Chapter I: Front Matter

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

_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