After their hostile reception at Paris, the Airship Boys realized that it would be folly to attempt a similar daylight descent upon Muhlbruck, where Bob Russell was imprisoned. Also the appalling screech of bursting shells going past had given them a heartfelt disinclination to get the Ocean Flyer anywhere between the lines of fire on the battle front.
Examination of a war map presented to them by the editor of the New York Herald showed plainly that the nearest trenches of the opposing armies lay about forty miles to the northeast of Paris, extending thence in the form of a rough semicircle, indented towards the north, for a length of nearly two hundred miles. One end of this titanic battle front ended on the shores of the North Sea in Belgium; the other in French territory in the Meuse prefecture. In order to reach Muhlbruck it was necessary for the Flyer to pass directly over the firing-lines somewhere in the Ardennes forest region, and then to proceed northerly, tending somewhat to the east until crossing the Belgian frontier, near which Muhlbruck is situated. The latest reports of the war showed the fiercest fighting just then to be going on far to the south along the river Meuse, and northwesterly along the Aisne, a few miles within French territory, where the Germans were making desperate daily assaults upon the allied French and English intrenchments. The severe guerrilla fighting which had nearly turned the Ardennes region into a shambles had then ceased almost entirely, while General von Kluck, commanding the German army of the west, was endeavoring to force the arms of his crescent battle line westward in around the Allied forces and by so doing compel them either to be surrounded and captured, or else to fall back upon Paris once more.
“It looks to me,” said Ned, outlining the positions on the map with one finger, “that it will be best for us to cross the firing line there in the Ardennes, flying high so as to be out of the range of those tremendous German field guns which they say can carry a cannon ball fifteen miles or more. If you boys think well of it, we might even drop the Flyer in the Ardennes forest, get a chance to stretch the cramps out of our legs there, and still get to Muhlbruck long before dark.”
Both Alan and Buck approved heartily of this plan and so it was decided upon. Estimating the distance between their present position and the Ardennes by their maps and instruments, the Ocean Flyer proceeded on its way, concealed from sight by the heavy cloud banks beneath. While the sun was still high, they saw that they had arrived somewhere in the neighborhood of the intended stopping-place. Ned then began planing as straight downwards as he dared and shortly afterwards shouted:
“There it is, boys! We figured the time and distance exactly. There are the tree-tops!”
Sure enough, there extended the green expanse of the great Ardennes wood, with the dull glint of the setting sun gilding the leaves and branches. Afar in the distance, a mere speck in the flame-colored sky, a solitary observation balloon was ascending. Somewhere away to the northwards the dull, monotonous booming of cannon could be heard like the rumble of distant thunder. The woods showed no signs of life; there were no spirals of smoke rising into the still evening air to warn the young aeronauts of near-by camp fires.
Sailing slowly over the tree-tops and gradually dropping lower and lower, the Flyer finally came upon an open glade perhaps half a mile square and ideally located for a landing. Its only obstruction was a clump of maybe half a dozen ancient oaks standing almost in the middle of the area.
There Ned brought the big airship to earth as lightly as a bird, and the three boys jumped out to enjoy their first touch of Mother Earth since leaving New York nearly a day before. The air was mild and odoriferous with the smell of the forest and all took huge breaths of it gratefully. Buck pranced about like a colt let loose in pasture, and he and Alan ran short races up and down the glade to stretch their cramped muscles.
“Now, boys,” called Ned, “it is time that we held a serious council of war to decide just how we are going to manage Bob’s escape. Let’s sit down under these trees here and make final arrangements, because by midnight we’ll be at Muhlbruck and won’t want to waste any time in that dangerous vicinity.”
So they sat there under the biggest tree in the center of the field and talked things over.