Front matter

"OF WHAT OFFENCE AM I ACCUSED, SIR?" Page 202. Frontispiece

The Dispatch-Riders

The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists in the Great War

BY

PERCY F. WESTERMAN

Author of "Rivals of the Reef" "The Sea-girt Fortress" &c. &c.

Illustrated by F. Gillett

BLACKIE & SON LIMITED LONDON AND GLASGOW 1915

By Percy F. Westerman The Red Pirate. The Call of the Sea. Standish of the Air Police. Sleuths of the Air. The Black Hawk. Andy All-Alone. The Westow Talisman. The White Arab. The Buccaneers of Boya. Rounding up the Raider. Captain Fosdyke's Gold. In Defiance of the Ban. The Senior Cadet. The Amir's Ruby. The Secret of the Plateau. Leslie Dexter, Cadet. All Hands to the Boats. A Mystery of the Broads. Rivals of the Reef. A Shanghai Adventure. The Junior Cadet. Captain Starlight. The Sea-Girt Fortress. On the Wings of the Wind. Captain Blundell's Treasure. The Third Officer. Unconquered Wings. The Riddle of the Air. Chums of the "Golden Vanity". Clipped Wings. Rocks Ahead! King for a Month. The Disappearing Dhow. The Luck of the "Golden Dawn". The Salving of the "Fusi Yama". Winning his Wings. A Lively Bit of the Front. The Good Ship "Golden Effort". East in the "Golden Gain". The Quest of the "Golden Hope". Sea Scouts Abroad. Sea Scouts Up-Channel. The Wireless Officer. A Lad of Grit. The Submarine Hunters. Sea Scouts All. The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge. A Sub and a Submarine. Under the White Ensign. With Beatty off Jutland. The Dispatch Riders.

Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow

Contents

CHAP.

I. THE COMING STORM

II. A BREAK-DOWN

III. MAJOR RÉSIMONT

IV. ENLISTED

V. A BAPTISM OF FIRE

VI. A VAIN ASSAULT

VII. DISABLING A TAUBE

VIII. IN BRITISH UNIFORMS

IX. A MIDNIGHT RETIREMENT

X. THE UHLAN PATROL

XI. THE RAID ON TONGRES

XII. THE MAIL ESCORT

XIII. SEPARATED

XIV. A FRIEND IN NEED

XV. CAPTURED

XVI. ENTOMBED

XVII. THE WAY OUT

XVIII. THROUGH THE ENEMY'S LINES

XIX. ARRESTED AS SPIES

XX. STRANDED IN BRUSSELS

XXI. DENOUNCED

XXII. THE SACK OF LOUVAIN

XXIII. A BOLT FROM THE BLUE

XXIV. ACROSS THE FRONTIER

XXV. THELMA EVEREST

XXVI. SELF-ACCUSED

XXVII. WITH THE NAVAL BRIGADE AT ANTWERP

XXVIII. WHEN THE CITY FELL

XXIX. ON THE NORTH SEA

XXX. THE VICTORIOUS WHITE ENSIGN

Illustrations

"OF WHAT OFFENCE AM I ACCUSED, SIR?" . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece

KENNETH HAD A MOMENTARY GLIMPSE OF THE UHLAN'S PANIC-STRICKEN FACE ... THEN CRASH!

KENNETH SUCCEEDED IN THROWING THE SPY TO THE FLOOR