Page:The Zeppelin Destroyer.djvu/166

 'No,' I said. 'I quite agree with the arguments put forward on a basis of fact by many writers in the press. Of course Zeppelins, like every other craft not independent of the weather, prefer to sally forth in calms or light winds. But the utmost one can say is, first, that the calmer the weather the likelier a raid is to occur; and, secondly, that raids are less likely to occur in broad moonlight than on dark nights.'

'Then, my dear fellow,' whispered Teddy into my ear, in a tone so low that the others could not hear, 'it is on one of the dark nights that we must make our trial flight—eh?'

'Well, according to the latest yarns,' remarked a fellow named Ainley, 'the newest Zeppelins are armoured, and these very large craft have a gross lift of over thirty tons.

'That is not much larger than the Zeppelins existing when war broke out,' I said, 'but, of course, it must be admitted that even a small increase of size enlarges an airship's capabilities and range. The top speed of the new thousand horse-power type is said to be about sixty-two miles an hour, but driving at such high speed must involve a heavy consumption of petrol.'

'What about climbing?' asked Ainley. 'You've made Zeppelins a study, Munro. Tell us your opinion?'

'Well, in order to escape, more than one German airship has risen, we know, to 10,000 feet, but that was only in case of great emergency, and meant sacrifice of load and great waste of gas. You see, if a Zeppelin