24 Spitfire Parade
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for two or three of the soldiers had kept pace with him and were likely to reach the bridge before him. He perceived that the nearer to the bridge he went, the nearer he would be to the Germans when they crossed over, for such was obviously their intention, so he turned off at a tangent, making for a wood that stood on some rising ground not far away.
Two or three shots were fired as he ran, but none came near him and, reaching his immediate objective, he looked back in the direction of the lock to see what was going on. At first he could not quite make out what had happened, but it seemed as if the leading barge had run into the bank a few yards short of the lock. The next one, possibly because it had too much way on it to stop, had passed it; the others had closed up and stopped, to await their turn to pass through the lock.
Curiously enough, Bertie had either forgotten the bomb or else he was unaware that the time limit had expired; at any rate no thought of it was in his mind when the explosion occurred. At first there was a single, sharp, clearly defined detonation, but it was followed instantly by an explosion, and a blast of air so violent that even at that distance it threw him to the ground. For a full minute the roar persisted, like a continuous roll of thunder while the heavens were lighted up by an orange glare that revealed the landscape as clearly as if it were broad daylight. Then the light faded, and the terrible roar was succeeded by an ominous silence. Perhaps it would be more correct to say a comparative silence, for in a moment Or two strange sounds were borne on the air, the most clearly defined being the noise of rushing water.
'By jingo, that was a bit hot,' muttered Bertie, groping about for his eyeglass, which had been blown from his face by the concussion. He soon realized the futility of trying to find it in such conditions, so getting up, he stared towards the lock trying to make out what had happened. The landscape seemed to have changed. Of the lock and the barges there was no sign. The canal no longer gleamed in the moonlight. It appeared now as a sinister black shadow that widened swiftly as it neared the place where the lock had been, and thereafter lost itself in a turbulent lake that seemed to reach to the horizon.
'By Jove, I'm afraid that's done it,' he muttered uneasily, as a horrid thought entered his head. A second and more penetrating look, and his worst fears were realized. Where the lock had been, the bank of the canal had completely disappeared. So had the lock. The water, millions of gallons of it, had poured through the breach, with the result that the canal was practically empty. But it was not this that upset him. It was the direction in which most of the water had overflowed. From where he stood he could not see his machine, but if it was still where he had left it — which seemed unlikely — then it was in the middle of a lake. Of the German troops who had run up the towing-path there was no sign, and It could only assume that they had gone back to the scene of the explosion.
He started off towards the canal, crossed over the bridge, and entered the water that covered the low-lying marsh on the other side. This, he was relieved to find, was only ankle-deep in most places, with occasional deeper patches. In these conditions it was not easy to locate the exact spot where he had left the aircraft, but when he reached what he felt certain was the place, that which he feared might have happened was confirmed. It had gone. On all sides stretched the water, and had it not been for an occasional tree and hedge, he might have been gazing at an ocean.
A faint hail attracted his attention. He recognized the voice and hurried towards the spot.
As he approached he could just make out the shape of the machine. When he got to it he found the agent standing in his seat, muttering incoherently; but Bertie paid no attention to him; he was concerned only with the aircraft which, as far as he could make out, had been lifted bodily by the first rush of the flood and swept away until a hedge had arrested its progress. The fabric was torn in several places, but a quick examination revealed no sign of structural damage.
Hi, fellow, come on out of that and help me to straighten her up,' he told his useless accomplice curtly.
The amateur agent continued to protest that all was lost, whereupon Bertie, his patience exhausted at last, swung himself up, caught the man by the scruff of the neck and dragged him bodily out of the cockpit.
'One more bleat from you, my little sheep, and I'll give you a kick in the pants that will make you think you've sat on a rocket. Come along now and give me a hand.'
Between them they got the machine clear of the hedge, facing the open water. The engine was started and they scrambled into their seats.
The take-off was a nightmare. A seaplane would not have raised as much spray. But the light machine unstuck at last, and with a jubilant Yoicks 1' Bertie headed for home, which he reached without further mishap.
The entire squadron was waiting for him when he landed. How did you get on?' asked Biggles eagerly, as Bertie jumped down.
Oh, not bad, sir, not half bad,' answered Bertie.
It all went off according to plan, eh?'
`No jolly fear it didn't,' declared Bertie soberly.
What went wrong?'
Something pretty serious,' announced Bertie. 'I lost my beastly eyeglass in the dark. I call that pretty steep, don't you - what ?'
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