Round the World in Seven Days

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER XVIII

  THE LAST LAP

  "Rather late, ain't you!" said Barracombe, as Smith jumped from theaeroplane.

  "Hallo, Sis. Hallo, old man!" cried Smith. "We've done it; seven days,to the minute!"

  Kate flew into his arms: only next day did she discover the ruin ofher dress.

  "I've a voice like a corncake," said Smith, disengaging himself. "Gladto see you, Billy."

  "You're a wonder! But, God bless me! you look awfully done up. Youlook positively ill. Come up to the house at once; we don't want youcrocked."

  "Come on, Roddy," said Smith hoarsely. "You'll stay with us to-night.Leave the machine for once. You see, Billy, I have to rejoin at nineto-morrow--to-morrow, I say; I mean this morning. That gives me ninehours, and as I haven't been to bed for a week I want seven good solidhours sleep."

  "But really, Charley, you don't look fit to rejoin," said Kate. "Yourcheeks are dreadfully thin, and your voice is nearly gone."

  "Well, of course, I'm dead tired; feel all to pieces, in fact. But allI want is sleep."

  "And a medical certificate," put in Barracombe. "I've known a fellowget two months' leave for what he called a strained heart. Strained itto some purpose, for he got married before his leave was up. We'll getyou a certificate--a doctor's, not a parson's."

  "I don't mind if you do, after I've rejoined; but I must show upwithout fail at nine a.m. I'm later than I meant to be. Got snowed upat St. John's."

  "You didn't come straight from Toronto, then!"

  "No. Didn't care to risk it. Besides, it would have meant eighteenhours in the air at a stretch. I don't think Roddy and I could havestood that. I took St. John's--in Newfoundland, Kate--on the way."

  "But I thought Newfoundland was near the North Pole."

  "A common mistake. St. John's is considerably southward of ourlatitude. But they've had a cold snap there lately, and we came downin a snowdrift and had to be dug out. We had an easy flight across theAtlantic; the engine has behaved splendidly all through, thanks toRoddy. But I'm glad to be home; by Jove, I am!"

  This conversation passed as they walked up to the house. Mrs. Smithhad been wakened by the noise of the engine, and stood just within thedoor to welcome her son. She, too, was struck by his haggardappearance, and declared she must send for the doctor.

  "Why, Mother, you're not going to coddle me at my age," he said. "Youought to be in bed. Off you go: I shall be all right in the morning. Ishall have something to tell you then. Breakfast at eight sharp, bythe way; or I shan't get to Portsmouth in time."

  "Very well, my dear. Simmons is up, keeping some food warm for you. Iwill tell him. Goodnight."

  "I've such loads to tell you," said Smith, when she had gone; "but I'mafraid it must wait. By the way, Kate, I suppose nothing of importancehas come for me?"

  "A few letters, mostly from the people you disappointed, I suspect.I'll fetch them."

  When she returned, Smith immediately noticed a long official envelopein the bundle. He tore it open.

  "Great Scott!" he cried. "An order to rejoin on Wednesday withoutfail. That's a nasty whack."

  "Any explanation?" asked Barracombe.

  "Not a word. Some sudden whimsy of the admiral's, I suppose. Have yougot yesterday's paper, Kate?"

  "I remember now," cried Kate. "How silly of me to forget it! The_Implacable_ broke down, and your ship was ordered to replace her."

  "Just my luck!" exclaimed Smith gloomily. "Last time I was late theship was going shooting. Now I shall miss her altogether when she's atmanoeuvres. Captain Bolitho will put me down as a hopeless rotter."

  "What nonsense, Charley! You had seven days left, and you're not boundto be within call at a moment's notice. I'm very glad the ship hasleft Portsmouth, for now you can't rejoin, and you'll have time torest."

  "I'm not so sure, Kate," he cried, suddenly sitting up, and scanningthe paper she had brought. "Where's the fleet? Ah! Irish coast. I'llrejoin, as sure as I'm alive. You see, I'm due at nine. I'm notphysically incapable, and in the aeroplane I can easily do it if I canfind the squadron. The _Implacable_ was with the Blue fleet, operatingfrom Bear Haven, I see. It's worth trying, anyhow."

  "Magnificent, but absurd," said Barracombe. "You won't find them,either."

  "A fiver that I will."

  "No, thanks. By the way, you owe me a fiver."

  "How's that?"

  "Look at this."

  He handed Smith Farmer Barton's receipted bill, and related what hadhappened in the evening.

  Smith laughed.

  "I'd forgotten him; but his bill is no doubt among this batch. To comeback to the point. I am serious. I mean to rejoin my ship at nine. Togive myself plenty of time I'll start at six. It's now past twelve;I'll set my alarm clock for six. I'm sorry for Roddy, I'm afraid, hemust clean the engine. D'you mind finding him?--Ah! here he is, andSimmons with soup. Thank you, Simmons. Sorry to keep you up so late."

  "I'm glad to see you back safe and sound, sir," said the manrespectfully.

  Smith shot a glance at Rodier, but the look of surprise on theFrenchman's face showed that he, at any rate, had not been talking.Kate's expression proved that she was equally surprised.

  "And I hope the Master and Mr. Tom are as well as could be expected,sir," added Simmons.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, sir, I knew the Master had met with a accident--"

  "But I cut the paragraph out of the paper," cried Kate.

  "Yes, miss, that's what made me go and buy one. I assure you I haven'tsaid a word to a soul, miss, guessing as you wanted it kep' from theMistress, and you can't trust female maids."

  "But how did you know I had gone out to the Solomons?" asked Smith.

  "'Twas a bit in the _Times_ first put me on the scent, sir, about asensation in Constantinople about two daring and intrepid airmen thatcame down there sudden-like and went away in a jiff. No names werenamed, sir, but I guessed it was you and Mr. Rodier."

  "Johnson had discretion, at any rate," murmured Smith. "Well!"

  "Next day there was a bit about two airmen coming down at some placein India, sir. Putting two and two together--"

  "I see. No names again?"

  "No, sir, not till to-night."

  "To-night, eh?"

  "Yes, sir. There's a bit in the _Evening News_ to-night, not strictlytrue, sir. I've got it here."

  He drew the paper from his pocket, and pointed to the followingparagraph--

  The mysterious airmen whose doings have been reported at intervals during the last few days have now appeared at San Francisco. One of them is said to be a Lieutenant Thistleton Smith, who, according to our correspondent, explained that he has a bet of L10,000 with a well-known sporting nobleman that he will circle the globe in a fortnight. The general opinion in San Francisco is that these sporadic appearances of airmen in far-distant spots are part of a cleverly devised scheme of world-wide advertisement, engineered by a Chicago pork-packing firm who have more than once displayed considerable ingenuity in pushing their products.

  There was general laughter when Smith read this paragraph aloud.Rodier alone was solemn.

  "They think we boom pigs!" he cried indignantly. "Pigs themselves."

  "Well, Roddy, truth will out," said Smith. "I'm sorry to keep you up,by the way, but I shall have to leave at six o'clock. Would you mindrunning down to the shed and--cleaning the engine?"

  "Mon Dieu! I do nothing for a week but clean the engine."

  "Yes, poor chap, but you shall have a rest after this. Go to bed whenyou've got things shipshape; I shall go alone; only about four hundredmiles this time."

  "You really mean it, then?" said Barracombe.

  "Decidedly. If you knew Captain Bolitho you would see that there's nohelp for it."

  "Well, then, the sooner you eat your supper and get between the sheetsthe better. I'll tuck you up."

  "Tuck in and tuck up. Very well."

  "Your bath s
hall be ready at six, sir," said Simmons.

  A few minutes after six o'clock, Smith made his ascent, his departurebeing witnessed by his sister and Barracombe and the whole domesticstaff. He flew rapidly over Hampshire, Dorset, Devon; crossed theBristol Channel, and made a bee-line for Bear Haven at the entrance toBantry Bay. Soon after eight he descried a number of dull grey specksstrung like beads on the western horizon. They must be one or other ofthe opposing fleets, either the Reds or the Blues; but which? He mustgo and see. Altering his course a point or two, in a few minutes hewas running down the line of warships, which were steaming line ahead,apparently in the direction of Bear Haven. At a glance he recognizedthe _Thunderbolt_, notoriously the lame duck of the Reds, laggingthree or four miles behind the rest. Smith slowed down to quarterspeed as he passed the leading ships, and a few blank shots were firedat him for form's sake, for the guns were incapable of an inclinationthat would be dangerous to him at his height of 3,000 feet, even ifthey were throwing live shell.

  He drew clear of the squadron, and was about to put his engine at fullspeed again when an aeroplane shot up from the deck of the flagshipand started in pursuit, followed at a short interval by a secondaeroplane from a vessel some distance down the line. Smith smiled tohimself. From what he knew of the service aeroplanes, the _Puck_, ashe had now named his vessel, was in no danger of being overtaken; butif the airmen of the Red fleet wanted a run, he was not the man tobaulk them. In a few minutes the pursuers began to close in; heincreased the speed to eighty miles; still they gained on him. Anothernotch in the regulator increased his speed to a hundred miles an hour,at which he felt that he should be able to hold his own. He found,however, that one of the aeroplanes was still gaining, and it was notuntil he had increased his speed another twenty miles that the _Puck_began to draw away.

  "Now to business," Smith said to himself.

  Paying no more attention to the pursuers, except by a glance to assurehimself that, though hopelessly outstripped, they were still followinghim, he searched the horizon ahead for signs of the Blue fleet. Therugged coast of Cork county had been for some time in sight, and asSmith was well acquainted with it from experience in formermanoeuvres, he was able to steer straight for Bear Haven as soon asthe landmarks were distinguishable. It was more than half-an-hourafter sighting the Red fleet when he flew over Bantry Bay to theharbour. Except for a number of colliers it was empty.

  Smith had already decided on his course of action if he should findthat the fleet had put to sea. He would adopt the tactics that hadsucceeded so well in Ysabel Island, searching, not the land this time,but the sea, fanwise, while his fuel lasted. The position of thecolliers seemed to indicate that they had only recently been engagedin coaling, so that in all probability the fleet had left that morningand was not far away. Probably, too, it was in the open Atlantic, andnot sheltering in any of the innumerable inlets of the western coast.He steered due west, noticing as he did so that the pursuers werestill doggedly on his trail, and had gained considerably while he hadbeen investigating the harbour.

  He looked at his watch. It was twenty-five minutes to nine. He wouldreach his ship in time if it were not more than eighty-five milesdistant, supposing that it was going in the same direction, or perhapsa hundred and ten if it were coming towards him. Rising to the heightof 4,000 feet, he searched the sea in all directions through hisbinocular. He noticed with amusement that one of the pursuingaeroplanes had come down on Mizzen Head; the other was still labouringafter him. There were fishing smacks here and there near the coast,looking like moths. Far to the left he saw a liner pouring its blacksmoke into the air; it might have been a cockroach in widow's weeds.And there, far in the west, what is that? Smoke, or a cloud? In twominutes there is no longer any doubt; in three minutes the shapes of asquadron of battleships can be clearly seen; in five minutes Smith'spractised eyes, now that he has descended, can distinguish the_Imperturbable_, flying the admiral's flag, among what to a landsmanwould appear to be a dozen exactly similar vessels. Glancing back, hesees that the Red Scout has changed her course, and is already only aspeck in the southern sky.

  It was precisely ten minutes to nine by Smith's watch when the _Puck_,literally received with open arms by two-score sturdy tars, alightedon the deck of the _Imperturbable_.

  "Come aboard, sir," said Smith cheerfully to his captain.

  "So I see," was the laconic reply.

  "Sorry I was away, sir, when your recall arrived--in the SouthPacific."

  "In the--what?"

  "The South Pacific, sir, or thereabouts."

  "Don't you think, Mr. Smith, you are going a little too far?" said thecaptain sternly.

  "Well, sir," replied Smith naively, "it _was_ a goodish distance. ButI have managed to get back within my leave. Ten minutes to spare,sir."

  Captain Bolitho gasped.

  "Do you mean to tell me, seriously, you have been to the SouthPacific?"

  "Certainly, sir. I left home about midnight last Thursday, and gotback not quite nine hours ago. Went to the Solomon Islands _via_Penang and Port Darwin, and come home _via_ Samoa and 'Frisco."

  "But--but--then you have been _round the world_, sir--in _how_ long?"

  "Seven days, sir. My leave expires at nine this morning."

  Mechanically, like a man in a dream, the captain took out his watch.

  "Twenty-five minutes past eight," he said. "You needn't have hurriedyourself. You've another half-hour by Irish time. Perhaps you'd liketo fill it up by a trip round Ireland," he added dryly.

  Smith smiled. The first lieutenant broke in--

  "Look-out reports, sir, another aeroplane was sighted behind Mr.Smith's."

  The admiral, who had been an amused auditor of the colloquy betweenCaptain Bolitho and his lieutenant, was a man of intuitions.

  "There are no aeroplanes on this coast except the two with the Reds,"he said. "Mr. Smith, you have now reported yourself for duty. Oursingle aeroplane has broken down; we must impress yours for publicservice. I will not ask you what you have seen; but you will at oncefollow the strange aeroplane, and endeavour to find out the positionand course of the enemy's fleet."

  In less than a minute Smith was in the air; in ten minutes he hadovertaken the Red aeroplane, flying high as he approached, andhovering over his late pursuer, who made vain efforts to rise abovehim. The immense engine power of the _Puck_ gave her as great anadvantage over her rival in soaring as in horizontal speed. By therules of the manoeuvres the Red aeroplane was out of action as soon asthe _Puck_ rose vertically above her. Wasting no further time, Smithcontinued his course, and in half-an-hour sighted the Red squadron,noted its strength and course, and in another half-hour was back onthe deck of the _Imperturbable_.

  "I found the enemy, sir, about ninety miles S.S.E., eight battleshipsand about a dozen scouts. Their course was west."

  The admiral made a rapid calculation.

  "By Jove!" he said, "they will catch Pomeroy before we join him. Butthere's time yet. We can warn Pomeroy to meet us twenty milesnorth-east of the spot previously arranged. I think, Captain Bolitho,we may perhaps overlook Mr. Smith's little irregularity in joining ifhe gives us a full account of his--er--experiences, after dinnerto-night."

  "And the Reds, sir?"

  "Before dinner, one or the other of us will be out of action. WhetherReds or Blues, we shall have leisure to hear how Mr. Smith went roundthe world in seven days."