Air Service Boys Flying for Victory; Or, Bombing the Last German Stronghold

by E. J. Craine

  CHAPTER XVIII

  FAVORED BY FORTUNE

  THE Huns soon discovered that they were up against an intrepid enemy.When they so boldly attacked the Yankee fleet of raiders, as Jackexpressed it in his boyish way, they had "bitten off more than theycould chew."

  They had dropped back a bit and were trying to annoy the Americans allthey could with as little damage to themselves as possible. If theirlast stronghold was doomed to destruction under that rain of mightybombs, any self-sacrifice on their part could not ward it off, and sowhat was the use?

  The end seemed to be approaching, for the Boche plainly showed he hadhad enough of the fighting. One last combined attack all along the linethat would likely put the enemy to flight, and then for the signal thatwould spell "homeward bound," a magical phrase with voyagers of the airjust as it is with sailors of the salty seas.

  Finally it came. The great battle was over.

  The air service boys rejoiced that the victory was won.

  The roar of guns from below had ceased, and as the Yankees above couldnot find any enemy plane against which to pit their strength, they, too,no longer scurried this way and that, each one like an avenging Nemesis.

  Looking down Jack was appalled at what he saw. It seemed almost asthough the end of the world had come. Huge volumes of acrid smoke slowlyswept along on the night air, with here and there a lurid tongue ofangry flame, looking like a serpent's tongue, stabbing the gloomycurtain.

  He had seen vivid pictures in colors of an eruption of Vesuvius, and tohis mind this presented just such an appalling spectacle. There couldnever be any doubt regarding the awful power of those latest of Yankeebombs. The German stronghold that an hour before had stood in arrogantpride, meant to be a stumbling block in the path of Pershing'svictorious army, had been so shattered that it would hardly be noticedin the general advance of the oncoming host of boys in khaki.

  But there was the signal to gather once more in formation of twos forthe homeward journey. There would always be a chance that the furiousHuns might gather a fresh force of aerial fighters to make one lastassault on the columns before admitting defeat; and it was to be readyfor this that every possible precaution must be taken.

  Then the fact became apparent that the return was not to be made with anundiminished force. There were no longer exactly twenty planes to fillout the double column. Some were missing, having fallen in the lastdesperate attack of the foe, when a perfect whirlwind of fighting hadtaken place.

  Tom noticed this almost immediately. At least one battleplane wasabsent, if not more, and the companion bomber that had occupied withthem the place of honor at the tail of the procession also failed tocome to its place. Perhaps the very plane he had watched drop andwondered about was one of these missing ones.

  Jack, too, looked down upon that vast smudge of smoke and shootingflames with a new feeling gripping his heart. It no longer representedmerely the disappointed hopes of a Hindenburg and a Ludendorff; it wasnot to be considered only a fortress annihilated by American pluck andingenuity; there was a sadness in Jack's parting look now, and for areason. Down there brave American boys had gone to their fate, afterbattling to their last breath for the right. In that blanket of smokeand amidst scattered stone and timbers they had found their tomb, norwould those loved ones far across the sea ever know where to look fortheir last resting place.

  On the roll they would be marked simply as "lost when on perilous duty",and that brief inscription must ever be their epitaph. None moreglorious was ever inscribed on monument of granite in a city's beautifulcemetery; and the Nation would always do honor to their memories.

  But the air armada was off once more.

  Jack put these thoughts from his mind. They had not expected to carryout their ambitious plans without incurring losses. The price had beenpaid, and those who came through in safety might congratulate themselveson their good fortune.

  Headed for the home camp they left that shambles behind them, for itseemed certain that many Huns must have perished when the fortress wasdestroyed so completely.

  Then all at once Jack remembered something. Tom had almost as much aspromised that if half a chance arose while on the way home he meantsomehow or other to get "lost" from the main column.

  It might not be very hard, seeing that they came at the tail of theprocession, and those just ahead would hardly notice the fact if at sometime or other they should lag, and vanish from sight. It might be takenfor granted that they had simply fallen a little behind, and by puttingon a spurt of speed could at any time easily catch up.

  At any rate the expedition would not delay, waiting for those whotarried. In an affair of this kind the rule was "every tub on its ownbottom," and if accidents occurred the unfortunate plane must drop out,and take its individual chance of getting through in safety.

  Jack was wondering just how his chum would act in order to bring aboutthis separation. Hence he was not greatly surprised when Tom called outaloud, so that he could make his voice heard above the incessant whirrof motors added to the buzz of many propellers that filled the air withnoise:

  "Jack, something seems to be wrong with our engine."

  "You don't say!" ejaculated Jack, accompanying the remark with a widegrin; for he suspected that this was only the ruse he had beenanticipating.

  "I don't seem to be able to get along as smoothly as I did before,"continued the pilot.

  "Why, it's a fact that we are letting the others outrun us some, Tom.Wouldn't it be just too bad if they went off and left us in the lurch?"

  "No joke about it, Jack. Something is really going wrong, and I imagineI'm getting a poor supply of gas. Take a look at the tank, will you, andsee if it's all right!"

  At that Jack ceased to chuckle. He realized from what the other saidthat he meant it seriously. Accordingly Jack bestirred himself to carryout the instructions of the pilot, which he was best able to do from hisposition aft.

  A brief interval of silence followed, save for the constant hum of themachinery and the whirling propellers. Then Jack uttered a loud cry thatexpressed both astonishment and alarm.

  "Tom, you guessed it!" he called. "The blooming tank is empty, and we'refeeding on the scant reserve in the smaller tank!"

  "Try to find out if a bullet cut a hole in the tank, and let our juicerun out!" Tom now ordered.

  Jack had already started an examination on his own account, and healmost immediately announced a finding.

  "Just what happened, Tom!" came his cry, in a tone of dismay mingledwith disgust. "Why, there are two holes, one far above the other! Ireckon it came from below, after all. But the tank is empty, and onlyfor that automatic feed change, meant for such an emergency, we'd havebeen running on hot air before now."

  "There's not enough petrol in the small tank to take us home, Jack, I'mafraid," Tom called next.

  "Then what?" demanded the other eagerly.

  "Only one thing left to us, I'm thinking."

  "What's that? You're the skipper of this craft, and I take my ordersfrom you. Whatever you say goes."

  "We'll have to pick out a nice even spot and land," said the pilot, inthe most natural tone imaginable; for he had by now shut off some of hispower, and the noise accordingly diminished.

  "And try to get enough gas, some way or other, to see us safely on ourway--is that the programme, Tom?" queried the observer.

  "There's really no other way. If we keep straight on we're likely to beforced to drop right back of the Hun lines, where we'd be gobbled up asquick as a flash."

  "Too bad, isn't it?" cried Jack, in mock tones of chagrin. "And, Tom,wouldn't it be queer now, if after we did drop down we should find thatwe'd actually landed close to a half ruined chateau that's perched on ahilltop, and occupied by a Hun general as headquarters?"

  "That would be a strange coincidence, I should call it, Jack."

  "But you say we've just got to land somewhere," urged the other.

  "No other way out of the mess. It's either that or else take big riskso
f being captured just back of the Boche lines. Of the two, our chancesare better here than there."

  "Well, I bow to your judgment, Tom. You know best. But we'd better dropto a much lower level right away, hadn't we?"

  "That goes without saying," replied the pilot, setting about taking adip, at which he was very expert. "As it is now we can't see much ofwhere we are; and the rest of the gang seem to have cleared outentirely. You can hear the stir of their passage getting fainter andfainter all the while."

  "We'll have to go pretty far down if we hope to glimpse anything of thecharacter of the country in this poor light," Jack continued, "and, ofcourse, it'll be necessary for you to pick out a clear place for alanding."

  "Unless we can we stand to have a smash that'll just ruin everything,"Tom cheerfully assured him.

  They had begun to fall rapidly. Tom managed it so that this maneuver wascarried out in the best possible way calculated to conserve their verylimited stock of petrol.

  Gradually they began to get a clearer view of the ground, which untilthen had only appeared in vague outlines to their eyes. Jack soonannounced a discovery.

  "I can begin to make out the trees in patches, Tom. And see there! Thatmust be the river winding along like a snake over yonder. Didn't wedecide that the chateau stood within sight of this very stream, Tom?"

  "According to what that Lorrainer told me, it did; and on the left bankin the bargain," admitted Tom.

  "Good! And unless I've lost my reckoning entirely I should say we're onthe left bank of the river right now."

  "Just what we are," came the reassuring answer. "I'm going to drop downanother peg or two, so we can pick up some landmark and get our bearingssettled. No use in groping about as if we were in a fog. I'll shut offmost of our speed and just loaf along. We've got to make that gas see usthrough, you know, Jack."

  "I hope it will, I certainly do!"

  Presently the air service boys found themselves passing slowly alongover the small ridge that seemed to run parallel with the winding Meuse,though at some little distance from it.