The Motor-boat in Action
There was a deathly silence about the reed-clad island which separated
the motor-boat, with its British crew, which was stealing along one side
of it, and the wide-stretching marshes on the farther side, where the
Turkish launch forged her way slowly, steering for the far end of the
island. There was just the gentle purr of the petrol motor aboard the
British boat as it slowly turned over--that and the occasional click of
a rifle-lock, as one of the men saw to his weapon. From the far side,
however, there came voices on occasion, smothered every now and again by
the burr and hiss of steam as it escaped from the safety-valve above the
boiler. Geoff looked over the side and peered into the water; then he
took a boathook and thrust it downward till it struck the bottom of the
swamp close beside them. An instant later he had plucked the Commander
by the sleeve, and was whispering to him.
"Look, sir," he said; "not much more than two-feet-six of water; you can
see the mark on this boathook; and it's hard ground down below--listen!"
He sent the boathook down through the water again till the end struck
heavily on the bottom, and sent forth a dull, ringing sound.
As for the Commander, he drew the inevitable pipe from between his lips
and looked inquisitively at Geoff and then at the boathook.
"Yes?" he asked. "What then?"
"Might be useful," Geoff ventured. "A couple of men dropped overboard
could take cover at the edge of the island in amongst the reeds, and
might help us immensely."
Commander Houston smiled an indulgent smile at him, and gripped him by
the shoulder.
"Well done, Keith!" he said in that sharp, commanding tone of his. "Take
a man with you, and get a rifle. Quick with it! for those Turks will be
clear of the island within a few minutes. Here, Smith! You're one of my
best shots. Overboard with you!"
There were spare rifles lying in the open cabin of the motor-boat, and
beside them clips of cartridges. Geoff instantly seized one of the
weapons, and filled a pocket with ammunition; then he dropped overboard,
while the man who had been called joined him within half a minute with a
grin of expectation, while on the faces of his comrades there was a look
almost of envy.
"Come!" said Geoff, wading through the water and finding the ground at
the bottom as he had expected--hard, and giving firm foothold.
Indeed, it would appear that the wide swamps they were now traversing,
and which seemed to be composed of practically stagnant water, were
stirred and swept now and again by eddies from the main stream. Perhaps
in those violent gales, which every now and again sweep across
Mesopotamia, the waters from the Euphrates are driven into the marsh
lands, and, instead of flowing slowly and almost imperceptibly across
them, filtering through them, as it were, they rush and sweep through
every channel, heaping islands of mud here and there where there happen
to be eddies, and carrying on vast accumulations of ooze and slime to
other quarters. No doubt, too, in dry seasons, when the Shatt-el-Arab
has fallen considerably, and the depth of the water in the main stream
is much reduced, the waste of water lying at such a time across these
marsh lands drains away, leaving a glistening, sandy desert. In any
case, there was good going at this spot, and Geoff and his comrade made
the most of it.
Wading up beside the island, they advanced, within a couple of minutes,
some yards towards the upper end, to which the Turkish launch was fast
approaching.
"In here," said Geoff, seeing an opening between some reeds where the
bank jutted out a little and formed an angle or depression. "Now cut
some of the reeds away with your knife, so as to give you a good field
of fire and clear vision."
"Make ready!" they heard the Commander call to them gently, just after
they had got into position, and, turning to look at the motor-boat, they
saw that she had moved farther out from the island, and was now lying
end-on, her bows presented to the spot where the enemy was to be
expected.
Almost at the same instant, the shriek of a steam siren came from the
far distance--from that big Turkish steamer which had so unexpectedly
opposed the advance of this British party on the River Euphrates, and,
following it, an answering shriek, more piercing in its intensity, from
the steam-launch drifting but a few yards away from them. Then her bows
appeared, to be followed in a little while by her funnel, and then by
the whole length of her. There was foam at her stern, while smoke was
blowing out from the top of her funnel, for she was under way again,
and, indeed, was steering a course towards another island which dotted
the marshes in the distance. Perched on a raised portion of the deck,
just in front of her funnel, was a Turkish officer, shouting loud
commands; while on the deck for'ard of him were gathered some twenty or
more soldiers, all eager and expectant; yet, as it happened, their gaze
was fixed on the distant island, and not upon the water beyond that from
behind which they were just emerging. Thus it followed that more than a
minute passed before one of them noticed the motor-boat stealing gently,
bow on, towards them. The man started and shouted, lifting his rifle
high over his head.
"Look!" he shouted, so suddenly, and in such a voice of alarm, that the
officer was startled. Swinging round, he too saw the motor-boat, and
himself took up the shout with a vengeance.
"The enemy! Swing the ship round! Fire into them!" he bellowed.
"Steady lads!" cried Commander Houston, standing erect in his cabin.
"Marsden, stop her! Now, boys, let 'em have it!"
A volley burst from the weapons of the sailors in the motor-boat, and
several of the Turks fell from the steam-launch and splashed into the
water. By that time bullets were sweeping about the head of the
Commander, while not a few struck the sides of the motor-boat or the
surface of the water near at hand, throwing up spray which swept over
the heads of those who manned her. But not a man flinched; while
Commander Houston, snatching his pipe from between his teeth, roared
encouragement at the sailors.
"Let 'em have it!" he cried. "Now, Keith," he bellowed, swinging round
to our hero, "put in your bullets as fast as you are able. Ah! That has
dropped their officer. Just keep your eye on the man at the wheel, and
the man who's running the engine, for we can't afford to allow that boat
to get away from us."
His teeth had gritted on the stem of his pipe a few seconds earlier,
and, unseen by his men, the Commander clapped a hand to one shoulder.
Perhaps it was a minute later that he wiped blood from his lips with his
handkerchief, and then, like the old "sea-dog" he was, thrust his pipe
back into his mouth and went on smoking, still careless of the bullets
humming about him, his eyes fixed all the while upon the enemy.
As for Geoff and the man with him, they were able to make excellent
shooting from the point of advantage where they had taken cover. Seeing
the Turkish officer level his revolver at the Commander, and pull his
trigger--a shot which caused the Commander to act as already
narrated--Geoff levelled his own piece on him, and gently pressed the
trigger, sending the Turkish officer in amongst his soldiers. Then
Smith, the watchful sailor beside him, grim and silent and stern now,
picked off the man at the wheel of the steam-launch, while Geoff
transferred his attention to the Turk whose head bobbed up and down
above the engine.
[Illustration: "GEOFF LEVELLED HIS OWN PIECE ON HIM"]
Perhaps two minutes had passed since the first exchange of shots, two
busy minutes, during which more than half of the crew of the Turkish
launch had been killed or wounded, while as yet, but for a slight wound
here and there, not one of the British sailors had been damaged. And now
a figure suddenly took the place of the Turkish officer.
"An under officer," shouted the Commander, "look out for him!"
"He is giving orders for the steam-launch to get under way again," cried
Geoff--for at the first discharge the engine aboard the enemy vessel had
been stopped. "Come along, Smith, we'll wade out to her and stop any
sort of movement."
Floundering out from behind the cover he had selected, and with his
rifle held well above the water, Geoff led the way direct to the enemy
vessel, while a well-timed shot from the motor-boat sent the
under-officer in amongst his fallen comrades. Then the engine aboard
Commander Houston's little vessel began to thud, while the water behind
her was churned, and as the screw got into operation she darted forward
towards the steam-launch, the rifles of her crew spitting bullets still
at the Turks who remained in evidence. Then, at a shout from the
Commander, the fusillade ceased absolutely, though the motor-boat still
pushed on towards the enemy.
"Cease fire!" bellowed the Commander; "they have surrendered; see that
man holding his hands up towards us."
Taken by surprise as the Turks were, and broken indeed by the first
volley, it was not extraordinary that this little British force had at
the very commencement the best of the argument. The raking volley which
they had poured into the enemy had thrown them into instant confusion,
while the shots which Geoff and the man Smith, who went with him, had
fired, had contributed not a little to the success of the operation; and
now, with her deck covered with wounded or dead, the launch surrendered;
a soldier, a huge, well-grown Turk, standing there amongst his comrades,
with both arms held over head, and calling to the British to spare them.
By then Geoff was within a few yards of the launch, and, staggering on,
clambered aboard her. A glance into the open engine-room showed him a
man cowering there, the one whose head he had seen bobbing above the
side of the vessel a few moments earlier.
"Come out!" he commanded briskly. "No, you won't be shot, and don't fear
it, for you've been captured by British sailors. Smith, get hold of that
wheel. Now let every man who has escaped injury 'fall in' on the deck,
so that you may be counted."
A hail reached him a moment later from the motor-boat, and, turning for
a second, and so taking his eyes from the Turks now mustering on the
deck quite close to him, he saw Philip waving frantically to him; but of
the Commander there was not a sign, for indeed that gallant individual
was reclining in the depths of his cabin.
"Geoff, ahoy!" he heard. "I'm coming up close to you. Commander
Houston's wounded."
"Stop!" Geoff shouted back at him. "Back your boat in behind the island,
where I'll join you. Smith, can you see any sign of that Turkish boat
we met in the river?"
There was half a minute's pause before he received an answer, and then
the fine fellow he had posted at the wheel called gently to him.
"Not a sign, sir," he said; "those islands yonder, through which we came
on our way here, hide the channel of the river. She's out of sight, and
can't see us either, though there's no doubt that she's within fairly
close distance."
"Which means that she will have heard the firing. Hum!" thought Geoff,
as he swept his eyes round the waste of waters and wondered what would
happen. Then he called to the Turk who had been manning the launch
engine.
"Get down to your engine again," he commanded, "and give her a little
steam. Smith, swing her round behind the island. We'll lie up there with
the motor-boat for a while, and see to the Commander, and repair
damages."
The minutes which followed were busy ones indeed, for, as may be
imagined, there was much to be done after such a brisk little encounter.
Swinging the launch round, while the Turk gave the engine steam, Smith
steered her in till she was quite close to the island; then the
motor-boat came alongside her, and the two vessels were moored there,
the crew of the British vessel taking ropes ashore, and their own and
the launch's anchor.
"I'm not a sailor," Geoff told the men aboard the motor-boat, when at
last they were secured to the island, "so I'll leave it to the senior
amongst you to look to your damages. You've got some shot-holes about
your hull, I'm sure, for I heard the bullets strike, and I can see water
spurting in in more than one direction. Just post four men up on to the
deck of the launch to look after our prisoners, and let one man make his
way through the reeds of the island to the far side to keep watch for
the arrival of more enemies. Now, Philip, give a hand and let us look to
the Commander."
Leaping down into the cabin, they found Commander Houston lying full
length upon the floor, his face wonderfully changed from that to which
they had become accustomed. Instead of displaying a ruddy countenance,
and cheeks which glowed with health and vigour, there was now a deathly
pallor upon the merry face of their friend, which seemed to have
shrunken and grown smaller. But if the gallant sailor had suffered an
injury, as indeed he had without a doubt, and if he were placed _hors de
combat_ by it, there was yet no loss of spirit, no lack of joviality;
indeed the same happy smile wreathed the pallid face of this most
gallant fellow, while he was still actually making a pretence of
smoking.
"A nice brisk little affair; eh, boys?" he said weakly, in tones which
evidently astonished and disgusted himself, for he apologized for them.
"Don't take any notice of my voice," he told them; "it's nothing,
believe me; merely a shot through my chest, for which I have to thank
that Turkish Commander. A mere trifle, I assure you," he went on, and
then coughed violently, while blood dribbled from the corner of his
mouth.
He shut his eyes, and, in the midst of calling to them again, fell
backwards heavily, leaving both Geoff and Philip dismayed at his
appearance. Springing forward, Phil lifted his head and supported the
Commander against his knee, while Geoff rapidly undid his tunic, and,
seeing clearly from the stain upon it where the wound must be, tore the
shirt open. But what to do further was the question with him, for,
though our hero may have had some experience already of travelling, and
had undoubtedly seen rather more of foreign places than is the lot of
most young fellows, yet he was singularly ignorant of wounds, had seen
few indeed, and had practically no training in minor surgery. But
amongst the crew there was one who was quite an experienced old sailor,
who, had he cared to tell his tale, no doubt could have yarned to them
of many a naval scrap in out-of-the-way places. It was the Cox who
joined them now--a short, broad-shouldered, rather wizened fellow, with
a cheerful smile always on his face, and with that brisk, respectful,
helpful way about him so common to his counterpart, the non-commissioned
officer, in the army.
"You just hold on to him like that," he told Philip, who was supporting
the Commander's head and shoulders. "No," he added in a warning voice,
"no, I wouldn't let him lie down flat, sir, if I was you, 'cause, you
see, sir, he's hit through the lung, and he's bleeding internally. If
you just think for a moment, sir, you'll see that that sort of thing is
likely to drown a man, to swamp his lungs, as it were, and the more you
can sit him up for a while the better. Hi, Marsden," he called, "let's
have that surgical pannier!"
If Geoff and his chum were entirely ignorant of wounds beyond what
knowledge was required to place a first field dressing in position--and
that was a task which every officer and man learned as a matter of
course--the Cox was, on the other hand, quite a respectable surgeon.
While Philip held the Commander's heavy frame up, the broad-shouldered
little sailor cut away his tunic and shirt, and, having exposed the
wound both at the front and at the back--for the bullet had passed right
through the body--he swiftly dabbed each wound with his brush loaded
with iodine, and then clapped on a dressing.
"Next thing is to bandage him up so as to leave the other side of his
chest free to move, and keep this side just as still as possible," he
told Geoff; "that will give the damaged arteries and veins a chance to
heal and stop bleeding. Beg pardon, sir, but if you'd hold the box of
dressings I can help myself easier."
With dexterous hands--hands which were as gentle as might be, in spite
of this sailor's rough calling--the Cox rapidly secured the dressings
with a roller bandage. Meanwhile, at a call from Geoff, the cabin
cushions had been laid on the boards at the bottom of the cabin, and on
this improvised bed the Commander was now laid, his head well propped up
with cushions.
"And we'll just roll him over on to his damaged side, like that," the
Cox told them. "That means that, as he breathes, that side won't move,
and can't move overmuch, while the other one will be doing all the work
for him. He is opening his eyes, I do declare! Why!----"
Two penetrating and rather fierce optics were fixed on the trio in the
cabin at that moment, while the Commander struggled to move. Then the
eyes opened quite widely, the lips curved, and in a second or two he
was smiling serenely.
"So the Cox is practising on me all that I've taught him, eh?" he asked,
and Geoff noted with relief that the voice was stronger and steadier. "I
knew it would come to that some day; I kind of guessed it. Well, Cox,
what's the verdict? What's the diagnosis? Is it a cure this time, or has
that Turkish officer put in a shot likely to deprive His Britannic
Majesty of a somewhat valuable officer? Ahem!"
The gentle cough he gave brought another driblet of blood to the corner
of his lips, and caused Geoff to kneel down beside the Commander and
expostulate with him.
"Really, sir," he said, "you must keep quiet and stop talking. You----"
The eyes of the old sea-dog who had seized so greatly upon the fancy of
Geoff and his chum, opened widely again, and that same expansive,
warm-hearted grin was turned upon them.
"Oh! oh!" he exclaimed; and, there was no doubt about it now, his voice
was growing steadily stronger. "So our young officers wait until their
senior is knocked out, and then start bullying and ordering! Oh! So
that's the game, is it, Keith? You are beginning to show up in your true
colours! Believe me, my lads, I'm not nearly so bad as you imagine, and,
'pon my word, in a little while I shall be fit to get up and start
smoking."
Then he laughed, or, to speak the truth, cackled, for the effort of real
laughter was beyond him, while he glanced quizzically at Geoff as that
young officer coloured furiously. Yet, though he knew that the
Commander was making fun of him, he was delighted at his progress, and a
moment later was joining in the merriment.
"Come now," said the Commander, a little later, "tell me all about the
thing. You had just knocked that Turkish officer out, and a huge Turk
was lifting his hands in token of surrender. I don't seem to remember
anything after that; I must have tumbled backwards into this cabin. And
now that you have laid me on the floor, there's no seeing anything but
the sky above me. Where are we? Where's the Turkish launch? What
happened? And, of course, we captured the beggars!"
Very quickly Geoff told him precisely what had resulted from their
attack upon the Turkish launch, and how they had captured the vessel,
and what remained of her crew.
"We are lying to, behind the island, at this moment, sir," he added,
"for by doing so we are hidden from the enemy. I thought it best to
repair damages."
"Yes, yes! Human and material," smiled the Commander, who was ever on
the look-out for some little joke. "But wait! I may not be the only one
wounded. What's the report from my fellows?"
Philip had already obtained it, and at once communicated the facts to
Commander Houston.
"One man hit through the fleshy part of his arm, and only slightly
incapacitated; another has lost the tip of one finger. That's all the
human part about it, sir," he said, with a grin. "As for the material:
there are half a dozen holes bored through your motor-launch, and I
believe the Cox has already made a cure by means of filching material
from the box containing surgical dressings."
"Good! We have come through that little business splendidly," said the
Commander. "And now, what next?" he asked, fixing his eyes on Geoff and
then swinging them round to Philip. "What next? You have captured the
launch----"
"We!" expostulated Geoff. "You were in command, sir, don't forget that!
And by the time you fell their resistance was almost finished."
"Then 'we'--we have captured the launch, and that, you will remember,
was a point I laid stress on. Then?" asked Commander Houston, peering
into Geoff's face. "Did it occur to you, young Keith, that----"
Geoff smiled at the wounded Commander, and seated himself opposite to
him.
"I think the same idea occurred to me, sir," he said, "and perhaps
somewhere about the same moment. You see, the Turks aboard that steamer,
the fellows who fired that gun at us, know now well enough that the
British have sent a motor-boat up the River Euphrates, and a motor-boat
is a thing they will be hunting for. But a steam-launch, one of their
very own, manned by a Turkish officer and Turkish soldiers, would have a
chance to pass up the river right under their noses. In command of a
boat like that, a fellow might find out a great deal more than if still
aboard this motor-boat. So I thought that if we were lucky enough to
capture the launch we might send off a party on her."
"Showing that wise heads think in the same direction," the Commander
laughed a second later, though his eyes were twinkling with excitement.
"Confound this wound! But for that, I can tell you, I should have
commanded this second expedition. The scheme is just one that is likely
to succeed, and, as you say, Keith, has better chances than we should
have, now that the Turks have dropped upon us. Being wounded myself, of
course, I shall have to give way to another, and it looks to me as
though our friend the Cox would have to command this little expedition."
You could have knocked Philip and Geoff down with the proverbial
feather. Their faces, which had been smiling before and lit up with
enthusiasm, suddenly lengthened, while they regarded the Commander with
something akin to horror, if not positive anger.
"But," exploded Philip, "I--you--we----"
Commander Houston laughed again, laughed till he choked and coughed, and
until Geoff begged of him to take things quietly.
"I--you--we----" he said at last, mimicking Philip. "Well, well! I'll
tease you no further. Of course, Keith will take charge of this little
affair; and seeing that you, Denman, are, as it were, under his direct
command, why, of course, he'll take you with him. For me, though I like
to take things in the right way, and not make a fuss, I realize well
enough that that Turkish officer has knocked me out completely. Don't
worry!" he went on. "I'm hit hard, I know, but it takes a precious deal
to kill a man of my stamina; and, to tell you the truth, though I feel
weak and rather knocked out for the moment, I'm very far from dying. But
marsh lands and swamps, such as we lie in, are not good for wounds; and
that being the case, and since I should be a hindrance to the whole
party, I shall 'bout ship and steam down to the Shatt-el-Arab. We know
the route now, we shall have little to fear once we are away from this
neighbourhood, and we can travel with a diminished crew. Keith, my boy,
set about investigating the contents of our capture."
Leaving the Commander in the cabin, and taking the precaution to haul a
piece of sailcloth over the opening above so as to shelter him from the
direct rays of the sun--which were now pouring down upon the
marshes--Geoff and Philip stepped aboard the captured launch, and made a
thorough survey of her, discovering a quantity of rifles and ammunition,
besides a supply of dates and coffee. In a cabin aft of the engine-room
there were some tinned provisions, which no doubt had belonged to the
officer. For the rest, there was sufficient fuel aboard to take the
vessel a considerable distance, and, in fact, little was required to
make her fit for service.
"We could go off on her right away," Geoff told his chum, his voice
exultant, "for there is food enough on board to feed you, and me, and
the crew we shall require to man her. As to water, we can get that from
the boiler at any time, and so need have little fear of fever. I vote we
ask the Commander to allow us a certain supply of provisions and
ammunition for the men we take with us. As to the number of the latter,
of course, he will decide upon it; but the sooner we select our men the
better, for they must discard their present clothing and dress up in the
uniforms of the Turkish soldiers."
When they came to the point of selecting the half-dozen men that the
Commander decided to allot them, Geoff found that he was face to face
with an unexpected difficulty. For, calling the sailors about him on the
deck of the Turkish launch--as he wished to leave the Commander quietly
resting--he had barely opened his mouth sufficiently to explain what was
about to happen, and to call for volunteers, when every man of the party
stepped forward. More than that, there was an insinuating smile on the
faces of all, without exception, the sort of smile a man indulges in
when he wishes to ask a favour. It was a kind of dilemma which an older
man than Geoff, and one far more experienced, would have dealt with at
once, though not without difficulty; but Geoff, we admit the fact, was
utterly confounded.
"But," he stuttered, "I--don't you know--I--well, that is, I only want
six of you, so what's the good of all of you volunteering?"
"That's just it, sir," the Cox explained. "There's not a single man jack
here who don't want to be one of the party. Beg pardon, sir," he added,
a moment later, seeing that Geoff was puzzled and perplexed, "if you was
to leave it to us we'd soon fix the business. We'd draw lots, and then
not a single one of the men could feel that he was out of favour. The
lucky ones would be envied, that's all, and the rest of 'em would go
back with the Commander as pleasant as possible."
Within a few minutes, as a matter of fact, the whole matter had been
amicably settled; and thereafter Geoff and Philip were busily engaged in
dressing the men they were to take with them, securing for that purpose
the clothing of Turks who had fallen during the conflict. Then, about an
hour before dusk fell, they set off from the place where they had been
lying behind the island, the Turkish engineer still manning his engine,
while one of their own men was at the wheel. Philip was right for'ard,
quite a fierce-looking Turk in his dirty khaki uniform and fez
head-covering. As for Geoff, he sat on the little platform just in front
of the funnel, and no one taking even the closest look at him would have
suspected him of being a British officer. A moment before, he had
gripped the Commander's hand and had received a cheery send-off from
him. Then smoke gushed from the funnel, the Turkish engineer pulled
gently at his throttle, and the screw of the steam-launch began to churn
the water. Signals were exchanged between those seeming Turkish soldiers
on the deck of the launch and the British sailors still remaining on
board the motor-vessel. Then the launch gained the far end of the
island, and, swinging round it, disappeared, the last glance which Geoff
cast over his shoulder showing him a number of disconsolate individuals
watching their departure, while, seated aft on the motor-vessel, were
the nine or ten prisoners whom they had captured. Stealing silently
across a wide stretch of swamp, and answering cheerily a signal flung
out from the bigger Turkish steamer somewhere away on the river, the
launch was headed to the left until she gained a group of islands.
"In here, Excellency," said the native, who, naturally enough, formed
one of the party. "There's a channel amongst those islands which I have
followed, and which will take us up within half a mile of the river
stream, yet hidden from it. Let the man drive the boat faster while
there is nothing here to impede us."
As darkness fell that night, the launch was tearing along through the
stagnant water, flinging a bow wave on to the islands which cropped up,
now to the right and now to the left of her. Sometimes her steersman was
forced to make her swerve somewhat violently, to avoid an obstruction
consisting of ooze and mud and covered with thick-growing reeds, but for
the most part her course was directly forward, and parallel to the
river. At length, as darkness fell, the engines were stopped, and the
boat was brought to a halt between two islands. There the anchor was
dropped, and the little force made ready to spend the night and to
prepare for an eventful to-morrow.