Part 24 (1/2)

”Not asleep, Dorrell?”

Tom grunted, but did not stir. Another minute or two, then he suddenly jumped up.

”Well, I think I've got it,” he said, and he chuckled.

”What is it?”

”Come along. I'll explain as we go.”

The two mounted the car; Tom started the ascensional screws; and the airs.h.i.+p rose slowly from the hill. When they had left the ground some three hundred feet beneath them they saw, a mile or more distant, the body of hors.e.m.e.n who had set off in pursuit from the Moors' encampment.

The airs.h.i.+p was headed in the direction from which they had come, and when they saw it they halted, and waited until it had soared past them; then, having no doubt that it was returning to the hill with the intention of again attempting to rescue the blockaded men, they wheeled round, and galloped in pursuit.

The airs.h.i.+p was going at only a moderate speed, so that the hors.e.m.e.n were able to keep pace with it. Tom chuckled again, and Oliphant, to whom he had by this time imparted his notion, seemed to find great amus.e.m.e.nt in the sight.

”The beggars little imagine they're playing our game,” he said.

”No, indeed. I wonder what they really are thinking. Probably they fancy something has gone wrong with our works and we can't go any faster.”

”D'you think they've got wind of our former breakdown?”

”It's not unlikely. News travels very fast in these countries that haven't got the telegraph!”

When they arrived at the hill of the caves, there appeared to be no change in the situation. A small group of four or five men were squatting on the summit; more than a score were congregated below. All eyes were directed upwards as the airs.h.i.+p again came into view, and the men laughed, recognizing how fruitless would be any renewed attempt to rescue the prisoners. They all carried rifles, and evidently intended to use them when the vessel came within range. But it pa.s.sed too high above their heads, still going very slowly, and, so far from descending towards the cave, sailed on towards the sea. It crossed one of the adjacent hills, then sank a little, so that it was only visible then to the few men who kept watch above.

But a minute or two afterwards the occupants of the car, looking round, saw that these men were on their feet, gesticulating with great excitement.

”They've taken the bait!” cried Oliphant, laughing outright.

The men had noticed that the airs.h.i.+p, 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 hors.e.m.e.n, now joined by the sheikh and his party, were riding at a mad gallop for the village. By this time the airs.h.i.+p 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. They were left hopelessly behind, and were still more than a mile from the walls when the airs.h.i.+p, hovering directly over the roof of the kasbah, began very slowly to drop earthwards as if a descent were going to be made on the spot where it had formerly rested.

The descent took a considerable time. Who was there to tell the frenzied hors.e.m.e.n that the accursed Firangi was playing with them? They urged their foaming steeds up the hill at a furious rate, making light of all obstacles, and extorting a tribute of admiration from the Englishmen for horses and riders alike. They clattered into the village, dashed through the street, pulled the horses up on their haunches at the door of the kasbah, flung themselves from the saddles, and poured into the patio and up the stairs.

The sheikh himself, by far the best mounted of the troop, was the first to arrive; and within a few seconds he sprang out of the opening on the roof, followed closely by several members of his household. But what was this? The airs.h.i.+p, instead of resting on the flagged roof, was hundreds of feet above them, and, horror of horrors! sailing with terrific speed back towards the hill of the caves. For a few moments the Moors stood gazing in bewilderment, being joined by more men from below. Then, with hearty Moslem curses, they rushed back to the opening, toppling over one another, stumbling down the stairs in their haste. Down into the patio, out of the gate, on to their horses' backs once more, and off they set, pell-mell after the airs.h.i.+p.

But the horses were badly blown. There were four miles of heavy country to cover. And by the time they were again clear of the walls the airs.h.i.+p was halfway to the hill.

Tom and his friend were hugely delighted with the success of their simple bit of strategy. They could see the hors.e.m.e.n like ants in the distance beneath, urging their poor panting horses to the utmost of their capacity.

”We ought to have plenty of time to get them away,” said Tom.

”Yes, but hang it all! we've clean forgotten that we can't lift both Schwab and the Moor.”

”Great Scott!” Tom e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, in consternation. But in a moment his face cleared. ”We'll manage that,” he said cheerfully. But then he received another shock. He saw that the four or five men who had held their watch on the plateau were still there: they had not followed the rest. Their horses could be seen tethered in the grove beneath, and the men were gathered in a knot, watching the rapid approach of the machine, which probably they had expected to see no more.

”There's only one thing for it,” said Tom. ”We must go slap at them, and trust to luck. If they shoot, they may do so before we are within range, and at this speed they may easily miss us. They are sure to be a bit nervous, too.”

Tom had already begun the descent, obliquely upon the hill. When the airs.h.i.+p was, as nearly as he could calculate, on a level with the summit, he again put the engines to their utmost speed, and dashed straight at the little group. There were three or four reports almost simultaneously, and above the whirr of the screws Tom thought he heard a sound of rending, as if one of the planes had been struck by a bullet.

The vessel, indeed, dipped slightly, and for a moment he feared that it would be dashed against the face of the hill. But he jerked up the lever controlling the planes, the airs.h.i.+p rose the few feet necessary to clear the summit, and once more sped on its course.

By this time, however, the group on the hilltop had taken fright. They could not know that if the airs.h.i.+p dashed into them, they would be as formidable to it as it could be to them. Even if they had known this, they would probably not have been willing to sell their lives, even though in doing so they should break up the machine and hurl its occupants to destruction. With one consent they broke and fled.