BIGGLES FLIES NORTH

by Captain W. E. Johns

III. A SATISFACTORY TRIP (Pages 37 – 49)

Biggles, Algy and Ginger fly north towards Moose Creek. Biggles speculates that someone has tampered with Wilks’ machine and he is down on the ground somewhere between Fort Beaver and Moose Creek. They find an aircraft on the ground with a waving figure besides it and the man clears a makeshift runway for them. They land and meet with Wilks, who is very pleased to see them. Wilks says that someone had put a handful of loose cotton-waste in his second tank and choked the leads. The aircraft only has a “busted tyre and a bent prop” and this is something that Smyth can fix. Biggles decides to fly Wilks’ cargo back to Fort Beaver with a view to taking it up to Moose Creek the following day. He will take Wilks and Ginger with him. Algy and Smyth will stay and fix Wilks’ aircraft and Algy will then fly that back to Fort Beaver. After transferring the cargo, Biggles flies back to Fort Beaver and sees a flare path put out in the dark. Biggles is suspicious and cuts his engine to follow it carefully before opening up again to avoid flying into their own hanger. It was a trap. Ginger drops a signal flare so they can see to land at Fort Beaver safely. The flares all disappear. They decide to set up quarters in their hangar where they can keep an air on their aircraft and Wilks tells Biggles and Ginger that the only place you can get grub is at the Three Star Saloon in the village. Biggles says he will go to get supplies and he will take Ginger with him.