THE MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP.
ON his homeward voyage Basil Dacres had plenty of opportunities for
pondering over his future plans. Having once taken the plunge he was
not a fellow to repine. His thoughts were of the future and not of
the past.
"In any case," he thought, "I'll be as independent as I can. I don't
want to come to loggerheads with the pater, but goodness only knows
how he'll take it. If I can have a quiet chat with him before he
learns the official version of the row, I may be able to explain
matters with a certain degree of satisfaction. After that I'll go
abroad, and get an appointment under one of the South American
governments. There will be plenty of scope in that direction."
At Suez the liner received a batch of English mails, and, as usual,
there was a great demand for newspapers to supplement the meagre
details of the world's doings as received by wireless.
Dacres hurriedly scanned the columns of four successive weeks of the
journal, but to his relief he saw no mention of his resignation being
reported. That gave him hopes of being able to be first in the field
as far as his parent was concerned.
Having assured himself on this point he proceeded systematically to
wade through the news with the zest that only those who have been cut
off from home ties know how to appreciate.
Presently his eye caught sight of a heading, "The mysterious airship
again."
"H'm, this sounds interesting," he soliloquized, for anything in
connexion with aviation appealed to him. When his services for the
Naval Flying Wing were declined the refusal hit him far harder than
his being asked to withdraw from his Majesty's Service.
"They say 'again,' I notice. I wonder for how long this airship has
been claiming the attention of the great British public? It's a pity
I've been unable to see the first account of its appearance. Seems
like starting a book at the sixth chapter."
Settling himself in a comfortable deck-chair Dacres was soon lost to
his surroundings in the account of the remarkable exploits of an
airship of entirely new design. It was seen within a few hours at
places as far apart as Newcastle and Plymouth, and Holyhead and
Canterbury. Although the eye-witnesses' accounts varied considerably
in detail the general description was sufficiently unanimous to prove
conclusively that the airship was not a creation of an excited
imagination.
It was agreed that the airship was of immense length and of
exceptional speed. She invariably flew at a great altitude. Her
appearance resembled that of a lead pencil pointed at one end, but
the observers were unable to state whether there were planes, cars,
and other appendages. There was none of that gently see-sawing motion
of the British military and naval dirigibles: she flew as steadily as
a seaplane on a calm day, and created a far greater impression of
speed.
Near Newcastle she was spotted by a pair of belated motorists who
were travelling over a road that follows the old Roman wall between
Chollerford and Heddon. It was a moonlight night, although the sky
was frequently obscured by drifting clouds. While brought up to make
good a slight defect one of the motorists noticed a dark object
overhead and called his companion's attention to it. Both
simultaneously expressed their opinion that it was an airship, while
one of the men found by extending his arm that the extremities of the
craft coincided with the length between his outstretched little
finger and thumb, while its breadth was roughly half the thickness of
the nail joint of the same finger. Taking the breadth to be forty
feet it was reasonable to suppose that the length of the airship was
nearly thirty times that dimension, or one thousand two hundred feet.
The airship was then travelling rapidly in a westerly direction, the
time being 1.30 a.m.
So impressed were the travellers by this unusual sight that they
proceeded to the offices of the "Newcastle Daily Record" and stated
the facts to the sub-editor who happened to be on night duty.
Just before four on the same morning the coastguard on watch at Yealm
Head, near Plymouth, "spotted" the airship still flying at a great
height, but in an easterly direction. He followed it through his
telescope until it was lost to sight, but owing to the airship being
against the growing dawn he was unable to give any details as to its
construction. His description, however, tallied with that of the
Newcastle motorists, whose report was published in a special edition
of the principal London papers.
Since Newcastle and Plymouth are roughly 360 miles apart the speed of
the airship could not be less than 150 miles per hour, and that not
taking into consideration the fact that on each occasion the craft
was shaping a course at right angles to the direct line between these
two places.
Two days later came an even more startling report, this time from
Canterbury.
It appears that a shepherd employed at Wether Farm, Petham--a small
village five miles from the Kentish cathedral city--had occasion to
visit a fold at some distance from the farm-buildings. This was at
three o'clock, an hour before sunrise, but it was just light enough
to distinguish surrounding objects.
Suddenly he saw a huge object falling through the air. All he could
liken it to was a haystack. It struck the ground quite gently and
about two hundred yards from the place where he stood. At first he
was afraid to move, until, thinking it might be a balloon that had
met with an accident, he ran towards the spot. As he did so he heard
voices, evidently discussing the situation; but before he could get
close to the "haystack," the object gave a bound and shot skywards.
He stood stock still watching the balloon growing smaller and smaller
till it approached an object that had hitherto escaped his notice--an
airship resembling a "wooden meat-skewer," according to his
description. Of what happened to the smaller balloon he had no idea,
but as he watched he saw the airship soar still higher till lost to
sight.
Curiosity prompted him to examine the spot where the balloon had
alighted. The marks on the dew-sodden grass gave him an opportunity
of measuring its base, which was twelve paces square, or, roughly,
thirty feet. There were footprints showing that two men had alighted,
but had not moved far from the spot. Although he made a careful
search he found that nothing had been left behind that might give a
clue to the occupants of the balloon.
This story the shepherd told to his master, who, knowing that a
mysterious aircraft had been sighted at Newcastle and Plymouth, took
the first opportunity of reporting the matter to the military
authorities at Canterbury. Asked if he could vouch for his
informant's trustworthiness the farmer replied that the man had been
in his employment for thirty years, and as far as shepherds went, was
intelligent, honest, and not given to immoderate drinking.
When this was reported in the Press the interest in the mysterious
airship redoubled. Various theories were advanced as to the presence
of the balloon, or airship dinghy as a facetious correspondent
suggested. Crediting the airship with a mean speed of 150 miles per
hour, it was still doubted whether it would be possible to tow a
balloon with it, while, on the other hand, it was equally impossible
to deflate and stow the gas-bag within the airship during the short
interval that had elapsed according to the shepherd's statement.
Then, of course, there was the alarmist section; People who wrote
demanding that the Royal Flying Corps should be brought to book for
neglecting their duty. It was pointed out that in the course of her
nocturnal voyages the airship had passed the prohibited areas without
being challenged by any of the air patrols. It seemed incredible that
the mysterious giant of the clouds could be here, there, everywhere,
from the north of England to the south, without being seen except by
chance by a few individuals. Where, also, could a huge aircraft,
measuring at least a thousand feet over-all, be housed in complete
secrecy?
Then from the wilds of North Wales came an astounding report. This
time the narrator was a signalman on the North Western Railway, who
witnessed a remarkable sight from his box near Llanfaelog in the Isle
of Anglesey. It was at midnight. The moon had just risen in a
cloudless sky, and there was hardly any wind.
The man had just cleared a goods train over his section and was about
to set the signals, when he was aware of a huge object rushing with a
rapidity greater by far than that of the most powerful express train.
It passed almost overhead and, according to his estimate, at about a
hundred feet from the ground. After it passed the leaves of the trees
close to the signal box were violently agitated and a sudden blast of
air swept the papers off his desk, but in spite of the commotion in
the air there was hardly any sound from the mysterious airship, save
a subdued buzzing.
Recovering his presence of mind the signalman promptly telegraphed
the news along the line, but the terrific rush of this gigantic
aircraft was unnoticed by any of the other railway employés on duty.
At six o'clock, however, two fishermen put into Dulas Bay, on the
north coast of Anglesey, and reported that at dawn they had seen a
large airship break in two at a distance of about two miles N. N. of
where they were fishing. Both men were unshaken in this statement,
that a complete severance had taken place, and that both portions,
instead of falling into the sea, headed off at great speed in a
westerly direction.
It was pointed out to the Government, in a strongly-worded leader in
"The Times," that something must be radically wrong with our system
of policing the air, since it was conclusively proved that an unknown
aircraft, possessing superior power of propulsion and radius of
action to any yet known, had cruised over the length and breadth of
England and Wales--and perhaps further afield--without being
officially reported.
Although there were no evidences that the mysterious aircraft was
flying under the auspices of a foreign power, it was quite possible
that she hailed from a country other than our own. If not, and she
was built and controlled by a British subject, the Government ought
to take steps to secure a right to build others of her pattern;
otherwise the bare margin of safety set up by the Aerial Defence
Committee was in danger.
Awaking out of its customary lethargy the British Government accepted
the advice of "The Times," and steps were taken to locate the base
from which the airship operated, and also, if possible, to trace her
complete course during one of her nocturnal flights.
Searchlights were temporarily installed on almost every important
hill-top from Berwick to Land's End, and from the South Foreland to
Holyhead; airmen, both military and civilian, were encouraged to make
night flights with the idea of being able to sight and perhaps keep
in touch with the giant dirigible; while destroyers and seaplanes
patrolled the coast, ready on the first intimation by wireless to
concentrate at any rendezvous on the line of flight that the
sought-for airship was likely to adopt.
"H'm!" ejaculated Dacres, as he carefully folded the latest newspaper
that it was possible to obtain. "This looks lively. Things are
getting exciting in the Old Country. Perhaps, after all, I may get a
chance of a berth with one of the private flying schools, even if I
can't manage to join the Flying Corps. I'll have a shot at it, by
Jove!"