*CHAPTER XV*
*DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND*
While the events recorded in the last few chapters were taking place, aseries of adventures not less exciting and perilous had befallen the twoairmen, Keane and Sharpe, in their endeavours to track that ingeniousconspirator, Professor Rudolf Weissmann, in his secret retreat withinthe dark recesses of the Schwarzwald.
After their midnight consultation with Colonel Tempest at Scotland Yard,their instructions were to proceed early next day, by whatever aircraftwas then available, to Germany, and once there to adopt some suitabledisguise, and institute forthwith a most rigorous search for the secretaerodrome. They were to leave no stone unturned in their efforts totrack down this great German irreconcilable, who had dared to hold apistol at the civilized world, and to bring back, if possible, sometangible clue concerning his two great discoveries.
"Time is short," the colonel said. "Immediate action on our part isvital. Spare no expense in the venture, and if necessary you must evenproceed to extreme measures to capture this daring outlaw and hisaccomplices."
"And what about this phantom aeroplane?" asked Keane. "Apparently ithas already left the Schwarzwald on its piratical expedition."
"It may return, and you must watch for it. Some of those scatteredinhabitants of the Black Forest are sure to have seen or heard somethingof it. Its trial trips must have been carried out somewhere in thevicinity."
"They are a simple and primitive type of people who still inhabit thoseforest wastes; wood cutters, lumbermen, makers of little wooden clocksand musical boxes, most of them, I believe," added Sharpe, who had oftentraversed those regions as a British spy during the Great War.
"Then they should be easier to handle," added the commissioner of aerialpolice, who had a ready method of brushing away apparent difficulties."I am compelled to rely almost entirely upon your efforts. Take yourpocket-wireless telephones with you and a sufficient quantity of Germangold and silver, and start directly you have had a few hours' rest."
"We will get away immediately after breakfast, sir," replied Keane, whohad already made up his mind as to how he should proceed in the matter,for he had fixed up his jumping-off ground for the Schwarzwald, and alsothe type of disguise he intended to adopt.
"Good-bye, both of you, and may good fortune attend you!" said thecolonel.
"Good-bye, sir."
Big Ben was striking three o'clock as they left Scotland Yard and madefor their quarters, which were in that part of London known as TheAdelphi, a quaint, old-fashioned ensemble of buildings of the Georgianperiod, overlooking the Thames, not far from the Watergate. A fewminutes later they bade each other good-night, and turned in for a fewhours' sleep before their long flight across England and France.
At seven o'clock they were breakfasting together in a private roomoverlooking the river, and discussing the details of their comingadventure.
"The Schwarzwald!" Sharpe was saying, as he helped himself to anotheregg and a rasher of ham. "Where do you think, now, we had better startfrom, Captain Keane?"
"Mulhausen," replied the other promptly, for with Keane the initialprocedure was already cut and dried.
"Mulhausen? Capital! I was thinking of Strasburg, but your idea isbetter still. Is there a good aerodrome there where we can land?"
"Yes, on the banks of the little river Ill, which runs into the Rhine alittle lower down. And once across the Rhine we are already in the BlackForest, though we shall still have a long tramp to the place which Isuspect," added Keane, pouring out another cup of coffee.
"Oh, yes, I remember the place; the aerodrome is near the junction ofthe Rhine-Rhone Canal," replied his companion.
"You've got it, exactly. Now we must get away; it must already be seveno'clock, and a fine morning to boot. What says the weather report aboutthe Channel crossing?"
"Here it is," exclaimed Sharpe, passing a copy of the _Times_ across tohis friend, who turned over the pages and read as follows:--
"Flying prospects for to-day:--South-east England and Continent,including the Channel crossing, favourable for flying for all types ofmachines till mid-day, after that conditions will deteriorate, squallsand heavy rains will predominate, visibility will be poor, andconditions will become unsuitable for cross-country flying."
"Good! Then we must get away at once," observed Sharpe, and withinanother five minutes they were being hurled along towards Hounslow, theaerodrome from which this new adventure was to begin.
Forty-five minutes later a couple of S.E.9s, the fastest machines in theservice, rose from the flying ground and steered a courseeast-south-east for the Straits of Dover. Thirty-five minutes later,the necessary signals having been accepted by the Dover patrols, withthrottles wide open, the two daring young aviators rushed the Channel atone hundred and fifty miles an hour.
The French patrols having been informed by Dover, permitted them to passunchallenged. And now changing course till they steered almost duesouth-east, they sped onwards, catching now and again a glimpse of theold battle-front of the days of 1914-1918, where the shell-markedcraters of the Hindenberg line were still visible from the air.
Then they followed the railway line from Laon to Rheims, left theancient town of Nancy to their left, and, crossing the Vosges Mountainsand forests a little to the north of Belfort, they dropped down quietlyto the landing ground outside Mulhausen in Alsace, as the clock in theMarket Square struck the hour of noon.
Having left their machines and flying gear in charge of the commandant,they entered the town, purchased a portable camp outfit, and, dressed astourists of the pedestrian and naturalist type, continued their journey,crossed the Rhine and entered the Schwarzwald, ostensibly to study thefauna and flora of the Black Forest.
"Phew! I'm tired of this load. Let us camp here for the night, by thislittle clearing, where these seldom trodden footpaths diverge," saidKeane, some hours later, as, weary and dusty with his three hours' trampthrough the bracken and the tousled undergrowth, he threw down his heavyknapsack and nets, and began to wipe the perspiration from his forehead.
Then they lit a small fire of dried twigs, cooked their evening meal,and lit their pipes.
After a quiet smoke, during which time they carefully re-examined asurvey map of the Schwarzwald, they began to talk in low whispers,whilst the sun descended amongst the pines on the western heights, overwhich they had dragged their weary feet.
"It is my opinion," whispered Keane, "that we are within five miles ofthat secret aerodrome."
His companion nodded, almost drowsily, although every faculty was keptconstantly alert.
"It is just possible that one of these paths leads to the very spot, butit will be necessary to explore them both. We must be extremelycareful, however, for this professor is sure to prove a wily opponent.I hope, however, some wood-cutter or peasant may pass this way soon, andthat we may learn something from him which will help us," continued thesenior airman.
"What if the wood-cutter should prove to be the professor himself?"asked Sharpe, with a humorous twinkle in his eyes.
"It is even possible," returned his companion.
"In that case it would be diamond cut diamond, Keane, eh?"
The other shrugged his shoulder at the very thought, and prayed thatsuch a contingency might not happen, at any rate until somethingtangible had first been discovered.
"In three hours it will be midnight," he said. "If no one passes thisway by then, I think we must carry out our search in the dark. Time ispressing; we must find something within another forty-eight hours, orpoor old Tempest will be at his wit's end, and calling us home again.He cannot leave us long on this trail."
"The greater the pity. A fortnight is not too long to follow a traillike this," said Sharpe.
"Yet you had to do things pretty smartly in those dark days of 1917 and1918, Sharpe."
"Yes, and there was some danger and excitement attached to it, whichsharpened one's wits."
/> "Never fear! There'll be both before we have finished this trek,"returned Keane.
"Hist! What was that?" said Sharpe in an undertone, as he caught thesound of broken twigs.
"Someone approaching," whispered his companion.
They listened acutely now, with every sense keenly alert. Again theyheard the sound, and it seemed to come from the western side of the openglade, where the last dull glow of the sunset still revealed the edge ofthe forest.
The camp fire had died down to a smoulder, but Keane instinctively heldhis ground sheet before the dying embers, lest their presence should bebetrayed. He was anxious to learn something of the nature of thisvisitor before he revealed himself.
"Bah! It is some creature of the forest," observed Sharpe, after amoment's hesitation. "A wild boar or a red-spotted deer, most likely."
He was right, for the next moment a series of grunts proceeded from thespot whence came the sounds, and, as though suddenly startled by theconsciousness of some human presence, the beast, a fine specimen of the_Sus Scrofa_, with fierce protruding tusks and long stiff bristles,broke cover, trotted swiftly across the glade, within thirty yards ofthe two watchers, and entered the forest on the other side.
"So much for that little incident," muttered Sharpe, as he released hisgrip of the Webley pistol, which his right hand had instinctivelygrasped, when the dark shadow broke from the margin of the trees.
Keane shook his head as though he disagreed with his companion, andremarked in a low voice, "The creature was evidently startled or itwould not have fled like that. Its scent is very keen, and as the windis blowing from the west, it suspected danger from that quarter."