BIGGLES SEES IT THROUGH

by Captain W. E. Johns

XVI. A DESPERATE FLIGHT (Pages 230 – 250)

For the remainder of the night they wait. As the eastern sky turns grey, Olsen walks down the track carrying a leather flying jacket over his arm and cap and goggles swinging in his left hand. Biggles strolls up to him and says “Hullo, Olsen, what are you doing here?” “Why – I – er – I had a forced landing” he stammers in reply. Biggles says “We know your business”. “You were a trifle premature selling our heads to von Stalhein. I’m thinking of sending yours to him instead”. Biggles gets Algy to relieve Olsen of his gun and letters given to him by von Stalhein. Biggles tells Olsen “There are moments when I am tempted to commit murder, and this is one of them, but against my inclination I’m going to take you back to Finland for a fair trial”. Biggles asks him what the password is. He tells Olsen that he can tell them the password and come back with them or take what’s coming to him. Biggles raises his pistol. Olsen says the password is “Petrovith”. Suddenly a shot rings out and they see Russian soldiers in the distance. Olsen gives Biggles a violent shove and runs towards them. Biggles calls to him to stop or he will shoot. Olsen whips out a small automatic from under his arm and fires at Biggles. Biggles jumps aside and the bullet whistles past his head. Biggles takes deliberate aim and fires. (He threw up his own weapon, took deliberate aim and fired – is the illustration on page 235). Olsen staggers and crumples, face down. Biggles, Algy and Ginger dash into the trees and head west for the frontier. The trees begin to stand further apart and the area opens out. Biggles sees the track that Olsen was following and notes it disappears into the forest ahead. If they follow that and march parallel with the track, they might find Olsen’s machine. Biggles thinks he would be bound to land as near to the track as possible. Several times they past close to small detachments of Russian soldiers and once they lie flat while a patrol passes within fifty yards of them. Suddenly and unexpectedly they come across two Russian soldiers smoking by an outcrop of rock. Biggles, looking as unconcerned as possible, goes straight to them and announces the password. It turns out the password is correct, but the soldiers have a low conversation. Biggles shows them the letters taken from Olsen. “He nodded towards the west in the hope that the two simple fellows would grasp what he was trying to convey – that the letters had to be delivered”. They are let on their way. Their relief is short lived when they are chased by the same two soldiers, with several more following, who no doubt had bought word of their escape. “The position was desperate, but Biggles did not lose his head; he maintained the same pace and the same unconcerned attitude until he reached the trees, knowing that if he started to run the Russians would shoot”. As soon as they were under cover inside the trees they ran, parallel with the track but not on it. In due course, Ginger sees the aircraft, a single-seater Gladiator with Finnish markings. Biggles tells Ginger to fly and take the important papers and the letters straight to Colonel Raymond at Oskar. Ginger doesn’t argue and takes off. Biggles and Algy flee to a nearby lake and wade ankle-deep in water into the rushes, still heading in a westerly direction. Russian soldiers come out of the forest and soon they are joined by von Stalhein and two Russian officers on horseback. The German lost no time in organizing the pursuit on efficient lines. A bomber flies overhead and although Biggles and Algy hide, they are spotted as they move on and the reeds become too short to afford any real cover. A smoke bomb is dropped to tell the pursuers where they are. “It looks as if this is where we fight it out,” observed Algy calmly, clicking a bullet into the breech of the rifle he still carried”. Suddenly the enemy bomber is attacked by a Gladiator aircraft and diving steeply is a flying-boat. Biggles guesses that Ginger must be flying the Gladiator, he must have spotted the flying-boat and bought it here. Algy tries to hold the Russians off with his rifle. Biggles burns dry reeds to indicate their position. Ginger shoots at the bomber and succeeds in shooting it down, although the crew survive the crash landing and get clear. Ginger then shoots up the advancing Russian soldiers. The flying boat lands on the lake and surges towards where Biggles stands. Both Biggles and Algy wade out to the plane to see Smyth in the cockpit. “Good old Smyth; trust him to be in at the death,” declared Algy. “That man’s a treasure. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s on the spot when he’s wanted”. With Ginger’s Gladiator flying overhead, Smyth takes off in the flying-boat. Looking down they see the Russian soldiers apparently celebrating and they can’t understand it. Biggles yawns and says “I’m going to sleep. Wake me when we get home”.