BIGGLES 'FAILS TO RETURN'

 

By Captain W. E. Johns

 

 

XVIII.                     HOW THE RENDEZVOUS WAS KEPT  (Pages 208 - 216)

 

Biggles and Ginger swim to the mooring buoy holding the plane.  Suddenly there is a lot of activity at the harbour and at first our heroes think they have been seen, but that is not the case.  Biggles goes inside the plane with a torch and finds a man on a bunk there.  They order him out and he swims for the shore.  Searchlights are turned on.  Biggles starts the plane.  They speed towards the harbour entrance only to see a black bulk coming in.  A ship is arriving.  Three ships in fact, two destroyers and a tanker.  Speeding up, Biggles manages to get outside just in time and is then able to take off.  As they do so they are caught in searchlights and are shelled.  Noticing that the petrol gauges are less than a quarter full, Biggles realises the planes were waiting for the tanker to refuel them "the Wops were evidently expecting the ships".  Ginger spots the boat off Cap Martin and they land in order to take onboard the passengers.