BIGGLES IN THE JUNGLE

by Captain W. E. Johns

XII. GINGER GETS SOME SHOCKS (Pages 128 - 138)

“When Algy, Ginger and Eddie had been marched off through the forest by Bogat they did not know where they were being taken, but, naturally, they could make a good guess”. Two hours later, they are before the King of the Forest, who eyes them with undisguised satisfaction. Ginger expects nothing less than a death sentence, “but that was because he did not realise the value of labour in the tropics, particularly white labour, which is always better than native work”. They are put in a slave-gang. “Algy, being older, perceived that this was, in fact, little better than a death sentence”. After being fed a little maize bread and water, they are kept in a stinking stone building at the top of the plateau, with other slaves, “all Indians or half-castes” and then at dawn, they are set to work digging a trench across what had once been the main street of the village. “What do you suppose we’re doing?” asking Ginger, getting into the trench behind Algy. “Probably laying the telephone,” returned Algy sarcastically. Ginger’s eyes are attracted to two marks on a broken off column. Firstly “E.C.”, followed by the date “1860”, then “L.R.”, followed by the date “1937”. Ginger puts his weight on a stone slab and it starts to pivot, revealing a secret entrance. Ginger quickly pulls himself back. He then asks Algy if he remembers who was supposed to have discovered treasure in these parts. Algy says it was a man named Carmichael in 1860 but he can’t remember the Christian name. Ginger asks Eddie about the treasure map he had seen. Eddie says that it was drawn by a Len Roberts in 1937. The Tiger is there supervising the dig and holding a piece of paper which Ginger is sure is a map. Ginger concludes they are digging for the treasure. Much to Ginger’s disgust, the conversation is interrupted by an Indian, dropping into the trench between them. But this is Biggles joining them in his disguise as a native. He tells the others of his plan to attack the nearest guards, using his pistol, and get the guard’s rifles and then escape towards the perilous steps. Biggles gets out of the trench and, holding his pistol low at his hip, he tells the two nearest guards to drop their rifles. One does but the other goes to shoot so Biggles shoots him and shatters his arm. Algy and Ginger pick up the fallen rifles and fire at the next two guards and one is clearly hit. Eddie picks up those rifles and the four of them then engage in a shoot-out with the others on the plateau, including the Tiger, his bodyguards and the two white men with him. Biggles and his party hurry towards Jacob’s Ladder. However, at this moment, Bogat and about a score of armed men are returning, so they cannot escape that way. (A “score” is twenty. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, twenty is referred to as a score "presumably from the practice, in counting sheep or large herds of cattle, of counting orally from one to twenty and making a score or notch on a stick, before proceeding to count the next twenty."). “It was one of those unexpected mischances that can upset the best-laid plan. To advance in the face of a score of rifles was obviously a hopeless proposition”. They retire to the village and take refuge in one of the old stone houses