CHAPTER XXI
WAR
“What was that, Dave?” asked Hiram Dobbs.
“War,” replied the young pilot of the _Comet_, and he used the word veryseriously, “we have taken the wrong course, but there’s no going backnow.”
The champion biplane was sailing over a broad, deep valley two hoursafter dusk. Everything was in brisk going trim. The days that hadelapsed since the rescued captive, Morris Deane, had been cared for bythe young airmen had passed pleasantly. They had crossed Russia, hadreported at Teheran, had seen some of the wonders of Arabia, and nowwere traversing Turkish territory.
The affairs of young Deane had been adjusted with supreme satisfactionfor our hero. It warmed his loyal heart to think that through theunselfish efforts of the crew of the _Comet_, the brother of Edna Deanewas now speeding safely and comfortably on his way to those who hadmourned him.
The trader friend of Adrianoffski had done everything in his power tomake sure the homeward journey of the fugitive. The young airman hadinsisted on paying him liberally for his cooperation. He had arranged sothat Morris Deane could be provided with money current in the differentcountries through which he must pass. The trader was to convey Deane outof Thibet concealed in a cart carrying merchandise. He was to beprovided with a disguise. Until he passed the Russian frontier and wasplaced upon a train bound for St. Petersburg, two trusty agents were toaccompany and protect him.
The boys felt happy over all this. They had lost little time and gainedsome experience in doing a humane act. Then the regular schedule ofprogress was resumed. Now, as noted, Hiram had put a startling question.The pilot of the _Comet_ had responded with an ominous assertion.
When Hiram had asked: “What was that?” a sudden glare in the distancefollowed by a harsh, detonating crash had caused his sudden query.
Our hero had explained that it was “War.” He intimated further that thiswas a possible menace to their expedition, in that they might notretrace the route they had come.
“I hoped to keep out of the Turkish trouble,” proceeded the youngairman; “but we must take the edge of it, I fear. You know we passedover a great military camp just before dusk.”
“Yes, and they sent a brisk volley after us,” reminded Hiram.
“Without calculating the way the _Comet_ can fly,” added Elmer, with achuckle.
“We had better keep at a pretty high level just the same,” observedDave. “I will be glad when we get out of these intricate mountainranges. Then we can see what is ahead of us and get our bearings.”
Just then another explosion sounded. It was mingled with a series ofminor reports, echoing from past the ridge of hills to the East.
“That sounded like a powder mill blowing up, followed by a lot of musketshots,” suggested Hiram.
“I have no doubt that it was a bomb,” replied Dave. “Fighting is goingon somewhere beyond us.”
For some time echoes of near explosions reached the airship boys. Thenthere was a lapse into silence. The contour of the country changed andthe hills lessened, and at length a level expanse spread out beforethem.
They could make out lights scattered all over the area. Here was asettlement, beyond it a town. Then in the distance they noticed what theyoung aviator decided to be a camp. Still farther beyond, flashes andbooms apprised him that some kind of a combat was going on.
“We had better get out of this,” remarked the young pilot.
“O-oh!” fairly shouted Hiram, in spellbound wonder.
Of a sudden, from the direction of the camp, there shot up a broad,dazzling beam of radiance. It moved steadily, broadened and began tosweep the western horizon. Slowly traversing the sky, the sharp raysfocused upon an object speeding through the air. A further sweep, and aduplicate for just an instant was framed by the piercing glow.
“A searchlight!” cried the startled Elmer.
“And two airships,” added Hiram. “Dave, what are we going to do?”
The young airman’s active brain was busy. He fancied he took in thesituation. They were passing over a camp. Ahead of them was a walledtown, now being attacked. The two airships to the west were probablybomb-carrying machines, stealing over the enemy to drop death-dealingprojectiles into the midst of their camp.
“Dave,” whispered Elmer, almost too excited to speak, “we have beenseen!”
This was true. A lateral sweep of the searchlight brought the _Comet_into clear view. The operator of the great eye of radiance focused thepiercing rays directly upon the _Comet_. Then, sweeping along, for aninstant only they showed an airship almost directly over the craft ofthe young aviators.
“Another one,” cried Hiram sharply—“ugh!”
He shivered. All hands felt a jar, an impact. They heard a distinctwhiz.
“Something was dropped!” pronounced Elmer, hoarsely. “There!”
Directly beneath them some descending object reached the ground. Therewere a thousand darting sparks of fire, then a tremendous boom.
“An airship from that camp,” said Dave, rapidly. “They took us for oneof the enemy! We must get out of range! Hold steady, fellows!”
The pilot of the _Comet_ knew that the moment had arrived for prompt,expert tactics. There might be as swift machines as his own among thewar craft in action, but he doubted if any of them was constructed totake the higher level the _Comet_ could attain. The machine made asuperb shoot on a sharp tangent. Its progress was so rapid that italmost took away the breath of the excited crew. Again the gropingsearchlight sought to reveal the situation aloft.
“Hurrah—safe! beat! They’re not even in the race,” crowed the jubilantElmer.
The sweeping glow showed the machine that had dropped a bomb towards asupposed rival fully a thousand feet below the _Comet_. Now its pilotput on full speed. Out of range of camp, town and the firing limit thesplendid biplane sailed.
Two days later, none the worse for their unique experience, the airshipboys arrived at Cairo. The _Comet_ seemed to be no particular novelty tothe crowd which greeted its arrival in the center of a great publicsquare. They greeted the machine and its crew, however, with cheers.Dave left the machine in charge of his assistants, who were kept busyanswering questions from the curious bystanders.
It was nearly an hour before Dave returned. He arrived seated on a wagoncontaining new fuel and food supplies for the _Comet_.
“Going to make any kind of a stop here, Dave?” inquired Hiram.
“Not a minute longer than it is necessary,” was the speedy reply. “Weare third in the race, fellows, and that means no delay.”
“Yes,” nodded Elmer excitedly, “a man in the crowd speaking English saidhe knew we were one of the machines in the international race, and thattwo others had reported here at Cairo and had left again.”
“That is true,” answered the young airman. “Number seven is three daysahead of us, number eleven, six hours. Help get things in order,fellows. We can’t afford to lose any time now.”
When the _Comet_ started up again the cheers and good wishes of thecrowd were renewed. Dave made a fifty-mile run, came down in a lonelyspot, and at once brought out the route charts.
“Look here, fellows,” he said, his finger tracing a course across themap; “there are three routes to choose from. From Morocco, the Azores,or Senegal; the Cape Verde Islands, St. Paul Island, and Cayenne. Thoseare the routes most talked about at the start. They are favored becausethey are the farthest north and the most direct. I have a better, aleast safer, idea.”
“I’ll warrant you have, Dave, if it’s to be found,” declared Hiram.
“What is it?” inquired Elmer.
“The objection to those routes,” explained the young airman, “is thatthe water stretches are of wide extent. What I dread most is the fear ofbeing caught away from land.”
“Is there a shorter route than those you speak of?” asked Hiram.
“Yes, there is,” asserted Dave.
&
nbsp; “What is it?”
“Egypt, the Sahara Desert, the French Congo, Ascension Island, St.Helena, Trinidad, Rio Janeiro, and we are on American soil.”
“Capital!” cried Hiram.
“I wouldn’t lose an hour, Dave,” advised Elmer, with real anxiety. “Eversince we found out that there are two of the crowd ahead of us, it seemsas if I’d be willing to sleep in the seat in the machine all the way toget ahead of them.”
It was a warm, clear day when the _Comet_ came to a rest at the city ofMayamlia, in French Congo. Looking back over the ten days consumed inmaking the run across Egypt, through Fezzan, the width of the greatdesert, over darkest Africa, and into the Soudan, the airship boys hadviewed a country never before thus inspected by an aerial explorer.
“Baked, boiled, and soaked,” was the way Hiram put it, good-naturedly,but very grimly.
“And sandstorms and deluges,” added Elmer, with a grimace.
The flight had certainly been a hardy but instructive one. More thanonce the adventurous young aviators had a thrilling experience amidstunfamiliar air conditions. Twice they had been discovered in temporarycamps by natives. The watchfulness and skill of their pilot had baffledefforts at capture.
“Just to think,” said Hiram, gazing longingly at the ocean—“just a bitof water to cover, and we are on home territory.”
“Yes,” smiled our hero, “it looks nice and easy on the map. Remember onething, though, fellows: here at Mayamlia we take in full supplies. Thefood and fuel will be easy as far as Helena or Trinidad. Between thosepoints and the final flight to Rio, though, the gasoline supply is whatwe must look out for.”
“We’re going to make it—I feel it in my bones!” crowed the optimisticHiram Dobbs.