Just a moment though! Yes. W. pricked up his ears. 'Here's one coming,' he said casually, as if it had no interest for us. We could hear the drone of an engine from the north. Shortly afterwards we saw a tiny speck in the sky which rapidly grew bigger and bigger. A biplane! 'Ours!' I could hardly conceal my joy. In a few moments he was over us, and we should soon know where he was going to land. It was scarcely 1200 feet up as he passed us. Eagerly we watched his direction. But the fellow made no preparation to land; he flew on and on, straight ahead in his original direction. In a few minutes he was only a dot in the sky again. We looked at each other questioningly, but we got no answer. We discussed the pros and cons, and finally decided to go forward for a while. Perhaps we should find some clue on the way. If not, we decided we should rest for a while in a wood or cornfield and wait to see if other aeroplanes came along which might give us a clue to their objective.
The sun rose higher and higher and beat down mercilessly on our tired heads. Our thirst was becoming unbearable. If we could only find water! In the distance we could see a factory. It looked as if it were by the waterside, and we turned our steps towards it. High bushes hid us from the eyes of the operatives, and we were able to approach the factory unseen. We had not been mistaken—we had come to a river. It was none other than the Trent, which we had crossed during the night. But what a filthy, smelly stream it was! The surface shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow. Then we suddenly remembered that below Donington there was one succession of factories of all sorts, dye-works, and so forth, along the river. Angrily we turned about and looked round for a hiding-place—which we soon found.
We lay down in the shadow of some high, thick bushes and tried to alleviate our burning thirst by sucking the moisture from stalks of grass. Then we stretched ourselves out in order to get a little rest, for we were dog-tired. About two o'clock W. woke me up. A dog was barking close by. Were we being followed already? Our absence must have been discovered at the camp by this time. I carefully peeped over the bushes and looked round. A small boy was coming along the road from the mill playing with a dog. This explained the barking. I went round the bushes on to the road and then went slowly down to meet the boy in the hope of getting some information. I dropped a sixpence in the road and then pretended to be looking for something. The boy fell into the trap, helped me look for the coin, and found it, whereupon I made him a present of it. We got into conversation, and I then made use of the same dodge which had served me in the camp. I mentioned the pilot who had crashed somewhere in the neighbourhood, but the boy, of course, knew nothing about him. In the course of the conversation I learned from him that there must be a flying-ground somewhere close by. Unfortunately, the boy could give me no details, as he had never seen the place. But he was able to give me an exact description of the railway lines in the vicinity. He told me the times of departure of a few trains which went from the village to Nottingham, and I then gave him a cigarette and pretended I was going away. As soon as he was out of sight I went to W. and related what I had learned.
On the strength of this, we decided to continue our search as long as this was possible without being seen; for we were now coming into inhabited areas. We would rest at some particularly favourable spot, and then continue our march during the night. It would be safer to avoid the high roads as much as possible and keep on one side of them. This was not so easy as it sounds, for in this district there was hardly a single field, no matter how small it was, that was not surrounded by a high fence or hedge. In the majority of cases this was supplemented with a strand or two of barbed wire. Many times during the next few days we had to retrace our steps because we had struck one of the numerous unbridged canals which intersect this district. This water also was undrinkable. I longed to enter one of the farm-houses and ask for a drink of water, but it might have caused suspicion. But we were at last so tortured by thirst that we threw ourselves full length on the grass and greedily drank the dirty water from a pool which, as all the signs too plainly showed, served as a watering-place for cattle. In order to fortify ourselves further we attacked our only tin of sausage ('bribery price, 30s.'), which was beginning to get bad in the excessive heat. We had long given up all hope of finding fruit or vegetables in the fields. In this horrible country there appeared to be nothing but grass, filthy canals hedges, and barbed wire, which was gradually tearing our clothes to pieces. Luckily we had sewing materials with us, which had already helped to repair the damage caused by the wire entanglement round the tennis-court.
Three whole days we wandered round this district, now to the right, now to the left of the railway-line, hunting for the flying-ground. The nearest other aerodrome, of which we had exact details, lay too far away to be reached on foot without provisions for the journey. We had decided to travel by train only in the last extremity, for it meant jumping on a passing goods train and travelling as stowaways. If our escape had been discovered—and we were bound to assume that it had—the first precaution taken would be to have the railway stations watched. During the daytime, if we were not tramping, we hid in small thickets or in little hay-cocks which we made from scraps of hay left behind in the fields. In these hay-cocks we slept also. We employed our nights in scouring the country. But for all our search we found nothing—the little flying-ground remained a mystery.
We were beginning to get tired of this business. We had twice searched the country on both sides of the railway, and it was impossible that we should have missed the aerodrome if it existed. In consequence of the continued strain of the journey and the lack of water and food—we had now only a couple of slices of dry bread left—our strength was visibly failing. To make matters worse, the effect of sleeping on the wet ground, following our long vigil in the tennis-court drain, was that my old rheumatic pains returned, my knees and right shoulder being sometimes so sore that I could hardly move.
It was quite plain we could not go on like this, and we decided that next day we should go to Nottingham, buy some food there, and then go on by rail to London, whence we could easily reach the big flying-ground at Hendon.
But before attempting this we had to find out what measures had been taken in consequence of our escape. In a newspaper of the day before, which we found on the road, there was no mention whatever of our flight. This was certainly not what we expected. Perhaps it was a new dodge of the English to lull us into security so that they should catch us the more easily? But I couldn't believe the English were so sly, and we were at a loss for an explanation.
In gorgeous weather we arrived again on the evening of the third day in the neighbourhood of the Trent. The roads gradually became less deserted, and the numerous little villas proved that we were approaching a large town—it was Nottingham. Night after night we had watched its searchlights in the sky. From time to time we met a couple of anglers staring straight ahead as they passed. A cyclist asked us if he was on the right road to X, and I hastily assured him he was, though I had not the slightest notion where the place was. As we turned a corner we suddenly met a policeman coming towards us. Careful was the word. With our pipes in our mouths and our hands thrust deep in our pockets, we passed by, spitting and cursing in the approved manner. The man measured us from head to foot with a glance, but fortunately did not address us. The noise of an aeroplane overhead distracted his attention. We, too, looked up and saw, only about 300 feet up, a large biplane following the course of the Trent which we were now skirting. We wondered if he was searching for us.
On the left of the road a small farm came in sight, and as luck would have it we met at the same moment a boy who had asked me that same morning for a cigarette. As I had given him two or three he now greeted us with a friendly smile from the far side of the road. I went up to him and asked him if he lived here; and as he answered in the affirmative, I asked him if his mother was at home and if she would sell us some food.