“ His feeble searchlight scarcely illuminated the space between the bridge and the bend; beyond the bend it gave no light whatever. In the darkness the enemy might creep up to within a short distance of their captured breastwork and carry it with a determined rush, in spite of the gun. It was true that the narrowness of the track would allow the approach of only a few men abreast; but they could be supported by a constant succession of reinforcements, coming up like waves of the sea until the defenders were worn out. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Lawrence was fortunately cool of head and a rapid thinker. After a moment of stupefaction he saw his course clearly. The danger from the air must be met in the air. This could only be done by rising above the enemy's monoplane, and hurling his bombs down upon it. The Kalmuck pilot would be as anxious as he to avoid an actual collision, which must prove disastrous to both the machines. It was wholly a question of manoeuvring for position.
The glimpse he had caught of the hostile aeroplane as it flashed by, suggested that it was a much larger and more powerful machine than his own. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ The Pathans threw up their hands in consternation, invoking the name of Allah and pouring out a torrent of curses upon Nurla Bai and the Kalmucks. Mr. Appleton was very popular among them, and the news of his loss, and of the escape of the assassin, filled them with dismay and rage.
"Beyond doubt the huzur is dead," said Fyz Ali, pulling at his beard. "Allah is great! The huzur could not live, falling wounded into the swift water. He sank like a stone, and lies at the bottom. We shall cast dust upon our heads for our father."
"You were just in time to save us," said Lawrence. ”

“ The machine gun had ceased to play on the track when it was cleared of the enemy. Now there were forty or fifty men trapped in the dark wedge-like area between the beam of the searchlight and the breastwork. They knew that if any of them dared to attempt a rush back they would be the target for innumerable bullets. One or two did rashly hazard a retreat, but as soon as they encroached upon the luminous band the gun's rattle scarcely gave them warning of the shots that fell among them almost instantaneously. The rest cowered in the darkness, waiting for death. ”

“ The boys were incredulous: they themselves were almost deafened by the roar of the guns and the crash of falling masonry. But immediately afterwards, in the interval between the shots, they caught the sound--the continuous throbbing drone, like a gigantic sewing-machine at work. They looked at each other aghast. For a moment or two they were mute: then Bob said:
"You must get aloft at once. It's our only chance. Get above the aeroplane, and bomb it. There's no time to lose."
Lawrence set off at a run, the Gurkha behind him. ”

“ Are not their eyes keen and their minds swift? They fear nothing, and overlook nothing. Fyz Ali told me how the chota sahib rode back to help him when he was alone and beset by the Kalmucks, and the chota sahib is no man of war. Of a truth, the sahibs know not what fear is. And Bob Sahib carried food to the Pathans up the river; he thinks of their welfare, and they love him. What is to come we know not, but be sure there will be very great doings here."
"Hark, havildar! What is that?"
Chunda Beg sprang off the wall, and bent over it with the havildar, straining his eyes into the darkness. ”

“ But the garrison were dropping man by man. Gur Buksh, conspicuous by his height, fell to a bullet. Ganda Singh fought on, though a bayonet had transfixed his arm. Fyz Ali was shot as he was in the act of bringing the butt of his rifle down upon the head of a big Kalmuck who was forcing his way through the narrow gap into the compound. Bob, fainting from his former hurts, sank down unconscious among his wounded men. As yet unscathed, Lawrence stood in the gap, and the number of prostrate forms in front of him bore witness to his unfaltering vigour. ”

“ He was momentarily expecting to hear the hum of the returning aeroplane when, with a suddenness that took him all aback, there was a tremendous roar, followed in a second or two by a terrific crash just beyond the Pathan compound. Turning in consternation to discover the cause of it, he saw a great mass of the cliff falling amid a cloud of dust and smoke upon the wooden pathway, and plunging into the river beneath. Such destruction could only be the effect of a shell. Beyond doubt one at least of the field guns had been brought into position behind the enemy's breastwork at the bend. ”

“ The way might already be blocked by hordes of tribesmen gathering strength for their swoop upon the Punjab--an adventure which, utterly absurd as it seemed, and foredoomed to disaster, would work havoc on the frontier until it was crushed by the might of the Imperial power. They saw themselves shut up as in a trap between the 20,000 men on the north, and the innumerable host which the scent of plunder would attract to the Afghans' banner.
"We shall have to stick it now, in any case," said Bob to Lawrence. "Khansaman, take Ganda Singh to Gur Buksh: he will find him quarters. Then go to bed. ”

“ The Major signalled with his hand, and the two watchers, guessing at his meaning, rode on a little way until they came to the spot where he had begun his descent. Dismounting, and leading the horses carefully, they picked their way, the orderly leading, down the steep and rugged hillside. When they came to the foot, and joined the party, the Major turned to the man who had come first out of the ruins with him, and with a slight smile addressed him in a strange tongue. The man drew himself up, clicked his heels together, and saluted Lawrence in military style, murmuring:
"Salaam, sahib." ”

“ With a spirited captain the warlike Pathans will go anywhere and do anything. Responding to his call with a true mountaineer's yell the men urged their steeds to a gallop, and swooped down upon the still hesitating enemy.
Lawrence could not have decided better if all the circumstances had been known to him. Some of the Kalmucks, after the failure of their night attack, had crossed the river some distance below the bridge, and marching on foot for long hours in the darkness over the difficult and tortuous path through the hills, had turned back along the track to take the defenders in the rear. ”

“ The Gurkha made a slight clucking in his throat, at which the Pathans lifted their heads and looked eagerly along the path. Then Fazl held up one finger, and beckoned. The heads disappeared, and in a moment two of the Pathans came round the corner of the rock.
"Only one," said Bob.
Fazl made them understand by gestures. One of the men returned, the other came on.
"Allah is great, sahib!" he said in his own tongue as he met Bob. "But why is the sahib on foot? A few more such thunderbolts would send the dogs to Jehannum: have you no more in the wonderful machine?" ”

“ He asked Gur Buksh to report.
"I have done what the huzur said, sahib," declared the havildar in deep measured tones. "No work has been done to-day. We have kept the Pathans and the Kalmucks apart. They have reviled each other; blood has been hot, and I feared they would use their guns upon each other; but some of my men have patrolled the ground between them, and kept the peace."
"You have done well," said Bob; "though if the men had been kept at work they could not have got into mischief." ”

“ Faster than they could hurl the enemy down at the point of the bayonet, others swarmed up. Bob was on the point of shouting an order to retire to his own original breastwork up the track when, above the shouts and yells of the combatants, sounded the characteristic rattle of the machine gun. Instantly he recognised how this might operate in his favour. The gun could not be trained on the men who were actually at grips with him, but in a few seconds it had swept a huge gap in the column advancing in serried ranks along the track, and deprived his immediate assailants of their support. ”

“ The havildar, a fine soldierly figure, stood in silence before the two lads, pondering deeply.
"The men are very weary, sahib," he said at length. "They could not start before morning. There are not horses for all: the march would be slow, and the journey would be long. We should not be safe for a hundred miles, and if the enemy is so numerous, they would pursue us not only along the track, but over the hills, and outstrip us, and we should not escape." ”

“ Struggling to wrench himself free, he rolled over, dragging the panting enemy with him, their movements carrying them nearer and nearer to the camp-fire; and in a sudden flicker of light he recognized the savage features of Black Jack.
In sheer muscular strength he was no match for the Kalmuck dwarf. Under the crushing pressure of Black Jack's fierce grip his hold on the knife was relaxing: the weapon was slipping from him. His hold upon the man's throat weakened; the Kalmuck was digging his nails into his left arm. As the under dog he was not able to cope with the man pressing him down. ”

“ Bob's aeroplane. What you want, my dear sir, to keep India safe, is a corps of air patrols, with Bob as boss and Lawrence as second in command. We've got the finest navy in the world: for its size we've got the finest army; and we ought to wake up and get the finest air fleet, and the finest corps of airmen that can be trained. ”

“ It was the first opportunity of rest and quiet meditation since Nurla Bai's defection had so fatally disturbed the peaceful life of the settlement. Of his uncle he could now think only as of one irrevocably lost. It was the end of mining in the Hindu Kush. Whatever the immediate future might bring forth, it was clear that Lawrence and he must seek some other career. And when he reckoned up the chances, he felt more and more doubtful whether either of them would escape from this valley of tragedy with their lives. ”

“ No doubt a further supply of fuel and oil had been despatched after them, but it would take a week or more to reach them over such rugged country. If he could only keep them fruitlessly employed until they were forced to leave the gorge through failing petrol, he would gain perhaps just enough time for the garrison to prolong their defence until the expected relief force arrived.
Thought is quicker even than an aeroplane's flight: these hopes, conjectures, volitions flashed through Lawrence's mind in the interval between his venturesome circuit and his arrival at the bend. ”

“ For some time he found it impossible to gather anything definite from their frenzied clamour. Then, singling out one man as a spokesman, and bidding the rest be silent, he heard a startling story. Muhammad Din, the Pathan foreman, had been discovered in his hut with a knife in his throat. Mr. Appleton had a great liking for the man--a rough uncouth fellow, but an excellent workman and very popular with the men of his race. He at once gave orders that Muhammad should be carried across the bridge to the house, and announced that he would hold an inquiry after breakfast. ”

“ To give warning by a shout would but alarm the hill-men. They could save time only by hazarding a direct descent. Turning sharply off the track, they began to scramble down the hillside, trusting themselves to their sure-footed ponies. In their excitement they gave no thought to the risks they ran, and only became partially aware of them when, reaching the road, they were met by Major Endicott, who had for some minutes been watching their venturesome feat with growing wrath and indignation. ”

“ When the two men were gone, Bob threw himself into a chair.
"Light up," he said. "There'll be no more sleep for us to-night."
"What a brick the Major is!" said Lawrence. "Poor old chap! He won't cave in without giving those blackguards something to remember, but if things are as bad as Ganda Singh says it's all up with him. Nothing on earth will induce him to leave his men, or he might make a bolt for it. ”