CHAPTER XV
A RAID
Burnet had only just reached his former observation post on the _tell_when, looking to the north, he saw two mounted men in khaki about twomiles away riding slowly in his direction. A few minutes later therecame into view the horses of the gun teams and the muzzles of the guns.Through the haze of dust cast up by the heavy vehicles it wasimpossible to see the escort, which was no doubt following.
It was clear that he had arrived only just in time. Half an hour laterhe would certainly have found the _tell_ occupied. The day was alreadyso far advanced that the Turks would probably camp on the _tell_ forthe night. He instantly decided on his course of action. Theunderground chamber was unknown to Burckhardt, the only man among theenemy who had previously visited the _tell_. Burnet resolved to takerefuge there with his three Arabs, trusting to the chapter of accidentsto give him later the opportunity he was seeking.
The Arabs were surprised when he lifted the slab and disclosed thecellar below, and their excitement was almost boyish as he climbed upinto the colossal figure with his brush of reeds. Watching him smooththe sand over the slab they yielded to a burst of amusement: Burnet hadnever seen the customary gravity of the Arab so much impaired.
From his spy hole at the mouth of the animal Burnet kept watch for thecoming of the enemy. Within ten minutes the two troopers came intosight. Immediately behind them now were two officers, in one of whomhe recognised Major Burckhardt. And he could now see, not far in therear of the two guns, a half squadron of cavalry, together with anumber of men on foot, driving mules laden with boxes and largebundles, which contained no doubt ammunition and the impedimenta of acamp.
Burnet watched the approach of this force with some anxiety. Wouldthey halt at the _tell_, or, late as the hour was, continue their marchto Rejeb's stronghold? He had only a limited range of vision frominside the colossus, and as the head of the column passed out of sighthe feared that there was no intention of bivouacking, and his onlychance of interfering with the guns would be lost.
Presently, however, he heard voices very near, and round the angle ofthe wall came Major Burckhardt, toddling along on foot, accompanied bya Turkish officer whom Burnet surmised to be the commander of thegunners. They came to a stand on the open space in front of thecolossus, and Burckhardt, lifting his hand with the gesture of ashowman, said:
"It was here that I had the adventure with the Englishman that Idescribed to you as we came along. An ignorant fellow from Cambridge,whose books are the laughing-stock of every good German scholar. WhenI arrived I found him----"
"But you said, I think, that you were here first."
"First in the neighbourhood. The Englishman was constantly dogging me.As I told you, I had made the world-shaking discovery that hereTukulti-Ninip----"
"Yes, major, I remember; but it is getting late, and we have much to dobefore dark. I will have our tents pitched here. The guns had betterremain at the foot of the _tell_, and the men must shift for themselvesin the ruins."
"At a reasonable distance from our tents."
"Certainly."
"And the wind is south. We must not be disturbed by smoke fromcamp-fires."
"Nothing shall disturb you, major. General Eisenstein gave meparticular orders to pay you every consideration."
The Turkish colonel went away to give orders, and Burckhardt,exchanging the spectacles he wore for another pair, entered between thetwo figures and began to stroll about the ruins.
From below the mound came words of command, the rattle ofaccoutrements, the clanging of chains, and other sounds indicating thebustle of pitching camp. Presently one of the mules climbed the slopeand was led through the porch. From its back a group of Turkishsoldiers lifted the light shelter tents intended for their colonel andMajor Burckhardt, and proceeded to pitch them. Watching theseoperations from the rear mouth of the colossus, Burnet had a momentaryalarm when it seemed that Burckhardt's tent was to be placed exactlyover the slab that covered the underground chamber; but the majorhimself came up as the men were spreading out the canvas, and orderedthem to carry it a little higher up the _tell_, where the air wasfresher and he could get a good view of the rising sun.
The tent pitching was completed. Orderlies came up with the officers'baggage. As the sky darkened, the glow of camp-fires rose from thelower ground on the northern side of the _tell_. The colonel returned;he was shortly followed by men carrying his evening meal, and heinvited Burckhardt to share it with him in his tent. Burnet could seethem in the interior, illuminated by a couple of candles, sitting oncamp-stools at a small folding table, eating and drinking with theheartiness of men who have had a long day in the open. They litcigars, smoked them through in drowsy silence; then Burckhardt yawned,stretched himself, and declaring that he was very sleepy, entered hisown tent a few yards away, and let down the flap. Through the canvasBurnet saw the kindling of a candle and the German's bulky figureundressing. Then the candle was extinguished: the colonel's tent wasalready dark. A sentry began to pace up and down between the two tents.
It had been a tedious period of waiting, especially for the Arabs inthe stuffy underground chamber. Nothing could be attempted until thecamp had settled down. Sounds still came from below the _tell_. Evenwhen all should be silent, there was much risk to be run. The surfaceof the _tell_ was very dark; but the moon would rise in two or threehours. What was to be done must be done before then. The sentry wasonly about thirty yards from the slab; it must be removed in absolutesilence. Other sentries, no doubt, were patrolling the camp. Would itbe possible to elude them?
At last all was quiet, except for the slight sounds made by the horses.Burnet had arranged his plan. He would take one of the Arabs with him,leaving the other two in hiding. If he failed to return and releasethem, they were to wait until the camp was broken up and then to makethe best of their way back to the island.
It was a nerve-trying moment when the slab was gently raised frombelow, and Burnet, with his head just above the hole, looked towardsthe officers' tents. He could barely see the figure of the sentrypacing slowly to and fro. With the silence of moles Burnet and hisArab companion crept out of the hole, and, crawling on all fours, stolealong a few yards to the shelter of the ruined wall. Burnet had hisrevolver, the Arab only a knife.
They peered over the wall. Three campfires burned dully below themound, some distance apart. Their light was insufficient to reveal thedisposition of the bivouac. Moving stealthily round the corner of thewall, and sinking to the ground again, they crawled a few yards downthe slope. A little to the right, at the foot of the mound, was a pileof objects which had certainly not been there before. Burnet guessedthat it consisted of the stores which had been removed from the mules'backs. The two men threaded their way between boxes and bales, andcontinuing in the same direction, towards one of the camp-fires,discovered the guns close under the mound on the north-east side. Justabove them, shadowing them from the little light that flickered fromthe stars, was another stack of boxes.
Burnet had expected to find a special guard set over the guns. Thecamp, however, was so small--the total number of men seemed to be abouta hundred and fifty--that the two sentries whose figures could be dimlydescried moving up and down along the outer border of the bivouac hadbeen deemed sufficient. There was a tent, however, near one of thecamp-fires about a hundred yards away: it was clear that this was beingused as a guard-house, for while Burnet, lying flat, was peering intothe darkness four men came from the tent and marched northward. Thesentries were being relieved. In a few minutes four men returned, andmarched up the slope within twenty yards of the two figures lying therelike logs. The officers' sentry was relieved; the sergeant came backwith the three men released from duty, and re-entered the tent.
Near another camp-fire, farther away, was a larger tent, presumablydevoted to the subaltern officers. The men lay here and there on theopen ground. From the sounds that reached his ears Burnet guessed thatthe horses and mules we
re hobbled near a patch of swamp still fartherto his right.
Burnet congratulated himself on his luck in having no special guardover the guns to deal with. He had the average Briton's dislike ofattacking a man in the dark and at a disadvantage, and the possiblenecessity of disposing of an unsuspicious sentry had been disagreeableto contemplate. In the absence of such a guard, everything depended onwhether he could move about without attracting the attention of the menin the guard-tent, of the distant sentries, or of any of the soldierswho might chance to be wakeful.
Bidding the Arab remain where he was, Burnet crawled to the foot of theslope, and in the deep shadow there stole along to the guns. Hediscovered just beyond them, and also beneath the limbers, variouspackages which from their shape evidently did not contain ammunition.This was disappointing. But going on a little farther, he found theammunition boxes stacked close under the tell, about thirty yards fromthe guns.
His aim was to destroy the guns, or at least render them useless. Howwas he to achieve it? The shells were not of much use for the purposeby themselves: he needed combustibles. No doubt there was plenty ofcombustible material among the stores; but it would not be easy to findit in the darkness, while the removal of it, necessitating movement toand fro, would increase the danger of detection. The only coursepossible was to make a rapid tour of all the stacks of stores, andfinally to choose such material as seemed most suitable and most easilycarried to the spot where it was needed.
He crept first to the stores placed above the guns: these latter wouldscreen him from observation from the camp. A few moments'investigation showed that there was nothing to hope for here: the boxesevidently held nothing but food-stuffs. From this point he skirted theslope, passing his Arab companion on the way, until he reached a widelyspread pile which had escaped his notice before, owing to the fact thatit rose only a foot or two from the ground and was covered with atarpaulin. Lying flat, and raising a corner of the cover, he wasinstantly aware of a smell of petrol, and his groping hand touched acan. For what purpose did the Turks require petrol? He groped stillfarther, and felt a long curved sheet of metal, in which there wereholes at equal intervals apart. Further search discovered more metalsheets, a number of bolts, planks of wood, other objects whose naturehe could not determine, and finally a small engine. The explanationflashed upon him: the Turks had brought up the sections of amotor-boat, no doubt intended for patrol work on the marshes about theisland.
This discovery gave him a thrill of delight. No better combustiblescould be required: here he had all he needed--if the enemy gave himtime to use it. Taking two of the cans of petrol, he crept back to hiscompanion under the shadow of the _tell_. A whispered instruction sentthe Arab to the pile to bring two more cans. They conveyed these withthe same stealth to the guns. While the Arab returned for more petrol,Burnet went on to the piles of ammunition, and brought back a shell inits case. By the time he had completed three such journeys the Arab,who moved more quickly, had increased the number of petrol cans placedbeneath the guns to ten.
Returning to the tarpaulin-covered pile for wood, they were alarmed bysounds of talking somewhere in the camp. They flung themselves flatand lay breathless, fearing that any further movement would bedetected. The talking continued for some time, and Burnet grew moreand more anxious. He could not tell how long the task had occupied himhitherto; if it were not finished before the rising of the moon all wasover. After a trying period of suspense, however, the voices ceased.He stole on again with the Arab, removed some of the wooden sections ofthe motor-boat, and carried them back to the guns without furtherdisturbance.
While the Arab laid the wood over and around the three shells under theguns and in the space between them, Burnet set about opening one of thepetrol cans. It was stopped with a waxed cork, and the necessity ofworking quietly required that he should cut the cork out bit by bitwith his knife. This being done at last, he emptied the contents ofthe can upon the heap, and laid the other cans on the top. At thisspot all was now ready. Determined to do as much damage as possible,he resolved to wreck the motor-boat also beyond repair, and sent theArab to open another can beneath the tarpaulin, giving him a fewmatches out of the single box he had with him. The Arab was to kindlea fire as soon as he saw the glow of Burnet's match. Then they wouldboth hurry along the base of the mound and conceal themselves among theruins until the officers had left their tents, as they would no doubtdo when the explosion was heard. During their absence there would betime to release the two Arabs from the underground chamber and escapeto the south. There was a risk of being seen in the light of theconflagration before they gained the shelter of the ruins, but Burnettrusted that in the excitement and confusion they would not be noticed.
Tense with anticipation, Burnet waited for the Arab's signal that hewas ready. It came at last: so perfect an imitation of a horse'swhinny that the Turks, if they heard it, would think it came from oneof their own beasts. Burnet struck a match, flung it into thepetrol-soaked heap, and dashed away as he had arranged. Seeing noanswering fire at the spot where the Arab was, he was about to riskeverything and swerve in that direction when a flame sprang up, and hesaw the Arab running half bent towards him. He learnt afterwards thatthe man's first match had gone out. Together they sprinted up theslope towards the shelter of the ruined wall.
The camp was already roused. Wild cries were heard: in the brilliantglare men were seen streaming from all parts towards the two fires. Ifany of them noticed the two figures rising up the mound they were toomuch startled, bemused with sleep as they were, to draw any inferences.
Burnet and the Arab had just reached the wall when the air shook andthe earth trembled with a tremendous explosion. A few moments laterthe Turkish officer, bare-headed and without his tunic, came rushingfrom his tent, and ran down the slope, closely followed by the sentry.They passed the two lurking figures within a few feet. Burckhardt hadnot yet appeared, and a sudden idea flashed into Burnet's mind. Therewas no need of further hiding. He went quickly forward, passed betweenthe two colossal figures, and in the lurid glare saw the burly majorhurrying down from his tent beyond. He was without his spectacles, andBurnet's figure, dark against the glowing sky, might well have beenmistaken for that of a Turkish officer.
MAJOR BURCKHARDT IS DISTURBED]
"What--what is happening?" panted the major, in Arabic.
Burnet felt that the enemy was delivered into his hands.
"You are my prisoner, Major Burckhardt," said Burnet in English.
Utterly bewildered, the German dropped his hands to his sides, andstood speechless, staring with his short-sighted eyes at the youngofficer before him. He was incapable of resistance; started a littlewhen Burnet addressed his companion in Arabic, but accompanied the Arabmeekly when the man bade him march. Burnet lifted the slab, called thetwo Arabs from below, and with them in a few minutes overtook theprisoner and his escort. Hurrying Burckhardt along, they crossed the_tell_, descended the slope on the south-west side, and almost ran intoa picket of Turks who were dashing towards the conflagration. Thewhole countryside was now lit up, and the non-commissioned officer inthe rear of the group, catching sight of Burnet's uniform, shouted tohis men. They paid no heed to his cry, and seeing himself deserted,the sergeant redoubled his pace and followed them up.
Burnet had no doubt that, as soon as the man made himself understood inthe confusion, a party of the enemy would be dispatched in pursuit, buthe trusted that the Turks would be for a time too busily occupied toheed the incredible report. Still, there was need for haste. The rimof the moon was just thrusting itself above the horizon. If the horseswere not reached before the pursuit began there was great danger ofbeing run down.
Burckhardt had now recovered the use of his tongue, and was complainingbitterly at being compelled to trot across damp ground in his slippersand pyjamas.
"It is contrary to the usages of war," he declared. "There shall be anindemnity."
"All in good time, major," said B
urnet consolingly. "You shall befitted out in Arab dress before long: that will be no novelty to you."
"What? You know me, and my work, and you treat me with such indignity!"
"Well, you know, you once bundled my father, according to your ownaccount, ignominiously from the _tell_ of Tukulti-Ninip. This is onlya mild reprisal."
"Who then are you?"
"I am the son of Mr. Burnet."
The German was silent. The pace caused him to breathe heavily; but itwas his secret thoughts that provoked the sigh which presently escapedhim.
It was only about a quarter of an hour after they had left the _tell_that they heard the thudding of galloping horses behind them. Burnetplunged into the nearest clump of reeds, and held his pistol toBurckhardt's head until the pursuers had ridden past. Then, windingtheir way under the guidance of one of the Arabs through the swamp,they continued their march until they arrived at the spot where theyhad left the horses. Mounting Burckhardt behind him, Burnet orderedhis Arab guide to lead straight for home. They rode on in the growingmoonlight, following the route by which they had come; and as dawn wasbreaking, regained the island, tired out, but well satisfied with theirnight's work.