WORK FOR THE SEAPLANES.
"SEND him on board, by all means," said the Captain of the "Meteor,"
after the rousing cheer from her crew that greeted the announcement
had died away. "We'll lower a rope and whip him on board in a jiffey.
You might then hold your position for ten hours more. I don't suppose
the Valderians will risk another assault during that interval. We are
about to take Admiral Maynebrace and his staff back to his flagship.
Zaypuru will go too. He will be a strong argument in favour of the
Valderians asking for terms."
"I doubt it, sir," replied Dacres grimly. "Those fellows in Fort
Volador ignored his request to cease firing."
"We'll see," rejoined Vaughan Whittinghame.
"Hulloa, there, Gerald, old boy! How goes it?"
This was the Captain of the "Meteor's" greeting to his brother, who
for months past had been in danger of being put to death by an
unscrupulous Dictator.
"See you later," was Gerald's equally unconcerned reply, although at
heart the brothers were longing to shake each other by the hand.
"We'll rout out old Zaypuru. He's buried himself under a regular
mountain of bedding."
Still in paroxysms of terror the President of Valderia was removed
from his place of concealment, while General Galento, in almost an
equal state of fear, was allowed to remain in his uncomfortable
position.
At the sight of the "Meteor," anchored barely fifty feet above the
shattered walls of the Cavarale, with a rope dangling from one of the
entry ports, Zaypuru fell on his knees, begging for mercy. The noosed
rope had a terrible significance.
"We do not ill-treat our prisoners of war, señor," said Gerald
Whittinghame. "Circumstances necessitate your removal from this
dangerous locality to a safer sphere."
But before the President could be ignominiously seated in the bight
of the rope a warning shout came from Setchell, who was on duty in
the after-section.
"Look out, sir!" he hailed; "there are half a dozen aeroplanes
bearing down upon us."
"Cast off, there!" ordered Vaughan Whittinghame calmly.
The "Meteor" soared skywards, although not so swiftly as was her
wont. The heavy drain upon her store of ultra-hydrogen was beginning
to make itself felt.
Dacres watched her receding bulk with envious eyes. He would have
given much to have formed one of the band of aerial warriors; but
duty compelled him to remain, an eager spectator of the forthcoming
encounter, on the position he had held so doggedly against the guns
of Fort Volador. Setchell had made a mistake in stating the number of
the hostile aircraft to be half a dozen. There were five of the
latest type of Valderian aeroplanes, each capable of rendering a good
account of itself, had they been properly handled.
Hoping to take advantage of the great airship being close to the
ground, the airmen left Naocuanha, and, flying fairly low, made a
wide detour so as to approach from a direction whence danger was
least expected.
Seeing the "Meteor" rise, they too tilted their elevating planes, and
in a semi-circular formation rushed at top speed upon this surprised
foe.
Suddenly the airship's propellers began to run at full speed. She did
not belie her name as she shot forward, firing from her after-guns as
she did so.
The aeroplanes replying with their comparatively feeble automatic
guns, were completely outdistanced, till the "Meteor," slowing down,
lured them on.
Before the Valderian mosquitoes could approach within range the
airship was off again, till she was almost out of sight of the
watchers on the Cavarale. Dacres understood her tactics. Vaughan
Whittinghame wanted to entice the biplanes away from the vicinity of
the Cavarale, whose garrison would otherwise be at the mercy of the
aviators. On the other hand, he dared not risk an attack at an
effective range, owing to the fact that, in addition to Rear-Admiral
Maynebrace and his staff, the "Meteor" carried Antoine de la Fosse
and his son, and also the two men from the British merchant vessel
whose arrest by Zaypuru had been the commencement of the dispute.
Presently the "Meteor" was observed to be returning towards
Naocuanha, the five aeroplanes hanging on in pursuit. When within a
mile of the Cavarale she rose to an additional height of two thousand
feet. The biplanes, fearing to be annihilated by an aerial bomb,
swerved right and left. Doubling like a hare the airship proved
conclusively that her turning powers were, in spite of her length and
bulk, superior to those of the Valderian aircraft, but owing to her
speed and the smallness of the swiftly-moving targets, she made no
palpable hits with her two stern-chasers.
So intent were the garrison of the Cavarale in watching this aerial
steeplechase that it was not until a loud droning almost above their
heads told them that other aircraft were approaching.
"Take cover as best you may!" ordered Gerald to the Valderian allies.
"Steady on, old man," suddenly exclaimed Dacres. "I think--yes, I am
certain--they are British seaplanes."
"I suppose you know," admitted Whittinghame. "But how will they know
we are not the enemy? Personally, I've a strong objection to being
blown sky-high by a British seaplane."
"We must risk it. I'll hail. Perhaps they might hear, although the
noise of the propeller--Hulloa! They're swerving."
Paying no attention to the remains of the Cavarale with its occupants
who wore the Valderian uniform, the air-squadron tore to the rescue
of their Admiral.
The Captain of the "Meteor" had informed the flagship of the
situation by wireless, and Captain Staggers, who, by virtue of his
seniority, had hoisted the Commodore's Broad Pennant on board the
"Royal Oak" during Rear-Admiral Maynebrace's enforced absence, had
dispatched six of the seaplanes attached to the fleet to tackle the
enemy's air-fleet.
Giving the high-angle firing-guns of the defences of Naocuanha a wide
berth, the seaplanes made short work of the distance between Zandovar
and the scene of the manoeuvres of the "Meteor" and her attackers.
Now, for the first time in the history of the world, was to be a
pitched battle between aircraft heavier than the medium in which they
soared. It was to be a fight to the finish: there could be no
question of surrendering or of giving quarter.
Yet the British Flying Squadron was not one to take an undue
advantage. The aeroplanes, intent upon the "Meteor," were unaware of
the approach of their new foes; but the officers in command of the
seaplanes waited till they were certain that their presence was
observed by the Valderian airmen.
To escape by flight was impossible. The Valderian airmen, realizing
that their only chance lay in vanquishing their opponents, turned and
headed straight for the seaplanes. On both sides the automatic guns
were sending out small but powerful shells as fast as the delicate
and intricate mechanism could admit, yet ninety-nine per cent of the
missiles failed to find a billet.
One of the British aircraft was the first to receive a knock-out
blow. Hit fairly on the swiftly revolving cylinders it seemed to stop
dead. Then, plunging vertically, it fell at a comparatively low rate
of speed and with ever-widening circles through space till its
descent was checked by crashing violently upon the ground.
Ten seconds later a Valderian biplane was literally pulverized by a
shell that exploded in her petrol tank. Two more were quickly put out
of action, while the fourth, seeing the hopelessness of the
situation, vainly attempted a vol-plane.
With two of her antagonists like avenging angels following her steep
downward glide, the biplane dropped to within a hundred feet of the
ground without any apparent injury. Then, suddenly tilting beyond the
angle of stability, she fell vertically. Under the joint action of
gravity and the traction of her propeller her rate at the moment of
impact could not have been far short of two hundred miles an hour.
It took all the skill at their pilots' command to save the two
seaplanes from a similar fate. So intent had they been in the
headlong pursuit that they temporarily lost all sense of caution.
The first seaplane succeeded in rising, but the second was not so
fortunate. The sudden downward pressure on the planes as the frail
craft changed her direction resulted in the carrying away of one of
the tension wires. The right-hand plane collapsed like a limp rag,
and the seaplane, tilting sideways, fell to the earth, her pilot
getting off lightly with a few bruises, while almost by a miracle the
observer escaped injury.
Only one Valderian biplane now remained. Her pilot, whether from
sheer daring or whether he was incapable of realizing what he was
about, headed straight for the nearest of his antagonists.
The British pilot, equally fascinated by the sight of the huge
mechanical bird bearing straight towards him, held on his course. The
slightest alteration to the elevating planes would have resulted in
the seaplane flying either above or under her opponent; but
inexplicably the naval pilot made no effort to avoid the collision.
With a crash that was plainly heard by the spell-bound crew of the
"Meteor," both aeroplanes met, eight thousand feet above the ground.
The spectators saw both motors, thrown clear of the tangle of struts
and canvas, drop almost side by side, followed by the mangled bodies
of three of the victims. Then, slowly, the lighter debris began to
fall, until, some of the spilt petrol catching fire, the wreckage
blazing furiously like a funeral pyre, streamed earthwards, leaving
behind it a trail of smoke resembling a gigantic memorial column to
the slain.