The Boy Allies in the Balkan Campaign | Page 3

the Austrian. "I'll trail along behind."
"No use talking any more, I guess," Hal muttered to his friends. "May
as well go along."
Chester and Colonel Anderson nodded their assent and the machine
moved forward again.
Things might have gone well had it not been for Stubbs. Suddenly the
little man uttered a yell and sat up straight in his seat.
"Ouch!" he shouted. "I've got an awful pain!"
CHAPTER II.
MONTENEGRIN MOUNTAINEERS.
Hal drew a sharp breath and tightened his hold upon the steering wheel.
There was no question that Stubbs' voice had carried to the occupants
of the second craft, and as Stubbs had exclaimed aloud in English there
was little doubt in the minds of our three friends that the Austrians
would seek an explanation. Nor were they wrong.

Came a hail from the Austrian:
"Who've you got aboard, there?"
"Prisoner," replied Hal, thinking quickly.
"What are you doing with him?"
"We--" Hal began, but the Austrian interrupted.
"Spies, that's what you are! Down to the ground now, or I'll put a hole
through you."
"Guess it's no use fooling any longer," muttered Hal.
He threw over the elevating lever and the large craft soared rapidly. At
the same moment a shot rang out from aboard the Austrian, followed
by a cry of surprise, and then the Austrian gave chase.
"Get your guns and see if you can pick 'em off," Hal instructed Chester
and Colonel Anderson. "I'll run this thing, but you fellows will have to
do the fighting."
"Suits me," responded Chester, examining his revolver carefully.
Colonel Anderson also nodded his agreement to this plan.
Hal now changed his course and the airship headed toward the south,
bearing off a trifle to the east, in a direction that he believed, eventually,
would land them in Serbia.
It became apparent now that the Austrian had not boasted of the speed
of his craft without reason, for he gained perceptibly.
"We can't out-run him, Hal," shouted Chester.
"Then we shall have to try something else," was the reply.
Abruptly he reduced the speed of the craft and the Austrians dashed in

range of the revolvers of the fugitives almost before they could have
realized it.
"Crack! Crack!"
Chester and Colonel Anderson had fired. There came a scream of pain
from behind and the Austrian craft wobbled crazily. A moment later a
man sprang to his feet, sought to retain his footing, threw up his arms
and went hurtling into space.
"Got one, Hal!" said Chester, quietly.
"Good!"
Came a volley of small arm fire from behind and bullets whined about
the four friends. Again Chester and Colonel Anderson fired almost
simultaneously and again their efforts were rewarded. A second man
was put out of the fight, as they could see.
At this moment Stubbs came into action.
He arose from his seat and, grasping the side of the speeding craft with
his left hand for support, stood to his full height. His right arm drew
back, then flashed sharply forward again and a small object went
spinning through the air toward the Austrian airship.
It struck home and there was a terrible explosion, followed by several
sharp cries of pain, as the Austrian airship seemed to split into a
thousand pieces. A moment later these pieces disappeared.
The three friends turned upon Stubbs.
"What is this, magic?" asked Chester in surprise.
"No," replied Stubbs, quietly. "Melenite. I just happened to see a stick
of it here, so I threw it."
"Well, you did a pretty good job, Stubbs," said Colonel Anderson.

"I didn't pitch for my college team two years for nothing," returned
Stubbs modestly. "But now let's go down. I want to get my feet on the
ground again."
"It won't be much longer, Stubbs," said Hal. "Another two hours at this
speed should put us across the Serbian frontier. Just be patient."
"I'll wait," replied Stubbs, "but I won't promise to be patient."
He sank back to his place and refused to talk further.
While the big army craft is speeding across Austria it will be a good
time to explain the presence of the four friends in their present
predicament and introduce them briefly to those who have not met
them before.
Hal Paine and Chester Crawford were both American lads. With the
former's mother, they had been in Berlin at the outbreak of the great
war, and, after a series of interesting and exciting adventures, they
made their way to Liége just in time to take part in the defense of that
stronghold with the Belgian army.
There they won distinction and lieutenancies in the Belgian service, the
latter bestowed upon them by King Albert himself. They had been in
France with the British troops that had stopped the German drive on
Paris and had gone