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.

IV DEATH IN THE WATER (Pages 43 - 56)

“The crocodile occurs in all warm-water countries, in rivers, lakes, and sometimes in the sea off the coast, notably in the vicinity of islands. By any standards it is a loathsome beast”. “There are crocodiles in all the rivers of India”. One day, Biggles is out for a stroll and he takes a path that ends at the river. Here, there is a small stony beach where woman wash their clothes. Biggles sees three small boys, aged about seven playing in the shallow water. Biggles sits down to rest and is amused by the boys’ antics when he sees a ripple taking on a definitive V shape. Biggles then recognises the eyes of a crocodile and he shouts a yell of warning to the boys. The last boy is too slow to get out of the water and the crocodile seizes him by the leg. Biggles has no effective weapon to assist him. “Hardly knowing what he was doing, but seized with a burning hatred of the reptile, he braced himself and jumped. His heels landed squarely on the hideous head. The shock of this must have caused the crocodile to release its hold on the boy”. Biggles is able to drag the boy to safety. The boy is crying and his leg is spurting blood. Biggles takes off his pith helmet and rips off the puggaree to use as a bandage and his walking cane for a tourniquet. Biggles “had been told more than once that people who had been mauled by tooth or claw died more often from the wounds turning septic than from the wounds themselves”. Telling the other boys to stay with their friend, Biggles runs home to get bandages and antiseptic and returns to clean the wounds. He finds four local women with clothes for washing at the scene and later two men arrive, having been attracted by the boy’s screams as Biggles cleans his wounds. The native men and women take the boy home. Biggles returns home and tells his father what has happened. Biggles offers to sit by the bank all day shooting at the crocodile every time it shows itself in order to drive it away. He will take one of his school books with him. “It should be explained that at this time James was studying at home, no day school being available and his indifferent health making boarding-school impracticable”. Biggles’ father allows him to go if he gives his word that under no condition will he set foot in the water. “You have my most solemn word for that, sir,” declared James. And he meant it”. Biggles goes to the pool the next day and finds the place deserted and he waits for a chance to shoot at the crocodile. Time moves on; then hearing a sound behind him, Biggles turns and is shocked to find himself “staring into the face of the crocodile from a distance of two or three yards”. Biggles shoots the creature in the mouth. The crocodile uses its tail to knock Biggles into the river. Biggles doesn’t drop the rifle but manages to hold onto it. He jumps up and fires shot after shot into the crocodile until it is dead. Lalu Din arrives, having heard the shots, and sees that Biggles has been in the river. He reminds Biggles of his promise. Biggles explains he was knocked in. On his way home Biggles realises that while he was stalking the crocodile, it was stalking him. “There was an obvious lesson in that. Never to take anything for granted”. Some days later, Biggles tells his friend Captain Lovell what happened and Lovell’s advice was “Always remember, James, when you are hunting dangerous game, to look behind you. Never forget that. Look behind”. “This was a lesson which may have been of service to James when, not many years later, he was hunting enemy aircraft in the war-stricken sky of France”. “In conclusion it should be said that the boy who had been bitten not only recovered but became something of an embarrassment to James, following him about whenever he saw him, smiling and making signs that he was a sort of god. Perhaps it was understandable”.