De Lysle F. Cass

“ The shout of the lookout on Columbus’ ship when he first sighted the New World created no greater excitement than did Ned’s words among the boys on the Ocean Flyer. Each and every one of them rushed to the port windows with binoculars through which to scan the view more closely.
The scene was, however, most disappointing. As far as the eye could reach below stretched an expanse of sparsely-wooded uninviting plain, with white patches of snow still showing upon it. Far off to the southwest the peaks of a mighty range of rugged mountains loomed hazily. Not a bird flew in the sky ”

“ Tiny black figures could be seen crowding the decks and rigging of the distant liner.
The boys were a-quiver with excitement and hope until a sudden, unaccustomed quiet around them forced itself upon their notice.
“What is it?” queried Bob.
Ned answered him quietly:
“Boys, the engines have stopped running—we are about to fall!”
Each was ashamed to show the mortal fear that agitated him. White-faced they gripped hands in silent farewell.
“Hurry now,” Ned cried, in command to the very last, “run and get into pneumatic life-jackets and each one lash his hands to the handle of a parachute. ”

“ At that moment, as if in answer to his desperate cry, there came the ominous roar of a powerful motor, high up in the air, and there came the great airship, swooping down with its seventy-two feet of planes magnificently outspread, and Alan Hope standing out on the lower runway, swinging deadly bombs in his hand. ”

“ The sudden burst of power shot the big airship suddenly skyward on an angle of almost eighty degrees and with a suddenness which nearly threw both Ned and Alan off their feet. The huge propeller began to whirl with dizzying velocity, and the wind screeched and whined through the propellers like an animal in pain. ”

“ Alan shuddered and closed his eyes as he leaned against the Flyer’s taffrail.
“Awful!” he muttered huskily. “All of those poor souls—noncombatants at that—hurled into eternity without warning or provocation. Do you suppose that the vessel struck a submerged mine?”
“Either that or it was torpedoed,” answered Buck. “They say that the whole North Sea and English Channel swarms with German submarines for this sort of thing. But quick now, Alan; to work cutting us free of these dragging planes, or we ourselves will soon feel the water at our necks!” ”

“ With the huge wing-like planes expanded to the full, the Ocean Flyer coasted aslant the air-waves. The cloud belt encircling the globe was penetrated and passed through, leaving small drops of moisture glistening all over the glass of the portholes. The moon’s rays made the metal body of the vessel [77] glitter like so much silver. As they dropped lower and lower, the world became dimly visible, seeming to be literally rising to meet the descending aviators. At an altitude of three thousand feet, the downward planing was discontinued and level flight again maintained. ”

“ The huge propellers swished mightily round and round. The Ocean Flyer began to slip over the grass, with the frantic Germans giving ground reluctantly. Then the huge bulk gradually lifted itself from the earth and skimmed like a swallow heavenwards over the now dusky tree-tops. German bullets rattled like hail over the metal sides of the vessel.
Alan smiled grimly at Ned.
“They don’t realize that magnalium alloy is as good as armor plate,” he said. “Unless a stray bullet happens to snap some mechanical part of the tail propellers, they’re welcome to shoot as much as they want to now.” ”

“ The male villagers hastily caught up the first objects of defense that came to hand—flails, pitchforks, scythes, an old-fashioned muzzle-loading musket or two. They huddled together like so many frightened sheep in front of the town church, uncertain whether to fly or fight.
“Look!” called Buck. “We’re frightening these poor people to death. Show a white flag, some of you, and show them that we mean to be friendly.” ”

“ The boys did. It was heart-breaking work, but they arrived unwounded at the side of the Flyer. As they bounded up the hanging rope-ladder, their pursuers galloped madly up behind them. Shots rattled against the metal hull of the airship like hail against a window-pane, and half a dozen wild fellows tried to follow their escaping prey up the ladder before it could be drawn in.
It was a matter of seconds, but just in time the ladder was jerked out of the reach of clutching hands.
“All ready there, Mr. Engineer,” shouted Buck from up above the pilot room. ”

“ Never will I forget the ghastly horrors of that five-hour ride on that hospital train. The engine barely crawled along, bumping over rails which the Belgians had torn up in the early days of the war, and which had subsequently been re-laid by the Germans. Every railway coach was packed to suffocation with wounded, some of them so frightfully mangled as to appear scarcely human any longer. ”

“ Ned shook his head impatiently.
“No, I don’t believe they would do anything like that,” said he. “Two-thirds of these torture and massacre stories we read about are hysterical exaggerations, prompted either by their enemies or newspaper writers with a lively imagination. The Germans are a kindly, civilized people, just as the English or French, and certainly more so than the Russians. If they shoot Bob it will be because they honestly believe him to be a spy.” ”

“ They were off in a jiffy, amid a grating of gear-shifts and thunderous explosions of the opened exhaust. The motor began to whine as the gas was fed more and more rapidly; the white glare of Broadway slipped past the cab windows in a dull blur. Traffic policemen’s whistles were merely unheeded incidentals of the mad race.
Peering back through the little window in the rear of the machine, Ned saw at least two other automobiles join in the pursuit from the front of the theatre. The big limousine was one of them. ”

“ Away off to the west the dull rumble and muttering of heavy cannonading vibrated through the air. That was the battle of Cracow in progress, although the boys did not know it then.
Death and devastation was everywhere. Smouldering villages with unburied bodies among the embers lay in the track of each army, whether Serb, Russian or Austrian.
“Przemysl is directly ahead!” called Ned down through the speaking tube, and the Ocean Flyer began to plane slowly towards it. ”

“ There Ned brought the big airship to earth as lightly as a bird, and the three boys jumped out to enjoy their first touch of Mother Earth since leaving New York nearly a day before. The air was mild and odoriferous with the smell of the forest and all took huge breaths of it gratefully. Buck pranced about like a colt let loose in pasture, and he and Alan ran short [91] races up and down the glade to stretch their cramped muscles.
“Now, boys,” called Ned, “it is time that we held a serious council of war to decide just how we are going to manage Bob’s escape. ”

“ All that was visible through the heavily glassed portholes was a dull, grayish void. The terrific rate of speed at which they were traveling was not at all apparent.
The young aeronauts were kept too busy managing the ship to have spent much time star-gazing if there had been something of outside interest. Ned and Alan took turns in steering the course and taking hourly observations upon one or another of the exceedingly delicate instruments at their command. Buck stood to the engines in the hold, being relieved by one of the other boys when it came his turn to sleep or prepare meals. ”

“ Are you all ready there, Mr. Engineer?”
“Whenever you say the word,” answered Bob up through the tube.
“Then start your engines! We’ll be a mile up in the sky before they can break in those heavy doors.”
So saying, Ned jammed down hard on his starting lever, the whir of the big turbines swelled forth. But not a tremor shook the Ocean Flyer. It did not budge an inch.
Someone had been tampering with the pilot room apparatus.
With a groan of desperation, Ned bent over the complexity of gears. ”

“ Ned, Alan and Major Honeywell made a careful investigation of every detail of the Ocean Flyer, satisfying themselves that it was in all respects perfect for their hazardous trip. They found everything to be absolutely shipshape, and those additional supplies which had arrived, were already being stowed away on board.
“Well,” said Alan, “everything seems to be attended to properly, and there is no reason why we can’t start any time we like. The sooner the better, because there’s no telling what they may be going to do to Bob over there in Belgium any one of these days.” ”

“ Ned cut short further discussion.
“To work! To work, you fellows!” he cried. “Remember that every instant wasted in chatter carries us so much the nearer to earth where there’s no telling what may await us.”
So thereupon all of the boys set to work with a will. In their excitement they forgot the freezing cold and their own discomfort. While Ned kept the Flyer in its course, Bob and Alan and Buck were working loose the screws which held the heavy metal top plates in place and hammering and prying with the razor-edged chisels. ”

“ They say that the Cossack horsemen have perpetrated the most inhuman atrocities. No village through which they pass is left unpillaged. They butcher or torture the aged in cold-blood, dash out the brains of babies against tree-trunks, and reduce the screaming, helpless women to worse than shame. If they resist, the Cossacks mutilate them in awful fashion.”
“Oh, I can hardly believe all that,” interposed Alan. “The Russians are civilized people.” ”

“ Wrinkles of deep thought lined the great newspaper man’s forehead as he listened attentively to the brief outline of the Airship Boys’ plan. He would have met such statements from any other boys not yet twenty-one years old with absolute ridicule, but he knew that, despite their youth, Ned Napier and Alan Hope were fully capable of carrying out their scheme.
[24]
“One thing more, though, boys,” said he, after a short period of silence. “Just how are you going to get Mr. Russell out of prison after you arrive in Muhlbruck? You won’t be able to overpower a whole German garrison, you know. ”

“ We know that you intend a trip in your flying ship to the war zone. Take our advice and do not attempt it. You are being closely watched and we will not hold ourselves responsible for what may happen if you try to carry out your plan. You are young and life is dear to you. Beware!”
The telephone clicked abruptly at the other end of the line and the threatening voice was still. Ned sat as if petrified, his face a study of mingled amazement, indecision and indignation.
“What’s the matter, Ned? Who was it? Was it that same person who called up about the Flyer?” ”

“ So the trio made their way to where the huge airship stood ready. They swung up the ladder into the main port. Ned took his position in the pilot room; Buck in the engine room. Alan made a hasty survey of the vessel, poking around here and there with a powerful hand-searchlight to see that all was as it should be. Their hearts beat high with excitement, which likewise agitated the little group of factory mechanics who had gathered to see them off. Just as Ned was about to signal Bob for their start, there came a tremendous battering upon the great barred doors of the factory. ”

“ Just then the firing squad reached their appointed position and wheeled machine-like about. They saw in a flash their prisoner about to escape.
“Donnerwetter!” roared the corporal, brandishing his sword. “Fire, men! Shoot them down!”
The roar of a dozen German muskets crashed out just as the boys turned the corner of the wall. The bullets shattered the masonry in a cloud of flying debris. Buck shoved two big revolvers into Bob’s hands as they dashed behind the wall. ”

“ THE MOST TERRIBLE ACCIDENT OF ALL
“What in goodness’ name is the matter down there? Where did that shell strike us?” shouted Ned, anxiously, through the speaking tube, while both Alan and Bob tumbled downstairs in answer to Buck’s frantic appeal from the engine room.
“Put on every ounce of pressure you can,” they signalled up to the boy in the pilot room presently. He did so, and for a bit the Flyer showed a spurt of her old speed, leaving the Zeppelin a dwindling speck in the distance. ”

“ No wonder that both Ned and Alan turned pale and looked at each other in a dazed, stupefied sort of way. Bob Russell was one of their oldest and dearest comrades, a lad only slightly older than themselves, who had gone through innumerable adventures with them. He had so often accompanied them in sensational exploits, that his name was often linked with theirs: The “Airship Boys.” He had accompanied them on the famous twelve-hour flight of the Ocean Flyer from London to New York ”

“ The Ocean Flyer now had, however, a clear field in front of her and the situation resolved itself into a race to get out of range. Here was where the tremendous motive power of the airship stood her in good stead. No Zeppelin could maintain such a terrific speed as Ned set.
The guns of the Zeppelins roared almost continuously, but a moving target is hard to hit. Most of the deadly shells either fell short or went wide of their mark. One by one the huge “bologna sausages” began to drop behind and abandon the pursuit. ”

“ The voice at the other end of the tube was hoarse with desperation:
“Wake up the other boys! Quick, Alan! This is the end! The sulphuric ether and gasoline won’t mix properly in the engines any longer. Two of the magnalium cylinders are damaged beyond all hopes of repair and I can’t get any concussion in the explosion chambers. The ammonia fans are gradually slowing down and the turbines are getting red hot. Within ten minutes more the engines will stop altogether and we will drop into the sea like so much lead. This is the last of the Ocean Flyer.” ”