CHAPTER XII--A FIGHT WITH A ZEPPELIN
Nearing Liege on their return journey, the airmen became aware of amomentous change from the peaceful scene of the morning. A pall ofsmoke hung over the country for miles. Wherever there were rifts in it,they caught glimpses of immense grey masses that appeared to be crawlingtowards the city from every side except the west. It was evident thatthe Germans were attacking in stupendous force.
Kenneth steered to the west, doubtful whether he should find theheadquarters of the Flying Corps in the spot where he had left it. Themonoplane escaped the Germans' attentions, and when it came within rangeof the Belgians' rifles, Pariset hung out the Russian flag, which washis surety.
Locating the aeroplane park with some difficulty, considerably to thewestward of its former position, Kenneth at length brought the machineto the ground. The air quivered with the shock of artillery fire; thenoise was incessant.
"What is the news?" asked Pariset of a comrade who had come up to greethim.
"They are shelling us with heavy guns, and devoting particular attentionto Fort Loncin, where General Leman is," was the reply. "And it is saidthat they have got into the town. The people are making off incrowds.... You have had a knock!"
"A slight bruise. We managed it!"
"What?" asked his friend, who was unaware of his errand.
"Blew up the bridge above Sy, and held back a troop train, for the restof the day, I hope. I must go and report to the chief; tell you allabout it later."
In giving in his report Pariset did not fail to emphasise the hazardouspart that Kenneth had had in the operation. The commandant complimentedthem both, and made an entry against Kenneth's name in his notebook.Then he said:
"We have had our first encounter with a Zeppelin, and unluckily had theworst of it. The Zeppelin was reconnoitring, and Boissel went inpursuit. The crew opened fire with their machine guns when he wasmanoeuvring for position, and a shot smashed his arm. He managed toland, and then collapsed. The machine was slightly buckled up in comingto ground, and will be useless for a day or two."
"I'm sorry for Boissel," said Pariset. "He will be cut up at beingknocked out so soon. Has the Zeppelin been seen since?"
"No. The forts opened fire upon it, apparently without success, for itsailed away to the north-east."
"Shall we tackle it if it comes back?" Pariset asked eagerly.
"Hadn't you better rest? You have done a good day's work already, and Idon't want to lose you as well as Boissel."
"To tell the truth, our job at the bridge has whetted my appetite, and Iam sure Amory is ready for another go."
"Whenever you please," said Kenneth.
"Very well," said the commandant. "But I beg that you won't be rash.Boissel was a little too eager--a pardonable fault; but prudence is apositive merit."
"We will be discretion itself," said Pariset.
Kenneth smiled; he did not know Boissel, but he could not imagine anyairman more likely to show reckless daring than his friend.
They snatched a meal, then set about their preparations. The Zeppelinbeing manned with a numerous crew armed with rifles and machine guns,and equipped for bomb-throwing, it was axiomatic that the aeroplane musttry to accomplish by superior speed, climbing power, and manageabilitywhat it could not hope to achieve by force. If it were a mere questionof manoeuvring the advantage would lie with the aeroplane. The Zeppelinwould be at a disadvantage in that it presented a bulkier target.
After a hurried discussion--for the Zeppelin might return at anymoment--the two airmen decided to get a number of bombs with time fuses,and to fix in front of the pilot's seat a small petrol lamp, shelteringit from the wind by a zinc screen that would almost enclose it; the fusecould be lit from this.
"It won't be wise to trust to bombs exploding by contact," he explained."They might miss the mark, big as it is; and the envelope of the airshipis so fragile that it is quite possible for a bomb to pass through itwithout exploding."
"But wouldn't the gas escape through the rent, and the thing collapse?"Kenneth asked.
"The envelope consists of several compartments, and one might be injuredwithout affecting the others."
"You won't try rifle shots?"
"Very little use, my son. We should only bore a few holes in it. TheirMausers would be much more dangerous to us. We shouldn't have theslightest chance against them, any more than a torpedo boat would haveagainst a Dreadnought, so far as armament is concerned. But I am simplypanting for the chance to match the aeroplane against the airship. Ihope they'll come back."
"I dare say they will, having got off scot free before. We must beready to fly off at a moment's notice. The Zeppelin is very fast, I'veheard."
"But no match for my machine. We'll use that instead of the Taube. I'mmore used to it; it is faster and better for bomb-dropping."
"You won't pilot it, surely!"
"Indeed I shall! My arm doesn't bother me much, and you know I have hadmuch more experience than you."
"I've had absolutely no experience of bomb-throwing," Kenneth protested.
"Well, you play golf, don't you? Do you remember the first time youwent round?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Simply that, like everybody else, you probably got round in fewerstrokes than you did for months afterwards."
"That's true; and very sickening it is. I'll do my best, then."
When everything was ready, they sat on the grass beside the aeroplane,scanning the sky for the Zeppelin. Kenneth, it must be confessed, wasless impatient than Pariset, whose mercurial temperament ill-brooked awaiting game. He was constantly up and down, snatching up hisfield-glasses every few seconds, "fidgeting about," as Kenneth said tohimself.
It was drawing towards evening when, just as Pariset had dropped hisfield-glasses with a gesture of annoyance, a messenger came running fromthe commandant to say that the Zeppelin had been sighted.
"How does he know?" asked Pariset, incredulously.
"He had word by field telephone," was the answer. "The airship iscoming from the north-east."
Pariset instantly started his engine. But before the aeroplane wasaloft, the airship appeared in the distant sky, like a torpedo of theair. There was a certain fascination in its swift and steady approach,growing bigger and bigger to the sight. Its course would bring itwithin half a mile of the portable sheds; perhaps its object was todestroy the Belgian aeroplanes.
Having a reasonable respect for the Zeppelin's machine guns, Pariset atfirst kept well away from its course. He bore to the east, so as toavoid a direct meeting with it, and to get between it and its base. Thatthe aeroplane had already been seen from the airship, high above it, wasproved by the smack of several bullets upon parts of its structure; butthey had not heard the crackle of the rifles, what with the whirr oftheir engine and the incessant thunder of artillery.
Comparing notes afterwards, they agreed that their first impression waswonder at the speed and accuracy with which the Germans had got theirrange. Pariset at once flew off at a wider angle, trusting to hissuperior speed to carry him out of danger until he had had time to riseabove the Zeppelin. He could climb only gradually, if he was to takefull advantage of his speed. It was nearly ten minutes before Kennethreported that they were about equal with it in height. The airship wasnow at least two miles astern, and had slightly altered its direction.Pariset now swung round. He guessed that the Zeppelin was making forFort Loncin, probably to reconnoitre, for its bombs would have little orno effect on the armoured cupola of the fort. Flying back, he steeredso as to approach the airship on its flank, and succeeded in his aim ofshowing the enemy that the aeroplane was to be reckoned with. It againaltered its course; Pariset shifted his rudder also; and the Zeppelingave chase.
Bullets whistled around the aeroplane, which by this time had risenseveral hundred feet higher than the enemy. Adjusting his planes tosecure the maximum lift, Pariset began to climb steeply, and for someminutes the Zeppelin gained on him in
horizontal direction. But therapidity of his ascent rendered the task of its marksmen very difficult;and they seemed to realise that they were themselves in danger, for theyaltered their course, bearing to the east, as if they had abandoned thechase.
The parts were now reversed. The aeroplane became the hunter, theairship the hunted. Still rising, Pariset gradually reduced thehorizontal distance between them, gaining assistance from the manoeuvresof the Zeppelin, which yawed now and again in order to bring its guns tobear more effectively, thus losing pace. The aeroplane began to closein with it, and Pariset suddenly became aware that he was closing in toorapidly, for the airship either stopped her engines or reduced theirspeed. Before he had time to meet the manoeuvre he had come withineffective range. Bullets pattered around like hail, and only by a swiftwheeling movement did he escape destruction.
Learning caution, he rose still higher, until he estimated that he wasat least 3000 feet above the enemy. At this elevation the swelling bulkof the envelope rendered the machine guns useless, and there was indeedlittle chance of the aeroplane's being hit even by the rifles.
Pariset's object was now to get as nearly as possible vertically abovethe Zeppelin, which the Zeppelin could only prevent by constantlychanging its course and its speed. But Pariset was an adept in thehandling of his machine. He watched every twist and turn of the enemy,and seemed to Kenneth to anticipate them, as a skilful boxer anticipatesthe feints and rallies of his opponent.
"Get ready!" he shouted to Kenneth at last. "A twenty-second fuse!"
Kenneth grasped the bomb, leaning over his seat ready to drop it at theword. He had lost all sense that this was warfare, and throbbed withthe same excitement as stirs the batsman or the three-quarter.
"Now!" cried Pariset.
The bomb fell plumb, but at the same instant the Zeppelin checked, andthe bomb burst many yards ahead, though whether above or below theairship he could not tell. Pariset at once wheeled round, and within afew seconds brought his machine once more above the enemy. At thecritical moment Kenneth dropped a second bomb. There was a flash and aburst of smoke and metal between the two vessels, momentarily hiding thelower from view. But that no harm had been done was proved by theZeppelin shooting ahead on another tack.
"A little too far away," cried Pariset. "No time to descend. Throw thenext, don't drop it."
In its efforts to escape the fate which threatened it the Zeppelin wasnow keeping a straight course. Its skipper evidently realised that inmoving from side to side it enlarged the area of possible disaster. Athird time the aeroplane soared over it, and though its engines wereinstantly stopped, its length was fatal. Kenneth threw the bomb withall his force. The result evoked from Pariset a shout of exultation.The bomb burst a few yards to the right of the airship. For a second ortwo the effect of the explosion was, as it were, in suspense. Thenthere was a burst of flame; the body of the enormous vessel beneath themslowly crumpled up; with incredible rapidity it lost all shape; theformless mass became smaller to their sight; and in a few seconds acloud of dust at an incalculable distance below showed the now horrifiedairmen where the wreck had struck the earth.
THE END OF THE ZEPPELIN]