CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
A WILD IDEA.
How long that silence lasted neither could have afterwards said, butafter a time Bracy felt a couple of hands busy drawing the spare_poshtin_ more about him. Then a face was placed close to his, and ahand touched his forehead softly. "I'm not asleep, Gedge," he said."Ha!" sighed the lad, with a long drawn breath: "getting afraid, sir;you lay so still."
"It's all over, my man," said Bracy wearily.
"No, no; don't say that, sir," cried Gedge. "I was obliged to--"
"Hush! I don't mean that. I only feel now that I can sleep."
"Yes, sir; do, sir. Have a good try."
"I cannot while I know that I have your coat."
"Oh, I don't mind, sir; and I've got to be sentry."
"We want no sentry here, my lad. Take the coat from under me."
"But--"
"Come, obey me now," said Bracy quietly. "Get close to me, then, andcover it over us both."
"You mean that, sir?"
"Yes.--There, my lad, all men are equal at a time like this. I havestriven to the last, but Fate has been against me from the first. Igive up now."
"I didn't want to run against you, sir; but I was obliged."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"You wouldn't have gone and left me, sir?"
"I don't know," said Bracy slowly.
"I do, sir; I know you wouldn't."
"Let it rest, my lad, and we'll wait for day. God help the poorcreatures at the fort, and God help us too!"
"Amen!" said Gedge to himself; and as the warmth began to steal throughhis half-frozen limbs he lay gazing at the distant glow of the enemy'sfire far away below, till it grew more and more faint, and then seemedto die right out--seemed, for it was well replenished again and againthrough the night, and sent up flames and sparks as if to give a signalfar away, for the supply of fir-branches was abundant, and the fire rosein spirals up into the frosty sky.
Bracy too lay watching the distant blaze till it grew dim to hishalf-closed eyes. A calmer feeling of despair had come over him, andthe feeling that he had done all that man could do softened the mentalagony from which he had suffered. This was to be the end, he felt; and,if ever their remains were found, those who knew them would deal gentlywith their memory. For the inevitable future stared him blankly in theface. Gedge would strive his utmost to obtain help, but he felt thatthe poor fellow's efforts would be in vain, and that, if they livedthrough the night, many hours would not elapse before they perished fromhunger and the cold.
The feeling of weary mental confusion that stole over him then waswelcome; and, weak from the agony he had suffered, he made an effort torouse himself from the torpor that, Nature-sent, was lulling the pangsin his injured limb, but let his eyelids droop lower and lower till thedistant light was shut out, and then cold, misery, and despair passedaway, for all was blank.
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The specks of golden light were beginning to show on the high peaks, andgradually grew brighter till it was sunny morning far up on the icyeminences, chilly dawn where the two sheepskin-covered figures layprone, and night still where the fire was blazing by the pine-forest,and the great body of the enemy had bivouacked.
The two motionless figures were covered by a thick rime frost, whichlooked grey in the dim light, not a crystal as yet sending off ascintillation; and tiny spicules of ice had matted the moustache andbeard of Bracy where his breath had condensed during the night, sealingthem to the woolly coverlet he had drawn up close; while a strangetingling sensation attacked his eyes as he opened them suddenly, wakingfrom a morning dream of defending the fort and giving orders to his men,who fired volley after volley, which, dream-like, sounded far away.
He was still half-asleep, but involuntarily he raised a warm hand toapply to his eyes. In a very few minutes they were clear, and he beganbreaking and picking off bit by bit the little icicles from hismoustache.
It was strange how it mingled still with his dreams--that firing ofvolleys; and the half-drowsy thoughts turned to wonder that there shouldbe firing, for he must be awake. Directly after he knew he was, forthere was a sharp rattle in the distance, which came rolling and echoingfrom the face of the great cliff across the gulf, and Gedge jerkedhimself and said sleepily:
"That's right, boys; let 'em have it."
"Gedge!" cried Bracy hoarsely.
"Right, sir; I'm here," was the answer; and the young soldier rolledover from beneath the _poshtin_, rose to his feet, staggered, and satdown again.
"Oh, murder!" he cried. "My poor feet ain't froze hard, are they?"
"I pray not," said Bracy excitedly.
"'Cause I can't stand. But, hallo! sir; what game's this? They'rea-firing at us, and coming up over the snow."
"No, no, it can't be!" cried Bracy wildly. "No tribes-men could firevolleys like that."
"Course not, sir. Hoorray! then the Colonel's sent a couple o'comp'nies to help us."
"Impossible!" cried Bracy. "Hark! there is the reply to the firing.Yes; and another volley. I almost thought I could see a flash."
"Did yer, sir? Oh, don't talk; do listen, sir. There they go. Theremust be a big fight going on down there."
"Then friends have attacked the enemy in camp--advanced upon them so asto catch them before daylight."
"Oh! they might ha' waited till it was light enough for us to see, sir.Mr Bracy, sir, don't, pray don't say it's reg'lars, because if it ain'tI couldn't stand it now. I should go down and blubber like a greatgal."
"It is a force of regulars, my lad," cried Bracy, whose voice sounded asif he were choking. "Friends are there below in the valley. I know:the Colonel must have been badly beaten at the fort."
"Oh, don't say that, sir."
"It must be. They have been too much for him, and he is retreating withour lads trying to make for the Ghil Pass. That is the meaning of thegathering last night to bar their way."
"Oh Lor'! oh Lor'! and us not able to fire a shot to help 'em. Be anyuse to begin, sir, like for signals to show we're here?"
"No," said Bracy sadly; "our single shots could not be heard."
"Not if we fired both together, sir?" cried Gedge wildly. "I'll loadfor you."
"How could they distinguish between our shots and those of the enemy youcan hear crackling?"
"Course not, sir. I'm a poor idjit sometimes. But oh! why does it keepdark down there so long when it's getting quite light up here? We can'tsee what's going on a bit."
"No; but my ears tell me pretty plainly," said Bracy excitedly.
"Mr Bracy, sir."
"Yes?"
"We aren't worse, are we, and all this a sort o' nightmare before weloses ourselves altogether?"
"No, man, no. Listen. They must be getting the worst of it."
"Our lads, sir? Oh, don't say that! There must be a lot of them, bythe volley-firing. Don't say they're being cut up."
"The enemy, man. Can't you hear how steady the firing is?--Splendid. Ican almost see them. The enemy must be retiring stubbornly, and they'refollowing them up."
"Yes, sir; that's it," cried Gedge wildly. "Go on, sir; go on."
"Their officers are holding the men well in hand, so as not to come to acharge in that broken country, and withering the crowd with their fireto make them scatter."
"Right, sir, right. That's it. Oh, if we was only there!"
There was a pause--the two men listening.
"The enemy's firing sounds more broken up, and is getting feebler."
"Yes, sir; I can make out that," panted Gedge. "Oh! I say, don't letthe lads get out of hand and follow the beggars where they can get holdof the bay'nets and use their long knives."
For another half-hour the pair lay listening to the engagement going on,till it seemed as if the daylight below would never come. Then thedarkness gave way, to display far below a cold grey mist, through whichclouds of smoke were softly rising
; and Bracy brought his glass to bearupon the fight still raging furiously, and looked in silence till Gedgeturned to him:
"Oh, do say something, sir! Our lads--they ain't being cut up, sir, arethey?"
"No, no, I think not, my lad; but I can hardly make out what is going onat present. Ha! it's gradually growing lighter there. The enemy arenot where they were last night, and the troops are there."
"Then they've took the beggars' camp, sir?"
"That does not follow," said Bracy, whose eyes were glued to hisglass.--"I can make out the white-coats now. They have divided, and areupon the rising ground all round. Our poor fellows must have falleninto a trap."
"No, sir; no, sir, they couldn't, sir," cried Gedge; "they'd have seenthat fire and known there was an enemy."
"Yes, I forgot the fire," said Bracy. "Oh, if the sun would only shinedown upon them now!"
"But he won't, sir; he never will when he's wanted to. He won't shinethere for an hour yet."
"Yes--no--yes--no," panted Bracy at slow intervals; and Gedge wrung hishands, like a woman in trouble, whimpering out:
"Oh! who's to know what that means, with his `Yes--no--yes--no'? MrBracy, sir, do--do say that our lads are whipping the beggars back."
"Yes," cried Bracy excitedly; "I can see now; the hill-men are scatteredand running towards the mountains."
"Hoorray!" yelled Gedge. "Hoorray! Hoorray! Hark at the steadyvolleys still, sir! Hoorray! Who wouldn't be a soldier of the Queen?"
"Ha! Who indeed?" sighed Bracy.
"And it don't matter, sir, now?" said Gedge.
"No; not so much, my lad; but they'll be harassed like this all the wayto the Ghil Pass."
"And drive the beggars back, sir. But don't you think we ought to makeone try to get down to them, sir? Same as I said last night?"
Bracy was silent as he kept on using his glass, with the valley belowgrowing clearer--so light now that, the young soldier could begin to seesomething of the fight with the naked eye, and he joined in the eagerwatch downward for a time before repeating his question.
"I fear not, my lad," said Bracy, with a sigh. "The enemy are cut intwo; one body is retreating down the valley in the direction of thefort; the other, widely scattered, is making for the snow-slope."
"Not coming this way, sir?" cried Gedge.
"Yes, as far as I can see; and our men are steadily in pursuit, firingwherever a crowd collects."
"That's the way to do it, sir; but that's cutting off our retreat."
"Yes."
"Well, then, sir, we must lie low till the enemy is cleared off. Theywon't come up here."
"No; they must be making for the track we crossed--the one below there,where we saw the men going towards the valley-bend."
"That's it, sir, and they've got their work cut out; but our lads won'tfollow 'em right up there."
"No; they will only follow till they have scattered them as far aspossible."
"And then go back, sir, and leave us where we are."
"Yes," said Bracy sadly.
Gedge was silent for a few minutes, during which they still watched thescene below. Then he broke out with:
"It's all downhill, sir."
"Yes, Gedge," said Bracy drearily; "it is all downhill now to the end."
"You ain't listening to me, sir," cried the lad. "Do put that glassaway, sir, and we'll have a try."
"A try? What! to get down below? You try, my lad; but there is theterrible risk of being cut to pieces by the enemy if they see you."
"Don't begin that again, sir, please. You know I won't leave you, butlet's have a try."
"I am helpless, my lad--as helpless as a figure half of lead."
"But I ain't, sir," cried Gedge. "The sight of our lads below thereseems to ha' woke me up. I'm ready to die game; but I want to make onespurt for life first."
"Why, Gedge," cried Bracy excitedly as he lowered the glass from hiseyes, "they're not our fellows after all."
"What, sir!"
"No; and there's a detachment down yonder coming from the east. I canalmost see that they're doubling to get up in time."
"From the east, sir? Then the Colonel ain't retreating?"
"No.--Hurrah!"
"Hoorray!" roared Gedge, joining in.
"They're the Ghoorkhas, Gedge. They must be a thousand strong."
"Then one o' the messengers must ha' got to them after all."
"Yes; that must be it, Gedge; and they surprised the enemy's camp atdawn."
"That's it, sir!" yelled Gedge. "Hoorray! hoorray again! Then there islife in a mussel after all."
"They've scattered this force, Gedge, and the fort will be relieved, forthe bravo little fellows will cut their way through all."
"Yes, sir. Now then, sir, you needn't hardly move. There's a bit o'slaty stone yonder as'll do, and all I want of you, sir, is for yer tosit still upon it, and nuss the rifles while I steer you down to thetruck."
"Right in among the enemy, my lad?"
"Right through 'em, sir. They're on the run, and won't dare to stop togo at us. I never heard of a nigger as'd stand a moment when a Ghoorkhawas coming after him with his crooked knife."
"Let's try," said Bracy, setting his teeth. "Life is sweet, my lad."
"Even without sugar, sir. Why, bless your 'eart! there's a lot of it inus both yet, sir. This here's nothing to what we've been and done."
Wild with excitement now, Gedge fetched the heavy slab of stone, almostas much as he could lift, drew it close up behind Bracy, and placed hisarms under the young officer's shoulders.
"Now, sir," he said, "you set your teeth just as if the doctor was goingto use his knife."
"What are you going to do?"
"Draw you right back on to this stone, sir. I must hurt you a bit, butI can't help that."
"Go on," said Bracy; and the next moment he was drawn back upon thestone, with no worse suffering than a fit of faintness, for his leg wasnumb with the cold.
"Right, sir. Now your rifle and mine across your legs. Stop; my_poshtin_ first. May want it again. Got the cartridges handy?"
"Yes."
"Then I sits here between your legs, sir. Just room, and I can steerand put on the break with my heels. Ready, sir?"
"Yes."
"Then off."
The surface of the snow was like glass with the night's frost, and thestone began to glide at once, just as the first gleams of the rising sunlit up the spot where such terrible hours had been spent; and the nextminute, with a strange, metallic, hissing sound, the pair were glidingdown the slope at a steady rate, which Gedge felt it in his power toincrease to a wild rush by raising his heels from the surface upon whichthey ran.
"All right, sir?"
"Yes, all right. Go on."
"Ain't it wonderful, sir? Why, we can get down to the track long beforeany of them can get up to it."
"Stop, then, to let them reach it and retreat."
"If you order me to, sir, I will; but they'll never try to stop us;they'll scatter to see us coming down like this. Why, in less than anhour, sir, we shall be all among the Ghoorkha lads, and then hoorray forthe fort!"
"Go on, then. I trust to you."
"Right, sir," cried Gedge excitedly; and in spite of several risks ofoverturning, he steered the novel toboggan sledge down the giganticslide, with the wild, metallic, hissing sound rising and falling on thekeen wind that fanned their cheeks, and a glistening prismatic, icy dustrising behind them like a snaky cloud.