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diff --git a/old/hrsng10.txt b/old/hrsng10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b24dcb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hrsng10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9508 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Hira Singh, by Talbot Mundy + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. 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For Sikhs to attempt what +they carried through, even under such splendid leadership as Ranjoor +Singh's, was to defy the very nth degree of odds. To have tried to +tell the tale otherwise than in Hira Singh's own words would have +been to varnish gold. Amid the echoes of the roar of the guns in +Flanders, the world is inclined to overlook India's share in it all +and the stout proud loyalty of Indian hearts. May this tribute to +the gallant Indian gentlemen who came to fight our battles serve to +remind its readers that they who give their best, and they who take, +are one. + +T. M. + + + + One hundred Indian troops of the + British Army have arrived at Kabul, + Afghanistan, after a four months' + march from Constantinople. The men + were captured in Flanders by the + Germans and were sent to Turkey in the + hope that, being Mohammedans, they + might join the Turks. But they + remained loyal to Great Britain and + finally escaped, heading for Afghanistan. + They now intend to join their + regimental depot in India, so it + is reported. + + New York Times, July, 1915 + + + + + + +Hira Singh + + +CHAPTER I + + +Let a man, an arrow, and an answer each go straight. Each is his own +witness. God is judge. +--EASTERN PROVERB. + + +A Sikh who must have stood about six feet without his turban--and +only imagination knows how stately he was with it--loomed out of the +violet mist of an Indian morning and scrutinized me with calm brown +eyes. His khaki uniform, like two of the medal ribbons on his +breast, was new, but nothing else about him suggested rawness. +Attitude, grayness, dignity, the unstudied strength of his +politeness, all sang aloud of battles won. Battles with himself they +may have been--but they were won. + +I began remembering ice-polished rocks that the glaciers once +dropped along Maine valleys, when his quiet voice summoned me back +to India and the convalescent camp beyond whose outer gate I stood. +Two flags on lances formed the gate and the boundary line was mostly +imaginary; but one did not trespass, because at about the point +where vision no longer pierced the mist there stood a sentry, and +the grounding of a butt on gravel and now and then a cough announced +others beyond him again. + +"I have permission," I said, "to find a certain Risaldar-major +Ranjoor Singh, and to ask him questions." + +He smiled. His eyes, betraying nothing but politeness, read the very +depths of mine. + +"Has the sahib credentials?" he asked. So I showed him the permit +covered with signatures that was the one scrap of writing left in my +possession after several searchings. + +"Thank you," he said gravely. "There were others who had no permits. +Will you walk with me through the camp?" + +That was new annoyance, for with such a search as I had in mind what +interest could there be in a camp for convalescent Sikhs? Tents +pitched at intervals--a hospital marquee--a row of trees under which +some of the wounded might sit and dream the day through-these were +all things one could imagine without journeying to India. But there +was nothing to do but accept, and I walked beside him, wishing I +could stride with half his grace. + +"There are no well men here," he told me. "Even the heavy work about +the camp is done by convalescents." + +"Then why are you here?" I asked, not trying to conceal admiration +for his strength and stature. + +"I, too, am not yet quite recovered." + +"From what?" I asked, impudent because I felt desperate. But I drew +no fire. + +"I do not know the English name for my complaint," he said. (But he +spoke English better than I, he having mastered it, whereas I was +only born to its careless use.) + +"How long do you expect to remain on the sick list?" I asked, +because a woman once told me that the way to make a man talk is to +seem to be interested in himself. + +"Who knows?" said he. + +He showed me about the camp, and we came to a stand at last under +the branches of an enormous mango tree. Early though it was, a Sikh +non-commissioned officer was already sitting propped against the +trunk with his bandaged feet stretched out in front of him--a +peculiar attitude for a Sikh. + +"That one knows English," my guide said, nodding. And making me a +most profound salaam, he added: "Why not talk with him? I have +duties. I must go." + +The officer turned away, and I paid him the courtesy due from one +man to another. It shall always be a satisfying memory that I raised +my hat to him and that he saluted me. + +"What is that officer's name?" I asked, and the man on the ground +seemed astonished that I did not know. + +"Risaldar-major Ranjoor Singh bahadur!" he said. + +For a second I was possessed by the notion of running after him, +until I recalled that he had known my purpose from the first and +that therefore his purpose must have been deliberate. Obviously, I +would better pursue the opportunity that in his own way He had given +me. + +"What is your name?" I asked the man on the ground. + +"Hira Singh," he answered, and at that I sat down beside him. For I +had also heard of Hira Singh. + +He made quite a fuss at first because, he said, the dusty earth +beneath a tree was no place for a sahib. But suddenly he jumped to +the conclusion I must be American, and ceased at once to be troubled +about my dignity. On the other hand, he grew perceptibly less +distant. Not more friendly, perhaps, but less guarded. + +"You have talked with Sikhs in California?" he asked, and I nodded. + +"Then you have heard lies, sahib. I know the burden of their song. A +bad Sikh and a bad Englishman alike resemble rock torn loose. The +greater the height from which they fall, the deeper they dive into +the mud. Which is the true Sikh, he who marched with us or he who +abuses us? Yet I am told that in America men believe what hired +Sikhs write for the German papers. + +"No man hired me, sahib, although one or two have tried. When I came +of age I sought acceptance in the army, and was chosen among many. +When my feet are healed I shall return to duty. I am a true Sikh. If +the sahib cares to listen, I will tell him truth that has not been +written in the papers." + +So, having diagnosed my nationality and need, he proceeded to tell +me patiently things that many English are in the dark about, both +because of the censorship and because of the prevailing superstition +that the English resent being told--he stabbing and sweeping at the +dust with a broken twig and making little heaps and dents by way of +illustration,--I sitting silent, brushing away the flies. + +Day after day I sought him soon after dawn when they were rolling up +the tent-flaps. I shared the curry and chapatties that a trooper +brought to him at noon, and I fetched water for him to drink from +time to time. It was dusk each day before I left him, so that, what +with his patience and my diligence, I have been able to set down the +story as he told it, nearly in his own words. + +But of Risaldar-major Ranjoor Singh bahadur in the flesh, I have not +had another glimpse. I went in search of him the very first evening, +only to learn that he had "passed his medical" that afternoon and +had returned at once to active service. + + * * * * * * * + +We Sikhs have a proverb, sahib, that the ruler and the ruled are +one. That has many sides to it of which one is this: India having +many moods and minds, the British are versatile. Not altogether +wise, for who is? When, for instance, did India make an end of +wooing foolishness? Since the British rule India, they may wear her +flowers, but they drink her dregs. They may bear her honors, but her +blame as well. As the head is to the body, the ruler and the ruled +are one. + +Yet, as I understand it, when this great war came there was +disappointment in some quarters and surprise in others because we, +who were known not to be contented, did not rise at once in +rebellion. To that the answer is faith finds faith. It is the great +gift of the British that they set faith in the hearts of other men. + +There were dark hours, sahib, before it was made known that there +was war. The censorship shut down on us, and there were a thousand +rumors for every one known fact. There had come a sudden swarm of +Sikhs from abroad, and of other men--all hirelings--who talked much +about Germany and a change of masters. There were dark sayings, and +arrests by night. Men with whom we talked at dusk had disappeared at +dawn. Ranjoor Singh, not yet bahadur but risaldar-major, commanding +Squadron D of my regiment, Outram's Own, became very busy in the +bazaars; and many a night I followed him, not always with his +knowledge. I intended to protect him, but I also wished to know what +the doings were. + +There was a woman. Did the sahib ever hear of a plot that had not a +woman in it? He went to the woman's house. In hiding, I heard her +sneer at him. I heard her mock him. I would have doubted him forever +if I had heard her praise him, but she did not, and I knew him to be +a true man. + +Ours is more like the French than the British system; there is more +intercourse between officer and non-commissioned officer and man. +But Ranjoor Singh is a silent man, and we of his squadron, though we +respected him, knew little of what was in his mind. When there began +to be talk about his knowing German, and about his secrecy, and +about his nights spent at HER place, who could answer? We all knew +he knew German. + +There were printed pamphlets from God-knows-where, and letters from +America, that made pretense at explanations; and there were spies +who whispered. My voice, saying I had listened and seen and that I +trusted, was as a quail's note when the monsoon bursts. None heard. +So that in the end I held my tongue. I even began to doubt. + +Then a trooper of ours was murdered in the bazaar, and Ranjoor +Singh's servant disappeared. Within an hour Ranjoor Singh was gone, +too. + +Then came news of war. Then our officers came among us to ask +whether we are willing or not to take a hand in this great quarrel. +Perhaps in that hour if they had not asked us we might have judged +that we and they were not one after all. + +But they did ask, and let a man, an arrow, and an answer each go +straight, say we. Our Guru tells us Sikhs should fight ever on the +side of the oppressed; the weaker the oppressed, the more the reason +for our taking part with them. Our officers made no secret about the +strength of the enemy, and we made none with them of our feeling in +the matter. They were proud men that day. Colonel Kirby was a very +proud man. We were prouder than he, except when we thought of +Ranjoor Singh. + +Then, as it were out of the night itself, there came a message by +word of mouth from Ranjoor Singh saying he will be with us before +the blood shall run. We were overjoyed at that, and talked about it +far into the night; yet when dawn had come doubt again had hold of +us, and I think I was the only Sikh in the regiment ready to swear +to his integrity. Once, at least a squadron of us had loved him to +the death because we thought him an example of Sikh honor. Now only +I and our British officers believed in him. + +We are light cavalry. We were first of all the Indian regiments to +ride out of Delhi and entrain at a station down the line. That was +an honor, and the other squadrons rode gaily, but D Squadron hung +its head. I heard men muttering in the ranks and some I rebuked to +silence, but my rebukes lightened no man's heart. In place of +Ranjoor Singh rode Captain Fellowes, promoted from another squadron, +and noticing our lack of spirit, he did his best to inspire us with +fine words and manly bearing; but we felt ashamed that our own Sikh +major was not leading us, and did not respond to encouragement. + +Yet when we rode out of Delhi Gate it was as if a miracle took +place. A stiffening passed along the squadron. A trooper caught +sight of Ranjoor Singh standing beside some bullock carts, and +passed the word. I, too, saw him. He was with a Muhammadan bunnia, +and was dressed to resemble one himself. + +The trooper who was first to see him--a sharp-eyed man--he died at +Ypres--Singh means lion, sahib--now recognized the man who stood +with him. "That bunnia," said he, "is surely none other than the +European who gave us the newspaper clippings about Sikhs not allowed +to land in Canada. See--he is disguised like a fool. Are the police +asleep," said he, "that such thieves dare sun themselves?" + +It was true enough, sahib. The man in disguise was German, and we +remembered again that Ranjoor Singh knew German. From that moment we +rode like new men--I, too, although I because I trusted Ranjoor +Singh now more than ever; they, because they trusted no longer at +all, and he can shoulder what seem certainties whom doubt unmans. No +word, but a thought that a man could feel passed all down the line, +that whatever our officer might descend to being, the rank and file +would prove themselves faithful to the salt. Thenceforward there was +nothing in our bearing to cause our officers anxiety. + +You might wonder, sahib, why none broke ranks to expose both men on +the spot. I did not because I trusted Ranjoor Singh. I reasoned he +would never have dared be seen by us if he truly were a traitor. It +seemed to me I knew how his heart must burn to be riding with us. +They did not because they would not willingly have borne the shame. +I tell no secret when I say there has been treason in the Punjab; +the whole world knows that. Yet few understand that the cloak under +which it all made headway was the pride of us true ones, who would +not own to treason in our midst. Pride and the shadow of shame are +one, sahib, but who believes it until the shame bears fruit? + +Before the last squadron had ridden by, Captain Warrington, our +adjutant, also caught sight of Ranjoor Singh. He spurred after +Colonel Kirby, and Colonel Kirby came galloping back; but before he +could reach Delhi Gate Ranjoor Singh had disappeared and D Squadron +was glad to the last man. + +"Let us hope he may die like a rat in a hole and bring no more shame +on us!" said Gooja Singh, and many assented. + +"He said he will be with us before the blood shall run!" said I. + +"Then we know whose blood shall run first!" said the trooper nearest +me, and those who heard him laughed. So I held my tongue. There is +no need of argument while a man yet lives to prove himself. I had +charge of the party that burned that trooper's body. He was one of +the first to fall after we reached France. + +Colonel Kirby, looking none too pleased, came trotting back to us, +and we rode on. And we entrained. Later on we boarded a great ship +in Bombay harbor and put to sea, most of us thinking by that time of +families and children, and some no doubt of money-lenders who might +foreclose on property in our absence, none yet suspecting that the +government will take steps to prevent that. It is not only the +British officer, sahib, who borrows money at high interest lest his +shabbiness shame the regiment. + +We were at sea almost before the horses were stalled properly, and +presently there were officers and men and horses all sick together +in the belly of the ship, with chests and bales and barrels broken +loose among us. The this-and-that-way motion of the ship caused +horses to fall down, and men were too sick to help them up again. I +myself lay amid dung like a dead man--yet vomiting as no dead man +ever did--and saw British officers as sick as I laboring like +troopers. There are more reasons than one why we Sikhs respect our +British officers. + +The coverings of the ship were shut tight, lest the waves descend +among us. The stench became worse than any I had ever known, +although I learned to know a worse one later; but I will speak of +that at the proper time. It seemed to us like a poor beginning and +that thought put little heart in us. + +But the sickness began to lessen after certain days, and as the +movements grew easier the horses were able to stand. Then we became +hungry, who had thought we would never wish to eat again, and double +rations were served out to compensate for days when we had eaten +nothing. Then a few men sought the air, and others--I among them-- +went out of curiosity to see why the first did not return. So, first +by dozens and then by hundreds, we went and stood full of wonder, +holding to the bulwark for the sake of steadiness. + +It may be, sahib, that if I had the tongue of a woman and of a +priest and of an advocate--three tongues in one--I might then tell +the half of what there was to wonder at on that long journey. Surely +not otherwise. Being a soldier, well trained in all subjects +becoming to a horseman but slow of speech, I can not tell the +hundredth part. + +We--who had thought ourselves alone in all the sea--were but one +ship among a number. The ships proceeded after this manner--see, I +draw a pattern--with foam boiling about each. Ahead of us were many +ships bearing British troops--cavalry, infantry and guns. To our +right and left and behind us were Sikh, Gurkha, Dogra, Pathan, +Punjabi, Rajput--many, many men, on many ships. Two and thirty ships +I counted at one time, and there was the smoke of others over the +sky-line! + +Above the bulwark of each ship, all the way along it, thus, was a +line of khaki. Ahead of us that was helmets. To our right and left +and behind us it was turbans. The men of each ship wondered at all +the others. And most of all, I think, we wondered at the great gray +war-ships plunging in the distance; for none knew whence they had +come; we saw none in Bombay when we started. It was not a sight for +the tongue to explain, sahib, but for a man to carry in his heart. A +sight never to be forgotten. I heard no more talk about a poor +beginning. + +We came to Aden, and stopped to take on coal and water. There was no +sign of excitement there, yet no good news. It was put in Orders of +the Day that the Allies are doing as well as can be expected pending +arrival of re-enforcements; and that is not the way winners speak. +Later, when we had left Aden behind, our officers came down among us +and confessed that all did not go well. We said brave things to +encourage them, for it is not good that one's officers should doubt. +If a rider doubts his horse, what faith shall the horse have in his +rider? And so it is with a regiment and its officers. + +After some days we reached a narrow sea--the Red Sea, men call it, +although God knows why--a place full of heat and sand-storms, shut +in on either hand by barren hills. There was no green thing any- +where. There we passed islands where men ran down to the beach to +shout and wave helmets--unshaven Englishmen, who trim the lights. It +must have been their first intimation of any war. How else can they +have known of it? We roared back to them, all of the men on all of +the ships together, until the Red Sea was the home of thunder, and +our ships' whistles screamed them official greeting through the din. +I spent many hours wondering what those men's thoughts might be. + +Never was such a sight, sahib! Behind our ships was darkness, for +the wind was from the north and the funnels belched forth smoke that +trailed and spread. I watched it with fascination until one day +Gooja Singh came and watched beside me near the stern. His rank was +the same as mine, although I was more than a year his senior. There +was never too much love between us. Step by step I earned promotion +first, and he was jealous. But on the face of thing's we were +friends. Said he to me after a long time of gazing at the smoke, "I +think there is a curtain drawn. We shall never return by that road!" + +I laughed at him. "Look ahead!" said I. "Let us leave our rear to +the sweepers and the crows!" + +Nevertheless, what he had said remained in my mind, as the way of +dark sayings is. Yet why should the word of a fool have the weight +of truth? There are things none can explain. He proved right in the +end, but gained nothing. Behold me; and where is Gooja Singh? I made +no prophecy, and he did. Can the sahib explain? + +Day after day we kept overtaking other ships, most of them hurrying +the same way as ourselves. Not all were British, but the crews all +cheered us, and we answered, the air above our heads alive with +waving arms and our trumpets going as if we rode to the king of +England's wedding. If their hearts burned as ours did, the crews of +those ships were given something worth remembering. + +We passed one British ship quite close, whose captain was an elderly +man with a gray beard. He so waved his helmet that it slipped from +his grasp and went spinning into the sea. When we lost him in our +smoke his crew of Chinese were lowering a boat to recover the +helmet. We heard the ships behind us roaring to him. Strange that I +should wonder to this day whether those Chinese recovered the +helmet! It looked like a good new one. I have wondered about it on +the eve of action, and in the trenches, and in the snow on outpost +duty. I wonder about it now. Can the sahib tell me why an old man's +helmet should be a memory, when so much that was matter of life and +death has gone from mind? I see that old man and his helmet now, yet +I forget the feel of Flanders mud. + +We reached Suez, and anchored there. At Suez lay many ships in front +of us, and a great gray battle-ship saluted us with guns, we all +standing to attention while our ensigns dipped. I thought it strange +that the battle-ship should salute us first, until I recalled how +when I was a little fellow I once saw a viceroy salute my +grandfather. My grandfather was one of those Sikhs who marched to +help the British on the Ridge at Delhi when the British cause seemed +lost. The British have long memories for such things. + +Later there came an officer from the battle-ship and there was hot +argument on our upper bridge. The captain of our ship grew very +angry, but the officer from the battle-ship remained polite, and +presently he took away with him certain of our stokers. The captain +of our ship shouted after him that there were only weaklings and +devil's leavings left, but later we discovered that was not true. + +We fretted at delay at Suez. Ships may only enter the canal one by +one, and while we waited some Arabs found their way on board from a +small boat, pretending to sell fruit and trinkets. They assured us +that the French and British were already badly beaten, and that +Belgium had ceased to be. To test them, we asked where Belgium was, +and they did not know; but they swore it had ceased to be. They +advised us to mutiny and refuse to go on to our destruction. + +They ought to have been arrested, but we were enraged and drove them +from the ship with blows. We upset their little boat by hauling at +the rope with which they had made it fast, and they were forced to +swim for shore. One of them was taken by a shark, which we +considered an excellent omen, and the others were captured as they +swam and taken ashore in custody. + +I think others must have visited the other ships with similar tales +to tell, because after that, sahib, there was something such as I +think the world never saw before that day. In that great fleet of +ships we were men of many creeds and tongues--Sikh, Muhammadan, +Dorga, Gurkha (the Dogra and Gurkha be both Hindu, though of +different kinds), Jat, Punjabi, Rajput, Guzerati, Pathan, Mahratta-- +who can recall how many! No one language could have sufficed to +explain one thought to all of us--no, nor yet ten languages! No word +passed that my ear caught. Yet, ship after ship became aware of +closer unity. + +All on our knees on all the ships together we prayed thereafter +thrice a day, our British officers standing bareheaded beneath the +upper awnings, the chin-strap marks showing very plainly on their +cheeks as the way of the British is when they feel emotion. We +prayed, sahib, lest the war be over before we could come and do our +share. I think there was no fear in all that fleet except the fear +lest we come too late. A man might say with truth that we prayed to +more gods than one, but our prayer was one. And we received one +answer. + +One morning our ship got up anchor unexpectedly and began to enter +the canal ahead of all the ships bearing Indian troops. The men on +the other ships bayed to us like packs of wolves, in part to give +encouragement but principally jealous. We began to expect to see +France now at any minute--I, who can draw a map of the world and set +the chief cities in the proper place, being as foolish as the rest. +There lay work as well as distance between us and France. + +We began to pass men laboring to make the canal banks ready against +attack, but mostly they had no news to give us. Yet at one place, +where we tied to the bank because of delay ahead, a man shouted from +a sand-dune that the kaiser of Germany has turned Muhammadan and now +summons all Islam to destroy the French and British. Doubtless he +mistook us for Muhammadans, being neither the first nor the last to +make that mistake. + +So we answered him we were on our way to Berlin to teach the kaiser +his new creed. One man threw a lump of coal at him and he +disappeared, but presently we heard him shouting to the men on the +ship behind. They truly were Muhammadans, but they jeered at him as +loud as we. + +After that our officers set us to leading horses up and down the +deck in relays, partly, no doubt, to keep us from talking with other +men on shore, but also for the horses' sake. I remember how flies +came on board and troubled the horses very much. At sea we had +forgotten there were such things as flies, and they left us again +when we left the canal. + +At Port Said, which looks like a mean place, we stopped again for +coal. Naked Egyptians--big black men, as tall as I and as straight-- +carried it up an inclined plank from a float and cast it by +basketfuls through openings in the ship's side. We made up a purse +of money for them, both officers and men contributing, and I was +told there was a coaling record broken. + +After that we steamed at great speed along another sea, one ship at +a time, just as we left the canal, our ship leading all those that +bore Indian troops. And now there were other war-ships--little ones, +each of many funnels--low in the water, yet high at the nose--most +swift, that guarded us on every hand, coming and going as the sharks +do when they search the seas for food. + +A wonder of a sight, sahib! Blue water--blue water--bluest ever I +saw, who have seen lake water in the Hills! And all the ships +belching black smoke, and throwing up pure white foam--and the last +ship so far behind that only masts and smoke were visible above the +sky-line--but more, we knew, behind that again, and yet more coming! +I watched for hours at a stretch without weariness, and thought +again of Ranjoor Singh. Surely, thought I, his three campaigns +entitled him to this. Surely he was a better man than I. Yet here +was I, and no man knew where he was. But when I spoke of Ranjoor +Singh men spat, so I said nothing. + +After a time I begged leave to descend an iron ladder to the bowels +of the ship, and I sat on the lowest rung watching the British +firemen at the furnaces. They cursed me in the name of God, their +teeth and the whites of their eyes gleaming, but their skin black as +night with coal dust. The sweat ran down in rivers between ridges of +grime on the skin of their naked bellies. When a bell rang and the +fire doors opened they glowed like pictures I have seen of devils. +They were shadows when the doors clanged shut again. Considering +them, I judged that they and we were one. + +I climbed on deck again and spoke to a risaldar. He spoke to Colonel +Kirby. Watching from below, I saw Colonel Kirby nod--thus, like a +bird that takes an insect; and he went and spoke to the captain of +the ship. Presently there was consultation, and a call for +volunteers. The whole regiment responded. None, however, gave me +credit for the thought. I think that risaldar accepted praise for +it, but I have had no opportunity to ask him. He died in Flanders. + +We went down and carried coal as ants that build a hill, piling it +on the iron floor faster than the stokers could use it, toiling +nearly naked like them lest we spoil our uniforms. We grew grimy, +but the ship shook, and the water boiled behind us. None of the +other ships was able to overtake us, although we doubted not they +all tried. + +There grew great good will between us and the stokers. We were +clumsy from inexperience, and they full of laughter at us, but each +judged the spirit with which the other labored. Once, where I stood +directing near the bunker door, two men fell on me and covered me +with coal. The stokers laughed and I was angry. I had hot words +ready on my tongue, but a risaldar prevented me. + +"This is their trade, not ours," said he. "Look to it lest any laugh +at us when the time for our own trade comes!" I judged that well +spoken, and remembered it. + +There came at last a morning when the sun shone through jeweled +mist--a morning with scent in it that set the horses in the hold to +snorting--a dawn that smiled, as if the whole universe in truth were +God's. A dawn, sahib, such as a man remembers to judge other dawns +by. That day we came in sight of France. + +Doubtless you suppose we cheered when we saw Marseilles at last. Yet +I swear to you we were silent. We were disappointed because we could +see no enemy and hear no firing of great guns! We made no more +commotion than the dead while our ship steamed down the long harbor +entrance, and was pushed and pulled by little tugs round a corner to +a wharf. A French war-ship and some guns in a fort saluted us, and +our ship answered; but on shore there seemed no excitement and our +hearts sank. We thought that for all our praying we had come too +late. + +But the instant they raised the gangway a French officer and several +British officers came running up it, and they all talked earnestly +with Colonel Kirby on the upper bridge--we watching as if we had but +an eye and an ear between us. Presently all our officers were +summoned and told the news, and without one word being said to any +of us we knew there was neither peace as yet, nor any surpassing +victory fallen to our side. So then instantly we all began to speak +at once, even as apes do when sudden fear has passed. + +There were whole trains of trucks drawn up in the street beside the +dock and we imagined we were to be hurried at once toward the +fighting. But not so, for the horses needed rest and exercise and +proper food before they could be fit to carry us. Moreover, there +were stores to be offloaded from the ships, we having brought with +us many things that it would not be so easy to replace in a land at +war. Whatever our desire, we were forced to wait, and when we had +left the ship we were marched through the streets to a camp some +little distance out along the Estagus Road. Later in the day, and +the next day, and the next, infantry from the other ships followed +us, for they, too, had to wait for their stores to be offloaded. + +The French seemed surprised to see us. They were women and children +for the most part, for the grown men had been called up. In our +country we greet friends with flowers, but we had been led to +believe that Europe thinks little of such manners. Yet the French +threw flowers to us, the little children bringing arms full and +baskets full. + +Thenceforward, day after day, we rode at exercise, keeping ears and +eyes open, and marveling at France. No man complained, although our +very bones ached to be on active service. And no man spoke of +Ranjoor Singh, who should have led D Squadron. Yet I believe there +was not one man in all D Squadron but thought of Ranjoor Singh all +the time. He who has honor most at heart speaks least about it. In +one way shame on Ranjoor Singh's account was a good thing, for it +made the whole regiment watchful against treachery. + +Treachery, sahib--we had yet to learn what treachery could be! +Marseilles is a half-breed of a place, part Italian, part French. +The work was being chiefly done by the Italians, now that all able- +bodied Frenchmen were under arms. And Italy not yet in the war! + +Sahib, I swear to you that all the spies in all the world seemed at +that moment to be Italian, and all in Marseilles at once! There were +spies among the men who brought our stores. Spies who brought the +hay. Spies among the women who walked now and then through our lines +to admire, accompanied by officers who were none too wide-awake if +they were honest. You would not believe how many pamphlets reached +us, printed in our tongue and some of them worded very cunningly. + +There were men who could talk Hindustanee who whispered to us to +surrender to the Germans at the first opportunity, promising in that +case that we shall be well treated. The German kaiser, these men +assured us, had truly turned Muhammadan; as if that were anything to +Sikhs, unless perhaps an additional notch against him! I was told +they mistook the Muhammadans in another camp for Sikhs, and were +spat on for their pains! + +Nor were all the spies Italians, after all. Our hearts went out to +the French. We were glad to be on their side--glad to help them +defend their country. I shall be glad to my dying day that I have +struck a blow for France. Yet the only really dangerous man of all +who tried to corrupt us in Marseilles was a French officer of the +rank of major, who could speak our tongue as well as I. He said with +sorrow that the French were already as good as vanquished, and that +he pitied us as lambs sent to the slaughter. The part, said he, of +every wise man was to go over to the enemy before the day should +come for paying penalties. + +I told what he had said to me to a risaldar, and the risaldar spoke +with Colonel Kirby. We heard--although I do not know whether it is +true or not--that the major was shot that evening with his face to a +wall. I do know that I, in company with several troopers, was cross- +examined by interpreters that day in presence of Colonel Kirby and a +French general and some of the general's staff. + +There began to be talk at last about Ranjoor Singh. I heard men say +it was no great wonder, after all, that he should have turned +traitor, for it was plain he must have been tempted cunningly. Yet +there was no forgiveness for him. They grew proud that where he had +failed they could stand firm; and there is no mercy in proud men's +minds--nor much wisdom either. + +At last a day came--too soon for the horses, but none too soon for +us--when we marched through the streets to entrain for the front. As +we had marched first out of Delhi, so we marched first from +Marseilles now. Only the British regiments from India were on ahead +of us; we led the Indian-born contingent. + +French wives and children, and some cripples, lined the streets to +cheer and wave their handkerchiefs. We were on our way to help their +husbands defend France, and they honored us. It was our due. But can +the sahib accept his due with a dry eye and a word in his throat? +Nay! It is only ingratitude that a man can swallow unconcerned. No +man spoke. We rode like graven images, and I think the French women +wondered at our silence. I know that I, for one, felt extremely +willing to die for France; and I thought of Ranjoor Singh and of how +his heart, too, would have burned if he had been with us. With such +thoughts as swelled in my own breast, it was not in me to believe +him false, whatever the rest might think. + +D Squadron proved in good fortune that day, for they gave us a train +of passenger coaches with seats, and our officers had a first-class +coach in front. The other squadrons, and most of the other +regiments, had to travel in open trucks, although I do not think any +grumbled on that score. There was a French staff officer to each +train, and he who rode in our train had an orderly who knew English; +the orderly climbed in beside me and we rode miles together, talking +all the time, he surprising me vastly more than I him. We exchanged +information as two boys that play a game--I a move, then he a move, +then I again, then he. + +The game was at an end when neither could think of another question +to ask; but he learned more than I. At the end I did not yet know +what his religion was, but he knew a great deal about mine. On the +other hand, he told me all about their army and its close +association between officers and men, and all the news he had about +the fighting (which was not so very much), and what he thought of +the British. He seemed to think very highly of the British, rather +to his own surprise. + +He told me he was a pastry cook by trade, and said he could cook +chapatties such as we eat; and he understood my explanation why +Sikhs were riding in the front trains and Muhammadans behind-- +because Muhammadans must pray at fixed intervals and the trains must +stop to let them do it. He understood wherein our Sikh prayer +differs from that of Islam. Yet he refused to believe I am no +polygamist. But that is nothing. Since then I have fought in a +trench beside Englishmen who spoke of me as a savage; and I have +seen wounded Germans writhe and scream because their officers had +told them we Sikhs would eat them alive. Yes, sahib; not once, but +many times. + +The journey was slow, for the line ahead of us was choked with +supply trains, some of which were needed at the front as badly as +ourselves. Now and then trains waited on sidings to let us by, and +by that means we became separated from the other troop trains, our +regiment leading all the others in the end by almost half a day. The +din of engine whistles became so constant that we no longer noticed +it. + +But there was another din that did not grow familiar. Along the line +next ours there came hurrying in the opposite direction train after +train of wounded, traveling at great speed, each leaving a smell in +its wake that set us all to spitting. And once in so often there +came a train filled full of the sound of screaming. The first time, +and the second time we believed it was ungreased axles, but after +the third time we understood. + +Then our officers came walking along the footboards, speaking to us +through the windows and pretending to point out characteristics of +the scenery; and we took great interest in the scenery, asking them +the names of places and the purposes of things, for it is not good +that one's officers should be other than arrogantly confident. + +We were a night and a day, and a night and a part of a day on the +journey, and men told us later we had done well to cross the length +of France in that time, considering conditions. On the morning of +the last day we began almost before it was light to hear the firing +of great guns and the bursting of shells--like the thunder of the +surf on Bombay Island in the great monsoon--one roar without +intermission, yet full of pulsation. + +I think it was midday when we drew up at last on a siding, where a +French general waited with some French and British officers. Colonel +Kirby left the train and spoke with the general, and then gave the +order for us to detrain at once; and we did so very swiftly, men, +and horses, and baggage. Many of us were men of more than one +campaign, able to judge by this and by that how sorely we were +needed. We knew what it means when the reenforcements look fit for +the work in hand. The French general came and shook hands again with +Colonel Kirby, and saluted us all most impressively. + +We were spared all the business of caring for our own baggage and +sent away at once. With a French staff officer to guide us, we rode +away at once toward the sound of firing--at a walk, because within +reasonable limits the farther our horses might be allowed to walk +now the better they would be able to gallop with us later. + +We rode along a road between straight trees, most of them scarred by +shell-fire. There were shell-holes in the road, some of which had +been filled with the first material handy, but some had to be +avoided. We saw no dead bodies, nor even dead horses, although +smashed gun-carriages and limbers and broken wagons were everywhere. + +To our right and left was flat country, divided by low hedges and +the same tall straight trees; but far away in front was a forest, +whose top just rose above the sky-line. As we rode toward that we +could see the shells bursting near it. + +Between us and the forest there were British guns, dug in; and away +to our right were French guns--batteries and batteries of them. And +between us and the guns were great receiving stations for the +wounded, with endless lines of stretcher-bearers like ants passing +to and fro. By the din we knew that the battle stretched far away +beyond sight to right and left of us. + +Many things we saw that were unexpected. The speed of the artillery +fire was unbelievable. But what surprised all of us most was the +absence of reserves. Behind the guns and before the guns we passed +many a place where reserves might have sheltered, but there were +none. + +There came two officers, one British and one French, galloping +toward us. They spoke excitedly with Colonel Kirby and our French +staff officer, but we continued at a walk and Colonel Kirby lit a +fresh cheroot. After some time there came an aeroplane with a great +square cross painted on its under side, and we were ordered to halt +and keep quite still until it went away. When it was too far away +for its man to distinguish us we began to trot at last, but it was +growing dusk when we halted finally behind the forest--dusky and +cloudy, the air full of smoke from the explosions, ill-smelling and +difficult to breathe. During the last three-quarters of a mile the +shells had been bursting all about us, but we had only lost one man +and a horse--and the man not killed. + +As it grew darker the enemy sent up star-shells, and by their light +we could sometimes see as plainly as by daylight. British infantry +were holding the forest in front of us and a road that ran to right +of it. Their rifle-fire was steady as the roll of drums. These were +not the regiments that preceded us from India; they had been sent to +another section of the battle. These were men who had been in the +fighting from the first, and their wounded and the stretcher-bearers +were surprised to see us. No word of our arrival seemed to reach the +firing line as yet. Men were too busy to pass news. + +Over our heads from a mile away, the British and French artillery +were sending a storm, of shells, and the enemy guns were answering +two for one. And besides that, into the forest, and into the trench +to the right of it that was being held by the British infantry there +was falling such a cataract of fire that it was not possible to +believe a man could live. Yet the answering rifle-fire never paused +for a second. + +I learned afterward the name of the regiment in the end of the +trench nearest us. With these two eyes in the Hills I once saw that +same regiment run like a thousand hares into the night, because it +had no supper and a dozen Afridi marksmen had the range. Can the +sahib explain? I think I can. A man's spirit is no more in his belly +than in the cart that carries his belongings; yet, while he thinks +it is, his enemies all flourish. + +We dismounted to rest the horses, and waited behind the forest until +it grew so dark that between the bursting of the star-shells a man +could not see his hand held out in front of him. Now and then a +stray shell chanced among us, but our casualties were very few. I +wondered greatly at the waste of ammunition. My ears ached with the +din, but there seemed more noise wrought than destruction. We had +begun to grow restless when an officer came galloping at last to +Colonel Kirby's side and gave him directions with much pointing and +waving of the arm. + +Then Colonel Kirby summoned all our officers, and they rode back to +tell us what the plan was. The din was so great by this time that +they were obliged to explain anew to each four men in turn. This was +the plan: + +The Germans, ignorant of our arrival, undoubtedly believed the +British infantry to be without support and were beginning to press +forward in the hope of winning through to the railway line. The +infantry on our right front, already overwhelmed by weight of +artillery fire, would be obliged to evacuate their trench and fall +back, thus imperiling the whole line, unless we could save the day. + +Observe this, sahib: so--I make a drawing in the dust. Between the +trench here, and the forest there, was a space of level ground some +fifty or sixty yards wide. There was scarcely more than a furrow +across it to protect the riflemen--nothing at all that could stop a +horse. At a given signal the infantry were to draw aside from that +piece of level land, like a curtain drawn back along a rod, and we +were to charge through the gap thus made between them and the +forest. The shock of our charge and its unexpectedness were to serve +instead of numbers. + +Fine old-fashioned tactics, sahib, that suited our mind well! There +had been plenty on the voyage, including Gooja Singh, who argued we +should all be turned into infantry as soon as we arrived, and we had +dreaded that. Each to his own. A horseman prefers to fight on +horseback with the weapons that he knows. + +Perhaps the sahib has watched Sikh cavalry at night and wondered how +so many men and horses could keep so still. We had made but little +noise hitherto, but now our silence was that of night itself. We had +but one eye, one ear, one intellect among us. We were one! One with +the night and with the work ahead! + +One red light swinging near the corner of the forest was to mean BE +READY! We were ready as the fuse is for the match! Two red lights +would mean that the sidewise movement by the infantry was under way. +Three lights swinging together were to be our signal to begin. +Sahib, I saw three red lights three thousand times between each +minute and the next! + +The shell-fire increased from both sides. Where the British infantry +lay was such a lake of flame and din that the very earth seemed to +burst apart; yet the answering rifle-fire was steady--steady as the +roll of drums. Then we truly saw one red light, and "EK!" said we +all at once. EK means ONE, sahib, but it sounded like the opening of +a breech-block. "Mount!" ordered Colonel Kirby, and we mounted. + +While I held my breath and watched for the second light I heard a +new noise behind me, different from the rest, and therefore audible- +-a galloping horse and a challenge close at hand. I saw in the light +of a bursting shell a Sikh officer, close followed by a trooper on a +blown horse. I saw the officer ride to Colonel Kirby's side, rein in +his charger, and salute. At that instant there swung two red lights, +and "DO!" said the regiment. DO means TWO, sahib, but it sounded +like the thump of ordnance. "Draw sabers!" commanded Colonel Kirby, +and the rear ranks drew. The front-rank men had lances. + +By the light of a star-shell I could plainly see the Sikh officer +and trooper. I recognized the charger--a beast with the devil in him +and the speed of wind. I recognized both men. I thought a shell must +have struck me. I must be dead and in a new world. I let my horse +edge nearer, not believing--until ears confirmed eyes. I heard +Colonel Kirby speak, very loud, indeed, as a man to whom good news +comes. + +"Ranjoor Singh!" said he; and he took him by the hand and wrung it. +"Thank God!" he said, speaking from the heart as the British do at +times when they forget that others listen. "Thank God, old man! +You've come in the nick of time!" + +So I was right, and my heart leapt in me. He was with us before the +blood ran! Every man in the squadron recognized him now, and I knew +every eye had watched to see Colonel Kirby draw saber and cut him +down, for habit of thought is harder to bend than a steel bar. But I +could feel the squadron coming round to my way of thinking as +Colonel Kirby continued talking to him, obviously making him an +explanation of our plan. + +"Join your squadron, man--hurry!" I heard Colonel Kirby say at last, +for taking advantage of the darkness I had let my horse draw very +near to them. Now I had to rein back and make pretense that my horse +had been unruly, for Ranjoor Singh came riding toward us, showing +his teeth in a great grin, and Captain Fellowes with a word of +reproof thrown back to me spurred on to meet him. + +"Hurrah, Major Ranjoor Singh!" said Captain Fellowes. "I'm damned +glad to see you!" That was a generous speech, sahib, from a man who +must now yield command of the squadron, but Captain Fellowes had a +heart like a bridegroom's always. He must always glory in the +squadron's luck, and he loved us better than himself. That was why +we loved him. They shook hands, and looked in each other's eyes. +Ranjoor Singh wheeled his charger. And in that same second we all +together saw three red lights swinging by the corner. + +"TIN!" said we, with one voice. Tin means three, sahib, but it +sounded rather like the scream of a shell that leaves on its +journey. + +My horse laid his ears back and dug his toes into the ground. A +trumpet sounded, and Colonel Kirby rose in his stirrups: + +"Outram's Own!" he yelled, "by squadrons on number One--" + +But the sahib would not be interested in the sequence of commands +that have small meaning to those not familiar with them. And who +shall describe what followed? Who shall tell the story of a charge +into the night, at an angle, into massed regiments of infantry +advancing one behind another at the double and taken by surprise? + +The guns of both sides suddenly ceased firing. Even as I used my +spurs they ceased. How? Who am I that I should know? The British +guns, I suppose, from fear of slaying us, and the German guns from +fear of slaying Germans; but as to how, I know not. But the German +star-shells continued bursting overhead, and by that weird light +their oncoming infantry saw charging into them men they had never +seen before out of a picture-book! + +God knows what tales they had been told about us Sikhs. I read their +faces as I rode. Fear is an ugly weapon, sahib, whose hilt is more +dangerous than its blade. If our officers had told us such tales +about Germans as their officers had told them about us, I think +perhaps we might have feared to charge. + +Numbers were as nothing that night. Speed, and shock, and +unexpectedness were ours, and lies had prepared us our reception. D +Squadron rode behind Ranjoor Singh like a storm in the night--swung +into line beside the other squadrons--and spurred forward as in a +dream. There was no shouting; no war-cry. We rode into the Germans +as I have seen wind cut into a forest in the hills--downward into +them, for once we had leapt the trench the ground sloped their way. +And they went down before us as we never had the chance of mowing +them again. + +So, sahib, we proved our hearts--whether they were stout, and true, +as the British had believed, or false, as the Germans planned and +hoped. That was a night of nights--one of very few such, for the +mounted actions in this war have not been many. Hah! I have been +envied! I have been called opprobrious names by a sergeant of +British lancers, out of great jealousy! But that is the way of the +British. It happened later, when the trench fighting had settled +down in earnest and my regiment and his were waiting our turn behind +the lines. He and I sat together on a bench in a great tent, where +some French artists gave us good entertainment. + +He offered me tobacco, which I do not use, and rum, which I do not +drink. He accepted sweetmeats from me. And he called me a name that +would make the sahib gulp, a word that I suppose he had picked up +from a barrack-sweeper on the Bengal side of India. Then he slapped +me on the back, and after that sat with his arm around me while the +entertainment lasted. When we left the tent he swore roundly at a +newcomer to the front for not saluting me, who am not entitled to +salute. That is the way of the British. But I was speaking of +Ranjoor Singh. Forgive me, sahib. + +The horse his trooper-servant rode was blown and nearly useless, so +that the trooper died that night for lack of a pair of heels, +leaving us none to question as to Ranjoor Singh's late doings. But +Bagh, Ranjoor Singh's charger, being a marvel of a beast whom few +could ride but he, was fresh enough and Ranjoor Singh led us like a +whirlwind beckoning a storm. I judged his heart was on fire. He led +us slantwise into a tight-packed regiment. We rolled it over, and he +took us beyond that into another one. In the dark he re-formed us +(and few but he could have done that then)--lined us up again with +the other squadrons--and brought us back by the way we had come. +Then he took us the same road a second time against remnants of the +men who had withstood us and into yet another regiment that checked +and balked beyond. The Germans probably believed us ten times as +many as we truly were, for that one setback checked their advance +along the whole line. + +Colonel Kirby led us, but I speak of Ranjoor Singh. I never once saw +Colonel Kirby until the fight was over and we were back again +resting our horses behind the trees while the roll was called. +Throughout the fight--and I have no idea whatever how long it +lasted--I kept an eye on Ranjoor Singh and spurred in his wake, +obeying the least motion of his saber. No, sahib, I myself did not +slay many men. It is the business of a non-commissioned man like me +to help his officers keep control, and I did what I might. I was +nearly killed by a wounded German officer who seized my bridle-rein; +but a trooper's lance took him in the throat and I rode on +untouched. For all I know that was the only danger I was in that +night. + +A battle is a strange thing, sahib--like a dream. A man only knows +such part of it as crosses his own vision, and remembers but little +of that. What he does remember seldom tallies with what the others +saw. Talk with twenty of our regiment, and you may get twenty +different versions of what took place--yet not one man would have +lied to you, except perhaps here and there a little in the matter of +his own accomplishment. Doubtless the Germans have a thousand +different accounts of it. + +I know this, and the world knows it: that night the Germans melted. +They were. Then they broke into parties and were not. We pursued +them as they ran. Suddenly the star-shells ceased from bursting +overhead, and out of black darkness I heard Colonel Kirby's voice +thundering an order. Then a trumpet blared. Then I heard Ranjoor +Singh's voice, high-pitched. Almost the next I knew we were halted +in the shadow of the trees again, calling low to one another, +friend's voice seeking friend's. We could scarcely hear the voices +for the thunder of artillery that had begun again; and whereas +formerly the German gun-fire had been greatest, now we thought the +British and French fire had the better of it. They had been re- +enforced, but I have no notion whence. + +The infantry, that had drawn aside like a curtain to let us through, +had closed in again to the edge of the forest, and through the noise +of rifle-firing and artillery we caught presently the thunder of new +regiments advancing at the double. Thousands of our Indian infantry- +-those who had been in the trains behind us--were coming forward at +a run! God knows that was a night--to make a man glad he has lived! + +It was not only the Germans who had not expected us. Now, sahib, for +the first time the British infantry began to understand who it was +who had come to their aid, and they began to sing--one song, all +together. The wounded sang it, too, and the stretcher-bearers. There +came a day when we had our own version of that song, but that night +it was new to us. We only caught a few words--the first words. The +sahib knows the words--the first few words? It was true we had come +a long, long way; but it choked us into silence to hear that +battered infantry acknowledge it. + +Color and creed, sahib. What are color and creed? The world has +mistaken us Sikhs too long for a breed it can not understand. We +Sikhs be men, with the hearts of men; and that night we knew that +our hearts and theirs were one. Nor have I met since then the fire +that could destroy the knowledge, although efforts have been made, +and reasons shown me. + +But my story is of Ranjoor Singh and of what he did. I but tell my +own part to throw more light on his. What I did is as nothing. Of +what he did, you shall be the judge--remembering this, that he who +does, and he who glories in the deed are one. Be attentive, sahib; +this is a tale of tales! + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Can the die fall which side up it will? Nay, not if it be honest. +--EASTERN PROVERB. + + +Many a league our infantry advanced that night, the guns following, +getting the new range by a miracle each time they took new ground. +We went forward, too, at the cost of many casualties--too many in +proportion to the work we did. We were fired on in the darkness more +than once by our own infantry. We, who had lost but seventy-two men +killed and wounded in the charge, were short another hundred when +the day broke and nothing to the good by it. + +Getting lost in the dark--falling into shell-holes--swooping down on +rear-guards that generally proved to have machine guns with them-- +weary men on hungrier, wearier horses--the wonder is that a man rode +back to tell of it at dawn. + +One-hundred-and-two-and-seventy were our casualties, and some two +hundred horses--some of the men so lightly wounded that they were +back in the ranks within the week. At dawn they sent us to the rear +to rest, we being too good a target for the enemy by daylight. Some +of us rode two to a horse. On our way to the camp the French had +pitched for us we passed through reenforcements coming from another +section of the front, who gave us the right of way, and we took the +salute of two divisions of French infantry who, I suppose, had been +told of the service we had rendered. Said I to Gooja Singh, who sat +on my horse's rump, his own beast being disemboweled, "Who speaks +now of a poor beginning?" said I. + +"I would rather see the end!" said he. But he never saw the end. +Gooja Singh was ever too impatient of beginnings, and too sure what +the end ought to be, to make certain of the middle part. I have +known men on outpost duty so far-seeing that an enemy had them at +his mercy if only he could creep close enough. And such men are +always grumblers. + +Gooja Singh led the grumbling now--he who had been first to prophesy +how we should be turned into infantry. They kept us at the rear, and +took away our horses--took even our spurs, making us drill with +unaccustomed weapons. And I think that the beginning of the new +distrust of Ranjoor Singh was in resentment at his patience with the +bayonet drill. We soldiers are like women, sahib, ever resentful of +the new--aye, like women in more ways than one; for whom we have +loved best we hate most when the change comes. + +Once, at least a squadron of us had loved Ranjoor Singh to the +death. He was a Sikh of Sikhs. It had been our boast that fire could +not burn his courage nor love corrupt him, and I was still of that +mind; but not so the others. They began to remember how he had +stayed behind when we left India. We had all seen him in disguise, +in conversation with that German by the Delhi Gate. We knew how busy +he had been in the bazaars while the rumors flew. And the trooper +who had stayed behind with him, who had joined us with him at the +very instant of the charge that night, died in the charge; so that +there was none to give explanation of his conduct. Ranjoor Singh +himself was a very rock for silence. Our British officers said +nothing, doubtless not suspecting the distrust; for it was a byword +that Ranjoor Singh held the honor of the squadron in his hand. Yet +of all the squadron only the officers and I now trusted him--the +Sikh officers because they imitated the British; the British because +faith is a habit with them, once pledged, and I--God knows. There +were hours when I did distrust him--black hours, best forgotten. + +The war settled down into a siege of trenches, and soon we were +given a section of a trench to hold. Little by little we grew wise +at the business of tossing explosives over blind banks--we, who +would rather have been at it with the lance and saber. Yet, can a +die fall which side up it will? Nay, not if it be honest! We were +there to help. We who had carried coal could shovel mud, and as time +went on we grumbled less. + +But time hung heavy, and curiosity regarding Ranjoor Singh led from +one conjecture to another. At last Gooja Singh asked Captain +Fellowes, and he said that Ranjoor Singh had stayed behind to expose +a German plot--that having done so, he had hurried after us. That +explanation ought to have satisfied every one, and I think it did +for a time. But who could hide from such a man as Ranjoor Singh that +the squadron's faith in him was gone? That knowledge made him +savage. How should we know that he had been forbidden to tell us +what had kept him? When he set aside his pride and made us +overtures, there was no response; so his heart hardened in him. +Secrecy is good. Secrecy is better than all the lame explanations in +the world. But in this war there has been too much secrecy in the +wrong place. They should have let him line us up and tell us his +whole story. But later, when perhaps he might have done it, either +his pride was too great or his sense of obedience too tightly spun. +To this day he has never told us. Not that it matters. + +The subtlest fool is the worst, and Gooja Singh's tongue did not +lack subtlety on occasion. He made it his business to remind the +squadron daily of its doubts, and I, who should have known better, +laughed at some of the things he said and agreed with others. One is +the fool who speaks with him who listens. I have never been rebuked +for it by Ranjoor Singh, and more than once since that day he has +seen fit to praise me; but in that hour when most he needed friends +I became his half-friend, which is worse than enemy. I never raised +my voice once in defense of him in those days. + +Meanwhile Ranjoor Singh grew very wise at this trench warfare, +Colonel Kirby and the other British officers taking great comfort in +his cunning. It was he who led us to tie strings to the German wire +entanglements, which we then jerked from our trench, causing them to +lie awake and waste much ammunition. It was he who thought of +dressing turbans on the end of poles and thrusting them forward at +the hour before dawn when fear and chill and darkness have done +their worst work. That started a panic that cost the Germans eighty +men. + +I think his leadership would have won the squadron back to love him. +I know it saved his life. We had all heard tales of how the British +soldiers in South Africa made short work of the officers they did +not love, and it would have been easy to make an end of Ranjoor +Singh on any dark night. But he led too well; men were afraid to +take the responsibility lest the others turn on them. One night I +overheard two troopers considering the thought, and they suspected I +had overheard. I said nothing, but they were afraid, as I knew they +would be. Has the sahib ever heard of "left-hand casualties"? I will +explain. + +We Sikhs have a saying that in fear there is no wisdom. None can be +wise and afraid. None can be afraid and wise. The men at the front, +both Indian and British-French, too, for aught I know--who feared to +fight longer in the trenches were seized in those early days with +the foolish thought of inflicting some injury on themselves--not +very severe, but enough to cause a spell of absence at the base and +a rest in hospital. Folly being the substance of that idea, and most +men being right-handed, such self-inflicted wounds were practically +always in the hand or foot and always on the left side. The +ambulance men knew them, on the instant. + +Those two fools of my squadron wounded themselves with bullets in +the left hand, forgetting that their palms would be burned by the +discharge. I was sent to the rear to give evidence against them (for +I saw them commit the foolishness). The cross-examination we all +three underwent was clever--at the hands of a young British captain, +who, I dare swear, was suckled by a Sikh nurse in the Punjab. In +less than thirty minutes he had the whole story out of us; and the +two troopers were shot that evening for an example. + +That young captain was greatly impressed with the story we had told +about Ranjoor Singh, and he called me back afterward and asked me a +hundred questions more--until he must have known the very color of +my entrails and I knew not which way I faced. To all of this a +senior officer of the Intelligence Department listened with both +ears, and presently he and the captain talked together. + +The long and short of that was that Ranjoor Singh was sent for; and +when he returned to the trench after two days' absence it was to +work independently of us--from our trench, but irrespective of our +doings. Even Colonel Kirby now had no orders to give him, although +they two talked long and at frequent intervals in the place Colonel +Kirby called his funk-hole. It was now that the squadron's +reawakening love for Ranjoor Singh received the worst check of any. +We had almost forgotten he knew German. Henceforward he conversed in +German each day with the enemy. + +It is a strange thing, sahib,--not easy to explain--but I, who have +achieved some fluency in English and might therefore have admired +his gift of tongues, now began to doubt him in earnest--hating +myself the while, but doubting him. And Gooja Singh, who had talked +the most and dropped the blackest hints against him, now began to +take his side. + +And Ranjoor Singh said nothing. Night after night he went to lie at +the point where our trench and the enemy's lay closest. There he +would talk with some one whom we never saw, while we sat shivering +in the mud. Cold we can endure, sahib, as readily as any; it is +colder in winter where I come from than anything I felt in Flanders; +but the rain and the mud depressed our spirits, until with these two +eyes I have seen grown men weeping. + +They kept us at work to encourage us. Our spells in the trench were +shortened and our rests at the rear increased to the utmost +possible. Only Ranjoor Singh took no vacation, remaining ever on the +watch, passing from one trench to another, conversing ever with the +enemy. + +We dug and they dug, each side laboring everlastingly to find the +other's listening places and to blow them up by means of mining, so +that the earth became a very rat-run. Above-ground, where were only +ruin and barbed wire, there was no sign of activity, but only a +great stench that came from bodies none dared bury. We were thankful +that the wind blew oftenest from us to them; but whichever way the +wind blew Ranjoor Singh knew no rest. He was ever to be found where +the lines lay closest at the moment, either listening or talking. We +understood very well that he was carrying out orders given him at +the rear, but that did not make the squadron or the regiment like +him any better, and as far as that went I was one with them; I hated +to see a squadron leader stoop to such intrigues. + +It was plain enough that some sort of intrigue was making headway, +for the Germans soon began to toss over into our trench bundles of +printed pamphlets, explaining in our tongue why they were our best +friends and why therefore we should refuse to wage war on them. They +threw printed bulletins that said, in good Punjabi, there was +revolution from end to end of India, rioting in England, utter +disaster to the British fleet, and that our way home again to India +had been cut by the German war-ships. They must have been ignorant +of the fact that we received our mail from India regularly. I have +noticed this about the Germans: they are unable to convince +themselves that any other people can appreciate the same things they +appreciate, think as swiftly as they, or despise the terrors they +despise. That is one reason why they must lose this war. But there +are others also. + +One afternoon, when I was pretending to doze in a niche near the +entrance to Colonel Kirby's funk-hole, I became possessed of the key +to it all; for Colonel Kirby's voice was raised more than once in +anger. I understood at last how Ranjoor Singh had orders to deceive +the Germans as to our state of mind. He was to make them believe we +were growing mutinous and that the leaven only needed time in which +to work; this of course for the purpose of throwing them off their +guard. + +My heart stopped beating while I listened, for what man hears his +honor smirched without wincing? Even so I think I would have held my +tongue, only that Gooja Singh, who dozed in a niche on the other +side of the funk-hole entrance, heard the same as I. + +Said Gooja Singh that evening to the troopers round about: "They +chose well," said he. "They picked a brave man--a clever man, for a +desperate venture!" And when the troopers asked what that might +mean, he asked how many of them in the Punjab had seen a goat tied +to a stake to lure a panther. The suggestion made them think. Then, +pretending to praise him, letting fall no word that could be thrown +back in his teeth, he condemned Ranjoor Singh for a worse traitor +than any had yet believed him. Gooja Singh was a man with a certain +subtlety. A man with two tongues, very dangerous. + +"Ranjoor Singh is brave," said he, "for he is not afraid to +sacrifice us all. Many officers are afraid to lose too many men in +the gaining of an end, but not so he. He is clever, for who else +would have thought of making us seem despicable to the Germans in +order to tempt them to attack in force at this point? Have ye not +noticed how to our rear all is being made ready for the defense and +for a counter-attack to follow? We are the bait. The battle is to be +waged over our dead bodies." + +I corrected him. I said I had heard as well as he, and that Colonel +Kirby was utterly angry at the defamation of those whom he was ever +pleased to call "his Sikhs." But that convinced nobody, although it +did the colonel sahib no harm in the regiment's opinion--not that he +needed advocates. We were all ready to die around Colonel Kirby at +any minute. Even Gooja Singh was ready to do that. + +"Does the colonel sahib accept the situation?" one of the troopers +asked. + +"Aye, for he must," said Gooja Singh; and I could not deny it. +"Ranjoor Singh went over his head and orders have come from the +rear." I could not deny that either, although I did not believe it. +How should I, or any one, know what passed after Ranjoor Singh had +been sent for by the Intelligence officers? I was his half-friend in +those days, sahib. Worse than his enemy--unwilling to take part +against him, yet unready to speak up in his defense. Doubtless my +silence went for consent among the troopers. + +The end of the discussion found men unafraid. "If the colonel sahib +is willing to be bait," said they, "then so be we, but let us see to +it that none hang back." And so the whole regiment made up its mind +to die desperately, yet with many a sidewise glance at Ranjoor +Singh, who was watched more carefully than I think he guessed in +those days. If he had tried to slip back to the rear it would have +been the end of him. But he continued with us. + +And all this while a great force gathered at our rear--gathered and +grew--Indian and British infantry. Guns by the fifty were brought +forward under cover of the night and placed in line behind us. +Ranjoor Singh continued talking with the enemy, lying belly downward +in the mud, and they kept throwing printed stuff to us that we +turned in to our officers. But the Germans did not attack. And the +force behind us grew. + +Then one evening, just after dusk, we were all amazed by the news +that the assault was to come from our side. And almost before that +news had reached us the guns at our rear began their overture, +making preparation beyond the compass of a man's mind to grasp or +convey. They hurled such a torrent of shells that the Germans could +neither move away the troops in front of us nor bring up others to +their aid. It did not seem possible that one German could be left +alive, and I even felt jealous because, thought I, no work would be +left for us to do! Yet men did live--as we discovered. For a night +and a day our ordnance kept up that preparation, and then word went +around. + +Who shall tell of a night attack, from a trench against trenches? +Suddenly the guns ceased pounding the earth in front of us and +lifted to make a screen of fire almost a mile beyond. There was +instant pitch darkness on every hand, and out of that a hundred +trumpets sounded. Instantly, each squadron leader leaped the +earthwork, shouting to his men. Ranjoor Singh leaped up in front of +us, and we followed him, all forgetting their distrust of him in the +fierce excitement--remembering only how he had led us in the charge +on that first night. The air was thick with din, and fumes, and +flying metal--for the Germans were not forgetting to use artillery. +I ceased to think of anything but going forward. Who shall describe +it? + +Once in Bombay I heard a Christian preacher tell of the Judgment Day +to come, when graves shall give up their dead. That is not our Sikh +idea of judgment, but his words brought before my mind a picture +riot so much unlike a night attack in Flanders. He spoke of the +whole earth trembling and consumed by fire--of thunder and lightning +and a great long trumpet call--of the dead leaping alive again from +the graves where they lay buried. Not a poor picture, sahib, of a +night attack in Flanders! + +The first line of German trenches, and the second had been pounded +out of being by our guns. The barbed wire had been cut into +fragments by our shrapnel. Here and there an arm or a leg protruded +from the ground--here and there a head. For two hundred yards and +perhaps more there was nothing to oppose us, except the enemy shells +bursting so constantly that we seemed to breathe splintered metal. +Yet very few were hit. The din was so great that it seemed to be +silence. We were phantom men, going forward without sound of +footfall. I could neither feel nor think for the first two hundred +yards, but ran with my bayonet out in front of me. And then I did +feel. A German bayonet barked my knuckles. After that there was +fighting such as I hope never to know again. + +The Germans did not seem to have been taken by surprise at all. They +had made ample preparation. And as for holding us in contempt, they +gave no evidence of that. Their wounded were unwilling to surrender +because their officers had given out we would torture prisoners. We +had to pounce on them, and cut their buttons off and slit their +boots, so that they must use both hands to hold their trousers up +and could not run. And that took time so that we lagged behind a +little, for we took more prisoners than the regiments to right and +left of us. The Dogra regiment to our left and the Gurkha regiment +to our right gained on us fast, and we became, as it were, the +center of a new moon. + +But then in the light of bursting shells we saw Colonel Kirby and +Ranjoor Singh and Captain Fellowes and some other officers far out +in front of us beckoning--calling on us for our greatest effort. We +answered. We swept forward after them into the teeth of all the +inventions in the world. Mine after mine exploded under our very +feet. Shrapnel burst among us. There began to be uncut wire, and men +rushed out at us from trenches that we thought obliterated, but that +proved only to have been hidden under debris by our gun-fire. +Shadows resolved into trenches defended by machine guns. + +But we went forward--cavalry, without a spur among us--cavalry with +rifles--cavalry on foot--infantry with the fire and the drill and +the thoughts of cavalry--still cavalry at heart, for all the weapons +they had given us and the trench life we had lived. We remembered, +sahib, that the Germans had been educated lately to despise us, and +we were out that night to convert them to a different opinion! It +seemed good to D Squadron that Ranjoor Singh, who had done the +defamation, should lead us to the clearing of our name. Nothing +could stop us that night. + +Whereas we had been last in the advance, we charged into the lead +and held it. We swept on I know not how far, but very far beyond the +wings. No means had been devised that I know of for checking the +distance covered, and I suppose Headquarters timed the attack and +tried to judge how far the advance had carried, with the aid of +messengers sent running back. No easy task! + +At all events we lost touch with the regiments to right and left, +but kept touch with the enemy, pressing forward until suddenly our +own shell-fire ceased to fall in front of us but resumed pounding +toward our rear. They call such a fire a barrage, sahib. Its purpose +is to prevent the enemy from making a counter-attack until the +infantry can dig themselves in and secure the new ground won. That +meant we were isolated. It needed no staff officer to tell, us that, +or to bring us to our senses. We were like men who wake from a +nightmare, to find the truth more dreadful than the dream. + +Colonel Kirby was wounded a little, and sat while a risaldar bound +his arm. Ranjoor Singh found a short trench half full of water, and +ordered us into it. Although we had not realized it until then, it +was raining torrents, and the Germans we drove out of that trench +(there were but a few of them) were wetter than water rats; but we +had to scramble down into it, and the cold bath finished what the +sense of isolation had begun. We were sober men when Kirby sahib +scrambled in last and ordered us to begin on the trench at once with +picks and shovels that the Germans had left behind. We altered the +trench so that it faced both ways, and waited shivering for the +dawn. + +Let it not be supposed, however, sahib, that we waited unmolested. +The Germans are not that kind of warrior. I hold no brief for them, +but I tell no lies about them, either. They fight with persistence, +bravery, and what they consider to be cunning. We were under rifle- +fire at once from before and behind and the flanks, and our own +artillery began pounding the ground so close to us that fragments of +shell and shrapnel flew over our heads incessantly, and great clods +of earth came thumping and splashing into our trench, compelling us +to keep busy with the shovels. Nor did the German artillery omit to +make a target of us, though with poor success. More than the half of +us lived; and to prove that there had been thought as well as +bravery that night we had plenty of ammunition with us. We were +troubled to stow the ammunition out of the wet, yet where it would +be safe from the German fire. + +We made no reply to the shell-fire, for that would have been +foolishness; so, doubtless thinking they had the range not quite +right, or perhaps supposing that we had been annihilated, the enemy +discontinued shelling us and devoted their attention to our friends +beyond. But at the same time a battalion of infantry began to feel +its way toward us and we grew very busy with our rifles, the wounded +crawling through the wet to pass the cartridges. Once there was a +bayonet charge, which we repelled. + +Those who had not thrown away their knapsacks to lighten themselves +had their emergency rations, but about half of us had nothing to eat +whatever. It was perfectly evident to all of us from the very first +that unless we should receive prompt aid at dawn our case was as +hopeless as death itself. So much the more reason for stout hearts, +said we, and our bearing put new heart into our officers. + +When dawn came the sight was not inspiriting. Dawn amid a waste of +Flanders mud, seen through a rain-storm, is not a joyous spectacle +in any case. Consider, sahib, what a sunny land we came from, and +pass no hasty judgment on us if our spirits sank. It was the +weather, not the danger that depressed us. I, who was near the +center of the trench, could see to right and left over the ends, and +I made a hasty count of heads, discovering that we, who had been a +regiment, were now about three hundred men, forty of whom were +wounded. + +I saw that we were many a hundred yards away from the nearest +British trench. The Germans had crept under cover of the darkness +and dug themselves in anew between us and our friends. Before us was +a trench full of infantry, and there were others to right and left. +We were completely surrounded; and it was not an hour after dawn +when the enemy began to shout to us to show our hands and surrender. +Colonel Kirby forbade us to answer them, and we lay still as dead +men until they threw bombs--which we answered with bullets. + +After that we were left alone for an hour or two, and Colonel Kirby, +whose wound was not serious, began passing along the trench, knee- +deep in the muddy water, to inspect us and count us and give each +man encouragement. It was just as he passed close to me that a hand- +grenade struck him in the thigh and exploded. He fell forward on me, +and I took him across my knee lest he fall into the water and be +smothered. That is how it happened that only I overheard what he +said to Ranjoor Singh before he died. Several others tried to hear, +for we loved Colonel Kirby as sons love their father; but, since he +lay with his head on my shoulder, my ear was as close to his lips as +Ranjoor Singh's, to whom he spoke, so that Ranjoor Singh and I heard +and the rest did not. Later I told the others, but they chose to +disbelieve me. + +Ranjoor Singh came wading along the trench, stumbling over men's +feet in his hurry and nearly falling just as he reached us, so that +for the moment I thought he too had been shot. Besides Colonel +Kirby, who was dying in my arms, he, and Captain Fellowes, and one +other risaldar were our only remaining officers. Colonel Kirby was +in great pain, so that his words were not in his usual voice but +forced through clenched teeth, and Ranjoor Singh had to stoop to +listen. + +"Shepherd 'em!" said Colonel Kirby. "Shepherd 'em, Ranjoor Singh!" +My ear was close and I heard each word. "A bad business. They did +not know enough to listen to you at Headquarters. Don't waste time +blaming anybody. Pray for wisdom, and fear nothing! You're in +command now. Take over. Shepherd 'em! Good-by, old friend!" + +"Good-by, Colonel sahib," said Ranjoor Singh, and Kirby sahib died +in that moment, having shed the half of his blood over me. Ranjoor +Singh and I laid him along a ledge above the water and it was not +very long before a chance shell dropped near and buried him under a +ton of earth. Yes, sahib, a British shell. + +Presently Ranjoor Singh waded along the trench to have word with +Captain Fellowes, who was wounded rather badly. I made busy with the +men about me, making them stand where they could see best with least +risk of exposure and ordering spade work here and there. It is a +strange thing, sahib, but I have never seen it otherwise, that spade +work--which is surely the most important thing--is the last thing +troopers will attend to unless compelled. They will comb their +beards, and decorate the trench with colored stones and draw names +in the mud, but the all-important digging waits. Sikh and Gurkha and +British and French are all alike in that respect. + +When Ranjoor Singh came back from his talk with Captain Fellowes he +sent me to the right wing under our other risaldar, and after he was +killed by a grenade I was in command of the right wing of our +trench. + +The three days that followed have mostly gone from memory, that +being the way of evil. If men could remember pain and misery they +would refuse to live because of the risk of more of it; but hope +springs ever anew out of wretchedness like sprouts on the burned +land, and the ashes are forgotten. I do not remember much of those +three days. + +There was nothing to eat. There began to be a smell. There was worse +than nothing to drink, for thirst took hold of us, yet the water in +the trench was all pollution. The smell made us wish to vomit, yet +what could the empty do but desire? Corpses lay all around us. No, +sahib, not the dead of the night before's fighting. Have I not said +that the weather was cold? The bombardment by our own guns preceding +our attack had torn up graves that were I know not how old. When we +essayed to re-bury some bodies the Germans drove us back under +cover. + +That night, and the next, several attempts were made to rush us, but +under Ranjoor Singh's command we beat them off. He was wakeful as +the stars and as unexcited. Obedience to him was so comforting that +men forgot for the time their suspicion and distrust. When dawn came +there were more dead bodies round about, and some wounded who called +piteously for help. The Germans crawled out to help their wounded, +but Ranjoor Singh bade us drive them back and we obeyed. + +Then the Germans began shouting to us, and Ranjoor Singh answered +them. If he had answered in English, so that most of us could have +understood, all would surely have been well; I am certain that in +that case the affection, returning because of his fine leadership, +would have destroyed the memory of suspicion. But I suppose it had +become habit with him to talk to the enemy in German by that time, +and as the words we could not understand passed back and forth even +I began to hate him. Yet he drove a good bargain for us. + +Instead of hand-grenades the Germans began to throw bread to us-- +great, flat, army loaves, Ranjoor Singh not showing himself, but +counting aloud as each loaf came over, we catching with great +anxiety lest they fall into the water and be polluted. It took a +long time, but when there was a good dry loaf for each man, Ranjoor +Singh gave the Germans leave to come and carry in their wounded, and +bade us hold our fire. Gooja Singh was for playing a trick but the +troopers near him murmured and Ranjoor Singh threatened him with +death if he dared. He never forgot that. + +The Germans who came to fetch the wounded laughed at us, but Ranjoor +Singh forbade us to answer, and Captain Fellowes backed him up. + +"There will be another attack from our side presently," said Captain +Fellowes, "and our friends will answer for us." + +I shuddered at that. I remembered the bombardment that preceded our +first advance. Better die at the hands of the enemy, thought I. But +I said nothing. Presently, however, a new thought came to me, and I +called to Ranjoor Singh along the trench. + +"You should have made a better bargain," said I. "You should have +compelled them to care for our wounded before they were allowed to +take their own!" + +"I demanded, but they refused," he answered, and then I wished I had +bitten out my tongue rather than speak, for although I believed his +answer, the rest of the men did not. There began to be new murmuring +against him, led by Gooja Singh; but Gooja Singh was too subtle to +be convicted of the responsibility. + +Captain Fellowes grew aware of the murmuring and made much show +thenceforward of his faith in Ranjoor Singh. He was weak from his +wound and was attended constantly by two men, so that although he +kept command of the left wing and did ably he could not shout loud +enough to be heard very far, and he had to send messages to Ranjoor +Singh from mouth to mouth. His evident approval had somewhat the +effect of subduing the men's resentment, although not much, and when +he died that night there was none left, save I, to lend our leader +countenance. And I was only his half-friend, without enough merit in +my heart truly to be the right-hand man I was by right of seniority. +I was willing enough to die at his back, but not to share contempt +with him. + +The day passed and there came another day, when the bread was done, +and there were no more German wounded straddled in the mud over whom +to strike new bargains. It had ceased raining, so we could catch no +rain to drink. We were growing weak from weariness and want of +sleep, and we demanded of Ranjoor Singh that he lead us back toward +the British lines. + +"We should perish on the way," said he. + +"What of it?" we answered, I with the rest. "Better that than this +vulture's death in a graveyard!" + +But he shook his head and ordered us to try to think like men. "The +life of a Sikh," said he, "and the oath of a Sikh are one. We swore +to serve our friends. To try to cut our way back would be but to die +for our own comfort." + +"You should have led us back that first night, when the attack was +spent," said Gooja Singh. + +"I was not in command that first night," Ranjoor Singh answered him, +and who could gainsay that? + +At irregular intervals British shells began bursting near us, and we +all knew what they were. The batteries were feeling for the range. +They would begin a new bombardment. Now, therefore, is the end, said +we. But Ranjoor Singh stood up with his head above the trench and +began shouting to the Germans. They answered him. Then, to our utter +astonishment, he tore the shirt from a dead man, tied it to a rifle, +and held it up. + +The Germans cheered and laughed, but we made never a sound. We were +bewildered--sick from the stink and weariness and thirst and lack of +food. Yet I swear to you, sahib, on my honor that it had not entered +into the heart of one of us to surrender. That we who had been first +of the Indian contingent to board a ship, first to land in France, +first to engage the enemy, should now be first to surrender in a +body seemed to us very much worse than death. Yet Ranjoor Singh bade +us leave our rifles and climb out of the trench, and we obeyed him. +God knows why we obeyed him. I, who had been half-hearted hitherto, +hated him in that minute as a trapped wolf hates the hunter; yet I, +too, obeyed. + +We left our dead for the Germans to bury, but we dragged the wounded +out and some of them died as we lifted them. When we reached the +German trench and they counted us, including Ranjoor Singh and +three-and-forty wounded there were two-hundred-and-three-and-fifty +of us left alive. + +They led Ranjoor Singh apart. He had neither rifle nor saber in his +hand, and he walked to their trench alone because we avoided him. He +was more muddy than we, and as ragged and tired. He had stood in the +same foul water, and smelt the same stench. He was hungry as we. He +had been willing to surrender, and we had not. Yet he walked like an +officer, and looked like one, and we looked like animals. And we +knew it, and he knew it. And the Germans recognized the facts. + +He acted like a crowned king when he reached the trench. A German +officer spoke with him earnestly, but he shook his head and then +they led him away. When he was gone the same officer came and spoke +to us in English, and I understanding him at once, he bade me tell +the others that the British must have witnessed our surrender. +"See," said he, "what a bombardment they have begun again. That is +in the hope of slaying you. That is out of revenge because you dared +surrender instead of dying like rats in a ditch to feed their +pride!" It was true that a bombardment had begun again. It had begun +that minute. Those truly had been ranging shells. If we had stayed +five minutes longer before surrendering we should have been blown to +pieces; but we were in no mood to care on that account. + +The Germans are a simple folk, sahib, although they themselves think +otherwise. When they think they are the subtlest they are easiest to +understand. Understanding was reborn in my heart on account of that +German's words. Thought I, if Ranjoor Singh were in truth a traitor +then he would have leaped at a chance to justify himself to us. He +would have repeated what that German had urged him to tell us. Yet I +saw him refuse. + +As they hurried him away alone, pity for him came over me like warm +rain on the parched earth, and when a man can pity he can reason, I +spoke in Punjabi to the others and the German officer thought I was +translating what he told me to say, yet in truth I reminded them +that man can find no place where God is not, and where God is is +courage. I was senior now, and my business was to encourage them. +They took new heart from my words, all except Gooja Singh, who wept +noisily, and the German officer was pleased with what he mistook for +the effect of his speech. + +"Tell them they shall be excellently treated," said he, seizing my +elbow. "When we shall have won this war the British will no longer +be able to force natives of India to fight their battles for them." + +I judged it well to repeat that word for word. There are over ten +applicants for every vacancy in such a regiment as ours, and until +Ranjoor Singh ordered our surrender, we were all free men--free +givers of our best; whereas the Germans about us were all +conscripts. The comparison did no harm. + +We saw no more of our wounded until some of them were returned to us +healed, weeks later; but from them we learned that their treatment +had been good. With us, however, it was not so, in spite of the +promise the German officer had made. We were hustled along a wide +trench, and taken over by another guard, not very numerous but +brutal, who kicked us without excuse. As we went the trenches were +under fire all the time from the British artillery. The guards swore +it was our surrender that had drawn the fire, and belabored us the +more on that account. + +At the rear of the German lines we were herded in a quarry lest we +observe too much, and it was not until after dark that we were given +half a loaf of bread apiece. Then, without time to eat that which +had been given to us, we were driven off into the darkness. First, +however, they took our goatskin overcoats away, saying they were too +good to be worn by savages. A non-commissioned officer, who could +speak good English, was sent for to explain that point to us. + +After an hour's march through the dark we were herded into some +cattle trucks that stood on a siding behind some trees. The trucks +did not smell of cattle, but of foul garments and unwashed men. Two +armed German infantrymen were locked into each truck with us, and +the pair in the truck in which I was drove us in a crowd to the +farther end, claiming an entire half for themselves. It was true +that we stank, for we had been many days and nights without +opportunity to get clean; yet they offered us no means of washing- +only abuse. I have seen German prisoners allowed to wash before they +had been ten minutes behind the British lines. + +We were five days in that train, sahib--five days and nights. Our +guards were fed at regular intervals, but not we. Once or twice a +day they brought us a bucket of water from which we were bidden +drink in a great hurry while the train waited; yet often the train +waited hours on sidings and no water at all was brought us. For food +we were chiefly dependent on the charity of people at the wayside +stations who came with gifts intended for German wounded; some of +those took pity on us. + +At last, sahib, when we were cold and stiff and miserable to the +very verge of death, we came to a little place called Oeschersleben, +and there the cruelty came to an unexpected end. We were ordered out +of the trucks and met on the platform by a German, not in uniform, +who showed distress at our predicament and who hastened to assure us +in our own tongue that henceforward there would be amends made. + +If that man had taken charge of us in the beginning we might not +have been suspicious of him, for he seemed gentle and his words were +fair; but now his kindness came too late to have effect. Animals can +sometimes be rendered tame by starvation and brutality followed by +plenty and kindness, but not men, and particularly not Sikhs--it +being no part of our Guru's teaching that either full belly or +tutored intellect can compensate for lack of goodness. Neither is it +his teaching, on the other hand, that a man must wear thoughts on +his face; so we did not reject this man's advances. + +"There have been mistakes made," said he, "by ignorant common +soldiers who knew no better. You shall recuperate on good food, and +then we shall see what we shall see." + +I asked him where Ranjoor Singh was, but he did not answer me. + +We were not compelled to walk. Few of us could have walked. We were +stiff from confinement and sick from neglect. Carts drawn by oxen +stood near the station, and into those we were crowded and driven to +a camp on the outskirts of the town. There comfortable wooden huts +were ready, well warmed and clean--and a hot meal--and much hot +water in which we were allowed to bathe. + +Then, when we had eaten, doctors came and examined us. New clothes +were given us--German uniforms of khaki, and khaki cotton cloth from +which to bind new turbans. Nothing was left undone to make us feel +well received, except that a barbed-wire fence was all about the +camp and armed guards marched up and down outside. + +Being senior surviving non-commissioned officer, I was put in charge +of the camp in a certain manner, with many restrictions to my +authority, and for about a week we did nothing but rest and eat and +keep the camp tidy. All day long Germans, mostly women and children +but some men, came to stare at us through the barbed-wire fence as +if we were caged animals, but no insults were offered us. Rather, +the women showed us kindness and passed us sweetmeats and strange +food through the fence until an officer came and stopped them with +overbearing words. Then, presently, there was a new change. + +A week had gone and we were feeling better, standing about and +looking at the freshly fallen snow, marking the straight tracks made +by the sentries outside the fence, and thinking of home maybe, when +new developments commenced. + +Telegrams translated into Punjabi were nailed to the door of a hut, +telling of India in rebellion and of men, women and children +butchered by the British in cold blood. Other telegrams stated that +the Sikhs of India in particular had risen, and that Pertab Singh, +our prince, had been hanged in public. Many other lies they posted +up. It would be waste of time to tell them all. They were +foolishness--such foolishness as might deceive the German public, +but not us who had lived in India all our lives and who had received +our mail from home within a day or two of our surrender. + +There came plausible men who knew our tongue and the argument was +bluntly put to us that we ought to let expediency be our guide in +all things. Yet we were expected to trust the men who gave us such +advice! + +Our sense of justice was not courted once. They made appeal to our +bellies--to our purses--to our lust--to our fear--but to our +righteousness not at all. They made for us great pictures of what +German rule of the world would be, and at last I asked whether it +was true that the kaiser had turned Muhammadan. I was given no +answer until I had asked repeatedly, and then it was explained how +that had been a rumor sent abroad to stir Islam; to us, on the other +hand, nothing but truth was told. So I asked, was it true that our +Prince Pertab Singh had been hanged, and they told me yes. I asked +them where, and they said in Delhi. Yet I knew that Pertab Singh was +all the while in London. I asked them where was Ranjoor Singh all +this while, and for a time they made no answer, so I asked again and +again. Then one day they began to talk of Ranjoor Singh. + +They told us he was being very useful to them, in Berlin, in daily +conference with the German General Staff, explaining matters that +pertained to the intended invasion of India. Doubtless they thought +that news would please us greatly. But, having heard so many lies +already, I set that down for another one, and the others became all +the more determined in their loyalty from sheer disgust at Ranjoor +Singh's unfaithfulness. They believed and I disbelieved, yet the +result was one. + +At night Gooja Singh held forth in the hut where he slept with +twenty-five others. He explained--although he did not say how he +knew--that the Germans have kept for many years in Berlin an office +for the purpose of intrigue in India--an office manned by Sikh +traitors. "That is where Ranjoor Singh will be," said he. "He will +be managing that bureau." In those days Gooja Singh was Ranjoor +Singh's bitterest enemy, although later he changed sides again. + +The night-time was the worst. By day there was the camp to keep +clean and the German officers to talk to; but at night we lay awake +thinking of India, and of our dead officer sahibs, and of all that +had been told us that we knew was lies. Ever the conversation turned +to Ranjoor Singh at last, and night after night the anger grew +against him. I myself admitted very often that his duty had been to +lead us to our death. I was ashamed as the rest of our surrender. + +After a time, as our wounded began to be drafted back to us from +hospital, we were made to listen to accounts of alleged great German +victories. They told us the German army was outside Paris and that +the whole of the British North Sea Fleet was either sunk or +captured. They also said that the Turks in Gallipoli had won great +victories against the Allies. We began to wonder why such conquerors +should seek so earnestly the friendship of a handful of us Sikhs. +Our wounded began to be drafted back to us well primed, and their +stories made us think, but not as the Germans would have had us +think. + +Week after week until the spring came we listened to their tales by +day and talked them over among ourselves at night; and the more they +assured us Ranjoor Singh was working with them in Berlin, the more +we prayed for opportunity to prove our hearts. Spring dragged along +into summer and there began to be prayers for vengeance on him. I +said less than any. Understanding had not come to me fully yet, but +it seemed to me that if Ranjoor Singh was really playing traitor, +then he was going a tedious way about it. Yet it was equally clear +that if I should dare to say one word in his behalf that would be to +pass sentence on myself. I kept silence when I could, and was +evasive when they pressed me, cowardice struggling with new +conviction in my heart. + +There came one night at last, when men's hearts burned in them too +terribly for sleep, that some one proposed a resolution and sent the +word whispering from hut to hut, that we should ask for Ranjoor +Singh to be brought to us. Let the excuse be that he was our +rightful leader, and that therefore he ought to advise us what we +should do. Let us promise to do faithfully whatever Ranjoor Singh +should order. Then, when he should have been brought to us, should +he talk treason we would tear him in pieces with our hands. That +resolution was agreed to. I also agreed. It was I who asked the next +day that Ranjoor Singh be brought. The German officer laughed; yet I +asked again, and he went away smiling. + +We talked of our plan at night. We repeated it at dawn. We whispered +it above the bread at breakfast. After breakfast we stood in groups, +confirming our decision with great oaths and binding one another to +fulfillment--I no less than all the others. Like the others I was +blinded now by the sense of our high purpose and I forgot to +consider what might happen should Ranjoor Singh take any other line +than that expected of him. + +I think it was eleven in the morning of the fourth day after our +decision, when we had all grown weary of threats of vengeance and of +argument as to what each individual man should do to our major's +body, that there was some small commotion at the entrance gate and a +man walked through alone. The gate slammed shut again behind him. + +He strode forward to the middle of our compound, stood still, and +confronted us. We stared at him. We gathered round him. We said +nothing. + +"Fall in, two deep!" commanded he. And we fell in, two deep, just as +he ordered. + +"'Ten-shun!" commanded he. And we stood to attention. + +Sahib, he was Ranjoor Singh! + +He stood within easy reach of the nearest man, clothed in a new +khaki German uniform. He wore a German saber at his side. Yet I +swear to you the saber was not the reason why no man struck at him. +Nor were there Germans near enough to have rescued him. We, whose +oath to murder him still trembled on our lips, stood and faced him +with trembling knees now that he had come at last. + +We stood before him like two rows of dumb men, gazing at his face. I +have heard the English say that our eastern faces are impossible to +read, but that can only be because western eyes are blind. We can +read them readily enough. Yet we could not read Ranjoor Singh's that +day. It dawned on us as we stared that we did not understand, but +that he did; and there is no murder in that mood. + +Before we could gather our wits he began to speak to us, and we +listened as in the old days when at least a squadron of us had loved +him to the very death. A very unexpected word was the first he used. + +"Simpletons!" said he. + +Sahib, our jaws dropped. Simpletons was the last thing we had +thought ourselves. On the contrary, we thought ourselves astute to +have judged his character and to have kept our minds uncorrupted by +the German efforts. Yet we were no longer so sure of ourselves that +any man was ready with an answer. + +He glanced over his shoulder to left and right. There were no +Germans inside the fence; none near enough to overhear him, even if +he raised his voice. So he did raise it, and we all heard. + +"I come from Berlin!" + +"Ah!" said we--as one man. For another minute he stood eying us, +waiting to see whether any man would speak. + +"We be honest men!" said a trooper who stood not far from me, and +several others murmured, so I spoke up. + +"He has not come for nothing," said I. "Let us listen first and pass +judgment afterward." + +"We have heard enough treachery!" said the trooper who had spoken +first, but the others growled him down and presently there was +silence. + +"You have eyes," said Ranjoor Singh, "and ears, and nose, and lips +for nothing at all but treachery!" He spoke very slowly, sahib. "You +have listened, and smelled for it, and have spoken of nothing else, +and what you have sought you think you have found! To argue with men +in the dark is like gathering wind into baskets. My business is to +lead, and I will lead. Your business is to follow, and you shall +follow." Then, "Simpletons!" said he again; and having said that he +was silent, as if to judge what effect his words were having. + +No man answered him. I can not speak for the others, although there +was a wondrous maze of lies put forth that night by way of +explanation that I might repeat. All I know is that through my mind +kept running against my will self-accusation, self-condemnation, +self-contempt! I had permitted my love for Ranjoor Singh to be +corrupted by most meager evidence. If I had not been his enemy, I +had not been true to him, and who is not true is false. I fought +with a sense of shame as I have since then fought with thirst and +hunger. All the teachings of our Holy One accused me. Above all, +Ranjoor Singh's face accused me. I remembered that for more than +twenty years he had stood to all of us for an example of what Sikh +honor truly is, and that he had been aware of it. + +"I know the thoughts ye think!" said he, beginning again when he had +given us time to answer and none had dared. "I will give you a real +thought to put in the place of all that foolishness. This is a +regiment. I am its last surviving officer. Any regiment can kill its +officers. If ye are weary of being a regiment, behold--I am as near +you as a man's throat to his hand! Have no fear"--(that was a bitter +thrust, sahib!)--"this is a German saber; I will use no German steel +on any of you. I will not strike back if any seek to kill me." + +There was no movement and no answer, sahib. We did not think; we +waited. If he had coaxed us with specious arguments, as surely a +liar would have done, that would probably have been his last speech +in the world. But there was not one word he said that did not ring +true. + +"I have been made a certain offer in Berlin," said he, after another +long pause. "First it was made to me alone, and I would not accept +it. I and my regiment, said I, are one. So the offer was repeated to +me as the leader of this regiment. Thus they admitted I am the +rightful leader of it, and the outcome of that shall be on their +heads. As major of this regiment, I accepted the offer, and as its +major I now command your obedience." + +"Obedience to whom?" asked I, speaking again as it were against my +will, and frightened by my own voice. + +"To me," said he. + +"Not to the Germans?" I asked. He wore a German uniform, and so for +that matter did we all. + +"To me," he said again, and he took one step aside that he might see +my face better. "You, Hira Singh, you heard Colonel Kirby make over +the command!" + +Every man in the regiment knew that Colonel Kirby had died across my +knees. They looked from Ranjoor Singh to me, and from me to Ranjoor +Singh, and I felt my heart grow first faint from dread of their +suspicion, and then bold, then proud that I should be judged fit to +stand beside him. Then came shame again, for I knew I was not fit. +My loyalty to him had not stood the test. All this time I thought I +felt his eyes on me like coals that burned; yet when I dared look up +he was not regarding me at all, but scanning the two lines of faces, +perhaps to see if any other had anything to say. + +"If I told you my plan," said he presently, when he had cleared his +throat, "you would tear it in little pieces. The Germans have +another plan, and they will tell you as much of it as they think it +good for you to know. Mark what my orders are! Listen to this plan +of theirs. Pretend to agree. Then you shall be given weapons. Then +you shall leave this camp within a week." + +That, sahib, was like a shell bursting in the midst of men asleep. +What did it mean? Eyes glanced to left and right, looking for +understanding and finding none, and no man spoke because none could +think of anything to say. It was on my tongue to ask him to explain +when he gave us his final word on the matter--and little enough it +was, yet sufficient if we obeyed. + +"Remember the oath of a Sikh!" said he. "Remember that he who is +true in his heart to his oath has Truth to fight for him! Treachery +begets treason, treason begets confusion; and who are ye to stay the +course of things? Faith begets faith; courage gives birth to +opportunity!" + +He paused, but we knew he had not finished yet, and he kept us +waiting full three minutes wondering what would come. Then: + +"As for your doubts," said he. "If the head aches, shall the body +cut it off that it may think more clearly? Consider that!" said he. +"Dismiss!" + +We fell out and he marched away like a king with thoughts of state +in mind. I thought his beard was grayer than it had been, but oh, +sahib, he strode as an arrow goes, swift and straight, and splendid. +Lonely as an arrow that has left the sheaf! + +I had to run to catch up with him, and I was out of breath when I +touched his sleeve. He turned and waited while I thought of things +to say, and then struggled to find words with which to say them. + +"Sahib!" said I. "Oh, Major sahib!" And then my throat became full +of words each struggling to be first, and I was silent. + +"Well?" said he, standing with both arms folded, looking very grave, +but not angry nor contemptuous. + +"Sahib," I said, "I am a true man. As I stand here, I am a true man. +I have been a fool--I have been half-hearted--I was like a man in +the dark; I listened and heard voices that deceived me!" + +"And am I to listen and hear voices, too?" he asked. + +"Nay, sahib!" I said. "Not such voices, but true words!" + +"Words?" he said. "Words! Words! There have already been too many +words. Truth needs no words to prove it true, Hira Singh. Words are +the voice of nothingness!" + +"Then, sahib--" said I, stammering. + +"Hira Singh," said he, "each man's heart is his own. Let each man +keep his own. When the time comes we shall see no true men eating +shame," said he. + +And with that he acknowledged my salute, turned on his heel, and +marched away. And the great gate slammed behind him. And German +officers pressing close on either side talked with him earnestly, +asking, as plainly as if I heard the words, what he had said, and +what we had said, and what the outcome was to be. I could see his +lips move as he answered, but no man living could have guessed what +he told them. I never did know what he told them. But I have lived +to see the fruit of what he did, and of what he made us do; and from +that minute I have never faltered for a second in my faithfulness to +Ranjoor Singh. + +Be attentive, sahib, and learn what a man of men is Risaldar-major +Ranjoor Singh bahadur. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Shall he who knows not false from true judge treason? +--EASTERN PROVERB. + + +You may well imagine, sahib, in the huts that night there was noise +as of bees about to swarm. No man slept. Men flitted like ghosts +from hut to hut--not too openly, nor without sufficient evidence of +stealth to keep the guards in good conceit of themselves, but freely +for all that. What the men of one hut said the men of the next hut +knew within five minutes, and so on, back and forth. + +I was careful to say nothing. When men questioned me, "Nay," said I. +"I am one and ye are many. Choose ye! Could I lead you against your +wills?" They murmured at that, but silence is easier to keep than +some men think. + +Why did I say nothing? In the first place, sahib, because my mind +was made at last. With all my heart now, with the oath of a Sikh and +the truth of a Sikh I was Ranjoor Singh's man. I believed him true, +and I was ready to stand or fall by that belief, in the dark, in the +teeth of death, against all odds, anywhere. Therefore there was +nothing I could say with wisdom. For if they were to suspect my true +thoughts, they would lose all confidence in me, and then I should be +of little use to the one man who could help all of us. I judged that +what Ranjoor Singh most needed was a silent servant who would watch +and obey the first hint. Just as I had watched him in battle and had +herded the men for him to lead, so would I do now. There should be +deeds, not words, for the foundation of a new beginning. + +In the second place, sahib, I knew full well that if Gooja Singh or +any of the others could have persuaded me to advance an opinion it +would have been pounced on, and changed out of all recognition, yet +named my opinion nevertheless. This altered opinion they would +presently adopt, yet calling it mine, and when the outcome of it +should fail at last to please them they would blame me. For such is +the way of the world. So I had two good reasons, and the words I +spoke that night could have been counted without aid of pen and +paper. + +The long and short of it was that morning found them undecided. +There was one opinion all held--even Gooja Singh, who otherwise took +both sides as to everything--that above all and before all we were +all true men, loyal to our friends, the British, and foes of every +living German or Austrian or Turk so long as the war should last. +The Germans had bragged to us about the Turks being in the war on +their side, and we had thought deeply on the subject of their choice +of friends. Like and like mingle, sahib. As for us, my grandfather +fought for the British in '57, and my father died at Kandahar under +Bobs bahadur. On that main issue we were all one, and all ashamed to +be prisoners while our friends were facing death. But dawn found +almost no two men agreed as to Ranjoor Singh, or in fact on any +other point. + +Not long after dawn, came the Germans again, with new arguments. And +this time they began to let us feel the iron underlying their +persuasion. Once, to make talk and gain time before answering a +question, I had told them of our labor in the bunkers on the ship +that carried us from India. I had boasted of the coal we piled on +the fire-room floor. Lo, it is always foolish to give information to +the enemy--always, sahib--always! There is no exception. + +Said they to us now: "We Germans are devoting all our energy to +prosecution of this war. Nearly all our able-bodied men are with the +regiments. Every man must do his part, for we are a nation in arms. +Even prisoners must do their part. Those who do not fight for us +must work to help the men who do fight." + +"Work without pay?" said I. + +"Aye," said they, "work without pay. There is coal, for instance. We +understand that you Sikhs have proved yourselves adept at work with +coal. He who can labor in the bunkers of a ship can handle pick and +shovel in the mines, and most of our miners have been called up. Yet +we need more coal than ever." + +So, sahib. So they turned my boast against me. And the men around +me, who had heard me tell the tale about our willing labor on the +ship, now eyed me furiously; although at the time they had enjoyed +the boast and had added details of their own. The Germans went away +and left us to talk over this new suggestion among ourselves, and +until afternoon I was kept busy speaking in my own defense. + +"Who could have foreseen how they would use my words against us?" I +demanded. But they answered that any fool could have foreseen it, +and that my business was to foresee in any case and to give them +good advice. I kept that saying in my heart, and turned it against +THEM when the day came. + +That afternoon the Germans returned, with knowing smiles that were +meant to seem courteous, and with an air of confidence that was +meant to appear considerate. Doubtless a cat at meal-time believes +men think him generous and unobtrusive. They went to great trouble +to prove themselves our wise counselors and disinterested friends. + +"We have explained to you," said they, "what hypocrites the British +are,--what dust they have thrown in your eyes for more than a +century--how they have grown rich at your expense, deliberately +keeping India in ignorance and subjection, in poverty and vice, and +divided against itself. We have told you what German aims are on the +other hand, and how successful our armies are on every front as the +result of the consistence of those aims. We have proved to you how +half the world already takes our side--how the Turks fight for us, +how Persia begins to join the Turks, how Afghanistan already moves, +and how India is in rebellion. Now--wouldn't you like to join our +side--to throw the weight of Sikh honor and Sikh bravery into the +scale with us? That would be better fun than working in the mines," +said they. + +"Are we offered that alternative?" I asked, but they did not answer +that question. They went away again and left us to our thoughts. + +And we talked all the rest of that day and most of the next night, +arriving at no decision. When they asked me for an opinion, I said, +"Ranjoor Singh told us this would be, and he gave us orders what to +do." When they asked me ought they to obey him, I answered, "Nay, +choose ye! Who can make you obey against your wills?" And when they +asked me would I abide by their decision, "Can the foot walk one +way," I answered, "while the body walks another? Are we not one?" +said I. + +"Then," said they, "you bid us consider this proposal to take part +against our friends?" + +"Nay," said I, "I am a true man. No man can make me fight against +the British." + +They thought on that for a while, and then surrounded me again, +Gooja Singh being spokesman for them all. "Then you counsel us," +said he, "to choose the hard labor in the coal mines?" + +"Nay," said I. "I counsel nothing." + +"But what other course is there?" said he. + +"There is Ranjoor Singh," said I. + +"But he desired to lead us against the British," said he. + +"Nay," said I. "Who said so?" + +Gooja Singh answered: "He, Ranjoor Singh himself, said so." + +"Nay," said I. "I heard what he said. He said he will lead us, but +he said nothing of his plan. He did not say he will lead us against +the British." + +"Then it was the Germans. They said so," said Gooja Singh. "They +said he will lead us against the British." + +"The Germans said," said I, "that their armies are outside Paris-- +that India is in rebellion--that Pertab Singh was hanged in Delhi-- +that the British rule in India has been altogether selfish--that our +wives and children have been butchered by the British in cold blood. +The Germans," said I, "have told us very many things." + +"Then," said he, "you counsel us to follow Ranjoor Singh?" + +"Nay," said I. "I counsel nothing." + +"You are a coward!" said he. "You are afraid to give opinion!" + +"I am one among many!" I answered him. + +They left me alone again and talked in groups, Gooja Singh passing +from one group to another like a man collecting tickets. Then, when +it was growing dusk, they gathered once more about me and Gooja +Singh went through the play of letting them persuade him to be +spokesman. + +"If we decide to follow Ranjoor Singh," said he, "will you be one +with us?" + +"If that is the decision of you all," I answered, "then yes. But if +it is Gooja Singh's decision with the rest consenting, then no. Is +that the decision of you all?" I asked, and they murmured a sort of +answer. + +"Nay!" said I. "That will not do! Either yes or no. Either ye are +willing or ye are unwilling. Let him who is unwilling say so, and I +for one will hold no judgment against him." + +None answered, though I urged again and again. "Then ye are all +willing to give Ranjoor Singh a trial?" said I; and this time they +all answered in the affirmative. + +"I think your decision well arrived at!" I made bold to tell them. +"To me it seems you have all seen wisdom, and although I had +thoughts in mind," said I, "of accepting work in the collieries and +blowing up a mine perhaps, yet I admit your plan is better and I +defer to it." + +They were much more pleased with that speech than if I had admitted +the truth, that I would never have agreed to any other plan. So that +now they were much more ready than they might have been to listen to +my next suggestion. + +"But," said I, with an air of caution, "shall we not keep any watch +on Ranjoor Singh?" + +"Let us watch!" said they. "Let us be forehanded!" + +"But how?" said I. "He is an officer. He is not bound to lay bare +his thoughts to us." + +They thought a long time about that. It grew dark, and we were +ordered to our huts, and lights were put out, and still they lay +awake and talked of it. At last Gooja Singh flitted through the dark +and came to me and asked me my opinion on the matter. + +"One of you go and offer to be his servant," said I. "Let that +servant serve him well. A good servant should know more about his +master than the master himself." + +"Who shall that one be?" he asked; and he went back to tell the men +what I had said. + +After midnight he returned. "They say you are the one to keep watch +on him," said he. + +"Nay, nay!" said I, with my heart leaping against my ribs, but my +voice belying it. "If I agree to that, then later you will swear I +am his friend and condemn me in one judgment with him!" + +"Nay," said he. "Nay truly! On the honor of a Sikh!" + +"Mine is also the honor of a Sikh," said I, "and I will cover it +with care. Go back to them," I directed, "and let them all come and +speak with me at dawn." + +"Is my word not enough?" said he. + +"Was Ranjoor Singh's enough?" said I, and he went, muttering to +himself. + +I slept until dawn--the first night I had slept in three--and before +breakfast they all clustered about me, urging me to be the one to +keep close watch on Ranjoor Singh. + +"God forbid that I should be stool pigeon!" said I. "Nay, God +forbid! Ranjoor Singh need but give an order that ye have no liking +for and ye will shoot me in the back for it!" + +They were very earnest in their protestations, urging me more and +more; but the more they urged the more I hung back, and we ate +before I gave them any answer. "This is a plot," said I, "to get me +in trouble. What did I ever do that ye should combine against me?" + +"Nay!" said they. "By our Sikh oath, we be true men and your +friends. Why do you doubt us?" + +Then said I at last, as it were reluctantly, "If ye demand it--if ye +insist--I will be the go-between. Yet I do it because ye compel me +by weight of unanimity!" said I. + +"It is your place!" said they, but I shook my head, and to this day +I have never admitted to them that I undertook the work willingly. + +Presently came the Germans to us again, this time accompanied by +officers in uniform who stood apart and watched with an air of +passing judgment. They asked us now point-blank whether or not we +were willing to work in the coal mines and thus make some return for +the cost of keeping us; and we answered with one voice that we were +not coal-miners and therefore not willing. + +"The alternative," said they, "is that you apply to fight on the +side of the Central Empires. Men must all either fight or work in +these days; there is no room for idlers." + +"Is there no other work we could do?" asked Gooja Singh. + +"None that we offer you!" said they. "If you apply to be allowed to +fight on the side of the Central Empires, then your application will +be considered. However, you would be expected to forswear allegiance +to Great Britain, and to take the military oath as provided by our +law; so that in the event of any lapse of discipline or loyalty to +our cause you could be legally dealt with." + +"And the alternative is the mines?" said I. + +"No, no!" said the chief of them. "You must not misunderstand. Your +present destination is the coal mines, where you are to earn your +keep. But the suggestion is made to you that you might care to apply +for leave to fight on our side. In that case we would not send you +to the coal mines until at least your application had been +considered. It is practically certain it would be considered +favorably." + +The conversation was in English as usual and many of the men had not +quite understood. Those on the outside had not heard properly. So I +bade four men lift me, and I shouted to them in our own tongue all +that the German had said. There fell a great silence, and the four +men let me drop to the earth between them. + +"So is this the trap Ranjoor Singh would lead us into?" said the +trooper nearest me, and though he spoke low, so still were we all +that fifty men heard him and murmured. So I spoke up. + +Said I, "We will answer when we shall have spoken again with Ranjoor +Singh. He shall give our answer. It is right that a regiment should +answer through its officer, and any other course is lacking +discipline!" + +Sahib, I have been surprised a thousand times in this war, but not +once more surprised than by the instant effect my answer had. It was +a random answer, made while I searched for some argument to use; but +the German spokesman turned at once and translated to the officers +in uniform. Watching them very closely, I saw them laugh, and it +seemed to me they approved my answer and disapproved some other +matter. I think they disapproved the civilian method of mingling +with us in a mob, for a moment later the order was given us in +English to fall in, and we fell in two deep. Then the civilian +Germans drew aside and one of the officers in uniform strode toward +the entrance gate. We waited in utter silence, wondering what next, +but the officer had not been gone ten minutes when we caught sight +of him returning with Ranjoor Singh striding along beside him. + +Ranjoor Singh and he advanced toward us and I saw Ranjoor Singh +speak with him more emphatically than his usual custom. Evidently +Ranjoor Singh had his way, for the officer spoke in German to the +others and they all walked out of the compound in a group, leaving +Ranjoor Singh facing us. He waited until the gate clanged shut +behind them before he spoke. + +"Well?" said he. "I was told the regiment asked for word with me. +What is the word?" + +"Sahib," said I, standing out alone before the men, not facing him, +but near one end of the line, so that I could raise my voice with +propriety and all the men might hear. He backed away, to give more +effect to that arrangement. "Sahib," I said, "we are in a trap. +Either we go to the mines, or we fight for the Germans against the +British. What is your word on the matter?" + +"Ho!" said he. "Is it as bad as that? As bad as that?" said he. "If +ye go to the mines to dig coal, they will use that coal to make +ammunition for their guns! That seems a poor alternative! They fight +as much with ammunition as with men!" + +"Sahib," said I, "it is worse than that! They seek to compel us to +sign a paper, forswearing our allegiance to Great Britain and +claiming allegiance to them! Should we sign it, that makes us out +traitors in the first place, and makes us amenable to their law in +the second place. They could shoot us if we disobeyed or demurred." + +"They could do that in the mines," said he, "if you failed to dig +enough coal to please them. They would call it punishment for +malingering--or some such name. If they take it into their heads to +have you all shot, doubt not they will shoot!" + +"Yet in that case," said I, "we should not be traitors." + +"I will tell you a story," said he, and we held our breath to +listen, for this was his old manner. This had ever been his way of +putting recruits at ease and of making a squadron understand. In +that minute, for more than a minute, men forgot they had ever +suspected him. + +"When I was a little one," said he, "my mother's aunt, who was an +old hag, told me this tale. There was a pack of wolves that hunted +in a forest near a village. In the village lived a man who wished to +be headman. Abdul was his name, and he had six sons. He wished to be +headman that he might levy toll among the villagers for the up-keep +of his sons, who were hungry and very proud. Now Abdul was a cunning +hunter, and his sons were strong. So he took thought, and chose a +season carefully, and set his sons to dig a great trap. And so well +had Abdul chosen--so craftily the six sons digged--that one night +they caught all that wolf-pack in the trap. And they kept them in +the trap two days and a night, that they might hunger and thirst and +grow amenable. + +"Then Abdul leaned above the pit, and peered down at the wolves and +began to bargain with them. 'Wolves,' said he, 'your fangs be long +and your jaws be strong, and I wish to be headman of this village.' +And they answered, 'Speak, Abdul, for these walls be high, and our +throats be dry, and we wish to hunt again!' So he bade them promise +that if he let them go they would seek and slay the present headman +and his sons, so that he might be headman in his place. And the +wolves promised. Then when he had made them swear by a hundred oaths +in a hundred different ways, and had bound them to keep faith by God +and by earth and sky and sea and by all the holy things he could +remember, he stood aside and bade his six sons free the wolves. + +"The sons obeyed, and helped the wolves out of the trap. And +instantly the wolves fell on all six sons, and slew and devoured +them. Then they came and stood round Abdul with their jaws dripping +with blood. + +"'Oh, wolves,' said he, trembling with fear and anger, 'ye are +traitors! Ye are forsworn! Ye are faithless ones!' + +"But they answered him, 'Oh, Abdul, shall he who knows not false +from true judge treason?' and forthwith they slew him and devoured +him, and went about their business. + +"Now, which had the right of that--Abdul or the wolves?" + +"We are no wolves!" said Gooja Singh in a whining voice. "We be true +men!" + +"Then I will tell you another story," Ranjoor Singh answered him. +And we listened again, as men listen to the ticking of a clock. +"This is a story the same old woman, my mother's aunt, told me when +I was very little. + +"There was a man--and this man's name also was Abdul--who owned a +garden, and in it a fish-pond. But in the fish-pond were no fish. +Abdul craved fish to swim hither and thither in his pond, but though +he tried times out of number he could catch none. Yet at fowling he +had better fortune, and when he was weary one day of fishing and +laid his net on land he caught a dozen birds. + +"'So-ho!' said Abdul, being a man much given to thought, and he went +about to strike a bargain. 'Oh, birds,' said he, 'are ye willing to +be fish? For I have no fishes swimming in my pond, yet my heart +desires them greatly. So if ye are willing to be fish and will stay +in my good pond and swim there, gladdening my eyes, I will abstain +from killing you but instead will set you in the pond and let you +live.' + +"So the birds, who were very terrified, declared themselves willing +to be fish, and the birds swore even more oaths than he insisted on, +so that he was greatly pleased and very confident. Therefore he used +not very much precaution when he came to plunge the birds into the +water, and the instant he let go of them the birds with feathers +scarcely wet flew away and perched on the trees about him. + +"Then Abdul grew very furious. 'Oh, birds,' said he, 'ye are +traitors. Ye are forsworn! Ye are liars--breakers of oaths-- +deceitful ones!' And he shook his fist at them and spat, being +greatly enraged and grieved at their deception. + +"But the birds answered him, 'Oh, Abdul, a captive's gyves and a +captive's oath are one, and he who rivets on the one must keep the +other!' And the birds flew away, but Abdul went to seek his advocate +to have the law of them! Now, what think ye was the advocate's +opinion in the matter, and what remedy had Abdul?" + +Has the sahib ever seen three hundred men all at the same time +becoming conscious of the same idea? That is quite a spectacle. +There was no whispering, nor any movement except a little shifting +of the feet. There was nothing on which a watchful man could lay a +finger. Yet between one second and the next they were not the same +men, and I, who watched Ranjoor Singh's eyes as if he were my +opponent in a duel, saw that he was aware of what had happened, +although not surprised. But he made no sign except the shadow of one +that I detected, and he did not change his voice--as yet. + +"As for me," he said, telling a tale again, "I wrote once on the +seashore sand and signed my name beneath. A day later I came back to +look, but neither name nor words remained. I was what I had been, +and stood where the sea had been, but what I had written in sand +affected me not, neither the sea nor any man. Thought I, if one had +lent me money on such a perishable note the courts would now hold +him at fault, not me; they would demand evidence, and all he could +show them would be what he had himself bargained for. Now it occurs +to me that seashore sand, and the tricks of rogues, and blackmail, +and tyranny perhaps are one!" + +Eye met eye, all up and down both lines of men. There was swift +searching of hearts, and some of the men at my end of the line began +talking in low tones. So I spoke up and voiced aloud what troubled +them. + +"If we sign this paper, sahib," said I, "how do we know they will +not find means of bringing it to the notice of the British?" + +"We do not know," he answered. "Let us hope. Hope is a great good +thing. If they chained us, and we broke the chains, they might send +the broken links to London in proof of what thieves we be. Who would +gain by that?" + +I saw a very little frown now and knew that he judged it time to +strike on the heated metal. But Gooja Singh turned his back on +Ranjoor Singh. + +"Let him sign this thing," said he, "and let us sign our names +beneath his name. Then he will be in the same trap with us all, and +must lead us out of it or perish with us!" + +So Gooja Singh offered himself, all unintentionally, to be the +scapegoat for us all and I have seldom seen a man so shocked by what +befell him. Only a dozen words spoke Ranjoor Singh--yet it was as if +he lashed him and left him naked. Whips and a good man's wrath are +one. + +"Who gave thee leave to yelp?" said he, and Gooja Singh faced about +like a man struck. By order of the Germans he and I stood in the +place of captains on parade, he on the left and I on the right. + +"To your place!" said Ranjoor Singh. + +Gooja Singh stepped back into line with me, but Ranjoor Singh was +not satisfied. + +"To your place in the rear!" he ordered. And so I have seen a man +who lost a lawsuit slink round a corner of the court. + +Then I spoke up, being stricken with self-esteem at the sight of +Gooja Singh's shame (for I always knew him to be my enemy). + +"Sahib," said I, "shall I pass down the line and ask each man +whether he will sign what the Germans ask?" + +"Aye!" said he, "like the carrion crows at judgment! Halt!" he +ordered, for already I had taken the first step. "When I need to +send a havildar," said he, "to ask my men's permission, I will call +for a havildar! To the rear where you belong!" he ordered. And I +went round to the rear, knowing something of Gooja Singh's +sensations, but loving him no better for the fellow-feeling. When my +footfall had altogether ceased and there was silence in which one +could have heard an insect falling to the ground, Ranjoor Singh +spoke again. "There has been enough talk," said he. "In pursuance of +a plan, I intend to sign whatever the Germans ask. Those who prefer +not to sign what I sign--fall out! Fall out, I say!" + +Not a man fell out, sahib. But that was not enough for Ranjoor +Singh. + +"Those who intend to sign the paper,--two paces forward,--march!" +said he. And as one man we took two paces forward. + +"So!" said he. "Right turn!" And we turned to the right. "Forward! +Quick march!" he ordered. And he made us march twice in a square +about him before he halted us again and turned us to the front to +face him. Then he was fussy about our alignment, making us take up +our dressing half a dozen times; and when he had us to his +satisfaction finally he stood eying us for several minutes before +turning his back and striding with great dignity toward the gate. + +He talked through the gate and very soon a dozen Germans entered, +led by two officers in uniform and followed by three soldiers +carrying a table and a chair. The table was set down in their midst, +facing us, and the senior German officer--in a uniform with a very +high collar--handed a document to Ranjoor Singh. When he had +finished reading it to himself he stepped forward and read it aloud +to us. It was in Punjabi, excellently rendered, and the gist of it +was like this: + +We, being weary of British misrule, British hypocrisy, and British +arrogance, thereby renounced allegiance to Great Britain, its king +and government, and begged earnestly to be permitted to fight on the +side of the Central Empires in the cause of freedom. It was +expressly mentioned, I remember, that we made this petition of our +own initiative and of our own free will, no pressure having been +brought to bear on us, and nothing but kindness having been offered +us since we were taken prisoners. + +"That is what we are all required to sign," said Ranjoor Singh, when +he had finished reading, and he licked his lips in a manner I had +never seen before. + +Without any further speech to us, he sat down at the table and wrote +his name with a great flourish on the paper, setting down his rank +beside his name. Then he called to me, and I sat and wrote my name +below his, adding my rank also. And Gooja Singh followed me. After +him, in single file, came every surviving man of Outram's Own. Some +men scowled, and some men laughed harshly, and if one of our race +had been watching on the German behalf he would have been able to +tell them something. But the Germans mistook the scowls for signs of +anger at the British, and the laughter they mistook for rising +spirits, so that the whole affair passed off without arousing their +suspicion. + +Nevertheless, my heart warned me that the Germans would not trust a +regiment seduced as we were supposed to have been. And, although +Ranjoor Singh had had his way with us, the very having had destroyed +the reawakening trust in him. The troopers felt that he had led them +through the gates of treason. I could feel their thoughts as a man +feels the breath of coming winter on his cheek. + +When the last man had signed we stood at attention and a wagonload +of rifles was brought in, drawn by oxen. They gave a rifle to each +of us, and we were made to present arms while the German military +oath was read aloud. After that the Germans walked away as if they +had no further interest. Only Ranjoor Singh remained, and he gave us +no time just then for comment or discontent. + +The mauser rifles were not so very much unlike our own, and he set +us to drilling with them, giving us patient instruction but very +little rest until evening. During the longest pause in the drill he +sent for knapsacks and served us one each, filled down to the +smallest detail with everything a soldier could need, even to a +little cup that hung from a hook beneath one corner. We were utterly +worn out when he left us at nightfall, but there was a lot of +talking nevertheless before men fell asleep. + +"This is the second time he has trapped us in deadly earnest!" was +the sum of the general complaint they hurled at me. And I had no +answer to give them, knowing well that if I took his part I should +share his condemnation--which would not help him; neither would it +help them nor me. + +"My thought, of going to the mines and being troublesome, was best!" +said I. "Ye overruled me. Now ye would condemn me for not preventing +you! Ye are wind blowing this way and that!" + +They were so busy defending themselves to themselves against that +charge that they said no more until sleep fell on them; and at dawn +Ranjoor Singh took hold of us again and made us drill until our feet +burned on the gravel and our ears were full of the tramp--tramp-- +tramp, and the ek--do--tin of manual exercise. + +"Listen!" said he to me, when he had dismissed us for dinner, and I +lingered on parade. "Caution the men that any breach of discipline +would be treated under German military law by drum-head court +martial and sentence of death by shooting. Advise them to avoid +indiscretions of any kind," said he. + +So I passed among them, pretending the suggestion was my own, and +they resented it, as I knew they would. But I observed from about +that time they began to look on Ranjoor Singh as their only possible +protector against the Germans, so that their animosity against him +was offset by self-interest. + +The next day came a staff officer who marched us to the station, +where a train was waiting. Impossible though it may seem, sahib, to +you who listen, I felt sad when I looked back at the huts that had +been our prison, and I think we all did. We had loathed them with +all our hearts all summer long, but now they represented what we +knew and we were marching away from them to what we knew not, with +autumn and winter brooding on our prospects. + +Not all our wounded had been returned to us; some had died in the +German hospitals.. Two hundred-and-three-and-thirty of us all told, +including Ranjoor Singh, lined up on the station platform--fit and +well and perhaps a little fatter than was seemly. + +Having no belongings other than the rifles and knapsacks and what we +stood in it took us but a few moments to entrain. Almost at once the +engine whistled and we were gone, wondering whither. Some of the +troopers shouted to Ranjoor Singh to ask our destination, but he +affected not to hear. The German staff officer rode in the front +compartment alone, and Ranjoor Singh rode alone in the next behind +him; but they conversed often through the window, and at stations +where the two of them got out to stretch their legs along the +platform they might have been brothers-in-blood relating love- +affairs. Our troopers wondered. + +"Our fox grows gray," said they, "and his impudence increases." + +"Would it help us out of this predicament," said I, "if he smote +that German in the teeth and spat on him?" + +They laughed at that and passed the remark along from window to +window, until I roared at them to keep their heads in. There were +seven of us non-commissioned officers, and we rode in one +compartment behind the officers' carriage, Gooja Singh making much +unpleasantness because there was not enough room for us all to lie +full length at once. We were locked into our compartment, and the +only chance we had of speaking with Ranjoor Singh was when they +brought us food at stations and he strode down the train to see that +each man had his share. + +"What is our destination?" we asked him then, repeatedly. + +"If ye be true men," he answered, "why are ye troubled about +destination? Can the truth lead you into error? Do I seem afraid?" +said he. + +That was answer enough if we had been the true men we claimed to be, +and he gave us no other. So we watched the sun and tried to guess +roughly, I recalling all the geography I ever knew, yet failing to +reach conclusions that satisfied myself or any one. We knew that +Turkey was in the war, and we knew that Bulgaria was not. Yet we +traveled eastward, and southeastward. + +I know now that we traveled over the edge of Germany into Austria, +through Austria into Hungary, and through a great part of Hungary to +the River Danube, growing so weary of the train that I for one +looked back to the Flanders trenches as to long-lost happiness! +Every section of line over which we traveled was crowded with +traffic, and dozens of German regiments kept passing and re-passing +us. Some cheered us and some were insulting, but all of them +regarded us with more or less astonishment. + +The Austrians were more openly curious about us than the Germans had +been, and some of them tried to get into conversation, but this was +not encouraged; when they climbed on the footboards to peer through +the windows and ask us questions officers ordered them away. + +Of all the things we wondered at on that long ride, the German +regiments impressed us most. Those that passed and repassed us were +mostly artillery and infantry, and surely in all the world before +there never were such regiments as those--with the paint worn off +their cannon, and their clothes soiled, yet with an air about them +of successful plunderers, confident to the last degree of arrogance +in their own efficiency--not at all like British regiments, nor like +any others that I ever saw. It was Ranjoor Singh who drew my +attention to the fact that regiments passing us in one direction +would often pass us again on their way back, sometimes within the +day. + +"As shuttles in a loom!" said he. "As long as they can do that they +can fight on a dozen fronts." His words set me wondering so that I +did not answer him. He was speaking through our carriage window and +I stared out beyond him at a train-load of troops on the far side of +the station. + +"One comes to us," said I. I was watching a German sergeant, who had +dragged his belongings from that train and was crossing toward us. + +"Aye!" said Ranjoor Singh, so that I knew now there had been purpose +in his visit. "Beware of him." Then he unlocked the carriage door +and waited for the German. The German came, and cursed the man who +bore his baggage, and halted before Ranjoor Singh, staring into his +face with a manner of impudence new to me. Ranjoor Singh spoke about +ten words to him in German and the sergeant there and then saluted +very respectfully. I noticed that the German staff officer was +watching all this from a little distance, and I think the sergeant +caught his eye. + +At any rate, the sergeant made his man throw the baggage through our +compartment door. The man returned to the other train. The sergeant +climbed in next to me. Ranjoor Singh locked the door again, and both +trains proceeded. When our train was beginning to gain speed the +newcomer shoved me in the ribs abruptly with his elbow--thus. + +"So much for knowing languages!" said he to me in fairly good +Punjabi. "Curse the day I ever saw India, and triple-curse this +system of ours that enabled them to lay finger on me in a moving +train and transfer me to this funeral procession! Curse you, and +curse this train, and curse all Asia!" Then he thrust me in the ribs +again, as if that were a method of setting aside formality. + +"You know Cawnpore?" said he, and I nodded. + +"You know the Kaiser-i-hind Saddle Factory?" + +I nodded again, being minded to waste no words because of Ranjoor +Singh's warning. + +"I took a job as foreman there twenty years ago because the pay was +good. I lived there fifteen years until I was full to the throat of +India--Indian food, Indian women, Indian drinks, Indian heat, Indian +smells, Indian everything. I hated it, and threw up the job in the +end. Said I to myself, 'Thank God,' said I, 'to see the last of +India.' And I took passage on a German steamer and drank enough +German beer on the way to have floated two ships her size! Aecht +Deutches bier, you understand," said he, nudging me in the ribs with +each word. Aecht means REAL, as distinguished from the export stuff +in bottles. "I drank it by the barrel, straight off ice, and it went +to my head! + +"That must be why I boasted about knowing Indian languages before I +had been two hours in port. I was drunk, and glad to be home, and on +the lookout for another job to keep from starving; so I boasted I +could speak and write Urdu and Punjabi. That brought me employment +in an export house. But who would have guessed it would end in my +being dragged away from my regiment to march with a lot of Sikhs? +Eh? Who would have guessed it? There goes my regiment one way, and +here go I another! What's our destination? God knows! Who are you, +and what are you? God neither knows nor cares! What's to be the end +of this? The end of me, I expect--and all because I got drunk on the +way home! It I get alive out of this," said he, "I'll get drunk once +for the glory of God and then never touch beer again!" + +And he struck me on the thigh with his open palm. The noise was like +powder detonating, and the pain was acute. I cursed him in his teeth +and he grinned at me as if he and I were old friends. Little blue +eyes he had, sahib--light blue, set in full red cheeks. There were +many little red veins crisscrossed under the skin of his face, and +his breath smelt of beer and tobacco. I judged he had the physical +strength of a buffalo, although doubtless short of wind. + +He had very little hair. Such as he had was yellow, but clipped so +short that it looked white. His yellow mustache was turned up thus +at either corner of his mouth; and the mouth was not unkind, not +without good humor. + +"What is your name?" said I. + +"Tugendheim," said he. "I am Sergeant Fritz Tugendheim, of the 281 +(Pappenheim) Regiment of Infantry, and would God I were with my +regiment! What do they call you?" + +"Hira Singh," said I. + +"And your rank?" + +"Havildar," said I. + +"Oh-ho!" said he. "So you're all non-commissioned in here, are you? +Seven of you, eh? Seven is a lucky number! Well---" He looked us +each slowly in the face, narrowing his eyes so that we could +scarcely see them under the yellow lashes. "Well," said he, "they +won't mistake me for any of you, nor any of you for me--not even if +I should grow whiskers!" + +He laughed at that joke for about two minutes, slapping me on the +thigh again and laughing all the louder when I showed my teeth. Then +he drew out a flask of some kind of pungent spirits from his pocket, +and offered it to me. When I refused he drank the whole of it +himself and flung the glass flask through the window. Then he +settled himself in the corner from which he had ousted me, put his +feet on the edge of the seat opposite, and prepared to sleep. But +before very long our German staff officer shouted for him and he +went in great haste, a station official opening the door for him and +locking us in again afterward. He rode for hours with the staff +officer and Gooja Singh examined the whole of his kit, making +remarks on each piece, to the great amusement of us all. + +He came back before night to sleep in our compartment, but before he +came I had taken opportunity to pass word through the window to the +troopers in the carriage next behind. + +"Ranjoor Singh," said I, "warns us all to be on guard against this +German. He is a spy set to overhear our talk." + +That word went all down the train from, window to window and it had +some effect, for during all the days that followed Tugendheim was +never once able to get between us and our thoughts, although he +tried a thousand times. + +Night followed day, and day night. Our train crawled, and waited, +and crawled, and waited, and we in our compartment grew weary to the +death of Tugendheim. A thousand times I envied Ranjoor Singh alone +with his thoughts in the next compartment; and so far was he from +suffering because of solitude that he seemed to keep more and more +apart from us, only passing swiftly down the train at meal-times to +make sure we all had enough to eat and that there were no sick. + +I reached the conclusion myself that we were being sent to fight +against the Russians, and I know not what the troopers thought; they +were beginning to be like caged madmen. But suddenly we reached a +broad river I knew must be the Danube and were allowed at last to +leave the train. We were so glad to move about again that any news +seemed good news, and when Ranjoor Singh, after much talk with our +staff officer and some other Germans, came and told us that Bulgaria +had joined the war on the side of the Central Powers, we laughed and +applauded. + +"That means that our road lies open before us," Ranjoor Singh said +darkly. + +"Our road whither?" said I. + +"To Stamboul!" said he. + +"What are we to do at Stamboul?" asked Gooja Singh, and the staff +officer, whose name I never knew, heard him and came toward us. + +"At Stamboul," said he, in fairly good Punjabi, "you will strike a +blow beside our friends, the Turks. Not very far from Stamboul you +shall be given opportunity for vengeance on the British. The next- +to-the-last stage of your journey lies through Bulgaria, and the +beginning of it will be on that steamer." + +We saw the steamer, lying with its nose toward the bank. It was no +very big one for our number, but they marched us to it, Ranjoor +Singh striding at our head as if all the world were unfolding before +him, and all were his. We were packed on board and the steamer +started at once, Ranjoor Singh and the staff officer sharing the +upper part with the steamer's captain, and Tugendheim elbowing us +for room on the open deck. So we journeyed for a whole day and part +of a night down the Danube, Tugendheim pointing out to me things I +should observe along the route, but grumbling vastly at separation +from his regiment. + +"You bloody Sikhs!" said he. "I would rather march with lice--yet +what can I do? I must obey orders. See that castle!" There were many +castles, sahib, at bends and on hilltops overlooking the river. +"They built that," said he, "in the good old days before men ever +heard of Sikhs. Life was worth while in those days, and a man lived +a lifetime with his regiment!" + +"Ah!" said I, choosing not to take offense; for one fool can make +trouble that perhaps a thousand wise men can not still. If he had +thought, he must have known that we Sikhs spend a lifetime with our +regiments, and therefore know more about such matters than any +German reservist. But he was little given to thought, although not +ill-humored in intention. + +"Behold that building!" said he. "That looks like a brewery! +Consider the sea of beer they brew there once a month, and then +think of your oath of abstinence and what you miss!" + +So he talked, ever nudging me in the ribs until I grew sore and my +very gorge revolted at his foolishness. So we sailed, passing along +a river that at another time would have delighted me beyond power of +speech. A day and a night we sailed, our little steamer being one of +a fleet all going one way. Tugs and tugs and tugs there were, all +pulling strings of barges. It was as if all the tugs and barges out +of Austria were hurrying with all the plunder of Europe God knew +whither. + +"Whither are they taking all this stuff?" I asked Ranjoor Singh when +he came down among us to inspect our rations. He and I stood +together at the stern, and I waved my arm to designate the fleet of +floating things. We were almost the only troops, although there were +soldiers here and there on the tugs and barges, taking charge and +supervising. + +"To Stamboul," said he. "Bulgaria is in. The road to Stamboul is +open." + +"Sahib," said I, "I know you are true to the raj. I know the +surrender in Flanders was the only course possible for one to whom +the regiment had been entrusted. I know this business of taking the +German side is all pretense. Are we on the way to Stamboul?" + +"Aye," said he. + +"What are we to do at Stamboul?" I asked him. + +"If you know all you say you know," said he, "why let the future +trouble you?" + +"But---" said I. + +"Nay," said he, "there can be no 'but.' There is false and true. The +one has no part in the other. What say the men?" + +"They are true to the raj," said I. + +"All of them?" he asked. + +"Nay, sahib," said I. "Not quite all of them, but almost all." + +He nodded. "We shall discover before long which are false and which +are true," said he, and then he left me. + +So I told the men that we were truly on our way to Stamboul, and +there began new wondering and new conjecturing. The majority decided +at once that we were to be sent to Gallipoli to fight beside the +Turks in the trenches there, and presently they all grew very +determined to put no obstacle in the Germans' way but to go to +Gallipoli with good will. Once there, said they all, it should be +easy to cross to the British trenches under cover of the darkness. + +"We will take Ranjoor Singh with us," they said darkly. "Then he can +make explanation of his conduct in the proper time and place!" I saw +one man hold his turban end as if it were a bandage over his eyes, +and several others snapped their fingers to suggest a firing party. +Many of the others laughed. Men in the dark, thought I, are fools to +do anything but watch and listen. Outlines change with the dawn, +thought I, and I determined to reserve my judgment on all points +except one--that I set full faith in Ranjoor Singh. But the men for +the most part had passed judgment and decided on a plan; so it came +about that there was no trouble in the matter of getting them to +Stamboul--or Constantinople, as Europeans call it. + +At a place in Bulgaria whose name I have forgotten we disembarked +and became escort to a caravan of miscellaneous stores, proceeding +by forced marches over an abominable road. And after I forget how +many days and nights we reached a railway and were once more packed +into a train. Throughout that march, although we traversed wild +country where any or all of us might easily have deserted among the +mountains, Ranjoor Singh seemed so well to understand our intention +that he scarcely troubled himself to call the roll. He sat alone by +a little fire at night, and slept beside it wrapped in an overcoat +and blanket. And when we boarded a train again he was once more +alone in a compartment to himself. Once more I was compelled to sit +next to Tugendheim. + +I grew no fonder of Tugendheim, although he made many efforts to +convince me of his friendship, making many prophetic statements to +encourage me. + +"Soon," said he, "you shall have your bayonet in the belly of an +Englishman! You will be revenged im them for '57!" My grandfather +fought for the British in '57, sahib, and my father, who was little +more than old enough to run, carried food to him where he lay on the +Ridge before Delhi, the British having little enough food at that +time to share among their friends. But I said nothing, and +Tugendheim thought I was impressed--as indeed I was. "You will need +to fight like the devil," said he, "for if they catch you they'll +skin you!" + +Partly he wished to discover what my thoughts were, and partly, I +think, his intention was to fill me with fighting courage; and, +since it would not have done to keep silence altogether, I began to +project the matter further and to talk of what might be after the +war should have been won. I made him believe that the hope of all us +Sikhs was to seek official employment under the German government; +and he made bold to prophesy a good job for every one of us. We +spent hours discussing what nature of employment would best be +suited to our genius, and he took opportunity at intervals to go to +the staff officer and acquaint him with all that I had said. By the +time we reached Stamboul at last I was more weary of him than an +ill-matched bullock of its yoke. + +But we did reach Stamboul in the end, on a rainy morning, and +marched wondering through its crooked streets, scarcely noticed by +the inhabitants. Men seemed afraid to look long at us, but glanced +once swiftly and passed on. German officers were everywhere, many of +them driven in motor-cars at great speed through narrow +thoroughfares, scattering people to right and left; the Turkish +officers appeared to treat them with very great respect--although I +noticed here and there a few who looked indifferent, and +occasionally others who seemed to me indignant. + +The mud, though not so bad as that in Flanders, was nearly as +depressing. The rain chilled the air, and shut in the view, and few +of us had very much sense of direction that first day in Stamboul. +Tugendheim, marching behind us, kept up an incessant growl. Ranjoor +Singh, striding in front of us with the staff officer at his side, +shook the rain from his shoulders and said nothing. + +We were marched to a ferry and taken across what I know now was the +Golden Horn; and there was so much mist on the water that at times +we could scarcely see the ferry. Many troopers asked me if we were +not already on our way to Gallipoli, and I, knowing no more than +they, bade them wait and see. + +On the other side of the Golden Horn we were marched through narrow +streets, uphill, uphill, uphill to a very great barrack and given a +section of it to ourselves. Ranjoor Singh was assigned private +quarters in a part of the building used by many German officers for +their mess. Not knowing our tongue, those officers were obliged to +converse with him in English, and I observed many times with what +distaste they did so, to my great amusement. I think Ranjoor Singh +was also much amused by that, for he grew far better humored and +readier to talk. + +Sahib, that barrack was like a zoo--like the zoo I saw once at +Baroda, with animals of all sorts in it!--a great yellow building +within walls, packed with Kurds and Arabs and Syrians of more +different tribes than a man would readily believe existed in the +whole world. Few among them could talk any tongue that we knew, but +they were full of curiosity and crowded round us to ask questions; +and when Gooja Singh shouted aloud that we were Sikhs from India +they produced a man who seemed to think he knew about Sikhs, for he +stood on a step and harangued them for ten minutes, they listening +with all their ears. + +Then came a Turk from the German officers' mess--we were all +standing in the rain in an open court between four walls--and he +told them truly who we were. Doubtless he added that we were in +revolt against the British, for they began to welcome us, shouting +and dancing about us, those who could come near enough taking our +hands and saying things we could not understand. + +Presently they found a man who knew some English, and, urged by +them, he began to fill our ears with information. During our train +journey I had amused myself for many weary hours by asking +Tugendheim for details of the fighting he had seen and by listening +to the strings of lies he thought fit to narrate. But what +Tugendheim had told were almost truths compared to this man's +stories; in place of Tugendheim's studied vagueness there was detail +in such profusion that I can not recall now the hundredth part of +it. + +He told us the British fleet had long been rusting at the bottom of +the sea, and that all the British generals and half the army were +prisoners in Berlin. Already the British were sending tribute money +to their conquerors, and the principal reason why the war continued +was that the British could not find enough donkeys to carry all the +gold to Berlin, and to prevent trickery of any kind the fighting +must continue until the last coin should have been counted. + +The British and French, he told us, were all to be compelled, at the +point of the sword, to turn Muhammadan, and France was being scoured +that minute for women to grace the harems of the kaiser and his sons +and generals, all of whom had long ago accepted Islam. The kaiser, +indeed, had become the new chief of Islam. + +I asked him about the fighting in Gallipoli, and lie said that was a +bagatelle. "When we shall have driven the remnants of those there +into the sea," said he, "one part of us will march to conquer Egypt +and the rest will be sent to garrison England and France." + +When he had done and we were all under cover at last I repeated to +the men all that this fool had said, and they were very much +encouraged; for they reasoned that if the Turks and Germans needed +to fill up their men with such lies as those, then they must have a +poor case indeed. With our coats off, and a meal before us, and the +mud and rain for-gotten, we all began to feel almost happy; and +while we were in that mood Ranjoor Singh came to us with Tugendheim +at his heels. + +"The plan now is to keep us here a week," said he. "After that to +send us to Gallipoli by steamer." + +Sahib, there was uproar! Men could scarcely eat for the joy of +getting in sight of British lines again--or rather for joy of the +promise of it. They almost forgot to suspect Ranjoor Singh in that +minute, but praised him to his face and even made much of +Tugendheim. + +But I, who followed Ranjoor Singh between the tables in case he +should have any orders to give, noticed particularly that he did not +say we were going to Gallipoli. He said, "The plan now is to send us +to Gallipoli." The trade of a leader of squadrons, thought I, is to +confound the laid plans of the enemy and to invent unexpected ones +of his own. + +"The day we land in Gallipoli behind the Turkish trenches," said I +to myself, "is unlikely to be yet if Ranjoor Singh lives." + +And I was right, sahib. But If I had been given a thousand years in +which to do it, I never could have guessed how Ranjoor Singh would +lead us out of the trap. Can the sahib guess? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Fear comes and goes, but a man's love lives with him. +--EASTERN PROVERB. + + +Stamboul was disillusionment--a city of rain and plagues and stinks! +The food in barracks was maggoty. We breathed foul air and yearned +for the streets; yet, once in the streets, we yearned to be back in +barracks. Aye, sahib, we saw more in one day of the streets than we +thought good for us, none yet understanding the breadth of Ranjoor +Singh's wakefulness. He seemed to us like a man asleep in good +opinion of himself--that being doubtless the opinion he wished the +German officers to have of him. + +Part of the German plan became evident at once, for, noticing our +great enthusiasm at the prospect of being sent to Gallipoli, +Tugendheim, in the hope of winning praise, told a German officer we +ought to be paraded through the streets as evidence that Indian +troops really were fighting with the Central Powers. The German +officer agreed instantly, Tugendheim making faces thus and brushing +his mustache more fiercely upward. + +So the very first morning after our arrival we were paraded early +and sent out with a negro band, to tramp back and forth through the +streets until nearly too weary to desire life. Ranjoor Singh marched +at our head looking perfectly contented, for which the men all hated +him, and beside him went a Turk who knew English and who told him +the names of streets and places. + +It did not escape my observation that Ranjoor Singh was interested +more than a little in the waterfront. But we all tramped like dumb +men, splashed to the waist with street dirt, aware we were being +used to make a mental impression on the Turks, but afraid to refuse +obedience lest we be not sent to Gallipoli after all. One thought +obsessed every single man but me: To get to Gallipoli, and escape to +the British trenches during some dark night, or perish in the +effort. + +As for me, I kept open mind and watched. It is the non-commissioned +officer's affair to herd the men for his officer to lead. To have +argued with them or have suggested alternative possibilities would +have been only to enrage them and make them deaf to wise counsels +when the proper time should come. And, besides, I knew no more what +Ranjoor Singh had in mind than a dead man knows of the weather. We +marched through the streets, and marched, stared at silently, +neither cheered nor mocked by the inhabitants; and Ranjoor Singh +arrived at his own conclusions. Five several times during that one +day he halted us in the mud at a certain place along the water- +front, although there was a better place near by; and while we +rested he asked peculiar questions, and the Turk boasted to him, +explaining many things. + +We were exhausted when it fell dark and we climbed up the hill again +to barracks. Yet as we entered the barrack gate I heard Ranjoor +Singh tell a German officer in English that we had all greatly +enjoyed our view of the city and the exercise. I repeated what I had +heard while the men were at supper, and they began to wonder +greatly. + +"Such a lie!" said they. + +"That surely was a lie?" I asked, and they answered that the man who +truly had enjoyed such tramping to and fro was no soldier but a mud- +fish. + +"Then, if he lies to them," I said, "perhaps he tells us the truth +after all." + +They howled at me, calling me a man without understanding. Yet when +I went away I left them thinking, each man for himself, and that was +good. I went to change the guard, for some of our men were put on +sentry-go that night outside the officers' quarters, in spite of our +utter weariness. We were smarter than the Kurds, and German officers +like smartness. + +Weary though Ranjoor Singh must have been, he sat late with the +German officers, for the most part keeping silence while they +talked. I made excuse to go and speak with him half a dozen times, +and the last time I could hardly find him among the wreaths of +cigarette smoke. + +"Sahib, must we really stay a week in this hole?" I asked. "So say +the Germans," said he. + +"Are we to be paraded through the streets each day?" I asked. + +"I understand that to be the plan," he answered. + +"Then the men will mutiny!" said I. + +"Nay!" said he, "let them seek better cause than that!" + +"Shall I tell them so?" said I, and he looked into my eyes through +the smoke as if he would read down into my very heart. + +"Aye!" said he at last. "You may tell them so!" + +So I went and shook some of the men awake and told them, and when +they had done being angry they laughed at me. Then those awoke the +others, and soon they all had the message. On the whole, it +bewildered them, even as it did me, so that few dared offer an +opinion and each began thinking for himself again. By morning they +were in a mood to await developments. They were even willing to +tramp the streets; but Ranjoor Singh procured us a day's rest. He +himself spent most of the day with the German officers, poring over +maps and talking. I went to speak with him as often as I could +invent excuse, and I became familiar with the word Wassmuss that +they used very frequently. I heard the word so many times that I +could not forget it if I tried. + +The next day Ranjoor Singh had a surprise for us. At ten in the +morning we were all lined up in the rain and given a full month's +pay. It was almost midday when the last man had received his money, +and when we were dismissed and the men filed in to dinner Ranjoor +Singh bade me go among them and ask whether they did not wish +opportunity to spend their money. + +So I went and asked the question. Only a few said yes. Many +preferred to keep their money against contingencies, and some +thought the question was a trick and refused to answer it at all. I +returned to Ranjoor Singh and told him what they answered. + +"Go and ask them again!" said he. + +So I went among them again as they lay on the cots after dinner, and +most of them jeered at me for my pains. I went and found Ranjoor +Singh in the officers' mess and told him. + +"Ask them once more!" said he. + +This third time, being in no mood to endure mockery, I put the +question with an air of mystery. They asked what the hidden meaning +might be, but I shook my head and repeated the question with a +smile, as if I knew indeed but would not tell. + +"Says Ranjoor Singh," said I, "would the men like opportunity to +spend their money?" + +"No!" said most of them, and Gooja Singh asked how long it well +might be before we should see money again. + +"Shall I bear him, a third time, such an answer?" I asked, looking +more mysterious than ever. And just then it happened that Gooja +Singh remembered the advice to seek better cause for mutiny. He +drummed on his teeth with his fingernails. + +"Very well!" said he. "Tell him we will either spend our money or +let blood! Let us see what he says to that!" + +"Shall I say," said I, "that Gooja Singh says so?" + +"Nay, nay!" said he, growing anxious. "Let that be the regiment's +answer. Name no names!" + +I thought it a foolish answer, given by a fool, but the men were in +the mood to relish it and began to laugh exceedingly. + +"Shall I take that answer?" said I, and they answered "Yes!" +redoubling their emphasis when I objected. "The Germans do Ranjoor +Singh's thinking for him these days," said one man; "take that +answer and let us see what the Germans have to say to it through his +mouth!" + +So I went and told Ranjoor Singh, whispering to him in a corner of +the officers' mess. Some Turks had joined the Germans and most of +them were bending over maps that a German officer had spread upon a +table in their midst; he was lecturing while the others listened. +Ranjoor Singh had been listening, too, but he backed into a corner +as I entered, and all the while I was whispering to him I kept +hearing the word Wassmuss--Wassmuss--Wassmuss. The German who was +lecturing explained something about this Wassmuss. + +"What is Wassmuss?" I asked, when I had given Ranjoor Singh the +men's answer. He smiled into my eyes. + +"Wassmuss is the key to the door," said he. + +"To which door?" I asked him. + +"There is only one," he answered. + +"Shall I tell that to the men?" said I. + +At that he began scowling at me, stroking his beard with one hand. +Then he stepped back and forth a time or two. And when he saw with +the corner of his eye that he had the senior German officer's +attention he turned on me and glared again. There was sudden silence +in the room, and I stood at attention, striving to look like a man +of wood. + +"It is as I said," said he in English. "It was most unwise to pay +them. Now the ruffians demand liberty to go and spend--and that +means license! They have been prisoners of war in close confinement +too long. You should have sent them to Gallipoli before they tasted +money or anything else but work! Who shall control such men now!" + +The German officer stroked his chin, eying Ranjoor Singh sternly, +yet I thought irresolutely. + +"If they would be safer on board a steamer, that can be managed. A +steamer came in to-day, that would do," said he, speaking in +English, perhaps lest the Turks understand. "And there is +Tugendheim, of course. Tugendheim could keep watch on board." + +I think he had more to say, but at that minute Ranjoor Singh chose +to turn on me fiercely and order me out of the room. + +"Tell them what you have heard!" he said in Punjabi, as if he were +biting my head off, and I expect the German officer believed he had +cursed me. I saluted and ran, and one of the Turkish officers aimed +a kick at me as I passed. It was by the favor of God that the kick +missed, for had he touched me I would have torn his throat out, and +then doubtless I should not have been here to tell what Ranjoor +Singh did. To this day I do not know whether he had every move +planned out in his mind, or whether part was thinking and part good +fortune. When a good man sets himself to thinking, God puts thoughts +into his heart that others can not overcome, and it may be that he +simply prayed. I know not--although I know he prayed often, as a +true Sikh should. + +I told the men exactly what had passed, except that I did not say +Ranjoor Singh had bidden me do so. I gave them to understand that I +was revealing a secret, and that gave them greater confidence in my +loyalty to them. It was important they should not suspect me of +allegiance to Ranjoor Singh. + +"It is good!" said they all, after a lot of talking and very little +thought. "To be sent on board a steamer could only mean Gallipoli. +There we will make great show of ferocity and bravery, so that they +will send us to the foremost trenches. It should be easy to steal +across by night to the British trenches, dragging Ranjoor Singh with +us, and when we are among friends again let him give what account of +himself he may! What new shame is this, to tell the Germans we will +make trouble because we have a little money at last! Let the shame +return to roost on him!" + +They began to make ready there and then, and while they packed the +knapsacks I urged them to shout and laugh as if growing mutinous. +Soldiers, unless prevented, load themselves like pack animals with a +hundred unnecessary things, but none of us had more than the full +kit for each man that the Germans had served out, so that packing +took no time at all. An hour after we were ready came Ranjoor Singh, +standing in the door of our quarters with that senior German officer +beside him, both of them scowling at us, and the German making more +than a little show of possessing a repeating pistol. So that Gooja +Singh made great to-do about military compliments, rebuking several +troopers in loud tones for not standing quickly to attention, and +shouting to me to be more strict. I let him have his say. + +Angrily as a gathering thunder-storm Ranjoor Singh ordered us to +fall in, and we scrambled out through the doorway like a pack of +hunting hounds released. No word was spoken to us by way of +explanation, Ranjoor Singh continuing to scowl with folded arms +while the German officer went back to look the quarters over, +perhaps to see whether we had done damage, or perhaps to make +certain nothing had been left. He came out in a minute or two and +then we were marched out of the barrack in the dimming light, with +Tugendheim in full marching order falling into step behind us and +the senior German officer smoking a cigar beside Ranjoor Singh. A +Kurdish soldier carried Tugendheim's bag of belongings, and +Tugendheim kicked him savagely when he dropped it in a pool of mud. +I thought the Kurd would knife him, but he refrained. + +I think I have said, sahib, that the weather was vile. We were glad +of our overcoats. As we marched along the winding road downhill we +kept catching glimpses of the water-front through driving rain, +light after light appearing as the twilight gathered. Nobody noticed +us. There seemed to be no one in the streets, and small wonder! + +Before we were half-way down toward the water there began to be a +very great noise of firing, of big and little cannon and rifles. +There began to be shouting, and men ran back and forth below us. I +asked Tugendheim what it all might mean, and he said probably a +British submarine had shown itself. I whispered that to the nearest +men and they passed the word along. Great contentment grew among us, +none caring after that for rain and mud. That was the nearest we had +been to friends in oh how many months--if it truly were a British +submarine! + +We reached the water-front presently and were brought to a halt in +exactly the place where Ranjoor Singh had halted us those five times +on the day we tramped the streets. We faced a dock that had been +vacant two days ago, but where now a little steamer lay moored with +ropes, smoke coming from its funnel. There was no other sign of +life, but when the German officer shouted about a dozen times the +Turkish captain came ashore, wrapped in a great shawl, and spoke to +him. + +While they two spoke I asked Ranjoor Singh whether that truly had +been a British submarine, and he nodded; but he was not able to tell +me whether or not it had been hit by gun-fire. Some of the men +overheard, and although we all knew that our course to Gallipoli +would be the more hazardous in that event we all prayed that the +artillery might have missed. Fear comes and goes, but a man's love +lives in him. + +When the Turkish captain and the German officer finished speaking, +the Turk went back to his steamer without any apparent pleasure, and +we were marched up the gangway after him. It was pitch-dark by that +time and the only light was that of a lantern by which the German +officer stood, eying us one by one as we passed. Tugendheim came +last, and he talked with Tugendheim for several minutes. Then he +went away, but presently returned with, I should say, half a company +of Kurdish soldiers, whom he posted all about the dock. Then he +departed finally, with a wave of his cigar, as much as to say that +sheet of the ledger had been balanced. + +It was a miserable steamer, sahib. We stood about on iron decks and +grew hungry. There were no awnings--nothing but the superstructure +of the bridge, and, although there were but two-hundred-and-thirty- +four of us, including Tugendheim, we could not stow ourselves so +that all could be sheltered from the rain and let the mud cake dry +on our legs and feet. There was a little cabin that Tugendheim took +for himself, but Ranjoor Singh remained with us on deck. He stood in +the rain by the gangway, looking first at one thing, then at +another. I watched him. + +Presently he went to the door of the engine-room, opened it, and +looked through. I was about to look, too, but he shut it in my face. + +"It is enough that they make steam?" said he; and I looked up at the +funnel and saw steam mingled with the smoke. In a little wheel-house +on the bridge the Turkish captain sat on a shelf, wrapped in his +shawl, smoking a great pipe, and his mate, who was also a Turk, sat +beside him staring at the sky. I asked Ranjoor Singh whether we +might expect to have the whole ship to ourselves. Said I, "It would +not be difficult to overpower those two Turks and their small crew +and make them do our bidding!" But he answered that a regiment of +Kurds was expected to keep us company at dawn. Then he went up to +the bridge to have word with the Turkish captain, and I went to the +ship's side to stare about. Over my shoulder I told the men about +the Kurds who were coming, and they were not pleased. + +Peering into the dark and wondering that so great a city as Stamboul +should show so few lights, I observed the Kurdish sentinels posted +about the dock. + +"Those are to prevent us from going ashore until their friends +come!" said I, and they snarled at me like angry wolves. + +"We could easily rush ashore and bayonet every one of them!" said +Gooja Singh. + +But not a man would have gone ashore again for a commission in the +German army. Gallipoli was written in their hearts. Yet I could +think of a hundred thousand chances still that might prevent our +joining our friends the British in Gallipoli. Nor was I sure in my +own mind that Ranjoor Singh intended we should try. I was sure only +of his good faith, and content to wait developments. + +Though the lights of the city were few and very far between, so many +search-lights played back and forth above the water that there +seemed a hundred of them. I judged it impossible for the smallest +boat to pass unseen and I wondered whether it was difficult or easy +to shoot with great guns by aid of search-lights, remembering what +strange tricks light can play with a gunner's eyes. Mist, too, kept +rising off the water to add confusion. + +While I reflected in that manner, thinking that the shadow of every +wave and the side of every boat might be a submarine, Ranjoor Singh +came down from the bridge and stood beside me. + +"I have seen what I have seen!" said he. "Listen! Obey! And give me +no back answers!" + +"Sahib," said I, "I am thy man!" But he answered nothing to that. + +"Pick the four most dependable men," he said, "and bid them enter +that cabin and gag and bind Tugendheim. Bid them make no noise and +see to it that he makes none, but let them do him no injury, for we +shall need him presently! When that is done, come back to me here!" + +So I left him at once, he standing as I had done, staring at the +water, although I thought perhaps there was more purpose in his gaze +than there had been in mine. + +I chose four men and led them aside, they greatly wondering. + +"There is work to be done," said I, "that calls for true ones!" + +"Such men be we!" said all four together. + +"That is why I picked you from among the rest!" said I, and they +were well pleased at that. Then I gave them their orders. + +"Who bids us do this?" they demanded. + +"I!" said I. "Bind and gag Tugendheim, and we have Ranjoor Singh +committed. He gave the order, and I bid you obey it! How can he be +false to us and true to the Germans, with a gagged German prisoner +on his hands?" + +They saw the point of that. "But what if we are discovered too +soon?" said they. + +"What if we are sunk before dawn by a British submarine!" said I. +"We will swim when we find ourselves in water! For the present, bind +and gag Tugendheim!" + +So they went and stalked Tugendheim, the German, who had been +drinking from a little pocket flask. He was drowsing in a chair in +the cabin, with his hands deep down in his overcoat pockets and his +helmet over his eyes. Within three minutes I was back at Ranjoor +Singh's side. + +"The four stand guard over him!" said I. + +"Very good!" said he. "That was well done! Now do a greater thing." + +My heart burned, sahib, for I had once dared doubt him, yet all he +had to say to me was, "Well done! Now do a greater thing!" If he had +cursed me a little for my earlier unbelief I might have felt less +ashamed! + +"Go to the men," said he, "and bid those who wish the British well +to put all the money they received this morning into a cloth. Bid +those who are no longer true to the British to keep their money. +When the money is all in the cloth, bring it here to me." + +"But what if they refuse?" said I. + +"Do YOU refuse?" he asked. + +"Nay!" said I. "Nay, sahib!" + +"Then why judge them?" said he. So I went. + +Can the sahib imagine it? Two-hundred-and-three-and-thirty men, +including non-commissioned officers, wet and muddy in the dark, +beginning to be hungry, all asked at once to hand over all their pay +if they be true men, but told to keep it if they be traitors! + +No man answered a word, although their eyes burned up the darkness. +I called for a lantern, and a man brought one from the engine-room +door. By its light I spread out a cloth, and laid all my money on it +on the deck. The sergeant nearest me followed my example. Gooja +Singh laid down only half his money. + +"Nay!" said I. "All or none! This is a test for true men! Half-true +and false be one and the same to-night!" So Gooja Singh made a wry +face and laid down the rest of his money, and the others all +followed him, not at all understanding, as indeed I myself did not +understand, but coming one at a time to me and laying all their +money on the cloth. When the last man had done I tied the four +corners of the cloth together (it was all wet with the rain and +slush on deck, and heavy with the weight of coin) and carried it to +Ranjoor Singh. (I forgot the four who stood guard over Tugendheim; +they kept their money.) + +"We are all true men!" said I, dumping it beside him. + +"Good!" said he. "Come!" And he took the bundle of money and +ascended the bridge ladder, bidding me wait at the foot of it for +further orders. I stood there two hours without another sign of him, +although I heard voices in the wheel-house. + +Now the men grew restless. Reflection without action made them begin +to doubt the wisdom of surrendering all their money at a word. They +began to want to know the why and wherefore of the business, and I +was unable to tell them. + +"Wait and see!" said I, but that only exasperated them, and some +began to raise their voices in anger. So I felt urged to invent a +reason, hoping to explain it away afterward should I be wrong. But +as it turned out I guessed at least a little part of Ranjoor Singh's +great plan and so achieved great credit that was useful later, +although at the time I felt myself losing favor with them. + +"Ranjoor Singh will bribe the captain of the ship to steam away +before that regiment of Kurds can come on board," said I. "So we +shall have the ship at our mercy, provided we make no mistakes." + +That did not satisfy them, but it gave them something new to think +about, and they settled down to wait in silence, as many as could +crowding their backs against the deck-house and the rest suffering +in the rain. I would rather have heard them whispering, because I +judged the silence to be due to low spirits. I knew of nothing more +to say to encourage them, and after a time their depression began to +affect me also. Rather than watch them, I watched the water, and +more than once I saw something I did not recognize, that +nevertheless caused my skin to tingle and my breath to come in +jerks. Sikh eyes are keen. + +It was perhaps two hours before midnight when the long spell of +firing along the water-front began and I knew that my eyes and the +dark had not deceived me. All the search-lights suddenly swept +together to one point and shone on the top-side of a submarine--or +at least on the water thrown up by its top-side. Only two masts and +a thing like a tower were visible, and the plunging shells threw +water over those obscuring them every second. There was a great +explosion, whether before or after the beginning of the gun-fire I +do not remember, and a ship anchored out on the water no great +distance from us heeled over and began to sink. One search-light was +turned on the sinking ship, so that I could see hundreds of men on +her running to and fro and jumping; but all the rest of the water +was now left in darkness. + +The guards who had been set to prevent our landing all ran to +another wharf to watch the gun-fire and the sinking ship, and it was +at the moment when their backs were turned that two Turkish seamen +came down from the bridge and loosed the ropes that held us to the +shore. Then our ship began to move out slowly into the darkness +without showing lights or sounding whistle. There was still no sign +of Ranjoor Singh, nor had I time to look for him; I was busy making +the men be still, urging, coaxing, cursing--even striking them. + +"Are we off to Gallipoli?" they asked. + +"We are off to where a true man may remember the salt!" said I, +knowing no more than they. + +I know of nothing more confusing to a landsman, sahib, than a +crowded harbor at night. The many search-lights all quivering and +shifting in the one direction only made confusion worse and we had +not been moving two minutes when I no longer knew north from south +or east from west. I looked up, to try to judge by the stars. I had +actually forgotten it was raining. The rain came down in sheets and +overhead the sky began at little more than arm's length! Judge, +then, my excitement. + +We passed very close to several small steamers that may have been +war-ships, but I think they were merchant ships converted into +gunboats to hunt submarines. I think, too, that in the darkness they +mistook us for another of the same sort, for, although we almost +collided with two of them, they neither fired on us nor challenged. +We steamed straight past them, beginning to gain speed as the last +one fell away behind. + +Does the sahib remember whether the passage from Stamboul into the +Sea of Marmora runs south or east or west? Neither could I remember, +although at another time I could have drawn a map of it, having +studied such things. But memory plays us strange tricks, and +cavalrymen were never intended to maneuver in a ship! Ranjoor Singh, +up in the wheel-house, had a map--a good map, that he had stolen +from the German officers--but I did not know that until later. I +stood with both hands holding the rails of the bridge ladder +wondering whether gunfire or submarine would sink us and urging the +men to keep their heads below the bulwark lest a search-light find +us and the number of heads cause suspicion. + +I have often tried to remember just how many hours we steamed from +Stamboul, yet I have no idea to this day beyond that the voyage was +ended before dawn. It was all unexpected--we were too excited, and +too fearful for our skins to recall the passage of hours. It was +darker than I have ever known night to be, and the short waves that +made our ship pitch unevenly were growing steeper every minute, when +Ranjoor Singh came at last to the head of the ladder and shouted for +me. I went to him up the steps, holding to each rail for dear life. + +"Take twenty men," he ordered, "and uncover the forward hatch. Throw +the hatch coverings overboard. The hold is full of cartridges. Bring +up some boxes and break them open. Distribute two hundred rounds to +every man, and throw the empty boxes overboard. Then get up twenty +more boxes and place them close together, in readiness to take with +us when we leave the ship. Let me know when that is all done." + +So I took twenty men and we obeyed him. Two hundred rounds of +cartridges a man made a heavy extra load and the troopers grumbled. + +"Can we swim with these?" they demanded. + +"Who knows until he has tried?" said I. + +"How far may we have to march with such an extra weight?" said they. + +"Who knows!" said I, counting out two hundred more to another man. +"But the man," I said, "who lacks one cartridge of the full count +when I come to inspect shall be put to the test whether he can swim +at all!" + +Some of them had begun to throw half of their two hundred into the +water, but after I said that they discontinued, and I noticed that +those who had so done came back for more cartridges, pretending that +my count had been short. So I served them out more and said nothing. +There were hundreds of thousands of rounds in the hold of the ship, +and I judged we could afford to overlook the waste. + +At last we set the extra twenty boxes in one place together, +slipping and falling in the process because the deck was wet and the +ship unsteady; and then I went and reported to Ranjoor Singh. + +"Very good," said he. "Make the men fall in along the deck, and bid +them be ready for whatever may befall!" + +"Are we near land, sahib?" said I. + +"Very near!" said he. + +I ran to obey him, peering into the blackness to discover land, but +I could see nothing more than the white tops of waves, and clouds +that seemed to meet the sea within a rope's length of us. Once or +twice I thought I heard surf, but the noise of the rain and of the +engines and of the waves pounding against the ship confused my ears, +so that I could not be certain. + +When the men were all fallen in I went and leaned over the bulwark +to try to see better; and as I did that we ran in under a cliff, for +the darkness grew suddenly much darker. Then I surely heard surf. +Then another sound startled me, and a shock nearly threw me off my +feet. I faced about, to find twenty or thirty men sprawling their +length upon the deck, and when I had urged and helped them up the +engines had stopped turning, and steam was roaring savagely through +the funnel. The motion of the ship was different now; the front part +seemed almost still, but the behind part rose and fell jerkily. + +I busied myself with the men, bullying them into silence, for I +judged it most important to be able to hear the first order that +Ranjoor Singh might give; but he gave none just yet, although I +heard a lot of talking on the bridge. + +"Is this Gallipoli?" the men kept asking me in whispers. + +"If it were," said I, "we should have been blown to little pieces by +the guns of both sides before now!" If I had been offered all the +world for a reward I could not have guessed our whereabouts, nor +what we were likely to do next, but I was very sure we had not +reached Gallipoli. + +Presently the Turkish seamen began lowering the boats. There were +but four boats, and they made clumsy work of it, but at last all +four boats were in the water; and then Ranjoor Singh began at last +to give his orders, in a voice and with an air that brought +reassurance. No man could command, as he did who had the least +little doubt in his heart of eventual success. There is even more +conviction in a true man's voice than in his eye. + +He ordered us overside eight at a time, and me in the first boat +with the first eight. + +"Fall them in along the first flat place you find on shore, and wait +there for me!" said he. And I said, "Ha, sahib!" wondering as I +swung myself down a swaying rope whether my feet could ever find the +boat. But the sailors pulled the rope's lower end, and I found +myself in a moment wedged into a space into which not one more man +could have been crowded. + +The waves broke over us, and there was a very evil surf, but the +distance to the shore was short and the sailors proved skilful. We +landed safely on a gravelly beach, not so very much wetter than we +had been, except for our legs (for we waded the last few yards), and +I hunted at once for a piece of level ground. Just thereabouts it +was all nearly level, so I fell my eight men in within twenty yards +of the surf, and waited. I felt tempted to throw out pickets yet +afraid not to obey implicitly. Ranjoor Singh given no order about +pickets. + +I judge it took more than an hour, and it may have been two hours, +to bring all the men and the twenty boxes of cartridges ashore. At +last in three boats came the captain of the ship, and the mate, and +the engineer, and nearly all the crew. Then I grew suddenly afraid +and hot sweat burst out all over me, for by the one lantern that had +been hung from the ship's bridge rail to guide the rowers I could +see that the ship was moving! The ship's captain had climbed out of +the last boat and was standing close to it. I went up to him and +seized his shoulder. + +"What dog's work is this?" said I. "Speak!" I said, shaking him, +although he could not talk any tongue that I knew--but I shook him +none-the-less until his teeth chattered, and, his arms being wrapped +in that great shawl of his, there was little he could do to prevent +me. + +As I live, sahib, on the word of a Sikh I swear that not even in +that instant did I doubt Ranjoor Singh. I believed that the Turkish +captain might have stabbed him, or that Tugendheim might have played +some trick. But not so the men. They saw the lantern receding and +receding, dancing with the motion of the ship, and they believed +themselves deserted. + +"Quick! Fire on him!" shouted some one. "Let him not escape! Kill +him before he is out of range!" + +I never knew which trooper it was who raised that cry, although I +went to some trouble to discover afterward. But I heard Gooja Singh +laugh like a hyena; and I heard the click of cartridges being thrust +into magazines. I was half minded to let them shoot, hoping they +might hit Tugendheim. But the Turk freed his arms at last, and began +struggling. + +"Look!" he said to me in English. "VOILA!" said he in French. +"REGARDEZ! Look--see!" + +I did look, and I saw enough to make me make swift decision. The +light was nearer to the water--quite a lot nearer. I flung myself on +the nearest trooper, whose rifle was already raised, and taken by +surprise he loosed his weapon. With it I beat the next ten men's +rifles down, and they clattered on the beach. That made the others +pause and look at me. + +"The man who fires the first shot dies!" said I, striving to make +the breath come evenly between my teeth for sake of dignity, yet +with none too great success. But in the principal matter I was +successful, for they left their alignment and clustered round to +argue with me. At that I refused to have speech with them until they +should have fallen in again, as befitted soldiers. Falling in took +time, especially as they did it sulkily; and when the noise of +shifting feet was finished I heard oars thumping in the oar-locks. + +A boat grounded amid the surf, and Ranjoor Singh jumped out of it, +followed by Tugendheim and his four guards. The boat's crew leaped +into the water and hauled the boat high and dry, and as they did +that I saw the ship's lantern disappear altogether. + +Ranjoor Singh went straight to the Turkish captain. "Your money," +said he, speaking in English slowly--I wonder, sahib, oh, I have +wondered a thousand times in what medley of tongues strange to all +of them they had done their bargaining!--"Your money," said he, "is +in the boat in which I came. Take it, and take your men, and go!" + +The captain and his crew said nothing, but got into the boats and +pushed away. One of the boats was overturned in the surf, and there +they left it, the sailors scrambling into the other boats. They were +out of sight and sound in two minutes. Then Ranjoor Singh turned to +me. + +"Send and gather fire-wood!" he ordered. + +"Where shall dry wood be in all this rain?" said I. + +"Search!" said he. + +"Sahib," said I, "a fire would only betray our whereabouts." + +"Are you deaf?" said he. + +"Nay!" I said. + +"Then obey!" said he. So I took twenty men, and we went stumbling +through rain and darkness, hunting for what none of us believed was +anywhere. Yet within fifteen minutes we found a hut whose roof was +intact, and therefore whose floor and inner parts were dry enough. +It was a little hut, of the length of perhaps the height of four +men, and the breadth of the height of three--a man and a half high +from floor to roof-beam. It was unoccupied, but there was straw at +one end--dry straw, on which doubtless guards had slept. I left the +men standing there and went and told Ranjoor Singh. + +I found him talking to the lined up men in no gentle manner. As I +drew nearer I heard him say the word "Wassmuss." Then I heard a +trooper ask him, "Where are we?" And he answered, "Ye stand on +Asia!" That was the first intimation I received that we were in +Asia, and I felt suddenly lonely, for Asia is wondrously big, sahib. + +Whatever Ranjoor Singh had been saying to the men he had them back +under his thumb for the time being; for when I told him of my +discovery of the hut he called them to attention, turned them to the +right, and marched them off as obedient as a machine, Tugendheim +following like a man in a dream between his four guards and +struggling now and then to loose the wet thongs that were beginning +to cut into his wrists. He had not been trussed over-tenderly, but I +noticed that Ranjoor Singh had ordered the gag removed. + +The hut stood alone, clear on all four sides, and after he had +looked at it, Ranjoor Singh made the men line up facing the door, +with himself and me and Tugendheim between them and the hut. +Presently he pushed Tugendheim into the hut, and he bade me stand in +the door to watch him. + +"Now the man who wishes to ask questions may," he said then, and +there was a long silence, for I suppose none wished to be accused of +impudence and perhaps made an example for the rest. Besides, they +were too curious to know what his next intention might be to care to +offend him. So I, seeing that he wished them to speak, and +conceiving that to be part of his plan for establishing good +feeling, asked the first question--the first that came into my head. + +"What shall we do with this Tugendheim?" said I. + +"That I will show you presently," said he. "Who else has a question +to ask?" And again there was silence, save for the rain and the +grinding and pounding on the beach. + +Then Gooja Singh made bold, as he usually did when he judged the +risk not too great. He was behind the men, which gave him greater +courage; and it suited him well to have to raise his voice, because +the men might suppose that to be due to insolence, whereas Ranjoor +Singh must ascribe it to necessity. Well I knew the method of Gooja +Singh's reasoning, and I knitted my fists in a frenzy of fear lest +he say the wrong word and start trouble. Yet I need not have +worried. I observed that Ranjoor Singh seemed not disturbed at all, +and he knew Gooja Singh as well as I. + +"It seems for the time being that we have given the slip to both +Turks and Germans," said Gooja Singh; and Ranjoor Singh said, "Aye! +For the time being!" + +"And we truly stand on Asia?" he asked. + +"Aye!" said Ranjoor Singh, + +"Then why did we not put those Turks ashore, and steam away in their +ship toward Gallipoli to join our friends?" said he. + +"Partly because of submarines," said Ranjoor Singh, "and partly +because of gun-fire. Partly because of mines floating in the water, +and partly again from lack of coal. The bunkers were about empty. It +was because there was so little coal that the Germans trusted us +alone on board." + +"Yet, why let the Turks have the steamer?" asked Gooja Singh, bound, +now that he was started, to prove himself in the right. "They will +float about until daylight and then send signals. Then will come +Turks and Germans!" + +"Nay!" said Ranjoor Singh. "No so, for I sank the steamer! I myself +let the sea into her hold!" + +Gooja Singh was silent for about a minute, and although it was dark +and I could not see him. I knew exactly the expression of his face-- +wrinkled thus, and with the lower lip thrust out, so! + +"Any more questions?" asked Ranjoor Singh, and by that time Gooja +Singh had thought again. This time he seemed to think he had an +unanswerable one, for his voice was full of insolence. + +"Then how comes it," said he, "that you turned those Turks loose in +their small boats when we might have kept them with us for hostages? +Now they will row to the land and set their masters on our tracks! +Within an hour or two we shall all be prisoners again! Tell us why!" + +"For one thing," said Ranjoor Singh, without any resentment in his +voice that I could detect (although THAT was no sign!), "I had to +make some sort of bargain with them, and having made it I must keep +it. The money with which I bribed the captain and his mate would +have been of little use to them unless I allowed them life and +liberty as well." + +"But they will give the alarm and cause us to be followed!" shouted +Gooja Singh, his voice rising louder with each word. + +"Nay, I think not!" said Ranjoor Singh, as calmly as ever. "In the +first place, I have a written receipt from captain and mate for our +money, stating the reason for which it was paid; if we were made +prisoners again, that paper would be found in my possession and it +might go ill with those Turks. In the second place, they will wish +to save their faces. In the third place, they must explain the loss +of their steamer. So they will say the steamer was sunk by a +submarine, and that they got away in the boats and watched us drown. +The crew will bear out what the captain and the mate say, partly +from fear, partly because that is the custom of the country, but +chiefly because they will receive a small share of the bribe. Let us +hope they get back safely--for their story will prevent pursuit!" + +For about two minutes again there was silence, and then Gooja Singh +called out: "Why did you not make them take us to Gallipoli?" + +"There was not enough coal!" said I, but Ranjoor Singh made a +gesture to me of impatience. + +"The Germans wished us to go to Gallipoli," said he, "and I have +noticed that whatever they may desire is expressly intended for +their advantage and not ours. In Gallipoli they would have kept us +out of range at the rear, and presently they would have caused a +picture of us to be taken serving among the Turkish army. That they +would have published broadcast. After that I have no idea what would +have happened to us, except that I am sure we should never have got +near enough to the British lines to make good our escape. We must +find another way than that!" + +"We might have made the attempt!" said Gooja Singh, and a dozen men +murmured approval. + +"Simpletons!" came the answer. "The Germans laid their plans for the +first for photographs to lend color to lies about the Sikh troops +fighting for them! Ye would have played into their hands!" + +"What then?" said I, after a minute, for at that answer they had all +grown dumb. + +"What then?" said he. "Why, this: We are in Asia, but still on +Turkish soil. We need food. We shall need shelter before many hours. +And we need discipline, to aid our will to overcome! Therefore there +never was a regiment more fiercely disciplined than this shall be! +From now until we bring up in a British camp--and God knows when or +where that may happen!--the man who as much as thinks of +disobedience plays with death! Death--ye be as good as dead men +now!" said he. + +He shook himself. A sense of loneliness had come on me since he told +us we were in Asia, and I think the men felt as I did. There had +been nothing to eat on the steamer, and there was nothing now. +Hunger and cold and rain were doing their work. But Ranjoor Singh +stood and shook himself, and moved slowly along the line to look in +each man's face, and I took new courage from his bearing. If I could +have known what he had in store for us, I would have leaped and +shouted. Yet, no, sahib; that is not true. If he had told me what +was coming, I would never have believed. Can the sahib imagine, for +instance, what was to happen next? + +"Ye are as good as dead men!" he said, coming back to the center and +facing all the men. "Consider!" said he. "Our ship is sunk and the +Turks, to save their own skins, will swear they saw us drown. Who, +then, will come and hunt for dead men?" + +I could see the eyes of the nearest men opening wider as new +possibilities began to dawn. As for me--my two hands shook. + +"And we have with us," said he, "a hostage who might prove useful--a +hostage who might prove amenable to reason. Bring out the prisoner!" +said he. + +So I bade Tugendheim come forth. He was sitting on the straw where +the guards had pushed him, still working sullenly to free his hands. +He came and peered through the doorway into darkness, and Ranjoor +Singh stood aside to let the men see him. They can not have seen +much, for it was now that utter gloom that precedes dawn. Nor can +Tugendheim have seen much. + +"Do you wish to live or die?" asked Ranjoor Singh, and the German +gaped at him. + +"That is a strange question!" he said. + +"Is it strange," asked Ranjoor Singh, "that a prisoner should be +asked for information?" + +"I am not afraid to die," said Tugendheim. + +"You mean by rifle-fire?" asked Ranjoor Singh, and Tugendheim +nodded. + +"But there are other kinds of fire," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"What do you mean?" asked Tugendheim. + +"Why," said Ranjoor Singh, "if we were to fire this hut to warm +ourselves, and you should happen to be inside it--what then?" + +"If you intend to kill me," said Tugendheim, "why not be merciful +and shoot me?" His voice was brave enough, but it seemed to me I +detected a strain of terror in it. + +"Few Germans are afraid to be shot to death," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"But what have I done to any of you that you should want to burn me +alive?" asked Tugendheim; and that time I was positive his voice was +forced. + +"Haven't you been told by your officers," said Ranjoor Singh, "that +the custom of us Sikhs is to burn all our prisoners alive?" + +"Yes," said Tugendheim. "They told us that. But that was only a tale +to encourage the first-year men. Having lived in India, I knew +better." + +"Did you trouble yourself to tell anybody better?" asked Ranjoor +Singh, but Tugendheim did not answer. + +"Then can you give me any reason why you should not be burned alive +here, now?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Yes!" said Tugendheim. "It would be cruel. It would be devil's +work!" He was growing very uneasy, although trying hard not to show +it. + +"Then give me a name for the tales you have been party to against us +Sikhs!" said Ranjoor Singh; but once more the German refrained from +answering. The men were growing very attentive, breathing all in +unison and careful to make no sound to disturb the talking. At that +instant a great burst of firing broke out over the water, so far +away that I could only see one or two flashes, and, although that +was none too reassuring to us, it seemed to Tugendheim like his +death knell. He set his lips and drew back half a step. + +"Can you wish to live with the shame of all those lies against us on +your heart--you, who have lived in India and know so much better?" +asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Of course I wish to live!" said Tugendheim. + +"Have you any price to offer for your life?" asked Ranjoor Singh, +and stepping back two paces he ordered a havildar with a loud voice +to take six men and hunt for dry kindling. "For there is not enough +here," said he. + +"Price?" said Tugendheim. "I have a handful of coins, and my +uniform, and a sword. You left my baggage on the steamer--" + +"Nay!" said Ranjoor Singh. "Your baggage came ashore in one of the +boats. Where is it? Who has it?" + +A man stepped forward and pointed to it, lying in the shadow of the +hut with the rain from the roof dripping down on it. + +"Who brought it ashore?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"I," said the trooper. + +"Then, for leaving it there in the rain, you shall carry it three +days without assistance or relief!" said Ranjoor Singh. "Get back to +your place in the ranks!" And the man got back, saying nothing. +Ranjoor Singh picked up the baggage and tossed it past Tugendheim +into the hut. + +"That is all I have!" said Tugendheim. + +"If you decide to burn, it shall burn with you," said Ranjoor Singh, +"and that trooper shall carry a good big stone instead to teach him +manners!" + +"GOTT IN HIMMEL!" exclaimed Tugendheim, losing his self-control at +last. "Can I offer what I have not got?" + +"Is there nothing you can do?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"In what way? How?" asked the German. + +"In the way of making amends to us Sikhs for all those lies you have +been party to," said Ranjoor Singh. "If you were willing to offer to +make amends, I would listen to you." + +"I will do anything in reason," said Tugendheim, looking him full in +the eye and growing more at ease. + +"I am a reasonable man," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"Then, speak!" said Tugendheim. + +"Nay, nay!" said Ranjoor Singh, "it is for you to make proposals, +and not for me. It is not I who stand waiting to be burned alive! +Let me make you a suggestion, however. What had we Sikhs to offer +when we were prisoners in Germany?" + +"Oh, I see!" said Tugendheim. "You mean you wish me to join you--to +be one of you?" + +"I mean," said Ranjoor Singh, "that if you were to apply to be +allowed to join this regiment for a while, and to be allowed to +serve us in a certain manner, we would consider the proposal. +Otherwise--is my meaning clear?" + +"Yes!" said Tugendheim. + +"Then--?' said Ranjoor Singh. + +"I apply!" said Tugendheim; and at that moment the havildar and his +men returned with some straw they had found in another tumble-down +hut. They had it stuffed under their overcoats to keep it dry. "Too +late!" said Tugendheim with a grimace, but Ranjoor Singh bade them +throw the straw inside for all that. + +"In Germany we were required to set our names to paper," he said, +and Tugendheim looked him in the eyes again for a full half minute. +"Do you expect better conditions than were offered us?" asked +Ranjoor Singh. + +"I will sign!" said Tugendheim. + +"What will you sign?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Anything in reason," answered Tugendheim. + +"Let me tell you what I have here, then," said Ranjoor Singh, and he +groped in his inner pocket for a paper, that he brought out very +neatly folded, sheltering it from the rain under his cape. "This," +said he, "is signed by the Turkish captain and mate of that sunken +steamer. It is a receipt for all our money, to be taken and divided +equally between you--mentioned by name--and them--mentioned also by +name, on condition that the ship be sunk and we be let go. If you +will sign the paper--here--above their signatures--it will entitle +you to one-third of all that money. They would neither of them dare +to refuse to share with you!" + +"What if I refuse to sign?" asked Tugendheim, making a great savage +wrench to free his wrists, but failing. + +"The suggestion is yours," said Ranjoor Singh. "You have only your +own judgment for a guide." + +"If I sign it, will you let me go?" he asked. + +"No," said Ranjoor Singh, "but we will not burn you alive if you +sign. Here is a fountain-pen. Your hands shall be loosed when you +are ready." + +Tugendheim nodded, so I went and cut his hands loose; and when I had +chafed his wrists for a minute or two he was able to write on my +shoulder, I bending forward and Ranjoor Singh watching like a hawk +lest he tear the paper. But he made no effort to play tricks. + +When Ranjoor Singh had folded the paper again he said: "Those two +Turks quite understood that you were to be asked to sign as well. In +fact, if there is any mishap they intend to lay all the blame on +you. But it is to their interest as much as yours to keep us from +being captured." + +"You mean I'm to help you escape?" asked Tugendheim. + +"Exactly!" said Ranjoor Singh. "Now that you have signed that, I am +willing to bargain with you. We intend to find Wassmuss." + +Tugendheim pricked up his ears and began to look almost willing. + +"We have heard of this Wassmuss, and have taken quite a fancy to +him. Your friends proposed to send us to the trenches, but we have +already had too much of that work and we intend to find Wassmuss and +take part with him. Let your business be to obey me implicitly and +to help us reach Wassmuss, and on the day we reach our goal you +shall go free with this paper given back to you. Disobey me, and you +shall sample unheard-of methods of repentance! Do we understand each +other?" + +"I understand you!" said Tugendheim. + +"I, too, wish to understand," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"It is a bargain," said Tugendheim. But I noticed they did not shake +hands after European fashion, although I think Tugendheim would have +been willing. He was a hearty man in his way, given to bullying, but +also to quick forgetfulness; and I will say this much for him, that +although he was ever on the lookout for some way of breaking his +agreement, he kept it loyally enough while a way was lacking. I have +met men I liked less. + +It was growing by that time to be very nearly dawn, and the weather +did not improve. The rain came down in squalls and sheets and the +wind screamed through, it, and we were famished as well as wet to +the skin--all, that is to say, except Tugendheim, who had enjoyed +the shelter of the hut. The teeth of many of the men were +chattering. Yet we stood about for an hour more, because it was too +dark and too dangerous to march over unknown ground. I suspect +Ranjoor Singh did not dare squander what little spirit the men had +left; if they had suspected him of losing them in the dark they +might have lost heart altogether. + +But at last there grew a little cold color in the sky and the sea +took on a shade of gray. Then Ranjoor Singh told off the same four +men who had first arrested him to guard our prisoner by day and +night, taking turns to pretend to be his servant, with orders to +give instant alarm should his movements seem suspicious. After that +Tugendheim was searched, but, nothing of interest being found on +him, his money and various little things were given back. + +"Had he no pistol?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Yes," said I, "but I took it when we bound and gagged him on the +steamer." And I drew it out and showed it, feeling proud, never +having had such a weapon--for the law of British India is strict. + +"Why did you not tell me?" he asked, and I was silent. "Give it +here!" said he, and I gave it up. He examined it, drew out the +cartridges, and passed it to Tugendheim, who pocketed it with a +laugh. It was three days before he spoke to Tugendheim and caused +him to give me the pistol back. I think the men were impressed, and +I was glad of it, although at the time I felt ashamed. + +Presently Ranjoor Singh himself chose an advance guard of twenty men +and put me in command of it. + +"March eastward," he ordered me. "According to my map, you should +find a road within a mile or two running about northeast and +southwest; turn to the left along it. Halt if you see armed men, and +send back word. Keep a lookout for food, for the men are starving, +but loot nothing without my order! March!" said he. + +"May I ask a question, sahib," said I, still lingering. + +"Ask," said he. + +"Would you truly have burned the German alive?" said I, and he +laughed. + +"That would have been a big fire," said he. "Do you think none would +have come to investigate?" + +"That is what I was thinking," said I. + +"Do such thoughts burn your brain?" said he. "A threat to a bully-- +to a fool, folly--to a drunkard, drink--to each, his own! Be going +now!" + +So I saluted him and led away, wondering in my heart, the weather +growing worse, if that were possible, but my spirits rising. I knew +now that my back was toward Gallipoli, where the nearest British +were, yet my heart felt bold with love for Ranjoor Singh and I did +not doubt we would strike a good blow yet for our friends, although +I had no least idea who Wassmuss was, nor whither we were marching. +If I had known--eh, but listen, sahib--this is a tale of tales! + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +If a man stole my dinner, I might let him run; but if he stole my +horse, he and I and death would play hide-and-seek! +--RANJOOR SINGH + + +That dawn, sahib, instead of lessening, the rainstorm grew into a +deluge that saved us from being seen. As I led my twenty men forward +I looked back a time or two, and once I could dimly see steamers and +some smaller boats tossing on the sea. Then the fiercest gust of +rain of all swept by like a curtain, and it was as if Europe had +been shut off forever--so that I recalled Gooja Singh's saying on +the transport in the Red Sea, about a curtain being drawn and our +not returning that way. My twenty men marched numbly, some seeming +half-asleep. + +By and by, with heels sucking in the mud, we came to the road of +which Ranjoor Singh had spoken and I turned along it. It had been +worn into ruts and holes by heavy traffic and now the rain made +matters worse, so we made slow progress. But before long I was able +to make out dimly through the storm what looked like a railway +station. There was a line of telegraph poles, and where it crossed +our road there were buildings enough to have contained two +regiments. I could see no sign of men, but in that light, with rain +swirling hither and thither, it was difficult to judge. I halted, +and sent a man back to warn Ranjoor Singh. + +We blew on our fingers and stamped to keep life in ourselves, until +at the end of ten minutes he came striding out of the rain like a +king on his way to be crowned. My twenty were already speechless +with unhappiness and hunger, but he had instilled some of his own +spirit into the rest of the regiment, for they marched with a swing +in good order. He had Tugendheim close beside him and had inspired +him, too. It may be the man was grinning in hope of our capture +within an hour, and in that case he was doomed to disappointment. He +was destined also to see the day when he should hope for our escape. +But from subsequent acquaintance with him I think he was +appreciating the risk we ran and Ranjoor Singh's great daring. I say +this for Tugendheim, that he knew and respected resolution when he +saw it. + +When I had pointed out what I could see of the lay of the land, +Ranjoor Singh left me in charge and marched away with Tugendheim and +Tugendheim's four guards. I looked about for shelter, but there was +none. We stood shivering, the rain making pools at our feet that +spread and became one. So I made the men mark time and abused them +roundly for being slack about it, they grumbling greatly because our +prisoner was marched away to shelter, whereas we must stand without. +I bullied them as much as I dared, and we stamped the road into a +veritable quagmire, as builders tread mud for making sun-dried +bricks, so that when three-quarters of an hour had passed and a man +came running back with a message from Ranjoor Singh there was a +little warmth in us. I did not need to use force to get the column +started. + +"Come!" said the trooper. "There is food, and shelter, and who knows +what else!" + +So we went best foot first along the road, feeling less than half as +hungry and not weak at all, now that we knew food was almost within +reach. Truly a man's desires are the vainest part of him. Less +hungry we were at once, less weary, and vastly less afraid; yet, too +much in a hurry to ask questions of the messenger! + +Ranjoor Singh came out of a building to meet us, holding up his +hand, so I made the men halt and began to look about. It was +certainly a railway station, with a long platform, and part of the +platform was covered by a roof. Parallel to that was a great shed +with closed sides, and through its half-open door I could smell hay- +-a very good smell, sahib, warming to the heart. To our right, +across what might be called a yard--thus--were many low sheds, and +in one there were horses feeding; in others I could see Turkish +soldiers sprawling on the straw, but they took no notice of us. +Three of the low sheds were empty, and Ranjoor Singh pointed to +them. + +"Let all except twenty men," said he, "go and rest in those sheds. +If any one asks questions, say only 'Allah!' So they will think you +are Muhammadans. If that should not seem sufficient, say 'Wassmuss!' +But unless questioned many times, say nothing! As you value your +lives, say nothing more than those two words to any one at all! +Rather be thought fools than be hanged before breakfast!" + +So all but twenty of the men went and lay down on straw in the three +empty sheds, and I took the twenty and followed him into the great +shed with closed sides. Therein, besides many other things, we +beheld great baskets filled with loaves of bread,--not very good +bread, nor at all fresh, but staff of life itself to hungry men. He +bade the men count out four loaves for each and every one of us, and +then at last, he gave me a little information. + +"The Germans in Stamboul," he said, "talked too loud of this place +in my hearing." I stood gnawing a loaf already, and I urged him to +take one, but he would eat nothing until all the men should have +been fed. "They detrain Dervish troops at this point," said he, "and +march them to the shore to be shipped to Gallipoli, because they +riot and make trouble if kept in barracks in Skutari or Stamboul. +This bread was intended for two train-loads of them." + +"Then the Dervishes will riot after all!" said I, and he laughed--a +thing he does seldom. + +"The sooner the better!" said he. "A riot might cover up our tracks +even better than this rain." + +"Is there no officer in charge here?" I asked him, + +"Aye, a Turkish officer," said he. "I heard the Germans complain +about his inefficiency. A day or two later and we might have found a +German in his place. He mistakes us for friends. What else could we +be?" And he laughed again. + +"But the telegraph wire?" said I. + +"Is down," he said, "both between here and Skutari, and between here +and Inismid. God sent this storm to favor us, and we will praise God +by making use of it." + +"Where is Tugendheim?" said I, but it was some minutes before he +answered me, for, since the loaves were counted he went to see them +distributed, and I followed him. + +"Tugendheim," he said at last, "has driven the Turkish officer to +seek refuge in seclusion! I used the word 'Wassmuss,' and that had +effect; but Tugendheim's insolence was our real passport. Nobody +here doubts that we are in full favor at Stamboul. Wassmuss can keep +for later on." + +"Sahib," said I, seeing he was in good humor now, "tell me of this +Wassmuss." + +"All in good time!" he answered. And when he has decided it is not +yet time to answer, it is wisest to be still. After fifteen or +twenty minutes with the men, I followed him across the yard and +entered the station waiting-room--a pretentious place, with fancy +bronze handles on the doors and windows. + +Lo, there sat Tugendheim, with his hands deep in his pockets and a +great cigar between his teeth. His four guards stood with bayonets +fixed, making believe to wait on him, but in truth watching him as +caged wolves eye their dinner. Ranjoor Singh was behaving almost +respectfully toward him, which filled me with disgust; but presently +I saw and understood. There was a little window through which to +sell tickets, and down in one corner of it the frosting had been +rubbed from off the glass. + +"There is an eye," said I in an undertone, "that I could send a +bullet through without difficulty!" But Ranjoor Singh called me a +person without judgment and turned his back. + +"When do we start?" asked Tugendheim. + +"When the men have finished eating," he answered, and at that I +stared again, for I knew the men's mood and did not believe it +possible to get them away without a long rest, nor even in that case +without argument. + +"What if they refuse?" said I, and Ranjoor Singh faced about to look +at me. + +"Do you refuse?" he asked. "Go and warn them to finish eating and be +ready to march in twenty minutes!" + +So I went, and delivered the message, and it was as I had expected, +only worse. + +"So those are his words? What are words!" said they. "Ask him +whither he would lead us!" shouted Gooja Singh. He had been talking +in whispers with a dozen men at the rear of the middle hut. + +"If I take him such dogs' answers," said I, "he will dismiss me and +there will be no more a go-between." + +"Go, take him this message," shouted Gooja Singh. "But for his +sinking of our ship we should now be among friends in Gallipoli! +Could we not have seized another ship and plundered coal? Tell him, +therefore, if he wishes to lead us he must use good judgment. Are we +leaves blown hither and thither for his amusement? Nay! We belong to +the British Army! Tell him we will march toward Gallipoli or +nowhither! We will march until opposite Gallipoli, and search for +some means of crossing." + +"I will take that as Gooja Singh's message, then," said I. + +"Nay, nay!" said he. "That is the regiment's message!" And the dozen +men with whom he had been whispering nodded acquiescence. "Is Gooja +Singh the regiment?" I asked. + +"No," said he, "but I am OF the regiment. I am not a man running +back and forth, false to both sides!" + +I was not taken by surprise. Something of that sort sooner or later +I knew must come, but I would have preferred another time and place. + +"Be thou go-between then, Gooja Singh!" said I. "I accepted only +under strong persuasion. Gladly I relinquish! Go thou, and carry thy +message to Ranjoor Singh!" And I sat down in the entrance of the +middle hut, as if greatly relieved of heavy burdens. "I have +finished!" I said. "I am not even havildar! I will request reduction +to the ranks!" + +For about a minute I sat while the men stared in astonishment. Then +they began to rail at me, but I shook my head. They coaxed me, but I +refused. Presently they begged me, but I took no notice. + +"Let Gooja Singh be your messenger!" said I. And at that they turned +on Gooja Singh, and some of them went and dragged him forward, he +resisting with arms and feet. They set him down before me. + +"Say the word," said they, "and he shall be beaten!" + +So I got on my feet again and asked whether they were soldiers or +monkey-folk, to fall thus suddenly on one of their number, and he a +superior. I bade them loose Gooja Singh, and I laid my hand on his +shoulder, helping him to his feet. + +"Are we many men with many troubles, or one regiment?" said I. + +At that most of them grew ashamed, and those who had assaulted Gooja +Singh began to make excuses, but he went back to the rear to the men +who had whispered with him. They drew away, and he sat in silence +apart, I rejoicing secretly at his discomfiture but fearful +nevertheless. + +"Now!" said I. "Appoint another man to wait on Ranjoor Singh!" + +But they cried out, "Nay! We will have none but you. You have done +well--we trust you--we are content!" + +I made much play of unwillingness, but allowed them to persuade me +in the end, yielding a little at a time and gaining from them ever +new protestations of their loyalty until at last I let them think +they had convinced me. + +"Nevertheless," said they, "tell Ranjoor Singh he must lead us +toward Gallipoli!" They were firm on that point. + +So I went back to the waiting-room and told Ranjoor Singh all that +had happened, omitting nothing, and he stood breaking pieces from a +loaf of bread, with his fingers, not burying his teeth into the loaf +as most of us had done. He asked me the names of the men who had so +spoken and I told him, he repeating them and considering each name +for a moment or two. + +"Have they finished eating?" he asked at last, and I told him they +had as good as finished. So he ate his own bread faster. + +"Come," he ordered presently, beckoning to Tugendheim and the four +guards to follow. + +It was raining as hard as ever as we crossed the station yard, and +the men had excuse enough for disliking to turn out. Yet they +scented development, I think, and none refused, although they fell +in just not sullenly enough to call for reprimand. Ranjoor Singh +drew the roll from his inner pocket and they all answered to their +names. Then, without referring to the list again, he named those who +I had told him used high words to me, beginning at Gooja Singh and +omitting none. + +"Fall out!" he ordered. And when they had obeyed, "Fall in again +over there on the left!" + +There were three-and-twenty of them, Gooja Singh included, and they +glared at me. So did others, and I wondered grimly how many enemies +I had made. But then Ranjoor Singh cleared his throat and we +recognized again the old manner that had made a squadron love him to +the death at home in India--the manner of a man with good legs under +him and no fear in his heart. All but the three-and-twenty forgot +forthwith my part in the matter. + +"Am I to be herdsman, then?" said he, pitching his voice against +wind and rain. "Are ye men--or animals? Hunted animals would have +known enough to eat and hurry on. Hunted animals would be wise +enough to run in the direction least expected. Hunted animals would +take advantage of ill weather to put distance between them and their +foe. Some of you, then, must be less than animals! Men I can lead. +Animals I can drive. But what shall be done with such less-than- +animals as can neither be led nor driven?" + +Then he turned about half-left to face the three-and-twenty, and +stood as it were waiting for their answer, with one hand holding the +other wrist behind his back. And they stood shifting feet and +looking back at him, extremely iil-at-ease. + +"What is the specific charge against us?" asked Gooja Singh, for the +men began to thrust him forward. But Ranjoor Singh let no man draw +him from the main point to a lesser one. + +"You have leave," said he, "to take one box of cartridges and go! +Gallipoli lies that way!" And he pointed through the rain. + +Then the two-and-twenty forgot me and began at once abusing Gooja +Singh, he trying to refute them, and Ranjoor Singh watching them all +with a feeling, I thought, of pity. Tugendheim, trying to make the +ends of his mustaches stand upright in the rain, laughed as if he +thought it a very great joke; but the rest of the men looked +doubtful. I knew they were unwilling to turn their backs on any of +our number, yet afraid to force an issue, for Ranjoor Singh had them +in a quandary. I thought perhaps I might mediate. + +"Sahib," said I. + +"Silence!" he ordered. So I stepped back to my place, and a dozen +men laughed at me, for which I vowed vengeance. Later when my wrath +had cooled I knew the reprimand and laughter wiped out suspicion of +me, and when my chance came to take vengeance on them I refrained, +although careful to reassert my dignity. + +After much argument, Gooja Singh turned his back at last on the two- +and-twenty and saluted Ranjoor Singh with great abasement. + +"Sahib," said he, "we have no wish to go one way and you another. We +be of the regiment." + +"Ye have set yourselves up to be dictators. Ye have used wild words. +Ye have tried to seduce the rest. Ye have my leave to go!" said +Ranjoor Singh. + +"Nay!" said Gooja Singh. "We will not go! We follow the regiment!" + +"Will ye follow like dogs that pick up offal, then?" he asked, and +Gooja Singh said, "Nay! We be no dogs, but true men! We be faithful +to the salt, sahib," said he. "We be sorry we offended. We be true +men--true to the salt." + +Now, that was the truth. Their fault had lain in not believing their +officer at least as faithful as they and ten times wiser. Every man +in the regiment knew it was truth, and for all that the rain poured +down in torrents, obscuring vision, I could see that the general +feeling was swinging all one way. If I had dared, I would have +touched Ranjoor Singh's elbow, and have whispered to him. But I did +not dare. Nor was there need. The instant he spoke again I knew he +saw clearer than I. + +"Ye speak of the salt," said he. + +"Aye!" said Gooja Singh. "Aye, sahib! In the name of God be good to +us! Whom else shall we follow?" + +"Aye, sahib!" said the others. "Put us to the test!" + +The lined-up regiment, that had been standing rigid, not at +attention, but with muscles tense, now stood easier, and it might +have been a sigh that passed among them. + +"Then, until I release you for good behavior, you three-and-twenty +shall be ammunition bearers," said Ranjoor Singh. "Give over your +rifles for other men to carry. Each two men take a box of +cartridges. Swiftly now!" said he. + +So they gave up their rifles, which in itself was proof enough that +they never intended harm, but were only misled by Gooja Singh and +the foolishness of their own words. And they picked up the cartridge +boxes, leaving Gooja Singh standing alone by the last one. He made a +wry face. "Who shall carry this?" said he, and Ranjoor Singh +laughed. + +"My rank is havildar!" said Gooja Singh. + +Ranjoor Singh laughed again. "I will hold court-martial and reduce +you to the ranks whenever I see the need!" said he. "For the +present, you shall teach a new kind of lesson to the men you have +misled. They toil with ammunition boxes. You shall stride free!" + +Gooja Singh had handed his rifle to me, and I passed it to a +trooper. He stepped forward now to regain it with something of a +smirk on his fat lips. + +"Nay, nay!" said Ranjoor Singh, with another laugh. "No rifle, Gooja +Singh! Be herdsman without honor! If one man is lost on the road you +shall be sent back alone to look for him! Herd them, then; drive +them, as you value peace!" + +There being then one box to be provided for, he chose eight strong +men to take turns with it, each two to carry for half an hour; and +that these might know there was no disgrace attached to their task, +they were placed in front, to march as if they were the band. Nor +was Gooja Singh allowed to march last, as I expect he had hoped; he +and his twenty-two were set in the midst, where they could eat +shame, always under the eyes of half of us. Then Ranjoor Singh +raised his voice again. + +"To try to reach Gallipoli," he said, "would be as wise as to try to +reach Berlin! Both shores are held by Turkish troops under German +officers. We found the one spot where it was possible to slip +through undetected. We must make the most of that. Moreover, if they +refuse to believe we were drownd last night, they will look for us +in the direction of Gallipoli, for all the German officers in +Stamboul knew how your hearts burned to go thither. It was a joke +among them! Let it be our business to turn the joke on them! There +will be forced marches now--long hungry ones--Form fours!" he +ordered. "By the right--Quick march!" And we wheeled away into the +rain, he marching on the flank. I ran and overtook him. + +"Take a horse, sahib!" I urged. "See them in that shed! Take one and +ride, for it is more fitting!" + +"Better plunder and burn!" said he. "If a man stole my dinner I +might let him run; but if he stole my horse, he and I and death +would play hide-and-seek! We need forgetfulness, not angry memories, +behind us! Keep thou a good eye on Tugendheim!" + +So I fell to the rear, where I could see all the men, Tugendheim +included! In a very few minutes we had lost the station buildings in +the rain behind us and then Ranjoor Singh began to lead in a wide +semicircle, so that before long I judged we were marching about +southeastward. At the end of an hour or so he changed direction to +due east, and presently we saw another telegraph line. I overtook +him again and suggested that we cut it. + +"Nay!" said he. "If that line works and we are not believed drowned, +too many telegrams will have been sent already! To cut it would give +them our exact position! Otherwise--why make trouble and perhaps +cause pursuit?" + +So we marched under the telegraph wire and took a course about +parallel to it. At noon it ceased raining and we rested, eating the +bread, of which every man had brought away three loaves. After that, +what with marching and the wind and sun our clothes began to dry and +we became more cheerful--all, that is to say, except the ammunition +bearers, who abused Gooja Singh with growing fervency. Yet he was +compelled to drive them lest he himself be court martialed and +reduced to the ranks. + +Cheerfulness and selfishness are often one, sahib, for it was not +what we could see that raised our spirits. We marched by village +after village that had been combed by the foragers for Turkish +armies,--and saw only destitution to right and left, behind and +before. The only animals we saw were dead ones except the dogs +hunting for bones that might have marrow in them still. + +We saw no men of military age. Only very old men were left, and but +few of those; they and the women and children ran away at sight of +us, except a very few who seemed careless from too much misery. One +such man had a horse, covered from head to foot with sores, that he +offered to sell to Ranjoor Singh. I did not overhear what price he +asked, but I heard the men scoffing at such avarice as would rob the +vultures. He went away saying nothing, like a man in stupor, leaving +the horse to die. Nay, sahib, he had not understood the words. + +We slept that first night in a village whose one street was a +quagmire and a cesspool. There was no difficulty in finding shelter +because so many of the houses were deserted; but the few inhabitants +of the other houses could not be persuaded to produce food. Ranjoor +Singh took their money away from, the four men whom I had overlooked +when we all gave up our money on the steamer, and with that, and +Tugendheim for extra argument, he went from house to house. +Tugendheim used no tenderness, such being not his manner of +approach, but nothing came of it. They may have had food hidden, but +we ate stale bread and gave them some of it, although Ranjoor Singh +forbade us when he saw what we were doing. He thought I had not been +looking when he gave some of his own to a little one. + +We were up and away at dawn, with all the dogs in Asia at our heels. +They smelled our stale bread and yearned for it. It was more than an +hour before the last one gave up hope and fell behind. They are hard +times, sahib, when the street dogs are as hungry as those were. + +Hunger! We met hunger day after day for eight days--hunger and +nothing else, although it was good enough land--better than any I +have seen in the Punjab. There was water everywhere. The air, too, +was good to breathe, tempting us to fill our lungs and march like +new men, yet causing appetite we could not assuage. We avoided +towns, and all large villages, Ranjoor Singh consulting his map +whenever we halted and marching by the little compass the Germans +had given him. We should have seen sheep or goats or cattle had +there been any; but there was none. Utterly not one! And we Sikhs +are farmers, not easily deceived on such matters; we knew that to be +grazing land we crossed. It was a land of fruit, too, in the proper +season. There had been cattle by the thousand, but they were all +gone--plundered by the Turks to feed their armies. + +Ranjoor Singh did his best to make us husband our stale loaves, but +we ate the last of them and became like famished wolves. Some of us +grew footsore, for we had German boots, to which our feet were not +yet thoroughly accustomed, but he gave us no more rest than he +needed for his own refreshment--and that was wonderfully little. We +had to nurse and bandage our feet as best we could, and march-- +march--march! He had a definite plan, for he led unhesitatingly, but +he would not tell us the plan. He was stern when we begged for +longer rests, merciless toward the ammunition bearers, silent at all +times unless compelled to give orders or correct us. Most of the +time he kept Tugendheim marching beside him, and Tugendheim, I +think, began to regard him with quite peculiar respect; for he +admired resolution. + +Most of us felt that our last day of marching was upon us, for we +were ready to drop when we skirted a village at about noon on the +eighth day and saw in the distance a citadel perched on a rocky hill +above the sky-line. We were on flat land, but there was a knoll +near, and to that Ranjoor Singh led us, and there he let us lie. He, +weary as we but better able to overcome, drew out his map and spread +it, weighting the four corners with stones; and he studied it chin +on hand for about five minutes, we watching him in silence. + +"That," said he, standing at last and pointing toward the distant +citadel, "is Angora. Yonder" (he made a sweeping motion) "runs the +railway whose terminus is at Angora. There are many long roads +hereabouts, so that the place has become a depot for food and stores +that the Turks plunder and the Germans despatch over the railway to +the coast. The railway has been taken over by the Germans." + +"Are we to storm the town?" asked a trooper, and fifty men mocked +him. But Ranjoor Singh looked down kindly at him and gave him a word +of praise. + +"No, my son," he said. "Yet if all had been stout enough to ask +that, I would have dared attempt it. No, we are perhaps a little +desperate, but not yet so desperate as that." + +He began sweeping the horizon with his eyes, quartering the +countryside mile by mile, overlooking nothing. I saw him watch the +wheeling kites and look below them, and twice I saw him fix his gaze +for minutes at a time on one place. + +"We will eat to-night!" he said at last. "Sleep," he ordered. "Lie +down and sleep until I summon you!" But he called me to his side and +kept me wakeful for a while yet. + +"Look yonder," said he, and when I had gazed for about two minutes I +was aware of a column of men and animals moving toward the city. A +little enough column. + +"How fast are they moving?" he asked me, and I gazed for several +minutes, reaching no decision. I said they were too far away, and +coming too much toward us for their speed to be accurately judged. +Yet I thought they moved slowly. + +Said he, "Do you see that hollow--one, two, three miles this side of +them?" And I answered yes. "That is a bend of the river that flows +by the city," said he. "There is water there, and fire-wood. They +have come far and are heading toward it. They are too far spent to +reach Angora before night. They will not try. That is where they +will camp." + +"Sahib," I said, considering his words as a cook tastes curry, "our +men be overweary to have fight in them." + +"Who spoke of fighting?" said he. So I went and lay down, and fell +asleep wondering. When he came and roused me it was already growing +late. By the time I had roused the men and they were all lined up we +could no longer see Angora for the darkness; which worked both ways- +-those in Angora could not see us. + +"If any catch sight of us," said Ranjoor Singh, speaking in a loud +voice to us all, "let us hope they mistake us for friends. What Turk +or German looks for an enemy hereabouts? The chances are all ours, +but beware! Be silent as ye know how! Forward!" + +It was a pitiable effort, for our bellies yearned and our feet were +sore and stiff. We stumbled from weariness, and men fell and were +helped up again. Gooja Singh and his ammunition bearers made more +noise than a squadron of mounted cavalry, and the way proved twice +as long as the most hopeless had expected. Yet we made the circuit +unseen and, as far as we knew, unheard--certainly unchallenged. +Doubtless, as Ranjoor Singh said afterward, the Turks were too +overriden by Germans and the Germans too overconfident to suspect +the presence of an enemy. + +At any rate, although we made more noise than was expedient, we +halted at last among low bushes and beheld nine or ten Turkish +sentries posted along the rim of a rise, all unaware of us. Two were +fast asleep. Some sat. The others drowsed, leaning on their rifles. +Ranjoor Singh gave us whispered orders and we rushed them, only one +catching sight of us in time to raise an alarm. He fired his rifle, +but hit nobody, and in another second they were all surrounded and +disarmed. + +Then, down in the hollow we saw many little campfires, each one +reflected in the water. Some Turks and about fifty men of another +nation sat up and rubbed their eyes, and a Turkish captain--an +upstanding flabby man, came out from the only tent to learn what the +trouble might be. Ranjoor Singh strode down into the hollow and +enlightened him, we standing around the rim of the rise with our +bayonets fixed and rifles at the "ready." I did not hear what +Ranjoor Singh said to the Turkish captain because he left me to +prevent the men from stampeding toward the smell of food--no easy +task. + +After five minutes he shouted for Tugendheim, and the German went +down the slope visibly annoyed by the four guards who kept their +bayonets within a yard of his back. It was a fortunate circumstance +for us, not only then but very many times, that Tugendheim would +have thought himself disgraced by appealing to a Turk. Seeing there +was no German officer in the hollow, he adopted his arrogant manner, +and the Turkish officer drew back from him like a man stung. After +that the Turkish captain appeared to resign himself to impotence, +for he ordered his men to pile arms and retired into his tent. + +Then Ranjoor Singh came up the slope and picked the twenty men who +seemed least ready to drop with weariness, of whom I regretted to be +one. He set us on guard where the Turkish sentries had been, and the +Turks were sent below, where presently they fell asleep among their +brethren, as weary, no doubt, from plundering as we were from +marching on empty bellies. None of them seemed annoyed to be +disarmed. Strange people! Fierce, yet strangely tolerant! + +Then all the rest of the men, havildars no whit behind the rest, +swooped down on the camp-fires, and presently the smell of toasting +corn began to rise, until my mouth watered and my belly yearned. +Fifteen or twenty minutes later (it seemed like twenty hours, +sahib!) hot corn was brought to us and we on guard began to be new +men. Nevertheless, food made the guard more sleepy, and I was hard +put to it walking from one to another keeping them awake. + +All that night I knew nothing of what passed in the camp below, but +I learned later on that Ranjoor Singh found among the Syrians whose +business was to load and drive carts a man named Abraham. All in the +camp who were not Turks were Syrians, and these Syrians had been +dragged away from their homes scores of leagues away and made to +labor without remuneration. This Abraham was a gifted man, who had +been in America, and knew English, as well as several dialects of +Kurdish, and Turkish and Arabic and German. He knew better German +than English, and had frequently been made to act interpreter. +Later, when we marched together, he and I became good friends, and +he told me many things. + +Well, sahib, after he had eaten a little corn, Ranjoor Singh +questioned this man Abraham, and then went with him through the +camp, examining the plunder the Turks had seen fit to requisition. +It was plain that this particular Turkish officer was no paragon of +all the virtues, and Ranjoor Singh finally entered his tent +unannounced, taking Abraham with him. So it was that I learned the +details later, for Abraham told me all I asked. + +On a box beside the bed Ranjoor Singh found writing-paper, +envelopes, and requisition forms not yet filled out, but already +signed with a seal and a Turkish signature. There was a map, and a +list of routes and villages. But best of all was a letter of +instructions signed by a German officer. There were also other +priceless things, of some of which I may chance to speak later. + +I was told by Abraham that during the conversation following Ranjoor +Singh's seizure of the papers the word Wassmuss was bandied back and +forth a thousand times, the Turk growing rather more amenable each +time the word was used. Finally the Turk resigned himself with a +shrug of the shoulders, and was left in his tent with a guard of our +men at each corner. + +Then, for all that the night was black dark and there were very few +lanterns, the camp began to be turned upside down, Ranjoor Singh +ordering everything thrown aside that could not be immediately +useful to us. There were forty carts, burdened to the breaking +point, and twenty of them Ranjoor Singh abandoned as too heavy for +our purpose. Most of the carts had been drawn by teams of six mules +each, but ten of them had been drawn by horses, and besides the +Turkish captain's horse there were four other spare ones. There were +also about a hundred sheep and some goats. + +Ranjoor Singh ordered all the corn repacked into fourteen of the +carts, sheep and goats into four carts, and ammunition into the +remaining two, leaving room in each cart for two men so that the +guard who had stood awake all night might ride and sleep. That left +him with sixty-four spare horses. Leaving the Turkish officer his +own horse, but taking the saddle for himself, he gave Tugendheim +one, me another, the third to Gooja Singh--he being next non- +commissioned officer to me in order of seniority, and having had +punishment enough--and the fourth horse, that was much the best one, +he himself took. Then he chose sixty men to cease from being +infantry and become a sort of cavalry again--cavalry without saddles +as yet, or stirrups--cavalry with rifles--cavalry with aching feet-- +but cavalry none the less. He picked the sixty with great wisdom, +choosing for the most part men who had given no trouble, but he +included ten or twelve grumblers, although for a day or two I did +not understand why. There was forethought in everything he did. + +The sheep that could not be crowded into the carts he ordered +butchered there and then, and the meat distributed among the men; +and all the plunder that he decided not to take he ordered heaped in +one place where it would not be visible unless deliberately looked +for. The plundered money that he found in the Turk's tent he hid +under the corn in the foremost cart, and we found it very useful +later on. The few of our men who had not fallen asleep were for +burning the piled-up plunder, but he threatened to shoot whoever +dared set match to it. + +"Shall we light a beacon to warn the countryside?" said he. + +A little after midnight there began to be attempts by Turkish +soldiers to break through and run for Angora. But I had kept my +twenty guards awake with threats of being made to carry ammunition-- +even letting the butt of my rifle do work not set down in the +regulations. So it came about that we captured every single +fugitive. They were five all told, and I sent them, tied together, +down to Ranjoor Singh. Thereupon he went to the Turk, and promised +him personal violence if another of his men should attempt to break +away. So the Turk gave orders that were obeyed. + +Then, when all the plunder in the camp had been rearranged, and the +mules and horses reapportioned, four hours yet before dawn, Ranjoor +Singh took out his fountain-pen and executed the stroke of genius +that made what followed possible. Without Abraham I do not know what +he would have done. I can not imagine. Yet I feel sure he would have +contrived something. He made use of Abraham as the best tool +available, and that is no proof he could not have done as well by +other means. I have learned this: that Ranjoor Singh, with that +faith of his in God, can do anything. Anything. He is a true man, +and God puts thoughts into his heart. + +Among the Turk's documents were big sheets of paper for official +correspondence, similar to that on which his orders were written. +Ranjoor Singh ascertained from Abraham that he who had signed those +orders was the German officer highest in command in all that region, +who had left Angora a month previously to superintend the +requisitioning. + +So Ranjoor Singh sent for Tugendheim, whose writing would have the +proper clerical appearance, and by a lantern in the tent dictated to +him a letter in German to the effect that this Turkish officer, by +name Nazim, with all his men and carts and animals, had been +diverted to the aid of Wassmuss. The letter went on to say that on +his way back to Angora this same high German officer would himself +cover the territory thus left uncared for, so that nothing need be +done about it in the meanwhile. (He wrote that to prevent +investigation and perhaps pursuit by the men in Angora who waited +Nazim and his plunder.) + +At the foot of the letter Abraham cleverly copied the signature of +the very high German officer, after making many experiments first on +another sheet of paper. + +Tugendheim of course protested vehemently that he would do no such +thing, when ordered to write. But Ranjoor Singh ordered the barrel +of a Turkish soldier's rifle thrust in the fire, and the German did +not protest to the point of permitting his feet to be singed. He +wrote a very careful letter, even suggesting better phraseology--his +reason for that being that, since he was thus far committed, our +total escape would be the best thing possible for him. The Germans, +who are so fond of terrifying others, are merciless to their own who +happen to be guilty of weak conduct, and to have said he was +compelled to write that letter would have been no excuse if we were +caught. Henceforward it was strictly to his interest to help us. + +Finally, when the letter had been sealed in its envelope, there came +the problem of addressing it, and the Turk seemed ignorant on that +point, or else stupid. Perhaps he was wilfully ignorant, hoping that +the peculiar form of the address might cause suspicion and +investigation. But what with Tugendheim's familiarity with German +military custom, and Ranjoor Singh's swift thought, an address was +devised that served the purpose, judging by results. + +Then came the problem of delivering the letter. To have sent one of +the Turkish soldiers with it would have been the same thing as +marching to Angora and surrendering; for of course the Turk would +have told of what happened in the night, and where it happened, and +all about it. To have sent one of the half-starved Syrians would +probably have amounted to the same thing; for the sake of a +bellyful, or from fear of ill-treatment the wretched man would very +likely tell too much. But Abraham was different. Abraham was an +educated man, who well understood the value to us of silence, and +who seemed to hate both Turks and Germans equally. + +So Ranjoor Singh took Abraham aside and talked with him five +minutes. And the end of that was that a Turkish soldier was +compelled to strip himself and change clothes with Abraham, the Turk +taking no pleasure at all in the exchange. Then Abraham was given a +horse, and on the outside of the envelope in one corner was written +in German, "Bearer should be supplied with saddle for his horse and +sent back at once with acknowledgment of receipt of this." + +There and then Ranjoor Singh gave Abraham the letter, shook hands +with him, helped him on the horse, and sent him on his way--three +hours before dawn. Then promptly he gave orders to all the other +Syrians to strike camp and resume their regular occupation of +driving mules. + +The Turkish officer, although not deprived of his horse, was not +permitted to ride until after daybreak, because of the difficulty +otherwise of guarding him in the dark. The same with Tugendheim; +although there was little reason for suspecting him of wanting to +escape, with that letter fresh in his memory, he was nevertheless +compelled to walk until daylight should make escape impossible. + +The Turkish officer was made to march in front with his four-and- +forty soldiers, who were given back their rifles but no bayonets or +ammunition. Gooja Singh, whose two-and-twenty were ready by that +time to pull his beard out hair by hair, was given fifty men who +hated him less fiercely and set to march next behind the Turks. Then +came the carts in single column, and after them Tugendheim and the +remainder of our infantry. Behind the infantry rode the cavalry, and +very last of all rode Ranjoor Singh, since that was for the present +the post of chiefest danger. + +As for me, I tumbled into a cart and fell asleep at once, scarcely +hearing the order shouted to the Turk to go forward. The men who had +been on guard with me all did the same, falling asleep like I almost +before their bodies touched the corn. + +When I awoke it was already midday. We had halted near some trees +and food was being served out. I got under the cart to keep the sun +off me, and lay there musing until a trooper had brought my meal. +The meal was good, and my thoughts were good--excellent! For had we +not been a little troop of lean ghosts, looking for graves to lie +in? The talk along the way had been of who should bury us, or who +should bury the last man, supposing we all died one by one! Had we +not been famished until the very wind was a wall too heavy to +prevail against? And were we not now what the drill-book calls a +composite force, with full bellies, carts, horses and equipment? Who +thought about graves any longer? I lay and laughed, sahib, until a +trooper brought me dinner--laughed for contempt of the Germans we +had left behind, and for the Turks whose plunder we had stolen,-- +laughed like a fool, like a man without brain or experience or +judgment. + +Not until I had eaten my fill did I bethink me of Ranjoor Singh. +Then I rose lazily, and was astonished at the stiffness in my +ankles. Nevertheless I contrived to stride with military manner, in +order that any Turk or Syrian beholding me might know me for a man +to be reckoned with, the added pain and effort being well worth +while. + +Nor did I have far to look for Ranjoor Singh. The instant I raised +my eyes I saw him sitting on a great rock beneath the shadow of a +tree, with his horse tied below him eating corn from a cloth spread +on the ground. In order to reach him with least inconvenience, I +made a circuit and approached from the rear, because in that +direction the rock sloped away gradually and I was in no mood to +climb, nor in condition to climb with dignity. + +So it happened that I came on him unaware. Nevertheless, I was +surprised that his ears should not detect my footfall. The horse, +six feet below us, was aware of me first and snorted, yet Ranjoor +Singh did not turn his head. + +"Sahib!" said I; but he did not move. + +"Sahib!" I said, going a step nearer and speaking louder. But he +neither moved nor answered. Now I knew there was no laughing matter, +and my hand trembled as I held it out to touch his shoulder. His +arms were folded above his knees and his chin rested on them. I +shook him slightly, and his chin fell down between his knees; but he +did not answer. Now I knew beyond doubt he was not asleep, for +however weary he would ever awake at a touch or the lightest +whisper. I began to fear he was dead, and a feeling of sickness +swept over me as that grim fear took hold. + +"Sahib!" I said again, taking his shoulders with both hands. And he +toppled over toward me, thus, like a dead man. Yet he breathed. I +made certain he was breathing. + +I shook him twice or thrice, with no result. Then I took him in my +arms, thus, one arm under the knees and one under his armpits, and +lifted him. He is a heavy man, all bone and sinew, and my stiff +ankles caused me agony; but I contrived to lay him gently full +length in the shadow of the tree-trunk, and then I covered him with +his overcoat, to keep away flies. I had scarcely finished that when +Gooja Singh came, and I cursed under my breath; but openly I +appeared pleased to see him. + +"It is well you came!" said I. "Thus I am saved the necessity of +sending one to bring you. Our sahib is asleep," I said, "and has +made over the command to me until he shall awake again." + +"He sleeps very suddenly!" said Gooja Singh, and he stood eying me +with suspicion. + +"Well he may!" said I, thinking furiously--as a man in a burning +house--yet outwardly all calm. "He has done all our thinking for us +all these days; he has borne alone the burden of responsibility. He +has enforced the discipline," said I with a deliberate stare that +made Gooja Singh look sullen, "and God knows how necessary that has +been! He has let no littlest detail of the march escape him. He has +eaten no more than we; he has marched as far and as fast as we; he +has slept less than any of us. And now," said I, "he is weary. He +kept awake until I came, and fell asleep in my arms when he had +given me his orders." + +Gooja Singh looked as if he did not believe me. But my words had +been but a mask behind which I was thinking. As I spoke I stepped +sidewise, as if to prevent our voices from disturbing the sleeper, +for it seemed wise to draw Gooja Singh to safer distance. Now I sat +down at last on the summit of the rock exactly where Ranjoor Singh +was sitting when I spied him first, hoping that perhaps in his place +his thoughts would come to me. And whether the place had anything to +do with it or not I do not know, but certainly wise thoughts did +come. I reached a decision in that instant that was the saving of +us, and for which Ranjoor Singh greatly commended me later on. +Because of it, in the days to come, he placed greater confidence in +my ability and faithfulness and judgment. + +"What were his orders?" asked Gooja Singh. "Or were they secret +orders known only to him and thee?" + +"If you had not come," said I, "I would have sent for you to hear +the orders. When he wakes," I added, "I shall tell him who obeyed +the swiftest." + +I was thinking still. Thinking furiously. I knew nothing at all yet +about Abraham, and that was good, for otherwise I might have decided +to wait there for him to overtake us. + +"Have the men finished eating?" I asked, and he answered he was come +because they had finished eating. + +"Then the order is to proceed at once!" said I. "Send a cart here +under the rock and eight good men, that we may lower our sahib into +it. With the exception of that one cart let the column proceed in +the same order as before, the Turk and his men leading." + +"Leading whither?" asked Gooja Singh. + +"Let us hope," said I, "to a place where orders are obeyed in +military manner without question! Have you heard the order?" I +asked, and I made as if to go and wake our officer. + +Without another word Gooja Singh climbed down from the rock and went +about shouting his commands as if he himself were their originator. +Meanwhile I thought busily, with an eye for the wide horizon, +wondering whether we were being pursued, or whether telegrams had +not perhaps been sent to places far ahead, ordering Turkish +regiments to form a cordon and cut us off. I wondered more than ever +who Wassmuss might be, and whether Ranjoor Singh had had at any time +the least idea of our eventual destination. I had no idea which +direction to take. There was no track I could see, except that made +by our own cart-wheels. On what did I base my decision, then? I will +tell you, sahib. + +I saw that not only Ranjoor Singh's horse, but all the cattle had +been given liberal amounts of corn. It seemed to me that unless he +intended to continue by forced marches Ranjoor Singh would have +begun by economizing food. Moreover, I judged that if he had +intended resting many hours in that spot he would have had me +summoned and have gone to sleep himself. The very fact that he had +let me sleep on seemed to me proof that he intended going forward. +Doubtless, he would depend on me to stand guard during the night. So +I reasoned it. And I also thought it probable he had told the Turk +in which direction to lead, seeing that the Turk doubtless knew more +of that countryside than any. Ahead of us was all Asia and behind us +was the sea. Who was I that I should know the way? But by telling +the Turk to lead on, I could impose on him responsibility for +possible error, and myself gain more time to think. And for that +decision, too, Ranjoor Singh saw fit to praise me later. + +They brought the cart, and with the help of eight men, I laid +Ranjoor Singh very comfortably on the corn, and covered him. Then I +bade those eight be bodyguard, letting none approach too close on +pain of violence, saying that Ranjoor Singh needed a long deep sleep +to restore his energy. Also, I bade them keep that cart at the rear +of the column, and I myself chose the rear place of all so as to +keep control, prevent straggling, and watch against pursuit. + +Pursued? Nay, sahib. Not at that time. Nevertheless, that thought of +mine, to choose the last place, was the very gift of God. We had +been traveling about three parts of an hour when I perceived a very +long way off the head of a camel caravan advancing at swift pace +toward us--or almost toward us. It seemed to me to be coming from +Angora. And it so happened that at the moment when I saw it first +the front half of our column had already dipped beyond a rise and +was descending a rather gentle slope. + +I hurried the tail of the column over the rise by twisting it, as a +man twists bullocks' tails. And then I bade the whole line halt and +lie down, except those in charge of horses; them I ordered into the +shelter of some trees, and the carts I hurried behind a low ridge-- +all except Ranjoor Singh's cart; that I ordered backed into a hollow +near me. So we were invisible unless the camels should approach too +close. + +The Turks and Tugendheim I saw placed in the midst of all the other +unmounted men, and ordered them guarded like felons; and I bade +those in charge of mules and horses stand by, ready to muzzle their +beasts with coats or what-not, to prevent neighing and braying. Then +I returned to the top of the rise and lay down, praying to God, with +a trooper beside me who might run and try to shake Ranjoor Singh +back to life in case of direst need. + +I lay and heard my heart beat like a drum against the ground, +praying one moment, and with the next breath cursing some hoof-beat +from behind me and the muffled reprimand that was certain to follow +it. The men were as afraid as I, and the thing I feared most of all +was panic. Yet what more could I do than I had done? I lay and +watched the camels, and every step that brought them nearer felt +like a link in a chain that bound us all. + +One thing became perfectly evident before long. There were not more +than two hundred camels, therefore in a fight we should be able to +beat them off easily. But unless we could ambuscade them (and there +was no time to prepare that now) it would be impossible to kill or +capture them all. Some would get away and those would carry the +alarm to the nearest military post. Then gone would be all hope for +us of evading capture or destruction. But it was also obvious to me +that no such caravan would come straight on toward us at such speed +if it knew of our existence or our whereabouts. They expected us as +little as we expected them. + +So I lay still, trembling, wondering what Ranjoor Singh would say to +me, supposing he did not die in the cart there--wondering what the +matter might be with Ranjoor Singh--wondering what I should do +supposing he did die and we escaped from this present predicament. I +knew there was little hope of my maintaining discipline without +Ranjoor Singh's aid. And I had not the least notion whither to lead, +unless toward Russia. + +Such thoughts made me physically sick, so that it was relief to turn +away from them and watch the oncoming caravan, especially as I began +to suspect it would not come within a mile of us. Presently I began +to be certain that it would cross our track rather less than a mile +away. I began to whisper to myself excitedly. Then at last "Yes!" +said I, aloud. + +"Yes!" said a voice beside me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, +"unless they suspect the track of our cart-wheels and follow it up, +we are all right!" + +I looked round into the eyes of Ranjoor Singh, and felt my whole +skin creep like a snake's at sloughing time! + +"Sahib!" said I. + +"You have done well enough," said he, "except that if attacked you +would have hard work to gather your forces and control them. But +never mind, you did quite well enough for this first time!" said +Ranjoor Singh. + +"Sahib!" I said. "But I thought you were in a cart, dying!" + +"In a cart, yes!" he said. "Dying, no--although that was no fault of +somebody's!" + +I begged him to explain, and while we watched the camels cross our +track--(God knows, sahib, why they did not grow suspicious and +follow along it)--he told me how he had sat on the great rock, not +very sleepy, but thinking, chin on knee, when suddenly some man +crawled up from behind and struck him a heavy blow. + +"Feel my head," said he, and I felt under his turban. There was a +bruise the size of my folded fist. I swore--as who would not? "Is it +deep?" I said, still watching the camels, and before he answered me +he sent the trooper to go and find his horse. + +"Superficial," he said then. "By the favor of God but a water +bruise. My head must have yielded beneath the blow." + +"Who struck it?" said I, scarcely thinking what I said, for my mind +was full of the camels, now flank toward us, that would have served +our purpose like the gift of God could we only have contrived to +capture them. + +"How should I know?" he answered. "See--they pass within a half-mile +of where I sat. Is not that the rock?" And I said yes. + +"Had you lingered there," he said, "word about us would have gone +back to Angora at top camel speed. What possessed you to come away?" + +"God!" said I, and he nodded, so that I began to preen myself. He +noticed my gathering self-esteem. + +"Nevertheless," he said, aloud, but as if talking to himself, yet +careful that I should hear, "had this not happened to me I should +have seen those camels on the sky-line. Did you count the camels?" + +"Two hundred and eight," said I. + +"How many armed men with them?" he asked. "My eyes are yet dim from +the blow." + +"One hundred and four," said I, "and an officer or two." + +He nodded. "The prisoners would have been a nuisance," he said, "yet +we might have used them later. What with camels and what with +horses--and there is a good spot for an ambuscade through which they +must pass presently--I went and surveyed it while they cooked my +dinner--never mind, never mind!" said he. "If you had made a mistake +it would have been disastrous. Yet--two hundred and eight camels +would have been an acquisition--a great acquisition!" + +So my self-esteem departed--like water from a leaky goatskin, and I +lay beside him watching the last dozen camels cross our trail, the +nose of one tied to the tail of another, one man to every two. I lay +conjecturing what might have been our fate had I had cunning enough +to capture that whole caravan, and not another word was spoken +between us until the last two camels disappeared beyond a ridge. +Then: + +"Was there any man close by, when you found me?" asked Ranjoor +Singh. + +"Nay, sahib," said I. + +"Was there any man whose actions, or whose words, gave ground for +suspicion?" he asked. + +"Nay, sahib," I began; but I checked myself, and he noticed it. + +"Except--?" said he. + +"Except that when Gooja Singh came," I said, "he seemed unwilling to +believe you were asleep." + +"How long was it before Gooja Singh came?" he asked. + +"He came almost before I had laid you under the tree and covered +you," said I. + +"And you told him I was asleep?" he said. + +"Yes," said I; and at that he laughed silently, although I could +tell well enough that his head ached, and merriment must have been a +long way from him. + +"Has Gooja Singh any very firm friend with us?" he asked, and I +answered I did not know of one. "The ammunition bearers who were his +friends now curse him to his face," I said. + +"Then he would have to do his own dirty work?" said he. + +"He has to clean his own rifle," I answered. And Ranjoor Singh +nodded. + +Then suddenly his meaning dawned on me. "You think it was Gooja +Singh who struck the blow?" I asked. We were sitting up by that +time. The camels were out of sight. He rose to his feet and beckoned +for his horse before he answered. + +"I wished to know who else might properly be suspected," he said, +taking his horse's bridle. So I beckoned for my horse, and ordering +the cart in which he had lain to be brought along after us, I rode +at a walk beside him to where our infantry were left in hiding. + +"Sahib," I said, "it is better after all to shoot this Gooja Singh. +Shoot him on suspicion!" I urged. "He makes only trouble and ill- +will. He puts false construction on every word you or I utter. He +misleads the men. And now you suspect him of having tried to kill +you! Bid me shoot him, sahib, and I obey!" + +"Who says I suspect him?" he answered. "Nay, nay, nay! I will have +no murder done--no drumhead tyranny, fathered by the lees of fear! +Let Gooja Singh alone!" + +"Does your head not ache?" I asked him. + +"More than you guess!" said he. "But my heart does not ache. Two +aches would be worse than one. Come silently!" + +So I rode beside him silently, and making a circuit and signaling to +the watchers not to betray our presence, we came on our hiding +infantry unsuspected by them. We dismounted, and going close on foot +were almost among them before they knew. Gooja Singh was on his feet +in their midst, giving them information and advice. + +"I tell you Ranjoor Singh is dead!" said he. "Hira Singh swears he +is only asleep, but Hira Singh lies! Ranjoor Singh lies dead on top +of the corn in the cart in yonder gully, and Hira Singh--" + +I know not what more he would have said, but Ranjoor Singh stopped +him. He stepped forward, smiling. + +"Ranjoor Singh, as you see, is alive," he said, "and if I am dead, +then I must be the ghost of Ranjoor Singh come among you to enforce +his orders! Rise!" he ordered. "Rise and fall in! Havildars, make +all ready to resume the march!" + +"Shoot him, sahib!" I urged, taking out my pistol, that had once +been Tugendheim's. "Shoot him, or let me do it I" + +"Nay, nay!" he said, laughing in my face, though not unkindly. "I am +not afraid of him." + +"But I, sahib," I said. "I fear him greatly!" + +"Yet thou and I be two men, and I command," he answered gently. "Let +Gooja Singh alone." + +So I went and grew very busy ordering the column. In twenty minutes +we were under way, with a screen of horsemen several hundred yards +ahead and another little mounted rear-guard. But when the order had +been given to resume the march and the carts were squeaking along in +single file, I rode to his side again with a question. I had been +thinking deeply, and it seemed to me I had the only answer to my +thoughts. + +"Tell me, sahib," I said, "our nearest friends must be the Russians. +How many hundred miles is it to Russia?" + +But he shook his head and laughed again. "Between us and Russia lies +the strongest of all the Turkish armies," he said. "We could never +get through." + +"I am a true man!" I said. "Tell me the plan!" But he only nodded, +and rode on. + +"God loves all true men," said he. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Where the weakest joint is, smite. +--RANJOOR SINGH. + + +Well, sahib, Abraham caught up with us on the evening of the third +day after leaving with that letter to the Germans in Angora, having +ridden moderately to spare his horse. He said there were only two +German officers there when he reached the place, and they seemed +worried. They gave him the new saddle asked for, and a new horse +under it; also a letter to carry back. Ranjoor Singh gave me the +horse and saddle, letting Abraham take my sorry beast, that was +beginning to recover somewhat under better treatment. + +Ranjoor Singh smiled grimly as he read the letter. He translated +parts of it to me--mainly complaints about lack of this and that and +the other thing, and very grave complaints against the Turks, who, +it seemed, would not cooperate. You would say that was good news to +all of us, that should have inspired us with new spirit. But as I +said in the beginning, sahib, there are reasons why the British must +rule India yet a while. We Sikhs, who would rule it otherwise, are +all divided. + +We were seven non-commissioned officers. If we seven had stood +united behind Ranjoor Singh there was nothing we could not have +done, for the men would then have had no example of disunity. You +may say that Ranjoor Singh was our rightful officer and we had only +to obey him, but I tell you, sahib, obedience that is worth anything +must come from the heart and understanding. Ranjoor Singh was as +much dependent on good-will as if we had had the choosing of him. So +he had to create it, and that which has once been lost, for whatever +reason, is doubly and redoubly hard to make again. He did what he +did in spite of us, although I tried to help. + +Of us seven, first in seniority came I; and as I have tried already +to make clear I was Ranjoor. Singh's man (not that he believed it +altogether yet). If he had ordered me to make black white, I would +have perished in the effort to obey; but I had yet to prove that. + +Next in order to me was Gooja Singh, and although I have spared the +regiment's shame as much as possible, I doubt not that man's spirit +has crept out here and there between my words--as a smell creeps +from under coverings. He hated me, being jealous. He hated Ranjoor +Singh, because of merited rebuke and punishment. He was all for +himself, and if one said one thing, he must say another, lest the +first man get too much credit. Furthermore, he was a BADMASH, +[Footnote: Low ruffian.] born of a money-lender's niece to a man +mean enough to marry such. Other true charges I could lay against +him, but my tale is of Ranjoor Singh and why should I sully it with +mean accounts; Gooja Singh must trespass in among it, but let that +be all. + +Third of us daffadars in order of seniority was Anim Singh, a big +man, born in the village next my father's. He was a naik in the +Tirah in '97 when he came to the rescue of an officer, splitting the +skull of an Orakzai, wounding three others, and making prisoner a +fourth who sought to interfere. Thus he won promotion, and he held +it after somewhat the same manner. A blunt man. A fairly good man. A +very good man with the saber. A gambler, it is true--but whose +affair is that? A ready eye for rustling curtains and footholds near +open windows, but that is his affair again--until the woman's +husband intervenes. And they say he can look after himself in such +cases. At least, he lives. Behold him, sahib. Aye, that is he +yonder, swaggering as if India can scarcely hold him--that one with +his arm in a sling. A Sikh, sahib, with a soldier's heart and ears +too big for his head--excellent things on outpost, where the little +noises often mean so much, but all too easy for Gooja Singh to +whisper into. + +Of the other four, the next was Ramnarain Singh, the shortest as to +inches of us all, but perhaps the most active on his feet. A man +with a great wealth of beard and too much dignity due to his +father's THALUKDARI [Footnote: Landed estate.] His father pockets +the rent of three fat villages, so the son believes himself a +wisehead. A great talker. Brave in battle, as one must be to be +daffadar of Outram's Own, but too assertive of his own opinion. He +and Gooja Singh were ever at outs, resentful of each other's claim +to wisdom. + +Next was Chatar Singh, like me, son and grandson of a soldier of the +raj--a bold man, something heavy on his horse, but able to sever a +sheep in two with one blow of his saber--very well regarded by the +troopers because of physical strength and willingness to overlook +offenses. Chatar Singh's chief weakness was respect for cunning. +Having only a great bull's heart in him and ability to go forward +and endure, he regarded cunning as very admirable; and so Gooja +Singh had one daffadar to work on from the outset (although I did +what I could to make trouble between them). + +The remaining two non-commissioned officers were naiks--corporals, +as you would say--Surath Singh and Mirath Singh, both rather +recently promoted from the ranks and therefore likely to see both +sides to a question (whereas a naik should rightly see but one). +Very early I had taken those two naiks in hand, showing them +friendship, harping on the honor and pleasure of being daffadar and +on the chance of quick promotion. + +Given a British commanding officer--just one British officer--even a +little young one--one would have been enough--it would have been +hard to find better backing for him. Even Gooja Singh would scarcely +have failed a British leader. But not only was the feeling still +strong against Ranjoor Singh; there was another cloud in the sky. +Did the sahib ever lay his hands on loot? No? Ah! Love of that runs +in the blood, and crops out generation after generation! + +Until the British came and overthrew our Sikh kingdom--and that was +not long ago--loot was the staff of life of all Sikh armies. In +those days when an army needed pay there was a war. Now, except for +one month's pay that, as I have told, the Germans had given us, we +had seen no money since the day when we surrendered in that Flanders +trench; and what the Germans gave us Ranjoor Singh took away, in +order to bribe the captain of a Turkish ship. And Gooja Singh swore +morning, noon and night that as prisoners of war we should not be +entitled to pay from the British in any event, even supposing we +could ever contrive to find the British and rejoin them. + +"Let us loot, then, and pay ourselves!" was the unanimous verdict, I +being about the only one who did not voice it. I claim no credit. I +saw no loot, so what was the use of talking? We were crossing a +desert where a crow could have found small plunder. But being by +common consent official go-between I rode to Ranjoor Singh's side +and told him what the men were saying. + +"Aye," he nodded, not so much as looking sidewise, "any one would +know they are saying that. What say the Turk and Tugendheim?" + +"Loot, too!" said I, and he grunted. + +It was this way, sahib. Our Turkish officer prisoner was always put +with his forty men to march in front--behind our advance guard but +in front of the carts and infantry. Thus there was no risk of his +escaping, because for one thing he had no saddle and rode with much +discomfort and so unsafely that he preferred to march on foot more +often than not; and for another, that arrangement left him never out +of sight of nearly all of us. One of us daffadars would generally +march beside him, and some of the Syrian muleteers had learned +English either in Egypt or the Levant ports, so that there was no +lack of interpreters. I myself have marched beside the Turk for +miles and miles on end, with Abraham translating for us. + +"Why not loot? Who can prevent you? Who shall call you to account?" +was the burden of the Turk's song. + +And Tugendheim, who spoke our tongue fluently, marched as a rule +among the men, or rode with the mounted men, watched day and night +by the four troopers who had charge of him--better mounted than he, +and very mindful of their honor in the matter. He made himself as +agreeable as he could, telling tales about his life in India--not +proper tales to tell to a sahib, but such as to make the troopers +laugh; so that finally the things he said began to carry the weight +that goes with friendliness. He soon discovered what the feeling was +toward Ranjoor Singh, and somehow or other he found out what the +Turk was talking about. After that he took the Turk's cue (although +he sincerely despised Turks) and began with hint and jest to +propagate lust for loot in the men's minds. Partly, I think, he +planned to enrich himself and buy his way to safety--(although God +knows in which direction he thought safety lay!). Partly, I think, +he hoped to bring us to destruction, and so perhaps offset his +offense of having yielded to our threats, hoping in that way to +rehabilitate himself. So goes a lawyer to court, sure of a fee if +his client wins, yet sure, too, of a fee if his client loses, +enjoying profit and entertainment in any event. Yet who shall blame +Tugendheim? Unlike a lawyer, he stood to take the consequences if +both forks of the stick should fail. I told Ranjoor Singh all that +Tugendheim and the Turk were saying to the men, and his brow +darkened, although he made no comment. He did not trust me yet any +more than he felt compelled to. + +"Send Abraham to me," he said at last. So I went and sent Abraham, +feeling jealous that the Syrian should hear what I might not. + +Ranjoor Singh had been forcing the pace, and by the time I speak of +now we had nearly crossed that desert, for a rim of hills was in +front of us and all about. It was not true desert, such as we have +in our Punjab, but a great plain already showing promise of the +spring, with the buds of countless flowers getting ready to burst +open; when we lay at rest it amused us to pluck them and try to +determine what they would look like when their time should come. And +besides flowers there were roots, remarkably good to eat, that the +Syrians called "daughters of thunder," saying that was the local +name. Tugendheim called them truffles. A little water and that +desert would be fertile farm-land, or I never saw corn grow! + +Ranjoor Singh conversed with Abraham until we entered a defile +between the hills; and that night we camped in a little valley with +our outposts in a ring around us, Ranjoor Singh sitting by a bright +fire half-way up the side of a slope where he could overlook us all +and be alone. We had seen mounted men two or three times that day, +they mistaking us perhaps for Turkish troops, for they vanished +after the first glimpse. Nevertheless, we tethered our horses close +in the valley bottom, and lay around them, ready for all +contingencies. + +I remember that night well, for it was the first since we started +eastward in the least to resemble our Indian nights. It made us feel +homesick, and some of the men were crooning love-songs. The stars +swung low, looking as if a man could almost reach them, and the +smoke of our fires hung sweet on the night air. I was listening to +Abraham's tales about Turks--tales to make a man bite his beard-- +when Ranjoor Singh called me in a voice that carried far without +making much noise. (I have never known him to raise his voice so +high or loud that it lost dignity.) "Hira Singh!" he called, and I +answered "Ha, sahib!" and went clambering up the hill. + +He let me stand three minutes, reading my eyes through the darkness, +before he motioned me to sit. So then we sat facing, I on one side +of the fire and he the other. + +"I have watched you, Hira Singh," he said at last. "Now and again I +have seemed to see a proper spirit in you. Nay, words are but +fragments of the wind!" said he. (I had begun to make him +protestations.) "There are words tossing back and forth below," he +said, looking past me down into the hollow, where shadows of men +were, and now and then the eye of a horse would glint in firelight. +Then he said quietly, "The spirit of a Sikh requires deeds of us." + +"Deeds in the dark?" said I, for I hoped to learn more of what was +in his mind. + +"Should a Sikh's heart fail him in the dark?" he asked. + +"Have I failed you," said I, "since you came to us in the prison +camp?" + +"Who am I?" said he, and I did not answer, for I wondered what he +meant. He said no more for a minute or two, but listened to our +pickets calling their numbers one to another in the dark above us. + +"If you serve me," he said at last, "how are you better than the +stable-helper in cantonments who groomed my horse well for his own +belly's sake? I can give you a full belly, but your honor is your +own. How shall I know your heart?" + +I thought for a long while, looking up at the stars. He was not +impatient, so I took time and considered well, understanding him +now, but pained that he should care nothing for my admiration. + +"Sahib," I said finally, "by this oath you shall know my heart. +Should I ever doubt you, I will tear out your heart and lay it on a +dung-hill." + +"Good!" said he. But I remember he made me no threat in return, so +that even to this day I wonder how my words sounded in his ears. I +am left wondering whether I was man enough to dare swear such an +oath. If he had sworn me a threat in return I should have felt more +at ease--more like his equal. But who would have gained by that? My +heart and my belly are not one. Self-satisfaction would not have +helped. + +"Soon," he said, looking into my eyes beside the fire, "we shall +meet opportunities for looting. Yet we have food enough for men and +mules and horses for many a day to come; and as the corn grows less +more men can ride in the carts, so that we shall move the swifter. +But now this map of mine grows vague and our road leads more and +more into the unknown. We need eyes ahead of us. I can control the +men if I stay with them, but in that case who shall ride on and +procure intelligence?" + +In a flash I saw his meaning. There was none but he wise enough to +ride ahead. But who else could control the men--men who believed +they had sloughed the regiment's honor in a Flanders trench and a +German prison camp? They were sloughing their personal honor that +minute, fraternizing with Turkish prisoners. With their sense of +honor gone, could even Ranjoor Singh control them? Perhaps! But if +Ranjoor Singh rode forward, who should stay behind and stand in his +shoes? + +I looked at the stars, that had the color of jewels in them. I +listened to the night birds. I heard the wind soughing--the mules +and horses stamping--the murmur of men's voices. My tongue itched to +say some foolish word, that would have proved me unfit to be trusted +out of sight. But the thought came to me to be still and listen. And +still I remained until he began again. + +"If I told the men what the true position is they would grow +desperate," he said. "They would believe the case hopeless." + +"They almost believe that now!" said I. + +"Have the Turk and Tugendheim been kept apart?" said he. + +"Aye," I answered. "They have not had ten words together." + +"Good," said he. "Neither Turk nor Tugendheim knows the whole truth, +but if they get together they might concoct a very plausible, +misleading tale." + +"They would better have been bound and gagged," said I. + +"No," he answered. "If I had bound and gagged them it would have +established sympathy between them, and they would have found some +way of talking nevertheless. Kept apart and let talk, the Turk will +say one thing, Tugendheim another." + +"True," said I. "For now the Turk advises plunder to right and left, +and settlement afterward among Armenian villages. He says there are +women to be had for the taking. 'Be a new nation!' says he." + +"And what says Tugendheim?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"'Plunder!'" said I. "'Plunder and push northward into Russia! The +Russians will welcome you,' says he, 'and perhaps accept me into +their secret service!--Plunder the Turks!' says Tugendheim. 'Plunder +the Armenians!' says the Turk." + +"I, too, would be all for Russia," he answered, "but it isn't +possible. The coast of the Black Sea, and from the Black Sea down to +the Persian frontier, is held by a very great Turkish army. The main +caravan routes lie to the north of us, and every inch of them is +watched." + +"I am glad then that it must be Egypt," said I. "A long march, but +friends at the other end. Who but doubts Russians?" + +He shook his head. "Syria and Palestine," he said, "are full of an +army gathering to invade Egypt. It eats up the land like locusts. An +elephant could march easier unseen into a house than we into Syria!" + +"So we must double back?" said I. "Good! By now they must have +ceased looking for us, supposing they ever thought us anything but +drowned. Somewhere we can surely find a ship in which to cross to +Gallipoli!" + +He laughed and shook his head again. "We slipped through the one +unguarded place," he said. "If we had come one day later that place, +too, would have been held by some watchful one, instead of by the +fool we found in charge." + +Then at last I thought surely I knew what his objective MUST be. It +had been common talk in Flanders how an expedition marched from +Basra up the Tigris. + +"Bagdad!" I said. "We march to Bagdad to join the British there! +Bagdad is good!" + +But he answered, "Bagdad is not yet taken--not yet nearly taken. +Between us and Bagdad lies a Turkish army of fifty or sixty thousand +men at least." + +I sat silent. I can draw a map of the world and set the rivers and +cities and boundaries down; so I knew that if we could go neither +north--nor south--nor westward, there remained only eastward, +straight-forward into Persia. He read my thoughts, and nodded. + +"Persia is neutral," he said, with a wave of his hand that might +mean anything. "The Turks have spared no army for one section of the +Persian frontier, choosing to depend on savage tribes. And the +Germans have given them Wassmuss to help out." + +"Ah!" said I, making ready to learn at last who Wassmuss might be. +"When we have found this Wassmuss, are we to make him march with us +like Tugendheim?" + +"If what the Germans in Stamboul said of him is only half-true," he +answered, "we shall find him hard to catch. Wassmuss is a remarkable +man. Before the war he was consul in Bagdad or somewhere, and he +must have improved his time, for he knows enough now to keep all the +tribes stirred up against Russians and British. The Germans send him +money, and he scatters it like corn among the hens; but the money +would be little use without brains. The Germans admire him greatly, +and he certainly seems a man to be wondered at. But he is the one +weak point, nevertheless--the only key that can open a door for us." + +"But if he is too wary to be caught?" said I. + +"Who knows?" he answered with another of those short gruff laughs. +"But I know this," said he, "that from afar hills look like a blank +wall, yet come closer and the ends of valleys open. Moreover, where +the weakest joint is, smite! So I shall ride ahead and hunt for that +weakest joint, and you shall shepherd the men along behind me. Go +and bring Abraham and the Turk!" + +I went and found them. Abraham was already asleep, no longer wearing +the Turkish private soldier's uniform but his own old clothes again +(because, the Turkish soldier having done nothing meriting +punishment, Ranjoor Singh had ordered him his uniform returned). I +awoke him and together we went and found the Turk sitting between a +Syrian and Gooja Singh; and although I did not overhear one word of +what they were saying, I saw that Gooja Singh believed I had been +listening. It seemed good to me to let him deceive himself, so I +smiled as I touched the Turk's shoulder. + +"Lo! Here is our second-in-command!" sneered Gooja Singh, but I +affected not to notice. + +"Come!" said I, showing the Turk slight courtesy, and, getting up +clumsily like a buffalo out of the mud, he followed Abraham and me. +Some of the men made as if to come, too, out of curiosity, but Gooja +Singh recalled them and they clustered round him. + +When I had brought the Turk uphill to the fire-side, Ranjoor Singh +had only one word to say to him. + +"Strip!" he ordered. + +Aye, sahib! There and then, without excuse or explanation, he made +the Turkish officer remove his clothes and change with Abraham; and +I never saw a man more unwilling or resentful! Abraham had told me +all about Turkish treatment of Syrians, and it is the way of the +world that men most despise those whom they most ill-treat. So that +although Turks have no caste distinctions that I know of, that one +felt like a high-caste Brahman ordered to change garments with a +sweeper. He looked as if he would infinitely rather die. + +"Hurry!" Ranjoor Singh ordered him in English. + +"HURRIET?" said the Turk. HURRIET is their Turkish for LIBERTY. All +the troops in Stamboul used it constantly, and Ranjoor Singh told me +it means much the same as the French cry of "Liberty, Equality, +Fraternity!" The Turk seemed bewildered, and opened his eyes wider +than ever; but whatever his thoughts were about "HURRIET" he rightly +interpreted the look in Ranjoor Singh's eye and obeyed, grimacing +like a monkey as he drew on Abraham's dirty garments. + +"You shall wear the rags of a driver of mules if you talk any more +about loot to your men or mine!" said Ranjoor Singh. "If I proposed +to loot, I would bury you for a beginning, lest there be nothing for +the rest of us!" + +He made Abraham translate that into Turkish, lest the full gist of +it be lost, and I sat comparing the two men. It was strange to see +what a change the uniform made in Abraham's appearance--what a +change, too, came over the Turk. Had I not known, I could never have +guessed the positions had once been reversed. Abraham looked like an +officer. The Turk looked like a peasant. He was a big up-standing +man, although with pouches under his eyes that gave the lie to his +look of strength. Now for the first time Ranjoor Singh set a picked +guard over him, calling out the names of four troopers who came +hurrying uphill through the dark. + +"Let your honor and this man's ward be one!" said he, and they +answered "Our honor be it!" + +He could not have chosen better if he had lined up the regiment and +taken half a day. Those four were troopers whom I myself had singled +out as men to be depended on when a pinch should come, and I +wondered that Ranjoor Singh should so surely know them, too. + +"Take him and keep him!" he ordered, and they went off, not at all +sorry to be excused from other duties, as now of course they must +be. Counting the four who guarded Tugendheim, that made a total of +eight troopers probably incorruptible, for there is nothing, sahib, +that can compare with imposing a trust when it comes to making sure +of men's good faith. Hedge them about with precautions and they will +revolt or be half-hearted; impose open trust in them, and if they be +well-chosen they will die true. + +"Now," said he to me when they were out of hearing, "I shall take +with me one daffadar, one naik, and forty mounted men. Sometimes I +shall take Abraham, sometimes Tugendheim, sometimes the Turk. This +time I shall take the Turk, and before dawn I shall be gone. Let it +be known that the best behaved of those I leave with you shall be +promoted to ride with me--just as my unworthy ones shall be degraded +to march on foot with you. That will help a little." + +"Aye," said I, "a little. Which daffadar will you take? That will +help more!" said I. + +"Gooja Singh," he answered, and I marveled. + +"Sahib," I said, "take him out of sight and bury his body! Make an +end!" I urged. "In Flanders they shot men against a wall for far +less than he has talked about!" + +"Flanders is one place and this another," he answered. "Should I +make those good men more distrustful than they are? Should I shoot +Gooja Singh unless I am afraid of him?" + +I said no more because I knew he was right. If he should shoot Gooja +Singh the troopers would ascribe it to nothing else than fear. A +British officer might do it and they would say, "Behold how he +scorns to shirk responsibility!" Yet of Ranjoor Singh they would +have said, "He fears us, and behold the butchery begins! Who shall +be next?" Nevertheless, had I stood in his shoes, I would have shot +and buried Gooja Singh to forestall trouble. I would have shot Gooja +Singh and the Turk and Tugendheim all three with one volley. And the +Turk's forty men would have met a like fate at the first excuse. But +that is because I was afraid, whereas Ranjoor Singh was not. I +greatly feared being left behind to bring the men along, and the +more I thought of it, the worse the prospect seemed; so I began to +tell of things I had heard Gooja Singh say against him, and which of +the men I had heard and seen to agree, for there is no good sense in +a man who is afraid. + +"Is it my affair to take vengeance on them, or to lead them into +safety?" he asked. And what could I answer? + +After some silence he spread out his map where firelight shone on it +and showed Abraham and me where the Tigris River runs by Diarbekr. +"Thus," he said, "we must go," pointing with his finger, "and thus-- +and thus--by Diarbekr, down by the Tigris, by Mosul, into Kurdistan, +to Sulimanieh, and thence into Persia--a very long march through +very wild country. Outside the cities I am told no Turk dare show +himself with less than four hundred men at his back, so we will keep +to the open. If the Turks mistake us for Turks, the better for us. +If the tribes mistake us for Turks, the worse for us; for they say +the tribes hate Turks worse than smallpox. If they think we are +Turks they will attack us. We need ride warily." + +"It would take more Turks than there are," I said, "to keep our +ruffians from trying to plunder the first city they see! And as for +tribes--they are in a mood to join with any one who will help make +trouble!" + +"Then it may be," he answered quietly, "that they will not lack +exercise! Follow me and lend a hand!" And he led down toward the +camp-fires, where very few men slept and voices rose upward like the +noise of a quarrelsome waterfall. + +Just as on that night when we captured the carts and Turks and +Syrians, he now used the cover of darkness to reorganize; and the +very first thing he did was to make the forty Turkish prisoners +change clothes with Syrians--the Turks objecting with much bad +language and the Syrians not seeming to relish it much, for fear, I +suppose, of reprisals. But he made the Turks hand over their rifles, +as well, to the Syrians; and then, of all unlikely people he chose +Tugendheim to command the Syrians and to drill them and teach them +discipline! He set him to drilling them there and then, with a row +of fires to see by. + +In the flash of an eye, as you might say, we had thus fifty extra +infantry, ten of them neither uniformed nor armed as yet, but all of +them at least afraid to run away. Tugendheim looked doubtful for a +minute, but he was given his choice of that, or death, or of wearing +a Syrian's cast-off clothes and driving mules. He well understood +(for I could tell by his manner of consenting) that Ranjoor Singh +would send him into action against the first Turks we could find, +thus committing him to further treason against the Central Powers; +but he had gone too far already to turn back. + +And as for the Syrians-they had had a lifetime's experience of +Turkish treatment, and had recently been taught to associate Germans +with Turks; so if Tugendheim should meditate treachery it was +unlikely his Syrians would join him in it. It was promotion to a new +life for them--occupation for Tugendheim, who had been growing bored +and perhaps dangerous on that account--and not so dreadfully +distressing to the Turkish soldiers, who could now ride on the carts +instead of marching on weary feet. They had utterly no ambition, +those Turkish soldiers; they cared neither for their officer (which +was small wonder) nor for the rifles that we took away, which +surprised us greatly (for in the absence of lance or saber, we +regarded our rifles as evidence of manhood). They objected to the +dirty garments they received in exchange for the uniforms, and they +despised us Sikhs for men without religion (so they said!); but it +did not seem to trouble them whether they fought on one side or the +other, or whether they fought at all, so long as they had cigarettes +and food. Yet I did not receive the impression they were cowards-- +brutes, perhaps, but not cowards. When they came under fire later on +they made no effort to desert with the carts to their own side; and +when we asked them why, they said because we fed them! They added +they had not been paid for more than eighteen months. + +Why did not Ranjoor Singh make this arrangement sooner, you ask. Why +did he wait so long, and then choose the night of all times? Not all +thoughts are instantaneous, sahib; some seem to develop out of +patience and silence and attention. Moreover, it takes time for +captured men to readjust their attitude--as the Germans, for +instance, well knew when they gave us time for thought in the prison +camp at Oescherleben. When we first took the Syrians prisoner they +were so tired and timid as to be worthless for anything but driving +carts, whereas now we had fed them and befriended them. On the other +hand, in the beginning, the Turks, if given a chance, would have +stampeded with the carts toward Angora. + +Now that both Turks and Syrians had grown used to being prisoners +and to obeying us, they were less likely to think independently--in +the same way that a new-caught elephant in the keddah is frenzied +and dangerous, but after a week or two is learning tricks. + +And as for choosing the night-time for the change, every soldier +knows that the darkness is on the side of him whose plans are laid. +He who is taken unawares must then contend with both ignorance and +darkness. Thieves prefer the dark. Wolves hunt in the dark. +Fishermen fish in the dark. And the wise commander who would change +his dispositions makes use of darkness, too. Men who might disobey +by daylight are like lambs when they can not see beyond the light a +camp-fire throws. + +But such things are mental, sahib, and not to be explained like the +fire of heavy guns or the shock tactics of cavalry--although not one +atom less effective. If Ranjoor Singh had lined up the men and +argued with them, there might have been mutiny. Instead, when he +judged the second ripe, he made sudden new dispositions in the night +and gave them something else to think about without suggesting to +their minds that he might be worried about them or suspicious of +them. On the contrary, he took opportunity to praise some +individuals and distribute merited rewards. + +For instance, he promoted the two naiks, Surath Singh and Mirath +Singh, to be daffadars on probation, to their very great surprise +and absolute contentment. The four who guarded Tugendheim he raised +to the rank of naik, bidding them help Tugendheim drill the Syrians +without relaxing vigilance over him. Then he chose six more troopers +to be naiks. And of the eighty mounted men he degraded eighteen to +march on foot again, replacing them with more obedient ones. Then at +last I understood why he had chosen some grumblers to ride in the +first instance--simply in order that he might make room for +promotion of others at the proper time, offsetting discontent with +emulation. + +Then of the eighty mounted men he picked the forty best. He gave +Abraham's saddle to Gooja Singh, set one of the new naiks over the +left wing, and Gooja Singh over the right wing of the forty, under +himself, and ordered rations for three days to be cooked and served +out to the forty, including corn for their horses. They had to carry +it all in the knap-sacks on their own backs, since no one of them +yet had saddles. + +Gooja Singh eyed me by firelight while this was going on, with his +tongue in his cheek, as much as to say I had been superseded and +would know it soon. When I affected not to notice he said aloud in +my hearing that men who sat on both sides of a fence were never on +the right side when the doings happen. And when I took no notice of +that he asked me in a very loud voice whether my heart quailed at +the prospect of being left a mile or two behind. But I let him have +his say. Neither he, nor any of the men, had the slightest idea yet +of Ranjoor Singh's real plan. + +After another talk with me Ranjoor Singh was to horse and away with +his forty an hour before daybreak, the Turkish officer riding +bareback in Syrian clothes between the four who had been set to +guard him. And the sound of the departing hooves had scarcely ceased +drumming down the valley when the men left behind with me began to +put me to a test. Abraham was near me, and I saw him tremble and +change color. Sikh troopers are not little baa-lambs, sahib, to be +driven this and that way with a twig! Tugendheim, too, ready to +preach mutiny and plunder, was afraid to begin lest they turn and +tear him first. He listened with both ears, and watched with both +eyes, but kept among his Syrians. + +"Whither has he gone?" the men demanded, gathering round me where I +stooped to feel my horse's forelegs. And I satisfied myself the +puffiness was due to neither splint nor ring-bone before I answered. +There was just a little glimmer of the false dawn, and what with +that and the dying fires we could all see well enough. I could see +trouble--out of both eyes. + +"Whither rides Ranjoor Singh?" they demanded. + +"Whither we follow!" said I, binding a strip from a Syrian's loin- +cloth round the horse's leg. (What use had the Syrian for it now +that he wore uniform? And it served the horse well.) + +A trooper took me by the shoulder and drew me upright. At another +time he should have been shot for impudence, but I had learned a +lesson from Ranjoor Singh too recently to let temper get the better +of me. + +"Thou art afraid!" said I. "Thy hand on my shoulder trembles!" + +The man let his hand fall and laughed to show himself unafraid. +Before he could think of an answer, twenty others had thrust him +aside and confronted me. + +"Whither rides Ranjoor Singh? Whither does he ride?" they asked. +"Make haste and tell us!" + +"Would ye bring him back?" said I, wondering what to say. Ranjoor +Singh had told me little more than that we were drawing near the +neighborhood of danger, and that I was to follow warily along his +track. "God will put true thoughts in your heart," he told me, "if +you are a true man, and are silent, and listen." His words were +true. I did not speak until I was compelled. Consider the sequel, +sahib. + +"Ye have talked these days past," said I, "of nothing but loot-- +loot--loot! Ye have lusted like wolves for lowing cattle! Yet now ye +ask me whither rides Ranjoor Singh! Whither SHOULD he ride? He rides +to find bees for you whose stings have all been drawn, that ye may +suck honey without harm! He rides to find you victims that can not +strike back! Sergeant Tugendheim," said I, "see that your Syrians do +not fall over one another's rifles! March in front with them," I +ordered, "that we may all see how well you drill them! Fall in, +all!" said I, "and he who wishes to be camp guard when the looting +begins, let him be slow about obeying!" + +Well, sahib, some laughed and some did not. The most dangerous said +nothing. But they all obeyed, and that was the main thing. Not more +than an hour and a half after Ranjoor Singh had ridden off our carts +were squeaking and bumping along behind us. And within an hour after +that we were in action! Aye, sahib, I should say it was less than an +hour after the start when I halted to serve out ten cartridges +apiece to the Syrians, that Tugendheim might blood them and get +himself into deeper water at the same time. He was angry that I +would not give him more cartridges, but I told him his men would +waste those few, so why should I not be frugal? When the time came I +don't think the Syrians hit anything, but they filled a gap and +served a double purpose; for after Tugendheim had let them blaze +away those ten rounds a piece there was less fear than ever of his +daring to attempt escape. Thenceforward his prospects and ours were +one. But my tale goes faster than the column did, that could travel +no faster than the slowest man and the weakest mule. + +We were far in among the hills now--little low hills with broad open +spaces between, in which thousands of cattle could have grazed. Only +there were no cattle. I rode, as Ranjoor Singh usually did, twenty +or thirty horses' length away on the right flank, well forward, +where I could see the whole column with one quick turn of the head. +I had ten troopers riding a quarter of a mile in front, and a rear- +guard of ten more, but none riding on the flanks because to our left +the hills were steep and impracticable and to our right I could +generally see for miles, although not always. + +We dipped into a hollow, and I thought I heard rifle shots. I urged +my horse uphill, and sent him up a steep place from the top of which +I had a fine view. Then I heard many shots, and looked, and lo a +battle was before my eyes. Not a great battle--really only a +skirmish, although to my excited mind it seemed much more at first. +And the first one I recognized taking his part in it was Ranjoor +Singh. + +I could see no infantry at all. About a hundred Turkish cavalry were +being furiously attacked by sixty or seventy mounted men who looked +like Kurds, and who turned out later really to be Kurds. The Kurds +were well mounted, riding recklessly, firing from horseback at full +gallop and wasting great quantities of ammunition. + +The shooting must have been extremely bad, for I could see neither +dead bodies nor empty saddles, but nevertheless the Turks appeared +anxious to escape--the more so because Ranjoor Singh with his forty +men was heading them off. As I watched, one of them blew a trumpet +and they all retreated helter-skelter toward us--straight toward us. +There was nothing else they could do, now that they had given way. +It was like the letter Y--thus, sahib,--see, I draw in the dust--the +Kurds coming this way at an angle--Ranjoor Singh and his forty +coming this way--and we advancing toward them all along the bottom +stroke of the Y, with hills around forming an arena. The best the +Turks could do would have been to take the higher ground where we +were and there reform, except for the fact that we had come on the +scene unknown to them. Now that we had arrived, they were caught in +a trap. + +There was plenty of time, especially as we were hidden from view, +but I worked swiftly, the men obeying readily enough now that a +fight seemed certain. I posted Tugendheim with his Syrians in the +center, with the rest of us in equal halves to right and left, +keeping Abraham by me and giving Anim Singh, as next to me in +seniority, command of our left wing. We were in a rough new moon +formation, all well under cover, with the carts in a hollow to our +rear. By the time I was ready, the oncoming Turks were not much more +than a quarter of a mile away; and now I could see empty saddles at +last, for some of the Kurds had dismounted and were firing from the +ground with good effect. + +I gave no order to open fire until they came within three hundred +yards of us. Then I ordered volleys, and the Syrians forthwith made +a very great noise at high speed, our own troopers taking their +time, and aiming low as ordered. We cavalrymen are not good shots as +a rule, rather given, in fact, to despising all weapons except the +lance and saber, and perhaps a pistol on occasion. But the practise +in Flanders had worked wonders, and at our first volley seven or +eight men rolled out of the saddles, the horses continuing to gallop +on toward us. + +The surprise was so great that the Turks drew rein, and we gave them +three more volleys while they considered matters, bringing down a +number of them. They seemed to have no officer, and were much +confused. Not knowing who we were, they turned away from us and made +as if to surrender to the enemy they did know, but the Kurds rode in +on them and in less than five minutes there was not one Turk left +alive. My men were for rushing down to secure the loot, but it +seemed likely to me that the Kurds might mistake that for hostility +and I prevailed on the men to keep still until Ranjoor Singh should +come. And presently I saw Ranjoor Singh ride up to the leader of the +Kurds and talk with him, using our Turkish officer prisoner as +interpreter. Presently he and the Kurdish chief rode together toward +us, and the Kurd looked us over, saying nothing. (Ranjoor Singh told +me afterward that the Kurd wished to be convinced that we were many +enough to enforce fair play.) + +The long and the short of it was that we received half the captured +horses--that is, thirty-five, for some had been killed--and all the +saddles, no less than ninety of them, besides mauser rifles and +uniforms for our ten unarmed Syrians. The Kurds took all the +remainder, watching to make sure that the Syrians, whom we sent to +help themselves to uniforms, took nothing else. When the Kurds had +finished looting, they rode away toward the south without so much as +a backward glance at us. + +I asked Ranjoor Singh how Turkish cavalry had come to let themselves +get caught thus unsupported, and he said he did not know. + +"Yet I have learned something," he said. "I shot the Turkish +commander's horse myself, and my men pounced on him. That +demoralized his men and made the rest easy. Now, I have questioned +the Turk, and between him and the Kurdish chief I have discovered +good reason to hurry forward." + +"I would weigh that Kurd's information twice!" said I. "He cut those +Turks down in cold blood. What is he but a cutthroat robber?" + +"Let him weigh what I told him, then, three times!" he answered with +a laugh. "Have you any men hurt?" + +"No," said I. + +"Then give me a mile start, and follow!" he ordered. And in another +minute he was riding away at the head of his forty, slowly for sake +of the horses, but far faster than I could go with all those laden +carts. And I had to give a start of much more than a mile because of +the trouble we had in fitting the saddles to our mounts. I wished he +had left the captured Turkish officer behind to explain his nation's +cursed saddle straps! + +We rode on presently over the battle-ground; and although I have +seen looting on more than one battlefield I have never seen anything +so thorough as the work those Kurds had done. They had left the dead +naked, without a boot, or a sock, or a rag of cloth among them. Here +and there fingers had been hacked off, for the sake of rings, I +suppose. There were vultures on the wing toward the dead, some +looking already half-gorged, which made me wonder. I wondered, too, +whither the Kurds had ridden off in such a hurry. What could be +happening to the southward? Ranjoor Singh had gone due east. + +It was not long before Ranjoor Singh rode out of sight in a cloud of +dust, disappearing between two low hills that seemed to guard the +rim of the hollow we were crossing. At midday I let the column rest +in the cleft between those hills, not troubling to climb and look +beyond because the men were turbulent and kept me watchful, and also +because I knew well Ranjoor Singh would send back word of any danger +ahead. And so he did. I was sitting eating my own meal when his +messenger came galloping through the gap with a little slip of +twisted paper in his teeth. + +"Bring them along," said the message. "Don't halt again until you +overtake me." + +So I made every one of the mounted men take up a man behind, and the +rest of the unmounted men I ordered into the carts, including +Tugendheim's Syrians, judging it better to overtax the animals than +to be too long on the road. And the long and short of that was that +we overtook Ranjoor Singh at about four that afternoon. Our animals +were weary, but the men were fit to fight. + +Ranjoor Singh ordered Abraham to take the Syrians and all the carts +and horses down into a hollow where there was a water-hole, and to +wait there for further orders. Tugendheim was bidden come with us on +foot; and without any explanation he led us all toward a low ridge +that faced us, rising here and there into an insignificant hill. It +looked like blown sand over which coarse grass had grown, and such +it proved to be, for it was on the edge of another desert. It was +fifty or sixty feet high, and rather difficult to climb, but he led +us straight up it, cautioning us to be silent and not to show +ourselves on the far side. On the top we crawled forward eighteen or +twenty yards on our bellies, until we lay at last gazing downward. +It was plain then whence those half-gorged vultures came. + +Who shall describe what we saw? Did the sahib ever hear of Armenian +massacres? This was worse. If this had been a massacre we would have +known what to do, for our Sikh creed bids us ever take the part of +the oppressed. But this was something that we did not understand, +that held us speechless, each man searching his own heart for +explanation, and Ranjoor Singh standing a little behind us watching +us all. + +There were hundreds of men, women and little children being herded +by Turks toward the desert--southward. The line was long drawn out, +for the Armenians were weary. They had no food with them, no tents, +and scarcely any clothing. Here and there, in parties at intervals +along the line, rode Turkish soldiers; and when an Armenian, man or +woman or child, would seek to rest, a Turk would spur down on him +and prick him back into line with his lance--man, woman or child, as +the case might be. Some of the Turks cracked whips, and when they +did that the Armenians who were not too far spent would shudder as +if the very sound had cut their flesh. How did I know they were +Armenians? I did not know. I learned that afterward. + +Some wept. Some moaned. But the most were silent and dry-eyed, +moving slowly forward like people in a dream. Oh, sahib, I have had +bad dreams in my day, and other men have told me theirs, but never +one like that! + +There was a little water-hole below where we lay--the merest cupful +fed by a trickle from below the hill. Some of them gathered there to +scoop the water in their hands and drink, and I saw a Turk ride +among them, spurring his horse back and forward until the water was +all foul mud. Nevertheless, they continued drinking until he and +another Turk flogged them forward. + +"Sahib!" said I, calling to Ranjoor Singh. "A favor, sahib!" + +He came and lay beside me with his chin on his hand. "What is it?" +said he. + +"The life of that Turk who trod the water into mud!" said I. "Let me +have the winding up of his career!" + +"Wait a while!" said he. "Let the men watch. Watch thou the men!" + +So I did watch the men, and I saw cold anger grow among them, like +an anodyne, making them forget their own affairs. I began to wonder +how long Ranjoor Singh would dare let them lie there, unless perhaps +he deliberately planned to stir them into uncontrol. But he was +wiser than to do that. Just so far he meant their wrath should urge +them--so far and no further. He watched as one might watch a fuse. + +"Those Kurds of this morning," he told me (never taking his eyes off +the men) "hurried off to the southward expecting to meet this very +procession. Kurds hate Turks, and Turks fear Kurds, but in this they +are playing to and fro, each into the other's hands. The Turks drive +Armenians out into the desert, where the Kurds come down on them and +plunder. The Turks return for more Armenians, and so the game goes +on. I learned all that from our Turkish officer we took this +morning." + +While he spoke a little child died not a hundred yards away from +where I lay. Its mother lay by it and wept, but a Turk spurred down +and skewered the child's body on his lance, tossing it into the +midst of a score of others who went forward dumbly. Another Turk +riding along behind him thrashed the woman to her feet. + +"That ought to do," said Ranjoor Singh, crawling backward out of +sight and then getting to his feet. Then he called us, and we all +crawled backward to the rear edge of the ridge. And there at last we +stood facing him. I saw Gooja Singh whispering in Anim Singh's great +ear. Ranjoor Singh saw it too. + +"Stand forth, Gooja Singh!" he ordered. And Gooja Singh stood a +little forward from the others, half-truculent and half-afraid. + +"What do you want?" asked Ranjoor Singh. "Of what were you +whispering?" But Gooja Singh did not answer. + +"No need to tell me!" said Ranjoor Singh. "I know! Ye all seek leave +to loot! As sons of THALUKDARS [Footnote: Land holder]--as trusted +soldiers of the raj--as brave men--honorable men--ye seek to prove +yourselves!" + +They gasped at him--all of them, Tugendheim included. I tell you he +was a brave man to stand and throw that charge in the teeth of such +a regiment, not one man of whom reckoned himself less than +gentleman. I looked to my pistol and made ready to go and die beside +him, for I saw that he had chosen his own ground and intended there +and then to overcome or fail. + +"Lately but one thought has burned in all your hearts," he told +them. "Loot! Loot! Loot! Me ye have misnamed friend of Germany-- +friend of Turkey--enemy of Britain! Yourselves ye call honorable +men!" + +"Why not?" asked Gooja Singh, greatly daring because the men were +looking to him to answer for them. "Hitherto we have done no +shameful thing!" + +"No shameful thing?" said Ranjoor Singh. "Ye have called me traitor +behind my back, yet to my face ye have obeyed me these weeks past. +Ye have used me while it served your purpose, planning to toss me +aside at the first excuse. Is that not shameful? Now we reach the +place where ye must do instead of talk. Below is the plunder ye have +yearned for, and here stand I, between it and you!" + +"We have yearned for no such plunder as that!" said Gooja Singh, for +the men would have answered unless he did, and he, too, was minded +to make his bid for the ascendency. + +"No?" said Ranjoor Singh. "'No carrion for me!' said the jackal. 'I +only eat what a tiger killed!'" + +He folded his arms and stood quite patiently. None could mistake his +meaning. There was to be, one way or the other, a decision reached +on that spot as to who sought honor and who sought shame. He himself +submitted to no judgment. It was the regiment that stood on trial! A +weak man would have stood and explained himself. + +Presently Ramnarain Singh, seeing that Gooja Singh was likely to get +too much credit with the men, took up the cudgels and stood forward. + +"Tell us truly, sahib," he piped up. "Are you truly for the raj, or +is this some hunt of your own on which you lead us?" + +"Ye might have asked me that before!" said Ranjoor Singh. "Now ye +shall answer me my question first! When I have your answer, I will +give you mine swiftly enough, in deeds not words! What is the +outcome of all your talk? Below there is the loot, and, as I said, +here stand I between it and you! Now decide, what will ye!" + +He turned his back, and that was bravery again; for under his eye +the men were used to showing him respect, whereas behind his back +they had grown used to maligning him. Yet he had thrown their shame +in their very teeth because he knew their hearts were men's hearts. +Turning his back on jackals would have stung them to worse dishonor. +He would not have turned his back on jackals, he would have driven +them before him. + +It began to occur to the men that they once made me go-between, and +that it was my business to speak up for them now. Many of them +looked toward me. They began to urge me. Yet I feared to speak up +lest I say the wrong thing. Once it had not been difficult to +pretend I took the men's part against Ranjoor Singh, but that was no +longer so easy. + +"What is your will?" said I at last, for Ranjoor Singh continued to +keep his back turned, and Gooja Singh and Rarnnarain were seeking to +forestall each other. Anim Singh and Chatar Singh both strode up to +me. + +"Tell him we will have none of such plunder as that!" they both +said. + +"Is that your will?" I asked the nearest men, and they said "Aye!" +So I went along the line quickly, repeating the question, and they +all agreed. I even asked Tugendheim, and he was more emphatic than +the rest. + +"Sahib!" I called to Ranjoor Singh. "We are one in this matter. We +will have none of such plunder as that below!" + +He turned himself about, not quickly, but as one who is far from +satisfied. + +"So-ho! None of SUCH plunder!" said he. "What kind of plunder, then? +What is the difference between the sorts of plunder in a stricken +land?" + +Gooja Singh answered him, and I was content that he should, for not +only did I not know the answer myself but I was sure that the +question was a trap for the unwary. + +"We will plunder Turks, not wretches such as these!" said Gooja +Singh. + +"Aha!" said Ranjoor Singh, unfolding his arms and folding them +again, beginning to stand truculently, as if his patience were +wearing thin. "Ye will let the Turks rob the weak ones, in order +that ye may rob the Turks! That is a fine point of honor! Ye poor +lost fools! Have ye no better wisdom than that? Can ye draw no finer +hairs? And yet ye dare offer to dictate to me, and to tell me +whether I am true or not! The raj is well served if ye are its best +soldiers!" + +He spat once, and turned his back again. + +"Ye have said we will have no such plunder!" shouted Gooja Singh, +but he did not so much as acknowledge the words even by a movement +of the head. Then Gooja Singh went whispering with certain of the +men, those who from the first had been most partial to him, and +presently I saw they were agreed on a course. He stood forward with +a new question. + +"Tell us whither you are leading?" he demanded. "Tell us the plan?" + +Ranjoor Singh faced about. "In order that Gooja Singh may interfere +and spoil the plan?" he asked, and Ramnarain Singh laughed very loud +at that, many of the troopers joining. That made Gooja Singh angry, +and he grew rash. + +"How shall we know," he asked, "whither you lead or whether you be +true or not?" + +"As to whither I lead," said Ranjoor Singh, "God knows that better +than I. At least I have led you into no traps yet. And as to whether +I am true or not, it is enough that each should know his own heart. +I am for the raj!" And he drew his saber swiftly, came to the +salute, and kissed the hilt. + +Then I spoke up, for I saw my opportunity. "So are we for the raj!" +said I. "We too, sahib!" And it was with difficulty then that I +restrained the men from bursting into cheers. Ranjoor Singh held his +hand up, and we daffadars flung ourselves along the line commanding +silence. A voice or two--even a dozen men talking--were inaudible, +but the Turks would have heard a cheer. + +"Ye?" said Ranjoor Singh. "Ye for the raj? I thought ye were all for +loot?" + +"Nay!" said Gooja Singh, for he saw his position undermined and +began to grow fearful for consequences. "We are all for the raj, and +all were for the raj from the first. It is you who are doubtful!" + +He thought to arouse feeling again, but the contrast between the one +man and the other had been too strong and none gave him any backing. +Ranjoor Singh laughed. + +"Have a care, Gooja Singh!" he warned. "I promised you court martial +and reduction to the ranks should I see fit! To your place in the +rear!" + +So Gooja Singh slunk back to his place behind the men and I judged +him more likely than ever to be dangerous, although for the moment +overcome. But Ranjoor Singh had not finished yet. + +"Then, on one point we are agreed," he said. "We will make the most +of that. Let us salute our own loyalty to India, and the British and +the Allies, with determination to give one another credit at least +for that in future! Pre--sent arms!" + +So we presented arms, he kissing the hilt of his saber again; and it +was not until three days afterward that I overheard one of the +troopers saying that Gooja Singh had called attention to the fact of +its being a German saber. For the moment there was no more doubt +among us; and if Gooja Singh had not begun to be so fearful lest +Ranjoor Singh take vengeance on him there never would have been +doubt again. We felt warm, like men who had come in under cover from +the cold. + +It was growing dusk by that time, and Ranjoor Singh bade us at once +to return to where the horses and Syrians waited in the hollow, he +himself continuing to sit alone on the summit of the ridge, +considering matters. We had no idea what he would do next, and none +dared ask him, although many of the men urged me to go and ask. But +at nightfall he came striding down to us and left us no longer in +doubt, for he ordered girths tightened and ammunition inspected. + +The Syrians had no part in that night's doings. They were bidden +wait in the shadow of the ridge; with mules inspanned, and with +Tugendheim in charge we trusted them, to guard our Turkish +prisoners. Tugendheim bit his nails and made as if to pull his +mustache out by the roots, but we suffered no anxiety on his +account; his safety and ours were one. He had no alternative but to +obey. + +Before the moon rose we sent our unmounted men to the top of the +ridge under Chatar Singh, and the rest of us rode in a circuit, +through a gap that Ranjoor Singh had found, to the plain on the far +side. + +The Turks had driven their convoy into the desert and had camped +behind them, nearly three hundred strong. They had made one big fire +and many little ones, and looked extremely cheerful, what with the +smell of cooking and the dancing flame. Their horses were picketed +together in five lines with only a few guards, so that their capture +was an easy matter. We caught them entirely by surprise and fell on +them from three sides at once, our foot-men from the ridge +delivering such a hot fire that some of us were hit. I looked long +for the Turk who had fouled the water, and for the other one who had +lanced the child's body, but failed to identify either of them. I +found two who looked like them, crawling out from under a heap of +slain, and shot them through the head; but as to whether I slew the +right ones or not I do not know. + +Three officers we made prisoner, making five that we had to care +for. The other officers were slain. We never knew how few or how +many Turks escaped under cover of darkness, but I suspect not more +than a dozen or two at the most. Whatever tale they told when they +got home again, it is pretty certain they gave the Kurds the blame, +for, how should they suppose us to be anything except Kurds? + +We took no loot except the horses and rifles. We stacked the rifles +in a cart, picked the best horses, taking twenty-five spare ones +with us, and gave our worst horses to the Armenians to eat. We sent +a few Syrians in a hurry to warn the Armenians in the desert against +those Kurds who had ridden to the south to intercept them, and +tipped out two cartsful of corn that we could ill spare, putting our +wounded in the empty carts. We had one-and-twenty wounded, many of +them by our own riflemen. + +Then we rode on into the night, Ranjoor Singh urging us to utmost +speed. The Armenians begged us to remain with them, or to take them +with us. Some clung to our stirrups, but we had to shake them loose. +For what could we do more than we had done for them? Should we die +with them in the desert, serving neither them nor us? We gave them +the best advice we could and rode away. We bade them eat, and +scatter, and hide. And I hope they did. + +We rode on, laughing to think that Kurds would be blamed for our +doings, and wondering whether the Armenians had enough spirit left +to make use of the loot we did not touch. Some of us had lances now; +a few had sabers; all had good mounts and saddles. We were likely to +miss the corn we had given away; but to offset that we had a new +confidence in Ranjoor Singh that was beyond price, and I sang as I +rode. I sang the ANAND, our Sikh hymn of joy. I knew we were a +regiment again at last. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Since when did god take sides against the brave? +--RANJOOR SINGH. + + +Did the sahib ever chance to hear that Persian proverb--"DUZD NE +GIRIFTAH PADSHAH AST"? No? It means "The uncaught thief is king." +Ho! but thenceforward that was a campaign that suited us! None could +catch us, for we could come and go like the night wind, and the +Turks are heavy on their feet. We helped ourselves to what we +needed. And a reputation began to hurry ahead of us that made +matters easier, for our numbers multiplied in men's imagination. + +The Turks whom we had recently defeated gave Kurds the credit for +it, and after the survivors had crawled back home whole Turkish +regiments were ordered out by telegraph to hunt for raiding Kurds, +not us! We cut all the wires we could find uncut, real Kurds having +attended to the business already in most instances, and now, instead +of slipping unseen through the land we began to leave our signature, +and do deliberate damage. + +None can beat Sikhs at such warfare as we waged across the breadth +of Asiatic Turkey, and none could beat Ranjoor Singh as leader of +it. We could outride the Turks, outwit them, outfight them, and +outdare them. As the spring advanced the weather improved and our +spirits rose; and as we began to take the offensive more and more +our confidence increased in Ranjoor Singh until there might never +have been any doubt of him, except that Gooja Singh was too +conscious of his own faults to dare let matters be. He was ever on +the watch for a chance to make himself safe at Ranjoor Singh's +expense. He was a good enough soldier when so minded. All of us +daffadars were developing into very excellent troop commanders, and +he not least of us; but the more efficient he grew the more +dangerous he was, for the very good reason that Ranjoor Singh +scorned to take notice of his hate and only praised him for +efficiency. Whereas he watched all the time for faults in Ranjoor +Singh to take advantage of them. + +So I took thought, and used discretion, and chose twelve troopers +whom I drafted into Gooja Singh's command by twos and threes, he not +suspecting. By ones and twos and threes I took them apart and tested +them, saying much the same to each. + +Said I, "Who mistrusts our sahib any longer?" And because I had +chosen them well they each made the same answer. "Nay," said they, +"we were fools. He was always truer than any of us. He surrendered +in that trench that we might live for some such work as this!" + +"If he were to be slain," said I, "what would now become of us?" + +"He must not be slain!" said they. + +"But what if he IS slain?" I answered. "Who knows his plans for the +future?" + +"Ask him to tell his plans," said they. "He trusts you more than any +of us. Ask and he will tell." + +"Nay," said I, "I have asked and he will not tell. He knows, as well +as you or I, that not all the men of this regiment have always +believed in him. He knows that none dare kill him unless they know +his plans first, for until they have his plans how can they dispense +with his leadership?" + +"Who are these who wish to kill him?" said they. "Let there be court +martial and a hanging!" + +"Nay," said I, "let there be a silence and forgetting, lest too many +be involved!" + +They nodded, knowing well that not one man of us all would escape +condemnation if inquiry could be carried back far enough. + +"Let there be much watchfulness!" said I. + +"Who shall watch Ranjoor Singh?" said they. "He is here, there and +everywhere! He is gone before dawn, and perhaps we see him again at +noon, but probably not until night. And half the night he spends in +the saddle as often as not. Who shall watch him?" + +"True!" said I. "But if we took thought, and decided who might-- +perhaps--most desire to kill him for evil recollection's sake, then +we might watch and prevent the deed." + +"Aye!" said they, and they understood. So I arranged with Ranjoor +Singh to have them transferred to Gooja Singh's troop, making this +excuse and that and telling everything except the truth about it. If +I had told him the truth, Ranjoor Singh would have laughed and my +precaution would have been wasted, but having lied I was able to +ride on with easier mind--such sometimes being the case. + +We had little trouble in keeping on the horizon whenever we sighted +Turks in force; and then probably the distance deceived them into +thinking us Turks, too, for we rode now with no less than five +Turkish officers as well as a German sergeant. And in the rear of +large bodies of Turks there was generally a defenseless town or +village whose Armenians had all been butchered, and whose other +inhabitants were mostly too gorged with plunder to show any fight. +We helped ourselves to food, clothing, horses, saddlery, horse-feed, +and anything else that Ranjoor Singh considered we might need, but +he threatened to hang the man who plundered anything of personal +value to himself, and none of us wished to die by that means. + +We soon began to need medicines and a doctor badly, for we lost no +less than eight-and-twenty men between the avenging of those +Armenians in the desert and reaching the Kurdish mountains, and once +we had more than forty wounded at one time. But finally we captured +a Greek doctor, attached to the Turkish army, and he had along with +him two mule-loads of medicines. Ranjoor Singh promised him seven +deaths for every one of our wounded men who should die of neglect, +and most of them began to recover very quickly. + +If we had tried merely to plunder; or had raided the same place +twice; or, if we had rested merely because we were weary; or, if we +had once done what might have been expected of us, I should not now +sit beneath this tree talking to you, sahib, because my bones would +be lying in Asiatic Turkey. But we rode zigzag-wise, very often +doubling on our tracks, Ranjoor Singh often keeping half a day's +march ahead of us gathering information. + +When we raided a town or village we used to tie our Turkish officers +hand and foot and cover them up in a cart, for we wished them to be +mistaken for Kurds, not Turks. And in almost the first bazaar we +plundered were strange hats such as Kurds wear, that gave us when we +wore them in the dark the appearance, perhaps, of Kurds who had +stolen strange garments (for the Kurds wear quite distinctive +clothes, of which we did not succeed in plundering sufficient to +disguise us all). + +In more than one town we had to fight for what we took, for there +were Turkish soldiers that we did not know about, for all Ranjoor +Singh's good scouting. Sometimes we beat them off with very little +trouble; sometimes we had about enough fighting to warm our hearts +and terrify the inhabitants. But in one town we were caught +plundering the bazaar by several hundred Turkish infantry who +entered from the far side unexpectedly; and if we had not burned the +bazaar I doubt that we should have won clear of that trap. But the +smoke and flame served us for a screen, and we got to the rear of +the Turks and killed a number of them before galloping off into the +dark. + +But who shall tell in a day what took weeks in the doing? I do not +remember the tenth part of it! We rode, and we skirmished, and we +plundered, growing daily more proud of Ranjoor Singh, and most of us +forgetting we had ever doubted him. Once we rode for ten miles side +by side in the darkness with a Turkish column that had been sent to +hunt for us! Perhaps they mistook our squeaky old carts for their +cannon; that had camped for the night unknown to them! Next day we +told some Kurds where to find the cannon, and doubtless the Kurds +made trouble. We let the column alone, for it was too big for us-- +about two regiments, I think. They camped at midnight, and we rode +on. + +We gave our horses all the care we could, but that was none too +much, and we had to procure new mounts very frequently. Often we +picked up a dozen at a time in the towns and villages, slaying those +we left behind lest they be of use to the enemy. Once we wrought a +miracle, being nearly at a standstill from hard marching, and almost +surrounded by regiments sent out to cut us off. We raided the horse- +lines of a Turkish regiment that had camped beside a stream, +securing all the horses we needed and stampeding the remainder! Thus +we escaped through the gap that regiment had been supposed to close. +We got away with their baked bread, too, enough to last us at least +three days! That was not far from Diarbekr. + +By the time we reached the Tigris and crossed it near Diarbekr we +were happy men; for we were not in search of idleness; all most of +us asked was a chance to serve our friends, and making trouble for +the Turks was surely service! One way and another we made more +trouble than ten times our number could have made in Flanders. Every +one of us but Gooja Singh was happy. + +We crossed the Tigris in the dark, and some of us were nearly +drowned, owing to the horses being frightened. We had to abandon our +carts, so we burned them; and by the light of that fire we saw great +mounds of Turkish supplies that they intended to float down the +river to Bagdad on strange rafts made of goatskins. The sentries +guarding the stores put up a little fight, and five more of us were +wounded, but finally we burned the stores, and the flames were so +bright and high that we had to gallop for two miles before we could +be safe again in darkness. So we crossed at a rather bad place, and +there was something like panic for ten minutes, but we got over +safely in the end, wounded and all. We floated the wounded men and +ammunition and rations for men and horses across on some of those +strange goatskin rafts that go round and round and any way but +forward. We found them in the long grass by the river-bank. + +At a town on the far side we seized new carts, far better than our +old ones. And then, because we might have been expected to continue +eastward, we turned to the south and followed the course of the +Tigris, straight into Kurdish country, where it did us no good to +resemble either Turks or Kurds; for we could not hope to deceive the +Kurds into thinking we were of their tribe, and Turks and Kurds are +open enemies wherever the Turks are not strong enough to overawe. +They were all Kurds in these parts, and no Turks at all, so that our +problem became quite different. After two days' riding over what was +little else than wilderness, Ranjoor Singh made new dispositions, +and we put the Kurdish headgear in our knapsacks. + +In the first place, the wounded had been suffering severely from the +long forced marches and the jolting of the springless carts. Some of +them had died, and the Greek doctor had grown very anxious for his +own skin. Ranjoor Singh summoned him and listened to great +explanations and excuses, finally gravely permitting him to live, +but adding solemn words of caution. Then he ordered the carts +abandoned, for there was now no road at all. The forty Turkish +soldiers (in their Syrian clothes) were made to carry the wounded in +stretchers we improvised, until some got well and some died; those +who did not carry wounded were made to carry ammunition, and some of +our own men who had tried to disregard Ranjoor Singh's strict orders +regarding women of the country were made to help them. That +arrangement lasted until we came to a village where the Kurds were +willing to exchange mules against the rifles we had taken from the +Kurds, one mule for one rifle, we refusing to part with any +cartridges. + +After that the wounded had to ride on mules, some of them two to a +mule, holding each other on, and the cartridge boxes were packed on +the backs of other mules, except that men who tried to make free +with native women were invariably ordered to relieve a mule. Then we +had no further use for the forty Turks, so we turned them loose with +enough food to enable them to reach Diarbekr if they were +economical. They went off none too eagerly in their Syrian clothes, +and I have often wondered whether they ever reached their +destination, for the Kurds of those parts are a fierce people, and +it is doubtful which they would rather ill-treat and kill, a Turk or +a Syrian. The Turks have taught them to despise Armenians and +Syrians, but they despise Turks naturally. (All this I learned from +Abraham, who often marched beside me.) + +"Those Turks we have released will go back and set their people on +our trail," said Gooja Singh, overlooking no chance to throw +discredit. + +"If they ever get safely back, that is what I hope they will do!" +Ranjoor Singh answered. "We will disturb hornets and pray that Turks +get stung!" + +He would give no explanation, but it was not long before we all +understood. Little by little, he was admitting us to confidence in +those days, never telling at a time more than enough to arouse +interest and hope. + +Rather than have him look like a Turk any longer, we had dressed up +Abraham in the uniform of one of our dead troopers; and when at last +a Kurdish chief rode up with a hundred men at his back and demanded +to know our business, Ranjoor Singh called Abraham to interpret. We +could easily have beaten a mere hundred Kurds, but to have won a +skirmish just then would have helped us almost as little as to lose +one. What we wanted was free leave to ride forward. + +"Where are ye, and whither are ye bound? What seek ye?" the Kurd +demanded, but Ranjoor Singh proved equal to the occasion. + +"We be troops from India," said he. "We have been fighting in Europe +on the side of France and England, and the Germans and Turks have +been so badly beaten that you see for yourself what is happening. +Behold us! We are an advance party. These Turkish officers you see +are prisoners we have taken on our way. Behold, we have also a +German prisoner! You will find all the Turks between here and Syria +in a state of panic, and if plunder is what you desire you would +better make haste and get what you can before the great armies come +eating the land like locusts! Plunder the Turks and prove yourselves +the friends of French and English!" + +Sahib, those Kurds would rather loot than go to heaven, and, like +all wild people, they are very credulous. There are Kurds and Kurds +and Kurds, nations within a nation, speaking many dialects of one +tongue. Some of them are half-tame and live on the plains; those the +Turks are able to draft into their armies to some extent. Some of +the plainsmen, like those I speak of now, are altogether wild and +will not serve the Turks on any terms. And most of the hillmen +prefer to shoot a Turk on sight. I would rather fight a pig with +bare hands than try to stand between a Kurd and Turkish plunder, and +it only needed just those few words of Ranjoor Singh's to set that +part of the world alight! + +We rode for very many days after that, following the course of the +Tigris unmolested. The tale Ranjoor Singh told had gone ahead of us. +The village Kurds waited to have one look, saw our Turkish prisoners +and our Sikh turbans, judged for themselves, and were off! I believe +we cost the Turkish garrisons in those parts some grim fighting; and +if any Turks were on our trail I dare wager they met a swarm or two +of hornets more than they bargained for! + +Instead of having to fight our way through that country, we were +well received. Wherever we found Kurds, either in tents or in +villages, the unveiled women would give us DU, as they call their +curds and whey, and barley for our horses, and now and then a little +bread. When other persuasion failed, we could buy almost anything +they had with a handful or two of cartridges. They were a savage +people, but not altogether unpleasing. + +Once, where the Tigris curved and our road brought us near the +banks, by a high cliff past which the river swept at very great +speed, we took part in a sport that cost us some cartridges, but no +risk, and gave us great amusement. The Kurds of those parts, having +heard in advance of our tale of victory, had decided, to take the +nearest loot to hand; so they had made an ambuscade down near the +river level, and when we came on the scene we lent a hand from +higher up. + +Rushing down the river at enormous speed (for the stream was narrow +there) forced between rocks with a roar and much white foam the +goatskin rafts kept coming on their way to Mosul and Bagdad, some +loaded with soldiers, some with officers, and all with goods on +which the passengers must sit to keep their legs dry. The rafts were +each managed by two men, who worked long oars to keep them in mid- +current, they turning slowly round and round. + +The mode of procedure was to volley at them, shooting, if possible, +the men with oars, but not despising a burst goatskin bag. In case +the men with oars were shot, the others would try to take their +place, and, being unskilful, would very swifly run the raft against +a rock, when it would break up and drown its passengers, the goods +drifting ashore at the bend in the river in due time. + +On the other hand, when a few goatskin bags were pierced the raft +would begin to topple over and the men with oars would themselves +direct the raft toward the shore, preferring to take their chance +among Kurds than with the rocks that stuck up like fangs out of the +raging water. No, sahib, I could not see what happened to them after +they reached shore. That is a savage country. + +One of our first volleys struck a raft so evenly and all together +that it blew up as if it had been torpedoed! We tried again and +again to repeat that performance, until Ranjoor Singh checked us for +wasting ammunition. It was very good sport. There were rafts and +rafts and rafts--KYAKS, I think they call them--and the amount of +plunder those Kurds collected on the beach must have been +astonishing. + +We gave the city of Mosul a very wide berth, for that is the largest +city of those parts, with a very large Turkish garrison. Twenty +miles to the north of it we captured a good convoy of mules, +together with their drivers, headed toward Mosul, and the mules' +loads turned out to consist of good things to eat, including butter +in large quantities. We came on them in the gathering dusk, when +their escort of fifty Turkish infantry had piled arms, we being +totally unexpected. So we captured the fifty rifles as well as the +mules; and, although the mule-drivers gave us the slip next day, and +no doubt gave information about us in Mosul, that did not worry us +much. We cut two telegraph wires leading toward Mosul that same +night; we cut out two miles of wire in sections, riding away with +it, and burned the poles. + +After that, whenever we could catch a small party of men, Turks +excepted (for that would have been to give the Turks more +information than we could expect to get from them), Ranjoor Singh +would ask questions about Wassmuss. Most of them would glance toward +the mountains at mention of his name, but few had much to tell about +him. However, bit by bit, our knowledge of his doings and his +whereabouts kept growing, and we rode forward, ever toward the +mountains now, wasting no time and plundering no more than +expedient. + +We saw no more living Armenians on all that long journey. The Turks +and Kurds had exterminated them! We rode by burned villages, and +through villages that once had been half-Armenian. The non-Armenian +houses would all be standing, like to burst apart with plunder, but +every single one that had sheltered an Armenian family would lie in +ruins. God knows why! On all our way we found no man who could tell +us what those people had done to deserve such hatred. We asked, but +none could tell us. + +One town, through which we rode at full gallop, had Armenian bodies +still lying in the streets, some of them half-burned, and there were +Kurds and Turks busy plundering the houses. Some of them came out to +fire at us, but failed to do us any harm, and, the wind being the +right way, we set a light to a dozen houses at the eastward end. Two +or three miles away we stopped to watch the whole town go up in +flames, and laughed long at the Turks' efforts to save their loot. + +As we drew near enough to the mountains to see snow and to make out +the lie of the different ranges, we ceased to have any fear of +pursuit. There was plenty of evidence of Turkish armies not very far +away; in fact, at Mosul there was gathering a very great army +indeed; but they were all so busy killing and torturing and hunting +down Armenians that they seemed to have no time for duty on that +part of the frontier. Perhaps that was why the Germans had sent +Wassmuss, in order that the Turks might have more leisure to destroy +their enemies at home! Who knows? There are many things about this +great war to which none know the answer, and I think the fate of the +Armenians is one of them. + +But who thought any more of Armenians when the outer spurs of the +foot-hills began to close around us? Not we, at any rate. We had +problems enough of our own. What lay behind us was behind, and the +future was likely to afford us plenty to think about! Too many of us +had fought among the slopes of the Himalayas now to know how +difficult it would be for Turks to follow us; but those +mountaineers, who are nearly as fierce as our mountaineers of +northern India, and who have ever been too many for the Turks, were +likely to prove more dangerous than anything we had met yet. + +We had enough food packed on our captured mules to last us for +perhaps another eight days when we at last rode into a grim defile +that seemed to lead between the very gate-posts of the East--two +great mountains, one on either hand, barren, and ragged, and hard. +We were being led at that time by a Kurdish prisoner, who had lain +by the wayside with the bellyache. Our Greek doctor had physicked +him, and he was now compelled to lead us under Ranjoor Singh's +directions, with his hands made fast behind him, he riding on a mule +with one of our men on either hand. By that time Ranjoor Singh had +picked up enough information at different times, and had added +enough of it together to know whither we must march, and the Kurd +had nothing to do but obey orders. + +We had scarcely ridden three hundred yards into the defile of which +I speak, remarking the signs of another small body of mounted men +who had preceded us, when fifty shots rang out from overhead and we +took open order as if a shell had burst among us. Nobody was hit, +however, and I think nobody was intended to be hit. I saw that +Ranjoor Singh looked unalarmed. He beckoned for Abraham, who looked +terrified, and I took Abraham by the shoulder and brought him +forward. There came a wild yell from overhead, and Ranjoor Singh +made Abraham answer it with something about Wassmuss. In the +shouting that followed I caught the word Wassmuss many times. + +Presently a Kurdish chief came galloping down, for all the world as +one of our Indian mountaineers would ride, leaping his horse from +rock to rock as if he and the beast were one. I rode to Ranjoor +Singh's side, to protect him if need be, so I heard what followed, +Abraham translating. + +"Whence are ye?" said the Kurd. "And whither? And what will ye?" +They are inquisitive people, and they always seem to wish to know +those three things first. + +"I have told you already, I ride from Farangistan, [Footnote: +Europe] and I seek Wassmuss. These are my men," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"No more may reach Wassmuss unless they have the money with them!" +said the Kurd, very truculently. "Two days ago we let by the last +party of men who carried only talk. Now we want only money!" + +"Who was ever helped by impatience?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Nay," said the Kurd, "we are a patient folk! We have waited +eighteen days for sight of this gold for Wassmuss. It should have +been here fifteen days ago, so Wassmuss said, but we are willing to +wait eighteen more. Until it comes, none else shall pass!" + +I was watching Ranjoor Singh very closely indeed, and I saw that he +saw daylight, as it were, through darkness. + +"Yet no gold shall come," he answered, "until you and I shall have +talked together, and shall have reached an agreement." + +"Agreement?" said the Kurd. "Ye have my word! Ride back and bid them +bring their gold in safety and without fear!" + +"Without fear?" said Ranjoor Singh. "Then who are ye?" + +"We," said the Kurd, "are the escort, to bring the gold in safety +through the mountain passes." + +"So that he may divide it among others?" asked Ranjoor Singh, and I +saw the Kurd wince. "Gold is gold!" he went on. "Who art thou to let +by an opportunity?" + +"Speak plain words," said the Kurd. + +"Here?" said Ranjoor Singh. "Here in this defile, where men might +come on us from the rear at any minute?" + +"That they can not do," the Kurd answered, "for my men watch from +overhead." + +"Nevertheless," said Ranjoor Singh, "I will speak no plain words +here." + +The Kurd looked long at him--at least a whole minute. Then he wiped +his nose on the long sleeve of his tunic and turned about. "Come in +peace!" he said, spurring his horse. + +Ranjoor Singh followed him, and we followed Ranjoor Singh, without +one word spoken or order given. The Kurd led straight up the defile +for a little way, then sharp to the right and uphill along a path +that wound among great boulders, until at last we halted, pack-mules +and all, in a bare arena formed by a high cliff at the rear and on +three sides by gigantic rocks that fringed it, making a natural +fort. + +The Kurd's men were mostly looking out from between the rocks, but +some of them were sprawling in the shadow of a great boulder in the +midst, and some were attending to the horses that stood tethered in +a long line under the cliff at the rear. The chief drove away those +who lay in the shadow of the boulder in the midst, and bade Ranjoor +Singh and me and Abraham be seated. Ranjoor Singh called up the +other daffadars, and we all sat facing the Kurd, with Abraham a +little to one side between him and us, to act interpreter. That was +the first time Ranjoor Singh had taken so many at once into his +confidence and I took it for a good sign, although unable to ignore +a twinge of jealousy. + +"Now?" said the Kurd. "Speak plain words!" + +"You have not yet offered us food," said Ranjoor Singh. + +The Kurd stared hard at him, eye to eye. "I have good reason," he +answered. "By our law, he who eats our bread can not be treated as +an enemy. If I feed you, how can I let my men attack you afterward?" + +"You could not," said Ranjoor Singh. "We, too, have a law, that he +with whom we have eaten salt is not enemy but friend. Let us eat +bread and salt together, then, for I have a plan." + +"A plan?" said the Kurd. "What manner of a plan? I await gold. What +are words?" + +"A good plan," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"And on the strength of an empty boast am I to eat bread and salt +with you?" the Kurd asked. + +"If you wish to hear the plan," said Ranjoor Singh. "To my enemy I +tell nothing; however, let my friend but ask!" + +The Kurd thought a long time, but we facing him added no word to +encourage or confuse him. I saw that his curiosity increased the +more the longer we were silent; yet I doubt whether his was greater +than my own! Can the sahib guess what Ranjoor Singh's plan was? Nay, +that Kurd was no great fool. He was in the dark. He saw swiftly +enough when explanations came. + +"I have three hundred mounted men!" the Kurd said at last. + +"And I near as many!" answered Ranjoor Singh. "I crave no favors! I +come with an offer, as one leader to another!" + +The Kurd frowned and hesitated, but sent at last for bread and salt, +for all our party, except that he ordered his men to give none to +our prisoners and none to the Syrians, whom he mistook for Turkish +soldiers. If Ranjoor Singh had told him they were Syrians he would +have refused the more, for Kurds regard Syrians as wolves regard +sheep. + +"Let the prisoners be," said Ranjoor Singh, "but feed those others! +They must help put through the plan!" + +So the Kurd ordered our Syrians, whom he thought Turks, fed too, and +we dipped the flat bread (something like our Indian chapatties) into +salt and ate, facing one another. + +"Now speak, and we listen," said the Kurd when we had finished. Some +of his men had come back, clustering around him, and we were quite a +party, filling all the shadow of the great rock. + +"How much of that gold was to have been yours?" asked Ranjoor Singh, +and the Kurd's eyes blazed. "Wassmuss promised me so-and-so much," +he answered, "if I with three hundred men wait here for the convoy +and escort it to where he waits." + +"But why do ye serve Wassmuss?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Because he buys friendship, as other men buy ghee, or a horse, or +ammunition," said the Kurd. "He spends gold like water, saying it is +German gold, and in return for it we must harry the British and +Russians." + +"Yet you and I are friends by bread and salt," said Ranjoor Singh, +"and I offer you all this gold, whereas he offers only part of it! +Nay, I and my men need none of it--I offer it all!" + +"At what price?" asked the Kurd, suspiciously. Doubtless men who +need no gold were as rare among these mountains as in other places! + +"I shall name a price," said Ranjoor Singh. "A low price. We shall +both be content with our bargain, and possibly Wassmuss, too, may +feel satisfied for a while." + +"Nay, you must be a wizard!" said the Kurd. "Speak on!" + +"Tell me first," said Ranjoor Singh, "about the party who went +through this defile two days ahead of us." + +"What do you know of them?" asked the Kurd. + +"This," said Ranjoor Singh. "We have followed them from Mosul, +learning here a little and there a little. What is it that they have +with them? Who are they? Why were they let pass?" + +"They were let pass because Wassmuss gave the order," the Kurd +answered. "They are Germans--six German officers, six German +servants--and Kurds--twenty-four Kurds of the plains acting porters +and camp-servants--many mules--two mules bearing a box slung on +poles between them." + +"What was in the box?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Nay, I know not," said the Kurd. + +"Nevertheless," said Ranjoor Singh, "my brother is a man with eyes +and ears. What did my brother hear?" + +"They said their machine can send and receive a message from places +as far apart as Khabul and Stamboul. Doubtless they lied," the Kurd +answered. + +"Doubtless!" said Ranjoor Singh. By his slow even breathing and +apparent indifference, I knew he was on a hot scent, so I tried to +appear indifferent myself, although my ears burned. The Kurds +clustering around their leader listened with ears and eyes agape. +They made no secret of their interest. + +"They said they are on their way to Khabul," the Kurd continued, +"there to receive messages from Europe and acquaint the amir and his +ruling chiefs of the true condition of affairs." + +"How shall they reach Afghanistan?" asked Ranjoor Singh. "Does a +road through Persia lie open to them?" + +"Nay," said the Kurd. "Persia is like a nest of hornets. But they +are to receive an escort of us Kurds to take them through Persia. We +mountain Kurds are not afraid of Persians." + +"Which Kurds are to provide the escort?" Ranjoor Singh asked him, +and the Kurd shook his head. + +"Nay," he said, "that none can tell. It is not yet agreed. There is +small competition for the task. There are better pickings here on +the border, raiding now and then, and pocketing the gold of this +Wassmuss between-whiles! Who wants the task of escorting a machine +in a box to Khabul?" + +"Nevertheless," said Ranjoor Singh, "I know of a leader and his men +who will undertake the task." + +"Who, then?" said the Kurd. + +"I and my men!" said Ranjoor Singh; and I held my breath until I +thought my lungs would burst. "Persia!" thought I. "Afghanistan!" +thought I. "And what beyond?" + +"Ye are not Kurds," the chief answered, after he had considered a +while. "Wassmuss said the escort must consist of three hundred Kurds +or he will not pay." + +"The payment shall be arranged between me and thee!" said Ranjoor +Singh. "You shall have all the gold of this next convoy, if you will +ride back to Wassmuss and agree that you and your men shall be the +escort to Afghanistan." + +"Who shall guard this pass if I ride back?" the Kurd asked. + +"I!" said Ranjoor Singh. "I and my men will wait here for the gold. +Leave me a few of your men to be guides and to keep peace between us +and other Kurds among these mountains. Ride and tell Wassmuss that +the gold will not come for another thirty days." + +"He will not believe," said the Kurd. + +"I will give you a letter," said Ranjoor Singh. + +"He will not believe the letter," said the Kurd. + +"What is that to thee, whether he believes it or not?" said Ranjoor +Singh. "At least he will believe that Turks brought you the letter, +and that you took it to him in good faith. Will he charge you with +having written it?" + +"Nay," said the Kurd, nodding, "I can not write, and he knows it." + +"Do that, then," said Ranjoor Singh. "Ride and agree to be escort +for these Germans and their machine to Afghanistan. Leave me here +with ten or a dozen of your men, who will guide me after I have the +gold to where you shall be camping with your Germans somewhere just +beyond the Persian border. I will arrange to overtake you after +dusk--perhaps at midnight. There I will give you the gold, and you +shall ride away. I and my men will ride on as escort to the +Germans." + +"What if they object?" said the Kurd. + +"Who? The men with the box, or Wassmuss?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Nay," said the Kurd, "Wassmuss will be very glad to get a willing +escort. He is in difficulty over that. There will be no objection +from him. But what if the men with the box object to the change of +escorts?" + +"We be over two hundred, and they thirty!" answered Ranjoor Singh, +and the Kurd nodded. + +"After all," he said, "that is thy affair. But how am I to know that +you and your men will not ride off with the gold? Nay, I must have +the gold first!" + +Ranjoor Singh shook his head. + +"Then I and my men will stay here and help seize the gold," the Kurd +said meaningly. + +"Nay!" said Ranjoor Singh. "For then you would fight me for it!" + +"Thou and I have eaten bread and salt together!" said the Kurd. + +"True," said Ranjoor Singh, "therefore trust me, for I am a Sikh +from India." + +"I know nothing of Sikhs, or of India," said the Kurd. "Gold I know +in the dark, by its jingle and weight, but who knows the heart of a +man?" + +"Then listen," said Ranjoor Singh. "If you and your men seize the +gold, you must bear the blame. When the Turks come later on for +vengeance, you will hang. But if I stay and take the gold, who shall +know who I am? You will be able to prove with the aid of Wassmuss +that neither you nor your men were anywhere near when, the attack +took place." + +"Then you will make an ambush?" said the Kurd. + +"I will set a trap," said Ranjoor Singh. "Moreover, consider this: +You think I may take the gold and keep it. How could I? Having taken +it from the Turks, should I ride back toward Turkey? Whither else, +then? Shall I escape through Persia, with you and your Kurds to +prevent? Nay, we must make a fair bargain as friend with friend--and +keep it!" + +"If I do as you say," said the Kurd, "if I take this letter to +Wassmuss, and agree with him to escort those Germans across Persia, +what, then, if you fail to get the gold? What if the Turks get the +better of you?" + +"Dead men can not keep bargains!" answered Ranjoor Singh. "I shall +succeed or die. But consider again: I have led these men of mine +hither from Stamboul, deceiving and routing and outdistancing +Turkish regiments all the way. Shall I fail now, having come so +far?" + +"Insha' Allah!" said the Kurd, meaning, "If God wills." + +"Since when did God take sides against the brave?" Ranjoor Singh +asked him, and the Kurd said nothing; but I feared greatly because +they seemed on the verge of a religious argument, and those Kurds +are fanatics. If anything but gold had been in the balance against +him, I believe that Kurd would have defied us, for, although he did +not know what Sikhs might be, he knew us for no Musselmen. I saw his +eyes look inward, meditating treachery, not only to Wassmuss, but to +us, too. But Ranjoor Singh detected that quicker than I did. + +"Let us neglect no points," he said, and the Kurd brought his mind +back with an effort from considering plans against us. "It would be +possible for me to get that gold, and for other Kurds--not you or +your men, of course, but other Kurds--to waylay me in the mountains. +Therefore let part of the agreement be that you leave with me ten +hostages, of whom two shall be your blood relations." + +The Kurd winced. He was a little keen man, with, a thin face and +prominent nose; not ill-looking, but extremely acquisitive, I should +say. + +"Wassmuss holds my brother hostage!" he answered grimly, as if he +had just then thought of it. + +"I have a German prisoner here," said Ranjoor Singh, with the +nearest approach to a smile that he had permitted himself yet, "and +Wassmuss will be very glad to exchange him against your brother when +the time comes." + +"Ah!" said the Kurd, and-- + +"Ah!" said Ranjoor Singh. He saw now which way the wind blew, and, +like all born cavalry leaders, he pressed his advantage. + +"Do the Turks hold any of your men prisoner?" he asked. + +"Aye!" said the Kurd. "They hold an uncle of mine, and my half- +brother, and seven of my best men. They keep them in jail in +fetters." + +"I have five Turkish prisoners, all officers, one a bimbashi, whom I +will give you when I hand over the gold. The Turks will gladly trade +your men against their officers," Ranjoor Singh assured him. "You +shall have them and the German to make your trade with." + +It was plain the Kurd was more than half-convinced. His men who +swarmed around him were urging him in whispers. Doubtless they knew +he would keep most, if not all, of the gold for himself, but the +safety of their friends made more direct appeal and I don't think he +would have dared neglect that opportunity for fear of losing their +allegiance. Nevertheless, he bargained to the end. + +"Give me, then, ten hostages against my ten, and we are agreed!" he +urged. + +"Nay, nay!" said Ranjoor Singh. "It is my task to fight for that +gold. Shall I weaken my force by ten men? Nay, we are already few +enough! I will give you one--to be exchanged against your ten at the +time of giving up the gold in Persia." + +"Ten!" said the Kurd. "Ten against ten!" + +"One!" said Ranjoor Singh, and I thought they would quarrel and the +whole plan would come to nothing. But the Kurd gave in. + +"Then one officer!" said the Kurd, and I trembled, for I saw that +Ranjoor Singh intended to agree to that, and I feared he might pick +me. But no. If I had thought a minute I would not have feared, yet +who thinks at such times? The men who think first of their charge +and last of their own skin are such as Ranjoor Singh; a year after +war begins they are still leading. The rest of us must either be +content to be led, or else are superseded. I burst into a sweat all +over, for all that a cold wind swept among the rocks. Yet I might +have known I was not to be spared. + +After two seconds, that seemed two hours, he said to the Kurd, "Very +well. We are agreed. I will give you one of my officers against ten +of your men. I will give you Gooja Singh!" said he. + +Sahib, I could have rolled among the rocks and laughed. The look of +rage mingled with amazement on Gooja Singh's fat face was payment +enough for all the insults I had received from him. I could not +conceal all my merriment. Doubtless my eyes betrayed me. I doubt not +they blazed. Gooja Singh was sitting on the other side of Ranjoor +Singh, partly facing me, so that he missed nothing of what passed +over my face--as I scarcely intended that he should. And in a moment +my mirth was checked by sight of his awful wrath. His face had +turned many shades darker. + +"I am to be hostage?" he said in a voice like grinding stone. + +"Aye," said Ranjoor Singh. "Be a proud one! They have had to give +ten men to weigh against you in the scale!" + +"And I am to go away with them all by myself into the mountains?" + +"Aye," said Ranjoor Singh. "Why not? We hold ten of theirs against +your safe return." + +"Good! Then I will go!" he answered, and I knew by the black look on +his face and by the dull rage in his voice that he would harm us if +he could. But there was no time just then to try to dissuade Ranjoor +Singh from his purpose, even had I dared. There began to be great +argument about the ten hostages the Kurd should give, Ranjoor Singh +examining each one with the aid of Abraham, rejecting one man after +another as not sufficiently important, and it was two hours before +ten Kurds that satisfied him stood unarmed in our midst. Then he +gave up Gooja Singh in exchange for them; and Gooja Singh walked +away among the Kurds without so much as a backward look, or a word +of good-by, or a salute. + +"He should be punished for not saluting you," said I, going to +Ranjoor Singh's side. "It is a bad example to the troopers." + +"KUCH--KUCH--," said he. "No trouble. Black hearts beget black +deeds. White hearts, good deeds. Maybe we all misjudged him. Let him +prove whether he is true at heart or not." + +Observe, sahib, how he identified himself with us, although he knew +well that all except I until recently had denied him title to any +other name than traitor. "Maybe we all misjudged," said he, as much +as to say, "What my men have done, I did." So you may tell the +difference between a great man and a mean one. + +"Better have hanged him long ago!" said I. "He will be the ruin of +us yet!" But he laughed. + +"Sahib," I said. "Suppose he should get to see this Wassmuss?" + +"I have thought of that," he answered. "Why should the Kurds let him +go near Wassmuss? Unless they return him safely to us we can execute +their tages; they will run no risk of Wassmuss playing tricks with +Gooja Singh. Besides, from what I can learn and guess from what the +Kurds say, this Wassmuss is to all intents and purposes a prisoner. +Another tribe of Kurds, pretending, to protect him, keep him very +closely guarded. The best he can do is to play off one tribe against +another. Our friend said Wassmuss holds his brother for hostage, but +I think the fact is the other tribe holds him and Wassmuss gets the +blame. I suspect they held our friend's brother as security for the +gold he is to meet and escort back. There is much politics working +in these mountains." + +"Much politics and little hope for us!" said I, and at that he +turned on me as he never had done yet. No, sahib, I never saw him +turn on any man, nor speak as savagely as he did to me then. It was +as if the floodgates of his weariness were down at last and I got a +glimpse of what he suffered--he who dared trust no one all these +months and miles. + +"Did I not say months ago," he mocked, "that if I told you half my +plan you would quail? And that if I told the whole, you would pick +it to pieces like hens round a scrap of meat? Man without thought! +Can I not see the dangers? Have I no eyes--no ears? Do I need a frog +to croak to me of risks whichever way I turn? Do I need men to hang +back, or men to lend me courage?" + +"Who hangs back?" said I. "Nay, forward! I will die beside you, +sahib!" + +"I seek life for you all, not death," he answered, but he spoke so +sadly that I think in that minute his hope and faith were at lowest +ebb. + +"Nevertheless," I answered, "if need be, I will die beside you. I +will not hang back. Order, and I obey!" But he looked at me as if he +doubted. + +"Boasting," he said, "is the noise fools make to conceal from +themselves their failings!" + +What could I answer to that? I sat down and considered the rebuff, +while he went and made great preparation for an execution and a +Turkish funeral. So that there was little extra argument required to +induce one of our Turkish officer prisoners--the bimbashi himself, +in fact--to write the letter to Wassmuss that Ranjoor Singh +required. And that he gave to the Kurdish chief, and the Kurd rode +away with his men, not looking once back at the hostages he had left +with us, but making a great show of guarding Gooja Singh, who rode +unarmed in the center of a group of horsemen. That instant I began +to feel sorry for Gooja Singh, and later, when we advanced through +those blood-curdling mountains I was sorrier yet to think of him +borne away alone amid savages whose tongue he could not speak. The +men all felt sorry for him too, but Ranjoor Singh gave them little +time for talk about it, setting them at once to various tasks, not +least of which was cleaning rifles for inspection. + +I took Abraham to interpret for me and went to talk with our ten +hostages, who were herded together apart from the other ten armed +Kurds. They seemed to regard themselves as in worse plight than +prisoners and awaited with resignation whatever might be their +kismet. So I asked them were they afraid lest Gooja Singh might meet +with violence, and they replied they were afraid of nothing. They +added, however, that no man could say in those mountains what this +day or the next might bring forth. + +Then I asked them about Wassmuss, and they rather confirmed Ranjoor +Singh's guess about his being practically a prisoner. They said he +was ever on the move, surrounded and very closely watched by the +particular tribe of Kurds that had possession of him for the moment. + +"First it is one tribe, then another," they told me. "If you keep +your bargain with our chief and he gets this gold, we shall have +Wassmuss, too, within a week, for we shall buy the allegiance of one +or two more tribes to join with us and oust those Kurds who hold him +now. Hitherto the bulk of his gold has been going into Persia to +bribe the Bakhtiari Khans and such like, but that day is gone by. +Now we Kurds will grow rich. But as for us"--they shrugged their +shoulders like this, sahib, meaning to say that perhaps their day +had gone by also. I left them with the impression they are very +fatalistic folk. + +There was no means of knowing how long we might have to wait there, +so Ranjoor Singh gave orders for the best shelter possible to be +prepared, and what with the cave at the rear, and plundered +blankets, and one thing and another we contrived a camp that was +almost comfortable. What troubled us most was shortage of fire-wood, +and we had to send out foraging parties in every direction at no +small risk. The Kurds, like our mountain men of northern India, +leave such matters to their women-folk, and there was more than one +voice raised in anger at Ranjoor Singh because he had not allowed us +to capture women as well as food and horses. Our Turkish prisoners +laughed at us for not having stolen women, and Tugendheim vowed he +had never seen such fools. + +But as it turned out, we had not long to wait. That very evening, as +I watched from between two great boulders, I beheld a Turkish convoy +of about six hundred infantry, led by a bimbashi on a gray horse, +with a string of pack-mules trailing out behind them, and five +loaded donkeys led by soldiers in the midst. They were heading +toward the hills, and I sent a man running to bring Ranjoor Singh to +watch them. + +It soon became evident that they meant to camp on the plains for +that night. They had tents with them, and they pitched a camp three- +quarters of a mile, or perhaps a mile away from the mouth of our +defile, at a place where a little stream ran between rocks. It was +clear they suspected no treachery, or they would never have chosen +that place, they being but six hundred and the hills full of Kurds +so close at hand. Nevertheless, they were very careful to set +sentries on all the rocks all about, and they gave us no ground for +thinking we might take them by surprise. Seeing they outnumbered us, +and we had to spare a guard for our prisoners and hostages, and that +fifty of our force were Syrians and therefore not much use, I felt +doubtful. I thought Ranjoor Singh felt doubtful, too, until I saw +him glance repeatedly behind and study the sky. Then I began to hope +as furiously as he. + +The Turks down on the plain were studying the sky, too. We could see +them fix bayonets and make little trenches about the tents. Another +party of them gathered stones with which to re-enforce the tent +pegs, and in every other way possible they made ready against one of +those swift, sudden storms that so often burst down the sides of +mountains. Most of us had experienced such storms a dozen times or +more in the foot-hills of our Himalayas, and all of us knew the +signs. As evening fell the sky to our rear grew blacker than night +itself and a chill swept down the defile like the finger of death. + +"Repack the camp," commanded Ranjoor Singh. "Stow everything in the +cave." + +There was grumbling, for we had all looked forward to a warm night's +rest. + +"To-night your hearts must warm you!" he said, striding to and fro +to make sure his orders were obeyed. It was dark by the time we had +finished, Then he made us fall in, in our ragged overcoats--aye, +ragged, for those German overcoats had served as coats and tents and +what-not, and were not made to stand the wear of British ones in any +case--unmounted he made us fall in, at which there was grumbling +again. + +"Ye shall prove to-night," he said, "whether ye can endure what +mules and horses never could! Warmth ye shall have, if your hearts +are true, but the man who can keep dry shall be branded for a +wizard! Imagine yourselves back in Flanders!" + +Most of us shuddered. I know I did. The wind had begun whimpering, +and every now and then would whistle and rise into a scream. A few +drops of heavy rain fell. Then would come a lull, while we could +feel the air grow colder. Our Flanders experience was likely to +stand us in good stead. + +Tugendheim and the Syrians were left in charge of our belongings. +There was nothing else to do with them because the Syrians were in +more deathly fear of the storm than they ever had been of Turks. +Nevertheless, we did not find them despicable. Unmilitary people +though they were, they had inarched and endured and labored like +good men, but certain things they seemed to accept as being more +than men could overcome, and this sort of storm apparently was one +of them. We tied the mules and horses very carefully, because we did +not believe the Syrians would stand by when the storm began, and we +were right. Tugendheim begged hard to be allowed to come with us, +but Ranjoor Singh would not let him. I don't know why, but I think +he suspected Tugendheim of knowing something about the German +officers who were ahead of us, in which case Tugendheim was likely +to risk anything rather than continue going forward; and, having +promised him to the Kurdish chief, it would not have suited Ranjoor +Singh to let him escape into Turkey again. + +The ten Kurds who had been left with us as guides and to help us +keep peace among the mountains all volunteered to lend a hand in the +fight, and Ranjoor Singh accepted gladly. The hostages, on the other +hand, were a difficult problem; for they detested being hostages. +They would have made fine allies for Tugendheim, supposing he had +meditated any action in our rear. They could have guided him among +the mountains with all our horses and mules and supplies. And +suppose he had made up his mind to start through the storm to find +Wassmuss with their aid, what could have prevented him? He might +betray us to Wassmuss as the price of his own forgiveness. So we +took the hostages with us, and when we found a place between some +rocks where they could have shelter we drove them in there, setting +four troopers to guard them. Thus Tugendheim was kept in ignorance +of their whereabouts, and with no guides to help him play us false. +As for the Greek doctor, we took him with us, too, for we were +likely to need his services that night, and in truth we did. + +We started the instant the storm began--twenty minutes or more +before it settled down to rage in earnest. That enabled us to march +about two-thirds of the way toward the Turkish camp and to deploy +into proper formation before the hail came and made it impossible to +hear even a shout. Hitherto the rain had screened us splendidly, +although it drenched us to the skin, and the noise of rain and wind +prevented the noise we made from giving the alarm; but when the hail +began I could not hear my own foot-fall. Ranjoor Singh roared out +the order to double forward, but could make none hear, so he seized +a rifle from the nearest man and fired it off. Perhaps a dozen men +heard that and began to double. The remainder saw, and followed +suit. + +The hail was in our backs. No man ever lived who could have charged +forward into it, and not one of the Turkish sentries made pretense +at anything but running for his life. Long before we reached their +posts they were gone, and a flash of lightning showed the tents +blown tighter than drums in the gaining wind and white with the +hailstones. When we reached the tents there was hail already half a +foot deep underfoot where the wind had blown it into drifts, and the +next flash of lightning showed one tent--the bimbashi's own--split +open and blown fluttering into strips. The bimbashi rushed out with +a blanket round his head and shoulders and tried to kick men out of +another tent to make room for him, and failing to do that he +scrambled in on top of them. Opening the tent let the wind in, and +that tent, too, split and fluttered and blew away. And so at last +they saw us coming. + +They saw us when we were so close that there was no time to do much +else than run away or surrender. Quite a lot of them ran away I +imagine, for they disappeared. The bimbashi tried to pistol Ranjoor +Singh, and died for his trouble on a trooper's bayonet. Some of the +Turks tried to fight, and they were killed. Those who surrendered +were disarmed and driven away into the storm, and the last we saw of +them was when a flash of lightning showed them hurrying helter- +skelter through the hail with hands behind their defenseless heads +trying to ward off hailstones. They looked very ridiculous, and I +remember I laughed. + +I? My share of it? A Turkish soldier tried to drive a bayonet +through me. I think he was the last one left in camp (the whole +business can only have lasted three or four minutes, once we were +among them). I shot him with the repeating pistol that had once been +Tugendheim's--this one, see, sahib--and believing the camp was now +ours and the fighting over, I lay down and dragged his body over me +to save me from hailstones, that had made me ache already in every +inch of my body. I rolled under and pulled the body over in one +movement; and seeing the body and thinking a Turk was crawling up to +attack him, one of our troopers thrust his bayonet clean through it. +It was a goodly thrust, delivered by a man who prided himself on +being workmanlike. If the Turk had not been a fat one I should not +be here. Luckily, I had chosen one whose weight made me grunt, and +because of his thickness the bayonet only pierced an inch or two of +my thigh. + +I yelled and kicked the body off me. The trooper made as if to use +the steel again, thinking we were two Turks, and my pointing a +pistol at him only served to confirm the belief. But next minute the +lightning showed the true facts, and he came and sat beside me with +his back to the hail, grinning like an ape. + +"That was a good thrust of mine!" he bellowed in my ear. "But for me +that Turk would have had your life!" + +When I had cursed his mother's ancestors for a dozen generations in +some detail the truth dawned on him at last. I took his weapon away +from him while he bound a strip of cloth about my thigh, for I knew +the thought had come into his thick skull to finish me off and so +save explanation afterward. I would gladly have let him go with +nothing further said, for I knew the man's first intention had been +honest enough, but did not dare do that because he would certainly +suppose me to be meditating vengeance. So I flew into a great rage +with him, and drove him in front of me until we found a dead mule-- +whether killed by hail or bullet I don't know--and he and I lay +between the mule's legs, snuggling under its belly, until the storm +should cease and I could take him before Ranjoor Singh. + +I did not know where the gold was, nor where anything or anybody +was. I could see about three yards, except when the lightning +flashed; and then I could see only stricken plain, with dead animals +lying about, and fallen tents lumpy with the men who huddled +underneath, and here and there a live animal with his rump to the +hail and head between his forelegs. + +When the storm ceased, suddenly, as all such mountain hail-storms +do, I ordered my trooper in front of me and went limping through the +darkness shouting for Ranjoor Singh, and I found him at last, +sitting on the rump of a dead donkey with the ten boxes of gold coin +beside him--quite little boxes, yet only two to a donkey load. + +"I have the gold," he said. "What have you?" + +"A stab," said I, "and the fool who gave it me!" And I showed my +leg, with the blood trickling down. "I had killed a Turk," said I, +"and this muddlehead with no discernment had the impudence to try to +finish the job. Behold the result!" + +He was one great bruise from head to foot from hailstones, yet with +all he had to think about and all his aches, he had understanding +enough to spare for my little problem. He saw at once that he must +punish the man in order to convince him his account with me was +settled. + +"Be driver of asses," he ordered, "until we reach Persia! There were +five asses. One is dead. It is good we have another to replace the +fifth!" + +There goes the trooper, sahib--he yonder with the limp. He and I are +as good friends to-day as daffadar and trooper can be, but he would +have slain me to save himself from vengeance unless Ranjoor Singh +had punished him that night. But my tale is not of that trooper, nor +of myself. I tell of Ranjoor Singh. Consider him, sahib, seated on +the dead ass beside ten chests of captured gold, with scarcely a man +of us fit to help him or obey an order, and himself bleeding in +fifty places where the hail had pierced his skin. We were drenched +and numbed, with the spirit beaten out of us; yet I tell you he +wiped the blood from his nose and beard and made us save ourselves! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Once in a lifetime. Once is enough! +--HIRA SINGH. + + +Well, sahib, our journey was not nearly at an end, but my tale is; I +can finish it by sundown. After that fight there was no more doubt +of us; we were one again--one in our faith in our leader, and with +men so minded such a man as Ranjoor Singh can make miracles seem +like details of a day's work. + +Turks who had been bayoneted and Turks slain by hailstones lay all +about us, and we should have been dead, too, only that the hail was +in our backs. As it was, ten of our men lay killed and more than +thirty stunned, some of whom did not recover. Our little Greek +doctor announced himself too badly injured to help any one, but when +Ranjoor Singh began to choose a firing party for him, he changed his +mind. + +The four living donkeys were too bruised by the hail to bear a load, +but the Turks had had some mules with them and we loaded our dead +and wounded on those, gathered up the plunder, told off four +troopers to each chest of gold, and dragged ourselves away. It was +essential that we get back to the hills before dawn should disclose +our predicament, for whatever Kurds should chance to spy us would +never have been restrained by promises or by ritual of friendship +from taking prompt advantage. A savage is a savage. + +The moon came out from behind clouds, and we cursed it, for we did +not want to be seen. It shone on a world made white with hail--on a +stricken camp--dead animals--dead men. We who had swept down from +the hills like the very spirit of the storm itself returned like a +funeral cortege, all groaning, chilled to the bone by the searching +wind, and it was beginning to be dawn when the last man dragged +himself between the boulders into our camping ground. We looked so +little like victors that the Syrians sent up a wail and Tugendheim +began tugging at his mustaches, but Ranjoor Singh set them at once +to feeding and grooming animals and soon disillusioned them as to +the outcome of the night. + +Now we began to pray for time, to recover from the effects of hail +and chill. Some of the men began to develop fevers, and if Ranjoor +Singh had not fiercely threatened the doctor, things might have gone +from bad to worse. As it was, three men died of something the matter +with their lungs, and five men died of wounds. Yet, on the other +hand, we did not desire too much time, because (surest of all +certainties) the Turks were going to send regiments in a hurry to +wreak vengeance. Before noon, somebody rallied the remnants of the +convoy we had beaten and brought them back to bury dead and look for +property, and they looked quite a formidable body as I watched them +from between the boulders. They soon went away again, having found +nothing but tents torn to rags; but I counted more than four +hundred, which rather lessened my conceit. It had been the storm +that night that did the work, not we. + +We could not burn our dead, for lack of sufficient wood, although we +drove the Syrians out of camp to gather more; so we buried them in a +trench, and covered them, and laid little fires at intervals along +the new-stamped earth and set light to those. We did not bury them +very deep, because a bayonet is a fool of a weapon with which to +excavate a grave and a Syrian no expert digger in any case; so when +the fires were burned out we piled rocks on the grave to defeat +jackals. + +The Kurdish chief returned on the fifth day and by that time, +although most of us still ached, some of us looked like men again, +and what with the plunder we had taken, and the chests of gold in +full view, he was well impressed. He began by demanding the gold at +once, and Ranjoor Singh surprised me by the calm courtesy with which +he refused. + +"Why should my brother seek to alter the terms of our bargain?" he +asked. + +For a long time the Kurd made no answer, but sat thinking for some +excuse that might deceive us. Then suddenly he abandoned hope of +argument and flew into a rage, spitting savagely and pouring out +such a flood of words that Abraham could hardly translate fast +enough. + +"That pig you gave me for a hostage played a trick!" he shouted. "He +and a man of mine knew Persian. They talked together. Then in the +night they ran away, and your hostage went to Wassmuss, and has told +him all the truth and more untruth into the bargain than ten other +men could invent in a year! So Wassmuss threw in my teeth that +letter you gave me, and I was laughed out of countenance by a +heritage of spawn of Tophet! And what has Wasmuss done but persuade +three hundred Kurds of a tribe who are my enemies to accept this +duty of escort at a great price! And so your Germans are gone into +Persia already! Now give me the gold and my hostages back, and I +will leave you to your own devices!" + +It was an hour before Ranjoor Singh could calm him, and another hour +again before cross-examination induced him to tell all the truth; +and the truth was not reassuring. Wassmuss, he said, probably did +not know yet that we had taken the gold, but the news was on the +way, for spies had talked in the night with the ten Kurds whom he +left with us to be guides and to help us keep peace. We had given +those ten a Turkish rifle each and various other plunder, because +they helped us in the fight, and they had promised in return to hold +their tongues. But a savage is a savage, and there is no +controverting it. + +"What is Wassmuss likely to do?" Ranjoor Singh asked. + +"Do?" said the Kurd. "He has done! He has set two tribes by the ears +and sent them down to surround you and hem you in and starve you to +surrender! So give me the gold, that I may get away with it before a +thousand men come to prevent, and give me back my hostages!" + +If what was happening now had taken place but a week before, Ranjoor +Singh would have found himself in a fine fix, for all except I would +have there and then denounced him for a bungler, or a knave. But now +the other daffadars who clustered around him and me said one to the +other, "Let us see what our sahib makes of it!" The men sent word to +know what was being revealed through two long hours of talk, and +Chatar Singh went back to bid them have patience. + +"Is there trouble?" they asked, and he answered "Aye!" + +"Tell our sahib we stand behind him!" they answered, and Chatar +Singh brought that message and I think it did Ranjoor Singh's heart +good,--not that he would not have done his best in any case. + +"You have lost my hostage, and I hold yours," he told the Kurd, "so +now, if you want yours back you must pay whatever price I name for +them!" + +"Who am I to pay a price?" the Kurd demanded. "I have neither gold +nor goods, nor anything but three hundred men!" + +"Where are thy men?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Within an hour's ride," said the Kurd, "watching for the men who +come from Wassmuss." + +"You shall have back your hostages," said Ranjoor Singh, "when I and +my men set foot in Persia!" + +"How shall you reach Persia?" laughed the Kurd. "A thousand men ride +now to shut you off! Nay, give me the gold and my men, and ride back +whence you came!" + +Then it was Ranjoor Singh's turn to laugh. "Sikhs who are facing +homeward turn back for nothing less than duty!" he answered. "I +shall fight the thousand men that Wassmuss sends. If they conquer me +they will take the gold and your hostages as well." + +The Kurd looked amazed. Then he looked thoughtful. Then acquisitive- +-very acquisitive indeed. It seemed to me that he contemplated +fighting us first, before the Wassmuss men could come. But Ranjoor +Singh understood him better. That Kurd was no fool--only a savage, +with a great hunger in him to become powerful. + +"My men are seasoned warriors," said Ranjoor Singh, "and being men +of our word first and last, we are good allies. Has my brother a +suggestion?" + +"What if I help you into Persia?" said the Kurd. + +But Ranjoor Singh was wary. "Help me in what way?" he asked, and the +Kurd saw it was no use to try trickery. + +"What if I and my men fight beside you and yours, and so you win +through to Persia?" asked the Kurd. + +"As I said," said Ranjoor Singh, "you shall have back your hostages +on the day we set foot in Persia." + +"But the gold!" said the Kurd. "But the gold!" + +"Half of the gold you shall have on the third day after we reach +Persia," said Ranjoor Singh. + +Well, sahib, as to that they higgled and bargained for another hour, +Ranjoor Singh yielding little by little until at last the bargain +stood that the Kurd should have all the gold except one chest on the +seventh day after we reached Persia. Thus, the Kurds would be +obliged to give us escort well on our way. But the bargaining was +not over yet. It was finally agreed that after we reached Persia, +provided the Kurds helped us bravely and with good faith, on the +first day we would give them back their hostages; on the third day +we would give them Tugendheim, to trade with Wassmuss against the +Kurd's brother (thus keeping Ranjoor Singh's promise to Tugendheim +to provide for him in the end); on the fifth day we would give them +our Turkish officer prisoners, to trade with the Turks against +Kurdish prisoners; and on the seventh day we would give them the +gold and leave to go. We ate more bread and salt on that, and then I +went to tell the men. + +But I scarcely had time to tell them. Ranjoor Singh had out his map +when I left him, and he and the Kurd were poring over it, he tracing +with a finger and asking swift questions, and the Kurd with the aid +of Abraham trying to understand. Yet I had hardly told the half of +what I meant to say when Ranjoor Singh strode past me, and the Kurd +went galloping away between the boulders to warn his own men, +leaving us not only the hostages but the ten guides also. + +"Make ready to march at once--immediately--ek dum!" Ranjoor Singh +growled to me as he passed, and from that minute until we were away +and well among the hills I was kept too busy with details to do much +conjecturing. A body of soldiers with transport and prisoners, +wounded and sick, need nearly as much herding as a flock of sheep, +even after months of campaigning when each man's place and duty +should be second nature. Yet oh, it was different now. There was no +need now to listen for whisperings of treason! Now we knew who the +traitor had been all along--not Ranjoor Singh, who had done his best +from first to last, but Gooja Singh, who had let no opportunity go +by for defaming him and making trouble! + +"This for Gooja Singh when I set eyes on him!" said not one trooper +but every living man, licking a cartridge and slipping it into the +breech chamber as we started. + +We did not take the track up which the Kurdish chief had galloped, +but the ten guides led us by a dreadful route round almost the half +of a circle, ever mounting upward. When night fell we camped without +fires in a hollow among crags, and about midnight when the moon rose +there was a challenge, and a short parley, and a Kurd rode in with a +message from his chief for Ranjoor Singh. The message was verbal, +and had to be translated by Abraham, but I did not get to hear the +wording of it. I was on guard. + +"It is well," said Ranjoor Singh to me, when he went the rounds and +found me perched on a crag like a temple minaret, "they are keeping +faith. The Wassmuss men are in the pass below us, and our friends +deny them passage. At dawn there will be a fight and our friends +will probably give ground. Two hours before dawn we will march, and +come down behind the Wassmuss men. Be ready!" + +The sahib will understand now better what I meant by saying Anim +Singh has ears too big for his head. Because of his big ears, that +could detect a foot-fall in the darkness farther away than any of +us, he had been sent to share the guard with me, and now he came +looming up out of the night to share our counsels; for since the +news of Gooja Singh's defection there was no longer even a pretense +at awkwardness in approaching Ranjoor Singh. Anim Singh had been +among the first to fling distrust to the winds and to make the fact +evident. + +But into those great ears, during all our days and weeks and months +of marching, Gooja Singh had whispered--whispered. The things men +whisper to each other are like deeds done in the dark--like rats +that run in holes--put to shame by daylight. So Anim Singh came now, +and Ranjoor Singh repeated to him what he had just told me. Anim +Singh laughed. + +"Leave the Kurds to fight it out below, then!" said he. "While they +fight, let us eat up distance into Persia, gold and all!" + +Ranjoor Singh, with the night mist sparkling like jewels on his +beard, eyed him in silence for a minute. Then: + +"I give thee leave," he said, "to take as many men as share that +opinion, and to bolt for your skins into Persia or anywhither! The +rest of us will stay and keep the regiment's promise!" + +That was enough for Anim Singh. I have said he is a Sikh with a +soldier's heart. He wept, there on the ledge, where we three leaned, +and begged forgiveness until Ranjoor Singh told him curtly that +forgiveness came of deeds, not words. And his deeds paid the price +that dawn. He is a very good man with the saber, and the saber he +took from a Turkish officer was, weight and heft and length, the +very image of the weapon he was used to. Nay, who was I to count the +Kurds he slew. I was busy with my own work, sahib. + +The fight below us began before the earliest color of dawn flickered +along the heights. And though we started when the first rifle-shot +gave warning, hiding our plunder and mules among the crags in charge +of the Syrians, but taking Tugendheim with us, the way was so steep +and devious that morning came and found us worrying lest we come too +late to help our friends--even as once we had worried in the Red +Sea! + +But as we had come in the nick of time before, even so now. We +swooped all unexpected on the rear of the Wassmuss men, taking +ourselves by surprise as much as them, for we had thought the fight +yet miles away. Echoes make great confusion in the mountains. It was +echoes that had kept the Wassmuss men from hearing us, although we +made more noise than an avalanche of fighting animals. Straightway +we all looked for Wassmuss, and none found him, for the simple +reason that he was not there; a prisoner we took told us afterward +that Wassmuss was too valuable to be trusted near the border, where +he might escape to his own folk. There is no doubt Wassmuss was +prisoner among the Kurds,--nor any doubt either that he directs all +the uprising and raiding and disaffection in Kurdistan and Persia. +As Ranjoor Singh said of him--a remarkable man, and not to be +despised. + +Seeing no Wassmuss, it occurred to me at last to listen to orders! +Ranjoor Singh was shouting to me as if to burst his lungs. The Kurds +were fighting on foot, taking cover behind boulders, and he was +bidding me take my command and find their horses. + +I found them, sahib, within an ace of being too late. They had left +them in a valley bottom with a guard of but twenty or thirty men, +who mistook us at first for Kurds, I suppose, for they took no +notice of us. I have spent much time wondering whence they expected +mounted Kurds to come; but it is clear they were so sure of victory +for their own side that it did not enter their heads to suspect us +until our first volley dropped about half of them. + +Then the remainder began to try to loose the horses and gallop away, +and some of them succeeded; but we captured more than half the +horses and began at once to try to get them away into the hills. But +it is no easy matter to manage several hundred frightened horses +that were never more than half tamed in any case, and many of them +broke away from us and raced after their friends. Then I sent a +messenger in a hurry to Ranjoor Singh, to say the utmost had been +attempted and enough accomplished to serve his present purpose, but +the messenger was cut down by the first of a crowd of fugitive +Kurds, who seized his reins and fought among themselves to get his +horse. + +Seeing themselves taken in the rear, the Kurds had begun to fall +back in disorder, and had actually burst through our mounted ranks +in a wild effort to get to their own horses; for like ourselves, the +Kurds prefer to fight mounted and have far less confidence in +themselves on foot. Ranjoor Singh, with our men, all mounted, and +our Kurdish friends, were after them--although our friends were too +busy burdening themselves with the rifles and other belongings of +the fallen to render as much aid as they ought. to help, and glad I +was to have him. A brave good daffadar is Chatar Singh, and now that +all suspicion of our leader was weaned out of him, I could ask for +no better comrade on a dark night. Night did I say? That was a night +like death itself, when a man could scarcely see his own hand held +thus before his face--cold and rainy to make matters worse. + +We had two Kurds to show us the way, and, I suppose because our +enemies had had enough of it, we were not fired on once, going or +coming. Our train of mules clattered and stumbled and our Syrians +kept losing themselves and yelling to be found again. Weary men and +animals ever make more noise than fresh ones; frightened men more +than either, and we were so dead weary by the time we got back that +my horse fell under me by Ranjoor Singh's side. + +Of all the nights I ever lived through, except those last we spent +in the trench in Flanders before our surrender, that was the worst. +Hunger and cold and fear and weariness all wrought their worst with +me; yet I had to set an example to the men. My horse, as I have +told, fell beside Ranjoor Singh; he dragged me to my feet, and I +fell again, dizzy with misery and aching bones. Yet it was beginning +to be dawn then, and we had to be up and off again. Our dead were +buried; our wounded were bound up; the Kurds would be likely to +begin on us again at any minute; there was nothing to wait there +for. We left little fires burning above the long grave (for our men +had brought all our dead along with them, although our Kurdish +friends left theirs behind them) and I took one of the captured +horses, and Ranjoor Singh although we captured one apiece--which is +all a man can manage besides his own and a rifle. + +By that time it was three in the afternoon already and the pass +forked about a dozen different ways, so that we lost the Kurds at +last, they scattering to right and left and shooting at us at long +range from the crags higher up. We were all dead beat, and the +horses, too, so we rested, the Kurds continuing to fire at us, but +doing no damage. They fired until dusk. + +Our own three hundred Kurdish friends were not very far behind +Ranjoor Singh, and I observed when they came up with us presently +that he took up position down the pass behind them. They were too +fond of loot to be trusted between us and that gold! They were so +burdened with plunder that some of them could scarcely ride their +horses. Several had as many as three rifles each, and they had found +great bundles of food and blankets where the enemy's horses had been +tethered. Their plundering had cost them dear, for they had exposed +themselves recklessly to get what their eyes lusted for. They had +lost more than fifty men. But we had lost more than twenty killed, +and there was a very long tale of wounded, so that Ranjoor Singh +looked serious as he called the roll. The Greek doctor had to work +that night as if his own life depended on it--as in fact it did! We +made Tugendheim help him, for, like all German soldiers, he knew +something of first aid. + +Then, because the Kurds could not be trusted on such an errand, +Ranjoor Singh sent me back with fifty men to bring on the Syrians +and our mules and belongings, and the gold. He gave me Chatar Singh + +I left my horse, and climbed a rock, and looked for half a minute. +Then I knew what to do; and I wonder whether ever in the world was +such a running fight before. I had only lost one man; and it was +quite another matter driving the Kurds' horses up the valley in the +direction they wished to take, to attempting to drive them +elsewhere. Being mounted ourselves, we could keep ahead of the +retreating Kurds very easily, so we adopted the same tactics again +and again and again. + +First we drove the horses helter-skelter up the valley a mile or +two. Then we halted, and hid our own horses, and took cover behind +the rocks to wait for the Kurds; and as they came, making a good +running fight of it, dodging hither and thither behind the boulders +to try to pick off Ranjoor Singh's men, we would open fire on their +rear unexpectedly, thus throwing them into confusion again,--and +again,--and again. + +We opened fire always at too great distance to do much material +damage, I thinking it more important to preserve my own men's lives +and so to continue able to demoralize the Kurds, and afterward +Ranjoor Singh commended me for that. But I was also acutely aware of +the risk that our bullets might go past the Kurds and kill our own +Sikhs. I am not at all sure some accidents of that nature did not +happen. + +So when we had fired at the Kurds enough to make them face about and +so expose their rear to Ranjoor Singh, we would get to horse again +and send the Kurdish horses galloping up the pass in front of us. +Finally, we lost sight of most of the Kurdish horses, led on. I +slept on the march. Nay, I had no eyes for scenery just then! + +After that the unexpected, amazing, happened as it so often does in +war. We were at the mercy of any handful who cared to waylay us, for +the hillsides shut us in, and there was cover enough among the +boulders to have hidden a great army. It was true we had worsted the +Wassmuss men utterly; I think we slew at least half of them, and +doubtless that, and the loss of their horses, must have taken much +heart out of the rest. But we expected at least to be attacked by +friends of the men we had worsted--by mountain cutthroats, thieves, +and plunderers, any fifty of whom could have made our march +impossible by sniping us from the flanks. + +But nothing happened, and nobody attacked us. As we marched our +spirit grew. We began to laugh and make jokes about the enemy +hunting for lost horses and letting us go free. For two days we +rode, and camped, and slept a little, and rode on unmolested, +climbing ever forward to where we could see the peaks that our +friendly chief assured us were in Persia. For miles and miles and +everlasting miles it seemed the passes all led upward; but there +came a noon at last when we were able to feel, and even see--when at +least we knew in our hearts that the uphill work was over. We could +see other ranges, running in other directions, and mountains with +tree-draped sides. But chiefly it was our hearts that told us we +were really in sight of Persia at last. + +Then wounded and all gathered together, with Ranjoor Singh in the +midst of us, and sang the Anand, our Sikh hymn of joy, our Kurdish +friends standing by and wondering (not forgetting nevertheless to +watch for opportunity to snatch that gold and run!) + +And there, on the very ridge dividing Persia from Asiatic Turkey, it +was given to us to understand at last a little of the why and +wherefore of our marching unmolested. We came to a crack in a rock +by the wayside. And in the crack had been thrust, so that it stood +upright, a gnarled tree-trunk, carried from who knows how far. And +there, crucified to the dry wood was our daffadar Gooja Singh, with +his flesh all tortured and torture written in his open eyes--not +very long dead, for his flesh was scarcely cold--although the birds +had already begun on him. Who could explain that? We sat our horses +in a crowd, and gaped like fools! + +At last I said, "Leave him to the birds'." but Ranjoor Singh said +"Nay!" Ramnarain Singh, who had ever hated Gooja Singh for reasons +of his own, joined his voice to mine; and because they had no wish +to offend me the other daffadars agreed. But Ranjoor Singh rose into +a towering passion over what we said, naming me and Ramnarain Singh +in one breath as men too self-righteous to be trusted! + +"What proof have we against him?" he demanded. + +"Try him by court martial!" Ramnarain Singh screwed up courage to +answer. "Call for witnesses against him and hear them!" + +"Who can try a dead man by court martial?" Ranjoor Singh thundered +back. "He left us to go and be our hostage, for our safety--for the +safety of your ungrateful skins! He died a hostage, given by us to +savages. They killed him. Are ye worse savages than they? Which of +our dead lie dishonored anywhere? Have they not all had burning or +else burial? Are ye judges of the dead? Or are ye content to live +like men? Take him down, and lay him out for burial! His brother +daffadars shall dig his grave!" + +Aye, sahib. So he gave the order, and so we obeyed, saying no more, +but digging a trench for Gooja Singh with bayonets, working two +together turn and turn about, I, who had been all along his enemy, +doing the lion's share of the work and thinking of the talks he and +I had had, and the disputes. And here was the outcome! Aye. + +It was not a very deep trench but it served, and we laid him in it +with his feet toward India, and covered him, and packed the earth +down tight. Then we burned on the grave the tree to which he had +been crucified, and piled a great cairn of stone above him. There we +left him, on the roof of a great mountain that looks down on Persia. + +It was perhaps two hours, or it may have been three, after burying +Gooja Singh (we rode on in silence, thinking of him, our wounded +groaning now and then, but even the words of command being given by +sign instead of speech because none cared to speak) that we learned +the explanation, and more with it. + +We found a good place to camp, and proceeded to make it defensible +and to gather fuel. Then some of the women belonging to our Kurdish +friends overtook us, and with them a few of our Kurdish wounded and +some unwounded ones who had returned to glean again on the battle- +field. These brought with them two prisoners whom we set in the +midst, and then Abraham was set to work translating until his tongue +must have almost fallen out with weariness. Bit by bit, we pieced a +tale together that had reason in it and so brought us understanding. + +Our first guess had been right; the Turks had already sent (some +said a full division) to wreak vengeance for our plundering of the +gold. The Kurds of those parts, who fight among themselves like wild +beasts, nevertheless will always stand together to fight Turks; +therefore those who had been attacking us were now behind us with +thousands of other Kurds from the tribes all about, waiting to +dispute the passes with the common enemy. They considered us an +insignificant handful, to be dealt with later on. The women said the +battle had not begun; and the prisoners bade our Kurds swallow +tribal enmity and hurry to do their share! The chief listened to +them, saying nothing. Has the sahib ever watched a savage thinking +while lust drew him one way and pride another? Truly an interesting +sight! + +But the rest of the men were too interested to learn the reason of +Gooja Singh's torture and death to care for the workings of a +Kurdish chief's conscience. They crowded closer and closer, +interrupting with shouted questions and bidding each other be still. +So Ranjoor Singh said a word to Abraham and he changed the line of +questioning. The truth was soon out. + +Gooja Singh, it seemed, probably not believing we had one chance in +a million, decided to contrive safety for himself. So with one Kurd +to help him, he escaped in the night, and went and found Wassmuss in +a Kurdish village in the mountains. He told Wassmuss who we were, +and whence we were, and what we intended. So Wassmuss (who must be a +very remarkable man indeed), although a prisoner, exerted so much +persuasion forthwith that three hundred Kurds consented to escort +the party of Germans there and then to Afghanistan. He promised them +I know not what reward, but the point is they consented, and within +eight hours of Gooja Singh's arrival the German party was on its +way. + +Then Wassmuss sent the thousand Kurds to deal with us; but, as I +have told, we beat them. And that made the Kurds who held Wassmuss +prisoner extremely angry with Gooja Singh; so they made him +prisoner, too. And then, by signal and galloper and shouts from crag +to crag came word that the Turks were marching in force to invade +the mountains, and instantly they turned on Gooja Singh and would +have torn him in pieces for being a spy of the Turks, sent on ahead +to prepare the way. But some cooler head than the rest urged to put +him to the torture, and they agreed. + +Whether or not Gooja Singh declared under torture that we were Turks +we could not get to know, but it is certain that the Kurds decided +we were Turks, whatever Wassmuss swore to the contrary; and +doubtless he swore furiously! And because they believed us to be +Turks, they let us be for the present, sure that we would try to +make our way back if they could keep the main Turkish forces from +regaining touch with us. And Gooja Singh they presently crucified in +a place where we would almost surely see him, thinking thus to +surprise us with the information that all was known, and to frighten +us into a state of comparative harmlessness--a favorite Kurdish +trick. + +That did not account for everything. It did not account for our +victory over Turks in the hail-storm and our plunder of the Turks' +camp and capture of the gold. But none had seen that raid because of +the storm, and the spies who had said they talked with our men in +the night were now disbelieved. Our presence in the hills and Gooja +Singh's escape was all set down to Turkish trickery; and doubtless +they did not believe we truly had gold with us, or they would have +detached at least a party to follow us up and keep in touch. + +The clearest thing of all that the disjointed scraps of tale +betrayed was that we were in luck! If the Kurds believed us to be +Turks, they were likely to let us wander at will, if only for the +very humor and sport of hunting us down when we should try to break +back. "No need to waste more labor setting this camp to rights!" +said I. "We shall rest a little and be up and away again!" And the +wounded groaned, and some objected, but I proved right. Ranjoor +Singh was no man to study comfort when opportunity showed itself. We +rested two hours, and during those two hours our friend the Kurdish +chief made tip his mind, and he and Ranjoor Singh struck a new +bargain. + +"Give me the gold!" said he. "Keep the hostages and ten of my men to +guide you, and send them back when you are two days into Persia. I +go to fight against the Turks!" + +Well, they bargained, and bargained. Ranjoor Singh offered him his +choice of a chest of gold then and there, or four-fifths of the +whole in Persia; and in the end he agreed to take three chests of +gold then and there, and to leave us the hostages and thirty men to +see us on our way. "For," said Ranjoor Singh, "how should the +hostages and my prisoners return to you safely otherwise?" + +So we kept two chests of gold, and found them right useful +presently. And we said good-by to him and his men, and put out our +own fires and rode eastward. And of the next few days there is +nothing to tell except furious marching and very little sleep--nor +much to eat either. + +Once we were well into Persia we bought food right and left, paying +fabulous prices for it with gold from our looted chests. Here and +there we traded a plundered rifle for a new horse, sometimes two new +horses. Here and there a wounded man would die and we would burn his +body (for now there was fuel in plenty). Day after day, night after +night, Ranjoor Singh kept in the saddle, hunting tirelessly for news +of the party of Germans on ahead of us. Their track was clear as +daylight, and on the fifth day (or was it the sixth) after we +entered Persia he learned at last that we were only a day or two +behind them. Like us, they were in a hurry; but unlike us, they had +no Ranjoor Singh to force the pace and do the scouting, so that for +all their long lead we were overtaking them. + +Like us, they seemed wary of the public eye, for they followed +lonely routes among the wooded foothills; but their Kurdish horsemen +left a track no blind man could have missed, and although they +plundered a little as they went, they spent gold, too, like water, +so that the villagers were in a strange mood. Most of the plundering +was done by their Kurdish escort who, it seemed, kept returning to +steal the money paid by the Germans for provisions. Sometimes when +we offered gold we would be mocked. But on the whole, we began to +have an easy time of it--all but the wounded, who suffered tortures +from the pace we held. We secured some carts at one village and put +our wounded in them, but the carts were springless, and there were +no roads at all, so that it was better in those days to be a dead +man than a sick or wounded one! There was no malingering! + +After a few days (I forget how many, for who can remember all the +days and distances of that long march?) Abraham got word of a great +Christian mission station where thousands of Christians had sought +safety under the American flag. He and his Syrians elected to try +their fortune there, and we let them go, all of us saluting Abraham, +for he was a good brave man, fearful, but able to overcome his fear, +and intelligent far beyond the ordinary. We let the Syrians take +their rifles and some ammunition with them, because Abraham said +they might be called on perhaps to help defend the mission. + +Not long after that, we let our Kurds go, giving up our Turkish +officer prisoners and Tugendheim as well. We all knew by that time +what our final goal was, and Tugendheim begged to be allowed to go +with us all the way. But Ranjoor Singh refused him. + +"I promised you to the Kurd, and the Kurd will trade you to Wassmuss +against his brother," he said. "Tell Wassmuss whatever lies you +like, and make your peace with your own folk however you can. Here +is your paper back." + +Tugendheim took the paper. (You remember, sahib, he had signed a +receipt in conjunction with the Turkish mate and captain of that +ship in which we escaped from Stamboul.) Well, he took the paper +back, and burned it in the little fire by which I was sitting facing +Ranjoor Singh. + +"Let me go with you!" he urged. "It will be rope or bullet for me if +ever I get back to Germany!" + +"Nevertheless," said Ranjoor Singh, "I promised to deliver you to +Wassmuss when we made you prisoner in the first place. I must keep +my word to you!" + +"I release you from your word to me!" said Tugendheim. + +"And I promised you to the Kurdish chief." + +"The Kurdish chief?" said Tugendheim. "What of him? What of it? Why, +why, why--he is a savage--scarcely human--not to be weighed in the +scales against a civilized man! What does such a promise as that +amount to?" And he stood tugging at his mustaches as if he would +tear them out. + +"I have some gold left," said Ranjoor Singh, when he was sure +Tugendheim had no more to say, "and I had seriously thought of +buying you for gold from these Kurds. There may be one of them who +would take on himself the responsibility of speaking for his chief. +But since you hold my given word so light as that I must look more +nearly to my honor. Nay, go with the Kurds, Sergeant Tugendheim!" + +Tugendheim made a great wail. He begged for this, and he begged for +that. He begged us to give him a letter to Wassmuss explaining that +we had compelled him by threats of torture. He begged for gold. And +Ranjoor Singh gave him a little gold. Some of us put in a word for +him, for on that long journey he had told many a tale to make us +laugh. He had suffered with us. He had helped us more than a little +by drilling the Syrians, and often his presence with us had saved +our skins by convincing Turkish scouts of our bona fides. We thought +of Gooja Singh, and had no wish that Tugendheim should meet a like +fate. So, perhaps because we all begged for him, or perhaps because +he so intended in the first place, Ranjoor Singh relented. + +"The Persians hereabouts," he said, "all tell me that a great +Russian army will come down presently from the north. Have I heard +correctly that you meditated escape into Russia?" + +Tugendheim answered, "How should I reach Russia?" + +"That is thy affair!" said Ranjoor Singh. "But here is more gold," +and he counted out to him ten more golden German coins. "You must +ride back with these Kurds, but I have no authority over them. They +are not my men. They seem to like gold more than most things." + +So Tugendheim ceased begging for himself and rode away rather +despondently in the midst of the Kurds; and we followed about a day +and a half behind the German party with their strange box-full of +machinery. There were many of us who could talk Persian, and as we +stopped in the villages to beg or buy curdled milk, and as we +rounded up the cattle-herdsmen and the women by the wells, we heard +many strange and wonderful stories about what the engine in that box +could do. I observed that Ranjoor Singh looked merry-eyed when the +wildest stories reached him; but we all began to reflect on the +disastrous consequences of letting such crafty people reach +Afghanistan. For, as doubtless the sahib knows, the amir of +Afghanistan has a very great army; and if he were to decide that the +German side is after all the winning one he might make very much +trouble for the government of India. + +And now there was no longer any doubt that the machine slung in the +box between two mules was a wireless telegraph, and that most of the +other mules were loaded with accessories. The tales we heard could +not be made to tally with any other explanation. And what, said we, +was to prevent the Germans in Stamboul from signaling whatever lies +they could invent to this party in Afghanistan, supposing they +should ever reach the country? Yet when we argued thus with Ranjoor +Singh, he laughed. + +And then, after about a week of marching, came Tugendheim back to +us, ragged and thirsty and nearly dead, on a horse more dead than +he. He had bought himself free from the Kurds with the gold Ranjoor +Singh gave him; but because he had no more gold the Persians had +refused to feed him. "How should he find his way alone to meet the +Russians," he said, "whose scouts would probably shoot him on sight +in any case?" So we laughed, and let him rest among our wounded and +be one of us,--aye, one of us; for who were we to turn him away to +starve? He had served us well, and he served us well again. + +Has the sahib heard of Bakhtiari Khans? They are people as fierce as +Kurds, who live like the Kurds by plundering. The Germans ahead of +us, doubtless because Persia is neutral in this war and therefore +they had no conceivable right to be crossing the country, chose a +route that avoided all towns and cities of considerable size. And +Persia seems to have no army any more, so that there was no official +opposition. But the Bakhtiari Khans received word of what was doing, +and after that there were new problems. But for the fact that +Tugendheim was with us in his ragged German uniform we should have +had more trouble than we did. + +At first the Khans were content with blackmail, holding up the +Germans at intervals and demanding money. But I suppose that finally +their money all gave out, and then the Kahns put threats into +practise. But before actual skirmishing began the Khans would come +to us, after getting money from the Germans, and it was only the +fact that we had Tugendheim to show that convinced them we belonged +to the party ahead. Ranjoor Singh claimed that our transit fee had +been paid for us already, and the Khans did not deny it. + +But they caught up the Germans again and demanded money from them +because of us who were following, and I have laughed many a time to +think of the predicament that put them in. For could they deny all +knowledge of us? In that case they might he denying useful allies in +their hour of need. If the Bakhtiari Khans should annihilate us +their own fate would not be likely to tremble in the balance very +long. Yet if they admitted knowledge of us, what might that not lead +to? And how was it possible for them to know really who we were in +any case? + +Finally, they sent one of their Kurdish servants back to find us and +ask questions. And to him we showed Tugendheim, and spoke to him at +great length in Persian, of which he understood very little; so that +when he overtook his own party again (if he ever did, for the Khans +were on the prowl and very cruel and savage), they may have been +more in the dark about us than ever. + +At last the Bakhtiari Khans began guerrilla warfare, and the Kurds +who were escorting the Germans retaliated by burning and plundering +the villages by which they passed--which incensed the Khans yet +more, because they did not belong to that part of Persia and had +counted on the plunder for themselves. From time to time we caught a +Bakhtiari Khan, and though they spoke poor Persian, some of us could +understand them. They explained that the Persian government, being +very weak, made use of them to terrorize whatever section of the +country seemed rebellious--surely a sad way to govern a land! + +There were not very many of the Khans. They are used to raiding in +parties of thirty to fifty, or perhaps a hundred. I think there were +not many more of them than of the German party and us combined; and +at that the Bakhtiari Khans were all divided into independent +troops. So that the danger was not so serious as it seemed. But +guerrilla warfare is very trying to the nerves, and if we had not +had Ranjoor Singh to lead us we should have failed in the end; for +we were fighting in a strange land, with no base to fall back on and +nothing to do but press forward. + +The Kurds, too, who escorted the Germans, began to grow sick of it. +Little parties of them began to pass us on their way home, giving us +a wide berth, but passing close enough, nevertheless, to get some +sort of protection from our proximity, and the numbers of those +parties grew and grew until we laughed at the thought of what +anxiety the Germans must be suffering. Yet Ranjoor Singh grew +anxious, too, for the Khans grew bolder. It began to look as if +neither Germans nor we would ever reach half-way to the Afghan +border. Ranjoor Singh was the finest leader men could have, but we +were being sniped eternally, men falling wounded here and there +until scarcely one of us but had a hurt of some kind--to say nothing +of our sick. Men grew sick from bad food, and unaccustomed food, and +hard riding and exposure. Our little Greek doctor took sick and +died, and we had nothing but ignorance left with which to treat our +ailments. We began to be a sorry-looking regiment indeed. +Nevertheless, the ignorance helped, for at least we did not know how +serious our wounds were. I myself received one bullet that passed +through both ankles, and it is not likely I shall ever walk again +without a limp. Yet if I can ride what does that matter so long as +the government has horses? And if a man limps in both feet wherein +is he the loser? Mine was a slight wound compared to some of them. +We had come to a poor pass, but Ranjoor Singh's good sense saved the +day again. + +There came a day when the Bakhtiari Khans gave us a terrible last +attention and then left us--as it turned out for good (although we +did not know then it was for good). We watched their dust as their +different troops gathered together and rode away southward. I +suppose they had received word of better opportunity for plunder +somewhere else; they took little but hard knocks from us, and +doubtless any change was welcome. When we had seen the last of them, +and had watched the vultures swoop down on a horse they had left +behind, we took new heart and rode on; and it so happened that the +Germans chose that occasion for a rest. Their dwindling Kurdish +escort was growing mutinous and they took advantage of a village +with high mud walls to get behind cover and try to reestablish +confidence. Perhaps they, too, saw the Bakhtiari Khans retiring in +the distance, for we were close behind them at that time--so close +that even with tired horses we came on them before they could man +the village wall. We knocked a hole in the wall and had a good wide +breach established in no time, to save ourselves trouble in case the +gates should prove too strongly held; and leaving Anim Singh posted +in the breach with his troop, Ranjoor Singh sent a trooper with a +white flag to the main gate. + +After ten or fifteen minutes the German commanding officer rode out, +also with a white flag, and not knowing that Ranjoor Singh knew +German, he spoke English. (Tugendheim had taken his tunic off and-- +all sweaty and trembling had hidden behind the ranks disguised with +a cloth tied about his head.) I sat my horse beside Ranjoor Singh, +so I heard all. + +"Persia is neutral territory!" said the German. + +"Are you, then, neutral?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Are you?" asked the German. He was a handsome bullet-headed man +with a bold eye, and I knew that to browbeat or trick him would be +no easy matter. Nevertheless he still had so many Kurds at his back +that I doubted our ability to get the better of him in a fight, +considering our condition. + +"I could be neutral if I saw fit," answered Ranjoor Singh, and the +German's eyes glittered. + +"If you are neutral, ride on then!" he laughed. I saw his eye teeth. +It was a mean laugh. + +"What are you doing here?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Minding my business," said the German pointedly. + +"Then I will mind mine and investigate," said Ranjoor Singh, and he +turned to me as if to give an order, at which the German changed his +tactics in a hurry. + +"My business is simple," said the German. "Perfectly simple and +perfectly neutral. We have a wireless installation with us. It is +all ready to set up in this village. In a few moments we shall be +receiving messages from Europe, and then we shall inform the +inhabitants of these parts how matters stand. As neutrals they are +entitled to that information." Their eyes met, each seeking to read +the other's mind, and the German misunderstood, as most Germans I +have met do misunderstand. + +"Before we can receive a message we shall send one," said the +German. "Before I came out to meet you, I gave the order to get in +touch with Constantinople and signal this: That we are being +interfered with and our lives are endangered on neutral territory by +troops belonging to British India, and therefore that all British +Indian prisoners-of-war in Germany should be made hostages for our +safety. That means," he went on, "that unless we signal every day +that all is well, a number of your countrymen in Germany +corresponding to the number of my party will be lined up against a +wall and shot." + +"So that message has been sent?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"Yes," said the German. + +"Then send this message also," said Ranjoor Singh: "That the end has +certainly come. Then close up your machine because unless you wish +to fight for your existence there will be no more messages sent or +received by you between here and Afghanistan." + +I thought that a strange message for Ranjoor Singh to bid him send. +I did not believe that one of us, however weary, was willing to +accept relief at the price of our friends' lives. Nevertheless, I +said nothing, having learned it is not wise to draw too swift +conclusions when Ranjoor Singh directs the strategy. + +But the German evidently thought so, too, for his eyes looked +startled, and I took comfort from that. + +"I understand you wish to reach Afghanistan?" asked Ranjoor Singh. + +"That is our eventual destination," said the German. + +"Very well," said Ranjoor Singh. "Pack up your machine. Then I will +permit your journey to the Afghan border, unhampered by me, on two +conditions." + +"What two conditions?" asked the German. + +"That your machine shall remain packed up until you reach +Afghanistan, and that your doctor shall divide his services until +then equally between your men and mine." + +"And after that, what?" asked the German. + +"I have nothing to do with Afghanistan," said Ranjoor Singh. "Keep +the bargain and you are free as far as I am concerned to do what you +like when you get there." + +So we had a doctor again at last, for the German agreed to the +terms. Not one of us but needed medical aid, and the men were too +glad to have their hurts attended, to ask very many questions; but +they were certainly surprised, and suspicious of the new +arrangement, and I did not dare tell them what I had overheard for +fear lest suspicion of Ranjoor Singh be reawakened. I refused even +to tell the other daffadars, which caused some slight estrangement +between them and me. However, Ranjoor Singh was as conscious of that +risk as I, and during all the rest of the long march he kept their +camp and ours, their column and ours half an hour's ride apart-- +sometimes even farther--sometimes half a day apart, to the disgust +of the doctor, who had that much more trouble, but with the result +of preventing greater friction. + +To tell of all that journey across Persia would be but to remember +weariness--weariness of horse and men. Sometimes we were attacked; +more often we were run away from. We grew sick, our wounds festered +and our hearts ached. Horses died and the vultures ate them. Men +died, and we buried or burned their bodies according or not as we +had fuel. We dried, as it were, like the bone-dry trail we followed, +and only Ranjoor Singh's heart was stout; only he was brave; only he +had a song on his lips. He coaxed us, and cheered us, and rallied +us. The strength of the regiment was but his strength, and as for +the other party, who hung on our flank, or lagged behind us or +preceded us by half a day, their Kurds deserted by fives and tens +until there was scarcely a corporal's guard remaining. + +They must have been as weary as we, and as glad as we when at last +at the end of a long drawn afternoon, we saw an Afghan sentry. + +Has the sahib ever seen an Afghan sentry? + +This one was gray and old and sat on his gray pony like a huddled +ape with a tattered umbrella over his shoulder and his rifle across +his knees. He looked less like a sentry than like a dead man dug up +and set there to scare the birds away. But he was efficient, no +doubt of that. He had seen us and passed on word of us the minute we +showed on the sky-line, and the hills all about him were full of +armed men waiting to give us a hot reception if necessary and to bar +farther progress in any case. + +So there we had to camp, just over the Afghan border, but farther +apart from the Germans than ever--two, three miles apart, for now it +became Ranjoor Singh's policy to know nothing whatever about them. +The Afghans provided us with rations and sent us one of their own +doctors dressed in the uniform of a tram-car conductor, and their +highest official in those parts, whose rank I could not guess +because he was arrayed in the costume of a city of London policeman, +asked innumerable questions, first of Ranjoor Singh and then of each +of us individually. But we conferred together, and stuck to one +point, that we knew nothing. Ranjoor Singh did not know better than +we. The more he asked the more dumb we became until, perhaps with a +view to loosing our tongues, the Afghans who mingled among us in the +camp began telling what the Germans were saying and doing on the +rise two miles away. + +They had their machine set up, said they. They were receiving +messages, said they, with this wonderful wireless telegraph of +theirs. They kept receiving hourly news of disasters to the Allied +arms by land and sea. And we were fearfully disturbed about all +this, because we knew how important it must be for India's safety +that Afghanistan continue neutral. And why should such savages +continue neutral if they were once persuaded that the winning side +was that of the Central Powers? Nevertheless, Ranjoor Singh +continued to grow more and more contented, and I wondered. Some of +the men began to murmur. + +In that camp we remained, if I rightly remember, six days. And then +came word from Habibullah Kahn, the Afghan amir, that we might draw +nearer Khabul. So, keeping our distance from the Germans, we helped +one another into the saddle (so weak most of us were by that time) +and went forward three days' march. Then we camped again, much +closer to the Germans this time, in fact, almost within shouting +distance; and they again set up their machine, causing sparks to +crackle from the wires of a telescopic tower they raised, to the +very great concern of the Afghans who were in and out of both camps +all day long. One message that an Afghan told me the Germans had +received, was that the British fleet was all sunk and Paris taken. +But that sort of message seemed to me familiar, so that I was not so +depressed by it as my Afghan informant had hoped. He went off to +procure yet more appalling news to bring me, and no doubt was +accommodated. I should have had burning ears, but that about that +time, their amir came, Habibullah Kahn, looking like a European in +his neatly fitting clothes, but surrounded by a staff of officers +dressed in greater variety of uniforms than one would have believed +to exist. He had brought with him his engineers to view this +wonderful machine, but before approaching either camp--perhaps to +show impartiality--he sent for the German chief and one, and for +Ranjoor Singh and one. So, since the German took his doctor, Ranjoor +Singh took me, he and I both riding, and the amir graciously +excusing me from dismounting when I had made him my salaam and he +had learned the nature of the wound. + +After some talk, the amir asked us bluntly whence we came and what +our business might be, and Ranjoor Singh answered him we were +escaped prisoners of war. Then he turned on the German, and the +German told him that because the British had seen fit to cut off +Afghanistan from all true news of what was happening in the world +outside, therefore the German government, knowing well the open mind +and bravery and wisdom of the amir and his subjects, had sent +himself at very great trouble and expense to receive true messages +from Europe and so acquaint with the true state of affairs a ruler +and people with whom Germany desired before all things to be on +friendly terms. + +After that we all went down in a body--perhaps a hundred men, with +the amir at our head, to the German camp; and there the German and +his officers displayed the machine to the amir, who, with a dozen of +his staff around him, appeared more amused than astonished. + +So the Germans set their machine in motion. The sparks made much +crackling from the wires, at which the amir laughed aloud. Presently +the German chief read off a message from Berlin, conveying the +kaiser's compliments to his highness, the amir. + +"Is that message from Berlin?" the amir asked, and I thought I heard +one of his officers chuckle. + +"Yes, Your Highness," said the German officer. + +"Is it not relayed from anywhere?" the amir asked, and the German +stared at him swiftly--thus, as if for the first time his own +suspicion were aroused. + +"From Stamboul, Your Highness--relayed from Stamboul," he said, as +one who makes concessions. + +The amir chuckled softly to himself and smiled. + +"These are my engineers," said he, "all college trained. They tell +me our wireless installation at Khabul, which connects us through +Simla with Calcutta and the world beyond, is a very good one, yet it +will only reach to Simla, although I should say it is a hundred +times as large as yours, and although we have an enormous dynamo to +give the energy as against your box of batteries." + +The Germans, who were clustered all about their chief, kept straight +faces, but their eyes popped round and their mouths grew stiff with +the effort to suppress emotion. + +"This, Your Highness, is the last new invention," said the German +chief. + +"Then my engineers shall look at it," said the amir, "for we wish to +keep abreast of the inventions. As you remarked just now, we are a +little shut off from the world. We must not let slip such +opportunities for education." And then and there he made his +engineers go forward to inspect everything, he scarce concealing his +merriment; and the Germans stood aside, looking like thieves caught +in the act while the workings were disclosed of such a wireless +apparatus as might serve to teach beginners. + +"It might serve perhaps between one village and the next, while the +batteries persisted," they said, reporting to the amir presently. +The amir laughed, but I thought he looked puzzled-perplexed, rather +than displeased. He turned to Ranjoor Singh: + +"And you are a liar, too?" he asked. + +"Nay, Your Royal Highness, I speak truth," said Ranjoor Singh, +saluting him in military manner. + +"Then what do you wish?" asked the amir. "Do you wish to be +interned, seeing this is neutral soil on which you trespass?" + +"Nay, Your Royal Highness," answered Ranjoor Singh, with a curt +laugh, "we have had enough of prison camps." + +"Then what shall be done with you?" the amir asked. "Here are men +from both sides, and how shall I be neutral?" + +The German chief stepped forward and saluted. + +"Your Royal Highness, we desire to be interned," he said. But the +amir glowered savagely. + +"Peace!" said he. "I asked you nothing, one string of lies was +enough! I asked thee a question," he said, turning again to Ranjoor +Singh. + +"Since Your Royal Highness asks," said Ranjoor Singh, "it would be a +neutral act to let us each leave your dominions by whichever road we +will!" + +The amir laughed and turned to his attendants, who laughed with him. + +"That is good," said he. "So let it be. It is an order!" + +So it came about, sahib, that the Germans and ourselves were ordered +hotfoot out of the amir's country. But whereas there was only one +way the Germans could go, viz, back into Persia, there to help +themselves as best they could, the road Ranjoor Singh chose was +forward to the Khyber Pass, and so down into India. + +Aye, sahib, down into India! It was a long road, but the Afghans +were very kind to us, providing us with food and blankets and giving +some of us new horses for our weary ones, and so we came at last to +Landi Kotal at the head of the Khyber, where a long-legged English +sahib heard our story and said "Shabash!" to Ranjoor Singh--that +means "Well done!" And so we marched down the Khyber, they signaling +ahead that we were coming. We slept at Ali Mas jib because neither +horses nor men could move another yard, but at dawn next day we were +off again. And because they had notice of our coming, they turned +out the troops, a division strong, to greet us, and we took the +salute of a whole division as we had once taken the salute of two in +Flanders, Ranjoor Singh sitting his charger like a graven image, and +we--one hundred three-and-thirty men and the prisoner Tugendheim, +who had left India eight hundred strong-reeling in the saddle from +sickness and fatigue while a roar went up in Khyber throat such as I +scarcely hope to hear again before I die. Once in a lifetime, sahib, +once is enough. They had their bands with them. The same tune burst +on our ears that had greeted us that first night of our charge in +Flanders, and we--great bearded men--we wept like little ones. They +played IT IS A LONG, LONG WAY TO TIPPERARY. + +Then because we were cavalry and entitled to the same, they gave us +BONNIE DUNDEE and the horses cantered to it; but some of us rolled +from the saddle in sheer weakness. Then we halted in something like +a line, and a general rode up to shake hands with Ranjoor Singh and +to say things in our tongue that may not be repeated, for they were +words from heart to heart. And I remember little more, for I, too, +swooned and fell from the saddle. + +The shadows darkened and grew one into another. Hira Singh sat +drawing silently in the dust, with his injured feet stretched out in +front of him. A monkey in the giant tree above us shook down a +little shower of twigs and dirt. A trumpet blared. There began much +business of closing tents and reducing the camp to superhuman +tidiness. + +"So, sahib," he said at last, "they come to carry me in. It is time +my tale is ended. Ranjoor Singh they have made bahadur. God grant +him his desire! May my son be such a man as he, when his day comes. + +"Me! They say I shall be made commissioned officer--the law is +changed since this great war began. Yet what did I do compared to +what Ranjoor Singh did? Each is his own witness and God alone is +judge. Does the sahib know what this war is all about? + +"I believe no two men fight for the same thing. It is a war in each +man's heart, each man fighting as the spirit moves him. So, they +come for me. Salaam, sahib. Bohut salaam. May God grant the sahib +peace. Peace to the sahib's grandsons and great-grandsons. With each +arm thus around a trooper's neck will the sahib graciously excuse me +from saluting?" + +THE END + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Hira Singh, by Talbot Mundy + diff --git a/old/hrsng10.zip b/old/hrsng10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d14099 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hrsng10.zip |