Produced by Al Haines.
Cover]
NURLA BAI ASCENDS. See page 405]
THE AIR PATROL
_A STORY OF THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER_
BY HERBERT STRANG
_ILLUSTRATED BY CYRUS CUNEO_
LONDON HENRY FROWDE HODDER AND STOUGHTON 1913
RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
PREFACE
It needs no gift of prophecy to foretell that in the not distant futurethe fate of empires will be decided neither on land nor on the sea, butin the air. We have already reached a stage in the evolution of theaeroplane and airship at which a slight superiority in aircraft may turnthe scale in battle. Our imperial destinies may hinge upon the early orlater recognition of the importance of a large, well-equipped, andwell-manned aerial fleet.
In _The Air Scout_ I endeavoured to illustrate the part which anair-service may play in a combined naval and military campaign. Thescene of the present story is laid among the vast mountain ranges ofNorthern India, where the issue of a great war may depend upon theaerial equipment of the opposing armies.
Some two thousand years ago a handful of devoted Greeks held the narrowpass of Thermopylae against the myriad host of Xerxes, in the nobleeffort to save their country from the Persian yoke. The following pagestell the story of a new--and a more fortunate--Thermopylae, an episodein a great struggle for the mastery of India. I am among those whobelieve that the spirit which animated the Spartan heroes of old burnsin our British youth to-day. Only opportunity and a great occasion areneeded to evoke it to glorious use.
HERBERT STRANG.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER THE FIRST THE RUINED REST-HOUSE
CHAPTER THE SECOND BEYOND THE PALE
CHAPTER THE THIRD MR. APPLETON'S MINE
CHAPTER THE FOURTH THE AEROPLANE ARRIVES
CHAPTER THE FIFTH THE LIGHT IN THE GALLERY
CHAPTER THE SIXTH NURLA BAI DISAPPEARS
CHAPTER THE SEVENTH NURLA AT BAY
CHAPTER THE EIGHTH THE EDGE OF THE STORM
CHAPTER THE NINTH A FLIGHT BY NIGHT
CHAPTER THE TENTH A FATEFUL DISCOVERY
CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH THE FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE
CHAPTER THE TWELFTH A SKIRMISH ON THE BANK
CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH THE REVOLT OF THE KALMUCK MINERS
CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH RALLYING THE PATHANS
CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH NURLA BAI SLIPS THE NOOSE
CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH NO THOROUGHFARE
CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH A CRY IN THE NIGHT
CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH THE TOWER IN THE HILLS
CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH STALKED
CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH A FRIEND IN NEED
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST THE FRONTIER HOUSE
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND DITTA LAL INTERPRETS
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-THIRD CAPTURING A GUN
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FOURTH A CHECK
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH THE FIGHT AT THE BEND
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH THE DEATH TRAP
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SEVENTH AD INFIMOS
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-EIGHTH THE LAST FIGHT
CHAPTER THE TWENTY-NINTH REUNION
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
NURLA BAI ASCENDS (see page 405) . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
THE AMBUSH AT THE REST-HOUSE
THE ATTACK IN THE GALLERY
A CHECK IN THE PURSUIT
RECONNOITRING IN THE AEROPLANE
GUR BUKSH DEFENDS THE MINE
THE KALMUCKS MAKE A PRISONER
LAWRENCE DROPS A BOMB