CHAPTER X
Geoff and Philip manoeuvre
"Lor', Geoff, you didn't tell me, you didn't say a word about it!"gasped, rather than whispered, the excited Philip, as he crawled back toour hero's side, having sprawled along the deck of the steamer andpeeped into the cabin wherein were those three Turkish officers, thepossession of one of whom the two young British officers so eagerlycoveted. "What d'you mean by it?"
"Mean by it! By what? Shut up, you idiot, or that sentry will hear us!"
"Hang the sentry!" came the whispered answer, as Philip lay down besidehis chum and close under the rail of the vessel. "But, I say, what ajoke! Just fancy our guessing so exactly. He's as old as they make 'em,the chap who commands this ship--an old, fat, and bloated bounder--and,Christopher! he's bald and as toothless as a baby."
The fellow actually cackled, till Geoff pounced upon him and closed hismouth with his hand.
"Shut up, you fool!" he exclaimed, in a fierce whisper. "You'll haveevery man aboard the ship upon us and will wreck our chances. I begin towish that I hadn't brought you with me; but I thought that at least youhad some sort of sense."
Philip sniggered. He knew that Geoff didn't really mean to be so fierceas he made out, or even so vindictive, and, after all, there seemedlittle chance of the sentry suspecting their presence or overhearingthem. For, in the first place, though farther away amidst the marshes,an almost complete silence covered the waste of waters--broken only bythe faint whisper of the evening breeze as it rustled amongst the reedsof the thousands of muddy islands--out here, in the centre of thestream, there was the swish and swirl of water as it flowed past thesteel sides of the vessel, the lap of the current, and the whistle ofthe breeze as it swayed the cordage to and fro and hummed a gentle tuneround the funnel, the steam whistle, and the other contrivanceshampering the deck of the steamer. And, secondly, there was the sentryhimself, a mere doll he seemed, an automaton--as Geoff had thought--aman who marched barefooted, to and fro, to and fro, backwards andforwards from one rail of the vessel to the other, never appearing toturn his head, never shifting the rifle which rested across oneshoulder, apparently deaf to sounds, and oblivious to all that wastaking place about him. Not that much could be said to be within hisvision, for, be it remembered, darkness lay over the Euphrates and theadjacent marshes--darkness made a little less intense by that crescentof the moon which floated in the heavens, by the million brilliant starswith which they were peppered, and, to a lesser degree, in oneparticular part, by the feeble rays which struggled through the skylightof the cabin and fell gently on the deck of the vessel.
Still, too much cackling on the part of the jovial Philip might easilyhave been fatal; and, besides, it was not a time for expressing one'sfeelings, for ribald laughter, or even for jests, and certainly onewould have thought that even the recklessness of a junior Britishofficer would have been suppressed by the occasion. Philip checkedhimself with a gulp. He was thinking of that bald head down below, andof the extraordinarily good guess which he and his chum had made as tothe appearance of the Commander of this boat long before they had seteyes on him. Then, suddenly, the question of his capture filled hismind, to the obliteration of everything else.
"A big bounder!" he told Geoff. "It'll want some doing. How?"
Geoff gave vent to a subdued whistle, a mere puff of air from his lips,and then he nudged his comrade.
"See that sentry over there?" he asked abruptly.
"Faintly. Not having quite the eyes of a cat, I can't say that I see himdistinctly. What of him?"
"Of him? Nothing. But you'll take his place within a minute."
"Oh!" Philip exclaimed, and stared through the darkness at his chum."Take his place in a minute? Certainly!" he said. "But--er--supposing heobjects?"
"That's his business," said Geoff, "and ours too, of course. I shall askhim in the politest way possible to step below; or, to be more precise,I propose now to march up to him as if I were one of those threeofficers down below in the cabin. If he doesn't obey the order I givehim----"
"That's our business," said Phil, and he chuckled again. "I've got thewhole scheme, Geoff, and you can fire ahead at once. I shall come alongquite close behind you, and if the fellow wants to kick up a row, ordoesn't like taking orders from a superior officer, I'll knock himoverboard. You can leave that part of the business to me. I'm justitching to tackle a Turk, and to start the campaign in real earnest."
"Then come along!" Geoff told him. "We'll creep along as far as thecabin, and peep in to make sure that those fellows below are not likelyto be moving, and then I'll go for'ard and accost the sentry. Comealong!"
The two of them were already on their knees, crouching below the rail ofthe vessel, and at once crept forward till they were level with thecabin; then, peering in, Geoff made out the figures of the threeofficers below, still in the same positions they had occupiedbefore--the fat, bald-headed man, undoubtedly the senior of the party,nodding on the divan, while the officer at the head of the table stillsmoked and still prattled to his neighbour. Then he nudged Philip, and,passing behind the skylight, stood at his full height, and steppedquickly along the deck towards the sentry, who still marched to and fro,to and fro, apparently without hearing his approach, as he paid noattention to it. Indeed, Geoff was within five yards of him before theman suddenly turned his head and noticed his coming, and just assuddenly came to a halt and grounded his weapon.
"Who goes there?" he challenged, in quite low tones, and it was evidentthat he was not in the least concerned by Geoff's appearance.
Indeed, he had been anticipating the exit of one officer, at least, fromthe cabin, where he knew that his betters were smoking and chatting, andno doubt the figure now coming towards him was one of them. Nor wasGeoff in the least disconcerted; for, thanks to the dress he wore, tothe fez which was perched on his head, and to his command of thelanguage, he felt no doubt of being able to deceive the fellow.
"Officer, going rounds," he answered to the challenge. "Dismiss, my man,and go to your quarters; the Commander feels that there is no need of asentry while we lie right out here in the river, and, that being thecase, there is no need for you to spoil a night's rest. Get down withyou!"
The man shouldered his rifle at once and turned as if to obey the order,and then, of a sudden, he swung round again, as if an idea had struckhim, or as if he were suspicious. Indeed, there was something which hadattracted his attention, a dark, shadowy something which his eyes,hitherto seemingly so useless to him, had discovered following theofficer who had just given him the order. It was the dark shadow of aman, creeping along close to the rail of the ship, as if prepared tospring upon the back of the officer.
"Beware!" he cried. "There is a man behind you, one who sneaks along inthe shadows."
That shadow launched itself from beside the rail while the man wasshifting his rifle from his left to his right hand, and something flewthrough the air and hit the sentry so heavily in the face that hestumbled backwards. Then the officer who had given him the order was onthe unfortunate man like a whirlwind, and the shadow beside him.
"I've got my hand over his mouth," gasped Philip. "To the side with him;now heave!"
Geoff backed his chum up with a vengeance, gripping the man's hands andtearing his rifle from him. Then, seizing him by the legs, while Philipmanaged to grip the man's shoulder, still holding his mouth firmlyclosed, the two rushed him to the side and flung him over into theriver, Geoff tossing his rifle into the water after him.
"Now back," he whispered to Philip, taking him by the sleeve of hiscoat, "the chap is sure to shout and alarm the others. Let's get backand down to our dinghy till things quiet down again. Of course, if hedoesn't shout, all the better, for then we shall be able to tackle theother business."
Even before they could turn to run along the deck, the splash which theman's body had made as it fell into the water was followed by a shriek,and then by a hoarse shout as he sang out loudly for help, by a shoutwhich stirred the silence hanging over the
river, and brought the menbobbing up from their quarters for'ard, and those three officersstumbling up the steps of their cabin and out on to the deck. And inthat short space of time Philip and Geoff had stolen aft, and, slippingover the rail, had slid down into the dinghy.
"Quite a little commotion!" laughed Geoff as he listened to the shoutsabove him. "Of course I'm sorry for the sentry."
"Rather a dirty game, eh?" said Philip. "But I suppose all's fair inwar, eh, Geoff? And besides, supposing I had been the sentry, and you'dcome along and chucked me overboard, I should naturally enough howl outso as to give the alarm and to ask for assistance; but I shouldn't bedead, not by a long chalk, and, seeing that I can swim, I should do mybest to keep myself afloat till the river twisted and deposited me onone of the banks. If that sentry's sensible, that's what he'll do; onthe other hand, if he can't swim--which is hard lines, of course, butnot our fault, and a matter we can't deal with--of course, there it is,he'll drown, and neither of us can help it. The best we can do is towish him luck, for he's now out of the way and not likely to harm us."
Meanwhile there was pandemonium on the deck of the vessel, shouts andcries coming to the two young officers in the dinghy, shouts and crieswhich were drowned by the stentorian voice of one of the officers,undoubtedly the bald-headed individual who was senior of the party.
"What's that? What's happened?" he bellowed. "Someone shouted, and I'msure I heard a splash in the river. Where's the sentry? Pass him afthere so that he can report on the incident."
But of the sentry there was not a sign, though a faint shout coming fromfarther down the river, whither the unfortunate fellow had now floated,was sufficient evidence of the cause of that splash which the Commanderhad heard, and explanation of the absence of the sentry.
"Deserter!" cried one of the officers, seizing upon the first idea whichcame to him.
"Who dives into the river and risks drowning? A wise suggestion indeed!"the irate voice of the Commander answered. "But if not, how comes he tohave fallen into the river. Foul play, eh? One of his comrades with agrudge against him, a sneaking hound who has crept up from the quartersfor'ard and has suddenly pounced upon him?"
"More than likely!" came the answer. "More than likely!"
There was silence for a while, and then the tread of boots on the deckjust above the stern beneath which the dinghy was lying.
"It's a strange thing this disappearance of the sentry," Geoff heard avoice saying--the voice of the Commander. "But there it is, and one manmore or less makes no difference."
There followed a loud guffaw which made Geoff wince, so heartless did itsound, and in a moment he recognized the voice of that young and elegantTurkish officer who had sat at the end of the cabin table, smokinglazily and curling his dark moustache.
"The sort of sentiments he would give utterance to," he told himself."It's the kind of thing a fellow hates to hear, and though I wasinstrumental in pushing that poor beggar overboard, yet I am at leastsorry for him, and hope that he will have escaped drowning, and willhave landed safely on the bank of the river. And here's one of his ownofficers laughing as though it didn't matter how many men were lost.Beastly!"
"Eh?" asked Philip in a whisper. "What's that? Listen to those fellowsup there!"
For a few moments there had been silence above their heads, where theyknew now that at least two of the three officers were standing, and thebreeze wafted down to them the smell of tobacco smoke. They heard theboots of the Turkish officers scraping on the deck, and a louder soundas one of them rested his foot on the rail of the vessel. Then the voiceof the elder man came to their ears again.
"Yes, there are plenty of them, and one more or less makes nodifference," he told his comrade carelessly, and then puffed heavily atthe cigar he was smoking--so heavily, indeed, that Geoff could hear him."Well, well!" he continued; "it's a peaceful night for drowning, mycomrade, a peaceful night! See, there's the moon above us, and stars,while the water trickles away below our keel in the most delicious andrefreshing manner. A cool night after a hot day, and a sweet breeze toblow away the smell of the marshes. But there, it is nearly time to turnin; go to your bunk, my friend, for I have a mind to sit here and finishmy cigar in peace and quietness."
He interrupted the younger officer in the midst of a loud and noisyyawn, and there came the heavy fall of a foot upon the deck, which madeit appear that it was the younger man who had placed his foot upon therail of the vessel. Then something fell beside the dinghy, and hissedfor a moment as it struck the water--the stump end of the cigar whichthis young elegant had been smoking.
"A fine night, and a cool one, as you say, Commander," he saidlanguidly, stifling another yawn, "and time for all of us to be in bed.But I know your ways; you are one of those who burn the candle at bothends, who sit up till the dawn is breaking, and tumble into your bunkonly to appear again as the sun is rising. Good-night, Commander!"
From the sharp sounds above, it appeared that he must have drawn himselfup at attention and clicked his heels. Then there was a short pause, andimmediately afterwards the sound of his retreating feet as he went alongthe deck towards his cabin, and Geoff and Philip, listening down below,heard him descend the companion-way, somewhere farther forward, andlater the sharp crash of a cabin-door being closed. Then there came totheir ears the softer patter of feet just above their heads, as thestout Commander of this Turkish steamer strolled to and fro on the sternof the vessel; and again also the aroma from his cigar was wafted downto them on the midnight breeze. Philip gripped Geoff's shoulder andshook his chum.
"Hist!" he said; "you hear the old bounder?"
"Of course. All alone! Smoking a reflective cigar. Now, if----"
"Just if," Philip told him. "If--of course we could, only it'll wantsome careful doing."
"What will?" demanded Geoff, though the same thought had struck themboth, and was passing through their minds.
"Why, if we managed to shy that sentry overboard, and so got rid of him,why not do the same for the old buffer up above us; he'd be over therail in next to no time, and would be only too glad to find a boat nearat hand to rescue him. Look here, Geoff! I've a little plan that's worthconsidering."
"H--h--sh! He's stopped!" declared Geoff, his voice sunk to a whisper,and his lips close to Philip's ear: "Wonder whether he suspects ourpresence?"
The steps above them had indeed stopped suddenly, though the aroma ofthe cigar the Turkish officer was smoking was still wafted down to thatspace beneath the stern where Geoff and Philip were hiding. They heard acough, a gentle cough, as the Turk cleared his throat, and later thesound of whistling, while within a minute the man began to pace to andfro again, very slowly, very languidly, as if there was no haste and nohurry, and the Commander was enjoying his little solitary tramp and thepeace and quietness of his surroundings.
"Go on," said Geoff; "what's the plan? We kidnap the beggar, ofcourse--that's the plan we set out with this evening. I can see fartherthan that naturally enough; for, as you've hinted already, we shy himoverboard, and then come to his rescue. Now?"
"There'll be a tremendous row and ruction," Philip told him. "The newsentry that they've posted for'ard will give the alarm, and, once it'sfound out that the Commander's disappeared, every man aboard will beturned out, and if they've got boats, as is most likely the case, for wesaw a number trailing behind this steamer, they'll man them and rowabout in order to try to find the beggar. Now suppose we counter thatmove?"
"Yes?" asked Geoff eagerly, for he realized the truth of Philip'sstatement, and could see that, whereas the loss of a humble sentry hadcaused no great commotion, that of the Commander of the vessel mightvery well lead to a general alarm, to the disturbance of the wholeship's company, and to a frantic search in which they might easily bediscovered. "Yes?" he asked again impatiently.
"That's where my extra little plan comes in," said Philip, and the youngfellow chuckled, whereat Geoff gripped his wrist savagely, and shook it.
"Shut up!" he said; "the fellow's only just
above our heads, and mighteasily hear you. Idiot!"
"Thanks!" giggled Philip. "But really, if it comes off, it will betremendously funny. Now here's the plan: I hop into the water justhere, and swim up alongside the steamer, and when I get to her bows, Iclamber aboard somehow. We all know that she's anchored in mid-stream,and I'm pretty well sure, from the sounds which came when she droppedher anchor, that she's moored by a hawser. A chain would have clankedout over the side, and we should have heard it, whereas there was asharp splash and nothing followed. See the point, eh?" he asked eagerly."She's moored by a rope, and I have a knife here that would cut througha ship's cable."
It was Geoff's turn to exclaim, a smothered exclamation, while hegripped Philip's arm again with fingers which were like a vice.
"Fine!" he told him in a whisper. "And then? You've cut the cable,you've set the ship free, and of course she floats down the streamwithout any of them being the wiser. The chances are she'll be washedabout three or four or more hundred yards before the crew know what'shappened, and then it'll only be because she strikes ground, and comesto a stop on a sand-bank farther down the stream. But--but, won't itrather throw us out of our bearings. Just remember that it's pitch-darkin the marshes, and that we've got to find our way back to thesteam-launch. It'll want some doing in any case, I can tell you, and ifwe once get off our bearings it'll be almost an impossibility. But whatfollows when you've cut the cable?"
"What you'd expect," Philip told him with glee. "I'm on the ship, andI've set her loose, and for the matter of that I should saw through thehawser till it's not quite parted, and leave the stream and the weightof the vessel to do the rest; then I slip aft, and if I find that it'sout of the question to pass the sentry, I drop overboard again, andfloat down beside her till I am nearer the stern; then I clamber to herdeck again, crawl right aft, and give that old chap above us a punchthat will topple him right over."
It was Geoff's turn to giggle. For the life of him he could not helpsmiling and chuckling, and indeed found it hard to prevent himself fromlaughing outright. The gusto with which Philip outlined his plan, histremendous eagerness and enthusiasm, and the glee in his tone--whisperedthough it was--were simply infectious. It was only by clapping a handover his mouth, and gripping Philip's wrist so firmly that that youngfellow expostulated by shaking the grip off violently, that Geoff couldmaster his feelings.
"Tremendous!" he told his chum. "And if it doesn't succeed, wellit--er--ought to."
"Then, right oh! I'll leave my tunic and revolver here, and go in myshirt and breeches. Boots ain't wanted for swimming either, so I'll takethese off. Listen to the old beggar whistling!"
As the young British officer rapidly divested himself of his coat, andof his boots and puttees, he could hear the Turkish Commander stillsauntering to and fro on the deck above, every now and again whistlinggently and cheerfully. That he was still smoking also there was nodoubt, for occasionally the whiff of his cigar was swept down towardsthe dinghy.
"And a ripping good cigar, believe me," whispered Philip, "and an awfulshame to deprive him of its enjoyment, and to waste it before it's quitefinished. But war, don't you know, Geoff, is no respecter of things andcircumstances and people. The old bounder above will suffer for thecause--our cause, I mean--for we jolly well mean to have him."
What a thing it was to have as a companion in such a critical adventurea young fellow gifted with such splendid spirits, with so light a heartthat all thought of danger slipped from his shoulders. Not that Geoffhimself was the one to consider risks in the midst of such anundertaking, or even before setting out for the venture; though, to besure, like every other young officer, he had his serious times, and, asthey had paddled their way towards the steamer, had wondered what wouldhappen, whether they would meet with success or dismal failure, andwhether capture or death would be the result of their visit. But longago he had thrown off all doubts, and was ready and eager to faceanything--a readiness made all the more pronounced by the encouragementhe received from Philip.
"You are simply splendid, Phil, old boy," he told him enthusiastically,and still in the lowest of low whispers. "Of course I'll back you upthrough thick and thin. I'll wait till I hear the old boy plumpoverboard, and have the dinghy already cast loose, and ready to push offinto the river. Hauling him aboard will be no easy matter, but it's gotto be done, and without capsizing the dinghy. Then you'll have to joinus, though the combined weight of the three will almost sink thiscockle-shell. Still, it's the smallest of our adventures, and once weare all aboard we'll have got through with the greater part of thebusiness. Ready?" he asked.
"Aye! Ready!" said Philip in the most careless manner possible.
Stretching his hand overhead, he caught the rope to which the dinghy wasmade fast and put his full weight on it. Then he lifted himself out ofthe dinghy, and very slowly and gingerly lowered himself into the water,making not so much as a splash in doing so. A vigorous stroke with hislegs took him as far as the rudder of the steamer, and for a moment hisfingers played about it; then, gripping the bilge keel which ran roundthe side of the steamer, and against which the water lapped continually,he pulled himself forward up-stream, finding but little difficulty incarrying out his purpose. It took him perhaps five minutes to reach thebows of the vessel--five solid minutes, during which he had to stop ontwo occasions, the first to allow the Commander of the vessel to trampto the opposite side, and the second for the same reason when he cameopposite the beat of the sentry. Then his fingers lit upon thestem-post, and, pulling himself up out of the water, he reached for therail, only to find that it was a foot or more above him, and quite outof his reach, in spite of all his efforts. But Phil was not the sort ofBritish officer to give way easily, or to allow himself to be lightlybeaten. Indeed, there are few of them of whom this cannot be said; for amore resourceful, more gallant, and a more dashing set of young men nocountry has ever possessed, and no finer set of young fellows have everobeyed the national call to duty.
"Beastly high up--rather a bother!" was all he told himself while heclung to the stem-post and considered. Then, placing his stockinged feetagainst the post, and heading up-stream, he shot himself forward throughthe water with a violent kick, and, groping about, soon gripped thecable to which the steamer was moored.
"Cable all right! Good, sound, honest rope," he chuckled. "And there'sthat sentry to be considered. It seems to me that I might easily cutthrough the rope just here on the water-level and leave it hanging by athread; then, by the time it has parted, the stream will have washed medown to the after end of the steamer, and I shall be ready for the lastact in this drama. That's it! That's the ticket! And here goes for thecable!"
He hooked one arm over the rope, while he extricated--not withoutdifficulty--the jack-knife which he had in his trouser-pocket. Openingthe big blade with his teeth, he then gripped the cable and commenced tosaw through it till it was almost two-thirds severed. At that point hedesisted suddenly, for there came an ominous crack from the rope he hadbeen cutting, while he could feel with his fingers that the severedstrands were separating widely.
"It will be through in a minute," he told himself; "for, though I had noidea of it, the stream here is running fairly fast, and the weight ofthe vessel with the stream on it must be giving a strong pull on therope. There it goes, cracking again, and I can feel the strands pullingthemselves asunder. It's time to be off."
He wasted no valuable moments in closing his knife and pocketing itagain, for, owing to his drenched clothing it had been a difficultenough task to extricate it from his trousers; he dropped it, therefore,and let it sink to the bottom of the river, while he himself let go ofthe parting cable and struck down the stream till his fingers touchedthe side of the vessel and he was washed down along it. Then the fingersof both hands gripped the bilge keel, and he listened for the tramp ofthe sentry, only to find that he was past him and well on towards thestern of the vessel; in fact, he reached the spot where he might safelyhope to clamber aboard without observation. And now, wit
h the help ofthe bilge keel, which gave him a leverage, Philip raised his body fromthe water, and, throwing one hand above his head, just managed to reachthe rail and grip it. The rest was an easy matter for a young and activefellow such as he was, and within a few seconds he was on the deck,gasping after his exertions, and dropping pools of water which ran awayfrom his feet into the scuppers.
"What's that? Someone on the deck!" he heard the Commander exclaim,though Philip did not know the meaning of the words uttered.
This, however, he knew perfectly well--that his presence was suspected,and that the sauntering steps of the Turkish officer had suddenly cometo a rest, while without doubt the man was staring in his direction; thedull glow of the end of his cigar was sufficient indication of thatfact, while the voice supported the suggestion. Then from right for'ardthere came a dull, sharp snap, while a subdued shudder ran down the deckof the vessel and communicated itself to Philip.
"Cable's gone!" he told himself. "Time I was moving."
With a bound he went along the deck till he was within a yard of theglowing end of that cigar and within striking distance of the Commander.Throwing himself upon the astonished Turk, he gripped him with botharms, and then hurled himself and his captive over the rail of thevessel. At the same moment Geoff pushed his dinghy from under the stern,and, taking his paddle up, waited for the appearance of the two who hadso suddenly been immersed in the water. It was perhaps five secondslater when two heads bobbed up quite close to him, and he heard one ofthe two gasp and splutter. Giving a swift stroke with his paddle, hedropped it in the bottom of the dinghy, and, stretching out a hand,gripped the hair of one of the figures.
"PHILIP HURLED HIMSELF AND HIS CAPTIVE OVER THE RAIL OFTHE VESSEL"]
"Let go; it's me! Get hold of the old beggar!"
Philip was quite indignant, and, to tell the truth, the grip which Geoffhad inadvertently fastened upon his chum's head of hair had beenexcessively painful; but in a moment he had transferred it to theshoulder of the Turk, and had drawn him close to the side of the dinghy.The stout and somewhat elderly commander was puffing like a grampus, andspurting water out of his mouth, while he wriggled and struggled to freehimself from the one who had thrown his arms round him. Thoroughlyscared by the unexpected assault which had been made upon him, anddeprived utterly of speech by his sudden immersion in the river, he yetmanaged to get rid of the water which filled his mouth, and to give ventto a shout, a subdued shout, it is true, but one which easily reachedthe ears of the sentry aboard the steamer. Indeed, that individual hadalready halted on his beat, and was staring over the side into theEuphrates. He had felt the sudden tremor which had gone down the decksof the steamer as the cable parted, and there was now a curiousmovement, a strange bobbing of the ship, which was so different from herplacid stillness of a moment or so earlier that he became suspicious,almost alarmed, and it required only the call of his Commander to causehim to shout at the top of his voice, to run to the companion-way whichled to the quarters of the crew, and to beat upon it with the butt ofhis rifle. In fact, long before Geoff and Philip had accomplished theirpurpose and completed the capture of the Commander, men were pouring upon to the deck of the steamer, shouts were startling the air, while twoor three of the men fired their rifles and thus increased the confusion.
Geoff leaned over the side of the dinghy, threatening to capsize it,and, placing his lips to the ear of the thoroughly startled Turk, spoketo him sternly.
"You are a captive--a prisoner," he told him. "Shout again, make thesmallest show of resistance, and we shall push you under the water; butif you are quiet, and come aboard this boat readily, your life will besaved on certain conditions. You agree?"
The big bald head of the Turk nodded energetically, while the moonbeamswere reflected from the wet and polished spot which a few moments beforehad been covered by his fez.
"You agree?" asked Geoff again. "We will save you on condition that youtell us all you know of your people. You refuse, eh?"
The hand which a moment before had gripped the shoulder of the Turk, inlieu of the missing hair, closed even more firmly, while the relentlessGeoff pressed the unfortunate Turk lower in the water, till it looked asthough he would send him right under.
"Stop!" gasped the Commander. "Save me! I agree!"
"Then come aboard! Give him a hoist, Phil, and gently with it!"
It was no easy matter to get that big Turk into the tiny little dinghy;and yet, with his willing assistance now--for to tell the truth theunfortunate Commander was innocent of the art of swimming, and had ahorror of the water--Geoff and his chum contrived to roll him over theside, and deposit him on the bottom. Then Philip went right aft, and,with Geoff's help, came aboard in that direction, the three of themcausing the dinghy to sink so low in the water that now and again thestream lapping against the sides splashed over.
"Sit dead in the centre and don't move for your life," Geoff told theTurk. "Now, Philip, paddle."
Dipping their paddles into the water they struck off to the left, anddidn't slacken their exertions till they had emerged from the river andwere in the streamless waste of waters from which they had stolen thatevening. Now and again they had cast their eyes over their shoulders tosee what was happening on the steamer, and, thanks to the lights aboardher which now flared up from many of the cabins, and thanks also to theshouts of her crew, to the hoarse and furious commands of the officersleft aboard her, they had no difficulty in learning what happened.
"She's gone right down stream and round the bend," chuckled Philip.
"So we needn't bother any further about her--at least not for thepresent," said Geoff. "Let's sing out for our fellows."
Guiding the boat in beside an island, he stood up, and, placing hishands to his mouth, halloed. Then he waited a moment and repeated theshout.
"Listen! That's an answer, and from a point not so very far away," saidPhilip. "Shout again! Yes, within easy distance, I should say, for aftergetting this old gentleman aboard we struck up-stream so as to makeallowance for the drift after I had cut the cable. Christopher, Geoff,what a jolly good business!"
For a hail persuaded them that they were indeed quite near to thesteam-launch; and within the five minutes which followed, by dint ofrepeating their calls and listening to the answers, they were able tofind their way back to the narrow channel in which their comrades laywaiting.
"Pull that dinghy aboard at once," commanded Geoff; "and one of you cantake charge of this prisoner. I don't think you'll find he'll be anuisance, for I've told him to expect a shot if he tries any nonsense.Now then, get up steam as fast as you can, for, at the first streak ofdawn, I mean to get away and make a rush for the river."
Long before the sun was up, and whilst a thick mist still hung over themarshes, the launch was poled out of the channel in which she had beenhidden, and was gently forced towards the Euphrates. Once arrived in thecentre of the stream she was allowed to drift, power now and again beingapplied to her propeller so as to keep her under control and allow thesteersmen to direct her. Half an hour later she slowly drifted by thehull of the steamer aboard which Geoff and Phil had made such anadventurous visit on the previous evening, now stranded high and dry ona sand-bank. Unobserved, the launch swept onward, and very soon, whenthe first rays of the sun had sucked up the mist, and made the course ofthe stream easily visible, the engine was set to work, and they shotdown-stream at a rate which rapidly brought them to the Shatt-el-Arab.
By then the Turk had recovered his composure, and, thanks to the blanketwith which he was provided, had been able to get rid of his wetclothing. Indeed, he became quite communicative, and long before thelaunch had reached the opposite side of the Shatt-el-Arab he had toldGeoff all he knew of the disposition of the Turkish forces.
Thus the two young officers who had been sent into the marshes to gathernews of the enemy returned, having brilliantly achieved their object.
"The information will be of the greatest service," they were told. "Weare making dispositions to meet
this Turkish force of whom you havegained tidings, and then the expedition will fight its way up theShatt-el-Arab and into the heart of Mesopotamia."
Fighting, indeed, was before the British Expedition, for though theirgoal was the city of Bagdad--a jewel in the eyes of the Turks and theArabs of this region--there were leagues of sands and marshes betweenthem and it, and thousands of the enemy.
On the Road to Bagdad: A Story of Townshend's Gallant Advance on the Tigris Page 10