Greenmantle - John Buchan

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dislodge one ounce of snow. Still the tinkling went on, now in greater volume. Peter was in terror lest it should cease before he got his man. Presently his hand clutched at empty space. He was on the lip of the front trench. The sound was now a yard to his right, and with infinite care he shifted his position. Now the bell was just below him, and he felt the big rafter of the woodwork from which it had fallen. He felt something else—a stretch of wire fixed in the ground with the far end hanging in the void. That would be the spy's explanation if anyone heard the sound and came seeking the cause. Somewhere in the darkness before him and below was the man, not a yard off. Peter remained very still, studying the situation. He could not see, but he could feel the presence, and he was trying to decide the relative position of the man and bell and their exact distance from him. The thing was not so easy as it looked, for if he jumped for where he believed the figure was, he might miss it and get a bullet in the stomach. A man who played so risky a game was probably handy with his firearms. Besides, if he should hit the bell, he would make a hideous row and alarm the whole front. Fate suddenly gave him the right chance. The unseen figure stood up and moved a step, till his back was against the parados. He actually brushed against Peter's elbow, who held his breath. There is a catch that the Kaffirs have which would need several diagrams to explain. It is partly a neck hold, and partly a paralysing backward twist of the right arm, but if it is practised on a man from behind, it locks him as sure as if he were handcuffed. Peter slowly got his body raised and his knees drawn under him, and reached for his prey. He got him. A head was pulled backward over the edge of the trench, and he felt in the air the motion of the left arm pawing feebly but unable to reach behind. 'Be still,' whispered Peter in German; 'I mean you no harm. We are friends of the same purpose. Do you speak German?' 'Nein,' said a muffled voice. 'English?'
'Yes,' said the voice. 'Thank God,' said Peter. 'Then we can understand each other. I've watched your notion of signalling, and a very good one it is. I've got to get through to the Russian lines somehow before morning, and I want you to help me. I'm English —a kind of English, so we're on the same side. If I let go your neck, will you be good and talk reasonably?' The voice assented. Peter let go, and in the same instant slipped to the side. The man wheeled round and flung out an arm but gripped vacancy. 'Steady, friend,' said Peter; 'you mustn't play tricks with me or I'll be angry.' 'Who are you? Who sent you?' asked the puzzled voice. Peter had a happy thought. 'The Companions of the Rosy Hours,' he said. 'Then are we friends indeed,' said the voice. 'Come out of the darkness, friend, and I will do you no harm. I am a good Turk, and I fought beside the English in Kordofan and learned their tongue. I live only to see the ruin of Enver, who has beggared my family and slain my twin brother. Therefore I serve the Muscov ghiaours.' 'I don't know what the Musky Jaws are, but if you mean the Russians I'm with you. I've got news for them which will make Enver green. The question is, how I'm to get to them, and that is where you shall help me, my friend.' 'How?' 'By playing that little tune of yours again. Tell them to expect within the next half-hour a deserter with an important message. Tell them, for God's sake, not to fire at anybody till they've made certain it isn't me.' The man took the blunt end of his bayonet and squatted beside the bell. The first stroke brought out a clear, searching note which floated down the valley. He struck three notes at slow intervals. For all the world, Peter said, he was like a telegraph operator calling up a station. 'Send the message in English,' said Peter.
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GREENMANTLE by
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Flying Corps.
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I had just finished breakfast and w
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He laughed. 'You do yourself an inj
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Sir Walter lay back in an arm-chair
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if a man has a special knowledge to
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years—mostly young officers of th
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and premeditated, and I didn't seem
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advantageous position to take a han
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provide food and service. I kept th
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'V. I,' I read. 'There you have me.
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'I should add that it's about as sa
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lack the larger vision. They can be
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CHAPTER THREE Peter Pienaar Our var
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summer. The hills of Portugal were
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Beyers would have hanged him if he
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the predikant used to preach about
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ar-keeper, with a lot of Shangaan w
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Peter grunted a deep approval. 'Tha
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I had expected a big barricade with
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men with heavy eyes. No wonder, poo
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factory look like a house, though y
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'Maybe he wasn't,' said the giant i
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'You need men, and the men are wait
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As I walked dizzily away the big ma
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convalescent room, where people wer
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I did as I was bid, he followed, an
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a portfolio, and flung me a few sen
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shiver. But how can we strike? They
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had only heard a gurgle of somethin
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in about a quart of water, when Stu
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abominating the English and burning
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The door opened and Stumm entered.
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'There are thousands, sire,' I said
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veld ... Not but what,' he added, '
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German Crown.' I took the card and
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helpless. The man had a gorilla's r
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'The village is five minutes off at
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my idiot had been absorbed into the
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paling of rough stakes plaited with
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village. There were one or two peop
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Hampshire. The bouts had been short
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'Gruss Gott,' I replied. I leaned a
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danced through my head in a crazy f
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your stocking-foot and use it only
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my passport inside Germany, to join
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shoulder. The others wore thick jer
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Stumm's cordon had got busy at last
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dry crackle of wild geese going ove
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Peter was in the middle of the conv
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others, for I was not a prisoner of
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elieved it. I was a poor Dutchman t
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I did not pay much attention to the
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him short. 'Come along to the comma
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The Turk swaggered up and addressed
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clearly not approving of this wet a
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here for their pleasure, and but la
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Then Peter fired over their heads.
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for any trouble with demoniacs. Up
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I had had the good fortune to colle
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have been. Sandy had said that the
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passage and the empty shop, and out
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'But I don't understand,' I stammer
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statesmen don't figure enough on. S
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understood a word of. "Maister Tamm
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'I know,' I said; 'he is called Gre
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mine. Meantime, I've got to clear,
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sailor, Blenkiron flung him three o
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Petrograd and Mr Y. in London, or,
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He tore up the papers and enlarged
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fellow engineer, and translated par
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dwelling in my intestines. I'm like
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made me sick for the burning veld.
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top of them, and the three were off
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I told him in a hectic sentence, fo
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She led me through a long corridor
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Stumm and Rasta and the whole Germa
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passports. Say, do you come from En
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out to find my visitor in a brown s
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for the open country.' This confoun
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Page 164 and 165: 'There was a time when the papers w
Page 166 and 167: I picked up the map and pocketed it
Page 168 and 169: different members of our gang. Pete
Page 170 and 171: swung along at a great pace with a
Page 172 and 173: It proved to be a wretched tumble-d
Page 174 and 175: About midday we descended on a wide
Page 176 and 177: CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Trouble by The Wa
Page 178 and 179: glittering like jewels. The arches
Page 180 and 181: wretched horses. It is vitally impo
Page 182 and 183: was difficult driving. On both side
Page 184 and 185: With an effort Stumm recovered hims
Page 186 and 187: Sandy's somewhere outside, and he's
Page 188 and 189: I guessed he had gone to have a loo
Page 190 and 191: with the impetus right on our heads
Page 192 and 193: The Deve Boyun lines seemed to me m
Page 194 and 195: I had learned what I needed. We wer
Page 196 and 197: much that he broke open a wound in
Page 198 and 199: 'Drugged,' he cried, with a weary l
Page 200 and 201: Sandy's figure seemed to shrink and
Page 202 and 203: 'That's all right,' I cried. 'It is
Page 204 and 205: The outbuilding we were lodged in a
Page 206 and 207: On the road itself he would soon be
Page 208 and 209: the howitzers, and was thankful whe
Page 210 and 211: seemed to be a kind of cup between
Page 214 and 215: 'They may not understand it,' said
Page 216 and 217: and looked at his map, and then put
Page 218 and 219: von Einem was getting ready for her
Page 220 and 221: Beside him rode a tall figure swath
Page 222 and 223: We stared blankly for a second, til
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Page 226 and 227: It was a woman's voice, high, penet
Page 228 and 229: woman had singled me out above the
Page 230 and 231: Blenkiron's field-glasses and had a
Page 232 and 233: ange for his whizz-bangs. We've got
Page 234 and 235: 'Feeling good?' I asked. 'Fine. I'm
Page 236 and 237: The choice fell on one of the Compa
Page 238 and 239: deaf to the sound. Stumm had seen u
Page 240 and 241: for the rear of the fugitives, but
Page 242 and 243: *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG E
Page 244 and 245: 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perfor
Page 246 and 247: Section 2. Information about the Mi
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Greenmantle - John Buchan

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