Kestrel stopped speaking, cleared his throat and ran his anxious eyes over the men before him.
“Anyway, that puts it up to us. I've known that something was brewing from the reports I have had from our intelligence men scattered over this area. Now I know why we had eight planes stolen from under our noses, and why others have been damaged. Also, I know why a half dozen caravans have mysteriously disappeared within the past few months. The goods those caravans ” Carried can be traded for guns and bullets. The sacking, of those caravans helps build up the illusion in the minds of the fanatical Bedouins that all the desert and anything that moves on it belongs to them.”
Kestrel raised one hand and shook a finger at his men. His face was suffused with color and his eyes were spitting fire.
“Gentlemen,” he went on, his voice rising, “whoever secured those eight planes from our field could not have done so without help from inside the field. Some place among us there are traitors. We must find them. I thought we had found the beginning when we convicted James Douglas of being a common thief and drummed him off the field.
“Now I am not so sure. You all know we found his body in Es Siq this morning. The two bullets we dug out of him came from a British army automatic!
“We have been able to find no trace of the caravan that was waylaid and confiscated in whole last night. But we do know that such a caravan went into Es Siq last night. I have checked with Jerusalem and found that the caravan carried riches beyond estimate, pearls and l black coral from the Persian Gulf. That caravan went into Petra, but never came out just as others have disappeared in the same mysterious manner.
“The same organization that looted our field looted those caravans, with help from some one inside our own lines. Douglas was killed with a British bullet. He was left there for a reason. Perhaps it was as a warning to us. That we will find out in due time.
“When we went through Douglas' effects to-day I found a letter he had been writing to Bill Barnes, the world-famous American. He had evidently written to Barnes telling him of his degradation with our forces. Barnes listened to his plea and offered him a place with his organization. That was probably due to the influence of Hassfurther, Barnes' chief of staff. He flew with Douglas' older brother in a British squadron during the World War.
“Barnes is on his way here now. He is coming to pick up Douglas on his way home from a business transaction in China.”
“Sir,” Group Commander Hector said, “what has Barnes to do with us?”
“I'm coming to that,” Kestrel said. “You know our situation here. You know that any overt act on our part will have the Arabs on us, slitting our throats. We must keep an eye on the situation at Alexandria and Port Said constantly: —”
“It is possible that we may interest Barnes in our plight because of his interest in young Douglas. He does not know Douglas is dead. From what I have heard of him he is a man of action and one who gets results. He may be able to track down the source of the theft of our planes and the murder and disappearance of those half dozen caravans. We must be ready to cooperate with him in every way possible.
“And, gentlemen, we must track down the traitors that are within our midst. Check all of your men. Keep an eye on them. No one is above suspicion. I do not wish to have this wing of the Royal Air Force a disgrace to the finest air corps in the world!”
“When,” Group Commander Hector asked, “will Barnes arrive here?”
“To-night sometime,” Kestrel replied. “I have been in touch with the airport at Bagdad, after checking back on his route as far as Calcutta. He will follow the regular air route over the Hamad Desert.”
“He is alone?” Hector asked.
'He is flying his Silver Lancer,” Kestrel said. “Hassfurther, Gleason, and Sanders are with him, flying the famous Snorters.”
III-PREPARATIONS
GROUP COMMANDER HECTOR threw off his belt and tunic and sat down in an easy-chair in .his quarters. He was a big man with iron-gray hair and a round, inscrutable face. He sat, now, as immobile as a stone Buddha, staring straight ahead of him;
He called, “Come in,” as a low knock sounded on his door. He didn't speak to MacTavish and Sneed as they came in the door. Instead, he stared at them as he had been staring straight ahead a few minutes before. Even the huge MacTavish fidgeted under his gaze.
Finally, Hector spoke. “You carried out my orders?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” Sneed answered. “Our men are on the way. But there is one thing I wanted to mention to you, sir. The men are frightened.”
“Frightened!” Hector roared. “They'll be more than frightened if they don't carry out your orders.”
“They're nervous about Kestrel,” MacTavish said gruffly. “They know what the British government can do to a man.”
“You're a fine pair,” Hector sneered. He pointed a long finger at them. “Drum into their heads that they don't have to be nervous about the British unless they go yellow and talk. Get it through their heads they're in this thing now. There isn't any turning back. I'd drive it into their heads if it wasn't dangerous for me to be seen talking to them.
“Make 'em understand that they have everything to gain. None of us is in this for glory. With Serj el Said on the throne of Arabia and Trans-Jordan, the British won't be able to touch us. And he'll be there. The British haven't time to stop and fight an Arab revolt with half the world ready to go to war. We're the ones on the inside. We'll get the cream. Make your men understand that.”
“Are you sure you can trust Serj el Said?” MacTavish asked. “When I— when Douglas was shot last night Serj el Said said, “You'll be one less Englishman for me to cope with.'“
So you're getting nervous, too, eh?” Hector sneered. Again he pointed his finger. “Listen! I have Serj el Said tied to me the same way I have you tied. I could put both of you in a military prison for the rest of your lives. I could do the same with him. You, in turn, have the same hold on your men if you carried out my instructions as I told you to carry them out.
“Don't forget that I have you just where I want you. And don't think I won't turn on the pressure if I think it necessary.”
“What about yourself?” MacTavish asked. “Do you think you can get out clean if some, one talks?”
Hector came out of his chair like a thing on springs. His face was purple as he roared at MacTavish.
“Say 'Sir' when 'you speak to me, you swine!” he shouted.
“Sh-h!” Sneed said, stepping between the two men. “We'll get no place shouting at one another. I think it's time we got under way. Our men have already gone. We'll report to Serj el Said at Petra.”
His right elbow prodded MacTavish in the side as he finished speaking. MacTavish tried to twist his ugly face into a smile, and half succeeded.
“Sneed is right,
“I understand, MacTavish,” Hector grunted. “But keep in mind that there must always be one leader, and to remain leader he must crush opposition without mercy.
“I'm depending on you two to keep your men lined up. When we're ready to strike, things will have to work with the precision of a machine. There can't be any slips. I'm tying up the loose ends now so that there won't be any Slips. A lot depends on your success tonight. You mustn't fail. You'll have the advantage of a surprise attack and superior numbers.
“Carry on with your assignment!”
“MacTavish and Sneed saluted smartly and took their leave. Hector threw his J big hulk into the same easy- chair and again stared straight ahead of him, as immobile as a stone Buddha.
AS the two dark forms of MacTavish and Sneed slunk out of the officers' quarters on the Royal Air Force field, Wing Commander Norton Kestrel sat in his own quarters, staring at his adjutant as though he could not believe what the man had just told him. .
His sunken eyes and lined cheeks gave mute evidence of the fact that he had not had sleep for over thirty-six
