CHAPTER THE SEVENTH
NURLA AT BAY
If Mr. Appleton had wished to atone for the coldness of his formerattitude to airmanship, he could scarcely have shown more eagerness tomake use of the aeroplane in hunting down the fugitive malefactor. Hewas blind to the difficulties. To guard against a disappointment, Bobventured to point out the disadvantages under which the pursuit would beconducted--the few landing-places and fewer starting-places which therugged country offered; the ease with which the men, even if discovered,might conceal themselves in some woody ravine or some inaccessible cleftin the mountain side: the likelihood of their escaping noticealtogether. There was every chance indeed that they would be espied, ifat all, upon some tract of country where to make a descent would beimpossible; and before the pursuers could reach a suitable spot, therewould be plenty of time for the men to alter their direction and eludethe most careful search. The one point in favour of the pursuit wasthat Nurla was accompanied by Black Jack: it would not be so easy fortwo as for one to escape notice.
Mr. Appleton ignored all Bob's well-meant hints of failure, and was onlyanxious to be off. He summoned the Pathans and explained to them what hewas about to do, warning them against misbehaviour in his absence. Hegave instructions to Gur Buksh to maintain strict discipline, andflattered the Kalmucks into good temper by assuring them of his beliefin their loyalty. Then, having arranged that a small party of Pathansshould ride northwards down the track, he hurried after the boys, whohad already gone to prepare the aeroplane for flight.
He had no doubt that Nurla had fled northward, in the direction of hisown people. For at least forty miles the fugitives would be obliged tokeep pretty closely to the valley, for, as far as Mr. Appleton and anyof his people knew, there was no practicable way over the hills forhorses. After that the country began to open out: the river broadenedand was fordable in several places, and the fugitives would have thechoice of several routes, either to the right or the left. It wastherefore necessary to overtake them and hold them up while they werestill in this forty-mile stretch of rugged river valley. Mr. Appleton'sidea was to fly ahead of them as soon as they had been sighted, land atthe first convenient spot, and hold them in check until the mountedparty had had time to come up. It was impossible to tell how many hours'start the men had had; but even if they had left the settlement soonafter dark their progress along the rough and dangerous track must havebeen slow, and it seemed hardly likely that they could reach the opencountry before the swift-flying aeroplane overtook them.
The boys rapidly overhauled the engine and tested the steering andcontrolling gear. Bob felt a trifle anxious when he noticed how rapidlythe clouds were racing before the wind, which blew from the west.Flying in the valley, the aeroplane would be protected from the fulllateral force of the wind by the high mountain barrier on each side.But there was considerable danger of encountering gusts and eddiessweeping through clefts and gorges here and there, and it was impossibleto calculate at what precise angle the aeroplane might be struck by asudden blast. However, the conditions were no worse than they hadalready been in some of his practice trips, and he only felt a littleadditional nervousness because Mr. Appleton had never yet accompaniedhim except in absolutely calm weather.
Just as they were preparing to start it occurred to Mr. Appleton thatsome unforeseen contingency might prolong their absence from the mine.
"Run back," he said to Lawrence, "and tell some of the men to bring overenough food for a couple of days and two or three skins of water, incase we don't get a chance to draw some from the river. You had bettertell the Pathans, too, to take food in their saddle-bags. It's just aswell to be prepared for emergencies."
All arrangements having been made, they took their places. Chunda Begand the Babu were among the men who had walked to the ledge to witnessand assist in the start.
"I wish good luck and safe return," said the Babu impressively. "As forthat villain of deepest dye, I approve of strongest measures. There isvaried choice of punishments--pistol, rope, et cetera: the best, in myhumble opinion, is to let him dangle from rope until death comes asmerciless release."
"If you don't skip, Babu," said Bob, "you'll be caught by our wings, andeither be carried up to the heavens or dashed over the edge into theriver."
Ditta Lal instantly picked up his skirts and fled, not halting until hereached a safe distance. There he watched the ascent of the aeroplaneuntil it disappeared round a bend in the gorge. Then he returned to thecompound, following Chunda Beg, to whose back he discoursed on thevelocity of the wind, the native iniquity of the Kalmuck race, and thevarious tortures to which Nurla Bai might conscientiously be put when hewas captured.
Bob steered the machine along the middle of the valley, keeping low inorder to avoid the wind. On either side rose the lofty mountain barrier,here overhanging the river, there receding; at some spots an almostperpendicular wall, at others broken into peaks and parapets, with deephollows in which a scanty vegetation struggled for existence on a thinsoil. Now the valley narrowed so that there seemed barely space for theaeroplane to pass: now it widened into a series of rocky terraces,seamed by fissures in every direction. The track on the right bankfollowed the winding course of the river for many miles, then dipped toa ford and reappeared on the left. Some miles farther on it recrossedthe river by a crazy bridge of rope, and continued along the right bankpast the foothills and out into an extensive plateau.
Bob as usual acted as pilot. By flying pretty close upon the river henot only avoided danger from gusts, but enabled his companions to keep asharp observation upon the ground. Here and there, where this woundbehind the rocks between the bank and the hillside, he left the river,planed a little higher, and steered a course exactly over the track.The recent invention of planes which could be lengthened or shortened atwill rendered it possible to travel at more varied speed than hadformerly been the case, and when he was several miles from the mine hereduced speed to the minimum. Even then, however, the aeroplane movedso swiftly that there was some danger of the watchers passing theirquarry without perceiving them. This was not likely where the track wasclosely hemmed in between river and hillside. The risk was greatestwhere the latter receded from the course of the stream, leaving largeareas of rough country, sometimes covered with bush, in which thefugitives could without much difficulty hide out of sight of any one notpassing immediately above them.
The ford at which the track crossed the river was about twenty milesfrom the mine. Coming to that point without having seen the fugitives,Bob followed the track along the left bank. Here the open spaces becamemore frequent, and it would have been impossible to examine the groundthoroughly without circling. For the present Bob hesitated to do this,feeling that it was more important to keep to the track for so long adistance as the fugitives might have covered had they started at theearliest likely moment, twelve hours before. Another twelve milesbrought him to the rope bridge, where he again crossed the river, and socontinued until, ten miles farther, the foothills were reached, and thecountry began to open out.
It was obvious to all three occupants of the aeroplane that the onlymeans of thoroughly searching the comparatively open country at whichthey had now arrived was to rise to a greater height and sail about inwidening circles. Bob therefore adjusted his elevator; and as themachine swept round, the other two peered over on opposite sides, usingtheir glasses to scan the ground beneath. The fugitives beingpresumably mounted on the stolen ponies could hardly be otherwise thanconspicuous; and when, after more than half an hour's carefulobservation, nothing had been seen of them, the pursuers came to theconclusion that the men could not yet have quitted the valley. This wasa very reasonable inference, considering that they had covered in lessthan an hour a distance of nearly fifty miles, which the fugitives, evenon horseback, must take many hours to traverse. The natural conclusionwas that the horsemen, warned by the whirring of the propeller, if notby the actual sight of the ae
roplane, had taken shelter in one of themore rugged or more thickly wooded places until the pursuers had passed.There was nothing for it but to turn back and hunt up the valley again.
The aeroplane was crossing the plateau obliquely towards the opening ofthe gorge when Lawrence suddenly caught sight of a number of roundobjects resembling bee-hives, clustered in a secluded dell. He pointedthem out to Mr. Appleton, who examined them through his glass.
"They are akois," he said: "the portable huts used by the nomad tribesin these parts, made of a circular wooden framework covered with felt.But I've never before seen so many in a group."
As they looked, the intervals between the akois became filled with adense crowd of men, who stood gazing up in astonishment at the strangemachine flying high above their heads. The airmen had no particularinterest in wheeling about to make a careful inspection of the camp, forit was inconceivable that Nurla and his man had come so far and joinedtheir compatriots, if such these people were. They had soon left it farbehind, and descending gradually as they neared the gorge, theyre-entered this at an altitude of not more than a hundred feet above theriver to renew their search.
Bob found it by no means easy to follow a course that would enable hispassengers to obtain a clear view of the more rugged portions of thevalley. Here and there, at the wider parts, he was able to wheel roundand cover wide areas; but in the narrow stretches he was forced to flystraight ahead without the possibility of turning, unless he should riseto a great height. This would involve a loss of time which could be illafforded. Once or twice, in attempting to circle, he almost shaved therocky sides; and deciding that such attempts were too dangerous, heconcluded that he had better leave certain parts imperfectly exploredrather than risk injury to the aeroplane. He compromised matters bysteering a serpentine course, thus covering as much as possible of theground on both sides of the river.
The aeroplane was approaching the rope bridge when Mr. Appleton suddenlycalled out that he saw two men on horseback on the track beyond. Inanother moment he recognized them through his glass as the men of whomthey were in pursuit. They were nearly a mile distant, entering astretch of the gorge that was particularly rugged, and no doubt affordedplenty of cover. It had been prearranged that as soon as the men weresighted Bob should make a descent as near as possible ahead ofthem--that is, down-stream--but it was no surprise to Bob--indeed, itwas only according to the ill-luck that seems to rule on suchoccasions--that no suitable landing place offered itself.
He remembered, however, that in flying downstream he had noticed, two orthree miles above the bridge, a place where the valley widenedsufficiently to allow the aeroplane to circle. He decided to fly directto this spot, turn, follow the men, outstrip them, and land at a spotsome distance down-stream, where a landing had seemed feasible.Lawrence suggested that he or his uncle should take a flying shot at themen as they passed above them, but Mr. Appleton would not consent.
"Punishment before trial won't do," he said.
By this time the fugitives had disappeared behind a sort of parapet ofrock just above the bridge, which spanned the river at a height oftwenty or thirty feet. On first sighting them, Bob had caused theaeroplane to descend until it was almost level with the bridge. As theycame to it, Mr. Appleton rose in his seat behind the pilot, to see, ifhe could, the precise spot in which the fugitives had concealedthemselves. He had just done so, and was leaning slightly to the right,when there came in rapid succession the crack, crack of two rifles. Andthen Lawrence, in the third seat, was horrified to see his uncle pitchforward, lose his grip on the stay he was clutching, and fall headlonginto the river. It all happened so instantaneously that the boy had notime even to reach forward. He sprang up, almost over-balancing himself,but before he could stretch out his hand Mr. Appleton was whirling inmid-air.
At the moment of the accident Bob was made aware that something hadhappened by the lurch which the sudden loss of weight caused theaeroplane to give. A cry from Lawrence apprised him of the nature ofthe accident. For a few moments both the boys were dazed by the shockof their uncle's disappearance, so sudden, so unexpected, so terrifying.Bob had instinctively moved his controlling lever to counter-act thelurch. As soon as he knew what had happened, instinct again promptedhim to bring the aeroplane round; but reason coming to his aid, hecorrected the movement just in time to avoid dashing the plane againstthe rocky barrier on his left hand.
"Keep straight ahead!" shouted Lawrence in terror.
But before the words were out of his mouth the danger of a fatal smashwas avoided. The aeroplane flew at full speed up-stream. In a fewminutes it would reach the wider space where turning was possible. Onlythen could the direction of its flight be reversed, and the fate of Mr.Appleton be ascertained.
In their anxiety for their uncle, both the boys had now forgotten thevery existence of the Kalmuck miscreants. It did not occur to them thatin repassing the same spot on their flight down-stream they might be indanger from the same concealed marksmen. As the aeroplane turned,Lawrence called to his brother to descend still lower, so that theymight the more easily see their uncle's body if he were still floatingin the stream.
"If I see him, I'll dive in," he said. "You go on, land where you can,and come back to my help."
With his eyes fixed on the water below he was unconscious of anythingbut the swirling flood, and the intense strain of searching the surfaceas the aeroplane flashed by. Neither Bob nor Lawrence noticed themovements of the two Kalmucks. They, as soon as they had fired theirshots, vaulted into the saddles of the horses that stood beneath a tallrock, and dashed at headlong speed along the track towards the bridge.The horses, urged by their riders, and terrified by the increasing soundof the aeroplane rushing swiftly behind them, took the bits in theirteeth and galloped on, completely beyond control. They wheeled on tothe bridge. At this moment the aeroplane was only about two hundredyards behind them, and Bob was intending to pass under the bridge. Butthe weight of the horses was too much for the frail and clumsystructure. It broke in the middle, and horses and riders plunged intothe river. Bob had just time to move his elevator and skim over theconfused mass of bridge, horses and men.
Only for a moment was Lawrence's attention diverted from his quest.Hitherto he had fixed his eyes from a rapidly diminishing distance uponthe spot where his uncle had fallen, and the river beyond. Now he hadpassed the spot itself, and in a few seconds covered the whole distancedown which, even allowing for the speed of the current, the body couldhave been carried. There was no sign of it, and Lawrence felt withhorror and despair that the shot had been only too well aimed--that Mr.Appleton had been killed outright, or so grievously wounded as to beunable to keep himself afloat. He could not endure the suspense anduncertainty.
"I am going in," he cried. "Come back for me."
To make a clean dive from the narrow seat of an aeroplane flying at therate of thirty miles an hour was impossible. It was a dangerous feat toattempt at all, but Lawrence did not think of that. He fell rather thanplunged, at the imminent risk of striking a half-submerged rock inmid-stream. The shock of hitting the water after a haphazard fall ofthirty feet was so great that for a time, even after he had risen to thesurface, he was too much dazed to be able to distinguish hissurroundings. With the instinct of a practised swimmer he trod wateruntil his senses returned to him. Then he saw that he was far below theruined bridge, and being rapidly carried down-stream. The aeroplane wasout of sight. Neither man nor beast was visible on either bank. TheKalmucks must have clambered up the bank and taken to flight. Herealized that if his uncle was still in the river he must have overtakenhim before the dive was made. It was necessary to husband his strength,and either try to swim against the stream, or make his way to some rockon one side or the other, whence he could watch the current as it flowedpast him.
He turned, and for some time breasted the stream until he descried arocky shelf at the base of the right bank which would prove at once aresting place and a convenient watch post
. Nearly exhausted, he draggedhimself on to it, and crouched there, intent upon every billow and eddyof the swollen river. Fed by the mountain snows, it flowed on withturbulent tide. The water was bitterly cold, and Lawrence shivered ashe waited there minute after minute, hoping, yet dreading, to see hisuncle's form rolling past.
Presently he heard the hum of the returning aeroplane. Bob shouted ashe sped by, but what he said was indistinguishable. Lawrence felt moreand more despairing until with a gleam of hope he wondered whether hisuncle had swum to one bank or the other and climbed to safety. Helooked at the bank behind him. It was steep, almost perpendicular, butmarked by fissures that promised to give him foothold. With teethchattering and limbs trembling with cold he essayed to clamber up. Atanother time he would have found the feat easy enough: now he was amazedat the tax it put upon him. Every now and then he stopped, clung on withhis hands, and turned his head to glance again at the stream. At last,on gaining the top, he looked along the track in both directions. Nobodywas in sight. The aeroplane had again disappeared from view.Hesitating a moment he began to walk up the track. A new fear assailedhim: what if the aeroplane had met with an accident! What if the enginehad failed, or the pilot had been too venturesome, and in attempting towheel in too narrow a space had crashed against the rock! Shivering asmuch from anxiety as from cold, he felt a glow of extravagant delightwhen he heard a cheery shout, and Bob came hasting towards him fromround the corner of a jutting rock.
"Any sign of him?" asked Bob anxiously as he met his brother.
"No. What can have become of him?"
"I fear the worst: but even if--if he is drowned he must come up sometime. We had better walk up and down for a bit."
"Where's the machine?"
"A few yards above the bridge. It was a risky thing, coming down there,but I thought I'd venture, and luckily didn't come to grief."
"Let us get our field-glasses. We can then examine every crevice in theother bank. We can't get to the other side and examine this. By theway, how did you get across?"
"One of the ropes that formed the hand-rails of the bridge is uninjured.It sags a bit, but it's just taut enough to swing over by."
For some time they marched up and down, above and below the spot wheretheir uncle had fallen. Bob stripped to his shirt, and swam along withthe current below the track, searching every cranny into which hethought the body might have been carried. No discovery rewarded hiscare except a primitive fishing net, the meshes of which had caught uponthe jagged edges of a rock.
"Do you think the Kalmucks got hold of him?" said Lawrence when theyagain met.
"Upon my word, I had almost forgotten them. They may have done so.It's clear that they got out of the river, and their horses, too. Ididn't see them as I flew up. What more can we do?"
"I don't know. I'm dead beat. I can't help thinking that the Kalmucksmust have captured him, alive or dead. When we have rested we hadbetter get our rifles and go and meet the Pathans. They ought to benear by this time. With them hunting on horseback and ourselves in theaeroplane we can scour the country. But we must tell our men; it's nogood starting without them."
"I think you're right. We'll get something to eat, and by the timeyou've had a rest, no doubt the men will arrive."