by Mark Hodder
Was it a hostile craft? Sexton Blake caught his breath sharply as the thought occurred to him. It might be one of the British airships from Aldershot; but it might just as easily be one of the foreign ones that had lately met with much success. If the tales about their flights were true, they might easily have flown a long way on a dark night like this—secretly and unobserved.
And for what purpose?
Until now the sound of breaking waves had come clearly to Sexton Blake’s ears; but they began to die away, and he knew that the airship, whatever her nationality, was rising rapidly. This certainly looked as if she wished to escape observation, and to be out of the range of the searchlights should they flash out again.
A dash of sand, ballast from the strange craft above him, struck the detective’s face, and as it did so a terrible thought came into his mind.
Suppose some hostile power had been waiting for such time as this, a moment when most of Great Britain’s magnificent Fleet lay within a small space, to drop deadly melinite bombs, or some equally death–dealing and destructive explosive among them?
Sexton Blake felt as if his heart had stopped beating, and for the briefest fraction of a second the trail-rope nearly slipped from him. Then his grip tightened, and he resolved that whatever the risk to himself he had got to discover what nationality the men were who were controlling the airship that swayed along above his head.
No sooner was Sexton Blake’s mind made up than he was ready to act. By keeping the rope hitched under his arms, and holding it in place with his teeth, he contrived to get his hands free, and set to work to drag off his boots and socks, which he let fall into the sea. That accomplished, the really arduous part of his task commenced.
Hand over hand, using his bare feet to grip with, so as to take some of the strain off his arms, Sexton Blake clambered upwards. He knew that the climb before him was most probably one of three hundred feet or more, enough to make the strongest and most determined man hesitate; but he reckoned that by resting frequently he would be able to accomplish it.
Sixty feet he covered, until he was panting for breath. A hitch of the rope under his arms and across his chest, and he hung resting in a natural swing. Only a minute, then on again, upwards over another sixty feet of swaying rope.
All the time he kept his eyes turned upwards, and with every foot he covered he began to see more plainly the airship that lay above him. At first it had been nothing but a darker blotch in a dark night, but now it was beginning to take shape and form. He could see the long balloon, narrow at one end, broadening out at the other—much the shape of a bottle-nosed shark.
From the narrower end something like a tail protruded, and there were projections, not unlike fins, half-way along the body. Below the body lay a long canvas car, capable of holding at least a dozen men, and it seemed to Sexton Blake that the airship was large enough to be capable of lifting that number.
Up again, another rest, on once more, until every line of the airship was visible to the detective’s eyes. He recognised the pattern then. It was like the Zeppellin, so recently purchased by Germany, but built on a much larger scale. Only a short time back he had made a journey abroad specially to see the airship about which so much had been written, and so he could make no mistake now, even though this craft of the air was fully twice as large as the one he had previously seen.
Ay, Sexton Blake knew now that this ship was no Nulli Secundus[1], but the airship of a rival—if not mildly hostile—country, and he hesitated as to whether he should continue his climb, or slide down the rope and hang there until a chance of escaping either by sea or land presented itself to him.
He looked down, and as he did so the flashlights of the ships of war stretched out their great arms of light again, and he realised what a distance he was up, that no one aboard the ships could possibly catch so much as a glimpse of the airship.
His mind was made up. He would learn more fully what the men above him were doing. Probably he would be captured, but there were ways of escape, and—
Sexton Blake started to climb upwards again, resting as before, until his fingers gripped the thin aluminium rails that formed the bottom of the car of the airship. He raised himself still higher, gripped the edge of the car, and pulled himself upwards.
A startled, angry cry in German reached his ears, powerful hands gripped him, and he was dragged into the car.
The car swayed violently as the detective was hoisted into it, and a voice from the forward end of it, a voice that Sexton Blake seemed to recognise, called out for them to be more careful.
Ten men were in the car, not counting the one who was steering and the one who was controlling the engines.
They came crowding forward now, all save one, who remained in the front of the car, a military cloak drawn tightly round him.
“Who is the spy?” this man demanded, in German.
And again Sexton Blake fancied that he had heard the sharp, commanding tones of the voice before.
A big man, with a certain tone of authority, faced the detective, as the latter clambered to his feet.
“How did you get here?” he growled.
Sexton Blake smiled coolly, and waved a hand to where the guide-rope trailed down.
“By that,” he answered.
“Yes,” the German agreed, thrusting his face closer. “But why did you do it?”
“Not for fun, I can assure you,” Sexton Blake replied, holding up his hands to show how the climb had torn the skin on them. “I was standing on the edge of the cliffs when your rope struck me. I had to grip it to save myself from being flung over into the sea. And then—why, what else could I do but clamber up?”
“So?” the German growled doubtfully.
“That is the truth?” the man in the bows demanded.
“Why, yes, your Majesty!” Sexton Blake answered.
A sharp cry broke from the man in the bows, and he flung his cloak from him with an impatient gesture.
“How do you know me?” he asked sharply.
“Yours is a voice to remember, sire!” the detective answered coolly.
The man in the bows rose and came forward along the swinging car, and even in the darkness it was possible to make out the martial visage and upturned moustache of one of the greatest rulers that Germany has ever known—Wilhelm II.
“Who are you?” he asked sternly.
Sexton Blake bowed, and there was a hard little smile on his lips.
“Once I worked for your Majesty,” he answered, “twice—the regret is mine—against you.”[2]
“Sexton Blake!” the Kaiser ejaculated.
“Precisely,” the detective agreed; “and I am sorry that I cannot add, at your service!”
Notes
1. Nulli Secundus (“Second to none”) was Britain’s first powered military airship. Officially British Army Dirigible No 1, she was launched on 10 September 1907. A month later, while she was moored, high winds posed such a danger that she was dismantled and later rebuilt as Nulli Secundus II.
2. This is a reference to earlier Union Jack stories.
THE THIRD CHAPTER
The Escape—The Airship Makes a Search—Inland before the Dawn—The Hiding Place Among the Rocks.
ONE OF THE greatest manoeuvres that the British Fleet had ever made was in progress, the utmost secrecy being kept with regard to it, not a single man, save the officers and crews, being allowed aboard the ships of war, though previously guests had been permitted to be aboard.
Yet over the Fleet, though hidden by the night, hung the airship of a great foreign Power that for years had been building a navy that was to rival the one that lay off the Shetlands—a Power that by land had for many years been Great Britain’s superior, and which now was doing its utmost to add to that its superiority by sea as well.
And on board this airship was none other than the ruler of this nation—the Kaiser Wilhelm himself.
As the latter stood pulling at his moustache, his keen eyes on Sexton Blak
e, he had much the look of a naughty boy caught robbing an orchard. His blue eyes held a doubting look, and more than once he stopped when about to speak.
“It is well it is you, Mr. Blake!” he said at last. “If it had been another man—” He shrugged his shoulders, and explained no further. “I admire such men as yourself—men who have in their time even dared to thwart my will.”
Sexton Blake smiled. He knew, as well as anyone living, that the Kaiser’s great fault was his entire belief in his divine rights as a ruler.
“I consider myself honoured, sire,” he answered.
The Kaiser hesitated, then took the detective by the arm and led him to the forward end of the cage, where no one would be able to overhear them if they spoke in a subdued tone. He took a stool, and motioned the detective to take another.
There was silence for some minutes, during which time Sexton Blake saw that the great airship was hovering almost motionless over the Fleet, and it was the Kaiser who broke it.
“You wonder why I am here?” he said abruptly.
“No,” Sexton Blake answered, with a smile; “I know!”
“You think it is to spy upon these manoeuvres?” the Kaiser continued sharply.
“The word spy is a hard one to apply to your Majesty,” Sexton Blake objected.
“But the right one—so?” the Kaiser persisted, tugging at his moustache. “This is no time to mince words, herr, but to make terms. For the first, let me explain why I am really here.”
Sexton Blake bowed, and his face became positively wooden in expression. He did not know what the Kaiser was going to tell him, but he did know that it would be wise to appear not to doubt it.
“I am here”—the Kaiser spoke slowly, and his eyes met the detective’s unflinchingly—“more by chance than anything else. For nearly a year back this airship has been building secretly, and as soon she was completed, nothing could satisfy me but that I myself test her merits. So I embarked on her. That we headed here was natural.”
Sexton Blake bowed, but made no answer. Inwardly he thought that some of the explanation was true—some.
“For the rest”—the Kaiser spoke with a lightness that he obviously did not feel—“there is the question of your silence.”
“Yes?” the detective murmured.
The Kaiser was tugging at his moustache again, for he knew that in Sexton Blake he was dealing with no ordinary man.
“It will be awkward, cause bad feeling, if it is known what has happened,” the Kaiser went on. “You can see that I have done no harm; but even then I would like to show my high esteem for you by offering some little present.”
“Your Majesty was always a diplomat,” Sexton Blake murmured. “I have never had a bribe offered me in such nice terms!”
“Bribe?” The Kaiser’s face flushed. “I am offering you a present!”
“I apologise, sire,” Sexton Blake answered; “but I never accept presents from rulers of foreign nations in cases like this!”
The Kaiser sat silently twisting his moustache, and from time to time glancing inquiringly at the detective.
“Very well,” he said at last; “there are other ways of getting your silence—without buying it!”
The Kaiser moved back to where the man sat working the petrol-engine, and Sexton Blake was alone. He sat still in the bows of the car, trying to see down to the ships that lay below, but only an occasional flashing signal told him where they were. All the time, too, he listened for anything that the Germans might let drop, but heard nothing of importance.
The airship hung almost motionless, and it was not until one in the morning that she began to move back towards the shore, Sexton Blake judging the direction she was taking from the wind.
Then he looked down, and saw lights moving out to sea. The warships were outward bound on some manoeuvre. But he had more than that to occupy his brain, for he wanted to know what had really brought the Kaiser to the Shetlands, how they had managed to keep the presence of the great airship secret, and just how much had already been done to make the islands a naval base for the German Fleet should it ever be required.
Of one thing Sexton Blake was certain, and that was that at the first moment he would have to escape. What he would do after that there was plenty of time to decide.
Back towards the land the great airship was travelling at a steady pace, her screw hardly turning, the wind carrying her along; and as she drew nearer she sank lower, the men in charge evidently wishing to be able to sight some particular spot.
This gave Sexton Blake hope, and from time to time he glanced over the side of the car to see how far she hovered above the water.
A hundred feet below the water showed darkly, and as that height was reached two of the Germans came towards Sexton Blake, a coil of stout cord in their hands. As they approached, Sexton Blake rose to his feet. He knew what the rope was for—to make him a prisoner—and he was not taking anything of that kind just yet.
“You will make no resistance,” the nearest of the Germans growled. “Even a brave man knows when defeat is his.”
Then once again Sexton Blake glanced over the side of the car, and this time he saw that the water was no more than eighty feet below him. Without hesitation he gripped a rope, and leapt to the side of the car. On the rail he balanced himself, and, with sharp cries, the Germans rushed at him.
Too late! Cleanly, as dexterously as if there had been no hurry whatever, Sexton Blake dived, and went flashing down towards the water. It was an ugly job, but he was an accomplished diver, and had no fear of it. Besides, he was not a man accustomed to worrying about his own safety when the well-being of Great Britain was at stake.
Almost without a splash he struck the water, and a few seconds later was on the surface. That the airship carried a searchlight he had no doubt; but he also knew that they dared not use it for fear of attracting attention. A bullet might bring them down, then it would mean the discovery of the Kaiser aboard.
A cause for war almost, and that before Germany had built the Navy that she was planning.
As Sexton Blake merely kept himself afloat, he looked upwards, and saw the airship coming down towards the surface; also he could hear excited orders being given in the Kaiser’s voice, and he knew that he was not to be allowed to get away so easily.
Within a couple of feet of the water the car of the airship descended, and with the screw going slowly she began to make a search of the waves. Twice she passed close to the detective, but each time he dived, and kept below the water as long as his lungs would permit him.
Round and round went the airship in narrowing circles, and it seemed to Sexton Blake that his recapture could only be a matter of time. The diving below the water was tiring him, too, and he knew that he could not do it many times more.
Again the airship swung her blunt nose round towards him, and in the darkness he saw her coming. Below the surface he dived, and stopped there until his chest felt like bursting.
With a spring he came to the surface, and caught his breath hard as he shook the water from his eyes, and found the car of the airship right above him. Then his hand shot out, and he gripped the aluminium rods.
“Throw out ballast; she dips too low!” he heard a voice cry as his weight bore the car down lower towards the waves, until his head went beneath them, in fact, and then the car shot higher, dragging him with it.
Gently, inch by inch, Sexton Blake dragged himself up and wriggled his body between the lower supports of the car, which were about a foot below the ones on which the car actually rested, and lay there at full length.
Then he smiled, for he reckoned that he was going to learn many things. First he would discover where the airship had been hiding inland; secondly, he would know for what purpose the airship was visiting the shipments, but of the extent of that knowledge there was no guessing.
The airship still continued to hover round, sweeping the sea in search of the man who had leapt overboard; and little did the men aboard of her imagin
e that he was lying more or less comfortably under the car itself.
“Must be drowned, the dog!” a guttural voice said from above. “We must get inland before the dawn.”
“No brave man is a dog!” the voice of the Kaiser answered, a touch of anger in it. “I tell you, I would have given much, Harmann, for a few men like Sexton Blake in Germany.”
Ballast splashed into the water, and the airship rose rapidly and shot away towards the land, her propeller doing well over a thousand revolutions a minute.
There was certainly not much time to lose if the airship had to go far inland before the dawn. Sexton Blake endeavoured to turn round to see where they were going, but found it impossible, the space in which he lay being too small to move in.
Soon, however, he knew that the land had been reached, for the sound of the waves no longer came from below.
“Stop! We are there!”
As the order rang out, Sexton Blake wriggled his legs down from his perch, and his feet grated along a rough surface. Without hesitation he let go, and fell flat onto his face. Glancing upwards, he saw the great airship looming up only a few yards away, and heard the clank of a grapnel as it struck the ground.
Noiselessly he crawled along the rocky ground, round behind a boulder, and lay still. There would soon be something startling to report to the men who had feared, after reading the Kaiser’s speech, for the safety of the Shetlands.
THE FOURTH CHAPTER
A Change of Identity—The Cave by the Shore—What is inside?—The Truth.
LYING BEHIND THE boulder, Sexton Blake heard the Germans embark, while Colonel von Harmann gave orders in his deep, decisive voice. He appeared to be in supreme command of the great ship and the detective remembered the many rumours he had heard with regard to the control this officer exercised over his Royal master.