THE AËROPLANE BOYS IN LUCK.
Thrilled by the nature of the communication made by the British officer,
Frank, Billy and Pudge stood there staring at one another.
Of course it was not so very difficult for Frank to understand just why
this invitation to accompany the raiding party of British aviators had
come to them. Back of it all was the French Government, he felt certain.
Before going into the business of making heavy investments connected
with the new American seaplane patents it was only natural they should
desire to witness an efficient test of the machine's superiority over
any aëroplanes they already possessed.
The contemplated raid would afford such a test. Competent critics, those
other experienced birdmen, would be near to gauge the capacity of the
_Sea Eagle_. In other words, the French Government did not want to "buy
a pig in the poke." Unless the hybrid sea and aircraft could meet the
requirements laid down, they would not dare risk squandering great
amounts of money in those hard times to duplicate her model.
Frank was greatly pleased. It seemed as though he and his chums had
received a magnificent compliment in being honored with such an
invitation.
"Of course, Major Nixon, you have been authorized to see us, and extend
this courtesy?" he asked, as a starter.
"I can show you my credentials in that line, Frank," the genial officer
replied, without the least hesitation or embarrassment, which he
accordingly proceeded to do, thus relieving the other's mind in the
beginning.
"Everything is shipshape, sir," said Frank. "Now let us talk about the
conditions under which we are to be allowed to accompany the expedition"
"Please keep your voice lowered as much as you can while I instruct
you," begged Major Nixon.
"You are thinking of those German spies who are said to be everywhere?"
ventured Frank, who had heard much talk along these lines ever since
arriving at Dunkirk.
Indeed, the stories that passed current concerning spies were
astonishing. Most of them Frank did not believe in at all, for he knew
they were founded on the fears of the people. At the same time the
secret agents of the Kaiser were certainly vigilant as well as bold, and
if one had to err at all it were better to be on the safe side.
"In times past I haven't taken much stock in the wild stories that have
been going around," said the soldier, smiling; "but we certainly know
there are spies in Dunkirk at this very hour. In fact, you boys have had
pretty strong evidence that your operations while here have been watched
day by day."
"Yes," remarked Billy, "and after what happened last night we are ready
to believe almost anything, sir. I remember reading that sometimes the
walls have ears, and I guess it may be so."
"Under such conditions then it is best that we get our heads close
together and talk in very low tones," said the officer. "There are
guards posted all around the stockade now, and yet in spite of that
precaution some of those German spies are smart enough to play the
game."
"Anchors and aëroplanes, but this is exciting enough to please even a
fellow built like you are, Billy!" muttered Pudge, who was mopping his
red forehead with his handkerchief, though the others did not consider
it any too warm there in the hangar of the great seaplane.
"I am unable to tell you at this minute the exact hour when the start
will be made," Major Nixon whispered. "Much depends on the state of the
weather, and the arrival of the fleet of aëroplanes from across the
Channel, for most of them will come from England, you understand."
"Conditions being favorable, then," observed Frank, "you believe that by
another morning the start of the raiding party will take place?"
"Yes, undoubtedly," came the answer. "We wish to take advantage of the
unusually good weather conditions. Then, besides, we have learned
through certain sources of information that the Germans on their own
hook are planning an extensive dash with their aëroplanes and dirigibles
on the coast cities on the Channel. It is in hopes of balking that, as
well as accomplishing other results that more than thirty seaplanes will
make this stupendous raid on their submarine bases at Ostend, Zeebrugge
and Blankenberghe."
"Sandwiches and sauerkraut!" Pudge was heard to gasp, as though his
breath were almost taken away by the magnitude of this assertion; for he
had never as yet seen as many as thirty aëroplanes assembled together,
and certainly not in action.
"Is that the only motive of the raid, Major Nixon?" Frank asked, for he
invariably made it a point to acquire all the information possible.
"Well," continued the soldier, "to be perfectly frank with you, there
are a number of other objects which such a sudden attack is likely to
influence. It is aimed to destroy the railway station at Ostend so as to
greatly hinder the movement of troop trains and those carrying
ammunition and supplies. Then, at Bruges, other damage may be done."
"But isn't there still another big object in it?" insisted Frank.
"I suppose you are referring to the great submarine blockade of the
coasts of Great Britain which Germany proposes to inaugurate next week?"
said Major Nixon. "Yes, although I have not been so informed, I can
guess readily enough that by means of this raid it is hoped to
extensively damage their submarine base at Zeebrugge, and injure the
movement in the beginning."
"In other words," said Frank, "Great Britain means to throw down the
gage of battle, and warn Germany she can make just as dashing raids as
anyone. No one nation is mistress of the air in this world war--as yet."
Major Nixon smiled as he heard those last two words, and saw the quick
look of pride which the young aviator threw toward the monster seaplane
that was housed in that hangar.
"It's plain that you have the utmost confidence in the ability of your
machine to wrest that supremacy from the Germans, if once France secures
the right to manufacture a fleet of _Sea Eagles_," he remarked, as he
laid a hand upon the shoulder of Frank Chester, of whom the bluff
soldier had become quite fond in the short time they had known each
other.
"Then it is understood, Major, that we keep ourselves in readiness to
start out so as to be on the move at dawn, for I don't imagine such a
great fleet of aëroplanes would wish to make a start in the darkness of
night."
"No, there is no necessity of such a thing," came the quick reply. "In
fact, one of the objects of this raid is publicity. We do not aim to
creep up and damage the enemy in the dark. We want him to see the
astonishing sight of such a mass of darting seaplanes descending on his
coast towns like a flock of eagles, and destroying military property,
not citizens' private homes, mind you."
"I think," said Frank, "I can speak for my friends here as well as
myself, Major, when I promise to be ready for the signal. How will we
know when to start out, for we shall all sleep here to-night?"
"There is only one condition which you will be asked to meet," said the
other.
"Then tell us what it is, sir."
"The French Government will expect to have a representative aboard the
_Sea Eagle_ during the flight, not to interfere in the slightest degree
with your mastery of the seaplane, but simply to take notes concerning
her behavior under every sort of condition."
"We certainly agree to that condition, Major Nixon," said Frank
heartily. "In fact, I should have asked that one be sent out with us. It
is a part of our policy to fully satisfy the authorities we've been
dealing with for nearly a year, now, that everything we claim, and much
more, is possible with our advanced model of a hydro-aëroplane."
"Very good, and I am pleased to know it," said the officer. "I shall
have to go back to town, now, but I will advise the local representative
of the Government that you accept the conditions. By early dawn there
will appear here a skillful aviator with written credentials, and I hope
his ultimate report will be all you boys hoped it to be. My word! I only
wish I were going with you, but other duties must claim my attention."
He shook each one of them warmly by the hand.
"The best of luck, Frank," were his last words at parting. "I trust that
you may have an experience calculated to dwarf anything that has ever
come your way."
Frank, as he contemplated what a thrilling adventure lay before them,
fancied that this wish on the part of Major Nixon was in a fair way of
coming true. It certainly would be difficult to imagine a more exciting
experience than taking part in an aërial raid, where more than thirty
seaplanes started out to bombard strongly fortified coast defenses of
the enemy, each raider subjected to a continual fire from every known
species of anti-aircraft gun known to modern warfare.
After the soldier had left them, the three Boy Aviators sat around and
talked in low tones. They had barred the door, and so far as they could
see there was not the slightest chance that any eavesdropper could get
close enough to overhear what they said. Nevertheless, the caution of
Major Nixon had its effect upon them and there was no loud conversation
except when ordinary matters were touched upon.
Frank always liked to "potter" around and give little touches of
improvement to some part of the seaplane in which he had such a deep
interest. No one knew its good and bad qualities as well as Frank; even
its inventor had not studied these points as carefully as the young
aviator.
So it happened that from time to time the boy made numerous little
improvements that he figured would cause the motors to work more
smoothly, or strengthen some part of the framework that showed signs of
weakness.
Half a dozen times Frank left his two chums, sitting there killing time,
to attend to something connected with the plane. He had carefully
examined to find what had caused the accident that gave them such a
thrill when thousands of feet above the earth.
"The same thing will never occur again, that I'm as sure of as I am of
my own name," he told Billy, when the other asked him about it.
Several hours had passed since the soldier had left them. Pudge, having
taken a stroll outside, came back to report that there were at least a
dozen British "Tommies" standing guard around the enclosure in which the
hangar had been erected.
"It's a good thing, too," said Pudge, "because a crowd has come out from
town to hang around here in hopes we'll make a flight to-day. Oilskins
and onions, but I should think there must be a hundred people if there's
one. But those Tommies are ready to use their bayonets on the first
fellow who tried to climb up and peep over the stockade."
"There are two guards, I noticed, down by the end of the trestle, where
it strikes the water," observed Billy, who had been moving around.
Frank was doing some little job under the seaplane, and at this moment
came sauntering toward his two mates. Billy, happening to glance up at
the other's face was surprised to see that Frank looked excited; at
least his eyes sparkled strangely, and there was a grimness in the way
he had set his jaws.
Billy, always inclined to be explosive, might have burst out with a
question only that he received a quick and expressive look from Frank,
accompanied by the placing of a finger on his lips. Then, as Frank
dropped into a chair beside them, Billy leaned over to whisper:
"What's up now, Frank, that you're looking so mysterious?"
"I've just made a discovery, that's all," came the same sort of careful
reply. "Fact is, after all our precautions we've been outwitted, for
there's a spy hidden in the hangar right now!"