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

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER THE SIXTH

  NURLA BAI DISAPPEARS

  Bob never knew how long he lay unconscious on the floor of the gallery.When he came to himself he was in darkness: only the smoky atmosphereremained to bear witness to the reality of the torches. He rose dizzilyto his feet, feeling sick and giddy as the result both of his blow andof the close air, and groped his way slowly to the entrance. There thecool breeze somewhat revived him; but he found it difficult to make hisway past the obstacles which had given him no trouble before. To scalethe fences cost much labour, and he was near fainting by the time hereached the house. Having no key with him, he had to waken the darwanwho lay wrapped in rugs on his mat before the door. The man was muchsurprised to see him, but said nothing as he gave him admittance. Bobcrept upstairs quietly; his uncle's door was open, and he managed tocross the room without waking him. Then he dropped on to his bed andnudged his brother.

  "You're a juggins," said Lawrence rather unfeelingly, when he had heardthe story. "That's the sort of thing they do in the school stories, whenthe bold bad bully climbs down the gutterpipe and sneaks off to the pubto play cards and swill swipes. But I say, you're not hurt, old man?"

  "The whack on the head rather crumpled me up," replied Bob.

  Lawrence was out of bed in a trice, lit his candle, and bent over hisbrother.

  "There's a bump as big as a duck's egg," he said. "Jolly lucky yourhead's hard, old chap! Turn over, and I'll bathe it."

  In getting the water-can he stumbled over his boots, making a slightnoise.

  "It's time you fellows were asleep, came a muffled voice through thedoor. Mr. Appleton had awoke, and fancied that the boys had not yetsettled down for the night.

  "Shall we tell him?" said Lawrence.

  "I meant to wait till morning, but as he's awake--yes, I think we hadbetter."

  Lawrence opened his uncle's door.

  "I say, Uncle," he said, "Bob fancied he heard burglars and wentprowling without a knuckle-duster----"

  "Go to bed," growled Mr. Appleton, only half awake.

  "It'll keep till morning, but I think you had better hear it now. I'lltell you through the doorway while I bathe Bob's head."

  "What's wrong with his head?"

  When Lawrence explained how Bob had seen a glow from the window, in thePathan section of the mine, Mr. Appleton sat up, now thoroughlyawakened. He listened to the rest of the story in silence. At itsconclusion he said:

  "Just cut downstairs and tell that fellow at the door to hold his tongueabout it. Why on earth didn't you wake me at once, Bob, instead ofplaying that schoolboy trick?"

  "I didn't want to disturb you."

  "That's all very well, though you wouldn't have hurt an old campaignerlike me. You ought to have told me at once, and then we might havecaught the rascal. I'm afraid there's trouble ahead, and I've a shrewdsuspicion who's at the bottom of it. You didn't recognize the man inthe gallery?"

  "No; his back was towards me."

  "What's it mean, Uncle?" asked Lawrence, returning.

  "It means that some one--Nurla Bai, I fancy--suspects that I've foundsilver, or at any rate something better than copper. You remember howhe'd been trespassing on the night you came. But how did he get across?You saw all the men off the premises at bugle call, Bob?"

  "Yes."

  "Then he's either in league with the sentry, or caught him napping,though I don't understand how Gur Buksh and his men could have sleptthrough the groaning and creaking of the drawbridge."

  "Perhaps it wasn't Nurla at all, but some one on this side," suggestedLawrence.

  "I don't believe it for a moment. The Sikhs are perfectly trustworthy;the servants too; and the Babu, though as inquisitive as a monkey, isquite honest and knows nothing about ores--though I daresay he wouldn'town it. Look here! we must say nothing whatever about this matter. Torefer to it publicly would only stir up unrest among the workmen, andmight lead to disturbances between the Pathans and the Kalmucks. Eachset would accuse the other. We must keep quiet for a day or two, andwatch. You had better not show up to-morrow, Bob. To see you with yourhead bandaged would set every one talking."

  "I shall be all right in the morning," said Bob.

  "I hope so. By the way, you were struck from behind, you say?"

  "Yes: there are evidently two men in it."

  "So much the better. There'll be two quaking in their shoes, and we maybe able to spot signs of guilt in their manner. Keep your eye on Nurlaand Black Jack, who follows him like a shadow. You made the darwanunderstand he's not to talk, Lawrence?"

  "He won't say a word, I'm sure."

  "Then get to bed. I see you've bandaged Bob's head in a workmanlikeway. Where did you learn that?"

  "Ambulance work in the school cadet corps, Uncle."

  "Ah! They manage things better than when I was young. Good-night,boys."

  Bob found himself much better in the morning, and declined his uncle'ssuggestion that he should remain in bed. But his wound was too painfulto allow of his wearing a hat, and his appearance bareheaded, and with astrip of sticking plaster on his neck just behind his ear, caused manycurious eyes to be turned towards him. Only the Babu made any referenceto it. Inquisitiveness was his failing, and he could never keep histongue still.

  "I perceive, sir," he said, "that you are not in your usual salubrity.Your countenance is pale, and I opine from patch upon your neck that allis not O.K. Pardon me, have you abraded the cuticle?"

  Bob looked at him.

  "Because, sir," the Babu continued with great deference, "I have in mystore sticky plaster, powdered alum, gold-beater's skin, sweet oliveoil, cold cream scented with roses, all things warranted to makeepidermis blooming and good as new. Item and in addition, perhaps alittle cooling draught may reduce inflammability and----"

  "Oh, shut up!" said Bob, and the Babu went away smiling but sorrowful.

  The three Englishmen went about their usual occupations as if nothinghad occurred. They watched the workmen narrowly for signs of guilt, butcould detect nothing. The Pathans were frankly curious and sympathetic;the faces of the Kalmucks were as expressionless as they always appearto Europeans. Nurla Bai, who was the special object of Mr. Appleton'sattention, was inscrutable: there was no change in his demeanour.

  Convinced that his assailant had in some way crossed the river in thedarkness of the previous night, Bob was at a loss to guess how he hadaccomplished the feat. In the interval at mid-day, when the men hadtrooped across the drawbridge for their meal, he suggested to Lawrencethat they should walk along the pathway to the ledge on which they keptthe aeroplane, and see if there were some fordable place which hadescaped their uncle's notice. On the way they examined every foot ofthe cliff below them. It rose sheer from the bed of the river, so steepand smooth as to afford no foothold for man or beast. Even if the riverhad been swum or forded, it would have been impossible for any one toclimb up to the level platform on which the mine works were situated.Nor could the most hardy and adventurous stranger have approached fromabove, for the slope was too steep to give foothold to a mountain sheep.In the other direction, down-stream, access was equally impossible, andfor a time both the boys felt thoroughly baffled.

  At length, however, Lawrence made a discovery. In retracing his stepstowards the plank pathway he climbed out upon a huge buttress of rockthat projected some feet into the river.

  "Take care!" cried Bob, feeling some alarm at the risk his brother wasrunning.

  "All right, old man," returned Lawrence. "It's rather a fine view downthe gorge from here. You'd better try it yourself when your head'smended."

  He picked his way carefully over the somewhat uneven rock, and had gonethree parts of the way round its circumference when he suddenly stoodfixed, staring at something in front and a little below him.

  "By George!" he ejaculated in an undertone. Then he lay flat on thesummit of the rock, wriggled forward to the edge, until his hea
dprojected, and peered downwards.

  "What is it?" asked Bob from his position several yards in the rear.

  Lawrence did not answer until he had crawled backward and once morestood erect.

  "I've solved the puzzle," he said. "The fellows have got courage at anyrate, and must be as agile as monkeys. There's a rope hanging down fromthe last beam,--down the cliff into the water."

  "A rope!"

  "Yes, one of our stoutest, cleverly stained so that it's hardlydistinguishable from the rock itself. I caught sight of somethingswaying, and it took me a few seconds to be sure what it was. Whoeverit was that knocked you on the head--Tchigin very likely--he must haveclimbed the rope, twisted himself up on to the planks, and so got to themine. It's a trick I shouldn't care to attempt."

  "But how on earth did he get to the rope from the other side? Hecouldn't have forded, and the strongest swimmer couldn't get across withthe torrent rushing down at something like eight miles an hour."

  "That wants thinking out. Meanwhile we'd better get back. If we wereseen here we might put somebody on the alert."

  "Yes. I tell you what: we'll cross the bridge and stroll up the otherside; perhaps we may get a clue there."

  They walked back without hurry along the planks, spent some little timein their respective sections of the mine, and then, taking their shotguns, crossed the bridge and walked up the narrow road as they had donemany times before when shooting.

  "I've been trying to work it out," said Bob as they went. "If I wantedto make for a particular spot on the other side, I should plunge in agood way higher up--you know, where the stream widens and isn't quite soswift. Then I should strike diagonally across and trust the current tocarry me where I wanted to go."

  "It would sweep you past. You couldn't be sure of hitting the rope."

  "I don't know. We'll see when we get opposite it."

  They sauntered on side by side, giving no signs of the carefulness withwhich they were examining the base of the cliff on the farther side. Thebank beneath the road on which they were walking was not precipitouslike the opposite cliff. Here and there the rocks shelved down to thewater's edge, but there was no continuous perpendicular barrier.

  Their course brought them presently opposite the buttress by which hungthe rope. They did not pause, but as they strolled on Bob said--

  "You see that in the angle formed by that buttress and the cliff there'sa sort of backwater: not exactly a backwater, of course, but the forceof the current is much diminished there. If a swimmer got to thatpoint, he could make headway against the stream."

  "That's just where the rope hangs. Did you see it?"

  "No; I only took a passing glimpse. We'll turn in a few minutes andtake a better look going back."

  They went on. Lawrence shot a ptarmigan which would give colour to theostensible object of their walk. Then they turned and retraced theirsteps. As they passed the buttress Bob looked carefully for the rope,and could just discern it by its slight motion against the background ofrock.

  "You might pass a dozen times and never notice it," he said.

  Facing in the same direction as the current they were now able to take amore comprehensive view of the gorge.

  "Where would you make your plunge if you wanted to swim across?" askedBob.

  Lawrence looked along the bank.

  "There!" he said after a little, indicating a rock a few feet below andbeyond them, that jutted out into the river.

  "Well, let's go and take a look from there."

  They left the track, climbed on to the rock, and sat down there withtheir knees up, flinging pebbles aimlessly into the water.

  "I think you're right," said Bob. "Allowing for the strength of thecurrent it's just about here that I should take the plunge. The obliquedistance between this and the rope would make thediagonal--parallelogram of forces, you know."

  "I don't suppose Nurla knows anything about that," said Lawrence with asmile. "But look here: don't these bushes look as if they'd beendisturbed recently?"

  He nodded his head towards some scrubby bushes at their right hand.

  "You'd think so, certainly," said Bob. "Still, we may be wrong. Iremember old Colonel Fanshawe warning us against the danger of seeingwhat we wanted to see."

  After sitting a few minutes longer, keeping up the appearance ofaimlessness by careless tossing of pebbles into the water, they rose andresumed their walk. But just at this moment Lawrence caught sight of adark object among the bushes that grew sparsely on the hillside abovethe track, twenty yards away. At the distance, partially concealed bythe foliage, the nature of the object was not apparent; but Lawrenceclambered up by means of the bushes, and discovered a long coil of thinstrong cord, lying between two inflated water-skins. He left them wherethey were, and returned to the track.

  "It's clear as daylight," said Bob, when he had heard his report. "Thefellow fastened the cord to the rock and held on to it when he took thewater. He supported himself on the skins, and when he got to the otherside, attached cord and skins to the dangling rope. When he came back,he hauled himself hand over hand against the stream, and pulled in thecord after him. That cord will, metaphorically speaking, hang thefellow, but he's clever enough to have deserved a better fate."

  They returned slowly to the compound, well pleased with the result oftheir investigations.

  A few minutes after they had gone, a small figure rose from among thebushes within a few yards of the spot where the cord was placed.Clambering up the hillside, and screening himself as much as possiblebehind clumps of vegetation, and by the natural inequalities of theground, the little man made his way rapidly in the same direction as theEnglishmen, and descended unseen among the huts of the Kalmuck miners.His narrow little eyes were gleaming with excitement. The men were justreturning to work. The Pathans had already crossed the drawbridge; theKalmucks were crossing. Black Jack pushed his way into the throng,apparently in a great hurry. He overtook Nurla Bai at the entrance tothe mine gallery, and together they disappeared.

  The boys lost no time in communicating their discoveries to Mr.Appleton.

  "This is getting warm," he said. "We can do nothing yet. Act as thoughnothing had happened: to-night we'll talk things over. You're sure noneof the men suspect you?"

  "There's no sign of it," said Lawrence. "They saw us go, and come backwith a bird: a very ordinary thing, that. I flatter myself that aScotland Yard detective wouldn't have guessed from our manner that therewas any other object in our walk."

  The day passed like every other day. At sundown the bugle's note drewthe men from their work. They returned to their several quarters, andafter their evening meal settled down to their games of chance or skill.

  After supper, when pipes were lit, Mr. Appleton returned to the subject.

  "I haven't a doubt that Nurla is the man," he said. "You remember hisindustry when you were building your bridges. The scoundrel's motive isclear. The question is, what is he after? It can't be mereinquisitiveness. He suspects that the Pathans are mining something morevaluable than copper, and if he can prove it, he'll sell his knowledge,I suspect, and we shall have trouble. I only hope that your appearancelast night disturbed him before he had had time to get any samples."

  "If it didn't?" said Bob.

  "He'll probably try again. The fact that he hasn't absconded seems toshow that he isn't satisfied. If he had got enough for his purpose hewould have been over the hills before this. We must keep a strict watch,and if we catch him making any further attempt of the same kind it's thesack at once."

  "Wouldn't it be best to sack him now?" Lawrence suggested.

  "I'm rather loth to act without definite proof. We should make an enemyof the fellow needlessly, and he has such influence with the Kalmucksthat he might call them all out."

  "Would that matter? The silver's the thing," said Lawrence.

  "Not at all. If I went on mining without them it would be a clear proofthat I could afford to leave their g
allery unworked, and there'd betrouble all the same. There'll probably be trouble anyhow, but I'drather keep the Kalmucks working quietly as long as possible. Meantimewe'll take precautions. I'll put a Sikh in the Pathan section to keepguard through the night, and withdraw him before dawn, so that nobody isany the wiser."

  Early next morning, a few minutes after the bugle had sounded reveille,the Englishmen were disturbed in their dressing by the sound of a greatuproar from across the river. They flung on their coats and hurriedout. The drawbridge had not been lowered; half an hour would elapsebefore the bugle called the men to work. But at the farther end thePathan miners had assembled, and were gesticulating in much excitement,shouting lustily for the huzur. Mr. Appleton ordered the drawbridge tobe let down, and hastened across to meet the men.

  For some time he found it impossible to gather anything definite fromtheir frenzied clamour. Then, singling out one man as a spokesman, andbidding the rest be silent, he heard a startling story. Muhammad Din,the Pathan foreman, had been discovered in his hut with a knife in histhroat. Mr. Appleton had a great liking for the man--a rough uncouthfellow, but an excellent workman and very popular with the men of hisrace. He at once gave orders that Muhammad should be carried across thebridge to the house, and announced that he would hold an inquiry afterbreakfast.

  In knocking about the world he had picked up a knowledge of rough andready surgery and medicine, and had more than once treated sick men. Ashort examination showed that the wound in the unconscious Pathan'sthroat was serious, though not necessarily mortal, and he set to work atonce to cleanse it with antiseptic lotion and to bind it up. While hewas still in the midst of this task, more surprising news was broughtfrom the other side.

  Quarrels between the Pathans and the Kalmucks had been so frequent inthe early days of the settlement that Mr. Appleton had had to devise aplan for minimizing the risk of such outbreaks. The quarters of the twoparties were separated by a neutral zone nearly a hundred yards inbreadth, which they were strictly forbidden to cross. They used it incommon only when going to and from their work, and then at differenttimes, the Pathans leaving first and returning last. If a Pathan wishedto go down the river, he had to climb the hillside and come down to thetrack beyond the Kalmuck camp. If a Kalmuck wished to go up the river,he had to make a similar circuit. The stables were placed in theneutral zone.

  When the attack on Muhammad was discovered, and the Pathans rushed tothe drawbridge, the Kalmucks were aroused by the din, and flocked to thefence marking the boundary line. But they were unaware of what hadhappened until their turn came to cross the bridge and they heard thestory from the Sikh on duty. A few minutes afterwards, however, it wasdiscovered that neither Nurla Bai nor his dwarf henchman was among theirparty. No sooner was this reported than the head stableman rushedexcitedly across the bridge, to announce that the ponies on which thetwo boys had ridden to the mine had disappeared. These successivediscoveries threw the whole community into a state of seethingagitation. Instead of going to their work, the men gathered in groups,discussing the strange thing that had happened to their foreman.Already the Pathans were shouting accusations of Nurla Bai across theirfence, and Gur Buksh with his armed squad stood ready to intervene ifthe wild passions of the miners led from recrimination to blows.

  Mr. Appleton did not allow these events to interrupt his ministrationsto the injured Pathan. When Muhammad, with his wound well dressed, hadrecovered consciousness, and was laid in one of the outhouses belongingto the domestic staff, Mr. Appleton and the boys returned to their roomsto finish dressing and breakfast.

  "It's all as plain as a pikestaff now," said the elder man. "Nurla hasgot all he wanted; he must have guessed that he was suspected, and verywisely decamped. And he paid off his old grudge against Muhammad beforehe left. He's got your ponies too. That's what they call robbery withviolence, I think."

  "What shall you do, Uncle?" asked Lawrence.

  "Go after him, of course. I couldn't otherwise hold the Pathans for anhour. They know I'm just, and as good as my word. If I tell them thatNurla shall be caught and punished they'll believe me and remain asquiet as Gur Buksh can keep them. Otherwise they'd desert in a body andhunt the hills themselves."

  "Nurla's got a good start: it won't be easy to catch him," saidLawrence.

  "You forget Bob's aeroplane, my boy," said Mr. Appleton.