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The plunging monster glided by.--Page 38.]
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THE BOY AVIATORS WITH THE AIR RAIDERS
A Story of the Great World War
BY
CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON
AUTHOR OF "THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS' SERIES," "THE BOY AVIATORS IN NICARAGUA," "THE BOY AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE," "THE BOY AVIATORS IN AFRICA," "THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE QUEST," "THE BOY AVIATORS IN RECORD FLIGHT," "THE BOY AVIATORS' POLAR DASH," "THE BOY AVIATORS' FLIGHT FOR A FORTUNE," ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES L. WRENN
NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS
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Copyright, 1915, BY HURST & COMPANY
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I. Not Far from the Firing Line 5 II. The Work of German Spies 18 III. Saving the Great Seaplane 29 IV. The Escape 38 V. A Night on the Channel 49 VI. Under Shrapnel Fire 60 VII. The _Sea Eagle_ on Parade 72 VIII. A Safe Return 83 IX. Thrilling News 94 X. The Aeroplane Boys in Luck 106 XI. The Man in the Locker 117 XII. Frank Makes a Bargain 129 XIII. Not Caught Napping 142 XIV. The Peril in the Sky 151 XV. On Guard 162 XVI. The Coming of the Dawn 173 XVII. News by Wireless 185 XVIII. Off with the Air Raiders 196 XIX. How Zeebrugge was Bombarded 207 XX. Caught in a Snow Squall 218 XXI. A Startling Discovery 230 XXII. The Narrow Escape 241 XXIII. The Windmill Fort 252 XXIV. Friends in Need 261 XXV. The Desperate Game of Tag 275 XXVI. Headed Toward Home 298
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The Boy Aviators with the Air Raiders.
CHAPTER I.
NOT FAR FROM THE FIRING LINE.
"It seems queer not to have Harry along with us on this trip to the warzone of Europe!"
"Just what Pudge, here, was saying last night, Billy. But you know mybrother Harry has been ordered by Doctor Perkins to keep quiet for twowhole months."
"Frank, he was lucky to break only his arm and collar bone, when itmight have been his neck, in that nasty fall. But why are you rubbingyour eyes like that, I'd like to know, Pudge Perkins?"
"Pirates and parachutes, I'll tell you why, Billy. Every little while Iget to thinking I must be dreaming. So I pinch myself, and dig myknuckles in my eyes to make sure. But it's the real thing, isn't it,boys?"
"If you mean that the three of us, here, representing the _Sea EagleCompany, Limited_, of Brig Island, in Casco Bay, Maine, makers ofup-to-date seaplanes, have come over to look up a sample shipment of ourmanufactures, and find ourselves being pestered by the French andBritish Governments to take a contract from them, why it certainly isthe real thing."
"It was lucky my father has that arrangement with the French Governmentto protect our property through thick and thin," continued the boycalled Pudge, who, as his name would signify, was very rotund in build,with a rosy face, and a good-natured twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes, only for that they would have commandeered the boxed seaplane longago, and by now dozens of fleets made on the same model would bepouncing on the German bases along the Belgian coast," remarked the boywhose name was Frank, and to whom the other two evidently looked up asthough he might be their leader in the enterprise requiring skill andcourage.
"But they've been mighty good to us since then," went on Pudge. "Theyhave allowed us to have a substantial hangar built after our ownpeculiar pattern within reach of the water here at Dunkirk, though weare not so many miles away from where the Allies are fighting theKaiser's men who are in Belgian trenches."
"Yes," added Billy Barnes, who had once been a lively reporter, now amember of the aeroplane manufacturing company engaged in making theremarkable type of airships invented by Pudge's scientific father,Doctor Perkins, "and during these weeks we've been able to get ourmachine together, so that right now it's in prime condition for making aflight on the sea or in the air."
"Whisper that next time, Billy," cautioned Frank, casting a quick glanceabout him as the three boys continued to walk along the road leading outof Dunkirk, which in places even skirted the water's edge.
"Why, what's up, Frank?" exclaimed the talkative Billy. "Do you thinkthese bushes and trees have ears?"
"No, but there might be some sharp German spy hanging around thisplace," replied the other earnestly. "You know they do say they'reeverywhere. I've heard British soldiers in Calais and Dunkirk tell ofmysterious strangers who disappeared when approached as if they weremade of smoke. This spy system the Kaiser's men have down to a finepoint. It's hard to keep anything from being carried to GermanHeadquarters these days."
"Still, there are a lot of things they haven't learned before theyhappened," declared Billy. "That first British army of some eightythousand soldiers came over to France, and nobody knew a thing about ituntil they were on the firing line. But, Frank, do you reckon theGermans have been watching the three of us working here with our hangarand hydro-aeroplane?"
"I'm as sure of it as I am of my own name," declared the other firmly."Why, the very fact that our hangar differed so much from ordinary ones,being so much larger for one thing, would make them suspect. Then therehas been a heap of talk going on about this wonderful airship of ours,which was carried, every word of it, to German Headquarters."
"Batter and butterflies!" spluttered Pudge, who seemed addicted tostrange exclamations, especially when excited, "we'll certainly have towatch out, then, now that our wonderful _Sea Eagle_ is in workingorder."
"Yes," said Billy Barnes earnestly, "it would be a tough joke on thecompany to have some clever thieves get away with it, just when we areready to show the French Government that it is away above ordinaryseaplanes."
"There's the hangar, boys," remarked Frank, with a vein of relief in hisvoice, as though grave fears may have been giving him more or lessuneasiness. "Stir your stumps, Pudge, and we'll soon be under our ownroof. I may have a suggestion to make after we've looked around a bitthat I hope both of you will agree with."
While the three chums are advancing on the strangely elevated buildingthat had been erect
ed to accommodate their seaplane, we may takeadvantage of the opportunity to glance backward a bit, in order to seewho and what they were. We do this for the benefit of those readers whomay not have had the good fortune to peruse previous volumes in thisseries.
Two bright, inventive brothers, New York boys, who had actually built anaeroplane which they named the _Golden Eagle_, had shipped it to CentralAmerica when given a chance to save a plantation owned by their father,and threatened by the revolutionists in Nicaragua. This they had managedto accomplish, through the assistance of a young reporter friend namedBilly Barnes. In this book, which was called _The Boy Aviators inNicaragua_, were also related the thrilling adventures that befell theyoung air pilots when their craft was carried out to sea in anelectrical storm; and also how they were rescued by means of a wirelessapparatus through which they communicated with a steamer.
In the second volume, _The Boy Aviators on Secret Service_, the readerwas taken to the mysterious Everglades region of Florida where the younginventors once more demonstrated their ability to grapple withemergencies. They proved that they were patriotic sons of Uncle Sam bydiscovering and putting out of commission a factory that was makingdangerous explosives without the consent of the Washington Government.
It was a long jump from Florida to the depths of the Dark Continent, butthe occasion arose necessitating their taking this trip to Africa. Ifyou want to learn how theirs was virtually the first aeroplane to soarabove the trackless heart of Africa, how they found the hidden hoard ofpriceless ivory secreted by slavers in the wonderful Moon Mountains,what strange things came about through their being hunted by thevindictive Arab slave trader, with many other interesting adventures,you can do so by procuring _The Boy Aviators in Africa_.
Through the coaxing of their warm chum, Billy Barnes, the boys were nextinduced to enter in a competitive race across the continent, and it canbe easily understood that the pages of this book, _The Boy Aviators inRecord Flight_, fairly teem with exciting incidents and thrillingadventures. Crossing the great Western cow country, they met with manydifficulties from sand storms to treacherous cowboys and renegadeIndians that threatened to end their game voyage. But the sameindomitable spirit that had carried Frank and Harry through so manytrials allowed them to meet with the glorious success they so richlydeserved.
From one series of adventures like this it was easy for the wide-awakeyoung air pilots to engage in others. A story of an old Spanish galleoncaught in the grip of that mysterious Sargasso Sea, where the circlingtides have held vessels amidst the floating grass for centuries,fascinated them, and they set out to explore the dismal region that hasbeen the graveyard for countless ships. Of course, the lure lay in thefact that a vast treasure was said to be aboard this old galleon; andthe hunt for it, together with the opposition caused by a rivalexpedition, makes great reading for boys who have red blood in theirveins. It is all set down in _The Boy Aviators' Treasure Quest_, whichhas been voted one of the best of the entire series.
_The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash_ was possibly the most remarkable exampleof Young America's nerve ever written. How the brothers came to plan thetrip to the Antarctic region, and what amazing things happened to themwhile carrying it out, you will certainly appreciate when you read thebook. The object of the expedition was fairly covered, and they cameback in safety; but only for the aeroplane the result could never havebeen attained, which proved how valuable an airship might be amidst theeternal ice of the frozen zones.
In the volume following this, the boys again found themselves caught ina swirl of exciting events. They had become engaged to Doctor Perkins,who was not only a scientific gentleman of note but particularly anaviator bent on startling the world through the agency of a monsterseaplane which he had invented. He believed that a voyage across theocean could easily be made in one of his safe aircraft, which combinedmany features not as yet in common use among the most advanced aviators.On Brig Island in Casco Bay, within sight of the Maine coast, theyerected their factory, and manufactured various types of aeroplanes forthe market. So far this wonderful seaplane had not been given to theworld, for Doctor Perkins was shrewd enough to first get his patents inall foreign countries in order to protect his interests. In _The BoyAviators' Flight for a Fortune_ have been related a series of remarkableadventures that befell the young air pilots when trying out the first ofthese enormous hydro-aeroplanes, that would skim along the water or sailthrough the air with equal swiftness and safety.
One of these enormous seaplanes had been boxed in sections and shippedover to France, with the design of giving the Government officials anactual exhibition before they would agree to making a large contractwith the firm.
Then the terrible world war had broken out, and for some months it wasnot known just what had become of the precious machine.
Finally word was received that it was safe at Havre, under theprotection of the French Government, which would adhere strictly to theletter of the written agreement which they had entered into with theAmerican company.
An urgent request was sent across the sea for some competent aviators tocome over and put the several parts together, so that an actual testcould be made. The French Government, if the trial proved convincing,stood ready to make almost any kind of contract with the company. Thiswould be either in the way of ordering a large number of seaplanes,providing they could be delivered without breaking the neutrality lawsbinding the United States, or else giving a royalty on each and everymachine manufactured in France under the patents granted to the doctor.
This necessary but brief explanation puts the reader, who may not havepreviously known Frank and his chums, in possession of facts concerningtheir past. While Pudge Perkins, the doctor's son, was not anexperienced aviator, he had picked up more or less general knowledge inthe factory, and had come abroad with Frank and Billy, as he wasaccustomed to say, just to "keep them from dying of the blues, in casethe French Government kept putting them off from week to week, or ifanything else disagreeable happened."
Indeed, Pudge, with his abounding good nature, his love for fun, andgreat capacity for eating, might be looked upon as a pretty fineantidote for the dread disease known as the "blues." No one could longremain depressed in mind when _he_ was around. Besides, Pudge was reallysmarter than he looked; appearances in his case were apt to bedeceptive; for the boy had a fund of native sagacity back of his jollyways.
Their hangar had been built in a rather lonely spot close to the water.This was done for several purposes, chief among which might be mentionedtheir desire to avoid publicity.
The obliging French authorities had even placed a guard at the pointwhere the road passed the open spot now enclosed with a high fence; andso effectual had this proved that up to now the Americans had really notbeen annoyed to any extent.
Frank, however, had known for some time that all their movements werebeing watched from different elevated stations in the way of hilltops,or the roofs of houses, by men who carried field glasses. He had manytimes caught the glint of the sun on the lens when a movement was made.
As long as it went no further than that Frank had not cared, becausethese suspected spies could see next to nothing. But of late seriousfears had begun to annoy him. The seaplane was ready for its first trip,and in a condition where it might be stolen, if a band of daring mentook it into their heads to make the attempt.
At one end of the hangar a long track with a gradual slope ran down tothe water, so that the seaplane could be launched in that way ifdesired. A narrow stairway on the land side led up to the stout doorwhich they always kept fastened with an odd padlock capable of resistingconsiderable pressure.
Each one of the three boys had a key for this lock, which they were verycareful to keep fastened to a steel pocket chain. Pudge, having mountedthe stair first, puffing from the exertion, was about to insert his keyin the padlock when he was heard to utter an exclamation. The others sawhim look closely, and then turn upon them with an expression of mingledalarm and consternation on his round face. r />
"As sure as you live, boys," the stout boy gasped, "that's a bit of waxsticking to our padlock! Someone's been taking an impression so as tohave a duplicate key made!"