Part 18

"You'd better sit down and listen, Fenton," the major interposed. "There's a lot to say, and not much time to say it in. We're in for the hottest time since the Mutiny--and if I'm not mistaken, hotter than the Mutiny at its worst: I mean generally, for there won't be any Cawnpores or Lucknows, I hope. You know that the Afghans are up?"

"Yes: we've mobilized along the frontier: they won't get across."

The Major smiled grimly.

"After I'd wired you to come in," he said, "I got into communication with the Chief at Peshawar and the Viceroy at Delhi. The Amir has just fled to Peshawar: Kabul's in the hands of the Mongols."

"By Jove!"

"The cat's out of the bag at last. That huge concentration about Bokhara was not to be launched at Russia after all. I suppose we were too self-assured to twig it--just as in the Mutiny time. Plenty of information, little imagination. But we have it now. There are pretty nearly half a million of the fiercest ruffians in Central Asia marching down on us--almost all mounted, and they're fellows who live on horseback, and are moving with amazing speed. They've cajoled or bought over the best part of the Afghans--silly fools, for if the Mongols beat us they'd swallow Afghanistan for dessert. There are a hundred thousand in and about Kabul."

"It's astonishing that they managed to keep things so quiet. They must have been intriguing and negotiating for months."

"Again, just as in the Mutiny. I've not heard of chapattis passing round, but they've had their secret signs, without doubt. The one good thing about the present circumstances is that the Afghans are not actually on the march yet. They're probably waiting to see how the cat jumps. Of course we've always relied on them more or less as a buffer against Russia, calculating that they'd hold up the invaders at Herat until we'd had time to line the frontier. Anyway, we can't expect any help from them now, for if they're not actually hand in glove with the Mongols they're neutral, for a time. You said we'd mobilized, didn't you? I've been away a fortnight."

"Yes. With the most tremendous exertions we've got 100,000 men across the frontier, and they're holding the passes. Only just in time, evidently. It ought to have been an easy job: and so it was--on paper. But it's years since the paper scheme was drawn up, and they've been paring down in the usual British way--economizing, they call it. The result is that arrangements for transport and supplies are all at sixes and sevens. They've had to reduce the frontier garrisons to mere skeletons in order to make up the strength of the field army."

"The Chief wired me just now that troops are being pushed up from all parts, but the railways are so horribly congested that it'll be weeks before they're on the spot. I fancy I made him jump with my news."

"You've got something fresh then?"

"There are twenty thousand Kalmucks marching up the Nogi valley."

"The Nogi valley! But I've always understood it's impassable. Isn't that where poor old Harry Appleton has his mine? ... Beg pardon, I'm sure," he added, turning to Lawrence. "I forgot he's a relative of yours."

"My uncle," said Lawrence.

"I'm glad to think it is for the moment impassable," said the major, "owing to the pluck and readiness of Appleton here and his brother. But the Kalmucks traded on our self-confidence. No one would have dreamed that any considerable force would try to push its way up that difficult track; they _are_ trying it, and their object, without a doubt, is to cut the communications of the army operating in Afghanistan. If they penetrate to fifty miles this side of the Appleton mine nothing but a whole division can check them. The Chief wired that he can't spare a man at the moment, and said the valley must be held at all costs for a week."

"But man alive, that's impossible! We haven't three hundred men all told within a hundred miles of it. If we rushed them down for all we were worth three hundred couldn't hold off twenty thousand."

"Well no, and you'd never get there. But as it happens the Chief was only acting on something I had told him. It's a long story, and must keep. But the short of it is that Harry Appleton's two nephews--poor chap! he's gone himself--brought out an aeroplane--the one you saw outside: you might be sure it wasn't a service machine! By the merest accident they happened to see this Kalmuck force encamped, and after some pretty stirring passages which I'll tell you some other time, they blocked up the track just below the mine; it will keep the enemy busy for a while."

"Congratulate you," said the captain to Lawrence. "Not in the service, are you?"

"No."

"He is in training, Fenton," said the major with a smile. "By the help of his aeroplane he got me out of a very tight place, and I went down to the mine to see for myself how the land lay. An accident to the aeroplane kept me there for a day. When it was repaired we made a reconnaissance down the river. Near the mine there was a striking force of about a thousand men--as many as could operate with any effect on so narrow a track. Some thirty miles farther down we saw a couple of field guns being dragged up; and the main body of the enemy was still encamped at the mouth of the valley, waiting for the way to be cleared. It was a masterly notion to dynamite the rock; indeed, as far as I could see, Bob Appleton had left nothing undone to secure his position. Of course it's an uncommonly tight place; very likely nine fellows out of ten--or we'll say eight!--wouldn't have attempted to hold it: but you know the Appleton breed, Fenton: and if they can only stick it out for a week, as the Chief wishes, by George! the Government of India will have reason to say thank you."

"Your arm's paining you, I see," said Captain Fenton, as the major winced.

"Nothing to speak of. It was a bit of rank bad luck. Of course, seeing what the game was, I felt I must wire the Chief at once, and Lawrence offered to bring me here in his aeroplane. We came along swimmingly until we had got about half way: saw nothing of the enemy: and then rather suddenly struck a rabble of about two thousand men marching southward. We came down rather too low, to get a good look at them. They opened fire, and one of their shots tore my arm from shoulder to elbow. If we had made a straight course we shouldn't have met trouble: but naturally I wanted to pick up any information I could. Unluckily in going criss-cross we consumed a good deal of petrol, and when it became necessary to replenish the tank from the reserve cans, we found that they'd been bored with holes during our peppering; one was empty, in the other there were a few spoonfuls at the bottom below the level of the hole. This only lasted a few miles, and then we had to come down, in the hills yonder."

"Rough luck!" said Captain Fenton, turning sympathetically to Lawrence. "You must have felt pretty mad. How did you bring the machine in?"

"I happened to mention when we were talking things over that paraffin would do at a pinch, and the major said he was pretty sure they would have some here, and insisted on tramping over to get some sent up."

"Well, you see, he's got a game foot," said the major. "Sprained his ankle two days ago. My legs are sound, at any rate. But I was pretty dead beat before I got here, and was glad enough to borrow the mount of one of the men Narrain sent to meet me. He and the other fellow went on to keep Appleton company, and as soon as the paraffin was sent up, the aeroplane came flying in with the sowar on board as a passenger. He was bubbling with delight, and no doubt will be a hero among the men for the rest of his days."

"Mr. Appleton wants to get back to the mine, of course," said the captain.

"Yes: there's enough paraffin for that. How are matters round the fort, Fenton?"

"The tribes are pretty quiet at present. They've held several jirgahs to discuss what line they shall take. That depends on who scores the first point. If we can only convince them that we're not going to knuckle under, I daresay they'll stick to us. But it wouldn't take much to turn the scale on the other side. The crowd that fired at you are marching this way, you said?"

"They'll be hereabouts some time to-morrow, and probably a lot more, for we caught sight of other parties, not so large, threading the valleys to the west. The whole country north-west of us is rising."

"That's bad. I can't hope to keep the tribes about the fort quiet after these thousands come on the scene."

"I must see what I can do."

"You ought to be in hospital. If you had let me know you'd been hit I'd have brought the medico with me."

"Good thing you didn't. He'd have been so disappointed!"

"No operation required, you mean," said Captain Fenton laughing. "He does love his knife."

"And fork!" added the major drily. "He shall have a look at my arm to-morrow. I propose to return with you to the fort. We must blow this place up. You can hold your own there for some time against a good number, and reinforcements will be hurried up as rapidly as possible. Then I must try the velvet glove with the tribesmen. There won't be much time to do anything with them before those men we saw get south; but if you discourage them with hot lead at the fort it will help.... This is all very hard on you, Appleton."

"That's all right," said Lawrence. "I was only wishing I had brought more of our bombs with me. I might have checked those hillmen and given you more time."

"But that would have involved your remaining in this neighbourhood, and you are wanted at the mine. A bomb or two dropped in flying over would have scattered them for the moment, but they'd have collected again as soon as you were past. I don't know how much paraffin we've got to give you. No: there's better work for you. You'll convey the Chief's message to your brother: hold the gorge for a week at all costs. I'll do my best to get reinforcements through. It's vitally important to keep those Kalmucks in check. The fate of India hangs in the balance."

Preparations were made for the evacuation of the house on the following morning. Having taken on board more than enough paraffin to carry him back to the mine, together with a dozen rifles and several thousand rounds of ammunition, Lawrence bade the officers good-bye, and started immediately after breakfast. A few minutes after his departure a dull boom proclaimed that the tower had been blown up and the garrison was on the march for the south.

Major Endicott had advised him to fly high so as to avoid the risk of further accident if he should encounter the enemy. Some ten miles from the tower he caught sight of them: they appeared like an army of ants crawling on the ground. A few shots were fired at him, but he was far out of effective range, and in a few minutes disappeared from their view.

A little uneasy at first as to the staying power of the paraffin, he was soon reassured. In less than an hour he struck the western extremity of the valley, and he flew down it at full speed, maintaining a great altitude in case Nurla Bai and his party should be still on the track or in the hills above.

He had almost reached the mine when he heard sounds of rapid firing. The attack, then, had begun in earnest.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND

DITTA LAL INTERPRETS

During his brother's absence Bob had been energetic in organizing the defence. He threw an entrenchment across the track beneath the shoulder of the cliff, a short distance from the mass of broken rock thrown down by the explosion of dynamite. By this means he hoped to interpose an effective obstacle to the enemy if they, without waiting for the track to be cleared, should attempt to climb round and slip by up the valley. Nurla Bai's swimming feat showed him that the river could be crossed otherwise than by the drawbridge, and the assemblage of any considerable number of men on the southward side might be a serious menace. True, the enemy could hardly cross in daylight in face of opposition from the wall of the compound; but remembering how Nurla Bai had got over and made his way by the cantilever pathway to the mine, Bob saw that a similar movement might be attempted when the attention of the garrison was held by an attack from down-stream. In that case he would have to dispatch men whom he could ill spare to guard the aeroplane platform and perhaps to destroy the pathway constructed with such toil. As a precautionary measure he stationed three men on the aeroplane platform day and night.

Further, in order not to be at too great a disadvantage in case of a sudden rush in the darkness, he contrived a makeshift searchlight out of a large photographic camera of his uncle's and a reflector of polished tin. He hoped that it would not be necessary to use it often, for the stock of calcium carbide was running low, and he had no other illuminant than acetylene gas and paraffin candles.

When Lawrence alighted on the aeroplane platform, Fazl, one of the three men on guard there, informed him that the enemy had opened a brisk fire at daybreak.

"The sahib cannot get to the house to-day," said the man.

"Why not?"

"Because, sahib, when you once get round the shoulder, the path is in sight of the enemy. They will shoot you. It is necessary to wait for night."

"Nonsense! I can't stay here all day. Let me see for myself."

He went across the platform and along a few yards of the path until he reached the bend. There he peeped cautiously round. He forgot his prime object in the anxiety and concern to which the state of affairs down the river gave rise. Being slightly above the level of the track he was able to take a good view of the position. The enemy had cut a new path along the fallen cliff, and had thrown across it a breastwork about thirty feet long, from loopholes in which they were maintaining a hot fire on the northernmost boundary of the compound. The reply of the garrison was astonishingly feeble; the characteristic rattle of the machine gun was not to be heard, and Lawrence saw the havildar standing inactive by the weapon. Bob was near the wall, smoking a cigarette, and it was apparently only when he gave a distinct order that the men fired. Lawrence guessed that he was husbanding his ammunition, and blessed Major Endicott's forethought in sending a supply which would be so welcome.

Recollecting his purpose, Lawrence scanned the wooden pathway narrowly, to see how far Fazl's advice was justified. For forty or fifty yards it was fully exposed to the enemy's marksmen, but beyond that distance it gained some shelter from the buildings in the compound. If the enemy had not already had their attention drawn to it, there was a chance that, in spite of his weak ankle, he might dash across the exposed portion before they noticed him. But after a few seconds he saw with great relief that it was possible to lessen still further the risk of being hit. The pathway being a little higher than the track on the opposite side of the river, he might perhaps crawl along it without being discovered. By lying at full length, and hugging the face of the rock, he would get a certain protection from the outside edge of the pathway.

He returned to the platform.

"Has any one crossed from or to the mine since the enemy began firing?" he asked Fazl.

"No, sahib: it was still dark when we came to relieve the night watch, and none has come or gone since."

"Very well: I am going to crawl. Take care you don't show yourselves."

He was rather astonished at his lack of nervousness; but the events of the last few days had in fact exercised a bracing influence upon him. He crawled on all fours as rapidly as possible along the exposed section of the path, rose to his feet on reaching the spot where the buildings gave him cover, and in another few minutes greeted his brother.

"Well done, old chap!" said Bob heartily. "I hardly expected you to get back yesterday, but it's a great relief to see you. You had no trouble?"

"Not with the machine, but we came across a lot of hillmen marching south, and they potted the major in the arm, and riddled the petrol cans, so that I ran short. But they gave me some paraffin at the tower, and it serves surprisingly well. It's lucky we had a second carburetter."

Just then a bullet sang overhead.

"Can you come to the house for a minute or two?" said Lawrence. "I've got a good deal to tell you, and you can't attend to me and the enemy at the same time."

"All right. I'll leave Gur Buksh in charge. They've done us no harm yet--inside at any rate; but I'll give you all the news. Come on!"

Seated in the house, Lawrence repeated the substance of the conversation between Major Endicott and Captain Fenton. Bob listened in amazement.

"By George! it's a big thing," he exclaimed. "No wonder we were puzzled. It's desperately serious, then."

"Yes, and this is the serious part for us. The major wired all about us to headquarters, and the commander-in-chief wired back that we must hold on at all costs for a week. He made no bones about it: simply said it must be done."

"Well, we'll do it!" cried Bob with flashing eyes. "We'll not cave in after a direct order from the commander-in-chief. It's the best thing that could have happened. Some of the men are getting rather shaky, but I'll tell them the Sirkar depends on them--talk about their known valour, and all that: and it'll buck them up no end."

"Wouldn't the promise of a reward from Government be more effective?"

"I dare say; but it's only a jolly ass who'd give a pledge of that sort for Government. I dare say they mean well, but--no, my boy, it's not safe. We'll rely on moral stimulants. Now look here: this is what I've done----"

"I see you've thrown up a breastwork on the other side, but so have the enemy, and cut a path too."

"Yes, that's one to them, confound them! I had twenty men behind my breastwork, but when the enemy came round the bend this morning they bolted back in a panic. They'd have done better to stick to it, for two of them were shot in the back and killed outright. I'd left the bridge down under a guard, so that the others got back safely, but their retreat had a bad effect on the rest. They need a tonic."

"The major gave me a dozen rifles and a lot of ammunition: that'll help."

"It will indeed: I've had to be sparing."

"Why didn't the enemy occupy your breastwork?"

"No doubt they would have only I built it at such an angle that it can be enfiladed from our wall. It's a great nuisance that they've managed to get so far as they have. I hoped to be able to check them at the bend much longer--at any rate until they'd brought up the two field guns you told me about. When they arrive we shan't be able to hold the wall. We shall have to take refuge in the galleries."

"That means suffocation."

"Well, we won't think of it. We'll hold on as long as we can. You didn't notice perhaps that I've had a shield of boiler plates set up on top of the parapet. I found we couldn't loophole the embankment, and the men couldn't fire without protection of some kind. This metal shield is better than nothing. It's loopholed. I only allow a few men to fire at the enemy, when there's a chance of their doing some good. But to keep up their spirits I let them all have a turn. They come up in squads, so that every man will have a chance of a shot during the day."

"You haven't used the machine gun? Couldn't you batter their breastwork with it?"

"It would be very much like pelting toy bricks with a pea-shooter. Gur Buksh has orders only to fire if there's a rush. What I fancy will happen is this. At night they'll try to rush our breastwork. If they get it they'll push a trench southward along the track until they're opposite us. What they'll do then about crossing the river I don't know. We've got to delay them as long as possible. I've made a ramshackle sort of searchlight out of Uncle's old camera: it may help us a little in the dark. But I must go out and talk to the men. I wish I were a dab at the lingo. Will you do the spouting?"

"You're in command. Get the Babu to interpret for you: what you say won't lose anything in his mouth."

"It may do him good too. He's getting positively thin with funk. Come along!"

While this conversation was in progress in the house, there had fallen a lull in the firing outside. It was clear that the enemy were not prepared for a rush, and had realized the uselessness of continually sniping at a garrison whom they rarely saw. There could be little doubt that they were waiting either for darkness to cover a dash up the track, or for the arrival of their field guns. Whatever the reason, the respite was welcome. Taking advantage of it, Bob left a small guard at the wall, and assembled the rest in the compound.

Lawrence was struck by the altered appearance of Ditta Lal when he came forward at Bob's summons. His fat cheeks had fallen in; his features spoke eloquently of despair; and his clothes hung loosely where formerly they had closely encased his rotundities.

"I should never have believed that a man could lose so much flesh in so little time," said Lawrence in a low tone.

"Do him good," returned Bob unfeelingly. "Ditta Lal, I'm going to speak to the men, and I want you to translate faithfully what I say--no additions or subtractions."

"I will do my best, sir," said the Babu with unwonted simplicity. "My voice is not strong; I am fading away like a flower."

"For goodness' sake say something to buck him up," whispered Lawrence, "or he'll damp their courage with his lugubrious manner."

"Look here, Babu," said Bob, "Major Endicott is telegraphing for reinforcements. They should be here in a week."

"Can I believe my ears?"

"You can believe me. The Government knows all about us. The commander-in-chief himself has asked us to hold the place for a week, and we're going to do it."

"That's jolly bucking, sir," said the Babu in his usual manner. "The hour brings forth the man. The King-Emperor will dub you knight, or at least baronet, for thus stepping into deadly breach, and----"

"We're wasting time," Bob interrupted. "Just tell the men what I say."

"Right-o, sir. My voice is recovering wonted rotundity. Fire away!"

Lawrence's eyes twinkled more than once during the Babu's address to the garrison. Bob's words were simple and direct, with no surplusage of rhetoric: Ditta Lal transformed them into an oration.

"Sikhs and Pathans, Rajputs, Gurkhas and Chitralis," he said, "misfortune makes brothers of us all. In a thunderstorm the lion and the ass are friends. The thunderstorm is about to burst upon us. We have heard the first rumblings; we have seen the lightning flash in the lurid sky; and the huzur having been taken from us by the hand of the Kalmucks, we have lost our chief defence and stay.