BIGGLES AND THE LITTLE GREEN GOD

by Captain W. E. Johns

13. REVELATIONS (Pages 132 – 141)

“With Pepe hanging heavily on his arm, taking frequent rests, Biggles reached the plateau hoping to find that the mist had dispersed. It had not. Indeed, if anything it looked worse, the thin air so overladen with moisture that it was beginning to fall as a fine drizzle, making everything uncomfortably wet”. Algy and Conchita came forward to meet them. Biggles stops Conchita embracing Pepe, “pointing out that he was in no condition for caresses”. Biggles gives Algy Atu-Hua to put in the machine, out of the way. Algy looked shocked. “Why bring that trouble-making load of rubbish here?” “We’ve had enough worry finding it, I thought we might as well keep it. Besides, it may turn out to be a trump card in the maniac game we’re playing”. Biggles give Pepe a pill for his pain and dresses and bandages his burns. He is given soup as he was obviously in need of food. Biggles asks Pepe if the Indians might come back to what’s left of the plane. Pepe says it all depends on the witch-doctor who has them under his thumb. Pepe says the Indians were going to sacrifice him by burning him on a fire. “They made a fire of pieces of the plane and were just going to throw me on it when the petrol blew up. I suppose that saved my life. In their hurry to escape they forgot all about me”. Pepe smiled. “They may have thought Atu-Hua was angry about something”. “Apparently he was,” put in Algy softly. Pepe says he didn’t know Atu-Hua was on the plane and the first he knew of it was when he found their village and found them dancing around him. Pepe agrees their plane must have been bought down by a bomb and he thinks it may have been his fault. When Senor O’Higgins left the plane at El Lobitos, he asked Pepe to take a small parcel for him to Santiago. There were two small parcels, tied together with string. Pepe looked shamefaced. “He gave me a hundred escudos, may God forgive me”. O’Higgins said it was only a clock and Pepe could hear the clock ticking. Pepe put the parcel in the luggage and said he deserves to be punished for doing such a thing, which is against regulations. “You have been punished already,” Biggles said. “If I were you I would say nothing of this to anyone until you have had time to think about it. It could cause more trouble”. Biggles says he thinks it was because Atu-Hua was in the plane that the bomb was planted, to stop Atu-Hua arriving in Santiago. Someone must have had what he thought was a good reason to stop the god arriving, since he was prepared to destroy the plane and kill everyone in it to prevent its arrival. “He must imagine he has succeeded”. Pepe asks which man who knew Atu-Hua was on the plane would put a bomb on board and he answers his own question by saying it must have been the man who paid him to take a parcel to Santiago. “So it would seem, but it would be wise not to jump to conclusions”, Biggles tell him. “And here I must give you a warning. It may be that the person responsible will not be pleased to hear you have been rescued and so be able to tell the story of what happened on the flight. He may try to prevent you from talking”. Pepe’s eyes opened wide. “You mean I may be in danger?” “Both you and Conchita” says Biggles. Algy wants to throw Ata-Hua into the gorge. Biggles says he thinks that would be a very good idea, but he doesn’t feel justified in chucking away a hundred thousand pounds of someone else’s money. Time passes and “Pepe made no secret of his fear that the Indians would return to look for him, and Atu-Hua”. As evening closes in, there is a little movement in the air and the mist starts slowing drifting away. The change has come too late for Biggles to take off though, as he needs to see what he is doing. Algy hears something and Biggles says it sounds like the Indians bawling their heads off “and I fancy they’re coming this way”. “What are we going to do?” cried Conchita in alarm. “There doesn’t seem to be much we can do,” answered Biggles.