"Not for a world of chrysolite!" said I, horrified. She took my hand andheld it tight whilst she went on:
"Dear, I know, I know! Be satisfied. But it is the only way. You can,I know, get there, and in the dark. But if you were to go in it, itwould give warning to the enemies, and besides, my father would notunderstand. Remember, he does not know you; he has never seen you, anddoes not, I suppose, even know as yet of your existence. But he wouldknow me at once, and in any dress. You can manage to lower me into theTower by a rope from the aeroplane. The Turks as yet do not know of ourpursuit, and doubtless rely, at all events in part, on the strength andsecurity of the Tower. Therefore their guard will be less active than itwould at first or later on. I shall post father in all details, and weshall be ready quickly. Now, dear, let us think out the scheme together.Let your man's wit and experience help my ignorance, and we shall save myfather!"
How could I have resisted such pleading--even had it not seemed wise?But wise it was; and I, who knew what the aeroplane could do under my ownguidance, saw at once the practicalities of the scheme. Of course therewas a dreadful risk in case anything should go wrong. But we are atpresent living in a world of risks--and her father's life was at stake.So I took my dear wife in my arms, and told her that my mind was hers forthis, as my soul and body already were. And I cheered her by saying thatI thought it might be done.
I sent for Rooke, and told him of the new adventure, and he quite agreedwith me in the wisdom of it. I then told him that he would have to goand interview the Captain of the Turkish warship in the morning, if I didnot turn up. "I am going to see the Vladika," I said. "He will lead ourown troops in the attack on the Silent Tower. But it will rest with youto deal with the warship. Ask the Captain to whom or what nation theship belongs. He is sure to refuse to tell. In such case mention to himthat if he flies no nation's flag, his vessel is a pirate ship, and thatyou, who are in command of the navy of the Blue Mountains, will deal withhim as a pirate is dealt with--no quarter, no mercy. He will temporize,and perhaps try a bluff; but when things get serious with him he willland a force, or try to, and may even prepare to shell the town. He willthreaten to, at any rate. In such case deal with him as you think best,or as near to it as you can." He answered:
"I shall carry out your wishes with my life. It is a righteous task.Not that anything of that sort would ever stand in my way. If he attacksour nation, either as a Turk or a pirate, I shall wipe him out. We shallsee what our own little packet can do. Moreover, any of the marauderswho have entered the Blue Mountains, from sea or otherwise, shall neverget out by sea! I take it that we of my contingent shall cover theattacking party. It will be a sorry time for us all if that happenswithout our seeing you and the Voivodin; for in such case we shallunderstand the worst!" Iron as he was, the man trembled.
"That is so, Rooke," I said. "We are taking a desperate chance, we know.But the case is desperate! But we all have our duty to do, whateverhappens. Ours and yours is stern; but when we have done it, the resultwill be that life will be easier for others--for those that are left."
Before he left, I asked him to send up to me three suits of the Mastermanbullet-proof clothes of which we had a supply on the yacht.
"Two are for the Voivodin and myself," I said; "the third is for theVoivode to put on. The Voivodin will take it with her when she descendsfrom the aeroplane into the Tower."
Whilst any daylight was left I went out to survey the ground. My wifewanted to come with me, but I would not let her. "No," said I; "you willhave at the best a fearful tax on your strength and your nerves. Youwill want to be as fresh as is possible when you get on the aeroplane."Like a good wife, she obeyed, and lay down to rest in the little tentprovided for her.
I took with me a local man who knew the ground, and who was trusted to besilent. We made a long detour when we had got as near the Silent Toweras we could without being noticed. I made notes from my compass as todirections, and took good notice of anything that could possibly serve asa landmark. By the time we got home I was pretty well satisfied that ifall should go well I could easily sail over the Tower in the dark. ThenI had a talk with my wife, and gave her full instructions:
"When we arrive over the Tower," I said, "I shall lower you with a longrope. You will have a parcel of food and spirit for your father in casehe is fatigued or faint; and, of course, the bullet-proof suit, which hemust put on at once. You will also have a short rope with a belt ateither end--one for your father, the other for you. When I turn theaeroplane and come back again, you will have ready the ring which liesmidway between the belts. This you will catch into the hook at the endof the lowered rope. When all is secure, and I have pulled you both upby the windlass so as to clear the top, I shall throw out ballast whichwe shall carry on purpose, and away we go! I am sorry it must be souncomfortable for you both, but there is no other way. When we get wellclear of the Tower, I shall take you both up on the platform. Ifnecessary, I shall descend to do it--and then we shall steer for Ilsin."
"When all is safe, our men will attack the Tower. We must let them doit, for they expect it. A few men in the clothes and arms which we tookfrom your captors will be pursued by some of ours. It is all arranged.They will ask the Turks to admit them, and if the latter have not learnedof your father's escape, perhaps they will do so. Once in, our men willtry to open the gate. The chances are against them, poor fellows! butthey are all volunteers, and will die fighting. If they win out, greatglory will be theirs."
"The moon does not rise to-night till just before midnight, so we haveplenty of time. We shall start from here at ten. If all be well, Ishall place you in the Tower with your father in less than a quarter-hourfrom that. A few minutes will suffice to clothe him in bullet-proof andget on his belt. I shall not be away from the Tower more than a very fewminutes, and, please God, long before eleven we shall be safe. Then theTower can be won in an attack by our mountaineers. Perhaps, when theguns are heard on the ship of war--for there is sure to be firing--theCaptain may try to land a shore party. But Rooke will stand in the way,and if I know the man and _The Lady_, we shall not be troubled with manyTurks to-night. By midnight you and your father can be on the way toVissarion. I can interview the naval Captain in the morning."
My wife's marvellous courage and self-possession stood to her. At halfan hour before the time fixed she was ready for our adventure. She hadimproved the scheme in one detail. She had put on her own belt andcoiled the rope round her waist, so the only delay would be in bringingher father's belt. She would keep the bullet-proof dress intended to behis strapped in a packet on her back, so that if occasion should befavourable he would not want to put it on till he and she should havereached the platform of the aeroplane. In such case, I should not steeraway from the Tower at all, but would pass slowly across it and take upthe captive and his brave daughter before leaving. I had learned fromlocal sources that the Tower was in several stories. Entrance was by thefoot, where the great iron-clad door was; then came living-rooms andstorage, and an open space at the top. This would probably be thoughtthe best place for the prisoner, for it was deep-sunk within the massivewalls, wherein was no loophole of any kind. This, if it should sohappen, would be the disposition of things best for our plan. The guardswould at this time be all inside the Tower--probably resting, most ofthem--so that it was possible that no one might notice the coming of theairship. I was afraid to think that all might turn out so well, for insuch case our task would be a simple enough one, and would in all humanprobability be crowned with success.
At ten o'clock we started. Teuta did not show the smallest sign of fearor even uneasin
ess, though this was the first time she had even seen anaeroplane at work. She proved to be an admirable passenger for anairship. She stayed quite still, holding herself rigidly in the positionarranged, by the cords which I had fixed for her.
When I had trued my course by the landmarks and with the compass lit bythe Tiny my electric light in the dark box, I had time to look about me.All seemed quite dark wherever I looked--to land, or sea, or sky. Butdarkness is relative, and though each quarter and spot looked dark inturn, there was not such absolute darkness as a whole. I could tell thedifference, for instance, between land and sea, no matter how far off wemight be from either. Looking upward, the sky was dark; yet there waslight enough to see, and even distinguish broad effects. I had nodifficulty in distinguishing the Tower towards which we were moving, andthat, after all, was the main thing. We drifted slowly, very slowly, asthe air was still, and I only used the minimum pressure necessary for theengine. I think I now understood for the first time the extraordinaryvalue of the engine with which my Kitson was equipped. It was noiseless,it was practically of no weight, and it allowed the machine to progressas easily as the old-fashioned balloon used to drift before a breeze.Teuta, who had naturally very fine sight, seemed to see even better thanI did, for as we drew nearer to the Tower, and its round, open top beganto articulate itself, she commenced to prepare for her part of the task.She it was who uncoiled the long drag-rope ready for her lowering. Wewere proceeding so gently that she as well as I had hopes that I might beable to actually balance the machine on the top of the curving wall--athing manifestly impossible on a straight surface, though it might havebeen possible on an angle.
On we crept--on, and on! There was no sign of light about the Tower, andnot the faintest sound to be heard till we were almost close to the lineof the rising wall; then we heard a sound of something like mirth, butmuffled by distance and thick walls. From it we took fresh heart, for ittold us that our enemies were gathered in the lower chambers. If onlythe Voivode should be on the upper stage, all would be well.
Slowly, almost inch by inch, and with a suspense that was agonizing, wecrossed some twenty or thirty feet above the top of the wall. I couldsee as we came near the jagged line of white patches where the heads ofthe massacred Turks placed there on spikes in old days seemed to givestill their grim warning. Seeing that they made in themselves adifficulty of landing on the wall, I deflected the plane so that, as wecrept over the wall, we might, if they became displaced, brush them tothe outside of the wall. A few seconds more, and I was able to bring themachine to rest with the front of the platform jutting out beyond theTower wall. Here I anchored her fore and aft with clamps which had beenalready prepared.
Whilst I was doing so Teuta had leaned over the inner edge of theplatform, and whispered as softly as the sigh of a gentle breeze:
"Hist! hist!" The answer came in a similar sound from some twenty feetbelow us, and we knew that the prisoner was alone. Forthwith, havingfixed the hook of the rope in the ring to which was attached her belt, Ilowered my wife. Her father evidently knew her whisper, and was ready.The hollow Tower--a smooth cylinder within--sent up the voices from itfaint as were the whispers:
"Father, it is I--Teuta!"
"My child, my brave daughter!"
"Quick, father; strap the belt round you. See that it is secure. Wehave to be lifted into the air if necessary. Hold together. It will beeasier for Rupert to lift us to the airship."
"Rupert?"
"Yes; I shall explain later. Quick, quick! There is not a moment tolose. He is enormously strong, and can lift us together; but we musthelp him by being still, so he won't have to use the windlass, whichmight creak." As she spoke she jerked slightly at the rope, which wasour preconcerted signal that I was to lift. I was afraid the windlassmight creak, and her thoughtful hint decided me. I bent my back to thetask, and in a few seconds they were on the platform on which they, atTeuta's suggestion, lay flat, one at each side of my seat, so as to keepthe best balance possible.
I took off the clamps, lifted the bags of ballast to the top of the wall,so that there should be no sound of falling, and started the engine. Themachine moved forward a few inches, so that it tilted towards the outsideof the wall. I threw my weight on the front part of the platform, and wecommenced our downward fall at a sharp angle. A second enlarged theangle, and without further ado we slid away into the darkness. Then,ascending as we went, when the engine began to work at its strength, weturned, and presently made straight for Ilsin.
The journey was short--not many minutes. It almost seemed as if no timewhatever had elapsed till we saw below us the gleam of lights, and bythem saw a great body of men gathered in military array. We slackenedand descended. The crowd kept deathly silence, but when we were amongstthem we needed no telling that it was not due to lack of heart or absenceof joy. The pressure of their hands as they surrounded us, and thedevotion with which they kissed the hands and feet of both the Voivodeand his daughter, were evidence enough for me, even had I not had my ownshare of their grateful rejoicing.
In the midst of it all the low, stern voice of Rooke, who had burst a wayto the front beside the Vladika, said:
"Now is the time to attack the Tower. Forward, brothers, but in silence.Let there not be a sound till you are near the gate; then play yourlittle comedy of the escaping marauders. And 'twill be no comedy forthem in the Tower. The yacht is all ready for the morning, Mr. SentLeger, in case I do not come out of the scrimmage if the bluejacketsarrive. In such case you will have to handle her yourself. God keepyou, my Lady; and you, too, Voivode! Forward!"