the column. + +The object hit was a motor lorry conveying ammunition up to the guns. +The first explosion is followed by another, more terrific than the +first, for a couple of hundred shells are exploded, and when the +smoke and dust have cleared away the observer and his pilot look +down, and there is a huge gap in the column, for two of the lorries +are blazing, several have been overturned, and one has disappeared +entirely from view. + +Not only so but the road is blocked for the next six or seven hours +for all traffic, and not only will guns go short of ammunition but +more than one battalion of the German army will go short of food for +the next twenty-four hours. + +For half an hour the guns continue to shell the rest of the column, +which by that time has managed to get the undamaged motors away, by +dashing blindly down any side turning that leads to anywhere, out of +that terrible inferno. + +For a little while longer the observer continues to send cryptic +messages back to headquarters, which have the immediate effect of +altering and adjusting the range of the heavy batteries, until the +whole convoy has dispersed sufficiently to prevent the waste of +further ammunition. + +Modern warfare is like a game of chess, with move and countermove, +and this applies just as much to war in the air as to warfare on +land. Evidently this morning, however, the enemy have been caught +napping. His air patrols have not yet been sighted. Surely he has had +time to deal with the offender up there in the skies, who has been +reading the secret of his lines, and the movements in his rear, or +can it be that he is laying a trap for the unwary? + +So far the daring young adventurers have had it all their own way, +but a surprise is in store for them. Meanwhile, however, they +continue to circle around, noting half a dozen little things which +Jock briefly enters on his memoranda sheet. A few photographs are +also taken with the telescopic camera, for in reconnoitring the +observer has noted some new lines of brown coloured earth showing up +plainly against the green. Becoming suspicious he pointed them out to +Dastral. + +Holding the joy stick between his legs, Dastral takes the glasses for +a minute, then cries out, + +"New trenches, I believe!" + +"I think so, but we must make sure. I want a snapshot. Reserve +trenches probably. Perhaps the enemy are thinking of falling back the +next time they are attacked in force." + +"If so, we've got his secret. It's important; we must go down and +see. Hold tight!" + +At that moment while the couple were intent upon the line of new +trenches below, they failed to notice a little cloud that was coming +up out of the eastern horizon. Till now it had been bright and clear, +as it often is at the break of dawn, but the first little cloud, no +bigger than a man's hand, had arisen. And it was in that cloud that +the danger lay. + +Heedless, however, of this little thing, and willing to take some +deadly risks to get the precious photograph, which might prove to be +the final link in some theory held at headquarters as to the position +on the enemy's front, they ignored the coming danger. + +Putting forward the controlling gear the hornet dipped her head, and +made a graceful nose-dive at a terrific speed, losing in fifteen +seconds that which she would shortly very badly need, namely, her +altitude. + +The long, downward glide is finished at last. They are within a +thousand feet of the newly-dug trenches when they flatten out, and +the camera is released and a series of short, sharp snaps are taken, +as the instrument click-clicks. To-morrow, when these are developed, +they will tell the divisional commander much that he wants to know, +and may explain something which has puzzled him for days past. + +At the moment, however, when they flatten out, half a dozen Archies, +artfully concealed under a clump of bushes, suddenly open fire upon +the intruder. + +"Whis-s-s! Bang!" comes one of the shells and bursts within fifty +feet of the 'plane. + +For a few seconds they are blinded and stunned by the explosion, the +flying metal and the deadly fumes. They gasp for their breath, and +the aeroplane rocks wildly, but the terrific speed given them by the +nose-dive carries them through the maelstrom once more. + +"Are you hurt, Dastral?" shouts the observer, as soon as he himself +regains the power of speech. + +The pilot turns round just for half a second, and shakes his head, +but Jock sees for himself that though he evidently does not know it, +Dastral is wounded, for the visible part of his face is covered with +blood. Jock, himself, feels that his left arm is useless, and he +clenches it tightly with the other. + +There is no time to waste in words, however, for another peril is at +hand. They are soon out of range of the Archies, which, nevertheless, +have riddled the planes with jagged holes. No vital part has been +hit, however, and the two adventurers are not severely wounded. + +"Is the engine all right?" shouts Jock, as he sees Dastral peer into +the mechanism once or twice. + +"She's 'pukka' (all right)," comes back the answer. + +"Then we'd better make for home. Breakfast will be ready. It's nearly +six o'clock, and we've been out an hour and a half." + +Dastral nods, and heads the machine for home, altering the controls +again in order to get a good altitude ready for crossing the +trenches. + +As he does so he happens to look away to the eastward, as the machine +banks. + +"Great Scott, look there!" + +Jock did look, and in a cloud, not a couple of miles away, he saw two +specks racing for them with twice the speed of an express train. + +Seizing his glasses he fixed them for one second upon the objects, to +discover, if possible, the rounded marks of the Allies upon the +newcomers. Instead, he saw the black cross in a white rounded field, +showing distinctly upon both machines. + +"Enemy 'planes!" he shouted to the pilot. + +"Himmelman?" suggested Dastral in a half bantering tone. "We're up +against it this time, old man. He's the 'star turn' of the enemy's +corps, and he fights like the deuce. I would like to have met him +upon even terms. As it is, if we cannot leave him and get back with +this information, we must fight him." + +"Open the engine out, Dastral, and I'll bring the machine gun to +bear." + +Fortunately, the hornet had not been hit in any vital part, and her +engine was running splendidly. But she had lost her altitude to get +the precious photograph, having dropped nearly six thousand feet, +and, in fighting, altitude counts a great deal, for it is much the +same as the "weather gage" for which our sea-dogs used to contend in +the olden days. + +The hornet mounted two guns, but in a stern chase like this she could +use only the rear weapon. If he could only cripple one of their +pursuers by getting the first shot in Jock knew that they would then +be on more even terms, despite the fact that the enemy 'planes, +having caught them unawares, had got the advantage of them. + +"What are they, Jock?" asked the pilot. + +"Fighting scouts, I fancy." Then half a minute later he added: + +"Yes, Fokkers, both of them, single seaters with the gun forward." + +"Are they gaining much?" + +"Yes, they're creeping up rapidly. Now they're nose-diving to gain +speed. Shall I open fire?" + +"Not yet. Wait till they're within six hundred feet before you open. +Cripple the leader if you can." + +"Here they come. They're about to open on us." + +"Biff, ping, ping, rap, rap!" and the Hornet was sprayed from wing to +wing with machine gun bullets. + +"Good heavens, the machine's like a sieve! She'll not last much +longer at this rate," cried Dastral, as he looked round and surveyed +the damage done. Then, turning round towards the observer, who was +sighting his gun, he shouted wildly: + +"Give it him, Jock!" + +Then it was that Jock let fly, a full drum of ammunition clean at the +fuselage of the leading enemy 'plane. Thus it was that nerve told. +Not for nothing had Jock gained the highest honours in the School of +Aerial Gunnery before putting his brevet up. + +"Got him!" he cried exultantly, and the first machine went down in a +spinning nose-dive under that withering fire, for the pilot at the +controls was stone dead, shot through the head. + +The next instant, however, the master-pilot of all the German airmen +was upon them. While his companion had attacked from the level, he +had kept his gage, and now, at the critical moment, he had appeared +as it were from the clouds above their heads, firing from his bow gun +as he did a thrilling nose-dive. + +It was ever Himmelman's game to pounce upon his opponent and to beat +him nearer and nearer to the ground, until he was forced to crash or +make a landing in enemy territory. Once again he was about to +triumph, so he thought, for never before had he caught his man so +neatly. + +But Dastral was no ordinary aviator, and though his machine was raked +again from end to end, yet the engine still ran, and to Himmelman's +surprise his quarry proved much more elusive than he thought. With +his superior speed, owing to his downward drive, the German air-fiend +swept round and round the hornet, firing all the while, but Dastral, +his blood thoroughly up now, found an answering manoeuvre each time. + +The end was near, however, for the English machine could not hold out +much longer. Not only were the planes riddled, but several stays and +struts were gone, and several times the engine had missed. To make +matters worse, after the second drum the machine gun had jammed, and +things seemed hopeless. + +"Confound the gun! He's coming on again, Dastral," shouted the +observer, clenching his fist, and forgetting all about the bullet in +his arm. + +"Look out, then, I'm going to ram him. If I've got to go down, he's +going down with me." + +The two machines were almost on a level now, and when the German came +on, Dastral just put the joy-stick over, and made straight for his +opponent. + +"Donner and blitz!" yelled the irate Boche, for he did not understand +such tactics. For one aeroplane to ram another in mid air at two +thousand feet seemed incredible, but here was this mad Britisher +coming straight for him. + +"Mein Gott, no!" gasped Himmelman, and by a skilful manoeuvre he +sheered off, though thousands of his fellow-countrymen were watching +him from below, for they were now almost over the trenches. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" yelled Jock, though but an instant before his heart +seemed to be in his mouth, as the pilot made his almost fatal dash +for his opponent. + +Seeing that Himmelman had failed in his move, the anti-aircraft guns +opened fire again from below, but the hornet sailed on over the +trenches, and Himmelman did not follow, for out of the west three +British fighters were coming to the rescue. + +"Will she hold out, Dastral?" the observer asked a moment later, as +they passed the British trenches, out of the range of the German +Archies. + +"I think so. Can you spot the aerodrome?" + +"Yes, there it is, a little to the right." + +"Thanks, I see it now," came the softened reply, for Dastral was +rolling a little in his seat, as though he held the joy-stick with +difficulty. + +Jock bent over to help him, and the next minute they landed safely on +the level turf. And Jock remembered hearing a voice say: + +"Come along now. We're waiting breakfast for you in the mess." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + + +DASTRAL and Jock received a hearty welcome home that morning. +Although it was scarcely yet six o'clock, their day's work was +finished, and a good day's work it had been. Dastral's laconic report +was handed to the Squadron-Commander. Then, as soon as his slight +flesh wounds had been dressed by the genial "Number Nine," as Captain +Young, the medical officer for the squadron, was called, they went in +to early morning breakfast at the mess. + +"So you've had a scrap with Himmelman, have you, Lieutenant?" asked +Number Nine at the breakfast table. + +"Just a slight skirmish," replied Dastral. + +"You're lucky to get away from him!" + +"You think so?" queried the young pilot, pouring out another cup of +coffee, and pressing Jock, whose wound was giving him a good deal of +pain, to another slice of hot buttered toast. + +"I do, decidedly. He's so deucedly clever that he's uncanny. We +haven't found the man who can match him yet on our side. But one of +these days we shall do it." + +Dastral did not reply for some time. His mind was full of the details +of the recent encounter he had had with the unbeaten champion. He +wondered what Himmelman thought of his own tactics which had made the +air-fiend sheer off at the last moment. And he also determined that +should the opportunity ever come to fight with him on equal terms he +would not refuse the challenge. If it were possible the western front +should be rid of this champion, and the supremacy of the air wrested +from the Germans. + +For the next few days Dastral and Jock remained on light duty, +nursing their wounds, and taking strolls about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. The hornet had been so badly damaged that it was +necessary to send to England for new parts to be supplied before it +could be flown again. + +At the end of a fortnight, however, they were both quite well again, +and the hornet had been brought to its pristine condition. Then they +took part in several reconnaissances over the enemy's lines, and in +more than one bombing raid, but nothing of unusual importance +happened for nearly a month, when the following incident occurred: + +Dastral had just been made Flight-Commander, and so, in addition to +the hornet, three other active warplanes and three brilliant pilots +who were ready to follow him to the "Gulfs," wherever that might be, +had been placed under his command. This was the section of the Royal +Flying Corps called "B" Flight, which was to win much fame and glory +in the days of the near future. Already, Dastral, by his cool daring +and skilful manoeuvring, had won a great name amongst his fellows, +and some had even begun to talk of him as a possible competitor with +Himmelman. + +Often, after one of his more than usually brilliant raids or +reconnaissances over the lines, his friends would remark of him in +his absence: + +"Some day he will meet with Himmelman again, and then one of the two +will never return." + +"What a fight that will be!" remarked Number Nine one day, as he lit +his cigar and leaned back in his comfortable fauteuil, to puff rings +of smoke into the air. + +"And I hope I shall be there," said Mac, one of the pilots of "B" +Flight. + +"And while Dastral fights with Himmelman, may I be there to fight +with Boelke," added Brum to his friend Steve, both pilots belonging +to "B" Flight. + +Brum was short and sturdy, while Steve, or Inky as he was sometimes +called, was tall and thin and very dark, with piercing blue-grey +eyes, and they both considered Dastral the finest and fairest fighter +in the British Air Service. + +One day, while the great fight on the Somme was in progress, and the +Allies, by their great pressure were winning village after village +from the enemy, there came a mysterious message to the Command +Headquarters of the ---- Division, stating that the enemy had +finished the construction of three huge Zeppelin sheds not far from +Brussels. Also that the same number of Zeppelins had just arrived +from Friedricshaven to take possession of the sheds, evidently +preparatory to a raid upon Paris or London. + +The wires and despatch-riders were busy that day between the Command +Headquarters and the Aerodrome. Plans were drawn up to destroy at an +early date both the airships and the sheds. After some consideration, +it was decided that "B" Flight should have the honour of carrying out +the raid, and accordingly Dastral and Jock went to work at once with +their maps and charts to evolve a thoroughly sound plan of campaign. + +Several days later, towards evening, another coded message from the +same secret service agent behind the lines came to hand by carrier +pigeon, which when decoded ran something as follows: + +"Two Zeppelins just left Brussels' sheds, travelling west-nor'-west!" + +"Send Flight-Commander Dastral to me at once," said the +Squadron-Commander, immediately the message was read to him. + +As soon as Dastral appeared the O.C., who had been pacing about his +little room, turned abruptly upon the pilot, and said, + +"See this, Dastral?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth, scanning the brief message, which told +him so much. + +"You know what it means?" + +"It evidently means that a raid on London is imminent, and is being +carried out to-night, I fancy, sir." + +"Exactly!" snapped the O.C., who at such times became easily +fractious and irritated. + +At this moment the telephone in the C.O.'s office suddenly burst out, + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Yes, who's there?" asked the Major sharply. + +"Advanced Headquarters, Fourth Army. Are you the R.F.C.?" + +"Yes--Squadron-Commander speaking from No. 10 Aerodrome." + +"Right. News is just to hand by field telephone that three Zeppelins +have passed overhead making for the Channel. We have wired the coast +stations and the R N.A.S. to look after them, and if possible to +bring them down. There is evidently a raid in progress. What do you +think you can do in the matter?" asked the officer at the other end. + +"Hold on just a few seconds, sir!" replied the Major. Then, turning +round to Dastral, he repeated the conversation briefly, and said, + +"What do you suggest?" + +"Just this, sir," replied the pilot. "Our plan to destroy the sheds +is well forward, and we hoped to carry it out in three or four days. +We know exactly where the place is----" + +"Yes, yes, go on. The staff officer is waiting at the other end of +the line," blurted out the C.O. + +"Well, sir, if you will detail me to take my flight over there, so as +to be on the spot at dawn, when the airships return, we may be able +to strafe the lot. At any rate, we can destroy the sheds, and a +Zeppelin would be useless without its cradle, and would soon come to +grief." + +"Good! Prepare your flight at once for the venture, and we must leave +the other Squadrons and the R.N.A.S. and coast batteries to try and +stop the raid." + +"Yes, sir," replied the pilot, saluting smartly and departing on his +errand. + +So while the C.O. concluded his conversation with Headquarters over +the 'phone, Dastral got to work at once with his flight. + +While Snorty, the Aerodrome Sergeant-Major, and Yap, the rag-time +"Corporal," and a squad of experienced air-mechanics prepared the +machines for action, the Flight-Commander got together his pilots, +Mac, Steve, and Brum, with their observers, and explained every +detail of the proposed campaign. Distances were carefully worked out, +a prearranged code of signals agreed upon, maps and charts examined +and committed as far as possible to memory, and a score of necessary +details worked up, so that there should be no confusion in the method +of attack. + +Having spent an hour thus discussing the matter and threshing out +every aspect of the question that arose, Dastral said, + +"Now then for a rendezvous, lads, for we must go singly, and come +together smartly, at the precise moment, just as the dawn is +breaking, which will be no easy matter." + +"Let it be the Lion Mound on the battlefield at Waterloo," suggested +Mac. + +"Well, yes, that will do," said the Flight-Commander. "It is only +about two miles away from the sheds, which are close by the village +of Braine l'Alleud." + +"Agreed," they all cried. "It will be a landmark we shall easily +find." + +"Then understand, all of you, that you must be there exactly as the +dawn breaks, and, as soon as we pick each other up, we shall fall +into regular flight formation, make a bee line for the sheds, and +drop the squibs before the enemy can get to work with their Archies," +said Dastral. + +"And the cargo, Dastral? What shall we load up with?" + +"Six twenty-pound bombs each, with ten drums of the new machine-gun +ammunition. I think that will be all we can safely take without +reducing speed." + +"Right, sir!" + +"And understand, boys," the leader went on. "There must be no +fighting on the way there, even if attacked, unless it is absolutely +necessary to prevent a crash. I quite expect we may have to fight an +airship or two, and possibly a patrol of Fokkers or Aviatiks, for the +Zeps are sure to be escorted on their way back, if they get wind of +our little game." + +"Agreed, sir." + +"And now, gentlemen, to bed, all of you. It is imperative that you +should each have a good night's rest, for if any man's nerves are run +down in the morning, I shall put him off," said Dastral seriously, +and they knew he meant it, for he could be serious at times, despite +his laughing blue eyes, and his apparently gay and reckless manner. + +So to bed they went, for they were all tired out, and not even the +promise of the morrow's venture could keep them awake, for these +daring airmen had learnt the happy knack of taking sleep whenever +they could get it, as soon as duty was done, and of forgetting all +about their machines as well as their own wonderful exploits. + +Next morning, long before dawn, Corporal Yap, humming one of his +rag-time songs, went round the bunks of the officers' mess and gently +called the pilots and observers one by one. Within an hour they had +breakfasted and were out on the aerodrome watching the machines being +wheeled out, by the aid of the hand-lamps and electric torches. + +After a brief but careful final examination of every strut and wire, +the machines were quite ready, all loaded up, with the machine-guns +shipped, compasses aboard, etc. + +"All ready, sir!" reported Snorty, as he came up and saluted. + +"Tumble aboard, lads!" called Dastral, and within two minutes the +pilots and observers were in their seats, and the air mechanics +standing ready to swing the propellors. + +"Swish!" went the whirling blades. + +"Stand clear!" came next in a shrill voice. + +Then away into the darkness sped the four machines. In a few seconds +they were lost to sight as they taxied across the aerodrome. Then one +after another they leapt into the air, and began their upward climb, +leaving their friends and well-wishers behind them, craning their +necks to get a last view of them as they tried to locate them in the +upper regions, by the hum of the gnome engines, and the loud +whir-r-r-r of the propellors. + +After rising rapidly to seven thousand feet the 'planes made off in +the direction of the enemy's trenches, which they crossed at +different points, for they had already separated in accordance with +their plans. As they crossed the lines a dozen milk-white arms +stretched up to reach them. These were the German searchlights, for +the alarm had been raised and messages about. + +"English aeroplanes crossing our lines!" had been flashed from the +trenches to the Archies and the German searchlights. + +"Boom-m! Boom-m!" went the anti-aircraft guns in a mad effort to find +the raiders. But their efforts were futile, for the raiders looked +down upon the little spurts of flame far beneath, and laughed as they +quickly passed out of range. + +The distance to be covered was nearly a hundred miles, before they +arrived at the appointed rendezvous, but that did not trouble the +daring aviators. Steering by compass, and watching the eastern sky +right ahead for the first faint tinge of dawn, onwards they sped over +Cambrai and the ruined fortress of Mauberge. Then they crossed into +Belgian territory, that land of wretchedness and suffering, where a +brave little people were enduring torment under the heel of the hated +Prussian. + +They were rapidly nearing the neighbourhood of the rendezvous when +Jock called to Dastral, and shouted, + +"Look, there comes Aurora, the Daughter of the Morn!" + +The pilot looked in the direction indicated by his observer, and away +to the eastward, over the far horizon, he saw the first grey streak +which heralded the coming day. + +He watched it as it grew and rapidly diffused itself over the sky. +From grey it turned to a pale yellow, then as they still sped on, +crimson flashes shot out over the firmament, as though the door of +heaven had literally been unbarred, and the dark curtain of night had +been rolled westward. + +"Keep a good look-out for the other machines, Jock!" cried Dastral, +for he had no time now to dwell in rhapsody over the beauty of the +dawn. Danger was at hand, and he had a stern duty to fulfil. + +The observer, however, did not need to be reminded; he was already +peering through his glasses, searching the skies in the faint light +for signs of the other 'planes. + +"Can you make out any landmarks?" asked Dastral through the speaking +tube, becoming not a little alarmed, and fearing that in the darkness +they had overshot the mark and sailed past the rendezvous. + +"Yes. Look, we are over a big city. I can see a dozen spires peeping +up already through the gloom," replied the observer, after peering +down towards the earth for another minute. + +"Good!" ejaculated the pilot, bringing over the controls, and banking +swiftly to come back on his course. "We must be over Brussels. We +have come too far." + +The next minute they were speeding away South-west towards the +appointed rendezvous. Opening out the engine, they were soon going +full pelt, before the enemy's guns could find them. + +"Aircraft in sight to the northward," came next, for Jock had picked +up a tiny speck away on their right. + +And now for a moment there was intense excitement, for they knew not +as yet whether the newcomer might prove to be an enemy, and they were +anxious to avoid being entangled in a fight until their work was +done. + +"Can you pick up the Lion Mound yet?" asked Dastral. "It cannot be +far away now." + +"Yes, I have it now. A little further away to the right. Can you make +it out?" + +"Yes, I see it. We'll be there in a minute. Keep your eyes well +skinned for the others. I think that must be Mac. away on our right, +though he seems to be hanging back a bit; he evidently mistakes us +for an enemy machine as we have come from the direction of Brussels. +Can you make out his marks yet?" + +"Not yet. It isn't light enough, and he's keeping too far away." + +They were now right over the Lion Mound on the famous field of +battle. The village of Waterloo was just behind them, standing almost +exactly as it stood on that memorable day, Sunday, June 18, 1815. In +the morning mist the old chateau of Hougumont lay sleepily ensconced +in the hollow, while on the left the smoke was already rising up from +the farmhouse of La Haye Saint. + +"Another 'plane coming up on the south, making a bee line for us," +shouted the observer. + +"Splendid! That must be Steve," exclaimed Dastral, warming up a +little as he saw that two of his three birds had reached the spot +safely. + +"But where the deuce is Brum? He should be here by now. It's getting +quite light," said Jock, peering in every direction for the missing +aviator. + +"Ho! ho! here he comes." + +"Where away? I can't see him." + +"Right behind us. He must have over-shot the mark also, and he's +coming back on our trail from Brussels." + +The next instant, Dastral did a rapid swerve, and a steep nose-dive, +in accordance with the pre-arranged code made before starting. + +This was quite sufficient, for the strangers had been stalling their +machines, and circling around, waiting for the signal. Now they +opened out their engines and came on at top speed to meet their +leader. + +As they came up Jock could see the observers waving their hands in +recognition. Yes, they were all here. The first part of the business +was over. They had all come safely through and gained the rendezvous. + +"Now we must get to work, for there's trouble brewing somewhere for +us, and the sooner we get through the affair the better," shouted the +pilot through the speaking tube. + +As the machines came up, they wheeled smartly round, and each took up +its appointed place in the formation. To an observer down below it +must have appeared that they were great birds wheeling about to +order, just like a platoon of infantry on parade. + +"Prepare for action," was the next signal given, as they sped off, +led by Dastral. + +"Braine l'Alleud next," called Dastral. + +"Yes, a little further to the right, just below the dip in the hill. +We should see the Zeppelin sheds shortly," responded Jock, who was +ready for the query, and had one finger already on the waterproof +map. + +"Shall I follow the road?" asked Dastral. + +"Yes, till I pick up the hangars." + +A moment later, the huge sheds came into view, and Jock, putting down +his glasses, shouted with glee: + +"There they are--three of them, and quite a crowd of people round +about them. A little more to the left." + +"Yes, I see them--why, there are hundreds of people there. What on +earth can they be doing there?" asked Dastral. + +"German soldiers waiting for the return of the Zeppelins that raided +England last night, I expect." + +"Phew! Our luck's in this time." + +"They think we're friendly machines too, I believe," cried Jock, +fingering the bomb release, ready to let go the first twenty-pound +bomb on to the hangar. "Evidently, they can't make out our marks yet +in the morning mist." + +"They'll soon think differently," replied the pilot, as, coming up at +full speed, followed by the rest of the flight, he did a rapid +nose-dive of two thousand feet. Then, flattening out to get a better +control over his machine, he swept on again till nearly exactly over +the first huge shed, and did another rapid nose-dive, the speed of +which must have approximated one hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +"Look to it, Jock. Let go, man!" he yelled. + +Jock pulled the clutch of the bomb release, and the first missile +fell almost into the middle of the huge building. He could not fail +to hit it, for the target was so large, and Dastral had dropped to +within three hundred feet of the high roof. + +"Swis-s-s-h----Boom-m-m-m----!" + +The explosion was terrific, and the huge roof of the building +crumpled in with a crash. + +Scarcely fifteen seconds later Mac. dropped a petrol bomb into the +half ruined building, and before the third plane could come into +action, huge flames were bursting out everywhere. + +Then it was that the German anti-aircraft guns, discovering their +mistake, turned their concentrated fire upon the first machine, which +by this time was passing the second hangar, and about to repeat the +process. + +"Spit! bang! boom!" And now the calm morning air was alive with +bursting bombs and tearing shrapnel, while down below the distracted +German soldiery, who had been waiting to house the returning +Zeppelins, were rushing hither and thither, bewildered, whilst their +officers were cursing those verdomt Englanders, who were always up to +some new devilment. + +"Gott in Himmel! Gott strafe England!" came from many a mouth, and +curses and cries of anger, coupled with shouts of defiance, rent the +air. + +"Are you ready, Jock?" yelled Dastral, as they whirled through a +screen of bursting shrapnel. + +"Yes, aye, ready!" came the response from the observer, whose eyes +were lit with the light of battle. + +"Then let go!" + +"Boom-m-m!" went another bomb on to the second hangar, and so with +the third and last. + +Within three minutes the whole of the structures of the three huge +sheds were blazing fiercely, and, as the 'planes sped away, and +climbed out of the line of immediate fire, they noted with joy that +the flames from the third shed were larger and fiercer than those +from the others. + +Huge forks of fire leapt three hundred feet into the air, and the +heat was so fierce within a hundred feet that everybody within that +zone of fire was scorched and fell fainting or dead. + +"Some blaze that, Jock!" cried Dastral as soon as they had left the +fire curtain of shrapnel behind them, and could observe the burning +mass properly. + +"Yes, there's a Zeppelin in there, I'll swear to it. Else it would +never blaze like that." Scarcely had he spoken, when a terrific +explosion rent the air, fifty times as loud and terrible as that +caused by the bursting of the twenty-pound bombs. At the same +instant, a huge column of smoke, flame and debris shot up into the +sky, making the very aeroplanes tremble with the tremendous +vibration. + +"Great Scott, you're right, Jock! We've done it this time. It must +have been a Zeppelin. There is nothing left of the shed now. It has +been clean lifted away." + +The destruction wrought down below had been terrible. The casualties +caused by the bombs had been as nothing compared to the terrible +death-roll amongst the German soldiery by the explosion of a million +cubic feet of gas and the wreckage of the huge hangar. The burning, +blazing missiles of bent, twisted iron, steel, timber and aluminium +came down from the skies, and wrought death and havoc amongst the +labour battalions which must always be on duty near a Zeppelin +hangar. + +Once they were out of range of the enemy's guns Dastral looked round +upon his companions. So far they had come through pretty well. No +vital hit had been made, but every machine had received its quota of +shrapnel. Not a 'plane amongst them but had its fifty or sixty jagged +tears through the planes. Mac's propeller had also been hit, but as +it was only slightly splintered, it still enabled the pilot to carry +on. + +However, as he wheeled round his flight, Dastral saw that it would +take his brave followers all their time to get back nearly a hundred +miles to safety. He gave the signal, therefore, for every pilot to +make a bee line for the English trenches, and thus get home before +the Aviatiks, Rolands and Fokkers came, which he knew would be +climbing up already to attack them, from the aerodromes in the +vicinity of Brussels. + +Two of the observers had also been wounded, though slightly, and +signalled accordingly, so that Dastral became uneasy, lest, after +all, their return to safety should be hindered. Most of all did he +fear that it might be necessary to leave one of his machines behind, +for, if an aeroplane is forced to land in enemy territory, there is +small chance of escape, either for man or machine. + +The whole flight, therefore, had fallen into position for return, +with Dastral leading, for he had signalled his men to keep together, +as far as possible, till they were about to cross the lines. +Suddenly, however, when they had proceeded some eight or nine miles +on their way, Jock, who had been scanning the north-western horizon, +called out: + +"A Zeppelin! A Zeppelin!" + +"Good heavens, where?" shouted Dastral. + +"Away over there on the right, low down on the horizon." + +"Phew! So it is. One of their lame ducks coming home to roost, after +raiding some English village, I expect." + +"The devils. I say, Dastral?" + +"Yes?" + +"Let's strafe the baby-killer!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral turned round once more to look at his battered flight. Could +he do it? Where were the German Fokkers? he asked himself. And for +once he hesitated. It was only for a moment, however, and it was not +for any thought of himself that he hesitated, but the knowledge that +he would be attacked shortly by enemy 'planes, and that some of his +machines would be lost, for they were not in any fit state at present +to engage with enemy warplanes. Jock, always an eager fighter, was +edging him on, however. + +"What say you, Flight-Commander? The others seems eager to fight. +We've plenty of bombs left yet, and haven't touched the drums. Let's +bring the blighter down, so that it can't kill any more babies in +their cots." + +"Right-o, Jock! Throw out the signal-Zeppelin." + +And the next moment a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out by the +observer, which gave the order, "Prepare to attack." + +"Whir-r-r!" went the four 'planes on their new tack, as the +controlling wires went over, and each machine banked suddenly and +came round head on towards the enemy. + +"By Jove, she's seen us and she's heading off too!" shouted Jock +through the tube. + +"Yes, so I see. Bet she's using her wireless some to call for the +Fokkers. We haven't much time to lose." + +In less than three minutes they were within machine-gun fire of the +huge gas-bag, which was flying as low as three thousand feet, and +seemed incapable of lifting herself much, either through shortage of +gas or damaged machinery. + +"Look out! She's opening fire! See there!" Short sharp jets of fire +spat out from the gondolas of the Zeppelin in half a dozen different +places, and the bullets began to whistle and ping-ping about the ears +of the aviators. + +"Reserve your fire, boys!" ordered Dastral, for he knew that they +would all be anxious to fire. Then he threw out another order, which +meant, "Attack from above." + +This they all understood immediately, and followed Dastral as he made +his machine almost sit upon her tail, as she climbed and manoeuvred +to get above the huge lumbering mass, which was already levering away +to leeward on account of some defective machinery, and the fresh +breeze which had sprung up from the south-east. + +Two minutes later they were almost directly above the Zeppelin, and, +except for two machine-guns which were mounted above the envelope, +they were immune from fire, for the other guns down below were +screened by the huge looming mass above them. + +Even the gunners on the top were practically useless, for the terrors +of the past night and the impending death now awaiting them had +shattered their nerves, and they were firing wildly, so that the +daring aviators had them at their mercy, for the hornets were about +to attack. + +Dastral gave one more look round at his flight, and saw them coming +boldly on behind him. Then he shouted to Jock: + +"All ready there?" + +"Aye, ready," came the response. + +"Then in mercy's name fire!" A short, sharp nose-dive of two hundred +feet, and they were within a hundred feet of the leviathan, and +immediately above her. So near were they that they could see the +affrighted machine-gunners on the top of the gas-bag leave their +posts and try to escape down the escalier, but they had left it too +long. They were now about to pay the price for the toll they had +wantonly taken of innocent lives during the long dark hours of the +past night. And, like all cowards who wreak their vengeance upon +helpless folk, they feared the dread spectre when it came close to +themselves. + +"Whis-s-sh! Boom-m-m!" went the first bomb; a time fuse fixed for two +seconds. The explosion rent the envelope, and allowed vast quantities +of gas to escape from two of the ballonets, so that the huge mass +crumpled in at the head, and began to sink slowly at the nose. + +Another bomb was dropped, and the second and third machines coming +up, dropped petrol and phosphorus bombs, which blazed away, igniting +the escaping gas. + +She was well alight now, and in the fore part she was burning +fiercely, but as yet she did not explode. Dastral saw that she was +done for, however, and knowing that the enemy craft could not be far +away after all this time, made off and signalled his men to follow. + +Down, down went the blazing mass for a couple of thousand feet, then +rolling over, it literally fell asunder into several parts, and each +part, still burning, carried its helpless inmates down to +destruction. + +Once more Dastral looked round, and as he did so, he gasped out the +words: + +"Great Scott! The whole place is alive with Fokkers, Rolands and +Aviatiks!" + +Then followed a fierce running fight, in which the English were +outnumbered three to one. The enemy were all around them, for they +had been called by wireless from every direction. Dastral headed his +men into the thick of the combat. Three German 'planes were brought +down, and not till every round of ammunition was fired, and every +drum empty did the Commander call off his Flight again, or rather +what was left of it. + +Brum, fighting bravely to the last, had gone down in a whirling +spiral after first sending down an Aviatik. Steve followed him a +little later, with his machine blazing, for his petrol tank had been +plugged time after time. Dastral alone, with Mac, both their machines +damaged beyond repair and both their observers wounded, staggered +through the curtain fire at the trenches later in the morning, and +came to earth just behind the British first line. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BOMBING RAID + + +DAWN was just breaking over Devil's Wood and Ginchy. The owls and +bats which had flitted over the night-bivouacs had returned to their +hiding places about the battered towers of the old church near by. A +saffron tint flushed the low summit of the eastern ridge, beyond +Combles and Ginchy, while thin blue-grey columns of smoke showed +where the Germans held fast their steel line from the Somme to +Bapaume. + +Scarcely had the stars faded away, however, and disappeared in the +morning light, when the little field telephone in the orderly +officer's tent at the aerodrome near Contalmaison went +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Are you there?" came the query over the wire. + +"Yes. Who is that?" + +"Advanced Headquarters, Section 47, East of Ginchy. Is that the Wing +H.Q., Royal Flying Corps?" + +"Yes. What is the matter, that you ring a poor chap up for the +twentieth time in half an hour?" + +"Matter enough, Grenfell, old fellow! Seven aeroplanes have just +crossed our lines from the direction of Morval and Lesboeufs. They +are flying in your direction, west by west-sou'-west. Can you hear +me?" + +"Yes, yes, but I say, Ginchy. Hullo! Were they enemy 'planes?" + +"Our sentries couldn't make out their nationality; it was too dark. +That's why the O.C. wanted me to 'phone you, lest it should be +another raiding party coming to bomb you, as they did the other +morning at dawn. He wants you to take '_Air Raid Action_' at once. +Got me, old fellow?" + +"All right, Ginchy. We'll be ready for the blighters this time. +S'long! Remember me to Crawford when you run across him." + +"Can't, old man." + +"How so?" + +"He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his +way to Blighty." + +"Lucky beggar! Good-bye!" + +"Goodbye." + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +Thus the brief conversation closed, and within another thirty seconds +the orders had been given for "Air raid action" and every one was +ready. The men of "B" Flight, No. -- Squadron under Dastral, were +standing by their machines, and the aerial gunners and observers were +placing the last drums of ammunition in the cockpit, where they would +be ready to hand. Almost immediately afterwards the sentries on duty +at the eastern end of the aerodrome gave the alarm: + +"Aeroplanes approaching from the east!" Half a dozen pairs of glasses +soon found the machines, and, for a moment, there was a little thrill +of excitement, as the anti-aircraft gunners received their orders to +load up and fix the range. + +"Stand by to start the propellors!" shouted Dastral, the +Flight-Commander, to the air mechanics. + +"Are all the pilots ready?" came next. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Sergeant. + +In another moment the whole flight would have been in the air doing a +rapid spiral, for the hum of the approaching aeroplane engines could +be distinctly heard now. + +"Whir-r-r! whir-r-r-r!" Nearer and nearer came the well-known sound +of the propellors, when suddenly the Squadron-Commander, who had been +intently watching the early morning visitants through his glasses, +called out: + +"Dismiss, 'B' Flight. It's only Graham's party returning from their +reconnaissance." + +There was not a little disappointment at this announcement, for every +one had been looking forward to a scrap before breakfast. The sun, +which had just showed his upper edge above the ridge, however, +revealed quite distinctly the rounded marks of the Allies on each of +the 'planes. + +Five minutes later the newcomers descended by rapid spirals, and, +alighting on the aerodrome, taxied safely almost up to the very +entrance of the sheds, and the pilots and observers alighted to +report what they had discovered. + +They had been away two hours, had traversed fifty miles beyond the +enemy's lines, and had picked up several night signals by a +prearranged code, using the Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn. This +information, which was of the utmost importance, had been collected +from some of our most daring intelligence officers, who controlled a +network of British spies behind the German lines. + +"Well done, Graham!" exclaimed the Major commanding the Squadron, as +he grasped the Flight-Commander's hand on alighting. "Did you pick up +anything?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then slip off your helmet and heavy coat, and make your report at +once, and--hullo, there, Johnson!" + +"Sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the officers' mess, +springing smartly to the salute. + +"Have breakfast ready in ten minutes in the private mess. Lay covers +for all the pilots." + +"Yes, sir," replied Johnson, saluting once more, and clicking his +heels at the "about-turn" he disappeared to introduce a little +thunder amongst the early morning "fatigues" in the cook-house. + +A powerful and crafty foe, whose emissaries have never been surpassed +in the espionage in the world, prevents me from giving the details of +the reports brought home that morning by Graham and his pilots. Let +it suffice, however, to say that amongst other information collected +beyond the enemy's front, by a wonderful intelligence system of our +own, it had been discovered in that dark hour before the dawn, by the +Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn, that three German troop trains were +to leave Liege that morning at eight o'clock, and, travelling via +Mauberge and Cambrai, were to reinforce the hardly pressed German +troops facing the British soldiers on the Somme. + +There was a jovial breakfast party that morning in the officers' mess +of the --th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, for in this wonderful +Corps, which, in the short space of two years, has done the seemingly +impossible, and taken the high jump from an insignificant detachment, +and become the most brilliant service under the British flag, there +is an _esprit de jeu_ as well as an _esprit de corps_ unsurpassed +even by that of the Navy, with its centuries of tradition behind it. + +"How shall I know a British 'plane, if I meet it suddenly in +mid-air?" asked a German pilot once of his Flight-Commander. + +"You'll know it because it will attack you!" was the reply. + +And never yet has a British pilot, with a single round of ammunition +left in his drum, turned tail upon the enemy, even though when +outnumbered three to one. For such a pilot, there would be no room in +the Royal Flying Corps. + +So, during breakfast that morning at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, +every flight-commander vied with his comrade for the post of honour. +Maps and railway routes were carefully consuled, for there were no +less than three routes by which the troop trains might arrive at the +Somme front. + +"Liège--Namur--Mauberge," said the Squadron-Commander, as he bent +over the large map, and ran his fingers lightly along the route, +whilst the eager youths with the pilot's wings on the left breast of +their soiled and greasy service tunics listened and waited eagerly +for their final orders, each hoping in his inmost soul that the route +allotted to him might be the one by which the Huns would arrive. + +"Let me see, now. After Mauberge and Cambrai the lines divide. Hum! +Why, yes, they must come via Peronne, Velu or Lestrée. There now. Are +you ready, boys?" asked the Commander, raising his head for the first +time for five minutes, and looking keenly into the glowing faces of +those lads, who, less than three years ago, in most cases, were at +Marlborough, Cheltenham or Harrow. + +"Aye, ready, sir!" they replied almost in one breath. + +"Are you quite sure, Graham, you can manage it? You have already had +two hours up there in the dark, you know." + +"We could do another four, sir, quite easily," replied the Commander +of "A" Flight, with just a shade of disappointment in his voice, as +though he feared the C.O. might hold him back. + +"How are the engines running?" + +"Perfectly, sir; never better! They never misfired once, and there +isn't a strut or control wire damaged." + +"Right!" exclaimed the Commander laconically, who then rolled up the +big map, touched a bell, and ordered the aerodrome Flight-Sergeant to +run out the machines and to let the air mechanics, observers, +wireless men and aerial gunners fall in and stand by the 'planes. +Then, turning to the three Flight-Commanders he said: + +"Graham, you will take 'A' Flight and patrol the Lestrée line. You, +Dastral, will take charge of 'B' Flight and watch the +Havrincourt-Bapaume route, and Wilson there will watch the Peronne +loop-line. They may come by any of those three routes. Where they +will detrain I cannot say. It will be for you to discover. Fill up +with the twenty-pound bombs, as they're the handiest, for I expect it +will be more of a bombing raid than anything else. But if the enemy +is escorted by Fokkers or Rolands, you must be prepared for a fight +in the air as well, and I want each Flight to act independently, but +if necessary to co-operate, should Himmelman and his crowd turn up. +Smoke signals will be the best, I think. Is that quite clear, boys?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite clear," they replied, for they were all in high +glee, and regarded it all as nothing more or less than a boyish +adventure, though more than one of those brave youths was going forth +to his death. And what a death it is to be hit in mid-air by bursting +shrapnel, and hurled seven thousand feet to the earth! But such a +death they faced daily without flinching. + +"Then fill up your glasses, boys, and I will give you The King! God +bless him!" + +And standing up they drank confusion to the King's enemies, and if a +stranger had been there to note it, he would have seen that many a +glass was filled with water, for the continuous demand upon the +pilot's nerve and intelligence forbids his frequent use of alcohol. + +Soon afterwards, the pilots, observers and gunners were carefully +examining their machines, guns, fixing bombs, waterproof maps, and +arranging every detail with care and skill. A faulty strut or control +wire, a defective bomb release, or a leaking petrol tank might mean +failure or disaster. + +At last all was ready, and the final words of command were given to +the air mechanics. + +"Stand clear! Away!" + +"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" called the Squadron-Commander +cheerfully, though at that very moment he was inwardly cursing his +bad luck at having had his left arm seriously damaged in a recent +crash. For of all things upon earth Major Bulford loved to lead his +brave lads and to wheel them into action against the enemy squadrons. + +"Whir-r-r! Whir-r-r!" went the first propellor, as the air-mechanic +who had started it sprang back to safety. Then, one after another the +machines of the three Flights taxied across the level ground of the +aerodrome, and sprang into the air at the first movement of the +elevator. + +"Goodbye!" waved the pilots in answer to the last greeting of their +chief, for the human voice could not carry two feet in that wild roar +of propellors and engines, which seemed to make the whole atmosphere +pulsate with a whirring sound. + +After a few rapid spirals a height of two thousand feet was quickly +attained, and then, still climbing, the 'planes, like huge birds of +prey, disappeared for a while behind the British lines as though for +a cross-Channel flight to England, in order to confuse the enemy +observers. Then, by a wide sweep at seven thousand feet, the flights +became detached, and each, under its own commander, went its own way +by a circuitous route to the appointed station. + +Dastral, with the four Sopwiths of "B" Flight, crossed the enemy's +lines at nine thousand feet, somewhere between Ligny and Grévillers. +As he did so he received his first baptism of fire from "Archie." + +White puffs of smoke and fierce red jets of flame seemed to burst +noiselessly around them, for the roar of the propellors drowned or +subdued even the sound of the shrapnel as it exploded. Heedless of +such small things, however, Dastral and his brave comrades sailed on, +sometimes doing a spiral or a rapid nose-dive, if the enemy appeared +to have found the range too closely. + +Soon, however, they were ambushed in a friendly cloud, which hid them +from the Huns far below, and when they had emerged from the clinging +moisture, they were far beyond the enemy's third line trenches, and +out into the open, with smiling fields and vineyards beneath them. + +"Is that it?" yelled Dastral to his observer, jerking his head +sideways, and pointing with his finger to something like a railway +cutting far below. + +"Yes. The Bapaume-Havrincourt railway line!" shouted his companion +through the speaking-tube which ended close to the pilot's ear, for +although only a few feet away, that was the only possible method of +communication without shutting off the engines. + +"Good!" nodded the pilot, for, despite the speaking-tube, +conversation was chiefly carried on by well understood cabalistic +signs. + +A few minutes later Dastral pointed to a cluster of red roofs about a +little church. + +"What is that place?" + +The observer, with one finger still on the little waterproof map in +front of him, shouted back, "Beugny on the left. Haplincourt on the +right." + +"Yes, yes!" nodded the pilot, edging a little more south-east, as +though the railway were not his objective. In so doing he alarmed +Fisker, his companion, who feared he had misunderstood him. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted. "You're leaving the target. The +bridge-head and the ravine is over there, east-nor'-east. That's +where the junction is, at Velu." + +"Right-o, old man! Glad you're awake. Keep your eyes well skinned +away to the east for Fokkers and Rolands. This is Himmelman's +favourite hunting-ground. He'll be down on us from the clouds like a +thunderbolt, if we're not careful. I want to get up to twelve +thousand, and come back on to the junction from the east." + +"Oh-ay!" came the laconic rejoinder from Fisker, who quickly +understood the manoeuvre. Then, leaving his map for a moment, he +swept the horizon for any signs there might be of the enemy's +'planes. + +So for nearly an hour the machines, playing at "follow-my-leader," +swept round and round, watching and waiting in an altitude where, to +put it mildly, it was cold enough to freeze a kettle of boiling water +in ten minutes. + +Cold? Yes, it was bitterly cold. Both Dastral and Fisker felt it +through their thick leather, wool-lined coats. + +They patrolled the country behind the German lines, and watched the +smoke curling upwards from a dozen French villages in the enemy's +possession. At length they crossed the loop line near Barastre, +skimmed along over Ytres, and the Bois Havrincourt; sailed lightly +across the silvery streak of the river Exuette, until, beyond the +wood and the village they espied the main railway line that threaded +its way to Bapaume. + +"There it is, Fisker. Can you see it?" were Dastral's first words, +when he sighted it. + +"Yes, I see it," came the reply. + +Dastral had timed his arrival nicely. Scarcely had they reached the +railway when out of the eastern horizon a trail of white steam, +followed by another and yet another, at intervals of perhaps half a +mile, attracted their attention. + +"Look! There they come, Dastral!" cried Fisker, putting down the +glasses and waving his arms frantically to attract the attention of +the other three pilots, and to indicate the target, now rapidly +approaching. + +One look in the direction indicated sufficed for Dastral. He made a +sudden dip, then gave one of his rapid spirals, at which he was such +an adept. This movement of the Flight-Commander's machine was the +pre-arranged signal for the rest of the company and meant: + +"Enemy approaching from the east. Prepare to engage him." + +The movement was answered by each of the following 'planes. The +formation of the flight was altered accordingly, and the machines now +fell into their allotted places ready for descent. + +The three trains were soon in full view, and the first one was just +passing the village of Hermies. The trains were of enormous length, +and were crowded with troops. What still puzzled Dastral, however, +was that there appeared to be no escort of aircraft with them. Again +and again, during the approach of the long procession, he had scanned +the heavens all around and above him, for a sight of his most crafty +foe, Himmelman, for, if the British machines had been sighted, there +had been plenty of time for the enemy to bring up his aircraft from +the nearest aerodrome. + +Even yet Dastral was very suspicious. He knew Himmelman only too well +already. He was the demon of the air on the western front, and loved +nothing better than to make a dramatic entry into a half-finished +fight. His greatest and most daring method was to climb out of sight, +often up to seventeen thousand feet and more, or better still, to +make an ambush in a dark cloud, then suddenly to swoop down, +hawk-like, upon his opponent, in an almost vertical nose-dive, and to +overwhelm him with a spray of well-directed machine gun fire. + +A dozen of the best British pilots had already gone down in a crash +or a forced landing before this demon of the air, and more than once +Dastral himself had encountered him. Before he led his men to the +attack therefore, upon this occasion, he scanned the heavens again +and again in search of his opponent, and actually waited until a tiny +cloud far above had been scattered and pierced, before he gave the +final signal to attack. + +At length, fearing to lose his target by longer delay, for the first +train was now abreast of the tiny hamlet of Beaumetz, and nearing the +junction and the bridge-head at Velu, he threw out the signal for the +attack. + +A smoke bomb to the right and another to the left: that was the +pre-arranged signal, and then, pulling over the joy-stick, down, down +went Dastral, followed at regular intervals by the three other +'planes. + +Down, down with a swoop, through the exhilarating rush of air, they +went. All the engines had been shut off, and the pilots, with one +hand on the joy-stick, and the other on the bomb release, waited +almost breathlessly through those wild, thrilling seconds, while they +fell with ever-gathering impetus, like a stone to the earth. Thus +they went down to what seemed like certain death, while every instant +during that mad dive seemed an age. + +"Click! click!" went the little instrument that measured the +altitudes. "Seven, six- five, three thousand feet," it tried to say, +but its voice could not be heard. + +At two thousand feet Dastral pushed back the joy-stick, and flattened +out. His comrades did the same, all except Franklin in the last +'plane, who had trouble with his control wires and flattened out only +at five hundred feet. Another five seconds would have dashed him to +death. He was game, however, and though his face blanched, and his +heart stayed its beating for an instant, he was soon climbing again +to rejoin his comrades. + +They had been seen now, for the smoke bombs had first given them +away. The commandants of the German communications were hotly engaged +on the telephone wires, reporting to headquarters and to the nearest +aerodromes the presence of the intruders, and demanding that +Himmelman and his comrades should come at once to deal with the +sky-fiends. + +The engine-driver of the first train also had seen the danger that +threatened, and, putting on all speed, he tried foolishly to get away +from the air peril. Velu was scarcely a mile distant, and there at +least he could find some protection, if only in the "Archies." + +But he was too late. When Dastral flattened out at two thousand feet +he was almost abreast of the train. A neck-and-neck race commenced, +but what chance has a heavily laden troop train, even though it has +three engines, against a Sopwith which can do one hundred and thirty +miles on occasion? It was like a race between a hare and a tortoise. + +"Puff-puff-puff! Shriek!" went the train, but the scream of the siren +was drowned in the whirr-r-r of the propellors racing alongside and +just overhead, for the engines had been started again by the pilots +as soon as they flattened out. + +It was a matter of seconds now, for Dastral only waited until he had +dropped down to one hundred feet. He was already in line with the +engine, and directly above. Just ahead was the railway bridge, and +the viaduct over the road leading into the village. + +"Yes, my beautiful Boche, it's ten to one against you now!" muttered +the Flight-Commander as he raced ahead, amid a spatter of rifle +bullets from the soldiers guarding the bridge. + +The engine-driver had seen the danger ahead now. He shut off steam, +and put on his brakes, but the bridge was too near, and Dastral was +already there. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m! Crash!" + +It was one of the new 112lb. bombs that Dastral dropped; the only one +carried by the flight, who were chiefly armed with 20-pounders for +the occasion. The aeroplane gave a lift and a lurch as the heavy +missile left her, and had it not been for her great speed, the +explosion that immediately followed would have caused her to crash. + +Fairly hit in the centre of the track the brick and timber piles and +beams collapsed, and the middle of the structure crumpled up and fell +crashing into the roadway. + +The troops, aware of what was happening when they saw the 'planes +overhead, leapt from the doomed train, for no human effort could +prevent the impending disaster now. When the bomb dropped and split +the bridge, the train was but forty yards distant, and the sparks +were flying from her brakes, as from a blacksmith's anvil, but it was +of no avail. With a thunderous roar, followed by a mighty crash, and +the wild hiss of escaping steam she went over the chasm. Carriage +after carriage, crowded with the finest troops of Germany, followed +the engine. + +Wild cries of pain and anger, curses and groans filled the air, as +wounded, scalded and half buried men dragged themselves from that +awful scene of carnage and death. + +"Gott in Himmel! Donner und blitz! Himmelman, Himmelman, wer ist +Himmelman?" cried many an eye-witness of the terrible tragedy, as +though the German air-fiend were some deity. + +The other three 'planes were bombing the long stretch of carriages +which had not leapt the chasm, and the hundreds of fugitives who were +trying to escape from the half-telescoped vehicles, which had not +gone over the precipice. But Dastral, banking swiftly on his machine, +came round, and with another smoke bomb called them off to attack the +other two trains. + +Leaving the Bridge of Velu, they wheeled back swiftly, coming once +more into the zone of fire from the anti-aircraft guns. Stopping only +to drop a couple of bombs on the battery 'which had bespattered the +wings of the second machine with shrapnel, they noticed the second +train pulling up quickly, and the soldiers also leaping from the +carriages. + +They proceeded to bomb it with the remainder of their 20-lb. bombs. +Then, suddenly, to their amazement the third train, which had not +received sufficient warning to stop on the steep gradient, crashed +into the second, and another scene of wild confusion occurred. The +German soldiers, taken for the most part by surprise, endeavoured to +get away by any and every means from the blazing wreckage, seeking +cover under clumps of trees, hedges, rising ground, etc., but the +airmen, having discharged all their bombs, turned their Lewis machine +guns upon them and scattered the fugitives in all directions. + +At last, not a single round of ammunition remained in the drums, and +Dastral, knowing that all the machines had been more or less hit, +gave the signal to return. + +It was time, for two at least of the machines had suffered severely, +and it was becoming very doubtful whether they would be able to +regain their own lines. They were of no further use for offence, so +they began their climb into the higher regions, preparatory to the +dash across the enemy's lines once again. + +It was well that they did so, for at that very moment Himmelman, with +half a squadron of fast Fokkers, was leaving his own aerodrome but +ten miles distant, having received information of the raiders' +presence. The whole feat had taken place so quickly, however, and the +affair was so adroitly managed, that the intruders had just time to +make their escape. + +Not all the aviators, however, succeeded in crossing the German +lines. Franklin's engine was missing so badly that he was unable to +climb above four thousand feet, and when, shortly after, they reached +the battle front, where the Allies and Germany kept their +battle-line, the fusillade of the "Archies" commenced again. +Cras-s-sh came a shell right into his engine, and the machine went +down in a wild spinning nose-dive, just behind the enemy's front line +trench. + +Dastral and his comrades gnashed their teeth, as they saw their two +comrades thus hurled to death, but, after all, death is only an +incident in the life of a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps, and who +shall mourn when a hero dies? In these days of blood and iron, when +Britain stands once more at the cross roads, freedom and honour can +only be purchased by the blood of her bravest sons. + +That evening the dinner party which was held in the officers' mess at +the aerodrome near Contalmaison, was less joyous and boisterous than +the breakfast held there that same morning. Three of the 'planes of B +flight had come back, it is true, and had brought their pilots and +observers safely home through the ordeal of shot and shell. Every +machine bore evidence of the fight. Scarcely one of them would be fit +to fly again for another week, and the air-mechanics were already +hard at work, fitting new struts and control wires, ailerons, and +petrol tanks, for two at least of the three aeroplanes had barely +held together to the end, so plugged were they with machine gun, +rifle bullets and shrapnel; while Winstone's "old bus" had literally +fallen to pieces on landing, and he had narrowly escaped a crash. + +And when the second toast came, and Major Bulford rose to speak, his +glance fell upon the two vacant chairs (for according to custom the +places had been reserved); and his eyes glistened with something +suspiciously like a tear, and there was a strange huskiness about his +voice, as he uttered those words which had been so frequent of late, + +"Let us drink to the memory of the brave lads who were with us this +morning, but whose faces we shall never see again!" + +So they drank the toast in silence, and then the Squadron-Commander, +having regained his usual voice, added:-- + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name...!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + +_Per ardua ad astra_ + + +IT was a bright sunny morning in September during the great war, as +the mail packet slipped out of Calais breakwater, and headed for the +white cliffs of Dover. For two days the service had been suspended +for a special reason. Her decks were crowded with overdue mails, +including those from India, Egypt and Australia, which had come +overland from Brindisi. + +There was also a fair sprinkling of passengers, including not a few +officers, home on short leave from the Somme front, where the great +push was still in progress. + +Amongst the latter was a young officer, not more than twenty-two, +clad in a "British Warm" and wearing the well-known service cap of +the Flying Corps, with its circular badge, consisting of a wreath of +laurels and the magic letters, R.F.C.; letters which have already +woven themselves into the romance of English history, for the daring +deeds of our airmen had already gained for this juvenile corps +traditions which will never die. + +"Good-bye, Dastral! Come back soon!" shouted several of his comrades, +who had come to the edge of the quay to see the hero off to Blighty +on his well-earned leave. For the youth in the service cap was none +other than Dastral of the Flying Corps, the brilliant young pilot who +had fought with the German air-fiend, Himmelman, only a few days +before and had perhaps done more than any other individual towards +wresting the supremacy of the air from the wily and cruel Boche. + +He had already won that coveted decoration, the D.S.O., as we have +previously seen, and now the King was about to confer upon him the +Military Cross, for a daring bombing raid which he had organised and +carried out over the enemy's lines, when as Commander of "B" Flight +he had led his men beyond the Somme, and blocked the enemy's +communications, bombed the Havrincourt-Bapaume Railway, and destroyed +the bridge and viaduct at Velu, hurling one long troop train to +destruction, and preventing the Germans reinforcing their front line +trenches near Ginchy and Morval. Now, after his latest deed, the King +had sent for him to congratulate him in person for his skill and +daring. On the morrow he was to be received in audience at Buckingham +Palace. + +If he had consulted his own wishes he would much have preferred to +remain with his comrades on the Somme, but a royal wish is an order, +and, after all, perhaps the ten days' leave which had been granted to +him would enable him to run north to visit his mother and friends in +the little village in Yorkshire, and to gaze once again upon those +blue, heather-tipped and bracing moorlands where he had spent his +boyhood. + +"Good-bye, Dastral. Don't stay too long in Old Blighty!" again +shouted his friends, as the vessel sheered off and gained headway, +and he had shouted back in reply: + +"Cheer-o, boys! I shall soon be back again," waving his hand towards +his comrades, as he bent over the rail. + +As soon as they left the shelter of the breakwater a destroyer, +waiting outside, sent up a couple of flags to her masthead. + +"Send up the answering pennant, bosun!" cried the skipper of the +mail-boat, when he saw the destroyer's signal, and immediately after +he rang down to the engine room staff: + +"Full steam ahead!" for the warship was there to act as escort, as +there were very valuable mails aboard, and only two nights ago, the +enemy's destroyers, breaking out of their base at Zeebrugge, had +crept through the gap in the British mine-beds in the dark, and had +sent two patrols and an empty transport to the bottom. + +So, while the mail packet went full speed ahead, at twenty-four +knots, the destroyer, with her superior speed, waltzed round her, +like a dancing marionette, leaving a trail of white foam in her wake. +This she continued to do all the way across the Channel, for it was +known that several enemy submarines were lurking about the +neighbourhood, watching through their periscopes for just such a +target as the mail boat with her valuable cargo offered. + +Very soon, however, the white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight, and +when they entered the new naval harbour, the destroyer sheered off +and went back to her station. + +Dastral, having been recognised on the boat, had received several +invitations to dine in London that evening, but all these he had +courteously refused, although one of them had come from a Cabinet +minister and his wife who were travelling on the same boat. + +"No," he had said to himself, "there is poor old Tim Burkitt, my +colleague, who is studying law at Gray's Inn. I will go and hunt him +up. He will be glad to see me, and we will spend the night together +at Hallet's." + +Now Tim Burkitt, who suffered from a physical deformity, had been +breaking his young heart ever since war broke out, for he had been +rejected from every sphere of service in the great war, owing to his +deformity. He had seen his chums depart from Gray's into the Army, +the Navy and the Flying Corps, and he had been left behind almost +alone. + +He had been chummy with Dastral, for they came from the same village, +had come up to London together, and had shared the same drab dull +lodgings in the great city. Later he was destined to become a great +lawyer, for nature had compensated him by granting him the gift of +oratory, but he would have willingly given up all that if he could +but have shared with Dastral his adventures and his triumphs. + +This afternoon he had thrown aside his law books to read in the +papers a vivid description of Dastral's fight with Himmelman, the +German air-fiend, and the poor cripple, with tears of grief and envy +at his own hard lot, but with his heart full of joy at his comrade's +success had just thrown aside the paper, adding dejectedly: + +"Oh, Dastral, how I would like to see you again! You were always a +true friend to me"; when suddenly he heard a scamper of footsteps up +the bare stone steps that led up to his chamber in Gray's, and the +next instant the door flew open, and Tim found himself embracing his +old colleague, with a warmth he had never exhibited before. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" he cried again and again. "I knew you'd do it if +you had half a chance. And to think you should remember me, a poor +cripple, when all England is talking about you, and the King himself +has sent for you." + +"Here, stow it, Tim! Who do you think I should seek out first if not +you? I've come to spend the afternoon and evening with you. +To-morrow, after I have seen the King, I'm going home to Burnside, +where you and I spent so many happy days, and I want you to come with +me." + +"Good! Splendid! How kind of you, old fellow! Then to-night we'll +have a dinner all to ourselves at Hallet's. What say you?" + +"Right you are, Tim," said Dastral, clapping his old colleague on the +back, and making him the happiest fellow in all London for the nonce. + +That afternoon the two chums had a quiet stroll around Gray's, and +Lincoln's Inn Fields, then called on one or two acquaintances who had +also been left behind in the Temple. A visit to the Old Mitre of +sacred memory, and a quiet smoke in Johnson's Corner at the "Cheese" +in Fleet Street, passed away the hours of the golden afternoon, and +the evening found them snugly ensconced at Hallet's, where, in the +days gone by, they used to celebrate any little event in their lives +by a special dinner. + +Never for a moment did the conversation flag. The two chums unbosomed +themselves to one another, except that Dastral would not talk about +his adventures since he became a pilot in the Flying Corps, for the +members of this Corps never seek advertisement, preferring that the +record of their Homeric deeds should all go down to the credit of the +Corps, rather than to any particular individual. + +"But, Dastral," Tim would urge, as the plates and dishes disappeared +and another course was laid, "you must have had a hundred amazing +adventures since I saw you last. Just tell me about one of them, say +your fight with Himmelman!" + +"Bah! It was nothing, Tim--nothing, I mean to make a song about. If I +could write and speak like you, now, I might be able to make a tale +about it. But nature hasn't gifted me that way," replied the pilot. + +"But don't you feel the romance and glory of it all, fighting a +battle in the air at ten thousand feet?" + +"Romance, glory?" laughed Dastral. "There is no romance or glory +about war, when you are in it. It is horrid and brutal then. You must +be miles away to see the romance of it. It is all an ugly business." + +Tim couldn't understand him. He just couldn't, but he had one more +shot. "Don't you feel like singing sometimes, when you are up in the +azure, mounting in circles like a lark to meet the sun, and the +heavens are calling you?" he asked. + +"Ah, when I am ten thousand feet up, and the engines are running +smoothly, it is heavenly. I feel like music and romance then. The +song of the propellors is beautiful, and the beating of the engine +makes me imagine all sorts of weird things, but when I come down to +the earth again I forget all the things I would say. It is wonderful +though, that call of the heavens; the call of the wild, as the +gipsies say, isn't in it. But I cannot describe it." + +And so they talked on for an hour--two hours, long after the table +had been cleared, making rings of smoke into which Tim Burkitt at +least, with his rich imagination, saw wonderful things, when suddenly +something happened which made them both spring to their feet--the +electric lights went out, leaving them in utter darkness for a couple +of minutes. + +"What is the matter?" cried half a dozen voices, as soon as the +waiter appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he immediately placed +upon the centre table. + +"There is a rumour, sir, that the Zeppelins are to make an attack +upon London to-night, and the electric current has been turned off at +the main," replied the jovial, beefy-faced waiter, adding with a +smile, as he returned for another lamp, "What are we a-coming to?" + +At this announcement several people at once took their departure, +evidently thinking that Hallet's would be the first place to invite +the attention of the raiders, and one or two ladies fainted and had +to be helped out by their friends. + +A strange and eager look came into the eyes of Dastral at the word +Zeppelin. Tim noted it at once, and wondered what his colleague was +thinking about, for, though his gaze was eager and keen, there was a +far away look in his eyes. At the end of a minute he half uttered the +word: + +"Zeppelin!" + +Then he rose to his feet, but recalling himself almost with a jerk to +the fact of Tim's presence, he said apologetically, + +"I say, old fellow, we've had a jolly time, but I think I must leave +you, though it almost breaks my heart to do so." + +"Go? Where to, Dastral? I thought you were going to spend the night +at my rooms, and it's barely nine o'clock yet. Sit down, old man. You +haven't got the Zeppelin fright as well, have you? If you have, here +are my smelling salts--here, take a sniff now." + +For answer Dastral burst into a roar of laughter. Then subsiding +quickly, he said, in a more serious tone, bending low to whisper his +words in Burkitt's ears: + +"I have never yet fought a Zeppelin, except the lame duck we brought +down near Brussels. I would give all I possess to go up and fight +one. And during the last minute I have been wondering how it can be +done." + +"Well, how can you do it?" + +"That's the trouble. I'm not attached to any Wing or Squadron in +England. But a friend of mine has just recently returned from France, +and has been appointed Commanding Officer of the --th Squadron, with +its aerodrome about fifteen miles away from here. I must get into +touch with him, if possible." + +The next moment Dastral was engaged on the 'phone, trying in the dark +to find his friend somewhere at the other end of the wires. After +some ten minutes he managed it. + +"Hullo! Hullo! Are you there?" he asked. + +"Yes, who are you?" came the reply. + +"I want the O.C. of your Squadron at once, please." + +"He is busily engaged, and I cannot disturb him now, unless it is +something of the highest importance. Hurry up, please, and tell me +who you are, and give me your message. The wires are urgently wanted +to-night." + +"I am Dastral, Flight-Commander Dastral of the --th Squadron, --th +Wing, and I have just come from France." + +"What! Beg pardon, sir. Dastral. Not the pilot who fought with +Himmelman?" + +"Yes." + +"Hold the line a minute, sir." + +Twenty seconds later the O.C. of the Squadron himself was at the end +of that line. + +"Hullo! Is that you, Dastral?" + +"Yes. How are you, Garner, old man?" + +"But hang it, how came you to ring me up? I should dearly love to see +you, but I've my hands full to-night. We received '_Air Raid Action_' +half an hour ago. Several hostile airships have crossed the east +coast, and are making for the metropolis, so I cannot stay now. Come +and see me in the morning, do, old man. Eh, what's that you say?" + +"Haven't you a spare machine you could let me try if I came over +there by fast motor at once?" + +"Hullo! hullo! All the machines are out with the men standing by, +ready to go up at the first tip, except--let me see now--we've got a +new fast 'Buckstead Bullet' here, which none of the men are very +familiar with yet. There's that. Come if you like, old fellow. It's a +bit irregular, but if there should happen to be a big attack on +London, and the case warrants it, I see no reason why you shouldn't +try the blamed thing. It's a single-seater, only just in from the +makers, and a devil of a whizzer as well as a first class climber!" + +"Right-o! I'm coming straight away!" cried Dastral, waiting to hear +no more, and banging down the receiver. + +The next minute he was outside on the pavement, forgetting all about +Tim, the settlement of the bill, and everything else. Tim, however, +who had heard part of the message, had already paid the bill and got +outside, where he had hailed a taxi, determined not to be left +behind, for his quick intuitive mind had told him which way the wind +was blowing. He had had a hard job to secure the vehicle, for there +had been a great demand for the same, but he had whispered Dastral's +name to the chauffeur and had agreed to foot the bill however big it +might be, although he had only three half-crowns left in his pocket +after squaring the bill indoors. That did not bother him at all, +however. Here was a chance of rendering some service, however small, +to the nation at large, for he felt convinced that if only Dastral +could have a chance he would bring down half a dozen raiders. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral appeared at the doorway he shouted: + +"This way, Dastral, this way. Quick!" + +"What the deuce----" + +"Inside, old man; this is my show!" and before the bewildered pilot +could finish his exclamation, he was inside and Tim was with him and +the door closed. + +"Where to?" asked the cripple. + +Dastral gave the directions, and told the driver to do his utmost to +get them there within an hour, or it would be too late. + +Within ten seconds they were whizzing away through the darkness in +the direction of the Great North Road, and as there was very little +traffic about, they reached their destination within three quarters +of an hour. It was not a minute too soon. They had seen the +searchlights at work on their way north, and towards the end of their +journey they had several times heard the anti-aircraft guns blazing +away at something up in the clouds. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" came the challenge as they reached the +turning which left the main road, and finished at the aerodrome. + +The vehicle halted abruptly, for the driver had seen the flash of the +barrel of a Smith & Weston revolver, which the air-mechanic on +sentry-go held out to bar their progress. + +"Flight-Commander of the Royal Flying Corps," shouted the pilot, +hoping that would allow him to pass, and to get on to the aerodrome +immediately, but the sentry was obdurate. + +"Let me see your permit, sir," he asked. + +"Haven't got one." + +"Turn out guard!" shouted the sentry, and turning to the newcomers, +he added: + +"Advance, Flight-Commander, and report to the guard-room." + +The guard-room was but a few yards further on, and the corporal of +the guard, approaching the carriage, saluted, and led Dastral and Tim +away to the Flight-Sergeant at the Orderly Room. He was expected, and +a minute afterwards he was shaking hands with Garner, who had been +waiting for him. + +And now there was not a moment to spare, for the presence of the +raiders had been reported from the O.C. Searchlights, as hiding +somewhere in the clouds between Hatfield and Barnet, trying to break +through to London. Only a ring of curtain fire from the A.A. +Batteries, and a cordon of long flashing lights which swept the sky +from the horizon was keeping them back. + +Several machines had already gone up in search of the enemy and the +other pilots were standing by their machines ready to "take off" +immediately the order was given. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral had settled with the driver of the +taxi, and introduced Tim to his friend, Squadron-Commander Garner, +they were led through the darkness to the shed where the "Buckstead +Bullet," as she was nicknamed, lay all ready to be wheeled out. + +"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed Dastral, immediately he saw the little +single-seater monoplane, for he had flown a similar machine several +times in France. + +With the aid of a dark lanthorn he carefully went over her, and +lovingly fingered every part of her, from the bullet-nosed fuselage +which gave her her nickname, to her neat, trim little tail and +rudder. + +The noise of the A.A. guns became louder and louder outside, as +though they had discovered one of the raiders. And Dastral was just +itching to go up! + +"Let me go up in her, Garner!" he said. "She's a beauty!" + +The O.C. scratched his head. He had wanted to fly her himself, for +she was the only spare machine left over, and, moreover, as Dastral +was not attached to the squadron, it was somewhat irregular for him +to use the machine, without the express permission of the Wing +Headquarters. He hesitated for a moment therefore, but, just at that +instant, one of the raiders suddenly emerged from the edge of a cloud +where it had been in hiding, and a fresh burst of anti-aircraft +gunfire caused some excitement. + +"There she is!" cried some one, as one of the searchlights caught +her. + +"As you like, Dastral. There's your target. Get into your togs +quickly and I'll take the risk of it. I must leave you for a moment +now. Those fellows in 'C' Flight are waiting to go up," and with that +the O.C. turned round and dashed off, while Dastral, without waiting +for anything further, got into a huge leathern coat, pilot's boots, +and donned the flying helmet with long ear flaps and queer-looking +goggles, which an air-mechanic had brought him. + +Two minutes later the young pilot climbed into the 'plane, gave a +final look round, waved a good-bye to Tim, whose pale face, now +working with intense excitement, he discerned in the darkness. + +"All ready, sir?" asked the Flight-Sergeant. + +Dastral gave him a nod, and prepared to switch on the the current. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, and as the cool, calculating pilot +pulled a switch, the mighty engine broke into its terrible song. + +"Rep-p-p, rep-p-p! Whir-r-r!" + +"Stand clear!" and away went the monoplane like a bullet out of a +gun. As she started, a searchlight was deflected in a long beam along +the ground, to give the daring young aviator the direction for his +take-off, for the dangers of night-flying are many, as more than one +brave pilot has found to his cost before now. + +At a hundred yards the "Bullet" sprang into the air, and soared +upward at a tremendous speed, being quickly lost to sight, as the +searchlights tried once more to find the raider, which had found +things too warm, and had sought again the shelter of the clouds. + +By short and rapid spirals, Dastral soon reached a thousand feet. +Every now and then he turned his little shaded electric lamp on to +the indicator, which seemed to vibrate merrily, and almost to smile, +as its little rounded dial told the altitude. Up and up they went, +and the indicator almost laughed with joy as it clicked out the +figures: + +"Two thousand, two thousand five hundred, three thousand feet!" + +Still they seemed to be climbing all too slowly for the pilot. He had +caught sight of the Zeppelin when she showed herself for a moment, +and he had said to himself: + +"Twelve thousand feet, and then there'll be a chance! But nothing +less than that will do." + +He was impatient therefore to get higher and higher, for he feared +the raiders would discharge or jettison their cargo of bombs before +he could get at them. They certainly would have done, had they known +that at that very moment Himmelman's rival was climbing to meet them, +on a Buckstead Bullet, which could do one hundred and thirty miles an +hour when pushed. + +Already a number of bombs had been dropped, and away to the northward +several fires could be seen where the night-raiders had left their +victims behind, in the shape of burning homesteads, where the victims +were women and children, old men and invalids; but the avenger was at +hand, and the hour of reckoning had come. + +"Eight thousand, nine thousand feet!" clicked the indicator, though +its voice was lost in the roar of the engine and propellor. + +At eight thousand feet Dastral passed several of the 'planes which +had preceded him, and at nine thousand he left the last of them +behind him and entered into a bank of clouds. Never once had he +ceased his rapid, climbing spirals, and now, through the misty, +clinging vapour of the clouds he still soared heavenwards. Once or +twice he stopped his engines just to listen for a few seconds, but he +heard nothing except the whir-r-r-r of the 'planes beneath him. + +He was ahead of them all now, for his engines were running +beautifully, and the "Bullet" raced through the next layer of clouds +as a fish darts through the waters. It was becoming lighter also, for +he could catch glimpses of the stars, and the remaining clouds were +thinner than those below. Soon, he would be above them all, and +perhaps above the raider. It was cold too, bitterly cold, but his +young blood coursed madly through his veins, and his heart beat +quicker and quicker. + +"Ten thousand. Eleven thousand," laughed the indicator, joining +merrily in the hunt, for it seemed to Dastral now that he could hear +those weird voices of the night, speaking to him and calling him up +and up, ever higher and higher. Yes, the clouds and the stars were +calling him, and the music and rhythm of that pulsating engine a few +feet away, and the whir-r-r of those propellors just ahead, seemed to +make him almost light-headed, so that he began to laugh and sing. + +He thought of crooked Tim far down below, and what he had said about +the romance and the music, and from the pilot's lips there fell +involuntarily the words: + +"Poor Tim! How he would like to be up here alone, and to listen to +all these voices of the night!" + +As Dastral thought thus, he looked down, far down into the blackness, +and he saw the flashes of the searchlights. Sometimes they reached up +to him long extended arms that seemed to unite him to the earth, but +he could scarcely believe that he had ever dwelt down there in that +abyss of murky darkness. Yet always he swerved aside, and evaded +those long stretching pillars of light, for he knew that if he +crossed their beams but once, other eyes would see him, and the +raider above would be warned of his near approach. + +Suddenly at twelve thousand feet the monoplane shook itself as though +dashing the clinging moisture from its yellow wings, and leapt, like +a fish out of the water, above the topmost layer of clouds. + +And now with keen searching eyes Dastral looked above and around for +the presence of the raider, but she was nowhere to be seen. Below him +rolled the clouds, like dark, monstrous billows. Here and there +through an opening he still saw the flashes of the searchlights +feeling for their prey. But above his head the sky was aflame with +millions of stars. Right across from east to west, like a silvery +pathway to heaven, shone the Milky Way, luminous with light, and +along that trail of diamonds shone the bigger stars, in the +constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Aquila. And far down in the +east, Orion the Hunter chased the dancing Pleiades, as he did +thousands of years before aeroplanes were ever dreamt of. + +"But where is the Boche?" Dastral asked himself again and again. + +He was beginning to fear that he had lost him. Perhaps the Hun had +caught sight of him as he came through the clouds, and had now +departed unseen, as he came. + +"Great Scott, have I missed him after all?" he cried. "For months and +months I have been longing to fight with a Zeppelin, and now he's +slipped me." + +And for ten minutes he circled about, stopping his engines once or +twice to listen for the roar of the invader's engines and propellors. +Suddenly something whizzed past him and burst into a jet of flame. It +was a shrapnel with a time fuse. Then another and another. They were +firing again, then, down below, and they must have picked up the +airship once more. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "She must be somewhere near me too, for I am +almost in the line of fire." + +Looking down he saw what had happened. The clouds in which the +Zeppelin had been hiding were breaking up and drifting away, for a +fresh, cold wind had sprung up from the east. + +"Ah! Ah! I shall see her soon. She cannot escape me now. I shall find +her in a few minutes." + +"Whiz! Puff!" came another time fuse, and burst not fifty feet away, +several pieces of which pierced the left wing of the monoplane. + +"By Jove, but that was close!" he cried, throwing out three balls, +which burst into red flame as they fell towards the earth, and was +the signal for the Archies to stop firing. + +"Ah, there she is!" exclaimed the daring pilot, as, out of the +clouds, a thousand feet below him, he saw a black mass emerge against +the lighter background of the thinning clouds. At the same instant +the searchlights found her, and a dozen long arms of streaming light +focussed their united rays upon her. + +"Gemini! What a target!" cried Dastral, as he pulled the joy-stick +over and dived to the attack, without a second's hesitation. + +His gun, already cocked and ready to fire through the whirling +propellor, and loaded with the new flaming bullet, was brought to +bear. + +Down, down he went, firing rapidly all the while. Then underneath and +alongside her he raced, pumping his second and third drum into the +huge looming mass. + +Far below his friends saw the whirling monoplane, in the glare of the +searchlight, for now it was as bright as day. The A.A. guns had +ceased their fire in response to his signals, but the men on the +doomed Zeppelin brought three or four of their eleven machine guns to +bear upon him, but it was too late. They knew the deadly peril they +were in, and it was impossible for them with their unsteady nerves to +hit any vital part of that waspish little fiend, which circled round, +above and below them at a truly terrific rate. + +Dastral, in his rapid nose-dive, had dipped five hundred feet below +the monster and flattened out to return to the attack, but, as he +commenced his climb again he saw that the silvery glare of the +Zeppelin, as it had appeared to him but twenty seconds before in the +lure of the searchlights, had taken on a ruby glow, which, as he +mounted up, became a ruddy glare. + +"Heavens! She is on fire already!" he gasped. + +It was only too true. The engines had been set going, for the +Zeppelin commander had tried to make his escape, just as he was +discovered, but it was too late. He had never suspected that +Himmelman's terrible opponent was overhead, having climbed up twelve +thousand feet while he had been hiding in the cloud. + +"Ach! Gott in Himmel! Wir sind verloren! Donner and Blitz!" + +Never will Dastral forget the sight which he beheld that night, close +at hand, for the Huns now realised that all was lost, and that a +terrible and speedy vengeance awaited them all from which there was +no escape. As the huge envelope kindled into fierce leaping flames, +two hundred feet high, the pilot could plainly see the panic-stricken +crew of the doomed airship, wringing their hands in terror and +fright, as they dashed madly along the narrow footways that led from +one gondola to another, trying to escape, till the last second, from +the fierce flames that spurted out above and below, and licked up and +consumed everything with their intense heat. + +It was truly a terrible sight, and the burning mass lit up the +countryside far below as well as the great metropolis away to the +south. Never since the day when every hill-top in England was aflame +with the fires that announced the coming of the Spanish Armada, in +the days of the great sea-dogs, had such a beacon been lighted in +this land of ours. + +Down, down fell the flaming mass, lower and lower, while the daring +pilot, bewildered at what he had done, followed her, circling round +and round, till, when some eight thousand feet from the ground, one +of her four hundred-weight bombs, with which her crew had hoped to +wipe out some peaceful village, exploded with the intense heat. + +"Boom-m-m! Crash!" came the terrible sound, and the flaming mass, +shivered into a thousand fragments by the explosion, fell down to the +peaceful earth below with the charred and mutilated bodies of its +crew of baby-killers. + +A few minutes later Dastral, guided by a score of still flaming +fragments about the adjacent fields, landed safely on the level +stretch of grass from which he had ascended to fight the midnight +raider. + +Next morning the daring pilot was decorated by His Majesty King +George, and ten days later, having bade farewell to his friend, Tim +Burkitt, he was back with his Squadron in France, and leading "B" +Flight over the German lines once again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + + +"REVEILLE! Show a leg there!" shouted Corporal Yap, one morning, as +he went round the tents and hangars about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. + +The sleepy air-mechanics of the Royal Flying Corps in the field +opened their eyes and yawned, showing no immediate disposition to +rise, for the fatigue of the previous day's work had scarcely passed +away. + +"Did you hear me, Cowdie, you, 'spare part.' Get up there smartly. I +shan't call you again. If you're not on parade in fifteen minutes +you'll be for the high jump." + +"'S all right, Corporal," shouted the "spare part," trying to wriggle +out of his roll of blankets and commencing to sing in a doleful +monotone: + + + "Oh, it' snice to get up in the mornin' + But it' snicer to stop in bed..." + + +Corporal Yap turned and went off on his errand, shaking up a few more +"spare parts," and threatening everybody more or less with "the high +jump"; which, of course, meant an appearance before the Commanding +Officer of the Squadron. + +As soon as his woolly head had disappeared behind the flap of the +tent door, Cowdie rolled back into his blankets for another +minute-and-a-half's nap. As he lay there he looked for all the world +like an Egyptian mummy, for he had a peculiar way of rolling himself +up in his blankets at night which gave him that appearance. But +although his eyes were closed his ears were wide awake for the soft, +stealthy tread of the orderly N.C.O., who he knew would be sure to +return in about the space of ninety seconds to try to find who had +left his warning unheeded. + +Cowdie, though a spare part about the aerodrome, was quite a genius +in his way. His senses were so acute that the others said he could +hear the "footsteps" of a snake in the grass, so they dubbed him the +"listening post" and made him sleep next the door of the tent, so +that he could always give the alarm in case of need. + +At the present moment he was counting under his breath. He knew the +orderly's round, and knew to a nicety how long it would take him to +get back to tent No. 7. He allowed ninety seconds, and he had just +got as far as "eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine," when he +suddenly stood bolt upright in his roll of blankets, thereby +performing a wonderful gymnastic feat, and looking, with his sleeping +cap over his head and ears, not unlike a Turk preparing for his +morning ablutions. + +Evidently he had heard some soft stealthy tread on the grass outside, +for exactly at "ninety" the woolly head of Corporal Yap appeared at +the door once more, and his yapping voice called: + +"Caught you this time, you trilobite. Out you come! Can't say I +didn't give you warning, Cowdie!" + +Then catching sight of his man in the grey morning light, the +Corporal gasped, and fell back a pace or two. + +"The deuce! Do you sleep standing up, man?" + +"Sometimes," replied the Spare Part. "M.O.'s orders. Number Nine told +me to do so the last time I reported sick." + +"Where are you going to? About to have a Turkish bath, I s'pose; all +right, my man, I'll catch you yet. If you're not on parade in twelve +minutes, bath or no bath, you're for it. D'y'understand?" + +"Yes, Corporal, but I'm not going to have a bath. They're dangerous. +Number Nine ordered me not to. Said I'd got a murmuring heart, he +did," replied the Spare Part meekly. + +"Murmuring heart, have you? Then where are you goin' to in that rig?" + +"Ain't goin' anywhere; Corporal. I'm standin' still." + +"What are you standin' still for?" + +"Waitin' for my turn with the shavin' brush," came the quiet answer. + +At this the Corporal departed, swearing wrathfully, for he was no +match for Cowdie. At his departure the rest of the company in No. 7 +tent burst into loud laughter, for they enjoyed immensely this daily +tug-of-war between the bullying orderly N.C.O. and the apparently +meek but cunning Cowdie, who was a great favourite, despite the +nickname of "Spare Part," and "Regimental Cuckoo," which had been +bestowed upon him. + +Though he had lost two minutes in the start yet Cowdie was dressed, +washed and shaved first as usual, for somehow he had the knack of +literally jumping into his clothes, even when the men received an +alarm and were turned out in the dark of the night. + +These little morning episodes did much to enliven the men and to help +them to endure the dull fatigue and monotony which was part of the +lot of every man ho went overseas with the British Expeditionary +Force. All the time they were preparing for the roll call, dressing, +shaving, rolling up their beds, tidying their kits, a running fire of +sparkling wit and frolic was kept up. + +Even when the aerodrome was bombed by the German aeroplanes, which +happened two or three times each week, almost always just as dawn was +breaking, these brave men joked just the same, amid the bursting +bombs, and the blinding flashes of the explosions, the ensuing +crashes, and the rattle of the anti-aircraft guns with which the +aerodrome was defended. + +While the shaving was in progress this morning and three of the men +were trying to shave by the aid of one little cracked mirror about +three inches by two in size, Brat, the despatch-rider attached to the +squadron, said to the inimitable Cowdie, + +"I hope you finished that letter last night, old man. You finished up +all that two inches of candle I lent you. It must have been a long +letter you wrote." + +"No, I didn't quite finish it," replied Cowdie quietly. + +"Was it another letter to your little girl in Old Blighty?" + +"No, it was a short letter to mother," replied the Spare Part in a +choking voice. + +"Dear me! And you didn't finish it?" + +"No," came the quiet answer, as Cowdie began to attack his upper lip, +which was all quivering with apparent emotion. + +"What did you say, then?" + +"I said, 'Dear Mother,--I am sending you five shillings, but not this +week.'" + +At this a burst of laughter from the whole party called forth the ire +of Old Snorty, who was passing by, for he had been up early, with +several squads of air-mechanics, seeing off "B" Flight, who were +paying another early morning visit to the enemy. + +"A little less noise there, Number Seven, or some of you'll be in the +guard room. How the deuce can we hear when 'B' Flight's coming in, if +you kick up a row like that?" + +"Old Snorty seems to have something on his mind this morning, doesn't +he?" said some one. "'B' Flight won't be back for a couple of hours +yet." + +So the men were quiet for a whole minute after that until the +sergeant-major, having passed out of earshot, and there still being +three minutes left for parade, the men returned to their chaff and +titter, Brat leading off again by saying: + +"That letter of yours, Cowdie, reminds me of another chap who worked +alongside of me near St. Pierre with the --th Squadron. He once wrote +a letter to his mother as follows: + + +"'Dear Mother,--Enclosed please find fifteen shillings. I cannot. + "'Your affectionate son, John.'" + + +And the joke was reckoned so good in our squadron that we raised the +money for the poor chap, and he sent it after all." + +"Fall in!" came a stentorian shout, as Brat finished telling this +yarn. And the men of Number Seven doubled up to fall in on the left, +and answer their names to the early morning roll, for another day had +begun, and more than one man of that small crowd was to prove himself +a hero before another sun should come up out of the German lines +beyond Ginchy, and set in blood-red clouds behind the British lines. + +Some two hours after that, as the men busy about the labours of the +day, which in an aerodrome, under active service conditions, range +from the rigging of a defective aeroplane, mending struts, replacing +controls, preparing ammunition dumps, to the taking down of a R.A.F. +engine, and while "A" Flight was returning from a reconnaissance, and +"C" Flight was preparing to go up and over the lines on a bombing +raid, Grenfell, the orderly officer at the aerodrome 'phone, received +a broken message from somewhere near Ginchy. + +The message had to do with the crash of a British 'plane somewhere in +front or just behind the first line trenches, but a terrific +bombardment being concentrated on the place at the time the message +suddenly ceased, as though the wires had been broken, or the speaker +at the other end put out of action. + +A minute later Snorty came dashing down towards the spot where Number +Seven squad were working. + +"Where is Brat?" he shouted. + +"Over there, sir, in the transport shed," replied Cowdie. + +"Fetch him at once!" + +And Cowdie dashed off to find his chum, bringing him back a moment +later. + +"Bratby!" shouted Snorty, giving the despatch-rider his full name for +once, as he saw the two doubling up. + +"Yes, sir," came the answer smartly. + +"You know the observing officer's dug-out near Ginchy?" + +"The place where I carried the despatches the other day, sir?" + +"Exactly." + +"Yes, sir, I know it." + +"Good! Go there at once. The wires are snapped again, and we have +received a broken message through which stopped in the middle. One of +our 'planes has come down. It must be part of 'B' Flight, for they're +not in yet. Go there at once, take this message to the officer or +senior N.C.O. in charge, and get the full message from him. Learn +what you can while you are there, and come back at once, so that we +may send out a breakdown gang for the machine, if not too late." + +"Right, sir." + +"Mind, we want the exact location of the machine, and you must try to +find out if it is a bad crash, and what has become of the pilot and +observer." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now get off at once. It is five minutes since the machine crashed. +And be careful now. There are some nasty corners there, and the +Germans are shelling the Ginchy lines 'hell for leather' this +morning." + +Then, catching sight of Cowdie, for whom he had rather a soft place +in his rugged heart, the Sergeant-Major added, + +"Better take the 'Spare Part' with you. You may need a second man." + +"Right, sir." + +The next moment the two chums, happy as schoolboys because they were +entrusted with a dangerous commission, had the "New Triumph" out of +the shed. Then, with Cowdie seated on the carrier, Brat on the +saddle, away they went, past the aerodrome sentries, out at the gate, +and down the road towards the trenches. + +"Zinc-zinc-a-bonck-rep-r-r-r-r!" + +But, alas, it was an adventure which was to prove something more than +a joy ride, before another two hours were past. + +It was a clear sunny morning as they pattered along, wondering much +what new venture it was that awaited them. Over there towards Ginchy +the air was thick with bursting shells, and the clear, blue sky was +marked in a score of places at once by aeroplanes and kite balloons, +whilst round about them were splashes of fire, and floating +milk-white cloudlets where the shells burst, as the Huns tried to +bring down our "birds." + +An air-fight was in progress already over Ginchy; two Fokkers which +had ventured near the British lines were being countered and chased +by several of our Sopwiths. They were two of the very same Fokkers +which had chased Dastral and the remnant of "B" Flight after their +drums of ammunition were all used up. + +But Dastral, where was he at this moment? This was the thought that +was uppermost in the minds of the two men as they whizzed down the +Ginchy road, leaving Bazentin on their left. For of all the pilots of +the --th Squadron, Dastral was the greatest favourite with the men. +He was so brilliant and daring that they felt they could not afford +to lose him. + +"I hope it isn't Dastral who has crashed, Cowdie," said Brat. + +"I hope not," replied Cowdie, feeling at the time somehow that it +could be no one else. + +"'B' Flight ought to have returned some time ago now. I'm very much +afraid they've met their match this time. We could afford to lose +half a dozen men rather than the Commander of 'B' Flight." + +"Perhaps he's met Himmelman," urged the man on the carrier, steadying +himself for the next heavy jolt, for the last one had nearly thrown +him off, and the bad places were becoming more and more plentiful as +they neared the lines. + +"He will meet him some day, and there'll be a deuce of a fight. Just +mark my words. There isn't room for two lords of the air, not in +these parts, and one of them will go under." + +"Well, I hope it will be the Boche." + +"So it will be if they meet on equal terms, but the German air-fiend +is a wily brute." + +"Whiz-z-z! Bang-g-g!" came a shell at that moment, striking the +ground not thirty yards away from them, and sending both men and +motor-cycle spinning into the ditch by the very concussion. + +"Not hurt, are you, Cowdie?" asked Brat, as he scrambled out of the +ditch first, and ran to help his friend. + +"No, but it was a very near thing that. Another few inches and that +would have been the end of the regimental 'spare part.' Look here!" +and Cowdie showed a rent in his tunic where a piece of shrapnel had +torn away six inches of it behind the left shoulder. + +Fortunately, though both were shaken, neither of the men had been +actually hit It was a marvellous escape, however, one of those things +one cannot account for. Though the machine had been badly knocked +about and splintered, it had received no vital injury, and, after +straightening out a few spokes, and cutting away a few more they +mounted again and proceeded a little further. + +"Halt Who goes there?" came the shout as they pattered up to the +support trenches. + +They halted and dismounted, and after telling their business were +allowed to proceed, but they were cautioned that the road ahead was +full of shell holes, and that they would not be able to ride much +further. They would certainly be stopped at the reserve trenches. + +Once more they started, their heads throbbing and aching with the +noise of the terrific bombardment which was proceeding, for they were +now in the super-danger zone, and shells were screaming overhead +every few seconds, and many were bursting on their left and on their +right. + +Again they were halted, this time by a sentry near the second line +trenches, and were absolutely refused permission to proceed further +till they explained to the officer of the company commanding the +trench what their errand was. + +"Wires broken, did you say?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Nearly all the wires to the front line trenches in this sector have +been broken. We have had the engineers out all the morning mending +them." + +"There is news of one of our fighting 'planes having crashed +somewhere over there, half an hour ago, sir," said Bratby, "and we +have been ordered to proceed as near as possible to the place, to +find out what has happened, as the aerodrome wire has been snapped." + +"An aeroplane crashed, did you say?" asked the officer. + +"Yes, sir." + +"There have been half a dozen of them down in front of us since seven +o'clock this morning; most of them German, I think." + +"This was one of ours, sir." + +"Yes, I saw it. There were two of them came down about the same time, +but the other one fell by our support trenches and the pilot and +observer were saved." + +"And the other one, sir?" + +"Oh, there is no hope for that one. She came down over there near our +front line trench, and she was blazing when she crashed. We could not +get at her, or at least we kept the men back who volunteered, as the +Germans turned their machine guns on her directly she hit the ground +and swept the spot for twenty minutes." + +"The devils!" ejaculated Brat, looking more serious than he had ever +looked in his life, while a strange light shone in Cowdie's eyes. + +"We were told that we must get to the dug-out of Captain Grenfell, +somewhere in the front line trench." + +"Oh, very well; but you fellows go at your own risk. The Boches have +been shelling the place like hell most of the time since daybreak." + +"We're quite prepared to take the risk, sir!" replied Cowdie. + +"Come this way, then, and mind that corner. We call it Hell-fire +Corner these days, for we have lost more men there than at any other +point," replied the officer. + +A few minutes later he handed them over to a sergeant, with +instructions to conduct them to the dug-out where Captain Grenfell +and his two operators still held on to the end of the broken wires. +No messages had come through for some time, but several squads of +Royal Engineers were busy crawling out in the open and trying to find +the loose ends in order to restore communication. + +When they arrived there Captain Grenfell gave them the full text of +the message which he had tried to get through, and pointed out to +them the place where the ruins of the aeroplane lay, for they were +still smoking. + +"But the pilot, sir, where is he? And where is the observer? They +were the best men in the Squadron, and their loss will be felt +greatly, for Lieutenant Dastral was reckoned the best pilot in +France, and great things were expected from him in the near future," +said Brat. + +For answer the Captain shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture +which seemed to indicate that he feared the case was hopeless. + +"Their bodies must be somewhere over there. Several of our men +volunteered to go over to rescue them, but every man who went over +the top went to his death, until the O.C. refused permission for any +more to attempt it, for he said he could not spare the men." + +While they were thus discussing the matter, one of the sentries a +little further down the trench gave an alarm: + +"Cloud of gas or fog coming over, sir, from the German lines!" + +Brat and Cowdie, at these words, peeped over the edge of the parapet, +and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, a dense yellowish vapour +coming slowly onward from a point where the enemy's lines curved +round and faced the British lines from almost due south-east. The +order was passed quickly down the lines for the men to don their +gas-helmets, but the C.O. coming along the trench shortly afterwards, +remarked that it could not possibly be gas, for, from the direction +whence it came, it would pass onwards over a portion of the enemy's +lines at a spot where the trenches curved back again and made a +salient. At this point the lines twisted and bent themselves into +many curious salients, for the last advance had not thoroughly +straightened out the position. + +"The Germans are not such fools as to gas their own men, Grenfell, +what do you say?" remarked the officer commanding the trench to +Grenfell, who had come out of his dug-out to get a view of the cloud. + +"No, sir. There must be some other reason." + +"Yes, and the reason is, I think, a change of wind which is bringing +on a dense fog." + +"You are quite right, sir," added the other, after regarding the air +and sky for some ten seconds. "There has been a sudden change of +wind, and a dense local fog is coming up from the valley. The whole +landscape will be blotted out in a few minutes." + +"You're right, Grenfell," replied the officer. Then, turning to his +orderly-sergeant, he called out: + +"Pass the order for the men to stand-to! There is no telling but that +the Boches may come over the top with the fog, and try to surprise +us." + +"Yes, sir," came the reply smartly, and the sergeant, saluting, +disappeared along the trench, calling out the men from the dug-outs, +and ordering a general "stand-to." + +The chance was too good to be lost. Cowdie gave Brat a dig in the +ribs, and whispered to him, + +"Now is the time. See, the fog thickens, and it is nearly up to the +wrecked aeroplane. Let's go over, or the Boches will be there first. +They're sure to try it on. What say you?" + +"I'm with you, old man, but it will be an awful job. Have you got +your revolver loaded, for we've got nothing else?" + +"Yes," replied his chum, feeling that his weapon was safe in the +leather case, which hung at his left side. + +"Come on, then; we haven't a second to lose." + +The next instant they were over the top, and making a dash for the +spot already hidden in the fog. + +"Come back there, you fellows!" cried a sergeant of the Wiltshires, +whose company lined the trench. "Where the deuce are you going to?" + +"To save Lieutenant Dastral and his observer, sergeant! Don't let +your men fire on us. We'll be back in five minutes," shouted Bratby. + +"Devil a bit of use you fellows throwing your lives away like that. +The Boches are sure to attack under cover of the fog. Come back, the +pilot must have been dead an hour. The machine was ablaze when it +crashed," called the sergeant again. + +To this they returned no answer, but scampered as fast as they could +across the broken ground, creeping under barbed wire, and stumbling +into shell holes, for the ground had been torn and rent by the +morning's bombardment, and huge gaps had been made in the barbed wire +defences. + +Now, when Dastral, his ammunition expended, his machine damaged to +such an extent that it scarcely held together, had reached the +British lines that morning, after the brilliant reconnaissance he had +carried out with his Flight, he made a steep gradient to get to earth +at the first possible landing-place, but even as he made the attempt +he knew he would fail. The wasp's fuselage was plugged in a hundred +places. The petrol feed had been severed by shrapnel, and a shell +from the German lines, hitting the reserve petrol tank, set it +ablaze, just at the moment when he was making for the ground. + +Half-blinded by the flames and scorched by the heat, he, +nevertheless, held the joystick firmly, and tried to reach his +objective, but, when near the trenches, the machine nose-dived and +crashed, side-slipping to the earth, so that the left aileron struck +the ground first. Then she rolled over, and crumpled up. She did not +strike the ground with any great force, because Dastral had kept her +so well in hand. + +Disentangling himself from the wreckage first, bruised, and burnt, he +yet remembered Jock, who had received still greater injury. + +"Jock!" he called. "Are you hurt?" + +But no reply came from the unconscious observer, who lay under the +wreckage which was now in flames. + +"Come along, old man! Pull yourself together. The Huns are sure to +turn their machine guns upon us in a few seconds." + +Even as he spoke there came the dreaded sound, which told that the +infernal Huns had opened fire upon the wreckage. + +"Rep-p-p! Rep-r-r-r-r-r!" + +A howl of rage went up from the British trenches at this act of +cowardice, which permitted men to turn their guns upon wounded +officers, entangled in the wreckage of a burning aeroplane. + +"Come on, boys, let's give 'em 'ell!" shouted some of the Wiltshires, +when they saw what was happening, and at least a dozen men sprang out +of the British trenches of their own free will in a useless attempt +to save the lives of the aviators, but every man fell long before he +gained the spot where the wreckage lay. + +Dastral, however, kept cool, and seeing a pilot's boot projecting +from under the blazing he seized it, and tugged away, until the +unconscious form of his chum lay at his feet. Then, heedless of the +bullets still whizzing around him, he dragged his comrade quickly +into the friendly shelter of a huge crater, a dozen yards away. Even +as he rolled over into the hollow, after throwing Jock in first, his +thick, leather pilot's coat was pierced by several bullets, and he +himself was wounded again. + +Still cheerful, however, he bandaged his wound, then endeavoured to +rouse Jock, but all his efforts failed. + +So he searched him, found several wounds, bound them up as well as he +could with the emergency lint and bandages which every soldier on +active service carries in the lining of his coat. Then, through sheer +loss of blood he fainted away, and lay there he knew not how long, +for he was thoroughly exhausted, and felt that he was dying. + +As he slumbered, sheltered in that little hollow from the direct fire +of the enemy, he became feverish, and dreamt wild, fantastic dreams. +With Jock beside him he sailed away on the hornet, over distant +lands, where the skies were blue and the sun shone bright and the +atmosphere was pleasant and warm. + +Here there were no Germans to worry them with shrapnel and bullets, +but calmly and serenely they sailed over huge forests and deserts, +swamps and islands, which studded the deep blue sea far below them, +like gems set in emerald. Now they were in the tropics, skimming +along over huge palm trees, and lagoons that opened out into the sea. +Great monsters basked in the sunlight on the banks of the rivers and +lagoons, and on the shores of the sea. They were in an unknown land +discovering strange places. Just such a trip it was as Jock and he +had often talked about, when, the day's work done, they had settled +in the comfortable arm-chairs in the officers' mess at the aerodrome +near Contalmaison. + +Often they had talked of these things, and the trips they were going +to make in the happy years to come, when the fighting was all over, +and the smoke of battle had blown away, and the liberties of mankind +had been won back from the tyrants of these latter days. + +Thus he dreamt, for he was feverish, while over him the shells burst, +and the great guns thundered, and all around, upon the wide-stretched +battlefields, the dead and the dying lay. And always he was parched +and thirsty, and sometimes he would turn and say to Jock: + +"There, far below us in the desert, Jock, I can see an oasis, with +pools of cold refreshing water, and a cluster of tall trees, where we +shall find dates and figs. Let us go down, Jock." + +But the vision would fade before he reached the promised land, and +the cup of water was dashed from his lips, and the goblet broken. +Again he would see across the desert, which now seemed interminable, +mystic and wonderful lakes of fresh water. But always he was mocked, +and again and again those horrid German guns would thunder out from +far below and forbid them to land. + +Suddenly from out of the midst of his dream, he heard some one +calling his name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral!" + +He turned uneasily in his sleep; then he woke with a start, and +looked about him. His brow was flushed, his head burned as though it +were on fire, and his eyes glittered. All seemed dark, for the +landscape was blotted out by a dark cloud. + +Half regaining consciousness he murmured: + +"Where am I? Who called me?" But while he wondered, his hand touched +something, and he shrank back startled. It was Jock's poor wounded +and bruised body that he had touched. Then he remembered it all. The +flight over the German lines; the attack which had been made upon +them by a whole German squadron; the fierce fight and the dash back, +followed by a cloud of Fokkers and Aviatiks. Then the crash----. Yes +he remembered it all now, and Jock, poor Jock must be dead, for he +had not moved, and they must have been there for hours, days +perhaps--at least, it seemed so, for it was dark as night, and it was +morning when they crashed. + +Then again he heard that welcome sound, a human voice, and it called +him by name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral, where are you?" + +And he feebly answered with all his strength. + +"Here! Here! For heaven's sake help us!" + +The next instant two burly forms came stumbling and rolling down the +crater, for Cowdie and Brat had just arrived at the spot, and as yet +scarcely an hour had elapsed since the crash. Strong arms were put +around the pilot, which raised him up, for he had fallen down again, +after his effort to rise. He had just time to murmur something, and +point to the unconscious form of his observer, when he relapsed into +unconsciousness again. + +"Thank God we have found you both, sir!" exclaimed a strong voice, +which seemed to resound again and again through his being. + +As the thick fog came on, the firing had been suspended for a moment. +It was a strange, weird silence that seemed to presage a coming +storm. Cowdie was the first to read its meaning. + +"Quick, Brat!" he cried. "They're going to attack. We must make a +dash for it." + +It was only too true. Scarcely had they reached the top of the +crater, and proceeded a dozen yards with their heavy burdens, when +they heard the sound of voices. + +"Hist! What was that?" + +They paused for a moment, and waited, but it seemed to them that +their panting and the loud thumping of their hearts would betray +them. How far had they to go yet? they asked each other. Then, with a +shudder, Cowdie turned and began to retrace his steps, whispering to +his comrade: + +"We have come the wrong way. Those are the German trenches over +there, and look, they are forming up over the top ready to attack." + +"Good heavens! Then we are lost," replied his comrade. + +"No, we may yet be in time. Come along. It cannot be far." + +With his keen blue eyes Cowdie peered through the gloom, for Cowdie, +the "spare part," had been the first to make the discovery. He had +seen the shadowy forms of the Germans not twenty yards away. +Fortunately, they had not been observed as yet, but they were not out +of danger. They had regained their right direction, however. The +British trenches were not more than seventy yards away. + +On they stumbled, over the broken ground, through pools of water, and +soon they reached the tangled wire. Exhausted they were ready to sink +with fatigue, yet they held out. But their hands were bleeding and +torn by the wire, and their clothing was in shreds. + +Suddenly they heard the sound of voices behind them. Low voices +called to each other, and the tramp of feet was also heard. + +"They are advancing. Quick! quick!" shouted Cowdie. + +Then, knowing that the British trenches could not be more than thirty +yards in front of him, he called out: + +"Stand-to! The Huns are attacking!" + +The next instant a blaze of fire lit up the fog, as a dozen Very +lights were fired up from the British trenches. The two figures of +the men carrying the unconscious pilot and observer were clearly +outlined. The sergeant of the Wiltshires shouted to his men: + +"Don't fire! They are the R.F.C. men bringing in their officers." + +The firing, however, came from a different direction, for the +Germans, baulked of their prey, and seeing who had given them away, +opened fire, and Cowdie stumbled into the British first-line trench +into the arms of the sergeant of the Wiltshires, carrying his burden +to the last. He was dead, shot through the heart. He had made the +supreme sacrifice to save the man he loved. + +With a wild cheer the British received the welcome order to charge, +and the last thing that Brat remembered was that cheer, as the men +swept by him, and he also sank down with his load. + +Next day they buried Cowdie, "the regimental spare part." Gently they +laid him to rest in a little graveyard by a shattered church, behind +the British lines. And over his grave the bugles of the Wiltshires +sounded the solemn notes of the "Last Post." And his comrades in +Number 7 tent fired three volleys over the hero's grave, just as in +the olden days, two thousand years ago, AEneas and his comrades, when +they buried the hero Misenus, called his name thrice into the shades. + +And Bratby, he recovered from his wounds, and, to-day, upon his +breast he wears the ribbons of the Military Medal. + +Dastral and Jock also recovered from their wounds, for their work was +not yet done, and six weeks later were back from sick leave, +preparing once more to strafe the Huns. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RAID ON KRUPPS + + +IT was a dark night, some two or three hours before dawn, when +Air-Mechanic Pearson, one of the outer sentries at the aerodrome near +Contalmaison, thought he heard the whirr of propellers somewhere in +the dark skies above. + +For a few seconds he peered up into the gloomy heavens, trying to +locate the sound, for he was very much puzzled, and could not account +for the sound on such a night. + +"They can't be aeroplanes returning from over the lines," he told +himself, "or we should have had notice to light the flares. It will +be a sheer impossibility to land without a crash on a dark night like +this." + +Again he listened, and he thought the droning sound settled down into +the throb of engines. He was anxious, however, not to call out the +guard on a false alarm, for he had once been severely reprimanded for +so doing. + +"They cannot be hostile 'planes attempting an early morning raid; it +is far too thick. It would be like a nigger trying to find a black +cat in a dark cellar," he muttered. + +A quarter of a minute later, however, he thought he had discovered +the real cause, for the throbbing of aerial engines could now be +distinctly heard. + +"It's a Zeppelin!" he exclaimed. "They're going to find the aerodrome +with their search-light, and bomb the place, then make off before our +machines can get up," and he instantly yelled out at the top of his +voice, "Turn out, guard!" + +The alarm was caught up, passed on to the next sentry, who repeated +it, and the next moment, after turning out the main guard, the +sergeant came running up, and asked: + +"What's the matter, Pearson?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from the eastward, sergeant!" replied the +air-mechanic. + +"Zeppelin, man! What the deuce do you mean? Where is it?" + +"Up there, sergeant. I can hear it quite plainly now." + +"By Jove, so can I!" + +The next moment the sergeant was back in the guard-room. From thence +he dashed into the orderly-room, and knocked at the inner door, where +the orderly officer for the night was on duty. + +"Come in," cried the officer in answer to the knocking. Then, as the +sergeant, all puffed with his exertion, entered and saluted, he said: + +"What's the matter, sergeant?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from over the German lines, sir. Hadn't we +better 'phone to the anti-aircraft guns, and the searchlights to pick +up the raider before he bombs the place?" for to the sergeant's mind, +visions of falling bombs and terrific explosions were present. + +"Zeppelin?" laughed the orderly officer. + +"Yes, sir. I can hear the engines as plainly as possible outside." + +"No, you're mistaken. It's the 'Gertie' returning. She's been out on +secret service work behind the German lines. I've been expecting her +for a couple of hours. Not a word of this to the men, now. I am +expecting a secret service man back before dawn, and the 'Gertie's' +been to fetch him. Picked him up at some secret place in the dark, +far behind the enemy's lines." + +Now, the "Gertie" was a baby-airship detailed for special service, +and not the least important part of her work was the secret +journeying to and fro, across the German lines, to quiet rural +places, where, in the dark, she dropped messages, carrier pigeons, +etc., and occasionally brought back some daring member of the British +Secret Service, who had been collecting information behind the +enemy's lines. + +By this time the orderly officer was out on the aerodrome, and the +squads of air-mechanics were being roused by the orderly sergeant. +Suddenly there came a cry from one of the guard. + +"Airship signalling to the aerodrome, sir!" + +"What signal was that?" demanded the officer. + +"Two green lights and a red, sir, over there, half a mile away," came +the reply. + +"That's right. It's the 'Gertie' trying to find the landing place. +Flight-sergeant, where are you?" + +"Here, sir," came the answer, as the aerodrome flight-sergeant, just +roused by the alarm, rushed up, without putties or tunic on. + +"Light the usual flares at the landing-place, and give the Brigade +colours as well." + +"Yes, sir." + +And the next instant he had disappeared into the darkness again to +hurry up the air-mechanics and to light the flares. The "Gertie" had +very nearly found her mark, having over-shot it but half a mile or so +in the pitchy darkness, which was a very creditable performance. + +As soon as the flares were lighted, her engines, which had been shut +off, were heard again, as she gradually came nearer and nearer, +until, when right overhead, she began to descend slowly. + +"There she comes! This way, lads!" cried the stentorian voice of +Snorty, whose piercing eyes were amongst the first to spot the +looming mass overhead. + +"Steady, there, steady!" came the next order, as the ropes and drags +were lowered, and the men made a scramble for them. And, in a very +short space of time the baby-airship was made fast, and from the +single gondola, in which five men were cooped, some one leapt out, +who held in his hand a bundle of documents. + +"Captain Scott, I believe, sir," said the orderly officer stepping +forward. + +"Yes. Are you Lieutenant Grenfell?" + +"Yes, sir." And with that the two men went off together to the +private room of the orderly officer. + +The newcomer was the bearer of some important plans and sketches, to +obtain which he had risked his life every hour of the day and night +during the past three weeks. They were nothing less than detailed +plans of the great German arsenal at Krupps', for which the +Commanding Officer had been anxiously waiting. For some time +previously, the C.O. had received from the War Office, through the +General Headquarters in the field, a peremptory order, something like +the following:-- + + +_"To the Officer Commanding,_ + _"--th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps._ + + +"It is of vital importance that the enemy's supply of munitions +should be hampered and restricted as far as possible, in view of the +offensive to be undertaken shortly. As soon, therefore, as the +necessary plans and papers reach you, you will detail one of your +best flights, under your most capable Flight-Commander, to carry out +the first raid on the enemy's main arsenal at Krupp'." + + +This document, signed by one of the generals commanding in the field, +had been in the hands of the Squadron-Commander for some days, and he +had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the promised plans and +sketches. As soon, therefore, as the orderly officer received them, +he sent Brat, the despatch-rider, with his motor cycle and side car +to the C.O.'s quarters. And ten minutes later that distinguished +person was leaving the officers' quarters on his way to the +aerodrome. + +Having arrived, after ten minutes' chat with the officer belonging to +the secret service, his first words were: + +"Grenfell, ask Flight-Commander Dastral to come down at once." + +"Yes, sir." + +And on his next journey, Brat fetched Dastral down from his bunk at +the mess to join the party. + +"Dastral," was the first word from the C.O. as soon as the daring +young pilot entered. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Commander, saluting smartly. + +"Here's something for you after your own heart." + +"What is that, sir?" asked the youth, smiling. + +"The promised raid on Krupps'. How would you like to undertake it +with your flight? You have often spoken about it." + +"Nothing would please me better, sir." + +"And the other fellows belonging to your flight, what about them?" + +"They would follow me anywhere, sir!" + +"Gad, I believe they would, for they all worship you. I believe +they'd follow you to 'Gulfs,' if you led them there." + +Dastral laughed, and repeated his avowal, that he would be only too +pleased to start at dawn should the weather conditions prove good +enough. + +"Right!" exclaimed the major. "Then, you'd better spend the next two +hours with Captain Scott here, and with your men. Get thoroughly hold +of these plans, and fix them in your mind." + +So, while breakfast was laid for the Intelligence officer, Dastral +got his men together, including Mac and Jock. Afterwards the eight +men who were going into action carefully laid their plans, arranging +a code of signals and the method of attack, should they succeed in +reaching their destination. Then they went over to the sheds, +examined and tested the machines, saw them loaded up with bombs and +drums of ammunition. The guns, compasses, etc., were then shipped and +everything was ready. + +Dastral looked at his watch. In an hour it would be dawn. + +"We must be off, boys. We must cros the German lines before +daybreak." + +"Right, sir," replied the others, "We can be ready in ten minutes." + +Then, having previously breakfasted, they put on their thick leather +coats, pilots' boots and helmets, and made ready. The C.O. came down +to wish them godspeed and a safe return. The probable time of their +return was fixed, and it was arranged that an escort should meet them +on their way back to defend them from hostile aircraft, lest any of +them should be in difficulties, and unable, through damaged machines +or lack of ammunition, to fight their way home. + +"Stand by! Contact, switch off!" came the order. + +The propellors were swung vigorously once or twice, then, one after +another, the engines broke into their mighty song, and the machines +taxied off into the darkness across the aerodrome, and as the +joy-stick was pulled over each 'plane sprang into the air, and began +its long voyage. + +"Good-bye, and good luck!" shouted the C.O. as each man taxied off, +and as a parting salute, each pilot raised his gloved hand from the +controls for an instant. + +Four hundred miles, that was the distance of the double journey. Two +hundred miles of enemy territory to be traversed before they reached +their objective; then, another two hundred back again to safety; and +no chance of a landing to remedy even the slightest defect. That was +the prospect before these daring aviators, as they sallied forth on +their dangerous errand this morning about half an hour before the +first faint whisper of dawn came up out of the east. + +No wonder the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, as he watched them +depart, turned to his companions and said: + +"A perilous venture, isn't it, for the boys?" + +"You're right, sir," replied the orderly officer. "I hope not one of +them will lose the number of his mess before nightfall." + +"Ah, well. We have had some vacant chairs in the mess lately. Four +hundred miles," he was heard to remark as he turned on his heels and +went back to his room. + +He was a kindly, considerate commander, for he had that rare quality +which combined firmness with kindness, and because of that he was +loved by all his men. + +The adventurers crossed the German lines at seven thousand feet, and +in the darkness the enemy's searchlights failed to find them, so they +were well away for once. There was just a little doubt in Dastral's +mind about the weather conditions when he started, as the success of +the venture depended very much upon the visibility. At present, +however, the dull cloudy weather was in their favour, if only it +might clear up later. + +He was therefore very pleased when, having left the enemy's lines +some thirty or forty miles behind, the first tinge of dawn lit up the +sky in front of them, showing the horizon clearly. The wind had +changed during the last hour, and, though it grew colder, it became +much brighter. + +Once or twice the Flight-Commander looked round at his followers, +casting a critical eye upon the whole flight. + +"Thank goodness, the engines seem to be running well. Everything +depends on them," he murmured. + +His own machine was a double-seater type with the observer's car +projecting right in front of the engine, a powerful twelve-cylindered +R.A.F. + +A little later Jock, speaking through the tube, shouted: + +"Shots on the left, Dastral!" and he pointed to a spot far down +below, for the landscape had opened out now, and they had been +spotted for the first time. + +Dastral looked down, and saw several rapid flashes, away down on the +left, where a battery of "Archies," having found them, had opened +fire. + +In front of the machine which was leading the flight, Dastral saw +several black bursts of smoke, and in the centre of each burst was a +yellow glare. + +"Ah, the Boches have found the range to a nicety!" yelled Dastral to +Jock. "Look out! We must dive." + +Then, pulling over the controls, the hornet dipped at the head, doing +a neat little nose-dive of some five hundred feet, throwing the +enemy's range out of gear, and compelling him to readjust his sights. + +As he dived, the others, with an eye always on their leader, followed +him, and the whole flight dived clean underneath a mass of curtain +fire, intended to bar their progress. So cleverly was it all done +that they all escaped without a scratch. + +The Commander looked down at those batteries still spitting fire. +With not a little contempt he regarded them. They could not touch +him, for already, before they could readjust their fire, the whole +flight was out of range, for the engines were now doing well, and a +speed of a hundred and twenty miles an hour had been worked up. + +At another time Dastral would like to have dived down to within five +hundred feet of those German guns, and put them out of action, but he +had other work on hand today; work which would take all his time and +skill to complete satisfactorily, and to bring his men back to +safety. Even if Himmelman himself should attack him now, he must +refuse him battle, unless compelled to fight for mere safety. His +present duty was to bomb the great arsenal at Krupps', and, as far as +possible, leave the principal buildings nothing but a heap of smoking +ruins. So he opened out the throttle of his engine to the full, and +for the first time reached one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, +not a very bad speed when you are loaded up with heavy missiles. + +They had been flying for an hour now, and had climbed higher and +higher until they were at nine thousand feet. It was bitterly cold, +and already their feet and hands were numbed. What would they be like +in another two hours? + +An hour and a half passed, and shortly afterwards Jock shouted: + +"The Rhine! The Rhine!" + +Nor indeed was he mistaken. He had been eagerly searching for the +famous stream that runs through the German Fatherland, and of which +the Hun is so proud. And now, there it was, a little way ahead of +them, running through the landscape like a silver thread. + +Soon they were over the stately river, and Dastral, knowing that the +road was as plain as a pikestaff now if the weather kept clear, no +longer heeded his compass, but, wheeling smartly to his left, +followed the stream on its way to the sea. + +"What town is that?" shouted the pilot, as a vast assembly of houses +and spires came into view. + +"Coblentz," replied the observer, with his finger on the waterproof +map. + +"Better look out for trouble, hadn't we?" + +"Yes, the Ehrenbreitstein Forts are down below; just a little way +ahead on the left. They have plenty of guns down there." + +This place, called the Gibraltar of Central Europe, is a towering +fortification, overlooking the town of Coblentz, and defending the +line of the Rhine. The river runs between the fort and the town, and +the two are connected by a bridge of boats. + +"Better skirt the town, else they will think we are going to attack +the place, and some of our fellows might get winged." + +"Poch! They can't hit us. All their best gunners are miles away at +the front. Let's go straight on. We shall be out of their range in +five minutes." + +Before they reached the town the white puffs of the 77's made a line +of smoke ahead of them, and, intermingled with this, they saw the +black cloudlets caused by the bursting of the enemy's 105 calibre +shells. In fact they were ringed with a curtain of shell fire. + +Dastral gave the signal by a sudden clip of his 'plane, which was +leading. + +"Ninety degrees left and dip 500 feet!" + +The Flight-Commander led the way through a gap in the curtain fire, +and the rest followed, swerving rapidly to the left, then down, down +in a fearful nose-dive of hundreds of feet, before they flattened +out. + +"Bravo! Well done, boys!" yelled the leader, waving his hand to the +daring men behind. For they had outclassed the Boche, and before he +could rectify his aim, the machines were out of range once more. + +On the other side of the town, however, they came in for the same +treatment, but they once more evaded the enemy's fire, and soon they +left the town of Coblentz, with its Denkmal of Wilhelm der Grosse, +and the forts of Ehrenbreitstein behind them. + +"Three hundred shots for nothing, Jock," shouted Dastral, who was +highly pleased with himself. + +Jock did not hear, however, for the wind carried the words away, and +the observer was otherwise engaged, searching the skies with his +glasses. A moment later, however, having discovered what he was +looking for, he turned and shouted: + +"One, two, three of them climbing to attack us!" + +"Where are they?" + +"Down below there to the left. Two yellow fat 'planes with black +crosses on them, and a white one." + +Dastral looked serious for a moment, as, holding the joy-stick with +his right hand, he raised his glasses with the other and looked down, +to where, from an aerodrome just by the river, three enemy 'planes +were rising up to fight with them. + +The shadow passed from the fair, young face of the chief pilot, as he +gazed upon the enemy, and a calm smile wreathed his face. + +"Humph! Let the devils come. We are not afraid of them. Sorry I can't +stay to fight them, Jock. Our first business is to bomb the arsenal, +not to pick a stray quarrel with these beasts, who are asking for +trouble." + +Then, opening out his engine once more to the full, he waved his hand +coolly to the enemy, and called out: + +"Good-bye, Mr. Boche. Some other time, if you don't mind, but to-day +I'm busy." + +His followers understood, and opened the throttles of their engines +accordingly, and, speeding on, soon left the enemy behind, for they +were slower machines, all the enemy's best fighters being on the +western front. + +Again and again Dastral looked round to see that his comrades were +all right. Eagerly he looked for the red, white and blue cocarde on +the wings, and felt very happy, for there was no need to be miserable +and lonely with those brave fellows so near. Had they not sworn to +follow him to the "Gulfs," if necessary? + +The chief enemy, however, so far, was the biting cold. The +thermometer was showing sixteen degrees below zero. Even with the +thick leathern coats, pilots' boots and padded helmets, it was +impossible to keep warm. The cold intruded everywhere. The thought +which consoled them, however, was this: + +"We shall soon be there, now! And we shall be the first raiders to +bomb the enemy's citadel, where he manufactures his enormous supply +of shot and shell to keep the war going." + +They were following the Rhine still. Every now and then they could +see long strings of barges being towed up and down the river between +Coblentz and Dusseldorf. + +"Cologne!" shouted the observer, and Dastral nodded, as he looked +ahead and saw the twin spires of the wonderful cathedral, and close +beside it the ancient Rathaus. + +"What a target!" shouted Jock, as the great city lay beneath them. + +"Yes, but there are women and children down there, Jock, and I am not +a pirate. When we get to Essen we will begin." + +"All right, old fellow. It was only a joke," came back the reply +through the speaking-tube. + +They received another baptism of fire as they reached the outskirts +of the city, but, skirting round to the right, they avoided the heavy +fire of the forts at Deutz, for Dastral knew that the brutes were not +shooting badly to-day, and he was anxious not to have a single +machine crippled before his mission was completed. + +"There'll be plenty of fighting soon, my boy!" called Dastral. "The +enemy will have guessed our objective by this time and they will be +preparing a reception for us." + +The observer nodded, for he knew that the fires down below would be +busy, and the various German Commands would be communicating with +Essen and the arsenal at Krupps'. There was no time to lose, and so, +despite the cold, they were still doing about one hundred and twenty +miles an hour. + +"Dusseldorf!" soon came from the observer's nascelle, for they had +passed Coblentz, and many other towns and villages that lay about the +slopes of the Rhine. + +"See that!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral again looked in the direction pointed out by his comrade, and +he beheld a great blur of smoke on the right, which blotted out the +landscape. + +It was Germany's black country. Here the towns were clustered thickly +together. Elberfeld, Barmen, Essen, and to the west of the +last-mentioned town lay the mighty works of Krupps. Somewhere in that +cloud of smoke lay the object of their long flight. + +The Flight-Commander pointed his machine in the direction indicated, +and the rest followed. The real fight was about to begin at last. How +would they come out of it? + +They were all eager to begin, for each machine carried a couple of +the new land torpedoes, in addition to a number of twenty pound +bombs. + +It was well they had arranged a proper plan of campaign, else their +labour would have been half in vain. Now, with the information which +had come to hand by the mysterious Captain Scott, they knew the exact +location of the very buildings on which they were about to +concentrate their fire. + +"Now we're going to be strafed! I thought so!" cried Dastral. + +"Phew! We're in for it now!" replied Jock, as the shot and shell +began to scream past them, bursting with red spurts of flame, +followed by white puffs and black clouds. + +Where was the huge powder factory? They were all searching keenly for +it now, for the atmosphere was smoky, which was partly their defence, +and partly their disadvantage, making it difficult to place their +bombs correctly. + +It would never do to fail now. They must go lower down and risk the +heavy fire from the "Archies." + +The T.N.T. sheds, where are they? The nitro-glycerine works, and the +huge dump? + +Oh, yes, there they were. Not all the smoke could hide them. Not all +the enemy's fire could stop those daring and intrepid raiders. + +Dastral gave the pre-arranged signal, and each 'plane dived to the +objective for which it had been detailed. + +"Boom-m-m!" went the first land torpedo. + +Yes, the Flight-Commander had found the powder works. A flame of fire +shot up hundreds of feet, and the place began to burn fiercely. The +"Archies" roared louder than ever. + +"Boom-m-m! Boom-m-m! Boom-m!" + +The others had found their objectives too. Four huge blocks were +burning fiercely. Down below the crowds were surging out of the +doomed buildings, running hither and thither to escape those terrible +bombs which were now being dropped in a dozen places, in rapid +succession, and the still more terrible explosions which must shortly +come unless the fierce fires which were now raging could be quickly +subdued. + +The utmost confusion reigned down below. The impossible had been +accomplished. Krupps', the very heart of Germany, had been bombed by +a few daring raiders. + +"Donner and blitz!" people down below were shouting. "What is the +good of our great Prussian army if it cannot prevent such things?" + +The raiders were off now, for all this had been done in less than +three minutes, once they had found their targets. As they made off +German aeroplanes rose to pursue them. In every direction they saw +the enemy, who had been surprised after all, in spite of the warning +he must have received. + +As they made off strange electric shocks seemed to agitate the air, +and to make the machines rock wildly. Violent waves disturbed the +atmosphere. Evidently the enemy had discovered some new device of +creating air-pockets, and filling the heavens with lurid flashes of +electricity. + +But the device fails. The machines pass out of danger, but alas, it +is doubtful whether two of them will ever reach the shelter of their +own lines again. Still, they are going to make the effort. Number +three and four have been badly hit, and Dastral's 'plane is torn with +bits of shrapnel. + +Once or twice they look back at the flaming destruction which they +have wrought, all in the space of a few minutes. As they do so, a +mighty column of flame and black smoke rises up into the air, and a +terrific explosion takes place, which shakes the earth for fifty +miles around. + +Yes, the T.N.T. works have gone up, and the two explosions which soon +follow show that something else has gone into the sky as well. + +"Bravo! Krupps' has been bombed!" + +Dastral gives the signal for his men to turn to the westward, and to +make with all possible speed for the shelter of their own lines. + +But enemy 'planes are in rapid pursuit, and there are two lame ducks +in the flight. It means another two hours' journey, and there is no +chance for the lame ducks if they are further molested. + +The leader quickly decides. He has still some fight left in him, and +so has Mac. They will escort the rest. He signals to Mac, "Take the +left flank!" and Mac understands, while he himself takes the right +flank. + +Then he orders the others to go S.S.W., for they must not infringe +the neutrality of Holland by going due west. And so they proceed, +until Jock signals that two of the Huns are gaining upon them. They +are fast 'planes, and will do some damage if they are not dealt with. + +At present they are still half a mile behind and a thousand feet +below them. So Dastral circles round once or twice as if to fight +with them, but only one of them accepts the challenge, and opens fire +at the Flight-Commander. + +"Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!" comes the sound of the fire, just audible +above the roar of the engines and the whir-r-r-r of the propellers. + +But Dastral has the weather-gage of him, for he has a thousand feet +greater altitude. He waits a moment, circling round. Then, as the +Boche comes up, he dives at him, as though he meant to ram him, for +he knew this would unnerve the enemy more than anything else. + +At the same moment he treats the Boche to three sudden bursts of fire +from his Lewis gun. It is quite enough for the enemy. He has +outdistanced his friends, and does not care to engage this air-devil +of an Englishman alone, so he swerves round, and hauls off a little, +hoping that the Britisher will be sufficient of a fool to pursue him, +but Dastral returns to his command, so that he may shepherd the lame +ducks through any further peril that may come upon them. + +Again and again on that long journey back he has to turn and fight, +and often Mac accompanies him. + +At length, half frozen to death, with their eyes smarting so that +they can scarcely see, one of them sights the relief squadron which +has come to meet them and escort them back to safety. + +Half a squadron has come to meet them, good fighters, all fresh and +ready for any hostile aircraft that cares to take the challenge. And +so, after nearly six hours of a trying ordeal, "B" Flight returns +safely to the shelter of the aerodrome behind the British lines. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + + +FOR some days after the daring adventure recorded in our last chapter +things had been fairly quiet along that portion of the Somme front, +near the sector patrolled by the 'planes of the --th Squadron. There +had been the usual daily reconnaissances over the enemy's lines; the +usual spotting and registering for the artillery by the aeroplanes +and the kite balloons, but the dull, cloudy weather had restricted +the use of the 'planes to a great extent. + +One incident that had occurred, however, caused no little excitement, +and awakened the professional curiosity of the pilots, observers and +air-mechanics of the squadron. + +Late one afternoon a very small but swift aerial scout, in the shape +of a new type of baby-monoplane, suddenly appeared over the +aerodrome, and after circling round once or twice, made several rapid +spirals and descended on to the grounds. It was no enemy machine, for +the red, white and blue cocarde of the Allies was plainly visible +upon the underside of the wings, and also on the rudder. + +No sooner had the ferry-pilot who had brought her over from England, +made a landing, and climbed out of his tiny nascelle, than every +pilot and observer who was about the place, and not on duty, gathered +round to welcome the newcomer with the usual greeting, and to flood +him with questions as to the new machine. Amongst the rest the +Flight-Commander of "B" Flight could be seen talking and arguing with +his friends. + +"Gee-whiz! But isn't she a beauty, boys?" he was heard to exclaim, +as, with quite a boyish enthusiasm, he completed in less than two +minutes his first brief examination of the machine. + +"By Jove, but she's a gem!" replied Mac, to whom the question had +been more particularly addressed. + +"I've never seen anything like her," exclaimed another member of "B" +Flight. "I don't think the Huns have anything to equal her." + +"Not even their Fokkers?" ventured one of the pilots, who was already +seated in the little cockpit, trying her controls, for he was just +longing to take her aloft. "And you came from London in an hour and a +quarter?" asked Dastral of the ferry-pilot, helping him out of his +thick leather coat. + +"Yes, quite easily," replied the latter. + +"And you never even pushed her?" + +"I never opened the throttle to the full till I rushed the Channel, +half an hour ago." + +"And then you let her rip?" + +"Yes, I did then. She fairly seemed to leap over the English Channel. +She touched one hundred and sixty miles, and for a while she quite +frightened me." + +"Phew! I should think so. What the deuce shall we get to next? One +hundred and sixty miles an hour! Great Scott! I'd give ten years of +my life to meet Himmelman on her, when I've fairly tried her," said +Dastral quietly. + +There was a note of silence when the Flight-Commander spoke thus, for +he did not often express himself like that, though every one knew +that the ambition of his life was to meet the German air-fiend on +equal terms, and fate had decreed that before very long his wish +should be gratified. + +After this, they all adjourned to the messroom, and, for that +evening, and the next, the ferry-pilot was their guest. + +At dinner that evening, when John Bunny, the jovial, stout, stumpy, +chubby-faced waiter at the officers' mess, had cleared away, and +cigars were lighted, and chairs drawn to the fire-place, all the talk +was about the baby-monoplane. For the time being even the war faded +away, except so far as it hinged upon the coming deeds of the new +machine. They discussed its merits and its possibilities, its high +speed, its wonderful but powerful engine, capable of 200 horse-power +and nearly two thousand revolutions a minute. + +Next morning, as soon as it was light, Dastral was seated in the +little nascelle, climbing into the azure. For an hour he tested it, +and came down delighted with his new plaything. Again and again he +tried it during the next two days, until he was thoroughly at home +with it, and could handle it just as well as any other machine he had +ever flown. Indeed, the ferry-pilot who watched him was amazed at the +antics which the Flight-Commander performed with the trippy little +thing. + +On the third morning after the arrival of the new visitant, the +aerodrome was startled by renewed activity on the part of the enemy. +Just as dawn was breaking Lieutenant Grenfell, who was again on +orderly officer's duty at the aerodrome, was called suddenly to the +telephone by the Flight-sergeant in attendance saying: + +"Advanced Headquarters Ginchy want to speak to you, sir." + +An instant later he was holding the receiver, and heard Ginchy speak +plainly. + +"Is that Advanced II.Q. Ginchy?" he asked. + +"Yes. Is that the orderly officer, Contalmaison aerodrome?" + +"Yes. Anything the matter?" + +"Enemy 'planes crossing our lines, and coming in your direction," +came the laconic answer. "Want you to take necessary action at once." + +"Right, old fellow. Action shall be taken at once. But I say--hullo, +are you still there?" + +"Yes." + +"How many enemy 'planes were there?" + +"Three have crossed over. A very big one, and two fast scouts. The +others have all been turned back by our A.A. guns, but they are +trying again, I think, as the guns are opening fire upon them once +more." + +"All right. Good bye!" + +Then, turning to the Flight-Sergeant, the officer said: + +"Quick, sergeant! Sound the alarm to call up the men, and get the +machines out of the hangars ready for action. There is no time to +lose. If they are fast machines they will be here in less than five +minutes." + +"Yes, sir," and the sergeant saluted and departed upon his errand, +calling out the guard and giving the orderly sergeant instructions to +rouse all the men at once, while he himself returned to the orderly +officer, and assisted in calling the pilots from their bunks by +telephone. + +Rapidly as everything was carried out, before all the machines could +be got ready, or the pilots prepared, the enemy had arrived and had +begun to bomb the aerodrome. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" came the first bomb, which was quickly +followed by others. + +It was only just light enough to make out the machines, but Dastral, +who was one of the first pilots on the spot, was already in his +baby-monoplane, ready for the propeller to be swung, when the first +bomb fell, not thirty yards away. His attention, however, for the +past few seconds while the drums of ammunition were being brought, +had been fixed upon the raiders. + +He was amazed at what he saw. There were two small machines, +evidently fast scouts and single-seaters, each fitted with a +single-fixed gun, but the other visitor was a huge warplane, so big +that for the moment he was astounded. + +"Look, Jock!" he shouted. "Egad, but she's a tri-plane, a giant, with +a double fuselage, two engines, and a protected or armoured car in +the centre--at least, so it seems to me. And she's got two gunners at +least. Great Scott! where are those drums? I must get off at once, or +they will blow the place to bits. They've already hit No. 3 shed, and +probably damaged half a dozen machines." + +"Here is your ammunition, sir!" cried Corporal Yap, running up at +that moment with the drums and placing them in the cockpit. + +"Right. Stand clear there!" + +"Rap-rap-rap! Whir-r-r!" came the sound of the engine and the +whirring blades of the monoplane, for it could be distinctly heard +above the roar of the anti-aircraft guns which were now furiously +shelling the invaders. And while some confusion reigned for the +moment at the aerodrome, the little hornet taxied off, and leapt up +into the air. + +Dastral was the first to mount up, but the Dwarf being a +single-seater, he was compelled to leave Jock behind for the nonce. + +Higher and higher he climbed, for the monoplane had the power to rise +rapidly, and when at full speed to sit on her tail for a short +period, that is, to climb nearly perpendicularly. She was so small, +too, that she was difficult to perceive even from a short distance. +Thus she was more fortunate than the others, which, on rising shortly +afterwards, received the concentrated fire and bombs of all the three +raiders. + +Even Munroe had to land again, with his machine blazing, for one of +the bombs had shattered his petrol tank, and set the machine on fire, +so that the pilot himself was rescued with difficulty from the +wreckage. Two other machines were also compelled to descend, for the +enemy, having the weather-gage and being directly above them, had the +advantage. + +The Flight-Commander by this time was well away, and was careering +round, climbing more rapidly than he had ever done before, and +looking forward to the coming combat. He could see his own target, +but, relying upon the small target that the Dwarf offered, he kept +just sufficiently away to render his own machine invisible to the +Huns, who were having the time of their lives. + +Dastral was in a fighting mood; he felt ready to fight all the Boche +airmen in the world, if he could only get at them. Higher and higher +he rose, and marked the little register as it clicked out the +altitude:-- + +"Three thousand--four thousand feet." + +Its quiet voice was drowned in the roar of the engine and the +whir-r-r of the propellers, but its face seemed to smile at the pilot +and beckon him to victory. + +He had got well over towards the enemy's lines, in his circling +sweep, for he was determined to keep well between the enemy and his +base. Besides, it was good strategy, for the day was breaking and +already, up there, he could see the rim of the sun showing over the +edge of the eastern horizon. + +"I shall have the sun behind my back when the fight begins, and the +Huns will have it in their eyes!" he told himself. + +At six thousand feet he banked and swept round towards the enemy, +still climbing rapidly, for the Boches were at about seven thousand +feet. Again and again he made the whizzing Dwarf almost to sit upon +her tail, so eager was he to reach seven thousand five hundred. + +He felt perfectly happy, and braced for the conflict. His only +anxiety was to get to business at once. + +"Five thousand--five thousand five hundred feet," said the little +dial, and Dastral laughed riotously. + +"Seven thousand," came at last, though it seemed an age to the eager +pilot. + +Glancing down and away to the west, he could see his comrades +climbing up to his assistance, for he had left them far behind. The +Boches had seen them too, and were diving to attack them, dropping +bombs and firing incendiary bullets. + +"Capital!" shouted Dastral in high glee, as he saw the enemy make +several rapid dives, giving him exactly what he wanted, the +weather-gage. + +"The beasts haven't seen me, or they wouldn't do that!" Dastral told +himself, and he was right, for the enemy had not even suspected his +presence yet, or, if they had seen him leave the ground, they had +lost sight of him, owing to the tactics he had adopted. They were +soon to have a knowledge of his presence, however. + +"Now for it," said Dastral between his teeth, as, having reached +seven thousand feet, he whizzed away to the attack of the nearest +'plane, one of the enemy's fighting scouts which had accompanied the +huge warplane. + +"Whir-r-r-r!" went the hornet, as Dastral opened the engine throttle +to the full. + +The speed of the hornet was terrific, and the sound of the wind +rushing past him sounded to the pilot as loud as the noise of the +engine. + +"One hundred and sixty!" laughed the speedometer. + +"They can't beat that," replied Dastral, as though the little +dial-face understood. He felt that he must talk, though he had no +observer this morning. + +Now he was over the fighting scout, and she saw him for the first +time. She was the highest of the three, but she was a thousand feet +below him, and, relying on her speed, she banked, turned swiftly, and +tried to escape, actually leaving the warplane to look after herself. + +Dastral pulled over the controls, and down, down he went in a +thrilling nose-dive as though he would crash her to the earth with +his own fuselage, but that was not his intention. At five hundred +feet he opened fire, and gave her three drums in rapid succession, +and never was sound more agreeable to his ears than that +"rap--rap--rap--rap--rap!" of his machine-gun as he sprayed the enemy +from end to end of his fuselage with incendiary bullets. + +Before the third drum was exhausted he noticed the flames leap from +the doomed German, for Dastral had sent three flaming-bullets through +his reserve petrol-tank, and in that moment he knew he had only two +enemies left to fight, for the first enemy 'plane went down blazing +in a plunging dip, which ended in a spinning nose-dive and a terrible +crash, right over the eastern end of the aerodrome. + +Dastral looked down, his eyes gleaming with victory, glad he had +finished number one, but sincerely hoping in his heart that his +comrades on the ground would be able to save the pilot from the +burning wreckage, for of all deaths that the daring aviator dreads, +to be burnt is the worst of all, and few English pilots, having sent +the enemy down, wish him such an end. + +There was no time for sentiment, however, this morning, for the next +moment Dastral was startled by the sound of a machine-gun behind him: + +"Rat--tat--tat!" + +Yes, one of his own friends was already attacking the warplane. It +sounded like Mac, and the tactics seemed suspiciously his, for he had +been creeping up behind Dastral, following his leader, as he had so +often done before, and he was now engaged in a battle royal with the +monster, wilst another 'plane was tackling the second scout, though +at a disadvantage. + +For a second Dastral was halting which way to turn, but pilots have +to make rapid decisions every day, and when he saw Mac's danger, for +the enemy would assuredly send him down in a few minutes unless help +came, the Flight-Commander banked quickly, and, still having the +advantage of nearly a thousand feet in altitude, he swept on to help +his man. + +It was well he did, for though Mac fought bravely, as Dastral had +taught him to do a score of times, he was no match for the huge +German, with her armoured car, and two machine-gunners in addition to +the pilot. + +As Dastral swept back to his comrade, he saw the two machines raking +each other, but though Mac got in several shots at the fuselage and +the engines, he hit no vital part. + +"Ye gods, what a huge brute she is!" ejaculated the Flight-Commander +as he drew near, and sailed over the top of the monster, just seeking +for some weak spot. + +Before he could clamp in his drums he saw Mac's machine reel, and +spin round once or twice, as though the controls had been broken by +some questing bullets. The German continued to fire, however, and the +next instant Dastral saw the reason of it all, for he saw Mac's +observer stretching over towards the pilot. + +"Heavens! The poor chap's hit!" he exclaimed. Then shouting almost +fiercely, as though he fancied Mac could hear him, he cried: + +"Never mind, they shall pay for it, Mac!" + +Again Dastral jammed the controls hard over, and though he knew he +was fighting a different creature altogether this time, he tried his +old tactics. He swept down as though to collide with the enemy and +crash with him to earth, for he knew this was the best method of +unnerving the Hun. With his feet on the rudder bar, and the joy-stick +between his knees, and his hands clear for his gun, he fired two +drums, but seeing no immediate effect, he flattened out suddenly, +when only fifty feet from the Bosche, and pulling the switch of his +bomb release, he dropped a twenty-pound bomb fairly on to the central +armoured car of the monster. + +Scarcely had he swept past his adversary when the thing exploded at +close quarters, causing him almost unconsciously to loop the loop +twice in rapid succession, for the very atmosphere seemed to be blown +away from his propeller blades, and the air was so full of +air-pockets that for a moment this daring aviator was in imminent +danger of a side-slip and a fearful crash to the earth. + +It was over in a minute, however, and the "Boom-m-m-m!" of the +explosion and the smother of gas, smoke and flame being past, he +looked round him, and saw the German three hundred feet below him, +with half his central armoured car blown away, and with both gunners +apparently lifeless, and the pilot, bleeding, still sticking it +grimly, trying to volplane his machine to the ground. + +The Flight-Commander looked down, and sweeping round till he had +gained his old position, he was about to drop a second bomb to finish +the warplane, but he withdrew his hand from the bomb release, saying: + +"Poor bounder! He's bound to go down. He cannot get her over the +lines. I'll let him alone." + +Then, looking around for the third machine, he was just in time to +see her disappear eastward towards her own lines, and saw two English +'planes, which seemed to have come from nowhere, following her. + +"Ah, well, I'll go down and receive that chap's surrender--that is, +if he can manage to get down without a crash." + +There is, apparently, more honour in aerial fighting in these days +than in any other field of warfare, and, when a pilot has brought his +man down, should he fall, say, into the conqueror's lines, very often +the victor will descend and receive the surrender of the vanquished. + +Dastral's professional curiosity also urged him to do this. The huge +machine was of a new type, for in all his experience he had seen +nothing like it, and he was eager to examine it. + +Keeping his eye, therefore, on the descending German, who was trying +with the utmost care to navigate the aerial monster to the ground, +Dastral banked, then spiralled, and after one or two rapid +nose-dives, planed swiftly down to within a few score of yards of the +place where the monster must ultimately descend; and three minutes +later, having landed, he waited calmly on the ground for mein herr to +complete his landing. + +Down, down she came, lobbing first one way and then another, +finishing up with a bump which completed the wreckage of one of her +huge outstretched planes, and hurling the lifeless form of an +observer-gunner to the earth. + +"My word, what a size she is!" cried some one from the group of +officers and men standing by. + +She was a mass of wreckage, and how the wounded pilot had managed to +bring her down so calmly was a miracle. + +"Where are you hurt, Captain?" asked Dastral, helping the wounded man +from the wrecked car. + +"Here and here, Flight-Commander!" replied the German in good +English, leaning heavily on the pilot, who a few minutes before had +been his deadly enemy. + +"Fetch Captain Young, the M.O., at once!" ordered Dastral, and +immediately one of the air-mechanics ran off to find Number Nine. + +"You were a marvel to bring her down without a crash!" said Dastral. +"I'm sure I could never have done it." + +The German smiled. He was a fair-haired Prussian, not at all of the +Hun type, and there was moisture in his blue eyes as he replied, + +"I thank you for the compliment, Flight-Commander. You also are +_some_ pilot, as you English say." + +"And she is _some_ machine, too!" urged Dastral, trying to keep up +the man's spirit until the medical officer arrived. + +"Ah, my poor machine, and my poor gunners! They were brave fellows +and they died for the Fatherland. And the machine?--yes, she was a +beauty, and it was her first trip. Now she is a ruin, and I must +surrender her to you, but you will never be able to use her. See!" + +Dastral turned round to look, and noticed that the German warplane +was in flames, for the pilot, mortally wounded as he was, knew his +duty, which was, if he could not bring his machine back, to destroy +it. And his last act, which had been unnoticed, ere he left the +machine, was to set her quietly on fire, only waiting to make sure +that the second gunner was really dead. + +"Ah! My poor machine, but you English--will--never--use--her!" + +As he uttered these words slowly, gasping and clutching at his heart, +the German turned ghastly pale, and, staggering, fell into the arms +of Dastral just as the medical officer came running up. + +For a moment Dastral held him, but the blood began to gush from his +mouth and nostrils, and then his head fell back, for he was dead. + +"You are too late, doctor," said the Flight-Commander sadly, as he +laid the dead captain down on the grass, and looked at his pale face +and wide open eyes, still staring up at the azure blue of the opening +day, as though even in death the skies were calling him up there, as +they did in life; for he had been one of the most brilliant of the +German aviators, second only to Himmelman, who indeed had been his +teacher. + +"Too late, doctor! There was no chance for him from the beginning. He +was mortally wounded." + +"Yes, poor fellow, he has fought his last battle!" replied the M.O. + +"Poor fellow! I wish he could have lived," muttered Dastral, and a +feeling of unutterable sadness came over him, and he cursed the war +which had made him this man's enemy. + +Again he looked at the Prussian's face, and, stooping down, closed +the man's eyes in their last long sleep. Then, turning to an +air-mechanic, he said: + +"Bring a German flag, and wrap it round him," and so he strode away +towards his bunk, depressed by a feeling of profound melancholy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +HIMMELMAN S LAST FIGHT + + +IN the officers' mess at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, a +blue-eyed, dark-haired youth of about twenty-two stood with his back +to the fire. He was alone, for the others had not yet come in from +the marquees and sheds where the aeroplanes were being stored. On his +left breast he wore the double brevet of a fully-fledged pilot. + +This was Flight-Commander Dastral of "B" Flight, of the --th +Squadron, --th Wing, Royal Flying Corps, known to the whole of the +British Expeditionary Force, and to the British public also, as +"Dastral of the Flying Corps." + +Just under his pilot's brevet was a couple of inches of blue and +white ribbon, the insignia of the D.S.O. For, though but a lad, he +had fought with more Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands, and had more +thrilling exploits over the German lines, than any other youth of his +age. + +To-night, however, the pilot seemed sad; there was a shadow of +disappointment over his fair, young face. There was also a dreamy, +far-away look in those usually piercing blue eyes. What was the +matter with the lad? He was generally gay and even frolicsome. More +than once the O.C. had found it necessary to take him to task for +some of his jovial pranks. + +At his feet lay the previous day's issue of the _Times_, which he had +just been reading, and that which had made him sad was a paragraph +telegraphed to London by the Amsterdam correspondent of that paper, +which ran as follows:-- + + +"Yesterday, at the German Headquarters behind the western front, the +Kaiser in person conferred upon Himmelman, the famous German air +scout, the insignia of the Iron Cross. It is claimed by the enemy +that this air-fiend has brought down more than forty British and +French machines, and that his equal in skill and daring does not +exist upon the battle-fields of Europe. Quite recently he fought with +and vanquished three British pilots single-handed in one day. This +famous pilot flies a new type of machine called the Fokker, and the +Germans claim for this machine that for climbing and rapid manoeuvre +there is no other aeroplane which can be compared to it." + + +Dastral picked up the paper and read the paragraph again. Then, +speaking half aloud, he said: + +"So that's what happened to Benson's Flight the other day. I felt +sure he had encountered Himmelman. Ah, well! A pilot's life is only a +short one at the best, but there's one thing I beg of Dame Fortune, +and that is, that I may meet Himmelman before I go down." + +Again he cast the paper from him, and as he did so, the door flew +open, and Fisker, his observer, accompanied by Graham of "A" Flight +and Wilson of "C" Flight entered the room. + +"Hullo! What's the matter that you look so glum, Dastral?" exclaimed +Graham, as he caught sight of his friend. "Has the O.C. been giving +you another reprimand over that last rag, old fellow?" + +"What rags?" laughed Dastral, regaining his usual cheerfulness with +an effort. + +"Ho! ho!" laughed the others. "Of course you know nothing about it, +Dastral, gut all the fellows are laughing over it, and the whole +squadron puts it down to you, naturally," replied Wilson. + +"Naturally?" echoed Dastral with raised eyebrows, and a query note in +his voice. + +At this there was another burst of laughter. For this pretended +ignorance of Dastral, and above all, the intoned, sepulchral voice he +adopted for the occasion, reminded them of the "sky-pilot" as the +chaplain was called, who, on this occasion, had been the victim of +the rag. + +"Tell you what," exclaimed Wilson. "If the O.C. hasn't yet heard of +it, you'd better go out and have another of your scraps with a whole +German flight, before he does. That would soften him a bit when +you're called for the 'high jump.'" + +"Yes, better go out and have a look for Himmelman!" suggested Graham, +tossing, the stump of his cigar into the fire. + +"Himmelman?" replied Dastral, becoming suddenly serious. + +"Yes, Himmelman. Why not? I believe you'll be a match for him, if you +can only meet him at the same level, and with your drums full," +replied the young commander of "C" Flight. + +For answer Dastral picked up the paper again, and pointing to the +column about the air-fiend, said brusquely, + +"Read that." + +For the next two minutes the newcomers crowded around the paper, and +read, partly aloud, the paragraph above referred to. + +At the time of which I write the supremacy of the air was still in +question. The daring exploits of Himmelman and his school had been +causing much anxiety to the Directorate of Air Organisation. Much +consternation had also been caused amongst the British public by the +manner in which certain sections of the press in Old Blighty had +talked of the merits of the Fokker, the new type of fast fighting +monoplane which the enemy had produced. But it was the bold and +daring tactics of Himmelman himself, and his few immediate followers, +which had given rise to this. + +A new British School had come into existence, represented by Dastral +and his type. These were very often mere lads from the public +schools, full of the sporting instinct in which Englishmen excel. +They were soon to make their presence felt, and gain for Britain and +her Allies the complete mastery of the air. + +What it cost in life and limb to gain this mastery over a wily and +efficient foe will be known some day, when circumstances permit the +veil of silence to be drawn aside. England will then know what she +owes to her daring airmen, and every pilot's grave in France and +Flanders--and they are legion--will be honoured and decked with the +imperishable flowers of a nation's love. + +When the trio in the officers' mess had finished reading the +paragraph, it was Graham who spoke first. + +"Dastral," he said, in quiet tones, "there will be no peace, and no +victory, till Himmelman goes down. Nothing else matters, it seems to +me; neither bombing raids, registering targets, nor spotting, till +this air-fiend gets his _coup-de-grace_. What say you?" + +For full twenty seconds Dastral waited before he replied. Again there +was that faraway look in his blue eyes as though he could see +Himmelman on his fast monoplane, coming up out of the mists of the +eastern horizon beyond the German lines. Then, recalling himself with +an effort he replied calmly: + +"You are right, Graham. Twice already I have encountered him. Once +when my drums were empty, and the second time when my controls were +damaged, and I had to make a forced descent just behind our lines. I +have felt myself a coward ever since. But fight him I will, before +sundown to-morrow, if he is anywhere in the heavens within fifty +miles of Contalmaison. And not a shot will I fire, even if attacked +by half a dozen Taubes, till I meet my man. I know his tactics now, +and am better prepared to fight him than ever I have been." + +"Better not tell the O.C., for you know our orders are to fight every +and any enemy 'plane we see, while we have a round in the drums," +replied his comrade. + +"I know, Graham; that's the trouble. When your drums are empty or +your gun has jammed, then this wary old Boche comes down from a small +cloud where he has been hiding at twelve thousand feet, and comes +hurtling down through space at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, +spraying your fuselage from end to end with his machine gun. All the +same, he is brave and courageous, and something of a sport--far away +the best man they've got. But my belief is that if once he is sent +down in a crash, the spell will be broken, and we shall have things +all our own way," said Dastral. + +Then, turning to Fisker, his observer, who had not yet had his +twentieth birthday, though he had been with Dastral since they first +left England, and thoroughly understood his method and tactics, he +said: + +"What do you say, old fellow? Do you think we're a match for this +high falutin' Prussian?" + +"Dastral!" replied his chum. "I repeat what I said to you only the +other day. If you'll only get the O.C. to give you a perfectly free +hand, and then lay a nice little trap for the Boche, you're more than +a match for him. There's more room for strategy in the air than +either in trench warfare on land, or in a naval fight, when the sea +is strewn with mine-beds. And if you'll only try that new fast S.E. +that you had out the other day, with the Lewis gun mounted for'ard, +you'll do the trick, and it wouldn't be merely the D.S.O. that the +King and a grateful country would confer on you, for ridding the +western front of a nuisance, but you'd get the V.C. and a C.B. as +well." + +"Yes, I'd probably get the C.B. all right, Fisker, but not the V.C.," +laughed the pilot, for in the army the letters C.B. have a double +meaning. + +"I don't mean _Confined to Barracks_, old fellow. You'll get that +when you make a forced landing behind the German lines one of these +days, if you will drop down to within a hundred feet of their +batteries, just to put one of their 'Archies' out of action, and kill +a few of their gunners. I mean the other C.B. which is usually given +from Buckingham Palace." + +"You're a sport, Fisker. I never had an observer or aerial gunner who +served me so well as you do. The credit is yours for the majority of +the enemy's machines we've brought down this last six months. But, as +you're game, and you've got far more brains than I have, we'll just +spend the night inventing such a trap for the wily old Prussian as +you've mentioned, and to-morrow, if we don't get the weather-gage of +the Boche, then we'll never put our heads inside this old mess again. +Are you agreed?" said Dastral. + +"Agreed!" replied Fisker, grasping the extended hard held out to +clasp his, and to seal the bargain. + +"And here's to your success, Dastral!" exclaimed Wilson, who had just +poured out for himself a glass of _vin rouge_. + +At this moment the mess sergeant appeared to announce that dinner was +laid in the pilots' mess, and away they all went, laughing and +joking, as though they had been discussing nothing more or less than +a county cricket match. + +That night, however, as soon as the meal was over, instead of the +usual rubber of whist, or game of chess, Dastral and Fisker went into +the little bunk where they slept, and, locking the door, they brought +out maps, sketches, and diagrams, and, until midnight, they were hard +at work, by the kindly flicker of a little shaded lamp, evolving +scheme after scheme, until at length they agreed upon a little plan, +which they decided to put into operation on the morrow. Then they +turned in, and slept for four or five hours, having given strict +orders to the mess attendant to call theirs before reveille. + +Half an hour before reveille Dastral was down in the hangar, where +his new aeroplane was sheltered. Though it had been carefully +examined overnight by the air-mechanics, yet he could trust no one +but himself to finally inspect the machine. He examined every strut +and wire, every nut and bolt, oiling and testing the engine, +controls, and half a hundred other little things that make up the +delicate mechanism of a modern aeroplane. + +At length he was satisfied, and lit a cigarette, while Fisker shipped +the Lewis gun, packed the drums of ammunition, fixed the baby +wireless, saw to the bomb carriers, maps, charts, and everything else +that concerned him. + +Soon, they were ready, and, having snatched a hurried breakfast, they +wrapped themselves in their warm leathern coats, and were helped into +their pilot's boots by one of the air-mechanics, whose duty it was to +guard the machines. They drew their leathern helmets tightly about +their cars, and encased their hands in thick gloves, then climbed +into the 'plane. + +Half a dozen air-mechanics wheeled the "wasp" out into the open, +where the level ground of the aerodrome offered a good "take-off." +Then they waited for a moment, while the O.C. himself came down, and +handed to Dastral an envelope containing his special permit to leave +his flight, and to act as a free lance for that day; the matter +having been arranged between them. + +"Good-bye, Dastral, and a good day's sport to you, my lad!" said the +major, who stood on tiptoe to shake hands with the pilot and +observer. + +"Good-bye, sir," replied Dastral, his hand already on the joy-stick. + +"Start the propeller," came the order from the cock-pit. + +"Yes, sir," cried an air-mechanic, who sprang forward and swung the +propeller once or twice. + +"Zip-p-p-p--Zip--Whir-r-r-r!" came the sound, as Dastral started the +engine, and the air seemed to vibrate with the song of the aeroplane, +which has a music all its own. + +"Stand clear!" came the final order, and as the mechanics leapt back, +and withdrew the wooden chocks, the buzzing, waspish little thing +taxied swiftly across the level stretch of grass, then leapt into the +air. + +Higher and higher it rose by swift spirals, sometimes banking over so +rapidly as it turned in its circuit that those who stood watching it +from below feared it had touched an air pocket. But never did fiery +steed answer the touch of the huntsman's rein so quickly, and never +did gallant ship, as she rode the combing waves, answer her helm more +readily than did the air-wasp respond to the slightest movement of +her controls this morning, as she mounted up into the dawn. For the +daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, +who understood every whim and fancy of his machine. + +And now for a while let us leave Dastral climbing up into the azure, +then traversing a dozen miles behind the British lines, so as to +disappear from the enemy's view until the moment came for him to +hunt his prey. + +Soon after he had disappeared from view Major Bulford gave the order. +"Squadron, prepare for action!" for this was to be a day of great +things, and the Squadron-Commander himself, having now recovered from +his recent injuries, was going to lead the whole of the three +Flights, which composed the squadron under his command, over the +enemy's lines. + +Within an incredibly short space of time all the machines were ready +on the level stretch of grass. The bomb carriers were filled and +drums of fresh ammunition were shipped. And within half an hour of +the departure of the air-wasp, the squadron started off in regular +formation, and crossed over the enemy's lines. + +The secret had been well kept. Only the pilots themselves, after they +had taken their seats behind the propellers, received the whispered +orders for the day. A great bombing raid was to be carried out behind +the German lines with the express purpose of drawing out Himmelman +and his crowd to counter-attack, while Dastral, hidden away in the +clouds at 12,000 feet, was to enter the fight at the critical moment. +Then the most daring air-fiends on the battle-fields of Europe were +to meet in single-combat, and decide for ever to which side the +supremacy of the air should be given. + +The whole squadron crossed the lines at 7,000 feet, and received a +baptism of fire from the anti-aircraft batteries, while thousands of +combatants in the trenches far below stayed their fighting for a +moment to watch the stinging hornets sail calmly by, as though +utterly oblivious of the hail of bursting shrapnel, which made little +jets of fire and cirrus-clouds of white smoke all about them. + +One or two Taubes and Aviatiks which had been out on a reconnaissance +and for a few photographs, rapidly retired before the hornets and +fled to find shelter somewhere beyond. Meanwhile, the telephones in +the German lines were busy and the presence of the raiders was +quickly reported to the various commands, and from thence to half a +dozen aerodromes. Machines were rapidly run out, and got ready to +mount up and meet the invaders, for it was evident that the +perfidious Britishers had resolved to carry out another great bombing +raid on railway communications, billets, and ammunition dumps. + +Within an incredibly short space of time, Himmelman himself had +started to meet the the enemy. But the raiding party swept on, beyond +Bazentin, Ginchy and Longueval, bombing, as they passed, Combles and +the Peronne railway. Soon, they sighted the aerodromes at Scilly and +Etricourt, and bombarded them, receiving another crackle of fire from +the A.A. guns posted to defend the hangars and sheds. Then, wheeling +north they scattered a large transport column which was proceeding +slowly along the main road from Le Transloy to Bapaume. + +Shortly afterwards, a swift circling movement and a smoke bomb from +the leading 'plane gave the signal: + +"Enemy 'planes approaching!" + +All this had been accomplished within half an hour of crossing the +enemy's lines, and the Germans had been caught fairly on the nap. But +now Himmelman had got his machines in motion, and a fight in mid-air +could not be much longer delayed. + +The English pilots looked down, and far below they could see from +half a dozen places Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands creeping up to the +attack. By this time all the heavy missiles had been dropped, and the +machines, with their engines running superbly, had gained something +in buoyancy from the release of the half dozen 20-pounder bombs, with +which each aeroplane had started. + +Guns were now cocked and loaded, and the discs were clapped into +place, while extra drums were placed where they would be most handy, +for when the fight commenced, a delay of five seconds might prove +fatal. Then a bold attempt was made to get the weather-gage, and to +use their advantage in altitude to place the sun behind their backs, +so that the enemy would have it in his face. + +Every type of aeroplane approaching was carefully scrutinised, and, +with sundry circling dips, short nose-dives and smoke bombs, the +Squadron-Commander told off various machines to fight them, for every +type of machine has its own special capabilities and limitations. At +the same time the heavens were eagerly scanned for a sight of the +hated Fokker. + +"Where is Himmelman? Where is Dastral?" every keen-eyed pilot was +asking himself. And every little cloud above and beyond was searched, +but no sight of the air-fiends was vouchsafed. Ah, well, they must +fight without Dastral if he had not yet picked them up. + +This manoeuvring for position continued for some minutes, but all the +while the combatants were drawing nearer and nearer. The enemy had +evidently received strict orders to fight at all costs. Certain +advantages were his. The chosen battle-ground was in his favour, as +every British 'plane hit and compelled to make a forced landing, +owing to damaged engine, petrol tank, or deranged controls, would be +captured with its crew, while only the German 'planes which crashed +would be lost. + +At last the time had come for action, for the air seemed full of +specks, both small and large. Nearly three whole squadrons had +climbed to the attack of the British, who, however, had by this time +gained the weather gage. + +"Engage the enemy closely!" came the signal, as three more +smoke-bombs were hurled from the commander's machine. Only one more +order was given, which was: + +"Reserve your fire till within two hundred yards!" + +The rattle of the machine-gun fire had already commenced, for the +enemy had begun to fire as usual at 1000 yards, but the British, +reserving their fire, followed their leader's tactics, for +immediately he had flung out his last signal, he dived down upon his +nearest opponent, a big fat yellow 'plane with black crosses upon the +doping. + +"Spit--spit-t-t--spit-t-t-t!!" went the C.O.'s machine gun, as he +pumped a whole drum of ammunition into his opponent, raking his +fuselage, engine, and petrol tank from end to end. The next instant, +the huge German machine, which mounted two guns, went down with +blazing petrol tank, and crashed from 8,000 feet. + +And now commenced an indescribable scene; a terrible fight in +mid-air, which would have been deemed to be impossible but a few +short years ago. The sky, to those watching far below, must have +seemed full of wild, swooping and circling birds of prey, spitting +fire and smoke, while every now and then a machine went down blazing, +or wildly zig-zagging to destruction. No less than four enemy 'planes +had thus gone down, when No. 2 machine of "C" Flight, with crumpled +wing, went down with a fatal nose-dive in a terrific crash. + +But still the fight went on, until more than half the British +machines had gone under, taking down with them at least twice their +number, and yet neither Himmelman nor Dastral had appeared. Numbers +were telling upon the English, and those machines which were left had +nearly consumed their ammunition, when, suddenly out of a little +cluster of clouds at 12,000 feet a dark speck appeared. + +The little speck at first appeared like a tiny bird, but the aviators +knew only too well what it meant. Whistling through the air in a +terrific nose-dive which reached the rate of 150 miles an hour, the +dreaded Fokker appeared to strike his chief opponent. Straight for +the Squadron-Commander's machine he came, like a fierce bird of prey. + +For an instant the fight slackened, and the enemy machines even drew +off a little space, to leave a clear path for the air-fiend, who had +never been known to fail in his desperate strokes. A thrill of +intense excitement held the combatants, as the Major made a daring +counter move, and jammed his last drum of ammunition into place. + +"Spit! Bang! Spit! Bang! + +"Whir-r-r-r!" Himmelman had opened fire while nose-diving at terrific +speed. Already the victim seemed to be in his clutch, when, just as +suddenly, from the same cloud in which the German air-fiend himself +had found ambush, another speck appeared, swooping like a hawk with +its talons ready to strike. It was Dastral, who had waited and +waited, in the biting cold and the clinging moisture of the wet +cloud; waited at 12,000 feet near the edge of the cloud. + +He had seen Himmelman coming, had watched him like a tiny speck +seeking shelter in the same misty vapour. How Himmelman had failed to +discover his enemy was a mystery. They were both invisible to the +combatants, it is true, and Dastral had used a dozen devices to keep +himself out of sight of the Boche, though ready at any moment to +fight with him. + +There can be little doubt, however, that Himmelman had been watching +the fight so closely that he had never even dreamt of finding his +chief enemy so close at hand. Besides, no one had ever dared to +imitate his tactics before, and his first intimation of Dastral's +presence was when, during his wild swoop, having half emptied his +first drum at the Squadron-Commander, he suddenly heard machine-gun +bullets whizzing about his own ears, and felt a stinging sensation in +his right arm. Looking round, he saw that the dark cloud in which he +had been hiding had given birth to another air-fiend, and in that +moment Himmelman knew that he was no longer the Master-Pilot of the +Skies. + +"Gott in Himmel!" he gasped, and made one last effort to manoeuvre. + +With his hand upon the gun, and his feet upon the rudder bar, he +flattened out, and tried to fight his enemy from below, leaving his +last victim to limp away to safety. + +But Dastral was too quick, for he had time to give the Fokker two +full drums before he also flattened out just above the monoplane. He +knew the Fokker had its gun fixed forward, rigidly fixed, so that it +could only fire ahead through the propeller. All this he had coolly +calculated beforehand. Unless, therefore, Himmelman could manoeuvre +to get his enemy directly ahead, he could do nothing. Still, though +wounded, the German fought on. Round and round spun the machines, +over and under they went, like a shoal of porpoises, each trying to +get the advantage. + +Up there at 9,000 feet they performed the most amazing gymnastic +gyrations and contortions. Once the German got the advantage, and was +about to open a new drum of fire, when Dastral, pulling over the +joy-stick, and with clenched teeth, muttered: + +"No, you don't! By all the saints, no!" + +And, with that, he dived under the air-fiend, and emptied his seventh +and last drum into him from beneath. + +It, was the end of the great fight, for with his fuselage ablaze from +end to end--for his petrol tanks had been pierced--and with a bullet +through his brain, Himmelman went down in a spinning nose-dive to the +earth. + +Even then the chief of the air nearly took down his opponent with his +wreckage, for Dastral being underneath, only just slithered, rather +than banked, in time to let the blazing mass hurtle by. Another dozen +feet, and the heroes would have gone down together. + +The next moment the daring young pilot gazed almost ruefully down +upon the tangled wreckage far below. He was amazed at his own work, +riding up there alone, for he was now the Master-Pilot of the Skies. +Even so, somehow, his chivalrous young heart was sad, for a brave man +never finds pleasure in the death of another brave man, and your true +hero has always a gentle soul. + +Then touched by a gust of sudden pity, he circled down to within +three hundred feet of the burning mass in which the remains of the +brave pilot lay, and, heedless of the risk he ran, he detached from +its place, where he had secured it that morning, unknown to all but +himself and Jock, a wreath of laurel, with these words attached to +it, penned in his own hand:-- + + +"_To Himmelman--the bravest of the brave--_ +_the Pilot of the Western Skies. A tribute of_ +_respect from his Conqueror._ + Dastral of the Flying Corps." + + +Then he climbed back again, joined the remnant of his squadron, which +with broken struts and wires, and bearing strong evidence of the +great fight in every part of their delicate frames, struggled back to +the aerodrome near Contalmaison. + +Thus did Himmelman meet his end, going down bravely, and, with +Himmelman, the Germans lost the mastery of the air. + +But Dastral himself was wounded in that last fight, and his machine, +the new "wasp," was so badly damaged that even his wonderful skill +could not save her, and she crashed behind the British lines, quite +close to Contalmaison. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"BLIGHTY" + + +AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested from +the Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was the +way paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat of +militarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and to +civilisation of her freedom. + +There is only one more incident to record, before this story of +adventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of those +unfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by some +mysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of a +misshapen and deformed body. + +We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of the +story. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning with +desire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted and +dismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her time +of peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing of +Providence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in the +day of trial, we meet him again. + +When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind the +British lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage, +scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, and +taken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to the +base hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during the +whole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at the +urgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospital +ship to Blighty. + +It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he first +regained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to look +about him, he asked: + +"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?" + +A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it was +the hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tender +voice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past, +whispered: + +"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better." + +The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but found +that he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs were +powerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still, +and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in a +whirl. + +"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after another +minute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for the +pain racked him so. + +"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talk +or think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and you +will soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet, +but strong tones, + +Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastral +could not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where? + +His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. He +fancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as he +dozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was away +again in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meet +Himmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his last +great fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constant +watcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile, +flicker over his countenance. + +"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospital +attendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast, +lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of his +country. + +Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so, +he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively the +words fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child: + +"Tim Burkitt!" + +"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me to +watch over you, and to nurse you back to life." + +Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one of +His Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back to +Blighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch him +from the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S. +to have him under his own special care. + +"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recognise +me until you were out of all danger." + +Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raising +his hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on his +tunic, he gasped: + +"Tim, where did you win that?" + +"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim. + +"But, Tim, how came you here?" + +In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, after +persistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though only +the humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had been +offered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it. + +"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of my +patients. And I am going to take you all the way home." + +"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the way +home?" + +"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter of +twenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle of +Wight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water." + +"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed his +eyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them again +shortly, and said: + +"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for it +turns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I am +happy to think that you have won that decoration." + +"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the King +has conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a Wing +Commander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of your +fight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?" + +"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring back +my brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas, +I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes to +keep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulp +down a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, till +they had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the Southsea +Forts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lower +reaches of Southampton Water. + +Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim. + +"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman, +and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and they +were with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world, +amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of the +German warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome near +Contalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, and +they said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, you +who are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it a +dream or did I really see them?" + +"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, and +they are all dead?" + +"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. But +come, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only a +dream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly up +at his friend. + +"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a full +minute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days at +college, though, after what has happened, it seems years and years +ago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I do +believe that for brave men, who have followed the star which has +called them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, after +death, something like that of which you have spoken, where good men +are re-united, even though they have fought with each other in the +days that are past." + +Then, after another long pause, he added + +"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven." + +* * * * * + +Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war. +Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under the +careful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the great +war was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He had +crowded into twenty months of service a record second to none during +the great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his King +and Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believed +that the cause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny. + +In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drake +and Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the liberties +of the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggle +is fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engraved +in letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went out +in jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, so +that they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our future +liberty and peace. + + +------------------------------------------------------------------ +THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND + + + +[Transcribers Notes: + +Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, following +the original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and +{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero}) +and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something: +{:}, {:--} and {,}. + +Corrected type-errors: + {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,} +Not corrected type-errors: + {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,} + {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,} + {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross} + {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,} + +] + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dastral of the Flying Corps, by Rowland Walker + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44348 *** diff --git a/44348-h/44348-h.htm b/44348-h/44348-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72556b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/44348-h/44348-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6478 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +BODY {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%} + +P {text-indent: 2%} + +.standard {font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal;} + +.indent10 {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} +.indent20 {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 10%;} +.indent30 {margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 10%;} +.indent50 {margin-left: 50%; margin-right: 10%;} + +.fontsize80 {font-size: 80%;} + +</style> + +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44348 ***</div> + +<center><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover"></center> +<center>Cover art</center> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center><h2>DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</h2></center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<table align="center" style="border:0px solid #000000;" summary="otherbooks"> + + <tr><td>THE GREAT</td></tr> + <tr><td>ADVENTURE</td></tr> + <tr><td>SERIES</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><hr align="center" width="40%"></td></tr> + <tr><td><center><b>Percy F. Westerman:</b></center></td></tr> + <tr><td>THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND"</td></tr> + <tr><td>TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS</td></tr> + <tr><td>THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE</td></tr> + <tr><td>WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><center><b>Rowland Walker:</b></center></td></tr> + <tr><td>THE PHANTOM AIRMAN</td></tr> + <tr><td>DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</td></tr> + <tr><td>DEVILLE McKEENE:</td></tr> + <tr><td><b CLASS="standard indent10 fontsize80">THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY</b><br></td></tr> + <tr><td><b CLASS="standard indent10 fontsize80">AIRMAN</b><br></td></tr> + <tr><td>BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE</td></tr> + <tr><td>BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V 2</td></tr> + <tr><td>OSCAR DANBY, V.C.</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><hr align="center" width="40%"></td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<center> +S.W. PARTRIDGE & CO.<br> +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDOND, W.I.<br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="Frontispiece"></center> +<center>"DOWN, DOWN WENT THE BLAZING MASS FOR A COUPLE OF THOUSAND FEET."</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center> +<h1> +DASTRAL OF THE<br> +FLYING CORPS<br> +</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ROWLAND WALKER</h2> +<br> +AUTHOR OF "BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2," "THE TREASURE<br> +GALLEON," "OSCAR DANBY, V.C." ETC., ETC.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/partridge.jpg" alt="Publisher logo"> +<br> +<br> +S.W. PARTRIDGE & Co.<br> +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.I.<br> +</center> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center> +MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN<br> +<i>First Published 1917</i><br> +<i>Frequently reprinted</i><br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center> +To<br> +THE PILOTS,<br> +OBSERVERS AND AIR-MECHANICS<br> +OF<br> +THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS,<br> +THIS<br> +STORY OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL<br> +IS<br> +Dedicated<br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center>PREFACE</center><br> +<br> +THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 opened the floodgates of hatred between the +nations which took part and this stirring story, written when +feelings were at their highest, conveys a true impression of the +attitude adopted towards our enemies. No epithet was considered too +strong for a German and whilst the narrative thus conveys the real +atmosphere and conditions under which the tragic event was fought out +it should be borne in mind that the animosities engendered by war are +now happily a thing of the past. Therefore, the reader, whilst +enjoying to the full this thrilling tale, will do well to remember +that old enmities have passed away and that we are now reconciled to +the Central Powers who were opposed to us.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h3 align="center">CONTENTS</h3><br> + +<table align="center" width="80%" summary="contents"> + +<tbody><tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">CHAPTER</td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">I. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter01">DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">II. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter02">THE FERRY PILOT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">III. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter03">OVER THE GERMAN LINES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">IV. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter04">STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">V. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter05">A BOMBING RAID</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VI. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter06">A ZEPPELIN NIGHT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VII. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter07">COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART"</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VIII. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter08">THE RAID ON KRUPPS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">IX. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter09">THE GIANT WAR-PLANE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">X. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter10">HIMMELMAN'S LAST FIGHT"</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">XI. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter11">"BLIGHTY"</a></td> +</tr> + +</tbody></table> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + <h2 align="center">DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</h2> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter01"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h4 align="center">DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE</h4> + +<br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">"One crowded hour of glorious life,</b><br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">Is worth an age without a name."</b><br> +<b class="standard indent50 fontsize80">--SCOTT.</b><br> +<br> + +<p>AT the time of which I write, the smoke of battle still filled the +air. The freedom of men and nations, the heritage of the ages, hung +in the balance, so that even brave men were often filled with doubt +and despair.</p> + +<p>The German guns were thundering at the gates of Verdun, seeking a new +pathway to Paris, for the ever-growing British army had barred the +northern route to the capital of France and the shores of the English +Channel. But even the attempt to hack a way through Verdun was doomed +to failure, and the first rift of blue in a clouded sky was soon to +appear.</p> + +<p>Against that glittering wall of steel, where the heroic sons of +France lined the trenches against the tyrant, hundreds of thousands +of Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons were doomed to fall, and the best +blood of Germany was already flowing like rivers, for, though the +<i>poilus</i> during times of great pressure slowly yielded the outer +forts inch by inch, yet the price which the enemy paid for their +advance was far too dear.</p> + +<p>The future hung heavy with fate, and the civilised world looked on +amazed, as the western armies, locked in the grip of death, swayed to +and fro. The earth trembled with the shock of battle, and the very +air vibrated with the whir-r-r of the fierce birds of prey, the +wonderful product of the new age. Land and sea did not suffice as in +days gone by, for in the heavens the struggle for freedom must also +be fought. And many great men were beginning to say that the side +which gained the mastery of the air, would also gain the mastery of +Europe and the world.</p> + +<p>In no country was this recognised more than in England, and at early +dawn even remote villages were often stirred, and the inhabitants +thrilled by the advent of the whirring 'planes and air-scouts, whose +daring pilots were preparing to wrest the mastery of the air from the +enemy.</p> + +<p>The most daring of our English youths left the public schools and +universities, and strained every nerve, risking death a hundred +times, to gain the coveted brevet of a pilot's "wings" in the Royal +Flying Corps.</p> + +<p>So it happened that, during one fine morning in the early summer of +1916, a group of men, some of them wearing on the left breast of +their service tunics the afore-mentioned brevet, were watching a +young pilot undergoing his final test in the air before gaining his +wings. The place where this occurred was over an aerodrome, somewhere +near London.</p> + +<p>"Phew! there he goes again. Just look at that spiral!" cried one of +the onlookers.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Now he's going to loop; watch him!" exclaimed another.</p> + +<p>The daring aviator, who was flying a new two-seater fighting machine +with a twelve-cylindered engine, capable of giving over fourteen +hundred revolutions a minute, seemed perfectly oblivious of the +danger he was in, as seen by those below, for he careered through +space at a speed varying from eighty to nearly one hundred and twenty +miles an hour, and performed the most amazing spirals, twists, and +gymnastic gyrations imaginable.</p> + +<p>The people below, even the pilots, watched him with bated breath, and +sometimes with thumping hearts. They felt somehow that he was +overdoing it, and sooner or later he would crash to earth and certain +death Several times even the experts, who were there to judge him, +and award him the coveted brevet, felt sure that the youth had lost +control of the 'plane, for she swerved so suddenly, and banked so +swiftly, as she came round, that one of them exclaimed:--</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, he's going to crash!"</p> + +<p>"Phew! Just look there, he's met an air-pocket, and it's all over +with the young devil," shouted a civilian, evidently a representative +of the New Air Board.</p> + +<p>But, strange to say, all their prophecies were wrong, for, recovering +himself, the daring young flyer, Dastral as he was called, had the +machine under perfect control, and was just as easy and comfortable +up there at three thousand feet--and far happier--than if he had been +in an arm-chair in the officers' mess at the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>"There's a nose dive for you!" cried the major who commanded the +Squadron at the aerodrome, and who had done more than any one to +encourage the lad, and bring him out. As he spoke, the youth was +speeding to earth in a thrilling nose-dive which must have been at +the rate of anything approaching a hundred and fifty miles an hour.</p> + +<p>For an instant it seemed as if the prediction of one of the gloomy +prophets would now be fulfilled and the aviator would crash; but no, +after a dive of a thousand feet Dastral, as cool as a cucumber, +jammed over the controls, flattened out for a few seconds, looped +three times in succession, then spiralling and banking with wonderful +and mathematical precision, shut off the engine, and volplaned down +to the ground, touching the earth lightly at the rate of some fifty +miles an hour, taxied across the level turf, and brought up within +ten yards of the astonished spectators.</p> + +<p>"Humph! He's won his wings, major," exclaimed one of the small crowd.</p> + +<p>"So he has," cried another. "He knows all the tricks of the air."</p> + +<p>"Yes," exclaimed a third; "if he keeps on like that, he will prove a +match for Himmelman himself, some day, should he ever chance to meet +with him."</p> + +<p>Now Himmelman was the crack German flyer--the Air-Fiend of the +western front--the man who had made the German Flying Corps what it +was, and had earned for it the great traditions it had already won.</p> + +<p>A moment later, the youth leapt lightly from the cockpit, gave his +hand to his observer to help him down, and, stepping lightly up to +his Commanding Officer, saluted smartly.</p> + +<p>"Capital, Dastral! You shall have your wings to-morrow. If anybody +has ever won them you have," exclaimed the major, grasping the lad's +hand, and greeting him warmly.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. It's very kind of you to say so," replied Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. You've won them yourself, my boy, and I congratulate +you. But, I say, you played the very devil up there. There are very +few of our fellows who can do those monkey-tricks without crashing. +It's a mercy you're alive, boy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was only an extra turn or two, sir, just for the spectators. +But, Jock, here, sir, my observer, is he all right for his brevet +also?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he shall be gazetted and granted an observer's wing. I will get +them through orders at once."</p> + +<p>Once more Dastral thanked his chief, and, followed by Jock Fisker, +his chum, who had entered the air service with him, and who was +destined to accompany him through many an exciting air duel in the +future, they returned to the machine, which was already being keenly +examined by a group of the privileged onlookers, before the +air-mechanics returned it to the shed.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, as Dastral and Jock were preparing to leave the +aerodrome, the major came by, and, seeing that the young pilot wanted +to speak to him, he said:--</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Sir, now that I have gained my wings, I should like to be posted +overseas as soon as possible, so as to join some active squadron with +the Expeditionary Force in France. Would it be possible for you to +push my request forward?"</p> + +<p>"Humph! Rather early yet, isn't it, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is rather early, sir," replied the youth, blushing like a +girl as he faced the C.O. "But I should like to take part in an +air-fight before the scrapping finishes."</p> + +<p>"We've a long way to go yet, Dastral, before it is finished. Still, +as you are so keen, I will see what I can do. But it will take at +least another fortnight to get the thing through. At any rate I will +communicate with Wing Headquarters, and through them with the War +Office. Perhaps General Henderson will accede to your request," added +the major, for he well understood the lad's eagerness. He had felt it +himself, and had already seen a good deal of that air-fighting of +which the youth spoke, as the ribbons below his wings indicated, for +he was the winner of the D.S.O. and also the Military Cross.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," and the pilot saluted again, but cast a sidelong +glance at Jock, who stood a few paces away, and was already fretting +in his soul lest Dastral should be sent away without him.</p> + +<p>The major caught the glance and understood, for he turned sharply +round after a few steps, and said:--</p> + +<p>"And Jock, what about him?" smiling blandly at the lads.</p> + +<p>"He is of age, sir, he can speak for himself," replied Dastral. "But +I should like him to go overseas with me. We have done most of our +training together, and we thoroughly understand each other, and I +know that he's just dying to go with me, sir."</p> + +<p>"Is that so, Jock?" asked the major, looking at the Scotch laddie, +who had scarcely finished his course at Glasgow University when the +war called him from his studies.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, sir, I'd give all I possess to go overseas with Dastral." +And the youth's eyes shone with joy at the very possibility of the +event coming off, for he had feared that they were now to be +separated.</p> + +<p>"Very well. Don't expect too much, but possess your souls in patience +for another fortnight or so. Goodbye!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir!" and once more after the customary salute, the youths +went their way, wondering how soon they would be in France, within +sound of the guns.</p> + +<p>For the next fortnight they were busy every day at the aerodrome, +trying new machines, testing, carrying out imaginary reconnaissances +over the German lines, bombing raids, studying war maps and plans, +night flying and a score of other things that would prove useful when +they found themselves in France.</p> + +<p>One morning, about two weeks later, a telegram was delivered to +Dastral at his rooms. It came from the War Office, and ran as +follows:--</p> + +<br> +<p>"Second Lieutenant Dastral and his observer to proceed overseas +forthwith, on one of the new fighting 'planes, and to report his +arrival at -- Squadron, British Expeditionary Force, France."</p> +<br> + +<p> +After the customary interview with the C.O., it was arranged that +early next morning the two aviators were to make their first attempt +at flying the Channel.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter02"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE FERRY PILOT</h4> + +<p>IT was an hour before dawn, and the stars had not yet faded from the +skies, when a group of air mechanics at one of the aerodromes just +north of London were busy about the ailerons and fuselage of a new +machine, which was destined to fly across the Channel that day, and +to join one of the British Squadrons on the other side.</p> + +<p>The secret of the machine had been well kept, and only a favoured few +had been permitted to see the "hornet," as she was called. Great +things were claimed for her when she joined one of the active +squadrons, now fighting in France for the supremacy of the air.</p> + +<p>Just a few folk in Old Blighty had been scared by the advent of the +Fokker, the new German aeroplane which had recently come into +existence, and for which such wonderful things were being claimed +daily by the German "wireless."</p> + +<p>"Double up there, you sleepy imps!" yelled Old Snorty, the aerodrome +sergeant-major, a short, stout, florid, shiver-my-timbers type of +disciplinarian. And another squad of sleepy air-mechanics, just out +from their blankets, doubled up smartly to give a hand.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the hornet in question was ready for her long flight +overseas. Every wire and strut had been carefully examined and +proved, for men's lives depended upon the testing, and oiling, and +straining. And now the silent, filmy thing was waiting only for the +pilot and observer.</p> + +<p>A sound of footsteps upon the soft turf of the aerodrome was heard, +and voices carried lightly down the soft morning air.</p> + +<p>"Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry, standing near by, and at +the same instant a hand lamp was flashed in the direction of the +newcomers.</p> + +<p>The sentry, however, appeared to recognise sonic important +personality approaching, like the mastiff who knows, as if by +instinct, the approach of his master, for, without waiting for an +answer to his challenge, he shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Guard, turn out!"</p> + +<p>And instantly, the men in the guard tent turned out in time to salute +the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, who came by with Dastral, the +pilot, and Fisker, the observer.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously, the air mechanics sprang to attention, as they stood +about the hornet. Then, after a couple of minutes spent in chatting +with the adventurers, who were about to sail forth on the wings of +the morning, the O.C. and the pilot flung away their cigarettes and +gave a few apparently casual glances over the framework by the aid of +the hand-lamps.</p> + +<p>"Better load up with a few twenty pound bombs, Dastral," laughed the +O.C. "You may have the chance of using one going over seas. You never +know your luck."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the youth.</p> + +<p>A moment later the pilot and observer were seated in the biplane, +snugly wrapped in their thick leather coats, their hands encased in +huge gauntlets, and their helmets tightly drawn about their ears, +ready for the morning adventure.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave a final glance around, his hand already on the controls, +then gave a nod to the chief of the ground staff.</p> + +<p>"Swing the propellor!" came next, followed by "Stand clear!"</p> + +<p>"Whiz-z-z!" went the huge blades, and, as the pilot switched on the +current, the engines--powerful 100 horse-power ones, capable of some +1400 or 1500 revolutions a minute--broke into their wonderful song, +and with a final word of parting from the Squadron Commander, the +machine taxied off rapidly over the level turf.</p> + +<p>"Burr-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>The air seemed full of a mighty sound, and a terrible vibration +filled the heavens. It was the song of the aeroplane.</p> + +<p>At a hundred yards, in response to a very slight movement of the +joy-stick, the winged creature leapt into the air, then circled +around once or twice, climbing rapidly up to a couple of thousand +feet, and made off south by south-east.</p> + +<p>The first whisper of dawn came out of the east as the hornet headed +off towards the great city, for a filmy streak of grey, followed by a +saffron tint, appeared in the sky low down on their left hand. The +stars overhead began to fade and disappear, as though withdrawn into +the vaulted dome overhead. Then the saffron turned to crimson, and +soon the eastern horizon was aflame with light, for, as the machine +rose higher and higher, the horizon broadened, and the whole earth +seemed to lie at her feet.</p> + +<p>Now they were over the city, and the pilot laughed joyously, for he +was exhilarated by the bracing air which rushed past him at a +tremendous rate.</p> + +<p>"Look there, Jock," he cried, pointing down far below, where, through +the gloom which still enfolded the lower regions, a faint silvery +streak showed where the majestic Thames rolled down under its many +bridges to the sea.</p> + +<p>Jock Fisker, his chum and observer, who was destined to see many an +adventure with Dastral in the near future, peered over the side of +the fuselage, and noted the river and the many spires of the great +city. He saw the thin spire of St. Bride's reaching up towards him, +St. Martin's, and St. Clement Danes'; and then, as the upper rim of +the sun appeared above the horizon, he saw the blue-grey dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral, and caught the flash of the sun upon the golden +cross above it.</p> + +<p>"How glorious!" Dastral ejaculated, half turning his head every now +and then for Fisker to hear, as some impulse moved him but half the +words were lost, or carried on by the rushing air into infinitude.</p> + +<p>Soon, they left the southern outskirts of London far behind, and, as +the daylight broadened, they looked upon the Surrey Downs, and the +wide heath of the rolling countryside. Village after village they +passed, with its red tiled roofs and church spire pointing +heavenwards, but onwards, always onwards, they sped towards the white +cliffs and the sea.</p> + +<p>The slender, filmy thing had found herself this morning, for the +R.A.F. engines were working splendidly, doing already nearly fifteen +hundred revolutions a minute. Vibrating with an intensity that was +perfectly marvellous, considering her fragile build, with every +strut, bolt and wire in perfect unison, the hornet sailed +majestically along at over eighty miles an hour, as though on a +pleasure trip, instead of a life and death errand; for in reality she +was bound overseas to join the forces in their fight for freedom's +cause.</p> + +<p>Now they were in Kent, the garden of England, and far below were the +cherry orchards and the hop-fields. With his glasses Jock could now +and then pick out a few farm labourers, already trudging along the +roads, or working in the fields.</p> + +<p>"There is the railway, Dastral!" shouted the observer, as he picked +up the narrow thread of metals winding along towards Tunbridge.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it now," replied his comrade, bringing his glasses to +bear on the object for which he had been keenly searching for some +minutes.</p> + +<p>"Straight road now. Give her a few more points eastward."</p> + +<p>Dastral altered the controls a little, and, banking slightly, the +hornet came round smartly upon her new course, which, for the rest of +the journey to the coast, was almost due east.</p> + +<p>The continuous roar of the engines and the whir-r-r of the propeller +made conversation almost impossible, except for a few short, jerky +sentences, uttered in a loud, shrill voice, and accompanied by +corresponding gestures.</p> + +<p>The world beneath them was waking up now, for the two aviators could +see the smoke ascending from the chimneys of a few scattered +farmhouses and cottages. The birds, too, were astir, and the larks, +mounting up towards the sun, made sweet music which was drowned in +the whir-r-r of that strange-looking bird of prey, which sailed +serenely above them. Instinct, however, made the songsters shrink and +flee away from that hawk-like menace with stretched-out wings, for +they evidently feared that it might swoop down upon and destroy them.</p> + +<p>"Dover!" shouted the observer suddenly, as the Cinque Port came into +view.</p> + +<p>"Yes, by Jove! So it is. I hope they won't turn the guns of the fort +upon us."</p> + +<p>"No fear. They'll have been warned of our coming by now."</p> + +<p>A minute later, they opened out the sea, the forts, and Shakespeare's +Cliff, and within another three minutes they had crossed the boundary +of sea and land, and at a tremendous altitude were gliding over the +Channel.</p> + +<p>"Nine thousand!" yelled Dastral, turning his head towards Jock, after +casting a brief glance at his indicator.</p> + +<p>"Now let her rip," cried the other, for in climbing to get the +required height to rush the Channel, the machine had lost speed.</p> + +<p>"Right-o!" came the answer.</p> + +<p>So, in order to get speed quickly, Dastral did a little nose dive of +about three hundred feet, then flattened out again, intending to rush +the Channel at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, lest they should +slip unconsciously into an air-pocket.</p> + +<p>As he did so, he noticed a flash of fire followed by a puff of white +smoke down at the Castle.</p> + +<p>"A signal!" shouted Jock, who had noticed the occurrence at the same +instant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they want to speak to us," and with a circling sweep the +machine came round as Dastral pulled the joy-stick hard over, and +swept back again until he hung right over Dover Castle.</p> + +<p>"Can you make it out, old man?" asked the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have it," cried Fisker, whose eyes had been glued to a spot +on the Castle grounds just at the top of the hill overlooking the +naval harbour.</p> + +<p>"What is it? Do they want us to go down?"</p> + +<p>"No. The Commander of the fort says there are several enemy +submarines in the Channel, and requests us to keep a sharp look-out +for them as we cross over."</p> + +<p>"Cheery-o, Jock! That's good news. I'm going to drop down a bit, +then. There's a D.S.O. for you if you spot one. Here goes!" And with +that, Dastral jammed over the controls again, and did a neat nose +dive of two thousand feet, looping the loop once or twice just to +express his joy, and give vent to his feelings.</p> + +<p>Jock had picked up this information from a few white strips of +calico, which had been stretched out in a curious fashion within the +Castle grounds. To a trained observer like Fisker, it was mere +child's play to read a code signal like that.</p> + +<p>And now the daring joy-riders, keenly watched by hundreds of eyes far +down below, left the shore once again, and the naval harbour with its +shipping, and headed for the French coast, watching the surface of +the sea as though they would read its secret.</p> + +<p>"East-south-east, Dastral! That's the course till we sight the +opposite shore," shouted Jock to his comrade, who, he thought, in his +excitement and eagerness to spot a submarine lurking in the depths, +might miss his way, as many a brave aviator before him had done.</p> + +<p>"Right-o!" came the answer to this reminder, for the French coast was +hid as yet in the morning mist. Then the course was altered slightly +once again, in order to make a proper landfall on the other side.</p> + +<p>They were flying low now, much lower than the usual regulations +permitted, for it is necessary to keep a good altitude in crossing +the Channel, not only because of the chance of running into a stray +air-pocket, but to enable one to 'plane to safety should anything go +wrong with the engines, for only a seaplane can ride the waves like a +ship; and this was no seaplane they were riding to-day.</p> + +<p>Far down below them they could see the patrol boats hunting for their +prey. They could also see the mine-sweepers at work, clearing the +fairway from those foul nests of floating mines which the crafty foe +had been busy laying with their submarines. Once or twice they +thought they could make out some dark-grey object like a mine or +sunken vessel beneath the surface of the water.</p> + +<p>A string of mine-sweepers were stretched out below them now. They +could see them distinctly, could see even the long nets that trailed +between them, for the sun was gaining power and the morning mists +were rolling away. The grey expanse of water took on another hue, +changing from a dull grey to a greenish tint, with patches here and +there of deep blue, where the water deepened, or the surface of the +mirror reflected a corresponding patch of the azure above.</p> + +<p>Keenly now they searched the face of the deep for any dark speck, +for, from an aeroplane, it is possible to look far down, often even +to the bed of the sea; but as yet they saw nothing, save an +occasional piece of wreckage, which had probably detached itself and +floated from the treacherous Goodwins, away to the eastward and the +northward--those treacherous shoals which hold the remains of so many +gallant barques and vessels, from the Roman galley to the modern +liner.</p> + +<p>They had not long left the mine-sweepers on their port quarter when +Jock, through his glasses, noted something like a string of +porpoises, which, owing to the motion of the waves, appeared to be +travelling along. They seemed so regular and orderly in their +movement, however, that he was about to pass them over. Thinking, +however, that he would like to call Dastral's attention to them, he +shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Starboard bow, Dastral! Look at 'em! What are they? Not mines, +surely. Look like porpoises, only they're not dark enough, and they +don't tumble about much."</p> + +<p>Dastral peered over the side of the cockpit and looked down.</p> + +<p>"Can't say," he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down a bit lower, old man," said Fisker.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye. Hold tight!" cried the pilot, for he noticed that Jock was +standing up and leaning over, unstrapped.</p> + +<p>"Right away! I'm all right," replied the observer, squatting down, +and pressing his knees against the knee-board, which is the life-line +of the aeroplane.</p> + +<p>And down they went in a graceful nose-dive till they were within five +hundred feet of the surface of the water, with the engines shut off. +Then, as they flattened out, both men peered over the side again, and +Dastral was the first to exclaim:--</p> + +<p>"Porpoises be hanged! They're German mines. A whole string of them +floating about in the fairway, ready for the first ship that comes +along. The dirty Huns!"</p> + +<p>"Snakes alive! So they are. Now I can make them out quite plainly; I +can even see the horns and contacts through my glasses. Phew! +There'll be a deuce of a mess shortly unless they're cleared up."</p> + +<p>"Look alive, old man, or there'll be trouble!" shouted the pilot.</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"See that ocean tramp coming up Channel. She's a seven thousand +tonner, and her cargo's worth a couple of hundred thousand. She'll be +right on the string of mines directly, and then--gee whiz!--there'll +be fireworks, and another valuable cargo will have gone to Davy +Jones' locker."</p> + +<p>The mine-sweepers were about a couple of miles away by this time, but +the Commodore of the little fleet had seen the rapid nose-dive of the +hornet, and knew that something unusual was happening.</p> + +<p>He had already strung out the signal for a boat to detach its nets +and proceed at full steam to the spot, for he thought that the +machine was coming down with engine trouble.</p> + +<p>It was his duty, therefore, to save the men, and, if possible, salve +the aeroplane also. Dastral saw the signal through his glasses, and +watched the vessel cast off her nets to come up. His immediate +concern, therefore, was for the tramp steamer surging up Channel, and +nearing the end of her long voyage from Valparaiso to London. At all +costs to the aeroplane, she must be saved from the deadly mines +towards which she was now heading directly. The tide was with her, +and she was coming up rapidly. In another five minutes she would be +in the cunningly laid trap.</p> + +<p>For the moment, Dastral continued to circle over the mine bed, hoping +thereby to warn off the tramp. Of this she appeared to take no +notice, though undoubtedly a score of eyes were watching his +gymnastic gyrations from the deck and bridge of the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Try the gun, Jock. Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Rip-r-r-r-r-r!" went the Lewis gun, as Jock pressed the button and +fired off half a drum of ammunition.</p> + +<p>Even yet, the tramp steamer did not seem to understand, for her +captain did not charge her course.</p> + +<p>"Is she fitted with wireless?" yelled Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the observer, putting down his glasses into the +socket for an instant.</p> + +<p>"Then give her a message on the international code. It's her last +chance. She'll be on the infernal things in another two minutes."</p> + +<p>"Right-o! Here goes!" and, uncoiling the long aerial wire, he tapped +out just one word on the sending key:--</p> + +<p>"M I N E S!!!"</p> + +<p>"Good. If that fails, the ship's done for!" ejaculated Fisker, as he +watched eagerly for the ship to change her course.</p> + +<p>On came the vessel, quite oblivious of the danger. She was less than +a cable's length from the string of mines, and still steaming fast, +when Dastral noted some movement about the deck, where a dozen or so +of the crew stood just for'ard of the bridge, in the waist, gazing +intently at the 'plane.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! It's too late!" gasped the pilot, as he saw the steamer's +bows running dead on towards the very centre of the floating mines.</p> + +<p>"No, she may just do it," he ventured to his observer, as he saw the +sudden commotion on board.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, out of the wireless room, the operator, evidently carrying +the message, dashed up the companion way to the bridge, flourishing a +piece of paper in his hand, and shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Mines in the vicinity, sir!"</p> + +<p>Then it was that the captain realised the danger he was in, for the +mine-sweeper coming up on the starboard bow was also flying the +signal for her to heave to.</p> + +<p>Dashing to the wheelhouse door, a few paces away from where he had +been standing, the captain shouted to the man at the helm,</p> + +<p>"Hard-a-starboard!"</p> + +<p>And though the tide was with her, the good ship swung round smartly, +only in the very nick of time, for, as she turned, one of the deadly +mines was within two feet of her stern, and the wash from her screw +and the rapid movement of her rudder as she came round, caused the +nearest mine to come into contact with a piece of wreckage, at which +there was a terrific roar, and a huge column of water was lifted up +and hurled some two hundred feet into the air.</p> + +<p>Then followed a more terrible spectacle, for one after another the +whole string of mines went off, as though they had been countermined. +It was just as if there had been a sub-aqueous earthquake, for a +prolonged roar of thunder, earsplitting and nerve-racking, +immediately followed, while the sea for hundreds of yards around rose +up like a huge waterspout, and for some minutes the whole surface of +the water, hitherto placid, broke into tumultuous waves.</p> + +<p>The tramp steamer received fifty tons of water upon her decks, but +save for a slight starting of the plates in her stern, she was +untouched. Nevertheless, she had to keep the pumps constantly in use +for the remainder of her voyage.</p> + +<p>After circling round the spot for another few minutes to speak with +the Commodore of the fleet of mine-sweepers, Dastral turned the +hornet's head once again towards the enemy's coast, and the captain +of the tramp steamer dipped his pennant and gave a long blast on the +siren, as a token of gratitude for the service rendered.</p> + +<p>The aviators were well pleased with themselves for the part they had +taken in the little adventure, which had not been without its +thrills, and a spice of danger.</p> + +<p>They were now almost in mid-Channel, and could see both shores. There +were the white cliffs of Old Albion behind them, while in front, a +little on their left, Cape Grisnez rose out of the water. Below them +several liners, transports and colliers, could be seen making either +up or down Channel, or for one of the ports on the English or French +coasts. Turning round to Fisker, the pilot shouted through the +speaking tube:--</p> + +<p>"Sorry it wasn't a German submarine, old fellow. There'll be no +D.S.O. for us for picking up a string of floating mines."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well. Better luck next time," called back the observer.</p> + +<p>"The place is too well patrolled now for the Huns' submarines to show +themselves about here. Gemini! but I'd give my brevet and six months' +pay to spot one this journey. It would be some find."</p> + +<p>The observer did not reply immediately. He was keenly searching the +opposite shore to find the breakwater at the entrance to Boulogne +harbour.</p> + +<p>"Can you see it yet?" called the pilot, noting an anxious look on +Jock's face. "Yes," replied the latter. "Better give her another two +points south, and then we shall just about hit the canal below the +town. Our instructions were to follow it to the main aerodrome."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye," answered the pilot, altering the controls slightly, and +bringing her head round upon a more southerly course.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, the town and harbour of Boulogne came into full +view to the naked eye. Their intention was to leave it a little on +their left, and, then making a landfall of a certain railhead and +canal, take a short cross-country flight to the big aerodrome behind +the British lines. They now began to regard themselves as nearly at +the end of their journey, and had no expectation of a still greater +adventure before them--an adventure which would prevent them reaching +their destination, at any rate, that day.</p> + +<p>Only some five or six miles of sea now lay between them and the land, +and they were right over the track of the transports, which made a +continuous line of traffic between the two shores, when Fisker, who +had taken up his glasses again in order to watch a batch of +troopships, escorted by a couple of destroyers, suddenly turned them +on to a large four tunnelled hospital ship, which, coming out of the +harbour, crowded with wounded and war-worn men, was ploughing its +solitary way towards Old Blighty, without any other escort or +protector than the Red Cross flag.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as he watched the stately vessel moving along at +twenty-five knots, with the huge combers falling away from her bow, +and a long milk-white trail from her stern, he started suddenly, and +lowered his glasses, almost shrieking at the top of his voice:--</p> + +<p>"See there, Dastral! Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Where away?" cried the pilot, turning round sharply, and catching a +glimpse of Fisker's horrified face.</p> + +<p>"There!" exclaimed the observer, laconically, pointing with his hand +in the direction of the hospital ship.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked in the direction indicated.</p> + +<p>"The brutes!" he gasped. "Not if I can prevent it."</p> + +<p>That which had called forth these horrified expressions was nothing +more or less than a lurking German submarine, hidden beneath the +water, but with a few inches of periscope above the surface, +manoeuvring to bring the huge hospital ship within its range. It had +evidently watched the procession of transports pass by, but, fearing +that it might be rammed by one of the destroyers if it revealed its +presence, it had waited for some other tasty morsel to come along. +Unfortunately, there was nothing she could touch but this hospital +ship.</p> + +<p>With any other nation, a vessel flying the sacred emblem of humanity, +which floated from the masthead of the ship, would have been immune +from attack. But to the Hun no code of morals seems to hold good. Nor +was any crime to be regarded as such if only some damage could be +inflicted upon the enemy.</p> + +<p>"Ach, wohl, mein herr!" the German ober-lieutenant in the submarine +was remarking to his superior officer at that moment. "The verdomt +transports are gone, and there's nothing but a big 'hospital ship +steaming by. Shall we loose a leetle tin fish at her? You can't trust +these English; they're probably transporting materials of war. There +are sure to be some staff officers on her decks anyhow. What say you, +mein herr?"</p> + +<p>"Sink the blamed hooker, Fritz! We can say that she tried to ram us, +when we make out our report. No one will be any the wiser, for dead +men can't tell tales. He, he! Ho, ho!"</p> + +<p>And already the commander's hand was upon the lever in the +conning-tower which controlled the torpedo tubes in the bow. +Hesitating just for a second, as though battling with the last shreds +of a lingering conscience, he pulled the lever.</p> + +<p>"Swiss-s-s-h!" came the sound as the deadly missile left the tube and +entered the water.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the +very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, +and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of +the deadly torpedo.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the <i>Galicia</i>, the +big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the +spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the +enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel +just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by +a few feet.</p> + +<p>Then commenced a stern chase, for the <i>Galicia</i>, seeing the imminent +danger that she was in, sought refuge in flight. Placing her stern +towards the oncoming submarine, she fled down Channel, hoping thereby +to save her precious cargo of wounded heroes.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" exclaimed the commander to his lieutenant. "We +have missed her. That will never do. We must sink her now at any +cost, or the American cables will be full of the affair, and the +anger of the neutral world will be turned against us once more."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do, mein herr?" asked the lieutenant of the submarine. +"She can do twenty-five knots and we can only do seventeen while we +are submerged."</p> + +<p>"We must run her awash, and give her three-inch shells with the deck +guns. The transports and patrols are some distance off now."</p> + +<p>"She will be calling back the destroyers by now with her wireless, +mein herr."</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! but we must risk it. There may just be time. I wish +we had let the blamed hooker go by."</p> + +<p>Then, with a few round oaths, he switched down the periscope, pulled +over the lever that drove the water out of the ballast tanks, and, as +the boat came to the surface, he had the hatch unshipped, and ordered +his gun crew to stations, calling them dachshunds, and a few more +vile names.</p> + +<p>As soon as the submarine came to the surface, the electric motors +were stopped, and the surface engines started so that every knot +could be got out of them.</p> + +<p>"All clear!" had been reported to him by the lieutenant, and as +regards the narrow horizon which can be surveyed from the periscope +of a submerged vessel, all was indeed clear, for they had not seen +the hornet which was buzzing overhead, silently dipping and +nose-diving with her engines shut off, and rapidly manoeuvring like +an angry wasp, waiting but an opportunity to get at its victim.</p> + +<p>So intent was the submarine commander upon his prey, with one eye on +the hospital ship and another on the horizon, watching for the patrol +boats, which he knew would be sure to return, that he had even got +his deck-gun to work, and was firing rapidly at the <i>Galicia</i>, when +to his dismay he heard, just over his head, the whir-r-r-r-r of the +aeroplane, as Dastral started his engine again.</p> + +<p>"Mein Gott, was ist das?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Ach, Himmel, but we are lost!" came the cry from the gunners and the +ober-lieutenant.</p> + +<p>"Dachshunds!--you verdomt fools, turn the gun on the aeroplane!" +yelled the irate commander, but he realised that he had lost the +game.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer came that dreaded enemy, with its angry buzz, till +but a hundred feet above the broad, whale-like back of the submarine, +for Dastral, having but the two twenty-pound bombs in his carrier, +determined not to miss his chance.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, Jock!" he shouted. "Drop it right on her conning-tower. +Take no risks."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, old fellow!" Jock had replied, his hand on the bomb +release. "She's giving us shrapnel, though. Look out!"</p> + +<p>"Spit . . . Bang! Spit . . . Bang!" came the bursting shrapnel from +the quick-firing gun on the deck of the submarine, and a shot hitting +the left aileron of the warplane, just as the observer was releasing +the first bomb, caused her to roll and bank so much that the bomb +fell into the sea, just a few inches from the starboard beam of the +boat.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens, you've missed him!" shouted Dastral, as the bomb, +which was fitted with a contact fuse, sank down harmlessly into the +sea.</p> + +<p>Jock bit his lips, which were white with anger at his failure, and +placed his hand once more on the bomb release. It was his last bomb. +If they failed this time they were done, for already they had lost +several struts and wires, and the planes had been holed in a score of +places.</p> + +<p>Even Dastral's face was pale, though not with fear, as he jammed the +rudder bar over with his feet, and using the joy-stick as well, came +round swiftly once more, dropping down to within fifty feet of his +enemy.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! She's preparing to submerge, Jock. For heaven's sake +don't miss her this time!"</p> + +<p>Jock did not reply, but taking true aim just as they were directly +over the boat, he dropped his second and last bomb fairly and +squarely on the conning-tower.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m!" came the sound as the bomb descended swiftly +and exploded right amidships, splitting the conning tower open, just +as it was being closed ready for the boat to descend.</p> + +<p>A blinding sheet of flame shot up into the sky, scorching both the +pilot and the observer, and a crashing noise followed the explosion, +as the submarine, her deck split open and rent in twain, opened out, +then sank like a stone, carrying down with her the twenty-two men who +manned her.</p> + +<p>A few minutes afterwards the only trace of the pirates was an +ever-extending patch of oil which floated on the surface of the +water, punctured here and there by the air bubbles which forced their +way through the patch.</p> + +<p>So suddenly did she disappear from view that even the airmen, +scorched and bruised and bleeding from slight shrapnel wounds, were +amazed at the work of their hands. Dastral was the first to recover +speech, however.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Jock!" he cried. "Thus may all pirates perish who fire on +the Red Cross flag."</p> + +<p>The observer did not reply, however, for he had fallen forward in a +dead faint, from sheer excitement and loss of blood; perhaps most of +all from sheer fear of failure with his last bomb. And now his head +was resting against the wind screen just in front of the cockpit.</p> + +<p>"Jock! Jock! What's the matter?" Dastral called to him.</p> + +<p>The observer made an effort to rouse himself, for he had only +momentarily lost consciousness. He lifted up his head, tugged at his +leather helmet, and managed at last to pull it off.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! You're wounded!" exclaimed Dastral as he saw the blood +streaming from his companion's face.</p> + +<p>"It's all right now. I feel better, Dastral. Carry on! The petrol +tank overhead here is leaking, and we're about run out. But I've sent +a message to the destroyers on the wireless and here they come."</p> + +<p>Dastral turned sharply, and looked in the direction which Jock had +indicated by slightly raising his hand.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Hurrah! Here they come!" he cried.</p> + +<p>And indeed there was no mistaking that long trail of black smoke just +a couple of miles away, nor the white trail of foam as the combers +broke and fell away from the two snake-like boats, which were coming +up full pelt, for they had been drawn to the spot by the sound of the +firing even before they had picked up Jock's message.</p> + +<p>Nor did they come a moment too soon, for the aeroplane was wounded as +well as her crew. Her work was done, at any rate for the next few +days, until she had been overhauled by the smart air-mechanics, +fitters and riggers of the Royal Flying Corps. The engine was missing +too, very badly, for the petrol tank was pierced in several places, +and the supply had almost run out. The planes and struts were damaged +and in parts shot away, so much so, that, as Dastral jammed over the +controls and banked to bring her round, with her head towards the +rapidly approaching patrols, one of the wings collapsed, and she +slithered down, slipping sideways into the sea, now only some thirty +feet below her.</p> + +<p>"Jump, Jock! Jump!" cried Dastral. And both the aviators, having +managed to free themselves, leapt out as the singed and broken +air-wasp lightly struck the waves.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the life-saving jackets, which all the ferry pilots are +compelled to wear when crossing the Channel, ensured their safety, +once they managed to disentangle themselves from the wreckage of the +'plane.</p> + +<p>"This way, Jock. Let us keep together. Here come the destroyers!" +shouted the pilot. And the next instant, they heard a strong voice +shout out--</p> + +<p>"Hard-a-starboard there! Jam her over, man!"</p> + +<p>And immediately after the same voice shouted to the man at the engine +room telegraph--</p> + +<p>"Full speed astern!"</p> + +<p>Two minutes later both the aviators were safe on board the destroyer. +A signal from her slender masthead caused the other boat to sweep +round, pick up the wrecked warplane, which was already settling down, +and to tow her into port.</p> + +<p>So ended the adventure of the ferry-pilot and his companion. And next +morning, after a good night's rest at the Hotel de l'Europe in +Boulogne, a short message in a pink envelope, which was placed on the +breakfast tray, informed the youthful and daring heroes that--</p> + +<p>"His Majesty, King George the Fifth, desires to congratulate and to +thank Lieutenants Dastral and Fisker, of the Royal Flying Corps, for, +when on active service, their gallantry and courage in attacking and +sinking the enemy submarine U41, and to confer upon them the +COMPANIONSHIP OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER."</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter03"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h4 align="center">OVER THE GERMAN LINES</h4> + +<p>"WE must have been born under a lucky star, Jock, to win the D.S.O. +as well as the thanks of the King, for that trifling little incident +which occurred yesterday," said Dastral as they sat down to a +substantial breakfast that morning, in the dainty little coffee-room +which looked out on to the English Channel.</p> + +<p>"It was a stroke of luck, anyhow, to encounter that U boat just when +we did. We should have made a landfall in another five minutes, and +then we should have missed her altogether," replied his companion, +pausing for an instant in his attack on the coffee and hot rolls.</p> + +<p>"And the hospital ship?" queried the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Ah, the brutes! But we were one too many for them," replied Jock. "I +had the time of my life during that short fight. I'd just love a +scrap like that every day. Almost wish I'd joined the R.N.A.S. now. +What say you, old fellow? Besides, the odds were all on our side. The +Hun never so much as suspected our presence, else he wouldn't have +shown himself as he did."</p> + +<p>"Just wait a few days, Jock, till we join our fellows down at the +Squadron, and you'll have all the excitement you want."</p> + +<p>"You mean?" went on the observer, looking up into the pilot's face as +he helped himself to another portion of grilled ham and fried eggs.</p> + +<p>"I mean," Dastral continued, without waiting for Jock to finish his +sentence, "I mean, wait till we get orders from the new Squadron +Commander to go over the German lines. The odds will not be so much +in our favour."</p> + +<p>"H'm! I wonder what it's like to be over there with the shrapnel +bursting all around you, and miles and miles of trenches below you, +with the 'Archies' spitting at you all the time with continuous +bursts of fire, and the very heavens full of air-pockets."</p> + +<p>"And half a dozen Fokkers coming up out of the horizon to scuttle +you, and give you a spinning nose-dive of ten thousand feet into No +Man's land, with your petrol tank blazing, and your engine missing, +eh? Go on, you veritable misanthrope!" and here both the young heroes +burst into a fit of laughter at the woeful, nerve-shattering picture +which they had both been drawing.</p> + +<p>Thus they continued to talk about the future which lay immediately +before them. Yet all these things they were to see, and much more, +ere they were many months older. They were full of life and vigour, +and in action they were to prove daring and resourceful; yet they +were wise in this, that they did not under-estimate either the task +that lay before them, or the enemy they were to meet.</p> + +<p>Their chief concern for the present, however, was centred on the +broken aeroplane, with which they had started from England on the +previous day for their first flight overseas. "I wonder what's become +of the hornet," said Dastral, a few moments later, as they sat by the +fireside, and settled down to a smoke.</p> + +<p>"We shall hear shortly, as you have wired to the O.C. reporting the +incident. Besides, the destroyer is sure to have brought her in, even +if she is badly damaged."</p> + +<p>Shortly after this the telephone bell in the corridor rang. A maid +appeared, and after a very pretty French curtsey, said:--</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Commandant Dastral, s'il vous plait?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, oui, Mademoiselle, qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" asked Dastral, +rising to his feet, and returning the pretty maid's curtsey.</p> + +<p>"C'est pour vous, ce message téléphonique."</p> + +<p>"Merci, mam'selle," replied Dastral, as he hastened to the telephone +box.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Who is that?" asked a voice some twenty or thirty miles away.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Dastral, of the Flying Corps. Who is that, please?"</p> + +<p>"Major Bulford, Squadron Commander, speaking from the aerodrome at +St. Champau."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir!" replied Dastral smartly, springing unconsciously to +attention, although the voice was so far away from him.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Dastral. Congratulations, my boy. I have heard all +about your adventures yesterday from my Adjutant. You've started +well! You're just the man we're wanting here. We're having warm work +with the Boches this week. You're a lucky dog to run into a German +submarine on your first trip over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was my observer, sir. He spotted the blamed thing, and bombed +her. It was as easy as winking. Just a stroke of luck, sir, that's +all."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope your luck 'll keep in. We shall be glad to see you as +soon as you can come over. Are you both all right?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Quite all right, 'cept for a slight chill through being in +the water for a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Well, better stay where you are a couple of days if you are +comfortable, and then come on here."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. Yes, we're quite comfortable here, and we'll report +at the aerodrome in a couple of days."</p> + +<p>"Right. Good-bye. Oh, I say! Are you there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"I was going to tell you that the machine arrived here about an hour +ago. It's some 'bus' and I like the look of her, except that she's +badly smashed, and will be in the hands of the riggers and mechanics +for four or five days before she can be used again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's not so bad. I feared she would be useless after the crash +she got, sir. How did you get her there so quickly?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we received word from the harbourmaster that she had been +brought in by a destroyer, and we immediately sent down a couple of +tenders with trailers and brought her on here this morning. Good-bye. +The fellows here are all anxious to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir."</p> + +<p>As soon as he had rung off Dastral rushed back into the room to tell +Jock all about his chat with the O.C. of the Squadron at St. Champau, +and especially about the two days' extra leave.</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated his friend. "Seems a decent sort of chap, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Rather a sport, I should say, old man."</p> + +<p>"Capital. That little affair of ours yesterday seems to have done us +no harm. It'll probably give us a good entree into the new mess. Hope +they're all decent fellows there."</p> + +<p>So they spent half the morning resting after their exciting +adventures of the previous day, and reading the papers, some of which +gave censored accounts of the event. The two days passed all too +quickly, and on the third morning they were both awakened just before +dawn by the rep-r-r-r of a motor bicycle, which pulled up sharply +outside the hotel.</p> + +<p>It was "Brat" the despatch rider of the -- Squadron, who had come post +haste from Major Bulford, with an urgent message which ran as +follows:--</p> + +<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">"To Lieutenant Dastral, D.S.O.,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20">"Hotel de l'Europe,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent30">"Boulogne-sur-Mer.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">"Be prepared to join Squadron immediately.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">Tender will call for you within an hour.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent50">"JOHN BULFORD, <i>Major</i>."</b> + +<p> +Two hours later both the young officers were on their way to St. +Champau, where they arrived before noon.</p> + +<p>They received a warm welcome at the mess and were congratulated upon +their recent adventure. They soon found that plenty of work and +adventure awaited them on the morrow. The incessant roar of the +British artillery, which was carrying out an intense bombardment of +the whole front, amazed and bewildered them, for preparations were +already in progress for the Somme "push."</p> + +<p>Away to the eastward, the line of battle was clearly demarked. Shells +were bursting in mid-air, and during the afternoon a huge mine was +exploded under the enemy's trenches, which shook the earth for twenty +miles around, and hurled thousands of tons of timber, rocks, and clay +into the air, making a crater of huge diameter, towards which the +British advanced and later in the day captured and consolidated the +position.</p> + +<p>About three o'clock in the afternoon, a flight of aeroplanes, which +had been over the German lines, returned. Two of them had been badly +hit and one of the observers had been seriously wounded. They +reported having encountered several flights of enemy 'planes, which, +however, had avoided them and made off eastward. They also reported +some unusual activity behind the enemy's lines, but, the weather +having become dull, and the sky overcast, they were unable to make a +full reconnaissance.</p> + +<p>"H'm. There must be a further reconnaissance at dawn," the O.C. had +remarked, after receiving their report. Then, turning to Dastral, he +said:</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Dastral."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the young pilot, advancing towards his superior +officer, and saluting smartly.</p> + +<p>"The mechanics and riggers have been working day and night on your +new machine since we received it. They will continue the work through +the night, and I want you to supervise it, so that it will be ready +before to-morrow. I want you to use it as soon as possible. We have +lost so many of our machines lately over there," and here the O.C. +made a gesture with his right hand towards that line of fire and +blood, where the British and French troops held back the enemy's +hordes.</p> + +<p>"Nothing will give me greater pleasure, sir," replied the intrepid +youth, glowing with pride at the thought that he was to be made use +of so quickly.</p> + +<p>"And--er--I want you to carefully study the map of the section in +which we are working. It will be absolutely necessary for you to know +every road, hamlet and village marked on that map, before you go +over. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then get to work at once, my dear fellow. I have great hopes of you, +and if you continue as you have begun, I can promise you it will not +be long before you are made a Flight-Commander."</p> + +<p>Dastral blushed deeply at this compliment, for he was but a boy in +years, despite his courage and resource. Leaving the Commander's +presence, he went direct to the shed, where he found Jock, who was +not only a brilliant observer but a first-rate mechanic, and already +had the work in hand, having been drawn there by his affection for +the filmy thing that had already brought them across the seas, and +had served them so well during at least one great adventure.</p> + +<p>"Well, how is she, Jock?" were his first words.</p> + +<p>"Ripping!" replied the observer, handling the delicate creature as +though she were a lady. "I've already been round her. The engine and +propellor are quite sound now. The new petrol tank and feed are +already fitted, and in another couple of hours she'll be as perfect +as when she left England."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Dastral, who had the greatest confidence in the +lad's judgment in these matters, and was prepared to back him against +any expert in aerodynamics, or the mechanism of any aeroplane in +existence.</p> + +<p>"What say you to a trip in her this evening? There'll be plenty of +time before dusk, old fellow."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm quite agreed, even if it's only a joy-ride to try her, for +to-morrow we go over there," said the pilot, flinging away the stump +of his cigar, and jerking his thumb in the direction of his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Over where?" asked Jock, straightening himself from the stooping +position he had assumed, to examine the baffle-plates on the +propeller.</p> + +<p>"Over the German lines," came the reply.</p> + +<p>"Really! You mean it, and so soon?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-morrow at dawn we go over on a reconnaissance; C.O.'s +orders."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the observer, throwing down a spanner which he +still held in his hand.</p> + +<p>"And here's a map of the section in front of our lines. We must spend +the evening over it."</p> + +<p>So that evening, after the machine had been got quite ready for her +next flight, they spent four hours over the map, scaling it out, and +committing to memory the names of villages, hamlets, rivers, canals, +roads and railway lines, so that when they retired to bed, the whole +of the map was actually photographed upon their minds.</p> + +<p>Morning came at length, and at the first whisper of dawn, having +received their detailed orders from the Squadron-Commander, four or +five aeroplanes were wheeled out on to the aerodrome, then taxied off +quickly and disappeared in the dark. The last of the flight was the +hornet, with Dastral and Jock starting on their first real venture +over the enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>After climbing rapidly, and circling round the aerodrome once or +twice, the machines made off, each to reconnoitre the section of the +line allotted to it.</p> + +<p>The hornet carried two Lewis guns, with plenty of ammunition, for +when an aerial patrol sets out on a flight, one never knows what +duels he may have to engage in before he returns. The hornet had this +advantage over the other machines, which were of an older pattern: +she had a higher speed, was a better climber, and with her improved +controls she could manoeuvre more quickly than any other machine yet +made.</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz!" cried Jock down the speaking tube, which ended close to +the pilot's ear, "but she's climbing."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" yelled back the pilot, half turning his head so that +his mouth came near to the end of the tube.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand feet," came the answer.</p> + +<p>"Good! Then we'll make a bee-line and cross the trenches. Look out +for 'Archie'!"</p> + +<p>The dawn had broken by now, and away in the east the gloom was +lifting, but down below it was still wrapped in mist and darkness. It +was the hour of standing-to. Down below thousands of eyes would be +straining through the obscurity to find that speck in the heavens +whence came that whir-r-ring sound.</p> + +<p>But upward and onward went the hornet With a stern, strong beat of +power in her twelve-cylindered engine. Nearer and nearer she came to +that long line which stretched from the sand-dunes of Belgium away to +Switzerland. The observer was already keenly surveying the landscape +through his glasses as the light broadened, and the countryside +revealed itself.</p> + +<p>A silvery streak lay beneath them; it was the River Ancre. Now a +broad white patch of roadway came into view. It was the main road +from Albert to Bapaume. As they came out of a bank of rolling mist +and fog, a few red roofs and a church tower next came into view, +standing just where four roads met.</p> + +<p>"Contalmaison?" queried Dastral, and Jock, after a brief reference to +his waterproof map, called back:</p> + +<p>"Yes, and Bazentin on the left."</p> + +<p>They were now almost over the trenches, and far beneath they could +discern hundreds of tiny points of fires.</p> + +<p>"What are they?" asked the pilot again, and the observer who had been +scanning those red sparks for a couple of minutes replied,</p> + +<p>"Fires in the British trenches. Men cooking their morning rations. +Can't you smell the bacon?"</p> + +<p>Dastral laughed and sniffed the keen morning air, as though in +reality he could make out the fragrant aroma of the morning dish, +about which those cold, wet, and shivering heroes of the trenches +were standing, ankle-deep in mud and clay.</p> + +<p>"The poor devils!" added the pilot, altering his controls slightly, +and wheeling round to the south to pick up the enemy's lines more +clearly at a point where they made a sharp curve.</p> + +<p>They could now clearly see both the British and the German trenches. +Three long, scarred and ragged lines of brown earth showed clearly +where the enemy's front-line, reserve and support trenches stood. +Long, twisting lines of similar demarcation showed where the +communication trenches ran.</p> + +<p>Now they were over No Man's land, sailing along serenely, and the +artillery down below had already opened the morning concert on both +fronts, when--</p> + +<p>"Biff, puff----!" came a time-fuse shrapnel and burst scarcely a +hundred feet in front of the machine. Then another and another as the +"Archies" below spotted the hornet, and tried to give her a packet.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they were in a cloud of yellow smoke and half-poisonous +fumes, which made them gasp and sputter. Then, owing to the bursting +of the shells and the heavy concussions they found themselves in a +succession of air-pockets.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Jock!" cried Dastral, as the machine rocked and swayed, +banking over once or twice as though she had been hit.</p> + +<p>For several minutes they ran the gauntlet of this heavy fire from the +German A.A. guns, but the terrific speed at which they were +travelling--now nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour--soon +carried them beyond the range of the enemy's guns.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the day's work really began. Their orders were to +reconnoitre behind the enemy's lines and to report by wireless code +any occurrence, such as the threat of a massed attack by infantry, +the moving of transport columns, or the locating of heavy artillery. +It was also necessary, above all, to watch the skies for the +appearance of hostile aircraft.</p> + +<p>The other 'planes which started with the hornet that morning are seen +low down on the horizon, to the north and the south. They also are +searching all the terrain for any signs of activity on the part of +the Boche.</p> + +<p>Spurts of flame, like jets of fire, are seen in many places. These +are the German fieldguns firing upon the British trenches. The +observer does not make any particular note of these; he is out for +bigger game.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the observer steadies his glasses, resting his arm for a +moment on the side of the fuselage. The loop line of the +Combles-Ginchy railway is just ahead of them and slightly on their +right. Though it is very early yet, Jock notices that the line about +Ginchy is crowded with traffic.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy there, Dastral!" he calls down the speaking tube.</p> + +<p>"Yes," comes back the laconic answer.</p> + +<p>"Railway line blocked with traffic. Troops detraining, I think. Put +her over a bit."</p> + +<p>"Right-o!"</p> + +<p>Dastral jams over the rudder bar with his foot and, responding to her +huge tail rudder the hornet comes round in a swift circle, banking a +little as the joy-stick is also put over. Then Jock takes another +view, exclaiming, as he does so,</p> + +<p>"Yes, by Jove, there must be a whole division of them. Here goes!"</p> + +<p>And dropping the glasses into the pocket prepared for them, he +rapidly uncoils the long pendant wire, and begins to tap the keys of +his instrument.</p> + +<p>"Caught them on the nap, Jock, eh? Stroke of luck. Case of the early +bird. Tell the heavies to give 'em hell, old man," shouted Dastral, +but the conversation was carried away into the morning breeze, for +jock was already sending the message which would shortly bring the +thunder.</p> + +<p>"Zip-zip-zip, zur-r-r-r, zip!" went the brief coded message, back +over Longueval and Ginchy; over Contalmaison and the trenches to +where the British heavy batteries were waiting.</p> + +<p>Behind the Ancre, in a little dug-out, an expert operator catches up +the message. He has been waiting for it impatiently since dawn. The +brief tapping which his receiver picks up, tells him exactly the spot +on the terrain behind the enemy's lines where the thunder is needed. +The whole map is scaled out into tiny sections and sub-sections, each +with a number or letter to indicate the point where the concentrated +fire is needed.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" cries the operator to the little exchange. "Give me H.Q. +Heavy Batteries." Then as the reply comes through he gives:</p> + +<p>"A-2-3. Concentrated fire!"</p> + +<p>Within four minutes, while the hornet still circles over the luckless +Germans, now alive to their danger and rushing over each other in +their haste to finish the detrainment of the column, flashes of fire +are seen away to the west, and through the air comes a heavy +explosive shell. It is followed by another and yet another. As they +explode, the observer sees the earth blotted out from view for a few +seconds. He notes how near the first shots fall to the target. Then +he taps his keys once more.</p> + +<p>"Zur, zip-zip!" cries the machine, and the next shell falls into the +midst of the column, destroying nearly a whole train. And so for +another ten minutes the airmen remain, altering the range until at +least a dozen direct hits are scored, and the damage done to the +railway, the trains, and the division or so of men is tremendous.</p> + +<p>Very quickly, however, the men are scattered and placed out of +danger, hiding in the woods, and under hedges and trees where they +cannot be seen.</p> + +<p>The Germans, aware of that dangerous pest overhead, have rushed up +anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and have also telephoned to the +nearest aerodromes for their beloved Fokkers. So shortly after, +having done as much damage as possible in a short space of time, the +hornet moves off to reconnoitre further afield.</p> + +<p>"Watch for their verdomt Fokkers, Jock," cries the pilot. "They may +appear at any minute. Himmelman himself may be in the neighbourhood."</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" queries Jock, more to himself than to his comrade, as he +looks round uneasily, for on the previous day he had heard some tall +tales of the doings of this crack German flyer.</p> + +<p>Then as they move off and open out the engine to gain speed, Jock +sweeps the horizon for a sight of enemy 'planes, for a strange +curiosity grips him at the thought of Himmelman, and he wonders half +aloud whether it will ever be his fate to meet this renowned airman, +who was said to have brought down more machines than any other man +living.</p> + +<p>But there is little time for soliloquy in the life of an airman in +war time. He must ever be on the <i>qui vive</i>. And so for another half +an hour, seeing no enemy 'planes to engage and remembering that he is +out first of all for a reconnaissance, he watches the ground more and +more closely.</p> + +<p>They have moved south some distance by this time, and have crossed +the railway near Cléry. Below them they see the narrow waters of the +Somme, glistening in the sunshine, for by now the sun is up, and +there is the promise of a brilliant day. Jock is keenly watching the +white road that leads from Peronne to Albert.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ah!" He gasps. "What is that dark object that breaks the white, +sunlit road, as though some dark shadow has fallen across it?"</p> + +<p>He points it out to the pilot, with a few gestures, and Dastral +spirals round, and makes off towards the place at a rapid rate.</p> + +<p>As they approach the spot Jock scrutinises it yet more closely, for +it looks suspicious. Then suddenly putting aside his glasses once +more, he calls out,</p> + +<p>"Enemy column on the march!"</p> + +<p>"The deuce it is?" queries the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Yes, ammunition column, I think, but we'll soon find out."</p> + +<p>Then the tapping begins again, and the message is flung across the +battle-ground and is picked up. With a swift mental calculation the +observer has reckoned up when the head of the column will reach a +certain point in the road, where a bridge carries the road over a +tributary of the Somme.</p> + +<p>"Swis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" comes the first heavy fifteen-inch shell.</p> + +<p>It is a little short and another message on the keys is necessary.</p> + +<p>This time the shell falls plump right into the middle of the column, +for so accurately are the guns trained, that, though they cannot see +the object they are firing at, if the message sent only gives the +exact position on the map, a direct hit is soon gained.</p> + +<p>The consternation of the Germans can be better imagined than +described. Thinking themselves in comparative security so far behind +the lines, a huge shell without the slightest warning explodes near +by, and the next lands clean in the middle of the column.</p> + +<p>The object hit was a motor lorry conveying ammunition up to the guns. +The first explosion is followed by another, more terrific than the +first, for a couple of hundred shells are exploded, and when the +smoke and dust have cleared away the observer and his pilot look +down, and there is a huge gap in the column, for two of the lorries +are blazing, several have been overturned, and one has disappeared +entirely from view.</p> + +<p>Not only so but the road is blocked for the next six or seven hours +for all traffic, and not only will guns go short of ammunition but +more than one battalion of the German army will go short of food for +the next twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>For half an hour the guns continue to shell the rest of the column, +which by that time has managed to get the undamaged motors away, by +dashing blindly down any side turning that leads to anywhere, out of +that terrible inferno.</p> + +<p>For a little while longer the observer continues to send cryptic +messages back to headquarters, which have the immediate effect of +altering and adjusting the range of the heavy batteries, until the +whole convoy has dispersed sufficiently to prevent the waste of +further ammunition.</p> + +<p>Modern warfare is like a game of chess, with move and countermove, +and this applies just as much to war in the air as to warfare on +land. Evidently this morning, however, the enemy have been caught +napping. His air patrols have not yet been sighted. Surely he has had +time to deal with the offender up there in the skies, who has been +reading the secret of his lines, and the movements in his rear, or +can it be that he is laying a trap for the unwary?</p> + +<p>So far the daring young adventurers have had it all their own way, +but a surprise is in store for them. Meanwhile, however, they +continue to circle around, noting half a dozen little things which +Jock briefly enters on his memoranda sheet. A few photographs are +also taken with the telescopic camera, for in reconnoitring the +observer has noted some new lines of brown coloured earth showing up +plainly against the green. Becoming suspicious he pointed them out to +Dastral.</p> + +<p>Holding the joy stick between his legs, Dastral takes the glasses for +a minute, then cries out,</p> + +<p>"New trenches, I believe!"</p> + +<p>"I think so, but we must make sure. I want a snapshot. Reserve +trenches probably. Perhaps the enemy are thinking of falling back the +next time they are attacked in force."</p> + +<p>"If so, we've got his secret. It's important; we must go down and +see. Hold tight!"</p> + +<p>At that moment while the couple were intent upon the line of new +trenches below, they failed to notice a little cloud that was coming +up out of the eastern horizon. Till now it had been bright and clear, +as it often is at the break of dawn, but the first little cloud, no +bigger than a man's hand, had arisen. And it was in that cloud that +the danger lay.</p> + +<p>Heedless, however, of this little thing, and willing to take some +deadly risks to get the precious photograph, which might prove to be +the final link in some theory held at headquarters as to the position +on the enemy's front, they ignored the coming danger.</p> + +<p>Putting forward the controlling gear the hornet dipped her head, and +made a graceful nose-dive at a terrific speed, losing in fifteen +seconds that which she would shortly very badly need, namely, her +altitude.</p> + +<p>The long, downward glide is finished at last. They are within a +thousand feet of the newly-dug trenches when they flatten out, and +the camera is released and a series of short, sharp snaps are taken, +as the instrument click-clicks. To-morrow, when these are developed, +they will tell the divisional commander much that he wants to know, +and may explain something which has puzzled him for days past.</p> + +<p>At the moment, however, when they flatten out, half a dozen Archies, +artfully concealed under a clump of bushes, suddenly open fire upon +the intruder.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s! Bang!" comes one of the shells and bursts within fifty +feet of the 'plane.</p> + +<p>For a few seconds they are blinded and stunned by the explosion, the +flying metal and the deadly fumes. They gasp for their breath, and +the aeroplane rocks wildly, but the terrific speed given them by the +nose-dive carries them through the maelstrom once more.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt, Dastral?" shouts the observer, as soon as he himself +regains the power of speech.</p> + +<p>The pilot turns round just for half a second, and shakes his head, +but Jock sees for himself that though he evidently does not know it, +Dastral is wounded, for the visible part of his face is covered with +blood. Jock, himself, feels that his left arm is useless, and he +clenches it tightly with the other.</p> + +<p>There is no time to waste in words, however, for another peril is at +hand. They are soon out of range of the Archies, which, nevertheless, +have riddled the planes with jagged holes. No vital part has been +hit, however, and the two adventurers are not severely wounded.</p> + +<p>"Is the engine all right?" shouts Jock, as he sees Dastral peer into +the mechanism once or twice.</p> + +<p>"She's 'pukka' (all right)," comes back the answer.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better make for home. Breakfast will be ready. It's nearly +six o'clock, and we've been out an hour and a half."</p> + +<p>Dastral nods, and heads the machine for home, altering the controls +again in order to get a good altitude ready for crossing the +trenches.</p> + +<p>As he does so he happens to look away to the eastward, as the machine +banks.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, look there!"</p> + +<p>Jock did look, and in a cloud, not a couple of miles away, he saw two +specks racing for them with twice the speed of an express train.</p> + +<p>Seizing his glasses he fixed them for one second upon the objects, to +discover, if possible, the rounded marks of the Allies upon the +newcomers. Instead, he saw the black cross in a white rounded field, +showing distinctly upon both machines.</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes!" he shouted to the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" suggested Dastral in a half bantering tone. "We're up +against it this time, old man. He's the 'star turn' of the enemy's +corps, and he fights like the deuce. I would like to have met him +upon even terms. As it is, if we cannot leave him and get back with +this information, we must fight him."</p> + +<p>"Open the engine out, Dastral, and I'll bring the machine gun to +bear."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, the hornet had not been hit in any vital part, and her +engine was running splendidly. But she had lost her altitude to get +the precious photograph, having dropped nearly six thousand feet, +and, in fighting, altitude counts a great deal, for it is much the +same as the "weather gage" for which our sea-dogs used to contend in +the olden days.</p> + +<p>The hornet mounted two guns, but in a stern chase like this she could +use only the rear weapon. If he could only cripple one of their +pursuers by getting the first shot in Jock knew that they would then +be on more even terms, despite the fact that the enemy 'planes, +having caught them unawares, had got the advantage of them.</p> + +<p>"What are they, Jock?" asked the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Fighting scouts, I fancy." Then half a minute later he added:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Fokkers, both of them, single seaters with the gun forward."</p> + +<p>"Are they gaining much?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're creeping up rapidly. Now they're nose-diving to gain +speed. Shall I open fire?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. Wait till they're within six hundred feet before you open. +Cripple the leader if you can."</p> + +<p>"Here they come. They're about to open on us."</p> + +<p>"Biff, ping, ping, rap, rap!" and the Hornet was sprayed from wing to +wing with machine gun bullets.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, the machine's like a sieve! She'll not last much +longer at this rate," cried Dastral, as he looked round and surveyed +the damage done. Then, turning round towards the observer, who was +sighting his gun, he shouted wildly:</p> + +<p>"Give it him, Jock!"</p> + +<p>Then it was that Jock let fly, a full drum of ammunition clean at the +fuselage of the leading enemy 'plane. Thus it was that nerve told. +Not for nothing had Jock gained the highest honours in the School of +Aerial Gunnery before putting his brevet up.</p> + +<p>"Got him!" he cried exultantly, and the first machine went down in a +spinning nose-dive under that withering fire, for the pilot at the +controls was stone dead, shot through the head.</p> + +<p>The next instant, however, the master-pilot of all the German airmen +was upon them. While his companion had attacked from the level, he +had kept his gage, and now, at the critical moment, he had appeared +as it were from the clouds above their heads, firing from his bow gun +as he did a thrilling nose-dive.</p> + +<p>It was ever Himmelman's game to pounce upon his opponent and to beat +him nearer and nearer to the ground, until he was forced to crash or +make a landing in enemy territory. Once again he was about to +triumph, so he thought, for never before had he caught his man so +neatly.</p> + +<p>But Dastral was no ordinary aviator, and though his machine was raked +again from end to end, yet the engine still ran, and to Himmelman's +surprise his quarry proved much more elusive than he thought. With +his superior speed, owing to his downward drive, the German air-fiend +swept round and round the hornet, firing all the while, but Dastral, +his blood thoroughly up now, found an answering manoeuvre each time.</p> + +<p>The end was near, however, for the English machine could not hold out +much longer. Not only were the planes riddled, but several stays and +struts were gone, and several times the engine had missed. To make +matters worse, after the second drum the machine gun had jammed, and +things seemed hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Confound the gun! He's coming on again, Dastral," shouted the +observer, clenching his fist, and forgetting all about the bullet in +his arm.</p> + +<p>"Look out, then, I'm going to ram him. If I've got to go down, he's +going down with me."</p> + +<p>The two machines were almost on a level now, and when the German came +on, Dastral just put the joy-stick over, and made straight for his +opponent.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" yelled the irate Boche, for he did not understand +such tactics. For one aeroplane to ram another in mid air at two +thousand feet seemed incredible, but here was this mad Britisher +coming straight for him.</p> + +<p>"Mein Gott, no!" gasped Himmelman, and by a skilful manoeuvre he +sheered off, though thousands of his fellow-countrymen were watching +him from below, for they were now almost over the trenches.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Dastral!" yelled Jock, though but an instant before his heart +seemed to be in his mouth, as the pilot made his almost fatal dash +for his opponent.</p> + +<p>Seeing that Himmelman had failed in his move, the anti-aircraft guns +opened fire again from below, but the hornet sailed on over the +trenches, and Himmelman did not follow, for out of the west three +British fighters were coming to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"Will she hold out, Dastral?" the observer asked a moment later, as +they passed the British trenches, out of the range of the German +Archies.</p> + +<p>"I think so. Can you spot the aerodrome?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, there it is, a little to the right."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, I see it now," came the softened reply, for Dastral was +rolling a little in his seat, as though he held the joy-stick with +difficulty.</p> + +<p>Jock bent over to help him, and the next minute they landed safely on +the level turf. And Jock remembered hearing a voice say:</p> + +<p>"Come along now. We're waiting breakfast for you in the mess."</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter04"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h4 align="center">STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS</h4> + +<p>DASTRAL and Jock received a hearty welcome home that morning. +Although it was scarcely yet six o'clock, their day's work was +finished, and a good day's work it had been. Dastral's laconic report +was handed to the Squadron-Commander. Then, as soon as his slight +flesh wounds had been dressed by the genial "Number Nine," as Captain +Young, the medical officer for the squadron, was called, they went in +to early morning breakfast at the mess.</p> + +<p>"So you've had a scrap with Himmelman, have you, Lieutenant?" asked +Number Nine at the breakfast table.</p> + +<p>"Just a slight skirmish," replied Dastral.</p> + +<p>"You're lucky to get away from him!"</p> + +<p>"You think so?" queried the young pilot, pouring out another cup of +coffee, and pressing Jock, whose wound was giving him a good deal of +pain, to another slice of hot buttered toast.</p> + +<p>"I do, decidedly. He's so deucedly clever that he's uncanny. We +haven't found the man who can match him yet on our side. But one of +these days we shall do it."</p> + +<p>Dastral did not reply for some time. His mind was full of the details +of the recent encounter he had had with the unbeaten champion. He +wondered what Himmelman thought of his own tactics which had made the +air-fiend sheer off at the last moment. And he also determined that +should the opportunity ever come to fight with him on equal terms he +would not refuse the challenge. If it were possible the western front +should be rid of this champion, and the supremacy of the air wrested +from the Germans.</p> + +<p>For the next few days Dastral and Jock remained on light duty, +nursing their wounds, and taking strolls about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. The hornet had been so badly damaged that it was +necessary to send to England for new parts to be supplied before it +could be flown again.</p> + +<p>At the end of a fortnight, however, they were both quite well again, +and the hornet had been brought to its pristine condition. Then they +took part in several reconnaissances over the enemy's lines, and in +more than one bombing raid, but nothing of unusual importance +happened for nearly a month, when the following incident occurred:</p> + +<p>Dastral had just been made Flight-Commander, and so, in addition to +the hornet, three other active warplanes and three brilliant pilots +who were ready to follow him to the "Gulfs," wherever that might be, +had been placed under his command. This was the section of the Royal +Flying Corps called "B" Flight, which was to win much fame and glory +in the days of the near future. Already, Dastral, by his cool daring +and skilful manoeuvring, had won a great name amongst his fellows, +and some had even begun to talk of him as a possible competitor with +Himmelman.</p> + +<p>Often, after one of his more than usually brilliant raids or +reconnaissances over the lines, his friends would remark of him in +his absence:</p> + +<p>"Some day he will meet with Himmelman again, and then one of the two +will never return."</p> + +<p>"What a fight that will be!" remarked Number Nine one day, as he lit +his cigar and leaned back in his comfortable fauteuil, to puff rings +of smoke into the air.</p> + +<p>"And I hope I shall be there," said Mac, one of the pilots of "B" +Flight.</p> + +<p>"And while Dastral fights with Himmelman, may I be there to fight +with Boelke," added Brum to his friend Steve, both pilots belonging +to "B" Flight.</p> + +<p>Brum was short and sturdy, while Steve, or Inky as he was sometimes +called, was tall and thin and very dark, with piercing blue-grey +eyes, and they both considered Dastral the finest and fairest fighter +in the British Air Service.</p> + +<p>One day, while the great fight on the Somme was in progress, and the +Allies, by their great pressure were winning village after village +from the enemy, there came a mysterious message to the Command +Headquarters of the ---- Division, stating that the enemy had +finished the construction of three huge Zeppelin sheds not far from +Brussels. Also that the same number of Zeppelins had just arrived +from Friedricshaven to take possession of the sheds, evidently +preparatory to a raid upon Paris or London.</p> + +<p>The wires and despatch-riders were busy that day between the Command +Headquarters and the Aerodrome. Plans were drawn up to destroy at an +early date both the airships and the sheds. After some consideration, +it was decided that "B" Flight should have the honour of carrying out +the raid, and accordingly Dastral and Jock went to work at once with +their maps and charts to evolve a thoroughly sound plan of campaign.</p> + +<p>Several days later, towards evening, another coded message from the +same secret service agent behind the lines came to hand by carrier +pigeon, which when decoded ran something as follows:</p> + +<p>"Two Zeppelins just left Brussels' sheds, travelling west-nor'-west!"</p> + +<p>"Send Flight-Commander Dastral to me at once," said the +Squadron-Commander, immediately the message was read to him.</p> + +<p>As soon as Dastral appeared the O.C., who had been pacing about his +little room, turned abruptly upon the pilot, and said,</p> + +<p>"See this, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the youth, scanning the brief message, which told +him so much.</p> + +<p>"You know what it means?"</p> + +<p>"It evidently means that a raid on London is imminent, and is being +carried out to-night, I fancy, sir."</p> + +<p>"Exactly!" snapped the O.C., who at such times became easily +fractious and irritated.</p> + +<p>At this moment the telephone in the C.O.'s office suddenly burst out,</p> + +<p>"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, who's there?" asked the Major sharply.</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters, Fourth Army. Are you the R.F.C.?"</p> + +<p>"Yes--Squadron-Commander speaking from No. 10 Aerodrome."</p> + +<p>"Right. News is just to hand by field telephone that three Zeppelins +have passed overhead making for the Channel. We have wired the coast +stations and the R N.A.S. to look after them, and if possible to +bring them down. There is evidently a raid in progress. What do you +think you can do in the matter?" asked the officer at the other end.</p> + +<p>"Hold on just a few seconds, sir!" replied the Major. Then, turning +round to Dastral, he repeated the conversation briefly, and said,</p> + +<p>"What do you suggest?"</p> + +<p>"Just this, sir," replied the pilot. "Our plan to destroy the sheds +is well forward, and we hoped to carry it out in three or four days. +We know exactly where the place is----"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, go on. The staff officer is waiting at the other end of +the line," blurted out the C.O.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, if you will detail me to take my flight over there, so as +to be on the spot at dawn, when the airships return, we may be able +to strafe the lot. At any rate, we can destroy the sheds, and a +Zeppelin would be useless without its cradle, and would soon come to +grief."</p> + +<p>"Good! Prepare your flight at once for the venture, and we must leave +the other Squadrons and the R.N.A.S. and coast batteries to try and +stop the raid."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the pilot, saluting smartly and departing on his +errand.</p> + +<p>So while the C.O. concluded his conversation with Headquarters over +the 'phone, Dastral got to work at once with his flight.</p> + +<p>While Snorty, the Aerodrome Sergeant-Major, and Yap, the rag-time +"Corporal," and a squad of experienced air-mechanics prepared the +machines for action, the Flight-Commander got together his pilots, +Mac, Steve, and Brum, with their observers, and explained every +detail of the proposed campaign. Distances were carefully worked out, +a prearranged code of signals agreed upon, maps and charts examined +and committed as far as possible to memory, and a score of necessary +details worked up, so that there should be no confusion in the method +of attack.</p> + +<p>Having spent an hour thus discussing the matter and threshing out +every aspect of the question that arose, Dastral said,</p> + +<p>"Now then for a rendezvous, lads, for we must go singly, and come +together smartly, at the precise moment, just as the dawn is +breaking, which will be no easy matter."</p> + +<p>"Let it be the Lion Mound on the battlefield at Waterloo," suggested +Mac.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, that will do," said the Flight-Commander. "It is only +about two miles away from the sheds, which are close by the village +of Braine l'Alleud."</p> + +<p>"Agreed," they all cried. "It will be a landmark we shall easily +find."</p> + +<p>"Then understand, all of you, that you must be there exactly as the +dawn breaks, and, as soon as we pick each other up, we shall fall +into regular flight formation, make a bee line for the sheds, and +drop the squibs before the enemy can get to work with their Archies," +said Dastral.</p> + +<p>"And the cargo, Dastral? What shall we load up with?"</p> + +<p>"Six twenty-pound bombs each, with ten drums of the new machine-gun +ammunition. I think that will be all we can safely take without +reducing speed."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir!"</p> + +<p>"And understand, boys," the leader went on. "There must be no +fighting on the way there, even if attacked, unless it is absolutely +necessary to prevent a crash. I quite expect we may have to fight an +airship or two, and possibly a patrol of Fokkers or Aviatiks, for the +Zeps are sure to be escorted on their way back, if they get wind of +our little game."</p> + +<p>"Agreed, sir."</p> + +<p>"And now, gentlemen, to bed, all of you. It is imperative that you +should each have a good night's rest, for if any man's nerves are run +down in the morning, I shall put him off," said Dastral seriously, +and they knew he meant it, for he could be serious at times, despite +his laughing blue eyes, and his apparently gay and reckless manner.</p> + +<p>So to bed they went, for they were all tired out, and not even the +promise of the morrow's venture could keep them awake, for these +daring airmen had learnt the happy knack of taking sleep whenever +they could get it, as soon as duty was done, and of forgetting all +about their machines as well as their own wonderful exploits.</p> + +<p>Next morning, long before dawn, Corporal Yap, humming one of his +rag-time songs, went round the bunks of the officers' mess and gently +called the pilots and observers one by one. Within an hour they had +breakfasted and were out on the aerodrome watching the machines being +wheeled out, by the aid of the hand-lamps and electric torches.</p> + +<p>After a brief but careful final examination of every strut and wire, +the machines were quite ready, all loaded up, with the machine-guns +shipped, compasses aboard, etc.</p> + +<p>"All ready, sir!" reported Snorty, as he came up and saluted.</p> + +<p>"Tumble aboard, lads!" called Dastral, and within two minutes the +pilots and observers were in their seats, and the air mechanics +standing ready to swing the propellors.</p> + +<p>"Swish!" went the whirling blades.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" came next in a shrill voice.</p> + +<p>Then away into the darkness sped the four machines. In a few seconds +they were lost to sight as they taxied across the aerodrome. Then one +after another they leapt into the air, and began their upward climb, +leaving their friends and well-wishers behind them, craning their +necks to get a last view of them as they tried to locate them in the +upper regions, by the hum of the gnome engines, and the loud +whir-r-r-r of the propellors.</p> + +<p>After rising rapidly to seven thousand feet the 'planes made off in +the direction of the enemy's trenches, which they crossed at +different points, for they had already separated in accordance with +their plans. As they crossed the lines a dozen milk-white arms +stretched up to reach them. These were the German searchlights, for +the alarm had been raised and messages about.</p> + +<p>"English aeroplanes crossing our lines!" had been flashed from the +trenches to the Archies and the German searchlights.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m! Boom-m!" went the anti-aircraft guns in a mad effort to find +the raiders. But their efforts were futile, for the raiders looked +down upon the little spurts of flame far beneath, and laughed as they +quickly passed out of range.</p> + +<p>The distance to be covered was nearly a hundred miles, before they +arrived at the appointed rendezvous, but that did not trouble the +daring aviators. Steering by compass, and watching the eastern sky +right ahead for the first faint tinge of dawn, onwards they sped over +Cambrai and the ruined fortress of Mauberge. Then they crossed into +Belgian territory, that land of wretchedness and suffering, where a +brave little people were enduring torment under the heel of the hated +Prussian.</p> + +<p>They were rapidly nearing the neighbourhood of the rendezvous when +Jock called to Dastral, and shouted,</p> + +<p>"Look, there comes Aurora, the Daughter of the Morn!"</p> + +<p>The pilot looked in the direction indicated by his observer, and away +to the eastward, over the far horizon, he saw the first grey streak +which heralded the coming day.</p> + +<p>He watched it as it grew and rapidly diffused itself over the sky. +From grey it turned to a pale yellow, then as they still sped on, +crimson flashes shot out over the firmament, as though the door of +heaven had literally been unbarred, and the dark curtain of night had +been rolled westward.</p> + +<p>"Keep a good look-out for the other machines, Jock!" cried Dastral, +for he had no time now to dwell in rhapsody over the beauty of the +dawn. Danger was at hand, and he had a stern duty to fulfil.</p> + +<p>The observer, however, did not need to be reminded; he was already +peering through his glasses, searching the skies in the faint light +for signs of the other 'planes.</p> + +<p>"Can you make out any landmarks?" asked Dastral through the speaking +tube, becoming not a little alarmed, and fearing that in the darkness +they had overshot the mark and sailed past the rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Look, we are over a big city. I can see a dozen spires peeping +up already through the gloom," replied the observer, after peering +down towards the earth for another minute.</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated the pilot, bringing over the controls, and banking +swiftly to come back on his course. "We must be over Brussels. We +have come too far."</p> + +<p>The next minute they were speeding away South-west towards the +appointed rendezvous. Opening out the engine, they were soon going +full pelt, before the enemy's guns could find them.</p> + +<p>"Aircraft in sight to the northward," came next, for Jock had picked +up a tiny speck away on their right.</p> + +<p>And now for a moment there was intense excitement, for they knew not +as yet whether the newcomer might prove to be an enemy, and they were +anxious to avoid being entangled in a fight until their work was +done.</p> + +<p>"Can you pick up the Lion Mound yet?" asked Dastral. "It cannot be +far away now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have it now. A little further away to the right. Can you make +it out?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it. We'll be there in a minute. Keep your eyes well +skinned for the others. I think that must be Mac. away on our right, +though he seems to be hanging back a bit; he evidently mistakes us +for an enemy machine as we have come from the direction of Brussels. +Can you make out his marks yet?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. It isn't light enough, and he's keeping too far away."</p> + +<p>They were now right over the Lion Mound on the famous field of +battle. The village of Waterloo was just behind them, standing almost +exactly as it stood on that memorable day, Sunday, June 18, 1815. In +the morning mist the old chateau of Hougumont lay sleepily ensconced +in the hollow, while on the left the smoke was already rising up from +the farmhouse of La Haye Saint.</p> + +<p>"Another 'plane coming up on the south, making a bee line for us," +shouted the observer.</p> + +<p>"Splendid! That must be Steve," exclaimed Dastral, warming up a +little as he saw that two of his three birds had reached the spot +safely.</p> + +<p>"But where the deuce is Brum? He should be here by now. It's getting +quite light," said Jock, peering in every direction for the missing +aviator.</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho! here he comes."</p> + +<p>"Where away? I can't see him."</p> + +<p>"Right behind us. He must have over-shot the mark also, and he's +coming back on our trail from Brussels."</p> + +<p>The next instant, Dastral did a rapid swerve, and a steep nose-dive, +in accordance with the pre-arranged code made before starting.</p> + +<p>This was quite sufficient, for the strangers had been stalling their +machines, and circling around, waiting for the signal. Now they +opened out their engines and came on at top speed to meet their +leader.</p> + +<p>As they came up Jock could see the observers waving their hands in +recognition. Yes, they were all here. The first part of the business +was over. They had all come safely through and gained the rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Now we must get to work, for there's trouble brewing somewhere for +us, and the sooner we get through the affair the better," shouted the +pilot through the speaking tube.</p> + +<p>As the machines came up, they wheeled smartly round, and each took up +its appointed place in the formation. To an observer down below it +must have appeared that they were great birds wheeling about to +order, just like a platoon of infantry on parade.</p> + +<p>"Prepare for action," was the next signal given, as they sped off, +led by Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Braine l'Alleud next," called Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a little further to the right, just below the dip in the hill. +We should see the Zeppelin sheds shortly," responded Jock, who was +ready for the query, and had one finger already on the waterproof +map.</p> + +<p>"Shall I follow the road?" asked Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes, till I pick up the hangars."</p> + +<p>A moment later, the huge sheds came into view, and Jock, putting down +his glasses, shouted with glee:</p> + +<p>"There they are--three of them, and quite a crowd of people round +about them. A little more to the left."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see them--why, there are hundreds of people there. What on +earth can they be doing there?" asked Dastral.</p> + +<p>"German soldiers waiting for the return of the Zeppelins that raided +England last night, I expect."</p> + +<p>"Phew! Our luck's in this time."</p> + +<p>"They think we're friendly machines too, I believe," cried Jock, +fingering the bomb release, ready to let go the first twenty-pound +bomb on to the hangar. "Evidently, they can't make out our marks yet +in the morning mist."</p> + +<p>"They'll soon think differently," replied the pilot, as, coming up at +full speed, followed by the rest of the flight, he did a rapid +nose-dive of two thousand feet. Then, flattening out to get a better +control over his machine, he swept on again till nearly exactly over +the first huge shed, and did another rapid nose-dive, the speed of +which must have approximated one hundred and fifty miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Look to it, Jock. Let go, man!" he yelled.</p> + +<p>Jock pulled the clutch of the bomb release, and the first missile +fell almost into the middle of the huge building. He could not fail +to hit it, for the target was so large, and Dastral had dropped to +within three hundred feet of the high roof.</p> + +<p>"Swis-s-s-h----Boom-m-m-m----!"</p> + +<p>The explosion was terrific, and the huge roof of the building +crumpled in with a crash.</p> + +<p>Scarcely fifteen seconds later Mac. dropped a petrol bomb into the +half ruined building, and before the third plane could come into +action, huge flames were bursting out everywhere.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the German anti-aircraft guns, discovering their +mistake, turned their concentrated fire upon the first machine, which +by this time was passing the second hangar, and about to repeat the +process.</p> + +<p>"Spit! bang! boom!" And now the calm morning air was alive with +bursting bombs and tearing shrapnel, while down below the distracted +German soldiery, who had been waiting to house the returning +Zeppelins, were rushing hither and thither, bewildered, whilst their +officers were cursing those verdomt Englanders, who were always up to +some new devilment.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! Gott strafe England!" came from many a mouth, and +curses and cries of anger, coupled with shouts of defiance, rent the +air.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, Jock?" yelled Dastral, as they whirled through a +screen of bursting shrapnel.</p> + +<p>"Yes, aye, ready!" came the response from the observer, whose eyes +were lit with the light of battle.</p> + +<p>"Then let go!"</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m!" went another bomb on to the second hangar, and so with +the third and last.</p> + +<p>Within three minutes the whole of the structures of the three huge +sheds were blazing fiercely, and, as the 'planes sped away, and +climbed out of the line of immediate fire, they noted with joy that +the flames from the third shed were larger and fiercer than those +from the others.</p> + +<p>Huge forks of fire leapt three hundred feet into the air, and the +heat was so fierce within a hundred feet that everybody within that +zone of fire was scorched and fell fainting or dead.</p> + +<p>"Some blaze that, Jock!" cried Dastral as soon as they had left the +fire curtain of shrapnel behind them, and could observe the burning +mass properly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there's a Zeppelin in there, I'll swear to it. Else it would +never blaze like that." Scarcely had he spoken, when a terrific +explosion rent the air, fifty times as loud and terrible as that +caused by the bursting of the twenty-pound bombs. At the same +instant, a huge column of smoke, flame and debris shot up into the +sky, making the very aeroplanes tremble with the tremendous +vibration.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, you're right, Jock! We've done it this time. It must +have been a Zeppelin. There is nothing left of the shed now. It has +been clean lifted away."</p> + +<p>The destruction wrought down below had been terrible. The casualties +caused by the bombs had been as nothing compared to the terrible +death-roll amongst the German soldiery by the explosion of a million +cubic feet of gas and the wreckage of the huge hangar. The burning, +blazing missiles of bent, twisted iron, steel, timber and aluminium +came down from the skies, and wrought death and havoc amongst the +labour battalions which must always be on duty near a Zeppelin +hangar.</p> + +<p>Once they were out of range of the enemy's guns Dastral looked round +upon his companions. So far they had come through pretty well. No +vital hit had been made, but every machine had received its quota of +shrapnel. Not a 'plane amongst them but had its fifty or sixty jagged +tears through the planes. Mac's propeller had also been hit, but as +it was only slightly splintered, it still enabled the pilot to carry +on.</p> + +<p>However, as he wheeled round his flight, Dastral saw that it would +take his brave followers all their time to get back nearly a hundred +miles to safety. He gave the signal, therefore, for every pilot to +make a bee line for the English trenches, and thus get home before +the Aviatiks, Rolands and Fokkers came, which he knew would be +climbing up already to attack them, from the aerodromes in the +vicinity of Brussels.</p> + +<p>Two of the observers had also been wounded, though slightly, and +signalled accordingly, so that Dastral became uneasy, lest, after +all, their return to safety should be hindered. Most of all did he +fear that it might be necessary to leave one of his machines behind, +for, if an aeroplane is forced to land in enemy territory, there is +small chance of escape, either for man or machine.</p> + +<p>The whole flight, therefore, had fallen into position for return, +with Dastral leading, for he had signalled his men to keep together, +as far as possible, till they were about to cross the lines. +Suddenly, however, when they had proceeded some eight or nine miles +on their way, Jock, who had been scanning the north-western horizon, +called out:</p> + +<p>"A Zeppelin! A Zeppelin!"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, where?" shouted Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Away over there on the right, low down on the horizon."</p> + +<p>"Phew! So it is. One of their lame ducks coming home to roost, after +raiding some English village, I expect."</p> + +<p>"The devils. I say, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Let's strafe the baby-killer!" shouted Jock.</p> + +<p>Dastral turned round once more to look at his battered flight. Could +he do it? Where were the German Fokkers? he asked himself. And for +once he hesitated. It was only for a moment, however, and it was not +for any thought of himself that he hesitated, but the knowledge that +he would be attacked shortly by enemy 'planes, and that some of his +machines would be lost, for they were not in any fit state at present +to engage with enemy warplanes. Jock, always an eager fighter, was +edging him on, however.</p> + +<p>"What say you, Flight-Commander? The others seems eager to fight. +We've plenty of bombs left yet, and haven't touched the drums. Let's +bring the blighter down, so that it can't kill any more babies in +their cots."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, Jock! Throw out the signal-Zeppelin."</p> + +<p>And the next moment a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out by the +observer, which gave the order, "Prepare to attack."</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r!" went the four 'planes on their new tack, as the +controlling wires went over, and each machine banked suddenly and +came round head on towards the enemy.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, she's seen us and she's heading off too!" shouted Jock +through the tube.</p> + +<p>"Yes, so I see. Bet she's using her wireless some to call for the +Fokkers. We haven't much time to lose."</p> + +<p>In less than three minutes they were within machine-gun fire of the +huge gas-bag, which was flying as low as three thousand feet, and +seemed incapable of lifting herself much, either through shortage of +gas or damaged machinery.</p> + +<p>"Look out! She's opening fire! See there!" Short sharp jets of fire +spat out from the gondolas of the Zeppelin in half a dozen different +places, and the bullets began to whistle and ping-ping about the ears +of the aviators.</p> + +<p>"Reserve your fire, boys!" ordered Dastral, for he knew that they +would all be anxious to fire. Then he threw out another order, which +meant, "Attack from above."</p> + +<p>This they all understood immediately, and followed Dastral as he made +his machine almost sit upon her tail, as she climbed and manoeuvred +to get above the huge lumbering mass, which was already levering away +to leeward on account of some defective machinery, and the fresh +breeze which had sprung up from the south-east.</p> + +<p>Two minutes later they were almost directly above the Zeppelin, and, +except for two machine-guns which were mounted above the envelope, +they were immune from fire, for the other guns down below were +screened by the huge looming mass above them.</p> + +<p>Even the gunners on the top were practically useless, for the terrors +of the past night and the impending death now awaiting them had +shattered their nerves, and they were firing wildly, so that the +daring aviators had them at their mercy, for the hornets were about +to attack.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave one more look round at his flight, and saw them coming +boldly on behind him. Then he shouted to Jock:</p> + +<p>"All ready there?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, ready," came the response.</p> + +<p>"Then in mercy's name fire!" A short, sharp nose-dive of two hundred +feet, and they were within a hundred feet of the leviathan, and +immediately above her. So near were they that they could see the +affrighted machine-gunners on the top of the gas-bag leave their +posts and try to escape down the escalier, but they had left it too +long. They were now about to pay the price for the toll they had +wantonly taken of innocent lives during the long dark hours of the +past night. And, like all cowards who wreak their vengeance upon +helpless folk, they feared the dread spectre when it came close to +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-sh! Boom-m-m!" went the first bomb; a time fuse fixed for two +seconds. The explosion rent the envelope, and allowed vast quantities +of gas to escape from two of the ballonets, so that the huge mass +crumpled in at the head, and began to sink slowly at the nose.</p> + +<p>Another bomb was dropped, and the second and third machines coming +up, dropped petrol and phosphorus bombs, which blazed away, igniting +the escaping gas.</p> + +<p>She was well alight now, and in the fore part she was burning +fiercely, but as yet she did not explode. Dastral saw that she was +done for, however, and knowing that the enemy craft could not be far +away after all this time, made off and signalled his men to follow.</p> + +<p>Down, down went the blazing mass for a couple of thousand feet, then +rolling over, it literally fell asunder into several parts, and each +part, still burning, carried its helpless inmates down to +destruction.</p> + +<p>Once more Dastral looked round, and as he did so, he gasped out the +words:</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! The whole place is alive with Fokkers, Rolands and +Aviatiks!"</p> + +<p>Then followed a fierce running fight, in which the English were +outnumbered three to one. The enemy were all around them, for they +had been called by wireless from every direction. Dastral headed his +men into the thick of the combat. Three German 'planes were brought +down, and not till every round of ammunition was fired, and every +drum empty did the Commander call off his Flight again, or rather +what was left of it.</p> + +<p>Brum, fighting bravely to the last, had gone down in a whirling +spiral after first sending down an Aviatik. Steve followed him a +little later, with his machine blazing, for his petrol tank had been +plugged time after time. Dastral alone, with Mac, both their machines +damaged beyond repair and both their observers wounded, staggered +through the curtain fire at the trenches later in the morning, and +came to earth just behind the British first line.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter05"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER V</h3> + +<h4 align="center">A BOMBING RAID</h4> + +<p>DAWN was just breaking over Devil's Wood and Ginchy. The owls and +bats which had flitted over the night-bivouacs had returned to their +hiding places about the battered towers of the old church near by. A +saffron tint flushed the low summit of the eastern ridge, beyond +Combles and Ginchy, while thin blue-grey columns of smoke showed +where the Germans held fast their steel line from the Somme to +Bapaume.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the stars faded away, however, and disappeared in the +morning light, when the little field telephone in the orderly +officer's tent at the aerodrome near Contalmaison went +"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>"Are you there?" came the query over the wire.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Who is that?"</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters, Section 47, East of Ginchy. Is that the Wing +H.Q., Royal Flying Corps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. What is the matter, that you ring a poor chap up for the +twentieth time in half an hour?"</p> + +<p>"Matter enough, Grenfell, old fellow! Seven aeroplanes have just +crossed our lines from the direction of Morval and Lesboeufs. They +are flying in your direction, west by west-sou'-west. Can you hear +me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, but I say, Ginchy. Hullo! Were they enemy 'planes?"</p> + +<p>"Our sentries couldn't make out their nationality; it was too dark. +That's why the O.C. wanted me to 'phone you, lest it should be +another raiding party coming to bomb you, as they did the other +morning at dawn. He wants you to take '<i>Air Raid Action</i>' at once. +Got me, old fellow?"</p> + +<p>"All right, Ginchy. We'll be ready for the blighters this time. +S'long! Remember me to Crawford when you run across him."</p> + +<p>"Can't, old man."</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his +way to Blighty."</p> + +<p>"Lucky beggar! Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>"Goodbye."</p> + +<p>"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>Thus the brief conversation closed, and within another thirty seconds +the orders had been given for "Air raid action" and every one was +ready. The men of "B" Flight, No. -- Squadron under Dastral, were +standing by their machines, and the aerial gunners and observers were +placing the last drums of ammunition in the cockpit, where they would +be ready to hand. Almost immediately afterwards the sentries on duty +at the eastern end of the aerodrome gave the alarm:</p> + +<p>"Aeroplanes approaching from the east!" Half a dozen pairs of glasses +soon found the machines, and, for a moment, there was a little thrill +of excitement, as the anti-aircraft gunners received their orders to +load up and fix the range.</p> + +<p>"Stand by to start the propellors!" shouted Dastral, the +Flight-Commander, to the air mechanics.</p> + +<p>"Are all the pilots ready?" came next.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Sergeant.</p> + +<p>In another moment the whole flight would have been in the air doing a +rapid spiral, for the hum of the approaching aeroplane engines could +be distinctly heard now.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r! whir-r-r-r!" Nearer and nearer came the well-known sound +of the propellors, when suddenly the Squadron-Commander, who had been +intently watching the early morning visitants through his glasses, +called out:</p> + +<p>"Dismiss, 'B' Flight. It's only Graham's party returning from their +reconnaissance."</p> + +<p>There was not a little disappointment at this announcement, for every +one had been looking forward to a scrap before breakfast. The sun, +which had just showed his upper edge above the ridge, however, +revealed quite distinctly the rounded marks of the Allies on each of +the 'planes.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later the newcomers descended by rapid spirals, and, +alighting on the aerodrome, taxied safely almost up to the very +entrance of the sheds, and the pilots and observers alighted to +report what they had discovered.</p> + +<p>They had been away two hours, had traversed fifty miles beyond the +enemy's lines, and had picked up several night signals by a +prearranged code, using the Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn. This +information, which was of the utmost importance, had been collected +from some of our most daring intelligence officers, who controlled a +network of British spies behind the German lines.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Graham!" exclaimed the Major commanding the Squadron, as +he grasped the Flight-Commander's hand on alighting. "Did you pick up +anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then slip off your helmet and heavy coat, and make your report at +once, and--hullo, there, Johnson!"</p> + +<p>"Sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the officers' mess, +springing smartly to the salute.</p> + +<p>"Have breakfast ready in ten minutes in the private mess. Lay covers +for all the pilots."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Johnson, saluting once more, and clicking his +heels at the "about-turn" he disappeared to introduce a little +thunder amongst the early morning "fatigues" in the cook-house.</p> + +<p>A powerful and crafty foe, whose emissaries have never been surpassed +in the espionage in the world, prevents me from giving the details of +the reports brought home that morning by Graham and his pilots. Let +it suffice, however, to say that amongst other information collected +beyond the enemy's front, by a wonderful intelligence system of our +own, it had been discovered in that dark hour before the dawn, by the +Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn, that three German troop trains were +to leave Liege that morning at eight o'clock, and, travelling via +Mauberge and Cambrai, were to reinforce the hardly pressed German +troops facing the British soldiers on the Somme.</p> + +<p>There was a jovial breakfast party that morning in the officers' mess +of the --th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, for in this wonderful +Corps, which, in the short space of two years, has done the seemingly +impossible, and taken the high jump from an insignificant detachment, +and become the most brilliant service under the British flag, there +is an <i>esprit de jeu</i> as well as an <i>esprit de corps</i> unsurpassed +even by that of the Navy, with its centuries of tradition behind it.</p> + +<p>"How shall I know a British 'plane, if I meet it suddenly in +mid-air?" asked a German pilot once of his Flight-Commander.</p> + +<p>"You'll know it because it will attack you!" was the reply.</p> + +<p>And never yet has a British pilot, with a single round of ammunition +left in his drum, turned tail upon the enemy, even though when +outnumbered three to one. For such a pilot, there would be no room in +the Royal Flying Corps.</p> + +<p>So, during breakfast that morning at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, +every flight-commander vied with his comrade for the post of honour. +Maps and railway routes were carefully consuled, for there were no +less than three routes by which the troop trains might arrive at the +Somme front.</p> + +<p>"Liège--Namur--Mauberge," said the Squadron-Commander, as he bent +over the large map, and ran his fingers lightly along the route, +whilst the eager youths with the pilot's wings on the left breast of +their soiled and greasy service tunics listened and waited eagerly +for their final orders, each hoping in his inmost soul that the route +allotted to him might be the one by which the Huns would arrive.</p> + +<p>"Let me see, now. After Mauberge and Cambrai the lines divide. Hum! +Why, yes, they must come via Peronne, Velu or Lestrée. There now. Are +you ready, boys?" asked the Commander, raising his head for the first +time for five minutes, and looking keenly into the glowing faces of +those lads, who, less than three years ago, in most cases, were at +Marlborough, Cheltenham or Harrow.</p> + +<p>"Aye, ready, sir!" they replied almost in one breath.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure, Graham, you can manage it? You have already had +two hours up there in the dark, you know."</p> + +<p>"We could do another four, sir, quite easily," replied the Commander +of "A" Flight, with just a shade of disappointment in his voice, as +though he feared the C.O. might hold him back.</p> + +<p>"How are the engines running?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, sir; never better! They never misfired once, and there +isn't a strut or control wire damaged."</p> + +<p>"Right!" exclaimed the Commander laconically, who then rolled up the +big map, touched a bell, and ordered the aerodrome Flight-Sergeant to +run out the machines and to let the air mechanics, observers, +wireless men and aerial gunners fall in and stand by the 'planes. +Then, turning to the three Flight-Commanders he said:</p> + +<p>"Graham, you will take 'A' Flight and patrol the Lestrée line. You, +Dastral, will take charge of 'B' Flight and watch the +Havrincourt-Bapaume route, and Wilson there will watch the Peronne +loop-line. They may come by any of those three routes. Where they +will detrain I cannot say. It will be for you to discover. Fill up +with the twenty-pound bombs, as they're the handiest, for I expect it +will be more of a bombing raid than anything else. But if the enemy +is escorted by Fokkers or Rolands, you must be prepared for a fight +in the air as well, and I want each Flight to act independently, but +if necessary to co-operate, should Himmelman and his crowd turn up. +Smoke signals will be the best, I think. Is that quite clear, boys?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Quite clear," they replied, for they were all in high +glee, and regarded it all as nothing more or less than a boyish +adventure, though more than one of those brave youths was going forth +to his death. And what a death it is to be hit in mid-air by bursting +shrapnel, and hurled seven thousand feet to the earth! But such a +death they faced daily without flinching.</p> + +<p>"Then fill up your glasses, boys, and I will give you The King! God +bless him!"</p> + +<p>And standing up they drank confusion to the King's enemies, and if a +stranger had been there to note it, he would have seen that many a +glass was filled with water, for the continuous demand upon the +pilot's nerve and intelligence forbids his frequent use of alcohol.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, the pilots, observers and gunners were carefully +examining their machines, guns, fixing bombs, waterproof maps, and +arranging every detail with care and skill. A faulty strut or control +wire, a defective bomb release, or a leaking petrol tank might mean +failure or disaster.</p> + +<p>At last all was ready, and the final words of command were given to +the air mechanics.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear! Away!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" called the Squadron-Commander +cheerfully, though at that very moment he was inwardly cursing his +bad luck at having had his left arm seriously damaged in a recent +crash. For of all things upon earth Major Bulford loved to lead his +brave lads and to wheel them into action against the enemy squadrons.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r! Whir-r-r!" went the first propellor, as the air-mechanic +who had started it sprang back to safety. Then, one after another the +machines of the three Flights taxied across the level ground of the +aerodrome, and sprang into the air at the first movement of the +elevator.</p> + +<p>"Goodbye!" waved the pilots in answer to the last greeting of their +chief, for the human voice could not carry two feet in that wild roar +of propellors and engines, which seemed to make the whole atmosphere +pulsate with a whirring sound.</p> + +<p>After a few rapid spirals a height of two thousand feet was quickly +attained, and then, still climbing, the 'planes, like huge birds of +prey, disappeared for a while behind the British lines as though for +a cross-Channel flight to England, in order to confuse the enemy +observers. Then, by a wide sweep at seven thousand feet, the flights +became detached, and each, under its own commander, went its own way +by a circuitous route to the appointed station.</p> + +<p>Dastral, with the four Sopwiths of "B" Flight, crossed the enemy's +lines at nine thousand feet, somewhere between Ligny and Grévillers. +As he did so he received his first baptism of fire from "Archie."</p> + +<p>White puffs of smoke and fierce red jets of flame seemed to burst +noiselessly around them, for the roar of the propellors drowned or +subdued even the sound of the shrapnel as it exploded. Heedless of +such small things, however, Dastral and his brave comrades sailed on, +sometimes doing a spiral or a rapid nose-dive, if the enemy appeared +to have found the range too closely.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, they were ambushed in a friendly cloud, which hid them +from the Huns far below, and when they had emerged from the clinging +moisture, they were far beyond the enemy's third line trenches, and +out into the open, with smiling fields and vineyards beneath them.</p> + +<p>"Is that it?" yelled Dastral to his observer, jerking his head +sideways, and pointing with his finger to something like a railway +cutting far below.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The Bapaume-Havrincourt railway line!" shouted his companion +through the speaking-tube which ended close to the pilot's ear, for +although only a few feet away, that was the only possible method of +communication without shutting off the engines.</p> + +<p>"Good!" nodded the pilot, for, despite the speaking-tube, +conversation was chiefly carried on by well understood cabalistic +signs.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Dastral pointed to a cluster of red roofs about a +little church.</p> + +<p>"What is that place?"</p> + +<p>The observer, with one finger still on the little waterproof map in +front of him, shouted back, "Beugny on the left. Haplincourt on the +right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" nodded the pilot, edging a little more south-east, as +though the railway were not his objective. In so doing he alarmed +Fisker, his companion, who feared he had misunderstood him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he shouted. "You're leaving the target. The +bridge-head and the ravine is over there, east-nor'-east. That's +where the junction is, at Velu."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, old man! Glad you're awake. Keep your eyes well skinned +away to the east for Fokkers and Rolands. This is Himmelman's +favourite hunting-ground. He'll be down on us from the clouds like a +thunderbolt, if we're not careful. I want to get up to twelve +thousand, and come back on to the junction from the east."</p> + +<p>"Oh-ay!" came the laconic rejoinder from Fisker, who quickly +understood the manoeuvre. Then, leaving his map for a moment, he +swept the horizon for any signs there might be of the enemy's +'planes.</p> + +<p>So for nearly an hour the machines, playing at "follow-my-leader," +swept round and round, watching and waiting in an altitude where, to +put it mildly, it was cold enough to freeze a kettle of boiling water +in ten minutes.</p> + +<p>Cold? Yes, it was bitterly cold. Both Dastral and Fisker felt it +through their thick leather, wool-lined coats.</p> + +<p>They patrolled the country behind the German lines, and watched the +smoke curling upwards from a dozen French villages in the enemy's +possession. At length they crossed the loop line near Barastre, +skimmed along over Ytres, and the Bois Havrincourt; sailed lightly +across the silvery streak of the river Exuette, until, beyond the +wood and the village they espied the main railway line that threaded +its way to Bapaume.</p> + +<p>"There it is, Fisker. Can you see it?" were Dastral's first words, +when he sighted it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it," came the reply.</p> + +<p>Dastral had timed his arrival nicely. Scarcely had they reached the +railway when out of the eastern horizon a trail of white steam, +followed by another and yet another, at intervals of perhaps half a +mile, attracted their attention.</p> + +<p>"Look! There they come, Dastral!" cried Fisker, putting down the +glasses and waving his arms frantically to attract the attention of +the other three pilots, and to indicate the target, now rapidly +approaching.</p> + +<p>One look in the direction indicated sufficed for Dastral. He made a +sudden dip, then gave one of his rapid spirals, at which he was such +an adept. This movement of the Flight-Commander's machine was the +pre-arranged signal for the rest of the company and meant:</p> + +<p>"Enemy approaching from the east. Prepare to engage him."</p> + +<p>The movement was answered by each of the following 'planes. The +formation of the flight was altered accordingly, and the machines now +fell into their allotted places ready for descent.</p> + +<p>The three trains were soon in full view, and the first one was just +passing the village of Hermies. The trains were of enormous length, +and were crowded with troops. What still puzzled Dastral, however, +was that there appeared to be no escort of aircraft with them. Again +and again, during the approach of the long procession, he had scanned +the heavens all around and above him, for a sight of his most crafty +foe, Himmelman, for, if the British machines had been sighted, there +had been plenty of time for the enemy to bring up his aircraft from +the nearest aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Even yet Dastral was very suspicious. He knew Himmelman only too well +already. He was the demon of the air on the western front, and loved +nothing better than to make a dramatic entry into a half-finished +fight. His greatest and most daring method was to climb out of sight, +often up to seventeen thousand feet and more, or better still, to +make an ambush in a dark cloud, then suddenly to swoop down, +hawk-like, upon his opponent, in an almost vertical nose-dive, and to +overwhelm him with a spray of well-directed machine gun fire.</p> + +<p>A dozen of the best British pilots had already gone down in a crash +or a forced landing before this demon of the air, and more than once +Dastral himself had encountered him. Before he led his men to the +attack therefore, upon this occasion, he scanned the heavens again +and again in search of his opponent, and actually waited until a tiny +cloud far above had been scattered and pierced, before he gave the +final signal to attack.</p> + +<p>At length, fearing to lose his target by longer delay, for the first +train was now abreast of the tiny hamlet of Beaumetz, and nearing the +junction and the bridge-head at Velu, he threw out the signal for the +attack.</p> + +<p>A smoke bomb to the right and another to the left: that was the +pre-arranged signal, and then, pulling over the joy-stick, down, down +went Dastral, followed at regular intervals by the three other +'planes.</p> + +<p>Down, down with a swoop, through the exhilarating rush of air, they +went. All the engines had been shut off, and the pilots, with one +hand on the joy-stick, and the other on the bomb release, waited +almost breathlessly through those wild, thrilling seconds, while they +fell with ever-gathering impetus, like a stone to the earth. Thus +they went down to what seemed like certain death, while every instant +during that mad dive seemed an age.</p> + +<p>"Click! click!" went the little instrument that measured the +altitudes. "Seven, six- five, three thousand feet," it tried to say, +but its voice could not be heard.</p> + +<p>At two thousand feet Dastral pushed back the joy-stick, and flattened +out. His comrades did the same, all except Franklin in the last +'plane, who had trouble with his control wires and flattened out only +at five hundred feet. Another five seconds would have dashed him to +death. He was game, however, and though his face blanched, and his +heart stayed its beating for an instant, he was soon climbing again +to rejoin his comrades.</p> + +<p>They had been seen now, for the smoke bombs had first given them +away. The commandants of the German communications were hotly engaged +on the telephone wires, reporting to headquarters and to the nearest +aerodromes the presence of the intruders, and demanding that +Himmelman and his comrades should come at once to deal with the +sky-fiends.</p> + +<p>The engine-driver of the first train also had seen the danger that +threatened, and, putting on all speed, he tried foolishly to get away +from the air peril. Velu was scarcely a mile distant, and there at +least he could find some protection, if only in the "Archies."</p> + +<p>But he was too late. When Dastral flattened out at two thousand feet +he was almost abreast of the train. A neck-and-neck race commenced, +but what chance has a heavily laden troop train, even though it has +three engines, against a Sopwith which can do one hundred and thirty +miles on occasion? It was like a race between a hare and a tortoise.</p> + +<p>"Puff-puff-puff! Shriek!" went the train, but the scream of the siren +was drowned in the whirr-r-r of the propellors racing alongside and +just overhead, for the engines had been started again by the pilots +as soon as they flattened out.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of seconds now, for Dastral only waited until he had +dropped down to one hundred feet. He was already in line with the +engine, and directly above. Just ahead was the railway bridge, and +the viaduct over the road leading into the village.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my beautiful Boche, it's ten to one against you now!" muttered +the Flight-Commander as he raced ahead, amid a spatter of rifle +bullets from the soldiers guarding the bridge.</p> + +<p>The engine-driver had seen the danger ahead now. He shut off steam, +and put on his brakes, but the bridge was too near, and Dastral was +already there.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m! Crash!"</p> + +<p>It was one of the new 112lb. bombs that Dastral dropped; the only one +carried by the flight, who were chiefly armed with 20-pounders for +the occasion. The aeroplane gave a lift and a lurch as the heavy +missile left her, and had it not been for her great speed, the +explosion that immediately followed would have caused her to crash.</p> + +<p>Fairly hit in the centre of the track the brick and timber piles and +beams collapsed, and the middle of the structure crumpled up and fell +crashing into the roadway.</p> + +<p>The troops, aware of what was happening when they saw the 'planes +overhead, leapt from the doomed train, for no human effort could +prevent the impending disaster now. When the bomb dropped and split +the bridge, the train was but forty yards distant, and the sparks +were flying from her brakes, as from a blacksmith's anvil, but it was +of no avail. With a thunderous roar, followed by a mighty crash, and +the wild hiss of escaping steam she went over the chasm. Carriage +after carriage, crowded with the finest troops of Germany, followed +the engine.</p> + +<p>Wild cries of pain and anger, curses and groans filled the air, as +wounded, scalded and half buried men dragged themselves from that +awful scene of carnage and death.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! Donner und blitz! Himmelman, Himmelman, wer ist +Himmelman?" cried many an eye-witness of the terrible tragedy, as +though the German air-fiend were some deity.</p> + +<p>The other three 'planes were bombing the long stretch of carriages +which had not leapt the chasm, and the hundreds of fugitives who were +trying to escape from the half-telescoped vehicles, which had not +gone over the precipice. But Dastral, banking swiftly on his machine, +came round, and with another smoke bomb called them off to attack the +other two trains.</p> + +<p>Leaving the Bridge of Velu, they wheeled back swiftly, coming once +more into the zone of fire from the anti-aircraft guns. Stopping only +to drop a couple of bombs on the battery 'which had bespattered the +wings of the second machine with shrapnel, they noticed the second +train pulling up quickly, and the soldiers also leaping from the +carriages.</p> + +<p>They proceeded to bomb it with the remainder of their 20-lb. bombs. +Then, suddenly, to their amazement the third train, which had not +received sufficient warning to stop on the steep gradient, crashed +into the second, and another scene of wild confusion occurred. The +German soldiers, taken for the most part by surprise, endeavoured to +get away by any and every means from the blazing wreckage, seeking +cover under clumps of trees, hedges, rising ground, etc., but the +airmen, having discharged all their bombs, turned their Lewis machine +guns upon them and scattered the fugitives in all directions.</p> + +<p>At last, not a single round of ammunition remained in the drums, and +Dastral, knowing that all the machines had been more or less hit, +gave the signal to return.</p> + +<p>It was time, for two at least of the machines had suffered severely, +and it was becoming very doubtful whether they would be able to +regain their own lines. They were of no further use for offence, so +they began their climb into the higher regions, preparatory to the +dash across the enemy's lines once again.</p> + +<p>It was well that they did so, for at that very moment Himmelman, with +half a squadron of fast Fokkers, was leaving his own aerodrome but +ten miles distant, having received information of the raiders' +presence. The whole feat had taken place so quickly, however, and the +affair was so adroitly managed, that the intruders had just time to +make their escape.</p> + +<p>Not all the aviators, however, succeeded in crossing the German +lines. Franklin's engine was missing so badly that he was unable to +climb above four thousand feet, and when, shortly after, they reached +the battle front, where the Allies and Germany kept their +battle-line, the fusillade of the "Archies" commenced again. +Cras-s-sh came a shell right into his engine, and the machine went +down in a wild spinning nose-dive, just behind the enemy's front line +trench.</p> + +<p>Dastral and his comrades gnashed their teeth, as they saw their two +comrades thus hurled to death, but, after all, death is only an +incident in the life of a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps, and who +shall mourn when a hero dies? In these days of blood and iron, when +Britain stands once more at the cross roads, freedom and honour can +only be purchased by the blood of her bravest sons.</p> + +<p>That evening the dinner party which was held in the officers' mess at +the aerodrome near Contalmaison, was less joyous and boisterous than +the breakfast held there that same morning. Three of the 'planes of B +flight had come back, it is true, and had brought their pilots and +observers safely home through the ordeal of shot and shell. Every +machine bore evidence of the fight. Scarcely one of them would be fit +to fly again for another week, and the air-mechanics were already +hard at work, fitting new struts and control wires, ailerons, and +petrol tanks, for two at least of the three aeroplanes had barely +held together to the end, so plugged were they with machine gun, +rifle bullets and shrapnel; while Winstone's "old bus" had literally +fallen to pieces on landing, and he had narrowly escaped a crash.</p> + +<p>And when the second toast came, and Major Bulford rose to speak, his +glance fell upon the two vacant chairs (for according to custom the +places had been reserved); and his eyes glistened with something +suspiciously like a tear, and there was a strange huskiness about his +voice, as he uttered those words which had been so frequent of late,</p> + +<p>"Let us drink to the memory of the brave lads who were with us this +morning, but whose faces we shall never see again!"</p> + +<p>So they drank the toast in silence, and then the Squadron-Commander, +having regained his usual voice, added:--</p> + +<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20 fontsize80">"One crowded hour of glorious life,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20 fontsize80">Is worth an age without a name...!"</b><br> +<br> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter06"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VI</h3> + +<h4 align="center">A ZEPPELIN NIGHT</h4> + +<center><i>Per ardua ad astra</i></center> +<br> +<p>IT was a bright sunny morning in September during the great war, as +the mail packet slipped out of Calais breakwater, and headed for the +white cliffs of Dover. For two days the service had been suspended +for a special reason. Her decks were crowded with overdue mails, +including those from India, Egypt and Australia, which had come +overland from Brindisi.</p> + +<p>There was also a fair sprinkling of passengers, including not a few +officers, home on short leave from the Somme front, where the great +push was still in progress.</p> + +<p>Amongst the latter was a young officer, not more than twenty-two, +clad in a "British Warm" and wearing the well-known service cap of +the Flying Corps, with its circular badge, consisting of a wreath of +laurels and the magic letters, R.F.C.; letters which have already +woven themselves into the romance of English history, for the daring +deeds of our airmen had already gained for this juvenile corps +traditions which will never die.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral! Come back soon!" shouted several of his comrades, +who had come to the edge of the quay to see the hero off to Blighty +on his well-earned leave. For the youth in the service cap was none +other than Dastral of the Flying Corps, the brilliant young pilot who +had fought with the German air-fiend, Himmelman, only a few days +before and had perhaps done more than any other individual towards +wresting the supremacy of the air from the wily and cruel Boche.</p> + +<p>He had already won that coveted decoration, the D.S.O., as we have +previously seen, and now the King was about to confer upon him the +Military Cross, for a daring bombing raid which he had organised and +carried out over the enemy's lines, when as Commander of "B" Flight +he had led his men beyond the Somme, and blocked the enemy's +communications, bombed the Havrincourt-Bapaume Railway, and destroyed +the bridge and viaduct at Velu, hurling one long troop train to +destruction, and preventing the Germans reinforcing their front line +trenches near Ginchy and Morval. Now, after his latest deed, the King +had sent for him to congratulate him in person for his skill and +daring. On the morrow he was to be received in audience at Buckingham +Palace.</p> + +<p>If he had consulted his own wishes he would much have preferred to +remain with his comrades on the Somme, but a royal wish is an order, +and, after all, perhaps the ten days' leave which had been granted to +him would enable him to run north to visit his mother and friends in +the little village in Yorkshire, and to gaze once again upon those +blue, heather-tipped and bracing moorlands where he had spent his +boyhood.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral. Don't stay too long in Old Blighty!" again +shouted his friends, as the vessel sheered off and gained headway, +and he had shouted back in reply:</p> + +<p>"Cheer-o, boys! I shall soon be back again," waving his hand towards +his comrades, as he bent over the rail.</p> + +<p>As soon as they left the shelter of the breakwater a destroyer, +waiting outside, sent up a couple of flags to her masthead.</p> + +<p>"Send up the answering pennant, bosun!" cried the skipper of the +mail-boat, when he saw the destroyer's signal, and immediately after +he rang down to the engine room staff:</p> + +<p>"Full steam ahead!" for the warship was there to act as escort, as +there were very valuable mails aboard, and only two nights ago, the +enemy's destroyers, breaking out of their base at Zeebrugge, had +crept through the gap in the British mine-beds in the dark, and had +sent two patrols and an empty transport to the bottom.</p> + +<p>So, while the mail packet went full speed ahead, at twenty-four +knots, the destroyer, with her superior speed, waltzed round her, +like a dancing marionette, leaving a trail of white foam in her wake. +This she continued to do all the way across the Channel, for it was +known that several enemy submarines were lurking about the +neighbourhood, watching through their periscopes for just such a +target as the mail boat with her valuable cargo offered.</p> + +<p>Very soon, however, the white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight, and +when they entered the new naval harbour, the destroyer sheered off +and went back to her station.</p> + +<p>Dastral, having been recognised on the boat, had received several +invitations to dine in London that evening, but all these he had +courteously refused, although one of them had come from a Cabinet +minister and his wife who were travelling on the same boat.</p> + +<p>"No," he had said to himself, "there is poor old Tim Burkitt, my +colleague, who is studying law at Gray's Inn. I will go and hunt him +up. He will be glad to see me, and we will spend the night together +at Hallet's."</p> + +<p>Now Tim Burkitt, who suffered from a physical deformity, had been +breaking his young heart ever since war broke out, for he had been +rejected from every sphere of service in the great war, owing to his +deformity. He had seen his chums depart from Gray's into the Army, +the Navy and the Flying Corps, and he had been left behind almost +alone.</p> + +<p>He had been chummy with Dastral, for they came from the same village, +had come up to London together, and had shared the same drab dull +lodgings in the great city. Later he was destined to become a great +lawyer, for nature had compensated him by granting him the gift of +oratory, but he would have willingly given up all that if he could +but have shared with Dastral his adventures and his triumphs.</p> + +<p>This afternoon he had thrown aside his law books to read in the +papers a vivid description of Dastral's fight with Himmelman, the +German air-fiend, and the poor cripple, with tears of grief and envy +at his own hard lot, but with his heart full of joy at his comrade's +success had just thrown aside the paper, adding dejectedly:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dastral, how I would like to see you again! You were always a +true friend to me"; when suddenly he heard a scamper of footsteps up +the bare stone steps that led up to his chamber in Gray's, and the +next instant the door flew open, and Tim found himself embracing his +old colleague, with a warmth he had never exhibited before.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Dastral!" he cried again and again. "I knew you'd do it if +you had half a chance. And to think you should remember me, a poor +cripple, when all England is talking about you, and the King himself +has sent for you."</p> + +<p>"Here, stow it, Tim! Who do you think I should seek out first if not +you? I've come to spend the afternoon and evening with you. +To-morrow, after I have seen the King, I'm going home to Burnside, +where you and I spent so many happy days, and I want you to come with +me."</p> + +<p>"Good! Splendid! How kind of you, old fellow! Then to-night we'll +have a dinner all to ourselves at Hallet's. What say you?"</p> + +<p>"Right you are, Tim," said Dastral, clapping his old colleague on the +back, and making him the happiest fellow in all London for the nonce.</p> + +<p>That afternoon the two chums had a quiet stroll around Gray's, and +Lincoln's Inn Fields, then called on one or two acquaintances who had +also been left behind in the Temple. A visit to the Old Mitre of +sacred memory, and a quiet smoke in Johnson's Corner at the "Cheese" +in Fleet Street, passed away the hours of the golden afternoon, and +the evening found them snugly ensconced at Hallet's, where, in the +days gone by, they used to celebrate any little event in their lives +by a special dinner.</p> + +<p>Never for a moment did the conversation flag. The two chums unbosomed +themselves to one another, except that Dastral would not talk about +his adventures since he became a pilot in the Flying Corps, for the +members of this Corps never seek advertisement, preferring that the +record of their Homeric deeds should all go down to the credit of the +Corps, rather than to any particular individual.</p> + +<p>"But, Dastral," Tim would urge, as the plates and dishes disappeared +and another course was laid, "you must have had a hundred amazing +adventures since I saw you last. Just tell me about one of them, say +your fight with Himmelman!"</p> + +<p>"Bah! It was nothing, Tim--nothing, I mean to make a song about. If I +could write and speak like you, now, I might be able to make a tale +about it. But nature hasn't gifted me that way," replied the pilot.</p> + +<p>"But don't you feel the romance and glory of it all, fighting a +battle in the air at ten thousand feet?"</p> + +<p>"Romance, glory?" laughed Dastral. "There is no romance or glory +about war, when you are in it. It is horrid and brutal then. You must +be miles away to see the romance of it. It is all an ugly business."</p> + +<p>Tim couldn't understand him. He just couldn't, but he had one more +shot. "Don't you feel like singing sometimes, when you are up in the +azure, mounting in circles like a lark to meet the sun, and the +heavens are calling you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah, when I am ten thousand feet up, and the engines are running +smoothly, it is heavenly. I feel like music and romance then. The +song of the propellors is beautiful, and the beating of the engine +makes me imagine all sorts of weird things, but when I come down to +the earth again I forget all the things I would say. It is wonderful +though, that call of the heavens; the call of the wild, as the +gipsies say, isn't in it. But I cannot describe it."</p> + +<p>And so they talked on for an hour--two hours, long after the table +had been cleared, making rings of smoke into which Tim Burkitt at +least, with his rich imagination, saw wonderful things, when suddenly +something happened which made them both spring to their feet--the +electric lights went out, leaving them in utter darkness for a couple +of minutes.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" cried half a dozen voices, as soon as the +waiter appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he immediately placed +upon the centre table.</p> + +<p>"There is a rumour, sir, that the Zeppelins are to make an attack +upon London to-night, and the electric current has been turned off at +the main," replied the jovial, beefy-faced waiter, adding with a +smile, as he returned for another lamp, "What are we a-coming to?"</p> + +<p>At this announcement several people at once took their departure, +evidently thinking that Hallet's would be the first place to invite +the attention of the raiders, and one or two ladies fainted and had +to be helped out by their friends.</p> + +<p>A strange and eager look came into the eyes of Dastral at the word +Zeppelin. Tim noted it at once, and wondered what his colleague was +thinking about, for, though his gaze was eager and keen, there was a +far away look in his eyes. At the end of a minute he half uttered the +word:</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin!"</p> + +<p>Then he rose to his feet, but recalling himself almost with a jerk to +the fact of Tim's presence, he said apologetically,</p> + +<p>"I say, old fellow, we've had a jolly time, but I think I must leave +you, though it almost breaks my heart to do so."</p> + +<p>"Go? Where to, Dastral? I thought you were going to spend the night +at my rooms, and it's barely nine o'clock yet. Sit down, old man. You +haven't got the Zeppelin fright as well, have you? If you have, here +are my smelling salts--here, take a sniff now."</p> + +<p>For answer Dastral burst into a roar of laughter. Then subsiding +quickly, he said, in a more serious tone, bending low to whisper his +words in Burkitt's ears:</p> + +<p>"I have never yet fought a Zeppelin, except the lame duck we brought +down near Brussels. I would give all I possess to go up and fight +one. And during the last minute I have been wondering how it can be +done."</p> + +<p>"Well, how can you do it?"</p> + +<p>"That's the trouble. I'm not attached to any Wing or Squadron in +England. But a friend of mine has just recently returned from France, +and has been appointed Commanding Officer of the --th Squadron, with +its aerodrome about fifteen miles away from here. I must get into +touch with him, if possible."</p> + +<p>The next moment Dastral was engaged on the 'phone, trying in the dark +to find his friend somewhere at the other end of the wires. After +some ten minutes he managed it.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Hullo! Are you there?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, who are you?" came the reply.</p> + +<p>"I want the O.C. of your Squadron at once, please."</p> + +<p>"He is busily engaged, and I cannot disturb him now, unless it is +something of the highest importance. Hurry up, please, and tell me +who you are, and give me your message. The wires are urgently wanted +to-night."</p> + +<p>"I am Dastral, Flight-Commander Dastral of the --th Squadron, --th +Wing, and I have just come from France."</p> + +<p>"What! Beg pardon, sir. Dastral. Not the pilot who fought with +Himmelman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Hold the line a minute, sir."</p> + +<p>Twenty seconds later the O.C. of the Squadron himself was at the end +of that line.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Is that you, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. How are you, Garner, old man?"</p> + +<p>"But hang it, how came you to ring me up? I should dearly love to see +you, but I've my hands full to-night. We received '<i>Air Raid Action</i>' +half an hour ago. Several hostile airships have crossed the east +coast, and are making for the metropolis, so I cannot stay now. Come +and see me in the morning, do, old man. Eh, what's that you say?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't you a spare machine you could let me try if I came over +there by fast motor at once?"</p> + +<p>"Hullo! hullo! All the machines are out with the men standing by, +ready to go up at the first tip, except--let me see now--we've got a +new fast 'Buckstead Bullet' here, which none of the men are very +familiar with yet. There's that. Come if you like, old fellow. It's a +bit irregular, but if there should happen to be a big attack on +London, and the case warrants it, I see no reason why you shouldn't +try the blamed thing. It's a single-seater, only just in from the +makers, and a devil of a whizzer as well as a first class climber!"</p> + +<p>"Right-o! I'm coming straight away!" cried Dastral, waiting to hear +no more, and banging down the receiver.</p> + +<p>The next minute he was outside on the pavement, forgetting all about +Tim, the settlement of the bill, and everything else. Tim, however, +who had heard part of the message, had already paid the bill and got +outside, where he had hailed a taxi, determined not to be left +behind, for his quick intuitive mind had told him which way the wind +was blowing. He had had a hard job to secure the vehicle, for there +had been a great demand for the same, but he had whispered Dastral's +name to the chauffeur and had agreed to foot the bill however big it +might be, although he had only three half-crowns left in his pocket +after squaring the bill indoors. That did not bother him at all, +however. Here was a chance of rendering some service, however small, +to the nation at large, for he felt convinced that if only Dastral +could have a chance he would bring down half a dozen raiders.</p> + +<p>Immediately, therefore, Dastral appeared at the doorway he shouted:</p> + +<p>"This way, Dastral, this way. Quick!"</p> + +<p>"What the deuce----"</p> + +<p>"Inside, old man; this is my show!" and before the bewildered pilot +could finish his exclamation, he was inside and Tim was with him and +the door closed.</p> + +<p>"Where to?" asked the cripple.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the directions, and told the driver to do his utmost to +get them there within an hour, or it would be too late.</p> + +<p>Within ten seconds they were whizzing away through the darkness in +the direction of the Great North Road, and as there was very little +traffic about, they reached their destination within three quarters +of an hour. It was not a minute too soon. They had seen the +searchlights at work on their way north, and towards the end of their +journey they had several times heard the anti-aircraft guns blazing +away at something up in the clouds.</p> + +<p>"Halt! Who goes there?" came the challenge as they reached the +turning which left the main road, and finished at the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>The vehicle halted abruptly, for the driver had seen the flash of the +barrel of a Smith & Weston revolver, which the air-mechanic on +sentry-go held out to bar their progress.</p> + +<p>"Flight-Commander of the Royal Flying Corps," shouted the pilot, +hoping that would allow him to pass, and to get on to the aerodrome +immediately, but the sentry was obdurate.</p> + +<p>"Let me see your permit, sir," he asked.</p> + +<p>"Haven't got one."</p> + +<p>"Turn out guard!" shouted the sentry, and turning to the newcomers, +he added:</p> + +<p>"Advance, Flight-Commander, and report to the guard-room."</p> + +<p>The guard-room was but a few yards further on, and the corporal of +the guard, approaching the carriage, saluted, and led Dastral and Tim +away to the Flight-Sergeant at the Orderly Room. He was expected, and +a minute afterwards he was shaking hands with Garner, who had been +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>And now there was not a moment to spare, for the presence of the +raiders had been reported from the O.C. Searchlights, as hiding +somewhere in the clouds between Hatfield and Barnet, trying to break +through to London. Only a ring of curtain fire from the A.A. +Batteries, and a cordon of long flashing lights which swept the sky +from the horizon was keeping them back.</p> + +<p>Several machines had already gone up in search of the enemy and the +other pilots were standing by their machines ready to "take off" +immediately the order was given.</p> + +<p>Immediately, therefore, Dastral had settled with the driver of the +taxi, and introduced Tim to his friend, Squadron-Commander Garner, +they were led through the darkness to the shed where the "Buckstead +Bullet," as she was nicknamed, lay all ready to be wheeled out.</p> + +<p>"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed Dastral, immediately he saw the little +single-seater monoplane, for he had flown a similar machine several +times in France.</p> + +<p>With the aid of a dark lanthorn he carefully went over her, and +lovingly fingered every part of her, from the bullet-nosed fuselage +which gave her her nickname, to her neat, trim little tail and +rudder.</p> + +<p>The noise of the A.A. guns became louder and louder outside, as +though they had discovered one of the raiders. And Dastral was just +itching to go up!</p> + +<p>"Let me go up in her, Garner!" he said. "She's a beauty!"</p> + +<p>The O.C. scratched his head. He had wanted to fly her himself, for +she was the only spare machine left over, and, moreover, as Dastral +was not attached to the squadron, it was somewhat irregular for him +to use the machine, without the express permission of the Wing +Headquarters. He hesitated for a moment therefore, but, just at that +instant, one of the raiders suddenly emerged from the edge of a cloud +where it had been in hiding, and a fresh burst of anti-aircraft +gunfire caused some excitement.</p> + +<p>"There she is!" cried some one, as one of the searchlights caught +her.</p> + +<p>"As you like, Dastral. There's your target. Get into your togs +quickly and I'll take the risk of it. I must leave you for a moment +now. Those fellows in 'C' Flight are waiting to go up," and with that +the O.C. turned round and dashed off, while Dastral, without waiting +for anything further, got into a huge leathern coat, pilot's boots, +and donned the flying helmet with long ear flaps and queer-looking +goggles, which an air-mechanic had brought him.</p> + +<p>Two minutes later the young pilot climbed into the 'plane, gave a +final look round, waved a good-bye to Tim, whose pale face, now +working with intense excitement, he discerned in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"All ready, sir?" asked the Flight-Sergeant.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave him a nod, and prepared to switch on the the current.</p> + +<p>"Swing the propellor!" came next, and as the cool, calculating pilot +pulled a switch, the mighty engine broke into its terrible song.</p> + +<p>"Rep-p-p, rep-p-p! Whir-r-r!"</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" and away went the monoplane like a bullet out of a +gun. As she started, a searchlight was deflected in a long beam along +the ground, to give the daring young aviator the direction for his +take-off, for the dangers of night-flying are many, as more than one +brave pilot has found to his cost before now.</p> + +<p>At a hundred yards the "Bullet" sprang into the air, and soared +upward at a tremendous speed, being quickly lost to sight, as the +searchlights tried once more to find the raider, which had found +things too warm, and had sought again the shelter of the clouds.</p> + +<p>By short and rapid spirals, Dastral soon reached a thousand feet. +Every now and then he turned his little shaded electric lamp on to +the indicator, which seemed to vibrate merrily, and almost to smile, +as its little rounded dial told the altitude. Up and up they went, +and the indicator almost laughed with joy as it clicked out the +figures:</p> + +<p>"Two thousand, two thousand five hundred, three thousand feet!"</p> + +<p>Still they seemed to be climbing all too slowly for the pilot. He had +caught sight of the Zeppelin when she showed herself for a moment, +and he had said to himself:</p> + +<p>"Twelve thousand feet, and then there'll be a chance! But nothing +less than that will do."</p> + +<p>He was impatient therefore to get higher and higher, for he feared +the raiders would discharge or jettison their cargo of bombs before +he could get at them. They certainly would have done, had they known +that at that very moment Himmelman's rival was climbing to meet them, +on a Buckstead Bullet, which could do one hundred and thirty miles an +hour when pushed.</p> + +<p>Already a number of bombs had been dropped, and away to the northward +several fires could be seen where the night-raiders had left their +victims behind, in the shape of burning homesteads, where the victims +were women and children, old men and invalids; but the avenger was at +hand, and the hour of reckoning had come.</p> + +<p>"Eight thousand, nine thousand feet!" clicked the indicator, though +its voice was lost in the roar of the engine and propellor.</p> + +<p>At eight thousand feet Dastral passed several of the 'planes which +had preceded him, and at nine thousand he left the last of them +behind him and entered into a bank of clouds. Never once had he +ceased his rapid, climbing spirals, and now, through the misty, +clinging vapour of the clouds he still soared heavenwards. Once or +twice he stopped his engines just to listen for a few seconds, but he +heard nothing except the whir-r-r-r of the 'planes beneath him.</p> + +<p>He was ahead of them all now, for his engines were running +beautifully, and the "Bullet" raced through the next layer of clouds +as a fish darts through the waters. It was becoming lighter also, for +he could catch glimpses of the stars, and the remaining clouds were +thinner than those below. Soon, he would be above them all, and +perhaps above the raider. It was cold too, bitterly cold, but his +young blood coursed madly through his veins, and his heart beat +quicker and quicker.</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand. Eleven thousand," laughed the indicator, joining +merrily in the hunt, for it seemed to Dastral now that he could hear +those weird voices of the night, speaking to him and calling him up +and up, ever higher and higher. Yes, the clouds and the stars were +calling him, and the music and rhythm of that pulsating engine a few +feet away, and the whir-r-r of those propellors just ahead, seemed to +make him almost light-headed, so that he began to laugh and sing.</p> + +<p>He thought of crooked Tim far down below, and what he had said about +the romance and the music, and from the pilot's lips there fell +involuntarily the words:</p> + +<p>"Poor Tim! How he would like to be up here alone, and to listen to +all these voices of the night!"</p> + +<p>As Dastral thought thus, he looked down, far down into the blackness, +and he saw the flashes of the searchlights. Sometimes they reached up +to him long extended arms that seemed to unite him to the earth, but +he could scarcely believe that he had ever dwelt down there in that +abyss of murky darkness. Yet always he swerved aside, and evaded +those long stretching pillars of light, for he knew that if he +crossed their beams but once, other eyes would see him, and the +raider above would be warned of his near approach.</p> + +<p>Suddenly at twelve thousand feet the monoplane shook itself as though +dashing the clinging moisture from its yellow wings, and leapt, like +a fish out of the water, above the topmost layer of clouds.</p> + +<p>And now with keen searching eyes Dastral looked above and around for +the presence of the raider, but she was nowhere to be seen. Below him +rolled the clouds, like dark, monstrous billows. Here and there +through an opening he still saw the flashes of the searchlights +feeling for their prey. But above his head the sky was aflame with +millions of stars. Right across from east to west, like a silvery +pathway to heaven, shone the Milky Way, luminous with light, and +along that trail of diamonds shone the bigger stars, in the +constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Aquila. And far down in the +east, Orion the Hunter chased the dancing Pleiades, as he did +thousands of years before aeroplanes were ever dreamt of.</p> + +<p>"But where is the Boche?" Dastral asked himself again and again.</p> + +<p>He was beginning to fear that he had lost him. Perhaps the Hun had +caught sight of him as he came through the clouds, and had now +departed unseen, as he came.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, have I missed him after all?" he cried. "For months and +months I have been longing to fight with a Zeppelin, and now he's +slipped me."</p> + +<p>And for ten minutes he circled about, stopping his engines once or +twice to listen for the roar of the invader's engines and propellors. +Suddenly something whizzed past him and burst into a jet of flame. It +was a shrapnel with a time fuse. Then another and another. They were +firing again, then, down below, and they must have picked up the +airship once more.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed. "She must be somewhere near me too, for I am +almost in the line of fire."</p> + +<p>Looking down he saw what had happened. The clouds in which the +Zeppelin had been hiding were breaking up and drifting away, for a +fresh, cold wind had sprung up from the east.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ah! I shall see her soon. She cannot escape me now. I shall find +her in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Whiz! Puff!" came another time fuse, and burst not fifty feet away, +several pieces of which pierced the left wing of the monoplane.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, but that was close!" he cried, throwing out three balls, +which burst into red flame as they fell towards the earth, and was +the signal for the Archies to stop firing.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there she is!" exclaimed the daring pilot, as, out of the +clouds, a thousand feet below him, he saw a black mass emerge against +the lighter background of the thinning clouds. At the same instant +the searchlights found her, and a dozen long arms of streaming light +focussed their united rays upon her.</p> + +<p>"Gemini! What a target!" cried Dastral, as he pulled the joy-stick +over and dived to the attack, without a second's hesitation.</p> + +<p>His gun, already cocked and ready to fire through the whirling +propellor, and loaded with the new flaming bullet, was brought to +bear.</p> + +<p>Down, down he went, firing rapidly all the while. Then underneath and +alongside her he raced, pumping his second and third drum into the +huge looming mass.</p> + +<p>Far below his friends saw the whirling monoplane, in the glare of the +searchlight, for now it was as bright as day. The A.A. guns had +ceased their fire in response to his signals, but the men on the +doomed Zeppelin brought three or four of their eleven machine guns to +bear upon him, but it was too late. They knew the deadly peril they +were in, and it was impossible for them with their unsteady nerves to +hit any vital part of that waspish little fiend, which circled round, +above and below them at a truly terrific rate.</p> + +<p>Dastral, in his rapid nose-dive, had dipped five hundred feet below +the monster and flattened out to return to the attack, but, as he +commenced his climb again he saw that the silvery glare of the +Zeppelin, as it had appeared to him but twenty seconds before in the +lure of the searchlights, had taken on a ruby glow, which, as he +mounted up, became a ruddy glare.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! She is on fire already!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>It was only too true. The engines had been set going, for the +Zeppelin commander had tried to make his escape, just as he was +discovered, but it was too late. He had never suspected that +Himmelman's terrible opponent was overhead, having climbed up twelve +thousand feet while he had been hiding in the cloud.</p> + +<p>"Ach! Gott in Himmel! Wir sind verloren! Donner and Blitz!"</p> + +<p>Never will Dastral forget the sight which he beheld that night, close +at hand, for the Huns now realised that all was lost, and that a +terrible and speedy vengeance awaited them all from which there was +no escape. As the huge envelope kindled into fierce leaping flames, +two hundred feet high, the pilot could plainly see the panic-stricken +crew of the doomed airship, wringing their hands in terror and +fright, as they dashed madly along the narrow footways that led from +one gondola to another, trying to escape, till the last second, from +the fierce flames that spurted out above and below, and licked up and +consumed everything with their intense heat.</p> + +<p>It was truly a terrible sight, and the burning mass lit up the +countryside far below as well as the great metropolis away to the +south. Never since the day when every hill-top in England was aflame +with the fires that announced the coming of the Spanish Armada, in +the days of the great sea-dogs, had such a beacon been lighted in +this land of ours.</p> + +<p>Down, down fell the flaming mass, lower and lower, while the daring +pilot, bewildered at what he had done, followed her, circling round +and round, till, when some eight thousand feet from the ground, one +of her four hundred-weight bombs, with which her crew had hoped to +wipe out some peaceful village, exploded with the intense heat.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m! Crash!" came the terrible sound, and the flaming mass, +shivered into a thousand fragments by the explosion, fell down to the +peaceful earth below with the charred and mutilated bodies of its +crew of baby-killers.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Dastral, guided by a score of still flaming +fragments about the adjacent fields, landed safely on the level +stretch of grass from which he had ascended to fight the midnight +raider.</p> + +<p>Next morning the daring pilot was decorated by His Majesty King +George, and ten days later, having bade farewell to his friend, Tim +Burkitt, he was back with his Squadron in France, and leading "B" +Flight over the German lines once again.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter07"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VII</h3> + +<h4 align="center">COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART"</h4> + +<p>"REVEILLE! Show a leg there!" shouted Corporal Yap, one morning, as +he went round the tents and hangars about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>The sleepy air-mechanics of the Royal Flying Corps in the field +opened their eyes and yawned, showing no immediate disposition to +rise, for the fatigue of the previous day's work had scarcely passed +away.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear me, Cowdie, you, 'spare part.' Get up there smartly. I +shan't call you again. If you're not on parade in fifteen minutes +you'll be for the high jump."</p> + +<p>"'S all right, Corporal," shouted the "spare part," trying to wriggle +out of his roll of blankets and commencing to sing in a doleful +monotone:</p> + +<br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">"Oh, it' snice to get up in the mornin'<br></b> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">But it' snicer to stop in bed..."<br></b> +<br> + +<p> +Corporal Yap turned and went off on his errand, shaking up a few more +"spare parts," and threatening everybody more or less with "the high +jump"; which, of course, meant an appearance before the Commanding +Officer of the Squadron.</p> + +<p>As soon as his woolly head had disappeared behind the flap of the +tent door, Cowdie rolled back into his blankets for another +minute-and-a-half's nap. As he lay there he looked for all the world +like an Egyptian mummy, for he had a peculiar way of rolling himself +up in his blankets at night which gave him that appearance. But +although his eyes were closed his ears were wide awake for the soft, +stealthy tread of the orderly N.C.O., who he knew would be sure to +return in about the space of ninety seconds to try to find who had +left his warning unheeded.</p> + +<p>Cowdie, though a spare part about the aerodrome, was quite a genius +in his way. His senses were so acute that the others said he could +hear the "footsteps" of a snake in the grass, so they dubbed him the +"listening post" and made him sleep next the door of the tent, so +that he could always give the alarm in case of need.</p> + +<p>At the present moment he was counting under his breath. He knew the +orderly's round, and knew to a nicety how long it would take him to +get back to tent No. 7. He allowed ninety seconds, and he had just +got as far as "eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine," when he +suddenly stood bolt upright in his roll of blankets, thereby +performing a wonderful gymnastic feat, and looking, with his sleeping +cap over his head and ears, not unlike a Turk preparing for his +morning ablutions.</p> + +<p>Evidently he had heard some soft stealthy tread on the grass outside, +for exactly at "ninety" the woolly head of Corporal Yap appeared at +the door once more, and his yapping voice called:</p> + +<p>"Caught you this time, you trilobite. Out you come! Can't say I +didn't give you warning, Cowdie!"</p> + +<p>Then catching sight of his man in the grey morning light, the +Corporal gasped, and fell back a pace or two.</p> + +<p>"The deuce! Do you sleep standing up, man?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes," replied the Spare Part. "M.O.'s orders. Number Nine told +me to do so the last time I reported sick."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to? About to have a Turkish bath, I s'pose; all +right, my man, I'll catch you yet. If you're not on parade in twelve +minutes, bath or no bath, you're for it. D'y'understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Corporal, but I'm not going to have a bath. They're dangerous. +Number Nine ordered me not to. Said I'd got a murmuring heart, he +did," replied the Spare Part meekly.</p> + +<p>"Murmuring heart, have you? Then where are you goin' to in that rig?"</p> + +<p>"Ain't goin' anywhere; Corporal. I'm standin' still."</p> + +<p>"What are you standin' still for?"</p> + +<p>"Waitin' for my turn with the shavin' brush," came the quiet answer.</p> + +<p>At this the Corporal departed, swearing wrathfully, for he was no +match for Cowdie. At his departure the rest of the company in No. 7 +tent burst into loud laughter, for they enjoyed immensely this daily +tug-of-war between the bullying orderly N.C.O. and the apparently +meek but cunning Cowdie, who was a great favourite, despite the +nickname of "Spare Part," and "Regimental Cuckoo," which had been +bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>Though he had lost two minutes in the start yet Cowdie was dressed, +washed and shaved first as usual, for somehow he had the knack of +literally jumping into his clothes, even when the men received an +alarm and were turned out in the dark of the night.</p> + +<p>These little morning episodes did much to enliven the men and to help +them to endure the dull fatigue and monotony which was part of the +lot of every man ho went overseas with the British Expeditionary +Force. All the time they were preparing for the roll call, dressing, +shaving, rolling up their beds, tidying their kits, a running fire of +sparkling wit and frolic was kept up.</p> + +<p>Even when the aerodrome was bombed by the German aeroplanes, which +happened two or three times each week, almost always just as dawn was +breaking, these brave men joked just the same, amid the bursting +bombs, and the blinding flashes of the explosions, the ensuing +crashes, and the rattle of the anti-aircraft guns with which the +aerodrome was defended.</p> + +<p>While the shaving was in progress this morning and three of the men +were trying to shave by the aid of one little cracked mirror about +three inches by two in size, Brat, the despatch-rider attached to the +squadron, said to the inimitable Cowdie,</p> + +<p>"I hope you finished that letter last night, old man. You finished up +all that two inches of candle I lent you. It must have been a long +letter you wrote."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't quite finish it," replied Cowdie quietly.</p> + +<p>"Was it another letter to your little girl in Old Blighty?"</p> + +<p>"No, it was a short letter to mother," replied the Spare Part in a +choking voice.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! And you didn't finish it?"</p> + +<p>"No," came the quiet answer, as Cowdie began to attack his upper lip, +which was all quivering with apparent emotion.</p> + +<p>"What did you say, then?"</p> + +<p>"I said, 'Dear Mother,--I am sending you five shillings, but not this +week.'"</p> + +<p>At this a burst of laughter from the whole party called forth the ire +of Old Snorty, who was passing by, for he had been up early, with +several squads of air-mechanics, seeing off "B" Flight, who were +paying another early morning visit to the enemy.</p> + +<p>"A little less noise there, Number Seven, or some of you'll be in the +guard room. How the deuce can we hear when 'B' Flight's coming in, if +you kick up a row like that?"</p> + +<p>"Old Snorty seems to have something on his mind this morning, doesn't +he?" said some one. "'B' Flight won't be back for a couple of hours +yet."</p> + +<p>So the men were quiet for a whole minute after that until the +sergeant-major, having passed out of earshot, and there still being +three minutes left for parade, the men returned to their chaff and +titter, Brat leading off again by saying:</p> + +<p>"That letter of yours, Cowdie, reminds me of another chap who worked +alongside of me near St. Pierre with the --th Squadron. He once wrote +a letter to his mother as follows:</p> + +<br> +<p> +"'Dear Mother,--Enclosed please find fifteen shillings. I cannot.<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent50">"'Your affectionate son, John.'"</b> +</p> +<br> + +<p> +And the joke was reckoned so good in our squadron that we raised the +money for the poor chap, and he sent it after all."</p> + +<p>"Fall in!" came a stentorian shout, as Brat finished telling this +yarn. And the men of Number Seven doubled up to fall in on the left, +and answer their names to the early morning roll, for another day had +begun, and more than one man of that small crowd was to prove himself +a hero before another sun should come up out of the German lines +beyond Ginchy, and set in blood-red clouds behind the British lines.</p> + +<p>Some two hours after that, as the men busy about the labours of the +day, which in an aerodrome, under active service conditions, range +from the rigging of a defective aeroplane, mending struts, replacing +controls, preparing ammunition dumps, to the taking down of a R.A.F. +engine, and while "A" Flight was returning from a reconnaissance, and +"C" Flight was preparing to go up and over the lines on a bombing +raid, Grenfell, the orderly officer at the aerodrome 'phone, received +a broken message from somewhere near Ginchy.</p> + +<p>The message had to do with the crash of a British 'plane somewhere in +front or just behind the first line trenches, but a terrific +bombardment being concentrated on the place at the time the message +suddenly ceased, as though the wires had been broken, or the speaker +at the other end put out of action.</p> + +<p>A minute later Snorty came dashing down towards the spot where Number +Seven squad were working.</p> + +<p>"Where is Brat?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Over there, sir, in the transport shed," replied Cowdie.</p> + +<p>"Fetch him at once!"</p> + +<p>And Cowdie dashed off to find his chum, bringing him back a moment +later.</p> + +<p>"Bratby!" shouted Snorty, giving the despatch-rider his full name for +once, as he saw the two doubling up.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," came the answer smartly.</p> + +<p>"You know the observing officer's dug-out near Ginchy?"</p> + +<p>"The place where I carried the despatches the other day, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I know it."</p> + +<p>"Good! Go there at once. The wires are snapped again, and we have +received a broken message through which stopped in the middle. One of +our 'planes has come down. It must be part of 'B' Flight, for they're +not in yet. Go there at once, take this message to the officer or +senior N.C.O. in charge, and get the full message from him. Learn +what you can while you are there, and come back at once, so that we +may send out a breakdown gang for the machine, if not too late."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mind, we want the exact location of the machine, and you must try to +find out if it is a bad crash, and what has become of the pilot and +observer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Now get off at once. It is five minutes since the machine crashed. +And be careful now. There are some nasty corners there, and the +Germans are shelling the Ginchy lines 'hell for leather' this +morning."</p> + +<p>Then, catching sight of Cowdie, for whom he had rather a soft place +in his rugged heart, the Sergeant-Major added,</p> + +<p>"Better take the 'Spare Part' with you. You may need a second man."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir."</p> + +<p>The next moment the two chums, happy as schoolboys because they were +entrusted with a dangerous commission, had the "New Triumph" out of +the shed. Then, with Cowdie seated on the carrier, Brat on the +saddle, away they went, past the aerodrome sentries, out at the gate, +and down the road towards the trenches.</p> + +<p>"Zinc-zinc-a-bonck-rep-r-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>But, alas, it was an adventure which was to prove something more than +a joy ride, before another two hours were past.</p> + +<p>It was a clear sunny morning as they pattered along, wondering much +what new venture it was that awaited them. Over there towards Ginchy +the air was thick with bursting shells, and the clear, blue sky was +marked in a score of places at once by aeroplanes and kite balloons, +whilst round about them were splashes of fire, and floating +milk-white cloudlets where the shells burst, as the Huns tried to +bring down our "birds."</p> + +<p>An air-fight was in progress already over Ginchy; two Fokkers which +had ventured near the British lines were being countered and chased +by several of our Sopwiths. They were two of the very same Fokkers +which had chased Dastral and the remnant of "B" Flight after their +drums of ammunition were all used up.</p> + +<p>But Dastral, where was he at this moment? This was the thought that +was uppermost in the minds of the two men as they whizzed down the +Ginchy road, leaving Bazentin on their left. For of all the pilots of +the --th Squadron, Dastral was the greatest favourite with the men. +He was so brilliant and daring that they felt they could not afford +to lose him.</p> + +<p>"I hope it isn't Dastral who has crashed, Cowdie," said Brat.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," replied Cowdie, feeling at the time somehow that it +could be no one else.</p> + +<p>"'B' Flight ought to have returned some time ago now. I'm very much +afraid they've met their match this time. We could afford to lose +half a dozen men rather than the Commander of 'B' Flight."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he's met Himmelman," urged the man on the carrier, steadying +himself for the next heavy jolt, for the last one had nearly thrown +him off, and the bad places were becoming more and more plentiful as +they neared the lines.</p> + +<p>"He will meet him some day, and there'll be a deuce of a fight. Just +mark my words. There isn't room for two lords of the air, not in +these parts, and one of them will go under."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope it will be the Boche."</p> + +<p>"So it will be if they meet on equal terms, but the German air-fiend +is a wily brute."</p> + +<p>"Whiz-z-z! Bang-g-g!" came a shell at that moment, striking the +ground not thirty yards away from them, and sending both men and +motor-cycle spinning into the ditch by the very concussion.</p> + +<p>"Not hurt, are you, Cowdie?" asked Brat, as he scrambled out of the +ditch first, and ran to help his friend.</p> + +<p>"No, but it was a very near thing that. Another few inches and that +would have been the end of the regimental 'spare part.' Look here!" +and Cowdie showed a rent in his tunic where a piece of shrapnel had +torn away six inches of it behind the left shoulder.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, though both were shaken, neither of the men had been +actually hit It was a marvellous escape, however, one of those things +one cannot account for. Though the machine had been badly knocked +about and splintered, it had received no vital injury, and, after +straightening out a few spokes, and cutting away a few more they +mounted again and proceeded a little further.</p> + +<p>"Halt Who goes there?" came the shout as they pattered up to the +support trenches.</p> + +<p>They halted and dismounted, and after telling their business were +allowed to proceed, but they were cautioned that the road ahead was +full of shell holes, and that they would not be able to ride much +further. They would certainly be stopped at the reserve trenches.</p> + +<p>Once more they started, their heads throbbing and aching with the +noise of the terrific bombardment which was proceeding, for they were +now in the super-danger zone, and shells were screaming overhead +every few seconds, and many were bursting on their left and on their +right.</p> + +<p>Again they were halted, this time by a sentry near the second line +trenches, and were absolutely refused permission to proceed further +till they explained to the officer of the company commanding the +trench what their errand was.</p> + +<p>"Wires broken, did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Nearly all the wires to the front line trenches in this sector have +been broken. We have had the engineers out all the morning mending +them."</p> + +<p>"There is news of one of our fighting 'planes having crashed +somewhere over there, half an hour ago, sir," said Bratby, "and we +have been ordered to proceed as near as possible to the place, to +find out what has happened, as the aerodrome wire has been snapped."</p> + +<p>"An aeroplane crashed, did you say?" asked the officer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"There have been half a dozen of them down in front of us since seven +o'clock this morning; most of them German, I think."</p> + +<p>"This was one of ours, sir."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw it. There were two of them came down about the same time, +but the other one fell by our support trenches and the pilot and +observer were saved."</p> + +<p>"And the other one, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there is no hope for that one. She came down over there near our +front line trench, and she was blazing when she crashed. We could not +get at her, or at least we kept the men back who volunteered, as the +Germans turned their machine guns on her directly she hit the ground +and swept the spot for twenty minutes."</p> + +<p>"The devils!" ejaculated Brat, looking more serious than he had ever +looked in his life, while a strange light shone in Cowdie's eyes.</p> + +<p>"We were told that we must get to the dug-out of Captain Grenfell, +somewhere in the front line trench."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well; but you fellows go at your own risk. The Boches have +been shelling the place like hell most of the time since daybreak."</p> + +<p>"We're quite prepared to take the risk, sir!" replied Cowdie.</p> + +<p>"Come this way, then, and mind that corner. We call it Hell-fire +Corner these days, for we have lost more men there than at any other +point," replied the officer.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later he handed them over to a sergeant, with +instructions to conduct them to the dug-out where Captain Grenfell +and his two operators still held on to the end of the broken wires. +No messages had come through for some time, but several squads of +Royal Engineers were busy crawling out in the open and trying to find +the loose ends in order to restore communication.</p> + +<p>When they arrived there Captain Grenfell gave them the full text of +the message which he had tried to get through, and pointed out to +them the place where the ruins of the aeroplane lay, for they were +still smoking.</p> + +<p>"But the pilot, sir, where is he? And where is the observer? They +were the best men in the Squadron, and their loss will be felt +greatly, for Lieutenant Dastral was reckoned the best pilot in +France, and great things were expected from him in the near future," +said Brat.</p> + +<p>For answer the Captain shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture +which seemed to indicate that he feared the case was hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Their bodies must be somewhere over there. Several of our men +volunteered to go over to rescue them, but every man who went over +the top went to his death, until the O.C. refused permission for any +more to attempt it, for he said he could not spare the men."</p> + +<p>While they were thus discussing the matter, one of the sentries a +little further down the trench gave an alarm:</p> + +<p>"Cloud of gas or fog coming over, sir, from the German lines!"</p> + +<p>Brat and Cowdie, at these words, peeped over the edge of the parapet, +and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, a dense yellowish vapour +coming slowly onward from a point where the enemy's lines curved +round and faced the British lines from almost due south-east. The +order was passed quickly down the lines for the men to don their +gas-helmets, but the C.O. coming along the trench shortly afterwards, +remarked that it could not possibly be gas, for, from the direction +whence it came, it would pass onwards over a portion of the enemy's +lines at a spot where the trenches curved back again and made a +salient. At this point the lines twisted and bent themselves into +many curious salients, for the last advance had not thoroughly +straightened out the position.</p> + +<p>"The Germans are not such fools as to gas their own men, Grenfell, +what do you say?" remarked the officer commanding the trench to +Grenfell, who had come out of his dug-out to get a view of the cloud.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. There must be some other reason."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the reason is, I think, a change of wind which is bringing +on a dense fog."</p> + +<p>"You are quite right, sir," added the other, after regarding the air +and sky for some ten seconds. "There has been a sudden change of +wind, and a dense local fog is coming up from the valley. The whole +landscape will be blotted out in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Grenfell," replied the officer. Then, turning to his +orderly-sergeant, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Pass the order for the men to stand-to! There is no telling but that +the Boches may come over the top with the fog, and try to surprise +us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," came the reply smartly, and the sergeant, saluting, +disappeared along the trench, calling out the men from the dug-outs, +and ordering a general "stand-to."</p> + +<p>The chance was too good to be lost. Cowdie gave Brat a dig in the +ribs, and whispered to him,</p> + +<p>"Now is the time. See, the fog thickens, and it is nearly up to the +wrecked aeroplane. Let's go over, or the Boches will be there first. +They're sure to try it on. What say you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm with you, old man, but it will be an awful job. Have you got +your revolver loaded, for we've got nothing else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied his chum, feeling that his weapon was safe in the +leather case, which hung at his left side.</p> + +<p>"Come on, then; we haven't a second to lose."</p> + +<p>The next instant they were over the top, and making a dash for the +spot already hidden in the fog.</p> + +<p>"Come back there, you fellows!" cried a sergeant of the Wiltshires, +whose company lined the trench. "Where the deuce are you going to?"</p> + +<p>"To save Lieutenant Dastral and his observer, sergeant! Don't let +your men fire on us. We'll be back in five minutes," shouted Bratby.</p> + +<p>"Devil a bit of use you fellows throwing your lives away like that. +The Boches are sure to attack under cover of the fog. Come back, the +pilot must have been dead an hour. The machine was ablaze when it +crashed," called the sergeant again.</p> + +<p>To this they returned no answer, but scampered as fast as they could +across the broken ground, creeping under barbed wire, and stumbling +into shell holes, for the ground had been torn and rent by the +morning's bombardment, and huge gaps had been made in the barbed wire +defences.</p> + +<p>Now, when Dastral, his ammunition expended, his machine damaged to +such an extent that it scarcely held together, had reached the +British lines that morning, after the brilliant reconnaissance he had +carried out with his Flight, he made a steep gradient to get to earth +at the first possible landing-place, but even as he made the attempt +he knew he would fail. The wasp's fuselage was plugged in a hundred +places. The petrol feed had been severed by shrapnel, and a shell +from the German lines, hitting the reserve petrol tank, set it +ablaze, just at the moment when he was making for the ground.</p> + +<p>Half-blinded by the flames and scorched by the heat, he, +nevertheless, held the joystick firmly, and tried to reach his +objective, but, when near the trenches, the machine nose-dived and +crashed, side-slipping to the earth, so that the left aileron struck +the ground first. Then she rolled over, and crumpled up. She did not +strike the ground with any great force, because Dastral had kept her +so well in hand.</p> + +<p>Disentangling himself from the wreckage first, bruised, and burnt, he +yet remembered Jock, who had received still greater injury.</p> + +<p>"Jock!" he called. "Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>But no reply came from the unconscious observer, who lay under the +wreckage which was now in flames.</p> + +<p>"Come along, old man! Pull yourself together. The Huns are sure to +turn their machine guns upon us in a few seconds."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke there came the dreaded sound, which told that the +infernal Huns had opened fire upon the wreckage.</p> + +<p>"Rep-p-p! Rep-r-r-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>A howl of rage went up from the British trenches at this act of +cowardice, which permitted men to turn their guns upon wounded +officers, entangled in the wreckage of a burning aeroplane.</p> + +<p>"Come on, boys, let's give 'em 'ell!" shouted some of the Wiltshires, +when they saw what was happening, and at least a dozen men sprang out +of the British trenches of their own free will in a useless attempt +to save the lives of the aviators, but every man fell long before he +gained the spot where the wreckage lay.</p> + +<p>Dastral, however, kept cool, and seeing a pilot's boot projecting +from under the blazing he seized it, and tugged away, until the +unconscious form of his chum lay at his feet. Then, heedless of the +bullets still whizzing around him, he dragged his comrade quickly +into the friendly shelter of a huge crater, a dozen yards away. Even +as he rolled over into the hollow, after throwing Jock in first, his +thick, leather pilot's coat was pierced by several bullets, and he +himself was wounded again.</p> + +<p>Still cheerful, however, he bandaged his wound, then endeavoured to +rouse Jock, but all his efforts failed.</p> + +<p>So he searched him, found several wounds, bound them up as well as he +could with the emergency lint and bandages which every soldier on +active service carries in the lining of his coat. Then, through sheer +loss of blood he fainted away, and lay there he knew not how long, +for he was thoroughly exhausted, and felt that he was dying.</p> + +<p>As he slumbered, sheltered in that little hollow from the direct fire +of the enemy, he became feverish, and dreamt wild, fantastic dreams. +With Jock beside him he sailed away on the hornet, over distant +lands, where the skies were blue and the sun shone bright and the +atmosphere was pleasant and warm.</p> + +<p>Here there were no Germans to worry them with shrapnel and bullets, +but calmly and serenely they sailed over huge forests and deserts, +swamps and islands, which studded the deep blue sea far below them, +like gems set in emerald. Now they were in the tropics, skimming +along over huge palm trees, and lagoons that opened out into the sea. +Great monsters basked in the sunlight on the banks of the rivers and +lagoons, and on the shores of the sea. They were in an unknown land +discovering strange places. Just such a trip it was as Jock and he +had often talked about, when, the day's work done, they had settled +in the comfortable arm-chairs in the officers' mess at the aerodrome +near Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>Often they had talked of these things, and the trips they were going +to make in the happy years to come, when the fighting was all over, +and the smoke of battle had blown away, and the liberties of mankind +had been won back from the tyrants of these latter days.</p> + +<p>Thus he dreamt, for he was feverish, while over him the shells burst, +and the great guns thundered, and all around, upon the wide-stretched +battlefields, the dead and the dying lay. And always he was parched +and thirsty, and sometimes he would turn and say to Jock:</p> + +<p>"There, far below us in the desert, Jock, I can see an oasis, with +pools of cold refreshing water, and a cluster of tall trees, where we +shall find dates and figs. Let us go down, Jock."</p> + +<p>But the vision would fade before he reached the promised land, and +the cup of water was dashed from his lips, and the goblet broken. +Again he would see across the desert, which now seemed interminable, +mystic and wonderful lakes of fresh water. But always he was mocked, +and again and again those horrid German guns would thunder out from +far below and forbid them to land.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from out of the midst of his dream, he heard some one +calling his name.</p> + +<p>"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral!"</p> + +<p>He turned uneasily in his sleep; then he woke with a start, and +looked about him. His brow was flushed, his head burned as though it +were on fire, and his eyes glittered. All seemed dark, for the +landscape was blotted out by a dark cloud.</p> + +<p>Half regaining consciousness he murmured:</p> + +<p>"Where am I? Who called me?" But while he wondered, his hand touched +something, and he shrank back startled. It was Jock's poor wounded +and bruised body that he had touched. Then he remembered it all. The +flight over the German lines; the attack which had been made upon +them by a whole German squadron; the fierce fight and the dash back, +followed by a cloud of Fokkers and Aviatiks. Then the crash----. Yes +he remembered it all now, and Jock, poor Jock must be dead, for he +had not moved, and they must have been there for hours, days +perhaps--at least, it seemed so, for it was dark as night, and it was +morning when they crashed.</p> + +<p>Then again he heard that welcome sound, a human voice, and it called +him by name.</p> + +<p>"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral, where are you?"</p> + +<p>And he feebly answered with all his strength.</p> + +<p>"Here! Here! For heaven's sake help us!"</p> + +<p>The next instant two burly forms came stumbling and rolling down the +crater, for Cowdie and Brat had just arrived at the spot, and as yet +scarcely an hour had elapsed since the crash. Strong arms were put +around the pilot, which raised him up, for he had fallen down again, +after his effort to rise. He had just time to murmur something, and +point to the unconscious form of his observer, when he relapsed into +unconsciousness again.</p> + +<p>"Thank God we have found you both, sir!" exclaimed a strong voice, +which seemed to resound again and again through his being.</p> + +<p>As the thick fog came on, the firing had been suspended for a moment. +It was a strange, weird silence that seemed to presage a coming +storm. Cowdie was the first to read its meaning.</p> + +<p>"Quick, Brat!" he cried. "They're going to attack. We must make a +dash for it."</p> + +<p>It was only too true. Scarcely had they reached the top of the +crater, and proceeded a dozen yards with their heavy burdens, when +they heard the sound of voices.</p> + +<p>"Hist! What was that?"</p> + +<p>They paused for a moment, and waited, but it seemed to them that +their panting and the loud thumping of their hearts would betray +them. How far had they to go yet? they asked each other. Then, with a +shudder, Cowdie turned and began to retrace his steps, whispering to +his comrade:</p> + +<p>"We have come the wrong way. Those are the German trenches over +there, and look, they are forming up over the top ready to attack."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! Then we are lost," replied his comrade.</p> + +<p>"No, we may yet be in time. Come along. It cannot be far."</p> + +<p>With his keen blue eyes Cowdie peered through the gloom, for Cowdie, +the "spare part," had been the first to make the discovery. He had +seen the shadowy forms of the Germans not twenty yards away. +Fortunately, they had not been observed as yet, but they were not out +of danger. They had regained their right direction, however. The +British trenches were not more than seventy yards away.</p> + +<p>On they stumbled, over the broken ground, through pools of water, and +soon they reached the tangled wire. Exhausted they were ready to sink +with fatigue, yet they held out. But their hands were bleeding and +torn by the wire, and their clothing was in shreds.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard the sound of voices behind them. Low voices +called to each other, and the tramp of feet was also heard.</p> + +<p>"They are advancing. Quick! quick!" shouted Cowdie.</p> + +<p>Then, knowing that the British trenches could not be more than thirty +yards in front of him, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Stand-to! The Huns are attacking!"</p> + +<p>The next instant a blaze of fire lit up the fog, as a dozen Very +lights were fired up from the British trenches. The two figures of +the men carrying the unconscious pilot and observer were clearly +outlined. The sergeant of the Wiltshires shouted to his men:</p> + +<p>"Don't fire! They are the R.F.C. men bringing in their officers."</p> + +<p>The firing, however, came from a different direction, for the +Germans, baulked of their prey, and seeing who had given them away, +opened fire, and Cowdie stumbled into the British first-line trench +into the arms of the sergeant of the Wiltshires, carrying his burden +to the last. He was dead, shot through the heart. He had made the +supreme sacrifice to save the man he loved.</p> + +<p>With a wild cheer the British received the welcome order to charge, +and the last thing that Brat remembered was that cheer, as the men +swept by him, and he also sank down with his load.</p> + +<p>Next day they buried Cowdie, "the regimental spare part." Gently they +laid him to rest in a little graveyard by a shattered church, behind +the British lines. And over his grave the bugles of the Wiltshires +sounded the solemn notes of the "Last Post." And his comrades in +Number 7 tent fired three volleys over the hero's grave, just as in +the olden days, two thousand years ago, AEneas and his comrades, when +they buried the hero Misenus, called his name thrice into the shades.</p> + +<p>And Bratby, he recovered from his wounds, and, to-day, upon his +breast he wears the ribbons of the Military Medal.</p> + +<p>Dastral and Jock also recovered from their wounds, for their work was +not yet done, and six weeks later were back from sick leave, +preparing once more to strafe the Huns.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter08"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE RAID ON KRUPPS</h4> + +<p>IT was a dark night, some two or three hours before dawn, when +Air-Mechanic Pearson, one of the outer sentries at the aerodrome near +Contalmaison, thought he heard the whirr of propellers somewhere in +the dark skies above.</p> + +<p>For a few seconds he peered up into the gloomy heavens, trying to +locate the sound, for he was very much puzzled, and could not account +for the sound on such a night.</p> + +<p>"They can't be aeroplanes returning from over the lines," he told +himself, "or we should have had notice to light the flares. It will +be a sheer impossibility to land without a crash on a dark night like +this."</p> + +<p>Again he listened, and he thought the droning sound settled down into +the throb of engines. He was anxious, however, not to call out the +guard on a false alarm, for he had once been severely reprimanded for +so doing.</p> + +<p>"They cannot be hostile 'planes attempting an early morning raid; it +is far too thick. It would be like a nigger trying to find a black +cat in a dark cellar," he muttered.</p> + +<p>A quarter of a minute later, however, he thought he had discovered +the real cause, for the throbbing of aerial engines could now be +distinctly heard.</p> + +<p>"It's a Zeppelin!" he exclaimed. "They're going to find the aerodrome +with their search-light, and bomb the place, then make off before our +machines can get up," and he instantly yelled out at the top of his +voice, "Turn out, guard!"</p> + +<p>The alarm was caught up, passed on to the next sentry, who repeated +it, and the next moment, after turning out the main guard, the +sergeant came running up, and asked:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Pearson?"</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin approaching from the eastward, sergeant!" replied the +air-mechanic.</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin, man! What the deuce do you mean? Where is it?"</p> + +<p>"Up there, sergeant. I can hear it quite plainly now."</p> + +<p>"By Jove, so can I!"</p> + +<p>The next moment the sergeant was back in the guard-room. From thence +he dashed into the orderly-room, and knocked at the inner door, where +the orderly officer for the night was on duty.</p> + +<p>"Come in," cried the officer in answer to the knocking. Then, as the +sergeant, all puffed with his exertion, entered and saluted, he said:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, sergeant?"</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin approaching from over the German lines, sir. Hadn't we +better 'phone to the anti-aircraft guns, and the searchlights to pick +up the raider before he bombs the place?" for to the sergeant's mind, +visions of falling bombs and terrific explosions were present.</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin?" laughed the orderly officer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I can hear the engines as plainly as possible outside."</p> + +<p>"No, you're mistaken. It's the 'Gertie' returning. She's been out on +secret service work behind the German lines. I've been expecting her +for a couple of hours. Not a word of this to the men, now. I am +expecting a secret service man back before dawn, and the 'Gertie's' +been to fetch him. Picked him up at some secret place in the dark, +far behind the enemy's lines."</p> + +<p>Now, the "Gertie" was a baby-airship detailed for special service, +and not the least important part of her work was the secret +journeying to and fro, across the German lines, to quiet rural +places, where, in the dark, she dropped messages, carrier pigeons, +etc., and occasionally brought back some daring member of the British +Secret Service, who had been collecting information behind the +enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>By this time the orderly officer was out on the aerodrome, and the +squads of air-mechanics were being roused by the orderly sergeant. +Suddenly there came a cry from one of the guard.</p> + +<p>"Airship signalling to the aerodrome, sir!"</p> + +<p>"What signal was that?" demanded the officer.</p> + +<p>"Two green lights and a red, sir, over there, half a mile away," came +the reply.</p> + +<p>"That's right. It's the 'Gertie' trying to find the landing place. +Flight-sergeant, where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Here, sir," came the answer, as the aerodrome flight-sergeant, just +roused by the alarm, rushed up, without putties or tunic on.</p> + +<p>"Light the usual flares at the landing-place, and give the Brigade +colours as well."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>And the next instant he had disappeared into the darkness again to +hurry up the air-mechanics and to light the flares. The "Gertie" had +very nearly found her mark, having over-shot it but half a mile or so +in the pitchy darkness, which was a very creditable performance.</p> + +<p>As soon as the flares were lighted, her engines, which had been shut +off, were heard again, as she gradually came nearer and nearer, +until, when right overhead, she began to descend slowly.</p> + +<p>"There she comes! This way, lads!" cried the stentorian voice of +Snorty, whose piercing eyes were amongst the first to spot the +looming mass overhead.</p> + +<p>"Steady, there, steady!" came the next order, as the ropes and drags +were lowered, and the men made a scramble for them. And, in a very +short space of time the baby-airship was made fast, and from the +single gondola, in which five men were cooped, some one leapt out, +who held in his hand a bundle of documents.</p> + +<p>"Captain Scott, I believe, sir," said the orderly officer stepping +forward.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Are you Lieutenant Grenfell?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." And with that the two men went off together to the +private room of the orderly officer.</p> + +<p>The newcomer was the bearer of some important plans and sketches, to +obtain which he had risked his life every hour of the day and night +during the past three weeks. They were nothing less than detailed +plans of the great German arsenal at Krupps', for which the +Commanding Officer had been anxiously waiting. For some time +previously, the C.O. had received from the War Office, through the +General Headquarters in the field, a peremptory order, something like +the following:--</p> + +<br> +<br> +<i>"To the Officer Commanding,</i><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10"><i>"--th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.</i></b> +<br> + +<p> +"It is of vital importance that the enemy's supply of munitions +should be hampered and restricted as far as possible, in view of the +offensive to be undertaken shortly. As soon, therefore, as the +necessary plans and papers reach you, you will detail one of your +best flights, under your most capable Flight-Commander, to carry out +the first raid on the enemy's main arsenal at Krupp'."</p> +<br> + +<p> +This document, signed by one of the generals commanding in the field, +had been in the hands of the Squadron-Commander for some days, and he +had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the promised plans and +sketches. As soon, therefore, as the orderly officer received them, +he sent Brat, the despatch-rider, with his motor cycle and side car +to the C.O.'s quarters. And ten minutes later that distinguished +person was leaving the officers' quarters on his way to the +aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Having arrived, after ten minutes' chat with the officer belonging to +the secret service, his first words were:</p> + +<p>"Grenfell, ask Flight-Commander Dastral to come down at once."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>And on his next journey, Brat fetched Dastral down from his bunk at +the mess to join the party.</p> + +<p>"Dastral," was the first word from the C.O. as soon as the daring +young pilot entered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Commander, saluting smartly.</p> + +<p>"Here's something for you after your own heart."</p> + +<p>"What is that, sir?" asked the youth, smiling.</p> + +<p>"The promised raid on Krupps'. How would you like to undertake it +with your flight? You have often spoken about it."</p> + +<p>"Nothing would please me better, sir."</p> + +<p>"And the other fellows belonging to your flight, what about them?"</p> + +<p>"They would follow me anywhere, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Gad, I believe they would, for they all worship you. I believe +they'd follow you to 'Gulfs,' if you led them there."</p> + +<p>Dastral laughed, and repeated his avowal, that he would be only too +pleased to start at dawn should the weather conditions prove good +enough.</p> + +<p>"Right!" exclaimed the major. "Then, you'd better spend the next two +hours with Captain Scott here, and with your men. Get thoroughly hold +of these plans, and fix them in your mind."</p> + +<p>So, while breakfast was laid for the Intelligence officer, Dastral +got his men together, including Mac and Jock. Afterwards the eight +men who were going into action carefully laid their plans, arranging +a code of signals and the method of attack, should they succeed in +reaching their destination. Then they went over to the sheds, +examined and tested the machines, saw them loaded up with bombs and +drums of ammunition. The guns, compasses, etc., were then shipped and +everything was ready.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked at his watch. In an hour it would be dawn.</p> + +<p>"We must be off, boys. We must cros the German lines before +daybreak."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir," replied the others, "We can be ready in ten minutes."</p> + +<p>Then, having previously breakfasted, they put on their thick leather +coats, pilots' boots and helmets, and made ready. The C.O. came down +to wish them godspeed and a safe return. The probable time of their +return was fixed, and it was arranged that an escort should meet them +on their way back to defend them from hostile aircraft, lest any of +them should be in difficulties, and unable, through damaged machines +or lack of ammunition, to fight their way home.</p> + +<p>"Stand by! Contact, switch off!" came the order.</p> + +<p>The propellors were swung vigorously once or twice, then, one after +another, the engines broke into their mighty song, and the machines +taxied off into the darkness across the aerodrome, and as the +joy-stick was pulled over each 'plane sprang into the air, and began +its long voyage.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, and good luck!" shouted the C.O. as each man taxied off, +and as a parting salute, each pilot raised his gloved hand from the +controls for an instant.</p> + +<p>Four hundred miles, that was the distance of the double journey. Two +hundred miles of enemy territory to be traversed before they reached +their objective; then, another two hundred back again to safety; and +no chance of a landing to remedy even the slightest defect. That was +the prospect before these daring aviators, as they sallied forth on +their dangerous errand this morning about half an hour before the +first faint whisper of dawn came up out of the east.</p> + +<p>No wonder the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, as he watched them +depart, turned to his companions and said:</p> + +<p>"A perilous venture, isn't it, for the boys?"</p> + +<p>"You're right, sir," replied the orderly officer. "I hope not one of +them will lose the number of his mess before nightfall."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well. We have had some vacant chairs in the mess lately. Four +hundred miles," he was heard to remark as he turned on his heels and +went back to his room.</p> + +<p>He was a kindly, considerate commander, for he had that rare quality +which combined firmness with kindness, and because of that he was +loved by all his men.</p> + +<p>The adventurers crossed the German lines at seven thousand feet, and +in the darkness the enemy's searchlights failed to find them, so they +were well away for once. There was just a little doubt in Dastral's +mind about the weather conditions when he started, as the success of +the venture depended very much upon the visibility. At present, +however, the dull cloudy weather was in their favour, if only it +might clear up later.</p> + +<p>He was therefore very pleased when, having left the enemy's lines +some thirty or forty miles behind, the first tinge of dawn lit up the +sky in front of them, showing the horizon clearly. The wind had +changed during the last hour, and, though it grew colder, it became +much brighter.</p> + +<p>Once or twice the Flight-Commander looked round at his followers, +casting a critical eye upon the whole flight.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness, the engines seem to be running well. Everything +depends on them," he murmured.</p> + +<p>His own machine was a double-seater type with the observer's car +projecting right in front of the engine, a powerful twelve-cylindered +R.A.F.</p> + +<p>A little later Jock, speaking through the tube, shouted:</p> + +<p>"Shots on the left, Dastral!" and he pointed to a spot far down +below, for the landscape had opened out now, and they had been +spotted for the first time.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked down, and saw several rapid flashes, away down on the +left, where a battery of "Archies," having found them, had opened +fire.</p> + +<p>In front of the machine which was leading the flight, Dastral saw +several black bursts of smoke, and in the centre of each burst was a +yellow glare.</p> + +<p>"Ah, the Boches have found the range to a nicety!" yelled Dastral to +Jock. "Look out! We must dive."</p> + +<p>Then, pulling over the controls, the hornet dipped at the head, doing +a neat little nose-dive of some five hundred feet, throwing the +enemy's range out of gear, and compelling him to readjust his sights.</p> + +<p>As he dived, the others, with an eye always on their leader, followed +him, and the whole flight dived clean underneath a mass of curtain +fire, intended to bar their progress. So cleverly was it all done +that they all escaped without a scratch.</p> + +<p>The Commander looked down at those batteries still spitting fire. +With not a little contempt he regarded them. They could not touch +him, for already, before they could readjust their fire, the whole +flight was out of range, for the engines were now doing well, and a +speed of a hundred and twenty miles an hour had been worked up.</p> + +<p>At another time Dastral would like to have dived down to within five +hundred feet of those German guns, and put them out of action, but he +had other work on hand today; work which would take all his time and +skill to complete satisfactorily, and to bring his men back to +safety. Even if Himmelman himself should attack him now, he must +refuse him battle, unless compelled to fight for mere safety. His +present duty was to bomb the great arsenal at Krupps', and, as far as +possible, leave the principal buildings nothing but a heap of smoking +ruins. So he opened out the throttle of his engine to the full, and +for the first time reached one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, +not a very bad speed when you are loaded up with heavy missiles.</p> + +<p>They had been flying for an hour now, and had climbed higher and +higher until they were at nine thousand feet. It was bitterly cold, +and already their feet and hands were numbed. What would they be like +in another two hours?</p> + +<p>An hour and a half passed, and shortly afterwards Jock shouted:</p> + +<p>"The Rhine! The Rhine!"</p> + +<p>Nor indeed was he mistaken. He had been eagerly searching for the +famous stream that runs through the German Fatherland, and of which +the Hun is so proud. And now, there it was, a little way ahead of +them, running through the landscape like a silver thread.</p> + +<p>Soon they were over the stately river, and Dastral, knowing that the +road was as plain as a pikestaff now if the weather kept clear, no +longer heeded his compass, but, wheeling smartly to his left, +followed the stream on its way to the sea.</p> + +<p>"What town is that?" shouted the pilot, as a vast assembly of houses +and spires came into view.</p> + +<p>"Coblentz," replied the observer, with his finger on the waterproof +map.</p> + +<p>"Better look out for trouble, hadn't we?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Ehrenbreitstein Forts are down below; just a little way +ahead on the left. They have plenty of guns down there."</p> + +<p>This place, called the Gibraltar of Central Europe, is a towering +fortification, overlooking the town of Coblentz, and defending the +line of the Rhine. The river runs between the fort and the town, and +the two are connected by a bridge of boats.</p> + +<p>"Better skirt the town, else they will think we are going to attack +the place, and some of our fellows might get winged."</p> + +<p>"Poch! They can't hit us. All their best gunners are miles away at +the front. Let's go straight on. We shall be out of their range in +five minutes."</p> + +<p>Before they reached the town the white puffs of the 77's made a line +of smoke ahead of them, and, intermingled with this, they saw the +black cloudlets caused by the bursting of the enemy's 105 calibre +shells. In fact they were ringed with a curtain of shell fire.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the signal by a sudden clip of his 'plane, which was +leading.</p> + +<p>"Ninety degrees left and dip 500 feet!"</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander led the way through a gap in the curtain fire, +and the rest followed, swerving rapidly to the left, then down, down +in a fearful nose-dive of hundreds of feet, before they flattened +out.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Well done, boys!" yelled the leader, waving his hand to the +daring men behind. For they had outclassed the Boche, and before he +could rectify his aim, the machines were out of range once more.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the town, however, they came in for the same +treatment, but they once more evaded the enemy's fire, and soon they +left the town of Coblentz, with its Denkmal of Wilhelm der Grosse, +and the forts of Ehrenbreitstein behind them.</p> + +<p>"Three hundred shots for nothing, Jock," shouted Dastral, who was +highly pleased with himself.</p> + +<p>Jock did not hear, however, for the wind carried the words away, and +the observer was otherwise engaged, searching the skies with his +glasses. A moment later, however, having discovered what he was +looking for, he turned and shouted:</p> + +<p>"One, two, three of them climbing to attack us!"</p> + +<p>"Where are they?"</p> + +<p>"Down below there to the left. Two yellow fat 'planes with black +crosses on them, and a white one."</p> + +<p>Dastral looked serious for a moment, as, holding the joy-stick with +his right hand, he raised his glasses with the other and looked down, +to where, from an aerodrome just by the river, three enemy 'planes +were rising up to fight with them.</p> + +<p>The shadow passed from the fair, young face of the chief pilot, as he +gazed upon the enemy, and a calm smile wreathed his face.</p> + +<p>"Humph! Let the devils come. We are not afraid of them. Sorry I can't +stay to fight them, Jock. Our first business is to bomb the arsenal, +not to pick a stray quarrel with these beasts, who are asking for +trouble."</p> + +<p>Then, opening out his engine once more to the full, he waved his hand +coolly to the enemy, and called out:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Mr. Boche. Some other time, if you don't mind, but to-day +I'm busy."</p> + +<p>His followers understood, and opened the throttles of their engines +accordingly, and, speeding on, soon left the enemy behind, for they +were slower machines, all the enemy's best fighters being on the +western front.</p> + +<p>Again and again Dastral looked round to see that his comrades were +all right. Eagerly he looked for the red, white and blue cocarde on +the wings, and felt very happy, for there was no need to be miserable +and lonely with those brave fellows so near. Had they not sworn to +follow him to the "Gulfs," if necessary?</p> + +<p>The chief enemy, however, so far, was the biting cold. The +thermometer was showing sixteen degrees below zero. Even with the +thick leathern coats, pilots' boots and padded helmets, it was +impossible to keep warm. The cold intruded everywhere. The thought +which consoled them, however, was this:</p> + +<p>"We shall soon be there, now! And we shall be the first raiders to +bomb the enemy's citadel, where he manufactures his enormous supply +of shot and shell to keep the war going."</p> + +<p>They were following the Rhine still. Every now and then they could +see long strings of barges being towed up and down the river between +Coblentz and Dusseldorf.</p> + +<p>"Cologne!" shouted the observer, and Dastral nodded, as he looked +ahead and saw the twin spires of the wonderful cathedral, and close +beside it the ancient Rathaus.</p> + +<p>"What a target!" shouted Jock, as the great city lay beneath them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but there are women and children down there, Jock, and I am not +a pirate. When we get to Essen we will begin."</p> + +<p>"All right, old fellow. It was only a joke," came back the reply +through the speaking-tube.</p> + +<p>They received another baptism of fire as they reached the outskirts +of the city, but, skirting round to the right, they avoided the heavy +fire of the forts at Deutz, for Dastral knew that the brutes were not +shooting badly to-day, and he was anxious not to have a single +machine crippled before his mission was completed.</p> + +<p>"There'll be plenty of fighting soon, my boy!" called Dastral. "The +enemy will have guessed our objective by this time and they will be +preparing a reception for us."</p> + +<p>The observer nodded, for he knew that the fires down below would be +busy, and the various German Commands would be communicating with +Essen and the arsenal at Krupps'. There was no time to lose, and so, +despite the cold, they were still doing about one hundred and twenty +miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Dusseldorf!" soon came from the observer's nascelle, for they had +passed Coblentz, and many other towns and villages that lay about the +slopes of the Rhine.</p> + +<p>"See that!" shouted Jock.</p> + +<p>Dastral again looked in the direction pointed out by his comrade, and +he beheld a great blur of smoke on the right, which blotted out the +landscape.</p> + +<p>It was Germany's black country. Here the towns were clustered thickly +together. Elberfeld, Barmen, Essen, and to the west of the +last-mentioned town lay the mighty works of Krupps. Somewhere in that +cloud of smoke lay the object of their long flight.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander pointed his machine in the direction indicated, +and the rest followed. The real fight was about to begin at last. How +would they come out of it?</p> + +<p>They were all eager to begin, for each machine carried a couple of +the new land torpedoes, in addition to a number of twenty pound +bombs.</p> + +<p>It was well they had arranged a proper plan of campaign, else their +labour would have been half in vain. Now, with the information which +had come to hand by the mysterious Captain Scott, they knew the exact +location of the very buildings on which they were about to +concentrate their fire.</p> + +<p>"Now we're going to be strafed! I thought so!" cried Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Phew! We're in for it now!" replied Jock, as the shot and shell +began to scream past them, bursting with red spurts of flame, +followed by white puffs and black clouds.</p> + +<p>Where was the huge powder factory? They were all searching keenly for +it now, for the atmosphere was smoky, which was partly their defence, +and partly their disadvantage, making it difficult to place their +bombs correctly.</p> + +<p>It would never do to fail now. They must go lower down and risk the +heavy fire from the "Archies."</p> + +<p>The T.N.T. sheds, where are they? The nitro-glycerine works, and the +huge dump?</p> + +<p>Oh, yes, there they were. Not all the smoke could hide them. Not all +the enemy's fire could stop those daring and intrepid raiders.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the pre-arranged signal, and each 'plane dived to the +objective for which it had been detailed.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m!" went the first land torpedo.</p> + +<p>Yes, the Flight-Commander had found the powder works. A flame of fire +shot up hundreds of feet, and the place began to burn fiercely. The +"Archies" roared louder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m! Boom-m-m! Boom-m!"</p> + +<p>The others had found their objectives too. Four huge blocks were +burning fiercely. Down below the crowds were surging out of the +doomed buildings, running hither and thither to escape those terrible +bombs which were now being dropped in a dozen places, in rapid +succession, and the still more terrible explosions which must shortly +come unless the fierce fires which were now raging could be quickly +subdued.</p> + +<p>The utmost confusion reigned down below. The impossible had been +accomplished. Krupps', the very heart of Germany, had been bombed by +a few daring raiders.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" people down below were shouting. "What is the +good of our great Prussian army if it cannot prevent such things?"</p> + +<p>The raiders were off now, for all this had been done in less than +three minutes, once they had found their targets. As they made off +German aeroplanes rose to pursue them. In every direction they saw +the enemy, who had been surprised after all, in spite of the warning +he must have received.</p> + +<p>As they made off strange electric shocks seemed to agitate the air, +and to make the machines rock wildly. Violent waves disturbed the +atmosphere. Evidently the enemy had discovered some new device of +creating air-pockets, and filling the heavens with lurid flashes of +electricity.</p> + +<p>But the device fails. The machines pass out of danger, but alas, it +is doubtful whether two of them will ever reach the shelter of their +own lines again. Still, they are going to make the effort. Number +three and four have been badly hit, and Dastral's 'plane is torn with +bits of shrapnel.</p> + +<p>Once or twice they look back at the flaming destruction which they +have wrought, all in the space of a few minutes. As they do so, a +mighty column of flame and black smoke rises up into the air, and a +terrific explosion takes place, which shakes the earth for fifty +miles around.</p> + +<p>Yes, the T.N.T. works have gone up, and the two explosions which soon +follow show that something else has gone into the sky as well.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Krupps' has been bombed!"</p> + +<p>Dastral gives the signal for his men to turn to the westward, and to +make with all possible speed for the shelter of their own lines.</p> + +<p>But enemy 'planes are in rapid pursuit, and there are two lame ducks +in the flight. It means another two hours' journey, and there is no +chance for the lame ducks if they are further molested.</p> + +<p>The leader quickly decides. He has still some fight left in him, and +so has Mac. They will escort the rest. He signals to Mac, "Take the +left flank!" and Mac understands, while he himself takes the right +flank.</p> + +<p>Then he orders the others to go S.S.W., for they must not infringe +the neutrality of Holland by going due west. And so they proceed, +until Jock signals that two of the Huns are gaining upon them. They +are fast 'planes, and will do some damage if they are not dealt with.</p> + +<p>At present they are still half a mile behind and a thousand feet +below them. So Dastral circles round once or twice as if to fight +with them, but only one of them accepts the challenge, and opens fire +at the Flight-Commander.</p> + +<p>"Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!" comes the sound of the fire, just audible +above the roar of the engines and the whir-r-r-r of the propellers.</p> + +<p>But Dastral has the weather-gage of him, for he has a thousand feet +greater altitude. He waits a moment, circling round. Then, as the +Boche comes up, he dives at him, as though he meant to ram him, for +he knew this would unnerve the enemy more than anything else.</p> + +<p>At the same moment he treats the Boche to three sudden bursts of fire +from his Lewis gun. It is quite enough for the enemy. He has +outdistanced his friends, and does not care to engage this air-devil +of an Englishman alone, so he swerves round, and hauls off a little, +hoping that the Britisher will be sufficient of a fool to pursue him, +but Dastral returns to his command, so that he may shepherd the lame +ducks through any further peril that may come upon them.</p> + +<p>Again and again on that long journey back he has to turn and fight, +and often Mac accompanies him.</p> + +<p>At length, half frozen to death, with their eyes smarting so that +they can scarcely see, one of them sights the relief squadron which +has come to meet them and escort them back to safety.</p> + +<p>Half a squadron has come to meet them, good fighters, all fresh and +ready for any hostile aircraft that cares to take the challenge. And +so, after nearly six hours of a trying ordeal, "B" Flight returns +safely to the shelter of the aerodrome behind the British lines.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter09"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER IX</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE GIANT WAR-PLANE</h4> + +<p>FOR some days after the daring adventure recorded in our last chapter +things had been fairly quiet along that portion of the Somme front, +near the sector patrolled by the 'planes of the --th Squadron. There +had been the usual daily reconnaissances over the enemy's lines; the +usual spotting and registering for the artillery by the aeroplanes +and the kite balloons, but the dull, cloudy weather had restricted +the use of the 'planes to a great extent.</p> + +<p>One incident that had occurred, however, caused no little excitement, +and awakened the professional curiosity of the pilots, observers and +air-mechanics of the squadron.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon a very small but swift aerial scout, in the shape +of a new type of baby-monoplane, suddenly appeared over the +aerodrome, and after circling round once or twice, made several rapid +spirals and descended on to the grounds. It was no enemy machine, for +the red, white and blue cocarde of the Allies was plainly visible +upon the underside of the wings, and also on the rudder.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the ferry-pilot who had brought her over from England, +made a landing, and climbed out of his tiny nascelle, than every +pilot and observer who was about the place, and not on duty, gathered +round to welcome the newcomer with the usual greeting, and to flood +him with questions as to the new machine. Amongst the rest the +Flight-Commander of "B" Flight could be seen talking and arguing with +his friends.</p> + +<p>"Gee-whiz! But isn't she a beauty, boys?" he was heard to exclaim, +as, with quite a boyish enthusiasm, he completed in less than two +minutes his first brief examination of the machine.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, but she's a gem!" replied Mac, to whom the question had +been more particularly addressed.</p> + +<p>"I've never seen anything like her," exclaimed another member of "B" +Flight. "I don't think the Huns have anything to equal her."</p> + +<p>"Not even their Fokkers?" ventured one of the pilots, who was already +seated in the little cockpit, trying her controls, for he was just +longing to take her aloft. "And you came from London in an hour and a +quarter?" asked Dastral of the ferry-pilot, helping him out of his +thick leather coat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, quite easily," replied the latter.</p> + +<p>"And you never even pushed her?"</p> + +<p>"I never opened the throttle to the full till I rushed the Channel, +half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"And then you let her rip?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did then. She fairly seemed to leap over the English Channel. +She touched one hundred and sixty miles, and for a while she quite +frightened me."</p> + +<p>"Phew! I should think so. What the deuce shall we get to next? One +hundred and sixty miles an hour! Great Scott! I'd give ten years of +my life to meet Himmelman on her, when I've fairly tried her," said +Dastral quietly.</p> + +<p>There was a note of silence when the Flight-Commander spoke thus, for +he did not often express himself like that, though every one knew +that the ambition of his life was to meet the German air-fiend on +equal terms, and fate had decreed that before very long his wish +should be gratified.</p> + +<p>After this, they all adjourned to the messroom, and, for that +evening, and the next, the ferry-pilot was their guest.</p> + +<p>At dinner that evening, when John Bunny, the jovial, stout, stumpy, +chubby-faced waiter at the officers' mess, had cleared away, and +cigars were lighted, and chairs drawn to the fire-place, all the talk +was about the baby-monoplane. For the time being even the war faded +away, except so far as it hinged upon the coming deeds of the new +machine. They discussed its merits and its possibilities, its high +speed, its wonderful but powerful engine, capable of 200 horse-power +and nearly two thousand revolutions a minute.</p> + +<p>Next morning, as soon as it was light, Dastral was seated in the +little nascelle, climbing into the azure. For an hour he tested it, +and came down delighted with his new plaything. Again and again he +tried it during the next two days, until he was thoroughly at home +with it, and could handle it just as well as any other machine he had +ever flown. Indeed, the ferry-pilot who watched him was amazed at the +antics which the Flight-Commander performed with the trippy little +thing.</p> + +<p>On the third morning after the arrival of the new visitant, the +aerodrome was startled by renewed activity on the part of the enemy. +Just as dawn was breaking Lieutenant Grenfell, who was again on +orderly officer's duty at the aerodrome, was called suddenly to the +telephone by the Flight-sergeant in attendance saying:</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters Ginchy want to speak to you, sir."</p> + +<p>An instant later he was holding the receiver, and heard Ginchy speak +plainly.</p> + +<p>"Is that Advanced II.Q. Ginchy?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Is that the orderly officer, Contalmaison aerodrome?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Anything the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes crossing our lines, and coming in your direction," +came the laconic answer. "Want you to take necessary action at once."</p> + +<p>"Right, old fellow. Action shall be taken at once. But I say--hullo, +are you still there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"How many enemy 'planes were there?"</p> + +<p>"Three have crossed over. A very big one, and two fast scouts. The +others have all been turned back by our A.A. guns, but they are +trying again, I think, as the guns are opening fire upon them once +more."</p> + +<p>"All right. Good bye!"</p> + +<p>Then, turning to the Flight-Sergeant, the officer said:</p> + +<p>"Quick, sergeant! Sound the alarm to call up the men, and get the +machines out of the hangars ready for action. There is no time to +lose. If they are fast machines they will be here in less than five +minutes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," and the sergeant saluted and departed upon his errand, +calling out the guard and giving the orderly sergeant instructions to +rouse all the men at once, while he himself returned to the orderly +officer, and assisted in calling the pilots from their bunks by +telephone.</p> + +<p>Rapidly as everything was carried out, before all the machines could +be got ready, or the pilots prepared, the enemy had arrived and had +begun to bomb the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" came the first bomb, which was quickly +followed by others.</p> + +<p>It was only just light enough to make out the machines, but Dastral, +who was one of the first pilots on the spot, was already in his +baby-monoplane, ready for the propeller to be swung, when the first +bomb fell, not thirty yards away. His attention, however, for the +past few seconds while the drums of ammunition were being brought, +had been fixed upon the raiders.</p> + +<p>He was amazed at what he saw. There were two small machines, +evidently fast scouts and single-seaters, each fitted with a +single-fixed gun, but the other visitor was a huge warplane, so big +that for the moment he was astounded.</p> + +<p>"Look, Jock!" he shouted. "Egad, but she's a tri-plane, a giant, with +a double fuselage, two engines, and a protected or armoured car in +the centre--at least, so it seems to me. And she's got two gunners at +least. Great Scott! where are those drums? I must get off at once, or +they will blow the place to bits. They've already hit No. 3 shed, and +probably damaged half a dozen machines."</p> + +<p>"Here is your ammunition, sir!" cried Corporal Yap, running up at +that moment with the drums and placing them in the cockpit.</p> + +<p>"Right. Stand clear there!"</p> + +<p>"Rap-rap-rap! Whir-r-r!" came the sound of the engine and the +whirring blades of the monoplane, for it could be distinctly heard +above the roar of the anti-aircraft guns which were now furiously +shelling the invaders. And while some confusion reigned for the +moment at the aerodrome, the little hornet taxied off, and leapt up +into the air.</p> + +<p>Dastral was the first to mount up, but the Dwarf being a +single-seater, he was compelled to leave Jock behind for the nonce.</p> + +<p>Higher and higher he climbed, for the monoplane had the power to rise +rapidly, and when at full speed to sit on her tail for a short +period, that is, to climb nearly perpendicularly. She was so small, +too, that she was difficult to perceive even from a short distance. +Thus she was more fortunate than the others, which, on rising shortly +afterwards, received the concentrated fire and bombs of all the three +raiders.</p> + +<p>Even Munroe had to land again, with his machine blazing, for one of +the bombs had shattered his petrol tank, and set the machine on fire, +so that the pilot himself was rescued with difficulty from the +wreckage. Two other machines were also compelled to descend, for the +enemy, having the weather-gage and being directly above them, had the +advantage.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander by this time was well away, and was careering +round, climbing more rapidly than he had ever done before, and +looking forward to the coming combat. He could see his own target, +but, relying upon the small target that the Dwarf offered, he kept +just sufficiently away to render his own machine invisible to the +Huns, who were having the time of their lives.</p> + +<p>Dastral was in a fighting mood; he felt ready to fight all the Boche +airmen in the world, if he could only get at them. Higher and higher +he rose, and marked the little register as it clicked out the +altitude:--</p> + +<p>"Three thousand--four thousand feet."</p> + +<p>Its quiet voice was drowned in the roar of the engine and the +whir-r-r of the propellers, but its face seemed to smile at the pilot +and beckon him to victory.</p> + +<p>He had got well over towards the enemy's lines, in his circling +sweep, for he was determined to keep well between the enemy and his +base. Besides, it was good strategy, for the day was breaking and +already, up there, he could see the rim of the sun showing over the +edge of the eastern horizon.</p> + +<p>"I shall have the sun behind my back when the fight begins, and the +Huns will have it in their eyes!" he told himself.</p> + +<p>At six thousand feet he banked and swept round towards the enemy, +still climbing rapidly, for the Boches were at about seven thousand +feet. Again and again he made the whizzing Dwarf almost to sit upon +her tail, so eager was he to reach seven thousand five hundred.</p> + +<p>He felt perfectly happy, and braced for the conflict. His only +anxiety was to get to business at once.</p> + +<p>"Five thousand--five thousand five hundred feet," said the little +dial, and Dastral laughed riotously.</p> + +<p>"Seven thousand," came at last, though it seemed an age to the eager +pilot.</p> + +<p>Glancing down and away to the west, he could see his comrades +climbing up to his assistance, for he had left them far behind. The +Boches had seen them too, and were diving to attack them, dropping +bombs and firing incendiary bullets.</p> + +<p>"Capital!" shouted Dastral in high glee, as he saw the enemy make +several rapid dives, giving him exactly what he wanted, the +weather-gage.</p> + +<p>"The beasts haven't seen me, or they wouldn't do that!" Dastral told +himself, and he was right, for the enemy had not even suspected his +presence yet, or, if they had seen him leave the ground, they had +lost sight of him, owing to the tactics he had adopted. They were +soon to have a knowledge of his presence, however.</p> + +<p>"Now for it," said Dastral between his teeth, as, having reached +seven thousand feet, he whizzed away to the attack of the nearest +'plane, one of the enemy's fighting scouts which had accompanied the +huge warplane.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r-r!" went the hornet, as Dastral opened the engine throttle +to the full.</p> + +<p>The speed of the hornet was terrific, and the sound of the wind +rushing past him sounded to the pilot as loud as the noise of the +engine.</p> + +<p>"One hundred and sixty!" laughed the speedometer.</p> + +<p>"They can't beat that," replied Dastral, as though the little +dial-face understood. He felt that he must talk, though he had no +observer this morning.</p> + +<p>Now he was over the fighting scout, and she saw him for the first +time. She was the highest of the three, but she was a thousand feet +below him, and, relying on her speed, she banked, turned swiftly, and +tried to escape, actually leaving the warplane to look after herself.</p> + +<p>Dastral pulled over the controls, and down, down he went in a +thrilling nose-dive as though he would crash her to the earth with +his own fuselage, but that was not his intention. At five hundred +feet he opened fire, and gave her three drums in rapid succession, +and never was sound more agreeable to his ears than that +"rap--rap--rap--rap--rap!" of his machine-gun as he sprayed the enemy +from end to end of his fuselage with incendiary bullets.</p> + +<p>Before the third drum was exhausted he noticed the flames leap from +the doomed German, for Dastral had sent three flaming-bullets through +his reserve petrol-tank, and in that moment he knew he had only two +enemies left to fight, for the first enemy 'plane went down blazing +in a plunging dip, which ended in a spinning nose-dive and a terrible +crash, right over the eastern end of the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked down, his eyes gleaming with victory, glad he had +finished number one, but sincerely hoping in his heart that his +comrades on the ground would be able to save the pilot from the +burning wreckage, for of all deaths that the daring aviator dreads, +to be burnt is the worst of all, and few English pilots, having sent +the enemy down, wish him such an end.</p> + +<p>There was no time for sentiment, however, this morning, for the next +moment Dastral was startled by the sound of a machine-gun behind him:</p> + +<p>"Rat--tat--tat!"</p> + +<p>Yes, one of his own friends was already attacking the warplane. It +sounded like Mac, and the tactics seemed suspiciously his, for he had +been creeping up behind Dastral, following his leader, as he had so +often done before, and he was now engaged in a battle royal with the +monster, wilst another 'plane was tackling the second scout, though +at a disadvantage.</p> + +<p>For a second Dastral was halting which way to turn, but pilots have +to make rapid decisions every day, and when he saw Mac's danger, for +the enemy would assuredly send him down in a few minutes unless help +came, the Flight-Commander banked quickly, and, still having the +advantage of nearly a thousand feet in altitude, he swept on to help +his man.</p> + +<p>It was well he did, for though Mac fought bravely, as Dastral had +taught him to do a score of times, he was no match for the huge +German, with her armoured car, and two machine-gunners in addition to +the pilot.</p> + +<p>As Dastral swept back to his comrade, he saw the two machines raking +each other, but though Mac got in several shots at the fuselage and +the engines, he hit no vital part.</p> + +<p>"Ye gods, what a huge brute she is!" ejaculated the Flight-Commander +as he drew near, and sailed over the top of the monster, just seeking +for some weak spot.</p> + +<p>Before he could clamp in his drums he saw Mac's machine reel, and +spin round once or twice, as though the controls had been broken by +some questing bullets. The German continued to fire, however, and the +next instant Dastral saw the reason of it all, for he saw Mac's +observer stretching over towards the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! The poor chap's hit!" he exclaimed. Then shouting almost +fiercely, as though he fancied Mac could hear him, he cried:</p> + +<p>"Never mind, they shall pay for it, Mac!"</p> + +<p>Again Dastral jammed the controls hard over, and though he knew he +was fighting a different creature altogether this time, he tried his +old tactics. He swept down as though to collide with the enemy and +crash with him to earth, for he knew this was the best method of +unnerving the Hun. With his feet on the rudder bar, and the joy-stick +between his knees, and his hands clear for his gun, he fired two +drums, but seeing no immediate effect, he flattened out suddenly, +when only fifty feet from the Bosche, and pulling the switch of his +bomb release, he dropped a twenty-pound bomb fairly on to the central +armoured car of the monster.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he swept past his adversary when the thing exploded at +close quarters, causing him almost unconsciously to loop the loop +twice in rapid succession, for the very atmosphere seemed to be blown +away from his propeller blades, and the air was so full of +air-pockets that for a moment this daring aviator was in imminent +danger of a side-slip and a fearful crash to the earth.</p> + +<p>It was over in a minute, however, and the "Boom-m-m-m!" of the +explosion and the smother of gas, smoke and flame being past, he +looked round him, and saw the German three hundred feet below him, +with half his central armoured car blown away, and with both gunners +apparently lifeless, and the pilot, bleeding, still sticking it +grimly, trying to volplane his machine to the ground.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander looked down, and sweeping round till he had +gained his old position, he was about to drop a second bomb to finish +the warplane, but he withdrew his hand from the bomb release, saying:</p> + +<p>"Poor bounder! He's bound to go down. He cannot get her over the +lines. I'll let him alone."</p> + +<p>Then, looking around for the third machine, he was just in time to +see her disappear eastward towards her own lines, and saw two English +'planes, which seemed to have come from nowhere, following her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, I'll go down and receive that chap's surrender--that is, +if he can manage to get down without a crash."</p> + +<p>There is, apparently, more honour in aerial fighting in these days +than in any other field of warfare, and, when a pilot has brought his +man down, should he fall, say, into the conqueror's lines, very often +the victor will descend and receive the surrender of the vanquished.</p> + +<p>Dastral's professional curiosity also urged him to do this. The huge +machine was of a new type, for in all his experience he had seen +nothing like it, and he was eager to examine it.</p> + +<p>Keeping his eye, therefore, on the descending German, who was trying +with the utmost care to navigate the aerial monster to the ground, +Dastral banked, then spiralled, and after one or two rapid +nose-dives, planed swiftly down to within a few score of yards of the +place where the monster must ultimately descend; and three minutes +later, having landed, he waited calmly on the ground for mein herr to +complete his landing.</p> + +<p>Down, down she came, lobbing first one way and then another, +finishing up with a bump which completed the wreckage of one of her +huge outstretched planes, and hurling the lifeless form of an +observer-gunner to the earth.</p> + +<p>"My word, what a size she is!" cried some one from the group of +officers and men standing by.</p> + +<p>She was a mass of wreckage, and how the wounded pilot had managed to +bring her down so calmly was a miracle.</p> + +<p>"Where are you hurt, Captain?" asked Dastral, helping the wounded man +from the wrecked car.</p> + +<p>"Here and here, Flight-Commander!" replied the German in good +English, leaning heavily on the pilot, who a few minutes before had +been his deadly enemy.</p> + +<p>"Fetch Captain Young, the M.O., at once!" ordered Dastral, and +immediately one of the air-mechanics ran off to find Number Nine.</p> + +<p>"You were a marvel to bring her down without a crash!" said Dastral. +"I'm sure I could never have done it."</p> + +<p>The German smiled. He was a fair-haired Prussian, not at all of the +Hun type, and there was moisture in his blue eyes as he replied,</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the compliment, Flight-Commander. You also are +<i>some</i> pilot, as you English say."</p> + +<p>"And she is <i>some</i> machine, too!" urged Dastral, trying to keep up +the man's spirit until the medical officer arrived.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my poor machine, and my poor gunners! They were brave fellows +and they died for the Fatherland. And the machine?--yes, she was a +beauty, and it was her first trip. Now she is a ruin, and I must +surrender her to you, but you will never be able to use her. See!"</p> + +<p>Dastral turned round to look, and noticed that the German warplane +was in flames, for the pilot, mortally wounded as he was, knew his +duty, which was, if he could not bring his machine back, to destroy +it. And his last act, which had been unnoticed, ere he left the +machine, was to set her quietly on fire, only waiting to make sure +that the second gunner was really dead.</p> + +<p>"Ah! My poor machine, but you English--will--never--use--her!"</p> + +<p>As he uttered these words slowly, gasping and clutching at his heart, +the German turned ghastly pale, and, staggering, fell into the arms +of Dastral just as the medical officer came running up.</p> + +<p>For a moment Dastral held him, but the blood began to gush from his +mouth and nostrils, and then his head fell back, for he was dead.</p> + +<p>"You are too late, doctor," said the Flight-Commander sadly, as he +laid the dead captain down on the grass, and looked at his pale face +and wide open eyes, still staring up at the azure blue of the opening +day, as though even in death the skies were calling him up there, as +they did in life; for he had been one of the most brilliant of the +German aviators, second only to Himmelman, who indeed had been his +teacher.</p> + +<p>"Too late, doctor! There was no chance for him from the beginning. He +was mortally wounded."</p> + +<p>"Yes, poor fellow, he has fought his last battle!" replied the M.O.</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow! I wish he could have lived," muttered Dastral, and a +feeling of unutterable sadness came over him, and he cursed the war +which had made him this man's enemy.</p> + +<p>Again he looked at the Prussian's face, and, stooping down, closed +the man's eyes in their last long sleep. Then, turning to an +air-mechanic, he said:</p> + +<p>"Bring a German flag, and wrap it round him," and so he strode away +towards his bunk, depressed by a feeling of profound melancholy.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter10"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER X</h3> + +<h4 align="center">HIMMELMAN S LAST FIGHT</h4> + +<p>IN the officers' mess at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, a +blue-eyed, dark-haired youth of about twenty-two stood with his back +to the fire. He was alone, for the others had not yet come in from +the marquees and sheds where the aeroplanes were being stored. On his +left breast he wore the double brevet of a fully-fledged pilot.</p> + +<p>This was Flight-Commander Dastral of "B" Flight, of the --th +Squadron, --th Wing, Royal Flying Corps, known to the whole of the +British Expeditionary Force, and to the British public also, as +"Dastral of the Flying Corps."</p> + +<p>Just under his pilot's brevet was a couple of inches of blue and +white ribbon, the insignia of the D.S.O. For, though but a lad, he +had fought with more Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands, and had more +thrilling exploits over the German lines, than any other youth of his +age.</p> + +<p>To-night, however, the pilot seemed sad; there was a shadow of +disappointment over his fair, young face. There was also a dreamy, +far-away look in those usually piercing blue eyes. What was the +matter with the lad? He was generally gay and even frolicsome. More +than once the O.C. had found it necessary to take him to task for +some of his jovial pranks.</p> + +<p>At his feet lay the previous day's issue of the <i>Times</i>, which he had +just been reading, and that which had made him sad was a paragraph +telegraphed to London by the Amsterdam correspondent of that paper, +which ran as follows:--</p> + +<br> +<p> +"Yesterday, at the German Headquarters behind the western front, the +Kaiser in person conferred upon Himmelman, the famous German air +scout, the insignia of the Iron Cross. It is claimed by the enemy +that this air-fiend has brought down more than forty British and +French machines, and that his equal in skill and daring does not +exist upon the battle-fields of Europe. Quite recently he fought with +and vanquished three British pilots single-handed in one day. This +famous pilot flies a new type of machine called the Fokker, and the +Germans claim for this machine that for climbing and rapid manoeuvre +there is no other aeroplane which can be compared to it."</p> +<br> + +<p> +Dastral picked up the paper and read the paragraph again. Then, +speaking half aloud, he said:</p> + +<p>"So that's what happened to Benson's Flight the other day. I felt +sure he had encountered Himmelman. Ah, well! A pilot's life is only a +short one at the best, but there's one thing I beg of Dame Fortune, +and that is, that I may meet Himmelman before I go down."</p> + +<p>Again he cast the paper from him, and as he did so, the door flew +open, and Fisker, his observer, accompanied by Graham of "A" Flight +and Wilson of "C" Flight entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! What's the matter that you look so glum, Dastral?" exclaimed +Graham, as he caught sight of his friend. "Has the O.C. been giving +you another reprimand over that last rag, old fellow?"</p> + +<p>"What rags?" laughed Dastral, regaining his usual cheerfulness with +an effort.</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho!" laughed the others. "Of course you know nothing about it, +Dastral, gut all the fellows are laughing over it, and the whole +squadron puts it down to you, naturally," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Naturally?" echoed Dastral with raised eyebrows, and a query note in +his voice.</p> + +<p>At this there was another burst of laughter. For this pretended +ignorance of Dastral, and above all, the intoned, sepulchral voice he +adopted for the occasion, reminded them of the "sky-pilot" as the +chaplain was called, who, on this occasion, had been the victim of +the rag.</p> + +<p>"Tell you what," exclaimed Wilson. "If the O.C. hasn't yet heard of +it, you'd better go out and have another of your scraps with a whole +German flight, before he does. That would soften him a bit when +you're called for the 'high jump.'"</p> + +<p>"Yes, better go out and have a look for Himmelman!" suggested Graham, +tossing, the stump of his cigar into the fire.</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" replied Dastral, becoming suddenly serious.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Himmelman. Why not? I believe you'll be a match for him, if you +can only meet him at the same level, and with your drums full," +replied the young commander of "C" Flight.</p> + +<p>For answer Dastral picked up the paper again, and pointing to the +column about the air-fiend, said brusquely,</p> + +<p>"Read that."</p> + +<p>For the next two minutes the newcomers crowded around the paper, and +read, partly aloud, the paragraph above referred to.</p> + +<p>At the time of which I write the supremacy of the air was still in +question. The daring exploits of Himmelman and his school had been +causing much anxiety to the Directorate of Air Organisation. Much +consternation had also been caused amongst the British public by the +manner in which certain sections of the press in Old Blighty had +talked of the merits of the Fokker, the new type of fast fighting +monoplane which the enemy had produced. But it was the bold and +daring tactics of Himmelman himself, and his few immediate followers, +which had given rise to this.</p> + +<p>A new British School had come into existence, represented by Dastral +and his type. These were very often mere lads from the public +schools, full of the sporting instinct in which Englishmen excel. +They were soon to make their presence felt, and gain for Britain and +her Allies the complete mastery of the air.</p> + +<p>What it cost in life and limb to gain this mastery over a wily and +efficient foe will be known some day, when circumstances permit the +veil of silence to be drawn aside. England will then know what she +owes to her daring airmen, and every pilot's grave in France and +Flanders--and they are legion--will be honoured and decked with the +imperishable flowers of a nation's love.</p> + +<p>When the trio in the officers' mess had finished reading the +paragraph, it was Graham who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"Dastral," he said, in quiet tones, "there will be no peace, and no +victory, till Himmelman goes down. Nothing else matters, it seems to +me; neither bombing raids, registering targets, nor spotting, till +this air-fiend gets his <i>coup-de-grace</i>. What say you?"</p> + +<p>For full twenty seconds Dastral waited before he replied. Again there +was that faraway look in his blue eyes as though he could see +Himmelman on his fast monoplane, coming up out of the mists of the +eastern horizon beyond the German lines. Then, recalling himself with +an effort he replied calmly:</p> + +<p>"You are right, Graham. Twice already I have encountered him. Once +when my drums were empty, and the second time when my controls were +damaged, and I had to make a forced descent just behind our lines. I +have felt myself a coward ever since. But fight him I will, before +sundown to-morrow, if he is anywhere in the heavens within fifty +miles of Contalmaison. And not a shot will I fire, even if attacked +by half a dozen Taubes, till I meet my man. I know his tactics now, +and am better prepared to fight him than ever I have been."</p> + +<p>"Better not tell the O.C., for you know our orders are to fight every +and any enemy 'plane we see, while we have a round in the drums," +replied his comrade.</p> + +<p>"I know, Graham; that's the trouble. When your drums are empty or +your gun has jammed, then this wary old Boche comes down from a small +cloud where he has been hiding at twelve thousand feet, and comes +hurtling down through space at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, +spraying your fuselage from end to end with his machine gun. All the +same, he is brave and courageous, and something of a sport--far away +the best man they've got. But my belief is that if once he is sent +down in a crash, the spell will be broken, and we shall have things +all our own way," said Dastral.</p> + +<p>Then, turning to Fisker, his observer, who had not yet had his +twentieth birthday, though he had been with Dastral since they first +left England, and thoroughly understood his method and tactics, he +said:</p> + +<p>"What do you say, old fellow? Do you think we're a match for this +high falutin' Prussian?"</p> + +<p>"Dastral!" replied his chum. "I repeat what I said to you only the +other day. If you'll only get the O.C. to give you a perfectly free +hand, and then lay a nice little trap for the Boche, you're more than +a match for him. There's more room for strategy in the air than +either in trench warfare on land, or in a naval fight, when the sea +is strewn with mine-beds. And if you'll only try that new fast S.E. +that you had out the other day, with the Lewis gun mounted for'ard, +you'll do the trick, and it wouldn't be merely the D.S.O. that the +King and a grateful country would confer on you, for ridding the +western front of a nuisance, but you'd get the V.C. and a C.B. as +well."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'd probably get the C.B. all right, Fisker, but not the V.C.," +laughed the pilot, for in the army the letters C.B. have a double +meaning.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean <i>Confined to Barracks</i>, old fellow. You'll get that +when you make a forced landing behind the German lines one of these +days, if you will drop down to within a hundred feet of their +batteries, just to put one of their 'Archies' out of action, and kill +a few of their gunners. I mean the other C.B. which is usually given +from Buckingham Palace."</p> + +<p>"You're a sport, Fisker. I never had an observer or aerial gunner who +served me so well as you do. The credit is yours for the majority of +the enemy's machines we've brought down this last six months. But, as +you're game, and you've got far more brains than I have, we'll just +spend the night inventing such a trap for the wily old Prussian as +you've mentioned, and to-morrow, if we don't get the weather-gage of +the Boche, then we'll never put our heads inside this old mess again. +Are you agreed?" said Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Agreed!" replied Fisker, grasping the extended hard held out to +clasp his, and to seal the bargain.</p> + +<p>"And here's to your success, Dastral!" exclaimed Wilson, who had just +poured out for himself a glass of <i>vin rouge</i>.</p> + +<p>At this moment the mess sergeant appeared to announce that dinner was +laid in the pilots' mess, and away they all went, laughing and +joking, as though they had been discussing nothing more or less than +a county cricket match.</p> + +<p>That night, however, as soon as the meal was over, instead of the +usual rubber of whist, or game of chess, Dastral and Fisker went into +the little bunk where they slept, and, locking the door, they brought +out maps, sketches, and diagrams, and, until midnight, they were hard +at work, by the kindly flicker of a little shaded lamp, evolving +scheme after scheme, until at length they agreed upon a little plan, +which they decided to put into operation on the morrow. Then they +turned in, and slept for four or five hours, having given strict +orders to the mess attendant to call theirs before reveille.</p> + +<p>Half an hour before reveille Dastral was down in the hangar, where +his new aeroplane was sheltered. Though it had been carefully +examined overnight by the air-mechanics, yet he could trust no one +but himself to finally inspect the machine. He examined every strut +and wire, every nut and bolt, oiling and testing the engine, +controls, and half a hundred other little things that make up the +delicate mechanism of a modern aeroplane.</p> + +<p>At length he was satisfied, and lit a cigarette, while Fisker shipped +the Lewis gun, packed the drums of ammunition, fixed the baby +wireless, saw to the bomb carriers, maps, charts, and everything else +that concerned him.</p> + +<p>Soon, they were ready, and, having snatched a hurried breakfast, they +wrapped themselves in their warm leathern coats, and were helped into +their pilot's boots by one of the air-mechanics, whose duty it was to +guard the machines. They drew their leathern helmets tightly about +their cars, and encased their hands in thick gloves, then climbed +into the 'plane.</p> + +<p>Half a dozen air-mechanics wheeled the "wasp" out into the open, +where the level ground of the aerodrome offered a good "take-off." +Then they waited for a moment, while the O.C. himself came down, and +handed to Dastral an envelope containing his special permit to leave +his flight, and to act as a free lance for that day; the matter +having been arranged between them.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral, and a good day's sport to you, my lad!" said the +major, who stood on tiptoe to shake hands with the pilot and +observer.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir," replied Dastral, his hand already on the joy-stick.</p> + +<p>"Start the propeller," came the order from the cock-pit.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," cried an air-mechanic, who sprang forward and swung the +propeller once or twice.</p> + +<p>"Zip-p-p-p--Zip--Whir-r-r-r!" came the sound, as Dastral started the +engine, and the air seemed to vibrate with the song of the aeroplane, +which has a music all its own.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" came the final order, and as the mechanics leapt back, +and withdrew the wooden chocks, the buzzing, waspish little thing +taxied swiftly across the level stretch of grass, then leapt into the +air.</p> + +<p>Higher and higher it rose by swift spirals, sometimes banking over so +rapidly as it turned in its circuit that those who stood watching it +from below feared it had touched an air pocket. But never did fiery +steed answer the touch of the huntsman's rein so quickly, and never +did gallant ship, as she rode the combing waves, answer her helm more +readily than did the air-wasp respond to the slightest movement of +her controls this morning, as she mounted up into the dawn. For the +daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, +who understood every whim and fancy of his machine.</p> + +<p>And now for a while let us leave Dastral climbing up into the azure, +then traversing a dozen miles behind the British lines, so as to +disappear from the enemy's view until the moment came for him to +hunt his prey.</p> + +<p>Soon after he had disappeared from view Major Bulford gave the order. +"Squadron, prepare for action!" for this was to be a day of great +things, and the Squadron-Commander himself, having now recovered from +his recent injuries, was going to lead the whole of the three +Flights, which composed the squadron under his command, over the +enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>Within an incredibly short space of time all the machines were ready +on the level stretch of grass. The bomb carriers were filled and +drums of fresh ammunition were shipped. And within half an hour of +the departure of the air-wasp, the squadron started off in regular +formation, and crossed over the enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>The secret had been well kept. Only the pilots themselves, after they +had taken their seats behind the propellers, received the whispered +orders for the day. A great bombing raid was to be carried out behind +the German lines with the express purpose of drawing out Himmelman +and his crowd to counter-attack, while Dastral, hidden away in the +clouds at 12,000 feet, was to enter the fight at the critical moment. +Then the most daring air-fiends on the battle-fields of Europe were +to meet in single-combat, and decide for ever to which side the +supremacy of the air should be given.</p> + +<p>The whole squadron crossed the lines at 7,000 feet, and received a +baptism of fire from the anti-aircraft batteries, while thousands of +combatants in the trenches far below stayed their fighting for a +moment to watch the stinging hornets sail calmly by, as though +utterly oblivious of the hail of bursting shrapnel, which made little +jets of fire and cirrus-clouds of white smoke all about them.</p> + +<p>One or two Taubes and Aviatiks which had been out on a reconnaissance +and for a few photographs, rapidly retired before the hornets and +fled to find shelter somewhere beyond. Meanwhile, the telephones in +the German lines were busy and the presence of the raiders was +quickly reported to the various commands, and from thence to half a +dozen aerodromes. Machines were rapidly run out, and got ready to +mount up and meet the invaders, for it was evident that the +perfidious Britishers had resolved to carry out another great bombing +raid on railway communications, billets, and ammunition dumps.</p> + +<p>Within an incredibly short space of time, Himmelman himself had +started to meet the the enemy. But the raiding party swept on, beyond +Bazentin, Ginchy and Longueval, bombing, as they passed, Combles and +the Peronne railway. Soon, they sighted the aerodromes at Scilly and +Etricourt, and bombarded them, receiving another crackle of fire from +the A.A. guns posted to defend the hangars and sheds. Then, wheeling +north they scattered a large transport column which was proceeding +slowly along the main road from Le Transloy to Bapaume.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, a swift circling movement and a smoke bomb from +the leading 'plane gave the signal:</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes approaching!"</p> + +<p>All this had been accomplished within half an hour of crossing the +enemy's lines, and the Germans had been caught fairly on the nap. But +now Himmelman had got his machines in motion, and a fight in mid-air +could not be much longer delayed.</p> + +<p>The English pilots looked down, and far below they could see from +half a dozen places Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands creeping up to the +attack. By this time all the heavy missiles had been dropped, and the +machines, with their engines running superbly, had gained something +in buoyancy from the release of the half dozen 20-pounder bombs, with +which each aeroplane had started.</p> + +<p>Guns were now cocked and loaded, and the discs were clapped into +place, while extra drums were placed where they would be most handy, +for when the fight commenced, a delay of five seconds might prove +fatal. Then a bold attempt was made to get the weather-gage, and to +use their advantage in altitude to place the sun behind their backs, +so that the enemy would have it in his face.</p> + +<p>Every type of aeroplane approaching was carefully scrutinised, and, +with sundry circling dips, short nose-dives and smoke bombs, the +Squadron-Commander told off various machines to fight them, for every +type of machine has its own special capabilities and limitations. At +the same time the heavens were eagerly scanned for a sight of the +hated Fokker.</p> + +<p>"Where is Himmelman? Where is Dastral?" every keen-eyed pilot was +asking himself. And every little cloud above and beyond was searched, +but no sight of the air-fiends was vouchsafed. Ah, well, they must +fight without Dastral if he had not yet picked them up.</p> + +<p>This manoeuvring for position continued for some minutes, but all the +while the combatants were drawing nearer and nearer. The enemy had +evidently received strict orders to fight at all costs. Certain +advantages were his. The chosen battle-ground was in his favour, as +every British 'plane hit and compelled to make a forced landing, +owing to damaged engine, petrol tank, or deranged controls, would be +captured with its crew, while only the German 'planes which crashed +would be lost.</p> + +<p>At last the time had come for action, for the air seemed full of +specks, both small and large. Nearly three whole squadrons had +climbed to the attack of the British, who, however, had by this time +gained the weather gage.</p> + +<p>"Engage the enemy closely!" came the signal, as three more +smoke-bombs were hurled from the commander's machine. Only one more +order was given, which was:</p> + +<p>"Reserve your fire till within two hundred yards!"</p> + +<p>The rattle of the machine-gun fire had already commenced, for the +enemy had begun to fire as usual at 1000 yards, but the British, +reserving their fire, followed their leader's tactics, for +immediately he had flung out his last signal, he dived down upon his +nearest opponent, a big fat yellow 'plane with black crosses upon the +doping.</p> + +<p>"Spit--spit-t-t--spit-t-t-t!!" went the C.O.'s machine gun, as he +pumped a whole drum of ammunition into his opponent, raking his +fuselage, engine, and petrol tank from end to end. The next instant, +the huge German machine, which mounted two guns, went down with +blazing petrol tank, and crashed from 8,000 feet.</p> + +<p>And now commenced an indescribable scene; a terrible fight in +mid-air, which would have been deemed to be impossible but a few +short years ago. The sky, to those watching far below, must have +seemed full of wild, swooping and circling birds of prey, spitting +fire and smoke, while every now and then a machine went down blazing, +or wildly zig-zagging to destruction. No less than four enemy 'planes +had thus gone down, when No. 2 machine of "C" Flight, with crumpled +wing, went down with a fatal nose-dive in a terrific crash.</p> + +<p>But still the fight went on, until more than half the British +machines had gone under, taking down with them at least twice their +number, and yet neither Himmelman nor Dastral had appeared. Numbers +were telling upon the English, and those machines which were left had +nearly consumed their ammunition, when, suddenly out of a little +cluster of clouds at 12,000 feet a dark speck appeared.</p> + +<p>The little speck at first appeared like a tiny bird, but the aviators +knew only too well what it meant. Whistling through the air in a +terrific nose-dive which reached the rate of 150 miles an hour, the +dreaded Fokker appeared to strike his chief opponent. Straight for +the Squadron-Commander's machine he came, like a fierce bird of prey.</p> + +<p>For an instant the fight slackened, and the enemy machines even drew +off a little space, to leave a clear path for the air-fiend, who had +never been known to fail in his desperate strokes. A thrill of +intense excitement held the combatants, as the Major made a daring +counter move, and jammed his last drum of ammunition into place.</p> + +<p>"Spit! Bang! Spit! Bang!</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r-r!" Himmelman had opened fire while nose-diving at terrific +speed. Already the victim seemed to be in his clutch, when, just as +suddenly, from the same cloud in which the German air-fiend himself +had found ambush, another speck appeared, swooping like a hawk with +its talons ready to strike. It was Dastral, who had waited and +waited, in the biting cold and the clinging moisture of the wet +cloud; waited at 12,000 feet near the edge of the cloud.</p> + +<p>He had seen Himmelman coming, had watched him like a tiny speck +seeking shelter in the same misty vapour. How Himmelman had failed to +discover his enemy was a mystery. They were both invisible to the +combatants, it is true, and Dastral had used a dozen devices to keep +himself out of sight of the Boche, though ready at any moment to +fight with him.</p> + +<p>There can be little doubt, however, that Himmelman had been watching +the fight so closely that he had never even dreamt of finding his +chief enemy so close at hand. Besides, no one had ever dared to +imitate his tactics before, and his first intimation of Dastral's +presence was when, during his wild swoop, having half emptied his +first drum at the Squadron-Commander, he suddenly heard machine-gun +bullets whizzing about his own ears, and felt a stinging sensation in +his right arm. Looking round, he saw that the dark cloud in which he +had been hiding had given birth to another air-fiend, and in that +moment Himmelman knew that he was no longer the Master-Pilot of the +Skies.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel!" he gasped, and made one last effort to manoeuvre.</p> + +<p>With his hand upon the gun, and his feet upon the rudder bar, he +flattened out, and tried to fight his enemy from below, leaving his +last victim to limp away to safety.</p> + +<p>But Dastral was too quick, for he had time to give the Fokker two +full drums before he also flattened out just above the monoplane. He +knew the Fokker had its gun fixed forward, rigidly fixed, so that it +could only fire ahead through the propeller. All this he had coolly +calculated beforehand. Unless, therefore, Himmelman could manoeuvre +to get his enemy directly ahead, he could do nothing. Still, though +wounded, the German fought on. Round and round spun the machines, +over and under they went, like a shoal of porpoises, each trying to +get the advantage.</p> + +<p>Up there at 9,000 feet they performed the most amazing gymnastic +gyrations and contortions. Once the German got the advantage, and was +about to open a new drum of fire, when Dastral, pulling over the +joy-stick, and with clenched teeth, muttered:</p> + +<p>"No, you don't! By all the saints, no!"</p> + +<p>And, with that, he dived under the air-fiend, and emptied his seventh +and last drum into him from beneath.</p> + +<p>It, was the end of the great fight, for with his fuselage ablaze from +end to end--for his petrol tanks had been pierced--and with a bullet +through his brain, Himmelman went down in a spinning nose-dive to the +earth.</p> + +<p>Even then the chief of the air nearly took down his opponent with his +wreckage, for Dastral being underneath, only just slithered, rather +than banked, in time to let the blazing mass hurtle by. Another dozen +feet, and the heroes would have gone down together.</p> + +<p>The next moment the daring young pilot gazed almost ruefully down +upon the tangled wreckage far below. He was amazed at his own work, +riding up there alone, for he was now the Master-Pilot of the Skies. +Even so, somehow, his chivalrous young heart was sad, for a brave man +never finds pleasure in the death of another brave man, and your true +hero has always a gentle soul.</p> + +<p>Then touched by a gust of sudden pity, he circled down to within +three hundred feet of the burning mass in which the remains of the +brave pilot lay, and, heedless of the risk he ran, he detached from +its place, where he had secured it that morning, unknown to all but +himself and Jock, a wreath of laurel, with these words attached to +it, penned in his own hand:--</p> + +<br> +<p> +"<i>To Himmelman--the bravest of the brave--</i><br> +<i>the Pilot of the Western Skies. A tribute of</i><br> +<i>respect from his Conqueror.</i><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20">Dastral of the Flying Corps."</b></p> +<br> + +<p> +Then he climbed back again, joined the remnant of his squadron, which +with broken struts and wires, and bearing strong evidence of the +great fight in every part of their delicate frames, struggled back to +the aerodrome near Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>Thus did Himmelman meet his end, going down bravely, and, with +Himmelman, the Germans lost the mastery of the air.</p> + +<p>But Dastral himself was wounded in that last fight, and his machine, +the new "wasp," was so badly damaged that even his wonderful skill +could not save her, and she crashed behind the British lines, quite +close to Contalmaison.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter11"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER XI</h3> + +<h4 align="center">"BLIGHTY"</h4> + +<p>AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested from +the Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was the +way paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat of +militarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and to +civilisation of her freedom.</p> + +<p>There is only one more incident to record, before this story of +adventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of those +unfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by some +mysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of a +misshapen and deformed body.</p> + +<p>We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of the +story. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning with +desire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted and +dismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her time +of peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing of +Providence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in the +day of trial, we meet him again.</p> + +<p>When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind the +British lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage, +scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, and +taken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to the +base hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during the +whole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at the +urgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospital +ship to Blighty.</p> + +<p>It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he first +regained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to look +about him, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?"</p> + +<p>A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it was +the hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tender +voice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past, +whispered:</p> + +<p>"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better."</p> + +<p>The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but found +that he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs were +powerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still, +and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in a +whirl.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after another +minute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for the +pain racked him so.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talk +or think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and you +will soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet, +but strong tones,</p> + +<p>Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastral +could not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where?</p> + +<p>His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. He +fancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as he +dozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was away +again in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meet +Himmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his last +great fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constant +watcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile, +flicker over his countenance.</p> + +<p>"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospital +attendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast, +lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of his +country.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so, +he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively the +words fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child:</p> + +<p>"Tim Burkitt!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me to +watch over you, and to nurse you back to life."</p> + +<p>Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one of +His Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back to +Blighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch him +from the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S. +to have him under his own special care.</p> + +<p>"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recognise +me until you were out of all danger."</p> + +<p>Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raising +his hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on his +tunic, he gasped:</p> + +<p>"Tim, where did you win that?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim.</p> + +<p>"But, Tim, how came you here?"</p> + +<p>In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, after +persistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though only +the humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had been +offered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it.</p> + +<p>"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of my +patients. And I am going to take you all the way home."</p> + +<p>"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the way +home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter of +twenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle of +Wight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water."</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed his +eyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them again +shortly, and said:</p> + +<p>"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for it +turns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I am +happy to think that you have won that decoration."</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the King +has conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a Wing +Commander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of your +fight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?"</p> + +<p>"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring back +my brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas, +I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes to +keep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulp +down a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, till +they had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the Southsea +Forts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lower +reaches of Southampton Water.</p> + +<p>Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim.</p> + +<p>"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman, +and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and they +were with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world, +amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of the +German warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome near +Contalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, and +they said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, you +who are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it a +dream or did I really see them?"</p> + +<p>"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, and +they are all dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. But +come, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only a +dream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly up +at his friend.</p> + +<p>"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a full +minute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days at +college, though, after what has happened, it seems years and years +ago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I do +believe that for brave men, who have followed the star which has +called them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, after +death, something like that of which you have spoken, where good men +are re-united, even though they have fought with each other in the +days that are past."</p> + +<p>Then, after another long pause, he added</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven."</p> + +<center>* * * * *</center> + +<p>Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war. +Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under the +careful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the great +war was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He had +crowded into twenty months of service a record second to none during +the great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his King +and Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believed +that the cause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny.</p> + +<p>In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drake +and Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the liberties +of the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggle +is fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engraved +in letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went out +in jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, so +that they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our future +liberty and peace.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<b CLASS="standard fontsize80">THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND</b><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b CLASS="standard fontsize80"> +[Transcribers Notes:<br> +<br> +Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, following +the original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and +{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero}) +and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something: +{:}, {:--} and {,}.<br> +<br> +Corrected type-errors:<br> + {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,}<br> +Not corrected type-errors:<br> + {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,}<br> + {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,}<br> + {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross}<br> + {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,}<br> +<br> +] +</b> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44348 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/44348-h/images/cover.jpg b/44348-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..79b3005 --- /dev/null +++ b/44348-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/44348-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/44348-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8aeea9d --- /dev/null +++ b/44348-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/44348-h/images/partridge.jpg b/44348-h/images/partridge.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..84d553e --- /dev/null +++ b/44348-h/images/partridge.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e894e40 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #44348 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44348) diff --git a/old/44348-8.txt b/old/44348-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a6e249 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44348-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6730 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dastral of the Flying Corps, by Rowland Walker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dastral of the Flying Corps + +Author: Rowland Walker + +Release Date: December 4, 2013 [EBook #44348] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + + + + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + +THE GREAT +ADVENTURE +SERIES + +Percy F. Westerman: + +THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND" +TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS +THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE +WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE + +Rowland Walker: + +THE PHANTOM AIRMAN +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS +DEVILLE McKEENE: + THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY + AIRMAN +BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE +BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V 2 +OSCAR DANBY, V.C. + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & CO. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDOND, W.I. + + +[Frontispiece: "DOWN, DOWN WENT THE BLAZING MASS FOR A COUPLE OF +THOUSAND FEET."] + + +DASTRAL OF THE +FLYING CORPS + + + +BY +ROWLAND WALKER + +AUTHOR OF "BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2," "THE TREASURE +GALLEON," "OSCAR DANBY, V.C." ETC., ETC. + +[Illustration: Publisher logo] + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & Co. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.I. + + +MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN +_First Published 1917_ +_Frequently reprinted_ + + + To + THE PILOTS, + OBSERVERS AND AIR-MECHANICS + OF + THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS, + THIS + STORY OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL + IS + Dedicated + + +PREFACE + +THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 opened the floodgates of hatred between the +nations which took part and this stirring story, written when +feelings were at their highest, conveys a true impression of the +attitude adopted towards our enemies. No epithet was considered too +strong for a German and whilst the narrative thus conveys the real +atmosphere and conditions under which the tragic event was fought out +it should be borne in mind that the animosities engendered by war are +now happily a thing of the past. Therefore, the reader, whilst +enjoying to the full this thrilling tale, will do well to remember +that old enmities have passed away and that we are now reconciled to +the Central Powers who were opposed to us. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + II. THE FERRY PILOT + III. OVER THE GERMAN LINES + IV. STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + V. A BOMBING RAID + VI. A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + VII. COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + VIII. THE RAID ON KRUPPS + IX. THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + X. HIMMELMAN'S LAST FIGHT + XI. "BLIGHTY" + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name." + --SCOTT. + +AT the time of which I write, the smoke of battle still filled the +air. The freedom of men and nations, the heritage of the ages, hung +in the balance, so that even brave men were often filled with doubt +and despair. + +The German guns were thundering at the gates of Verdun, seeking a new +pathway to Paris, for the ever-growing British army had barred the +northern route to the capital of France and the shores of the English +Channel. But even the attempt to hack a way through Verdun was doomed +to failure, and the first rift of blue in a clouded sky was soon to +appear. + +Against that glittering wall of steel, where the heroic sons of +France lined the trenches against the tyrant, hundreds of thousands +of Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons were doomed to fall, and the best +blood of Germany was already flowing like rivers, for, though the +_poilus_ during times of great pressure slowly yielded the outer +forts inch by inch, yet the price which the enemy paid for their +advance was far too dear. + +The future hung heavy with fate, and the civilised world looked on +amazed, as the western armies, locked in the grip of death, swayed to +and fro. The earth trembled with the shock of battle, and the very +air vibrated with the whir-r-r of the fierce birds of prey, the +wonderful product of the new age. Land and sea did not suffice as in +days gone by, for in the heavens the struggle for freedom must also +be fought. And many great men were beginning to say that the side +which gained the mastery of the air, would also gain the mastery of +Europe and the world. + +In no country was this recognised more than in England, and at early +dawn even remote villages were often stirred, and the inhabitants +thrilled by the advent of the whirring 'planes and air-scouts, whose +daring pilots were preparing to wrest the mastery of the air from the +enemy. + +The most daring of our English youths left the public schools and +universities, and strained every nerve, risking death a hundred +times, to gain the coveted brevet of a pilot's "wings" in the Royal +Flying Corps. + +So it happened that, during one fine morning in the early summer of +1916, a group of men, some of them wearing on the left breast of +their service tunics the afore-mentioned brevet, were watching a +young pilot undergoing his final test in the air before gaining his +wings. The place where this occurred was over an aerodrome, somewhere +near London. + +"Phew! there he goes again. Just look at that spiral!" cried one of +the onlookers. + +"Ha! Now he's going to loop; watch him!" exclaimed another. + +The daring aviator, who was flying a new two-seater fighting machine +with a twelve-cylindered engine, capable of giving over fourteen +hundred revolutions a minute, seemed perfectly oblivious of the +danger he was in, as seen by those below, for he careered through +space at a speed varying from eighty to nearly one hundred and twenty +miles an hour, and performed the most amazing spirals, twists, and +gymnastic gyrations imaginable. + +The people below, even the pilots, watched him with bated breath, and +sometimes with thumping hearts. They felt somehow that he was +overdoing it, and sooner or later he would crash to earth and certain +death Several times even the experts, who were there to judge him, +and award him the coveted brevet, felt sure that the youth had lost +control of the 'plane, for she swerved so suddenly, and banked so +swiftly, as she came round, that one of them exclaimed:-- + +"Good heavens, he's going to crash!" + +"Phew! Just look there, he's met an air-pocket, and it's all over +with the young devil," shouted a civilian, evidently a representative +of the New Air Board. + +But, strange to say, all their prophecies were wrong, for, recovering +himself, the daring young flyer, Dastral as he was called, had the +machine under perfect control, and was just as easy and comfortable +up there at three thousand feet--and far happier--than if he had been +in an arm-chair in the officers' mess at the aerodrome. + +"There's a nose dive for you!" cried the major who commanded the +Squadron at the aerodrome, and who had done more than any one to +encourage the lad, and bring him out. As he spoke, the youth was +speeding to earth in a thrilling nose-dive which must have been at +the rate of anything approaching a hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +For an instant it seemed as if the prediction of one of the gloomy +prophets would now be fulfilled and the aviator would crash; but no, +after a dive of a thousand feet Dastral, as cool as a cucumber, +jammed over the controls, flattened out for a few seconds, looped +three times in succession, then spiralling and banking with wonderful +and mathematical precision, shut off the engine, and volplaned down +to the ground, touching the earth lightly at the rate of some fifty +miles an hour, taxied across the level turf, and brought up within +ten yards of the astonished spectators. + +"Humph! He's won his wings, major," exclaimed one of the small crowd. + +"So he has," cried another. "He knows all the tricks of the air." + +"Yes," exclaimed a third; "if he keeps on like that, he will prove a +match for Himmelman himself, some day, should he ever chance to meet +with him." + +Now Himmelman was the crack German flyer--the Air-Fiend of the +western front--the man who had made the German Flying Corps what it +was, and had earned for it the great traditions it had already won. + +A moment later, the youth leapt lightly from the cockpit, gave his +hand to his observer to help him down, and, stepping lightly up to +his Commanding Officer, saluted smartly. + +"Capital, Dastral! You shall have your wings to-morrow. If anybody +has ever won them you have," exclaimed the major, grasping the lad's +hand, and greeting him warmly. + +"Thank you, sir. It's very kind of you to say so," replied Dastral. + +"Not at all. You've won them yourself, my boy, and I congratulate +you. But, I say, you played the very devil up there. There are very +few of our fellows who can do those monkey-tricks without crashing. +It's a mercy you're alive, boy." + +"Oh, it was only an extra turn or two, sir, just for the spectators. +But, Jock, here, sir, my observer, is he all right for his brevet +also?" + +"Yes, he shall be gazetted and granted an observer's wing. I will get +them through orders at once." + +Once more Dastral thanked his chief, and, followed by Jock Fisker, +his chum, who had entered the air service with him, and who was +destined to accompany him through many an exciting air duel in the +future, they returned to the machine, which was already being keenly +examined by a group of the privileged onlookers, before the +air-mechanics returned it to the shed. + +Shortly afterwards, as Dastral and Jock were preparing to leave the +aerodrome, the major came by, and, seeing that the young pilot wanted +to speak to him, he said:-- + +"Well, what is it, Dastral?" + +"Sir, now that I have gained my wings, I should like to be posted +overseas as soon as possible, so as to join some active squadron with +the Expeditionary Force in France. Would it be possible for you to +push my request forward?" + +"Humph! Rather early yet, isn't it, my boy?" + +"Perhaps it is rather early, sir," replied the youth, blushing like a +girl as he faced the C.O. "But I should like to take part in an +air-fight before the scrapping finishes." + +"We've a long way to go yet, Dastral, before it is finished. Still, +as you are so keen, I will see what I can do. But it will take at +least another fortnight to get the thing through. At any rate I will +communicate with Wing Headquarters, and through them with the War +Office. Perhaps General Henderson will accede to your request," added +the major, for he well understood the lad's eagerness. He had felt it +himself, and had already seen a good deal of that air-fighting of +which the youth spoke, as the ribbons below his wings indicated, for +he was the winner of the D.S.O. and also the Military Cross. + +"Thank you, sir," and the pilot saluted again, but cast a sidelong +glance at Jock, who stood a few paces away, and was already fretting +in his soul lest Dastral should be sent away without him. + +The major caught the glance and understood, for he turned sharply +round after a few steps, and said:-- + +"And Jock, what about him?" smiling blandly at the lads. + +"He is of age, sir, he can speak for himself," replied Dastral. "But +I should like him to go overseas with me. We have done most of our +training together, and we thoroughly understand each other, and I +know that he's just dying to go with me, sir." + +"Is that so, Jock?" asked the major, looking at the Scotch laddie, +who had scarcely finished his course at Glasgow University when the +war called him from his studies. + +"Oh, yes, sir, I'd give all I possess to go overseas with Dastral." +And the youth's eyes shone with joy at the very possibility of the +event coming off, for he had feared that they were now to be +separated. + +"Very well. Don't expect too much, but possess your souls in patience +for another fortnight or so. Goodbye!" + +"Good-bye, sir!" and once more after the customary salute, the youths +went their way, wondering how soon they would be in France, within +sound of the guns. + +For the next fortnight they were busy every day at the aerodrome, +trying new machines, testing, carrying out imaginary reconnaissances +over the German lines, bombing raids, studying war maps and plans, +night flying and a score of other things that would prove useful when +they found themselves in France. + +One morning, about two weeks later, a telegram was delivered to +Dastral at his rooms. It came from the War Office, and ran as +follows:-- + + +"Second Lieutenant Dastral and his observer to proceed overseas +forthwith, on one of the new fighting 'planes, and to report his +arrival at -- Squadron, British Expeditionary Force, France." + + +After the customary interview with the C.O., it was arranged that +early next morning the two aviators were to make their first attempt +at flying the Channel. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FERRY PILOT + + +IT was an hour before dawn, and the stars had not yet faded from the +skies, when a group of air mechanics at one of the aerodromes just +north of London were busy about the ailerons and fuselage of a new +machine, which was destined to fly across the Channel that day, and +to join one of the British Squadrons on the other side. + +The secret of the machine had been well kept, and only a favoured few +had been permitted to see the "hornet," as she was called. Great +things were claimed for her when she joined one of the active +squadrons, now fighting in France for the supremacy of the air. + +Just a few folk in Old Blighty had been scared by the advent of the +Fokker, the new German aeroplane which had recently come into +existence, and for which such wonderful things were being claimed +daily by the German "wireless." + +"Double up there, you sleepy imps!" yelled Old Snorty, the aerodrome +sergeant-major, a short, stout, florid, shiver-my-timbers type of +disciplinarian. And another squad of sleepy air-mechanics, just out +from their blankets, doubled up smartly to give a hand. + +In a few minutes the hornet in question was ready for her long flight +overseas. Every wire and strut had been carefully examined and +proved, for men's lives depended upon the testing, and oiling, and +straining. And now the silent, filmy thing was waiting only for the +pilot and observer. + +A sound of footsteps upon the soft turf of the aerodrome was heard, +and voices carried lightly down the soft morning air. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry, standing near by, and at +the same instant a hand lamp was flashed in the direction of the +newcomers. + +The sentry, however, appeared to recognise sonic important +personality approaching, like the mastiff who knows, as if by +instinct, the approach of his master, for, without waiting for an +answer to his challenge, he shouted:-- + +"Guard, turn out!" + +And instantly, the men in the guard tent turned out in time to salute +the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, who came by with Dastral, the +pilot, and Fisker, the observer. + +Simultaneously, the air mechanics sprang to attention, as they stood +about the hornet. Then, after a couple of minutes spent in chatting +with the adventurers, who were about to sail forth on the wings of +the morning, the O.C. and the pilot flung away their cigarettes and +gave a few apparently casual glances over the framework by the aid of +the hand-lamps. + +"Better load up with a few twenty pound bombs, Dastral," laughed the +O.C. "You may have the chance of using one going over seas. You never +know your luck." + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth. + +A moment later the pilot and observer were seated in the biplane, +snugly wrapped in their thick leather coats, their hands encased in +huge gauntlets, and their helmets tightly drawn about their ears, +ready for the morning adventure. + +Dastral gave a final glance around, his hand already on the controls, +then gave a nod to the chief of the ground staff. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, followed by "Stand clear!" + +"Whiz-z-z!" went the huge blades, and, as the pilot switched on the +current, the engines--powerful 100 horse-power ones, capable of some +1400 or 1500 revolutions a minute--broke into their wonderful song, +and with a final word of parting from the Squadron Commander, the +machine taxied off rapidly over the level turf. + +"Burr-r-r-r!" + +The air seemed full of a mighty sound, and a terrible vibration +filled the heavens. It was the song of the aeroplane. + +At a hundred yards, in response to a very slight movement of the +joy-stick, the winged creature leapt into the air, then circled +around once or twice, climbing rapidly up to a couple of thousand +feet, and made off south by south-east. + +The first whisper of dawn came out of the east as the hornet headed +off towards the great city, for a filmy streak of grey, followed by a +saffron tint, appeared in the sky low down on their left hand. The +stars overhead began to fade and disappear, as though withdrawn into +the vaulted dome overhead. Then the saffron turned to crimson, and +soon the eastern horizon was aflame with light, for, as the machine +rose higher and higher, the horizon broadened, and the whole earth +seemed to lie at her feet. + +Now they were over the city, and the pilot laughed joyously, for he +was exhilarated by the bracing air which rushed past him at a +tremendous rate. + +"Look there, Jock," he cried, pointing down far below, where, through +the gloom which still enfolded the lower regions, a faint silvery +streak showed where the majestic Thames rolled down under its many +bridges to the sea. + +Jock Fisker, his chum and observer, who was destined to see many an +adventure with Dastral in the near future, peered over the side of +the fuselage, and noted the river and the many spires of the great +city. He saw the thin spire of St. Bride's reaching up towards him, +St. Martin's, and St. Clement Danes'; and then, as the upper rim of +the sun appeared above the horizon, he saw the blue-grey dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral, and caught the flash of the sun upon the golden +cross above it. + +"How glorious!" Dastral ejaculated, half turning his head every now +and then for Fisker to hear, as some impulse moved him but half the +words were lost, or carried on by the rushing air into infinitude. + +Soon, they left the southern outskirts of London far behind, and, as +the daylight broadened, they looked upon the Surrey Downs, and the +wide heath of the rolling countryside. Village after village they +passed, with its red tiled roofs and church spire pointing +heavenwards, but onwards, always onwards, they sped towards the white +cliffs and the sea. + +The slender, filmy thing had found herself this morning, for the +R.A.F. engines were working splendidly, doing already nearly fifteen +hundred revolutions a minute. Vibrating with an intensity that was +perfectly marvellous, considering her fragile build, with every +strut, bolt and wire in perfect unison, the hornet sailed +majestically along at over eighty miles an hour, as though on a +pleasure trip, instead of a life and death errand; for in reality she +was bound overseas to join the forces in their fight for freedom's +cause. + +Now they were in Kent, the garden of England, and far below were the +cherry orchards and the hop-fields. With his glasses Jock could now +and then pick out a few farm labourers, already trudging along the +roads, or working in the fields. + +"There is the railway, Dastral!" shouted the observer, as he picked +up the narrow thread of metals winding along towards Tunbridge. + +"Yes, I see it now," replied his comrade, bringing his glasses to +bear on the object for which he had been keenly searching for some +minutes. + +"Straight road now. Give her a few more points eastward." + +Dastral altered the controls a little, and, banking slightly, the +hornet came round smartly upon her new course, which, for the rest of +the journey to the coast, was almost due east. + +The continuous roar of the engines and the whir-r-r of the propeller +made conversation almost impossible, except for a few short, jerky +sentences, uttered in a loud, shrill voice, and accompanied by +corresponding gestures. + +The world beneath them was waking up now, for the two aviators could +see the smoke ascending from the chimneys of a few scattered +farmhouses and cottages. The birds, too, were astir, and the larks, +mounting up towards the sun, made sweet music which was drowned in +the whir-r-r of that strange-looking bird of prey, which sailed +serenely above them. Instinct, however, made the songsters shrink and +flee away from that hawk-like menace with stretched-out wings, for +they evidently feared that it might swoop down upon and destroy them. + +"Dover!" shouted the observer suddenly, as the Cinque Port came into +view. + +"Yes, by Jove! So it is. I hope they won't turn the guns of the fort +upon us." + +"No fear. They'll have been warned of our coming by now." + +A minute later, they opened out the sea, the forts, and Shakespeare's +Cliff, and within another three minutes they had crossed the boundary +of sea and land, and at a tremendous altitude were gliding over the +Channel. + +"Nine thousand!" yelled Dastral, turning his head towards Jock, after +casting a brief glance at his indicator. + +"Now let her rip," cried the other, for in climbing to get the +required height to rush the Channel, the machine had lost speed. + +"Right-o!" came the answer. + +So, in order to get speed quickly, Dastral did a little nose dive of +about three hundred feet, then flattened out again, intending to rush +the Channel at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, lest they should +slip unconsciously into an air-pocket. + +As he did so, he noticed a flash of fire followed by a puff of white +smoke down at the Castle. + +"A signal!" shouted Jock, who had noticed the occurrence at the same +instant. + +"Yes, they want to speak to us," and with a circling sweep the +machine came round as Dastral pulled the joy-stick hard over, and +swept back again until he hung right over Dover Castle. + +"Can you make it out, old man?" asked the pilot. + +"Yes, I have it," cried Fisker, whose eyes had been glued to a spot +on the Castle grounds just at the top of the hill overlooking the +naval harbour. + +"What is it? Do they want us to go down?" + +"No. The Commander of the fort says there are several enemy +submarines in the Channel, and requests us to keep a sharp look-out +for them as we cross over." + +"Cheery-o, Jock! That's good news. I'm going to drop down a bit, +then. There's a D.S.O. for you if you spot one. Here goes!" And with +that, Dastral jammed over the controls again, and did a neat nose +dive of two thousand feet, looping the loop once or twice just to +express his joy, and give vent to his feelings. + +Jock had picked up this information from a few white strips of +calico, which had been stretched out in a curious fashion within the +Castle grounds. To a trained observer like Fisker, it was mere +child's play to read a code signal like that. + +And now the daring joy-riders, keenly watched by hundreds of eyes far +down below, left the shore once again, and the naval harbour with its +shipping, and headed for the French coast, watching the surface of +the sea as though they would read its secret. + +"East-south-east, Dastral! That's the course till we sight the +opposite shore," shouted Jock to his comrade, who, he thought, in his +excitement and eagerness to spot a submarine lurking in the depths, +might miss his way, as many a brave aviator before him had done. + +"Right-o!" came the answer to this reminder, for the French coast was +hid as yet in the morning mist. Then the course was altered slightly +once again, in order to make a proper landfall on the other side. + +They were flying low now, much lower than the usual regulations +permitted, for it is necessary to keep a good altitude in crossing +the Channel, not only because of the chance of running into a stray +air-pocket, but to enable one to 'plane to safety should anything go +wrong with the engines, for only a seaplane can ride the waves like a +ship; and this was no seaplane they were riding to-day. + +Far down below them they could see the patrol boats hunting for their +prey. They could also see the mine-sweepers at work, clearing the +fairway from those foul nests of floating mines which the crafty foe +had been busy laying with their submarines. Once or twice they +thought they could make out some dark-grey object like a mine or +sunken vessel beneath the surface of the water. + +A string of mine-sweepers were stretched out below them now. They +could see them distinctly, could see even the long nets that trailed +between them, for the sun was gaining power and the morning mists +were rolling away. The grey expanse of water took on another hue, +changing from a dull grey to a greenish tint, with patches here and +there of deep blue, where the water deepened, or the surface of the +mirror reflected a corresponding patch of the azure above. + +Keenly now they searched the face of the deep for any dark speck, +for, from an aeroplane, it is possible to look far down, often even +to the bed of the sea; but as yet they saw nothing, save an +occasional piece of wreckage, which had probably detached itself and +floated from the treacherous Goodwins, away to the eastward and the +northward--those treacherous shoals which hold the remains of so many +gallant barques and vessels, from the Roman galley to the modern +liner. + +They had not long left the mine-sweepers on their port quarter when +Jock, through his glasses, noted something like a string of +porpoises, which, owing to the motion of the waves, appeared to be +travelling along. They seemed so regular and orderly in their +movement, however, that he was about to pass them over. Thinking, +however, that he would like to call Dastral's attention to them, he +shouted:-- + +"Starboard bow, Dastral! Look at 'em! What are they? Not mines, +surely. Look like porpoises, only they're not dark enough, and they +don't tumble about much." + +Dastral peered over the side of the cockpit and looked down. + +"Can't say," he ejaculated. + +"Let's go down a bit lower, old man," said Fisker. + +"Aye, aye. Hold tight!" cried the pilot, for he noticed that Jock was +standing up and leaning over, unstrapped. + +"Right away! I'm all right," replied the observer, squatting down, +and pressing his knees against the knee-board, which is the life-line +of the aeroplane. + +And down they went in a graceful nose-dive till they were within five +hundred feet of the surface of the water, with the engines shut off. +Then, as they flattened out, both men peered over the side again, and +Dastral was the first to exclaim:-- + +"Porpoises be hanged! They're German mines. A whole string of them +floating about in the fairway, ready for the first ship that comes +along. The dirty Huns!" + +"Snakes alive! So they are. Now I can make them out quite plainly; I +can even see the horns and contacts through my glasses. Phew! +There'll be a deuce of a mess shortly unless they're cleared up." + +"Look alive, old man, or there'll be trouble!" shouted the pilot. + +"How so?" + +"See that ocean tramp coming up Channel. She's a seven thousand +tonner, and her cargo's worth a couple of hundred thousand. She'll be +right on the string of mines directly, and then--gee whiz!--there'll +be fireworks, and another valuable cargo will have gone to Davy +Jones' locker." + +The mine-sweepers were about a couple of miles away by this time, but +the Commodore of the little fleet had seen the rapid nose-dive of the +hornet, and knew that something unusual was happening. + +He had already strung out the signal for a boat to detach its nets +and proceed at full steam to the spot, for he thought that the +machine was coming down with engine trouble. + +It was his duty, therefore, to save the men, and, if possible, salve +the aeroplane also. Dastral saw the signal through his glasses, and +watched the vessel cast off her nets to come up. His immediate +concern, therefore, was for the tramp steamer surging up Channel, and +nearing the end of her long voyage from Valparaiso to London. At all +costs to the aeroplane, she must be saved from the deadly mines +towards which she was now heading directly. The tide was with her, +and she was coming up rapidly. In another five minutes she would be +in the cunningly laid trap. + +For the moment, Dastral continued to circle over the mine bed, hoping +thereby to warn off the tramp. Of this she appeared to take no +notice, though undoubtedly a score of eyes were watching his +gymnastic gyrations from the deck and bridge of the vessel. + +"Try the gun, Jock. Quick!" + +"Rip-r-r-r-r-r!" went the Lewis gun, as Jock pressed the button and +fired off half a drum of ammunition. + +Even yet, the tramp steamer did not seem to understand, for her +captain did not charge her course. + +"Is she fitted with wireless?" yelled Dastral. + +"Yes," answered the observer, putting down his glasses into the +socket for an instant. + +"Then give her a message on the international code. It's her last +chance. She'll be on the infernal things in another two minutes." + +"Right-o! Here goes!" and, uncoiling the long aerial wire, he tapped +out just one word on the sending key:-- + +"M I N E S!!!" + +"Good. If that fails, the ship's done for!" ejaculated Fisker, as he +watched eagerly for the ship to change her course. + +On came the vessel, quite oblivious of the danger. She was less than +a cable's length from the string of mines, and still steaming fast, +when Dastral noted some movement about the deck, where a dozen or so +of the crew stood just for'ard of the bridge, in the waist, gazing +intently at the 'plane. + +"Heavens! It's too late!" gasped the pilot, as he saw the steamer's +bows running dead on towards the very centre of the floating mines. + +"No, she may just do it," he ventured to his observer, as he saw the +sudden commotion on board. + +Suddenly, out of the wireless room, the operator, evidently carrying +the message, dashed up the companion way to the bridge, flourishing a +piece of paper in his hand, and shouted:-- + +"Mines in the vicinity, sir!" + +Then it was that the captain realised the danger he was in, for the +mine-sweeper coming up on the starboard bow was also flying the +signal for her to heave to. + +Dashing to the wheelhouse door, a few paces away from where he had +been standing, the captain shouted to the man at the helm, + +"Hard-a-starboard!" + +And though the tide was with her, the good ship swung round smartly, +only in the very nick of time, for, as she turned, one of the deadly +mines was within two feet of her stern, and the wash from her screw +and the rapid movement of her rudder as she came round, caused the +nearest mine to come into contact with a piece of wreckage, at which +there was a terrific roar, and a huge column of water was lifted up +and hurled some two hundred feet into the air. + +Then followed a more terrible spectacle, for one after another the +whole string of mines went off, as though they had been countermined. +It was just as if there had been a sub-aqueous earthquake, for a +prolonged roar of thunder, earsplitting and nerve-racking, +immediately followed, while the sea for hundreds of yards around rose +up like a huge waterspout, and for some minutes the whole surface of +the water, hitherto placid, broke into tumultuous waves. + +The tramp steamer received fifty tons of water upon her decks, but +save for a slight starting of the plates in her stern, she was +untouched. Nevertheless, she had to keep the pumps constantly in use +for the remainder of her voyage. + +After circling round the spot for another few minutes to speak with +the Commodore of the fleet of mine-sweepers, Dastral turned the +hornet's head once again towards the enemy's coast, and the captain +of the tramp steamer dipped his pennant and gave a long blast on the +siren, as a token of gratitude for the service rendered. + +The aviators were well pleased with themselves for the part they had +taken in the little adventure, which had not been without its +thrills, and a spice of danger. + +They were now almost in mid-Channel, and could see both shores. There +were the white cliffs of Old Albion behind them, while in front, a +little on their left, Cape Grisnez rose out of the water. Below them +several liners, transports and colliers, could be seen making either +up or down Channel, or for one of the ports on the English or French +coasts. Turning round to Fisker, the pilot shouted through the +speaking tube:-- + +"Sorry it wasn't a German submarine, old fellow. There'll be no +D.S.O. for us for picking up a string of floating mines." + +"Ah, well. Better luck next time," called back the observer. + +"The place is too well patrolled now for the Huns' submarines to show +themselves about here. Gemini! but I'd give my brevet and six months' +pay to spot one this journey. It would be some find." + +The observer did not reply immediately. He was keenly searching the +opposite shore to find the breakwater at the entrance to Boulogne +harbour. + +"Can you see it yet?" called the pilot, noting an anxious look on +Jock's face. "Yes," replied the latter. "Better give her another two +points south, and then we shall just about hit the canal below the +town. Our instructions were to follow it to the main aerodrome." + +"Aye, aye," answered the pilot, altering the controls slightly, and +bringing her head round upon a more southerly course. + +Shortly after this, the town and harbour of Boulogne came into full +view to the naked eye. Their intention was to leave it a little on +their left, and, then making a landfall of a certain railhead and +canal, take a short cross-country flight to the big aerodrome behind +the British lines. They now began to regard themselves as nearly at +the end of their journey, and had no expectation of a still greater +adventure before them--an adventure which would prevent them reaching +their destination, at any rate, that day. + +Only some five or six miles of sea now lay between them and the land, +and they were right over the track of the transports, which made a +continuous line of traffic between the two shores, when Fisker, who +had taken up his glasses again in order to watch a batch of +troopships, escorted by a couple of destroyers, suddenly turned them +on to a large four tunnelled hospital ship, which, coming out of the +harbour, crowded with wounded and war-worn men, was ploughing its +solitary way towards Old Blighty, without any other escort or +protector than the Red Cross flag. + +Suddenly, as he watched the stately vessel moving along at +twenty-five knots, with the huge combers falling away from her bow, +and a long milk-white trail from her stern, he started suddenly, and +lowered his glasses, almost shrieking at the top of his voice:-- + +"See there, Dastral! Quick!" + +"Where away?" cried the pilot, turning round sharply, and catching a +glimpse of Fisker's horrified face. + +"There!" exclaimed the observer, laconically, pointing with his hand +in the direction of the hospital ship. + +Dastral looked in the direction indicated. + +"The brutes!" he gasped. "Not if I can prevent it." + +That which had called forth these horrified expressions was nothing +more or less than a lurking German submarine, hidden beneath the +water, but with a few inches of periscope above the surface, +manoeuvring to bring the huge hospital ship within its range. It had +evidently watched the procession of transports pass by, but, fearing +that it might be rammed by one of the destroyers if it revealed its +presence, it had waited for some other tasty morsel to come along. +Unfortunately, there was nothing she could touch but this hospital +ship. + +With any other nation, a vessel flying the sacred emblem of humanity, +which floated from the masthead of the ship, would have been immune +from attack. But to the Hun no code of morals seems to hold good. Nor +was any crime to be regarded as such if only some damage could be +inflicted upon the enemy. + +"Ach, wohl, mein herr!" the German ober-lieutenant in the submarine +was remarking to his superior officer at that moment. "The verdomt +transports are gone, and there's nothing but a big 'hospital ship +steaming by. Shall we loose a leetle tin fish at her? You can't trust +these English; they're probably transporting materials of war. There +are sure to be some staff officers on her decks anyhow. What say you, +mein herr?" + +"Sink the blamed hooker, Fritz! We can say that she tried to ram us, +when we make out our report. No one will be any the wiser, for dead +men can't tell tales. He, he! Ho, ho!" + +And already the commander's hand was upon the lever in the +conning-tower which controlled the torpedo tubes in the bow. +Hesitating just for a second, as though battling with the last shreds +of a lingering conscience, he pulled the lever. + +"Swiss-s-s-h!" came the sound as the deadly missile left the tube and +entered the water. + +"Good heavens! She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the +very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, +and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of +the deadly torpedo. + +Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the _Galicia_, the +big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the +spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the +enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel +just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by +a few feet. + +Then commenced a stern chase, for the _Galicia_, seeing the imminent +danger that she was in, sought refuge in flight. Placing her stern +towards the oncoming submarine, she fled down Channel, hoping thereby +to save her precious cargo of wounded heroes. + +"Donner and blitz!" exclaimed the commander to his lieutenant. "We +have missed her. That will never do. We must sink her now at any +cost, or the American cables will be full of the affair, and the +anger of the neutral world will be turned against us once more." + +"What shall we do, mein herr?" asked the lieutenant of the submarine. +"She can do twenty-five knots and we can only do seventeen while we +are submerged." + +"We must run her awash, and give her three-inch shells with the deck +guns. The transports and patrols are some distance off now." + +"She will be calling back the destroyers by now with her wireless, +mein herr." + +"Gott in Himmel! but we must risk it. There may just be time. I wish +we had let the blamed hooker go by." + +Then, with a few round oaths, he switched down the periscope, pulled +over the lever that drove the water out of the ballast tanks, and, as +the boat came to the surface, he had the hatch unshipped, and ordered +his gun crew to stations, calling them dachshunds, and a few more +vile names. + +As soon as the submarine came to the surface, the electric motors +were stopped, and the surface engines started so that every knot +could be got out of them. + +"All clear!" had been reported to him by the lieutenant, and as +regards the narrow horizon which can be surveyed from the periscope +of a submerged vessel, all was indeed clear, for they had not seen +the hornet which was buzzing overhead, silently dipping and +nose-diving with her engines shut off, and rapidly manoeuvring like +an angry wasp, waiting but an opportunity to get at its victim. + +So intent was the submarine commander upon his prey, with one eye on +the hospital ship and another on the horizon, watching for the patrol +boats, which he knew would be sure to return, that he had even got +his deck-gun to work, and was firing rapidly at the _Galicia_, when +to his dismay he heard, just over his head, the whir-r-r-r-r of the +aeroplane, as Dastral started his engine again. + +"Mein Gott, was ist das?" he cried. + +"Ach, Himmel, but we are lost!" came the cry from the gunners and the +ober-lieutenant. + +"Dachshunds!--you verdomt fools, turn the gun on the aeroplane!" +yelled the irate commander, but he realised that he had lost the +game. + +Nearer and nearer came that dreaded enemy, with its angry buzz, till +but a hundred feet above the broad, whale-like back of the submarine, +for Dastral, having but the two twenty-pound bombs in his carrier, +determined not to miss his chance. + +"Be careful, Jock!" he shouted. "Drop it right on her conning-tower. +Take no risks." + +"Right-o, old fellow!" Jock had replied, his hand on the bomb +release. "She's giving us shrapnel, though. Look out!" + +"Spit . . . Bang! Spit . . . Bang!" came the bursting shrapnel from +the quick-firing gun on the deck of the submarine, and a shot hitting +the left aileron of the warplane, just as the observer was releasing +the first bomb, caused her to roll and bank so much that the bomb +fell into the sea, just a few inches from the starboard beam of the +boat. + +"Great heavens, you've missed him!" shouted Dastral, as the bomb, +which was fitted with a contact fuse, sank down harmlessly into the +sea. + +Jock bit his lips, which were white with anger at his failure, and +placed his hand once more on the bomb release. It was his last bomb. +If they failed this time they were done, for already they had lost +several struts and wires, and the planes had been holed in a score of +places. + +Even Dastral's face was pale, though not with fear, as he jammed the +rudder bar over with his feet, and using the joy-stick as well, came +round swiftly once more, dropping down to within fifty feet of his +enemy. + +"Great Scott! She's preparing to submerge, Jock. For heaven's sake +don't miss her this time!" + +Jock did not reply, but taking true aim just as they were directly +over the boat, he dropped his second and last bomb fairly and +squarely on the conning-tower. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m!" came the sound as the bomb descended swiftly +and exploded right amidships, splitting the conning tower open, just +as it was being closed ready for the boat to descend. + +A blinding sheet of flame shot up into the sky, scorching both the +pilot and the observer, and a crashing noise followed the explosion, +as the submarine, her deck split open and rent in twain, opened out, +then sank like a stone, carrying down with her the twenty-two men who +manned her. + +A few minutes afterwards the only trace of the pirates was an +ever-extending patch of oil which floated on the surface of the +water, punctured here and there by the air bubbles which forced their +way through the patch. + +So suddenly did she disappear from view that even the airmen, +scorched and bruised and bleeding from slight shrapnel wounds, were +amazed at the work of their hands. Dastral was the first to recover +speech, however. + +"Well done, Jock!" he cried. "Thus may all pirates perish who fire on +the Red Cross flag." + +The observer did not reply, however, for he had fallen forward in a +dead faint, from sheer excitement and loss of blood; perhaps most of +all from sheer fear of failure with his last bomb. And now his head +was resting against the wind screen just in front of the cockpit. + +"Jock! Jock! What's the matter?" Dastral called to him. + +The observer made an effort to rouse himself, for he had only +momentarily lost consciousness. He lifted up his head, tugged at his +leather helmet, and managed at last to pull it off. + +"Great Scott! You're wounded!" exclaimed Dastral as he saw the blood +streaming from his companion's face. + +"It's all right now. I feel better, Dastral. Carry on! The petrol +tank overhead here is leaking, and we're about run out. But I've sent +a message to the destroyers on the wireless and here they come." + +Dastral turned sharply, and looked in the direction which Jock had +indicated by slightly raising his hand. + +"Yes. Hurrah! Here they come!" he cried. + +And indeed there was no mistaking that long trail of black smoke just +a couple of miles away, nor the white trail of foam as the combers +broke and fell away from the two snake-like boats, which were coming +up full pelt, for they had been drawn to the spot by the sound of the +firing even before they had picked up Jock's message. + +Nor did they come a moment too soon, for the aeroplane was wounded as +well as her crew. Her work was done, at any rate for the next few +days, until she had been overhauled by the smart air-mechanics, +fitters and riggers of the Royal Flying Corps. The engine was missing +too, very badly, for the petrol tank was pierced in several places, +and the supply had almost run out. The planes and struts were damaged +and in parts shot away, so much so, that, as Dastral jammed over the +controls and banked to bring her round, with her head towards the +rapidly approaching patrols, one of the wings collapsed, and she +slithered down, slipping sideways into the sea, now only some thirty +feet below her. + +"Jump, Jock! Jump!" cried Dastral. And both the aviators, having +managed to free themselves, leapt out as the singed and broken +air-wasp lightly struck the waves. + +Fortunately the life-saving jackets, which all the ferry pilots are +compelled to wear when crossing the Channel, ensured their safety, +once they managed to disentangle themselves from the wreckage of the +'plane. + +"This way, Jock. Let us keep together. Here come the destroyers!" +shouted the pilot. And the next instant, they heard a strong voice +shout out-- + +"Hard-a-starboard there! Jam her over, man!" + +And immediately after the same voice shouted to the man at the engine +room telegraph-- + +"Full speed astern!" + +Two minutes later both the aviators were safe on board the destroyer. +A signal from her slender masthead caused the other boat to sweep +round, pick up the wrecked warplane, which was already settling down, +and to tow her into port. + +So ended the adventure of the ferry-pilot and his companion. And next +morning, after a good night's rest at the Hotel de l'Europe in +Boulogne, a short message in a pink envelope, which was placed on the +breakfast tray, informed the youthful and daring heroes that-- + +"His Majesty, King George the Fifth, desires to congratulate and to +thank Lieutenants Dastral and Fisker, of the Royal Flying Corps, for, +when on active service, their gallantry and courage in attacking and +sinking the enemy submarine U41, and to confer upon them the +COMPANIONSHIP OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +OVER THE GERMAN LINES + + +"WE must have been born under a lucky star, Jock, to win the D.S.O. +as well as the thanks of the King, for that trifling little incident +which occurred yesterday," said Dastral as they sat down to a +substantial breakfast that morning, in the dainty little coffee-room +which looked out on to the English Channel. + +"It was a stroke of luck, anyhow, to encounter that U boat just when +we did. We should have made a landfall in another five minutes, and +then we should have missed her altogether," replied his companion, +pausing for an instant in his attack on the coffee and hot rolls. + +"And the hospital ship?" queried the pilot. + +"Ah, the brutes! But we were one too many for them," replied Jock. "I +had the time of my life during that short fight. I'd just love a +scrap like that every day. Almost wish I'd joined the R.N.A.S. now. +What say you, old fellow? Besides, the odds were all on our side. The +Hun never so much as suspected our presence, else he wouldn't have +shown himself as he did." + +"Just wait a few days, Jock, till we join our fellows down at the +Squadron, and you'll have all the excitement you want." + +"You mean?" went on the observer, looking up into the pilot's face as +he helped himself to another portion of grilled ham and fried eggs. + +"I mean," Dastral continued, without waiting for Jock to finish his +sentence, "I mean, wait till we get orders from the new Squadron +Commander to go over the German lines. The odds will not be so much +in our favour." + +"H'm! I wonder what it's like to be over there with the shrapnel +bursting all around you, and miles and miles of trenches below you, +with the 'Archies' spitting at you all the time with continuous +bursts of fire, and the very heavens full of air-pockets." + +"And half a dozen Fokkers coming up out of the horizon to scuttle +you, and give you a spinning nose-dive of ten thousand feet into No +Man's land, with your petrol tank blazing, and your engine missing, +eh? Go on, you veritable misanthrope!" and here both the young heroes +burst into a fit of laughter at the woeful, nerve-shattering picture +which they had both been drawing. + +Thus they continued to talk about the future which lay immediately +before them. Yet all these things they were to see, and much more, +ere they were many months older. They were full of life and vigour, +and in action they were to prove daring and resourceful; yet they +were wise in this, that they did not under-estimate either the task +that lay before them, or the enemy they were to meet. + +Their chief concern for the present, however, was centred on the +broken aeroplane, with which they had started from England on the +previous day for their first flight overseas. "I wonder what's become +of the hornet," said Dastral, a few moments later, as they sat by the +fireside, and settled down to a smoke. + +"We shall hear shortly, as you have wired to the O.C. reporting the +incident. Besides, the destroyer is sure to have brought her in, even +if she is badly damaged." + +Shortly after this the telephone bell in the corridor rang. A maid +appeared, and after a very pretty French curtsey, said:-- + +"Monsieur le Commandant Dastral, s'il vous plait?" + +"Ah, oui, Mademoiselle, qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" asked Dastral, +rising to his feet, and returning the pretty maid's curtsey. + +"C'est pour vous, ce message téléphonique." + +"Merci, mam'selle," replied Dastral, as he hastened to the telephone +box. + +"Hullo! Who is that?" asked a voice some twenty or thirty miles away. + +"Lieutenant Dastral, of the Flying Corps. Who is that, please?" + +"Major Bulford, Squadron Commander, speaking from the aerodrome at +St. Champau." + +"Yes, sir!" replied Dastral smartly, springing unconsciously to +attention, although the voice was so far away from him. + +"Good-morning, Dastral. Congratulations, my boy. I have heard all +about your adventures yesterday from my Adjutant. You've started +well! You're just the man we're wanting here. We're having warm work +with the Boches this week. You're a lucky dog to run into a German +submarine on your first trip over." + +"Oh, it was my observer, sir. He spotted the blamed thing, and bombed +her. It was as easy as winking. Just a stroke of luck, sir, that's +all." + +"Well, I hope your luck 'll keep in. We shall be glad to see you as +soon as you can come over. Are you both all right?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite all right, 'cept for a slight chill through being in +the water for a few minutes." + +"Well, better stay where you are a couple of days if you are +comfortable, and then come on here." + +"Thank you, sir. Yes, we're quite comfortable here, and we'll report +at the aerodrome in a couple of days." + +"Right. Good-bye. Oh, I say! Are you there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I was going to tell you that the machine arrived here about an hour +ago. It's some 'bus' and I like the look of her, except that she's +badly smashed, and will be in the hands of the riggers and mechanics +for four or five days before she can be used again." + +"Oh, that's not so bad. I feared she would be useless after the crash +she got, sir. How did you get her there so quickly?" + +"Oh, we received word from the harbourmaster that she had been +brought in by a destroyer, and we immediately sent down a couple of +tenders with trailers and brought her on here this morning. Good-bye. +The fellows here are all anxious to meet you." + +"Good-bye, sir." + +As soon as he had rung off Dastral rushed back into the room to tell +Jock all about his chat with the O.C. of the Squadron at St. Champau, +and especially about the two days' extra leave. + +"Good!" ejaculated his friend. "Seems a decent sort of chap, eh?" + +"Rather a sport, I should say, old man." + +"Capital. That little affair of ours yesterday seems to have done us +no harm. It'll probably give us a good entree into the new mess. Hope +they're all decent fellows there." + +So they spent half the morning resting after their exciting +adventures of the previous day, and reading the papers, some of which +gave censored accounts of the event. The two days passed all too +quickly, and on the third morning they were both awakened just before +dawn by the rep-r-r-r of a motor bicycle, which pulled up sharply +outside the hotel. + +It was "Brat" the despatch rider of the -- Squadron, who had come post +haste from Major Bulford, with an urgent message which ran as +follows:-- + + + "To Lieutenant Dastral, D.S.O., + "Hotel de l'Europe, + "Boulogne-sur-Mer. + "Be prepared to join Squadron immediately. + Tender will call for you within an hour. + "JOHN BULFORD, _Major_." + + +Two hours later both the young officers were on their way to St. +Champau, where they arrived before noon. + +They received a warm welcome at the mess and were congratulated upon +their recent adventure. They soon found that plenty of work and +adventure awaited them on the morrow. The incessant roar of the +British artillery, which was carrying out an intense bombardment of +the whole front, amazed and bewildered them, for preparations were +already in progress for the Somme "push." + +Away to the eastward, the line of battle was clearly demarked. Shells +were bursting in mid-air, and during the afternoon a huge mine was +exploded under the enemy's trenches, which shook the earth for twenty +miles around, and hurled thousands of tons of timber, rocks, and clay +into the air, making a crater of huge diameter, towards which the +British advanced and later in the day captured and consolidated the +position. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, a flight of aeroplanes, which +had been over the German lines, returned. Two of them had been badly +hit and one of the observers had been seriously wounded. They +reported having encountered several flights of enemy 'planes, which, +however, had avoided them and made off eastward. They also reported +some unusual activity behind the enemy's lines, but, the weather +having become dull, and the sky overcast, they were unable to make a +full reconnaissance. + +"H'm. There must be a further reconnaissance at dawn," the O.C. had +remarked, after receiving their report. Then, turning to Dastral, he +said: + +"Lieutenant Dastral." + +"Yes, sir," replied the young pilot, advancing towards his superior +officer, and saluting smartly. + +"The mechanics and riggers have been working day and night on your +new machine since we received it. They will continue the work through +the night, and I want you to supervise it, so that it will be ready +before to-morrow. I want you to use it as soon as possible. We have +lost so many of our machines lately over there," and here the O.C. +made a gesture with his right hand towards that line of fire and +blood, where the British and French troops held back the enemy's +hordes. + +"Nothing will give me greater pleasure, sir," replied the intrepid +youth, glowing with pride at the thought that he was to be made use +of so quickly. + +"And--er--I want you to carefully study the map of the section in +which we are working. It will be absolutely necessary for you to know +every road, hamlet and village marked on that map, before you go +over. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then get to work at once, my dear fellow. I have great hopes of you, +and if you continue as you have begun, I can promise you it will not +be long before you are made a Flight-Commander." + +Dastral blushed deeply at this compliment, for he was but a boy in +years, despite his courage and resource. Leaving the Commander's +presence, he went direct to the shed, where he found Jock, who was +not only a brilliant observer but a first-rate mechanic, and already +had the work in hand, having been drawn there by his affection for +the filmy thing that had already brought them across the seas, and +had served them so well during at least one great adventure. + +"Well, how is she, Jock?" were his first words. + +"Ripping!" replied the observer, handling the delicate creature as +though she were a lady. "I've already been round her. The engine and +propellor are quite sound now. The new petrol tank and feed are +already fitted, and in another couple of hours she'll be as perfect +as when she left England." + +"Good!" exclaimed Dastral, who had the greatest confidence in the +lad's judgment in these matters, and was prepared to back him against +any expert in aerodynamics, or the mechanism of any aeroplane in +existence. + +"What say you to a trip in her this evening? There'll be plenty of +time before dusk, old fellow." + +"Yes, I'm quite agreed, even if it's only a joy-ride to try her, for +to-morrow we go over there," said the pilot, flinging away the stump +of his cigar, and jerking his thumb in the direction of his shoulder. + +"Over where?" asked Jock, straightening himself from the stooping +position he had assumed, to examine the baffle-plates on the +propeller. + +"Over the German lines," came the reply. + +"Really! You mean it, and so soon?" + +"Yes, to-morrow at dawn we go over on a reconnaissance; C.O.'s +orders." + +"Good!" exclaimed the observer, throwing down a spanner which he +still held in his hand. + +"And here's a map of the section in front of our lines. We must spend +the evening over it." + +So that evening, after the machine had been got quite ready for her +next flight, they spent four hours over the map, scaling it out, and +committing to memory the names of villages, hamlets, rivers, canals, +roads and railway lines, so that when they retired to bed, the whole +of the map was actually photographed upon their minds. + +Morning came at length, and at the first whisper of dawn, having +received their detailed orders from the Squadron-Commander, four or +five aeroplanes were wheeled out on to the aerodrome, then taxied off +quickly and disappeared in the dark. The last of the flight was the +hornet, with Dastral and Jock starting on their first real venture +over the enemy's lines. + +After climbing rapidly, and circling round the aerodrome once or +twice, the machines made off, each to reconnoitre the section of the +line allotted to it. + +The hornet carried two Lewis guns, with plenty of ammunition, for +when an aerial patrol sets out on a flight, one never knows what +duels he may have to engage in before he returns. The hornet had this +advantage over the other machines, which were of an older pattern: +she had a higher speed, was a better climber, and with her improved +controls she could manoeuvre more quickly than any other machine yet +made. + +"Gee whiz!" cried Jock down the speaking tube, which ended close to +the pilot's ear, "but she's climbing." + +"What is it?" yelled back the pilot, half turning his head so that +his mouth came near to the end of the tube. + +"Three thousand feet," came the answer. + +"Good! Then we'll make a bee-line and cross the trenches. Look out +for 'Archie'!" + +The dawn had broken by now, and away in the east the gloom was +lifting, but down below it was still wrapped in mist and darkness. It +was the hour of standing-to. Down below thousands of eyes would be +straining through the obscurity to find that speck in the heavens +whence came that whir-r-ring sound. + +But upward and onward went the hornet With a stern, strong beat of +power in her twelve-cylindered engine. Nearer and nearer she came to +that long line which stretched from the sand-dunes of Belgium away to +Switzerland. The observer was already keenly surveying the landscape +through his glasses as the light broadened, and the countryside +revealed itself. + +A silvery streak lay beneath them; it was the River Ancre. Now a +broad white patch of roadway came into view. It was the main road +from Albert to Bapaume. As they came out of a bank of rolling mist +and fog, a few red roofs and a church tower next came into view, +standing just where four roads met. + +"Contalmaison?" queried Dastral, and Jock, after a brief reference to +his waterproof map, called back: + +"Yes, and Bazentin on the left." + +They were now almost over the trenches, and far beneath they could +discern hundreds of tiny points of fires. + +"What are they?" asked the pilot again, and the observer who had been +scanning those red sparks for a couple of minutes replied, + +"Fires in the British trenches. Men cooking their morning rations. +Can't you smell the bacon?" + +Dastral laughed and sniffed the keen morning air, as though in +reality he could make out the fragrant aroma of the morning dish, +about which those cold, wet, and shivering heroes of the trenches +were standing, ankle-deep in mud and clay. + +"The poor devils!" added the pilot, altering his controls slightly, +and wheeling round to the south to pick up the enemy's lines more +clearly at a point where they made a sharp curve. + +They could now clearly see both the British and the German trenches. +Three long, scarred and ragged lines of brown earth showed clearly +where the enemy's front-line, reserve and support trenches stood. +Long, twisting lines of similar demarcation showed where the +communication trenches ran. + +Now they were over No Man's land, sailing along serenely, and the +artillery down below had already opened the morning concert on both +fronts, when-- + +"Biff, puff----!" came a time-fuse shrapnel and burst scarcely a +hundred feet in front of the machine. Then another and another as the +"Archies" below spotted the hornet, and tried to give her a packet. + +Suddenly they were in a cloud of yellow smoke and half-poisonous +fumes, which made them gasp and sputter. Then, owing to the bursting +of the shells and the heavy concussions they found themselves in a +succession of air-pockets. + +"Look out, Jock!" cried Dastral, as the machine rocked and swayed, +banking over once or twice as though she had been hit. + +For several minutes they ran the gauntlet of this heavy fire from the +German A.A. guns, but the terrific speed at which they were +travelling--now nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour--soon +carried them beyond the range of the enemy's guns. + +Then it was that the day's work really began. Their orders were to +reconnoitre behind the enemy's lines and to report by wireless code +any occurrence, such as the threat of a massed attack by infantry, +the moving of transport columns, or the locating of heavy artillery. +It was also necessary, above all, to watch the skies for the +appearance of hostile aircraft. + +The other 'planes which started with the hornet that morning are seen +low down on the horizon, to the north and the south. They also are +searching all the terrain for any signs of activity on the part of +the Boche. + +Spurts of flame, like jets of fire, are seen in many places. These +are the German fieldguns firing upon the British trenches. The +observer does not make any particular note of these; he is out for +bigger game. + +Suddenly, the observer steadies his glasses, resting his arm for a +moment on the side of the fuselage. The loop line of the +Combles-Ginchy railway is just ahead of them and slightly on their +right. Though it is very early yet, Jock notices that the line about +Ginchy is crowded with traffic. + +"Ahoy there, Dastral!" he calls down the speaking tube. + +"Yes," comes back the laconic answer. + +"Railway line blocked with traffic. Troops detraining, I think. Put +her over a bit." + +"Right-o!" + +Dastral jams over the rudder bar with his foot and, responding to her +huge tail rudder the hornet comes round in a swift circle, banking a +little as the joy-stick is also put over. Then Jock takes another +view, exclaiming, as he does so, + +"Yes, by Jove, there must be a whole division of them. Here goes!" + +And dropping the glasses into the pocket prepared for them, he +rapidly uncoils the long pendant wire, and begins to tap the keys of +his instrument. + +"Caught them on the nap, Jock, eh? Stroke of luck. Case of the early +bird. Tell the heavies to give 'em hell, old man," shouted Dastral, +but the conversation was carried away into the morning breeze, for +jock was already sending the message which would shortly bring the +thunder. + +"Zip-zip-zip, zur-r-r-r, zip!" went the brief coded message, back +over Longueval and Ginchy; over Contalmaison and the trenches to +where the British heavy batteries were waiting. + +Behind the Ancre, in a little dug-out, an expert operator catches up +the message. He has been waiting for it impatiently since dawn. The +brief tapping which his receiver picks up, tells him exactly the spot +on the terrain behind the enemy's lines where the thunder is needed. +The whole map is scaled out into tiny sections and sub-sections, each +with a number or letter to indicate the point where the concentrated +fire is needed. + +"Quick!" cries the operator to the little exchange. "Give me H.Q. +Heavy Batteries." Then as the reply comes through he gives: + +"A-2-3. Concentrated fire!" + +Within four minutes, while the hornet still circles over the luckless +Germans, now alive to their danger and rushing over each other in +their haste to finish the detrainment of the column, flashes of fire +are seen away to the west, and through the air comes a heavy +explosive shell. It is followed by another and yet another. As they +explode, the observer sees the earth blotted out from view for a few +seconds. He notes how near the first shots fall to the target. Then +he taps his keys once more. + +"Zur, zip-zip!" cries the machine, and the next shell falls into the +midst of the column, destroying nearly a whole train. And so for +another ten minutes the airmen remain, altering the range until at +least a dozen direct hits are scored, and the damage done to the +railway, the trains, and the division or so of men is tremendous. + +Very quickly, however, the men are scattered and placed out of +danger, hiding in the woods, and under hedges and trees where they +cannot be seen. + +The Germans, aware of that dangerous pest overhead, have rushed up +anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and have also telephoned to the +nearest aerodromes for their beloved Fokkers. So shortly after, +having done as much damage as possible in a short space of time, the +hornet moves off to reconnoitre further afield. + +"Watch for their verdomt Fokkers, Jock," cries the pilot. "They may +appear at any minute. Himmelman himself may be in the neighbourhood." + +"Himmelman?" queries Jock, more to himself than to his comrade, as he +looks round uneasily, for on the previous day he had heard some tall +tales of the doings of this crack German flyer. + +Then as they move off and open out the engine to gain speed, Jock +sweeps the horizon for a sight of enemy 'planes, for a strange +curiosity grips him at the thought of Himmelman, and he wonders half +aloud whether it will ever be his fate to meet this renowned airman, +who was said to have brought down more machines than any other man +living. + +But there is little time for soliloquy in the life of an airman in +war time. He must ever be on the _qui vive_. And so for another half +an hour, seeing no enemy 'planes to engage and remembering that he is +out first of all for a reconnaissance, he watches the ground more and +more closely. + +They have moved south some distance by this time, and have crossed +the railway near Cléry. Below them they see the narrow waters of the +Somme, glistening in the sunshine, for by now the sun is up, and +there is the promise of a brilliant day. Jock is keenly watching the +white road that leads from Peronne to Albert. + +"Ah! Ah!" He gasps. "What is that dark object that breaks the white, +sunlit road, as though some dark shadow has fallen across it?" + +He points it out to the pilot, with a few gestures, and Dastral +spirals round, and makes off towards the place at a rapid rate. + +As they approach the spot Jock scrutinises it yet more closely, for +it looks suspicious. Then suddenly putting aside his glasses once +more, he calls out, + +"Enemy column on the march!" + +"The deuce it is?" queries the pilot. + +"Yes, ammunition column, I think, but we'll soon find out." + +Then the tapping begins again, and the message is flung across the +battle-ground and is picked up. With a swift mental calculation the +observer has reckoned up when the head of the column will reach a +certain point in the road, where a bridge carries the road over a +tributary of the Somme. + +"Swis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" comes the first heavy fifteen-inch shell. + +It is a little short and another message on the keys is necessary. + +This time the shell falls plump right into the middle of the column, +for so accurately are the guns trained, that, though they cannot see +the object they are firing at, if the message sent only gives the +exact position on the map, a direct hit is soon gained. + +The consternation of the Germans can be better imagined than +described. Thinking themselves in comparative security so far behind +the lines, a huge shell without the slightest warning explodes near +by, and the next lands clean in the middle of the column. + +The object hit was a motor lorry conveying ammunition up to the guns. +The first explosion is followed by another, more terrific than the +first, for a couple of hundred shells are exploded, and when the +smoke and dust have cleared away the observer and his pilot look +down, and there is a huge gap in the column, for two of the lorries +are blazing, several have been overturned, and one has disappeared +entirely from view. + +Not only so but the road is blocked for the next six or seven hours +for all traffic, and not only will guns go short of ammunition but +more than one battalion of the German army will go short of food for +the next twenty-four hours. + +For half an hour the guns continue to shell the rest of the column, +which by that time has managed to get the undamaged motors away, by +dashing blindly down any side turning that leads to anywhere, out of +that terrible inferno. + +For a little while longer the observer continues to send cryptic +messages back to headquarters, which have the immediate effect of +altering and adjusting the range of the heavy batteries, until the +whole convoy has dispersed sufficiently to prevent the waste of +further ammunition. + +Modern warfare is like a game of chess, with move and countermove, +and this applies just as much to war in the air as to warfare on +land. Evidently this morning, however, the enemy have been caught +napping. His air patrols have not yet been sighted. Surely he has had +time to deal with the offender up there in the skies, who has been +reading the secret of his lines, and the movements in his rear, or +can it be that he is laying a trap for the unwary? + +So far the daring young adventurers have had it all their own way, +but a surprise is in store for them. Meanwhile, however, they +continue to circle around, noting half a dozen little things which +Jock briefly enters on his memoranda sheet. A few photographs are +also taken with the telescopic camera, for in reconnoitring the +observer has noted some new lines of brown coloured earth showing up +plainly against the green. Becoming suspicious he pointed them out to +Dastral. + +Holding the joy stick between his legs, Dastral takes the glasses for +a minute, then cries out, + +"New trenches, I believe!" + +"I think so, but we must make sure. I want a snapshot. Reserve +trenches probably. Perhaps the enemy are thinking of falling back the +next time they are attacked in force." + +"If so, we've got his secret. It's important; we must go down and +see. Hold tight!" + +At that moment while the couple were intent upon the line of new +trenches below, they failed to notice a little cloud that was coming +up out of the eastern horizon. Till now it had been bright and clear, +as it often is at the break of dawn, but the first little cloud, no +bigger than a man's hand, had arisen. And it was in that cloud that +the danger lay. + +Heedless, however, of this little thing, and willing to take some +deadly risks to get the precious photograph, which might prove to be +the final link in some theory held at headquarters as to the position +on the enemy's front, they ignored the coming danger. + +Putting forward the controlling gear the hornet dipped her head, and +made a graceful nose-dive at a terrific speed, losing in fifteen +seconds that which she would shortly very badly need, namely, her +altitude. + +The long, downward glide is finished at last. They are within a +thousand feet of the newly-dug trenches when they flatten out, and +the camera is released and a series of short, sharp snaps are taken, +as the instrument click-clicks. To-morrow, when these are developed, +they will tell the divisional commander much that he wants to know, +and may explain something which has puzzled him for days past. + +At the moment, however, when they flatten out, half a dozen Archies, +artfully concealed under a clump of bushes, suddenly open fire upon +the intruder. + +"Whis-s-s! Bang!" comes one of the shells and bursts within fifty +feet of the 'plane. + +For a few seconds they are blinded and stunned by the explosion, the +flying metal and the deadly fumes. They gasp for their breath, and +the aeroplane rocks wildly, but the terrific speed given them by the +nose-dive carries them through the maelstrom once more. + +"Are you hurt, Dastral?" shouts the observer, as soon as he himself +regains the power of speech. + +The pilot turns round just for half a second, and shakes his head, +but Jock sees for himself that though he evidently does not know it, +Dastral is wounded, for the visible part of his face is covered with +blood. Jock, himself, feels that his left arm is useless, and he +clenches it tightly with the other. + +There is no time to waste in words, however, for another peril is at +hand. They are soon out of range of the Archies, which, nevertheless, +have riddled the planes with jagged holes. No vital part has been +hit, however, and the two adventurers are not severely wounded. + +"Is the engine all right?" shouts Jock, as he sees Dastral peer into +the mechanism once or twice. + +"She's 'pukka' (all right)," comes back the answer. + +"Then we'd better make for home. Breakfast will be ready. It's nearly +six o'clock, and we've been out an hour and a half." + +Dastral nods, and heads the machine for home, altering the controls +again in order to get a good altitude ready for crossing the +trenches. + +As he does so he happens to look away to the eastward, as the machine +banks. + +"Great Scott, look there!" + +Jock did look, and in a cloud, not a couple of miles away, he saw two +specks racing for them with twice the speed of an express train. + +Seizing his glasses he fixed them for one second upon the objects, to +discover, if possible, the rounded marks of the Allies upon the +newcomers. Instead, he saw the black cross in a white rounded field, +showing distinctly upon both machines. + +"Enemy 'planes!" he shouted to the pilot. + +"Himmelman?" suggested Dastral in a half bantering tone. "We're up +against it this time, old man. He's the 'star turn' of the enemy's +corps, and he fights like the deuce. I would like to have met him +upon even terms. As it is, if we cannot leave him and get back with +this information, we must fight him." + +"Open the engine out, Dastral, and I'll bring the machine gun to +bear." + +Fortunately, the hornet had not been hit in any vital part, and her +engine was running splendidly. But she had lost her altitude to get +the precious photograph, having dropped nearly six thousand feet, +and, in fighting, altitude counts a great deal, for it is much the +same as the "weather gage" for which our sea-dogs used to contend in +the olden days. + +The hornet mounted two guns, but in a stern chase like this she could +use only the rear weapon. If he could only cripple one of their +pursuers by getting the first shot in Jock knew that they would then +be on more even terms, despite the fact that the enemy 'planes, +having caught them unawares, had got the advantage of them. + +"What are they, Jock?" asked the pilot. + +"Fighting scouts, I fancy." Then half a minute later he added: + +"Yes, Fokkers, both of them, single seaters with the gun forward." + +"Are they gaining much?" + +"Yes, they're creeping up rapidly. Now they're nose-diving to gain +speed. Shall I open fire?" + +"Not yet. Wait till they're within six hundred feet before you open. +Cripple the leader if you can." + +"Here they come. They're about to open on us." + +"Biff, ping, ping, rap, rap!" and the Hornet was sprayed from wing to +wing with machine gun bullets. + +"Good heavens, the machine's like a sieve! She'll not last much +longer at this rate," cried Dastral, as he looked round and surveyed +the damage done. Then, turning round towards the observer, who was +sighting his gun, he shouted wildly: + +"Give it him, Jock!" + +Then it was that Jock let fly, a full drum of ammunition clean at the +fuselage of the leading enemy 'plane. Thus it was that nerve told. +Not for nothing had Jock gained the highest honours in the School of +Aerial Gunnery before putting his brevet up. + +"Got him!" he cried exultantly, and the first machine went down in a +spinning nose-dive under that withering fire, for the pilot at the +controls was stone dead, shot through the head. + +The next instant, however, the master-pilot of all the German airmen +was upon them. While his companion had attacked from the level, he +had kept his gage, and now, at the critical moment, he had appeared +as it were from the clouds above their heads, firing from his bow gun +as he did a thrilling nose-dive. + +It was ever Himmelman's game to pounce upon his opponent and to beat +him nearer and nearer to the ground, until he was forced to crash or +make a landing in enemy territory. Once again he was about to +triumph, so he thought, for never before had he caught his man so +neatly. + +But Dastral was no ordinary aviator, and though his machine was raked +again from end to end, yet the engine still ran, and to Himmelman's +surprise his quarry proved much more elusive than he thought. With +his superior speed, owing to his downward drive, the German air-fiend +swept round and round the hornet, firing all the while, but Dastral, +his blood thoroughly up now, found an answering manoeuvre each time. + +The end was near, however, for the English machine could not hold out +much longer. Not only were the planes riddled, but several stays and +struts were gone, and several times the engine had missed. To make +matters worse, after the second drum the machine gun had jammed, and +things seemed hopeless. + +"Confound the gun! He's coming on again, Dastral," shouted the +observer, clenching his fist, and forgetting all about the bullet in +his arm. + +"Look out, then, I'm going to ram him. If I've got to go down, he's +going down with me." + +The two machines were almost on a level now, and when the German came +on, Dastral just put the joy-stick over, and made straight for his +opponent. + +"Donner and blitz!" yelled the irate Boche, for he did not understand +such tactics. For one aeroplane to ram another in mid air at two +thousand feet seemed incredible, but here was this mad Britisher +coming straight for him. + +"Mein Gott, no!" gasped Himmelman, and by a skilful manoeuvre he +sheered off, though thousands of his fellow-countrymen were watching +him from below, for they were now almost over the trenches. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" yelled Jock, though but an instant before his heart +seemed to be in his mouth, as the pilot made his almost fatal dash +for his opponent. + +Seeing that Himmelman had failed in his move, the anti-aircraft guns +opened fire again from below, but the hornet sailed on over the +trenches, and Himmelman did not follow, for out of the west three +British fighters were coming to the rescue. + +"Will she hold out, Dastral?" the observer asked a moment later, as +they passed the British trenches, out of the range of the German +Archies. + +"I think so. Can you spot the aerodrome?" + +"Yes, there it is, a little to the right." + +"Thanks, I see it now," came the softened reply, for Dastral was +rolling a little in his seat, as though he held the joy-stick with +difficulty. + +Jock bent over to help him, and the next minute they landed safely on +the level turf. And Jock remembered hearing a voice say: + +"Come along now. We're waiting breakfast for you in the mess." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + + +DASTRAL and Jock received a hearty welcome home that morning. +Although it was scarcely yet six o'clock, their day's work was +finished, and a good day's work it had been. Dastral's laconic report +was handed to the Squadron-Commander. Then, as soon as his slight +flesh wounds had been dressed by the genial "Number Nine," as Captain +Young, the medical officer for the squadron, was called, they went in +to early morning breakfast at the mess. + +"So you've had a scrap with Himmelman, have you, Lieutenant?" asked +Number Nine at the breakfast table. + +"Just a slight skirmish," replied Dastral. + +"You're lucky to get away from him!" + +"You think so?" queried the young pilot, pouring out another cup of +coffee, and pressing Jock, whose wound was giving him a good deal of +pain, to another slice of hot buttered toast. + +"I do, decidedly. He's so deucedly clever that he's uncanny. We +haven't found the man who can match him yet on our side. But one of +these days we shall do it." + +Dastral did not reply for some time. His mind was full of the details +of the recent encounter he had had with the unbeaten champion. He +wondered what Himmelman thought of his own tactics which had made the +air-fiend sheer off at the last moment. And he also determined that +should the opportunity ever come to fight with him on equal terms he +would not refuse the challenge. If it were possible the western front +should be rid of this champion, and the supremacy of the air wrested +from the Germans. + +For the next few days Dastral and Jock remained on light duty, +nursing their wounds, and taking strolls about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. The hornet had been so badly damaged that it was +necessary to send to England for new parts to be supplied before it +could be flown again. + +At the end of a fortnight, however, they were both quite well again, +and the hornet had been brought to its pristine condition. Then they +took part in several reconnaissances over the enemy's lines, and in +more than one bombing raid, but nothing of unusual importance +happened for nearly a month, when the following incident occurred: + +Dastral had just been made Flight-Commander, and so, in addition to +the hornet, three other active warplanes and three brilliant pilots +who were ready to follow him to the "Gulfs," wherever that might be, +had been placed under his command. This was the section of the Royal +Flying Corps called "B" Flight, which was to win much fame and glory +in the days of the near future. Already, Dastral, by his cool daring +and skilful manoeuvring, had won a great name amongst his fellows, +and some had even begun to talk of him as a possible competitor with +Himmelman. + +Often, after one of his more than usually brilliant raids or +reconnaissances over the lines, his friends would remark of him in +his absence: + +"Some day he will meet with Himmelman again, and then one of the two +will never return." + +"What a fight that will be!" remarked Number Nine one day, as he lit +his cigar and leaned back in his comfortable fauteuil, to puff rings +of smoke into the air. + +"And I hope I shall be there," said Mac, one of the pilots of "B" +Flight. + +"And while Dastral fights with Himmelman, may I be there to fight +with Boelke," added Brum to his friend Steve, both pilots belonging +to "B" Flight. + +Brum was short and sturdy, while Steve, or Inky as he was sometimes +called, was tall and thin and very dark, with piercing blue-grey +eyes, and they both considered Dastral the finest and fairest fighter +in the British Air Service. + +One day, while the great fight on the Somme was in progress, and the +Allies, by their great pressure were winning village after village +from the enemy, there came a mysterious message to the Command +Headquarters of the ---- Division, stating that the enemy had +finished the construction of three huge Zeppelin sheds not far from +Brussels. Also that the same number of Zeppelins had just arrived +from Friedricshaven to take possession of the sheds, evidently +preparatory to a raid upon Paris or London. + +The wires and despatch-riders were busy that day between the Command +Headquarters and the Aerodrome. Plans were drawn up to destroy at an +early date both the airships and the sheds. After some consideration, +it was decided that "B" Flight should have the honour of carrying out +the raid, and accordingly Dastral and Jock went to work at once with +their maps and charts to evolve a thoroughly sound plan of campaign. + +Several days later, towards evening, another coded message from the +same secret service agent behind the lines came to hand by carrier +pigeon, which when decoded ran something as follows: + +"Two Zeppelins just left Brussels' sheds, travelling west-nor'-west!" + +"Send Flight-Commander Dastral to me at once," said the +Squadron-Commander, immediately the message was read to him. + +As soon as Dastral appeared the O.C., who had been pacing about his +little room, turned abruptly upon the pilot, and said, + +"See this, Dastral?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth, scanning the brief message, which told +him so much. + +"You know what it means?" + +"It evidently means that a raid on London is imminent, and is being +carried out to-night, I fancy, sir." + +"Exactly!" snapped the O.C., who at such times became easily +fractious and irritated. + +At this moment the telephone in the C.O.'s office suddenly burst out, + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Yes, who's there?" asked the Major sharply. + +"Advanced Headquarters, Fourth Army. Are you the R.F.C.?" + +"Yes--Squadron-Commander speaking from No. 10 Aerodrome." + +"Right. News is just to hand by field telephone that three Zeppelins +have passed overhead making for the Channel. We have wired the coast +stations and the R N.A.S. to look after them, and if possible to +bring them down. There is evidently a raid in progress. What do you +think you can do in the matter?" asked the officer at the other end. + +"Hold on just a few seconds, sir!" replied the Major. Then, turning +round to Dastral, he repeated the conversation briefly, and said, + +"What do you suggest?" + +"Just this, sir," replied the pilot. "Our plan to destroy the sheds +is well forward, and we hoped to carry it out in three or four days. +We know exactly where the place is----" + +"Yes, yes, go on. The staff officer is waiting at the other end of +the line," blurted out the C.O. + +"Well, sir, if you will detail me to take my flight over there, so as +to be on the spot at dawn, when the airships return, we may be able +to strafe the lot. At any rate, we can destroy the sheds, and a +Zeppelin would be useless without its cradle, and would soon come to +grief." + +"Good! Prepare your flight at once for the venture, and we must leave +the other Squadrons and the R.N.A.S. and coast batteries to try and +stop the raid." + +"Yes, sir," replied the pilot, saluting smartly and departing on his +errand. + +So while the C.O. concluded his conversation with Headquarters over +the 'phone, Dastral got to work at once with his flight. + +While Snorty, the Aerodrome Sergeant-Major, and Yap, the rag-time +"Corporal," and a squad of experienced air-mechanics prepared the +machines for action, the Flight-Commander got together his pilots, +Mac, Steve, and Brum, with their observers, and explained every +detail of the proposed campaign. Distances were carefully worked out, +a prearranged code of signals agreed upon, maps and charts examined +and committed as far as possible to memory, and a score of necessary +details worked up, so that there should be no confusion in the method +of attack. + +Having spent an hour thus discussing the matter and threshing out +every aspect of the question that arose, Dastral said, + +"Now then for a rendezvous, lads, for we must go singly, and come +together smartly, at the precise moment, just as the dawn is +breaking, which will be no easy matter." + +"Let it be the Lion Mound on the battlefield at Waterloo," suggested +Mac. + +"Well, yes, that will do," said the Flight-Commander. "It is only +about two miles away from the sheds, which are close by the village +of Braine l'Alleud." + +"Agreed," they all cried. "It will be a landmark we shall easily +find." + +"Then understand, all of you, that you must be there exactly as the +dawn breaks, and, as soon as we pick each other up, we shall fall +into regular flight formation, make a bee line for the sheds, and +drop the squibs before the enemy can get to work with their Archies," +said Dastral. + +"And the cargo, Dastral? What shall we load up with?" + +"Six twenty-pound bombs each, with ten drums of the new machine-gun +ammunition. I think that will be all we can safely take without +reducing speed." + +"Right, sir!" + +"And understand, boys," the leader went on. "There must be no +fighting on the way there, even if attacked, unless it is absolutely +necessary to prevent a crash. I quite expect we may have to fight an +airship or two, and possibly a patrol of Fokkers or Aviatiks, for the +Zeps are sure to be escorted on their way back, if they get wind of +our little game." + +"Agreed, sir." + +"And now, gentlemen, to bed, all of you. It is imperative that you +should each have a good night's rest, for if any man's nerves are run +down in the morning, I shall put him off," said Dastral seriously, +and they knew he meant it, for he could be serious at times, despite +his laughing blue eyes, and his apparently gay and reckless manner. + +So to bed they went, for they were all tired out, and not even the +promise of the morrow's venture could keep them awake, for these +daring airmen had learnt the happy knack of taking sleep whenever +they could get it, as soon as duty was done, and of forgetting all +about their machines as well as their own wonderful exploits. + +Next morning, long before dawn, Corporal Yap, humming one of his +rag-time songs, went round the bunks of the officers' mess and gently +called the pilots and observers one by one. Within an hour they had +breakfasted and were out on the aerodrome watching the machines being +wheeled out, by the aid of the hand-lamps and electric torches. + +After a brief but careful final examination of every strut and wire, +the machines were quite ready, all loaded up, with the machine-guns +shipped, compasses aboard, etc. + +"All ready, sir!" reported Snorty, as he came up and saluted. + +"Tumble aboard, lads!" called Dastral, and within two minutes the +pilots and observers were in their seats, and the air mechanics +standing ready to swing the propellors. + +"Swish!" went the whirling blades. + +"Stand clear!" came next in a shrill voice. + +Then away into the darkness sped the four machines. In a few seconds +they were lost to sight as they taxied across the aerodrome. Then one +after another they leapt into the air, and began their upward climb, +leaving their friends and well-wishers behind them, craning their +necks to get a last view of them as they tried to locate them in the +upper regions, by the hum of the gnome engines, and the loud +whir-r-r-r of the propellors. + +After rising rapidly to seven thousand feet the 'planes made off in +the direction of the enemy's trenches, which they crossed at +different points, for they had already separated in accordance with +their plans. As they crossed the lines a dozen milk-white arms +stretched up to reach them. These were the German searchlights, for +the alarm had been raised and messages about. + +"English aeroplanes crossing our lines!" had been flashed from the +trenches to the Archies and the German searchlights. + +"Boom-m! Boom-m!" went the anti-aircraft guns in a mad effort to find +the raiders. But their efforts were futile, for the raiders looked +down upon the little spurts of flame far beneath, and laughed as they +quickly passed out of range. + +The distance to be covered was nearly a hundred miles, before they +arrived at the appointed rendezvous, but that did not trouble the +daring aviators. Steering by compass, and watching the eastern sky +right ahead for the first faint tinge of dawn, onwards they sped over +Cambrai and the ruined fortress of Mauberge. Then they crossed into +Belgian territory, that land of wretchedness and suffering, where a +brave little people were enduring torment under the heel of the hated +Prussian. + +They were rapidly nearing the neighbourhood of the rendezvous when +Jock called to Dastral, and shouted, + +"Look, there comes Aurora, the Daughter of the Morn!" + +The pilot looked in the direction indicated by his observer, and away +to the eastward, over the far horizon, he saw the first grey streak +which heralded the coming day. + +He watched it as it grew and rapidly diffused itself over the sky. +From grey it turned to a pale yellow, then as they still sped on, +crimson flashes shot out over the firmament, as though the door of +heaven had literally been unbarred, and the dark curtain of night had +been rolled westward. + +"Keep a good look-out for the other machines, Jock!" cried Dastral, +for he had no time now to dwell in rhapsody over the beauty of the +dawn. Danger was at hand, and he had a stern duty to fulfil. + +The observer, however, did not need to be reminded; he was already +peering through his glasses, searching the skies in the faint light +for signs of the other 'planes. + +"Can you make out any landmarks?" asked Dastral through the speaking +tube, becoming not a little alarmed, and fearing that in the darkness +they had overshot the mark and sailed past the rendezvous. + +"Yes. Look, we are over a big city. I can see a dozen spires peeping +up already through the gloom," replied the observer, after peering +down towards the earth for another minute. + +"Good!" ejaculated the pilot, bringing over the controls, and banking +swiftly to come back on his course. "We must be over Brussels. We +have come too far." + +The next minute they were speeding away South-west towards the +appointed rendezvous. Opening out the engine, they were soon going +full pelt, before the enemy's guns could find them. + +"Aircraft in sight to the northward," came next, for Jock had picked +up a tiny speck away on their right. + +And now for a moment there was intense excitement, for they knew not +as yet whether the newcomer might prove to be an enemy, and they were +anxious to avoid being entangled in a fight until their work was +done. + +"Can you pick up the Lion Mound yet?" asked Dastral. "It cannot be +far away now." + +"Yes, I have it now. A little further away to the right. Can you make +it out?" + +"Yes, I see it. We'll be there in a minute. Keep your eyes well +skinned for the others. I think that must be Mac. away on our right, +though he seems to be hanging back a bit; he evidently mistakes us +for an enemy machine as we have come from the direction of Brussels. +Can you make out his marks yet?" + +"Not yet. It isn't light enough, and he's keeping too far away." + +They were now right over the Lion Mound on the famous field of +battle. The village of Waterloo was just behind them, standing almost +exactly as it stood on that memorable day, Sunday, June 18, 1815. In +the morning mist the old chateau of Hougumont lay sleepily ensconced +in the hollow, while on the left the smoke was already rising up from +the farmhouse of La Haye Saint. + +"Another 'plane coming up on the south, making a bee line for us," +shouted the observer. + +"Splendid! That must be Steve," exclaimed Dastral, warming up a +little as he saw that two of his three birds had reached the spot +safely. + +"But where the deuce is Brum? He should be here by now. It's getting +quite light," said Jock, peering in every direction for the missing +aviator. + +"Ho! ho! here he comes." + +"Where away? I can't see him." + +"Right behind us. He must have over-shot the mark also, and he's +coming back on our trail from Brussels." + +The next instant, Dastral did a rapid swerve, and a steep nose-dive, +in accordance with the pre-arranged code made before starting. + +This was quite sufficient, for the strangers had been stalling their +machines, and circling around, waiting for the signal. Now they +opened out their engines and came on at top speed to meet their +leader. + +As they came up Jock could see the observers waving their hands in +recognition. Yes, they were all here. The first part of the business +was over. They had all come safely through and gained the rendezvous. + +"Now we must get to work, for there's trouble brewing somewhere for +us, and the sooner we get through the affair the better," shouted the +pilot through the speaking tube. + +As the machines came up, they wheeled smartly round, and each took up +its appointed place in the formation. To an observer down below it +must have appeared that they were great birds wheeling about to +order, just like a platoon of infantry on parade. + +"Prepare for action," was the next signal given, as they sped off, +led by Dastral. + +"Braine l'Alleud next," called Dastral. + +"Yes, a little further to the right, just below the dip in the hill. +We should see the Zeppelin sheds shortly," responded Jock, who was +ready for the query, and had one finger already on the waterproof +map. + +"Shall I follow the road?" asked Dastral. + +"Yes, till I pick up the hangars." + +A moment later, the huge sheds came into view, and Jock, putting down +his glasses, shouted with glee: + +"There they are--three of them, and quite a crowd of people round +about them. A little more to the left." + +"Yes, I see them--why, there are hundreds of people there. What on +earth can they be doing there?" asked Dastral. + +"German soldiers waiting for the return of the Zeppelins that raided +England last night, I expect." + +"Phew! Our luck's in this time." + +"They think we're friendly machines too, I believe," cried Jock, +fingering the bomb release, ready to let go the first twenty-pound +bomb on to the hangar. "Evidently, they can't make out our marks yet +in the morning mist." + +"They'll soon think differently," replied the pilot, as, coming up at +full speed, followed by the rest of the flight, he did a rapid +nose-dive of two thousand feet. Then, flattening out to get a better +control over his machine, he swept on again till nearly exactly over +the first huge shed, and did another rapid nose-dive, the speed of +which must have approximated one hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +"Look to it, Jock. Let go, man!" he yelled. + +Jock pulled the clutch of the bomb release, and the first missile +fell almost into the middle of the huge building. He could not fail +to hit it, for the target was so large, and Dastral had dropped to +within three hundred feet of the high roof. + +"Swis-s-s-h----Boom-m-m-m----!" + +The explosion was terrific, and the huge roof of the building +crumpled in with a crash. + +Scarcely fifteen seconds later Mac. dropped a petrol bomb into the +half ruined building, and before the third plane could come into +action, huge flames were bursting out everywhere. + +Then it was that the German anti-aircraft guns, discovering their +mistake, turned their concentrated fire upon the first machine, which +by this time was passing the second hangar, and about to repeat the +process. + +"Spit! bang! boom!" And now the calm morning air was alive with +bursting bombs and tearing shrapnel, while down below the distracted +German soldiery, who had been waiting to house the returning +Zeppelins, were rushing hither and thither, bewildered, whilst their +officers were cursing those verdomt Englanders, who were always up to +some new devilment. + +"Gott in Himmel! Gott strafe England!" came from many a mouth, and +curses and cries of anger, coupled with shouts of defiance, rent the +air. + +"Are you ready, Jock?" yelled Dastral, as they whirled through a +screen of bursting shrapnel. + +"Yes, aye, ready!" came the response from the observer, whose eyes +were lit with the light of battle. + +"Then let go!" + +"Boom-m-m!" went another bomb on to the second hangar, and so with +the third and last. + +Within three minutes the whole of the structures of the three huge +sheds were blazing fiercely, and, as the 'planes sped away, and +climbed out of the line of immediate fire, they noted with joy that +the flames from the third shed were larger and fiercer than those +from the others. + +Huge forks of fire leapt three hundred feet into the air, and the +heat was so fierce within a hundred feet that everybody within that +zone of fire was scorched and fell fainting or dead. + +"Some blaze that, Jock!" cried Dastral as soon as they had left the +fire curtain of shrapnel behind them, and could observe the burning +mass properly. + +"Yes, there's a Zeppelin in there, I'll swear to it. Else it would +never blaze like that." Scarcely had he spoken, when a terrific +explosion rent the air, fifty times as loud and terrible as that +caused by the bursting of the twenty-pound bombs. At the same +instant, a huge column of smoke, flame and debris shot up into the +sky, making the very aeroplanes tremble with the tremendous +vibration. + +"Great Scott, you're right, Jock! We've done it this time. It must +have been a Zeppelin. There is nothing left of the shed now. It has +been clean lifted away." + +The destruction wrought down below had been terrible. The casualties +caused by the bombs had been as nothing compared to the terrible +death-roll amongst the German soldiery by the explosion of a million +cubic feet of gas and the wreckage of the huge hangar. The burning, +blazing missiles of bent, twisted iron, steel, timber and aluminium +came down from the skies, and wrought death and havoc amongst the +labour battalions which must always be on duty near a Zeppelin +hangar. + +Once they were out of range of the enemy's guns Dastral looked round +upon his companions. So far they had come through pretty well. No +vital hit had been made, but every machine had received its quota of +shrapnel. Not a 'plane amongst them but had its fifty or sixty jagged +tears through the planes. Mac's propeller had also been hit, but as +it was only slightly splintered, it still enabled the pilot to carry +on. + +However, as he wheeled round his flight, Dastral saw that it would +take his brave followers all their time to get back nearly a hundred +miles to safety. He gave the signal, therefore, for every pilot to +make a bee line for the English trenches, and thus get home before +the Aviatiks, Rolands and Fokkers came, which he knew would be +climbing up already to attack them, from the aerodromes in the +vicinity of Brussels. + +Two of the observers had also been wounded, though slightly, and +signalled accordingly, so that Dastral became uneasy, lest, after +all, their return to safety should be hindered. Most of all did he +fear that it might be necessary to leave one of his machines behind, +for, if an aeroplane is forced to land in enemy territory, there is +small chance of escape, either for man or machine. + +The whole flight, therefore, had fallen into position for return, +with Dastral leading, for he had signalled his men to keep together, +as far as possible, till they were about to cross the lines. +Suddenly, however, when they had proceeded some eight or nine miles +on their way, Jock, who had been scanning the north-western horizon, +called out: + +"A Zeppelin! A Zeppelin!" + +"Good heavens, where?" shouted Dastral. + +"Away over there on the right, low down on the horizon." + +"Phew! So it is. One of their lame ducks coming home to roost, after +raiding some English village, I expect." + +"The devils. I say, Dastral?" + +"Yes?" + +"Let's strafe the baby-killer!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral turned round once more to look at his battered flight. Could +he do it? Where were the German Fokkers? he asked himself. And for +once he hesitated. It was only for a moment, however, and it was not +for any thought of himself that he hesitated, but the knowledge that +he would be attacked shortly by enemy 'planes, and that some of his +machines would be lost, for they were not in any fit state at present +to engage with enemy warplanes. Jock, always an eager fighter, was +edging him on, however. + +"What say you, Flight-Commander? The others seems eager to fight. +We've plenty of bombs left yet, and haven't touched the drums. Let's +bring the blighter down, so that it can't kill any more babies in +their cots." + +"Right-o, Jock! Throw out the signal-Zeppelin." + +And the next moment a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out by the +observer, which gave the order, "Prepare to attack." + +"Whir-r-r!" went the four 'planes on their new tack, as the +controlling wires went over, and each machine banked suddenly and +came round head on towards the enemy. + +"By Jove, she's seen us and she's heading off too!" shouted Jock +through the tube. + +"Yes, so I see. Bet she's using her wireless some to call for the +Fokkers. We haven't much time to lose." + +In less than three minutes they were within machine-gun fire of the +huge gas-bag, which was flying as low as three thousand feet, and +seemed incapable of lifting herself much, either through shortage of +gas or damaged machinery. + +"Look out! She's opening fire! See there!" Short sharp jets of fire +spat out from the gondolas of the Zeppelin in half a dozen different +places, and the bullets began to whistle and ping-ping about the ears +of the aviators. + +"Reserve your fire, boys!" ordered Dastral, for he knew that they +would all be anxious to fire. Then he threw out another order, which +meant, "Attack from above." + +This they all understood immediately, and followed Dastral as he made +his machine almost sit upon her tail, as she climbed and manoeuvred +to get above the huge lumbering mass, which was already levering away +to leeward on account of some defective machinery, and the fresh +breeze which had sprung up from the south-east. + +Two minutes later they were almost directly above the Zeppelin, and, +except for two machine-guns which were mounted above the envelope, +they were immune from fire, for the other guns down below were +screened by the huge looming mass above them. + +Even the gunners on the top were practically useless, for the terrors +of the past night and the impending death now awaiting them had +shattered their nerves, and they were firing wildly, so that the +daring aviators had them at their mercy, for the hornets were about +to attack. + +Dastral gave one more look round at his flight, and saw them coming +boldly on behind him. Then he shouted to Jock: + +"All ready there?" + +"Aye, ready," came the response. + +"Then in mercy's name fire!" A short, sharp nose-dive of two hundred +feet, and they were within a hundred feet of the leviathan, and +immediately above her. So near were they that they could see the +affrighted machine-gunners on the top of the gas-bag leave their +posts and try to escape down the escalier, but they had left it too +long. They were now about to pay the price for the toll they had +wantonly taken of innocent lives during the long dark hours of the +past night. And, like all cowards who wreak their vengeance upon +helpless folk, they feared the dread spectre when it came close to +themselves. + +"Whis-s-sh! Boom-m-m!" went the first bomb; a time fuse fixed for two +seconds. The explosion rent the envelope, and allowed vast quantities +of gas to escape from two of the ballonets, so that the huge mass +crumpled in at the head, and began to sink slowly at the nose. + +Another bomb was dropped, and the second and third machines coming +up, dropped petrol and phosphorus bombs, which blazed away, igniting +the escaping gas. + +She was well alight now, and in the fore part she was burning +fiercely, but as yet she did not explode. Dastral saw that she was +done for, however, and knowing that the enemy craft could not be far +away after all this time, made off and signalled his men to follow. + +Down, down went the blazing mass for a couple of thousand feet, then +rolling over, it literally fell asunder into several parts, and each +part, still burning, carried its helpless inmates down to +destruction. + +Once more Dastral looked round, and as he did so, he gasped out the +words: + +"Great Scott! The whole place is alive with Fokkers, Rolands and +Aviatiks!" + +Then followed a fierce running fight, in which the English were +outnumbered three to one. The enemy were all around them, for they +had been called by wireless from every direction. Dastral headed his +men into the thick of the combat. Three German 'planes were brought +down, and not till every round of ammunition was fired, and every +drum empty did the Commander call off his Flight again, or rather +what was left of it. + +Brum, fighting bravely to the last, had gone down in a whirling +spiral after first sending down an Aviatik. Steve followed him a +little later, with his machine blazing, for his petrol tank had been +plugged time after time. Dastral alone, with Mac, both their machines +damaged beyond repair and both their observers wounded, staggered +through the curtain fire at the trenches later in the morning, and +came to earth just behind the British first line. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BOMBING RAID + + +DAWN was just breaking over Devil's Wood and Ginchy. The owls and +bats which had flitted over the night-bivouacs had returned to their +hiding places about the battered towers of the old church near by. A +saffron tint flushed the low summit of the eastern ridge, beyond +Combles and Ginchy, while thin blue-grey columns of smoke showed +where the Germans held fast their steel line from the Somme to +Bapaume. + +Scarcely had the stars faded away, however, and disappeared in the +morning light, when the little field telephone in the orderly +officer's tent at the aerodrome near Contalmaison went +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Are you there?" came the query over the wire. + +"Yes. Who is that?" + +"Advanced Headquarters, Section 47, East of Ginchy. Is that the Wing +H.Q., Royal Flying Corps?" + +"Yes. What is the matter, that you ring a poor chap up for the +twentieth time in half an hour?" + +"Matter enough, Grenfell, old fellow! Seven aeroplanes have just +crossed our lines from the direction of Morval and Lesboeufs. They +are flying in your direction, west by west-sou'-west. Can you hear +me?" + +"Yes, yes, but I say, Ginchy. Hullo! Were they enemy 'planes?" + +"Our sentries couldn't make out their nationality; it was too dark. +That's why the O.C. wanted me to 'phone you, lest it should be +another raiding party coming to bomb you, as they did the other +morning at dawn. He wants you to take '_Air Raid Action_' at once. +Got me, old fellow?" + +"All right, Ginchy. We'll be ready for the blighters this time. +S'long! Remember me to Crawford when you run across him." + +"Can't, old man." + +"How so?" + +"He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his +way to Blighty." + +"Lucky beggar! Good-bye!" + +"Goodbye." + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +Thus the brief conversation closed, and within another thirty seconds +the orders had been given for "Air raid action" and every one was +ready. The men of "B" Flight, No. -- Squadron under Dastral, were +standing by their machines, and the aerial gunners and observers were +placing the last drums of ammunition in the cockpit, where they would +be ready to hand. Almost immediately afterwards the sentries on duty +at the eastern end of the aerodrome gave the alarm: + +"Aeroplanes approaching from the east!" Half a dozen pairs of glasses +soon found the machines, and, for a moment, there was a little thrill +of excitement, as the anti-aircraft gunners received their orders to +load up and fix the range. + +"Stand by to start the propellors!" shouted Dastral, the +Flight-Commander, to the air mechanics. + +"Are all the pilots ready?" came next. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Sergeant. + +In another moment the whole flight would have been in the air doing a +rapid spiral, for the hum of the approaching aeroplane engines could +be distinctly heard now. + +"Whir-r-r! whir-r-r-r!" Nearer and nearer came the well-known sound +of the propellors, when suddenly the Squadron-Commander, who had been +intently watching the early morning visitants through his glasses, +called out: + +"Dismiss, 'B' Flight. It's only Graham's party returning from their +reconnaissance." + +There was not a little disappointment at this announcement, for every +one had been looking forward to a scrap before breakfast. The sun, +which had just showed his upper edge above the ridge, however, +revealed quite distinctly the rounded marks of the Allies on each of +the 'planes. + +Five minutes later the newcomers descended by rapid spirals, and, +alighting on the aerodrome, taxied safely almost up to the very +entrance of the sheds, and the pilots and observers alighted to +report what they had discovered. + +They had been away two hours, had traversed fifty miles beyond the +enemy's lines, and had picked up several night signals by a +prearranged code, using the Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn. This +information, which was of the utmost importance, had been collected +from some of our most daring intelligence officers, who controlled a +network of British spies behind the German lines. + +"Well done, Graham!" exclaimed the Major commanding the Squadron, as +he grasped the Flight-Commander's hand on alighting. "Did you pick up +anything?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then slip off your helmet and heavy coat, and make your report at +once, and--hullo, there, Johnson!" + +"Sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the officers' mess, +springing smartly to the salute. + +"Have breakfast ready in ten minutes in the private mess. Lay covers +for all the pilots." + +"Yes, sir," replied Johnson, saluting once more, and clicking his +heels at the "about-turn" he disappeared to introduce a little +thunder amongst the early morning "fatigues" in the cook-house. + +A powerful and crafty foe, whose emissaries have never been surpassed +in the espionage in the world, prevents me from giving the details of +the reports brought home that morning by Graham and his pilots. Let +it suffice, however, to say that amongst other information collected +beyond the enemy's front, by a wonderful intelligence system of our +own, it had been discovered in that dark hour before the dawn, by the +Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn, that three German troop trains were +to leave Liege that morning at eight o'clock, and, travelling via +Mauberge and Cambrai, were to reinforce the hardly pressed German +troops facing the British soldiers on the Somme. + +There was a jovial breakfast party that morning in the officers' mess +of the --th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, for in this wonderful +Corps, which, in the short space of two years, has done the seemingly +impossible, and taken the high jump from an insignificant detachment, +and become the most brilliant service under the British flag, there +is an _esprit de jeu_ as well as an _esprit de corps_ unsurpassed +even by that of the Navy, with its centuries of tradition behind it. + +"How shall I know a British 'plane, if I meet it suddenly in +mid-air?" asked a German pilot once of his Flight-Commander. + +"You'll know it because it will attack you!" was the reply. + +And never yet has a British pilot, with a single round of ammunition +left in his drum, turned tail upon the enemy, even though when +outnumbered three to one. For such a pilot, there would be no room in +the Royal Flying Corps. + +So, during breakfast that morning at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, +every flight-commander vied with his comrade for the post of honour. +Maps and railway routes were carefully consuled, for there were no +less than three routes by which the troop trains might arrive at the +Somme front. + +"Liège--Namur--Mauberge," said the Squadron-Commander, as he bent +over the large map, and ran his fingers lightly along the route, +whilst the eager youths with the pilot's wings on the left breast of +their soiled and greasy service tunics listened and waited eagerly +for their final orders, each hoping in his inmost soul that the route +allotted to him might be the one by which the Huns would arrive. + +"Let me see, now. After Mauberge and Cambrai the lines divide. Hum! +Why, yes, they must come via Peronne, Velu or Lestrée. There now. Are +you ready, boys?" asked the Commander, raising his head for the first +time for five minutes, and looking keenly into the glowing faces of +those lads, who, less than three years ago, in most cases, were at +Marlborough, Cheltenham or Harrow. + +"Aye, ready, sir!" they replied almost in one breath. + +"Are you quite sure, Graham, you can manage it? You have already had +two hours up there in the dark, you know." + +"We could do another four, sir, quite easily," replied the Commander +of "A" Flight, with just a shade of disappointment in his voice, as +though he feared the C.O. might hold him back. + +"How are the engines running?" + +"Perfectly, sir; never better! They never misfired once, and there +isn't a strut or control wire damaged." + +"Right!" exclaimed the Commander laconically, who then rolled up the +big map, touched a bell, and ordered the aerodrome Flight-Sergeant to +run out the machines and to let the air mechanics, observers, +wireless men and aerial gunners fall in and stand by the 'planes. +Then, turning to the three Flight-Commanders he said: + +"Graham, you will take 'A' Flight and patrol the Lestrée line. You, +Dastral, will take charge of 'B' Flight and watch the +Havrincourt-Bapaume route, and Wilson there will watch the Peronne +loop-line. They may come by any of those three routes. Where they +will detrain I cannot say. It will be for you to discover. Fill up +with the twenty-pound bombs, as they're the handiest, for I expect it +will be more of a bombing raid than anything else. But if the enemy +is escorted by Fokkers or Rolands, you must be prepared for a fight +in the air as well, and I want each Flight to act independently, but +if necessary to co-operate, should Himmelman and his crowd turn up. +Smoke signals will be the best, I think. Is that quite clear, boys?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite clear," they replied, for they were all in high +glee, and regarded it all as nothing more or less than a boyish +adventure, though more than one of those brave youths was going forth +to his death. And what a death it is to be hit in mid-air by bursting +shrapnel, and hurled seven thousand feet to the earth! But such a +death they faced daily without flinching. + +"Then fill up your glasses, boys, and I will give you The King! God +bless him!" + +And standing up they drank confusion to the King's enemies, and if a +stranger had been there to note it, he would have seen that many a +glass was filled with water, for the continuous demand upon the +pilot's nerve and intelligence forbids his frequent use of alcohol. + +Soon afterwards, the pilots, observers and gunners were carefully +examining their machines, guns, fixing bombs, waterproof maps, and +arranging every detail with care and skill. A faulty strut or control +wire, a defective bomb release, or a leaking petrol tank might mean +failure or disaster. + +At last all was ready, and the final words of command were given to +the air mechanics. + +"Stand clear! Away!" + +"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" called the Squadron-Commander +cheerfully, though at that very moment he was inwardly cursing his +bad luck at having had his left arm seriously damaged in a recent +crash. For of all things upon earth Major Bulford loved to lead his +brave lads and to wheel them into action against the enemy squadrons. + +"Whir-r-r! Whir-r-r!" went the first propellor, as the air-mechanic +who had started it sprang back to safety. Then, one after another the +machines of the three Flights taxied across the level ground of the +aerodrome, and sprang into the air at the first movement of the +elevator. + +"Goodbye!" waved the pilots in answer to the last greeting of their +chief, for the human voice could not carry two feet in that wild roar +of propellors and engines, which seemed to make the whole atmosphere +pulsate with a whirring sound. + +After a few rapid spirals a height of two thousand feet was quickly +attained, and then, still climbing, the 'planes, like huge birds of +prey, disappeared for a while behind the British lines as though for +a cross-Channel flight to England, in order to confuse the enemy +observers. Then, by a wide sweep at seven thousand feet, the flights +became detached, and each, under its own commander, went its own way +by a circuitous route to the appointed station. + +Dastral, with the four Sopwiths of "B" Flight, crossed the enemy's +lines at nine thousand feet, somewhere between Ligny and Grévillers. +As he did so he received his first baptism of fire from "Archie." + +White puffs of smoke and fierce red jets of flame seemed to burst +noiselessly around them, for the roar of the propellors drowned or +subdued even the sound of the shrapnel as it exploded. Heedless of +such small things, however, Dastral and his brave comrades sailed on, +sometimes doing a spiral or a rapid nose-dive, if the enemy appeared +to have found the range too closely. + +Soon, however, they were ambushed in a friendly cloud, which hid them +from the Huns far below, and when they had emerged from the clinging +moisture, they were far beyond the enemy's third line trenches, and +out into the open, with smiling fields and vineyards beneath them. + +"Is that it?" yelled Dastral to his observer, jerking his head +sideways, and pointing with his finger to something like a railway +cutting far below. + +"Yes. The Bapaume-Havrincourt railway line!" shouted his companion +through the speaking-tube which ended close to the pilot's ear, for +although only a few feet away, that was the only possible method of +communication without shutting off the engines. + +"Good!" nodded the pilot, for, despite the speaking-tube, +conversation was chiefly carried on by well understood cabalistic +signs. + +A few minutes later Dastral pointed to a cluster of red roofs about a +little church. + +"What is that place?" + +The observer, with one finger still on the little waterproof map in +front of him, shouted back, "Beugny on the left. Haplincourt on the +right." + +"Yes, yes!" nodded the pilot, edging a little more south-east, as +though the railway were not his objective. In so doing he alarmed +Fisker, his companion, who feared he had misunderstood him. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted. "You're leaving the target. The +bridge-head and the ravine is over there, east-nor'-east. That's +where the junction is, at Velu." + +"Right-o, old man! Glad you're awake. Keep your eyes well skinned +away to the east for Fokkers and Rolands. This is Himmelman's +favourite hunting-ground. He'll be down on us from the clouds like a +thunderbolt, if we're not careful. I want to get up to twelve +thousand, and come back on to the junction from the east." + +"Oh-ay!" came the laconic rejoinder from Fisker, who quickly +understood the manoeuvre. Then, leaving his map for a moment, he +swept the horizon for any signs there might be of the enemy's +'planes. + +So for nearly an hour the machines, playing at "follow-my-leader," +swept round and round, watching and waiting in an altitude where, to +put it mildly, it was cold enough to freeze a kettle of boiling water +in ten minutes. + +Cold? Yes, it was bitterly cold. Both Dastral and Fisker felt it +through their thick leather, wool-lined coats. + +They patrolled the country behind the German lines, and watched the +smoke curling upwards from a dozen French villages in the enemy's +possession. At length they crossed the loop line near Barastre, +skimmed along over Ytres, and the Bois Havrincourt; sailed lightly +across the silvery streak of the river Exuette, until, beyond the +wood and the village they espied the main railway line that threaded +its way to Bapaume. + +"There it is, Fisker. Can you see it?" were Dastral's first words, +when he sighted it. + +"Yes, I see it," came the reply. + +Dastral had timed his arrival nicely. Scarcely had they reached the +railway when out of the eastern horizon a trail of white steam, +followed by another and yet another, at intervals of perhaps half a +mile, attracted their attention. + +"Look! There they come, Dastral!" cried Fisker, putting down the +glasses and waving his arms frantically to attract the attention of +the other three pilots, and to indicate the target, now rapidly +approaching. + +One look in the direction indicated sufficed for Dastral. He made a +sudden dip, then gave one of his rapid spirals, at which he was such +an adept. This movement of the Flight-Commander's machine was the +pre-arranged signal for the rest of the company and meant: + +"Enemy approaching from the east. Prepare to engage him." + +The movement was answered by each of the following 'planes. The +formation of the flight was altered accordingly, and the machines now +fell into their allotted places ready for descent. + +The three trains were soon in full view, and the first one was just +passing the village of Hermies. The trains were of enormous length, +and were crowded with troops. What still puzzled Dastral, however, +was that there appeared to be no escort of aircraft with them. Again +and again, during the approach of the long procession, he had scanned +the heavens all around and above him, for a sight of his most crafty +foe, Himmelman, for, if the British machines had been sighted, there +had been plenty of time for the enemy to bring up his aircraft from +the nearest aerodrome. + +Even yet Dastral was very suspicious. He knew Himmelman only too well +already. He was the demon of the air on the western front, and loved +nothing better than to make a dramatic entry into a half-finished +fight. His greatest and most daring method was to climb out of sight, +often up to seventeen thousand feet and more, or better still, to +make an ambush in a dark cloud, then suddenly to swoop down, +hawk-like, upon his opponent, in an almost vertical nose-dive, and to +overwhelm him with a spray of well-directed machine gun fire. + +A dozen of the best British pilots had already gone down in a crash +or a forced landing before this demon of the air, and more than once +Dastral himself had encountered him. Before he led his men to the +attack therefore, upon this occasion, he scanned the heavens again +and again in search of his opponent, and actually waited until a tiny +cloud far above had been scattered and pierced, before he gave the +final signal to attack. + +At length, fearing to lose his target by longer delay, for the first +train was now abreast of the tiny hamlet of Beaumetz, and nearing the +junction and the bridge-head at Velu, he threw out the signal for the +attack. + +A smoke bomb to the right and another to the left: that was the +pre-arranged signal, and then, pulling over the joy-stick, down, down +went Dastral, followed at regular intervals by the three other +'planes. + +Down, down with a swoop, through the exhilarating rush of air, they +went. All the engines had been shut off, and the pilots, with one +hand on the joy-stick, and the other on the bomb release, waited +almost breathlessly through those wild, thrilling seconds, while they +fell with ever-gathering impetus, like a stone to the earth. Thus +they went down to what seemed like certain death, while every instant +during that mad dive seemed an age. + +"Click! click!" went the little instrument that measured the +altitudes. "Seven, six- five, three thousand feet," it tried to say, +but its voice could not be heard. + +At two thousand feet Dastral pushed back the joy-stick, and flattened +out. His comrades did the same, all except Franklin in the last +'plane, who had trouble with his control wires and flattened out only +at five hundred feet. Another five seconds would have dashed him to +death. He was game, however, and though his face blanched, and his +heart stayed its beating for an instant, he was soon climbing again +to rejoin his comrades. + +They had been seen now, for the smoke bombs had first given them +away. The commandants of the German communications were hotly engaged +on the telephone wires, reporting to headquarters and to the nearest +aerodromes the presence of the intruders, and demanding that +Himmelman and his comrades should come at once to deal with the +sky-fiends. + +The engine-driver of the first train also had seen the danger that +threatened, and, putting on all speed, he tried foolishly to get away +from the air peril. Velu was scarcely a mile distant, and there at +least he could find some protection, if only in the "Archies." + +But he was too late. When Dastral flattened out at two thousand feet +he was almost abreast of the train. A neck-and-neck race commenced, +but what chance has a heavily laden troop train, even though it has +three engines, against a Sopwith which can do one hundred and thirty +miles on occasion? It was like a race between a hare and a tortoise. + +"Puff-puff-puff! Shriek!" went the train, but the scream of the siren +was drowned in the whirr-r-r of the propellors racing alongside and +just overhead, for the engines had been started again by the pilots +as soon as they flattened out. + +It was a matter of seconds now, for Dastral only waited until he had +dropped down to one hundred feet. He was already in line with the +engine, and directly above. Just ahead was the railway bridge, and +the viaduct over the road leading into the village. + +"Yes, my beautiful Boche, it's ten to one against you now!" muttered +the Flight-Commander as he raced ahead, amid a spatter of rifle +bullets from the soldiers guarding the bridge. + +The engine-driver had seen the danger ahead now. He shut off steam, +and put on his brakes, but the bridge was too near, and Dastral was +already there. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m! Crash!" + +It was one of the new 112lb. bombs that Dastral dropped; the only one +carried by the flight, who were chiefly armed with 20-pounders for +the occasion. The aeroplane gave a lift and a lurch as the heavy +missile left her, and had it not been for her great speed, the +explosion that immediately followed would have caused her to crash. + +Fairly hit in the centre of the track the brick and timber piles and +beams collapsed, and the middle of the structure crumpled up and fell +crashing into the roadway. + +The troops, aware of what was happening when they saw the 'planes +overhead, leapt from the doomed train, for no human effort could +prevent the impending disaster now. When the bomb dropped and split +the bridge, the train was but forty yards distant, and the sparks +were flying from her brakes, as from a blacksmith's anvil, but it was +of no avail. With a thunderous roar, followed by a mighty crash, and +the wild hiss of escaping steam she went over the chasm. Carriage +after carriage, crowded with the finest troops of Germany, followed +the engine. + +Wild cries of pain and anger, curses and groans filled the air, as +wounded, scalded and half buried men dragged themselves from that +awful scene of carnage and death. + +"Gott in Himmel! Donner und blitz! Himmelman, Himmelman, wer ist +Himmelman?" cried many an eye-witness of the terrible tragedy, as +though the German air-fiend were some deity. + +The other three 'planes were bombing the long stretch of carriages +which had not leapt the chasm, and the hundreds of fugitives who were +trying to escape from the half-telescoped vehicles, which had not +gone over the precipice. But Dastral, banking swiftly on his machine, +came round, and with another smoke bomb called them off to attack the +other two trains. + +Leaving the Bridge of Velu, they wheeled back swiftly, coming once +more into the zone of fire from the anti-aircraft guns. Stopping only +to drop a couple of bombs on the battery 'which had bespattered the +wings of the second machine with shrapnel, they noticed the second +train pulling up quickly, and the soldiers also leaping from the +carriages. + +They proceeded to bomb it with the remainder of their 20-lb. bombs. +Then, suddenly, to their amazement the third train, which had not +received sufficient warning to stop on the steep gradient, crashed +into the second, and another scene of wild confusion occurred. The +German soldiers, taken for the most part by surprise, endeavoured to +get away by any and every means from the blazing wreckage, seeking +cover under clumps of trees, hedges, rising ground, etc., but the +airmen, having discharged all their bombs, turned their Lewis machine +guns upon them and scattered the fugitives in all directions. + +At last, not a single round of ammunition remained in the drums, and +Dastral, knowing that all the machines had been more or less hit, +gave the signal to return. + +It was time, for two at least of the machines had suffered severely, +and it was becoming very doubtful whether they would be able to +regain their own lines. They were of no further use for offence, so +they began their climb into the higher regions, preparatory to the +dash across the enemy's lines once again. + +It was well that they did so, for at that very moment Himmelman, with +half a squadron of fast Fokkers, was leaving his own aerodrome but +ten miles distant, having received information of the raiders' +presence. The whole feat had taken place so quickly, however, and the +affair was so adroitly managed, that the intruders had just time to +make their escape. + +Not all the aviators, however, succeeded in crossing the German +lines. Franklin's engine was missing so badly that he was unable to +climb above four thousand feet, and when, shortly after, they reached +the battle front, where the Allies and Germany kept their +battle-line, the fusillade of the "Archies" commenced again. +Cras-s-sh came a shell right into his engine, and the machine went +down in a wild spinning nose-dive, just behind the enemy's front line +trench. + +Dastral and his comrades gnashed their teeth, as they saw their two +comrades thus hurled to death, but, after all, death is only an +incident in the life of a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps, and who +shall mourn when a hero dies? In these days of blood and iron, when +Britain stands once more at the cross roads, freedom and honour can +only be purchased by the blood of her bravest sons. + +That evening the dinner party which was held in the officers' mess at +the aerodrome near Contalmaison, was less joyous and boisterous than +the breakfast held there that same morning. Three of the 'planes of B +flight had come back, it is true, and had brought their pilots and +observers safely home through the ordeal of shot and shell. Every +machine bore evidence of the fight. Scarcely one of them would be fit +to fly again for another week, and the air-mechanics were already +hard at work, fitting new struts and control wires, ailerons, and +petrol tanks, for two at least of the three aeroplanes had barely +held together to the end, so plugged were they with machine gun, +rifle bullets and shrapnel; while Winstone's "old bus" had literally +fallen to pieces on landing, and he had narrowly escaped a crash. + +And when the second toast came, and Major Bulford rose to speak, his +glance fell upon the two vacant chairs (for according to custom the +places had been reserved); and his eyes glistened with something +suspiciously like a tear, and there was a strange huskiness about his +voice, as he uttered those words which had been so frequent of late, + +"Let us drink to the memory of the brave lads who were with us this +morning, but whose faces we shall never see again!" + +So they drank the toast in silence, and then the Squadron-Commander, +having regained his usual voice, added:-- + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name...!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + +_Per ardua ad astra_ + + +IT was a bright sunny morning in September during the great war, as +the mail packet slipped out of Calais breakwater, and headed for the +white cliffs of Dover. For two days the service had been suspended +for a special reason. Her decks were crowded with overdue mails, +including those from India, Egypt and Australia, which had come +overland from Brindisi. + +There was also a fair sprinkling of passengers, including not a few +officers, home on short leave from the Somme front, where the great +push was still in progress. + +Amongst the latter was a young officer, not more than twenty-two, +clad in a "British Warm" and wearing the well-known service cap of +the Flying Corps, with its circular badge, consisting of a wreath of +laurels and the magic letters, R.F.C.; letters which have already +woven themselves into the romance of English history, for the daring +deeds of our airmen had already gained for this juvenile corps +traditions which will never die. + +"Good-bye, Dastral! Come back soon!" shouted several of his comrades, +who had come to the edge of the quay to see the hero off to Blighty +on his well-earned leave. For the youth in the service cap was none +other than Dastral of the Flying Corps, the brilliant young pilot who +had fought with the German air-fiend, Himmelman, only a few days +before and had perhaps done more than any other individual towards +wresting the supremacy of the air from the wily and cruel Boche. + +He had already won that coveted decoration, the D.S.O., as we have +previously seen, and now the King was about to confer upon him the +Military Cross, for a daring bombing raid which he had organised and +carried out over the enemy's lines, when as Commander of "B" Flight +he had led his men beyond the Somme, and blocked the enemy's +communications, bombed the Havrincourt-Bapaume Railway, and destroyed +the bridge and viaduct at Velu, hurling one long troop train to +destruction, and preventing the Germans reinforcing their front line +trenches near Ginchy and Morval. Now, after his latest deed, the King +had sent for him to congratulate him in person for his skill and +daring. On the morrow he was to be received in audience at Buckingham +Palace. + +If he had consulted his own wishes he would much have preferred to +remain with his comrades on the Somme, but a royal wish is an order, +and, after all, perhaps the ten days' leave which had been granted to +him would enable him to run north to visit his mother and friends in +the little village in Yorkshire, and to gaze once again upon those +blue, heather-tipped and bracing moorlands where he had spent his +boyhood. + +"Good-bye, Dastral. Don't stay too long in Old Blighty!" again +shouted his friends, as the vessel sheered off and gained headway, +and he had shouted back in reply: + +"Cheer-o, boys! I shall soon be back again," waving his hand towards +his comrades, as he bent over the rail. + +As soon as they left the shelter of the breakwater a destroyer, +waiting outside, sent up a couple of flags to her masthead. + +"Send up the answering pennant, bosun!" cried the skipper of the +mail-boat, when he saw the destroyer's signal, and immediately after +he rang down to the engine room staff: + +"Full steam ahead!" for the warship was there to act as escort, as +there were very valuable mails aboard, and only two nights ago, the +enemy's destroyers, breaking out of their base at Zeebrugge, had +crept through the gap in the British mine-beds in the dark, and had +sent two patrols and an empty transport to the bottom. + +So, while the mail packet went full speed ahead, at twenty-four +knots, the destroyer, with her superior speed, waltzed round her, +like a dancing marionette, leaving a trail of white foam in her wake. +This she continued to do all the way across the Channel, for it was +known that several enemy submarines were lurking about the +neighbourhood, watching through their periscopes for just such a +target as the mail boat with her valuable cargo offered. + +Very soon, however, the white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight, and +when they entered the new naval harbour, the destroyer sheered off +and went back to her station. + +Dastral, having been recognised on the boat, had received several +invitations to dine in London that evening, but all these he had +courteously refused, although one of them had come from a Cabinet +minister and his wife who were travelling on the same boat. + +"No," he had said to himself, "there is poor old Tim Burkitt, my +colleague, who is studying law at Gray's Inn. I will go and hunt him +up. He will be glad to see me, and we will spend the night together +at Hallet's." + +Now Tim Burkitt, who suffered from a physical deformity, had been +breaking his young heart ever since war broke out, for he had been +rejected from every sphere of service in the great war, owing to his +deformity. He had seen his chums depart from Gray's into the Army, +the Navy and the Flying Corps, and he had been left behind almost +alone. + +He had been chummy with Dastral, for they came from the same village, +had come up to London together, and had shared the same drab dull +lodgings in the great city. Later he was destined to become a great +lawyer, for nature had compensated him by granting him the gift of +oratory, but he would have willingly given up all that if he could +but have shared with Dastral his adventures and his triumphs. + +This afternoon he had thrown aside his law books to read in the +papers a vivid description of Dastral's fight with Himmelman, the +German air-fiend, and the poor cripple, with tears of grief and envy +at his own hard lot, but with his heart full of joy at his comrade's +success had just thrown aside the paper, adding dejectedly: + +"Oh, Dastral, how I would like to see you again! You were always a +true friend to me"; when suddenly he heard a scamper of footsteps up +the bare stone steps that led up to his chamber in Gray's, and the +next instant the door flew open, and Tim found himself embracing his +old colleague, with a warmth he had never exhibited before. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" he cried again and again. "I knew you'd do it if +you had half a chance. And to think you should remember me, a poor +cripple, when all England is talking about you, and the King himself +has sent for you." + +"Here, stow it, Tim! Who do you think I should seek out first if not +you? I've come to spend the afternoon and evening with you. +To-morrow, after I have seen the King, I'm going home to Burnside, +where you and I spent so many happy days, and I want you to come with +me." + +"Good! Splendid! How kind of you, old fellow! Then to-night we'll +have a dinner all to ourselves at Hallet's. What say you?" + +"Right you are, Tim," said Dastral, clapping his old colleague on the +back, and making him the happiest fellow in all London for the nonce. + +That afternoon the two chums had a quiet stroll around Gray's, and +Lincoln's Inn Fields, then called on one or two acquaintances who had +also been left behind in the Temple. A visit to the Old Mitre of +sacred memory, and a quiet smoke in Johnson's Corner at the "Cheese" +in Fleet Street, passed away the hours of the golden afternoon, and +the evening found them snugly ensconced at Hallet's, where, in the +days gone by, they used to celebrate any little event in their lives +by a special dinner. + +Never for a moment did the conversation flag. The two chums unbosomed +themselves to one another, except that Dastral would not talk about +his adventures since he became a pilot in the Flying Corps, for the +members of this Corps never seek advertisement, preferring that the +record of their Homeric deeds should all go down to the credit of the +Corps, rather than to any particular individual. + +"But, Dastral," Tim would urge, as the plates and dishes disappeared +and another course was laid, "you must have had a hundred amazing +adventures since I saw you last. Just tell me about one of them, say +your fight with Himmelman!" + +"Bah! It was nothing, Tim--nothing, I mean to make a song about. If I +could write and speak like you, now, I might be able to make a tale +about it. But nature hasn't gifted me that way," replied the pilot. + +"But don't you feel the romance and glory of it all, fighting a +battle in the air at ten thousand feet?" + +"Romance, glory?" laughed Dastral. "There is no romance or glory +about war, when you are in it. It is horrid and brutal then. You must +be miles away to see the romance of it. It is all an ugly business." + +Tim couldn't understand him. He just couldn't, but he had one more +shot. "Don't you feel like singing sometimes, when you are up in the +azure, mounting in circles like a lark to meet the sun, and the +heavens are calling you?" he asked. + +"Ah, when I am ten thousand feet up, and the engines are running +smoothly, it is heavenly. I feel like music and romance then. The +song of the propellors is beautiful, and the beating of the engine +makes me imagine all sorts of weird things, but when I come down to +the earth again I forget all the things I would say. It is wonderful +though, that call of the heavens; the call of the wild, as the +gipsies say, isn't in it. But I cannot describe it." + +And so they talked on for an hour--two hours, long after the table +had been cleared, making rings of smoke into which Tim Burkitt at +least, with his rich imagination, saw wonderful things, when suddenly +something happened which made them both spring to their feet--the +electric lights went out, leaving them in utter darkness for a couple +of minutes. + +"What is the matter?" cried half a dozen voices, as soon as the +waiter appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he immediately placed +upon the centre table. + +"There is a rumour, sir, that the Zeppelins are to make an attack +upon London to-night, and the electric current has been turned off at +the main," replied the jovial, beefy-faced waiter, adding with a +smile, as he returned for another lamp, "What are we a-coming to?" + +At this announcement several people at once took their departure, +evidently thinking that Hallet's would be the first place to invite +the attention of the raiders, and one or two ladies fainted and had +to be helped out by their friends. + +A strange and eager look came into the eyes of Dastral at the word +Zeppelin. Tim noted it at once, and wondered what his colleague was +thinking about, for, though his gaze was eager and keen, there was a +far away look in his eyes. At the end of a minute he half uttered the +word: + +"Zeppelin!" + +Then he rose to his feet, but recalling himself almost with a jerk to +the fact of Tim's presence, he said apologetically, + +"I say, old fellow, we've had a jolly time, but I think I must leave +you, though it almost breaks my heart to do so." + +"Go? Where to, Dastral? I thought you were going to spend the night +at my rooms, and it's barely nine o'clock yet. Sit down, old man. You +haven't got the Zeppelin fright as well, have you? If you have, here +are my smelling salts--here, take a sniff now." + +For answer Dastral burst into a roar of laughter. Then subsiding +quickly, he said, in a more serious tone, bending low to whisper his +words in Burkitt's ears: + +"I have never yet fought a Zeppelin, except the lame duck we brought +down near Brussels. I would give all I possess to go up and fight +one. And during the last minute I have been wondering how it can be +done." + +"Well, how can you do it?" + +"That's the trouble. I'm not attached to any Wing or Squadron in +England. But a friend of mine has just recently returned from France, +and has been appointed Commanding Officer of the --th Squadron, with +its aerodrome about fifteen miles away from here. I must get into +touch with him, if possible." + +The next moment Dastral was engaged on the 'phone, trying in the dark +to find his friend somewhere at the other end of the wires. After +some ten minutes he managed it. + +"Hullo! Hullo! Are you there?" he asked. + +"Yes, who are you?" came the reply. + +"I want the O.C. of your Squadron at once, please." + +"He is busily engaged, and I cannot disturb him now, unless it is +something of the highest importance. Hurry up, please, and tell me +who you are, and give me your message. The wires are urgently wanted +to-night." + +"I am Dastral, Flight-Commander Dastral of the --th Squadron, --th +Wing, and I have just come from France." + +"What! Beg pardon, sir. Dastral. Not the pilot who fought with +Himmelman?" + +"Yes." + +"Hold the line a minute, sir." + +Twenty seconds later the O.C. of the Squadron himself was at the end +of that line. + +"Hullo! Is that you, Dastral?" + +"Yes. How are you, Garner, old man?" + +"But hang it, how came you to ring me up? I should dearly love to see +you, but I've my hands full to-night. We received '_Air Raid Action_' +half an hour ago. Several hostile airships have crossed the east +coast, and are making for the metropolis, so I cannot stay now. Come +and see me in the morning, do, old man. Eh, what's that you say?" + +"Haven't you a spare machine you could let me try if I came over +there by fast motor at once?" + +"Hullo! hullo! All the machines are out with the men standing by, +ready to go up at the first tip, except--let me see now--we've got a +new fast 'Buckstead Bullet' here, which none of the men are very +familiar with yet. There's that. Come if you like, old fellow. It's a +bit irregular, but if there should happen to be a big attack on +London, and the case warrants it, I see no reason why you shouldn't +try the blamed thing. It's a single-seater, only just in from the +makers, and a devil of a whizzer as well as a first class climber!" + +"Right-o! I'm coming straight away!" cried Dastral, waiting to hear +no more, and banging down the receiver. + +The next minute he was outside on the pavement, forgetting all about +Tim, the settlement of the bill, and everything else. Tim, however, +who had heard part of the message, had already paid the bill and got +outside, where he had hailed a taxi, determined not to be left +behind, for his quick intuitive mind had told him which way the wind +was blowing. He had had a hard job to secure the vehicle, for there +had been a great demand for the same, but he had whispered Dastral's +name to the chauffeur and had agreed to foot the bill however big it +might be, although he had only three half-crowns left in his pocket +after squaring the bill indoors. That did not bother him at all, +however. Here was a chance of rendering some service, however small, +to the nation at large, for he felt convinced that if only Dastral +could have a chance he would bring down half a dozen raiders. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral appeared at the doorway he shouted: + +"This way, Dastral, this way. Quick!" + +"What the deuce----" + +"Inside, old man; this is my show!" and before the bewildered pilot +could finish his exclamation, he was inside and Tim was with him and +the door closed. + +"Where to?" asked the cripple. + +Dastral gave the directions, and told the driver to do his utmost to +get them there within an hour, or it would be too late. + +Within ten seconds they were whizzing away through the darkness in +the direction of the Great North Road, and as there was very little +traffic about, they reached their destination within three quarters +of an hour. It was not a minute too soon. They had seen the +searchlights at work on their way north, and towards the end of their +journey they had several times heard the anti-aircraft guns blazing +away at something up in the clouds. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" came the challenge as they reached the +turning which left the main road, and finished at the aerodrome. + +The vehicle halted abruptly, for the driver had seen the flash of the +barrel of a Smith & Weston revolver, which the air-mechanic on +sentry-go held out to bar their progress. + +"Flight-Commander of the Royal Flying Corps," shouted the pilot, +hoping that would allow him to pass, and to get on to the aerodrome +immediately, but the sentry was obdurate. + +"Let me see your permit, sir," he asked. + +"Haven't got one." + +"Turn out guard!" shouted the sentry, and turning to the newcomers, +he added: + +"Advance, Flight-Commander, and report to the guard-room." + +The guard-room was but a few yards further on, and the corporal of +the guard, approaching the carriage, saluted, and led Dastral and Tim +away to the Flight-Sergeant at the Orderly Room. He was expected, and +a minute afterwards he was shaking hands with Garner, who had been +waiting for him. + +And now there was not a moment to spare, for the presence of the +raiders had been reported from the O.C. Searchlights, as hiding +somewhere in the clouds between Hatfield and Barnet, trying to break +through to London. Only a ring of curtain fire from the A.A. +Batteries, and a cordon of long flashing lights which swept the sky +from the horizon was keeping them back. + +Several machines had already gone up in search of the enemy and the +other pilots were standing by their machines ready to "take off" +immediately the order was given. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral had settled with the driver of the +taxi, and introduced Tim to his friend, Squadron-Commander Garner, +they were led through the darkness to the shed where the "Buckstead +Bullet," as she was nicknamed, lay all ready to be wheeled out. + +"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed Dastral, immediately he saw the little +single-seater monoplane, for he had flown a similar machine several +times in France. + +With the aid of a dark lanthorn he carefully went over her, and +lovingly fingered every part of her, from the bullet-nosed fuselage +which gave her her nickname, to her neat, trim little tail and +rudder. + +The noise of the A.A. guns became louder and louder outside, as +though they had discovered one of the raiders. And Dastral was just +itching to go up! + +"Let me go up in her, Garner!" he said. "She's a beauty!" + +The O.C. scratched his head. He had wanted to fly her himself, for +she was the only spare machine left over, and, moreover, as Dastral +was not attached to the squadron, it was somewhat irregular for him +to use the machine, without the express permission of the Wing +Headquarters. He hesitated for a moment therefore, but, just at that +instant, one of the raiders suddenly emerged from the edge of a cloud +where it had been in hiding, and a fresh burst of anti-aircraft +gunfire caused some excitement. + +"There she is!" cried some one, as one of the searchlights caught +her. + +"As you like, Dastral. There's your target. Get into your togs +quickly and I'll take the risk of it. I must leave you for a moment +now. Those fellows in 'C' Flight are waiting to go up," and with that +the O.C. turned round and dashed off, while Dastral, without waiting +for anything further, got into a huge leathern coat, pilot's boots, +and donned the flying helmet with long ear flaps and queer-looking +goggles, which an air-mechanic had brought him. + +Two minutes later the young pilot climbed into the 'plane, gave a +final look round, waved a good-bye to Tim, whose pale face, now +working with intense excitement, he discerned in the darkness. + +"All ready, sir?" asked the Flight-Sergeant. + +Dastral gave him a nod, and prepared to switch on the the current. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, and as the cool, calculating pilot +pulled a switch, the mighty engine broke into its terrible song. + +"Rep-p-p, rep-p-p! Whir-r-r!" + +"Stand clear!" and away went the monoplane like a bullet out of a +gun. As she started, a searchlight was deflected in a long beam along +the ground, to give the daring young aviator the direction for his +take-off, for the dangers of night-flying are many, as more than one +brave pilot has found to his cost before now. + +At a hundred yards the "Bullet" sprang into the air, and soared +upward at a tremendous speed, being quickly lost to sight, as the +searchlights tried once more to find the raider, which had found +things too warm, and had sought again the shelter of the clouds. + +By short and rapid spirals, Dastral soon reached a thousand feet. +Every now and then he turned his little shaded electric lamp on to +the indicator, which seemed to vibrate merrily, and almost to smile, +as its little rounded dial told the altitude. Up and up they went, +and the indicator almost laughed with joy as it clicked out the +figures: + +"Two thousand, two thousand five hundred, three thousand feet!" + +Still they seemed to be climbing all too slowly for the pilot. He had +caught sight of the Zeppelin when she showed herself for a moment, +and he had said to himself: + +"Twelve thousand feet, and then there'll be a chance! But nothing +less than that will do." + +He was impatient therefore to get higher and higher, for he feared +the raiders would discharge or jettison their cargo of bombs before +he could get at them. They certainly would have done, had they known +that at that very moment Himmelman's rival was climbing to meet them, +on a Buckstead Bullet, which could do one hundred and thirty miles an +hour when pushed. + +Already a number of bombs had been dropped, and away to the northward +several fires could be seen where the night-raiders had left their +victims behind, in the shape of burning homesteads, where the victims +were women and children, old men and invalids; but the avenger was at +hand, and the hour of reckoning had come. + +"Eight thousand, nine thousand feet!" clicked the indicator, though +its voice was lost in the roar of the engine and propellor. + +At eight thousand feet Dastral passed several of the 'planes which +had preceded him, and at nine thousand he left the last of them +behind him and entered into a bank of clouds. Never once had he +ceased his rapid, climbing spirals, and now, through the misty, +clinging vapour of the clouds he still soared heavenwards. Once or +twice he stopped his engines just to listen for a few seconds, but he +heard nothing except the whir-r-r-r of the 'planes beneath him. + +He was ahead of them all now, for his engines were running +beautifully, and the "Bullet" raced through the next layer of clouds +as a fish darts through the waters. It was becoming lighter also, for +he could catch glimpses of the stars, and the remaining clouds were +thinner than those below. Soon, he would be above them all, and +perhaps above the raider. It was cold too, bitterly cold, but his +young blood coursed madly through his veins, and his heart beat +quicker and quicker. + +"Ten thousand. Eleven thousand," laughed the indicator, joining +merrily in the hunt, for it seemed to Dastral now that he could hear +those weird voices of the night, speaking to him and calling him up +and up, ever higher and higher. Yes, the clouds and the stars were +calling him, and the music and rhythm of that pulsating engine a few +feet away, and the whir-r-r of those propellors just ahead, seemed to +make him almost light-headed, so that he began to laugh and sing. + +He thought of crooked Tim far down below, and what he had said about +the romance and the music, and from the pilot's lips there fell +involuntarily the words: + +"Poor Tim! How he would like to be up here alone, and to listen to +all these voices of the night!" + +As Dastral thought thus, he looked down, far down into the blackness, +and he saw the flashes of the searchlights. Sometimes they reached up +to him long extended arms that seemed to unite him to the earth, but +he could scarcely believe that he had ever dwelt down there in that +abyss of murky darkness. Yet always he swerved aside, and evaded +those long stretching pillars of light, for he knew that if he +crossed their beams but once, other eyes would see him, and the +raider above would be warned of his near approach. + +Suddenly at twelve thousand feet the monoplane shook itself as though +dashing the clinging moisture from its yellow wings, and leapt, like +a fish out of the water, above the topmost layer of clouds. + +And now with keen searching eyes Dastral looked above and around for +the presence of the raider, but she was nowhere to be seen. Below him +rolled the clouds, like dark, monstrous billows. Here and there +through an opening he still saw the flashes of the searchlights +feeling for their prey. But above his head the sky was aflame with +millions of stars. Right across from east to west, like a silvery +pathway to heaven, shone the Milky Way, luminous with light, and +along that trail of diamonds shone the bigger stars, in the +constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Aquila. And far down in the +east, Orion the Hunter chased the dancing Pleiades, as he did +thousands of years before aeroplanes were ever dreamt of. + +"But where is the Boche?" Dastral asked himself again and again. + +He was beginning to fear that he had lost him. Perhaps the Hun had +caught sight of him as he came through the clouds, and had now +departed unseen, as he came. + +"Great Scott, have I missed him after all?" he cried. "For months and +months I have been longing to fight with a Zeppelin, and now he's +slipped me." + +And for ten minutes he circled about, stopping his engines once or +twice to listen for the roar of the invader's engines and propellors. +Suddenly something whizzed past him and burst into a jet of flame. It +was a shrapnel with a time fuse. Then another and another. They were +firing again, then, down below, and they must have picked up the +airship once more. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "She must be somewhere near me too, for I am +almost in the line of fire." + +Looking down he saw what had happened. The clouds in which the +Zeppelin had been hiding were breaking up and drifting away, for a +fresh, cold wind had sprung up from the east. + +"Ah! Ah! I shall see her soon. She cannot escape me now. I shall find +her in a few minutes." + +"Whiz! Puff!" came another time fuse, and burst not fifty feet away, +several pieces of which pierced the left wing of the monoplane. + +"By Jove, but that was close!" he cried, throwing out three balls, +which burst into red flame as they fell towards the earth, and was +the signal for the Archies to stop firing. + +"Ah, there she is!" exclaimed the daring pilot, as, out of the +clouds, a thousand feet below him, he saw a black mass emerge against +the lighter background of the thinning clouds. At the same instant +the searchlights found her, and a dozen long arms of streaming light +focussed their united rays upon her. + +"Gemini! What a target!" cried Dastral, as he pulled the joy-stick +over and dived to the attack, without a second's hesitation. + +His gun, already cocked and ready to fire through the whirling +propellor, and loaded with the new flaming bullet, was brought to +bear. + +Down, down he went, firing rapidly all the while. Then underneath and +alongside her he raced, pumping his second and third drum into the +huge looming mass. + +Far below his friends saw the whirling monoplane, in the glare of the +searchlight, for now it was as bright as day. The A.A. guns had +ceased their fire in response to his signals, but the men on the +doomed Zeppelin brought three or four of their eleven machine guns to +bear upon him, but it was too late. They knew the deadly peril they +were in, and it was impossible for them with their unsteady nerves to +hit any vital part of that waspish little fiend, which circled round, +above and below them at a truly terrific rate. + +Dastral, in his rapid nose-dive, had dipped five hundred feet below +the monster and flattened out to return to the attack, but, as he +commenced his climb again he saw that the silvery glare of the +Zeppelin, as it had appeared to him but twenty seconds before in the +lure of the searchlights, had taken on a ruby glow, which, as he +mounted up, became a ruddy glare. + +"Heavens! She is on fire already!" he gasped. + +It was only too true. The engines had been set going, for the +Zeppelin commander had tried to make his escape, just as he was +discovered, but it was too late. He had never suspected that +Himmelman's terrible opponent was overhead, having climbed up twelve +thousand feet while he had been hiding in the cloud. + +"Ach! Gott in Himmel! Wir sind verloren! Donner and Blitz!" + +Never will Dastral forget the sight which he beheld that night, close +at hand, for the Huns now realised that all was lost, and that a +terrible and speedy vengeance awaited them all from which there was +no escape. As the huge envelope kindled into fierce leaping flames, +two hundred feet high, the pilot could plainly see the panic-stricken +crew of the doomed airship, wringing their hands in terror and +fright, as they dashed madly along the narrow footways that led from +one gondola to another, trying to escape, till the last second, from +the fierce flames that spurted out above and below, and licked up and +consumed everything with their intense heat. + +It was truly a terrible sight, and the burning mass lit up the +countryside far below as well as the great metropolis away to the +south. Never since the day when every hill-top in England was aflame +with the fires that announced the coming of the Spanish Armada, in +the days of the great sea-dogs, had such a beacon been lighted in +this land of ours. + +Down, down fell the flaming mass, lower and lower, while the daring +pilot, bewildered at what he had done, followed her, circling round +and round, till, when some eight thousand feet from the ground, one +of her four hundred-weight bombs, with which her crew had hoped to +wipe out some peaceful village, exploded with the intense heat. + +"Boom-m-m! Crash!" came the terrible sound, and the flaming mass, +shivered into a thousand fragments by the explosion, fell down to the +peaceful earth below with the charred and mutilated bodies of its +crew of baby-killers. + +A few minutes later Dastral, guided by a score of still flaming +fragments about the adjacent fields, landed safely on the level +stretch of grass from which he had ascended to fight the midnight +raider. + +Next morning the daring pilot was decorated by His Majesty King +George, and ten days later, having bade farewell to his friend, Tim +Burkitt, he was back with his Squadron in France, and leading "B" +Flight over the German lines once again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + + +"REVEILLE! Show a leg there!" shouted Corporal Yap, one morning, as +he went round the tents and hangars about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. + +The sleepy air-mechanics of the Royal Flying Corps in the field +opened their eyes and yawned, showing no immediate disposition to +rise, for the fatigue of the previous day's work had scarcely passed +away. + +"Did you hear me, Cowdie, you, 'spare part.' Get up there smartly. I +shan't call you again. If you're not on parade in fifteen minutes +you'll be for the high jump." + +"'S all right, Corporal," shouted the "spare part," trying to wriggle +out of his roll of blankets and commencing to sing in a doleful +monotone: + + + "Oh, it' snice to get up in the mornin' + But it' snicer to stop in bed..." + + +Corporal Yap turned and went off on his errand, shaking up a few more +"spare parts," and threatening everybody more or less with "the high +jump"; which, of course, meant an appearance before the Commanding +Officer of the Squadron. + +As soon as his woolly head had disappeared behind the flap of the +tent door, Cowdie rolled back into his blankets for another +minute-and-a-half's nap. As he lay there he looked for all the world +like an Egyptian mummy, for he had a peculiar way of rolling himself +up in his blankets at night which gave him that appearance. But +although his eyes were closed his ears were wide awake for the soft, +stealthy tread of the orderly N.C.O., who he knew would be sure to +return in about the space of ninety seconds to try to find who had +left his warning unheeded. + +Cowdie, though a spare part about the aerodrome, was quite a genius +in his way. His senses were so acute that the others said he could +hear the "footsteps" of a snake in the grass, so they dubbed him the +"listening post" and made him sleep next the door of the tent, so +that he could always give the alarm in case of need. + +At the present moment he was counting under his breath. He knew the +orderly's round, and knew to a nicety how long it would take him to +get back to tent No. 7. He allowed ninety seconds, and he had just +got as far as "eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine," when he +suddenly stood bolt upright in his roll of blankets, thereby +performing a wonderful gymnastic feat, and looking, with his sleeping +cap over his head and ears, not unlike a Turk preparing for his +morning ablutions. + +Evidently he had heard some soft stealthy tread on the grass outside, +for exactly at "ninety" the woolly head of Corporal Yap appeared at +the door once more, and his yapping voice called: + +"Caught you this time, you trilobite. Out you come! Can't say I +didn't give you warning, Cowdie!" + +Then catching sight of his man in the grey morning light, the +Corporal gasped, and fell back a pace or two. + +"The deuce! Do you sleep standing up, man?" + +"Sometimes," replied the Spare Part. "M.O.'s orders. Number Nine told +me to do so the last time I reported sick." + +"Where are you going to? About to have a Turkish bath, I s'pose; all +right, my man, I'll catch you yet. If you're not on parade in twelve +minutes, bath or no bath, you're for it. D'y'understand?" + +"Yes, Corporal, but I'm not going to have a bath. They're dangerous. +Number Nine ordered me not to. Said I'd got a murmuring heart, he +did," replied the Spare Part meekly. + +"Murmuring heart, have you? Then where are you goin' to in that rig?" + +"Ain't goin' anywhere; Corporal. I'm standin' still." + +"What are you standin' still for?" + +"Waitin' for my turn with the shavin' brush," came the quiet answer. + +At this the Corporal departed, swearing wrathfully, for he was no +match for Cowdie. At his departure the rest of the company in No. 7 +tent burst into loud laughter, for they enjoyed immensely this daily +tug-of-war between the bullying orderly N.C.O. and the apparently +meek but cunning Cowdie, who was a great favourite, despite the +nickname of "Spare Part," and "Regimental Cuckoo," which had been +bestowed upon him. + +Though he had lost two minutes in the start yet Cowdie was dressed, +washed and shaved first as usual, for somehow he had the knack of +literally jumping into his clothes, even when the men received an +alarm and were turned out in the dark of the night. + +These little morning episodes did much to enliven the men and to help +them to endure the dull fatigue and monotony which was part of the +lot of every man ho went overseas with the British Expeditionary +Force. All the time they were preparing for the roll call, dressing, +shaving, rolling up their beds, tidying their kits, a running fire of +sparkling wit and frolic was kept up. + +Even when the aerodrome was bombed by the German aeroplanes, which +happened two or three times each week, almost always just as dawn was +breaking, these brave men joked just the same, amid the bursting +bombs, and the blinding flashes of the explosions, the ensuing +crashes, and the rattle of the anti-aircraft guns with which the +aerodrome was defended. + +While the shaving was in progress this morning and three of the men +were trying to shave by the aid of one little cracked mirror about +three inches by two in size, Brat, the despatch-rider attached to the +squadron, said to the inimitable Cowdie, + +"I hope you finished that letter last night, old man. You finished up +all that two inches of candle I lent you. It must have been a long +letter you wrote." + +"No, I didn't quite finish it," replied Cowdie quietly. + +"Was it another letter to your little girl in Old Blighty?" + +"No, it was a short letter to mother," replied the Spare Part in a +choking voice. + +"Dear me! And you didn't finish it?" + +"No," came the quiet answer, as Cowdie began to attack his upper lip, +which was all quivering with apparent emotion. + +"What did you say, then?" + +"I said, 'Dear Mother,--I am sending you five shillings, but not this +week.'" + +At this a burst of laughter from the whole party called forth the ire +of Old Snorty, who was passing by, for he had been up early, with +several squads of air-mechanics, seeing off "B" Flight, who were +paying another early morning visit to the enemy. + +"A little less noise there, Number Seven, or some of you'll be in the +guard room. How the deuce can we hear when 'B' Flight's coming in, if +you kick up a row like that?" + +"Old Snorty seems to have something on his mind this morning, doesn't +he?" said some one. "'B' Flight won't be back for a couple of hours +yet." + +So the men were quiet for a whole minute after that until the +sergeant-major, having passed out of earshot, and there still being +three minutes left for parade, the men returned to their chaff and +titter, Brat leading off again by saying: + +"That letter of yours, Cowdie, reminds me of another chap who worked +alongside of me near St. Pierre with the --th Squadron. He once wrote +a letter to his mother as follows: + + +"'Dear Mother,--Enclosed please find fifteen shillings. I cannot. + "'Your affectionate son, John.'" + + +And the joke was reckoned so good in our squadron that we raised the +money for the poor chap, and he sent it after all." + +"Fall in!" came a stentorian shout, as Brat finished telling this +yarn. And the men of Number Seven doubled up to fall in on the left, +and answer their names to the early morning roll, for another day had +begun, and more than one man of that small crowd was to prove himself +a hero before another sun should come up out of the German lines +beyond Ginchy, and set in blood-red clouds behind the British lines. + +Some two hours after that, as the men busy about the labours of the +day, which in an aerodrome, under active service conditions, range +from the rigging of a defective aeroplane, mending struts, replacing +controls, preparing ammunition dumps, to the taking down of a R.A.F. +engine, and while "A" Flight was returning from a reconnaissance, and +"C" Flight was preparing to go up and over the lines on a bombing +raid, Grenfell, the orderly officer at the aerodrome 'phone, received +a broken message from somewhere near Ginchy. + +The message had to do with the crash of a British 'plane somewhere in +front or just behind the first line trenches, but a terrific +bombardment being concentrated on the place at the time the message +suddenly ceased, as though the wires had been broken, or the speaker +at the other end put out of action. + +A minute later Snorty came dashing down towards the spot where Number +Seven squad were working. + +"Where is Brat?" he shouted. + +"Over there, sir, in the transport shed," replied Cowdie. + +"Fetch him at once!" + +And Cowdie dashed off to find his chum, bringing him back a moment +later. + +"Bratby!" shouted Snorty, giving the despatch-rider his full name for +once, as he saw the two doubling up. + +"Yes, sir," came the answer smartly. + +"You know the observing officer's dug-out near Ginchy?" + +"The place where I carried the despatches the other day, sir?" + +"Exactly." + +"Yes, sir, I know it." + +"Good! Go there at once. The wires are snapped again, and we have +received a broken message through which stopped in the middle. One of +our 'planes has come down. It must be part of 'B' Flight, for they're +not in yet. Go there at once, take this message to the officer or +senior N.C.O. in charge, and get the full message from him. Learn +what you can while you are there, and come back at once, so that we +may send out a breakdown gang for the machine, if not too late." + +"Right, sir." + +"Mind, we want the exact location of the machine, and you must try to +find out if it is a bad crash, and what has become of the pilot and +observer." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now get off at once. It is five minutes since the machine crashed. +And be careful now. There are some nasty corners there, and the +Germans are shelling the Ginchy lines 'hell for leather' this +morning." + +Then, catching sight of Cowdie, for whom he had rather a soft place +in his rugged heart, the Sergeant-Major added, + +"Better take the 'Spare Part' with you. You may need a second man." + +"Right, sir." + +The next moment the two chums, happy as schoolboys because they were +entrusted with a dangerous commission, had the "New Triumph" out of +the shed. Then, with Cowdie seated on the carrier, Brat on the +saddle, away they went, past the aerodrome sentries, out at the gate, +and down the road towards the trenches. + +"Zinc-zinc-a-bonck-rep-r-r-r-r!" + +But, alas, it was an adventure which was to prove something more than +a joy ride, before another two hours were past. + +It was a clear sunny morning as they pattered along, wondering much +what new venture it was that awaited them. Over there towards Ginchy +the air was thick with bursting shells, and the clear, blue sky was +marked in a score of places at once by aeroplanes and kite balloons, +whilst round about them were splashes of fire, and floating +milk-white cloudlets where the shells burst, as the Huns tried to +bring down our "birds." + +An air-fight was in progress already over Ginchy; two Fokkers which +had ventured near the British lines were being countered and chased +by several of our Sopwiths. They were two of the very same Fokkers +which had chased Dastral and the remnant of "B" Flight after their +drums of ammunition were all used up. + +But Dastral, where was he at this moment? This was the thought that +was uppermost in the minds of the two men as they whizzed down the +Ginchy road, leaving Bazentin on their left. For of all the pilots of +the --th Squadron, Dastral was the greatest favourite with the men. +He was so brilliant and daring that they felt they could not afford +to lose him. + +"I hope it isn't Dastral who has crashed, Cowdie," said Brat. + +"I hope not," replied Cowdie, feeling at the time somehow that it +could be no one else. + +"'B' Flight ought to have returned some time ago now. I'm very much +afraid they've met their match this time. We could afford to lose +half a dozen men rather than the Commander of 'B' Flight." + +"Perhaps he's met Himmelman," urged the man on the carrier, steadying +himself for the next heavy jolt, for the last one had nearly thrown +him off, and the bad places were becoming more and more plentiful as +they neared the lines. + +"He will meet him some day, and there'll be a deuce of a fight. Just +mark my words. There isn't room for two lords of the air, not in +these parts, and one of them will go under." + +"Well, I hope it will be the Boche." + +"So it will be if they meet on equal terms, but the German air-fiend +is a wily brute." + +"Whiz-z-z! Bang-g-g!" came a shell at that moment, striking the +ground not thirty yards away from them, and sending both men and +motor-cycle spinning into the ditch by the very concussion. + +"Not hurt, are you, Cowdie?" asked Brat, as he scrambled out of the +ditch first, and ran to help his friend. + +"No, but it was a very near thing that. Another few inches and that +would have been the end of the regimental 'spare part.' Look here!" +and Cowdie showed a rent in his tunic where a piece of shrapnel had +torn away six inches of it behind the left shoulder. + +Fortunately, though both were shaken, neither of the men had been +actually hit It was a marvellous escape, however, one of those things +one cannot account for. Though the machine had been badly knocked +about and splintered, it had received no vital injury, and, after +straightening out a few spokes, and cutting away a few more they +mounted again and proceeded a little further. + +"Halt Who goes there?" came the shout as they pattered up to the +support trenches. + +They halted and dismounted, and after telling their business were +allowed to proceed, but they were cautioned that the road ahead was +full of shell holes, and that they would not be able to ride much +further. They would certainly be stopped at the reserve trenches. + +Once more they started, their heads throbbing and aching with the +noise of the terrific bombardment which was proceeding, for they were +now in the super-danger zone, and shells were screaming overhead +every few seconds, and many were bursting on their left and on their +right. + +Again they were halted, this time by a sentry near the second line +trenches, and were absolutely refused permission to proceed further +till they explained to the officer of the company commanding the +trench what their errand was. + +"Wires broken, did you say?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Nearly all the wires to the front line trenches in this sector have +been broken. We have had the engineers out all the morning mending +them." + +"There is news of one of our fighting 'planes having crashed +somewhere over there, half an hour ago, sir," said Bratby, "and we +have been ordered to proceed as near as possible to the place, to +find out what has happened, as the aerodrome wire has been snapped." + +"An aeroplane crashed, did you say?" asked the officer. + +"Yes, sir." + +"There have been half a dozen of them down in front of us since seven +o'clock this morning; most of them German, I think." + +"This was one of ours, sir." + +"Yes, I saw it. There were two of them came down about the same time, +but the other one fell by our support trenches and the pilot and +observer were saved." + +"And the other one, sir?" + +"Oh, there is no hope for that one. She came down over there near our +front line trench, and she was blazing when she crashed. We could not +get at her, or at least we kept the men back who volunteered, as the +Germans turned their machine guns on her directly she hit the ground +and swept the spot for twenty minutes." + +"The devils!" ejaculated Brat, looking more serious than he had ever +looked in his life, while a strange light shone in Cowdie's eyes. + +"We were told that we must get to the dug-out of Captain Grenfell, +somewhere in the front line trench." + +"Oh, very well; but you fellows go at your own risk. The Boches have +been shelling the place like hell most of the time since daybreak." + +"We're quite prepared to take the risk, sir!" replied Cowdie. + +"Come this way, then, and mind that corner. We call it Hell-fire +Corner these days, for we have lost more men there than at any other +point," replied the officer. + +A few minutes later he handed them over to a sergeant, with +instructions to conduct them to the dug-out where Captain Grenfell +and his two operators still held on to the end of the broken wires. +No messages had come through for some time, but several squads of +Royal Engineers were busy crawling out in the open and trying to find +the loose ends in order to restore communication. + +When they arrived there Captain Grenfell gave them the full text of +the message which he had tried to get through, and pointed out to +them the place where the ruins of the aeroplane lay, for they were +still smoking. + +"But the pilot, sir, where is he? And where is the observer? They +were the best men in the Squadron, and their loss will be felt +greatly, for Lieutenant Dastral was reckoned the best pilot in +France, and great things were expected from him in the near future," +said Brat. + +For answer the Captain shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture +which seemed to indicate that he feared the case was hopeless. + +"Their bodies must be somewhere over there. Several of our men +volunteered to go over to rescue them, but every man who went over +the top went to his death, until the O.C. refused permission for any +more to attempt it, for he said he could not spare the men." + +While they were thus discussing the matter, one of the sentries a +little further down the trench gave an alarm: + +"Cloud of gas or fog coming over, sir, from the German lines!" + +Brat and Cowdie, at these words, peeped over the edge of the parapet, +and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, a dense yellowish vapour +coming slowly onward from a point where the enemy's lines curved +round and faced the British lines from almost due south-east. The +order was passed quickly down the lines for the men to don their +gas-helmets, but the C.O. coming along the trench shortly afterwards, +remarked that it could not possibly be gas, for, from the direction +whence it came, it would pass onwards over a portion of the enemy's +lines at a spot where the trenches curved back again and made a +salient. At this point the lines twisted and bent themselves into +many curious salients, for the last advance had not thoroughly +straightened out the position. + +"The Germans are not such fools as to gas their own men, Grenfell, +what do you say?" remarked the officer commanding the trench to +Grenfell, who had come out of his dug-out to get a view of the cloud. + +"No, sir. There must be some other reason." + +"Yes, and the reason is, I think, a change of wind which is bringing +on a dense fog." + +"You are quite right, sir," added the other, after regarding the air +and sky for some ten seconds. "There has been a sudden change of +wind, and a dense local fog is coming up from the valley. The whole +landscape will be blotted out in a few minutes." + +"You're right, Grenfell," replied the officer. Then, turning to his +orderly-sergeant, he called out: + +"Pass the order for the men to stand-to! There is no telling but that +the Boches may come over the top with the fog, and try to surprise +us." + +"Yes, sir," came the reply smartly, and the sergeant, saluting, +disappeared along the trench, calling out the men from the dug-outs, +and ordering a general "stand-to." + +The chance was too good to be lost. Cowdie gave Brat a dig in the +ribs, and whispered to him, + +"Now is the time. See, the fog thickens, and it is nearly up to the +wrecked aeroplane. Let's go over, or the Boches will be there first. +They're sure to try it on. What say you?" + +"I'm with you, old man, but it will be an awful job. Have you got +your revolver loaded, for we've got nothing else?" + +"Yes," replied his chum, feeling that his weapon was safe in the +leather case, which hung at his left side. + +"Come on, then; we haven't a second to lose." + +The next instant they were over the top, and making a dash for the +spot already hidden in the fog. + +"Come back there, you fellows!" cried a sergeant of the Wiltshires, +whose company lined the trench. "Where the deuce are you going to?" + +"To save Lieutenant Dastral and his observer, sergeant! Don't let +your men fire on us. We'll be back in five minutes," shouted Bratby. + +"Devil a bit of use you fellows throwing your lives away like that. +The Boches are sure to attack under cover of the fog. Come back, the +pilot must have been dead an hour. The machine was ablaze when it +crashed," called the sergeant again. + +To this they returned no answer, but scampered as fast as they could +across the broken ground, creeping under barbed wire, and stumbling +into shell holes, for the ground had been torn and rent by the +morning's bombardment, and huge gaps had been made in the barbed wire +defences. + +Now, when Dastral, his ammunition expended, his machine damaged to +such an extent that it scarcely held together, had reached the +British lines that morning, after the brilliant reconnaissance he had +carried out with his Flight, he made a steep gradient to get to earth +at the first possible landing-place, but even as he made the attempt +he knew he would fail. The wasp's fuselage was plugged in a hundred +places. The petrol feed had been severed by shrapnel, and a shell +from the German lines, hitting the reserve petrol tank, set it +ablaze, just at the moment when he was making for the ground. + +Half-blinded by the flames and scorched by the heat, he, +nevertheless, held the joystick firmly, and tried to reach his +objective, but, when near the trenches, the machine nose-dived and +crashed, side-slipping to the earth, so that the left aileron struck +the ground first. Then she rolled over, and crumpled up. She did not +strike the ground with any great force, because Dastral had kept her +so well in hand. + +Disentangling himself from the wreckage first, bruised, and burnt, he +yet remembered Jock, who had received still greater injury. + +"Jock!" he called. "Are you hurt?" + +But no reply came from the unconscious observer, who lay under the +wreckage which was now in flames. + +"Come along, old man! Pull yourself together. The Huns are sure to +turn their machine guns upon us in a few seconds." + +Even as he spoke there came the dreaded sound, which told that the +infernal Huns had opened fire upon the wreckage. + +"Rep-p-p! Rep-r-r-r-r-r!" + +A howl of rage went up from the British trenches at this act of +cowardice, which permitted men to turn their guns upon wounded +officers, entangled in the wreckage of a burning aeroplane. + +"Come on, boys, let's give 'em 'ell!" shouted some of the Wiltshires, +when they saw what was happening, and at least a dozen men sprang out +of the British trenches of their own free will in a useless attempt +to save the lives of the aviators, but every man fell long before he +gained the spot where the wreckage lay. + +Dastral, however, kept cool, and seeing a pilot's boot projecting +from under the blazing he seized it, and tugged away, until the +unconscious form of his chum lay at his feet. Then, heedless of the +bullets still whizzing around him, he dragged his comrade quickly +into the friendly shelter of a huge crater, a dozen yards away. Even +as he rolled over into the hollow, after throwing Jock in first, his +thick, leather pilot's coat was pierced by several bullets, and he +himself was wounded again. + +Still cheerful, however, he bandaged his wound, then endeavoured to +rouse Jock, but all his efforts failed. + +So he searched him, found several wounds, bound them up as well as he +could with the emergency lint and bandages which every soldier on +active service carries in the lining of his coat. Then, through sheer +loss of blood he fainted away, and lay there he knew not how long, +for he was thoroughly exhausted, and felt that he was dying. + +As he slumbered, sheltered in that little hollow from the direct fire +of the enemy, he became feverish, and dreamt wild, fantastic dreams. +With Jock beside him he sailed away on the hornet, over distant +lands, where the skies were blue and the sun shone bright and the +atmosphere was pleasant and warm. + +Here there were no Germans to worry them with shrapnel and bullets, +but calmly and serenely they sailed over huge forests and deserts, +swamps and islands, which studded the deep blue sea far below them, +like gems set in emerald. Now they were in the tropics, skimming +along over huge palm trees, and lagoons that opened out into the sea. +Great monsters basked in the sunlight on the banks of the rivers and +lagoons, and on the shores of the sea. They were in an unknown land +discovering strange places. Just such a trip it was as Jock and he +had often talked about, when, the day's work done, they had settled +in the comfortable arm-chairs in the officers' mess at the aerodrome +near Contalmaison. + +Often they had talked of these things, and the trips they were going +to make in the happy years to come, when the fighting was all over, +and the smoke of battle had blown away, and the liberties of mankind +had been won back from the tyrants of these latter days. + +Thus he dreamt, for he was feverish, while over him the shells burst, +and the great guns thundered, and all around, upon the wide-stretched +battlefields, the dead and the dying lay. And always he was parched +and thirsty, and sometimes he would turn and say to Jock: + +"There, far below us in the desert, Jock, I can see an oasis, with +pools of cold refreshing water, and a cluster of tall trees, where we +shall find dates and figs. Let us go down, Jock." + +But the vision would fade before he reached the promised land, and +the cup of water was dashed from his lips, and the goblet broken. +Again he would see across the desert, which now seemed interminable, +mystic and wonderful lakes of fresh water. But always he was mocked, +and again and again those horrid German guns would thunder out from +far below and forbid them to land. + +Suddenly from out of the midst of his dream, he heard some one +calling his name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral!" + +He turned uneasily in his sleep; then he woke with a start, and +looked about him. His brow was flushed, his head burned as though it +were on fire, and his eyes glittered. All seemed dark, for the +landscape was blotted out by a dark cloud. + +Half regaining consciousness he murmured: + +"Where am I? Who called me?" But while he wondered, his hand touched +something, and he shrank back startled. It was Jock's poor wounded +and bruised body that he had touched. Then he remembered it all. The +flight over the German lines; the attack which had been made upon +them by a whole German squadron; the fierce fight and the dash back, +followed by a cloud of Fokkers and Aviatiks. Then the crash----. Yes +he remembered it all now, and Jock, poor Jock must be dead, for he +had not moved, and they must have been there for hours, days +perhaps--at least, it seemed so, for it was dark as night, and it was +morning when they crashed. + +Then again he heard that welcome sound, a human voice, and it called +him by name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral, where are you?" + +And he feebly answered with all his strength. + +"Here! Here! For heaven's sake help us!" + +The next instant two burly forms came stumbling and rolling down the +crater, for Cowdie and Brat had just arrived at the spot, and as yet +scarcely an hour had elapsed since the crash. Strong arms were put +around the pilot, which raised him up, for he had fallen down again, +after his effort to rise. He had just time to murmur something, and +point to the unconscious form of his observer, when he relapsed into +unconsciousness again. + +"Thank God we have found you both, sir!" exclaimed a strong voice, +which seemed to resound again and again through his being. + +As the thick fog came on, the firing had been suspended for a moment. +It was a strange, weird silence that seemed to presage a coming +storm. Cowdie was the first to read its meaning. + +"Quick, Brat!" he cried. "They're going to attack. We must make a +dash for it." + +It was only too true. Scarcely had they reached the top of the +crater, and proceeded a dozen yards with their heavy burdens, when +they heard the sound of voices. + +"Hist! What was that?" + +They paused for a moment, and waited, but it seemed to them that +their panting and the loud thumping of their hearts would betray +them. How far had they to go yet? they asked each other. Then, with a +shudder, Cowdie turned and began to retrace his steps, whispering to +his comrade: + +"We have come the wrong way. Those are the German trenches over +there, and look, they are forming up over the top ready to attack." + +"Good heavens! Then we are lost," replied his comrade. + +"No, we may yet be in time. Come along. It cannot be far." + +With his keen blue eyes Cowdie peered through the gloom, for Cowdie, +the "spare part," had been the first to make the discovery. He had +seen the shadowy forms of the Germans not twenty yards away. +Fortunately, they had not been observed as yet, but they were not out +of danger. They had regained their right direction, however. The +British trenches were not more than seventy yards away. + +On they stumbled, over the broken ground, through pools of water, and +soon they reached the tangled wire. Exhausted they were ready to sink +with fatigue, yet they held out. But their hands were bleeding and +torn by the wire, and their clothing was in shreds. + +Suddenly they heard the sound of voices behind them. Low voices +called to each other, and the tramp of feet was also heard. + +"They are advancing. Quick! quick!" shouted Cowdie. + +Then, knowing that the British trenches could not be more than thirty +yards in front of him, he called out: + +"Stand-to! The Huns are attacking!" + +The next instant a blaze of fire lit up the fog, as a dozen Very +lights were fired up from the British trenches. The two figures of +the men carrying the unconscious pilot and observer were clearly +outlined. The sergeant of the Wiltshires shouted to his men: + +"Don't fire! They are the R.F.C. men bringing in their officers." + +The firing, however, came from a different direction, for the +Germans, baulked of their prey, and seeing who had given them away, +opened fire, and Cowdie stumbled into the British first-line trench +into the arms of the sergeant of the Wiltshires, carrying his burden +to the last. He was dead, shot through the heart. He had made the +supreme sacrifice to save the man he loved. + +With a wild cheer the British received the welcome order to charge, +and the last thing that Brat remembered was that cheer, as the men +swept by him, and he also sank down with his load. + +Next day they buried Cowdie, "the regimental spare part." Gently they +laid him to rest in a little graveyard by a shattered church, behind +the British lines. And over his grave the bugles of the Wiltshires +sounded the solemn notes of the "Last Post." And his comrades in +Number 7 tent fired three volleys over the hero's grave, just as in +the olden days, two thousand years ago, AEneas and his comrades, when +they buried the hero Misenus, called his name thrice into the shades. + +And Bratby, he recovered from his wounds, and, to-day, upon his +breast he wears the ribbons of the Military Medal. + +Dastral and Jock also recovered from their wounds, for their work was +not yet done, and six weeks later were back from sick leave, +preparing once more to strafe the Huns. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RAID ON KRUPPS + + +IT was a dark night, some two or three hours before dawn, when +Air-Mechanic Pearson, one of the outer sentries at the aerodrome near +Contalmaison, thought he heard the whirr of propellers somewhere in +the dark skies above. + +For a few seconds he peered up into the gloomy heavens, trying to +locate the sound, for he was very much puzzled, and could not account +for the sound on such a night. + +"They can't be aeroplanes returning from over the lines," he told +himself, "or we should have had notice to light the flares. It will +be a sheer impossibility to land without a crash on a dark night like +this." + +Again he listened, and he thought the droning sound settled down into +the throb of engines. He was anxious, however, not to call out the +guard on a false alarm, for he had once been severely reprimanded for +so doing. + +"They cannot be hostile 'planes attempting an early morning raid; it +is far too thick. It would be like a nigger trying to find a black +cat in a dark cellar," he muttered. + +A quarter of a minute later, however, he thought he had discovered +the real cause, for the throbbing of aerial engines could now be +distinctly heard. + +"It's a Zeppelin!" he exclaimed. "They're going to find the aerodrome +with their search-light, and bomb the place, then make off before our +machines can get up," and he instantly yelled out at the top of his +voice, "Turn out, guard!" + +The alarm was caught up, passed on to the next sentry, who repeated +it, and the next moment, after turning out the main guard, the +sergeant came running up, and asked: + +"What's the matter, Pearson?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from the eastward, sergeant!" replied the +air-mechanic. + +"Zeppelin, man! What the deuce do you mean? Where is it?" + +"Up there, sergeant. I can hear it quite plainly now." + +"By Jove, so can I!" + +The next moment the sergeant was back in the guard-room. From thence +he dashed into the orderly-room, and knocked at the inner door, where +the orderly officer for the night was on duty. + +"Come in," cried the officer in answer to the knocking. Then, as the +sergeant, all puffed with his exertion, entered and saluted, he said: + +"What's the matter, sergeant?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from over the German lines, sir. Hadn't we +better 'phone to the anti-aircraft guns, and the searchlights to pick +up the raider before he bombs the place?" for to the sergeant's mind, +visions of falling bombs and terrific explosions were present. + +"Zeppelin?" laughed the orderly officer. + +"Yes, sir. I can hear the engines as plainly as possible outside." + +"No, you're mistaken. It's the 'Gertie' returning. She's been out on +secret service work behind the German lines. I've been expecting her +for a couple of hours. Not a word of this to the men, now. I am +expecting a secret service man back before dawn, and the 'Gertie's' +been to fetch him. Picked him up at some secret place in the dark, +far behind the enemy's lines." + +Now, the "Gertie" was a baby-airship detailed for special service, +and not the least important part of her work was the secret +journeying to and fro, across the German lines, to quiet rural +places, where, in the dark, she dropped messages, carrier pigeons, +etc., and occasionally brought back some daring member of the British +Secret Service, who had been collecting information behind the +enemy's lines. + +By this time the orderly officer was out on the aerodrome, and the +squads of air-mechanics were being roused by the orderly sergeant. +Suddenly there came a cry from one of the guard. + +"Airship signalling to the aerodrome, sir!" + +"What signal was that?" demanded the officer. + +"Two green lights and a red, sir, over there, half a mile away," came +the reply. + +"That's right. It's the 'Gertie' trying to find the landing place. +Flight-sergeant, where are you?" + +"Here, sir," came the answer, as the aerodrome flight-sergeant, just +roused by the alarm, rushed up, without putties or tunic on. + +"Light the usual flares at the landing-place, and give the Brigade +colours as well." + +"Yes, sir." + +And the next instant he had disappeared into the darkness again to +hurry up the air-mechanics and to light the flares. The "Gertie" had +very nearly found her mark, having over-shot it but half a mile or so +in the pitchy darkness, which was a very creditable performance. + +As soon as the flares were lighted, her engines, which had been shut +off, were heard again, as she gradually came nearer and nearer, +until, when right overhead, she began to descend slowly. + +"There she comes! This way, lads!" cried the stentorian voice of +Snorty, whose piercing eyes were amongst the first to spot the +looming mass overhead. + +"Steady, there, steady!" came the next order, as the ropes and drags +were lowered, and the men made a scramble for them. And, in a very +short space of time the baby-airship was made fast, and from the +single gondola, in which five men were cooped, some one leapt out, +who held in his hand a bundle of documents. + +"Captain Scott, I believe, sir," said the orderly officer stepping +forward. + +"Yes. Are you Lieutenant Grenfell?" + +"Yes, sir." And with that the two men went off together to the +private room of the orderly officer. + +The newcomer was the bearer of some important plans and sketches, to +obtain which he had risked his life every hour of the day and night +during the past three weeks. They were nothing less than detailed +plans of the great German arsenal at Krupps', for which the +Commanding Officer had been anxiously waiting. For some time +previously, the C.O. had received from the War Office, through the +General Headquarters in the field, a peremptory order, something like +the following:-- + + +_"To the Officer Commanding,_ + _"--th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps._ + + +"It is of vital importance that the enemy's supply of munitions +should be hampered and restricted as far as possible, in view of the +offensive to be undertaken shortly. As soon, therefore, as the +necessary plans and papers reach you, you will detail one of your +best flights, under your most capable Flight-Commander, to carry out +the first raid on the enemy's main arsenal at Krupp'." + + +This document, signed by one of the generals commanding in the field, +had been in the hands of the Squadron-Commander for some days, and he +had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the promised plans and +sketches. As soon, therefore, as the orderly officer received them, +he sent Brat, the despatch-rider, with his motor cycle and side car +to the C.O.'s quarters. And ten minutes later that distinguished +person was leaving the officers' quarters on his way to the +aerodrome. + +Having arrived, after ten minutes' chat with the officer belonging to +the secret service, his first words were: + +"Grenfell, ask Flight-Commander Dastral to come down at once." + +"Yes, sir." + +And on his next journey, Brat fetched Dastral down from his bunk at +the mess to join the party. + +"Dastral," was the first word from the C.O. as soon as the daring +young pilot entered. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Commander, saluting smartly. + +"Here's something for you after your own heart." + +"What is that, sir?" asked the youth, smiling. + +"The promised raid on Krupps'. How would you like to undertake it +with your flight? You have often spoken about it." + +"Nothing would please me better, sir." + +"And the other fellows belonging to your flight, what about them?" + +"They would follow me anywhere, sir!" + +"Gad, I believe they would, for they all worship you. I believe +they'd follow you to 'Gulfs,' if you led them there." + +Dastral laughed, and repeated his avowal, that he would be only too +pleased to start at dawn should the weather conditions prove good +enough. + +"Right!" exclaimed the major. "Then, you'd better spend the next two +hours with Captain Scott here, and with your men. Get thoroughly hold +of these plans, and fix them in your mind." + +So, while breakfast was laid for the Intelligence officer, Dastral +got his men together, including Mac and Jock. Afterwards the eight +men who were going into action carefully laid their plans, arranging +a code of signals and the method of attack, should they succeed in +reaching their destination. Then they went over to the sheds, +examined and tested the machines, saw them loaded up with bombs and +drums of ammunition. The guns, compasses, etc., were then shipped and +everything was ready. + +Dastral looked at his watch. In an hour it would be dawn. + +"We must be off, boys. We must cros the German lines before +daybreak." + +"Right, sir," replied the others, "We can be ready in ten minutes." + +Then, having previously breakfasted, they put on their thick leather +coats, pilots' boots and helmets, and made ready. The C.O. came down +to wish them godspeed and a safe return. The probable time of their +return was fixed, and it was arranged that an escort should meet them +on their way back to defend them from hostile aircraft, lest any of +them should be in difficulties, and unable, through damaged machines +or lack of ammunition, to fight their way home. + +"Stand by! Contact, switch off!" came the order. + +The propellors were swung vigorously once or twice, then, one after +another, the engines broke into their mighty song, and the machines +taxied off into the darkness across the aerodrome, and as the +joy-stick was pulled over each 'plane sprang into the air, and began +its long voyage. + +"Good-bye, and good luck!" shouted the C.O. as each man taxied off, +and as a parting salute, each pilot raised his gloved hand from the +controls for an instant. + +Four hundred miles, that was the distance of the double journey. Two +hundred miles of enemy territory to be traversed before they reached +their objective; then, another two hundred back again to safety; and +no chance of a landing to remedy even the slightest defect. That was +the prospect before these daring aviators, as they sallied forth on +their dangerous errand this morning about half an hour before the +first faint whisper of dawn came up out of the east. + +No wonder the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, as he watched them +depart, turned to his companions and said: + +"A perilous venture, isn't it, for the boys?" + +"You're right, sir," replied the orderly officer. "I hope not one of +them will lose the number of his mess before nightfall." + +"Ah, well. We have had some vacant chairs in the mess lately. Four +hundred miles," he was heard to remark as he turned on his heels and +went back to his room. + +He was a kindly, considerate commander, for he had that rare quality +which combined firmness with kindness, and because of that he was +loved by all his men. + +The adventurers crossed the German lines at seven thousand feet, and +in the darkness the enemy's searchlights failed to find them, so they +were well away for once. There was just a little doubt in Dastral's +mind about the weather conditions when he started, as the success of +the venture depended very much upon the visibility. At present, +however, the dull cloudy weather was in their favour, if only it +might clear up later. + +He was therefore very pleased when, having left the enemy's lines +some thirty or forty miles behind, the first tinge of dawn lit up the +sky in front of them, showing the horizon clearly. The wind had +changed during the last hour, and, though it grew colder, it became +much brighter. + +Once or twice the Flight-Commander looked round at his followers, +casting a critical eye upon the whole flight. + +"Thank goodness, the engines seem to be running well. Everything +depends on them," he murmured. + +His own machine was a double-seater type with the observer's car +projecting right in front of the engine, a powerful twelve-cylindered +R.A.F. + +A little later Jock, speaking through the tube, shouted: + +"Shots on the left, Dastral!" and he pointed to a spot far down +below, for the landscape had opened out now, and they had been +spotted for the first time. + +Dastral looked down, and saw several rapid flashes, away down on the +left, where a battery of "Archies," having found them, had opened +fire. + +In front of the machine which was leading the flight, Dastral saw +several black bursts of smoke, and in the centre of each burst was a +yellow glare. + +"Ah, the Boches have found the range to a nicety!" yelled Dastral to +Jock. "Look out! We must dive." + +Then, pulling over the controls, the hornet dipped at the head, doing +a neat little nose-dive of some five hundred feet, throwing the +enemy's range out of gear, and compelling him to readjust his sights. + +As he dived, the others, with an eye always on their leader, followed +him, and the whole flight dived clean underneath a mass of curtain +fire, intended to bar their progress. So cleverly was it all done +that they all escaped without a scratch. + +The Commander looked down at those batteries still spitting fire. +With not a little contempt he regarded them. They could not touch +him, for already, before they could readjust their fire, the whole +flight was out of range, for the engines were now doing well, and a +speed of a hundred and twenty miles an hour had been worked up. + +At another time Dastral would like to have dived down to within five +hundred feet of those German guns, and put them out of action, but he +had other work on hand today; work which would take all his time and +skill to complete satisfactorily, and to bring his men back to +safety. Even if Himmelman himself should attack him now, he must +refuse him battle, unless compelled to fight for mere safety. His +present duty was to bomb the great arsenal at Krupps', and, as far as +possible, leave the principal buildings nothing but a heap of smoking +ruins. So he opened out the throttle of his engine to the full, and +for the first time reached one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, +not a very bad speed when you are loaded up with heavy missiles. + +They had been flying for an hour now, and had climbed higher and +higher until they were at nine thousand feet. It was bitterly cold, +and already their feet and hands were numbed. What would they be like +in another two hours? + +An hour and a half passed, and shortly afterwards Jock shouted: + +"The Rhine! The Rhine!" + +Nor indeed was he mistaken. He had been eagerly searching for the +famous stream that runs through the German Fatherland, and of which +the Hun is so proud. And now, there it was, a little way ahead of +them, running through the landscape like a silver thread. + +Soon they were over the stately river, and Dastral, knowing that the +road was as plain as a pikestaff now if the weather kept clear, no +longer heeded his compass, but, wheeling smartly to his left, +followed the stream on its way to the sea. + +"What town is that?" shouted the pilot, as a vast assembly of houses +and spires came into view. + +"Coblentz," replied the observer, with his finger on the waterproof +map. + +"Better look out for trouble, hadn't we?" + +"Yes, the Ehrenbreitstein Forts are down below; just a little way +ahead on the left. They have plenty of guns down there." + +This place, called the Gibraltar of Central Europe, is a towering +fortification, overlooking the town of Coblentz, and defending the +line of the Rhine. The river runs between the fort and the town, and +the two are connected by a bridge of boats. + +"Better skirt the town, else they will think we are going to attack +the place, and some of our fellows might get winged." + +"Poch! They can't hit us. All their best gunners are miles away at +the front. Let's go straight on. We shall be out of their range in +five minutes." + +Before they reached the town the white puffs of the 77's made a line +of smoke ahead of them, and, intermingled with this, they saw the +black cloudlets caused by the bursting of the enemy's 105 calibre +shells. In fact they were ringed with a curtain of shell fire. + +Dastral gave the signal by a sudden clip of his 'plane, which was +leading. + +"Ninety degrees left and dip 500 feet!" + +The Flight-Commander led the way through a gap in the curtain fire, +and the rest followed, swerving rapidly to the left, then down, down +in a fearful nose-dive of hundreds of feet, before they flattened +out. + +"Bravo! Well done, boys!" yelled the leader, waving his hand to the +daring men behind. For they had outclassed the Boche, and before he +could rectify his aim, the machines were out of range once more. + +On the other side of the town, however, they came in for the same +treatment, but they once more evaded the enemy's fire, and soon they +left the town of Coblentz, with its Denkmal of Wilhelm der Grosse, +and the forts of Ehrenbreitstein behind them. + +"Three hundred shots for nothing, Jock," shouted Dastral, who was +highly pleased with himself. + +Jock did not hear, however, for the wind carried the words away, and +the observer was otherwise engaged, searching the skies with his +glasses. A moment later, however, having discovered what he was +looking for, he turned and shouted: + +"One, two, three of them climbing to attack us!" + +"Where are they?" + +"Down below there to the left. Two yellow fat 'planes with black +crosses on them, and a white one." + +Dastral looked serious for a moment, as, holding the joy-stick with +his right hand, he raised his glasses with the other and looked down, +to where, from an aerodrome just by the river, three enemy 'planes +were rising up to fight with them. + +The shadow passed from the fair, young face of the chief pilot, as he +gazed upon the enemy, and a calm smile wreathed his face. + +"Humph! Let the devils come. We are not afraid of them. Sorry I can't +stay to fight them, Jock. Our first business is to bomb the arsenal, +not to pick a stray quarrel with these beasts, who are asking for +trouble." + +Then, opening out his engine once more to the full, he waved his hand +coolly to the enemy, and called out: + +"Good-bye, Mr. Boche. Some other time, if you don't mind, but to-day +I'm busy." + +His followers understood, and opened the throttles of their engines +accordingly, and, speeding on, soon left the enemy behind, for they +were slower machines, all the enemy's best fighters being on the +western front. + +Again and again Dastral looked round to see that his comrades were +all right. Eagerly he looked for the red, white and blue cocarde on +the wings, and felt very happy, for there was no need to be miserable +and lonely with those brave fellows so near. Had they not sworn to +follow him to the "Gulfs," if necessary? + +The chief enemy, however, so far, was the biting cold. The +thermometer was showing sixteen degrees below zero. Even with the +thick leathern coats, pilots' boots and padded helmets, it was +impossible to keep warm. The cold intruded everywhere. The thought +which consoled them, however, was this: + +"We shall soon be there, now! And we shall be the first raiders to +bomb the enemy's citadel, where he manufactures his enormous supply +of shot and shell to keep the war going." + +They were following the Rhine still. Every now and then they could +see long strings of barges being towed up and down the river between +Coblentz and Dusseldorf. + +"Cologne!" shouted the observer, and Dastral nodded, as he looked +ahead and saw the twin spires of the wonderful cathedral, and close +beside it the ancient Rathaus. + +"What a target!" shouted Jock, as the great city lay beneath them. + +"Yes, but there are women and children down there, Jock, and I am not +a pirate. When we get to Essen we will begin." + +"All right, old fellow. It was only a joke," came back the reply +through the speaking-tube. + +They received another baptism of fire as they reached the outskirts +of the city, but, skirting round to the right, they avoided the heavy +fire of the forts at Deutz, for Dastral knew that the brutes were not +shooting badly to-day, and he was anxious not to have a single +machine crippled before his mission was completed. + +"There'll be plenty of fighting soon, my boy!" called Dastral. "The +enemy will have guessed our objective by this time and they will be +preparing a reception for us." + +The observer nodded, for he knew that the fires down below would be +busy, and the various German Commands would be communicating with +Essen and the arsenal at Krupps'. There was no time to lose, and so, +despite the cold, they were still doing about one hundred and twenty +miles an hour. + +"Dusseldorf!" soon came from the observer's nascelle, for they had +passed Coblentz, and many other towns and villages that lay about the +slopes of the Rhine. + +"See that!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral again looked in the direction pointed out by his comrade, and +he beheld a great blur of smoke on the right, which blotted out the +landscape. + +It was Germany's black country. Here the towns were clustered thickly +together. Elberfeld, Barmen, Essen, and to the west of the +last-mentioned town lay the mighty works of Krupps. Somewhere in that +cloud of smoke lay the object of their long flight. + +The Flight-Commander pointed his machine in the direction indicated, +and the rest followed. The real fight was about to begin at last. How +would they come out of it? + +They were all eager to begin, for each machine carried a couple of +the new land torpedoes, in addition to a number of twenty pound +bombs. + +It was well they had arranged a proper plan of campaign, else their +labour would have been half in vain. Now, with the information which +had come to hand by the mysterious Captain Scott, they knew the exact +location of the very buildings on which they were about to +concentrate their fire. + +"Now we're going to be strafed! I thought so!" cried Dastral. + +"Phew! We're in for it now!" replied Jock, as the shot and shell +began to scream past them, bursting with red spurts of flame, +followed by white puffs and black clouds. + +Where was the huge powder factory? They were all searching keenly for +it now, for the atmosphere was smoky, which was partly their defence, +and partly their disadvantage, making it difficult to place their +bombs correctly. + +It would never do to fail now. They must go lower down and risk the +heavy fire from the "Archies." + +The T.N.T. sheds, where are they? The nitro-glycerine works, and the +huge dump? + +Oh, yes, there they were. Not all the smoke could hide them. Not all +the enemy's fire could stop those daring and intrepid raiders. + +Dastral gave the pre-arranged signal, and each 'plane dived to the +objective for which it had been detailed. + +"Boom-m-m!" went the first land torpedo. + +Yes, the Flight-Commander had found the powder works. A flame of fire +shot up hundreds of feet, and the place began to burn fiercely. The +"Archies" roared louder than ever. + +"Boom-m-m! Boom-m-m! Boom-m!" + +The others had found their objectives too. Four huge blocks were +burning fiercely. Down below the crowds were surging out of the +doomed buildings, running hither and thither to escape those terrible +bombs which were now being dropped in a dozen places, in rapid +succession, and the still more terrible explosions which must shortly +come unless the fierce fires which were now raging could be quickly +subdued. + +The utmost confusion reigned down below. The impossible had been +accomplished. Krupps', the very heart of Germany, had been bombed by +a few daring raiders. + +"Donner and blitz!" people down below were shouting. "What is the +good of our great Prussian army if it cannot prevent such things?" + +The raiders were off now, for all this had been done in less than +three minutes, once they had found their targets. As they made off +German aeroplanes rose to pursue them. In every direction they saw +the enemy, who had been surprised after all, in spite of the warning +he must have received. + +As they made off strange electric shocks seemed to agitate the air, +and to make the machines rock wildly. Violent waves disturbed the +atmosphere. Evidently the enemy had discovered some new device of +creating air-pockets, and filling the heavens with lurid flashes of +electricity. + +But the device fails. The machines pass out of danger, but alas, it +is doubtful whether two of them will ever reach the shelter of their +own lines again. Still, they are going to make the effort. Number +three and four have been badly hit, and Dastral's 'plane is torn with +bits of shrapnel. + +Once or twice they look back at the flaming destruction which they +have wrought, all in the space of a few minutes. As they do so, a +mighty column of flame and black smoke rises up into the air, and a +terrific explosion takes place, which shakes the earth for fifty +miles around. + +Yes, the T.N.T. works have gone up, and the two explosions which soon +follow show that something else has gone into the sky as well. + +"Bravo! Krupps' has been bombed!" + +Dastral gives the signal for his men to turn to the westward, and to +make with all possible speed for the shelter of their own lines. + +But enemy 'planes are in rapid pursuit, and there are two lame ducks +in the flight. It means another two hours' journey, and there is no +chance for the lame ducks if they are further molested. + +The leader quickly decides. He has still some fight left in him, and +so has Mac. They will escort the rest. He signals to Mac, "Take the +left flank!" and Mac understands, while he himself takes the right +flank. + +Then he orders the others to go S.S.W., for they must not infringe +the neutrality of Holland by going due west. And so they proceed, +until Jock signals that two of the Huns are gaining upon them. They +are fast 'planes, and will do some damage if they are not dealt with. + +At present they are still half a mile behind and a thousand feet +below them. So Dastral circles round once or twice as if to fight +with them, but only one of them accepts the challenge, and opens fire +at the Flight-Commander. + +"Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!" comes the sound of the fire, just audible +above the roar of the engines and the whir-r-r-r of the propellers. + +But Dastral has the weather-gage of him, for he has a thousand feet +greater altitude. He waits a moment, circling round. Then, as the +Boche comes up, he dives at him, as though he meant to ram him, for +he knew this would unnerve the enemy more than anything else. + +At the same moment he treats the Boche to three sudden bursts of fire +from his Lewis gun. It is quite enough for the enemy. He has +outdistanced his friends, and does not care to engage this air-devil +of an Englishman alone, so he swerves round, and hauls off a little, +hoping that the Britisher will be sufficient of a fool to pursue him, +but Dastral returns to his command, so that he may shepherd the lame +ducks through any further peril that may come upon them. + +Again and again on that long journey back he has to turn and fight, +and often Mac accompanies him. + +At length, half frozen to death, with their eyes smarting so that +they can scarcely see, one of them sights the relief squadron which +has come to meet them and escort them back to safety. + +Half a squadron has come to meet them, good fighters, all fresh and +ready for any hostile aircraft that cares to take the challenge. And +so, after nearly six hours of a trying ordeal, "B" Flight returns +safely to the shelter of the aerodrome behind the British lines. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + + +FOR some days after the daring adventure recorded in our last chapter +things had been fairly quiet along that portion of the Somme front, +near the sector patrolled by the 'planes of the --th Squadron. There +had been the usual daily reconnaissances over the enemy's lines; the +usual spotting and registering for the artillery by the aeroplanes +and the kite balloons, but the dull, cloudy weather had restricted +the use of the 'planes to a great extent. + +One incident that had occurred, however, caused no little excitement, +and awakened the professional curiosity of the pilots, observers and +air-mechanics of the squadron. + +Late one afternoon a very small but swift aerial scout, in the shape +of a new type of baby-monoplane, suddenly appeared over the +aerodrome, and after circling round once or twice, made several rapid +spirals and descended on to the grounds. It was no enemy machine, for +the red, white and blue cocarde of the Allies was plainly visible +upon the underside of the wings, and also on the rudder. + +No sooner had the ferry-pilot who had brought her over from England, +made a landing, and climbed out of his tiny nascelle, than every +pilot and observer who was about the place, and not on duty, gathered +round to welcome the newcomer with the usual greeting, and to flood +him with questions as to the new machine. Amongst the rest the +Flight-Commander of "B" Flight could be seen talking and arguing with +his friends. + +"Gee-whiz! But isn't she a beauty, boys?" he was heard to exclaim, +as, with quite a boyish enthusiasm, he completed in less than two +minutes his first brief examination of the machine. + +"By Jove, but she's a gem!" replied Mac, to whom the question had +been more particularly addressed. + +"I've never seen anything like her," exclaimed another member of "B" +Flight. "I don't think the Huns have anything to equal her." + +"Not even their Fokkers?" ventured one of the pilots, who was already +seated in the little cockpit, trying her controls, for he was just +longing to take her aloft. "And you came from London in an hour and a +quarter?" asked Dastral of the ferry-pilot, helping him out of his +thick leather coat. + +"Yes, quite easily," replied the latter. + +"And you never even pushed her?" + +"I never opened the throttle to the full till I rushed the Channel, +half an hour ago." + +"And then you let her rip?" + +"Yes, I did then. She fairly seemed to leap over the English Channel. +She touched one hundred and sixty miles, and for a while she quite +frightened me." + +"Phew! I should think so. What the deuce shall we get to next? One +hundred and sixty miles an hour! Great Scott! I'd give ten years of +my life to meet Himmelman on her, when I've fairly tried her," said +Dastral quietly. + +There was a note of silence when the Flight-Commander spoke thus, for +he did not often express himself like that, though every one knew +that the ambition of his life was to meet the German air-fiend on +equal terms, and fate had decreed that before very long his wish +should be gratified. + +After this, they all adjourned to the messroom, and, for that +evening, and the next, the ferry-pilot was their guest. + +At dinner that evening, when John Bunny, the jovial, stout, stumpy, +chubby-faced waiter at the officers' mess, had cleared away, and +cigars were lighted, and chairs drawn to the fire-place, all the talk +was about the baby-monoplane. For the time being even the war faded +away, except so far as it hinged upon the coming deeds of the new +machine. They discussed its merits and its possibilities, its high +speed, its wonderful but powerful engine, capable of 200 horse-power +and nearly two thousand revolutions a minute. + +Next morning, as soon as it was light, Dastral was seated in the +little nascelle, climbing into the azure. For an hour he tested it, +and came down delighted with his new plaything. Again and again he +tried it during the next two days, until he was thoroughly at home +with it, and could handle it just as well as any other machine he had +ever flown. Indeed, the ferry-pilot who watched him was amazed at the +antics which the Flight-Commander performed with the trippy little +thing. + +On the third morning after the arrival of the new visitant, the +aerodrome was startled by renewed activity on the part of the enemy. +Just as dawn was breaking Lieutenant Grenfell, who was again on +orderly officer's duty at the aerodrome, was called suddenly to the +telephone by the Flight-sergeant in attendance saying: + +"Advanced Headquarters Ginchy want to speak to you, sir." + +An instant later he was holding the receiver, and heard Ginchy speak +plainly. + +"Is that Advanced II.Q. Ginchy?" he asked. + +"Yes. Is that the orderly officer, Contalmaison aerodrome?" + +"Yes. Anything the matter?" + +"Enemy 'planes crossing our lines, and coming in your direction," +came the laconic answer. "Want you to take necessary action at once." + +"Right, old fellow. Action shall be taken at once. But I say--hullo, +are you still there?" + +"Yes." + +"How many enemy 'planes were there?" + +"Three have crossed over. A very big one, and two fast scouts. The +others have all been turned back by our A.A. guns, but they are +trying again, I think, as the guns are opening fire upon them once +more." + +"All right. Good bye!" + +Then, turning to the Flight-Sergeant, the officer said: + +"Quick, sergeant! Sound the alarm to call up the men, and get the +machines out of the hangars ready for action. There is no time to +lose. If they are fast machines they will be here in less than five +minutes." + +"Yes, sir," and the sergeant saluted and departed upon his errand, +calling out the guard and giving the orderly sergeant instructions to +rouse all the men at once, while he himself returned to the orderly +officer, and assisted in calling the pilots from their bunks by +telephone. + +Rapidly as everything was carried out, before all the machines could +be got ready, or the pilots prepared, the enemy had arrived and had +begun to bomb the aerodrome. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" came the first bomb, which was quickly +followed by others. + +It was only just light enough to make out the machines, but Dastral, +who was one of the first pilots on the spot, was already in his +baby-monoplane, ready for the propeller to be swung, when the first +bomb fell, not thirty yards away. His attention, however, for the +past few seconds while the drums of ammunition were being brought, +had been fixed upon the raiders. + +He was amazed at what he saw. There were two small machines, +evidently fast scouts and single-seaters, each fitted with a +single-fixed gun, but the other visitor was a huge warplane, so big +that for the moment he was astounded. + +"Look, Jock!" he shouted. "Egad, but she's a tri-plane, a giant, with +a double fuselage, two engines, and a protected or armoured car in +the centre--at least, so it seems to me. And she's got two gunners at +least. Great Scott! where are those drums? I must get off at once, or +they will blow the place to bits. They've already hit No. 3 shed, and +probably damaged half a dozen machines." + +"Here is your ammunition, sir!" cried Corporal Yap, running up at +that moment with the drums and placing them in the cockpit. + +"Right. Stand clear there!" + +"Rap-rap-rap! Whir-r-r!" came the sound of the engine and the +whirring blades of the monoplane, for it could be distinctly heard +above the roar of the anti-aircraft guns which were now furiously +shelling the invaders. And while some confusion reigned for the +moment at the aerodrome, the little hornet taxied off, and leapt up +into the air. + +Dastral was the first to mount up, but the Dwarf being a +single-seater, he was compelled to leave Jock behind for the nonce. + +Higher and higher he climbed, for the monoplane had the power to rise +rapidly, and when at full speed to sit on her tail for a short +period, that is, to climb nearly perpendicularly. She was so small, +too, that she was difficult to perceive even from a short distance. +Thus she was more fortunate than the others, which, on rising shortly +afterwards, received the concentrated fire and bombs of all the three +raiders. + +Even Munroe had to land again, with his machine blazing, for one of +the bombs had shattered his petrol tank, and set the machine on fire, +so that the pilot himself was rescued with difficulty from the +wreckage. Two other machines were also compelled to descend, for the +enemy, having the weather-gage and being directly above them, had the +advantage. + +The Flight-Commander by this time was well away, and was careering +round, climbing more rapidly than he had ever done before, and +looking forward to the coming combat. He could see his own target, +but, relying upon the small target that the Dwarf offered, he kept +just sufficiently away to render his own machine invisible to the +Huns, who were having the time of their lives. + +Dastral was in a fighting mood; he felt ready to fight all the Boche +airmen in the world, if he could only get at them. Higher and higher +he rose, and marked the little register as it clicked out the +altitude:-- + +"Three thousand--four thousand feet." + +Its quiet voice was drowned in the roar of the engine and the +whir-r-r of the propellers, but its face seemed to smile at the pilot +and beckon him to victory. + +He had got well over towards the enemy's lines, in his circling +sweep, for he was determined to keep well between the enemy and his +base. Besides, it was good strategy, for the day was breaking and +already, up there, he could see the rim of the sun showing over the +edge of the eastern horizon. + +"I shall have the sun behind my back when the fight begins, and the +Huns will have it in their eyes!" he told himself. + +At six thousand feet he banked and swept round towards the enemy, +still climbing rapidly, for the Boches were at about seven thousand +feet. Again and again he made the whizzing Dwarf almost to sit upon +her tail, so eager was he to reach seven thousand five hundred. + +He felt perfectly happy, and braced for the conflict. His only +anxiety was to get to business at once. + +"Five thousand--five thousand five hundred feet," said the little +dial, and Dastral laughed riotously. + +"Seven thousand," came at last, though it seemed an age to the eager +pilot. + +Glancing down and away to the west, he could see his comrades +climbing up to his assistance, for he had left them far behind. The +Boches had seen them too, and were diving to attack them, dropping +bombs and firing incendiary bullets. + +"Capital!" shouted Dastral in high glee, as he saw the enemy make +several rapid dives, giving him exactly what he wanted, the +weather-gage. + +"The beasts haven't seen me, or they wouldn't do that!" Dastral told +himself, and he was right, for the enemy had not even suspected his +presence yet, or, if they had seen him leave the ground, they had +lost sight of him, owing to the tactics he had adopted. They were +soon to have a knowledge of his presence, however. + +"Now for it," said Dastral between his teeth, as, having reached +seven thousand feet, he whizzed away to the attack of the nearest +'plane, one of the enemy's fighting scouts which had accompanied the +huge warplane. + +"Whir-r-r-r!" went the hornet, as Dastral opened the engine throttle +to the full. + +The speed of the hornet was terrific, and the sound of the wind +rushing past him sounded to the pilot as loud as the noise of the +engine. + +"One hundred and sixty!" laughed the speedometer. + +"They can't beat that," replied Dastral, as though the little +dial-face understood. He felt that he must talk, though he had no +observer this morning. + +Now he was over the fighting scout, and she saw him for the first +time. She was the highest of the three, but she was a thousand feet +below him, and, relying on her speed, she banked, turned swiftly, and +tried to escape, actually leaving the warplane to look after herself. + +Dastral pulled over the controls, and down, down he went in a +thrilling nose-dive as though he would crash her to the earth with +his own fuselage, but that was not his intention. At five hundred +feet he opened fire, and gave her three drums in rapid succession, +and never was sound more agreeable to his ears than that +"rap--rap--rap--rap--rap!" of his machine-gun as he sprayed the enemy +from end to end of his fuselage with incendiary bullets. + +Before the third drum was exhausted he noticed the flames leap from +the doomed German, for Dastral had sent three flaming-bullets through +his reserve petrol-tank, and in that moment he knew he had only two +enemies left to fight, for the first enemy 'plane went down blazing +in a plunging dip, which ended in a spinning nose-dive and a terrible +crash, right over the eastern end of the aerodrome. + +Dastral looked down, his eyes gleaming with victory, glad he had +finished number one, but sincerely hoping in his heart that his +comrades on the ground would be able to save the pilot from the +burning wreckage, for of all deaths that the daring aviator dreads, +to be burnt is the worst of all, and few English pilots, having sent +the enemy down, wish him such an end. + +There was no time for sentiment, however, this morning, for the next +moment Dastral was startled by the sound of a machine-gun behind him: + +"Rat--tat--tat!" + +Yes, one of his own friends was already attacking the warplane. It +sounded like Mac, and the tactics seemed suspiciously his, for he had +been creeping up behind Dastral, following his leader, as he had so +often done before, and he was now engaged in a battle royal with the +monster, wilst another 'plane was tackling the second scout, though +at a disadvantage. + +For a second Dastral was halting which way to turn, but pilots have +to make rapid decisions every day, and when he saw Mac's danger, for +the enemy would assuredly send him down in a few minutes unless help +came, the Flight-Commander banked quickly, and, still having the +advantage of nearly a thousand feet in altitude, he swept on to help +his man. + +It was well he did, for though Mac fought bravely, as Dastral had +taught him to do a score of times, he was no match for the huge +German, with her armoured car, and two machine-gunners in addition to +the pilot. + +As Dastral swept back to his comrade, he saw the two machines raking +each other, but though Mac got in several shots at the fuselage and +the engines, he hit no vital part. + +"Ye gods, what a huge brute she is!" ejaculated the Flight-Commander +as he drew near, and sailed over the top of the monster, just seeking +for some weak spot. + +Before he could clamp in his drums he saw Mac's machine reel, and +spin round once or twice, as though the controls had been broken by +some questing bullets. The German continued to fire, however, and the +next instant Dastral saw the reason of it all, for he saw Mac's +observer stretching over towards the pilot. + +"Heavens! The poor chap's hit!" he exclaimed. Then shouting almost +fiercely, as though he fancied Mac could hear him, he cried: + +"Never mind, they shall pay for it, Mac!" + +Again Dastral jammed the controls hard over, and though he knew he +was fighting a different creature altogether this time, he tried his +old tactics. He swept down as though to collide with the enemy and +crash with him to earth, for he knew this was the best method of +unnerving the Hun. With his feet on the rudder bar, and the joy-stick +between his knees, and his hands clear for his gun, he fired two +drums, but seeing no immediate effect, he flattened out suddenly, +when only fifty feet from the Bosche, and pulling the switch of his +bomb release, he dropped a twenty-pound bomb fairly on to the central +armoured car of the monster. + +Scarcely had he swept past his adversary when the thing exploded at +close quarters, causing him almost unconsciously to loop the loop +twice in rapid succession, for the very atmosphere seemed to be blown +away from his propeller blades, and the air was so full of +air-pockets that for a moment this daring aviator was in imminent +danger of a side-slip and a fearful crash to the earth. + +It was over in a minute, however, and the "Boom-m-m-m!" of the +explosion and the smother of gas, smoke and flame being past, he +looked round him, and saw the German three hundred feet below him, +with half his central armoured car blown away, and with both gunners +apparently lifeless, and the pilot, bleeding, still sticking it +grimly, trying to volplane his machine to the ground. + +The Flight-Commander looked down, and sweeping round till he had +gained his old position, he was about to drop a second bomb to finish +the warplane, but he withdrew his hand from the bomb release, saying: + +"Poor bounder! He's bound to go down. He cannot get her over the +lines. I'll let him alone." + +Then, looking around for the third machine, he was just in time to +see her disappear eastward towards her own lines, and saw two English +'planes, which seemed to have come from nowhere, following her. + +"Ah, well, I'll go down and receive that chap's surrender--that is, +if he can manage to get down without a crash." + +There is, apparently, more honour in aerial fighting in these days +than in any other field of warfare, and, when a pilot has brought his +man down, should he fall, say, into the conqueror's lines, very often +the victor will descend and receive the surrender of the vanquished. + +Dastral's professional curiosity also urged him to do this. The huge +machine was of a new type, for in all his experience he had seen +nothing like it, and he was eager to examine it. + +Keeping his eye, therefore, on the descending German, who was trying +with the utmost care to navigate the aerial monster to the ground, +Dastral banked, then spiralled, and after one or two rapid +nose-dives, planed swiftly down to within a few score of yards of the +place where the monster must ultimately descend; and three minutes +later, having landed, he waited calmly on the ground for mein herr to +complete his landing. + +Down, down she came, lobbing first one way and then another, +finishing up with a bump which completed the wreckage of one of her +huge outstretched planes, and hurling the lifeless form of an +observer-gunner to the earth. + +"My word, what a size she is!" cried some one from the group of +officers and men standing by. + +She was a mass of wreckage, and how the wounded pilot had managed to +bring her down so calmly was a miracle. + +"Where are you hurt, Captain?" asked Dastral, helping the wounded man +from the wrecked car. + +"Here and here, Flight-Commander!" replied the German in good +English, leaning heavily on the pilot, who a few minutes before had +been his deadly enemy. + +"Fetch Captain Young, the M.O., at once!" ordered Dastral, and +immediately one of the air-mechanics ran off to find Number Nine. + +"You were a marvel to bring her down without a crash!" said Dastral. +"I'm sure I could never have done it." + +The German smiled. He was a fair-haired Prussian, not at all of the +Hun type, and there was moisture in his blue eyes as he replied, + +"I thank you for the compliment, Flight-Commander. You also are +_some_ pilot, as you English say." + +"And she is _some_ machine, too!" urged Dastral, trying to keep up +the man's spirit until the medical officer arrived. + +"Ah, my poor machine, and my poor gunners! They were brave fellows +and they died for the Fatherland. And the machine?--yes, she was a +beauty, and it was her first trip. Now she is a ruin, and I must +surrender her to you, but you will never be able to use her. See!" + +Dastral turned round to look, and noticed that the German warplane +was in flames, for the pilot, mortally wounded as he was, knew his +duty, which was, if he could not bring his machine back, to destroy +it. And his last act, which had been unnoticed, ere he left the +machine, was to set her quietly on fire, only waiting to make sure +that the second gunner was really dead. + +"Ah! My poor machine, but you English--will--never--use--her!" + +As he uttered these words slowly, gasping and clutching at his heart, +the German turned ghastly pale, and, staggering, fell into the arms +of Dastral just as the medical officer came running up. + +For a moment Dastral held him, but the blood began to gush from his +mouth and nostrils, and then his head fell back, for he was dead. + +"You are too late, doctor," said the Flight-Commander sadly, as he +laid the dead captain down on the grass, and looked at his pale face +and wide open eyes, still staring up at the azure blue of the opening +day, as though even in death the skies were calling him up there, as +they did in life; for he had been one of the most brilliant of the +German aviators, second only to Himmelman, who indeed had been his +teacher. + +"Too late, doctor! There was no chance for him from the beginning. He +was mortally wounded." + +"Yes, poor fellow, he has fought his last battle!" replied the M.O. + +"Poor fellow! I wish he could have lived," muttered Dastral, and a +feeling of unutterable sadness came over him, and he cursed the war +which had made him this man's enemy. + +Again he looked at the Prussian's face, and, stooping down, closed +the man's eyes in their last long sleep. Then, turning to an +air-mechanic, he said: + +"Bring a German flag, and wrap it round him," and so he strode away +towards his bunk, depressed by a feeling of profound melancholy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +HIMMELMAN S LAST FIGHT + + +IN the officers' mess at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, a +blue-eyed, dark-haired youth of about twenty-two stood with his back +to the fire. He was alone, for the others had not yet come in from +the marquees and sheds where the aeroplanes were being stored. On his +left breast he wore the double brevet of a fully-fledged pilot. + +This was Flight-Commander Dastral of "B" Flight, of the --th +Squadron, --th Wing, Royal Flying Corps, known to the whole of the +British Expeditionary Force, and to the British public also, as +"Dastral of the Flying Corps." + +Just under his pilot's brevet was a couple of inches of blue and +white ribbon, the insignia of the D.S.O. For, though but a lad, he +had fought with more Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands, and had more +thrilling exploits over the German lines, than any other youth of his +age. + +To-night, however, the pilot seemed sad; there was a shadow of +disappointment over his fair, young face. There was also a dreamy, +far-away look in those usually piercing blue eyes. What was the +matter with the lad? He was generally gay and even frolicsome. More +than once the O.C. had found it necessary to take him to task for +some of his jovial pranks. + +At his feet lay the previous day's issue of the _Times_, which he had +just been reading, and that which had made him sad was a paragraph +telegraphed to London by the Amsterdam correspondent of that paper, +which ran as follows:-- + + +"Yesterday, at the German Headquarters behind the western front, the +Kaiser in person conferred upon Himmelman, the famous German air +scout, the insignia of the Iron Cross. It is claimed by the enemy +that this air-fiend has brought down more than forty British and +French machines, and that his equal in skill and daring does not +exist upon the battle-fields of Europe. Quite recently he fought with +and vanquished three British pilots single-handed in one day. This +famous pilot flies a new type of machine called the Fokker, and the +Germans claim for this machine that for climbing and rapid manoeuvre +there is no other aeroplane which can be compared to it." + + +Dastral picked up the paper and read the paragraph again. Then, +speaking half aloud, he said: + +"So that's what happened to Benson's Flight the other day. I felt +sure he had encountered Himmelman. Ah, well! A pilot's life is only a +short one at the best, but there's one thing I beg of Dame Fortune, +and that is, that I may meet Himmelman before I go down." + +Again he cast the paper from him, and as he did so, the door flew +open, and Fisker, his observer, accompanied by Graham of "A" Flight +and Wilson of "C" Flight entered the room. + +"Hullo! What's the matter that you look so glum, Dastral?" exclaimed +Graham, as he caught sight of his friend. "Has the O.C. been giving +you another reprimand over that last rag, old fellow?" + +"What rags?" laughed Dastral, regaining his usual cheerfulness with +an effort. + +"Ho! ho!" laughed the others. "Of course you know nothing about it, +Dastral, gut all the fellows are laughing over it, and the whole +squadron puts it down to you, naturally," replied Wilson. + +"Naturally?" echoed Dastral with raised eyebrows, and a query note in +his voice. + +At this there was another burst of laughter. For this pretended +ignorance of Dastral, and above all, the intoned, sepulchral voice he +adopted for the occasion, reminded them of the "sky-pilot" as the +chaplain was called, who, on this occasion, had been the victim of +the rag. + +"Tell you what," exclaimed Wilson. "If the O.C. hasn't yet heard of +it, you'd better go out and have another of your scraps with a whole +German flight, before he does. That would soften him a bit when +you're called for the 'high jump.'" + +"Yes, better go out and have a look for Himmelman!" suggested Graham, +tossing, the stump of his cigar into the fire. + +"Himmelman?" replied Dastral, becoming suddenly serious. + +"Yes, Himmelman. Why not? I believe you'll be a match for him, if you +can only meet him at the same level, and with your drums full," +replied the young commander of "C" Flight. + +For answer Dastral picked up the paper again, and pointing to the +column about the air-fiend, said brusquely, + +"Read that." + +For the next two minutes the newcomers crowded around the paper, and +read, partly aloud, the paragraph above referred to. + +At the time of which I write the supremacy of the air was still in +question. The daring exploits of Himmelman and his school had been +causing much anxiety to the Directorate of Air Organisation. Much +consternation had also been caused amongst the British public by the +manner in which certain sections of the press in Old Blighty had +talked of the merits of the Fokker, the new type of fast fighting +monoplane which the enemy had produced. But it was the bold and +daring tactics of Himmelman himself, and his few immediate followers, +which had given rise to this. + +A new British School had come into existence, represented by Dastral +and his type. These were very often mere lads from the public +schools, full of the sporting instinct in which Englishmen excel. +They were soon to make their presence felt, and gain for Britain and +her Allies the complete mastery of the air. + +What it cost in life and limb to gain this mastery over a wily and +efficient foe will be known some day, when circumstances permit the +veil of silence to be drawn aside. England will then know what she +owes to her daring airmen, and every pilot's grave in France and +Flanders--and they are legion--will be honoured and decked with the +imperishable flowers of a nation's love. + +When the trio in the officers' mess had finished reading the +paragraph, it was Graham who spoke first. + +"Dastral," he said, in quiet tones, "there will be no peace, and no +victory, till Himmelman goes down. Nothing else matters, it seems to +me; neither bombing raids, registering targets, nor spotting, till +this air-fiend gets his _coup-de-grace_. What say you?" + +For full twenty seconds Dastral waited before he replied. Again there +was that faraway look in his blue eyes as though he could see +Himmelman on his fast monoplane, coming up out of the mists of the +eastern horizon beyond the German lines. Then, recalling himself with +an effort he replied calmly: + +"You are right, Graham. Twice already I have encountered him. Once +when my drums were empty, and the second time when my controls were +damaged, and I had to make a forced descent just behind our lines. I +have felt myself a coward ever since. But fight him I will, before +sundown to-morrow, if he is anywhere in the heavens within fifty +miles of Contalmaison. And not a shot will I fire, even if attacked +by half a dozen Taubes, till I meet my man. I know his tactics now, +and am better prepared to fight him than ever I have been." + +"Better not tell the O.C., for you know our orders are to fight every +and any enemy 'plane we see, while we have a round in the drums," +replied his comrade. + +"I know, Graham; that's the trouble. When your drums are empty or +your gun has jammed, then this wary old Boche comes down from a small +cloud where he has been hiding at twelve thousand feet, and comes +hurtling down through space at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, +spraying your fuselage from end to end with his machine gun. All the +same, he is brave and courageous, and something of a sport--far away +the best man they've got. But my belief is that if once he is sent +down in a crash, the spell will be broken, and we shall have things +all our own way," said Dastral. + +Then, turning to Fisker, his observer, who had not yet had his +twentieth birthday, though he had been with Dastral since they first +left England, and thoroughly understood his method and tactics, he +said: + +"What do you say, old fellow? Do you think we're a match for this +high falutin' Prussian?" + +"Dastral!" replied his chum. "I repeat what I said to you only the +other day. If you'll only get the O.C. to give you a perfectly free +hand, and then lay a nice little trap for the Boche, you're more than +a match for him. There's more room for strategy in the air than +either in trench warfare on land, or in a naval fight, when the sea +is strewn with mine-beds. And if you'll only try that new fast S.E. +that you had out the other day, with the Lewis gun mounted for'ard, +you'll do the trick, and it wouldn't be merely the D.S.O. that the +King and a grateful country would confer on you, for ridding the +western front of a nuisance, but you'd get the V.C. and a C.B. as +well." + +"Yes, I'd probably get the C.B. all right, Fisker, but not the V.C.," +laughed the pilot, for in the army the letters C.B. have a double +meaning. + +"I don't mean _Confined to Barracks_, old fellow. You'll get that +when you make a forced landing behind the German lines one of these +days, if you will drop down to within a hundred feet of their +batteries, just to put one of their 'Archies' out of action, and kill +a few of their gunners. I mean the other C.B. which is usually given +from Buckingham Palace." + +"You're a sport, Fisker. I never had an observer or aerial gunner who +served me so well as you do. The credit is yours for the majority of +the enemy's machines we've brought down this last six months. But, as +you're game, and you've got far more brains than I have, we'll just +spend the night inventing such a trap for the wily old Prussian as +you've mentioned, and to-morrow, if we don't get the weather-gage of +the Boche, then we'll never put our heads inside this old mess again. +Are you agreed?" said Dastral. + +"Agreed!" replied Fisker, grasping the extended hard held out to +clasp his, and to seal the bargain. + +"And here's to your success, Dastral!" exclaimed Wilson, who had just +poured out for himself a glass of _vin rouge_. + +At this moment the mess sergeant appeared to announce that dinner was +laid in the pilots' mess, and away they all went, laughing and +joking, as though they had been discussing nothing more or less than +a county cricket match. + +That night, however, as soon as the meal was over, instead of the +usual rubber of whist, or game of chess, Dastral and Fisker went into +the little bunk where they slept, and, locking the door, they brought +out maps, sketches, and diagrams, and, until midnight, they were hard +at work, by the kindly flicker of a little shaded lamp, evolving +scheme after scheme, until at length they agreed upon a little plan, +which they decided to put into operation on the morrow. Then they +turned in, and slept for four or five hours, having given strict +orders to the mess attendant to call theirs before reveille. + +Half an hour before reveille Dastral was down in the hangar, where +his new aeroplane was sheltered. Though it had been carefully +examined overnight by the air-mechanics, yet he could trust no one +but himself to finally inspect the machine. He examined every strut +and wire, every nut and bolt, oiling and testing the engine, +controls, and half a hundred other little things that make up the +delicate mechanism of a modern aeroplane. + +At length he was satisfied, and lit a cigarette, while Fisker shipped +the Lewis gun, packed the drums of ammunition, fixed the baby +wireless, saw to the bomb carriers, maps, charts, and everything else +that concerned him. + +Soon, they were ready, and, having snatched a hurried breakfast, they +wrapped themselves in their warm leathern coats, and were helped into +their pilot's boots by one of the air-mechanics, whose duty it was to +guard the machines. They drew their leathern helmets tightly about +their cars, and encased their hands in thick gloves, then climbed +into the 'plane. + +Half a dozen air-mechanics wheeled the "wasp" out into the open, +where the level ground of the aerodrome offered a good "take-off." +Then they waited for a moment, while the O.C. himself came down, and +handed to Dastral an envelope containing his special permit to leave +his flight, and to act as a free lance for that day; the matter +having been arranged between them. + +"Good-bye, Dastral, and a good day's sport to you, my lad!" said the +major, who stood on tiptoe to shake hands with the pilot and +observer. + +"Good-bye, sir," replied Dastral, his hand already on the joy-stick. + +"Start the propeller," came the order from the cock-pit. + +"Yes, sir," cried an air-mechanic, who sprang forward and swung the +propeller once or twice. + +"Zip-p-p-p--Zip--Whir-r-r-r!" came the sound, as Dastral started the +engine, and the air seemed to vibrate with the song of the aeroplane, +which has a music all its own. + +"Stand clear!" came the final order, and as the mechanics leapt back, +and withdrew the wooden chocks, the buzzing, waspish little thing +taxied swiftly across the level stretch of grass, then leapt into the +air. + +Higher and higher it rose by swift spirals, sometimes banking over so +rapidly as it turned in its circuit that those who stood watching it +from below feared it had touched an air pocket. But never did fiery +steed answer the touch of the huntsman's rein so quickly, and never +did gallant ship, as she rode the combing waves, answer her helm more +readily than did the air-wasp respond to the slightest movement of +her controls this morning, as she mounted up into the dawn. For the +daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, +who understood every whim and fancy of his machine. + +And now for a while let us leave Dastral climbing up into the azure, +then traversing a dozen miles behind the British lines, so as to +disappear from the enemy's view until the moment came for him to +hunt his prey. + +Soon after he had disappeared from view Major Bulford gave the order. +"Squadron, prepare for action!" for this was to be a day of great +things, and the Squadron-Commander himself, having now recovered from +his recent injuries, was going to lead the whole of the three +Flights, which composed the squadron under his command, over the +enemy's lines. + +Within an incredibly short space of time all the machines were ready +on the level stretch of grass. The bomb carriers were filled and +drums of fresh ammunition were shipped. And within half an hour of +the departure of the air-wasp, the squadron started off in regular +formation, and crossed over the enemy's lines. + +The secret had been well kept. Only the pilots themselves, after they +had taken their seats behind the propellers, received the whispered +orders for the day. A great bombing raid was to be carried out behind +the German lines with the express purpose of drawing out Himmelman +and his crowd to counter-attack, while Dastral, hidden away in the +clouds at 12,000 feet, was to enter the fight at the critical moment. +Then the most daring air-fiends on the battle-fields of Europe were +to meet in single-combat, and decide for ever to which side the +supremacy of the air should be given. + +The whole squadron crossed the lines at 7,000 feet, and received a +baptism of fire from the anti-aircraft batteries, while thousands of +combatants in the trenches far below stayed their fighting for a +moment to watch the stinging hornets sail calmly by, as though +utterly oblivious of the hail of bursting shrapnel, which made little +jets of fire and cirrus-clouds of white smoke all about them. + +One or two Taubes and Aviatiks which had been out on a reconnaissance +and for a few photographs, rapidly retired before the hornets and +fled to find shelter somewhere beyond. Meanwhile, the telephones in +the German lines were busy and the presence of the raiders was +quickly reported to the various commands, and from thence to half a +dozen aerodromes. Machines were rapidly run out, and got ready to +mount up and meet the invaders, for it was evident that the +perfidious Britishers had resolved to carry out another great bombing +raid on railway communications, billets, and ammunition dumps. + +Within an incredibly short space of time, Himmelman himself had +started to meet the the enemy. But the raiding party swept on, beyond +Bazentin, Ginchy and Longueval, bombing, as they passed, Combles and +the Peronne railway. Soon, they sighted the aerodromes at Scilly and +Etricourt, and bombarded them, receiving another crackle of fire from +the A.A. guns posted to defend the hangars and sheds. Then, wheeling +north they scattered a large transport column which was proceeding +slowly along the main road from Le Transloy to Bapaume. + +Shortly afterwards, a swift circling movement and a smoke bomb from +the leading 'plane gave the signal: + +"Enemy 'planes approaching!" + +All this had been accomplished within half an hour of crossing the +enemy's lines, and the Germans had been caught fairly on the nap. But +now Himmelman had got his machines in motion, and a fight in mid-air +could not be much longer delayed. + +The English pilots looked down, and far below they could see from +half a dozen places Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands creeping up to the +attack. By this time all the heavy missiles had been dropped, and the +machines, with their engines running superbly, had gained something +in buoyancy from the release of the half dozen 20-pounder bombs, with +which each aeroplane had started. + +Guns were now cocked and loaded, and the discs were clapped into +place, while extra drums were placed where they would be most handy, +for when the fight commenced, a delay of five seconds might prove +fatal. Then a bold attempt was made to get the weather-gage, and to +use their advantage in altitude to place the sun behind their backs, +so that the enemy would have it in his face. + +Every type of aeroplane approaching was carefully scrutinised, and, +with sundry circling dips, short nose-dives and smoke bombs, the +Squadron-Commander told off various machines to fight them, for every +type of machine has its own special capabilities and limitations. At +the same time the heavens were eagerly scanned for a sight of the +hated Fokker. + +"Where is Himmelman? Where is Dastral?" every keen-eyed pilot was +asking himself. And every little cloud above and beyond was searched, +but no sight of the air-fiends was vouchsafed. Ah, well, they must +fight without Dastral if he had not yet picked them up. + +This manoeuvring for position continued for some minutes, but all the +while the combatants were drawing nearer and nearer. The enemy had +evidently received strict orders to fight at all costs. Certain +advantages were his. The chosen battle-ground was in his favour, as +every British 'plane hit and compelled to make a forced landing, +owing to damaged engine, petrol tank, or deranged controls, would be +captured with its crew, while only the German 'planes which crashed +would be lost. + +At last the time had come for action, for the air seemed full of +specks, both small and large. Nearly three whole squadrons had +climbed to the attack of the British, who, however, had by this time +gained the weather gage. + +"Engage the enemy closely!" came the signal, as three more +smoke-bombs were hurled from the commander's machine. Only one more +order was given, which was: + +"Reserve your fire till within two hundred yards!" + +The rattle of the machine-gun fire had already commenced, for the +enemy had begun to fire as usual at 1000 yards, but the British, +reserving their fire, followed their leader's tactics, for +immediately he had flung out his last signal, he dived down upon his +nearest opponent, a big fat yellow 'plane with black crosses upon the +doping. + +"Spit--spit-t-t--spit-t-t-t!!" went the C.O.'s machine gun, as he +pumped a whole drum of ammunition into his opponent, raking his +fuselage, engine, and petrol tank from end to end. The next instant, +the huge German machine, which mounted two guns, went down with +blazing petrol tank, and crashed from 8,000 feet. + +And now commenced an indescribable scene; a terrible fight in +mid-air, which would have been deemed to be impossible but a few +short years ago. The sky, to those watching far below, must have +seemed full of wild, swooping and circling birds of prey, spitting +fire and smoke, while every now and then a machine went down blazing, +or wildly zig-zagging to destruction. No less than four enemy 'planes +had thus gone down, when No. 2 machine of "C" Flight, with crumpled +wing, went down with a fatal nose-dive in a terrific crash. + +But still the fight went on, until more than half the British +machines had gone under, taking down with them at least twice their +number, and yet neither Himmelman nor Dastral had appeared. Numbers +were telling upon the English, and those machines which were left had +nearly consumed their ammunition, when, suddenly out of a little +cluster of clouds at 12,000 feet a dark speck appeared. + +The little speck at first appeared like a tiny bird, but the aviators +knew only too well what it meant. Whistling through the air in a +terrific nose-dive which reached the rate of 150 miles an hour, the +dreaded Fokker appeared to strike his chief opponent. Straight for +the Squadron-Commander's machine he came, like a fierce bird of prey. + +For an instant the fight slackened, and the enemy machines even drew +off a little space, to leave a clear path for the air-fiend, who had +never been known to fail in his desperate strokes. A thrill of +intense excitement held the combatants, as the Major made a daring +counter move, and jammed his last drum of ammunition into place. + +"Spit! Bang! Spit! Bang! + +"Whir-r-r-r!" Himmelman had opened fire while nose-diving at terrific +speed. Already the victim seemed to be in his clutch, when, just as +suddenly, from the same cloud in which the German air-fiend himself +had found ambush, another speck appeared, swooping like a hawk with +its talons ready to strike. It was Dastral, who had waited and +waited, in the biting cold and the clinging moisture of the wet +cloud; waited at 12,000 feet near the edge of the cloud. + +He had seen Himmelman coming, had watched him like a tiny speck +seeking shelter in the same misty vapour. How Himmelman had failed to +discover his enemy was a mystery. They were both invisible to the +combatants, it is true, and Dastral had used a dozen devices to keep +himself out of sight of the Boche, though ready at any moment to +fight with him. + +There can be little doubt, however, that Himmelman had been watching +the fight so closely that he had never even dreamt of finding his +chief enemy so close at hand. Besides, no one had ever dared to +imitate his tactics before, and his first intimation of Dastral's +presence was when, during his wild swoop, having half emptied his +first drum at the Squadron-Commander, he suddenly heard machine-gun +bullets whizzing about his own ears, and felt a stinging sensation in +his right arm. Looking round, he saw that the dark cloud in which he +had been hiding had given birth to another air-fiend, and in that +moment Himmelman knew that he was no longer the Master-Pilot of the +Skies. + +"Gott in Himmel!" he gasped, and made one last effort to manoeuvre. + +With his hand upon the gun, and his feet upon the rudder bar, he +flattened out, and tried to fight his enemy from below, leaving his +last victim to limp away to safety. + +But Dastral was too quick, for he had time to give the Fokker two +full drums before he also flattened out just above the monoplane. He +knew the Fokker had its gun fixed forward, rigidly fixed, so that it +could only fire ahead through the propeller. All this he had coolly +calculated beforehand. Unless, therefore, Himmelman could manoeuvre +to get his enemy directly ahead, he could do nothing. Still, though +wounded, the German fought on. Round and round spun the machines, +over and under they went, like a shoal of porpoises, each trying to +get the advantage. + +Up there at 9,000 feet they performed the most amazing gymnastic +gyrations and contortions. Once the German got the advantage, and was +about to open a new drum of fire, when Dastral, pulling over the +joy-stick, and with clenched teeth, muttered: + +"No, you don't! By all the saints, no!" + +And, with that, he dived under the air-fiend, and emptied his seventh +and last drum into him from beneath. + +It, was the end of the great fight, for with his fuselage ablaze from +end to end--for his petrol tanks had been pierced--and with a bullet +through his brain, Himmelman went down in a spinning nose-dive to the +earth. + +Even then the chief of the air nearly took down his opponent with his +wreckage, for Dastral being underneath, only just slithered, rather +than banked, in time to let the blazing mass hurtle by. Another dozen +feet, and the heroes would have gone down together. + +The next moment the daring young pilot gazed almost ruefully down +upon the tangled wreckage far below. He was amazed at his own work, +riding up there alone, for he was now the Master-Pilot of the Skies. +Even so, somehow, his chivalrous young heart was sad, for a brave man +never finds pleasure in the death of another brave man, and your true +hero has always a gentle soul. + +Then touched by a gust of sudden pity, he circled down to within +three hundred feet of the burning mass in which the remains of the +brave pilot lay, and, heedless of the risk he ran, he detached from +its place, where he had secured it that morning, unknown to all but +himself and Jock, a wreath of laurel, with these words attached to +it, penned in his own hand:-- + + +"_To Himmelman--the bravest of the brave--_ +_the Pilot of the Western Skies. A tribute of_ +_respect from his Conqueror._ + Dastral of the Flying Corps." + + +Then he climbed back again, joined the remnant of his squadron, which +with broken struts and wires, and bearing strong evidence of the +great fight in every part of their delicate frames, struggled back to +the aerodrome near Contalmaison. + +Thus did Himmelman meet his end, going down bravely, and, with +Himmelman, the Germans lost the mastery of the air. + +But Dastral himself was wounded in that last fight, and his machine, +the new "wasp," was so badly damaged that even his wonderful skill +could not save her, and she crashed behind the British lines, quite +close to Contalmaison. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"BLIGHTY" + + +AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested from +the Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was the +way paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat of +militarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and to +civilisation of her freedom. + +There is only one more incident to record, before this story of +adventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of those +unfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by some +mysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of a +misshapen and deformed body. + +We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of the +story. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning with +desire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted and +dismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her time +of peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing of +Providence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in the +day of trial, we meet him again. + +When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind the +British lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage, +scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, and +taken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to the +base hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during the +whole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at the +urgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospital +ship to Blighty. + +It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he first +regained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to look +about him, he asked: + +"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?" + +A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it was +the hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tender +voice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past, +whispered: + +"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better." + +The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but found +that he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs were +powerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still, +and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in a +whirl. + +"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after another +minute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for the +pain racked him so. + +"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talk +or think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and you +will soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet, +but strong tones, + +Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastral +could not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where? + +His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. He +fancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as he +dozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was away +again in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meet +Himmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his last +great fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constant +watcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile, +flicker over his countenance. + +"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospital +attendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast, +lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of his +country. + +Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so, +he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively the +words fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child: + +"Tim Burkitt!" + +"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me to +watch over you, and to nurse you back to life." + +Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one of +His Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back to +Blighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch him +from the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S. +to have him under his own special care. + +"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recognise +me until you were out of all danger." + +Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raising +his hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on his +tunic, he gasped: + +"Tim, where did you win that?" + +"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim. + +"But, Tim, how came you here?" + +In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, after +persistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though only +the humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had been +offered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it. + +"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of my +patients. And I am going to take you all the way home." + +"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the way +home?" + +"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter of +twenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle of +Wight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water." + +"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed his +eyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them again +shortly, and said: + +"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for it +turns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I am +happy to think that you have won that decoration." + +"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the King +has conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a Wing +Commander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of your +fight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?" + +"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring back +my brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas, +I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes to +keep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulp +down a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, till +they had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the Southsea +Forts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lower +reaches of Southampton Water. + +Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim. + +"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman, +and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and they +were with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world, +amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of the +German warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome near +Contalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, and +they said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, you +who are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it a +dream or did I really see them?" + +"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, and +they are all dead?" + +"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. But +come, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only a +dream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly up +at his friend. + +"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a full +minute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days at +college, though, after what has happened, it seems years and years +ago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I do +believe that for brave men, who have followed the star which has +called them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, after +death, something like that of which you have spoken, where good men +are re-united, even though they have fought with each other in the +days that are past." + +Then, after another long pause, he added + +"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven." + +* * * * * + +Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war. +Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under the +careful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the great +war was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He had +crowded into twenty months of service a record second to none during +the great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his King +and Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believed +that the cause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny. + +In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drake +and Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the liberties +of the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggle +is fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engraved +in letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went out +in jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, so +that they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our future +liberty and peace. + + +------------------------------------------------------------------ +THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND + + + +[Transcribers Notes: + +Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, following +the original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and +{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero}) +and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something: +{:}, {:--} and {,}. + +Corrected type-errors: + {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,} +Not corrected type-errors: + {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,} + {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,} + {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross} + {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,} + +] + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dastral of the Flying Corps, by Rowland Walker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + +***** This file should be named 44348-8.txt or 44348-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/4/44348/ + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dastral of the Flying Corps + +Author: Rowland Walker + +Release Date: December 4, 2013 [EBook #44348] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + + + + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + + + + + +</pre> + + +<center><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover"></center> +<center>Cover art</center> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center><h2>DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</h2></center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<table align="center" style="border:0px solid #000000;" summary="otherbooks"> + + <tr><td>THE GREAT</td></tr> + <tr><td>ADVENTURE</td></tr> + <tr><td>SERIES</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><hr align="center" width="40%"></td></tr> + <tr><td><center><b>Percy F. Westerman:</b></center></td></tr> + <tr><td>THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND"</td></tr> + <tr><td>TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS</td></tr> + <tr><td>THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE</td></tr> + <tr><td>WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><center><b>Rowland Walker:</b></center></td></tr> + <tr><td>THE PHANTOM AIRMAN</td></tr> + <tr><td>DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</td></tr> + <tr><td>DEVILLE McKEENE:</td></tr> + <tr><td><b CLASS="standard indent10 fontsize80">THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY</b><br></td></tr> + <tr><td><b CLASS="standard indent10 fontsize80">AIRMAN</b><br></td></tr> + <tr><td>BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE</td></tr> + <tr><td>BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V 2</td></tr> + <tr><td>OSCAR DANBY, V.C.</td></tr> + <tr><td></td></tr> + <tr><td><hr align="center" width="40%"></td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<center> +S.W. PARTRIDGE & CO.<br> +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDOND, W.I.<br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="Frontispiece"></center> +<center>"DOWN, DOWN WENT THE BLAZING MASS FOR A COUPLE OF THOUSAND FEET."</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center> +<h1> +DASTRAL OF THE<br> +FLYING CORPS<br> +</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>ROWLAND WALKER</h2> +<br> +AUTHOR OF "BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2," "THE TREASURE<br> +GALLEON," "OSCAR DANBY, V.C." ETC., ETC.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/partridge.jpg" alt="Publisher logo"> +<br> +<br> +S.W. PARTRIDGE & Co.<br> +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.I.<br> +</center> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center> +MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN<br> +<i>First Published 1917</i><br> +<i>Frequently reprinted</i><br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<center> +To<br> +THE PILOTS,<br> +OBSERVERS AND AIR-MECHANICS<br> +OF<br> +THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS,<br> +THIS<br> +STORY OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL<br> +IS<br> +Dedicated<br> +</center> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<center>PREFACE</center><br> +<br> +THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 opened the floodgates of hatred between the +nations which took part and this stirring story, written when +feelings were at their highest, conveys a true impression of the +attitude adopted towards our enemies. No epithet was considered too +strong for a German and whilst the narrative thus conveys the real +atmosphere and conditions under which the tragic event was fought out +it should be borne in mind that the animosities engendered by war are +now happily a thing of the past. Therefore, the reader, whilst +enjoying to the full this thrilling tale, will do well to remember +that old enmities have passed away and that we are now reconciled to +the Central Powers who were opposed to us.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + +<h3 align="center">CONTENTS</h3><br> + +<table align="center" width="80%" summary="contents"> + +<tbody><tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">CHAPTER</td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">I. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter01">DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">II. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter02">THE FERRY PILOT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">III. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter03">OVER THE GERMAN LINES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">IV. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter04">STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">V. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter05">A BOMBING RAID</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VI. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter06">A ZEPPELIN NIGHT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VII. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter07">COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART"</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">VIII. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter08">THE RAID ON KRUPPS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">IX. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter09">THE GIANT WAR-PLANE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">X. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter10">HIMMELMAN'S LAST FIGHT"</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td align="right" valign="top">XI. </td> +<td align="left" valign="top"> +<a href="#chapter11">"BLIGHTY"</a></td> +</tr> + +</tbody></table> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + <h2 align="center">DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS</h2> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter01"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h4 align="center">DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE</h4> + +<br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">"One crowded hour of glorious life,</b><br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">Is worth an age without a name."</b><br> +<b class="standard indent50 fontsize80">--SCOTT.</b><br> +<br> + +<p>AT the time of which I write, the smoke of battle still filled the +air. The freedom of men and nations, the heritage of the ages, hung +in the balance, so that even brave men were often filled with doubt +and despair.</p> + +<p>The German guns were thundering at the gates of Verdun, seeking a new +pathway to Paris, for the ever-growing British army had barred the +northern route to the capital of France and the shores of the English +Channel. But even the attempt to hack a way through Verdun was doomed +to failure, and the first rift of blue in a clouded sky was soon to +appear.</p> + +<p>Against that glittering wall of steel, where the heroic sons of +France lined the trenches against the tyrant, hundreds of thousands +of Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons were doomed to fall, and the best +blood of Germany was already flowing like rivers, for, though the +<i>poilus</i> during times of great pressure slowly yielded the outer +forts inch by inch, yet the price which the enemy paid for their +advance was far too dear.</p> + +<p>The future hung heavy with fate, and the civilised world looked on +amazed, as the western armies, locked in the grip of death, swayed to +and fro. The earth trembled with the shock of battle, and the very +air vibrated with the whir-r-r of the fierce birds of prey, the +wonderful product of the new age. Land and sea did not suffice as in +days gone by, for in the heavens the struggle for freedom must also +be fought. And many great men were beginning to say that the side +which gained the mastery of the air, would also gain the mastery of +Europe and the world.</p> + +<p>In no country was this recognised more than in England, and at early +dawn even remote villages were often stirred, and the inhabitants +thrilled by the advent of the whirring 'planes and air-scouts, whose +daring pilots were preparing to wrest the mastery of the air from the +enemy.</p> + +<p>The most daring of our English youths left the public schools and +universities, and strained every nerve, risking death a hundred +times, to gain the coveted brevet of a pilot's "wings" in the Royal +Flying Corps.</p> + +<p>So it happened that, during one fine morning in the early summer of +1916, a group of men, some of them wearing on the left breast of +their service tunics the afore-mentioned brevet, were watching a +young pilot undergoing his final test in the air before gaining his +wings. The place where this occurred was over an aerodrome, somewhere +near London.</p> + +<p>"Phew! there he goes again. Just look at that spiral!" cried one of +the onlookers.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Now he's going to loop; watch him!" exclaimed another.</p> + +<p>The daring aviator, who was flying a new two-seater fighting machine +with a twelve-cylindered engine, capable of giving over fourteen +hundred revolutions a minute, seemed perfectly oblivious of the +danger he was in, as seen by those below, for he careered through +space at a speed varying from eighty to nearly one hundred and twenty +miles an hour, and performed the most amazing spirals, twists, and +gymnastic gyrations imaginable.</p> + +<p>The people below, even the pilots, watched him with bated breath, and +sometimes with thumping hearts. They felt somehow that he was +overdoing it, and sooner or later he would crash to earth and certain +death Several times even the experts, who were there to judge him, +and award him the coveted brevet, felt sure that the youth had lost +control of the 'plane, for she swerved so suddenly, and banked so +swiftly, as she came round, that one of them exclaimed:--</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, he's going to crash!"</p> + +<p>"Phew! Just look there, he's met an air-pocket, and it's all over +with the young devil," shouted a civilian, evidently a representative +of the New Air Board.</p> + +<p>But, strange to say, all their prophecies were wrong, for, recovering +himself, the daring young flyer, Dastral as he was called, had the +machine under perfect control, and was just as easy and comfortable +up there at three thousand feet--and far happier--than if he had been +in an arm-chair in the officers' mess at the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>"There's a nose dive for you!" cried the major who commanded the +Squadron at the aerodrome, and who had done more than any one to +encourage the lad, and bring him out. As he spoke, the youth was +speeding to earth in a thrilling nose-dive which must have been at +the rate of anything approaching a hundred and fifty miles an hour.</p> + +<p>For an instant it seemed as if the prediction of one of the gloomy +prophets would now be fulfilled and the aviator would crash; but no, +after a dive of a thousand feet Dastral, as cool as a cucumber, +jammed over the controls, flattened out for a few seconds, looped +three times in succession, then spiralling and banking with wonderful +and mathematical precision, shut off the engine, and volplaned down +to the ground, touching the earth lightly at the rate of some fifty +miles an hour, taxied across the level turf, and brought up within +ten yards of the astonished spectators.</p> + +<p>"Humph! He's won his wings, major," exclaimed one of the small crowd.</p> + +<p>"So he has," cried another. "He knows all the tricks of the air."</p> + +<p>"Yes," exclaimed a third; "if he keeps on like that, he will prove a +match for Himmelman himself, some day, should he ever chance to meet +with him."</p> + +<p>Now Himmelman was the crack German flyer--the Air-Fiend of the +western front--the man who had made the German Flying Corps what it +was, and had earned for it the great traditions it had already won.</p> + +<p>A moment later, the youth leapt lightly from the cockpit, gave his +hand to his observer to help him down, and, stepping lightly up to +his Commanding Officer, saluted smartly.</p> + +<p>"Capital, Dastral! You shall have your wings to-morrow. If anybody +has ever won them you have," exclaimed the major, grasping the lad's +hand, and greeting him warmly.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. It's very kind of you to say so," replied Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. You've won them yourself, my boy, and I congratulate +you. But, I say, you played the very devil up there. There are very +few of our fellows who can do those monkey-tricks without crashing. +It's a mercy you're alive, boy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was only an extra turn or two, sir, just for the spectators. +But, Jock, here, sir, my observer, is he all right for his brevet +also?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he shall be gazetted and granted an observer's wing. I will get +them through orders at once."</p> + +<p>Once more Dastral thanked his chief, and, followed by Jock Fisker, +his chum, who had entered the air service with him, and who was +destined to accompany him through many an exciting air duel in the +future, they returned to the machine, which was already being keenly +examined by a group of the privileged onlookers, before the +air-mechanics returned it to the shed.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, as Dastral and Jock were preparing to leave the +aerodrome, the major came by, and, seeing that the young pilot wanted +to speak to him, he said:--</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Sir, now that I have gained my wings, I should like to be posted +overseas as soon as possible, so as to join some active squadron with +the Expeditionary Force in France. Would it be possible for you to +push my request forward?"</p> + +<p>"Humph! Rather early yet, isn't it, my boy?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is rather early, sir," replied the youth, blushing like a +girl as he faced the C.O. "But I should like to take part in an +air-fight before the scrapping finishes."</p> + +<p>"We've a long way to go yet, Dastral, before it is finished. Still, +as you are so keen, I will see what I can do. But it will take at +least another fortnight to get the thing through. At any rate I will +communicate with Wing Headquarters, and through them with the War +Office. Perhaps General Henderson will accede to your request," added +the major, for he well understood the lad's eagerness. He had felt it +himself, and had already seen a good deal of that air-fighting of +which the youth spoke, as the ribbons below his wings indicated, for +he was the winner of the D.S.O. and also the Military Cross.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," and the pilot saluted again, but cast a sidelong +glance at Jock, who stood a few paces away, and was already fretting +in his soul lest Dastral should be sent away without him.</p> + +<p>The major caught the glance and understood, for he turned sharply +round after a few steps, and said:--</p> + +<p>"And Jock, what about him?" smiling blandly at the lads.</p> + +<p>"He is of age, sir, he can speak for himself," replied Dastral. "But +I should like him to go overseas with me. We have done most of our +training together, and we thoroughly understand each other, and I +know that he's just dying to go with me, sir."</p> + +<p>"Is that so, Jock?" asked the major, looking at the Scotch laddie, +who had scarcely finished his course at Glasgow University when the +war called him from his studies.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, sir, I'd give all I possess to go overseas with Dastral." +And the youth's eyes shone with joy at the very possibility of the +event coming off, for he had feared that they were now to be +separated.</p> + +<p>"Very well. Don't expect too much, but possess your souls in patience +for another fortnight or so. Goodbye!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir!" and once more after the customary salute, the youths +went their way, wondering how soon they would be in France, within +sound of the guns.</p> + +<p>For the next fortnight they were busy every day at the aerodrome, +trying new machines, testing, carrying out imaginary reconnaissances +over the German lines, bombing raids, studying war maps and plans, +night flying and a score of other things that would prove useful when +they found themselves in France.</p> + +<p>One morning, about two weeks later, a telegram was delivered to +Dastral at his rooms. It came from the War Office, and ran as +follows:--</p> + +<br> +<p>"Second Lieutenant Dastral and his observer to proceed overseas +forthwith, on one of the new fighting 'planes, and to report his +arrival at -- Squadron, British Expeditionary Force, France."</p> +<br> + +<p> +After the customary interview with the C.O., it was arranged that +early next morning the two aviators were to make their first attempt +at flying the Channel.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter02"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE FERRY PILOT</h4> + +<p>IT was an hour before dawn, and the stars had not yet faded from the +skies, when a group of air mechanics at one of the aerodromes just +north of London were busy about the ailerons and fuselage of a new +machine, which was destined to fly across the Channel that day, and +to join one of the British Squadrons on the other side.</p> + +<p>The secret of the machine had been well kept, and only a favoured few +had been permitted to see the "hornet," as she was called. Great +things were claimed for her when she joined one of the active +squadrons, now fighting in France for the supremacy of the air.</p> + +<p>Just a few folk in Old Blighty had been scared by the advent of the +Fokker, the new German aeroplane which had recently come into +existence, and for which such wonderful things were being claimed +daily by the German "wireless."</p> + +<p>"Double up there, you sleepy imps!" yelled Old Snorty, the aerodrome +sergeant-major, a short, stout, florid, shiver-my-timbers type of +disciplinarian. And another squad of sleepy air-mechanics, just out +from their blankets, doubled up smartly to give a hand.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the hornet in question was ready for her long flight +overseas. Every wire and strut had been carefully examined and +proved, for men's lives depended upon the testing, and oiling, and +straining. And now the silent, filmy thing was waiting only for the +pilot and observer.</p> + +<p>A sound of footsteps upon the soft turf of the aerodrome was heard, +and voices carried lightly down the soft morning air.</p> + +<p>"Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry, standing near by, and at +the same instant a hand lamp was flashed in the direction of the +newcomers.</p> + +<p>The sentry, however, appeared to recognise sonic important +personality approaching, like the mastiff who knows, as if by +instinct, the approach of his master, for, without waiting for an +answer to his challenge, he shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Guard, turn out!"</p> + +<p>And instantly, the men in the guard tent turned out in time to salute +the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, who came by with Dastral, the +pilot, and Fisker, the observer.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously, the air mechanics sprang to attention, as they stood +about the hornet. Then, after a couple of minutes spent in chatting +with the adventurers, who were about to sail forth on the wings of +the morning, the O.C. and the pilot flung away their cigarettes and +gave a few apparently casual glances over the framework by the aid of +the hand-lamps.</p> + +<p>"Better load up with a few twenty pound bombs, Dastral," laughed the +O.C. "You may have the chance of using one going over seas. You never +know your luck."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the youth.</p> + +<p>A moment later the pilot and observer were seated in the biplane, +snugly wrapped in their thick leather coats, their hands encased in +huge gauntlets, and their helmets tightly drawn about their ears, +ready for the morning adventure.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave a final glance around, his hand already on the controls, +then gave a nod to the chief of the ground staff.</p> + +<p>"Swing the propellor!" came next, followed by "Stand clear!"</p> + +<p>"Whiz-z-z!" went the huge blades, and, as the pilot switched on the +current, the engines--powerful 100 horse-power ones, capable of some +1400 or 1500 revolutions a minute--broke into their wonderful song, +and with a final word of parting from the Squadron Commander, the +machine taxied off rapidly over the level turf.</p> + +<p>"Burr-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>The air seemed full of a mighty sound, and a terrible vibration +filled the heavens. It was the song of the aeroplane.</p> + +<p>At a hundred yards, in response to a very slight movement of the +joy-stick, the winged creature leapt into the air, then circled +around once or twice, climbing rapidly up to a couple of thousand +feet, and made off south by south-east.</p> + +<p>The first whisper of dawn came out of the east as the hornet headed +off towards the great city, for a filmy streak of grey, followed by a +saffron tint, appeared in the sky low down on their left hand. The +stars overhead began to fade and disappear, as though withdrawn into +the vaulted dome overhead. Then the saffron turned to crimson, and +soon the eastern horizon was aflame with light, for, as the machine +rose higher and higher, the horizon broadened, and the whole earth +seemed to lie at her feet.</p> + +<p>Now they were over the city, and the pilot laughed joyously, for he +was exhilarated by the bracing air which rushed past him at a +tremendous rate.</p> + +<p>"Look there, Jock," he cried, pointing down far below, where, through +the gloom which still enfolded the lower regions, a faint silvery +streak showed where the majestic Thames rolled down under its many +bridges to the sea.</p> + +<p>Jock Fisker, his chum and observer, who was destined to see many an +adventure with Dastral in the near future, peered over the side of +the fuselage, and noted the river and the many spires of the great +city. He saw the thin spire of St. Bride's reaching up towards him, +St. Martin's, and St. Clement Danes'; and then, as the upper rim of +the sun appeared above the horizon, he saw the blue-grey dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral, and caught the flash of the sun upon the golden +cross above it.</p> + +<p>"How glorious!" Dastral ejaculated, half turning his head every now +and then for Fisker to hear, as some impulse moved him but half the +words were lost, or carried on by the rushing air into infinitude.</p> + +<p>Soon, they left the southern outskirts of London far behind, and, as +the daylight broadened, they looked upon the Surrey Downs, and the +wide heath of the rolling countryside. Village after village they +passed, with its red tiled roofs and church spire pointing +heavenwards, but onwards, always onwards, they sped towards the white +cliffs and the sea.</p> + +<p>The slender, filmy thing had found herself this morning, for the +R.A.F. engines were working splendidly, doing already nearly fifteen +hundred revolutions a minute. Vibrating with an intensity that was +perfectly marvellous, considering her fragile build, with every +strut, bolt and wire in perfect unison, the hornet sailed +majestically along at over eighty miles an hour, as though on a +pleasure trip, instead of a life and death errand; for in reality she +was bound overseas to join the forces in their fight for freedom's +cause.</p> + +<p>Now they were in Kent, the garden of England, and far below were the +cherry orchards and the hop-fields. With his glasses Jock could now +and then pick out a few farm labourers, already trudging along the +roads, or working in the fields.</p> + +<p>"There is the railway, Dastral!" shouted the observer, as he picked +up the narrow thread of metals winding along towards Tunbridge.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it now," replied his comrade, bringing his glasses to +bear on the object for which he had been keenly searching for some +minutes.</p> + +<p>"Straight road now. Give her a few more points eastward."</p> + +<p>Dastral altered the controls a little, and, banking slightly, the +hornet came round smartly upon her new course, which, for the rest of +the journey to the coast, was almost due east.</p> + +<p>The continuous roar of the engines and the whir-r-r of the propeller +made conversation almost impossible, except for a few short, jerky +sentences, uttered in a loud, shrill voice, and accompanied by +corresponding gestures.</p> + +<p>The world beneath them was waking up now, for the two aviators could +see the smoke ascending from the chimneys of a few scattered +farmhouses and cottages. The birds, too, were astir, and the larks, +mounting up towards the sun, made sweet music which was drowned in +the whir-r-r of that strange-looking bird of prey, which sailed +serenely above them. Instinct, however, made the songsters shrink and +flee away from that hawk-like menace with stretched-out wings, for +they evidently feared that it might swoop down upon and destroy them.</p> + +<p>"Dover!" shouted the observer suddenly, as the Cinque Port came into +view.</p> + +<p>"Yes, by Jove! So it is. I hope they won't turn the guns of the fort +upon us."</p> + +<p>"No fear. They'll have been warned of our coming by now."</p> + +<p>A minute later, they opened out the sea, the forts, and Shakespeare's +Cliff, and within another three minutes they had crossed the boundary +of sea and land, and at a tremendous altitude were gliding over the +Channel.</p> + +<p>"Nine thousand!" yelled Dastral, turning his head towards Jock, after +casting a brief glance at his indicator.</p> + +<p>"Now let her rip," cried the other, for in climbing to get the +required height to rush the Channel, the machine had lost speed.</p> + +<p>"Right-o!" came the answer.</p> + +<p>So, in order to get speed quickly, Dastral did a little nose dive of +about three hundred feet, then flattened out again, intending to rush +the Channel at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, lest they should +slip unconsciously into an air-pocket.</p> + +<p>As he did so, he noticed a flash of fire followed by a puff of white +smoke down at the Castle.</p> + +<p>"A signal!" shouted Jock, who had noticed the occurrence at the same +instant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they want to speak to us," and with a circling sweep the +machine came round as Dastral pulled the joy-stick hard over, and +swept back again until he hung right over Dover Castle.</p> + +<p>"Can you make it out, old man?" asked the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have it," cried Fisker, whose eyes had been glued to a spot +on the Castle grounds just at the top of the hill overlooking the +naval harbour.</p> + +<p>"What is it? Do they want us to go down?"</p> + +<p>"No. The Commander of the fort says there are several enemy +submarines in the Channel, and requests us to keep a sharp look-out +for them as we cross over."</p> + +<p>"Cheery-o, Jock! That's good news. I'm going to drop down a bit, +then. There's a D.S.O. for you if you spot one. Here goes!" And with +that, Dastral jammed over the controls again, and did a neat nose +dive of two thousand feet, looping the loop once or twice just to +express his joy, and give vent to his feelings.</p> + +<p>Jock had picked up this information from a few white strips of +calico, which had been stretched out in a curious fashion within the +Castle grounds. To a trained observer like Fisker, it was mere +child's play to read a code signal like that.</p> + +<p>And now the daring joy-riders, keenly watched by hundreds of eyes far +down below, left the shore once again, and the naval harbour with its +shipping, and headed for the French coast, watching the surface of +the sea as though they would read its secret.</p> + +<p>"East-south-east, Dastral! That's the course till we sight the +opposite shore," shouted Jock to his comrade, who, he thought, in his +excitement and eagerness to spot a submarine lurking in the depths, +might miss his way, as many a brave aviator before him had done.</p> + +<p>"Right-o!" came the answer to this reminder, for the French coast was +hid as yet in the morning mist. Then the course was altered slightly +once again, in order to make a proper landfall on the other side.</p> + +<p>They were flying low now, much lower than the usual regulations +permitted, for it is necessary to keep a good altitude in crossing +the Channel, not only because of the chance of running into a stray +air-pocket, but to enable one to 'plane to safety should anything go +wrong with the engines, for only a seaplane can ride the waves like a +ship; and this was no seaplane they were riding to-day.</p> + +<p>Far down below them they could see the patrol boats hunting for their +prey. They could also see the mine-sweepers at work, clearing the +fairway from those foul nests of floating mines which the crafty foe +had been busy laying with their submarines. Once or twice they +thought they could make out some dark-grey object like a mine or +sunken vessel beneath the surface of the water.</p> + +<p>A string of mine-sweepers were stretched out below them now. They +could see them distinctly, could see even the long nets that trailed +between them, for the sun was gaining power and the morning mists +were rolling away. The grey expanse of water took on another hue, +changing from a dull grey to a greenish tint, with patches here and +there of deep blue, where the water deepened, or the surface of the +mirror reflected a corresponding patch of the azure above.</p> + +<p>Keenly now they searched the face of the deep for any dark speck, +for, from an aeroplane, it is possible to look far down, often even +to the bed of the sea; but as yet they saw nothing, save an +occasional piece of wreckage, which had probably detached itself and +floated from the treacherous Goodwins, away to the eastward and the +northward--those treacherous shoals which hold the remains of so many +gallant barques and vessels, from the Roman galley to the modern +liner.</p> + +<p>They had not long left the mine-sweepers on their port quarter when +Jock, through his glasses, noted something like a string of +porpoises, which, owing to the motion of the waves, appeared to be +travelling along. They seemed so regular and orderly in their +movement, however, that he was about to pass them over. Thinking, +however, that he would like to call Dastral's attention to them, he +shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Starboard bow, Dastral! Look at 'em! What are they? Not mines, +surely. Look like porpoises, only they're not dark enough, and they +don't tumble about much."</p> + +<p>Dastral peered over the side of the cockpit and looked down.</p> + +<p>"Can't say," he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"Let's go down a bit lower, old man," said Fisker.</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye. Hold tight!" cried the pilot, for he noticed that Jock was +standing up and leaning over, unstrapped.</p> + +<p>"Right away! I'm all right," replied the observer, squatting down, +and pressing his knees against the knee-board, which is the life-line +of the aeroplane.</p> + +<p>And down they went in a graceful nose-dive till they were within five +hundred feet of the surface of the water, with the engines shut off. +Then, as they flattened out, both men peered over the side again, and +Dastral was the first to exclaim:--</p> + +<p>"Porpoises be hanged! They're German mines. A whole string of them +floating about in the fairway, ready for the first ship that comes +along. The dirty Huns!"</p> + +<p>"Snakes alive! So they are. Now I can make them out quite plainly; I +can even see the horns and contacts through my glasses. Phew! +There'll be a deuce of a mess shortly unless they're cleared up."</p> + +<p>"Look alive, old man, or there'll be trouble!" shouted the pilot.</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"See that ocean tramp coming up Channel. She's a seven thousand +tonner, and her cargo's worth a couple of hundred thousand. She'll be +right on the string of mines directly, and then--gee whiz!--there'll +be fireworks, and another valuable cargo will have gone to Davy +Jones' locker."</p> + +<p>The mine-sweepers were about a couple of miles away by this time, but +the Commodore of the little fleet had seen the rapid nose-dive of the +hornet, and knew that something unusual was happening.</p> + +<p>He had already strung out the signal for a boat to detach its nets +and proceed at full steam to the spot, for he thought that the +machine was coming down with engine trouble.</p> + +<p>It was his duty, therefore, to save the men, and, if possible, salve +the aeroplane also. Dastral saw the signal through his glasses, and +watched the vessel cast off her nets to come up. His immediate +concern, therefore, was for the tramp steamer surging up Channel, and +nearing the end of her long voyage from Valparaiso to London. At all +costs to the aeroplane, she must be saved from the deadly mines +towards which she was now heading directly. The tide was with her, +and she was coming up rapidly. In another five minutes she would be +in the cunningly laid trap.</p> + +<p>For the moment, Dastral continued to circle over the mine bed, hoping +thereby to warn off the tramp. Of this she appeared to take no +notice, though undoubtedly a score of eyes were watching his +gymnastic gyrations from the deck and bridge of the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Try the gun, Jock. Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Rip-r-r-r-r-r!" went the Lewis gun, as Jock pressed the button and +fired off half a drum of ammunition.</p> + +<p>Even yet, the tramp steamer did not seem to understand, for her +captain did not charge her course.</p> + +<p>"Is she fitted with wireless?" yelled Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the observer, putting down his glasses into the +socket for an instant.</p> + +<p>"Then give her a message on the international code. It's her last +chance. She'll be on the infernal things in another two minutes."</p> + +<p>"Right-o! Here goes!" and, uncoiling the long aerial wire, he tapped +out just one word on the sending key:--</p> + +<p>"M I N E S!!!"</p> + +<p>"Good. If that fails, the ship's done for!" ejaculated Fisker, as he +watched eagerly for the ship to change her course.</p> + +<p>On came the vessel, quite oblivious of the danger. She was less than +a cable's length from the string of mines, and still steaming fast, +when Dastral noted some movement about the deck, where a dozen or so +of the crew stood just for'ard of the bridge, in the waist, gazing +intently at the 'plane.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! It's too late!" gasped the pilot, as he saw the steamer's +bows running dead on towards the very centre of the floating mines.</p> + +<p>"No, she may just do it," he ventured to his observer, as he saw the +sudden commotion on board.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, out of the wireless room, the operator, evidently carrying +the message, dashed up the companion way to the bridge, flourishing a +piece of paper in his hand, and shouted:--</p> + +<p>"Mines in the vicinity, sir!"</p> + +<p>Then it was that the captain realised the danger he was in, for the +mine-sweeper coming up on the starboard bow was also flying the +signal for her to heave to.</p> + +<p>Dashing to the wheelhouse door, a few paces away from where he had +been standing, the captain shouted to the man at the helm,</p> + +<p>"Hard-a-starboard!"</p> + +<p>And though the tide was with her, the good ship swung round smartly, +only in the very nick of time, for, as she turned, one of the deadly +mines was within two feet of her stern, and the wash from her screw +and the rapid movement of her rudder as she came round, caused the +nearest mine to come into contact with a piece of wreckage, at which +there was a terrific roar, and a huge column of water was lifted up +and hurled some two hundred feet into the air.</p> + +<p>Then followed a more terrible spectacle, for one after another the +whole string of mines went off, as though they had been countermined. +It was just as if there had been a sub-aqueous earthquake, for a +prolonged roar of thunder, earsplitting and nerve-racking, +immediately followed, while the sea for hundreds of yards around rose +up like a huge waterspout, and for some minutes the whole surface of +the water, hitherto placid, broke into tumultuous waves.</p> + +<p>The tramp steamer received fifty tons of water upon her decks, but +save for a slight starting of the plates in her stern, she was +untouched. Nevertheless, she had to keep the pumps constantly in use +for the remainder of her voyage.</p> + +<p>After circling round the spot for another few minutes to speak with +the Commodore of the fleet of mine-sweepers, Dastral turned the +hornet's head once again towards the enemy's coast, and the captain +of the tramp steamer dipped his pennant and gave a long blast on the +siren, as a token of gratitude for the service rendered.</p> + +<p>The aviators were well pleased with themselves for the part they had +taken in the little adventure, which had not been without its +thrills, and a spice of danger.</p> + +<p>They were now almost in mid-Channel, and could see both shores. There +were the white cliffs of Old Albion behind them, while in front, a +little on their left, Cape Grisnez rose out of the water. Below them +several liners, transports and colliers, could be seen making either +up or down Channel, or for one of the ports on the English or French +coasts. Turning round to Fisker, the pilot shouted through the +speaking tube:--</p> + +<p>"Sorry it wasn't a German submarine, old fellow. There'll be no +D.S.O. for us for picking up a string of floating mines."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well. Better luck next time," called back the observer.</p> + +<p>"The place is too well patrolled now for the Huns' submarines to show +themselves about here. Gemini! but I'd give my brevet and six months' +pay to spot one this journey. It would be some find."</p> + +<p>The observer did not reply immediately. He was keenly searching the +opposite shore to find the breakwater at the entrance to Boulogne +harbour.</p> + +<p>"Can you see it yet?" called the pilot, noting an anxious look on +Jock's face. "Yes," replied the latter. "Better give her another two +points south, and then we shall just about hit the canal below the +town. Our instructions were to follow it to the main aerodrome."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye," answered the pilot, altering the controls slightly, and +bringing her head round upon a more southerly course.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, the town and harbour of Boulogne came into full +view to the naked eye. Their intention was to leave it a little on +their left, and, then making a landfall of a certain railhead and +canal, take a short cross-country flight to the big aerodrome behind +the British lines. They now began to regard themselves as nearly at +the end of their journey, and had no expectation of a still greater +adventure before them--an adventure which would prevent them reaching +their destination, at any rate, that day.</p> + +<p>Only some five or six miles of sea now lay between them and the land, +and they were right over the track of the transports, which made a +continuous line of traffic between the two shores, when Fisker, who +had taken up his glasses again in order to watch a batch of +troopships, escorted by a couple of destroyers, suddenly turned them +on to a large four tunnelled hospital ship, which, coming out of the +harbour, crowded with wounded and war-worn men, was ploughing its +solitary way towards Old Blighty, without any other escort or +protector than the Red Cross flag.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as he watched the stately vessel moving along at +twenty-five knots, with the huge combers falling away from her bow, +and a long milk-white trail from her stern, he started suddenly, and +lowered his glasses, almost shrieking at the top of his voice:--</p> + +<p>"See there, Dastral! Quick!"</p> + +<p>"Where away?" cried the pilot, turning round sharply, and catching a +glimpse of Fisker's horrified face.</p> + +<p>"There!" exclaimed the observer, laconically, pointing with his hand +in the direction of the hospital ship.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked in the direction indicated.</p> + +<p>"The brutes!" he gasped. "Not if I can prevent it."</p> + +<p>That which had called forth these horrified expressions was nothing +more or less than a lurking German submarine, hidden beneath the +water, but with a few inches of periscope above the surface, +manoeuvring to bring the huge hospital ship within its range. It had +evidently watched the procession of transports pass by, but, fearing +that it might be rammed by one of the destroyers if it revealed its +presence, it had waited for some other tasty morsel to come along. +Unfortunately, there was nothing she could touch but this hospital +ship.</p> + +<p>With any other nation, a vessel flying the sacred emblem of humanity, +which floated from the masthead of the ship, would have been immune +from attack. But to the Hun no code of morals seems to hold good. Nor +was any crime to be regarded as such if only some damage could be +inflicted upon the enemy.</p> + +<p>"Ach, wohl, mein herr!" the German ober-lieutenant in the submarine +was remarking to his superior officer at that moment. "The verdomt +transports are gone, and there's nothing but a big 'hospital ship +steaming by. Shall we loose a leetle tin fish at her? You can't trust +these English; they're probably transporting materials of war. There +are sure to be some staff officers on her decks anyhow. What say you, +mein herr?"</p> + +<p>"Sink the blamed hooker, Fritz! We can say that she tried to ram us, +when we make out our report. No one will be any the wiser, for dead +men can't tell tales. He, he! Ho, ho!"</p> + +<p>And already the commander's hand was upon the lever in the +conning-tower which controlled the torpedo tubes in the bow. +Hesitating just for a second, as though battling with the last shreds +of a lingering conscience, he pulled the lever.</p> + +<p>"Swiss-s-s-h!" came the sound as the deadly missile left the tube and +entered the water.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the +very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, +and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of +the deadly torpedo.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the <i>Galicia</i>, the +big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the +spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the +enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel +just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by +a few feet.</p> + +<p>Then commenced a stern chase, for the <i>Galicia</i>, seeing the imminent +danger that she was in, sought refuge in flight. Placing her stern +towards the oncoming submarine, she fled down Channel, hoping thereby +to save her precious cargo of wounded heroes.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" exclaimed the commander to his lieutenant. "We +have missed her. That will never do. We must sink her now at any +cost, or the American cables will be full of the affair, and the +anger of the neutral world will be turned against us once more."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do, mein herr?" asked the lieutenant of the submarine. +"She can do twenty-five knots and we can only do seventeen while we +are submerged."</p> + +<p>"We must run her awash, and give her three-inch shells with the deck +guns. The transports and patrols are some distance off now."</p> + +<p>"She will be calling back the destroyers by now with her wireless, +mein herr."</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! but we must risk it. There may just be time. I wish +we had let the blamed hooker go by."</p> + +<p>Then, with a few round oaths, he switched down the periscope, pulled +over the lever that drove the water out of the ballast tanks, and, as +the boat came to the surface, he had the hatch unshipped, and ordered +his gun crew to stations, calling them dachshunds, and a few more +vile names.</p> + +<p>As soon as the submarine came to the surface, the electric motors +were stopped, and the surface engines started so that every knot +could be got out of them.</p> + +<p>"All clear!" had been reported to him by the lieutenant, and as +regards the narrow horizon which can be surveyed from the periscope +of a submerged vessel, all was indeed clear, for they had not seen +the hornet which was buzzing overhead, silently dipping and +nose-diving with her engines shut off, and rapidly manoeuvring like +an angry wasp, waiting but an opportunity to get at its victim.</p> + +<p>So intent was the submarine commander upon his prey, with one eye on +the hospital ship and another on the horizon, watching for the patrol +boats, which he knew would be sure to return, that he had even got +his deck-gun to work, and was firing rapidly at the <i>Galicia</i>, when +to his dismay he heard, just over his head, the whir-r-r-r-r of the +aeroplane, as Dastral started his engine again.</p> + +<p>"Mein Gott, was ist das?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Ach, Himmel, but we are lost!" came the cry from the gunners and the +ober-lieutenant.</p> + +<p>"Dachshunds!--you verdomt fools, turn the gun on the aeroplane!" +yelled the irate commander, but he realised that he had lost the +game.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer came that dreaded enemy, with its angry buzz, till +but a hundred feet above the broad, whale-like back of the submarine, +for Dastral, having but the two twenty-pound bombs in his carrier, +determined not to miss his chance.</p> + +<p>"Be careful, Jock!" he shouted. "Drop it right on her conning-tower. +Take no risks."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, old fellow!" Jock had replied, his hand on the bomb +release. "She's giving us shrapnel, though. Look out!"</p> + +<p>"Spit . . . Bang! Spit . . . Bang!" came the bursting shrapnel from +the quick-firing gun on the deck of the submarine, and a shot hitting +the left aileron of the warplane, just as the observer was releasing +the first bomb, caused her to roll and bank so much that the bomb +fell into the sea, just a few inches from the starboard beam of the +boat.</p> + +<p>"Great heavens, you've missed him!" shouted Dastral, as the bomb, +which was fitted with a contact fuse, sank down harmlessly into the +sea.</p> + +<p>Jock bit his lips, which were white with anger at his failure, and +placed his hand once more on the bomb release. It was his last bomb. +If they failed this time they were done, for already they had lost +several struts and wires, and the planes had been holed in a score of +places.</p> + +<p>Even Dastral's face was pale, though not with fear, as he jammed the +rudder bar over with his feet, and using the joy-stick as well, came +round swiftly once more, dropping down to within fifty feet of his +enemy.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! She's preparing to submerge, Jock. For heaven's sake +don't miss her this time!"</p> + +<p>Jock did not reply, but taking true aim just as they were directly +over the boat, he dropped his second and last bomb fairly and +squarely on the conning-tower.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m!" came the sound as the bomb descended swiftly +and exploded right amidships, splitting the conning tower open, just +as it was being closed ready for the boat to descend.</p> + +<p>A blinding sheet of flame shot up into the sky, scorching both the +pilot and the observer, and a crashing noise followed the explosion, +as the submarine, her deck split open and rent in twain, opened out, +then sank like a stone, carrying down with her the twenty-two men who +manned her.</p> + +<p>A few minutes afterwards the only trace of the pirates was an +ever-extending patch of oil which floated on the surface of the +water, punctured here and there by the air bubbles which forced their +way through the patch.</p> + +<p>So suddenly did she disappear from view that even the airmen, +scorched and bruised and bleeding from slight shrapnel wounds, were +amazed at the work of their hands. Dastral was the first to recover +speech, however.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Jock!" he cried. "Thus may all pirates perish who fire on +the Red Cross flag."</p> + +<p>The observer did not reply, however, for he had fallen forward in a +dead faint, from sheer excitement and loss of blood; perhaps most of +all from sheer fear of failure with his last bomb. And now his head +was resting against the wind screen just in front of the cockpit.</p> + +<p>"Jock! Jock! What's the matter?" Dastral called to him.</p> + +<p>The observer made an effort to rouse himself, for he had only +momentarily lost consciousness. He lifted up his head, tugged at his +leather helmet, and managed at last to pull it off.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! You're wounded!" exclaimed Dastral as he saw the blood +streaming from his companion's face.</p> + +<p>"It's all right now. I feel better, Dastral. Carry on! The petrol +tank overhead here is leaking, and we're about run out. But I've sent +a message to the destroyers on the wireless and here they come."</p> + +<p>Dastral turned sharply, and looked in the direction which Jock had +indicated by slightly raising his hand.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Hurrah! Here they come!" he cried.</p> + +<p>And indeed there was no mistaking that long trail of black smoke just +a couple of miles away, nor the white trail of foam as the combers +broke and fell away from the two snake-like boats, which were coming +up full pelt, for they had been drawn to the spot by the sound of the +firing even before they had picked up Jock's message.</p> + +<p>Nor did they come a moment too soon, for the aeroplane was wounded as +well as her crew. Her work was done, at any rate for the next few +days, until she had been overhauled by the smart air-mechanics, +fitters and riggers of the Royal Flying Corps. The engine was missing +too, very badly, for the petrol tank was pierced in several places, +and the supply had almost run out. The planes and struts were damaged +and in parts shot away, so much so, that, as Dastral jammed over the +controls and banked to bring her round, with her head towards the +rapidly approaching patrols, one of the wings collapsed, and she +slithered down, slipping sideways into the sea, now only some thirty +feet below her.</p> + +<p>"Jump, Jock! Jump!" cried Dastral. And both the aviators, having +managed to free themselves, leapt out as the singed and broken +air-wasp lightly struck the waves.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the life-saving jackets, which all the ferry pilots are +compelled to wear when crossing the Channel, ensured their safety, +once they managed to disentangle themselves from the wreckage of the +'plane.</p> + +<p>"This way, Jock. Let us keep together. Here come the destroyers!" +shouted the pilot. And the next instant, they heard a strong voice +shout out--</p> + +<p>"Hard-a-starboard there! Jam her over, man!"</p> + +<p>And immediately after the same voice shouted to the man at the engine +room telegraph--</p> + +<p>"Full speed astern!"</p> + +<p>Two minutes later both the aviators were safe on board the destroyer. +A signal from her slender masthead caused the other boat to sweep +round, pick up the wrecked warplane, which was already settling down, +and to tow her into port.</p> + +<p>So ended the adventure of the ferry-pilot and his companion. And next +morning, after a good night's rest at the Hotel de l'Europe in +Boulogne, a short message in a pink envelope, which was placed on the +breakfast tray, informed the youthful and daring heroes that--</p> + +<p>"His Majesty, King George the Fifth, desires to congratulate and to +thank Lieutenants Dastral and Fisker, of the Royal Flying Corps, for, +when on active service, their gallantry and courage in attacking and +sinking the enemy submarine U41, and to confer upon them the +COMPANIONSHIP OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER."</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter03"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h4 align="center">OVER THE GERMAN LINES</h4> + +<p>"WE must have been born under a lucky star, Jock, to win the D.S.O. +as well as the thanks of the King, for that trifling little incident +which occurred yesterday," said Dastral as they sat down to a +substantial breakfast that morning, in the dainty little coffee-room +which looked out on to the English Channel.</p> + +<p>"It was a stroke of luck, anyhow, to encounter that U boat just when +we did. We should have made a landfall in another five minutes, and +then we should have missed her altogether," replied his companion, +pausing for an instant in his attack on the coffee and hot rolls.</p> + +<p>"And the hospital ship?" queried the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Ah, the brutes! But we were one too many for them," replied Jock. "I +had the time of my life during that short fight. I'd just love a +scrap like that every day. Almost wish I'd joined the R.N.A.S. now. +What say you, old fellow? Besides, the odds were all on our side. The +Hun never so much as suspected our presence, else he wouldn't have +shown himself as he did."</p> + +<p>"Just wait a few days, Jock, till we join our fellows down at the +Squadron, and you'll have all the excitement you want."</p> + +<p>"You mean?" went on the observer, looking up into the pilot's face as +he helped himself to another portion of grilled ham and fried eggs.</p> + +<p>"I mean," Dastral continued, without waiting for Jock to finish his +sentence, "I mean, wait till we get orders from the new Squadron +Commander to go over the German lines. The odds will not be so much +in our favour."</p> + +<p>"H'm! I wonder what it's like to be over there with the shrapnel +bursting all around you, and miles and miles of trenches below you, +with the 'Archies' spitting at you all the time with continuous +bursts of fire, and the very heavens full of air-pockets."</p> + +<p>"And half a dozen Fokkers coming up out of the horizon to scuttle +you, and give you a spinning nose-dive of ten thousand feet into No +Man's land, with your petrol tank blazing, and your engine missing, +eh? Go on, you veritable misanthrope!" and here both the young heroes +burst into a fit of laughter at the woeful, nerve-shattering picture +which they had both been drawing.</p> + +<p>Thus they continued to talk about the future which lay immediately +before them. Yet all these things they were to see, and much more, +ere they were many months older. They were full of life and vigour, +and in action they were to prove daring and resourceful; yet they +were wise in this, that they did not under-estimate either the task +that lay before them, or the enemy they were to meet.</p> + +<p>Their chief concern for the present, however, was centred on the +broken aeroplane, with which they had started from England on the +previous day for their first flight overseas. "I wonder what's become +of the hornet," said Dastral, a few moments later, as they sat by the +fireside, and settled down to a smoke.</p> + +<p>"We shall hear shortly, as you have wired to the O.C. reporting the +incident. Besides, the destroyer is sure to have brought her in, even +if she is badly damaged."</p> + +<p>Shortly after this the telephone bell in the corridor rang. A maid +appeared, and after a very pretty French curtsey, said:--</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Commandant Dastral, s'il vous plait?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, oui, Mademoiselle, qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" asked Dastral, +rising to his feet, and returning the pretty maid's curtsey.</p> + +<p>"C'est pour vous, ce message téléphonique."</p> + +<p>"Merci, mam'selle," replied Dastral, as he hastened to the telephone +box.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Who is that?" asked a voice some twenty or thirty miles away.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Dastral, of the Flying Corps. Who is that, please?"</p> + +<p>"Major Bulford, Squadron Commander, speaking from the aerodrome at +St. Champau."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir!" replied Dastral smartly, springing unconsciously to +attention, although the voice was so far away from him.</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Dastral. Congratulations, my boy. I have heard all +about your adventures yesterday from my Adjutant. You've started +well! You're just the man we're wanting here. We're having warm work +with the Boches this week. You're a lucky dog to run into a German +submarine on your first trip over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was my observer, sir. He spotted the blamed thing, and bombed +her. It was as easy as winking. Just a stroke of luck, sir, that's +all."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope your luck 'll keep in. We shall be glad to see you as +soon as you can come over. Are you both all right?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Quite all right, 'cept for a slight chill through being in +the water for a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Well, better stay where you are a couple of days if you are +comfortable, and then come on here."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. Yes, we're quite comfortable here, and we'll report +at the aerodrome in a couple of days."</p> + +<p>"Right. Good-bye. Oh, I say! Are you there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"I was going to tell you that the machine arrived here about an hour +ago. It's some 'bus' and I like the look of her, except that she's +badly smashed, and will be in the hands of the riggers and mechanics +for four or five days before she can be used again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's not so bad. I feared she would be useless after the crash +she got, sir. How did you get her there so quickly?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we received word from the harbourmaster that she had been +brought in by a destroyer, and we immediately sent down a couple of +tenders with trailers and brought her on here this morning. Good-bye. +The fellows here are all anxious to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir."</p> + +<p>As soon as he had rung off Dastral rushed back into the room to tell +Jock all about his chat with the O.C. of the Squadron at St. Champau, +and especially about the two days' extra leave.</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated his friend. "Seems a decent sort of chap, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Rather a sport, I should say, old man."</p> + +<p>"Capital. That little affair of ours yesterday seems to have done us +no harm. It'll probably give us a good entree into the new mess. Hope +they're all decent fellows there."</p> + +<p>So they spent half the morning resting after their exciting +adventures of the previous day, and reading the papers, some of which +gave censored accounts of the event. The two days passed all too +quickly, and on the third morning they were both awakened just before +dawn by the rep-r-r-r of a motor bicycle, which pulled up sharply +outside the hotel.</p> + +<p>It was "Brat" the despatch rider of the -- Squadron, who had come post +haste from Major Bulford, with an urgent message which ran as +follows:--</p> + +<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">"To Lieutenant Dastral, D.S.O.,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20">"Hotel de l'Europe,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent30">"Boulogne-sur-Mer.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">"Be prepared to join Squadron immediately.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10">Tender will call for you within an hour.</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent50">"JOHN BULFORD, <i>Major</i>."</b> + +<p> +Two hours later both the young officers were on their way to St. +Champau, where they arrived before noon.</p> + +<p>They received a warm welcome at the mess and were congratulated upon +their recent adventure. They soon found that plenty of work and +adventure awaited them on the morrow. The incessant roar of the +British artillery, which was carrying out an intense bombardment of +the whole front, amazed and bewildered them, for preparations were +already in progress for the Somme "push."</p> + +<p>Away to the eastward, the line of battle was clearly demarked. Shells +were bursting in mid-air, and during the afternoon a huge mine was +exploded under the enemy's trenches, which shook the earth for twenty +miles around, and hurled thousands of tons of timber, rocks, and clay +into the air, making a crater of huge diameter, towards which the +British advanced and later in the day captured and consolidated the +position.</p> + +<p>About three o'clock in the afternoon, a flight of aeroplanes, which +had been over the German lines, returned. Two of them had been badly +hit and one of the observers had been seriously wounded. They +reported having encountered several flights of enemy 'planes, which, +however, had avoided them and made off eastward. They also reported +some unusual activity behind the enemy's lines, but, the weather +having become dull, and the sky overcast, they were unable to make a +full reconnaissance.</p> + +<p>"H'm. There must be a further reconnaissance at dawn," the O.C. had +remarked, after receiving their report. Then, turning to Dastral, he +said:</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant Dastral."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the young pilot, advancing towards his superior +officer, and saluting smartly.</p> + +<p>"The mechanics and riggers have been working day and night on your +new machine since we received it. They will continue the work through +the night, and I want you to supervise it, so that it will be ready +before to-morrow. I want you to use it as soon as possible. We have +lost so many of our machines lately over there," and here the O.C. +made a gesture with his right hand towards that line of fire and +blood, where the British and French troops held back the enemy's +hordes.</p> + +<p>"Nothing will give me greater pleasure, sir," replied the intrepid +youth, glowing with pride at the thought that he was to be made use +of so quickly.</p> + +<p>"And--er--I want you to carefully study the map of the section in +which we are working. It will be absolutely necessary for you to know +every road, hamlet and village marked on that map, before you go +over. You understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then get to work at once, my dear fellow. I have great hopes of you, +and if you continue as you have begun, I can promise you it will not +be long before you are made a Flight-Commander."</p> + +<p>Dastral blushed deeply at this compliment, for he was but a boy in +years, despite his courage and resource. Leaving the Commander's +presence, he went direct to the shed, where he found Jock, who was +not only a brilliant observer but a first-rate mechanic, and already +had the work in hand, having been drawn there by his affection for +the filmy thing that had already brought them across the seas, and +had served them so well during at least one great adventure.</p> + +<p>"Well, how is she, Jock?" were his first words.</p> + +<p>"Ripping!" replied the observer, handling the delicate creature as +though she were a lady. "I've already been round her. The engine and +propellor are quite sound now. The new petrol tank and feed are +already fitted, and in another couple of hours she'll be as perfect +as when she left England."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Dastral, who had the greatest confidence in the +lad's judgment in these matters, and was prepared to back him against +any expert in aerodynamics, or the mechanism of any aeroplane in +existence.</p> + +<p>"What say you to a trip in her this evening? There'll be plenty of +time before dusk, old fellow."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm quite agreed, even if it's only a joy-ride to try her, for +to-morrow we go over there," said the pilot, flinging away the stump +of his cigar, and jerking his thumb in the direction of his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Over where?" asked Jock, straightening himself from the stooping +position he had assumed, to examine the baffle-plates on the +propeller.</p> + +<p>"Over the German lines," came the reply.</p> + +<p>"Really! You mean it, and so soon?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-morrow at dawn we go over on a reconnaissance; C.O.'s +orders."</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed the observer, throwing down a spanner which he +still held in his hand.</p> + +<p>"And here's a map of the section in front of our lines. We must spend +the evening over it."</p> + +<p>So that evening, after the machine had been got quite ready for her +next flight, they spent four hours over the map, scaling it out, and +committing to memory the names of villages, hamlets, rivers, canals, +roads and railway lines, so that when they retired to bed, the whole +of the map was actually photographed upon their minds.</p> + +<p>Morning came at length, and at the first whisper of dawn, having +received their detailed orders from the Squadron-Commander, four or +five aeroplanes were wheeled out on to the aerodrome, then taxied off +quickly and disappeared in the dark. The last of the flight was the +hornet, with Dastral and Jock starting on their first real venture +over the enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>After climbing rapidly, and circling round the aerodrome once or +twice, the machines made off, each to reconnoitre the section of the +line allotted to it.</p> + +<p>The hornet carried two Lewis guns, with plenty of ammunition, for +when an aerial patrol sets out on a flight, one never knows what +duels he may have to engage in before he returns. The hornet had this +advantage over the other machines, which were of an older pattern: +she had a higher speed, was a better climber, and with her improved +controls she could manoeuvre more quickly than any other machine yet +made.</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz!" cried Jock down the speaking tube, which ended close to +the pilot's ear, "but she's climbing."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" yelled back the pilot, half turning his head so that +his mouth came near to the end of the tube.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand feet," came the answer.</p> + +<p>"Good! Then we'll make a bee-line and cross the trenches. Look out +for 'Archie'!"</p> + +<p>The dawn had broken by now, and away in the east the gloom was +lifting, but down below it was still wrapped in mist and darkness. It +was the hour of standing-to. Down below thousands of eyes would be +straining through the obscurity to find that speck in the heavens +whence came that whir-r-ring sound.</p> + +<p>But upward and onward went the hornet With a stern, strong beat of +power in her twelve-cylindered engine. Nearer and nearer she came to +that long line which stretched from the sand-dunes of Belgium away to +Switzerland. The observer was already keenly surveying the landscape +through his glasses as the light broadened, and the countryside +revealed itself.</p> + +<p>A silvery streak lay beneath them; it was the River Ancre. Now a +broad white patch of roadway came into view. It was the main road +from Albert to Bapaume. As they came out of a bank of rolling mist +and fog, a few red roofs and a church tower next came into view, +standing just where four roads met.</p> + +<p>"Contalmaison?" queried Dastral, and Jock, after a brief reference to +his waterproof map, called back:</p> + +<p>"Yes, and Bazentin on the left."</p> + +<p>They were now almost over the trenches, and far beneath they could +discern hundreds of tiny points of fires.</p> + +<p>"What are they?" asked the pilot again, and the observer who had been +scanning those red sparks for a couple of minutes replied,</p> + +<p>"Fires in the British trenches. Men cooking their morning rations. +Can't you smell the bacon?"</p> + +<p>Dastral laughed and sniffed the keen morning air, as though in +reality he could make out the fragrant aroma of the morning dish, +about which those cold, wet, and shivering heroes of the trenches +were standing, ankle-deep in mud and clay.</p> + +<p>"The poor devils!" added the pilot, altering his controls slightly, +and wheeling round to the south to pick up the enemy's lines more +clearly at a point where they made a sharp curve.</p> + +<p>They could now clearly see both the British and the German trenches. +Three long, scarred and ragged lines of brown earth showed clearly +where the enemy's front-line, reserve and support trenches stood. +Long, twisting lines of similar demarcation showed where the +communication trenches ran.</p> + +<p>Now they were over No Man's land, sailing along serenely, and the +artillery down below had already opened the morning concert on both +fronts, when--</p> + +<p>"Biff, puff----!" came a time-fuse shrapnel and burst scarcely a +hundred feet in front of the machine. Then another and another as the +"Archies" below spotted the hornet, and tried to give her a packet.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they were in a cloud of yellow smoke and half-poisonous +fumes, which made them gasp and sputter. Then, owing to the bursting +of the shells and the heavy concussions they found themselves in a +succession of air-pockets.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Jock!" cried Dastral, as the machine rocked and swayed, +banking over once or twice as though she had been hit.</p> + +<p>For several minutes they ran the gauntlet of this heavy fire from the +German A.A. guns, but the terrific speed at which they were +travelling--now nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour--soon +carried them beyond the range of the enemy's guns.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the day's work really began. Their orders were to +reconnoitre behind the enemy's lines and to report by wireless code +any occurrence, such as the threat of a massed attack by infantry, +the moving of transport columns, or the locating of heavy artillery. +It was also necessary, above all, to watch the skies for the +appearance of hostile aircraft.</p> + +<p>The other 'planes which started with the hornet that morning are seen +low down on the horizon, to the north and the south. They also are +searching all the terrain for any signs of activity on the part of +the Boche.</p> + +<p>Spurts of flame, like jets of fire, are seen in many places. These +are the German fieldguns firing upon the British trenches. The +observer does not make any particular note of these; he is out for +bigger game.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the observer steadies his glasses, resting his arm for a +moment on the side of the fuselage. The loop line of the +Combles-Ginchy railway is just ahead of them and slightly on their +right. Though it is very early yet, Jock notices that the line about +Ginchy is crowded with traffic.</p> + +<p>"Ahoy there, Dastral!" he calls down the speaking tube.</p> + +<p>"Yes," comes back the laconic answer.</p> + +<p>"Railway line blocked with traffic. Troops detraining, I think. Put +her over a bit."</p> + +<p>"Right-o!"</p> + +<p>Dastral jams over the rudder bar with his foot and, responding to her +huge tail rudder the hornet comes round in a swift circle, banking a +little as the joy-stick is also put over. Then Jock takes another +view, exclaiming, as he does so,</p> + +<p>"Yes, by Jove, there must be a whole division of them. Here goes!"</p> + +<p>And dropping the glasses into the pocket prepared for them, he +rapidly uncoils the long pendant wire, and begins to tap the keys of +his instrument.</p> + +<p>"Caught them on the nap, Jock, eh? Stroke of luck. Case of the early +bird. Tell the heavies to give 'em hell, old man," shouted Dastral, +but the conversation was carried away into the morning breeze, for +jock was already sending the message which would shortly bring the +thunder.</p> + +<p>"Zip-zip-zip, zur-r-r-r, zip!" went the brief coded message, back +over Longueval and Ginchy; over Contalmaison and the trenches to +where the British heavy batteries were waiting.</p> + +<p>Behind the Ancre, in a little dug-out, an expert operator catches up +the message. He has been waiting for it impatiently since dawn. The +brief tapping which his receiver picks up, tells him exactly the spot +on the terrain behind the enemy's lines where the thunder is needed. +The whole map is scaled out into tiny sections and sub-sections, each +with a number or letter to indicate the point where the concentrated +fire is needed.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" cries the operator to the little exchange. "Give me H.Q. +Heavy Batteries." Then as the reply comes through he gives:</p> + +<p>"A-2-3. Concentrated fire!"</p> + +<p>Within four minutes, while the hornet still circles over the luckless +Germans, now alive to their danger and rushing over each other in +their haste to finish the detrainment of the column, flashes of fire +are seen away to the west, and through the air comes a heavy +explosive shell. It is followed by another and yet another. As they +explode, the observer sees the earth blotted out from view for a few +seconds. He notes how near the first shots fall to the target. Then +he taps his keys once more.</p> + +<p>"Zur, zip-zip!" cries the machine, and the next shell falls into the +midst of the column, destroying nearly a whole train. And so for +another ten minutes the airmen remain, altering the range until at +least a dozen direct hits are scored, and the damage done to the +railway, the trains, and the division or so of men is tremendous.</p> + +<p>Very quickly, however, the men are scattered and placed out of +danger, hiding in the woods, and under hedges and trees where they +cannot be seen.</p> + +<p>The Germans, aware of that dangerous pest overhead, have rushed up +anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and have also telephoned to the +nearest aerodromes for their beloved Fokkers. So shortly after, +having done as much damage as possible in a short space of time, the +hornet moves off to reconnoitre further afield.</p> + +<p>"Watch for their verdomt Fokkers, Jock," cries the pilot. "They may +appear at any minute. Himmelman himself may be in the neighbourhood."</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" queries Jock, more to himself than to his comrade, as he +looks round uneasily, for on the previous day he had heard some tall +tales of the doings of this crack German flyer.</p> + +<p>Then as they move off and open out the engine to gain speed, Jock +sweeps the horizon for a sight of enemy 'planes, for a strange +curiosity grips him at the thought of Himmelman, and he wonders half +aloud whether it will ever be his fate to meet this renowned airman, +who was said to have brought down more machines than any other man +living.</p> + +<p>But there is little time for soliloquy in the life of an airman in +war time. He must ever be on the <i>qui vive</i>. And so for another half +an hour, seeing no enemy 'planes to engage and remembering that he is +out first of all for a reconnaissance, he watches the ground more and +more closely.</p> + +<p>They have moved south some distance by this time, and have crossed +the railway near Cléry. Below them they see the narrow waters of the +Somme, glistening in the sunshine, for by now the sun is up, and +there is the promise of a brilliant day. Jock is keenly watching the +white road that leads from Peronne to Albert.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ah!" He gasps. "What is that dark object that breaks the white, +sunlit road, as though some dark shadow has fallen across it?"</p> + +<p>He points it out to the pilot, with a few gestures, and Dastral +spirals round, and makes off towards the place at a rapid rate.</p> + +<p>As they approach the spot Jock scrutinises it yet more closely, for +it looks suspicious. Then suddenly putting aside his glasses once +more, he calls out,</p> + +<p>"Enemy column on the march!"</p> + +<p>"The deuce it is?" queries the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Yes, ammunition column, I think, but we'll soon find out."</p> + +<p>Then the tapping begins again, and the message is flung across the +battle-ground and is picked up. With a swift mental calculation the +observer has reckoned up when the head of the column will reach a +certain point in the road, where a bridge carries the road over a +tributary of the Somme.</p> + +<p>"Swis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" comes the first heavy fifteen-inch shell.</p> + +<p>It is a little short and another message on the keys is necessary.</p> + +<p>This time the shell falls plump right into the middle of the column, +for so accurately are the guns trained, that, though they cannot see +the object they are firing at, if the message sent only gives the +exact position on the map, a direct hit is soon gained.</p> + +<p>The consternation of the Germans can be better imagined than +described. Thinking themselves in comparative security so far behind +the lines, a huge shell without the slightest warning explodes near +by, and the next lands clean in the middle of the column.</p> + +<p>The object hit was a motor lorry conveying ammunition up to the guns. +The first explosion is followed by another, more terrific than the +first, for a couple of hundred shells are exploded, and when the +smoke and dust have cleared away the observer and his pilot look +down, and there is a huge gap in the column, for two of the lorries +are blazing, several have been overturned, and one has disappeared +entirely from view.</p> + +<p>Not only so but the road is blocked for the next six or seven hours +for all traffic, and not only will guns go short of ammunition but +more than one battalion of the German army will go short of food for +the next twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>For half an hour the guns continue to shell the rest of the column, +which by that time has managed to get the undamaged motors away, by +dashing blindly down any side turning that leads to anywhere, out of +that terrible inferno.</p> + +<p>For a little while longer the observer continues to send cryptic +messages back to headquarters, which have the immediate effect of +altering and adjusting the range of the heavy batteries, until the +whole convoy has dispersed sufficiently to prevent the waste of +further ammunition.</p> + +<p>Modern warfare is like a game of chess, with move and countermove, +and this applies just as much to war in the air as to warfare on +land. Evidently this morning, however, the enemy have been caught +napping. His air patrols have not yet been sighted. Surely he has had +time to deal with the offender up there in the skies, who has been +reading the secret of his lines, and the movements in his rear, or +can it be that he is laying a trap for the unwary?</p> + +<p>So far the daring young adventurers have had it all their own way, +but a surprise is in store for them. Meanwhile, however, they +continue to circle around, noting half a dozen little things which +Jock briefly enters on his memoranda sheet. A few photographs are +also taken with the telescopic camera, for in reconnoitring the +observer has noted some new lines of brown coloured earth showing up +plainly against the green. Becoming suspicious he pointed them out to +Dastral.</p> + +<p>Holding the joy stick between his legs, Dastral takes the glasses for +a minute, then cries out,</p> + +<p>"New trenches, I believe!"</p> + +<p>"I think so, but we must make sure. I want a snapshot. Reserve +trenches probably. Perhaps the enemy are thinking of falling back the +next time they are attacked in force."</p> + +<p>"If so, we've got his secret. It's important; we must go down and +see. Hold tight!"</p> + +<p>At that moment while the couple were intent upon the line of new +trenches below, they failed to notice a little cloud that was coming +up out of the eastern horizon. Till now it had been bright and clear, +as it often is at the break of dawn, but the first little cloud, no +bigger than a man's hand, had arisen. And it was in that cloud that +the danger lay.</p> + +<p>Heedless, however, of this little thing, and willing to take some +deadly risks to get the precious photograph, which might prove to be +the final link in some theory held at headquarters as to the position +on the enemy's front, they ignored the coming danger.</p> + +<p>Putting forward the controlling gear the hornet dipped her head, and +made a graceful nose-dive at a terrific speed, losing in fifteen +seconds that which she would shortly very badly need, namely, her +altitude.</p> + +<p>The long, downward glide is finished at last. They are within a +thousand feet of the newly-dug trenches when they flatten out, and +the camera is released and a series of short, sharp snaps are taken, +as the instrument click-clicks. To-morrow, when these are developed, +they will tell the divisional commander much that he wants to know, +and may explain something which has puzzled him for days past.</p> + +<p>At the moment, however, when they flatten out, half a dozen Archies, +artfully concealed under a clump of bushes, suddenly open fire upon +the intruder.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s! Bang!" comes one of the shells and bursts within fifty +feet of the 'plane.</p> + +<p>For a few seconds they are blinded and stunned by the explosion, the +flying metal and the deadly fumes. They gasp for their breath, and +the aeroplane rocks wildly, but the terrific speed given them by the +nose-dive carries them through the maelstrom once more.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt, Dastral?" shouts the observer, as soon as he himself +regains the power of speech.</p> + +<p>The pilot turns round just for half a second, and shakes his head, +but Jock sees for himself that though he evidently does not know it, +Dastral is wounded, for the visible part of his face is covered with +blood. Jock, himself, feels that his left arm is useless, and he +clenches it tightly with the other.</p> + +<p>There is no time to waste in words, however, for another peril is at +hand. They are soon out of range of the Archies, which, nevertheless, +have riddled the planes with jagged holes. No vital part has been +hit, however, and the two adventurers are not severely wounded.</p> + +<p>"Is the engine all right?" shouts Jock, as he sees Dastral peer into +the mechanism once or twice.</p> + +<p>"She's 'pukka' (all right)," comes back the answer.</p> + +<p>"Then we'd better make for home. Breakfast will be ready. It's nearly +six o'clock, and we've been out an hour and a half."</p> + +<p>Dastral nods, and heads the machine for home, altering the controls +again in order to get a good altitude ready for crossing the +trenches.</p> + +<p>As he does so he happens to look away to the eastward, as the machine +banks.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, look there!"</p> + +<p>Jock did look, and in a cloud, not a couple of miles away, he saw two +specks racing for them with twice the speed of an express train.</p> + +<p>Seizing his glasses he fixed them for one second upon the objects, to +discover, if possible, the rounded marks of the Allies upon the +newcomers. Instead, he saw the black cross in a white rounded field, +showing distinctly upon both machines.</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes!" he shouted to the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" suggested Dastral in a half bantering tone. "We're up +against it this time, old man. He's the 'star turn' of the enemy's +corps, and he fights like the deuce. I would like to have met him +upon even terms. As it is, if we cannot leave him and get back with +this information, we must fight him."</p> + +<p>"Open the engine out, Dastral, and I'll bring the machine gun to +bear."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, the hornet had not been hit in any vital part, and her +engine was running splendidly. But she had lost her altitude to get +the precious photograph, having dropped nearly six thousand feet, +and, in fighting, altitude counts a great deal, for it is much the +same as the "weather gage" for which our sea-dogs used to contend in +the olden days.</p> + +<p>The hornet mounted two guns, but in a stern chase like this she could +use only the rear weapon. If he could only cripple one of their +pursuers by getting the first shot in Jock knew that they would then +be on more even terms, despite the fact that the enemy 'planes, +having caught them unawares, had got the advantage of them.</p> + +<p>"What are they, Jock?" asked the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Fighting scouts, I fancy." Then half a minute later he added:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Fokkers, both of them, single seaters with the gun forward."</p> + +<p>"Are they gaining much?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're creeping up rapidly. Now they're nose-diving to gain +speed. Shall I open fire?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. Wait till they're within six hundred feet before you open. +Cripple the leader if you can."</p> + +<p>"Here they come. They're about to open on us."</p> + +<p>"Biff, ping, ping, rap, rap!" and the Hornet was sprayed from wing to +wing with machine gun bullets.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, the machine's like a sieve! She'll not last much +longer at this rate," cried Dastral, as he looked round and surveyed +the damage done. Then, turning round towards the observer, who was +sighting his gun, he shouted wildly:</p> + +<p>"Give it him, Jock!"</p> + +<p>Then it was that Jock let fly, a full drum of ammunition clean at the +fuselage of the leading enemy 'plane. Thus it was that nerve told. +Not for nothing had Jock gained the highest honours in the School of +Aerial Gunnery before putting his brevet up.</p> + +<p>"Got him!" he cried exultantly, and the first machine went down in a +spinning nose-dive under that withering fire, for the pilot at the +controls was stone dead, shot through the head.</p> + +<p>The next instant, however, the master-pilot of all the German airmen +was upon them. While his companion had attacked from the level, he +had kept his gage, and now, at the critical moment, he had appeared +as it were from the clouds above their heads, firing from his bow gun +as he did a thrilling nose-dive.</p> + +<p>It was ever Himmelman's game to pounce upon his opponent and to beat +him nearer and nearer to the ground, until he was forced to crash or +make a landing in enemy territory. Once again he was about to +triumph, so he thought, for never before had he caught his man so +neatly.</p> + +<p>But Dastral was no ordinary aviator, and though his machine was raked +again from end to end, yet the engine still ran, and to Himmelman's +surprise his quarry proved much more elusive than he thought. With +his superior speed, owing to his downward drive, the German air-fiend +swept round and round the hornet, firing all the while, but Dastral, +his blood thoroughly up now, found an answering manoeuvre each time.</p> + +<p>The end was near, however, for the English machine could not hold out +much longer. Not only were the planes riddled, but several stays and +struts were gone, and several times the engine had missed. To make +matters worse, after the second drum the machine gun had jammed, and +things seemed hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Confound the gun! He's coming on again, Dastral," shouted the +observer, clenching his fist, and forgetting all about the bullet in +his arm.</p> + +<p>"Look out, then, I'm going to ram him. If I've got to go down, he's +going down with me."</p> + +<p>The two machines were almost on a level now, and when the German came +on, Dastral just put the joy-stick over, and made straight for his +opponent.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" yelled the irate Boche, for he did not understand +such tactics. For one aeroplane to ram another in mid air at two +thousand feet seemed incredible, but here was this mad Britisher +coming straight for him.</p> + +<p>"Mein Gott, no!" gasped Himmelman, and by a skilful manoeuvre he +sheered off, though thousands of his fellow-countrymen were watching +him from below, for they were now almost over the trenches.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Dastral!" yelled Jock, though but an instant before his heart +seemed to be in his mouth, as the pilot made his almost fatal dash +for his opponent.</p> + +<p>Seeing that Himmelman had failed in his move, the anti-aircraft guns +opened fire again from below, but the hornet sailed on over the +trenches, and Himmelman did not follow, for out of the west three +British fighters were coming to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"Will she hold out, Dastral?" the observer asked a moment later, as +they passed the British trenches, out of the range of the German +Archies.</p> + +<p>"I think so. Can you spot the aerodrome?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, there it is, a little to the right."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, I see it now," came the softened reply, for Dastral was +rolling a little in his seat, as though he held the joy-stick with +difficulty.</p> + +<p>Jock bent over to help him, and the next minute they landed safely on +the level turf. And Jock remembered hearing a voice say:</p> + +<p>"Come along now. We're waiting breakfast for you in the mess."</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter04"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h4 align="center">STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS</h4> + +<p>DASTRAL and Jock received a hearty welcome home that morning. +Although it was scarcely yet six o'clock, their day's work was +finished, and a good day's work it had been. Dastral's laconic report +was handed to the Squadron-Commander. Then, as soon as his slight +flesh wounds had been dressed by the genial "Number Nine," as Captain +Young, the medical officer for the squadron, was called, they went in +to early morning breakfast at the mess.</p> + +<p>"So you've had a scrap with Himmelman, have you, Lieutenant?" asked +Number Nine at the breakfast table.</p> + +<p>"Just a slight skirmish," replied Dastral.</p> + +<p>"You're lucky to get away from him!"</p> + +<p>"You think so?" queried the young pilot, pouring out another cup of +coffee, and pressing Jock, whose wound was giving him a good deal of +pain, to another slice of hot buttered toast.</p> + +<p>"I do, decidedly. He's so deucedly clever that he's uncanny. We +haven't found the man who can match him yet on our side. But one of +these days we shall do it."</p> + +<p>Dastral did not reply for some time. His mind was full of the details +of the recent encounter he had had with the unbeaten champion. He +wondered what Himmelman thought of his own tactics which had made the +air-fiend sheer off at the last moment. And he also determined that +should the opportunity ever come to fight with him on equal terms he +would not refuse the challenge. If it were possible the western front +should be rid of this champion, and the supremacy of the air wrested +from the Germans.</p> + +<p>For the next few days Dastral and Jock remained on light duty, +nursing their wounds, and taking strolls about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. The hornet had been so badly damaged that it was +necessary to send to England for new parts to be supplied before it +could be flown again.</p> + +<p>At the end of a fortnight, however, they were both quite well again, +and the hornet had been brought to its pristine condition. Then they +took part in several reconnaissances over the enemy's lines, and in +more than one bombing raid, but nothing of unusual importance +happened for nearly a month, when the following incident occurred:</p> + +<p>Dastral had just been made Flight-Commander, and so, in addition to +the hornet, three other active warplanes and three brilliant pilots +who were ready to follow him to the "Gulfs," wherever that might be, +had been placed under his command. This was the section of the Royal +Flying Corps called "B" Flight, which was to win much fame and glory +in the days of the near future. Already, Dastral, by his cool daring +and skilful manoeuvring, had won a great name amongst his fellows, +and some had even begun to talk of him as a possible competitor with +Himmelman.</p> + +<p>Often, after one of his more than usually brilliant raids or +reconnaissances over the lines, his friends would remark of him in +his absence:</p> + +<p>"Some day he will meet with Himmelman again, and then one of the two +will never return."</p> + +<p>"What a fight that will be!" remarked Number Nine one day, as he lit +his cigar and leaned back in his comfortable fauteuil, to puff rings +of smoke into the air.</p> + +<p>"And I hope I shall be there," said Mac, one of the pilots of "B" +Flight.</p> + +<p>"And while Dastral fights with Himmelman, may I be there to fight +with Boelke," added Brum to his friend Steve, both pilots belonging +to "B" Flight.</p> + +<p>Brum was short and sturdy, while Steve, or Inky as he was sometimes +called, was tall and thin and very dark, with piercing blue-grey +eyes, and they both considered Dastral the finest and fairest fighter +in the British Air Service.</p> + +<p>One day, while the great fight on the Somme was in progress, and the +Allies, by their great pressure were winning village after village +from the enemy, there came a mysterious message to the Command +Headquarters of the ---- Division, stating that the enemy had +finished the construction of three huge Zeppelin sheds not far from +Brussels. Also that the same number of Zeppelins had just arrived +from Friedricshaven to take possession of the sheds, evidently +preparatory to a raid upon Paris or London.</p> + +<p>The wires and despatch-riders were busy that day between the Command +Headquarters and the Aerodrome. Plans were drawn up to destroy at an +early date both the airships and the sheds. After some consideration, +it was decided that "B" Flight should have the honour of carrying out +the raid, and accordingly Dastral and Jock went to work at once with +their maps and charts to evolve a thoroughly sound plan of campaign.</p> + +<p>Several days later, towards evening, another coded message from the +same secret service agent behind the lines came to hand by carrier +pigeon, which when decoded ran something as follows:</p> + +<p>"Two Zeppelins just left Brussels' sheds, travelling west-nor'-west!"</p> + +<p>"Send Flight-Commander Dastral to me at once," said the +Squadron-Commander, immediately the message was read to him.</p> + +<p>As soon as Dastral appeared the O.C., who had been pacing about his +little room, turned abruptly upon the pilot, and said,</p> + +<p>"See this, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the youth, scanning the brief message, which told +him so much.</p> + +<p>"You know what it means?"</p> + +<p>"It evidently means that a raid on London is imminent, and is being +carried out to-night, I fancy, sir."</p> + +<p>"Exactly!" snapped the O.C., who at such times became easily +fractious and irritated.</p> + +<p>At this moment the telephone in the C.O.'s office suddenly burst out,</p> + +<p>"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, who's there?" asked the Major sharply.</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters, Fourth Army. Are you the R.F.C.?"</p> + +<p>"Yes--Squadron-Commander speaking from No. 10 Aerodrome."</p> + +<p>"Right. News is just to hand by field telephone that three Zeppelins +have passed overhead making for the Channel. We have wired the coast +stations and the R N.A.S. to look after them, and if possible to +bring them down. There is evidently a raid in progress. What do you +think you can do in the matter?" asked the officer at the other end.</p> + +<p>"Hold on just a few seconds, sir!" replied the Major. Then, turning +round to Dastral, he repeated the conversation briefly, and said,</p> + +<p>"What do you suggest?"</p> + +<p>"Just this, sir," replied the pilot. "Our plan to destroy the sheds +is well forward, and we hoped to carry it out in three or four days. +We know exactly where the place is----"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, go on. The staff officer is waiting at the other end of +the line," blurted out the C.O.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, if you will detail me to take my flight over there, so as +to be on the spot at dawn, when the airships return, we may be able +to strafe the lot. At any rate, we can destroy the sheds, and a +Zeppelin would be useless without its cradle, and would soon come to +grief."</p> + +<p>"Good! Prepare your flight at once for the venture, and we must leave +the other Squadrons and the R.N.A.S. and coast batteries to try and +stop the raid."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the pilot, saluting smartly and departing on his +errand.</p> + +<p>So while the C.O. concluded his conversation with Headquarters over +the 'phone, Dastral got to work at once with his flight.</p> + +<p>While Snorty, the Aerodrome Sergeant-Major, and Yap, the rag-time +"Corporal," and a squad of experienced air-mechanics prepared the +machines for action, the Flight-Commander got together his pilots, +Mac, Steve, and Brum, with their observers, and explained every +detail of the proposed campaign. Distances were carefully worked out, +a prearranged code of signals agreed upon, maps and charts examined +and committed as far as possible to memory, and a score of necessary +details worked up, so that there should be no confusion in the method +of attack.</p> + +<p>Having spent an hour thus discussing the matter and threshing out +every aspect of the question that arose, Dastral said,</p> + +<p>"Now then for a rendezvous, lads, for we must go singly, and come +together smartly, at the precise moment, just as the dawn is +breaking, which will be no easy matter."</p> + +<p>"Let it be the Lion Mound on the battlefield at Waterloo," suggested +Mac.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, that will do," said the Flight-Commander. "It is only +about two miles away from the sheds, which are close by the village +of Braine l'Alleud."</p> + +<p>"Agreed," they all cried. "It will be a landmark we shall easily +find."</p> + +<p>"Then understand, all of you, that you must be there exactly as the +dawn breaks, and, as soon as we pick each other up, we shall fall +into regular flight formation, make a bee line for the sheds, and +drop the squibs before the enemy can get to work with their Archies," +said Dastral.</p> + +<p>"And the cargo, Dastral? What shall we load up with?"</p> + +<p>"Six twenty-pound bombs each, with ten drums of the new machine-gun +ammunition. I think that will be all we can safely take without +reducing speed."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir!"</p> + +<p>"And understand, boys," the leader went on. "There must be no +fighting on the way there, even if attacked, unless it is absolutely +necessary to prevent a crash. I quite expect we may have to fight an +airship or two, and possibly a patrol of Fokkers or Aviatiks, for the +Zeps are sure to be escorted on their way back, if they get wind of +our little game."</p> + +<p>"Agreed, sir."</p> + +<p>"And now, gentlemen, to bed, all of you. It is imperative that you +should each have a good night's rest, for if any man's nerves are run +down in the morning, I shall put him off," said Dastral seriously, +and they knew he meant it, for he could be serious at times, despite +his laughing blue eyes, and his apparently gay and reckless manner.</p> + +<p>So to bed they went, for they were all tired out, and not even the +promise of the morrow's venture could keep them awake, for these +daring airmen had learnt the happy knack of taking sleep whenever +they could get it, as soon as duty was done, and of forgetting all +about their machines as well as their own wonderful exploits.</p> + +<p>Next morning, long before dawn, Corporal Yap, humming one of his +rag-time songs, went round the bunks of the officers' mess and gently +called the pilots and observers one by one. Within an hour they had +breakfasted and were out on the aerodrome watching the machines being +wheeled out, by the aid of the hand-lamps and electric torches.</p> + +<p>After a brief but careful final examination of every strut and wire, +the machines were quite ready, all loaded up, with the machine-guns +shipped, compasses aboard, etc.</p> + +<p>"All ready, sir!" reported Snorty, as he came up and saluted.</p> + +<p>"Tumble aboard, lads!" called Dastral, and within two minutes the +pilots and observers were in their seats, and the air mechanics +standing ready to swing the propellors.</p> + +<p>"Swish!" went the whirling blades.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" came next in a shrill voice.</p> + +<p>Then away into the darkness sped the four machines. In a few seconds +they were lost to sight as they taxied across the aerodrome. Then one +after another they leapt into the air, and began their upward climb, +leaving their friends and well-wishers behind them, craning their +necks to get a last view of them as they tried to locate them in the +upper regions, by the hum of the gnome engines, and the loud +whir-r-r-r of the propellors.</p> + +<p>After rising rapidly to seven thousand feet the 'planes made off in +the direction of the enemy's trenches, which they crossed at +different points, for they had already separated in accordance with +their plans. As they crossed the lines a dozen milk-white arms +stretched up to reach them. These were the German searchlights, for +the alarm had been raised and messages about.</p> + +<p>"English aeroplanes crossing our lines!" had been flashed from the +trenches to the Archies and the German searchlights.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m! Boom-m!" went the anti-aircraft guns in a mad effort to find +the raiders. But their efforts were futile, for the raiders looked +down upon the little spurts of flame far beneath, and laughed as they +quickly passed out of range.</p> + +<p>The distance to be covered was nearly a hundred miles, before they +arrived at the appointed rendezvous, but that did not trouble the +daring aviators. Steering by compass, and watching the eastern sky +right ahead for the first faint tinge of dawn, onwards they sped over +Cambrai and the ruined fortress of Mauberge. Then they crossed into +Belgian territory, that land of wretchedness and suffering, where a +brave little people were enduring torment under the heel of the hated +Prussian.</p> + +<p>They were rapidly nearing the neighbourhood of the rendezvous when +Jock called to Dastral, and shouted,</p> + +<p>"Look, there comes Aurora, the Daughter of the Morn!"</p> + +<p>The pilot looked in the direction indicated by his observer, and away +to the eastward, over the far horizon, he saw the first grey streak +which heralded the coming day.</p> + +<p>He watched it as it grew and rapidly diffused itself over the sky. +From grey it turned to a pale yellow, then as they still sped on, +crimson flashes shot out over the firmament, as though the door of +heaven had literally been unbarred, and the dark curtain of night had +been rolled westward.</p> + +<p>"Keep a good look-out for the other machines, Jock!" cried Dastral, +for he had no time now to dwell in rhapsody over the beauty of the +dawn. Danger was at hand, and he had a stern duty to fulfil.</p> + +<p>The observer, however, did not need to be reminded; he was already +peering through his glasses, searching the skies in the faint light +for signs of the other 'planes.</p> + +<p>"Can you make out any landmarks?" asked Dastral through the speaking +tube, becoming not a little alarmed, and fearing that in the darkness +they had overshot the mark and sailed past the rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Look, we are over a big city. I can see a dozen spires peeping +up already through the gloom," replied the observer, after peering +down towards the earth for another minute.</p> + +<p>"Good!" ejaculated the pilot, bringing over the controls, and banking +swiftly to come back on his course. "We must be over Brussels. We +have come too far."</p> + +<p>The next minute they were speeding away South-west towards the +appointed rendezvous. Opening out the engine, they were soon going +full pelt, before the enemy's guns could find them.</p> + +<p>"Aircraft in sight to the northward," came next, for Jock had picked +up a tiny speck away on their right.</p> + +<p>And now for a moment there was intense excitement, for they knew not +as yet whether the newcomer might prove to be an enemy, and they were +anxious to avoid being entangled in a fight until their work was +done.</p> + +<p>"Can you pick up the Lion Mound yet?" asked Dastral. "It cannot be +far away now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have it now. A little further away to the right. Can you make +it out?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it. We'll be there in a minute. Keep your eyes well +skinned for the others. I think that must be Mac. away on our right, +though he seems to be hanging back a bit; he evidently mistakes us +for an enemy machine as we have come from the direction of Brussels. +Can you make out his marks yet?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. It isn't light enough, and he's keeping too far away."</p> + +<p>They were now right over the Lion Mound on the famous field of +battle. The village of Waterloo was just behind them, standing almost +exactly as it stood on that memorable day, Sunday, June 18, 1815. In +the morning mist the old chateau of Hougumont lay sleepily ensconced +in the hollow, while on the left the smoke was already rising up from +the farmhouse of La Haye Saint.</p> + +<p>"Another 'plane coming up on the south, making a bee line for us," +shouted the observer.</p> + +<p>"Splendid! That must be Steve," exclaimed Dastral, warming up a +little as he saw that two of his three birds had reached the spot +safely.</p> + +<p>"But where the deuce is Brum? He should be here by now. It's getting +quite light," said Jock, peering in every direction for the missing +aviator.</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho! here he comes."</p> + +<p>"Where away? I can't see him."</p> + +<p>"Right behind us. He must have over-shot the mark also, and he's +coming back on our trail from Brussels."</p> + +<p>The next instant, Dastral did a rapid swerve, and a steep nose-dive, +in accordance with the pre-arranged code made before starting.</p> + +<p>This was quite sufficient, for the strangers had been stalling their +machines, and circling around, waiting for the signal. Now they +opened out their engines and came on at top speed to meet their +leader.</p> + +<p>As they came up Jock could see the observers waving their hands in +recognition. Yes, they were all here. The first part of the business +was over. They had all come safely through and gained the rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Now we must get to work, for there's trouble brewing somewhere for +us, and the sooner we get through the affair the better," shouted the +pilot through the speaking tube.</p> + +<p>As the machines came up, they wheeled smartly round, and each took up +its appointed place in the formation. To an observer down below it +must have appeared that they were great birds wheeling about to +order, just like a platoon of infantry on parade.</p> + +<p>"Prepare for action," was the next signal given, as they sped off, +led by Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Braine l'Alleud next," called Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a little further to the right, just below the dip in the hill. +We should see the Zeppelin sheds shortly," responded Jock, who was +ready for the query, and had one finger already on the waterproof +map.</p> + +<p>"Shall I follow the road?" asked Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Yes, till I pick up the hangars."</p> + +<p>A moment later, the huge sheds came into view, and Jock, putting down +his glasses, shouted with glee:</p> + +<p>"There they are--three of them, and quite a crowd of people round +about them. A little more to the left."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see them--why, there are hundreds of people there. What on +earth can they be doing there?" asked Dastral.</p> + +<p>"German soldiers waiting for the return of the Zeppelins that raided +England last night, I expect."</p> + +<p>"Phew! Our luck's in this time."</p> + +<p>"They think we're friendly machines too, I believe," cried Jock, +fingering the bomb release, ready to let go the first twenty-pound +bomb on to the hangar. "Evidently, they can't make out our marks yet +in the morning mist."</p> + +<p>"They'll soon think differently," replied the pilot, as, coming up at +full speed, followed by the rest of the flight, he did a rapid +nose-dive of two thousand feet. Then, flattening out to get a better +control over his machine, he swept on again till nearly exactly over +the first huge shed, and did another rapid nose-dive, the speed of +which must have approximated one hundred and fifty miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Look to it, Jock. Let go, man!" he yelled.</p> + +<p>Jock pulled the clutch of the bomb release, and the first missile +fell almost into the middle of the huge building. He could not fail +to hit it, for the target was so large, and Dastral had dropped to +within three hundred feet of the high roof.</p> + +<p>"Swis-s-s-h----Boom-m-m-m----!"</p> + +<p>The explosion was terrific, and the huge roof of the building +crumpled in with a crash.</p> + +<p>Scarcely fifteen seconds later Mac. dropped a petrol bomb into the +half ruined building, and before the third plane could come into +action, huge flames were bursting out everywhere.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the German anti-aircraft guns, discovering their +mistake, turned their concentrated fire upon the first machine, which +by this time was passing the second hangar, and about to repeat the +process.</p> + +<p>"Spit! bang! boom!" And now the calm morning air was alive with +bursting bombs and tearing shrapnel, while down below the distracted +German soldiery, who had been waiting to house the returning +Zeppelins, were rushing hither and thither, bewildered, whilst their +officers were cursing those verdomt Englanders, who were always up to +some new devilment.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! Gott strafe England!" came from many a mouth, and +curses and cries of anger, coupled with shouts of defiance, rent the +air.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, Jock?" yelled Dastral, as they whirled through a +screen of bursting shrapnel.</p> + +<p>"Yes, aye, ready!" came the response from the observer, whose eyes +were lit with the light of battle.</p> + +<p>"Then let go!"</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m!" went another bomb on to the second hangar, and so with +the third and last.</p> + +<p>Within three minutes the whole of the structures of the three huge +sheds were blazing fiercely, and, as the 'planes sped away, and +climbed out of the line of immediate fire, they noted with joy that +the flames from the third shed were larger and fiercer than those +from the others.</p> + +<p>Huge forks of fire leapt three hundred feet into the air, and the +heat was so fierce within a hundred feet that everybody within that +zone of fire was scorched and fell fainting or dead.</p> + +<p>"Some blaze that, Jock!" cried Dastral as soon as they had left the +fire curtain of shrapnel behind them, and could observe the burning +mass properly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there's a Zeppelin in there, I'll swear to it. Else it would +never blaze like that." Scarcely had he spoken, when a terrific +explosion rent the air, fifty times as loud and terrible as that +caused by the bursting of the twenty-pound bombs. At the same +instant, a huge column of smoke, flame and debris shot up into the +sky, making the very aeroplanes tremble with the tremendous +vibration.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, you're right, Jock! We've done it this time. It must +have been a Zeppelin. There is nothing left of the shed now. It has +been clean lifted away."</p> + +<p>The destruction wrought down below had been terrible. The casualties +caused by the bombs had been as nothing compared to the terrible +death-roll amongst the German soldiery by the explosion of a million +cubic feet of gas and the wreckage of the huge hangar. The burning, +blazing missiles of bent, twisted iron, steel, timber and aluminium +came down from the skies, and wrought death and havoc amongst the +labour battalions which must always be on duty near a Zeppelin +hangar.</p> + +<p>Once they were out of range of the enemy's guns Dastral looked round +upon his companions. So far they had come through pretty well. No +vital hit had been made, but every machine had received its quota of +shrapnel. Not a 'plane amongst them but had its fifty or sixty jagged +tears through the planes. Mac's propeller had also been hit, but as +it was only slightly splintered, it still enabled the pilot to carry +on.</p> + +<p>However, as he wheeled round his flight, Dastral saw that it would +take his brave followers all their time to get back nearly a hundred +miles to safety. He gave the signal, therefore, for every pilot to +make a bee line for the English trenches, and thus get home before +the Aviatiks, Rolands and Fokkers came, which he knew would be +climbing up already to attack them, from the aerodromes in the +vicinity of Brussels.</p> + +<p>Two of the observers had also been wounded, though slightly, and +signalled accordingly, so that Dastral became uneasy, lest, after +all, their return to safety should be hindered. Most of all did he +fear that it might be necessary to leave one of his machines behind, +for, if an aeroplane is forced to land in enemy territory, there is +small chance of escape, either for man or machine.</p> + +<p>The whole flight, therefore, had fallen into position for return, +with Dastral leading, for he had signalled his men to keep together, +as far as possible, till they were about to cross the lines. +Suddenly, however, when they had proceeded some eight or nine miles +on their way, Jock, who had been scanning the north-western horizon, +called out:</p> + +<p>"A Zeppelin! A Zeppelin!"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, where?" shouted Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Away over there on the right, low down on the horizon."</p> + +<p>"Phew! So it is. One of their lame ducks coming home to roost, after +raiding some English village, I expect."</p> + +<p>"The devils. I say, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Let's strafe the baby-killer!" shouted Jock.</p> + +<p>Dastral turned round once more to look at his battered flight. Could +he do it? Where were the German Fokkers? he asked himself. And for +once he hesitated. It was only for a moment, however, and it was not +for any thought of himself that he hesitated, but the knowledge that +he would be attacked shortly by enemy 'planes, and that some of his +machines would be lost, for they were not in any fit state at present +to engage with enemy warplanes. Jock, always an eager fighter, was +edging him on, however.</p> + +<p>"What say you, Flight-Commander? The others seems eager to fight. +We've plenty of bombs left yet, and haven't touched the drums. Let's +bring the blighter down, so that it can't kill any more babies in +their cots."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, Jock! Throw out the signal-Zeppelin."</p> + +<p>And the next moment a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out by the +observer, which gave the order, "Prepare to attack."</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r!" went the four 'planes on their new tack, as the +controlling wires went over, and each machine banked suddenly and +came round head on towards the enemy.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, she's seen us and she's heading off too!" shouted Jock +through the tube.</p> + +<p>"Yes, so I see. Bet she's using her wireless some to call for the +Fokkers. We haven't much time to lose."</p> + +<p>In less than three minutes they were within machine-gun fire of the +huge gas-bag, which was flying as low as three thousand feet, and +seemed incapable of lifting herself much, either through shortage of +gas or damaged machinery.</p> + +<p>"Look out! She's opening fire! See there!" Short sharp jets of fire +spat out from the gondolas of the Zeppelin in half a dozen different +places, and the bullets began to whistle and ping-ping about the ears +of the aviators.</p> + +<p>"Reserve your fire, boys!" ordered Dastral, for he knew that they +would all be anxious to fire. Then he threw out another order, which +meant, "Attack from above."</p> + +<p>This they all understood immediately, and followed Dastral as he made +his machine almost sit upon her tail, as she climbed and manoeuvred +to get above the huge lumbering mass, which was already levering away +to leeward on account of some defective machinery, and the fresh +breeze which had sprung up from the south-east.</p> + +<p>Two minutes later they were almost directly above the Zeppelin, and, +except for two machine-guns which were mounted above the envelope, +they were immune from fire, for the other guns down below were +screened by the huge looming mass above them.</p> + +<p>Even the gunners on the top were practically useless, for the terrors +of the past night and the impending death now awaiting them had +shattered their nerves, and they were firing wildly, so that the +daring aviators had them at their mercy, for the hornets were about +to attack.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave one more look round at his flight, and saw them coming +boldly on behind him. Then he shouted to Jock:</p> + +<p>"All ready there?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, ready," came the response.</p> + +<p>"Then in mercy's name fire!" A short, sharp nose-dive of two hundred +feet, and they were within a hundred feet of the leviathan, and +immediately above her. So near were they that they could see the +affrighted machine-gunners on the top of the gas-bag leave their +posts and try to escape down the escalier, but they had left it too +long. They were now about to pay the price for the toll they had +wantonly taken of innocent lives during the long dark hours of the +past night. And, like all cowards who wreak their vengeance upon +helpless folk, they feared the dread spectre when it came close to +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-sh! Boom-m-m!" went the first bomb; a time fuse fixed for two +seconds. The explosion rent the envelope, and allowed vast quantities +of gas to escape from two of the ballonets, so that the huge mass +crumpled in at the head, and began to sink slowly at the nose.</p> + +<p>Another bomb was dropped, and the second and third machines coming +up, dropped petrol and phosphorus bombs, which blazed away, igniting +the escaping gas.</p> + +<p>She was well alight now, and in the fore part she was burning +fiercely, but as yet she did not explode. Dastral saw that she was +done for, however, and knowing that the enemy craft could not be far +away after all this time, made off and signalled his men to follow.</p> + +<p>Down, down went the blazing mass for a couple of thousand feet, then +rolling over, it literally fell asunder into several parts, and each +part, still burning, carried its helpless inmates down to +destruction.</p> + +<p>Once more Dastral looked round, and as he did so, he gasped out the +words:</p> + +<p>"Great Scott! The whole place is alive with Fokkers, Rolands and +Aviatiks!"</p> + +<p>Then followed a fierce running fight, in which the English were +outnumbered three to one. The enemy were all around them, for they +had been called by wireless from every direction. Dastral headed his +men into the thick of the combat. Three German 'planes were brought +down, and not till every round of ammunition was fired, and every +drum empty did the Commander call off his Flight again, or rather +what was left of it.</p> + +<p>Brum, fighting bravely to the last, had gone down in a whirling +spiral after first sending down an Aviatik. Steve followed him a +little later, with his machine blazing, for his petrol tank had been +plugged time after time. Dastral alone, with Mac, both their machines +damaged beyond repair and both their observers wounded, staggered +through the curtain fire at the trenches later in the morning, and +came to earth just behind the British first line.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter05"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER V</h3> + +<h4 align="center">A BOMBING RAID</h4> + +<p>DAWN was just breaking over Devil's Wood and Ginchy. The owls and +bats which had flitted over the night-bivouacs had returned to their +hiding places about the battered towers of the old church near by. A +saffron tint flushed the low summit of the eastern ridge, beyond +Combles and Ginchy, while thin blue-grey columns of smoke showed +where the Germans held fast their steel line from the Somme to +Bapaume.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the stars faded away, however, and disappeared in the +morning light, when the little field telephone in the orderly +officer's tent at the aerodrome near Contalmaison went +"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>"Are you there?" came the query over the wire.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Who is that?"</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters, Section 47, East of Ginchy. Is that the Wing +H.Q., Royal Flying Corps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. What is the matter, that you ring a poor chap up for the +twentieth time in half an hour?"</p> + +<p>"Matter enough, Grenfell, old fellow! Seven aeroplanes have just +crossed our lines from the direction of Morval and Lesboeufs. They +are flying in your direction, west by west-sou'-west. Can you hear +me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, but I say, Ginchy. Hullo! Were they enemy 'planes?"</p> + +<p>"Our sentries couldn't make out their nationality; it was too dark. +That's why the O.C. wanted me to 'phone you, lest it should be +another raiding party coming to bomb you, as they did the other +morning at dawn. He wants you to take '<i>Air Raid Action</i>' at once. +Got me, old fellow?"</p> + +<p>"All right, Ginchy. We'll be ready for the blighters this time. +S'long! Remember me to Crawford when you run across him."</p> + +<p>"Can't, old man."</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his +way to Blighty."</p> + +<p>"Lucky beggar! Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>"Goodbye."</p> + +<p>"Ting-a-ling-ling!"</p> + +<p>Thus the brief conversation closed, and within another thirty seconds +the orders had been given for "Air raid action" and every one was +ready. The men of "B" Flight, No. -- Squadron under Dastral, were +standing by their machines, and the aerial gunners and observers were +placing the last drums of ammunition in the cockpit, where they would +be ready to hand. Almost immediately afterwards the sentries on duty +at the eastern end of the aerodrome gave the alarm:</p> + +<p>"Aeroplanes approaching from the east!" Half a dozen pairs of glasses +soon found the machines, and, for a moment, there was a little thrill +of excitement, as the anti-aircraft gunners received their orders to +load up and fix the range.</p> + +<p>"Stand by to start the propellors!" shouted Dastral, the +Flight-Commander, to the air mechanics.</p> + +<p>"Are all the pilots ready?" came next.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Sergeant.</p> + +<p>In another moment the whole flight would have been in the air doing a +rapid spiral, for the hum of the approaching aeroplane engines could +be distinctly heard now.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r! whir-r-r-r!" Nearer and nearer came the well-known sound +of the propellors, when suddenly the Squadron-Commander, who had been +intently watching the early morning visitants through his glasses, +called out:</p> + +<p>"Dismiss, 'B' Flight. It's only Graham's party returning from their +reconnaissance."</p> + +<p>There was not a little disappointment at this announcement, for every +one had been looking forward to a scrap before breakfast. The sun, +which had just showed his upper edge above the ridge, however, +revealed quite distinctly the rounded marks of the Allies on each of +the 'planes.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later the newcomers descended by rapid spirals, and, +alighting on the aerodrome, taxied safely almost up to the very +entrance of the sheds, and the pilots and observers alighted to +report what they had discovered.</p> + +<p>They had been away two hours, had traversed fifty miles beyond the +enemy's lines, and had picked up several night signals by a +prearranged code, using the Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn. This +information, which was of the utmost importance, had been collected +from some of our most daring intelligence officers, who controlled a +network of British spies behind the German lines.</p> + +<p>"Well done, Graham!" exclaimed the Major commanding the Squadron, as +he grasped the Flight-Commander's hand on alighting. "Did you pick up +anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then slip off your helmet and heavy coat, and make your report at +once, and--hullo, there, Johnson!"</p> + +<p>"Sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the officers' mess, +springing smartly to the salute.</p> + +<p>"Have breakfast ready in ten minutes in the private mess. Lay covers +for all the pilots."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Johnson, saluting once more, and clicking his +heels at the "about-turn" he disappeared to introduce a little +thunder amongst the early morning "fatigues" in the cook-house.</p> + +<p>A powerful and crafty foe, whose emissaries have never been surpassed +in the espionage in the world, prevents me from giving the details of +the reports brought home that morning by Graham and his pilots. Let +it suffice, however, to say that amongst other information collected +beyond the enemy's front, by a wonderful intelligence system of our +own, it had been discovered in that dark hour before the dawn, by the +Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn, that three German troop trains were +to leave Liege that morning at eight o'clock, and, travelling via +Mauberge and Cambrai, were to reinforce the hardly pressed German +troops facing the British soldiers on the Somme.</p> + +<p>There was a jovial breakfast party that morning in the officers' mess +of the --th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, for in this wonderful +Corps, which, in the short space of two years, has done the seemingly +impossible, and taken the high jump from an insignificant detachment, +and become the most brilliant service under the British flag, there +is an <i>esprit de jeu</i> as well as an <i>esprit de corps</i> unsurpassed +even by that of the Navy, with its centuries of tradition behind it.</p> + +<p>"How shall I know a British 'plane, if I meet it suddenly in +mid-air?" asked a German pilot once of his Flight-Commander.</p> + +<p>"You'll know it because it will attack you!" was the reply.</p> + +<p>And never yet has a British pilot, with a single round of ammunition +left in his drum, turned tail upon the enemy, even though when +outnumbered three to one. For such a pilot, there would be no room in +the Royal Flying Corps.</p> + +<p>So, during breakfast that morning at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, +every flight-commander vied with his comrade for the post of honour. +Maps and railway routes were carefully consuled, for there were no +less than three routes by which the troop trains might arrive at the +Somme front.</p> + +<p>"Liège--Namur--Mauberge," said the Squadron-Commander, as he bent +over the large map, and ran his fingers lightly along the route, +whilst the eager youths with the pilot's wings on the left breast of +their soiled and greasy service tunics listened and waited eagerly +for their final orders, each hoping in his inmost soul that the route +allotted to him might be the one by which the Huns would arrive.</p> + +<p>"Let me see, now. After Mauberge and Cambrai the lines divide. Hum! +Why, yes, they must come via Peronne, Velu or Lestrée. There now. Are +you ready, boys?" asked the Commander, raising his head for the first +time for five minutes, and looking keenly into the glowing faces of +those lads, who, less than three years ago, in most cases, were at +Marlborough, Cheltenham or Harrow.</p> + +<p>"Aye, ready, sir!" they replied almost in one breath.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure, Graham, you can manage it? You have already had +two hours up there in the dark, you know."</p> + +<p>"We could do another four, sir, quite easily," replied the Commander +of "A" Flight, with just a shade of disappointment in his voice, as +though he feared the C.O. might hold him back.</p> + +<p>"How are the engines running?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, sir; never better! They never misfired once, and there +isn't a strut or control wire damaged."</p> + +<p>"Right!" exclaimed the Commander laconically, who then rolled up the +big map, touched a bell, and ordered the aerodrome Flight-Sergeant to +run out the machines and to let the air mechanics, observers, +wireless men and aerial gunners fall in and stand by the 'planes. +Then, turning to the three Flight-Commanders he said:</p> + +<p>"Graham, you will take 'A' Flight and patrol the Lestrée line. You, +Dastral, will take charge of 'B' Flight and watch the +Havrincourt-Bapaume route, and Wilson there will watch the Peronne +loop-line. They may come by any of those three routes. Where they +will detrain I cannot say. It will be for you to discover. Fill up +with the twenty-pound bombs, as they're the handiest, for I expect it +will be more of a bombing raid than anything else. But if the enemy +is escorted by Fokkers or Rolands, you must be prepared for a fight +in the air as well, and I want each Flight to act independently, but +if necessary to co-operate, should Himmelman and his crowd turn up. +Smoke signals will be the best, I think. Is that quite clear, boys?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Quite clear," they replied, for they were all in high +glee, and regarded it all as nothing more or less than a boyish +adventure, though more than one of those brave youths was going forth +to his death. And what a death it is to be hit in mid-air by bursting +shrapnel, and hurled seven thousand feet to the earth! But such a +death they faced daily without flinching.</p> + +<p>"Then fill up your glasses, boys, and I will give you The King! God +bless him!"</p> + +<p>And standing up they drank confusion to the King's enemies, and if a +stranger had been there to note it, he would have seen that many a +glass was filled with water, for the continuous demand upon the +pilot's nerve and intelligence forbids his frequent use of alcohol.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, the pilots, observers and gunners were carefully +examining their machines, guns, fixing bombs, waterproof maps, and +arranging every detail with care and skill. A faulty strut or control +wire, a defective bomb release, or a leaking petrol tank might mean +failure or disaster.</p> + +<p>At last all was ready, and the final words of command were given to +the air mechanics.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear! Away!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" called the Squadron-Commander +cheerfully, though at that very moment he was inwardly cursing his +bad luck at having had his left arm seriously damaged in a recent +crash. For of all things upon earth Major Bulford loved to lead his +brave lads and to wheel them into action against the enemy squadrons.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r! Whir-r-r!" went the first propellor, as the air-mechanic +who had started it sprang back to safety. Then, one after another the +machines of the three Flights taxied across the level ground of the +aerodrome, and sprang into the air at the first movement of the +elevator.</p> + +<p>"Goodbye!" waved the pilots in answer to the last greeting of their +chief, for the human voice could not carry two feet in that wild roar +of propellors and engines, which seemed to make the whole atmosphere +pulsate with a whirring sound.</p> + +<p>After a few rapid spirals a height of two thousand feet was quickly +attained, and then, still climbing, the 'planes, like huge birds of +prey, disappeared for a while behind the British lines as though for +a cross-Channel flight to England, in order to confuse the enemy +observers. Then, by a wide sweep at seven thousand feet, the flights +became detached, and each, under its own commander, went its own way +by a circuitous route to the appointed station.</p> + +<p>Dastral, with the four Sopwiths of "B" Flight, crossed the enemy's +lines at nine thousand feet, somewhere between Ligny and Grévillers. +As he did so he received his first baptism of fire from "Archie."</p> + +<p>White puffs of smoke and fierce red jets of flame seemed to burst +noiselessly around them, for the roar of the propellors drowned or +subdued even the sound of the shrapnel as it exploded. Heedless of +such small things, however, Dastral and his brave comrades sailed on, +sometimes doing a spiral or a rapid nose-dive, if the enemy appeared +to have found the range too closely.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, they were ambushed in a friendly cloud, which hid them +from the Huns far below, and when they had emerged from the clinging +moisture, they were far beyond the enemy's third line trenches, and +out into the open, with smiling fields and vineyards beneath them.</p> + +<p>"Is that it?" yelled Dastral to his observer, jerking his head +sideways, and pointing with his finger to something like a railway +cutting far below.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The Bapaume-Havrincourt railway line!" shouted his companion +through the speaking-tube which ended close to the pilot's ear, for +although only a few feet away, that was the only possible method of +communication without shutting off the engines.</p> + +<p>"Good!" nodded the pilot, for, despite the speaking-tube, +conversation was chiefly carried on by well understood cabalistic +signs.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Dastral pointed to a cluster of red roofs about a +little church.</p> + +<p>"What is that place?"</p> + +<p>The observer, with one finger still on the little waterproof map in +front of him, shouted back, "Beugny on the left. Haplincourt on the +right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" nodded the pilot, edging a little more south-east, as +though the railway were not his objective. In so doing he alarmed +Fisker, his companion, who feared he had misunderstood him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he shouted. "You're leaving the target. The +bridge-head and the ravine is over there, east-nor'-east. That's +where the junction is, at Velu."</p> + +<p>"Right-o, old man! Glad you're awake. Keep your eyes well skinned +away to the east for Fokkers and Rolands. This is Himmelman's +favourite hunting-ground. He'll be down on us from the clouds like a +thunderbolt, if we're not careful. I want to get up to twelve +thousand, and come back on to the junction from the east."</p> + +<p>"Oh-ay!" came the laconic rejoinder from Fisker, who quickly +understood the manoeuvre. Then, leaving his map for a moment, he +swept the horizon for any signs there might be of the enemy's +'planes.</p> + +<p>So for nearly an hour the machines, playing at "follow-my-leader," +swept round and round, watching and waiting in an altitude where, to +put it mildly, it was cold enough to freeze a kettle of boiling water +in ten minutes.</p> + +<p>Cold? Yes, it was bitterly cold. Both Dastral and Fisker felt it +through their thick leather, wool-lined coats.</p> + +<p>They patrolled the country behind the German lines, and watched the +smoke curling upwards from a dozen French villages in the enemy's +possession. At length they crossed the loop line near Barastre, +skimmed along over Ytres, and the Bois Havrincourt; sailed lightly +across the silvery streak of the river Exuette, until, beyond the +wood and the village they espied the main railway line that threaded +its way to Bapaume.</p> + +<p>"There it is, Fisker. Can you see it?" were Dastral's first words, +when he sighted it.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see it," came the reply.</p> + +<p>Dastral had timed his arrival nicely. Scarcely had they reached the +railway when out of the eastern horizon a trail of white steam, +followed by another and yet another, at intervals of perhaps half a +mile, attracted their attention.</p> + +<p>"Look! There they come, Dastral!" cried Fisker, putting down the +glasses and waving his arms frantically to attract the attention of +the other three pilots, and to indicate the target, now rapidly +approaching.</p> + +<p>One look in the direction indicated sufficed for Dastral. He made a +sudden dip, then gave one of his rapid spirals, at which he was such +an adept. This movement of the Flight-Commander's machine was the +pre-arranged signal for the rest of the company and meant:</p> + +<p>"Enemy approaching from the east. Prepare to engage him."</p> + +<p>The movement was answered by each of the following 'planes. The +formation of the flight was altered accordingly, and the machines now +fell into their allotted places ready for descent.</p> + +<p>The three trains were soon in full view, and the first one was just +passing the village of Hermies. The trains were of enormous length, +and were crowded with troops. What still puzzled Dastral, however, +was that there appeared to be no escort of aircraft with them. Again +and again, during the approach of the long procession, he had scanned +the heavens all around and above him, for a sight of his most crafty +foe, Himmelman, for, if the British machines had been sighted, there +had been plenty of time for the enemy to bring up his aircraft from +the nearest aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Even yet Dastral was very suspicious. He knew Himmelman only too well +already. He was the demon of the air on the western front, and loved +nothing better than to make a dramatic entry into a half-finished +fight. His greatest and most daring method was to climb out of sight, +often up to seventeen thousand feet and more, or better still, to +make an ambush in a dark cloud, then suddenly to swoop down, +hawk-like, upon his opponent, in an almost vertical nose-dive, and to +overwhelm him with a spray of well-directed machine gun fire.</p> + +<p>A dozen of the best British pilots had already gone down in a crash +or a forced landing before this demon of the air, and more than once +Dastral himself had encountered him. Before he led his men to the +attack therefore, upon this occasion, he scanned the heavens again +and again in search of his opponent, and actually waited until a tiny +cloud far above had been scattered and pierced, before he gave the +final signal to attack.</p> + +<p>At length, fearing to lose his target by longer delay, for the first +train was now abreast of the tiny hamlet of Beaumetz, and nearing the +junction and the bridge-head at Velu, he threw out the signal for the +attack.</p> + +<p>A smoke bomb to the right and another to the left: that was the +pre-arranged signal, and then, pulling over the joy-stick, down, down +went Dastral, followed at regular intervals by the three other +'planes.</p> + +<p>Down, down with a swoop, through the exhilarating rush of air, they +went. All the engines had been shut off, and the pilots, with one +hand on the joy-stick, and the other on the bomb release, waited +almost breathlessly through those wild, thrilling seconds, while they +fell with ever-gathering impetus, like a stone to the earth. Thus +they went down to what seemed like certain death, while every instant +during that mad dive seemed an age.</p> + +<p>"Click! click!" went the little instrument that measured the +altitudes. "Seven, six- five, three thousand feet," it tried to say, +but its voice could not be heard.</p> + +<p>At two thousand feet Dastral pushed back the joy-stick, and flattened +out. His comrades did the same, all except Franklin in the last +'plane, who had trouble with his control wires and flattened out only +at five hundred feet. Another five seconds would have dashed him to +death. He was game, however, and though his face blanched, and his +heart stayed its beating for an instant, he was soon climbing again +to rejoin his comrades.</p> + +<p>They had been seen now, for the smoke bombs had first given them +away. The commandants of the German communications were hotly engaged +on the telephone wires, reporting to headquarters and to the nearest +aerodromes the presence of the intruders, and demanding that +Himmelman and his comrades should come at once to deal with the +sky-fiends.</p> + +<p>The engine-driver of the first train also had seen the danger that +threatened, and, putting on all speed, he tried foolishly to get away +from the air peril. Velu was scarcely a mile distant, and there at +least he could find some protection, if only in the "Archies."</p> + +<p>But he was too late. When Dastral flattened out at two thousand feet +he was almost abreast of the train. A neck-and-neck race commenced, +but what chance has a heavily laden troop train, even though it has +three engines, against a Sopwith which can do one hundred and thirty +miles on occasion? It was like a race between a hare and a tortoise.</p> + +<p>"Puff-puff-puff! Shriek!" went the train, but the scream of the siren +was drowned in the whirr-r-r of the propellors racing alongside and +just overhead, for the engines had been started again by the pilots +as soon as they flattened out.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of seconds now, for Dastral only waited until he had +dropped down to one hundred feet. He was already in line with the +engine, and directly above. Just ahead was the railway bridge, and +the viaduct over the road leading into the village.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my beautiful Boche, it's ten to one against you now!" muttered +the Flight-Commander as he raced ahead, amid a spatter of rifle +bullets from the soldiers guarding the bridge.</p> + +<p>The engine-driver had seen the danger ahead now. He shut off steam, +and put on his brakes, but the bridge was too near, and Dastral was +already there.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m! Crash!"</p> + +<p>It was one of the new 112lb. bombs that Dastral dropped; the only one +carried by the flight, who were chiefly armed with 20-pounders for +the occasion. The aeroplane gave a lift and a lurch as the heavy +missile left her, and had it not been for her great speed, the +explosion that immediately followed would have caused her to crash.</p> + +<p>Fairly hit in the centre of the track the brick and timber piles and +beams collapsed, and the middle of the structure crumpled up and fell +crashing into the roadway.</p> + +<p>The troops, aware of what was happening when they saw the 'planes +overhead, leapt from the doomed train, for no human effort could +prevent the impending disaster now. When the bomb dropped and split +the bridge, the train was but forty yards distant, and the sparks +were flying from her brakes, as from a blacksmith's anvil, but it was +of no avail. With a thunderous roar, followed by a mighty crash, and +the wild hiss of escaping steam she went over the chasm. Carriage +after carriage, crowded with the finest troops of Germany, followed +the engine.</p> + +<p>Wild cries of pain and anger, curses and groans filled the air, as +wounded, scalded and half buried men dragged themselves from that +awful scene of carnage and death.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel! Donner und blitz! Himmelman, Himmelman, wer ist +Himmelman?" cried many an eye-witness of the terrible tragedy, as +though the German air-fiend were some deity.</p> + +<p>The other three 'planes were bombing the long stretch of carriages +which had not leapt the chasm, and the hundreds of fugitives who were +trying to escape from the half-telescoped vehicles, which had not +gone over the precipice. But Dastral, banking swiftly on his machine, +came round, and with another smoke bomb called them off to attack the +other two trains.</p> + +<p>Leaving the Bridge of Velu, they wheeled back swiftly, coming once +more into the zone of fire from the anti-aircraft guns. Stopping only +to drop a couple of bombs on the battery 'which had bespattered the +wings of the second machine with shrapnel, they noticed the second +train pulling up quickly, and the soldiers also leaping from the +carriages.</p> + +<p>They proceeded to bomb it with the remainder of their 20-lb. bombs. +Then, suddenly, to their amazement the third train, which had not +received sufficient warning to stop on the steep gradient, crashed +into the second, and another scene of wild confusion occurred. The +German soldiers, taken for the most part by surprise, endeavoured to +get away by any and every means from the blazing wreckage, seeking +cover under clumps of trees, hedges, rising ground, etc., but the +airmen, having discharged all their bombs, turned their Lewis machine +guns upon them and scattered the fugitives in all directions.</p> + +<p>At last, not a single round of ammunition remained in the drums, and +Dastral, knowing that all the machines had been more or less hit, +gave the signal to return.</p> + +<p>It was time, for two at least of the machines had suffered severely, +and it was becoming very doubtful whether they would be able to +regain their own lines. They were of no further use for offence, so +they began their climb into the higher regions, preparatory to the +dash across the enemy's lines once again.</p> + +<p>It was well that they did so, for at that very moment Himmelman, with +half a squadron of fast Fokkers, was leaving his own aerodrome but +ten miles distant, having received information of the raiders' +presence. The whole feat had taken place so quickly, however, and the +affair was so adroitly managed, that the intruders had just time to +make their escape.</p> + +<p>Not all the aviators, however, succeeded in crossing the German +lines. Franklin's engine was missing so badly that he was unable to +climb above four thousand feet, and when, shortly after, they reached +the battle front, where the Allies and Germany kept their +battle-line, the fusillade of the "Archies" commenced again. +Cras-s-sh came a shell right into his engine, and the machine went +down in a wild spinning nose-dive, just behind the enemy's front line +trench.</p> + +<p>Dastral and his comrades gnashed their teeth, as they saw their two +comrades thus hurled to death, but, after all, death is only an +incident in the life of a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps, and who +shall mourn when a hero dies? In these days of blood and iron, when +Britain stands once more at the cross roads, freedom and honour can +only be purchased by the blood of her bravest sons.</p> + +<p>That evening the dinner party which was held in the officers' mess at +the aerodrome near Contalmaison, was less joyous and boisterous than +the breakfast held there that same morning. Three of the 'planes of B +flight had come back, it is true, and had brought their pilots and +observers safely home through the ordeal of shot and shell. Every +machine bore evidence of the fight. Scarcely one of them would be fit +to fly again for another week, and the air-mechanics were already +hard at work, fitting new struts and control wires, ailerons, and +petrol tanks, for two at least of the three aeroplanes had barely +held together to the end, so plugged were they with machine gun, +rifle bullets and shrapnel; while Winstone's "old bus" had literally +fallen to pieces on landing, and he had narrowly escaped a crash.</p> + +<p>And when the second toast came, and Major Bulford rose to speak, his +glance fell upon the two vacant chairs (for according to custom the +places had been reserved); and his eyes glistened with something +suspiciously like a tear, and there was a strange huskiness about his +voice, as he uttered those words which had been so frequent of late,</p> + +<p>"Let us drink to the memory of the brave lads who were with us this +morning, but whose faces we shall never see again!"</p> + +<p>So they drank the toast in silence, and then the Squadron-Commander, +having regained his usual voice, added:--</p> + +<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20 fontsize80">"One crowded hour of glorious life,</b><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20 fontsize80">Is worth an age without a name...!"</b><br> +<br> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter06"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VI</h3> + +<h4 align="center">A ZEPPELIN NIGHT</h4> + +<center><i>Per ardua ad astra</i></center> +<br> +<p>IT was a bright sunny morning in September during the great war, as +the mail packet slipped out of Calais breakwater, and headed for the +white cliffs of Dover. For two days the service had been suspended +for a special reason. Her decks were crowded with overdue mails, +including those from India, Egypt and Australia, which had come +overland from Brindisi.</p> + +<p>There was also a fair sprinkling of passengers, including not a few +officers, home on short leave from the Somme front, where the great +push was still in progress.</p> + +<p>Amongst the latter was a young officer, not more than twenty-two, +clad in a "British Warm" and wearing the well-known service cap of +the Flying Corps, with its circular badge, consisting of a wreath of +laurels and the magic letters, R.F.C.; letters which have already +woven themselves into the romance of English history, for the daring +deeds of our airmen had already gained for this juvenile corps +traditions which will never die.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral! Come back soon!" shouted several of his comrades, +who had come to the edge of the quay to see the hero off to Blighty +on his well-earned leave. For the youth in the service cap was none +other than Dastral of the Flying Corps, the brilliant young pilot who +had fought with the German air-fiend, Himmelman, only a few days +before and had perhaps done more than any other individual towards +wresting the supremacy of the air from the wily and cruel Boche.</p> + +<p>He had already won that coveted decoration, the D.S.O., as we have +previously seen, and now the King was about to confer upon him the +Military Cross, for a daring bombing raid which he had organised and +carried out over the enemy's lines, when as Commander of "B" Flight +he had led his men beyond the Somme, and blocked the enemy's +communications, bombed the Havrincourt-Bapaume Railway, and destroyed +the bridge and viaduct at Velu, hurling one long troop train to +destruction, and preventing the Germans reinforcing their front line +trenches near Ginchy and Morval. Now, after his latest deed, the King +had sent for him to congratulate him in person for his skill and +daring. On the morrow he was to be received in audience at Buckingham +Palace.</p> + +<p>If he had consulted his own wishes he would much have preferred to +remain with his comrades on the Somme, but a royal wish is an order, +and, after all, perhaps the ten days' leave which had been granted to +him would enable him to run north to visit his mother and friends in +the little village in Yorkshire, and to gaze once again upon those +blue, heather-tipped and bracing moorlands where he had spent his +boyhood.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral. Don't stay too long in Old Blighty!" again +shouted his friends, as the vessel sheered off and gained headway, +and he had shouted back in reply:</p> + +<p>"Cheer-o, boys! I shall soon be back again," waving his hand towards +his comrades, as he bent over the rail.</p> + +<p>As soon as they left the shelter of the breakwater a destroyer, +waiting outside, sent up a couple of flags to her masthead.</p> + +<p>"Send up the answering pennant, bosun!" cried the skipper of the +mail-boat, when he saw the destroyer's signal, and immediately after +he rang down to the engine room staff:</p> + +<p>"Full steam ahead!" for the warship was there to act as escort, as +there were very valuable mails aboard, and only two nights ago, the +enemy's destroyers, breaking out of their base at Zeebrugge, had +crept through the gap in the British mine-beds in the dark, and had +sent two patrols and an empty transport to the bottom.</p> + +<p>So, while the mail packet went full speed ahead, at twenty-four +knots, the destroyer, with her superior speed, waltzed round her, +like a dancing marionette, leaving a trail of white foam in her wake. +This she continued to do all the way across the Channel, for it was +known that several enemy submarines were lurking about the +neighbourhood, watching through their periscopes for just such a +target as the mail boat with her valuable cargo offered.</p> + +<p>Very soon, however, the white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight, and +when they entered the new naval harbour, the destroyer sheered off +and went back to her station.</p> + +<p>Dastral, having been recognised on the boat, had received several +invitations to dine in London that evening, but all these he had +courteously refused, although one of them had come from a Cabinet +minister and his wife who were travelling on the same boat.</p> + +<p>"No," he had said to himself, "there is poor old Tim Burkitt, my +colleague, who is studying law at Gray's Inn. I will go and hunt him +up. He will be glad to see me, and we will spend the night together +at Hallet's."</p> + +<p>Now Tim Burkitt, who suffered from a physical deformity, had been +breaking his young heart ever since war broke out, for he had been +rejected from every sphere of service in the great war, owing to his +deformity. He had seen his chums depart from Gray's into the Army, +the Navy and the Flying Corps, and he had been left behind almost +alone.</p> + +<p>He had been chummy with Dastral, for they came from the same village, +had come up to London together, and had shared the same drab dull +lodgings in the great city. Later he was destined to become a great +lawyer, for nature had compensated him by granting him the gift of +oratory, but he would have willingly given up all that if he could +but have shared with Dastral his adventures and his triumphs.</p> + +<p>This afternoon he had thrown aside his law books to read in the +papers a vivid description of Dastral's fight with Himmelman, the +German air-fiend, and the poor cripple, with tears of grief and envy +at his own hard lot, but with his heart full of joy at his comrade's +success had just thrown aside the paper, adding dejectedly:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dastral, how I would like to see you again! You were always a +true friend to me"; when suddenly he heard a scamper of footsteps up +the bare stone steps that led up to his chamber in Gray's, and the +next instant the door flew open, and Tim found himself embracing his +old colleague, with a warmth he had never exhibited before.</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Dastral!" he cried again and again. "I knew you'd do it if +you had half a chance. And to think you should remember me, a poor +cripple, when all England is talking about you, and the King himself +has sent for you."</p> + +<p>"Here, stow it, Tim! Who do you think I should seek out first if not +you? I've come to spend the afternoon and evening with you. +To-morrow, after I have seen the King, I'm going home to Burnside, +where you and I spent so many happy days, and I want you to come with +me."</p> + +<p>"Good! Splendid! How kind of you, old fellow! Then to-night we'll +have a dinner all to ourselves at Hallet's. What say you?"</p> + +<p>"Right you are, Tim," said Dastral, clapping his old colleague on the +back, and making him the happiest fellow in all London for the nonce.</p> + +<p>That afternoon the two chums had a quiet stroll around Gray's, and +Lincoln's Inn Fields, then called on one or two acquaintances who had +also been left behind in the Temple. A visit to the Old Mitre of +sacred memory, and a quiet smoke in Johnson's Corner at the "Cheese" +in Fleet Street, passed away the hours of the golden afternoon, and +the evening found them snugly ensconced at Hallet's, where, in the +days gone by, they used to celebrate any little event in their lives +by a special dinner.</p> + +<p>Never for a moment did the conversation flag. The two chums unbosomed +themselves to one another, except that Dastral would not talk about +his adventures since he became a pilot in the Flying Corps, for the +members of this Corps never seek advertisement, preferring that the +record of their Homeric deeds should all go down to the credit of the +Corps, rather than to any particular individual.</p> + +<p>"But, Dastral," Tim would urge, as the plates and dishes disappeared +and another course was laid, "you must have had a hundred amazing +adventures since I saw you last. Just tell me about one of them, say +your fight with Himmelman!"</p> + +<p>"Bah! It was nothing, Tim--nothing, I mean to make a song about. If I +could write and speak like you, now, I might be able to make a tale +about it. But nature hasn't gifted me that way," replied the pilot.</p> + +<p>"But don't you feel the romance and glory of it all, fighting a +battle in the air at ten thousand feet?"</p> + +<p>"Romance, glory?" laughed Dastral. "There is no romance or glory +about war, when you are in it. It is horrid and brutal then. You must +be miles away to see the romance of it. It is all an ugly business."</p> + +<p>Tim couldn't understand him. He just couldn't, but he had one more +shot. "Don't you feel like singing sometimes, when you are up in the +azure, mounting in circles like a lark to meet the sun, and the +heavens are calling you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah, when I am ten thousand feet up, and the engines are running +smoothly, it is heavenly. I feel like music and romance then. The +song of the propellors is beautiful, and the beating of the engine +makes me imagine all sorts of weird things, but when I come down to +the earth again I forget all the things I would say. It is wonderful +though, that call of the heavens; the call of the wild, as the +gipsies say, isn't in it. But I cannot describe it."</p> + +<p>And so they talked on for an hour--two hours, long after the table +had been cleared, making rings of smoke into which Tim Burkitt at +least, with his rich imagination, saw wonderful things, when suddenly +something happened which made them both spring to their feet--the +electric lights went out, leaving them in utter darkness for a couple +of minutes.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" cried half a dozen voices, as soon as the +waiter appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he immediately placed +upon the centre table.</p> + +<p>"There is a rumour, sir, that the Zeppelins are to make an attack +upon London to-night, and the electric current has been turned off at +the main," replied the jovial, beefy-faced waiter, adding with a +smile, as he returned for another lamp, "What are we a-coming to?"</p> + +<p>At this announcement several people at once took their departure, +evidently thinking that Hallet's would be the first place to invite +the attention of the raiders, and one or two ladies fainted and had +to be helped out by their friends.</p> + +<p>A strange and eager look came into the eyes of Dastral at the word +Zeppelin. Tim noted it at once, and wondered what his colleague was +thinking about, for, though his gaze was eager and keen, there was a +far away look in his eyes. At the end of a minute he half uttered the +word:</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin!"</p> + +<p>Then he rose to his feet, but recalling himself almost with a jerk to +the fact of Tim's presence, he said apologetically,</p> + +<p>"I say, old fellow, we've had a jolly time, but I think I must leave +you, though it almost breaks my heart to do so."</p> + +<p>"Go? Where to, Dastral? I thought you were going to spend the night +at my rooms, and it's barely nine o'clock yet. Sit down, old man. You +haven't got the Zeppelin fright as well, have you? If you have, here +are my smelling salts--here, take a sniff now."</p> + +<p>For answer Dastral burst into a roar of laughter. Then subsiding +quickly, he said, in a more serious tone, bending low to whisper his +words in Burkitt's ears:</p> + +<p>"I have never yet fought a Zeppelin, except the lame duck we brought +down near Brussels. I would give all I possess to go up and fight +one. And during the last minute I have been wondering how it can be +done."</p> + +<p>"Well, how can you do it?"</p> + +<p>"That's the trouble. I'm not attached to any Wing or Squadron in +England. But a friend of mine has just recently returned from France, +and has been appointed Commanding Officer of the --th Squadron, with +its aerodrome about fifteen miles away from here. I must get into +touch with him, if possible."</p> + +<p>The next moment Dastral was engaged on the 'phone, trying in the dark +to find his friend somewhere at the other end of the wires. After +some ten minutes he managed it.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Hullo! Are you there?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, who are you?" came the reply.</p> + +<p>"I want the O.C. of your Squadron at once, please."</p> + +<p>"He is busily engaged, and I cannot disturb him now, unless it is +something of the highest importance. Hurry up, please, and tell me +who you are, and give me your message. The wires are urgently wanted +to-night."</p> + +<p>"I am Dastral, Flight-Commander Dastral of the --th Squadron, --th +Wing, and I have just come from France."</p> + +<p>"What! Beg pardon, sir. Dastral. Not the pilot who fought with +Himmelman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Hold the line a minute, sir."</p> + +<p>Twenty seconds later the O.C. of the Squadron himself was at the end +of that line.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! Is that you, Dastral?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. How are you, Garner, old man?"</p> + +<p>"But hang it, how came you to ring me up? I should dearly love to see +you, but I've my hands full to-night. We received '<i>Air Raid Action</i>' +half an hour ago. Several hostile airships have crossed the east +coast, and are making for the metropolis, so I cannot stay now. Come +and see me in the morning, do, old man. Eh, what's that you say?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't you a spare machine you could let me try if I came over +there by fast motor at once?"</p> + +<p>"Hullo! hullo! All the machines are out with the men standing by, +ready to go up at the first tip, except--let me see now--we've got a +new fast 'Buckstead Bullet' here, which none of the men are very +familiar with yet. There's that. Come if you like, old fellow. It's a +bit irregular, but if there should happen to be a big attack on +London, and the case warrants it, I see no reason why you shouldn't +try the blamed thing. It's a single-seater, only just in from the +makers, and a devil of a whizzer as well as a first class climber!"</p> + +<p>"Right-o! I'm coming straight away!" cried Dastral, waiting to hear +no more, and banging down the receiver.</p> + +<p>The next minute he was outside on the pavement, forgetting all about +Tim, the settlement of the bill, and everything else. Tim, however, +who had heard part of the message, had already paid the bill and got +outside, where he had hailed a taxi, determined not to be left +behind, for his quick intuitive mind had told him which way the wind +was blowing. He had had a hard job to secure the vehicle, for there +had been a great demand for the same, but he had whispered Dastral's +name to the chauffeur and had agreed to foot the bill however big it +might be, although he had only three half-crowns left in his pocket +after squaring the bill indoors. That did not bother him at all, +however. Here was a chance of rendering some service, however small, +to the nation at large, for he felt convinced that if only Dastral +could have a chance he would bring down half a dozen raiders.</p> + +<p>Immediately, therefore, Dastral appeared at the doorway he shouted:</p> + +<p>"This way, Dastral, this way. Quick!"</p> + +<p>"What the deuce----"</p> + +<p>"Inside, old man; this is my show!" and before the bewildered pilot +could finish his exclamation, he was inside and Tim was with him and +the door closed.</p> + +<p>"Where to?" asked the cripple.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the directions, and told the driver to do his utmost to +get them there within an hour, or it would be too late.</p> + +<p>Within ten seconds they were whizzing away through the darkness in +the direction of the Great North Road, and as there was very little +traffic about, they reached their destination within three quarters +of an hour. It was not a minute too soon. They had seen the +searchlights at work on their way north, and towards the end of their +journey they had several times heard the anti-aircraft guns blazing +away at something up in the clouds.</p> + +<p>"Halt! Who goes there?" came the challenge as they reached the +turning which left the main road, and finished at the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>The vehicle halted abruptly, for the driver had seen the flash of the +barrel of a Smith & Weston revolver, which the air-mechanic on +sentry-go held out to bar their progress.</p> + +<p>"Flight-Commander of the Royal Flying Corps," shouted the pilot, +hoping that would allow him to pass, and to get on to the aerodrome +immediately, but the sentry was obdurate.</p> + +<p>"Let me see your permit, sir," he asked.</p> + +<p>"Haven't got one."</p> + +<p>"Turn out guard!" shouted the sentry, and turning to the newcomers, +he added:</p> + +<p>"Advance, Flight-Commander, and report to the guard-room."</p> + +<p>The guard-room was but a few yards further on, and the corporal of +the guard, approaching the carriage, saluted, and led Dastral and Tim +away to the Flight-Sergeant at the Orderly Room. He was expected, and +a minute afterwards he was shaking hands with Garner, who had been +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>And now there was not a moment to spare, for the presence of the +raiders had been reported from the O.C. Searchlights, as hiding +somewhere in the clouds between Hatfield and Barnet, trying to break +through to London. Only a ring of curtain fire from the A.A. +Batteries, and a cordon of long flashing lights which swept the sky +from the horizon was keeping them back.</p> + +<p>Several machines had already gone up in search of the enemy and the +other pilots were standing by their machines ready to "take off" +immediately the order was given.</p> + +<p>Immediately, therefore, Dastral had settled with the driver of the +taxi, and introduced Tim to his friend, Squadron-Commander Garner, +they were led through the darkness to the shed where the "Buckstead +Bullet," as she was nicknamed, lay all ready to be wheeled out.</p> + +<p>"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed Dastral, immediately he saw the little +single-seater monoplane, for he had flown a similar machine several +times in France.</p> + +<p>With the aid of a dark lanthorn he carefully went over her, and +lovingly fingered every part of her, from the bullet-nosed fuselage +which gave her her nickname, to her neat, trim little tail and +rudder.</p> + +<p>The noise of the A.A. guns became louder and louder outside, as +though they had discovered one of the raiders. And Dastral was just +itching to go up!</p> + +<p>"Let me go up in her, Garner!" he said. "She's a beauty!"</p> + +<p>The O.C. scratched his head. He had wanted to fly her himself, for +she was the only spare machine left over, and, moreover, as Dastral +was not attached to the squadron, it was somewhat irregular for him +to use the machine, without the express permission of the Wing +Headquarters. He hesitated for a moment therefore, but, just at that +instant, one of the raiders suddenly emerged from the edge of a cloud +where it had been in hiding, and a fresh burst of anti-aircraft +gunfire caused some excitement.</p> + +<p>"There she is!" cried some one, as one of the searchlights caught +her.</p> + +<p>"As you like, Dastral. There's your target. Get into your togs +quickly and I'll take the risk of it. I must leave you for a moment +now. Those fellows in 'C' Flight are waiting to go up," and with that +the O.C. turned round and dashed off, while Dastral, without waiting +for anything further, got into a huge leathern coat, pilot's boots, +and donned the flying helmet with long ear flaps and queer-looking +goggles, which an air-mechanic had brought him.</p> + +<p>Two minutes later the young pilot climbed into the 'plane, gave a +final look round, waved a good-bye to Tim, whose pale face, now +working with intense excitement, he discerned in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"All ready, sir?" asked the Flight-Sergeant.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave him a nod, and prepared to switch on the the current.</p> + +<p>"Swing the propellor!" came next, and as the cool, calculating pilot +pulled a switch, the mighty engine broke into its terrible song.</p> + +<p>"Rep-p-p, rep-p-p! Whir-r-r!"</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" and away went the monoplane like a bullet out of a +gun. As she started, a searchlight was deflected in a long beam along +the ground, to give the daring young aviator the direction for his +take-off, for the dangers of night-flying are many, as more than one +brave pilot has found to his cost before now.</p> + +<p>At a hundred yards the "Bullet" sprang into the air, and soared +upward at a tremendous speed, being quickly lost to sight, as the +searchlights tried once more to find the raider, which had found +things too warm, and had sought again the shelter of the clouds.</p> + +<p>By short and rapid spirals, Dastral soon reached a thousand feet. +Every now and then he turned his little shaded electric lamp on to +the indicator, which seemed to vibrate merrily, and almost to smile, +as its little rounded dial told the altitude. Up and up they went, +and the indicator almost laughed with joy as it clicked out the +figures:</p> + +<p>"Two thousand, two thousand five hundred, three thousand feet!"</p> + +<p>Still they seemed to be climbing all too slowly for the pilot. He had +caught sight of the Zeppelin when she showed herself for a moment, +and he had said to himself:</p> + +<p>"Twelve thousand feet, and then there'll be a chance! But nothing +less than that will do."</p> + +<p>He was impatient therefore to get higher and higher, for he feared +the raiders would discharge or jettison their cargo of bombs before +he could get at them. They certainly would have done, had they known +that at that very moment Himmelman's rival was climbing to meet them, +on a Buckstead Bullet, which could do one hundred and thirty miles an +hour when pushed.</p> + +<p>Already a number of bombs had been dropped, and away to the northward +several fires could be seen where the night-raiders had left their +victims behind, in the shape of burning homesteads, where the victims +were women and children, old men and invalids; but the avenger was at +hand, and the hour of reckoning had come.</p> + +<p>"Eight thousand, nine thousand feet!" clicked the indicator, though +its voice was lost in the roar of the engine and propellor.</p> + +<p>At eight thousand feet Dastral passed several of the 'planes which +had preceded him, and at nine thousand he left the last of them +behind him and entered into a bank of clouds. Never once had he +ceased his rapid, climbing spirals, and now, through the misty, +clinging vapour of the clouds he still soared heavenwards. Once or +twice he stopped his engines just to listen for a few seconds, but he +heard nothing except the whir-r-r-r of the 'planes beneath him.</p> + +<p>He was ahead of them all now, for his engines were running +beautifully, and the "Bullet" raced through the next layer of clouds +as a fish darts through the waters. It was becoming lighter also, for +he could catch glimpses of the stars, and the remaining clouds were +thinner than those below. Soon, he would be above them all, and +perhaps above the raider. It was cold too, bitterly cold, but his +young blood coursed madly through his veins, and his heart beat +quicker and quicker.</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand. Eleven thousand," laughed the indicator, joining +merrily in the hunt, for it seemed to Dastral now that he could hear +those weird voices of the night, speaking to him and calling him up +and up, ever higher and higher. Yes, the clouds and the stars were +calling him, and the music and rhythm of that pulsating engine a few +feet away, and the whir-r-r of those propellors just ahead, seemed to +make him almost light-headed, so that he began to laugh and sing.</p> + +<p>He thought of crooked Tim far down below, and what he had said about +the romance and the music, and from the pilot's lips there fell +involuntarily the words:</p> + +<p>"Poor Tim! How he would like to be up here alone, and to listen to +all these voices of the night!"</p> + +<p>As Dastral thought thus, he looked down, far down into the blackness, +and he saw the flashes of the searchlights. Sometimes they reached up +to him long extended arms that seemed to unite him to the earth, but +he could scarcely believe that he had ever dwelt down there in that +abyss of murky darkness. Yet always he swerved aside, and evaded +those long stretching pillars of light, for he knew that if he +crossed their beams but once, other eyes would see him, and the +raider above would be warned of his near approach.</p> + +<p>Suddenly at twelve thousand feet the monoplane shook itself as though +dashing the clinging moisture from its yellow wings, and leapt, like +a fish out of the water, above the topmost layer of clouds.</p> + +<p>And now with keen searching eyes Dastral looked above and around for +the presence of the raider, but she was nowhere to be seen. Below him +rolled the clouds, like dark, monstrous billows. Here and there +through an opening he still saw the flashes of the searchlights +feeling for their prey. But above his head the sky was aflame with +millions of stars. Right across from east to west, like a silvery +pathway to heaven, shone the Milky Way, luminous with light, and +along that trail of diamonds shone the bigger stars, in the +constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Aquila. And far down in the +east, Orion the Hunter chased the dancing Pleiades, as he did +thousands of years before aeroplanes were ever dreamt of.</p> + +<p>"But where is the Boche?" Dastral asked himself again and again.</p> + +<p>He was beginning to fear that he had lost him. Perhaps the Hun had +caught sight of him as he came through the clouds, and had now +departed unseen, as he came.</p> + +<p>"Great Scott, have I missed him after all?" he cried. "For months and +months I have been longing to fight with a Zeppelin, and now he's +slipped me."</p> + +<p>And for ten minutes he circled about, stopping his engines once or +twice to listen for the roar of the invader's engines and propellors. +Suddenly something whizzed past him and burst into a jet of flame. It +was a shrapnel with a time fuse. Then another and another. They were +firing again, then, down below, and they must have picked up the +airship once more.</p> + +<p>"Good!" he exclaimed. "She must be somewhere near me too, for I am +almost in the line of fire."</p> + +<p>Looking down he saw what had happened. The clouds in which the +Zeppelin had been hiding were breaking up and drifting away, for a +fresh, cold wind had sprung up from the east.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ah! I shall see her soon. She cannot escape me now. I shall find +her in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Whiz! Puff!" came another time fuse, and burst not fifty feet away, +several pieces of which pierced the left wing of the monoplane.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, but that was close!" he cried, throwing out three balls, +which burst into red flame as they fell towards the earth, and was +the signal for the Archies to stop firing.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there she is!" exclaimed the daring pilot, as, out of the +clouds, a thousand feet below him, he saw a black mass emerge against +the lighter background of the thinning clouds. At the same instant +the searchlights found her, and a dozen long arms of streaming light +focussed their united rays upon her.</p> + +<p>"Gemini! What a target!" cried Dastral, as he pulled the joy-stick +over and dived to the attack, without a second's hesitation.</p> + +<p>His gun, already cocked and ready to fire through the whirling +propellor, and loaded with the new flaming bullet, was brought to +bear.</p> + +<p>Down, down he went, firing rapidly all the while. Then underneath and +alongside her he raced, pumping his second and third drum into the +huge looming mass.</p> + +<p>Far below his friends saw the whirling monoplane, in the glare of the +searchlight, for now it was as bright as day. The A.A. guns had +ceased their fire in response to his signals, but the men on the +doomed Zeppelin brought three or four of their eleven machine guns to +bear upon him, but it was too late. They knew the deadly peril they +were in, and it was impossible for them with their unsteady nerves to +hit any vital part of that waspish little fiend, which circled round, +above and below them at a truly terrific rate.</p> + +<p>Dastral, in his rapid nose-dive, had dipped five hundred feet below +the monster and flattened out to return to the attack, but, as he +commenced his climb again he saw that the silvery glare of the +Zeppelin, as it had appeared to him but twenty seconds before in the +lure of the searchlights, had taken on a ruby glow, which, as he +mounted up, became a ruddy glare.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! She is on fire already!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>It was only too true. The engines had been set going, for the +Zeppelin commander had tried to make his escape, just as he was +discovered, but it was too late. He had never suspected that +Himmelman's terrible opponent was overhead, having climbed up twelve +thousand feet while he had been hiding in the cloud.</p> + +<p>"Ach! Gott in Himmel! Wir sind verloren! Donner and Blitz!"</p> + +<p>Never will Dastral forget the sight which he beheld that night, close +at hand, for the Huns now realised that all was lost, and that a +terrible and speedy vengeance awaited them all from which there was +no escape. As the huge envelope kindled into fierce leaping flames, +two hundred feet high, the pilot could plainly see the panic-stricken +crew of the doomed airship, wringing their hands in terror and +fright, as they dashed madly along the narrow footways that led from +one gondola to another, trying to escape, till the last second, from +the fierce flames that spurted out above and below, and licked up and +consumed everything with their intense heat.</p> + +<p>It was truly a terrible sight, and the burning mass lit up the +countryside far below as well as the great metropolis away to the +south. Never since the day when every hill-top in England was aflame +with the fires that announced the coming of the Spanish Armada, in +the days of the great sea-dogs, had such a beacon been lighted in +this land of ours.</p> + +<p>Down, down fell the flaming mass, lower and lower, while the daring +pilot, bewildered at what he had done, followed her, circling round +and round, till, when some eight thousand feet from the ground, one +of her four hundred-weight bombs, with which her crew had hoped to +wipe out some peaceful village, exploded with the intense heat.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m! Crash!" came the terrible sound, and the flaming mass, +shivered into a thousand fragments by the explosion, fell down to the +peaceful earth below with the charred and mutilated bodies of its +crew of baby-killers.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Dastral, guided by a score of still flaming +fragments about the adjacent fields, landed safely on the level +stretch of grass from which he had ascended to fight the midnight +raider.</p> + +<p>Next morning the daring pilot was decorated by His Majesty King +George, and ten days later, having bade farewell to his friend, Tim +Burkitt, he was back with his Squadron in France, and leading "B" +Flight over the German lines once again.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter07"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VII</h3> + +<h4 align="center">COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART"</h4> + +<p>"REVEILLE! Show a leg there!" shouted Corporal Yap, one morning, as +he went round the tents and hangars about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>The sleepy air-mechanics of the Royal Flying Corps in the field +opened their eyes and yawned, showing no immediate disposition to +rise, for the fatigue of the previous day's work had scarcely passed +away.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear me, Cowdie, you, 'spare part.' Get up there smartly. I +shan't call you again. If you're not on parade in fifteen minutes +you'll be for the high jump."</p> + +<p>"'S all right, Corporal," shouted the "spare part," trying to wriggle +out of his roll of blankets and commencing to sing in a doleful +monotone:</p> + +<br> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">"Oh, it' snice to get up in the mornin'<br></b> +<b class="standard indent20 fontsize80">But it' snicer to stop in bed..."<br></b> +<br> + +<p> +Corporal Yap turned and went off on his errand, shaking up a few more +"spare parts," and threatening everybody more or less with "the high +jump"; which, of course, meant an appearance before the Commanding +Officer of the Squadron.</p> + +<p>As soon as his woolly head had disappeared behind the flap of the +tent door, Cowdie rolled back into his blankets for another +minute-and-a-half's nap. As he lay there he looked for all the world +like an Egyptian mummy, for he had a peculiar way of rolling himself +up in his blankets at night which gave him that appearance. But +although his eyes were closed his ears were wide awake for the soft, +stealthy tread of the orderly N.C.O., who he knew would be sure to +return in about the space of ninety seconds to try to find who had +left his warning unheeded.</p> + +<p>Cowdie, though a spare part about the aerodrome, was quite a genius +in his way. His senses were so acute that the others said he could +hear the "footsteps" of a snake in the grass, so they dubbed him the +"listening post" and made him sleep next the door of the tent, so +that he could always give the alarm in case of need.</p> + +<p>At the present moment he was counting under his breath. He knew the +orderly's round, and knew to a nicety how long it would take him to +get back to tent No. 7. He allowed ninety seconds, and he had just +got as far as "eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine," when he +suddenly stood bolt upright in his roll of blankets, thereby +performing a wonderful gymnastic feat, and looking, with his sleeping +cap over his head and ears, not unlike a Turk preparing for his +morning ablutions.</p> + +<p>Evidently he had heard some soft stealthy tread on the grass outside, +for exactly at "ninety" the woolly head of Corporal Yap appeared at +the door once more, and his yapping voice called:</p> + +<p>"Caught you this time, you trilobite. Out you come! Can't say I +didn't give you warning, Cowdie!"</p> + +<p>Then catching sight of his man in the grey morning light, the +Corporal gasped, and fell back a pace or two.</p> + +<p>"The deuce! Do you sleep standing up, man?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes," replied the Spare Part. "M.O.'s orders. Number Nine told +me to do so the last time I reported sick."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to? About to have a Turkish bath, I s'pose; all +right, my man, I'll catch you yet. If you're not on parade in twelve +minutes, bath or no bath, you're for it. D'y'understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Corporal, but I'm not going to have a bath. They're dangerous. +Number Nine ordered me not to. Said I'd got a murmuring heart, he +did," replied the Spare Part meekly.</p> + +<p>"Murmuring heart, have you? Then where are you goin' to in that rig?"</p> + +<p>"Ain't goin' anywhere; Corporal. I'm standin' still."</p> + +<p>"What are you standin' still for?"</p> + +<p>"Waitin' for my turn with the shavin' brush," came the quiet answer.</p> + +<p>At this the Corporal departed, swearing wrathfully, for he was no +match for Cowdie. At his departure the rest of the company in No. 7 +tent burst into loud laughter, for they enjoyed immensely this daily +tug-of-war between the bullying orderly N.C.O. and the apparently +meek but cunning Cowdie, who was a great favourite, despite the +nickname of "Spare Part," and "Regimental Cuckoo," which had been +bestowed upon him.</p> + +<p>Though he had lost two minutes in the start yet Cowdie was dressed, +washed and shaved first as usual, for somehow he had the knack of +literally jumping into his clothes, even when the men received an +alarm and were turned out in the dark of the night.</p> + +<p>These little morning episodes did much to enliven the men and to help +them to endure the dull fatigue and monotony which was part of the +lot of every man ho went overseas with the British Expeditionary +Force. All the time they were preparing for the roll call, dressing, +shaving, rolling up their beds, tidying their kits, a running fire of +sparkling wit and frolic was kept up.</p> + +<p>Even when the aerodrome was bombed by the German aeroplanes, which +happened two or three times each week, almost always just as dawn was +breaking, these brave men joked just the same, amid the bursting +bombs, and the blinding flashes of the explosions, the ensuing +crashes, and the rattle of the anti-aircraft guns with which the +aerodrome was defended.</p> + +<p>While the shaving was in progress this morning and three of the men +were trying to shave by the aid of one little cracked mirror about +three inches by two in size, Brat, the despatch-rider attached to the +squadron, said to the inimitable Cowdie,</p> + +<p>"I hope you finished that letter last night, old man. You finished up +all that two inches of candle I lent you. It must have been a long +letter you wrote."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't quite finish it," replied Cowdie quietly.</p> + +<p>"Was it another letter to your little girl in Old Blighty?"</p> + +<p>"No, it was a short letter to mother," replied the Spare Part in a +choking voice.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! And you didn't finish it?"</p> + +<p>"No," came the quiet answer, as Cowdie began to attack his upper lip, +which was all quivering with apparent emotion.</p> + +<p>"What did you say, then?"</p> + +<p>"I said, 'Dear Mother,--I am sending you five shillings, but not this +week.'"</p> + +<p>At this a burst of laughter from the whole party called forth the ire +of Old Snorty, who was passing by, for he had been up early, with +several squads of air-mechanics, seeing off "B" Flight, who were +paying another early morning visit to the enemy.</p> + +<p>"A little less noise there, Number Seven, or some of you'll be in the +guard room. How the deuce can we hear when 'B' Flight's coming in, if +you kick up a row like that?"</p> + +<p>"Old Snorty seems to have something on his mind this morning, doesn't +he?" said some one. "'B' Flight won't be back for a couple of hours +yet."</p> + +<p>So the men were quiet for a whole minute after that until the +sergeant-major, having passed out of earshot, and there still being +three minutes left for parade, the men returned to their chaff and +titter, Brat leading off again by saying:</p> + +<p>"That letter of yours, Cowdie, reminds me of another chap who worked +alongside of me near St. Pierre with the --th Squadron. He once wrote +a letter to his mother as follows:</p> + +<br> +<p> +"'Dear Mother,--Enclosed please find fifteen shillings. I cannot.<br> +<b CLASS="standard indent50">"'Your affectionate son, John.'"</b> +</p> +<br> + +<p> +And the joke was reckoned so good in our squadron that we raised the +money for the poor chap, and he sent it after all."</p> + +<p>"Fall in!" came a stentorian shout, as Brat finished telling this +yarn. And the men of Number Seven doubled up to fall in on the left, +and answer their names to the early morning roll, for another day had +begun, and more than one man of that small crowd was to prove himself +a hero before another sun should come up out of the German lines +beyond Ginchy, and set in blood-red clouds behind the British lines.</p> + +<p>Some two hours after that, as the men busy about the labours of the +day, which in an aerodrome, under active service conditions, range +from the rigging of a defective aeroplane, mending struts, replacing +controls, preparing ammunition dumps, to the taking down of a R.A.F. +engine, and while "A" Flight was returning from a reconnaissance, and +"C" Flight was preparing to go up and over the lines on a bombing +raid, Grenfell, the orderly officer at the aerodrome 'phone, received +a broken message from somewhere near Ginchy.</p> + +<p>The message had to do with the crash of a British 'plane somewhere in +front or just behind the first line trenches, but a terrific +bombardment being concentrated on the place at the time the message +suddenly ceased, as though the wires had been broken, or the speaker +at the other end put out of action.</p> + +<p>A minute later Snorty came dashing down towards the spot where Number +Seven squad were working.</p> + +<p>"Where is Brat?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"Over there, sir, in the transport shed," replied Cowdie.</p> + +<p>"Fetch him at once!"</p> + +<p>And Cowdie dashed off to find his chum, bringing him back a moment +later.</p> + +<p>"Bratby!" shouted Snorty, giving the despatch-rider his full name for +once, as he saw the two doubling up.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," came the answer smartly.</p> + +<p>"You know the observing officer's dug-out near Ginchy?"</p> + +<p>"The place where I carried the despatches the other day, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I know it."</p> + +<p>"Good! Go there at once. The wires are snapped again, and we have +received a broken message through which stopped in the middle. One of +our 'planes has come down. It must be part of 'B' Flight, for they're +not in yet. Go there at once, take this message to the officer or +senior N.C.O. in charge, and get the full message from him. Learn +what you can while you are there, and come back at once, so that we +may send out a breakdown gang for the machine, if not too late."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir."</p> + +<p>"Mind, we want the exact location of the machine, and you must try to +find out if it is a bad crash, and what has become of the pilot and +observer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Now get off at once. It is five minutes since the machine crashed. +And be careful now. There are some nasty corners there, and the +Germans are shelling the Ginchy lines 'hell for leather' this +morning."</p> + +<p>Then, catching sight of Cowdie, for whom he had rather a soft place +in his rugged heart, the Sergeant-Major added,</p> + +<p>"Better take the 'Spare Part' with you. You may need a second man."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir."</p> + +<p>The next moment the two chums, happy as schoolboys because they were +entrusted with a dangerous commission, had the "New Triumph" out of +the shed. Then, with Cowdie seated on the carrier, Brat on the +saddle, away they went, past the aerodrome sentries, out at the gate, +and down the road towards the trenches.</p> + +<p>"Zinc-zinc-a-bonck-rep-r-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>But, alas, it was an adventure which was to prove something more than +a joy ride, before another two hours were past.</p> + +<p>It was a clear sunny morning as they pattered along, wondering much +what new venture it was that awaited them. Over there towards Ginchy +the air was thick with bursting shells, and the clear, blue sky was +marked in a score of places at once by aeroplanes and kite balloons, +whilst round about them were splashes of fire, and floating +milk-white cloudlets where the shells burst, as the Huns tried to +bring down our "birds."</p> + +<p>An air-fight was in progress already over Ginchy; two Fokkers which +had ventured near the British lines were being countered and chased +by several of our Sopwiths. They were two of the very same Fokkers +which had chased Dastral and the remnant of "B" Flight after their +drums of ammunition were all used up.</p> + +<p>But Dastral, where was he at this moment? This was the thought that +was uppermost in the minds of the two men as they whizzed down the +Ginchy road, leaving Bazentin on their left. For of all the pilots of +the --th Squadron, Dastral was the greatest favourite with the men. +He was so brilliant and daring that they felt they could not afford +to lose him.</p> + +<p>"I hope it isn't Dastral who has crashed, Cowdie," said Brat.</p> + +<p>"I hope not," replied Cowdie, feeling at the time somehow that it +could be no one else.</p> + +<p>"'B' Flight ought to have returned some time ago now. I'm very much +afraid they've met their match this time. We could afford to lose +half a dozen men rather than the Commander of 'B' Flight."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he's met Himmelman," urged the man on the carrier, steadying +himself for the next heavy jolt, for the last one had nearly thrown +him off, and the bad places were becoming more and more plentiful as +they neared the lines.</p> + +<p>"He will meet him some day, and there'll be a deuce of a fight. Just +mark my words. There isn't room for two lords of the air, not in +these parts, and one of them will go under."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope it will be the Boche."</p> + +<p>"So it will be if they meet on equal terms, but the German air-fiend +is a wily brute."</p> + +<p>"Whiz-z-z! Bang-g-g!" came a shell at that moment, striking the +ground not thirty yards away from them, and sending both men and +motor-cycle spinning into the ditch by the very concussion.</p> + +<p>"Not hurt, are you, Cowdie?" asked Brat, as he scrambled out of the +ditch first, and ran to help his friend.</p> + +<p>"No, but it was a very near thing that. Another few inches and that +would have been the end of the regimental 'spare part.' Look here!" +and Cowdie showed a rent in his tunic where a piece of shrapnel had +torn away six inches of it behind the left shoulder.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, though both were shaken, neither of the men had been +actually hit It was a marvellous escape, however, one of those things +one cannot account for. Though the machine had been badly knocked +about and splintered, it had received no vital injury, and, after +straightening out a few spokes, and cutting away a few more they +mounted again and proceeded a little further.</p> + +<p>"Halt Who goes there?" came the shout as they pattered up to the +support trenches.</p> + +<p>They halted and dismounted, and after telling their business were +allowed to proceed, but they were cautioned that the road ahead was +full of shell holes, and that they would not be able to ride much +further. They would certainly be stopped at the reserve trenches.</p> + +<p>Once more they started, their heads throbbing and aching with the +noise of the terrific bombardment which was proceeding, for they were +now in the super-danger zone, and shells were screaming overhead +every few seconds, and many were bursting on their left and on their +right.</p> + +<p>Again they were halted, this time by a sentry near the second line +trenches, and were absolutely refused permission to proceed further +till they explained to the officer of the company commanding the +trench what their errand was.</p> + +<p>"Wires broken, did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Nearly all the wires to the front line trenches in this sector have +been broken. We have had the engineers out all the morning mending +them."</p> + +<p>"There is news of one of our fighting 'planes having crashed +somewhere over there, half an hour ago, sir," said Bratby, "and we +have been ordered to proceed as near as possible to the place, to +find out what has happened, as the aerodrome wire has been snapped."</p> + +<p>"An aeroplane crashed, did you say?" asked the officer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"There have been half a dozen of them down in front of us since seven +o'clock this morning; most of them German, I think."</p> + +<p>"This was one of ours, sir."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw it. There were two of them came down about the same time, +but the other one fell by our support trenches and the pilot and +observer were saved."</p> + +<p>"And the other one, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there is no hope for that one. She came down over there near our +front line trench, and she was blazing when she crashed. We could not +get at her, or at least we kept the men back who volunteered, as the +Germans turned their machine guns on her directly she hit the ground +and swept the spot for twenty minutes."</p> + +<p>"The devils!" ejaculated Brat, looking more serious than he had ever +looked in his life, while a strange light shone in Cowdie's eyes.</p> + +<p>"We were told that we must get to the dug-out of Captain Grenfell, +somewhere in the front line trench."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well; but you fellows go at your own risk. The Boches have +been shelling the place like hell most of the time since daybreak."</p> + +<p>"We're quite prepared to take the risk, sir!" replied Cowdie.</p> + +<p>"Come this way, then, and mind that corner. We call it Hell-fire +Corner these days, for we have lost more men there than at any other +point," replied the officer.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later he handed them over to a sergeant, with +instructions to conduct them to the dug-out where Captain Grenfell +and his two operators still held on to the end of the broken wires. +No messages had come through for some time, but several squads of +Royal Engineers were busy crawling out in the open and trying to find +the loose ends in order to restore communication.</p> + +<p>When they arrived there Captain Grenfell gave them the full text of +the message which he had tried to get through, and pointed out to +them the place where the ruins of the aeroplane lay, for they were +still smoking.</p> + +<p>"But the pilot, sir, where is he? And where is the observer? They +were the best men in the Squadron, and their loss will be felt +greatly, for Lieutenant Dastral was reckoned the best pilot in +France, and great things were expected from him in the near future," +said Brat.</p> + +<p>For answer the Captain shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture +which seemed to indicate that he feared the case was hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Their bodies must be somewhere over there. Several of our men +volunteered to go over to rescue them, but every man who went over +the top went to his death, until the O.C. refused permission for any +more to attempt it, for he said he could not spare the men."</p> + +<p>While they were thus discussing the matter, one of the sentries a +little further down the trench gave an alarm:</p> + +<p>"Cloud of gas or fog coming over, sir, from the German lines!"</p> + +<p>Brat and Cowdie, at these words, peeped over the edge of the parapet, +and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, a dense yellowish vapour +coming slowly onward from a point where the enemy's lines curved +round and faced the British lines from almost due south-east. The +order was passed quickly down the lines for the men to don their +gas-helmets, but the C.O. coming along the trench shortly afterwards, +remarked that it could not possibly be gas, for, from the direction +whence it came, it would pass onwards over a portion of the enemy's +lines at a spot where the trenches curved back again and made a +salient. At this point the lines twisted and bent themselves into +many curious salients, for the last advance had not thoroughly +straightened out the position.</p> + +<p>"The Germans are not such fools as to gas their own men, Grenfell, +what do you say?" remarked the officer commanding the trench to +Grenfell, who had come out of his dug-out to get a view of the cloud.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. There must be some other reason."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and the reason is, I think, a change of wind which is bringing +on a dense fog."</p> + +<p>"You are quite right, sir," added the other, after regarding the air +and sky for some ten seconds. "There has been a sudden change of +wind, and a dense local fog is coming up from the valley. The whole +landscape will be blotted out in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Grenfell," replied the officer. Then, turning to his +orderly-sergeant, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Pass the order for the men to stand-to! There is no telling but that +the Boches may come over the top with the fog, and try to surprise +us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," came the reply smartly, and the sergeant, saluting, +disappeared along the trench, calling out the men from the dug-outs, +and ordering a general "stand-to."</p> + +<p>The chance was too good to be lost. Cowdie gave Brat a dig in the +ribs, and whispered to him,</p> + +<p>"Now is the time. See, the fog thickens, and it is nearly up to the +wrecked aeroplane. Let's go over, or the Boches will be there first. +They're sure to try it on. What say you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm with you, old man, but it will be an awful job. Have you got +your revolver loaded, for we've got nothing else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied his chum, feeling that his weapon was safe in the +leather case, which hung at his left side.</p> + +<p>"Come on, then; we haven't a second to lose."</p> + +<p>The next instant they were over the top, and making a dash for the +spot already hidden in the fog.</p> + +<p>"Come back there, you fellows!" cried a sergeant of the Wiltshires, +whose company lined the trench. "Where the deuce are you going to?"</p> + +<p>"To save Lieutenant Dastral and his observer, sergeant! Don't let +your men fire on us. We'll be back in five minutes," shouted Bratby.</p> + +<p>"Devil a bit of use you fellows throwing your lives away like that. +The Boches are sure to attack under cover of the fog. Come back, the +pilot must have been dead an hour. The machine was ablaze when it +crashed," called the sergeant again.</p> + +<p>To this they returned no answer, but scampered as fast as they could +across the broken ground, creeping under barbed wire, and stumbling +into shell holes, for the ground had been torn and rent by the +morning's bombardment, and huge gaps had been made in the barbed wire +defences.</p> + +<p>Now, when Dastral, his ammunition expended, his machine damaged to +such an extent that it scarcely held together, had reached the +British lines that morning, after the brilliant reconnaissance he had +carried out with his Flight, he made a steep gradient to get to earth +at the first possible landing-place, but even as he made the attempt +he knew he would fail. The wasp's fuselage was plugged in a hundred +places. The petrol feed had been severed by shrapnel, and a shell +from the German lines, hitting the reserve petrol tank, set it +ablaze, just at the moment when he was making for the ground.</p> + +<p>Half-blinded by the flames and scorched by the heat, he, +nevertheless, held the joystick firmly, and tried to reach his +objective, but, when near the trenches, the machine nose-dived and +crashed, side-slipping to the earth, so that the left aileron struck +the ground first. Then she rolled over, and crumpled up. She did not +strike the ground with any great force, because Dastral had kept her +so well in hand.</p> + +<p>Disentangling himself from the wreckage first, bruised, and burnt, he +yet remembered Jock, who had received still greater injury.</p> + +<p>"Jock!" he called. "Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>But no reply came from the unconscious observer, who lay under the +wreckage which was now in flames.</p> + +<p>"Come along, old man! Pull yourself together. The Huns are sure to +turn their machine guns upon us in a few seconds."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke there came the dreaded sound, which told that the +infernal Huns had opened fire upon the wreckage.</p> + +<p>"Rep-p-p! Rep-r-r-r-r-r!"</p> + +<p>A howl of rage went up from the British trenches at this act of +cowardice, which permitted men to turn their guns upon wounded +officers, entangled in the wreckage of a burning aeroplane.</p> + +<p>"Come on, boys, let's give 'em 'ell!" shouted some of the Wiltshires, +when they saw what was happening, and at least a dozen men sprang out +of the British trenches of their own free will in a useless attempt +to save the lives of the aviators, but every man fell long before he +gained the spot where the wreckage lay.</p> + +<p>Dastral, however, kept cool, and seeing a pilot's boot projecting +from under the blazing he seized it, and tugged away, until the +unconscious form of his chum lay at his feet. Then, heedless of the +bullets still whizzing around him, he dragged his comrade quickly +into the friendly shelter of a huge crater, a dozen yards away. Even +as he rolled over into the hollow, after throwing Jock in first, his +thick, leather pilot's coat was pierced by several bullets, and he +himself was wounded again.</p> + +<p>Still cheerful, however, he bandaged his wound, then endeavoured to +rouse Jock, but all his efforts failed.</p> + +<p>So he searched him, found several wounds, bound them up as well as he +could with the emergency lint and bandages which every soldier on +active service carries in the lining of his coat. Then, through sheer +loss of blood he fainted away, and lay there he knew not how long, +for he was thoroughly exhausted, and felt that he was dying.</p> + +<p>As he slumbered, sheltered in that little hollow from the direct fire +of the enemy, he became feverish, and dreamt wild, fantastic dreams. +With Jock beside him he sailed away on the hornet, over distant +lands, where the skies were blue and the sun shone bright and the +atmosphere was pleasant and warm.</p> + +<p>Here there were no Germans to worry them with shrapnel and bullets, +but calmly and serenely they sailed over huge forests and deserts, +swamps and islands, which studded the deep blue sea far below them, +like gems set in emerald. Now they were in the tropics, skimming +along over huge palm trees, and lagoons that opened out into the sea. +Great monsters basked in the sunlight on the banks of the rivers and +lagoons, and on the shores of the sea. They were in an unknown land +discovering strange places. Just such a trip it was as Jock and he +had often talked about, when, the day's work done, they had settled +in the comfortable arm-chairs in the officers' mess at the aerodrome +near Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>Often they had talked of these things, and the trips they were going +to make in the happy years to come, when the fighting was all over, +and the smoke of battle had blown away, and the liberties of mankind +had been won back from the tyrants of these latter days.</p> + +<p>Thus he dreamt, for he was feverish, while over him the shells burst, +and the great guns thundered, and all around, upon the wide-stretched +battlefields, the dead and the dying lay. And always he was parched +and thirsty, and sometimes he would turn and say to Jock:</p> + +<p>"There, far below us in the desert, Jock, I can see an oasis, with +pools of cold refreshing water, and a cluster of tall trees, where we +shall find dates and figs. Let us go down, Jock."</p> + +<p>But the vision would fade before he reached the promised land, and +the cup of water was dashed from his lips, and the goblet broken. +Again he would see across the desert, which now seemed interminable, +mystic and wonderful lakes of fresh water. But always he was mocked, +and again and again those horrid German guns would thunder out from +far below and forbid them to land.</p> + +<p>Suddenly from out of the midst of his dream, he heard some one +calling his name.</p> + +<p>"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral!"</p> + +<p>He turned uneasily in his sleep; then he woke with a start, and +looked about him. His brow was flushed, his head burned as though it +were on fire, and his eyes glittered. All seemed dark, for the +landscape was blotted out by a dark cloud.</p> + +<p>Half regaining consciousness he murmured:</p> + +<p>"Where am I? Who called me?" But while he wondered, his hand touched +something, and he shrank back startled. It was Jock's poor wounded +and bruised body that he had touched. Then he remembered it all. The +flight over the German lines; the attack which had been made upon +them by a whole German squadron; the fierce fight and the dash back, +followed by a cloud of Fokkers and Aviatiks. Then the crash----. Yes +he remembered it all now, and Jock, poor Jock must be dead, for he +had not moved, and they must have been there for hours, days +perhaps--at least, it seemed so, for it was dark as night, and it was +morning when they crashed.</p> + +<p>Then again he heard that welcome sound, a human voice, and it called +him by name.</p> + +<p>"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral, where are you?"</p> + +<p>And he feebly answered with all his strength.</p> + +<p>"Here! Here! For heaven's sake help us!"</p> + +<p>The next instant two burly forms came stumbling and rolling down the +crater, for Cowdie and Brat had just arrived at the spot, and as yet +scarcely an hour had elapsed since the crash. Strong arms were put +around the pilot, which raised him up, for he had fallen down again, +after his effort to rise. He had just time to murmur something, and +point to the unconscious form of his observer, when he relapsed into +unconsciousness again.</p> + +<p>"Thank God we have found you both, sir!" exclaimed a strong voice, +which seemed to resound again and again through his being.</p> + +<p>As the thick fog came on, the firing had been suspended for a moment. +It was a strange, weird silence that seemed to presage a coming +storm. Cowdie was the first to read its meaning.</p> + +<p>"Quick, Brat!" he cried. "They're going to attack. We must make a +dash for it."</p> + +<p>It was only too true. Scarcely had they reached the top of the +crater, and proceeded a dozen yards with their heavy burdens, when +they heard the sound of voices.</p> + +<p>"Hist! What was that?"</p> + +<p>They paused for a moment, and waited, but it seemed to them that +their panting and the loud thumping of their hearts would betray +them. How far had they to go yet? they asked each other. Then, with a +shudder, Cowdie turned and began to retrace his steps, whispering to +his comrade:</p> + +<p>"We have come the wrong way. Those are the German trenches over +there, and look, they are forming up over the top ready to attack."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! Then we are lost," replied his comrade.</p> + +<p>"No, we may yet be in time. Come along. It cannot be far."</p> + +<p>With his keen blue eyes Cowdie peered through the gloom, for Cowdie, +the "spare part," had been the first to make the discovery. He had +seen the shadowy forms of the Germans not twenty yards away. +Fortunately, they had not been observed as yet, but they were not out +of danger. They had regained their right direction, however. The +British trenches were not more than seventy yards away.</p> + +<p>On they stumbled, over the broken ground, through pools of water, and +soon they reached the tangled wire. Exhausted they were ready to sink +with fatigue, yet they held out. But their hands were bleeding and +torn by the wire, and their clothing was in shreds.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard the sound of voices behind them. Low voices +called to each other, and the tramp of feet was also heard.</p> + +<p>"They are advancing. Quick! quick!" shouted Cowdie.</p> + +<p>Then, knowing that the British trenches could not be more than thirty +yards in front of him, he called out:</p> + +<p>"Stand-to! The Huns are attacking!"</p> + +<p>The next instant a blaze of fire lit up the fog, as a dozen Very +lights were fired up from the British trenches. The two figures of +the men carrying the unconscious pilot and observer were clearly +outlined. The sergeant of the Wiltshires shouted to his men:</p> + +<p>"Don't fire! They are the R.F.C. men bringing in their officers."</p> + +<p>The firing, however, came from a different direction, for the +Germans, baulked of their prey, and seeing who had given them away, +opened fire, and Cowdie stumbled into the British first-line trench +into the arms of the sergeant of the Wiltshires, carrying his burden +to the last. He was dead, shot through the heart. He had made the +supreme sacrifice to save the man he loved.</p> + +<p>With a wild cheer the British received the welcome order to charge, +and the last thing that Brat remembered was that cheer, as the men +swept by him, and he also sank down with his load.</p> + +<p>Next day they buried Cowdie, "the regimental spare part." Gently they +laid him to rest in a little graveyard by a shattered church, behind +the British lines. And over his grave the bugles of the Wiltshires +sounded the solemn notes of the "Last Post." And his comrades in +Number 7 tent fired three volleys over the hero's grave, just as in +the olden days, two thousand years ago, AEneas and his comrades, when +they buried the hero Misenus, called his name thrice into the shades.</p> + +<p>And Bratby, he recovered from his wounds, and, to-day, upon his +breast he wears the ribbons of the Military Medal.</p> + +<p>Dastral and Jock also recovered from their wounds, for their work was +not yet done, and six weeks later were back from sick leave, +preparing once more to strafe the Huns.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter08"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE RAID ON KRUPPS</h4> + +<p>IT was a dark night, some two or three hours before dawn, when +Air-Mechanic Pearson, one of the outer sentries at the aerodrome near +Contalmaison, thought he heard the whirr of propellers somewhere in +the dark skies above.</p> + +<p>For a few seconds he peered up into the gloomy heavens, trying to +locate the sound, for he was very much puzzled, and could not account +for the sound on such a night.</p> + +<p>"They can't be aeroplanes returning from over the lines," he told +himself, "or we should have had notice to light the flares. It will +be a sheer impossibility to land without a crash on a dark night like +this."</p> + +<p>Again he listened, and he thought the droning sound settled down into +the throb of engines. He was anxious, however, not to call out the +guard on a false alarm, for he had once been severely reprimanded for +so doing.</p> + +<p>"They cannot be hostile 'planes attempting an early morning raid; it +is far too thick. It would be like a nigger trying to find a black +cat in a dark cellar," he muttered.</p> + +<p>A quarter of a minute later, however, he thought he had discovered +the real cause, for the throbbing of aerial engines could now be +distinctly heard.</p> + +<p>"It's a Zeppelin!" he exclaimed. "They're going to find the aerodrome +with their search-light, and bomb the place, then make off before our +machines can get up," and he instantly yelled out at the top of his +voice, "Turn out, guard!"</p> + +<p>The alarm was caught up, passed on to the next sentry, who repeated +it, and the next moment, after turning out the main guard, the +sergeant came running up, and asked:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Pearson?"</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin approaching from the eastward, sergeant!" replied the +air-mechanic.</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin, man! What the deuce do you mean? Where is it?"</p> + +<p>"Up there, sergeant. I can hear it quite plainly now."</p> + +<p>"By Jove, so can I!"</p> + +<p>The next moment the sergeant was back in the guard-room. From thence +he dashed into the orderly-room, and knocked at the inner door, where +the orderly officer for the night was on duty.</p> + +<p>"Come in," cried the officer in answer to the knocking. Then, as the +sergeant, all puffed with his exertion, entered and saluted, he said:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, sergeant?"</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin approaching from over the German lines, sir. Hadn't we +better 'phone to the anti-aircraft guns, and the searchlights to pick +up the raider before he bombs the place?" for to the sergeant's mind, +visions of falling bombs and terrific explosions were present.</p> + +<p>"Zeppelin?" laughed the orderly officer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I can hear the engines as plainly as possible outside."</p> + +<p>"No, you're mistaken. It's the 'Gertie' returning. She's been out on +secret service work behind the German lines. I've been expecting her +for a couple of hours. Not a word of this to the men, now. I am +expecting a secret service man back before dawn, and the 'Gertie's' +been to fetch him. Picked him up at some secret place in the dark, +far behind the enemy's lines."</p> + +<p>Now, the "Gertie" was a baby-airship detailed for special service, +and not the least important part of her work was the secret +journeying to and fro, across the German lines, to quiet rural +places, where, in the dark, she dropped messages, carrier pigeons, +etc., and occasionally brought back some daring member of the British +Secret Service, who had been collecting information behind the +enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>By this time the orderly officer was out on the aerodrome, and the +squads of air-mechanics were being roused by the orderly sergeant. +Suddenly there came a cry from one of the guard.</p> + +<p>"Airship signalling to the aerodrome, sir!"</p> + +<p>"What signal was that?" demanded the officer.</p> + +<p>"Two green lights and a red, sir, over there, half a mile away," came +the reply.</p> + +<p>"That's right. It's the 'Gertie' trying to find the landing place. +Flight-sergeant, where are you?"</p> + +<p>"Here, sir," came the answer, as the aerodrome flight-sergeant, just +roused by the alarm, rushed up, without putties or tunic on.</p> + +<p>"Light the usual flares at the landing-place, and give the Brigade +colours as well."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>And the next instant he had disappeared into the darkness again to +hurry up the air-mechanics and to light the flares. The "Gertie" had +very nearly found her mark, having over-shot it but half a mile or so +in the pitchy darkness, which was a very creditable performance.</p> + +<p>As soon as the flares were lighted, her engines, which had been shut +off, were heard again, as she gradually came nearer and nearer, +until, when right overhead, she began to descend slowly.</p> + +<p>"There she comes! This way, lads!" cried the stentorian voice of +Snorty, whose piercing eyes were amongst the first to spot the +looming mass overhead.</p> + +<p>"Steady, there, steady!" came the next order, as the ropes and drags +were lowered, and the men made a scramble for them. And, in a very +short space of time the baby-airship was made fast, and from the +single gondola, in which five men were cooped, some one leapt out, +who held in his hand a bundle of documents.</p> + +<p>"Captain Scott, I believe, sir," said the orderly officer stepping +forward.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Are you Lieutenant Grenfell?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." And with that the two men went off together to the +private room of the orderly officer.</p> + +<p>The newcomer was the bearer of some important plans and sketches, to +obtain which he had risked his life every hour of the day and night +during the past three weeks. They were nothing less than detailed +plans of the great German arsenal at Krupps', for which the +Commanding Officer had been anxiously waiting. For some time +previously, the C.O. had received from the War Office, through the +General Headquarters in the field, a peremptory order, something like +the following:--</p> + +<br> +<br> +<i>"To the Officer Commanding,</i><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent10"><i>"--th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.</i></b> +<br> + +<p> +"It is of vital importance that the enemy's supply of munitions +should be hampered and restricted as far as possible, in view of the +offensive to be undertaken shortly. As soon, therefore, as the +necessary plans and papers reach you, you will detail one of your +best flights, under your most capable Flight-Commander, to carry out +the first raid on the enemy's main arsenal at Krupp'."</p> +<br> + +<p> +This document, signed by one of the generals commanding in the field, +had been in the hands of the Squadron-Commander for some days, and he +had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the promised plans and +sketches. As soon, therefore, as the orderly officer received them, +he sent Brat, the despatch-rider, with his motor cycle and side car +to the C.O.'s quarters. And ten minutes later that distinguished +person was leaving the officers' quarters on his way to the +aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Having arrived, after ten minutes' chat with the officer belonging to +the secret service, his first words were:</p> + +<p>"Grenfell, ask Flight-Commander Dastral to come down at once."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>And on his next journey, Brat fetched Dastral down from his bunk at +the mess to join the party.</p> + +<p>"Dastral," was the first word from the C.O. as soon as the daring +young pilot entered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Commander, saluting smartly.</p> + +<p>"Here's something for you after your own heart."</p> + +<p>"What is that, sir?" asked the youth, smiling.</p> + +<p>"The promised raid on Krupps'. How would you like to undertake it +with your flight? You have often spoken about it."</p> + +<p>"Nothing would please me better, sir."</p> + +<p>"And the other fellows belonging to your flight, what about them?"</p> + +<p>"They would follow me anywhere, sir!"</p> + +<p>"Gad, I believe they would, for they all worship you. I believe +they'd follow you to 'Gulfs,' if you led them there."</p> + +<p>Dastral laughed, and repeated his avowal, that he would be only too +pleased to start at dawn should the weather conditions prove good +enough.</p> + +<p>"Right!" exclaimed the major. "Then, you'd better spend the next two +hours with Captain Scott here, and with your men. Get thoroughly hold +of these plans, and fix them in your mind."</p> + +<p>So, while breakfast was laid for the Intelligence officer, Dastral +got his men together, including Mac and Jock. Afterwards the eight +men who were going into action carefully laid their plans, arranging +a code of signals and the method of attack, should they succeed in +reaching their destination. Then they went over to the sheds, +examined and tested the machines, saw them loaded up with bombs and +drums of ammunition. The guns, compasses, etc., were then shipped and +everything was ready.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked at his watch. In an hour it would be dawn.</p> + +<p>"We must be off, boys. We must cros the German lines before +daybreak."</p> + +<p>"Right, sir," replied the others, "We can be ready in ten minutes."</p> + +<p>Then, having previously breakfasted, they put on their thick leather +coats, pilots' boots and helmets, and made ready. The C.O. came down +to wish them godspeed and a safe return. The probable time of their +return was fixed, and it was arranged that an escort should meet them +on their way back to defend them from hostile aircraft, lest any of +them should be in difficulties, and unable, through damaged machines +or lack of ammunition, to fight their way home.</p> + +<p>"Stand by! Contact, switch off!" came the order.</p> + +<p>The propellors were swung vigorously once or twice, then, one after +another, the engines broke into their mighty song, and the machines +taxied off into the darkness across the aerodrome, and as the +joy-stick was pulled over each 'plane sprang into the air, and began +its long voyage.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, and good luck!" shouted the C.O. as each man taxied off, +and as a parting salute, each pilot raised his gloved hand from the +controls for an instant.</p> + +<p>Four hundred miles, that was the distance of the double journey. Two +hundred miles of enemy territory to be traversed before they reached +their objective; then, another two hundred back again to safety; and +no chance of a landing to remedy even the slightest defect. That was +the prospect before these daring aviators, as they sallied forth on +their dangerous errand this morning about half an hour before the +first faint whisper of dawn came up out of the east.</p> + +<p>No wonder the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, as he watched them +depart, turned to his companions and said:</p> + +<p>"A perilous venture, isn't it, for the boys?"</p> + +<p>"You're right, sir," replied the orderly officer. "I hope not one of +them will lose the number of his mess before nightfall."</p> + +<p>"Ah, well. We have had some vacant chairs in the mess lately. Four +hundred miles," he was heard to remark as he turned on his heels and +went back to his room.</p> + +<p>He was a kindly, considerate commander, for he had that rare quality +which combined firmness with kindness, and because of that he was +loved by all his men.</p> + +<p>The adventurers crossed the German lines at seven thousand feet, and +in the darkness the enemy's searchlights failed to find them, so they +were well away for once. There was just a little doubt in Dastral's +mind about the weather conditions when he started, as the success of +the venture depended very much upon the visibility. At present, +however, the dull cloudy weather was in their favour, if only it +might clear up later.</p> + +<p>He was therefore very pleased when, having left the enemy's lines +some thirty or forty miles behind, the first tinge of dawn lit up the +sky in front of them, showing the horizon clearly. The wind had +changed during the last hour, and, though it grew colder, it became +much brighter.</p> + +<p>Once or twice the Flight-Commander looked round at his followers, +casting a critical eye upon the whole flight.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness, the engines seem to be running well. Everything +depends on them," he murmured.</p> + +<p>His own machine was a double-seater type with the observer's car +projecting right in front of the engine, a powerful twelve-cylindered +R.A.F.</p> + +<p>A little later Jock, speaking through the tube, shouted:</p> + +<p>"Shots on the left, Dastral!" and he pointed to a spot far down +below, for the landscape had opened out now, and they had been +spotted for the first time.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked down, and saw several rapid flashes, away down on the +left, where a battery of "Archies," having found them, had opened +fire.</p> + +<p>In front of the machine which was leading the flight, Dastral saw +several black bursts of smoke, and in the centre of each burst was a +yellow glare.</p> + +<p>"Ah, the Boches have found the range to a nicety!" yelled Dastral to +Jock. "Look out! We must dive."</p> + +<p>Then, pulling over the controls, the hornet dipped at the head, doing +a neat little nose-dive of some five hundred feet, throwing the +enemy's range out of gear, and compelling him to readjust his sights.</p> + +<p>As he dived, the others, with an eye always on their leader, followed +him, and the whole flight dived clean underneath a mass of curtain +fire, intended to bar their progress. So cleverly was it all done +that they all escaped without a scratch.</p> + +<p>The Commander looked down at those batteries still spitting fire. +With not a little contempt he regarded them. They could not touch +him, for already, before they could readjust their fire, the whole +flight was out of range, for the engines were now doing well, and a +speed of a hundred and twenty miles an hour had been worked up.</p> + +<p>At another time Dastral would like to have dived down to within five +hundred feet of those German guns, and put them out of action, but he +had other work on hand today; work which would take all his time and +skill to complete satisfactorily, and to bring his men back to +safety. Even if Himmelman himself should attack him now, he must +refuse him battle, unless compelled to fight for mere safety. His +present duty was to bomb the great arsenal at Krupps', and, as far as +possible, leave the principal buildings nothing but a heap of smoking +ruins. So he opened out the throttle of his engine to the full, and +for the first time reached one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, +not a very bad speed when you are loaded up with heavy missiles.</p> + +<p>They had been flying for an hour now, and had climbed higher and +higher until they were at nine thousand feet. It was bitterly cold, +and already their feet and hands were numbed. What would they be like +in another two hours?</p> + +<p>An hour and a half passed, and shortly afterwards Jock shouted:</p> + +<p>"The Rhine! The Rhine!"</p> + +<p>Nor indeed was he mistaken. He had been eagerly searching for the +famous stream that runs through the German Fatherland, and of which +the Hun is so proud. And now, there it was, a little way ahead of +them, running through the landscape like a silver thread.</p> + +<p>Soon they were over the stately river, and Dastral, knowing that the +road was as plain as a pikestaff now if the weather kept clear, no +longer heeded his compass, but, wheeling smartly to his left, +followed the stream on its way to the sea.</p> + +<p>"What town is that?" shouted the pilot, as a vast assembly of houses +and spires came into view.</p> + +<p>"Coblentz," replied the observer, with his finger on the waterproof +map.</p> + +<p>"Better look out for trouble, hadn't we?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Ehrenbreitstein Forts are down below; just a little way +ahead on the left. They have plenty of guns down there."</p> + +<p>This place, called the Gibraltar of Central Europe, is a towering +fortification, overlooking the town of Coblentz, and defending the +line of the Rhine. The river runs between the fort and the town, and +the two are connected by a bridge of boats.</p> + +<p>"Better skirt the town, else they will think we are going to attack +the place, and some of our fellows might get winged."</p> + +<p>"Poch! They can't hit us. All their best gunners are miles away at +the front. Let's go straight on. We shall be out of their range in +five minutes."</p> + +<p>Before they reached the town the white puffs of the 77's made a line +of smoke ahead of them, and, intermingled with this, they saw the +black cloudlets caused by the bursting of the enemy's 105 calibre +shells. In fact they were ringed with a curtain of shell fire.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the signal by a sudden clip of his 'plane, which was +leading.</p> + +<p>"Ninety degrees left and dip 500 feet!"</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander led the way through a gap in the curtain fire, +and the rest followed, swerving rapidly to the left, then down, down +in a fearful nose-dive of hundreds of feet, before they flattened +out.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Well done, boys!" yelled the leader, waving his hand to the +daring men behind. For they had outclassed the Boche, and before he +could rectify his aim, the machines were out of range once more.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the town, however, they came in for the same +treatment, but they once more evaded the enemy's fire, and soon they +left the town of Coblentz, with its Denkmal of Wilhelm der Grosse, +and the forts of Ehrenbreitstein behind them.</p> + +<p>"Three hundred shots for nothing, Jock," shouted Dastral, who was +highly pleased with himself.</p> + +<p>Jock did not hear, however, for the wind carried the words away, and +the observer was otherwise engaged, searching the skies with his +glasses. A moment later, however, having discovered what he was +looking for, he turned and shouted:</p> + +<p>"One, two, three of them climbing to attack us!"</p> + +<p>"Where are they?"</p> + +<p>"Down below there to the left. Two yellow fat 'planes with black +crosses on them, and a white one."</p> + +<p>Dastral looked serious for a moment, as, holding the joy-stick with +his right hand, he raised his glasses with the other and looked down, +to where, from an aerodrome just by the river, three enemy 'planes +were rising up to fight with them.</p> + +<p>The shadow passed from the fair, young face of the chief pilot, as he +gazed upon the enemy, and a calm smile wreathed his face.</p> + +<p>"Humph! Let the devils come. We are not afraid of them. Sorry I can't +stay to fight them, Jock. Our first business is to bomb the arsenal, +not to pick a stray quarrel with these beasts, who are asking for +trouble."</p> + +<p>Then, opening out his engine once more to the full, he waved his hand +coolly to the enemy, and called out:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Mr. Boche. Some other time, if you don't mind, but to-day +I'm busy."</p> + +<p>His followers understood, and opened the throttles of their engines +accordingly, and, speeding on, soon left the enemy behind, for they +were slower machines, all the enemy's best fighters being on the +western front.</p> + +<p>Again and again Dastral looked round to see that his comrades were +all right. Eagerly he looked for the red, white and blue cocarde on +the wings, and felt very happy, for there was no need to be miserable +and lonely with those brave fellows so near. Had they not sworn to +follow him to the "Gulfs," if necessary?</p> + +<p>The chief enemy, however, so far, was the biting cold. The +thermometer was showing sixteen degrees below zero. Even with the +thick leathern coats, pilots' boots and padded helmets, it was +impossible to keep warm. The cold intruded everywhere. The thought +which consoled them, however, was this:</p> + +<p>"We shall soon be there, now! And we shall be the first raiders to +bomb the enemy's citadel, where he manufactures his enormous supply +of shot and shell to keep the war going."</p> + +<p>They were following the Rhine still. Every now and then they could +see long strings of barges being towed up and down the river between +Coblentz and Dusseldorf.</p> + +<p>"Cologne!" shouted the observer, and Dastral nodded, as he looked +ahead and saw the twin spires of the wonderful cathedral, and close +beside it the ancient Rathaus.</p> + +<p>"What a target!" shouted Jock, as the great city lay beneath them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but there are women and children down there, Jock, and I am not +a pirate. When we get to Essen we will begin."</p> + +<p>"All right, old fellow. It was only a joke," came back the reply +through the speaking-tube.</p> + +<p>They received another baptism of fire as they reached the outskirts +of the city, but, skirting round to the right, they avoided the heavy +fire of the forts at Deutz, for Dastral knew that the brutes were not +shooting badly to-day, and he was anxious not to have a single +machine crippled before his mission was completed.</p> + +<p>"There'll be plenty of fighting soon, my boy!" called Dastral. "The +enemy will have guessed our objective by this time and they will be +preparing a reception for us."</p> + +<p>The observer nodded, for he knew that the fires down below would be +busy, and the various German Commands would be communicating with +Essen and the arsenal at Krupps'. There was no time to lose, and so, +despite the cold, they were still doing about one hundred and twenty +miles an hour.</p> + +<p>"Dusseldorf!" soon came from the observer's nascelle, for they had +passed Coblentz, and many other towns and villages that lay about the +slopes of the Rhine.</p> + +<p>"See that!" shouted Jock.</p> + +<p>Dastral again looked in the direction pointed out by his comrade, and +he beheld a great blur of smoke on the right, which blotted out the +landscape.</p> + +<p>It was Germany's black country. Here the towns were clustered thickly +together. Elberfeld, Barmen, Essen, and to the west of the +last-mentioned town lay the mighty works of Krupps. Somewhere in that +cloud of smoke lay the object of their long flight.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander pointed his machine in the direction indicated, +and the rest followed. The real fight was about to begin at last. How +would they come out of it?</p> + +<p>They were all eager to begin, for each machine carried a couple of +the new land torpedoes, in addition to a number of twenty pound +bombs.</p> + +<p>It was well they had arranged a proper plan of campaign, else their +labour would have been half in vain. Now, with the information which +had come to hand by the mysterious Captain Scott, they knew the exact +location of the very buildings on which they were about to +concentrate their fire.</p> + +<p>"Now we're going to be strafed! I thought so!" cried Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Phew! We're in for it now!" replied Jock, as the shot and shell +began to scream past them, bursting with red spurts of flame, +followed by white puffs and black clouds.</p> + +<p>Where was the huge powder factory? They were all searching keenly for +it now, for the atmosphere was smoky, which was partly their defence, +and partly their disadvantage, making it difficult to place their +bombs correctly.</p> + +<p>It would never do to fail now. They must go lower down and risk the +heavy fire from the "Archies."</p> + +<p>The T.N.T. sheds, where are they? The nitro-glycerine works, and the +huge dump?</p> + +<p>Oh, yes, there they were. Not all the smoke could hide them. Not all +the enemy's fire could stop those daring and intrepid raiders.</p> + +<p>Dastral gave the pre-arranged signal, and each 'plane dived to the +objective for which it had been detailed.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m!" went the first land torpedo.</p> + +<p>Yes, the Flight-Commander had found the powder works. A flame of fire +shot up hundreds of feet, and the place began to burn fiercely. The +"Archies" roared louder than ever.</p> + +<p>"Boom-m-m! Boom-m-m! Boom-m!"</p> + +<p>The others had found their objectives too. Four huge blocks were +burning fiercely. Down below the crowds were surging out of the +doomed buildings, running hither and thither to escape those terrible +bombs which were now being dropped in a dozen places, in rapid +succession, and the still more terrible explosions which must shortly +come unless the fierce fires which were now raging could be quickly +subdued.</p> + +<p>The utmost confusion reigned down below. The impossible had been +accomplished. Krupps', the very heart of Germany, had been bombed by +a few daring raiders.</p> + +<p>"Donner and blitz!" people down below were shouting. "What is the +good of our great Prussian army if it cannot prevent such things?"</p> + +<p>The raiders were off now, for all this had been done in less than +three minutes, once they had found their targets. As they made off +German aeroplanes rose to pursue them. In every direction they saw +the enemy, who had been surprised after all, in spite of the warning +he must have received.</p> + +<p>As they made off strange electric shocks seemed to agitate the air, +and to make the machines rock wildly. Violent waves disturbed the +atmosphere. Evidently the enemy had discovered some new device of +creating air-pockets, and filling the heavens with lurid flashes of +electricity.</p> + +<p>But the device fails. The machines pass out of danger, but alas, it +is doubtful whether two of them will ever reach the shelter of their +own lines again. Still, they are going to make the effort. Number +three and four have been badly hit, and Dastral's 'plane is torn with +bits of shrapnel.</p> + +<p>Once or twice they look back at the flaming destruction which they +have wrought, all in the space of a few minutes. As they do so, a +mighty column of flame and black smoke rises up into the air, and a +terrific explosion takes place, which shakes the earth for fifty +miles around.</p> + +<p>Yes, the T.N.T. works have gone up, and the two explosions which soon +follow show that something else has gone into the sky as well.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Krupps' has been bombed!"</p> + +<p>Dastral gives the signal for his men to turn to the westward, and to +make with all possible speed for the shelter of their own lines.</p> + +<p>But enemy 'planes are in rapid pursuit, and there are two lame ducks +in the flight. It means another two hours' journey, and there is no +chance for the lame ducks if they are further molested.</p> + +<p>The leader quickly decides. He has still some fight left in him, and +so has Mac. They will escort the rest. He signals to Mac, "Take the +left flank!" and Mac understands, while he himself takes the right +flank.</p> + +<p>Then he orders the others to go S.S.W., for they must not infringe +the neutrality of Holland by going due west. And so they proceed, +until Jock signals that two of the Huns are gaining upon them. They +are fast 'planes, and will do some damage if they are not dealt with.</p> + +<p>At present they are still half a mile behind and a thousand feet +below them. So Dastral circles round once or twice as if to fight +with them, but only one of them accepts the challenge, and opens fire +at the Flight-Commander.</p> + +<p>"Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!" comes the sound of the fire, just audible +above the roar of the engines and the whir-r-r-r of the propellers.</p> + +<p>But Dastral has the weather-gage of him, for he has a thousand feet +greater altitude. He waits a moment, circling round. Then, as the +Boche comes up, he dives at him, as though he meant to ram him, for +he knew this would unnerve the enemy more than anything else.</p> + +<p>At the same moment he treats the Boche to three sudden bursts of fire +from his Lewis gun. It is quite enough for the enemy. He has +outdistanced his friends, and does not care to engage this air-devil +of an Englishman alone, so he swerves round, and hauls off a little, +hoping that the Britisher will be sufficient of a fool to pursue him, +but Dastral returns to his command, so that he may shepherd the lame +ducks through any further peril that may come upon them.</p> + +<p>Again and again on that long journey back he has to turn and fight, +and often Mac accompanies him.</p> + +<p>At length, half frozen to death, with their eyes smarting so that +they can scarcely see, one of them sights the relief squadron which +has come to meet them and escort them back to safety.</p> + +<p>Half a squadron has come to meet them, good fighters, all fresh and +ready for any hostile aircraft that cares to take the challenge. And +so, after nearly six hours of a trying ordeal, "B" Flight returns +safely to the shelter of the aerodrome behind the British lines.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter09"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER IX</h3> + +<h4 align="center">THE GIANT WAR-PLANE</h4> + +<p>FOR some days after the daring adventure recorded in our last chapter +things had been fairly quiet along that portion of the Somme front, +near the sector patrolled by the 'planes of the --th Squadron. There +had been the usual daily reconnaissances over the enemy's lines; the +usual spotting and registering for the artillery by the aeroplanes +and the kite balloons, but the dull, cloudy weather had restricted +the use of the 'planes to a great extent.</p> + +<p>One incident that had occurred, however, caused no little excitement, +and awakened the professional curiosity of the pilots, observers and +air-mechanics of the squadron.</p> + +<p>Late one afternoon a very small but swift aerial scout, in the shape +of a new type of baby-monoplane, suddenly appeared over the +aerodrome, and after circling round once or twice, made several rapid +spirals and descended on to the grounds. It was no enemy machine, for +the red, white and blue cocarde of the Allies was plainly visible +upon the underside of the wings, and also on the rudder.</p> + +<p>No sooner had the ferry-pilot who had brought her over from England, +made a landing, and climbed out of his tiny nascelle, than every +pilot and observer who was about the place, and not on duty, gathered +round to welcome the newcomer with the usual greeting, and to flood +him with questions as to the new machine. Amongst the rest the +Flight-Commander of "B" Flight could be seen talking and arguing with +his friends.</p> + +<p>"Gee-whiz! But isn't she a beauty, boys?" he was heard to exclaim, +as, with quite a boyish enthusiasm, he completed in less than two +minutes his first brief examination of the machine.</p> + +<p>"By Jove, but she's a gem!" replied Mac, to whom the question had +been more particularly addressed.</p> + +<p>"I've never seen anything like her," exclaimed another member of "B" +Flight. "I don't think the Huns have anything to equal her."</p> + +<p>"Not even their Fokkers?" ventured one of the pilots, who was already +seated in the little cockpit, trying her controls, for he was just +longing to take her aloft. "And you came from London in an hour and a +quarter?" asked Dastral of the ferry-pilot, helping him out of his +thick leather coat.</p> + +<p>"Yes, quite easily," replied the latter.</p> + +<p>"And you never even pushed her?"</p> + +<p>"I never opened the throttle to the full till I rushed the Channel, +half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"And then you let her rip?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did then. She fairly seemed to leap over the English Channel. +She touched one hundred and sixty miles, and for a while she quite +frightened me."</p> + +<p>"Phew! I should think so. What the deuce shall we get to next? One +hundred and sixty miles an hour! Great Scott! I'd give ten years of +my life to meet Himmelman on her, when I've fairly tried her," said +Dastral quietly.</p> + +<p>There was a note of silence when the Flight-Commander spoke thus, for +he did not often express himself like that, though every one knew +that the ambition of his life was to meet the German air-fiend on +equal terms, and fate had decreed that before very long his wish +should be gratified.</p> + +<p>After this, they all adjourned to the messroom, and, for that +evening, and the next, the ferry-pilot was their guest.</p> + +<p>At dinner that evening, when John Bunny, the jovial, stout, stumpy, +chubby-faced waiter at the officers' mess, had cleared away, and +cigars were lighted, and chairs drawn to the fire-place, all the talk +was about the baby-monoplane. For the time being even the war faded +away, except so far as it hinged upon the coming deeds of the new +machine. They discussed its merits and its possibilities, its high +speed, its wonderful but powerful engine, capable of 200 horse-power +and nearly two thousand revolutions a minute.</p> + +<p>Next morning, as soon as it was light, Dastral was seated in the +little nascelle, climbing into the azure. For an hour he tested it, +and came down delighted with his new plaything. Again and again he +tried it during the next two days, until he was thoroughly at home +with it, and could handle it just as well as any other machine he had +ever flown. Indeed, the ferry-pilot who watched him was amazed at the +antics which the Flight-Commander performed with the trippy little +thing.</p> + +<p>On the third morning after the arrival of the new visitant, the +aerodrome was startled by renewed activity on the part of the enemy. +Just as dawn was breaking Lieutenant Grenfell, who was again on +orderly officer's duty at the aerodrome, was called suddenly to the +telephone by the Flight-sergeant in attendance saying:</p> + +<p>"Advanced Headquarters Ginchy want to speak to you, sir."</p> + +<p>An instant later he was holding the receiver, and heard Ginchy speak +plainly.</p> + +<p>"Is that Advanced II.Q. Ginchy?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Is that the orderly officer, Contalmaison aerodrome?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Anything the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes crossing our lines, and coming in your direction," +came the laconic answer. "Want you to take necessary action at once."</p> + +<p>"Right, old fellow. Action shall be taken at once. But I say--hullo, +are you still there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"How many enemy 'planes were there?"</p> + +<p>"Three have crossed over. A very big one, and two fast scouts. The +others have all been turned back by our A.A. guns, but they are +trying again, I think, as the guns are opening fire upon them once +more."</p> + +<p>"All right. Good bye!"</p> + +<p>Then, turning to the Flight-Sergeant, the officer said:</p> + +<p>"Quick, sergeant! Sound the alarm to call up the men, and get the +machines out of the hangars ready for action. There is no time to +lose. If they are fast machines they will be here in less than five +minutes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," and the sergeant saluted and departed upon his errand, +calling out the guard and giving the orderly sergeant instructions to +rouse all the men at once, while he himself returned to the orderly +officer, and assisted in calling the pilots from their bunks by +telephone.</p> + +<p>Rapidly as everything was carried out, before all the machines could +be got ready, or the pilots prepared, the enemy had arrived and had +begun to bomb the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" came the first bomb, which was quickly +followed by others.</p> + +<p>It was only just light enough to make out the machines, but Dastral, +who was one of the first pilots on the spot, was already in his +baby-monoplane, ready for the propeller to be swung, when the first +bomb fell, not thirty yards away. His attention, however, for the +past few seconds while the drums of ammunition were being brought, +had been fixed upon the raiders.</p> + +<p>He was amazed at what he saw. There were two small machines, +evidently fast scouts and single-seaters, each fitted with a +single-fixed gun, but the other visitor was a huge warplane, so big +that for the moment he was astounded.</p> + +<p>"Look, Jock!" he shouted. "Egad, but she's a tri-plane, a giant, with +a double fuselage, two engines, and a protected or armoured car in +the centre--at least, so it seems to me. And she's got two gunners at +least. Great Scott! where are those drums? I must get off at once, or +they will blow the place to bits. They've already hit No. 3 shed, and +probably damaged half a dozen machines."</p> + +<p>"Here is your ammunition, sir!" cried Corporal Yap, running up at +that moment with the drums and placing them in the cockpit.</p> + +<p>"Right. Stand clear there!"</p> + +<p>"Rap-rap-rap! Whir-r-r!" came the sound of the engine and the +whirring blades of the monoplane, for it could be distinctly heard +above the roar of the anti-aircraft guns which were now furiously +shelling the invaders. And while some confusion reigned for the +moment at the aerodrome, the little hornet taxied off, and leapt up +into the air.</p> + +<p>Dastral was the first to mount up, but the Dwarf being a +single-seater, he was compelled to leave Jock behind for the nonce.</p> + +<p>Higher and higher he climbed, for the monoplane had the power to rise +rapidly, and when at full speed to sit on her tail for a short +period, that is, to climb nearly perpendicularly. She was so small, +too, that she was difficult to perceive even from a short distance. +Thus she was more fortunate than the others, which, on rising shortly +afterwards, received the concentrated fire and bombs of all the three +raiders.</p> + +<p>Even Munroe had to land again, with his machine blazing, for one of +the bombs had shattered his petrol tank, and set the machine on fire, +so that the pilot himself was rescued with difficulty from the +wreckage. Two other machines were also compelled to descend, for the +enemy, having the weather-gage and being directly above them, had the +advantage.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander by this time was well away, and was careering +round, climbing more rapidly than he had ever done before, and +looking forward to the coming combat. He could see his own target, +but, relying upon the small target that the Dwarf offered, he kept +just sufficiently away to render his own machine invisible to the +Huns, who were having the time of their lives.</p> + +<p>Dastral was in a fighting mood; he felt ready to fight all the Boche +airmen in the world, if he could only get at them. Higher and higher +he rose, and marked the little register as it clicked out the +altitude:--</p> + +<p>"Three thousand--four thousand feet."</p> + +<p>Its quiet voice was drowned in the roar of the engine and the +whir-r-r of the propellers, but its face seemed to smile at the pilot +and beckon him to victory.</p> + +<p>He had got well over towards the enemy's lines, in his circling +sweep, for he was determined to keep well between the enemy and his +base. Besides, it was good strategy, for the day was breaking and +already, up there, he could see the rim of the sun showing over the +edge of the eastern horizon.</p> + +<p>"I shall have the sun behind my back when the fight begins, and the +Huns will have it in their eyes!" he told himself.</p> + +<p>At six thousand feet he banked and swept round towards the enemy, +still climbing rapidly, for the Boches were at about seven thousand +feet. Again and again he made the whizzing Dwarf almost to sit upon +her tail, so eager was he to reach seven thousand five hundred.</p> + +<p>He felt perfectly happy, and braced for the conflict. His only +anxiety was to get to business at once.</p> + +<p>"Five thousand--five thousand five hundred feet," said the little +dial, and Dastral laughed riotously.</p> + +<p>"Seven thousand," came at last, though it seemed an age to the eager +pilot.</p> + +<p>Glancing down and away to the west, he could see his comrades +climbing up to his assistance, for he had left them far behind. The +Boches had seen them too, and were diving to attack them, dropping +bombs and firing incendiary bullets.</p> + +<p>"Capital!" shouted Dastral in high glee, as he saw the enemy make +several rapid dives, giving him exactly what he wanted, the +weather-gage.</p> + +<p>"The beasts haven't seen me, or they wouldn't do that!" Dastral told +himself, and he was right, for the enemy had not even suspected his +presence yet, or, if they had seen him leave the ground, they had +lost sight of him, owing to the tactics he had adopted. They were +soon to have a knowledge of his presence, however.</p> + +<p>"Now for it," said Dastral between his teeth, as, having reached +seven thousand feet, he whizzed away to the attack of the nearest +'plane, one of the enemy's fighting scouts which had accompanied the +huge warplane.</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r-r!" went the hornet, as Dastral opened the engine throttle +to the full.</p> + +<p>The speed of the hornet was terrific, and the sound of the wind +rushing past him sounded to the pilot as loud as the noise of the +engine.</p> + +<p>"One hundred and sixty!" laughed the speedometer.</p> + +<p>"They can't beat that," replied Dastral, as though the little +dial-face understood. He felt that he must talk, though he had no +observer this morning.</p> + +<p>Now he was over the fighting scout, and she saw him for the first +time. She was the highest of the three, but she was a thousand feet +below him, and, relying on her speed, she banked, turned swiftly, and +tried to escape, actually leaving the warplane to look after herself.</p> + +<p>Dastral pulled over the controls, and down, down he went in a +thrilling nose-dive as though he would crash her to the earth with +his own fuselage, but that was not his intention. At five hundred +feet he opened fire, and gave her three drums in rapid succession, +and never was sound more agreeable to his ears than that +"rap--rap--rap--rap--rap!" of his machine-gun as he sprayed the enemy +from end to end of his fuselage with incendiary bullets.</p> + +<p>Before the third drum was exhausted he noticed the flames leap from +the doomed German, for Dastral had sent three flaming-bullets through +his reserve petrol-tank, and in that moment he knew he had only two +enemies left to fight, for the first enemy 'plane went down blazing +in a plunging dip, which ended in a spinning nose-dive and a terrible +crash, right over the eastern end of the aerodrome.</p> + +<p>Dastral looked down, his eyes gleaming with victory, glad he had +finished number one, but sincerely hoping in his heart that his +comrades on the ground would be able to save the pilot from the +burning wreckage, for of all deaths that the daring aviator dreads, +to be burnt is the worst of all, and few English pilots, having sent +the enemy down, wish him such an end.</p> + +<p>There was no time for sentiment, however, this morning, for the next +moment Dastral was startled by the sound of a machine-gun behind him:</p> + +<p>"Rat--tat--tat!"</p> + +<p>Yes, one of his own friends was already attacking the warplane. It +sounded like Mac, and the tactics seemed suspiciously his, for he had +been creeping up behind Dastral, following his leader, as he had so +often done before, and he was now engaged in a battle royal with the +monster, wilst another 'plane was tackling the second scout, though +at a disadvantage.</p> + +<p>For a second Dastral was halting which way to turn, but pilots have +to make rapid decisions every day, and when he saw Mac's danger, for +the enemy would assuredly send him down in a few minutes unless help +came, the Flight-Commander banked quickly, and, still having the +advantage of nearly a thousand feet in altitude, he swept on to help +his man.</p> + +<p>It was well he did, for though Mac fought bravely, as Dastral had +taught him to do a score of times, he was no match for the huge +German, with her armoured car, and two machine-gunners in addition to +the pilot.</p> + +<p>As Dastral swept back to his comrade, he saw the two machines raking +each other, but though Mac got in several shots at the fuselage and +the engines, he hit no vital part.</p> + +<p>"Ye gods, what a huge brute she is!" ejaculated the Flight-Commander +as he drew near, and sailed over the top of the monster, just seeking +for some weak spot.</p> + +<p>Before he could clamp in his drums he saw Mac's machine reel, and +spin round once or twice, as though the controls had been broken by +some questing bullets. The German continued to fire, however, and the +next instant Dastral saw the reason of it all, for he saw Mac's +observer stretching over towards the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Heavens! The poor chap's hit!" he exclaimed. Then shouting almost +fiercely, as though he fancied Mac could hear him, he cried:</p> + +<p>"Never mind, they shall pay for it, Mac!"</p> + +<p>Again Dastral jammed the controls hard over, and though he knew he +was fighting a different creature altogether this time, he tried his +old tactics. He swept down as though to collide with the enemy and +crash with him to earth, for he knew this was the best method of +unnerving the Hun. With his feet on the rudder bar, and the joy-stick +between his knees, and his hands clear for his gun, he fired two +drums, but seeing no immediate effect, he flattened out suddenly, +when only fifty feet from the Bosche, and pulling the switch of his +bomb release, he dropped a twenty-pound bomb fairly on to the central +armoured car of the monster.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he swept past his adversary when the thing exploded at +close quarters, causing him almost unconsciously to loop the loop +twice in rapid succession, for the very atmosphere seemed to be blown +away from his propeller blades, and the air was so full of +air-pockets that for a moment this daring aviator was in imminent +danger of a side-slip and a fearful crash to the earth.</p> + +<p>It was over in a minute, however, and the "Boom-m-m-m!" of the +explosion and the smother of gas, smoke and flame being past, he +looked round him, and saw the German three hundred feet below him, +with half his central armoured car blown away, and with both gunners +apparently lifeless, and the pilot, bleeding, still sticking it +grimly, trying to volplane his machine to the ground.</p> + +<p>The Flight-Commander looked down, and sweeping round till he had +gained his old position, he was about to drop a second bomb to finish +the warplane, but he withdrew his hand from the bomb release, saying:</p> + +<p>"Poor bounder! He's bound to go down. He cannot get her over the +lines. I'll let him alone."</p> + +<p>Then, looking around for the third machine, he was just in time to +see her disappear eastward towards her own lines, and saw two English +'planes, which seemed to have come from nowhere, following her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, I'll go down and receive that chap's surrender--that is, +if he can manage to get down without a crash."</p> + +<p>There is, apparently, more honour in aerial fighting in these days +than in any other field of warfare, and, when a pilot has brought his +man down, should he fall, say, into the conqueror's lines, very often +the victor will descend and receive the surrender of the vanquished.</p> + +<p>Dastral's professional curiosity also urged him to do this. The huge +machine was of a new type, for in all his experience he had seen +nothing like it, and he was eager to examine it.</p> + +<p>Keeping his eye, therefore, on the descending German, who was trying +with the utmost care to navigate the aerial monster to the ground, +Dastral banked, then spiralled, and after one or two rapid +nose-dives, planed swiftly down to within a few score of yards of the +place where the monster must ultimately descend; and three minutes +later, having landed, he waited calmly on the ground for mein herr to +complete his landing.</p> + +<p>Down, down she came, lobbing first one way and then another, +finishing up with a bump which completed the wreckage of one of her +huge outstretched planes, and hurling the lifeless form of an +observer-gunner to the earth.</p> + +<p>"My word, what a size she is!" cried some one from the group of +officers and men standing by.</p> + +<p>She was a mass of wreckage, and how the wounded pilot had managed to +bring her down so calmly was a miracle.</p> + +<p>"Where are you hurt, Captain?" asked Dastral, helping the wounded man +from the wrecked car.</p> + +<p>"Here and here, Flight-Commander!" replied the German in good +English, leaning heavily on the pilot, who a few minutes before had +been his deadly enemy.</p> + +<p>"Fetch Captain Young, the M.O., at once!" ordered Dastral, and +immediately one of the air-mechanics ran off to find Number Nine.</p> + +<p>"You were a marvel to bring her down without a crash!" said Dastral. +"I'm sure I could never have done it."</p> + +<p>The German smiled. He was a fair-haired Prussian, not at all of the +Hun type, and there was moisture in his blue eyes as he replied,</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the compliment, Flight-Commander. You also are +<i>some</i> pilot, as you English say."</p> + +<p>"And she is <i>some</i> machine, too!" urged Dastral, trying to keep up +the man's spirit until the medical officer arrived.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my poor machine, and my poor gunners! They were brave fellows +and they died for the Fatherland. And the machine?--yes, she was a +beauty, and it was her first trip. Now she is a ruin, and I must +surrender her to you, but you will never be able to use her. See!"</p> + +<p>Dastral turned round to look, and noticed that the German warplane +was in flames, for the pilot, mortally wounded as he was, knew his +duty, which was, if he could not bring his machine back, to destroy +it. And his last act, which had been unnoticed, ere he left the +machine, was to set her quietly on fire, only waiting to make sure +that the second gunner was really dead.</p> + +<p>"Ah! My poor machine, but you English--will--never--use--her!"</p> + +<p>As he uttered these words slowly, gasping and clutching at his heart, +the German turned ghastly pale, and, staggering, fell into the arms +of Dastral just as the medical officer came running up.</p> + +<p>For a moment Dastral held him, but the blood began to gush from his +mouth and nostrils, and then his head fell back, for he was dead.</p> + +<p>"You are too late, doctor," said the Flight-Commander sadly, as he +laid the dead captain down on the grass, and looked at his pale face +and wide open eyes, still staring up at the azure blue of the opening +day, as though even in death the skies were calling him up there, as +they did in life; for he had been one of the most brilliant of the +German aviators, second only to Himmelman, who indeed had been his +teacher.</p> + +<p>"Too late, doctor! There was no chance for him from the beginning. He +was mortally wounded."</p> + +<p>"Yes, poor fellow, he has fought his last battle!" replied the M.O.</p> + +<p>"Poor fellow! I wish he could have lived," muttered Dastral, and a +feeling of unutterable sadness came over him, and he cursed the war +which had made him this man's enemy.</p> + +<p>Again he looked at the Prussian's face, and, stooping down, closed +the man's eyes in their last long sleep. Then, turning to an +air-mechanic, he said:</p> + +<p>"Bring a German flag, and wrap it round him," and so he strode away +towards his bunk, depressed by a feeling of profound melancholy.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter10"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER X</h3> + +<h4 align="center">HIMMELMAN S LAST FIGHT</h4> + +<p>IN the officers' mess at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, a +blue-eyed, dark-haired youth of about twenty-two stood with his back +to the fire. He was alone, for the others had not yet come in from +the marquees and sheds where the aeroplanes were being stored. On his +left breast he wore the double brevet of a fully-fledged pilot.</p> + +<p>This was Flight-Commander Dastral of "B" Flight, of the --th +Squadron, --th Wing, Royal Flying Corps, known to the whole of the +British Expeditionary Force, and to the British public also, as +"Dastral of the Flying Corps."</p> + +<p>Just under his pilot's brevet was a couple of inches of blue and +white ribbon, the insignia of the D.S.O. For, though but a lad, he +had fought with more Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands, and had more +thrilling exploits over the German lines, than any other youth of his +age.</p> + +<p>To-night, however, the pilot seemed sad; there was a shadow of +disappointment over his fair, young face. There was also a dreamy, +far-away look in those usually piercing blue eyes. What was the +matter with the lad? He was generally gay and even frolicsome. More +than once the O.C. had found it necessary to take him to task for +some of his jovial pranks.</p> + +<p>At his feet lay the previous day's issue of the <i>Times</i>, which he had +just been reading, and that which had made him sad was a paragraph +telegraphed to London by the Amsterdam correspondent of that paper, +which ran as follows:--</p> + +<br> +<p> +"Yesterday, at the German Headquarters behind the western front, the +Kaiser in person conferred upon Himmelman, the famous German air +scout, the insignia of the Iron Cross. It is claimed by the enemy +that this air-fiend has brought down more than forty British and +French machines, and that his equal in skill and daring does not +exist upon the battle-fields of Europe. Quite recently he fought with +and vanquished three British pilots single-handed in one day. This +famous pilot flies a new type of machine called the Fokker, and the +Germans claim for this machine that for climbing and rapid manoeuvre +there is no other aeroplane which can be compared to it."</p> +<br> + +<p> +Dastral picked up the paper and read the paragraph again. Then, +speaking half aloud, he said:</p> + +<p>"So that's what happened to Benson's Flight the other day. I felt +sure he had encountered Himmelman. Ah, well! A pilot's life is only a +short one at the best, but there's one thing I beg of Dame Fortune, +and that is, that I may meet Himmelman before I go down."</p> + +<p>Again he cast the paper from him, and as he did so, the door flew +open, and Fisker, his observer, accompanied by Graham of "A" Flight +and Wilson of "C" Flight entered the room.</p> + +<p>"Hullo! What's the matter that you look so glum, Dastral?" exclaimed +Graham, as he caught sight of his friend. "Has the O.C. been giving +you another reprimand over that last rag, old fellow?"</p> + +<p>"What rags?" laughed Dastral, regaining his usual cheerfulness with +an effort.</p> + +<p>"Ho! ho!" laughed the others. "Of course you know nothing about it, +Dastral, gut all the fellows are laughing over it, and the whole +squadron puts it down to you, naturally," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Naturally?" echoed Dastral with raised eyebrows, and a query note in +his voice.</p> + +<p>At this there was another burst of laughter. For this pretended +ignorance of Dastral, and above all, the intoned, sepulchral voice he +adopted for the occasion, reminded them of the "sky-pilot" as the +chaplain was called, who, on this occasion, had been the victim of +the rag.</p> + +<p>"Tell you what," exclaimed Wilson. "If the O.C. hasn't yet heard of +it, you'd better go out and have another of your scraps with a whole +German flight, before he does. That would soften him a bit when +you're called for the 'high jump.'"</p> + +<p>"Yes, better go out and have a look for Himmelman!" suggested Graham, +tossing, the stump of his cigar into the fire.</p> + +<p>"Himmelman?" replied Dastral, becoming suddenly serious.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Himmelman. Why not? I believe you'll be a match for him, if you +can only meet him at the same level, and with your drums full," +replied the young commander of "C" Flight.</p> + +<p>For answer Dastral picked up the paper again, and pointing to the +column about the air-fiend, said brusquely,</p> + +<p>"Read that."</p> + +<p>For the next two minutes the newcomers crowded around the paper, and +read, partly aloud, the paragraph above referred to.</p> + +<p>At the time of which I write the supremacy of the air was still in +question. The daring exploits of Himmelman and his school had been +causing much anxiety to the Directorate of Air Organisation. Much +consternation had also been caused amongst the British public by the +manner in which certain sections of the press in Old Blighty had +talked of the merits of the Fokker, the new type of fast fighting +monoplane which the enemy had produced. But it was the bold and +daring tactics of Himmelman himself, and his few immediate followers, +which had given rise to this.</p> + +<p>A new British School had come into existence, represented by Dastral +and his type. These were very often mere lads from the public +schools, full of the sporting instinct in which Englishmen excel. +They were soon to make their presence felt, and gain for Britain and +her Allies the complete mastery of the air.</p> + +<p>What it cost in life and limb to gain this mastery over a wily and +efficient foe will be known some day, when circumstances permit the +veil of silence to be drawn aside. England will then know what she +owes to her daring airmen, and every pilot's grave in France and +Flanders--and they are legion--will be honoured and decked with the +imperishable flowers of a nation's love.</p> + +<p>When the trio in the officers' mess had finished reading the +paragraph, it was Graham who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"Dastral," he said, in quiet tones, "there will be no peace, and no +victory, till Himmelman goes down. Nothing else matters, it seems to +me; neither bombing raids, registering targets, nor spotting, till +this air-fiend gets his <i>coup-de-grace</i>. What say you?"</p> + +<p>For full twenty seconds Dastral waited before he replied. Again there +was that faraway look in his blue eyes as though he could see +Himmelman on his fast monoplane, coming up out of the mists of the +eastern horizon beyond the German lines. Then, recalling himself with +an effort he replied calmly:</p> + +<p>"You are right, Graham. Twice already I have encountered him. Once +when my drums were empty, and the second time when my controls were +damaged, and I had to make a forced descent just behind our lines. I +have felt myself a coward ever since. But fight him I will, before +sundown to-morrow, if he is anywhere in the heavens within fifty +miles of Contalmaison. And not a shot will I fire, even if attacked +by half a dozen Taubes, till I meet my man. I know his tactics now, +and am better prepared to fight him than ever I have been."</p> + +<p>"Better not tell the O.C., for you know our orders are to fight every +and any enemy 'plane we see, while we have a round in the drums," +replied his comrade.</p> + +<p>"I know, Graham; that's the trouble. When your drums are empty or +your gun has jammed, then this wary old Boche comes down from a small +cloud where he has been hiding at twelve thousand feet, and comes +hurtling down through space at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, +spraying your fuselage from end to end with his machine gun. All the +same, he is brave and courageous, and something of a sport--far away +the best man they've got. But my belief is that if once he is sent +down in a crash, the spell will be broken, and we shall have things +all our own way," said Dastral.</p> + +<p>Then, turning to Fisker, his observer, who had not yet had his +twentieth birthday, though he had been with Dastral since they first +left England, and thoroughly understood his method and tactics, he +said:</p> + +<p>"What do you say, old fellow? Do you think we're a match for this +high falutin' Prussian?"</p> + +<p>"Dastral!" replied his chum. "I repeat what I said to you only the +other day. If you'll only get the O.C. to give you a perfectly free +hand, and then lay a nice little trap for the Boche, you're more than +a match for him. There's more room for strategy in the air than +either in trench warfare on land, or in a naval fight, when the sea +is strewn with mine-beds. And if you'll only try that new fast S.E. +that you had out the other day, with the Lewis gun mounted for'ard, +you'll do the trick, and it wouldn't be merely the D.S.O. that the +King and a grateful country would confer on you, for ridding the +western front of a nuisance, but you'd get the V.C. and a C.B. as +well."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'd probably get the C.B. all right, Fisker, but not the V.C.," +laughed the pilot, for in the army the letters C.B. have a double +meaning.</p> + +<p>"I don't mean <i>Confined to Barracks</i>, old fellow. You'll get that +when you make a forced landing behind the German lines one of these +days, if you will drop down to within a hundred feet of their +batteries, just to put one of their 'Archies' out of action, and kill +a few of their gunners. I mean the other C.B. which is usually given +from Buckingham Palace."</p> + +<p>"You're a sport, Fisker. I never had an observer or aerial gunner who +served me so well as you do. The credit is yours for the majority of +the enemy's machines we've brought down this last six months. But, as +you're game, and you've got far more brains than I have, we'll just +spend the night inventing such a trap for the wily old Prussian as +you've mentioned, and to-morrow, if we don't get the weather-gage of +the Boche, then we'll never put our heads inside this old mess again. +Are you agreed?" said Dastral.</p> + +<p>"Agreed!" replied Fisker, grasping the extended hard held out to +clasp his, and to seal the bargain.</p> + +<p>"And here's to your success, Dastral!" exclaimed Wilson, who had just +poured out for himself a glass of <i>vin rouge</i>.</p> + +<p>At this moment the mess sergeant appeared to announce that dinner was +laid in the pilots' mess, and away they all went, laughing and +joking, as though they had been discussing nothing more or less than +a county cricket match.</p> + +<p>That night, however, as soon as the meal was over, instead of the +usual rubber of whist, or game of chess, Dastral and Fisker went into +the little bunk where they slept, and, locking the door, they brought +out maps, sketches, and diagrams, and, until midnight, they were hard +at work, by the kindly flicker of a little shaded lamp, evolving +scheme after scheme, until at length they agreed upon a little plan, +which they decided to put into operation on the morrow. Then they +turned in, and slept for four or five hours, having given strict +orders to the mess attendant to call theirs before reveille.</p> + +<p>Half an hour before reveille Dastral was down in the hangar, where +his new aeroplane was sheltered. Though it had been carefully +examined overnight by the air-mechanics, yet he could trust no one +but himself to finally inspect the machine. He examined every strut +and wire, every nut and bolt, oiling and testing the engine, +controls, and half a hundred other little things that make up the +delicate mechanism of a modern aeroplane.</p> + +<p>At length he was satisfied, and lit a cigarette, while Fisker shipped +the Lewis gun, packed the drums of ammunition, fixed the baby +wireless, saw to the bomb carriers, maps, charts, and everything else +that concerned him.</p> + +<p>Soon, they were ready, and, having snatched a hurried breakfast, they +wrapped themselves in their warm leathern coats, and were helped into +their pilot's boots by one of the air-mechanics, whose duty it was to +guard the machines. They drew their leathern helmets tightly about +their cars, and encased their hands in thick gloves, then climbed +into the 'plane.</p> + +<p>Half a dozen air-mechanics wheeled the "wasp" out into the open, +where the level ground of the aerodrome offered a good "take-off." +Then they waited for a moment, while the O.C. himself came down, and +handed to Dastral an envelope containing his special permit to leave +his flight, and to act as a free lance for that day; the matter +having been arranged between them.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Dastral, and a good day's sport to you, my lad!" said the +major, who stood on tiptoe to shake hands with the pilot and +observer.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir," replied Dastral, his hand already on the joy-stick.</p> + +<p>"Start the propeller," came the order from the cock-pit.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," cried an air-mechanic, who sprang forward and swung the +propeller once or twice.</p> + +<p>"Zip-p-p-p--Zip--Whir-r-r-r!" came the sound, as Dastral started the +engine, and the air seemed to vibrate with the song of the aeroplane, +which has a music all its own.</p> + +<p>"Stand clear!" came the final order, and as the mechanics leapt back, +and withdrew the wooden chocks, the buzzing, waspish little thing +taxied swiftly across the level stretch of grass, then leapt into the +air.</p> + +<p>Higher and higher it rose by swift spirals, sometimes banking over so +rapidly as it turned in its circuit that those who stood watching it +from below feared it had touched an air pocket. But never did fiery +steed answer the touch of the huntsman's rein so quickly, and never +did gallant ship, as she rode the combing waves, answer her helm more +readily than did the air-wasp respond to the slightest movement of +her controls this morning, as she mounted up into the dawn. For the +daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, +who understood every whim and fancy of his machine.</p> + +<p>And now for a while let us leave Dastral climbing up into the azure, +then traversing a dozen miles behind the British lines, so as to +disappear from the enemy's view until the moment came for him to +hunt his prey.</p> + +<p>Soon after he had disappeared from view Major Bulford gave the order. +"Squadron, prepare for action!" for this was to be a day of great +things, and the Squadron-Commander himself, having now recovered from +his recent injuries, was going to lead the whole of the three +Flights, which composed the squadron under his command, over the +enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>Within an incredibly short space of time all the machines were ready +on the level stretch of grass. The bomb carriers were filled and +drums of fresh ammunition were shipped. And within half an hour of +the departure of the air-wasp, the squadron started off in regular +formation, and crossed over the enemy's lines.</p> + +<p>The secret had been well kept. Only the pilots themselves, after they +had taken their seats behind the propellers, received the whispered +orders for the day. A great bombing raid was to be carried out behind +the German lines with the express purpose of drawing out Himmelman +and his crowd to counter-attack, while Dastral, hidden away in the +clouds at 12,000 feet, was to enter the fight at the critical moment. +Then the most daring air-fiends on the battle-fields of Europe were +to meet in single-combat, and decide for ever to which side the +supremacy of the air should be given.</p> + +<p>The whole squadron crossed the lines at 7,000 feet, and received a +baptism of fire from the anti-aircraft batteries, while thousands of +combatants in the trenches far below stayed their fighting for a +moment to watch the stinging hornets sail calmly by, as though +utterly oblivious of the hail of bursting shrapnel, which made little +jets of fire and cirrus-clouds of white smoke all about them.</p> + +<p>One or two Taubes and Aviatiks which had been out on a reconnaissance +and for a few photographs, rapidly retired before the hornets and +fled to find shelter somewhere beyond. Meanwhile, the telephones in +the German lines were busy and the presence of the raiders was +quickly reported to the various commands, and from thence to half a +dozen aerodromes. Machines were rapidly run out, and got ready to +mount up and meet the invaders, for it was evident that the +perfidious Britishers had resolved to carry out another great bombing +raid on railway communications, billets, and ammunition dumps.</p> + +<p>Within an incredibly short space of time, Himmelman himself had +started to meet the the enemy. But the raiding party swept on, beyond +Bazentin, Ginchy and Longueval, bombing, as they passed, Combles and +the Peronne railway. Soon, they sighted the aerodromes at Scilly and +Etricourt, and bombarded them, receiving another crackle of fire from +the A.A. guns posted to defend the hangars and sheds. Then, wheeling +north they scattered a large transport column which was proceeding +slowly along the main road from Le Transloy to Bapaume.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, a swift circling movement and a smoke bomb from +the leading 'plane gave the signal:</p> + +<p>"Enemy 'planes approaching!"</p> + +<p>All this had been accomplished within half an hour of crossing the +enemy's lines, and the Germans had been caught fairly on the nap. But +now Himmelman had got his machines in motion, and a fight in mid-air +could not be much longer delayed.</p> + +<p>The English pilots looked down, and far below they could see from +half a dozen places Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands creeping up to the +attack. By this time all the heavy missiles had been dropped, and the +machines, with their engines running superbly, had gained something +in buoyancy from the release of the half dozen 20-pounder bombs, with +which each aeroplane had started.</p> + +<p>Guns were now cocked and loaded, and the discs were clapped into +place, while extra drums were placed where they would be most handy, +for when the fight commenced, a delay of five seconds might prove +fatal. Then a bold attempt was made to get the weather-gage, and to +use their advantage in altitude to place the sun behind their backs, +so that the enemy would have it in his face.</p> + +<p>Every type of aeroplane approaching was carefully scrutinised, and, +with sundry circling dips, short nose-dives and smoke bombs, the +Squadron-Commander told off various machines to fight them, for every +type of machine has its own special capabilities and limitations. At +the same time the heavens were eagerly scanned for a sight of the +hated Fokker.</p> + +<p>"Where is Himmelman? Where is Dastral?" every keen-eyed pilot was +asking himself. And every little cloud above and beyond was searched, +but no sight of the air-fiends was vouchsafed. Ah, well, they must +fight without Dastral if he had not yet picked them up.</p> + +<p>This manoeuvring for position continued for some minutes, but all the +while the combatants were drawing nearer and nearer. The enemy had +evidently received strict orders to fight at all costs. Certain +advantages were his. The chosen battle-ground was in his favour, as +every British 'plane hit and compelled to make a forced landing, +owing to damaged engine, petrol tank, or deranged controls, would be +captured with its crew, while only the German 'planes which crashed +would be lost.</p> + +<p>At last the time had come for action, for the air seemed full of +specks, both small and large. Nearly three whole squadrons had +climbed to the attack of the British, who, however, had by this time +gained the weather gage.</p> + +<p>"Engage the enemy closely!" came the signal, as three more +smoke-bombs were hurled from the commander's machine. Only one more +order was given, which was:</p> + +<p>"Reserve your fire till within two hundred yards!"</p> + +<p>The rattle of the machine-gun fire had already commenced, for the +enemy had begun to fire as usual at 1000 yards, but the British, +reserving their fire, followed their leader's tactics, for +immediately he had flung out his last signal, he dived down upon his +nearest opponent, a big fat yellow 'plane with black crosses upon the +doping.</p> + +<p>"Spit--spit-t-t--spit-t-t-t!!" went the C.O.'s machine gun, as he +pumped a whole drum of ammunition into his opponent, raking his +fuselage, engine, and petrol tank from end to end. The next instant, +the huge German machine, which mounted two guns, went down with +blazing petrol tank, and crashed from 8,000 feet.</p> + +<p>And now commenced an indescribable scene; a terrible fight in +mid-air, which would have been deemed to be impossible but a few +short years ago. The sky, to those watching far below, must have +seemed full of wild, swooping and circling birds of prey, spitting +fire and smoke, while every now and then a machine went down blazing, +or wildly zig-zagging to destruction. No less than four enemy 'planes +had thus gone down, when No. 2 machine of "C" Flight, with crumpled +wing, went down with a fatal nose-dive in a terrific crash.</p> + +<p>But still the fight went on, until more than half the British +machines had gone under, taking down with them at least twice their +number, and yet neither Himmelman nor Dastral had appeared. Numbers +were telling upon the English, and those machines which were left had +nearly consumed their ammunition, when, suddenly out of a little +cluster of clouds at 12,000 feet a dark speck appeared.</p> + +<p>The little speck at first appeared like a tiny bird, but the aviators +knew only too well what it meant. Whistling through the air in a +terrific nose-dive which reached the rate of 150 miles an hour, the +dreaded Fokker appeared to strike his chief opponent. Straight for +the Squadron-Commander's machine he came, like a fierce bird of prey.</p> + +<p>For an instant the fight slackened, and the enemy machines even drew +off a little space, to leave a clear path for the air-fiend, who had +never been known to fail in his desperate strokes. A thrill of +intense excitement held the combatants, as the Major made a daring +counter move, and jammed his last drum of ammunition into place.</p> + +<p>"Spit! Bang! Spit! Bang!</p> + +<p>"Whir-r-r-r!" Himmelman had opened fire while nose-diving at terrific +speed. Already the victim seemed to be in his clutch, when, just as +suddenly, from the same cloud in which the German air-fiend himself +had found ambush, another speck appeared, swooping like a hawk with +its talons ready to strike. It was Dastral, who had waited and +waited, in the biting cold and the clinging moisture of the wet +cloud; waited at 12,000 feet near the edge of the cloud.</p> + +<p>He had seen Himmelman coming, had watched him like a tiny speck +seeking shelter in the same misty vapour. How Himmelman had failed to +discover his enemy was a mystery. They were both invisible to the +combatants, it is true, and Dastral had used a dozen devices to keep +himself out of sight of the Boche, though ready at any moment to +fight with him.</p> + +<p>There can be little doubt, however, that Himmelman had been watching +the fight so closely that he had never even dreamt of finding his +chief enemy so close at hand. Besides, no one had ever dared to +imitate his tactics before, and his first intimation of Dastral's +presence was when, during his wild swoop, having half emptied his +first drum at the Squadron-Commander, he suddenly heard machine-gun +bullets whizzing about his own ears, and felt a stinging sensation in +his right arm. Looking round, he saw that the dark cloud in which he +had been hiding had given birth to another air-fiend, and in that +moment Himmelman knew that he was no longer the Master-Pilot of the +Skies.</p> + +<p>"Gott in Himmel!" he gasped, and made one last effort to manoeuvre.</p> + +<p>With his hand upon the gun, and his feet upon the rudder bar, he +flattened out, and tried to fight his enemy from below, leaving his +last victim to limp away to safety.</p> + +<p>But Dastral was too quick, for he had time to give the Fokker two +full drums before he also flattened out just above the monoplane. He +knew the Fokker had its gun fixed forward, rigidly fixed, so that it +could only fire ahead through the propeller. All this he had coolly +calculated beforehand. Unless, therefore, Himmelman could manoeuvre +to get his enemy directly ahead, he could do nothing. Still, though +wounded, the German fought on. Round and round spun the machines, +over and under they went, like a shoal of porpoises, each trying to +get the advantage.</p> + +<p>Up there at 9,000 feet they performed the most amazing gymnastic +gyrations and contortions. Once the German got the advantage, and was +about to open a new drum of fire, when Dastral, pulling over the +joy-stick, and with clenched teeth, muttered:</p> + +<p>"No, you don't! By all the saints, no!"</p> + +<p>And, with that, he dived under the air-fiend, and emptied his seventh +and last drum into him from beneath.</p> + +<p>It, was the end of the great fight, for with his fuselage ablaze from +end to end--for his petrol tanks had been pierced--and with a bullet +through his brain, Himmelman went down in a spinning nose-dive to the +earth.</p> + +<p>Even then the chief of the air nearly took down his opponent with his +wreckage, for Dastral being underneath, only just slithered, rather +than banked, in time to let the blazing mass hurtle by. Another dozen +feet, and the heroes would have gone down together.</p> + +<p>The next moment the daring young pilot gazed almost ruefully down +upon the tangled wreckage far below. He was amazed at his own work, +riding up there alone, for he was now the Master-Pilot of the Skies. +Even so, somehow, his chivalrous young heart was sad, for a brave man +never finds pleasure in the death of another brave man, and your true +hero has always a gentle soul.</p> + +<p>Then touched by a gust of sudden pity, he circled down to within +three hundred feet of the burning mass in which the remains of the +brave pilot lay, and, heedless of the risk he ran, he detached from +its place, where he had secured it that morning, unknown to all but +himself and Jock, a wreath of laurel, with these words attached to +it, penned in his own hand:--</p> + +<br> +<p> +"<i>To Himmelman--the bravest of the brave--</i><br> +<i>the Pilot of the Western Skies. A tribute of</i><br> +<i>respect from his Conqueror.</i><br> +<b CLASS="standard indent20">Dastral of the Flying Corps."</b></p> +<br> + +<p> +Then he climbed back again, joined the remnant of his squadron, which +with broken struts and wires, and bearing strong evidence of the +great fight in every part of their delicate frames, struggled back to +the aerodrome near Contalmaison.</p> + +<p>Thus did Himmelman meet his end, going down bravely, and, with +Himmelman, the Germans lost the mastery of the air.</p> + +<p>But Dastral himself was wounded in that last fight, and his machine, +the new "wasp," was so badly damaged that even his wonderful skill +could not save her, and she crashed behind the British lines, quite +close to Contalmaison.</p> + +<br><br><br> +<a name="chapter11"></a> +<h3 align="center">CHAPTER XI</h3> + +<h4 align="center">"BLIGHTY"</h4> + +<p>AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested from +the Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was the +way paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat of +militarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and to +civilisation of her freedom.</p> + +<p>There is only one more incident to record, before this story of +adventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of those +unfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by some +mysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of a +misshapen and deformed body.</p> + +<p>We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of the +story. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning with +desire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted and +dismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her time +of peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing of +Providence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in the +day of trial, we meet him again.</p> + +<p>When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind the +British lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage, +scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, and +taken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to the +base hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during the +whole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at the +urgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospital +ship to Blighty.</p> + +<p>It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he first +regained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to look +about him, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?"</p> + +<p>A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it was +the hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tender +voice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past, +whispered:</p> + +<p>"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better."</p> + +<p>The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but found +that he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs were +powerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still, +and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in a +whirl.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after another +minute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for the +pain racked him so.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talk +or think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and you +will soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet, +but strong tones,</p> + +<p>Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastral +could not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where?</p> + +<p>His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. He +fancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as he +dozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was away +again in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meet +Himmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his last +great fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constant +watcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile, +flicker over his countenance.</p> + +<p>"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospital +attendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast, +lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of his +country.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so, +he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively the +words fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child:</p> + +<p>"Tim Burkitt!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me to +watch over you, and to nurse you back to life."</p> + +<p>Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one of +His Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back to +Blighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch him +from the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S. +to have him under his own special care.</p> + +<p>"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recognise +me until you were out of all danger."</p> + +<p>Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raising +his hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on his +tunic, he gasped:</p> + +<p>"Tim, where did you win that?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim.</p> + +<p>"But, Tim, how came you here?"</p> + +<p>In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, after +persistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though only +the humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had been +offered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it.</p> + +<p>"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of my +patients. And I am going to take you all the way home."</p> + +<p>"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the way +home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter of +twenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle of +Wight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water."</p> + +<p>"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed his +eyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them again +shortly, and said:</p> + +<p>"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for it +turns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I am +happy to think that you have won that decoration."</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the King +has conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a Wing +Commander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of your +fight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?"</p> + +<p>"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring back +my brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas, +I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes to +keep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulp +down a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, till +they had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the Southsea +Forts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lower +reaches of Southampton Water.</p> + +<p>Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim.</p> + +<p>"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman, +and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and they +were with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world, +amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of the +German warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome near +Contalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, and +they said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, you +who are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it a +dream or did I really see them?"</p> + +<p>"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, and +they are all dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. But +come, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only a +dream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly up +at his friend.</p> + +<p>"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a full +minute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days at +college, though, after what has happened, it seems years and years +ago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I do +believe that for brave men, who have followed the star which has +called them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, after +death, something like that of which you have spoken, where good men +are re-united, even though they have fought with each other in the +days that are past."</p> + +<p>Then, after another long pause, he added</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven."</p> + +<center>* * * * *</center> + +<p>Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war. +Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under the +careful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the great +war was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He had +crowded into twenty months of service a record second to none during +the great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his King +and Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believed +that the cause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny.</p> + +<p>In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drake +and Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the liberties +of the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggle +is fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engraved +in letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went out +in jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, so +that they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our future +liberty and peace.</p> + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<b CLASS="standard fontsize80">THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND</b><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<b CLASS="standard fontsize80"> +[Transcribers Notes:<br> +<br> +Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, following +the original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and +{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero}) +and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something: +{:}, {:--} and {,}.<br> +<br> +Corrected type-errors:<br> + {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,}<br> +Not corrected type-errors:<br> + {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,}<br> + {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,}<br> + {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross}<br> + {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,}<br> +<br> +] +</b> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dastral of the Flying Corps, by Rowland Walker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + +***** This file should be named 44348-h.htm or 44348-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/4/44348/ + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dastral of the Flying Corps + +Author: Rowland Walker + +Release Date: December 4, 2013 [EBook #44348] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + + + + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + +THE GREAT +ADVENTURE +SERIES + +Percy F. Westerman: + +THE AIRSHIP "GOLDEN HIND" +TO THE FORE WITH THE TANKS +THE SECRET BATTLEPLANE +WILMSHURST OF THE FRONTIER FORCE + +Rowland Walker: + +THE PHANTOM AIRMAN +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS +DEVILLE McKEENE: + THE EXPLOITS OF THE MYSTERY + AIRMAN +BLAKE OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE +BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V 2 +OSCAR DANBY, V.C. + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & CO. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDOND, W.I. + + +[Frontispiece: "DOWN, DOWN WENT THE BLAZING MASS FOR A COUPLE OF +THOUSAND FEET."] + + +DASTRAL OF THE +FLYING CORPS + + + +BY +ROWLAND WALKER + +AUTHOR OF "BUCKLE OF SUBMARINE V2," "THE TREASURE +GALLEON," "OSCAR DANBY, V.C." ETC., ETC. + +[Illustration: Publisher logo] + +S.W. PARTRIDGE & Co. +4, 5 & 6, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W.I. + + +MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN +_First Published 1917_ +_Frequently reprinted_ + + + To + THE PILOTS, + OBSERVERS AND AIR-MECHANICS + OF + THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS, + THIS + STORY OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL + IS + Dedicated + + +PREFACE + +THE GREAT WAR OF 1914 opened the floodgates of hatred between the +nations which took part and this stirring story, written when +feelings were at their highest, conveys a true impression of the +attitude adopted towards our enemies. No epithet was considered too +strong for a German and whilst the narrative thus conveys the real +atmosphere and conditions under which the tragic event was fought out +it should be borne in mind that the animosities engendered by war are +now happily a thing of the past. Therefore, the reader, whilst +enjoying to the full this thrilling tale, will do well to remember +that old enmities have passed away and that we are now reconciled to +the Central Powers who were opposed to us. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + II. THE FERRY PILOT + III. OVER THE GERMAN LINES + IV. STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + V. A BOMBING RAID + VI. A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + VII. COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + VIII. THE RAID ON KRUPPS + IX. THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + X. HIMMELMAN'S LAST FIGHT + XI. "BLIGHTY" + + +DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DASTRAL WINS HIS PILOT'S BADGE + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name." + --SCOTT. + +AT the time of which I write, the smoke of battle still filled the +air. The freedom of men and nations, the heritage of the ages, hung +in the balance, so that even brave men were often filled with doubt +and despair. + +The German guns were thundering at the gates of Verdun, seeking a new +pathway to Paris, for the ever-growing British army had barred the +northern route to the capital of France and the shores of the English +Channel. But even the attempt to hack a way through Verdun was doomed +to failure, and the first rift of blue in a clouded sky was soon to +appear. + +Against that glittering wall of steel, where the heroic sons of +France lined the trenches against the tyrant, hundreds of thousands +of Prussians, Bavarians and Saxons were doomed to fall, and the best +blood of Germany was already flowing like rivers, for, though the +_poilus_ during times of great pressure slowly yielded the outer +forts inch by inch, yet the price which the enemy paid for their +advance was far too dear. + +The future hung heavy with fate, and the civilised world looked on +amazed, as the western armies, locked in the grip of death, swayed to +and fro. The earth trembled with the shock of battle, and the very +air vibrated with the whir-r-r of the fierce birds of prey, the +wonderful product of the new age. Land and sea did not suffice as in +days gone by, for in the heavens the struggle for freedom must also +be fought. And many great men were beginning to say that the side +which gained the mastery of the air, would also gain the mastery of +Europe and the world. + +In no country was this recognised more than in England, and at early +dawn even remote villages were often stirred, and the inhabitants +thrilled by the advent of the whirring 'planes and air-scouts, whose +daring pilots were preparing to wrest the mastery of the air from the +enemy. + +The most daring of our English youths left the public schools and +universities, and strained every nerve, risking death a hundred +times, to gain the coveted brevet of a pilot's "wings" in the Royal +Flying Corps. + +So it happened that, during one fine morning in the early summer of +1916, a group of men, some of them wearing on the left breast of +their service tunics the afore-mentioned brevet, were watching a +young pilot undergoing his final test in the air before gaining his +wings. The place where this occurred was over an aerodrome, somewhere +near London. + +"Phew! there he goes again. Just look at that spiral!" cried one of +the onlookers. + +"Ha! Now he's going to loop; watch him!" exclaimed another. + +The daring aviator, who was flying a new two-seater fighting machine +with a twelve-cylindered engine, capable of giving over fourteen +hundred revolutions a minute, seemed perfectly oblivious of the +danger he was in, as seen by those below, for he careered through +space at a speed varying from eighty to nearly one hundred and twenty +miles an hour, and performed the most amazing spirals, twists, and +gymnastic gyrations imaginable. + +The people below, even the pilots, watched him with bated breath, and +sometimes with thumping hearts. They felt somehow that he was +overdoing it, and sooner or later he would crash to earth and certain +death Several times even the experts, who were there to judge him, +and award him the coveted brevet, felt sure that the youth had lost +control of the 'plane, for she swerved so suddenly, and banked so +swiftly, as she came round, that one of them exclaimed:-- + +"Good heavens, he's going to crash!" + +"Phew! Just look there, he's met an air-pocket, and it's all over +with the young devil," shouted a civilian, evidently a representative +of the New Air Board. + +But, strange to say, all their prophecies were wrong, for, recovering +himself, the daring young flyer, Dastral as he was called, had the +machine under perfect control, and was just as easy and comfortable +up there at three thousand feet--and far happier--than if he had been +in an arm-chair in the officers' mess at the aerodrome. + +"There's a nose dive for you!" cried the major who commanded the +Squadron at the aerodrome, and who had done more than any one to +encourage the lad, and bring him out. As he spoke, the youth was +speeding to earth in a thrilling nose-dive which must have been at +the rate of anything approaching a hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +For an instant it seemed as if the prediction of one of the gloomy +prophets would now be fulfilled and the aviator would crash; but no, +after a dive of a thousand feet Dastral, as cool as a cucumber, +jammed over the controls, flattened out for a few seconds, looped +three times in succession, then spiralling and banking with wonderful +and mathematical precision, shut off the engine, and volplaned down +to the ground, touching the earth lightly at the rate of some fifty +miles an hour, taxied across the level turf, and brought up within +ten yards of the astonished spectators. + +"Humph! He's won his wings, major," exclaimed one of the small crowd. + +"So he has," cried another. "He knows all the tricks of the air." + +"Yes," exclaimed a third; "if he keeps on like that, he will prove a +match for Himmelman himself, some day, should he ever chance to meet +with him." + +Now Himmelman was the crack German flyer--the Air-Fiend of the +western front--the man who had made the German Flying Corps what it +was, and had earned for it the great traditions it had already won. + +A moment later, the youth leapt lightly from the cockpit, gave his +hand to his observer to help him down, and, stepping lightly up to +his Commanding Officer, saluted smartly. + +"Capital, Dastral! You shall have your wings to-morrow. If anybody +has ever won them you have," exclaimed the major, grasping the lad's +hand, and greeting him warmly. + +"Thank you, sir. It's very kind of you to say so," replied Dastral. + +"Not at all. You've won them yourself, my boy, and I congratulate +you. But, I say, you played the very devil up there. There are very +few of our fellows who can do those monkey-tricks without crashing. +It's a mercy you're alive, boy." + +"Oh, it was only an extra turn or two, sir, just for the spectators. +But, Jock, here, sir, my observer, is he all right for his brevet +also?" + +"Yes, he shall be gazetted and granted an observer's wing. I will get +them through orders at once." + +Once more Dastral thanked his chief, and, followed by Jock Fisker, +his chum, who had entered the air service with him, and who was +destined to accompany him through many an exciting air duel in the +future, they returned to the machine, which was already being keenly +examined by a group of the privileged onlookers, before the +air-mechanics returned it to the shed. + +Shortly afterwards, as Dastral and Jock were preparing to leave the +aerodrome, the major came by, and, seeing that the young pilot wanted +to speak to him, he said:-- + +"Well, what is it, Dastral?" + +"Sir, now that I have gained my wings, I should like to be posted +overseas as soon as possible, so as to join some active squadron with +the Expeditionary Force in France. Would it be possible for you to +push my request forward?" + +"Humph! Rather early yet, isn't it, my boy?" + +"Perhaps it is rather early, sir," replied the youth, blushing like a +girl as he faced the C.O. "But I should like to take part in an +air-fight before the scrapping finishes." + +"We've a long way to go yet, Dastral, before it is finished. Still, +as you are so keen, I will see what I can do. But it will take at +least another fortnight to get the thing through. At any rate I will +communicate with Wing Headquarters, and through them with the War +Office. Perhaps General Henderson will accede to your request," added +the major, for he well understood the lad's eagerness. He had felt it +himself, and had already seen a good deal of that air-fighting of +which the youth spoke, as the ribbons below his wings indicated, for +he was the winner of the D.S.O. and also the Military Cross. + +"Thank you, sir," and the pilot saluted again, but cast a sidelong +glance at Jock, who stood a few paces away, and was already fretting +in his soul lest Dastral should be sent away without him. + +The major caught the glance and understood, for he turned sharply +round after a few steps, and said:-- + +"And Jock, what about him?" smiling blandly at the lads. + +"He is of age, sir, he can speak for himself," replied Dastral. "But +I should like him to go overseas with me. We have done most of our +training together, and we thoroughly understand each other, and I +know that he's just dying to go with me, sir." + +"Is that so, Jock?" asked the major, looking at the Scotch laddie, +who had scarcely finished his course at Glasgow University when the +war called him from his studies. + +"Oh, yes, sir, I'd give all I possess to go overseas with Dastral." +And the youth's eyes shone with joy at the very possibility of the +event coming off, for he had feared that they were now to be +separated. + +"Very well. Don't expect too much, but possess your souls in patience +for another fortnight or so. Goodbye!" + +"Good-bye, sir!" and once more after the customary salute, the youths +went their way, wondering how soon they would be in France, within +sound of the guns. + +For the next fortnight they were busy every day at the aerodrome, +trying new machines, testing, carrying out imaginary reconnaissances +over the German lines, bombing raids, studying war maps and plans, +night flying and a score of other things that would prove useful when +they found themselves in France. + +One morning, about two weeks later, a telegram was delivered to +Dastral at his rooms. It came from the War Office, and ran as +follows:-- + + +"Second Lieutenant Dastral and his observer to proceed overseas +forthwith, on one of the new fighting 'planes, and to report his +arrival at -- Squadron, British Expeditionary Force, France." + + +After the customary interview with the C.O., it was arranged that +early next morning the two aviators were to make their first attempt +at flying the Channel. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE FERRY PILOT + + +IT was an hour before dawn, and the stars had not yet faded from the +skies, when a group of air mechanics at one of the aerodromes just +north of London were busy about the ailerons and fuselage of a new +machine, which was destined to fly across the Channel that day, and +to join one of the British Squadrons on the other side. + +The secret of the machine had been well kept, and only a favoured few +had been permitted to see the "hornet," as she was called. Great +things were claimed for her when she joined one of the active +squadrons, now fighting in France for the supremacy of the air. + +Just a few folk in Old Blighty had been scared by the advent of the +Fokker, the new German aeroplane which had recently come into +existence, and for which such wonderful things were being claimed +daily by the German "wireless." + +"Double up there, you sleepy imps!" yelled Old Snorty, the aerodrome +sergeant-major, a short, stout, florid, shiver-my-timbers type of +disciplinarian. And another squad of sleepy air-mechanics, just out +from their blankets, doubled up smartly to give a hand. + +In a few minutes the hornet in question was ready for her long flight +overseas. Every wire and strut had been carefully examined and +proved, for men's lives depended upon the testing, and oiling, and +straining. And now the silent, filmy thing was waiting only for the +pilot and observer. + +A sound of footsteps upon the soft turf of the aerodrome was heard, +and voices carried lightly down the soft morning air. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" called the sentry, standing near by, and at +the same instant a hand lamp was flashed in the direction of the +newcomers. + +The sentry, however, appeared to recognise sonic important +personality approaching, like the mastiff who knows, as if by +instinct, the approach of his master, for, without waiting for an +answer to his challenge, he shouted:-- + +"Guard, turn out!" + +And instantly, the men in the guard tent turned out in time to salute +the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, who came by with Dastral, the +pilot, and Fisker, the observer. + +Simultaneously, the air mechanics sprang to attention, as they stood +about the hornet. Then, after a couple of minutes spent in chatting +with the adventurers, who were about to sail forth on the wings of +the morning, the O.C. and the pilot flung away their cigarettes and +gave a few apparently casual glances over the framework by the aid of +the hand-lamps. + +"Better load up with a few twenty pound bombs, Dastral," laughed the +O.C. "You may have the chance of using one going over seas. You never +know your luck." + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth. + +A moment later the pilot and observer were seated in the biplane, +snugly wrapped in their thick leather coats, their hands encased in +huge gauntlets, and their helmets tightly drawn about their ears, +ready for the morning adventure. + +Dastral gave a final glance around, his hand already on the controls, +then gave a nod to the chief of the ground staff. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, followed by "Stand clear!" + +"Whiz-z-z!" went the huge blades, and, as the pilot switched on the +current, the engines--powerful 100 horse-power ones, capable of some +1400 or 1500 revolutions a minute--broke into their wonderful song, +and with a final word of parting from the Squadron Commander, the +machine taxied off rapidly over the level turf. + +"Burr-r-r-r!" + +The air seemed full of a mighty sound, and a terrible vibration +filled the heavens. It was the song of the aeroplane. + +At a hundred yards, in response to a very slight movement of the +joy-stick, the winged creature leapt into the air, then circled +around once or twice, climbing rapidly up to a couple of thousand +feet, and made off south by south-east. + +The first whisper of dawn came out of the east as the hornet headed +off towards the great city, for a filmy streak of grey, followed by a +saffron tint, appeared in the sky low down on their left hand. The +stars overhead began to fade and disappear, as though withdrawn into +the vaulted dome overhead. Then the saffron turned to crimson, and +soon the eastern horizon was aflame with light, for, as the machine +rose higher and higher, the horizon broadened, and the whole earth +seemed to lie at her feet. + +Now they were over the city, and the pilot laughed joyously, for he +was exhilarated by the bracing air which rushed past him at a +tremendous rate. + +"Look there, Jock," he cried, pointing down far below, where, through +the gloom which still enfolded the lower regions, a faint silvery +streak showed where the majestic Thames rolled down under its many +bridges to the sea. + +Jock Fisker, his chum and observer, who was destined to see many an +adventure with Dastral in the near future, peered over the side of +the fuselage, and noted the river and the many spires of the great +city. He saw the thin spire of St. Bride's reaching up towards him, +St. Martin's, and St. Clement Danes'; and then, as the upper rim of +the sun appeared above the horizon, he saw the blue-grey dome of St. +Paul's Cathedral, and caught the flash of the sun upon the golden +cross above it. + +"How glorious!" Dastral ejaculated, half turning his head every now +and then for Fisker to hear, as some impulse moved him but half the +words were lost, or carried on by the rushing air into infinitude. + +Soon, they left the southern outskirts of London far behind, and, as +the daylight broadened, they looked upon the Surrey Downs, and the +wide heath of the rolling countryside. Village after village they +passed, with its red tiled roofs and church spire pointing +heavenwards, but onwards, always onwards, they sped towards the white +cliffs and the sea. + +The slender, filmy thing had found herself this morning, for the +R.A.F. engines were working splendidly, doing already nearly fifteen +hundred revolutions a minute. Vibrating with an intensity that was +perfectly marvellous, considering her fragile build, with every +strut, bolt and wire in perfect unison, the hornet sailed +majestically along at over eighty miles an hour, as though on a +pleasure trip, instead of a life and death errand; for in reality she +was bound overseas to join the forces in their fight for freedom's +cause. + +Now they were in Kent, the garden of England, and far below were the +cherry orchards and the hop-fields. With his glasses Jock could now +and then pick out a few farm labourers, already trudging along the +roads, or working in the fields. + +"There is the railway, Dastral!" shouted the observer, as he picked +up the narrow thread of metals winding along towards Tunbridge. + +"Yes, I see it now," replied his comrade, bringing his glasses to +bear on the object for which he had been keenly searching for some +minutes. + +"Straight road now. Give her a few more points eastward." + +Dastral altered the controls a little, and, banking slightly, the +hornet came round smartly upon her new course, which, for the rest of +the journey to the coast, was almost due east. + +The continuous roar of the engines and the whir-r-r of the propeller +made conversation almost impossible, except for a few short, jerky +sentences, uttered in a loud, shrill voice, and accompanied by +corresponding gestures. + +The world beneath them was waking up now, for the two aviators could +see the smoke ascending from the chimneys of a few scattered +farmhouses and cottages. The birds, too, were astir, and the larks, +mounting up towards the sun, made sweet music which was drowned in +the whir-r-r of that strange-looking bird of prey, which sailed +serenely above them. Instinct, however, made the songsters shrink and +flee away from that hawk-like menace with stretched-out wings, for +they evidently feared that it might swoop down upon and destroy them. + +"Dover!" shouted the observer suddenly, as the Cinque Port came into +view. + +"Yes, by Jove! So it is. I hope they won't turn the guns of the fort +upon us." + +"No fear. They'll have been warned of our coming by now." + +A minute later, they opened out the sea, the forts, and Shakespeare's +Cliff, and within another three minutes they had crossed the boundary +of sea and land, and at a tremendous altitude were gliding over the +Channel. + +"Nine thousand!" yelled Dastral, turning his head towards Jock, after +casting a brief glance at his indicator. + +"Now let her rip," cried the other, for in climbing to get the +required height to rush the Channel, the machine had lost speed. + +"Right-o!" came the answer. + +So, in order to get speed quickly, Dastral did a little nose dive of +about three hundred feet, then flattened out again, intending to rush +the Channel at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, lest they should +slip unconsciously into an air-pocket. + +As he did so, he noticed a flash of fire followed by a puff of white +smoke down at the Castle. + +"A signal!" shouted Jock, who had noticed the occurrence at the same +instant. + +"Yes, they want to speak to us," and with a circling sweep the +machine came round as Dastral pulled the joy-stick hard over, and +swept back again until he hung right over Dover Castle. + +"Can you make it out, old man?" asked the pilot. + +"Yes, I have it," cried Fisker, whose eyes had been glued to a spot +on the Castle grounds just at the top of the hill overlooking the +naval harbour. + +"What is it? Do they want us to go down?" + +"No. The Commander of the fort says there are several enemy +submarines in the Channel, and requests us to keep a sharp look-out +for them as we cross over." + +"Cheery-o, Jock! That's good news. I'm going to drop down a bit, +then. There's a D.S.O. for you if you spot one. Here goes!" And with +that, Dastral jammed over the controls again, and did a neat nose +dive of two thousand feet, looping the loop once or twice just to +express his joy, and give vent to his feelings. + +Jock had picked up this information from a few white strips of +calico, which had been stretched out in a curious fashion within the +Castle grounds. To a trained observer like Fisker, it was mere +child's play to read a code signal like that. + +And now the daring joy-riders, keenly watched by hundreds of eyes far +down below, left the shore once again, and the naval harbour with its +shipping, and headed for the French coast, watching the surface of +the sea as though they would read its secret. + +"East-south-east, Dastral! That's the course till we sight the +opposite shore," shouted Jock to his comrade, who, he thought, in his +excitement and eagerness to spot a submarine lurking in the depths, +might miss his way, as many a brave aviator before him had done. + +"Right-o!" came the answer to this reminder, for the French coast was +hid as yet in the morning mist. Then the course was altered slightly +once again, in order to make a proper landfall on the other side. + +They were flying low now, much lower than the usual regulations +permitted, for it is necessary to keep a good altitude in crossing +the Channel, not only because of the chance of running into a stray +air-pocket, but to enable one to 'plane to safety should anything go +wrong with the engines, for only a seaplane can ride the waves like a +ship; and this was no seaplane they were riding to-day. + +Far down below them they could see the patrol boats hunting for their +prey. They could also see the mine-sweepers at work, clearing the +fairway from those foul nests of floating mines which the crafty foe +had been busy laying with their submarines. Once or twice they +thought they could make out some dark-grey object like a mine or +sunken vessel beneath the surface of the water. + +A string of mine-sweepers were stretched out below them now. They +could see them distinctly, could see even the long nets that trailed +between them, for the sun was gaining power and the morning mists +were rolling away. The grey expanse of water took on another hue, +changing from a dull grey to a greenish tint, with patches here and +there of deep blue, where the water deepened, or the surface of the +mirror reflected a corresponding patch of the azure above. + +Keenly now they searched the face of the deep for any dark speck, +for, from an aeroplane, it is possible to look far down, often even +to the bed of the sea; but as yet they saw nothing, save an +occasional piece of wreckage, which had probably detached itself and +floated from the treacherous Goodwins, away to the eastward and the +northward--those treacherous shoals which hold the remains of so many +gallant barques and vessels, from the Roman galley to the modern +liner. + +They had not long left the mine-sweepers on their port quarter when +Jock, through his glasses, noted something like a string of +porpoises, which, owing to the motion of the waves, appeared to be +travelling along. They seemed so regular and orderly in their +movement, however, that he was about to pass them over. Thinking, +however, that he would like to call Dastral's attention to them, he +shouted:-- + +"Starboard bow, Dastral! Look at 'em! What are they? Not mines, +surely. Look like porpoises, only they're not dark enough, and they +don't tumble about much." + +Dastral peered over the side of the cockpit and looked down. + +"Can't say," he ejaculated. + +"Let's go down a bit lower, old man," said Fisker. + +"Aye, aye. Hold tight!" cried the pilot, for he noticed that Jock was +standing up and leaning over, unstrapped. + +"Right away! I'm all right," replied the observer, squatting down, +and pressing his knees against the knee-board, which is the life-line +of the aeroplane. + +And down they went in a graceful nose-dive till they were within five +hundred feet of the surface of the water, with the engines shut off. +Then, as they flattened out, both men peered over the side again, and +Dastral was the first to exclaim:-- + +"Porpoises be hanged! They're German mines. A whole string of them +floating about in the fairway, ready for the first ship that comes +along. The dirty Huns!" + +"Snakes alive! So they are. Now I can make them out quite plainly; I +can even see the horns and contacts through my glasses. Phew! +There'll be a deuce of a mess shortly unless they're cleared up." + +"Look alive, old man, or there'll be trouble!" shouted the pilot. + +"How so?" + +"See that ocean tramp coming up Channel. She's a seven thousand +tonner, and her cargo's worth a couple of hundred thousand. She'll be +right on the string of mines directly, and then--gee whiz!--there'll +be fireworks, and another valuable cargo will have gone to Davy +Jones' locker." + +The mine-sweepers were about a couple of miles away by this time, but +the Commodore of the little fleet had seen the rapid nose-dive of the +hornet, and knew that something unusual was happening. + +He had already strung out the signal for a boat to detach its nets +and proceed at full steam to the spot, for he thought that the +machine was coming down with engine trouble. + +It was his duty, therefore, to save the men, and, if possible, salve +the aeroplane also. Dastral saw the signal through his glasses, and +watched the vessel cast off her nets to come up. His immediate +concern, therefore, was for the tramp steamer surging up Channel, and +nearing the end of her long voyage from Valparaiso to London. At all +costs to the aeroplane, she must be saved from the deadly mines +towards which she was now heading directly. The tide was with her, +and she was coming up rapidly. In another five minutes she would be +in the cunningly laid trap. + +For the moment, Dastral continued to circle over the mine bed, hoping +thereby to warn off the tramp. Of this she appeared to take no +notice, though undoubtedly a score of eyes were watching his +gymnastic gyrations from the deck and bridge of the vessel. + +"Try the gun, Jock. Quick!" + +"Rip-r-r-r-r-r!" went the Lewis gun, as Jock pressed the button and +fired off half a drum of ammunition. + +Even yet, the tramp steamer did not seem to understand, for her +captain did not charge her course. + +"Is she fitted with wireless?" yelled Dastral. + +"Yes," answered the observer, putting down his glasses into the +socket for an instant. + +"Then give her a message on the international code. It's her last +chance. She'll be on the infernal things in another two minutes." + +"Right-o! Here goes!" and, uncoiling the long aerial wire, he tapped +out just one word on the sending key:-- + +"M I N E S!!!" + +"Good. If that fails, the ship's done for!" ejaculated Fisker, as he +watched eagerly for the ship to change her course. + +On came the vessel, quite oblivious of the danger. She was less than +a cable's length from the string of mines, and still steaming fast, +when Dastral noted some movement about the deck, where a dozen or so +of the crew stood just for'ard of the bridge, in the waist, gazing +intently at the 'plane. + +"Heavens! It's too late!" gasped the pilot, as he saw the steamer's +bows running dead on towards the very centre of the floating mines. + +"No, she may just do it," he ventured to his observer, as he saw the +sudden commotion on board. + +Suddenly, out of the wireless room, the operator, evidently carrying +the message, dashed up the companion way to the bridge, flourishing a +piece of paper in his hand, and shouted:-- + +"Mines in the vicinity, sir!" + +Then it was that the captain realised the danger he was in, for the +mine-sweeper coming up on the starboard bow was also flying the +signal for her to heave to. + +Dashing to the wheelhouse door, a few paces away from where he had +been standing, the captain shouted to the man at the helm, + +"Hard-a-starboard!" + +And though the tide was with her, the good ship swung round smartly, +only in the very nick of time, for, as she turned, one of the deadly +mines was within two feet of her stern, and the wash from her screw +and the rapid movement of her rudder as she came round, caused the +nearest mine to come into contact with a piece of wreckage, at which +there was a terrific roar, and a huge column of water was lifted up +and hurled some two hundred feet into the air. + +Then followed a more terrible spectacle, for one after another the +whole string of mines went off, as though they had been countermined. +It was just as if there had been a sub-aqueous earthquake, for a +prolonged roar of thunder, earsplitting and nerve-racking, +immediately followed, while the sea for hundreds of yards around rose +up like a huge waterspout, and for some minutes the whole surface of +the water, hitherto placid, broke into tumultuous waves. + +The tramp steamer received fifty tons of water upon her decks, but +save for a slight starting of the plates in her stern, she was +untouched. Nevertheless, she had to keep the pumps constantly in use +for the remainder of her voyage. + +After circling round the spot for another few minutes to speak with +the Commodore of the fleet of mine-sweepers, Dastral turned the +hornet's head once again towards the enemy's coast, and the captain +of the tramp steamer dipped his pennant and gave a long blast on the +siren, as a token of gratitude for the service rendered. + +The aviators were well pleased with themselves for the part they had +taken in the little adventure, which had not been without its +thrills, and a spice of danger. + +They were now almost in mid-Channel, and could see both shores. There +were the white cliffs of Old Albion behind them, while in front, a +little on their left, Cape Grisnez rose out of the water. Below them +several liners, transports and colliers, could be seen making either +up or down Channel, or for one of the ports on the English or French +coasts. Turning round to Fisker, the pilot shouted through the +speaking tube:-- + +"Sorry it wasn't a German submarine, old fellow. There'll be no +D.S.O. for us for picking up a string of floating mines." + +"Ah, well. Better luck next time," called back the observer. + +"The place is too well patrolled now for the Huns' submarines to show +themselves about here. Gemini! but I'd give my brevet and six months' +pay to spot one this journey. It would be some find." + +The observer did not reply immediately. He was keenly searching the +opposite shore to find the breakwater at the entrance to Boulogne +harbour. + +"Can you see it yet?" called the pilot, noting an anxious look on +Jock's face. "Yes," replied the latter. "Better give her another two +points south, and then we shall just about hit the canal below the +town. Our instructions were to follow it to the main aerodrome." + +"Aye, aye," answered the pilot, altering the controls slightly, and +bringing her head round upon a more southerly course. + +Shortly after this, the town and harbour of Boulogne came into full +view to the naked eye. Their intention was to leave it a little on +their left, and, then making a landfall of a certain railhead and +canal, take a short cross-country flight to the big aerodrome behind +the British lines. They now began to regard themselves as nearly at +the end of their journey, and had no expectation of a still greater +adventure before them--an adventure which would prevent them reaching +their destination, at any rate, that day. + +Only some five or six miles of sea now lay between them and the land, +and they were right over the track of the transports, which made a +continuous line of traffic between the two shores, when Fisker, who +had taken up his glasses again in order to watch a batch of +troopships, escorted by a couple of destroyers, suddenly turned them +on to a large four tunnelled hospital ship, which, coming out of the +harbour, crowded with wounded and war-worn men, was ploughing its +solitary way towards Old Blighty, without any other escort or +protector than the Red Cross flag. + +Suddenly, as he watched the stately vessel moving along at +twenty-five knots, with the huge combers falling away from her bow, +and a long milk-white trail from her stern, he started suddenly, and +lowered his glasses, almost shrieking at the top of his voice:-- + +"See there, Dastral! Quick!" + +"Where away?" cried the pilot, turning round sharply, and catching a +glimpse of Fisker's horrified face. + +"There!" exclaimed the observer, laconically, pointing with his hand +in the direction of the hospital ship. + +Dastral looked in the direction indicated. + +"The brutes!" he gasped. "Not if I can prevent it." + +That which had called forth these horrified expressions was nothing +more or less than a lurking German submarine, hidden beneath the +water, but with a few inches of periscope above the surface, +manoeuvring to bring the huge hospital ship within its range. It had +evidently watched the procession of transports pass by, but, fearing +that it might be rammed by one of the destroyers if it revealed its +presence, it had waited for some other tasty morsel to come along. +Unfortunately, there was nothing she could touch but this hospital +ship. + +With any other nation, a vessel flying the sacred emblem of humanity, +which floated from the masthead of the ship, would have been immune +from attack. But to the Hun no code of morals seems to hold good. Nor +was any crime to be regarded as such if only some damage could be +inflicted upon the enemy. + +"Ach, wohl, mein herr!" the German ober-lieutenant in the submarine +was remarking to his superior officer at that moment. "The verdomt +transports are gone, and there's nothing but a big 'hospital ship +steaming by. Shall we loose a leetle tin fish at her? You can't trust +these English; they're probably transporting materials of war. There +are sure to be some staff officers on her decks anyhow. What say you, +mein herr?" + +"Sink the blamed hooker, Fritz! We can say that she tried to ram us, +when we make out our report. No one will be any the wiser, for dead +men can't tell tales. He, he! Ho, ho!" + +And already the commander's hand was upon the lever in the +conning-tower which controlled the torpedo tubes in the bow. +Hesitating just for a second, as though battling with the last shreds +of a lingering conscience, he pulled the lever. + +"Swiss-s-s-h!" came the sound as the deadly missile left the tube and +entered the water. + +"Good heavens! She's fired!" exclaimed both the aviators, as, in the +very middle of a dangerous nose dive they saw what had transpired, +and followed for an instant, even in that downward dive, the wake of +the deadly torpedo. + +Fortunately, at that very moment the captain of the _Galicia_, the +big four-funnelled boat, having had his attention attracted to the +spot by the nose-dive of the warplane, saw the periscope of the +enemy's submarine, and, starboarding his helm, swung the huge vessel +just sufficiently to port for the first torpedo to miss his stern by +a few feet. + +Then commenced a stern chase, for the _Galicia_, seeing the imminent +danger that she was in, sought refuge in flight. Placing her stern +towards the oncoming submarine, she fled down Channel, hoping thereby +to save her precious cargo of wounded heroes. + +"Donner and blitz!" exclaimed the commander to his lieutenant. "We +have missed her. That will never do. We must sink her now at any +cost, or the American cables will be full of the affair, and the +anger of the neutral world will be turned against us once more." + +"What shall we do, mein herr?" asked the lieutenant of the submarine. +"She can do twenty-five knots and we can only do seventeen while we +are submerged." + +"We must run her awash, and give her three-inch shells with the deck +guns. The transports and patrols are some distance off now." + +"She will be calling back the destroyers by now with her wireless, +mein herr." + +"Gott in Himmel! but we must risk it. There may just be time. I wish +we had let the blamed hooker go by." + +Then, with a few round oaths, he switched down the periscope, pulled +over the lever that drove the water out of the ballast tanks, and, as +the boat came to the surface, he had the hatch unshipped, and ordered +his gun crew to stations, calling them dachshunds, and a few more +vile names. + +As soon as the submarine came to the surface, the electric motors +were stopped, and the surface engines started so that every knot +could be got out of them. + +"All clear!" had been reported to him by the lieutenant, and as +regards the narrow horizon which can be surveyed from the periscope +of a submerged vessel, all was indeed clear, for they had not seen +the hornet which was buzzing overhead, silently dipping and +nose-diving with her engines shut off, and rapidly manoeuvring like +an angry wasp, waiting but an opportunity to get at its victim. + +So intent was the submarine commander upon his prey, with one eye on +the hospital ship and another on the horizon, watching for the patrol +boats, which he knew would be sure to return, that he had even got +his deck-gun to work, and was firing rapidly at the _Galicia_, when +to his dismay he heard, just over his head, the whir-r-r-r-r of the +aeroplane, as Dastral started his engine again. + +"Mein Gott, was ist das?" he cried. + +"Ach, Himmel, but we are lost!" came the cry from the gunners and the +ober-lieutenant. + +"Dachshunds!--you verdomt fools, turn the gun on the aeroplane!" +yelled the irate commander, but he realised that he had lost the +game. + +Nearer and nearer came that dreaded enemy, with its angry buzz, till +but a hundred feet above the broad, whale-like back of the submarine, +for Dastral, having but the two twenty-pound bombs in his carrier, +determined not to miss his chance. + +"Be careful, Jock!" he shouted. "Drop it right on her conning-tower. +Take no risks." + +"Right-o, old fellow!" Jock had replied, his hand on the bomb +release. "She's giving us shrapnel, though. Look out!" + +"Spit . . . Bang! Spit . . . Bang!" came the bursting shrapnel from +the quick-firing gun on the deck of the submarine, and a shot hitting +the left aileron of the warplane, just as the observer was releasing +the first bomb, caused her to roll and bank so much that the bomb +fell into the sea, just a few inches from the starboard beam of the +boat. + +"Great heavens, you've missed him!" shouted Dastral, as the bomb, +which was fitted with a contact fuse, sank down harmlessly into the +sea. + +Jock bit his lips, which were white with anger at his failure, and +placed his hand once more on the bomb release. It was his last bomb. +If they failed this time they were done, for already they had lost +several struts and wires, and the planes had been holed in a score of +places. + +Even Dastral's face was pale, though not with fear, as he jammed the +rudder bar over with his feet, and using the joy-stick as well, came +round swiftly once more, dropping down to within fifty feet of his +enemy. + +"Great Scott! She's preparing to submerge, Jock. For heaven's sake +don't miss her this time!" + +Jock did not reply, but taking true aim just as they were directly +over the boat, he dropped his second and last bomb fairly and +squarely on the conning-tower. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m!" came the sound as the bomb descended swiftly +and exploded right amidships, splitting the conning tower open, just +as it was being closed ready for the boat to descend. + +A blinding sheet of flame shot up into the sky, scorching both the +pilot and the observer, and a crashing noise followed the explosion, +as the submarine, her deck split open and rent in twain, opened out, +then sank like a stone, carrying down with her the twenty-two men who +manned her. + +A few minutes afterwards the only trace of the pirates was an +ever-extending patch of oil which floated on the surface of the +water, punctured here and there by the air bubbles which forced their +way through the patch. + +So suddenly did she disappear from view that even the airmen, +scorched and bruised and bleeding from slight shrapnel wounds, were +amazed at the work of their hands. Dastral was the first to recover +speech, however. + +"Well done, Jock!" he cried. "Thus may all pirates perish who fire on +the Red Cross flag." + +The observer did not reply, however, for he had fallen forward in a +dead faint, from sheer excitement and loss of blood; perhaps most of +all from sheer fear of failure with his last bomb. And now his head +was resting against the wind screen just in front of the cockpit. + +"Jock! Jock! What's the matter?" Dastral called to him. + +The observer made an effort to rouse himself, for he had only +momentarily lost consciousness. He lifted up his head, tugged at his +leather helmet, and managed at last to pull it off. + +"Great Scott! You're wounded!" exclaimed Dastral as he saw the blood +streaming from his companion's face. + +"It's all right now. I feel better, Dastral. Carry on! The petrol +tank overhead here is leaking, and we're about run out. But I've sent +a message to the destroyers on the wireless and here they come." + +Dastral turned sharply, and looked in the direction which Jock had +indicated by slightly raising his hand. + +"Yes. Hurrah! Here they come!" he cried. + +And indeed there was no mistaking that long trail of black smoke just +a couple of miles away, nor the white trail of foam as the combers +broke and fell away from the two snake-like boats, which were coming +up full pelt, for they had been drawn to the spot by the sound of the +firing even before they had picked up Jock's message. + +Nor did they come a moment too soon, for the aeroplane was wounded as +well as her crew. Her work was done, at any rate for the next few +days, until she had been overhauled by the smart air-mechanics, +fitters and riggers of the Royal Flying Corps. The engine was missing +too, very badly, for the petrol tank was pierced in several places, +and the supply had almost run out. The planes and struts were damaged +and in parts shot away, so much so, that, as Dastral jammed over the +controls and banked to bring her round, with her head towards the +rapidly approaching patrols, one of the wings collapsed, and she +slithered down, slipping sideways into the sea, now only some thirty +feet below her. + +"Jump, Jock! Jump!" cried Dastral. And both the aviators, having +managed to free themselves, leapt out as the singed and broken +air-wasp lightly struck the waves. + +Fortunately the life-saving jackets, which all the ferry pilots are +compelled to wear when crossing the Channel, ensured their safety, +once they managed to disentangle themselves from the wreckage of the +'plane. + +"This way, Jock. Let us keep together. Here come the destroyers!" +shouted the pilot. And the next instant, they heard a strong voice +shout out-- + +"Hard-a-starboard there! Jam her over, man!" + +And immediately after the same voice shouted to the man at the engine +room telegraph-- + +"Full speed astern!" + +Two minutes later both the aviators were safe on board the destroyer. +A signal from her slender masthead caused the other boat to sweep +round, pick up the wrecked warplane, which was already settling down, +and to tow her into port. + +So ended the adventure of the ferry-pilot and his companion. And next +morning, after a good night's rest at the Hotel de l'Europe in +Boulogne, a short message in a pink envelope, which was placed on the +breakfast tray, informed the youthful and daring heroes that-- + +"His Majesty, King George the Fifth, desires to congratulate and to +thank Lieutenants Dastral and Fisker, of the Royal Flying Corps, for, +when on active service, their gallantry and courage in attacking and +sinking the enemy submarine U41, and to confer upon them the +COMPANIONSHIP OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +OVER THE GERMAN LINES + + +"WE must have been born under a lucky star, Jock, to win the D.S.O. +as well as the thanks of the King, for that trifling little incident +which occurred yesterday," said Dastral as they sat down to a +substantial breakfast that morning, in the dainty little coffee-room +which looked out on to the English Channel. + +"It was a stroke of luck, anyhow, to encounter that U boat just when +we did. We should have made a landfall in another five minutes, and +then we should have missed her altogether," replied his companion, +pausing for an instant in his attack on the coffee and hot rolls. + +"And the hospital ship?" queried the pilot. + +"Ah, the brutes! But we were one too many for them," replied Jock. "I +had the time of my life during that short fight. I'd just love a +scrap like that every day. Almost wish I'd joined the R.N.A.S. now. +What say you, old fellow? Besides, the odds were all on our side. The +Hun never so much as suspected our presence, else he wouldn't have +shown himself as he did." + +"Just wait a few days, Jock, till we join our fellows down at the +Squadron, and you'll have all the excitement you want." + +"You mean?" went on the observer, looking up into the pilot's face as +he helped himself to another portion of grilled ham and fried eggs. + +"I mean," Dastral continued, without waiting for Jock to finish his +sentence, "I mean, wait till we get orders from the new Squadron +Commander to go over the German lines. The odds will not be so much +in our favour." + +"H'm! I wonder what it's like to be over there with the shrapnel +bursting all around you, and miles and miles of trenches below you, +with the 'Archies' spitting at you all the time with continuous +bursts of fire, and the very heavens full of air-pockets." + +"And half a dozen Fokkers coming up out of the horizon to scuttle +you, and give you a spinning nose-dive of ten thousand feet into No +Man's land, with your petrol tank blazing, and your engine missing, +eh? Go on, you veritable misanthrope!" and here both the young heroes +burst into a fit of laughter at the woeful, nerve-shattering picture +which they had both been drawing. + +Thus they continued to talk about the future which lay immediately +before them. Yet all these things they were to see, and much more, +ere they were many months older. They were full of life and vigour, +and in action they were to prove daring and resourceful; yet they +were wise in this, that they did not under-estimate either the task +that lay before them, or the enemy they were to meet. + +Their chief concern for the present, however, was centred on the +broken aeroplane, with which they had started from England on the +previous day for their first flight overseas. "I wonder what's become +of the hornet," said Dastral, a few moments later, as they sat by the +fireside, and settled down to a smoke. + +"We shall hear shortly, as you have wired to the O.C. reporting the +incident. Besides, the destroyer is sure to have brought her in, even +if she is badly damaged." + +Shortly after this the telephone bell in the corridor rang. A maid +appeared, and after a very pretty French curtsey, said:-- + +"Monsieur le Commandant Dastral, s'il vous plait?" + +"Ah, oui, Mademoiselle, qu'est-ce que vous voulez?" asked Dastral, +rising to his feet, and returning the pretty maid's curtsey. + +"C'est pour vous, ce message telephonique." + +"Merci, mam'selle," replied Dastral, as he hastened to the telephone +box. + +"Hullo! Who is that?" asked a voice some twenty or thirty miles away. + +"Lieutenant Dastral, of the Flying Corps. Who is that, please?" + +"Major Bulford, Squadron Commander, speaking from the aerodrome at +St. Champau." + +"Yes, sir!" replied Dastral smartly, springing unconsciously to +attention, although the voice was so far away from him. + +"Good-morning, Dastral. Congratulations, my boy. I have heard all +about your adventures yesterday from my Adjutant. You've started +well! You're just the man we're wanting here. We're having warm work +with the Boches this week. You're a lucky dog to run into a German +submarine on your first trip over." + +"Oh, it was my observer, sir. He spotted the blamed thing, and bombed +her. It was as easy as winking. Just a stroke of luck, sir, that's +all." + +"Well, I hope your luck 'll keep in. We shall be glad to see you as +soon as you can come over. Are you both all right?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite all right, 'cept for a slight chill through being in +the water for a few minutes." + +"Well, better stay where you are a couple of days if you are +comfortable, and then come on here." + +"Thank you, sir. Yes, we're quite comfortable here, and we'll report +at the aerodrome in a couple of days." + +"Right. Good-bye. Oh, I say! Are you there?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I was going to tell you that the machine arrived here about an hour +ago. It's some 'bus' and I like the look of her, except that she's +badly smashed, and will be in the hands of the riggers and mechanics +for four or five days before she can be used again." + +"Oh, that's not so bad. I feared she would be useless after the crash +she got, sir. How did you get her there so quickly?" + +"Oh, we received word from the harbourmaster that she had been +brought in by a destroyer, and we immediately sent down a couple of +tenders with trailers and brought her on here this morning. Good-bye. +The fellows here are all anxious to meet you." + +"Good-bye, sir." + +As soon as he had rung off Dastral rushed back into the room to tell +Jock all about his chat with the O.C. of the Squadron at St. Champau, +and especially about the two days' extra leave. + +"Good!" ejaculated his friend. "Seems a decent sort of chap, eh?" + +"Rather a sport, I should say, old man." + +"Capital. That little affair of ours yesterday seems to have done us +no harm. It'll probably give us a good entree into the new mess. Hope +they're all decent fellows there." + +So they spent half the morning resting after their exciting +adventures of the previous day, and reading the papers, some of which +gave censored accounts of the event. The two days passed all too +quickly, and on the third morning they were both awakened just before +dawn by the rep-r-r-r of a motor bicycle, which pulled up sharply +outside the hotel. + +It was "Brat" the despatch rider of the -- Squadron, who had come post +haste from Major Bulford, with an urgent message which ran as +follows:-- + + + "To Lieutenant Dastral, D.S.O., + "Hotel de l'Europe, + "Boulogne-sur-Mer. + "Be prepared to join Squadron immediately. + Tender will call for you within an hour. + "JOHN BULFORD, _Major_." + + +Two hours later both the young officers were on their way to St. +Champau, where they arrived before noon. + +They received a warm welcome at the mess and were congratulated upon +their recent adventure. They soon found that plenty of work and +adventure awaited them on the morrow. The incessant roar of the +British artillery, which was carrying out an intense bombardment of +the whole front, amazed and bewildered them, for preparations were +already in progress for the Somme "push." + +Away to the eastward, the line of battle was clearly demarked. Shells +were bursting in mid-air, and during the afternoon a huge mine was +exploded under the enemy's trenches, which shook the earth for twenty +miles around, and hurled thousands of tons of timber, rocks, and clay +into the air, making a crater of huge diameter, towards which the +British advanced and later in the day captured and consolidated the +position. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, a flight of aeroplanes, which +had been over the German lines, returned. Two of them had been badly +hit and one of the observers had been seriously wounded. They +reported having encountered several flights of enemy 'planes, which, +however, had avoided them and made off eastward. They also reported +some unusual activity behind the enemy's lines, but, the weather +having become dull, and the sky overcast, they were unable to make a +full reconnaissance. + +"H'm. There must be a further reconnaissance at dawn," the O.C. had +remarked, after receiving their report. Then, turning to Dastral, he +said: + +"Lieutenant Dastral." + +"Yes, sir," replied the young pilot, advancing towards his superior +officer, and saluting smartly. + +"The mechanics and riggers have been working day and night on your +new machine since we received it. They will continue the work through +the night, and I want you to supervise it, so that it will be ready +before to-morrow. I want you to use it as soon as possible. We have +lost so many of our machines lately over there," and here the O.C. +made a gesture with his right hand towards that line of fire and +blood, where the British and French troops held back the enemy's +hordes. + +"Nothing will give me greater pleasure, sir," replied the intrepid +youth, glowing with pride at the thought that he was to be made use +of so quickly. + +"And--er--I want you to carefully study the map of the section in +which we are working. It will be absolutely necessary for you to know +every road, hamlet and village marked on that map, before you go +over. You understand?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then get to work at once, my dear fellow. I have great hopes of you, +and if you continue as you have begun, I can promise you it will not +be long before you are made a Flight-Commander." + +Dastral blushed deeply at this compliment, for he was but a boy in +years, despite his courage and resource. Leaving the Commander's +presence, he went direct to the shed, where he found Jock, who was +not only a brilliant observer but a first-rate mechanic, and already +had the work in hand, having been drawn there by his affection for +the filmy thing that had already brought them across the seas, and +had served them so well during at least one great adventure. + +"Well, how is she, Jock?" were his first words. + +"Ripping!" replied the observer, handling the delicate creature as +though she were a lady. "I've already been round her. The engine and +propellor are quite sound now. The new petrol tank and feed are +already fitted, and in another couple of hours she'll be as perfect +as when she left England." + +"Good!" exclaimed Dastral, who had the greatest confidence in the +lad's judgment in these matters, and was prepared to back him against +any expert in aerodynamics, or the mechanism of any aeroplane in +existence. + +"What say you to a trip in her this evening? There'll be plenty of +time before dusk, old fellow." + +"Yes, I'm quite agreed, even if it's only a joy-ride to try her, for +to-morrow we go over there," said the pilot, flinging away the stump +of his cigar, and jerking his thumb in the direction of his shoulder. + +"Over where?" asked Jock, straightening himself from the stooping +position he had assumed, to examine the baffle-plates on the +propeller. + +"Over the German lines," came the reply. + +"Really! You mean it, and so soon?" + +"Yes, to-morrow at dawn we go over on a reconnaissance; C.O.'s +orders." + +"Good!" exclaimed the observer, throwing down a spanner which he +still held in his hand. + +"And here's a map of the section in front of our lines. We must spend +the evening over it." + +So that evening, after the machine had been got quite ready for her +next flight, they spent four hours over the map, scaling it out, and +committing to memory the names of villages, hamlets, rivers, canals, +roads and railway lines, so that when they retired to bed, the whole +of the map was actually photographed upon their minds. + +Morning came at length, and at the first whisper of dawn, having +received their detailed orders from the Squadron-Commander, four or +five aeroplanes were wheeled out on to the aerodrome, then taxied off +quickly and disappeared in the dark. The last of the flight was the +hornet, with Dastral and Jock starting on their first real venture +over the enemy's lines. + +After climbing rapidly, and circling round the aerodrome once or +twice, the machines made off, each to reconnoitre the section of the +line allotted to it. + +The hornet carried two Lewis guns, with plenty of ammunition, for +when an aerial patrol sets out on a flight, one never knows what +duels he may have to engage in before he returns. The hornet had this +advantage over the other machines, which were of an older pattern: +she had a higher speed, was a better climber, and with her improved +controls she could manoeuvre more quickly than any other machine yet +made. + +"Gee whiz!" cried Jock down the speaking tube, which ended close to +the pilot's ear, "but she's climbing." + +"What is it?" yelled back the pilot, half turning his head so that +his mouth came near to the end of the tube. + +"Three thousand feet," came the answer. + +"Good! Then we'll make a bee-line and cross the trenches. Look out +for 'Archie'!" + +The dawn had broken by now, and away in the east the gloom was +lifting, but down below it was still wrapped in mist and darkness. It +was the hour of standing-to. Down below thousands of eyes would be +straining through the obscurity to find that speck in the heavens +whence came that whir-r-ring sound. + +But upward and onward went the hornet With a stern, strong beat of +power in her twelve-cylindered engine. Nearer and nearer she came to +that long line which stretched from the sand-dunes of Belgium away to +Switzerland. The observer was already keenly surveying the landscape +through his glasses as the light broadened, and the countryside +revealed itself. + +A silvery streak lay beneath them; it was the River Ancre. Now a +broad white patch of roadway came into view. It was the main road +from Albert to Bapaume. As they came out of a bank of rolling mist +and fog, a few red roofs and a church tower next came into view, +standing just where four roads met. + +"Contalmaison?" queried Dastral, and Jock, after a brief reference to +his waterproof map, called back: + +"Yes, and Bazentin on the left." + +They were now almost over the trenches, and far beneath they could +discern hundreds of tiny points of fires. + +"What are they?" asked the pilot again, and the observer who had been +scanning those red sparks for a couple of minutes replied, + +"Fires in the British trenches. Men cooking their morning rations. +Can't you smell the bacon?" + +Dastral laughed and sniffed the keen morning air, as though in +reality he could make out the fragrant aroma of the morning dish, +about which those cold, wet, and shivering heroes of the trenches +were standing, ankle-deep in mud and clay. + +"The poor devils!" added the pilot, altering his controls slightly, +and wheeling round to the south to pick up the enemy's lines more +clearly at a point where they made a sharp curve. + +They could now clearly see both the British and the German trenches. +Three long, scarred and ragged lines of brown earth showed clearly +where the enemy's front-line, reserve and support trenches stood. +Long, twisting lines of similar demarcation showed where the +communication trenches ran. + +Now they were over No Man's land, sailing along serenely, and the +artillery down below had already opened the morning concert on both +fronts, when-- + +"Biff, puff----!" came a time-fuse shrapnel and burst scarcely a +hundred feet in front of the machine. Then another and another as the +"Archies" below spotted the hornet, and tried to give her a packet. + +Suddenly they were in a cloud of yellow smoke and half-poisonous +fumes, which made them gasp and sputter. Then, owing to the bursting +of the shells and the heavy concussions they found themselves in a +succession of air-pockets. + +"Look out, Jock!" cried Dastral, as the machine rocked and swayed, +banking over once or twice as though she had been hit. + +For several minutes they ran the gauntlet of this heavy fire from the +German A.A. guns, but the terrific speed at which they were +travelling--now nearly one hundred and twenty miles per hour--soon +carried them beyond the range of the enemy's guns. + +Then it was that the day's work really began. Their orders were to +reconnoitre behind the enemy's lines and to report by wireless code +any occurrence, such as the threat of a massed attack by infantry, +the moving of transport columns, or the locating of heavy artillery. +It was also necessary, above all, to watch the skies for the +appearance of hostile aircraft. + +The other 'planes which started with the hornet that morning are seen +low down on the horizon, to the north and the south. They also are +searching all the terrain for any signs of activity on the part of +the Boche. + +Spurts of flame, like jets of fire, are seen in many places. These +are the German fieldguns firing upon the British trenches. The +observer does not make any particular note of these; he is out for +bigger game. + +Suddenly, the observer steadies his glasses, resting his arm for a +moment on the side of the fuselage. The loop line of the +Combles-Ginchy railway is just ahead of them and slightly on their +right. Though it is very early yet, Jock notices that the line about +Ginchy is crowded with traffic. + +"Ahoy there, Dastral!" he calls down the speaking tube. + +"Yes," comes back the laconic answer. + +"Railway line blocked with traffic. Troops detraining, I think. Put +her over a bit." + +"Right-o!" + +Dastral jams over the rudder bar with his foot and, responding to her +huge tail rudder the hornet comes round in a swift circle, banking a +little as the joy-stick is also put over. Then Jock takes another +view, exclaiming, as he does so, + +"Yes, by Jove, there must be a whole division of them. Here goes!" + +And dropping the glasses into the pocket prepared for them, he +rapidly uncoils the long pendant wire, and begins to tap the keys of +his instrument. + +"Caught them on the nap, Jock, eh? Stroke of luck. Case of the early +bird. Tell the heavies to give 'em hell, old man," shouted Dastral, +but the conversation was carried away into the morning breeze, for +jock was already sending the message which would shortly bring the +thunder. + +"Zip-zip-zip, zur-r-r-r, zip!" went the brief coded message, back +over Longueval and Ginchy; over Contalmaison and the trenches to +where the British heavy batteries were waiting. + +Behind the Ancre, in a little dug-out, an expert operator catches up +the message. He has been waiting for it impatiently since dawn. The +brief tapping which his receiver picks up, tells him exactly the spot +on the terrain behind the enemy's lines where the thunder is needed. +The whole map is scaled out into tiny sections and sub-sections, each +with a number or letter to indicate the point where the concentrated +fire is needed. + +"Quick!" cries the operator to the little exchange. "Give me H.Q. +Heavy Batteries." Then as the reply comes through he gives: + +"A-2-3. Concentrated fire!" + +Within four minutes, while the hornet still circles over the luckless +Germans, now alive to their danger and rushing over each other in +their haste to finish the detrainment of the column, flashes of fire +are seen away to the west, and through the air comes a heavy +explosive shell. It is followed by another and yet another. As they +explode, the observer sees the earth blotted out from view for a few +seconds. He notes how near the first shots fall to the target. Then +he taps his keys once more. + +"Zur, zip-zip!" cries the machine, and the next shell falls into the +midst of the column, destroying nearly a whole train. And so for +another ten minutes the airmen remain, altering the range until at +least a dozen direct hits are scored, and the damage done to the +railway, the trains, and the division or so of men is tremendous. + +Very quickly, however, the men are scattered and placed out of +danger, hiding in the woods, and under hedges and trees where they +cannot be seen. + +The Germans, aware of that dangerous pest overhead, have rushed up +anti-aircraft guns to deal with it, and have also telephoned to the +nearest aerodromes for their beloved Fokkers. So shortly after, +having done as much damage as possible in a short space of time, the +hornet moves off to reconnoitre further afield. + +"Watch for their verdomt Fokkers, Jock," cries the pilot. "They may +appear at any minute. Himmelman himself may be in the neighbourhood." + +"Himmelman?" queries Jock, more to himself than to his comrade, as he +looks round uneasily, for on the previous day he had heard some tall +tales of the doings of this crack German flyer. + +Then as they move off and open out the engine to gain speed, Jock +sweeps the horizon for a sight of enemy 'planes, for a strange +curiosity grips him at the thought of Himmelman, and he wonders half +aloud whether it will ever be his fate to meet this renowned airman, +who was said to have brought down more machines than any other man +living. + +But there is little time for soliloquy in the life of an airman in +war time. He must ever be on the _qui vive_. And so for another half +an hour, seeing no enemy 'planes to engage and remembering that he is +out first of all for a reconnaissance, he watches the ground more and +more closely. + +They have moved south some distance by this time, and have crossed +the railway near Clery. Below them they see the narrow waters of the +Somme, glistening in the sunshine, for by now the sun is up, and +there is the promise of a brilliant day. Jock is keenly watching the +white road that leads from Peronne to Albert. + +"Ah! Ah!" He gasps. "What is that dark object that breaks the white, +sunlit road, as though some dark shadow has fallen across it?" + +He points it out to the pilot, with a few gestures, and Dastral +spirals round, and makes off towards the place at a rapid rate. + +As they approach the spot Jock scrutinises it yet more closely, for +it looks suspicious. Then suddenly putting aside his glasses once +more, he calls out, + +"Enemy column on the march!" + +"The deuce it is?" queries the pilot. + +"Yes, ammunition column, I think, but we'll soon find out." + +Then the tapping begins again, and the message is flung across the +battle-ground and is picked up. With a swift mental calculation the +observer has reckoned up when the head of the column will reach a +certain point in the road, where a bridge carries the road over a +tributary of the Somme. + +"Swis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" comes the first heavy fifteen-inch shell. + +It is a little short and another message on the keys is necessary. + +This time the shell falls plump right into the middle of the column, +for so accurately are the guns trained, that, though they cannot see +the object they are firing at, if the message sent only gives the +exact position on the map, a direct hit is soon gained. + +The consternation of the Germans can be better imagined than +described. Thinking themselves in comparative security so far behind +the lines, a huge shell without the slightest warning explodes near +by, and the next lands clean in the middle of the column. + +The object hit was a motor lorry conveying ammunition up to the guns. +The first explosion is followed by another, more terrific than the +first, for a couple of hundred shells are exploded, and when the +smoke and dust have cleared away the observer and his pilot look +down, and there is a huge gap in the column, for two of the lorries +are blazing, several have been overturned, and one has disappeared +entirely from view. + +Not only so but the road is blocked for the next six or seven hours +for all traffic, and not only will guns go short of ammunition but +more than one battalion of the German army will go short of food for +the next twenty-four hours. + +For half an hour the guns continue to shell the rest of the column, +which by that time has managed to get the undamaged motors away, by +dashing blindly down any side turning that leads to anywhere, out of +that terrible inferno. + +For a little while longer the observer continues to send cryptic +messages back to headquarters, which have the immediate effect of +altering and adjusting the range of the heavy batteries, until the +whole convoy has dispersed sufficiently to prevent the waste of +further ammunition. + +Modern warfare is like a game of chess, with move and countermove, +and this applies just as much to war in the air as to warfare on +land. Evidently this morning, however, the enemy have been caught +napping. His air patrols have not yet been sighted. Surely he has had +time to deal with the offender up there in the skies, who has been +reading the secret of his lines, and the movements in his rear, or +can it be that he is laying a trap for the unwary? + +So far the daring young adventurers have had it all their own way, +but a surprise is in store for them. Meanwhile, however, they +continue to circle around, noting half a dozen little things which +Jock briefly enters on his memoranda sheet. A few photographs are +also taken with the telescopic camera, for in reconnoitring the +observer has noted some new lines of brown coloured earth showing up +plainly against the green. Becoming suspicious he pointed them out to +Dastral. + +Holding the joy stick between his legs, Dastral takes the glasses for +a minute, then cries out, + +"New trenches, I believe!" + +"I think so, but we must make sure. I want a snapshot. Reserve +trenches probably. Perhaps the enemy are thinking of falling back the +next time they are attacked in force." + +"If so, we've got his secret. It's important; we must go down and +see. Hold tight!" + +At that moment while the couple were intent upon the line of new +trenches below, they failed to notice a little cloud that was coming +up out of the eastern horizon. Till now it had been bright and clear, +as it often is at the break of dawn, but the first little cloud, no +bigger than a man's hand, had arisen. And it was in that cloud that +the danger lay. + +Heedless, however, of this little thing, and willing to take some +deadly risks to get the precious photograph, which might prove to be +the final link in some theory held at headquarters as to the position +on the enemy's front, they ignored the coming danger. + +Putting forward the controlling gear the hornet dipped her head, and +made a graceful nose-dive at a terrific speed, losing in fifteen +seconds that which she would shortly very badly need, namely, her +altitude. + +The long, downward glide is finished at last. They are within a +thousand feet of the newly-dug trenches when they flatten out, and +the camera is released and a series of short, sharp snaps are taken, +as the instrument click-clicks. To-morrow, when these are developed, +they will tell the divisional commander much that he wants to know, +and may explain something which has puzzled him for days past. + +At the moment, however, when they flatten out, half a dozen Archies, +artfully concealed under a clump of bushes, suddenly open fire upon +the intruder. + +"Whis-s-s! Bang!" comes one of the shells and bursts within fifty +feet of the 'plane. + +For a few seconds they are blinded and stunned by the explosion, the +flying metal and the deadly fumes. They gasp for their breath, and +the aeroplane rocks wildly, but the terrific speed given them by the +nose-dive carries them through the maelstrom once more. + +"Are you hurt, Dastral?" shouts the observer, as soon as he himself +regains the power of speech. + +The pilot turns round just for half a second, and shakes his head, +but Jock sees for himself that though he evidently does not know it, +Dastral is wounded, for the visible part of his face is covered with +blood. Jock, himself, feels that his left arm is useless, and he +clenches it tightly with the other. + +There is no time to waste in words, however, for another peril is at +hand. They are soon out of range of the Archies, which, nevertheless, +have riddled the planes with jagged holes. No vital part has been +hit, however, and the two adventurers are not severely wounded. + +"Is the engine all right?" shouts Jock, as he sees Dastral peer into +the mechanism once or twice. + +"She's 'pukka' (all right)," comes back the answer. + +"Then we'd better make for home. Breakfast will be ready. It's nearly +six o'clock, and we've been out an hour and a half." + +Dastral nods, and heads the machine for home, altering the controls +again in order to get a good altitude ready for crossing the +trenches. + +As he does so he happens to look away to the eastward, as the machine +banks. + +"Great Scott, look there!" + +Jock did look, and in a cloud, not a couple of miles away, he saw two +specks racing for them with twice the speed of an express train. + +Seizing his glasses he fixed them for one second upon the objects, to +discover, if possible, the rounded marks of the Allies upon the +newcomers. Instead, he saw the black cross in a white rounded field, +showing distinctly upon both machines. + +"Enemy 'planes!" he shouted to the pilot. + +"Himmelman?" suggested Dastral in a half bantering tone. "We're up +against it this time, old man. He's the 'star turn' of the enemy's +corps, and he fights like the deuce. I would like to have met him +upon even terms. As it is, if we cannot leave him and get back with +this information, we must fight him." + +"Open the engine out, Dastral, and I'll bring the machine gun to +bear." + +Fortunately, the hornet had not been hit in any vital part, and her +engine was running splendidly. But she had lost her altitude to get +the precious photograph, having dropped nearly six thousand feet, +and, in fighting, altitude counts a great deal, for it is much the +same as the "weather gage" for which our sea-dogs used to contend in +the olden days. + +The hornet mounted two guns, but in a stern chase like this she could +use only the rear weapon. If he could only cripple one of their +pursuers by getting the first shot in Jock knew that they would then +be on more even terms, despite the fact that the enemy 'planes, +having caught them unawares, had got the advantage of them. + +"What are they, Jock?" asked the pilot. + +"Fighting scouts, I fancy." Then half a minute later he added: + +"Yes, Fokkers, both of them, single seaters with the gun forward." + +"Are they gaining much?" + +"Yes, they're creeping up rapidly. Now they're nose-diving to gain +speed. Shall I open fire?" + +"Not yet. Wait till they're within six hundred feet before you open. +Cripple the leader if you can." + +"Here they come. They're about to open on us." + +"Biff, ping, ping, rap, rap!" and the Hornet was sprayed from wing to +wing with machine gun bullets. + +"Good heavens, the machine's like a sieve! She'll not last much +longer at this rate," cried Dastral, as he looked round and surveyed +the damage done. Then, turning round towards the observer, who was +sighting his gun, he shouted wildly: + +"Give it him, Jock!" + +Then it was that Jock let fly, a full drum of ammunition clean at the +fuselage of the leading enemy 'plane. Thus it was that nerve told. +Not for nothing had Jock gained the highest honours in the School of +Aerial Gunnery before putting his brevet up. + +"Got him!" he cried exultantly, and the first machine went down in a +spinning nose-dive under that withering fire, for the pilot at the +controls was stone dead, shot through the head. + +The next instant, however, the master-pilot of all the German airmen +was upon them. While his companion had attacked from the level, he +had kept his gage, and now, at the critical moment, he had appeared +as it were from the clouds above their heads, firing from his bow gun +as he did a thrilling nose-dive. + +It was ever Himmelman's game to pounce upon his opponent and to beat +him nearer and nearer to the ground, until he was forced to crash or +make a landing in enemy territory. Once again he was about to +triumph, so he thought, for never before had he caught his man so +neatly. + +But Dastral was no ordinary aviator, and though his machine was raked +again from end to end, yet the engine still ran, and to Himmelman's +surprise his quarry proved much more elusive than he thought. With +his superior speed, owing to his downward drive, the German air-fiend +swept round and round the hornet, firing all the while, but Dastral, +his blood thoroughly up now, found an answering manoeuvre each time. + +The end was near, however, for the English machine could not hold out +much longer. Not only were the planes riddled, but several stays and +struts were gone, and several times the engine had missed. To make +matters worse, after the second drum the machine gun had jammed, and +things seemed hopeless. + +"Confound the gun! He's coming on again, Dastral," shouted the +observer, clenching his fist, and forgetting all about the bullet in +his arm. + +"Look out, then, I'm going to ram him. If I've got to go down, he's +going down with me." + +The two machines were almost on a level now, and when the German came +on, Dastral just put the joy-stick over, and made straight for his +opponent. + +"Donner and blitz!" yelled the irate Boche, for he did not understand +such tactics. For one aeroplane to ram another in mid air at two +thousand feet seemed incredible, but here was this mad Britisher +coming straight for him. + +"Mein Gott, no!" gasped Himmelman, and by a skilful manoeuvre he +sheered off, though thousands of his fellow-countrymen were watching +him from below, for they were now almost over the trenches. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" yelled Jock, though but an instant before his heart +seemed to be in his mouth, as the pilot made his almost fatal dash +for his opponent. + +Seeing that Himmelman had failed in his move, the anti-aircraft guns +opened fire again from below, but the hornet sailed on over the +trenches, and Himmelman did not follow, for out of the west three +British fighters were coming to the rescue. + +"Will she hold out, Dastral?" the observer asked a moment later, as +they passed the British trenches, out of the range of the German +Archies. + +"I think so. Can you spot the aerodrome?" + +"Yes, there it is, a little to the right." + +"Thanks, I see it now," came the softened reply, for Dastral was +rolling a little in his seat, as though he held the joy-stick with +difficulty. + +Jock bent over to help him, and the next minute they landed safely on +the level turf. And Jock remembered hearing a voice say: + +"Come along now. We're waiting breakfast for you in the mess." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +STRAFING THE BABY-KILLERS + + +DASTRAL and Jock received a hearty welcome home that morning. +Although it was scarcely yet six o'clock, their day's work was +finished, and a good day's work it had been. Dastral's laconic report +was handed to the Squadron-Commander. Then, as soon as his slight +flesh wounds had been dressed by the genial "Number Nine," as Captain +Young, the medical officer for the squadron, was called, they went in +to early morning breakfast at the mess. + +"So you've had a scrap with Himmelman, have you, Lieutenant?" asked +Number Nine at the breakfast table. + +"Just a slight skirmish," replied Dastral. + +"You're lucky to get away from him!" + +"You think so?" queried the young pilot, pouring out another cup of +coffee, and pressing Jock, whose wound was giving him a good deal of +pain, to another slice of hot buttered toast. + +"I do, decidedly. He's so deucedly clever that he's uncanny. We +haven't found the man who can match him yet on our side. But one of +these days we shall do it." + +Dastral did not reply for some time. His mind was full of the details +of the recent encounter he had had with the unbeaten champion. He +wondered what Himmelman thought of his own tactics which had made the +air-fiend sheer off at the last moment. And he also determined that +should the opportunity ever come to fight with him on equal terms he +would not refuse the challenge. If it were possible the western front +should be rid of this champion, and the supremacy of the air wrested +from the Germans. + +For the next few days Dastral and Jock remained on light duty, +nursing their wounds, and taking strolls about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. The hornet had been so badly damaged that it was +necessary to send to England for new parts to be supplied before it +could be flown again. + +At the end of a fortnight, however, they were both quite well again, +and the hornet had been brought to its pristine condition. Then they +took part in several reconnaissances over the enemy's lines, and in +more than one bombing raid, but nothing of unusual importance +happened for nearly a month, when the following incident occurred: + +Dastral had just been made Flight-Commander, and so, in addition to +the hornet, three other active warplanes and three brilliant pilots +who were ready to follow him to the "Gulfs," wherever that might be, +had been placed under his command. This was the section of the Royal +Flying Corps called "B" Flight, which was to win much fame and glory +in the days of the near future. Already, Dastral, by his cool daring +and skilful manoeuvring, had won a great name amongst his fellows, +and some had even begun to talk of him as a possible competitor with +Himmelman. + +Often, after one of his more than usually brilliant raids or +reconnaissances over the lines, his friends would remark of him in +his absence: + +"Some day he will meet with Himmelman again, and then one of the two +will never return." + +"What a fight that will be!" remarked Number Nine one day, as he lit +his cigar and leaned back in his comfortable fauteuil, to puff rings +of smoke into the air. + +"And I hope I shall be there," said Mac, one of the pilots of "B" +Flight. + +"And while Dastral fights with Himmelman, may I be there to fight +with Boelke," added Brum to his friend Steve, both pilots belonging +to "B" Flight. + +Brum was short and sturdy, while Steve, or Inky as he was sometimes +called, was tall and thin and very dark, with piercing blue-grey +eyes, and they both considered Dastral the finest and fairest fighter +in the British Air Service. + +One day, while the great fight on the Somme was in progress, and the +Allies, by their great pressure were winning village after village +from the enemy, there came a mysterious message to the Command +Headquarters of the ---- Division, stating that the enemy had +finished the construction of three huge Zeppelin sheds not far from +Brussels. Also that the same number of Zeppelins had just arrived +from Friedricshaven to take possession of the sheds, evidently +preparatory to a raid upon Paris or London. + +The wires and despatch-riders were busy that day between the Command +Headquarters and the Aerodrome. Plans were drawn up to destroy at an +early date both the airships and the sheds. After some consideration, +it was decided that "B" Flight should have the honour of carrying out +the raid, and accordingly Dastral and Jock went to work at once with +their maps and charts to evolve a thoroughly sound plan of campaign. + +Several days later, towards evening, another coded message from the +same secret service agent behind the lines came to hand by carrier +pigeon, which when decoded ran something as follows: + +"Two Zeppelins just left Brussels' sheds, travelling west-nor'-west!" + +"Send Flight-Commander Dastral to me at once," said the +Squadron-Commander, immediately the message was read to him. + +As soon as Dastral appeared the O.C., who had been pacing about his +little room, turned abruptly upon the pilot, and said, + +"See this, Dastral?" + +"Yes, sir," replied the youth, scanning the brief message, which told +him so much. + +"You know what it means?" + +"It evidently means that a raid on London is imminent, and is being +carried out to-night, I fancy, sir." + +"Exactly!" snapped the O.C., who at such times became easily +fractious and irritated. + +At this moment the telephone in the C.O.'s office suddenly burst out, + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Yes, who's there?" asked the Major sharply. + +"Advanced Headquarters, Fourth Army. Are you the R.F.C.?" + +"Yes--Squadron-Commander speaking from No. 10 Aerodrome." + +"Right. News is just to hand by field telephone that three Zeppelins +have passed overhead making for the Channel. We have wired the coast +stations and the R N.A.S. to look after them, and if possible to +bring them down. There is evidently a raid in progress. What do you +think you can do in the matter?" asked the officer at the other end. + +"Hold on just a few seconds, sir!" replied the Major. Then, turning +round to Dastral, he repeated the conversation briefly, and said, + +"What do you suggest?" + +"Just this, sir," replied the pilot. "Our plan to destroy the sheds +is well forward, and we hoped to carry it out in three or four days. +We know exactly where the place is----" + +"Yes, yes, go on. The staff officer is waiting at the other end of +the line," blurted out the C.O. + +"Well, sir, if you will detail me to take my flight over there, so as +to be on the spot at dawn, when the airships return, we may be able +to strafe the lot. At any rate, we can destroy the sheds, and a +Zeppelin would be useless without its cradle, and would soon come to +grief." + +"Good! Prepare your flight at once for the venture, and we must leave +the other Squadrons and the R.N.A.S. and coast batteries to try and +stop the raid." + +"Yes, sir," replied the pilot, saluting smartly and departing on his +errand. + +So while the C.O. concluded his conversation with Headquarters over +the 'phone, Dastral got to work at once with his flight. + +While Snorty, the Aerodrome Sergeant-Major, and Yap, the rag-time +"Corporal," and a squad of experienced air-mechanics prepared the +machines for action, the Flight-Commander got together his pilots, +Mac, Steve, and Brum, with their observers, and explained every +detail of the proposed campaign. Distances were carefully worked out, +a prearranged code of signals agreed upon, maps and charts examined +and committed as far as possible to memory, and a score of necessary +details worked up, so that there should be no confusion in the method +of attack. + +Having spent an hour thus discussing the matter and threshing out +every aspect of the question that arose, Dastral said, + +"Now then for a rendezvous, lads, for we must go singly, and come +together smartly, at the precise moment, just as the dawn is +breaking, which will be no easy matter." + +"Let it be the Lion Mound on the battlefield at Waterloo," suggested +Mac. + +"Well, yes, that will do," said the Flight-Commander. "It is only +about two miles away from the sheds, which are close by the village +of Braine l'Alleud." + +"Agreed," they all cried. "It will be a landmark we shall easily +find." + +"Then understand, all of you, that you must be there exactly as the +dawn breaks, and, as soon as we pick each other up, we shall fall +into regular flight formation, make a bee line for the sheds, and +drop the squibs before the enemy can get to work with their Archies," +said Dastral. + +"And the cargo, Dastral? What shall we load up with?" + +"Six twenty-pound bombs each, with ten drums of the new machine-gun +ammunition. I think that will be all we can safely take without +reducing speed." + +"Right, sir!" + +"And understand, boys," the leader went on. "There must be no +fighting on the way there, even if attacked, unless it is absolutely +necessary to prevent a crash. I quite expect we may have to fight an +airship or two, and possibly a patrol of Fokkers or Aviatiks, for the +Zeps are sure to be escorted on their way back, if they get wind of +our little game." + +"Agreed, sir." + +"And now, gentlemen, to bed, all of you. It is imperative that you +should each have a good night's rest, for if any man's nerves are run +down in the morning, I shall put him off," said Dastral seriously, +and they knew he meant it, for he could be serious at times, despite +his laughing blue eyes, and his apparently gay and reckless manner. + +So to bed they went, for they were all tired out, and not even the +promise of the morrow's venture could keep them awake, for these +daring airmen had learnt the happy knack of taking sleep whenever +they could get it, as soon as duty was done, and of forgetting all +about their machines as well as their own wonderful exploits. + +Next morning, long before dawn, Corporal Yap, humming one of his +rag-time songs, went round the bunks of the officers' mess and gently +called the pilots and observers one by one. Within an hour they had +breakfasted and were out on the aerodrome watching the machines being +wheeled out, by the aid of the hand-lamps and electric torches. + +After a brief but careful final examination of every strut and wire, +the machines were quite ready, all loaded up, with the machine-guns +shipped, compasses aboard, etc. + +"All ready, sir!" reported Snorty, as he came up and saluted. + +"Tumble aboard, lads!" called Dastral, and within two minutes the +pilots and observers were in their seats, and the air mechanics +standing ready to swing the propellors. + +"Swish!" went the whirling blades. + +"Stand clear!" came next in a shrill voice. + +Then away into the darkness sped the four machines. In a few seconds +they were lost to sight as they taxied across the aerodrome. Then one +after another they leapt into the air, and began their upward climb, +leaving their friends and well-wishers behind them, craning their +necks to get a last view of them as they tried to locate them in the +upper regions, by the hum of the gnome engines, and the loud +whir-r-r-r of the propellors. + +After rising rapidly to seven thousand feet the 'planes made off in +the direction of the enemy's trenches, which they crossed at +different points, for they had already separated in accordance with +their plans. As they crossed the lines a dozen milk-white arms +stretched up to reach them. These were the German searchlights, for +the alarm had been raised and messages about. + +"English aeroplanes crossing our lines!" had been flashed from the +trenches to the Archies and the German searchlights. + +"Boom-m! Boom-m!" went the anti-aircraft guns in a mad effort to find +the raiders. But their efforts were futile, for the raiders looked +down upon the little spurts of flame far beneath, and laughed as they +quickly passed out of range. + +The distance to be covered was nearly a hundred miles, before they +arrived at the appointed rendezvous, but that did not trouble the +daring aviators. Steering by compass, and watching the eastern sky +right ahead for the first faint tinge of dawn, onwards they sped over +Cambrai and the ruined fortress of Mauberge. Then they crossed into +Belgian territory, that land of wretchedness and suffering, where a +brave little people were enduring torment under the heel of the hated +Prussian. + +They were rapidly nearing the neighbourhood of the rendezvous when +Jock called to Dastral, and shouted, + +"Look, there comes Aurora, the Daughter of the Morn!" + +The pilot looked in the direction indicated by his observer, and away +to the eastward, over the far horizon, he saw the first grey streak +which heralded the coming day. + +He watched it as it grew and rapidly diffused itself over the sky. +From grey it turned to a pale yellow, then as they still sped on, +crimson flashes shot out over the firmament, as though the door of +heaven had literally been unbarred, and the dark curtain of night had +been rolled westward. + +"Keep a good look-out for the other machines, Jock!" cried Dastral, +for he had no time now to dwell in rhapsody over the beauty of the +dawn. Danger was at hand, and he had a stern duty to fulfil. + +The observer, however, did not need to be reminded; he was already +peering through his glasses, searching the skies in the faint light +for signs of the other 'planes. + +"Can you make out any landmarks?" asked Dastral through the speaking +tube, becoming not a little alarmed, and fearing that in the darkness +they had overshot the mark and sailed past the rendezvous. + +"Yes. Look, we are over a big city. I can see a dozen spires peeping +up already through the gloom," replied the observer, after peering +down towards the earth for another minute. + +"Good!" ejaculated the pilot, bringing over the controls, and banking +swiftly to come back on his course. "We must be over Brussels. We +have come too far." + +The next minute they were speeding away South-west towards the +appointed rendezvous. Opening out the engine, they were soon going +full pelt, before the enemy's guns could find them. + +"Aircraft in sight to the northward," came next, for Jock had picked +up a tiny speck away on their right. + +And now for a moment there was intense excitement, for they knew not +as yet whether the newcomer might prove to be an enemy, and they were +anxious to avoid being entangled in a fight until their work was +done. + +"Can you pick up the Lion Mound yet?" asked Dastral. "It cannot be +far away now." + +"Yes, I have it now. A little further away to the right. Can you make +it out?" + +"Yes, I see it. We'll be there in a minute. Keep your eyes well +skinned for the others. I think that must be Mac. away on our right, +though he seems to be hanging back a bit; he evidently mistakes us +for an enemy machine as we have come from the direction of Brussels. +Can you make out his marks yet?" + +"Not yet. It isn't light enough, and he's keeping too far away." + +They were now right over the Lion Mound on the famous field of +battle. The village of Waterloo was just behind them, standing almost +exactly as it stood on that memorable day, Sunday, June 18, 1815. In +the morning mist the old chateau of Hougumont lay sleepily ensconced +in the hollow, while on the left the smoke was already rising up from +the farmhouse of La Haye Saint. + +"Another 'plane coming up on the south, making a bee line for us," +shouted the observer. + +"Splendid! That must be Steve," exclaimed Dastral, warming up a +little as he saw that two of his three birds had reached the spot +safely. + +"But where the deuce is Brum? He should be here by now. It's getting +quite light," said Jock, peering in every direction for the missing +aviator. + +"Ho! ho! here he comes." + +"Where away? I can't see him." + +"Right behind us. He must have over-shot the mark also, and he's +coming back on our trail from Brussels." + +The next instant, Dastral did a rapid swerve, and a steep nose-dive, +in accordance with the pre-arranged code made before starting. + +This was quite sufficient, for the strangers had been stalling their +machines, and circling around, waiting for the signal. Now they +opened out their engines and came on at top speed to meet their +leader. + +As they came up Jock could see the observers waving their hands in +recognition. Yes, they were all here. The first part of the business +was over. They had all come safely through and gained the rendezvous. + +"Now we must get to work, for there's trouble brewing somewhere for +us, and the sooner we get through the affair the better," shouted the +pilot through the speaking tube. + +As the machines came up, they wheeled smartly round, and each took up +its appointed place in the formation. To an observer down below it +must have appeared that they were great birds wheeling about to +order, just like a platoon of infantry on parade. + +"Prepare for action," was the next signal given, as they sped off, +led by Dastral. + +"Braine l'Alleud next," called Dastral. + +"Yes, a little further to the right, just below the dip in the hill. +We should see the Zeppelin sheds shortly," responded Jock, who was +ready for the query, and had one finger already on the waterproof +map. + +"Shall I follow the road?" asked Dastral. + +"Yes, till I pick up the hangars." + +A moment later, the huge sheds came into view, and Jock, putting down +his glasses, shouted with glee: + +"There they are--three of them, and quite a crowd of people round +about them. A little more to the left." + +"Yes, I see them--why, there are hundreds of people there. What on +earth can they be doing there?" asked Dastral. + +"German soldiers waiting for the return of the Zeppelins that raided +England last night, I expect." + +"Phew! Our luck's in this time." + +"They think we're friendly machines too, I believe," cried Jock, +fingering the bomb release, ready to let go the first twenty-pound +bomb on to the hangar. "Evidently, they can't make out our marks yet +in the morning mist." + +"They'll soon think differently," replied the pilot, as, coming up at +full speed, followed by the rest of the flight, he did a rapid +nose-dive of two thousand feet. Then, flattening out to get a better +control over his machine, he swept on again till nearly exactly over +the first huge shed, and did another rapid nose-dive, the speed of +which must have approximated one hundred and fifty miles an hour. + +"Look to it, Jock. Let go, man!" he yelled. + +Jock pulled the clutch of the bomb release, and the first missile +fell almost into the middle of the huge building. He could not fail +to hit it, for the target was so large, and Dastral had dropped to +within three hundred feet of the high roof. + +"Swis-s-s-h----Boom-m-m-m----!" + +The explosion was terrific, and the huge roof of the building +crumpled in with a crash. + +Scarcely fifteen seconds later Mac. dropped a petrol bomb into the +half ruined building, and before the third plane could come into +action, huge flames were bursting out everywhere. + +Then it was that the German anti-aircraft guns, discovering their +mistake, turned their concentrated fire upon the first machine, which +by this time was passing the second hangar, and about to repeat the +process. + +"Spit! bang! boom!" And now the calm morning air was alive with +bursting bombs and tearing shrapnel, while down below the distracted +German soldiery, who had been waiting to house the returning +Zeppelins, were rushing hither and thither, bewildered, whilst their +officers were cursing those verdomt Englanders, who were always up to +some new devilment. + +"Gott in Himmel! Gott strafe England!" came from many a mouth, and +curses and cries of anger, coupled with shouts of defiance, rent the +air. + +"Are you ready, Jock?" yelled Dastral, as they whirled through a +screen of bursting shrapnel. + +"Yes, aye, ready!" came the response from the observer, whose eyes +were lit with the light of battle. + +"Then let go!" + +"Boom-m-m!" went another bomb on to the second hangar, and so with +the third and last. + +Within three minutes the whole of the structures of the three huge +sheds were blazing fiercely, and, as the 'planes sped away, and +climbed out of the line of immediate fire, they noted with joy that +the flames from the third shed were larger and fiercer than those +from the others. + +Huge forks of fire leapt three hundred feet into the air, and the +heat was so fierce within a hundred feet that everybody within that +zone of fire was scorched and fell fainting or dead. + +"Some blaze that, Jock!" cried Dastral as soon as they had left the +fire curtain of shrapnel behind them, and could observe the burning +mass properly. + +"Yes, there's a Zeppelin in there, I'll swear to it. Else it would +never blaze like that." Scarcely had he spoken, when a terrific +explosion rent the air, fifty times as loud and terrible as that +caused by the bursting of the twenty-pound bombs. At the same +instant, a huge column of smoke, flame and debris shot up into the +sky, making the very aeroplanes tremble with the tremendous +vibration. + +"Great Scott, you're right, Jock! We've done it this time. It must +have been a Zeppelin. There is nothing left of the shed now. It has +been clean lifted away." + +The destruction wrought down below had been terrible. The casualties +caused by the bombs had been as nothing compared to the terrible +death-roll amongst the German soldiery by the explosion of a million +cubic feet of gas and the wreckage of the huge hangar. The burning, +blazing missiles of bent, twisted iron, steel, timber and aluminium +came down from the skies, and wrought death and havoc amongst the +labour battalions which must always be on duty near a Zeppelin +hangar. + +Once they were out of range of the enemy's guns Dastral looked round +upon his companions. So far they had come through pretty well. No +vital hit had been made, but every machine had received its quota of +shrapnel. Not a 'plane amongst them but had its fifty or sixty jagged +tears through the planes. Mac's propeller had also been hit, but as +it was only slightly splintered, it still enabled the pilot to carry +on. + +However, as he wheeled round his flight, Dastral saw that it would +take his brave followers all their time to get back nearly a hundred +miles to safety. He gave the signal, therefore, for every pilot to +make a bee line for the English trenches, and thus get home before +the Aviatiks, Rolands and Fokkers came, which he knew would be +climbing up already to attack them, from the aerodromes in the +vicinity of Brussels. + +Two of the observers had also been wounded, though slightly, and +signalled accordingly, so that Dastral became uneasy, lest, after +all, their return to safety should be hindered. Most of all did he +fear that it might be necessary to leave one of his machines behind, +for, if an aeroplane is forced to land in enemy territory, there is +small chance of escape, either for man or machine. + +The whole flight, therefore, had fallen into position for return, +with Dastral leading, for he had signalled his men to keep together, +as far as possible, till they were about to cross the lines. +Suddenly, however, when they had proceeded some eight or nine miles +on their way, Jock, who had been scanning the north-western horizon, +called out: + +"A Zeppelin! A Zeppelin!" + +"Good heavens, where?" shouted Dastral. + +"Away over there on the right, low down on the horizon." + +"Phew! So it is. One of their lame ducks coming home to roost, after +raiding some English village, I expect." + +"The devils. I say, Dastral?" + +"Yes?" + +"Let's strafe the baby-killer!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral turned round once more to look at his battered flight. Could +he do it? Where were the German Fokkers? he asked himself. And for +once he hesitated. It was only for a moment, however, and it was not +for any thought of himself that he hesitated, but the knowledge that +he would be attacked shortly by enemy 'planes, and that some of his +machines would be lost, for they were not in any fit state at present +to engage with enemy warplanes. Jock, always an eager fighter, was +edging him on, however. + +"What say you, Flight-Commander? The others seems eager to fight. +We've plenty of bombs left yet, and haven't touched the drums. Let's +bring the blighter down, so that it can't kill any more babies in +their cots." + +"Right-o, Jock! Throw out the signal-Zeppelin." + +And the next moment a couple of smoke bombs were thrown out by the +observer, which gave the order, "Prepare to attack." + +"Whir-r-r!" went the four 'planes on their new tack, as the +controlling wires went over, and each machine banked suddenly and +came round head on towards the enemy. + +"By Jove, she's seen us and she's heading off too!" shouted Jock +through the tube. + +"Yes, so I see. Bet she's using her wireless some to call for the +Fokkers. We haven't much time to lose." + +In less than three minutes they were within machine-gun fire of the +huge gas-bag, which was flying as low as three thousand feet, and +seemed incapable of lifting herself much, either through shortage of +gas or damaged machinery. + +"Look out! She's opening fire! See there!" Short sharp jets of fire +spat out from the gondolas of the Zeppelin in half a dozen different +places, and the bullets began to whistle and ping-ping about the ears +of the aviators. + +"Reserve your fire, boys!" ordered Dastral, for he knew that they +would all be anxious to fire. Then he threw out another order, which +meant, "Attack from above." + +This they all understood immediately, and followed Dastral as he made +his machine almost sit upon her tail, as she climbed and manoeuvred +to get above the huge lumbering mass, which was already levering away +to leeward on account of some defective machinery, and the fresh +breeze which had sprung up from the south-east. + +Two minutes later they were almost directly above the Zeppelin, and, +except for two machine-guns which were mounted above the envelope, +they were immune from fire, for the other guns down below were +screened by the huge looming mass above them. + +Even the gunners on the top were practically useless, for the terrors +of the past night and the impending death now awaiting them had +shattered their nerves, and they were firing wildly, so that the +daring aviators had them at their mercy, for the hornets were about +to attack. + +Dastral gave one more look round at his flight, and saw them coming +boldly on behind him. Then he shouted to Jock: + +"All ready there?" + +"Aye, ready," came the response. + +"Then in mercy's name fire!" A short, sharp nose-dive of two hundred +feet, and they were within a hundred feet of the leviathan, and +immediately above her. So near were they that they could see the +affrighted machine-gunners on the top of the gas-bag leave their +posts and try to escape down the escalier, but they had left it too +long. They were now about to pay the price for the toll they had +wantonly taken of innocent lives during the long dark hours of the +past night. And, like all cowards who wreak their vengeance upon +helpless folk, they feared the dread spectre when it came close to +themselves. + +"Whis-s-sh! Boom-m-m!" went the first bomb; a time fuse fixed for two +seconds. The explosion rent the envelope, and allowed vast quantities +of gas to escape from two of the ballonets, so that the huge mass +crumpled in at the head, and began to sink slowly at the nose. + +Another bomb was dropped, and the second and third machines coming +up, dropped petrol and phosphorus bombs, which blazed away, igniting +the escaping gas. + +She was well alight now, and in the fore part she was burning +fiercely, but as yet she did not explode. Dastral saw that she was +done for, however, and knowing that the enemy craft could not be far +away after all this time, made off and signalled his men to follow. + +Down, down went the blazing mass for a couple of thousand feet, then +rolling over, it literally fell asunder into several parts, and each +part, still burning, carried its helpless inmates down to +destruction. + +Once more Dastral looked round, and as he did so, he gasped out the +words: + +"Great Scott! The whole place is alive with Fokkers, Rolands and +Aviatiks!" + +Then followed a fierce running fight, in which the English were +outnumbered three to one. The enemy were all around them, for they +had been called by wireless from every direction. Dastral headed his +men into the thick of the combat. Three German 'planes were brought +down, and not till every round of ammunition was fired, and every +drum empty did the Commander call off his Flight again, or rather +what was left of it. + +Brum, fighting bravely to the last, had gone down in a whirling +spiral after first sending down an Aviatik. Steve followed him a +little later, with his machine blazing, for his petrol tank had been +plugged time after time. Dastral alone, with Mac, both their machines +damaged beyond repair and both their observers wounded, staggered +through the curtain fire at the trenches later in the morning, and +came to earth just behind the British first line. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BOMBING RAID + + +DAWN was just breaking over Devil's Wood and Ginchy. The owls and +bats which had flitted over the night-bivouacs had returned to their +hiding places about the battered towers of the old church near by. A +saffron tint flushed the low summit of the eastern ridge, beyond +Combles and Ginchy, while thin blue-grey columns of smoke showed +where the Germans held fast their steel line from the Somme to +Bapaume. + +Scarcely had the stars faded away, however, and disappeared in the +morning light, when the little field telephone in the orderly +officer's tent at the aerodrome near Contalmaison went +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +"Are you there?" came the query over the wire. + +"Yes. Who is that?" + +"Advanced Headquarters, Section 47, East of Ginchy. Is that the Wing +H.Q., Royal Flying Corps?" + +"Yes. What is the matter, that you ring a poor chap up for the +twentieth time in half an hour?" + +"Matter enough, Grenfell, old fellow! Seven aeroplanes have just +crossed our lines from the direction of Morval and Lesboeufs. They +are flying in your direction, west by west-sou'-west. Can you hear +me?" + +"Yes, yes, but I say, Ginchy. Hullo! Were they enemy 'planes?" + +"Our sentries couldn't make out their nationality; it was too dark. +That's why the O.C. wanted me to 'phone you, lest it should be +another raiding party coming to bomb you, as they did the other +morning at dawn. He wants you to take '_Air Raid Action_' at once. +Got me, old fellow?" + +"All right, Ginchy. We'll be ready for the blighters this time. +S'long! Remember me to Crawford when you run across him." + +"Can't, old man." + +"How so?" + +"He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his +way to Blighty." + +"Lucky beggar! Good-bye!" + +"Goodbye." + +"Ting-a-ling-ling!" + +Thus the brief conversation closed, and within another thirty seconds +the orders had been given for "Air raid action" and every one was +ready. The men of "B" Flight, No. -- Squadron under Dastral, were +standing by their machines, and the aerial gunners and observers were +placing the last drums of ammunition in the cockpit, where they would +be ready to hand. Almost immediately afterwards the sentries on duty +at the eastern end of the aerodrome gave the alarm: + +"Aeroplanes approaching from the east!" Half a dozen pairs of glasses +soon found the machines, and, for a moment, there was a little thrill +of excitement, as the anti-aircraft gunners received their orders to +load up and fix the range. + +"Stand by to start the propellors!" shouted Dastral, the +Flight-Commander, to the air mechanics. + +"Are all the pilots ready?" came next. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Sergeant. + +In another moment the whole flight would have been in the air doing a +rapid spiral, for the hum of the approaching aeroplane engines could +be distinctly heard now. + +"Whir-r-r! whir-r-r-r!" Nearer and nearer came the well-known sound +of the propellors, when suddenly the Squadron-Commander, who had been +intently watching the early morning visitants through his glasses, +called out: + +"Dismiss, 'B' Flight. It's only Graham's party returning from their +reconnaissance." + +There was not a little disappointment at this announcement, for every +one had been looking forward to a scrap before breakfast. The sun, +which had just showed his upper edge above the ridge, however, +revealed quite distinctly the rounded marks of the Allies on each of +the 'planes. + +Five minutes later the newcomers descended by rapid spirals, and, +alighting on the aerodrome, taxied safely almost up to the very +entrance of the sheds, and the pilots and observers alighted to +report what they had discovered. + +They had been away two hours, had traversed fifty miles beyond the +enemy's lines, and had picked up several night signals by a +prearranged code, using the Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn. This +information, which was of the utmost importance, had been collected +from some of our most daring intelligence officers, who controlled a +network of British spies behind the German lines. + +"Well done, Graham!" exclaimed the Major commanding the Squadron, as +he grasped the Flight-Commander's hand on alighting. "Did you pick up +anything?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then slip off your helmet and heavy coat, and make your report at +once, and--hullo, there, Johnson!" + +"Sir," replied the sergeant in charge of the officers' mess, +springing smartly to the salute. + +"Have breakfast ready in ten minutes in the private mess. Lay covers +for all the pilots." + +"Yes, sir," replied Johnson, saluting once more, and clicking his +heels at the "about-turn" he disappeared to introduce a little +thunder amongst the early morning "fatigues" in the cook-house. + +A powerful and crafty foe, whose emissaries have never been surpassed +in the espionage in the world, prevents me from giving the details of +the reports brought home that morning by Graham and his pilots. Let +it suffice, however, to say that amongst other information collected +beyond the enemy's front, by a wonderful intelligence system of our +own, it had been discovered in that dark hour before the dawn, by the +Morse flash and the Klaxon Horn, that three German troop trains were +to leave Liege that morning at eight o'clock, and, travelling via +Mauberge and Cambrai, were to reinforce the hardly pressed German +troops facing the British soldiers on the Somme. + +There was a jovial breakfast party that morning in the officers' mess +of the --th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, for in this wonderful +Corps, which, in the short space of two years, has done the seemingly +impossible, and taken the high jump from an insignificant detachment, +and become the most brilliant service under the British flag, there +is an _esprit de jeu_ as well as an _esprit de corps_ unsurpassed +even by that of the Navy, with its centuries of tradition behind it. + +"How shall I know a British 'plane, if I meet it suddenly in +mid-air?" asked a German pilot once of his Flight-Commander. + +"You'll know it because it will attack you!" was the reply. + +And never yet has a British pilot, with a single round of ammunition +left in his drum, turned tail upon the enemy, even though when +outnumbered three to one. For such a pilot, there would be no room in +the Royal Flying Corps. + +So, during breakfast that morning at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, +every flight-commander vied with his comrade for the post of honour. +Maps and railway routes were carefully consuled, for there were no +less than three routes by which the troop trains might arrive at the +Somme front. + +"Liege--Namur--Mauberge," said the Squadron-Commander, as he bent +over the large map, and ran his fingers lightly along the route, +whilst the eager youths with the pilot's wings on the left breast of +their soiled and greasy service tunics listened and waited eagerly +for their final orders, each hoping in his inmost soul that the route +allotted to him might be the one by which the Huns would arrive. + +"Let me see, now. After Mauberge and Cambrai the lines divide. Hum! +Why, yes, they must come via Peronne, Velu or Lestree. There now. Are +you ready, boys?" asked the Commander, raising his head for the first +time for five minutes, and looking keenly into the glowing faces of +those lads, who, less than three years ago, in most cases, were at +Marlborough, Cheltenham or Harrow. + +"Aye, ready, sir!" they replied almost in one breath. + +"Are you quite sure, Graham, you can manage it? You have already had +two hours up there in the dark, you know." + +"We could do another four, sir, quite easily," replied the Commander +of "A" Flight, with just a shade of disappointment in his voice, as +though he feared the C.O. might hold him back. + +"How are the engines running?" + +"Perfectly, sir; never better! They never misfired once, and there +isn't a strut or control wire damaged." + +"Right!" exclaimed the Commander laconically, who then rolled up the +big map, touched a bell, and ordered the aerodrome Flight-Sergeant to +run out the machines and to let the air mechanics, observers, +wireless men and aerial gunners fall in and stand by the 'planes. +Then, turning to the three Flight-Commanders he said: + +"Graham, you will take 'A' Flight and patrol the Lestree line. You, +Dastral, will take charge of 'B' Flight and watch the +Havrincourt-Bapaume route, and Wilson there will watch the Peronne +loop-line. They may come by any of those three routes. Where they +will detrain I cannot say. It will be for you to discover. Fill up +with the twenty-pound bombs, as they're the handiest, for I expect it +will be more of a bombing raid than anything else. But if the enemy +is escorted by Fokkers or Rolands, you must be prepared for a fight +in the air as well, and I want each Flight to act independently, but +if necessary to co-operate, should Himmelman and his crowd turn up. +Smoke signals will be the best, I think. Is that quite clear, boys?" + +"Yes, sir. Quite clear," they replied, for they were all in high +glee, and regarded it all as nothing more or less than a boyish +adventure, though more than one of those brave youths was going forth +to his death. And what a death it is to be hit in mid-air by bursting +shrapnel, and hurled seven thousand feet to the earth! But such a +death they faced daily without flinching. + +"Then fill up your glasses, boys, and I will give you The King! God +bless him!" + +And standing up they drank confusion to the King's enemies, and if a +stranger had been there to note it, he would have seen that many a +glass was filled with water, for the continuous demand upon the +pilot's nerve and intelligence forbids his frequent use of alcohol. + +Soon afterwards, the pilots, observers and gunners were carefully +examining their machines, guns, fixing bombs, waterproof maps, and +arranging every detail with care and skill. A faulty strut or control +wire, a defective bomb release, or a leaking petrol tank might mean +failure or disaster. + +At last all was ready, and the final words of command were given to +the air mechanics. + +"Stand clear! Away!" + +"Good-bye, lads, and good luck!" called the Squadron-Commander +cheerfully, though at that very moment he was inwardly cursing his +bad luck at having had his left arm seriously damaged in a recent +crash. For of all things upon earth Major Bulford loved to lead his +brave lads and to wheel them into action against the enemy squadrons. + +"Whir-r-r! Whir-r-r!" went the first propellor, as the air-mechanic +who had started it sprang back to safety. Then, one after another the +machines of the three Flights taxied across the level ground of the +aerodrome, and sprang into the air at the first movement of the +elevator. + +"Goodbye!" waved the pilots in answer to the last greeting of their +chief, for the human voice could not carry two feet in that wild roar +of propellors and engines, which seemed to make the whole atmosphere +pulsate with a whirring sound. + +After a few rapid spirals a height of two thousand feet was quickly +attained, and then, still climbing, the 'planes, like huge birds of +prey, disappeared for a while behind the British lines as though for +a cross-Channel flight to England, in order to confuse the enemy +observers. Then, by a wide sweep at seven thousand feet, the flights +became detached, and each, under its own commander, went its own way +by a circuitous route to the appointed station. + +Dastral, with the four Sopwiths of "B" Flight, crossed the enemy's +lines at nine thousand feet, somewhere between Ligny and Grevillers. +As he did so he received his first baptism of fire from "Archie." + +White puffs of smoke and fierce red jets of flame seemed to burst +noiselessly around them, for the roar of the propellors drowned or +subdued even the sound of the shrapnel as it exploded. Heedless of +such small things, however, Dastral and his brave comrades sailed on, +sometimes doing a spiral or a rapid nose-dive, if the enemy appeared +to have found the range too closely. + +Soon, however, they were ambushed in a friendly cloud, which hid them +from the Huns far below, and when they had emerged from the clinging +moisture, they were far beyond the enemy's third line trenches, and +out into the open, with smiling fields and vineyards beneath them. + +"Is that it?" yelled Dastral to his observer, jerking his head +sideways, and pointing with his finger to something like a railway +cutting far below. + +"Yes. The Bapaume-Havrincourt railway line!" shouted his companion +through the speaking-tube which ended close to the pilot's ear, for +although only a few feet away, that was the only possible method of +communication without shutting off the engines. + +"Good!" nodded the pilot, for, despite the speaking-tube, +conversation was chiefly carried on by well understood cabalistic +signs. + +A few minutes later Dastral pointed to a cluster of red roofs about a +little church. + +"What is that place?" + +The observer, with one finger still on the little waterproof map in +front of him, shouted back, "Beugny on the left. Haplincourt on the +right." + +"Yes, yes!" nodded the pilot, edging a little more south-east, as +though the railway were not his objective. In so doing he alarmed +Fisker, his companion, who feared he had misunderstood him. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted. "You're leaving the target. The +bridge-head and the ravine is over there, east-nor'-east. That's +where the junction is, at Velu." + +"Right-o, old man! Glad you're awake. Keep your eyes well skinned +away to the east for Fokkers and Rolands. This is Himmelman's +favourite hunting-ground. He'll be down on us from the clouds like a +thunderbolt, if we're not careful. I want to get up to twelve +thousand, and come back on to the junction from the east." + +"Oh-ay!" came the laconic rejoinder from Fisker, who quickly +understood the manoeuvre. Then, leaving his map for a moment, he +swept the horizon for any signs there might be of the enemy's +'planes. + +So for nearly an hour the machines, playing at "follow-my-leader," +swept round and round, watching and waiting in an altitude where, to +put it mildly, it was cold enough to freeze a kettle of boiling water +in ten minutes. + +Cold? Yes, it was bitterly cold. Both Dastral and Fisker felt it +through their thick leather, wool-lined coats. + +They patrolled the country behind the German lines, and watched the +smoke curling upwards from a dozen French villages in the enemy's +possession. At length they crossed the loop line near Barastre, +skimmed along over Ytres, and the Bois Havrincourt; sailed lightly +across the silvery streak of the river Exuette, until, beyond the +wood and the village they espied the main railway line that threaded +its way to Bapaume. + +"There it is, Fisker. Can you see it?" were Dastral's first words, +when he sighted it. + +"Yes, I see it," came the reply. + +Dastral had timed his arrival nicely. Scarcely had they reached the +railway when out of the eastern horizon a trail of white steam, +followed by another and yet another, at intervals of perhaps half a +mile, attracted their attention. + +"Look! There they come, Dastral!" cried Fisker, putting down the +glasses and waving his arms frantically to attract the attention of +the other three pilots, and to indicate the target, now rapidly +approaching. + +One look in the direction indicated sufficed for Dastral. He made a +sudden dip, then gave one of his rapid spirals, at which he was such +an adept. This movement of the Flight-Commander's machine was the +pre-arranged signal for the rest of the company and meant: + +"Enemy approaching from the east. Prepare to engage him." + +The movement was answered by each of the following 'planes. The +formation of the flight was altered accordingly, and the machines now +fell into their allotted places ready for descent. + +The three trains were soon in full view, and the first one was just +passing the village of Hermies. The trains were of enormous length, +and were crowded with troops. What still puzzled Dastral, however, +was that there appeared to be no escort of aircraft with them. Again +and again, during the approach of the long procession, he had scanned +the heavens all around and above him, for a sight of his most crafty +foe, Himmelman, for, if the British machines had been sighted, there +had been plenty of time for the enemy to bring up his aircraft from +the nearest aerodrome. + +Even yet Dastral was very suspicious. He knew Himmelman only too well +already. He was the demon of the air on the western front, and loved +nothing better than to make a dramatic entry into a half-finished +fight. His greatest and most daring method was to climb out of sight, +often up to seventeen thousand feet and more, or better still, to +make an ambush in a dark cloud, then suddenly to swoop down, +hawk-like, upon his opponent, in an almost vertical nose-dive, and to +overwhelm him with a spray of well-directed machine gun fire. + +A dozen of the best British pilots had already gone down in a crash +or a forced landing before this demon of the air, and more than once +Dastral himself had encountered him. Before he led his men to the +attack therefore, upon this occasion, he scanned the heavens again +and again in search of his opponent, and actually waited until a tiny +cloud far above had been scattered and pierced, before he gave the +final signal to attack. + +At length, fearing to lose his target by longer delay, for the first +train was now abreast of the tiny hamlet of Beaumetz, and nearing the +junction and the bridge-head at Velu, he threw out the signal for the +attack. + +A smoke bomb to the right and another to the left: that was the +pre-arranged signal, and then, pulling over the joy-stick, down, down +went Dastral, followed at regular intervals by the three other +'planes. + +Down, down with a swoop, through the exhilarating rush of air, they +went. All the engines had been shut off, and the pilots, with one +hand on the joy-stick, and the other on the bomb release, waited +almost breathlessly through those wild, thrilling seconds, while they +fell with ever-gathering impetus, like a stone to the earth. Thus +they went down to what seemed like certain death, while every instant +during that mad dive seemed an age. + +"Click! click!" went the little instrument that measured the +altitudes. "Seven, six- five, three thousand feet," it tried to say, +but its voice could not be heard. + +At two thousand feet Dastral pushed back the joy-stick, and flattened +out. His comrades did the same, all except Franklin in the last +'plane, who had trouble with his control wires and flattened out only +at five hundred feet. Another five seconds would have dashed him to +death. He was game, however, and though his face blanched, and his +heart stayed its beating for an instant, he was soon climbing again +to rejoin his comrades. + +They had been seen now, for the smoke bombs had first given them +away. The commandants of the German communications were hotly engaged +on the telephone wires, reporting to headquarters and to the nearest +aerodromes the presence of the intruders, and demanding that +Himmelman and his comrades should come at once to deal with the +sky-fiends. + +The engine-driver of the first train also had seen the danger that +threatened, and, putting on all speed, he tried foolishly to get away +from the air peril. Velu was scarcely a mile distant, and there at +least he could find some protection, if only in the "Archies." + +But he was too late. When Dastral flattened out at two thousand feet +he was almost abreast of the train. A neck-and-neck race commenced, +but what chance has a heavily laden troop train, even though it has +three engines, against a Sopwith which can do one hundred and thirty +miles on occasion? It was like a race between a hare and a tortoise. + +"Puff-puff-puff! Shriek!" went the train, but the scream of the siren +was drowned in the whirr-r-r of the propellors racing alongside and +just overhead, for the engines had been started again by the pilots +as soon as they flattened out. + +It was a matter of seconds now, for Dastral only waited until he had +dropped down to one hundred feet. He was already in line with the +engine, and directly above. Just ahead was the railway bridge, and +the viaduct over the road leading into the village. + +"Yes, my beautiful Boche, it's ten to one against you now!" muttered +the Flight-Commander as he raced ahead, amid a spatter of rifle +bullets from the soldiers guarding the bridge. + +The engine-driver had seen the danger ahead now. He shut off steam, +and put on his brakes, but the bridge was too near, and Dastral was +already there. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m! Crash!" + +It was one of the new 112lb. bombs that Dastral dropped; the only one +carried by the flight, who were chiefly armed with 20-pounders for +the occasion. The aeroplane gave a lift and a lurch as the heavy +missile left her, and had it not been for her great speed, the +explosion that immediately followed would have caused her to crash. + +Fairly hit in the centre of the track the brick and timber piles and +beams collapsed, and the middle of the structure crumpled up and fell +crashing into the roadway. + +The troops, aware of what was happening when they saw the 'planes +overhead, leapt from the doomed train, for no human effort could +prevent the impending disaster now. When the bomb dropped and split +the bridge, the train was but forty yards distant, and the sparks +were flying from her brakes, as from a blacksmith's anvil, but it was +of no avail. With a thunderous roar, followed by a mighty crash, and +the wild hiss of escaping steam she went over the chasm. Carriage +after carriage, crowded with the finest troops of Germany, followed +the engine. + +Wild cries of pain and anger, curses and groans filled the air, as +wounded, scalded and half buried men dragged themselves from that +awful scene of carnage and death. + +"Gott in Himmel! Donner und blitz! Himmelman, Himmelman, wer ist +Himmelman?" cried many an eye-witness of the terrible tragedy, as +though the German air-fiend were some deity. + +The other three 'planes were bombing the long stretch of carriages +which had not leapt the chasm, and the hundreds of fugitives who were +trying to escape from the half-telescoped vehicles, which had not +gone over the precipice. But Dastral, banking swiftly on his machine, +came round, and with another smoke bomb called them off to attack the +other two trains. + +Leaving the Bridge of Velu, they wheeled back swiftly, coming once +more into the zone of fire from the anti-aircraft guns. Stopping only +to drop a couple of bombs on the battery 'which had bespattered the +wings of the second machine with shrapnel, they noticed the second +train pulling up quickly, and the soldiers also leaping from the +carriages. + +They proceeded to bomb it with the remainder of their 20-lb. bombs. +Then, suddenly, to their amazement the third train, which had not +received sufficient warning to stop on the steep gradient, crashed +into the second, and another scene of wild confusion occurred. The +German soldiers, taken for the most part by surprise, endeavoured to +get away by any and every means from the blazing wreckage, seeking +cover under clumps of trees, hedges, rising ground, etc., but the +airmen, having discharged all their bombs, turned their Lewis machine +guns upon them and scattered the fugitives in all directions. + +At last, not a single round of ammunition remained in the drums, and +Dastral, knowing that all the machines had been more or less hit, +gave the signal to return. + +It was time, for two at least of the machines had suffered severely, +and it was becoming very doubtful whether they would be able to +regain their own lines. They were of no further use for offence, so +they began their climb into the higher regions, preparatory to the +dash across the enemy's lines once again. + +It was well that they did so, for at that very moment Himmelman, with +half a squadron of fast Fokkers, was leaving his own aerodrome but +ten miles distant, having received information of the raiders' +presence. The whole feat had taken place so quickly, however, and the +affair was so adroitly managed, that the intruders had just time to +make their escape. + +Not all the aviators, however, succeeded in crossing the German +lines. Franklin's engine was missing so badly that he was unable to +climb above four thousand feet, and when, shortly after, they reached +the battle front, where the Allies and Germany kept their +battle-line, the fusillade of the "Archies" commenced again. +Cras-s-sh came a shell right into his engine, and the machine went +down in a wild spinning nose-dive, just behind the enemy's front line +trench. + +Dastral and his comrades gnashed their teeth, as they saw their two +comrades thus hurled to death, but, after all, death is only an +incident in the life of a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps, and who +shall mourn when a hero dies? In these days of blood and iron, when +Britain stands once more at the cross roads, freedom and honour can +only be purchased by the blood of her bravest sons. + +That evening the dinner party which was held in the officers' mess at +the aerodrome near Contalmaison, was less joyous and boisterous than +the breakfast held there that same morning. Three of the 'planes of B +flight had come back, it is true, and had brought their pilots and +observers safely home through the ordeal of shot and shell. Every +machine bore evidence of the fight. Scarcely one of them would be fit +to fly again for another week, and the air-mechanics were already +hard at work, fitting new struts and control wires, ailerons, and +petrol tanks, for two at least of the three aeroplanes had barely +held together to the end, so plugged were they with machine gun, +rifle bullets and shrapnel; while Winstone's "old bus" had literally +fallen to pieces on landing, and he had narrowly escaped a crash. + +And when the second toast came, and Major Bulford rose to speak, his +glance fell upon the two vacant chairs (for according to custom the +places had been reserved); and his eyes glistened with something +suspiciously like a tear, and there was a strange huskiness about his +voice, as he uttered those words which had been so frequent of late, + +"Let us drink to the memory of the brave lads who were with us this +morning, but whose faces we shall never see again!" + +So they drank the toast in silence, and then the Squadron-Commander, +having regained his usual voice, added:-- + + + "One crowded hour of glorious life, + Is worth an age without a name...!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A ZEPPELIN NIGHT + +_Per ardua ad astra_ + + +IT was a bright sunny morning in September during the great war, as +the mail packet slipped out of Calais breakwater, and headed for the +white cliffs of Dover. For two days the service had been suspended +for a special reason. Her decks were crowded with overdue mails, +including those from India, Egypt and Australia, which had come +overland from Brindisi. + +There was also a fair sprinkling of passengers, including not a few +officers, home on short leave from the Somme front, where the great +push was still in progress. + +Amongst the latter was a young officer, not more than twenty-two, +clad in a "British Warm" and wearing the well-known service cap of +the Flying Corps, with its circular badge, consisting of a wreath of +laurels and the magic letters, R.F.C.; letters which have already +woven themselves into the romance of English history, for the daring +deeds of our airmen had already gained for this juvenile corps +traditions which will never die. + +"Good-bye, Dastral! Come back soon!" shouted several of his comrades, +who had come to the edge of the quay to see the hero off to Blighty +on his well-earned leave. For the youth in the service cap was none +other than Dastral of the Flying Corps, the brilliant young pilot who +had fought with the German air-fiend, Himmelman, only a few days +before and had perhaps done more than any other individual towards +wresting the supremacy of the air from the wily and cruel Boche. + +He had already won that coveted decoration, the D.S.O., as we have +previously seen, and now the King was about to confer upon him the +Military Cross, for a daring bombing raid which he had organised and +carried out over the enemy's lines, when as Commander of "B" Flight +he had led his men beyond the Somme, and blocked the enemy's +communications, bombed the Havrincourt-Bapaume Railway, and destroyed +the bridge and viaduct at Velu, hurling one long troop train to +destruction, and preventing the Germans reinforcing their front line +trenches near Ginchy and Morval. Now, after his latest deed, the King +had sent for him to congratulate him in person for his skill and +daring. On the morrow he was to be received in audience at Buckingham +Palace. + +If he had consulted his own wishes he would much have preferred to +remain with his comrades on the Somme, but a royal wish is an order, +and, after all, perhaps the ten days' leave which had been granted to +him would enable him to run north to visit his mother and friends in +the little village in Yorkshire, and to gaze once again upon those +blue, heather-tipped and bracing moorlands where he had spent his +boyhood. + +"Good-bye, Dastral. Don't stay too long in Old Blighty!" again +shouted his friends, as the vessel sheered off and gained headway, +and he had shouted back in reply: + +"Cheer-o, boys! I shall soon be back again," waving his hand towards +his comrades, as he bent over the rail. + +As soon as they left the shelter of the breakwater a destroyer, +waiting outside, sent up a couple of flags to her masthead. + +"Send up the answering pennant, bosun!" cried the skipper of the +mail-boat, when he saw the destroyer's signal, and immediately after +he rang down to the engine room staff: + +"Full steam ahead!" for the warship was there to act as escort, as +there were very valuable mails aboard, and only two nights ago, the +enemy's destroyers, breaking out of their base at Zeebrugge, had +crept through the gap in the British mine-beds in the dark, and had +sent two patrols and an empty transport to the bottom. + +So, while the mail packet went full speed ahead, at twenty-four +knots, the destroyer, with her superior speed, waltzed round her, +like a dancing marionette, leaving a trail of white foam in her wake. +This she continued to do all the way across the Channel, for it was +known that several enemy submarines were lurking about the +neighbourhood, watching through their periscopes for just such a +target as the mail boat with her valuable cargo offered. + +Very soon, however, the white cliffs of Dover appeared in sight, and +when they entered the new naval harbour, the destroyer sheered off +and went back to her station. + +Dastral, having been recognised on the boat, had received several +invitations to dine in London that evening, but all these he had +courteously refused, although one of them had come from a Cabinet +minister and his wife who were travelling on the same boat. + +"No," he had said to himself, "there is poor old Tim Burkitt, my +colleague, who is studying law at Gray's Inn. I will go and hunt him +up. He will be glad to see me, and we will spend the night together +at Hallet's." + +Now Tim Burkitt, who suffered from a physical deformity, had been +breaking his young heart ever since war broke out, for he had been +rejected from every sphere of service in the great war, owing to his +deformity. He had seen his chums depart from Gray's into the Army, +the Navy and the Flying Corps, and he had been left behind almost +alone. + +He had been chummy with Dastral, for they came from the same village, +had come up to London together, and had shared the same drab dull +lodgings in the great city. Later he was destined to become a great +lawyer, for nature had compensated him by granting him the gift of +oratory, but he would have willingly given up all that if he could +but have shared with Dastral his adventures and his triumphs. + +This afternoon he had thrown aside his law books to read in the +papers a vivid description of Dastral's fight with Himmelman, the +German air-fiend, and the poor cripple, with tears of grief and envy +at his own hard lot, but with his heart full of joy at his comrade's +success had just thrown aside the paper, adding dejectedly: + +"Oh, Dastral, how I would like to see you again! You were always a +true friend to me"; when suddenly he heard a scamper of footsteps up +the bare stone steps that led up to his chamber in Gray's, and the +next instant the door flew open, and Tim found himself embracing his +old colleague, with a warmth he had never exhibited before. + +"Bravo, Dastral!" he cried again and again. "I knew you'd do it if +you had half a chance. And to think you should remember me, a poor +cripple, when all England is talking about you, and the King himself +has sent for you." + +"Here, stow it, Tim! Who do you think I should seek out first if not +you? I've come to spend the afternoon and evening with you. +To-morrow, after I have seen the King, I'm going home to Burnside, +where you and I spent so many happy days, and I want you to come with +me." + +"Good! Splendid! How kind of you, old fellow! Then to-night we'll +have a dinner all to ourselves at Hallet's. What say you?" + +"Right you are, Tim," said Dastral, clapping his old colleague on the +back, and making him the happiest fellow in all London for the nonce. + +That afternoon the two chums had a quiet stroll around Gray's, and +Lincoln's Inn Fields, then called on one or two acquaintances who had +also been left behind in the Temple. A visit to the Old Mitre of +sacred memory, and a quiet smoke in Johnson's Corner at the "Cheese" +in Fleet Street, passed away the hours of the golden afternoon, and +the evening found them snugly ensconced at Hallet's, where, in the +days gone by, they used to celebrate any little event in their lives +by a special dinner. + +Never for a moment did the conversation flag. The two chums unbosomed +themselves to one another, except that Dastral would not talk about +his adventures since he became a pilot in the Flying Corps, for the +members of this Corps never seek advertisement, preferring that the +record of their Homeric deeds should all go down to the credit of the +Corps, rather than to any particular individual. + +"But, Dastral," Tim would urge, as the plates and dishes disappeared +and another course was laid, "you must have had a hundred amazing +adventures since I saw you last. Just tell me about one of them, say +your fight with Himmelman!" + +"Bah! It was nothing, Tim--nothing, I mean to make a song about. If I +could write and speak like you, now, I might be able to make a tale +about it. But nature hasn't gifted me that way," replied the pilot. + +"But don't you feel the romance and glory of it all, fighting a +battle in the air at ten thousand feet?" + +"Romance, glory?" laughed Dastral. "There is no romance or glory +about war, when you are in it. It is horrid and brutal then. You must +be miles away to see the romance of it. It is all an ugly business." + +Tim couldn't understand him. He just couldn't, but he had one more +shot. "Don't you feel like singing sometimes, when you are up in the +azure, mounting in circles like a lark to meet the sun, and the +heavens are calling you?" he asked. + +"Ah, when I am ten thousand feet up, and the engines are running +smoothly, it is heavenly. I feel like music and romance then. The +song of the propellors is beautiful, and the beating of the engine +makes me imagine all sorts of weird things, but when I come down to +the earth again I forget all the things I would say. It is wonderful +though, that call of the heavens; the call of the wild, as the +gipsies say, isn't in it. But I cannot describe it." + +And so they talked on for an hour--two hours, long after the table +had been cleared, making rings of smoke into which Tim Burkitt at +least, with his rich imagination, saw wonderful things, when suddenly +something happened which made them both spring to their feet--the +electric lights went out, leaving them in utter darkness for a couple +of minutes. + +"What is the matter?" cried half a dozen voices, as soon as the +waiter appeared with a lamp in his hand, which he immediately placed +upon the centre table. + +"There is a rumour, sir, that the Zeppelins are to make an attack +upon London to-night, and the electric current has been turned off at +the main," replied the jovial, beefy-faced waiter, adding with a +smile, as he returned for another lamp, "What are we a-coming to?" + +At this announcement several people at once took their departure, +evidently thinking that Hallet's would be the first place to invite +the attention of the raiders, and one or two ladies fainted and had +to be helped out by their friends. + +A strange and eager look came into the eyes of Dastral at the word +Zeppelin. Tim noted it at once, and wondered what his colleague was +thinking about, for, though his gaze was eager and keen, there was a +far away look in his eyes. At the end of a minute he half uttered the +word: + +"Zeppelin!" + +Then he rose to his feet, but recalling himself almost with a jerk to +the fact of Tim's presence, he said apologetically, + +"I say, old fellow, we've had a jolly time, but I think I must leave +you, though it almost breaks my heart to do so." + +"Go? Where to, Dastral? I thought you were going to spend the night +at my rooms, and it's barely nine o'clock yet. Sit down, old man. You +haven't got the Zeppelin fright as well, have you? If you have, here +are my smelling salts--here, take a sniff now." + +For answer Dastral burst into a roar of laughter. Then subsiding +quickly, he said, in a more serious tone, bending low to whisper his +words in Burkitt's ears: + +"I have never yet fought a Zeppelin, except the lame duck we brought +down near Brussels. I would give all I possess to go up and fight +one. And during the last minute I have been wondering how it can be +done." + +"Well, how can you do it?" + +"That's the trouble. I'm not attached to any Wing or Squadron in +England. But a friend of mine has just recently returned from France, +and has been appointed Commanding Officer of the --th Squadron, with +its aerodrome about fifteen miles away from here. I must get into +touch with him, if possible." + +The next moment Dastral was engaged on the 'phone, trying in the dark +to find his friend somewhere at the other end of the wires. After +some ten minutes he managed it. + +"Hullo! Hullo! Are you there?" he asked. + +"Yes, who are you?" came the reply. + +"I want the O.C. of your Squadron at once, please." + +"He is busily engaged, and I cannot disturb him now, unless it is +something of the highest importance. Hurry up, please, and tell me +who you are, and give me your message. The wires are urgently wanted +to-night." + +"I am Dastral, Flight-Commander Dastral of the --th Squadron, --th +Wing, and I have just come from France." + +"What! Beg pardon, sir. Dastral. Not the pilot who fought with +Himmelman?" + +"Yes." + +"Hold the line a minute, sir." + +Twenty seconds later the O.C. of the Squadron himself was at the end +of that line. + +"Hullo! Is that you, Dastral?" + +"Yes. How are you, Garner, old man?" + +"But hang it, how came you to ring me up? I should dearly love to see +you, but I've my hands full to-night. We received '_Air Raid Action_' +half an hour ago. Several hostile airships have crossed the east +coast, and are making for the metropolis, so I cannot stay now. Come +and see me in the morning, do, old man. Eh, what's that you say?" + +"Haven't you a spare machine you could let me try if I came over +there by fast motor at once?" + +"Hullo! hullo! All the machines are out with the men standing by, +ready to go up at the first tip, except--let me see now--we've got a +new fast 'Buckstead Bullet' here, which none of the men are very +familiar with yet. There's that. Come if you like, old fellow. It's a +bit irregular, but if there should happen to be a big attack on +London, and the case warrants it, I see no reason why you shouldn't +try the blamed thing. It's a single-seater, only just in from the +makers, and a devil of a whizzer as well as a first class climber!" + +"Right-o! I'm coming straight away!" cried Dastral, waiting to hear +no more, and banging down the receiver. + +The next minute he was outside on the pavement, forgetting all about +Tim, the settlement of the bill, and everything else. Tim, however, +who had heard part of the message, had already paid the bill and got +outside, where he had hailed a taxi, determined not to be left +behind, for his quick intuitive mind had told him which way the wind +was blowing. He had had a hard job to secure the vehicle, for there +had been a great demand for the same, but he had whispered Dastral's +name to the chauffeur and had agreed to foot the bill however big it +might be, although he had only three half-crowns left in his pocket +after squaring the bill indoors. That did not bother him at all, +however. Here was a chance of rendering some service, however small, +to the nation at large, for he felt convinced that if only Dastral +could have a chance he would bring down half a dozen raiders. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral appeared at the doorway he shouted: + +"This way, Dastral, this way. Quick!" + +"What the deuce----" + +"Inside, old man; this is my show!" and before the bewildered pilot +could finish his exclamation, he was inside and Tim was with him and +the door closed. + +"Where to?" asked the cripple. + +Dastral gave the directions, and told the driver to do his utmost to +get them there within an hour, or it would be too late. + +Within ten seconds they were whizzing away through the darkness in +the direction of the Great North Road, and as there was very little +traffic about, they reached their destination within three quarters +of an hour. It was not a minute too soon. They had seen the +searchlights at work on their way north, and towards the end of their +journey they had several times heard the anti-aircraft guns blazing +away at something up in the clouds. + +"Halt! Who goes there?" came the challenge as they reached the +turning which left the main road, and finished at the aerodrome. + +The vehicle halted abruptly, for the driver had seen the flash of the +barrel of a Smith & Weston revolver, which the air-mechanic on +sentry-go held out to bar their progress. + +"Flight-Commander of the Royal Flying Corps," shouted the pilot, +hoping that would allow him to pass, and to get on to the aerodrome +immediately, but the sentry was obdurate. + +"Let me see your permit, sir," he asked. + +"Haven't got one." + +"Turn out guard!" shouted the sentry, and turning to the newcomers, +he added: + +"Advance, Flight-Commander, and report to the guard-room." + +The guard-room was but a few yards further on, and the corporal of +the guard, approaching the carriage, saluted, and led Dastral and Tim +away to the Flight-Sergeant at the Orderly Room. He was expected, and +a minute afterwards he was shaking hands with Garner, who had been +waiting for him. + +And now there was not a moment to spare, for the presence of the +raiders had been reported from the O.C. Searchlights, as hiding +somewhere in the clouds between Hatfield and Barnet, trying to break +through to London. Only a ring of curtain fire from the A.A. +Batteries, and a cordon of long flashing lights which swept the sky +from the horizon was keeping them back. + +Several machines had already gone up in search of the enemy and the +other pilots were standing by their machines ready to "take off" +immediately the order was given. + +Immediately, therefore, Dastral had settled with the driver of the +taxi, and introduced Tim to his friend, Squadron-Commander Garner, +they were led through the darkness to the shed where the "Buckstead +Bullet," as she was nicknamed, lay all ready to be wheeled out. + +"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed Dastral, immediately he saw the little +single-seater monoplane, for he had flown a similar machine several +times in France. + +With the aid of a dark lanthorn he carefully went over her, and +lovingly fingered every part of her, from the bullet-nosed fuselage +which gave her her nickname, to her neat, trim little tail and +rudder. + +The noise of the A.A. guns became louder and louder outside, as +though they had discovered one of the raiders. And Dastral was just +itching to go up! + +"Let me go up in her, Garner!" he said. "She's a beauty!" + +The O.C. scratched his head. He had wanted to fly her himself, for +she was the only spare machine left over, and, moreover, as Dastral +was not attached to the squadron, it was somewhat irregular for him +to use the machine, without the express permission of the Wing +Headquarters. He hesitated for a moment therefore, but, just at that +instant, one of the raiders suddenly emerged from the edge of a cloud +where it had been in hiding, and a fresh burst of anti-aircraft +gunfire caused some excitement. + +"There she is!" cried some one, as one of the searchlights caught +her. + +"As you like, Dastral. There's your target. Get into your togs +quickly and I'll take the risk of it. I must leave you for a moment +now. Those fellows in 'C' Flight are waiting to go up," and with that +the O.C. turned round and dashed off, while Dastral, without waiting +for anything further, got into a huge leathern coat, pilot's boots, +and donned the flying helmet with long ear flaps and queer-looking +goggles, which an air-mechanic had brought him. + +Two minutes later the young pilot climbed into the 'plane, gave a +final look round, waved a good-bye to Tim, whose pale face, now +working with intense excitement, he discerned in the darkness. + +"All ready, sir?" asked the Flight-Sergeant. + +Dastral gave him a nod, and prepared to switch on the the current. + +"Swing the propellor!" came next, and as the cool, calculating pilot +pulled a switch, the mighty engine broke into its terrible song. + +"Rep-p-p, rep-p-p! Whir-r-r!" + +"Stand clear!" and away went the monoplane like a bullet out of a +gun. As she started, a searchlight was deflected in a long beam along +the ground, to give the daring young aviator the direction for his +take-off, for the dangers of night-flying are many, as more than one +brave pilot has found to his cost before now. + +At a hundred yards the "Bullet" sprang into the air, and soared +upward at a tremendous speed, being quickly lost to sight, as the +searchlights tried once more to find the raider, which had found +things too warm, and had sought again the shelter of the clouds. + +By short and rapid spirals, Dastral soon reached a thousand feet. +Every now and then he turned his little shaded electric lamp on to +the indicator, which seemed to vibrate merrily, and almost to smile, +as its little rounded dial told the altitude. Up and up they went, +and the indicator almost laughed with joy as it clicked out the +figures: + +"Two thousand, two thousand five hundred, three thousand feet!" + +Still they seemed to be climbing all too slowly for the pilot. He had +caught sight of the Zeppelin when she showed herself for a moment, +and he had said to himself: + +"Twelve thousand feet, and then there'll be a chance! But nothing +less than that will do." + +He was impatient therefore to get higher and higher, for he feared +the raiders would discharge or jettison their cargo of bombs before +he could get at them. They certainly would have done, had they known +that at that very moment Himmelman's rival was climbing to meet them, +on a Buckstead Bullet, which could do one hundred and thirty miles an +hour when pushed. + +Already a number of bombs had been dropped, and away to the northward +several fires could be seen where the night-raiders had left their +victims behind, in the shape of burning homesteads, where the victims +were women and children, old men and invalids; but the avenger was at +hand, and the hour of reckoning had come. + +"Eight thousand, nine thousand feet!" clicked the indicator, though +its voice was lost in the roar of the engine and propellor. + +At eight thousand feet Dastral passed several of the 'planes which +had preceded him, and at nine thousand he left the last of them +behind him and entered into a bank of clouds. Never once had he +ceased his rapid, climbing spirals, and now, through the misty, +clinging vapour of the clouds he still soared heavenwards. Once or +twice he stopped his engines just to listen for a few seconds, but he +heard nothing except the whir-r-r-r of the 'planes beneath him. + +He was ahead of them all now, for his engines were running +beautifully, and the "Bullet" raced through the next layer of clouds +as a fish darts through the waters. It was becoming lighter also, for +he could catch glimpses of the stars, and the remaining clouds were +thinner than those below. Soon, he would be above them all, and +perhaps above the raider. It was cold too, bitterly cold, but his +young blood coursed madly through his veins, and his heart beat +quicker and quicker. + +"Ten thousand. Eleven thousand," laughed the indicator, joining +merrily in the hunt, for it seemed to Dastral now that he could hear +those weird voices of the night, speaking to him and calling him up +and up, ever higher and higher. Yes, the clouds and the stars were +calling him, and the music and rhythm of that pulsating engine a few +feet away, and the whir-r-r of those propellors just ahead, seemed to +make him almost light-headed, so that he began to laugh and sing. + +He thought of crooked Tim far down below, and what he had said about +the romance and the music, and from the pilot's lips there fell +involuntarily the words: + +"Poor Tim! How he would like to be up here alone, and to listen to +all these voices of the night!" + +As Dastral thought thus, he looked down, far down into the blackness, +and he saw the flashes of the searchlights. Sometimes they reached up +to him long extended arms that seemed to unite him to the earth, but +he could scarcely believe that he had ever dwelt down there in that +abyss of murky darkness. Yet always he swerved aside, and evaded +those long stretching pillars of light, for he knew that if he +crossed their beams but once, other eyes would see him, and the +raider above would be warned of his near approach. + +Suddenly at twelve thousand feet the monoplane shook itself as though +dashing the clinging moisture from its yellow wings, and leapt, like +a fish out of the water, above the topmost layer of clouds. + +And now with keen searching eyes Dastral looked above and around for +the presence of the raider, but she was nowhere to be seen. Below him +rolled the clouds, like dark, monstrous billows. Here and there +through an opening he still saw the flashes of the searchlights +feeling for their prey. But above his head the sky was aflame with +millions of stars. Right across from east to west, like a silvery +pathway to heaven, shone the Milky Way, luminous with light, and +along that trail of diamonds shone the bigger stars, in the +constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia and Aquila. And far down in the +east, Orion the Hunter chased the dancing Pleiades, as he did +thousands of years before aeroplanes were ever dreamt of. + +"But where is the Boche?" Dastral asked himself again and again. + +He was beginning to fear that he had lost him. Perhaps the Hun had +caught sight of him as he came through the clouds, and had now +departed unseen, as he came. + +"Great Scott, have I missed him after all?" he cried. "For months and +months I have been longing to fight with a Zeppelin, and now he's +slipped me." + +And for ten minutes he circled about, stopping his engines once or +twice to listen for the roar of the invader's engines and propellors. +Suddenly something whizzed past him and burst into a jet of flame. It +was a shrapnel with a time fuse. Then another and another. They were +firing again, then, down below, and they must have picked up the +airship once more. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "She must be somewhere near me too, for I am +almost in the line of fire." + +Looking down he saw what had happened. The clouds in which the +Zeppelin had been hiding were breaking up and drifting away, for a +fresh, cold wind had sprung up from the east. + +"Ah! Ah! I shall see her soon. She cannot escape me now. I shall find +her in a few minutes." + +"Whiz! Puff!" came another time fuse, and burst not fifty feet away, +several pieces of which pierced the left wing of the monoplane. + +"By Jove, but that was close!" he cried, throwing out three balls, +which burst into red flame as they fell towards the earth, and was +the signal for the Archies to stop firing. + +"Ah, there she is!" exclaimed the daring pilot, as, out of the +clouds, a thousand feet below him, he saw a black mass emerge against +the lighter background of the thinning clouds. At the same instant +the searchlights found her, and a dozen long arms of streaming light +focussed their united rays upon her. + +"Gemini! What a target!" cried Dastral, as he pulled the joy-stick +over and dived to the attack, without a second's hesitation. + +His gun, already cocked and ready to fire through the whirling +propellor, and loaded with the new flaming bullet, was brought to +bear. + +Down, down he went, firing rapidly all the while. Then underneath and +alongside her he raced, pumping his second and third drum into the +huge looming mass. + +Far below his friends saw the whirling monoplane, in the glare of the +searchlight, for now it was as bright as day. The A.A. guns had +ceased their fire in response to his signals, but the men on the +doomed Zeppelin brought three or four of their eleven machine guns to +bear upon him, but it was too late. They knew the deadly peril they +were in, and it was impossible for them with their unsteady nerves to +hit any vital part of that waspish little fiend, which circled round, +above and below them at a truly terrific rate. + +Dastral, in his rapid nose-dive, had dipped five hundred feet below +the monster and flattened out to return to the attack, but, as he +commenced his climb again he saw that the silvery glare of the +Zeppelin, as it had appeared to him but twenty seconds before in the +lure of the searchlights, had taken on a ruby glow, which, as he +mounted up, became a ruddy glare. + +"Heavens! She is on fire already!" he gasped. + +It was only too true. The engines had been set going, for the +Zeppelin commander had tried to make his escape, just as he was +discovered, but it was too late. He had never suspected that +Himmelman's terrible opponent was overhead, having climbed up twelve +thousand feet while he had been hiding in the cloud. + +"Ach! Gott in Himmel! Wir sind verloren! Donner and Blitz!" + +Never will Dastral forget the sight which he beheld that night, close +at hand, for the Huns now realised that all was lost, and that a +terrible and speedy vengeance awaited them all from which there was +no escape. As the huge envelope kindled into fierce leaping flames, +two hundred feet high, the pilot could plainly see the panic-stricken +crew of the doomed airship, wringing their hands in terror and +fright, as they dashed madly along the narrow footways that led from +one gondola to another, trying to escape, till the last second, from +the fierce flames that spurted out above and below, and licked up and +consumed everything with their intense heat. + +It was truly a terrible sight, and the burning mass lit up the +countryside far below as well as the great metropolis away to the +south. Never since the day when every hill-top in England was aflame +with the fires that announced the coming of the Spanish Armada, in +the days of the great sea-dogs, had such a beacon been lighted in +this land of ours. + +Down, down fell the flaming mass, lower and lower, while the daring +pilot, bewildered at what he had done, followed her, circling round +and round, till, when some eight thousand feet from the ground, one +of her four hundred-weight bombs, with which her crew had hoped to +wipe out some peaceful village, exploded with the intense heat. + +"Boom-m-m! Crash!" came the terrible sound, and the flaming mass, +shivered into a thousand fragments by the explosion, fell down to the +peaceful earth below with the charred and mutilated bodies of its +crew of baby-killers. + +A few minutes later Dastral, guided by a score of still flaming +fragments about the adjacent fields, landed safely on the level +stretch of grass from which he had ascended to fight the midnight +raider. + +Next morning the daring pilot was decorated by His Majesty King +George, and ten days later, having bade farewell to his friend, Tim +Burkitt, he was back with his Squadron in France, and leading "B" +Flight over the German lines once again. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +COWDIE, THE "SPARE PART" + + +"REVEILLE! Show a leg there!" shouted Corporal Yap, one morning, as +he went round the tents and hangars about the aerodrome near +Contalmaison. + +The sleepy air-mechanics of the Royal Flying Corps in the field +opened their eyes and yawned, showing no immediate disposition to +rise, for the fatigue of the previous day's work had scarcely passed +away. + +"Did you hear me, Cowdie, you, 'spare part.' Get up there smartly. I +shan't call you again. If you're not on parade in fifteen minutes +you'll be for the high jump." + +"'S all right, Corporal," shouted the "spare part," trying to wriggle +out of his roll of blankets and commencing to sing in a doleful +monotone: + + + "Oh, it' snice to get up in the mornin' + But it' snicer to stop in bed..." + + +Corporal Yap turned and went off on his errand, shaking up a few more +"spare parts," and threatening everybody more or less with "the high +jump"; which, of course, meant an appearance before the Commanding +Officer of the Squadron. + +As soon as his woolly head had disappeared behind the flap of the +tent door, Cowdie rolled back into his blankets for another +minute-and-a-half's nap. As he lay there he looked for all the world +like an Egyptian mummy, for he had a peculiar way of rolling himself +up in his blankets at night which gave him that appearance. But +although his eyes were closed his ears were wide awake for the soft, +stealthy tread of the orderly N.C.O., who he knew would be sure to +return in about the space of ninety seconds to try to find who had +left his warning unheeded. + +Cowdie, though a spare part about the aerodrome, was quite a genius +in his way. His senses were so acute that the others said he could +hear the "footsteps" of a snake in the grass, so they dubbed him the +"listening post" and made him sleep next the door of the tent, so +that he could always give the alarm in case of need. + +At the present moment he was counting under his breath. He knew the +orderly's round, and knew to a nicety how long it would take him to +get back to tent No. 7. He allowed ninety seconds, and he had just +got as far as "eighty-seven, eighty-eight, eighty-nine," when he +suddenly stood bolt upright in his roll of blankets, thereby +performing a wonderful gymnastic feat, and looking, with his sleeping +cap over his head and ears, not unlike a Turk preparing for his +morning ablutions. + +Evidently he had heard some soft stealthy tread on the grass outside, +for exactly at "ninety" the woolly head of Corporal Yap appeared at +the door once more, and his yapping voice called: + +"Caught you this time, you trilobite. Out you come! Can't say I +didn't give you warning, Cowdie!" + +Then catching sight of his man in the grey morning light, the +Corporal gasped, and fell back a pace or two. + +"The deuce! Do you sleep standing up, man?" + +"Sometimes," replied the Spare Part. "M.O.'s orders. Number Nine told +me to do so the last time I reported sick." + +"Where are you going to? About to have a Turkish bath, I s'pose; all +right, my man, I'll catch you yet. If you're not on parade in twelve +minutes, bath or no bath, you're for it. D'y'understand?" + +"Yes, Corporal, but I'm not going to have a bath. They're dangerous. +Number Nine ordered me not to. Said I'd got a murmuring heart, he +did," replied the Spare Part meekly. + +"Murmuring heart, have you? Then where are you goin' to in that rig?" + +"Ain't goin' anywhere; Corporal. I'm standin' still." + +"What are you standin' still for?" + +"Waitin' for my turn with the shavin' brush," came the quiet answer. + +At this the Corporal departed, swearing wrathfully, for he was no +match for Cowdie. At his departure the rest of the company in No. 7 +tent burst into loud laughter, for they enjoyed immensely this daily +tug-of-war between the bullying orderly N.C.O. and the apparently +meek but cunning Cowdie, who was a great favourite, despite the +nickname of "Spare Part," and "Regimental Cuckoo," which had been +bestowed upon him. + +Though he had lost two minutes in the start yet Cowdie was dressed, +washed and shaved first as usual, for somehow he had the knack of +literally jumping into his clothes, even when the men received an +alarm and were turned out in the dark of the night. + +These little morning episodes did much to enliven the men and to help +them to endure the dull fatigue and monotony which was part of the +lot of every man ho went overseas with the British Expeditionary +Force. All the time they were preparing for the roll call, dressing, +shaving, rolling up their beds, tidying their kits, a running fire of +sparkling wit and frolic was kept up. + +Even when the aerodrome was bombed by the German aeroplanes, which +happened two or three times each week, almost always just as dawn was +breaking, these brave men joked just the same, amid the bursting +bombs, and the blinding flashes of the explosions, the ensuing +crashes, and the rattle of the anti-aircraft guns with which the +aerodrome was defended. + +While the shaving was in progress this morning and three of the men +were trying to shave by the aid of one little cracked mirror about +three inches by two in size, Brat, the despatch-rider attached to the +squadron, said to the inimitable Cowdie, + +"I hope you finished that letter last night, old man. You finished up +all that two inches of candle I lent you. It must have been a long +letter you wrote." + +"No, I didn't quite finish it," replied Cowdie quietly. + +"Was it another letter to your little girl in Old Blighty?" + +"No, it was a short letter to mother," replied the Spare Part in a +choking voice. + +"Dear me! And you didn't finish it?" + +"No," came the quiet answer, as Cowdie began to attack his upper lip, +which was all quivering with apparent emotion. + +"What did you say, then?" + +"I said, 'Dear Mother,--I am sending you five shillings, but not this +week.'" + +At this a burst of laughter from the whole party called forth the ire +of Old Snorty, who was passing by, for he had been up early, with +several squads of air-mechanics, seeing off "B" Flight, who were +paying another early morning visit to the enemy. + +"A little less noise there, Number Seven, or some of you'll be in the +guard room. How the deuce can we hear when 'B' Flight's coming in, if +you kick up a row like that?" + +"Old Snorty seems to have something on his mind this morning, doesn't +he?" said some one. "'B' Flight won't be back for a couple of hours +yet." + +So the men were quiet for a whole minute after that until the +sergeant-major, having passed out of earshot, and there still being +three minutes left for parade, the men returned to their chaff and +titter, Brat leading off again by saying: + +"That letter of yours, Cowdie, reminds me of another chap who worked +alongside of me near St. Pierre with the --th Squadron. He once wrote +a letter to his mother as follows: + + +"'Dear Mother,--Enclosed please find fifteen shillings. I cannot. + "'Your affectionate son, John.'" + + +And the joke was reckoned so good in our squadron that we raised the +money for the poor chap, and he sent it after all." + +"Fall in!" came a stentorian shout, as Brat finished telling this +yarn. And the men of Number Seven doubled up to fall in on the left, +and answer their names to the early morning roll, for another day had +begun, and more than one man of that small crowd was to prove himself +a hero before another sun should come up out of the German lines +beyond Ginchy, and set in blood-red clouds behind the British lines. + +Some two hours after that, as the men busy about the labours of the +day, which in an aerodrome, under active service conditions, range +from the rigging of a defective aeroplane, mending struts, replacing +controls, preparing ammunition dumps, to the taking down of a R.A.F. +engine, and while "A" Flight was returning from a reconnaissance, and +"C" Flight was preparing to go up and over the lines on a bombing +raid, Grenfell, the orderly officer at the aerodrome 'phone, received +a broken message from somewhere near Ginchy. + +The message had to do with the crash of a British 'plane somewhere in +front or just behind the first line trenches, but a terrific +bombardment being concentrated on the place at the time the message +suddenly ceased, as though the wires had been broken, or the speaker +at the other end put out of action. + +A minute later Snorty came dashing down towards the spot where Number +Seven squad were working. + +"Where is Brat?" he shouted. + +"Over there, sir, in the transport shed," replied Cowdie. + +"Fetch him at once!" + +And Cowdie dashed off to find his chum, bringing him back a moment +later. + +"Bratby!" shouted Snorty, giving the despatch-rider his full name for +once, as he saw the two doubling up. + +"Yes, sir," came the answer smartly. + +"You know the observing officer's dug-out near Ginchy?" + +"The place where I carried the despatches the other day, sir?" + +"Exactly." + +"Yes, sir, I know it." + +"Good! Go there at once. The wires are snapped again, and we have +received a broken message through which stopped in the middle. One of +our 'planes has come down. It must be part of 'B' Flight, for they're +not in yet. Go there at once, take this message to the officer or +senior N.C.O. in charge, and get the full message from him. Learn +what you can while you are there, and come back at once, so that we +may send out a breakdown gang for the machine, if not too late." + +"Right, sir." + +"Mind, we want the exact location of the machine, and you must try to +find out if it is a bad crash, and what has become of the pilot and +observer." + +"Yes, sir." + +"Now get off at once. It is five minutes since the machine crashed. +And be careful now. There are some nasty corners there, and the +Germans are shelling the Ginchy lines 'hell for leather' this +morning." + +Then, catching sight of Cowdie, for whom he had rather a soft place +in his rugged heart, the Sergeant-Major added, + +"Better take the 'Spare Part' with you. You may need a second man." + +"Right, sir." + +The next moment the two chums, happy as schoolboys because they were +entrusted with a dangerous commission, had the "New Triumph" out of +the shed. Then, with Cowdie seated on the carrier, Brat on the +saddle, away they went, past the aerodrome sentries, out at the gate, +and down the road towards the trenches. + +"Zinc-zinc-a-bonck-rep-r-r-r-r!" + +But, alas, it was an adventure which was to prove something more than +a joy ride, before another two hours were past. + +It was a clear sunny morning as they pattered along, wondering much +what new venture it was that awaited them. Over there towards Ginchy +the air was thick with bursting shells, and the clear, blue sky was +marked in a score of places at once by aeroplanes and kite balloons, +whilst round about them were splashes of fire, and floating +milk-white cloudlets where the shells burst, as the Huns tried to +bring down our "birds." + +An air-fight was in progress already over Ginchy; two Fokkers which +had ventured near the British lines were being countered and chased +by several of our Sopwiths. They were two of the very same Fokkers +which had chased Dastral and the remnant of "B" Flight after their +drums of ammunition were all used up. + +But Dastral, where was he at this moment? This was the thought that +was uppermost in the minds of the two men as they whizzed down the +Ginchy road, leaving Bazentin on their left. For of all the pilots of +the --th Squadron, Dastral was the greatest favourite with the men. +He was so brilliant and daring that they felt they could not afford +to lose him. + +"I hope it isn't Dastral who has crashed, Cowdie," said Brat. + +"I hope not," replied Cowdie, feeling at the time somehow that it +could be no one else. + +"'B' Flight ought to have returned some time ago now. I'm very much +afraid they've met their match this time. We could afford to lose +half a dozen men rather than the Commander of 'B' Flight." + +"Perhaps he's met Himmelman," urged the man on the carrier, steadying +himself for the next heavy jolt, for the last one had nearly thrown +him off, and the bad places were becoming more and more plentiful as +they neared the lines. + +"He will meet him some day, and there'll be a deuce of a fight. Just +mark my words. There isn't room for two lords of the air, not in +these parts, and one of them will go under." + +"Well, I hope it will be the Boche." + +"So it will be if they meet on equal terms, but the German air-fiend +is a wily brute." + +"Whiz-z-z! Bang-g-g!" came a shell at that moment, striking the +ground not thirty yards away from them, and sending both men and +motor-cycle spinning into the ditch by the very concussion. + +"Not hurt, are you, Cowdie?" asked Brat, as he scrambled out of the +ditch first, and ran to help his friend. + +"No, but it was a very near thing that. Another few inches and that +would have been the end of the regimental 'spare part.' Look here!" +and Cowdie showed a rent in his tunic where a piece of shrapnel had +torn away six inches of it behind the left shoulder. + +Fortunately, though both were shaken, neither of the men had been +actually hit It was a marvellous escape, however, one of those things +one cannot account for. Though the machine had been badly knocked +about and splintered, it had received no vital injury, and, after +straightening out a few spokes, and cutting away a few more they +mounted again and proceeded a little further. + +"Halt Who goes there?" came the shout as they pattered up to the +support trenches. + +They halted and dismounted, and after telling their business were +allowed to proceed, but they were cautioned that the road ahead was +full of shell holes, and that they would not be able to ride much +further. They would certainly be stopped at the reserve trenches. + +Once more they started, their heads throbbing and aching with the +noise of the terrific bombardment which was proceeding, for they were +now in the super-danger zone, and shells were screaming overhead +every few seconds, and many were bursting on their left and on their +right. + +Again they were halted, this time by a sentry near the second line +trenches, and were absolutely refused permission to proceed further +till they explained to the officer of the company commanding the +trench what their errand was. + +"Wires broken, did you say?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Nearly all the wires to the front line trenches in this sector have +been broken. We have had the engineers out all the morning mending +them." + +"There is news of one of our fighting 'planes having crashed +somewhere over there, half an hour ago, sir," said Bratby, "and we +have been ordered to proceed as near as possible to the place, to +find out what has happened, as the aerodrome wire has been snapped." + +"An aeroplane crashed, did you say?" asked the officer. + +"Yes, sir." + +"There have been half a dozen of them down in front of us since seven +o'clock this morning; most of them German, I think." + +"This was one of ours, sir." + +"Yes, I saw it. There were two of them came down about the same time, +but the other one fell by our support trenches and the pilot and +observer were saved." + +"And the other one, sir?" + +"Oh, there is no hope for that one. She came down over there near our +front line trench, and she was blazing when she crashed. We could not +get at her, or at least we kept the men back who volunteered, as the +Germans turned their machine guns on her directly she hit the ground +and swept the spot for twenty minutes." + +"The devils!" ejaculated Brat, looking more serious than he had ever +looked in his life, while a strange light shone in Cowdie's eyes. + +"We were told that we must get to the dug-out of Captain Grenfell, +somewhere in the front line trench." + +"Oh, very well; but you fellows go at your own risk. The Boches have +been shelling the place like hell most of the time since daybreak." + +"We're quite prepared to take the risk, sir!" replied Cowdie. + +"Come this way, then, and mind that corner. We call it Hell-fire +Corner these days, for we have lost more men there than at any other +point," replied the officer. + +A few minutes later he handed them over to a sergeant, with +instructions to conduct them to the dug-out where Captain Grenfell +and his two operators still held on to the end of the broken wires. +No messages had come through for some time, but several squads of +Royal Engineers were busy crawling out in the open and trying to find +the loose ends in order to restore communication. + +When they arrived there Captain Grenfell gave them the full text of +the message which he had tried to get through, and pointed out to +them the place where the ruins of the aeroplane lay, for they were +still smoking. + +"But the pilot, sir, where is he? And where is the observer? They +were the best men in the Squadron, and their loss will be felt +greatly, for Lieutenant Dastral was reckoned the best pilot in +France, and great things were expected from him in the near future," +said Brat. + +For answer the Captain shrugged his shoulders and made a gesture +which seemed to indicate that he feared the case was hopeless. + +"Their bodies must be somewhere over there. Several of our men +volunteered to go over to rescue them, but every man who went over +the top went to his death, until the O.C. refused permission for any +more to attempt it, for he said he could not spare the men." + +While they were thus discussing the matter, one of the sentries a +little further down the trench gave an alarm: + +"Cloud of gas or fog coming over, sir, from the German lines!" + +Brat and Cowdie, at these words, peeped over the edge of the parapet, +and saw, about a quarter of a mile away, a dense yellowish vapour +coming slowly onward from a point where the enemy's lines curved +round and faced the British lines from almost due south-east. The +order was passed quickly down the lines for the men to don their +gas-helmets, but the C.O. coming along the trench shortly afterwards, +remarked that it could not possibly be gas, for, from the direction +whence it came, it would pass onwards over a portion of the enemy's +lines at a spot where the trenches curved back again and made a +salient. At this point the lines twisted and bent themselves into +many curious salients, for the last advance had not thoroughly +straightened out the position. + +"The Germans are not such fools as to gas their own men, Grenfell, +what do you say?" remarked the officer commanding the trench to +Grenfell, who had come out of his dug-out to get a view of the cloud. + +"No, sir. There must be some other reason." + +"Yes, and the reason is, I think, a change of wind which is bringing +on a dense fog." + +"You are quite right, sir," added the other, after regarding the air +and sky for some ten seconds. "There has been a sudden change of +wind, and a dense local fog is coming up from the valley. The whole +landscape will be blotted out in a few minutes." + +"You're right, Grenfell," replied the officer. Then, turning to his +orderly-sergeant, he called out: + +"Pass the order for the men to stand-to! There is no telling but that +the Boches may come over the top with the fog, and try to surprise +us." + +"Yes, sir," came the reply smartly, and the sergeant, saluting, +disappeared along the trench, calling out the men from the dug-outs, +and ordering a general "stand-to." + +The chance was too good to be lost. Cowdie gave Brat a dig in the +ribs, and whispered to him, + +"Now is the time. See, the fog thickens, and it is nearly up to the +wrecked aeroplane. Let's go over, or the Boches will be there first. +They're sure to try it on. What say you?" + +"I'm with you, old man, but it will be an awful job. Have you got +your revolver loaded, for we've got nothing else?" + +"Yes," replied his chum, feeling that his weapon was safe in the +leather case, which hung at his left side. + +"Come on, then; we haven't a second to lose." + +The next instant they were over the top, and making a dash for the +spot already hidden in the fog. + +"Come back there, you fellows!" cried a sergeant of the Wiltshires, +whose company lined the trench. "Where the deuce are you going to?" + +"To save Lieutenant Dastral and his observer, sergeant! Don't let +your men fire on us. We'll be back in five minutes," shouted Bratby. + +"Devil a bit of use you fellows throwing your lives away like that. +The Boches are sure to attack under cover of the fog. Come back, the +pilot must have been dead an hour. The machine was ablaze when it +crashed," called the sergeant again. + +To this they returned no answer, but scampered as fast as they could +across the broken ground, creeping under barbed wire, and stumbling +into shell holes, for the ground had been torn and rent by the +morning's bombardment, and huge gaps had been made in the barbed wire +defences. + +Now, when Dastral, his ammunition expended, his machine damaged to +such an extent that it scarcely held together, had reached the +British lines that morning, after the brilliant reconnaissance he had +carried out with his Flight, he made a steep gradient to get to earth +at the first possible landing-place, but even as he made the attempt +he knew he would fail. The wasp's fuselage was plugged in a hundred +places. The petrol feed had been severed by shrapnel, and a shell +from the German lines, hitting the reserve petrol tank, set it +ablaze, just at the moment when he was making for the ground. + +Half-blinded by the flames and scorched by the heat, he, +nevertheless, held the joystick firmly, and tried to reach his +objective, but, when near the trenches, the machine nose-dived and +crashed, side-slipping to the earth, so that the left aileron struck +the ground first. Then she rolled over, and crumpled up. She did not +strike the ground with any great force, because Dastral had kept her +so well in hand. + +Disentangling himself from the wreckage first, bruised, and burnt, he +yet remembered Jock, who had received still greater injury. + +"Jock!" he called. "Are you hurt?" + +But no reply came from the unconscious observer, who lay under the +wreckage which was now in flames. + +"Come along, old man! Pull yourself together. The Huns are sure to +turn their machine guns upon us in a few seconds." + +Even as he spoke there came the dreaded sound, which told that the +infernal Huns had opened fire upon the wreckage. + +"Rep-p-p! Rep-r-r-r-r-r!" + +A howl of rage went up from the British trenches at this act of +cowardice, which permitted men to turn their guns upon wounded +officers, entangled in the wreckage of a burning aeroplane. + +"Come on, boys, let's give 'em 'ell!" shouted some of the Wiltshires, +when they saw what was happening, and at least a dozen men sprang out +of the British trenches of their own free will in a useless attempt +to save the lives of the aviators, but every man fell long before he +gained the spot where the wreckage lay. + +Dastral, however, kept cool, and seeing a pilot's boot projecting +from under the blazing he seized it, and tugged away, until the +unconscious form of his chum lay at his feet. Then, heedless of the +bullets still whizzing around him, he dragged his comrade quickly +into the friendly shelter of a huge crater, a dozen yards away. Even +as he rolled over into the hollow, after throwing Jock in first, his +thick, leather pilot's coat was pierced by several bullets, and he +himself was wounded again. + +Still cheerful, however, he bandaged his wound, then endeavoured to +rouse Jock, but all his efforts failed. + +So he searched him, found several wounds, bound them up as well as he +could with the emergency lint and bandages which every soldier on +active service carries in the lining of his coat. Then, through sheer +loss of blood he fainted away, and lay there he knew not how long, +for he was thoroughly exhausted, and felt that he was dying. + +As he slumbered, sheltered in that little hollow from the direct fire +of the enemy, he became feverish, and dreamt wild, fantastic dreams. +With Jock beside him he sailed away on the hornet, over distant +lands, where the skies were blue and the sun shone bright and the +atmosphere was pleasant and warm. + +Here there were no Germans to worry them with shrapnel and bullets, +but calmly and serenely they sailed over huge forests and deserts, +swamps and islands, which studded the deep blue sea far below them, +like gems set in emerald. Now they were in the tropics, skimming +along over huge palm trees, and lagoons that opened out into the sea. +Great monsters basked in the sunlight on the banks of the rivers and +lagoons, and on the shores of the sea. They were in an unknown land +discovering strange places. Just such a trip it was as Jock and he +had often talked about, when, the day's work done, they had settled +in the comfortable arm-chairs in the officers' mess at the aerodrome +near Contalmaison. + +Often they had talked of these things, and the trips they were going +to make in the happy years to come, when the fighting was all over, +and the smoke of battle had blown away, and the liberties of mankind +had been won back from the tyrants of these latter days. + +Thus he dreamt, for he was feverish, while over him the shells burst, +and the great guns thundered, and all around, upon the wide-stretched +battlefields, the dead and the dying lay. And always he was parched +and thirsty, and sometimes he would turn and say to Jock: + +"There, far below us in the desert, Jock, I can see an oasis, with +pools of cold refreshing water, and a cluster of tall trees, where we +shall find dates and figs. Let us go down, Jock." + +But the vision would fade before he reached the promised land, and +the cup of water was dashed from his lips, and the goblet broken. +Again he would see across the desert, which now seemed interminable, +mystic and wonderful lakes of fresh water. But always he was mocked, +and again and again those horrid German guns would thunder out from +far below and forbid them to land. + +Suddenly from out of the midst of his dream, he heard some one +calling his name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral!" + +He turned uneasily in his sleep; then he woke with a start, and +looked about him. His brow was flushed, his head burned as though it +were on fire, and his eyes glittered. All seemed dark, for the +landscape was blotted out by a dark cloud. + +Half regaining consciousness he murmured: + +"Where am I? Who called me?" But while he wondered, his hand touched +something, and he shrank back startled. It was Jock's poor wounded +and bruised body that he had touched. Then he remembered it all. The +flight over the German lines; the attack which had been made upon +them by a whole German squadron; the fierce fight and the dash back, +followed by a cloud of Fokkers and Aviatiks. Then the crash----. Yes +he remembered it all now, and Jock, poor Jock must be dead, for he +had not moved, and they must have been there for hours, days +perhaps--at least, it seemed so, for it was dark as night, and it was +morning when they crashed. + +Then again he heard that welcome sound, a human voice, and it called +him by name. + +"Dastral! Lieutenant Dastral, where are you?" + +And he feebly answered with all his strength. + +"Here! Here! For heaven's sake help us!" + +The next instant two burly forms came stumbling and rolling down the +crater, for Cowdie and Brat had just arrived at the spot, and as yet +scarcely an hour had elapsed since the crash. Strong arms were put +around the pilot, which raised him up, for he had fallen down again, +after his effort to rise. He had just time to murmur something, and +point to the unconscious form of his observer, when he relapsed into +unconsciousness again. + +"Thank God we have found you both, sir!" exclaimed a strong voice, +which seemed to resound again and again through his being. + +As the thick fog came on, the firing had been suspended for a moment. +It was a strange, weird silence that seemed to presage a coming +storm. Cowdie was the first to read its meaning. + +"Quick, Brat!" he cried. "They're going to attack. We must make a +dash for it." + +It was only too true. Scarcely had they reached the top of the +crater, and proceeded a dozen yards with their heavy burdens, when +they heard the sound of voices. + +"Hist! What was that?" + +They paused for a moment, and waited, but it seemed to them that +their panting and the loud thumping of their hearts would betray +them. How far had they to go yet? they asked each other. Then, with a +shudder, Cowdie turned and began to retrace his steps, whispering to +his comrade: + +"We have come the wrong way. Those are the German trenches over +there, and look, they are forming up over the top ready to attack." + +"Good heavens! Then we are lost," replied his comrade. + +"No, we may yet be in time. Come along. It cannot be far." + +With his keen blue eyes Cowdie peered through the gloom, for Cowdie, +the "spare part," had been the first to make the discovery. He had +seen the shadowy forms of the Germans not twenty yards away. +Fortunately, they had not been observed as yet, but they were not out +of danger. They had regained their right direction, however. The +British trenches were not more than seventy yards away. + +On they stumbled, over the broken ground, through pools of water, and +soon they reached the tangled wire. Exhausted they were ready to sink +with fatigue, yet they held out. But their hands were bleeding and +torn by the wire, and their clothing was in shreds. + +Suddenly they heard the sound of voices behind them. Low voices +called to each other, and the tramp of feet was also heard. + +"They are advancing. Quick! quick!" shouted Cowdie. + +Then, knowing that the British trenches could not be more than thirty +yards in front of him, he called out: + +"Stand-to! The Huns are attacking!" + +The next instant a blaze of fire lit up the fog, as a dozen Very +lights were fired up from the British trenches. The two figures of +the men carrying the unconscious pilot and observer were clearly +outlined. The sergeant of the Wiltshires shouted to his men: + +"Don't fire! They are the R.F.C. men bringing in their officers." + +The firing, however, came from a different direction, for the +Germans, baulked of their prey, and seeing who had given them away, +opened fire, and Cowdie stumbled into the British first-line trench +into the arms of the sergeant of the Wiltshires, carrying his burden +to the last. He was dead, shot through the heart. He had made the +supreme sacrifice to save the man he loved. + +With a wild cheer the British received the welcome order to charge, +and the last thing that Brat remembered was that cheer, as the men +swept by him, and he also sank down with his load. + +Next day they buried Cowdie, "the regimental spare part." Gently they +laid him to rest in a little graveyard by a shattered church, behind +the British lines. And over his grave the bugles of the Wiltshires +sounded the solemn notes of the "Last Post." And his comrades in +Number 7 tent fired three volleys over the hero's grave, just as in +the olden days, two thousand years ago, AEneas and his comrades, when +they buried the hero Misenus, called his name thrice into the shades. + +And Bratby, he recovered from his wounds, and, to-day, upon his +breast he wears the ribbons of the Military Medal. + +Dastral and Jock also recovered from their wounds, for their work was +not yet done, and six weeks later were back from sick leave, +preparing once more to strafe the Huns. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE RAID ON KRUPPS + + +IT was a dark night, some two or three hours before dawn, when +Air-Mechanic Pearson, one of the outer sentries at the aerodrome near +Contalmaison, thought he heard the whirr of propellers somewhere in +the dark skies above. + +For a few seconds he peered up into the gloomy heavens, trying to +locate the sound, for he was very much puzzled, and could not account +for the sound on such a night. + +"They can't be aeroplanes returning from over the lines," he told +himself, "or we should have had notice to light the flares. It will +be a sheer impossibility to land without a crash on a dark night like +this." + +Again he listened, and he thought the droning sound settled down into +the throb of engines. He was anxious, however, not to call out the +guard on a false alarm, for he had once been severely reprimanded for +so doing. + +"They cannot be hostile 'planes attempting an early morning raid; it +is far too thick. It would be like a nigger trying to find a black +cat in a dark cellar," he muttered. + +A quarter of a minute later, however, he thought he had discovered +the real cause, for the throbbing of aerial engines could now be +distinctly heard. + +"It's a Zeppelin!" he exclaimed. "They're going to find the aerodrome +with their search-light, and bomb the place, then make off before our +machines can get up," and he instantly yelled out at the top of his +voice, "Turn out, guard!" + +The alarm was caught up, passed on to the next sentry, who repeated +it, and the next moment, after turning out the main guard, the +sergeant came running up, and asked: + +"What's the matter, Pearson?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from the eastward, sergeant!" replied the +air-mechanic. + +"Zeppelin, man! What the deuce do you mean? Where is it?" + +"Up there, sergeant. I can hear it quite plainly now." + +"By Jove, so can I!" + +The next moment the sergeant was back in the guard-room. From thence +he dashed into the orderly-room, and knocked at the inner door, where +the orderly officer for the night was on duty. + +"Come in," cried the officer in answer to the knocking. Then, as the +sergeant, all puffed with his exertion, entered and saluted, he said: + +"What's the matter, sergeant?" + +"Zeppelin approaching from over the German lines, sir. Hadn't we +better 'phone to the anti-aircraft guns, and the searchlights to pick +up the raider before he bombs the place?" for to the sergeant's mind, +visions of falling bombs and terrific explosions were present. + +"Zeppelin?" laughed the orderly officer. + +"Yes, sir. I can hear the engines as plainly as possible outside." + +"No, you're mistaken. It's the 'Gertie' returning. She's been out on +secret service work behind the German lines. I've been expecting her +for a couple of hours. Not a word of this to the men, now. I am +expecting a secret service man back before dawn, and the 'Gertie's' +been to fetch him. Picked him up at some secret place in the dark, +far behind the enemy's lines." + +Now, the "Gertie" was a baby-airship detailed for special service, +and not the least important part of her work was the secret +journeying to and fro, across the German lines, to quiet rural +places, where, in the dark, she dropped messages, carrier pigeons, +etc., and occasionally brought back some daring member of the British +Secret Service, who had been collecting information behind the +enemy's lines. + +By this time the orderly officer was out on the aerodrome, and the +squads of air-mechanics were being roused by the orderly sergeant. +Suddenly there came a cry from one of the guard. + +"Airship signalling to the aerodrome, sir!" + +"What signal was that?" demanded the officer. + +"Two green lights and a red, sir, over there, half a mile away," came +the reply. + +"That's right. It's the 'Gertie' trying to find the landing place. +Flight-sergeant, where are you?" + +"Here, sir," came the answer, as the aerodrome flight-sergeant, just +roused by the alarm, rushed up, without putties or tunic on. + +"Light the usual flares at the landing-place, and give the Brigade +colours as well." + +"Yes, sir." + +And the next instant he had disappeared into the darkness again to +hurry up the air-mechanics and to light the flares. The "Gertie" had +very nearly found her mark, having over-shot it but half a mile or so +in the pitchy darkness, which was a very creditable performance. + +As soon as the flares were lighted, her engines, which had been shut +off, were heard again, as she gradually came nearer and nearer, +until, when right overhead, she began to descend slowly. + +"There she comes! This way, lads!" cried the stentorian voice of +Snorty, whose piercing eyes were amongst the first to spot the +looming mass overhead. + +"Steady, there, steady!" came the next order, as the ropes and drags +were lowered, and the men made a scramble for them. And, in a very +short space of time the baby-airship was made fast, and from the +single gondola, in which five men were cooped, some one leapt out, +who held in his hand a bundle of documents. + +"Captain Scott, I believe, sir," said the orderly officer stepping +forward. + +"Yes. Are you Lieutenant Grenfell?" + +"Yes, sir." And with that the two men went off together to the +private room of the orderly officer. + +The newcomer was the bearer of some important plans and sketches, to +obtain which he had risked his life every hour of the day and night +during the past three weeks. They were nothing less than detailed +plans of the great German arsenal at Krupps', for which the +Commanding Officer had been anxiously waiting. For some time +previously, the C.O. had received from the War Office, through the +General Headquarters in the field, a peremptory order, something like +the following:-- + + +_"To the Officer Commanding,_ + _"--th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps._ + + +"It is of vital importance that the enemy's supply of munitions +should be hampered and restricted as far as possible, in view of the +offensive to be undertaken shortly. As soon, therefore, as the +necessary plans and papers reach you, you will detail one of your +best flights, under your most capable Flight-Commander, to carry out +the first raid on the enemy's main arsenal at Krupp'." + + +This document, signed by one of the generals commanding in the field, +had been in the hands of the Squadron-Commander for some days, and he +had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the promised plans and +sketches. As soon, therefore, as the orderly officer received them, +he sent Brat, the despatch-rider, with his motor cycle and side car +to the C.O.'s quarters. And ten minutes later that distinguished +person was leaving the officers' quarters on his way to the +aerodrome. + +Having arrived, after ten minutes' chat with the officer belonging to +the secret service, his first words were: + +"Grenfell, ask Flight-Commander Dastral to come down at once." + +"Yes, sir." + +And on his next journey, Brat fetched Dastral down from his bunk at +the mess to join the party. + +"Dastral," was the first word from the C.O. as soon as the daring +young pilot entered. + +"Yes, sir," replied the Flight-Commander, saluting smartly. + +"Here's something for you after your own heart." + +"What is that, sir?" asked the youth, smiling. + +"The promised raid on Krupps'. How would you like to undertake it +with your flight? You have often spoken about it." + +"Nothing would please me better, sir." + +"And the other fellows belonging to your flight, what about them?" + +"They would follow me anywhere, sir!" + +"Gad, I believe they would, for they all worship you. I believe +they'd follow you to 'Gulfs,' if you led them there." + +Dastral laughed, and repeated his avowal, that he would be only too +pleased to start at dawn should the weather conditions prove good +enough. + +"Right!" exclaimed the major. "Then, you'd better spend the next two +hours with Captain Scott here, and with your men. Get thoroughly hold +of these plans, and fix them in your mind." + +So, while breakfast was laid for the Intelligence officer, Dastral +got his men together, including Mac and Jock. Afterwards the eight +men who were going into action carefully laid their plans, arranging +a code of signals and the method of attack, should they succeed in +reaching their destination. Then they went over to the sheds, +examined and tested the machines, saw them loaded up with bombs and +drums of ammunition. The guns, compasses, etc., were then shipped and +everything was ready. + +Dastral looked at his watch. In an hour it would be dawn. + +"We must be off, boys. We must cros the German lines before +daybreak." + +"Right, sir," replied the others, "We can be ready in ten minutes." + +Then, having previously breakfasted, they put on their thick leather +coats, pilots' boots and helmets, and made ready. The C.O. came down +to wish them godspeed and a safe return. The probable time of their +return was fixed, and it was arranged that an escort should meet them +on their way back to defend them from hostile aircraft, lest any of +them should be in difficulties, and unable, through damaged machines +or lack of ammunition, to fight their way home. + +"Stand by! Contact, switch off!" came the order. + +The propellors were swung vigorously once or twice, then, one after +another, the engines broke into their mighty song, and the machines +taxied off into the darkness across the aerodrome, and as the +joy-stick was pulled over each 'plane sprang into the air, and began +its long voyage. + +"Good-bye, and good luck!" shouted the C.O. as each man taxied off, +and as a parting salute, each pilot raised his gloved hand from the +controls for an instant. + +Four hundred miles, that was the distance of the double journey. Two +hundred miles of enemy territory to be traversed before they reached +their objective; then, another two hundred back again to safety; and +no chance of a landing to remedy even the slightest defect. That was +the prospect before these daring aviators, as they sallied forth on +their dangerous errand this morning about half an hour before the +first faint whisper of dawn came up out of the east. + +No wonder the Commanding Officer of the Squadron, as he watched them +depart, turned to his companions and said: + +"A perilous venture, isn't it, for the boys?" + +"You're right, sir," replied the orderly officer. "I hope not one of +them will lose the number of his mess before nightfall." + +"Ah, well. We have had some vacant chairs in the mess lately. Four +hundred miles," he was heard to remark as he turned on his heels and +went back to his room. + +He was a kindly, considerate commander, for he had that rare quality +which combined firmness with kindness, and because of that he was +loved by all his men. + +The adventurers crossed the German lines at seven thousand feet, and +in the darkness the enemy's searchlights failed to find them, so they +were well away for once. There was just a little doubt in Dastral's +mind about the weather conditions when he started, as the success of +the venture depended very much upon the visibility. At present, +however, the dull cloudy weather was in their favour, if only it +might clear up later. + +He was therefore very pleased when, having left the enemy's lines +some thirty or forty miles behind, the first tinge of dawn lit up the +sky in front of them, showing the horizon clearly. The wind had +changed during the last hour, and, though it grew colder, it became +much brighter. + +Once or twice the Flight-Commander looked round at his followers, +casting a critical eye upon the whole flight. + +"Thank goodness, the engines seem to be running well. Everything +depends on them," he murmured. + +His own machine was a double-seater type with the observer's car +projecting right in front of the engine, a powerful twelve-cylindered +R.A.F. + +A little later Jock, speaking through the tube, shouted: + +"Shots on the left, Dastral!" and he pointed to a spot far down +below, for the landscape had opened out now, and they had been +spotted for the first time. + +Dastral looked down, and saw several rapid flashes, away down on the +left, where a battery of "Archies," having found them, had opened +fire. + +In front of the machine which was leading the flight, Dastral saw +several black bursts of smoke, and in the centre of each burst was a +yellow glare. + +"Ah, the Boches have found the range to a nicety!" yelled Dastral to +Jock. "Look out! We must dive." + +Then, pulling over the controls, the hornet dipped at the head, doing +a neat little nose-dive of some five hundred feet, throwing the +enemy's range out of gear, and compelling him to readjust his sights. + +As he dived, the others, with an eye always on their leader, followed +him, and the whole flight dived clean underneath a mass of curtain +fire, intended to bar their progress. So cleverly was it all done +that they all escaped without a scratch. + +The Commander looked down at those batteries still spitting fire. +With not a little contempt he regarded them. They could not touch +him, for already, before they could readjust their fire, the whole +flight was out of range, for the engines were now doing well, and a +speed of a hundred and twenty miles an hour had been worked up. + +At another time Dastral would like to have dived down to within five +hundred feet of those German guns, and put them out of action, but he +had other work on hand today; work which would take all his time and +skill to complete satisfactorily, and to bring his men back to +safety. Even if Himmelman himself should attack him now, he must +refuse him battle, unless compelled to fight for mere safety. His +present duty was to bomb the great arsenal at Krupps', and, as far as +possible, leave the principal buildings nothing but a heap of smoking +ruins. So he opened out the throttle of his engine to the full, and +for the first time reached one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour, +not a very bad speed when you are loaded up with heavy missiles. + +They had been flying for an hour now, and had climbed higher and +higher until they were at nine thousand feet. It was bitterly cold, +and already their feet and hands were numbed. What would they be like +in another two hours? + +An hour and a half passed, and shortly afterwards Jock shouted: + +"The Rhine! The Rhine!" + +Nor indeed was he mistaken. He had been eagerly searching for the +famous stream that runs through the German Fatherland, and of which +the Hun is so proud. And now, there it was, a little way ahead of +them, running through the landscape like a silver thread. + +Soon they were over the stately river, and Dastral, knowing that the +road was as plain as a pikestaff now if the weather kept clear, no +longer heeded his compass, but, wheeling smartly to his left, +followed the stream on its way to the sea. + +"What town is that?" shouted the pilot, as a vast assembly of houses +and spires came into view. + +"Coblentz," replied the observer, with his finger on the waterproof +map. + +"Better look out for trouble, hadn't we?" + +"Yes, the Ehrenbreitstein Forts are down below; just a little way +ahead on the left. They have plenty of guns down there." + +This place, called the Gibraltar of Central Europe, is a towering +fortification, overlooking the town of Coblentz, and defending the +line of the Rhine. The river runs between the fort and the town, and +the two are connected by a bridge of boats. + +"Better skirt the town, else they will think we are going to attack +the place, and some of our fellows might get winged." + +"Poch! They can't hit us. All their best gunners are miles away at +the front. Let's go straight on. We shall be out of their range in +five minutes." + +Before they reached the town the white puffs of the 77's made a line +of smoke ahead of them, and, intermingled with this, they saw the +black cloudlets caused by the bursting of the enemy's 105 calibre +shells. In fact they were ringed with a curtain of shell fire. + +Dastral gave the signal by a sudden clip of his 'plane, which was +leading. + +"Ninety degrees left and dip 500 feet!" + +The Flight-Commander led the way through a gap in the curtain fire, +and the rest followed, swerving rapidly to the left, then down, down +in a fearful nose-dive of hundreds of feet, before they flattened +out. + +"Bravo! Well done, boys!" yelled the leader, waving his hand to the +daring men behind. For they had outclassed the Boche, and before he +could rectify his aim, the machines were out of range once more. + +On the other side of the town, however, they came in for the same +treatment, but they once more evaded the enemy's fire, and soon they +left the town of Coblentz, with its Denkmal of Wilhelm der Grosse, +and the forts of Ehrenbreitstein behind them. + +"Three hundred shots for nothing, Jock," shouted Dastral, who was +highly pleased with himself. + +Jock did not hear, however, for the wind carried the words away, and +the observer was otherwise engaged, searching the skies with his +glasses. A moment later, however, having discovered what he was +looking for, he turned and shouted: + +"One, two, three of them climbing to attack us!" + +"Where are they?" + +"Down below there to the left. Two yellow fat 'planes with black +crosses on them, and a white one." + +Dastral looked serious for a moment, as, holding the joy-stick with +his right hand, he raised his glasses with the other and looked down, +to where, from an aerodrome just by the river, three enemy 'planes +were rising up to fight with them. + +The shadow passed from the fair, young face of the chief pilot, as he +gazed upon the enemy, and a calm smile wreathed his face. + +"Humph! Let the devils come. We are not afraid of them. Sorry I can't +stay to fight them, Jock. Our first business is to bomb the arsenal, +not to pick a stray quarrel with these beasts, who are asking for +trouble." + +Then, opening out his engine once more to the full, he waved his hand +coolly to the enemy, and called out: + +"Good-bye, Mr. Boche. Some other time, if you don't mind, but to-day +I'm busy." + +His followers understood, and opened the throttles of their engines +accordingly, and, speeding on, soon left the enemy behind, for they +were slower machines, all the enemy's best fighters being on the +western front. + +Again and again Dastral looked round to see that his comrades were +all right. Eagerly he looked for the red, white and blue cocarde on +the wings, and felt very happy, for there was no need to be miserable +and lonely with those brave fellows so near. Had they not sworn to +follow him to the "Gulfs," if necessary? + +The chief enemy, however, so far, was the biting cold. The +thermometer was showing sixteen degrees below zero. Even with the +thick leathern coats, pilots' boots and padded helmets, it was +impossible to keep warm. The cold intruded everywhere. The thought +which consoled them, however, was this: + +"We shall soon be there, now! And we shall be the first raiders to +bomb the enemy's citadel, where he manufactures his enormous supply +of shot and shell to keep the war going." + +They were following the Rhine still. Every now and then they could +see long strings of barges being towed up and down the river between +Coblentz and Dusseldorf. + +"Cologne!" shouted the observer, and Dastral nodded, as he looked +ahead and saw the twin spires of the wonderful cathedral, and close +beside it the ancient Rathaus. + +"What a target!" shouted Jock, as the great city lay beneath them. + +"Yes, but there are women and children down there, Jock, and I am not +a pirate. When we get to Essen we will begin." + +"All right, old fellow. It was only a joke," came back the reply +through the speaking-tube. + +They received another baptism of fire as they reached the outskirts +of the city, but, skirting round to the right, they avoided the heavy +fire of the forts at Deutz, for Dastral knew that the brutes were not +shooting badly to-day, and he was anxious not to have a single +machine crippled before his mission was completed. + +"There'll be plenty of fighting soon, my boy!" called Dastral. "The +enemy will have guessed our objective by this time and they will be +preparing a reception for us." + +The observer nodded, for he knew that the fires down below would be +busy, and the various German Commands would be communicating with +Essen and the arsenal at Krupps'. There was no time to lose, and so, +despite the cold, they were still doing about one hundred and twenty +miles an hour. + +"Dusseldorf!" soon came from the observer's nascelle, for they had +passed Coblentz, and many other towns and villages that lay about the +slopes of the Rhine. + +"See that!" shouted Jock. + +Dastral again looked in the direction pointed out by his comrade, and +he beheld a great blur of smoke on the right, which blotted out the +landscape. + +It was Germany's black country. Here the towns were clustered thickly +together. Elberfeld, Barmen, Essen, and to the west of the +last-mentioned town lay the mighty works of Krupps. Somewhere in that +cloud of smoke lay the object of their long flight. + +The Flight-Commander pointed his machine in the direction indicated, +and the rest followed. The real fight was about to begin at last. How +would they come out of it? + +They were all eager to begin, for each machine carried a couple of +the new land torpedoes, in addition to a number of twenty pound +bombs. + +It was well they had arranged a proper plan of campaign, else their +labour would have been half in vain. Now, with the information which +had come to hand by the mysterious Captain Scott, they knew the exact +location of the very buildings on which they were about to +concentrate their fire. + +"Now we're going to be strafed! I thought so!" cried Dastral. + +"Phew! We're in for it now!" replied Jock, as the shot and shell +began to scream past them, bursting with red spurts of flame, +followed by white puffs and black clouds. + +Where was the huge powder factory? They were all searching keenly for +it now, for the atmosphere was smoky, which was partly their defence, +and partly their disadvantage, making it difficult to place their +bombs correctly. + +It would never do to fail now. They must go lower down and risk the +heavy fire from the "Archies." + +The T.N.T. sheds, where are they? The nitro-glycerine works, and the +huge dump? + +Oh, yes, there they were. Not all the smoke could hide them. Not all +the enemy's fire could stop those daring and intrepid raiders. + +Dastral gave the pre-arranged signal, and each 'plane dived to the +objective for which it had been detailed. + +"Boom-m-m!" went the first land torpedo. + +Yes, the Flight-Commander had found the powder works. A flame of fire +shot up hundreds of feet, and the place began to burn fiercely. The +"Archies" roared louder than ever. + +"Boom-m-m! Boom-m-m! Boom-m!" + +The others had found their objectives too. Four huge blocks were +burning fiercely. Down below the crowds were surging out of the +doomed buildings, running hither and thither to escape those terrible +bombs which were now being dropped in a dozen places, in rapid +succession, and the still more terrible explosions which must shortly +come unless the fierce fires which were now raging could be quickly +subdued. + +The utmost confusion reigned down below. The impossible had been +accomplished. Krupps', the very heart of Germany, had been bombed by +a few daring raiders. + +"Donner and blitz!" people down below were shouting. "What is the +good of our great Prussian army if it cannot prevent such things?" + +The raiders were off now, for all this had been done in less than +three minutes, once they had found their targets. As they made off +German aeroplanes rose to pursue them. In every direction they saw +the enemy, who had been surprised after all, in spite of the warning +he must have received. + +As they made off strange electric shocks seemed to agitate the air, +and to make the machines rock wildly. Violent waves disturbed the +atmosphere. Evidently the enemy had discovered some new device of +creating air-pockets, and filling the heavens with lurid flashes of +electricity. + +But the device fails. The machines pass out of danger, but alas, it +is doubtful whether two of them will ever reach the shelter of their +own lines again. Still, they are going to make the effort. Number +three and four have been badly hit, and Dastral's 'plane is torn with +bits of shrapnel. + +Once or twice they look back at the flaming destruction which they +have wrought, all in the space of a few minutes. As they do so, a +mighty column of flame and black smoke rises up into the air, and a +terrific explosion takes place, which shakes the earth for fifty +miles around. + +Yes, the T.N.T. works have gone up, and the two explosions which soon +follow show that something else has gone into the sky as well. + +"Bravo! Krupps' has been bombed!" + +Dastral gives the signal for his men to turn to the westward, and to +make with all possible speed for the shelter of their own lines. + +But enemy 'planes are in rapid pursuit, and there are two lame ducks +in the flight. It means another two hours' journey, and there is no +chance for the lame ducks if they are further molested. + +The leader quickly decides. He has still some fight left in him, and +so has Mac. They will escort the rest. He signals to Mac, "Take the +left flank!" and Mac understands, while he himself takes the right +flank. + +Then he orders the others to go S.S.W., for they must not infringe +the neutrality of Holland by going due west. And so they proceed, +until Jock signals that two of the Huns are gaining upon them. They +are fast 'planes, and will do some damage if they are not dealt with. + +At present they are still half a mile behind and a thousand feet +below them. So Dastral circles round once or twice as if to fight +with them, but only one of them accepts the challenge, and opens fire +at the Flight-Commander. + +"Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!" comes the sound of the fire, just audible +above the roar of the engines and the whir-r-r-r of the propellers. + +But Dastral has the weather-gage of him, for he has a thousand feet +greater altitude. He waits a moment, circling round. Then, as the +Boche comes up, he dives at him, as though he meant to ram him, for +he knew this would unnerve the enemy more than anything else. + +At the same moment he treats the Boche to three sudden bursts of fire +from his Lewis gun. It is quite enough for the enemy. He has +outdistanced his friends, and does not care to engage this air-devil +of an Englishman alone, so he swerves round, and hauls off a little, +hoping that the Britisher will be sufficient of a fool to pursue him, +but Dastral returns to his command, so that he may shepherd the lame +ducks through any further peril that may come upon them. + +Again and again on that long journey back he has to turn and fight, +and often Mac accompanies him. + +At length, half frozen to death, with their eyes smarting so that +they can scarcely see, one of them sights the relief squadron which +has come to meet them and escort them back to safety. + +Half a squadron has come to meet them, good fighters, all fresh and +ready for any hostile aircraft that cares to take the challenge. And +so, after nearly six hours of a trying ordeal, "B" Flight returns +safely to the shelter of the aerodrome behind the British lines. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE GIANT WAR-PLANE + + +FOR some days after the daring adventure recorded in our last chapter +things had been fairly quiet along that portion of the Somme front, +near the sector patrolled by the 'planes of the --th Squadron. There +had been the usual daily reconnaissances over the enemy's lines; the +usual spotting and registering for the artillery by the aeroplanes +and the kite balloons, but the dull, cloudy weather had restricted +the use of the 'planes to a great extent. + +One incident that had occurred, however, caused no little excitement, +and awakened the professional curiosity of the pilots, observers and +air-mechanics of the squadron. + +Late one afternoon a very small but swift aerial scout, in the shape +of a new type of baby-monoplane, suddenly appeared over the +aerodrome, and after circling round once or twice, made several rapid +spirals and descended on to the grounds. It was no enemy machine, for +the red, white and blue cocarde of the Allies was plainly visible +upon the underside of the wings, and also on the rudder. + +No sooner had the ferry-pilot who had brought her over from England, +made a landing, and climbed out of his tiny nascelle, than every +pilot and observer who was about the place, and not on duty, gathered +round to welcome the newcomer with the usual greeting, and to flood +him with questions as to the new machine. Amongst the rest the +Flight-Commander of "B" Flight could be seen talking and arguing with +his friends. + +"Gee-whiz! But isn't she a beauty, boys?" he was heard to exclaim, +as, with quite a boyish enthusiasm, he completed in less than two +minutes his first brief examination of the machine. + +"By Jove, but she's a gem!" replied Mac, to whom the question had +been more particularly addressed. + +"I've never seen anything like her," exclaimed another member of "B" +Flight. "I don't think the Huns have anything to equal her." + +"Not even their Fokkers?" ventured one of the pilots, who was already +seated in the little cockpit, trying her controls, for he was just +longing to take her aloft. "And you came from London in an hour and a +quarter?" asked Dastral of the ferry-pilot, helping him out of his +thick leather coat. + +"Yes, quite easily," replied the latter. + +"And you never even pushed her?" + +"I never opened the throttle to the full till I rushed the Channel, +half an hour ago." + +"And then you let her rip?" + +"Yes, I did then. She fairly seemed to leap over the English Channel. +She touched one hundred and sixty miles, and for a while she quite +frightened me." + +"Phew! I should think so. What the deuce shall we get to next? One +hundred and sixty miles an hour! Great Scott! I'd give ten years of +my life to meet Himmelman on her, when I've fairly tried her," said +Dastral quietly. + +There was a note of silence when the Flight-Commander spoke thus, for +he did not often express himself like that, though every one knew +that the ambition of his life was to meet the German air-fiend on +equal terms, and fate had decreed that before very long his wish +should be gratified. + +After this, they all adjourned to the messroom, and, for that +evening, and the next, the ferry-pilot was their guest. + +At dinner that evening, when John Bunny, the jovial, stout, stumpy, +chubby-faced waiter at the officers' mess, had cleared away, and +cigars were lighted, and chairs drawn to the fire-place, all the talk +was about the baby-monoplane. For the time being even the war faded +away, except so far as it hinged upon the coming deeds of the new +machine. They discussed its merits and its possibilities, its high +speed, its wonderful but powerful engine, capable of 200 horse-power +and nearly two thousand revolutions a minute. + +Next morning, as soon as it was light, Dastral was seated in the +little nascelle, climbing into the azure. For an hour he tested it, +and came down delighted with his new plaything. Again and again he +tried it during the next two days, until he was thoroughly at home +with it, and could handle it just as well as any other machine he had +ever flown. Indeed, the ferry-pilot who watched him was amazed at the +antics which the Flight-Commander performed with the trippy little +thing. + +On the third morning after the arrival of the new visitant, the +aerodrome was startled by renewed activity on the part of the enemy. +Just as dawn was breaking Lieutenant Grenfell, who was again on +orderly officer's duty at the aerodrome, was called suddenly to the +telephone by the Flight-sergeant in attendance saying: + +"Advanced Headquarters Ginchy want to speak to you, sir." + +An instant later he was holding the receiver, and heard Ginchy speak +plainly. + +"Is that Advanced II.Q. Ginchy?" he asked. + +"Yes. Is that the orderly officer, Contalmaison aerodrome?" + +"Yes. Anything the matter?" + +"Enemy 'planes crossing our lines, and coming in your direction," +came the laconic answer. "Want you to take necessary action at once." + +"Right, old fellow. Action shall be taken at once. But I say--hullo, +are you still there?" + +"Yes." + +"How many enemy 'planes were there?" + +"Three have crossed over. A very big one, and two fast scouts. The +others have all been turned back by our A.A. guns, but they are +trying again, I think, as the guns are opening fire upon them once +more." + +"All right. Good bye!" + +Then, turning to the Flight-Sergeant, the officer said: + +"Quick, sergeant! Sound the alarm to call up the men, and get the +machines out of the hangars ready for action. There is no time to +lose. If they are fast machines they will be here in less than five +minutes." + +"Yes, sir," and the sergeant saluted and departed upon his errand, +calling out the guard and giving the orderly sergeant instructions to +rouse all the men at once, while he himself returned to the orderly +officer, and assisted in calling the pilots from their bunks by +telephone. + +Rapidly as everything was carried out, before all the machines could +be got ready, or the pilots prepared, the enemy had arrived and had +begun to bomb the aerodrome. + +"Whis-s-s-h! Boom-m-m-m!" came the first bomb, which was quickly +followed by others. + +It was only just light enough to make out the machines, but Dastral, +who was one of the first pilots on the spot, was already in his +baby-monoplane, ready for the propeller to be swung, when the first +bomb fell, not thirty yards away. His attention, however, for the +past few seconds while the drums of ammunition were being brought, +had been fixed upon the raiders. + +He was amazed at what he saw. There were two small machines, +evidently fast scouts and single-seaters, each fitted with a +single-fixed gun, but the other visitor was a huge warplane, so big +that for the moment he was astounded. + +"Look, Jock!" he shouted. "Egad, but she's a tri-plane, a giant, with +a double fuselage, two engines, and a protected or armoured car in +the centre--at least, so it seems to me. And she's got two gunners at +least. Great Scott! where are those drums? I must get off at once, or +they will blow the place to bits. They've already hit No. 3 shed, and +probably damaged half a dozen machines." + +"Here is your ammunition, sir!" cried Corporal Yap, running up at +that moment with the drums and placing them in the cockpit. + +"Right. Stand clear there!" + +"Rap-rap-rap! Whir-r-r!" came the sound of the engine and the +whirring blades of the monoplane, for it could be distinctly heard +above the roar of the anti-aircraft guns which were now furiously +shelling the invaders. And while some confusion reigned for the +moment at the aerodrome, the little hornet taxied off, and leapt up +into the air. + +Dastral was the first to mount up, but the Dwarf being a +single-seater, he was compelled to leave Jock behind for the nonce. + +Higher and higher he climbed, for the monoplane had the power to rise +rapidly, and when at full speed to sit on her tail for a short +period, that is, to climb nearly perpendicularly. She was so small, +too, that she was difficult to perceive even from a short distance. +Thus she was more fortunate than the others, which, on rising shortly +afterwards, received the concentrated fire and bombs of all the three +raiders. + +Even Munroe had to land again, with his machine blazing, for one of +the bombs had shattered his petrol tank, and set the machine on fire, +so that the pilot himself was rescued with difficulty from the +wreckage. Two other machines were also compelled to descend, for the +enemy, having the weather-gage and being directly above them, had the +advantage. + +The Flight-Commander by this time was well away, and was careering +round, climbing more rapidly than he had ever done before, and +looking forward to the coming combat. He could see his own target, +but, relying upon the small target that the Dwarf offered, he kept +just sufficiently away to render his own machine invisible to the +Huns, who were having the time of their lives. + +Dastral was in a fighting mood; he felt ready to fight all the Boche +airmen in the world, if he could only get at them. Higher and higher +he rose, and marked the little register as it clicked out the +altitude:-- + +"Three thousand--four thousand feet." + +Its quiet voice was drowned in the roar of the engine and the +whir-r-r of the propellers, but its face seemed to smile at the pilot +and beckon him to victory. + +He had got well over towards the enemy's lines, in his circling +sweep, for he was determined to keep well between the enemy and his +base. Besides, it was good strategy, for the day was breaking and +already, up there, he could see the rim of the sun showing over the +edge of the eastern horizon. + +"I shall have the sun behind my back when the fight begins, and the +Huns will have it in their eyes!" he told himself. + +At six thousand feet he banked and swept round towards the enemy, +still climbing rapidly, for the Boches were at about seven thousand +feet. Again and again he made the whizzing Dwarf almost to sit upon +her tail, so eager was he to reach seven thousand five hundred. + +He felt perfectly happy, and braced for the conflict. His only +anxiety was to get to business at once. + +"Five thousand--five thousand five hundred feet," said the little +dial, and Dastral laughed riotously. + +"Seven thousand," came at last, though it seemed an age to the eager +pilot. + +Glancing down and away to the west, he could see his comrades +climbing up to his assistance, for he had left them far behind. The +Boches had seen them too, and were diving to attack them, dropping +bombs and firing incendiary bullets. + +"Capital!" shouted Dastral in high glee, as he saw the enemy make +several rapid dives, giving him exactly what he wanted, the +weather-gage. + +"The beasts haven't seen me, or they wouldn't do that!" Dastral told +himself, and he was right, for the enemy had not even suspected his +presence yet, or, if they had seen him leave the ground, they had +lost sight of him, owing to the tactics he had adopted. They were +soon to have a knowledge of his presence, however. + +"Now for it," said Dastral between his teeth, as, having reached +seven thousand feet, he whizzed away to the attack of the nearest +'plane, one of the enemy's fighting scouts which had accompanied the +huge warplane. + +"Whir-r-r-r!" went the hornet, as Dastral opened the engine throttle +to the full. + +The speed of the hornet was terrific, and the sound of the wind +rushing past him sounded to the pilot as loud as the noise of the +engine. + +"One hundred and sixty!" laughed the speedometer. + +"They can't beat that," replied Dastral, as though the little +dial-face understood. He felt that he must talk, though he had no +observer this morning. + +Now he was over the fighting scout, and she saw him for the first +time. She was the highest of the three, but she was a thousand feet +below him, and, relying on her speed, she banked, turned swiftly, and +tried to escape, actually leaving the warplane to look after herself. + +Dastral pulled over the controls, and down, down he went in a +thrilling nose-dive as though he would crash her to the earth with +his own fuselage, but that was not his intention. At five hundred +feet he opened fire, and gave her three drums in rapid succession, +and never was sound more agreeable to his ears than that +"rap--rap--rap--rap--rap!" of his machine-gun as he sprayed the enemy +from end to end of his fuselage with incendiary bullets. + +Before the third drum was exhausted he noticed the flames leap from +the doomed German, for Dastral had sent three flaming-bullets through +his reserve petrol-tank, and in that moment he knew he had only two +enemies left to fight, for the first enemy 'plane went down blazing +in a plunging dip, which ended in a spinning nose-dive and a terrible +crash, right over the eastern end of the aerodrome. + +Dastral looked down, his eyes gleaming with victory, glad he had +finished number one, but sincerely hoping in his heart that his +comrades on the ground would be able to save the pilot from the +burning wreckage, for of all deaths that the daring aviator dreads, +to be burnt is the worst of all, and few English pilots, having sent +the enemy down, wish him such an end. + +There was no time for sentiment, however, this morning, for the next +moment Dastral was startled by the sound of a machine-gun behind him: + +"Rat--tat--tat!" + +Yes, one of his own friends was already attacking the warplane. It +sounded like Mac, and the tactics seemed suspiciously his, for he had +been creeping up behind Dastral, following his leader, as he had so +often done before, and he was now engaged in a battle royal with the +monster, wilst another 'plane was tackling the second scout, though +at a disadvantage. + +For a second Dastral was halting which way to turn, but pilots have +to make rapid decisions every day, and when he saw Mac's danger, for +the enemy would assuredly send him down in a few minutes unless help +came, the Flight-Commander banked quickly, and, still having the +advantage of nearly a thousand feet in altitude, he swept on to help +his man. + +It was well he did, for though Mac fought bravely, as Dastral had +taught him to do a score of times, he was no match for the huge +German, with her armoured car, and two machine-gunners in addition to +the pilot. + +As Dastral swept back to his comrade, he saw the two machines raking +each other, but though Mac got in several shots at the fuselage and +the engines, he hit no vital part. + +"Ye gods, what a huge brute she is!" ejaculated the Flight-Commander +as he drew near, and sailed over the top of the monster, just seeking +for some weak spot. + +Before he could clamp in his drums he saw Mac's machine reel, and +spin round once or twice, as though the controls had been broken by +some questing bullets. The German continued to fire, however, and the +next instant Dastral saw the reason of it all, for he saw Mac's +observer stretching over towards the pilot. + +"Heavens! The poor chap's hit!" he exclaimed. Then shouting almost +fiercely, as though he fancied Mac could hear him, he cried: + +"Never mind, they shall pay for it, Mac!" + +Again Dastral jammed the controls hard over, and though he knew he +was fighting a different creature altogether this time, he tried his +old tactics. He swept down as though to collide with the enemy and +crash with him to earth, for he knew this was the best method of +unnerving the Hun. With his feet on the rudder bar, and the joy-stick +between his knees, and his hands clear for his gun, he fired two +drums, but seeing no immediate effect, he flattened out suddenly, +when only fifty feet from the Bosche, and pulling the switch of his +bomb release, he dropped a twenty-pound bomb fairly on to the central +armoured car of the monster. + +Scarcely had he swept past his adversary when the thing exploded at +close quarters, causing him almost unconsciously to loop the loop +twice in rapid succession, for the very atmosphere seemed to be blown +away from his propeller blades, and the air was so full of +air-pockets that for a moment this daring aviator was in imminent +danger of a side-slip and a fearful crash to the earth. + +It was over in a minute, however, and the "Boom-m-m-m!" of the +explosion and the smother of gas, smoke and flame being past, he +looked round him, and saw the German three hundred feet below him, +with half his central armoured car blown away, and with both gunners +apparently lifeless, and the pilot, bleeding, still sticking it +grimly, trying to volplane his machine to the ground. + +The Flight-Commander looked down, and sweeping round till he had +gained his old position, he was about to drop a second bomb to finish +the warplane, but he withdrew his hand from the bomb release, saying: + +"Poor bounder! He's bound to go down. He cannot get her over the +lines. I'll let him alone." + +Then, looking around for the third machine, he was just in time to +see her disappear eastward towards her own lines, and saw two English +'planes, which seemed to have come from nowhere, following her. + +"Ah, well, I'll go down and receive that chap's surrender--that is, +if he can manage to get down without a crash." + +There is, apparently, more honour in aerial fighting in these days +than in any other field of warfare, and, when a pilot has brought his +man down, should he fall, say, into the conqueror's lines, very often +the victor will descend and receive the surrender of the vanquished. + +Dastral's professional curiosity also urged him to do this. The huge +machine was of a new type, for in all his experience he had seen +nothing like it, and he was eager to examine it. + +Keeping his eye, therefore, on the descending German, who was trying +with the utmost care to navigate the aerial monster to the ground, +Dastral banked, then spiralled, and after one or two rapid +nose-dives, planed swiftly down to within a few score of yards of the +place where the monster must ultimately descend; and three minutes +later, having landed, he waited calmly on the ground for mein herr to +complete his landing. + +Down, down she came, lobbing first one way and then another, +finishing up with a bump which completed the wreckage of one of her +huge outstretched planes, and hurling the lifeless form of an +observer-gunner to the earth. + +"My word, what a size she is!" cried some one from the group of +officers and men standing by. + +She was a mass of wreckage, and how the wounded pilot had managed to +bring her down so calmly was a miracle. + +"Where are you hurt, Captain?" asked Dastral, helping the wounded man +from the wrecked car. + +"Here and here, Flight-Commander!" replied the German in good +English, leaning heavily on the pilot, who a few minutes before had +been his deadly enemy. + +"Fetch Captain Young, the M.O., at once!" ordered Dastral, and +immediately one of the air-mechanics ran off to find Number Nine. + +"You were a marvel to bring her down without a crash!" said Dastral. +"I'm sure I could never have done it." + +The German smiled. He was a fair-haired Prussian, not at all of the +Hun type, and there was moisture in his blue eyes as he replied, + +"I thank you for the compliment, Flight-Commander. You also are +_some_ pilot, as you English say." + +"And she is _some_ machine, too!" urged Dastral, trying to keep up +the man's spirit until the medical officer arrived. + +"Ah, my poor machine, and my poor gunners! They were brave fellows +and they died for the Fatherland. And the machine?--yes, she was a +beauty, and it was her first trip. Now she is a ruin, and I must +surrender her to you, but you will never be able to use her. See!" + +Dastral turned round to look, and noticed that the German warplane +was in flames, for the pilot, mortally wounded as he was, knew his +duty, which was, if he could not bring his machine back, to destroy +it. And his last act, which had been unnoticed, ere he left the +machine, was to set her quietly on fire, only waiting to make sure +that the second gunner was really dead. + +"Ah! My poor machine, but you English--will--never--use--her!" + +As he uttered these words slowly, gasping and clutching at his heart, +the German turned ghastly pale, and, staggering, fell into the arms +of Dastral just as the medical officer came running up. + +For a moment Dastral held him, but the blood began to gush from his +mouth and nostrils, and then his head fell back, for he was dead. + +"You are too late, doctor," said the Flight-Commander sadly, as he +laid the dead captain down on the grass, and looked at his pale face +and wide open eyes, still staring up at the azure blue of the opening +day, as though even in death the skies were calling him up there, as +they did in life; for he had been one of the most brilliant of the +German aviators, second only to Himmelman, who indeed had been his +teacher. + +"Too late, doctor! There was no chance for him from the beginning. He +was mortally wounded." + +"Yes, poor fellow, he has fought his last battle!" replied the M.O. + +"Poor fellow! I wish he could have lived," muttered Dastral, and a +feeling of unutterable sadness came over him, and he cursed the war +which had made him this man's enemy. + +Again he looked at the Prussian's face, and, stooping down, closed +the man's eyes in their last long sleep. Then, turning to an +air-mechanic, he said: + +"Bring a German flag, and wrap it round him," and so he strode away +towards his bunk, depressed by a feeling of profound melancholy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +HIMMELMAN S LAST FIGHT + + +IN the officers' mess at the aerodrome near Contalmaison, a +blue-eyed, dark-haired youth of about twenty-two stood with his back +to the fire. He was alone, for the others had not yet come in from +the marquees and sheds where the aeroplanes were being stored. On his +left breast he wore the double brevet of a fully-fledged pilot. + +This was Flight-Commander Dastral of "B" Flight, of the --th +Squadron, --th Wing, Royal Flying Corps, known to the whole of the +British Expeditionary Force, and to the British public also, as +"Dastral of the Flying Corps." + +Just under his pilot's brevet was a couple of inches of blue and +white ribbon, the insignia of the D.S.O. For, though but a lad, he +had fought with more Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands, and had more +thrilling exploits over the German lines, than any other youth of his +age. + +To-night, however, the pilot seemed sad; there was a shadow of +disappointment over his fair, young face. There was also a dreamy, +far-away look in those usually piercing blue eyes. What was the +matter with the lad? He was generally gay and even frolicsome. More +than once the O.C. had found it necessary to take him to task for +some of his jovial pranks. + +At his feet lay the previous day's issue of the _Times_, which he had +just been reading, and that which had made him sad was a paragraph +telegraphed to London by the Amsterdam correspondent of that paper, +which ran as follows:-- + + +"Yesterday, at the German Headquarters behind the western front, the +Kaiser in person conferred upon Himmelman, the famous German air +scout, the insignia of the Iron Cross. It is claimed by the enemy +that this air-fiend has brought down more than forty British and +French machines, and that his equal in skill and daring does not +exist upon the battle-fields of Europe. Quite recently he fought with +and vanquished three British pilots single-handed in one day. This +famous pilot flies a new type of machine called the Fokker, and the +Germans claim for this machine that for climbing and rapid manoeuvre +there is no other aeroplane which can be compared to it." + + +Dastral picked up the paper and read the paragraph again. Then, +speaking half aloud, he said: + +"So that's what happened to Benson's Flight the other day. I felt +sure he had encountered Himmelman. Ah, well! A pilot's life is only a +short one at the best, but there's one thing I beg of Dame Fortune, +and that is, that I may meet Himmelman before I go down." + +Again he cast the paper from him, and as he did so, the door flew +open, and Fisker, his observer, accompanied by Graham of "A" Flight +and Wilson of "C" Flight entered the room. + +"Hullo! What's the matter that you look so glum, Dastral?" exclaimed +Graham, as he caught sight of his friend. "Has the O.C. been giving +you another reprimand over that last rag, old fellow?" + +"What rags?" laughed Dastral, regaining his usual cheerfulness with +an effort. + +"Ho! ho!" laughed the others. "Of course you know nothing about it, +Dastral, gut all the fellows are laughing over it, and the whole +squadron puts it down to you, naturally," replied Wilson. + +"Naturally?" echoed Dastral with raised eyebrows, and a query note in +his voice. + +At this there was another burst of laughter. For this pretended +ignorance of Dastral, and above all, the intoned, sepulchral voice he +adopted for the occasion, reminded them of the "sky-pilot" as the +chaplain was called, who, on this occasion, had been the victim of +the rag. + +"Tell you what," exclaimed Wilson. "If the O.C. hasn't yet heard of +it, you'd better go out and have another of your scraps with a whole +German flight, before he does. That would soften him a bit when +you're called for the 'high jump.'" + +"Yes, better go out and have a look for Himmelman!" suggested Graham, +tossing, the stump of his cigar into the fire. + +"Himmelman?" replied Dastral, becoming suddenly serious. + +"Yes, Himmelman. Why not? I believe you'll be a match for him, if you +can only meet him at the same level, and with your drums full," +replied the young commander of "C" Flight. + +For answer Dastral picked up the paper again, and pointing to the +column about the air-fiend, said brusquely, + +"Read that." + +For the next two minutes the newcomers crowded around the paper, and +read, partly aloud, the paragraph above referred to. + +At the time of which I write the supremacy of the air was still in +question. The daring exploits of Himmelman and his school had been +causing much anxiety to the Directorate of Air Organisation. Much +consternation had also been caused amongst the British public by the +manner in which certain sections of the press in Old Blighty had +talked of the merits of the Fokker, the new type of fast fighting +monoplane which the enemy had produced. But it was the bold and +daring tactics of Himmelman himself, and his few immediate followers, +which had given rise to this. + +A new British School had come into existence, represented by Dastral +and his type. These were very often mere lads from the public +schools, full of the sporting instinct in which Englishmen excel. +They were soon to make their presence felt, and gain for Britain and +her Allies the complete mastery of the air. + +What it cost in life and limb to gain this mastery over a wily and +efficient foe will be known some day, when circumstances permit the +veil of silence to be drawn aside. England will then know what she +owes to her daring airmen, and every pilot's grave in France and +Flanders--and they are legion--will be honoured and decked with the +imperishable flowers of a nation's love. + +When the trio in the officers' mess had finished reading the +paragraph, it was Graham who spoke first. + +"Dastral," he said, in quiet tones, "there will be no peace, and no +victory, till Himmelman goes down. Nothing else matters, it seems to +me; neither bombing raids, registering targets, nor spotting, till +this air-fiend gets his _coup-de-grace_. What say you?" + +For full twenty seconds Dastral waited before he replied. Again there +was that faraway look in his blue eyes as though he could see +Himmelman on his fast monoplane, coming up out of the mists of the +eastern horizon beyond the German lines. Then, recalling himself with +an effort he replied calmly: + +"You are right, Graham. Twice already I have encountered him. Once +when my drums were empty, and the second time when my controls were +damaged, and I had to make a forced descent just behind our lines. I +have felt myself a coward ever since. But fight him I will, before +sundown to-morrow, if he is anywhere in the heavens within fifty +miles of Contalmaison. And not a shot will I fire, even if attacked +by half a dozen Taubes, till I meet my man. I know his tactics now, +and am better prepared to fight him than ever I have been." + +"Better not tell the O.C., for you know our orders are to fight every +and any enemy 'plane we see, while we have a round in the drums," +replied his comrade. + +"I know, Graham; that's the trouble. When your drums are empty or +your gun has jammed, then this wary old Boche comes down from a small +cloud where he has been hiding at twelve thousand feet, and comes +hurtling down through space at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, +spraying your fuselage from end to end with his machine gun. All the +same, he is brave and courageous, and something of a sport--far away +the best man they've got. But my belief is that if once he is sent +down in a crash, the spell will be broken, and we shall have things +all our own way," said Dastral. + +Then, turning to Fisker, his observer, who had not yet had his +twentieth birthday, though he had been with Dastral since they first +left England, and thoroughly understood his method and tactics, he +said: + +"What do you say, old fellow? Do you think we're a match for this +high falutin' Prussian?" + +"Dastral!" replied his chum. "I repeat what I said to you only the +other day. If you'll only get the O.C. to give you a perfectly free +hand, and then lay a nice little trap for the Boche, you're more than +a match for him. There's more room for strategy in the air than +either in trench warfare on land, or in a naval fight, when the sea +is strewn with mine-beds. And if you'll only try that new fast S.E. +that you had out the other day, with the Lewis gun mounted for'ard, +you'll do the trick, and it wouldn't be merely the D.S.O. that the +King and a grateful country would confer on you, for ridding the +western front of a nuisance, but you'd get the V.C. and a C.B. as +well." + +"Yes, I'd probably get the C.B. all right, Fisker, but not the V.C.," +laughed the pilot, for in the army the letters C.B. have a double +meaning. + +"I don't mean _Confined to Barracks_, old fellow. You'll get that +when you make a forced landing behind the German lines one of these +days, if you will drop down to within a hundred feet of their +batteries, just to put one of their 'Archies' out of action, and kill +a few of their gunners. I mean the other C.B. which is usually given +from Buckingham Palace." + +"You're a sport, Fisker. I never had an observer or aerial gunner who +served me so well as you do. The credit is yours for the majority of +the enemy's machines we've brought down this last six months. But, as +you're game, and you've got far more brains than I have, we'll just +spend the night inventing such a trap for the wily old Prussian as +you've mentioned, and to-morrow, if we don't get the weather-gage of +the Boche, then we'll never put our heads inside this old mess again. +Are you agreed?" said Dastral. + +"Agreed!" replied Fisker, grasping the extended hard held out to +clasp his, and to seal the bargain. + +"And here's to your success, Dastral!" exclaimed Wilson, who had just +poured out for himself a glass of _vin rouge_. + +At this moment the mess sergeant appeared to announce that dinner was +laid in the pilots' mess, and away they all went, laughing and +joking, as though they had been discussing nothing more or less than +a county cricket match. + +That night, however, as soon as the meal was over, instead of the +usual rubber of whist, or game of chess, Dastral and Fisker went into +the little bunk where they slept, and, locking the door, they brought +out maps, sketches, and diagrams, and, until midnight, they were hard +at work, by the kindly flicker of a little shaded lamp, evolving +scheme after scheme, until at length they agreed upon a little plan, +which they decided to put into operation on the morrow. Then they +turned in, and slept for four or five hours, having given strict +orders to the mess attendant to call theirs before reveille. + +Half an hour before reveille Dastral was down in the hangar, where +his new aeroplane was sheltered. Though it had been carefully +examined overnight by the air-mechanics, yet he could trust no one +but himself to finally inspect the machine. He examined every strut +and wire, every nut and bolt, oiling and testing the engine, +controls, and half a hundred other little things that make up the +delicate mechanism of a modern aeroplane. + +At length he was satisfied, and lit a cigarette, while Fisker shipped +the Lewis gun, packed the drums of ammunition, fixed the baby +wireless, saw to the bomb carriers, maps, charts, and everything else +that concerned him. + +Soon, they were ready, and, having snatched a hurried breakfast, they +wrapped themselves in their warm leathern coats, and were helped into +their pilot's boots by one of the air-mechanics, whose duty it was to +guard the machines. They drew their leathern helmets tightly about +their cars, and encased their hands in thick gloves, then climbed +into the 'plane. + +Half a dozen air-mechanics wheeled the "wasp" out into the open, +where the level ground of the aerodrome offered a good "take-off." +Then they waited for a moment, while the O.C. himself came down, and +handed to Dastral an envelope containing his special permit to leave +his flight, and to act as a free lance for that day; the matter +having been arranged between them. + +"Good-bye, Dastral, and a good day's sport to you, my lad!" said the +major, who stood on tiptoe to shake hands with the pilot and +observer. + +"Good-bye, sir," replied Dastral, his hand already on the joy-stick. + +"Start the propeller," came the order from the cock-pit. + +"Yes, sir," cried an air-mechanic, who sprang forward and swung the +propeller once or twice. + +"Zip-p-p-p--Zip--Whir-r-r-r!" came the sound, as Dastral started the +engine, and the air seemed to vibrate with the song of the aeroplane, +which has a music all its own. + +"Stand clear!" came the final order, and as the mechanics leapt back, +and withdrew the wooden chocks, the buzzing, waspish little thing +taxied swiftly across the level stretch of grass, then leapt into the +air. + +Higher and higher it rose by swift spirals, sometimes banking over so +rapidly as it turned in its circuit that those who stood watching it +from below feared it had touched an air pocket. But never did fiery +steed answer the touch of the huntsman's rein so quickly, and never +did gallant ship, as she rode the combing waves, answer her helm more +readily than did the air-wasp respond to the slightest movement of +her controls this morning, as she mounted up into the dawn. For the +daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, +who understood every whim and fancy of his machine. + +And now for a while let us leave Dastral climbing up into the azure, +then traversing a dozen miles behind the British lines, so as to +disappear from the enemy's view until the moment came for him to +hunt his prey. + +Soon after he had disappeared from view Major Bulford gave the order. +"Squadron, prepare for action!" for this was to be a day of great +things, and the Squadron-Commander himself, having now recovered from +his recent injuries, was going to lead the whole of the three +Flights, which composed the squadron under his command, over the +enemy's lines. + +Within an incredibly short space of time all the machines were ready +on the level stretch of grass. The bomb carriers were filled and +drums of fresh ammunition were shipped. And within half an hour of +the departure of the air-wasp, the squadron started off in regular +formation, and crossed over the enemy's lines. + +The secret had been well kept. Only the pilots themselves, after they +had taken their seats behind the propellers, received the whispered +orders for the day. A great bombing raid was to be carried out behind +the German lines with the express purpose of drawing out Himmelman +and his crowd to counter-attack, while Dastral, hidden away in the +clouds at 12,000 feet, was to enter the fight at the critical moment. +Then the most daring air-fiends on the battle-fields of Europe were +to meet in single-combat, and decide for ever to which side the +supremacy of the air should be given. + +The whole squadron crossed the lines at 7,000 feet, and received a +baptism of fire from the anti-aircraft batteries, while thousands of +combatants in the trenches far below stayed their fighting for a +moment to watch the stinging hornets sail calmly by, as though +utterly oblivious of the hail of bursting shrapnel, which made little +jets of fire and cirrus-clouds of white smoke all about them. + +One or two Taubes and Aviatiks which had been out on a reconnaissance +and for a few photographs, rapidly retired before the hornets and +fled to find shelter somewhere beyond. Meanwhile, the telephones in +the German lines were busy and the presence of the raiders was +quickly reported to the various commands, and from thence to half a +dozen aerodromes. Machines were rapidly run out, and got ready to +mount up and meet the invaders, for it was evident that the +perfidious Britishers had resolved to carry out another great bombing +raid on railway communications, billets, and ammunition dumps. + +Within an incredibly short space of time, Himmelman himself had +started to meet the the enemy. But the raiding party swept on, beyond +Bazentin, Ginchy and Longueval, bombing, as they passed, Combles and +the Peronne railway. Soon, they sighted the aerodromes at Scilly and +Etricourt, and bombarded them, receiving another crackle of fire from +the A.A. guns posted to defend the hangars and sheds. Then, wheeling +north they scattered a large transport column which was proceeding +slowly along the main road from Le Transloy to Bapaume. + +Shortly afterwards, a swift circling movement and a smoke bomb from +the leading 'plane gave the signal: + +"Enemy 'planes approaching!" + +All this had been accomplished within half an hour of crossing the +enemy's lines, and the Germans had been caught fairly on the nap. But +now Himmelman had got his machines in motion, and a fight in mid-air +could not be much longer delayed. + +The English pilots looked down, and far below they could see from +half a dozen places Aviatiks, Taubes and Rolands creeping up to the +attack. By this time all the heavy missiles had been dropped, and the +machines, with their engines running superbly, had gained something +in buoyancy from the release of the half dozen 20-pounder bombs, with +which each aeroplane had started. + +Guns were now cocked and loaded, and the discs were clapped into +place, while extra drums were placed where they would be most handy, +for when the fight commenced, a delay of five seconds might prove +fatal. Then a bold attempt was made to get the weather-gage, and to +use their advantage in altitude to place the sun behind their backs, +so that the enemy would have it in his face. + +Every type of aeroplane approaching was carefully scrutinised, and, +with sundry circling dips, short nose-dives and smoke bombs, the +Squadron-Commander told off various machines to fight them, for every +type of machine has its own special capabilities and limitations. At +the same time the heavens were eagerly scanned for a sight of the +hated Fokker. + +"Where is Himmelman? Where is Dastral?" every keen-eyed pilot was +asking himself. And every little cloud above and beyond was searched, +but no sight of the air-fiends was vouchsafed. Ah, well, they must +fight without Dastral if he had not yet picked them up. + +This manoeuvring for position continued for some minutes, but all the +while the combatants were drawing nearer and nearer. The enemy had +evidently received strict orders to fight at all costs. Certain +advantages were his. The chosen battle-ground was in his favour, as +every British 'plane hit and compelled to make a forced landing, +owing to damaged engine, petrol tank, or deranged controls, would be +captured with its crew, while only the German 'planes which crashed +would be lost. + +At last the time had come for action, for the air seemed full of +specks, both small and large. Nearly three whole squadrons had +climbed to the attack of the British, who, however, had by this time +gained the weather gage. + +"Engage the enemy closely!" came the signal, as three more +smoke-bombs were hurled from the commander's machine. Only one more +order was given, which was: + +"Reserve your fire till within two hundred yards!" + +The rattle of the machine-gun fire had already commenced, for the +enemy had begun to fire as usual at 1000 yards, but the British, +reserving their fire, followed their leader's tactics, for +immediately he had flung out his last signal, he dived down upon his +nearest opponent, a big fat yellow 'plane with black crosses upon the +doping. + +"Spit--spit-t-t--spit-t-t-t!!" went the C.O.'s machine gun, as he +pumped a whole drum of ammunition into his opponent, raking his +fuselage, engine, and petrol tank from end to end. The next instant, +the huge German machine, which mounted two guns, went down with +blazing petrol tank, and crashed from 8,000 feet. + +And now commenced an indescribable scene; a terrible fight in +mid-air, which would have been deemed to be impossible but a few +short years ago. The sky, to those watching far below, must have +seemed full of wild, swooping and circling birds of prey, spitting +fire and smoke, while every now and then a machine went down blazing, +or wildly zig-zagging to destruction. No less than four enemy 'planes +had thus gone down, when No. 2 machine of "C" Flight, with crumpled +wing, went down with a fatal nose-dive in a terrific crash. + +But still the fight went on, until more than half the British +machines had gone under, taking down with them at least twice their +number, and yet neither Himmelman nor Dastral had appeared. Numbers +were telling upon the English, and those machines which were left had +nearly consumed their ammunition, when, suddenly out of a little +cluster of clouds at 12,000 feet a dark speck appeared. + +The little speck at first appeared like a tiny bird, but the aviators +knew only too well what it meant. Whistling through the air in a +terrific nose-dive which reached the rate of 150 miles an hour, the +dreaded Fokker appeared to strike his chief opponent. Straight for +the Squadron-Commander's machine he came, like a fierce bird of prey. + +For an instant the fight slackened, and the enemy machines even drew +off a little space, to leave a clear path for the air-fiend, who had +never been known to fail in his desperate strokes. A thrill of +intense excitement held the combatants, as the Major made a daring +counter move, and jammed his last drum of ammunition into place. + +"Spit! Bang! Spit! Bang! + +"Whir-r-r-r!" Himmelman had opened fire while nose-diving at terrific +speed. Already the victim seemed to be in his clutch, when, just as +suddenly, from the same cloud in which the German air-fiend himself +had found ambush, another speck appeared, swooping like a hawk with +its talons ready to strike. It was Dastral, who had waited and +waited, in the biting cold and the clinging moisture of the wet +cloud; waited at 12,000 feet near the edge of the cloud. + +He had seen Himmelman coming, had watched him like a tiny speck +seeking shelter in the same misty vapour. How Himmelman had failed to +discover his enemy was a mystery. They were both invisible to the +combatants, it is true, and Dastral had used a dozen devices to keep +himself out of sight of the Boche, though ready at any moment to +fight with him. + +There can be little doubt, however, that Himmelman had been watching +the fight so closely that he had never even dreamt of finding his +chief enemy so close at hand. Besides, no one had ever dared to +imitate his tactics before, and his first intimation of Dastral's +presence was when, during his wild swoop, having half emptied his +first drum at the Squadron-Commander, he suddenly heard machine-gun +bullets whizzing about his own ears, and felt a stinging sensation in +his right arm. Looking round, he saw that the dark cloud in which he +had been hiding had given birth to another air-fiend, and in that +moment Himmelman knew that he was no longer the Master-Pilot of the +Skies. + +"Gott in Himmel!" he gasped, and made one last effort to manoeuvre. + +With his hand upon the gun, and his feet upon the rudder bar, he +flattened out, and tried to fight his enemy from below, leaving his +last victim to limp away to safety. + +But Dastral was too quick, for he had time to give the Fokker two +full drums before he also flattened out just above the monoplane. He +knew the Fokker had its gun fixed forward, rigidly fixed, so that it +could only fire ahead through the propeller. All this he had coolly +calculated beforehand. Unless, therefore, Himmelman could manoeuvre +to get his enemy directly ahead, he could do nothing. Still, though +wounded, the German fought on. Round and round spun the machines, +over and under they went, like a shoal of porpoises, each trying to +get the advantage. + +Up there at 9,000 feet they performed the most amazing gymnastic +gyrations and contortions. Once the German got the advantage, and was +about to open a new drum of fire, when Dastral, pulling over the +joy-stick, and with clenched teeth, muttered: + +"No, you don't! By all the saints, no!" + +And, with that, he dived under the air-fiend, and emptied his seventh +and last drum into him from beneath. + +It, was the end of the great fight, for with his fuselage ablaze from +end to end--for his petrol tanks had been pierced--and with a bullet +through his brain, Himmelman went down in a spinning nose-dive to the +earth. + +Even then the chief of the air nearly took down his opponent with his +wreckage, for Dastral being underneath, only just slithered, rather +than banked, in time to let the blazing mass hurtle by. Another dozen +feet, and the heroes would have gone down together. + +The next moment the daring young pilot gazed almost ruefully down +upon the tangled wreckage far below. He was amazed at his own work, +riding up there alone, for he was now the Master-Pilot of the Skies. +Even so, somehow, his chivalrous young heart was sad, for a brave man +never finds pleasure in the death of another brave man, and your true +hero has always a gentle soul. + +Then touched by a gust of sudden pity, he circled down to within +three hundred feet of the burning mass in which the remains of the +brave pilot lay, and, heedless of the risk he ran, he detached from +its place, where he had secured it that morning, unknown to all but +himself and Jock, a wreath of laurel, with these words attached to +it, penned in his own hand:-- + + +"_To Himmelman--the bravest of the brave--_ +_the Pilot of the Western Skies. A tribute of_ +_respect from his Conqueror._ + Dastral of the Flying Corps." + + +Then he climbed back again, joined the remnant of his squadron, which +with broken struts and wires, and bearing strong evidence of the +great fight in every part of their delicate frames, struggled back to +the aerodrome near Contalmaison. + +Thus did Himmelman meet his end, going down bravely, and, with +Himmelman, the Germans lost the mastery of the air. + +But Dastral himself was wounded in that last fight, and his machine, +the new "wasp," was so badly damaged that even his wonderful skill +could not save her, and she crashed behind the British lines, quite +close to Contalmaison. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"BLIGHTY" + + +AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested from +the Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was the +way paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat of +militarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and to +civilisation of her freedom. + +There is only one more incident to record, before this story of +adventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of those +unfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by some +mysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of a +misshapen and deformed body. + +We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of the +story. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning with +desire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted and +dismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her time +of peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing of +Providence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in the +day of trial, we meet him again. + +When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind the +British lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage, +scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, and +taken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to the +base hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during the +whole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at the +urgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospital +ship to Blighty. + +It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he first +regained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to look +about him, he asked: + +"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?" + +A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it was +the hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tender +voice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past, +whispered: + +"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better." + +The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but found +that he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs were +powerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still, +and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in a +whirl. + +"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after another +minute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for the +pain racked him so. + +"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talk +or think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and you +will soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet, +but strong tones, + +Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastral +could not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where? + +His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. He +fancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as he +dozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was away +again in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meet +Himmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his last +great fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constant +watcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile, +flicker over his countenance. + +"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospital +attendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast, +lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of his +country. + +Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so, +he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively the +words fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child: + +"Tim Burkitt!" + +"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me to +watch over you, and to nurse you back to life." + +Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one of +His Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back to +Blighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch him +from the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S. +to have him under his own special care. + +"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recognise +me until you were out of all danger." + +Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raising +his hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on his +tunic, he gasped: + +"Tim, where did you win that?" + +"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim. + +"But, Tim, how came you here?" + +In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, after +persistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though only +the humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had been +offered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it. + +"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of my +patients. And I am going to take you all the way home." + +"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the way +home?" + +"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter of +twenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle of +Wight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water." + +"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed his +eyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them again +shortly, and said: + +"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for it +turns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I am +happy to think that you have won that decoration." + +"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the King +has conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a Wing +Commander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of your +fight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?" + +"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring back +my brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas, +I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes to +keep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulp +down a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, till +they had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the Southsea +Forts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lower +reaches of Southampton Water. + +Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim. + +"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman, +and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and they +were with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world, +amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of the +German warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome near +Contalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, and +they said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, you +who are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it a +dream or did I really see them?" + +"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, and +they are all dead?" + +"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. But +come, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only a +dream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly up +at his friend. + +"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a full +minute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days at +college, though, after what has happened, it seems years and years +ago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I do +believe that for brave men, who have followed the star which has +called them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, after +death, something like that of which you have spoken, where good men +are re-united, even though they have fought with each other in the +days that are past." + +Then, after another long pause, he added + +"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven." + +* * * * * + +Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war. +Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under the +careful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the great +war was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He had +crowded into twenty months of service a record second to none during +the great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his King +and Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believed +that the cause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny. + +In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drake +and Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the liberties +of the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggle +is fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engraved +in letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went out +in jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, so +that they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our future +liberty and peace. + + +------------------------------------------------------------------ +THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND + + + +[Transcribers Notes: + +Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, following +the original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and +{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero}) +and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something: +{:}, {:--} and {,}. + +Corrected type-errors: + {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,} +Not corrected type-errors: + {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,} + {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,} + {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross} + {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,} + +] + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Dastral of the Flying Corps, by Rowland Walker + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DASTRAL OF THE FLYING CORPS *** + +***** This file should be named 44348.txt or 44348.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/4/44348/ + +Produced by R.G.P.M. van Giesen + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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