"Dave, will you come?" said Ken.
"Will a terrier hunt rats?" was Dave"s answer.
"And I want Roy Horan, sergeant, if he"s alive. He"s a New Zealander."
"Pa.s.s the word for Horan," said the sergeant, and the whisper went rapidly down the long trench.
"Who"ll be the fourth?" Ken asked of Dave.
"Take d.i.c.k Norton. He"s a Queensland ex-trooper. He"s been in with the black trackers, and moves like a dingo."
"The very man," said Ken. "Where is he?"
Norton, as it happened, was only a few yards away. He came up eagerly, a slim, dark man with keen gray eyes and a nose like a hawk"s beak.
A moment later, and Roy Horan"s giant form came slipping rapidly up to the little group, and Ken at once explained what was wanted.
"Carrington, you"re an angel in khaki," said Horan rejoicingly. "I"m your debtor for life."
"Which same will not be a long one if ye don"t kape that big body o"yours under cover," said O"Brien dryly, as a bullet, striking the parapet, spattered earth all over them.
"Have ye revolvers?" he asked of Ken.
None of them had, but these were at once provided, together with plenty of ammunition.
"Ye"d best lave your rifles," said O"Brien. ""Tis a creeping, crawling job before ye, and the lighter ye go, the better. At close quarters the pistols will do the job better than anything else ye can carry. Now get along wid ye. The sky"s lightening over Asia yonder, and "tis small chance ye"ll have if the dawn catches ye."
"Lucky beggars!" growled a big Tasmanian, as they pa.s.sed him on their way to the north end of the trench. All their comrades were consumed with envy, but like the good fellows they were, they only wished them luck.
A few moments later they had all four crawled out of the trench, and bending double were making steadily uphill towards the spot from which the enfilading fire proceeded.
"We"ll go straight," whispered Ken. "Less risk, really, for they"ll be shooting over our heads."
There was plenty of cover, for the whole of the steep hill-side was dotted with thick bunches of dense scrub. Barring a chance shot from up above, there was not much risk for the present. That would come later, when they reached the nest of snipers. For the present the great thing was to keep their heads down and escape observation.
Nearer and nearer they came to the spot whence the flashes darted thickest, and all the time the bullets whirred over their heads. At last Ken was able to see through the gloom a low parapet of earth which was evidently the front of a regular rifle pit.
He stopped and beckoned to the others to do the same.
"There must be at least half a dozen of them," he whispered, "and very likely more. You chaps wait here under this bush while I go forward. No, you needn"t grouse, Dave. I"m not going to do you out of your share. All I want is to make out which side it will be best to make our attack. I"ll be back in a minute."
He crept forward, and as he did so there was a sudden lull in the firing.
For a moment he feared that the men in the pit had spotted him or his companions, and he flattened himself breathlessly on the ground.
Next moment he heard a voice. Some one in the rifle pit was speaking.
"I would that they would hasten with that ammunition," said the man speaking in the Anatolian dialect, which Ken could understand fairly well.
"Allah, but these infidels take lead as though it were no more than water!"
"They are brave men, Achmet," answered another, "but even so they will not stand when Mahmoud brings up the guns. Then, as the German says, we shall sweep them back into the sea from which they came."
"Guns!" muttered Ken. "This is news." He lay still and listened eagerly.
"Does the German himself bring the guns?" asked the first speaker.
"He does, brother. They are two of the best which were sent from Constantinople to Maidos. Most like, they are already in position on the heights above us, ready to rain their shrapnel upon the unbelievers."
Ken had heard enough. This was news which the colonel must learn at once.
Snipers were bad enough, but if the two German 77-millimetre field-pieces were got into position, the trench would be untenable. He waited only long enough to get the lie of the land around the rifle pit, then crept quietly back to his companions.
It took him just about thirty seconds to tell them what he had heard.
"And one of you must go back and tell the colonel," he added.
There was silence. Not unnaturally no one volunteered.
"It"s up to you, Norton," said Ken.
"Why not rush the pit first?" suggested Norton, "then we could all go back together."
"Or all stay here," answered Ken. "No, I"m frightfully sorry, Norton, but you"re the best scout of the lot of us, and the most likely to get back safely. You must go and tell the colonel."
Norton was too good a soldier to argue. With a sigh he turned about and vanished in the gloom.
"And now for the rifle pit," said Ken. "We must go up on the right-hand side, and take it from the rear. As I"ve told you, the fellows holding it are out of cartridges. If we can get in on "em quietly, before they can use their bayonets, we ought not to have much trouble."
Ken"s heart beat hard as he led the way to the rifle pit. The thought that his colonel had given him a job on his own filled him with pride, and though he was nothing but a private leading two other privates, he felt like a captain with a company behind him.
The critical moment came as they reached the front of the pit, and had to swing off to the right. There was little or no cover, and it was necessary to crawl flat on their stomachs. To make matters worse, the ground was rough and stony, and every time a pebble rolled, Ken"s heart was in his mouth.
But the snipers were keeping no sort of watch. Of course none of them had the faintest notion that any enemy was nearer than the trench, quite a couple of hundred yards away. As they snaked along, the attacking party could hear them talking in the low, measured tones peculiar to the Turk.
At last Ken gained his vantage point. He paused and drew his revolver. The others did the same.
Ken sprang to his feet, and with two bounds was in the pit.
There were five men there, and the attack took them utterly by surprise.
Before they knew what was happening two were pistolled and one knocked silly by a blow from the b.u.t.t of Horan"s revolver. The two others fought gamely, but they were no match for the three Britishers. In less time than it takes to tell they were both laid out.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Stores, horses, and munitions were being landed on V.
beach.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Magnificent work was done by the landing parties in their advance inland.]
"Hurrah!" cried Horan gleefully.
"Shut up, you a.s.s!" snapped Ken. "Do you want to bring every Turk within half a mile down on us. Look out. There"s one chap moving. Tie him up, and, Dave, gather their rifles. I must go through their pockets. There"s always a chance of useful information."