"Will next Monday suit you fellows to take on officially?" enquired
Fosterdyke, as the chums prepared to depart. "I want a trial flight on
that day, and if it proves satisfactory, I'll make a formal entry at
once. M. Chauvasse stipulates that all entries must reach him in
writing by noon on the thirtieth. That leaves us with only eight days
clear."
"Monday it is, sir," replied Kenyon, promptly. "We'll have everything
fixed up as far as our private business is concerned before then. In
fact, we could arrange to join earlier--couldn't we, Peter?"
Peter Bramsdean signified his agreement.
"Hardly necessary," observed Fosterdyke. "But if anything unforeseen
transpires before then I'll wire you."
During the next few days there was much to be done in "squaring up" the
motor transport work. Notices were issued stating that the principals,
Messrs. Kenyon and Bramsdean, would be away for six weeks, during which
time all orders could be safely entrusted to their works manager. Even
that individual had no inkling of the nature of his employers'
forthcoming absence. The secret, jealously guarded, had not yet leaked
out.
On the other hand, the Press published a report of M. Chauvasse's offer
and stated that three entries other than British had been received. The
lack of enterprise on the part of British airmen was commented upon and
an appeal issued to sportsmen to make an effort to prevent yet another
record passing into the hands of foreigners.
On the day following this journalistic jeremiad came the report that a
British airship of unique design was approaching completion at a private
aerodrome near Blandford, and that the Air Ministry had given
instructions for all facilities to be afforded to its crew in their
attempt to circumnavigate the globe within a space of twenty days.
Details, both erroneous and exaggerated, were given of the mysterious
airship, together with plans that were as unlike those of the "Golden
Hind" as those of a modern dreadnought would be compared with those of
Drake's famous ship.
"That will rattle the Old Man," declared Kenyon, when he read the
announcement.
It did. Fosterdyke sent a wire asking his two assistants to join him at
once. That was on the Friday morning. At 2.30 P.M.--or in Air Force
phraseology 14.30--Kenyon and Bramsdean arrived at Air Grange, to find a
vast concourse of would-be spectators congregated round the gates,
backing up the efforts of a knot of persistent Pressmen who cajoled,
bluffed, and argued--all in vain--with the imperturbable Hayward and
four hefty satellites.
The grassy slopes outside the formidable fence resembled Epsom Downs on
Derby Day. Momentarily motor-cars were arriving, while at frequent
intervals heavily laden char-a-bancs rumbled up and discharged their
human cargo. Motor-bicycles, push-bikes, traps and carts added to the
congestion. Thousands of people arrived on foot--from where goodness
only knows! Hawkers and itinerant purveyors displayed their wares;
photographers, both amateur and professional, elbowed their way towards
the forbidden ground; while three brass bands and at least a dozen
individual musicians added to the din. On the outskirts temporary
platforms had been erected, while hirers of telescopes, field and opera
glasses did a roaring trade, people willingly paying to gaze at the
impenetrable barrier of fir-trees in the vain hope of catching a glimpse
of the mysterious airship.
It took Kenyon and Bramsdean the best part of an hour to literally force
their way through the throng. By dint of shouting "Gangway, please,"
they continued to make a certain amount of progress until their arrival,
coupled with the ex-sergeant's efforts to make the crowd stand aside,
attracted the attention of the representatives of the Press.
For five minutes the latter bombarded the chums with questions, getting
inconsequent replies that put the reporters on their mettle.
"If we aren't allowed in, we'll take jolly good care you won't be,"
shouted one of the Press representatives, evidently mistaking Peter and
Kenneth for favoured spectators.
There was a rush towards the gates. The half a dozen policemen
assisting Hayward and his men were almost swept off their feet. Things
looked serious. If Kenyon and his companion succeeded in getting past
the gate it would only be in the midst of an excited mob.
Just then Sir Reginald Fosterdyke appeared. Some of the local
inhabitants recognised him, and the report of his identity quickly
spread. So when he raised his hand to enjoin silence the crowd surging
around the gate ceased its clamour.
"By preventing my navigating officers you only defer your own ends," he
exclaimed in ringing tones. "The airship is not yet ready for flight,
nor is she open to inspection. A trial flight has been fixed for Monday
next. On that day the aerodrome will be thrown open to public
inspection. And," he added, with a disarming smile, "there will be no
charge for admission."
Almost instantly the demeanour of the crowd changed. There were calls
for cheers for Sir Reginald Fosterdyke. Someone started singing: "For
he's a jolly good fellow."
The baronet turned and hurried away precipitately. Publicity he hated.
Kenneth and Peter, taking advantage of this diversion, slipped inside
the barrier and found Fosterdyke awaiting them beyond the bend of the
carriage drive.
"Good old British public," he exclaimed. "By Jove! They put the wind up
me. I thought that they would be swarming like locusts over the 'Golden
Hind.' We'll have to circumvent them. Only last night some of the crew
found a fellow prowling round the shed. Goodness only knows what for.
He pitched some sort of yarn, and since we aren't under the Defence of
the Realm Act I couldn't detain him. But this crowd scares me. We'll
get out to-night, even if we have to drift, and they can have the run of
the place on Monday, as I promised. But I said nothing about the
airship being here or otherwise. Where's your kit?"
"Somewhere between here and Blandford railway station," replied Peter.
"We saw we'd have our work cut out to force our way through, so we told
the taxi-driver to take it back to the station. It isn't the first time
we've parted with our kit, eh, Kenneth?"
"I'll send for it when the crowd thins," decided Sir Reginald. "Now I
suppose you're wondering why I telegraphed for you?"
"The swarm outside offers a solution," said Kenyon.
"To a certain extent, yes," agreed Fosterdyke. "Apart from that,
there's a reliable report that Captain Theodore Nye, of the United
States Army, is starting from Tampa, Florida, to-morrow in one of the
large airships of the 'R' type that the Air Ministry sold to America
recently. That forces our hand. We'll have to be at the
starting-point--1100 miles away--by to-morrow mid-day, so as to
replenish petrol and commence the competition flight before midnight."
"And how about the Boche, sir?"
"Count Karl von Sinzig? Not a word. He's apparently out of it. Not
even one of the 'also rans.' Our formidable rivals are the Yankee and a
Jap--a Count Hyashi--who will reach his Nadir somewhere in Uruguay. Let
'em all come--the more the merrier."
All hands, including the workmen and mechanics who were not
participating in the voyage, assembled in the large dining-hall for an
impromptu farewell dinner, and to them the baronet broached the subject
of the hurried departure of the "Golden Hind."
The meal over, the task of getting the huge airship out of her shed
began. Even though the wind was light the work was by no means simple.
Incautious handling or a sudden change in the direction of the air
currents might easily result in disaster. The operation had to be
carried out after sunset and with the minimum of artificial light,
since, for the present, the "Golden Hind's" departure was to be kept
secret.
With her ballonets charged sufficiently to give her a slight lift, the
airship rose until the base of the fuselage was a bare three feet from
the ground. The crew were at their stations, Kenyon assisting
Fosterdyke in the wheelhouse, while right aft Peter Bramsdean directed
the movements of the "ground-men" holding the stern, securing, and
trailing ropes.
Inch by inch, foot by foot, the leviathan of the air emerged from the
shed until her entire length, straining gently at the rope that tethered
her to mother earth, lay exposed to the starlit sky.
"All clear, sir!" reported Bramsdean through a speaking-tube.
Curt but precise orders rang out from the navigation-room. The slight
hiss of the brodium being released from the metal cylinders was barely
audible above the sighing of the wind in the pine-tops until the gauges
registering the "lift" of the airship indicated thirty-eight tons.
Armed with a megaphone, Fosterdyke leant out of the window of the
navigation-room.
"All ready? ... Let go!"
Simultaneously the twenty men holding the airship released their hold.
That was where training and discipline told, for terrible to contemplate
would have been the fate of an unwary "ground-man" had he retained his
grip on the rope. But without an accident to mar the momentous event,
the "Golden Hind" shot almost vertically into the air, attaining in a
very short space of time an altitude of six thousand feet.
Not a cheer rang out to speed the departing competitor for the
stupendous contest. Unheard and unseen save by the loyal band of helpers
at the aerodrome, Sir Reginald Fosterdyke's airship was on her way to
the starting-point of her voyage round the globe.