They smoked on in silence, gloomily watching the rings and clouds eddying out into the dark through the open window. "Look here!" exclaimed Bob suddenly. "I say!" cried Lawrence at the same moment. "I’m going to try it," Bob continued. "That’s what I was going to say." "But----" "Hold hard! Just listen while I put the case with my usual sweet reasonableness. You’re about fed up with patrolling the valley, I should think." "But----" "Let me have my say out: your turn by and by. You’re a soldier; I’m not. You’re the chap to defend this place, and, as you said, we’ve got to defend it now. You’ve a head for strategy and all that sort of thing: I’m a fool at it. If one of us has got to go, I can be best spared." "You’re talking perfect----" "I know, but I haven’t done yet. I haven’t had quite as much practice in the aeroplane as you, but I’ve had quite enough for this job. And as for shying dynamite bombs, any ass could do that." "I back you wouldn’t find it easy to hit a mark," Bob got in. "Perhaps not, but when the mark is a crowd of three or four hundred Afghans I ought to be kicked if I couldn’t score at least an outer. Seriously, old man, this is my job. I’m not such a fool as to think it’ll be pure fun; it’s a desperately tough proposition, as the Yanks say; and of course you’d do it better than I could; but we can’t both go, and I’m sure you’re the right man to stay here. Now have your fling." "Well, you’ve put me in a hole with your beastly logic," grumbled Bob. "I can’t admit you’re right without sort of making myself out to be a sprouting commander-in-chief! My word! It would be a fine thing to get the Major here! He’d take command, and I’d play second fiddle with the greatest pleasure in life. All right: you go, then." "Thanks, old man. Just ring for Chunda, will you? I must have a talk with Ganda Singh." "You’ll do nothing of the sort. You’ll go straight back to bed. You’ll want all your nerve to-morrow, and after what you’ve gone through you’ll be a limp rag in the morning unless you sleep. Go to bed. I’ll arrange everything. You’ll find everything ready for you in the morning. I think you had better take Fazl with you: in fact, you must, for you’ll have quite enough to do with managing the machine without dropping bombs. Cut off!" "All right. There’s only one thing." "What’s that?" "I hope to goodness the wind won’t be blowing a hurricane in the morning." CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH THE TOWER IN THE HILLS