the first scene was a comedy one. vibach's car was waiting outside the hotel, and the soldier chauffeur would almost certainly know that i was not the lieutenant, and how to fool him till we were out of lingen was no easy problem.

still it was no time to count risks; so i drew my cap well down, buttoned my overcoat as high over my face as possible, and pretended to be drunk.

it was all ridiculously easy. pulitz, the hotel proprietor, met me in the hall with obsequious servility, hoping i had enjoyed my lunch. i swore at him in true vibach style, cursed the lunch, told him to give me the bill, swore again at the charge as an imposition, and lurched out hiccoughing profanity and demanding my car.

truly the gods were on my side, for it turned out that the chauffeur had gone to get something to eat. the car was mine; and a very excellent car it was. i lurched up to the wheel with the assistance of pulitz, who waited on me bare-headed in obvious awe of the uniform, started the engine, growled out an order that the man was to wait for me, and still hiccoughing profanity, fumbled with the levers, and drove away.

i laughed in my sleeve as i rattled past fischer's shop and saw him and braun at the door in earnest conversation, probably canvassing the reason for my lengthy absence. braun saluted me and i lifted a hand in response. what would he have done had he known!

i let the car rip along to ellendorf. the sooner i reached the factory, the sooner i should get away—if i was to get away at all, that was. so far as could be judged only one really serious danger threatened me—that vibach was known to the people at the factory—and even that might be averted, by giving another name and vamping a reason to explain his absence.

any one who knows the attitude of the average german civilian toward the army will understand the strength of the cards i held. the officer's uniform, an army motor, the fact that vibach was expected, the possession of an official authority duly signed and stamped, all these were so many self-evident proofs of my good faith, thoroughly calculated to impose on even a sharp-witted business man. if i were accepted as vibach, nothing short of some stupid blunder could cause the scheme to fail. there was scarcely room even for a blunder, indeed, for the plan seemed almost fool proof.

it was nevertheless only prudent to consider what was to be done, should the unexpected happen. it was clearly best not to give my name until i was sure that vibach was unknown, and to have a story ready to account for his absence. his name was in the order, and no doubt there would be difficulties raised about delivering the bus to any one else. that could be got over by saying he had told me to see that it was ready for him, and a little manœuvring would probably allow of my going for a trial spin. they might send up a mechanic or a representative of the firm with me; but that would be no great matter. once we were off the ground, he could be readily dealt with.

i had burnt my boats now and was in too tight a corner to stick at anything, even violence, to win my way to escape.

if even the trial trip was refused, it would still be possible to get away under the pretence of testing the engine. let me be on board with the engine going, it would need a lot of mechanics to keep me from making a start.

there remained the chance that even this might not be possible, however, and in that case the only thing to be done was to leave the place under a cloud of vituperative indignation and threats. for this possibility, it was necessary to leave the motor where i could reach it readily and without trouble.

the opening scene was all that could be desired. the fact that i was expected caused me to be led at once to the managing proprietor, whose name was harden; he received me with all the respect due to my uniform; put me at ease by expressing a regret that he had never had the pleasure of seeing me before, although he had heard of my prowess in the air; and declared that he felt honoured at making my personal acquaintance.

i was condescendingly patronizing, thanked him a little boastfully for his compliment, and got to business.

"you have everything ready, of course?" i asked.

"quite. i'll have the plane run out," was the reply as he rang his table bell and gave an order that no. 14 should be made ready for me at once. "have you tried one of ours yet?" he asked as the clerk went out.

"i expect so, but i'm not sure. i've been up in so many."

"you've seen the specifications for the new make, of course."

"i should like to glance over them again."

"it will be an honour to explain the new improvements;" and he produced the plans and drawings and told me all about them, pointing to various differences and improvements, especially those which were his own inventions, on which he enlarged with immense self-satisfaction.

i had my own reasons for studying the drawings carefully, and condescended to flatter him on his inventive ingenuity. all this took up some time and i began to be anxious to start. i suggested that i had better have a look at no. 14; and we went out together.

she was a beauty and no mistake; but to my chagrin the men had damaged one of the planes slightly in getting her out of the hangar. only a simple matter involving renewal of a couple of the wire supports; but it meant a loss of time, and i had an uneasy speculation as to what was happening in that hotel bedroom at lingen.

i ordered the men to be quick about the repair, and was watching them when some one came out to tell harden he was wanted on the telephone.

this was not on the agenda and i sensed unpleasantness. there were two other planes on the field close to no. 14, and i strolled over to see if their petrol tanks were full, under the pretence of curiosity. it was a case of any port in a storm.

there wasn't a gallon in the two, so my curiosity died instantly. i returned to hurry on the work with no. 14. the men knew their job and had all but finished it, when harden came out wearing a look of worried perplexity.

"may i beg a moment with you, lieutenant?" he asked.

"certainly. what is it? nothing gone wrong, i hope."

"that telephone call was from lingen, from captain schiller; and i can't make head or tail of it. you will not be offended with me, i trust, if i tell you what he says—what i understood him to say, at least."

"my dear mr. harden, i hope i am not so foolish."

"well, he appears to be under the impression that you are not here."

i burst out laughing. "poor schiller! he's always got a bee in his bonnet; keeps a regular hive always on tap. i wonder what the devil has put that rot into his head."

"from what i could gather—i trust you'll pardon my even mentioning it—he appears to think that you were too—well, that you had had more wine at the halbermond for it to be quite safe for you to go."

i cursed schiller, whoever he might be, volubly and sincerely, for an interfering jackass. "i think you can settle that for yourself, harden."

"oh yes, i told him so, but—but his reply was—was very singular. he said that you had had to be assisted into your car at lingen, that it wasn't possible you could have thrown off the effects in the short time, and, in fact, that if you appeared to have done so, you could not be lieutenant vibach."

more cursing of schiller from me. "he'll have to answer for this, i can assure you," i exclaimed fiercely. "what did you reply?"

"i explained the exceedingly awkward position in which it placed me; and he instructed me very peremptorily on no account to deliver no. 14 to you, even in face of the army order. of course i was at a loss, so i asked him to speak to you on the telephone."

"i'd better do that," i replied readily. "there'll be the devil to pay if i don't turn up with it and the colonel's told i was too drunk to go up. schiller must be mad; stark, staring mad. he'll get me cashiered."

"he's holding the line, if you will come to my office."

it was the deuce of a crisis, and how to get over it worried me. but as we neared the office a thought struck me. "look here, harden, this must be met somehow. i'll get schiller to run over here at once and we must be ready with proofs that i'm as sober as a judge and perfectly fit to take up no. 14. i understand your position entirely and don't mean you to be compromised in any way. i won't ask you to deliver no. 14; but i shall be personally obliged if you'll have the petrol tank of one of those planes out there filled, or any other you like, of course, and i'll show him whether i'm fit to take no. 14 up. your evidence, too, may save me from absolute shipwreck."

"i'll do it with pleasure;" and he turned back to give the orders to the mechanics, while i went to the telephone in his office.

"hullo!" i called.

"that you, harden?" came the reply in an excited tone.

"yes." i was likely to get more information as harden, and tried to imitate his voice.

"i didn't recognize your voice for the moment. you haven't parted with no. 14, i hope?"

"no. lieutenant vibach's coming to speak to you."

"that's all right. this is a thousand times more serious than i knew just now. vibach's here."

"what!" i cried.

"it's true. i've seen him. he's been half-killed, drugged, and stripped of his uniform. he was found locked in a wardrobe of one of the halbermond's bedrooms."

"good heavens!" i exclaimed, appropriately flabbergasted. "then who's the man here?"

"the ruffian who did it, of course. evidently a plot to get hold of one of our newest planes. the ruffian has stolen vibach's uniform so as to personate him."

"never heard such a thing in my life. what shall i do?"

"keep him till we can get over."

"but he's armed, i expect."

"he'll have vibach's revolver, of course. you'll have to be careful. perhaps the best thing will be to keep him in play. let him think you're going to give him the bus, and let your men tinker with it for a quarter of an hour or so; i shall be with you by then; and when he speaks to me, i'll put him off the scent by saying i can't get over for an hour."

"i can manage that easily. he's coming now," i said, hearing harden's voice in the outer room. i paused a moment or two, shuffled my feet, and then spoke in my own voice. "you there, schiller?" i asked sharply.

"yes. that you, vibach?"

"i should think it is. look here, what the dickens is this tale you've been telling about me?"

he repeated the pith of what he had first told harden, explaining that he was quite as anxious for my safety as for that of the plane. harden entered as he was speaking, told me the bus was nearly ready and that he wished to say a word to schiller when i'd finished. i nodded; and as he could only hear my half of the conversation, of course, i dovetailed it in to fit the position. the result was good enough to incline me to put a saint's halo round the head of the man who invented the 'phone.

"of course that puts a different look on it, but you really ought to be more careful, schiller. i'm as sober as a judge, man; harden's standing by me now and he'll tell you the same in a minute."

"he told me so; but i was bound to take notice of what i heard. we can't risk the life of one of our best airmen and the loss of our newest type of bus——"

"don't talk rot, man. i was never fitter in my life than i am at this moment. i've just arranged with harden to prove that by taking up one of the old ones here."

this woke him up. "eh? what's that?"

"don't fool like that. of course i'm not. just a little spin round to show him that i can take charge of no. 14 all right."

"you'd better not do that, vibach."

"of course he does, man. do you think he doesn't know enough to tell whether a man's drunk or sober. i can't make you out."

"wait till i come over, vibach. i can't get away directly; but i'll be with you in about an hour."

i laughed. "that shows which you're thinking of most, the bus or the pilot. but all the same i'm glad you approve the scheme. i don't want——"

"let me speak to harden a moment," he burst in very sharply. "i've forgotten something i want to tell him."

"of course i'll be careful, you silly ass."

"did you hear what i said, vibach?" he demanded in the tone of impatient authority. "tell harden to speak to me at once."

"has that mechanic of mine turned up?"

whoever schiller might be, he was a hot-tempered fellow and curses began to be waved over the line. intelligible enough, seeing that i had told him how i meant to escape.

"not, eh? well, clap him under arrest when he does. and look here, that woodenhead fritz who drove me over chose to leave the car just when i wanted him to bring me here. that must be dealt with too. it might have been most serious. any one could have run off with the car, you know."

even this gratuitous piece of further information did not soothe him and more curses came along.

i laughed. "i thought you'd like to know that, schiller."

the laugh provoked him beautifully and stimulated his blasphemy as he ordered me again to let harden speak to him.

"i can't very well do that, can i? you'll understand why."

"what the devil do you mean by that?"

"think, man, think. it would stop my getting off with no. 14 in time to reach schipphasen before dark, if i were to wait an hour before making this trial trip."

"but you mustn't do anything till i come, vibach," he growled.

"good. i thought you'd see that." i paused and added: "of course i will. i've told him we're awfully obliged to him. all right, good-bye. don't make it longer than an hour. the days are none too long."

i made as if to hang up the receiver when harden put out his hand to take it. that was according to specification; and i started as if remembering he wished to speak to schiller, stumbled against a chair behind me, nearly fell, holding tight to the receiver, and in recovering myself, pulled it clean off the flex and put the 'phone out of action.

a mouthful of apologies for my clumsiness was met by a smile from the good simple man whose conviction of my good faith had been assured by the half of the conversation he had overheard.

"it is of no consequence at all. my people will put it right in a few minutes," he declared, little guessing what those few minutes meant to me. "what i had to say to captain schiller can quite well wait until he arrives," he added.

"he may be a bit put out, but i'll explain that it was my fault entirely. he reckons to be over in about an hour," i said as we returned to the field; "and that will give us nice time for the little experimental flight—our little bit of convincing evidence, eh? he likes the idea, and is as much obliged to you as i am."

"i am only too pleased to be of any service, i assure you. i myself should be quite prepared to deliver no. 14 to you; but i hope you'll understand my position."

"certainly, harden, certainly. just as clearly as i do my own. i shouldn't think of taking it until he comes. he's a good man to keep in with; a bit crochetty, but influential. it placed you in a nasty fix, and you couldn't do otherwise than you have."

"it's a great relief to me to hear you say that, and please don't talk about obligation."

"that's all right; but schiller's a useful man to oblige. what sort of a plane is this?" i asked as we reached the men.

"an old type, but quite reliable. we use it for lessons chiefly. the petrol tank filled, max?" he asked the foreman.

"yes, sir; but there's something wrong with the engine; keeps missing fire," was the reply.

pleasant news, seeing that in about ten minutes the mysterious schiller would be on the scene raising cain!

"take long to put right, max?" asked harden.

"can't exactly say, sir. i can't quite get at the mischief yet."

"let's have a look at her," said harden; and he and the man wasted five of the invaluable minutes over the examination.

there was only one thing to do. the way out being closed, i must get away in the car.

"it doesn't matter, harden. after all it's not necessary, you know."

"i'm afraid it would take an hour or two at least," he said, looking up from the engine. "i'm really most annoyed about it."

"well, i'll stroll back to my car, i've left some papers there i want;" and i turned away when max made a suggestion.

"there's a no. 5 over there. she's not so good as no. 2 here, but she could take the lieutenant up. i filled her tank in case, when i found no. 2 was wrong."

"why didn't you say so before, max?" cried harden.

if he had, he would have saved me from a very nasty heart spasm. as it was, there would only just be time to get off safely. but it might have been fatal to appear in any hurry, so i strolled over casually to the no. 5, pretended to look her over, as if time was no sort of consideration, and was climbing into the fuselage when we heard the furious tooting of a motor horn in the distance.

"hullo, what can that be?" exclaimed harden.

"sounds as if some one had had a breakdown and was tooting for help," i suggested with a smile.

a few seconds later the horn sounded again; much nearer this time. schiller was in a hurry and no mistake. but all this hurry wouldn't help him now. the bus was an old type needing the help of the mechanics to get moving, and max struggled with the propeller to start her.

there was a little difficulty and i held my breath. it was a matter of seconds now; seconds which meant life or death to me.

fortunately max knew his job thoroughly and knew the bus also and its little peculiarities. he got her going, just as the horn sounded once more and an officer, followed by a couple of soldiers and police, came running round the corner of the buildings and out towards us, shouting furiously and waving their arms.

i shoved the lever and the bus began to move.

"it's captain schiller; he's waving to us to stop," cried harden.

it was just too late. "he'll be able to see me start," i called over my shoulder. "give him my love and tell him he ought to have been here sooner."

"what do you mean?" shouted harden.

"he'll know," i yelled. the noise of the engine probably drowned the words, for she was running sweetly; the bus lifted like a bird in reply to the touch of the controls; and i was off.

not without a cheering salute from the captain, however. i wasn't far away before a bullet grazed the edge of the right plane, and glancing round i saw his soldiers emptying their magazines in the hope of satisfying his loving desire to embrace me.

they were tremendously busy. but it's no easy job to bring a bus down with a rifle bullet, and the majority of bosches are mighty poor shots; so i didn't worry about it, began to climb, pointing for the frontier, and was soon out of range.

my last glimpse earthwards showed me a little group of dots hurrying to and fro excitedly, like a number of disturbed ants infuriated by the ruin of their nest.

no doubt that was about the condition of things in that ellendorf nest. rather a pity i couldn't be present, perhaps.

but it didn't seem worth while to go back.

i could enjoy the scene sufficiently from the air.