the bend in the track. Attempts to draw their fire were unsuccessful,
and he remained in doubt until the passing of the aeroplane overhead was
saluted with a volley. His doubts being now removed, he waited
anxiously for Bob's return. His uncle's fate, never for long absent from
his mind, made him uneasy as to his brother's chances of escaping
scot-free. As time passed, and there was no sign of the aeroplane, he
grew more and more restless, imagining all sorts of mishaps that might
have occurred. He expected Bob to return within half an hour; it would
not take longer to fly to the plateau and back; and his watch having
stopped through his immersion on the previous day, he could only guess
at the flight of time, with the result that he supposed Bob's absence to
have been longer than it really was.
His intense relief when at last he saw the aeroplane in the distant sky,
gave way to disquietude again when Bob swooped down towards the bridge
within range of the enemy's fire. The fluttering of the red flag was
welcome to him, even though he understood it as a sign that the enemy
were in considerable force. It was also a signal to retreat to the
mine, and he was glad of the chance of stretching his limbs and of soon
rejoining his brother. He at once gave orders to the men to return to
their horses. They crossed the open space at the double until they
gained the shelter of the screen of rocks. No shots followed them.
There was no horse for Lawrence, but Fyz Ali assured him that his own
mount was capable of bearing a double burden, and he decided to ride
behind him until they had got some distance up the track, and then to
walk.
He felt that there was no serious risk of pursuit at present. Although
the enemy had shown that they could cross the river with the aid of
water-skins, they would have great difficulty in bringing their horses
over. So he reckoned on getting a long enough start to meet the
reinforcements that Bob had promised to send down. Then the combined
party, taking advantage of the many defensive positions which the broken
ground afforded, could make good their retreat to the mine even against
a more numerous enemy in pursuit.
CHAPTER THE TWELFTH
A SKIRMISH ON THE BANK
Lawrence, riding behind Fyz Ali, reflected with rueful amusement on the
fate which had made him a sort of soldier in his own despite. "I'm not
cut out for this kind of job," he thought. "Bob would be elated at
having shivered through a night watch, and beaten off an attack. I
don't feel particularly jolly; in fact, I feel thoroughly rotten; and
there's more to come, worse luck."
It is said that the greatest commanders have felt depressed rather than
exalted after a victory; so that, remembering the hardships and
anxieties of the past twenty-four hours, one can sympathize with
Lawrence Appleton. It did not occur to him that he had come through his
recent ordeal with much credit, and he was quite unaware that the
Pathans ahead were discussing him as they rode, summing him up, and
deciding that the chota sahib was a first-rate fighting man.
After riding at a trot for about half a mile, Lawrence said:
"Now I'll get off and walk, Fyz Ali. The pony's lagging."
"Not so, sahib," replied the man. "I will walk; the sahib is used to a
softer life."
"The more reason why I should harden myself."
"That is true, sahib; but it is foolishness to yoke a calf to an
ox-wagon."
By which Lawrence understood that this stalwart man regarded him as
still an ungrown boy. He made no more objection; Fyz Ali dismounted,
and kept pace with him over the rugged ground to which they had now
come.
Thus the little party marched for another mile. They went for the most
part in single file, the track only rarely widening so much as to give
them room to ride abreast. It was at one of such broader stretches that
a sudden demand was made upon Lawrence's quickness and resource. He was
riding in front with two of the Pathans; the other two mounted men were
a few yards behind, with Fyz Ali on foot between them. Quite suddenly,
about two hundred yards ahead, there came into view from round a high
rock a band of at least a score of men, marching towards them. Lawrence
had been expecting to meet the Pathan reinforcements from the mine, and
he might at the first moment have mistaken the strangers but for a
savage yell from the men at his side. Then he recognized in a flash
that they were Kalmucks.
Both parties had momentarily halted; each was as much surprised as the
other. Then, as Lawrence saw some of the Kalmucks lifting rifles to
their shoulders, he became instantly alive to the situation. Without a
moment's hesitation he dug his heels into the flanks of his pony, and,
shouting to his men to come on, he rode straight at the enemy. It was
the psychological moment. The Kalmucks were apparently without a leader;
or their leader, if they had one, was a shade less quick-witted than the
Englishman. With a spirited captain the warlike Pathans will go
anywhere and do anything. Responding to his call with a true
mountaineer's yell the men urged their steeds to a gallop, and swooped
down upon the still hesitating enemy.
Lawrence could not have decided better if all the circumstances had been
known to him. Some of the Kalmucks, after the failure of their night
attack, had crossed the river some distance below the bridge, and
marching on foot for long hours in the darkness over the difficult and
tortuous path through the hills, had turned back along the track to take
the defenders in the rear. They were weary: they had no regular leader;
and being accustomed to fight on horseback they were demoralized at the
sight of mounted Pathans, few as they were, galloping straight at them.
With a well-directed volley they might have annihilated the little band;
but they let the opportunity slip. A few stood their ground and fired;
the rest took flight, and while some scurried up the hill-side, seeking
cover in the broken ground, where horses could not well follow them,
others turned tail and bolted straight back along the track.
The few shots thus wildly fired missed all the Pathans save one, and he
was only scratched. Lawrence and his men pressed their advantage. Two of
the Pathans wheeled to the right, and in spite of the steepness of the
hill-side and the many natural obstacles, they dashed up in pursuit of
the fleeing Kalmucks, cutting down several with their terrible tulwars
before they could reach safety. Lawrence rode straight at the men who
had fired. He overturned one by the impact of his horse, struck another
down with his clubbed rifle, and then led his men after the others, who
were running, some up, some down the bank. Two or three Kalmucks sprang
into the river; within ten minutes the whole body was completely
scattered. Only at the last did one who had climbed to an inaccessible
crag on the hill-side and recovered from his panic, take good aim and
roll a Pathan from his horse with a mortal wound.
The charge was over; the victory was complete; and Lawrence reined up
his panting pony. Not till then did he remember that Fyz Ali was not
mounted, and must have been left far behind. What had become of him?
Lawrence turned and looked back along the track. He was not in sight.
"Stay here," he said to the Pathans; "I'll go back and look for Fyz
Ali."
"Hai, sahib!" said one of the men, "it is foolishness. See, Ayoub is
dead. Some of the dogs of Kalmucks are hiding behind the rocks above;
they will shoot you even as they shot Ayoub."
"Nonsense: I'm riding Fyz Ali's horse: I can't leave him in the lurch."
He rode back along the track, and after a moment's hesitation one of the
Pathans followed him. Warned by the fate of Ayoub they proceeded with
caution, scanning the hill-side for signs of the enemy. For half a mile
or more they saw neither foe nor friend, except the bodies of those who
had fallen in the fray. Then they came in view of a strange procession.
At this point the hill-side to the left of the track rose so steeply as
to be unscalable. It was here that the Kalmucks, hard pressed, had
flung themselves into the river. A few hundred yards ahead they saw two
men approaching them, walking slowly backward. One of them was Fyz Ali,
the other a Kalmuck. Fyz Ali had the man by the middle, holding him so
that he formed a screen against a dozen Kalmucks who were slipping from
rock to rock on the hill-side some distance beyond. Evidently they were
watching for a chance to take a shot at the Pathan, but were baffled by
his ingenious device. By keeping the prisoner constantly between him and
them, he rendered it impossible for them to fire without the risk of
hitting their own man.
Smiling with appreciation of Fyz Ali's manoeuvre, Lawrence dismounted,
and ordered his man to dismount also. Then leading the ponies behind a
rock, they knelt down, took aim at the distant Kalmucks, and fired. It
was doubtful whether their shots took effect, but they checked the
pursuit, and Fyz Ali seized the opportunity to hasten his retreat.
Hugging the perpendicular wall, he came nearer and nearer, never loosing
his hold of the Kalmuck, nor allowing his own person to be exposed.
The Kalmucks beyond returned Lawrence's fire, but they made no attempt
to advance. They were not equal to the desperate venture of leaving
their cover among the rocks and running the gauntlet along the open
space which Fyz Ali and his prisoner were now traversing. In another
two minutes the Pathan had joined his master.
"That was well done," said Lawrence, welcoming him.
Fyz Ali, breathing hard, set his prisoner against the rock, and holding
him there with his left hand, drew his tulwar.
"No, no," said Lawrence hastily.
"Why, sahib? He is a Kalmuck," said Fyz Ali, and his eyes glared as he
looked round.
"It is not our way," said Lawrence, "to kill prisoners. And he is
unarmed."
"But I am not!" growled the Pathan. "Would he not kill me? Did not
Nurla Bai try to kill Muhammad, unarmed and sleeping? It will be short,
sahib."
"No, I can't allow it. Tie his hands together so that he can do no
mischief; then we'll leave him to his friends."
Fyz Ali muttered between his teeth, but obeyed. He tore off the man's
coat; it was dripping wet; the Kalmuck was one of those who had sprung
into the river, and he had clambered up the bank in the nick of time to
serve the quick-witted Pathan as a screen. With a few strokes of his
tulwar Fyz Ali slit the coat into shreds, with which he bound the
trembling man's hands together. Then, striking him heavily on the
face--the Pathan is not chivalrous towards his enemies--he hauled him to
the top of a rock, and left him there.
Lawrence and the two Pathans then hastened back to the place where they
had left the others. These had given their dead comrade burial in the
river. Then all resumed their march. They looked back whenever they
reached a spot where they could get a view of the track behind them, but
there was no sign of pursuit.
"They must have come over the hills in the night," said Lawrence,
walking beside Fyz Ali, whom he had insisted on remounting. "Where does
the hill-path join the track?"
"I know not, sahib," replied the man. "The Kalmucks know the path: it
is their country."
"Well, keep your eyes open as we go, and see if you can find it. We may
as well know."
They scanned the hill-side narrowly, and about twenty minutes later
Lawrence noticed a narrow cleft in the precipice above the track which
might possibly be the lower end of the hill-path. He stopped and
examined the ground at the entrance, but it was so hard that the skin
boots of the Kalmucks could have left no trace on it. Had they been
mounted, the hoof marks would have been easily discoverable. Lawrence
glanced up the winding cleft. It seemed an unlikely enough passage-way;
indeed, at a height of several hundred feet above the track it appeared
to come abruptly to an end. Lawrence deliberated for a few moments
whether to climb and satisfy himself one way or the other; but decided
that he had better not delay.
Ten minutes later they met the reinforcements from the mine. The men
had heard firing in the distance and hurried on at full speed. On
learning from their comrades of what had happened, they were eager to
push on and annihilate the surviving Kalmucks, and one of them, when
Lawrence refused to go back, muttered under his breath that the
Englishman was afraid. Fyz Ali caught the words, and turned fiercely on
the man.
"I'll slit your throat if you talk foolishness, Hosein," he said. "The
chota sahib is a man; get that into your silly head. Did he not fight
at the bridge? And when we met those Kalmuck pigs, did he not in a
twinkling see what was to be done, and ride straight at them, cheering
as the sahibs always do? And when I was left behind, he came back for
me, though the dogs were hidden among the rocks and had just killed
Ayoub. He is a man, I tell you; mashallah! what he says is good, and
what he does is better, and I will cut your hand off if you do not swear
to follow wherever he leads."
"Peace, brother," said the man. "How was I to know? His beard is not
yet grown. Allah is great! All the sahibs are men, even in the
cradle."
CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH
THE REVOLT OF THE KALMUCK MINERS
While Lawrence was thus making his first essays in an apprenticeship to
soldiering, his brother had found work to do which outran the little
military experience he had gained.
After giving Lawrence the signals agreed on, Bob steered straight up the
valley. His mind was very busy during the half-hour's flight to the
mine. The management of the aeroplane had become so much a matter of
habit and instinct that he was able to give a good deal of attention to
his thoughts and imaginings. Telling Fazl to keep a good look-out, he
sought to grapple with the strange problems so suddenly thrust upon him.
First and greatest of them all was the meaning of the concentration of
troops at the mouth of the valley. He dismissed as patently absurd the
idea that their objective was his uncle's mine. The gathering of so
large a force for so trifling an end would be like employing a
steam-hammer to crack a nut. He could not avoid the conclusion that
their presence was quite independent of Nurla Bai, though on the other
hand Nurla Bai's actions had probably been calculated with the knowledge
or suspicion that a body of his countrymen was at hand.
What then was the explanation of the muster? The direction of their
march, and the fact that they had thrown forward an advanced guard into
the valley itself, seemed to indicate an intention to proceed through
the valley to some further goal. What was that goal? He remembered the
intelligence that had come in at odd times, of a levy _en masse_ of the
Mongols, and his uncle's suspicion that the Mongolian prince was
meditating an attack on Russia. But this was not the way to Russia.
Could it be that Afghanistan was the object of an invasion? Bob's
knowledge of the geography of the region was not very extensive, but he
knew that, if Afghanistan was their objective, this valley was one of
the most toilsome and indirect routes they could have chosen. The
passes of the Hindu Kush to the westward offered few or no obstacles to
an invading force; it was by these passes that the Mongolian hordes had
always made their inroads, from the earliest times. Not only would the
nature of the valley render the advance of a large army extremely
arduous and prolonged; if the invaders should traverse it successfully,
they would find themselves at what was probably the most intricate and
inaccessible portion of the Amir's dominions. It would be like marching
from London to Chester through the Welsh mountains, with every
difficulty monstrously exaggerated. Wellington's passage of the
Pyrenees was a slight operation compared with it.
What other end could they have in view? The valley ran southward, and
led ultimately of course to India, but an invasion of India by this
route was too ridiculous to be considered seriously. Ambitious as the
Mongol prince was, it was scarcely conceivable that he could entertain
such a notion, unless he had taken leave of his senses. The twenty
thousand men now encamped at the mouth of the valley would need to be
multiplied ten or twenty times before there would be the slightest
chance of success. There might, in truth, be many more such army corps
massed farther northward; but the task of pushing an invading force,
adequate to the undertaking, through the narrow gorges of the valley,
where for long stretches three horsemen could not ride abreast, with the
necessary artillery, ammunition wagons and commissariat, would prove too
much for the most consummate military organizer. It would take so long
that a defending force on the north-west frontier could cut up the more
advanced sections long before the rest could move up to their support.
In short, the whole idea was fantastic, and Bob called himself an ass
for even thinking of it.
Giving up this question as beyond his conjecture, Bob bent his mind upon
the problem that immediately concerned him. This was a sufficiently
hard nut to crack. The Kalmucks, whatever their ultimate intention
might be, were clearly to be regarded as enemies. On that point their
actions were quite conclusive. Whether he owed their aggressiveness to
Nurla Bai or not, they were a menace to the mine and its owners. Nurla
Bai would certainly take advantage of their proximity to attempt to
capture the settlement, and no doubt could command the assistance of as
many men as he needed.
It is not surprising that Bob's heart sank with dismay as he reckoned up
the puny force he had to pit against such overwhelming numbers. Of all
his people, only the handful of Sikhs were trained to war. The Pathans
were warriors by nature, but he doubted how far he could rely on their
loyalty. At present, it was true, they were deeply incensed against the
Kalmucks; but whether they, if called upon, would take definite sides
against their racial enemies in face of the enormous odds arrayed
against them, was a matter on which there was room for grave doubt. The
Kalmuck labourers at the mine were a further complication. They would
certainly make common cause with their own countrymen as soon as these
came within striking distance. Alone they out-numbered the Sikhs and
Pathans by two to one.
The more Bob thought of all this, the more anxious and depressed he
became. He wondered whether it was wise to attempt to stem the human
torrent that would soon be pouring up the valley. Would not the better
course be to come to terms with the Kalmucks, abandon the mine, and set
off with all speed for India? Hitherto, it was true, the enemy had given
him no opportunity for negotiating. They had been the aggressors,
unprovoked; and his determination hardened when he remembered the fate
of Mr. Appleton. But as there was just a possibility that no sort of
concert existed between the Kalmuck army and Nurla Bai, the idea of
making terms with the former was not wholly negligible.
So far as his immediate duty was concerned, Bob was quite clear in his
mind. It was to secure the retreat of Lawrence and his little party.
In order to reach the mine they would have to pass the quarters of the
Kalmuck miners. The bridge down-stream being broken, Bob could not
suppose that Lawrence would be so hotly pursued as to endanger his
return. But with temper high among the workers at the mine, some care
might be needed to prevent an explosion when the Pathans came up. The
first thing to be done was to devise some means by which Lawrence and
his men could reach the settlement in safety. Allowing for the
difficulties of the track, they could hardly, even though mounted,
arrive until late in the afternoon. He had the whole day in which to
make his preparations.
Bob did not think out the position as consecutively as his thoughts are
presented here. His busy mind flitted from one point to another doubling
on itself, as it were. And his reflections were suddenly interrupted by
an exclamation from his companion. The Gurkha, having no mental puzzles
to work out, had been able to give undivided attention to his master's
instructions. As before, his keener eye had detected what Bob, even if
less preoccupied, could scarcely have perceived so soon. Far ahead,
over the valley, there lay a long dark streak which in a less clear
atmosphere than that of this highland region might have been taken for a
wisp of cloud. But Fazl made no such mistake.
"Smoke, sahib!" he cried.
The words gave Bob a shiver of apprehension. Was it possible that the
mine-buildings were on fire? He felt almost overwhelmed at the thought.
With every succeeding second in his swift flight it became more and more
likely that this was the explanation. While still many miles distant,
he recognized that the smoke must have its origin somewhere at least in
the neighbourhood of the mine. Fast as the aeroplane was flying, he
wished that for a few minutes he could double its speed. But when at
last he opened up the reach of the river bordering the mine, he saw with
joy that the smoke was rising, not from the compounds on the right, but
from the miners' quarters on the opposite bank.
A slight breeze was blowing from the north-west, carrying the smoke up
the valley. In a few more seconds Bob saw that the conflagration was
confined to the Pathan portion of the camp. As he turned a slight bend
and had a view of the whole settlement, a hasty glance assured him that
there was no sign of injury in the mine compounds. Flying on, he
noticed a number of figures in the compounds below, apparently the Sikhs
on guard. The Kalmuck camp was deserted; between it and the burning
huts of the Pathans, and up the bank of the river, he caught sight of a
number of prostrate forms here and there. Then above the whirr of the
propeller he heard, far in the distance, the sound of firing. It came
from up the river. At that moment Bob felt as a small schoolboy feels
when suddenly plunged into a new subject--say the binomial theorem
before he has mastered quadratic equations. Here was a fresh problem
before the others were solved. But he held on his course, wheeled round
at the usual place, and flying back alighted once more on his platform.
"Just see to things while I go on," he said to Fazl.
When he was half-way along the cantilever pathway he caught sight of
Ditta Lal waddling towards him at a pace dangerous to a man of
apoplectic habit.
"Oh, sir," gasped the Babu as they met, "horrors upon horror's head
accumulate. Pelion is heaped on Ossa. Misfortunes come, not as single
spies, but in battalions."
"What has happened?" said Bob shortly: he was always impatient of the
Babu's determination that no one should forget he was a Calcutta B.A.
And then Ditta Lal, driven to brevity by shortness of breath and the
difficulty of keeping pace with Bob's long strides, related the
occurrences of the past hour.
Very shortly after Bob had left the mine in his aeroplane, when the
domestic staff were at breakfast, and the Sikhs were engaged in carrying
out his instructions, a clamour had suddenly broken out on the other
side of the river. Looking across, they had seen the whole body of
Kalmuck miners rushing tumultuously over the neutral ground into the
Pathans' quarters. Before Gur Buksh could order his men to fire, the
two parties were inextricably mixed. For a few seconds there had been a
wild, fierce conflict; then the Pathans, taken by surprise and
hopelessly outnumbered, fled like deer up the track, pursued by the
Kalmucks. Some of these paused for a little to fire and plunder the
Pathans' huts, then sped after their comrades. By this time Gur Buksh
had lined his men up near the drawbridge and ordered them to fire at the
Kalmucks. Several of them dropped, and there lay with them on the ground
a few of the Pathans who, unable to get away in time, had fallen to
their enemies' knives.
Gur Buksh had been ordered not to leave the mine with his men, and true
to his military discipline he had obeyed his instructions to the letter.
But Chunda Beg had sent over some of the servants to bring in the
wounded men, among whom were several Kalmucks. The former were now
being tended in the outhouses; the latter were locked up in one of the
sheds. Meanwhile the Pathans and their pursuers had disappeared along
the track. Ever since, sounds of firing had been heard intermittently,
growing fainter and fainter. It was clear that the Pathans were still
in retreat, and also that, in spite of the surprise, some of them at
least had managed to snatch up their arms before they ran. By this time
they must be several miles away.
"What was the cause of the outbreak?" asked Bob.