[Illustration: The plunging monster glided by.--Page 38.]
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THE BOY AVIATORS
WITH
THE AIR RAIDERS
A Story of the Great World War
BY
CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON
AUTHOR OF "THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS' SERIES," "THE BOY AVIATORS IN
NICARAGUA," "THE BOY AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE," "THE
BOY AVIATORS IN AFRICA," "THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE
QUEST," "THE BOY AVIATORS IN RECORD FLIGHT,"
"THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH," "THE BOY
AVIATORS' FLIGHT FOR A FORTUNE," ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
CHARLES L. WRENN
NEW YORK
HURST & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright, 1915,
BY
HURST & COMPANY
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Not Far from the Firing Line 5
II. The Work of German Spies 18
III. Saving the Great Seaplane 29
IV. The Escape 38
V. A Night on the Channel 49
VI. Under Shrapnel Fire 60
VII. The _Sea Eagle_ on Parade 72
VIII. A Safe Return 83
IX. Thrilling News 94
X. The Aëroplane Boys in Luck 106
XI. The Man in the Locker 117
XII. Frank Makes a Bargain 129
XIII. Not Caught Napping 142
XIV. The Peril in the Sky 151
XV. On Guard 162
XVI. The Coming of the Dawn 173
XVII. News by Wireless 185
XVIII. Off with the Air Raiders 196
XIX. How Zeebrugge was Bombarded 207
XX. Caught in a Snow Squall 218
XXI. A Startling Discovery 230
XXII. The Narrow Escape 241
XXIII. The Windmill Fort 252
XXIV. Friends in Need 261
XXV. The Desperate Game of Tag 275
XXVI. Headed Toward Home 298
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The Boy Aviators with the Air Raiders.
CHAPTER I.
NOT FAR FROM THE FIRING LINE.
"It seems queer not to have Harry along with us on this trip to the war
zone of Europe!"
"Just what Pudge, here, was saying last night, Billy. But you know my
brother Harry has been ordered by Doctor Perkins to keep quiet for two
whole months."
"Frank, he was lucky to break only his arm and collar bone, when it
might have been his neck, in that nasty fall. But why are you rubbing
your eyes like that, I'd like to know, Pudge Perkins?"
"Pirates and parachutes, I'll tell you why, Billy. Every little while I
get to thinking I must be dreaming. So I pinch myself, and dig my
knuckles in my eyes to make sure. But it's the real thing, isn't it,
boys?"
"If you mean that the three of us, here, representing the _Sea Eagle
Company, Limited_, of Brig Island, in Casco Bay, Maine, makers of
up-to-date seaplanes, have come over to look up a sample shipment of our
manufactures, and find ourselves being pestered by the French and
British Governments to take a contract from them, why it certainly is
the real thing."
"It was lucky my father has that arrangement with the French Government
to protect our property through thick and thin," continued the boy
called Pudge, who, as his name would signify, was very rotund in build,
with a rosy face, and a good-natured twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes, only for that they would have commandeered the boxed seaplane long
ago, and by now dozens of fleets made on the same model would be
pouncing on the German bases along the Belgian coast," remarked the boy
whose name was Frank, and to whom the other two evidently looked up as
though he might be their leader in the enterprise requiring skill and
courage.
"But they've been mighty good to us since then," went on Pudge. "They
have allowed us to have a substantial hangar built after our own
peculiar pattern within reach of the water here at Dunkirk, though we
are not so many miles away from where the Allies are fighting the
Kaiser's men who are in Belgian trenches."
"Yes," added Billy Barnes, who had once been a lively reporter, now a
member of the aëroplane manufacturing company engaged in making the
remarkable type of airships invented by Pudge's scientific father,
Doctor Perkins, "and during these weeks we've been able to get our
machine together, so that right now it's in prime condition for making a
flight on the sea or in the air."
"Whisper that next time, Billy," cautioned Frank, casting a quick glance
about him as the three boys continued to walk along the road leading out
of Dunkirk, which in places even skirted the water's edge.
"Why, what's up, Frank?" exclaimed the talkative Billy. "Do you think
these bushes and trees have ears?"
"No, but there might be some sharp German spy hanging around this
place," replied the other earnestly. "You know they do say they're
everywhere. I've heard British soldiers in Calais and Dunkirk tell of
mysterious strangers who disappeared when approached as if they were
made of smoke. This spy system the Kaiser's men have down to a fine
point. It's hard to keep anything from being carried to German
Headquarters these days."
"Still, there are a lot of things they haven't learned before they
happened," declared Billy. "That first British army of some eighty
thousand soldiers came over to France, and nobody knew a thing about it
until they were on the firing line. But, Frank, do you reckon the
Germans have been watching the three of us working here with our hangar
and hydro-aëroplane?"
"I'm as sure of it as I am of my own name," declared the other firmly.
"Why, the very fact that our hangar differed so much from ordinary ones,
being so much larger for one thing, would make them suspect. Then there
has been a heap of talk going on about this wonderful airship of ours,
which was carried, every word of it, to German Headquarters."
"Batter and butterflies!" spluttered Pudge, who seemed addicted to
strange exclamations, especially when excited, "we'll certainly have to
watch out, then, now that our wonderful _Sea Eagle_ is in working
order."
"Yes," said Billy Barnes earnestly, "it would be a tough joke on the
company to have some clever thieves get away with it, just when we are
ready to show the French Government that it is away above ordinary
seaplanes."
"There's the hangar, boys," remarked Frank, with a vein of relief in his
voice, as though grave fears may have been giving him more or less
uneasiness. "Stir your stumps, Pudge, and we'll soon be under our own
roof. I may have a suggestion to make after we've looked around a bit
that I hope both of you will agree with."
While the three chums are advancing on the strangely elevated building
that had been erected to accommodate their seaplane, we may take
advantage of the opportunity to glance backward a bit, in order to see
who and what they were. We do this for the benefit of those readers who
may not have had the good fortune to peruse previous volumes in this
series.
Two bright, inventive brothers, New York boys, who had actually built an
aëroplane which they named the _Golden Eagle_, had shipped it to Central
America when given a chance to save a plantation owned by their father,
and threatened by the revolutionists in Nicaragua. This they had managed
to accomplish, through the assistance of a young reporter friend named
Billy Barnes. In this book, which was called _The Boy Aviators in
Nicaragua_, were also related the thrilling adventures that befell the
young air pilots when their craft was carried out to sea in an
electrical storm; and also how they were rescued by means of a wireless
apparatus through which they communicated with a steamer.
In the second volume, _The Boy Aviators on Secret Service_, the reader
was taken to the mysterious Everglades region of Florida where the young
inventors once more demonstrated their ability to grapple with
emergencies. They proved that they were patriotic sons of Uncle Sam by
discovering and putting out of commission a factory that was making
dangerous explosives without the consent of the Washington Government.
It was a long jump from Florida to the depths of the Dark Continent, but
the occasion arose necessitating their taking this trip to Africa. If
you want to learn how theirs was virtually the first aëroplane to soar
above the trackless heart of Africa, how they found the hidden hoard of
priceless ivory secreted by slavers in the wonderful Moon Mountains,
what strange things came about through their being hunted by the
vindictive Arab slave trader, with many other interesting adventures,
you can do so by procuring _The Boy Aviators in Africa_.
Through the coaxing of their warm chum, Billy Barnes, the boys were next
induced to enter in a competitive race across the continent, and it can
be easily understood that the pages of this book, _The Boy Aviators in
Record Flight_, fairly teem with exciting incidents and thrilling
adventures. Crossing the great Western cow country, they met with many
difficulties from sand storms to treacherous cowboys and renegade
Indians that threatened to end their game voyage. But the same
indomitable spirit that had carried Frank and Harry through so many
trials allowed them to meet with the glorious success they so richly
deserved.
From one series of adventures like this it was easy for the wide-awake
young air pilots to engage in others. A story of an old Spanish galleon
caught in the grip of that mysterious Sargasso Sea, where the circling
tides have held vessels amidst the floating grass for centuries,
fascinated them, and they set out to explore the dismal region that has
been the graveyard for countless ships. Of course, the lure lay in the
fact that a vast treasure was said to be aboard this old galleon; and
the hunt for it, together with the opposition caused by a rival
expedition, makes great reading for boys who have red blood in their
veins. It is all set down in _The Boy Aviators' Treasure Quest_, which
has been voted one of the best of the entire series.
_The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash_ was possibly the most remarkable example
of Young America's nerve ever written. How the brothers came to plan the
trip to the Antarctic region, and what amazing things happened to them
while carrying it out, you will certainly appreciate when you read the
book. The object of the expedition was fairly covered, and they came
back in safety; but only for the aëroplane the result could never have
been attained, which proved how valuable an airship might be amidst the
eternal ice of the frozen zones.
In the volume following this, the boys again found themselves caught in
a swirl of exciting events. They had become engaged to Doctor Perkins,
who was not only a scientific gentleman of note but particularly an
aviator bent on startling the world through the agency of a monster
seaplane which he had invented. He believed that a voyage across the
ocean could easily be made in one of his safe aircraft, which combined
many features not as yet in common use among the most advanced aviators.
On Brig Island in Casco Bay, within sight of the Maine coast, they
erected their factory, and manufactured various types of aëroplanes for
the market. So far this wonderful seaplane had not been given to the
world, for Doctor Perkins was shrewd enough to first get his patents in
all foreign countries in order to protect his interests. In _The Boy
Aviators' Flight for a Fortune_ have been related a series of remarkable
adventures that befell the young air pilots when trying out the first of
these enormous hydro-aëroplanes, that would skim along the water or sail
through the air with equal swiftness and safety.
One of these enormous seaplanes had been boxed in sections and shipped
over to France, with the design of giving the Government officials an
actual exhibition before they would agree to making a large contract
with the firm.
Then the terrible world war had broken out, and for some months it was
not known just what had become of the precious machine.
Finally word was received that it was safe at Havre, under the
protection of the French Government, which would adhere strictly to the
letter of the written agreement which they had entered into with the
American company.
An urgent request was sent across the sea for some competent aviators to
come over and put the several parts together, so that an actual test
could be made. The French Government, if the trial proved convincing,
stood ready to make almost any kind of contract with the company. This
would be either in the way of ordering a large number of seaplanes,
providing they could be delivered without breaking the neutrality laws
binding the United States, or else giving a royalty on each and every
machine manufactured in France under the patents granted to the doctor.
This necessary but brief explanation puts the reader, who may not have
previously known Frank and his chums, in possession of facts concerning
their past. While Pudge Perkins, the doctor's son, was not an
experienced aviator, he had picked up more or less general knowledge in
the factory, and had come abroad with Frank and Billy, as he was
accustomed to say, just to "keep them from dying of the blues, in case
the French Government kept putting them off from week to week, or if
anything else disagreeable happened."
Indeed, Pudge, with his abounding good nature, his love for fun, and
great capacity for eating, might be looked upon as a pretty fine
antidote for the dread disease known as the "blues." No one could long
remain depressed in mind when _he_ was around. Besides, Pudge was really
smarter than he looked; appearances in his case were apt to be
deceptive; for the boy had a fund of native sagacity back of his jolly
ways.
Their hangar had been built in a rather lonely spot close to the water.
This was done for several purposes, chief among which might be mentioned
their desire to avoid publicity.
The obliging French authorities had even placed a guard at the point
where the road passed the open spot now enclosed with a high fence; and
so effectual had this proved that up to now the Americans had really not
been annoyed to any extent.
Frank, however, had known for some time that all their movements were
being watched from different elevated stations in the way of hilltops,
or the roofs of houses, by men who carried field glasses. He had many
times caught the glint of the sun on the lens when a movement was made.
As long as it went no further than that Frank had not cared, because
these suspected spies could see next to nothing. But of late serious
fears had begun to annoy him. The seaplane was ready for its first trip,
and in a condition where it might be stolen, if a band of daring men
took it into their heads to make the attempt.
At one end of the hangar a long track with a gradual slope ran down to
the water, so that the seaplane could be launched in that way if
desired. A narrow stairway on the land side led up to the stout door
which they always kept fastened with an odd padlock capable of resisting
considerable pressure.
Each one of the three boys had a key for this lock, which they were very
careful to keep fastened to a steel pocket chain. Pudge, having mounted
the stair first, puffing from the exertion, was about to insert his key
in the padlock when he was heard to utter an exclamation. The others saw
him look closely, and then turn upon them with an expression of mingled
alarm and consternation on his round face.
"As sure as you live, boys," the stout boy gasped, "that's a bit of wax
sticking to our padlock! Someone's been taking an impression so as to
have a duplicate key made!"