It opened into
a large room used as a dining hall, where they could see all of the men
clustered about one of the tables, at the head of which sat old Otto
Hoff with Frederic at his side. On the table before him was what
appeared to be a rough map or blueprint. Frederic and five of the other
men, Fleck observed, now wore aviation costumes.
"Comrades," old Otto was saying in German, "here is the course. You will
have no difficulty in following it. Down the river straight till you see
the lights of New York. You each understand what you are then to
do, yes?"
"Certainly," three of the men, the pilots evidently, responded.
"Let us, to make sure," old Otto insisted, "once more rehearse it. Much
there is at stake for the Fatherland. You, Anton and Fritz, will blow up
the transports and the warships that guard them. Six great transports
are lying there, ready to sail at daylight The troops went aboard
to-night. We waited until it was signalled that it was so. You must not
fail. The biggest of those transports once belonged to Germany. You must
teach these boastful Americans their lesson. That one boat you must
destroy for certain. Beside the transports to-night lie five vessels of
war, two battleships, three cruisers. Them you must destroy also, if
there is time.
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