Lawrence feared that the stress of the situation was making the Babu mad; but he spoke a sympathetic word, and passed on.
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH
THE DEATH TRAP
There was no alarm from beyond the bend during the night. But in the small hours the sentry at the bridge gave a loud shout, and fired southward up the track. When Lawrence rushed from the house to discover what had happened, he learnt that the sentry had seen a number of dim figures creeping towards the mine. They had now disappeared. Lawrence conjectured that Nurla Bai and his friends, who must now be nearly famished, had been attracted by the sound of guns, and stolen down in the hope of eluding the vigilance of the garrison, and gaining the path that led above their old quarters and descended on the track on the nearer side of the bend. Even if they had got thus far undetected, they could not but have fallen into the hands of the defenders of the breastwork. It was an attempt they were not likely to repeat. There was no chance of their rejoining the Kalmuck army until the defence was broken.
Before morning the doubled breastwork was defended by a strong wire entanglement. Soon after daybreak the enemy began a terrific bombardment from four guns, two of which had been mounted on platforms behind the two which Lawrence had already seen in position. The garrison could make no effective reply, but could only watch their breastwork crumbling away under the shells that pounded it without intermission. The two brothers held their men some distance in the rear, as much under cover as possible, ready to lead them on and occupy the ruin of the entrenchment as soon as the expected charge began.
About ten o'clock they saw Fazl running towards them from the bridge. He had been taking his turn of duty on guard at the aeroplane platform, and the fact that he had left his post seemed ominous. Rushing up to Lawrence, he exclaimed excitedly that he had heard the distant hum of an aeroplane. The boys were incredulous: they themselves were almost deafened by the roar of the guns and the crash of falling masonry. But immediately afterwards, in the interval between the shots, they caught the sound--the continuous throbbing drone, like a gigantic sewing-machine at work. They looked at each other aghast. For a moment or two they were mute: then Bob said:
"You must get aloft at once. It's our only chance. Get above the aeroplane, and bomb it. There's no time to lose."
Lawrence set off at a run, the Gurkha behind him. He raced across the bridge and on to the cantilever pathway, and had just turned the corner when he heard a tremendous explosion behind him. A few seconds later a large monoplane flashed by, and was soon lost to sight up the valley.
Long practice had given him facility in starting. The aeroplane was ready for flight. Lawrence and the Gurkha leapt to their places, and within two minutes the machine was in the air, flying after the enemy.
This, then, was the meaning of the Kalmuck officer's veiled warning. The enemy had taken a leaf out of the defenders' book. Their airmen, equipped no doubt with bombs much more destructive than Lawrence's home-made missiles, intended to strike at the very heart of the defence, and by rendering the mine premises untenable, clear the way for the advance of the army.