The Air Patrol Part 39

It was hardly light when a fierce bombardment broke out from the bend.

Sh.e.l.ls crashed upon the northern wall, and whistled into the deserted compounds, scattering earth in all directions, and filling the air with noisome fumes.

"We're safe here for the present," said Bob, whose face looked pinched and pale in the light of the morning. "But when they find we don't reply, and there's no other attack from the aeroplane, they'll bring their guns along and pound us from the opposite bank. When it gets too hot we must go into the galleries. Before they can repair the bridge and cross, Endicott ought to be here."

He had scarcely spoken when a sh.e.l.l plumped into the house, and set it on fire. The garrison were enveloped in a mantle of smoke. But as the smoke drifted across the river, the Kalmucks, taking courage from the quiescence of the defenders, rushed forward from their shelters and began to throw a light framework over the torrent between the rock in midstream and the end of the ruined bridge. The sudden cessation of the bombardment gave Bob an inkling of what was to come; next moment loud yells from beyond the river made it clear.

"They're coming at us," he said quietly to Lawrence. "They must have made a bridge. We can't retreat now. You must do your best, old chap."

Though Lawrence begged him to remain on his chair, Bob got up and accompanied the little band as they rushed towards the river wall to meet the storming party. They were no more than thirty; the track swarmed with the enemy. The improvised bridge would not support more than thirty at a time, so that the attackers and the defenders of the wall were equal in point of number; but the Kalmucks had posted many sharpshooters in the rocks above the track, who could fire over their comrades' heads and pick off the garrison manning the wall and the gap where the end of the drawbridge had been.

It was a fierce and terrible struggle hand to hand. The defenders could deal only with the storming party; they had no leisure to attend to the half-concealed marksmen among the rocks. With bayonet, clubbed rifle, sword and miner's pick they sought desperately to stem the attack. Gur Buksh had distributed the Sikhs among the miners to give them steadiness; but the Pathans, inspired by the fury of their own leaders, Fyz Ali and Muhammad Din, needed no encouragement from the disciplined men. Shan Tai and Chunda Beg had thrown themselves into the fray with picks. Of all the little community only Ditta Lai and the Bengali servants remained in the rear; they were physically unfit to bear a part in the great fight. It was much to their credit that, at this crisis in affairs, they did not cower in frantic terror, but toiled hard to raise a rampart of boxes, tins, and bags of earth opposite the mouth of the gallery.

Regardless of the fusillade, Bob and Lawrence went from end to end of the line, cheering the men, rallying them when they showed signs of being forced back by the onrush of the yelling enemy. Again and again the a.s.sault was beaten back. At one moment the end of the bridge was heaped high with the men thrust back from the wall. The river received many dead and wounded forms, and bore down some who, though unhurt, had been hurled or jostled off the bridge. But the garrison were dropping man by man. Gur Buksh, conspicuous by his height, fell to a bullet.

Ganda Singh fought on, though a bayonet had transfixed his arm. Fyz Ali was shot as he was in the act of bringing the b.u.t.t of his rifle down upon the head of a big Kalmuck who was forcing his way through the narrow gap into the compound. Bob, fainting from his former hurts, sank down unconscious among his wounded men. As yet unscathed, Lawrence stood in the gap, and the number of prostrate forms in front of him bore witness to his unfaltering vigour. Next to him Fazl, whose low stature rendered him immune from the sniping shots of the enemy, darted forth whenever he saw an opportunity of using his kukuri, and sprang nimbly back before he could be touched.

But Lawrence's heart sank as he saw his devoted little band becoming less and less. He had no reserves. There was no limit to the number that the enemy could throw against him. The crowd on the bridge never diminished. As soon as one man fell his place was taken from behind.

From sheer exhaustion the defenders could not stem the torrent many minutes longer. Their arms were aching and numbed almost to the point of paralysis. The frequent alarms and broken rest of seven days and nights were telling on their hardy frames. Lawrence, swinging his rifle like a flail, expected at every stroke that his muscles would refuse to lift the weapon for another. Missing Bob's cheering cries, he gave a rapid glance round, and seeing his brother on the ground, he was just making up his mind that the time had come for a general retreat to the galleries, their last line of defence, when there came the sudden crackle of rifles from a new direction. It was on the right. There was a cheer, very different from the shrill cries of the Kalmucks, and then confused cries all around. The firing from the rocks had ceased. At a second volley the Kalmucks on the bridge halted in surprise and hesitation. Lawrence guessed what had happened. Seizing the moment, he shouted to his men to follow him, and springing from the wall, led them in a fierce rush on to the bridge. They swept the enemy before them, cutting down one, tumbling another into the stream.

On the track a disorderly terrified crowd were rus.h.i.+ng past the bridge towards the north, masking the fire of their own guns at the bend.

Behind them at a gallop came fifty sowars of the Border force, led by Major Endicott himself. They swept on through the panic-stricken mob, upon whom, as the hors.e.m.e.n pa.s.sed, the garrison from their post on the bridge opened a withering fire. Major Endicott and his troopers pushed on and on, driving the enemy, some before them, some into the river, some up the rugged hillside. They did not halt until they reached the guns. There were a few minutes of desperate fighting about them; then the gunners were cut down, and the swarms behind were in full flight down the track. At a word from the Major half the sowars leapt from their horses, slewed the guns round, and sent sh.e.l.l after sh.e.l.l among the frenzied crowd until the whole track within sight was clear of living men. And Bob woke to consciousness to hear his brother's voice lead the men in a ringing cheer. The mine was saved; the enemy had been held in check for a week; every man had done his duty.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-NINTH

REUNION

Major Endicott left his men at the bend, and galloped back to the bridge. Dismounting there, he pressed Lawrence's hand warmly.

"Well played, sir!" he said. "Where's your brother?"

"In the compound, Major. He's all right, I think: that is, he wasn't hit this morning; but he was wounded yesterday, and is rather off colour."

"The doctor will be up in a few minutes. He was just behind me; and Fenton will arrive with the rest of the men and the guns in about an hour. I pushed on ahead when I heard the bombardment."

"Just in time! We couldn't have held out another five minutes."

"I'm glad we managed it," said the Major simply.

"Come and see Bob. They've burnt our house, and we can't make you very comfortable."

"My dear boy, comfort is ruin to a soldier. Ah! here's Coats; he'd better have a look at your brother at once."

The doctor rode up with another score of troopers. These the Major ordered to remain on guard at the bridge, in case the Kalmucks who were still scattered here and there on the track and the hillside should show any disposition to rally. Then the two officers crossed with Lawrence into the compound. Bob had been carried back to his chair by Shan Tai and the khansaman. The doctor made a brief examination of his wounds, got out some lint and lotion, and as he bandaged him declared that he would be quite sound in a few days. Then he went off to attend to the other wounded--almost every man of the little company. Ten had been killed outright; two were so severely injured that recovery was hopeless; the rest would be well sooner or later. Among these were Fyz Ali and Gur Buksh, though the Sikh's arm had to be amputated.

"I was never so glad of anything as I am to hand things over to you, Major," said Bob.

Major Endicott was seated on an upturned box beside his chair, with a biscuit in one hand and a hunk of corned beef in the other.

"Well, you know, I feel rather mean," he said munching. "Capital stuff, this! ... All the credit is yours and Lawrence's, and I shan't fail to say so. It's a thousand pities you are not both in the service. By the way, I saw as I came up that your aeroplane had come to grief, and it was a great relief to see Lawrence safe and sound."

"It wasn't ours," replied Bob, who then related in brief the events of the previous day.

"That's amazing. Then I suppose Lawrence can still use your machine for scouting if necessary?"

"We've no more petrol, unfortunately. What do you intend to do, then?"

"First of all secure our position here as soon as Fenton comes up.

We'll make it impossible for the enemy to get round that bend yonder.

Then we'll follow up the runaways and shepherd them out of the valley."

"There's such a lot of them, and you've so few!"

"But they can't extend on this narrow track, and my few will be a match for them. They'll soon give it up as hopeless, and draw off to rejoin their huge army operating in Afghanistan. This week's delay has been our salvation. The Chief is moving up a large force to hold the pa.s.ses south, and our flank is secure--a handsome feather in your cap, my lad.

When I am sure that the valley is clear I shall return to the frontier, and of course you and your men must come too. You won't want to hold on here now that your poor uncle is gone?"

"No: we had already made up our minds to that."

"I don't want to be inquisitive, but--er--have you--in short, what's your financial position, Bob?"

"I don't know. We had very little money, of course; everything in the house is burnt, including Uncle's cheque book, and all his papers. I don't know what he left, but I suppose there'll be no difficulty in proving our t.i.tle to what there is?"

"None at all, I should think, though I'm not up in law. You've got some ore worked, of course; copper, isn't it? Pity it isn't gold."

"There's better than copper, at all events. There's a heap of unworked ore in a cavity just beyond the compound, and Uncle said it's almost pure silver."

"That's first-rate. I recommend you to set the men to get it up at once. We'll transport it to India somehow or other, and I'm sure I hope it'll make you millionaires."

"Not much chance of that," said Bob with a smile. "But it will give us something to jog along with."

"You must be ready to start almost at once. We marched light; I've food for only two or three days, and short commons at that. This corned beef is very good: any more of it?"

"I'll inquire of my store-keeper. I haven't seen him lately: he wasn't in the fighting line, and I dare say he's alive."

When Captain Fenton with the remainder of the relieving force arrived, the men were set to work after a meal to render the track impa.s.sable. It was fortified at the bend with a series of entrenchments and wire entanglements, s.p.a.ce being left only for hors.e.m.e.n to pa.s.s in single file. Before the enemy had recovered from the shock of their reverse, the position which had given them so much trouble when defended by a mere handful of almost untrained men was rendered ten times more formidable, and held by ten times as many trained troops. On the next day they felt forward with their artillery, but being met by a hail of sh.e.l.ls from the mountain batteries, they soon withdrew their guns, and finally turned their backs on the scene of their wasted labours.

Major Endicott followed them down the valley with the greater part of his force, Lawrence accompanying him on one of the troopers' horses. He took two guns in case they should turn at bay, but they showed the utmost alacrity in retreating, and for many miles only the stragglers of their rearguard were ever in sight. When the pursuers, however, were within a short distance of the scene of Lawrence's little engagement on the way back from the bridge, they noticed a number of Kalmucks marching over the hills to the left. They were no doubt following the path by which the Kalmucks on that occasion had managed to outflank Lawrence's party. There being none of the enemy in sight along the track, Major Endicott deemed it necessary to climb into the hills and pursue the fugitives until he had made sure that no concentration was being attempted.

He left half his party with the guns on the track to continue their march, and began to climb. It was a breakneck path, narrow, tortuous, and at times so steep that the troopers had to dismount and lead their horses carefully. They made slow progress, and when the Major reached a more level stretch and, looking through his field-gla.s.s, no longer saw any sign of the enemy, he decided that it would be waste of time and energy to follow any farther.

He had just given the order to retire when the figure of a man suddenly appeared from the entrance of a ravine a few hundred yards ahead, and walked towards the troop, holding his hands above his head. Thinking that he was one of the enemy intending to surrender, the Major waited.

"I know that man," said Lawrence after a few moments. "He's an old Uzbek fellow, who lives quite alone somewhere in these hills, no one knows where. He comes to the mine at long intervals to buy food and ammunition in exchange for the horns and skins of _Ovis poli_. I suppose he's on his way there now."

"Can you understand his lingo?"

"No; my uncle was the only one of us who could talk to him."