SAFELY LANDED
The destroyers were coming under forced draft, those aboard having
received a wireless message and also heard the sound of distant firing.
The satisfaction of the commanders was great when they heard that
another submarine had been beaten at its own game, and would lie in
wait for passenger and munition-laden steamers no more.
Besides, by rights, the destroyers should have met the vessel early in
the morning, since the day was the most dangerous time. An accident had
delayed their coming; but since everything had ended well no one felt
like complaining.
Cheers arose from the fighting crews of the convoying boats when the
news was told. As their chief business nowadays was hunting the elusive
German submarine the men rejoiced at hearing that another undersea
pirate had been put to rest.
Soon the night descended on the sea. The ship was heading directly
for port, and was going at full speed. During most of the night this
would continue, the liner being kept in almost absolute darkness as an
additional precaution. On either side, at some little distance away,
ranged a protecting destroyer; and every time the passengers looked in
the direction of these slender, and speedy little gray vessels, they
seemed to breathe more easily.
There was little sleeping done that night aboard the steamer. The
exciting time through which the passengers had so recently passed had
its effect on their nerves. Then again anxiety played its part, for the
daring marauders of the seas had been known to follow a steamer almost
into port before making an attack.
But there was no alarm, and toward dawn the two chums, both of whom had
managed to secure some sleep at odd times, knew from the commotion that
they were entering port.
They turned over, as did many others aboard the liner, with sighs of
relief, and went to sleep again, satisfied for the first time in three
days that they could find rest without the chance of being aroused by
the crash of a torpedo as it struck home.
Finally the air service boys found themselves ashore in England and
waiting for a train that would carry them to London.
As neither of them had ever been out of the United States before it was
only natural that they should feel an interest in everything around
them. The England of to-day, from one end of the country to the other,
is like an armed camp.
The boys were thrilled to see men in uniform and sailors from the
fighting ships everywhere they looked. For the first time they began
to feel that they were now getting near the front. Everything seemed
to bespeak action. Artillery moved through the streets; while great
tractors that were armed and looked like moving monsters, crawled along
the roads, heading for the docks, to be shipped to some field.
The boys saw everything with the deepest interest. Their enthusiasm
instead of flagging grew more and more intense.
“All this makes me crazy to be over in France and finishing my
education as an aviator,” Jack cried, as they saw some crates being
placed aboard a vessel; crates which they could see contained parts of
airplanes.
“Given three more days, and our wish will have been granted,” Tom told
him.
“We ought to be in London before noon to-day,” continued Jack.
“And if all goes well we’ll be on our way by to-morrow night,” Tom
added quickly. “We ought to spend just one night and a whole day in
London, you know.”
“I’ve always wanted to roam around the big city,” Jack sighed, “but
this is no time for sight-seeing, they say. London looks like a
besieged city, and strangers have a pretty hard time getting around,
being watched, and challenged wherever they go, especially if they look
anything like Germans.”
“I wonder how our friends Adolph Tuessig and Carl Potzfeldt will be
able to move around London?” ventured Tom, as if a little amused at the
thought.
“We don’t know for certain whether Adolph was aboard our boat, do we?”
Jack suggested.
“Well, we saw a man all muffled up come ashore, and take a taxi as soon
as he could pass the customs officers. And somehow he seemed to strike
me as just about as tall as Tuessig.”
“I’m glad I had a chance to wave good-bye to Bessie Gleason. I wonder
if we’ll ever meet her again?”
“You never can tell. Queer things sometimes happen in this world.
Neighbors who lived side by side for years in New York City and never
even spoke to each other, have met face to face on the top of the
pyramids. Yes, and almost hugged each other, they were so tickled to
see somebody from home.”
“Anyway, she told me how a letter to her would be apt to reach her
sooner or later,” Jack said, with a grin. “I like that little girl.
She’s a smart one! But I’m afraid she’s bound to have a hard time of it
with that scowling guardian.”
In due time the two chums reached London. They had been posted as to
what they should do and had already engaged a room at a good small
hotel.
London is in some ways pretty much the same to-day as in years past.
There is the noise of the streets, and the great crowds to be met with
everywhere. Of course the one remarkable change lies in the multitude
of uniforms and the constant sight of wounded soldiers who have been
sent over from the Continent to recover from their injuries.
All that afternoon the two young Americans went about to see what they
could of the vast human bee-hive, of which they had heard so much. Jack
in particular seemed never satisfied; the more he saw the greater his
appetite for further experiences, and their time was fully occupied in
this way up to twilight.
When they returned to their hotel, hungry and tired after a most
energetic day, intending to dress before going to the restaurant for
dinner, a sudden fresh feeling of alarm took possession of Jack.
“Oh! I wonder if they have everybody on a war ration in London!” he
exclaimed. “It must be terrible to feel as empty as I do now, and then
find you’re limited to a couple of thin slices of war bread, without
butter, a cup of weak tea, and some stewed prunes--I just hate prunes,
you remember, Tom!”
Tom only laughed at him.
“Humbug, Jack! You’ll find that even over in Berlin, where the pinch
is a heap stronger than in London, the man who has the price can get
plenty of food. We’re going to have some mutton chops for dinner, and
plenty of other good things in the bargain. As for a drink, I prefer
coffee, even at a shilling a cup.”
It turned out exactly as Tom had said. They went to a restaurant where
foreigners still congregated, and were able to order a plentiful and
satisfying meal; though certain articles usually on the bill of fare
seemed to be tabooed on that particular day, and prices were certainly
very high.
Jack, his fears set at rest, was soon feeling much better, both in
body and mind, so that he was able to sit and look around at the other
guests with some degree of curiosity.
“Wouldn’t it be strange now,” he remarked between bites, “if Carl
Potzfeldt and pretty Bessie Gleason should drop in here while we were
eating?”
“I hardly think that is likely to happen,” Tom replied. “Still, I can’t
seem to get it out of my mind that that man at the corner table, who
keeps his face hidden behind his newspaper has a familiar look. Adolph
Tuessig is, we believe, in London, and he has to eat just the same as
we do.”
“Suppose we hurry along then with our meal, Tom, and when that fellow
starts to pass out we can manage in some way to jostle him, so as to
get a look at his face. Of course we couldn’t have him arrested, or
anything like that; but I’d like to know from curiosity if nothing
else, whether he was aboard our steamer.”
“Agreed,” Tom replied, hurrying his eating, while he kept one eye on
the table in the corner where the man under suspicion sat, his face
concealed behind a copy of an evening paper.
“I wonder whether we’ll keep on running across that Tuessig when we get
over there in France,” continued Jack, as though the idea disturbed him
somewhat.
“Nothing would please me better,” his chum told him between his set
teeth. “Because in that event I might have a chance, sooner or later,
of examining his pockets, and finding out if he is still carrying that
stolen paper around with him.”
“You seem to believe he didn’t turn it in to the German Embassy at
Washington, from the way you talk.”
“I imagine he counts it only a bite,” Tom continued, reflectively; “and
feels that they would blame him for not securing the entire design
while about it. So he keeps the paper on his person, and continues to
hope he may yet be able to find the rest--perhaps by robbing me. There
may be another way of looking at it though.”
“How?” asked Jack, still munching away.
“Adolph Tuessig may have his orders direct from the Wilhelmstrasse
headquarters in Berlin. Perhaps he’s on his way there now to make his
report, and deliver over his finding. If that happens to be the case
I hope he never arrives there--that either the British or the French
discover his double character, and arrest him.”
“What do you suppose they’d do with him, Tom?”
“If the proof of his being a spy could be found he’d be executed
without any doubt. That’s the way they do things over here these days,
Jack.”
“There, he’s lifted up his check to look at it, Tom, still keeping
his face turned partly away. I believe he’s preparing to slip out by
passing among those tables on the further side of the restaurant. Shall
we try to waylay him, and get a look at his face?”
Tom picked up their own check quickly.
“There he goes, now, and if you follow me I’ll fix it so we can rub
up against him near the exit. We can’t do anything to bring about his
arrest but it’ll be a little satisfaction to let the slippery rascal
understand we’re up to his game.”
They hurried around, keeping the retreating man under observation. The
latter reached the cashier’s desk and stood there a brief time paying
his account. Then he made for the exit. Tom threw down more than enough
change to pay for their meal, after which, with Jack at his heels, he
kept after the object of their pursuit.
Just as the door was reached, held open by an employee of the
restaurant, the two young fellows passed one on either side of the man
who kept his face so well hidden. First Tom jostled his elbow, causing
the subject to glance hastily that way, to receive a muttered apology.
Then Jack did just the same on the other side.
The man hurried outside where he immediately lost himself in the
crowd; but he acted as though considerably annoyed by the encounter.
Tom and his chum made no attempt at following him. They had attained
their object, which satisfied them both.
“It was the slippery scamp, all right!” chuckled Jack.
“Yes, no other than Adolph Tuessig,” added the second young aviator. “I
saw his face plainly, and although he’s changed his looks more or less,
so as to appear like a Swiss citizen perhaps, I easily recognized him.
And if anything else were needed to settle the matter, he had a decided
_limp_ as he hurried off.”
“Which I suppose you lay to the teeth of that splendid bulldog of
yours, eh, Tom?” laughingly added the other.
As both of the air service boys were exceedingly tired, and there did
not seem to be much worth looking at going on in London, once night
had settled down over the great English metropolis, they returned to
their hotel. Here they sat around for a while and then sought their
room, bent on securing a good night’s rest, the first they had had an
opportunity to enjoy since entering the danger zone.
Once again it chanced that they counted without their host. They forgot
they were under a London roof, instead of in peaceful Bridgeton, more
than three thousand miles away across the broad Atlantic. They also
neglected to take into consideration the important fact that London
was not so far distant from German shores, from which flocks of great
airships were accustomed to setting sail at certain periods, for a raid
over England.
It was just at midnight when both boys were aroused by a tremendous
clatter outside. They heard the discharge of guns, and loud shouts, and
bouncing out of bed rushed to the window to see what was happening,
while the noise increased with each passing second!