The Secret Battleplane

"THAT rotter of a garage fellow!" exclaimed Athol Hawke explosively. "He hasn't done a thing to the wheel; and, what is more, he rushed me sixpence for garaging the bike, the yo...

"GET the luggage out, old man," said Dick. "We'll pad the hoof and see if we can find a cottage. We might, with luck, get a fellow with a horse to pull the bike to the top of th...

"Suppose I ought to go back to the early stages of the war," said Athol. "You see, one yarn does for both of us, since we share and share alike. Fifteen months ago we were at a...

"In that case we'll compromise matters," said the inventor. "Since you have offered yourselves in all good faith, we'll run in joint harness for the next fortnight. I'll show yo...

NOT for one moment did Desmond Blake's presence of mind desert him. Quickly locking the wings in position to enable the battleplane to maintain a maximum glide he turned her "do...

In his agitation Blake failed to make reply. He dashed into the shed, followed by his two assistants. Everywhere there were signs of disorder as if some intruder had hastily ove...

WITHOUT speaking a word Desmond Blake approached his prisoner and regarded him intently. For a full minute he kept his eyes fixed upon the German, who at first seemed indifferen...

"I AM off to France to-day, lads," announced Desmond Blake on returning to the battleplane after the conclusion of the conference. "It's sharp work, but now these gentlemen have...

FOR the next three days the crew of the battleplane were kept busily employed in getting ready for active service against the Huns. With the utmost expediency thousands of bulle...

Three weeks had elapsed since the secret battleplane had worsted the two Fokkers--three weeks of strenuous activity. The battleplane bore many honourable scars, souvenirs of aer...

"ALL out, Dick," shouted Blake, at the same time coupling up the wing mechanism. Sergeant O'Rafferty, springing to the after machine-gun, swung the weapon upon the nearmost of t...

CAPTAIN DESMOND BLAKE had hit the mark when he described the soi-disant Belgian lieutenant as a star. Subsequent enquiries revealed the fact that the real lieutenant Etienne Fau...

NIGHT had fallen when Athol emerged from the dense wood. Overhead the stars were shining brightly, although occasionally obscured by drifts of pungent smoke from the still burni...

MAKING a long detour Athol eventually rejoined the road leading to Weert, this time quite two miles from the frontier custom-house. By his watch, which fortunately had escaped t...

HAVING covered a considerable distance Athol sat down behind a tree and made a hearty meal of some meat pies which he had taken the precaution to buy in Weert. By this time the...

HAVING, through Athol's instrumentality, recovered the battleplane's plans, Desmond Blake resolved to run no more risks in that direction. In spite of the most stringent precaut...

IT was indeed well that the battleplane was already flying "down the wind." Locking the wings, and trimming them at the furthermost limit of the bent actuating rod, Blake made t...

"The swine is an English prisoner," he said. "He was lent to me from a camp at Meseritz. If the rest of these Englishmen give so much trouble as this one I feel sorry for the go...

"THE gale must have backed to the south'ard," explained Desmond Blake. "It has carried us well northward of our proper course. There's a large vessel almost immediately beneath...

A PROLONGED spell of steady westerly winds delayed the British air squadron's return to the Western Front. A week or more had passed since the arrival of Blake and his companion...

There was every possibility of the colonel's wish being speedily gratified, for arrangements were already in progress for sending the released officers and men back to England b...

WITH her replenished stock of fuel the battleplane had no difficulty in rising once she was clear of the surface; for, owing to the absence of properly contrived floats and the...