<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX<br/> <span class="cheaderfont">THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS</span></h2>
<p>Almost before the words had passed Ned’s
lips, an ugly black muzzle was protruded from
a window in the hanging body of the nearest
Zeppelin. Then came a puff of bluish smoke, a
dull roar and flash of flame:</p>
<p>BZZ—Zz—z—z—z—z—z—z....</p>
<p>A huge shell had passed athwart the <em>Ocean
Flyer’s</em> bows in stern warning for her to stop
and await inspection.</p>
<p>Perspiration started out profusely on the boys’
foreheads. The huge German war balloons were
approaching in a rapidly narrowing circle. There
were at least fifty of them, and soon an advance
patrol of military “Taube” aeroplanes came
skimming back to support them. Cannon were
shoved menacingly out of a score of portholes.
There was no mistaking the determination of the
Germans.</p>
<p>“Heavens!” groaned Alan, his cheeks
blanched. “What shall we do? If we don’t
stop in a minute, they’ll all get our range and<span class="pagenum">[231]</span>
blow even our stout magnalium covering to bits.
We haven’t a single weapon on board that can
compare with those heavy cannon!”</p>
<p>“Don’t surrender unless there is absolutely
nothing else for us to do,” cried Buck.</p>
<p>Bob added: “No, because then they’d simply
lock us up in some German prison and use the
<em>Flyer</em> for their raid on England!”</p>
<p>The two nearest Zeppelins could now be seen
letting gas out of their huge sausage-like bags as
they settled down towards the almost stationary
airship. As they changed position, it left a narrow
break in the ring of enemies.</p>
<p>“Shall we risk a chance on breaking through
there? That’s our only hope,” said Ned quietly.</p>
<p>“Yes, yes. Quick—full power ahead before
they think to close the gap!”</p>
<p>Ned jammed the acceleration lever hard down
in its socket; the machinery groaned with the
pressure of too suddenly added power; the
exterior planes folded automatically before
the rapidly increasing rush of air. The <em>Ocean
Flyer</em> swept upwards at an abrupt angle, heading
straight for the only opening left unguarded.</p>
<p>Simultaneously the Zeppelin crews saw the
boys’ desperate intent. Flame belched from
twenty cannon mouths. Shells burst screaming<span class="pagenum">[232]</span>
all around. Four light aeroplanes skimmed like
swallows up and over to cover the gap in the
ring. The two huge Zeppelins bearing down
upon the Flyer from above converged and
charged her, head on.</p>
<p>“There’s only one thing for us to do,”
groaned Ned, “and that is to ram them. We can
do it, but it means that the Zeppelins we hit will
be destroyed and with them I don’t know how
many men. Those craft carry a crew of forty
or more, you know.”</p>
<p>“I hate to think of it too, but they themselves
have made it our lives or theirs!” yelled
Alan. “So go to it, Ned.”</p>
<p>The <em>Ocean Flyer</em> had now attained an incredible
velocity. It was only a matter of minutes,
of seconds, or instants, before it would crash
straight into the huge but clumsier enemy
advancing to meet it. There was a bare glimpse
of drawn, panic-stricken faces crowding the
hanging compartment. The pointed snout of the
<em>Flyer</em> tilted suddenly at an eighty-degree angle
and—</p>
<p><em>B o o m—m—m—psthsh—sh—sh—ss!</em></p>
<p>She had struck and pierced the huge gas bag
of the Zeppelin, leaving a huge, gaping rent from
which the gas rushed as the craft sagged sidewise<span class="pagenum">[233]</span>
more and more. Several of the heavy cables
supporting the car from the bag parted with
reports like shell explosions. The Zeppelin began
slowly to sink, while her sister craft sheered off
from the rushing destroyer.</p>
<p>Wild-eyed and remorseful for the awful necessity
of their deed, the boys now saw the light
aeroplanes darting up to block their path. The
futility of their trying to stop an airship when
a Zeppelin twenty times their size had failed,
did not seem to occur to those daring German
aviators.</p>
<p>They sat braced there in their narrow seats
among the intricacy of wire rigging, guiding
their frail craft with one hand and shooting
rapidly with the other. Rifle and revolver bullets
rattled against the <em>Flyer’s</em> magnalium sides like
hailstones.</p>
<p>The rush of wind set in lateral motion by the
velocity of the huge airship nearly capsized two
of the little craft. The planes of a third one
were brushed roughly by the <em>Flyer</em> as it rushed
past.</p>
<p>The sun had now dissipated the last of the
mist and the shapes of the other Zeppelins could
plainly be seen sailing down upon their prey.
The whole sky seemed to be full of them. No<span class="pagenum">[234]</span>
wonder England was terrified by such a menace
as this!</p>
<p>The <em>Ocean Flyer</em> now had, however, a clear
field in front of her and the situation resolved
itself into a race to get out of range. Here
was where the tremendous motive power of the
airship stood her in good stead. No Zeppelin
could maintain such a terrific speed as Ned set.</p>
<p>The guns of the Zeppelins roared almost continuously,
but a moving target is hard to hit.
Most of the deadly shells either fell short or
went wide of their mark. One by one the huge
“bologna sausages” began to drop behind and
abandon the pursuit. Finally there were only
two left—one a quarter of a mile in the rear
and the other hanging almost stationary to the
left of the <em>Flyer’s</em> course. The last Zeppelin had
evidently been foremost of the raiding squadron.</p>
<p>“Good-bye, old chaps,” Bob yelled mockingly,
just as the Zeppelin to the left let fire a broadside
with every one of her seven cannon. The
“kick” of the discharge caused her to careen
backward amid clouds of powder smoke.</p>
<p>Shells droned gruesomely past the speeding
<em>Flyer</em>—overhead, beneath, on both sides.</p>
<p>A rending thud that hurled the airship on her
beam ends ... the splintering crash of<span class="pagenum">[235]</span>
wood and metal ... frenzied cries for help
from Buck down in the engine room. A perceptible
“missing” of the engines and an alarming
tilt to one side.</p>
<p>The <em>Ocean Flyer</em> had been hit!</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum">[236]</span></p>
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