THE BLACK PERIL

by W. E. Johns

VIII. A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES (Pages 109 – 122)

Biggles awakes on hearing a multi-engined aeroplane. It’s the big machine that Biggles saw back in England. Our heroes take off and follow the plane. They fly for hours. Biggles calculates “they must have passed over Prussia, cut across a corner of Lithuania and Poland, and were now actually on the Russian frontier, if not actually in Russia. They see firstly a small lake and then a larger lake. The mysterious foreign aircraft then starts to descend. (“Look out!” cried Algy suddenly. “She’s coming down” - is the illustration opposite page 110). Biggles quickly lands the other side of the forest spreading around the lake and they conceal their aircraft. Our heroes have a conference to decide what to do. “We’re skating on thin ice, make no mistake about that. Our papers may be in order, and all that sort of thing, but it won’t count for much if we are caught spying – and we shall have a job to find a reasonable excuse for being here”. Biggles suggests they try scouting on foot. “If we were caught, we should be caught red-handed, and it would be Siberia for the lot of us – perhaps worse”. They agree to split into two parties, with a pilot in each. Biggles and Ginger will go and investigate, Algy and Smyth will guard the machine. Biggles tells Algy if they are not back by this time tomorrow he is to return to England and tell Taglen at the Air Ministry. Biggles and Ginger go to the lake. They see a dozen great flying boats. There is a huge amount of activity on shore, with log-built houses and workshops everywhere and scores of men and the dull clamour of tools. They come across a row of railway trucks and when some men appear, Biggles and Ginger hide in separate railway trucks. Biggles truck is full of logs. An engine arrives to take the trucks away and Biggles finds himself being taken. He realises that his truck was not coupled to Ginger’s so Ginger’s truck has been left behind. Biggles’ truck is taken to a vast lumber camp, which seems to be in the middle of the seaplane station. They he hears the familiar voice of Blackbeard talking in English with a man called Darton. “Biggles quivered again, for it was the voice of his late gaoler in the Northumberlandshire house”. They talk about Biggles and Darton talks about the “little swine” who nearly broke his legs with a cudgel. Blackbeard says he saw Biggles at Holtenau yesterday. Biggles truck is then shunted away and completely unexpectedly he is tipped out with the contents into a pit. A piece of wood strikes his head and Biggles is knocked out.