Hunters" Tour WITHIN twenty-four hours of being briefed Ginger and Bertie were in Cairo, at the United Services" Club having left their aircraft, a standard Beaufighter, at Almaza aerodrome. They were dressed for the parts they were to play- wide-brimmed hats, thick shirts under old tweed jackets, cord breeches, strong ankle boots and leggings. With them they had the usual equipment of the amateur big game hunter-rifles, guns, revolvers, cartridges, bandoliers, binoculars, compa.s.ses, field kit and other luggage. All these things had been plcked up at Bertie"s home. They had registered as 59 Major Lissie and Captain Hebblethwaite, both of the Frontier Rifles, direct from India.
Having parked their kit at the Club they lost no time in setting about the task that had brought them to Egypt. The office of Stellar Skyways, they learned from the commissionaire, was at the airport, so to it they made their way, not knowing what they were going to find, but prepared for anything.
They were received in a small but well-appointed office by a swarthy, sleek-haired young man of doubtful nationality but obviously of oriental blood. He greeted them respectfully and listened to Bertie"s requirements wlth inscrutable unsmiling eyes.
"What wish you to shoot, sirs? " he asked.
Bertie adjusted his eyegla.s.s. "Anything-absolutely anything. The blgger the better. Rhino, hippo, buffalo-it s all the same to me. Time I shot something tougher than the mangy tigers we get in India. Feller in Quetta told me about this Jungle Tour of yours."
"You mean the Hunters" Tour, sir?"
"That"s it. Hunters" Tour. Same thing-what?"
"Yes, sirs, but certainly," said the clerk suavely.
"You are lucky. We have a plane leaving in one hour if that is not too soon for you?"
"That"s top hole-suit us fine."
"Shall I book two seats for you?"
"Absolutely," declared Bertie. "The luck"s in, by Jove! We"ll fetch our kits." He turned away, but the clerk recalled him.
" There are two small formalities first, sirs" said he in the same even tone. "I regret I must ask payment for the tickets."
"Of course. Clean forgot." Bertie took out his wallet. "How much?"
60 "Five hundred pounds for each ticket, sirs," was the bland request.
Bertie started. "Here, I say, that"s a deuce of a lot of boodle, isn"t it?"
"The charge is inclusive of travel and accommodation and we guarantee good sport."
"I should jolly well think so," muttered Bertie. "I haven"t got that much in cash. I shall have to give you a cheque on my bank."
The clerk bowed. "But certainly. That is as good as money. You understand that if the cheque was not honoured you would find it a long walk back from Kudinga? "
Bertie frowned. "Don"t you threaten me, my lad."
"No threat, sir, only a warning. We have to make strict rules." Actually, there was nothing in the clerk"s manner to which exception could be taken.
Bertie wrote the cheque.
"And now, sirs, if you will be kind enough to complete these forms." The clerk handed out two fairly large sheets of paper.
"Here, I say, what"s all this about?" demanded Bertie, after a glance at the long list of questions set out. "This is worse than the bally pa.s.sport form."
"From the time our plane sets out, sirs, you will be the responsibility of the company," explained the clerk. "Also I must say that our club at Kudinga is exclusive. In the interests of our clients only the best people are permitted to enter."
Ginger studied his form and saw that although the questions were entirely personal there were none that could not be filled in although it meant evasion. Obviously he could not give his correct address and 61 occupation. After a glance at Bertie he filled in the form. Bertie did the same.
"Anyone else going on this trip?" asked Ginger as he handed back the paper.
"Yes, sir. You will have travelling companions," was the vague answer.
"Well, we"ll fetch our kit along," said Ginger. "Shall we park it here? "
"In compliance with regulations it will have to be weighed, sirs."
"Quite so. All right. We"ll be back."
Ginger and Bertie returned to the Club, and from the reception office sent a carefully worded cablegram to Biggles under the prearranged telegraphic address. It merely said that all was going according to plan and that they were moving on south that day. Biggles, they knew, would understand the meaning of the word south. They then collected their kits, and arrived back at the booking office having been absent nearly fifty minutes. A Pacemaker, bearing the Stellar insignia, was ticking over quietly on the tarmac. Automatically Ginger"s eyes went to the registration letters, and as he read them his nerves tingled.
"Take a look," he muttered tersely to Bertie. "That"s the machine shown in the photo."
"By gad! So it is."
"You realize what that means?"
"Well,-er-not exactly. Haven"t thought about it."
"It isn"t certain, but the chances are that the photo in Biggles" possession was exposed within the last couple of days, coming as it does immediately in front of those taken by the paper-seller in Mount Street. If that is so then it means that this machine was in England at that 62 time-either that or the fellow with the camera was out of the country."
Further conversation was prevented by the arrival of the booking clerk.
"Please to go aboard, sirs," he requested.. There is your plane. It is ready. Your luggage will follow immediately, as soon as it has been weighed."
Leaving the pile of luggage Bertie and Ginger strolled on to the aIrcraft, Ginger more than a little interested to see who their travelling companions were to be. A steward showed them to their seats. The Pacemaker was, he knew, normally an eight-seater, but he doubted If the machine would carry that number of hunters with their heavy equipment through the thin desert air.
As they sat down he saw at a glance that his supposition about the seating accommodation was correct. The seats had been rearranged and reduced to six. A small stool was provided presumably for the steward. Four of the seats were already occupied, which meant that with their arrival the aircraft was loaded to capacity. He scrutinized the pa.s.sengers.
This he was easily able to do because he and Bertie occupied the two rear seats, on either side of a narrow gangway.
The inspection did not take long. Immediately in front of him was an elderly, robust man, with a sun-tanned skin, dressed in well-worn tweeds, as characteristic an example of a Britisher of the sporting type as would be possible to imagine. He was reading the Times newspaper. Ginger put him down as a senior army officer probably retired. The next two men were of a different type. One was quite young, the other middle aged. Both were dressed in dark lounge suits. There was nothing remarkable about them. At home they might have been commercial travellers. Ginger noticed the 63 tips of the fingers of the right hand of the younger man were stained, as if by ink, or some dark dye.
His eyes pa.s.sed on to the last man, who was sprawled as though he were asleep in one of the two forward seats. A shock was in store, one that made his nerves tingle. He had seen the man only once before, but there was no possibility of mistake. It was Robinson. He dare not speak to Bertie for fear of being overheard; he tried to catch his eye; but Bertie had settled down in his seat and looking slightly bored was watching the scene outside through the cabin window.
Ginger"s brain wrestled with this new and unexpected development. So Robinson was on his way to Kudinga, he pondered. He must have started at about the same time as themselves, or as soon as possible after his unprofitable visit to Mount Street. Clearly, his business was urgent, and it might reasonably be connected with them. The link-up with the photograph showing the Stellar plane began to take shape. As he had suspected, the Pacemaker had just been to England. The photograph had been taken there. The machine had been flown straight out to Egypt and was now going on to Kudinga. It might, or might not, be the regular Hunters" Tour plane, flying to schedule. The booking clerk knew that there were spare seats in it anyway. One thing was certain. This was practical confirmation that Robinson was tied up with Stellar Skyways. It could be a.s.sumed, therefore, that Stellar was not what it purported to be.
Ginger wished desperately that he could let Biggles have this significant information right away; but there was no time for that now, for the pilot had climbed into his c.o.c.kpit and was now in the act of running up his engines. The roar of them died abruptly as he throttled 64 back. The steward closed the cabin door and a moment later the aircraft began to move.
Ginger had caught a glimpse of the pilot as he got aboard. He was a stranger, a European, with hard, clean-cut features and fair hair. Who he was or what his nationality might be Ginger could not hazard a guess. Biggles had learned that most, if not all, of the Stellar pilots were foreigners, so presumably this fellow was one.
By this time the aircraft was in the air, levelling out for a run which Ginger had worked out from the map could not be less than eighteen hundred miles. Granting the Pacemaker a cruising speed of three hundred miles an hour in still air, that meant a six hour trip. In the event the journey occupied a trifle under that time.
Ginger knew the course fairly well. For a long time it practically followed the Imperial Route down the Nile Valley- a.s.siut, Aswan, Khartoum, and then the four hundred miles of dreary swamp known as the Sud. Somewhere near the western extremity of Abyssinia, however, the pilot swung away a little to the west, over practically sheer wilderness.
Towards the finish, though, the terrain began to change, the desert giving way to endless plains, scarred by deep depressions in which grew reeds, scrub, and occasionally timber. This, Ginger was aware, was some of the finest big game country left in Africa, and more than once he saw herds of giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and antelope, a few elephant and an occasional solitary rhino. Once he caught a glimpse of buffalo in a reed bed fringing some timber. All this was quite interesting, but he was glad when the engines were cut and the nose of the machine tilted down, indicating that the journey was nearly at an end.
During the entire trip no one had spoken. With the 65 exception of the elderly sportsman everyone appeared to doze or sleep. From this Ginger inferred that It was the old man"s first visit, but the others had done the trip before or they could not have failed to take some interest in what lay below.
As the machine glided down Ginger surveyed the ground with renewed interest, and with .a definite purrpose. This, undoubtedly, would be his best opporrtunity for getting the lie of the land. What he saw was this: on all sides stretched undulating plains, rolling away and away to fade at last into mysterious distances. For the most part they were dry, the earth being clad only in yellowish, sun-dried gra.s.s, with here and there a tangle of flat-topped acacia trees. In a few places only were there extensive belts of forest; but there were places where small groups of trees gave the impression of English parkland. From all sides the land rose gently to a central eminence, towards which the aircraft was now gliding. This was the most conspicuous feature in a colourless panorama and its origin was apparent. It was a long extinct volcano, of no great height, but of considerable extent. The depression that had long ago been the crater could not, Ginger judged, be less than twelve miles across. The erosion of ages had rounded the contours in the manner of the Suss.e.x Downs. Gra.s.s and scrub covered what at one time must have been naked rock, providing both food and cover for the herds of animals that occupied the region. At one point a belt of heavy timber swept up from the plain, to run over the lip of the crater and spread down the inside, terminating in a bamboo swamp of some size. The centre of this was occupied by the only water in sight-a black, sinister-looking lake.
At no great distance from the edge of this forest, 66 standing in a commanding position overlooking the plains, was the only sign of human activity-the hunting lodge.
Ginger was astonished by the size of it. It comprised, not one single building, but a number of buildings, although one, presumably the lodge itself, far exceeded the others in importance. The place might have been a military depot, an impression that was enhanced by what appeared to be a surrounding stockade, or boundary fence. Two buildings only stood outside this fence. One was well down the inner slope of the crater, inside the bamboo swamp and close to the lake. The other was on the same level as the lodge, but to one side of it, and consisted of a long, low barn open on one side for its entire length. From the fact that a number of black figures were lounging about this shed for it was little more than that-Ginger took it to be, correctly as it turned out, the quarters of the natives who were employed by the company as hunters, porters, gun bearers and the like.
By the time Ginger had noted these things the machine was touching down on a level area of turf, free from obstructions, in front of the lodge. It taxied on to a double gate in the fence, which was as near as it could get to the bungalow, a matter of perhaps twenty yards, where, under a verandah, a little group of white men stood waiting. There was no permanent hangar, Ginger noticed, only a large canvas one and a mobile flood-light for night landings. The engines were switched off. The steward opened the cabin door. "Kudinga !" he called. "Your luggage will be brought to your rooms, gentlemen."
Ginger was staring in surprise at the fence that surrounded the buildings, for it was a far more formidable affair than he had supposed in the air. It was of steel 67 mesh wire, a good fifteen feet high, the lower part being doubly protected by fine wire netting. It gave the place the appearance of a prison camp.
"What"s the idea of the fence?" he asked the steward casually. "Is it to keep us in?"
The steward smiled tolerantly. "No, sir. That"s to keep the wild animals out. In the early days we had trouble with leopards getting in after the dogs. The wire netting is snake fence. There are quite a few of them about, and they"re better outside than in."
Ginger concurred, warmly. The explanation was perfectly reasonable, as he was bound to admit; nevertheless as most big game hunters are content to sleep on camp beds under canvas, or even in the open, he could not help feeling that this precaution was overdone. His opinion was confirmed by the elderly man in tweeds, who had overheard the conversatIon.
"Lot o" nonsense," he muttered petulantly. "What do they think we are-schoolgirls? By the way, my name"s Dupray- Colonel Dupray. It"s my first trip here."
Ginger and Bertie introduced themselves. By this time they were out of the machine, standing in short parched gra.s.s.
One of the men who had been waiting on the verandah came forward.
"This is Mr. Kreeze," announced the steward. "He"s the manager here." ..
Robinson, Ginger noted, as soon as he alighted, strode straight on to the bungalow without speaking to anyone. It was obvious that he knew his way about.
Ginger disliked Mr. Kreeze on sight. He was the last type of man he expected to find in such a place. There was nothing of the hale and hearty sportsman about him. On the contrary, he was a dark, rather 68 pompous little man, immaculately dressed in town clothes. He might have been the manager of a big West End hotel.
What his nationality was Ginger did not attempt to guess.
"Welcome to Kudinga, gentlemen," he greeted, smoothly, in perfect English, but with a queer foreign accent. "We shall do our best to make you comfortable and ensure that you have good sport. Will you please come through to my office as there are one or two things I must explain to you."
Like sheep following a shepherd Ginger, Bertie and Colonel Dupray, followed the manager to a small door, labelled "Private," near the end of the bungalow. Where the other two pa.s.sengers went Ginger did not see. He presumed that they were employees, not hunters.
In his office Mr. Kreeze made a short, carefully-worded speech, which he had obviously made many times before. The gist of it was this. He hoped they would be comfortable during their stay. He wanted them to make themselves at home, and at the same time help the administration by adhering strictly to rules which they would find in the visitors"
book in the lounge. They were requested to sign this book as evidence that the rules had been read. He hoped they would not find these rules irksome, but they were necesssary. He pointed out that the guests were now the responsibility of the company. Every precaution for their well-being had been taken, but accidents could happen, as was proved by the lamentable case of Brigadier-General Carding, who, against rules, went out without a professional hunter and was mauled to death by a lion. They would see his grave outside. It would be noticed, went on Mr. Kreeze, that the power-plant, 69 down the hill, was out of bounds. The reason was, the bamboo swamp in which it was situated was infested with snakes. That was all. He was at their service should they require any further information.
For the moment Ginger and Bertie were content to retire to their quarters, for they were really tired, having lost a night"s sleep during the journey out from England. A steward showed them to their rooms, which were addjoining, and there left them.
"Well, what do you make of it? " asked Bertie, who had followed Ginger into his room.
"It"s a bit early to form an opinion," answered Ginger. "The outfit is phoney, of course. Robinson"s presence here is proof of that. I haven"t had a chance to discuss it with you but no doubt you spotted him in the plane? We shall have to let Biggles know about that right away. After that our job is to get the lowdown on the place. It shouldn"t take long."
Ginger produced his keys and reached for the suitcase containing a small but powerful radio transmitter.
The moment he felt the weight of the case his expresssion changed. He stared at Bertie with wide open eyes. Then, swiftly, he unlocked the case and threw back the lid. The suitcase was empty.
There was silence in the room for a full ten seconds.
Ginger looked at the outside of the case, trying to believe that the luggage had got mixed and the case was not his own, although in his heart he knew that this was not so. He looked again at Bertie.
Bertie polished his eyegla.s.s vigorously. "Bad show," he observed.
"It"s worse than that," muttered Ginger through his teeth. "We"ve been stung. The instrument must have been pinched in Cairo, when our stuff was being 70 weighed. I thought that smirking clerk was in a hurry to get his hands on our cases."
"If they found radio in our kit then we must already be under suspicion-if you see what I mean?" said Bertie.
"Yes, I see what you mean," returned Ginger bitterly. " We"ve got to put this right. Kreeze must know about the set being taken. He"ll also know that we shall soon discover the theft. There"s only one thing we can do and that"s go straight to him. In any case, I"m not standing for being robbed in broad daylight," Ginger was getting angry.
"Absolutely," agreed Bertie. "Absolutely."
"You realize what this means? We"re out of touch with Biggles. I can"t think of any way we could make contact with him."
"We could write a letter. No doubt the aircraft carries mails when it goes back."
"Yes," agreed Ginger with bitter sarcasm. "And no doubt Kreeze reads every letter that"s handed in. I"m going along to see what he has to say about this. It will look more suspicious if we let the thing pa.s.s without commenL"
"Okay, old boy. Let"s toddle along and bite his ear."
They strode back to the manager"s office. Kreeze looked concerned as Ginger lodged his complaint in no uncertain terms .
"Extraordinary," murmured the manager vaguely. " I can"t imagine what could have happened."
"There"s nothing extraordinary about it," declared Ginger grimly. "The instrument was in my case when I handed it over for weighing at your Cairo office. It isn"t there now. In other words, Mr. Kreeze, my case 71 was opened on your premises in my absence and without my permission."
"I"ll go into the matter," promised Kreeze. "If I find that the loss was caused by any carelessness on our part you will receive compensation in full." The manager paused for a moment and then went on, his dark eyes on Ginger"s face.
"Purely as a matter of curiosity, may I ask why you burdened yourself with such a heavy piece of luggage on an expedition of this sort? "
Ginger knew this question would come, and had his answer ready. "Evidently you don"t know the new regulations with regard to officers on leave outside India and the United Kingdom? We have always to be in touch with our headquarters, by radio if there is no telegraph service. in case it becomes necessary to send a recall signal. We live in troubled times, when anyything can happen any day."
"If that"s all, you won"t need to worry," said Kreeze smoothly. "We have our own radio here, with an operator always on duty. Should you wish to send any messages you have only to say so. Should a recall signal come through for you I will let you know at once, no matter what part of the territory you may happen to be on. I take it your unit knows where you are?"
"Of course," answered Ginger without enthusiasm, "Thanks for your offer." There was nothing else he could say, but he had a feeling that he had been neatly frustrated. Without laying himself open to suspicion-if indeed suspicion was not already aroused-there was nothing more he could do.
With Bertie he returned to their quarters, to bathe, rest, and to await the next development. He had a feeling that it would not be long coming.
Chapter 6.