Read Ebook: The Airship Boys in the Great War; or The Rescue of Bob Russell by Cass De Lysle F Kennedy H O Harry Otis Illustrator

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Ebook has 864 lines and 47379 words, and 18 pages

"Good! Kindly contrive to knock the big dictionary off your desk the moment anyone comes in, so that I may be warned of any visitors without their knowing it. That is all." She closed the door.

"Now, boys."

Ned resumed his explanation.

Wrinkles of deep thought lined the great newspaper man's forehead as he listened attentively to the brief outline of the Airship Boys' plan. He would have met such statements from any other boys not yet twenty-one years old with absolute ridicule, but he knew that, despite their youth, Ned Napier and Alan Hope were fully capable of carrying out their scheme.

"One thing more, though, boys," said he, after a short period of silence. "Just how are you going to get Mr. Russell out of prison after you arrive in Muhlbruck? You won't be able to overpower a whole German garrison, you know. Then, too, the chances are that when they see an airship of such unusual design as yours floating down upon them, they'll recognize it as being of foreign construction and fire upon you."

Alan answered him:

"We haven't had time to plan that far ahead yet; we're going to let that part of it take care of itself. We'll have to be governed by circumstances after we get there anyway."

"And in regard to their firing upon us as a hostile airship," supplemented Ned. "I think the chances are that they may take us for one of their new types of dirigibles that Count Zeppelin is said to have almost ready for a big aerial raid upon England."

The editor smiled a bit sadly at their shining eyes and enthusiastic faces. Then he shook his head.

"Certainly you shall have all that you ask for," cried the managing editor. "And here's hoping that you make that bigoted old General Haberkampf come to his knees with--"

Further utterance froze on the editor's lips and both boys sprang startled to their feet. Miss Bloomfield's big dictionary had fallen to the floor with a bang in the outer office!

For a breathless moment all four of those in the private office stared quizzically at each other. The German was the first to recover his composure.

"Excuse, gentlemen," said he, bowing low to each in turn, "I did not mean to interrupt, but did I not leave my gloves there on the desk?"

"I think not, sir," replied the editor gravely. "Come in. You do not interrupt us. My conference with these gentlemen is already concluded. Mr. Napier, Mr. Hope, good day. I shall send you by boy this afternoon the copies from our files about which you inquired. Good-bye!"

As the Airship Boys passed out of the office, Mr. Geisthorn again bent upon them his peculiarly disconcerting stare. They remarked that his pale blue eyes were as hard and cold as steel.

"Well, young men, I've good news--truly surprising news for you," said Major Baldwin Honeywell, as he shook hands with Ned and Alan the next morning when they returned to the offices of the Universal Transportation Company.

"We hope that you're right, Major," answered Ned. "What is the good news?"

"The machine itself cost us about twenty-five thousand dollars, Major. I should say that the market value of the craft itself, allowing compensation for our time and the fact that the airship is absolutely unique, ought to make it worth at least a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand dollars."

Major Honeywell was rubbing his hands delightedly.

"Fine, fine! I knew that you would estimate it at about that amount. Boys, what do you say to a prospective purchaser who is willing to pay three hundred thousand dollars spot cash for this single model, leaving the company full patent and all further construction rights?"

"But the machine isn't for sale at any price," said Alan quietly. "We intend to use it ourselves immediately, and until we are finished with it, no consideration would tempt us to sell."

"Major," said Alan, "we are deeply grateful for your interest in the matter, but we feel that we can't look at it as a mere matter of dollars and cents just now. Something a great deal more valuable to us is at stake--the life of Bob Russell, whom you know."

Then Alan went on to tell Major Honeywell all about Bob's predicament and how they proposed to save him. The old gentleman's face grew more and more grave as he listened, and several times he shook his head disapprovingly.

"But, my dear boys," he exclaimed, after Alan had concluded outlining their plans, "have you sufficiently considered the terrible dangers that you incur by this rash procedure? Quite aside from the momentary probability of aerial mishap, you must realize that the Germans would shoot you without scruple under the circumstances. Moreover, the entire United States government would be powerless to help you if once you were caught in a breach of neutrality laws, as your act certainly would be construed."

"Thank you kindly for the well-meant word of caution, Major," answered Alan, "but there is nothing you could say which would make us give up this chance of saving poor Bob's life."

"Then, if that is the case, here is my hand, boys, and my heartiest well wishes go with you. While I cannot conscientiously endorse so dangerous a proceeding, I still can admire the pluck which prompts it."

Both boys flushed under their kindly old friend's praise, and Ned, who up to this time had played the part of a listener, said:

Major Honeywell shook his head.

This was a new thought to Alan, who slapped his knee, exclaiming:

"Or France wants it to use in dropping bombs along the western battle front in Belgium," said Major Honeywell.

"Or maybe Germany wants it to supplement their rumored fleet of Zeppelins for the long-planned raid on England," added Ned.

All three could not help but laugh heartily at the diversity of opinions thus expressed. In the midst of their merriment the telephone on Major Honeywell's desk began suddenly to ring insistently.

Major Honeywell rolled a wild eye at the intently listening boys. Both shook their heads emphatically. The Major turned again to the telephone.

As the Major asked this final question, Ned sprang to an adjacent extension of the telephone. He caught the distant guttural rumble of a heavy voice:

"My name, it is of no matter since you have not the airship for sale. Good-bye."

The words were spoken with a marked German accent that in some way seemed peculiarly familiar to Ned. He had heard that voice before, and recently too. But where?

Their shopping for necessary supplies did not take the boys long, for they could estimate pretty closely what they would need. On account of the extremely high altitudes at which they would fly it was necessary for them to buy especially heavy underwear, felt boots, wool jackets, fleece-lined fingered mittens and heavy caps for four persons--as Alan said: "The fourth outfit for Bob Russell, so that he won't freeze coming back with us."

Then there were food supplies to be bought, a dozen hair-trigger automatic revolvers, half a dozen light-weight repeating rifles of the latest pattern, cartridge belts, rounds of ammunition, and a large American flag. Neither the firearms nor the flag were to be used except in case of absolute necessity.

All incidental shopping completed, Major Honeywell placed his big automobile at the disposal of Ned and Alan, and the trip between Greater New York and Newark was accomplished at a rate that turned the speedometer needle halfway around its circumference and raised angry protests from every traffic policeman as the car whizzed by. This was not, of course, a wise thing to do, but the Major's chauffeur was an especially good driver and the boys felt justified by the exceptional matter in hand.

An unusual stir was apparent inside the field of the aeroplane works as the Major's automobile raced up to the high brick wall which insured privacy for the grounds. At the far end of the ground stretched the squatty brick buildings of the factory, with a wireless station and various other signaling devices on the parapeted roof. Extending out from the yard front and ending at the edge of the big experimental field, was the "setting-up room," a drop of heavy canvas roofing, supported every hundred feet by rough, unpainted posts. Under this tent-like structure was to be seen almost every size and variety of flying craft made in America, to say nothing of several flying machines of obviously foreign design. Most of these were covered by heavy tarpaulins to protect them while not in use. A whole corps of mechanicians was just then pushing out into the aviation field another and very different type of flyer, the heroic proportions of which dwarfed all the other machines into insignificance.

The eyes of the Airship Boys lighted up.

"There she goes!" they cried in unison. "They are getting her all ready for us."

They jumped out of the automobile and hurried across the field to where the peerless wonder of the world's aircraft stood, a literal monument to their inventive genius.

Overlapping, dull glinting plates of the recently-discovered metal magnalium covered the entire body of the vessel like the scales of a fish. The planes and truss were likewise formed of this substance, which is a magnesium alloy with copper and standard vanadium, or chrome steel. The extreme lightness of magnalium, combined with a toughness found in no other metal or alloy, made possible the perfection of this largest of all airships.

The vessel was modeled after the general form of a sea gull, with wings outspread in full flight, its peculiarly ingenious construction insuring not only the maximum of speed, but also that hitherto elusive automatic stability of the planes which for years past has been the despair of aeroplane builders on both sides of the "big pond."

Braces extending from the bottom of the car body and metal cables from the top partly supported the vast expanse of magnalium steel sheets, but toward the outer ends, the wings, or planes, extended unsupported in apparent defiance of all mechanical laws. Three sets of "tandem" planes projected with slight dihedral angles for a distance decreasing from eighty, to sixty, to forty feet, on each side of the ship body, affording a wing-spread never before successfully attained, and giving the whole the exact resemblance of a gigantic metal bird.

Within the hull of the vessel, four feet from the bottom, a shaft extended carrying a third or auxiliary "moon" propeller, differing from the exterior side propellers by being seven instead of eleven feet in length. This reserve propelling force was for use in case either of the other propellers became disabled.

Weighing over five hundred pounds each, and with a velocity of one thousand five hundred revolutions per minute, those big turbines generated nine hundred and seventy-three horse power, natural brake test, and this could be raised to more than a thousand horse power without danger. Revolving in opposite directions, they eliminated all dangerous gyroscopic action. As has been said, power was applied to the propellers by special magnalium gearing.

A supply of oxygen was of course carried for use in case of necessity, although the Airship Boys had in the past proved that their funnel device obviated all need of it.

The pilot room was located at the bow on the second deck. In appearance it largely resembled the wheel-house of the ordinary ocean liner. The compass box, with its compensating magnetic mechanism beneath, stood just in front of the steering wheel, below and parallel with which, but not connected with it, was a wheel for elevating or depressing the planes. Both of these wheels operated indirectly, utilizing compressed air cylinders to move the big rudder and wing surfaces. At the right of these wheels was the engine control, consisting of a series of starting and stopping levers for each engine and the gear clutch for each wheel.

At the left, in compact, semicircular form, was the signal-board, the automatic indicator recording at all times the position of each plane, the set of the rudder and the speed of the engines. Below this was the chronometer and a speaking tube which kept the pilot always in communication with every other part of the vessel. Immediately behind the pilot's wheel was a seeming confusion of indicators and gauges for the making of observations. There was the aerometer, the automatic barograph, the checking barometer, the equilibrium statoscope, a self-recording thermometer, the compressed air gauge for all compartments, chart racks, indicators to show the exact rate of consumption of fuel and lubricating oil and so on.

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