There seemed to be a salvo of shrill3 whoops4 and deeper hurrahs. It was hard to distinguish the cries of the startled Turks from those of the assailants coming on with an impetuous rush from the shelter where they had been lying unseen.
Both boys leaped to their feet as though impelled5 by hidden springs. Not for anything in the wide world would they want to risk the chance of losing the wonderful spectacle of that
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assault, so cleverly planned, and so skillfully carried out. It looked from the start as though the wily Turks had for once been caught napping. The smart tactics of these “Kangaroos” from the other side of the world had been too much for them.
Just as the boys had mentioned, this was one of the days when all true believers of the Prophet fasted, and ever so many times made use of their prayer rugs in order to show their faith in Mahomet and Allah.
It was a day when their duties were apt to hang lightly upon their consciences, and unless attacked they had no heart for fighting. But a Turk has never been known to be a quitter; history has ever reckoned him a cruel man, but never a coward. Consequently at the first sign of an attack the defenders6 of the rude trenches7 up there on the hillside flew to their posts, and prepared to sell their lives dearly.
If any of the Allies believed the Turks, being disorganized, and smarting from recent defeats at the hands of the little Balkan States, would
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prove to be an “easy mark,” they soon learned their mistake. It cost them a multitude of men to find this out, as the depleted8 ranks of their regiments9 amply proves.
From where Jack and Amos stood they had a pretty fair view of the side of the slope where the fighting was going on. They had selected this position purposely, having been assured that it was as good as could be found.
Amos, quivering with a queer sensation, that may have been a love for excitement, instantly burst forth10 with expressions of mingled11 amazement12 and admiration13.
“Oh! did you ever dream anything could be as fierce as that, Jack? Look how in twenty places at once they are fighting at close grips, just like they used to do in the old days before the quick-firers came into play. It’s a case of bayonet against bayonet. And the same thing must be going on along the whole line, even if we can’t see it all!”
“It makes my blood run cold, I tell you!” exclaimed Jack, who was paler than usual, while he
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had his jaws14 set, as though forcing himself to continue looking at the terrible spectacle of men scrambling15 about up there on that elevation16, each fairly wild to do material damage to his sworn foes17, though he lost his own life in the undertaking18.
“One thing you can bet on,” continued the irrepressible Amos. “This quick rush of the Kangaroos has made all the Turks’ German rapid-fire guns next door to useless. They are all right when the enemy is rushing the fort or the trenches in solid ranks, or even in detached bunches; but when it’s a case of every man for himself they become next door to old junk.”
“They’re not trying to use them that I can see, as far as the open lies,” said Jack, speaking very loud, for the jumble19 of fierce sounds welling down from the fighting line rendered ordinary conversation impossible.
“Oh! did you see that soldier rush the Turk down with his bayonet?” Amos went on exclaiming, as though finding a vent20 for his feverish21 anxieties in thus commenting on the progress
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of the battle for the trenches. “I was afraid the man above would prove to have the longer reach, but just at the last second the Kangaroo jumped into the air, just like the animal he’s named after does, and came at the Turk from a direction he hadn’t expected. And, Jack, the Turk went down like grass before the scythe22.”
Fascinated by the amazing sight, they continued to stand there and use their eyes to the best advantage. Up to this moment Jack had apparently23 forgotten all about the glasses he carried in a small case, binoculars24 of the best make, and which had proved a valuable asset on numerous former occasions.
Indeed it was Amos who suddenly reminded him of the fact that he was losing a good opportunity to view some of these sanguinary doings at close quarters; and that while they might cause a cold shudder25, still, they were apt to regret it if they allowed the chance to pass by unimproved.
It might have been noticed, however, that Jack did not show any great eagerness about making use of the glasses. Perhaps he would rather have
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refrained, only for the urging of his comrade; as they saw the affair without any magnifying it was terrible enough, Jack may have thought.
He looked for a brief time and then gladly handed the binoculars over to his companion. Amos could not help but notice that Jack’s hand shook as with the palsy when he came in contact with it; and this was so unusual with steady-going, self-contained Jack that the other could not help shooting an uneasy look at his face.
“Why, you’re as white as a ghost, old fellow!” he exclaimed in wonder. “Whatever is the matter with you? I don’t remember seeing you like that before in all my life.”
“Look for yourself,” was what Jack told him, drawing a long breath. “Perhaps in time a fellow might get used to such awful sights, but it seems to send a cold shiver to my heart.”
Amos immediately clapped the glasses to his own eyes. He ranged them along the limited field of vision allowed them from below. Everywhere it seemed as though men were wrestling furiously
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with one another, dealing27 wicked blows, and struggling like mad for the mastery.
It was very evident that with these dauntless Territorials28 on the one side, and the fanatical Turks, fearless of death, on the other, these gullies and hillsides marking the topography of the Gallipoli Peninsula would prove to be a veritable shambles29 before the end came, no matter which won out eventually.
Amos somehow proved to have the stronger nerves in this crisis. It may have been that his natural curiosity forced him to keep on looking, even though from time to time he was compelled to emit exclamations30 indicative of horror, amazement, or wildly enthusiastic admiration.
They could see that in places the ground was fairly covered with those who had already fallen. In the midst of this scene other men still battled, now slipping down, only to scramble32 erect33 again, and go on with the mad struggle.
In one section the assailants seemed to have carried their point, for they were climbing over the rude trenches and the barricades34 which the
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Turks had thrown up to protect themselves from the fire of the enemy below. If the warships35 shelled the camp they doubtless had holes into which they were wont36 to crawl as rabbits might seek their burrows37 in a storm.
So far it was anybody’s fight. Honors seemed even, with the Turks holding their own at one end of the line, and the Territorials pushing them badly at the other. A little thing might suffice to win the day, Jack believed.
“I’m only worried for fear reinforcements get there for the Turks,” Amos was saying as he kept the glasses glued to his eyes, being under the impression that if Jack wished to have them again he would ask.
“But you can make up your mind, Amos, that all our men have not been allowed to get into the fight at the start. The Colonel is too wise for that. There must be a reserve force that can be hurled39 forward when the proper time comes.”
“Then I wish it was right now!” cried the other, “because it would stampede the Turks. They’re just ready to give up, I bet you, if they
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saw another force coming up the hill on the run. Why doesn’t the Colonel see that, Jack? Oh! he’s letting a golden opportunity get past him, I’m telling you!”
“Trust him to know what he is doing, Amos. A soldier has to learn tactics in battle as well as on the drill ground. I warrant you our friend the Colonel has a card up his sleeve, and will show it when the right time comes. I’ve got an idea there’s a little of the Napoleon in him, or is it the spirit of Wellington?”
“Oh! that’s too bad, utterly40 too bad!” cried Amos.
“What has happened?” demanded the other, seemingly quite satisfied to have the news filtered to him through the medium of his companion.
“The Turks have been reinforced, Jack! I can see new men jumping into the fight all along the line. Others have gathered back yonder, and seem to be trying to pick our men off at a safe distance. I’m afraid the Colonel waited too long. He might have had them on the run before this;
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and once a panic strikes in it’s hard to stop a beaten force.”
“Well, these Turks seldom get into a panic,” Jack told him. “They are more likely to fight and die on the spot, satisfied that they are going straight to Paradise.”
“But unless something happens right away it will be much too late to count for our side, Jack!”
“All right! Something is going to happen before you can say Jack Robinson three times. Look higher up, Amos! There, did you hear a terrible crash? That came from a big bomb. And now you see who threw it, don’t you, Amos?”
“An aeroplane, Jack, soaring right along over the battle front, dipping down low at times, then spinning up again on a slant41! See how daringly the pilot guides his machine along. If the Turks can spare the time to look up and fire their guns at him, they cut only holes in the air, for he is going like a whirlwind. There! he is about to drop another of his bombs. I bet you the old
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Turks are scattering42 like chickens when the hawk43 swoops44 down over the field. Wow!”
This last exclamation31 on the part of Amos was drowned by the terrific detonation45 that signaled the arrival of the death-dealing bomb. The boys saw a cloud of smoke instantly rise. They also noted46 that in the immediate26 vicinity the Turks were displaying the wildest confusion.
“There are things, you see, Jack,” Amos was calling triumphantly47, “that can strike terror to the heart of even a fanatical Turk. He can get used to meeting cold steel in the shape of bayonets, and even the flash of guns close at hand doesn’t faze him; but a shell, or a bursting bomb, makes him turn tail and run.”
“It does look that way, Amos,” admitted Jack, still watching the singular train of events that was passing before their eyes as though it might be a panorama48 on a big screen.
“Oh! if there were only half a dozen of those aeroplanes instead of just the lone38 one, I believe they’d soon have the victory clinched49. The Turks never could stand a rain of bombs from
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the skies, and they’d skedaddle over the brow of the hill like scared deer.”
“Are you looking at the man in the flier, Amos?” asked the other.
“You may be sure I am, Jack, as hard as ever I can.”
“And do you think it can be your brother Frank; because this machine must be the one we heard had landed on the peninsula at the upper camp?”
“I wish I knew; I certainly would give a heap to be sure. Jack, you see he’s got his head all muffled50 up; and with goggles51 on even his brother wouldn’t know him in that disguise. But something tells me it must be Frank. From all we’ve heard about his dashing work I feel that no other air pilot could take such desperate chances as that fellow does, and carry it through. Frank was known for a bold boy years and years ago. He would stay all night in a house they said was haunted; and Jack, he found out that the noises came from the air whistling through a knot-hole. Now his scare held off the Turks. They can’t win!”
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1
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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whoops
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| int.呼喊声 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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7
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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8
depleted
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| adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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12
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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14
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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16
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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jumble
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| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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22
scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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23
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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24
binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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25
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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26
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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28
territorials
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| n.（常大写）地方自卫队士兵( territorial的名词复数 ) | |
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29
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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30
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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31
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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32
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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33
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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34
barricades
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| 路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 ) | |
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35
warships
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| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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burrows
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| n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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39
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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40
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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41
slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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42
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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43
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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44
swoops
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| 猛扑，突然下降( swoop的名词复数 ) | |
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45
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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46
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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48
panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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49
clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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50
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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51
goggles
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| n.护目镜 | |
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