A Brush with Pathans
"There! At last! Listen!"
The Major held up a hand for silence while he hung out of the window of
the gallery running beneath the huge framework of the airship.
"Look! You can see the flashes from the guns of the Pathans," he called.
"A circle of them, getting very close too. What's the latest message?"
"Officer hit, sir," reported the wireless operator. "Several men hurt
since we were first called up. Ammunition gone completely. They expect
to be rushed at any instant, and in any case once night has completely
fallen."
"In fact a dangerous if not desperate situation," said Andrew, his voice
anxious. "Now, what do we do? I am prepared to make any sacrifice that
may be necessary. But wait; could we not direct our searchlights on the
enemy and so scare them away? They are sure to be ignorant savages, and
a beam from above might very well throw them into a panic."
But Major Harvey shook his head decidedly, though one could not see the
movement, for all lights aboard the ship had been switched off. Outside
there was darkness, getting more intense every minute, while, as the
Major had informed them, one could detect flashes spurting from a
hundred points in a circle, while the rattle of musketry came faintly to
the ear. The position of the dusky enemy was, in fact, clearly outlined
by those flashes, and looking downward Dick could imagine the position
of the gallant little band of Gurkhas stationed somewhere in the centre
awaiting the rush of the enemy.
"With bayonets ready fixed," he told himself. "But it'd be short work in
the darkness. Those Pathans would creep in--are creeping in even
now--and outnumber our fellows by twenty to one. Yes, this is a tough
little business."
It was obvious that the Major viewed it in a similar light, while he was
emphatic in his reply to Andrew.
"Might scare 'em a trifle at first with your lights," he told him
shortly. "But, bless you, these Pathans aren't so uneducated as you
imagine. They've lived so long within call of the British that they keep
in touch with big movements. The many friends they send down into the
plains to loot rifles return with tales of what they've seen, with news
of what they've heard in the bazaars and hovels they've frequented. So
they've seen motor cars for a certainty, and possibly a solitary
aeroplane. In any case they know the sahib can rise into the air and
stay there. That's why their astonishment won't easily be turned to
alarm. But if there were daylight the size of this ship alone might send
'em skeedadling. No, Mr. Andrew, we've got to do something active."
"At your service. In what way, Major? Mention it and you will have our
support."
"Then ammunition's wanted; so's an officer."
"And you suggest----?"
"With your approval I propose to descend to our troops, taking
ammunition with me. You have service rifles aboard and have an abundant
store of cartridges. Then lower a few cases as rapidly as you are able."
Andrew was not the one at such a time to stand chattering, while had he
been one of undecided mind Joe would have given an order promptly.
Fortunately both uncle and nephew were alike in that respect, and at
once assented to the Major's proposal. A low call, indeed, brought
Hawkins and Hurst and a few of the others hurrying forward, with
Sergeant Evans and Private Larkin in close attendance.
"I've roused half a dozen cases of ammunition already, sir," reported
the Sergeant. "They're being carried at this moment toward the lift."
"Good!" cried the Major. "Then there need be no delay. Now, Mr. Andrew,
if your nephew will kindly locate our friends below, so that I may be
dropped directly toward them, we will soon bring a change to this
situation. And once I have landed, a searchlight turned upon the enemy
will be of great advantage. I need not ask you to be cautious not to
turn the beams on the little party I hope to have the honour of
commanding within a few minutes."
Brisk and abrupt as became a soldier about to undertake a hazardous
expedition, the Major at once stepped toward the lift. Joe himself made
for the engine room, and within a minute a dazzling beam was flooding
the landscape below, not the ordinary beam that one would have expected,
but a cunning circle of rays controlled by a lamp of Joe's own
invention. In fact he had merely taken the precaution to place a black
disk in the centre of the enormous reflector of the lamp, so that the
central beams were almost entirely occluded. Staring down from the
airship, her crew and passengers found that they were above a
mountainous district. Huge rocks and pinnacles cropped up from a plateau
which was barren and strewn with boulders, while the general trend of
the ground was steeply downward, from the point immediately beneath the
vessel. It was there, gathered in a circle surrounded by rocks, that the
feeble central rays, the few which had managed to escape the
obliterating disk, fell upon some sprawling figures.
"The Gurkhas," cried Dick. "Look at 'em waving. And see the enemy!"
The latter were easily visible, and it made Dick catch his breath when
he observed that some were within two hundred yards perhaps of that
little central group. Creeping forms were half hidden behind rocks.
Others were worming a way across open ground, while, as the beams played
upon them, not a few of the dusky enemy stood upright and waved their
arms and shouted. Indeed, some turned tail and ran. Then loud commands
recalled them, while one figure erected itself, a figure swathed in
flowing garments, arms were tossed overhead, and those in the airship
could hear a stentorian voice haranguing the men.
"Listen!" cried the Major. "Ah! 'My brethren,' he calls to them, 'my
brethren, be not fearful of the white light which shines from the sky.
It is not magic. It is merely the lamp from the balloon of the infidel.
What harm may a lamp do then to the faithful? How can it come between us
and these Gurkha dogs whom we have been seeking this many a day? Then
cease to take note of it. Fear not, but push forward, for their
ammunition is exhausted. Now, I myself will lead the rush.'
"What's our height?" asked the Major abruptly.
"A thousand feet," suggested Dick.
"No, six hundred," Joe corrected him from the entrance to the
engine-room.
"Then lower me to our fellows, then ascend out of range of shot. Many of
those Pathans are armed with modern rifles and could riddle the ship.
Now, sir, I am ready."
"So am I," cried Dick, taking his place on the platform of the lift,
where the ammunition cases had already been placed.
"And I also," chimed in Alec, joining him.
"But----" began Andrew.
"Let 'em come," said the Major. "It'll be a fine experience for them.
But you know the risks, lads."
Dick grinned. He had a way of doing that when excited. Alec merely slung
his rifle across his shoulders and gripped the supporting cable.
"Lower away then," cried Andrew. "Now!"
The motor hummed that cheerful refrain to which all had now become
accustomed. The platform sank from the gallery gently at first, and then
fell rapidly. And as it went, the rays of the lamp were shut off
completely. But a few moments later, when the telephone bell sounded and
the Major's voice was heard, the beams again swamped the underlying
landscape, showing the lift but a few feet above the group of Gurkhas.
"Lower," they heard from the Major.
"Grounded, and as gently as possible," said Joe. "Ah! They've taken the
cases off. Now, up she comes. Send the ship upward; and, Hawkins."
"Sir," that worthy responded, saluting in nautical fashion.
"Put the men at the windows of the gallery and let 'em fire down upon
the enemy. Sergeant Evans, you'll see that there's ammunition."
There was at once brisk movement aboard the ship, while down below the
patter of rifle shots had already come from the central group of
soldiers. Indeed, those ammunition cases were already opened, and within
a minute of the Major's arrival the Gurkhas had all received a supply of
cartridges.
"I'll post myself in the centre," the Major told Dick and Alec swiftly.
"You, Dick, take command of the men on the upper face. That's the point
from which the rush is likely to come, for that's where their chief is
stationed. Alec, take the lower slope, and look out for crawling
rascals. Ah! They've opened from the ship, and some of the Pathans are
replying."
Bullets indeed were hissing upward, and twice Joe flinched as a missile
hit the celludine sides of his pet airship.
"It'll--it'll bring us down, won't it?" gasped Andrew, though he showed
no signs of terror.
"Not it," came the reassuring answer. "We shall lose a little gas
perhaps, for those bullets make but the smallest opening. It would
require a shell to do great damage. Even then, don't forget that there
are quite a number of compartments. Wish to goodness I had brought bombs
aboard the ship. A few dropped on the heads of the enemy would send 'em
scuttling."
The need for such inventions was beneath the ship without a doubt, for
the circling beam of light showed that the Marconi operator had made no
error when he reported that there were a thousand Pathans hemming in the
Gurkha soldiers. Indeed, every little rock seemed to shelter a recumbent
figure, while rifles could be seen protruding from a hundred crevices.
Moreover, the arrival of the ship had stirred the enemy to greater
exertions, while the fact that ammunition had now reached the defenders
of the central position roused them to fury. The loud crackle of
musketry from the ship also helped not a little to force the Pathans to
complete their task at once or slink away into the darkness.
"Massing up above me, sir," Dick reported coolly, when the Major crept
across to the post he had taken some few minutes later. "I've seen that
chief of theirs twice and tried to pot him. But he's artful. He and his
men are closer. They'd have been here by now but for the light which
shows their positions. The Gurkhas ain't wasting many shots either."
In the half-light playing over the defenders it was possible to see the
short, sturdy forms of the native soldiers, those hillmen who have
fought so often side by side with their white comrades. They lay in a
circle, each man behind cover, with magazines crammed in preparation for
the moment when the enemy would charge. Slowly and deliberately they
were shooting cartridges from their pouches into the breeches of their
weapons, and every half-second there was a sharp report, and often
enough an answering shriek from the enemy.
Ah! Suddenly that tall figure clad in flowing raiment stood erect, while
the chief waved a rifle over his head. Instantly a dozen weapons held by
the Gurkhas covered him, and Dick himself swung his own rifle to his
shoulder. But the figure dropped out of sight promptly, only to appear a
minute later some fifteen feet to the right. It was a broad-bladed
tulwar which the beams from above them showed him to be waving. A loud
shout escaped him, and instantly, as if it were a signal, as undoubtedly
it was, the Pathans became silent. Not one drew trigger. Then the clear,
ringing voice of the chief was heard once more.
"Telling 'em to make ready," said the Major crisply. "Listen! This is
what he says. I know their lingo and so can translate. 'Brethren, the
hour has come to end this little matter. If we delay, then the infidel
will prove too strong for us. Drop, then, your rifles and firearms.
Take to your knives, and when I shout once more rush in upon the
accursed infidel.'"
"Got him!" declared Dick a second later. "Hate shooting a fellow in the
open, but then, it's he or us. Eh, sir?"
"Quite right! A good shot and a plucky one," cried the Major. "You
risked getting a bullet from the enemy. That shot of yours will quieten
them for a few moments. But it won't stop the rush. Every man in a tribe
such as this is capable of leading his fellows. Yes; watch closely, and
you, men," he went on, turning to the Gurkhas, and speaking in their own
language, "obey the officer here. The enemy will rush at any moment. As
they come, pour volleys into them, then stand shoulder to shoulder and
give them the bayonet."
A hoarse cheer came from the sturdy Gurkhas, a cheer answered by Hawkins
and Hurst and his fellows overhead.
"There's me and Larkin and few more of the boys as would give summat to
be down there a waitin' for them 'eathen," said the former, growling the
words into Joe's ear. "Me and some of my mates 'd give a heap to be
alongside of them 'ere Gurkha fellers, a standin' with bayonets fixed.
Lor, sir, see them Pathan villains! If they ain't all crawling and
crawling towards one corner."
From the gallery of the airship it was possible to see everything, and
with a twinge of apprehension Joe discerned perhaps five hundred figures
now. They were leaving hollows and cover from all directions, and were
creeping and worming their way towards one quarter, the point from which
their chief had called to them.
"Very serious," he told himself. "They're massing for a charge. I'll
drop the ship closer and chance more of their bullets, though for the
last few minutes they have left us alone. Ah! Sergeant Evans, what do
you advise?"
"Send the ship a trifle closer, sir," came the prompt answer. "Get
directly over those varmint. Then--then leave 'em to me. I've prepared
something for 'em, something that'll blow a few of 'em back into their
own passes."
"A bomb?" asked Joe, dumbfounded, for as he had said, he had brought
nothing of the sort aboard with him. Indeed, firearms and weapons of
offence generally were not of great interest to him. His was the subtle
mind which gripped larger affairs, affairs such as this airship, and her
simple yet extremely efficient equipment. But if he were ignorant of
weapons, cartridges, and bombs, Sergeant Evans had at least some
acquaintance with such matters.
"Thought we'd likely enough want something of the sort, sir," he said.
"So I've got 'em ready. Move the ship directly over 'em, sir. Quick,
too, or they'll be starting to rush, and then nothing will hold them.
There! See them Gurkhas! The Major's drawing them all close together, so
it's clear that he's seen what's passing."
The unusual opportunities that the light playing upon the surroundings
of the Gurkhas gave offered opportunities to the gallant Major which
otherwise would have been missing. Indeed, the paucity of numbers of the
little British force was in a measure compensated for by the darkness
which hung over them, and by the brilliant light surrounding their
enemy. Had there been no cover there, save in the centre, no doubt that
spreading light would have enabled the Major quickly to send the Pathans
scuttling. But the ground was strewn with rocks, rocks which offered
first-class cover, and even gave protection against bullets fired from
the airship. Not that Hawkins and his comrades missed their chances.
Many a crawling enemy did they locate, and many a Pathan did they cause
to bite the dust. But they could not stop that concentrating movement no
more than could the Gurkhas; and presently, peeping from behind the rock
which sheltered him, Dick made out a mass of human beings to his front,
every rock and crevice seeming to hold a figure.
Suddenly a man stood to his full height, careless of the weapons wielded
by the Gurkhas. Two arms waved frantically above his head, while there
was the gleam of steel flashing in the rays of the electric light
pouring down upon them.
"The hour is here; Allah bids us advance. To those who fall, there is
happiness and glory in the long future. Charge!"
He was a brave man, and at any other time Dick would willingly have seen
him spared. But he was a leader, and, as such, of danger to this little
party. It was, therefore, with a sigh of relief that he saw the man's
figure suddenly straighten. The chief leaned backward, his arms
widespread, his tulwar dangling from one wrist Then, with a shriek, he
leaped forward, crumpled up in midair, and fell heavily upon a boulder.
"But another will take his place," whispered the Major. "Dick, this is
even hotter than I had anticipated. I was rash to let you and Alec come.
For me, it is merely a matter of duty, for an officer was wanted badly.
For you, it is a different matter, and if anything happens----"
"It'll be duty for me too, sir," answered the midshipman coolly. "I'm an
officer too, sir, don't forget that. Besides, we ain't dead yet. A long
way from it."
That was Mr. Dicky Hamshaw all over. His cheerful optimism was catching.
It was just the thing for which his tars adored him.
"If that ain't Mr. Dicky there a-standin' out in the open!" shouted
Hurst at that very moment, catching sight of the familiar figure of the
young sailor as the lamp above swayed and swept a few scattered beams
over the Gurkhas. "He's a-shakin' 'is fist at the 'eathen, and he's
a-standin' in the open. Get under cover there, sir," he bawled loudly
through the window of the gallery, while Hawkins and the others stared
anxiously down at their middy.
"And there's Mister Alec, 'im as is too good for a sailor," chimed in
Private Larkin, though the effort at humour at that moment cost him
something. "Blest if he ain't a-standing alongside of that 'ere Dicky,
a-talkin' to him as cool as a gineral."
"Stop talking, men, please," came from Joe, in anxious tones. "Now is
the time to pepper the enemy, for I fear that they are about to charge.
Yes. Look! Another rascal has risen to lead them."
The crackle of musketry from the grouped figures of the Gurkhas told
plainly enough that the time for trial was upon them, while if Joe and
the crew of the airship had a doubt, the lamp soon convinced them. That
slow, careful movement of concentration was now completed. Perhaps five
hundred of the enemy were gathered in one quarter, and but two hundred
yards separated them from the Major and his command. And a third leader
had suddenly put in an appearance. The Gurkhas could not see him, though
Joe and Andrew could. For he was behind an enormous piece of rock, where
he was busily haranguing his fellows.
"And a-callin' of 'em to 'ack Mr. Dicky Hamshaw to pieces," growled
Hawkins, adjusting his sights on the figure. "This 'ere's for an
'eathen--a black-'earted 'eathen!"
His weapon snapped, there was a loud thud as the bullet struck the rock
behind which the chief was standing, and then a shout from Mr. Andrew.
"They're off! They're charging!" he cried.
"Make way! Now, drop her a trifle, sir," called Sergeant Evans, who had
posted himself at one of the windows. "That will do. Stop her. Now
watch."
He tossed something from the airship and craned his head as far as was
possible. As for Hawkins and the rest of the crew, they fired madly down
upon the enemy. For those five hundred figures, partly hidden some few
seconds earlier, were now in the open. They were rushing together across
the two hundred yards of barren ground which alone separated them from
the forlorn Gurkhas. In half-dozens, in clusters of ten and more, in
ones and twos and threes, with streaming banners, with waving arms and
whirling knives and tulwars, they were descending upon Dick and his
gallant comrades as a whirlwind, a human avalanche which would overwhelm
them. It made Andrew positively ill with fear of the consequences. He
shut his eyes tightly and gripped the frame of the window. As for Joe,
he darted towards the engine-room, with the mad, half-formed idea of
sending the ship plunging downward, charging that charging host, in
fact. Even Hawkins forgot to use his weapon any longer. Sergeant Evans
alone retained perfect coolness.
"Another second," he shouted to them, "one little second, and then----"
The answer came before he had finished speaking. The head of that
charging column was suddenly enveloped in a blinding flash, a flash the
brilliance of which dimmed the rays from the ship's lamp. Those whirling
Pathans melted, as it were, were swept aside, were blown out of sight by
a terrific explosion. Even those in the airship above felt a portion of
the concussion, while the vast ship itself trembled and swayed
ominously.
"What is that? We are hit with a shell! We are falling!"
The stout figure of Carl Reitberg appeared at his cabin door, clutching
at it convulsively. But not one took the smallest notice of him, save
Andrew, who turned and bade him curtly to be silent.
"A few feet ahead, sir," called Sergeant Evans. "Now, that'll stop 'em."
Once more he leaned from the window of the gallery and tossed something
into space. And again there were some seconds' anxious waiting. Then
there came a mighty explosion, more forcible than the first--a
concussion and blast of flame and gas which shot the ship upward. Down
below it brought havoc to the Pathans, for it fell almost in the centre
of that still-charging host, sweeping perhaps a hundred out of
existence. Howls resounded on every side, while the rays streaming down
upon this battlefield showed dusky figures scuttling away in all
directions. And then came cheers, hoarse cheers of relief from the
Gurkhas, while Hawkins and his comrades made the night hideous with
their shouting. Indeed, for perhaps five minutes the noise continued,
while occasionally a shot rang out as a Gurkha sighted some crawling
figure. Then Joe manoeuvred the ship over the spot which the Major had
been holding, and let her settle gently.
"Now for food for the men and more ammunition, beside help for the
wounded," he said. "Let's bustle."
The following morning found their work completed; while, as the ship
rose once more, she sighted a relieving column within a mile of the
little force to whose aid they had come on the previous evening. It was
clear, in fact, that there was no longer need for delay, and therefore
the airship was headed eastward. Nor had Joe Gresson been idle in the
meanwhile. He had repaired the few holes in the envelope of the vessel,
and had set his gas producer in action, thereby replenishing losses. And
now he steered for the heart of India, for Delhi, in fact, where he
proposed to restock his larders. Two days later found the party hovering
over that ancient and historic city, while that same evening the huge
airship lay resting tranquilly outside the fortifications, within sight
of the famous ridge of Delhi, a vast multitude gazing on her.
Doors in that long gallery were thrown open, officers and high
officials, both British and native, thronged the ship, while even ladies
partook of Andrew's hospitality. Indeed there was a merry party in the
saloon, while Dicky Hamshaw was conducting an admiring party over the
vessel. Only one individual was missing. It was Mr. Carl Reitberg, at
that moment skulking in his cabin.
"At last," he was chuckling, as he rubbed his hands together, and gently
prised open that curious box of his. "At last the time has come to teach
these people a lesson. A little caution, a little watching, and then the
ship flies in pieces. Of course, it'll be sad for the men. I've no
grudge against 'em. But then, how can I help killing a few? The
destruction of the ship is all-important. Yes, a little cunning and I
shall lay the bombs, set the clockwork in motion, and go. Who is to say
that it was not due to a dreadful accident?"
The man's face was positively hideous in its cunning. Those aboard the
airship were indeed face to face with a crisis.