Whatever he had seen I quickly knew that he had seen something which
convinced him that the caravan could not hope to escape downwards,
because more orders--flurried and high-pitched--were shouted upwards
along the zigzag until the deep ravine re-echoed from side to side with
them. The camel leaders began unfastening the long halters from the
camels, and, very nervously, began to try to turn the tired animals
round to face upwards again. Some had room enough and managed to do so;
others were in places so narrow, with steep rocks so close to the path,
that it was a pure impossibility for a camel to turn. Many camels
absolutely refused to try, sinking to their knees; two or three tried,
toppled over their clumsy feet, and fell, increasing the horrible
confusion as they crashed below.
I realized now that the caravan could neither move upwards nor
downwards. If only Commander Duckworth and his people could come
quickly the whole of these rifles and ammunition would be theirs. In
the joy of knowing this I cared not a jot what happened to us.
The shouting and confusion below us grew greater; every armed Arab was
trying frantically to reach the bottom of the path, squeezing past the
standing or crawling over the kneeling camels. Directly they reached
the bottom they hurried away round the shoulder out of sight.
Some unarmed camel men began shouting to the men round the gap, and ten
or twelve of these left the group round that cooking bowl and began the
perilous descent. They had not gone more than a hundred yards along the
first arm of the zigzag before more shouts came from below; they turned
and called back to the others, and the remainder of the rear-guard rose
and followed them.
In five minutes we six were alone on that ridge, with the blue curling
smoke of that Arab fire between our two little parties.
I had to hold my breath to prevent myself shouting with joy; Jaffa's
face was beaming; I heard Griffiths chuckling with delight.
The relief from the awful strain of having that rear-guard so close to
us was too much for Webster or one of his men, because for a moment I
saw the barrel of a rifle appear behind their rocks and almost expected
to hear a cheer. The rifle disappeared as if someone had pulled it down
violently.
By this time the caravan was in a state of the most hopeless confusion,
totally unable to move either upwards or downwards; many camels had
fallen, others were kneeling and refused to move; some were facing one
way, some the other. The frightened camel leaders had given up any
attempt to restore order and were gradually moving up the path as if to
escape themselves, even if they could not bring their camels with them.
Only the upper few zigzags were now in sunlight; the gloom down at the
bottom was increasing very rapidly, and unless the Arabs there had worn
fairly white clothes we should not have been able to see them as they
scrambled among the boulders, to disappear out of sight round that
corner.
I realized now that when the sun sank still lower, and the gloom
increased still more, we should be able to see nothing whatever to fire
at down below. And, too, I had never thought that if they tried to
defend the approach to the gorge they might take up a position round
that corner where our fire could not reach them. They were evidently
doing this, and it upset my scheme still more.
I knew enough of soldiering to know that a small force, well posted
behind rocks, could hold the mouth of that ravine (the crack in the
"coffee-cup") for an almost indefinite time against a very much superior
force. If the _Intrepids_ were actually advancing, and had not brought
Maxims or field-guns, these Arabs, with their "backs to the wall", could
keep them at bay for the three and a half or four remaining hours of
daylight. If so, they might be able during the night to withdraw a
remnant of the caravan, and in the dark our five rifles and six hundred
cartridges would not stop them.
There was only one thing to do. It sounds heroic, but there was no
thought of heroism. Those men still scrambling to the bottom and the
men of the rear-guard must be stopped. We five must open fire on them
and compel them to remount the zigzag to attack us, and therefore
prevent them joining those who had already issued from the "coffee-cup"
to defend it against the _Intrepid's_ people.
If I could only have been certain of what was actually happening down
there, outside our line of vision, we might have waited; but I did not
know, and it was absolutely necessary to do something, and to do that
something quickly.
We had to take the risk that perhaps after all the _Intrepids_ had not
landed, and that directly we opened fire the whole force of Arabs would
turn back and overwhelm us.
I told Jaffa and Griffiths that we must open fire. Griffiths nodded.
"Just as you like sir; I'm ready."
Webster must be told, and Jaffa was the man to tell him, because, if he
was seen, his clothes at a distance might be mistaken for those of an
Arab.
I told him to make his way to the top of the ridge, find out what was
happening down in the valley, how far away the horses were, and how many
men had been left with them. Then he had to work his way along beneath
the sky-line to Webster, and tell him to separate his men, station them
on the top of the ridge so that they could not be seen, but, if
possible, be able to fire down both ways, and, when I opened fire, to do
so himself at every armed Arab in sight.
Jaffa understood, took my field-glasses, and wriggled away up to the
ridge, whilst Griffiths and I listened to the noise of grating stones.
Then there was silence and what seemed a very long period of waiting
whilst we anxiously watched that rear-guard descending. If we did not
open fire soon it would be too late.
At last I could stand the strain no longer. Jaffa must have had time to
reach Webster, although we had not seen him crawling over the ridge.
Already the leading men of the rear-guard were indistinct in the gloom
of the lower zigzags.
"We must chance it," I whispered to Griffiths. "You scramble up till you
get a comfortable place where you can see both ways. I'll go halfway
towards the gap. When I open fire you commence; aim awfully carefully.
Now go!"
We both rose stiffly to our hands and knees, dodged round the rocks, and
separated. Some cartridges fell out of my bandolier. I stopped to pick
them up: one cartridge might make all the difference. I crawled to the
top of the ridge.
I gave one hurried look into the valley, but not a sign of horses or
Arabs could I see. I threw myself down and crawled to the edge of a
rock from where I could point my rifle into the darkening "coffee-cup".
As I did so I saw Webster and his two marines leave their shelter and
clamber up the crest on their side of the gap.
There was no time to wait; the excitement was too great to think what
would be the result of this new move, too great to realize anything.
Not twenty armed Arabs were in sight down in that vast hollow beneath
us, little, dirty, whitish, moving figures threading their way past the
motionless camels.