Meanwhile Schwab had awoke to the facts of existence, and the manner in
which he announced his awakening was characteristic.
"Himmel! how I am hungry!"
"Hullo, Mr. Schwab! Feel better?" said Tom, throwing a hasty glance at
the German lying against the rail.
"Vorse! vorse! Tousand times vorse!"
Oliphant laughed at his hollow tones.
"It is nozink for to laugh," returned Schwab with a flicker of
animation. "I am vizout food, I know not how many hours. It is not viz
me custom to go so long vizout food; it give me rude pain--zere!"
He laid his hand on the lowest button of his waistcoat.
"No longer am I as I vas. Vunce I swell, not too moch, but all ober;
now, I fade, I shrink, I have to get ze tailor to take me in."
"Awful, for a business man," said Oliphant--"to be taken in, you know."
"So! But it muss be done. Ach! I am hungry as a--as a--as a----"
"Hunter!" suggested Oliphant.
"No; hungry as a rhinoceros. I could eat--I could eat--I could eat a----"
"Whale!"
"No; I could eat a steak, underdone, from ze grill, viz chip bodadoes,
gabbage viz vinegar, and Voosder sauce, viz a long glass--ach! two long
glasses, of lager from München. Ach! ze zought of it make my mous cry."
"For goodness' sake, Oliphant, give him some grub and shut his mouth,"
cried Tom.
"Shut my mous? How zen can I eat? For ze sake of anyzink give me
somezink to eat; zen my mous vill shut and open of itself; vun needs not
to zink ven one eats."
Bubbling with amusement, Oliphant handed the German some biscuits from
the stock they had brought with them. But his mirth evaporated when he
caught sight of Tom's face. He had wondered a little at the tetchy tone
in which Tom had last addressed him, and from his anxious expression he
could not but guess that something was seriously wrong.
"What's the matter, Dorrell?"
"The engines--don't you smell 'em?"
"I do," replied Oliphant, sniffing. "What's it mean?"
"It means that the turbine casing is becoming overheated. I altered the
inlet valve so as to let more of the explosive mixture into the
turbine--and this is the result."
"What can we do?"
"Simply reduce speed and hope that we can weather through."
"Any idea how much farther we have to go?"
"About fifty miles, I should think. We must have done forty at least. I
shut off one of the engines just now, but the second one can't keep us
afloat. I wish Schwab would fade and shrink into nothing."
Schwab had heard nothing of this. He was otherwise occupied. But noting
now the anxious looks of his two companions he said, with his mouth
full--"Do I eat too many?"
Tom was too much concerned to reply, but Oliphant laughed again.
"We can't go on," said Tom. "I shall have to drop her somewhere and see
if I can put matters right. We were five or six miles ahead of the Moors
when I caught sight of them last, and we've a few minutes' grace at any
rate. They won't know exactly where we are."
Choosing a secluded spot, he descended and brought the airship to rest.
Abdul had halted; Tom explained to him the cause of his descent, and set
him to keep watch on the enemy while he examined the machinery. The Moor
looked thoroughly done up, and it struck Oliphant that he was even more
in need of food than Schwab, so he gave him the remainder of the stock
of biscuits--not a large quantity now. As for Schwab, he had fallen
asleep.
It took Tom but a few minutes to adjust the valve, but he knew that the
result of this adjustment must be a serious reduction of speed. He was
greatly perturbed. It was clearly impossible for Abdul to ride much
farther: the horses were in a terrible state of exhaustion. They were
cropping the scanty herbage at the side of the track--poor refreshment
after the fatigue they had undergone.
"The Moors' horses must be equally played out, that's one comfort," said
Tom;--"at least, those that have pursued us all the way, if any have.
That's doubtful: the Moors have probably drawn on every village they
have come through."
"I say, did you hear that?" asked Oliphant.
It was a shout--apparently from a spur of forest some distance to the
right of the line which they had expected the enemy to take.
"They're spreading out! Who'd have thought they'd have kept it up so
long?"
"Well, you see, they know that one of us is on horseback: that means
that the machine won't carry us all; and in the nature of things they
can overtake a rider."
"I can see nothing for it but that Abdul must push on alone," said Tom.
"We can manage to get along slowly, and as long as the machine can keep
us afloat at all they can't catch us. But if they catch sight of Abdul
he's bound to be run down. Abdul, you must go on by yourself. Get to the
coast if you can, and swim out to the yacht--can you swim?"
"Yes, master."
"Swim to the yacht, then, and tell Mr. Greatorex what has happened.
He'll do all he can to help us if we can only get near enough."
Abdul showed some reluctance to leave the others in difficulties, but he
obeyed. He mounted the less exhausted of the horses and set off.
"He'll have a chance," remarked Tom, as he disappeared. "When the Moors
see us in the air again they will suppose that Abdul is keeping pace
with us as before."
"It's nearly six o'clock; it'll be dark soon."
"Yes, that gives him another chance--if they don't sight him."
At this moment he observed a score of horsemen emerging at a rapid pace
from the forest whence the shout had come. They were about half a mile
away. Catching sight of the airship, they gave utterance to loud cries
of triumph, and somewhat changed their direction. Tom at once caused the
airship to rise, and by the time the Moors arrived at the spot where it
had rested it was high above their heads and out of harm's way.
The Moors immediately began to scour the neighbourhood for signs of
Abdul. Tom steered slightly to the left of the direction in which the
lad had gone, in order still further to delude the pursuers. Not long
afterwards a much larger band of riders galloped up from the direction
in which the airship had come, and when they joined the former party, it
was seen that they numbered at least sixty in all.
"We're rousing the whole country," said Tom with a return to his wonted
cheerful manner. "If it goes on like this there'll be thousands by the
time we reach the coast."
"Shall we reach it, d'you think?"
"I can't tell. The engines are good for a few miles; how many I don't
know."
"Vere am I?" said Schwab, awaking. "Ach! I remember. Do ve soon arrive
at ze yacht?"
"We probably shan't arrive at all," replied Tom. "One of the engines is
failing."
"But it muss not--it muss not! Surely ze Photographic Sensitizer
Preparation Number Six vill not fail? Schlagintwert's preparations never
fail; zat is ze foundation of zair business."
"No; the preparation is all right; it's the engine."
"Ach! it should have been made in Jarmany! But, tell me true, Mr.
Dorrell, are ve in danger?"
"The truth is, Mr. Schwab, that I can't guarantee the machine for
another ten miles."
"Ach! Vat vill I become? Vat vill Schlagintwert's become! Vy did you
bring me in zis bad-made airship from my captivity? If you zere had left
me, our Kaiser who is in Berlin vould have sent a telegram to ze Sultan
of Marokko, and zen ve should see somezink. Zere had I at least enough
to eat."
"Confound it!" cried Tom, thoroughly exasperated. "We came to fetch Sir
Mark Ingleton, not you. But for you we should have been halfway home to
England by this time; and but for your weight, we shouldn't have been in
this pretty mess at all."
Schwab's jaw fell. This was an aspect of the matter that had not
occurred to him. Lifting his waistcoat, and looking down, he said
slowly--
"Truly I vish I had not eaten so much biscuit!"
It was now getting dark. Tom steered towards a bit of rough country to
the north, again some points out of his course, his object being to
worry the pursuers as much as possible and to draw them away from the
line of Abdul's flight. With great satisfaction he saw them follow.
After scattering over a wide area in search of the fugitive whose
disappearance had so much puzzled them, they had again formed a compact
body, and pursued the airship in the belief that their quarry must still
be within touch of it. In a few more minutes they were obliterated by
the darkness; but the sky was starry, and while on the ground they were
invisible from above, it was probable that the airship was still visible
to them.
Tom had noticed for some time past that the wind, which had been slight
and for the most part in his favour during the day, was shifting, and
blowing with greater force. In the circumstances the airship was making
very little headway, and Tom's anxieties were further increased when his
sense of smell apprised him that the engines were again becoming
overheated. Even if the airship were out of sight, the pursuers would
probably still hear the whirring of the propellers, and it was
advisable, both for the sake of cooling the machinery and of depriving
the enemy of a clue, that the airship should once more be brought to the
ground. But it was with some trepidation that Tom allowed it to sink. He
chose a spot just beyond a stretch of woodland from which it was
scarcely possible that the vessel could have been seen. He could only
hope that the sound had not been heard.
"I vish----" began Schwab, as they came to rest.
"Shut up!" said Tom in a vehement whisper. "Everything depends on our
keeping perfect silence now."
In a few minutes the horsemen could be heard approaching. They dashed
past the trees behind which the airship stood, and Tom's heart beat fast
as he realized how very near the danger was. But the riders did not
pause, and the sound of the horses' hoofs gradually faded away.
"We'd better lie snug for a time," said Tom. "Perhaps the wind will
moderate. I'm afraid the exertion of overcoming it would do for the
engines altogether."
While Oliphant held the electric torch, carefully shaded, Tom again
overhauled the engines.
"The valve is sticking," he said in a whisper. "There is some grit
between the stem and the sleeve. It must have got in at our last stop. I
shall have to take off the cover and file the stem smooth."
This was an operation of some difficulty; but as it turned out there was
time to spare, for as the night wore on the force of the wind rather
increased than diminished. Schwab bemoaned the lack of a pipe and beer;
the others were so tired and famished that they were not provoked to
either merriment or anger by his complaints. He by and by again fell
asleep. Tom and Oliphant kept watch and watch throughout the night. When
Tom awoke from an uneasy nap shortly before dawn, he was relieved to
find that the wind had dropped, though its direction was still
unfavourable. At daybreak a start was made, and for a short time the
valve worked satisfactorily, thanks to the large amount of oil used to
counteract the overheating. Then, however, the oil began again to give
off an unmistakable odour. The airship was brought to ground, and Tom
found that the injured stem had become bent. With infinite care, to
avoid breaking it altogether, Tom straightened it with a small hammer,
and again filed it smooth.
Once more the airship resumed its flight. Fortunately there was no sign
of the pursuers, and Tom hoped that Abdul had managed to evade their
clutches.
The country was very wild and deserted, and Tom purposely steered some
miles out of what he thought was the true course, in order to avoid the
cultivated district that lay in the direct line to the yacht. Suddenly,
however, skirting the shoulder of a hill, he came into full view of a
village, with the sea a few miles beyond.
"Thank Heaven!" ejaculated Oliphant, "we may do it yet."
"Surely that's the very village you were taken to with Ingleton," said
Tom, scanning the place through his binocular. "Have a look."
"By George! I believe you're right. There's a whole host of Moors round
it, too. They've sighted us. They're off!"
Taking the glass from him, Tom saw a body of at least a hundred and
fifty men galloping off in a direction which would bring them between
him and the coast.
"Smother them!" he cried. "I wouldn't mind if we hadn't to drop so often
to cool."
"Can't we make one good dash for it? We've only eight or nine miles to
go, have we?"
"My dear fellow, we can't do five miles at a stretch--unless we drop Mr.
Schwab."
"Donnerwetter!" cried the German, starting up in fright. "Vat you say?
Vould you do zat? Vould you desert? Vould you leave me, a Jarman
sobjeck, to be tore in piece by tousand vile Mohrs, ven ze sea, ze sea
vat sails ze Jarman fleet, is so near, so near? But yes--I know it! I
alvays say so. Never trust an Englishman--egzept in business!"
Tom treated this outburst with silent contempt.
"I can't go at a higher speed than fifteen miles an hour," he said to
Oliphant. "We're perhaps a mile nearer the sea than the Moors, but they
can equal our pace for a short distance, and I know we'll have to come
down before we get to the sea. If we do, we'll be collared."
"Risk a dash! It seems our only chance."
Tom hesitated for a few moments. Then he said, setting his teeth--
"All right. It's the only thing to do."
He put both engines at full speed, and Schwab shouted with delight when
he saw that the airship was gradually drawing away from the galloping
Moors. But in ten minutes all three were aware of the ominous smell. Was
it possible to reach the yacht, now clearly in view? Tom, alert to catch
the slightest indication of failure on the part of the engines, hoped,
doubted, hoped again, but was resolved to hold on to the last.
Another five minutes passed.
Then all were startled by a strange grinding sound in the defective
engine.
"What is it?" asked Oliphant.
"It's all up," said Tom quietly. "The heat has loosened the turbine
blades, and they are smashing to pieces." Even as he spoke sheets of
flame shot from the exhaust pipe, accompanied by a series of deafening
reports.
Tom at once reduced speed, shouting to Oliphant to adjust the planes for
descent.
"Zink! Zink vat you do!" cried Schwab, now almost frantic. "Zey vill
have us! Ze Mohrs vill cut our zroats! Vy--vy--vy----"
Tom paid no heed; Oliphant muttered under his breath. They were sinking
towards a ravine through which a watercourse ran to the sea. The engine,
its parts grinding and tearing with a hideous scrunching sound, was
shooting out flames, to the accompaniment of detonations like those of a
Maxim gun. Another minute or two would witness a cataclysm; but Tom
thought that if the farther side of the ravine could be reached, they
might gain a little grace. The enemy would have some difficulty in
crossing at speed.
The engines were failing; the airship was falling more and more rapidly.
"Can't screw the planes any further!" cried Tom.
Oliphant wrenched at the lever; Tom put the whole force of the second
engine upon the ascensional screws; and the rapidity of descent was
somewhat checked. The ravine was directly beneath; Tom succeeded in
giving the vessel a last forward motion; then it came with a violent
bump to the ground, just on the further edge.
"Out! Quick!" cried Tom to Schwab, who was bemoaning the shock he had
suffered.
When all three stood safe on the ground, Tom caught hold of the rails of
the car.
"I made it; I'll break it; _they_ shan't," he said, and he toppled the
airship over into the gulf, where it was smashed to atoms.
Then, with Oliphant at his side, and Schwab labouring behind, with
piteous entreaties that they would not desert him, he dashed towards the
cliff, a mile away, beyond which was the sea.