Part 23 (1/2)

With a pa.s.sionate gesture of repulse the commandant shook him off.

”I am not one to await admirals!” he roared. ”I go to make arrangements.

Within half an hour I leave the town--I. If I have to walk I will follow these Berber scoundrels, yes, if I have to crawl upon my knees!”

As the two wrestled and argued on the threshold, the door opened from the outside. The ma.s.sive proportions of the sergeant towered over them in respectful amazement. He saluted and deferentially edged a way for himself towards D'Hubert.

”The general was in the act of pa.s.sing, my Major,” he explained. ”He read your note and wrote his answer on the back in five words--he was amiable enough to inform me.”

The major untwisted the little roll of soiled paper and as he inspected it a smile creased his cheek. He chuckled.

”A half troop of Goumiers!” he read. He looked at the frowning face of the commandant.

”No need to go alone, my Paul. There is your escort.” He hesitated a moment, debating. ”Do either of you, by chance, speak Arabic?”

”Am I an interpreter?” asked Rattier, bitterly. ”Does one need a grammar and dictionary to arrest half a dozen scoundrels who are perfectly well aware why they are being chased, and whom one will take the liberty of shooting if they resist capture? For that plain English or French--or, for all practical purposes, Chinese--will suffice. Avoid alarming yourself on that subject, _mon ami_.”

The major grinned.

”I was not thinking of your quarry but your colleagues, my pigeon. The Goumiers speak their own _argot_. They are good-hearted children, but apt to be tempestuous in matters of fighting.” He meditated through another minute before he spoke with quick decision. ”Sergeant! Prepare to accompany M. le Commandant within fifteen minutes.”

Perinaud saluted with entire imperturbability.

”And my instructions, my Major?” he asked.

”To return with the prisoners which Commandant Rattier will indicate to you, or, failing their capture, within twenty-four hours.”

”_Bien!_” Perinaud folded himself anaconda-like into the back office and disappeared. Ten minutes later, a period which D'Hubert filled with much voluble advice, there was the tramping of many horses' feet without.

Aylmer and Rattier strolled out into the open at the major's heels.

Under the command of one of their own native officers, forty hors.e.m.e.n of the famous Algerian yeomanry had reined up in the dusty street. They sat in their high peaked saddles, watching keenly the faces of D'Hubert and his companions. Aylmer noted the eager, alert expectation which filled each flas.h.i.+ng brown eye. The Goumier, though he has proved his valor in more than one pitched battle against the men of his own blood, is not a man of war as we understand it. Manoeuvring, tactics, the orderliness of drill and discipline are not inherent in his nature. But the raid, the foray, the looting expedition are to him the apex and apogee of human bliss. Thin, modest of stomach and worldly possessions, he pa.s.ses over the quickly reached horizon of the desert and is forgotten of the well-drilled colleagues he leaves behind. But see his return! Swelling with good victuals, jingling with caparison of desert wealth, with chicken and kid pendent from his saddle-bow, who more popular than he?

The savory incense of his mess attracts all nostrils; his lavishly scattered loot widens the already capacious circle of his friends.

Winning it, or wasting it when won, loot is the pivot on which his reckless, joyous, heedless existence swings.

Rising from the rear as a cathedral tower rises above the encircling dwellings at its base, Perinaud's head and shoulders topped the ranks.

His amiable smile, this time, had about it something of more than ordinary deference. It was the near kin of a smirk, and his yellow moustache was twisted fiercely upwards. Aylmer followed the direction of his glance to find it focussed upon Claire Van Arlen.

Her eyes met his. She made him a little gesture, half of appeal, as it seemed, half of command.

As he covered the few yards which separated them, he noted, with a queer tightening of the heart, the deep shadows which had grown beneath her eyes. But at the same time it was not all anxiety or weariness which her face expressed. There was determination also. And this was reflected in Mr. Van Arlen's glance. It dwelled upon Aylmer with expectancy and more than expectancy,--with hope.

Without preamble he answered the question which their eyes had asked.

They heard him in silence to the end, and as he finished, the girl's first comment was no more than a little sigh.

”The sergeant's surmise is right; my instinct tells me that,” said Aylmer. ”A few hours--and I shall be putting the child in your arms again.”

She looked up at the double rank of hors.e.m.e.n. A sudden vivid flash of feeling pa.s.sed over her features. Her breath came with a little pant.