Chapter I: Front Matter

CLIPPED WINGS

BY
PERCY F. WESTERMAN
----
"No boy alive will be able to peruse Mr. Westerman's pages
without a quickening of his pulses."--Outlook.
----
A Cadet of the Mercantile Marine.
Clipped Wings: Thrills in Three Elements.
Sea Scouts up-Channel; or, The Cruise of the _Spindrift_.
The Wireless Officer.
The Third Officer: A Present-day Pirate Story.
Sea Scouts Abroad: Further Adventures of the _Olivette_.
The Salving of the "Fusi Yama": A Post-War
Story of the Sea.
Sea Scouts All: How the _Olivette_ was won.
Winning his Wings: A Story of the R.A.F.
The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge: April, 1918.
With Beatty off Jutland: A Romance of the Great Sea
Fight.
The Submarine Hunters: A Story of Naval Patrol Work.
A Lively Bit of the Front: A Tale of the New Zealand
Rifles on the Western Front.
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine
R19 in the Great War.
Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great
War.
Rounding up the Raider: A Naval Story of the Great
War.
The Fight for Constantinople: A Tale of the Gallipoli
Peninsula.
A Lad of Grit: A Story of Restoration Times.
----
LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, LTD., 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C.

CLIPPED WINGS

BY

PERCY F. WESTERMAN

Author of "The Wireless Officer"
"Sea Scouts up-Channel," &c.

_Illustrated by E. S. Hodgson_

BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED
LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY

_Printed and bound in Great Britain_

Contents
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CHAP. Page
I. PAID OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
II. A DAY OF SURPRISES . . . . . . . . . . 17
III. UNCLE BRIAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
IV. DON RAMON DIAZ . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
V. THE MENACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
VI. THE SUPER FLYING-BOAT. . . . . . . . . 48
VII. PETER'S FIRST ASCENT . . . . . . . . . 54
VIII. UNCLE BRIAN'S SECRET . . . . . . . . . 62
IX. THE PROVING OF THE RAYS. . . . . . . . 69
X. PLANS FOR ESCAPE . . . . . . . . . . . 79
XI. UP THE RIO GUAYA . . . . . . . . . . . 87
XII. "CAUGHT OUT" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
XIII. WRECKED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
XIV. A CHANGE OF LOCOMOTION . . . . . . . . 120
XV. OVER THE SIERRAS . . . . . . . . . . . 131
XVI. "CRASHED". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
XVII. THE PASSAGE PERILOUS . . . . . . . . . 152
XVIII. ORDERS FOR CAVENDISH . . . . . . . . . 162
XIX. THE DECOY SHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
XX. TWO AGAINST ONE. . . . . . . . . . . . 180
XXI. A STERN CHASE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
XXII. FLYING-BOATS _versus_ DESTROYERS . . . 200
XXIII. AT THE ADMIRALTY . . . . . . . . . . . 212
XXIV. WAR IN HOME WATERS . . . . . . . . . . 224
XXV. SEAPLANE AND SUBMARINE . . . . . . . . 232
XXVI. ORDERS TO PROCEED. . . . . . . . . . . 241
XXVII. IN ACTION--FORE-TOP. . . . . . . . . . 250
XXVIII. IN ACTION--'TWEEN DECKS. . . . . . . . 265
XXIX. AFTER THE BATTLE . . . . . . . . . . . 279
XXX. THE END OF THE RIOGUAYAN AIR FLEET . . 228
XXXI. PETER GOES ASHORE. . . . . . . . . . . 299
XXXII. "THE FENCE IMPREGNABLE". . . . . . . . 311

Illustrations
---- Facing page
MAKING UP THE RIVER . . . . . . . . . . ._Frontispiece_
PETER MEETS SEÑOR DIAZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
PETER TACKLES THE SENTRY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
THE "PANIC PARTY" (missing from book) . . . . . . . 184
"WEEDS! BEAR A HAND!" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
A BLAZE OF DAZZLING BEAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

CLIPPED WINGS