by S. P. Meek
*
The two three-inch rifles barked their message of death into the sky.For agonizing seconds nothing happened. The guns roared again. Below andbehind the fleeing plane, two puffs of white smoke appeared in the sky.The staccato calls of the observers came from the control station andthe guns roared again and again. Now above and now below the Russianplane appeared the white puffs that told of bursting shells, but theplane droned on, unharmed.
"It's away safely," groaned the doctor. "Now the fat _is_ in the fire.Saranoff will know in an hour that we are coming. If we had a pursuitplane ready to take off, we might catch him, but we haven't. Oh, well,there's no use in crying over spilt milk. How soon will that amphibianbe ready to take off?"
"In twenty minutes. Doctor," replied the Engineering Officer. "As soonas we finish filling the tanks and test the motor, she'll be ready toramble."
"Hurry all you can. Hang a half dozen hundred-pound bombs and a fewtwenty-fives on the racks. Lower her over the side as soon as she'sready. Where's Lieutenant McCready?"
"Below, getting into his flying togs, Doctor."
"Good enough. Come on, Carnes, we'll go below and put on our fur-linedpanties, too. We'll probably need them."
* * * * *
In half an hour the amphibian rose from the water. Lieutenant McCreadywas at the controls, with Carnes and the doctor at the bomb racks. Theplane rose in huge spirals until the altimeter read four thousand feet.The pilot straightened it out toward the south. The plane was alone inthe sky. For two hours it flew south and then veered to the east,following the line of the Gulf of Archangel. The town came in sight atlast.
"Better drop down a couple of thousand, Lieutenant," said Dr. Bird intothe speaking tube. "We can't see much from this altitude."
The plane swung around in a wide circle, gradually losing altitude.Carnes and the doctor hung over the side watching the ground below them.As they watched a puff of smoke came from a low building a mile from theedge of the town. Dr. Bird grabbed the speaking tube.
"Bank, McCready!" he barked, "They're firing at us."
The plane lurched sharply to one side. From a point a few yards belowthem and almost directly along their former line of flight, a burst offlame appeared in the air. The plane lurched and reeled as the blast ofthe explosion reached it. From other points on the ground came otherpuffs.
"Get out of here," shouted Dr. Bird. "There must be a dozen guns firingat us. One of them will have the range directly."
From all around them came flashes and the roar of explosions. The planelurched and yawed in a sickening fashion. Lieutenant McCready foughtheroically with the controls, trying to prevent the sideslips which werecosting him altitude. Gradually the plane came under control and startedto climb. The shells burst nearer as the plane took a straighter courseand strove to fly out of the danger zone. Dr. Bird looked at theair-speed meter.
"A hundred and eighty," he shouted to Carnes. "We'll be safely out ofrange in a minute."
* * * * *
The bursts were mostly behind them now. Suddenly a blast of air struckthem with terrific force. Half a dozen holes appeared in the fabric ofthe wings. A bit of high explosive shell plowed a way through the aftercompartment and wrecked the duplicate instrument board. In anothermoment they were out of range. Lieutenant McCready turned the nose ofhis plane toward the north.
"We came out of that well," cried Carnes. Dr. Bird dropped the speakingtube which he had held pressed to his ear and smiled grimly at thedetective.
"I wish we had," he replied. "Our main gas tank is punctured."
An expression of alarm crossed the detective's face.
"Is it injured badly?" he asked.
"I don't know yet. McCready says that the gauge is dropping prettyrapidly. I'm going to go out and see what I can do."
"Can't I go, Doctor? I'm a good deal lighter than you are."
"You're not as strong or as agile, Carnes, and you haven't themechanical ability to make the repair. Hand me that line."
He fastened one end of a coil of manila rope which Carnes handed him tohis waist, while the detective fastened the other end to one of thesafety belt hooks. With a word of farewell, he climbed out of thecockpit and onto a wing. In the pocket of his flying suit he carried atool kit and repair material. Carnes shuddered as the doctor's figuredisappeared under the plane. He snubbed the rope about a seat bracketand held it taut. For ten minutes the strain continued. It slackened atlast, and the figure of the doctor reappeared on the wing. Slowly heclimbed into the cockpit.
"I've made a temporary repair, Lieutenant," he called into the speakingtube, "and the leakage has stopped. How much gas have we left?"
"Enough for about an hour of flying, including the emergency tank."
"Thunder! No chance to get back to the _Denver_. Better head inland andfollow the course of the Dwina. If we can locate the place we arelooking for we may be able to drop a few eggs on it before we are washedout. In any event, it will be better to come down on land than onwater."
* * * * *
McCready headed the plane south and followed the winding ribbon belowhim which marked the channel of the Dwina. He kept his altitude wellover eight thousand feet. For a few minutes the plane roared along.Without warning the motor sputtered once or twice and died.
"Gas finished?" asked Dr. Bird into the speaking tube.
"No, there is plenty of gas for another forty-five minutes. It actedlike a short in the wiring. Maybe another fragment got us that we didn'tknow about. I can glide to a safe landing, Doctor. Which direction shallI go?"
"It doesn't matter," replied Dr. Bird as he looked over the side. "Waita minute, it does matter. See that long low building down there with theprojection like a tower on top? I'll bet a month's pay that that is thevery place we're looking for. Glide over it and let's have a look at it.If I am convinced of it, I'll drop a few eggs on it."
"Right!"
McCready glided on a long slope toward the suspected building. Dr. Birdkept his eye glued to the bomb sight.
"It's suspicious enough for me to act," he cried. "Drop one!"
Carnes pulled a lever and a hundred-pound high explosive bomb detacheditself from the plane and fell toward the ground.
"Another!" cried the doctor.
A second messenger of death followed the first.
"Bank around and back over while we give them the rest."
"Right!"
The plane swung around in a wide circle.
"Volley!" cried the doctor. Carnes pulled the master lever and the restof the bombs fell earthward.
"Now glide to the east, McCready, until you are forced down."
* * * * *
McCready banked the plane and started on a long glide toward the east.Carnes and the doctor watched the falling bombs. The doctor's aim hadbeen perfect. The first bomb released struck the building squarely whilethe other landed only a few feet away. Instead of the puffs of smokewhich they had expected, the bombs had no effect. The volley whichCarnes had discharged fell full on the building as harmlessly as had thetwo pilot shots.
"Were these bombs armed, Lieutenant?" demanded the doctor.
"Yes, sir. I inspected them myself before we took off and they werefused and armed. They had always fused and should have gone off, nomatter in what position they landed."
"Well, they didn't. That building is our goal all right. Saranoff wouldnaturally expect an air raid and he has perfected some device whichrenders a bomb impotent before it lands. How far from the building willyou land?"
"A couple of miles, Doctor."
"Get as far as you can. If you can make that line of thicket ahead,we'll take to our heels and hope to hide in it."
"I don't think we'll have much luck, Doctor," said Carnes.
"Why not?"
"Look behind."
Dr. Bird looked back toward the building they had tried to bomb. Acrossthe country, a truck load
ed with armed men followed the course of theplane. The plane was gaining slightly on the truck but it was evidentthat the plane's occupants would have little chance of escaping on foot.Dr. Bird gave a grim laugh.
"We're cornered all right," he said. "If we did elude the men in thattruck, we would have a plane after us in no time. You might as well turnback, McCready, and land fairly near the building. We are sure to becaptured and our best chance is to have the plane near us. They'llprobably patch it up and if we get a chance to escape later, it may be alifesaver. At any rate, we've lost for the present."
* * *