CHAPTER XIX--VICTIMS OF A REVOLUTION
Above the staccato of rifle-firing rose the roar of the "Golden Hind's"powerful motors. Volumes of brodium, released from the pressure-flasks,rushed into the ballonets. The airship rose at an oblique angle, hernose almost touching the ground. Then, as the aerial propellers wentahead, the fore-part of the fuselage ploughed over the rough ground.
With thirty or forty men hanging on like grim death to the guide-lines,and as many more tailing on to the grapnel ropes, the "Golden Hind,"with gas leaking from numerous bullet holes in her ballonets, was unableto seek refuge in her natural element.
Fortunately for the safety of the airship's crew, the rifle-firingquickly ceased as soon as the attackers realised that they had effectedher capture. Apparently it was their intention to prevent furtherdamage being done to the huge airship.
Finding that escape was impossible and unable to offer resistance,Fosterdyke opened out one of the doors of the nacelle and raised hishands above his head. It was no disgrace in surrendering thus. Alivethe crew of the "Golden Hind" could offer and receive explanations.Dead, they could not.
The appearance of the captain of the "Golden Hind" was greeted byperemptory orders, shouted in an unintelligible language. It certainlywasn't American. It seemed to Fosterdyke that it was a kind of Spanish,and since he was ignorant of that tongue he failed to grasp the meaningof the volume of directions.
Covered by scores of rifles, Fosterdyke, Kenyon, and Bramsdean headedthe crew of the airship. Completely bewildered by the aggressive natureof their reception, and not knowing what fate would befall them, theposition of the British airmen was critical in the extreme. Yet theybore themselves calmly and bravely, scorning to let their captors knowthat inwardly at least they "felt the breeze."
Deftly, as if they were well used to performing the operation, twohalf-breeds searched the baronet for concealed weapons. The rest of thecrew were subjected to the same treatment. Finding nothing in thenature of arms, the searchers looked rather astonished and disappointed.
A gorgeously uniformed man, evidently the commandant of the band, walkedup to the baronet and saluted with an elaborate flourish. There waslittle doubt about it; he had already come to the conclusion that amistake had occurred, and that he rather feared the consequences.
"Americano, senor?" he asked.
"No," replied Fosterdyke. "English."
"Madre de Dios!" ejaculated the commandant in ill-concealedconsternation. He shouted something to his followers. After a briefinterval, a tall, olive-featured follower, whose black oiled locks fellon his shoulders, slouched forward and announced--
"Me speak English. Vot you do here?"
Mutual explanations took a considerable time; but eventually Fosterdykeand his companions gleaned the salient facts for the reason of theattack and capture of the "Golden Hind."
In the tropical mists the airship had landed not in the Panama Zone butin a neighbouring republic, which, as is by no means an unusualoccurrence, was indulging in a little political diversion in the shapeof a revolution. Just at present there was no means of ascertainingwhich was the predominant faction, but one side had gained possession ofan old airship--purchased at a disposal sale of one of the _Entente_countries. This airship, hastily fitted out and provided with bombs andmachine-guns, was known to be on the point of operating against theFederals. The latter were therefore expecting the raiding airship whenthe "Golden Hind," miles out of her course owing to the mists and a sidewind that, unknown to the navigating officers, had blown her well toleeward, fired her detonating rockets almost immediately over theFederal party's main force.
The Federals knew nothing of the Round the World Race; but their anxietyto make amends was most marked. They offered to provide unlimitedsupplies of petrol, and to render any assistance that lay in theirpower; but the fact remained that the hasty fusillade had causedconsiderable damage to the "Golden Hind."
At first Fosterdyke thought that the airship was out of the running.Kenyon and Bramsdean were of the same opinion, for the loss of brodiumthrough the punctured ballonets seemed a fatal obstacle to the immediateresumption of the flight.
Further examination revealed the fact that half the number of theballonets were holed. Of these almost every one could be patched andmade gas-tight, since the rifle-bullets, being of small calibre and ofhigh velocity, had bored minute holes. But what was far more serious wasthe shortage of brodium. Even by releasing the contents of the reservecylinders it was doubtful whether there was sufficient to lift theairship.
"We'll have a good try, anyway," declared Fosterdyke. "Once we get herup we'll rely on our planes to get us across the Atlantic. Thankgoodness the motors are intact! I wonder if there's much damage done tothe navigation-room. Several bullets came unpleasantly close to ourheads, I remember."
Examination resulted in the knowledge that although the aluminium sidesof the nacelle had been liberally peppered, most of the nickel bulletshad penetrated both sides without doing vital damage. What was the mostserious injury was caused to the propellers of Nos. 5 and 6 motors, thefeather-edged blades being chipped by bullets. Since the spare bladeshad already been used earlier in the voyage replacement was out of thequestion. The ragged edges meant at least a reduction of ten miles anhour, even if the blades did not fly to pieces when the propellers wererunning at maximum speed.
During the rest of the night the crew worked with a will--patching,mending, and "doping" the holed fabric and carefully testing eachrepaired ballonet with compressed air before refilling it with theprecious brodium.
Meanwhile, the Federals brought quantities of petrol, employing teams ofmules for the purpose, their petrol dump being a good five miles fromthe scene of the "Golden Hind's" unfortunate landing. Every drop had tobe passed through a fine gauze strainer before being allowed to enterthe tanks, since foreign matter in the fuel might easily result in motortrouble.
Anxious to make amends, the commandant also presented the baronet with aquantity of excellent tobacco and cigars, several native cakes made ofmaize, an earthenware bowl filled with good butter, and a wicker crateof fresh fruit.
By dawn the refitting of the "Golden Hind" was accomplished as far aslay in the power of the dauntless crew. Now came the crucial test:would the airship rise under the lifting power of the reduced volume ofbrodium?
At seven o'clock the huge fabric showed signs of buoyancy. A quarter ofan hour later the recording instruments showed that only anotherthousand cubic feet of gas was necessary to overcome the force ofgravity.
"We haven't that quantity, sir," reported Chief Air Mechanic Hayward."But I would suggest, sir, that we release our reserve gas into thefor'ard ballonets. That will lift her nose clear of the ground, and thepropellers will do the rest. Once we're up, sir, it will be as easy asshelling peas."
"We can but try it," replied Fosterdyke. "At any rate, if we can makePanama we will manage with hydrogen for the remaining ballonets.Right-o! Pass the word when you're ready."
At seven-thirty the crew were at their stations. The for'ard portion ofthe airship was straining at the guide ropes. The declutched motors,purring gently at a quarter throttle, were awaiting the order that wouldtransform them into propulsive forces. Until the planes could bebrought into action the "Golden Hind" was much in the nature of a rocketsoaring obliquely under the influence of a self-contained impulsivecharge.
Throwing open one of the windows of the riddled navigation-room,Fosterdyke surveyed the crowd below. The Federal troops, in spite oftheir bizarre uniforms and varied equipment, were fairly welldisciplined. Those not actually engaged in holding down the airshipwere formed up at about fifty yards from the nacelle, interestedspectators of the largest airship that had ever passed over theterritory of the Central American Republic.
"Let go!" shouted the baronet.
The order, interpreted by the Creole who claimed to have a knowledge ofEnglish, was obeyed promptly. The men seemed to have an inkling of whatwould happen if t
hey did not, and they dropped the guide ropes as thoughthey were hot irons.
Simultaneously, as the bows of the "Golden Hind" lifted, Kenyontelegraphed for "full ahead."
With four of the propellers purring in their accustomed way and the twoafter ones roaring like gigantic buzzers, as the jagged edges revolvedrapidly in the air, the "Golden Hind" ascended obliquely, with her majoraxis inclined at an angle of forty degrees to the horizontal.
The Federal troops were waving their nondescript headgear andbrandishing their rifles in token of farewell. Doubtless they werecheering and shouting also, but the noise of the airship's propellersout-voiced all extraneous sounds.
At a height of one thousand feet the six planes were trimmed and broughtinto action, with the result that the "Golden Hind" settled down onalmost an even keel.
Four minutes later the scene of the unfortunate "regrettable incident"was lost to sight.
"Thanks be, we're up!" ejaculated Fosterdyke.