Water poured into the open doors and windows and through the charred and
torn stern of the nacelle.
The aluminium envelope, not built to withstand abnormal stress, began
buckling amidships. Tension wires, no longer in tension but in
compression, were spreading in all directions as the huge gas-bag
settled down upon the already foundering nacelle.
Every one of the crew realised the danger of being entangled in the
wreckage. In a trice the water was dotted with heads and shoulders of
life-belted swimmers as the crew struck out to get clear of the sinking
airship, and presently Fosterdyke was surrounded by a little mob of
undaunted men.
"Thank heaven!" ejaculated the baronet, after a hasty count. "None
missing. Keep together, lads, there's a vessel bearing down on us."
Not one but four craft were hastening to the rescue. Amongst these was
the T.B.D. _Zeebrugge_, which, eighteen days previously, had gone to
search for the derelict "Golden Hind" and had placed Sir Reginald
Fosterdyke on board.
Fortunately the water was warm, and in spite of a fairly high sea
running the late crew of the "Golden Hind" were taken aboard the
destroyer.
Fosterdyke and the others, declining to go below, stood on deck and
watched the end of the airship that had taken them safely for nearly
twenty-eight thousand miles, to perish within five miles of the Rock of
Gibraltar, her official starting-point.
The end was not long delayed. The buckling of the aluminium envelope
resulted in ballonet after ballonet collapsing under the pressure of
water. The fuselage had already disappeared. Bow and stern, nearly
four hundred feet apart, reared themselves high in the air; then, with a
terrific rush of mingled brodium and air that caused a seething cauldron
around each of the extremities of the envelope, the last of the "Golden
Hind" sank beneath the waves.
"Rough luck losing such a fine airship," commiserated the
Lieut.-Commander of the destroyer.
"It is," agreed Fosterdyke, feelingly. "Especially as she is my own
design and I superintended every bit of her construction. It was a
pity, too, we didn't hang on for another half an hour. I'd have
jockeyed her over the Rock somehow."
"It was a brilliant achievement, Sir Reginald," said the naval officer.
"Every sportsman will sympathise with you, but I'm sure they'll shout:
'Well played, sir!'"
"Any news of the other competitors?" asked Peter.
"Yes. Commodore Nye, the Yankee, is still stranded in Australia, but I
suppose you know that. Count Hyashi, the Jap, crashed somewhere near
Saigon. He, too, was almost home."
"Jolly hard lines," murmured Kenyon, sympathetically. "Was he hurt?"
"No, hardly bruised, but a bit shaken. Engine failure, they say,"
continued the Lieut.-Commander. "That leaves only the Hun to be
accounted for."
"And I suppose he's completed the circuit?" remarked Fosterdyke,
questioningly.
The naval officer laughed.
"Completing the circuit of a prison-yard!" he exclaimed. "That's about
his mark. A Spanish yacht brought Count von Sinzig in this morning and
handed him over to the Port Admiral. It'll be a three years' job, I
fancy. Huns must learn that they can't bomb British air stations in
peace time with impunity."
The destroyer ran alongside the dockyard. Fosterdyke and the rest of
his crew disembarked. On the jetty they were met by several of the
chief Naval, Military, and Air Force officials and two representatives
of the International Air Board.
Fosterdyke looked puzzled. He didn't want commiseration, but
congratulation seemed a bit out of place.
"On what grounds, Admiral?" he asked.
"On winning the Chauvasse Prize for completing the circumnavigation of
the globe," replied the senior International Air Board representative,
speaking instead of the Port Admiral. "Fact! You've won it fairly and
squarely."
"But----" began the astonished baronet.
"You have," persisted the official. "Do you recollect when the airship
broke adrift? The destroyer went in pursuit and put you on board. That
was within three miles or so of Ceuta. The same destroyer picks you up
out of the water five miles from 'Gib.' Consequently, you've more than
completed the circuit, and although the official start was from
Gibraltar I don't think there will be any difficulty in obtaining the
International Air Board's decision to the effect that you've won."
And that was exactly what happened. Had it not been for Count von
Sinzig's underhand work in employing Enrico Jaures to cast adrift the
"Golden Hind," Fosterdyke would not have completed his aerial voyage
round the world. By the irony of fate the Hun had enabled his rival to
score.
Fosterdyke won the Chauvasse Prize and the honour of being the first man
to fly round the world. Needless to say Kenyon and Bramsdean and the
rest of the crew were not forgotten. Honours were heaped upon the
intrepid airmen. They were lionised, feted, and praised to such an
extent that they were in danger of developing "swelled heads."
But Kenyon and Bramsdean knew that the achievement would be but a nine
days' wonder. Having attempted and won, they were content to return to
their profession, their financial standing much increased by their
shares in the big prize. They had enough honours and diplomas to
satisfy them, but what they prized most was a certificate from the Royal
Humane Society for saving the crew of the _Hilda P. Murchison_.
"So, after all," declared Kenyon, "we did do something useful, old son!"
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