"Him am gov"ment horse, sah," declared the sergeant. "Him lib for go plenty fast no time," meaning that the animal was a British Army mount (this from the peculiar shape of the horse-shoe prints) and had pa.s.sed by quite recently.
"Probably Sutton dispatched a mounted orderly to summon help," thought Wilmshurst. "In that case the fellow"s taken the wrong track. He"ll be back shortly. Hope it will be before Fritz ambles along here--if it"s our luck that the Huns do retire this way."
Two hundred yards further on the scrub became quite scanty in a wide belt that terminated in a low range of hills. The slopes of the rising ground were fairly steep except at a gap in the centre, where a deep ravine had been utilized by the makers of the road. It was an ideal spot for an ambuscade. Sheltering behind the cacti that abundantly covered the hill the Haussas could extend on a fairly broad front, and concentrate a heavy fire upon any enemy retiring along the path. The maxim on its tripod mounting was set up to enable it to sweep the expected column with an oblique fire, its panther-skin encased water-jacket being camouflaged by foliage carefully placed so as not to obstruct the sights.
Hardly were these preparations completed when, with a terrific roar and a tremendous cloud of dust, an explosive missile burst within two hundred yards of the platoon"s position.
"Dash it all!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Wilmshurst. "That"s a thundering big sh.e.l.l.
Keep down, men."
The Haussas in natural and childlike curiosity were craning their necks to see the unexpected sight. Just then a loud buzzing sound came from immediately overhead. At the risk of being blinded by the terrific glare the subaltern glanced aloft to see a large seaplane that, having completed a long volplane, had restarted its engine. By the conspicuous marks on the wings and fuselage Wilmshurst made the disconcerting discovery that the aircraft was a British machine, and that it was diligently engaged in attempting to bomb the Waffs out of existence under the mistaken idea that they were an enemy patrol.
"That"s done it!" muttered Wilmshurst. "The silly joker has put the kybosh on our chances of surprising the Boches. Lucky if we escape being hit with some of the infernal eggs!"
With difficulty restraining the Haussas from opening fire, for they would not be convinced that the "great buzz-bird" could possibly make a mistake, and that it must be a Boche machine, Dudley awaited developments, watching with decided apprehension the seaplane circling to take up a favourable position for another bomb-dropping effort.
The second missile burst in a donga a hundred yards to the rear of the Haussas" line, while a few seconds later a third exploded at half that distance again on the Waffs" flank.
Wilmshurst was now sarcastically interested.
"If you can"t do better than that, old son," he chuckled, "you"d better hook it. My word, if ever I meet you on terra firma, I won"t forget to chip you."
The ineffectual strafing continued for nearly a quarter of an hour. At the end of that time the airmen, either discovering their mistake or else having been called up by wireless to attack more numerous forces, desisted from their present operations. Banking steeply the seaplane bore away rapidly in a south-easterly direction, and was soon a mere speck in the azure sky.
Followed a long period of inaction on the part of the Haussas. Scarce daring to move lest a keen-eyed Askari should detect their presence, the Waffs hugged the sun-baked earth until the lengthening shadows warned them of the approach of night.
The distant firing had pa.s.sed from rapid volleys through desultory exchange of shots to a complete cessation. The rest of "A" Company were not engaged, so it appeared to the still hopeful Haussas that their foes had effected a retreat in a different direction from that expected. With the fall of night a large hostile detachment might easily slip through the scantily-held lines, and that accounted for the uneasy glances that the Waffs gave at the declining orb of day.
"Hist, sah!" exclaimed Beta Moshi. "Dey come."
With every sense keenly on the alert Wilmshurst strove to detect the approach of the foe. Already the men had slipped clips of cartridges into the magazines of their rifles, and, the exact range being known, had set sights to eight hundred yards, at which distance the retiring Huns would be on slightly-sloping ground practically dest.i.tute of cover.
A cloud of dust rising sullenly in the still air marked the approach of the column. The Huns were moving rapidly, although there were no sounds to indicate that they were fighting a rear-guard action, while there were no signs of any advance guard.
"We"ve got them cold," exclaimed Wilmshurst, gleefully, then, "No. 1 Section, volley firing, ready."
Suddenly a shot rang out away on the left front of the concealed Haussas.
"Who the deuce fired that?" thought the subaltern angrily, vowing to make it hot for the luckless black who could not keep control over his itching trigger finger.
The mischief was done. At the warning shot the retiring enemy stopped short almost in the jaws of the trap that awaited them; then at a hot pace they disappeared into the bush to be swallowed up in the rapidly deepening night.
"Find out who fired that shot, sergeant," ordered Wilmshurst.
Bela Moshi"s efforts were unavailing. Even when the platoon was paraded and every man"s rifle examined the culprit was not discovered.
"Jolly rummy," mused the subaltern. "It"s a dead cert that none of my men fired. Some one did. Why and for what reason?"
Fired with anger at the futile ending to their tedious efforts the Haussas sent a deputation to the young officer offering to search the bush in the direction from which the shot came, for the men of the extreme left flank were emphatic in their belief that they heard the sounds of booted feet after the report.
"Off you go, then," replied Wilmshurst. "Hurry back if you hear the "Fall in.""
The two men selected--Tari Barl and No Go--lost no time in starting upon their hazardous quest. Armed only with their bayonets the Haussas vanished into the darkness.
Another period of tension ensued. The tropical heat of the day gave place to intense cold as the parched earth rapidly radiated its heat.
Presently the stars began to glimmer in the firmament, their brightness increasing to their full splendour of an African night.
Still no message came for the platoon to fall back upon the rest of "A"
Company. Vaguely Wilmshurst began to wonder whether the outlying Waffs had been overlooked. Sixty hours of almost continuous and strenuous work were beginning to tell. Most of the Haussas, utterly worn out, were sleeping in easy yet undignified postures upon the ground, the only men keeping awake being Bela Moshi and the other section commander and sentries posted before Wilmshurst gave the word to stand easy.
Even the subaltern found his head drooping. Half a dozen times he pulled himself together, only to realise that the overpowering desire for sleep had him firmly in its grip.
Suddenly the stillness was broken by the cautious challenge of one of the sentries. Tari Barl and his companion were returning.
"Well?" exclaimed Wilmshurst interrogatively, as the stalwart blacks stood stiffly to attention.
"Man him gone," declared Tari Barl, with the important air of a person making a momentous statement.
"Yes, I know that, Tarry Barrel," replied the subaltern impatiently.
"Is that all?"
"Me find dis in bush, sah," continued the imperturbable Haussa, holding up a small, glittering object for his officer"s inspection.
It was a recently-fired rimmed cartridge-case. Holding his electric torch to the base of the case he gave vent to an exclamation of perplexed surprise.
For on it were cut the British Government broad arrow and the Roman numeral V., which showed that the cartridge was similar to those issued to the Waffs on leaving camp at Kilwa.
"Treachery!" muttered Wilmshurst. "I wonder----"
CHAPTER VII
A TRUE MAN OR A TRAITOR?
It was in the early hours of the morning when "A" Company marched into bivouac. The men dismissed, Wilmshurst wrote out his report, handed it in and promptly fell sound asleep.
The colonel, wisely deciding that little could be done with men worn out with sleeplessness and fatigue, issued orders that the pursuit would be abandoned until the Haussas had recovered their usual form.
Meanwhile other columns were on the track of the raiders, who, but for the vigilance and dogged determination of Lieutenant Sutton, would have "wiped out" the Waffs" bivouac during the latter"s wild-goose chase.
For five hours the young officer, a.s.sisted by Second-lieutenant Vipont and a handful of Haussas, held the Huns at bay. With rifle, bayonet and bomb the plucky sons of the Empire manned the frail defences, until the enemy, unable to achieve their objective, retired before the returning battalion could bring them to action.
"Hullo, Wilmshurst!" exclaimed Laxdale, as the three subalterns of "A"
company met just before a belated breakfast. "What happened to you?"
"A wash-out," replied Dudley. "Held on till five this morning, and never a chance of a shot; or rather, when it came we were dished."
"Heard the news?" asked Danvers. "No? We had it this morning. The Huns have rushed a Portuguese position on the Rovuma. The Portuguese skedaddled, leaving the whole battery of quick-firers intact. I suppose it"ll mean our chasing Fritz southward right through Portuguese East. With luck we"ll corner them on the Zambesi."