CHAPTER FOUR.
WOUNDED MEN.
The Sergeant was right, for, after turning a rib-like mass of stoneforming an angle in the path, it was to find that either a fresh partyof the enemy were waiting for them, or the others had by taking a shortcut reached an eminence commanding the path; and as soon as the companycame in sight they were saluted with an avalanche of stones, on a spotwhere they were terribly exposed, there being no shelter that could beseized upon by a few picked marksmen to hold the stone-throwers in checkwhile the rest got by.
Matters looked bad, for the whole; of the baggage with the guard haddisappeared, and, to make matters worse, shot after shot came whistlingby from behind, indicating that the hill-men had come down to the track,and were closely following them in the rear.
"We must make a rush for it, Bracy," said Captain Roberts, as he gazedup at the heights from which the invisible enemy were bombarding thepath. "We'll hold them back for a few minutes, and then you take halfthe company and dash across to yonder rocks. As soon as you are inshelter open fire and cover, as I fancy you can get a sight of them fromthere. It's waste of ammunition to fire from here, and--Who's thatdown?"
For there was a sharp cry from one of the men, who staggered forward afew yards, fell, and sprang up again minus his helmet, which had beenstruck by a bullet from behind.
"All right; not much hurt, sir," cried the sufferer, rejoining hiscompanions, after picking up his helmet, the back of which had beenscored by a nearly spent rugged missile, whose track was marked in along jagged cut across the man's right cheek-bone, from which the bloodwas trickling down.
The rear men were on the alert, watching for a chance to retaliate upontheir troublesome enemy, but holding their fire, for not a man wasvisible, and it seemed useless to fire at the rocks they had just left.
"The sooner we are out of this the better," said the Captain quietly."You know your work.--Wait a minute, and then at the word rush across tothe rocks."
The minute had nearly passed, the time filled up by the rattle and roarof falling stones, and Bracy's half-company, though at rest, werepanting hard with excitement like greyhounds held by a leash. Then,just as the falling stones were beginning to slacken as if the throwersgrasped the fact that they were wasting their strength, and werereserving their discharge till the half-company made its rush, there wasa sudden quick movement among the rocks they were to try and reach, andBracy's blood ran cold as, puff, puff, puff, and then crack, crack, firewas opened.
"Hah!" ejaculated Roberts excitedly; "they've got down somehow to cut usoff. We're between two fires, Bracy, man. There's nothing for it nowbut to dash forward. You must clear them out of that. Don't stop topick up your men who go down. We shall be close behind, and will see tothem. Get across, and then turn and cover us if you can."
Bracy nodded, and drew his revolver, just giving one glance upward atthe heights from whence the stones came, and then fixing his eyes uponthe rocks on the other side of the curve of the track, from which freshpuffs of smoke arose, making their position look desperate with theenemy in front and rear, supplemented by those hidden among the ruggednatural battlements of their stronghold.
"How many men shall I lose?" thought the young officer; and then, "ShallI get across alive?"
The next moment all was changed.
"Why, Roberts," he cried, "it's our own men yonder, firing up instead ofat us, to cover our advance."
"Forward, then," cried Roberts. "We shall be close behind."
Bracy dashed ahead, waving his sword, and his half-company of boyscheered as they followed him; while as soon as they started there was atremendous crashing of dislodged masses of rock, which came thunderingdown, fortunately sent too soon to injure the charging soldiery, whowere saved from a second discharge by a sharp crackling fire from therocks which they were to have occupied, the rapid repetitions tellingthat a strong company of their friends were at work, and the bulletsspattering and flicking among the enemy, driving them at once intocover.
There was a hearty cheer to greet Bracy and his half-company as theysuccessfully crossed the stone-swept track and reached the shelter ofthe rocks, ready to turn on the instant and help to keep down thestone-throwing as Roberts and his men came along at the double.
But Bracy's lads did not fire a shot aloft, for a glance at the secondhalf of the company revealed a new danger, and his men dropped intoposition, ready to repel that with a volley. For no sooner had thesecond half started than the track, a quarter of a mile in their rear,suddenly seemed to become alive with white-garbed hill-men, who camebounding along in a little crowd.
"Steady, steady! make every shot tell, boys," cried Bracy. "Fire!"
A ragged volley was the result; the hill-men stopped suddenly as ifpetrified, and were hesitating still as to what they should do, when asecond volley sent them to the right-about, leaving several of theirnumber on the track, while half-a-dozen more were seen to drop beforetheir comrades were out of sight.
There was another burst of cheering as the second half-company pressedon without the loss of a man, Gedge having so far recovered that he wasable to double with one of his comrades, who came steadily on with him,arm-in-arm. As the young officers stood breathless and panting withtheir exertions, the stern, keen face of Colonel Graves suddenly loomedabove the smoke, and his horse bore him into their midst.
"How many men down?" was his first eager question.
"Two slightly wounded; that's all, sir," was the reply.
"Forward, then," he said, and he signed to Roberts and Bracy to come tohis side.
"You've done well," he said. "Retain your places as rear-guard. I'llkeep in touch with you.--Hark!"
"Firing, sir," said Captain Roberts.
"Yes; the Major must be clearing the way for us. We must get off thisshelf and on to open ground before dark."
He turned his horse's head and made his way towards the front as rapidlyas the nature of the wretched rock-strewn shelf would allow; and the twoyoung officers tramped on at a fair distance from the rear of thebaggage-guard, keeping a sharp lookout for enemies in pursuit, feelinglittle anxiety about the rugged eminences up to their left, knowing asthey did that they would have ample warning of danger by an attack beingmade somewhere along the line whose extreme rear they were protecting.
Their task was comparatively easy now, for their two wounded men hadbeen passed on to the baggage-train, so that they could be in charge ofthe ambulance men and have the benefit of the Doctor's help. A shotcame now and then from behind, showing that the enemy were in pursuit;but no mischief was done, a return shot or two from the rear files, whoretired in skirmishing order, silencing the firing at every outbreak.Every step taken, too, now was more and more downward, and the keenwinds, sharpened by the ice and snow, which had cut down the ravines atthe higher part of the pass, were now tempered by the warm afternoonsunshine, which bathed the tops of the shrubs they had looked down uponfrom above, the said shrubs having developed into magnificent groves ofcedars, grand in form and towering in height.
These last were for the most part on the farther side of the now verdantvalley--verdant, for its rocky harshness was rapidly becoming softened;even the shelf along which they tramped began to be dotted with alpineflowers, which gave the march the appearance of having lasted formonths, for the morning; had been in part among mountains whoseatmosphere was that of a sunny day in February. Now they were in May,and according to appearances they were descending into an evening thatwould be like June.
Matters were going on so quietly now that the two officers found timefor a chat at intervals, one of which was as they passed aformidable-looking spot where the thickly scattered stones and marks oflead upon the rocks showed that it must have been the scene of one ofthe attacks made by the enemy from the rocks above. But there was nosign of them now, the only suggestion of danger being the presence of ascore of their men left to keep any fresh attack in check, and whoretired as soon as the rear-guard came in sight.
; "This must be where the Major had to clear the way," said Roberts as hescanned the heights with his glass.
"Yes," replied Bracy; "and I hope he was as well satisfied with the boysas we were."
"Shame if he wasn't," cried Roberts. "Pooh! don't take any notice ofwhat he said. You know his way."
"Yes; he must have something to grumble at," replied Bracy. "If he werewith a regiment of veterans--"
"Yes, of course; he'd be snarling because they were what he'd callworn-out, useless cripples, only fit for Chelsea Hospital. The Doctorwas right: it's his liver."
"Yes," said Bracy; "and when we are in camp to-night and at dinner he'llbe in the highest of glee, and do nothing but brag about how he made theenemy run."
"Well, yes; a bit of work always does him good. It isn't brag, though,for I believe the Major to be a splendid officer, and if we have much todo he'll begin showing us greenhorns what a soldier ought to be. But, Isay, don't talk about dinner. I didn't think of it before; now I feelfamished. My word! I shall punish it to-night."
"If we get safely into camp," cried Bracy excitedly. "Down with you, mylads, and look out. It came from across the valley there, from amongthose trees."
Even as he spoke, pat, pat, pat came as many bullets, to strike againstthe bare face of the rock over their heads and fall among the stones attheir feet, while the reports of the pieces fired were multiplied by theechoes till they died away.
"Nothing to mind," said Roberts coolly. "They're trying to pick us off!We can laugh at any attack if they try to cross the depths belowthere."
"Nothing to mind so long as we are not hit," replied Bracy; "but Iobject to being made a mark for their practice. What have you gotthere, Jones?"
"One of their bullets, sir," said the man, who had picked up a messengerwhich had come whizzing across the valley.
"Bullet--eh? Look here, Roberts," and Bracy handed his brother officera ragged piece of iron which looked as if it had been cut off the end ofa red-hot iron rod.
"Humph! Nice tackle to fire at us. Lead must be scarce. Now, that'sthe sort of thing that would make a wound that wouldn't heal, anddelight old Morton."
Pat, pat, again overhead, and the missiles fell among the stones.
"We must stop this," said Roberts.--"Hold your fire, my lads, till youhave a good chance. One telling shot is worth a hundred bad ones."
"Ah! Look out," cried Bracy, who was scanning the distant grove oflarge trees across the valley a quarter of a mile away. "There they go,breaking cover to take up ground more forward, to have at us again."
For, all at once, some fifty white-coats became visible, as their ownersdashed out of one of the patches of cedars and ran for another a furlongahead. The lads were looking out, and rifle after rifle cracked. Thenthere was quite a volley to teach the enemy that a quarter of a mile wasa dangerous distance to stand at when British soldiers were kneelingbehind rocks which formed steady rests for the rifles they had carefullysighted.
Five or six men, whose white-coats stood out plainly in the clearmountain air against the green, were seen to drop and not rise again;while the rest, instead of racing on to the cover in front, turned offat right-angles and made for a woody ravine higher up the right face ofthe valley; but they did not all reach it in safety.
The firing brought back the Colonel, who nodded thoughtfully on hearingRoberts's report.
"Hurry on," he said; "the shelf descends to quite an opening of thevalley a quarter of a mile farther on, and there is a patch of wood wellout of reach of the hills, where I shall camp to-night. Theadvance-guard have cleared it of a similar party to that you describe."
"It was getting time," said Bracy to Roberts as the Colonel rode on. "Ishouldn't have liked for us to pass the night on this shelf. Thinkthey'll attack us after dark?"
"Can't say, my son. If they do--"
"Well, what?" asked Bracy.
"We shall have to fight; but not, I hope, till we have had a comfortablemeal."
"I hope the same; but I suppose there'll be no rest till we've had agood set-to and thrashed the ruffians. Why, the country seems to be upin arms against us."
"Yes," said Roberts; "it's a way these genial hill-men have."
"Fortunately for us it is very thinly peopled," observed Bracy as theytramped along, seemingly as fresh as when they started.
"Don't be too sure. We've been up among the mountains. Wait till wesee the vales."
But the troubles of the day ceased at sunset, one which was madewonderful with the hues which dyed the mountains of the vast Karakoramrange; and when the cooking-fires were out in the cedar grove and thewatches were set, officers and men slept well in the aromatic air; eventhe mules did not squeal and kick so very much in their lines, while theweary camels groaned and sighed and sobbed in half-tones, as ifbemoaning their fate as being rather better than usual, for none hadbeen riddled by bullets, fallen, or been beaten overmuch, and theirleaders had taken care that they were not overloaded, and that they hadplenty to eat and drink. The only men who slept badly were Gedge andSymons, the man whose cheek-bone had been furrowed by a bullet. Buteven they were cheerful as they talked together in the shelter of acanvas tent, and passed the time comparing notes about their ill-luck inbeing the first down, and calculating how long it would be before theywere back in the ranks.
"Hurt much, matey?" said Gedge.
"Pretty tidy, pardner. How's your nut?"
"Been easier since the Doctor put the wet rag on it soaked with somestuff or another. Oh, I shouldn't care a bit, only it keeps on swellingup like a balloon, and it'll make a fellow look such a guy."
"Hist!" said the other; "some one coming. The Doctor."
"Are you asleep in there?" said a low voice.
"Mr Bracy, sir," cried Gedge eagerly. "No, sir; we're wido."
"How are you, my lads--in much pain?"
"Oh no, sir; we're all right."
"I came just to see how you are. Good-night. Try and get to sleep."
"Yes, sir; thank ye, sir. Good-night, sir."
"Good-night."
There was a faint rustle as of feet passing over cedar needle, and thena faint choky sound as if some one in the dark were trying to swallowsomething.
"I like that," said Symons at last in a whisper; "makes yer feel as ifyer orficers do think o' something else besides making yer be smart."
"Like it?" said Gedge huskily. "I should just think you do. Oh, I say,though, what a guy I shall look in the morning! Wish we'd got a box o'dominoes and a bit o' candle."
Fix Bay'nets: The Regiment in the Hills Page 4