THE "DUD"
Much the same sort of scene was going on in the streets of Paris as Tom
and Jack had witnessed when first the populace realized that they were
under fire from a mysterious German cannon. There was the initial
alarm--the warnings sounded by the police and soldiers, warnings which
were different from those indicating a Zeppelin or aircraft raid, and
then the hurry for cover.
But it was noticeable that not so many of the people rushed for a secure
hiding place as had done so at first.
"They're not so afraid of the big gun as they were," observed Jack, as
he hurried along with his chum.
"No. Though it's just as well to be a bit cautious, I think. The people
of Paris are beginning to lose fear because they see that the German
shells don't do as much damage as might be expected."
"You're right there, Tom," said Jack. "The shells are rather small, to
judge by the damage they do. I wonder why that is?"
"Probably their gun, or guns, can't fire any larger ones such a long
distance, or else their airships can't carry 'em up above the clouds to
drop on the city."
"Then you still hold to the airship theory?"
"Well, Jack, I haven't altogether given it up. I'm open to conviction,
as it were. Of course I know, in theory, a gun can be made that will
shoot a hundred miles, if necessary, but the cost of it, the cost of the
charge and the work of loading it, as well as the enormous task of
making a carriage or an emplacement to withstand the terrific recoil,
makes such a gun a military white elephant. In other words it isn't
worth the trouble it would take--the amount of damage inflicted on the
enemy wouldn't make it worth while."
"I guess you're right, Tom. And yet such a gun would make a big scare."
"Yes, and that's what the Germans are depending on, more than anything
else."
"But still don't you think the French will have to do something toward
silencing the gun?"
"Indeed I do! And I haven't a doubt but the French command is working
night and day to devise some plan whereby the gun can be silenced."
"There go the aviators now, out to try to find the big cannon,"
observed Jack, as he gazed aloft.
Soaring over Paris, having hastened to take the air when the signal was
given, were a number of planes, their red, white and blue lights showing
dimly against the black sky. They were off to try to place the big gun,
if such it was, or discover whether or not some Hun plane was hovering
over the city, dropping the bombs.
As Jack and Tom hastened on, in the wake of the crowd, which was
hurrying toward the place where the latest shells had fallen, again came
a distant explosion, showing that the gun had been fired again.
"Fifteen-minute interval," announced Tom, looking at his watch. "They're
keeping strictly to schedule."
"Night firing is new for the big gun," said Jack. "I do hope they'll be
able to locate the cannon by the flashes."
"It isn't going to be easy," asserted Tom.
"Why not?"
"Because you can make up your mind if the Germans were afraid to fire
the piece at night at first for fear of being discovered, and if now
they are firing after dark, they have some means of camouflaging the
flash. In other words they have it hidden in some way."
"Well, I suppose you're right. But say, Tom, old man! what wouldn't I
give to be able to be up in the air with those boys now?" and Jack
motioned to the scouts who were flitting around in the dark clouds,
seeking for that which menaced the chief city of the French nation.
"I'd like to be there myself," said Tom. "And if this keeps up much
longer I'm going to ask permission for us to go up and see what we can
do."
"Think they'll let us?"
"Well, they can't any more than turn us down. And we've got to get at it
in a hurry, too, or we'll have to report back at our regular station. We
aren't doing anything here, except sit around."
"No, we must get busy, that's a fact," said Jack. "It's about time we
downed some Hun scout, or broke up one of their 'circus' attacks. I've
almost forgotten how a joy stick feels."
A "joy stick" is a contrivance on an aeroplane by the manipulation of
which the plane is held on a level keel. If the joy stick control is
released, either by accident (say when the pilot is wounded in a fight),
or purposely, the plane at once begins to climb, caking its passenger
out of danger.
Once the joy stick is released it gradually comes back toward the
pilot. The machine climbs until the angle formed is too great for it to
continue, or for the motor to pull it. Then it may stop for an instant
when the motor, being heavier, pulls the plane over and there begins the
terrible "nose spinning dive," from which there is no escape unless the
pilot gets control of his machine again, or manages to reach the joy
stick.
"Well, we'll have to get in the game again soon," said Tom. "But what do
you say to taking a taxi? This explosion is farther than I thought."
Jack agreed, and they were soon at the place where the last German shell
had fallen--that is as near as the police would permit.
A house had been struck, and several persons, two of them children,
killed. But, as before, the military damage done was nothing. The
Germans might be spreading their gospel of fear, but they were not
advancing their army that way.
As Tom and Jack stood near the place where a hole had been blown through
the house, another explosion, farther off, was heard, and there was a
momentary flare in the sky that told of the arrival of another shell.
For a few seconds there was something like a panic, and then a voice
struck up the "Marseillaise," and the crowd joined in. It was their
defiance to the savage Hun.
A few shots were fired by the Germans, but none of them did much damage,
and then, as though operating on a schedule which must not, under any
circumstances, be changed, the firing ceased, and the crowds once more
filled the streets, for it was yet early in the night.
The next morning the boys went to report, as they did each day,
expecting that they might be called back to duty. They also found, after
being told that their leave was still in effect, that some of the
aviators who had gone up the night before, to try to locate the German
gun, were on hand.
"Now we can ask them what they saw," suggested Jack.
"That's what we will," assented Tom.
But the airmen had nothing to report. They had ascended high in search
of a hostile craft carrying a big gun, but had seen none.
They had journeyed far over the German lines, hoping to discover the
emplacement of the gun, if a long range cannon was being used. But they
saw nothing.
"Not even flashes of fire?" asked Tom.
"Oh, yes, we saw those," an aviator said. "But there were so many of
them, and in so many and such widely scattered places, that we could
not tell which one to bomb. We did manage to hit some, though with what
effect we could not tell."
"Then the German gun is still a mystery," observed Tom.
"It is. But we shall discover it soon. We will never rest until we do!"
So more and new and different theories continued to be put forth
regarding the big cannon, if such it was. Ordnance experts wrote
articles, alike in London, Paris, and New York, explaining that it was
possible for a cannon to be within the German lines and still send a
shell into the French capital. But few believed that it was feasible.
The general opinion was that the gun was of comparative short range, and
was hidden much nearer Paris than the sixty or seventy-odd miles away,
beyond which stretched the German line of trenches.
Meanwhile Tom, though making careful inquiries, had learned nothing of
his father. He did not feel it would be wise to cable back home, and ask
what the news was there.
"It might spoil dad's plans if I did that," said Tom to his chum, "and
it would worry the folks in Bridgeton to know that I haven't yet seen
him in France. No, I'll just have to wait."
And wait Tom did, though there is no harder task in all the world.
It was one morning, after a night bombardment on the part of the
Germans, that Jack, who had been out for a morning paper, came rushing
into the room where Tom was just awakening.
"Great news, old man! Great!" cried Jack, waving the paper about his
head.
"You mean about a victory?" asked Tom.
"No, not exactly, though it may lead to that. And it isn't any news
about your father, I'm sorry to say. It's about the German gun. A 'dud'
fell last night."
"A 'dud'?" repeated Tom, hardly sensing what Jack said.
"Yes, you know! A shell that didn't explode. Now they have a whole one
to examine, and they can find out what sort of gun shot it. This paper
tells all about it. Come on! Let's go for a look at the 'dud'!"