CHAPTER IV--IN NEUTRAL TERRITORY
The sky was clear; there was very little wind; and Kenneth realised thatthe conditions could hardly have been more propitious. For some minuteshe was too closely occupied with the mechanism to consider direction.The monoplane was strange to him. His experience of flying had beenalmost wholly gained in the machines of his friend Remi Pariset, son ofthe manager of the Antwerp branch of Amory & Finkelstein. Pariset was alieutenant in the Belgian flying corps, and Kenneth had frequentlyaccompanied him in flights, at first as passenger only, afterwards beingallowed to try his hand in the pilot's seat. It had long been his aimto gain the pilot's certificate in England, and, as he had told FriedaFinkelstein, he hoped on the outbreak of war to get a commission in theRoyal Flying Corps.
Though he had never before managed a monoplane of the type of that whichhe had appropriated, he had often watched the German airmen, and after alittle uncertainty in his manipulation of the controls, he "felt" themachine, and recognised that it would give him no trouble. Then he hadleisure to determine his course.
His first idea had been to make all speed to the Belgian coast, and takeship for England. But recollection of the conversation overheardbetween Hellwig and his visitor suggested that he might possibly do somepreliminary service to the Belgians. A bridge was to be blown up. Therecould be no doubt that this operation was part of the German plan ofcampaign, and if it could be frustrated, this would represent so muchgain to the defending force. The river spanned by the bridge had notbeen named, but there was a clue in the fact that the bridge was near amill. His intention now, therefore, was to alight somewhere in Belgiumand communicate his discovery to the military authorities.
In the hurry of departure he was quite oblivious of the direction of hisflight. Now that he had time to consider it, he saw by the compass thathe was flying towards the north-east. Bringing the monoplane round, heset his course for the south-west, hoping to pick up in half an hour orso the lights of Aix-la-Chapelle. He failed to locate the railway linefrom Cologne to Aix, and the few scattered points of light in the blackexpanse below gave him no landmarks.
After a while it occurred to him to switch on the electric light thatilluminated the dial of a small clock. It was a quarter to eleven. Hemust have been flying for nearly half an hour, but neither to right orleft nor straight ahead was there any sign of the expected lights ofAix. The country over which he was passing seemed to be hilly; it waspossible that the lights of the city were hidden by the shoulder of ahill.
Presently his companion shouted that he heard the sound of big guns awayto the left. Kenneth listened, but could hear nothing through thedroning whirr of the propeller.
Every now and then he glanced at the clock, the only indication of thedistance he had covered. When midnight was past, he felt sure thatunless he had completely miscalculated his direction he must by thistime have crossed the German frontier. He was thinking of landing andtrying to discover where he was, when he caught sight in the starlightof a broad river flowing immediately beneath him from south-west tonorth-east. This, he had no doubt, was the Meuse, but he knew nothingof the course of the river, and could not determine whether he was inBelgium or Holland. At any rate he was out of Germany.
Dropping a few hundred feet, and seeing below him a broad expanse offields, apparently flat, he thought it safe to risk a descent. Nolights were visible. A rapid swoop brought the machine into a meadow oflong grass ripe for hay, and he came lightly to the ground.
"I make you my compliments," said his companion, as they climbed out oftheir seats. "It is my first aerial voyage, and I am pretty sure thatno one has ever tempted the empyrean under such exciting circumstances.But why did you come down? I hoped we should find ourselves at Ostend."
"I'll tell you my reason. I don't know where I am, but we had bettercamp here till morning, and then explore. Keep a look-out while Iglance over the engine; we must be ready to get off again at a moment'snotice."
He switched on the light and made a careful examination of the engine;then, rubbing his dirty hands on the grass, he threw himself down besidehis companion.
"We've had uncommon luck," he said.
"You under-estimate the personal equation," returned the other. "Iconsider myself supremely lucky in having met you. Your daring is asgreat as your ingenuity, Amory. By the way, I have the advantage ofyou. I have as many names as the chameleon has colours, but the namesgiven me in baptism were Lewis Granger. Now we're quits on that score."
"Thanks. You are a spy, I suppose?"
"Well, that rather opprobrious term would cover me, I presume. Asensitive person might prefer to call himself a secret agent. What's ina name?"
"It's pretty dangerous work, anyhow, and I'm jolly glad you're out ofthe Germans' clutches. You asked why I came down. It's because I'm asort of secret agent too."
"You don't say so!"
"Oh, it's quite involuntary. I happened to overhear a conversation afew hours before I was nabbed. I'll tell you about it."
"Wait. I have no credentials. Do you think it wise to confide in astranger?"
"That's all right," said Kenneth, who had taken an instant liking to theman. "We're in the same boat. What I overheard was a scheme forblowing up a bridge somewhere in Belgium, and I thought that beforegoing on to England I might put the Belgians up to it."
"That's worth a few hours' delay. What you say confirms my ownknowledge of the extraordinary minuteness of the German plans.'Somewhere in Belgium,' you say. You don't know where?"
"No. The name of the river was not mentioned either by Hellwig or----"
"Hellwig! Does his Christian name happen to be Kurt?"
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"I have crossed swords with him--not literally, you understand, thoughnothing would please me better than a bout with him with the buttonsoff. I have one or two scores to settle with him. His Christian namewould be more truly descriptive with the loss of a T. But how in theworld did you come across him? He's not the kind of man I should expectto meet in your company."
"He's the cousin of my poor father's partner, Max Finkelstein. Maxgives him a salary; he doesn't earn a penny of it, but Max is akind-hearted beggar. He wouldn't do it if he knew that Hellwig wasa--secret agent."
"Don't mind my feelings, my dear fellow," said Granger, with a laugh."We're a very mixed lot, I assure you. Do you mind repeating what youoverheard, as nearly as you can remember it?"
When the story was told, Granger acknowledged that ignorance of theposition of the bridge was an obstacle to forewarning the Belgianauthorities.
"Still, they ought to know every inch of the probable theatre of war,"he said, "and may spot the place at once."
"We'll see in the morning," said Kenneth. "Meanwhile we had better takewatch and watch about during the rest of the night. I don't suppose anyone will come by while it's dark, but it's as well to be on the safeside. I'll take first watch."
"Very well. It will be light in less than five hours. I'll snooze fora couple of hours; wake me then."
The night was warm, and Kenneth, in his policeman's coat, suffered nodiscomfort. His watch passed undisturbed, and he was very sleepy whenhe roused Granger.
About five o'clock he was wakened from a sound sleep by a nudge from hiscompanion.
"Sorry to disturb you," said Granger, "but there's a group of peasantsapproaching with scythes. Evidently they are going to mow the meadow."
Kenneth started up.
"Belgians?" he asked.
"Or Dutch," replied Granger. "We shall soon know."
The peasants, more than a dozen in number, came straight towards theaeroplane. Recognising the German uniforms, as the two men rose fromthe ground, they halted, consulted for a moment or two, then advanced,holding their scythes threateningly.
"I fancy they're Dutch," said Granger. "My good friends," he called inDutch, "will you tell us where we are?"
On hearing their own tongue the men co
nsulted again. Then one of themleft the party, and hurried back by the way he had come. The restadvanced slowly, keeping close together, not replying to the question,and wearing an air of suspicion and hostility.
"They have sent a man back to his village to warn the authorities," saidGranger. "We must find out where we are."
The peasants halted at a little distance, and stood in an attitude ofwatchfulness.
"We are not Germans, in spite of our dress," Granger continued. "As amatter of fact, we are Englishmen who have lost our way."
The stolid Dutchmen looked round upon one another with a knowing air asmuch as to say "We have heard that story before." Granger tried again.
"Come, come, it is the truth, I assure you. All we want is to knowwhere we are; then we will pursue our journey."
There was again a consultation among the group. Then one of them said,pugnaciously:
"You are near Weert, as you know very well."
"Weert is some few miles north-east of Maestricht," Granger remarked toKenneth. "We don't want to know any more. I think we had better beoff. They don't believe we are not Germans, and as neutrals they willhold us up if we wait until the village authorities arrive. I hope theywon't show fight, for we are absolutely unarmed, and those scythes arerather formidable implements."
"We're in an awkward hole, certainly," said Kenneth. "By the look ofthem they'll set on to us as soon as they see us making ready to go."
"The police took my revolver when they searched me," said Granger;"otherwise we might intimidate them."
"I wonder--" began Kenneth, thrusting his hand into the inner pocket ofhis coat. "By Jove! What luck! Here's the policeman's revolver. Keepthem back with that while I start the engine. I shall only be a minuteor two."
Granger took the revolver unobtrusively. Kenneth went to the front ofthe aeroplane and swung the propeller round, the peasants watching himat first without understanding. When the engine began to fire, however,they realised the meaning of the movements, and came on brandishingtheir scythes. Granger, standing close by the seat, lifted therevolver.
"Now, my good men," he said amiably, "we are going to leave you, as youappear not to relish our company. If any of you come within a dozenyards of us I shall fire."
The men came to a halt, scowling at the little weapon pointed at them bya steady arm. Kenneth got into his seat.
"I'm ready," he said.
Granger slowly backed and handed him the revolver, with which Kennethcovered the peasants as his companion clambered up beside him. Evenbefore Granger was seated the aeroplane began to move. The peasantsscattered out of its path, cursing the German pigs. It rose into theair; Kenneth swung it round to the south-west, and in half a minute itwas sailing away out of danger. Glancing round, Granger smiled as hecaught sight of a half squadron of Dutch cavalry galloping into themeadow behind them.
"THE PEASANTS SCATTERED OUT OF ITS PATH"]