Blake merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Simply the triumph of a strong mind over a weak one," he explained to the lads. "Herr Selighoffer is merely a pawn in the game—a tool of the more dangerous von Secker. Had we no other and more urgent work in hand it would be a delightful task to run von Secker to earth. Man-hunting is, from my personal knowledge, one of the greatest thrills a criminologist can experience. Once I had to track a Brazilian desperado across miles of country—but that story can wait. We must trust the recovery of the plans to the authorities. Now, lads, the pair of you had better turn in again. I'll keep watch, although I don't anticipate any further trouble from prowling Huns. It would be just as well to keep an eye upon that slippery customer, Sigismund."
The rest of the night passed without interruption. At seven the lads arose, bathed and had breakfast; by eight-thirty the battleplane was ready for her flight to London.
"Better thirty minutes too early than thirty seconds too late," remarked Dick.
"H'm! perhaps in this case," rejoined Athol. "Do you remember that morning in the trenches facing the Menin road? We were both a little tardy in turning out to breakfast."
"And what happened?" asked Blake.
"Nothing as far as we were concerned," replied Dick. "Except that we had no breakfast that morning. A shell had landed close to the stew pot and the men with their rations were blown to bits. It was a case of Nah Pooh with them."
Without a hitch the battleplane was brought from the hangar, her wings extended and the motors set running. It had now ceased snowing, and although the ground was still covered with a mantle of white, there seemed every prospect of a fine day.
Making a splendid ascent the machine quickly attained an altitude of twelve thousand feet, and a compass course was shaped to due east. Blake had a definite object in flying high. The air was sufficiently clear to distinguish prominent landmarks, but at that altitude there was hardly any possibility of the battleplane being seen from the earth. He wanted to make his arrival as dramatic and sudden as possible.
"We're touching one hundred and eighty miles an hour now," announced the inventor. "Could do another twenty with ease if we wished. We'll romp there hands down."