CHAPTER IX
A Cutting-out Expedition
"What's that? Listen! I heard something!"
Geoff cocked his head up over the side of the cabin in which he andPhilip had been partaking of their evening meal, and turned his facetowards the River Euphrates, across the waste of ooze and mud and waterwhich separated their captured launch from it--a waste hidden by thedarkness, and yet illuminated ever so faintly by a crescent of the moon,which was already floating above them, while stars peppered the sky inevery direction, and helped to make things visible. Across the waste ofwater, dulled by the whisper of the evening breeze as it rustled throughthe reeds and osiers, a sound had come to Geoff's ears, a sound whichcaused him to enjoin silence upon all aboard the steam-launch. Then, ashe listened, there came to his ears, at first faintly only, but growingsteadily yet gradually louder, the plug, plug of the paddles of a riversteamer.
"The Turk who had the cheek to fire that shot at us!" exclaimed Philip."Listen to him! He's going up the river, and I dare say he's wonderingwhat's happened to his launch, and whether he'll find that rather niceand comfortable little vessel waiting for him up-stream. Eh, Geoff?"
"Listen! The paddles are going slower, and it sounds to me as if thesteamer was going to pull up for the night. You must remember that theEuphrates isn't the sort of river that one cares to steam up at any kindof pace during the hours of darkness, for by all accounts it's stuffedfull of sand-banks and muddy islands, which are always changing,'specially after rains and storms. There's a voice," Geoff went on;"that's someone giving an order! And now the paddles have ceasedaltogether."
"Plunk! There goes her anchor. She's come to a roost without a doubt!"ejaculated Philip. "That's rummy, ain't it? Our Turkish friends will besettling down for their evening meal--or whatever sort of thing theyhave--within sound of us, and, I'll lay my hat, without suspecting thattheir precious steam-launch is within easy reach of them."
Geoff stretched out a hand in the semi-darkness and gripped his chum bythe shoulder.
"Splendid!" he said.
"Eh?" asked the other, a little bewildered. "What's splendid? Having theTurks so close to us? 'Not 'arf', as 'Tommy' is fond of saying. Why, weshall have to lie as quiet as mice here, and the next thing you'll bedoing will be to order us to cease smoking, for fear the light of ourpipes should be seen aboard the steamer. Most inconsiderate of thatTurk, I call it! For he might at least have stopped down the river, orgone a little higher, so that we might have passed a peaceful night, andmade ready for all sorts of things to-morrow. 'Splendid!' Hum! Sorry Ican't agree with you, my dear fellow."
If he could only have guessed what was in Geoff's mind at the moment,and could have seen that young fellow quite clearly, Philip might easilyhave given expression to quite different opinions. For, to be precise,our young hero, dressed in the uniform of a Turkish officer, and with aTurkish fez perched on his head, was as near the actual thing as couldwell be imagined. In daylight, in the city of Bagdad, and, for thatmatter, in any other city, he might very well have passed muster; whilethe fact that he was able to speak the language fluently--as fluently asany native--made his disguise all the better; and now, with some idea inhis head to which Philip was a stranger, there occurred to Geoff thethought that the coming of this steamer to such close quarters presenteda splendid opportunity. He shook his chum savagely, so as to silencehim.
"You don't let a fellow finish!" he exclaimed. "But it's splendid,really splendid, that that steamer should have dropped her anchor withineasy reach of us."
"And why, pray?" asked Philip, rather inclined to banter with his seniorofficer.
"Why, being so near makes it all the easier for a fellow to get aboardher."
"A--bo--ard her!"
Philip opened his mouth wide, and his eyes too, though that didn't helphim to see his chum any the better.
"Well--but--surely--you don't mean to----Well, I'm hanged!" heexclaimed. "And--of course--of course it's splendid, as you say--asplendid opportunity. But you'll never think of going alone, eh, Geoff?"he asked, with a pleading note in his voice. "Supposing a Turkishsentry caught hold of you? Supposing you got 'lagged' immediately youwere on board, what then? I----"
"You would be required aboard this launch to take command of theexpedition," Geoff told him curtly. "But let's be serious, Phil. We'reout to learn all we can of the Turks, and, as you know, it's beenreported that the enemy are gathering somewhere up the River Euphrates,behind or in this long stretch of marsh land. We might push up the riverin the early morning and discover them. We might barge into the verymidst of them, and find ourselves surrounded, with no chance of gettingaway and carrying our information to Head-quarters. But what we want toknow is known aboard that steamer. The officer in command is nearly sureto be of superior rank, and in any case he must know where the Turks areassembling."
"And so," argued Phil, as he bit at a cigarette, "and so, my boy, you'vedesigns on the steamer. 'Pon my word! I wish I was able to speak thelingo. Languages are things I've always hated; but I can see whatadvantages they give to a fellow, what fun they bring him,and--ahem!--what chances of promotion. So you'll go aboard? Wish thedickens I could come with you."
"I shall go aboard and find out the whereabouts of this officer."
"And then you'll listen to his conversation through the keyhole if needbe," said Philip, whose buoyant spirits always made him seize upon thesmallest opportunity of being facetious. "Keyhole, eh? Wonder if Turkshave 'em? Anyway, you'll contrive to find a spot from which you canhear the old bounder; and then, of course, the business will be to makehim converse upon the subject upon which you are most interested. That'sa teaser, eh? How will you do it? Supposing he's immersed in an argumentabout the war, and about the rights and wrongs of the Turks and theGermans; or supposing he's only telling his under-officer--for I supposethere is such an individual--all about his home life, his wife and hischildren, his house and his garden. Supposing, in fact, he won't get onto your line of argument, and won't babble about the Turks and theirconcentration in the marshes."
Hum! It certainly was a teaser, and the situation as Philip drew it hadnot occurred to Geoff before. That it was possible to reach the steamerin the tiny dinghy carried aboard the launch, and to clamber unseenaboard her, he did not doubt; that he might, by skill and cheek,contrive thereafter to get within sight and sound of the Commander, hethought was within the bounds of possibility; but to make that Commandertalk, to make him give the information which Geoff sought, was anentirely different matter altogether.
"By George!" he exclaimed; "that would be awkward."
"It would," Philip told him in tones of irony. "You're aboard thesteamer, you've--not actually, but let us say metaphorically--sat downin the cabin occupied by this old bounder, and then he won't talk, youcan't make him talk; he's glum, we'll say; he's agitated about the lossof the steam-launch; he can't make up his mind what all that firingmeant, and where his twenty-odd soldiers and the two officers whocommanded them have got to. In fact, he's in the dickens of a stew, in abeastly temper, smoking a cigar, and won't say 'nothink'."
"Oh, shut up!" Geoff told him angrily.
"Like the Turkish captain, in fact," Philip laughed. "But, seriously,just as you said a moment ago, seriously, what's to be done? You knowthe old adage: 'You can take a horse to the water, but no amount ofkicks or coaxing will make him drink'; well, this old Turk may be justlike that obstinate old horse. He's there, aboard his steamer, andnothing will make him talk, not even----"
"Stop!" commanded Geoff abruptly. "'Nothing will make him talk,' yousay? Won't it? I mean to get information out of the old beggar--for Ipresume he is old--but don't forget that neither of us have seen himyet, so he may be young and active. All the same, I am going aboard now,and, of course, if I don't come back within reasonable time you willhave cause to believe that I have been captured. Then the command of theexpedition devolves upon you, and it is for you to carry out the workentrusted to us. Just launch that dinghy, quietly, my lads," he ca
lledover the front of the cabin, "and see that there's a paddle in her."
Geoff began to grope in the cabin of the steam-launch, till his handpresently lit upon the pannier containing dressings, which had beenhanded over to them by the gallant Commander, whom they had left woundedaboard the motor-boat.
"You may want it, lads," he had told them. "There is never any sayingwhen you may come up against the Turks, and, having had one brisklittle engagement with them, you may have another, and, of course, mayvery well have some of the crew wounded. Of course, I hope that thatwon't be the case, but you never know your luck. For that reason we'lldivide up the dressings, I taking sufficient for my own purposes whileyou take enough for yours."
"Got it!" exclaimed Geoff, as his hand lit upon the pannier. "Now for apad of cotton-wool and a couple of bandages."
"Eh!" asked Philip curiously; "'Couple of bandages,''cotton-wool'--you're going aboard a steamer, now what in the name ofthe dickens is that for?"
Geoff didn't tell him to mind his own business, for he was far toopolite a young fellow to give such an answer, neither did he speak tohis inquisitive chum gruffly even; instead, he maintained silence,whilst he carefully picked out the bandages and the pad of cotton-wool.Then Phil suddenly gripped him by the shoulder.
"I've got it!" he exclaimed.
"Got what?" asked Geoff curtly.
"Got it, of course," came the answer; "the bandages and the pad ofcotton-wool; the idea, my dear boy, the very smart and brilliantbrain-wave that's come to you. You're going to----"
"What?"
"What! Why of course the brain wave," Philip told him hotly. "I'veguessed your idea; you're going to get aboard that steamer, and justbecause that old bounder of a Turk----"
"What old bounder of a Turk? The Captain?" asked Geoff. "He isn't old.At least, how do we know that he's old? He may be young, middle-aged,bald-headed and toothless."
The two of them were getting quite angry, and for a moment or two itlooked as though the wordy warfare in which they were beginning to beengaged would develop into quite a battle. Then Geoff giggled--anexcited little giggle--while Phil joined his chum heartily, and broughtone hand down with a thump on the broad of his back.
"Jingo!" he exclaimed. "You're right, of course we don't know whetherthe old bounder is young or old, or even toothless; but we do know thatthere's a captain or an officer in charge of that steamer, and, what'smore, we know, what you want and didn't tell me, that we're going tocapture him."
"We're going to!" exclaimed Geoff. "I thought I'd already said, as theofficer commanding this expedition----"
"Ahem!" coughed Philip. "Certainly, sir, you did say that," he said inhis most demure manner. "But the job, if you'll allow me to say so, israther a big one--in short, and in fact, it's a 'tough nut' you proposeto crack, and in cracking it you're just as likely to come to griefyourself, and possibly to have your head cracked. Indeed, as yourimmediate junior, as one anxious for the success of this most importantexpedition, it becomes my duty to point out that failure on your part,failure because you have gone into the matter without sufficient forcesat your command, will lead inevitably to the ghastly failure of thewhole expedition. Once the alarm is given, once there is no longer thechance of a surprise, in fact, once the Turks are on the qui vive, andknow what we are up to, the game's up, and we've lost! Nice to have toreturn to the camp on the Shatt-el-Arab, and tell 'em that we've been ahideous failure!"
He was piling it on with a vengeance, was Philip, but then he was anartful, if light-hearted and jovial fellow, and here he had a mostdistinct object in view. He plucked Geoff eagerly by the sleeve.
"Rotten, that!" he told him. "Just fancy what the fellows would say!They'd not forget to tell us all about it, and make nasty remarks aboutchaps with swollen heads who'd gone up the river on their own, thinkingto do a heap, and returning without carrying out their object, or evennearly completing it. See?" he asked Geoff, with decided emphasis, andrepeated his demand as a movement of his chum seemed to denote somesigns of giving way. "Just think it over, Geoff! You go aboard thesteamer and creep along the deck till you come to the Captain's cabin.Don't forget that you want the bounder to talk about the Turks and theirposition, and just remember what I said when I suggested that he'd talkon any and every subject rather than that. Well, aboard the steamer youcan't make him answer your questions, or launch out into an explanationof the Turkish plans of campaign; so you decide to kidnap him, and havethe idea of plugging his mouth with that cotton-wool, and winding abandage about his head. Very pretty! Awfully nice if the thing works!But will it? Supposing he shouts before you plug his toothless mouth--hewas toothless I think we agreed--supposing he's not alone, what then?You're done! Your plan's defeated. You might just as well have stayedaboard this launch and rested. But----"
"But if Phil--the eager Phil--happened to be close at hand, ready tobrain the other fellow. Ah!" exclaimed Geoff, and for the life of him hecouldn't help laughing at the excitement and the eager pleading of hischum.
It made him laugh when he remembered how adroitly and how expertlyPhilip had worked round the question, had pointed out so very clearlythe chances of failure, and then had come in at the end with thegreatest arguments for his own inclusion in the adventure. Argumentswhich Geoff himself could not deny; for a friend at hand, a stanchfriend, might very well turn the scales in his favour, and, after all,what a prize the Captain of that steamer would be, if they could onlylay their hands on him.
"Better far than the chief I bagged at the very beginning of thecampaign," he told himself, though he spoke aloud.
"Agreed!" said Philip. "I don't, of course, want to say that that wasn'tquite a nice little business, but then, this is really 'It', or will beif we bring it off. So I come, don't I?"
"You do. Your revolver's loaded, eh?"
"And ready," Phil said, "and the dinghy is alongside."
"Then come on."
Leaving the oldest sailor in charge of the launch, with instructions tolie in that position till morning came, and then to look about for them,and to return down the Euphrates in the event of not discovering theirofficers, Geoff and Philip crept gingerly into the dinghy, which hadbeen brought close alongside, having been launched from the deck of thelittle steamer where it was usually carried.
"Push off," said Geoff, "and keep your ear open for a hail, for it'll beno easy job to find you in the darkness."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied the man, "good luck to you."
Geoff dipped his paddle in the water, and thrust hard with it, whilePhilip, seated in the stern, used a paddle as a rudder. Stealing alongthe narrow channel in which the steam launch lay, they soon rounded theend of one of the islands which formed it, and halted there for a whileto allow their eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. Then they turnedsharp left, facing the direction in which the River Euphrates lay, andstole onward across the waste of waters, threading their way betweenmuddy banks where the slime and ooze clung, and often diving underperfect archways of reeds, where the islands were close together. Onceor twice they had to return on their tracks, finding their wayobstructed, and on one occasion they bumped gently into an island, andstuck fast for a while, till Geoff came aft--thus tipping the bows ofthe dinghy upward and so loosening her. It was perhaps half an hourlater that they felt, rather than saw, that they had gained the mainstream, the wide expanse of smooth, almost motionless water, whereeddies from the river sometimes stirred the surface, and where the flow,moderately rapid in the centre, was so retarded as to be almostimperceptible.
"Straight across," whispered Geoff, "there are the lights of the steamerjust up-river of us, so we'll cut across to the centre, where I reckonher to be lying, and then steal up behind her. Gently with your paddle,Phil, for a splash might attract the attention of a sentry and bringrifle-fire upon us."
Another ten minutes passed, during which they plunged their paddlesgently though firmly into the stream, and forced the little boatsteadily upward, and during that time the dull, dimly visible hull ofthe
vessel lying out in mid-stream gradually grew bigger and bigger. Atlength they were right under her stern, and found that, though low-builtin the centre, and indeed generally, she was yet well above their heads,so much so that the dinghy lay close to the rudder and practically underthe stern of the vessel. It was just then that the end of a trailingrope struck Phil gently across the face, and, groping for it, he hadsoon seized upon it firmly.
"Half a mo'!" he told Geoff. "What's this? A rope, a rope to make ourboat fast to. Now I call that particularly accommodating of this oldparty we've come to visit."
"What, eh?"
Geoff chuckled. It did him good to hear Philip's innocent banter, andshowed him also at the same time what an excellent fellow he had toassist him.
"Make fast," he whispered. "Give a good haul on it first, though, and ifit's stout enough I'll make use of it to get aboard, though I imagine bygetting on your back I could easily reach the rail, and so the deck ofthe steamer."
A minute later they had secured the dinghy to the rope, and the wisePhilip made fast the other end of it to a bolt-hole in the rudder, thuskeeping their little boat right under the stern of the steamer, whereshe would remain unseen. Then Geoff gripped the rope which had beendangling over the rail, and, putting all his weight on it to test it,swung himself out of the dinghy and clambered up till he could graspthe rail above. One strong heave and his face was above its level, andhe was able to look along the deck of the steamer. Then very slowly heclambered upward, and slid on to the deck, where he crouched under therail to watch and listen.
Hark! There were voices somewhere. There was a light shining on the deckon either side, through what appeared to be the skylight of a cabin,while the voices, no doubt, came from that direction. But it was notthat alone which Geoff had heard, it was something else--the gentleslap, slap of feet on the deck, the soft footfall of a man shod withsandals perhaps, or more likely entirely unshod, perhaps a barefootedsentry pacing the deck to and fro, turning when he had accomplished adozen paces. Geoff peered into the darkness, hoping to see the man, butfailed, though the sounds were still quite audible. Then he stoleforward till quite close to the cabin's skylight, where he hid behind amast in a dark corner between it and the bulkhead of the cabin. Yes, thesounds made by that sentry--for if not a sentry what else could hebe?--were clearly audible, while the figure now came into view, feeblyoutlined it is true yet quite sufficient for Geoff's purpose. There wasa Turk, perhaps a Turkish sailor, striding to and fro some twenty yardsfarther forward, turning about each time he reached the rail, stridingthis way and that like an automaton--as if indeed he were a clockworkfigure.
"Rather too near to be pleasant," thought Geoff, "and the bother of itis that he makes it difficult for a fellow to peer into the cabin. Ah!one of these sky-lights is lifted. It's been a hot day, and I've nodoubt it's stuffy down in the cabin. That's really very considerate ofour friend, the Captain, as Phil would say. Yes, voices--Turkishvoices--let's see what's happening."
He went on all fours, and stole along beside the cabin's skylight tillhe came to the panel which was lifted. There was an opening, perhapssome six inches in width, through which the light was streaming, andalso the voices of two men, at least, down in the cabin. But six inchesis hardly sufficient space to admit a head, and Geoff at once increasedthe size of the opening by lifting the panel.
"Stop, there! Enough! It's cool enough below!" he heard someone exclaiman instant later. "Idiot, leave the thing as it is now, and wait nexttime till you are told to make an alteration."
By then Geoff was flat on the deck, listening to the voice so near tohim, and watching that sentry, that automaton, as he moved to and fro;watching him and hoping that he would take no notice. Indeed, he needhardly have worried himself, for the man did not even deign to turn hishead, but strolled on across his beat, his rifle now visible as itthrust upward above his shoulder. For the life of him Geoff could nothelp chuckling again, and repeating the words which Philip had used buta few minutes earlier.
"A most accommodating sentry," he said. "If only he'll continue to marchto and fro without looking this way it'll give me a chance of peepinginto the cabin. Here goes! Oh! Three of 'em, eh! All officers, and, byGeorge, the chief of 'em is bald-headed, or I'm a Dutchman!"
How Philip would have laughed had he been beside his chum andrecollected their conversation aboard the steam-launch, for as Geoffpeered down into the cabin, his head screened to a certain extent fromthe view of those below by the supports of the skylight, and by theswinging oil-lamp which illuminated the interior, his eyes fell uponthree individuals--three Turkish officers--one of whom sat back in achair in the most dilettante attitude, smoking a cigarette; a young manwithout doubt, handsome as the Turks go, but decidedly effeminate. Nearhim was another officer, rather older, with a handsomely curledmoustache, who leaned both elbows on the cabin table and seemed to bealready nodding. And opposite the two, lounging full length on a divan,was a stout broad-shouldered Pasha, a senior Turkish officer, whose feznow reposed on the floor, exposing a head which shone and glistened inthe rays of the lamp-light. As to his being toothless, that was anothermatter, though the memory of what had passed between himself and Philip,once again caused Geoff to give vent to a silent chuckle.
"And so you think, my dear comrade, that this firing on the part of thecrew of the steam-launch resulted in the annihilation of a party of theBritish, eh?" the elderly Turkish officer was asking, whilst he waved abig, fat hand, upon which glistened many rings, in the direction of theyoung officer at the head of the table.
"I do. To-morrow they will return with a fine tale of their doings. Youwill discover, my chief, that you have been the means of stopping areconnoitring-force of the enemy ascending the Euphrates. It will begood for you, good for me, good for us all."
They lapsed into silence for a while and then started on some othertopic. Indeed, though Geoff listened for the better part of quarter ofan hour, not once did they broach the subject of Turkish troops, northat of their position in these marsh lands about the Euphrates. It wasclear, in fact, that to stay where he was, risking discovery at anymoment, on the chance of such a question rising between the Turkishofficers below him, was madness, and that some other scheme must beadopted to get at the information which he and Philip coveted. Loweringhis head, therefore, and making sure that the sentry had not discernedhim, Geoff crept on all fours across the deck, and, clambering over therail, dropped gently into the boat. And there for a while he and hischum discussed the matter in low tones, making their plans so as toaccomplish their purpose.
It was half an hour later when Geoff led the way up over the rail again,followed by Philip, and the two crept for'ard along the deck of thesteamer.
"There's the cabin," whispered Geoff, pointing to the skylight, "anddown below is the old boy we're bent on capturing. Just creep along andlook in, then come back at once, for we've no time to waste, and mustcomplete the business."
On the Road to Bagdad: A Story of Townshend's Gallant Advance on the Tigris Page 9