King of the Air Part 15

"Well, he ought to know his countrymen. But there's the Jew: suppose he _does_ get there first?"

"We've got to prevent him."

"What!"

"As I say, we must go and intercept him."

"But he won't come alone."

"Of course not. Abdul says he will come on horseback with a band of armed and mounted men. He wouldn't trust himself in this country without an escort. But that's where the airship comes in. I rather fancy that if we swoop down from the sky among a lot of Moors they'll think more of their own safety than of the Jew's."

"Still, we couldn't prevent them from going on to the village."

"I think we could."

"What! shoot 'em down?"

"No. I don't want to hurt a hair of their heads if I can help it. I think we can manage to chase them back along the way they came, and do something to frighten them into the bargain. Do you know how to make throw-downs?"

"Never heard of 'em. What are they?"

"I forgot; you Eton fellows never use such things, I suppose. Well, I'll make some, and you'll confess they're excellent little harmless bombs.

Then we'll be off."

Carefully opening two or three cartridge cases, he extracted the powder, and s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g it up with some tiny pebbles in tissue paper from his pocket-book, he manufactured a dozen or so of the little bombs. Then he inspected the machinery of the airship, thoroughly oiled the parts, and went aboard with Oliphant and Abdul. He allowed the machine to rise only a few feet from the top of the hill, so as to avoid if possible observation from the village; then he set off in a south-easterly direction, keeping the hill between him and the kasbah. Fetching a long circuit, he gradually bore south-west, then slightly north, until, in the course of about three-quarters of an hour, he struck the narrow winding track which would be followed by parties travelling between the village and the coast.

From their elevated position they could trace the path for a considerable distance through the country, but as yet they had seen no sign of a party approaching the village. In broad daylight the airship must have been sighted by many people over whose heads it had pa.s.sed; but from what Abdul had said it was unlikely that any one would have the least idea of the real nature of the apparition. They would regard it as a supernatural creature, and if within the next few hours a rumour of its appearance should be carried to the sheikh of Ain Afroo he would probably be none the wiser from any description that might be attempted.

It was now little more than nine o'clock in the morning, and the Jew could scarcely have pa.s.sed. Tom therefore headed the airship westward, keeping it at a low speed so that he might carefully scan the country and not let the Jew and his party escape him. He knew that, unless accident signally befriended him, the airship must be seen by them long before they came into sight. Although the country was spread out like a map, the machine in the open sky must be a much more conspicuous object to people below than they would be to observers above. Salathiel would, of course, recognize the airship; but Tom hoped that before the man could explain clearly to his escort what it was, the immediate object of the aerial flight would have been achieved.

The morning wore away, and Tom began to feel anxious. To keep the airship so long in motion involved the expenditure of a large amount of his propulsive paste, and he had brought only as much of it as would last the voyage to and from the hill fortress, with a little margin for accidents. Yet he did not care to bring the machine to rest, for he might then miss the party of which he was in search. Moreover, all the provisions were gone except a few biscuits and some tea. With no food for themselves and no fuel for the machine their plight would be desperate. Tom spoke of his anxieties to Oliphant, and they were still talking somewhat disconsolately, when Abdul, who had never ceased to keep a sharp lookout, suddenly cried "Horses!" and pointed to sundry small specks ahead.

Tom instantly started up and looked through his binocular in the direction of the Moor's forefinger.

"There are about a score, I fancy," he said, handing the gla.s.s to Oliphant. "Can you spot the Jew?"

"No, they are too much mixed up. I shouldn't know him again, either."

"We shall know him very soon, though. Abdul told me that Jews in this country mostly wear blue clothes and black skullcaps. We'll make straight for them."

The engines had lately been reduced to something less than half speed.

Realizing that every second was now of value, Tom put them at full speed, steering the vessel direct for the party of hors.e.m.e.n, who had just emerged from a clump of timber. At the same time Oliphant altered the inclination of the planes, so that the airship began to drop rapidly earthwards. Thus it swooped down upon the party like a huge falcon. To manipulate the engines, the steering gear, and the lever affecting the planes, kept the hands of Tom and his friend pretty fully occupied; but Abdul was to make himself useful, and Tom instructed him to take a handful of the little bombs, in readiness to use them when the moment came. Tom hoped that the mere appearance of the sky monster would startle the horses and put the cavalcade to fright. As an additional means of scaring them he relied on the throwdowns.

The airship had come within about two miles of the hors.e.m.e.n when it was seen that they had halted. No doubt the strange apparition had been observed, and Salathiel ben Ezra was doing his best to explain its nature. They remained stationary until the distance of the airship from them was less than a mile: then two of them wheeled suddenly in their tracks and set off in a mad gallop westward. The others, however, held their ground; either they had stronger nerves, or the Jew had managed to convince them that the strange object was not an instrument of the Evil One, but simply a new invention of the accursed people who had invented warships and alarm clocks.

Tom had just distinguished the figure of Salathiel, on a mule in the midst of the party, when there came a slight puff of smoke from the centre of the group, followed by a second and a third. Oliphant laughed.

"They're firing at us," he exclaimed, "which argues a pretty state of fright."

"All very much in our favour. Look, there are three more of them off as hard as they can go."

"But there are still ten or a dozen of them. If they have nerve enough to hold their fire till we come within range they may do us some damage-if their guns are any good."

"There's not much doubt about that. They get hold of good rifles somehow. But we're in for it now. A bullet or two in the machinery would bring us to the ground; we must simply take our chance."

The airship was now approaching the party at the speed of a fast train.

Moment by moment others of the hors.e.m.e.n detached themselves from the group and galloped after their comrades, and Tom gave a cry when he saw that the Jew was among the fugitives. Still several remained.

"It won't do to allow them to get between us and the kasbah," said Tom.

"We must drive the whole lot of them back towards the coast."

The airship was now only some three hundred feet above the ground.

Suddenly Tom shut off the horizontal propellers and brought the vertical engines into play. The airship swept onward at the same level by virtue of its momentum. The horses of the Moors began to rear and plunge. They had probably heard the whirr of the machinery, for not being long-sighted beasts it was possible that they had not yet seen the vessel above them.

"By George! aren't they magnificent hors.e.m.e.n!" said Oliphant, as he saw the Moors striving to hold their terrified animals in. One or two puffs, followed immediately by the reports of the rifles, came from the group; but with their horses rearing and plunging beneath them it was not surprising that the Moors missed the airship, though it now offered a considerable mark. It was immediately above them.

"Now, Abdul!" said Tom.

The Moor flung one of the little bombs earthward with all his force. It exploded at the very feet of one of the horses, which, frenzied with fear, took the bit between its teeth and bolted. Abdul threw half a dozen more, one after another, laughing with glee at the astonishing effect of the little bombs. There was no holding the horses any longer, and the whole party dashed away at a mad gallop along the road they had come.

It was not Tom's object to overtake them yet awhile. He put the horizontal engines at half speed, and the airship began to follow the fugitives like a sheepdog at the heels of a frantic flock. The little group which had stood to the last were evidently the best mounted of the party, for they gradually closed in upon those who had started earlier.

Tom could not forbear chuckling as he came upon the rotund black-capped figure of Salathiel ben Ezra striving to urge his steady-going mule to a brisker pace.

"Is it safe to leave him behind?" asked Oliphant, as the Jew was outstripped and pa.s.sed.

"Oh yes! We'll come back for him presently. We could easily catch him up. If the mule is like most of his kind he won't hurry himself."

The airship sped on after the rest of the party. Mile after mile was covered: the horses showed signs of fatigue, but one or two that were dropping behind were galvanized into further desperate efforts by the dreaded whirr of the propellers just in their rear.

The chase had continued for about half an hour when Abdul suddenly noticed that the number of the fugitives was one less than it had been when the flight began. None of the three occupants of the airship had seen a rider diverge from the track: to do so would indeed have been difficult, for it ran through uneven and rocky ground which offered little footway for a horse. Yet it was clear that one of the Moors had at some point or other left his comrades and ridden off to right or left.

"Never mind," said Tom. "If he tries to get to the village, I've no doubt we can overtake him. His horse will be no match for us."

"Don't you think we've chased them far enough!" asked Oliphant. "We're using up a great deal of your paste."

"Yes. I think we've pretty well disposed of them now. We'll swing round and go back for Master Salathiel."

"What are you going to do with him-not bring him up here?"

"Not a bit of it. We don't want him-not for long, at least. I've got an idea. But we must get hold of him first."

Bringing the airship about in a wide circle, Tom steered it back along the track in search of the Jew.

"The donkey!" cried Oliphant, as presently the man came in sight, making desperate efforts to gain the village. "He might have hidden himself among the rocks or the trees, and given us no end of trouble."

"I don't know. He has chosen probably the lesser of two evils. He'd have a bad time of it if he were found alone by any wandering Moors; his best chance was certainly to try to get to the village and tell the sheikh all he knows."

The Jew could be seen every now and again glancing anxiously back along the track. When he caught side of the airship returning, and realized that he was bound to be overtaken, he pulled up his mule, tumbled off the saddle, and dived into the cover of some rocks, hoping no doubt that they would afford him concealment.