Part 12 (1/2)

Sefton turned his head and saw that the speaker was Engineer-Lieutenant Boxspanner, and for once at least Dr. Stirling agreed with him.

The rescue of the sea-plane's crew threw additional work upon the already hara.s.sed surgeon, for the observer was showing signs of collapse, while upon examination it was found that the pilot had been hit in the forehead by a shrapnel bullet.

Pulling himself together, the observer managed to impart important information before he fainted through sheer exhaustion. The sea-plane had sighted the main German fleet fifty miles to the nor'-nor'-east.

The intelligence was highly desirable. It settled without doubt the all-important question as to the enemy's whereabouts, and definitely proved that Jellicoe's s.h.i.+ps were between the Huns and their North Sea bases. If steps could be taken to intercept the German vessels' retreat through the Cattegat, it seemed as if they were doomed to annihilation at the hands of the British.

Quickly the news was wirelessed from the _Calder_ to the _Iron Duke_.

Unless anything unforeseen occurred, it seemed pretty certain that Admiral Jellicoe would be able to turn the initial advantage into an overwhelming defeat for the enemy.

The two airmen had rendered good service against considerable odds.

They had ascended three hours previously, and, flying low in order to be able to see through the haze, had eventually sighted the badly-damaged German squadron under Rear-Admiral von Scheer, which had contrived to slip away while Admiral Hipper was endeavouring to delay the advance of Jellicoe's main fleet.

Owing to the low degree of visibility, the seaplane came within range of the hostile quick-firers almost before her pilot was aware of the unpleasant fact. Greeted by a hot fire, almost the first sh.e.l.l of which carried away the wireless, the sea-plane ascended, trusting to be hidden in the clouds until she could volplane from another direction and renew her reconnaissance of the hostile fleet.

Unfortunately, it was a case of ”out of the saucepan into the fire”, for on emerging above the low-lying bank of clouds the sea-plane found herself almost underneath a Zeppelin, several of which accompanied the German fleet, although their sphere of usefulness was considerably curtailed by reason of the climatic conditions. Although the haze prevented the British from inflicting greater damage upon their opponents, it is fairly safe to a.s.sert that had the sky been clear the Zeppelins would have given the German fleet timely warning, and an action would never have ensued.

Nothing daunted, the British sea-plane opened fire upon her gigantic antagonist; but the odds were against her. The Zeppelins, floating motionless in the air and in perfect silence, had long before heard the noisy approach of the mechanical hornet, and her appearance was greeted with a concentrated fire of half a dozen machine guns, accompanied by a few choice t.i.tbits in the shape of bombs.

The latter, without exception, missed their objective, but the hail of bullets ripped the sea-plane through and through and dangerously wounded her observer. In spite of the riddled state of the planes the pilot kept his craft well under control, but was forced to descend, not before the Zeppelin was showing signs of having been much damaged by the sea-plane's automatic gun. The last the airmen saw of her was that she was making off at full speed in an easterly direction, her stern portion dipping ominously in spite of the quant.i.ty of ballast hurled overboard by her crew.

The British air-craft's long volplane terminated on the surface of the sea miles from the place where she had ”spotted” the hostile s.h.i.+ps.

Before long the pilot made the disconcerting discovery that one of the floats was leaking. Having bandaged his unfortunate comrade's wound, he slipped over the side of the fuselage on to the damaged float. Failing to locate and stop the leak, he took up his position on the sound float, in the hope that his weight would preserve the sea-plane's stability.

In this position he remained for two hours, until, numbed by the cold, he was on the point of abandoning hope when the _Calder_ hove in sight.

The sun had set when the _Calder_ rejoined the flotilla. The enemy was entirely out of sight, but there was every possibility of the German torpedo-boats making a night attack upon the long line of battles.h.i.+ps.

Every precaution was taken against such a step. The battles.h.i.+ps and battle-cruisers were encircled by a line of light cruisers, while beyond them, and mostly between the British fleet and the reported position of the German s.h.i.+ps, was a numerous gathering of destroyers for the dual part of protecting the larger s.h.i.+ps and also, when opportunity occurred, of making a dash against the Huns.

”Mark my words, Sefton,” said Lieutenant-Commander Crosthwaite when the _Calder_, having transferred the two airmen, had taken up her allotted station, ”to-night's the night. We'll have the time of our lives.”

CHAPTER XII--The Night Attack

Just before midnight two columns of destroyers in line ahead slipped away in the darkness, the course being N. 42 E. Without showing so much as a glimmer of light, with their funnels screened with ”spark arresters” to prevent the exit of glowing embers from the furnaces, the long, lean craft headed in the supposed direction of the enemy fleet.

From the elevated fore-bridge Sefton could scarce distinguish betwixt the _Calder's_ bows and the dark, heavy waves. The only guide to enable the destroyer to keep station was the phosph.o.r.escent swirl at the stern of the vessel next ahead, as her triple propellers churned the water.

On deck the men were at the battle-stations, standing motionless and silent. Their faces had been blackened with burnt cork to render them as inconspicuous as possible should the beam of a hostile search-light swing itself athwart their vessel.

Although the high-raised fo'c'sle of the _Calder_ was comparatively dry, showers of spray cast aside by the flaring bows were caught by the strong wind and dashed over the bridge until it was impossible to make use of night-gla.s.ses owing to the beads of moisture on the lenses.

Beyond a curt, clearly-enunciated order to the quartermaster, neither of the two officers spoke a word, Crosthwaite gripping the guard-rail and peering ahead, while Sefton kept his attention upon the tell-tale greyish smudge that marked the position of the destroyer ahead.

The result of years of training at night manoeuvres was bearing fruit.

Iron-nerved men were at the helm of each boat--men who had long since got beyond the ”jumpy” stage, when strange freaks of imagination conjure up visions of objects that do not exist. A false alarm and a rapid fire from the 4-inch guns would be fatal to the enterprise, the success of which depended entirely upon getting well within torpedo-range without being spotted by the alert foe.