Biggles In The Baltic Part 13

Ask me something easier. We've done about all we can do. Even if we could get down through the cave, which I doubt, I don't think we could take on a destroyer single-handed.'

'We could stop anybody from getting up here.'

'Yes, I think we could do that, but why need they bother to come up ? They know we can't get away. All they have to do is sit where they are and wait for us to fall off from want of food. We've one card up our sleeve though. They don't know we've got a machine up here, so it'll shake them when Algy takes off. I may as well tell him to go ; there 's no point in him staying here any longer now that the fireworks are over.'

One of the destroyer's guns flashed. A sh.e.l.l whined up and sprayed the rock with shrapnel.

'Who says the fireworks are over ?' muttered Ginger drily. 'They can see us evidently.

We'd better get down.'

Biggles turned towards where Algy was standing ; cupping his hands round his mouth he let out a hail. 'All clear!' he shouted, pointing to the sky. 'Tell Raymond we've flooded the place and bust up a destroyer and a drifter at the same time.'

Algy waved to show that he understood. 'Cheerio!' he yelled; 'I'll be back in a couple of days.'

Biggles caught Ginger's eye and smiled. 'Trust old Algy not to be left out of the finale.

All the same, I don't see what he can do if he does come back--but it 's no use telling him not to.' He sat down on a rock to watch the machine take off.'

Ginger squatted beside him. 'I shall be glad when he's up topsides,' he said anxiously. 'I am by no means sure that he 's got enough room to get off. If he touches those spikes of rock with his wheels 'Don't think about such things,' protested Biggles.

Algy was now in his seat. The propeller came to life.

I hope there isn't another piece of solder in that petrol pipe,' murmured Ginger.

'He's testing her now,' put in Biggles, as the noise of the engine rose to a crescendo, and then died away again as it was throttled back.

It doesn't sound too good to me,' declared Ginger, with his head on one side.

'She's giving her revs, anyway, or he wouldn't be so crazy as to try to take off,' returned Biggles. 'There he goes.'

The Platypus was racing across the flat part of the rock, apparently to certain destruction.

Fifty yards from the jagged teeth that barred its path the wheels had not lifted.

'He's deliberately holding her down,' said Biggles, whose face was deathly white.

Twenty yards from the edge of the cliff the Platypus jerked into the air, its wheels missing the rocks with a foot to spare.

Ginger wiped imaginary perspiration from his brow. 'Phew,' he gasped, 'I can't stand much of that. I ' He broke off suddenly and started to his feet.

Biggles, too, sprang up, his lips in a straight line. Comment was unnecessary. The engine was spluttering. There came the explosion of a backfire. The engine picked up again, but only for a moment. Another splutter, and it cut out dead.

As soon as the engine had started missing, the nose of the machine had tilted down. Now it went into a glide, and began a flat turn back towards the rock, about a hundred yards behind it.

'He'll never do it,' said Biggles in a dull voice. 'He can't get back. It's impossible. He'll go nose first into the cliff if he tries.'

What he had said was obviously so true that Ginger did not answer. He was incapable of speech. With his muscles as taut as if he were flying the machine himself, he could only watch. He saw the machine turn away from the island as Algy, too, realized that he was attempting the impossible. A moment later the Platypus disappeared from sight below the level of the cliff.

'He 's going down on the sea-it's all he can do,' snapped Biggles, and started off down towards the place where the machine had disappeared, jumping from rock to rock in a manner that was little short of suicidal. The Flight-Sergeant, Briny, and Roy were also racing towards the place. With his heart in his mouth, Ginger followed Biggles.

Breathless, they arrived at the edge of the cliff just as the snow began to fall again, although it was not yet too thick to prevent them from seeing the machine land heavily on the water. But the captain of the destroyer had also realized what was happening, and now the long grey hull, flinging a bow wave high into the air, came racing towards the helpless aircraft.

I'm afraid it's all over bar the shouting,' said Biggles heavily. 'He hasn't a chance.'

'He seems to be mighty busy doing something,' observed Ginger, staring at Algy, who was now standing up in his c.o.c.kpit. 'What's he doing ?'

I know what he's doing,' said Biggles bitterly. 'He 's tearing the British code-book to pieces so that he can set fire to them.'

'What! In the machine! He'll have the whole thing in flames in a couple of minutes. If his tank catches fire he'll blow himself up.'

'He'll risk that as long as he destroys the book,' declared Biggles. 'Confound the snow,'

he added viciously, as the blizzard suddenly thickened and blotted out the sea. They could not even see the water.

For a minute the watchers on the cliff stood still, listening, vainly straining their eyes.

I thought I heard a shout,' muttered Ginger.

The words had hardly left his lips when a violent explosion again shook the rock, although the noise was m.u.f.fled somewhat by the snow. A moment later came the sound of debris falling into the water.

'That's his tank gone up.' Ginger's voice was little more than a whisper.

Biggles said nothing. With his chin cupped in the palm of his hand he sat staring, white-faced, into the driving snow.

CHAPTER XIX.

MAROONED ON THE ROCK.

FOR some time n.o.body spoke. The only sound was the chugging of an invisible motorboat somewhere on the sea below.

At last Ginger tapped Biggles on the shoulder. 'Come on,' he said. 'There 's no sense in sitting here getting smothered with snow. If we don't soon get back to the cave we may not be able to find it.'

Biggles got up. 'I was trying to work out a way of getting that code-book back, but it 's got me stumped,' he said despondently. 'However, as you remark, it's no use sitting up here in the snow, unable to see a blessed thing; we may as well have a look at the cave- if it 's still there. If it isn't-well, it'll be interesting to see how they propose to get us off this rock. They won't just sail off and leave us here, that 's certain.'

'The only thing they could do would be to shoot us up from the air with machine-guns.'

Biggles reached for their own gun. 'Two can play at that game,' he said grimly. 'Poor old Algy ; if only he could have got away with those books I shouldn't have minded so much what happened here. Ah well! I suppose it was bound to come to this sooner or later. Let'

s get back to the cave.'

They all made their way through the drifting snow to the edge of the cliff.

'The ledge is still there, anyway,' observed Biggles, looking over the top as he tied the rope round his waist. 'Let me down first.'

With the gun in his hands he was lowered to the ledge. The others followed, Ginger, who came last, scrambling down at the end of a running line, with the rope looped round a projecting piece of rock at the top of the cliff.

Entering the cave, they saw at once that the lake was no longer there. Where the water had been yawned a wide black crater, but the pa.s.sage across it offered no great difficulty. At the far side they found that the rock that had dammed the water had been shattered by the explosion ; beyond it, the fissure was almost choked with debris, and Biggles looked at it dubiously before he advanced.

'Take it quietly everybody, or we may have the whole place down on our heads,' he warned the others.

Moving with extreme caution, taking care not to disturb loose rocks, they went on, noting the results of the escaping flood.

It was Ginger who saw the new exit first. Biggles had just pulled up with a cry of warning-or it may have been dismay-for they had reached a place where the fissure was almost completely blocked with pieces of loose rock, jammed together by the colossal weight of the water. All their torches were on, and it was no doubt due to this that the grey light which entered the cave from the left at first pa.s.sed unnoticed.

Ginger, happening to look that way, let out a shout. 'Here, what's this ?' he cried. 'It looks like a hole. It must be the place where the water burst through the side of the cliff.'

As quickly as they dared they made their way to the spot, and soon saw that what Ginger had surmised was indeed the case. A large portion of the side of the cliff had been forced out by the sudden weight of the released water, leaving an enormous cavity into which the snow now drifted.

Biggles made his way cautiously to the edge and looked down. 'I can just see the cove,'

he announced. 'I should say it 's about eighty feet below us.'

Is there anybody about ?' inquired Ginger. I can't see anybody.'

'Then they must be back in the cave, trying to get up to us.'

I don't think they'll get past that ma.s.s of rock -the place where we were held up.'

If they can't get up, it also means that we can't get down.'

I'm by no means anxious to get down-just yet, anyway,' said Biggles slowly. 'I think the snow is getting thinner. Let's sit here for a bit until it clears. We'd better see what's happening below before we do anything else.'

Resting the gun against a boulder, Biggles sat down to wait. Ginger squatted beside him, and the others leaned against the rock. As Biggles had remarked, the snowstorm was pa.s.sing, and presently it was possible to see most of the cove.

'Where the d.i.c.kens has everybody gone ?' muttered Ginger, scanning the scene below in search of the Germans whom he fully expected to see there.

'Don't ask me,' replied Biggles. 'I can only think that the second destroyer must have picked them up.'

'But it was making for Algy's machine. Surely it wouldn't have tried to get back into the cove through all that snow. Visibility must have been zero.'

'There's the destroyer, and the drifter, at any rate,' observed Biggles, as visibility improved and it became possible to see the two vessels, still locked together against the spit. The destroyer had sunk by the stern, with her bows still in the drifter's hull. Both appeared to be deserted.

'This has got me whacked,' went on Biggles, with a puzzled expression on his face. '

Where the d.i.c.kens have the crews gone?'

'The lifeboats aren't there,' the Flight-Sergeant pointed out. 'They must have taken to the boats when the destroyer started to founder.'

'But where could they go? Why can't we see them ? You'd have thought they'd have come ash.o.r.e.'

Briny stepped forward. 'Excuse me, sir, I didn't like to mention it before, but when you was a'sittin' on the top there, just after Mr. Lacey flopped down in the ditch, I thought I '

eard a motor-boat. I've got a pretty good ear for engines, and I said to myself, I said, if that ain't the blooming motor-boat wot let me down, then I never 'eard it.'

Biggles stared, trying to grasp the significance of what Briny had said.

'Just a minute,' put in Ginger sharply, turning to Biggles. 'Didn't you say that the drifter had picked up the motor-boat? If so, it might have brought it here.'

'That's right,' conceded Biggles.

'Then they might have cleared off in the motorboat-or taken the lifeboats in tow.'

Even so, that doesn't explain why they should suddenly rush off, knowing that we were on the island.'

'They may have gone to the other destroyer.'

'Yes, but where is the other destroyer ?' cried Biggles, indicating the open sea, for the snow had now practically stopped, and it was possible to see for two or three miles.

'Great Scott! Look! There's Algy's machine,' shouted Ginger suddenly.

Biggles stared as if he could not believe his eyes; but there was no possibility of mistake.

The Platypus had drifted into sight, close to the rocks below them. It seemed to be in an undamaged condition, but of Algy there was no sign.

'He must be in the water-unless he managed to get ash.o.r.e,' ventured Roy.

'Hark!' said Biggles suddenly.

Over the water came a hail. 'Ahoy there!' 'What the d.i.c.kens! That wasn't Algy's voice,'

swore Biggles.

It certainly wasn't,' agreed Ginger emphatically.

Then to their ears came the m.u.f.fled beat of an engine, and they all stared at the shoulder of rock from beyond which the sound seemed to come. And as they stared, moving very slowly, a long, sleek body came into sight, just above the surface of the water.

'Look out! It's a U-boat,' snapped Biggles, grabbing the gun. Then he stopped, staring incredulously as the rest of the steel deck came into sight. On the deck was a gun, and behind it stood a crew of British bluejackets. n.o.body spoke as the conning-tower came into view, and then Ginger let out a yell, for standing talking to two British officers was Algy. The submarine forged on, its white ensign fluttering.

Ahoy there!' yelled Ginger, nearly going over the cliff in his excitement.

They saw Algy look up and point, and in a moment a dozen faces were staring at the hole in the rock.

'Talk about fairy G.o.dmothers, they aren't in it,' declared Biggles, a flush on his pale face.

'Where have you sprung from ?' he shouted.

'We've come for that code-book!' shouted the submarine commander.

Biggles remembered his signal to Colonel Raymond and understood what had happened.

The Admiralty had sent for the valuable doc.u.ment. 'Watch out!' he roared. 'There 's a Boche destroyer about somewhere.'