The Air Patrol Part 14

There was silence. Ditta Lal had for some time ceased to make any sound; if Bob had not been so much preoccupied with his thoughts he would have noticed that the Babu was looking exceedingly uneasy. Gur Buksh stood like a statue.

"Now what are we to do, havildar?" said Bob. "Can we defend the mine?"

"We can but try, sahib."

"As soon as it is light I want you to do all you can to strengthen the position. The northern wall must be fortified. There are plenty of empty provision bags in your stores, I believe, Babu?"

Ditta Lal started, and looked at his questioner vacantly.

"Pardon, sir, my mind was busy with great problems, and I did not catch what fell from your lips."

"I asked if you had plenty of empty bags in your storehouse."

"Heaps; a regular lot of them, sir."

"You must fill them with earth, havildar, and pile them against the wall. Make an embrasure in the middle for the machine gun."

"What, sir?" said the Babu, surprised.

"I forgot: you did not know about it. In the little chamber behind the house there is a machine gun, with plenty of ammunition. We will get it out in the morning."

"It is good, sahib," said the havildar.

"You knew about it?" said Bob, catching a curious expression on the Sikh's countenance.

"I knew about it, sahib. I saw the parts unpacked."

"And locked your knowledge in your silent bosom," said the Babu, with an aggrieved look. "That was cruelty to animals, sir. With knowledge of so ingenious a weapon of defence we should all have slept more securely in our beds."

"All this must be done as quietly as possible," continued Bob, ignoring the Babu's indignant protest. "We must try not to let the Kalmucks on the other side know that anything out of the ordinary is going on."

"That will not be easy, sahib," said the havildar.

"Perhaps not, but you must do the best you can. I said just now that I would send all the Pathans down the river, but you will want some of them to work. Will they be loyal?"

"The huzur is their father, sahib. They will fight for him and for you.

To them the Kalmucks are sons of pigs."

"How is Muhammad, by the way?"

"His wound is healing; he will be well to-morrow--well enough to fight the Kalmucks."

"I will see him in the morning. I am rather troubled as to what to do with the Kalmuck miners. They will side with their countrymen if they come up in force, and every man extra will add to our difficulties."

"The sahib should send them away," said Gur Buksh.

"But we can't send them down-stream until my brother comes back, and that's their natural way. They won't go without their arms, and Lawrence Sahib and the Pathans might be attacked then on both sides; and they would certainly refuse to go in the opposite direction, away from their homes."

"Permit me to interpose, sir," said Ditta Lal, who had for some time taken no part in the discussion. "I have suggestion for cutting Gordian knot. Many years ago, sir, my uncle, member of celebrated Hunza Nagar expeditionary force, made proposal which, if taken at the flood, would have led to fortune. British force would have triumphed over dastardly foes, and many valuable lives would have been saved to honour and glory of king and country."

"Cut it short, Babu," said Bob. "What is your proposal?"

"Perpend, sir. Our friend and comrade Gur Buksh will cross bridge--or better Shan Tai--gather Kalmucks about him, and offer to beguile tedium of inaction by great feast, Chinese delicacies, stews and all that, regular blow out. While he engages Kalmucks in this artless conversation, make mouths water galore, one of n.o.ble garrison steals behind their backs into huts, inserts dynamite and fuse into walls, and retires with careful slowness, as if nothing was up, and he were merely strolling for const.i.tutional. Then in midst of jollification huts all blow up like one o'clock, and scoundrels wallow in their gore."

"That was your uncle's suggestion, was it?" said Bob.

"That was it, sir, and my respected uncle was hurt in inmost soul when advice was contumeliously rejected. Such was his military ardour that he had made profound study of all books extant on art of war and duty of soldiers, and he a.s.sured me with tears welling out of dove-like eyes that nowhere did he find regulation forbidding adoption of artful dodge."

"Well, you'd better follow his example--only weep quietly."

"My word is this, sahib," said Gur Buksh. "Wait until Lawrence Sahib is back; then send the Kalmucks away. They will join their friends; who can resist Fate? we must fight them all. And I say too, sahib, send some of the Pathans this night to join Lawrence Sahib. They will go with great gladness of heart."

"That's a good idea. They will get to him before I start in the morning. But how can we get them off without making the Kalmucks suspicious? Some one would have to cross the bridge to give them orders. The bridge can't be let down without a good deal of noise, and that would certainly bring them out to see what was going on."

The havildar thought for a minute, then suggested that Bob in his company should pay a visit of inspection to each of the camps. Mr.

Appleton had several times done this at night, and if Bob were to make his inspection as formal in appearance as possible, nothing would be so likely to lull their suspicions. To this proposal Bob agreed. He dressed quickly, and in a few minutes left the house, with the havildar marching behind.

They visited the Kalmuck camp first, going from hut to hut, in which the men were engaged in various games. Some of them looked up in stolid silence as the sahib glanced round, uttered a word or two, and pa.s.sed on. Others were sufficiently curious to ask what was happening down the river, and why the huzur had not returned. Bob fenced with their questions, and when he left them felt that he had only heightened their curiosity, even though he had given no sign that anything was amiss.

Then, to keep up the pretence, he went to the stables, finally crossing to the Pathan camp, where he found a still more eager curiosity.

Calling out the man who was next in authority to the wounded Muhammad, he told him quietly what he wished him to do, without informing him of the disappearance of Mr. Appleton. The man was delighted with the opportunity of leading a night march against the hated Kalmucks. A sudden and secret raid is the breath of life to a Pathan. He selected a dozen men to accompany him. Gur Buksh, without attracting attention, supplied them with arms, better than their own, from the mine armoury; and before nine o'clock they left their camp stealthily, making their way in single file up the hill path that skirted the Kalmuck quarters.

Bob and the havildar returned to their own side of the gorge and waited anxiously to a.s.sure themselves that the movement was not detected by the Kalmucks. The place at which the Pathans must descend to join the track was something less than two hundred yards north of the Kalmuck camp, and if one of them chanced to set a stone rolling, or struck his rifle against the rock, the sound would almost certainly be heard below. But not a click disturbed the stillness; no sound was added to the rustle of the river; and after waiting at the end of the drawbridge for about half an hour, Bob concluded that the men had reached the track safely, and returned with the havildar to the house.

There they remained for an hour discussing the measures which the havildar was to take next day. Ditta Lal had retired to his own quarters, to pa.s.s, it is to be feared, a very uneasy night: he was bold only when the odds were heavily on his side. Presently Fazl came to the house to report that he had cleaned the engine, replenished the tanks with petrol and lubricating oil, and examined all the gear. A thought struck Bob.

"I shall fly down-stream again as soon as it is light," he said. "Are you willing to come with me?"

"The sahib orders," said the man, smiling with pleasure.

"Then get Shan Tai to give you two or three baskets of food and take them to the ledge. Meet me there as soon as there's any light in the sky. Bring your kukuri."

Fazl smiled again. No Gurkha goes abroad without his national weapon, half bill-hook, and half falchion. He departed, salaaming cheerfully.

"He'll be useful in looking after the machine if I'm otherwise engaged,"

thought Bob, as he went wearily to his room, to s.n.a.t.c.h a few hours' rest before he set off again. "Poor old Lawrie!" he said to himself. "I'm afraid he's desperately cold."

In the hurry of departure he had forgotten to hand out the wadded coat which Lawrence, like himself, wore when flying. Whether the little party at the bridge were disturbed by the enemy or not, he feared that his brother must pa.s.s a very uncomfortable night.

Up before daybreak, Bob, after a hurried breakfast, paid the promised visit to Muhammad, to whom, however, he told nothing. If the man was to be of any use in the fighting that might be in store, it was necessary that he should recover his strength, and such recovery would only be r.e.t.a.r.ded by excitement. Then Bob supplied himself with plenty of cartridges, borrowed a red handkerchief from Chunda Beg, and made his way along the path to the aeroplane platform. Fazl was already there: everything was in order: and as soon as the grey light of dawn began to creep over the hill-tops, the two men got into their places, and with a hum and swish the aeroplane set forth on its flight down-stream.

Bob's experience of the previous night was reversed. Then, the curtain of shade had rolled up from the valley, ever higher, until sky and earth were mingled in one blackness. Now, the dark crept gradually downward, every minute uncovering a few more feet of the barren hill-sides. But during the brief flight from the mine the depths of the valley were scarcely penetrated by the feeble rays of morning, and it was not until the aeroplane came to the neighbourhood of the bridge that the river and the track upon its bank were distinguishable. Bob knew not what he might have pa.s.sed during that forty minutes. Once, when he judged that about two-thirds of the flight was completed, he thought he heard a shout from below, and guessed that the Pathans, marching down the track, had caught the sound of his propeller, and had called to let him know that all was well.

The twilight had banished darkness from the bottom of the valley by the time he came in sight of the bridge. He looked anxiously down for his brother's party, and was on the point of shifting the elevator so as to drop a little nearer earth when he saw puffs of smoke just beyond the bend in the left bank, and immediately afterwards heard the crack of rifles. Evidently the enemy were still in position. Reversing his movement, so as to rise instead of falling, and avoid the fate that had overtaken his uncle, he glanced down at the rocks near the bridge head, and saw grouped there a number of figures among whom he thought he recognized Lawrence. At the same moment a vociferous cheer reached him through the throbbing hum of the engine, and the greeting relieved him of anxiety about his brother.

Rising as quickly as possible, he held on his course, and in half a minute flew directly over the Kalmucks, and came in sight of the reach of the river beyond the bend. As he searched the banks, running the gauntlet of a fusillade, he was conscious of a feeling of dismay. For a full mile the river bank appeared to have been turned into a Kalmuck encampment. At irregular intervals above and below the winding track, the hill-side was dotted with tents and akois. Advantage seemed to have been taken of every square yard of level s.p.a.ce to erect these portable shelters, which could be put up and taken down within a few minutes. It was clear that he had to reckon, not merely with the small party who had pursued him up-stream, but with a much larger number who had come up from the distant encampment during the previous afternoon and night.

Horses were grouped wherever there was standing room for them. On the track and about the tents men were gathered, all gazing up into the sky, some taking shots at the aeroplane as it flew over them. It was flying swiftly, however, and with a vertical as well as a horizontal movement, so that even a practised sportsman, accustomed to shoot birds on the wing, could scarcely have hit his mark. Bob heard two or three bullets whistle past, but none struck the aeroplane or either of its occupants.

Having seen so much, he determined to pursue his reconnaissance down the valley; it would be worth while to see if the camp on the plateau had been struck, for he would then be sure that the mine was indeed the objective of this force, and as he flew back be able, perhaps, to estimate its size. For the next few miles only a few straggling hors.e.m.e.n were visible, riding slowly up-stream. Then for a mile or two the track was bare, and he suspected that the men he had last seen were the rear of the enemy's force. Still flying on, he came at length to the place where the valley broadened, and finally to the plateau which had been the limit of his flight on the day before. Here he swept round several times in ever widening circles, carefully scanning the ground.

The camp had completely disappeared. Thinking that in so wide an area the small object which the encampment would present at so great a depth might escape his notice, he wheeled again and again, until he a.s.sured himself that no trace of it was discoverable. Then he was setting his course to return to the valley, looking southward to pick up his bearings, when there was a sudden shout from the Gurkha. He glanced round: the man was pointing excitedly to the north-west.