The Air Patrol Part 16

"That is true, sahib; but it is foolishness to yoke a calf to an ox-wagon."

By which Lawrence understood that this stalwart man regarded him as still an ungrown boy. He made no more objection; Fyz Ali dismounted, and kept pace with him over the rugged ground to which they had now come.

Thus the little party marched for another mile. They went for the most part in single file, the track only rarely widening so much as to give them room to ride abreast. It was at one of such broader stretches that a sudden demand was made upon Lawrence's quickness and resource. He was riding in front with two of the Pathans; the other two mounted men were a few yards behind, with Fyz Ali on foot between them. Quite suddenly, about two hundred yards ahead, there came into view from round a high rock a band of at least a score of men, marching towards them. Lawrence had been expecting to meet the Pathan reinforcements from the mine, and he might at the first moment have mistaken the strangers but for a savage yell from the men at his side. Then he recognized in a flash that they were Kalmucks.

Both parties had momentarily halted; each was as much surprised as the other. Then, as Lawrence saw some of the Kalmucks lifting rifles to their shoulders, he became instantly alive to the situation. Without a moment's hesitation he dug his heels into the flanks of his pony, and, shouting to his men to come on, he rode straight at the enemy. It was the psychological moment. The Kalmucks were apparently without a leader; or their leader, if they had one, was a shade less quick-witted than the Englishman. With a spirited captain the warlike Pathans will go anywhere and do anything. Responding to his call with a true mountaineer's yell the men urged their steeds to a gallop, and swooped down upon the still hesitating enemy.

Lawrence could not have decided better if all the circ.u.mstances had been known to him. Some of the Kalmucks, after the failure of their night attack, had crossed the river some distance below the bridge, and marching on foot for long hours in the darkness over the difficult and tortuous path through the hills, had turned back along the track to take the defenders in the rear. They were weary: they had no regular leader; and being accustomed to fight on horseback they were demoralized at the sight of mounted Pathans, few as they were, galloping straight at them.

With a well-directed volley they might have annihilated the little band; but they let the opportunity slip. A few stood their ground and fired; the rest took flight, and while some scurried up the hill-side, seeking cover in the broken ground, where horses could not well follow them, others turned tail and bolted straight back along the track.

The few shots thus wildly fired missed all the Pathans save one, and he was only scratched. Lawrence and his men pressed their advantage. Two of the Pathans wheeled to the right, and in spite of the steepness of the hill-side and the many natural obstacles, they dashed up in pursuit of the fleeing Kalmucks, cutting down several with their terrible tulwars before they could reach safety. Lawrence rode straight at the men who had fired. He overturned one by the impact of his horse, struck another down with his clubbed rifle, and then led his men after the others, who were running, some up, some down the bank. Two or three Kalmucks sprang into the river; within ten minutes the whole body was completely scattered. Only at the last did one who had climbed to an inaccessible crag on the hill-side and recovered from his panic, take good aim and roll a Pathan from his horse with a mortal wound.

The charge was over; the victory was complete; and Lawrence reined up his panting pony. Not till then did he remember that Fyz Ali was not mounted, and must have been left far behind. What had become of him?

Lawrence turned and looked back along the track. He was not in sight.

"Stay here," he said to the Pathans; "I'll go back and look for Fyz Ali."

"Hai, sahib!" said one of the men, "it is foolishness. See, Ayoub is dead. Some of the dogs of Kalmucks are hiding behind the rocks above; they will shoot you even as they shot Ayoub."

"Nonsense: I'm riding Fyz Ali's horse: I can't leave him in the lurch."

He rode back along the track, and after a moment's hesitation one of the Pathans followed him. Warned by the fate of Ayoub they proceeded with caution, scanning the hill-side for signs of the enemy. For half a mile or more they saw neither foe nor friend, except the bodies of those who had fallen in the fray. Then they came in view of a strange procession.

At this point the hill-side to the left of the track rose so steeply as to be unscalable. It was here that the Kalmucks, hard pressed, had flung themselves into the river. A few hundred yards ahead they saw two men approaching them, walking slowly backward. One of them was Fyz Ali, the other a Kalmuck. Fyz Ali had the man by the middle, holding him so that he formed a screen against a dozen Kalmucks who were slipping from rock to rock on the hill-side some distance beyond. Evidently they were watching for a chance to take a shot at the Pathan, but were baffled by his ingenious device. By keeping the prisoner constantly between him and them, he rendered it impossible for them to fire without the risk of hitting their own man.

Smiling with appreciation of Fyz Ali's manoeuvre, Lawrence dismounted, and ordered his man to dismount also. Then leading the ponies behind a rock, they knelt down, took aim at the distant Kalmucks, and fired. It was doubtful whether their shots took effect, but they checked the pursuit, and Fyz Ali seized the opportunity to hasten his retreat.

Hugging the perpendicular wall, he came nearer and nearer, never loosing his hold of the Kalmuck, nor allowing his own person to be exposed.

The Kalmucks beyond returned Lawrence's fire, but they made no attempt to advance. They were not equal to the desperate venture of leaving their cover among the rocks and running the gauntlet along the open s.p.a.ce which Fyz Ali and his prisoner were now traversing. In another two minutes the Pathan had joined his master.

"That was well done," said Lawrence, welcoming him.

Fyz Ali, breathing hard, set his prisoner against the rock, and holding him there with his left hand, drew his tulwar.

"No, no," said Lawrence hastily.

"Why, sahib? He is a Kalmuck," said Fyz Ali, and his eyes glared as he looked round.

"It is not our way," said Lawrence, "to kill prisoners. And he is unarmed."

"But I am not!" growled the Pathan. "Would he not kill me? Did not Nurla Bai try to kill Muhammad, unarmed and sleeping? It will be short, sahib."

"No, I can't allow it. Tie his hands together so that he can do no mischief; then we'll leave him to his friends."

Fyz Ali muttered between his teeth, but obeyed. He tore off the man's coat; it was dripping wet; the Kalmuck was one of those who had sprung into the river, and he had clambered up the bank in the nick of time to serve the quick-witted Pathan as a screen. With a few strokes of his tulwar Fyz Ali slit the coat into shreds, with which he bound the trembling man's hands together. Then, striking him heavily on the face--the Pathan is not chivalrous towards his enemies--he hauled him to the top of a rock, and left him there.

Lawrence and the two Pathans then hastened back to the place where they had left the others. These had given their dead comrade burial in the river. Then all resumed their march. They looked back whenever they reached a spot where they could get a view of the track behind them, but there was no sign of pursuit.

"They must have come over the hills in the night," said Lawrence, walking beside Fyz Ali, whom he had insisted on remounting. "Where does the hill-path join the track?"

"I know not, sahib," replied the man. "The Kalmucks know the path: it is their country."

"Well, keep your eyes open as we go, and see if you can find it. We may as well know."

They scanned the hill-side narrowly, and about twenty minutes later Lawrence noticed a narrow cleft in the precipice above the track which might possibly be the lower end of the hill-path. He stopped and examined the ground at the entrance, but it was so hard that the skin boots of the Kalmucks could have left no trace on it. Had they been mounted, the hoof marks would have been easily discoverable. Lawrence glanced up the winding cleft. It seemed an unlikely enough pa.s.sage-way; indeed, at a height of several hundred feet above the track it appeared to come abruptly to an end. Lawrence deliberated for a few moments whether to climb and satisfy himself one way or the other; but decided that he had better not delay.

Ten minutes later they met the reinforcements from the mine. The men had heard firing in the distance and hurried on at full speed. On learning from their comrades of what had happened, they were eager to push on and annihilate the surviving Kalmucks, and one of them, when Lawrence refused to go back, muttered under his breath that the Englishman was afraid. Fyz Ali caught the words, and turned fiercely on the man.

"I'll slit your throat if you talk foolishness, Hosein," he said. "The chota sahib is a man; get that into your silly head. Did he not fight at the bridge? And when we met those Kalmuck pigs, did he not in a twinkling see what was to be done, and ride straight at them, cheering as the sahibs always do? And when I was left behind, he came back for me, though the dogs were hidden among the rocks and had just killed Ayoub. He is a man, I tell you; mashallah! what he says is good, and what he does is better, and I will cut your hand off if you do not swear to follow wherever he leads."

"Peace, brother," said the man. "How was I to know? His beard is not yet grown. Allah is great! All the sahibs are men, even in the cradle."

CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH

THE REVOLT OF THE KALMUCK MINERS

While Lawrence was thus making his first essays in an apprentices.h.i.+p to soldiering, his brother had found work to do which outran the little military experience he had gained.

After giving Lawrence the signals agreed on, Bob steered straight up the valley. His mind was very busy during the half-hour's flight to the mine. The management of the aeroplane had become so much a matter of habit and instinct that he was able to give a good deal of attention to his thoughts and imaginings. Telling Fazl to keep a good look-out, he sought to grapple with the strange problems so suddenly thrust upon him.

First and greatest of them all was the meaning of the concentration of troops at the mouth of the valley. He dismissed as patently absurd the idea that their objective was his uncle's mine. The gathering of so large a force for so trifling an end would be like employing a steam-hammer to crack a nut. He could not avoid the conclusion that their presence was quite independent of Nurla Bai, though on the other hand Nurla Bai's actions had probably been calculated with the knowledge or suspicion that a body of his countrymen was at hand.

What then was the explanation of the muster? The direction of their march, and the fact that they had thrown forward an advanced guard into the valley itself, seemed to indicate an intention to proceed through the valley to some further goal. What was that goal? He remembered the intelligence that had come in at odd times, of a levy _en ma.s.se_ of the Mongols, and his uncle's suspicion that the Mongolian prince was meditating an attack on Russia. But this was not the way to Russia.

Could it be that Afghanistan was the object of an invasion? Bob's knowledge of the geography of the region was not very extensive, but he knew that, if Afghanistan was their objective, this valley was one of the most toilsome and indirect routes they could have chosen. The pa.s.ses of the Hindu Kush to the westward offered few or no obstacles to an invading force; it was by these pa.s.ses that the Mongolian hordes had always made their inroads, from the earliest times. Not only would the nature of the valley render the advance of a large army extremely arduous and prolonged; if the invaders should traverse it successfully, they would find themselves at what was probably the most intricate and inaccessible portion of the Amir's dominions. It would be like marching from London to Chester through the Welsh mountains, with every difficulty monstrously exaggerated. Wellington's pa.s.sage of the Pyrenees was a slight operation compared with it.

What other end could they have in view? The valley ran southward, and led ultimately of course to India, but an invasion of India by this route was too ridiculous to be considered seriously. Ambitious as the Mongol prince was, it was scarcely conceivable that he could entertain such a notion, unless he had taken leave of his senses. The twenty thousand men now encamped at the mouth of the valley would need to be multiplied ten or twenty times before there would be the slightest chance of success. There might, in truth, be many more such army corps ma.s.sed farther northward; but the task of pus.h.i.+ng an invading force, adequate to the undertaking, through the narrow gorges of the valley, where for long stretches three hors.e.m.e.n could not ride abreast, with the necessary artillery, ammunition wagons and commissariat, would prove too much for the most consummate military organizer. It would take so long that a defending force on the north-west frontier could cut up the more advanced sections long before the rest could move up to their support.

In short, the whole idea was fantastic, and Bob called himself an a.s.s for even thinking of it.

Giving up this question as beyond his conjecture, Bob bent his mind upon the problem that immediately concerned him. This was a sufficiently hard nut to crack. The Kalmucks, whatever their ultimate intention might be, were clearly to be regarded as enemies. On that point their actions were quite conclusive. Whether he owed their aggressiveness to Nurla Bai or not, they were a menace to the mine and its owners. Nurla Bai would certainly take advantage of their proximity to attempt to capture the settlement, and no doubt could command the a.s.sistance of as many men as he needed.

It is not surprising that Bob's heart sank with dismay as he reckoned up the puny force he had to pit against such overwhelming numbers. Of all his people, only the handful of Sikhs were trained to war. The Pathans were warriors by nature, but he doubted how far he could rely on their loyalty. At present, it was true, they were deeply incensed against the Kalmucks; but whether they, if called upon, would take definite sides against their racial enemies in face of the enormous odds arrayed against them, was a matter on which there was room for grave doubt. The Kalmuck labourers at the mine were a further complication. They would certainly make common cause with their own countrymen as soon as these came within striking distance. Alone they out-numbered the Sikhs and Pathans by two to one.

The more Bob thought of all this, the more anxious and depressed he became. He wondered whether it was wise to attempt to stem the human torrent that would soon be pouring up the valley. Would not the better course be to come to terms with the Kalmucks, abandon the mine, and set off with all speed for India? Hitherto, it was true, the enemy had given him no opportunity for negotiating. They had been the aggressors, unprovoked; and his determination hardened when he remembered the fate of Mr. Appleton. But as there was just a possibility that no sort of concert existed between the Kalmuck army and Nurla Bai, the idea of making terms with the former was not wholly negligible.

So far as his immediate duty was concerned, Bob was quite clear in his mind. It was to secure the retreat of Lawrence and his little party.

In order to reach the mine they would have to pa.s.s the quarters of the Kalmuck miners. The bridge down-stream being broken, Bob could not suppose that Lawrence would be so hotly pursued as to endanger his return. But with temper high among the workers at the mine, some care might be needed to prevent an explosion when the Pathans came up. The first thing to be done was to devise some means by which Lawrence and his men could reach the settlement in safety. Allowing for the difficulties of the track, they could hardly, even though mounted, arrive until late in the afternoon. He had the whole day in which to make his preparations.

Bob did not think out the position as consecutively as his thoughts are presented here. His busy mind flitted from one point to another doubling on itself, as it were. And his reflections were suddenly interrupted by an exclamation from his companion. The Gurkha, having no mental puzzles to work out, had been able to give undivided attention to his master's instructions. As before, his keener eye had detected what Bob, even if less preoccupied, could scarcely have perceived so soon. Far ahead, over the valley, there lay a long dark streak which in a less clear atmosphere than that of this highland region might have been taken for a wisp of cloud. But Fazl made no such mistake.

"Smoke, sahib!" he cried.

The words gave Bob a s.h.i.+ver of apprehension. Was it possible that the mine-buildings were on fire? He felt almost overwhelmed at the thought.

With every succeeding second in his swift flight it became more and more likely that this was the explanation. While still many miles distant, he recognized that the smoke must have its origin somewhere at least in the neighbourhood of the mine. Fast as the aeroplane was flying, he wished that for a few minutes he could double its speed. But when at last he opened up the reach of the river bordering the mine, he saw with joy that the smoke was rising, not from the compounds on the right, but from the miners' quarters on the opposite bank.

A slight breeze was blowing from the north-west, carrying the smoke up the valley. In a few more seconds Bob saw that the conflagration was confined to the Pathan portion of the camp. As he turned a slight bend and had a view of the whole settlement, a hasty glance a.s.sured him that there was no sign of injury in the mine compounds. Flying on, he noticed a number of figures in the compounds below, apparently the Sikhs on guard. The Kalmuck camp was deserted; between it and the burning huts of the Pathans, and up the bank of the river, he caught sight of a number of prostrate forms here and there. Then above the whirr of the propeller he heard, far in the distance, the sound of firing. It came from up the river. At that moment Bob felt as a small schoolboy feels when suddenly plunged into a new subject--say the binomial theorem before he has mastered quadratic equations. Here was a fresh problem before the others were solved. But he held on his course, wheeled round at the usual place, and flying back alighted once more on his platform.