The Air Patrol: A Story of the North-west Frontier

by Herbert Strang

"The sahib orders," said the man, smiling with pleasure.

"Then get Shan Tai to give you two or three baskets of food and take them to the ledge. Meet me there as soon as there's any light in the sky. Bring your kukuri."

Fazl smiled again. No Gurkha goes abroad without his national weapon, half bill-hook, and half falchion. He departed, salaaming cheerfully.

"He'll be useful in looking after the machine if I'm otherwise engaged," thought Bob, as he went wearily to his room, to snatch a few hours' rest before he set off again. "Poor old Lawrie!" he said to himself. "I'm afraid he's desperately cold."

In the hurry of departure he had forgotten to hand out the wadded coat which Lawrence, like himself, wore when flying. Whether the little party at the bridge were disturbed by the enemy or not, he feared that his brother must pass a very uncomfortable night.

Up before daybreak, Bob, after a hurried breakfast, paid the promised visit to Muhammad, to whom, however, he told nothing. If the man was to be of any use in the fighting that might be in store, it was necessary that he should recover his strength, and such recovery would only be retarded by excitement. Then Bob supplied himself with plenty of cartridges, borrowed a red handkerchief from Chunda Beg, and made his way along the path to the aeroplane platform. Fazl was already there: everything was in order: and as soon as the grey light of dawn began to creep over the hill-tops, the two men got into their places, and with a hum and swish the aeroplane set forth on its flight down-stream.

Bob's experience of the previous night was reversed. Then, the curtain of shade had rolled up from the valley, ever higher, until sky and earth were mingled in one blackness. Now, the dark crept gradually downward, every minute uncovering a few more feet of the barren hill-sides. But during the brief flight from the mine the depths of the valley were scarcely penetrated by the feeble rays of morning, and it was not until the aeroplane came to the neighbourhood of the bridge that the river and the track upon its bank were distinguishable. Bob knew not what he might have passed during that forty minutes. Once, when he judged that about two-thirds of the flight was completed, he thought he heard a shout from below, and guessed that the Pathans, marching down the track, had caught the sound of his propeller, and had called to let him know that all was well.

The twilight had banished darkness from the bottom of the valley by the time he came in sight of the bridge. He looked anxiously down for his brother's party, and was on the point of shifting the elevator so as to drop a little nearer earth when he saw puffs of smoke just beyond the bend in the left bank, and immediately afterwards heard the crack of rifles. Evidently the enemy were still in position. Reversing his movement, so as to rise instead of falling, and avoid the fate that had overtaken his uncle, he glanced down at the rocks near the bridge head, and saw grouped there a number of figures among whom he thought he recognized Lawrence. At the same moment a vociferous cheer reached him through the throbbing hum of the engine, and the greeting relieved him of anxiety about his brother.

Rising as quickly as possible, he held on his course, and in half a minute flew directly over the Kalmucks, and came in sight of the reach of the river beyond the bend. As he searched the banks, running the gauntlet of a fusillade, he was conscious of a feeling of dismay. For a full mile the river bank appeared to have been turned into a Kalmuck encampment. At irregular intervals above and below the winding track, the hill-side was dotted with tents and akois. Advantage seemed to have been taken of every square yard of level space to erect these portable shelters, which could be put up and taken down within a few minutes. It was clear that he had to reckon, not merely with the small party who had pursued him up-stream, but with a much larger number who had come up from the distant encampment during the previous afternoon and night. Horses were grouped wherever there was standing room for them. On the track and about the tents men were gathered, all gazing up into the sky, some taking shots at the aeroplane as it flew over them. It was flying swiftly, however, and with a vertical as well as a horizontal movement, so that even a practised sportsman, accustomed to shoot birds on the wing, could scarcely have hit his mark. Bob heard two or three bullets whistle past, but none struck the aeroplane or either of its occupants. Having seen so much, he determined to pursue his reconnaissance down the valley; it would be worth while to see if the camp on the plateau had been struck, for he would then be sure that the mine was indeed the objective of this force, and as he flew back be able, perhaps, to estimate its size. For the next few miles only a few straggling horsemen were visible, riding slowly up-stream. Then for a mile or two the track was bare, and he suspected that the men he had last seen were the rear of the enemy's force. Still flying on, he came at length to the place where the valley broadened, and finally to the plateau which had been the limit of his flight on the day before. Here he swept round several times in ever widening circles, carefully scanning the ground. The camp had completely disappeared. Thinking that in so wide an area the small object which the encampment would present at so great a depth might escape his notice, he wheeled again and again, until he assured himself that no trace of it was discoverable. Then he was setting his course to return to the valley, looking southward to pick up his bearings, when there was a sudden shout from the Gurkha. He glanced round: the man was pointing excitedly to the north-west.

Slowing down a little, but without altering his course, Bob looked in the same direction. The country was now bathed in sunlight; the air was clear; but he could perceive nothing to account for his companion's excitement. He had faith enough in the man's intelligence, however, to wheel round once more, and steer away from the valley.