"How did you hear about it?"
"In rather a strange way ; through a British Tommy a lad named Corporal Price. As you probably know, some of our fellows got cut off in the town. Some were captured; others went into hiding, when they could find French people to conceal them - and there were plenty willing to take that risk. Renee took charge of Corporal Price and hid him in a cellar. There he met Bregard, who subsequently told him about the plans. Bregard was, of course, stuck there on account of his broken leg, although being a Frenchman and not in uniform, he was in no danger of arrest. Price determined to get back to England and bring the plans with him. Arrangements were made, but unfortunately the day before he was due to leave he was captured. He was sent to Germany, but jumped the train, pinched a bicycle, and got down to Spain, from where he subsequently made his way home."
Smart lad."
Air Commodore Raymond nodded. "He came straight to us with the story. That was last night."
"How long since he left Amiens ?"
"Nearly three weeks."
"Anything can have happened in that time."
Tie Air Commodore shrugged his shoulders. "It would be foolish to dispute that; but, on the other hand, there is a good chance that Bregard may still be there, with the plans still in his possession, in which case it is up to us to try to make contact with him."
"But even a.s.suming that somebody got through to him, how would he know that the person was genuine and not a German agent?"
"Because, fortunately, there was a kind of pa.s.sword in use between Renee, Price, and Bregard, when they were all in the house, a method which they used among themselves when danger threatened. They had to devise some such signal because German troops were often in the shop. Apart from that, the man we sent could soon establish his bon a fides by mentioning Corporal Price and details of his stay there."
Biggles nodded. "I understand. What was this pa.s.sword?"
"As a matter of fact, it was the first line or two of a popular French song." With a ridiculous expression on his face the Air Commodore began to sing: Parlez moi d"amour, Redites-moi des choses tendres . .
Biggles stared at the astonishing spectacle of an Air Commodore crooning. His mouth twitched in a smile of frank incredulity.
"For the love of Mike!" he breathed. "This war gets funnier and funnier."
"What"s wrong with my singing?" demanded the Air Commodore stiffly.
"Nothing - nothing, sir. I was just wondering what the airmen would think if they could see you lilting that little lullaby."
"Don"t you know the song?"
Speak to me of love," translated Biggles, his lips curling in a sneer. What gave you the idea that I cluttered up my brain with that sort of stuff?"
"It"s a nice song."
Biggles grinned. "I"ll sing it to the next n.a.z.i pilot I meet - to a machine-gun accompaniment."
"Come, come, Biggles," protested the Air Commodore, you need only learn the first two lines - that will be as much as you"ll need."
"As much as I need ?"
Yes. You don"t suppose I"m telling you this story just to pa.s.s the time, do you? Come on, Bigglesworth - will you go?"
"Why pick on me, for heaven"s sake?"
- "Because you speak German and French. Also you can fly an aeroplane. There"s no other way of getting in and out of France!"
Biggles lit a cigarette. "I see," he said sarcastically. "I just fly over, raising my hat to any Messerschmitts I meet on the way, land on a German aerodrome, and stroll up the boule-vard singing, "Speak to me of love-"."
"I"m not pretending it"s easy."
"I should jolly well think you aren"t!"
"I can let you have a German uniform."
Biggles"s lips curled. "Not on your life. When I stop a bullet it will be in my own pants."
"As you like - it was only a suggestion," returned the Air Commodore drily. "Obviously, you will have to go over at night and land in a field outside the town. I"ve marked one or two on this map that might be suitable. In any case, you ought to know the country round Amiens pretty well from the number of times you"ve flown over it. But there, it isn"t for me to suggest how you go about the job. Will you have a shot at it?"
"You know perfectly well that I can"t say no," answered Biggles quietly. "When do you want me to go?"
"Immediately - tonight. Every day that pa.s.ses lessens our chances of getting the plans.
The weather conditions should be ideal. There will be a moon early on - it will set at about eleven; which means that it will be light enough for you to find your selected field.
Then, when it is dark, there will be less likelihood of your machine being seen while it is on the ground."
"All right, sir. I"ll see what I can do," promised Biggles.
The Air Commodore, his mission achieved, did not linger.
"I"ll be along first thing in the morning to collect the plans," he said, holding out his hand.
You ought to be back by daybreak."
If I"m not," said Biggles slowly, it would be a waste of time for you to wait here for me."
After the purr of the Air Commodore"s car had died away he took from a drawer his own map of northern France and, with great care, plotted a course to a certain field, a field that he knew well, for he had once made a forced landing on it. Making a note on a sc.r.a.p of paper, he then went out to look at the weather. The sky was clear, but the sun was going down in a misty glow. For a moment or two he regarded it reflectively, and then rang the bell for Toddy.
"I"m going to practise a little night-flying tonight," he announced evenly. "I may be away for some time, so don"t worry on my account."
Toddy eyed him suspiciously. "What time will you be leaving the ground, sir?"
"About ten o"clock."
"Can you give me any idea what time you"ll be back?" "Does it matter?"
Toddy looked uncomfortable. "Well, sir, I thought I"d better know, in case the Wing Commander rang up, wanting you for something."
"If he does, tell him I hope to be back not later than dawn," said Biggles, and walked towards the ante-room whence came the sound of singing.
Toddy gazed thoughtfully at the swing door after it had closed. He looked up the road where the Air Commodore"s car had disappeared. Then, with a far-away look in his eyes, he went into the C.O."s office. He noticed the map, still lying on the desk, and studied it intently. A thin pencil line could not be overlooked.
Ah-huh," he murmured softly.
It was shortly after ten when Biggles left the ante-room. He went first to his quarters, where he put on a light raincoat of civilian pattern; then, collecting his flying kit on the way, he walked on to the camouflaged shelter that housed his Spitfire. Had he been less wrapped up in his thoughts, which were concentrated on the enterprise before him, he might have noticed that as he left the ante-room there was a sudden cessation of conversation. Had he turned, he might have observed a number of furtive figures watching him from the darkened mess.
"There he goes," whispered Toddy to Algy Lacey.
Biggles walked on. Flight Sergeant Smyth was standing by his machine when he reached it.
"Everything all right, Flight Sergeant?" asked Biggles curtly.
"Yes, sir. I"ve lightened her as much as I can. The tanks are only half full. She should glide a long way for every thousand feet of height."
"Thanks. I"ll get off."
In five minutes Biggles was in the air, climbing steeply, flying on a course slightly east of south. By the time he reached the coast, which he crossed near Hastings, he was at twenty thousand feet, and still climbing. Not a light showed anywhere, but in the wan glow of the dying moon he could easily. make out the Channel. Far away to the east occasional flashes brightened the sky, like summer lightning, and showed where machines of the Bomber Command were battering the enemy gun emplacements on the Cap Gris Nez. A few minutes later the French coast came into sight, a vast, sombre shadow that merged into a vague horizon. He could just make out the river Somme of tragic memory, with Abbeville trying to hide well inside the estuary.
He was at twenty-five thousand feet now, breathing oxygen, and while still some distance from the coast he cut his engine, and began a long glide, holding the aircraft at a speed only just above stalling point. He watched the sky around him for searchlights, or the flashes of anti-aircraft sh.e.l.ls, which would tell him that his presence had been discovered; but none came, and he glided on like a shadow through the sky, fol- , lowing the river which sprawled like a grey thread across the darkened landscape. Still there was no flak. Sinking gradually lower, he crept on, the faint glow of the dials on his instrument-board casting an eerie reflection on his face. Amiens, his objective, appeared ahead.
He left the river now and, picking up a poplar-lined road, followed it for a little way before beginning a slow circle over the bleak, hedgeless panorama which is peculiar to northern France. His hand moved to the ignition switch, and the droning airscrew stopped abruptly. Then, with the air hissing gently over his wings, he steepened his glide, nosing towards a large field just north of the town. His face was expressionless; there was nothing on it to indicate the tremendous consequences that depended on the next few minutes. Automatically he lowered his undercarriage. Still watching the ground, he flattened out suddenly; the Spitfire"s flaps dragged at the air; the wheels b.u.mped, b.u.mped again; the machine lurched a little and came slowly to rest.
In an instant Biggles was sitting on the edge of the c.o.c.kpit, listening, eyes probing the darkness around him. He did not move. Nothing moved. There was no sound. Minutes pa.s.sed, and still he sat there, every nerve taut, eyes staring, and ears alert for the first warning of danger. For a quarter of an hour he sat thus, as rigid as a graven image. Then he jumped to the ground and walked round the machine in widening circles to check the distance at which it could be seen. Satisfied, he returned to it and, lifting the tail unit, carried it round so that the nose was pointing to the longest run the field could provide.
This done, he strode towards the vague silhouette of a line of poplars which he knew marked the road. No one was in sight, so without any attempt at concealment he set off at a brisk pace in the direction of the town.
He encountered a pedestrian and a cyclist. The pedestrian wished him good night in German, and he answered in the same language. The cyclist spoke in French, and he replied with a gruff bon soir. Apart from this he had a brief period of anxiety when a lorry overtook him. He knew it contained German soldiers long before it reached him, from the songs they were singing. It rumbled past him without stopping - not that there was any reason why it should - and shortly afterwards he reached the town. It was, of course, in darkness, and deserted, but this did not surprise him, and still without any attempt to hide he headed for the Rue Ste Marie.
Knowing the town well, he was taking a short cut through a back street when, without warning, a man stepped out of the shadows, and speaking peremptorily in German, demanded his pa.s.s.
Taken by surprise, for a moment Biggles did not understand. "Pa.s.s?" he echoed, his hand, unseen in the darkness, dropping into the side pocket of his coat.
"Curfew is at ten o"clock," replied the German brusquely. "You know that - or do you?"
[image]
He took a step forward, peering.
Biggles, of course, had no pa.s.s. He knew nothing of a curfew, although he realized now that he should have been prepared for such a regulation. The deserted streets were explained. His eyes made a swift reconnaissance of them, but as far as he could see he and his interrogator were alone.
Oh, yes, the pa.s.s," he said lightly, and withdrew his hand from his pocket.
The b.u.t.t of his heavy service automatic crashed down on the German"s head, and the man flopped to the ground like a suit of clothes from a hook.
Biggles was bending over him in a flash. His hands closed over the fallen man"s collar, and he dragged the limp body into the side entrance of what he took to be a garage. Then he walked on quickly, regretting the incident, but feeling that he had had no alternative but to act as he had done. Without a pa.s.s arrest would have been certain.
Aware now of a danger for which he had made no provision, he proceeded with more caution, listening at the corner of every street before he turned into it, until at last the church of Ste Marie loomed above him.
He went straight to the doorway of number one. It was a little shop, and the word Tabac"
on a sign projecting over the pavement confirmed that it was the house he sought. The shop was, of course, closed for the night. He knocked on the door.
A rectangle of reflected light appeared as the door was opened, but it was half blocked out by a ma.s.sive figure.
"What do you want?" asked a surly voice, in German.
Biggles saw at a glance that the man was a German solider. This, too, was a contingency for which he was not prepared; but he did not lose his head.
He asked, in French, if Mademoiselle Renee was in, adding that he was a relation.
The German turned and walked back along the pa.s.sage, shouting something that Biggles could not catch. A moment later an inside door was opened, and he saw a girl emerge. As she walked towards him he began crooning, softly.
Parlez moi d"amour He saw her hesitate, and then come on quickly. "Yes, what is it?" she asked in a low voice.
"You are Mademoiselle Renee?"
Oui, m"sieur."
Biggles felt that it was no use beating about the bush. There was no time for that.
Close the door a little," he whispered. Then, as she complied, he went on quickly. "I am a friend a friend of Corporal Price you understand? Price got back to England; it was he who told me of the tune. I wish to see Marcel Bregard, if he is still here."
The girl clutched at her breast as though to steady the beating of her heart.
"You are English?" she breathed.
"Yes. I have come at great risk to fetch the plans, if Marcel is still anxious to dispose of them. Is he still here?"
Yes, but -"
Come in and shut that door; there"s a draught!" shouted a harsh voice in German from inside.
have four Boche soldiers billeted on me," whispered Renee tersely. Marcel is having supper with them. I can"t speak to him now. You had better come in."
She backed into the pa.s.sage and Biggles followed, imagining that the conversation would be continued there. The last thing he wanted was to find himself in the room with four German soldiers. True, he wore a rainproof over his uniform, but even so it was not much protection.
Inside the pa.s.sage Renee caught him by the arm. "It is impossible for me to speak to Marcel while the soldiers are there. We shall have to wait until I can get him alone -"
Biggles started as a door was flung open, flooding the pa.s.sage with light. On the threshold of the room appeared a man, untidy, unshaven, a man who leaned heavily on two sticks.
"What"s going on?" he demanded suspiciously. "Who"s your friend, Renee? Why don"t you bring him in?"
Behind the man, who he guessed was Marcel, Biggles could see the German troops lounging round the supper table.
"It"s my cousin," answered Renee loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Cousin? I didn"t know you had one," flashed back the Frenchman, and Biggles knew from his tone of voice that he was jealous. But it was neither the time nor place for explanations.
"I happened to be pa.s.sing, so I just called to see how Renee was getting on, that"s all," said Biggles evenly, wondering how he could convey his real message to the man, for to do so with the Germans so near would be to invite disaster. "I"m not staying," he added.
Renee looked nervously at Marcel, at the Germans, and then back at Biggles. It was clear that she did not know how to deal with the situation, fraught as it was with peril.
"What"s going on out there?" shouted one of the Germans. What"s all that whispering about?"
Renee went swiftly towards the outside door, pulling Biggles with her. "Wait outside," she breathed urgently. "Wait under the bedroom window until I can speak with Marcel."