Herbert Strang

“ While they were still sipping their tea, squatting on the deck, Salathiel ben Ezra, who had hitherto kept in the background, came to Mr. Greatorex and begged the favour of a few minutes’ conversation.
“I ask you, excellency, to be so kind, as let me go with the men, when they leave this ship. I have business on land; and thank you for your kindness, and take leave respectfully.”
“Hm! Moors friends of yours, eh?”
“No, no; the Moors do not love the men of my nation; they oppress us; they call us dogs and sons of swine.” ”

“ Flitting silently across the square, Tom and the Moor took post under the shadow of the colonnade on the farther side, which ran at right angles to the wall of the kasbah. Within it was a row of shops, now shut and barred. There, leaning against one of the stout columns, within the black darkness of the Moorish arch, Tom scanned the kasbah, looming white in the moonlight, and meditated. ”

“ With the vertical screws at full speed, and the horizontal screws half speed, the machine rose like a huge bird from the deck, with a noise like the clattering of hundreds of bats and the humming of innumerable bees. At the height of sixty feet or so Tom stopped the vertical screws, and turned the full power of his engines on to the horizontal propellers, giving to the planes just sufficient inclination to counteract the force of gravity. ”

“ The men had noticed that the airship, instead of continuing its north-westerly course, had suddenly taken a turn to the left, and was making at tremendous speed straight for the village of Ain Afroo. Rising higher into the air, so that he could get a view over the shoulder of the hill, Tom saw that the whole body of horsemen, now joined by the sheikh and his party, were riding at a mad gallop for the village. By this time the airship was a mile ahead of them, and the two Englishmen laughed heartily as they watched the frantic efforts of the Moors to reduce the gap. ”

“ Leaving him to it, Oliphant got back into the car. Tom pressed the lever, and the airship, relieved of near two hundredweight of German subject and the lesser bulk of the Moor, soared into the air. Tom’s last view, as the vessel rose clear of the kasbah, was Schwab limping across the roof under the burden of a large stone from the coping.
“A most singular proceeding!” murmured Sir Mark, as the airship whirred over the hills. “I wonder how I stand—diplomatically considered. The vessel goes with consummate ease. There is positively no roll—nothing to cause seasickness.” ”

“ Greatorex’s expressed determination to go home. “The sooner I’m off the better, for that rascally Jew will tell all he knows about the airship, and the Moors will be on their guard.”
“But we’re going home, Tom.”
“Surely you won’t let our enterprise be ruined by a rogue!” replied Tom. “There’s all the more reason for going on with it.”
“Gad, you’re right,” cried Mr. Greatorex, veering round again. “We’ll do it in the teeth of them. But you’ll want some one with you in place of Tim. If I were twenty years younger I’d go myself. You want a man who knows something about engines. ”

“ A scattered volley brought half a dozen of the advancing horsemen to the dust. The rest, unable, owing to the rugged uneven ground, to see with what force they had to contend, reined up and hesitated. Another volley caused them to draw off to some little distance, where they formed a group and began to discuss how to retrieve this unexpected check.
“Now for the boat, my lads!” cried Mr. Greatorex.
Up sprang the men, and the whole body made a dash down the cliff. Before the Moors had agreed upon their course, the fugitives were half-way down. ”

“ Nothing succeeds like success. Did you come all the way from England in this admirable machine?”
“No, sir. We were brought out on Mr. Greatorex’s yacht, which is now waiting for us at the shore.”
“That is good news, for in truth, seeing the limited carrying capacity of your airship, I had wondered how we were all to get away.”
“That’s our difficulty, sir. Our fuel is almost gone, and I’m very much afraid there isn’t enough left to make even one journey back to the yacht. There’s plenty on board, if we can manage to reach it.” ”

“ At such times Abdul would throw a hurried glance back; well he knew what their fate would be if they were captured.
Suddenly he edged a little closer to Tom and whispered—
“Men follow us!”
By this time they were almost within reach of the wall. Tom was alive to the danger in which the pursuit had placed them. Descending the wall, they would have to grope for foothold. Before they could get clear, the pursuers would have come up behind, and might either topple down upon them loose boulders from the wall, or, if they bore firearms, have them at their mercy. ”

“ Tom was beside him, ready to start the propellers; Schwab was ensconced in the corner furthest from danger.
“Call Abdul, Oliphant,” said Tom.
Oliphant went to the head of the stairs and called; Abdul came bounding up, and in half a minute all five were packed into the car. It was a very tight fit, and Tom felt a tremor of apprehension as he pressed the lever. The vertical propellers answered instantly to his touch, but they beat the air ineffectually: the airship absolutely refused to rise.
“It won’t lift us!” he said, aghast. “We’re too heavy. Some one must be left behind.” ”

“ He took up the little machine, released another spring, and the miniature airship went flying to 37 the ceiling, where it remained until the spring ran down.
“All very well,” said Mr. Greatorex, unwilling to admit that he was impressed; “but the thing is only a toy. There’s all the difference in the world between a model and the real thing, you know. You could never get a spring strong enough to lift a real machine. I’m not satisfied that you could even get the horizontal motion you’re so cocksure of, with a machine that would carry men.” ”

“ Tom could not forbear chuckling as he came upon the rotund black-capped figure of Salathiel ben Ezra striving to urge his steady-going mule to a brisker pace.
“Is it safe to leave him behind?” asked Oliphant, as the Jew was outstripped and passed.
“Oh yes! We’ll come back for him presently. We could easily catch him up. If the mule is like most of his kind he won’t hurry himself.”
The airship sped on after the rest of the party. ”

“ While a shot would undoubtedly have raised the guard at the kasbah, and brought a party in hot haste to the spot, the cries of a man yelling would probably only cause a certain sleepy curiosity. A Moor never puts himself to unnecessary trouble, and it would certainly not be worth while to pay much attention to a brawl between men who had smoked too much hashish. But there was still need for haste, so with Abdul’s assistance Tom trussed up the fallen swordsmith with workmanlike bonds made of his own garments, and in another minute was beginning the descent of the wall. ”

“ But the man seemed indeed quite incapable of movement, except when scared to frenzy by the efforts of the youth below to regain the position from which he had been forced. He made no attempt to clutch the grapnel dangling at his very hand. Tom let the machine fall lower, until the grapnel came within reach of the younger man. He showed no such hesitation. Looking along the cable, he saw Timothy gazing down at him from the car. The sight of a human face gave him confidence. He clutched at the grapnel, let go his hold of the mast, and swung clear, Timothy attempting to steady the rope. ”

“ Abdul was making for the spot at which they had entered the village; it was the nearest, indeed the only practicable, place of descent. But to descend, with the pursuers upon them, would be dangerous, perhaps fatal. To leave this place of exit, and move farther along the ramparts or back into the village, would be almost equally dangerous and would lose precious time. The only other course open to them was to tackle the problem of disposing of the pursuers. Tom nervously fingered his revolver; but a shot would rouse the whole village and multiply the pursuers perhaps fiftyfold. ”

“ There are, as you know, even in Morocco, evil counsellors, men of violence, some who would even dare to lift their hands against the Sultan himself. If there be any such in this village, which truly I am loth to believe, I advise you, as brother advises brother, to exhort them to mildness of demeanour. These friends of mine who now enjoy your hospitality are men of war; they have arms, you perceive, in the use of which they are well skilled ”

“ The airship was now less than half a mile distant, and from the altitude to which they had risen—some three hundred feet above the surface—the occupants could see every detail in the strange drama that was being enacted beneath them. Assisted by the figure above, the swimmer was gradually making his way on to the mast, when suddenly a black fin appeared above the surface a few yards off. With a convulsive movement, the lowermost man had just succeeded in swinging himself a foot or two up the mast when the gaping jaws of a shark passed immediately beneath him. Tom shuddered involuntarily. ”

“ Tom’s muscles were hardened by much exercise in engineering workshops, and Hamadi, though a big man and strong, as befitted one of his trade, was not prepared for so surprising an attack. Before he could recover his wits Tom was upon him, pressing the cold barrel of his revolver to his ear. The man, although dizzy, had still enough intelligence left to know what this meant, and he lay quite still while Tom pondered how he could at the same time secure his vanquished foe and lend assistance to his companion, who was now hotly engaged with the apprentice. Abdul, however, needed no help. ”

“ Behind, Schwab was imploring him to explain what the sheikh had said. It turned out as he had feared. His former companion with a few others left the sheikh and disappeared; the rest made themselves comfortable within a few yards of the foot of the hill. Abdul had little doubt that he would soon have to reckon with an attack from above; not an easy matter, in truth, but far more likely to succeed than any attempt from below. ”

“ It was clearly impossible for Abdul to ride much farther: the horses were in a terrible state of exhaustion. They were cropping the scanty herbage at the side of the track—poor refreshment after the fatigue they had undergone.
“The Moors’ horses must be equally played out, that’s one comfort,” said Tom;—“at least, those that have pursued us all the way, if any have. That’s doubtful: the Moors have probably drawn on every village they have come through.”
“I say, did you hear that?” asked Oliphant. ”

“ Hand over hand he swarmed up the cable until he reached the lower rail of the car, which he clutched, and by Timothy’s aid he clambered over. Meanwhile Tom had steered the airship towards the approaching boat.
“Give way with a will, men!” he shouted. “There’s no time to be lost. We’ve got one; the other man will be nabbed by a shark if you aren’t there pretty soon. I can see the brute’s fin above the water just by the mast.”
The men spurted. As the boat approached the submerged vessel, the shark took fright and glided swiftly away. ”

“ Greatorex, slapping him on the back. “This is going to turn out all right, my boy. What does it feel like, being up there?”
“Like a fish out of water, I should think,” 71 said Tom, laughing. “But I thought what a helpless thing a man-of-war would be if she had to tackle an airship. I could choose my own altitude, and drop explosives on her deck and blow her to smithereens, and there’s no gun that I know of that could make an effective reply. They’d have to invent a rocket apparatus for shying melinite shells aloft.” ”

“ Who’d have thought they’d have kept it up so long?”
“Well, you see, they know that one of us is on horseback: that means that the machine won’t carry us all; and in the nature of things they can overtake a rider.”
“I can see nothing for it but that Abdul must push on alone,” said Tom. “We can manage to get along slowly, and as long as the machine can keep us afloat at all they can’t catch us. But if they catch sight of Abdul he’s bound to be run down. Abdul, you must go on by yourself. Get to the coast if you can, and swim out to the yacht—can you swim?” ”