Biggles Sorts it Out by W E Johns

Author:W E Johns [Johns, W E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Adventure
Published: 2012-05-31T19:39:59+00:00

CHAPTER 10

FORT SCHWARZ

THE following morning the Merlin was in the air early, Biggles anxious to get the business that had brought them to Africa finished one way or the other as quickly as possible. Apart from sending home a signal to report his safe arrival at Windhoek, having nothing to report he had not been in touch with the office, and he knew that any day now there might come a message from the Air Commodore ordering him to return home. The case being merely of common felony would not be of sufficient importance to keep him from something with a more serious interpretation that might crop up at headquarters. Wherefore he was keen to finish what he had come to do, instead of going home no wiser for a long and arduous journey.

He headed straight for what had become the centre of interest, the abandoned military building which Carter had named Fort Schwarz, now probably in a state of dilapidation. He was prepared to risk a landing if necessary; indeed, he realized it was unlikely he would be able to find out what was going on there unless he did. It was true the bullet that had been fired at them had not come from the actual fort; but the fort was no great distance from the sun-dried forest, so it was reasonable to suppose there might be some connexion. He realized too, that the rifle shot might have nothing whatever to do with Browning or Connor; but in view of the improbability of anyone else being in the region, it was a possibility not to be ignored. Just what he would do if he found the two men, or even one of them, he did not know. That would depend on the circumstances. What the men did; how they behaved.

With all this Bertie was in full agreement.

One aspect that puzzled him was the scarcity of game near the fort. Why was that? If there was water there, and there must have been water at the time of its occupation by the German garrison, one might have expected more game, not less. Of course, if the animals had been shot at regularly, by someone living in the fort, that would account for it. Any man living in the desert, unless he had a big stock of canned food, would have to kill game to live.

Another factor was the absence of Bushmen near the old fort. He knew from what he had read that the natives as a general rule, being nomadic in habit, huddled together in primitive bough-shelters; but surely that did not mean they would not occupy more substantial dwellings, such as the fort, if they were available—particularly if there was water there. Or would they? There might be some doubt about that. At all events, there appeared to be none in or around the fort. Had they some reason for keeping well clear of it?

The sun was up, and as usual blazing down from a cloudless blue

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.