BIGGLES
SEES IT THROUGH
by Captain W.
E. Johns
VII. THE
AVALANCHE (Pages
102 – 115)
Dawn breaks and our heroes can now see
the edges of the frozen lake to the north and west. The pony is reaching the end of its endurance
and has dropped to a walk. There is a
thaw setting in as they reach the edge of the lake and Biggles unharnesses the
pony and gives it hay from the sledge just as a bomber appears in the
distance. They climb up a steep snow covered ridge, which Biggles had noted the day before,
and from where he thinks they will be able to see the crashed Blenheim. The climb is hard so they take off their
jackets and rest before reaching the top.
At the top they see the Blenheim and start to descend the steep bank but
due to the thaw setting in, the snow is loose and slippery. The snow starts to slide and before they know
it, the whole slope on which they are standing starts to slide. They desperately try to get clear of the
danger area as thousands of tons of snow and rock break loose, tearing up trees
and thundering down towards the ice.
“Algy practically got clear. So
did Smyth, although he was bowled over.
For a moment it seemed that Ginger, too, might escape the terrifying
wave of death that was roaring down the slope; but he was outflanked”. Ginger is swept away and there is no sign of
Biggles. Ginger is found, unconscious
and bleeding from the nose, but with no broken bones. Algy and Smyth then hunt for Biggles who is
also found unconscious with a lived bruise, seeping blood, on his
forehead. Algy fears he has
concussion. They decide to get the two
injured men into the Blenheim before they freeze. Algy notices Biggles no
longer has the jacket he was carrying. Ginger
comes round and the three men are able to drag Biggles to the Blenheim on a
rough bed of fir branches. As they cross
the ice to the Blenheim, a Russian heavy bomber flies over and sees them as
they are so conspicuous. Biggles comes
round and tells them all to play dead.
He tells Algy to take the gun out of his hip pocket. The pilot may land to see what has happened
and they can stick him up and grab his machine.
Biggles then passes out again.
The pilot flies over the apparently dead bodies and decides to
land. Two men get out of the
bomber. Algy rises up with the pistol
and says “Don’t move”. (Very quietly
Algy stood up, pistol at the ready – is the illustration on page 113). The Russians see the gun and understand. Algy indicates that there is food in the
crashed Blenheim for them, but they will have a long walk home. “Ginger and Smyth got Biggles to the bomber
and lifted him inside”. Algy joins them
and gets into the pilots seat and carefully takes off,
avoiding any repetition of the Blenheim disaster. Ginger says they ought to be home in a couple
of hours but Algy is worried about the Finnish anti-aircraft batteries.