THE BOY BIGGLES

by Captain W. E. Johns

NB - IN THIS BOOK BIGGLES IS REFERRED TO AS “JAMES” BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY SUMMARIES; I HAVE REFERRED TO HIM AS BIGGLES.

II A CHAPTER OF ADVENTURES (Pages 27 - 33)

A runner arrives from the village of Bandali, saying that Mr. Lane, a Forest Survey officer, needs cartridges for his .476 Westley Richards rifle as he was hunting a wounded leopard in dense shrub. It is too dangerous to enter on foot, so Lane intends to use an elephant and shoot from its back. Biggles’ father has dysentery and can’t go himself and the messenger is exhausted from running. Biggles offers to go with his friend, Habu, who is the son of one of the office staff, Lalu Din. Biggles is told to go but keep out of the way and be back before dark. “You know the night air is bad for you”. “In a few minutes the boys were on their way, James wearing shirt, shorts, light shoes and sun helmet, Habu merely a loin cloth”. They make their way to the village and have to cross a primitive rope bridge. Half-way across, with Biggles just starting to follow, the bridge drops in the middle and Habu finds himself hanging on a single rope over the chasm. Regardless of his own safety, Biggles runs to him and gets as close as possible. “To leave Habu in that awful position, absolutely helpless, was unthinkable”. “The bridge lurched. It sagged sickeningly. The flimsy structure creaked. More slats fell. Every second, it seemed must be the last. Then, suddenly, fear vanished. Stone cold, he was concerned only with what he was doing, or attempting to do”. Biggles lowers himself down and gets Habu to climb up over him. Biggles’s shirt tears but his collar holds. Habu climbs to safety and then pulls Biggles up. Biggles says “Let’s go on. Mr. Lane will be waiting for the cartridges” and they continue their journey.