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 Chapter 6: Hell
hath no Fury...
And as the Queen (of
the Nile) rounded the hills we caught sight of the French fort. The
Arabs had begun their assault on the fort. From the distance we could
see the French flag still flying upon the ramparts - we were not too
late!
The Arabs swarmed around the fort, coming on even as the French
fire cut their ranks down, and soon placed ladders upon the ramparts
and were scaling them like so many ants. On a ridge to the east they
had a 
German gun, with which they kept up a constant shelling on the
French Maxim gun in the tower (*Here Captain Arjun was mistaken, for
the Maxim was only produced in 1884. Yet it was unlikely that he would
have mistaken the machineguns currently in use with the British army
then for a Maxim. It is probable that this was an experimental form of
machinegun which is now lost to us.)
Then Dr Jones, that mad American!
took flight in the French pedal-plane and made straight for the walls.
Captain Cavor ordered full steam on the Queen as we sped towards the
gates, gunning down the Arabs in our path with the Gatling. Faster
still was Dr Jones in the flyer, and as he neared the wall he leapt
off, landing just outside the northern wall, which he then proceeded
to scale with the aid of his bull-whip.
Once upon the ramparts, I
later learnt from Commandant Domine (the commander of the fort), he
made a proposal to the Frenchman that surely saved us all that day: he
promised he would let neither the British nor the French have the
location of the Mines except that they agree to share it, if they
would let his father go. Commandant Domine, who must have known the
desperate situation he was in, agreed.
Yet as we neared the fort, a
strange form appeared in the distance. It was the shape of a
long-legged spider, except that it was made of steel and stood at
least 30 feet off the ground. It flew no ensign, and at first my heart
was dismayed, thinking that it was an infernal Arab contraption. But
then it started shooting at the Arabs with the twin Gatlings mounted
upon it head! Then behind the giant spider came men, and the
distinctive spike upon the picklehaube of the Germans could be
discerned. The plot thickens!
By now we were at the gates, and from
within the Queen Captain Chard hailed Commandant Domine, and the two
agreed that they would bring Professor Jones away first, out of
harm’s way, while we would help defend the fort against the enemies.
So Captain Cavor skillfully manoeuvred the Queen with her stern
against the gate (thus securing both the gate and the rear of the
Queen, which was her weakest aspect) and our men disembarked and went
straight for the Arabs, who had now gained the walls. An Arab
chieftain now leapt off the ramparts and fell upon Dr Jones, and a
melee ensued. We moved to aid Dr Jones but then the gigantic spider
peered over the ramparts and started shooting at the pair.
But they
were saved by the arrival of a French armoured car, whose gun struck the
spider upon the legs and crippled it. As Dr Jones dispatched the Arab
chieftain Captain Chard swiftly grabbed him and dragged him into the
safety of the Queen. By now the Arabs were scattered, and the Germans,
having lost sight of their quarry and their monstrous vehicle
crippled, quit the field as swiftly as they had come on.
To
the Epilogue...
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