by Talbot Mundy
Chapter Nineteen"Such drilling as they have had--such little drilling!"
ICH DIEN
Is honor out of fashion and the men she namedFit only to be buried and defamedWho dared hold service was true noblenessAnd graced their service in a fitting dress?Are manners out of date because the scullions scoffAt whosoever shuns the common troughLiking dry bread better than the garbled stewNor praising greed because the style is new?Let go the ancient orders if so be their waysAre trespassing on decency these days.So I go, rather than accept the trampled spoilOr gamble for what great men earned by toil.For rather than trade honor for a mob's foul praiseI'll keep full fealty to the ancient waysAnd, hoistinq my forebear's banner in the face of hell,Will die beneath it, knowing I die well!
Fifteen minutes after Gloria Vanderman left us I saw a banner gojerkily mounting up the newly placed flag-pole on the keep. A manblew a bugle hoarsely by way of a salute. I raised my hat. Montyraised his. In a moment we were all standing bare-headed, and thegreat square piece of cloth caught the wind that whistled betweentwo crags of Beirut Dagh.
Fred, our arch-iconoclast, stood uncovered longest.
"Who the devil made it for you?" he inquired.
Stitched on the banner in colored cloth were the two wheat-sheavesand two ships of the Montdidiers, and a scroll stretched its lengthacross the bottom, with the motto doubtless, although in the windone could not read it.
"The women. Good of 'em, what? Miss Vanderman drew it on paper.They cut it out, and sat up last night sewing it."
"I suppose you know that's filibustering, to fly your private banneron foreign soil?"
"They may call it what they please," said Monty. "I can't well flythe flag of England, and Armenia has none yet. Let's go below, Fred,and see if there's any news."
"Yes, there is news," said Kagig, leading the way down. "I did notsay it before the lady. It is not good news."
"That's the only kind that won't keep. Spit it out!" said Will.
Kagig faced us on the stable roof, and his finger-joints cracked again.
"It is the worst! They have sent Mahmoud Bey, against us. I wouldrather any six other Turks. Mahmoud Bey is not a fool. He is ayoung successful man, who looks to this campaign to bolster his ambition.He is a ruthless brute!"
"Which Turk isn't?" asked Will.
"This one is most ruthless. This Mahmoud is the one who in themassacres of five years ago caused Armenian prisoners to havehorse-shoes nailed to their naked feet, in order, he said, thatthey might march without hurt. He will waste no time aboutpreliminaries!"
Kagig was entirely right. Mahmoud Bey began the overture that veryinstant with artillery fire directed at the hidden defenses flankingthe clay ramp. Next we caught the stuttering chorus of his machineguns, and the intermittent answer of Kagig's riflemen.
"Now, effendim, one of you down to the defenses, please! There isrisk my men may use too many cartridges. Talk to them--restrain them.They might listen to me, but--" His long fingers suggested unhappyfragments of past history.
"You, Fred!" said Monty, and Fred hitched his concertina to a morecomfortable angle.
Fred was the obvious choice. His gift of tongues would enable himbetter than any of us to persuade, and if need were, compel. Wehad left our rifles leaning by the wall at the castle entrance, andin his cartridge bag was my oil-can and rag-bag. I asked him forthem, and he threw them to me rather clumsily. Trying to catchthem I twisted for the second time the ankle I had hurt that morning.Fred mounted and rode out through the echoing entrance without abackward glance, and I sat down and pulled my boot off, for the agonywas almost unendurable.
"That settles your task for to-day," laughed Monty. "Help him backto the top of the tower, Will. Keep me informed of everything yousee. Will--you go with Kagig after you've helped him up there."
"All right," said Will. "Where's Kagig bound for?"
"Round behind Beirut Dagh," Kagig announced grimly. "That's ourdanger-point. If the Turks force their way round the mountain--"He shrugged his expressive shoulders. Only he of all of us seemedto view the situation seriously. I think we others felt a thrillrather of sport than of danger.
I might have been inclined to resent the inactivity assigned to me,only that it gave me a better chance than I had hoped for of watchingfor signs of Maga Jhaere's promised treachery. Will helped me upand made the perch comfortable; then he and Kagig rode away together.Presently Monty, too, mounted a mule, and rode out under the arch,and fifteen minutes later fifty men marched in by twos, laughingand joking, and went to saddling the horses in the semicircular stablebelow me. After that all the world seemed to grow still for a while,except for the eagles, the distant rag-slitting rattle of rifle-fire,and the occasional bursting of a shell. Most of the shells werefalling on the clay ramp, and seemed to be doing no harm whatever.
Away in the distance down the pass, out of range of the fire of ourmen, but also incapable of harm themselves until they should advanceinto the open jaws below the clay ramp, I could see the Turks massingin that sort of dense formation that the Germans teach. Even throughthe glasses it was not possible to guess their numbers, because theangle of vision was narrow and cut off their flanks to right andleft; but I sent word down to Monty that a frontal attack in forceseemed to be already beginning.
For an hour after that, while the artillery fire increased but ourrifle-fire seemed to dwindle under Fred's persuasive tongue, I watchedMonty mustering reenforcements in the gorge below the town. Heovercame some of the women's prejudice, for it was a force made upof men and women that he presently led away. I was rather surprisedto see Rustum Khan, after a talk with Monty, return to his squadronand remain inactive under cover of the hill; that fire-eater wasthe last man one would expect to remain willingly out of action.However, twenty minutes later, Rustum Khan appeared beside me, breathingrather hard. He begged the glasses of me, and spent five minutesstudying the firing-line minutely before returning them.
"The lord sahib has more faith in these undrilled folk than I have!"he grumbled at last. "Observe: he goes with that bullet-food ofmen and women mixed, to hide them in reserve behind the narrow gutat the head of the ramp. The Turks are fools, as Kagig said, andtheir general is also a fool, in spite of Kagig. They propose toforce that ramp. You see that by Frredd sahib's orders the firingon our side has grown greatly less. That is to draw the Turks on.See! It has drawn them! They are coming! The lord sahib will sendfor Frredd sahib to take command of that reserve, to man the topof the ramp in case the Turks succeed in climbing too far up it.Then he himself will gallop back to take charge of my squadron belowthere; and I take charge of his squadron up here. He and I areinterchangeable, I having drilled all the men in any case--suchdrilling as they have had--such little, little drilling!"
The Turks began their advance into the jaws of that defile with aconfidence that made my heart turn cold. What did they know? Whatwere they depending on in addition to their weight of numbers?Mahmoud Bey had evidently hurried up almost his whole division, andwas driving them forward into our trap as if he knew he could swallowtrap and all. Not even foolish generals act that way. It needsa madman. Kagig had said nothing about Mahmoud being mad.
"Listen, Rustum Khan!" I said. "Go with a message to Lord Montdidier.Tell him the whole Turkish force is in motion and coming on as iftheir general knows something for certain that we don't know at all.Tell him that I suspect treachery at our rear, and have good reasonfor it!"
Rustum Khan eyed me for a minute as if he would read the very middleof my heart.
"Can you ride?" he asked.
"Of course," I answered. "It's only walking that I can't do."
"Then leave those glasses with me, and go yourself!"
"Why won't you go?" I asked.
"Because here are fifty men who would lack a leader in that case."
The answer was honest enough, yet I had my qualms about leaving thepost Monty had assigned to me. The thought that finally decide
dme was that I would have opportunity to gallop past the hospital,two hundred yards over the bridge on the Zeitoon side, and make surethat Gloria was safe.
"Have you seen Maga Jhaere anywhere?" I asked.
"No," said the Rajput, swearing under his breath at the mere mentionof her name.
"Then help me down from here. I'll go."
He muttered to himself, and I think he thought I was off to makelove to the woman; but I was past caring about any one's opinionon that score. Five minutes later I was trotting a good horse slowlydown the upper, steeper portion of the track toward Zeitoon, swearingto myself, and dreading the smoother going where I should feel compelledto gallop whether my ankle hurt or not. As a matter of fact I beganto suspect a broken bone or ligament, for the agonizing pain increasedand made me sit awkwardly on the horse, thus causing him to changehis pace at odd intervals and give me more pain yet. However, gallopI had to, and I reached the bridge going at top speed, only to beforced to rein in, chattering with agony, by a man on foot who racedto reach the bridge ahead of me, and made unmistakable signals ofhaving an important message to deliver.
He proved to be from Kagig, with orders to say that every man athis disposal was engaged by a very strong body of Turks who had spentthe night creeping up close to their first objective, and had rushedit with the bayonet shortly after dawn.
"Order the women to stand ready by the bridge!" were the last words(the man had the whole by heart), and then there was a scribblednote from Will by way of make-weight.
"This end of the action looks pretty serious to me. We're badlyoutnumbered. The men are fighting gamely, but--tell Gloria for God'ssake to look out after herself!"
I could hear no firing from that direction, for the great bulk ofBeirut Dagh shut it off.
"How far away is the fighting?" I demanded.
"Oh, a long way yet."
I motioned to him to return to Kagig, and sent my horse across thebridge, catching sight of Gloria outside the hospital directly afterI had crossed it. She waved her hand to me; so, seeing she wassafe for the present, I let the message to her wait and starteddown the valley toward Monty as fast as the horse could go. I hadmy work cut out to drive him into the din of firing, for it wasevidently his first experience of bursting shells, and even athalf-a-mile distance he reared and plunged, driving me nearly crazywith pain. I found Monty shepherding the reserves he had broughtdown, watching through glasses from over the top of the spur thatformed the left-hand wall of the gut of the pass.
"I left Rustum Khan in my place," I began, expecting to be damnedat once for absenting without leave.
"Glad you came," he said, without turning his head.
I gave him my message, he listening while he watched the pass andthe oncoming enemy.
"I tried to warn you of treachery this morning!" I said hotly. Painand memory did nothing toward keeping down choler. "Where's PeterMeasel? Seen him anywhere? Where's Maga Jhaere? Seen her, either?Those Turks are coming on into what they must know is a trap, withthe confidence that proves their leaders have special information!Look at them! They can see this pass is lined, with our riflemen,yet on they come! They must suspect we've a surprise in store--yetlook at them!"
They were coming on line after line, although Fred had turned theammunition loose, and the rifle-fire of our well-hidden men wasplaying havoc. Monty seemed to me to look more puzzled than afraid.I went on telling him of the message Kagig had sent, and offered himWill's note, but he did not even look at it.
"Ah!" he said suddenly. "Now I understand! Yes, it's treachery.I beg your pardon for my thoughts this morning."
"Granted," said I, "but what next?"
"Look!" he said simply.
There were two sudden developments. What was left of the firstadvancing company of Turks halted below the ramp, and with sublimeeffrontery, born no doubt of knowledge that we had no artillery,proceeded to dig themselves a shallow trench. The Zeitoonli weremaking splendid shooting, but it was only a question of minutes untilthe shelter would be high enough for crouching men.
The second disturbing factor was that in a long line extending upthe flank of the mountain, roughly parallel to the lower end of thetrack that Monty had caused to be cut from the castle, the treeswere coming down as if struck by a cyclone! There must have beenmore than a regiment armed with axes, cutting a swath through theforest to take our secret road in flank!
That meant two things clearly. Some one had told Mahmoud of ourplan to charge down from the height and surprise him, thus robbingus of all the benefit of unexpectedness; and, when the charge shouldtake place, our men would have to ride down four abreast throughambush. And, if Mahmoud had merely intended placing a few men totrap our horsemen, he would never have troubled to cut down theforest. Plainly, he meant to destroy our mounted men at point-blankrange, and then march a large force up the horse-track, so turningthe tables on us. Considering the overwhelming numbers he had athis disposal, the game to me looked almost over.
Not so, however, to Monty. He glanced over his shoulder once atthe men and women waiting for his orders, and I saw the women begininspiriting their men. Then he turned on me.
"Now damn your ankle," he said. "Try to forget it! Climb up thereand tell Fred to choose a hundred men and bring them down himselfto oppose the enemy in front if he comes over the top of that ditch.Then you gallop back and get word to Rustum Khan to bring both squadronsdown here. Tell him to stay by Fred and hold his horses until thelast minute. Then you get all the women you can persuade to followyou, and man the castle walls! Hurry, now--that's all!"
There was a man holding my horse. I tied the horse securely to atree instead, and told the man to help me climb, little suspectingwhat a Samson I had happened on. He laughed, seized me in his arms,and proceeded to carry me like a baby up the goat-track leading tothe hidden rifle-pits and trenches. I persuaded him to let me getup on his shoulders, and in that way I had a view of most of whatwas happening.
Monty led his men and women at a run across the top of the rampflanked by the full fire of the entrenched company below; and hisaction was so unexpected that the Turks fired like beginners. Therewere not many bodies lying quiet, nor writhing either when the lastwoman had disappeared among the trees on the far side. Those thatdid writhe were very swiftly caused to cease by volleys aimed atthem in obedience to officers' orders. It began to look as if Gloria'shospital would not be over-worked.
The tables were now turned on the Turks, except in regard to numbers.In the first place, as soon as Monty's command had penetrated downwardthrough the trees parallel with the side of the ramp, he had theentrenched company in flank. It did not seem to me that he leftmore than ten or fifteen men to make that trench untenable, but theTurks were out of it within five minutes and in full retreat undera hot fire from Fred's men.
Then Monty pushed on to the far side of the castle road and heldthe remaining fringe of trees in such fashion that the Turks couldnot guess his exact whereabouts nor what number he had with him.Cutting down trees in a hurry is one thing, but cutting them downin face of hidden rifle-fire is most decidedly another, especiallywhen the axmen have been promised there will be no reprisals.
The tree-felling suddenly ceased, and there began a close-quartersbattle in the woods, in which numbers had less effect than knowledgeof the ground and bravery. The Turk is a brave enough fighter, butnot to be compared with mountain-Armenians fighting for their home,and it was easy to judge which held the upper hand.
I found Fred smoking his pipe and enjoying himself hugely, with halfa dozen runners ready to carry word to whichever section of thedefenses seemed to him to need counsel. He could see what Montyhad done, and was in great spirits in consequence.
"I've bagged two Turk officers to my own gun," he announced. "Murdersuits me to a T."
I gave him the message.
"Piffle!" he answered. "They can never take the ramp by frontalattack! The right thing to do is hold the flanks, and wither 'emas they
cone!"
"Monty's orders!" I said, "and I've got to be going."
"Damn that fellow Didums!" he grumbled. "All right. But it's mybelief he's turning a classy little engagement into a bloody brawl!Cut along! I'll pick my hundred and climb down there."
Cutting along was not so easy. My magnificent human mount was hitby a bullet--a stray one, probably, shot at a hazard at long range.He fell and threw me head-long; and the agony of that experiencepretty nearly rendered me unconscious. However, he was not hit badly,and essayed to pick me up again. I refused that, but he held onto me and, both of us being hurt in the leg on the same side, westaggered together down the goat-track.
Down below we found the horse plunging in a frenzy of fear, andhe nearly succeeded in breaking away from both of us, dragging usout into full view of the enemy, who volleyed us at long range.Fortunately they made rotten shooting, and one ill-directed hailof lead screamed on the far side, causing the horse to plunge towardme. The Armenian took me by the uninjured foot and flung me intothe saddle, and I left up-pass with a parting volley scattering allaround, and both hands locked into the horse's mane. He neededneither whip nor spur, but went for Zeitoon like the devil with histail on fire.
I suppose one never grows really used to pain, but from use it becomesendurable. When Anna ran out to stop me by the great rock on whichthe lowest Zeitoon houses stand, and seized me by the foot, partlyto show deference, partly in token that she was suppliant, and alsopartly because she was utterly distracted, I was able to rein thehorse and listen to her without swearing.
"She is gone!" she shouted. "Gone, I tell you! Gloria is gone!Six men, they come and take her! She is resisting, oh, so hard--andthey throw a sack over her--and she is gone, I tell you! She is gone!"
"Where is Maga?"
"Gone, too!"
"In which direction did they take Miss Gloria?"
"I do not know!"
I rode on. There were crowds of women near the bridge, all armedwith rifles, and I hurried toward them.
But they refused to believe that any one in Zeitoon would do sucha thing as kidnap Gloria, and while I waited for Anna to come andconvince them a man forced himself toward me through the crowd.He was out of breath. One arm was in a bloody bandage, but in theother hand he held a stained and crumpled letter.
It proved to be from Will, addressed to all or any of us.
"Kagig is a wonder!" it ran, "He has put new life into these men and we've thrashed the Turk soundly. How's Gloria? Kagig says, 'Can you send us reenforcements?' If so we can follow up and do some real damage. Send 'em quick! Make Gloria keep cover! WILL.