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diff --git a/38714.txt b/38714.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7bc9e6f --- /dev/null +++ b/38714.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5992 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Carry On!, by Herbert Strang + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Carry On! + A Story of the Fight for Bagdad + +Author: Herbert Strang + +Illustrator: H. K. Elcock + H. Evison + +Release Date: January 30, 2012 [EBook #38714] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARRY ON! *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + + +[Frontispiece: A DASH FOR LIBERTY] + + + + + +CARRY ON! + +_A STORY OF THE FIGHT FOR BAGDAD_ + + +BY + +HERBERT STRANG + + + + +ILLUSTRATED BY H. K. ELCOCK + AND H. EVISON + + + + +HUMPHREY MILFORD + +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + +LONDON, EDINBURGH, GLASGOW + +TORONTO, MELBOURNE, CAPE TOWN, BOMBAY + + + + +PRINTED 1917 IN GREAT BRITAIN BY R. CLAY AND SONS, LTD. + +BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E. 1, AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + I A TELL NEAR BABYLON + II THE GAPING JAWS + III THE BARBER'S APPRENTICE + IV THE SHAVING OF BURCKHARDT + V SECRET SERVICE + VI THE DERVISH HEZAR + VII A MAD RACE + VIII ACROSS THE EUPHRATES + IX FRIENDS OR FOES? + X THE TRYST + XI THE TRAP + XII A REARGUARD ACTION + XIII IN THE BRITISH LINES + XIV THE ENEMY'S GUNS + XV A RAID + XVI CLOSING IN + XVII RAISING THE SIEGE + XVIII THE TIMELY BOMB + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +COLOUR FRONTISPIECE BY H. K. ELCOCK. + +A DASH FOR LIBERTY (see p. 102), + + +DRAWINGS IN LINE BY H. EVISON. + + +THE STRUGGLE ON THE TELL + +A MOUTHFUL OF SOAP + +THE PRISONER + +THE LAST SHOT + +A CAPTIVE IN BONDS + +STRANDED + +MAJOR BURCKHARDT IS DISTURBED + +THE DASH FOR THE MACHINE-GUN + +THE BARBER IS MOBBED + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A TELL NEAR BABYLON + +Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers," has been brought by Time's +revolution once more into the foreground of the history of the world. +The plains where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob tended their flocks and +herds; where the hosts of Sennacherib, Shalmaneser and Alexander +contended for "world-power" in their day; where the Arabs, heirs of +ancient civilisations, reared a civilisation of their own until it fell +under the blight of Turkish dominion: have become once more the +battle-ground of opposing armies, the representatives of conflicting +spirits and ideals. + +This fertile land, whose history dates back many thousands of years, +has long lain desolate. Swamps and marshes and the floods of the +Tigris and the Euphrates cover immense tracts that were once the +granary of the middle East. The old canals and irrigation works +constructed by Babylonians and Assyrians are now obliterated by sand. +Where once large populations throve and cultivated literature and the +arts, now roam only a few tribes of Arabs, degenerate descendants of +the race that at one time led the world in the things of the mind. +Mesopotamia is the "abomination of desolation." + +Here and there a mound--known to archaeologists as a _tell_--marks the +site of a buried city, and excavation has brought to light the remains +of palaces and monumental tombs, and temples where "pale-eyed priests" +chanted incantations to Assur and Ishtar and Merodach--the Baalim and +Ashtoreth of the Bible. It was at one such _tell_ that the story to be +unfolded in the following pages had its beginning. + + +Early one morning in the autumn of 1916, any one who had chanced to be +standing on this _tell_ would have noticed, far in the eastern sky, a +moving speck. It might have been a gigantic bird, but that, as it +approached, its flight was swifter, more direct, more noisy. As it +came nearer, it swept round in an immense circle, then descended in a +spiral course, skimmed the surface of the _tell_, and finally alighted +on a clear and level stretch of ground on the western side. + +Through all its ages of solitude the _tell_ had never known so strange +a visitant. The shades of ancient priests and soothsayers might be +imagined to shrink away from this intruder upon their haunts. What had +remotest antiquity to do with this symbol of modernity, the last word +in scientific invention in a world of scientific marvels? + +Some such thoughts as these seemed to grip one of the two young men who +disengaged themselves from the aeroplane. + +"So this is your _tell_!" cried the elder of the two, in the loud tones +that bespeak a cheerful soul. He looked with an air of mockery at the +rugged contours of the mound. + +"Hush, Ellingford!" said the other, in a stage whisper. "We are +trespassers--on a spot where Assyrians worshipped when Rome was still a +village." + +"Well, _they_ can't hear us. What's more to the point, the Arabs can, +if they're about; so hurry up." + +"Hopelessly matter-of-fact; everlastingly practical! Here are we, in +the very nursery and cradle of mankind; yet you can't spare half a +thought for the past! You live altogether in the present----" + +"Look here, Burnet," said the other, cutting him short; "if you don't +stop gassing we shall neither of us live in the future. Before you can +say Jack Robinson--or Beelzebub, if you prefer it--we may have a swarm +of Arabs round us with Mauser rifles and explosive bullets. I'm +responsible for this machine. So buck up. You can commune with the +spirits of the past when I am gone." + +Captain Ellingford spoke good-humouredly, but with an undertone of +seriousness. Roger Burnet laughed. + +"Righto," he said. "I'll not keep you." + +He glanced keenly around, as if looking for some landmark; then, having +found what he sought, set off with quick step towards a group of ruins +near the centre of the _tell_, about a hundred and fifty yards from +where the aeroplane had landed. Captain Ellingford, first looking in +all directions to assure himself that no one was near, followed his +companion, ever and anon throwing a glance backward: he was loth to +leave his machine. + +The surface of the _tell_ was irregular. At one part you would find a +smooth expanse of sand; at another, drifted heaps, fragments of rubble, +brick and stone; at a third, larger blocks of stone, broken columns, +chips of cornice and frieze. Only at one spot was there any +substantial relic of the ancient buildings. The lower portion of what +had once been a magnificent gateway or porch, together with the remains +of the adjacent walls, rose above the surrounding litter. Each side of +the portal was formed of what appeared to be a massive solid block, +carved to the image of some strange colossal animal, its mouth gaping +in a hideous grimace, like the gargoyles on a medieval church. Through +this gateway Burnet passed; then he turned to the right, stooped, and +with a piece of broken sherd began to scrape away the sand from an area +several feet square. Presently there was revealed a flat slab of +stone, which, when he had cleared its edges of sand, he lifted, +revealing a shallow flight of steps. + +"Here we are," he said, turning to his companion. "We discovered it +when we were digging here a few years ago, my poor old father and I, +and covered it up, meaning to return. There was a German grubbing +about in the neighbourhood, and my father didn't want any poaching on +what he considered his preserves. But he never had a chance to come +back. Come down and have a look." + +He led the way down into a small subterranean room or cellar, and +flashing his electric torch, pointed out strange markings on the walls. + +"Queer hobby," remarked Ellingford. "Well, I must get back to the bus. +Don't like leaving it so long." + +They returned to the aeroplane. Burnet took a bundle from it. +Ellingford got into his seat, saying: + +"A month from now, then. I'll be here unless I'm pipped. Take care of +yourself. Good luck!" + +He started the engine. Burnet helped him to shove off; the machine +jolted over the rough ground, rose into the air, and in five minutes +was out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE GAPING JAWS + +Burnet ascended to the highest point of the _tell_, and, unstrapping a +pair of field glasses, made a careful survey of his surroundings. The +country between himself and the river consisted mainly of swamp and +marsh, dotted with islands of various sizes. There were no dwellings +within view, but Burnet knew that the region was inhabited, though +sparsely, and the flight of the aeroplane, its descent near the _tell_, +its subsequent departure, must have been noticed by a certain number of +Arabs. Curiosity, if no other motive, would impel any who were near to +hasten to the spot; but he saw no movement on all the wide expanse +around except among the birds of the marsh; and reflecting that those +Arabs who had witnessed the return flight of the aeroplane would not +guess that it had left a passenger behind, he restored the glasses to +their case, and prepared to complete the errand that had brought him to +the spot. + +Descending to the foot of the _tell_, he made his way to a wady that +bordered it on one side. A sluggish current of muddy water flowed +through the channel, whose banks were thickly overgrown with reeds. A +number of these he cut with his pocket-knife, binding the stalks with +tendrils of a trailing plant. With this faggot of reeds in one hand +and the bundle he had taken from the aeroplane in the other, he +returned to the ruins on the tell. There he stuck the former in the +grinning mouth of one of the grotesque animals at the porch; then he +passed inside, and once more descended into the underground room, this +time, however, letting the stone slab drop into its place above. + +A few seconds later the bundle of reeds hanging out of the monster's +mouth disappeared. The animal, so far from being a solid block, as it +appeared, was hollow, and Burnet had climbed into it by means of +notches in the wall at one corner of the cellar. He withdrew the +reeds: next moment they reappeared at a similar orifice on the other +side of the figure, which, like Janus, was double-faced, and with this +roughly extemporised broom he swept a quantity of sand over the slab, +until it was hidden sufficiently to pass unnoticed except by a careful +observer acquainted with its position. This done, he drew the broom +back and took it down with him to the dark and airless chamber below. + +If any watching Arab had seen the young British officer disappear into +the earth, he would have been somewhat startled, some twenty minutes +later, when the slab was lifted again and an Arab lad cautiously +emerged. His head was swathed in a strip of parti-coloured cloth held +in position by two thick rings of camel's hair; a dirty, shapeless, +yellowish robe descended to his knees; his legs, remarkably brown, were +bare; his feet were encased in leather-thonged sandals. He carried a +small bundle; across his shoulder was slung a British regulation +water-bottle--the only article by which he could have been +distinguished from the boatmen who might be seen any day on the Tigris. +He lowered the slab, swept sand over it, obliterated the footprints +around, and having thrust his reed-broom into the mouth of the stone +animal, picked his way through the ruins to the north-west corner of +the _tell_, where an uninterrupted view of the country could be +obtained. + +He was just turning the corner of a rugged wall when, beneath him at a +distance of barely twenty yards, he saw a young Arab rushing up the +slope, stumbling, recovering himself, his eyes directed always to his +feet. Burnet edged backwards round the corner, and was out of sight +when the Arab gained the top. But there was now only a few yards +between them; in a second or two the Arab would himself turn the +corner, and Burnet saw that if he made a dash for the nearest cover in +his rear he must inevitably be observed by the stranger before he could +reach it. Whipping out a pistol as a precaution--for he knew not +whether the Arab was friend or foe--he stood back. The Arab darted +round the corner at racing speed, saw the pistol pointed at him, and +swerving slightly grabbed at Burnet's wrist. The sudden wrench jerked +the pistol out of his hands and at the same time caused both men to +lose their balance. Burnet, the first to recover himself, freed his +arm with a dexterous twist, and the two men closed, stumbling and +swaying over the broken surface of the _tell_. + +[Illustration: THE STRUGGLE ON THE TELL] + +As soon, however, as Burnet got a firm hold the issue was not long in +doubt. The Arab wriggled like an eel, but he was no match for the +Englishman either in physical strength or in athletic skill. Moreover +he was already winded by his impetuous rush over the heavy ground. +Burnet freed himself without much difficulty from his opponent's grip: +then, getting his hand behind the Arab's neck in the position known to +the wrestler as the "half-nelson," he forced him downwards and finally +threw him helpless into a pocket of sand. In a few seconds he had +secured the man's weapons--a clumsy pistol and a crooked dagger called +_shabriyeh_--and regained his own pistol. Then he stood above the +Arab, who now lay on his back, staring up at the supposed fellow-Arab +who had thrown him so easily and in a manner so unfamiliar. + +The stranger was no older than Burnet himself. He was an Arab of the +best type, with handsome features and intelligent and fearless eyes. + +"Rise, I pray you, brother," said Burnet in Arabic. "We have somewhat +to say one to the other." + +The Arab got up quickly. Puzzled as he had been by the wrestling +trick, he was still more puzzled by the friendly manner of the man who +had vanquished him, and especially by the slight smile that accompanied +his words. He fixed his keen eyes on Burnet's face, but said nothing. + +"I am alone here, as you see," Burnet went on, "and in these times, +when it is hard to know friends from foes, a man must needs take care. +We are strangers, yet it may be that we are also friends." + +The Arab assented merely with a word, but did not relax his attitude of +watchfulness. This man who spoke to him used good Arabic, but was more +direct and less given to expletives than the average Arab. + +"You are my captive," Burnet continued. "Tell me who you are, whence +you come, and why you ran hither in such headlong haste." + +"My lips are dry; give me drink," said the Arab. + +"By the grace of Allah I have fresh water--not like the foul water of +the swamp," said Burnet, unscrewing the stopper of his water-bottle. +"Drink, brother." + +The young man took a deep draught, returned the bottle with a word of +thanks, and said: + +"My tongue will speak true things, and Allah judge between us." + +Burnet threw a keen glance around the horizon, then sat down on a +broken block of stone, inviting the Arab to sit opposite him. And then +the young man began his story. + +His name was Rejeb, and he was the chief of a clan of the Anazeh whose +territory lay on the far side of the Euphrates. His father, now some +years dead, had been a lifelong rebel against the Turkish rule, and in +his last year had suffered a disastrous defeat through the defection +and treachery of another chief who had been his ally. In this final +battle he had lost his life; his people had escaped extermination only +by fleeing into the desert. Since the outbreak of the Great War they +had gradually reoccupied their old districts, the Turks having enough +to do without taking measures to suppress so unimportant an enemy. It +was otherwise, however, with the treacherous tribe which had been his +father's ruin. For some time its chief, Halil, had made no sign: his +fighting strength was greatly reduced through the fact that many of his +men were with the Turks. But after the British failure to relieve Kut +he had collected a considerable force, and taking advantage of Rejeb's +absence at Kerbela he had first cut off the young man's tribe and then +attacked it. The tribe, after a stout resistance, had made good its +retreat across the Euphrates, to a fastness in the swamps. Rejeb, on +his way back from Kerbela, had been met by a messenger with news of the +reverse, and, changing his route in order to rejoin his people, had +been chased by a party of Halil's horsemen. In eluding them he had +lost touch with the messenger who had hitherto accompanied him; his +horse had foundered, and the only course then open to him was to swim +the Euphrates on a skin. This he had done, and thought himself safe, +when the reappearance of his pursuers revived his anxieties. +Fortunately their horses were useless in the swamps, and on foot he had +reasonable hope of escaping them. An hour or so, however, before his +arrival at the _tell_, he had only just succeeded in giving their main +party the slip. The direction of his flight had been seen by three or +four of their number who had separated from the rest, and he did not +doubt that these three or four, if not the whole body, had tracked him +and before long would reach the _tell_. + +Rejeb's story was told rapidly, and with an air of sincerity that would +have disarmed suspicion even in one far more sceptical by nature than +Roger Burnet. The news that men of a hostile tribe in Turkish pay were +hastening to this spot was very disturbing. Burnet knew that he was in +fully as much danger from his captive's pursuers as the captive +himself. His disguise might pass muster; the story he had invented to +account for the presence of a solitary boatman so far from the river, +if he were challenged, was sufficiently plausible; but if he was found +in the company of the young chief whom Halil's men were hounding down +he would certainly be seized and carried to Halil for examination at +least. He had very little time in which to secure himself. + +The obvious course was to release Rejeb, who would no doubt continue in +the direction he had been going, and as soon as he was out of sight, to +take refuge in the subterranean room until the chase was past. But the +young chief was jaded, worn out by his hurried flight and the +subsequent struggle on the tell. It was almost certain that he would +be run down. Burnet had taken an instinctive liking to him; he could +not give him up to his enemies, who were at the same time enemies of +the British. After a few moments' reflection he turned suddenly to the +Arab and said: + +"If I save you from the hands of Halil, will you swear by the beard of +the Prophet not to play me false?" + +Rejeb was apparently staggered by this strange offer from a man with +whom, a few minutes before, he had been locked in fierce struggle--a +man, moreover, who had given no account of himself and about whom there +was something mysterious. He flashed a keen questioning glance at +Burnet, as if fearful of a trap. + +"You are no boatman?" he said slowly. + +"And if I am not? What is that to you if I am a friend?" + +The Arab hesitated for a brief moment. Then perhaps it occurred to him +that his situation could scarcely be worse than it was; perhaps he was +mutually attracted to this young man of his own age. At any rate, +after the slightest pause, he said, raising his hand: + +"By the beard of the Prophet I swear it." + +During this conversation the two men had remained behind the wall, +Burnet every now and then peering through a gap in the masonry in the +direction from which the Arab had come. He now suggested that Rejeb +should go to the corner and keep watch for the pursuers. Having left +his field glasses with the rest of his equipment in the underground +room, he was less able than the keener-sighted Arab to view the distant +country. + +Rejeb went to the corner and flattened himself against the wall with +the instinct for cover natural to a dweller in the wilds. In a few +moments he beckoned to Burnet with one hand, the rest of his body +remaining motionless. When Burnet joined him, he asked him to look at +a large bed of rushes some distance to the north-west. Shading his +eyes with his hand, and careful not to expose himself, Burnet gazed +towards the spot indicated, and was soon able to make out five or six +figures moving among the reeds and advancing straight towards the tell. +Burnet led the Arab to the central ruins and through the porch to the +entrance of the underground room. Raising the slab they descended; +then Burnet mounted into the interior of the colossal animal in which +he had left his broom, and swept sand over the slab and the nearest +footprints as before. He had hardly withdrawn the broom when he heard +shuffling footsteps on the rough ground beyond the wall, and looked out +through the wide mouth of the image. It was almost completely dark +within, and in the unlikely event of any enquirer thinking to peer into +the jaws of the colossus he could escape discovery by stooping. + +In a few minutes a tall Arab appeared round the corner of the wall. He +was followed at short intervals by four others. All were stalwart +sinewy warriors of the desert, bristling with arms. They hunted +through the ruins like a pack of dogs that have lost the scent. Here +one would point to the impressions of sandals, and the rest followed +him as he traced them along the wall and up to the portico. Burnet +watched them without much anxiety, for he had taken care that no +tell-tale footmarks remained around the slab; and knowing that the +tracks that were visible led both towards and away from the ruins, he +guessed that the Arabs would suppose that their quarry had come and +returned. Their actions justified him. They traced the marks back to +the wall, then back again to the portico, beneath which they stood to +consult together. From the few words that Burnet caught it was clear +that they had seen Rejeb mount the tell, and they supposed that he had +crossed it and pursued his journey on the other side. Presently one of +them climbed a pile of rubbish from which he could scan the surrounding +country. The fugitive could not have gone any great distance, and he +must become visible on one or other of the open spaces between the beds +of rushes. The scout's four companions meanwhile threw themselves down +in the shade of the portico to rest. + +Secure in his hiding-place, Burnet felt some amusement at the +situation. He went down to the chamber beneath, and, warning Rejeb +against making any sound, took him up to his peep-hole and showed him +the figure of his enemy looking for him. It was some time before the +Arab gave up his vain task and returned to his companions. They came +to the conclusion that the fugitive must be lying hidden among the +rushes near the _tell_, and separating, started to scour the vicinity +thoroughly. They went methodically through clump after clump until +Burnet grew tired of watching them. Not until it was getting late in +the afternoon did their perseverance give out. Baffled, weary, and +angry at their failure, they rested awhile on the _tell_ and ate some +of the food they had brought with them; then they set off to return the +way they had come. + +Burnet was glad enough to win release at last from his stuffy quarters. +Emerging with Rejeb, he made all secure, and prepared to resume the +mission which the day's events had interrupted. In the underground +chamber he had already returned the young Arab's arms, and discussed +with him his subsequent movements. Rejeb would continue his journey to +his people, who were a march away to the south-east. He was full of +gratitude to his rescuer, and begged to know how he might serve him. + +"Surely it is right that I should serve the saviour of my life," he +said; "and my people also: they shall know that in serving him they +serve me." + +"We will not talk of service now," replied Burnet. "Who can tell the +future?" + +"At least let me know the name of my preserver: how else can I speak of +him rightly to my people, and bid them watch for opportunities of +serving him?" + +"Call me Yusuf the boatman," said Burnet, after a slight hesitation. +"By that name I am known to some in Bagdad and elsewhere. It may be +that some day we shall meet again." + +As soon as darkness made it safe to leave the _tell_ they parted. +Rejeb took his way to the south-east; Burnet set off north-west through +the swamps, in the direction followed by Rejeb's pursuers. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE BARBER'S APPRENTICE + +Firouz Ali, the barber of Bagdad, had just opened his shop near the +south gate. There were many other barbers in the city, but none of +them was so popular as Firouz Ali. Arabs, Turks, Greeks, Persians, +Germans, and the hundred and one nondescripts of the population +resorted to the well-known shop, not merely because Firouz Ali was +dexterous in his craft, but because he was a chatty agreeable fellow +and a fathomless well of information. Every customer of his who went +to be shaved, or shampooed, or to have his nails trimmed or his ears +cleaned (a very necessary toilet operation in a land of dust), came +away feeling that he had spent a very pleasant quarter of an hour and +gained knowledge at a trifling cost. He was not often aware that he +had given more than he had received. The barber had just opened his +shop, and, early as it was--the sun had risen no more than half an hour +before--a customer had already presented himself in the person of a +Turkish non-commissioned officer, come for a shampoo to brace him for +the work of the day. Firouz Ali had spread his towels, and was shaking +up his mixture. + +"A most elegant preparation, by the Beard," he said, holding the bottle +to his customer's nose. "You smell the oil of lavender? When you +leave me your hair will diffuse a sweet savour, and perfume the street." + +"Wallahi! I hope it will not attract the insects," said the Turk. + +"Make your mind easy about that. There is here an essence that is +bitter as death; insects shun it as you would the plague. You keep +your hair well, O noble warrior; the wear and tear of war has not +diminished your locks, Allah be praised! My own head, man of peace +though I am, has a bald spot that is only prevented from spreading by +the daily use of my own famous lotion. It is marvellous to me that you +men of war, considering the strain upon your intelligence and the +hardships you undergo, can preserve such bountiful locks without the +aid of my unguents." + +"Hardships! You speak truth, barber," grunted the soldier. "You men +of peace know nothing about it. Bad food, hard work, pay always in +arrears----" + +"A dog's life, indeed," said the barber sympathetically. "And, if I am +not deceived, the hard work is done by such as you, while the credit +goes to the officers." + +"You are not deceived, barber. If all goes well, how accomplished are +the officers! If things go ill, where is the misbegotten dog of a +non-commissioned officer who is to blame?" + +"Wallahi! That is the very echo of my own thought. What labours are +laid upon you! What responsibility is yours! Well for me that my +years forbid my bearing arms, for without doubt the strain would wear +me to a shadow and I should sink into my grave. Now bend your head, +and let your nostrils inhale the delicate odour of this matchless +preparation." + +He was in the act of pouring lotion on the man's head when a young Arab +in the dress of a boatman entered. Firouz Ali threw him a quick +glance; an observer might have detected a mutual look of recognition +between them; but the Turk's eyes were fixed on the basin. + +"Enter, O kelakji, and wait your turn," said the barber. "A month ago, +before my worthless dog of an apprentice left me, you might have been +attended to by the boy while I myself was occupied with customers of +importance; but now you must have patience until the demands of the +officer of the Padishah are satisfied." + +The newcomer sat himself down on a stool, and the barber went on: + +"Said I not truly? Is not the aroma fragrant as the gardens of the +Prophet? And the lather is white as the bloom of the tobacco plant. +Wallahi! we were speaking of your toils and sorrows, noble warrior, +when this young boatman entered. Truly your life is no bed of roses." + +"Truth is on your tongue, O barber," said the Turk. "This week I have +been able to snatch scarce an hour's sleep at a time. From morning +till night, from night till morning, stores to be checked, a +never-ending task. What with the railway and the river there is no +rest. If it is not a barge-load of grain, it is a train-load of +ammunition." + +"And it falls upon you to count all these things? Surely it is like +counting the ripples on a stream." + +"A labour beyond any man. The ammunition comes in boxes--we number the +boxes. I passed in 100,000 rounds yesterday, as many the day before; +and to-day there are machine-guns." + +"No wonder you come to be refreshed with a shampoo! You have charge of +the guns too! A heavy charge--all those thousands." + +"Ahi! I said not thousands--would there were! But in truth we have +not so many machine-guns as could be wished. The Alemans have not sent +us so many of late. But now they are beginning to come in again. +There are twenty, so word came to me, now waiting to be unpacked." + +"Verily it passes my understanding how you find room for all these +engines of war, even in so great a city as Bagdad. Moreover, is there +not great danger in the handling of them? I speak as a man of peace." + +"We are in truth sometimes hard put to it for store room, and when the +godowns are full, we have to keep our stores in the barges upon the +river hard by. But they do not remain there long, so great is the +demand for them from our brothers down the river. And as to danger----" + +At this point the Turk found himself under the necessity of keeping his +mouth shut. He was in the middle stage of the shampoo. To take part +in the conversation was impossible when the barber was pouring floods +of water over his head, or even later, when his head was smothered in a +towel, and the barber was kneading it with his hands. Firouz Ali +himself said, little during the final perfuming of his customer's hair, +and the sound of a bugle reminded the Turk that he must hasten back to +his duties. + +When he was gone, the barber turned to the young Arab. + +"Your father's son must always be welcome," he said, "but what of +prudence? Is it not a necessary virtue? The Turk is stupid, Allah +knows: witness the ass-head I have just anointed; but a watch is set +upon all the approaches to the city, and you may tempt fortune too far. +The house of Ionides was but lately occupied by a picket----" + +The young Arab started. + +"How did you know?" he asked. + +"Peace, peace!" replied the barber, with a significant gesture. "The +walls have ears; the dust carries tidings. Is it not my business to +know?" + +It was barely two hours since Burnet, slipping through the garden of a +deserted house on the bank of the Tigris south of the city, found +refuge in the building itself and watched for an opportunity, when, as +he thought, no observer was near, to make an unobtrusive entrance into +the streets. He knew of old how perfect was the barber's knowledge of +what went on in Bagdad, and indeed throughout Mesopotamia; but this new +illustration, this proof that his temporary shelter in the deserted +house of the Greek merchant Ionides was already known to Firouz Ali, +came upon him with something of a shock. + +Roger Burnet, as some may remember, was the son of a Cambridge scholar +who had devoted the latter years of his life to archaeological research +in Mesopotamia. There Roger had spent the greater part of his boyhood, +learning to speak Arabic almost as well as a native. Just before the +outbreak of war he had been recalled from school in England by a +peremptory telegram from his father, whom he found very ill. Mr. +Burnet lingered for more than eighteen months in the hill village of an +Arab chief, and it was not until June 1916 that Roger, after his +father's death, was able to set off with the intention of joining the +British army. Disguised as an Arab, he had travelled to Bagdad with a +party of the chief's men, and taken counsel with Firouz Ali, an old +friend of his father, a man of quick wit, and an important member of an +organisation that was working for the release of the Arabs from the +Turkish yoke. + +At that time the British attempt to relieve General Townshend in Kut +had disastrously failed, and the cause of freedom lay under a heavy +cloud. Burnet learnt that the Turks were organising an expedition to +punish the chief whose hospitality he had enjoyed, for his refusal to +furnish levies to the Sultan's army. It subsequently came to light +that the expedition had been instigated by the Germans, its real object +being the capture of a stronghold that commanded an important road of +communication. Burnet decided to throw in his lot with the chief, +escaped from Bagdad by the aid of Firouz Ali and of a mysterious +dervish who turned out to be a British secret service agent, after many +adventures assisted in the defence of the stronghold against a large +force of German-led Turks, and ultimately reached the British lines +below Kut. He wished to return to England by way of Bombay for the +purpose of training for a commission; but a man with his knowledge of +the native dialects was too valuable to be spared. The +commander-in-chief made direct application to the War Office on his +behalf, and he had in fact been gazetted a second lieutenant on the +General List a few weeks before he set off with Captain Ellingford on +his present mission to Bagdad. + +Firouz Ali was too polite to make any direct enquiries of Burnet as to +the object of his visit. The latter explained. + +"You spoke of prudence, my friend," he said. "Well, I grant there are +risks, but I have run risks before--for good cause. Of late we have +had no news either from you or from the dervish Hezar." + +"That is true, Aga," replied the barber, "and therefore is my heart +heavy. But who can strive against Fate? Twice within the past month +have I sent messengers. The first came back with a shattered arm: the +Turkish dogs shot him as he tried to pass through their lines, and he +was hard put to it to escape with his life. The second was drowned +swimming the river to avoid them. And as for the dervish Hezar, did he +not quit the city secretly some ten days ago, having reason to believe +that some were looking upon him with suspicion?" + +"I guessed there was a simple explanation: that there were +difficulties. That is why I am here. We _must_ know what the Turks +are doing--whether they are receiving reinforcements and supplies, and +where these are stored." + +"By the Beard, you heard something from that addle-pate who has but now +left us. But that is little. I can tell you more. There is at this +time in the city a German, a very cunning fellow, who has gathered +about him spies in number as the ants in an ant-hill. Ahi! but there +is no buckle to his shoe; by which parable understand that he speaks +not the tongue of those that he employs, and needs an interpreter. +With him there is an Arab who has sold himself to the Turks, and +moreover a German who speaks my tongue readily, though with a gurgling +throat--a man who has lived many years in this land, digging for the +treasures of old time. Is not his name Bukkad Bey?" + +"Burckhardt! I know him. I met him with my father years ago." He +smiled at some recollection. "So he's here, organising secret police! +Well now, my friend----" + +Firouz Ali interrupted him by a gesture. The barber's eyes were fixed +on a water-seller who was passing the shop, going down the street. +Burnet saw no glance exchanged, heard no word; but the man had no +sooner gone by than Firouz Ali said in a hurried undertone-- + +"One of the German's spies approaches. It is not wise that you remain +here. Leave me now: go up the street, and after the sun is gone down +seek the caravanserai of our friend Yakoub: there will I meet you." + +Burnet had barely risen from his stool when a carpet-mender passed, in +the opposite direction to the water-seller. + +"Wallahi!" muttered the barber, who had gazed at him with the same +fixity. "Another spy approaches, from the other end. If you go now, +verily you must meet one or the other. They would mark you as a +stranger. Is it a time for questions? Haste now: that former day you +became for a while my apprentice, and beguiled the Turkish dogs. So it +shall be again." + +He was already stripping off Burnet's travel-stained outer clothes and +clumsy shoes. These he cast under his bench, and then with amazing +quickness replaced them with a long white djellab and light sandals. + +"Mark you, Aga," he said, "you are my nephew and new apprentice, in +place of that misshapen Mahmoud who has left me. You have even now +arrived from Bebejak." He named a village near the Persian frontier +northward which was not likely to be well known to these agents of the +secret service. + +Burnet had just taken up a razor and was feeling its edge when a man in +the dress of a city merchant passed the open shop, throwing a glance +into the interior. Half a minute afterwards a second man appeared from +the opposite direction. He stopped, mounted the two steps that led to +the shop, and greeting the barber sat down on the chair. + +"Comb my beard, barber," he said. + +"In truth it needs the comb, effendi," said Firouz Ali. "A fine beard, +of the fineness of silk, though its beauty is hidden by the +thrice-accursed dust that defiles it. Yusuf, lay my whitest napkin +about the effendi's throat." + +"A new apprentice, barber?" said the customer, eyeing Burnet. "More +agreeable to look at than that hunchback of yours." + +"He has a straight back, Allah be praised," said the barber, "but what +is that? A fair form may go with a foolish mind. Ahi! The +ingratitude of man! Behold, Mahmoud left me without a moment's +warning, enticed away by some flattering tongue. And here am I in a +pitiful plight, for all likely youths are snapped up for the army, and +I have had to summon my nephew from his mean village in the north, a +mere country lout----" + +"A lout, say you? Methinks his frame deserves a fairer word." + +"A lout, I say again: clumsy as an untamed colt. Did he not break my +best basin into a thousand and one fragments?" + +"And why is he too not in the army?" + +"In the army! By the tomb of my father, what should he do in the army? +Where are his wits? Bid him go to the right, straightway he goes to +the left. Ahi! it broke my poor brother's heart to find a witless mind +in a body that, as you truly say, has some elements of graciousness. +Will he repay me for all my pains in training him to my honourable +craft? Who can tell? He has but just arrived; and I have yet to +learn----" + +Here the barber was interrupted by the hurried entrance of a young man +in military uniform. + +"Salaam, barber," he cried. "The barber of Bukkad Bey has fallen sick, +and the Bey requires a cunning hand to smooth his cheeks. Whose hand +is more cunning than Firouz Ali's? Haste, then, for time presses." + +Firouz Ali briefly acknowledged the command, and apologised to his +customer for spending less time on his silky beard than its beauty +deserved. The secret service man, apparently satisfied with the +barber's explanations about his new apprentice, left the shop. + +"Woe is me!" exclaimed the barber. "What is to become of you, Aga? I +dare not leave you here, and I fear some harm will befall you if you go +alone through the streets." + +"Take me with you, of course! I can carry your things." + +"Mashallah! But Bukkad Bey may know you again." + +"Not he! I was hardly more than a child when he saw me, just that +once; and he was too busy with my father to notice me." + +"Truly you are bold with an exceeding great boldness. But so it shall +be. Gather up the basin, and soap, and the brush, and two razors, and +the strop. I will bid my neighbour have an eye to the shop, and we +will go together." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SHAVING OF BURCKHARDT + +Major Cornelius Burckhardt was quartered in an old house not far from +Firouz Ali's shop. He occupied two rooms on the ground floor, the +bedroom opening from the sitting-room. It was into the latter that the +barber and Yusuf his apprentice, having been admitted to the outer +courtyard by the doorkeeper, were ushered by the major's servant, who +bade them wait there, and disappeared into the room beyond. + +Burnet looked around with curiosity and amusement. The appointments of +the room bespoke a blend of archaeologist and military officer. In the +centre stood a roll-top desk, open, and strewn with maps and papers: +Major Burckhardt, although unshaved, had already been at work. +Military accoutrements, hanging from pegs on the wall, dangled above a +table strewn with potsherds, fragments of tiles, tablets, and other +objects unearthed from Babylonian ruins. Images, large and small, all +very much damaged, were ranged on the floor around the walls. Across +one corner was a stone screen nearly six feet high, strangely carved, +and chipped at the edges. + +The servant having left the bedroom door half open, his announcement of +the barber's arrival was clearly heard in the outer room. A husky +voice, speaking Arabic with a strong guttural accent, bade him show the +man in. Firouz Ali, closely followed by Burnet carrying his utensils, +entered, bowing low, and giving the customary salutation, "Salaam +aleikam!" to which the German suitably responded. + +"My barber is sick," he went on. "I sent for you, knowing you to be +skilful with the razor." + +"May your excellency----" began Firouz Ali. + +"Yes, yes; but no man lives for ever," said the German, cutting short +the formula. "I was about to say that I cannot shave myself. I have +worn a beard for twenty years, but naturally I had to discard it on +resuming my career in our German army. I explain this, because it is +foreign to my nature to be dependent. I prefer to do everything +myself. Also my beard grows strong: therefore is it necessary that +your razor should be particularly keen. And now proceed." + +Burnet had some difficulty in repressing a smile. Major Burckhardt was +a tubby little man, with an immense dome-like head, rather bald, and +spectacled. His brown moustache was brushed up at the ends. He wore a +long camel's-hair dressing-gown that accentuated his rotundity. Burnet +vividly remembered his last sight of the little man, then heavily +bearded. He was being rushed down the slope of a _tell_ by Burnet's +father, who had seized him by the scruff of the neck, the German +frantically calling upon his Arab followers to assist him against the +English interloper. Prudently, the Arabs had stood by, gravely +watching the scene. + +"Yusuf, spread the napkin," said the barber. "Your excellency will +have no cause to regret the misfortune that has befallen your barber. +In all Bagdad, nay, in all the realm of the Padishah there is no razor +equal to this, whether for keenness or for the velvet softness of its +touch. Your excellency will be soothed and----" + +"Yes, yes," the major interrupted; "get to work. I want my breakfast, +and I am already later than my usual hour." + +Firouz Ali, like all loquacious people--even though his loquacity was +designed--disliked the spoiling of his sentences. He pressed his lips +together, and vigorously stropped his razor, signing to Burnet to +lather the officer. + +While Burnet was preparing the lather, Major Burckhardt, his thick neck +swathed with a snowy napkin, looked up at the ceiling, and discoursed +of many things. + +"There are great days coming for this city of yours, barber. When our +Kaiser establishes a protectorate over the country, Bagdad will regain +something of its old renown--nay, it will become even more illustrious +than it was in its palmiest days. And we have not long to wait." Here +Burnet began to lather; but the major, having started on the pleasant +pastime of hearing himself speak, continued, in spite of the brush that +was travelling over his cheeks and chin. "The English are beating +their heads vainly against the impregnable fortresses down the river, +erected by German genius. Soon they will be swept away into the sea +they claim as their own; that race of boastful braggarts, robbers, +hypocrites, scoundrels, scum----" + +How far the major's vocabulary of abuse would have extended will not be +known, for at this moment Burnet dabbed the shaving-brush, thick with +the whitest and creamiest of lathers, into the German's half-open +mouth. The little man jumped up, spluttering with froth and fury. +Firouz Ali instantly feigned an explosion of rage. Seizing the brush, +he flung Burnet aside and shouted: + +"Away with you, you clumsy fool, last of a generation of apes! Woe is +me that I should call you kin! Would you shame me before the very face +of his excellency? Would you take away my good name, and cause it to +be spread abroad throughout the world that Firouz Ali is the uncle of +an ass? I pray your excellency to pardon me, the least of his +servants, and not to turn away the light of his countenance from me +because of the iniquities of this poor fool, who is but lately come +from a mean village that I may sharpen his wits and better his manners. +Stand here, poor witless lout, and hold me the basin: 'tis all you are +fit for." + +[Illustration: A MOUTHFUL OF SOAP] + +The German allowed himself to be appeased; he wanted his breakfast. +Firouz Ali, alternately abusing his apprentice and flattering the +officer, finished his task, and coaxed out an admission that, barring +the awkwardness of the young man, it had been a very comfortable shave. +The major then dismissed him, telling him to wait in the next room and +the servant would bring his fee. + +The barber bowed himself out, and harshly bade Burnet follow him, and +close the door. They heard the major ring for his servant, who gained +the bedroom by another entrance. There was some delay, and Burnet +catching sight of a marked map spread out on the desk, and remembering +his mission, moved across the room to examine it. Before he had taken +more than a cursory glance, however, there was a sound of persons +approaching the outer door. Instinctively he slipped behind the stone +screen at his elbow, next moment feeling annoyed with himself, for +there might have been time to rejoin Firouz Ali. The door opened, and +there entered a tall man in the uniform of a German general, with a +Turkish aide-de-camp at his heels, Major Burckhardt's servant +following. The latter crossed at once to the door of the bedroom, half +opened it, and announced that General Eisenstein had called on +important business. Major Burckhardt, still in his dressing-gown, came +out hurriedly, with proper apologies for his appearance. He signed to +Firouz Ali to go, and the barber was followed out by the servant, who +handed him his fee, receiving a portion of it as commission, in +accordance with oriental custom. + +"Where is your apprentice?" he asked. + +"Where is that ass-head, that worker of iniquity!" cried the barber. +"By the Beard, it were fitting he should drown himself. Did you not +see him pass out, rubbing his pumpkin pate?" + +"He did not pass me." + +"Then peradventure he slunk out at the back while you were admitting +your master's high-born visitor. Truly he would shrink from showing +his foolish face even to you, friend." + +He spoke in a very loud tone of voice, in order to be heard both by the +doorkeeper across the courtyard, and by Burnet within the house. When +the servant had closed the door, Firouz Ali stood for a moment or two +debating with himself what he had better do. He was seriously +perturbed. For years past he had lived on the edge of circumstance, a +secret revolutionary, owing his safety solely to his quickness, +resource, and address. He had never felt so helpless as in the present +predicament, due to Burnet's impulsive action. Deciding that to loiter +in the neighbourhood could do no good, and might do harm, he returned +to his shop, convinced that he would see his benefactor's son no more. + +Meanwhile Burnet, crouching back in the corner behind the screen, and +feeling that he deserved all the abuse lately showered upon him by his +friend, had perforce listened to the conversation between the German +officers. The opening sentences, spoken in German, he did not +understand. General Eisenstein had in fact begun by apologising for +disturbing Major Burckhardt at what was clearly an unseasonable hour. + +"As you know," he remarked, "I am myself up and about before dawn." + +Burckhardt caught the implied reproach, and answered in something of a +fluster. + +"I have already been at work, Herr General," he said, "but my barber +fell sick, and----" + +"Quite so, but speak in Arabic, if you please. Major Rustum Bey does +not understand German. I have come to you for information about a part +of the country with which I understand you are familiar. Major Rustum +Bey has had some difficulty in getting exact particulars." + +Burnet pricked up his cars. From this point on the conversation was +conducted in Arabic. + +"The chief Halil," General Eisenstein went on, "who has hitherto shown +himself friendly and proved to be of some use (although one can trust +these Arabs no farther than one can see them), has come in to ask for +assistance. It appears that a certain tribe with which he has been +long at war (they call it war!) has crossed the Euphrates and +established itself in a fastness among the swamps. The tribe is known +to be disaffected towards his Ottoman Majesty: if it is not rooted out +it will become a nucleus of hostile activity, attracting other rebel +Arabs, and may seriously threaten our communications on the river. The +situation of the fastness is described as a long march south of the +_tell_ of--what is the name, major?" + +"The _tell_ of Tukulti-Ninip, Excellenz," said the Turkish officer. + +"Now, Major Burckhardt, in the first place do you know this _tell_ +of--ach!----" + +"Tukulti-Ninip," said Burckhardt. "Certainly: I know it well. Only a +few years ago it was the scene of a brisk little action between myself +and a brutal Englishman who was poaching on my ground. The Englishman +had cause to repent his insolence." + +"Good, Major Burckhardt. You will soon have further opportunities, no +doubt, of action of a still more stirring character. Now, as to this +fastness--you have a map? Yes, I see you have. Point out to me the +locality of this _tell_ of----" + +"Tukulti-Ninip. Here it is, Herr General." He laid a fat forefinger +on the spot. "It is covered with the ruins of a temple erected by +Samsi-Addu to the god Anu, and was----" + +"We are discussing military matters, not antiquities, my dear major. +Let us proceed. The fastness in question is described as an island in +the marshes, and has ruins of some kind, giving good cover. It is +approached by a causeway nearly a thousand metres long. Do you know +such a place?" + +"That, too, Herr General, I know as well as I know my own native +village of Obervogelgesang: better, indeed, for I once spent six months +digging in the ruins you mention, and the museums of Dresden and Munich +count my finds among their choicest treasures. I had the good fortune +to discover a tablet commemorating the expedition of Tukulti-Ninip to +the Sebbeneh-Su----" + +"My good major, confine yourself to our present business, if you +please. You know the place well. Then we shall not be dependent on +the Arabs for our information. Where would you locate it on the map?" + +Burckhardt took a pencil, and after some consideration marked the spot, +saying: + +"It is here, as nearly as possible. The wady, once a canal (dating +from the time of Assur-Uballit) that irrigated the whole surrounding +country, is now the cause of the marshes. It carries the flood water +of the Euphrates over a hundred square kilometres, and is now a scourge +where it was once a source of prosperity. I discovered in my +researches that Pudi-ilu----" + +"Enough!" cried the general, his patience giving out. He turned to the +Turk. "A company of infantry with a machine-gun, assisted by Halil's +horde, will no doubt suffice?" + +Though in form a question, there was so little real enquiry in the +remark that Major Rustum Bey hastily agreed. + +"Certainly, Excellenz. It will be quite sufficient." + +"Then I will arrange that you undertake the little expedition, +associated with Major Burckhardt, whose peculiar local knowledge should +be of much value. Shall we say a month from to-day? Halil will have +to return to his tribe and make his arrangements, and procrastination +is such a vice with the Arabs that we must give him plenty of time. +Tell him to be ready in a fortnight, and we may be reasonably certain +that he will be ready in a month. That is all, then, Major Burckhardt. +Ah! it occurs to me to remind you that this is a military expedition, +not a hunt for old stones." + +The visitors took their leave, Burckhardt accompanying them to the door. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +SECRET SERVICE + +Behind the screen, Burnet had listened to the three officers' +conversation with mixed feelings. On the one hand he had gained a +piece of information which might be of importance and well worth his +risky visit to Bagdad. On the other, he had placed himself in a +position which made it very doubtful whether he would be able to use +the information, or even to escape with his life. There was short +shrift for any spy. + +What could he do? Burckhardt, on the departure of his visitors, rang +for his servant, ordered him to prepare breakfast, and retired into his +bedroom to finish his interrupted toilet. The servant set the table. +In a few minutes the German would be engaged with his meal, after which +he would no doubt resume work at his desk. Burnet felt that if he did +not escape at once he would probably have no opportunity later. The +only possible chance seemed to be to follow the servant as quietly as +possible when he should leave the room to fetch his master's food. +What course would then be open to him he could not guess. He was +ignorant of the plan of the house. All that he knew of it was that +small portion which he had passed through with Firouz Ali. The front +door opened into a small courtyard about which the house was built, +with a verandah along the front of the house. Near the outer door, on +a small square of carpet within the shade of the verandah, sat the +doorkeeper, cross-legged. To gain freedom Burnet would have to reach +the front undetected, cross or skirt the courtyard, and pass the +doorkeeper. It was so far fortunate that Burckhardt had followed the +oriental custom in employing a native porter, instead of being guarded +by a sentry as might have been expected. There was, it was clear, a +back door, giving access no doubt to one of the narrow evil-smelling +lanes which Bagdad, like every oriental city, has in plenty; but to go +exploring in search of that was out of the question. + +The doorkeeper was the difficulty. Burnet wished that Firouz Ali had +not been so ready with his explanation of his being unaccompanied by +the apprentice. The man would almost certainly be suspicious if the +apprentice who, he supposed, had already left the house should come out +of the front door so long after his master. Even if not suspicious, he +might detain Burnet for a chat on things in general, or to enquire the +reason of the barber's anger, and during their talk the servant might +come into the courtyard and see him. Burnet was taxing his wits for +some means of eluding the doorkeeper when the servant, having set the +table, went off to fetch the meal. For the moment there was but one +thing to be done: to escape from the room before either the man or the +master re-entered it. + +No sooner had the servant gone out, leaving the door open, than Burnet +slipped from his hiding-place and followed him on tiptoe into the +passage. The servant had turned to the right, no doubt towards the +kitchen. Burnet, waiting at the doorway until he had disappeared, +hurried to the left towards the front door, paused until he had made +sure that the doorkeeper on the far side of the courtyard had not seen +him, then slipped under the shade of the verandah behind a tall plant +growing in a pot. He had noticed, under the verandah on the opposite +side, not far from the doorkeeper, a pile of packing-cases, in which he +guessed that Burckhardt's antiquities had been transported. This pile +would form a securer shelter than the plant, which was in full view of +any one who might enter the courtyard from the street. Stealing round +the verandah close to the wall, he got behind the cases; and breathing +a little more freely, waited to consider his next move. + +He looked across the courtyard, and through the window of Burckhardt's +room saw that officer, now in his military uniform, come from his +bedroom and seat himself at the table. The servant brought in a tray, +poured out his master's coffee, then disappeared. Burckhardt propped a +book against the water-jug, and divided his attention between that and +his breakfast. There was little to be feared from him. + +The doorkeeper remained on his mat. He was not even drowsy. Burnet +tried to think of something that would account for his presence, but +found nothing that would not involve such lengthy explanations as he +was anxious to avoid. If only something would take the doorkeeper away +for a minute or so!--the wish had no sooner formed itself than an idea +occurred to him. The cases and crates among which he was sheltering +were very insecurely stacked. A slight push would displace one of the +topmost. Its fall would probably bring the doorkeeper to the spot, not +to replace it--that would not be his job, and an oriental servant is +the last man in the world to do more than he must--but to satisfy his +curiosity and find a subject for conversation. Burnet might then dodge +behind the other cases towards the doorway, and with luck slip out. + +The plan was no sooner formed than acted on. A heavy crate, which a +European would have put at the base of the pile instead of at the +summit, toppled over on to the paving-stones with a crash and flying +splinters. But the stolid doorkeeper only turned his head for an +instant. A crate had fallen: what was that to him? The noise, +however, had an effect which Burnet had not reckoned on. Burckhardt, +with his napkin round his neck and the coffee-pot in his hand, came to +the window. His servant appeared at the door. + +"What is that?" the latter called. + +"Have you no eyes, foolish one?" answered the doorkeeper without +rising. "The crate lies where it fell." + +Here Burckhardt threw open the window and roared, with his mouth half +full: + +"Get up, you son of idleness, and set the crate back in its place, and +take care that it is secure. Shall I speak twice?" + +Burnet, keeping out of view, saw the doorkeeper rise slowly and move +towards the crate. The servant returned into the house, no doubt +fearing that he might be called upon to lend a hand. But Burckhardt +remained at the window to see that his command was carried out. Burnet +was in despair. He could dodge the doorkeeper, but it was impossible +to reach the door unnoticed while Burckhardt stood looking on. But the +German, seeing that the man was stirring, went back, presumably to fill +his cup, or to replace the coffee-pot on the table. Burnet seized the +lucky moment. He slipped along behind the pile, threw a hasty glance +towards the house, and knowing that the doorkeeper's back was now +turned to him, darted through the open doorway into the street. + +Firouz Ali uttered a fervent "Mashallah!" when Burnet, a few minutes +later, walked into his shop, then empty. + +"Verily a leaden weight is lifted from my heart, Aga," he said. "It +was bowed down with the fear that you were in the hands of the enemy. +Tell me by what device you escaped out of the net." + +Burnet explained. + +"It was well done," said the barber, "and surely good fortune attends +you. But give heed to the words of one who has learnt wisdom. Let two +thoughts go before one action. What need to hide in the very chamber +of the foe? Am I a child? Could you not trust me to bring us both +safely away? Such foolishness leads you into dangers that might be +avoided: moreover, it might have brought my own head into peril, for +has not a sword hung over it by a hair these many years? Nay, more: my +life must end some day: such is the fate of all; but I would not that +it should end before my eyes have seen the glory for which I have +striven since I was a beardless youth." + +"What you say is quite right, my old friend," said Burnet. "I was +rash, and I am sorry for it. But after all, if I had not hidden I +should not have learned what I did." + +"What was that?" asked the barber eagerly. + +"The Germans are joining hands with that rogue Halil to attack Rejeb +son of Hussein. I have not told you yet--I have not had time--that I +met Rejeb on my way here, and was able to do him a trifling service. +Halil's men were even then hunting him." + +"Mashallah! What you did for him was well done, for Rejeb is as a +pillar in the temple of our freedom. If any harm befalls him, not only +will a heavy blow be dealt against the faithful who would throw off the +Turkish yoke, but the safety of your own countrymen between the rivers +yonder will be put in jeopardy. There are tribes in the desert, now +friendly to you, or at least wavering, which would turn to the enemy +from very fear if Rejeb fell; and then your people would be harassed by +constant raids, and their task, heavy enough, would be doubly hard. +And I may tell you now that the dervish Hezar, when he left the city of +late, set forth to learn how stand the minds of the tribes bordering +the Euphrates towards you. Of him I have heard nothing: he is in the +hands of Allah!" + +The conversation was here interrupted by the entrance of a customer; +indeed, it was not resumed until the time of the midday siesta checked +the stream of customers who came to Firouz Ali for his professional +attentions and almost as much for the flow of chat which he poured out. +Burnet admired the unfailing tact with which the barber suited his talk +to the tastes and interests of his various patrons. He remarked, too, +how cleverly his friend, knowing that his stay in Bagdad must be brief, +prepared his customers for another change of assistants. + +"Wallahi! Mahmoud was a hunchback," he said to one, "but he was +learning his craft: whereas this poor thing, my nephew, fresh from his +benighted village, will never make a barber, even though he live to the +age of the patriarchs. His tongue is slow, an ill thing in barbers; +moreover, he is clumsy as a camel: did he not this very morning fill +the mouth of a German effendi with soap, to my everlasting shame? No, +he must find other work for his unruly hands." + +Burnet listened to all this with secret amusement, and laughed heartily +when, in a leisure moment, Firouz Ali apologised for his +uncomplimentary remarks. + +"My friend, I enjoyed them," he said. "Besides, you are quite right. +I am conscious that I never should make a satisfactory barber." + +It was not until the end of the day that they were thoroughly at +leisure to discuss the course of action which Burnet ought to follow as +the result of what he had learnt. Firouz Ali decided to send a +messenger to warn Rejeb of his impending danger: the same man would +also try to penetrate to the British lines with a message from Burnet +giving the same information. Meanwhile Burnet himself, in pursuance of +the object that had brought him to Bagdad, would remain at any rate for +a few days to pick up any information he could regarding the enemy's +movements and plans. With this purpose it would be necessary to find +opportunities of visiting different parts of the city. The barber +pointed out that it was no longer easy, as in the past, to perambulate +the city without exciting suspicion. The old laxity had disappeared +when the Germans assumed control. Discipline was now rigorous in the +army, and the civil administration had been militarised. Burnet was +not likely to learn more about the Turkish arrangements than Firouz Ali +could tell him. His reply to this was that he wanted not only to know +the numbers and constitution of the military forces, the extent of +their supplies and so on; in addition, for the purpose he had in view, +he must learn by personal observation exactly where the storehouses +were situated. + +During the next few days the two men spent a good many hours in going +about the city and its neighbourhood. For these excursions they chose +the middle part of the day, when people in authority were resting, and +the shop could be left most safely. They were always prepared with a +story. + +While talking matters over with Firouz Ali, and combating the +objections he raised on the score of prudence, Burnet had a happy +thought. Why should not the barber make capital of his summons to +Burckhardt? Let him announce through his agents that during the middle +part of the day, when people of consideration were resting, and few or +no customers came to the shop, the barber who had had the honour of +attending upon Bukkad Bey would visit at their own lodgings any who +were at leisure to be refreshed with a shampoo, to have their nails +trimmed, or their hair improved by the application of his famous lotion. + +"But what will it profit?" asked Firouz Ali, not seeing the drift of +the suggestion. "If I am thus employed, how can I accompany you in +your goings to and fro, and accompany you I must, for your own safety?" + +"My friend, we may thus account for our presence in any part of the +city at unusual hours, armed with our brushes and bottles. And as for +those who would avail themselves of your services, what easier than to +explain to a man in one quarter that when he wanted you, you were busy +in another?" + +The plan, as further explained, was one after Firouz Ali's own heart, +and next morning it was put in operation. It succeeded admirably. For +a day or two the barber, always accompanied by his apprentice, spent +the early afternoon in practising his craft here and there in the city; +then, having taken care that his new activities should be talked about, +he dropped them, and led Burnet to the quarters he was anxious to see. +He was sometimes stopped and questioned, but his explanation was always +ready, with his apparatus for credentials. + +After each excursion Burnet, on his return to the barber's house, took +from its place of concealment between the soles of one of his shoes a +plan of Bagdad, placed over it a sheet of semi-transparent paper such +as is commonly used in the country, and marked upon it a small dot over +the spot at which some military establishment was situated. In the +course of a few days this paper, which would have appeared to the +uninitiated merely a blank sheet with a number of scattered and +apparently meaningless dots, was in reality a compendium of important +discoveries. + +One day, when they were out on their usual errand, Burnet's wish to +discover the exact position of certain ammunition barges that lay in +the river led them to venture farther than was prudent. They were +stopped and questioned by a sentry more than usually alert. Firouz +Ali's glib explanations for once did not satisfy the man, perhaps eager +for promotion, and they were marched to the guard-room. At the moment +none but private soldiers were there, one or two of whom knew the +barber, and were quick to inform their comrade that he had made a +mistake. While they were discussing the point, there entered the +non-commissioned officer whom Firouz Ali had been shampooing at the +time of Burnet's arrival at the shop some days before. + +"Ahi! What is this?" he cried, in surprise. + +"Mashallah! Here is one who knows the truth of things," exclaimed the +barber, before the sentry could begin. "This excellent servant of the +Padishah did but his duty, beyond doubt, but you, being a man in +authority, will be able to content him. Who can bear witness better +than you that I am Firouz Ali, the barber of Bagdad, the maker of sweet +scents and famous lotions? Is it not known far and wide that the +illustrious Bukkad Bey has entrusted to me his noble chin? And was I +not honoured in bedewing your own matchless locks with my +sweet-savoured essences? And lo, chancing to pass this way, and +remembering your witty sayings and all that you told me, I did but +think to pay my respects, and perchance to behold with my own eyes your +manifold labours in the service of our father the Padishah. And now, +wallahi! we are taken, myself and my poor nephew--we are taken, I say, +as common malefactors. Woe is me! Shall it be said that Firouz Ali, a +man of no little renown----" + +"Stay," interrupted the sergeant, clearly flattered at being coupled +with Bukkad Bey; "this is very true. That you are Firouz Ali the +barber I know, and that you have shaved Bukkad Bey and shampooed me; +but who is this? Surely it is the kelakji who came into your shop that +morning. Wherefore then is he in your company, his raiment changed?" + +"Wallahi! Do not I ask myself that question twenty times a day? This +youth, effendi, that came to me that unlucky day--woe is me that I +should call him nephew! Behold him, the poor witless loon who ran away +from his village and sought fortune vainly in many crafts, and having +failed in them all for want of wit, he came to me for help, and I could +not believe he was my own brother's son, so much had he grown. Ahi! +As his stature increases, so does his mind decrease; he will never be a +barber, for all my instruction; and he is fit for nothing better than +to carry my pots and perchance to stir a lather. Wallahi! My poor +brother!" + +"By the Beard, it is a sore affliction for your family," said the +sergeant, looking pityingly at Burnet, who stood with half-open mouth +and as silly an expression as he could assume. Quite unsuspicious, he +rated the sentry for his stupidity in arresting a citizen so +well-reputed as Firouz Ali, and ordered the prisoners to be released, +at the same time warning the barber against indiscretions in the future. + +"Verily it is a lesson," said Firouz Ali, after profusely thanking the +man. "I will offend no more. And here, effendi, is a bottle of my +famous lotion--a small token of my gratitude, but in truth what can a +man give better than his best?" + +When they had been escorted beyond the military quarters Firouz Ali +uttered a heart-felt invocation of the Prophet. + +"It is time for you to go, Aga," he added earnestly. "That sentry has +more wits than the ass-head who commands him. Did you not perceive his +sulkiness, and the sparkle of some thought in his eye? Of a truth he +was not satisfied, and he may even yet bring harm upon you." + +"I am inclined to agree with you, my friend," said Burnet, "and the +more readily because I doubt whether it is worth while my staying any +longer. And I must keep my appointment with my countryman at the +_tell_; there may be delays; I had better start at once." + +"We will talk of it this night when the shop is closed. You must not +go as you came: ahi! it needs that I work my wits once more for your +behoof. What would I not do for the son of my protector and friend!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE DERVISH HEZAR + +Before Burnet laid himself down that night on his humble couch in +Firouz Ali's house the plan for his departure had been thoroughly +discussed. Among the barber's friends and agents was one Ibrahim, once +a prosperous owner of camels, which he hired out to merchants or +pilgrims. Since the war, however, all his camels but two had been +commandeered by the Turks; his business was ruined; and he now employed +himself in picking up camels from the remoter tribes in the Arabian +desert, and selling them to the army authorities at a miserable profit. +He had adopted this occupation to cover his real business, which was to +keep in touch with the revolted chiefs at Mecca and Medina and to act +as a travelling link between them and Firouz Ali, the centre of the +secret revolutionary movement in Bagdad. + +Firouz Ali arranged that Burnet should become Ibrahim's temporary +assistant. Having lost no opportunity of belittling the intelligence +of his new apprentice, the barber would find it easy to explain to any +one who was curious enough to enquire, that the lad had shown himself +hopelessly inefficient, and gone to try his luck as a camel-driver. +Burnet would accompany Ibrahim to Kerbela and Meshed Ali, and thence +make the best of his way to the _tell_ of Tukulti-Ninip, in good time, +he hoped, for his appointment with Captain Ellingford. + +Next day he did not leave the barber's house, but employed himself in +writing a letter. Curiously enough, it was addressed to himself, and +in Arabic; and though of no great length, its composition occupied +several hours. The paper on which it was written was that thin sheet +which he had several times laid over his map of Bagdad and the +neighbourhood and marked with small dots, which formed a haphazard +pattern like the stars in the firmament. Written Arabic, as every one +knows, is a series of strokes and curves and dots, like a compacter +sort of shorthand; and the reason why this simple letter was a work of +long labour was that the dots already marked on the paper had to be +incorporated, in the most natural way possible, with the invented +message. When the letter was finished, only a very observant eye would +have noticed that some of the dots were slightly heavier than the rest. +No one would have suspected that only these dots were of the least +importance: the letter existed for them. + +It read somewhat as follows: + +"To my dear son Yusuf, greeting. My heart is sore, yearning for you, +my sweet son, for a sight of your face, round as the moon, and your +eyes, like raisins in a cake. I hope that you have not shed your +bright blood by careless handling of your uncle's razors, and I pray +that you may become rich enough to give your sister a good dower, and +that you will attain as high a renown as my famous brother himself. +Blessing and peace be with you. Written by the hand of the mullah for +your father and mother." + +"That'll do, if I'm collared," thought Burnet, as he tucked the letter +into his girdle. + +He then tore up the map which gave the key to this letter: there were +plenty more at headquarters. + +In the evening, when the shop was shut, Ibrahim the camel-driver came +to the house and was introduced by Firouz Ali to his new assistant. +Ibrahim had brought with him a few essential articles of clothing, and +it was settled that Burnet should join him next morning at dawn. + +Soon after daylight the two camel-drivers, each mounted on a rather +poor specimen of the kind, rode southwards out of the city. Ibrahim +had a pass, which franked them through the sentries, to whom, indeed, +he was pretty well known through previous journeys in and out. Like +all travellers in those desert lands he carried a rifle: Burnet, +apparently unarmed, had his revolver securely tucked away. + +Burnet had lived long enough in Mesopotamia to have more than a passing +acquaintance with the camel, its moods and vagaries; but during the +next few days he learnt more about that useful "ship of the desert" +than he had known in all his previous experience. His steed tramped on +hour after hour at the same steady pace, with a jolting movement that +he found unpleasant and tedious. He longed for the lithe, springy, +varied gait of a horse, and once ventured to express his preference to +his companion. Ibrahim was up in arms at once, and lectured him so +roundly that he wished he had held his tongue. + +"You speak out of your little knowledge, effendi," said this champion +of the camel. "The horse, indeed, starts with his heels in the air, +and will curvet and gallop and perform as many tricks as a tumbler. +But how is it at the end of the day? The beast shambles and stumbles, +and, ill-tempered from hunger, he will bite and fight, scatter his corn +like a prodigal, and even paw it with his hoofs into the mire. But the +camel--behold how patiently he marches, as well at sunset as at dawn; +how gently he kneels down at his journey's end, and thankfully receives +his beans, and chews the cud peacefully until the morning. He has more +wits than a horse, and if he roars, it is but to say that his saddle +galls him, and to plead that it may be restuffed. Better one camel +than twenty horses." + +There was something to be said on the other side, but Burnet had tact, +an excellent thing in a travelling companion. + +The sixty-mile journey to Kerbela was almost uneventful. As Burnet +knew, the place was seething with disaffection towards the Turks, and +he was not surprised when, a few miles from the town, a small party of +rebels suddenly sprang out from behind a palm grove and commanded the +travellers to dismount. The sequel caused him to realise that the +movement controlled by Firouz Ali was very widespread. At a few words +from Ibrahim, and the display of a small token that he carried in the +folds of his turban, the hostile attitude of the rebels changed as by +magic to the frankest friendliness. They readily answered Ibrahim's +questions as to affairs in the town, and took a cordial farewell. + +The travellers stayed in Kerbela only long enough to rest their camels, +then pushed on towards their destination, Meshed Ali, fifty miles to +the south. Leaving the palm gardens behind them at early morning, they +were soon in the barren desert. Towards sunset, when they had almost +reached Birs Nimrud, half-way to their goal, they came upon a camping +party of five men, squatting on mats and eating dates, in the shade of +a small pile of ruins. Four horses were tethered close by, and Burnet +saw that one of the men, a wild, dirty, long-bearded figure clad in the +deerskin of a dervish, had his hands tied together with a piece of rope. + +"What did I say, Aga?" remarked Ibrahim, as they came abreast of the +party. "The horses are far spent; they can go no further; otherwise +those men would not have paused here to rest when the town lies but a +few miles beyond." + +The men, each of whom had a rifle laid across his knees, looked up +somewhat suspiciously at the two travellers. Ibrahim pulled up and +gave them a greeting. + +"I perceive you have a prisoner," he added. "Verily he has the look of +a vile creature and a worker of iniquity. What is his offence, I pray +you?" + +"Wallahi! He is indeed an evil-doer," answered the leader; "a runaway +thief, and we have ridden hard to catch him." + +"He shall be beaten with stripes, and repent with mourning," said +Ibrahim. "Upon you be blessing and peace." + +[Illustration: THE PRISONER] + +The camels jogged on again. As they passed, the prisoner looked up and +flashed one quick glance at Burnet, instantly lowering his eyes. +Burnet involuntarily started, but recollected himself in a moment, and +refrained from turning his head. Those keen grey eyes, however, were +unmistakeable. The prisoner was the man who passed among the natives +as the Dervish Hezar, but was known to the British headquarters staff +as Alfred Sanderson, the most daring and skilful of secret service +agents. + +When they were out of earshot, Burnet said to his companion: "The +prisoner, no thief, is a friend of Firouz Ali's. We must rescue him." + +"Say you so? Firouz Ali's friends are mine, and if that man be the +Dervish Hezar----" + +"He is." + +"Ahi! But what can we do? They are four, well armed: we are but two." + +"Yet it must be done, and though they are more than we, peradventure +with two there will be more wisdom and cunning than with four." + +This implied compliment to his intelligence pleased Ibrahim, and as +soon as they had ridden out of sight he turned aside from the beaten +track, rounded a slight eminence, and causing the camels to kneel down, +asked Burnet to dismount with him and talk over the problem. + +"Those poor beasts," he remarked, "are jaded; they will not be fit to +travel for some hours to come; therefore the men will remain where they +are until the morning. Perchance in the darkness we could steal up to +their camp and bring the dervish away." + +"We had better return to it while there is still light in the sky," +said Burnet. "It will be dark in half an hour, and we might then find +it difficult to discover them. The ruins will cover us from them if we +approach from the east." + +"It is well said, Aga. I will give the camels a handful of beans which +they will chew peacefully, and so refrain from disturbing the night +with their roaring; then we will make a circuit and come to the ruins +even as the sun sets." + +Less than half an hour later the two men, having made their way back to +the ruins, crept stealthily to the southern corner, where they could +see the spot on which the five men had camped. It was growing dark, +but in the slight glow from the western sky they perceived at once that +the men were no longer there. There was no sign of them in what was +visible of the open desert to the west; it was indeed scarcely likely +that they had decided to pursue their journey on horses so patently +fatigued. Ibrahim suggested in a whisper that they had withdrawn +farther into the ruins to avoid observation by passengers along the +direct route from Kerbela to Meshed Ali. + +This was disappointing. The ruins were extensive; to explore them in +the dark would be as hazardous as difficult. Their footsteps would be +inaudible in the sand; but they might stumble against one of the +innumerable fragments of masonry that lay scattered all about, and the +Arab's ears are so quick that the slightest sound might utterly defeat +their purpose. The night would be moonless; even if it had been +otherwise, moonlight would have been little less dangerous than +darkness, for though they could have seen their way, a flickering +shadow might have betrayed them. + +In whispers they discussed their safest course. Burnet agreed to +remain on the outskirts of the ruins while Ibrahim searched. When the +Arab started on his quest darkness had descended, and there was only a +slight glimmer from the stars. It seemed hours before he returned. He +explained that he had almost despaired of finding the men, and +concluded that they had after all ridden away to the north, when he +suddenly heard voices, and creeping towards the sound had almost +stumbled upon the party, encamped in the midst of a group of broken +columns hidden by a slight fold in the ground. Their horses were +tethered some little distance away, and from the appearance of things +it seemed clear that the men had no intention of leaving the spot until +daybreak. + +During Ibrahim's absence Burnet had turned over in his mind, not merely +the problem of getting the dervish away, but the further problem of +successfully eluding pursuit. Tired as the horses were, they had +probably had rest enough to make them more than equal to the camels in +pace. Should he stampede them? It would be easy enough, but the +attempt might lead to disaster, for they would almost certainly scent a +stranger long before he reached them, and a startled whinny would bring +the Arabs in haste upon the scene. The safer plan would be to depend +on releasing the prisoner while his captors were asleep, and then on +following a roundabout course through the desert. + +The two men consulted in whispers and soon came to a determination. +Burnet, as the more active of the two, and also as being well known to +the prisoner, undertook the task of releasing him. Ibrahim meanwhile +would ensconce himself at a convenient spot near at hand, and remain on +the watch, ready to defend the others with his rifle if need arose. + +The Arab has an almost unerring sense of locality and direction, and in +spite of the darkness Ibrahim was able to lead Burnet without fault +through the maze of ruins to the slight hollow where the men were +encamped. Looking down upon it from his higher point a few yards away, +Burnet was just able to discern, by the glimmer of the stars, five +figures on the ground. Four of them were squatting; every now and then +a word was spoken; the fifth lay at full stretch, a little apart from +the others. + +Burnet watched and listened impatiently. Surely the men would not +remain thus the whole night through. What if they slept in turn, +leaving one always on guard? After a while the conversation became +still more spasmodic and drowsy: presently it ceased altogether, and +all four men sank into a recumbent posture. Secure in their retreat +far within the ruins, they had seen no need of keeping guard. + +All was now silent. Not even a snore broke the stillness. Only a +slight clink came occasionally from the spot where the horses were +tethered. Burnet still waited, though he knew that the Arab, like all +creatures of the wild, falls asleep instantly. But he knew also that +the sleep was light. The least unusual sound, inaudible to a European +ear, would cause these men to spring up, as wide awake and alert as a +house-dog. + +At last he moved, stealing along a few feet away from the rim of the +hollow until he came opposite the spot where the fifth man lay. Then, +after a momentary pause, he wriggled down the slope as noiselessly as a +slug, breathing fast, drawing nearer only inch by inch to his friend. +He touched him lightly; the prisoner started, but relapsed immediately +into immobility. Feeling along the inert body, Burnet discovered that +now both hands and feet were bound. With silent cuts of his knife he +severed the cords, lay for a moment listening, then crawled backwards +up the slope. Why was not the prisoner following him? He had gained +the top before the dervish gave any sign of movement. Then, however, +he began slowly to follow, and Burnet guessed that his limbs were stiff +from his bonds. Watching with eager impatience, he saw the greyish +figure, scarcely distinguishable from the earth, draw nearer to the +top. The Arabs slept on undisturbed. And at last the dervish rose to +his feet, clasped Burnet's hand, and followed him silently to the spot +where Ibrahim was awaiting them. Without a word spoken they hastened +with all speed to the camels. The dervish mounted behind Burnet, and +within twenty minutes of his rescue all three were heading southwards. +At the moment of starting they had a slight alarm. Ibrahim's camel, +annoyed, no doubt, at the early disturbance of his rest, uttered a +hoarse grunt. His master instantly pressed a couple of dates into his +mouth, and the beast was appeased. + +Safety lay in their making the best speed they could. Should any of +the Arabs wake, he would almost certainly discover the absence of the +prisoner, but it would be impossible to track him in the dark. With +the dawn, however, the tracks would be easily picked up, and then their +horses, refreshed, would regain the start if the pursuit was carried +far enough. The dervish suggested that pursuit was unlikely. His +captors belonged to a tribe that was in Turkish pay, and the +neighbourhood of Meshed Ali, where the revolutionaries were strong, was +by no means safe for supporters of the Padishah. But Ibrahim, +unwilling to run risks, struck off from the highway into a stony +district with which he had become familiar in the course of his +business journeys. Here, even if they were pursued, it would be +difficult to track them. + +"I owe you my life," said the dervish to Burnet as they rode on, "and I +thank you." + +"I am only too glad. You helped me out of a hobble not so long ago; I +never imagined I should have a chance of doing anything in return. But +surely your life was not in danger?" + +"There can't be much doubt of it. I heard that that old ruffian the +chief Halil had gone to Bagdad, and knowing that there was some +difference of opinion among his tribesmen as to his wisdom in siding +with the Turks, I took advantage of his absence to visit them, in order +to learn the strength of the opposition party and to do what I could to +increase it--to foment treason, in fact. Some of Halil's people +suspected me: they were quite right: and they only waited the return of +their chief to denounce me. He came back unexpectedly. I had warning +only just in time, and decamped. I had begun to think myself safe when +those four fellows rode me down. No doubt there are scores more of the +tribesmen hunting me in all directions. Halil has an old grudge +against me: I crossed him once before." + +"Then I am doubly lucky. Halil's business in Bagdad was to arrange an +attack on Rejeb's people. He is back sooner than I thought possible, +and I am glad to know it, as I should not have done but for meeting +you. It is one more item in my budget of news for headquarters." + +The conversation was conducted in Arabic. The identity of the dervish +was known only to the headquarters staff and to Firouz Ali, and he +always took particular care not to let fall the slightest hint that he +was other than an Arab, even to fellow-workers in the same cause. + +Ibrahim allowed his animals to finish their interrupted rest during the +small hours, and the travellers started again at dawn. When they were +still a mile or two distant from Meshed Ali, within sight of the +glittering dome of its mosque towering high above the walls, the +dervish dismounted. + +"It will be better for us all if I enter the city alone," he said. "I +shall not be long after you. But if we meet within the walls, let it +be as strangers." + +"You are a wise man, O dervish," said Ibrahim, "and I perceive that the +spirit of Firouz Ali is in you. Allah will bring us all together +openly in his good time." + +Burnet and Ibrahim reached the city about an hour before noon, and +passing through the one gate in its high brick walls, and along the +crowded bazar, came to the khan or inn where Ibrahim had decided that +they should part. After the Arab had attended to his beasts, he +returned to the chief room, where traders, camel-drivers and others +were squatting around the walls, ordered a meal, and then carried out +the instructions of Firouz Ali. + +"By the Beard, you are a lazy good-for-nothing," he cried in a loud +tone, addressing Burnet. "What evil destiny brought you before my +eyes? Why in the softness of my heart did I have pity on you, poor +fool, and hire you to be my helper? Truly my heart got the better of +my head, for you know no more of camels than a week-old babe. I take +you all to witness," he went on, looking round the room, "that I pay +this worthless loon the hire agreed on, and I bid him go back to his +paltry village and feed goats, for he is fit for nothing better. +Begone, I say, and let me see your face no more." + +Burnet took the few coins offered him, and assumed the shamefaced air +of a servant dismissed in disgrace. The little scene had been arranged +between him and Firouz Ali in order to protect Ibrahim in case he +should ever have to defend himself against the charge of consorting +with a spy. The public dismissal would provide the camel-driver with +witnesses. + +As Burnet slunk out of the room, he saw the dervish leaning against the +post: he had entered while the scene was in progress. There was a +twinkle in the Englishman's eyes as Burnet passed him; but neither gave +the other any sign of recognition, and Burnet went his way to the gate, +as a discarded servant about to return to his hill village on the +Persian frontier. + +He spent his money in the purchase of a waterskin and a quantity of +dates sufficient for a few days' supply. Captain Ellingford was due at +the _tell_ in three days. Barring accidents, Burnet should have plenty +of time to keep his appointment. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A MAD RACE + +Burnet was too well experienced in eastern travel to commence his +journey in the heat of the day. He found a fairly quiet khan where he +rested until the late afternoon, not forgetting to complain bitterly of +his summary dismissal by a camel-driver whom it was impossible to +please. + +When at last he started, he struck across a line of low hills to the +north-east, towards a wide bend in the Euphrates just below the +latitude of Kut el Amara. Between the hills and the river the country +was marshy and desolate, and he felt pretty secure against encounters +with inquisitive wanderers. His idea was to swim the Euphrates at the +northern extremity of the bend, from which the _tell_ of Tukulti-Ninip +was about a march distant. + +Night overtook him before he reached the river, and since he did not +know this part of the country well enough to proceed in darkness, he +found himself obliged to seek a resting-place, and passed the night +hours somewhat uneasily in a sandy hollow. At dawn he was up again, +and had arrived at the edge of the marshy district when the midday heat +again compelled a halt. Hitherto he had met no one; in the distance he +had seen one or two bird catchers moving upon the marsh. He slept +through the afternoon, and had just started again when a squadron of +Turkish irregular cavalry emerged from behind a mound sparsely covered +with ruins, where the troopers had probably off-saddled during the heat +of the day. + +Of all men these were such as he least desired to meet. The Turks were +so eager to snap up recruits that no explanations or excuses, no +feigning of half-wittedness, were likely to avail him if he were +caught. Unluckily the country was devoid of cover until he could gain +the marsh reeds nearly half a mile away; the cavalry were, when he +caught sight of them, a little farther distant in the opposite +direction. If he could once plunge among the reeds he had a reasonable +chance of escaping, for the horses would be at a disadvantage on the +boggy ground. But at a second glance he abandoned hope; the men must +have seen him; they would reach the reeds first, and it was so small a +patch that they could encircle it and soon beat him out. Flight was +evidently useless; he must put the best face on it and trust to mother +wit. + +Even as he made up his mind to this, three men detached themselves from +the squadron, which appeared to be about a hundred strong, and galloped +towards him. Their comrades pursued their course upstream at a walk. +When the men rode up to him, one of them ordered him to follow them: he +must come before their officer. He assumed as silly a look as he +could, and without replying, walked on at the same sauntering gait that +he had adopted as soon as he saw the soldiers. + +"Now, ass-head, bestir yourself," cried the man who had addressed him. +"The captain is a hasty man." + +"Ahi! Ass-head I am, but my legs--are not they the legs of a man? How +should they keep pace with the legs of these mules?" + +"Mules! What a foolish fellow is this! Take hold of my stirrup, and +run." + +Burnet clutched at the horse's tail, then shrank back. + +"Woe is me! Shall I have more dealings with a shaving-brush?" + +"By the Beard, he has not the wits of a calf," said another of the men. +"Take him up behind you, Hassan." + +The trooper, a brawny Kurd, stooped, took Burnet by the middle, and +hoisted him with apparent ease to the horse's crupper. + +"Put your arms round me," he said, and galloped off. + +On their catching up with the squadron the captain gave the order to +halt, the trooper let Burnet down, and led him to his officer, +explaining that he seemed to be an idiot, not knowing a horse from a +mule nor a tail from a stirrup iron. + +"Your name?" demanded the captain. + +"Yusuf, may you live for ever," replied Burnet. + +"What are you? Why are you wandering here alone?" + +"Ahi! I am an ass-head; that giant there says so, and so did my +master, Firouz Ali." + +"The barber of Bagdad!" + +"Truly he is a barber, and of Bagdad; and he has brushes and sharp +knives and soap, and he pours water on the soap----" + +"This must be that witless apprentice of the barber's," the captain +interrupted, "of whom they tell that he filled the mouth of Bukkad Bey +with soap." + +"Mashallah! was it not well done?" cried Burnet, with a foolish smile. +"It was like cream in a cup of raspberries." + +"The boy is a fool," said the captain. "You left Firouz Ali: what are +you doing here?" + +"Truly I am gazing at the sun, noble effendi," said Burnet innocently, +fixing his eyes on the officer's round fat face. "My father says my +face is the moon, and he wants to see it." He took out the Arabic +note, unfolded it, and offered it to the captain, who however pushed it +away impatiently. + +"Answer my question: what have you done since you left the barber?" + +"Eaten and drunk and slept, and suffered many stripes at the hands of +one Ibrahim, a driver of camels. It is true I am an ass-head, for he +too called me so, and having brought me to the town yonder, he sent me +away; and I am even now going to my home in the Beni Lam country to +feed the goats. It is all I am fit for." + +The captain looked him up and down. + +"He is a fool, but his limbs are sound," he said. "He is good enough +for the infantry. Take him up behind you again, Hassan. We will see +what they make of him in Bagdad." + +The squadron moved off at an easy trot. Burnet was alarmed at the turn +things had taken. He had little doubt that Firouz Ali would find some +means of preventing his enlistment in the army; but the delay would +prevent his meeting with Captain Ellingford at the _tell_ and render it +impossible for him to convey his information to headquarters, at any +rate for some time to come. Meanwhile the young chief Rejeb's tribe +was in danger of annihilation. However, there was no help for it. +Bagdad was a long way off, and before they got there he might find a +means of escaping. + +As they rode along, Burnet listened to the troopers' conversation. +They appeared to be a mixed lot, and spoke in a variety of dialects +which he found very puzzling. But from words he made out here and +there he gathered that the squadron had been on a reconnaissance down +the right bank of the Euphrates. The mention of Halil's name now and +again seemed to indicate that the expedition had been in some way +connected with the impending attack on Rejeb. Whether it had been made +in anticipation of that attack, to collect information, or whether the +squadron was a part of the force detailed for the actual operations, +Burnet was unable to determine. If the raid on Rejeb's people had +actually occurred, his chances of finding an open route, should he +succeed in crossing the Euphrates, were small indeed. The enemy would +almost certainly hold the country through which he must travel, and +probably in some strength. But from what he knew of the Turk it seemed +unlikely that the expedition had even started yet. General Eisenstein +had mentioned a month; there were still some days to spare, and not +even the driving force of the German would have the effect of keeping +either Turks or Arabs up to time. The month would probably extend to +five or six weeks before the organisation of the expedition was +sufficiently complete to satisfy Eisenstein, who, like all the German +high command, would not move until he felt assured that every possible +contingency had been foreseen and provided for. + +Burnet cast many a longing glance at the fine Arab ridden by the +captain. It trod the sand with the high step and graceful movement of +the thoroughbred, and a gallop on its back would have been a sheer joy. + +The squadron continued their march for some time after sunset, +intending to bivouac at a spot which they had used for the purpose on +the way down. It was a mound rising slightly above the marsh which had +extended along their right flank the whole of the day. When they +halted, the captain gave orders that Burnet should be tied up during +the night. He was allowed first to eat a meal of his own dates, washed +down with tepid, musty water from the skin he carried. It was an +unpleasant night. His feet were hobbled, and his hands being bound, he +suffered a good deal from the depredations of mosquitoes which he was +unable to brush away. The birds and animals of the marsh kept up a +strident chorus. Occasionally a wild boar with his family could be +heard crashing through the reeds. It was impossible to sleep except in +fitful snatches, and Burnet beguiled the wearisome hours by trying to +form some plan of escape. He made several attempts to release his +hands, but the trooper who had tied the cords had done his work +thoroughly. Until his hands were free the most ingenious scheme for +eluding his captors was a mere beating of the air; and he had to +confess to himself that even then the chances of getting away from so +many well-mounted men were not worth reckoning. + +Overcome by weariness, Burnet was at last in a deep sleep when, at the +first sign of dawn, the camp was astir. He was wakened, his bonds were +loosed, and he was permitted to make a frugal meal again while the +troopers saddled up in preparation for starting. Burnet noticed that +the squadron had diminished in numbers, and learnt by and by that two +or three parties of half a dozen men each had ridden off very early to +scout in various directions. + +Looking around him, he observed a wide glittering expanse some three +miles or more to the east--no doubt the Euphrates shining in the +morning sunlight. Rush-grown pools in the middle distance suggested +that the intervening country was marshy. + +Burnet's limbs were a good deal cramped by the uneasy postures he had +had to adopt during the night, and he thought it well to assume a +greater degree of stiffness than he actually felt. Uttering many +doleful lamentations on his unhappy lot, he sat down and rocked himself +to and fro until one of the troopers told him (with a scornful gibe on +his lack of wit) to walk about if he wished to ease his aching. The +majority of the men were squatting or lying on the ground beside their +horses. The captain, in the centre of the mound some twenty yards away +from Burnet, was examining the surrounding country through his field +glasses. His horse was being walked up and down by his orderly, who +eyed the benumbed prisoner with a certain amusement as he passed him. +Burnet ignored the man and looked only at the horse, admiring the +graceful high-mettled creature. + +Suddenly a wild idea set his blood leaping. He rose, as if in response +to the trooper's suggestion, and began to walk up and down, slowly and +stiffly. Every moment he drew nearer to the short stretch on which the +orderly was giving his master's horse gentle exercise. He allowed the +man to pass him once, but as he returned from the end of his beat, +Burnet gathered himself together, threw himself upon the Turk, and with +a straight right-hander, shot out with all his strength, sent him +staggering back. Half dazed as he was, the man still clutched the +bridle. There was no time to loosen his grip. The plunging of the +horse had already attracted the officer's attention, and Burnet was +partly hidden from him by the animal's body. While the orderly was +still staggering, Burnet vaulted into the saddle, and the scared animal +wrenched himself from the man's relaxed grip and dashed across the +mound towards the open country. + +The officer had rushed forward, and with a furious imprecation sent +three bullets in quick succession after the runaway. Burnet +instinctively ducked; he discovered afterwards that one of the shots +had perforated his water skin. The camp was in uproar. The troopers +had sprung up, and in obedience to their captain's frenzied commands +leapt into their saddles. Then began the maddest gallop that the +plains of Babylonia had ever seen. Burnet felt that at every stride +his mount must come to grief. At the start he had clung to the horse's +mane, at the same time pressing his knees into its flanks with a +muscular energy of which he felt the resulting strain for several days. +The reins hung loose, the stirrups danced, and it was only by sheer +horsemanship that Burnet was able to retain his seat until he recovered +the former, which he had feared might trip the horse up. To slip his +feet into the stirrups was impossible while the mad pace was maintained. + +It was some moments before he realised that his steed was carrying him +towards the south-west, away from his goal. With a firm grip now on +the reins he managed to edge the horse gradually to the left, and, +still at the same furious gallop, made straight towards the river. +Lying low on the horse's neck, he glanced round, and saw, as he had +expected, that the troopers were strung out in an irregular line behind +him. Some, divining his intentions, were already heading to cut him +off. And now his familiarity with the Arab horse served him well. By +degrees he brought the frightened animal under control, and checked its +pace, realising that its panic would soon exhaust its strength. He had +little fear that the trooper's heavier horses would overtake him; but +there was a risk of meeting one of the scouting parties which had +ridden off an hour or two before, and he might need all his mount's +reserve of speed to avoid being cut off. + +Having mastered the horse, he was able to give his mind to a rapid +calculation of his course of action. It was of the first importance +that he should keep off the marsh, for if the animal were mired, within +a few minutes he would find himself the target for fifty odd rifles. +Even a convenient bed of reeds would hardly save him, for as one +against fifty he would stand no chance. Before he attempted to cross +the river his object must be to ride the pursuers out of sight, a +difficult matter on the flat plain, which was almost devoid of cover. +It was a case of trusting to the horse's stamina. Keeping therefore +within touch of the edge of the marsh, he settled to a fast steady +trot, every now and then looking over his shoulder for a sight of his +pursuers. + +For some time Burnet's resolution to spare his horse prevented him from +increasing his lead appreciably. Indeed, the pursuers began to gain +upon him. But he was so confident in his mount's superiority that this +fact did not disturb him. Barring accidents, he could outstrip the +more heavily mounted troopers at his pleasure. + +Now that this plan of action was clearly outlined, he began to feel the +exhilaration of the race. The horse had lost his fright, and already +seemed to have entered into that mutual understanding which is +established between a thoroughbred animal and a skilled rider. The air +of early morning was crisp and still; there was no wind to sweep dust +into his eyes, and the sand that flew up under the horse's hoofs hung +in a cloud behind him. + +His only anxiety was concerned with the scouting parties, and he looked +more frequently ahead, and to his right, than towards the pursuers +behind. There was little or no danger to be feared from the marsh on +his left, but at any moment one of the detachments might appear on the +plain to the south or west. + +This apprehension proved to be well-founded. He presently caught sight +of what appeared to be a low cloud far away to the south-west, and a +few minutes later he was able to distinguish a number of specks in the +midst of it. These grew rapidly larger as they approached, and he at +length counted seven horsemen riding close together, and almost +certainly troopers of the squadron. He had just time, perhaps, to +avoid them; but whether he struck off to the right or left he would +arouse their suspicion, especially as they must already have seen the +string of pursuers in his rear. They could hardly fail also to +recognise their captain's horse, and would probably guess that a +horse-stealer had been at work and ride to cut him off, or, what would +be worse, dismount and fire. It seemed best to take the bold course: +to ride straight towards them, leaving them in doubt as to the meaning +of the chase until he was close upon them. + +Bending low upon the horse's neck to avoid recognition as long as +possible, he groped for his revolver and held on his way. As he +approached the party, their actions showed that they were puzzled. +They halted, gesticulated, gathered in a group to debate the matter. +No doubt they thought that a fugitive would hardly ride straight into +their midst. But before Burnet had ridden another hundred yards he saw +that the critical moment was at hand. The men suddenly broke apart; it +appeared that they had at last recognised him, for they unslung their +rifles. And now for the first time Burnet made the supreme call upon +his horse. The gallant beast shot forward instantly, closing in upon +the group with amazing speed. With the instinct of leaderless men, the +Turks, evidently disconcerted, bunched themselves together again, and +lost a few precious moments in fumbling with their rifles. Before they +had aligned themselves and got their weapons ready Burnet was upon +them. When some twenty yards distant, a touch on the rein caused his +horse to swerve slightly to the left, and the nearest Turk, dropping +his rifle, drew his tulwar and aimed a sweeping cut at Burnet as he +flashed by. Burnet felt the air of the stroke as it missed him by +inches. Turning on his saddle, he fired his revolver, rather with the +object of inspiring caution and respect than with the expectation of +hitting any of the enemy. At such a headlong speed to take aim was +impossible. His shot, in truth, missed. He heard four scattered +cracks: the rifle bullets whistled past; but he was already many yards +beyond the stationary group, and when the thunder of pursuit reached +his ears, he was confident that, with a clear course now before him, he +could shake off the new pursuers if his horse could stand the pace. + +When next he glanced back, one man was hard on his heels, but the rest +were strung out at various intervals behind him, and the original +pursuers were rapidly losing ground. There was nothing to fear except +from the one man who was evidently better mounted than his comrades. +He carried his rifle still unslung, and though an Arab of the desert +might have found it a useful weapon even at the breakneck speed at +which they were riding, it was not likely that a Turkish trooper would +possess the dexterity of his wilder brother. But it was clearly +necessary to dispose of this man. Burnet slightly checked his horse, +and trusting it with its own course he looked back continually over his +shoulder and watched the Turk foot by foot reducing the gap between +them. From forty yards it became thirty--twenty--and then Burnet +turned suddenly in the saddle and took a snap shot at the pursuer. It +went wide. The Turk gave a shout of triumph, flourished his tulwar, +and came galloping on. At fifteen yards Burnet tried another shot, and +before he could see the effect of it, had to turn hastily to control +the horse, whom the repeated shots had apparently disturbed. But he +was conscious that the sounds of pursuit had died away, and glancing +round a few moments later he saw that the Turk had reined up and was +dismounting. That he was not seriously hurt was soon proved. Burnet +had only just faced forward again when a bullet sang past his ear. "A +good shot," he thought, and bent low to avoid a second. But no other +came, and glancing back, he saw that the man's comrades had galloped +past him, and were now between him and the quarry. There was no fear +of further rifle practice. + +[Illustration: THE LAST SHOT] + +Burnet was surprised that the troopers had not by this time +relinquished the chase, for they were hopelessly outpaced, and must be +losing a yard in every twenty. Probably they had unpleasant +anticipations of their captain's wrath if they returned unsuccessful, +and were hoping against hope that accident would give the fugitive into +their hands. It was only after they had continued the pursuit for +another mile or so that they at last recognised its futility. +Dismounting, they tried to snipe Burnet's fast-lessening figure. In +another five minutes he was beyond effective range, and with a sigh of +contentment drew rein. + +"Well done, old fellow," he said, patting the steaming neck of the +quivering horse. "You have earned a rest." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ACROSS THE EUPHRATES + +The chase had extended over several miles, and it appeared to Burnet +that he was not far from the spot where he had been captured on the +previous day, when he was considering how best to cross the Euphrates. +He had lost a day; it was now doubtful whether he could reach the +_tell_ by the appointed time, even with the aid of the horse. Captain +Ellingford could not be expected to wait long for him at such a remote +and desolate place, and since it would be a long and hazardous +undertaking to cross the Turkish lines except in an aeroplane the +prospect was not at all cheering. + +The first necessity was to give his horse rest after the long gallop. +He reined up at a shallow pool, and while the animal drank he carefully +scanned the surrounding country. It was a flat and almost bare plain, +a few straggling bushes here and there making a struggle for existence. +The river was not in sight, and he knew that between it and him +stretched miles of swamp, through which it would be difficult for one +unfamiliar with the locality to find a way. It seemed that his best +course would be to ride on, as soon as the horse was sufficiently +rested, until he came to one of the mounds that rose slightly above the +general level: this would give him a wider outlook. As he waited he +reflected on the almost entire absence of signs of war. In Meshed Ali +he had heard scarcely any mention of the great conflict in which more +than half the world was engaged; yet on the other side of the +Euphrates, comparatively few miles away, a great Turkish army under +German taskmasters was holding far-flung entrenchments which not all +the valour of seasoned British troops and their gallant Indian comrades +had availed to pierce after months of effort. The chances that Bagdad +would fall to British arms appeared small indeed. + +After half an hour's rest he put his horse to a smart trot, riding +southward with a slight eastward trend in order to make gradual +approach to the swampy region. In some twenty minutes he espied, some +distance away to the left, a mound that would give him the look-out he +desired. Riding towards it, and beyond, he dismounted, retraced his +steps, and leading the horse, left it at the foot of the mound, +screened from the north, and cautiously made his way on foot to the +summit, where he found good cover behind a pile of ruins. And then he +had a shock. To the north, probably two miles away, a small party of +horsemen in extended order was riding towards him. They were too far +away for him to distinguish their costume, but he had no doubt that +they were some of the men who had pursued him from the bivouac. He had +hoped and believed that the Turks, finding that he had the heels of +them, had abandoned the idea of chasing him farther; but he was now +forced to conclude that a few of the better-mounted men had been sent +to follow him up, trusting perhaps to accident to deliver him into +their hands. The order in which they rode seemed to show that they +were following his trail on the sandy soil, with precautions against +its possible disappearance in stony patches. + +Burnet had no fear of their catching him if it came to another race +over the plain, but he had already come so far out of his true +direction that the prospect of further loss of time was annoying. He +threw a hasty glance eastwards. Far off he descried the irregular line +of reeds that marked the course of the Euphrates. The middle distance +was almost unbroken swamp, except in one quarter, the north-east, +towards that bend to which he had been proceeding when he was captured. +A rapid calculation determined him to make a dash in that direction. +It would mean doubling on his tracks, and if the enemy caught sight of +him as he rode off at an acute angle with their own course they would +certainly strike off to their left and try to intercept him before he +reached the river. But he could not afford further delay. He had no +fodder for the horse; for himself he had only a few dates left, and no +water, for his waterskin was leaky and useless; and the farther south +he went, the worse would be his chances of making a safe passage of the +river. + +Some distance to the south-east of the mound was an extensive area of +marsh grass. Remounting, and keeping the mound between himself and the +pursuers, he started in this direction, gained the shelter of the +grass, which rose nearly to the horse's shoulders, and rode through it +as rapidly as he could on the soft ground due eastward. He guessed +that the pursuers would use the mound as he had done, as a post of +observation, and when he judged that they must be approaching it, he +plunged into the tallest patch of grass he could find, and dismounted. +Through the grass he could still see the top of the mound, but he felt +confident that neither himself nor the horse would be visible to the +enemy when they arrived there. His hope was that, failing to discover +him, they would continue their ride southward, leaving him to make off +in the opposite direction without further danger. + +Time passed. There was no sign of the Turks, and Burnet was beginning +to surmise that they had either given up the chase or passed the mound +when he saw figures appear above the summit. Four horsemen halted +there. Where were the others? Surely he had counted six before? The +absence of two made him uneasy. Had he been seen in spite of all his +caution? + +The four men remained motionless on the mound for several minutes. +Then there was a faint shout in the distance. Instantly the four Turks +dashed down the side of the mound, and galloped towards the patch of +grass in which Burnet was concealed. It was only too clear that the +missing men, whose movements he had been unable to see, had sought and +found his trail at the base of the mound: the hunt was up. + +It was no time for further finessing. He vaulted into the saddle, and +rode off at full speed, as nearly as he could judge towards the narrow +stretch of dry land through the swamp which he had previously marked. +He was no longer in danger of being cut off, for he was between his +pursuers and the river. Would they be able to ride him down? + +Disappointment awaited him. The irregular space of open ground that +had seemed to him, on his distant view from the mound, dry and firm, +turned out to have many soft patches which it was impossible to avoid. +There was no time to pick his way: he could only plunge into the swampy +places as they occurred, chancing his luck. He soon found, however, +that his horse had extraordinary judgment, bred, no doubt, of former +experience in the marshes. It seemed to distinguish by instinct the +firm ground from the soft, and being given its head, sprang from one +hard patch to another unerringly. + +As Burnet drew nearer to the river, the grasses and reed-like plants of +the marsh grew taller and thicker. Immense white lilies and other +flowering plants showed their blossoms here and there; water-birds of +all kinds, disturbed by the passage of the horse, flew out in all +directions, among them a stately pelican or two, indignant at being +molested in their solitary retreats. Encompassed by these dense masses +of vegetation, Burnet was effectually hidden from his pursuers, who +could only follow his trail; and he felt a joyous confidence that their +horses were not likely to be so clever as his own. + +At last, the river came suddenly into view--or rather, the remains of +an ancient embankment a few feet above the surface of the marsh, +covered thick with creeping plants. A touch on the horse's flank sent +the animal bounding up the embankment, and then Burnet reined up and +looked back over the waving sea of grass and reeds. He was just able +to descry the heads of the pursuers, at least a mile away. + +Burnet looked to right and left, seeking a convenient place for +crossing the river, here about two hundred yards wide. There was the +risk that if he descended the embankment too hastily, he might find +himself embogged in the thick mud that bordered the stream. Riding +along southward, he came at length to a deep wady or channel running +into the marsh, where the descent seemed fairly easy. He gave the +horse a minute or two to recover breath, then rode into the river at +the spot where the wady left it. The animal took the water readily +enough, but showed a disinclination to go beyond its depth, until +Burnet slipped from the saddle and swam along with his hand on the +bridle. + +He struck out obliquely, hoping to gain the spot on the opposite bank +which he had marked as offering an easy landing. Progress was slow, +but he was three-fourths of the way across when shouts behind apprised +him that the pursuers had reached the embankment. By this time the +current had carried him fully two hundred yards below the place where +he had entered the water, and some little distance below his chosen +landing-place. The pursuers rode along the embankment in the same +direction, with the idea, no doubt, of gaining on him by shortening +their swim. But the wady brought them to an unexpected check. His +horse's tracks showed that it was there he had entered the river; they +must either enter it at the same spot, or lose time by crossing the +wady first. Two of them chose the former course, and dashed down the +bank into the water. The rest dismounted and opened fire on their +quarry, now within a few yards of the further bank. The range was five +or six hundred yards; the Turks were weary, Turkish irregular cavalry +are at no time very good shots, and only the heads of man and horse +were above water. Burnet heard the bullets singing past him on either +side. The landing-place he had chosen was far to his left. There was +no time to seek another convenient spot. With encouraging words to his +gallant horse, he led it straight towards the bank, which looked like +an impenetrable green wall. The horse found his feet, but at first +refused to drive his head at the apparently solid vegetation. Burnet, +still holding the bridle, scrambled first into the midst of the plants, +and drew the animal slowly up after him. In another half minute both +he and the horse had disappeared from the sight of the Turks on the +opposite bank. + +Burnet hitched the bridle to a bamboo-like stalk, and returned to the +edge of the bank, where he could watch the pursuers through the dense +mass of reeds. The two swimmers had already turned their horses' +heads; the men on the bank were evidently debating the question of +their next move. They were presently rejoined by their comrades; the +discussion was continued for a little; then they all turned their backs +upon the river and disappeared behind the embankment. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FRIENDS OR FOES? + +Feeling that he was now reasonably safe, Burnet led the horse through +the stretch of marsh land that bordered the river until he reached a +dry spot, screened by tall grasses, where he could rest and think out +his course. + +To begin with, he had lost a whole day. With the utmost expedition, +and no accidents, he could hardly reach the _tell_ at the time +appointed with Captain Ellingford. Moreover, the horse, to which he +owed his escape, was now an encumbrance and an embarrassment. The +remainder of his journey lay over a parched and barren plain, that +provided sustenance for neither man nor beast. The small stock of +dates which he had purchased in Meshed Ali would suffice for himself, +but not for the horse as well. True, the Arab horse was accustomed to +go long distances with little or no food, but it would be two days at +the best before he reached the _tell_, and two days' fast was beyond +even the Arab's endurance. Further if by good luck he should meet +Captain Ellingford--and that was now doubtful--what could he do with +the horse then? He could not return to the British lines except by +aeroplane: yet it went much against the grain to abandon the noble +animal that had served him so well. If turned adrift and left to +forage for himself, the horse would probably pick up a subsistence +until he found a new master. A new master! In these regions that +could hardly be any one than an enemy. Turkish troops were constantly +on the move in the plains between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Burnet +was loth to let his prize fall again into Turkish hands. The problem +how to save the horse and yet not fail in his appointment with Captain +Ellingford was a very hard nut to crack. + +When Burnet had pondered the question for some time, a light suddenly +dawned upon him. The stronghold of the young chief Rejeb, which he had +heard described in the course of the interview between General +Eisenstein and Major Burckhardt, was about one march distant from the +_tell_, in a south-easterly direction. As nearly as he could judge, +the spot where he had crossed the river was almost due south of the +_tell_. In all probability, then, the stronghold was not less than +fifteen nor more than twenty-five miles to the east. Could he discover +the stronghold, leave the horse in Rejeb's care, and yet keep his +appointment with Captain Ellingford? + +There were several circumstances to take into consideration. In the +first place, it was clear from what the Germans had said that the +stronghold was not easy to discover. Its locality was not well known +to the authorities in Bagdad; they had had recourse to Major +Burckhardt; it was certain that Rejeb had chosen a place far from the +tracks of the desert travellers, and by its very nature hard of access. +Then, too, the expedition organised against it might already be on +foot; the stronghold might, indeed, have already fallen. To approach +it might be to jump into the lion's jaws. On the other hand, General +Eisenstein had anticipated delay. The month he had allowed for the +organisation of the expedition was barely up, and there might be time +to gain the stronghold before operations began, and, indeed, to give +Rejeb warning of what was to come. + +On the whole Burnet decided that it was worth attempting. If he failed +to find the stronghold, he could make up for lost time by riding +instead of walking to the _tell_, and the horse must then, after all, +be turned adrift. + +Having made up his mind, he shared a few dates with the horse, ventured +to drink a little water from a pool, then mounted and set off eastward. +He had expected that in proportion as he increased his distance from +the river the country would grow less swampy; on the contrary, the +farther he went, the worse it became. Again he found it necessary to +trust largely to his horse. The necessity of making detours was +annoying, because they involved loss of time. But as the animal picked +its way unerringly through the marshy patches, Burnet began to realise +the defensive possibilities of this water-logged region. If this was +the country chosen by Rejeb's tribe as their refuge, the stronghold +should give its assailants a vast amount of trouble. Unhealthy it +might be; it was certainly secure. + +As the day wore on, Burnet wondered whether he had decided rightly. +Progress was terribly slow. The zigzag course necessitated by the +nature of the ground, made it difficult even to maintain his general +direction. Without a compass, without definite knowledge of the +position of the stronghold, it seemed that he might wander for days in +this desolate region without gaining a single clue. At nightfall he +was almost in despair. Fatigue, the reaction from the strain of the +escape and the pursuit, told heavily upon his spirits, and when he +sought a secluded spot where he might rest during the night, he was a +prey to that heart-sickness and despondency which assails at times even +the bravest. + +He found a clear and fairly dry space, with a background of shrubs, +which seemed to promise security for the night. Tethering his horse to +a stout bush, he fastened his revolver to his wrist, and lay down, with +his back to the wall of vegetation, his face to the open. Weary though +he was, he intended to keep awake, but he dozed more than once, shook +himself, got up and walked about, lay down again when he thought +himself fully roused, only to fall at once into a profound sleep. + +In the dead of night he was suddenly startled into consciousness by a +shrill whinny from his horse. He was in the act of springing to his +feet when a number of forms closed in upon him silently out of the +darkness. Before he could use his revolver he was seized, thrown +violently back upon the ground, and in spite of his struggles securely +held. It was so dark that he could not count his captors; but while he +lay in their grasp there was the sound of others approaching; he heard +no voices; the men who held him had said nothing, and one had pressed a +hand upon his mouth. Presently a light was struck: Burnet remembered +as an incongruous detail in such a spot that it was a safety match; and +a small lantern was lit. By its feeble light he saw himself surrounded +by a score of well-armed Arabs. He tried to speak, but the pressure +upon his mouth did not relax. Two of the men swiftly tied his hands; +another gagged him with a strip of dirty cloth cut from his garment; +then he was lifted up, his horse was released, and the whole party, +preceded by the man carrying the lantern, quitted the open space and +started to march through the tall grasses below. + +[Illustration: A CAPTIVE IN BONDS] + +The silence of his captors, their rapid yet stealthy movements, +suggested the caution of men travelling in an enemy's country, or at +any rate in the neighbourhood of a hostile force. They followed their +leader, who held the lantern, in single file, each keeping closely in +touch with the man before him. Burnet had been placed about half-way +down the line, and immediately behind him came the man leading his +horse. + +Glancing at the sky, he knew by the position of the stars that the +general direction of their march was eastward, and he wondered with a +certain hopefulness whether their destination was the stronghold which +he had set out to find. Their muteness had prevented him from picking +up clues from conversation, and they might, for all he could tell, be a +part of the force of Rejeb's enemy the chief Halil. But it seemed much +more probable that they were Rejeb's men, and Burnet was vexed that +their over-caution in gagging him prevented him from explaining that he +was a friend of their chief. + +The march continued without pause through the rest of the night. The +leader made so many turns in seeking practicable paths through the +swamp that the distance covered must have been three times the distance +as the crow flies. Burnet, tired when he started, was ready to drop +with fatigue; but he was resolved to "stick it out," and to show no +sign of his condition. It was not until the darkness began to break +that the embargo of silence was lifted. The leader appeared to consult +with some of the men at the head of the line. Their tones were so low +that Burnet could not hear what was said, and after a few minutes they +again fell silent. When, however, it was quite light they halted. Two +or three of the men went ahead in different directions, evidently to +scout, and when they returned after a brief interval, the leader gave a +grunt of satisfaction, and the whole party, at his signal, opened their +wallets and prepared to take a meal. At another signal the man who had +marched behind Burnet removed the gag, and placed him before the leader. + +This man, a swarthy hook-nosed Arab of about thirty-five years, looked +keenly at his prisoner. + +"That is a fine horse," were his first words. "Where did you steal it?" + +Burnet could not help smiling. The man had shrewdly hit the mark. +What should he reply? He thought it best for the present to temporise. + +"Truly he that borrows meaning not to pay back is a thief," he said: +"yet it is not theft if it is done openly." + +"Wallah!" grunted the man. "What is your name, whence do you come, and +on what errand?" + +These questions came after a slight pause, during which Burnet had +thought rapidly. His captors must have recognised the military +trappings of the horse; they must know that it had belonged to some one +in the Turkish service, and their suspicion that he had stolen it, +together with the absence of any note of indignation in the leader's +question, seemed to argue that they were at any rate no great friends +of the Turk, and to confirm his surmise that they were Rejeb's men. He +resolved on a bold stroke. + +"Is it for servants to know their master's business?" he said. "My +errand shall be told to your chief. Send word to Rejeb your master +that Yusuf the boatman would have speech with him." + +He had spoken in loud tones so that all might hear, and the start of +surprise which he noticed in a rapid glance around the company at the +name Rejeb convinced him that he was right. + +"We have heard of Yusuf the boatman," said the leader, with a marked +change of tone. "Are you indeed the man who saved Rejeb out of the +hand of Halil's creatures?--the man whom our chief bade us hold in +honour?" + +"I am he. And that there be no delay, send a man upon this horse to +your chief, telling him that Yusuf the boatman is here." + +The leader ordered one of his men to ride off with the message, and the +rest to resume their march. + +"May not my hands now be unbound?" Burnet asked, as he set off with the +rest. + +"Nay, that is for our chief to order," replied the man. "What if you +are some paltry horse-thief that has taken the name of Yusuf the +boatman with some evil design? Your dress is rather that of a +camel-driver than of a boatman." + +"Truly your chief has faithful servants. So be it, then, until his +eyes fall upon me." + +Something less than an hour later, a small party of horsemen was seen +in the distance, approaching at speed. One of them had a led horse. +In a few minutes Rejeb rode up at the head of his men. + +"Peace be with you!" he cried, springing from his horse, and coming +towards Burnet with an eager light in his eyes. "This is a day of +rejoicing. But what is this? Your hands are bound!" + +"Your servant here kept me faithfully bound until assured that I am +what I said I was." + +"Mashallah! Loose him at once," he cried to the man. "Know that this +is the brother of whom I told you, saying that he had saved my life, +and that I and my people are bounden to him for ever. And now, my +brother, mount this horse that I have brought for you: that horse the +messenger rode was weary and famished and is being well cared for." + +He put no questions to Burnet, treating him as a guest who had been +expected. The horsemen rode off, Rejeb commanding the unmounted party +to follow as rapidly as they could. During the ride there was little +conversation between Rejeb and Burnet, though the latter guessed from +the young chief's manner that he either had important news to give, or +expected to hear something of importance. + +After about half an hour's easy trot they came in sight of extensive +ruins on a mound surrounded by swamp, and as they drew nearer to them, +Burnet wondered how the stronghold, if this it was, could be +approached, for it appeared to be completely encircled by wide expanses +of water, broken here and there by areas of mud or reeds. Presently, +however, they came to a broad wady that must in ancient times have been +one of the major irrigation works of the district. Here the party fell +into single file, and Rejeb, apologising for riding in front of his +guest, led the way along the narrow embankment of the channel. At +intervals the embankment was intersected by smaller wadys: these the +horsemen waded through. + +When they at length arrived opposite the mound, Rejeb turned abruptly +to the right and pushed through a clump of reeds on to a narrow stone +causeway, fringed on both sides with tall rushes which completely hid +it from view. It led directly to the mound, almost half a mile ahead +in a straight line. Burnet learnt, later on, that the causeway was +believed to date from the Babylonian age; it was supposed to have been +built, not for the passage of the swamp--for in those days the +surrounding country was probably dry land, carefully irrigated from the +wadys--but as a means of access to the temple which then crowned the +mound, in times of flood due to abnormal rainfall. Centuries of +neglect had turned the land once well drained into permanent swamp, but +the solid masonry of the causeway had withstood the ravages of time, +though when Rejeb's people first discovered it it had been much +overgrown with rampant vegetation. They had at once perceived the +advantages of the mound as a natural fortress and of the causeway as +the only means of access. They cleared away the overgrowth except at +the edges, where the vegetation that was allowed to remain made the +causeway a sort of secret lane. + +On riding up the mound, Burnet saw that the ruins were even more +extensive than they had appeared at a distance. They covered a space +nearly half a mile long and a third of a mile wide. He conjectured +that the place had been the site of a temple and the dwellings of a +community of priests. The lower part of what had once been a large +tower was in a fair state of preservation, and dominated the rest of +the ruins. It was here that Rejeb and his family were lodged; for, +young as he was, he had already a wife and children. No other +buildings had been habitable when the mound was chosen as a harbour of +refuge; but the young men of the tribe had made for themselves fairly +serviceable shelters out of the fragments of masonry with which the +site abounded. + +These details were explained by Rejeb as he led the way to his tower. +He explained also that only part of his tribe had found refuge here. +The rest were dispersed. Many of them, especially the old men, women, +and children, had been received by friendly tribes in the southern +desert. With the exception of Rejeb's own family, the occupants of the +_tell_ were nearly all fighting men. They had with them all their most +valuable horses, and were armed with rifles of various patterns. Their +great difficulty was the supply of food and fodder. They had brought +with them a considerable stock of dates, meal, and dried goat's flesh, +which they kept in underground cellars excavated for the purpose; and +this they supplemented by periodical forays upon the plantations and +flocks of the weaker tribes of the marshes. But it was becoming +increasingly difficult to keep up the supply, especially of fodder for +the horses. A great part of the surplus produce of the neighbouring +tribes was sold to the Turkish army, and the sympathies of these people +was naturally on the side of their customers. They would just as +readily sell food to the British, but the British were still barred by +the entrenchments at Kut el Amara. The smaller communities of Arabs, +moreover, were dominated by the large and powerful tribe of Halil; and +Rejeb's people, obliged to retreat into their fastness, were not in a +position to exchange and barter commodities. Their only means of +supplying themselves was to swoop suddenly, most often by night, upon +the settlements of their less warlike neighbours, and of late they had +only too often returned from these forays unsuccessful. + +It was not until Rejeb had conducted Burnet to his tower that the +important matters each had at heart were entered upon. In a bare stone +room, as comfortless as a hermit's cell, the two young men, seated on +blocks of stone, exchanged confidences. + +"You know me as Yusuf the boatman," Burnet began. "I owe it to you to +tell you that I am really an Englishman--the son of Burnet Aga of whom +you may have heard." + +The Arab gave no sign of surprise. + +"Did not my heart tell me you were not as you seemed?" he said. + +"I would tell you all my adventures but that I have little time to +spare," Burnet went on. "I promised to join a British officer to-day +at the _tell_ where you and I met. Let it suffice that I have been to +Bagdad on a secret errand, that I fell into the hands of Turks as I +came to seek you, and escaped on the horse of their officer. The rest +of my story must be told at leisure on some future day. Now, my +friend, Firouz Ali, the barber of Bagdad, sent a messenger to inform +you that the Turks have joined hands with Halil to root out you and +your tribe. Did the man reach you?" + +"He came but a few days ago, and departed immediately to carry his +tidings to your general below Kut, for it is a matter that concerns +your army weightily. The talk of the country is that Kut is a locked +door which your countrymen will never open. Yet there must be some +among the Turks who fear that the lock will one day be burst: if it +were not so, why should they help Halil to destroy a small tribe like +mine? Is it not because they know that my people hate the Turks, and +will lend assistance to all who are the Turk's enemies? When the +barriers at Kut are burst, and your army pours through the open doorway +to attack Bagdad, my people will help to protect them on the side of +the Euphrates. This the Turks well know, and therefore it is that they +go about to destroy me, as it were to pluck a thorn from a foot. I +bade the messenger tell these things to your general, but I cannot hope +that he will send me help, for he is a great way off, and moreover he +will not move a part of his army so far from his main body. There is +no help for me until Kut has fallen. Wallahi! I must guard my own +skin. In my father's days his tribe withstood more than once the power +of the pashas of Bagdad; they will do so again, though in truth the +odds are heavy against them now, when the Germans have furnished the +Turks with new and terrible engines of war such as my father never +knew. But we will make a stout defence in this our stronghold, and +Allah is merciful to those who fight in a good cause." + +Burnet admired the young chief's courage, though he doubted whether, +even in a position so strong by nature, all the valour of the Arabs +would prevail against the superior arms of the enemy. Rejeb informed +him that the parties of scouts whom he sent out daily had as yet learnt +nothing of the expedition, and his great hope was that the British +would have broken through at Kut before the menace became pressing. + +It was necessary that Burnet should depart betimes if he was to reach +his rendezvous with Captain Ellingford while daylight lasted. After +consultation with Rejeb it was arranged that he should ride out under +the escort of a few picked mounted men, who would conduct him by the +shortest route to the _tell_. They would not actually approach the +_tell_, lest the sight of Arabs near the spot should deter Captain +Ellingford from alighting. Having brought Burnet within two or three +miles of it, they would return, taking his horse with them, and leaving +him to perform the remainder of the journey on foot. They would +furnish him with food and water enough for two or three days. If by +ill luck the captain should not keep the appointment, Burnet would +return on foot to Rejeb's stronghold, and endeavour to reach the +British lines by a long detour. + +Rejeb summoned six of his men, explained that they were to serve Burnet +as they would serve himself, and gave them the orders that had been +agreed upon. A little more than an hour after his arrival at the +stronghold Burnet quitted it, riding the Turk's horse, and accompanied +by the six Arabs, on mounts little inferior to his own. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE TRYST + +It was nearly noon when Burnet and his escort reached the spot, between +two and three miles from the _tell_, where they were to part company. +Autumn was merging into winter, and the midday heat was not so great as +to necessitate a long halt. Burnet took leave of the Arabs, confided +his horse to their care, and went alone on foot across the plain. The +route chosen for him by his guides was not direct, and the journey took +him twice as long as it would have done had he followed his own +judgment; but it was safe; he met no one; and he arrived at the _tell_ +a little after two o'clock. + +There was no sign of Captain Ellingford. Burnet went down to the +underground chamber, exchanged his Arab dress for his own uniform, then +returned to his former look-out post on the mound, field-glasses in +hand. It was a case for the cultivation of oriental patience. Two or +three hours passed. He had frequently scanned the horizon, without +catching a glimpse either of the expected aeroplane or of figures on +the plain. At last, however, almost at the same moment, he noticed, +away to the north-west, a dust cloud moving on the ground, which +speedily resolved itself into a strong body of horsemen, and some +distance to the east of them a speck in the sky which grew larger +moment by moment and was undoubtedly an aeroplane, flying at a height +of about two thousand feet. Burnet had just focussed it through his +field-glasses when it dropped swiftly earthwards, and vanished from his +sight. He had not had time to distinguish its make; but it was +unlikely that an enemy machine was flying in this direction on the very +day when Captain Ellingford had promised to return to the _tell_. On +the other hand, if the machine was piloted by the captain, why had he +alighted so far from his destination? Was he the victim suddenly of +the airman's chief foe, engine trouble? + +Burnet turned his glasses towards the body of horsemen. They had +changed their course, and were now galloping eastward, in the direction +in which the aeroplane had come down. Smitten with misgiving, Burnet +slipped the glasses back into their case, hurried down the slope, and +set off at his best pace towards the spot where he feared his friend +was in peril. It was hard going. When he had left the sandy +neighbourhood of the _tell_, he had to skirt swamps, cross wadys, and +sometimes to force his way through thick masses of reeds. To make +matters worse, his view was circumscribed by the rushes and tall grass, +so that he could only gauge his general direction by the sun. + +After half an hour's exhausting progress he began to wonder whether he +had not overshot the mark. He had seen no sign of the horsemen, nor of +the aeroplane, which must stand higher than they. In this trackless +and desolate region he might wander as in a maze. But just when the +difficulties of the situation were weighing his spirits down to the +point of despair, he was suddenly startled by the rattle of a +machine-gun not far ahead, the crackle of musketry, and loud cries. + +At this moment he was on the edge of a reedy swamp, like those which he +had skirted more than once since he left the _tell_. He felt that it +was no time for caution, and plunged into the yielding surface, sinking +in first up to his ankles, and soon finding himself in deep water where +it was necessary to swim. Wading toilsomely through the slime beyond, +he scrambled ashore, coated with mud and green scum, and dashed through +the reeds, guided always by the continuous sounds of conflict. A +quarter-mile of stumbling, wading, dragging his mud-caked boots brought +him to the edge of a belt of rushes that separated the morass from a +broad clear space beyond, and as he plunged through the tall flags he +dreaded what he might see on the other side. + +By this time the firing had ceased. When he parted the screen of +rushes and peered through he saw the aeroplane not far from the centre +of the open space. Near it Captain Ellingford lay on the ground, +guarded by two Turkish troopers. Forty or fifty other Turks were +intently examining the machine. A little beyond it were several prone +forms, and farther away the horses of the troop were bunched together +in the charge of half a dozen men. + +The Turks were too much occupied and interested to observe the face +peering at them through the rushes. After a rapid glance that took in +all the details of the scene Burnet stepped silently back under cover. +There came to his ears the sounds of an animated conversation between +the officer in command and his subordinates. He could not understand +what they said, but guessed that they were discussing in perplexity the +question what to do with their prize. Presently the officer gave a +series of sharp orders, and parting the rushes to make for himself a +peep-hole, Burnet saw the greater number of the men cross the space and +mount their horses. A few of them then rode off in different +directions, no doubt to act as vedettes and give warning if an enemy +approached. The remainder lined up and awaited further orders. + +Meanwhile the officer resumed his conversation with the men he had +retained. It was clear from their puzzled looks that they could come +to no conclusion about the disposal of the aeroplane. Burnet guessed +that they were unwilling to destroy a machine which would be useful to +their own army; but the problem how to convey it to their lines, +probably a good many miles away, over country that was one long +succession of swamps, was evidently beyond them. + +After a time, however, it appeared that light had dawned. Burnet heard +the word wady several times repeated, and though his ignorance of +Turkish prevented him from understanding in what connection it was +used, it gave him a clue to their next step. The officer sent one of +the men to convey an order to the mounted group. A dozen of the +troopers rode away westward, in the direction of the Euphrates. The +rest dismounted again. While some of them brought picketing ropes and +attached them to the aeroplane, others began to beat down the rushes +that edged the northern boundary of the open space. Then two of the +horses were yoked to the ropes, and dragged the machine slowly towards +the track which the troopers were hastily making. Burnet came to the +conclusion that they intended to draw the aeroplane to a wady somewhere +to the north, float it there, perhaps on an extemporised raft, and so +convey it to the river. + +As soon as the aeroplane began to move, the officer gave an order to +the two men standing sentry over Captain Ellingford, and then Burnet +saw for the first time that his friend was wounded. The Turks helped +him to his feet, with a care that showed a certain chivalrousness, and +supported between them he limped after his machine. + +Burnet felt utterly helpless. Alone against forty or fifty men, he +could do nothing, either to rescue his friend or to save the aeroplane. +True, night was approaching: the Turks could not complete their +preparations for floating the machine that day; he might follow them up +on the chance of finding an opportunity in the darkness of getting the +captain away, if not of destroying the engine. But on second thoughts +he recognised the almost certain futility of such a course. Ellingford +was wounded, probably unable either to endure the fatigue of walking or +to sit a horse. It was scarcely likely that circumstances would again +favour such audacious but hazardous schemes as had already twice won +success. Burnet felt that an attempt to make off with a couple of +horses would be to strain good fortune too heavily. Yet it went +utterly against the grain to allow a British officer to remain a +prisoner with the Turks, or a British aeroplane to take place in a +Turkish flight. + +One resource remained, but Burnet's heart sank as he thought of it. +Rejeb might help him, but Rejeb was twenty odd miles away. Was it +possible, tired as he was, to tramp all those weary miles back to the +stronghold, with only an hour's daylight left, and after that no guide +but the stars? How he wished that he had retained his mounted escort +until he had actually met Captain Ellingford! But regrets were vain. +The attempt must be made, and without loss of time, for he had to +reckon with the chances of going astray, consequent delay, arriving at +the stronghold too late for Rejeb to render any effective assistance, +the possibility that troopers had already been despatched northward to +acquaint the Turkish authorities with the capture of the aeroplane, and +that by the morning the small body of cavalry would have been augmented. + +"Carry on!" Burnet said to himself. "There's nothing else for it. +Carry on!" + +He scraped some of the mire from his clothes, wrung out the water, and +set off while daylight lasted to find a way around the swamp: to swim +again through that foul expanse was more than he could face. Keeping a +wary look-out for the troopers who had been sent scouting, he worked +his way back to the drier ground and regained the _tell_ as the sun was +sinking below the horizon. There he stayed just long enough to swallow +a little food; then he started on his lonely march. + +The next five hours, when he tried to remember them later, were almost +a blank to him. It seemed to him that he had trodden as in a dream the +plain over which he had ridden earlier in the day. He must have kept +his course by the stars, though he had no recollection of calculating +from their positions. Settling into a steady pace, he tramped on and +on, over sand and swamp, scarcely conscious of his movements, but +feeling vaguely that he was racing against time. If he had paused to +think, he might well have yielded to despair, for he had travelled the +route but once, and the odds were all against his keeping a straight +course in the starlight, and discovering the causeway by which alone he +could reach Rejeb's stronghold. A cold wind swept over the plain, but +he gave no thought to its possible effect, striking through his damp +clothes. He was deaf to the sounds of animals and birds in the +marshes, heedless of possible pitfalls in the way; and thought only of +Captain Ellingford a prisoner behind him, and of Rejeb somewhere ahead, +on whom all his hopes rested. + +It is doubtful whether he would have reached his goal had not Fortune +bestowed her favour upon the brave. He was several miles westward of +the stronghold, on a course that would have brought him to the +Euphrates, when, in crossing a stretch of open country, he saw a line +of horsemen pass a little ahead of him, riding slowly from right to +left. The sight roused him. Rejeb's men were accustomed to go forth +on their forays by night: was this a foraging party from the +stronghold, or a hostile band? Apparently the men had not seen him, +for they neither interrupted their march nor broke their line. They +were proceeding at a walking pace, as if heavily laden: he could follow +them, and join them if he could assure himself that they were friends. + +Changing his course, he struck off to the left, keeping the horsemen in +sight, and gradually drawing closer to them. He could now see that +every horse had a large bundle on each side of its rider, and he had no +longer any doubt that, in this neighbourhood and at this hour, the men +were of Rejeb's tribe, returning home from a successful foray. Just as +he had come to this conclusion, the horsemen quickened their pace, and +fearful of losing them, he almost unconsciously uttered a cry. +Instantly the men sprang from their saddles, formed up their horses in +a crescent-shaped line, and took post behind them, resting their rifles +on the animal's backs. Burnet called to them again, staggered towards +them, and fell upon his face. + +Five minutes later he was perched on the saddle behind the leading man, +clasping him tightly, though half asleep. And he awoke to full +consciousness only when he was lifted down and carried into Rejeb's +tower. + +"What harm has befallen you?" cried the young chief. + +"None has befallen me, but the British officer who was to meet me is in +the hands of the Turks. His aeroplane fell; Turkish cavalry surrounded +him; he fought and was wounded. The Turks are conveying him and the +aeroplane to the Euphrates. I come to seek your help." + +"It is yours, even to the last of my people. And you have come alone, +on foot, and in the night! Surely Allah must have directed your steps." + +"Time is precious," said Burnet. "What can you do?" + +"Tell me where this mischance befell your friend." + +"A little beyond the _tell_ The Turks spoke of a wady running into the +river----" + +"Well I know it. How many are these Turks?" + +"Forty or fifty." + +"Mashallah! They are delivered into our hands. I will take fifty of +my best men, and we will fall upon these Turks before they come to the +river. Doubt not that we will save your friend and also his machine, +though that we cannot carry away: we can but destroy it." + +"Will you not take a larger force?" + +"What need? Shall it be told that an Arab of Rejeb's tribe is not +equal to a dog of a Turk? I will go now and choose my best warriors +and most skilful riders. You are very weary. When you have eaten, a +couch shall be laid for you, and before you awake from sleep we shall +have accomplished our work and returned." + +"But I must go with you." + +"Ahi! were it not better to take repose and refresh yourself for what +the morrow may bring forth?" + +"Believe me, I could not rest. I must join your party." + +"So be it. But there is yet time for rest. It is scarcely the middle +of the night. The journey that has taken you since sunset on foot will +take us but half the time. If we start in the third watch we shall +still come upon the Turks some while before daylight. Sleep, then; I +will awake you at the seasonable hour, and your horse, who has been +well tended, will carry you nobly." + +Burnet needed no further persuasion. He was, in fact, dead beat, and +fell asleep before the food which Rejeb ordered to be prepared for him +was brought. Rejeb had him carried to his own couch, laid rugs over +him with his own hands, and placed the food by his side, in readiness +for his awakening. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE TRAP + +A little more than two hours later, when Burnet, refreshed by his brief +sleep, but acknowledging inwardly that he was still very weary, issued +from Rejeb's tower to the clear space outside, the light of a single +shaded torch fell on a brave array. If Rejeb was like Saladin of old +in his chivalrous determination to meet his foe on equal terms, he also +had not a little of that famous warrior's practical good sense. The +young chief was content to lead forth no more than fifty men, but he +had taken care that those fifty were his best. All in the vigour of +early manhood, lean, straight, stalwart, they had been selected by +Rejeb himself, not without pangs of jealousy and disappointment among +the rest of the tribesmen. Ranged in line, they sat immovable on +magnificent horses, holding their rifles slantwise across their saddles. + +There was a glow of conscious pride on Rejeb's handsome face as he led +Burnet towards the spot, a few feet in advance of the line, where their +horses awaited them. They mounted. + +"I would have your counsel, brother," said Rejeb courteously, but in a +tone that implied a sense of perfect equality. "The wady of which the +Turks spoke bends north-westward to the river. At half a march's +distance from the river the wady runs through ruins, neither so +widespread nor so well preserved as those here around us." (At this +Burnet felt slightly amused, for with the exception of the stump of +tower the stronghold could not boast of four upright walls.) "These +ruins the Turks must pass on their way; shall we not then ride directly +thither, and there lie in wait?" + +"You flatter me by asking my counsel--you who know the country, whereas +I am a stranger," said Burnet, adopting the chief's manner of formal +courtesy. "What is good in your eyes is good also in mine." + +"What you say is the truth: I know the country. I know that the Turks +have an outpost on the river northward of the place where the wady +joins it; southward they have none, their forces being encamped here +and there on the banks of the Tigris. If then we leave the _tell_ on +our right, and ride straight as a bird flies to the ruins I spoke of, +not only shall we avoid any meeting with the enemy, but we shall gain +our post of ambush long before they arrive there, since it will be a +work of no light labour to drag the aeroplane along the uneven +embankment of the wady." + +"Might they not construct a raft on which to convey it on the stream +itself?" + +"Where in the swamps would they find wood? There is no timber nearer +than the outpost of which I spoke, where kelaks laden with palms +sometimes lie in the river. It is true, they may have sent men to +bring one of these kelaks to the wady, but the kelakjis are too fearful +of shoals to come down the river by night, and we shall arrive at our +ambush long before the dawn." + +"It shall be done as seems good to you," said Burnet. "Who am I that I +should offer counsel?" + +He saw, in fact, that Rejeb had consulted him out of politeness merely, +and felt great confidence in this plan that had evidently been well +thought out. + +Thereupon Rejeb gave an order; the Arabs tightened their reins; and +Rejeb rode towards the head of the causeway, with Burnet immediately +behind, the rest following in single file. + +Keeping well to westward of the _tell_ the party rode at a steady trot +over the plain. Long experiences in night forays enabled them to avoid +the difficulties and dangers of the swamps, even though they had no +light but the star-shine; and the man whom Rejeb sent to the front as +guide when they had left the immediate neighbourhood of the stronghold +could not have led them more confidently in broad daylight. Burnet +thought privately that a British commander would have detailed an +advance guard and flanking parties to give warning of possible enemies; +but these precautions seemed unnecessary to Rejeb until three-fourths +of the journey was accomplished. Even then he contented himself with +sending two men ahead and two more to the right; from the left he +anticipated no danger. The party, indeed, arrived at the ruins, of +which Rejeb had spoken, without incident. Burnet's wrist watch had +stopped, no doubt through immersion in the swamp; but Rejeb without +hesitation, after a glance at the sky, declared that there were still +two hours till dawn, and ordered his men to off saddle, to hobble the +horses among the rampant vegetation bordering the ruins, and to post +themselves as best they could on the broken ground until daybreak. + +Burnet, however, was not content to wait thus in complete ignorance of +the enemy's position and movements. During the ten hours which had +passed since he had last seen them, anything might have happened. Some +of the troopers who had ridden away from the spot where the aeroplane +lay might have been despatched to the Turkish outpost twenty or thirty +miles up the Euphrates, and an enterprising officer there might have +taken instant measures to retrieve so valuable a capture as an +aeroplane. He put this point to Rejeb, who had so low an opinion of +the Turk's initiative and intelligence that he scouted the suggestion. +It was only when Burnet hinted that there might possibly be a German at +the outpost that the chief wavered, and ultimately agreed that Burnet +with two men should ride round the swamp southward of the wady to the +spot where the aeroplane had come down, in order to follow its track at +the first glimmer of dawn, and ascertain beyond doubt what progress the +enemy had made, what their present position was, and what were their +probable intentions. + +The two Arabs, having had the locality described to them, were able to +lead Burnet by a much easier route than that which he had followed with +so much toil and discomfort on the previous day. Approaching the open +space with great caution in the dawning light they found it vacant: +only the wheel tracks of the aeroplane and footprints in the soft earth +remained as evidence of yesterday's events. It was easy to follow the +course of the aeroplane, and the three men rode cautiously forward, +Burnet in the centre, an Arab at a little distance on either side. + +They had ridden for nearly an hour at a slow walking pace before they +had any sign of the enemy. Then one of the Arabs halted, snuffed the +air for a moment, and riding up to Burnet, said: + +"There is fire, Aga." + +Dismounting, they left their horses concealed among the tall grass, and +stole forward on foot a few yards south of the wheel tracks, taking +advantage of the cover provided by the rank vegetation. Burnet soon +detected the acrid smell of smoke, and in about ten minutes caught +sight of the heads of horses just projecting above the swaying top of a +belt of reeds. He heard also the dull murmur of voices. + +"It is well that I go alone and spy out the land, Aga," said the man +who had first smelt the smoke. "I will go and come to you here again." + +He disappeared through the reeds in a southerly direction. It was +nearly half an hour before he returned, with the news that the enemy +had bivouacked on dry ground near the bank of a small stream--not the +wady, but probably a tributary of it. They had just finished their +morning meal: he had seen them stamp out the embers of their camp fire, +yoke two horses to the aeroplane, drag it across the shallow channel, +and set off northwards. They were riding in loose formation, having +evidently no apprehension of meeting an enemy in this region, remote +from the military operations on the Tigris some fifty miles to the +east, and destitute of settled inhabitants. There was no doubt that +their intention was to convey the aeroplane to the wady, which had an +embankment wide enough to allow the passage of the machine. + +Burnet could only conclude that in default of any means of transport +they would follow the course of the wady until they reached the river. +Their progress must necessarily be slow, and there was plenty of time +to ride back to Rejeb by a circuitous route and lay plans for a +successful ambuscade. + +The chief's eyes gleamed when Burnet, rejoining him an hour or two +later, told him the result of the reconnaissance. It seemed that the +enemy must fall an easy prey. The position was admirably suited to an +ambush. The ruins extended some hundreds of yards on each bank of the +wady. They were fringed on the south by a dense encircling belt of +reeds. In this belt, at its south-western corner, Rejeb posted the +greater part of his force, mounted, the reeds being tall enough to +conceal them. The remainder he ordered to dismount and place +themselves under cover at the northern extremity of the ruins, at +intervals of a few yards, so that they could command the southern bank +of the wady with their fire. His plan was to throw the enemy into +disorder by rifle fire from the north, then to hurl himself upon them +with the mounted men from the south and complete their rout. + +These dispositions had only just been made when a new element entered +into the problem. Rejeb, sitting his horse beside Burnet in the belt +of reeds, suddenly turned his head sharply to the left. + +"What is that sound, brother?" he said. Burnet listened intently, but +it was the space of a minute before his ears caught a faint throbbing +murmur in the direction towards which Rejeb had turned. He recognised +it instantly as the purring of a petrol-driven engine, and scanned the +sky, half expecting to see a British aeroplane: perhaps a pilot had +come to look for Ellingford, whose return had been expected in the +lines below Kut on the previous evening. But the sky was one speckless +blue, and though the sound of the engine grew louder moment by moment, +there was nothing to be seen. + +Presently Rejeb exclaimed: + +"I hear horses!" + +A few moments later Burnet also detected another sound mingling with +the drone--the unmistakable thud of hoofs. The explanation flashed +upon him. The troopers who had ridden from the scene of the previous +day's incident had been despatched to the Turkish outpost of which +Rejeb had told him, and were now returning, accompanied by a motor +launch on the wady, no doubt sent to transport the aeroplane by water. + +He imparted his conclusion to Rejeb. + +"Wallahi!" exclaimed the chief. "An evil spirit is striving against +us." + +One thought had flashed upon the young men at the same moment. They +might rout the Turks, but lose the aeroplane. The enemy would no doubt +place on the deck of the launch not only the machine, but their +prisoner, and the Arabs could not fire on the crew without the risk of +hitting the Englishman. It was possible, of course, to hold up the +launch and prevent it from passing up the wady, but the sound of rifle +shots could not fail to be heard by the Turks conveying the aeroplane, +and the alarm would ruin the chances of a successful ambuscade. + +While Rejeb and Burnet were discussing the matter in low tones, they +peered out through the reeds in the direction of the rapidly +approaching sounds. Soon they caught sight of six horsemen riding in +couples along the bank of the wady, and as they drew abreast, the +launch became visible beneath their horses' bellies. One of the +horsemen was an officer, whom no doubt the news brought him at the +outpost had induced to ride back with the messengers and see for +himself the captured aeroplane. + +Launch and horsemen passed out of sight. During the few moments' pause +in the conversation while the enemy went by, an idea had occurred to +Burnet. It was probable that the aeroplane had barely arrived at the +bank of the wady, and, judging by the direction of its captors' march, +at a point at least five or six miles from the ruins. The launch was +keeping pace with the horsemen on the bank; it might reach the +aeroplane in something under an hour. Further time would be occupied +in explanation; no doubt the officer from the outpost would be curious +enough to examine the machine; then its safe bestowal on the deck of +the launch would be a long job. Probably two or three hours would +elapse before the return journey commenced, and Burnet had conceived a +plan for utilising those hours. + +He mentioned it to Rejeb, who received it with a torrent of joyous +ejaculations. There was no time to be lost. The chief told off a man +to go on foot half a mile along the bank of the wady, to give warning +of the enemy's approach. The course of the channel was almost +perfectly straight, and horsemen riding along the embankment could be +seen from a great distance. Then he selected twenty men, and placed +them at Burnet's orders. Burnet took them down to the brink of the +wady, chose a spot favourable to his design about half-way through the +ruins, and instructed the men to build a dam with the material that lay +close to their hands. The channel was shallow, and only about forty +feet wide. The men formed two queues, and masses of brick and stone +were passed from hand to hand and dumped in the middle. + +Working with interest and hearty good-will, within an hour the Arabs +had raised that obstacle almost to the surface, and in the muddy water +it was scarcely visible, even from the bank. Much less was it likely +to be seen from the deck of the moving launch, the crew of which would +not suspect that the channel they had already navigated safely could +hold any danger for them. + +Having completed the dam, the men returned to their former posts. No +change in the general plan was necessitated: indeed, the sudden +stoppage of the launch would tend to further it, for it would add one +more element to the confusion. + +It was now only a question of waiting. The Arabs sat their horses in +stolid patience, scarcely moving or speaking. Burnet was more +restless. He would have liked to steal along the bank of the wady, and +watch the stages in the enemy's progress; but he contained himself, and +tried to emulate the stillness of his friend the chief. + +Three hours passed: it was almost midday when the Arab scout came +running back with the news that the enemy were in sight. Soon +afterwards the sound of the propeller was heard, and then, peeping +through the reeds, the watchers saw the horsemen riding two by two at a +walking pace along the embankment, and the aeroplane, its wings +extending over the banks on either side, as it were floating on the +stream. + +There was now some order in the troopers' march. Three couples rode +ahead as an advance guard: after an interval came the two officers +riding abreast, and behind them the remainder of the party. Burnet +suggested that the advance guard should be allowed to pass, fire being +reserved until the main body was half-way through the ruins and unable +to escape without fighting. It was impossible now to send a messenger +with orders to the men on the north bank, but this gave Rejeb no +concern: + +"My warriors will know what to do," he said, with a firm air of +confidence. + +The advance guard was some distance ahead of the launch, which had to +go slowly because of the unwieldiness of its burden, and the risk of +striking the overlapping wings of the aeroplane against some +irregularity in the surface of the bank. There was thus no reason to +fear that the conflict would start prematurely through the obstruction +of the launch before the horsemen had arrived. The men were riding +easily; the two officers were engaged in animated conversation; in this +wide no man's land between the rivers they had no cause for +apprehension. + +Burnet, holding his revolver, tingled as the enemy drew slowly nearer. +It was not his first action, but a youth of twenty cannot know the +coolness and indifference of the veteran. His one anxiety was for the +safety of Captain Ellingford. Knowing that he was on board, the Arabs +would not fire at the launch; but in the confusion and hurly-burly of +the coming fight he might be struck by a chance shot; perhaps, indeed, +he might be deliberately murdered by the Turks in charge of him. +"Thank Heaven they are not Germans," Burnet thought. + +The advance guard came to the edge of the ruins, riding along the +embankment, which was only a foot or two above the general level, with +a gentle slope on the southern side. The troopers glanced to right and +left without particular care; and indeed it would have needed keener +eyes than theirs to discover the men ambushed in snug positions a few +hundred yards on the north side of the stream, or the horsemen securely +hidden in the tall rushes at a rather greater distance to the south. + +They passed by without suspicion. About a hundred yards behind them +the two officers came within the circle of the ruins, still chatting +together. Their orderlies were a few paces in the rear; and the head +of the short column of troopers, in line with the launch, rode at an +equal interval behind them. + +To Burnet, at least, their progress seemed painfully slow. The advance +guard had reached the western extremity of the ruins before the +officers came level with the dam. Burnet was just wondering whether +the dam would escape their notice when there was a sudden crackle of +musketry from the northern side. The officer nearest the wady fell +from his horse; several saddles in the column behind were emptied; and +there ensued a scene of wild confusion. The horses curvetted, and +drove against one another; the men shouted and gazed about them +irresolutely, seeking the unseen enemy and trying to control their +steeds. Another volley struck down several more horses and men; then, +just as the launch, coming stern foremost, crashed into the obstacle, +Rejeb and Burnet, at the head of a compact body of horsemen with swords +held aloft, dashed from the shelter of the reeds and rode at a hot +gallop straight for the centre of the column. + +By this time some of the Turks had flung themselves from their saddles, +and, bridle in hand, were running down the slope of the embankment to +gain shelter from the rifle fire. The sight of the horsemen bearing +down upon them like a desert whirlwind from the opposite quarter caused +them to mount again in haste. Some rallied about their officer, and +prepared to meet the shock, others spurred their horses forward with +the idea of avoiding it, only to find themselves checked by their more +stedfast comrades. Others again swung their horses round, and galloped +madly in the direction from which they had come. + +The officer's desperate efforts to dress his ranks at the foot of the +slope were rendered abortive by the confusion into which his more +resolute men had been thrown by their comrades' attempt to escape. +Rifle fire had ceased, and with a gallantry that won Burnet's +admiration the Turk, supported by less than a dozen troopers, rode +straight at the charging mass. Burnet, whose matchless horse had +carried him slightly in advance of Rejeb, made a sudden swerve to avoid +a sweeping stroke of the officer's sword, and as he passed, fired his +revolver point blank at his opponent. The trooper behind made a cut at +his head, and he discovered later that the peak of his helmet had been +sliced off. + +Having no more of the enemy in front of him, he wheeled round and rode +back into the fray. Several men and horses had fallen, and the +survivors, hopelessly outnumbered, almost surrounded by the Arabs, were +crying for quarter. + +Meanwhile the advance guard, brought to a halt by the sudden outburst +of fire behind them, had stayed only long enough to see that their +comrades had no chance against such odds, and had then galloped off in +headlong flight towards the Euphrates. It was a matter of the most +urgent importance that none of them should escape to carry news of the +ambush to their outpost on the river, and Rejeb himself, with ten of +his Arabs, rode along the embankment at breakneck pace to overtake +them. It was equally important that the fugitives who had ridden in +the other direction should not be allowed to work their way round to +the north, and Rejeb's lieutenant, with the rest of the mounted men, +set off to ride them down. Some of the Arabs swam the wady on their +horses in order to cut off their escape northward; the lieutenant +himself with another body galloped straight along the embankment; a +third section struck off into the swampy ground to the south. + +The moment the fight was over, Burnet turned to see what had happened +to the launch. When its course was checked by the dam, it appeared +that the crew had endeavoured to escape by driving it back along the +wady, for Burnet saw that it was now a hundred yards or so to the east. +But in their haste they had neglected the precautions necessitated by +the breadth of the aeroplane. Attempting to run at too high a speed in +the narrow channel, they had failed to keep a course exactly in the +middle, with the result that one of the wings had jammed in a tangle of +vegetation, and the launch was unable to move. Meanwhile the Arabs +posted in the ruins had left their stations and run down to the bank, +where they stood sentry over the vessel, rifle in hand. + +[Illustration: STRANDED] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A REARGUARD ACTION + +Captain Ellington, lying on the deck of the launch, called a breezy +salutation to Burnet. The two Turkish troopers who formed his guard +were smoking cigarettes; the crew of four were gathered aft, taking the +disaster that had befallen them with stolid unconcern. The launch was +held fast in position, a few yards from the bank, by the wing of the +aeroplane which had become entangled, and Burnet, eager to learn the +nature of his friend's wound, and the causes of his plight, scrambled +along the wing and dropped to the deck. + +"Congratulations, old man," said Ellingford, grasping his hand. "It +was quite a brilliant little action. Where did your Arab friends +spring from?" + +"It's rather a long story; I'll tell you all as we go along. I was +waiting for you on the _tell_ when I saw you come down, and finding you +in the enemy's hands, I managed to get a friendly tribe to come to the +rescue. Are you badly hurt?" + +"Not a bit; I got one through the shoulder and another through an +unsuspected roll of fat just above my thigh. The Turks patched me up +with their own field dressings; they seem quite decent chaps; and I'll +do very well till we get back to our own M.O. I can manage to fly +right enough." + +"The machine's all right?" + +"I think so--or will be with a little attention. The engine wasn't +behaving very well; still, I hoped to get to the _tell_ and overhaul it +there; but it began to misfire badly, and I thought it safer to come +down at once, though I'd seen this mounted patrol. Unluckily they +rushed me before I had well got to work. I held them off in front, but +they attacked in the rear and pipped me." + +"Jolly lucky it's no worse. I'll get the men to clear the wing; then +we'll haul ashore, and start for home. You might have a look at the +engine at once: it'll save time." + +He returned to the bank and set some of the Arabs to cut away the +vegetation. Meanwhile Ellingford opened up his engine. "I say," he +called in a minute or two, "this is bad luck. The petrol tank is +riddled. I can't repair it here." + +"You can't fly, then?" + +"Absolutely impossible." + +"That's a blow. We shall have to haul it, then, as the Turks did." + +"But where to? We can't possibly get through the Turkish lines." + +"How long would it take you to patch up sufficiently to get us back?" + +"I doubt whether I can do it at all. It's a job for our mechanics, and +a rather long one at best." + +"Well, there's no hope for it, then. There's a place something over +twenty miles from here--the settlement of these Arabs--where we can +find refuge. I shall have to leave you there and get round to our +lines on foot somehow." + +"But twenty miles! It'll take us a whole day or more to haul the bus +there. And there isn't time. These Turks are a reconnoitring patrol +of a larger force----" + +"What?" + +"I saw them when I was about 3000 feet up--a cavalry force marching +along the left bank of the Euphrates a good many miles to the north. +There were a number of boats keeping pace with them on the river. Some +of these beggars are sure to have escaped. They'll make their way +back, and we shall have cavalry on our heels before we've covered half +your twenty miles." + +"There's no time to be lost, then. We must save the machine if we can: +if we can't, you have a choice of mounts among the Turks' horses, and +you'll have to ride as well as you can. The chief of the tribe has +gone off in pursuit of fugitives; I'll leave word for him, and he'll +follow us up." + +When he explained the situation to the Arabs, one of them suggested +that they should convey the aeroplane by launch for some distance up +the wady, which would not only save a few miles, but bring them to much +harder ground, where it would be easier to drag the machine. Burnet +adopted the suggestion at once. He left the Arabs to clear up the +scene of the fight and to await the return of Rejeb, who would no doubt +then ride straight back to his stronghold with his prisoners and the +captured horses. Two of the Arabs he selected to accompany the launch +with led horses, these for hauling the aeroplane and to serve as mounts +for himself and Ellingford in case the machine had to be abandoned. + +A few minutes later the launch started, and Burnet had leisure to give +Ellingford an outline of all that had happened since their parting at +the _tell_ a month before. + +"I'm very much afraid that cavalry force you spoke of is the advance +guard of the expedition against my friend Rejeb," he said in +conclusion. "The Turks and Arabs have for once succeeded in working to +a date, which implies a good deal of chevying on the part of the +Germans. They evidently want to carry things through quickly." + +"I don't wonder. They're getting funky. The loss of Bagdad will be a +tremendous blow to them. Apart from its being a complete smash-up of +their railway schemes, it will immensely heighten our prestige all +through this country; in fact, through the whole Mohammedan world: it +will be the handwriting on the wall for them." + +"We'll do it, then?" + +"Of course we'll do it--this time. You know what had been done when we +came away a month ago. Well, during the past month the progress of our +organisation has been amazing. We've no end of new boats; the light +railway through Amara has almost reached our advanced base; so that our +transport is as nearly perfect as it can be; and what with new guns, +aeroplanes, pontoons, Red Cross units and the rest, we're in a position +to give the Turk a very nasty jar. In fact, I wouldn't mind giving +long odds that we're through Kut by the end of the year, and in Bagdad +before Easter. What sort of reception shall we get there?" + +"Oh, the people will lick our boots--just as they'd lick the boots of +the Germans if they entered in triumph. With them, nothing succeeds +like success. They don't love the Turk, but they don't love any one +but themselves. The decent Arabs, especially Firouz Ali and his little +band of patriots--who've got a stronger following outside Bagdad than +within--will welcome us as deliverers; but it's a very mixed +population, and the most of them don't draw fine distinctions between +Europeans: they're all sheep to be fleeced. Of course they don't +realise what a bad time they'd have if the city became +Germanised--morally, I mean, for there's no doubt that German +administration would effect great material improvements. At present +they're slaves to a corrupt tyranny; German tyranny is rather brutal +than corrupt. They'll find that we are neither corrupt nor brutal--and +take advantage of us. I'm talking as if we were already there. In the +meantime you and I will be lucky if we save our skins." + +During the voyage Burnet inspected the launch, and found that it +contained a cargo of provisions and cases of rifles and ammunition. He +concluded that it had been one of the fleet which Ellingford had seen +up the river, and it could hardly be doubted that the stores were +intended for the expedition against Rejeb. + +When the launch had run some ten miles along the wady eastward, one of +the mounted Arabs on the bank announced that they had reached the spot +where it was necessary to land. At a short distance from the wady the +ground was firmer than it had been farther west, and more suitable for +the haulage of the aeroplane. The launch was run close into the +southern bank and set on fire; the aeroplane was lugged ashore; then +Burnet set the crew to unload the stores, while the Arabs yoked the two +led horses to the machine. When this was done, he mounted one, +Ellingford the other. Burnet marshalled the prisoners three on each +side, and ordered one of the Arabs to ride back rapidly to Rejeb, and +ask him to send or bring up enough horses to convey the stores to his +stronghold. Then, under the guidance of the second Arab, the southward +march began. + +Progress was very slow, though more rapid than it had been when the +aeroplane was hauled over the swampy ground by the Turks. After they +had marched for about two hours, Rejeb with a small party of his men +came galloping up behind. He related that five of the six Turks whom +he had chased had been killed or captured, the sixth had escaped. The +prisoners, among whom was the officer whom Burnet had shot, were now +being conveyed by the direct route to the stronghold. At the bank of +the wady he had left some of his men loading the stores on to the +horses captured from the Turks, and Rejeb intended to ride back to +them, and himself head the convoy to his stronghold. + +By nightfall Burnet's party had accomplished about half the distance to +the causeway. It was impossible to proceed in the dark with the +aeroplane, and they bivouacked in a convenient hollow. Soon afterwards +Rejeb arrived, in advance of his men. He explained that the convoy of +stores would march through the night; the rifles and ammunition were a +valuable prize which he wished to place securely in the stronghold as +soon as possible. Further, he was anxious that, in case of pursuit and +attack, his fighting men should not be hampered by having to guard +their booty. But he had left a number of his men a few miles to the +rear, to give warning of an enemy's approach. Then he galloped away to +the south-east to meet the track along which the other Arabs were +escorting their prisoners. + +Before dawn Burnet made preparations for starting, and the party moved +off as soon as it was light enough to see. In about three hours they +converged upon the main route which Rejeb had followed overnight, and +had gone but little farther when they were met by Rejeb himself with +some two score men. The young chief showed few signs of fatigue, +though he had been up all night. He reported that the convoys of +stores and prisoners had safely reached the stronghold, and pointed +with glee to the new rifles with which he had armed his men. Turning +his horse, he rode on beside Burnet, his men coming at a short interval +behind the aeroplane. + +They were within two or three miles of the causeway when the scouts he +had left in the rear galloped up with the news that a large body of +cavalry was following up the trail of the parties which had passed +along the main route, and must overtake them before they reached the +causeway. Rejeb held a rapid consultation with the two officers. It +was evident that he wished the aeroplane to be abandoned, but when +Captain Ellingford, through Burnet, said that he would burn the machine +rather than let it fall into the enemy's hands, he instantly declared +that he would leave nothing undone to save it. + +"My friend looks upon his aeroplane as you look upon your horse," +Burnet had explained, and the comparison appealed to the Arab. + +It was clear that the machine could be saved only by making a stand +where they were. The enemy must be prevented from coming within range +of the causeway until it was safely across; otherwise they might +hopelessly cripple it, and also shoot down the men and horses who were +hauling it. Rejeb ordered these men to push on with all haste; the +rest to dismount, send most of their horses forward to the cover of the +vegetation that concealed the causeway, and take up their positions on +a wide front covering the retreat. He dispatched also a swift rider to +the stronghold, to send out fifty men to take over charge of the +aeroplane and the six prisoners. Burnet had pressed Ellingford to +accompany the aeroplane, but this he flatly refused to do. + +"If you think I'm going to leave you with a scrap on hand you've +mistaken your man," he said. "I can still use my revolver." + +The country around was flat and fairly dry, but broken up here and +there with patches of scrub and of marshland fringed with reeds and +rushes. + +"I almost wish I had burnt the machine after all," said Captain +Ellingford, when Rejeb was placing his men. "Your chief is very keen, +and a good chap; but he can't hold up a force of Turkish cavalry with +his few men, and I shall be sorry if things turn out badly." + +"Don't worry, old man," said Burnet. "He knows what he's about. It's +ideal country for a small force fighting on the defensive, and we're +not likely to have artillery against us. There's plenty of cover all +the way from here to the stronghold; we can fall back from one clump to +another if we are hard pressed. On the other hand, it's bad country +for cavalry, especially if they don't know the ground. They may find +themselves bogged; and anyway they'll offer a good target; we can see +them above the rushes. Besides, Rejeb has more men in the stronghold, +and he'll send for them if necessary, though it'll be a point of pride +with him to lick the enemy with inferior forces if he can." + +Rejeb had by this time posted his little force on a long arc extending +for some distance on both sides of the track. The men were all +perfectly concealed by bushes, clumps of reeds, or tall grass, and had +been given definite instructions about the new positions to which they +were to fall back under the enemy's pressure. + +The wings of the aeroplane could still be seen projecting above the +scrub about a mile away when the advance guard of the enemy emerged +into view on the north. They evidently caught sight of the aeroplane, +for one of the troopers galloped back, the rest halting. In a few +minutes the head of the main column appeared. The officer in command +looked ahead through his field-glasses, then swept the country on each +side of the track, and apparently satisfied that the course was clear, +gave an order. Riding in couples, the cavalry galloped forward, the +intention no doubt being to capture the aeroplane and its escort at a +rush. + +Then, from the Arabs concealed a few hundred yards in their front, +there broke a sudden volley which emptied many saddles and took the +Turks aback. The officer shouted an order, the men wheeled round, +suffering losses from a second volley, and dashed back to the shelter +of the belt of vegetation from which they had emerged, causing some +confusion in the rear part of the column. Burnet estimated that the +number of those who had come in sight was about two hundred; how many +more there were it was impossible to guess. But Rejeb perceived that +his little force was not strong enough to hold the position long when +the Turks should have taken its measure, and he instantly sent a rider +to the stronghold to bring back another hundred men on foot, and to +order a hundred and fifty horsemen to post themselves near the outer +end of the causeway. + +Before the reinforcements arrived the enemy started a dropping fire +from their sheltered position, with the intention, no doubt, of drawing +the Arabs' fire and causing them to disclose their strength. This +proving ineffectual, they made another attempt to carry the position +with a rush, losing even more heavily than before. Again they fell +back, and for a while there was no further move. Rejeb sent a scout +out on each flank to worm his way towards the enemy and discover what +he was about. They returned with the not unexpected news that the +Turks, now dismounted, were deploying; it could only be with the object +of outflanking the defenders. They reported also that behind the Turks +there was a large force of mounted Arabs. Burnet's suspicion that this +was the expedition organised by the Turks and Halil's tribe jointly was +confirmed; he wondered where Major Burckhardt was. + +By this time the reinforcements had come up stealthily from the rear. +Rejeb threw them out on the wings, so that the defending force, its +main strength in the centre, covered a rough semi-circle nearly half a +mile in extent. + +Within a very few minutes the enemy's intentions were disclosed. +Advancing on a wide front, taking cover wherever it was possible, they +came on in short rushes. It was seen now that the majority of them +were Arabs, and the total force could hardly have been less than a +thousand men. Rejeb ordered his men to fall back slowly, holding on as +long as they could without the risk of being cut off, and inflicting as +much loss as possible on the enemy whenever they crossed stretches of +open ground. + +It was clear to the chief, as to Burnet and Ellingford, that Major +Burckhardt's profession of knowledge of the stronghold's position had +not been vain. Clearly they had to look forward to a siege. They were +not strong enough to defeat the enemy in the open, and as soon as the +safety of the aeroplane was assured, they must retreat along the +causeway and make the best use of their natural advantages. + +For nearly two hours Rejeb's Arabs fell back steadily. More than once +the enemy sought a decision by attempting to rush the defenders, now in +the centre, now at one or other of the wings. At one moment it seemed +that the left wing was in danger of being crushed, but Rejeb, who +throughout the day showed many of the best qualities of generalship, +sent a runner to the rear to bring up a portion of his mounted reserve, +now less than half a mile away. In a few minutes a hundred superbly +mounted warriors galloped to the threatened point, swept like a +whirlwind upon the dismounted enemy, rode through them again and again, +heedless of losses, and not only defeated the flanking movement, but +caused a check in the whole line. + +Then came word that the aeroplane had been conveyed across the causeway +to the centre of the stronghold. From this moment the retreat became +more rapid, though still as methodical as before. Late in the +afternoon the Turks, who formed the right and right centre of the +attacking force, and had fought more steadily and doggedly than their +Arab allies, gained a position from which, though at extreme range, +they began to command the end of the causeway. Rejeb drew nearly all +his men together, posted them under cover, and concentrated his fire on +the assailants on his left, in the hope of holding them off until +darkness rendered it possible to slip away. At sunset, before the +enemy knew what was happening, the chief withdrew his little force +swiftly across the causeway. The day's work had cost him barely a +score of casualties, while the enemy's losses were probably five or six +times as great. + +"That was a top-hole rearguard action," said Ellingford to Burnet as +they went together to Rejeb's tower. "I'd no idea that Arabs could +ever behave so steadily." + +"It's due to their chief," replied Burnet. "He's got stuff in him, and +he's going to be very useful. By George! I'm dead tired." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +IN THE BRITISH LINES + +It was a week later. In one of the tents of the Headquarters staff +behind the British lines Burnet, once more in Arab dress, was +conversing with Captain Mitchell, an officer high in the Intelligence +branch. He had just come to the end of a rather long narrative--the +story of his adventures from the day when he had said good-bye to +Captain Mitchell more than a month before, down to the time of the +attack on Rejeb's stronghold. + +"And how did you get out?" asked the captain. + +"I slipped away to the south through the marshes, swimming the deep +places on a waterskin, and wading the rest. When I was clear I steered +south-east till I struck the Tigris and got aboard a country boat that +was bringing up fodder." + +"It sounds simple, though I daresay it wasn't all what the rags at home +call a joy-ride." + +Burnet smiled: it was not necessary to tell all that had happened +during that week. + +"I will place the situation before the Chief," the captain went on. +"You will hear from him." + +"He will understand that Rejeb is waiting to hear whether he may expect +help? He is greatly outnumbered." + +"Quite so. The Chief will realise what is at stake, and I think you +may depend on prompt instructions." + +The interview was at an end. Burnet went off to visit his particular +friends, including Scuddy Smith, captain in the Bengal Lancers. + +"What ho!" cried Smith. "Back again, then. We were getting anxious +about you. Where's Ellingford?" + +"In an Arab camp, Scud." + +"A prisoner?" + +"No, an honoured guest. Also an invalid: he was unlucky enough to get +hit--not seriously. I say, I haven't had a decent meal for I don't +know how long. Come and see me feed, and I'll tell you between the +mouthfuls as much as is good for you." + +Smith and other friends heard Burnet's story rather enviously. They +would willingly have shared his dangers for the sake of the variety and +movement, so different from their own stagnant existence. But their +spirits were rising in proportion as the time drew nearer for the +opening of the great offensive. They had much to tell Burnet of the +progress made during his absence. Every one was confident that when +the moment came the Turkish fortifications at Kut would be pierced and +the misfortune of General Townshend repaired. And then for Bagdad! + +Next day Burnet was summoned to another interview with Captain Mitchell. + +"The Chief is greatly pleased with your work," said the captain. "Your +particulars of the state of Bagdad and your map showing the military +establishments are especially valuable. For certain reasons he thinks +it best not to see you himself just yet, but he will thank you in +person at the proper time. He made a note of your application to be +employed as observer on an aeroplane when we attack Bagdad from the +air. Meanwhile he thoroughly agrees that it is of the first importance +that your chief's stronghold should be held. It will protect our left +flank and render unnecessary the employment of a large cavalry force to +cover our advance on that side. As a matter of fact, preparations are +being made for a movement in that region. It won't be started until we +are ready for the main attack, and the forces employed will be smaller +than were contemplated, provided the stronghold can be held. Can your +Arab friend stick it for a week or two without help?" + +"It's largely a matter of food. The stuff we captured in the Turks' +launch will help, but Rejeb's usual forays are of course out of the +question now, and I'm afraid he hasn't much food in reserve. His +horses are the great difficulty. I know he has next to no fodder, and +if the place is to be held, the horses must be evacuated. To the Arabs +that'll be worse than drawing their teeth. Their horses are their +chief wealth, and they won't easily part with them." + +"What about non-combatants?" + +"There are very few: the chief's family and a score of others." + +"They must leave, of course, and you'll have to exercise your +persuasive powers with regard to the horses. No doubt they can be got +away by the route you followed?" + +"I think so; the Turks aren't numerous enough to surround the place." + +"Well then, we'll arrange to receive them in our lines, and give a bond +for their delivery to the Arabs in due course. Now, what about +ammunition?" + +"So far as rifle ammunition is concerned I think they are all right: +they had a good deal of their own and collared a lot more on the +launch. But when I left the Turks had a couple of machine-guns in +action. They had formed a sort of bridgehead at their end of the +causeway, and the Arabs had cut the causeway in the middle to prevent +their getting across. Ellingford's machine-gun is available, but we've +only two or three hundred rounds for that, and when I left we had +decided to keep that for emergencies. If we had more ammunition, and +perhaps another machine-gun or two, I think we could carry on--unless +the Turks bring up field guns, which isn't likely, perhaps, in such +swampy country." + +"Well, we can send you ammunition and perhaps a couple of machine-guns +and gunners if you think they can be got to the place. That would save +dismantling Ellingford's gun." + +"It's worth trying. And while we're about it we might take a little +petrol. Ellingford's tank can be patched up, and he might get away." + +"That's important. We need every aeroplane we can muster. Is +Ellingford well enough to fly?" + +"He was doing well, and by this time I daresay he could manage a short +flight. But he won't want to leave us." + +"He'll obey orders, of course. Well, there's no time to be lost. I'll +see about things at once. Be ready to start back early to-morrow." + +At dawn next day Burnet with a party of eight embarked on a boat bound +downstream. There were two men of the machine-gun corps with their +weapons and ammunition, three native boatmen, and three men of the +Indian transport service in charge of three mules. They disembarked +near the place where Burnet had boarded the country boat three days +before; the mules were loaded with the machine-guns, ammunition, petrol +and other stores, and the march across country was begun. + +By noon on the following day they came to the edge of an extensive +marsh. Here the mules were unloaded, and sent back. Among the stores +there were materials for putting together a small kelak--a raft +supported by inflated skins. This was quickly rigged up by the native +boatmen, and launched on a winding channel through the marsh. The +trimming of the kelak took some time, and only two hours of daylight +were left when the party started on their journey to the stronghold. +The two machine-gunners found matter for jokes, as British soldiers +will, always and everywhere. + +"Look out for submarines, Bill," said one of them, to his comrade on +the other side of the craft. + +"Mermaids is more my line," replied the man. "I say, Tom, what if +these balloons underneath us was to go pop!" + +"And no parachutes neither! Not even bathing drawers. D'you know what +this here thing reminds me of?" + +"What?" + +"The bathing raft at Brighton. Wish you was at Brighton, Bill?" + +"Don't talk about it." + +"Tea and shrimps, and Mary Angelina in the tea-shop, and the little gal +with the curls as played the fiddle so sweet. Bill, you ought to +change your name." + +"What for?" + +"'Cos 'twas Big Bill as sent us to this here Messypotamia. If it +hadn't 'a been for him we might have been in Brighton now." + +"No we shouldn't. We'd 'a been in the mines blasting coal. Never +would have heard of Brighton. But I tell you what: when old Bill's +done in----" + +"He won't be done in." + +"What I mean is, when old Haig catches him as he's bolting out of +Berlin. What I say, send him to Messypotamia, and without a sun +helmet: lumme, he wants a place in the sun." + +The boatmen paddled the kelak slowly through the marsh until sunset +compelled a halt. They slept on board, and started again at dawn. +Soon they came into shallow water where it was necessary to jump +overboard and wade, pushing the kelak. Sometimes they swam; more than +once they had to make a portage over comparatively dry land, +dismantling the kelak and carrying the stores. It was afternoon before +they came to the neighbourhood of the island stronghold. Burnet left +his party securely hidden in the reeds, and made his way alone, wading +and swimming until he reached the rising ground south of the mound. + +"Is it good news, my brother?" said Rejeb, meeting him. + +"There are guns and stores in the marsh yonder," replied Burnet. "Will +you send out men to bring them in?" + +While a party of Arabs went on this mission, Burnet enquired what had +happened during his absence. He learnt that the situation was much +more serious than it had been on his departure. Under cover of +machine-gun fire the Turks had advanced along the causeway and erected +a breastwork of stones at the northern edge of the gap which the Arabs +had cut. Then they had set to work to fill up the gap, and had already +made great progress. They had several times attempted to gain access +to the island from other directions, but the waterlogged condition of +the country had rendered their efforts fruitless against the fire of +the vigilant defenders. When the causeway should be restored, Rejeb +despaired of holding his ground against a force so largely outnumbering +his own. To make matters worse, a slight wound which he had received +had grown serious through lack of attention, and he felt incapable of +the energy necessary to the conduct of a strenuous defensive campaign. + +His depression of spirit was somewhat lifted by Burnet's report that +measures would be undertaken for his relief. He called a council of +some of his principal men to consider the propositions which Burnet +conveyed to him from headquarters. There was no opposition to the +sending away of the non-combatants. The Arabs, accustomed to a nomad +existence, saw little hardship in the people having to wander for +safety to other regions. But the suggestion to part with their horses +was at first strongly opposed. An Arab without a horse is like a +shipwrecked mariner. Burnet found all his persuasiveness unavailing +until a diversion was caused by the appearance of the two gunners +bringing up their machine-guns, followed by the boatmen and the Arabs +loaded with stores. The explanation that these were only an advance +party of a force that was by and by coming to their assistance, and +that this force would in all probability bring back their horses, +turned the tide. Encouraged by the assurance of help, the men agreed +to the temporary sacrifice demanded of them; and the council broke up +with a yell of defiance which caused the enemy, expecting an attack, to +open fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ENEMY'S GUNS + +Before he sought his couch Burnet had a talk with Ellingford. + +"I'm jolly glad you are back," said the latter. "Not one of these +Arabs knows a word of English, and to be over a week without any means +of communication but dumb show has been a horrid nuisance. I managed +to make them understand that they had better rig up some sort of a +fortification at this end of the causeway as a defence against +machine-gun fire, and I was thinking of placing my gun there, for +things are getting warmer every day. There's no need for that now, +perhaps: the two guns you've brought are enough on such a narrow front: +but we've all our work cut out to hold the enemy off until relief +comes." + +"By the way, I've orders for you to return if you're fit," said Burnet. +"The Tommies I've brought will patch up your tank." + +"That's rough luck. I wanted to stay here and see it through. I'm fit +enough, for a short flight at any rate, but I don't like running away." + +"You can do a little useful scouting for us before you return to the +lines. We'll talk about that later. To-morrow you had better get your +tank repaired. The men are handy fellows, and they'll do what's +required under your instruction. We're evacuating the non-combatants +and the horses, and I hope our food will last out until we're relieved. +That's the only risk--unless the enemy bring up artillery and shell us. +Even then we may still have a chance, because there are underground +chambers here and there under the ruins--places excavated long ago for +shelter from the heat; and they ought to prove effective dug-outs. The +greatest danger is that the Turks will repair or bridge the causeway +and overwhelm us with numbers. I shall have a look round to-morrow and +see what can be done to prevent them." + +Next day Burnet resumed his own uniform and went round the position +with Rejeb. It appeared that when the non-combatants were gone, under +escort of a sufficient number of armed men, the effective strength of +the garrison would slightly exceed four hundred. The enemy, at a rough +estimate, outnumbered them by three to one, and were on the whole +better armed; the rifles and ammunition captured on the launch were +sufficient to arm about a third of Rejeb's force. The food supplies +might with care last for a week or two. Plenty of drinking water was +to be got from an old well which the Arabs had cleared out at their +first occupation of the island. + +The weakness of the defence was that a wide front--for it was not +merely a question of holding the end of the causeway--had to be held by +relatively small numbers. The channel between the island and the +Turkish position was too deep to wade; but it was obvious that an +enterprising enemy with a large preponderance of numbers would not find +it an insuperable obstacle, and with half the causeway in their +possession they could harass the defenders until an attack in +overwhelming force was possible. + +Burnet saw that his first concern must be to prevent the enemy from +pushing farther along the causeway. That should be practicable. It +was more doubtful whether he would be able to dislodge them from the +position they had already gained. + +The sudden outburst of fire from the Turks on the previous evening had +soon died down when they found that the Arabs made no attack, and so +far the morning had been quiet. Taking advantage of their inactivity, +Burnet went cautiously to the end of the causeway, examined the +breastwork which the Arabs had constructed with material from the +ruins, and cast about for an emplacement for one of his machine-guns. +His first idea was to instal it in a sort of blockhouse in the middle +of the breastwork, from which it could sweep the causeway from end to +end. But there was always a chance that the Turks would ultimately +bring up field artillery; the blockhouse would then be their first +objective, and the gun would very likely be put out of action. The +second gun, which he intended to keep in reserve, might suffer the same +fate. What then could be done? + +The breastwork hastily erected by the Arabs across the end of the +causeway was neither long enough nor strong enough. But along the +shore of the island ran a low artificial embankment against floods. +Just behind it was an old, much dilapidated wall. About a hundred and +fifty yards on the right of the causeway the embankment had broken +away. It was only necessary to break an opening in the wall just +behind this gap, to form a sort of embrasure for the gun. The position +was well screened from the enemy, for the surface of the island rose +slightly in the rear, and the horizon, from the Turks' point of view, +was cut by the chief's tower with the dwarf trees that flanked it. +Placed in this embrasure, the machine-gun would command the whole of +the causeway except the fifty yards nearest the island. + +It was a question whether the necessary pioneer work could be done +during the hours of daylight, for much of it must be carried out in +full view of the enemy. But at present none of the Turks was to be +seen. They were not at work on the causeway, and a careful scanning of +their farther position through field-glasses failed to detect any sign +of movement or of preparations. Taking advantage of this rather +surprising inactivity, which suggested that they were either awaiting +reinforcements or planning some dangerous stroke, Burnet set a large +number of the Arabs to the task of carrying out his scheme. While some +cut the embrasure for the machine-gun, others dug a communication +trench from the blockhouse to a group of ruins about two hundred yards +in the rear. Others again strengthened these ruins by piling up blocks +of masonry collected from the whole area, so as to form a shelter, +effectual against all but gun fire, for the larger part of the +garrison. The underground chambers beneath the ruins were partially +cleared of accumulations of rubbish, and should serve as safe quarters +when the men were not in action. + +While Burnet was setting all these operations in train, Rejeb had +superintended the departure of the non-combatants. They were +transported in relays across the southern marshes on the kelak. The +horses, too, under the charge of a score of well-armed men, left the +island by wading or swimming, Rejeb keeping half a dozen in a safe +place at the south of the island, in case he might find them useful for +scouting. Among them were his own horse, and the one that Burnet had +captured. + +It was the third day after his arrival before the defensive works were +completed. Except for occasional sniping the enemy had not attempted +to molest them. To Burnet this quiescence seemed ominous, for it +suggested that the Turkish commander--no doubt that Major Djaved Bey +who had visited Burckhardt with General Eisenstein--thought the Arabs' +operations of no importance, and that must mean that he was confident +of the success of whatever coup he might be planning. Burnet felt the +necessity of learning what preparations the enemy was making, what +stroke he had to guard against, and the approaching departure of +Ellingford gave him an opportunity. + +The two gunners, Bill Jackson and Tom Sturge, had repaired the petrol +tank. Ellingford himself had regained the use of his limbs, and, +though not perfectly recovered, was clearly strong enough to pilot his +machine the thirty or forty miles between the island and the British +lines. + +"I don't want you to run any unnecessary risks," said Burnet, "but if +you could do a little scouting----" + +"My dear fellow, with all the pleasure in life. A few extra miles are +neither here nor there. And there are no Archies to worry me." + +"Then will you fly a few miles northward, say as far as the _tell_, and +see what the beggars are up to? Don't waste time by coming down again, +but drop me a message. If I don't get anything from you, I shall know +that there's nothing to worry about." + +"Right. And the sooner I go, the better. It's a perfect day. +Everything's as clear and sharp as you could wish, and I shall hardly +even need to use my glasses." + +"But don't fly too low. A bullet might drill another hole in your +tank." + +"Never fear. I shall be safe enough at two or three thousand feet. +Any messages for headquarters?" + +"You might tell them what we're doing, and say that with luck we can +hold out ten days or a fortnight. There's nothing else, I think." + +The aeroplane had been placed at the extreme south of the island, where +the dipping of the ground kept it below the Turks' line of sight. A +space was rapidly cleared in order to give room for rising, and after a +careful preliminary test of the engine the captain ran off and rose +smoothly into the air. At first he headed south-east; then, when he +had gained an altitude of something over two thousand feet, he wheeled +round, recrossed the island, and, still rising, for some minutes +circled over the Turkish position, amid a fusillade of rifle fire. At +one moment Burnet was alarmed, fearing from a sudden downward swerve +that the machine had been injured; but it was evidently an intentional +movement on Ellingford's part, for he at once skimmed away to the +north-west, and the shooting ceased. + +An hour later Burnet heard the hum of the returning engine. + +"He's flying perilously low," he thought, as the machine came into view +on the west. Pursued again by rifle fire, it flew straight across the +island from west to east. Burnet had informed the gunners and Rejeb +what to expect, and the eyes of all the garrison looked up for the +sight of an object falling from the aeroplane. It was so small and +fell so swiftly that no one saw it until a fraction of a second before +it reached the ground. One of the Arabs picked it up and ran with it +eagerly to Burnet. It was a stone wrapped in a sheet of paper. Burnet +read the message: + +"Nothing doing opposite you: 2 f.g. bogged 10 m. N. of _tell_." + +The aeroplane had circled round: Ellingford evidently wanted to know +whether the message had been received. Burnet signalled in Morse with +his arms; the machine turned again, and heading south-east in a few +minutes was out of sight. + +The inactivity of the enemy was explained, and the explanation was of +serious import for the garrison. They were awaiting the arrival of +field-guns before resuming the attack. The transport of the guns over +the marshes had naturally been difficult, and the fact that they were +actually now stuck in the swamp was welcome news. But the respite +would only be temporary, and Burnet realised that he would soon have to +deal with the only situation that gave him real anxiety. Would the +Arabs' resolution stand the test of gun fire? At the best, the period +of possible resistance was shortened, for the Arabs, unaccustomed to +shelling, would probably be so much demoralised by it as to be +incapable of standing up against a sustained attack. + +On reading the message Burnet had not allowed any sign of his anxiety +to escape him. He could not conceal its purport from Rejeb: it would +not be fair to keep him in the dark; but he laid more stress on the +bogging than on the guns. Later on, however, he went away by himself +to a quiet spot on the south of the island, to think things over. So, +one of Britain's heroes, Robert Clive, had gone apart to decide in +solitude the momentous question to which the battle of Plassey was the +answer. + +"Why wait for the guns?" + +That was the question that filled Burnet's thoughts. The enemy no +doubt thought they had the garrison well boxed up: they had only to +bring up their guns to compel surrender. The escort of the guns must +have seen the aeroplane, and guessed that its occupant would have +carried news of them to his own lines. But the British were far away, +much too far to send a force to capture two field-guns. Nor would they +think it worth while to send airmen to bomb guns so remote from their +own position, and of no danger to themselves. The Turks, then, would +not dream that they had any difficulties to contend with except those +due to the swampy nature of the country. Such a feeling of security +gave the best possible promise that an attack would be successful. + +But how could an attack be made? Not in force, nor openly. The escort +of the guns, though probably not a large body, would be strong enough +to withstand any assault by a small number of Arabs, and Burnet would +not feel justified in reducing the garrison of the stronghold by more +than a few men. And between him and them was the Turkish main body; +his retreat would be cut off. He felt that he could not ask the Arabs +to undertake so hazardous an expedition until he had himself +reconnoitred the ground, and discovered for himself what were the +chances of a surprise. + +He returned to Rejeb's tower, and told the chief what he had in mind. + +"It must not be," said Rejeb. "I am weak, and my faintness increases. +Who is to lead my people if the Turkish dogs attack?" + +"But it is for these guns they are waiting. Until they come there will +be no serious attack, and when they come your position here will be +much worse. Is it not wise to seize any chance of keeping them at a +distance?" + +"Who knows whether there will be such a chance?" + +"True; that is what I want to find out. And if I discover that we can +do nothing, I will return at once. My absence will be but for a night +and a day." + +"You will not go alone?" + +"No: I want you to lend me five of your most trusty and stout-hearted +men. This is work for a few." + +"It shall be done, and may Allah preserve you!" + +While Rejeb was selecting the men, Burnet informed the machine-gunners +of his intentions, and ordered them, in case the Turks attacked, to use +the gun which had already been placed. + +Late in the afternoon, he slipped away from the south of the island +with the five Arabs, leading their horses through the swamp. Then they +swept round to the west, outside the probable range of the enemy's +scouts, and rode rapidly in the direction of the _tell_. When they +came in sight of the ruins, lit up by the glow from the setting sun, +Burnet confided the horses to the care of two of his men, and with the +other three went forward on foot, taking advantage of what cover the +barren country afforded. He hoped, before darkness closed upon the +scene, to be able to discover, from the summit of the mound, whether +the guns had been extricated from the bog; if there was no sign of +them, it would be necessary to go farther north. + + + + +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 two +miles away riding slowly in his direction. A few minutes later there +came 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 was +impossible to see the escort, which was no doubt following. + +It was clear that he had arrived only just in time. Half an hour later +he would certainly have found the _tell_ occupied. The day was already +so far advanced that the Turks would probably camp on the _tell_ for +the night. He instantly decided on his course of action. The +underground chamber was unknown to Burckhardt, the only man among the +enemy who had previously visited the _tell_. Burnet resolved to take +refuge there with his three Arabs, trusting to the chapter of accidents +to give him later the opportunity he was seeking. + +The Arabs were surprised when he lifted the slab and disclosed the +cellar below, and their excitement was almost boyish as he climbed up +into the colossal figure with his brush of reeds. Watching him smooth +the sand over the slab they yielded to a burst of amusement: Burnet had +never seen the customary gravity of the Arab so much impaired. + +From his spy hole at the mouth of the animal Burnet kept watch for the +coming of the enemy. Within ten minutes the two troopers came into +sight. Immediately behind them now were two officers, in one of whom +he recognised Major Burckhardt. And he could now see, not far in the +rear of the two guns, a half squadron of cavalry, together with a +number of men on foot, driving mules laden with boxes and large +bundles, which contained no doubt ammunition and the impedimenta of a +camp. + +Burnet watched the approach of this force with some anxiety. Would +they halt at the _tell_, or, late as the hour was, continue their march +to Rejeb's stronghold? He had only a limited range of vision from +inside the colossus, and as the head of the column passed out of sight +he feared that there was no intention of bivouacking, and his only +chance of interfering with the guns would be lost. + +Presently, however, he heard voices very near, and round the angle of +the wall came Major Burckhardt, toddling along on foot, accompanied by +a Turkish officer whom Burnet surmised to be the commander of the +gunners. They came to a stand on the open space in front of the +colossus, and Burckhardt, lifting his hand with the gesture of a +showman, said: + +"It was here that I had the adventure with the Englishman that I +described to you as we came along. An ignorant fellow from Cambridge, +whose books are the laughing-stock of every good German scholar. When +I 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 here +Tukulti-Ninip----" + +"Yes, major, I remember; but it is getting late, and we have much to do +before dark. I will have our tents pitched here. The guns had better +remain at the foot of the _tell_, and the men must shift for themselves +in the ruins." + +"At a reasonable distance from our tents." + +"Certainly." + +"And the wind is south. We must not be disturbed by smoke from +camp-fires." + +"Nothing shall disturb you, major. General Eisenstein gave me +particular 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 the +two figures and began to stroll about the ruins. + +From below the mound came words of command, the rattle of +accoutrements, the clanging of chains, and other sounds indicating the +bustle of pitching camp. Presently one of the mules climbed the slope +and was led through the porch. From its back a group of Turkish +soldiers lifted the light shelter tents intended for their colonel and +Major Burckhardt, and proceeded to pitch them. Watching these +operations from the rear mouth of the colossus, Burnet had a momentary +alarm when it seemed that Burckhardt's tent was to be placed exactly +over the slab that covered the underground chamber; but the major +himself came up as the men were spreading out the canvas, and ordered +them to carry it a little higher up the _tell_, where the air was +fresher 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 the +lower ground on the northern side of the _tell_. The colonel returned; +he was shortly followed by men carrying his evening meal, and he +invited Burckhardt to share it with him in his tent. Burnet could see +them in the interior, illuminated by a couple of candles, sitting on +camp-stools at a small folding table, eating and drinking with the +heartiness of men who have had a long day in the open. They lit +cigars, smoked them through in drowsy silence; then Burckhardt yawned, +stretched himself, and declaring that he was very sleepy, entered his +own tent a few yards away, and let down the flap. Through the canvas +Burnet saw the kindling of a candle and the German's bulky figure +undressing. Then the candle was extinguished: the colonel's tent was +already 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 in +the stuffy underground chamber. Nothing could be attempted until the +camp had settled down. Sounds still came from below the _tell_. Even +when all should be silent, there was much risk to be run. The surface +of the _tell_ was very dark; but the moon would rise in two or three +hours. What was to be done must be done before then. The sentry was +only about thirty yards from the slab; it must be removed in absolute +silence. Other sentries, no doubt, were patrolling the camp. Would it +be 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 release +them, they were to wait until the camp was broken up and then to make +the best of their way back to the island. + +It was a nerve-trying moment when the slab was gently raised from +below, and Burnet, with his head just above the hole, looked towards +the officers' tents. He could barely see the figure of the sentry +pacing slowly to and fro. With the silence of moles Burnet and his +Arab companion crept out of the hole, and, crawling on all fours, stole +along a few yards to the shelter of the ruined wall. Burnet had his +revolver, the Arab only a knife. + +They peered over the wall. Three campfires burned dully below the +mound, some distance apart. Their light was insufficient to reveal the +disposition of the bivouac. Moving stealthily round the corner of the +wall, and sinking to the ground again, they crawled a few yards down +the slope. A little to the right, at the foot of the mound, was a pile +of objects which had certainly not been there before. Burnet guessed +that it consisted of the stores which had been removed from the mules' +backs. The two men threaded their way between boxes and bales, and +continuing in the same direction, towards one of the camp-fires, +discovered the guns close under the mound on the north-east side. Just +above them, shadowing them from the little light that flickered from +the stars, was another stack of boxes. + +Burnet had expected to find a special guard set over the guns. The +camp, however, was so small--the total number of men seemed to be about +a hundred and fifty--that the two sentries whose figures could be dimly +descried moving up and down along the outer border of the bivouac had +been deemed sufficient. There was a tent, however, near one of the +camp-fires about a hundred yards away: it was clear that this was being +used as a guard-house, for while Burnet, lying flat, was peering into +the darkness four men came from the tent and marched northward. The +sentries were being relieved. In a few minutes four men returned, and +marched up the slope within twenty yards of the two figures lying there +like logs. The officers' sentry was relieved; the sergeant came back +with the three men released from duty, and re-entered the tent. + +Near another camp-fire, farther away, was a larger tent, presumably +devoted to the subaltern officers. The men lay here and there on the +open ground. From the sounds that reached his ears Burnet guessed that +the horses and mules were hobbled near a patch of swamp still farther +to his right. + +Burnet congratulated himself on his luck in having no special guard +over the guns to deal with. He had the average Briton's dislike of +attacking a man in the dark and at a disadvantage, and the possible +necessity of disposing of an unsuspicious sentry had been disagreeable +to contemplate. In the absence of such a guard, everything depended on +whether he could move about without attracting the attention of the men +in the guard-tent, of the distant sentries, or of any of the soldiers +who might chance to be wakeful. + +Bidding the Arab remain where he was, Burnet crawled to the foot of the +slope, and in the deep shadow there stole along to the guns. He +discovered just beyond them, and also beneath the limbers, various +packages which from their shape evidently did not contain ammunition. +This was disappointing. But going on a little farther, he found the +ammunition boxes stacked close under the tell, about thirty yards from +the guns. + +His aim was to destroy the guns, or at least render them useless. How +was he to achieve it? The shells were not of much use for the purpose +by themselves: he needed combustibles. No doubt there was plenty of +combustible material among the stores; but it would not be easy to find +it in the darkness, while the removal of it, necessitating movement to +and fro, would increase the danger of detection. The only course +possible was to make a rapid tour of all the stacks of stores, and +finally to choose such material as seemed most suitable and most easily +carried to the spot where it was needed. + +He crept first to the stores placed above the guns: these latter would +screen him from observation from the camp. A few moments' +investigation showed that there was nothing to hope for here: the boxes +evidently held nothing but food-stuffs. From this point he skirted the +slope, passing his Arab companion on the way, until he reached a widely +spread pile which had escaped his notice before, owing to the fact that +it rose only a foot or two from the ground and was covered with a +tarpaulin. Lying flat, and raising a corner of the cover, he was +instantly aware of a smell of petrol, and his groping hand touched a +can. For what purpose did the Turks require petrol? He groped still +farther, and felt a long curved sheet of metal, in which there were +holes at equal intervals apart. Further search discovered more metal +sheets, a number of bolts, planks of wood, other objects whose nature +he could not determine, and finally a small engine. The explanation +flashed upon him: the Turks had brought up the sections of a +motor-boat, no doubt intended for patrol work on the marshes about the +island. + +This discovery gave him a thrill of delight. No better combustibles +could be required: here he had all he needed--if the enemy gave him +time to use it. Taking two of the cans of petrol, he crept back to his +companion under the shadow of the _tell_. A whispered instruction sent +the Arab to the pile to bring two more cans. They conveyed these with +the 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 in +its case. By the time he had completed three such journeys the Arab, +who moved more quickly, had increased the number of petrol cans placed +beneath the guns to ten. + +Returning to the tarpaulin-covered pile for wood, they were alarmed by +sounds of talking somewhere in the camp. They flung themselves flat +and lay breathless, fearing that any further movement would be +detected. The talking continued for some time, and Burnet grew more +and more anxious. He could not tell how long the task had occupied him +hitherto; if it were not finished before the rising of the moon all was +over. After a trying period of suspense, however, the voices ceased. +He stole on again with the Arab, removed some of the wooden sections of +the motor-boat, and carried them back to the guns without further +disturbance. + +While the Arab laid the wood over and around the three shells under the +guns and in the space between them, Burnet set about opening one of the +petrol cans. It was stopped with a waxed cork, and the necessity of +working quietly required that he should cut the cork out bit by bit +with his knife. This being done at last, he emptied the contents of +the can upon the heap, and laid the other cans on the top. At this +spot all was now ready. Determined to do as much damage as possible, +he resolved to wreck the motor-boat also beyond repair, and sent the +Arab to open another can beneath the tarpaulin, giving him a few +matches out of the single box he had with him. The Arab was to kindle +a fire as soon as he saw the glow of Burnet's match. Then they would +both hurry along the base of the mound and conceal themselves among the +ruins until the officers had left their tents, as they would no doubt +do when the explosion was heard. During their absence there would be +time to release the two Arabs from the underground chamber and escape +to the south. There was a risk of being seen in the light of the +conflagration before they gained the shelter of the ruins, but Burnet +trusted that in the excitement and confusion they would not be noticed. + +Tense with anticipation, Burnet waited for the Arab's signal that he +was ready. It came at last: so perfect an imitation of a horse's +whinny that the Turks, if they heard it, would think it came from one +of their own beasts. Burnet struck a match, flung it into the +petrol-soaked heap, and dashed away as he had arranged. Seeing no +answering fire at the spot where the Arab was, he was about to risk +everything and swerve in that direction when a flame sprang up, and he +saw the Arab running half bent towards him. He learnt afterwards that +the man's first match had gone out. Together they sprinted up the +slope towards the shelter of the ruined wall. + +The camp was already roused. Wild cries were heard: in the brilliant +glare men were seen streaming from all parts towards the two fires. If +any of them noticed the two figures rising up the mound they were too +much startled, bemused with sleep as they were, to draw any inferences. + +Burnet and the Arab had just reached the wall when the air shook and +the earth trembled with a tremendous explosion. A few moments later +the Turkish officer, bare-headed and without his tunic, came rushing +from his tent, and ran down the slope, closely followed by the sentry. +They passed the two lurking figures within a few feet. Burckhardt had +not yet appeared, and a sudden idea flashed into Burnet's mind. There +was no need of further hiding. He went quickly forward, passed between +the two colossal figures, and in the lurid glare saw the burly major +hurrying down from his tent beyond. He was without his spectacles, and +Burnet's figure, dark against the glowing sky, might well have been +mistaken for that of a Turkish officer. + +[Illustration: 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, and +stood speechless, staring with his short-sighted eyes at the young +officer before him. He was incapable of resistance; started a little +when Burnet addressed his companion in Arabic, but accompanied the Arab +meekly when the man bade him march. Burnet lifted the slab, called the +two Arabs from below, and with them in a few minutes overtook the +prisoner and his escort. Hurrying Burckhardt along, they crossed the +_tell_, descended the slope on the south-west side, and almost ran into +a picket of Turks who were dashing towards the conflagration. The +whole countryside was now lit up, and the non-commissioned officer in +the rear of the group, catching sight of Burnet's uniform, shouted to +his 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 in +the confusion, a party of the enemy would be dispatched in pursuit, but +he trusted that the Turks would be for a time too busily occupied to +heed the incredible report. Still, there was need for haste. The rim +of the moon was just thrusting itself above the horizon. If the horses +were not reached before the pursuit began there was great danger of +being run down. + +Burckhardt had now recovered the use of his tongue, and was complaining +bitterly at being compelled to trot across damp ground in his slippers +and pyjamas. + +"It is contrary to the usages of war," he declared. "There shall be an +indemnity." + +"All in good time, major," said Burnet consolingly. "You shall be +fitted 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 own +account, ignominiously from the _tell_ of Tukulti-Ninip. This is only +a 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 it +was his secret thoughts that provoked the sigh which presently escaped +him. + +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. Burnet +plunged into the nearest clump of reeds, and held his pistol to +Burckhardt's head until the pursuers had ridden past. Then, winding +their way under the guidance of one of the Arabs through the swamp, +they continued their march until they arrived at the spot where they +had left the horses. Mounting Burckhardt behind him, Burnet ordered +his Arab guide to lead straight for home. They rode on in the growing +moonlight, following the route by which they had come; and as dawn was +breaking, regained the island, tired out, but well satisfied with their +night's work. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CLOSING IN + +The story of that night's achievement, told with the usual oriental +exaggeration by the Arabs who had accompanied Burnet, evoked an +extraordinary burst of enthusiasm among Rejeb's people. The capture of +one of the terrible Germans filled them with a childish pleasure and +satisfaction. Major Burckhardt, it is true, did not look very +terrible. Without his uniform he was just a fat little man; without +his spectacles he looked out dreamily upon a disappointing world. +Clothed in Arab dress, his appearance drew many a smile from Jackson +and Sturge, the machine-gunners, who, however, with the Tommy's +accustomed kindliness, did what they could for his comfort. They gave +him half the small supply of tobacco they had with them, and one of +their pipes, smoking the other in turn. + +For three or four days the Turks left the garrison in peace, except for +occasional sniping. The non-appearance of guns seemed pretty +conclusive proof that Burnet's work had been effectual. He wondered +whether they would send for others before resuming their attack. That +would give probably more than a week's respite. Would the British +relief force arrive during that time? If not, he foresaw a very +critical situation. The defences could not long withstand a +bombardment; moreover, the food question was always an anxiety. Still, +he must hope for the best, and employ the quiet period in doing what he +could to strengthen the defences. + +In this task the machine-gunners did yeoman service. Acting for the +time as foremen of the works, so to speak, they assisted him in +directing the building of small redoubts along the edge of the +embankment from which he could command the stretch of water between the +island and the firm land beyond. That an attack by water, or at any +rate supported from the water, had been contemplated was clear from the +inclusion of a motor-boat among the enemy's impedimenta. The +destruction of the boat had rendered that for the moment impossible, +and it was unlikely, perhaps, that the Turks would have another boat to +spare. + +In addition to the redoubts, he erected a long, slightly curved +breastwork behind the embankment, at such a distance from the latter +that it was concealed from the view of the enemy. Without experience +in this sort of work himself, he relied on Sturge and Jackson, who were +learned in all that pertained to parados, traverses, and so on, and +took a great pride in the fortification which the Arabs constructed to +their plans, and still more in the fact that, though they had picked up +only a word or two of Arabic, they were able to dispense with Burnet's +assistance as interpreter after the first day. + +The Turks, meanwhile, though they refrained from attacking, were not +idle. They strengthened their bridgehead half-way along the causeway, +fencing the latter on both sides with a mud wall just high enough to +cover their movements up and down. The wall was no doubt easily +penetrable by rifle or machine-gun bullets, but, as the Turks must have +guessed, the garrison's supply of ammunition was not sufficient to +allow them to pepper the wall at random on the chance of hitting the +men behind it. Burnet hindered their work as much as possible by +employing some of the best marksmen among the Arabs as snipers; the +vegetation, however, that fringed the causeway formed in itself a very +effective screen to the enemy, and he feared that a good proportion of +the snipers' bullets were wasted. + +Remembering the old adage that it is lawful to learn from the enemy, +Burnet was inclined to raise similar walls on his own side of the +central gap. But he saw on reflection that if the Turks succeeded in +bridging the gap--and that was always to be reckoned with--such walls +would give them invaluable cover right up to the shore of the island. +He therefore abandoned the idea. + +It was Sturge who suggested the employment of listening patrols by +night, to discover any new movement on the part of the enemy. His +crude idea was merely to send a few picked men along the causeway as +far as the gap. Burnet improved on this. With Rejeb's consent he +sent, nightly, a swimmer on an inflated skin from the kelak to worm his +way under cover of the reeds as near to the enemy's walls as possible. +For three nights the scout's report was of no great value, but on the +fourth, just before dawn, he came back with the news that there was +considerable movement at the bridgehead and along the causeway, and a +good deal of bustle on shore. + +Not a little surprised that the enemy, after waiting so long for guns, +had apparently decided to attack without them, Burnet at once +reinforced the small body of picked men on duty at the outwork at his +end of the gap, and sent word to the garrisons of the redoubts to be on +the alert. The two English gunners were eager to take a part at once, +but Burnet, with wise forethought, declined to let them use their guns +or even enter the firing-line. The enemy's intentions were not yet +disclosed. + +It turned out that the warning had reached him only just in time. When +he joined the Arabs at the outwork he saw, in the grey light of dawn, +several dim shapes on the water on both sides of the causeway, slowly +approaching the island. In a minute or two he made them out to be +small kelaks crowded with men. Some of them were converging on the +gap, the others were keeping a straight course for the island. + +Before he had time even to conjecture what the enemy's aims might be, a +hot fusillade, no doubt intended to cover the approach of the kelaks, +broke out from behind the breastwork on the further side of the gap. +One or two of the Arabs were hit before they had obeyed his order to +lie low and hold their fire until he gave the word. At the same moment +he sent a man back to the shore with instructions to their comrades +there not to fire until they could be sure of hitting. + +As soon as the individual forms of the men on the kelaks could be +distinguished Burnet gave the order to open fire. The range where he +stood was almost point blank, and the first volley all but cleared two +or three of the kelaks of their crews, the vessels drifting idly for a +few moments and getting in the way of the rest. But the others crowded +on, and in spite of their losses under the continuous fire of the Arabs +they pushed into the gap, where they were partly protected by the +broken edge of the causeway. + +Now Burnet seized their intention. The kelaks jostling each other in +the gap formed a sort of pontoon, not so much below the surface of the +causeway but that the enemy could easily reach it. The enemy's fire +suddenly ceased; then a stream of men passed from the outwork at their +side of the gap, leapt from kelak to kelak, and tried to spring over +the parapet on the nearer side. Many of them fell before they reached +it, but their places were instantly filled, and the fight became a +hand-to-hand grapple. + +Dawn had increased to almost full daylight with the rapidity +characteristic of this latitude. Meanwhile the Arabs on shore had +already been directing a hot fire upon the crews of the kelaks +approaching them. And now, from behind the enemy's outwork, through +embrasures suddenly opened in the mud walls, two machine-guns, one on +each side, began to play upon the shore. The Arabs' position there +being considerably higher than the level of the water, the Turks were +able to shoot without danger of hitting their own men. The fire from +the machine-guns and a hurricane fusillade from the opposite shore of +the channel kept down the Arabs' fire, and the kelaks drew slowly +nearer to their goal. + +When the fighting at the gap became close, Burnet seized the rifle of a +fallen Arab and did strenuous work in holding the enemy at bay. Such +of them as succeeded in clambering upon the parapet were hurled back +upon their comrades in the kelaks beneath. But the assailants were all +sturdy Turks and stern fighters. Fresh men were continually pouring +across the gap, and the Arabs, fight as gallantly as they might, would +sooner or later yield to the enemy from sheer weariness. The +breastwork could not be held much longer. Indeed, the inevitable +moment came earlier than Burnet expected, for two kelaks, propelled by +stout polemen, pushed beyond the gap, and ran close in on the side of +the causeway, the Turks upon them opening fire upon the defenders from +the flank and rear. + +Burnet's little band was thrown into momentary confusion by this +unexpected attack, and several Turks gained a footing on the +breastwork. A final effort was necessary before the position could be +safely abandoned. Telling off a number of the men to return the fire +from the kelaks, Burnet called on the rest to support him. With a +shrill cry they rallied, and threw themselves upon the enemy with an +impetuosity that nothing could withstand. The Turks were forced back, +some falling upon the kelaks in the gap, others into the water. Once +more the breastwork was clear. + +Then Burnet gave the order for retirement. The flank attack had been +beaten off; the causeway was open. One by one at intervals of a few +yards the Arabs dashed back towards the shore. Burnet kept a few men +with him to act as rearguard, and waited until the wounded had almost +reached the end of the causeway before he followed them up. It seemed +that the enemy was hardly aware of what was happening, for the +retirement was not harassed until the last few men had almost reached +the bridgehead. Then, however, the fusillade broke out again, answered +by the Arabs on shore, and one or two men, including Burnet himself, +were hit before they had gained shelter. Burnet had already seen that +the kelaks which had headed for the shore had been driven back, in +spite of the support of the machine-guns. The Arabs at the bridgehead +and in the redoubts had suffered very little loss, and he felt that the +honours of this first encounter were with the defence. The Turks, +seeing that their opponents had made good their retreat, ceased fire. +They had captured the gap, but it was clear that they had to master a +further line of defences before they gained access to the island. What +would be their next move? Their success at the gap might give them +sufficient encouragement to push on after a breathing space and finish +the job while their blood was up and the tide seemed to have turned in +their favour. It might prove a somewhat desperate undertaking unless +they had more artillery at their disposal than the two machine-guns +which had already been in action; but they in their turn would not +suspect that they had to face machine-guns, and they would probably +conclude that the Arabs' retirement after a short action was an earnest +of further retreat as soon as they were hard pressed. + +It seemed to Burnet that a serious attack in force along the causeway +was to be expected and provided against. Like many another subaltern +in the heroic annals of British warfare, he found himself alone, at the +head of an alien force, badly provided, and, what was worse, totally +inexperienced. But it is in such circumstances as these that British +valour has shone forth most brightly, and British ingenuity most +thoroughly proved itself, and Burnet was to show forth those sterling +qualities which hundreds before him had evinced. + +If the defence was to have the least chance of success, the rough and +hastily contrived fort at the bridgehead must be held to the last +moment. In spite of the limited quantity of ammunition, the time had +clearly come to bring the machine-guns into action. Burnet sent for +the two gunners, who had been itching to take their part, and told them +frankly what he expected, and how he proposed to meet the attack. + +"We'll give 'em what for, sir," exclaimed Sturge, rubbing his hands. +"With Bill on one side and me on the other we'll keep that Margate pier +clear of Turks for a hundred years." + +"Well, you know how many rounds you have," said Burnet. "But I don't +want both guns in action at first. Both might be knocked out. We'll +keep one in reserve, in case anything happens. The one we have in the +fort is certainly pretty well protected against anything less than a +9-pounder, but we must provide against accidents. You can help each +other in working it. Open fire only if the enemy make a rush along the +causeway." + +Something more than two hours passed. The enemy were seen to be +framing a practicable floating bridge from the kelaks, and Burnet +ordered some of his best marksmen to snipe them. But they were to some +extent covered by the captured outwork, and completed their task with +very little loss. + +A few minutes afterwards, the kelaks which had not been required for +the bridge emerged from both sides of the gap and approached the +island, keeping close to the walls of the causeway. At the same time a +column of Turks streamed across the bridge, sprang over the abandoned +outwork, and rushed without making any attempt at regular formation +straight for the bridgehead. From the shelter of their walls on the +causeway itself, as well as from their main position at the further +end, the enemy opened a heavy covering fire, to which the Arabs replied +thinly, and chiefly for form's sake, Burnet desiring to mislead the +Turks while husbanding his ammunition. + +The head of the enemy column had advanced a hundred yards along the +causeway before any attempt was made to check them. Then, however, +while they were in full career, the machine-gun suddenly rapped out its +deadly message. The effect was like that of a huge scythe sweeping +along the causeway. Within less than a minute there was scarcely a man +left erect between the bridgehead and the gap. The few who had escaped +the hail of bullets flung themselves frantically into the water, and +swam for safety, some of them falling victims to rifle fire from the +flanks of the Arabs strung out behind their breastwork near the shore. + +As soon as the causeway was clear, the machine-gun ceased fire. It was +evident that the enemy was disconcerted by the check. Their plan of +operations had taken no account of the possession of a machine-gun by +the defenders. Some time elapsed before they made any further +movement. Then with their own machine-guns they directed a rain of +bullets upon the Arabs, raking their position from end to end. At the +first sound of the guns Burnet ordered his men to throw themselves +down, and all the effect produced by the enemy was the carving of +innumerable dents in the stonework, and the infliction of slight wounds +on a few men. + +Trusting probably rather in the moral than in the material effect of +this miniature bombardment, the Turks launched a second attack. Their +machine-guns were now silent, for they could not fire on the Arabs +defending the bridgehead without hitting their own men. Again a column +of brave and gallant men surged along the causeway, springing over the +bodies of their fallen comrades, and encouraging one another with +strident shouts. But in face of the terrible machine of man's +invention the highest human valour availed nothing. Confined to the +narrow causeway, the Turks had no means of escape. Once more they were +mown down, and the frenzied survivors took to the water. Burnet +contrived to signal to the enemy that they might remove the wounded +without molestation, and for a time men were engaged in the grim work +of clearing away the traces of their defeat. + +While a fight is in progress, a man has no time to think of anything +but the deadly work in hand. It is afterwards, in quiet moments, that +he cannot but reflect on the causes of warfare, the root ideas that +develop into so terrible a harvest of pain and misery. Burnet, with +less than a year's soldiering behind him, had not become hardened. He +was not content with knowing that killing was his duty: he felt bound +to go a step farther back, and ask himself, was his duty right? Amid +much that was puzzling his thoughts all converged to the same +conclusion: force could only be overcome by force. The Germans had +elected for military force as the efficient agent of civilisation. All +that they had done since the war began showed that German civilisation +was rotten to the core. It was a system in which lying, low cunning, +treachery and brutality were, not tolerated, but applauded. The +nations that cherished different ideals, or, to put it on the lowest +ground, desired to live their own lives unmolested, had either to +submit to material loss, moral degradation, the cowed and hopeless +existence of slaves, or to stand up defiantly against this monstrous +tyranny and fight it with its own weapons. Only thus could they save +their souls. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +RAISING THE SIEGE + +Burnet felt that the checks they had suffered were not likely to cause +such tenacious fighters as the Turks to abandon their object. The fact +that the attacks had been made by Turks and not by Halil's Arabs was +clear proof that the enemy's high command attached importance to the +capture of the island. With ample resources in their rear it could not +be doubted that artillery would be brought up, and then the inevitable +end was a matter of a day or two, perhaps only of hours, unless help +came. Such help had been promised, but Burnet knew well enough that +the strategic plans of the coming campaign could not be disarranged for +his benefit, and though the possession of the island was of some +importance to the security of the British left flank, it might well be +that other considerations would prevent the dispatch of a relief force. +In any case relief might not arrive in time. + +Whether Rejeb would allow his men to prolong their resistance when the +odds against them became overwhelming was a question that gave Burnet +some concern. He thought it fair to put the situation frankly before +the young chief, who was mending but slowly, and was in no condition to +take an active part in the defence. Rejeb replied with equal frankness. + +"The burden is truly heavy upon us, my brother," he said, "but we will +not cast it from our backs until there is no more hope. What if we +should steal away by night? Without our horses we should fall a prey +to Halil's mounted legion. Moreover, even if I escaped alive, my name +would be evermore a reproach. Surely it is better to fight and die +than to run and live dishonoured." + +"That is well said. With your consent, then, we will resist the enemy +to the death." + +He thought of sending a messenger into the British lines with a note +relating what had happened and explaining that he could scarcely hope +to carry on more than a few days longer. But reflecting that it would +take the man several days to reach his destination, even with the best +of luck, and that unless the relieving force had already started by +then it could hardly arrive in time, he gave up the idea. If he had +been able to overhear the counsels of the Turkish officers he would +have found his worst fears realised. The destruction of the guns and +the capture of Major Burckhardt had infuriated General Eisenstein, who +had dispatched a German officer from his staff to conduct the +operations, with more field-guns. + +For some days the enemy's activity was limited to sniping, and to +pushing forward the walls along the island section of the causeway. +The Arabs could do little to impede them. The work was done at night, +with the assistance of kelaks, and always under cover of as many troops +as could be concentrated on the causeway and the kelaks on either side. +An attempt to attack the wall-builders must inevitably be outflanked. +Nor could another gap, nearer the island, be made in the causeway. The +enemy was always on the alert, and working parties of Arabs would only +have been destroyed. + +Day by day Burnet saw the walls approaching the bridgehead. +Provisions, in spite of the most careful rationing, were running low; +and another action like the last would exhaust his stock of ammunition. + +The walls had been pushed to within fifty yards of the bridgehead when, +early one morning, the garrison was startled by the sound of an +exploding shell. It had burst on the embankment a few yards below the +emplacement from which the machine-gun had repelled the last attack: +the enemy was clearly ranging on that spot. The Arabs showed signs of +nervousness, but were reassured by the broad smiles upon the faces of +the two machine-gunners. Burnet's first precaution after the late +action had been to change the position of the gun. Two new +emplacements, well masked, had been prepared within a short distance of +each other and connected by a shallow trench. Before a second shell +fell, Sturge and Jackson, assisted by a party of Arabs, had removed the +gun from the threatened position to another about twenty yards away. +But Burnet realised that bombardment was the beginning of the end. + +To avoid useless loss of men, he withdrew the garrison from the +bridgehead. The defences, consisting only of piles of loose stones and +rubble, while effective against bullets, must soon be knocked to pieces +by shells, even from field-guns, and would prove only a death-trap to +men congregated behind them. He had reason to be thankful for the +precautions he had taken when the enemy, after sending shell after +shell into the vacant emplacement until it was thoroughly demolished, +got to work on the bridgehead. Some twenty rounds reduced this, the +first line of defence, to a mere rubbish heap. + +Fortunately the enemy did not suspect the existence of the main trench +which had been dug in the rear, and was masked by the embankment on the +shore of the island. Having destroyed the bridgehead, the Turkish +gunners began to search the embankment methodically, dropping shells at +every few yards along the front. The embankment, consisting of deep +and closely packed mud, could not be broken down by the light shells +from field-guns; but the bombardment would have played havoc with the +defenders if, as the Turks no doubt supposed, they were extended behind +it. + +As soon as their intentions became clear, Burnet withdrew the +machine-gun from the second emplacement to the third, which was well +retired from the shore and beyond the enemy's immediate objective. +This precaution turned out to be unnecessary, or at least premature, +for the bombardment was limited to about two hundred yards on each side +of the bridgehead. Seeing that the second emplacement was outside the +enemy's present zone of fire, Burnet had the machine-gun quickly +restored to its former position. + +Hitherto the Arabs had not fired a single shot in answer to the +bombardment. Not a man of the enemy was in sight, and the guns were +far away on the mainland, completely hidden. The Arabs, at first +alarmed by the deafening explosions and the devastating effects of the +shells, had begun to recover tone when they saw that the damage was +mainly material. A few of them had been hit by flying splinters of +stone, but their injuries were light, and none had been killed. + +At last the bombardment of the embankment ceased. A few moments later +shells began to fall on the ruined buildings in the centre of the +island. Anticipating this, Burnet had told the small body of Arabs +whom he was holding there in reserve what to do, and they, with Rejeb, +had already taken refuge in the deep underground chambers. + +Immediately after the enemy's fire was lifted, a strong force of Turks +rushed along the causeway, being protected by the walls until they came +to the open stretch of some fifty yards. A few succeeded in reaching +the demolished bridgehead; the rest were caught by the fire of the +machine-gun from its new emplacement. The attack was too costly to be +maintained; the survivors were recalled; and during the confusion and +disorganisation due to this unexpected check a party of Arabs crept +down to the ruins of the bridgehead, and after a short, sharp fight +killed or captured the handful of Turks who had penetrated so far. Two +Arabs escorted the prisoners to the rear; the others, at Burnet's +orders, took cover behind the remains of the defences, to hold them if +possible against infantry attack, but to retreat if they were again +shelled. + +As Burnet expected, the Turkish gunners again changed their objective, +directing their fire upon the neighbourhood of the second machine-gun +emplacement. The British soldiers, however, had already withdrawn the +gun to its third position. Burnet saw clearly enough that in this game +of hide-and-seek the opponent must ultimately win; but meantime it +seemed to him the most effectual means of holding up or disconcerting +the attack and playing for time. Sturge assured him that the enemy had +no more than two field-guns in action, as he had judged by timing their +shots; and the area of the island was large enough to give them plenty +of work before they could be assured that they had searched every +likely place for the elusive machine-gun. + +This cheerful forecast was rudely belied only a few minutes afterwards. +In altering their range, the Turkish gunners dropped several shells on +the open ground between the central ruins and the embankment. One of +these burst within a few yards of the machine-gun, which was blown off +its stand and irreparably damaged. Sturge himself was hit by flying +splinters and thrown to the ground. It was seen that he was unable to +rise, and since he could not be carried to the rear without being +exposed to the view of the enemy, all that could be done was to place +him in the trench until darkness gave an opportunity of removing him. + +Rejoicing that he had kept the second machine-gun in reserve, Burnet +sent Jackson to fetch it from its shelter behind a pile of stones at +the extreme left of the position. The shell that had ruined the first +had found it by accident; another had exploded in the trench and killed +or wounded several of the Arabs; but the Turks had now shortened their +range and were dropping their shells many yards nearer the shore. The +incident, however, was very disquieting. Luck might favour the enemy +again, or the position of the second machine-gun might be more quickly +discovered when it came into action, and it was the last reserve. +Moreover, the casualties suffered in the trench, more serious than any +that the Arabs had hitherto experienced, had had a manifestly +depressing effect on the rest of the garrison. Burnet felt a racking +anxiety as to their steadiness when the next attack should come. + +He was standing beside Jackson, who had just set up the machine-gun, +when the man suddenly swung round, exclaiming: + +"Hear that hum, sir?" + +The bursting of a shell drowned all other sounds, but when the rumbling +echoes had ceased, Burnet caught a faint drone far away. He scanned +the sky all around; for about a minute nothing was to be seen; but +between the shots the humming was clearly audible, growing louder +continually. An aeroplane was approaching: was it friend or foe? + +At last a speck appeared in the eastern sky, growing rapidly larger. +It had evidently been seen by the Turks, for the bombardment suddenly +ceased: they too, no doubt, were asking themselves the same question. +As it drew nearer to the island, the aeroplane rose higher, and +presently the prolonged crackle of rifle fire from the Turkish position +proclaimed that they had recognised it as a British machine. + +Hope surged in Burnet's breast. The eyes of all the garrison were +fixed on the aeroplane. It flew high over the island, wheeled round, +passed directly over the trench, the disdainful target of innumerable +Turkish bullets, then soared away northward. A few moments later two +deafening explosions in quick succession shook the air, and two columns +of smoke rose in the neighbourhood of the northern end of the causeway. +The machine again turned, swept away to the east, and was soon out of +sight. Before it disappeared, an Arab ran up to Burnet, and handed him +an object which he declared had fallen from the sky as the aeroplane +passed over, and struck the ground near him. Tearing off the canvas +cover of the missile, Burnet found a small shell case, within which was +a slip of paper. With leaping heart he read the message. "A flying +column of horse is advancing up the Euphrates, and should make contact +with you to-morrow morning. We are opening the ball. Carry on." + +Burnet tingled from head to foot. Without a word he handed the paper +to Jackson, who, less restrained, let out a wild cheer. Burnet told +the Arab to convey the good news to his comrades, and the air was soon +filled with a chorus of discordant shouts. Gloominess of spirit +vanished; help was at hand; every man glowed with new courage. + +It was now past midday. Burnet was under no illusion. News of the +British advance must have reached the Turks opposing him: it probably +explained their eagerness to rush the island before the walls on the +causeway had been completed. It could hardly be doubted that they +would now make a supreme effort to storm the position: the garrison's +sternest ordeal was yet to come. + +To Burnet's surprise, though the bombardment was kept up intermittently +by the field-guns during the rest of the day, there was no infantry +assault. He jumped to the conclusion that they intended to attack +during the night; perhaps to make a feint along the causeway, and try +to gain the shore of the island in their kelaks. At nightfall one +part, at any rate, of their plan was disclosed. From the causeway came +the sounds of many men hard at work: it was clear that the enemy were +toiling with fierce energy to finish the walls that would cover the +last fifty yards of their approach. The task could easily be completed +before the dawn, for it could not be effectually hindered; the +machine-gun was now so placed that it could not fire directly along the +causeway, but only at an angle across it, and the builders, being +protected by the walls already raised, were not likely to suffer much +loss in pushing the additions forward. + +The enemy's full purpose was patent. Covered by the walls, they would +rush the ruins of the bridgehead, debouch behind the embankment, and +trust to their superior numbers to carry the inner defences by one +overwhelming assault. Hampered by the darkness, the garrison would be +at a great disadvantage. Neither rifles nor machine-guns could command +the whole front of attack. If the enemy were contained in the centre, +they had sufficient men to sweep round on both flanks and take the +defenders in the rear. + +Burnet saw that there was only one means of saving the situation--of +gaining time until, with the morning, relief came. The enemy must be +forestalled. It was important to choose the right moment for the +counter-move. If made too early, and defeated, it might precipitate +disaster. If too long deferred, it might be just too late. Leaving +judgment or chance to decide the point, he quickly made preparations. +He sent for the small reserve which had hitherto occupied the +underground chambers in the centre of the island, posted them just +behind the advanced breastwork, and dividing the rest of the garrison, +some three hundred in all, into two parties, he ordered them to steal +quietly down to the embankment, and be ready to scale it at the word of +command. + +In the early hours of the morning the lessening of sounds from the +causeway seemed to indicate that the work on the walls was nearly +completed. It was pitch dark; not even a reflection of starlight could +be seen in the water. Burnet gave the word; the men slipped +noiselessly across the embankment, half of them on each side of the +causeway; then, no longer preserving silence, dashed into the shallows, +which extended some fifteen or twenty paces from the shore, and began +to wade towards the working party. The Turks had only a few moments' +warning; but they made fierce resistance with clubbed rifles and +pioneer tools to the Arabs who swarmed up on each side of the causeway. +There were some minutes of bitter hand-to-hand fighting; but the enemy +were for the nonce outnumbered; they received no support from the rear; +and presently they fled helter-skelter, suffering heavy losses in their +flight from the rifle fire of their assailants. + +Burnet carried the pursuit along the causeway until progress was +blocked by a traverse. The enemy were apparently not in sufficient +strength to attempt a counter-attack until reinforced. Taking +advantage of their inaction, which he knew could not last long, he +ordered some of his men to demolish the newly constructed mud walls, +while the remainder kept up a dropping fire. When the walls lining the +last thirty yards of the causeway had been destroyed, he led the men +back to their entrenchments, leaving a small detachment at the ruins of +the bridgehead. + +The night work of the enemy had been frustrated, but Burnet did not +flatter himself that the danger was over. Without doubt they were +determined to capture the island before the arrival of the relieving +force, of whose approach they must by this time be well aware. How +would the Arabs, wearied by exertions unfamiliar to them, suffering +from scarcity of food, endure the shock and strain of the crisis? + +With the first lifting of the sky at dawn the field-guns began a +systematic shelling of the embankment and of the area immediately +behind it, where it was now clear to them from previous events that the +garrison were entrenched. The Arabs, lying close under their +breastwork, suffered few serious casualties, though many of them were +bruised and grazed by fragments of stone and shell, and some were +overcome by the nauseating fumes. Presently the guns were turned on +the ruins of the bridgehead, and Burnet at once withdrew the detachment +from its precarious shelter there. + +He had scarcely done so when the storm broke. A dense column of Turks +came rushing along the causeway. Kelaks, one of large size, carrying a +machine-gun protected with sand-bags, swept out from the gap. From +loopholes in the walls on the causeway the enemy poured a hot fire upon +the flanks of the defenders' position. Numbers of Halil's Arabs swam +in the wake of the kelaks, which were approaching the island on the +side of the causeway remote from Jackson's machine-gun. Jackson +directed his fire across the causeway, and took a heavy toll of the +horde of Turks, but failed to check the determined rush. Finding that +the machine-gun had not been disposed of, the Turkish gunners again +searched the right flank of Burnet's position, and though they did not +succeed in hitting the exact spot where Jackson, unperturbed, was +emptying his belts of ammunition one after another, he was struck more +than once by chips and slivers of metal and stone. + +As soon as the field-guns changed the direction of their fire, Burnet +called on some of the Arabs to follow him to the embankment, from which +they poured a hail of bullets upon the enemy. In spite of losses, the +Turks and their Arab allies pressed on and penetrated to the +bridgehead. Meanwhile some of the kelaks had reached the shore +opposite Burnet's left, and parties of the enemy swarmed up to the +further side of the embankment and established themselves there. + +The enemy found it impossible to maintain their position at the +bridgehead in the centre beneath the withering fire of the Arabs under +Burnet's immediate command. Baffled but not beaten, they too sought +shelter under the embankment on either side, and some of them, at the +extreme horn of the arc, so placed themselves that they could enfilade +the defenders. Burnet was compelled to withdraw his men hastily behind +their breastwork. If that was carried the whole island was at the +enemy's mercy. + +There was a brief lull. Some hundreds of Turks and Arabs had now +gained a footing on the island, and were no doubt collecting their +energies for a final overwhelming rush. Burnet employed the interval +in doing what was possible for his wounded, and in going from end to +end of the defences, speaking words of encouragement to the men. + +It was nearly two hours before the rush came. Across the gap at the +end of the causeway, or wading through the shallows, or on the kelaks, +which had returned for reinforcements, the enemy swarmed to the assault +with exultant cries. They were now protected by the embankment except +where the machine-gun still enfiladed them, but Jackson's ammunition +was running short, and fired less rapidly than before. They had landed +their own machine-gun on the extreme left, and were seen hastily +cutting an embrasure in the embankment. If they were unmolested, the +defences would soon be swept from end to end, and all would be over. + +Burnet hurriedly collected fifty men, and led them straight for the +gun. A few fell to rifle fire; Burnet himself had his rifle struck +from his hand; but they flung themselves upon the machine-gun team with +the swiftness of a tornado. A crowded minute of fierce hand-to-hand +fighting gave them possession of the gun, and they dashed back with it, +the retreat involving more losses but not one-tenth of those that the +gun would have inflicted in a few seconds Burnet's only regret was that +he could not employ the gun against the enemy. + +[Illustration: THE DASH FOR THE MACHINE-GUN] + +By this time they had scrambled over the embankment and were swarming +towards breastwork. Burnet rushed to the centre, and succeeded in +maintaining a certain fire discipline among the Arabs within sound of +his voice. Again and again the enemy recoiled before the defenders' +fire, at point-blank range. But reinforcements were continually +streaming up; one of the field-guns was now concentrating its fire on +the centre of the position; and the sight of comrades falling around +them severely strained the resolution of the Arabs. Their valour, +proof against infantry attack, could scarcely be expected to endure +shelling to which no reply could be made. If the risk of hitting their +own men had not constrained the Turkish gunners to plant their shells +well beyond them, Burnet felt that his force might soon have become +utterly demoralised. + +Hurrying from point to point, now to give a heartening word to the +survivors of a shell-burst, now to direct the rifle fire where especial +danger threatened, he lost count of time and all sense of personal +risk. His sole thought was to hold on as long as possible. Now and +again he found himself asking, "Why don't they come?" and listening for +the shots that would announce the proximity of the relieving force. + +It was nearly midday. Burnet, on the left, was suddenly conscious that +the machine-gun had ceased firing, and saw Jackson hurrying towards him +with a rifle. + +"Played out, sir," said the man. "Fired my last round." + +He had scarcely finished speaking when a bomb exploded near the angle +of the breastwork. Immediately afterwards a strong party of Turks +swept round, dashed through the smoke, and began to bomb their way +along the trench. The Arabs crowded back in panic. Some swarmed out +of the trench and rushed frantically towards the centre of the island. +Burnet and Jackson, together with a few of the more stout-hearted +Arabs, fired into the advancing mass of Turks; but there was no +adequate defence against bombs, no possibility of stemming the rout. + +Step by step they fell back, towards the men who, as yet unaware of the +new weapon in use against their left, were still holding the defences +with grim valour. The Turkish bombers advanced slowly, respecting the +rifles which so steadily sped their bullets through the increasing +volume of smoke. And now Burnet saw that another party of the enemy, +passing the end of the breastwork, was striking up across the island. +At this moment a shell burst a few yards away; he was struck below the +knee, and sank to the ground. Jackson, smothered with earth, rushed to +his side. + +"Carry on!" gasped Burnet. "We won't give in till the last gasp." + +Jackson turned about, and fired again into the advancing bombers. The +field-guns ceased to play; only rifle fire and bomb explosions could be +heard. Then, after a minute or two, came reports of guns again, but no +shells fell. The blare of bugles was heard, and a few seconds +afterwards Jackson, still facing the enemy, shouted: + +"By Jupiter, they're bolting, sir." + +It was true. The men who had penetrated the island were running back. +At the breastwork the Turks had suddenly dropped away, and were now +streaming along the causeway, scrambling on board the kelaks, plunging +into the water, in desperate anxiety to save themselves from the new +danger that threatened them. The ever-increasing boom of guns away to +the west told them clearly enough what that danger was; and Jackson, +running a little way up the rising ground behind the scene of the long +struggle, soon declared that he saw the glint of sunlight on lances +above the patches of vegetation. + +Rejeb's Arabs, weary though they were, sprang over the breastwork and +the embankment and dashed along the causeway in pursuit of their +retreating foe. Many of them suffered from their own temerity, for the +Turk in defeat is still a dangerous man, and some of the fugitives +halted and turned upon their pursuers with grim ferocity. + +Some hours later, Burnet, lying on a couch in Rejeb's tower, was +embarrassed by the congratulations of the colonel commanding the +relieving force. + +"Thanks to you," said that officer, "we've made a bag of some five or +six hundred Turks who are now on their way to enjoy the luxuries of +imprisonment, for by all accounts they'll fare better with us than +they've been doing with their own people lately." + +"Did they put up a fight, sir?" asked Burnet. + +"They made a little noise until our main body came up. Unluckily that +old rascal Halil's men got away on their horses, most of them: after +our long march our horses were too fagged to round them up. But Halil +won't give any more trouble in these parts." + +"And what of our big push, sir?" + +"We've started, and one may say that Bagdad will be our next stop. +You'll be out of it, I'm afraid, young man; you'll be under treatment +for synovitis or something of the sort when we march in." + +"I hope to goodness not, sir," said Burnet, pulling a long face. + +The colonel smiled. + +"That's the right spirit," he said. "Well, I'll take care that the +Chief knows all about your doings here. If the enemy had got this +position they might have worried us a good deal on our left flank. But +I'm not sure that your friend the chief here doesn't owe you more than +we do, for it seems to me that he stood an uncommonly good chance of +being wiped out." + +And later, when Rejeb and Burnet were alone together, the Arab thanked +the Englishman with all the fervour of a generous nature. + +"I kiss your eyes, my brother," he said in conclusion, and Burnet knew +that no Eastern phrase more expressive of gratitude could have been +used. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE TIMELY BOMB + +This is not the place, even if it were now possible, to describe in +detail the brilliant campaign in which General Maude retrieved previous +errors and disasters, and struck a blow at German aggression in the +east from which, it is to be hoped, it will never recover. A bare +outline will suffice to bridge the gap between Burnet's last day on the +island, and the day, three months later, when, fully recovered from his +wound, he made another solitary entry into Bagdad. + +On the night of December 13 the great advance, the climax of months of +the most careful preparation, began. General Maude, by a surprise +attack, seized a point on the Hai stream some seven miles south of Kut, +and threw his mixed force of cavalry and infantry northward towards the +enemy's formidable entrenched position round that town. About a week +later, his airmen, who had done invaluable work in scouting and in +raiding the enemy's camps, heavily bombed his ammunition dumps higher +up the river. While one of his corps, under General Cobbe, was making +deceptive demonstrations against the fortifications at Sanna-i-Yat, on +the north bank of the Tigris, another, under General Marshall, steadily +pressed the Turks back towards the south bank; and parties of cavalry +harassed their communications between the Tigris and the Euphrates. + +For three weeks more the enemy maintained an obstinate resistance to +General Marshall's pressure; then they were compelled to abandon all +their positions south of the river, and fell back beyond Kut. It was +not until February 22 that General Cobbe's force captured the first two +lines of trenches at Sanna-i-Yat. On that night also British and +Indian troops, after heroic efforts, forced the passage of the river at +Shumran, some ten miles upstream, and next day the fortifications which +had defied all the attacks of the troops who attempted to relieve +General Townshend were in British hands. The immediate result was the +fall of the town which had been the scene of almost the greatest +surrender in British history. + +There was no relaxation in the forward movement. While cavalry and +airmen chased the fleeing enemy on and over the land, gunboats harried +them from the river. Here and there they made attempts to stand, but +lost so heavily, especially in guns and prisoners, that their flight +degenerated into a stampede. Within less than a week they had been +hunted half-way to Bagdad. Then the rapidity of the pursuit +necessitated a halt, in order that supplies might be brought up and the +extended lines of communication secured. This inevitable halt +prevented General Maude from destroying the Turks as a military force, +and enabled them to restore some semblance of order. + +The advance was resumed on March 5, after only a week's delay. The +Turks had had time to throw up entrenchments in more than one +well-selected position, and here they contested the ground with the +stubbornness for which they are famed. At the Diala river, twenty +miles below Bagdad, they were massed in great strength, and fought with +courage and tenacity to prevent the British troops from crossing. The +story of the forcing of the passage, after repeated failures and +terrible losses, by the Lancashire and Wiltshire regiments, is one of +the most heroic in our annals. + +When the river was crossed, the enemy lost heart, and withdrew towards +Bagdad. On March 11 General Cobbe occupied the railway station on the +right bank of the Tigris, and General Marshall flung his advanced +troops into the outskirts on the left bank. Without parade or the +insolence of victors the British troops marched into the city, between +crowds of inhabitants, a mixed population with elements from almost +every race known in the East, shouting, dancing and clapping their +hands. For the first time in history the city of Haroun al Raschid +welcomed a Western conqueror. + + +A few hours before this historic event, Firouz Ali, the barber of +Bagdad, came within an ace of losing his life. + +When it became clear that the city must soon fall to the victorious +British forces, the Turkish soldiery, with a licence which their German +masters could hardly have exceeded, had begun to plunder the +inhabitants, among whom they were always foreigners and the agents of a +corrupt despotism. They stripped the houses of everything valuable +that they could carry away, and with threats, blows and actual murder +extorted huge sums of money from the wealthier citizens. Having thus +provided themselves, they crowded into the last outward-bound trains, +and left the city to its fate. + +Their departure was the signal for all the ruffians of the place to +sally out of their haunts and loot the defenceless citizens. Checked +by no authority, restrained by no scruples, they pillaged from midnight +till dawn, gutting houses and shops, sparing none who resisted them, +and even wrenching away the beds of the wounded in the Turkish hospital +from under them. + +Among those who suffered in this orgy of plundering was Firouz Ali. He +had barricaded his house and shop, but in the early morning an excited +mob forced an entrance, and in a few minutes stripped the place of +everything, sweeping even such trifles as shaving brushes along with +every portable article of value that the old man possessed. Vigorously +protesting, he followed the looters into the street, crowded with the +dregs of the population mingled with a few Turkish soldiers who had not +succeeded in escaping, or had perhaps remained to increase their spoils. + +Almost at once the cry of "Spy!" was raised. One of the soldiers--the +sentry who had arrested Firouz Ali and his supposed apprentice--had +recognised the barber. Resenting the reprimand he had suffered on +account of the two men, he found himself in a position to wreak +vengeance. His cry was sufficient, in their present temper, to bring +up every soldier within hearing, and there were not a few among the +civilian rabble willing enough to spare a minute from looting to enjoy +the sport of baiting and torturing a personal victim. Firouz Ali was +seized by the sentry, and dragged from the platform of his shop to the +road. A dozen swords and knives, straight and curved, of many +different patterns, were whipped out, and the old man, forced to his +knees, a silent dignified figure among that wild throng, awaited a +cruel fate. + +[Illustration: THE BARBER IS MOBBED] + +Suddenly there was an explosion close by, that flung innumerable +fragments of masonry like falling leaves into the street, and made the +very earth tremble. The startled mob broke apart, the group +surrounding the barber loosed their hold on him; the soldiers, who knew +what the noise meant, gazed up into the sky. Then, with shouts and +curses, they rushed blindly this way and that, seeking doorways, +alleys, dens where they could find shelter from the dreaded bombs. + +Firouz All, left alone, got up slowly and went back into his dismantled +shop. + +Late that evening, after the entry of the British troops, and when +order had been restored in the town, Roger Burnet came to the house. + +"Peace be with you!" said the old man, greeting him warmly. "Surely +this is a day of deliverance, and a blessed answer to my prayers." + +"You have been plundered, I see," said Burnet after returning his +greeting. "I hoped you had escaped." + +"Barely I escaped with my life. The sword was at my throat when a bomb +fell on that very arsenal which you and I noted when we walked the city +together. The villains were afraid, and left me, or I should not be +alive now to welcome the son of my benefactor and my friend." + +Burnet felt a strange thrill. + +"Those walks of ours, that plan I made over the map, were useful to us +both, my old friend," he said. "It was I who dropped the bomb on that +arsenal, which I saw a rabble of Kurds looting. I can never be too +thankful that I was able to do a service unawares to one to whom I owe +so much." + +"Mashallah! Surely it was the hand of God. And I rejoice that I have +lived to see the day for which I have yearned for many years, and to +know that the son of Burnet Aga has had a part in the triumph of the +cause his father had at heart. And now let us sit down, even among +these ruins, which are but a small price to pay for my soul's +contentment, and you shall tell me all that has happened since last I +bid you go in peace." + + + + +THE END + + + + +A FEW STIRRING ROMANCES + +BY HERBERT STRANG + + +The Air Patrol + +A Story of the North-West Frontier. + +Illustrated in colour by CYRUS CUNEO. + +In this book Mr. Strang looks ahead--and other books have already +proved him a prophet of surprising skill--to a time when there is a +great Mongolian Empire whose army sweeps down on the North-West +Frontier of India. His two heroes luckily have an aeroplane, and with +the help of a few Pathan miners they hold a pass in the Hindu Kush +against a swarm of Mongols, long enough to prevent the cutting of the +communications of the Indian army operating in Afghanistan. The +qualities which marked Mr. Strang's story, "The Air Scout," and won +extraordinarily high commendation from Lord Roberts, Lord Curzon, and +others, as well as from the _Spectator_ and other great journals, are +again strikingly displayed; and the combination of thrilling adventure +with an Imperial problem and excellent writing, adds one more to this +author's long list of successes. + +"An exceptionally good book, written moreover in excellent +style."--_Times_. + +"'The Air Patrol' is really a masterpiece."--_Morning Post_. + + + +The Air Scout + +A Story of National Defence. + +Illustrated in Colour by W. R. S. STOTT. + +The problems of National Defence are being discussed with more and more +care and attention, not only in Great Britain, but also in all parts of +the Empire. In this story Mr. Strang imagines a Chinese descent upon +Australia, and carries his hero through a series of exciting +adventures, in which the value of national spirit, organisation, and +discipline is exemplified. The important part which the aeroplane will +play in warfare is recognised, and the thousands of readers who have +delighted in the author's previous stories of aviation will find this +new book after their own heart. + +LORD ROBERTS wrote:--"It is capital reading, and should interest more +than boys. Your forecast is so good that I can only hope the future +may not bring to Australia such a struggle as the one you so +graphically describe." + +LORD CURZON writes:--"I have read with great pleasure your book, 'The +Air Scout.' It seems to me to be a capital story, full of life and +movement: and further, it preaches the best of all secular gospels, +patriotism and co-operation." + +"We congratulate Mr. Strang on this fine book--one of the best fighting +stories we have read."--_Morning Post_. + + + +Palm Tree Island. + +Illustrated in Colour by ARCHIBALD WEBB. + +In this story two boys are left on a volcanic island in the South Seas, +destitute of everything but their clothes. The story relates how they +provided themselves with food and shelter, with tools and weapons; how +they fought with wild dogs and sea monsters; and how, when they have +settled down to a comfortable life under the shadow of the volcano, +their peace is disturbed by the advent of savages and a crew of +mutinous Englishmen. The savages are driven away; the mutineers are +subdued through the boys' ingenuity; and they ultimately sail away in a +vessel of their own construction. In no other book has the author more +admirably blended amusement with instruction. + +"Written so well that there is not a dull page in the book."--_The +World_. + + + +Rob the Ranger: A Story of the Fight for Canada. + +With Illustrations in Colour and Maps. + +Rob Somers, son of an English settler in New York State, sets out with +Lone Pete, a trapper, in pursuit of an Indian raiding party which has +destroyed his home and carried off his younger brother. He is captured +and taken to Quebec, where he finds his brother in strange +circumstances, and escapes with him in the dead of the winter, in +company with a little band of stout-hearted New Englanders. + +General Baden-Powell, In recommending books to the Boy Scouts, places +"Rob the Ranger" first among the great scouting stories. + + + +One of Clive's Heroes: A Story of the Fight for India. + +With Illustrations in Colour and Maps. + +Desmond Burke goes out to India to seek his fortune, and is sold by a +false friend of his, one Marmaduke Diggle, to the famous Pirate of +Gheria. But he escapes, runs away with one of the Pirate's own +vessels, and meets Colonel Clive, whom he assists to capture the +Pirate's stronghold. His subsequent adventures on the other side of +India--how he saves a valuable cargo for his friend Mr. Merriman, and +assists Clive in his fights against Sirajuddaula--are told with great +spirit and humour. + +"An absorbing story.... The narrative not only thrills, but also +weaves skilfully out of fact and fiction a clear impression of our +fierce struggle for India."--_Athenaeum_. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Carry On!, by Herbert Strang + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARRY ON! *** + +***** This file should be named 38714.txt or 38714.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/1/38714/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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