The Dreadnought of the Air

  CHAPTER XIX.

  INVESTIGATING THE WRECK.

  ALREADY, owing to the introduction of additional ultra-hydrogen, theearthward descent of the "Meteor" had been arrested. The damage doneby the broadside from the ill-fated "Libertad" was serious enough. Alarge quantity of gas which could be ill spared had been lost, nineballonettes having been pierced. Most damage had been done to No. 4section, the officers' cabins being reduced to a state of chaos.Fortunately there were only four of the crew stationed in that partof the ship, and with one exception they had come off unscathed. Theexception was Williamson, the quartermaster of Dacres' watch, who hadreceived a deep flesh wound in the left shoulder.

  To the south of the wood upon which the airship had fallen was anexpanse of fairly level ground, barely sufficient to accommodate thewhole length of the "Meteor." In her disabled condition her Captainwould not risk bringing her down in one piece. The only alternativewas to separate her between Nos. 2 and 3 sections, since Nos. 3 and 5were necessary to support the riddled No. 4.

  With considerable misgivings the order was given to release thecam-action bolts. The foremost part of the "Meteor" being practicallyintact, gave no trouble; but before the remainder of the ship couldbe brought to the ground even more ultra-hydrogen had to be made useof.

  When, at length, the two portions were safely anchored fore and aftall hands set to work to make good the damage. Every ballonette thatstill contained gas was emptied, the ultra-hydrogen being forced intospare emergency cylinders. By the time this task was accomplished inthe short tropical twilight, the work had to be abandoned till thenext day.

  Had the Valderian capital been informed of this double calamity, thecapture of the "Meteor" and her crew could have been easilyundertaken by a comparatively small body of troops, for the Britishairship was quite as incapable of motion as was her totally wreckedrival.

  "What caused the 'Libertad' to turn turtle?" asked Setchell duringdinner. "We didn't fire a shot at her during the last part of thechase."

  "I think it can be explained," replied Whittinghame. "Those fellowshad too much top-hamper. They carried six quick-firers on the upperor promenade deck. Added to that there were several of the crew armedwith rifles. The broadside did more harm to them than it did to us,although, goodness knows, we've been badly knocked about. The recoilof the broadside was the finishing touch, so to speak. She wasalready bordering on a state of unstable equilibrium, and over shewent."

  "Will our repairs take long?" asked Dacres.

  "I think not. The material of which the ballonettes is made is veryamenable to treatment. We shall have to force air into each of theballonettes to find out which are gas-tight and which are not. Thosewhich require only slight repairs we will patch. The others must waituntil we return to our base. Fortunately there was an ample reserveof buoyancy."

  "And the reserve of ultra-hydrogen?" asked Dr. Hambrough.

  "That is a more serious question, doctor. We have enough and barelyenough to impart sufficient lifting power to the 'Meteor.' Perhaps Imust sacrifice No. 4 section. It contains our cabins, gentlemen, butjudging by the state they are in I do not think you will be put togreater inconvenience than the present condition promises. However,we shall be in a position to decide that point tomorrow. One thing ispretty certain: had the gas been of an explosive nature not one of uswould be here to tell the tale."

  "And the wireless room?" asked Setchell.

  "Still intact, so you will be able to communicate with your relationsand friends in England and let them know that you are still in theland of the living," replied the Captain. "Now, gentlemen," hecontinued, "I suggest that those who are not on duty should retire.Mr. Setchell will be in charge of the armed patrol until midnight,and then, doctor, you will kindly change the guard and relieve Mr.Setchell. To-morrow, I promise you, will be a strenuous day for allhands."

  The night passed without interruption. With the first sign of dawnthe officers were out and about. At his chief's request Dacresaccompanied him to the wreck of the luckless "Libertad," four of thecrew armed with rifles going with them in case of danger from eitherman or beast.

  In a few minutes the debris was sighted. Owing to the velocity of the"Libertad's" descent many of the young pine-trees had either snappedoff or bent, and thus the fore part of the airship was resting on theground.

  The motors from the forward compartment were lying nearly a hundredyards from the rest of the wreckage. Aluminium plates, twisted andripped out of almost all recognition, fractured girders, pieces ofoiled silk from the interior of the ballonettes, and a miscellaneousassortment of other material gave silent evidence of the completenessof the disaster.

  The after-part, having subsided more slowly, since the "Libertad"struck the ground obliquely, was in a more recognisable condition,except that the motors had broken from the bearings.

  "Pretty mess!" ejaculated Whittinghame.

  "There seems little chance of recovering the plans," remarked Dacres."After all, it won't matter so very much if we don't. They aredoubtless lost in that heap of wreckage."

  "It would be more satisfactory to know definitely," addedWhittinghame. "Do you fancy a climb? If so, we'll investigate theafter-sections of the wreck."

  Dacres willingly assented, and soon both men were climbing along thetwisted framework, cautiously testing each piece of metal ere theytrusted their weight to it.

  The Captain of the "Meteor" laughed at their careful precautions.

  "It's a strange thing," he remarked, "how seriously we, who are usedto altitudes running into thousands of feet, regard a possible fallof twenty or thirty."

  "Yet there is a good reason," added his companion. "Were we to fallout of the 'Meteor' and drop a few thousand feet through space theconsequences would be a matter of complete indifference to us. On theother hand, we might slip off this girder on to the ground and livefor years afterward, no doubt, crippled for life. I've known a bluejacket go aloft in a strong wind to clear the pennant--a man's lifeat stake for the sake of a few yards of bunting--and to do it withoutturning a hair. Ashore that same man would think twice beforealighting on a greasy road from a tramcar in motion."

  Beyond a state of disorder caused by movable articles being thrownout of place by the concussion the cabins were practically intact.Rapidly Whittinghame made his way from one to the other until hereached one that had the appearance of belonging to the "Libertad's"Captain.

  In one corner was a pedestal desk, its top "stove-in" by coming intocontact with the bulkhead. Charts, maps, and documents littered thefloor, in company with a clock, barometer, articles of clothing andbooks. From a peg hung a light coat, its pocket bulging considerably.

  "We'll put etiquette on one side," said Whittinghame, "and see whatis in this gentleman's pockets."

  There was a revolver with about fifty loose cartridges in one pocket.Jerking open the weapon Whittinghame broke it across his knee andthrew the pieces into the tree-tops. In the corresponding pocket wasa leather case stuffed with papers. Amongst them was the counterfoilof a steamship ticket from Southampton to Pernambuco, a Brazilianrailway time-table and almost a dozen envelopes bearing the stamps offour different European countries besides those of Valderia.

  Without examining their contents Whittinghame thrust the envelopesinto his pocket and resumed his search. In the breast-pocket of thecoat were two South American newspapers dated the day previous and,what was especially useful, a large scale plan of the city ofNaocuanha.

  "This is Durango's cabin," he observed.

  "Without a doubt," assented Dacres; "but we've had no luck with theplans."

  "He may have stowed them away in one of these drawers. There's noimmediate hurry. We'll have a look round the rest of the wreck, andremove the contents of the desk later on."

  Although the impact had been violent several of the ballonettes stillretained gas. Whittinghame was about to release their contents whenDacres interposed.

  "Better be careful," he said. "There must be still a considerableamount of b
uoyancy in that end of the ship, since she's supportedonly by a few slender trees. If we release the ultra-hydrogen we maybe involved in a supplementary disaster, and have that forty-footfall we were discussing."

  "Right," replied the Captain laconically. "Do you know, there'ssomething remarkable about this wreckage?"

  "In what way?"

  "We've examined every part of the two after-sections, and we haven'tseen any of the bodies of the crew. They couldn't have all been ondeck. Those below were not pitched overboard when she turned rightover; where, then, are they?"

  "I saw twenty men, at least, drop off her when she turned turtle.There are four bodies at least under the fore-part."

  "Then, assuming her crew to be at least as numerically as strong asthat of the 'Meteor,' where are the rest? The fact that some of theballonettes are still charged points to the suggestion that the shockto the after-part was not sufficient to kill a man. Therefore thereare survivors. That being so, where are they?"

  "I noticed something like a muster-book in one of the cabins," saidDacres. "I'll get hold of it and see if it is."

  So saying he made his way to the place where he had noticed the bookin question. As he passed along the alley-way a door swung to.

  Dacres stopped and listened intently. He could have sworn that heheard footsteps on the upper deck.

  Giving the alarm to his companion Dacres dashed up the metal ladderleading to the promenade deck, pushed back the hinged flap, and,crawling on his hands and knees, gained the stanchion rails on thelee side of the steeply shelving platform. He could see or hearnothing of a suspicious nature.

  "What's wrong?" asked Whittinghame, thrusting his head and shouldersthrough the hatchway.

  "Thought I heard some one moving," replied his comrade. "Belowthere!" he shouted, hailing the men who had accompanied theirofficers to the scene of the wreck.

  "Ay, ay, sir," replied Callaghan.

  "Have you seen anyone about?"

  "No, sir."

  "Have any of you been climbing on the wreckage?"

  "No, sir; we've been standing here ever since you went on board."

  "Must have been mistaken, then," said Dacres to his Captain. "I saw adoor swing to, and I felt sure that I heard footsteps on the deck."

  "You must have been. With the airship lying at this angle the doormust have swung accidentally. We may have left it just ajar, and atremor of the hull set it in motion."

  With that Dacres crawled back to the hatchway. It was a trickybusiness, for the smooth metal plates afforded a very insecurefoothold.

  "Here's the book, sir," he said. "It does contain the names of thecrew--thirty-nine, by Jove! And Durango's tally is not amongst them.That's forty, at least, for there may have been others on board whosenames are not on the list."

  "H'm! Well, we'll throw overboard the papers we found in Durango'scabin and our men can take them back to the 'Meteor.' After thatwe'll make a careful examination of the wreckage of the fore-part andsee if we can identify any of the victims. Tell Callaghan to stand byas we throw the gear over-board."

  As the two officers re-entered Durango's cabin they "brought up allstanding," and looked at each other in amazement. They had left thecoat hanging on its peg. It now lay on the floor, with the lining ofthe pockets turned inside out, while the loose ammunition had beenthrown about and had rolled into a corner to leeward.

  "That rascal has been on board!" exclaimed Whittinghame.