"Von Sinzig looks like pulling it off," he observed. "A wireless from the S.S. _Wontwash_ reports that a monoplane passed over the ship at 6 P.M., flying east. According to the position given, the _Wontwash_ was only thirty-five miles west of Gibraltar."
"Then perhaps he’s back at his hangar by this time," commented Peter. "Any news of the others?"
"Yes; Commodore Theodore Nye has been unable to get hold of another ’bus yet, although two of the Australian R.A.F. pilots are bringing him a ’Bristol’ machine from Melbourne. He’s out of the running. That he admits, but he means to complete the course, even if it takes him six months."
"Not a word," replied the baronet. "He’s keeping quiet; but mark my words, that quadruplane will turn up unexpectedly. If his ’bus had had British motors, he would have romped home in less than a week."
"Japanese," replied Fosterdyke. "Passable imitations of ours and good up to a certain point; but give me British engines all the jolly old time."
Although the baronet made frequent enquiries of the operator, no wireless messages concerning von Sinzig came through.
"Not he," replied Kenyon. "That Hun’s got the luck of a cat with nine lives. He’s playing his own game."
"It is a game," added Bramsdean. "Loading that crowd of Huns on to us is like a man in a mile race chucking his gear to another competitor and telling him to hang on. I don’t wish the blighter any harm, but I do hope that if he pulls off the money prize they’ll pay him in German marks at the pre-war rate of exchange. That’d make him look blue!"
Although no news came in concerning their Hun rival, the officers and crew of the "Golden Hind" began to be bombarded with wireless messages from Britons in every quarter of the globe. All were of the most encouraging nature, for the story of Fosterdyke’s airship and her adventures and misadventures--all more or less distorted owing to the lack of authentic detail--had awakened world-wide interest.
There were cheery messages from patriotic Britons; incentive ones from sportsmen, to whom the suggestion of a race appealed more than did the fact that the contest was one of endurance calculated to uphold the prestige of British flying men. Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Norwegians, Americans, and Japanese all sent greetings to the intrepid British airmen.