Geoff and Philip manoeuvre
"Lor', Geoff, you didn't tell me, you didn't say a word about it!"
gasped, rather than whispered, the excited Philip, as he crawled back to
our hero's side, having sprawled along the deck of the steamer and
peeped into the cabin wherein were those three Turkish officers, the
possession of one of whom the two young British officers so eagerly
coveted. "What d'you mean by it?"
"Mean by it! By what? Shut up, you idiot, or that sentry will hear us!"
"Hang the sentry!" came the whispered answer, as Philip lay down beside
his chum and close under the rail of the vessel. "But, I say, what a
joke! Just fancy our guessing so exactly. He's as old as they make 'em,
the chap who commands this ship--an old, fat, and bloated bounder--and,
Christopher! he's bald and as toothless as a baby."
The fellow actually cackled, till Geoff pounced upon him and closed his
mouth with his hand.
"Shut up, you fool!" he exclaimed, in a fierce whisper. "You'll have
every man aboard the ship upon us and will wreck our chances. I begin to
wish that I hadn't brought you with me; but I thought that at least you
had some sort of sense."
Philip sniggered. He knew that Geoff didn't really mean to be so fierce
as he made out, or even so vindictive, and, after all, there seemed
little chance of the sentry suspecting their presence or overhearing
them. For, in the first place, though farther away amidst the marshes,
an almost complete silence covered the waste of waters--broken only by
the faint whisper of the evening breeze as it rustled amongst the reeds
of the thousands of muddy islands--out here, in the centre of the
stream, there was the swish and swirl of water as it flowed past the
steel sides of the vessel, the lap of the current, and the whistle of
the breeze as it swayed the cordage to and fro and hummed a gentle tune
round the funnel, the steam whistle, and the other contrivances
hampering the deck of the steamer. And, secondly, there was the sentry
himself, a mere doll he seemed, an automaton--as Geoff had thought--a
man who marched barefooted, to and fro, to and fro, backwards and
forwards from one rail of the vessel to the other, never appearing to
turn his head, never shifting the rifle which rested across one
shoulder, apparently deaf to sounds, and oblivious to all that was
taking place about him. Not that much could be said to be within his
vision, for, be it remembered, darkness lay over the Euphrates and the
adjacent marshes--darkness made a little less intense by that crescent
of the moon which floated in the heavens, by the million brilliant stars
with which they were peppered, and, to a lesser degree, in one
particular part, by the feeble rays which struggled through the skylight
of the cabin and fell gently on the deck of the vessel.
Still, too much cackling on the part of the jovial Philip might easily
have been fatal; and, besides, it was not a time for expressing one's
feelings, for ribald laughter, or even for jests, and certainly one
would have thought that even the recklessness of a junior British
officer would have been suppressed by the occasion. Philip checked
himself with a gulp. He was thinking of that bald head down below, and
of the extraordinarily good guess which he and his chum had made as to
the appearance of the Commander of this boat long before they had set
eyes on him. Then, suddenly, the question of his capture filled his
mind, to the obliteration of everything else.
"A big bounder!" he told Geoff. "It'll want some doing. How?"
Geoff gave vent to a subdued whistle, a mere puff of air from his lips,
and then he nudged his comrade.
"See that sentry over there?" he asked abruptly.
"Faintly. Not having quite the eyes of a cat, I can't say that I see him
distinctly. What of him?"
"Of him? Nothing. But you'll take his place within a minute."
"Oh!" Philip exclaimed, and stared through the darkness at his chum.
"Take his place in a minute? Certainly!" he said. "But--er--supposing he
objects?"
"That's his business," said Geoff, "and ours too, of course. I shall ask
him in the politest way possible to step below; or, to be more precise,
I propose now to march up to him as if I were one of those three
officers down below in the cabin. If he doesn't obey the order I give
him----"
"That's our business," said Phil, and he chuckled again. "I've got the
whole scheme, Geoff, and you can fire ahead at once. I shall come along
quite close behind you, and if the fellow wants to kick up a row, or
doesn't like taking orders from a superior officer, I'll knock him
overboard. You can leave that part of the business to me. I'm just
itching to tackle a Turk, and to start the campaign in real earnest."
"Then come along!" Geoff told him. "We'll creep along as far as the
cabin, and peep in to make sure that those fellows below are not likely
to be moving, and then I'll go for'ard and accost the sentry. Come
along!"
The two of them were already on their knees, crouching below the rail of
the vessel, and at once crept forward till they were level with the
cabin; then, peering in, Geoff made out the figures of the three
officers below, still in the same positions they had occupied
before--the fat, bald-headed man, undoubtedly the senior of the party,
nodding on the divan, while the officer at the head of the table still
smoked and still prattled to his neighbour. Then he nudged Philip, and,
passing behind the skylight, stood at his full height, and stepped
quickly along the deck towards the sentry, who still marched to and fro,
to and fro, apparently without hearing his approach, as he paid no
attention to it. Indeed, Geoff was within five yards of him before the
man suddenly turned his head and noticed his coming, and just as
suddenly came to a halt and grounded his weapon.
"Who goes there?" he challenged, in quite low tones, and it was evident
that he was not in the least concerned by Geoff's appearance.
Indeed, he had been anticipating the exit of one officer, at least, from
the cabin, where he knew that his betters were smoking and chatting, and
no doubt the figure now coming towards him was one of them. Nor was
Geoff in the least disconcerted; for, thanks to the dress he wore, to
the fez which was perched on his head, and to his command of the
language, he felt no doubt of being able to deceive the fellow.
"Officer, going rounds," he answered to the challenge. "Dismiss, my man,
and go to your quarters; the Commander feels that there is no need of a
sentry while we lie right out here in the river, and, that being the
case, there is no need for you to spoil a night's rest. Get down with
you!"
The man shouldered his rifle at once and turned as if to obey the order,
and then, of a sudden, he swung round again, as if an idea had struck
him, or as if he were suspicious. Indeed, there was something which had
attracted his attention, a dark, shadowy something which his eyes,
hitherto seemingly so useless to him, had discovered following the
officer who had just given him the order. It was the dark shadow of a
man, creeping along close to the rail of the ship, as if prepared to
spring upon the back of the officer.
"Beware!" he cried. "There is a man behind you, one who sneaks along in
the shadows."
That shadow launched itself from beside the rail while the man was
shifting his rifle from his left to his right hand, and something flew
through the air and hit the sentry so heavily in the face that he
stumbled backwards. Then the officer who had given him the order was on
the unfortunate man like a whirlwind, and the shadow beside him.
"I've got my hand over his mouth," gasped Philip. "To the side with him;
now heave!"
Geoff backed his chum up with a vengeance, gripping the man's hands and
tearing his rifle from him. Then, seizing him by the legs, while Philip
managed to grip the man's shoulder, still holding his mouth firmly
closed, the two rushed him to the side and flung him over into the
river, Geoff tossing his rifle into the water after him.
"Now back," he whispered to Philip, taking him by the sleeve of his
coat, "the chap is sure to shout and alarm the others. Let's get back
and down to our dinghy till things quiet down again. Of course, if he
doesn't shout, all the better, for then we shall be able to tackle the
other business."
Even before they could turn to run along the deck, the splash which the
man's body had made as it fell into the water was followed by a shriek,
and then by a hoarse shout as he sang out loudly for help, by a shout
which stirred the silence hanging over the river, and brought the men
bobbing up from their quarters for'ard, and those three officers
stumbling up the steps of their cabin and out on to the deck. And in
that short space of time Philip and Geoff had stolen aft, and, slipping
over the rail, had slid down into the dinghy.
"Quite a little commotion!" laughed Geoff as he listened to the shouts
above him. "Of course I'm sorry for the sentry."
"Rather a dirty game, eh?" said Philip. "But I suppose all's fair in
war, eh, Geoff? And besides, supposing I had been the sentry, and you'd
come along and chucked me overboard, I should naturally enough howl out
so as to give the alarm and to ask for assistance; but I shouldn't be
dead, not by a long chalk, and, seeing that I can swim, I should do my
best to keep myself afloat till the river twisted and deposited me on
one of the banks. If that sentry's sensible, that's what he'll do; on
the other hand, if he can't swim--which is hard lines, of course, but
not our fault, and a matter we can't deal with--of course, there it is,
he'll drown, and neither of us can help it. The best we can do is to
wish him luck, for he's now out of the way and not likely to harm us."
Meanwhile there was pandemonium on the deck of the vessel, shouts and
cries coming to the two young officers in the dinghy, shouts and cries
which were drowned by the stentorian voice of one of the officers,
undoubtedly the bald-headed individual who was senior of the party.
"What's that? What's happened?" he bellowed. "Someone shouted, and I'm
sure I heard a splash in the river. Where's the sentry? Pass him aft
here so that he can report on the incident."
But of the sentry there was not a sign, though a faint shout coming from
farther down the river, whither the unfortunate fellow had now floated,
was sufficient evidence of the cause of that splash which the Commander
had heard, and explanation of the absence of the sentry.
"Deserter!" cried one of the officers, seizing upon the first idea which
came to him.
"Who dives into the river and risks drowning? A wise suggestion indeed!"
the irate voice of the Commander answered. "But if not, how comes he to
have fallen into the river. Foul play, eh? One of his comrades with a
grudge against him, a sneaking hound who has crept up from the quarters
for'ard and has suddenly pounced upon him?"
"More than likely!" came the answer. "More than likely!"
There was silence for a while, and then the tread of boots on the deck
just above the stern beneath which the dinghy was lying.
"It's a strange thing this disappearance of the sentry," Geoff heard a
voice saying--the voice of the Commander. "But there it is, and one man
more or less makes no difference."
There followed a loud guffaw which made Geoff wince, so heartless did it
sound, and in a moment he recognized the voice of that young and elegant
Turkish officer who had sat at the end of the cabin table, smoking
lazily and curling his dark moustache.
"The sort of sentiments he would give utterance to," he told himself.
"It's the kind of thing a fellow hates to hear, and though I was
instrumental in pushing that poor beggar overboard, yet I am at least
sorry for him, and hope that he will have escaped drowning, and will
have landed safely on the bank of the river. And here's one of his own
officers laughing as though it didn't matter how many men were lost.
Beastly!"
"Eh?" asked Philip in a whisper. "What's that? Listen to those fellows
up there!"
For a few moments there had been silence above their heads, where they
knew now that at least two of the three officers were standing, and the
breeze wafted down to them the smell of tobacco smoke. They heard the
boots of the Turkish officers scraping on the deck, and a louder sound
as one of them rested his foot on the rail of the vessel. Then the voice
of the elder man came to their ears again.
"Yes, there are plenty of them, and one more or less makes no
difference," he told his comrade carelessly, and then puffed heavily at
the cigar he was smoking--so heavily, indeed, that Geoff could hear him.
"Well, well!" he continued; "it's a peaceful night for drowning, my
comrade, a peaceful night! See, there's the moon above us, and stars,
while the water trickles away below our keel in the most delicious and
refreshing manner. A cool night after a hot day, and a sweet breeze to
blow away the smell of the marshes. But there, it is nearly time to turn
in; go to your bunk, my friend, for I have a mind to sit here and finish
my cigar in peace and quietness."
He interrupted the younger officer in the midst of a loud and noisy
yawn, and there came the heavy fall of a foot upon the deck, which made
it appear that it was the younger man who had placed his foot upon the
rail of the vessel. Then something fell beside the dinghy, and hissed
for a moment as it struck the water--the stump end of the cigar which
this young elegant had been smoking.
"A fine night, and a cool one, as you say, Commander," he said
languidly, stifling another yawn, "and time for all of us to be in bed.
But I know your ways; you are one of those who burn the candle at both
ends, who sit up till the dawn is breaking, and tumble into your bunk
only to appear again as the sun is rising. Good-night, Commander!"
From the sharp sounds above, it appeared that he must have drawn himself
up at attention and clicked his heels. Then there was a short pause, and
immediately afterwards the sound of his retreating feet as he went along
the deck towards his cabin, and Geoff and Philip, listening down below,
heard him descend the companion-way, somewhere farther forward, and
later the sharp crash of a cabin-door being closed. Then there came to
their ears the softer patter of feet just above their heads, as the
stout Commander of this Turkish steamer strolled to and fro on the stern
of the vessel; and again also the aroma from his cigar was wafted down
to them on the midnight breeze. Philip gripped Geoff's shoulder and
shook his chum.
"Hist!" he said; "you hear the old bounder?"
"Of course. All alone! Smoking a reflective cigar. Now, if----"
"Just if," Philip told him. "If--of course we could, only it'll want
some careful doing."
"What will?" demanded Geoff, though the same thought had struck them
both, and was passing through their minds.
"Why, if we managed to shy that sentry overboard, and so got rid of him,
why not do the same for the old buffer up above us; he'd be over the
rail in next to no time, and would be only too glad to find a boat near
at hand to rescue him. Look here, Geoff! I've a little plan that's worth
considering."
"H--h--sh! He's stopped!" declared Geoff, his voice sunk to a whisper,
and his lips close to Philip's ear: "Wonder whether he suspects our
presence?"
The steps above them had indeed stopped suddenly, though the aroma of
the cigar the Turkish officer was smoking was still wafted down to that
space beneath the stern where Geoff and Philip were hiding. They heard a
cough, a gentle cough, as the Turk cleared his throat, and later the
sound of whistling, while within a minute the man began to pace to and
fro again, very slowly, very languidly, as if there was no haste and no
hurry, and the Commander was enjoying his little solitary tramp and the
peace and quietness of his surroundings.
"Go on," said Geoff; "what's the plan? We kidnap the beggar, of
course--that's the plan we set out with this evening. I can see farther
than that naturally enough; for, as you've hinted already, we shy him
overboard, and then come to his rescue. Now?"
"There'll be a tremendous row and ruction," Philip told him. "The new
sentry that they've posted for'ard will give the alarm, and, once it's
found out that the Commander's disappeared, every man aboard will be
turned out, and if they've got boats, as is most likely the case, for we
saw a number trailing behind this steamer, they'll man them and row
about in order to try to find the beggar. Now suppose we counter that
move?"
"Yes?" asked Geoff eagerly, for he realized the truth of Philip's
statement, and could see that, whereas the loss of a humble sentry had
caused no great commotion, that of the Commander of the vessel might
very well lead to a general alarm, to the disturbance of the whole
ship's company, and to a frantic search in which they might easily be
discovered. "Yes?" he asked again impatiently.
"That's where my extra little plan comes in," said Philip, and the young
fellow chuckled, whereat Geoff gripped his wrist savagely, and shook it.
"Shut up!" he said; "the fellow's only just above our heads, and might
easily hear you. Idiot!"
"Thanks!" giggled Philip. "But really, if it comes off, it will be
tremendously funny. Now here's the plan: I hop into the water just
here, and swim up alongside the steamer, and when I get to her bows, I
clamber aboard somehow. We all know that she's anchored in mid-stream,
and I'm pretty well sure, from the sounds which came when she dropped
her anchor, that she's moored by a hawser. A chain would have clanked
out over the side, and we should have heard it, whereas there was a
sharp splash and nothing followed. See the point, eh?" he asked eagerly.
"She's moored by a rope, and I have a knife here that would cut through
a ship's cable."
It was Geoff's turn to exclaim, a smothered exclamation, while he
gripped Philip's arm again with fingers which were like a vice.
"Fine!" he told him in a whisper. "And then? You've cut the cable,
you've set the ship free, and of course she floats down the stream
without any of them being the wiser. The chances are she'll be washed
about three or four or more hundred yards before the crew know what's
happened, and then it'll only be because she strikes ground, and comes
to a stop on a sand-bank farther down the stream. But--but, won't it
rather throw us out of our bearings. Just remember that it's pitch-dark
in the marshes, and that we've got to find our way back to the
steam-launch. It'll want some doing in any case, I can tell you, and if
we once get off our bearings it'll be almost an impossibility. But what
follows when you've cut the cable?"
"What you'd expect," Philip told him with glee. "I'm on the ship, and
I've set her loose, and for the matter of that I should saw through the
hawser till it's not quite parted, and leave the stream and the weight
of the vessel to do the rest; then I slip aft, and if I find that it's
out of the question to pass the sentry, I drop overboard again, and
float down beside her till I am nearer the stern; then I clamber to her
deck again, crawl right aft, and give that old chap above us a punch
that will topple him right over."
It was Geoff's turn to giggle. For the life of him he could not help
smiling and chuckling, and indeed found it hard to prevent himself from
laughing outright. The gusto with which Philip outlined his plan, his
tremendous eagerness and enthusiasm, and the glee in his tone--whispered
though it was--were simply infectious. It was only by clapping a hand
over his mouth, and gripping Philip's wrist so firmly that that young
fellow expostulated by shaking the grip off violently, that Geoff could
master his feelings.
"Tremendous!" he told his chum. "And if it doesn't succeed, well
it--er--ought to."
"Then, right oh! I'll leave my tunic and revolver here, and go in my
shirt and breeches. Boots ain't wanted for swimming either, so I'll take
these off. Listen to the old beggar whistling!"
As the young British officer rapidly divested himself of his coat, and
of his boots and puttees, he could hear the Turkish Commander still
sauntering to and fro on the deck above, every now and again whistling
gently and cheerfully. That he was still smoking also there was no
doubt, for occasionally the whiff of his cigar was swept down towards
the dinghy.
"And a ripping good cigar, believe me," whispered Philip, "and an awful
shame to deprive him of its enjoyment, and to waste it before it's quite
finished. But war, don't you know, Geoff, is no respecter of things and
circumstances and people. The old bounder above will suffer for the
cause--our cause, I mean--for we jolly well mean to have him."
What a thing it was to have as a companion in such a critical adventure
a young fellow gifted with such splendid spirits, with so light a heart
that all thought of danger slipped from his shoulders. Not that Geoff
himself was the one to consider risks in the midst of such an
undertaking, or even before setting out for the venture; though, to be
sure, like every other young officer, he had his serious times, and, as
they had paddled their way towards the steamer, had wondered what would
happen, whether they would meet with success or dismal failure, and
whether capture or death would be the result of their visit. But long
ago he had thrown off all doubts, and was ready and eager to face
anything--a readiness made all the more pronounced by the encouragement
he received from Philip.
"You are simply splendid, Phil, old boy," he told him enthusiastically,
and still in the lowest of low whispers. "Of course I'll back you up
through thick and thin. I'll wait till I hear the old boy plump
overboard, and have the dinghy already cast loose, and ready to push off
into the river. Hauling him aboard will be no easy matter, but it's got
to be done, and without capsizing the dinghy. Then you'll have to join
us, though the combined weight of the three will almost sink this
cockle-shell. Still, it's the smallest of our adventures, and once we
are all aboard we'll have got through with the greater part of the
business. Ready?" he asked.
"Aye! Ready!" said Philip in the most careless manner possible.
Stretching his hand overhead, he caught the rope to which the dinghy was
made fast and put his full weight on it. Then he lifted himself out of
the dinghy, and very slowly and gingerly lowered himself into the water,
making not so much as a splash in doing so. A vigorous stroke with his
legs took him as far as the rudder of the steamer, and for a moment his
fingers played about it; then, gripping the bilge keel which ran round
the side of the steamer, and against which the water lapped continually,
he pulled himself forward up-stream, finding but little difficulty in
carrying out his purpose. It took him perhaps five minutes to reach the
bows of the vessel--five solid minutes, during which he had to stop on
two occasions, the first to allow the Commander of the vessel to tramp
to the opposite side, and the second for the same reason when he came
opposite the beat of the sentry. Then his fingers lit upon the
stem-post, and, pulling himself up out of the water, he reached for the
rail, only to find that it was a foot or more above him, and quite out
of his reach, in spite of all his efforts. But Phil was not the sort of
British officer to give way easily, or to allow himself to be lightly
beaten. Indeed, there are few of them of whom this cannot be said; for a
more resourceful, more gallant, and a more dashing set of young men no
country has ever possessed, and no finer set of young fellows have ever
obeyed the national call to duty.
"Beastly high up--rather a bother!" was all he told himself while he
clung to the stem-post and considered. Then, placing his stockinged feet
against the post, and heading up-stream, he shot himself forward through
the water with a violent kick, and, groping about, soon gripped the
cable to which the steamer was moored.
"Cable all right! Good, sound, honest rope," he chuckled. "And there's
that sentry to be considered. It seems to me that I might easily cut
through the rope just here on the water-level and leave it hanging by a
thread; then, by the time it has parted, the stream will have washed me
down to the after end of the steamer, and I shall be ready for the last
act in this drama. That's it! That's the ticket! And here goes for the
cable!"
He hooked one arm over the rope, while he extricated--not without
difficulty--the jack-knife which he had in his trouser-pocket. Opening
the big blade with his teeth, he then gripped the cable and commenced to
saw through it till it was almost two-thirds severed. At that point he
desisted suddenly, for there came an ominous crack from the rope he had
been cutting, while he could feel with his fingers that the severed
strands were separating widely.
"It will be through in a minute," he told himself; "for, though I had no
idea of it, the stream here is running fairly fast, and the weight of
the vessel with the stream on it must be giving a strong pull on the
rope. There it goes, cracking again, and I can feel the strands pulling
themselves asunder. It's time to be off."
He wasted no valuable moments in closing his knife and pocketing it
again, for, owing to his drenched clothing it had been a difficult
enough task to extricate it from his trousers; he dropped it, therefore,
and let it sink to the bottom of the river, while he himself let go of
the parting cable and struck down the stream till his fingers touched
the side of the vessel and he was washed down along it. Then the fingers
of both hands gripped the bilge keel, and he listened for the tramp of
the sentry, only to find that he was past him and well on towards the
stern of the vessel; in fact, he reached the spot where he might safely
hope to clamber aboard without observation. And now, with the help of
the bilge keel, which gave him a leverage, Philip raised his body from
the water, and, throwing one hand above his head, just managed to reach
the rail and grip it. The rest was an easy matter for a young and active
fellow such as he was, and within a few seconds he was on the deck,
gasping after his exertions, and dropping pools of water which ran away
from his feet into the scuppers.
"What's that? Someone on the deck!" he heard the Commander exclaim,
though Philip did not know the meaning of the words uttered.
This, however, he knew perfectly well--that his presence was suspected,
and that the sauntering steps of the Turkish officer had suddenly come
to a rest, while without doubt the man was staring in his direction; the
dull glow of the end of his cigar was sufficient indication of that
fact, while the voice supported the suggestion. Then from right for'ard
there came a dull, sharp snap, while a subdued shudder ran down the deck
of the vessel and communicated itself to Philip.
"Cable's gone!" he told himself. "Time I was moving."
With a bound he went along the deck till he was within a yard of the
glowing end of that cigar and within striking distance of the Commander.
Throwing himself upon the astonished Turk, he gripped him with both
arms, and then hurled himself and his captive over the rail of the
vessel. At the same moment Geoff pushed his dinghy from under the stern,
and, taking his paddle up, waited for the appearance of the two who had
so suddenly been immersed in the water. It was perhaps five seconds
later when two heads bobbed up quite close to him, and he heard one of
the two gasp and splutter. Giving a swift stroke with his paddle, he
dropped it in the bottom of the dinghy, and, stretching out a hand,
gripped the hair of one of the figures.
[Illustration: "PHILIP HURLED HIMSELF AND HIS CAPTIVE OVER THE RAIL OF
THE VESSEL"]
"Let go; it's me! Get hold of the old beggar!"
Philip was quite indignant, and, to tell the truth, the grip which Geoff
had inadvertently fastened upon his chum's head of hair had been
excessively painful; but in a moment he had transferred it to the
shoulder of the Turk, and had drawn him close to the side of the dinghy.
The stout and somewhat elderly commander was puffing like a grampus, and
spurting water out of his mouth, while he wriggled and struggled to free
himself from the one who had thrown his arms round him. Thoroughly
scared by the unexpected assault which had been made upon him, and
deprived utterly of speech by his sudden immersion in the river, he yet
managed to get rid of the water which filled his mouth, and to give vent
to a shout, a subdued shout, it is true, but one which easily reached
the ears of the sentry aboard the steamer. Indeed, that individual had
already halted on his beat, and was staring over the side into the
Euphrates. He had felt the sudden tremor which had gone down the decks
of the steamer as the cable parted, and there was now a curious
movement, a strange bobbing of the ship, which was so different from her
placid stillness of a moment or so earlier that he became suspicious,
almost alarmed, and it required only the call of his Commander to cause
him to shout at the top of his voice, to run to the companion-way which
led to the quarters of the crew, and to beat upon it with the butt of
his rifle. In fact, long before Geoff and Philip had accomplished their
purpose and completed the capture of the Commander, men were pouring up
on to the deck of the steamer, shouts were startling the air, while two
or three of the men fired their rifles and thus increased the confusion.
Geoff leaned over the side of the dinghy, threatening to capsize it,
and, placing his lips to the ear of the thoroughly startled Turk, spoke
to him sternly.
"You are a captive--a prisoner," he told him. "Shout again, make the
smallest show of resistance, and we shall push you under the water; but
if you are quiet, and come aboard this boat readily, your life will be
saved on certain conditions. You agree?"
The big bald head of the Turk nodded energetically, while the moonbeams
were reflected from the wet and polished spot which a few moments before
had been covered by his fez.
"You agree?" asked Geoff again. "We will save you on condition that you
tell us all you know of your people. You refuse, eh?"
The hand which a moment before had gripped the shoulder of the Turk, in
lieu of the missing hair, closed even more firmly, while the relentless
Geoff pressed the unfortunate Turk lower in the water, till it looked as
though he would send him right under.
"Stop!" gasped the Commander. "Save me! I agree!"
"Then come aboard! Give him a hoist, Phil, and gently with it!"
It was no easy matter to get that big Turk into the tiny little dinghy;
and yet, with his willing assistance now--for to tell the truth the
unfortunate Commander was innocent of the art of swimming, and had a
horror of the water--Geoff and his chum contrived to roll him over the
side, and deposit him on the bottom. Then Philip went right aft, and,
with Geoff's help, came aboard in that direction, the three of them
causing the dinghy to sink so low in the water that now and again the
stream lapping against the sides splashed over.
"Sit dead in the centre and don't move for your life," Geoff told the
Turk. "Now, Philip, paddle."
Dipping their paddles into the water they struck off to the left, and
didn't slacken their exertions till they had emerged from the river and
were in the streamless waste of waters from which they had stolen that
evening. Now and again they had cast their eyes over their shoulders to
see what was happening on the steamer, and, thanks to the lights aboard
her which now flared up from many of the cabins, and thanks also to the
shouts of her crew, to the hoarse and furious commands of the officers
left aboard her, they had no difficulty in learning what happened.
"She's gone right down stream and round the bend," chuckled Philip.
"So we needn't bother any further about her--at least not for the
present," said Geoff. "Let's sing out for our fellows."
Guiding the boat in beside an island, he stood up, and, placing his
hands to his mouth, halloed. Then he waited a moment and repeated the
shout.
"Listen! That's an answer, and from a point not so very far away," said
Philip. "Shout again! Yes, within easy distance, I should say, for after
getting this old gentleman aboard we struck up-stream so as to make
allowance for the drift after I had cut the cable. Christopher, Geoff,
what a jolly good business!"
For a hail persuaded them that they were indeed quite near to the
steam-launch; and within the five minutes which followed, by dint of
repeating their calls and listening to the answers, they were able to
find their way back to the narrow channel in which their comrades lay
waiting.
"Pull that dinghy aboard at once," commanded Geoff; "and one of you can
take charge of this prisoner. I don't think you'll find he'll be a
nuisance, for I've told him to expect a shot if he tries any nonsense.
Now then, get up steam as fast as you can, for, at the first streak of
dawn, I mean to get away and make a rush for the river."
Long before the sun was up, and whilst a thick mist still hung over the
marshes, the launch was poled out of the channel in which she had been
hidden, and was gently forced towards the Euphrates. Once arrived in the
centre of the stream she was allowed to drift, power now and again being
applied to her propeller so as to keep her under control and allow the
steersmen to direct her. Half an hour later she slowly drifted by the
hull of the steamer aboard which Geoff and Phil had made such an
adventurous visit on the previous evening, now stranded high and dry on
a sand-bank. Unobserved, the launch swept onward, and very soon, when
the first rays of the sun had sucked up the mist, and made the course of
the stream easily visible, the engine was set to work, and they shot
down-stream at a rate which rapidly brought them to the Shatt-el-Arab.
By then the Turk had recovered his composure, and, thanks to the blanket
with which he was provided, had been able to get rid of his wet
clothing. Indeed, he became quite communicative, and long before the
launch had reached the opposite side of the Shatt-el-Arab he had told
Geoff all he knew of the disposition of the Turkish forces.
Thus the two young officers who had been sent into the marshes to gather
news of the enemy returned, having brilliantly achieved their object.
"The information will be of the greatest service," they were told. "We
are making dispositions to meet this Turkish force of whom you have
gained tidings, and then the expedition will fight its way up the
Shatt-el-Arab and into the heart of Mesopotamia."
Fighting, indeed, was before the British Expedition, for though their
goal was the city of Bagdad--a jewel in the eyes of the Turks and the
Arabs of this region--there were leagues of sands and marshes between
them and it, and thousands of the enemy.