SERGEANT BIGGLESWORTH C.I.D.

 

by Captain W. E. Johns

 

 

XVII.                       GONTERMANN DOES IT AGAIN  (Pages 167 - 175)

 

Back at Khartoum, Bertie is raced off to hospital in an ambulance.  The Spur is refuelled, by which time Algy and Ginger arrive back and Biggles and Ginger set off in pursuit of the last Renkell, the transport plane.  First the will fly to the oasis at El Zufra and if the Renkell is not there, they will fly on to Tripoli.  They make the long flight to El Zufra but can see nothing there.  As there are now no mines, they can land on the other side of the oasis, rather than in the wadi where the enemy would be expecting them to land and no doubt waiting for them.  Biggles leaves Ginger in the Spur, whilst it is still ticking over and goes to investigate if anybody is there.  Grindler is sent out to met Biggles and they exchange pistol fire as they hide amongst the palms.  Then they hear the transporter starting up, the plane is going to fly away partly refueled, leaving Grindler behind, much to his fury.  Biggles suspects they will complete the refueling at Tripoli and is anxious to give chase but he still has to deal with Grindler.  Biggles finds out from Grindler that Renkell himself, the aircraft designer, was not with them.  He was left at the base in the sanseviera.  When Grindler is down to one bullet he decides to use it to sabotage the Spur and runs towards where Ginger awaits in the plane.  Unfortunately, he runs through a depression where Sergeant Mahmud's men had left all the land mines, and ignoring all the warning notices in his haste, he is blown to bits.  The Spur is undamaged by the blast and Biggles and Ginger set off on the trail of the transport.