CHAPTER XIV
A Brush with Pathans
"There! At last! Listen!"
The Major held up a hand for silence while he hung out of the window ofthe gallery running beneath the huge framework of the airship.
"Look! You can see the flashes from the guns of the Pathans," he called."A circle of them, getting very close too. What's the latest message?"
"Officer hit, sir," reported the wireless operator. "Several men hurtsince we were first called up. Ammunition gone completely. They expectto be rushed at any instant, and in any case once night has completelyfallen."
"In fact a dangerous if not desperate situation," said Andrew, his voiceanxious. "Now, what do we do? I am prepared to make any sacrifice thatmay be necessary. But wait; could we not direct our searchlights on theenemy and so scare them away? They are sure to be ignorant savages, anda beam from above might very well throw them into a panic."
But Major Harvey shook his head decidedly, though one could not see themovement, for all lights aboard the ship had been switched off. Outsidethere was darkness, getting more intense every minute, while, as theMajor had informed them, one could detect flashes spurting from ahundred points in a circle, while the rattle of musketry came faintly tothe ear. The position of the dusky enemy was, in fact, clearly outlinedby those flashes, and looking downward Dick could imagine the positionof the gallant little band of Gurkhas stationed somewhere in the centreawaiting the rush of the enemy.
"With bayonets ready fixed," he told himself. "But it'd be short work inthe darkness. Those Pathans would creep in--are creeping in evennow--and outnumber our fellows by twenty to one. Yes, this is a toughlittle business."
It was obvious that the Major viewed it in a similar light, while he wasemphatic in his reply to Andrew.
"Might scare 'em a trifle at first with your lights," he told himshortly. "But, bless you, these Pathans aren't so uneducated as youimagine. They've lived so long within call of the British that they keepin touch with big movements. The many friends they send down into theplains to loot rifles return with tales of what they've seen, with newsof what they've heard in the bazaars and hovels they've frequented. Sothey've seen motor cars for a certainty, and possibly a solitaryaeroplane. In any case they know the sahib can rise into the air andstay there. That's why their astonishment won't easily be turned toalarm. But if there were daylight the size of this ship alone might send'em skeedadling. No, Mr. Andrew, we've got to do something active."
"At your service. In what way, Major? Mention it and you will have oursupport."
"Then ammunition's wanted; so's an officer."
"And you suggest----?"
"With your approval I propose to descend to our troops, takingammunition with me. You have service rifles aboard and have an abundantstore of cartridges. Then lower a few cases as rapidly as you are able."
Andrew was not the one at such a time to stand chattering, while had hebeen one of undecided mind Joe would have given an order promptly.Fortunately both uncle and nephew were alike in that respect, and atonce assented to the Major's proposal. A low call, indeed, broughtHawkins and Hurst and a few of the others hurrying forward, withSergeant Evans and Private Larkin in close attendance.
"I've roused half a dozen cases of ammunition already, sir," reportedthe Sergeant. "They're being carried at this moment toward the lift."
"Good!" cried the Major. "Then there need be no delay. Now, Mr. Andrew,if your nephew will kindly locate our friends below, so that I may bedropped directly toward them, we will soon bring a change to thissituation. And once I have landed, a searchlight turned upon the enemywill be of great advantage. I need not ask you to be cautious not toturn the beams on the little party I hope to have the honour ofcommanding within a few minutes."
Brisk and abrupt as became a soldier about to undertake a hazardousexpedition, the Major at once stepped toward the lift. Joe himself madefor the engine room, and within a minute a dazzling beam was floodingthe landscape below, not the ordinary beam that one would have expected,but a cunning circle of rays controlled by a lamp of Joe's owninvention. In fact he had merely taken the precaution to place a blackdisk in the centre of the enormous reflector of the lamp, so that thecentral beams were almost entirely occluded. Staring down from theairship, her crew and passengers found that they were above amountainous district. Huge rocks and pinnacles cropped up from a plateauwhich was barren and strewn with boulders, while the general trend ofthe ground was steeply downward, from the point immediately beneath thevessel. It was there, gathered in a circle surrounded by rocks, that thefeeble central rays, the few which had managed to escape theobliterating disk, fell upon some sprawling figures.
"The Gurkhas," cried Dick. "Look at 'em waving. And see the enemy!"
The latter were easily visible, and it made Dick catch his breath whenhe observed that some were within two hundred yards perhaps of thatlittle central group. Creeping forms were half hidden behind rocks.Others were worming a way across open ground, while, as the beams playedupon them, not a few of the dusky enemy stood upright and waved theirarms and shouted. Indeed, some turned tail and ran. Then loud commandsrecalled them, while one figure erected itself, a figure swathed inflowing garments, arms were tossed overhead, and those in the airshipcould hear a stentorian voice haranguing the men.
"Listen!" cried the Major. "Ah! 'My brethren,' he calls to them, 'mybrethren, be not fearful of the white light which shines from the sky.It is not magic. It is merely the lamp from the balloon of the infidel.What harm may a lamp do then to the faithful? How can it come between usand these Gurkha dogs whom we have been seeking this many a day? Thencease to take note of it. Fear not, but push forward, for theirammunition is exhausted. Now, I myself will lead the rush.'
"What's our height?" asked the Major abruptly.
"A thousand feet," suggested Dick.
"No, six hundred," Joe corrected him from the entrance to theengine-room.
"Then lower me to our fellows, then ascend out of range of shot. Many ofthose Pathans are armed with modern rifles and could riddle the ship.Now, sir, I am ready."
"So am I," cried Dick, taking his place on the platform of the lift,where the ammunition cases had already been placed.
"And I also," chimed in Alec, joining him.
"But----" began Andrew.
"Let 'em come," said the Major. "It'll be a fine experience for them.But you know the risks, lads."
Dick grinned. He had a way of doing that when excited. Alec merely slunghis rifle across his shoulders and gripped the supporting cable.
"Lower away then," cried Andrew. "Now!"
The motor hummed that cheerful refrain to which all had now becomeaccustomed. The platform sank from the gallery gently at first, and thenfell rapidly. And as it went, the rays of the lamp were shut offcompletely. But a few moments later, when the telephone bell sounded andthe Major's voice was heard, the beams again swamped the underlyinglandscape, showing the lift but a few feet above the group of Gurkhas."Lower," they heard from the Major.
"Grounded, and as gently as possible," said Joe. "Ah! They've taken thecases off. Now, up she comes. Send the ship upward; and, Hawkins."
"Sir," that worthy responded, saluting in nautical fashion.
"Put the men at the windows of the gallery and let 'em fire down uponthe enemy. Sergeant Evans, you'll see that there's ammunition."
There was at once brisk movement aboard the ship, while down below thepatter of rifle shots had already come from the central group ofsoldiers. Indeed, those ammunition cases were already opened, and withina minute of the Major's arrival the Gurkhas had all received a supply ofcartridges.
"I'll post myself in the centre," the Major told Dick and Alec swiftly."You, Dick, take command of the men on the upper face. That's the pointfrom which the rush is likely to come, for that's where their chief isstationed. Alec, take the lower slope, and look out for crawlingrascals. Ah! They've opened from the ship, and some of the Pathans arereplying."
Bullets in
deed were hissing upward, and twice Joe flinched as a missilehit the celludine sides of his pet airship.
"It'll--it'll bring us down, won't it?" gasped Andrew, though he showedno signs of terror.
"Not it," came the reassuring answer. "We shall lose a little gasperhaps, for those bullets make but the smallest opening. It wouldrequire a shell to do great damage. Even then, don't forget that thereare quite a number of compartments. Wish to goodness I had brought bombsaboard the ship. A few dropped on the heads of the enemy would send 'emscuttling."
The need for such inventions was beneath the ship without a doubt, forthe circling beam of light showed that the Marconi operator had made noerror when he reported that there were a thousand Pathans hemming in theGurkha soldiers. Indeed, every little rock seemed to shelter a recumbentfigure, while rifles could be seen protruding from a hundred crevices.Moreover, the arrival of the ship had stirred the enemy to greaterexertions, while the fact that ammunition had now reached the defendersof the central position roused them to fury. The loud crackle ofmusketry from the ship also helped not a little to force the Pathans tocomplete their task at once or slink away into the darkness.
"Massing up above me, sir," Dick reported coolly, when the Major creptacross to the post he had taken some few minutes later. "I've seen thatchief of theirs twice and tried to pot him. But he's artful. He and hismen are closer. They'd have been here by now but for the light whichshows their positions. The Gurkhas ain't wasting many shots either."
In the half-light playing over the defenders it was possible to see theshort, sturdy forms of the native soldiers, those hillmen who havefought so often side by side with their white comrades. They lay in acircle, each man behind cover, with magazines crammed in preparation forthe moment when the enemy would charge. Slowly and deliberately theywere shooting cartridges from their pouches into the breeches of theirweapons, and every half-second there was a sharp report, and oftenenough an answering shriek from the enemy.
Ah! Suddenly that tall figure clad in flowing raiment stood erect, whilethe chief waved a rifle over his head. Instantly a dozen weapons held bythe Gurkhas covered him, and Dick himself swung his own rifle to hisshoulder. But the figure dropped out of sight promptly, only to appear aminute later some fifteen feet to the right. It was a broad-bladedtulwar which the beams from above them showed him to be waving. A loudshout escaped him, and instantly, as if it were a signal, as undoubtedlyit was, the Pathans became silent. Not one drew trigger. Then the clear,ringing voice of the chief was heard once more.
"Telling 'em to make ready," said the Major crisply. "Listen! This iswhat he says. I know their lingo and so can translate. 'Brethren, thehour has come to end this little matter. If we delay, then the infidelwill prove too strong for us. Drop, then, your rifles and firearms.Take to your knives, and when I shout once more rush in upon theaccursed infidel.'"
"Got him!" declared Dick a second later. "Hate shooting a fellow in theopen, but then, it's he or us. Eh, sir?"
"Quite right! A good shot and a plucky one," cried the Major. "Yourisked getting a bullet from the enemy. That shot of yours will quietenthem for a few moments. But it won't stop the rush. Every man in a tribesuch as this is capable of leading his fellows. Yes; watch closely, andyou, men," he went on, turning to the Gurkhas, and speaking in their ownlanguage, "obey the officer here. The enemy will rush at any moment. Asthey come, pour volleys into them, then stand shoulder to shoulder andgive them the bayonet."
A hoarse cheer came from the sturdy Gurkhas, a cheer answered by Hawkinsand Hurst and his fellows overhead.
"There's me and Larkin and few more of the boys as would give summat tobe down there a waitin' for them 'eathen," said the former, growling thewords into Joe's ear. "Me and some of my mates 'd give a heap to bealongside of them 'ere Gurkha fellers, a standin' with bayonets fixed.Lor, sir, see them Pathan villains! If they ain't all crawling andcrawling towards one corner."
From the gallery of the airship it was possible to see everything, andwith a twinge of apprehension Joe discerned perhaps five hundred figuresnow. They were leaving hollows and cover from all directions, and werecreeping and worming their way towards one quarter, the point from whichtheir chief had called to them.
"Very serious," he told himself. "They're massing for a charge. I'lldrop the ship closer and chance more of their bullets, though for thelast few minutes they have left us alone. Ah! Sergeant Evans, what doyou advise?"
"Send the ship a trifle closer, sir," came the prompt answer. "Getdirectly over those varmint. Then--then leave 'em to me. I've preparedsomething for 'em, something that'll blow a few of 'em back into theirown passes."
"A bomb?" asked Joe, dumbfounded, for as he had said, he had broughtnothing of the sort aboard with him. Indeed, firearms and weapons ofoffence generally were not of great interest to him. His was the subtlemind which gripped larger affairs, affairs such as this airship, and hersimple yet extremely efficient equipment. But if he were ignorant ofweapons, cartridges, and bombs, Sergeant Evans had at least someacquaintance with such matters.
"Thought we'd likely enough want something of the sort, sir," he said."So I've got 'em ready. Move the ship directly over 'em, sir. Quick,too, or they'll be starting to rush, and then nothing will hold them.There! See them Gurkhas! The Major's drawing them all close together, soit's clear that he's seen what's passing."
The unusual opportunities that the light playing upon the surroundingsof the Gurkhas gave offered opportunities to the gallant Major whichotherwise would have been missing. Indeed, the paucity of numbers of thelittle British force was in a measure compensated for by the darknesswhich hung over them, and by the brilliant light surrounding theirenemy. Had there been no cover there, save in the centre, no doubt thatspreading light would have enabled the Major quickly to send the Pathansscuttling. But the ground was strewn with rocks, rocks which offeredfirst-class cover, and even gave protection against bullets fired fromthe airship. Not that Hawkins and his comrades missed their chances.Many a crawling enemy did they locate, and many a Pathan did they causeto bite the dust. But they could not stop that concentrating movement nomore than could the Gurkhas; and presently, peeping from behind the rockwhich sheltered him, Dick made out a mass of human beings to his front,every rock and crevice seeming to hold a figure.
Suddenly a man stood to his full height, careless of the weapons wieldedby the Gurkhas. Two arms waved frantically above his head, while therewas the gleam of steel flashing in the rays of the electric lightpouring down upon them.
"The hour is here; Allah bids us advance. To those who fall, there ishappiness and glory in the long future. Charge!"
He was a brave man, and at any other time Dick would willingly have seenhim spared. But he was a leader, and, as such, of danger to this littleparty. It was, therefore, with a sigh of relief that he saw the man'sfigure suddenly straighten. The chief leaned backward, his armswidespread, his tulwar dangling from one wrist Then, with a shriek, heleaped forward, crumpled up in midair, and fell heavily upon a boulder.
"But another will take his place," whispered the Major. "Dick, this iseven hotter than I had anticipated. I was rash to let you and Alec come.For me, it is merely a matter of duty, for an officer was wanted badly.For you, it is a different matter, and if anything happens----"
"It'll be duty for me too, sir," answered the midshipman coolly. "I'm anofficer too, sir, don't forget that. Besides, we ain't dead yet. A longway from it."
That was Mr. Dicky Hamshaw all over. His cheerful optimism was catching.It was just the thing for which his tars adored him.
"If that ain't Mr. Dicky there a-standin' out in the open!" shoutedHurst at that very moment, catching sight of the familiar figure of theyoung sailor as the lamp above swayed and swept a few scattered beamsover the Gurkhas. "He's a-shakin' 'is fist at the 'eathen, and he'sa-standin' in the open. Get under cover there, sir," he bawled loudlythrough the window of the gallery, while Hawkins and the others staredanxiously down at their middy.
"And there
's Mister Alec, 'im as is too good for a sailor," chimed inPrivate Larkin, though the effort at humour at that moment cost himsomething. "Blest if he ain't a-standing alongside of that 'ere Dicky,a-talkin' to him as cool as a gineral."
"Stop talking, men, please," came from Joe, in anxious tones. "Now isthe time to pepper the enemy, for I fear that they are about to charge.Yes. Look! Another rascal has risen to lead them."
The crackle of musketry from the grouped figures of the Gurkhas toldplainly enough that the time for trial was upon them, while if Joe andthe crew of the airship had a doubt, the lamp soon convinced them. Thatslow, careful movement of concentration was now completed. Perhaps fivehundred of the enemy were gathered in one quarter, and but two hundredyards separated them from the Major and his command. And a third leaderhad suddenly put in an appearance. The Gurkhas could not see him, thoughJoe and Andrew could. For he was behind an enormous piece of rock, wherehe was busily haranguing his fellows.
"And a-callin' of 'em to 'ack Mr. Dicky Hamshaw to pieces," growledHawkins, adjusting his sights on the figure. "This 'ere's for an'eathen--a black-'earted 'eathen!"
His weapon snapped, there was a loud thud as the bullet struck the rockbehind which the chief was standing, and then a shout from Mr. Andrew.
"They're off! They're charging!" he cried.
"Make way! Now, drop her a trifle, sir," called Sergeant Evans, who hadposted himself at one of the windows. "That will do. Stop her. Nowwatch."
He tossed something from the airship and craned his head as far as waspossible. As for Hawkins and the rest of the crew, they fired madly downupon the enemy. For those five hundred figures, partly hidden some fewseconds earlier, were now in the open. They were rushing together acrossthe two hundred yards of barren ground which alone separated them fromthe forlorn Gurkhas. In half-dozens, in clusters of ten and more, inones and twos and threes, with streaming banners, with waving arms andwhirling knives and tulwars, they were descending upon Dick and hisgallant comrades as a whirlwind, a human avalanche which would overwhelmthem. It made Andrew positively ill with fear of the consequences. Heshut his eyes tightly and gripped the frame of the window. As for Joe,he darted towards the engine-room, with the mad, half-formed idea ofsending the ship plunging downward, charging that charging host, infact. Even Hawkins forgot to use his weapon any longer. Sergeant Evansalone retained perfect coolness.
"Another second," he shouted to them, "one little second, and then----"The answer came before he had finished speaking. The head of thatcharging column was suddenly enveloped in a blinding flash, a flash thebrilliance of which dimmed the rays from the ship's lamp. Those whirlingPathans melted, as it were, were swept aside, were blown out of sight bya terrific explosion. Even those in the airship above felt a portion ofthe concussion, while the vast ship itself trembled and swayedominously.
"What is that? We are hit with a shell! We are falling!"
The stout figure of Carl Reitberg appeared at his cabin door, clutchingat it convulsively. But not one took the smallest notice of him, saveAndrew, who turned and bade him curtly to be silent.
"A few feet ahead, sir," called Sergeant Evans. "Now, that'll stop 'em."
Once more he leaned from the window of the gallery and tossed somethinginto space. And again there were some seconds' anxious waiting. Thenthere came a mighty explosion, more forcible than the first--aconcussion and blast of flame and gas which shot the ship upward. Downbelow it brought havoc to the Pathans, for it fell almost in the centreof that still-charging host, sweeping perhaps a hundred out ofexistence. Howls resounded on every side, while the rays streaming downupon this battlefield showed dusky figures scuttling away in alldirections. And then came cheers, hoarse cheers of relief from theGurkhas, while Hawkins and his comrades made the night hideous withtheir shouting. Indeed, for perhaps five minutes the noise continued,while occasionally a shot rang out as a Gurkha sighted some crawlingfigure. Then Joe manoeuvred the ship over the spot which the Major hadbeen holding, and let her settle gently.
"Now for food for the men and more ammunition, beside help for thewounded," he said. "Let's bustle."
The following morning found their work completed; while, as the shiprose once more, she sighted a relieving column within a mile of thelittle force to whose aid they had come on the previous evening. It wasclear, in fact, that there was no longer need for delay, and thereforethe airship was headed eastward. Nor had Joe Gresson been idle in themeanwhile. He had repaired the few holes in the envelope of the vessel,and had set his gas producer in action, thereby replenishing losses. Andnow he steered for the heart of India, for Delhi, in fact, where heproposed to restock his larders. Two days later found the party hoveringover that ancient and historic city, while that same evening the hugeairship lay resting tranquilly outside the fortifications, within sightof the famous ridge of Delhi, a vast multitude gazing on her.
Doors in that long gallery were thrown open, officers and highofficials, both British and native, thronged the ship, while even ladiespartook of Andrew's hospitality. Indeed there was a merry party in thesaloon, while Dicky Hamshaw was conducting an admiring party over thevessel. Only one individual was missing. It was Mr. Carl Reitberg, atthat moment skulking in his cabin.
"At last," he was chuckling, as he rubbed his hands together, and gentlyprised open that curious box of his. "At last the time has come to teachthese people a lesson. A little caution, a little watching, and then theship flies in pieces. Of course, it'll be sad for the men. I've nogrudge against 'em. But then, how can I help killing a few? Thedestruction of the ship is all-important. Yes, a little cunning and Ishall lay the bombs, set the clockwork in motion, and go. Who is to saythat it was not due to a dreadful accident?"
The man's face was positively hideous in its cunning. Those aboard theairship were indeed face to face with a crisis.