They had made all their arrangements for crossing the Channel the following night. There was more or less red tape connected with it, for these were war times, and the spy scare had not yet entirely died out of England, and foreigners were being watched closely.
But the two Americans had with them papers to prove just who they were, and why they were headed for France. They also met several men connected with the British air service, who were pleased to show them many little courtesies.
“But we do hope America will soon decide to come in and take her part in the job we’ve got on our hands,” these men told them more than once.
Night came, and the air service boys boarded a train that left London, connecting with the boat that was to cross the Channel. Everything was conducted with a grimness and secrecy that impressed the two young Americans as being warlike.
“It’s plain to be seen England has long since passed the first stage of the war,” remarked Tom, who noted all such things. “You know at first they tried to act as though it was only a small affair, after all. London was as bright as ever, with business going on much the same. It’s a different spirit that’s abroad nowadays. The British bulldog has shut his teeth hard; and when he does that he never lets go—that is, hardly ever, but there was a time more than a hundred years ago when he released his grip on our country.”
In the course of time they found themselves aboard the vessel that along toward midnight was to start from Dover for France. Once they left port, the utmost vigilance was exercised. Lights were extinguished, and in the gloom of the night they proceeded.
It was another thrilling experience not soon to be forgotten. Every little sound, every little wave slapping against the side of the boat, seemed to the excited passengers to mean sudden peril. There was no thought of sleep on the part of any one; even the numerous Red Cross nurses and attendants and the ambulance drivers, going to the front for service, remained on deck every minute of the time.
Each passenger had a life belt fastened on, to be ready if the hidden danger presented itself. But again fortune was kind; and if there were any cruising German submarines in the Channel that night they failed to run upon the regular boat from Dover to Calais.
Once safe in the Calais harbor the passengers had a chance for a few hours sleep. With the coming of morning they landed, passing through all the customary formalities that more than ever are exercised in war times, to make sure that enemy spies do not get a footing on the soil of France.
Jack was highly pleased when finally the air service boys found themselves speeding toward the south of France, where the aviation camp at Pau was located, not far from the snow-capped Pyrenees Mountains that constitute the boundary line between the republic and Spain.