, and though when Rodier first drew his attention
to the place they must have been more than a mile distant from it, he
could see, even without his binocular, a crowd of people moving about
the open space.

"We may find a forge there," shouted Rodier.

Smith nodded, but he felt a little uneasy. It seemed likely that he
had now reached what is known as the Mekran coast, and he remembered
the ill reputation it bore with the officers of British ships who had
seen service in these waters. The people had been described as greedy,
conceited, unwilling, and unreasonable as camels, and their
treacherous and cruel disposition was such that, thirty or forty years
before, Europeans who landed on any part of their seaboard would have
done so at great peril. Smith, however, had a vague recollection of
their having been taught a salutary lesson by the Karwan expedition,
and no doubt the presence of British war vessels in the Gulf had done
something to correct their turbulence. He had to choose between
finding a landing-place inland, out of sight of the inhabitants of
this fishing village, and landing among them on the chance of getting
the use of a forge, for it would probably be necessary to weld the
broken stay. Deciding for the latter course, he steered straight for
the village, and, circling round it, dropped gently to earth in the
open space near the jetty.

The aeroplane had been seen and heard some time before it reached the
spot, and its flight was watched with open-mouthed curiosity by the
men, who paused in their work of carrying ashore bulky packages from
the dhow. When they saw the strange visitant from the sky descending
upon them, they gave utterance to shrill cries of alarm, dropped their
burdens, and fled in hot haste up the shore, disappearing behind the
huts. As he alighted, Smith noticed, close to the aeroplane, one of
these packages, which had burst open in the fall, and saw with
surprise that it contained rifles.

"I say, Roddy," he said; "this is rather unlucky. We have interrupted
a gun-running."

"Ah, no, it is lucky, mister," returned the Frenchman. "We shall not
need now to buy rifles _en route_; we can help ourselves; these are
contraband, without doubt."

"That's true, I suspect; rifles are sure to be contraband here; but
this is a wild district, and the people won't be too well-disposed
towards us, coming and stopping their little game. We've a right to
impound the rifles, I daresay, but I really