ell of the nut; I seek the juice,
the kernel. But I can tell you this: We are not far from the left bank
of the Tigris, near its confluence with the Zab, and about a hundred
kilometres from the ruins of Nineveh. Adieu, monsieur."

The two airmen resumed their coats, switched on their searchlight, and
made a rapid examination of the engine, which appeared to have
suffered no injury: then took their places. When the sparking began,
and noisome smoke poured from the exhaust, the workmen again yelled,
but as the machine, after a short run, sailed noisily into the air,
they fell prostrate in utter consternation.

CHAPTER VI

WITH GUN RUNNERS IN THE GULF

A glance at the sodden map showed Smith that he had been driven at
least fifty miles out of his course. He could not afford time to
return to the Euphrates: he would now have to follow the course of the
Tigris until it joined the larger river. It would be folly to attempt
a direct flight to Karachi, for in so doing he would have to pass over
the mountainous districts of Southern Persia and Baluchistan, where,
if any mishap befel the aeroplane, there would be absolutely no chance
of finding assistance. Luckily the moon was rising, and by its light
he was soon able to strike the Tigris near the spot where it flowed
between the hills Gebel Hamrin and Gebel Mekhul into the Babylonian
plain. From this point, keeping the hills well on his left, he steered
south-east until about midnight he came upon an immense expanse of
water, shimmering below him in the moonlight, which he concluded to be
nothing else but the Persian Gulf.

By this time he was both tired and hungry. Rodier and he had eaten a
few biscuits spread with Bovril, and drunk soda-water, while they
were examining the engine, but they both felt ravenous for a good
square meal. Smith, however, had set his heart on completing his
flight to Karachi, where his scheme would allow an hour or two for
rest and food, and he was the more determined to carry out his
programme, if possible, because of the delay caused by the storm.

His plan was to keep close to the left shore of the Persian Gulf, not
following its indentations, but never losing sight of the sea. The
coast, he saw by the map, made a gentle curve for some six hundred
miles, then swept southward opposite the projecting Oman peninsula,
and thence ran almost due east to Karachi. The coast was for the most
part hilly, and as he was now travelling at full sp