Dick Hamshaw Saves the Situation
There was pandemonium in the city of Adrianople as daylight stole coldly
across the roofs of the houses and penetrated to mean streets and
alleys, to the interior of houses large and small, and to the cloistered
halls of the many mosques. Wailing could be heard on every side, the
frightened cries of women, the piteous, hungry sobs of infants and
children. For provisions had been short for a long time, while but seven
ounces of bread formed the daily ration of each soldier, and civilians
must fight for what they could see and live as best they could.
Shells rained into the place fitfully, ebbing and flowing as does the
sea. They came in shoals like mackerel, then intermittently, crashing
their way through roofs, thudding into the streets and open spaces, and
bursting to right and left. And then, of a sudden, they would cease to
fall. Comparative silence would reign in the city; while outside, in the
neighbourhood of the forts, could be heard the rattle of musketry,
incessant, rising and falling, overwhelmed every few seconds by some
violent detonation as a cannon was discharged, and running in waves from
one end of the defences to the other.
"Hard at it," said the Commander, listening to a great outburst. "You
may depend upon it that the allies have decided to take the place
whatever it may cost them. And if all the Turkish troops are like the
poor objects one sees from this window, why, this business won't be long
before it's ended. Meanwhile, if one may enquire, what are our
prospects?"
He turned with smiling face to Dick and Alec, though the hands
supporting his head on either side, and the anxious, drawn look about
his eyes, told that he was suffering. Indeed he had a dreadful headache
that morning, while the wound he had been unlucky enough to receive was
extremely painful.
"If one may enquire?" he said again, with polite and jovial satire. "I
am as a child in your hands, and, 'pon my word, you've done uncommonly
well. What happened after I was knocked over? Tell me, do. I am still
left gaping at the fact that a moment ago, as it seems to me, I was
crouching beside a wall waiting for a shell to wreak its vengeance upon
this unfortunate city. The very next, I appear to be in clover,
reclining on a most comfortable divan, and--er--er--watching you two
munching your rations. Now."
They told him all that had happened with a gusto there was no denying.
"And so you see, sir, here we are," added Dick, his mouth occupied with
a hunch of bread and cheese which the thoughtful Sergeant Evans had
provided.
"Precisely! Here we are. Afterwards, what? That's where I'm vastly
interested. We appear to have got into a charming little pickle. How do
we emerge from it?"
Neither Dick nor Alec could give him the smallest indication, for they
themselves were nonplussed by the curious situation into which they had
tumbled. Not that they had not given vast thought to the matter; for
even then Dick had risen from the divan and was staring through the
window, the noise of people moving down the cobbled street having
attracted him. He swung round after a while, reseated himself, and took
an enormous bite from the hunch of bread he was holding.
The Commander watched him as he ate it, watched him critically and with
some amusement. "Come," he said after a while. "What's the manoeuvre?"
Alec shook his head violently; Dick stood up, still munching, and once
more stared through the window. He did not mean to be disrespectful to
his senior, but, to be precise, his thoughts were so fully occupied at
that particular moment that he hardly heard the sentence. Presently he
turned again.
"I'm going out, sir," he said.
"Out! Impossible! You'd be spotted," cried the officer, his joviality
gone instantly.
"Hardly, sir. You see, or perhaps I should say, you will see the reason.
I can speak these fellows' lingo quite a little."
"Turkish?"
"Yes, sir. Father was quartered at Constantinople, at the British
Embassy. I was there a good five years, and so learnt to know all about
'em. If I was disguised I could pass easily, and so I'm going in the
gear of that officer."
"But--but why?" demanded the Commander.
"First, to find a more suitable crib for us, sir. That officer fellow
may recover consciousness just as quickly as you have done, and then he
may very well return to these quarters. That'd be bad for us. Next,
there's Major Harvey and his friend to be thought of. We couldn't very
well return aboard the airship without them."
"Certainly not. If they're to be found, then we find them," came from
the officer. "But--look here, Dick, this idea means danger, don't it?"
"Risk, perhaps, sir. Nothing more."
"Supposing you were spotted?"
The Commander sat up quickly and looked anxiously at the midshipman.
"Then it would be unlucky for me, sir," came Dick's steady answer. "Of
course, you and Alec would work hard to get back to the ship. But I
haven't been spotted yet, and don't mean to be. Someone's got to go out,
and I'm that someone, for I can understand these people. Now, Alec, give
me a help with this gear. Say, how do I look? Fairly smart, eh? That fez
always makes a fellow look fetching."
Dick made certainly quite a smart officer once he was dressed in the
greatcoat, belts, and pouches of his late assailant, while the fez gave
him quite an Oriental appearance. Indeed, the Commander was delighted.
"I don't half like letting you go, Dick," he said. "I'm the one who
should be taking this sort of risk. But there--I couldn't stand
steadily, and am therefore useless. Lad, shake hands. I'm glad you
belong to us, and I must say that you two youngsters have done
handsomely."
Dick coloured redly. Alec shuffled his feet and felt positively
uncomfortable. And then the former gripped each of his companions in
turn by the hand, saluted his officer, and turning, went out of the
room. They heard the front door bang. They heard his steps on the
cobbles, and looking out, Alec saw his chum strolling nonchalantly down
the street. Then he turned into another, and in an instant was lost to
view.
"Gone! Out of sight," he said, turning and speaking almost dismally to
the Commander.
"And good luck go with him! A plucky lad, a very plucky fellow!" cried
the officer. "But don't let's fret about him, for a midshipman's a
midshipman all over the world and a wonder at getting into and out of
scrapes. Now, let's see if we can get a fire going, for it's cold in
this room and I'm positively shivering."
It may be wondered meanwhile what had happened to the gallant Major who
had left the airship just two nights previous to Dick and his fellows.
If they had but known the truth he had set foot in this beleaguered city
within some fifty yards of the spot where they had landed. And then all
his efforts had been concentrated on the task of finding that elusive
individual known as Charlie. He groped his way around buildings and
along streets; and for hours haunted the precincts of that huge mosque
which the elusive Charlie had denoted as his probable location. The dawn
was breaking indeed before he thought of his own personal safety and the
need for some hiding-place. For the Major cut a conspicuous figure
wherever he happened to be. He looked, in fact, precisely what he was, a
soldier and a gentleman. Nor must the reader imagine for one moment that
he and "Charlie", the high-placed officer of whom he had spoken, were
merely spies engaged on some dangerous espionage. There is spying and
spying. There is the patriot who for the sake of his country, not for
mere filthy lucre or out of burning curiosity, will investigate matters
of moment, such as guns and forts and equipment used by possible enemies
of his country. And there are others who from the same patriotic motives
will endeavour to fathom some new negotiations between Powers other than
his own, some diplomatic move, some international conspiracy hatched in
the secret recesses of foreign offices, perhaps never set down on paper,
never signed and sealed, merely a secret compact, but still something of
vital importance for his own people. We do not profess to guess what
precisely was the business upon which the Major and his friend had been
engaged. It was secret, it was of vital importance, and it was of the
utmost delicacy. Let us, then, leave it there, merely remembering that
the elusive Charlie had intimated to the Major that he had succeeded in
his mission, while the authorities at home had thought so much of the
matter and desired that information so greatly that they posted the
Major to the great airship when on her world-wide tour, and urged Andrew
and Joe Gresson to hazard a visit to Adrianople, even at the risk of
wrecking a machine than which nothing would appear to be more valuable
to Great Britain.
It was with an inner knowledge of this delicate affair that the Major
strove to discover his friend, and for the moment we will leave him
hastening through the streets of the city, gazing into the faces of
passers-by as the dawn drew near, and risking discovery. In fact, he
merely forestalled Dick, for the young midshipman was now engaged in a
similar task with similar risks, seeking eagerly for those for whom he
and his friends had descended from the airship.
"And it's like looking for the usual needle in the usual bundle of hay,"
he grumbled, as he dived into another street and strode down it. "A
mighty small needle, by jingo! and an awfully big bundle of hay. But
there's always the mosque. That must be the big one, and I don't go a
step farther from it. My first job is to investigate every corner. So
round we go. We'll do the outside first, and then dive in."
People hurried past him, civilians with wan, lean forms and faces.
Half-starved soldiers dressed in rags, unshaven for weeks past, dragged
their weary limbs past him. An officer, a dapper enough fellow at one
time no doubt, stepped into the street before him, turned a hurried
gaze upon him, and then retreated with haste.
"Funny, that. Spotted me, eh?" Dick asked himself. "Then why did he bolt
as if he were afraid of me?"
It was a problem to which he gave his mind for some few minutes. He was
still worrying it out when almost a similar thing took place. Two
soldiers, under-officers without a doubt, tattered and dishevelled,
emerged from a doorway and halted immediately outside to peer up and
down the street. On seeing Dick's jaunty figure they bolted, positively
bolted.
"This beats me hollow," that young gentleman grumbled. "What's the
matter with me, or--er--with those jolly beggars? Surely it can't be
that they're--jingo! it looks it. What did that officer say?"
His mind went back to the encounter he had some little time before and
to the manner in which his assailant had accosted him. He recollected
that Adrianople was then being fiercely assaulted. If he had been
inclined to forget that fact there was the firing to tell him, that and
the roar of shells raining round the city. Yes, he could hear the battle
ebbing and flowing in the distance about the outlying forts which
protected all approaches to Adrianople.
"Got it!" he cried. "What have the papers said? Let's see. Little
enough, for correspondents have been barred and news sent by some of
them at least has been secondhand information written up in a house
perhaps a hundred miles from the fighting. But there's been awful
disorganization amongst the Turkish battalions. Men have been anywhere
at times except where they were wanted. Officers have lost their
commands, while, what with hardship, fear of wounds or worse, and
starvation, soldiers have strayed from their ranks or actually deserted.
Jingo! That's it. The fellows who have been scared of me are shirkers.
Lor! there seem to be a good many of 'em. That don't say much for the
chances of the defenders."
In any case the discovery he had made was of little moment and gave him
no help in his search. But it did put a little more dash and swagger
into our hero.
"If they don't see anything wrong about me and get scared so easily,
why, others'll be the same," Dick told himself with a grin. "I'll cut a
dash next time I meet a soldier. A bit of bounce'll help to deceive
'em."
He carried the plan out in a manner which would have made Alec scream
with laughing, for Dick was really too bold for anything. Meeting a
squad of men some few minutes later escorting an ammunition cart along
one of the streets he clanked his sword loudly, squared his shoulders,
and took their salute without a falter.
"My word! That's better," he grinned. "I'll be ordering 'em about before
I've done with this business. Hallo! A guard-house, eh? Yes, sentry
posted outside. Jingo, call him a sentry! Of course, I know the poor
beggar's been more than half starved for weeks past. But, what a
figure!"
The wretchedly ragged fellow outside this guard house did indeed cut
anything but a soldierly figure. He lolled against the post, his face
drawn and thin and vacant, and innocent of soap and water for days past.
And when, seeing an officer draw near, he shouldered his rifle, it was
in an uncouth and distinctly unmilitary manner.
"Like to see one of our tars give a salute like that," said Dick
bridling. "If the Turks are all like him, which I doubt, it ain't
surprising that those jolly Bulgarians and their allies have made such a
running. But let's get on. That's completed the round of the mosque. Now
we enter and see what's doing."
Unabashed by the presence of a sentry at the door of the mosque, Dick
marched boldly up to him and once more acknowledged a salute. Then he
donned a pair of shoes lying in the doorway and entered without
hesitation.
"It is empty," said the man over his shoulder. "I have orders to keep
all people from entering, all save those who command."
Dick nodded curtly. He wondered whether he ought to make some reply; but
fearing that the man would suspect him at once he went on without
halting.
"Though I've got to chance it some time," he said. "I've got to ask
questions so as to get information. Lor! why didn't I think of it
before? I'll be a foreign officer serving with the Turks. It's said that
there are something approaching a hundred German officers here in
Adrianople. Right! I ain't over particular which sort of a country it
is I come from. But I'm foreign. That's why I can't talk the lingo
perfectly. Now we take a look round and then come back to gather
information."
His tour of the mosque proved it to be much the same as others, except
that this was huge and more brilliantly decorated than those Dick was
accustomed to. It was deserted, without a doubt, not even a mullah being
present.
"They are gone in fear lest shells should strike the building,"
explained the sentry at the door when Dick questioned him. "Pardon, your
papers, please."
"Papers? Eh?" gasped Dick.
"All foreign officers carry papers to prove their identity. I took you
for one of our own nationality at first, but now that you speak, though
better than the majority, I see that you are foreign. Your papers,
please."
It was an awkward moment, and perhaps few others would have escaped from
it as did the light-hearted Dick. He gazed at the man in amazement. He
stamped his feet with seeming rage and fumed and growled loudly.
"What! You ask for papers while shells fall into the city and there is
fighting! You expect me to take such things into the trenches, then?
What next! I keep such things in my quarters where you can see them if
you come with me."
"Ah! Pardon, I did not think," the sentry answered abjectly. "Of course,
it is not the time to make such a demand."
"As if one could enter or leave the city!" growled Dick, pretending to
be only half appeased. "But there! let it pass. Tell me for what reason
is there a guard-house yonder?"
"To house the patrols who police the streets. In times of peace the
place is unoccupied."
"And now?" asked Dick curiously.
"There are a few men there. I myself shall be relieved by one of them."
"And prisoners?"
The sentry looked astonished. "Prisoners?" he asked, looking
suspiciously at Dick.
"Yes, prisoners," declared that young fellow without a falter. The high
hand he had played already had served his purpose wonderfully. Then why
not continue? "Did I not say prisoners plainly?" he asked curtly, at
which the man nodded abjectly. "Then why this surprise?"
"But--but pardon, sir, you asked as if it were not merely curiosity. It
seemed as if you might be interested in some other way," said the
sentry, emboldened for the moment and again surveying Dick in a manner
which, if it did not show suspicion, at least told of his dislike of all
foreigners. As for the midshipman, his interest was stimulated by the
curious stubbornness of the man. Dick recollected that he was in search
of Major Harvey, and that the latter had disappeared, had failed to
signal to the airship, and was lost for the moment. Supposing there were
prisoners yonder? Supposing this fellow and his mates placed in the
guard-house to police the neighbourhood of the mosque had seized upon
the Major and were holding him a prisoner? Was it likely that they had
reported their action? Hardly at such a time when the allies were
pressing an attack, and if they had sent in a report a day before, no
doubt in the hurry and bustle of hastening troops to meet that expected
assault the matter had been forgotten. However, this was all guesswork.
Dick had yet no certain information that prisoners were located in the
guard-house, though he had his suspicions.
"And I'm pretty sure that this fellow is trying to throw dust in my
eyes," he told himself. "It ain't difficult either to see why he's so
stubborn and sly. I'm a foreign officer attached to the Turkish army.
Half a mo'; I ain't. But that's what he takes me to be. Well, then,
supposing he and his fellows had bagged the Major, they'd expect me to
kick up a shindy and----"
In one instant he saw it all, and his suspicions were heightened.
"You have prisoners in the guard-house," he said severely. "Foreign
prisoners. I will see them. Stay here, man; have a care what you do and
say. Tell me, you reported the taking of these men?"
The sentry stood to attention, looking shamefaced and frightened.
"We could not," he excused himself. "No officer has visited us for two
days now. There is heavy fighting."
"Ah!" Dick regarded him severely. "You dared to neglect to report," he
cried angrily. "You took these men prisoner, careless whether they were
friends of your army or not. There will be more said upon this matter,
for learn this, idiot that you are. These men are wanted by His Highness
Shukri Pasha himself. Yes, by the general in command of the defenders."
Dick positively blushed at his own assurance and cheek, while the
unhappy sentry actually trembled. For this foreign officer was without
doubt very angry and filled with indignation.
"I--we," he began in an effort to excuse himself.
"March down to the guard-house with me," commanded Dick. "You shall be
relieved instantly, and shall yourself conduct me to these prisoners. A
more disgraceful and high-handed proceeding I never experienced, and His
Highness shall hear of it. To think that he is waiting for these men,
these foreigners, while you, you fools, sitting here near the
guard-house, hold them as prisoners."
Dick ought to have been an actor, for he stamped and raved at the
unfortunate fellow, and altogether impressed him so much with the
heinousness of the act he had committed that the sentry was ready to
sink into the ground or do anything to repair his blunder. He was a very
humble individual as he shambled down to the guard-house in front of
Dick and surlily bade his comrade make for the mosque and there relieve
him.
"Now, take me to these men," commanded Dick. "There are two?"
"No--three, sir," came the answer.
"Three!" Dick's hopes fell of a sudden. This statement that there were
three prisoners took the wind entirely out of his sails and robbed him
for the moment of his high-handed assurance. "Three!" he muttered. "I've
been groping in the dark all this while, guessing wildly. But I've also
been putting two and two together, and seeing that the Major was to make
for the surroundings of the great mosque and expected to meet his friend
there, why, when I gathered that this fellow and his comrades had made
prisoners of foreigners I made sure there must be two. If it had been
one that might still have been the Major taken prisoner before he had
met this Charlie. But three! That's a stunner!"
For a little while he stood watching the shambling figure of the man
going to take post at the door of the mosque. And then, roused by the
detonation of a shell in an adjacent place, he turned sharply upon the
fellow who stood before him.
"Three prisoners whom you have dared to hold without reporting!" he
cried. "Lead on, man; this is monstrous. Take me to them."
Thoroughly scared now by the anger of the foreign officer, whom he
imagined to be doing service with the Turkish army, and conscious that
by making captures and failing to report he had been guilty of a serious
offence, the man upon whom Dick, with his unblushing cheek and wonderful
assurance and resource, had so completely turned the tables proceeded to
obey his orders with a meekness which was apparent. In fact, he was
obviously anxious to appease the anger of this officer, and so escape
punishment for his remissness.
"Follow, sir," he said. "There are three prisoners as I have told you,
and it may be that when you see how ready I am to act on your orders,
you will forget the fact that I failed to send a report, remembering
too, that the times are very unsettled."
They were that without a doubt, for all this while the distant rattle of
musketry could be heard, rolling round the defences, now breaking out
here with a severity which showed that an attack was probably being
forced home, perhaps even at the point of the bayonet, and then dying
down quite suddenly only to break out with virulence in another
direction. And every now and again, sometimes very frequently, at others
after quite a lull, heavy guns would open, shells would scream through
the air, and rarely now one of the monsters would drop into the streets
of the city or plunge amongst the houses, when the succeeding explosion
would be followed by heartrending shrieks, by piercing cries, by the
anguished calls of the helpless and defenceless.
Yes, the times were unsettled enough; Dick had his own troubles and
could therefore sympathize. He bade the man hasten, and followed into
the guard-house.
"And there was good reason for making these men prisoners," said the
Turk, pushing his fez to the back of his head and turning to our hero,
still with the hope that he might excuse his own breach of the standing
orders of the army. "I will tell you. One, a big man----"
"Yes, a big man," said Dick eagerly. "The Major without a doubt," he
told himself.
"A big man, and fat, very."
"Ah! Fat! Then that cannot be the Major. Get along with it," cried Dick
peevishly, his hopes wrecked in a moment.
"Fat and big," went on the man. "We saw him in converse with some of the
stragglers who had left the lines of trenches. He was inciting them to
stay away."
"Or to return to their duty, which?" asked Dick curtly.
"The former, we thought," came the answer. "We arrested him. He was
angry and shouted and threatened; but since he could speak only a few
words of our language we could not understand the cause of his anger.
Then there were two others, foreigners."
"Ah! Describe them," Dick almost shouted. It was hard indeed at this
moment to restrain his eagerness.
"One, tall, and spare, and like a soldier."
"The Major," Dick told himself. "Hooray! Things are going to come
right."
"And the other older, getting grey, also tall, and spare, and
soldierly."
"Lead me to them at once," demanded Dick. "They are the men whom His
Highness desires to interview. Come, lead quickly; there will be trouble
about this matter."
That set the sentry shivering with apprehension, and made him still
more eager to appease the officer who had accosted him. Leading the way
towards the back of the guard-house, he took down a bunch of keys strung
to a hook on the wall and with their help opened a cell. Dick looked in.
An ill-kempt, unwieldy man dressed in the uniform of an officer was
seated on a stone bench and scowled as the two appeared. And then,
recognizing Dick as an officer he burst into a torrent of abuse,
expressed in a language of which the midshipman was ignorant.
"Not my bird at any rate," he told himself. "My! Listen to the fellow.
I'm sorry for him, awfully. But I can't get mixing myself up in his
affairs. Now, let us see the others," he demanded of the Turk.
A minute later they were peering into an adjacent cell, in which Dick
instantly recognized the Major. As for the latter, though he looked at
our hero very hard and with suspicion, there was no recognition until
Dick spoke.
"Major," he said. "Please be careful as I am disguised as a Turkish
officer. I have come to demand your release."
"Demand my release! Turkish officer! Why, it's--it's Mr. Midshipman
Hamshaw."
"Present, sir," grinned that young gentleman, saluting. "You see," he
said, swinging round upon the soldier. "He recognizes me, and so does
the other officer. Ah! There will be bad trouble over this, when Shukri
Pasha gets to hear of it. Yes, trouble which----"
A groan escaped the wretched sentry. Ever since he had exchanged words
with Dick, he had been conjuring up all sorts of pains and penalties as
a consequence of his rashness. His knees positively knocked together as
he besought this officer to spare him and forget the matter.
"Release them at once," cried Dick peremptorily. "Now, listen. If His
Highness asks no questions, well and good. Perhaps we shall not be too
late for this discussion even now, that is if you hasten. As to the
third officer, hold him till you receive a written order, or till an
hour has passed. Now, stand aside. Major, please follow."
"But--but you don't mean to tell me that you have obtained our release?"
cried that astonished officer. "How? And where are we to go?"
"Please follow as if you had every right to be at liberty," answered
Dick. "I'll tell you later how I've worked it. But come at once, for
there is no saying when other soldiers may turn up, with perhaps an
officer."
He stalked before them out of the guard-house and led the way into the
streets of Adrianople, streets for the most part still untenanted. For
civilians lay at home shivering beneath the cruel bombardment, and
fearful of those dreadful shells. They were coming again into the city,
and more than once Dick and the two who followed had to dodge behind
some building to escape the bursting of a bomb.
"And now, perhaps, you'll tell us where we are going," said the Major,
when they had gained a smaller street. "To the airship? Impossible. She
would never dare to come here in daylight. Then where?"
"To join Commander Jackson and Alec," answered Dick. "We entered the
city last night in search of you both. But--hush! Lookout! Let's hurry.
If that isn't the very fellow I most wanted to avoid."
A figure had dived into the street immediately behind them, a figure
strangely familiar. Dick eyed him suspiciously, and then recognized him
with a start. For this man's head was swathed in bandages which left his
face fully exposed, and that face was young, and smooth, and hairless.
In fact, it was the very officer against whom he had collided on the
previous night.
"Had he been back to his house and there discovered Alec and the
Commander? Or was he now on his way?"
Dick asked himself those urgent questions, and then, spurred on by fear
and dreadful foreboding hastened along the street, the Major and his
friend close beside him, and the inquisitive officer in rear. Soon they
turned into the street in which that house they sought was located, and
for a moment the follower was out of sight.
"Run!" cried Dick, and took to his heels. "Now, into this house. Alec!"
he called.
"Here," came back a jovial call. "And the Commander, both of us getting
a bit anxious about you."
"Shut the door and bolt it," commanded Dick, careless of the presence of
his seniors. "Now, peep through the windows. The owner of this house
was following us a moment ago. If he tries to enter, keep perfectly
quiet. I'm going to see how we can manage to get out of what may prove
to be a trap."
If they had any doubts of that follower, these were cleared on the
instant. There came the sound of steps on the cobbles, and then a heavy
blow upon the door.
"Open--open in the name of the Sultan!"
Not one of those within answered. They stood back from the window
waiting and watching. "Open!" they heard the command repeated, and then
there followed a shrill whistle.
"Look, men are running across from a house almost opposite," whispered
Major Harvey, peering through the window. "This begins to look ugly, and
I'm not so sure that we should not be better off in our prison. Listen
to them, and see that fellow carrying a huge hammer."
There came a crashing blow upon the door an instant later, a blow that
almost shattered the lock. It was clear that within a few minutes the
irate individual outside and his helpers would force an entrance. The
Major turned in bewilderment to the Commander, for he could not quite
understand this new situation. Then Dick burst in upon them.
"Come along," he said. "Let's sling it. There's a way out at the back,
and I know a place that'll shelter us. Quick! Those chaps will be in in
a moment."
They did not wait to argue or discuss the matter with him but followed
at once. Stealthily departing by a door in rear of the building they
dived into a narrow alley, and from that place heard a crash as the door
of the house was beaten in. Then they turned and fled through the
streets of Adrianople with a dozen Turks hotfoot after them.