CHAPTER II.
MONTENEGRIN MOUNTAINEERS.
Hal drew a sharp breath and tightened his hold upon the steering wheel.
There was no question that Stubbs' voice had carried to the occupants ofthe second craft, and as Stubbs had exclaimed aloud in English there waslittle doubt in the minds of our three friends that the Austrians wouldseek an explanation. Nor were they wrong.
Came a hail from the Austrian:
"Who've you got aboard, there?"
"Prisoner," replied Hal, thinking quickly.
"What are you doing with him?"
"We--" Hal began, but the Austrian interrupted.
"Spies, that's what you are! Down to the ground now, or I'll put a holethrough you."
"Guess it's no use fooling any longer," muttered Hal.
He threw over the elevating lever and the large craft soared rapidly. Atthe same moment a shot rang out from aboard the Austrian, followed by acry of surprise, and then the Austrian gave chase.
"Get your guns and see if you can pick 'em off," Hal instructed Chesterand Colonel Anderson. "I'll run this thing, but you fellows will have todo the fighting."
"Suits me," responded Chester, examining his revolver carefully.
Colonel Anderson also nodded his agreement to this plan.
Hal now changed his course and the airship headed toward the south,bearing off a trifle to the east, in a direction that he believed,eventually, would land them in Serbia.
It became apparent now that the Austrian had not boasted of the speed ofhis craft without reason, for he gained perceptibly.
"We can't out-run him, Hal," shouted Chester.
"Then we shall have to try something else," was the reply.
Abruptly he reduced the speed of the craft and the Austrians dashed inrange of the revolvers of the fugitives almost before they could haverealized it.
"Crack! Crack!"
Chester and Colonel Anderson had fired. There came a scream of pain frombehind and the Austrian craft wobbled crazily. A moment later a mansprang to his feet, sought to retain his footing, threw up his arms andwent hurtling into space.
"Got one, Hal!" said Chester, quietly.
"Good!"
Came a volley of small arm fire from behind and bullets whined about thefour friends. Again Chester and Colonel Anderson fired almostsimultaneously and again their efforts were rewarded. A second man wasput out of the fight, as they could see.
At this moment Stubbs came into action.
He arose from his seat and, grasping the side of the speeding craft withhis left hand for support, stood to his full height. His right arm drewback, then flashed sharply forward again and a small object went spinningthrough the air toward the Austrian airship.
It struck home and there was a terrible explosion, followed by severalsharp cries of pain, as the Austrian airship seemed to split into athousand pieces. A moment later these pieces disappeared.
The three friends turned upon Stubbs.
"What is this, magic?" asked Chester in surprise.
"No," replied Stubbs, quietly. "Melenite. I just happened to see a stickof it here, so I threw it."
"Well, you did a pretty good job, Stubbs," said Colonel Anderson.
"I didn't pitch for my college team two years for nothing," returnedStubbs modestly. "But now let's go down. I want to get my feet on theground again."
"It won't be much longer, Stubbs," said Hal. "Another two hours at thisspeed should put us across the Serbian frontier. Just be patient."
"I'll wait," replied Stubbs, "but I won't promise to be patient."
He sank back to his place and refused to talk further.
While the big army craft is speeding across Austria it will be agood time to explain the presence of the four friends in theirpresent predicament and introduce them briefly to those who have notmet them before.
Hal Paine and Chester Crawford were both American lads. With the former'smother, they had been in Berlin at the outbreak of the great war, and,after a series of interesting and exciting adventures, they made theirway to Liege just in time to take part in the defense of that strongholdwith the Belgian army.
There they won distinction and lieutenancies in the Belgian service, thelatter bestowed upon them by King Albert himself. They had been in Francewith the British troops that had stopped the German drive on Paris andhad gone with the Allied army on its advance. They had seen service onall fronts and now considered themselves veteran campaigners.
Colonel Anderson they had met in Berlin just after the Kaiser haddeclared war upon France. The colonel, lieutenant then, and MajorDerevaux, a Frenchman, had taken the boys with them on their flight andthe four had later encountered each other in many strange andunexpected places.
Stubbs they also had met while on one of their many missions and hadearned the little man's undying gratitude; but he had repaid whateverthey had done for him, with interest, more than once.
The boys, in their latest exploit, had been with the Italian army inthe Alps. Two of the four friends having fallen into the hands of theenemy, the others had entered the enemy's lines in an effort to effecttheir escape.
It was a daring adventure, but after a fight and chase, the four hadmanaged to seize the airship in which we now find them and had at lastfought their way clear. They had then held a council of war and decidedthat it was best to head for the Balkans, rather than to run the gauntletof the Austrian flying craft which kept constant vigil in the directionof the Italian lines.
Hal and Chester, typical American lads, were large and strong for theirages, which were within a year of each other, seventeen and eighteen now.In the rough lumber camps of the north, the two had had considerableexperience in the use of firearms and the art of self-defense--fists.Also, during the school term each had practiced the use of the sworduntil, though by no means experts, they could give a fair account ofthemselves with this weapon--as each had done more than once.
Fortunately, both lads had made a study of languages and spoke French andGerman fluently. They never had trouble on that score.
The great war up to this point had not gone as successfully as theEntente Allies had hoped in the early days. The German lines on allfronts were seemingly stronger than ever before. Even the entrance ofItaly into the war on the side of the Allies had failed to turn thebalance, as it had been confidently expected it would. East and west, theGerman lines held, while in the Balkans the enemy was even now advancingagainst the heroic little Serbian army, which, before many days, was tobe forced to relinquish its country to the iron heel of the invader.Montenegro, the smallest factor in the war, still was fighting hard--therugged and gigantic mountaineers giving a good account of themselves uponall sides.
This was the situation, then, as the airship containing Colonel Anderson,British officer, Anthony Stubbs, American war correspondent, and HalPaine and Chester Crawford sped southward over Austria.
Several hours after the sinking of the Austrian aeroplane Chester spoke.
"Where do you suppose we are now, Hal?" he asked.
"I believe we must have crossed the frontier," replied Hal. "However,we'll wait another half hour before descending to have a look."
The half hour up, Hal sent the airship lower and lower. Soon, a faintgray speck below became visible, assuming larger and larger proportions,until all aboard made out the ground beneath.
And then, half a mile ahead, a body of troops were seen. Hal checked thespeed of the craft immediately.
"Don't know who they are," he explained. "We'll be careful. They may beall right and then again they may not be."
He sent the machine higher again and a few minutes later the craft hungdirectly above the troops below.
"I can't make out those uniforms," declared Chester.
"Nor I," said Hal. "However, they are not Austrian, I can see that. We'lltake a chance and go down."
Again the machine moved closer toward the earth, and a few minutes latercame to rest upon the ground a short distance from t
he main body oftroops. A squad of men, let by an officer, came hurriedly forward,covering the four friends with their rifles.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Colonel Anderson. "You must have miscalculated abit, Hal. I recognize them now."
"Well, who are they?" demanded the lad.
"Montenegrins."
"Good," cried Chester. "Then we are among friends."
The four friends raised their hands in token of surrender as the officerand his men came toward them. A few paces away, the officer halted andaddressed them.
Hal shook his head.
"Can't understand that lingo," he exclaimed.
He addressed the officer in English and the officer also indicated thathe could not understand.
"Don't want to tackle him in German if I can help it," said Hal. "Itmight not suit him."
"Well, what's the matter with French?" Chester wanted to know.
"Nothing, I guess," returned Hal. "I'll try him. We are Britishofficers," he said, addressing the Montenegrin officer, "and we have justescaped from the Austrians."
The Montenegrin understood and replied in broken French:
"How am I to know you are not of the enemy?"
"Well, I don't know, to tell the truth," Hal replied with a pleasantsmile. "I am afraid it does look a little bad for us, as we have nothingto prove our identities. But if you have a British or French officerabout here, perhaps we can convince him."
The Montenegrin nodded.
"Fortunately, we have," he said. He ordered one of his men to summonColonel Edwards.
"By Jove!" said Anderson. "I know an Edwards. I wonder can it bethe same?"
"No such luck, I am afraid," said Chester.
But it was; and a few moments later Colonel Edwards and Colonel Andersonwere shaking hands affectionately.