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

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER THE FIFTH

  THE LIGHT IN THE GALLERY

  The cliff pathway being at last completed, the boys cleared the fartherledge of accidental obstructions, and so formed a fairly smooth surfaceabout sixty yards in length by half as many in breadth. While theworkmen were erecting a shed at one end of the space, the boysthemselves carried over the parts of the aeroplane, and set aboutputting them together, with the assistance of Fazl the Gurkha. It was amonoplane of a recent type, with a length of thirty feet and a span offorty-three, the area of the main planes being about three hundred andfifty feet. The fabric-covered fuselage was of approximatelystream-line form, deep enough forward to accommodate the pilot so thatonly his head protruded above the cockpit. This was arranged to seattwo, the pilot in front, the passenger in his rear. The elevator was offixed monoplane design, with rotating ailerons. The engine, afour-cylinder machine of 100 h.p., being of the water-cooled variety, aradiator was necessary: this was incorporated with the lower slopingfront of the body. Bob had provided himself with a second carburetter,so that paraffin could be used if petrol ran short. The landing chassiswas composed of oval section steel tubes, which ran together at twoapexes. At each of these, on a universal bearing, was a laminated springsplit into two arms at the rear, with a rubber-tyred wheel between them.The forepart of the spring was attached by an elastic rubber shackle tothe top of the chassis, and a similar attachment connected the singlewheel with the rear-part of the machine. The material employed in theconstruction of the machine was mainly wood, which was more easilyrepairable than steel. Its total weight was about 1000 lbs. and itsmaximum speed seventy miles an hour in still air.

  It was a great day at the mine when the young airmen essayed their firstflight. Mr. Appleton had looked forward to it with a nervousness he didhis best to conceal. He had ceased to joke about the matter, and wore agrave and thoughtful look during the week in which the boys made theirfinal preparations. Their enthusiastic discussion of details atmeal-times and in the evening set his nerves on edge; but he was toowise to let his nephews see how they were distressing him, and they didnot know until long afterwards how nearly he had come to an absoluteprohibition from using their machine. Only as they left him, to trytheir wings, did he venture on a word of caution.

  "I say, you fellows, you'll be careful, you know," he said.

  "Of course, Uncle," said Bob. "I've got my certificate, remember."

  "And Ditta Lal had his calculations!" he muttered.

  "Well, they gave him a night out," said Lawrence, quite unconscious howhis light answer jarred upon his uncle.

  They walked along the path and disappeared from sight. It was an hourbefore they were seen again. Then from round the shoulder of the cliffthere suddenly came into view a thing resembling a monstrous grasshopperin flight, and through the air sounded a low grinding hum. The servantsrushed into the compound; the miners at work in the open uttered ashrill cry, which brought their comrades in a flock from the galleries;and they stood at gaze as the strange machine wheeled into the gorge,and flew, skimming the river, until it was lost to sight.

  "Marvellous achievement, sir," said Ditta Lal at Mr. Appleton's elbow.

  Mr. Appleton did not answer: there was a look of anxiety upon his face.

  "I perceive, sir," said the Babu, "that your countenance is sickliedo'er with pale cast of apprehension. Nothing is here for tears; inshort, there is nothing to be afraid of; I have worked it out. Enginemakes 1500 revolutions per minute: propeller geared down to 750:ascensional velocity, by my calculations----"

  "Your calculations be hanged!" cried Mr. Appleton, whose wonted urbanitygave way under the strain of Ditta Lal's loquacity. "Get out!"

  Ditta Lal looked hurt, but tried to smile. It was an hour before theaeroplane reappeared, and another hour before the boys rejoined theiruncle.

  "We made a splendid flight," said Bob, who was in the highest spirits."Everything worked perfectly. You must come for a trip yourself,Uncle."

  "No, thank you. I am vastly relieved to see you back safe and sound.The Babu has begun calculating again, and got on my nerves."

  "Calculating, is he?" said Lawrence. "I should have thought he had hadenough of that. I wonder if we can cure him."

  He called to Ditta Lal, who was standing at the door of his store-shed.

  "What weight do you suppose the aeroplane will carry?" he asked.

  "I do not suppose, sir," replied the Babu. "I have worked it out.Permit me to express jubilation at successful trip, sir. You ask aboutweight." He drew a paper from his pocket. "Here are correct figures.You can carry fifteen hundred and eighty-six pounds six ounces, withfour decimals of no account."

  "What do you scale, Bob?" asked Lawrence.

  "Twelve stone two."

  "I'm eleven stone eight: together we make about three hundred and thirtypounds. Ditta Lal, _there's just room for you_!"

  For a moment the Babu looked puzzled. Then he said:

  "It is human to err, sir. I must have made trifling error in myadditions. I revise my calculations."

  And he went away, evidently determined to discover either that theaeroplane would not support so great a load as he had calculated, orthat his own weight considerably exceeded twelve hundred pounds.

  A daily flight became part of the boys' programme. They did not telltheir uncle of the difficulties they had to contend with, but these werereal enough. To start from and alight on so narrow a platform as theledge furnished was in itself a severe test of airmanship; but theproblems of actual flight were still more serious. The gorge was sonarrow that it gave them little room for evolutions. There were onlyone or two spots, either up or down stream, at which they could turnwith safety; and when the wind came in sudden gusts down the mountainside the act of turning, even in these comparatively open spaces, wasattended with much danger. They could only avoid the peril by ascendingto altitudes which as yet Bob was unwilling to attempt. But a fewweeks' practice developed in them a kind of instinct for dodging therisks to which the circumscribed space rendered them liable; and thoughthey had one or two lucky escapes they met with no real mishap.

  All this time they got a good deal of quiet amusement out of theiruncle's attitude. At first he affected to regard the aeroplane as aplaything, and a somewhat dangerous plaything, much as an elderly personwatching a child playing with fireworks expects him sooner or later toburn his fingers. In the early days of their flying he was indeedgenuinely nervous, and tried by means of hints and warnings to wean themfrom their sport. But as time passed, and none of his fears wererealised, they perceived that he was becoming less uneasy and more andmore interested. One day he actually accompanied them to the shed,which he had never yet visited, and watched them as they drew theaeroplane out on to the ledge, made a methodical inspection of theengine, and prepared for their flight.

  "A neat piece of mechanism," he said. "Much stronger than it looks froma distance."

  Lawrence surreptitiously winked at Bob.

  "Yes, it's strong enough," said Bob, smiling as he continued his task ofcleaning one of the cylinders.

  "What load can you carry?" asked Mr. Appleton presently. "I don't trustthe Babu's calculations."

  "A thousand pounds or more," replied Lawrence, who was examining thegearing of the propeller.

  "You've only two seats," Mr. Appleton went on, after an interval ofsilence. "Some machines will carry three, I suppose."

  "Oh yes," answered Bob. "We could easily rig up a third seat. Pity youdislike the thing so much, Uncle."

  Mr. Appleton did not reply. When the boys got into their places, he didnot warn them to be careful, as his habit was, but bade them good-bye asunconcernedly as if they had been going for a short train journey.

  "He's fishing for an invitation," said Lawrence to his brother as theyrose into the air. "Bet you what you like we have him with us within aweek."

  But the period proved to be even shorter. Be
fore leaving the aeroplanethat evening, they spent an hour or two in making a third seat. Two dayslater, when Mr. Appleton again crossed to their ledge to see them flyoff, he noticed the addition.

  "Who's your second passenger?" he asked.

  "Gur Buksh said that he'd like to try a flight," replied Bob: "butknowing how much you disapprove of the machine, he hasn't ventured toask your permission yet."

  "Humph! I don't think I can allow that--at any rate, until I have triedit myself."

  "You don't mean it, Uncle!"

  "Well, having an hour to spare, I think perhaps--I've a very open mind,you know."

  "Come _on_, sir!" cried Lawrence, slapping him on the back. "That'ssporting, upon my word."

  "Don't fly away with me," said Mr. Appleton, as he got into his place."One hour: no more."

  But when they were soaring northward down the river, and came to wherethe valley broadened out into the plains of Turkestan, Mr. Appletonforgot altogether about his time limit. The old adventurous spirit wasstill strong in him; after the first few minutes he was quite at hisease, and even when Bob "banked" the machine in wheeling round, or whena sudden gust swept through a rent in the mountain and made theaeroplane heel over slightly, he showed no nervousness. The flightlasted two hours, and as they walked back along the pathway, Mr.Appleton said--

  "If the country were only flatter, I might be tempted to go in forflying myself. It's most exhilarating. But I'm afraid I'd never bemuch good at it. I fancy it ought to be learnt young, like golf."

  After that both Mr. Appleton and Gur Buksh were occasional passengerswith the boys. One day, as Lawrence was watching from the compound theflight of Bob accompanied by the Sikh, Ditta Lal came to his side.

  "I am consumed with envy, sir," he said: "envy, eldest born of hell, asblind poet sings."

  "Why, what's wrong?"

  "Why, sir, that unlettered Sikh learns secrets of empyrean hidden fromme, B.A. of Calcutta University."

  "Well, we'll take you, any time you like."

  "Alas, sir! I am, through no fault of my own, fat and scant of breath,and rapid transit through rarefied atmosphere would blow me out--I mean,put disastrous strain upon my panting lungs."

  "D'you know, Babu, I think you're a funk."

  "I repel charge with honest indignation, sir. I am bold as a lion, kingof beasts--on terra firma, sir."

  They had been using the aeroplane for about a fortnight when a convoy ofprovisions arrived. The leader of the caravan brought news which gaveinteresting material for discussion at the supper-table, and which wastalked over with scarcely less eagerness among the natives. The manreported that he had had great difficulty in getting through.Apparently an embargo had been laid on all food stuffs. Armed andmounted men were flocking south-west from all parts of Mongolia, and thetalk of the country was that another great movement against Russia wasin preparation.

  "They'll have a tougher job this time," said Mr. Appleton, in the quiethour before bedtime. "It was easy enough to lop off one of theextremities of the empire, but they'll find things more difficult asthey near the European border, if that's what they are aiming at. Idon't know whether you know anything about history----"

  "I know Napoleon's campaigns, not much else," said Bob.

  "Well, you can take it from me, then, that when the Mongols were attheir strongest they couldn't keep a permanent footing in EuropeanRussia. But there's such a lot of them, all mounted, too, that there'sjust a chance they may sweep across the southern plains as theirforefathers did. Russia is in a bad way; they know that, of course.This long war with Germany has broken her credit; she's seething withunrest and rebellion; Finland's in revolt at last, and I shouldn'twonder if the Poles make a move now: they wouldn't before, because theydon't love the Germans. It'll be rather curious if the Mongols do cut aslice out of the bloated monster."

  A night or two after this, when the caravan had departed, Bob awoke inthe small hours, and feeling rather thirsty, got up for a drink. The dayhad been very hot, and before returning to bed he sat at the open windowto inhale the fresh cool breeze that blew along the gorge. Everythingwas very still. All that he could hear was the gurgling of the stream,now swollen to its full extent by the melted snow from the mountains;and the occasional whinny of a horse from the sheds that served asstables on the other side.

  He had sat thus for a few minutes drinking in the beauty of the nightwhen his eye was caught by a faint glow in the distance. It seemed tobe near the entrance of the Pathan gallery, his own section of the mine.The glow flickered; it was not strong enough to light up thesurroundings.

  "That's very curious," he thought, and was on the point of awakingLawrence, when it occurred to him that he would look rather foolish ifit proved to be nothing but a colony of glow-worms. He knew nothing ofnatural history, or he would not have suspected the possibility offinding glowworms in such a spot. But he was sufficiently curious tofeel that he must find out the cause of the light. He could not leavethe house without passing through his uncle's room, and unwilling todisturb the household, he made up his mind to climb out of the window,which was at no great distance above the ground. The timbers of theupper part of the house were rough; and a practised climber would findno difficulty in descending by availing himself of their inequalitiesuntil he reached the stone part and could drop.

  He pulled on his socks, thrust his arms into his smoking jacket, andclambered out. The sound he made in reaching the ground was so faintthat it did not disturb the doorkeeper, slumbering Indian fashion on thethreshold thirty feet away. Crossing the compound on tiptoe, he came tothe fence, and regretted that he had not thought to bring his key of thegate: there was nothing for it but to scale the obstacle. This he did,and crossed the Kalmuck section in the same way, moving very quietly,for he did not wish to attract the attention of the sentry on duty atthe drawbridge or to rouse the settlement.

  From the time of his dropping from the window until he had crossed thesecond fence and stood in the Pathan section, the glow had been hiddenfrom him. It now revealed itself as originating in the mine gallery.The glow was diffused through the opening, though the source of lightwas not visible. No one had any business there after the bugle hadsounded the time for ceasing work. Thinking that perhaps the Pathanforeman, Muhammad Din, had forgotten to extinguish one of the torchesthat were employed for lighting the miners at their work, Bob was aboutto cross the ground and enter the gallery without precaution. But hewas checked by the thought that the explanation might not be so simple.He threw a glance round the compound. All was dark and quiet. Then hestole across to the mouth of the gallery, and after a moment's pauseentered it.

  Some little distance from the entrance a torch was burning in its socketon the wall. Nobody was in sight. If there was indeed a trespasser inthe mine, he was either behind one of the beams supporting the roof, orfarther down the gallery. This was straight from the opening up to thetorch, which was so placed as to light a further stretch that bent alittle inwards. Bob went along carefully, looking behind every beam andinto every recess, but without discovering an intruder.

  Having come level with the torch, he stopped, and glancing round thecurving wall, was surprised to see another light about twenty pacesahead. It was burning but dimly; the ventilating apparatus was not atwork; but the illumination was sufficient to reveal the figure of a manbending to the floor, engaged apparently in gathering small fragments ofrock. Bob could not identify the man, whose back was towards him.Whatever his object was, there was something suspicious in his havingchosen the dead of night for carrying it out; and Bob at once made uphis mind to steal upon the man, seize him, and haul him before Mr.Appleton. He crept forward; there were only about a dozen paces betweenthe two. But while he was in the very act of making his leap, he wasconscious of a rush of feet behind him. Next moment he was struck by aheavy object, and fell on his face to the floor of the gallery. Hishead hit the hard rock; there was one instant of intense pain, and thenhis senses forsook him.


  THE ATTACK IN THE GALLERY]