Part 43 (1/2)

He suited the action to the word. Chester and Stubbs followed his example.

For long moments, it seemed to them, they waited for the sound of the blast that would shake the country. Each was anxious, for there was no telling what the result of the explosion might be. Stubbs squirmed uneasily as he burrowed in the ground, while Chester and Hal were by no means easy in their minds.

So long did they wait that it seemed to Chester something must have gone wrong. Perhaps the fuse had gone out. Perhaps another German guard had discovered it in time and pinched out the fire. There were many possibilities, and the lad considered them all as he lay prostrate on the ground.

He was about to raise his head and ask Hal a question, when, suddenly, the blast came.

There was, at first, a long grumbling roar, which, it seemed, would never end. Gradually the roar increased until it reached such proportions as to be beyond all description; it was a roar the like of which neither of the three figures who lay there had ever heard before--probably never would hear again.

Louder and louder it grew and then ended in a final blast that was louder than many thousand times the loudest peal of thunder--louder than the simultaneous firing of thousands of guns.

Then it became suddenly quiet--so quiet that Hal, Chester and Stubbs, who had now leaped to their feet, felt a queer sensation hovering all about them; so quiet that it was, for the moment, impossible to hear.

Then something descended not five yards from where the three stood with a terrible roar. Instinctively, all fell to the ground again, crowding themselves into the smallest possible s.p.a.ce.

For the rain of debris had begun. And for several minutes it continued.

Pieces of guns, of rocks and of all objects imaginable fell upon all sides of the three; but, fortunately, none struck them. Then the rain of debris ceased.

In the great German camp all was hideous confusion. Thousands of lives had been snuffed out by the force of the t.i.tanic blast; thousands of others had perished in the rain of steel and iron and rock that followed.

It was the greatest catastrophe that had befallen the Germans for many a long day. The effect of the explosion was appalling.

Hal's first thought after the rain of steel and iron had ceased was for the aeroplane. If it had been smashed they were, indeed, in a serious situation. If it had gone through the storm safely they were comparatively safe.

Together the three friends rushed toward the machine. Quickly they rolled it out into the open. Hal examined the engine and steering apparatus carefully.

”All right, Hal?” asked Chester, anxiously.

Hal shook his head.

”Something wrong with the engine.”

”Can you fix it?”

”I haven't been able to determine just what's wrong yet.”

Hal worked rapidly; and at last he gave an exclamation of satisfaction.

”Find it?” asked Chester.

”Yes; I'll have it fixed in a quarter of an hour.”

”If we're not away from here in five minutes we're likely to be dead,”

said Stubbs, plaintively.

”Don't croak, Stubbs,” said Chester. ”We've done a good day's work and you should be proud to have a hand in it.”

”Should I?” said Stubbs. ”Well, all right, if you say so; but I would be a whole lot more proud if I could get back and tell somebody about it.”

”A man deserves no particular credit for doing his duty,” said Chester, quietly.