Frank Forester

“ We shall resist and persist; at least I shall—I, Frank Forester, who never in my life have killed a bird out of season intentionally, and who never will—who am compelled by sham sportsmen, cockney and pot-gunners to shoot woodcock in July; who have been invited, times out and over again, to shoot cock on men’s own ground, and therefore within the letter of the law, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, before the season; who have ever refused to take the advantages, which every one takes over me ”

“ The man turned, but Frank signed to him imperatively to go on, then sauntered back along the jetty, one hand holding the cigarette, the other fingering the revolver in his pocket. Abdi had raised himself from his recumbent posture, and in a crouching attitude was peering out from beneath the low awning. The glow of the sun, setting over the hills behind, struck full upon his eyes: Frank's were shadowed. Frank half turned as if watching the retreating launch man, all the time slowly approaching the vessel, thus gaining ground without revealing his face. ”

“ The man nodded. Then Frank opened the door, and stole on his toes round the back of Wonckhaus's chair to the stool. From this he took up a lemon about the size of a hen's egg, and with the quickness of a conjurer slipped it into the gaping mouth. The German awoke with a convulsive start and shudder--and his eyes, bleared with sleep, fell on a revolver pointed within six inches of his temple, and above it the face, a little grimmer than it had ever appeared in a photograph, of the man whom he had not seen for many weeks, even in his dreams. ”

“ It was even announced that the Governor himself would shortly be replaced by a German officer of high rank. One morning Joseph announced that Wonckhaus had appeared in the uniform of a major in the Turkish army; it had become known that in his own country he had been a captain of Landwehr. The ostensible merchant had been all along, it was clear, an agent of the German Government.
Weeks passed, irksomely, drearily. No letter came from Mr. Forester. Frank was never allowed to leave his house. Night and day a sentry stood on guard. Frank could take exercise only in his yard and on his roof. ”

“ Tomlinson," said Mr. Forester. "Frank has told me little more than the bare fact."
"There you are, Frank. You want uncorking. Well, when Frank came back to the peninsula I didn't see him for a while. He was interpreting; a soft job, by all accounts, for the Turkish prisoners are very reticent. But the battery on Sari Bair began to be very troublesome, and our fliers couldn't locate it. Frank offered to have a shot, and crept up the gully one night, in rags borrowed from a prisoner ”

“ Joseph was moving back slowly when a long wail came down the sky. Next moment there was a crash. Joseph flung himself face downward on the sand. Frank had jumped a little, but his gaze had passed downward from the aeroplane to the wharf. A huge column of smoke, dust, splinters of wood had risen just at the end of the landing-place. Men were running about in all directions, horses and mules were galloping, maddened oxen were lumbering away with heavy-laden wagons; and the humming bird soared on serenely.
When the agitation was stilled and order restored, Kopri beckoned up the two young men. ”

“ Wonckhaus was saying.
"Jawohl, Herr Major."
At this moment shouts came from the direction of the pool. Frank smiled again: the suspended Turk had at last mustered the courage of despair.
"What is that horrible noise?" demanded Wonckhaus.
"It is probably the hamal," replied the engine-man.
"Why does he shout? What is the matter with him? Is he drowning?"
"No, Herr Major, he is hanging."
"Lieber Himmel! What do you mean?"
"He is half way up. I left him there when the Herr Major summoned me. He is getting tired. He will drop."
"Dummkopf! Go and haul him up instantly. He is a useful man." ”

“ The town swarms with spies. Every man is spying on his neighbour. It will be far better for your friend, and for me also, if he returns in your vessel to Constantinople, and makes his way thence to the Bulgarian frontier."
The old man's distress was so patent that Frank at once assented to his suggestion.
"It is not fair to involve you in my troubles," he said. "I will leave at once."
"It will be two or three days before I can take you back," said Kopri. "I am ordered to go on to Chanak with ammunition for the forts. Benidin will perhaps give you shelter until I return." ”

“ The look-out must be prevented from giving the alarm. Frank showed the seamen how they might approach the tree from the rear unperceived, and ordered them to make the man their prisoner. When that was done he would give the expected signal to the others.
The seamen had only just disappeared among the trees when Frank was startled by the sound of a horse cantering up the road towards the bungalow. Running to the window of the room facing the road, he saw that the horseman was the Turkish officer who had been with Wonckhaus two days before. ”

“ Yet there is no other way. We must leave that shrieking jackal and his load; there is no time to gather up the many things that are scattered."
"No, we can't leave him, but we'll leave the things," said Frank. "Get on your mule and ride with us," he called to the man.
Hastening down to the track, they pushed on with all possible speed in the direction of Erzerum. Laden as they were, the mules could not go at any great pace over the rough ground, and the carpet being the heaviest part of the load, the speed of the whole party was regulated by that of the mule bearing it. ”

“ Truly the ways of the Franks are past understanding, and the chief of these Almans is the maddest of all. He is a hermit; yet big and fierce, and not lean and weak like our own holy men. With him there are certain others of less degree, who do what he bids them. His dwelling is on the shore of the gulf, and the ground around it is enclosed by a fence of wire with many sharp spikes. In the fence there is but one gate, and none is allowed to enter except those bringing stores. ”

“ The one essential condition of success was that none of the German's party should get away. The escape of a single man might ruin the enterprise.
Frank waited some time at his post of observation, to make sure that his estimate of the number of the enemy was accurate. He saw the last load carried from the cart to the hut; it was a nine-gallon cask of beer; then one of the Turks mounted, and drove off down the road. As soon as he no longer heard the rumbling of the wheels, Frank hastened back to his friends.
"I thought you were never coming," said the lieutenant-commander. "Is she there?" ”

“ Allah preserve us! What will the man say when he returns?"
She went to the door and looked out for her husband; it was time for him to come for his evening meal. Frank already regretted his hasty action. If only the woman would go out! If only she had not believed her small son, but had gone upstairs to prove him! Apparently he was a truth-teller. Frank felt himself condemned to a long and wearisome detention. The farmer would return; he would eat his supper; then rugs would be spread on the board, and the good people would sleep there. ”

“ In a few minutes, rounding a corner, he overtook a transport wagon drawn by two oxen. It flashed upon him that he would attract less attention if he got a lift on it. Stepping up to the front of the wagon, he hailed the driver.
"Give me a lift," he said. "I've walked from Sari Bair, where we are placing a battery. It's very tiring, walking over the hills."
"That is true, effendim," said the man. "Your excellency may do as he pleases."
Frank got up beside the driver. The wagon lumbered on. As it neared Maidos it passed people here and there; they saluted the supposed officer without suspicion. ”

“ Turning, he beckoned to the seamen to join him. They came swiftly on tiptoe, screened from the look-out in the tree-top, not far away to their left, by the row of trees that almost overhung the bungalow.
Frank signed to them to stoop and follow him. Bending low, he crept along below the verandah, stopped for a moment to peep into a room, and finding that it was a bedroom and empty, led them on towards the kitchen. This, too, a glance showed to be unoccupied. But the servant must be near at hand, for Frank heard the splashing of water and the clatter of crockery. He must be washing up. ”

“ Wonckhaus had no need of trickery if he wished to increase the rigour of Frank's imprisonment. "I'll risk it," he murmured.
And now his difficulties began. Inside, the window had only a narrow ledge; outside, it was flush with the wall: there was no sill. When once he had got through, there was no possibility of returning; but to get through--that was the problem. There was no secure foothold after he left the table; the window was too low for him to stand upright on the ledge, or even to sit on it. He would have to haul himself out by main strength. ”

“ He is rather interested."
"I am indeed," said the captain. "After what you have gone through, interpreting must be dull work--duller than mine, for it's not very exciting to fire at long range without much chance of getting one back."
"It's not very exhilarating, certainly," replied Frank. "The prisoners haven't much to tell. They don't like their German officers, and haven't an idea what they are fighting for. Fighting is their job, and Kismet covers it all.... You haven't been hit from Sari Bair, then?"
"No, though their shells drop pretty close sometimes. ”

“ According to Frank's calculation it was about seven miles from their landing-place to the bungalow by the road, possibly a little shorter distance along the cliffs. But they would gain nothing in time by taking the shorter way, owing to the denseness of the woodland. To proceed along the road would almost certainly be fatal, for unfrequented though it was, no one could say that some member of the Turko-German party, or some messenger from a distance, might not happen to pass on an errand, and the sight of eight men in British uniform would give the game away. ”

“ Two hours' hard riding brought Frank and his party, in the dusk of evening, to a large village on the edge of the plain of Erzerum. There was little or no danger of further molestation; in populous places an attack on a well-known English merchant might entail disagreeable consequences, since the authorities would be almost forced to take action; all the same, Frank wished that he could have completed his journey without pause. ”

“ Frank had posted himself at the upper end of his little force, by the barricade: Tomlinson at the lower. From this end Frank suddenly heard murmurs of conversation, in tones which, though low, had a note of excitement. In a few moments a man came to him up the gully.
"I'm Sergeant Jukes, sir," he said--"crept up the gully from below. Some one told the major about you up here, and he sent me to say, hold on as long as you can. They're getting ready to advance down there." ”

“ He related the incidents on the road. The Turkish governor listened to him coldly.
"I take a note of what you say, effendim," he said; "but you must know that Wonckhaus Effendi has already preferred a charge against you--that you blocked up the road with rocks, so that it was impassable. That, you are aware, is a serious offence. No one but a military officer in the exercise of his duty is permitted to block a road."
"As I have already explained, excellency," said Frank patiently, "I merely completed what Herr Wonckhaus had begun. ”

“ The snoring abruptly ceased, but no answer was given; the sleepers had not been fully awakened. The knock was repeated. A sleepy voice from the bed said "Enter." The door opened, and Frank, being unluckily almost behind it, could not slip out. There was a little diffused light from the moon below the horizon, just sufficient to reveal Frank's form, in its long military great-coat, to the newcomer.
"A runner with a despatch from headquarters, effendim," said the man, taking Frank for one of his own officers. ”

“ Frank was by this time suffering painfully from his cramped position and the foul air. At first he had intended to remain in his hiding-place until the officers departed in the morning, and then to seize the first opportunity of slipping away. But as time went on he became convinced that he could not endure his situation through the long night. Before morning he would be asphyxiated, or so racked with pain as to have lost the use of his limbs. If he did not escape during the hours of darkness he would be unable to escape at all. ”

“ A few minutes afterwards Ali came to a sudden halt, and hurriedly bade the other members of the party draw in towards the left, under cover of a projecting spur.
"What is it?" asked Frank.
"Men coming towards us, ten or twelve," replied the man. "We must wait until I can see who they are." ”

“ People were apparently moving about now that the havoc-working shells had ceased to fall. He distinguished a question, evidently from a stranger to the town.
"Whose house is this?"
"Benidin's."
"A dog of an Armenian?"
"Even so."
There was a laugh.
"Is he inside?"
"Who knows? If he is buried in the ruins, so much the better."
"A rich man? All these Armenian dogs are rich. Let us see what we can find."
Frank heard scuffling footsteps approaching, and was tempted to call for help. But the recollection that he was dressed as an Armenian checked the impulse. ”