Part 16 (2/2)

'Monaco,' said Biggles. 'Now if only we could get hold of one of those babies. . . .'

'Why not?' murmured Ginger.

'Upon my life, the boy's getting positively reckless,' a.s.serted Bertie.

'If we don't fly it means we've either got to walk or swim, and it's a long trip, either way,' declared Ginger. 'Apart from which, we're getting such a big party that we could hardly hope to strol away without being noticed.'

'Flying would suit me nicely,' interposed Algy. 'You grab one of those machines and you can reckon on me as a pa.s.senger.'

'That's enough fooling,' put in Biggles quietly.

'Ginger was right when he said we are a long way from the nearest friendly frontier. We can't sit here indefinitely; on the other hand, none of us is real y in a fit state to tackle a six or seven hundred mile jaunt.

Henri's condition rules that out, anyway. We've got to get transport of some sort. Admittedly, Mario has an ambulance, and it might get us a little way, but as soon as we ran out of petrol, which is almost impossible to get here, we should be cheesed. An aircraft would suit us admirably, but experience has shown that it isn't as easy to s.n.a.t.c.h a machine in enemy country as some people seem to think. Al the same, the possibilities are worth exploring.'

'I should have thought,' resumed Ginger, 'that the risks of trying to get a plane were no greater than trying to get across the frontier into Spain or Switzerland, the only neutral countries within reach without crossing water. Suppose I go down to Monaco to find out just what the chances of pinching a plane look like?'

'Wait a minute, that's my pigeon,' protested Bertie.

'Why yours?'

'Because I've got a useful pal on the spot-my old boatman, Francois Budette.'

'Al right, let's both go,' agreed Ginger. 'I want to go to Monaco, anyway.'

Bertie groaned. 'It's that girl again.'

'Not at al ,' argued Ginger. 'As far as Henri's mother is concerned, Henri is in jail at Nice, waiting to be shot. She helped me in the preparations for the rescue, so the least we can do is let her know that Henri is safe, so far. Of course, if I saw Jeanette at the same time I should speak to her-out of common politeness.'

'Why this sudden pa.s.sion for good behaviour?'

sneered Algy.

'I think Ginger's right about madame madame,' put in Biggles. 'We must let her know about Henri. But are you in a fit state, Ginger, to walk to Monaco? Don't forget the police are waiting for you.'

'I never felt better in my life,' declared Ginger. 'And as far as the police are concerned-wel , that goes for al of us. I've got Lucil e to ride on, don't forget.'

'Like you, she needs a rest,' Biggles pointed out.

'To save much trouble, suppose Mario went and fetched his ambulance?' suggested the princess.

'Then you could both ride down. And if you went inside you would be out of sight.'

'That sounds better,' a.s.sented Biggles. 'If there's going to be transport I'l go down and have a look at things myself. How does Mario feel about it?'

The princess consulted Mario in rippling Italian.

'He says he thinks it might be done,' she informed the others. 'He's wil ing to try. But unless he is able to get a lift into Monaco it wil be late in the afternoon before he can get back.'

'Now we're getting somewhere,' breathed Ginger enthusiastical y.

'Actual y, I should be the one to go with Biggles and Bertie,' said Algy.

'Not on your life,' denied Ginger. 'You don't even know where Madame Ducoste lives-I do.'

'Okay, Romeo,' submitted Algy, grinning.

'I think it's a deplorable thing that a fel ow can't 'I think it's a deplorable thing that a fel ow can't have a platonic friends.h.i.+p without these lousy insinuations,' snorted Ginger bitterly.

'Al right, laddie, put your hackles down,' consoled Biggles. 'Mario had better get off right away. When he comes back he wil have to stop at the nearest point on the Sospel road. We'l be on the watch for him.'

Mario went off, and the others settled down to discuss their adventures in more detail. Princess Marietta sat by Henri's bed and gave him water from time to time. It was obvious that his head wound was troubling him.

At noon they started to look out for Mario, not that they expected him back so soon, but Biggles was leaving nothing to chance; and as it transpired he was right, for a few minutes after Algy-who had volunteered for the first watch-had taken up his position, he saw a covered vehicle, bearing the red and white colours of the Princ.i.p.ality of Monaco, coming up the slope. He hurried back to the cel ar and informed the others of its arrival.

Biggles, dressed only in his boiler suit, at once prepared to depart. With Bertie and Ginger he went down to the car, which had already been turned, to find Mario at the wheel looking very smart in his uniform. At his suggestion they lay inside on the stretchers. As he closed the door he explained that his quick return was due to his having got a lift on a military lorry from Mentone to Monaco. The flying-boats, he stated, were in the harbour.

The journey to Monaco was made without incident beyond occasional hold-ups due to the congested state of the road. It may have been as a result of the heavy traffic, which kept the police busy, that the ambulance was al owed to pa.s.s without question.

Mario stopped at the end of the Boulevard des Moulins rather than risk running down the hil to the Condamine where he could be seen by the palace guards, who might ask him why he had brought the ambulance out.

'Now I put da ambulance in my garage,' said Mario. 'I pick you up here to take you back-in one hour, yes?'

'That should be ample time for what we want to do,' agreed Biggles, and Mario drove on.

They were proceeding on their way to the harbour when their attention was attracted by a little group of people standing in front of the official notice board at the bottom of the casino gardens.

'Let's see what it's al about,' suggested Ginger.

'Probably the names of the winners in the latest lottery,' predicted Bertie.

'We'l just have a glance in case it affects us,'

decided Biggles, glancing round. There were one or two police about, but they were swamped in the tide of Italian troops. Convoys had parked beside the road and soldiers were everywhere, talking and smoking.

They al walked over to read the notice, which they found had been printed in both French and Italian, under the Italian flag.

As Ginger read it his body seemed to go cold, and his nerves to contract. For the notice concerned them very closely. In the first paragraph it promised a reward of ten thousand francs to anyone submitting information which would lead to the arrest of Henri Ducoste, described as a rebel and a de Gaul eist.

But it was not that which shook Ginger, and gave him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was the last paragraph. This a.s.serted that if the reward was not claimed, and if Henri had not delivered himself up within twenty-four hours, his mother and sister, Madame and Mademoisel e Ducoste, of Monaco, would be arrested as hostages, and summarily shot.

The signature at the bottom was Signor Gregori Gordino, prefect of the special police.

Biggles nudged Ginger's arm. 'Don't speak a word,' he cautioned. 'Let's get out of the crowd.'

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