Chapter the Twenty-Second Ditta Lal Interprets
During his brother’s absence Bob had been energetic in organizing the defence. He threw an entrenchment across the track beneath the shoulder of the cliff, a short distance from the mass of broken rock thrown down by the explosion of dynamite. By this means he hoped to interpose an effective obstacle to the enemy if they, without waiting for the track to be cleared, should attempt to climb round and slip by up the valley. Nurla Bai’s swimming feat showed him that the river could be crossed otherwise than by the drawbridge, and the assemblage of any considerable number of men on the southward side might be a serious menace. True, the enemy could hardly cross in daylight in face of opposition from the wall of the compound; but remembering how Nurla Bai had got over and made his way by the cantilever pathway to the mine, Bob saw that a similar movement might be attempted when the attention of the garrison was held by an attack from down-stream. In that case he would have to dispatch men whom he could ill spare to guard the aeroplane platform and perhaps to destroy the pathway constructed with such toil. As a precautionary measure he stationed three men on the aeroplane platform day and night.
Further, in order not to be at too great a disadvantage in case of a sudden rush in the darkness, he contrived a makeshift searchlight out of a large photographic camera of his uncle’s and a reflector of polished tin. He hoped that it would not be necessary to use it often, for the stock of calcium carbide was running low, and he had no other illuminant than acetylene gas and paraffin candles.
When Lawrence alighted on the aeroplane platform, Fazl, one of the three men on guard there, informed him that the enemy had opened a brisk fire at daybreak.
“The sahib cannot get to the house to-day,” said the man.
“Why not?”
“Because, sahib, when you once get round the shoulder, the path is in sight of the enemy. They will shoot you. It is necessary to wait for night.”
“Nonsense! I can’t stay here all day. Let me see for myself.”
He went across the platform and along a few yards of the path until he reached the bend. There he peeped cautiously round. He forgot his prime object in the anxiety and concern to which the state of affairs down the river gave rise. Being slightly above the level of the track he was able to take a good view of the position. The enemy had cut a new path along the fallen cliff, and had thrown across it a breastwork about thirty feet long, from loopholes in which they were maintaining a hot fire on the northernmost boundary of the compound. The reply of the garrison was astonishingly feeble; the characteristic rattle of the machine gun was not to be heard, and Lawrence saw the havildar standing inactive by the weapon. Bob was near the wall, smoking a cigarette, and it was apparently only when he gave a distinct order that the men fired. Lawrence guessed that he was husbanding his ammunition, and blessed Major Endicott’s forethought in sending a supply which would be so welcome.
Recollecting his purpose, Lawrence scanned the wooden pathway narrowly, to see how far Fazl’s advice was justified. For forty or fifty yards it was fully exposed to the enemy’s marksmen, but beyond that distance it gained some shelter from the buildings in the compound. If the enemy had not already had their attention drawn to it, there was a chance that, in spite of his weak ankle, he might dash across the exposed portion before they noticed him. But after a few seconds he saw with great relief that it was possible to lessen still further the risk of being hit. The pathway being a little higher than the track on the opposite side of the river, he might perhaps crawl along it without being discovered. By lying at full length, and hugging the face of the rock, he would get a certain protection from the outside edge of the pathway.
He returned to the platform.
“Has any one crossed from or to the mine since the enemy began firing?” he asked Fazl.
“No, sahib: it was still dark when we came to relieve the night watch, and none has come or gone since.”
“Very well: I am going to crawl. Take care you don’t show yourselves.”
He was rather astonished at his lack of nervousness; but the events of the last few days had in fact exercised a bracing influence upon him. He crawled on all fours as rapidly as possible along the exposed section of the path, rose to his feet on reaching the spot where the buildings gave him cover, and in another few minutes greeted his brother.
“Well done, old chap!” said Bob heartily. “I hardly expected you to get back yesterday, but it’s a great relief to see you. You had no trouble?”
“Not with the machine, but we came across a lot of hillmen marching south, and they potted the major in the arm, and riddled the petrol cans, so that I ran short. But they gave me some paraffin at the tower, and it serves surprisingly well. It’s lucky we had a second carburetter.”
Just then a bullet sang overhead.
“Can you come to the house for a minute or two?” said Lawrence. “I’ve got a good deal to tell you, and you can’t attend to me and the enemy at the same time.”
“All right. I’ll leave Gur Buksh in charge. They’ve done us no harm yet—inside at any rate; but I’ll give you all the news. Come on!”
Seated in the house, Lawrence repeated the substance of the conversation between Major Endicott and Captain Fenton. Bob listened in amazement.
“By George! it’s a big thing,” he exclaimed. “No wonder we were puzzled. It’s desperately serious, then.”
“Yes, and this is the serious part for us. The major wired all about us to headquarters, and the commander-in-chief wired back that we must hold on at all costs for a week. He made no bones about it: simply said it must be done.”
“Well, we’ll do it!” cried Bob with flashing eyes. “We’ll not cave in after a direct order from the commander-in-chief. It’s the best thing that could have happened. Some of the men are getting rather shaky, but I’ll tell them the Sirkar depends on them—talk about their known valour, and all that: and it’ll buck them up no end.”
“Wouldn’t the promise of a reward from Government be more effective?”
“I dare say; but it’s only a jolly ass who’d give a pledge of that sort for Government. I dare say they mean well, but—no, my boy, it’s not safe. We’ll rely on moral stimulants. Now look here: this is what I’ve done——”
“I see you’ve thrown up a breastwork on the other side, but so have the enemy, and cut a path too.”
“Yes, that’s one to them, confound them! I had twenty men behind my breastwork, but when the enemy came round the bend this morning they bolted back in a panic. They’d have done better to stick to it, for two of them were shot in the back and killed outright. I’d left the bridge down under a guard, so that the others got back safely, but their retreat had a bad effect on the rest. They need a tonic.”
“The major gave me a dozen rifles and a lot of ammunition: that’ll help.”
“It will indeed: I’ve had to be sparing.”
“Why didn’t the enemy occupy your breastwork?”
“No doubt they would have only I built it at such an angle that it can be enfiladed from our wall. It’s a great nuisance that they’ve managed to get so far as they have. I hoped to be able to check them at the bend much longer—at any rate until they’d brought up the two field guns you told me about. When they arrive we shan’t be able to hold the wall. We shall have to take refuge in the galleries.”
“That means suffocation.”
“Well, we won’t think of it. We’ll hold on as long as we can. You didn’t notice perhaps that I’ve had a shield of boiler plates set up on top of the parapet. I found we couldn’t loophole the embankment, and the men couldn’t fire without protection of some kind. This metal shield is better than nothing. It’s loopholed. I only allow a few men to fire at the enemy, when there’s a chance of their doing some good. But to keep up their spirits I let them all have a turn. They come up in squads, so that every man will have a chance of a shot during the day.”
“You haven’t used the machine gun? Couldn’t you batter their breastwork with it?”
“It would be very much like pelting toy bricks with a pea-shooter. Gur Buksh has orders only to fire if there’s a rush. What I fancy will happen is this. At night they’ll try to rush our breastwork. If they get it they’ll push a trench southward along the track until they’re opposite us. What they’ll do then about crossing the river I don’t know. We’ve got to delay them as long as possible. I’ve made a ramshackle sort of searchlight out of Uncle’s old camera: it may help us a little in the dark. But I must go out and talk to the men. I wish I were a dab at the lingo. Will you do the spouting?”
“You’re in command. Get the Babu to interpret for you: what you say won’t lose anything in his mouth.”
“It may do him good too. He’s getting positively thin with funk. Come along!”
While this conversation was in progress in the house, there had fallen a lull in the firing outside. It was clear that the enemy were not prepared for a rush, and had realized the uselessness of continually sniping at a garrison whom they rarely saw. There could be little doubt that they were waiting either for darkness to cover a dash up the track, or for the arrival of their field guns. Whatever the reason, the respite was welcome. Taking advantage of it, Bob left a small guard at the wall, and assembled the rest in the compound.
Lawrence was struck by the altered appearance of Ditta Lal when he came forward at Bob’s summons. His fat cheeks had fallen in; his features spoke eloquently of despair; and his clothes hung loosely where formerly they had closely encased his rotundities.
“I should never have believed that a man could lose so much flesh in so little time,” said Lawrence in a low tone.
“Do him good,” returned Bob unfeelingly. “Ditta Lal, I’m going to speak to the men, and I want you to translate faithfully what I say—no additions or subtractions.”
“I will do my best, sir,” said the Babu with unwonted simplicity. “My voice is not strong; I am fading away like a flower.”
“For goodness’ sake say something to buck him up,” whispered Lawrence, “or he’ll damp their courage with his lugubrious manner.”
“Look here, Babu,” said Bob, “Major Endicott is telegraphing for reinforcements. They should be here in a week.”
“Can I believe my ears?”
“You can believe me. The Government knows all about us. The commander-in-chief himself has asked us to hold the place for a week, and we’re going to do it.”
“That’s jolly bucking, sir,” said the Babu in his usual manner. “The hour brings forth the man. The King-Emperor will dub you knight, or at least baronet, for thus stepping into deadly breach, and——”
“We’re wasting time,” Bob interrupted. “Just tell the men what I say.”
“Right-o, sir. My voice is recovering wonted rotundity. Fire away!”
Lawrence’s eyes twinkled more than once during the Babu’s address to the garrison. Bob’s words were simple and direct, with no surplusage of rhetoric: Ditta Lal transformed them into an oration.
“Sikhs and Pathans, Rajputs, Gurkhas and Chitralis,” he said, “misfortune makes brothers of us all. In a thunderstorm the lion and the ass are friends. The thunderstorm is about to burst upon us. We have heard the first rumblings; we have seen the lightning flash in the lurid sky; and the huzur having been taken from us by the hand of the Kalmucks, we have lost our chief defence and stay.
“Yet in the blackest night we behold a star of hope. My brother the chota sahib” (the Babu spoke as though translating) “has even now returned from a frontier house where the Sirdar who for one brief day shed the light of his countenance upon us, spoke to the Sirkar along the quivering wire, that carries men’s thoughts swifter than speech. The Sirkar far away knows us what we are, and how we, a handful of men, are beset in this narrow valley by a host of evil-doers, in number like the stars of heaven. The Sirkar knows that though we be few, yet are we stout of heart and strong of hand. The lurid storm-cloud does not oppress us, nor does the lightning fire appal our souls. We are not the men to quail before a host of flat-nosed dogs. The order is given that we sharpen our swords and resist to the uttermost, and within a week—such is the word—the Sirkar will send a great army to strengthen our hands and smite the enemy until not one of them is left. I have said that we will do even as the Sirkar has commanded. Will you put me to shame? Will you not rather brace yourselves to the conflict, and oppose yourselves like a wall of adamant to these off-scourings of the plains?”
This was the spirit if not the letter of Bob’s appeal, and the whole assembly responded with cheers and passionate ejaculations of loyalty. The Sikhs, some of whom understood English and knew that the Babu had interpolated a good deal, had listened gravely, their inveterate contempt of the unwarlike Bengali yielding to their appreciation of the effect he aimed at. Later on, Ganda Singh spat, and said to Gur Buksh that any one would know the Bengali for a coward, because his words were so big. The more simple miners were as impressible to high-sounding eloquence as any ignorant mob all the world over; and when the Babu, at a word from Lawrence, wound up his speech with the announcement that Major Endicott had sent some service rifles and a large stock of ammunition for their use, they cheered again and again. Those timid ones who had fled from the breastwork earlier in the day shouted the loudest, to ease themselves of their shame.
The Appletons never knew that after the assembly had been dismissed Ditta Lal, in a private audience of some of the Pathans, indulged his fancy in announcements that were quite unauthorised.
“Tidings of our prowess and valour,” he said, “will be spoken in the ear of the King-Emperor over the black water, and the august majesty of our great prince will deal bountifully with us and shower his graciousness upon us. He will take the sahibs our masters by the hand and lift them up the steps of his throne, speak them words of comfort and set them on his right hand among his lords; and furthermore, the humblest of us shall be exalted and be bounteously rewarded. A lakh of rupees will be distributed among those who quit themselves well, and we shall be satisfied with a feast of fat things.”
As the brothers returned to the house, Bob said:
“I’m very much inclined to make another attempt to hold our breastwork. It’s bad tactics to let the enemy have free course between the bend and the bridge. Probably if I lead a detachment myself the men will follow readily enough.”
“I daresay you’re right on the point of tactics, but you ought to have a good sleep before you try it. You look very fagged; I suppose you’ve been up all night.”
“Pretty nearly.”
“Well, go and lie down. I’ll take charge. I had a good night’s rest at the frontier house. It’s clear the enemy are waiting for their guns, and you ought to be able to get at least six hours’ sleep before there’s any danger. Of course I’ll wake you if they make a move.”
“Then I’ll take your advice. The trouble will begin at night, and there’ll be no chance of sleep then.”
Left to himself, Lawrence went round the defences, noting the admirable arrangements Bob had made during his absence. As he looked southward up the river, the sight of the pathway along the face of the cliff suggested the necessity of doing something to protect any one who should pass over the portion exposed to the enemy. If they should succeed in pushing their entrenchments southward beyond the bend, they would be able to pick off any man who passed between the mine and the aeroplane platform, and it was essential that access to the latter should be maintained.
After consultation with Gur Buksh, he hit on a means of giving the pathway the security required. Two rows of planks laid on edge along its outer border would completely screen a man crawling along by the rock wall, even from the sight of an enemy on the bank immediately opposite. He collected a number of men who were expert in handling tools, and sent them to construct this parapet. A few shots were fired at them when they began their work, but they were screened by the planks, and the enemy, having nothing to aim at, soon desisted. To hold the parapet firmly in position, uprights were nailed to the planks at intervals, and screwed down on to the timbers of the pathway.
When the work was done Lawrence felt far more at ease regarding the safety of the aeroplane. The guards on the platform could now be relieved more frequently. They could be reinforced from the mine within a few minutes, or withdrawn without risk.
The enemy’s continued inactivity confirmed Lawrence in his belief that they were waiting for the field guns. When he saw those being dragged laboriously up the track, he had suggested to Major Endicott to shatter them with a charge of dynamite dropped from the aeroplane. But the Major pointed out that others would immediately be brought up from the main army. Such an attack would be more effective later, when they were nearer to the mine. Their replacement then would be a matter of much longer time.
It occurred to Lawrence now that it would be well to reconnoitre the enemy’s position before Bob attempted to reoccupy his entrenchment, or at any rate to cover his movement by a diversion on the part of the aeroplane. Bob could not leave the mine in daylight without exposing himself to the enemy’s fire. If he waited for darkness, he might find himself anticipated by them; and even with the searchlight against them they would have far less to fear from the garrison by night than by day. It would be almost impossible to prevent a sudden determined rush. The enemy would lose a number of men; but they could afford to sacrifice some lives in a successful effort to improve their position. Nothing, however, could be done without consultation with Bob, so Lawrence waited patiently until about four o’clock in the afternoon, the time which he had fixed on for awakening his brother.
Remembering the mishap with Major Endicott up the river, he got Fazl to protect the engine and the petrol cans by slinging a number of iron plates under the chassis of the aeroplane. By means of these he hoped to reduce risk from the enemy’s rifles when he should start on his reconnaissance. The Kalmucks northward had had no experience of the dynamite bombs, unless indeed some of those whom Bob had chased down the track were among them. But even without any definite fear of the aeroplane they would recognise it as a means of intelligence to the garrison of the mine, and would certainly be eager to put it out of action.
Bob on being awakened at once agreed to Lawrence’s suggestion of a reconnaissance.
“I’d like to go myself,” he said, “but we can’t both go, and I’d better stick to my job. Take Fazl with you. You may have to bombard them if you find the guns close at hand.”
“If I do, that will be your best chance of occupying your breastwork again.”
“Undoubtedly. I’ll lower the drawbridge and have my party ready; and if I hear any explosions I’ll make a rush for it. But let us have a clear understanding. You won’t drop any bombs unless you find the guns close at hand, or unless the enemy are up to something that looks threatening. There’s very little dynamite left. Besides, at this stage it’s no good merely to frighten the enemy. It’s war now. I shall take it that your explosions mean serious business.”
“All right. In any case I shall be back in an hour.”