Teddy and Roseye both stood aghast at this latest revelation.
Then, when I had disconnected the wire, I placed it with the little black incendiary disc upon the ground and connected up the wires to an accumulator from the car.
In a moment the black substance shot into a fierce red flame which burned and spluttered with intense heat for fully five minutes.
From the barn, a few minutes later, Theed emerged carrying a piece of the wire, evidently discarded by the intruder who had so swiftly and so cunningly prepared another death-trap for me.
A further hour we spent in making a second examination of the machine, and then having appointed to meet that evening at the old King's Head, in G
, at seven o'clock, I climbed into the pilot's seat and, with Teddy at my side, we shot forward and soon left the ground heading for the railway line which I knew would run from right to left across our track at Tonbridge.I was really glad to place Holly Farm behind me. It certainly was not a 'healthy' spot, as far as we were concerned. The low-down cunning of our enemies had once more been revealed. Yet how I longed for Roseye to tell me the actual truth! Why did she so persistently refuse? What could she have to hide from me—the man who loved her so very dearly.
We trusted each other. She had trusted her life to me in the air on many occasions—even on the previous night. Yet she remained silent.
The day was bright and crisp, with a slight north-