CHAPTER VII
THE RAID
OBER-LEUTNANT JULIUS VON LORINGHOVEN recoiled a couple of paces insheer amazement. The compartment in which he stood was strictlylimited in point of size, or he might have stepped back even more,so great was his consternation. For some seconds he stood with hisshoulders against the aluminium bulkhead, his small eyes protrudingto their utmost capacity.
"Von Eitelwurmer!" he gurgled at last. "What does this mean?"
"It means," retorted Andrew Norton furiously, "that your men havewrecked everything. It is their duty to wreck everything English, Iadmit, but they have overreached themselves."
"I am sorry," said the ober-leutnant humbly, though the apologyneeded an effort. "The culprits will be duly punished."
"And serve them right," interrupted the kidnapped man. "But thatwill not mend matters. Our plans are completely upset; Barcroft willtake warning; there will be no plausible excuse for my suddendeparture--Ach, it is intolerable. Is it possible to set me down?"
Von Loringhoven shook his head.
"Impossible," he replied. "You must return with us to theFatherland. Meanwhile I must take steps to justify the presence ofthis war-machine over the hated country."
Siegfried von Eitelwurmer was one of the German super-spies--a classfar and above the host of ordinary spies that, in spite of theutmost vigilance on the part of the British government, stillcontinue their activities although in a restricted form. To alloutward appearance he was English born and bred. His mannerisms wereentirely so. Even in his most excitable moods, for Teutonicstolidity was almost a stranger to him, he would never betray byword or gesture the fact that he was of Hunnish birth andsympathies. When he spoke in English his inflexion was as pure as atypical Midlander; his knowledge of British habits and customs wasprofound. In short, he was one of the most dangerous type of Germanagents that ever set foot on British soil.
It will be unnecessary to detail his past activities, which almostinvariably he carried out successfully and without giving rise tosuspicion, even at times when the espionage mania was at its height,and Britons were being arrested and detained on suspicion forvarious slight acts of indiscretion that they had committed in pureignorance. A man might in all good faith take photographs of a placeof national interest; an artist might make a sketch in the groundsof his own house--and be promptly haled before the magistrates andfined. The "powers-that-be" seem to be blind to the fact that atrained spy would not attempt to use a conspicuous camera. Aninstrument of the vest-pocket type would serve his purpose equallywell and with little chance of detection.
It was the Kaiser's manifesto relating to the capture of the"dangerous" Peter Barcroft that turned the course of vonEitelwurmer's activities in the direction of Ladybird Fold--notwholly for the sake of the pecuniary reward, but with the idea ofgaining additional kudos at the hands of his Imperial master.
The spy had little difficulty in tracing Barcroft's movements fromthe time he vacated Riversdale House in the village of Alderdene.The information that his quarry had removed to Tarleigh inLancashire he had communicated to Berlin, but owing to a delay thenews was not in time to prevent the Hun airman, von Buelow undHelferich, making his ill-fated flight to the south-eastern part ofEngland.
Von Eitelwurmer's method of communicating with Berlin was simplicityitself, and as such ran less chance of detection than if he hadresorted to elaborate and intricate means.
He would obtain catalogues from manufacturers living in the sametown in which he had taken up his temporary abode. On the pages hewould write with invisible ink--or even milk or lemon, both of whichwhen dried naturally show no trace of their presence--his reports,taking the additional precaution of using a cipher which he couldretain mentally and thus do away with the risk of incriminatingdocuments.
The next step was to get possession of a printed wrapper bearing thename and address of the firm in question. The catalogue, enclosed inthe wrapper, was then sent to a pseudo Englishman living in Holland,who, almost needless to say, was a German agent.
These reports were then sent in duplicate, one preceding the otherin the space of three days. Fortunately or otherwise--according tothe standpoint taken by interested parties--the first secretdispatch related to the movements of Peter Barcroft was lost in aDutch mail-boat that a German submarine had sent to the bottom. Thesecond resulted in Ober-leutnant von Loringhoven being dispatched ona Zeppelin raid with the primary intention of kidnapping theproscribed Englishman.
Julius von Loringhoven was an officer of the Imperial German Navy.In his youth he had served before the mast on board several Britishcoasters with the idea of gaining intimate local knowledge of theharbours of the land that in due course would be an integral part ofthe vast and unassailable German Empire; for, like thousands ofGermans he held the firm belief that the Emperor Wilhelm II was therightful heir to the British throne by virtue of his descent throughthe eldest child of the late Queen Victoria.
It was on one of these coasting trips that von Loringhoven then astripling of seventeen--was within an ace of losing his life.Ordered aloft on a winter's night to furl the topsail of theschooner "Pride o' Salcombe," he was benumbed with the piercing coldas he lay along the lee yard-arm. A burly British seaman saved himjust as he was on the point of relaxing his hold. Gathering him inhis arms the man brought him down on deck, little knowing whatmanner of young reptile he was nursing in his bosom. If vonLoringhoven had had any spark of gratitude it had been smothered bythe passion of "frightfulness" as expressed by dropping powerfulexplosives upon the defenceless civil population of the country toone of whose sons he owed his life.
A brief training at Friedrichshaven was followed by an exactingperiod at Borkum which qualified von Loringhoven for a series offlights across the North Sea to the East Coast of England. As yet hewas merely a tyro, gaining practical experience under a veteranZeppelin commander. But at last the day came when he was given solecharge of one of the Kaiser's giant gas-bags.
"Go and raid the counties of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire," were hissuperior officer's instructions. "That's a fairly safe game. You'llfind little more than dummy guns against you. Acquit yourself welland you will be given an opportunity to take part in the forthcominggigantic raid upon London."
This was before the time when, as the Huns knew to their cost, the"swarm of hornets" promised by a former First Lord of the Admiraltyproved their existence.
And now, after twelve months of active Zeppelin service vonLoringhoven was over Lancashire. One part of his mission foiled hehad yet to exhibit Teutonic frightfulness to the dwellers of thelarge manufacturing town of Barborough.
The second in command of the Zeppelin was an unter-leutnant of thename of Klick. It was one of his triumphs to announce that he hadbeen arrested in England as a spy. That was in those distant pre-wartimes. He had been "spotted" by a sentry while in the act ofsketching a fortification in the neighbourhood of an important navalstation, arrested and charged at a police-court. Committed to theCounty Assizes he was politely told by the judge that espionage wasdishonourable. Klick smiled inwardly. To him spying was part of animportant German military training--an organised procedure.Nevertheless he was agreeably surprised when he was allowed to gowith the admonition, "Don't do it again."
Fortunately for Great Britain such misplaced leniency is a thing ofthe past. On Unter-leutnant Klick it was entirely thrown away. Histypically German mind read the clemency as a sign of weakness. Hecame from a country where the only strength is "force majeur."
"Well, Herr von Eitelwurmer," exclaimed the ober-leutnant after hehad recovered from his surprise. "If you wish to see how our incomparable Zeppelins set to work you had better station yourself atthis observation scuttle. I will lend you a fur coat."
"Pity you hadn't lent me one long before," growled the spy, as oneof the crew helped him into the warm garment. "Yours is a coldbusiness, von Loringhoven."
"Not when we get to work," corrected the other with a grim laugh."Excitement stirs our blood to boiling poin
t."
A telephone bell tinkled softly. The commander took up the receiver.
"Ach!" he replied. "That is good."
The message was from Unter-leutnant Klick, announcing that theairship was immediately over the large town of Barborough. VonLoringhoven glanced at the altitude indicator. It registered 2,000metres--too great for practical purposes where no danger was to beanticipated from anti-aircraft guns. The speed of the Zeppelin wasnow less than ten miles an hour, just sufficient to keep herstationary over her objective.
The commander gave an order. A man on duty in the gondola thrustdown a lever, Instantly the gas in several of the ballonets waswithdrawn and forced under great pressure into a strong metal tank.This answered to the old-fashioned method of releasing gas from aballoon by means of an escape valve, but with a vast difference. Thehydrogen was not wasted; it was merely stored for further service.
Down dropped the airship to less than a thousand feet. VonEitelwurmer, leaning over the sill of the large scuttle, peereddownwards. By means of a pair of powerful night-glasses he couldlocate his position with great accuracy. He recognised most of theconspicuous land marks of Barborough, in spite of their unfamiliarappearance when viewed from a height. There was the town-hall--apile of smoke blackened stonework. The railway station with its webof steel lines radiating in four different directions; the hugefactories, working day and night at high pressure; the mainthoroughfares, rendered even more pronounced by the blue flashes ofthe electric tram-cars. The Zeppelin had the town at its mercy.
Ober-leutnant von Loringhoven was also examining the scene beneathhim. He had no occasion to consult the spy. He knew quite as much asvon Eitelwurmer of the topography of the district; thanks to theaccurate air-maps supplied by the German government.
"Now, watch!" he exclaimed, at the same time holding up four fingersas a sign to the airman at the firing apparatus to release themissiles of destruction.
Von Eitelwurmer held his breath. He clearly heard the four metallicclicks as the man released the bombs at quick intervals. Sevenseconds after the first had left the dropping apparatus a luridflash threw the underside of the enormous envelope into an expanseof reflected light. A roar like the concentration of half a dozenthunder peals tore the air, followed by the rumbling of fallingmasonry. The other explosions took place in rapid succession,causing the Zeppelin to sway and rock in the violently disturbedatmosphere.
The place where the bombs had burst was hidden in a thick pall ofsmoke and dust. Tongues of red and yellow flames flickered throughthe vapour.
"Two more," ordered von Loringhoven.
By this time the Zeppelin, forging ahead, was nearly a quarter of amile from the scene of her first attempt. The objective was a purelyconjectural one, for the missiles burst in a street in one of thepoorer quarters of the town.
"Two more!"
The two bombs were released, but only one exploded. The other failedto detonate, but the raid was over. In a little over a minute and ahalf death had been poured upon the unprepared town.
"I can claim the big munitions factory," remarked the ober-leutnantas he telephoned to the navigating gondola for full speed. "Thosefirst four had it to a nicety. The others--well, they did somedamage."
The spy smiled.
"Yes; it all helps," he said. "Frightfulness always scores,"
"Realising, as we do, that every English baby is a potential enemyto Germany," added von Loringhoven. "Not necessarily in a militarysense, but in the forthcoming commercial war."
Von Eitelwurmer glanced at his companion,
"The forthcoming commercial war," he repeated. "Our Emperor will seeto it that there will be no British Empire to threaten ourmercantile supremacy."
The commander of the Zeppelin shrugged his shoulders.
"I trust you are right," he rejoined, "but you do not realise thebig task in front of us. These Englishmen are only just beginning tobestir themselves. We hoped to have beaten them long ago. Time is nolonger on our side, and----"
Then, realising that his digression was bordering upon dangerouslines, he broke off.
"And now, von Eitelwurmer, we are homeward bound. In four hours Ihope to shake hands with you on German soil."
The spy merely grunted. He was thinking regretfully of his lostchance in the share of the twenty thousand marks.