Crippled as she was, the Golden Eagle could not be set going again without repairs that would take hours.
In the meantime their opponents had taken advantage of the aeroplane's plight to riddle her wings with bullets.
Brave as the boys were, they were not foolhardy.
Ten minutes after the fatal accident to the tank, Ben Stubbs, with bitter protests, waved a white shirt in token that the occupants of the Golden Eagle were driven to surrender.
CHAPTER XXII.
ON BOARD BARR'S SHIP.
"Do you surrender?" shouted a voice through a megaphone from the dirigible as it hovered above the stricken aeroplane.
"Yes, hornswoggle you," roared Ben Stubbs, "but if it hadn't been for that gas-bag of yours you'd never have got us, and I can lick any man aboard yer with my fists or any other weapon."
Luther Barr's men paid no attention to this outburst and the boys were too sick at heart at the complete failure of their venture even to hear Ben's words. Frank choked back his tears with difficulty and Harry gazed straight out over the sea.
It was defeat final and complete.