BIGGLES IN THE UNDERWORLD

by Captain W. E. Johns

16. MORE QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS (Pages 167 – 176)

“When they arrived at the top end of the track Ginger and Bertie found Biggles pacing up and down between the Aiglet and the Auster. Recognizing them he stopped, and greeted them with a hint of sarcasm that revealed his impatience. “I’m glad to see someone is doing some work besides me”. “I like that!” protested Ginger. “What do you think I’ve been doing? Having a nap in the bracken? Had you been through what I’ve just had, your hair would be white”. “Dash it all, old boy, I came here like a bomb as soon as I got your message,” put in Bertie. “Sorry, but stuck here without a clue as to what’s happening I’m all on edge,” Biggles said contritely. Biggles explains that Thompson has gone to the house and he is keeping an eye on the machines. Ginger tells Biggles what has been going on and that they have left the gamekeeper lying besides the track. “Why leave him there?” asks Biggles. “What else could I do, with Lazor skulking in the bushes panting to have a crack at me? Have a heart. It was no joke, believe you me, standing there in the dark expecting every second that Lazor would jump on me with his cursed razor. (The phrase “believe you me” is a colloquial expression that emphasises the speaker’s sincerity or the importance of what they are about to ssy. The use of “you” in this expression serves to add emphasis and assertiveness to this statement. While it may seem grammatically unusual, it is a commonly used idiom in English). Ginger says he thinks the gamekeeper is dead and they thought they could use the phone at the farm to call an ambulance. Biggles explains the phone line is down. Biggles asks Bertie if he could find his way to Repford hospital. Biggles asks Ginger to go with Bertie to help load the man into the car. Bertie can drive him to the hospital and Ginger can come back to meet Biggles. “You realize Lazor is on the prowl. He can’t be far away,” put in Ginger. “I can’t help that. Let’s do one thing at a time. We’ll deal with Lazor when we’ve got things sorted out” replies Biggles. Ginger shrugged. “Okay, if that’s how you want it. I’ve got the keeper’s gun. That track is about as healthy as a jungle path with a man-eater on the rampage”. Biggles tells Bertie to take the gamekeeper to hospital and then report what has happened to the local police. “If they feel like rounding up Lazor themselves they’re welcome to the job”. “Ginger, when you’ve got the body in the car hoof it back here”. “I shall not linger to pick flowers on the way, you can bet your sweet life on that,” rejoined Ginger succinctly. Biggles waited until the sound of the car had faded and then turned his attention to the house. What could Thompson be doing? “He half regretted having sent him, and would not have done so had he known that Lazor was running wild, apparently having escaped injury in the crash”. Biggles can’t leave the aircraft in case Lazor takes one of them. “Once in the air he could go anywhere. He might even leave the country”. Biggles stands close to the dark background of the fuselage of the Auster and can’t even light a cigarette in case Lazor takes a shot at him “either out of spite, or with the idea of securing one of the aircraft”. Biggles waits a long time for Ginger to return, underestimating how long it will take him. “There was cause for Ginger’s delayed return, a cause he certainly could not have imagined”. The car has gone down the hill at a safe speed, Bertie at the wheel and Ginger sitting beside him holding the twelve-bore gun in the manner of the ‘scatter gun’ escort on the box of a stage-coach, as depicted on some Western films”. (What is often called ‘riding shotgun’, a phrase first used in a novel from 1905 called “The Sunset Trail” by Alfred Henry Lewis when he wrote “Wyatt and Morgan Earp were in the service of The Express Company. They went often as guards – “riding shotgun,” it was called – when the stage bore unusual treasure”). They go to the place where they left the body – but it’s not there! Bertie can see his skid marks where he stopped on the way up. Bertie reverses twenty or thirty yards. He then advances the car about a hundred yards but there is still no body. “This beats me,” muttered Ginger. “All I can say is, it must have gone”. Bertie replied with a short laugh. “That’s a lark. Now what do we do? Go back and tell Biggles the corpse has walked out on us? He’ll think we’re off our rockers”. “If nobody has moved it then obviously it must have moved itself” says Ginger. Bertie replies “What you’re saying is, the chap couldn’t have been dead after all”. “If he’s moved off on his own account it doesn’t need a wizard to work out that he couldn’t have been dead,” averred Ginger pithily. “Go on a bit. He can’t have got far”. Bertie drives forward about a quarter of a mile and they come across the man in the road. Bertie stopped. Ginger sprang out. He ran to a kneeling figure. “Let’s give you a hand,” he said. “Come on. In the car”. The man said only two words. “I’m shot,” he gasped. Then he collapsed into unconsciousness. They put him in the car. Bertie drives off to the hospital and Ginger sets off up the hill to rejoin Biggles, with the gun held ready for action. When he reaches Biggles, he is greeted with “What the devil have you been doing all this time?” Ginger explains the man is still alive. “See anything of Lazor?” Biggles asks. “Not a sign. Where’s Thompson?” Ginger replies. “He hasn’t come back from the farm. I was waiting for you to mount guard over the planes, so that I could go up to see what has become of him. I don’t think he can be in trouble, or I’d have heard something. You stand fast here while – ” Biggles broke off, starting in the dirction of the house. “What was that?” “Sounded like somebody hammering” says Gingers. “Wait here,” ordered Biggles, and went off at a run.