The Air Patrol: A Story of the North-west Frontier

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH

  A FRIEND IN NEED

  Even a philosopher, we know, cannot bear the toothache patiently. Everyone has at one time or another recognized in himself the unphilosophictendency to feel irritation at some trivial thing--a speck of mud onone's clean collar, a hair in one's soup. We have all been much moredeeply annoyed by a slight blemish or mishap than troubled at a reallygrave misfortune.

  The plight in which Lawrence now found himself was serious enough tojustify an access of rage or despair. But it was not his capture or hisbonds that inflicted the severest pang upon his self-esteem. It was thesight of Nurla Bai and his dwarfish henchman making free with thesardine sandwiches which Shan Tai had put up for his especialdelectation.

  When they had bound him, the three Kalmucks glanced around, spied thebasket a few feet away, and rushed at it with cries of delight.Lawrence looked on in disgust as they wolfed the eatables--too delicatefor their untutored palates, too unsubstantial to appease their ravenousappetite. He felt a thrill of joy when, on the remainder of the partycoming up, until there were nine altogether, the new arrivals clamouredfor a share, and began to push and snatch just as he had seen a flock ofgreedy sparrows pecking at one another over a single crust. But thoughthese thieves were falling out, there was no chance of the honest mancoming by his own.

  The contents of the basket soon disappeared, and the men looked roundwolfishly for more. At sight of the aeroplane hope flashed upon them,and with one consent they ran to realize it. Lawrence could no longersee them over the edge of the hollow, but he heard their shouts of glee,the creaking of basket lids, and then the steady smacking of eighteenbusy lips as they fell upon the viands provided for Major Endicott andhis men. He was very angry. He felt not a touch of sympathy for themin their famishment. To him they were merely gluttons, not starvingfellow-creatures.

  During their absence he tried to wriggle out of his bonds, but the workhad been well done, and he lay still, wondering what was to become ofhim. They had not killed him: he was suddenly aware of that agreeablefact, though his pleasure in it was damped when he foresaw a possiblelong captivity. While they gulped and gloated his thoughts ran round aring. Would they carry him on with them, going southward? Then theywould meet Major Endicott, and there would be a fight. If they,fortified by his own food, should get the upper hand, he would still betheir helpless prisoner. If they were beaten, it would be consistentwith Nurla Bai's ferocious temper to kill him before taking to flight.Either way, his case would be deplorable.

  Presently the men came back to him, still munching and smacking theirlips. A villainous crew they looked. Besides Nurla Bai and Black Jack,there were two other miners; the rest, differently and more martiallyclad, were evidently part of the advancing force. They sat down at theedge of the hollow, chewing the cud of excellent victuals and of sweetexaltation of mind. Lawrence writhed as he realized how completelythese ruffians had outwitted him. The men in front of him a while agohad been simply holding his attention, while the others crept upon himfrom behind. It was humiliating--one more proof, he thought, that hewas certainly not cut out for a soldier.

  At first the men did nothing but grunt, like pigs that have gorgedthemselves. Their little eyes rested on their prisoner indolently, asthough he were an object of no importance. By and by they began to talkto one another, and then to throw taunting and insolent remarks at him.His knowledge of the niceties of abuse of which their tongue was capablewas limited, but he understood enough to make his blood boil. But hediscreetly held his peace: he would not flatter them by bandying abuse.

  When they had thus enjoyed themselves for a while, Nurla Bai rose, andplanted himself within a few feet of Lawrence.

  "What is the good of the great hummingbird now?" he said with a sneer."Those that hunt partridges ought not to make a noise."

  It flashed upon Lawrence that the man supposed that the aeroplane hadbeen in pursuit of him. Evidently he was unaware that a party wasmarching down the track towards the mine. It was just as well toflatter his error. Lawrence made no reply.

  "The little tins missed their mark," Nurla Bai went on. "Too much hastespoils the hunt. The hawk has broken its wing, I perceive. Perhaps itcan be mended?"

  Lawrence reflected that by telling the truth he might gain a little timeand save the aeroplane from destruction.

  "Yes; it can be mended," he said, "but not here. The damage is slight,but the machine is quite useless as it is."

  The Kalmuck sat looking at him, apparently following out a train ofthought.

  "How long might it take a man to learn how to use the wings?" he said atlength.

  Lawrence caught the drift of the question.

  "Perhaps six months, perhaps a year," he said. "It depends on the man."

  Nurla Bai looked disappointed; clearly he had hoped to appropriate themachine, get it mended, and then make instant use of it. He consideredfor a little, and then said--

  "The hunter is caught in his own toils. You are now as my servant, todo whatsoever I command. It is a change. Give me the mine: I give youthe machine."

  "That is foolishness. Bob Sahib will never give up the mine."

  "We shall see," said the man with a leer. "When he beholds you in myhands, and knows that if he refuses you will be shot, and the machinebroken up, I think he will be wise."

  At this Lawrence saw a ray of hope in the situation. If they took himback to the mine as a hostage, Major Endicott would discover theabandoned aeroplane and push on with all speed. But he soon discoveredthat his captors had no intention of abandoning the aeroplane. Nurla Baino doubt reckoned on the sight of it in his hands having a very potenteffect on the other sahib at the mine. After a consultation amongthemselves, the men went into the wood, and began to fell some of thesmaller trees, and to lop branches from the larger. In a short timethey had collected a considerable quantity. They carried these down tothe river, and set about binding them into a raft with rushes and rodsof osier. When this was done, they hauled the aeroplane to it, placedit in the middle, and proceeded to weave a long grass rope, which theyattached to the rear of the raft. Then one of the men, carrying astraight sapling, mounted behind the aeroplane, and the wholecontrivance was pushed into the stream.

  The Kalmucks gave a shout of satisfaction on seeing the raft float downwith the current. Two men held the rope to check its speed in the morerapid reaches of the river. The man upon it used his pole to fend itoff rocks and snags. The others fetched their horses from the wood inwhich they had been tethered. On one of these Lawrence was mounted,with his hands still tied. Black Jack rode alongside, firmly graspingthe bridle. Thus, when the afternoon was already far advanced, theybegan the march in the direction of the mine.

  Lawrence had not looked on without expostulation at the handling of theaeroplane, but Nurla Bai ignored his protests. When he saw it swayingand jolting on the raft, he expected it to be irretrievably ruinedbefore it had gone many miles on its course. The river, everywhererapid, became a torrent in the gorges; and at these narrow placesLawrence anticipated that the raft would be whirled and cast aboututterly beyond control, driven on one bank or the other, or smashed onsome rock in mid-stream. But he discovered that the Kalmucks had beenas much alive to the risks as he was himself, and his opinion of NurlaBai rose. Just before coming to a gorge, they drew the raft to thebank, lifted the aeroplane, and carried it overland until the riverbroadened again. The man with the pole remained by the raft until hiscomrades were a long way in advance; then he let it race down the gorgeunchecked and followed it along the bank, to find that it had beenrecovered at the further end.

  The party had been marching for about an hour when they were met bythree other Kalmucks, tramping wearily up the track on foot. Lawrencerecognized them as miners. They had either not been furnished withhorses by the advanced guard beyond the mine, or had had their steedsshot under them during the scamper in the darkness. Nurla Bai gav
ethese hungry men a portion of the provisions that were still left, andthey turned about and marched with the rest down-stream. The journeywas continued until the growing darkness rendered further advanceimpossible. Mooring the raft to a tree on the bank, the men prepared tocamp for the night, on a moss-covered space just above. Lawrence waslifted from the horse; his feet were again tied; and he was laid in thecentre of the encampment. The horses were tethered in a copse hard by,and when a fire had been lighted a few yards northward of the bivouac,the men disposed themselves in a wide circle about their prisoner, anddevoted themselves to the remnants of the provisions. No one offeredLawrence a share--a lack of courtesy which did not trouble him. No onespoke to him; but there was no charm in their conversation. Theyscarcely even looked at him; he suffered nothing from their neglect. Hewished they would not eat so noisily; and when, having gobbled the lastscraps of the food intended for Major Endicott and his party, they satwith their knees up, and chattered across him in their rasping voices,he felt that no one could be said to have a complete experience of theminor troubles of life who had not been an enforced companion ofKalmucks.

  A great deal of what they said was incomprehensible to him, but hecaught a phrase now and then that interested him in spite of himself.One concerned his uncle. Nurla Bai was apparently relating, for thebenefit of the strangers from the north, the doughty deeds he hadrecently performed. Among them he ranked the shooting of the Englishmanwho had been his employer. From what he said, Lawrence gathered thatthe disappearance of Mr. Appleton was as great a disappointment to theminers as to himself. They joked about it, however; Nurla Bai becamefacetious as he described the consternation of the fishes as they beheldthe body of an Englishman, strange monster, sinking into their midst.It was fortunate that Lawrence did not understand the idiomaticbeastliness with which the man depicted the gruesome feast thencelebrated on the stony bottom of the river.

  Another flight of the Kalmuck's fancy afforded him much amusement.Nurla Bai gave rein to his eloquence in picturing the scenes that Delhiwas soon to witness: Ubacha Khan sitting in state on the ancient throneof the Moguls, withering with his frown the throng of cowed andshivering Englishmen who grovelled at his feet, and beslobbered themwith tears as they pleaded vainly for mercy. Lawrence heard for thefirst time of the exquisite tortures which Mongol ingenuity could devisefor helpless prisoners; and while he was amused at the picture conjuredup of British officers suing a new Mogul emperor for pardon, he washorrified at the mere imagination of the cruelties which these wretchesdiscussed with such gloating inhumanity.

  Lying on his back, he could see half the ring of his captors, theirsquat forms silhouetted against the glow of the camp-fire, their yellowfaces blanched by the moonlight now flooding the valley. He raised hiseyes to the hills beyond, watching the magical play of the silveryradiance upon the peaks and promontories, making the snow sparkle;searching, as it were, the black crannies and caverns. But he soonfound his interest in this wonderful illumination yield to his sense ofcold. This region was one of extremes of temperature: the torrid heatof day being succeeded by Arctic cold at night. The Kalmucks did notappear conscious of it; they were inured to the climate; but toLawrence, compelled to lie motionless, the chilliness became painful,and the warm glow of the camp-fire mocked him tantalizingly.

  He was to prove, this night, the contrariness of fate. Twice before,when he had wished above all things to keep awake, drowsiness hadovercome him; now, when he would have given anything for the oblivion ofsleep, physical discomfort and the burden of his thoughts banished sleepfrom his eyes. The Kalmucks became less talkative as the night wore on;presently their voices ceased altogether, and they slept. Lawrencepreferred their snores to their conversation; they formed a descant tothe unvarying ground bass of the river droning below. Every now and thenthe cry of a night-bird in the mountains added its shrill treble to theharmony.

  The moon sank behind the crest of the hills; black darkness stole overthe valley; and the untended watch-fire sank lower and lower, until itsglow was too faint even to show up the slumbering forms of the Kalmucks.Lawrence might have wondered that they had not set a watch but for hisknowledge that they were quite unsuspicious of the enemy higher up thestream, and that his bonds were only too firm. His thoughts flitted toMajor Endicott and his little band; where were they now? How did theyregard his failure to return to them? Had they, too, encamped for thenight? Was there the least possibility that the hours spent in stalkinghim and in constructing the raft would have given them time to draw sonear that with morning light they would come upon the encampment, orovertake the Kalmucks during the ensuing day? And what was to be thefinal issue of all these strange events? Would he, or Bob, ever comeout of the entanglement in which they had been so suddenly involved?

  His anxious meditation was broken short by a slight sound behind him.He turned his head--it was the only part of his body that he couldmove--and stretched his ear towards the spot whence the sound had seemedto come. Perhaps it was one of the Kalmucks stirring in hissleep--rising, possibly, to cast fuel upon the dying fire. He could seenothing. Twisting his neck until it ached, he tried to pierce theblackness, listening keenly for a repetition of the sound. He heardonly the regular snores of the men sleeping nine or ten feet away.

  But there seemed to be something moving between him and them--asomething darker than the night itself, creeping along the ground. Itcould not be a wild animal; no ibex, nor even a bear unless pressed byhunger, would have come within the scent of him; there were no tigers orleopards in these regions; could it be a man?--one of his own people?Tingling with a flush of hope, he lay perfectly still, fearful lest eventhe beating of his heart should betray his excitement to the enemy.

  There was a rustling movement near him; it seemed to come nearer; thenhe shuddered involuntarily as he felt something touch him. It flashedupon him that one of the Kalmucks was going to murder him, and for amoment he had to exercise stern control over his nerves to repress acry. A cold shiver trickled down his back, and he broke out in a clammysweat as he felt a rough hand pass over him--over his face, aside to hisarms, down to his feet. He durst not utter a sound, hope and fearjostling in his brain.

  The hand left him. There was a moment of suspense. Then in his earbreathed a whisper.

  "Sahib, lie still!"

  He felt the hand again, then a pressure upon his arm--a pressure thatincreased and diminished in rapid alternation. He throbbed with joy.Some one--was it Fazl?--was sawing at his bonds. The sound made by theknife or sword was scarcely perceptible; yet to his feverishapprehension it seemed loud enough to waken the heaviest sleeper. Soonhe was conscious that his arms were free, and he ventured to move themstealthily to ease them of their numbness. The pressure was transferredto his feet, and after some moments of quivering anxiety he felt thatthese also were released from their bonds. Then cold metal touched hishand, and his eager fingers clasped over a grooved hilt.

  "Sahib, a minute to rest, then follow me," whispered the voice.

  He could hardly endure the waiting, though he knew it was intended togive him command of his limbs.

  "Sahib, now!"

  He raised himself on all fours, and began to creep after his deliverer,a black form crawling towards the ring of sleeping Kalmucks.

  The Gurkha--for it was he--had almost passed between and beyond the twomen who lay stretched towards the track, when a hand shot out andgripped him by the ankle. At the same moment the owner of the hand gavea shout, his companions started up, and Bob leapt to his feet. As soonas he felt the touch upon him, Fazl wriggled like a snake, his righthand groping towards the dark form beneath him. There was a groan, andhe stood free.

  A foot or two behind him, Bob came to a halt when he dimly saw the twofigures writhing on the ground. When one of them sprang up, he was notsure for the moment whether it was friend or foe. A murmured wordreassured him, and he was ready to go on. But his way was blocked.Roused by their comrade's cry, the Kalmucks hurled themselves in ash
outing mass across the open space. One of them kicked up the embersof the expiring fire, and a dull glow illuminated the scene. It lentaid to the fugitives, who were themselves in shadow. But for hissprained ankle Lawrence could have sprinted away into the darkness; Fazlmight by this time have been out of harm's way, but the little man,perplexed and anxious at his master's dilatoriness, turned to hisassistance. Lawrence had been checked by a man who sprang at him fromthe left. He had no time to swing round and bring into play the righthand clutching Fazl's knife; but, instinctively shooting out his lefthand, by good luck he got home upon his opponent's chin. There waslittle 'body' in the blow, delivered so rapidly and at such closequarters; yet his muscles were hard, and the man staggered and fell in aheap.

  At this moment Fazl rushed to his side, in time to engage a group of theenemy who had now got their bearings and were rushing towards him. Thatmoss-carpeted enclosure was the scene of a struggle as extraordinary asit was short. The little Gurkha twirled and twisted, sprang high, bentlow, legs and arms gyrating with a rapidity that the eye of a spectatorcould scarcely have followed. It was as though some infuriated gnomehad sprung out of the bowels of the earth, and was executing a fantasticdance among men bewildered by his demoniacal antics. But it was a danceof death. The red glow of the newly rekindled fire flashed upon aterrible kukuri, which whirled in circles, ovals, parabolas, and fiftyunnamed curves, carving intricate luminous patterns on the night. Norwere these evolutions purposeless: every stroke of the keen nimble bladewas directed by the keener mind of the man wielding it. Here it struckup a knife, there a rifle; now it pierced a shoulder, now grazed a head;so swift in its darting movements that it seemed multiplied into a dozenweapons each barbed with fire.

  While the Gurkha was thus in the ecstasy of sword-play, keeping half theparty of Kalmucks urgently engaged, Lawrence was in difficulties. Theknife given him by Fazl was no doubt sharp and deadly, but it was aweapon to whose use no Englishman is bred, and demanded, though not somuch free space as a sword, yet a certain amount of elbow room for itseffective employment. Lawrence had only just felled his first assailantwhen he was himself beset by two or three at once. Half conscious ofstinging sensations in arm and thigh he lashed out with left fist andright hand grasping the knife, but lost his footing, stumbled, and fellto the ground with his aggressors on top of him, snarling like wolves.He found himself with his left hand gripping one of them by the throat:his own right wrist was held as in a vice. Struggling to wrench himselffree, he rolled over, dragging the panting enemy with him, theirmovements carrying them nearer and nearer to the camp-fire; and in asudden flicker of light he recognized the savage features of Black Jack.

  In sheer muscular strength he was no match for the Kalmuck dwarf. Underthe crushing pressure of Black Jack's fierce grip his hold on the knifewas relaxing: the weapon was slipping from him. His hold upon the man'sthroat weakened; the Kalmuck was digging his nails into his left arm.As the under dog he was not able to cope with the man pressing him down.The knife dropped to the ground; his wrist was suddenly released; hefelt a bony hand at his own throat, and had given himself up for lost,when a wild discordant clamour broke out close by, drowning all othersounds. For an instant Black Jack was perfectly still: then, wrenchinghimself away, he sprang to his feet and leapt into the darkness.

  Lawrence got up more slowly, every muscle and nerve quivering. He hadjust seen that the space around was empty of living men, when a filmseemed to fall upon his eyes. He tottered, and sank fainting upon theground.

  When he reopened his eyes, the flush of morning lay upon the valley. Heraised his head.

  "That's right," said Major Endicott, stepping from behind him. "How doyou feel?"

  "Rather groggy, Major," replied Lawrence. "Those fellows struck me, Ithink."

  "A gash or two: nothing to speak of. What bowled you over was hungerand fatigue, I suspect. We've got a few scraps left, which will keepyou going until we reach your mine."

  "Is Fazl all right?"

  "As jolly as a sandboy, though rather dilapidated. It's lucky I carry acase of sticking plaster with me; he's pretty considerably patched--muchmore than you are. You slept pretty soundly through my amateursurgery."

  "And the Kalmucks?"

  "Gone elsewhere--all that were left of them. That machine of yoursplayed you false then?"

  "Yes, the engine failed, and I had to come down. I was rather botheredwith getting rid of my bombs and controlling the thing at the same time,and made a hash of it--sprained my ankle, too. I was waiting for you,and the beggars stalked me. I was a silly ass to let them take meunawares."

  "What were they going to do with you?"

  "Offer me and the aeroplane in exchange for the mine--as if Bob wouldlisten to any rot like that!

  "Well, the aeroplane isn't worth much now, I suspect, but I fancy Bobmight be disposed to think you good value for the mine. However, that'sall off. The aeroplane's done for, of course?"

  "Not a bit of it. We can put it to rights in a day."

  "Warrant it?"

  "Yes. Our bargain holds if you'll risk it. I'm more than sorry thishappened, if it's going to dish your plan, Major."

  "It shan't do that. Taking risks is part of my job--and yours too, asit happens."

  "I'm jolly glad you came up when you did. In another minute you wouldhave been too late."

  "You've got to thank your Gurkha for that. We were marching up prettybriskly--had no trouble from the Afghans--and the Gurkha declared heheard the sound of your bombs far ahead. None of us had heard anything,but the little chap was so positive that I thought we'd be on the safeside and hurry up. Judging by the march we made, the sound must havetravelled nearly ten miles--not impossible in this air, I suppose; Iconfess I was sceptical at first, and only began to feel anxious whenyou didn't return within the time stated.

  "We came upon the tracks of the aeroplane some miles up; there waslitter of all sorts about--scraps of food, broken branches and what not,and I feared you'd smashed yourself and your machine, only we couldn'tfind any pieces of it. But we found your rifle and field-glass in alittle hollow, and the Gurkha guessed that you had tumbled among theKalmucks. An hour after dark we caught sight of the camp-fire. TheGurkha volunteered to creep up and reconnoitre, so the rest of ushalted, waiting for his report.

  "He's a clever little chap, with a double dose of Gurkha courage. Hecame back very soon and told me he'd seen you tied up among them, andabout the raft and so on. My sowars wanted to rush the place, but itstruck me that that might be the end of you. The first instinct of suchbarbarians would be to knife their prisoner. It was a bit of aquandary--and the Gurkha came out strong again. It was his suggestionthat he should creep into the camp and release you before we moved."

  "Plucky little chap!" said Lawrence warmly.

  "A treasure! The noise of the scuffle brought us up hot-foot, and theonly thing I regret is that, as the Gurkha informed me, the ringleaders,those rascally miners of yours, got away.... Now the sooner we get toyour mine the better. You had better sit my horse. As all our food isgone, we shall have a strong motive for hurry, so we ought to get homebefore night. Of course if you think you can't stand it we'll take ourtime."

  "No: I'm fit enough. Your men will look after the raft?"

  He explained the method by which the aeroplane had been taken safelypast the gorges, and the Major went off to instruct his men.

  Lawrence summoned Fazl, who was resting on a grassy knoll overlookingthe river.

  "I owe you my life; you're a brave fellow, and I thank you," he said.

  Fazl's plastered face broadened in a grin.

  "Wah! sahib, the Kalmucks are pigs, and their hearts melt like butter.The sahib's servant is unworthy of praise. It is a small thing to dofor the heaven-born."