CHAPTER XIV
THE ENEMY'S GUNS
Before he sought his couch Burnet had a talk with Ellingford.
"I'm jolly glad you are back," said the latter. "Not one of theseArabs knows a word of English, and to be over a week without any meansof communication but dumb show has been a horrid nuisance. I managedto make them understand that they had better rig up some sort of afortification at this end of the causeway as a defence againstmachine-gun fire, and I was thinking of placing my gun there, forthings are getting warmer every day. There's no need for that now,perhaps: the two guns you've brought are enough on such a narrow front:but we've all our work cut out to hold the enemy off until reliefcomes."
"By the way, I've orders for you to return if you're fit," said Burnet."The Tommies I've brought will patch up your tank."
"That's rough luck. I wanted to stay here and see it through. I'm fitenough, for a short flight at any rate, but I don't like running away."
"You can do a little useful scouting for us before you return to thelines. We'll talk about that later. To-morrow you had better get yourtank repaired. The men are handy fellows, and they'll do what'srequired under your instruction. We're evacuating the non-combatantsand the horses, and I hope our food will last out until we're relieved.That's the only risk--unless the enemy bring up artillery and shell us.Even then we may still have a chance, because there are undergroundchambers here and there under the ruins--places excavated long ago forshelter from the heat; and they ought to prove effective dug-outs. Thegreatest danger is that the Turks will repair or bridge the causewayand overwhelm us with numbers. I shall have a look round to-morrow andsee what can be done to prevent them."
Next day Burnet resumed his own uniform and went round the positionwith Rejeb. It appeared that when the non-combatants were gone, underescort of a sufficient number of armed men, the effective strength ofthe garrison would slightly exceed four hundred. The enemy, at a roughestimate, outnumbered them by three to one, and were on the wholebetter armed; the rifles and ammunition captured on the launch weresufficient to arm about a third of Rejeb's force. The food suppliesmight with care last for a week or two. Plenty of drinking water wasto be got from an old well which the Arabs had cleared out at theirfirst occupation of the island.
The weakness of the defence was that a wide front--for it was notmerely a question of holding the end of the causeway--had to be held byrelatively small numbers. The channel between the island and theTurkish position was too deep to wade; but it was obvious that anenterprising enemy with a large preponderance of numbers would not findit an insuperable obstacle, and with half the causeway in theirpossession they could harass the defenders until an attack inoverwhelming force was possible.
Burnet saw that his first concern must be to prevent the enemy frompushing farther along the causeway. That should be practicable. Itwas more doubtful whether he would be able to dislodge them from theposition they had already gained.
The sudden outburst of fire from the Turks on the previous evening hadsoon died down when they found that the Arabs made no attack, and sofar the morning had been quiet. Taking advantage of their inactivity,Burnet went cautiously to the end of the causeway, examined thebreastwork which the Arabs had constructed with material from theruins, and cast about for an emplacement for one of his machine-guns.His first idea was to instal it in a sort of blockhouse in the middleof the breastwork, from which it could sweep the causeway from end toend. But there was always a chance that the Turks would ultimatelybring up field artillery; the blockhouse would then be their firstobjective, and the gun would very likely be put out of action. Thesecond gun, which he intended to keep in reserve, might suffer the samefate. What then could be done?
The breastwork hastily erected by the Arabs across the end of thecauseway was neither long enough nor strong enough. But along theshore of the island ran a low artificial embankment against floods.Just behind it was an old, much dilapidated wall. About a hundred andfifty yards on the right of the causeway the embankment had brokenaway. It was only necessary to break an opening in the wall justbehind this gap, to form a sort of embrasure for the gun. The positionwas well screened from the enemy, for the surface of the island roseslightly in the rear, and the horizon, from the Turks' point of view,was cut by the chief's tower with the dwarf trees that flanked it.Placed in this embrasure, the machine-gun would command the whole ofthe causeway except the fifty yards nearest the island.
It was a question whether the necessary pioneer work could be doneduring the hours of daylight, for much of it must be carried out infull view of the enemy. But at present none of the Turks was to beseen. They were not at work on the causeway, and a careful scanning oftheir farther position through field-glasses failed to detect any signof movement or of preparations. Taking advantage of this rathersurprising inactivity, which suggested that they were either awaitingreinforcements or planning some dangerous stroke, Burnet set a largenumber of the Arabs to the task of carrying out his scheme. While somecut the embrasure for the machine-gun, others dug a communicationtrench from the blockhouse to a group of ruins about two hundred yardsin the rear. Others again strengthened these ruins by piling up blocksof masonry collected from the whole area, so as to form a shelter,effectual against all but gun fire, for the larger part of thegarrison. The underground chambers beneath the ruins were partiallycleared of accumulations of rubbish, and should serve as safe quarterswhen the men were not in action.
While Burnet was setting all these operations in train, Rejeb hadsuperintended the departure of the non-combatants. They weretransported in relays across the southern marshes on the kelak. Thehorses, too, under the charge of a score of well-armed men, left theisland by wading or swimming, Rejeb keeping half a dozen in a safeplace at the south of the island, in case he might find them useful forscouting. Among them were his own horse, and the one that Burnet hadcaptured.
It was the third day after his arrival before the defensive works werecompleted. Except for occasional sniping the enemy had not attemptedto molest them. To Burnet this quiescence seemed ominous, for itsuggested that the Turkish commander--no doubt that Major Djaved Beywho had visited Burckhardt with General Eisenstein--thought the Arabs'operations of no importance, and that must mean that he was confidentof the success of whatever coup he might be planning. Burnet felt thenecessity of learning what preparations the enemy was making, whatstroke he had to guard against, and the approaching departure ofEllingford gave him an opportunity.
The two gunners, Bill Jackson and Tom Sturge, had repaired the petroltank. Ellingford himself had regained the use of his limbs, and,though not perfectly recovered, was clearly strong enough to pilot hismachine the thirty or forty miles between the island and the Britishlines.
"I don't want you to run any unnecessary risks," said Burnet, "but ifyou could do a little scouting----"
"My dear fellow, with all the pleasure in life. A few extra miles areneither here nor there. And there are no Archies to worry me."
"Then will you fly a few miles northward, say as far as the _tell_, andsee what the beggars are up to? Don't waste time by coming down again,but drop me a message. If I don't get anything from you, I shall knowthat there's nothing to worry about."
"Right. And the sooner I go, the better. It's a perfect day.Everything's as clear and sharp as you could wish, and I shall hardlyeven need to use my glasses."
"But don't fly too low. A bullet might drill another hole in yourtank."
"Never fear. I shall be safe enough at two or three thousand feet.Any messages for headquarters?"
"You might tell them what we're doing, and say that with luck we canhold out ten days or a fortnight. There's nothing else, I think."
The aeroplane had been placed at the extreme south of the island, wherethe dipping of the ground kept it below the Turks' line of sight. Aspace was rapidly cleared in order to give room for rising, and after acareful preliminary test of the engine the captain ran off and rosesm
oothly into the air. At first he headed south-east; then, when hehad gained an altitude of something over two thousand feet, he wheeledround, recrossed the island, and, still rising, for some minutescircled over the Turkish position, amid a fusillade of rifle fire. Atone moment Burnet was alarmed, fearing from a sudden downward swervethat the machine had been injured; but it was evidently an intentionalmovement on Ellingford's part, for he at once skimmed away to thenorth-west, and the shooting ceased.
An hour later Burnet heard the hum of the returning engine.
"He's flying perilously low," he thought, as the machine came into viewon the west. Pursued again by rifle fire, it flew straight across theisland from west to east. Burnet had informed the gunners and Rejebwhat to expect, and the eyes of all the garrison looked up for thesight of an object falling from the aeroplane. It was so small andfell so swiftly that no one saw it until a fraction of a second beforeit reached the ground. One of the Arabs picked it up and ran with iteagerly to Burnet. It was a stone wrapped in a sheet of paper. Burnetread the message:
"Nothing doing opposite you: 2 f.g. bogged 10 m. N. of _tell_."
The aeroplane had circled round: Ellingford evidently wanted to knowwhether the message had been received. Burnet signalled in Morse withhis arms; the machine turned again, and heading south-east in a fewminutes was out of sight.
The inactivity of the enemy was explained, and the explanation was ofserious import for the garrison. They were awaiting the arrival offield-guns before resuming the attack. The transport of the guns overthe marshes had naturally been difficult, and the fact that they wereactually now stuck in the swamp was welcome news. But the respitewould only be temporary, and Burnet realised that he would soon have todeal with the only situation that gave him real anxiety. Would theArabs' resolution stand the test of gun fire? At the best, the periodof possible resistance was shortened, for the Arabs, unaccustomed toshelling, would probably be so much demoralised by it as to beincapable of standing up against a sustained attack.
On reading the message Burnet had not allowed any sign of his anxietyto escape him. He could not conceal its purport from Rejeb: it wouldnot be fair to keep him in the dark; but he laid more stress on thebogging than on the guns. Later on, however, he went away by himselfto a quiet spot on the south of the island, to think things over. So,one of Britain's heroes, Robert Clive, had gone apart to decide insolitude the momentous question to which the battle of Plassey was theanswer.
"Why wait for the guns?"
That was the question that filled Burnet's thoughts. The enemy nodoubt thought they had the garrison well boxed up: they had only tobring up their guns to compel surrender. The escort of the guns musthave seen the aeroplane, and guessed that its occupant would havecarried news of them to his own lines. But the British were far away,much too far to send a force to capture two field-guns. Nor would theythink it worth while to send airmen to bomb guns so remote from theirown position, and of no danger to themselves. The Turks, then, wouldnot dream that they had any difficulties to contend with except thosedue to the swampy nature of the country. Such a feeling of securitygave the best possible promise that an attack would be successful.
But how could an attack be made? Not in force, nor openly. The escortof the guns, though probably not a large body, would be strong enoughto withstand any assault by a small number of Arabs, and Burnet wouldnot feel justified in reducing the garrison of the stronghold by morethan a few men. And between him and them was the Turkish main body;his retreat would be cut off. He felt that he could not ask the Arabsto undertake so hazardous an expedition until he had himselfreconnoitred the ground, and discovered for himself what were thechances of a surprise.
He returned to Rejeb's tower, and told the chief what he had in mind.
"It must not be," said Rejeb. "I am weak, and my faintness increases.Who is to lead my people if the Turkish dogs attack?"
"But it is for these guns they are waiting. Until they come there willbe no serious attack, and when they come your position here will bemuch worse. Is it not wise to seize any chance of keeping them at adistance?"
"Who knows whether there will be such a chance?"
"True; that is what I want to find out. And if I discover that we cando nothing, I will return at once. My absence will be but for a nightand a day."
"You will not go alone?"
"No: I want you to lend me five of your most trusty and stout-heartedmen. This is work for a few."
"It shall be done, and may Allah preserve you!"
While Rejeb was selecting the men, Burnet informed the machine-gunnersof his intentions, and ordered them, in case the Turks attacked, to usethe gun which had already been placed.
Late in the afternoon, he slipped away from the south of the islandwith the five Arabs, leading their horses through the swamp. Then theyswept round to the west, outside the probable range of the enemy'sscouts, and rode rapidly in the direction of the _tell_. When theycame in sight of the ruins, lit up by the glow from the setting sun,Burnet confided the horses to the care of two of his men, and with theother three went forward on foot, taking advantage of what cover thebarren country afforded. He hoped, before darkness closed upon thescene, to be able to discover, from the summit of the mound, whetherthe guns had been extricated from the bog; if there was no sign ofthem, it would be necessary to go farther north.