BIGGLES
& CO.
by Captain W.
E. Johns
XI. BACK
TO THE WALL (Pages
214 – 232)
“Biggles must have dozed, for he was
suddenly aware that dawn had broken”. He
wakes Algy as he can hear something going on beneath them. Eighty feet below in a walled courtyard, a
firing squad of ten or a dozen of the green clad guards have assembled and
opposite them is Ginger with a bandage bound over his eyes. “They’re not going to shoot him,” gasped Algy
in a strangled voice. “They are,”
replied Biggles coldly. “And quickly,
unless we do something about it,” he added grimly. Biggles shouts down to von Stalhein and tells
him he can’t commit cold blooded murder.
A guard fires at Biggles but von Stalhein tells him to put his weapon
down. Biggles says if they go through
with this, he will see to it that every newspaper in Europe prints the story on
the front page. Biggles adds “I’m not
given to threatening; but go your own way and you sign your death-warrant. I’ll see to that; I’ll hunt you down and kill
you like a mangy wolf, if I have to spend the rest of my life doing it”. Biggles agrees to go down and talk to von
Stalhein about the situation. Biggles
goes back down the roof top trap-door and towards the staircase where he is
quickly met by two green guards who escort him to von Stalhein’s study. Ginger is there. Von Stalhein dismisses the guards but takes
his Mauser revolver out of his drawer and lays it down in front of him. “Please be very careful. It is hardly necessary for me to say that I
am in no mood to tolerate nonsense”. Von
Stalhein asks Biggles who he is working for.
Biggles tells him, “Cronfelt”.
Biggles confirms that Cronfelt gave him the package alleged to contain
the diamonds. Biggles is surprised to
learn that Algy stole the other package of jewels from von Stalhein’s desk when
he escaped. “I suppose it is possible
that in the excitement he forgot to tell you” says von Stalhein. Biggles notices something behind von
Stalhein; soot falling down into the great fireplace. Von Stalhein is saying that the stolen jewels
“were the real reason for the little drama I staged this morning”. “You don’t suppose I really intended shooting
that boy, do you?” smiled the German.
Algy appears in the fireplace behind von Stalhein. Suddenly a car horn sounds and von Stalhein
says he will have to postpone this interview as “I have an important
visitor”. Algy grabs von Stalhein with a
hand over his mouth. Biggles grabs the
revolver. “It was no time to be
squeamish. His arm flew up, and he
brought the butt down sideways on the German’s closely cropped head. (His arm flew up, and he brought the butt
down sideways on the German’s closely cropped head - is the illustration on
page 227). He hated doing it, but it
was a matter of life or death now, and he had no alternative”. Biggles, Algy and Ginger then climb out of
the window and by threatening the chauffeur of the newly arrived car with von
Stalhein’s gun, they steal the car, crash through some rapidly closing gates
and escape. Driving to the field where
Ginger, left the Falcon, a small gathered crowd make no attempt to stop them
getting in and taking off. Algy asks
about his machine, the Bulldog. “Biggles
shook his head. “It looks as if we shall
have to write it off as a dead loss,” he declared, “unless you feel like going
back to look for it,” he added with a smile.
“No, I don’t think it matters,” answered Algy quickly. “I can buy another “Bulldog”, but I can’t buy
another life”.