CHAPTER XV. A Battle in the Air.
Ned with difficulty brought the Grey Eagle back to a tranquil position. So unexpectedly had the rifle shot struck the forward rudder that he had been very close to losing control of the craft and pitching the entire party to earth. With a frantic effort he regained his balance.
Due to the fact that the boys had not felt speed essential to their purpose, no attempt as yet had been made to put the Grey Eagle to its best pace. The monoplane, however, seemed to be traveling at a high rate of speed, and was not long in securing a favorable position for the evident purpose of its occupants.
"If he gets above us, he'll drop a bomb!" cried Jimmie, in an angry tone. "I'll bet it's The Rat! He's been watching for us to start!"
"Put on a little more speed, Ned," urged Jack anxiously. "Let's try to prevent his getting above us, if we can. I don't like this!"
"Hang on!" cried Ned, glancing upward toward their pursuer. "I'm going to try to dodge him if I can. He's clever, though!"
Obedient to Ned's request, the boys prepared for sudden and unexpected evolutions on, the part of the Grey Eagle. They were none too soon, for almost instantly Ned began a series of movements that were calculated to frustrate any attempt on the part of the enemy to successfully launch a missile with telling effect. Darting and dodging hither and thither, the lad gradually drew away from the monoplane, which slackened speed.
With a pull at the controlling levers Ned suddenly began an ascent that quickly carried the Grey Eagle to a level above that of the monoplane. He hoped thereby to gain the advantage of position, but the pilot of the other machine was evidently prepared for just such a move. He sheered off abruptly to one side, as if abandoning the chase.
"There he goes, the coward!" exulted Jimmie, as the Grey Eagle was brought to an even keel at a slight elevation above its rival. "Now see him beat it when he thinks we have the best of him!"
"If you think he's going to leave us alone," Jack suggested, "let's get down a ways. It won't be so cold as up here, and we can see the country better. Except for a river or two, I can't distinguish anything down there. We ought to take a look at the place."
"Sure," agreed Harry, "let's travel a little lower."
"Where is the other fellow now?" questioned Ned, as he brought the Grey Eagle downward. "I don't see him in front of us."
"I can see him away off to the right," announced Francois.
"Yes, there he is, as big as life, and twice as natural!" put in Jimmie. "Let me have the binoculars, and I'll see if I can make out who the fellows are. I guess it's getting light enough now so I can see."
After a long examination of the other machine, Jimmie handed the glasses to Harry. He shook his head and glanced quickly at Ned. "I wonder what that fellow thinks of himself," he said presently. "Do you suppose he realizes that other people consider him the worst kind of a sneak? He surely must be case hardened if he doesn't hate himself!"
"If his past actions toward us is any indication," Ned offered, "he probably thinks he is a fine fellow being heartily abused by four boys."
"Really feels sorry for himself?" Jimmie asked, with contempt.
"I shouldn't wonder a bit! People get queer views sometimes."
"Here he comes back again!" announced Harry, who had the glasses. "He's hitting it up some, too! Looks like he's in an awful hurry!"
Astonished, the boys saw their pursuer heading again for the Grey Eagle, but this time at a much greater altitude. His course was laid so that it would cross that of the machine containing the five boys.
With some anxiety the lads observed the maneuver. Jimmie drew his automatic from its holster, prepared to reply should any more shots be fired in their direction. The clamor of the approaching motor grew louder.
"He's going to cross away above us!" announced Harry, watching closely. "I can see both the pilot and the passenger now," he continued, "and it looks remarkably like The Rat. I believe it is he!"
"Here comes the sun at last!" shouted Jimmie. "I'm glad we can have some more light. We can tell better what the fellow is doing."
"Guess we'll have to be ready for anything from him!" Harry said, with his eyes still at the glasses. "They're evidently trying to do something up there. The passenger is working away at a part of the machine!"
"What does he seem to be doing?" Jimmie inquired.
"I can't tell from here, but I can see him apparently adjusting something. He seems to be quite busy about it, whatever it is!"
"Maybe he's preparing a bomb or something to drop on us!"
"He's dropping his wrench or something!" cried Harry excitedly. "I can see something flashing in the sunlight as it drops from the bottom of his chassis. There, he's dropped another," he continued.
"What can it be?" wondered Jack. "He can't be dropping tools."
"I see the flash of some more!" announced Jimmie excitedly.
"Why, there are lots of them!" was Harry's astonished statement. "If we don't look out some of them will hit us! Any more speed, Ned?"
"Lot's of it," reassuringly answered Ned, gazing upward at the other machine, now almost overhead. "It puzzles me, though, what that fellow is dropping. It can't be he had ballast and wants to discharge it."
All the boys were intently observing the oncoming monoplane as it appeared to be following a course at some distance above their own level. The curious flashes of light, as if from falling objects, caused them considerable wonderment. Not for long were they left in doubt.
Directly the monoplane had passed over the Grey Eagle the boys heard a whizzing noise, as of a piece of metal rushing through the air at a high rate of speed. This was followed by several more. Then came a crash aboard the Grey Eagle itself. Ned gave utterance to a cry of pain.
"Jimmie, Jimmie!" he called. "Where are you, Jimmie?"
"Here I am, Ned, what's the matter?" responded the boy.
"Can you take the levers? I can't see a thing! I'm hit!"
Jimmie sprang to the levers at Ned's request, noting with horror that blood was flowing freely into Ned's eyes from a gash in his forehead.
"Jack, Harry, Francois!" cried Jimmie. "Help Ned out of his seat here, so I can sit in. He's badly hurt! Help him quickly!"
Willing hands were extended to Ned's assistance. Guiding him in his efforts to leave the pilot's position, Francois and Harry soon were able to seat Ned in a more favorable place. Jack, meanwhile, had unlocked a box containing a first aid outfit, and now was ready to assist his chum with medical attention, which seemed to be badly needed.
"What was it hit me?" Ned asked presently, as Jack succeeded in stopping the flow of blood. "I saw a flash and heard something strike, then felt a smash right on my forehead. I guess he got me, all right."
"I'll bet I know!" announced Jimmie. "The fellow was dropping a lot of iron bolts or arrows or darts or something. One of 'em fell through the cowl and has smashed the compass. Maybe it was the glass cover of the compass that hit you. I see the bolt now!"
"Where is it?" inquired Harry. "Let me look at it."
"Here it is, sticking through the floor. Here's the place it went through the cowl, leaving a jagged hole in the metal."
Harry proceeded to extract the bolt from its lodging place, and soon brought it forth for inspection. Jimmie kept a sharp lookout for the other machine, preparing to elude it if it returned.
With a considerable degree of interest the boys examined the object brought forth by Harry. It was a bolt or shaft of iron about nine inches long, and had been provided with a vane at one end, evidently for the purpose of causing it to fall perpendicularly in its flight.
"Gee!" ejaculated Harry. "A few bushels of those things dropped into a regiment of soldiers would play sad havoc! They'd go through a man!"
"You're right, they would!" declared Jack. "If they were dropped from any considerable distance, they'd go through more than a man!"
"Well, Ned, you're lucky the thing didn't hit you instead of the compass," congratulated Harry. "We need both, but you more than the compass, if either is to be spared! I'm glad it wasn't worse!"
"Let's be ready for him if he returns," suggested Jimmie.
"Let's get out of his way!" offered Harry. "We can beat him!"
"Not much!" argued Jimmie. "We don't have to run away! If he comes back again, I'm going to show him that he's monkeying with a buzz saw when he bothers us! If he can drop slugs like that, I can shoot!"
"Bloodthirsty again!" smiled Ned. "Would that be right, Jimmie?"
"Yes, sir!" stoutly maintained Jimmie. "We've got some rights!"
"Well, we won't have much cause to argue about it," Harry announced. "He's heading away off to the northeast and going fast."
"Probably heading for Berlin," suggested Jack. "Let him go!"
"If they leave us alone, we'll be there soon, ourselves!" Ned replied. "I don't think he ever intended to go to Lille at all!"
"I can beat him in a race!" boasted Jimmie. "What speed do you think we are making right now, without half trying?"
"Don't know, I'm sure," replied Ned, glancing over the side.
"Well, I can double that! Keep your eye on me! See me overhaul that railroad train down below us. It's a passenger or mail train."
"Yes, and it's going some!" Jack stated. "You'll have to hurry!"
Jimmie, in an endeavor to exhibit his skill with the machine, began urging it to greater speed. Up to this time the boys had not endeavored to secure speed, preferring to wait until the engine, so recently from the shop, had been given time to get "down to bearings."
They were expecting great things of the new motor, but were scarcely prepared for the burst of speed which Jimmie coaxed it to yield.
In a few moments they had overhauled the train and were speeding along a short distance ahead of it. Jimmie had brought the craft to a distance but little above the flying locomotive and its burden.
"See him try to beat us!" cried the lad, triumphantly.
"He never can do it," agreed Jack. "Besides, he'll have to slow up for the bridge across that river ahead. That puts him out of the race!"
"Here comes our friend again!" cried Francois, pointing.
"Well, of all things!" declared Jimmie. "He's got nerve!"
"Keep yours, and show him what a Wolf can do," advised Ned.
Nodding his acknowledgment, Jimmie began an ascent which he hoped would carry him above the approaching enemy. He was not quick enough, however, to execute this maneuver, and contented himself with flying directly ahead at an increased altitude. Unconsciously the boy still followed the line of the railroad as it approached the river ahead. The train had now been left a mile or more behind.
Anxiously watching the enemy, the boys observed that he was about to attempt to cross above them once more. More arrows were expected.
Harry had trained his glasses upon the approaching machine, and from time to time announced the movements of the pilot and his passenger.
"He's almost overhead now," reported the lad. "The passenger is trying to fix another batch of arrows, I believe! Get ready for him!"
Jimmie determined to execute a daring maneuver to throw the pursuer off his trail. Calling to the boys to secure themselves with safety belts, he buckled on his own, then gave the levers a touch.
With the first impulse of the engine the Grey Eagle leaped ahead. Jimmie threw his whole weight on the lever controlling the horizontal rudders, and the machine climbed up at an angle that threatened to unseat the passengers. Apparently his motive was to ram the other machine.
With a quick movement he threw off the power, altering the rudders at the same moment. The Grey Eagle began to drop backwards toward the earth. Again Jimmie manipulated a lever and the rudders guided the craft into a complete backward somersault that brought them some distance to the rear of the other. Gasping at the sudden movement the boys stared about.
A roar came to their ears from below. Mingled with a cloud of thick black smoke they could see pieces of timbers falling where once had been the railroad bridge. The missile had passed them, thanks to Jimmie.
"The train!" gasped Jimmie, with a startled look at his friends.