The Great Airship BLACKIE & SON LIMITED 50 Old Bailey, LONDON 17 Stanhope Street, GLASGOW BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITED Warwick House, Fort Street, BOMBAY BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED 1118 Bay Street, TORONTO [Illustration: "AIRSHIP IN SIGHT, SIR!" _Page_ 180 _Frontispiece_] The Great Airship A Tale of Adventure BY LT.-COL. F. S. BRERETON Author of "A Boy of the Dominion" "The Hero of Panama" "On the Field of Waterloo" "John Bargreave's Gold" &c. _Illustrated by C. M. Padday_ BLACKIE & SON LIMITED LONDON AND GLASGOW * * * * * By Lt.-Col. F. S. Brereton On the Field of Waterloo. The Great Airship. With the Allies to the Rhine. Under French's Command. Colin the Scout. With Allenby in Palestine. A Hero of Panama. Foes of the Red Cockade. Under the Chinese Dragon. A Sturdy Young Canadian. How Canada was Won. John Bargreave's Gold. With Shield and Assegai. With Rifle and Bayonet. In the King's Service. The Dragon of Pekin. One of the Fighting Scouts. A Knight of St. John. Roger the Bold. The Rough Riders of the Pampas. Indian and Scout. The Great Aeroplane. Tom Stapleton. A Boy of the Dominion. _Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_ Contents CHAP. Page I. THE FAME OF THE ZEPPELIN 9 II. ANDREW PROVOST'S RESOLUTION 25 III. DICKY HAMSHAW, MIDSHIPMAN 42 IV. THE GREAT AIRSHIP 58 V. A TOUR OF INSPECTION 77 VI. CARL REITBERG, SPORTSMAN 94 VII. EN ROUTE FOR ADRIANOPLE 111 VIII. THE BESIEGED CITY 126 IX. DICK HAMSHAW SAVES THE SITUATION 144 X. A THRILLING RESCUE 166 XI. SOME FACTS AND FIGURES 187 XII. CARL ABOARD THE BIPLANE 203 XIII. TO THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER 222 XIV. A BRUSH WITH PATHANS 243 XV. THE GREAT ATTEMPT 260 XVI. RECORD HIGH FLYING 277 XVII. A DESPERATE SITUATION 297 XVIII. OFF TO NEW GUINEA 313 XIX. SAVED FROM THE NATIVES 331 XX. ADOLF FRUHMANN'S VENTURE 349 Illustrations Facing Page "AIRSHIP IN SIGHT, SIR!" Frontispiece ARRIVED WITH A BUMP FACING COMMANDER JACKSON 80 THE COLLAPSE OF CARL REITBERG 272 THE QUARTET SET OUT FOR THE AIRSHIP 320 THE GREAT AIRSHIP CHAPTER I