Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover] [Illustration: 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 future the fate of empires will be decided neither on land nor on the sea, but in the air. We have already reached a stage in the evolution of the aeroplane and airship at which a slight superiority in aircraft may turn the scale in battle. Our imperial destinies may hinge upon the early or later recognition of the importance of a large, well-equipped, and well-manned aerial fleet. In _The Air Scout_ I endeavoured to illustrate the part which an air-service may play in a combined naval and military campaign. The scene of the present story is laid among the vast mountain ranges of Northern India, where the issue of a great war may depend upon the aerial equipment of the opposing armies. Some two thousand years ago a handful of devoted Greeks held the narrow pass of Thermopylae against the myriad host of Xerxes, in the noble effort to save their country from the Persian yoke. The following pages tell the story of a new--and a more fortunate--Thermopylae, an episode in a great struggle for the mastery of India. I am among those who believe that the spirit which animated the Spartan heroes of old burns in our British youth to-day. Only opportunity and a great occasion are needed 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