* 
 
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 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR
 
 A FREELANCE IN 
 KASHMIR 
 
 A TALE OF THE GREAT ANARCHT 
 
 BY 
 
 LIEUT.-COLONEL G, F. MAcMUNN, D.S.O. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "ARMIES OF INDIA" AND "PIKE AND CARRONADE" 
 
 LONDON 
 SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE 
 
 (All rights reserved)
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED 
 LONDON AND BECCLES
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE following romance is a story of the latter days of 
 " The Great Anarchy," a name which has been given 
 to the years following the death of the Emperor 
 Aurangzebe and the dismemberment of the Mogul 
 Empire to the bringing of peace to a distracted country 
 by the rise of the English. In 1707 died Aurangzebe, 
 the last of the great Emperors of Delhi. From that 
 date the Empire crumbled as province after province 
 fell away and one upstart after another tried to rule 
 the puppet throne. Ever from the North, Persian and 
 Afghan poured into the land, and the whole of Hin- 
 dostan became a vast camp, in which each and all 
 fought for his own hand, and the unhappy peasantry 
 never knew who would reap the crops they had sown and 
 tended. The last fifty years of the eighteenth century 
 saw a small host of Europeans take service with the 
 various contending chiefs, and even carve principalities 
 for themselves. They organized the forces of chiefs on 
 European lines, and contended with one another in 
 opposing ranks. English, French, American, Italian, 
 and Dutch, from runaway sailor to refugee Chevalier, 
 their histories are packed with romance, adventure, 
 and tragedy. Just before Lord Lake and General 
 Arthur Wellesley crushed the power of the great 
 Maratha usurpers of the Mogul throne, and broke up 
 the Maratha Confederacy, the Savoyard De Boigne in 
 the service of the Maharajah Scindiah had organized a
 
 vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 large force on the Company's model. He had formed 
 an officer's cadre with even a cadet service, recruited 
 from Europeans of many races. The half-breed 
 children of English officials and their Indian wives 
 found a career in this service, notably James Skinner, 
 the famous " old Sikander." Among the " freelances " 
 as they were called were the Skinners, De Boigne, 
 Perron, the Chevalier Dudrenac, George Thomas of 
 Hansi, Walter Reinhart, nicknamed Sombre (corrupted 
 into Somru), Hyder Hearsey, and many another, while 
 in somewhat later days there were the officers in the 
 service of Runjeet Singh, of whom Avitabile, Allard 
 Ventura and Van Cortland were the best known. 
 
 To the fascination of the days of the Freelance 
 proper, i.e. the last decades of the eighteenth century, 
 must be added the traces of the Christian tradition, 
 the strange legend of the Tomb of Christ in Kashmir, 
 and the initials of the Cross on the Kashmir rupee, 
 born of Jesuit travel. Behind, and yet mingling with 
 this again, the Afghan origin, the descent from Saul, 
 the tomb of the prophet Lamech with that curious 
 and almost modern report of the presence of "Dan 
 and the half of Manassah " in Bactria, with all the 
 hint of Judaism that it involves. Then as a back- 
 ground to it all the ever-green memory, in village 
 mouths to this day, of the great coming of Alexander 
 of Macedon. 
 
 India is full of so much that strikes old broken 
 chords to memory. 
 
 " Some arms deep rusted, an old-world rhyme, 
 A broken idol, a ruined fane." 
 
 G. F. M. 
 
 September, 1914.
 
 GAZETTEER AND GLOSSARY 
 
 Abdalli . . Another name for the Duranni race. 
 Amamath . . Caves in the Liddar Valley in Kashmir. 
 Baltistan . . A mountain district north of Kashmir. 
 Badakshan . A province in Central Asia, Afghanistan. 
 Begum . . A Muhammadan lady's title (fern, of Beg). 
 Ben-i-Israel . Children of Israel, a title claimed by the 
 
 Duranni tribes. 
 Bij Biharas . An old Mogul garden in the Jhelum in 
 
 Kashmir. 
 
 Birmal . . A district in Afghanistan south of Ghuzni. 
 Black Mountain A mass of mountains east of Peshawur and 
 
 south of the Indus. 
 Burzil . . A pass leading from Kashmir to the Gilgit 
 
 province. 
 
 Chib . . A Rajpoot tribe of the Punjab hills. 
 Chilas . . A village and district on the Indus above the 
 
 Black Mountain. 
 Cheneni . . A small Rajpoot state and town in the Pir 
 
 Panjal. 
 Churel . . The ghost of a woman who had died at 
 
 childbirth. 
 
 Cossid . . A mounted messenger. 
 Dardistan . . The country of the Dards, north of Kashmir. 
 Darel . , A wild mountain district north of the 
 
 Indus, and west of Gilgit. 
 Duranni . . The name of the ruling race in Afghanistan.
 
 Vlll 
 
 GAZETTEEE AND GLOSSARY 
 
 Dole . . .A long Afghan drum. 
 
 Euzufzai . . The Sons of Joseph ; a group of tribes in the 
 
 mountains about Peshawur. 
 Gargabal . . A sacred lake near Haramukh. 
 Gilgit . . A town and province between Kashmir and 
 
 the Pamirs. 
 
 Ghazi . . A fanatical swordsman. 
 Ghor V .A mountainous district of Southern Afghani- 
 stan. 
 
 Gurais . . A beautiful valley and village in Kashmir. 
 Hazara . . A district near the Black Mountain ; also a 
 
 Mongol race in Afghanistan. 
 Hara-mukh . A mountain in Kashmir. 
 Hari Parbat . A fortified hill overlooking Srinagar. 
 Huqa . . An Eastern pipe, or bubble bubble. 
 Huzoor . . Lit. " Presence." A title of respect. 
 Jaghir . . Land granted in perpetuity on the feudal 
 
 system. 
 
 Jezail . . An Afghan matchlock. 
 Jhok . . A homestead. 
 Jihad . . A religious war of Islam. 
 Jirgah . . The representative assembly of tribal 
 
 elders. 
 
 Jo wan . . A young man. 
 Kafila . . A caravan. 
 Kamri . . A pass in Kashmir alternative to the 
 
 Burzil. 
 
 Kanzilwan . A village at the foot of the Kamri pass. 
 Kazilbash -.' Persians settled in Afghanistan. 
 Kabab . . Lumps of meat cooked on a skewer. 
 Kala Taka . Black Mountain. 
 Kasid or Cossid A mounted messenger. 
 Karewa . . An alluvial plateau in Kashmir through 
 
 which a river has cut its bed. 
 Khagan . . A valley in the mountains west of Kashmir.
 
 GAZETTEER AND GLOSSARY 
 
 IX 
 
 Khagwani . 
 Khassadar 
 KMstwar . 
 Kirri. 
 
 Kishengunga 
 Eommadan 
 Lascar 
 Lashkar . 
 Lolab . 
 
 Malik 
 
 Mhanji 
 
 Mogul 
 
 Mooltan . 
 
 Moolah 
 Pathan 
 
 Pandav 
 
 Pawindah 
 
 Powandah 
 
 Pir Panjal 
 
 Rafzi 
 Rajpoot 
 
 Rissalah 
 
 Sanad 
 
 Salaam 
 
 Shapiyon 
 
 Sirdar 
 
 Sind . 
 
 . One of the Duranni clans. 
 
 . Militia. 
 
 . A district in the Pir Panjal. 
 
 . The camp of a nomadic tribe. 
 
 . A river of Kashmir running into the Jhelum. 
 
 . Commandant. 
 
 . A gunner ; literally a soldier. 
 
 . An army. 
 
 . A beautiful valley in Kashmir, colonized by 
 
 Afghans. 
 . A headman. 
 . A rower. 
 . The Mongolian race who conquered India 
 
 under Baber. 
 . An Afghan city, in what is now the Southern 
 
 Punjab. 
 
 . A priest of Islam. 
 . People who speak the Pushtoo ; tribesman 
 
 of the hills between Afghanistan and 
 
 India. 
 . An ancient Indian fabulous race of kings. 
 
 r fr A nomad race with centre about Ghuzni. 
 
 ) 
 
 The great snowy spurs of the Himalaya 
 which separate Kashmir from the 
 Punjab. 
 
 A heretic. 
 
 Literally Sons of Kings ; one of the great 
 ruling Aryan races of India. 
 
 A squadron, or corps of cavalry. 
 
 A treaty. 
 
 Peace ; a salutation. 
 
 A village in Kashmir, close to the Pir Panjal. 
 
 Chief; officer. 
 
 A tributary of the Jheluni.
 
 x GAZETTEER AND GLOSSARY 
 
 Suddozai . . The clan royal of the Durannis. 
 
 Surnai . . An Afghan reed pipe. 
 
 Swami . . A Hindu ascetic recluse. 
 
 Tazi . . .A swift breed of horses. 
 
 Tangir . . A wild mountain district near Gilgit. 
 
 Toorkoman . Men of Toork races of Central Asia, of whom 
 
 many had come to India with the various 
 
 invaders from the North. 
 
 Verinag . . An old royal palace and temple in Kashmir. 
 Zogi La . .A pass out of Kashmir towards Thibet.
 
 SINCE the nomenclature of the characters in an Indian 
 romance is always puzzling to the reader, a list of 
 the persons mentioned by name is given here. 
 
 DAVID FRASBK . 
 
 Lucius TONE . 
 
 JEAN ARM AND E DU] 
 PLESSIS j 
 
 GANESHA SINGH 
 
 NlHAL SlNQH . 
 
 GUL JAN . . 
 SALABAT KHAN 
 YAE KHAN 
 HABIB ULLAH 
 ALTAMISH . . 
 WALI DAD 
 DAOUD SHAH . . 
 
 INAYAT ULLAH 
 ALLAHDAD KHAN 
 DUNDOO . 
 THE BEGUM SOMEU 
 THE LADY MIRIAM 
 
 THE LADY NUK JAN) 
 THE BIBI ALANA > 
 
 THE BEGUM ALLAH) 
 VISAYAH > 
 
 AZIZUN . 
 AMAH 
 
 The hero of the story, son of an officer of 
 the Bengal Artillery and an Afghan 
 mother. 
 
 An ex-Artillery Sergeant. 
 A Jesuit Priest. 
 
 A Rajpoot native officer. 
 A Rajpoot native non-commissioned 
 officer. 
 
 David Eraser's Afghan orderly. 
 
 The Governor of Kashmir. 
 
 His Wazir. 
 
 Commandant of his bodyguard. 
 
 A Toork noble. 
 
 An agent of his. 
 
 An Afghan, generalissimo of the Begum 
 Somru's army ; a mysterious cha- 
 racter. 
 
 Commandant of the palace at Srinagar. 
 
 A soldier of the Chib tribe. 
 
 Infant son of Allah Visayah. 
 
 An Indian princess well known to history. 
 
 A sister of Salabat Khan. 
 
 Wives of Salabat Khan. 
 
 A notorious courtesan of Srinagar. 
 
 A famous dancer. 
 Miriam's old nurse.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE BEQUM SOMKU'S CAMPO .... 1 
 
 II. SHATRANJ-BAZI . . ^o. <rj ; *. * . ... 13 
 
 III. THE NORTH ROAD . '" ". '', ''. . . 24 
 
 IV. THE NIGHT SKIRMISH 83 
 
 V. OVER THE PIR WITH MIRIAM .... 44 
 
 VI. THE RIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR .... 55 
 
 VII. ALIABAD SERAI . . . . ... 69 
 
 VIIL THE PILGRIM HOSTS 79 
 
 IX. THE GARDEN OF SWEET BREEZES ... 89 
 
 X. THE NIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE PASS . . 101 
 
 XI. A COUNCIL OF WAR 110 
 
 XII. THE NIGHT RIDE . , . . . .120 
 
 XIII. THE REWARD OF REBELLION .... 180 
 
 XIV. IN THE STREETS OF SRINAGAR .... 140 
 XV. THE SHERGARHI . . . -. . . . . 151 
 
 XVI. TOORK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK . . . . 164 
 
 XVII. THE RETURN OF SALABAT KHAN . . . 176 
 
 XVIII. WITH MIRIAM IN THE GARDEN .... 189 
 
 XIX. DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL .... 198
 
 xiv CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XX. DURBAR AND FESTIVAL 208 
 
 XXI, THE GROVES OF ASHTAROTH .... 221 
 
 XXII. TROUBLE ON THE BORDER .... 236 
 
 XXIII. WAR AND RUMOURS OF WAR . . . .245 
 
 XXIV. THE ARMY ADVANCES 255 
 
 XXV. DEFEAT . . , V.vt -265 
 
 XXVI. BANGLES RING SOFTLY AND SADLY . . . 279 
 
 XXVII. TENDER RUTH 291 
 
 XXVIII. THE STRATAGEM OF FEROZ TUGLAK . .299 
 
 XXIX. THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN . . . . ., 308 
 
 XXX. THE HUNDREDTH NAME OF GOD . . 321 
 
 XXXI. THE PAX BRITANNICA . 335
 
 A 
 
 FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 CHAPTEE I 
 
 THE hour of high twelve boomed across the plain of 
 the Jumna Kadir as the great brass field-piece Malik- 
 i-maidan (the Lord of the battlefield) fired its midday 
 charge in the campo of the Begum Somru, after the 
 custom of the English. Her Highness was the Company 
 Bahadur's very good friend for several excellent 
 reasons. The first reason was that it eminently suited 
 her interests; and the second one was that she had 
 had tender passages with sturdy English George Thomas 
 of Hansi, which had taken out of her mouth the bad 
 taste left by her lawful spouse, evil Walter Keinhart, 
 nicknamed Sombre. A third was that she had just 
 had a satisfactory interview with the English Com- 
 mander-in- Chief, General Gerald Lake, who had 
 beaten the Marathas and their French-trained army 
 at Delhi. 
 
 It was true that the gallant General had received 
 her in full Durbar and had kissed her before the 
 assembled officers, to their no small delight, the which 
 had taken some explaining to her retinue. She had, 
 however, succeeded in conveying the impression that 
 it was a mark of very great favour among the English, 
 
 B
 
 2 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and that it had nothing whatever to do with the 
 General's good lunch. 
 
 The army of Her Highness consisted of a mixed 
 brigade of all arms, horse, foot, and artillery, a rissalah * 
 of horse of mixed nationality, two battalions of foot- 
 men, one with muskets presented by the English, and 
 one armed with the matchlock of the country side ; 
 and lastly, the pride of every chieftain, the park of 
 artillery. Her Highness's park of artillery was not a 
 very formidable one. There were two light threes 
 that the Company had presented her as galloper guns, 
 two rickety nines, and the pride of the campo, the 
 great brass eighteen-pounder carronade that had just 
 boomed forth high twelve. 
 
 The campo was arranged in an irregular square, 
 the horse on one side, the foot on the opposite one, 
 a third occupied by the park of artillery with the 
 Begum's tents beyond. A peepal tree in the fore 
 ground, a ruined shrine at its foot, with irregular 
 clumps of mimosa round the edges of the camp com- 
 pleted the scene, and away in the distance, the white 
 buttress of the Himalaya, shimmered in the noonday 
 sun, and a dust devil danced widdershins down the 
 track hard by. 
 
 But though it was the hour of midday rest, for some 
 reason the army slept not, and a hum of voices 
 permeated the camp. Something had annoyed the 
 soldiery, and that something was no less than empty 
 pockets. Pockets so empty that even tobacco was 
 wanting, and it was little avail to swagger past the 
 house on the wall in the town they saw across the 
 fields, for who cared for an empty-handed swash- 
 buckler ruffle he never so bravely. Times had been 
 bad with the Begum Somru, the Maratha had ravaged 
 half her estates, and rents were overdue, and the 
 
 * A cavalry corps.
 
 army was six months in arrears in the way of pay. 
 Moreover, they were still camped in the Company's 
 territory, and there was no living on the merchant 
 and the peasant, as Eastern soldiers should. The 
 army of Her Highness had therefore been in a bad 
 humour these two months past, and matters had 
 reached a climax, brought on perhaps by the jeers 
 of the mercenary fair in the bazaars of the neigh- 
 bouring town. Possibly, too, the commandant of 
 the force, a lean hungry Afghan, might have had 
 something to do with it, at any rate the army had 
 emerged from its tents and hummed round the sluim- 
 ianah of their lady the Begum Somru, with little 
 show of decorum, and many murmurings. Her High- 
 ness had come out discreetly veiled, but inwardly 
 raging, to meet her turbulent crew, and now faced 
 them as the brass eighteen boomed out the time of 
 day. But, alas! for the danger of suggestion. Big 
 brass Malik-i-maidan had been standing in the sun 
 for five full hours, and was very nearly red hot. Some 
 wag had seen the fun of it, the idea had flown apace. 
 " Sit her on tJie Ireech till she pays" had been the 
 suggestion and, alas for royalty flouted ! that dis- 
 solute soldiery then and there had seized her and 
 hoisted her astride the gun. As the hot metal burnt 
 through the thin muslin trousers, Her Highness gave 
 forth a shriek of rage and pain, and as she did so the 
 laughing crowd were torn asunder and a tall English 
 figure, in a yellow laced jacket and dragoon helmet, 
 swung the Begum from her humiliating seat, lay 
 around him with a heavy iron-shod stick, and thrust 
 his pistol into the face of one who made to draw his 
 sword. Behind, half a dozen mounted men in yellow 
 with drawn swords followed the man in the helmet, 
 making their horses kick and prance to clear a gang- 
 way. Then, as the crowd hung back to study the
 
 apparition, up strode the commandant, laying about 
 him right and left and showering oaths of the forcible 
 Afghan variety, and the soldiery slank away, at the 
 shouts of " To your tents." 
 
 Her Highness lent wearily on the Englishman's arm, 
 while two of her girls cowered behind her. The yellow 
 troopers sat their horses behind the sahib, Daoud 
 Shah, the Afghan, sheathed his sword with a slam, 
 and men of Her Highness's own guards ran up. The 
 army had melted away. " So Daoud Shah of the 
 Ben-i-Israel," quoth the Begum ; " this is how you 
 can command an army, and this is how you arrive 
 late to help me. By all the prophets of all the people 
 of all the Books, I have had enough of this, see you 
 to it that the punishments are suitable, and think 
 who there be in this army that seek your place. The 
 Bijli Eissalah, and the Fatefi Pultan, march in this 
 afternoon, with Mian Sunnayat Singh at their head. 
 And you, sir," turning to the young Englishman, " you 
 are the young sahib, who came last night with a 
 troop of horse seeking service, whom I am to see in 
 audience this evening. KhusJi ameded,* indeed, and 
 my thanks for bringing these dogs to their senses. 
 I will receive you at sunset ; till then you have leave 
 to go, but let six of your men guard my tent, to teach 
 this crew their places. Ho Daoud Shah ! with 
 Sunnayat Singh comes the bakhshifi see that the 
 troops know it." And the Begum withdrew to her 
 tents. 
 
 The Afghan and the Englishmen looked each other 
 in the face, as men of the north should, till the Afghan 
 bit his lip and dropped his eye and the sahib turned 
 on his heel and strode to his tent, to turn out the 
 guard for Her Highness's tents. Six stalwart troopers, 
 turned out like English dragoons with clean arms and 
 
 * Welcome. t Pay-master.
 
 THE BEGUM SOMEU'S CAMP 5 
 
 well fitting accoutrements, yet loose enough in their 
 Eastern frocks, were duly posted, and David Fraser 
 sat him down in his tent to take stock of the day's 
 doings, and to consider the next move. 
 
 And the next move was by no means an easy one, 
 for Eastern potentates love not to be found in humilia- 
 tion, and it is not always the saviour that receives 
 the favour. When, too, to the caprice of the East 
 is added that of the feminine, it may take the best 
 wits to turn the situation to advantage. So while 
 David Fraser rests in the noonday heat and turns 
 over the strange situation in which he found himself, 
 it will bo as well to review the circumstances which 
 brought that young soldier so opportunely into the 
 campo of Her Highness the Begum Somru, relict of 
 that unprincipled adventurer referred to, and recently 
 obligated ally of the Marquis Wellesley, the East 
 India Company Bahadur and their master His Majesty 
 King George. 
 
 In the year of Grace, 1804, David Fraser, the hero 
 of this story, was twenty-three years of age, the son 
 of Major Andrew David Fraser of Lagg of the Hon. 
 E. I. C.'s Bengal Artillery, and the Sultana Aluri 
 Suddozai, his lawful wife. 
 
 The '45 had left a ruined tower at Lagg, and a 
 penniless lad to be brought up by an uncle to a cadet- 
 ship in the Company's Artillery, with few ties to draw 
 that same lad back from the East. So when the 
 Eohilla War and fate had enabled him to rescue from 
 some irregular troopers the beautiful daughter of an 
 Afghan leader of horse, who had ridden from Ghuzni 
 to seek his fortune in the plains of Hindostan, he 
 married her then and there by all the rites available, 
 and she rode at his side in camp and leaguer for many 
 a year. Little David had seen the light in the guard- 
 room of the gateway of a Maratha hill fort, and lived
 
 6 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 his first three years at the saddle bow, till the march 
 of peace and the red line on the map had brought his 
 parents to anchor in cantonments. If to the ancient 
 highland blood of the Frasers you add that of the 
 still older stock of the Jewish princes from the mountains 
 of Ghor, you may fairly reckon on getting blue blood 
 and pride of race and high courage for your pains. 
 The Sultana, like any other high-bred Afghan, was 
 little darker than her husband, and young David's 
 swarthiness was of the slightest, while his clean-cut 
 profile and lofty forehead proclaimed him as well 
 born as a man could wish to be. The mother had 
 brought the lad up as a horseman, and a man at arms, 
 and before she died, when he was twelve years of age, 
 had entered unsolicited into the faith of her husband, 
 peacefully changing the crescent for the Cross, and 
 dying happily under its shadow. Andrew Eraser in 
 his middle age had developed the Presbyter strain of 
 his family, and had brought up his son with far more 
 care than was then usually bestowed on those children 
 reared in India. He had intended that he also should 
 join the Company's service, and to this end had taught 
 the willing lad much of his own stock of lore in guns 
 and gunnery. An old Irish batman of the major's 
 had added to young David's education, by imparting 
 a cheery and simple philosophy that has brought 
 peace to so many of the sons of Erin. To the sterner 
 Calvinism of the old Scot, the trustful leaven of the 
 illiterate Irishman was a curious and not unfruitful 
 addition. The " Glory be to God, sorr," and the 
 " Praise the Virgin, sorr," that rose to the old soldier's 
 lips at almost every discussion, mellowed in the lad's 
 mind the sterner doctrine of his father's Presbyterian 
 teaching. It was more of the " Old Hundred " than 
 of the " Quare fremucrunt" It had been a happy 
 childhood, the stern and kindly father, the beautiful
 
 THE BEGUM SOMKU'S CAMP 7 
 
 sad and fierce-eyed mother, the old servant, his play 
 mate, and a foster-mother and nurse from the Deccan, 
 all devoted to the child, who had grown up tall and 
 straight and truthful. He suffered, however, from 
 occasional moods of melancholy, the sure legacy of 
 a mountain race behind him on both sides, and 
 now and again had given way to wild bursts of 
 passion, which grew fewer as he had grown older. 
 The mother would speak of a terrible grandfather, a 
 prince and a ruler in Ghor, who had never spared man 
 in his wrath, while there were strong-willed, fierce 
 men enough away down the Fraser genealogy to 
 account for plenty of wayward temper. 
 
 At the age of sixteen young David Fraser had grown 
 to be as likely a lad as a father could wish to see, and 
 the dark blood in his veins merely bestowed on him 
 the complexion of any dark-haired man of Gael. So 
 according to his father's wishes the lad went, by favour 
 of the Directors, to the Cadet College at Barasset, 
 there to receive his military training. Trouble had 
 ensued soon enough, for young David had half killed 
 two brother cadets who had taunted him with his 
 colour, and had left the college then and there, and 
 turned up at Chunar where his father was quartered, 
 with his mind set on consorting no more with the 
 young English of the H. E. I. Company's service. 
 Andrew Fraser had then confided him to an old friend 
 in DeBoigne's French trained army, that served 
 the Gwalior State, and a cadetship under DeBoigne 
 had soon led to a cornetcy of irregular horse. The 
 DeBoigne corps were as systematically organized as 
 the Company's, and many an officer had put his 
 country-born sons to service there, since the pure 
 blood Saxon would have none of them. But then 
 it is not every officer of the Indian army who had 
 formed a union with a princess of the house of Ghor,
 
 8 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and half the blood that runs in the veins of the half- 
 breed children was often poor enough. In the service 
 of Scindiah were courtly French officers of the Ancien 
 Eegime side by side with the most scoundrelly European 
 adventurers of every nationality, but the strong rule 
 of General DeBoigne had kept these gentry in their 
 proper place, and the service was one in which honour 
 and renown was to be won, with little of the evil that 
 prevailed in the adventurer forces of other Indian 
 rulers. 
 
 So the boy found himself under that prince among 
 the old irregulars, James Skinner the famous half- 
 breed, like himself the son of a Company's officer, and 
 soon became as good a leader of a troop of Goorcheras as 
 could be found in India. With the departure of 
 M. DeBoigne, and the advent to power of General 
 Perron, Scindiah' s service soon lost its prestige, and 
 the Maratha league against the English and the Marquis 
 Wellesley, brought nothing but rue. The English- 
 born officers left the service, and Captain Fraser with 
 a small following had set off to seek his fortune among 
 the princes not at war with the English. 
 
 As Generals Lake and Wellesley steadily broke the 
 power of the great Maratha confederacy in a series 
 of victories that created a universal respect for British 
 arms and British prestige, Fraser watched it all from 
 a distance with mingled pride and bitterness. Pride 
 in being the son of his father, bitterness that narrow 
 prejudice had driven him from being among the victors 
 bitterness that any man should dare look down on 
 him for the mother's share in his breeding. Letters 
 from his father came to him from time to time with 
 money remittances, with news of the war and its 
 progress, in which, however, Andrew Fraser was not 
 engaged. Then had come a break without letters, and 
 at last the news from an old friend of the family that
 
 THE BEGUM SOMEU'S CAMP 9 
 
 Major Fraser had died, leaving apparently little but 
 his personal property, which was now stored awaiting 
 the son's instructions. 
 
 And so David Fraser, alone in the world, with little 
 but his sword by his side, and his uniform of Skinner's 
 Irregulars, had set out to fend for himself for the 
 rest of his life, alone, but undaunted. Miniatures by 
 a Delhi artist of his father and mother, a pair of beauti- 
 ful flint pistols that had been out with his grandfather 
 in the '45, and a Bible, were all of his outer connection 
 with the European world, when fate had brought 
 him seeking service in the campo of the Begum 
 Somru. 
 
 So reflecting in some sort on the happy past in his 
 father's house, and on the ventures of the day, the 
 hours of the hot afternoon passed away, without, how- 
 ever, any solution as to his future line of conduct, or 
 how he should comport himself in the forthcoming 
 interview with the princess. Now princesses, black 
 or white, or for the matter of that women of any kind, 
 had not come within the curriculum of his father's 
 scheme of upbringing, while he had set forth into the 
 world too early in life to see much of English society. 
 Somewhere had he read that you could not go far 
 wrong in life if you struck a man and kissed a woman, 
 whenever you met them, but the rule hardly seemed 
 to apply in this case, at least so far as the Begum was 
 concerned. Danny Irvine, his father's batman, had 
 other and quaint views regarding the eternal feminine, 
 which he had been wont to communicate at times in 
 the hour when he sucked at a dilapidated clay, but 
 they, too, hardly met the case. So about the time 
 that young David had come to the decision that it 
 would be best to wait on circumstance, his orderly 
 arrived to announce that his namesake, Daoud Shah, 
 the commander of all the Begum's campo, was about
 
 10 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 to pay him a visit of ceremony. Now Eraser had 
 intended to comply with that formality during the 
 morning, and had sent to the neighbouring town for 
 a suitable offering of fruit that might serve as his 
 visiting card, after the manner of the East. The 
 events of the morning, however, had frustrated that 
 intention, and now contrary to precedent here was 
 the cominander-in-chief calling first, from which it 
 might be opined that the latter regarded Eraser as 
 a man who for the moment, at any rate, was of some 
 considerable importance. All of which Eraser was 
 such sufficiently versed in the ways of the East to 
 thoroughly understand and appraise at its proper 
 value. " Welcome, welcome, my lord," said he, " to 
 this humble one's shanty," as his excellency entered 
 with a suitable salutation. " Peace be with you and 
 yours," and the two seated themselves on the rug 
 spread over the dusty floor of the tent. When the 
 prolonged inquiries after each other's health had been 
 made, it was not so easy to discover a topic of con- 
 versation, and Eraser had an opportunity to scan 
 more closely the sardonic features of his visitor. 
 The Afghan face is almost always a Jewish one, though 
 here and there there may be some trace of the old 
 Greek strain from Bactria, and Daoud Shah's features 
 were Jewish in the extreme. To a high forehead 
 and almost hooked nose, were added deep-set, piercing 
 eyes with a queer haunting look of apprehension 
 at the back of them, and heavy lowering eyebrows 
 that completed an exceptionally sinister effect. A 
 ekin deeply cut and lined with a thin, dark beard 
 and moustache flecked with grey, completed his 
 countenance. A dark blue puggari hid his black 
 hair, and the rest of his costume was of the usual 
 flowing type of the Afghan gentry, while round his 
 waist was a leather belt with a pistol and long straight
 
 THE BEGUM SOMRU'S CAMP 11 
 
 knife therein. The visitor's speech, however, was 
 pleasant enough, and he talked of the politics of 
 Hindostan with a detached air that gave an interesting 
 appearance of inner knowledge. There was no refer- 
 ence as to what he was dying to know, viz. the young 
 Englishman's exact business and what had brought 
 him to the camp at all. 
 
 In the East, however, a visit of ceremony is not 
 protracted for long, and the Afghan soon left with an 
 invitation to come sup with him that evening which 
 Fraser accepted willingly enough, with a mental 
 note to remember the long spoon, that precept recom- 
 mended for such occasions. Then when the Afghan 
 took his departure his orderly arrived to help him dress 
 for his interview with Her Highness. Fraser, at no 
 time a sloven, and imbued with a young man's natural 
 desire to look his best, understood well enough when 
 a man should be suitably attired. He would visit 
 the Begum in full dress, so far as an adventurer 
 officer could have such, and he put on his uniform as 
 an officer of Skinner's Irregular Horse in the service 
 of Scindiah, with a British dragoon helmet atop. This 
 consisted of a loose yellow tunic with embroidered 
 collar cut low at the neck, pieces of chain mail on 
 the shoulders to turn a sword cut, and Kashmir- em- 
 broidered cuffs. In those days even, the irregulars 
 in the Company's service wore the kurta, and all the 
 more so in Scindiah's. Under the loose tunic were 
 loose yellow cotton breeches tucked into high loose 
 jack boots, a la Marechal Turenne, and round the 
 waist a crimson embroidered sash with hanging ends, 
 and a stout sambher skin sword belt, outside. From 
 the belt hung a curved French dragoon sabre, and 
 the two ancestral flint pistols therein completed our 
 hero's grand tenue, and very effective it was, and a 
 pity that his mother could not have seen him in it.
 
 12 A EEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 For Eraser, though he knew it not, possessed that gift 
 of the gods, a way with him that led straight to women's 
 hearts, and none the less so for his gallant figure hi 
 his bravery. And so wondering what might be in 
 store for him, his hand on his hip and his sabre trailing, 
 David Eraser adventurer, set forth to visit the Begum 
 Somru.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 SHATEANJ-BAZI 
 
 OUTSIDE the tent the encampment presented a lively 
 appearance, for the corps under Mian Sunnayat Singh 
 had marched in, and it was " the hour of the kine," 
 when the flocks coming home raised long trails of 
 dust in the evening gloom. The horses of the campo 
 were passing backwards and forwards to their evening 
 watering at the tank across the road. The sun dipping 
 on the horizon just glinted on a peak of the Himalaya 
 that was visible above the dust, and a flight of kulan 
 wore screaming overhead. Eraser strode over to 
 the Begum's tents accompanied by his orderly and 
 his troop duffedar, one Nihal Singh, a handsome veteran 
 Eajpoot, who had served in many services for over 
 thirty years, but could not resist the glamour of the 
 tented life. As they approached Her Highness's 
 quarters, the guard turned out to give a ragged 
 salute, a sure sign of which way the cat might jump, 
 since who would salute an unknown jeringhi adven- 
 turer without good cause. 
 
 An officer of the household received the Englishman, 
 and let him into the large two-poled tent in which the 
 Begum half veiled and clothed in crimson silk, sat 
 waiting to receive him, with two of her maids behind 
 her. The official who received him left him at the 
 
 13
 
 14 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 entrance, and the Begum's voice broke the silence 
 which followed on the military salute which Fraser 
 had given her. " Fraser Sahib" said a mellow and 
 not unpleasing voice, " you are indeed welcome. 
 Come and sit on this stool and tell me what brings 
 you to my camp, and if I can befriend you." And 
 Fraser drew near to where Her Highness sat on a small 
 low divan covered with cushions, and close to which 
 stood another and smaller stool. " Fraser Sahib" 
 again said Her Highness, " I have ordered you to be 
 admitted to see me privately, and have sent away 
 my attendants all save these two girls. I have to 
 thank you for your assistance against those insolent 
 troopers this day, and I would speak to you of other 
 matters also. Come you from the camp of General 
 Lake Sahib?" 
 
 " I do not, your Highness," said Fraser. " I come 
 from Eajputana seeking service as a freelance, and 
 to make my fortune, for I have little else save my 
 sword, and I have never been in the Company 
 Bahadur's service." 
 
 " Tell me, then," said the Begum, " how you come 
 to be roaming Hindostan, for I see you are English 
 and not French, and therefore belong to the ruling 
 race of much of this country, how is it you are not 
 a Sahib of the army, for you look a soldier bom, I 
 meet French officers, and other Franks but not the 
 English unless they be sons of officers with Indian 
 mothers." 
 
 " There is no reason I should not tell your Highness. 
 My father was an officer in the Company's Artillery, 
 and my mother was a Duranni of Ghor, daughter of 
 Ghaur Khan the Eohilla, who came out of Ghuzni 
 to follow Nadir Shah the Persian." 
 
 "Ah, then I have heard of you, for I knew your 
 grandfather, and years after met your father, with
 
 SHATEANJ-BAZI 15 
 
 the Sirkar's troops at Allahabad, and a proper man 
 he was. He came at the Resident's request to look 
 at my cannon, and they told he had married a Duranni 
 lady. It would be better if more Sahibs married 
 well-born women, than mate as they do, with the 
 sluts from the bazaar. Also I think I have heard 
 of you. Was it you who held the Tantri pass two 
 years ago, with the Rajah of Dhond's troops against 
 the Chevalier Dudrenac and Scindiah's best battalions 
 you with some of James Secunder's troopers ? Then 
 I have long hoped to give you service, if you came my 
 way, but not yet. I have other matters in hand at 
 present to which your presence will not help." 
 
 And the Begum's glance for all that fell admiringly 
 on this strong, well-knit young man, who sat beside 
 her. 
 
 " I have, however, a mission for which I need a 
 faithful messenger, are you willing to serve me and 
 take your chance of what reward I can give you ? It 
 is not much, I dare promise, since things in Hindostan 
 are more than unsettled. See here. The Afghans 
 seek once more to invade the Punjab, and drive back 
 the Sikhs, who have ousted the Abdalli, and regain 
 Ahmad Shah's empire. It is important that a message 
 connected with this should be sent to Salabut Khan, 
 the Duranni governor of Kashmir, and it is important 
 that some one I can trust should be with the Afghans 
 that I may know when these Sikhs are to be put in 
 their place, and what I am to do, and whether I am 
 to have a fair share of land north of Delhi. I can 
 trust an Englishman, even when he has Afghan blood 
 in him, and I now ask if you will serve me in this matter. 
 Later on I may want you here. There is no room for 
 you and Daoud Shah in this campo together, and for 
 my present purpose Daoud Shah must remain." 
 And the lady stopped, for long speech is rare in
 
 16 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the Oriental, and this had been far beyond her 
 wont. 
 
 To David Fraser the vista of adventure thus opened 
 up was attractive enough. He had long wanted to 
 see something of his Afghan kin, while to the young 
 mind Kashmir sounded a fairy land as it had done 
 to the Mogul Emperors who had made it their summer 
 playground. His answer, therefore, to the Begum's 
 proposal was a hearty acquiescence, which helped 
 to strengthen her in her reliance on the fidelity of her 
 new servant. 
 
 " Very well, then, Fraser Sahib" said she. " I will 
 therefore give you a letter to Salabat Khan, recom- 
 mending him to give you service, and telling him that 
 you are entirely in my confidence. You in your turn 
 must serve my interest there, and contrive to keep me 
 informed of the Afghan plans for the reconquest of 
 Upper India. You must also explain that they must 
 take good care to avoid coming into contest with 
 the English, against whom even their might will fail. 
 That they must fully realize that, and that I and 
 many of us here have made allies with the Company, 
 and will on no account quarrel with them. I shall 
 march my campo towards Meerut to-morrow, and 
 you should march off north at the same time, but tell 
 no one where you are going. I will also give you 
 a note on the bankers in Lahore or Sialkote for five 
 hundred rupees, and another on Srinagar for a thousand. 
 It is, of course, by serving Salabat Khan that you will 
 be able to support your horse, and I hope he will 
 order you to raise him a whole rissaldh. You may be 
 sure that if ever I can serve you I will, but I cannot 
 engage you here. You don't suppose that Daoud 
 Shah will forgive you for intervening to-day. And 
 Daoud Shah, villain though I know him to be, is too 
 useful to me to dismiss at present. It will be best
 
 SHATRANJ-BAZI 17 
 
 for you to tell him that my terms to you have not been 
 inviting enough for you to accept." 
 
 When Fraser had expressed his complete under- 
 standing of what was required of him, the Begum 
 continued 
 
 " Well, now that that is settled, tell me of your 
 own life and your father the clever Fraser Sahib, who 
 came to see my gun park, many years ago." 
 
 And the lad, seeing that he had apparently made a 
 friend, told her so much as would interest her and 
 that she might safely know, and after some conversa- 
 tion the Begum bade him leave her, lest too long an 
 interview should excite comment and jealousy in 
 camp. 
 
 " Before you go, Sahib, you shall kiss my hand, as 
 they tell me the English Sahibs do to great English 
 ladies, so strange are your Feringhi customs." 
 
 And David did as he was bid, and a plump, small 
 hand it was, scented with sandal wood and the nails 
 dyed in henna, for the Begum, elderly though she 
 was, had preserved more of the comeliness of youth 
 than usual in the East. A comely amiable soul ho 
 thought, good to serve probably, and perhaps not 
 strong enough to hold her own in a distracted country 
 in which the hand must keep the head. But there 
 was little enough of weakness in all she had said to 
 him he was feign to confess to himself as he strolled 
 away from her tent. Some of the stories in the country- 
 side that were told of her, argued little of feminine 
 weakness, such as the plump hand in itself might 
 indicate. There was, for instance, that story of the 
 erring handmaid buried alive beneath her mistress's 
 bed as a punishment and a warning. . . But then 
 once again who sups with the devil needs a long spoon, 
 and campos and Indian states are none so easy to 
 manage. So reflecting, David drew near to his own 
 
 c
 
 18 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 tent there only to get into more comfortable clothing 
 and give orders for the march. 
 
 But the morrow's march needed little preparation. 
 David's small body of horse were used to the road, 
 and the three pony carts that accompanied him carried 
 all the baggage with space to spare. A few words to 
 the native ressaldar, who under him commanded the 
 cavalry troop, would be all that was required. This 
 troop of horsemen that followed the will of David 
 Fraser were a mixed lot chosen by himself. At their 
 head was old Ganesha Singh, a Eajput of Oudh, who 
 had served with his father in the artillery, and led half 
 a dozen men of his own clan. Eajputs of the Agnicular 
 or Fire clans were they, as distinct from the Eajput 
 races of the Sun and Moon. Fiercely proud of race, 
 all the more so, perhaps, that the genuine Eajput 
 descent of the fire races is a matter of dispute among 
 pundits, willing and eager to follow a leader, amenable 
 to discipline, born horsemen, and swordsmen, exactly 
 the right leaven for a young leader of horse to temper 
 a mixed troop of Schwartzreiters. Next to Ganesha 
 Singh came Nihal Singh the Duffedar, a Eajput of the 
 Moon from the Dogra hills. The rest consisted of 
 half a dozen Afghans, two from the Afghan hills, the 
 rest settled in Eohilcund for two generations, two 
 Muhammadans from the Punjab, also of a Eajput 
 clan, whom the march of Islam had included in its 
 grasp by force of arms. This had been the fate of all 
 the northern clans except those whom the valleys 
 and buttresses of the Himalaya had sheltered. Two 
 Marathas from the Deccan and three Mogul lads 
 from near Delhi, completed the major portion of this 
 troop of twenty soldiers of fortune. Among the six 
 Afghans was old Gul Jan the Duranni, who had been 
 his mother's henchman and his father's orderly, and 
 nursed young David as a child and taught him to
 
 SHATKANJ-BAZI 19 
 
 ride and use the sword. Grizzled and hard bitten, 
 his close cropped beard died red in imitation of 
 the traditional red beard of the prophet, there was 
 a jaunty air about the angle of his cocked head-dress, 
 and in the lilt of his mountaineer gait, that spoke of 
 plenty of resource and daring left in the old frame 
 yet. 
 
 Many a delightful tale of rapine and of war had 
 Gul Jan told David in his youth, and the old man 
 worshipped the lad. Of all the evil tales that an 
 Afghan life could boast of, the one that had best 
 pleased the young highlander, for highland he was 
 on both sides, had been one of Gul Jan's boyhood- 
 Two villages had long been at feud, and once Gul Jan 
 and half a dozen urchins of one village, had caught 
 a child of the other village alone, and had then and 
 there stretched his little wizand and slit it with a pen 
 knife or some kindred and insufficient weapon. It 
 was just that sort of tale, that would go straight to 
 a boy's heart, and for its sake as much as his general 
 faithful service, the David held the old redbeard very 
 dear. He called to the old man to come help him get 
 ready to sup with his namesake, Daoud Shah, the 
 Sipahsalar * of the Begum's campo, and accompany 
 him to the latter's tent. A loose white frock, over his 
 breeches, boots and belt with pistol holster, and a 
 Kashmir embroidered loungi on his head completed 
 David's evening attire, and with Gul Jan swaggering 
 behind him he strolled over to the Afghan's tent, to 
 be received with considerable show of ceremony. 
 As the ways of a camp are simple, the two soldiers 
 sat themselves down to the evening meal forthwith, 
 to kabab's and curds and cinnamon stew and the best 
 of unleavened chappattis. Bound the length and 
 breadth of Hindustan the conversation wandered, and 
 
 * Commander-in-Chief.
 
 20 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 David told his host enough of his history to explain 
 how he fought for his own hand, and carried not 
 King George's commission. They talked of soldiers 
 and of cannon, of border forays and rival kings, and 
 now and again the Afghan would vouchsafe such 
 glimpse of a chequered life as made the other's blood 
 run cold in his veins. Daoud Shah would hint of 
 having come down the Gomal with Timur the lame 
 Tartar, founder of the Mogul Line, and seemed con- 
 versant with sacks of Delhi far earlier in the ages, 
 and of all the evil the world had ever known. The 
 Greeks in their Central Asian kingdoms, and the life 
 history of Balk and Samarkand, and how the tribe 
 of Gad and a half of Manasseh had come to settle 
 near the latter city. A great traveller, a great historian, 
 or a great romancer certainly, and as David sat silent 
 listening to the snatches of the other's experience, 
 and looked into the deep-knit brow, and deep-set 
 eyes, with the clear-cut, hawked nose and sharp chin, 
 a feeling almost of terror and certainly of aversion 
 seized him. Here was a man to whom half the horrors 
 of the world seemed familiar with none of the ruth 
 that horrors should stir. Then with the meal ended, 
 and the Imqa finished, they sat themselves down 
 almost instinctively to play at Sliatranj-bazi or chess, 
 on a board laid out on a low lacquered stool. 
 Chess has come to us from the East, like the horse 
 and the rose and many another wonder, and the great 
 marvel of all, the Christian Revelation, and though 
 David had learnt the game as a European from his 
 father, he knew something of the Persian variations. 
 True to the Asiatic conception of women, the English 
 queen is there called the Wazir, or minister, which 
 fairly explains the subordinate character of the king. 
 A king in the hands of his minister is a well-known 
 Eastern phenomenon. Our bishop, in the East is
 
 SHATEANJ-BAZI 21 
 
 the ambassador, with the power of diagonal move, 
 and significantly so, since never could an Eastern 
 ambassador move straight forward to save his life, 
 which is just why, now and again, the simple English 
 succeed in diplomacy where the Eastern fails. Among 
 the chessmen our castle alone retains its Persian 
 name. Euh is Persian for a tower, and to this day 
 in England men call the castle the rook. 
 
 For two hours the pair played in silence, the Afghan 
 gazing now and again up from his board and under 
 his eyebrows at the eager set face of David Eraser, 
 his namesake. David and Dawad or Daoud are the 
 same. At last David's King had rest from his labours. 
 His hour had come. " Pharoah is dead," called 
 Daoud with the low hiss of a serpent in his words. 
 " Mate it is right enough," admitted namesake David, 
 " but why is Pharoah dead ? " 
 
 " Pshaw ! " returned the other, " What matters an 
 expression. In Egypt this was the royal game. Who 
 kills Pharoah or encompasses his death wins the throne." 
 
 " Where is it that this man has not been," thought 
 the younger man. " But there are no Pharoahs now." 
 And he lent back on his cushions and looked up into 
 his late opponent's face. Then he looked again. 
 What fascination in those grey-green eyes ! What 
 was the man staring for ? And the Afghan moved, 
 and David looked again. Involuntarily he made a 
 gesture in return. Then the Afghan lent forward 
 and looked him straight in the face again and said 
 
 " Have you seen the letters of the lost word 
 re-arranged ? " 
 
 David started. Old Major Eraser had belonged to 
 the first Masonic Lodge in India that had been started 
 at Vellore in early days. He had been master and 
 sat in the chair of Eoyal Solomon of a lodge in Upper 
 India, and had initiated his son David full young. In
 
 22 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the lad the ancient rites had struck some chord in 
 the Jewish strain that came through his mother from 
 the Afghans of Ghor. David had been eager to see 
 more of the mysteries, and his father had enlightened 
 him. Therefore, when he suddenly found this Afghan 
 asking him searching questions concerning the word 
 that the High Priest of the Temple at Jerusalem alone 
 dare say, his earlier experiences came back clearly, 
 and he marvelled, aye, and feared somewhat. With 
 those searching eyes fixed on him some answer seemed 
 needed. 
 
 " I have," said David. 
 
 " Will you prove it to me." 
 
 " I will not," said the younger man. " How do I 
 know that you know?" 
 
 " Pish, lad ! How do I know ? Why, boy, I saw 
 the Eomans enter the city, I saw the streets run red 
 with blood, and I saw the starving mothers devouring 
 their own children." 
 
 David watched him now in amazement. 
 
 " So that is one of the reasons why I know how the 
 letters should be arranged. See that you never forget, 
 nor how the High Priest does it." And a change 
 came over his face, and the tense look left it. "Ah, 
 well, Ferassa Sahib, it has been a great pleasure to 
 entertain you. Pharoah is dead and turned to dust, 
 so have a sharbat to drink and let us rest." 
 
 So David took his leave, relieved to be out of 
 sight of those piercing eyes, and their horrible glimpses 
 of worlds dead and gone. At any rate, 7m connection 
 with Judah dated from a period long before the Eomans 
 took Jerusalem. That his father had often told him. 
 Who and what was this hawk-nosed stranger, who 
 knew the signs of the inner temples and whose eyes 
 had all the visions of a thousand years and more 
 within them? Thus puzzling David took a final
 
 SHATEANJ-BAZI 23 
 
 look at his horse lines, spoke to his camp sentry, and 
 laid himself down to sleep and dream of all that had 
 befallen that day.. And ever through his dreams rodo 
 the figure of Daoud Shah dressed as a prince and a 
 ruler in Israel, devouring children spitted on skewers, 
 and before him marched the chessmen calling, 
 " Pharoah is dead ! Pharoah is dead ! "
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE NORTH ROAD 
 
 THE next morning in accordance with the suggestions 
 received from the Begum, David paraded his little 
 troop as if it was to march off with Her Highness's 
 campo. And a very wonderful thing to the military 
 eye that campo was. To David, with his knowledge 
 of the native states and their armies, the sight was not 
 new, though it contrasted strongly with what he also 
 knew of the orderly departure of the Honourable 
 Company's troops from one of their camping grounds. 
 Long before daylight, the camp was given up to turmoil 
 and hubbub. The groaning and bubbling of angry 
 camels, the screams of fighting stallions, and the 
 chattering of camp followers mingled with the hammer- 
 ing to loosen tent-pegs, and the jingle of harness and 
 saddle gear. The uneaten remnant of fodder and 
 bedding had been thrown on the camp-fires which 
 blazed to warm the chilly orientals who crouched round 
 them, and to flicker on the spear-points and harness- 
 ments. In the gloom of the smoke on the outskirts of 
 the glare, the huge forms of the elephants weaved 
 uneasily from forefoot to forefoot, as the mahouts 
 buckled on the heavy gun-harness and the riding 
 howdahs. It was a weird and ghostly scene of strange 
 sights and noises, till as the sun rose through the smoke 
 and the trampled dust, something emerged from the 
 
 24
 
 THE NOETH ROAD 25 
 
 chaldron. Drums beat and trumpets blared, and a 
 battalion of Her Highness' s musketeers endeavoured to 
 lead the procession, their muskets in green cloth bags, 
 sloped over their shoulders. This corps actually moved 
 in fours, " Rompant par sections, droit en tite" as the 
 old Lille drill book had it from which the Chevalier, 
 their last instructor, had drilled them. The said drill 
 book annotated in Persian lay wrapped in the Kom- 
 madari's breast pocket, for his writer to read for him 
 if any one wished to argue a point of drill, or did he 
 wish to embark on so important a manoeuvre as 
 ordering that the section " Ligne mi kunand" * 
 
 The ordered tramp of the drilled musketeers was 
 mingled with the rattle and cries of a group of gossipping 
 matchlockmen who hurried along on their outer flank, 
 and then a string of camels went away, followed by the 
 elephants and two galloper guns horsed after the 
 manner of the English, save that the traces were old 
 frayed rope. That, as David reflected, would not bo 
 seen in John Company's artillery ! He and his own 
 troop carefully accoutred, had mounted and formed up 
 in line to watch the campo. At his side sat Ganesha 
 Singh, criticizing with humorous invective the in- 
 congruity of the equipages. Gul Jan, the Company's 
 veteran artilleryman, sat behind and echoed them even 
 more forcibly. 
 
 " Tut ! tut ! " said Ganesha Singh. " Did ever you 
 see such a horse as yon ressaldar is riding ? Black with 
 pink spots, I do declare, your honour I and he holding 
 on with both hands." 
 
 " That's the Bakshi, Ganesha Singh, who came in 
 yesterday with the pay. See ! the pink spots are 
 handmarks made with pink paint ; see the finger-tips, 
 that is to keep devils away at night. Look at his 
 
 * French-Persian = " were forming line."
 
 26 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 embroidered velvet saddle, the old rogue ! Here 
 comes the Begum Saliiba. We will salute her." 
 
 David called his troop to attention, the lances being 
 brought to the carry with a rattle as Her Highness' s 
 lacquered carriage drawn by trotting bullocks jingled 
 past. The snap of the lances in the wrist throngs drew 
 attention. A hand half drew the silk curtains and 
 beckoned to the young soldier. David moved to her 
 side at a gallop, pulled his handsome Arab up on his 
 haunches and saluted. The Begurn Samba's eyes from 
 behind the curtains twinkled approval. 
 
 " I like to see your men and their orderly British 
 ways. I shall be glad indeed some day to have you 
 with me, to teach my worthless ones law and order. 
 Did you see the Chevalier's regiment of musketeers ? " 
 
 " I did, your Highness." 
 
 " What did you think of them ? " 
 
 " It was so dark that I could not see clearly, but they 
 marched well. I saw the guns also. Without doubt 
 a fine army." 
 
 " Well, well ! We shall see. Now, farewell, and 
 wait till we are well past, then wheel away north in the 
 dust and take my message to the Governor of Kashmir. 
 Peace be with you." 
 
 " And with you too, gracious lady," responded 
 David, and the curtains dropped and the march of the 
 campo continued. 
 
 Behind Her Highness rode a dozen troopers of the 
 retinue and some of her officers of state, and then 
 another troop of matchlockmen. On either side of the 
 line of march began to stream the impedimenta, more 
 camels, pack bullocks, and donkeys, women and 
 children and camp followers, Delilah in her litter, and 
 the like. After a short gap followed a body of dis- 
 ciplined horse, and at their head rode the sardonic 
 figure of Daoud Shah, the Commander-in-Chief of the
 
 THE NOETH EOAD 27 
 
 distinguished army. To him also David Fraser the 
 politic accorded a military salute, the lances once more 
 springing to the carry with a snap of the thong. 
 Whether or no the Afghan detected the snap of derision 
 that underlay the act of homage, or whether he was 
 annoyed at the presence of so alert a body, it is certain 
 that a very vicious gleam of the keen eyes accompanied 
 his answering salaam, and his bearing seemed to resent 
 the jaunty cock of the dragoon helmet which David 
 was still wearing as perhaps the wearer meant he 
 should. 
 
 " That man," remarked Ganesha Singh, " is the very 
 worst kind of devil, and has the very greatest enmity 
 for you, Sahib" 
 
 " What makes you think that, old soldier ? " 
 
 " I don't think, Sahib, I know. I am certain. Does 
 any man love the stranger who rnaketh him look a 
 fool ? Did ever a man look such a fool as he ? You 
 either upset some design of his, or you kept his soldiers 
 in order when he himself could not. Is he likely to love 
 you, Sahib ? Will he stand with the Begum Sahiba as 
 he stood before, think you ? Never, till the dust 
 return whence it came ! The dogs bark, but the caravan 
 passes. The Afghan smiles with his lips and wishes you 
 peace, and all the while he says, ' God smite your soul 
 to the nethermost hell ! ' : 
 
 David was amused. " Well, do you know, old 
 soldier, I have been thinking very much the same thing 
 as you have. I am a foolish lad, I know ; but, perhaps, 
 not so foolish as to think I have made a friend of 
 Daoud Shah." 
 
 " Without doubt the Presence is full of wisdom," 
 replied the old man, with no hint of irony. " But this 
 particular wisdom must always be uppermost in the 
 mind. That man will go out of his way to work evil. 
 Besides, he is well known to be possessed. I met in
 
 28 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the camp a man of my own cast whom I had known 
 before. He says that this devil is in league with all 
 the evil spirits and knows everything both of good and 
 evil, and can call up the spirits of folk long dead and 
 gone. The men will run past his tent at night, and 
 will never take him a message in the dark." 
 
 " Ganesha Singh, you are a great baby to listen to 
 such fairy tales." 
 
 " Your honour is my father and my mother. I do 
 but tell what others tell to me. But I am old and I 
 have been young, but never did I see a man with a 
 shaitan * showing so clearly in his face." 
 
 " Well, to blazes with him, as Danny Irvine would 
 have said. You don't remember him, do you, Ganesha 
 Singh ? He was my father's orderly, and well, never 
 mind ! We'll be off on the north road now. Here is 
 the last of the Begum's fauj, and the sun is getting up 
 in the heavens." 
 
 So, to the English order of " threes right," Fraser 
 moved away his troop to the north, across the great 
 cloud of red dust that the troops and their baggage had 
 raised, and which mingled with the smoke of the camp 
 fires heavy in the morning dew. The two made such 
 a canopy, that no one would see the direction of Fraser's 
 troop, nor that they had not marched in the track of 
 Her Highness's force. It was that lady's own sugges- 
 tion, so that Daoud Shah should not be let into the 
 secrets of the young Englishman's move, and her 
 simple suggestion was like to be effective. Daoud 
 Shah had evidently thought that he had his orders from 
 the Begum, and would fall in in the column of march. 
 
 Once clear on the north road, exhilaration rose in tho 
 lad. 'Tis good to be two-and- twenty with a fine troop 
 of light dragoons at your back a-setting out to seek 
 
 * Devil.
 
 THE NOETH EOAD 29 
 
 your fortune, on a cool, brisk morning in an Indian 
 spring. Eh, sirs ! To hack your way to power with 
 your own sword arm and your own resources behind 
 you, what finer champagne for the imagination. Half 
 the troopers were lads, too, agog to have their day, full 
 of confidence in the lad who sat at their head, with old 
 Ganesha Singh at the helm for wisdom in the evil ways 
 of an Eastern world. 
 
 A few miles after starting the road broke out from 
 scattered fields and patches of scrab jungle to a fine 
 flat of plain covered in short dry grass and stone. The 
 opportunity was too good to be lost. 
 
 " Tell those two ekkas to come along quietly, Ganesha 
 Singh, with Gul Jan, and I will rattle some of these lad 
 across the plain. 
 
 " Head ! To the right, wheel ! Threes left ! Look 
 to your centre ! Can ter ! " 
 
 And away went the happy troop over the plain, till 
 the canter stretched to a gallop and the gallop to a 
 wild screaming charge such as David had seen the 
 Bengal Irregulars make in the old cantonment days. 
 Then the troop rallied round the halted figure of their 
 leader, and the young Afghans of the party yelped 
 delight. 
 
 " Steady now, steady men ! We will drill till Gul 
 Jan comes up with the ekkas" "^ 
 
 And then and there the astonished wayfarer might 
 have seen a troop of cavalry drilling after the manner 
 of the English. And so drilling and training his men 
 and conditioning his horses David Eraser marched his 
 small party ever north, halting a day or two when the 
 camping ground was quiet and agreeable, beating for 
 wild boar when opportunity offered and meeting with 
 no adventure or interference for several days. Once 
 by a small group of shrines they found a fanatic woman 
 with a naked sword, standing athwart an old causeway
 
 30 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 that dated from the days of good Emperor Akhbar, 
 who built roads and bridges. The stream it spanned 
 was deep, and the bridge alone offered passage, while 
 at the end the infuriated feminine flourished the sword 
 wildly. A trooper who advanced on her to bid her 
 make way, came back with his tail between his manly 
 legs, and a bleeding snick on his horse's nose. The 
 men openly said, " Kill her, and be done with it. We 
 can't wait here all day for that old piece of rag and 
 bone." But David had some of the English ruth. 
 " Nay, we will not slay the old body. Here, Ganesha 
 Singh, cannot you cope with the lady ? " 
 
 Ganesha Singh grinned behind his grizzled, twisted 
 beard. And he rode forward half over the causeway, 
 but the lady only waved her sword more furiously. 
 " Very well," said the old Rajpoot. " Now, listen to 
 me. I know you well. Your mother was the very 
 worst sort of woman, and had immoral relations with 
 every one, even sweepers. You have been the mistress 
 of the Evil One himself. You have lent yourself " 
 
 But the woman was gone, and Ganesha Singh, with a 
 perfectly solemn face took his stand to cover the further 
 end of the now free causeway while the troop, chuckling 
 with laughter, filed over. 
 
 On the twelfth day the party arrived close to the 
 ancient town of Sirhind, which means the head of all 
 India, and here Ganesha Singh met a relative in charge 
 of some horsemen of the local chief who sent an in- 
 vitation for them to halt in a garden of his, outside the 
 city. This David was glad enough to do, as he had 
 now heard that the snow was late on the passes, and 
 that he could not get to Kashmir yet awhile save by the 
 long route away in the north. For ten days they 
 rested and fed their horses on the young green wheat 
 till their coats shone again. The local chief, who was 
 a Sikh, received the visitor courteously, and sent him
 
 THE NOETH EOAD 31 
 
 presents of fruit, and sweetmeats for his men, and 
 David found that state better controlled than any ho 
 had previously had doings with. One day, while 
 halting, he was surprised to see a British force pass 
 through, and to learn it was part of General Lake's 
 army chasing back some Sikh horse to their own 
 territory north of the Eiver Sutlej. A battery of native 
 horse artillery was with the column, and David felt that 
 sick longing for a happy life now past that most men 
 have known at one time or another. The well-fitted 
 harness, the well-kept horses, the trim, disciplined 
 gunners and the hard-bit British officers brought back 
 so forcibly his childhood, the swinging gun-buckets 
 below the gun axles so like those of his father's 
 battery moving out of cantonments. Often had he 
 watched those same gun-buckets swing when he had 
 peeped through the bars of his father's compound gate. 
 Now and again he had been allowed to come out and 
 be taken up on a limber, to sit on a gunner's knee, and, 
 joy of joys, to hold on to guard straps and feel the 
 jolting limbers as the teams broke into a trot. Why, 
 oh why, had he let that life slip from him ? And then 
 came the memory of those young officers who had 
 spoken of him contemptuously as a half-breed. The 
 blood rushed to his temples at the mere memory of it. 
 Little enough of a half-breed did he look, if half-breed 
 be synonymous with contempt and an inferior being, as 
 ho stood under the garden trees to watch them march 
 by. Tall and straight and clean cut, with clean high- 
 land ancestry behind him on both sides. 
 
 However, with the rush of blood to his temples he 
 remembered that he was off to seek his fortune and 
 come back as good a man as any of them. Then he 
 felt that he would have liked to have shown his own 
 troop, clean and fit after their rest, to the English 
 officers, but the men were all dispersed except the
 
 82 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 camp guard. Then again for the moment he was 
 chagrined that he had not his dragoon helmet on and 
 his yellow kurta and sword, so that he might ride out 
 and salute them as a soldier. Then he laughed at 
 himself for a vain fool, and the bitterness passed away. 
 He would keep away till he had a name and fame of his 
 own and then go among them, and so strolled off to 
 see his own troop horses, like the brave sturdy heart 
 he was. 
 
 And it was in some such manner that the journey 
 north continued, without misadventure save at the 
 boat bridge over the Bavi by Trimmoo Ghat. A party 
 of Afghans wanted to pick a quarrel and loot his baggage 
 ekkas, but this David carried off with a high hand, 
 leaving two Afghans dead in the river for their pains, 
 with no worse harm to his own lot than a dead horse 
 and a sword cut in old Ganesha Singh's forearm, happily 
 not his bridle arm. So on they went past the maiden 
 city of Sialkot, only staying to cash the Begum's bill, 
 and over the Jamrnu Tawi, to camp under the walls of 
 Jammu city itself, where a Dogra boy of the troop had 
 an uncle who greeted them well. At Jammu it be- 
 came necessary to sell the ekkas and buy pack-ponies 
 for the mountain road. Thence on again the road 
 would lie till they came to the great river Chenab 
 rushing out of its mountain gorges by the ancient city 
 of Akhnur, and here they were getting in to the outer 
 hills that lead up to that great branch of the Himalaya 
 that men call the Pir Panjal, behind which lies the 
 Happy Valley of Kashmir.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE NIGHT SKIRMISH 
 
 IT was again in the early morning that David and his 
 troopers started from their camp under the high loop- 
 holed walls of Jammu city and struck off on the Akhnur 
 road and the Chenab ferry towards the principality of 
 Poonch. The crossing of the Chenab involved somo 
 considerable delay, for the horses and mules had to bo 
 coaxed up shaky planks over the high sides of the ferry 
 boat, and then swept over in the swift current to the 
 landing ghat below the black walls of Akhnur fort. 
 Here the governor and commander of the Dogra 
 garrison had to be appeased, the Jammu passport duly 
 vised and suitable compliments exchanged. Finally, 
 a ragamuffin guard presented arms in the French style, 
 and the party clattered out along the cobbled highways 
 of the town towards the sandstone ridges and stunted 
 pines of the outer hills. 
 
 Three days of unadventurous travel brought them 
 to the old Imperial road at Rampur Rajaori, which 
 runs from Delhi ma Lahore and Gujerat over the great 
 snowy Pir Panjal mountains to the Valley of Kashmir. 
 By this road, summer after summer, year in year out, 
 the great Mogul emperors had moved with their 
 women, their elephants, their horse, their foot, and their 
 artillery, to escape in Kashmir from the devastating 
 heat of the plains of Hindostan. The great road had 
 
 33 D
 
 Si A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIK 
 
 crumbled to decay as the Mogul Empire shrivelled, for 
 there were none to exercise authority to impress the 
 labour that could keep it in repair. For many a stage 
 over the mountains ran the Imperial road, cobbled and 
 graded, past oak and pine to juniper, the silver birch, 
 the snow and the glacier. At every stage a serai or 
 resthouse, stood crumbling. At any beautiful spot 
 the serai had expanded to a garden with fountains and 
 rippling waterfalls, with Moorish summer houses, now 
 the sport of the casual traveller. Grey stone towers, 
 deserted except by some occasional highland cateran, 
 stood commanding the defiles so that none should 
 harry the imperial travellers, hurrying from the 
 beautiful canals and fountains of the Shalimar Gardens 
 in Lahore, to the still more beautiful Shalimar under the 
 mountains on the shores of a Kashmir lake. 
 
 To the Mogul serai at Rarnpur Eajaori headed the 
 small cavalcade, to bivouac in the overgrown orange 
 groves that surrounded the fountains of the serai, 
 and to stall their horses where the moving court of 
 emperors had been pitched. Below the garden which 
 overhung the river Tawi stood the town of Eajaori, 
 bright with Hindu temple spires and full of traders 
 sending and receiving the mule caravans from Kashmir. 
 In due course the headman of the town had arrived, to 
 see who the strangers were, it being his duty to protect 
 the interests of the town. True, it was hardly meet 
 that he should have gone himself, a bailiff would have 
 done as well, but parties of horse are apt to be high- 
 handed, and it would be well to see what they wanted, 
 lest they started frolicking in the bazaars, or bullying 
 the town guard. Should the arrivals appear in- 
 significant they could be bounced, and if powerful they 
 could be grovelled to. Such is the morality of the 
 East or perhaps of the world, To enable him to 
 grovel suitably if need be, the headman of Eajaori
 
 THE NIGHT SKIRMISH 85 
 
 would carry in his pocket two golden aslirafi, or Mogul 
 guineas, to be tendered by way of tribute should the 
 arrival seem sufficiently powerful to warrant such an 
 attention. The tendering of this tribute or nazar, to 
 give it its Persian name, was merely an act of courtesy 
 or fealty, and the recipient in the custom of the day 
 would touch and remit the tendered tribute. Now and 
 again, some grasping overlord might unexpectedly 
 pocket the coins and leave the donor gasping in surprise 
 and dismay, but that would be unusual. 
 
 So the headman mounted his pony and rode to the 
 serai, with two running footmen carrying guns in front; 
 and a bailiff with inkpot behind, and two gold coins 
 in case of need in his pocket. As he approached the 
 serai the small number of horses tethered down showed 
 that the arrival was not of much importance, but the 
 sight of David Eraser's tall figure and commanding air 
 sent his hand instinctively to his pocket. The gold 
 coins automatically appeared and were duly touched 
 and remitted, and the headman conducted to a seat 
 After the usual compliments David imparted such 
 account of his own object and destination as he deemed 
 sufficient, and then endeavoured to elicit such local 
 news as might guide him. 
 
 The village headman who, as a guardian of peaceful 
 traders, had little but guile to trust to against the 
 " better plan " of his masterful neighbours, answered 
 with equal circumspection. The Rajpoot Lord of 
 Poonch gave Rajaori such protection as he could, for a 
 suitable consideration, but this practically only held 
 good against the local lairds who owned towers and 
 fortified strongholds in the neighbourhood. When a 
 body of Afghan horse, or other freelances, came along 
 the local overlords were apt to be engaged elsewhere, 
 besides, Poonch lay over the Battan Pir, twenty miles 
 away. So as David Fraser only desired to be let alone
 
 86 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and get the supplies he wanted, and as the baillie but 
 wished for peace, they at last got on to talking terras. 
 
 Said Baillie Anand Kara, headman of Eampur 
 Rajaori 
 
 " Your honour is doubtless going over the Pir to 
 Kashmir by the ' snowy road ' ? " 
 
 To which David replied, " Well, I am not sure, I 
 had thought of going to Poonch, they tell me that the 
 Pir is blocked." 
 
 " No," said the baillie, " the road is open. A party 
 of Afghans is at Thanna Mandi, and they are said to 
 have crossed yesterday." 
 
 " Ah," said David, " you will no doubt see them 
 here." 
 
 "God forbid! What should I do with them? 
 Besides, this is a Sikh country, and unless they be 
 strong there are many here who wish them ill. The 
 Rajah of Sialsi has a death feud with every Afghan, 
 ever since the commandant of Banihal burnt his 
 brother alive in his tower." 
 
 This matter of the arrival of the Afghans from Kash- 
 mir was the only item of news of any value that Anand 
 Ram could purvey, and so, after gracious adieus, and 
 pronouncing himself true friend, with promise of all 
 supplies that Fraser could require, he ambled off as 
 oilily as he came. 
 
 That evening David fished with such success in the 
 Tawi below, that he stayed late to fish next morning, 
 and it was high noon before he started on the next 
 stage to Thanna Mandi. It was dusk when he reached 
 that village, and camped down among the patches of 
 purple iris, on the hither side, and sent a trooper to 
 inquire if the Afghan party was still there. Hardly 
 had the man returned with the news that they wero 
 in the traveller's serai a couple of hundred yards off 
 when a volley of musketry sounded, followed by shouts
 
 THE NIGHT SKIEMISH 87 
 
 cries. David's men at once saddled their horses 
 and seized their arms. The business of the freelance 
 is to keep out of other folk's quarrels, unless expressly 
 hired to engage in them, and it was no man's affair in 
 David's party, as to who did, or did not, cut each other's 
 throats at the other side of the hamlet. They did 
 therefore the only wise thing. They stood by to see 
 what might befall. However, before many minutes 
 had elapsed women's cries were added to the hubbub; 
 and David, who had the European rather than the 
 Oriental view of women, bidding Nihal Singh hold the 
 camp and the horses with eight men, hurried out into 
 the darkness with the remainder. The shots and 
 cries came from the old serai, and now and again a 
 musket flashed in the darkness from the shadow of the 
 ruined gateway. Someone was evidently holding the 
 place and giving as good as he got. As David and 
 his men passed the last hut in the hamlet, they saw a 
 dozen or so of dark shadows rush at the serai wall, and 
 heard more shouts on the opposite side. Reflecting 
 that the folk in the rest house were in some sort his 
 kinsmen, and that as he was going to Kashmir he 
 might well ease the way by making friends there, he 
 rushed with a cheer on to the men attacking the serai. 
 The unexpected attack from behind settled the business, 
 the attackers turned and fled, with a volley in their 
 backs from the wall, and a few sword cuts from David 
 and his leading men. One of the strangers turned and 
 let off a blunderbuss into Ganesha Singh's face, knock- 
 ing off his turban and dusting his left ear, and the 
 scrimmage was over. 
 
 Collecting his men, David approached the serai 
 cautiously. 
 
 " Who are you, strangers of the night ? " called a 
 voice from the gateway in Persian. 
 
 " A friend," replied David, in the same language. " A
 
 88 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 party of travellers making for Kashmir with messages 
 for the governor, who, hearing of the attack on you, have 
 come to your aid." 
 
 " Khush ameded " (welcome), replied the voice. " It 
 is good. We have been attacked by that son of a burnt 
 father, the Rajah of Sialsi God smite his soul to the 
 nethermost hell ! " 
 
 " I am coming forward alone with one attendant," 
 called out David, stepping forward. 
 
 At the gate a form stepped out and took David's 
 hand in both his, after the manner of the Afghans, and 
 hah* a dozen men crowded round him, with expressions 
 of welcome and gratitude. The spokesman, evidently 
 one in authority; said again, " Welcome indeed, young 
 sir. If you are going to Kashmir you have done well, 
 for you have helped no less a person than His Excellency 
 Salabat Khan, the Subahdar of Kashmir, the Wazir- 
 Wizarat of the Emperor of Kabul, We came over 
 yesterday for certain business, and were attacked by 
 these swine." 
 
 " Oho Yar Khan, oho ! " called a faint voice from 
 within the yard. " Is that the strange chief that has 
 aided us ? Bid him bring the light of his countenance 
 here." 
 
 Yar Khan, apologizing to David, stepped back into 
 the darkness, and a whispered conversation ensued. 
 Yar Khan returned. 
 
 " Sir," said he, " His Excellency has been severely 
 wounded by those men without faith, and would speak 
 with you, first asking your name and business." 
 
 " My name is Daoud Ferassa ; but who I am and 
 what my business is I will only tell His Excellency in 
 private, but this you may say, that I have with me a 
 troop of cavalry, and have come intending to seek 
 service under him." 
 
 By this time some of the Afghans had set light to a
 
 THE NIGHT SKIRMISH 89 
 
 fire of grass and brushwood, and the flickering flames 
 lit up the interior of the serai. Glancing round, David 
 saw a dozen or so horses, tethered, one lying dead, 
 while three bodies were being laid side by side, and two 
 wounded men were being attended to. The women's 
 cries were accounted for too, for in the corner by an 
 orange grove was a small crimson silk raoti (tent), and; 
 standing beside it, two women clasping each other's 
 arms, and muffled in veils. Close to the fire lay, 
 supported by two attendants, the wounded figure of 
 His Excellency the Wazir-Wazarat, a handsome fair- 
 visaged Afghan noble, with reddish cheeks and a 
 close-trimmed dark beard, not at all unlike David 
 himself. As David stepped forward into the light and 
 salaamed, the likeness at once struck the bystanders, 
 and Yar Khan exclaimed aloud at it. Yar Khan was 
 wazir and master of the horse to the governor, and 
 commander of the escort, a grizzled old Duranni soldier 
 with war and command written clear on his visage. As 
 David drew near to the fire, the two women advanced 
 and stood in the shadow of a tree behind the governor. 
 
 " Sir," said the latter. " We are very greatly 
 beholden to you for your timely arrival and bold 
 advance. As you saw, we were treacherously attacked 
 by those villains of Rajpoots, and were in some danger; 
 several men have been killed and these ladies were 
 much frightened. They are my sister and her maids, 
 and she has just come from my uncle's town at Sohan, 
 and we cross the Pir to-morrow." 
 
 Hero Yar Khan , who had been collecting reports, said 
 " Sher Baz Orakzai, and Kairn Khan Alisherzai, and 
 also Abdul Rafik Duranni are dead, and those two 
 young Afridis are wounded, one cannot stand. Here is 
 the lidkim to examine your Excellency's wound. 
 
 " Tush, Yar Khan ! it is nothing. Let every one 
 withdraw twenty yards so that I can speak with this
 
 40 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 nobleman alone. Yar Khan; you may remain oh 
 yes, and my sister, if this illustrious stranger does not 
 mind women. She is a spoilt Afghan lass, -who rides 
 a horse and does what she pleases and is afraid of no 
 man, and not like your tied-up women of India." 
 
 So David represented himself as a freelance of 
 Rohilla birth, and Duranni tribe, concealing, however, 
 his mother's actual clan, and explained how he had a 
 letter from the Begum Somru for Salabat Khan, and 
 how he wanted service. 
 
 " Right willingly will I give you service, sir," said 
 Salabat Khan. " And proud to have you with me. 
 We will all march over the Pir to-morrow, for I have 
 pressing business, and must be back in my capital. In 
 the meantime I must get my wound seen to, and we 
 had better meet again at an hour after dawn. But let 
 me once again thank you, on my own and my sisters' 
 behalf." 
 
 And here one of the women drew herself up and 
 bowed, and a gentle rhythm of bangles disturbed the 
 silence, and a shapely hand emerged to draw the veil, 
 so that for a minute a pair of eyes flashed at him from 
 under the muslin. Then, escorted by Yar Khan and 
 some of the Afghans, who were fraternizing with the 
 Mussalmans of his own party, David Eraser marched 
 back to his bivouac, with a feeling that all was well 
 in the best of possible worlds. 
 
 Yar Khan treated him with some show of confidence, 
 and spoke of the value that would accrue at the 
 present juncture in Kashmir, from the services of so 
 well equipped a troop of horse, and how well worth 
 David's while it would be to serve Salabat Khan. 
 That noble, he explained, was powerful and popular, 
 but there were plenty of enemies of the state, and of 
 the ruler, and plenty of service and reward for good 
 soldiers,
 
 THE NIGHT SKIRMISH 41 
 
 " We," he continued, speaking of the ruling race; 
 " hold the Shergarhi and the fort of Hari Parbat, and 
 indeed, the whole of Kashmir, while in the Lolab 
 valley we have a large Afghan colony ; but there are 
 many enemies. The Hindu chiefs here in this Dun 
 hate us, and attack us, as you see, when we are weak. 
 The Chinese in the mountains north, give us all the 
 trouble they can. So there is plenty of work for the 
 soldier with the ready hand that you have shown. 
 Join us, young sir, and find a glorious and a profitable 
 service." 
 
 From all of which David gathered or thought he 
 gathered two things first that Yar Khan had taken 
 a liking to him, and second that Salabat Khan was 
 none too secure in his viceroyalty. 
 
 After parting with Yar Khan at the gate of the serai, 
 David called away his followers, who were gossiping with 
 the Afghan guard, and returned to his bivouac to 
 picket his horses and seek well-earned sleep. Not so 
 the troopers, who, after their wont, piled brushwood on 
 the camp fires and sat to discuss the day's events when 
 sleep would have served them better. It was the first 
 skirmish they had had since the rissalaJi had been 
 seeking its own fortunes. The best of soldiers will 
 discuss their leaders even though never demurring at 
 any commands. As a man is no hero to his valet, so 
 a leader is open to his soldier's criticisms. Freelances 
 are less trammelled than are regular soldiers, and their 
 camp talk ranges free. 
 
 " So, Ganesha Singh jee, we are to take service with 
 this Afghan ? " queried one of the Marathas. Ganesha 
 Singh had pulled his sword from his waist belt and his 
 orderly was just offering him a pull from a huqa bowl, 
 with a bit of cloth at the end. That long-waited -for 
 whiff was soothing. Ganesha Singh let the accent on 
 the word Afghan pass. There were Afghan troopers
 
 42 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 in the party, and if they roused it would be time to 
 comment. 
 
 " The Sahib says we are to go join this noble's troops 
 in Kashmir, There will be fighting always on the 
 borders and good pay and promotion." 
 
 "Fortunate enough for them that we broke in just now. 
 Some of those troopers were about to make a bolt." 
 
 Gul Jan had come up from easing his master of his 
 accoutrements, and had caught the last words. 
 
 " Young man, you are talking as usual as the young 
 crows talk. The Durannis of that escort were little 
 likely to give way to Hindus, and would have died to 
 a man in the serai." 
 
 Ganesha Singh broke in. " Never niind the lad, old 
 man. Sit down and take a pull at the huqa. It is a 
 good beginning to service that we should have helped 
 our new masters. Ferassa Sahib is a fine leader, as you 
 and I know, and it is good that those who have lately 
 joined us should know it. Are the horses all tethered, 
 Nihal Singh ? " 
 
 " All except that entire second charger of the Sahib's. 
 Not the Arab, but that country bred, That horse will 
 always be a trouble, and will surely spoil some night 
 enterprise. Hark to him squealing now." 
 
 " Entires are like men, the low grade ones are no use 
 to a soul. Tell the line sentry to hit him over the head, 
 Has the Sahib gone to sleep, Gul Jan ? " 
 
 " He has, Ressaldar Sahib." 
 
 11 Good ! Then we can talk on here, but I shall kick 
 the fire out in quarter of an hour, Has any one been 
 in these hills before ? " 
 
 " I live twenty or thirty miles south of this," said 
 Nihal Singh. 
 
 " And I have been into Kashmir in the late governor's 
 time, before Salabat Khan came from Kabul," said 
 Gul Jan.
 
 THE NIGHT SKIBMISH 48 
 
 " And I also," said a young Mogul. 
 
 " Tell us what it is like, Mogul Jee" 
 
 " Fine place in the summer. Food very cheap, lots 
 of fruit. The women are very good looking, and the 
 Kashmiri women free-spoken ; but if you look at a 
 pundit woman there is the mischief to pay ! " 
 
 The young man spoke feelingly, and there was a laugh. 
 
 " You Muhammadans are always interfering with 
 other folk's women ! " 
 
 Nihal Singh winked across to another Kajpoot, and 
 the Hindus chuckled. 
 
 The Mogul lad saw nothing to be ashamed of in the 
 assertion ; every one knew that Zar Zan Zameen gold, 
 women, land were at the bottom of all the trouble, 
 and most of the interest in the world, at any rate the 
 interests of a freelance trooper. 
 
 " Anyway there will be lots of strong spirits brewed 
 in the valley from the apples; that will just suit you 
 wine-bibbing Hindus." 
 
 A chorus of ironical spirits laughed in his face; every 
 one was too tired to quarrel, and wine was an excellent 
 thing in due season. If Islam chose to eschew it, why 
 not ! The line sentry broke in. 
 
 " Two of the horses are off their feed, Jenab" 
 
 The good discipline of the English habit had bitten 
 into this small troop. Ganesha Singh got up and kicked 
 the fire out. 
 
 " To sleep, every man, lest I clout him, while I go 
 see the sick horses." 
 
 The old soldier and the sentry went down the lines, and 
 found two over-tired horses playing with their feed-bags. 
 
 " They are only tired. Take the bags away for an 
 hour and give them their grass. Stay, I have some 
 vinegar, Rub their nostrils with that before you give 
 them grass. They'll take their feeds later. Call me 
 if they don't,"
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 OVER THE PIR WITH MIRIAM 
 
 DAVID was astir early; bustling his troopers to clean 
 their horses and gear and make a good turnout before 
 the Afghans. By eight in the morning the shadows in 
 the galli were shortening, and the sun's rays were 
 climbing over the snowy peaks of the Pir Panjal as with 
 an ordered clatter, David's compact troop wheeled into 
 line outside the Afghan camp. Here, though the 
 chief's retinue hung around dismounted with their 
 horses ready and saddled, the chief's tent still stood in 
 the serai garden. Under the trees the ladies' cavalcade 
 seemed ready, but no one was mounted. Something 
 appeared wrong, and what that something was was 
 soon evident. 
 
 Salabat Khan's wound was much more serious than 
 had been imagined in the wipe up after the fray. He 
 had passed a bad night and was quite unfit to breast 
 the passes of the Pir Panjal. As David rode up to 
 make his salaam Salabat Khan and Yar Khan were in 
 close conference within the tent. He was invited to 
 dismount and did so, and entered the tent, to find the 
 wounded chief a far better -looking man than he had 
 imagined in the darkness and torchlight of the night 
 before. A well-born Afghan, a cadet of a Duranni clan of 
 the tribe of the Ben-i- Israel is or should be a fine figure 
 of a man. The Afghans proper are the Durannis, the 
 
 44
 
 OVEE THE PIR WITH MIRIAM 45 
 
 race of the Pearl, who trace their descent from one 
 Kish or Kais eighteenth in descent from Saul. Whether 
 they be of the Children of Israel, which is how they style 
 themselves, or whether as some think they be of Judah, 
 and from which of the captivities they date, no man 
 can tell. Certain it is that there were traces of Dan and 
 half of Manasseh to be found within comparatively 
 recent times in Central Asia. The tomb of the patriarch 
 Lamech is claimed as one of the Afghan shrines. David 
 or Daoud, Jacob Abraham, Isaac, Joseph and Jesus 
 are among the e very-day names of the Afghans. How- 
 ever, whether or no the Afghan be of the missing tribes 
 and descendants of Royal Solomon, certain it is that 
 they are of a high-browed aquiline feature, Jewish 
 at tunes to a degree. The long, oiled locks are parted 
 in the centre and combed down over the ears; and any 
 dozen scoundrels from a border village might sit as 
 models for a picture of the last supper. The high-born 
 Afghan noble especially shows the Jewish feature, hard 
 and clear cut like the patriarchs of old. Hard, from a 
 life in a hard, fierce country, where the hand alone 
 keeps the head, hard in its climate and hard in its 
 people. Fair of skin is the Afghan compared with the 
 people of Hindostan and all are by no means dark- 
 haired. As David the King had fair red hair, so you 
 may see the Afghan of the Ben-i-Israel, fair of beard 
 and hair, with ruddy cheeks, born of a life in an 
 upland country. In the East, the higher you climb 
 the fairer, the lower you go the darker. 
 
 There was nothing therefore to wonder at in Salabat 
 Khan's well-bred features. Lofty of forehead, with knit 
 eyebrows and aquiline nose that promised to age to 
 a hawk's beak, blue eyes and a close-trimmed reddish 
 beard, he might well be of the house of Saul or David. 
 In fact, he had a considerable likeness to David Eraser, 
 save that he might be ten or fifteen years older. A
 
 46 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 man to rule, no doubt, heavy of hand if need be, 
 ready of arm, and perhaps a soft heart on occasion. 
 A fascinating face, too, and so thought the young 
 Anglo-Indian, looking straight into the Afghan's eyes, 
 while exchanging the ever-profuse greetings of the 
 East. 
 
 " Ferassa Sahib," said the chief, " are you willing 
 to enter my service ? " 
 
 " That is my desire; sir," returned David. " I 
 have with me too, as I told you last night, a letter 
 for your Excellency from Her Highness the Begum 
 Somru." 
 
 " It is well. . . . You are highly spoken of herein. 
 Are you ready to swear fealty to me on the Koran ? " 
 
 " I am ready to swear fealty to you, sir." 
 
 " Yar Khan," said the chief, "let a Koran be 
 brought." 
 
 Here David felt a little disconcerted. To swear 
 allegiance he was ready, but not to swear by the 
 Crescent, he who had been brought up by the Cross. 
 Should he reveal his nationality ? So far he had passed 
 muster, not only in his language, but evidently in his 
 bearing and ways, as an Asiatic. He quickly came to 
 a decision. His men knew, and would be sure to 
 divulge it as a matter of course, Bven if he could hope 
 to disguise it himself. He knew well enough that it 
 is one thing to speak an alien language fluently, but 
 quite another matter to act the right part by instinct. 
 It is one thing to be grammatical, and idiomatic, 
 another to sit as an Oriental sits, to eat as he eats, to 
 scratch as he scratches and to yawn as he yawns. 
 The which is often forgotten by travellers to their 
 undoing. His decision came at once. 
 
 " May I speak to your Excellency alone ? " 
 
 And Salabat Khan waved away Yar Khan and the 
 attendants.
 
 OVER THE PIE WITH MIRIAM 47 
 
 " I will swear to serve you and yours, Salabat Khan 
 Saliib, not by the Koran and the Prophet, but by the 
 Hdzdrdt Iswi, for lama Frank and a Christian," 
 
 Then Salabat Khan, after eyeing him keenly; said, 
 " Ferassa Sahib, of the Franks I myself know but little 
 enough, but all men speak of their courage and truth. 
 I will accept your oath by the Hdzdrdt Iswi, on whom 
 be peace ! and will tell you now what I require of you. 
 Then, when time is of lesser import, you shall tell me 
 who and what you are and why you left the service of 
 Company Sahib Bahadur." 
 
 Now Hdzdrdt Iswi (the Prophet Jesus) is deeply 
 revered in Islam, and the educated Muhammedan is 
 ready enough to recognize the solemnity of such an 
 oath. The Christian is not an infidel in the eyes of 
 educated Islam, and Christians are " people of the 
 book " to be respected as such. That Salabat Khan 
 should unhesitatingly accept the sanctity of the in- 
 vocation merely proved him to David to be a man of 
 understanding and culture, to whom he was more than 
 ever prepared to trust his fortune. Then the Afghan 
 began again. 
 
 " Now, Ferassa Sahib, you are my servant, listen* 
 therefore, to my trouble, but first we will call Yar 
 Khan " which done, he continued " Yar Khan, I 
 am now telling Daoud Ferassa here who has accepted 
 my service, of the state of affairs. My wound of last 
 night is more severe than I thought. I cannot ride a 
 horse, and my hakim * forbids even that I ride in a litter 
 for my head swims and my eyes burn. Now, it is 
 most important that my Wazir, Yar Khan, should be 
 back in my palace of the Shergarhi in Srinagar without 
 delay with a following that he can trust. But I must 
 have an escort with me. I shall go to shelter with 
 
 * Doctor.
 
 48 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Murad Ali, the Chib chief beyond Poonch, whose sister 
 my brother has married. Yar Khan will start now 
 with you and your troop and half my own escort, and 
 my sister and her girls must go with you. I trust her 
 to your care, Ferassa Sahib, and I know how the 
 Franks can keep their faith with women. On reaching 
 the Shergarhi, at Srinagar, you will at once occupy the 
 fort, and Yar Khan will fully explain to you all that 
 is necessary. I see you are ready and so is my sister 
 Miriam and Yar Khan's men. Start at once, you will 
 find the pass easier before the snow gets soft in the 
 sunlight. Fare thee well, I rely on your faith and your 
 oath on the Hdzdrdt Iswi." 
 
 Without more ado, David left the tent, and joined 
 his men, and a few minutes later Yar Khan came out, 
 called to all his party to mount, and came over to 
 where the freelance stood. 
 
 " Mount your men, please, Sahib" said the Afghan, 
 " and we will get along. My men will lead to com- 
 mence with. See, the princess is mounted, I will 
 start off the kafila" 
 
 By the time David had ordered his men to mount, 
 the whole party were on the move, Miriam and her two 
 women riding between the Afghan troopers and David's 
 party. In this order they rode away up the winding, 
 broken road over the Rattan Pir, where the old Moghul 
 causeway was crumbling to decay, and only served to 
 turn the rainwater to eat down into the present path. 
 Over the Pir and down again till about nine of the clock 
 they came to the ford on the Poonch river that must 
 be crossed ere the ascent of the Pir Panjal could be 
 commenced. 
 
 At the ford the party which had been strung out on 
 the narrow path came together again, and David was 
 able to take some stock of the troopers of Yar Khan's 
 party. Well mounted on Kabul! and Yarkandi ponies,
 
 OVEE THE PIR WITH MIRIAM 49 
 
 they were evidently very similar men to the few Afghans 
 among his own troop, possibly clansmen of Salabat 
 Khan or Yar Khan, possibly mere mercenaries like 
 himself. They certainly looked good hard-bitten 
 soldiers such as his military eye appreciated. Of the 
 women there was little to be seen. The two attendants 
 rode heavily veiled, while even Miriam herself was 
 well wrapped in a muslin hood and scarf, and it was 
 little that David could see of her, or, for the matter of 
 that, wanted to see. His thoughts were rarely con- 
 cerned with the opposite sex. Not so, however, the lady 
 herself. She was now very well aware of the part in 
 last night's affray that the stranger and his men had 
 taken, and had quite realized that without his timely 
 assistance it might have gone hard with her brother and 
 herself. She had no mind to be led away to a Rajpoot 
 fort, and that no doubt would have been her fate if the 
 attack of last night had prevailed. Also the feminine 
 is much the same all the world over, and Afghan Miriam 
 had a good eye for a pretty man and a soldier. All her 
 life she had lived with soldiers and norsemen, and had 
 been brought up hi the atmosphere of war and strife, 
 and came from a country where the hand must keep 
 the head. Therefore men of action she understood. 
 Also an Afghan maid is as other maids are, curious, 
 always curious as to what may be her lot in life, and 
 whether she marry a lord she likes, and whether he 
 shall be a hero and a Rustum. Further, Persian love- 
 songs there be that tell of the devotion of man to maid 
 and the happiness that love may bring. Had not she 
 heard the wandering minstrel sing of such themes away 
 in the pomegranate groves of Kabul, and in Shalimar, 
 in gay Kashmir ? Old Amah, her nurse, had told her 
 many a tale of Khans and princes of the Tartars 
 riding away with their lady loves behind them on fast 
 Persian horses, carried off from under their papa's 
 
 E
 
 60 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 very noses, despite their plans to give them in marriage 
 to stuffy old Usbeg nobles. Dear old squat-nose 
 Mongol Amah, with almond eye-slits and a skin like a 
 last year's pomegranate ! What good stories she had 
 of stranger princes who did mighty deeds. So, as the 
 keen wind blew off the Pir Panjal, and whistled 
 through the tops of the blue pine, Miriam's spirits had 
 risen and she had caught her pony up by his thorn bit 
 and made him prance down the slope to the Poonch 
 till her two serving girls squealed with alarm le^t their 
 sheepish ponies should do the same. Miriam was a 
 horse-woman and could ride at a tent-peg, if relations 
 only were looking on, like any girl of a Ghilzai clan. 
 
 The excitement of last night's fray, too, stirred her 
 good red blood, and all seemed well in the sunlit 
 forest, " Sing Ho ! Sing Heigh ! for Arcady," and her 
 prancing steed danced into the shiny swirling ford of 
 the Poonch. But mountain fords are chancy things, 
 and a leaping Mahseer * made Bijli, her horse, start 
 and turn down-stream. Two steps, and the ford was 
 lost, and the horse floundering in and out of deep holes 
 and stumbling breast-high over sunken rocks. Miriam 
 soon found she was like to get a wet skin, if nothing 
 worse, and called out to the troopers who had crossed 
 ahead. But the roar of the rapids drowned her voice; 
 when down the path to the river carne David and his 
 party. They saw at once that the force of the stream 
 was the trouble, and with a shout a dozen of his men 
 jumped from their horses and immediately rushed into 
 the stream forming a line shoulder to shoulder, arms 
 intertwined, above the rapids in which she was flounder- 
 ing. Almost at once the stream rose a foot high above 
 the waists of the wall of men and sank a foot below 
 them, so that the swirls in the pools lost its force, and 
 
 * A large kind of fish.
 
 OVEK THE PIE WITH MIEIAM 51 
 
 Bijli was able to steady himself. As he did so David 
 arrived to seize his bridle and pilot the girl to the safe 
 path and the bank again. 
 
 The excitement of the situation had banished 
 reserve and disarranged Miriam's veil, so that David 
 found a bright-eyed maid with sparkling eyes and 
 braided hair ornamented with turquoise torques, bent 
 rather on handling a frightened horse than on pre- 
 serving the silent dignity of a lady of high degree and 
 Oriental seclusion. Her greeting to David in recogni- 
 tion of his assistance was entirely natural and en- 
 thusiastic, so that when that young officer had set the 
 ladies on their right path and rejoined his men, he 
 found himself for the first time in his life dwelling on 
 the memory of what feminine eyes could look like if 
 only you knew how to look at them. During his life, 
 women had not entered into his conception of the 
 world. His mother he remembered well as a being 
 apart, and there was one English lady, who had made 
 a friend of the Afghan dame, visiting at his father's 
 house, but that marriage itself had cut Major Eraser 
 off to a great extent from the social life of the English 
 settlements. The band, the dances and the reception 
 of the station assembly rooms, had not been for him; 
 so that young David had grown up with none of the 
 feminine society that young Englishmen would have 
 been accustomed too. Since he had become a free- 
 lance he had had no entanglements, nor had the 
 dancing girl adventuresses that thronged the Eastern 
 courts he had served at brought him at all within their 
 sway. If therefore the eyes of Miriam had looked 
 with favour on the handsome lad who had so success- 
 fully come to her assistance that morning, and that 
 of her party generally the night before, they had looked 
 on a promising material to experiment on. 
 
 Musing on the glimpse of the lady he had seen; and
 
 52 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 speculating on her and her brother's position in 
 Kashmir and what military prospects his new engage- 
 ment offered him, he sat while his horse climbed for 
 him. 
 
 So up and ever upwards towards the snowy pass the 
 cavalcade slowly wound along the graded causeway, 
 past the blue pine and silver fir, and ilex, to the birch 
 and the juniper. Now and again the leading party 
 would halt to let the string close up, and to ease the 
 horses, and the headmen of any hamlets passed would 
 hurry out to offer the customary tribute to travellers 
 who were evidently of high degree. But it was full 
 high noon before the camping-ground and old fort of 
 Hydrabad Serai was reached, and here Yar Khan 
 announced his intention of halting for an hour while 
 the girths were loosed and the horses fed and the loads 
 lifted from the sumpter mules. The Afghan is 
 nothing if not a good horse-master, as David noticed 
 with appreciation. A place for the Lady Miriam was 
 found under a copse of silver birch and juniper, and 
 some skins to lie on, unrolled from one of the pack 
 loads. Then, having posted a couple of sentries, Yar 
 Khan drew David to a rock overhanging the road by 
 which they had come, and asked for details of what had 
 happened at the ford. When he had heard the story, 
 he remarked 
 
 " It's no bad thing to have made a friend of the Lady 
 Miriam. She has great influence with her brother, and 
 says and does what she likes. Thank God, that is 
 usually wise, or we might often be in trouble. She 
 won't marry any of the nobles who have sought her, 
 and Salabat Khan only laughs, and says she shall do 
 as she likes. 'Tis not my idea of how to manage 
 women. In my young day we married them to whom 
 we liked, and listened not to their weepings and their 
 tantrums."
 
 OVEE THE PIE WITH MIEIAM 58 
 
 And here this fierce old hidalgo twisted his moustache 
 and pulled at his close cropped beard. Yar Khan's 
 thick squat nose and almond eye showed that there 
 must be Tartar blood in his veins for all his Afghan 
 pedigree, and with a pock-marked skin, ruddy cheeks 
 and grizzled beard he looked every inch the rough and 
 tumble highland chief of few scruples and imperfect 
 manners. His small turban was set jauntily on one 
 side of his head, and this lent an air of ram-you, dam-you 
 independence to his bearing which was singularly 
 attractive. His square, muscular figure heightened 
 this impression. A life of soldiering, of striving, and 
 at last of actual king-making, had given him great 
 confidence in his own power and judgment, and his 
 outer man bore testimony thereto. 
 
 " However," he continued, " that is no affair of 
 mine, I have other things to do than look after the 
 ladies of the governor's family and household. It is 
 quite enough for one poor Afghan to manage the affairs 
 of a vice-regal court. Now, see here, young sir. His 
 Excellency ordered me to tell you the whole situation, 
 and trust you fully since he was convinced of your 
 sincerity. I won't say that I am too, but according to 
 orders I now tell you all about it. Salabat Khan has 
 been governor in Kashmir for the last six years, on 
 behalf of the Shah at Kabul, and we have held the 
 province for the Duranni Empire against Rajput and 
 Sikh, but especially against intrigue. We have held 
 the valley against the first two as open enemies, for 
 His Excellency fears no man, but we have also held it 
 for his own hand against factions who would work him 
 harm at court and supplant him as governor. There 
 are many Afghan nobles settled on the land in Kashmir, 
 especially in the Lolab valley, and there are several 
 Toorki families who are bitterly hostile to His Ex- 
 cellency Salabat Khan. Altamish Khan is the principal
 
 54 
 
 chief of the Toorks, and he has a large following. His 
 land is in jagliir,* and so long as he docs not commit 
 himself we cannot interfere with him, but we know 
 that he is at the bottom of half the trouble in Kashmir. 
 He hates Salabat Khan too, with a bitter hatred, bom 
 of some business over a maid of Baltistan some ten 
 years ago. Now it is because of some news we had of 
 doings at Srinagar that Salabat Khan was anxious to 
 push on over the Pir, and has sent me and the Lady 
 Miriam on in his stead with your support. The Lady 
 Miriam is much beloved of the people, and her presence 
 is always a strength to us in time of trouble. I expect 
 a runner to-night at our camp to say how things are in 
 the capital." 
 
 After which outline of Kashmir politics, it was time 
 for the kafila to be up and off again, the horses fresh 
 after their rest and feed, 
 
 * Feudal tenure.
 
 CHAPTEE VI 
 
 THE RIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR 
 
 FIFTY or sixty miles away from the top of the Pir 
 Panjal, lies the capital of Srinagar, the Holy City, holy 
 to the Hindu and holy in the Sanscrit language. The 
 old Hindu kings had long been ousted by the all- 
 conquering might of Islam, and the population of the 
 valley save only the Brahmin Levite clans had long 
 been converted forcibly to believe in God and His 
 prophet. The beautiful old stone temples of the 
 Hindus, which men said had been built by the semi- 
 mythical Pandavs, had been destroyed. Destroyed, 
 men said again, by piling burning brushwood against 
 the walls and then dashing cold water on the heated 
 carvings so that they cracked and flaked away from 
 the wall, in which ruined and desolate state they 
 remain to this day. The Holy City stands bereft of its 
 holiness on both sides of the river Jhelum, on plinths 
 stolen from the ancient temples. The river rises away 
 at the top of the valley of Kashmir, clear and strong 
 from a pool under a hill, round which is built a palace, 
 and then wanders for sixty miles through that beautiful 
 upland valley where only man is vile, as wandered and 
 curled that wayward stream into which the goodly 
 youth Meander turned, far away in fair Hellas many a 
 century earlier. On the banks clustered the latticed 
 houses and the carved verandahs of the city folk, and 
 
 65
 
 56 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the tall spires of the mosques of Islam. Among these 
 same mosques there stood one in which men claim, 
 lies Christ, who according to the legend of Kashmir, 
 died not on the Cross, but survived to wander East and 
 preach peace and goodwill, recognized by modern Islam 
 as one of the prophets. 
 
 If you look on Srinagar from one of the northern 
 spurs of the Pir Panjal, you will see the green valley 
 and the meandering Jhelum curling in those figures of 
 eight that first suggested the famous shawl pattern. 
 And rising above the city of spires you will see the 
 tall hill in the middle of the valley overhanging the 
 city which folk call the Throne of Solomon, and close 
 to it a lesser hill crowned by a fortress. Across, on the 
 far side, the northern fringe of mountains, snow-clad 
 and commanding, whence the roads lead to China and 
 Thibet and the ever famous pilgrims' road. Then, as 
 you descend from the spurs and ride on you will come 
 to the walled palace and barrack of Srinagar known as 
 the Shergarhi, or lion's dwelling, in which the Governor 
 dwelt with all his machinery of government, save on 
 such occasions when he chose to move himself to the 
 greater fortress of Hari Parbat, on the lesser hill re- 
 ferred to, whence his iron guns frowned over the city 
 below. It is always good when an Eastern potentate 
 to have some frowning place of refuge against the days 
 when the people fail to appreciate efforts and methods 
 of governing, or when schism rends the land. 
 
 Bound the outskirts of the city stand many garden 
 residences of the nobles. Behind the Throne of 
 Solomon, between it and the great mountains, lies that 
 most wonderful land-locked lake known as the Dhall, 
 and on its shores the beautiful gardens that the Mogul 
 Emperors of Delhi had laid out for their own and their 
 ladies' pleasure the Shalimar, the Garden of Happi- 
 ness, and the Garden of Soft Breezes. The very name
 
 THE EIVAL PARTY AT SBINAGAE 57 
 
 Shalimar is redolent of Eastern beauty and love and 
 wine, " The fair pale band I love beside the Shalimar." 
 And behind the Shalimar lay the village of Pulhalan; 
 and close by the village the suburban residence of 
 Al tarnish Khan, the Toork. If any one had been in an 
 observant mood in an afternoon in the middle of the 
 Hindu month of diet, he would have seen that row- 
 boats kept making for the Shalimar from various sides 
 of the lake, and by the green highway from the Holy 
 City, horse, foot, and sedan chairs. In fact, Altamish 
 Khan was giving a garden party to those of his friends 
 and supporters who might further his plans regarding 
 the governorship. 
 
 The evening before, a messenger had arrived from a 
 friend and watcher in the state of Poonch, and the news 
 that he had brought was that His Excellency Salabat 
 Khan had been killed in a skirmish with the Hill 
 Rajpoots close to Thanamandi on the Punjab side of 
 the Pir Panjal. Thereon Altamish Khan had decided 
 on seizing the governorship forthwith, by a coup de 
 main, cutting off in the process the heads of all the 
 Afghan party, as distinguished from the Toork party, 
 who might be likely to thwart or oppose him. The 
 which is a first principle in Eastern politics. Now 
 Altamish Khan, the Toork, was as dissolute and un- 
 principled as a man brought up in the decaying court 
 of Delhi well could be, sparing, when opportunity 
 offered, none who ever crossed his path to hindrance. 
 He was, moreover, a born intriguer, and, like many 
 of his kidney, often over-reached himself. His agents 
 of intrigue were many, and none more influential and 
 shrewder than the lady who, styling herself the Begum 
 Allah Visayah, belonged to what has been called the 
 oldest profession in the world. She dwelt, after the 
 manner of her kind, in a house on the city wall, but in 
 this case the wall that overhung the Jhelum. Her
 
 58 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 upper room contained a long latticed balcony from 
 which the Jiabitues could smoke their Jmqas and scan 
 the busy life of the river and spy also on those who came 
 and went to and from the palace, at any rate, as far as 
 the river gate was concerned. Those who frequented 
 the salon of the Begum Allah Visayah were usually 
 of high degree, gallants from about the viceregal court, 
 captains of the horse, and the barons of the suburbs. 
 Gossip of the better type, was always to be had at the 
 time of morning audience, better, that is to say, so far 
 as interest went, but in little else. Gossip is always 
 evil, and gossip in the interior of an Eastern courtesan's 
 residence would hardly be of the highest. But such; 
 as it was, it had the spice which surrounds the doings 
 of the princes and governors, and a value of its own to 
 those who could sift the chaff from the grain. So 
 thought the Afghan lad, Habib Ullah, of the tribe of 
 the sons of Joseph, who lay at his ease on a crimson 
 divan in a dark corner of the Begum's inner reception 
 room, and listened whilst that astute lady conversed 
 with her morning's visitors. The gossip ran on the 
 invitations to Altamish's garden party, and what would 
 be likely to transpire, or if it was only a social gathering. 
 Now Habib Ullah commanded the squadron that 
 formed His Excellency's Klias Eissalali, or bodyguard, 
 a troop entirely of his own men, not connected with 
 the Duranni, save that his sister was married to a cousin 
 of Salabat Khan. After a while the company thinned 
 out till chatting with the Begum were two Toork gentry 
 only, relatives and supporters of Altamish, and regular 
 admirers of her own. One lay comfortably on a 
 Bokhara rug, while the other sat on a wicker stool, and 
 both were smoking rose-water huqas. They had not 
 noticed the Afghan in the comer as they entered, 
 and when unexpectedly they commenced to talk 
 secrets the Begum for the moment was at a loss what
 
 THE RIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR 59 
 
 to do. Then sho made up her mind. Habib Ullah 
 was very much in her toils and she well, she cared 
 much more for him than any other of her clientele. A 
 handsome lad with a winning way, and a fine swords- 
 man, who carried her favours arrogantly before all, as 
 young men should, taking the wall to no man. There- 
 fore, thought the Begum, he shall hear what is going, 
 and ho shall keep the secret for my sake or make such 
 use of as he will, if I let him. So she lay back on her 
 cushions, and the Toorki visitors commenced. 
 
 " My Lord Al tarnish sends you greeting. Salabat 
 Khan, the Governor, is dead in Poonch, and my lord 
 will himself seize the Shergarhi and proclaim himself 
 governor in the name of the Emperor, which Emperor, 
 Delhi or Kabul, matters not. The clansmen from the 
 Lolab valley are even now moving in. The Regiment 
 of Victory hold the Hari Parbat fort. It is necessary 
 that that regiment shall either declare for Altarnish or 
 march out and hand the fort over, the former for 
 choice. It is understood that what you will the com- 
 mandant of the regiment does. Now, this is the 
 message to you. ' Let it be arranged that the 
 Regiment of Victory open the fort gates to me to- 
 morrow evening at sundown, and then march to the 
 Shergarhi.' " 
 
 " The words of the great Khan are a law unto his 
 servants, but this is a difficult matter, full of complica- 
 tions. This humble one may well lose all and her 
 life too." 
 
 " The Lord Altamish also bade us say; that if tho 
 Regiment of Victory came over, the estates of Pampur 
 should be yours and a lakh of Kabul-Shahi rupees as 
 well." 
 
 " The Lord Altamish," quoth the lady, " is liberal as 
 ever, and it is true that what I will, so does the com- 
 mandant of the Regiment of Victory act. But how am
 
 60 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 I to know that Salabat Khan is really dead ? Who can 
 appoint his successor but the Emperor of Kabul ? 
 Does my lord Al tarnish defy the Emperor ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, Madam ! " urged the envoys together. 
 " The Lord Al tarnish takes the government to prevent 
 disorder till His Majesty at Kabul sends a sanad * to 
 his successor. The Begum herself knows well that 
 Kabul is a far cry from Kashmir, and that the Emperor 
 cares not who governs so long as tribute comes 
 regularly." 
 
 " But," again urged the cautious Begum who knew 
 too well the road that those tread who are caught in 
 intrigue between the nether millstones, " the Imperial 
 order of the Duranni is this, as all the world knows, 
 that when a governor dies the naib-Wazir, who as 
 thou knowest is the Sirdar Yar Khan, takes charge till 
 the Imperial will is known. Thou well knowest what 
 became of the Mooltani Pathan who took charge un- 
 authorized when the Khagwani governor of Mooltan 
 died of cholera." 
 
 " It were well I fancy to leave such points to the 
 Lord Al tarnish who no doubt knows his own business, 
 and besides has Kazilbash friends at court to support 
 his claim. The point for us is, will you earn our Lord's 
 lakh of rupees and the Pampur estates, by making 
 certain that the Regiment of Victory do as my Lord 
 may order ? He has ordered that you have some 
 earnest money of what is to come. By his command, 
 I now invest you with this chain." 
 
 And here the envoy hung round the neck of the 
 courtesan a chain of kincob and pearls with an emerald 
 pendant. This type of ornament, well known in all the 
 harems of the north, was modelled after the famous 
 necklace that Nadir Shah the Persian brought away 
 
 * Warrant of appointment.
 
 THE EIVAL PAETY AT SEINAGAE 61 
 
 from the Great Mogul for his Hindu lady-love who had 
 followed him so faithfully. The pearls might vary in 
 value, but the pattern of the necklace had become 
 stereotyped. In this case the pearls though not large 
 were enough to stir the envy of better women than the 
 Begum. Her eyes glistened with desire, and she 
 eagerly said 
 
 " It is well, I accept the guerdon. The Kommadan * 
 of the Eegiment of Victory shall do as I tell him and 
 hand over Hari Parbat fort to whom the Lord Altamish 
 wills and at the time he wills." 
 
 And then the Toork envoys rose to go, feeling that 
 the less said now the better, lest the lady repent her of 
 her undertaking, or ask for more earnest money, after 
 the manner of her kind. 
 
 " Hush, my lords," cried she, " some one comes ! 
 Oh, it is my friend Habib Ullah, whom doubtless you 
 know, of the governor's bodyguard. Come in, Khan 
 Sahib, I do but receive two gentlemen of the Lord 
 Altamish's following." 
 
 And here Habib Ullah, who had heard most of what 
 had been passing, and who understood that the Begum 
 had meant him to do so, quietly came forward, and 
 said 
 
 " Gracious one ! Here have I been waiting patiently 
 at your doorstep for I heard that you gave audience." 
 
 The young Afghan, to whom as to all of his kind, 
 intrigue and plot and counterplot is ever the salt of 
 life, bowed gracefully and courteously to the two Toork 
 nobles, saying 
 
 " Ever does this house of grace receive the great ones 
 of the city and the valley. May your star be exalted 
 and your fortunes ever flourish." 
 
 To which the Toorks replied, " May wisdom and 
 
 * Commandant.
 
 62 
 
 prosperity ever remain at your disposal," and left the 
 room, to hunt for their shoes at the stairs and pay a 
 gratuity to the attendant whose business it was to look 
 after visitor's foot-wear. 
 
 Going out into the street, one remarked, " That pert 
 young cockerel is piping low to-day. Can it be that 
 he too wants service with the Lord ? " 
 
 " The devil, whom these Afghans serve, has no doubt 
 prompted him to seek his own advantage sooner than 
 his master's," quoth his companion. " It will be well 
 to let Allah Visayah know that she should make sure 
 of him too. He is young enough to be useful, and not 
 too old to be dangerous. Besides, we want some 
 Afghans, or we shall have trouble with all the following 
 in the city. We can't kill them all or we shall bring 
 the Emperor himself here. If we can square half the 
 Afghans once we have seized the fort, then we can 
 report to Kabul that we have taken temporary charge 
 of the government, and have the Afghans with us, and 
 that only those who tried to raise riot and rebellion 
 have been slain. At the worst we can but make for 
 Delhi, and as you know, Altamish has many Toork 
 friends there and in Oudh." 
 
 So the two plotters rode away on their stout ponies 
 that come from Yarkand away over the China passes 
 by the pilgrim's road, that wonderful road from which 
 the Chinese had come, rain and shine, for centuries to 
 worship at the shrine of Prince Gautama; the Buddha. 
 It is the record of these pilgrims' journeys that help us 
 more to follow the obscurer incidents of the Teacher's 
 life than anything else. 
 
 Altamish Khan the Toork was one of those many 
 freelance leaders who had so constantly come out of 
 that great Central Asian cauldron whence hardy fierce 
 Toork, Tartar, and Mongol races had poured to the 
 overrunning of a continent, north, south; east and
 
 THE EIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR C3 
 
 west. As had been the custom of his forbears, he, 
 with a following of his own men to which he had added 
 any useful knave who could handle a sword and a 
 bowstring, had become one of the many powerful 
 chiefs who had sold their services to Ahmad Shah, the 
 Abdalli, who founded, on the death of Nadir Shah the 
 Persian, the Duranni Empire of Kabul. When that 
 monarch died, Altamish had continued to servo his 
 successors on the throne of Kabul, and had been 
 given estates in Kashmir, on that province being 
 wrested from the Mogul. Now estates are all very 
 well, but Altamish was growing old, and it was high 
 time that he should occupy some more lucrative post 
 than that of a mere landed baron of the Empire, 
 True, the great muscular Kashmiri peasant farmers 
 who were his tenants paid him fair dues and more, for 
 they were a chicken-hearted lot, despite their huge 
 thews, but he was too old an oppressor to overstrain 
 the moneymaker. As much as he could wring from 
 his tenantry he wrang, but that did not give him the 
 wealth that he coveted to surround his old age with 
 luxury and evil. He would fain be a governor of a 
 province free to farm the taxes and work his will after 
 the manner of the East. Therefore it was that he 
 sought ever to sit in the seat of Salabat Khan, by fair 
 means or foul, and all his following longed too that 
 their lord might come to wealth and more estate, that 
 each in his turn might farm some part of the revenue 
 and oppress his neighbour in official guise. 
 
 Salabat Khan Duranni was a better governor than 
 provinces of the Kabul Empire usually got. The Afghan 
 himself needs ever a cruel master. Centuries of war 
 and oppression and wrong have taught every man 
 to be a law unto himself. Never a hint of the law of 
 love and right doing have penetrated to these hills in 
 which the mountains of Asia break into crests of rugged
 
 64 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 rock and stone. To paganism has succeeded Islam in 
 its cruellest form, and the law of Moses has long been 
 lost. To rule Afghans you must flay them alive, men 
 say, and gouge out their eyes, and if you would be 
 merciful, blow them away from a gun and have done 
 with it. And then as to be cruel is to be avaricious, 
 those who had the power must extract for themselves 
 just as much as could be had without the wretch 
 turning in despair, and ceasing to be a yielder of 
 revenue. So Afghan governors bred in this school 
 were apt to be sore taskmasters in gentler lands. Now 
 and again, however, the larger and more established 
 families had come to security of tenure and estates 
 and had sufficient strength to be free to learn. Nadir 
 Shah, despite his all-conquering genius and his ruth- 
 lessness on occasion, had wit to see that a milder folk 
 thrived under a kindlier sway, and the Hindu maid 
 that touched his warrior heart had softened his ways 
 and his laws. He had some knowledge of how to rule 
 the people for the people. And there were men of his 
 court and his armies who had learnt something of his 
 conceptions. Then ever there were memories among 
 learned men of the great Akbar who ruled as none 
 had ruled in India for a thousand years, who dreamed 
 of making all faiths one, and of the day when the lamb 
 I should lay down with the lion. And lay down with 
 the larnotlie lion had to in his day, in peace and honour 
 whether he like or no, lest worse befall. But the day 
 of Akbar had passed, and generation in generation out, 
 ever the Mogul had grown feebler and lost his northern 
 courage and character. However, that belongs to 
 another chapter of history than the days of David 
 Fraser and Maid Miriam, and suffice it to say, that 
 Salabat Khan had had a finer up-bringing than most. 
 He had been cared for by an uncle away up in the 
 valleys beyond Istalif, where, to some extent, the lie
 
 THE EIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR 65 
 
 had been given to the saying that you ruled an Afghan 
 only with scorpions. His uncle had ruled as the good 
 barons rule, a word and a blow if you like, but a just 
 word and a just blow. And his aunt had brought 
 up a family of half a dozen as well as her nephew 
 and his sister, and that with some reference to the 
 ruth of God and the true teaching of the Prophet, 
 who, be it ever remembered, was born of a Christian 
 mother. 
 
 Salabat Khan, her nephew, had been appointed 
 ruler of Kashmir, because the Emperor knew that to 
 make Kashmir pay good revenue it was necessary to 
 treat it fair. Fair treatment then the valley had had, 
 these last seven years, and though the governor could 
 flay a man as promptly as any Afghan, he never did it 
 to his own ends, or for aught save in punishment for 
 cruel and dastard outrage. The valley had repaid 
 the good treatment it had received, the great rice 
 barges bringing in the revenue came yearly to the 
 state granaries full to the gunwale. There were 
 more rupees in the treasury than earlier governors 
 ever dreamt of. 
 
 It was some considerable knowledge of the history 
 of the valley and of what did or not make a good ruler 
 that caused Allah Visayah the courtesan to act as we 
 shall see her. To be in the higher flight of her pro- 
 fession in a large and official town, was to be something 
 more than a painted denizen of the housetop. To ride 
 with the hare and hunt with the hounds in an Eastern 
 capital requires some steadiness of brain and of purpose, 
 some knowledge of the hearts of men, and some inkling, 
 however afar off, of the mainsprings of good and of 
 evil. To be a courtesan in the East, and for the 
 matter of that, often enough in the West, is to be 
 born to the trade, to be born to snare men, to dance 
 for a livelihood, and to serve as attendants at holy 
 
 p
 
 G6 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 shrines. From her birth the Begurn had been devoted 
 to her profession as a votive offering, by her mother, 
 who had followed the same profession, and her grand- 
 mother before her. As also will her descendants, 
 so long as Hinduism and Islam have no public 
 conscience. 
 
 Allah Visayah had been brought up trained in the 
 arts and graces as usually imparted to one of her calling. 
 Musical by nature, she played the love -songs of Persia 
 and crooned their sibilant words, with more than per- 
 functory feeling, and the poetry and wisdom of Saadi 
 she had studied for what it was worth. To a love of 
 music and a desire for learning, she added good nature, 
 so that she was well equipped to acquire some amount 
 of backstairs influence. Added to which she had in 
 her youth spent some money lavished on her by a 
 Mogul noble in making a pilgrimage to a famed shrine 
 away in the snows, and had there picked up en route, or 
 was reputed to have acquired, some knowledge of the 
 occult sufficient for that useful acquisition, the fear 
 of her neighbours. 
 
 So with some larger outlook that those who counted 
 on their curry, and the jewels they could extract from 
 their admirers, the prosperity of the valley and of the 
 dwellers in the city was a matter on which she was 
 wont to ponder, Salabat Khan, the governor, it was 
 true, had other fish to fry than came to her net, but 
 once he had given a judgment against her, in a case 
 in which the whole mass of evidence was indubitably 
 on her side, but was false in every item, purchased at a 
 price. Therefore she knew him for a shrewd, just man, 
 before whom the right would prevail, and knew, too, 
 that Altamish Khan was the very reverse. Salabat 
 Khan's death, then, she recognized as a loss, if true, 
 and the question for her to decide was whether or no 
 she should aid his following. Business was business,
 
 THE EIVAL PARTY AT SRINAGAR 67 
 
 and what had such as she to do with the ethics of 
 state craft? Nothing, absolutely nothing, of course, 
 and the Pampur estates, with a lakh of rupees thrown 
 in as a make weight, was not to be sneezed at. There- 
 fore, decided the quick mind of Allah Visayah, both 
 birds shall fall to my stone ! I will warn the Naib 
 Wazir, the Sirdar Yar Khan, and I will also see that 
 the Regiment of Victory shall render to Altamish the 
 Fort of Hari Parbat. 
 
 " Habib Ullah, you have heard what those mis- 
 begotten Toorks said to me ? " 
 
 " I heard, Lotus-Eyed, that His Excellency is dead, 
 and that Altamish Khan will try by force to succeed 
 him." 
 
 " How will he do that, Khan jee ? " 
 
 " That I do not know, but he has a considerable 
 following." 
 
 " You, no doubt, are on his side." 
 
 " I, Lotus-Eyed ? " 
 
 " Well, you seem in no hurry to prevent it." 
 
 " The race is not always to the swift, Lotus-Eyed. 
 I wait to hear more. It is easy to run into a tangle. 
 Patience is the practice of wisdom." 
 
 " Very well. Now, Khan Sahib ! Are you minded to 
 keep the Afghans as governors of this province ? If so, 
 listen. Go, warn the Commandant of the Shergarhi, 
 who himself is acting as governor, and then do you 
 ride straight as an arrow from Rustum's bow to the 
 Pir Panjal, by the Imperial Roadi and find the Sirdar 
 Yar Khan, and tell him. Also warn the commandant 
 that the Regiment of Victory may not be staunch, and 
 should on no account be brought into the Shergarhi, 
 and also say that it might be wise to leave it where it 
 is, as any attempt to move it may bring on trouble. 
 Doest understand ? " 
 
 " I understand, Lotus-Eyed, right well, You are
 
 68 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 wise as ever. But is there not time that I stay a while 
 with you, and thou shalt sing me of the Rose that fell 
 on the Garden Path ? " 
 
 " Habib Ullah ! Is this a time for you and your 
 folly ? No wonder Empires are lost and won if you 
 would twang the zithar when you should be galloping 
 your Tazi horse to the mountains ! Go, and as you 
 and I are old friends, it is well that you should see that 
 both of us are no losers. See that the Lord Yar Khan 
 knows who is his friend here in Srinagar, and say also 
 that no man knoweth yet how far this mischief has 
 gone. Go now, lest I curse thee for a fool and sell 
 you all to the Toorks ! " 
 
 Then Habib Ullah, the captain of horse, took counsel 
 of the courtesan, and sped away to the Shergarhi, and 
 to saddle his swift Tazi. 
 
 And the Begum Allah Visayah thanked her stars 
 that men are fools ever.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 ALIABAD SERAI 
 
 SOON after leaving their midday halt at Hyderabad, 
 the cavalcade of Yar Khan and the Lady Miriam with 
 David Fraser and his troop entered the snow line, now 
 unfortunately soft with the full force of the sun. This 
 made the going heavy and difficult for the animals, 
 while the riders had to cover their faces with their 
 puggarees lest the glare blind them and strip the skin 
 from their faces. David had dismounted and given 
 his horse to his orderly, concerning himself with walking 
 beside the pony of Miriam, which was slipping and 
 Blithering at every step. After a few hundred feet of 
 climbing, the road lay through a shaded gully where 
 the sun had not penetrated and the hard snow was 
 better going for the horses. David pulled up her 
 horse to lift the feet and dig out the ball of caked snow 
 that had collected in the frogs. As he did this he was 
 surprised to hear her speak. The etiquette and custom 
 of the East leads not veiled women to speak to strange 
 men, and as yet they had not held converse. The ways 
 of an Afghan lady of rank, however, are above the 
 conventions that cramp the more secluded races. 
 
 " I have not thanked you, courteous stranger," said 
 she, " for your help at the ford. Damming the water 
 for me with a wall of men was well thought of. I have 
 heard my father speak of such a thing when crossing 
 
 69
 
 70 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 our Afghan streams, but I have never seen it done. 
 Tell rne whence you come, if you will and it is no secret, 
 I can keep secrets too, if that be your pleasure." 
 
 And David looked up into the veiled face, and just 
 saw the tip of a well-turned chin. 
 
 " Nay, lady," said he. " Who am I that I should 
 have secrets, or what is there in my life that any one 
 would care to hear of ? " 
 
 " That is my business," quoth the maiden. " It is 
 enough that I am content to listen if you are willing to 
 tell. It is not of idle curiosity that I ask." 
 
 And again David looked up for another look of that 
 chin and perhaps a sparkle of the fairy eyes, but the 
 veil had closed again. Then; since ever has the female 
 stimulated the male by draping that on which he would 
 gaze on, David straightway desired very much indeed 
 to catch that sparkle once more. The sparkle of 
 bright eyes was a new phenomenon, and one that seemed 
 worth exploring. 
 
 " Lady, your brother the Sirdar, to whom I have 
 promised allegiance, knows something of my history, 
 and there is no reason why I should not tell you. I 
 am a Feringhi, a Christian Frank, who seeks fortune 
 among soldiers with his horse and his sword." 
 
 " Then why do you not serve the Company, Sahib 
 Bahadur, like the other Franks ? You are Angrez, are 
 you not ? " 
 
 " No, Lady; I am but half Angrez, or Feringhi, My 
 mother was an Afghani." 
 
 " Then you are of the true faith ? " 
 
 " No, Lady, not as you mean it, I am not of the 
 faith of Islam. My mother was of Islam, but became 
 of my father's faith, to follow the Holy One of Nazareth, 
 of whom Islam says, ' Aleh Salaam.' " * 
 
 * " On whom peace."
 
 ALIABAD SEEAI 71 
 
 " Yea, I have heard of the Hdzdrdi Iswi Aleli Salaam I 
 and our priests say women have no souls, so what does 
 it matter ? I once heard that the Christians say that 
 women have souls as well as men." 
 
 " My mother, Lady, was ever happy as a Christian; 
 and the English padre sahib often came to see her and 
 to pray with her when she was ill." 
 
 " Tell me more, then; of your mother and the English; 
 and the padre that prayed with a woman." 
 
 So David found himself chatting away of his child- 
 hood and his father, of Danny Irvine the artillery 
 batman, of the soldiers and guns of the English canton- 
 ments, and of his delicate Afghan mother who had 
 worshipped her husband and son and had been wor- 
 shipped in return. 
 
 Miriam understood how she had worshipped her son; 
 and the son his mother ; but the care and love of the 
 father for his wife, the only woman about him, that 
 failed to strike a note of recognition in her conception 
 of life. The devouring flame of the love of man for 
 woman' she understood or had ken of in the burning 
 Persian poems that the strolling singers sang and her 
 old nurse crooned. Ephemeral as the day, short as 
 the summer's night, was the wooing and the passion of 
 a Persian ballad. The lover rode away to conquests 
 new and wives afresh, while the woman remained to 
 cherish a child that became all that life held for her 
 " bangles ring softly and sadly." She knew by hear- 
 say of the " tender ruth " of man to woman in the 
 Central Asian plateaus. She knew, too, of strong; 
 stem wives who ruled their lords' castles and retainers 
 and junior wives by sheer force of character and gift 
 of power. But that the rapture of the love-song should 
 be followed by peace and protection till evensong was 
 a new conception; and she must hear more of it. 
 
 Therefore 1 the ice once broken; she became the
 
 72 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 natural curious maiden demanding information of the 
 stranger as simply as she would have questioned Arnah 
 Jan, her nurse and maid. And the good, simple David 
 walked at her side answering her questions truly and 
 naturally, quite forgetting how incongruous it all was. 
 But then, perhaps, after all, it was not incongruous, for 
 a man is made for a maid all the world over, and high 
 converse is the gift of the Gods. 
 
 " Then your father had no other wives ? " queried 
 Miriam, lest she had not understood aright. 
 
 " The Christians only have one wife." 
 
 " What do they do when she is old or sick ? " 
 
 " They take care of her, at least the good ones do. 
 My father took more care of my mother the feebler she 
 became." 
 
 " I must tell old Amah Jan that/' mused Miriam. 
 " She always said men care naught for women when 
 they are ill, unless they are bearing sons. But your 
 father married again when she died ? " 
 
 " Nay, Lady. He mourned for her all his life." 
 
 " Amah will never believe that. She says no man 
 grieves for a woman save the woman he cannot possess. 
 Are all the English the same ? " she added. 
 
 " All the English I knew. There were English 
 ladies in the cantonment who came to see my mother. 
 Their husbands all treated them well, and they came 
 and went as they liked. Some were old and some were 
 young, but it did not make much difference. Every 
 one was as courteous to the old as well as to the 
 young." 
 
 " It is all very hard to believe. Tell me now of the 
 padre who used to come. We see the priests at times, 
 and we pay them money, but they regard us as of no 
 importance." 
 
 ' The padre, the chaplain, as they call him, came 
 regularly to see my mother, and talked with her of the
 
 ALIABAD SEEAI 73 
 
 God of the English, and of His Son; and she used to 
 tell it all to me when he had gone. There was always 
 something new to tell, though she had learnt enough to 
 become a Christian soon after my father married her." 
 
 " Tell me how your father came to marry your 
 mother. Did he buy her, as the Persians do ? " 
 
 " My lady, 'tis a curious story, and the English 
 ladies loved to hear it, and my mother would herself 
 tell it to those she liked. Her father was the Sirdar 
 Ghaur Khan, Suddozai, of Ghor, who had ridden with 
 two hundred of his clan to join his relatives the 
 Rohillas. After the Abdalli had beaten the Marathas 
 at Panipat, he rode through Hindostan for many 
 years, living at his ease on the country, always meaning 
 to found a state, but ever loving better to roam. My 
 mother had ridden at his saddle-bow ever since she 
 could remember, as when she was older on an Arab 
 horse by his side, in front of his Amirs. Then there 
 was war with the English, and a big battle. She was 
 in the middle of it, and the Afghans were destroyed. 
 My mother and her horse were carried away by some 
 irregular trooper in the Company's Horse. An English 
 Sahib, hearing screams, rode after her, and took her 
 from the troopers. She was lodged in all honour in a 
 tent of his, and marched for three days with the 
 political retinue. Then my father came to her and 
 said he wanted to marry her. She wept for her father 
 and relatives, but said she was his slave, and it must 
 be as he wished, according to custom. They were 
 married according to English custom by the political 
 officer, and then she marched with him north and south 
 for ten years, right down through the Deccan, and 
 when I was nine years old, to the capture of Seringa- 
 patam with Lord Cornwallis, the great English General. 
 After that the wars were over, and we lived in English 
 cantonments and were very happy."
 
 74 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " And did your mother know the English ladies ? " 
 
 " My mother was just as they were, controlling my 
 father's household, and entertaining his guests, though 
 she ever loved to be alone. Once the great Governor- 
 General of the English came to see her and invited her 
 to come with my father to his house." 
 
 11 And did she go ? " 
 
 " Surely, lady, surely. She went in all honour after 
 the English custom, and sat at the lord's table, and 
 even danced with him at his big reception." 
 
 " I've heard of this dancing among the English ; my 
 nurse had a friend who had been in an English station 
 once, but I do not understand it. But the way of the 
 English women, it is wonderful ! Your father had no 
 other wives ? " 
 
 " No ; did I not say that the English never marry 
 more than one at a time ? " 
 
 " H'm ! perhaps they are wise there, but to rule a 
 man all your life, and to have no young wives, with 
 their impudent ways when you grow old ! It is very 
 wonderful. Once there came to Birrnal an old man ; 
 he was a story-teller, and played a wavering pipe. 
 He was allowed to come to us women and play. He 
 said that there was only the one real love, and the one 
 real life. Perhaps he meant what the English mean. 
 My cousin Anari said it was a poor man that would be 
 content with the one wife, and for her part she would 
 think little enough of him. And the other English 
 ladies, were they held in the same esteem as your 
 mother ? " 
 
 " More or less. Always with honour and alone; but 
 perhaps my father cared for my mother more than 
 most ; but then he knew she must be lonely among a 
 strange people, He told me so after she died," 
 
 " Prutt ! a woman has no people when she marries. 
 We Afghanis leave our homes and go away with our
 
 ALIABAD SEEAI 75 
 
 lords, and no one misses us, or cares, and our lord may 
 do as he likes, though for all that some of us can hold 
 our own. Your father married again, of course ? " 
 
 " Nay, lady. He just mourned for my mother the 
 rest of his days." 
 
 To this Miriam said nothing, but David saw her 
 eyes once more, as she looked at him to see if he spoke 
 the truth. Then, as if satisfied, she said 
 
 " That I will tell to Yar Khan, who always tells me 
 that women are of no account, and that one is as good, 
 or, as he thinks it, as bad as another. He thinks 
 nothing but his horse soldiers and the rupee bags in 
 my brother's treasury are of any import. I'll just tell 
 him how the English ladies are treated. No ; you 
 shall tell him. He will only just crink his pock-bitten 
 eyebrows at me. I hate the ugly man ! " 
 
 " But Yar Khan must be a very firm and faithful 
 servant to you and your brother. 
 
 " Yes, he is, really. My brother trusts him I know; 
 beyond all. They have been together many years. 
 Long before he came to Kashmir, when I was a girl in 
 Birmal, we heard how Yar Khan stood by my brother, 
 when those wolves' heads the Abazai drove him from 
 Jellalabad. Oh yes, I trust him too, but he always 
 makes me feel so very small. No, I don't hate him 
 either, for once I lost my pet lamb over the cliffs of the 
 Zogi-la; when we were returning from Iskardu, it 
 was old Sirdar Yar Khan that slung himself over in a 
 grass rope to rescue it. He knows, too, that I hate to 
 see animals killed, and will not allow animals to be 
 hallaled * when I am there. Perhaps he thinks no 
 Afghani should shrink from blood and pain, Surely 
 it is always round us, When I think of all the stories 
 
 * Hnllal = made lawful food ; i.e. have their throats cut. A 
 Muhammadan only eats meat when thus killed.
 
 76 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 old Amah tells us, I long for peace, and a world where 
 the men cease from slaughter. Now what you tell 
 me of your life with the English sounds of a new 
 world. Yet they too are terrible in battle." 
 
 " They are always victorious, true lady. But I've 
 heard men say they ever fight for the right and protect 
 the poor. Justice they give I know, and they prize 
 truth and honour." 
 
 " Then why, Ferassa Sahib, have you left them ? " 
 
 " I left them, Lady Miriam, sadly, because they love 
 not the mixed race. I, who am descended from 
 princes on my father's and my mother's side, care not 
 to be looked down on as a half-breed. They offered 
 to make me an officer in their army, but I heard two 
 of them talking of me, kindly enough, but with pity as 
 a half-breed. So out into the world come I, lady, as 
 I told you, to hack my own way to power, and a name, 
 with my father's sword and his father's pistols, and 
 naught else save only the Holy Book, that my father 
 gave my mother when she was baptized. Belike I 
 shall be the first and the last half-breed of the House of 
 Ghor, or of the Fraser Khel* That, Lady Miriam, 
 is niy story." 
 
 And Miriam sat silent, her veil tight drawn, and her 
 shapely head bent in thought, and in her heart she 
 hoped, she very ardently hoped, that this fine young 
 man might come by his own. Did she think that he 
 and she might share the life of the English ? She to be 
 tended and cared for in her old age, and not turned out 
 a-catching camels, when no longer a light o' the harem ? 
 Not she, she thought not at all of such things. The 
 Afghani is not lightly introspective or sentimental 
 No ! but she did think that she would like to let Yar 
 Khan know how some folk regarded women. 
 
 * Clan.
 
 ALIABAD SEEAI 77 
 
 Then; as the cavalcade crested a southern spur they 
 came on a stony patch whence the snow had melted; 
 and the herbage was sprouting green down-grass 
 and saxifrage, a tulip, and a wild violet. 
 
 " See, Sahib, see ! " she cried. " An omen ! an 
 omen ! The Prophet's flower. The paighamber gul ! 
 Success to all who see it first in the season." 
 
 Yes, there it was among the violets. The little five- 
 petalled yellow flower, with the brown spot in each 
 petal, where men say the Prophet touched it, and 
 blessed it for its promise of spring and life after winter. 
 To David it was a new flower and a new story, and an 
 omen of success, since beauty and youth and en- 
 thusiasm called it so. 
 
 By now, however, the sun was setting, and the keen 
 cold wind of sundown was blowing over the peaks. 
 They had wound over the top of the pass, and the cairn 
 of stones, each contributed by a wayfarer, and were 
 descending a spur and the side of a gully. Turning a 
 corner suddenly, thousands of feet below, lay the whole 
 of the valley of Kashmir itself, streaked with the 
 great purple shadows thrown by the Pir Panjal peaks. 
 The cool keen air swept up the gully, and beautiful 
 Miriam threw back her veil to drink it in, and let it 
 play with her braided hair. So David the Scotto- 
 Afghan gazed his full on that clear-cut profile and 
 the pale olive skin with the red blood mantling 
 under the cheek. A long, straight nose, delicate red 
 lips, and a regular well-curved chin and clean-bred 
 throat, showed the well-born maid of a race of rulers. 
 And David saw that the maid was good, and worthy 
 of service after the manner of the Pranks. Also had 
 he been deeper read in the world's history \ he might 
 have believed from that regular profile, the tale of 
 Alexander of Macedon and his Graeco-Bactrian colonies. 
 Women of such contour danced on the Frieze of the
 
 78 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Parthenon; and on the carvings on the temples in 
 Eusafzai, But then David knew not the history of 
 Bactria, It was enough for him that the picture was 
 good. 
 
 Whether the breeze struck too cold, or whether Yar 
 Khan's advent, from his place at the head of the 
 cavalcade, was the cause, the vision was quickly veiled 
 again. Neither pearls before swine nor beauty for 
 weather-beaten masters of horse, are well revealed. 
 
 The night's halt had now been reached. A castellated 
 serai was before them on a bare stony spur, with 
 Edelweiss growing among the rocks. The serai, once 
 the comfortable hostel of the Emperors of Delhi, was 
 now half ruined, and drafty, but even so, better shelter 
 than tents. The outer wall, too, would protect the 
 horses from the night wind. Miriam and her women 
 repaired to an inner room, Yar Khan and Eraser to a 
 small outhouse, and the troopers tethered their horses, 
 and lit fires of logs and fir cones round against the wall, 
 while the caretaker and his assistant hurried to catch 
 goats to milk, and issued hay from a stack in the yard. 
 Soldiers and horses soon settled down to rest, and when 
 David strolled over to his men, the horses were already 
 eating, and fires burning merrily. Ganesha Singh 
 hurried up to report all well, and discuss the affairs of 
 the troop, while Gul Jan carried off his master's 
 sword and holsters, and went over to the quarters to 
 get the bedding unrolled.
 
 THE PILGRIM HOSTS 
 
 WHILE Miriam and David Fraser climbed the Pir 
 Panjal, and Toorks intrigued within the Holy City, a 
 vast pilgrim host was making its way to the Sind 
 Valley and thence to the icebound Lake of Gangarbal. 
 That great mysterious search for peace and hope 
 that the world is always engaged in, was here in active 
 progress. Tens of thousands of the simple folk of 
 the countryside over whose heads the wars of Maratha 
 and Mogul and Afghan rolled disregarded, save as 
 men regard plague and cholera, were hastening eagerly 
 to the shrine of forgiveness among the snows of 
 Haramukh and the Mountain Tarn. The hosts of 
 the freelances, the mailed squadrons of the emperors, 
 swept by, carrying off com and cattle and such maids 
 as they lusted, and ever the people went on their way 
 and struggled to live and to multiply. The sun and 
 the rain in due season, and the rest is the will of God ! 
 And now at this season of the year was to be found 
 that peace and promise of redemption that the heart 
 of man ever searches for ; that desire and promise 
 that lays somewhere at the back of all the creeds. 
 The peasant and even the traders had left their shacks 
 and their booths and come tramping up from the plains 
 of India and through the passes and over the snows 
 of the outer Himalaya. Old and young, men and 
 
 70
 
 80 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 matrons, lads and maidens, cowherds and farmers, 
 fishers and spearsmen, ascetic and jaqir parents 
 and children, " un qui march un qui tette un qui vient" 
 streamed out of the Holy City and up from Baramula 
 and over the Pir through Shapyon, and down the valley 
 from Verinag, while Islam watched and wondered. 
 For the great mass of Kashmir folk had long been 
 converted by the victor's sword to the superior and 
 comforting faith of the prophet, and looked with 
 amused scorn on the great struggling eager masses of 
 Hinduism, wrapt up in a faith that could lead them 
 away to the infinite. Past the ruined Pandav temples 
 that spoke of the ancient faith, past the almond 
 orchards, past the great mosques of the only God, out 
 on to the karewa plateau, and the dog rose and the wild 
 thyme and the iris bloom tramped the crowd of 
 pilgrims. 
 
 " Come brothers come for the snows are far 
 Come brothers come to the healing shrine 
 Come brothers come for the peace that endures," 
 
 cry the priests to the swelling crowds. 
 
 And among the jostling eager folk on the Haramukh 
 road from the Holy City, swung and lurched a screened 
 litter on the shoulders of four bearers. In the litter 
 sat discreetly attired the comely figure of the Begum 
 Allah Visayah. But why should beauty frail go to 
 the shrine by the Lake of Gangarbal amid the snows 
 of Haramukh? "Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere 
 causas" Above all, why should a Muhammadan lady, 
 good, bad, or indifferent, seek peace at a shrine of 
 an alien creed ? And the answer would seem to be 
 that Allah Visayah was but taking time by the forelock. 
 She had promised for due reward, that the Kommadan 
 of the Regiment of Victory, which held the Fort of 
 Hari Parbat, should deliver it up that night to the
 
 THE PILGBIM HOSTS 81 
 
 retainers of Altainish. But she was not quite sure that 
 her influence would make a man put his head into a 
 noose till he was quite sure that that noose would 
 not draw tight. Also she had further dipped her 
 hands into the waters of bewilderment by encouraging 
 Habib Ullah to ride post haste to find Salabat Khan's 
 party and tell them of the business afoot. So Allah 
 Visayah, self-styled begum, though she was well enough 
 placed whatever befell, had thought that she might 
 be better away for a while from the holy city of 
 Srinagar. If the Kommadan should fail to deliver 
 over his fort, so much the better for the official party, 
 and Habib Ullah was her slave. If the Kommadan 
 did come over to Altamish, so much the richer would 
 Allah Visayah be. 
 
 To rid Srinagar of her presence therefore unnoticed, 
 the Begum had called for her litter, and had mixed 
 with the stream of pilgrims hurrying away to the 
 shrines and snows of Haramukh. Outside the suburbs 
 a curtained bullock hackery awaited her. But shrines 
 and rocky paths would not be for her. She would 
 march with the crowd for a stage or more to the foot 
 of the ascent and then turn her fat bullocks and her 
 fat comely self off to a small farm she owned on the 
 beautiful Sind river. 
 
 The tramp of the pilgrims, and the grinding of the 
 hackery wheels of the few who made the first part of 
 the journey in a conveyance, mingled with the grunting 
 and grumbling of camels, the yelping of pariahs as 
 the crowd streamed through the green plains and level 
 upland karewas, past willow beds and almond orchards 
 to the Sind. Away on the river crowds of boats were 
 bringing their loads by water a portion of the journey. 
 
 As the evening neared and the sinking sun crimsoned 
 the snowy peaks of Haramukh and the Zogi-lah, the 
 wayfarers halted for the night by the roadside, when 
 
 G
 
 82 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and where they listed, so that fires twinkled on all 
 sides in the growing gloom. At each bivouac beggars 
 rattled their gourds and begged for food. Here under 
 a willow tree life and death were struggling. A 
 peasant family had halted, father and children, while 
 the mother struggled with the pangs of labour. The 
 un qui vient had been insistent. The mother had 
 sank under a tree and a coloured cotton sheet had 
 been stretched from the willow to the peasant's iron-shod 
 bamboo thrust into the ground. The children hunted 
 frogs in the marsh hard by, and the father sat silent 
 under the tree, wondering if his wife would die and her 
 ghost haunt him, as Hindoo mothers' ghosts who die 
 in childbed haunt Hindu fathers, with their feet 
 turned backward. That is how you know a cliurel, the 
 poor feet are turned backward, and they are very bitter 
 toward menfolk. 
 
 Allah Visayah's hackery rumbled past the pathetic 
 little bivouac. One of the children was crying, and 
 the lady looking out between her red silk curtains 
 divined what was in process. Now to belong to what 
 has been called the oldest profession in the world, 
 is not necessarily to have lost the sense of humanity, 
 nor of some of the essentials of womanliness. There 
 are some worse attributes of the human sex than 
 mere mercenary love. Away on the farm, to which she 
 was taking herself, in charge of a gnarled and doting 
 old 91007100, was a small son of her own, who was an 
 undoubted child of hers whatever its paternity might 
 be. So the comfortable Messalina of the Holy City 
 slipped out of her cart to do her best for the peasant 
 mother, like any other kindly old woman of the town, 
 by which act we may hope she acquired something on 
 the credit side of her life record. 
 
 Troubles pass quickly in peasant life. The Begum 
 was soon back in her cart, after giving sweets to the
 
 THE PILGRIM HOSTS 83 
 
 children, and the mother had said she would be up 
 and on her way in the morning with the new-comer 
 on her back, while the frightened mumbling father 
 stood praying to escape the churel, too scared to even 
 thank the stranger. But Alathea of the housetops 
 continued on her way, with that feeling of satisfac- 
 tion which stirs all who do good actions, and none 
 more so than the habitual evil liver. Back in her 
 hackery, she reclined and drowsed within her curtains 
 smoking her bubbling rosewater Jiuqa and the onyx- 
 eyed bullocks shuffled on in the soft twilight with 
 which the rising moon was mingling. The clang of 
 the beggars' gourds and chains and the murmur of 
 the pilgrims had soon died away, and the jagged 
 outlines of the peaks of Haramukh stood up clear 
 and cold and deep black violet against the evening 
 sky, while peace unutterable fell on the land. 
 
 But once more fate was to bring her naughtiness 
 to the aid of the stricken. The bullocks stopped 
 suddenly, and ran out all ways as bullocks will, and 
 the Begum woke up with a jerk and demanded angrily 
 what was the matter. 
 
 '' Have we reached our destination ? Can you see 
 my kothi ? " she demanded. 
 
 " Nay, lady, nay," answered her servants. " 'Tis 
 but the bullocks shying at some man who lies in the 
 way." 
 
 " Drive on then ! Drive on ! " she called. " Drive 
 on, over the sleepy beast." 
 
 And Pandoo the bullock-driver smote each bullock 
 with a stick, and screwed their tails in their sockets 
 till they attempted to leap forward over the obstruction. 
 
 Then suddenly a tall white figure leapt up, and 
 waved its arms in front of them and shouted. 
 
 " Norn de Dieu I Arretez ! Arretez I Stop ! Keep 
 those cursed bullocks back, I say ! '!
 
 84 A FBEBLANOE IN KASHMIR 
 
 The white figure drew itself up to a great height, and 
 on its forehead shone out in the darkness a lambent 
 living cross. The bullock driver leapt from his perch 
 on the pole of the cart, into the wild rose scrub at 
 the side of the road. Here at last really was the 
 devil, after all the charms ho had bought to keep him 
 away ! The Begum again poked her head through 
 her curtains and called to her servants for a light. 
 A torch was lit after some fumbling, and a trembling 
 domestic brought it round to the side of the conveyance. 
 Then she looked out again and saw astride a prostrate 
 form a tall white figure with a black skull cap on 
 his head, a long white cassock girt with a camel hair 
 rope, and on the forehead the fiery flaming cross. 
 Then she knew her man. It was surely the white 
 Padre of whom men spoke who had come no man 
 knew whence, to heal the sick in Kashmir, and who 
 dwelt unmolested in a hovel near the mosque of Shah 
 Hamadan. She had heard people speak of a Christian 
 priest with whom no one interfered, and of whom all 
 spoke good, even the moollahs of Islam in the city. 
 
 Since all men were fish to her net she decided to 
 speak the new-comer fair. She was on the best of 
 terms with the moollahs of the mosque near her house, 
 and would even contribute to a new levy on behalf 
 of their shrines. The Hindu priests of the temple 
 allowed her to provide marigolds and incense and 
 milk and ghee for their linga. Even the holy ascetic 
 in the garden under the Takht-i-Suleiman, had once 
 called her sister when she had taken her small son 
 to see the goldfish in his tank. It would be part of her 
 good-natured business to make friends with this new 
 form of priest also, for who knows when her little 
 Dundoo might need doctoring beyond the ordinary. 
 
 So Allah Visayah swallowed her annoyance at being 
 jerked from her sleep and stopped again on her road,
 
 THE PILGEIM HOSTS 85 
 
 and asked the stranger in her most honeyed voice 
 what had befallen, and whether she could help. 
 
 Jean Armande St. Hilaire du Plessis, late Abbe of 
 St. Marie aux Chenes in the Province of the Loire, 
 and member of the Society of Jesus, abandoned his 
 angry attitude and stepped forward courteously at the 
 sound of a female voice. Ten years at the Court of 
 Versailles, an intime at the Petit Triannon, a woman's 
 voice and its tones he understood right well. Many a 
 high-born dame had he comforted and cautioned through 
 life, and conducted to her stoic end in the tumbrils 
 of Danton. The women he confessed through weal 
 and woo, the men he had quarrelled with and shriven 
 beneath La Veuve, had loved and trusted Armande 
 du Plessis, for his patience, his kindliness, and his clear; 
 ringing voice. " Au nom du pere, et dufils et du sante 
 esprit ainsi soil il" and the high-born head had dropped 
 still smiling into the dripping basket. The last of 
 his friends gone, he waited but his own order of release 
 in the squalid Conciergerie. Then a brawl among his 
 guards ; some dying wretch who remembered the old 
 religion had craved for a priest, and Armande St. 
 Hilaire du Plessis had found himself outside the 
 jail, with some one whispering a promise of life. With 
 five aristocrats snatched from the guillotine he found 
 himself sailing for India, his friends to sell their swords; 
 he, the finest swordsman of them all, to seek peace of 
 mind as a priest among infidels. From shrine to shrine 
 he had journeyed as a begging friar might wander, 
 ever north with the pilgrims, till he found his knowledge 
 of drugs and simples was taking him where his crucifix 
 failed. The year 1792 had brought him to Kashmir, 
 at first a tolerated and now a venerated physician, a 
 recluse and an ascetic, and as such ever venerable to 
 the Eastern mind. In that upland valley of the great 
 Himalaya, the abode of Snow, he had found a link with
 
 86 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Christianity, in that samo mosque already referred 
 to, in the shape of a legendary tomb of an uncrucified 
 Christ. To trace the origin of that strange story 
 had been one of his pursuits. That he was not the 
 first to do so he conjectured, for on the current cliilki 
 rupees of the kingdom cut deep in the obverse stood 
 among Persian and Sanscrit letters, the initials of 
 the great watchword, " In Hoc Signo Vinces" the 
 motto of those who raise, as he so often raised, the 
 Cross to the high heavens. Some predecessor in 
 the valley had no doubt been responsible for the 
 letters, I. H. S., cut clear for all the world to see, on 
 the Kashmir rupees ancient and mint new. Therefore 
 the Abbe felt himself not alone in his land of exile. 
 Some one had trod the path before, to gain influence 
 as he would gain it, to heal as he would heal, and 
 had left the Master's mark cut into the mould of 
 Time. 
 
 " Madame," said the Abbe, " see ! Here lies one 
 who needs our help. No woman's heart can pass him 
 by." And taking the torch from the Begum's servant, 
 he held it high as he had held the crucifix. There 
 across the road, effectually closing it to horse and 
 vehicle, lay a most pitiful mass of rags and corruption. 
 How it had crawled there was a puzzle. Two toeless 
 feet wrapped in such strips of cloth as pilgrims tie to 
 the branches above a shrine, drummed on the roadway 
 in agony. Two fingerless stumps were flung out over 
 the abject's head, and the noseless face emitted low 
 moans forged on anvils hot with pain. Tied round 
 the waist by a camel hair cord like that which girded 
 the Jesuit was a brass herd bell that told of the miser- 
 able's approach. It you could not say he was a 
 leper of the lepers. Unclean ! Unclean ! Nay, worse, 
 foul ! foul to horror unimaginable. 
 
 Allah Visayah drew back in horror. How much
 
 THE PILGRIM HOSTS 87 
 
 simpler to pass the mass of corruption by on the way- 
 side. But two facts forbade that. The bullocks 
 would not drive on, smite the charioteer never so 
 cruelly, and Jean du Plessis, anointed Samaritan, 
 meant to have it otherwise. 
 
 The gift of intuition is the inherited quality of the 
 bad woman equally with the good. 'Tis perhaps the 
 extra endowment that has made her bad, enabled to 
 road deeper into the evil hearts of men. Allah Visayah 
 saw that it would pay her to play the lady gentle. 
 
 " Sir," said she, " the gods give with both hands 
 good and evil, health and wealth, pain and death. 
 Close here is a poor farm of mine. I have sheds and 
 stacked straw. I will now summon some of my people 
 to bring this " and here she hesitated for a word 
 " this poor man in. Ho ! Maula Baksh ! Go across 
 to the jhok, and call Peeroo and Pheeroo. Tell thorn 
 to bring the old charpoy out of the maize field, the 
 one that the bird scarer sits in. Will you come across, 
 Eeverend Sir, to my poor house ? " 
 
 " Nay, sister," returned the priest. " We will 
 remain and see this our brother removed to your 
 charitable shelter. You have, no doubt, some distant 
 out-house where ho may be sheltered, and which can 
 be burnt afterwards. Or perhaps your servants can 
 erect a lean-to ? " 
 
 The priest knew well that no person could rightly 
 be expected to do more. It is God or nature, not man, 
 taking vengeance for oft-neglected laws that makes 
 the leper outcaste. If man will give food and shelter, 
 distant temporary shelter it is the most that can be 
 expected. So when Peeroo and Pheeroo, the twin 
 sweepers, brought the charpoy and lifted the rags 
 thereon, they had done more than most of their 
 neighbours would. Then accompanied by the Abbe 
 and the Begum the leper was conducted across to
 
 88 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 a matting hut, and given such food and drink as could 
 be made available. Allah Visayah then promised 
 that he should remain in charge of her sweepers at 
 her expense so long as he listed, and the Abbe" smiled 
 approval, and followed her to the lintel of her own 
 house, where the child Dundoo was awaiting his 
 mother. 
 
 But the Abbe had not come to the jliok for conver- 
 sation or entertainment, and the leper was beyond all 
 cure of mind or body, save the comfort of food and 
 shelter. If this could be assured, either at his expense 
 or the lady's, he would be content and would away up to 
 the pilgrims' camp. Allah Visayah agreed that he 
 might visit the leper whenever he wished, but was 
 anxious that he should tarry awhile. She had milk 
 and rice and hot curry ready, and all that a weary priest 
 could need. Armande, however, would have nothing 
 but a bowl of milk, and stayed but to look at Dundoo's 
 eyes, fly-sore like so many children in the East. In 
 his wallet he had a remedy, which he handed over to 
 the mother and then sped away. The Begum was 
 anxious enough that he should stay, but to him her 
 position in the city was fairly well known, and her 
 house was obviously no suitable resting-place for a 
 priestly head. So out once more into the night he 
 went, the phosphorescent cross still flaming on his 
 brow. Five years ago a wandering faqir had shown 
 him how to put on flaming castmarks without burning 
 the skin, and it had occurred to him that by this 
 means he might connect his healing powers with 
 a popular veneration for the holy sign. Through the 
 length and breadth of Kashmir and far away back to 
 India he was now known as the \[ Feringlii padre of the 
 flaming Cross." 
 
 And this is the story of how priest and courtesan 
 came in some sort to be allies.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE GARDEN OP SWEET BREEZES 
 
 WHILE Allah Visayah is leaving the Holy City with the 
 pilgrims and scraping a chance acquaintance with the 
 Abbe du Plessis, and Yar Khan with David Fraser 
 are marching in to Aliabad serai, the doings of the 
 Sirdar Altamish Khan the Toork noble must not be 
 overlooked. We may repair to the country residence 
 of the influential baron, situated beyond the apple 
 orchards, behind the Garden of Sweet Breezes, which 
 lay on the shores of Dhall Lake. There in the afternoon 
 of the day on which we have seen his emissaries hold 
 high converse with Allah Visayah in her house on the 
 city wall, a garden party was in progress. To it had 
 been bidden in all outward simplicity the chief 
 supporters of the faction of the Toork against the 
 official Afghan party of the Governor. On the lawn 
 among the almond blossom the old Toork stood to 
 receive his guests, who came over the lake by water, 
 or else a-horseback by road. And every one who 
 landed was first received by one Wali Dad, who was 
 the official receiver of guests to the household, and also 
 general procurer and intriguer to the same. And to 
 each of the guests known to be staunch to the Toork 
 pretensions the receiver presented a small bunch of 
 white iris with the request that it might be worn 
 in the puggari, a recognized place for the wearing 
 
 89
 
 90 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 of emblems. And with every one to whom such 
 emblems had been offered it would not be indiscreet 
 to discuss the plans in immediate progress. The 
 which was a sign and a portent. 
 
 Up and down the green turf under the almond 
 trees strolled the guests, while their host chatted with 
 them in groups or drew them aside in turn. The 
 visitors were men of the Toork race for the most 
 part. Almond eyes and high cheek bones showed 
 clearly Toork or else Mogul origin. One only among 
 them with his little knot of followers, seemed of 
 different race. He was of dour and saturnine aspect 
 with an eye that gleamed under deep rough caste brows. 
 
 To all who bore the white iris in their headgear, 
 Altamish imparted the news; gradually manoeuvring 
 them down the main line of the garden fountains to 
 where a small causeway led to a marble summer house 
 that jutted into an inlet from the main lake. There 
 they were safe from listeners, and the city rumour 
 could be elaborated to exploit the Toork designs. 
 'Salabat Khan their excellent governor lay dead the 
 other side of the Pir Panjal, and there was likely to 
 be trouble enough in their beautiful state from the 
 evil-minded among them. It would doubtless be 
 long before orders should come from Imperial head- 
 quarters as to the successor. Unfortunately, it was 
 rumoured that their worthy naib and wazir the Sirdar 
 Yar Khan had also been killed, which left the ship of 
 state still further dismantled. What did his friends 
 think of the situation and so forth ? ' Before long it 
 naturally was suggested that some form of provisional 
 government had better be formed, lest disorder take 
 place. Then it was also natural, seeing how Wali 
 Dad, whom we have seen earlier in the day at the 
 Begum Allah Visayah's, had duly primed suitable 
 persons, that a suggestion should be put forward that
 
 THE GAEDEN OF SWEET BEEEZES 91 
 
 the Sirdar Altamish Khan should himself in the 
 interests of the province and of the Empire, assume 
 not seize; that being an evil word . . , should assume 
 the position of governor. What, demanded another of 
 Wali Dad's tame plotters, should bo done if there was 
 any opposition by any of the other factions, what if 
 any of the functionaries of the present governor 
 endeavour to usurp power ? The answer was unani- 
 mous: they all must be ready to support Altamish 
 Klian. The Khan himself now thought time had 
 arrived to take a lead. 
 
 " Nobles and gentles of Srinagar, and the Kashmir 
 valley, may the star of your fortune never set ! I 
 gather from what you say that you deem it in the 
 interests of the Empire that I should assume the 
 governorship in the place of our lamented Afghan 
 Governor, and you believe that I shall be of service 
 to the province, and His Majesty the Emperor. I am 
 ready to do as you call on me. The Kommadan of 
 the Eegiment of Victory has also sent to know what he 
 is to do, and if I will take charge. I shall, therefore, 
 do my best. Now what I want is this. I want five 
 hundred horse and a hundred foot to meet me at the 
 garden behind the Amiran Kadal, at seven a.m. to- 
 morrow morning. We will then proceed to take pos- 
 session of the Shergarhi after riding through the city 
 and proclaiming myself as temporary Governor of 
 Kashmir. I shall be myself in the fort of Hari Parbat 
 to-night, and that will be my headquarters. Now, 
 Murad Beg, what force will your honour bring to my 
 help to-morrow ? " 
 
 " I will come myself with my son here and bring 
 one hundred horsed retainers and fifty match- 
 lock men." 
 
 " It is well, most noble Sirdar, And what will Ali 
 Khan Toorkoman do in the like cause ? "
 
 92 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIB 
 
 " Ali Khan will be there with forty Toork troopers 
 and twenty pikemen." 
 
 " And you, my Lord Shams-tid-Deen ? " 
 
 " I, my Lord ! I am, or at least, I don't quite 
 know. ... I am a little uncertain as to our wisdom 
 in this matter. It is, as you well know, a rule of the 
 Empire that on the death of a governor his naib is to 
 take up the government. We are not so far from Kabul 
 here that we can afford to disregard its rules without 
 due care." 
 
 Altamish frowned and stamped his foot, muttering, 
 " This man's a fool or a traitor. What the foul fiend 
 does Wali Dad mean by giving him a white iris to 
 wear ! " 
 
 Then to Shams-ud-Deen, " Calm yourself, my Lord ! 
 We should be the last to think of disregarding the laws 
 and rules of the Emperor, on whom be peace and on 
 whose name be glory ! But in these days Kabul is 
 a far cry. Tribes are up on the roads, and the Sikhs 
 ever give trouble. As an intimate of his court I know 
 full well that he wants peace and a capable government 
 in his provinces. Anarchy there must not be. Our 
 Afghan and his naib are dead. Besides, are we so 
 satisfied with this government by Afghans that we should 
 like any lesser sirdar to affront us Toorks and Moguls ? 
 A thousand times no ! and you know it every one of 
 3 T ou gentlemen here to-day. I declare unto you that; 
 as it is your wish, I shall proclaim myself governor 
 of Kashmir when I join you to-morrow at the Arniran 
 Kadal bridge. I shall take over the fort of Hari 
 Parbat to-night at the request of the garrison and use 
 it as my headquarters till we can move into the Sher- 
 garhi. I shall rule this province so that Toork and 
 Mogul shall have fair shares of what is right, and I 
 shall at once send tribute and a special messenger to 
 the Emperor on whom be glory ! Not for all the
 
 diamonds in Golconda would I wish that sirdars who 
 think we are precipitate in this matter would join me. 
 I wish all to do that which they consider right. But 
 there is some amount of danger in this, and those who 
 would share my rewards must share my anxieties 
 and danger." 
 
 And here the Lord Altamish of the tribe of the Eed 
 Horde of the Attaman Toork, let his eye wander round 
 the company. And those who looked it fair saw that 
 behind the dreamy film of the opium habit, there 
 shone the sign of a devil. A devil of determination 
 and unscrupulousness, and daring also, that made each 
 feel that he must either be truly with him or hopelessly 
 against him and live a province or two apart. The 
 which is the wisdom of those words where men may still 
 hack their way to power. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, we will return to the lawns, and 
 you will honour me with partaking of refreshment. 
 Sharbat and fruits await you, and Azizun from the city 
 hath some new dancers to entrance us. Then away, 
 and I trust you to be at the trysting place." 
 
 So the party melted away out of the summer house 
 and back by the causeway, past the waterfalls and the 
 stone rills and the die-away fountains, and came out into 
 the garden where Wali Dad had been keeping occupied 
 the guests to whom he had not given an iris. And ever 
 he spoke of the story of the death of the governor, 
 giving a substantial detail to what had been in the 
 bazaars of the city the merest of rumours. ' Salabat 
 Khan was dead and gone to paradise owing to a 
 treacherous attack by Rajpoots the other side of the 
 passes. Oh yes, the Naib Wazir, worthy old Yar Khan, 
 he was gone too ! What a soldier the man had been, 
 but how sadly he had neglected the just interests of 
 so many in the province ! Especially had he seemed 
 to have a malice against the Toork and Mogul, God
 
 94 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIB 
 
 alone knew why; except that the fountain of justice 
 is ever clogged in men's hearts. Salabat Khan, of 
 course, was a mirror of justice, but what can a man 
 do when all his advisers are prejudiced ! Ah ! that 
 was a strange case when Mohammad Ali Beg had his 
 lands confiscated, and when Bakhtiar Ali the Persian; 
 who had received an estate in perpetuity for services 
 to the Emperor Ahmad Shah, had woken up one morning 
 to find a party of Afghans taking possession of his 
 lands, and his almond orchards. Had not they heard 
 about that ? why he thought every one knew. It 
 was one of Yar Khan's lieutenants who got the land 
 with a title deed signed by His Excellency Salabat 
 Khan. Well, if the latter was dead and his naib too, 
 it would be difficult for the machinery of government 
 to carry on. They did not want anarchy such as they 
 had had even in the Imperial Provinces of Delhi 
 within the memory of many there. He hoped some 
 one of the nobles would feel justified in assuming the 
 governorship, rather than a few junior officials at the 
 castle should be allowed to carry on. What ! you 
 suggest that the Lord Altamish would be the right 
 man ? Ah ! the same had occurred to him, but then 
 he knew Altamish Khan very well, and felt that he 
 could only do so in face of a general demand and 
 support. He quite agreed that it was high time some 
 one who understood Toork and Mogul interests should 
 be in power. Anyway it would be well if the leading 
 men in the province made up their minds. What ! the 
 Afghan sirdars would never agree to a Toork governor ? 
 Well, times were changing if a governor who had got 
 the reins did not know how to deal with people who 
 would not acknowledge him. Tut, tut, even my Lord 
 Altamish, who wished all men well, and was a mirror 
 of justice such as could only be found in history, lie 
 knew well enough what to do in a case like that, But
 
 THE GAEDEN OF SWEET BEEEZES 95 
 
 he knew, too, that his master would be very shocked 
 at such a suggestion unless he felt the Toorks and 
 Moguls were all behind him,' 
 
 And such-like and so forth, talked Wali Dad the 
 wily, and all the while keeping an eye on the mysterious 
 stranger with the small following who had not as yet 
 talked with any guest. He, Wali Dad, did not know 
 who it was, but Altamish knew, no doubt, and had 
 forgotten to tell him. He had not been given an iris 
 too for the same reason. However, he was sitting 
 away there and did not seem wishful to intrude. He 
 was now sitting under a chenar tree with his followers 
 behind him, playing with two magnificent tazi hounds; 
 with which Altamish would course hares on the higher 
 plateaus above the Jhelum river. Harmless for the 
 moment, Wali Dad let him be, having already set two 
 of his own special myrmidons to watch him. 
 
 By this tune the guests were returning from tho 
 meeting in the summer house in the lake and began 
 to mingle with those whom Wali Dad had been enter- 
 taining. The latter at once led the way to a largo 
 awning or open tent with side walls enclosing three 
 sides of a portion of the lawn. The ground below 
 the awning was provided with settees and cushions 
 and covered with rugs from Persia and Bokhara. At 
 the back were waiting attendants with cooling sharbats 
 of many fragrance, samovars of brick tea from Kashgar, 
 and brass trays piled with fruits. And while the bearers 
 served the refreshments there glided on to the carpets 
 Azizun the beautiful dancer of Srinagar on whom 
 Altamish had lavished much of his wealthy and who 
 in her turn provided for his entertainment the best 
 of her profession whenever her master needed enter- 
 tainment other than her own. 
 
 To be born of a long line of dancers of purely 
 matriarchal descent, foi 1 so many generations that all
 
 96 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 count is lost, is to have every nerve and muscle, and 
 indeed every instinct of the body working to every 
 inspiration of the dance by intuition. When to such 
 a descent be added great personal grace and beauty, 
 it is to be imagined that the dancer so endowed is 
 likely to be an influence of no small weight in the 
 circles in which she moved. In the eyes of the Eastern 
 world the beautiful dancer lives without soul, without 
 caste, without religion, a thing of beauty, a plaything, 
 a useful instrument, a mistress, but by no possible 
 stretch of imagination or play of feeling could she be 
 given a status. To power and wealth they come and 
 have come through the ages like the most glorious 
 flowers of the universe, to die away in due season. 
 Children they have, who become dancers and have 
 children in their turn to unknown fathers and behind 
 them lies this curious matriarchal descent that no one 
 heeds. A race apart, never admitted to be human 
 any more than those outcaste tribes who scavenge, 
 and who are in reality but the aboriginal folk whom the 
 great Arian invasions contemned to be ostracized as 
 hereditary menials. 
 
 Out of this vista of dancing female ancestors, the 
 beautiful Azizun had sprung, and had early been 
 trained to her profession. She had cast her toils 
 over many of the young nobles of the valley, among 
 whom to maintain a dancing girl was quite the most 
 fashionable thing to do. The power and wealth of the 
 Lord Altarnish the Toork, however, had made her his 
 for so long as he pleased, or as she intended, so long 
 as she pleased, and her influence and weight was con- 
 siderable. It is one of the curiosities of Indian history 
 that the wholly worthless dancing girl, void of all 
 religious or moral teaching, wholly a parasite of evil, 
 leaving the world in due course as the sea wave turns 
 to foam, should often become the most influential
 
 THE GARDEN OP SWEET BREEZES 97 
 
 adviser of a ruler. Disowned and ignored by the 
 respectable women of the zenanas, they have flourished 
 ephemerally as flourish the red agaric in the shade 
 of an autumn wood. For two years now Azizun had 
 twisted Altamish round her slender olive finger with 
 the orange-tipped henna-stained nail, which was more 
 than the three maidens who shared his legal board and 
 bed had ever been able to do. A considerable penny 
 it had cost him, though still he called his loss a gain. 
 And all the while Azizun danced exquisitely as well as 
 ruled wisely, and knew where her frontiers ran, and 
 where lay foreign land, which is more than most of her 
 profession know, or her sex either for that matter. And 
 Azizun while she danced kept also her professional eye 
 open, and had secured as a disciplined following the 
 best of the coming dancers in Kashmir. Their training 
 had been perfected under her own eye, and Altamish 
 wise in his generation had arranged that they should 
 dance for his supporters on those velvet lawns by the 
 Dhall Lake. 
 
 So as the sharbats circulated, Azizun and her maids 
 glided on to carpets and stood jinking their ankle 
 bells before the admiring nobles. And with them came 
 the makers of sweet music, retainers of Azizun also, 
 chosen for then: understanding of the more languid 
 and amorous tones of the pipe and zithar. Three of 
 them shuffled up behind the peris, the man with the 
 dole or tom-tom leading, a grey-bearded old habitue of 
 the courts of Delhi, well practised to throb the drum 
 exactly when most effective. The other two were 
 younger musicians, the piper with a ragged unkempt 
 beard and a black reed pipe, the man with a zithar 
 clean-shaven with eyes deeply lined with cosmetic, of 
 a vacuous unclean lear. Wholly unclean, wholly 
 leacherous and loathsome all three, but permissible in 
 that they understood their art to perfection. And that 
 
 H
 
 98 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 art was the making of haunting seductive amorous 
 music that all the world, for its sins, could understand. 
 
 Then commenced one of those swaying insinuating 
 nautches, which to the English are often unspeakably 
 dreary and wholly unintelligible, but to the Eastern 
 mind are fraught with all the love and passion and 
 lust and high-drawn suggestion; that ever Persian 
 poet dreamed of. And the dance told a story, com- 
 mencing with the loneliness of a young captain ever 
 condemned to frontier guard, longing for the scented 
 delights of the city bazaar. And ever his desire grows, 
 and ever the dreary rocks of the frontier pall, till some 
 errand leads him citywards to woo some beauty frail 
 beneath whose verandah ho sings in vain. And then 
 despair and desire seize him, when lo ! a rival fair 
 appears and casts a lure, at first unheeded yet ever 
 more attractive till at last the lover begins to feel the 
 spell of the entrancing provoker. Then as the fire 
 leaps to new fuel, the inclination of the absconding 
 soldier becomes fiercer and ever more ardent, and the 
 charmer ever more compelling, till ho gives himself 
 body and soul to the personified goddess of incarnation. 
 
 The dancers elaborately and sinuously dance their 
 interpretation of the story, now swaying slowly with 
 eyes closed and balanced arms, as the despair of the 
 captain is depicted, changing to the motion of a 
 hurrying serpent, and the violence of love defeated. 
 Clash go the castanettes, and loud throbs the dole, and 
 then as despair is greatest the slow insinuating motions 
 of the new enchantress. Ever the spielman pipes, and 
 the zithar twangs, and you can see every muscle under 
 the soft olive skin and transparent muslins of the girls. 
 Azizun leads the motions as fugleman, with arm and 
 ankle and bosoms moving to the pipe in softness and 
 in frenzy, 
 
 That it is all very high class performing is evident
 
 THE GAKDEN OF SWEET BEEEZES 99 
 
 in the intense gaze of the onlookers, and the low sounds 
 of approbation. Azizun is undoubtedly an artist of 
 the very first grade, with a figure and grace beyond 
 compare. And of all those who looked and admired 
 not one could have given birth to a thought that this 
 beautiful and graceful creature was in any sort a human 
 being with any claim to any of ordinary heritage of 
 the human race. Any existence beyond that of the 
 butterfly was absolutely denied her in the opinion 
 of each and all, from the greatest to least in that Eastern 
 land. 
 
 With a clap of Azizun's hands the music ceased, 
 the girls glide away and the musicians shuffle after 
 them, ere the audience could realize what it was all 
 about, or give vent to the chorus of Wdh I Wall ! 
 '. Undoubtedly the Lord Altamish understood their 
 needs and also the secret of hospitality. Never had 
 they been so well entertained. Without fail he was 
 the man to rule among them. He would see to their 
 advancement and knew how to amuse them. Ho 
 must, of course, be king,' the which is a story as old 
 as ancient Eome, and the wanderings of Israel in the 
 peninsula of Sinai. 
 
 With the conclusion of the nautch, it was obviously 
 time to go, and the guests hastened to take their leave; 
 whispering assurances of their presence the next 
 morning at the Amiran Kaal without fail. In fifteen 
 minutes the lawn was empty, save of the sardonic 
 stranger who still fondled the dogs under the walnut 
 tree, unmoved by the music of the entertainment, 
 Altamish hurried over to Wali Dad. 
 
 " Who is your friend BakJishi Sahib ? " 
 
 " Surely, my lord, he is your friend." 
 
 " Not so, I know him not. Have you an armed 
 guard handy ? Let us ask his business." 
 
 Seeing that he was observed and that some one
 
 100 
 
 had leisure to attend to him, the stranger approached 
 and saluted. 
 
 " I have business," said he, " with the Lord Alta- 
 mish, I would see him alone, and have an introduction 
 to him." 
 
 " The Lord Al tarnish is not in the habit of seeing 
 strangers alone, sir," quoth Wali Dad. 
 
 " Did you say strangers, young sir ? I am no 
 stranger to his lordship. My greetings to the Lord 
 Altamish and ask him who stood by with the bow 
 string to help get rid of the widows of his brother at 
 Sultanpur." 
 
 Here Altamish stepped forward in sudden dismay. 
 
 " Enough ! enough ! I will see this gentleman in 
 my own room ; " and he hastily led the way to the door 
 of his own dwelling, Wali Dad following, and taking 
 the precaution to see that half a dozen .of the house- 
 hold retainers were about with their arms, while ihe 
 stranger's retainers joined a group of their grooms 
 and horses at the entrance to the courtyard.
 
 CHAPTEB X 
 
 THE NIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE PASS 
 
 IN the bivouac on the top of the Pir Panjal, the horses 
 had finished their corn, and the more weary had lain 
 down. Those of David's troop had bedding, and all 
 but one mare had taken advantage of it. He had stayed 
 once with his godfather in the Irregular Cavalry of 
 the Bengal Presidency. From him the main principles of 
 horse-mastery had been learnt never to be forgotten; 
 and the troop horses showed it in hard firm flesh and 
 clean-cut muscle. David came out of his quarters to 
 find Yar Khan looking at the horses. A fir cone fire 
 was blazing at the back of the horse lines, and a dozen 
 troopers crouched round warming their hands. The 
 glare of the fire lit up the Afghan's face. The shadows 
 of the pock-marked features, made the pits in them 
 stand out like the dark seas in the moon. One fierce 
 eyebrow had the firelight, and the close grey beard 
 died red with henna, red mingling with grey, also stood 
 out to the fire light. Temper, character, decision, were 
 marked in every angle and corner of the figure that 
 stood four-square to the night breeze. Yar Khan 
 was born to bo the hand behind the curtain. Reliable; 
 faithful, shrewd, a type of man to be seen hidden 
 in the gloom of the wings on the stage of history 
 through the ages. A believer in might, but with a 
 Bhrewd instinct if not of the justice that alone brings 
 
 101
 
 102 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 to might its rightful inheritance; at any rate of how 
 far the rights of subjects must be respected. It was 
 chiefly due to Yar Khan's support that Salabat Khan 
 had reigned as governor of Kashmir for six years. 
 His predecessors had averaged eight months. The 
 wealth of the valley, and the meekness of its peasantry, 
 had made it too easy a prey ground for those who would 
 grow rich quickly. Salabat Khan of Kabul and Yar 
 Khan his wazir and deputy had kept the turbulent 
 colony of nobles and their retainers in order for six 
 full years of the Muharmnadan calendar. Land was 
 being broken that had not felt the plough for five 
 hundred years and more, and the State granaries were 
 full to bursting. It was a good two years since any 
 noble had dared raid a Kashmiri girl from any of the 
 dab and matting villages of the plain. Yar Khan or 
 the governor might order a levy of maids, that was 
 another story, done in due form as a matter of fail- 
 barter, but it was not to be done at will. Therefore 
 the nobles murmured against the governor, and w r ished 
 him ill, but no man murmured twice in the hearing 
 of Yar Khan. His ways, however, were the ways of 
 Central Asia, which are not the ways of Europe, save 
 perhaps that the disembowelling of a living rebel chief 
 in the market place in the year 1800 did in reality 
 differ little from the execution of the English gentle- 
 men on Tower Hill who had been ill-advised enough 
 to join the clansmen from the north at Carlisle in the 
 attempt to revive a defunct dynasty, the which fate 
 had overtaken two uncles of David. To be hung 
 and quartered and the still beating heart torn from the 
 body before a yelling London crowd is not very different 
 from a disembowelling scene in the main bazaar at 
 Kabul. All of which David Eraser may or may not 
 have thought, if ho did think at all on such matters, 
 but the Abbe" Armande du Plessis, who had seen the
 
 THE NIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE PASS 103 
 
 tender heart of beautiful La Lamballe on a pike, found 
 little to choose between the tender ruth of Cross or 
 Crescent. 
 
 All of which is as may be. Certain it is that Salabat 
 Khan and Yar Khan his wazir and naib or deputy; 
 kept the peace with some ruth in Kashmir, and tho 
 people knew it. These methods, good or bad, were 
 tho methods of tho East. That set jaw of the wazir's 
 under the stubbly red beard meant soldierly qualities, 
 and it was with some approval that he watched one 
 of David's troopers on sentry, pace up the horse lines. 
 Among the Afghan horse, their animals tethered any 
 fashion, and the saddlery flung aside carelessly, there 
 was little to attract that appeal to precision which the 
 real leader understands. As David came down through 
 the rows of horses Yar Khan accosted him. 
 
 " Good evening, young sir ! You are looking to 
 your horses ? That is right. Lucky for my loons 
 here that they have hardy horses or it would fare ill 
 with them." 
 
 " Khan Sahib," replied the young man; " I early 
 learnt that no soldier should rest or break bread till 
 his horse be cared for." 
 
 Hero old Ganesha Singh sprang to his feet, the 
 troopers round the fire with him, standing to attention. 
 It was evident to the Afghan that the action meant 
 respectful obedience to their commander, It was 
 new to him, but he highly approved of it. 
 
 " Ah ! You've picked up this discipline of the 
 English, I have never seen their troops, but I hear 
 of a thousand bayonets moving as one. I begin to 
 understand. Your services will be very useful to 
 us here. Tell me, Ferassa Sahib, do you understand 
 cannon ? " 
 
 " Certainly I do, Khan Sahib, so far as working them 
 goes ; but I cannot cast them,"
 
 104 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Never mind the casting, we have a hulslii * in 
 Srinagar who can do that well. He came from some 
 Maratha foundry in Agra. Our trouble is that we 
 have no one who can use our guns properly. I want 
 to expel our artillery commandant, who is quite useless, 
 but I've no one to put in his place. Can you train me 
 a man ? " 
 
 " I can try, Khan Sahib. They say an Arab makes 
 the best artilleryman. Have you any ? " 
 
 " One or two, but none of them worth their pay. 
 Come and look over the wall here and tell me how to 
 point a gun that will defend a steep approach. Our 
 Had Parbat guns are not placed right, I know." 
 
 Now, Hari Parbat was the citadel of Srinagar, the 
 one garrisoned by the Regiment of Victory. 
 
 The two walked over to the grey stone wall of the 
 serai, and peered into the shadows below shadows 
 that accentuated the white frosty light of a moon that 
 was nearly full. It was still and clear, and down 
 below a horse's footfall could be heard displacing an 
 occasional stone, as some horseman scrambled up 
 the steep path. Then the sound changed to the 
 measured cadence of a tired horse on level or slightly 
 rising ground, " three-ha'pence and tuppence, three- 
 ha'pence and tuppence." 
 
 " That horse is going lame," said the Afghan. " Do 
 you hear him ? ' Dot and carry one, dot and carry 
 one.' He is on the level piece about three-hundred 
 yards away." 
 
 And the sound continued to re-echo, " three-ha'pence 
 and tuppence," till the still night air was alive with it. 
 
 " Call two of your men here," continued Yar Khan ; 
 " and come, let us stand just within the serai gate. 
 Bid them bring their arms. I know not who would 
 
 * Negro.
 
 be coining up this hill at such a pace. There is some 
 trouble in Srinagar, I'll be bound. I begged the 
 Sirdar to put Altamish in chains before we came 
 away. That accursed hound is the father of all the 
 evil and half the lies in the state." 
 
 The sound of the tired hoofs had died away, the 
 rider must now be scrambling up the last short ascent 
 to the serai, that had frozen slippery since the sun 
 went down. The two Rajpoot troopers whom David 
 had summoned stood with their lances at the charge 
 across the gateway. Yar Khan and David stood 
 within the gate in the shadows of the wall. The sound 
 of the hoofs again became clear, and in another minute 
 a horseman arrived with panting steed in front of 
 the gate, and nearly rode on to the two bright spear- 
 points, to call out hurriedly 
 
 " Ahoy ! watchman ahoy ! I seek shelter in the 
 name of the Governor of Kashmir, His Excellency the 
 Sirdar Salabat Khan. Who are these who block the 
 way of his messenger ? I want fire and shelter and 
 forage. Let me and my horse in, in the name of the 
 Sirdar." 
 
 " Let him in ! Let him in ! " said Yar Khan; 
 chuckling to himself to see the steady lance points 
 of the two well -disciplined troopers. 
 
 "It is young Habib Ullah, who is commandant 
 of His Excellency's bodyguard squadron. He is 
 all right." 
 
 " Anne do ! * Lai Singh ! Anne dot" called David, 
 and the lanco points fell away. 
 
 " Come in, Habib Ullah Khan, come in. It is I, 
 Yar Khan," and as the tired horseman slipped from 
 his horse, the old Afghan stepped out into the moonlight 
 within the gate. Habib Ullah rushed forward to Yar 
 
 * Let him come.
 
 106 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Khan, and salaamed, and then turned to David to call 
 out excitedly 
 
 " Your Excellency ! Your Excellency ! Praise be 
 to God you are here, They said you had been killed 
 by Rajpoots," 
 
 And the young horse-soldier seized David's hand in 
 both his own. " Tush, fool ! " said Yar Khan. " Tush, 
 be quiet. Who are you talking to ? This is not the 
 Sirdar." 
 
 Habib Ullah stepped back and looked at David. 
 
 "If it is not the Sirdar, it is his own brother. I 
 do not understand." 
 
 Yar Khan looked at David, " Pish ! The boy is 
 right ; in this light there is a great resemblance. 
 However, whatever brings you here, young Habib 
 Ullah ? Come inside, and stop chattering outside. 
 We are talking like women round a well, Let one 
 of your men take his horse over to where mine are." 
 
 And so the three withdrew to the small out-quarter 
 in the serai, and Habib Ullah Khan of the Khas 
 Eissalali told his story. It was merely the story of 
 his hidden presence in the salon of Allah Visayah, and 
 the added interpretation of that lady. Of this naturally 
 the young captain of horse told as much as properly 
 pertained to the main subject. 
 
 To Yar Khan the threads, partly bared by Habib 
 Ullah, were clear enough. Altamish Khan he knew 
 for a pig-swine of the worst type whom he would long 
 ago have sent the way of all flesh had he had his way. 
 But His Excellency the Governor had some conception 
 of haute politique. He had believed Altamish to be 
 very much hand and glove with the Mogul party, both 
 in Hindostan and at Kabul, and too powerful to 
 be removed except as a last resort. The lesser evil 
 had seemed to be the continued existence of Altamish. 
 So Altamish had laughed in his evil sleeve and Yar
 
 THE NIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE PASS 107 
 
 Khan had had to content himself with such knowledge 
 of his ways as a well-organized underground service 
 could purvey. 
 
 " You don't seem to have done much," he growled 
 at the young noble. 
 
 " My Lord, what was I to do ? Who am I to tal$o 
 your place ? You were reported to be on the passes 
 near. But I have given two orders in your name. 
 First, I told the commandant of the Shergarhi that it 
 was your order that on no account was any man of the 
 Regiment of Victory to be allowed into the Palace on 
 any pretext whatever. Further, that he should not 
 quack of this order to any one, Secondly, I saw 
 Kommadan Rung Khan of the artillery and told 
 him that it was your order that a salute was to be 
 prepared for, in readiness to fire to-morrow morning. 
 Also, as private information, that I believed that some 
 one had told you that his war supply of ammunition was 
 wrong and that you might be coming to inspect it. 
 He thanked me and swore all should bo in good order. 
 One more thing happened as I came out of the Poplar 
 Avenue, by the watermill. The tinker folk were there, 
 that gang which goes round snake-charming at the 
 fairs. The old woman who tells love chances perhaps 
 you know her, W azir Sahib 1 " Yar Khan snorted. 
 " Well, some of us know her, and she called out to 
 me, ' See the rats leave the falling tower. Whither 
 away so fast, Kommadan jee ? ' I stopped casually and 
 said, ' Why mother, to meet His Excellency, of course.' 
 Then she sidled up along my horse and whispered, 
 l . And what of the Lord Altamish ? ' I said, ' Late 
 again, mother, and here is five rupees to tell the town 
 so.' So you see that the tale has been spread." 
 
 " By the kirtle of the blessed Fatima," said Yar 
 Khan. " This boy is not quite the fool he looks. 
 He ventures to give orders in my name. Some day
 
 108 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 I shall make a man of him, a real man. What sign 
 did you give the Kommadan of the palace to make him 
 sure that the order was imperative ? " 
 
 " Why, Wazir Sahib, I have a seal here that is 
 something like yours. I showed it to him and made 
 an impression on his court circular. I smudged it." 
 
 " If this young officer is not bowstrung or blown 
 from a gun, one of these days he will rise to power. 
 However, a truce to this, we must get to work. How 
 many troopers have you, Ferassa Sahib ? " 
 
 " Twenty, sir, all good men." 
 
 " And I have half as many again. Humph ! Fifty 
 men is not much to make a show with. We must try 
 and get His Excellency back, ill or well. If he cannot 
 be seen within twenty-four hours, half the garrison 
 and all the city will believe him dead, and I doubt we 
 can hold the place long against Altamish. If he is 
 alive I can raise the city and valley. If he is dead 
 or believed dead, nobody will care. To them an 
 ordinary baron is as good, or as evil, as another, and 
 it is a far cry to Kabul. It is the peasantry and the 
 merchant who know what Salabat Khan has done for 
 them." 
 
 Yar Khan strode up and down the room in his 
 anxiety, the glow from the log fire again throwing up 
 the ridge and furrow on his face, and his eyebrows 
 seemed to meet in one long scowl of perplexity. At that 
 moment a knock sounded at the door. Habib Ullah 
 sprang to see who waited. At the door stood a veiled 
 woman, who intimated that the Lady Miriam had heard 
 that a sirdar from Srinagar had ridden into camp with 
 important news, and she wished to know what it was, 
 and also to see the Sirdar Yar Khan at once. 
 
 The Sirdar frowned and muttered under his breath. 
 
 " May the fiend fly away with women. Their ears 
 are so accursedly long when they scent news, and
 
 THE NIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE PASS 109 
 
 curiosity drives them wild, high or low, rich or poor, 
 drat them ! Tell the gracious lady that the news 
 is trivial, and that the Sirdar is loath to disturb her 
 to-night. And hark ye, my girl ! here is five rupees, and 
 get the princess to bed quietly. Nay, stay ! Don't 
 let her undress, but keep her quiet for a bit. All you 
 pretty things are a nuisance." 
 
 The waiting woman stepped into the middle of the 
 room. 
 
 " Thank you, my lord, for your gracious words. The 
 lady Miriam will herself hear the news, and give her 
 own message , . . Nay ! " said Miriam, who had now 
 slipped off the waiting woman's veil, and had only 
 her own thin veil across her eyes. " Don't try to quiet 
 me. Some one has told me that my brother himself 
 has returned. How can that be ? " 
 
 Yar Khan made a grimace at David, and assumed 
 an air of resignation.
 
 CHAPTEE XI 
 
 A COUNCIL OF WAR 
 
 THE Lady Miriam, as has been explained, was a wilful 
 woman, even Yar Khan had admitted that, and knew 
 that she was not to be brushed aside lightly. So 
 pocketing his disgust at the arrival of a petticoat, 
 however desirable, he accepted the situation, and 
 gazed kindly on a lass that had acquired a freedom 
 almost unknown even among Afghan women. 
 
 " Lady," said he, " as you know so much, I agree 
 you must know all. There is greater trouble in 
 Srinagar than we anticipated. The Sirdar Habib 
 Ullah Khan who, as you know, commands the Khas 
 Rissalah, His Excellency's bodyguard, has but now 
 ridden in to say that Altamish Khan has spread the 
 tale that Salabat Khan your brother is dead, on the 
 far side of the Pir Panjal. He intends to proclaim 
 himself Governor, and has probably got possession 
 of the Hari Parbat fort. God send he has not got the 
 Shergarhi palace also ! I intend to go straight into 
 Srinagar now to see what can be done, and do take 
 you with me, as your presence may have some effect, 
 at any rate on our own supporters. Oh, that His 
 Excellency were here ! if only in a litter ? " 
 
 Miriam's eyes twinkled at the calm way in which 
 her movements had been settled. 
 
 " I am ready to start at once." Prompt action she 
 could see was needed. " Can we get my brother up 
 
 no
 
 A COUNCIL OF WAE 111 
 
 to us ? Even wounded we shall find his counsel the 
 wisest, however bad his sword arm be." And here 
 her eye fell on Habib Ullah, who at once made obeisance. 
 She knew him by repute for one of the liveliest rustlers 
 of the vice-regal court. 
 
 " Aha, Sirdar Sahib, you have ridden promptly." 
 
 " Gracious lady, it were needed. Your brother's 
 presence, to be seen of the people, is badly required. 
 Yours is the next best. When I first saw this dis- 
 tinguished stranger in the moonlight, I thought it 
 was His Excellency, and my heart leapt." 
 
 Miriam looked at David. It has been mentioned 
 that he had some general resemblance to Salabat Khan, 
 who looked, however, some years the older. Miriam 
 had noticed it in a casual way when she first saw 
 David at Thana Mandi. In the dim firelight of the 
 little room, the resemblance noticed by Habib Ullah 
 was the more apparent. Her quick wit saw the con- 
 nection. 
 
 "It is true ! It is true ! This stranger is like my 
 brother. He shall ride with me to Srinagar to-night, 
 and we will proclaim that His Excellency has returned, 
 and all the people shall see him ride through the city. 
 How say you, Wazir Sahib," said she turning to Yar 
 Khan. 
 
 The audacity of the suggestion had taken the Wazir 
 by surprise. 
 
 " Pish ! " muttered he, thinking that there could 
 be no doubt but that women were angels of evil. 
 " Lady, the wisdom of your house is always great, 
 
 but " And here the wooden logs burst into a 
 
 blaze, and a jet of light shone out over David. " By 
 the Prophet's shoes, lady ! there is something in 
 what you say. The lad is very like His Excellency, 
 younger, but like. Wait here now, and it please 
 you, till I return."
 
 112 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 And Yar Khan, naib and wazir to the Governor of 
 Kashmir, strode out into the cool night air to consider 
 the startling suggestion. It was rather beyond the 
 ken of even his experience to have to stem a rebellion 
 with a missing governor and then to find a substitute 
 to hand. Miriam's suggestion was novel and bold, 
 but it undoubtedly offered a prospect of success that 
 nothing else showed. The arrival of Yar Khan and 
 party would in itself hearten up the Afghan party it 
 is true, but it could only result in some form of civil 
 war in which they might or might not be successful. 
 There was no leader of any influence. Yar Khan 
 was clever enough to know his own limitations. He 
 had not the personality necessary, and he knew it. 
 A trusty adviser, a staunch servant, a daring sub- 
 ordinate leader, a judge of men and their evil ways, 
 he knew himself to be. He was the most invaluable 
 assistant that ruler and leader could have, but he 
 missed the divine spark. The art of command was 
 not to him. And marvel of marvels he knew it. He 
 was quite capable of holding the valley for Salabat Khan 
 wisely and determinedly, and intended to have a very 
 fair try to do so, but a wavering populace would not 
 come to heel to his call. 
 
 Therefore the daring proposal of Miriam came as 
 light from heaven. Manage a puppet king who would 
 give orders and sit at the head in another's robes he 
 felt quite equal to. It might be dangerous for the 
 substitute, but what were men made for, and no one 
 really cared a straw whether or no this young adven- 
 turer did lose his life in the game. A nice boy. Oh 
 yes ! quite a nice boy. In fact, he had been more 
 attracted by him than ever he could remember in 
 the course of his life, but this was a serious matter 
 in which likes and dislikes must be disregarded. The 
 thing must be gone through with, and that without
 
 A COUNCIL OF WAR 113 
 
 delay, that was quite clear. Exactly how they had 
 best act, must be settled on as they rode along. Miriam 
 should come with them, which would effectively 
 corroborate the likeness of her brother should there 
 be any inclined to doubt Fraser's face on its merits. 
 None of her tiresome women should come, they must 
 follow after. There would be other women in the 
 palace ready to receive her, if they got there. Pshaw ! 
 Got there ! Of course, they must get there. There 
 could be no failure. 
 
 So arguing, Yar Khan paced up and down in the 
 moonlight, till his ideas took shape. Being a man of 
 action, he decided that they must give the horses two 
 hours more rest and then ride hard. He therefore 
 issued orders that all men were to be roused in an hour 
 and a half's time, and then turned back to the quarters 
 where he had left David, the Sirdar Habib Ullah, and 
 the Lady Miriam. 
 
 While Yar Khan had been pacing outside, Miriam 
 had been putting Habib Ullah through a searching 
 cross-examination, much to that young officer's 
 surprise. Masterful women, excepting always the 
 Begum Allah Visayah, who belonged to a class apart, 
 were a new phenomenon to him. Beauty frail and 
 fair he understood, as well as the two quiet little 
 Mussalmani women to whom he was married, and 
 who lived far away in the Punjab. Here was a lady 
 of high degree, with a way of her own. Habib Ullah 
 at once proceeded to pay attention and answer categori- 
 cally. How had he first heard of the plot ? He told 
 her, not sparing her niceness in his relation of the 
 incident. What did he think of Altamish and his 
 party ? Did he expect the Kommadan of the Eegiment 
 of Victory would give up the Hari Parbat fort ? What 
 did he think the people of Srinagar would do ? Would 
 they at once support the Governor if they thought 
 
 i
 
 114 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIK 
 
 he had returned ? To this latter question Habib 
 Ullah returned a very emphatic affirmative. He had 
 no doubt that the return of the Governor, if ho had 
 really been seen to have returned by reliable witnesses, 
 would have an immediate effect, which confirmed 
 Miriam in her determination to make them dress 
 Fraser to act the part of the returned Governor. 
 
 David sat silent while this cross-examination was 
 in progress, much approving the quiet determination 
 of the lady. The suggestion was not ill-pleasing which 
 would place him in such intimate relations with so 
 charming a companion, as promised to result from the 
 proposal that he should impersonate her brother and ride 
 with her in that capacity through the streets of Srinagar. 
 It was not, however, till Yar Khan reappeared that 
 the difficulties of the position became fully apparent. 
 In ten minutes from the time that that prompt indivi- 
 dual had left them, he was back again, with most of 
 the subsidiary details clear. 
 
 " Lady," said ho to Miriam, " we will start as 
 you suggest, in two hours' time. The difficulty that 
 I find is to prevent our arrangement and our secret 
 being known. The whole of my men know Ferassa 
 Sahib well, and they must therefore be let into the 
 secret ; then, of course, all his own men must know. 
 That is too many for a secret, and the whole thing is 
 bound to get out. It won't matter so much if we 
 can keep it secret for the first few days, till we get 
 the situation in hand, but it must not get out before 
 that. We must leave a good many of our men behind, 
 though we can ill spare them. Whether it will be best 
 to send Ferassa Sahib's men away, or our own, I 
 don't know. He can, perhaps, keep his own men from 
 talking, while we could, perhaps, keep ours; but with 
 the two parties I see no chance of it." 
 
 David paid nothing, but he felt that there was sound
 
 A COUNCIL OF WAE 115 
 
 sense in it all. Secrecy that would be the difficulty. 
 Ho naturally did not want to be parted from his own 
 men, especially in a position likely to call for very 
 considerable strength of character on his part, when 
 a sound backing of his own would greatly stimulate 
 his self-reliance, but he would wait. Happily, the 
 keen wits of Miriam were at work. 
 
 " If I did not know how wise in all counsel you were, 
 Wazir Sahib, I should say you were quite stupid 
 to-night. How many men bo there who know that 
 the Sirdar Habib Ullah Khan mistook Ferassa Sahib 
 for my brother ? That was the first occasion, I under- 
 stand, that the likeness had been noted ? " 
 
 " The only man who could have heard was Duffedar 
 Faiz Ullah, who was in charge of the gate guard, and 
 opened it for the Sirdar ; the sentry could not have 
 heard. I hope Faiz Ullah has not been talking." 
 
 " Very well, then, Wazir Sahib, my suggestion is as 
 follows : Let Ferassa Sahib go away with one or two 
 of his own men, who must be told, with the purpose 
 of carrying a message to my brother. Then in an 
 hour's time let him ride in as my brother, recovered 
 of his wounds sufficiently to ride. Wo can tell the 
 men that ho had had an inkling from other sources 
 of the trouble in Srinagar, and has hurried in to put 
 it right despite his wound, which had taken a turn for 
 the better." 
 
 This fresh contribution to the possibilities of the 
 situation set Yar Khan thinking again for a few 
 seconds. 
 
 " By all the people of all the Books," quoth he, 
 " this lady is a wonder and a fit sister to a governor 
 of a province. It shall be as you wish. Ferassa 
 Sahib 1 Do you ride out as soon as we can get you 
 disguised and dressed like His Excellency. Take with 
 you a couple of your men, and I will send two of mine.
 
 116 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 One of yours and one of mine will go on together with 
 a message to His Excellency. You shall merely turn 
 back on a pretext in a few minutes and ride in with 
 one of your men and one of mine, who know the secret, 
 and return to us as His Excellency." 
 
 David had been listening intently, but had an 
 amendment to suggest. 
 
 " What good will it do my taking out four men of 
 whom two are to go on ? I would rather that the men 
 to go be sent off first. Then I would start with the 
 4 wo men who are to return, telling them before we 
 start of what was in progress. I would further suggest 
 that you should accompany me out and that you 
 meet the Governor coming in with two retainers and 
 escort him in, announcing his return to all the men. My 
 men will think that I have gone off to Poonch and 
 missed him. At any rate, Ganesha Singh shall account 
 for my absence." 
 
 " Well thought of, Ferassa Sahib" cried the Lady 
 Miriam. " That will be splendid, will it not, Wazir 
 Sahib?" 
 
 And Yar Khan, who had a distinct preference for 
 being the guiding spirit himself in matters of action, 
 rather testily admitted that it would be splendid. 
 
 The next thing to do was to settle preliminaries and 
 get together the clothing for David to wear. Fortu- 
 nately a good deal of Salabat Khan's clothes were 
 with the party. Miriam had these unpacked ready for 
 old Gul Jan to take them outside the serai. Ganesha 
 Singh was sent for, and the whole situation was ex- 
 plained to him, and he was pleased to admit that the 
 situation was a pretty one, and one that it would become 
 Ferassa Sahib to do well in. The remaining details 
 were quickly arranged. David was to set out in his 
 own clothes, and his orderly would carry the change. 
 Miriam readily agreed to travel without her women,
 
 A COUNCIL OP WAR 117 
 
 for the spirit of adventure in her was fully roused. 
 In half an hour David and old Gul Jan left the serai 
 with Yar Khan. Half an hour later Yar Khan shouted 
 to the sentry not to fire, and came in with a couple 
 of horsemen, announcing to the guard as he did so 
 that His Excellency had ridden after them in spite of 
 his wound, owing to rumours of trouble in Srinagar. 
 And sure enough there was the well-known figure of 
 the Governor, with the blue and gold lungi on his head 
 that he always wore, and the heavy silk-embroidered 
 sheep-skin mantle trimmed with astrakhan. The men 
 crowded out from their shelters and the camp fires. 
 They had now heard the news of the trouble in the 
 valley, and the sight of their chief was inspiring enough. 
 Gul Jan came in to Ganesha Singh to tell him that 
 Ferassa Sahib had sent him back to say that he would 
 not be with them for a few days, but that they were to 
 take all orders from the Sirdar Yar Khan, which 
 wondering somewhat they were prepared to do. 
 
 The wounded Governor, stiff and weary after his 
 long ride, was assisted down from his saddle, saying 
 that he had met David and had changed horses with 
 him, as his (the Governor's) horse would carry the latter 
 down the frozen slopes the better, and that David 
 had gone on urgent messages for him. It was now 
 close on midnight, and Yar Khan had arranged to 
 start at a half-hour after. Six of the Afghan troopers 
 would remain with Miriam's two women, and the 
 heavier baggage and the rest follow on in the morning, 
 while the others rode straight for Srinagar. Miriam 
 and Yar Khan took the wounded Governor inside 
 the quarters and settled some of the prehminary 
 plans. They three would ride together, followed by 
 David's own men, while half the Afghans under the 
 Sirdar Habib Ullah Khan would ride in front and a 
 similar party in rear. Miriam looked at David with
 
 118 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 a grave air, despite a twinkle at the back of her eyes, 
 and said 
 
 " Ferassa Sahib, you really are extremely like my 
 brother as I remember him, perhaps ten years ago. 
 Do you feel equal to the part ? " 
 
 And Yar Khan added, " You will have to ride 
 officially through the city, when we have straightened 
 out this matter of these dog Toorks, and then you will 
 have to hold your Durbar at once. This His Excellency 
 usually did twice a week. We shall, of course, prime 
 you with information as to whom all the officials of 
 the state are. Should we be discovered, we shall rally 
 round you till the last. If, however, all goes well in 
 quelling this insurrection, it would be possible to you 
 to take to your bed to recover from your wound, while 
 I manage the state." 
 
 " And oh ! Ferassa Sahib" exclaimed Miriam, 
 " you will become such a friend to my brother if you 
 are the means of saving him from this cowardly 
 plot ! " 
 
 And there was sufficient glow in the firelight to 
 show a very real glint in the Lady Miriam's eye that 
 went straight to David's virgin heart. That great 
 swell of determination to do well and right for the 
 right's sake that lies in every man, stirred within him. 
 It has stirred many a heart before and since, and it is 
 often a woman that touches the string that looses it. 
 Most beautiful and many less favoured women have 
 the power if they are in themselves worthy of it. 
 Children and weaklings also call it forth in the civilized 
 heart. Some men have the gift. The Stuarts had 
 it by personal magnetism, others have it from strength 
 and straightness of character. David Fraser had been 
 moving through the world more or less aimlessly, look- 
 ing for some object to which to devote himself. Here 
 unconsciously he found it. That woman qua woman
 
 A COUNCIL OF WAR 119 
 
 was mixed up with the discovery he was as yet too 
 unsophisticated or inexperienced to realize. But old 
 Andrew Fraser and Sultana Aluri his wife had built 
 up before they died some promising clay for the potter 
 to mould.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE NIGHT RIDE 
 
 AT half an hour after midnight the small cavalcade 
 left Aliabad Serai with horses none too fit for the 
 purpose. They had twenty-five miles to make, and 
 some five and a half hours to do it in, which, as the 
 descent to the level would take a couple of hours, 
 would leave them but three and a half hours for nineteen 
 miles. However, it was important to be in by six, 
 when the first shimmer of dawn was showing, to 
 forestall Altamish at the Shergarhi, and if possible 
 to regain Hari Parbat, supposing always that that 
 post had gone over to the Toork Party. This infor- 
 mation would probably not be forthcoming without 
 an actual visit there, but Yar Khan trusted to events 
 to guide him so far ahead as that. The first thing 
 was to get his party off the slippery slopes of the 
 mountain, which, melted during the daytime, froze at 
 night like glass. The horse-shoes had been roughed 
 at Ratan Pir, but the nails were already worn nearly 
 smooth. As a start Yar Khan led the calvacade, while 
 David commenced by leading Miriam's horse, a pro- 
 ceeding which that high-spirited young lady seemed to 
 think quite suitable. It was slow work slipping and 
 slithering down the frozen mule path, but at last 
 the old stone temple on the lowest spur was reached, 
 standing out as a landmark in the moonlight. All was 
 
 120
 
 THE NIGHT RIDE 121 
 
 silent, not even a chiragh * burnt on the shrine, and 
 the deep bells and conchblowers were hushed, and the 
 wooden roofing glistened in the hoar frost. Below 
 the temple the road broadened somewhat, and the 
 gradients became less severe, so Yar Khan halted 
 on the grass beyond the shrine to let his party close 
 up, for it had straggled considerably on the narrower 
 road. As it was, one horse had come down and broken 
 a leg, so that its rider would have to follow on foot to 
 the Shergarhi. 
 
 Not far below the temple they came out on to the 
 flats at the foot of the mountains, which gradually 
 slope to the Jhelum, and began to quicken their pace 
 to some six or seven miles an hour. Gul Jan rode to 
 take care of Miriam, with one of her brother's men also,' 
 and David went forward to talk over the situation with 
 Yar Khan. That nobleman was in a fairly com- 
 municative mood. 
 
 " See here, Ferassa Sahib, we shall slip along now, I 
 hope, till we get close to the Shergarhi. We will then 
 ride straight in there if possible, and see that all is 
 well. Inayat Ullah, a Populzai, is in command. He 
 has with him perhaps fifty men of the palace guard, 
 and the whole of Habib Ullah 's squadron, except the 
 thirty men we had away south of the Pir Panjal, of 
 whom, as you know, we now have eighteen with us, 
 less that fool who let his horse down a while back. 
 We have your twenty men, which makes thirty-eight 
 or thirty-seven. We can rely on the rest of Habib 
 Ullah's men, whom, as I told you, are His Excellency's 
 special bodyguard, which will give us from sixty to 
 seventy sabres more. There are our three hundred 
 men in the Hari Parbat, whom we expect that thief 
 of a Kommadan will take over to the Toorks. The 
 
 * Small earthen oil lamp.
 
 122 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 rest of His Excellency's troops are scattered over the 
 province. We have a garrison up at Gilgit, the Prophet 
 alone knows why, for those hill tracts are not worth it. 
 We have troops up at Skardu, in Baltistan, on the 
 China road ; we have men at Uri Fort on the road to 
 the Punjab, down the Jhelum valley. Then those 
 troublesome Sikh settlements at Muzzaffarabad always 
 want a garrison. So you see we have not much in 
 or round the city. As it is, we are lucky it is not 
 autumn, when half those we have would be out getting 
 the revenue in. Of course, Altamish would never have 
 tried this on if he had not thought the people would 
 believe the story of His Excellency's death." 
 
 Here one of the orderlies rode up with a message 
 that the Lady Miriam would speak with Yar Khan, 
 so that old man dropped back. As he did so Ganesha 
 Singh rode up, and ranged himself alongside David. 
 
 " Ahj Ganesha Singh, old soldier ! I wanted to see 
 you. Have you anything to say or suggest ? " 
 
 " Not at present, Sahib. Save that I have been 
 talking to the Afghans; who all think you have got 
 very thin as the result of your wound." 
 
 " There is no question of doubting my identity ? " 
 
 " Not in the least, Sahib, and I heard that old 
 Euzufzai duffedar remark that he always said His Excel- 
 lency's Persian was a disgrace to an educated Afghan." 
 
 " Aha ! " laughed David. " Lucky for me that 
 Salabat Khan's was bad, for I know my Persian is 
 none too good. I think my Pushtoo is better ; what 
 do our troop think of my disappearance ? " 
 
 " They are a little disappointed that you are not 
 with them, At the worst I shall have to tell thenij 
 but I have given them great promises of the service 
 and position you will receive from His Excellency, 
 and how, if all go well, there may be promotion for all." 
 
 !' Humph ! I hope we may be able to fulfil your
 
 THE NIGHT BIDE 128 
 
 promises. They are certainly in a fair way to get 
 adventures, if that be their wish." 
 
 " Ah, well, Sahib, I used to go recruiting for the 
 Sirkar, and if I can't manage young soldiers I am 
 not fit to be your ressaldar. I can tell fairy tales and 
 make them come true, too. All shall be well." 
 
 Presently Habib Ullah rode up to David, and said 
 " Your Excellency, it will be well if I ride with you 
 for a while, or our Afghans will be wondering that 
 you have none of us with you." 
 
 " Come along, Sirdar Sahib, with all the pleasure 
 in the world, Come and let me practise my Persian 
 with you." 
 
 So while the cavalcade moved along at a steady 
 pace, Yar Khan reined in his horse till Miriam came 
 up, and then drew alongside her. 
 
 " Your ladyship sent for me ? " 
 
 " Yes, I did, Wazir Sahib. A terrible idea has come 
 into my head. I see great difficulty in front of our 
 scheme. How long will it be necessary for Ferassa Sahib 
 to impersonate my brother ? " 
 
 " Well, lady, it may be a week, more likely ten days, 
 for I doubt if His Excellency can be fit to move within 
 that time. Of course, if we find all is well and can 
 hold our own, then we must send a litter for him. I 
 told him so in the letter I sent this evening." 
 
 " Well, there will be a difficulty, and you, you 
 foolish Wazir, you forgot, oh you quite forgot, my 
 sisters-in-law, His Excellency's wives. You know 
 what an inquisitive, tiresome woman Alana Bibi is, 
 Nur Jan we can manage," 
 
 Yar Khan swore aloud. It was quite teue he had 
 forgotten those infernal women. He had moved for 
 the most of his life in scenes in which women were 
 always an encumbrance, His attitude was always the 
 same, They were an encumbrance and an evil, The
 
 124 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Lady Miriam alone came into a different category; 
 and that only at times. To Yar Khan there was no 
 inner house with almond-eyed women and round fat 
 little children, no young son to teach hawking. Once; 
 long, long ago, before the small-pox had marked his 
 face like the surface of a full moon, there had been a 
 small tower and homestead with an apple orchard 
 and willow trees away in Badakshan, with an almond- 
 eyed wife and a round fat son, the dead spit of all 
 other round fat sons. Then while he was away there 
 had been a raid of rnanstealing Toorkoman tribes, 
 and he returned to find his henchmen dead and his 
 house burnt, and not the merest trace of his wife 
 and child. For three years he had tracked those 
 Toorkomans through rugged mountain and windswept 
 plain, never to find the Itirri * he searched for, though 
 taking full vengeance of the race when and where he 
 met them. Which redoubled his desire to get the 
 better of the whole of that race, as represented by 
 the Lord Altamish and his adherents, as may well be 
 imagined. Such was the life story of Yar Khan 
 Suddozai, and how it was his heart and his head had 
 become as hard as iron, out of touch with all woman- 
 kind, saving always at propitious moments the Lady 
 Miriam. 
 
 " Lady," replied he in some chagrin, " it is true, 
 we have forgotten the ladies of the household." Mark 
 the " we," that the lady might share the obloquy of the 
 admission. " A murrain on all women, say I, saving 
 your presence, lady, for they are always a trouble. 
 How shall we deal with them ? They will be all agog 
 to hear the story of his wound and this attempt at a 
 rising from His Excellency's own lips. If we tell them 
 the truth, it will be all over the palace in an hour." 
 
 * Nomad camp .
 
 THE NIGHT RIDE 125 
 
 " We must try and think out some plan. We could 
 keep them quiet for a couple of days. Perhaps the 
 best thing would be to say ho was ill in his own apart- 
 ments, and that he only wanted Nur Jan. She could 
 stay and nurse him, and I could keep her in my apart- 
 ments and tell her the truth." 
 
 "Humph!" said Yar Khan. "You'll have the 
 Bibi Alana tearing the house down, and the Lady Nur 
 Jan's eyes out, if she thinks the other is preferred as a 
 nurse to her. Perhaps it would be best to send for 
 the she-devil alone, and let her into the mystery. The 
 Lady Nur Jan will keep her disappointment and injured 
 feelings to herself." 
 
 " Poor Nur Jan, I had rather have it the other way, 
 and see my lady in a tantrum, but I expect you are 
 right. Nur Jan is as a cushion of velvet, and will be 
 quiet ; we certainly can't tell them both, except as 
 a last resort." 
 
 " We shall have the Bibi Alana falling in love with 
 this young Ferassa; that will be a pretty kettle of 
 fish to plague us." 
 
 " I should certainly hope," said Miriam, who received 
 the suggestion coldly, " that my sister-in-law would do 
 nothing so foolish or so unseemly. I am surprised 
 at you, my Lord, suggesting it." 
 
 " Tut ! tut ! lady, I did but jest. I must to the 
 head of the column now, and I will turn over in my 
 mind how best to act." 
 
 All this while the steady pace had been continued, 
 past frosty fields, and silent hamlets, from which only 
 pariahs took notice of them. Through walled gardens 
 and orchards, and over the level karewas and water 
 channels, till they were at the Jhelum level, and dew 
 instead of frost glistened on the trees. It was past 
 five when they arrived at an open space at the end 
 of a, long line of Lombardy poplars, which told them
 
 126 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 that Srinagar could not be more than three miles off. 
 Yar Khan called a halt for the cavalcade to close up, 
 and then ordered the nosebags to be put on the horses. 
 " We can spare ten minutes here, Ferassa Sahib, 
 and we could afford to lose that even if it were later, 
 for the sake of freshening up our horses." 
 
 The men dismounted, fumbled with the nosebags, 
 waved their cold arms, and wrung the night dew from 
 their beards. 
 
 " We will make straight for the Shergarhi first, to 
 see what news there is, and see if all be well. This 
 white mist will soon thicken for an hour or so, or I 
 am not mistaken." 
 
 Twenty minutes' further trot brought them to the 
 high corner bastions of the Shergarhi, which loomed 
 especially inaccessible in the sheer, amid the white 
 river mist, which had, as Yar Khan had foretold, got 
 thicker as the first trace of dawn lightened the horizon. 
 The fort was alert. From up in the bastions came the 
 nearing call of the sentries passing the watch. 
 " Number one, and all is well ! " away faint in the fog. 
 " Number two, and all is well ! " came nearer, and 
 then in the bastion above their road, " Number three, 
 and all is well," to die away again down the wall. 
 Yar Khan was satisfied. Inayat Ullah Populzai knew 
 his business, and his men were evidently on the 
 alert. That should be remembered to his credit. 
 There were more empires lost by carelessness than by 
 want of statesmanship. 
 
 Number three, too, had apparently announced 
 the approach of horsemen, for when Yar Khan chal- 
 lenged the main gate, it was the Sirdar Inayat Ullah 
 who answered, and the parapet between the gate 
 towers bristled with musket barrels. 
 
 " Who challenges ? " called the Sirdar. 
 
 " I the naib, and His Excellency," answered Yar
 
 THE NIGHT RIDE 127 
 
 Khan, and the Sirdar recognized the well-known 
 voice. But caution was caution, and Yar Khan 
 might conceivably be impersonated, or might hardly 
 conceivable be in the plot of which the young soldier 
 Habib Ullah had warned him the day before. So wise 
 Inayat Ullah said 
 
 " The enemies of the state are many, and come in 
 strange guises. I would see your faces, before I open 
 my Lord's palace gate." 
 
 " You are wise to be cautious; old friend," replied 
 the wazir. " Put out a torch and see." 
 
 And presently a torch was thrust out bound to a 
 lance, and the Sirdar within saw the well-known faces, 
 standing afoot in the gloom holding their horses. 
 
 " Now, Allah be praised," cried the Sirdar, and the 
 great spiked gates rolled back to admit the Governor 
 and his escort. But just as they were about to ride 
 in an object crawled forward from out the fog, and 
 cried, " DoJiai I Khudawand. Dohai / " * 
 
 The party stopped instinctively, and a wounded 
 Goorkha bent at David's foot. His head was covered 
 in coagulated blood from a sword cut on his forehead, 
 and he thrust out a bleeding arm stump. 
 
 " Justice and mercy," he cried. " I have come from 
 the fort of Hari Parbat." 
 
 " What has happened ? Speak, wretch ! " said Yar 
 Khan. 
 
 " At the third watch this morning, I was on guard 
 at the gate, when the Kommadan of the Eegiment of 
 Victory came to my post. I am a sepoy of that 
 regiment. He said to me, ' Open the gate,' and I 
 opened it. Then in rushed a party of Toorks, who 
 cut at me, and attacked the remainder of my guard. 
 We have half a company of Goorkhas in the regiment, 
 
 * Justice ! Lord, Justice !
 
 128 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and we were all Goorkhas on the guard. They killed 
 them, I could hear their cries, and they never hurt 
 the Kommadan, who rushed on with them, ' saying the 
 regiment is yours, saving only these accursed men of 
 Nepal.' Then I crawled out of the gate, and the blood 
 from my head blinded me and I lay faint for a while, 
 and now I have come to my Lord." 
 
 And David said, " It is well, thou faithful soldier. 
 Take him in, and care for him. Now we will ride 
 straight for the Hari Parbat. How say you, Yar 
 Khan." 
 
 But Yar Khan thought the young man moving too 
 fast, with too little reference to himself, and at first 
 demurred. Again David urged that prompt action 
 must be taken. 
 
 " If that fort is known to be in Altarnish's hands, 
 we shall have the city believing that I am dead. We 
 must recover Hari Parbat, and then we can tackle 
 Altamish, if indeed he be not within the Hari Parbat 
 itself." 
 
 And Yar Khan yielded. For the moment affairs 
 were moving too fast for him. 
 
 " Very well, your Excellency, so be it. The Lady 
 Miriam will now leave us and go to her apartments." 
 
 But he had counted without that lady. She had 
 enjoyed the fruits of excitement and action for some 
 hours now, and she was not going to be relegated to 
 a back seat at the nautch. 
 
 " The Lady Miriam will accompany His Excellency 
 and his soldiers to the Hari Parbat, and will then ride 
 with him through the town that all the world may know 
 that we have returned and the story of His Excellency 
 having been killed is untrue." 
 
 Yar Khan shrugged his shoulders, as well he might, 
 and said nothing. If the Lady Miriam had made up 
 her mind there was nothing more to be said, and it was
 
 THE NIGHT BIDE 129 
 
 only one more example of the eternal tiresomeness 
 of feminines. So he contented himself with demanding 
 of Inayat Ullah an account of the number of soldiers 
 available for duty in the fort. Of these the sixty 
 men forming the balance of Habib Ullah's bodyguard 
 squadron were ordered to join David's party, and after 
 some sharp instructions to Inayat Ullah as to the care 
 of the palace, the party struck off again to Hari 
 Parbat, by the road which would cross the river Jhelum 
 by the Amiran Kadal. Now it will be remembered 
 that it was near to this very bridge that Altamish 
 was to meet his friends that morning, and accompany 
 them to seize the Shergarhi, and generally take steps 
 to insure that Altamish should be accepted as the 
 de facto ruler of Kashmir.
 
 CHAPTEE XIII 
 
 THE REWARD OF REBELLION 
 
 THE sight of the wounded Goorkha from Hari Parbat 
 stirred men's minds to anger. The troopers muttered 
 and loosed their weapons, and looked at David as 
 hounds look at their master. There were now ninety 
 lances in all eager for action. David was talking with 
 the Lady Miriam. 
 
 " Lady, I insist, and the Sirdar Yar Khan, our real 
 master, insists. You must remain in the palace. 
 This is no woman's work forward now." 
 
 " Ferassa Sahib, and you, Wazir Sahib, understand 
 me once and for all. I am with you and this party, to 
 help impress on the people of Srinagar that my brother 
 has returned. Ferassa Sahib here is not exactly like 
 Salabat Khan, being slighter and fairer, but he is 
 sufficiently like if I ride by his side. What does an 
 Afghani care for danger ! I insist on coming." 
 
 Yar Khan shrugged his shoulders. " The girl is 
 right, Sahib. She is necessary to make the deception 
 sure. Let her come and she will. It is best so." 
 
 To David the determination of the girl was a revela- 
 tion. Anxious he would be, with her on his hands, 
 but stimulated certainly, since what he had to do 
 would be done in her company. At any rate, the 
 sooner they were off the better. It was with a sigh 
 of relief that they saw Yar Khan climb into his saddle 
 and give the sign to march. 
 
 130
 
 THE REWARD OF REBELLION 131 
 
 The white mist lay heavy and the daylight could do 
 little to pierce it, till the sun should get high above the 
 horizon. They clattered through the gardens of the 
 suburbs down the cobbled streets and over the Amiran 
 Kadal bridge, without meeting more than a half score 
 of townsfolk muffled in their blankets, too cold to 
 wonder who took the road so early. Through the 
 main town and out through more suburbs the party 
 sped for an hour, to find themselves without incident 
 at the foot of the hill of Hari Parbat. 
 
 During the ride David and Yar Khan had been dis- 
 cussing a plan of action, but it was not till they were 
 nearing the fort that their ideas came clear. 
 
 " There are three separate things wo might do, 
 Ferassa Sahib, and the longer you look at them the 
 less you will like them. First we may ride to the 
 gate and demand entrance in the Governor's name. 
 Do you think that will be listened to ? More like a 
 bullet in your abdomen. Again; wo may simply advance 
 to the attack, try to blow in the lock of the gate with 
 our pistols and scale the walls. You are an old enough 
 soldier to sec little chance of success in that." 
 
 " True, Khan Sahib, that is not a soldier's course 
 under the circumstances." 
 
 " Then, Sir Captain, we must try artifice. We must 
 present ourselves, or some of us, at the gates and 
 demand admission in the name of Altamish." 
 
 " I see what you mean. A small party, even two 
 or three, get in and hold the open gate ? " 
 
 11 That is about it. Let us send Habib Ullah first ; he 
 is well known as a frequenter of courtesans' courts, and 
 they will believe that he is in the revolution. He 
 and this Kommadan are probably boon companions." 
 
 " I like not the sending of others, Khan Sahib, on 
 an errand a man should do himself." 
 
 " Tush, lad, I know it." And Yar Khan laid his
 
 132 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 hand on the other's bridle arm. " But all must bear 
 his share. There will be plenty for you to do, and 
 this man is the man to do it. Leaders cannot always 
 lead. Habib and half a dozen of his own men must 
 go first and try and get the gate open. Call him up." 
 
 Habib came up, and David gave him his instructions. 
 
 " Habib Ullah Khan. You are best known to the 
 Kommadan of the fort. You are to go and try and get 
 the gate open. We shall be close behind. As soon as 
 we hear a shot from you we shall rush in. Can you 
 manage it ? " 
 
 " Excellency, it won't be my fault if I don't get in. 
 Oh yes, I know the Kommadan well. We play at 
 shatranj together .' ' 
 
 They came to the turn in the approach. A round 
 tower loomed distinctly through the mist. 
 
 " Now, Habib Ullah," said Yar Khan, " remember. 
 Straight up to the gate and demand admission with 
 a message from the Lord Altamish. Say who you 
 are and that you have brought six of your own men 
 with you. Say, too, that you have news that His 
 Excellency is really dead, and that you have transferred 
 your allegiance to Altamish. That will go down. If 
 it does not, we are no worse than we are now. And I 
 don't think that Altamish himself will be up at the 
 fort by this hour. So off with you, and may Allah 
 protect you." 
 
 " I will take Muhammad Akbar Ghilzai with me; 
 and the five men in his section. . . . Here you, 
 Muhammad Akbar ! Hand over your horses to the 
 men behind you. Loose your swords, and come here 
 round me." 
 
 So saying, Habib Ullah explained to his little party 
 what he intended to do, while Yar Khan stood by and 
 nodded approval, and David listened over his shoulder. 
 In five minutes Habib Ullah and his men moved on
 
 183 
 
 up the paved roadway. And Yar Khan followed with 
 David and the rest of the troopers, less only horse - 
 holders and three soldiers under old Ganesha Singh, 
 left as personal escort to Miriam. 
 
 Yar Khan and David were to follow as close to the 
 gate as the fog would permit unseen, and then wait 
 for the sound of a shot or a summons from Habib 
 Ullah. Yar Khan, who had stepped slightly ahead, 
 soon found that he could make out the blurred outline 
 of the gateway, and returned to halt his party. For 
 five minutes five slow minutes they waited, David 
 watching the rigid face of the older man with some 
 interest. Then a pistol shot came down the breeze, 
 smothered to some extent by mist but clearly a pistol 
 shot. Yar Khan called to David, and his men, and they 
 doubled up the remainder of the causeway. As they 
 advanced two more pistol shots came down to them, 
 this time distincter. In a minute more they saw the 
 gateway open, with a struggle in progress. 
 
 Habib Ullah had obeyed instructions, and walking 
 boldly up to the gate had loudly called to the guard 
 to admit him. An officer of the garrison from the 
 parapet above, outside the guardhouse, called out to 
 know who sought admission. 
 
 " It is I, the Sirdar Habib Ullah Khan, commandant 
 of the bodyguard of the late Governor Salabat Khan. 
 I have now joined the newly declared Governor of 
 Kashmir, the Lord Altami^h. I have come here by 
 his direction to wait on the Kommadan with certain 
 orders and instructions, I also am to place the five 
 men I have with me at his disposal should he desire 
 their services." 
 
 This address had been sufficient. The door had 
 been opened, i.e. a small wicket hi the main gate 
 studded with iron spikes to prevent elephants from 
 pushing it in, and Habib Ullah was bidden to advance
 
 134 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 with one of bis men. The moment, however, that he 
 had got his foot inside the gateway, he called to his 
 men, who rushed in and jammed the door open. Habib 
 Ullah then fired his pistol into the guard inside, who 
 were drawn up across the inner gateway. Taken aback, 
 the latter broke into the courtyard leaving both gates 
 in Habib Ullah 's hand. But the officer of the guard 
 who had spoken to Habib Ullah from the top of the 
 gateway, now saw that he was in for serious trouble, 
 and calling on his men to follow, threw himself on 
 Habib, striking with a doubled-handed sword at the 
 latter's head. Habib Ullah had but time to throw 
 up a weak guard, which was battered down, bringing 
 him to his knee. Seeing this, the dumbfounded guard 
 rushed in with shouts on the small body of new-comers. 
 But Habib Ullah's shot had brought David and the 
 others on the scene. Arriving at the wicket gate, 
 they soon rushed through, David and Yar Khan 
 leading, the former excited but restrained, the latter 
 alert, set, and determined. Yar Khan rushed straight 
 at the officer who had struck down Habib Ullah, and 
 settled his count with a jab from his Afghan knife 
 well under the right rib. By this time the whole 
 garrison had been alarmed, and came rushing to the 
 alarm post, seizing any weapon handy. But the 
 arrival of Yar Khan and David had effectually broken 
 through the resistance at the gateway. Four of the 
 guard lay gasping out their lives on the cobbled road- 
 way, and the remainder had given way. Two of 
 Habib 's men lay badly wounded just inside the outer 
 gate, and Yar Khan was trying to form the men up 
 preparatory to taking on the garrison. 
 
 " Wait ! " said Yar Khan to David laconically. 
 ;< Wait ! Stand out in front of the men." 
 
 And David did so. Then that which Yar Khan 
 had anticipated came to pass. The garrison was almost
 
 THE REWARD OF REBELLION 135 
 
 entirely composed of the Regiment of Victory, to whom 
 His Excellency Salabat Khan was a familiar figure. 
 As David stood out in front of the men there was enough 
 light for his figure to be recognized. At once a murmur 
 arose, and then the cry, " The Governor himself is 
 here ; he is not dead." The Kommadan rushed forward 
 aghast and threw himself at the Governor's feet. 
 
 Then David took the situation into his own hands. 
 " What in the name of the Prophet does all this mean ? 
 How is it that I, the Governor of this province, have 
 to force my way into one of my own forts ? How is it 
 that my Goorkha soldiers are maimed and murdered, 
 and what has Kommadan Muhammad Khan of Kohistan, 
 whom I placed in command of the Regiment of Victory 
 and of the Fort of Hari Parbat, got to say ? " 
 
 Some one had lit a torch, and the white morning mist 
 and the gloom of the gateway were lit with its splut- 
 tering glare. The scene was a weird one. The great 
 grey walls and towers, the arched gateway, the orderly 
 line of soldiers behind David, the confused and dazed 
 garrison before him, and at his feet the grovelling, 
 prostrate figure of the Kommadan. Yar Khan saw 
 that the tide had turned, and he strode out on to the 
 space in front of David. 
 
 " Fall in at once, the Regiment of Victory. Fall 
 in on me as marker. Sharp now ! Double ! " And 
 the regiment flew, and in three minutes was drawn up 
 by companies. 
 
 " The Regiment of Victory will salute His Excel- 
 lency the Governor ! Present arms ! " 
 
 And with almost tearful alacrity the mutinous 
 regiment returned to its fealty, and delivered a ragged 
 though earnest salute after the manner of the West, 
 that had drifted East through French and English 
 officers. And all the while the wretched Kommadan 
 grovelled at the Governor's feet. His Excellency the
 
 136 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Governor took no notice, but gravely returned the 
 salute and then called out 
 
 " The Regiment of Victory will resume its duties 
 as garrison of Hari Parbat. Fall out the officer com- 
 manding the leading company with twelve men." And 
 he did so. 
 
 " Pick up this grovelling wretch and let him stand 
 in custody before me." 
 
 And Yar Khan stepped out from the post he had 
 taken at the head of the now repentant regiment, and 
 placed himself alongside David. 
 
 " Hang him out of hand over the gateway," he 
 whispered. " You give the order, and I will see it 
 carried out." Then seeing that David looked aghast, 
 " If you hesitate, we shall not win through with this." 
 
 To David, still young in years and ill versed in the 
 bitterer side of partisan warfare, the position was a 
 trying one. Here he was called on to be judge and 
 jury within the space of a few minutes, and to condemn 
 a fellow being to immediate death. But as Yar Khan 
 had said, it was touch and go, and the situation just 
 trembling in their hands again, must be clinched. 
 Besides, there were dead Goorkhas, whose blood cried 
 aloud for vengeance, and the Kommadan was deeply 
 committed. 
 
 Turning to the now trembling wretch, he said, 
 " Muhammad Khan, Kommadan of the Eegiment of 
 Victory, and of the fort of Hari Parbat, how comes it 
 that I find my fort in rebellion held for another, and 
 my faithful Goorkha soldiers murdered ? " 
 
 " My Lord, mercy is yours to give, and yours alone. 
 I believed you were dead. Altamish the Toork sent 
 word to me that you were dead, and that he was the 
 new Governor by decree from the Emperor. He bade 
 me follow his orders." 
 
 " Did he bid you kill my faithful Goorkha soldiers ? '!
 
 187 
 
 Then the Kommadan saw that the game was up, and 
 made one wild appeal for mercy, which David, whose 
 beating heart was for the moment steeled to all thought 
 of clemency, disregarded. 
 
 "Oh, W azir Sahib, listen ! I hereby sentence the 
 Kommadan of the Regiment of Victory to be hung 
 forthwith on the main gate of this fort, as a warning 
 to all who would tamper with my authority." 
 
 Yar Khan the Wazir promptly ordered Habib Ullah 
 to take the Kommadan to the parapet over the gate 
 and hang him there, while he himself remained at 
 the head of the wretch's regiment. Without a moment's 
 delay the Kommadan was hurried up the steep steps to 
 the rampart above. Three willing soldiers of the body- 
 guard tore down the flagstaff on the top and ran it 
 out horizontally from the battlements over the outer 
 gateway, turning the rope that wrapped the staff 
 into a noose at the end of the pole. The Kommadan's 
 hands were tied behind him, the noose placed round 
 his neck, and within five minutes of the order for his 
 execution, Muhammad Khan Kohistani was thrown 
 out through the battlements and swung choking over 
 the main gate of the post he had held so faithlessly. 
 
 Just as the foresworn commandant thus paid the 
 penalty of his faithlessness, the Lady Miriam, whose 
 impatience would allow her to wait no longer, rode up 
 to the gateway with Ganesha Singh, to whom a trooper 
 had brought news of the successful occupation of the 
 gate. Ganesha Singh was anxious that she should not 
 see the struggling wretch at the end of the rope, but 
 it was too late. With a shudder of horror, she 
 demanded what it could mean. 
 
 " Mean ? " said the old Kajput. " Why, lady, it 
 means that His Excellency is coming by his own 
 again ; listen ! " 
 
 And as they listened they could hear the men of
 
 138 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the garrison cheering lest worse befall. Riding into 
 the courtyard she found the apparently enthusiastic 
 and frankly loyal garrison being inspected by David, 
 and Yar Khan preparing some written orders wth the 
 help of a writer. Two Toorks, emissaries of Altamish, 
 who had been in the fort, were being dragged out from 
 whore they had hidden and were being lashed together. 
 Yar Khan and David had decided to send half the 
 Regiment of Victory down to the Shergarhi with the 
 two Toork prisoners, while Habib Ullah and twelve 
 of his troopers remained with the other half of the 
 Regiment in the Hari Parbat fort. Habib Ullah 
 would stay in command. Directly the written orders 
 for the Shergarhi were ready the party would start for 
 there, and the Governor's party move down for their 
 ride through the city, His Excellency and the Lady 
 Miriam side by side. As David finished examining 
 the ranks of the regiment, he looked back to find 
 Miriam on her horse with Ganesha Singh riding 
 from the gate towards him. He turned towards her 
 with pride and pleasure, pride that she should see him 
 carrying out his assumed role with success, pleasure 
 he did not quite know why, save that he always 
 experienced a pleasing exhilaration in her presence. 
 Then with these feelings mingled one of horror that 
 she had seen the wage of the faithless, hanging a horror 
 and offence in its wait for the morning sun. 
 
 " Lady, I much regret you should have come up 
 here, the gateway is no sight for a woman." 
 
 " Ah, Ferassa Sahib, I have been bom an Afghan 
 long enough to know that blood is demanded often 
 with or without cause. I am now content if I feel 
 that men deserve the death they die. Wo folk of 
 the mountains have not yet learnt to rule and be ruled 
 as men say you of the English rule. But your Excel- 
 lency " and here a dainty smile shone through the
 
 THE REWARD OF REBELLION 139 
 
 corners of her veil " I am not addressing you as a 
 subject should address a Governor of an Imperial 
 province. You have done well, my Lord, right well 
 to re-assert the Imperial authority in the face of those 
 who usurp it. What next do we do ? " 
 
 Yar Khan had now come up, well pleased with the 
 morning's work. 
 
 " Lady, it was not right that you should have come 
 hero without my orders, or rather those of His Excel- 
 lency. Eh ! but you're a wilful baggage, and have 
 seen for your pains that which were better hidden." 
 For even rugged old Yar Khan knew that women 
 were best spared the harsher sights of the world, 
 
 " We now start for the city, as soon as the sun lifts 
 this mist. Wo ride by the Great Mosque, the market 
 place, and the temple of Shah Hamadan. Now comes 
 your share, for your presence will effectively mark the 
 fact that your brother has returned. Your Excellency, 
 all is now ready, and I have given all the orders to 
 Habib Ullah, and the SubaMar who will march these 
 prisoners to the Shergarhi. Also, Your Excellency, 
 I have found a bag of cliilki rupees, the property of 
 Altamish. If it be your wish, I will distribute them 
 to the Regiment of Victory to buy sweetmeats." 
 
 " Sirdar Sahib," said David, " it is my wish that 
 my regiment be given the wherewithal to entertain 
 themselves, the more especially at my enemy's expense. 
 Let it be as you desire." 
 
 And then the party took to horse.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 IN THE STREETS OF SBINAGAR 
 
 As the Governor's party left the Hari Parbat by the 
 gateway above which swung dead and cooling Mu- 
 hammadan Khan, the Kommadan, a vision wonderful 
 broke upon their eyes. The fog had lifted from the 
 hilltops, and was fast dissipating, though it still hung 
 like cotton wool on the city below. From the top of 
 Hari Parbat hill the great ring of mountains stood out 
 clear and majestic, rose-red in the risen sun. The 
 Dhal Lake, where lay the dwelling of the Lord Al tarnish, 
 was still bathed in fog, but the circling mountains 
 caught the light on every fold. The clean, morning 
 air blew fresh in their faces unclogged by the mist, and 
 to David brought a sense of determination and a 
 yearning for high endeavour. The Lady Miriam, 
 riding by his side had bared her head to feel the breeze, 
 as she had done once before in his presence stirring 
 again thereby his admiration and his enthusiasm. The 
 beautiful profile stood out clear cut in the rising sun 
 and spoke of the true and steadfast spirit of the maid, 
 spoke, too, of the ancient Greeks in Bactria who could 
 leave such beauty behind them. Then David felt that 
 it was good to be alive in such glorious air, and good 
 to have such a face to serve, good to be young with the 
 
 world to conquer. To a be.iutiful face men attribute a 
 
 no
 
 IN THE STREETS OF SRINAGAR 141 
 
 beautiful soul, and ever look for the motive that shall 
 spur them on to high endeavour and to yield their best. 
 The desire for female beauty is at best the desire for a 
 compelling deity in whose service men may strike their 
 best notes. So when David Fraser, half-breed of two 
 mountain races, saw fully bared for the second time that 
 beautiful high-bred profile of the Lady Miriam, he 
 knew that ho had seen the talisman that was to evoke 
 the very best that in him lay. 
 
 And when Miriam saw the look of homage and 
 devotion in the young man's eyes, she was first fain, 
 maidenlike, to draw her veil over head, but then 
 laughed and desisted, throwing conventionalities to 
 the wind, and said 
 
 " See, oh Excellency ! see our beautiful Kashmir 
 lies at your feet. See the Dhal Lake below you where 
 emperors have rowed the ladies of their court. Far 
 away in the corner under the mountains is the Garden 
 of Pleasure, to which you also shall be rowed, and over 
 the other side is the Shalimar, where great Jehangir 
 hold his summer court. Say now, sir, if our valley is 
 not worth preserving." 
 
 To all of which, David, still backward to follow 
 the talk of fair ladies, had little to answer. What he 
 did say was trivial enough, to the effect that he was 
 here to render such help to her and hers as in his power. 
 But he thought the more, nevertheless, and as they 
 wound down the roadway his soldier mind was busy 
 with how to tackle the forces of the Toork if such were 
 to present themselves in the city. Before long they 
 began to pass from the clear morning air of the hill to 
 the white mist which still remained in the lower 
 regions, but was fast dissipating even there. By the 
 time they had arrived at the main street and started 
 to clatter through the city it was clear enough for 
 them to be recognized. It was evident that the story
 
 142 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 of the Governor's death had been diligently spread. 
 The puzzled look on men's faces as they first recognized 
 the Governor himself was proof of that. But there 
 could be no doubt in their minds, The Governor him- 
 self with Yar Khan, the Wazir, and the Lady Miriam, 
 were actually riding through the city accompanied by 
 the bodyguard of cavalry ! The story spread like wild- 
 fire. Those who were about to set forth to do homage 
 to the Lord Altamish, whom rumour had appointed to 
 the vacant office, had decided to postpone their action. 
 The Governor was there, sure enough, wearing his 
 well-known blue and gold puggari, with him that old 
 wazir. Ha ! there was some story last night about 
 the fort of Hari Parbat, but, however, that must have 
 been wrong. In front of the great mosque some 
 hundreds were assembling for prayer. To them the 
 sight of the cavalcade was a welcome one. To the 
 people generally the Governor was a popular entity, 
 and loud acclamations greeted his appearance in state. 
 One Toork trooper, however, who had ridden up to 
 find the crowd cheering, and who was himself a new- 
 comer to the valley, imagined it was the cortege of the 
 Lord Altamish or one of his principal adherents. He 
 had come to town specially to support his compatriots 
 who were, so his summons ran, taking possession of 
 the governorship. Here was evidently one of the 
 nobles going to join the new governor, or perhaps the 
 governor himself. A good opportunity for him to 
 show on whose side he was and gain notice. So, poor 
 lost soul, he urged his horse forward through the crowd, 
 shouting, " Fortune to the Lord Altamish ! Long live 
 our new Governor ! Success to the Toorks ! " His 
 horse caught the excitement and took him bounding up 
 to the head of the column. So ominous and threaten- 
 ing did this appear that it looked like an attack on 
 David. Whereon old Ganesha Singh flew at him and
 
 struck him down with his sword. Down went the 
 rash Toork and the passing troopers thrust at him with 
 their lances, and then the crowd closed on him. God 
 help those who fall among an excited crowd ! Very 
 shortly the wretch's head was off, and an Afghan loafer 
 in the crowd held it up. " What offers for the head of 
 a rascally Toork ? " whereat the crowd pleasanted at 
 Toork expense, and one of the rearmost of David's 
 escort took it a-top his spear and carried it there un- 
 known to those who rode at the head of the cavalcade. 
 Yet, as emblems go- it was not a bad one, when authority 
 has been reshaken and is coming by its own again. 
 
 Near the mosque of Shah Harnmadan there was a 
 larger crowd, who cheered, and to whom the head on 
 a spear was unmixed delight. Attracted by the noise, 
 the Abbe himself, who had returned to his quiet hovel 
 to see some of his patients, emerged into the street. 
 He was but hi time to see the tail of the party with the 
 Toork head on a pole, and a strange shudder it had 
 given him. Heads on poles had been frequent enough 
 sights in the Terror, but especially did it strike a 
 painful chord in his memory, since he had seen the 
 beautiful head of poor La Lamballc waved at the window 
 where he had been sitting with the royal party, listening 
 to the howling crowd that they could not restrain. 
 Difference enough, true, between the head of a wild 
 worthless Toork trooper and that glorious golden head 
 of poor beautiful Lamballe, save that both had been 
 cut off in the heyday of life, but for loving memory of 
 the one poor head, Armande du Plessis demanded the 
 other of the trooper who carried it lance-high. Whereon 
 the latter, knowing the mysterious white padre who 
 cured the sick, when all other hakims failed, threw him 
 the head as a man would toss a bun to a bear, and the 
 padre took it and wrapped it in cloth and hid it to give 
 it decent burial later in the day,
 
 141 
 
 Now it will be remembered that at seven o'clock on 
 that very morning Altamish was to meet his supporters 
 with their available men-at-arms, on the other side of 
 the Amiran Kadal Bridge on the Jhelum river. But the 
 foggy morning, and the rolling mist had sent many off 
 the road, and Altamish and Wali Dad and his own 
 retainers had to wait for a couple of hours and more 
 while the parties slowly dribbled in, and Altamish 
 himself foamed and fumed at the delay. He was 
 soldier enough to know that if success was to smile on 
 his endeavours they must be promptly and vigorously 
 carried out. Among those who had joined him was 
 the mysterious stranger who had put in an appearance 
 at the garden-party the day before in the Garden of 
 Sweet Breezes. That stranger, it will also be remem- 
 bered, had shown some mysterious power that Altamish 
 had at once given way to. As the latter with the 
 stranger sat in the gardens on the far side of the bridge 
 watching the mist roll away and inwardly cursing 
 those of his supporters who for one reason or another 
 had failed at the rendez-vous, the head of David's party 
 came into sight. Never dreaming but that they were 
 some of the missing partisans, Altamish and the 
 stranger galloped towards them. It was too late to 
 break away before Altamish found himself, to his 
 intense astonishment, ranged alongside no less a 
 person than the Governor of Kashmir, His Excellency 
 Salabat Khan, who on the surest information he 
 believed to be lying wounded on the south side of the 
 Pir Panjal. Yar Khan had been quick to recognize 
 the sirdar, and at once signed to half a dozen men to 
 surround the party, and at the same time whispered to 
 David, " It's the Lord Altamish, that infernal Toork, 
 speak him fair." 
 
 And once again David rose to the occasion. 
 
 " My Lord, you are well come indeed. I hear some
 
 IN THE STEEETS OF SRINAGAR 145 
 
 tales of rebellion and of factions who would supplant 
 iny governorship. I am indeed satisfied to see that 
 you are about in my interests. Know you ought of 
 these alleged disturbances ? My troops here would 
 gladly have at those who would harm me." 
 
 " Nay, your Excellency ! I have no knowledge. 
 Over the way are some gentlemen assembling with a 
 view to putting their retainers at your Excellency's 
 disposal. Allow me to present this gentleman to 
 you." 
 
 And here Altamish drew back, and the mysterious 
 stranger was visible, and bowed to His Excellency. 
 And as he bowed, lo ! a look of comprehension spread 
 over the stranger's face. To David also a similar 
 knowledge came. It was none other than Daoud 
 Shah, whom he had last seen at the campo of the 
 Begum Somru. 
 
 " My Lord," said David, " I ride out now to the 
 Shergarhi, whither I trust you will accompany me." 
 
 To which Altamish made no reply, relying on chance 
 to put suitable words into his mouth as the morning 
 wore on, but signified, however, his apparent willing- 
 ness by ranging himself alongside David, and all the 
 while Yar Khan said not a word, nor showed by any 
 sign what his thoughts were, or even that he saw the 
 Toork at all. Daoud Shah, late Commander-in-Chief 
 of the forces of Her Highness the Begum Somru, fell 
 into the train of horsemen that rode behind the 
 Governor, and found himself alongside Ganesha Singh, 
 who took no notice of him whatever, nor did Daoud 
 Shah know even whether or no David had recognized 
 him. Ganesha Singh he had not noticed in the Begum's 
 camp, and did not recognize now. Not so the lynx- 
 eyed old Rajpoot, who had spotted him from the first. 
 
 By now the cavalcade had come on to the Amiran 
 Kadal, and they might, though they knew it not, come
 
 146 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 at any moment on the parties of the faction of Altamish. 
 As the Governor and his escort had come near to the 
 bridge they had found themselves in a part of the town 
 to \vhich Salabat Khan was very dear. Loud had 
 been the lamentations at the rumours of his decease. 
 There were now cheers and shouts and an ominous 
 execrating of the Toork. To the Abbe du Plessis, who 
 had followed in the wake of the horsemen, the import 
 of the sound was old. He had heard the old men talk 
 of it when the Edict of Nantes was revoked. It re- 
 minded him of the old chaunt of St. Bartholomew's 
 Eve, that his father had remembered revived at the 
 Revocation. The words ran in his ears, " Hau Hau 
 Huguenots ! Faites Place aux Papegots ! " The words 
 were different, but there was an angry hum in the air, 
 the hum of an angry crowd that was out for mischief. 
 And the Lord Altamish heard it too, and recognized 
 it, and thanked his stars that things had turned out as 
 they had. Salabat Khan living was a very different 
 matter to tackle to Salabat Khan dead and gone. So 
 that it would be necessary to put a good complexion 
 on the assembly of armed men that were awaiting 
 Altamish on the other side of the river. The mist had 
 by now almost gone, and the sun was shining on the 
 houses that overhung the river-bed, and on the carved 
 plinths that edged the water, stolen from the Pandav 
 temples that lay in ruins up the valley. On the boat- 
 steps and on the plinths and terraces women were now 
 filling earthen jars with water, bathing, washing their 
 coloured scarves, and flooding the whole foreground 
 with warmth and colour that was a pleasant change 
 to those who had ridden the night through in frost and 
 fog. The Lady Miriam looked at David and smiled for 
 a moment through that convenient opening in her veil 
 that she was learning to handle so cunningly. Then 
 her face set somewhat, and she drew her veil sharply
 
 IN THE STREETS OP SBINAGAE 147 
 
 together. They were approaching a row of latticed 
 verandahs where beauty fair and frail held sway. 
 Spangled heads smiled out of the open lattice, and 
 hands waved to the troopers of the escort. The fine 
 figure of the Governor himself always attracted the 
 attention of women, and in quarters such as these, where 
 the attributes of prominent males were eagerly dis- 
 cussed, there wore many heads out of their jilmills * to 
 see him. In the booths below, the various merchants 
 had opened their stalls for the day, and fruit, tobacco, 
 and grains were being arranged on the steps of the 
 house fronts. Every one was agog to see the Governor 
 whom bazaar gossip last night had reported dead. 
 It was seen, too, that his sister, who was so often about 
 with him, was riding by his side this day. 
 
 The sharp eye of Yar Khan had, however, seen some 
 lances and the tips of horses' ears showing over the 
 mud walls of the gardens on the other side of the bridge. 
 Edging his horse alongside to Altamish, he said 
 
 ' Those are your men, no doubt, my Lord ? " 
 
 " My men ? Oh, yes ! yes ! No doubt ! " 
 
 " You don't seem very certain, my Lord. If His 
 Excellency approves, I will take fifty troopers forward 
 and go and see. Your Excellency would no doubt 
 desire that I should attack them, if not my Lord Alta- 
 mish's own following, of which fact he seems doubtful ? " 
 
 David looked at the place indicated, and then turned 
 to look at Altamish. 
 
 " Nay, Wazir Sahib, we will all move forward to- 
 gether, my Lord with us. He can then reassure us 
 that they are his own men, and I can order an attack 
 on them at once, if need be." 
 
 Altamish by no means relished the situation. How- 
 ever, there was nothing for it but to acquiesce, and 
 trust to events. David then led the party at a smart 
 
 * Venetian blinds.
 
 148 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 pace over the bridge and up the short steep piece of 
 bazaar on the opposite bank, coming at once to an open 
 space surrounded by walls and gardens. On this were 
 drawn up some two hundred retainers of several 
 Toork chiefs, not more than half, however, of those 
 promised the day before. David decided to take the 
 nettle danger by the hand of action. 
 
 " My Lord, these troopers are more than are necessary 
 for my assistance. You will remain with us, but issue 
 orders that these gentlemen leave the city and its 
 suburbs at once. If in an hour's time there are any 
 of them left in the city, they will be at once attacked 
 by my troops. You understand ? " 
 
 Altamish was fain to admit that he did. By this 
 time the Toork leaders had recognized that it was both 
 Altamish and the Governor himself. With a very 
 distinct feeling of being on a fool's errand, three or 
 four of them rode forward on receiving a summons 
 from Altamish. That astute gentleman had by now 
 recovered his equanimity, and, however much in his 
 heart he might be calling for fire from heaven, he knew 
 well enough that he must dissemble. 
 
 " Gentlemen, you will be glad to see with your own 
 eyes that the sad rumours of yesterday are falsified. 
 Our noble Governor is safe and sound. It is not neces- 
 sary for us to maintain order till the Emperor appoints 
 a successor. His Excellency thanks you for your 
 offered services, and now desires that you at once leave 
 the city and return to your own estates." 
 
 After which David could not resist a little sarcasm 
 at Altamish's expense. 
 
 " Your assistance is very welcome to me, my Lord. 
 It is well with those in authority when they can rely 
 on such staunch support. I suppose all is well at fort 
 Hari Parbat ? I have half a mind to ask you to go and 
 see on my behalf."
 
 IN THE STREETS OF SEINAGAR 149 
 
 The ruddy colour left the olive cheek of Altamish at 
 tho reference, but the suggestion appealed to him. 
 Anywhere away from the Shergarhi seemed a haven 
 of rest and safety. 
 
 " Your Excellency, it would be well doubtless that 
 I should go and report." 
 
 " Ah, well, my Lord, no doubt all is well there ; at 
 any rate, we will wait for a bit. I would that you 
 accompany me to the Shergarhi." 
 
 Yar Khan sat immobile behind David, and only a 
 gleam in his eye showed that he appreciated the humour 
 of the situation. It was evident that he was content 
 with David's handling of it. Now Yar Khan liked not 
 as a rule playing second fiddle to any man, more 
 especially when that man was of his own erecting. It 
 spoke therefore volumes for David's character that 
 the old soldier statesman should accept him so con- 
 tentedly, and let him, at any rate for the moment, call 
 the pace. 
 
 So, as the Toork gentry filed away, David and his 
 retinue headed for the Shergarhi, which lay some two 
 miles west from the Amiran Kadal. At his side rode 
 Altamish and Yar Khan, and behind was the Lady 
 Miriam with Ganesha Singh close to her. By them, 
 but a bit wide, rode Daoud Shah, silent but watchful. 
 The unusual sight of a lady a-horseback veiled and on 
 such an occasion, had already attracted his attention, 
 and he took opportunity to study her in profile as they 
 moved to the Shergarhi. That she was a practised 
 horsewoman was evident, and she sat her horse like an 
 Usbeg trooper, as if born to it. The breeze blew the 
 veil close to her face and showed the symmetrical 
 outline. Presently Altamish dropped back to speak 
 to him, and Daoud Shah demanded 
 
 " Who rides on my left ? A woman, seemingly ? " 
 
 " That must be the Lady Miriam, sister of the
 
 150 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Governor, a self-willed woman who is allowed much 
 license. She always accompanies her brother, and has 
 been away now with him over the pass, and was with 
 him at the time of the Eajpoot affray." 
 
 " A handsome woman, I warrant." 
 
 " No doubt. These Afghanis always are. It is not 
 much use your thinking about that, Khan Sahib" 
 
 " Why not, since I too am a Duranni of the blood 
 royal ? Not that I want to be mixed up with women 
 at the present time." 
 
 " 'Twouldn't much help you if you did. That girl 
 has refused many a good offer of marriage from better 
 men than you, and instead of giving her to the friend 
 that he needed most, her brother laughs and says she 
 shall do as she likes. A fine mother of sons all the 
 same, friend." 
 
 " Aye, no doubt, no doubt. You had better go back 
 and talk with that Governor. Keep him in a good 
 temper or you'll bo sorry for the morning's work." 
 
 The Afghan rode on alone, now and again glancing 
 at Miriam. The story had fired him. He was not 
 wont to be told things were impossible, besides, he did 
 want a wife and that a metalsome one. And the way 
 that Miriam managed her horse inspired him with 
 admiration, as her trim figure did with desire.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SHERGARHI 
 
 OUTSIDE the Shergarhi they came across the wing of 
 the Regiment of Victory, returning from the Hari 
 Parbat with the two Toork prisoners. Yar Khan had 
 now the Lord Al tarnish in hand, and as they came 
 abreast the infantry he remarked 
 
 " Did I tell you what had taken place at the Hari 
 Parbat ? No ? Ah, well, it was like this. We found 
 that the commandant had apparently proclaimed him- 
 self as ruler of the place or as governor of the valley. 
 If you would know how he fared, go see the gateway 
 tower there. Some of His Majesty the Emperor's 
 Goorkha soldiers were murdered in the revolution. We 
 found there two emissaries of whoever was fomenting 
 the disturbances. They are now being brought here 
 for His Excellency's orders as to their execution." 
 
 And Altamish saw in their midst two of his own Toork 
 retainers, who looked up in his face as their escort 
 marched past him. 
 
 " You will see, my Lord, that happily for the sake of 
 peace and order, the Regiment of Victory has returned 
 to its allegiance. His Excellency, however, thought it 
 as well to bring them here, where they would be under 
 sound influence. If I had had my way, I would have 
 shot every man in ten. His Excellency thought other- 
 wise. He will perhaps be glad of your advice as to how 
 to deal with these two prisoners." 
 
 151
 
 152 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Altamish was getting into a very unpleasant posi- 
 tion indeed, and ho was faced with the alternatives 
 of sacrificing his own followers, or admitting his own 
 share in the conduct of the commandant of Han 
 Parbat. It was, perhaps, hardly wise of Yar Khan to 
 press him so hard, unless indeed it was proposed to take 
 extreme measures against him. The policy of the 
 golden bridge must always be at any rate considered. 
 Fortunately, they had arrived at the gate of the 
 Shergarhi, and Yar Khan ceased his goading at the 
 hated Toork. 
 
 He rode up to David, and asked what he thought 
 about Altamish. 
 
 " If we take him as prisoner we shall have half these 
 Toorks up in arms. We are now apparently safely 
 back in power. I would gladly hack off his foul head, 
 but it were wisest to deny ourselves the satisfaction. 
 I propose that we now give him leave to depart. 
 When His Excellency returns he will decide whether 
 he will take steps against him. So long as he is not in 
 open rebellion against us, it is difficult to act too strongly 
 against him without the Emperor's orders. If we could 
 have had a fight and killed him, it would have saved 
 much trouble." 
 
 To which David, whose natural instinct to command 
 had for the time made him forget that he was merely a 
 tenant for a few days in a state he knew little of, could 
 but agree. Not that he had for a moment thought any 
 other course possible, but he was about to propound 
 some such views as his own. 
 
 " Very well, Wazir Sahib, I agree. I will now give 
 him his leave to go. " 
 
 Then, turning to the Toork, " My Lord, I shall not 
 trouble you further. I am obliged to you for having 
 turned out with your retainers to enforce order in this 
 my province. You will confer a further favour if you
 
 THE SHERGABHI 153 
 
 will inform mo of any facts that may come to your 
 notice concerning this extraordinary occurrence at fort 
 Hari Parbat. You now have my permission to 
 leave." 
 
 " Sire," returned Altamish, " I see two Toorks as 
 prisoners among your regiment. Would it not be well 
 that I take them with me to find out the reason of their 
 being found in your Excellency's fort under such 
 suspicious circumstances ? " 
 
 " Nay, my Lord. It is my purpose at present that 
 they remain here. I shall not pass any extreme 
 sentence on them without reference to you, but they 
 will remain in my prison for the present." 
 
 " Have I your permission to have speech with them ?" 
 
 " Surely, my Lord, the permission to depart that I 
 gave you should suffice for your present needs. I 
 would not wish to withdraw it." 
 
 The Lord Altamish then saw that the game was up 
 for the present, and wheeled his small party about, 
 saluted surlily, and galloped away down the road. 
 And with him still was Daoud Shah the Afghan. 
 
 The Governor's party then filed through the gate of 
 the Shergarhi, where the guard and garrison were 
 drawn up to receive them amid acclamations. Inside 
 the palace yard, the normal routine was in progress. 
 Below the latticed windows of the ladies' quarters in 
 front of the closed gateway, two of the palace guard 
 paced. Astrakhan caps on their heads, their muskets 
 in long baize bags, and a curved knife of terrifying 
 proportions in their belts, the guardians of beauty 
 looked ferocious and dauntless enough. 
 
 Outside the durbar room of the commandant of the 
 fort, an elephant weaved happily from foot to foot, the 
 hunting pad on his back gently swaying. Munshis, 
 with their lacquer pen boxes, sat writing for dear life, 
 or hurriedly mended their reed pens. The ordinary
 
 154 
 
 working routine of the government was evidently not 
 paralyzed. In a corner of the first court an armourer 
 was hammering at a shirt of mail, and two saddlers sat 
 mending some camel trappings. Four pieces of artillery 
 of sorts on rather rickety carriages were being cleaned 
 by some lascars, and a couple of mounted troopers were 
 waiting to carry messages. It was, in fact, an every- 
 day scene in an Eastern palace yard. Behind the 
 screens over the inner gate the wives of the Governor 
 watched eagerly for the arrival of their spouse and 
 noted with approval the promptness with which the 
 garrison had got under arms to receive him. Yes, it 
 was undoubtedly their Salabat Khan, safe and sound, 
 thinner perhaps, but that was no doubt due to much 
 travel. They would soon put that right. Let the 
 state cook be sent for. And then and there, while 
 David was dismounting, the Lady Nur Jan had called 
 for that person, and he had appeared at the outer grill 
 to receive very precise orders as to the meals to bo 
 prepared for His Excellency. 
 
 In the meantime His Excellency was for the moment 
 far more concerned with seeing the Lady Miriam off 
 her horse, than thinking of his wives upstairs. He had 
 actually gone to help her alight a European courtesy 
 that that young lady was not slow to notice. The 
 eventful night and day had left her fairly weary, lithe 
 and elastic though she was, and for the moment she 
 was divided between an intense desire to rest on the 
 soft velvet cushions of her own apartment, and an 
 unaccountable instinctive wish to remain with David. 
 She had watched him closely through his somewhat 
 anxious day, and had noted appreciatively his steady, 
 determined bearing, and had taken a pride in his 
 success in the role which she had been the first to 
 suggest. She had noticed, too, with amusement 
 that Yar Khan had almost cheerfully accepted the
 
 THE SHEEGAKHI 155 
 
 second place when David had chosen to direct the 
 proceedings. 
 
 We may therefore well imagine that when David 
 had handed her from her horse, the elusive veil had 
 come apart again at the right moment, and David was 
 once more able to look into those bright eyes that now 
 undoubtedly flashed approval. Time, however, fingers 
 on his rosary. One kindly look and her ladyship had 
 disappeared into the ladies' apartments, while the 
 escort had looked on stolidly, but with inward wonder 
 at the way in which His Excellency treated his un- 
 conventional sister. 
 
 Yar Khan then collected a few chosen guards around 
 him and escorted David to his quarters. Fortunately, 
 the quarters, the dwelling and business rooms in an 
 Eastern mansion, are well away from the ladies' apart- 
 ments, and there was no chance of anxious wives 
 bursting in on the master when engaged in business or 
 at rest. But since there had been wild rumours in the 
 air that morning, it was important to send a message 
 over to the ladies with due ceremony. It had, of 
 course, been also arranged that Miriam should make 
 a suitable statement. Yar Khan himself, as soon as 
 David had sat down to a meal in Salabat Khan's 
 private apartments, had gone off to see the official 
 charged with communicating with His Excellency's 
 ladies' attendants, and delivering a message to say that 
 His Excellency sent all greetings of courtesy and respect, 
 but was immensely fatigued with a long ride, which 
 the Lady Miriam would describe, and after a rest would 
 have to attend to very pressing affairs of state, 
 
 " That," Yar Khan told David, " will keep them 
 quiet for some time to come, and an attack of fever 
 will be the most natural sequence to a long day's 
 travel." 
 
 But the problem before the Wazir was an anxious
 
 156 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 one. True, all the first moves had been more successful 
 than he could have hoped for. The attempt to over- 
 turn the government had failed and been thwarted 
 with far greater ease than he dared have looked for. 
 But several far greater dangers were really ahead. 
 The imposture of Ferassa Sahib could not go on for 
 long. They had as yet no news as to how Salabat 
 Khan's wound progressed, or what he would eventually 
 order, when the news of the situation had reached him. 
 He had not yet been told, of course, of the David im- 
 posture. It would be necessary to tell him carefully. 
 Eastern minds are suspicious, and Yar Khan was 
 anxious that the step they had taken on the spur of the 
 moment should not be misunderstood. Happily the 
 Lady Miriam was there to vouch for the purity of 
 their motives, nay, better, to explain that she herself 
 had proposed the course. 
 
 So musing, Yar Khan left David to rest, saying that 
 he would come to him in the afternoon, and that he 
 had given orders to the guard that no one was to be 
 admitted. 
 
 The hard old man had no need for rest himself. A 
 few mouthfuls of kababs and rice, with some sweet tea 
 in a samovar, restored him to full vigour, and he at 
 once started to see the commandant of the palace 
 guard. It was essential that nothing of a contretemps 
 should happen. Full military precautions against any 
 unexpected move of Altamish must be taken unosten- 
 tatiously. Then he must see Ganesha Singh, and know 
 that David's men were well cared for, and their horses 
 properly stabled and fed. Ganesha Singh had better 
 go and see his master later, orders to the guard had 
 been given to admit him. The detachment from the 
 Regiment of Victory had to be properly sandwiched in 
 among people who would keep them out of mischief 
 and stimulate their loyalty. There were few details
 
 THE SHEKGARHI 167 
 
 that that wise old head ever forgot. A considerable 
 affection had sprung up in his heart for David, and as 
 Miriam had noticed, he seemed unaccountably to 
 acquiesce in being led by the young soldier a very new 
 trait in his character to be led by any one, even the 
 master he served. But the phenomenon was but the 
 phenomenon of India, where white blood even far 
 more dilute than that which ran in David's veins, 
 automatically demands obedience. 
 
 By three in the afternoon a considerable number of 
 the officials of the province had arrived to make the 
 customary salaam to the Governor. This, however; 
 Yar Khan would not hear of ; His Excellency was far 
 too tired to receive any one save perhaps the head of 
 the police. He himself, however, would hear any 
 reports necessary, and convey the greetings to His 
 Excellency. To admit the head of the police would, 
 however; be good policy. Yar Khan went off to 
 prepare David and his chamber. The room was to be 
 darkened, and David was to have an attack of fever 
 that kept him from doing more than hear one or two 
 urgent reports. 
 
 The chief of the police entered, made his reverence, 
 and then sat down. Thanks to Salabat Khan's Persian 
 reputation, David's was able to pass muster, and 
 the few sentences of Pushtoo he used were beyond 
 reproach. It was his mother's tongue. The chief of 
 the police, or kotwal, was an important functionary, 
 concerned with many varied duties and inquisitions. 
 He had heard, after His Excellency had put 
 things right, of the trouble at Hari Parbat. He 
 had hoped to have found something from the 
 Begum Allah Visayah, no doubt His Excellency 
 knew the name and would forgive mentioning her. 
 She had, however, left the city the day before. Then 
 there had been two recent arrivals. One a curious,
 
 158 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 secretive person, an Afghan with a small retinue, who 
 had come in they said by Muzzafarnagar, and up the 
 Jhelum Gorge route from Domel. There had also 
 come an Angrez. What sort of an Angrez he had not 
 yet found out, but he had a riding pony, and a servant 
 who rode a pack mule. He wore some sort of uniform 
 and had red hair, no one had interfered with him, 
 but police agents were watching him. He was 
 stopping at the Bibigunj serai (travellers' hostel). 
 
 Yar Khan, who was present, did most of the question- 
 ing, and then desired the chief of the police to report 
 whence the rumour of His Excellency's death had 
 started, and also to watch closely and report all move- 
 ments of the Lord Altamish. David then wearily gave 
 him leave to withdraw, and ordered a good report of 
 his health to be circulated. Yar Khan breathed again. 
 It had been quite a normal interview, and quite 
 natural. No one could suspect anything. Of course, 
 now that Altamish had been scotched, Yar Khan him- 
 self could have carried on government once the public 
 believed that Salabat Khan was not killed, but they 
 were already committed to His Excellency's presence 
 at the palace. The statement of the chief of police 
 that he had conversed with His Excellency would now 
 carry them well on for say at least forty-eight hours. 
 But Yar Khan had counted without the eternal 
 feminine. His life had left him void of that important 
 understanding; which is a fifth sense worth most of the 
 others put together. 
 
 The gentle lady Nur Jan, had sent a message begging 
 that she might come and attend her tired lord, and 
 when told that he must rest and then do urgent business, 
 had contented herself with sending a wifely message 
 and a tisanne made with her own fair hands. The Alana 
 Bibi, however, was made of more tiresome stuff. The 
 Lady Miriam's story of trouble and danger, and the
 
 THE SHEEGAEHI 159 
 
 night ride through the frost and fog, and the fight at 
 Hari Parbat, with the march through the town, had 
 angered her. 
 
 " Hoighty toighty ! Pretty fine games for a chit of 
 a girl like you to be about in ; dignified, too, for an 
 Afghan lady ! I shall go to my lord at once, and make 
 him tell me his affairs of state, and not you ! " 
 
 So then and there my lady had collected a few of her 
 maids, called for her chamberlain, donned her veil, and 
 ordered it to be announced that she was approaching 
 His Excellency's apartments, and must speak with him 
 at once. 
 
 To Yar Khan's horror, then, as he came back from 
 passing out the chief of police, there, in the outer room 
 of David's quarters he found her. A very few words 
 convinced him that she must be told. She was out for 
 trouble, and would not be denied, Yar Khan luckily 
 hit at once on the only antidote. The Lady Miriam 
 must come forthwith, sleep or no sleep. He conducted 
 the Bibi into a side chamber with suitable cushions, 
 said that His Excellency would receive her immediately, 
 and sent an urgent summons to Miriam to join the 
 Bibi Alana at the Governor's quarters. Miriam at once 
 realized that trouble was imminent, and hurried into 
 her veil to follow through the same secluded route as 
 the Bibi had taken, 
 
 David had had his rest, and after the police official 
 had withdrawn, was pacing up and down his room, 
 turning over the situation in his mind. To him thus 
 came Yar Khan to announce that he must receive the 
 lady, and that she must be taken into their confidence. 
 
 " The Lady Miriam will, I hope; be here imme- 
 diately, I have sent for her urgently." 
 
 " You must stay with me, Waeir Sahib ; this is more 
 than I bargained for," 
 
 " I think, Ferassa Sahib, that it will be better to
 
 160 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 begin with, that you receive the ladies alone. I will be 
 at hand if you call me. If I am here before the lady 
 is told anything she will be furious at such a breach 
 of etiquette. Later she will have other matters to 
 think of." 
 
 So for full five minutes they waited, and then another 
 five, but no sign of the Lady Miriam, and the Wazir, 
 knowing the Bibi's character, said 
 
 " I think that there will be less harm if you see the 
 lady alone, and if you make out that you have fever 
 and cannot rise. Ask her to sit by you on the cushions, 
 and then tell her the story. In the meantime the Lady 
 Miriam will be here and come in to corroborate your 
 good faith." 
 
 So saying, Yar Khan left the perturbed David, and 
 in a couple of minutes the Bibi entered. According to 
 the etiquette of the lady and her position she was fully 
 veiled, a handsome, well-shaped woman, graceful and 
 stately withal. She was the mother of the only sons of 
 Salabat Khan, and carried herself accordingly. 
 
 Yar Khan had told her that His Excellency had an 
 attack of fever. She entered David's room with a 
 rustle of silk and an aroma of musk. 
 
 " I trust my lord is well ? " 
 
 " Bibi Sahiba, I am much fatigued, and have 
 fever. I trust that you and your sons enjoy perfect 
 health." 
 
 " By my lord's favour we do. I much regret your 
 lordship's indisposition. I fear you have much over- 
 taxed your strength. The Lady Miriam has been 
 urging you to great fatigue." 
 
 " Not so, Bibi Sahiba. Come now, I have much to 
 tell you. You will hear how weak I am, and how 
 different my voice is from that you know." 
 
 " That is so, my lord, and I am much concerned." 
 
 Alana was mollified at the proposal to confide in her,
 
 THE SHERGAKHI 161 
 
 and drew near to where David lay in rugs, and seated 
 herself on cushions near his head. 
 
 " Now, listen, Bibi Sahiba, and be not stirred till I 
 have finished my tale and you have seen again the 
 Lady Miriam and heard Yar Khan too. Know that 
 His Excellency Salabat Khan has been in great peril. 
 Nay, do not be frightened listen, and listen very 
 calmly, I implore you. His Excellency was attacked 
 by Rajpoots three days ago beyond Baram-galla, and 
 is now lying wounded at the castle of the Chib Chief 
 Lai Khan." 
 
 " My lord, I do not understand. What do you 
 mean ? Are you wounded ? " 
 
 " Lady I am not Salabat Khan." 
 
 The Bibi rose with a scream. " Treachery ! 
 treachery ! " 
 
 " Be calm, I implore you. No harm is intended, 
 no treachery." 
 
 At this moment in came Yar Khan and Miriam. 
 
 The Bibi had left her seat on the cushions and rushed 
 towards them. 
 
 " What on earth," she demanded, " does all this 
 mean ? " 
 
 But the sight of Miriam and Yar Khan to all purposes 
 unmoved, at any rate induced her to listen, while they 
 explained to her the whole story. How the Governor, 
 being unfit to travel, had sent them on, and how they 
 heard at Aliabad Serai that Altamish was spreading a 
 rumour of Salabat Khan's death, and was about to 
 usurp the governorship. Then how, as it was impossible 
 to say when His Excellency would be fit to travel, it had 
 been decided by Miriam and Yar Khan to avail them- 
 selves of a resemblance of the young captain to the 
 Governor in making the people believe that Salabat 
 Khan was alive at the head of his government. How 
 they had then and there acted on the idea, recovered 
 
 II
 
 102 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Han Parbat, before even Altamish had known that 
 his plans had been successful there, and had then 
 brought their ruler in triumph through the streets, 
 with his sister as usual at his side. How the populace 
 had been given full proof that the rumour was a lie, 
 how the Toork chiefs had dispersed with their retinue, 
 and how at any rate for a short time all was well. It 
 would be essential that Ferassa Sahib should carry on 
 his role for the present. It was, of course, impossible to 
 tell many. A secret soon ceased to be a secret. Yar 
 Khan and Miriam had, however, both recognized that 
 she, as the mother of the Governor's sons, must of 
 course be told, and not be put off with tales of fever and 
 fatigue, and it was to tell her all this that they had 
 been about to crave a private audience. It would be 
 well not to tell the lady Nur Jan as yet. 
 
 The Bibi, mollified, listened in silence. If the lady 
 Nur Jan was not to know she could pretend that she 
 alone had been preferred by His Excellency on his 
 return. That would be one to her. Besides, the whole 
 story appealed to her love of intrigue and excitement. 
 Yes, and also without doubt this young man was very 
 personable, very personable, Afghan married ladies 
 do not have many chances of seeing strange men, 
 young or old. 
 
 " What," she now demanded " what is the next 
 move ? " 
 
 " We await some news of His Excellency. We 
 expect orders." 
 
 " Very well. I quite understand. You have done 
 wisely, I will now converse with this gentleman. 
 You have my leave to withdraw to your apartments, 
 Miriam." 
 
 Miriam could not restrain a grin of amusement at 
 Yar Khan, as she withdrew. As a matter of fact, 
 Alana was behaving magnificently. The touch as to
 
 THE SHEKGAKHI 163 
 
 telling her and not Nur Jan had put her in the best of 
 humours. Her apparent intention to enjoy the irre- 
 gularity of confidential intercourse with a strange man 
 had its humorous side, even Yar Khan saw this. He 
 even accentuated the situation by withdrawing himself 
 for a few minutes so as to attend to any other affairs 
 that might need him outside. 
 
 David, who was growing more accustomed to female 
 society, without more ado asked Alana to resume her 
 seat, and had just commenced a more detailed account 
 of the fight at Thana-mandi and his opportune arrival, 
 when Yar Khan returned. 
 
 " A messenger has arrived from His Excellency,"
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TOORK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 
 
 ALTAMISH and his followers, with Daoucl Shah the 
 mysterious, cantered on from the Shergarhi till they 
 were out of musket shot it is as well to do that if you 
 must turn your back on an armed adversary and 
 then the Toork pulled up. Slowly and bitterly he 
 shook his fist at the mud bastions of the Shergarhi. 
 " God smite their souls to the nethermost hell ! " 
 And Daoud Shah the Afghan laughed a sarcastic, 
 derisive, insidious chuckle that made Altamish turn 
 sharp on him. It was just such a laugh as devils laugh 
 when men fall. 
 
 " You laugh ! You dare to laugh at me ! You 
 infernal snivelling Afghan of foul extraction. You " 
 
 " Nay, stay, my Lord, lest you say what is not easily 
 forgotten. Nay, but I will take my vengeance on you 
 now. What think you has become of His Excellency, 
 Salabat Khan ? " 
 
 " How the foul fiend should I know ? He was well 
 enough when he sent us to the right about just now like 
 whipped hounds. We Toorks little like to be made 
 fools of." 
 
 " Whether you like it or whether you don't, you have 
 been made very handsome fools of, more so too than 
 you think." 
 
 " Explain, lest I have you " 
 
 164
 
 TOORK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 165 
 
 " Enough ! enough, or I tell you some more of those 
 secrets you wot of. Who, for instance, was beneath 
 the Diwan-i-Khas at Delhi the night the Moghul 
 Emperor's eyes were put out ? " 
 
 " Nay, Sirdar Sahib, that were pure imagination on 
 your part. Nay, boar with me. Tell me what mean 
 you in this mystery ? " 
 
 " Why, I mean, oh blind man ! that the Sirdar 
 Salabat Khan is not in Srinagar, nor has been these 
 nine days. That was not His Excellency the Governor 
 who rode with you from the Amiran Kadal." 
 
 " What do you mean, in the Prophet's name ? " 
 
 " I mean what I say, the Governor was not there 
 to-day, and the story that reached you of this wound 
 was a true one." 
 
 " Who is the man ? " 
 
 " Ah, that is my secret." 
 
 " But the Lady Miriam, his sister, was with him. 
 She often rides with him. You saw that all the people 
 knew her." 
 
 " True, and thus helped to impose on you. The fact 
 remains." 
 
 " If he holds a durbar, we will go and denounce him. 
 Am I to disbelieve my own eyes ? " 
 
 " Just as you like, but mark what I have told you. 
 You have been duped, badly taken in, by very clever 
 people. That old man Yar Khan is the moving spirit, 
 and evidently that sister of the Governor's is in it too . 
 They have deliberately put up a puppet to prevent the 
 people declaring in your favour." 
 
 Altamish cursed low and fierce, and broke again into 
 a canter, and rode straight through the city, looking 
 neither to the right nor to the left. The children and 
 the chickens and the beggars fled from under his horse's 
 feet, and men looked up and wondered, and the women 
 grounded their water jars to look and marvel. Close
 
 166 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 to the mosque of Shah Hamadan the Abbe was visiting 
 a patient with cataract, and paused to see who clattered 
 by, surely there had been enough that morning of 
 retinues in city streets ! And he saw the fierce hatred 
 in the face of Altarnish and the evil countenance of 
 Daoud Shah, and the memory of the face of Fouqier 
 Tinqueville struck him as an evil dream. At the door 
 of the Bibigunj Serai stood the European whose 
 presence the chief of the police had reported to David, 
 and he too saw them pass, and the evil face of Daoud 
 Shah was the one that struck his fancy. " Holy 
 Moses ! 'Tis a Hebrew Jew ! Tear and Ages ! " 
 And crossed himself like the very proper Catholic he 
 was. 
 
 Through the city and out to the gardens of the 
 suburbs rode Altamish, never drawing rein till he came 
 to his own house and garden on the shores of the Dhall 
 Lake. Since the party of the day before, a wind had 
 blown and scattered the leaves of last year, and the 
 dead branches of the trees over the garden paths. 
 Altamish was moved to wrath, and ho called for his 
 garden sweeper. Instead, however, a woman drew 
 forth, and salaamed. 
 
 " Who are you ? " he shouted. 
 
 " Sire, I am the sweeper's wife." 
 
 " Why the devil are not the garden paths swept ? " 
 
 " Sire, my husband lies in his hut with bad fever and 
 ague. I am doing his work, but, as your honour sees, 
 I am many months gone with child, and I work but 
 slowly." 
 
 Whereon Altamish commanded that they throw her 
 down and beat her with rods, which was done forthwith, 
 so that she died that night. But there is no limit to 
 the fury of a Toork. 
 
 After which the mad rage of Altamish cooled for the 
 time, and he and Daoud Shah took counsel one with
 
 TOORK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 167 
 
 another, and Wall Dad, the plotter who failed, had an 
 exceeding bad quarter of an hour. Nature, however, 
 had provided him with the long spoon that he who sups 
 with the devil needs must have. Wali Dad was able 
 to exonerate himself from the failure of the night 
 before, and to show that not only had the Begum Allah 
 Visayah carried out her compact, but that at dawn 
 that morning the fort of Hari Parbat was in the hands 
 of the Toork party, and would have remained so had 
 not the Governor Salabat Khan with Yar Khan, the 
 old fox, appeared there shortly after, gained admittance, 
 and hanged the commandant over his own gateway. 
 
 Altamish now heard the full tale of what had 
 happened at the fort, and even began to realize how 
 extremely fortunate he was to be free himself and back 
 on his own domain. Food and rest were at any rate 
 the first need, and Altamish and Daoud Shah soon sat 
 down to a repast. That over, the Toork sat himself 
 down to smoke and drowse, while the latter, like the 
 restless soul he was, preferred to pace up and down in 
 the garden by the edge of the lake. 
 
 While his ally slept, Daoud Shah, the wandering 
 Afghan of evil memories and weird associations, paced 
 by himself, his eager brain plotting as had ever been 
 the case, some evil to thwart such good as men would 
 find room for in their daily undertakings. The man's 
 memory dwelt lovingly on all the evil he had seen in 
 the past, of which now and again he had let the world 
 see a glimpse. It was a foul cruel memory, and it 
 stretched back far into the evil time afore. But the 
 immediate business to plan was how to help Altamish 
 plunge that fair valley into war and misery, and 
 incidentally ruin that young sahib who had made the 
 Afghan seem a fool that morning in the Begum Somru's 
 campo. The line to take seemed clear enough. First 
 the number of the Toorks' supporters in the valley must
 
 168 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 be increased in every way possible, then some attack 
 by folk beyond the borders would leave some oppor- 
 tunity for a Toork rising to be successful. The wild 
 folk on the borders of Kashmir were considerable. 
 In the north were the Chinese and Tibetans, on the 
 east the tribes of Baltistan and the districts bordering 
 on Gilgit. But in the west there were the actual 
 tribal unsubdued districts of the Indus uplands, where 
 the wildest of Afghans and similar peoples lay always 
 eager for war and rapine. If only they could be stirred 
 up, there would bo ample opportunity or trouble 
 the tribes from the Black Mountain, from the Hazarajat, 
 and the Khagan Valley from Tangir and Darel and 
 Chilas. And a grim smile came over the face of the 
 schemer at the mere thought of all the evil it might be 
 possible to engender and all the rue that lay a-waiting 
 for Salabat Khan, Governor, and Ferassa Sahib, his 
 friend. " By the hundred names of God," swore 
 Daoud Shah, into whose calculations the deity came 
 seldom enough " by the hundred names of God, we 
 shall make it hot for them." And the cold wind from 
 the mountain-tops whistled shrill through the poplars, 
 and memories of the evil he had had a hand in came 
 back as pure joy to that heart, the busy eternal mocker 
 of good in the world. How red had run Jerusalem 
 before the Eagles entered, how red had run the streets 
 of Paris a few years ago. How had the Toorks of the 
 Golden Horde sacked the city of Constantine ! and 
 Nadir Shah the Persian ripped the life and wealth 
 from Delhi ! All good memories for the evil mind and 
 soul of Daoud Shah of the Ben-i-Israel whom some men 
 said was the foul Mahound himself. 
 
 Then, when the Afghan had walked and planned and 
 plotted for full two hours, Altamish was awake, and 
 Daoud Shah went in to him to tell his plans, or as much 
 of them as might be profitable. And within, Altarnish
 
 TOOEK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 169 
 
 lay on cushions, and beside him twanging gently a 
 guitar sat the dancer Azizun, who laughed when the 
 Afghan entered, so that he demanded gruffly enough 
 why she laughed. Whereat that lady remarked pertly 
 that she laughed because she saw that he had come to 
 talk affairs of state, and because she also know that 
 the Lord Altamish had not the least intention of doing 
 anything else but listen to her for at least another 
 hour, and perhaps two. She had just prepared the 
 very sweetest rose-water huqa that man could dream 
 of for him, and further, if Daoud Shah was not too 
 grumpy, why she would prepare one for him also. 
 Then, since Paris speaks not with Menelaus when Helen 
 sits at his feet, Daoud Shah was fain also to accept the 
 huqa, and was fitted out with a separate alcove and 
 set of cushions and one of Azizun' s girls to amuse him. 
 Now, beauty and grace in due season were agreeable 
 enough to Daoud Shah, and since it was obviously no 
 time to get Altamish to talk sense, he was content to 
 dally with Delilah in the next alcove, and to smoke 
 and drowse while the lady played soft music. To do 
 him justice, it was a part which he could play well 
 enough if need be, and it was late in the afternoon 
 before it was in the least necessary to insist on talking 
 business with Altamish. After a while Azizun came 
 in quietly to the alcove where Lalun was singing softly 
 to the Afghan, who pulled at his huqa peaceably, and 
 said 
 
 " Lalun, the Lord Altamish would speak with thee 
 anent the new zithers you want. I will entertain this 
 Sirdar" And Lalun slipped away. 
 
 " I fear, my Lord, my girl has bored you. You are 
 not used to our simple Kashmir dancers." 
 
 Daoud Shah was not in the mood to trifle, and re- 
 moved not the nargille from his lips. 
 
 " Perhaps Azizun herself should have come to him."
 
 170 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 The cleft in the Afghan forehead deepened. " See 
 here, Azizun. I am well pleased with you and your 
 far-famed girls and their dancing. I heard tell of it 
 from Balkh to Kandahar, and now I want your help. 
 Who is the lady that rides with His Excellency whom 
 I saw in the city ? " 
 
 " That, my Lord, is the Governor's sister, the Lady 
 Miriam." 
 
 " Ha ! so I have heard. Well, I propose to marry 
 that lady, and it will bo for you to assist me." 
 
 " I know not that I care to do anything of the sort." 
 
 " Perhaps you do not know that what Daoud Shah 
 wills in this world is generally done. I shall make it 
 worth your while to help me." 
 
 " Perhaps you do not know that I do as I please in 
 things save what the Lord Altamish wishes, and no 
 man bids me do his bidding." 
 
 " Ah ! I must talk to you of the past. I am best when 
 kept in with. What was that story of Ghuzni and the 
 Kuzilbash's garden ? Something about his son and a 
 fig-tree, if I remember right." 
 
 Azizun was perturbed. " Well, what of it ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing. I mention it to show you that I am 
 no new traveller in this tortuous path. I am worth 
 pleasing and serving, and this Altamish will tell 
 you so." 
 
 Azizun bit her lip, and thought better of it. It is ill 
 to quarrel with a man till you can gauge his calibre. 
 
 " Such help as I can give my Lord I will give." 
 
 " Ah, that is better ; but enough, see, here comes 
 Lalun again." 
 
 Azizun returned to her lord, and the afternoon passed 
 away. The sun had set behind the Pir Panjal before 
 she and Lalun quietly withdrew and left the two 
 worthies to their plotting, with their scented breath 
 but a memory. Altamish was ready and keen enough
 
 TOORK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 171 
 
 to talk business, and Daoud Shah entered on his 
 plan for raising real trouble in the Happy Valley, 
 Ho also announced that among his share of success 
 would be Miriam to wife. " Take her, and welcome," 
 said the other. " And I wish you joy o' her. You'll 
 find her need some taming." And then continued 
 their planning. 
 
 Daoud Shah, it was proposed, would himself go over 
 into Tangir and Darel, and from thence into the 
 Khagan, and perhaps to the Black Mountain. The 
 Sayads of Khagan would probably be stirred up against 
 the Afghan proper. Al tarnish must send agents too, up 
 the Gilgit road to tell of the plans to raise more revenue 
 for next year. There might be some hint too of a 
 coming levy of girls to be sent to the Emperor at 
 Kabul, that would always stir hatred, not so much for 
 the sake of the girls as that a levy meant that the fail- 
 price would not be paid. Daoud Shah felt sure that a 
 well worked incursion of the tribes into Kanzilwan and 
 the Gurais valley, or into the Lolab, would bring tho 
 Governor with the flower of his troops to expel tho 
 intruders. If they were strong and well handled, tho 
 troops might be separated and cut off, and thus give 
 plenty of occupation to the troops while Altamish and 
 his friends engineered a rising in the valley. It really 
 sounded quite promising, and while the two plotters 
 continued then: dreams their agents were already at 
 work throughout the valley. 
 
 After a few minutes' further discussion of their 
 projects, Daoud Shah announced his intention of going 
 to the city to arrange to despatch some agents ahead 
 of him to the tribal country, and leaving Altamish to 
 his huqa and cushions, started forth a-horseback towards 
 Srinagar. 
 
 As he reached one of the poplar avenues outside the 
 town he became aware of a tall white figure striding
 
 172 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 along in front of him. From the small white cap on 
 the head he saw that it must be that Christian priest of 
 whose presence in the valley he was aware. Spurring his 
 horse, he was soon able to overtake the stranger, pulling 
 up the animal to a walk, and uttering the Muham- 
 madan greeting, " Peace be with all," to which the 
 Abbe, as he turned to see who had accosted him, replied 
 simply enough, " And with you too," and then gazed 
 intently into the Afghan's face. A curious sight ho 
 must have found it, the furrowed, sinister hawk-nosed 
 face with the deep furrows and a thousand lesser ones 
 radiating therefrom. The Afghan found the gaze a 
 little disconcerting. He was accustomed to scan 
 searchingly the features of others, not to have his own 
 taken stock of so seriously. 
 
 " You, sir, will perhaps know mo again," said he at 
 last. 
 
 " Your pardon," said the Abbe, rousing himself from 
 a reverie. " Your pardon a thousand times. Your 
 face struck a chord in my memory, and I forgot my 
 manners." 
 
 " You have, I believe, been long in Kashmir ? " 
 
 " Well, I am certainly not recently arrived." 
 ' You are not, I understand, in the Company's 
 service ? " 
 
 "I am in the service of My Master, the Son of the 
 God of the Christians." 
 
 " Ah ! the God of the Nazarenes." 
 
 "Yes, if you will it so. The Great God of the 
 Nazarenes, whom all the world acknowledges, whether 
 they know it or no." 
 
 " I do not acknowledge him." 
 
 " No." People who knew the Abbe would recognize 
 that he was slightly ruffled. It did not please him to 
 have his Church and the Christian religion spoken of as 
 the " Nazarenes."
 
 But Daoud Shah had been looking at the priest 
 steadily in his turn, and suddenly said 
 
 " Now I remember where we met." 
 
 " I did not know I had had the pleasure." 
 
 " Oh yes, we did ; but never mind. Tell me of the 
 Nazarene whom you worship." 
 
 " My friend, what need is there for me to waste such 
 news on the follower of the son of a Christian slave girl, 
 born six hundred years and more later than Him 
 whom ye call the Nazarene ? " 
 
 " All, Padre Sahib, you need not think that I worry 
 about him whom his followers call the Prophet. I 
 come of an older religion than that. Not that I 
 despise the Prophet or Him whom you follow, for the 
 matter of that. Oh yes ; I remember once He stood 
 by where some men were looking at a dead pariah, that 
 lay with its glassy eyes covered in dust, and the skin 
 shrivelled back from its teeth. ' Look at its ragged 
 paws ! ' said one. ' Faugh ! what a brute,' said 
 another. ' See ! ' cried a third, ' its draggled tail.' 
 ' See its mangy skin,' said a fourth. And then your 
 Nazarene said, ' Yes, and see its teeth like pearls.' He 
 was, I think, the carpenter's son." 
 
 The Abbe looked and stared. " What are you say- 
 ing ? You say you saw the Son of Man ? " 
 
 " Well, did I ? Perhaps I am mistaken. You think 
 I know nothing of the Christian religion and their 
 Bible. I know many things. I know, for instance, 
 that you are French." 
 
 " How do you know I am French ? I care not if you 
 do know that. It can be little enough that a Muham- 
 medan like you knows of the Christian Bible." 
 
 " Padre," said the Afghan, " I have seen and know 
 many things. Look, do you remember this ? " And 
 here he made a sign. 
 
 The Abbe crossed himself. " What do you know
 
 174 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 of the Hundredth Name of God or of a prince and ruler 
 in Israel ? " 
 
 " I told you, Padre Sahib, that I know many things. 
 I that saw the Eagles march over the walls of Jerusalem. 
 You ask how I know that you are French, and what I 
 know of your Bible. Listen to it in French 
 
 II est ecrit 
 
 Avant que la cordc d'argent se rompe 
 Que la lampe a" or se brise 
 Que la cruche casse sur la jontaine 
 Et que la roue casse au puits 
 Avant que la poussiere retourne a la terre 
 D'ou elle a ete tire. ... 
 
 And as he listened the Abbe remembered a secret 
 scene in his youth in which he had had share, and 
 apart from that, the pleasure that that last and most 
 beautiful chapter of Ecclesiastes had always brought 
 him, ' ' Jeune homme, rejouis toi dans ta jeunesse. ... Ah ! 
 a long, long, weary while ago. How did this Afghan 
 come to know it in French of all tongues or any other 
 of the glimpses of old forgotten things, or the 
 Hundredth Name of God? And as he marvelled he 
 noticed that the rider and horse were farther away and 
 the voice came in a mocking tone. 
 
 " How do I know that you are French ? Because I 
 saw you in Paris in a tumbril with Marie Marquise de 
 Bourbel St. Stephanie." 
 
 " del I " quoth the Abbe, and there came to him 
 the memory of one in the crowd who mocked at the 
 crucifix he had held before the Marquise's brave eyes 
 as she went to the guillotine. Then there came to him 
 also a memory of that dark story of the Middle Ages, 
 of Ahasuerus who had similarly mocked the Christ as 
 he carried the Cross, and been bidden to wander the 
 world through till the Second Coming, taking part in 
 all the evil of the universe. With the old story was
 
 TOOBK, AFGHAN, AND FRANK 175 
 
 that evil rumour of the blood ritual with which the 
 Jews were said to purge their sin in the blood of 
 Christian children. Le Juif Errant ! It would account 
 for the knowledge of the Scriptures, and the apochryphal 
 story of the pariah. Nay, it would account for that 
 secret knowledge of the building of the second temple. 
 An Afghan of the Ben-i-Israel, it was like enough too. 
 The Wandering Jew waiting for the second coming had, 
 he knew, been last heard of at Hamburg, in 1794, 
 Erwige Jude ! A strange story, and Jean Armande du 
 Plessis, greatly mystified, strode on down the poplar 
 avenue to the mosque Shah Hamadan; near which his 
 quiet abode lay, hard by that putative tomb of Christ 
 which men show to this day in Kashmir. Outside 
 it lay an old burial ground of Islam, " oil la poussi&re 
 retonrne d la terre."
 
 CHAPTEK XVII 
 
 THE RETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 
 
 THE message that had arrived from Salabat Khan 
 promised to clear up the situation. It was to the effect 
 that he had received Yar Khan's letter regarding the 
 reported plot of Altamish, and that as his wound was 
 not so bad as he had expected, he would be at Aliabad 
 Serai in a litter the following evening with an escort 
 of Chib retainers belonging to his relative. He would 
 expect Yar Khan to send a party to meet him, if 
 possible under the young captain whom ho had engaged. 
 
 Yar Khan at once returned to David's apartments 
 and relieved that young man of the Bibi Alana's 
 searching questions. It would be necessary to rest 
 the horses and men that night, and start the next 
 morning when the sun was up. A fresh litter could be 
 provided from Shapiyon, and, if necessary, His 
 Excellency could then be brought straight in. The 
 Bibi Alana professed herself satisfied, and after a 
 suitable exchange of courtesies withdrew to her own 
 apartments. When she was gone Yar Khan heaved a 
 sigh of relief, for the presence of a petticoat was ever 
 an anxiety. But the evening was drawing in, and even 
 his iron frame craved for a rest. So since all was 
 apparently quiet within the province, and the palace 
 guards fresh and alert the weary folk from the other 
 side of the passes slept. 
 
 It was not therefore till the next morning that Yar 
 
 176
 
 THE RETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 177 
 
 Khan would hear of making plans to give effect to 
 His Excellency's message. But the next morning 
 betimes, both David and the Wazir were astir. 
 
 The arrangements that seemed to be necessary were 
 simple enough. David would have to ride out from the 
 Shergarhi as Salabat Khan, and the following morning 
 the real Salabat Khan would come in accompanied by 
 the real David clothed in his own dress, who had been, 
 it was said, back to Chib-land from Aliabad Serai at the 
 time the news had come of the plans and machinations 
 of Altamish. It was only to bo expected that he would 
 return with the Governor, and the men of his own troop 
 who had escorted him so steadfastly through the city 
 were still believing their captain actually to be away 
 with Salabat Khan. It only remained therefore to 
 make it so. To this end Yar Khan proposed that 
 David should ride forth as His Excellency at about 
 noon that afternoon, and make straight for Aliabad 
 Serai. Yar Khan would, of course, accompany him. 
 It was necessary that he should explain to Salabat 
 Khan what the situation was, and how David had 
 saved the province. 
 
 The next move was to consider what strength of 
 escort should go with them. David voted against his 
 own men going ; there was no use in running more 
 risk of detection than was necessary. No, the re- 
 mainder of Habib Khan's bodyguard had better go, 
 there would be forty sabres, and that should be enough. 
 " We had better let the Lady Miriam know," said 
 David, who seemed to feel that something was wanting 
 in the atmosphere. 
 
 " We had better let the Bibi Alana know too, then, 
 she must now be told exactly how we are going to act," 
 said Yar Khan. " It will be as well really to summon 
 them to His Excellency's presence. The Lady Miriam 
 will understand, and Alana too, and not be offended." 
 
 N
 
 178 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Accordingly a discreet message was sent to both 
 ladies with the necessary summons, Miriam for ten and 
 the Bibi Alana for half -past. Yar Khan had thought 
 it would bo well to explain to Miriam alone exactly 
 what they proposed to tell Salabat Khan. David felt 
 comment was needless and was glad enough to acquiesce. 
 It was further arranged that the party should start at 
 eleven. At ten Lady Miriam arrived, and as Yar Khan 
 was not yet come, deeming it hardly courteous to let 
 her wait, he ordered her admittance. But when she was 
 ushered in, then David's heart rather failed him. It 
 was one thing to invite her to a conference, another 
 to appear to have summoned her to his apartments 
 alone. 
 
 Miriam saw that there was some embarrassment 
 and was inwardly amused and pleased thereat. 
 
 "My Lord, your humble servant awaits your pleasure." 
 
 In the ante-room the heavy burka used to cloak her 
 passage through the outside courts had been thrown 
 aside, and she only wore the veil with the accommo- 
 dating fold therein. It was really quite amusing to 
 see a man in some confusion, they were usually assured 
 enough. 
 
 David steadied himself. " Lady ! the Wazir and 
 I have ventured to send for you because we kne\y 
 that we could thus get speech with you without tho 
 palace wondering." 
 
 " My Lord seems unwell ? " 
 
 " I, Lady ? " 
 
 " Yes, you. You stammer and are faltering. I 
 hope it is not ague." 
 
 " Not the least, Lady, I was never better. It is your 
 kind heart that imagines trouble." 
 
 " I am reassured, my Lord, perhaps the presence 
 of ladies incommodes you. Pray proceed. I was 
 indiscreet in interrupting you."
 
 THE RETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 179 
 
 Miriam was evidently not lacking in the instinct to 
 torture an admirer, and David did not recover his 
 evenness as the result of her kind inquiries. Badinage 
 was not his forte. 
 
 " Lady, we have news that His Excellency will bo 
 at Aliabad Serai this evening, and we are going up with 
 forty lances to meet him and bring him in. He has 
 an escort of Chibs with him at present. I ride out 
 with the Wazir in the capacity of Governor, and I 
 shall return as myself." 
 
 " Truly it is well and simply conceived. Glad arn I 
 to hoar of my brother's return. I trust he will bo 
 none the worse for his rash journey, with that open 
 wound. . . . We have not done very badly in his 
 absence." And hero the veil showed a tendency to 
 open. 
 
 There was something charming and stimulating 
 about that " we." David recognized it and felt duly 
 elated. 
 
 " Lady, I am well content, aye, and more than 
 proud to have escorted you and have been of service 
 to your house." 
 
 Miriam bowed gravely, and David found himself 
 wondering how he could see her face again. 
 
 At this juncture, however, in strode Yar Khan, 
 prompt and curt, and greeting the lady demanded if 
 she understood the situation. On hearing that sho 
 did, he exclaimed, " Good ! Good ! Our difficulties 
 will soon be over, and you must help us make it clear 
 to your brother why we have acted as we have." 
 
 The next moment the Bibi Alana was announced and 
 ushered in, and this time Yar Khan took the bull by 
 the horns without delay. 
 
 " We have ventured to summon you here, Madame, 
 in this unceremonious fashion, as it was the only way 
 you could hear our news and plans promptly. We
 
 180 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 have also ventured to summon the Lady Miriam, and 
 now you can both hear. His Excellency, as we in- 
 formed you last night, has written that he has made 
 effort to travel, and will be at Aliabad Serai this 
 afternoon with a Chib escort. I leave shortly with 
 this gentleman to meet him. The Sahib will ride 
 out as Governor and return as his captain of horse. He 
 would like you to say that he has done his duty as his 
 Excellency's double with courage and decorum." 
 
 And the Bibi Alana bowed her head and said, 
 " Wazir Sahib, and young English sir, whoso name I 
 do not yet know, the Lady Miriam and I certify that 
 you have done your duty well and honourably, and 
 have rendered His Excellency and his family great 
 service." 
 
 Hereon, David, who felt himself much more com- 
 petent to face two women rather than one discon- 
 certing one, remembered how the Begum Somru had 
 expressed curiosity at the English manner of salute, and 
 said 
 
 " Ladies, I am your very humble servant, and trust 
 I may long remain in your service, and that of His 
 Excellency. Permit me to salute you after the manner 
 of the English." Whereon he raised first Alana's fair 
 plump hand and kissed it, and then the beautiful 
 tapering fingers of Miriam, whereat she drew her veil 
 the closer, and the ladies withdrew. It has been said 
 that David was a comely and attractive young man. 
 
 Yar Khan had stood and watched, and his wrinkled 
 eyelids blinked, but he said nothing. 
 
 Then when the ladies had gone, he put his hand on 
 David's shoulder in kindly fashion and said 
 
 " Boy, the horses and the troopers are ready." 
 
 So David clattered out of the palace gates, after 
 having been for six and thirty hours Governor of the 
 Province of Kashmir in the Empire of the Durannis.
 
 THE EETUKN OF SALABAT KHAN 181 
 
 It was a bright, clear day, and the road across the 
 plateaus or Itarewas was more than beautiful, and the 
 great range of the Pir Panjal stood like a whitewashed 
 wall in the midday sun a stone's throw away. But it 
 took five hours' steady riding and climbing for that 
 stone to touch land, and it was not till the late after- 
 noon, when all the Eastern slopes were deep in shadow 
 and the paths frozen again, that they reached Aliabad 
 Serai. There they found that Salabat Khan had 
 arrived in a litter with thirty non-de-script troopers 
 from his relatives' estate, and had been resting in the 
 quarter for the last hour. 
 
 Yar Khan lost no time in going in and describing 
 to the Governor the situation in sufficient length and 
 in such guise as would reassure him. Salabat Khan 
 was startled to find how nearly his government had 
 been supplanted, though he was well aware of the 
 deep-rooted hostility of the Toork faction. 
 
 " That thrice misbegotten Altamish was at the bottom 
 of it ? I don't doubt it, I don't doubt it. He wag 
 ever faithless and intriguing. You and I know how 
 he served the Emperor of the Moguls, that blind 
 wretch. We also, I fancy, know who blinded him. 
 Wali Dad that secretary of his, I know too. A slimy 
 son of a dog if ever there was one. And they tried to 
 kill my Goorkhas ? You hanged the rebel Kommadan 
 of the Eegiment of Victory. Who ordered it ? The 
 young Frank did. Upon my soul that was well 
 done. God smite their souls to the nethermost hell I 
 Was Feroz Tuglag in it ? " 
 
 " So I am told." 
 
 " And AH Khan Toork? " The Wazir nodded. 
 
 " And Sabuktagin Gori and his brothers?" 
 
 " They were all in it, also, likewise Murad Beg." 
 
 " Oh, the Moguls, too, eh ? Well, I might have 
 guessed that. The Moguls have always hated ua
 
 182 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Pathans, curse them ! Perhaps they've had good 
 reason, but they ousted us from the Delhi thrones first. 
 You say that, except at the Hari Parbat, you had no 
 bloodshed. How was that ? " 
 
 " We found the whole of the Toork party drawn up 
 at the Amiran Kadal Bridge as we rode down from the 
 Hari Parbat. The young Frank made a bold advance, 
 and the sirdars were afraid, and thought you had 
 returned. Altamish rode up, and said he had come 
 to welcome you, having heard that you had been hurt 
 in Poonch. We judged best not to attack them as they 
 did not begin. They have a strong party at Kabul, 
 and we had little open evidence of their complicity. 
 You should have seen Altamish's face when he thought 
 it was you who rode up to him." 
 
 " I see, I see. It was well done well done by all of 
 you, and this young captain of horse seems the very 
 man I have long looked for. With him and you by 
 my side, old friend, we ought to be a match for them. 
 Call him in." 
 
 David had changed his head-dress during the ride, 
 and without that his likeness was not so striking. He 
 rode into Aliabad Serai, therefore, without attracting 
 attention from the Governor's new escort. Yar Khan 
 had halted the troopers who had accompanied them, 
 outside the serai, and this had given David time to 
 change into his ordinary dress as a captain of horse. 
 It had all passed off simply enough. 
 
 Salabat Khan received him with great heartiness. 
 
 " I have just heard from my Wazir, Ferassa Sahib, 
 of the plots of these sons of burnt fathers, and of your 
 conduct. Apart from the services you have rendered 
 me, you have shown great wisdom, and I am glad to 
 have you in my service, to help me confound these 
 conspiracies. I have tried hard, Sahib, to govern this 
 country well, with one law for the weak and the same
 
 THE EETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 183 
 
 for the strong. I road history, Sahib, and I know how 
 the Emperor Akbar ruled. Now and again men come 
 who tell me how the English rule, and how wealth 
 and content accrue. The nobles in this valley have 
 resisted me, and I have tamed them ; but they hate 
 me and try to do me evil. Had I allowed them to 
 grind their estates, wo should have an unhappy poverty- 
 stricken valley, and contented nobles, so far as these 
 Toorks and Moguls can ever be content. Not that I 
 let these Kashmir peasantry do all they would like. 
 An insolent idle lot, if you treat them over generously. 
 I try to keep the mean, Ferassa Sahib, and at times I 
 weary of it. Yar Khan here helps me with all his 
 might, but he would flay men alive oftener to save 
 trouble. How do the English manage ? " 
 
 4 ' It is rather a long story, Your Excellency, and they 
 too have their troubles." 
 
 " Well, well ! You must tell me more of it at 
 leisure. Glory is for all, and heaven for those who 
 bleed. It is as holy to try and govern well as to fight 
 for God and His Prophet. Did not the old Moolah, 
 who came from Baramullah, say that, Yar Khan?" 
 
 " He did, Your Excellency, and he and that old 
 Frank priest who was visiting you at the same time 
 agreed on that. That was in the last cholera year." 
 
 The immediate question, however, was whether or 
 no they should push on at once with fresh bearers, 
 who had already been collected or remain at the serai 
 for the night. 
 
 " I doubt if Your Excellency is fit to move, or travel 
 further." 
 
 " Man ! My Excellency will suffer much more 
 cooped up here when that Toork party are at their 
 mischief in Srinagar ! A litter's as good as a bed. 
 Let us start immediately, Sirdars! Do my Chib 
 retainers come on with me to the Holy City ? "
 
 184 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Jo hukm, Khudawand ! " murmured the grizzled 
 old Chib chieftain in charge of the clansmen. " What- 
 ever the Lord may order." 
 
 " To Srinagar then forthwith. It will be well to 
 arrive by night, so that Altamish shall not know that 
 I am in a litter." 
 
 The move down from the pass was uneventful, 
 and it was not long after midnight that Salabat Khan 
 was let in by Ganesha Singh, who was in charge of the 
 main gate of the Shergarhi, and quietly carried to his 
 apartments. 
 
 To Ganesha Singh's great satisfaction, too, there 
 was his Ferassa Sahib wearing his yellow clothes and 
 his dragon helmet, so that all anxieties and parrying 
 of his men's questions was over. The faithful old 
 Rajpoot ran to kneel and put his arms round his 
 sahib's ankles after the manner of the East, as if the 
 Governor behind whom he had been riding these last 
 two days had not been the same man. It was to his 
 squadron leader that he tendered the welcome, and 
 the warmth of his greeting had its use in confirming 
 the men in their belief that David had been absent. 
 
 " Is all well with my Eissalah, Ganesha Singh ? " 
 
 " Your Honour, all is well, by the favour of your 
 presence." 
 
 " Good ! All is well with His Excellency, I hear, 
 and that the men have behaved well and done me 
 credit. It is well, tell them I am pleased." And then 
 dropping the fiction as they drew apart from the guard, 
 " Is all well, old soldier, in the palace? What of the 
 Lady Miriam ? " 
 
 " All is well, your honour. The lady came out to the 
 parapet on the gate tower after the gates were closed, 
 and called to know if I was there. All has been quiet." 
 
 " Then you are satisfied with our position here ? " 
 
 " Sahib, as usual, your wisdom, is enough for your
 
 THE RETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 185 
 
 servants. We have made a good start, and I see 
 honourable service before us. The men are well 
 content and have been anxious at your absence." 
 
 David smiled and giving the old man his dismissal, 
 withdrew to his own quarter near the entrance to the 
 Governor's apartments. Salabat Khan, he was told, 
 had ordered his litter to be carried in to the ladies' 
 portion of the palace, and all seemed quiet. 
 
 It was not long after noon the next morning when the 
 Lord Altamish, with retinue, presented himself at the 
 gate of the palace and demanded entrance in order to 
 pay his respects to His Excellency, and congratulate 
 him on having quelled the emeute in Hari Parbat so 
 effectively. Salabat Khan had been prescribed cooling 
 draughts by the court physician, and contrary to 
 expectation had been able to transact business all 
 the morning. Orders were given for Altamish to be 
 admitted. With him rode Daoud Shah, now guide, 
 philosopher, and friend, vice Wali Dad, who had fallen 
 from his high estate. They were admitted to the inner 
 court. There, standing dismounted against the wall, 
 was David, still wearing his dragoon helmet. To 
 Daoud Shah this was disconcerting. There was the 
 very man whom he had represented to Altamish as 
 sitting in the seat of Salabat Khan. To Altamish 
 happily the young Anglo-Indian was unknown, but 
 Daoud Shah ground his teeth with suppressed fury. 
 Here again was he up against this unknown influence 
 that had so humbled him in the Begum Somru's camp. 
 
 On Yar Khan's advice the wounded Governor had 
 himself carried back to his own apartments, and there 
 gave Altamish a short personal audience. The inter- 
 view was purely formal. As he came out, Yar Khan 
 could not refrain from a little banter, as he conducted 
 the Toork to his horse. 
 
 " Ah, my Lord, His Excellency is sadly fatigued as
 
 186 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 you saw. We all marvel he was so well the day he 
 rode with you from the Amiran Kadal. He was wounded 
 as you had heard, in a skirmish with Eajpoots and 
 certainly ought to have taken more care of the wound. 
 But, as you know, he cares little for himself." 
 
 But Altamish was not always quick in the uptake, 
 and his mind was preoccupied with Daoud Shah's 
 assurance that he would find on close inspection that 
 the Governor was not Salabat Khan. He had, however, 
 convinced himself that the man he had interviewed 
 and paid his respects to actually was Salabat Khan 
 himself, and no other. From which he thought that 
 Daoud Shah had been talking as the Afghans say, 
 through his sleeve. Any possibility of substitution 
 had not occurred to him. Yar Khan's remarks 
 therefore contained for him no suggestion, and after 
 passing the saluting guard at the gate, he rallied Daoud 
 Shah on his absurd suggestion that Salabat Khan was 
 not the man who had ridden through the city two days 
 ago. But Daoud Shah the Afghan was not to be 
 drawn at that moment, and merely replied that if 
 his Lordship said so it was no doubt correct, and they 
 went their way in silence through the city and out to 
 the house and garden on the Dhall Lake. 
 
 Salabat, fatigued though he was, insisted on holding 
 conclave with Yar Khan and David on the military 
 affairs of the province, which must be thoroughly 
 overhauled if trouble was ahead. David came in 
 from the main-gate, saluting smartly after the English 
 fashion, and the Governor smiled approval. 
 
 " Ferassa Sahib, the Wazir and I have been talking 
 of our forces, and they must be increased ; are you 
 willing to help us in all our military affairs ? " 
 
 " Certainly, Your Excellency, so far as my know- 
 ledge goes." 
 
 " Bale, very well ! First of all I now commission
 
 THE BETURN OF SALABAT KHAN 187 
 
 you to raise your troop to a whole rissalali of 150 
 lances as soon as can be. Do you see your way to 
 that ? " 
 
 " If I have full authority, and may offer the terms 
 that are necessary, I think I can. My own troop will 
 be a nucleus, especially if I have a free hand in pro- 
 moting my officers and non-commissioned officers. I 
 want to work on the Irregular system of the Company 
 Bahadur . I want to group each troop by clan and race." 
 
 " I have every confidence in you, and you shall have 
 the freest of hands. But I want more than that. 
 There are two rissalalis of state horse already. You 
 must assist in improving them. There are two 
 regiments of infantry, the Eegiment of Victory and 
 the Regiment of the Sun, Fateh-ki-Pultan and Suraj- 
 ki-Pultan. You must inspect these and their arms, 
 and must tell me what improvements you recommend ; 
 and how I can make them up to the standard of 
 Hindostan. Further, my artillery is not right. I have 
 several cannon, but very few trained gunners. I will 
 give you full control over them, and they must be 
 improved. You shall have what you want from the 
 military stores. You agree with me, Yar Khan ? " 
 
 The old warrior nodded approval, and David said, 
 " Your Excellency, I can but try. My father was an 
 artillery officer of the Company Sahib Bahadur, and 
 I learnt much of cannon from him. One or two of my 
 men have served the Company as artillerymen." 
 
 And Salabat Khan smiled again and said, " I have 
 full trust." 
 
 From which it will be seen that Yar Khan had 
 evidently formed a high opinion of the lad and had 
 said so freely, so that after the manner of Eastern 
 courts, David was about to rise from humble grade to 
 high command by the mere word of the ruler. Fortu- 
 nately youth is buoyant and of full ambition. David
 
 188 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 felt that he certainly knew more of the military methods 
 which had made the armies of the Company so success- 
 ful, than any one else in the province. 
 
 Salabat Khan continued. " You may have such 
 money as you require from my treasury, and all stores." 
 
 David knew something of the ways of storekeepers 
 in Indian states. 
 
 " May I have authority to bully all storekeepers who 
 try and put me off with worthless stores ? " 
 
 The Governor laughed. " You have my full per- 
 mission to blow any storekeeper or fraudulent teh- 
 kidar * away from a cannon. Will that suffice ? " 
 
 David gravely replied that it would, and pocketed 
 written authority that the munshi gave him. Yar 
 Khan then suggested that it would be well if David 
 moved his own troop out to the shores of the Dhall 
 Lake, to the opposite side to that on which was the 
 garden of Altamish, here there were some vacant 
 lines, and where he could camp under the walnut 
 groves, leaving his men there while absent on his tours 
 of inspection. 
 
 David, too, was anxious enough to get his own men 
 clear away from the palace and the always demoralizing 
 influence of the city, as well as to start his new enlist- 
 ments in freer surroundings. An order to draw tents 
 from the palace store was given him, and arrangements 
 to move the camp by water at once put in progress. 
 With every possible expression of confidence from 
 Salabat Khan, David then set about his business and 
 his move into camp. Well equipped with an order 
 on stores and treasury, and the Begum Somru's second 
 bill of exchange still uncashed in his pocket, he felt 
 that the sinews of war were his. 
 
 * Contractor.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 WITH MIRIAM IN THE GARDEN 
 
 OP all the wonderful and beautiful things in this very 
 beautiful world, there are few that will compare with a 
 spring morning in the vale of Kashmir. The country- 
 side covered with fruit blossom, the almond tree 
 flourishing and the apple and the cherry in all their 
 glory. The mountains overhanging the Dhall towered 
 over the water in all the splendour of their mantle of 
 snow. Wild tulips and iris grew in every stretch of 
 grass, and the very graves with their iris fringe echoed 
 the joy of the morning. The glorious sap of spring 
 was mantling in the youth of the plant as well as the 
 human world. 
 
 In the Nishat Bagh the fountains sparkled and the 
 waterfall over the carved and nicked cascades danced 
 in the morning sun. The orchards in all their finery, 
 and the green turf fresh from its winter sheet of snow 
 on the mountain side above the gardens, dazzled the 
 eye with their freshness. Up on the slopes the sun 
 shone on the ruins of the Palace of Fairies, the cells 
 and courts of an ancient Buddhist monastery. Outside 
 the garden walls with the moss-covered copings, the 
 cascades trickled into the lake. Two of the vice-regal 
 barges bobbed with the ripple of the water, and thrust 
 their noses into the rushes by the marble landing steps, 
 while the boatmen played cards and smoked on the 
 steps, 
 
 189
 
 190 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Inside, the Lady Miriam walked alone pulling showers 
 of almond blossom on to her shoulders as she passed. 
 Up on the top terrace three of her ladies sat or reclined 
 on shawls listening to fairy stories and Persian couplets 
 from old Noonu Balia, a famous teller of stories to the 
 ladies of the household. She told of real love and 
 adventure. Such love as they all knew never came to 
 women outside of the story books, but which it com- 
 forted them to think could at any rate be written of. 
 But Miriam had soon tired of the tales and strode 
 away. It were better to walk by one's self among the 
 almond blossom and listen to one's own thoughts, 
 than to the poor stuff that Noonu told. But why poor 
 stuff ? It had always sufficed before. And the answer, 
 though Miriam would not have acknowledged it, was 
 that her own heart was telling her a far more stirring 
 tale. The rich spring sap was, indeed, circulating, 
 and there were pleasant thrills in consequence, and my 
 lady know, she knew not why, that the world was a 
 very beautiful world, and that it was oh ! so good 
 to be in it. And then since Noonu was set for an 
 hour, and the girls too lazy to wish to stir, Miriam 
 thought that she would venture outside the garden, 
 by the gardeners' hole in the wall at the end of the top 
 terrace. So out she slipped to find the air even fresher 
 without and the world even brighter. 
 
 Outside the wall a footpath led away gently 
 up the hillside away to the Palace of Fairies, and 
 Miriam wondered where it went. To wonder in her 
 then mood was to follow. She climbed gently, just 
 with the pleasant feeling of being out for a spree. 
 Since Afghan maids are not so bound to seclusion as 
 those of Hindostan, she was not in the least dis- 
 concerted at having left her companions behind ; but 
 to be alone on a mountain side with never a human in 
 sight on a sunshiny spring morning with a wonderful
 
 new song a singing in her heart was fine wine for a hill 
 girl of high degree. 
 
 Up the path my lady clomb, past tufts of little red 
 tulips, and whole prayer carpets of violets, the gentle 
 banajra that half Kashmir will be soon gathering as a 
 spring simple. On past the shooting wild rose that 
 is hardly aware that winter is gone, and the purple and 
 white iris flower of forgotten graves. In the young 
 grass the red-legged cliikor was making its nest and 
 calling for his mate, cliikor ! cliikor ! cliikor I rather 
 surprised to see a maid alone hi the mating season of 
 the year. Down in the lake below, Miriam watched 
 the fishers, standing hi the prow of their narrow boats 
 with their pronged tridents aloft, a novel way to catch 
 fish, and a very good one, and none so easy withal. 
 Above, the Palace of Fairies stood out in the sunlight 
 with its beautiful rows of arches and delicate plinths, 
 so old that no man had ever heard from his fathers who 
 built it, and for what purpose ; and all the world was 
 content to say that it must have been the fairies, whom 
 in England we should call the pixies, or some say 
 the Pictses, the painted people. Miriam thought little 
 save that it was a beautiful sight perched above the 
 young hillside against a clear blue sky, and that the 
 old Buddhist monks who must have built it, had a 
 keen eye for a beautiful site. Presently Miriam broke 
 into the graded road, now thickly overgrown, that the 
 monastery folk and their visitors must have used. 
 Fine roadmakers were those old Buddhist and GI'SBCO- 
 Bactrian communities. 
 
 The Palace of Fairies was haunted, badly haunted ; 
 that all Kashmir knew, but Miriam was in the mood 
 for adventure and the unseen had for the moment few 
 terrors. She left the shepherds' path to turn up the 
 graded road, putting up a hare as she did so. Puss 
 did not run far, for partner hare was waiting under an
 
 192 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 adjacent thorn bush. The old road was not, however, 
 absolutely unused. A straggling footpath with bruised 
 stones wandered up the old grading, and Miriam 
 climbed lightly up it. She did not see a solitary 
 upright figure in white waiting and watching, till she 
 turned up the final gradient and had seated herself 
 on a corner plinth to gaze at the view unfolded. Then, 
 the noise of a footstep made her start, and a voice said, 
 " Peace be with you, daughter." 
 
 The greeting was the greeting of Islam, and Miriam 
 automatically replied, " And with you, too, father ! " 
 and then looked up to find that it was not as she had 
 expected some moollah, guardian of a shrine, but the 
 Christian padre, whom she knew well by sight, but had 
 never before spoken to. She had long wondered what 
 manner of man he was, and had heard folk talk of the 
 sick whom he had cured. Since she had been thrown 
 with David she had begun to realize something of that 
 mysterious white race, of whom all the East now 
 talked, whether they had seen them or no. Then there 
 was that Western conception of women, of which 
 David had spoken to her, with all the wonder of honour, 
 protection and consideration that seemed to be implied. 
 She would much like to ask the padrd, the man of 
 religion, something of it, if she dare, and something, 
 too, of that religion to which she had heard that it 
 was due. She got up from her seat on the plinth, arid 
 thereon the Abbe made her a most graceful, courteous 
 bow, which none knew how to make better than he. 
 Miriam instinctively understood the deference and 
 respect implied. Here was a man who could be talked 
 to quite freely if need be, which was exactly the 
 impression that the Abbe had conveyed to all who met 
 him since he was a boy at the old seminary in Malbeige- 
 la-fontaine. It was a worn, aged face now, that looked 
 down on the lady, a face that had seen much sorrow
 
 WITH MIRIAM IN THE GARDEN 193 
 
 and much bitterness, and had come by way of such to 
 a peace that passed all understanding. And as those 
 faded blue eyes gazed into that clean-bred well-cut 
 young face, the wrinkles seemed to fade away and 
 the face looked as it had looked in the days when half 
 the court ladies raved of it because it could not, or 
 would not, be theirs ; and yet was ever ready to help 
 those who needed it. Beautiful imperious La Lamballc 
 herself had been known to take rebuke, and to ask for 
 guidance, she whom neither man nor woman had dared 
 thwart in her thoughtless ways. 
 
 " So, Lady, you are not afraid to come alone to the 
 Palace of Fairies ? There be few in Kashmir who 
 would come here, on to-day of all days, too, the 
 Festival of Spring." 
 
 " Father, I know not why I have come, save that 
 I take the air, wandering up from yonder garden." 
 
 " Ah, Lady, there is not a fairer place in all the 
 earth this day, than this plinth of the Palace of Fairies. 
 You do well to enjoy it. You are, I think, the sister 
 of His Excellency the Governor of Kashmir." 
 
 " That is so, father, and you ? . . . You, I know well 
 as that Christian padre who cures so many of the sick 
 that would otherwise die." 
 
 " Daughter, if I am permitted to heal the sick; 
 it is but the work that my Master has appointed 
 me to do." 
 
 " Your master, who is he ? " 
 
 " My Master is the Lord Jesus, the Son of the God 
 of all the Universe." 
 
 " The Prophet Iswi, Aleh Salaam / * I have heard of ; 
 but I do not understand." 
 
 "That is surely not surprising. Some day when 
 occasion offers I will try and explain what you now 
 find strange." 
 
 * Peace be with him. 
 

 
 194 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Father, there are many questions I would 
 ask." 
 
 " I do not doubt it, daughter." 
 
 " Father, you laugh at me ? " 
 
 " God forbid, daughter, that I a man, let alone a 
 priest, should laugh at a woman." 
 
 And here the Abbe's eyes puckered into a thousand 
 wrinkles, and Miriam looked up into them and saw . . . 
 what she saw, and broke into a merry happy laugh, 
 such as was good for aged weary priests to see. The 
 eyes wrinkled more than ever. 
 
 " Father, I have heard that the English treat women 
 quite differently from the way that we of the East do. 
 That a man marries one woman alone and protects her 
 to the end, whether she be old or whether she be young. 
 Is that so ? " 
 
 " To their shame there be many who do not, 
 daughter, but all right men do ; and that is not only 
 the English who do so, but all those of the Christian 
 faith. I am not English, though I know them for a 
 just people. I am a Frenchman, and the French, too, 
 treat women, or aim to do so, as I have said." 
 
 " Then, father, if a man marries a woman, will he 
 care for her and house her all his life ; and that too, 
 when she be old and querulous?" 
 
 " Right men do so, and it is accounted a shame and a 
 wrong when men do not." 
 
 " And a man does not bring a young woman to his 
 house when his wife ceases to please ? " 
 
 " He does not, or it is accounted a shame if he docs, 
 and in no case would she be his wedded wife." 
 
 " Truly this is a wonderful thing. I heard so before, 
 but could hardly believe it." 
 
 " But tell me now, my daughter, what makes you 
 ask these questions of the English, and how they treat 
 their women ? Know you aught of them ? Their
 
 WITH MIRIAM IN THE GARDEN 195 
 
 rule is yet far from this province and from the 
 Punjab." 
 
 And Miriam was for the moment at a loss for an 
 answer, but said at last, with the blood mantling to a 
 cheek sufficiently olive to hide it, that she had lately 
 met a young Sahib whom His Excellency had employed 
 as a captain of horse, and had had some conversation 
 with him. 
 
 Whereon the Abbe had mused as to himself, and said 
 half aloud 
 
 " Is it good for East and West to wed ? " 
 
 And Miriam had heard him, and broke in, " His 
 father married an Afghan lady." 
 
 Whereon the Abbe had looked up at her, and the 
 thousand wrinkles grew a thousand more. 
 
 " And wherefore not, lady, wherefore not, Far be it 
 from me to suggest such a thing.'! 
 
 " Father, you are mocking at me again," 
 
 And Jean Armande laughed, just the low, quiet, 
 reliant laugh that La Lamballe loved, but would not 
 have told him so for all the world. 
 
 " Lady, I would not mock any woman, as I have 
 said before. Much less a woman who is in love," 
 
 " Who told you I was in love, father ? " 
 
 ;t You did yourself." 
 
 " I, father ? How dare you say such things ? A 
 princess of the Duranni in love like a village girl ! In 
 love ! . , And Miriam snatched at her veil which 
 had fallen back over her shoulders, and swinging 
 sharply round marched off with a very indignant 
 chin in the air, till she disappeared behind the grey 
 walls of the old facades of the ruin. 
 
 The Abbe sat silent on the plinth while a faint smile 
 played round his mouth and eyes. It was very, very 
 long since a woman of sweetness and daintiness had 
 talked to him, and the experience was very pleasing,
 
 196 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 and sad, too, for all the tragedy of the days when women 
 had crossed his path. 
 
 " Father, tell me about the sick and how you make 
 the blind see." 
 
 The Abbe moved not at all, neither looked he up. 
 
 " Sit down, Lady, and let us converse. The sick and 
 the blind I heal when I can because I long studied the 
 healing arts when young. Sometimes the blessing of 
 God falls on my work, and I am able to cure those who 
 long have been deemed incurable." 
 
 " Tell me something of the God of Christians, that 
 makes men treat the sick and women so." 
 
 Then the Abbe rose with a soft look in the eyes and 
 said 
 
 " Daughter, that I will tell you with pleasure on 
 some future occasion, I must now be about my business. 
 It is a very wonderful and beautiful story that I have 
 to tell. But it is not told in an hour ; but this I 
 would have you ponder over. The God of the Chris- 
 tians is a God of love and of peace and of truth, such 
 as you who have lived in the fierce Afghan hills can 
 hardly conceive. ..." 
 
 Suddenly the Abbe thought of La Lamballe and 
 Fouquier Tinqueville, and La Veuve ever waiting her 
 spouse . . . and wondered how such things could be 
 explained to wild Afghans. So that Miriam slipped 
 away down the mountain side, unnoticed, till he felt 
 as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. Then with a 
 sigh he turned to his shed behind the ruin, and Miriam 
 on her way down, met two villagers leading a third 
 with bandaged eyes, who said they were going up with 
 grandfer to see the padre hakim * sahib who lived up on 
 the hill. 
 
 Miriam, wondering and happy, re-entered the garden 
 
 * Doctor.
 
 WITH MIEIAM IN THE GAEDEN 197 
 
 to find her companions still engrossed in a third and 
 more wonderful story, and slipped down on the ground 
 beside old Noonu, whose tale now fairly echoed again 
 with peris and heroes and gorgeous horsemen. After 
 which it was high time to clap hands for the boatmen 
 and to reassemble the party to return across the lake.
 
 CHAPTEK XIX 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 
 
 OUT in the old cantonment lines on the Dhall Lake, 
 David was as happy as a king. The enlisting and 
 training of soldiers is a fascinating sport to the young 
 man of enterprise, who has inherited any spark of 
 the power of command and leadership. David was 
 certainly not lacking in this, and had, moreover, the 
 good temper and patience which is necessary to train 
 both man and horse. Two of the many duties had 
 seemed urgent and to demand priority. First, the 
 raising of his own rissalali, and secondly, the assembling 
 and organizing of such artillery as the province pos- 
 sessed. The rissalali had been the first care, and he 
 had sat in solemn conclave with Ganesha Singh the 
 old Rajpoot officer, Nihal Singh, the daring Dogra 
 Bajpoot of the Moon, and Gul Jan Duranni his father's 
 Afghan orderly, and they were three wise men that 
 sat with him. David's experience in native states 
 had taught him that there was one thing that Irregular 
 troops of India, either in the Company's service or 
 in that of native potentates, understood better than 
 the Company's Line, viz. that to get the best out of 
 men they must be organized by sept and clan and 
 tribe, under their own class leaders, rather than mingled 
 cheek by jowl regardless of sympathy and liking for 
 each other. His father had always preached the 
 
 198
 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 199 
 
 same, and explained how first the Highland regiments 
 had been raised on these lines with MacKenzie com- 
 panies and Cameron companies, Fraser companies; 
 and the like, and that it was the Saxon imagination 
 that failed to realize the value of it. Old Fraser had 
 always said that it was the Celtic imagination that 
 saved the Saxon stolidity, and the Saxon stolidity that 
 leavened Celtic wildness to make a ruling race. The 
 principle, at any rate, was firm in David's mind to 
 have clans troops in his rissalah. Two should be 
 Hindu and two Mussalman, one from the Marathas and 
 Rajpoot clans of India so far as they might come 
 to hand so far north, and one from Nihal Singh's 
 friends on the westerly slopes of the Pir Panjal, one 
 from Afghan's proper whether Eohilla settled in India 
 or from the northern hills, and the last troop Moguls 
 and other Muhammadans. There were several men 
 in David's original troop who were well fitted to bo 
 non-commissioned officers in the new corps, and in a 
 week or so close on seventy satisfactory men and 
 nearly a hundred horses had been got together. The 
 latter, almost all of Afghan or Biluch breed, with 
 a few of the curly coated Badakshani ponies. The 
 Begum Somru's hundi on the Srinagar bankers had 
 given ample funds to supplement those allowed by 
 the Governor, and his men were well equipped. 
 
 Then fortune had favoured his enterprise, for riding 
 through the city the very day that Salabat Khan had 
 given him the military instructions described, he had 
 seen a European leaning and smoking outside the 
 travellers' serai in the city. It was the person whoso 
 arrival had been reported by the kotwal. David had for- 
 gotten the fact as reported, but a sight of the traveller 
 had recalled it. It was a European, there was no doubt 
 of that. Moreover, he was clothed in a well-worn but 
 scrupulously clean officer's undress coatee of blue
 
 200 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIB 
 
 broad cloth, with white breeches and what were known 
 as " half " boots. He was clean shaven, and his red 
 hair flecked with grey was tied back in a rough queue. 
 A French cavalry sabre trailed at his side, and a 
 telescope was slung over his back. On his head was a 
 flat Austrian field cap, with a bag and tassel, that had 
 seen better days. David had some acquaintance with 
 the European adventurer class, indeed, was one himself, 
 and readily passed the time of day after the manner 
 of the freelances, which is ornate. The stranger 
 returned David's greeting with a military salute. 
 
 " It's little enough I expected to find a European 
 here at all," said he. " I'm glad to meet you, sorr." 
 
 " You've come from Rajputana, I fancy." 
 
 " I've come a long way, sorr, and that is thrue for 
 you. I was with the Chevalier Dudrenac, and for a 
 while with Colonel James Skinner." 
 
 " Do you know anything about artillery ? " 
 
 " Do I not, son- ! I was gunner's mate of a Frinch 
 privateer before I joined the Company's Artillery at 
 Madras as a matross of the Company." 
 
 " Are you open to employment ? " 
 
 " I am, sorr, if it's good enough and honourable, for 
 I am a man of honour." 
 
 " I am in command of the cavalry and artillery of 
 the troops of His Excellency Salabat Khan, Governor 
 of this province. I am Major Fraser, and I can pro- 
 bably offer you employment." 
 
 " I shall be indebted to you, sorr, for I have come 
 here in search of military service. Me name is Captain 
 Lucius Tone at your service, late of the service of His 
 Highness the Mararajah Scindiah." And here Captain 
 Tone once again bowed and saluted. " Are you by 
 chance, sorr, the Fraser who held the Tantri Pass against 
 Dudrenac Sahib and his Pindarees on behalf of the 
 Rajah of Kothi?"
 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 201 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Then it is proud I'll be to serve under ye, sorr ; 
 ye may take my word for it." 
 
 So David had ridden back forthwith to see His 
 Excellency and Yar Khan and obtain sanction to 
 offer the adventurer a salary of rupees three hundred 
 per mensem. This was duly accepted, and in a few 
 days Captain Lucius Tone, with his servant Pando 
 and his Gulf Arab horse Monaghan were duly installed 
 as captain of artillery to the province of Kashmir. 
 David very soon found that he really did know some- 
 thing of his business. Nihal Singh and Gul Jan were 
 agreed on this point, for a wonder. They had both 
 long experience of artillery as seen from the gunner's 
 point of view, and Tone certainly filled that. Six 
 rickety pieces, varying from four to nine pounders, 
 had been collected from the Shergarhi and elsewhere 
 as an instalment. Tone was at once turned loose 
 on these, and with two smiths and a couple of carpenters 
 from the city was busy repairing their carriages. The 
 tyres had to come off the wheels and be cut and shrunk, 
 and the felloes wanted refitting, and the trails shaking 
 out, till at first it seemed that repairs would mean 
 the scrapping of the ordnance altogether. This, 
 however, the artilleryman would not admit. The 
 pieces were inferior he was bound to admit. " May 
 I be rammed, crammed, and damned down the big 
 gun of Athlone if iver I see a worse lot," was his 
 comment, saving always a small bronze piece with a 
 Persian inscription, that proclaimed the piece had been 
 cast in Samarkand for the " glory of God and His 
 Prophet," by one Imamuddeen Ghazi. It was of 
 gun metal and a hundred years old at least, but of 
 exquisite lines and as sound as a bell, and the heart 
 of Lucius Tone went out to it, as the heart of man to 
 woman. He would so mount it and sight it, and fix
 
 202 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 such elevators that it should be famous in all the 
 north. It bore the poetic name of the " Iqd-i-Gul " 
 or " Bunch of Roses " quite different from the assertive 
 names of guns of rougher casting. Now gunners are 
 queer folk with their guns, and their pieces always have 
 some psychological influence over them, so that they 
 die with them but leave them not. To the " Bunch 
 of Roses " Lucius Tone had attached himself, and it 
 was well he did so. 
 
 A few weeks after the opening of the cantonment 
 on the Dhall, on a bright sunny morning of that warm 
 spring month, David and all his assistants were at work. 
 Tone had two gun-carriages stripped on the ground 
 with his artificers busy while two newly enlisted 
 artillerymen were polishing the " Bunch of Roses " 
 under a spreading walnut tree, on which the young 
 leaves were shining in the morning sun. David himself 
 sat at a table, two munshis at his feet with lacquered 
 pen box and shiny native rolls of paper, making out 
 pay rolls. His experience in native states had taught 
 him that by way of the pay roll came loyalty and 
 obedience. He had seen that, too, at the Begum Somru's 
 campo when he had rescued that good lady from her 
 painful seat on her red-hot piece of ordnance. So 
 an accurate pay roll and regular payments were his 
 first care. The rissalah was daily increasing as emis- 
 saries collected suitable men. David had carried out 
 his instructions to overhaul the two battalions of 
 infantry, and he found that at present, though not 
 void of good material, then- power of drill and manoeuvre 
 was practically nil. Happily Lucius Tone had come 
 to the rescue by producing a drill book that the 
 Chevalier Dudrenac had given him. It was one of 
 the drill books published when the Republican armies 
 were shaking themselves free from their first wildness, 
 and a godsend, therefore, to a reformer, the same as
 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 203 
 
 that from which the Begum Sornru's Kommadans 
 culled a few movements. But it was one thing to 
 be able to read the French haltingly, as David could; 
 and quite another to put it into Persian for the use 
 of the troops. The book said 
 
 ' Un bataillon en bataille, rompant par peleton d 
 droite. Nota: On wit V adjutant-major qui apres 
 qu'on a rompu le bataillon, s'est porte sur Vavertissement 
 du chef de bataillon.' . . . How should such be trans- 
 lated ? Tone, it is true, understood some French, but 
 neither enough of that nor enough Persian to translate 
 a drill book. 
 
 While David was puzzling over his new acquisition 
 and admiring the plates that showed men in chakoes 
 and splatterdashes 'dans la position d'apretez vos 
 armes, or Varme au bras,' Gul Jan came up to say that 
 a padre sahib sent salaams and was waiting to see him. 
 
 " A padre sahib ! " said David. " What padre* 
 sahib?" 
 
 " I don't know, Sahib, but they say he is a padre 1 doctor 
 sahib who has lived many years in Kashmir, and cures 
 sick people when the hakims can't. He is an Angrez, 
 or a Frank" 
 
 " Ask him to come in." And David rose to receive 
 the visitor much wondering, and to call for another seat. 
 
 Coming towards him through the tents and the 
 neatly piled lances which his men had just learnt to 
 arrange from him, David saw a thin white figure with 
 a white skull cap, such as he remembered having seen 
 near the Catholic church in Agra. Then in another 
 minute he was bowing to the Abbe Jean Armando 
 du Plessis, and even shaking hands after the manner 
 of Europe, while the Abbe explained how he often 
 came to a hut of his on the hill above the lake by the 
 Palace of Fairies, and having heard that there was 
 a white man below, had ventured to pay his respects,
 
 204 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 half expecting to find a countryman, of whom so 
 many had come to India. And while he spoke David 
 gazed into the high-bred, clean-cut face, and the 
 myriad crowsfeet that played thereon, and the 
 faded yet active eyes that looked straight at you under 
 the brows, with determination and kindliness inter- 
 mingled. 
 
 " I am no countryman, father, I am Scotch or partly 
 so by descent, and my mother was a Duranni. I am 
 not even of your faith, but I am very very glad to meet 
 you, and I hope I may often see you. I shall be here 
 some time training His Excellency's soldiers." 
 
 " Ah ! I heard of you from a lady who told me that 
 the Governor had entertained a European. She had, 
 I think, seen you, and spoken highly of you." 
 
 " Surely," said David eagerly. " Surely not the 
 Lady Miriam." 
 
 " The same, my son," replied the Abbe with a hint of 
 a smile playing among the crowsfeet round his mouth. 
 " Surely a gracious lady." 
 
 " Ah ! " was all that David could find to say, and 
 then the Abbe's eye lighted on the open drill book. 
 
 " Aha, there is something that I know, my old 
 friend Le Colonel de Savignac's work. Yes, I thought 
 so. . . ." 
 
 " Planches relatives au reglement concernant I'exercice 
 et les manoeuvres de I'infanterie." A Lille, Chez 
 Blocquelle, 1 791 . Ah, I know it well. You study it ? " 
 
 " I am trying to read it and put it into Persian for 
 His Excellency's battalions, but I find I do not quite 
 understand it." 
 
 " Perhaps I can help here. ' Six bataillons la 
 droite en tete qui se Jorment en ligne,' that would be 
 ' Shash batayon darawat en let lain mee kunand.' But 
 you don't want to deal with a brigade, do you ? Let 
 us get back to L'ecole de bataillon."
 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 205 
 
 Then for a couple of hours David and his new friend 
 were absorbed in translating that drill book, by which 
 time Tone had finished examining the stripped ordnance, 
 had designed a new tangent sight for the " Bunch of 
 Boses," and strolled over to report to his commander. 
 
 David saw him coming, and said to the Abbe", " Here 
 comes an assistant of mine, an Irishman. I must 
 present him to you, but first may I crave your name, 
 wo have been so busy translating that we have forgotten 
 ceremony. I am David Fraser at your service, of 
 Scottish descent." 
 
 " Ah, my dear sir, the honour is mine. I am the 
 Abbe Armande du Plessis, of the Society of Jesus. 
 To both Scots and Irish we French always extend the 
 hand of welcome and cameraderie. Present me to 
 your friend." 
 
 " Captain Tone, may I present to you the Abbe du 
 Plessis, who has paid us the courtesy of calling, and 
 has been helping me these two hours to translate your 
 drill book." 
 
 Lucius Tone stepped eagerly up on seeing the 
 Abbe's clerical garb, and at once knelt and 
 craved a blessing, which Armande du Plessis, seeing 
 that the new-comer was a Catholic, readily gave. 
 It was the first Catholic he had seen for many a long 
 year. When Tone had recovered his standing position 
 he took off his cap and saluted, and then du Plessis 
 said 
 
 " My son, it is long since I met one of our Faith. I 
 must have a long talk with you and hear, so far as I 
 may, whence you come. Do you talk French ? " 
 
 " I do, your Eiverence. Was I not gunner's mate 
 on a Frinch privateer for a matter of three years? " 
 
 And then ensued a lively conversation in what Tone 
 considered to be on his part the best of French, so that 
 even David, who knew but little of the language, and
 
 206 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 that from books, could not help smiling. The brogue 
 of Tone was delicious and soft and captivating in 
 itself, but hardly suited to the seafaring argot which 
 made up the most of his vocabulary. To the Abbe, 
 however, the pleasure of using his own tongue made 
 up a thousandfold for the other's shortcomings. 
 
 He was then pressed to stay to their tiffin, which 
 was laid under the trees looking out over the lake ; 
 and he did so, blessing the meal with a Latin grace 
 which David had not heard since he had been to the 
 old Lodge in Agra with his father. And so the time 
 passed happily till the guest rose to go, each feeling 
 that they were a small European band of sympathizers 
 who might look to each other for companionship and 
 relaxation. The Abbe on going said 
 
 " Gentlemen, I have a very tiny hovel near the 
 Mosque Hamadan, in the city, where you are always 
 welcome, and I have a small room which I use as a 
 dispensary up on the hillside. The country folk 
 come to me there. I am always there o' Sundays, 
 and shall welcome you even more there in the beautiful 
 sunshine. It is built up by a few peasants against the 
 back of the ruin of the Palace of Fairies." 
 
 David walked with him to the edge of the camp. 
 " I heard of you, my son, if I may call you so, as I 
 said, from the Lady Miriam, who spoke of some great 
 service you had rendered. I thought her a sweet 
 girl, too sweet to lead the life of tragedy among these 
 Afghan nobles." 
 
 " The lady makes much of my small services, but 
 I am proud that she should remember them. She 
 is a lady of great courage and spirit." 
 
 " She questioned me much about the ways of the 
 European, especially their treatment of women." 
 
 " She would question me, too, father, when we had 
 opportunity. It is not often that a maid can question
 
 DAVID'S CAMP ON THE DHALL 207 
 
 any one in this barbaric land, but we rode together 
 awhile by difficult roads and so had quiet conversation." 
 
 " Ah well," returned the Abbe. " May the good 
 God grant her happiness and show her the way of 
 peace. I fear there are troublous times ahead. The 
 Toork faction in this valley are getting very powerful. 
 They are dribbling in adherents steadily. I fancy the 
 power of the Emperor at Kabul is waning. It is a 
 great empire and hard to manage. Louis XV., himself 
 of pious memory, could not have controlled all these 
 demons. I would warn you especially against an 
 Afghan I have met in Kashmir, aye, and elsewhere. 
 He goes now by the name of Daoud Shah, David the 
 same name as yourself. That the name of the great 
 David, the son of Jesse, should be borne by such a 
 scoundrel ! That is, I know, but an alias. He is a 
 mysterious and evil man. Before I joined the priest- 
 hood I was induced to join a secret society, which, as 
 you know, is anathema to mother Church. I found, 
 however, that he, too, knew some of the secrets that 
 I had learnt. I will tell you some day how I came to 
 know this. Beware of him." 
 
 " I have some ken of him, too, father, and am fore- 
 warned. I, too, am of that society, I fancy." 
 
 " Ah ! you surprise me. Perhaps it is all for the 
 good that it should be so. I will talk further of this 
 also with you. Now adieu, my son ! It has given me 
 great pleasure to meet you two gentlemen." 
 
 David watched the light, erect figure stride down the 
 slope and out of the camp as if his life was beginning 
 rather than nearing its end, and prayed that he, too, 
 might be as worthy. More especially he prayed that 
 it might be given to him to protect the Lady Miriam 
 through life, and especially to see her through the 
 brewing troubles. And then he walked off to go 
 round the horse lines, the last care of all horse soldiers.
 
 CHAPTEK XX 
 
 DURBAR AND FESTIVAL 
 
 IT was not till several days after his return that Salabat 
 Khan could think of holding his first public durbar 
 or levee, though Yar Khan soon began to urge 
 that it was really important to do so. Not only were 
 there those who wished to see their chief after the 
 rumours of his death and wound, but there were others 
 with petitions to prefer, and there were several appeals 
 from the orders of local officials to be heard. The 
 Governor then expressed himself well enough to hold 
 a formal durbar the day after the next, which would be 
 the Festival of Spring, when the whole city would be 
 illuminated in the evening, and the river be crowded 
 with boats covered in small lamps. At this procession 
 the vice-regal barges were usually present, and it was 
 the custom for His Excellency to proceed in state by 
 water to be dined by some leading personages of the 
 city, whose ladies received the palace ladies behind 
 the grille. It would be convenient to hold the durbar 
 the morning of that day. The usual notices were 
 promptly issued, and the town criers sent through the 
 city. David was directed to be present with his own 
 rissalah, and the garrison of Shergarhi would also 
 attend. 
 
 On the appointed day the Durbar duly assembled 
 in the great hall of audience, and curiosity as well as 
 
 208
 
 DUKBAR AND FESTIVAL 209 
 
 business brought all those who could by any means 
 claim a right to a seat. With them also came many 
 of the general public, for at the Governor's Durbar 
 there was no limit to all of orderly behaviour who might 
 enter into the outer court and stand, if they could find 
 room at the bottom of the hall. 
 
 The scene was one of considerable magnificence. In 
 the outer court Habib Ullah's bodyguard, and David's 
 rissalah, were drawn up facing each other. Two of 
 His Excellency's elephants in gold-embroidered 
 caparisons and newly-painted trunks shuffled cease- 
 lessly. Outside the palace gate, a score or so of beggars, 
 blind, shrivelled, and leprous, whined for alms. On a 
 raised dais at the end of the hall sat His Excellency, 
 surrounded by his principal officers. Standing on 
 either side of the hall were those who had the right 
 of entrd, and in the middle of the hall was ample 
 space for petitioners and litigants to advance to the 
 foot of the dais. Among those who had the entre was, 
 of course, the Lord Altamish, handsomely apparelled 
 in embroidered plum silk with a jewelled sword. As 
 His Excellency had advanced up the hall to the dais, 
 many of the sirdars presented him with the hilts of 
 their swords as a sign of fealty usually only proffered 
 to royalty, merely to be touched as a sign of acceptance 
 of service. Altamish himself, while reviling in his 
 heart, was fain to do as the demands of policy needed, 
 and extend his inlaid sword hilt also, marvelling the 
 while on the folly of Daoud Shah, who had said that 
 the Governor did not ride through the city that day. 
 Salabat Khan stopped in his passage up the hall to 
 talk with the more prominent of those present. Some 
 of the Afghan landowners from the more distant valleys 
 had come in to felicitate the Governor on his escape 
 and recovery, rugged old chiefs, some of them 
 holding large fiefs in the Lolab Valley, where they
 
 210 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 lived on their estates and grew capons at ease under 
 Salabat Khan's competent regime. 
 
 Finally moving to his seat of audience on the dais 
 the ordinary work began. There were two complaints 
 of exorbitant demands from the tax-gatherer, and a 
 third for remission of revenue owing to damage from 
 a flood. Then a complaint from a farmer up on the 
 Kashmir side of the Pir Panjal, who said that Eajpoots 
 had come over the frontier and carried off his sheep. 
 And so forth, none of first importance, and Salabat 
 Khan grew bored, and his mood became whimsical. 
 Kneeling on the steps of the da'is was the treasurer, 
 Nubbi Bakhsh, busy counting over a bag of tribute sent 
 in that morning. Now, according to the customs of 
 the East, those on the dais had removed their shoes, 
 while those below in the body of the hall did not. 
 Presently one of the spies, without whom no Oriental 
 methods of rule are complete, went round behind 
 Salabat Khan and whispered that every now and then 
 Nubbi Bakhsh slipped a coin into his shoe. It has 
 been mentioned that His Excellency was in a whimsical 
 mood. He looked at Nubbi Bakhsh and then at the 
 Wazir Yar Khan. 
 
 " Yar Khan ! " he called aloud. " Yar Khan ! what 
 beastly big feet you've got." 
 
 Now, Yar Khan had his shoes off, and was intensely 
 taken aback by this sudden attack. 
 
 " My feet ! Your Excellency, my feet ! They are 
 no bigger than those of a soldier should be." 
 
 " Nonsense, man, I tell you they are beastly feet. 
 Now, if you want to see nice graceful feet, you should 
 see Nubbi Bakhsh's. Here, Nubbi Bakhsh ! Stop 
 counting out rupees. Come up on the dais here and 
 let the gentry see what very well-made feet you have. 
 I want the Sirdar Yar Khan to be ashamed of his." 
 
 But Nubbi Bakhsh did not respond with alacrity.
 
 211 
 
 He was feeling unwell. His mother was dying. His 
 feet were not fit to be shown to gentry ; he would 
 crave His Excellency's permission to withdraw. . . . 
 But His Excellency would have none of it. 
 
 " Come here at once, Nubbi Bakhsh, do you hear 
 me ! " he shouted in a voice that before now has por- 
 tended a vacancy in a culprit's family. And poor 
 Nabbi Bakhsh the publican crawled on to the 
 dais. 
 
 " Take your shoes off," said the same stern voice. 
 
 Poor Nubbi Bakhsh, who had no friends, slipped 
 off his shoes, and as he did so a gold mohr rolled to 
 the ground. 
 
 " Hold up his shoes." 
 
 Some one held up his shoes. There rolled out on 
 to the floor four gold coins, and half a dozen rupees. 
 
 " Nubbi Bakhsh," said the Governor, " this is a 
 pretty way to pilfer my revenue as you count the bags 
 before me. You will now go to the Shergarhi dungeon 
 till you pay in to me the sum of one lakh of rupees to 
 teach you to play tricks on me again." 
 
 Nubbi Bakhsh, the picture of woe, with tears rolling 
 down his cheeks, was removed, while the whole Durbar 
 roared with laughter. A good jest at some one else's 
 expense was the very thing wanted to cheer them. 
 No one had any sympathy with a tax-gatherer OB 
 revenue official. Such people by instinct accumulated 
 illgotten gains, and when judiciously bled would always 
 disgorge if needs must. Nubbi Bakhsh would, of 
 course, pay up. He probably had pilfered twice 
 that sum. No government in the East, except perhaps 
 that of the Company, had ever been able to contend 
 against it, and many devices were used to keep it 
 within bounds. In the villages now and again the 
 village money-lender and corn merchant would be 
 roasted over a slow fire till he, too, disgorged, It was
 
 212 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the only known way to keep such folk within 
 reason. 
 
 Nubbi Bakhsh paid the next day and was released, 
 still weeping. This little diversion over, Salabat Khan 
 and his officers returned with new zest to business, and 
 for an hour the assembly in the hall chatted while 
 complaints and reports were heard at the head of the 
 room. These over, His Excellency called for the 
 reports of the frontier wardens. Prom the Lolab, 
 all quiet, but rumours of unrest among the Black 
 Mountain tribes. From Gurais, one or two raids, 
 by men of the Trans-Indus Kohistan. From Skardu, 
 merchants reported raids by Khanjut robbers from 
 Hunza. From Bunjee more reports of raids and 
 threatened incursions from Tangir and Darel. The 
 outlook was not quite satisfactory. The Governor 
 had called to David to hear the reports, and had 
 emphasized to him the necessity for getting the army 
 ready in case serious action should become necessary. 
 What about the mountain guns ? Would they be 
 fit to take the field ? David explained his plans for 
 mounting them on Yarkand ponies to be carried on 
 pack in pieces. He and Tone were preparing two small 
 mortars and two cannon. The Governor expressed 
 approval. 
 
 " If this goes on, Ferassa Sahib, I shall have to go 
 and hammer these people. They are not too easy 
 to get at, so get everything ready as soon as you can. 
 Do you want any orders on the store or the treasury ? 
 We will make Nubbi Bakhsh pay. He won't get the 
 revenue from Gurais if we don't have good troops." 
 
 David had a vanity, as officers of cavalry often have. 
 He very much wanted to give his own men an em- 
 broidered waist cloth, and a crimson saddle cloth to 
 their horse which should also serve as a horse rug in 
 the field. If Nabbi Bakhsh pays, why not ? He got
 
 DUEBAE AND FESTIVAL 213 
 
 them and went his way rejoicing at this extra finery. 
 The essentials of war he had already obtained for his 
 reorganization. 
 
 Soon after noon, business was finished and Salabat 
 Khan gave the assembly the rukhsat, viz. the leave 
 to depart. The higher sirdars went with a fanfare 
 from the cavalry trumpets, and as Altamish rode 
 through the gates he was joined by Daoud Shah, who 
 had been among the throng at the lower end of the 
 hall. Altamish remarked to him on the improved 
 appearance of the cavalry on duty in the courtyard, 
 but this had by no means escaped the latter 's notice. 
 He had been keeping himself fairly well informed of 
 all that was going on in the military line. Tone's 
 employment, too, he knew of, and the improvement 
 that was being made in the artillery. To Altamish he 
 replied 
 
 " I have noticed and have known of it for some time. 
 That young half-breed, Ferassa Sahib they call himj 
 is a good soldier. It will be easier for you to bring 
 off your plans soon, than a year hence. Fortunately 
 he is drilling his troops after the manner of the Company. 
 Excellent against others in the plains of India, but 
 little enough good when we get them up in the 
 mountain gorges among the tribesmen of the hills. 
 We must get the whole of this trained army there 
 and wipe them out. You know how it has been done 
 in the past. You know how Ahmed Shah himself 
 lost a highly drilled force against the Ghilzais. There 
 was once an army from Bactria under a Greek com- 
 mander that came down against the Aprcetae whom 
 men now call the Afridis. They were armed and 
 marched as the Eomans used to march, but they 
 struggled out of those hills a tenth of those who went 
 in. Their bones and their helmets strewed the Khyber 
 for many a year."
 
 214 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " You talk of men and times I never heard of. Who 
 were the Bactrians and the Romans ? Had they 
 anything to do with Badshah Sikander, and his men, 
 who people say built those old ruins in Euzufzai?" 
 
 " Ah ! Badshali Alexander was before my time, but 
 he left a Greek kingdom behind him up in Bactria, 
 near where Samarkand is now. He did leave garrisons 
 in India, but they were swept away in a year or so. 
 Not so the Bactrian kingdom. That lasted for many 
 a generation, and those Bactrian kings reconquered 
 eventually most of the Punjab. How do I know 
 such things ? Well, my Lord Altamish, I know them 
 from two causes. First I read history and find myself 
 the wiser therefore. Secondly, I myself . . . pshaw ! 
 You would not believe it if I told you. There is 
 one man only in Kashmir, aye, for the matter of that 
 in the world perhaps, who knows how I know the 
 things I do know. Nay, my lord, there is nothing 
 to start at. Surely a Toork is not easily disturbed. 
 However, enough but I agree with you that this 
 pestilent young Englishman and his reformed horse 
 will need watching. I have already arranged that 
 he should be watched." 
 
 So Daoud Shah, vapouring and sneering, and the 
 Toork listening uneasily, the choice spirits rode away 
 together towards the city. David, after watching 
 them out of sight and dismissing his men, strolled 
 down to the river bank to watch the boatmen catch 
 logs, and run them into the sand-bank. As he 
 approached the bank, a considerable hubbub arose 
 just below the palace steps. A great rice barge had 
 collided with one of His Excellency's boats, and the 
 Kashmiri boatmen were indulging in loud abuse, 
 which chiefly took the form of destroying the credit 
 of each other's female relatives. The Kashmiri is 
 a huge muscular animal with a gift for quarrelsome
 
 DUBBAB AND FESTIVAL 215 
 
 language which he is much too much of a poltroon to 
 convert into any form of action. After endeavouring 
 to get one set of boatmen to board the other's boat 
 without avail David bade them sternly cease their 
 clamour lest he beat them, and then moved up the 
 bank to watch the state boats getting ready for the 
 evening's festival. At the Festival of Spring it is 
 the custom for half the town to come down the river 
 after dark in boats, illuminated to the counter with 
 myriads of chirags, small earthen lamps with a wick set 
 in mustard oil, the which give a fairyland effect of 
 great beauty. On the banks of the river the roofs of 
 the houses, the window sills, and the door plinths 
 would be similarly illuminated. It had been the 
 custom during the last few years for the Governor to 
 go in procession in his own illuminated barges to dinner 
 with some noble, and this evening was to be no 
 exception. Therefore it was that the state barges 
 were being got ready for the evening. 
 
 Having whiled away half an hour or so for no better 
 reason than that some sight or sign of the Lady Miriam 
 might be vouchsafed; David bethought himself of 
 work to do that afternoon out at his camp, and went 
 in search of his orderly and his horse. There was still 
 a squad of young troopers with whose riding he was 
 not quite satisfied, and to whom Ganesha Singh had 
 been giving an extra polish ; he had promised to see 
 them that afternoon. Tone also wanted him to 
 see the new mountain gun equipment. Back, there- 
 fore, to camp he rode, intending to return in time to 
 join in His Excellency's state progress. He had a 
 boat of his own, which six of his troopers could paddle 
 for him, and would come in that. That boat would 
 be in waiting below the slopes of the Throne of Soloman, 
 above the city, and he would ride across from his 
 cantonment to it when his work was over. So planning,
 
 216 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 David swung himself on to his horse and started for 
 the Dhall at a hand canter. On his way through the 
 Lai Bazaar he saw Daoud Shah in converse with half 
 a dozen of the wildest looking hillmen as could well 
 be imagined. They were dressed in slate-grey shirts 
 and short loose drawers with a kummerbund stuck with 
 pistols and knives. Gul Jan, who was with him, 
 thought they must be Afridis from the Khyber, but 
 as a matter of fact they were men from the Black 
 Mountain come to see life in Kashmir. 
 
 It was after five before David could get away from 
 his parade ground, and dark before he arrived at the 
 bank where his shikara * awaited him. He called to 
 them to light up the little lamps and row down to 
 the landing steps of the Shergarhi, where he would 
 join the Governor's procession. It was down stream, 
 and the stout arms of his troopers soon brought the 
 light-weight boat down to the Palace. Here, however, 
 he was annoyed to find that His Excellency had left 
 ten minutes earlier, and that he was too late to accom- 
 pany the Governor's party. It was vexatious, very ! 
 He had so hoped that he might have had speech with 
 the Lady Miriam, and now he had probably missed 
 the opportunity, and David swore audibly to himself 
 after the manner of the English, at which old Gul 
 Jan looked up and chuckled ; how like his father the 
 boy was at times ! But fortune sometimes cometh 
 to a man with both hands full. A figure stepped out 
 from the shade of the Watergate above, and called 
 out, " Is that our boat, Wazir Sahib ? " It was Miriam 
 herself. 
 
 " Nay, Lady," called the overjoyed David. " I have 
 this boat for you." 
 
 Now, this was not strictly true, and suggested that 
 
 * A canoe-like boat propelled by paddles.
 
 DURBAR AND FESTIVAL 217 
 
 he had been specially left for her, but all is fair in 
 love. 
 
 " How provoking of them to go on. Is that you; 
 Ferassa Sahib ? Will you help me down ? " 
 
 Then David stepped on to the plinth and held out 
 his hand, and for the first time held that fairy hand 
 firmly in his, and very small and warm and fascinating 
 it was, as he helped her down and over the gunwale 
 into the little lacquered cupola in the stern of the 
 boat. 
 
 " There is not much room here, Sahib. You had 
 better sit down on the cushions here beside me." And 
 then to some one up above, " You come in the next 
 boat, Amah. I shan't want any one. I shall join the 
 Bibi Sahib's in the city," and then bade David push off. 
 
 It has been said that fortune cometh once and 
 again with full hands. With the right she brought 
 the Lady Miriam, with the left she offered David a 
 seat beside her, a seat too, away from the crew who 
 were steered by the leading paddle and not from the 
 stern. 
 
 " Lady," began David, " I I have long wanted to 
 hear that you are no worse for our ride together, and 
 your brave deeds that day." 
 
 " Ferassa Sahib, how can you talk of my brave 
 deeds when I but sat the horse beside you and dear 
 old Yar Khan. It was you. You, who rode as if 
 you had been a governor all your life, and reassured 
 the people, aye, and hanged that wicked Kommadan" 
 
 " Lady, an English poet wrote, ' They also serve 
 who only stand and wait,' my father often read it to 
 my mother. If you had not ridden so patiently and 
 bravely beside us, I could not have gone through 
 the part." 
 
 " Ah, now tell me more of your mother; and the 
 English. You told me your mother was an Afghan
 
 218 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 lady. It was a remarkable thing that she should 
 marry an Englishman." 
 
 " Not at all, Lady Miriam. Sitting here with you 
 it seems the most natural thing in the world, for an 
 Englishman or half an Englishman to marry an Afghan 
 lady." 
 
 And it must be admitted that David was making 
 considerable progress in the art of serious love-making, 
 which is perhaps the way of men of action. At any 
 rate, the attack was too direct for Miriam to notice, 
 and the two remained silent, David's heart beating 
 as it had never beat before, and seeing now clear before 
 him the course he would pursue, and the goal he would 
 arrive at. 
 
 Then David said, " Though I speak of my father as 
 English, he was really of another tribe that is allied 
 with them, and sends many officers and men out to 
 Hindostan. He was really a Scotchman, and they are a 
 people who live up in great mountains like the Afghans, 
 and would often fight among themselves. Tell me; 
 Lady Miriam, would you come and be the wife of a 
 Scotch adventurer in Hindostan, and live the life 
 that a freelance lives ? Would you trust yourself 
 alone for ever with a Frank ? " 
 
 It was a fairly abrupt proposal of marriage, far 
 different from the ceremonious come and go of agents 
 and matchmakers that would precede such matters 
 in a high-grade Afghan family. But then Miriam 
 had been leading a life far different from that of an 
 ordinary maid of her class. Then there were other 
 differences. An Afghan marriage meant to share or 
 rule a home till another was brought to rule or to 
 quarrel; but this man, after the manner of the Frank, 
 had said alone and for ever ! And Miriam, like many 
 another maid of Europe, never doubted that it would 
 be so. Therefore, being free of guile, or just as free as
 
 DURBAR AND FESTIVAL 219 
 
 those can be that have no other weapon, she looked up 
 into David's face and put her hand in his. Whereon 
 that young man did something quite unknown to 
 Miriam's conception of courtship. He moved the 
 light veil aside and kissed her twice, once on the 
 forehead and once on the lips. On the forehead for 
 respect, and the lips for love, since ' the love that is 
 purest and sweetest has a kiss of desire on the lips.' 
 All of which lay strictly outside the proper curriculum 
 of courtship as revealed by old Amah. 
 
 And all the while the shikara paddled easily down 
 the stream past the rows and rows of little lamps that 
 flickered along the housetops and the plinths, and were 
 reflecting a thousand times in the slowly rolling Jhelum. 
 Past other boats beautifully illuminated, and great 
 rice bargos fifteen feet in the sheer that loomed all 
 the blacker for a row of lights on their lofty lumbering 
 stern. Past, too, the latticed verandahs that overhung 
 the water, past the temples in which the great bronze 
 conches brayed out the hour of worship. Past the 
 mosques whence the muezzin again insisted, " Prayer 
 is better than sleep ! Prayer is better than sleep 1 " 
 as if any one had any intention of sleeping and very 
 few of praying at that hour, at any rate. Then 
 perhaps because Gul Jan was fofrgetful and thoughtless; 
 or perhaps because he was very wise and knew the 
 ways of sahibs, the shikara ran close in, under the 
 gloom of the plinths, within the glare of the lamps, 
 seeing and unseen, and glided down under the great 
 piles of the bridges and past all the bands and musicians 
 and laughing chattering crowds, till half the night 
 might have passed away, while whispered the wind and 
 murmured the water. 
 
 But there is a limit to all things, and when they 
 had passed the last bridge, Gul Jan thought the limit 
 had come.
 
 220 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Whore does your honour wish to go ? " 
 
 " Why, to the city reception hall, of course, where 
 the city merchants entertain His Excellency." 
 
 " We passed that five bridges ago." 
 
 " Oh, Gul Jan, you are careless. Why, His Excel- 
 lency expects the Lady Miriam, who sits here patiently 
 waiting for us to take her there." 
 
 " Whatever your honour orders shall be done swiftty. 
 Oh, foolish rowers ! about boat at once, and take the 
 presence and the lady to where they would go." 
 
 Sometimes, as David remembered noticing before, 
 the old orderly had a hint of banter in his respectful 
 speech. 
 
 Back, therefore, upstream against the current under 
 the illuminated bridges once again the shikara sped. 
 But it is not hard for two lovers to lose themselves 
 without being missed. Every one had thought the 
 Lady Miriam was with other ladies behind the grille. 
 Salabat Khan had thought she was with the ladies, 
 and they had thought she was with him. Only Yar 
 Khan's eyes closed a shade more than usual. And 
 she oh, she was quite clever enough to take advantage 
 of that, and then amid the glare and festivities, lost 
 ken of the immortal hour in the shikara till once again 
 she sat in the stern sheets of a boat, on the way back 
 to the palace.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE GEOVES OP ASHTAROTH 
 
 MIRIAM sat in her own boat following in the wake of 
 her brothers and his Begums. It was a long row back 
 against the current, and the rowers were chanting 
 as they swung their paddles. The short, quick stroke 
 changed now and again to a long, steady one, as the 
 head boatman changed the chant. The rowers 
 paddling on the bow side chanted to those on the other, 
 who answered back, " Allah pahunchdega ! Khuda 
 ka m rzi. Allah pahunchdega. Khuda ka m&rzi" 
 " God will bring us there, if it be His will. God will 
 bring us there, if it be His will." A short and quick 
 stroke, " Allah pahunchdega I Allah pahunchdega I " 
 changing to a long stroke, " Kudum durdz ! Kudum 
 diirdz ! Kudum durdz" and the paddle dipped deep 
 into the muddy Jhelumand the boat leapt to the changed 
 stroke. But the crowd of returning boats and sight- 
 seers rowing up and down was great. The pace had 
 to slow down, and Miriam's boat was separated from 
 the rest of the viceregal party. Shortly above the 
 fifth bridge there was a jam and the head boatman 
 turned aside by another canal that led towards the 
 Garden of Chenars. Here, however, the press seemed 
 no clearer, after proceeding half a mile it was not 
 even possible to turn. " Fool that I am ! " said 
 Kashmiru the head boatman, aloud. " Fool that I 
 
 221
 
 222 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 am. I have forgotten that this is the Feast of Spring, 
 and that the women go to the temple of Mahadeo." 
 
 " Without doubt," chorused the rowers, " we, too, 
 had forgotten, not being Hindus small shame to us. 
 What ken should the sons of Islam have of such things? " 
 
 There they lied in their hearts, for each one knew 
 that his forbears had been converted to Islam at 
 the swords' point, and that they cherished, half 
 unwittingly, it is true, many memories of the old 
 religion. Probably the wives of one or two were 
 actually taking part in the worship of the spirit of 
 nativity. Sons were needed, and if Islam would not 
 help the old gods might. It is ever thus in Hindostan. 
 
 Miriam heard Kashmiru's ejaculation, and called him. 
 " Where are we, Kashrniru ? When did you leave 
 the river ? I did not notice." 
 
 " I turned up here, Lady, to escape the crowd of 
 boats on the big river, meaning to turn round by the 
 canal of the waterlilies. But here we are jammed in 
 by many boats, and I had forgotten that this is the 
 night that the Hindu women attend at the templo 
 of Mahadeo, a curse on them for their idolatry, and 
 I cannot turn yet nor stop." 
 
 Miriam had often heard of the festival, of tho 
 mysteries and idolatries connected therewith. She had 
 some feeling of curiosity, and also of horror and dread, 
 since Islam abhors idols and saturnalia. Old Amah 
 drowsed with her head on her knees outside the curtains 
 of Miriam's awning. 
 
 " Amah, come here ! Come here, I say ! Do you 
 know where we are ? We are jammed in a stream 
 of Hindu women going by boat to the temple of 
 Mahadeo. It is the night of the Festival of Spring." 
 
 Old Amah stirred herself. Here was something 
 unexpected, and quite out of her ordinary mental 
 horizon.
 
 THE GEOVES OF ASHTABOTH 223 
 
 " The Lady Miriam ought not to be here." 
 
 " The Lady Miriam knows that quite well. The Lady 
 Miriam also wants to see something of the crowd. Did 
 you ever go, Amah ? " 
 
 Now, once, many years ago, Amah had been slave 
 to a wealthy Hindu's wife. Amah had gone with her 
 mistress. 
 
 " The Lady Miriam must not go, His Excellency 
 would never forgive her. It is no place for a Mussul- 
 mani." 
 
 " I know that, Amah, but here we are and we cannot 
 help seeing something of it." Miriam turned to 
 Kashmiru. " Send a man to the palace to see if we 
 are missed, and if so, to say that we are kept back 
 by the crowd of boats. If we are not missed, he had 
 better say nothing." 
 
 Kashmiru did as he was bid, and the boat paddled 
 on with the crowd. From behind came up a long gaily- 
 lit boat, the rowers singing merrily. To avoid them 
 Kashmiru turned his steering paddle inwards just 
 as they were alongside a row of sunken stakes, whence 
 the recent floods had carried away a pier. Eip r-r-rip 
 went the side planking below the water, and Miriam's 
 boat filled with water. Just as she had realized what 
 had happened, the shining boat, with the singing 
 crew drew alongside, and a silver voice said, " Jump 
 in here, lady, quick, or you'll be in the water. Steady, 
 Muhamdu, don't you see that the Begum's boat is 
 sinking. Steady ! " 
 
 Muhamdu shouted to his crew, who backwatered, 
 while the lady of the boat dragged Miriam over her 
 gunwale, and after her poor dripping old Amah. 
 
 Kashmiru swore again, and his crew dragged the 
 half sunken boat to the bank. Miriam called to him. 
 
 " Come with me, Kashmiru, with two rowers ; the 
 remainder stay on the bank by our boat."
 
 224 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Muhamdu, the head mhanji of the new-comers' 
 boat, turned her stern to the shore to allow Miriam's 
 men to come aboard, which they did, carrying their 
 paddles, while Miriam, whose toes only had got wet, 
 entered the curtained awning in which sat the owner 
 who had come to her assistance, and had also been the 
 cause of the accident. Miriam expected to see the 
 wife of some rich Hindu merchant or Brahmin pundit 
 of the city going to the festival, a mirror of decorum 
 save on an occasion of license such as she understood 
 this to be. Through the waving curtains, however, 
 the light from the chirags flickering on the gunwales 
 by the prow, shone on a figure clothed more glitteringly 
 than a Hindu matron. The same light showed to the 
 owner of the silver voice, the look of some surprise, 
 or rather the turn of the half-veiled head, and said 
 
 " Whom have I had the pleasure of assisting ? " 
 
 " I am a lady from the Shergarhi, of an officer's 
 family, and you ? " 
 
 " I, Lady, am Azizun the dancer . . . are you 
 ashamed to be assisted by me ? " 
 
 Miriam was for the moment taken aback. Not 
 only had she by the merest chance got separated 
 from her own party, and become part of a procession 
 of Hindu women going to a saturnalian festival that 
 all of her creed abhorred, which all the same she 
 had a rnind to see the beginning, but now by un- 
 toward chance she was sitting cheek by jowl with one 
 of the most notorious dancing women in the province. 
 She, like every one else, knew Azizun by name, for 
 the zenanas, even the inner seclusion, know all the 
 evil gossip of the outside world, else would life, indeed, 
 be dull, and she knew also that the dancer held high 
 sway over the Lord Altamish. Further, she had 
 never inquired, and had no desire to know. Therefore, 
 it was not surprising that she should show perturbation
 
 THE GKOVES OP ASHTABOTH 225 
 
 at the strange company in which chance had thrown 
 her. 
 
 Then Azizun did a wise thing. All the devil in 
 her prompted jest and jibe and a high horse, which 
 would have made Miriam summon Kashmiru and 
 insist on landing on the mud bank. She refrained, 
 and a softer strain took possession of the hour. She 
 laid her richly ringed hand on Miriam's arm, and said 
 with a hint of falter in her voice 
 
 " Turn not from me, Lady ; I am what fate has made 
 me. I rule princes, but am outcaste, yet was not 
 born so." 
 
 Miriam knew well that ninety per cent, of the 
 dancer grade have been born of a long line of matri- 
 archal forebears of the same trade, but here was a 
 hint of tragedy. 
 
 " Tell me your story, Azizun. But stop, where are 
 we ? How can I get a boat ? " 
 
 " Lady, I am going to the great festival of Mahadeo, 
 not to pray, for I have no right, and am Mussulman! 
 born ; I go to see the tatnasha.* You can't get a boat. 
 It will take us more than half an hour to get to the 
 sunken temple in this press. I can send you back 
 in this boat either to the Shergarhi or till you can 
 find another. After the women have all arrived at 
 the temple the canal will be clear." 
 
 " I must avail myself of your offer, unless Kashmiru 
 can find a boat at the temple stairs. Tell me, then, while 
 we wait, your story. You say you are a Mussulmani." 
 
 " Aye, and Kashmiri, too. Well I remember my 
 father's hut on the hillside above the Sinde, and the 
 long-haired goats with the big horns that I used to 
 watch, while my mother would plait my hair. In 
 the summer we took our flocks up to Sonainarg, and 
 I played with my brothers and the goats in the beautiful 
 * Show. 
 
 Q
 
 226 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 marg * covered in flowers. Often, often I try and 
 remember more." 
 
 The break in Azizun's voice increased, and Miriam 
 grew interested. 
 
 " What happened then to take you away ? " 
 " One day in early autumn there came by some 
 Afghan slave merchants ; we were all alone in the 
 hillside, and they carried rne off, and one of my brothers 
 too. My father did not know and could not have 
 helped if he had. I hardly remember what happened, 
 but I only know that I was brought with other children, 
 mostly girls, from the Siah Posh Kafirs to Istaliff, 
 and kept there. I can remember playing with other 
 children and being not unkindly treated, till one day 
 we were taken to the Kabul slave market and sold. 
 An old Kazilbash bought me, and I grew up a rnaid 
 in his household in Ghuzni. I was taught to sing and 
 dance, and my master took a great fancy to me. I 
 was given the best apartments, and all the women 
 hated me. But what cared I for such a life, with 
 an old white-bearded man ! He had a son who was a 
 captain of horse in the Emperor's service. I saw him 
 first one day in our walled garden, and we had many 
 meetings. I cared not for him, but anywhere to 
 get out from such a cage I, a Kashmiri girl of the 
 hills ! He was going south to the Punjab, and asked 
 me to go with him, and climbing the fig-tree by the 
 river wall at the end of my master's house, he lifted 
 me with ropes over the wall, delighted at stealing his 
 father's best slave. We rode south together, but he 
 was killed at Lahore, and I was sold again, to find 
 myself in the slave harem of a Mogul noble at Delhi. 
 Him I hated too, though I became his favourite dancer, 
 and even danced for the Emperor to see. That was 
 be-fore they blinded him." 
 
 * Meadow.
 
 THE GROVES OF ASHTAROTH 227 
 
 By this time Miriam" was watching the narrator 
 with intense interest. She knew enough of life in 
 the North to know how true the story might well be; 
 and Amah had told her many a similar tale, but here 
 before her was an actual victim of the lawless life of 
 Central Asia. 
 
 " I now rule a Toork noble as I ruled that Mogul 
 and the old Kuzilbash, but only once have I loved a 
 man, Lady. He' was a Frank " at which Miriam's 
 attention deepened. " He came I know not whence, 
 to the court at Delhi, and I danced before him. That 
 night I know not how, but these Franks are daring, 
 an old woman brought a message that if I would come 
 with him he would get me away. I sent word to say 
 that I hated my present master, and all about him 
 and would come at once. That very morning, by 
 means I have never yet understood, the Keeper of the 
 Zenana came to me and touched me while I slept. 
 I expected a summons to await on my lord, with my 
 zithar, but was surprised to follow the passage to 
 the main gate that I had not seen for two years. The 
 gate opened, and a bullock cart with curtains was 
 outside. I found myself driven out into the country, 
 the open country that I used to love, and eventually 
 came to some tents in a palm grove. I was led in to 
 find the young Frank I had seen at the nautch. He 
 asked if I was ready to follow him, and if so could I 
 sit a horse at once, as they must be fifty miles away 
 from Delhi by nightfall. I would go anywhere or 
 do anything to live in the open, and away we rode 
 in an hour's time, with his fifty troopers behind him, 
 to seek service of Scindiah. We had a happy year 
 together, and then, alas, he was killed in a fight with 
 the Moguls. ' Dying in his own camp he gave me all 
 he had, and I took to being a dancer on my own account, 
 training others likewise. Now you see me here,
 
 228 
 
 mistress of a Toork noble, for want of some one better : 
 spurn me if you like. You know the sort of life I 
 lead, and how I once minded goats in a Kashmir 
 valley." 
 
 There were tears in the dancing girl's eyes at the end 
 of the brief outline of her story. It was probably 
 true, and Miriam knew by repute of how the Afghan 
 and Uzbeg slave-dealers raided and stole far and wide, 
 and how the Mussalmani dancer and courtesan was 
 often the victim of such. A girl from the hills of 
 Kashmir ever fetched a high price in the markets of 
 the East. The lass who ' minded goats upon a hill, 
 sing hey, sing ho, a grassy hill,' might rise to heights 
 of infamy or even heights of honour through the 
 medium of the slave-dealer's yard. Poor Azizun 
 had come to power and infamy instead of power and 
 honour, and indeed it was the more likely fate. The 
 girl from the hillside whose ' hair was black and bright 
 and wild, sing hey, sing ho, so bright and wild,' ought 
 to have been left to live her contented life there, and 
 not taught with bitter teaching to prey on men. 
 Miriam wondered if girls were sold as slaves in the 
 English provinces, and who the young Frank was that 
 had carried off Azizun, then turning swiftly to the 
 dancer as a wave of sympathy welled up within her 
 
 " I believe it all, Azizun, and, indeed, you have had 
 a sad hard life. I will never turn from you, at least 
 in my thoughts, for we shall not meet again." 
 
 " Ah, Lady," returned poor Azizun, still in her soft 
 mood, "it is seldom enough that such as I get a kind 
 word or a kind thought ; we fight for our own hand, 
 and men and women are against us." 
 
 And the two sat awhile in silence while the rowers 
 paddled on. 
 
 " Allah pdhunchaega ! Khuda ka mdrzi I Allah 
 Pdhunchaega ! Khuda fea mtrzi I "
 
 THE GROVES OF ASHTAROTH 229 
 
 While they sat Miriam was turning over in her mind 
 the story she had just heard, and wondering all the 
 time how she could best get back to the palace. 
 
 Outside, Kashmiru and Muhamdu were carrying 
 on a low-voiced discussion. Kashmiru soon dis- 
 covered who the inmate of the curtained awning was, 
 and began by expressing his disgust. Muhamdu, how- 
 ever, was able to remind him of the time when he, 
 too, was head mhanji to a lady of the same persuasion, 
 and Kashmiru changed his tone. What the Governor 
 was likely to say or do if he knew what had happened 
 was a much more important matter, with which 
 Muhamdu could frankly sympathize. Looked at 
 from an orthodox point of view, it was a mess, and 
 the best solution that the latter could see was that 
 when Azizun landed, Muhamdu and his crew should 
 row Miriam back, and merely appear as the crew 
 and boat that had been able to assist the palace lady. 
 
 Azizun was not the woman to remain in silence, 
 and soon recovered from her unwonted sadness and 
 the effects of her recital of her story. 
 
 " The Lady is going to the festival." 
 
 " Certainly not, Azizun ; I must get back to the 
 palace." 
 
 " It will be some time after we get to the temple 
 ghaut before the canal will be clear. If you will trust 
 me I will show you the idol worshippers at their 
 opening ceremonies." 
 
 " It is no fit place for a Mussalmani." 
 
 " It is not, except as a spectator of other folks' evil. 
 If you come with me I will take care that you only see 
 that which is fitting. Azizun knows it all, but will 
 not take the lady of the palace. It is not fit for her." 
 
 For the moment Miriam bridled at the suggestion 
 of patronage, implied, but quickly saw that it was 
 far preferable to an assumption that she might fitly
 
 230 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 be present. Then the excitement of the occasion was 
 considerable. By a stream of favouring chances she 
 was in a position to view in the hands of a competent 
 guide one of the forbidden sights. The spirit of 
 adventure stirred within her. Already that night a 
 new world had opened. She would also explore for a 
 while another side passage. 
 
 " I will come, Azizun, with you for a while, if you 
 promise to help me away, when I want to leave. It 
 is not meet that I should see any of those doings that 
 are said to take place as the festival proceeds." 
 
 " Lady, I will see that you do not. We will see the 
 women pray in the outer temples of Mahadeo, the 
 women who want big, strong sons, and fear they will 
 have daughters to dower ; the women who have no 
 sons to take their husband's ashes to the Holy Ganges, 
 and close their dying lips." 
 
 The worship of Hinduism in its popular and unphilo- 
 sophical forms, takes chiefly the shape of worship of 
 that great creative force of nature, the great spring 
 of the world, the flocks in their abundance, the fields 
 in their fertility, the trees in all their blossom, so 
 fully amplified in early Kashmir, the whole world 
 obeying the great injunction of nature to be fruitful 
 and multiply. To the simple world and the simple 
 mind of a Hindu people, ever present is the tragedy 
 of the barren woman and the unwanted wife. So 
 once a year do Hindu women proceed, as did those 
 of Egypt and the stately Roman matron, to worship 
 and to fall before the emblems of the forces of nature, 
 Then, since human folk have strong and wild passions 
 when civilization fails them, there come strange tales 
 of frenzy from the inner scenes of the women's festivals, 
 to which no male save the officiating priests may be 
 present. Shorn of its animal side it is but the worship 
 of eternity and of " Death trod under a fair girl's feet,"
 
 THE GEOVES OF ASHTAEOTH 231 
 
 So towards the sunken temple of Mahadeo, that 
 for half the year and more lies deserted, sped the boats, 
 and with them Miriam the maiden and Azizun the 
 courtesan. The boats jammed at the temple ghat 
 and the torches flickered and the chirags leapt, as 
 laughing, chattering women bundled out of their 
 curtained boats and scurried from among the crowd 
 of boatmen to the seclusion of the awning alley, which 
 ran through the arch of carved grey stone. Away in 
 the depths of a grove of trees temple bells were clanging, 
 and conches brayed to the blowing of some stout- 
 lunged priest. The crowd of hurrying women carried 
 Miriam and Azizun along, the former clutching at 
 the dancer's arm. They soon found themselves jammed 
 within the dark, cool entrance of a low vaulted stone 
 temple. The damp on the stones shone with the flicker 
 of the chirags, and the air was heavy with scent of 
 marigold and white chdmpah and the sickly aroma 
 of the burning incense. Through the darkness and 
 gloom that the lights only heightened, loomed the 
 great figure of ' the God of the sensuous fire,' and 
 around a flicker from a lamp would show the weird, 
 unholy carvings, the ' symbols of death and of man's 
 desire,' the organs of birth and the circlets of bones; 
 while Miriam of the clean creed of Islam shuddered 
 and gripped her guide tighter. 
 
 Round the figure of the god, faint in the gloom, 
 bowed and bent the figures of kneeling women, 
 swaying to the deep, low chant that came from none 
 knew whence. It rose and fell and swelled again; 
 till the swaying forms murmured responses or the 
 sharp cry of some woman, uplifted with hysterical 
 emotion, broke in on the cadence. Behind the giant 
 figure in the depths of shadow, amid the loose loves 
 carved on the temple stones, the inner recesses stretched 
 away in blackness unlit by the fitful flames. In vain
 
 232 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Miriam's eyes and thoughts tried to penetrate the 
 imagined mysteries beyond. The volume of the chant 
 gamed intensity, and the joint will of the multitude 
 was asserting itself till the suggestion of savage, 
 primitive instinct became all -pervading. The heavy, 
 scented atmosphere vibrated with the will and desires 
 of the many. 
 
 " Take me away, Azizun ! Take me out of this ! " 
 gasped Miriam, and she felt herself drawn down some 
 side cloister away from the obsession of the untamed 
 spirit of female force. A cool, soft breeze struck her 
 heated cheek, and the whispered sound of the west 
 wind's breath sighed through the cloister. The temple 
 chanting sounded afar off, and a soft light shone before 
 them. A mild, clear voice spoke. 
 
 " What seek my sisters in the cloistered cell ? " 
 
 Azizun whispered, " 'Tis the ascetic swami of the 
 garden shrine. He has been in the garden, men say, 
 for fifty years and more. Answer him. Answer him. 
 Say we seek escape from the crowd within. Nay ! 
 Stay ! They say he is a seer. Ask what the future 
 may have in store." 
 
 " We seek to escape from the crowd and heat of 
 the temple." 
 
 " Rest awhile, my sisters, surely it is well to rest; 
 and to leave the whirl of human life. Seek ye peace 
 on the road untold ? 'Tis hard to come by. You 
 do well to break away from the ignorant crowds 
 within." 
 
 " Can we get out ? We are not shut in ? " 
 
 " Surely ye can get out. Shall I lead you to the 
 water's edge?" 
 
 " We crave leave to rest, but are afraid of the noise 
 and heat of the temple." 
 
 " There is nothing to fear here. It is but the thought 
 and knowledge of man and woman that you heard.
 
 THE GROVES OF ASHTAROTH 283 
 
 Do you fear the secret tale of the emblems ? Do 
 you seek God's purpose or trace His plans ? " 
 
 " We would know something of our life to come." 
 
 " Ah ! that is ever man's desire, and little may be 
 revealed. Each age is a dream that is passing, and 
 sufficient unto the hour are the happenings thereof. 
 What lies in your own minds, or in the minds of others 
 regarding yourselves, that, perhaps, I can help you 
 realize. Come with me ! " 
 
 The swami led the two out through a side porch into 
 an open court, where the sounds from the temple did 
 not reach and the babel of the rowers without came 
 but faint on the night air. Straight overhead Orion 
 shone clear and Auriga twinkled across to Gemini, 
 while the world slept to the wind's crooning. The sweet 
 smell of white rose and narcissus softened the air, and 
 the west wind whispered again. Before a small shrine 
 the swami stopped and bade them enter, and then it 
 was that Miriam recognized the memory that had been 
 haunting her these ten minutes past. The voice was as 
 the voice of Jean Armande du Plessis. Soft and kind 
 and dead to the world, with ever the trend to things 
 of the spirit, the voices of men at peace. 
 
 Once again they found themselves before a Hindu 
 god, but this time their gaze fell, not on the horrors 
 of creation incarnate, but on the stately brow and 
 folded hands of Indra. A very different lesson 
 emanated from the black marble presentment . . . 
 peace in the uttermost borders and strength on a road 
 untold. A small fire burned before the deity. 
 
 " Sister, here before the mighty Indra I will unfold 
 something of a Brahmin's knowledge. Look now 
 into the fire. That which you may see is for your 
 own information or for ours as well, as your heart 
 may choose. Now look ! " 
 
 Miriam gazed into the fire, which slowly seemed to
 
 234 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 rise and spread to a sheet of blue flame, clear and 
 steady as a mirror. And in this mirror Miriam saw 
 David Eraser, not as she had known him that evening, 
 she had yet no time to ponder on the day's happenings ; 
 but as she loved to think of him, the day he rode through 
 the city, at the head of his procession, for all the world 
 to see. She remained silent and the sicami spoke 
 again. 
 
 " You have seen that which your own thoughts 
 frame. Now look again." 
 
 And there came another vision. This time in a 
 garden by the shores of a lake a figure of an Afghan 
 paced up and down. His face was gnarled and scared, 
 and the beetling brows were knit in thought. 
 
 " Azizun ! Azizun ! I see the Afghan who was with 
 the Lord Altamish that day we rode through the city 
 from the Hari Parbat. I know him by the cleft in 
 his forehead, He walks in a garden by the lake 
 shore." 
 
 " You have seen, sister, some one whose thoughts 
 are bent on you." 
 
 Miriam gripped Azizun's arm again in sudden fear. 
 Why should she see in the flames this strange, fierce 
 man? 
 
 " Who is he, Azizun ? Why does he think of me ? " 
 
 " It must be the Afghan Sirdar Daoud Shah ; but 
 why he should think of you I know not, But stay ! 
 Who are you ? " 
 
 " I am Miriam, the sister of His Excellency Salabat 
 Khan." 
 
 And then Azizun cried aloud, " Why, oh why did I 
 bring you here ? I must take you home : come away. 
 Oh, sir ! show us the shore and help us find our boat." 
 
 " Sisters, be not troubled. You see but the thoughts 
 of men, or your own free thoughts ; but, come, I will 
 show you the shore. Forget if the phantoms have
 
 THE GEOVES OF ASHTAROTH 235 
 
 prophesied woe. Here in this garden none may molest 
 you. Come again when you seek peace and rest." 
 
 And he led them by courts and plinths to the water- 
 side. Azizun ran towards the boats, calling Muhamdu, 
 to find happily that her boat had pushed out clear 
 of the crowd and was tethered near by, the water 
 muttering under the prow and the rowers asleep on 
 the bank. The frightened Miriam hurried after her, 
 forgetting to bid the swami farewell as he stood, tall 
 and thin and serene, his faded eyes watching and 
 wondering as she sped. 
 
 " Put out all the lights, Muhamdu, and pull for 
 the Shergarhi. Is the Lady Miriam's head mhanji 
 there ? " 
 
 Kashmiru's deep voice attested his presence, and 
 Miriam heard the note of relief in it. 
 
 In silence and darkness they paddled past the jam 
 of boats at the gliat of the sunken temple down the 
 now empty canal and out again into the open Jhelurn, 
 to find at last the palace steps silent and deserted and 
 Miriam's own mhanji awaiting them. 
 
 "Ruzoorl His Excellency was delayed at a fire 
 in the city, and coming home late thought you had 
 arrived and gone in. I told him all was well." 
 
 Silently Miriam stepped out of the boat, and turning 
 to Azizun whispered 
 
 " All is well, and I thank you for your care. It was 
 all my doing that I went to the temple, and you brought 
 me out safely." 
 
 " Good-night, Lady, and remember that if Miriam, 
 the Governor's sister, ever wants aid from the broken 
 cowrie of seven markets, from Azizun the dancer, she 
 has but to send for it." 
 
 Up the steps and past the drowsy sentry, too 
 sleepy even to wonder why ladies roamed so late, 
 Miriam sped to her own apartments,
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 TROUBLE ON THE BORDER 
 
 WHEN Daoud Shah meant mischief in Upper India, 
 mischief there usually was. Hill tribes are queer rest- 
 less things, chiefly because hills breed many and feed 
 few. They, or at any rate their young men, are ever 
 ready to listen to any suggestion for inroad and raid 
 on their neighbours. When that suggestion comes 
 from so expert a stirrer of men as our wandering Afghan 
 of the Beni-Israel and his chosen assistants, there was 
 nothing to be expected but trouble prompt and wide- 
 spread. To each and all of the tribes Daoud Shah had 
 sent the message most likely to disturb them. To the 
 Black Mountain he had sent word of intended foreign 
 colonies in Hazara. To the Sayads of Khagan he 
 wrote of their alleged claim to the Lolab valley, and 
 the views of the Toork faction on that same subject, 
 and how the Lord Altamish intended that they should 
 have the land. To Tangir and Darel away in the 
 Trans-Indus Kohistan, he sent word that the Afghan 
 governor was about to invade Tangir, and levy the old 
 forgotten tribute of maidens. 
 
 Then to the Black Mountain tribes of the Sons of 
 Joseph, he betook himself in person, close on the heels 
 of his messengers, and arrived in time to find the full 
 tribal jirgahs Bitting in full-thing on his first message. 
 
 236
 
 TKOUBLE ON THE BORDEB 287 
 
 Now a full jirgah of a large tribe is very important and 
 not unlike the old Full- Thing of the Anglo-Saxons. 
 Each of the clans and sub-clans had sent their repre- 
 sentatives with a goodly following, so that when the 
 jirgah itself sits, it is surrounded at a respectful distance 
 with a ring of clansmen, every one armed to the teeth 
 partly out of respect to the meeting, but chiefly in case 
 of accidents. Accidents often happen. The clans and 
 sub-clans have quarrels, and these are often fought out 
 on the way to and from the gathering. It is not 
 unknown in the case of heated arguments for a member 
 to fire his bell-mouthed pistol into his neighbour's side. 
 
 Outside the great ring in which the elders and 
 representatives sit, the tribal musicians will be in 
 attendance, their doles throbbing to the pulse of the 
 meeting. 
 
 Eight into the midst of this one morning in early 
 June then, rode Daoud Shah himself, attended by two 
 of his following, and dismounting outside the ring 
 strode into the centre and called out the peace greeting, 
 " Salaam Alek" to which came back the answer, 
 " Alekum Salaam." The mass of the jirgah sat in some 
 astonishment. Who was the assured stranger who 
 thus strode into their meeting ? It was a striking 
 scene. The elders sat on a grassy knoll outside a 
 village, with an outer circle of clansmen. The tall 
 loopholed mud towers of the village were covered with 
 women and children looking down on the gathering. 
 Slightly below the village lay a level piece of cultivated 
 ground, in which the young maize and buckwheat 
 showed a vivid green. Walnut, almond and peach 
 trees flourished dotted among the fields, with here and 
 there an outlying homestead, each with its mud tower 
 also. The said towers had solid mud and stone bases 
 that could not be undermined, and the only access to 
 an elevated doorway was by ladder, so that once inside
 
 238 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 the enemy could be defied. Round the little valley 
 rose the rugged hills now covered with violet and tulip 
 and the Prophet's flower. Above them rose the 
 slopes of the higher mountains where blue pine and 
 deodar and silver birch stretched to the snow line. 
 A few stacks of the dried stalks of last year's maize 
 remaining from the cattle's winter store added another 
 colour to the picture, and the ensemble was a well- 
 enough setting to an embryo parliament. Unfortu- 
 nately, that parliament, despite the beauty of its setting, 
 was discussing war and the making of war for the mere 
 fun and lust of it. Here and there an elder had pro- 
 tested, but the spirit of the tribe was evidently in 
 favour of it. The crops promised well and could be 
 left to themselves and the women. There was plenty 
 of ammunition in hand from the last war. Neighbours 
 in the Trans-Indus were friendly, and all seemed 
 propitious for a jaunt over into the Kashmir domain. 
 
 Matters were at this stage when Daoud Shah 
 himself put in an appearance, with the greeting of 
 peace, and the jirgah demanded who the new-comer 
 might be. Three of the elders at once rose. Daoud 
 Shah could be no stranger to those who had seen a 
 generation of the Great Anarchy. He had been mixed 
 up in too many rebellious risings and invasions for that. 
 One of the elders extended the hands of greeting to the 
 Afghan. He had been to Kabul and to Lahore, and 
 had ridden in the Afghan ranks to Agra. He and the 
 others well knew the power and reach and uncanny 
 influence that the man had so long wielded, and 
 hastened to receive him suitably. The subject then 
 before the jirgah was explained to him, and he was 
 asked to seat himself. He remained for a while a 
 listener, but before long an opportunity offered itself, 
 and he sprang to his feet to urge on them the wisdom 
 and advisability of an incursion into the Lolab.
 
 TEOUBLE ON THE BOEDER 239 
 
 " The beautiful valley of Kashmir which your 
 fathers used to share is yours by right. The province 
 is groaning under a Kabuli government. Will you 
 stand idle in your bare valleys when you can have milk 
 and honey for the asking ? Come and take tribute of 
 Kashmir, free tribes, men of the Black Mountain, 
 jowans * of the Kala Taka. Help us eject these 
 tyrants from Kabul and take your reward. Or if you 
 prefer it, go raid and disturb the near valleys for your 
 own hand. Men say in the bazaars of Srinagar that 
 this precious Governor is going to levy a tribute of 
 maids from you, as Imam-ud-Deen did fifty years ago ! 
 There are greybeards here who remember that." 
 
 And here the jirgdh groaned and their arms clashed. 
 " Come with me, sirdars and clansmen of the Black 
 Mountain. Send your lasJikars, f Men of the Hassan 
 Khel, Men of the Achakzai, or shall I say Women of 
 the Achakzai and Hassan Khel ! The game is a great 
 one, and you of the race of the Euzufzai can play it. 
 Your fathers did. Sirdar Khunrez Khan here did, ! as 
 I have seen with my own eyes." 
 
 And again the jirgah clashed and the young men 
 shouted. Daoud Shah burst out into viking vein. 
 
 " Ohe ! Wolves of the Achakzai. Ohe ! Warriors 
 of the Sons of Joseph. Sharpen your stabbing knives ! 
 Thrice prime your jezails ! Carry off cattle for your 
 wives and silk for your betrothed ! Over the moun- 
 tains and down to the valleys. Bole and throb the 
 doles. Skirl the surnai I J Who speaks of peace ? 
 Fie I Fie ! Greybeards must die 1 " 
 
 And Daoud Shah, the man of blood and mystery, sat 
 down well pleased with his day's work, while the young 
 men shouted again. For the moment the jirgah broke 
 up into groups. It seemed vain for the elders to 
 
 * Young men. f Annies. t A reed chanter.
 
 240 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 counsel moderation. Who cared for prudence ! One 
 large knot of elders talked together, and \vith three 
 aged white-bearded moolahs * and one younger one, 
 with dark set brows and thin, tightly closed lip. A 
 fanatic of fanatics. The elders, laymen, and priests 
 argued for prudence. Daoud Shah braced himself for 
 another effort. 
 
 " With the permission of the honourable jirgah, I 
 would speak again." 
 
 His rasping high-pitched voice rose over the babel 
 of tongues, and the groups broke away to reform the 
 great circle. 
 
 " men of Islam. Your Moolahs here say they are 
 against war, and that it is not lawful for Islam to war 
 with Islam. I tell you tribesmen and clans, men of 
 this mighty clan, that this Kabuli Governor of Kashmir 
 and his followers are not true Mussalmans. They 
 oppress the faithful, they favour the infidel dogs of 
 Hindu traders, who batten on the poor savings of 
 the followers of the blessed Prophet. So do they 
 oppress the faithful that I swear to you that to make 
 inroad into their territory is almost Jihad, a war of 
 religion ! Glory for all, and Heaven for those who 
 bleed ! Salabat Khan is rqfzi, a heretic, who consorts 
 with a Christian padre, and even worships at the shrine 
 of the Nazarene Iswi, near the mosque of Shah 
 Hamadan. Justice for the faithful clansmen ! Strike 
 for the faith ! Din Din ! Fateh Muhammad ! (The 
 Eaith ! The Faith ! Victory to Mahomed !) " 
 
 Then the fanatic-faced priest with the tight-closed 
 lips sprang up, and cried 
 
 " Din ! Din ! Fateh Muhammad ! " and began to 
 chant the Kalima, the creed of Islam. " La illah ha ! 
 II illah ho ! o Muhammad rasul il illah ! " (',' There 
 
 * Priests.
 
 TKOUBLE ON THE BOBDEE 241 
 
 is no God but the one God, and Mahomed is His 
 Prophet.") 
 
 Whereon the whole jirgah shouted as one man, " La 
 illah ha! il illah ho ! La illah ha ! il illah ho ! " till 
 the hillsides re-echoed with the ililillah, and the chant 
 changed to the deeper, " Glory for all, and Heaven for 
 those who bleed." An old moolah, with a raw red-dyed 
 beard, danced out beating a tomtom with both hands 
 till hearts and minds rang with fervour. There is no 
 roll of drum like to the drum ecclesiastic. 
 
 Then Khunrez Khan malik, as the shouting died 
 away, announced that according to the wish of the 
 tribe for a holy war, the lashkars would assemble at 
 the head of the valley, the afternoon of the day after 
 next, and every man was to bring a goatskin with five 
 days' rations therein. After which, with one more 
 shout of " Din I Din ! " the jirga melted away. 
 
 But how Daoud Shah managed to present a proposal 
 for a most unprovoked attack on a neighbour for pure 
 love of rapine and gain, as an enthusiastic righteous 
 war, is a marvel to this day, only to be accounted for 
 by the mysterious inhuman influence that the man 
 seemed to wield. 
 
 After some further conversation with Khunrez Khan 
 it was arranged that the tribal lashkar should appear 
 by the evening of the fifth day at the head of the Lolab 
 Valley, and in the passes above Gurais. Daoud Shah, 
 then scarcely waiting to partake of food, rode away 
 towards Chilas to still further disturb the countryside. 
 But he had so succeeded in imposing his will on the 
 clansmen that the preparations for the inroad went on 
 apace without him. The elders still regretted; as 
 elders will. To them war and rapine had lost much of 
 its savour. Dead men and burning hayricks were 
 wasteful features on a countryside, especially if it 
 happened to be their own. They knew well what 
 
 R
 
 242 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 retaliatory raids meant, and were by no means sure that 
 the power of the government of Kashmir was so low 
 as had been represented. But the young men ever 
 jostle the elders, and Daoucl Shah had the power to 
 charm. So war it was to be, for weal or for woe. 
 
 Far below the Black Mountain in the Jhelum valley, 
 Altamish and his myrmidons were seeking to reap 
 when the crop should be ready. The Toork nobles 
 sat ready watching for a sign, and agents busily 
 endeavoured to sow discontent in men's minds and 
 especially in the minds of any of Salabat Khan's troops. 
 The insinuator, the agitator, is always a danger ; well- 
 calculated remarks easily produce some fancied 
 grievance. Some of Altamish's agents were men of 
 acute and subtle brain-power. Mysterious stones were 
 spreading in the bazaars of oppressions and abductions, 
 tales of children stolen to sacrifice at the new cannon 
 foundry, or in the foundations of fortresses, and the 
 like. The Governor was contemplating fresh taxation. 
 The Emperor at Kabul was displeased with him and 
 intended to recall him, the Frank officers had insulted 
 the moolahs, and every other vain yet restless tale 
 seemed rife. 
 
 Among the Toork nobles Wali Dad had been especi- 
 ally active. The old feeling was thoroughly stirred and 
 petitions were sent to Kabul to have a Toork governor 
 appointed, and each and all of the sirdars were asked 
 if they would share in a joint enterprise to place 
 Altamish in the Governor's chair should opportunity 
 offer. A good deal of which came round to Yar 
 Khan's ears, without his being able to locate its origin 
 at all definitely, however-so-much he might suspect it. 
 
 The day after Daoud Shah had disappeared, Altamish 
 himself decided to pay a visit incognito, accompanied 
 only by Wali Dad, to the salon of Allah Visayah, and 
 see what that lady might be able to tell him either of
 
 TEOUBLE ON THE BORDER 243 
 
 Palace plans or the feelings of the soldiery, in both of 
 which she was well versed. Duly warned by Wali Dad 
 of his proposed visit, she had got rid of her morning 
 visitors, and with only a female attendant waited his 
 advent. The best tobacco and the best rosewater were 
 ready in the huqas, which stood resplendent in red 
 embroidered mouthpieces and lacquered metal stands. 
 Altamish climbed the narrow stairs that marred the 
 best of Indian houses with some difficulty, and sub- 
 sided into the rose silk Bokhara cushions out of wind 
 and short of temper. 
 
 However, the Begum understood the first essentials 
 of her business, and that was to induce good temper, 
 and the excellent huqa duly offered soon achieved this. 
 Altamish sat and drew at his mouthpiece and was 
 mollified. His visit being one of inquiry, he was at 
 pains to start various topics in the hope of coming by 
 way of chance on some of the clues he searched 
 for. 
 
 " I hear that there was some sort of a rising at the 
 Hari Parbat while His Excellency was away. Did you 
 hear much of it in the city ? " 
 
 " We heard, my Lord, that the Kommadan of the 
 Regiment of Victory was killed. He was hung, my 
 Lord." 
 
 " That was very sad." 
 
 " Very." 
 
 This was not very promising. Something more 
 leading was necessary. 
 
 " Why did they hang him ? " 
 
 " For trying to take possession of the fort for some 
 other chief." 
 
 " What made him do it ? " 
 
 " How should I know, my Lord ? " 
 
 " I should gladly pay a good deal to find out if 
 there is anything of the kind going on now."
 
 244 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Surely my Lord should know better than any one 
 else." 
 
 " I, woman ? I care little enough about intrigues; 
 save that a wise man likes to know the inner workings 
 of all things. I can make it worth your while to find 
 out." 
 
 " I can do a great deal, as my Lord knowest, if it is 
 worth my while. It was not my fault that the 
 Kommadan was hung. He was a friend of mine, and 
 ever treated me well." 
 
 " I know, I know. It was a great pity, but many 
 people were weary of Afghan rule, and were anxious 
 to rise. He did but misjudge the occasion. Now what 
 I will make it worth your while to do, is to find out 
 who there be now among the kommadans of the 
 regiments and forts who are weary of Salabat Khan. 
 That is information I really should pay well for. I 
 want to know who there be who will join another 
 rising against those Afghans ? " 
 
 " I know three already, and can find out what their 
 present ideas are, but I don't wish to see more of my 
 friends swinging on gate-tops." 
 
 " I think I can promise that that shall not happen 
 again. What I want is to get the fort kommadans 
 in the valley to rise against the Governor if a sign be 
 given." 
 
 And then Allah Visayah, ever eager for money and 
 more money, promised that she would do her best to 
 obtain the information that night, or by the next night 
 at latest. After which Altamish pulled at his huqa in 
 silence, while the lady twanged her zithar softly. To 
 such effect did her promises and her music move the 
 Toork that a bag of fifty ashrafis * were left in her ample 
 lap. 
 
 * Gold coins.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 WAR AND RUMOURS OF WAR 
 
 THE tale of woo from the border soon penetrated to 
 Srinagar. Hot-foot from the Lolab came messengers 
 to say that the tribesmen of the Black Mountain had 
 marched over the Basses into the head of the valley, 
 had burnt villages, were carrying off slaves, cattle and 
 women, and had in most cases overcome the local 
 kliassadars (militia). The few Kabuli settlers had 
 been obliged to fall back and the Kashmiri villagers 
 were flying for their lives. From the beautiful valley 
 of Gurais came similar tidings. A lashkar from Tangir 
 and Darel and Chilas was carrying off sheep from both 
 valley and uplands, having marched over the Burzil 
 and Kamri passes to join a party from the Black 
 Mountain who had come up the Kishenganga. The 
 small mud fort in the Gurais Valley near Kanzilwan 
 was invested. A small detachment of Afghan soldiery 
 reinforced by local khassadars was holding out against 
 a determined attack. Daoud Shah's evil influence 
 had spread the fiery cross against his fellow-countrymen 
 with a vengeance ! A wind blew and the people with 
 it, as people will when some unknown spirit moves 
 them. 
 
 Salabat Khan was no loiterer. He could not have 
 held his own in the Duranni Empire at the time 
 of the Great Anarchy had he been otherwise. He 
 
 245
 
 246 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 first sent off cossids to call out all the kliassadars of the 
 districts adjoining those threatened. Then he called 
 for his minister and Major David Fraser, his new-found 
 master of horse, who hurried post-haste to the Shergarhi. 
 The Governor demanded a statement of the strength 
 and location of his forces. Yar Khan produced an 
 exact tally. There were present in Srinagar the 
 following : 
 
 The Body Guard Eissaldh. 
 
 Ferassa Sahib's Eissalafi. 
 
 The Eegiment of Victory, 400 bayonets. 
 
 The Eegiment of Lightning, 100 bayonets. 
 
 Artillery, 3 mountain guns carried a ponytop ; 
 2 small mortars, ditto. 
 
 Away in the frontier posts and forts were the whole 
 of the Lai Kurta * Eegiment, while 300 men of the 
 Eegiment of Lightning were absent up the valley, 
 collecting revenue. One way and another perhaps a 
 thousand kliassadars armed with matchlock and knifo 
 were scattered about the valley. About 200 pack 
 ponies and 100 camels would also be immediately 
 available. The Toork nobles and Afghan landowners 
 should also be able to turn out 400 or 500 men. 
 
 The foregoing was an accurate resume of resources, 
 and Yar Khan argued that it would be as well to get 
 the Toork retainers away with them rather than leave 
 them unwatched in the country. But it was one 
 thing to take stock of resources, and another to decide 
 where to apply them. The enemy had overrun two 
 different parts. Where should the Kashmir force 
 strike ? The temptation to separate the forces was 
 great ; to send some of the Kashmir troops to the 
 Lolab, the remainder to Gurais. Against this Yar 
 Khan protested. He had learnt the great lesson of 
 
 * Red coated.
 
 WAR AND RUMOURS OF WAR 247 
 
 war, in a bitter school. That lesson was as old as the 
 world. It is to concentrate at the decisive point. So 
 simple to enunciate ! So difficult to put into practice ! 
 Where was the decisive point ? A leading question, 
 indeed, with an elusive answer. Yar Khan had one, 
 however, for the old man was ever strong in council. 
 In the Lolab there was a strong reliable body of 
 khassadars to oppose the raiders, and whose advance 
 they must eventually check. In Gurais, on the other 
 hand, there were few, and those few beleaguered. 
 To secure Gurais fort and release the garrison was 
 clearly the right objective, and it must be done with 
 all the available force. David supported Yar Khan 
 entirely. His own war experience, both that of actual 
 war as he had seen it with Sindiah, and as he had learnt 
 it from his father's teaching, was clear enough. Con- 
 centrate at the decisive point; if possible, but at any 
 rate concentrate to fight. That had been the teaching 
 of Turenne and the Great King. To Gurais then ! with 
 all available men except the Lolab khassadars and 
 one or two compulsory garrisons. 
 
 Salabat Khan was not the man to lose time when his 
 mind was made up. To Gurais, then, to-morrow 
 morning, the mounted troops by the lake-shore road 
 to Bandipura, and the infantry to the same place by 
 boat. David had now been admitted to his entire 
 confidence, and it was a kindly hand that he put on 
 the lad's shoulder, and said, as David was leaving for 
 his cantonment 
 
 " Now we shall see what the English training has 
 done for these pet children of yours 1 " 
 
 It was midday ere David was fairly started for the 
 shores of the Dhall Lake, and on his way he met the 
 Lady Miriam a-horseback, returning from hawking 
 quail, a las * on right wrist, Behind her came Ha bib 
 
 * A species of hawk.
 
 248 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Ullah, who had been escorting her, with half a dozen 
 retainers and huntsmen. Habib also held a baz, and 
 two of the men behind had bashas.* Her ladyship was 
 lightly veiled, and the glow and excitement of the 
 chase was still on her. 
 
 David's heart stirred within him at meeting his 
 lady love, full of memory of that never-to-be-forgotten 
 evening on the night of the Festival of Spring, when the 
 vague feelings that had so haunted him since ho 
 climbed beside Miriam up the slopes of the Pir Panjal, 
 had sprung into their full meaning. And Miriam 
 Miriam, too, had suddenly known herself, in the same 
 hour as man and maid so often do ; and, like other 
 maidens, was far less self-conscious over it than David. 
 It was certainly not etiquette for him to stop to talk 
 with a lady, especially with Habib Ullah in charge. 
 He would salute her and her escort and pass along. 
 But not so the Lady Miriam. Hers was an open soul 
 that knew no guile. They had ridden together through 
 the night and day of their adventure, and Habib knew 
 that story, so she might very well stop the Sahib. 
 She did so, and called to him gaily, with that proud 
 note behind the timbre of her voice, that women use 
 for those they conquer. 
 
 " Whither away so fast, Ferassa Sahib, that you 
 cannot tarry to talk to me or the Sirdar here ? " 
 
 Whereon David stopped and told her and Habib 
 Ullah of the news from the tribal borders, and of the 
 early start of the army. And as he told he remembered 
 what had slipped his thoughts in the excitement of 
 hearing the Governor's war plans. What was to 
 become of Miriam if they failed ? in whose ultimate 
 charge could he leave her ? and that feeling of responsi- 
 bility, that men feel when they first realize what the 
 burdens of a wife may mean, struck him chill. 
 
 * Another species of hawk.
 
 WAR AND RUMOURS OP WAR 249 
 
 But Miriam only clapped her hands till her sleepy 
 old hawk woke up and tried to get loose. The 
 new model army should go and show its worth, 
 and her brother's government be more than ever 
 justified ! 
 
 " Oh, Habib Ullah Khan Sahib, your rissalah will go 
 too, and the pack guns we have heard so much of, that 
 that other Sahib is getting ready. I have heard so 
 much, too, from His Excellency of your rissalah, and 
 how good you have made it. Oh ! I must see them all 
 march out ! " 
 
 Habib Ullah Khan was really a man of sterling 
 character. He had accepted David heartily in the 
 beginning, and listened contentedly to him in his hints 
 and orders on cavalry training. He had seen without 
 a spasm of jealousy, his troops improve each day in 
 order and discipline, and he had conceived a deep and 
 lasting friendship and devotion for David. David had 
 fully reciprocated this feeling, and save in the matter 
 of Miriam had now grown to confide in the Afghan most 
 of his thoughts and troubles. But the matter of 
 Miriam did not need confiding. Habib was the oldest 
 of students of love and its ways. He had two dear 
 good wives of his own at home in the Punjab, and he 
 had a sweetheart or a light of love in every town he 
 had frequented, and in many a village. Habib's 
 heart was large, and, for all his licence, sound. He 
 knew to differentiate between love as it should be and 
 the love that appealed to his lighter nature. The 
 signs of both phases of the sentiment were familiar to 
 him. He quite well understood the situation between 
 Miriam and David ; it was a common theme in poetry 
 if little known in practice. Therefore, that very 
 staunch comrade in arms, as is the wont of such, after 
 suitable reply to the lady, said 
 
 " I will hurry on with my men to the ferry, and
 
 get the horses in ; will you escort our lady down 
 to the boat ? What also are your orders for the 
 march ? " 
 
 " Your rissalah must meet me and the troops from 
 the camp, at the village which lies a kos from the city, 
 on the Bandipura road at nine in the morning. You 
 can manage that ? " 
 
 " I can, Sahib. But what about food and forage ? " 
 
 " The Wazir has arranged to send it by boat to 
 Bandipura, and I have ordered it for one night at the 
 Shadipur Tehsil" 
 
 Whereon the cheery Habib waved his hand and rode 
 off, leaving David to conduct Miriam down to the ferry- 
 boat. They had not met again since the wonderful 
 evening on the river, though the thoughts of both 
 had dwelt lovingly on every detail. To Miriam's 
 genuine nature there was nothing to conceal, and 
 everything to rejoice at. Old Amah had been told 
 in secrecy, and Amah, the romantic, had applauded 
 and told the old tales of Persia of love, real love and 
 romance, that had come to the thrice-blessed ladies in 
 the poems. All was quite wonderful. There would 
 be a splendid marriage and His Excellency would give 
 the Sahib many jaghirs. But all was not quite such 
 plain sailing as Amah prophesied. David himself had 
 doubted whether he could immediately propose to the 
 Governor for his sister's hand, or should wait till further 
 service seemed likely to make him more indispensable 
 to Salabat Khan. Then came the rumour of war, and 
 the very occasion that seemed wanting was now likely 
 to present itself. 
 
 As they rode silently together the same thoughts 
 passed through their minds, and Miriam, through her 
 veil, noted with swelling pride how well her lad sat 
 his handsome horse, and how well the serious looks 
 became him.
 
 WAR AND RUMOURS OF WAR 251 
 
 Then Miriam broke the silence. " What does my 
 Lord think of the frontier trouble ? " 
 
 " Nay ! dearest lady mine, I know not what to think 
 as yet. The trouble in itself is nothing ; but I wish I 
 knew if anything was behind it. Our Toork friends 
 are sending horsemen with us, but I wish I could trust 
 those that remain." 
 
 " What does my brother think ? " 
 
 " I hardly know yet. He seems to feel that the 
 frontier must be quieted at once, and we shall take all 
 the men we can." 
 
 " Ah, dearest mine, you make me anxious, and now 
 I know why women weep o' nights when their men folk 
 ride out to war." 
 
 " War is war, lady mine, and each of us must bear 
 our part. My mother wept, I well remember, when 
 my father left us for the wars ; but he returned safe 
 and gained great praise and honour for his share. I 
 shall return I hope with your brother's approba- 
 tion, and feel I may make open proposal for your 
 hand." 
 
 " Dear, dear ! how the man runs on. You make 
 sure that I will marry you at once then, sir ? " 
 
 And David looked up in her face and laughed, a laugh 
 that took all the care and thought out of his own brows, 
 and made the world ring young. 
 
 " Lady mine, I shall carry you off like many a true 
 Afghani before you, whether your brother wills it or 
 no ; and I will take my rissalah back to General Lake 
 Sahib and demand service." 
 
 " Ah ! I should like that ; but you would not leave 
 my brother ? " 
 
 " Not unless you trifle with me and make me carry 
 you away, lady mine." 
 
 And so happily sparring the two came to the ferry, 
 where the discreet Habib was awaiting them.
 
 252 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Tlie Lady Miriam will ride out, Habib, to see us 
 march off. Farewell, Lady." 
 
 And since the farewell could not be intimate, David 
 stood watching the boat cross to the palace side, and 
 then with a wave of his hand mounted and galloped 
 off to his camp. The hurry and excitement of prepara- 
 tion soon effaces from the soldiers' mind for the moment 
 the thought of the women to be left behind, and it was 
 late that night when he finished his preparations and 
 turned back to his own tent for a meal and sleep. 
 
 There waiting he found perhaps the man he wanted 
 most. The good padre had heard of the move of troops 
 and the frontier troubles, indeed, who had not, and 
 had come to wish God-speed. His heart was warm to 
 David and also to Miriam, and he had noticed, or 
 perhaps hoped, that there might be some link between 
 them. Since Miriam had questioned him of the ways 
 of the European with women away up by the Palace of 
 Fairies he had met her several times and talked. The 
 two were made for each other, he felt. 
 
 " Ah, Padre Sahib, welcome indeed ! You have 
 heard we are off to the wars." 
 
 " I have, indeed, my son, and I regret it. There 
 are better things to do with men than killing them." 
 
 " Ah, father, you can't expect soldiers to repine. 
 Fighting is our trade, and a man must practice his 
 trade if he be a true man." 
 
 " Agreed, my son ; but I have seen too many men 
 fall in others' quarrels to wish you joy of a campaign. 
 You've no one to leave behind, but others have. I 
 know that these invaders must be read a lesson, but 
 I mourn the need. I have been among these tribesmen 
 and I know so well the inhabitants of the harried tracts. 
 How long, Lord ! How long ? " 
 
 The reference to none to leave behind at once 
 brought uppermost his love for Miriam.
 
 WAB AND RUMOURS OF WAR 253 
 
 " Father, as you have paid me this kind visit let me 
 tell you my troubles before Captain Tone may come. 
 Father ! the Lady Miriam has plighted troth to me, 
 and I would marry her as soon as I can get His Excel- 
 lency to accede ; though I know not yet how to 
 approach him." 
 
 " My son, I had guessed as much, and I would wish 
 you much joy. Oh, sir, I have had in my life some 
 experience of women, good and bad, and the good are 
 more than the bad. But I have never met a truer 
 woman's heart than beats in that Afghan girl. I wish 
 you every happiness." 
 
 And Jean Armande wrung the young soldier's hand. 
 " Father, one favour of favours I ask of you. Watch 
 over her while I am away. I mistrust those accursed 
 Toorks. Daoud Shah has disappeared. I fear mis- 
 chief in this valley, and so, I know, does the Wazir." 
 
 " Son, you do well to mistrust them all. As for 
 that evil Afghan, he has left the valley for none know 
 where. Certain it is he is gone for no good. That man 
 is a devil incarnate, and has the full knowledge of good 
 and evil." And here the padr6 seemed to speak to 
 himself. " He knows, too, the ineffable name." 
 
 " What ! Do you mean that which is spoken for 
 concealment, Adonai ? " 
 
 " You, too ! " said the priest. " How come you to 
 know that which conceals the ineffable name ? " 
 
 " I, father ! I know what my father taught me. 
 He was a prince and a ruler. . . ." 
 
 " Tush, my son, never mind it, and never say it. ... 
 Strange that I a Catholic and a member of the 
 Society of Jesus of all people should talk to you of 
 such forbidden things . . . but this Daoud Shah, he 
 knows far more than you or I ... he knows it of the 
 old time afore." 
 " Well, I am glad to know that he knows it. It may
 
 254 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 be useful ; but now, father, I appeal to you by the 
 great appeal to protect the Lady Miriam by every 
 means in your power, by all the five. . . ." 
 
 " Son ... I have long foregone such things, and 
 I will help you and your lady not by the appeal of the 
 craft, mighty though the aids be that you invoke ; but 
 for the sake of the Son of God and His Mother, and the 
 greater includes the less." 
 
 And here Captain Tone came up and knelt to the old 
 Abbe, who after some conservation rose to go. 
 
 " Your blessing, your Riverence ! before we leave 
 for the war," he begged, to which David added a pica 
 for the same, " even though I be not a Catholic." 
 
 " Children," said the old man. " Such blessing as 
 I may bestow is for all the children, whether of the 
 Catholic Church or not," and the two men knelt, and 
 there under the walnut trees, with the flicker of the 
 camp fires on the waters of the lake, Jean St. Hilaire 
 Armando du Plessis of the family of Richelieu, gave his 
 blessing to those two soldiers of fortune, the old 
 sonorous Latin falling far afield in the clear night air, 
 " Benedicat vos, Omnipotens Pater, Filius et Spiritus 
 Sanctus. Amen"
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE ARMY ADVANCES 
 
 BY nine in the morning the whole of the troops were 
 on the road or marching to their boats, and all night 
 long had Yar Khan laboured at his post of commissary- 
 general, and the spade work of war that the young 
 leaders forget till their belts grow loose and their horses 
 lean. To the Tehsildars, the representatives of govern- 
 ment, had gone forth orders for supplies to be collected 
 forthwith at Bandipura, that landing-place on the great 
 Wular Lake, whence the road rises over the mountain, 
 first to Gurais and then on over the dread Baroghil 
 pass to Gilgit and Dardestan. Five hundred ponies 
 were being collected to carry grain and other supplies, 
 and at least a hundred would be ready for the first 
 start. It was summer now, and the troops must move 
 light. 
 
 At the village on the Bandipura road two streams 
 met. One, that of the Bodyguard squadron, under 
 Habib Ullah, and the other that of David's rissaldh, 
 accompanied by Tone and his pack artillery, the dust 
 of the road rising high and white and acrid above the 
 lance penons. On the hither side of the village sat 
 awaiting them His Excellency and the Lady Miriam 
 with a few orderlies. Riding beside His Excellency 
 was the Lord Altamish, affable and voluble. He was 
 to accompany the force with one hundred and fifty of 
 
 255
 
 256 
 
 his mounted retainers, who were already following 
 behind Habib Khan, somewhat to that gentleman's 
 disgust. There was a screw about his mouth and 
 moustache that made Miriam say to her brother as he 
 passed 
 
 " What is wrong with the Sirdar ? " 
 
 At which Salabat Khan laughed and leant over to 
 her with a glance at Altamish. 
 
 " Doesn't like the smell of Toorks, I fancy." 
 
 Directly after passing them, Habib formed up his 
 squadron on an open space outside the village, followed 
 by the Toorks. The new drill had enabled the former 
 to form up quietly and compactly, while the attempt 
 of the Toorks to follow suit was lamentable. A few 
 minutes later David's own rissaldh marched up in 
 six neatly turned out troops, beautifully mounted, 
 who formed up on the opposite side of the road, the 
 very pink of orderly light cavalry. A kettle drummer 
 too rode at the head, and the deep-rolled musical beat 
 breathed war and splendour. Fifty yards behind came 
 a jinketty jink and a shuffle, and lo ! here was the 
 pack battery of which there had been so much talk. 
 Thirty white and grey Yarkandi ponies were carrying 
 two guns and a small rnortar, with a good supply of 
 ammunition. The like, so light and movable, had 
 never been seen in Kashmir. Salabat Khan was 
 highly pleased with the results that David had obtained. 
 It was the first time that he had seen it all together, and 
 he had also noticed the steady drill of the infantry 
 whom he had passed en route to the boats. Sending 
 for David, Tone and Habib, he gave praise in no stinting 
 fashion. Altamish, too, was forced to praise where he 
 longed to curse and, under cloak of the talk, David 
 managed to get a word with Miriam, and even clasp 
 her hand, while saying 
 
 " Miriam, dear, if there is any trouble while we are
 
 THE AEMY ADVANCES 257 
 
 away, rely on the old padre. He has power to help yon 
 that none other may have." 
 
 Then, with a nod from her, it was time to move off, 
 which they did, cheering loudly, David leading. 
 Salabat Khan answering their shouts, said he would 
 join them with the infantry at Bandipura, whereat 
 they cheered again. It took nearly an hour for the 
 mounted men and guns to file through the narrow 
 village, and the sun was high in the heavens before 
 the Governor and Miriam could leave the stirring sight 
 and canter back to the palace. As they went Salabat 
 Khan said to his sister 
 
 " Ah, Miriam, I have seen plenty of soldiers, but 
 never any like the Ferassa Eissalah and Habib Ullah'tf 
 corps. That Ferassa Sahib is a treasure, and soirw 
 day, when Yar Khan wants rest, I will make him 
 Wazir. Pity he is not wholly Afghan, or he would 
 make a good husband for you, and perhaps be able to 
 keep you in better order than I can. Eh, my lass ? " 
 
 But so obviously absurd a suggestion merited no 
 reply, though Miriam did agree and that con amorc, 
 that the troops were first rate, and the dear Yarkandi 
 ponies with the guns a -top splendid. 
 
 But as she rode, ever and anon her heart ran cold, 
 as it had done o'nights since that vision in the fire, at the 
 thought of Daoud Shah of the cleft forehead pacing 
 the garden by the lake shore and projecting himself 
 into her life. And she shuddered till the very horse 
 took up the rider's fear and perspired the more. 
 
 That night Salabat Khan placed Inayat Ullah, the 
 palace commandant, in temporary charge as governor 
 of the valley, and himself took boat for Bandipura and 
 the Wular Lake, while David's column halted at 
 Sambal, and pushed on early next morning round the 
 shores of the lake to the place of assembly, which they 
 reached ere the sun was over the top of Haramukh. 
 
 I
 
 258 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 All that day was spent in packing stores and grain, 
 and arranging for the despatch of convoys to follow. A 
 fat old Goorkha subaMar was left at the base on the 
 lake shore as superintendent of stores, which he tested 
 practically by sampling with his finger every keg of 
 <jhee, licking the same with his lips, till his waistbelt 
 refused to buckle more. 
 
 A reliable sirdar remained to control the despatch 
 of subsequent consignments. Yar Khan himself, com- 
 petent at all details, personally supervised everything 
 of this sort, while David cared for the actual war forma- 
 tions and the ammunition. Late in the afternoon 
 came a message from the fort at Kanzilwan to say that 
 they were still holding out but were hard pressed and 
 needed aid at once. 
 
 Salabat Khan decided to start forthwith, getting to 
 the top of the Eajdiangan Pass that night and advancing 
 on to Gurais in the early morning. To the top of the 
 pass from the lake or rather to a suitable halt a mile 
 or two this side of the top would be some fifteen miles, 
 and Gurais itself some thirteen miles further on. It 
 was essential that the ground to be occupied that night 
 should be clear of enemy, for it is impossible to 
 march by night except in ground already made good, 
 unless extraordinary risks are to be run. David, with 
 his rissalah of two hundred lances was therefore pushed 
 on early in the afternoon to make good the top of the 
 pass. This was done without incident, and by five p.m. 
 Salabat Khan received a message from him that all was 
 well, and that the remainder of the force could move 
 under cover of darkness with perfect safety. Soon 
 after midnight the whole of the force save for fifty 
 bayonets left at the base, was quietly collected and 
 sleeping without fires under arms on the top of the 
 Tragbal. It now consisted of six hundred sabres or 
 lances and three hundred bayonets, with a couple of
 
 THE ARMY ADVANCES 259 
 
 hundred kassadars of little real value in the open 
 despite the fact that several of them were helping hold 
 the fort at Kanzilwan. 
 
 The Ferassa Bissalah led the way at five a.m., when 
 the first flush of dawn was slowly reddening the snow 
 on Haramukh, and the serrated tops of the distant 
 Burzil. Following behind came the Bodyguard, and 
 then two hundred and fifty men of the Regiment of 
 Victory, with Tone's artillery. After them came the 
 Toork horse to the number of a hundred and fifty, one 
 hundred men of the Regiment of Lightning closing the 
 column with the baggage animals and a hundred ponies 
 packed with supplies. Salabat Khan, with Altamish 
 and Yar Khan rode at the head of the Bodyguard, while 
 David commanded the advanced guard. By seven in 
 the morning the summit of the pass and the long knife- 
 edge at the top had been crossed, and the head of the 
 column was winding down towards the Gurais valley. 
 
 Here the first sign of an enemy was encountered. 
 Seeing some smoke at the bottom of the descent from 
 the pass, David had sent Ganesha Singh with half a 
 dozen troopers to see what was the cause of it, and 
 found some twenty men laden with the pillage of a 
 small farm, to which they had just set fire. Ganesha 
 Singh had at once trotted down towards them as fast 
 as the nature of the ground permitted, only to find 
 that half of them had galloped off on their ponies, and 
 the remainder had shinned up the adjacent hillside to 
 take pot-shots at him with their long- barrelled jezails. 
 As David came up half a dozen of his Afghan troopers 
 had been dismounted and sent up the hillside to dislodge 
 the snipers, which they soon did. Leaving them as a 
 piquet, David moved out the whole of his rissalah into 
 the open valley, and advanced a mile towards Gurais, 
 before he saw any further sign of the enemy. As the 
 leading files, however, turned a bend in the valley the
 
 260 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 little fort of Kanzilwan could be seen on a small rise, 
 and round and in front of the fort bodies of troops 
 and skirmishers. It would appear that the fort still 
 held out. 
 
 David at once ordered Ganesha Singh to reconnoitre 
 again with half a dozen men, while he moved the 
 advanced guard out of sight behind a grove of ilex in 
 a bend of the stream. The temptation to go forward 
 himself and reconnoitre was strong. It always is in 
 good leaders, but there are times when the true leader 
 'will stay behind and let others be his eyes. In this 
 case as the troops were new and untried, and the main 
 body was but slowly filing down from off the pass, it 
 would be well to have the whole force at hand. Salabat 
 Khan himself soon came up, and David explained the 
 situation to him as far as he understood it. By this 
 time Ganesha Singh had gone a mile or so to the front 
 on the open plain, broken by patches of long grass and 
 the meanderings of the Gurais stream. 
 
 The tribesmen who had known for some little 
 time that the Kashmir troops were advancing, had 
 redoubled their attacks on the little fort. But the fort 
 garrison also had some inkling that help was forth- 
 coming, and had stiffened their backs accordingly. A 
 considerable body of tribesmen armed with sword and 
 matchlock, were waiting behind a small stony knoll 
 that had at one time been thrown down from the hills 
 above. The fort lay close to the hills, commanding a 
 ford and rough log-bridge over the stream. The plain 
 between the stream and the hills gradually narrowed 
 as the fort was approached, and as the stream was not 
 fordable everywhere, the terrain became restricted for 
 the action of horse, in their advance towards the fort. 
 David could not see this from his position by the ilex 
 grove, nor had Ganesha Singh the time to discover it. 
 Twenty or thirty horsemen advanced on his patrol as
 
 THE ARMY ADVANCES 261 
 
 it got near the fort and drove them back helter 
 skelter. Salabat Khan then ordered David to take 
 forward his own men and he would support him with 
 the Bodyguard. The infantry and Toork horse, who 
 had now come down into the open, were to follow, the 
 artillery with them. 
 
 The tribal horsemen followed Ganesha Singh and his 
 patrol well down towards the ilex grove, when they 
 suddenly saw the troops descending the hill, and at 
 that moment David moved forward with his leading 
 troop at a hand canter. The troop gave a yell and 
 broke into a gallop which David could not restrain. 
 They were almost all young soldiers, and it was their 
 first fight. Nihal Singh was their commander, and 
 David, pulling up his own horse with difficulty, told 
 the duffedar to take them right on while he himself 
 endeavoured to steady the other three troops. It was 
 lucky he did so, for all were excited. However, his 
 voice brought them to their bearings, and he was able 
 to bring them along at a steady trot. 
 
 Nihal Singh's troop was wildly out of hand. Better 
 mounted than the tribesmen, it soon came up with 
 the latter. Some were cut down before they could 
 turn, some turned and closed on their pursuers, while 
 others circled their foe for an opening to cut or thrust. 
 It was cut and thrust and curse and cut again, and 
 several men had fallen from their horses, till the melee 
 had moved down level with the stony knoll, from out 
 behind which rushed a large number of swordsmen, yelling 
 fiercely. Atop the knoll the tom-tom drummers beat 
 their doles or tom-toms in a maddening throb and roll, 
 and Nihal Singh's two score or so seemed hard pressed, 
 for their gallop was over, and each was attacked by 
 two or three of the enemy. 
 
 Then the wisdom of David's action was evident 
 enough. Behind were three formed troops, two of
 
 262 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 which he now brought up at a smart though steady 
 pace, and charged straight into the crowd, both friend 
 and foe. Their impetus took them right through the 
 crowd, though many of the swordsmen threw them- 
 selves on the ground and hacked and hamstrung the 
 horses as they galloped by. Passing through the 
 enemy and nearing the fort, David tried to rally his 
 men, and realized that it would have been wiser to 
 have had some men armed with the lance. Swordsmen 
 a-foot who hack at horses' bellies or who hide in scrub 
 can only be got at or dug out with the lance, which an 
 older soldier could have told him. On the opposite 
 bank of the river were posted matchlock men who kept 
 up a galling musketry fire, and David was beginning to 
 realize that a successful cavalry charge does not of 
 necessity carry you very much further. Here he was, 
 right through the enemy, who, instead of being hope- 
 lessly demoralized were lying down in the broken 
 ground defying him, galling by their musketry the 
 troopers whom he was trying to rally and reform. 
 Already three or four had been hit, and there were a 
 few wigs on the green on the site of the charge. 
 
 Then Salabat Khan took a hand in the game. Habib 
 Ullah, with half the Bodyguard crossed at a small ford, 
 half a mile back, and came cheering down the bank on 
 which the matchlock men were posted. They were rolled 
 up like straw in the wind, and Habib himself led a score 
 or so of troopers over the rickety bridge and on to the 
 reverse slope of the stony knoll. Half the drummers 
 were sabred, and a small knot of swordsmen broken 
 up. The cessation of the enthusing tom-tom changed the 
 attitude of the swordsmen who were lying in the scrub. 
 They lost their confidence and tried to bolt without 
 cohesion. Then was the time for David's men, both 
 those who had charged and those, like the reserve 
 troop, who only now came up. Round and round
 
 THE ARMY ADVANCES 263 
 
 the plain they chased the tribesmen, who fled squealing, 
 rarely turning to aim a half-hearted blow. A dozen or 
 so were cut down, the remainder made their way to the 
 hillside or across the stream to be chased by the 
 Bodyguard who there awaited them. In an hour's 
 time the enemy surrounding the fort had been entirely 
 broken up, and the fight for the relief of the garrison 
 was over, though a large force of men hung against 
 the hillside a mile or so beyond the fort. Salabat 
 Khan was highly elated, and the army very satisfied 
 with itself. Horsemen kept breaking from the ranks 
 to shout out defiance to the distant enemy and recount 
 their own prowess. The troops of the Ferassa Rissalah 
 alone kept their re-formed ranks. The action had been 
 so short a one that Captain Tone had no chance to get 
 his guns to work, and was bemoaning the fact in choice 
 Hibernian. 
 
 As excitement cooled down, Yar Khan pressed for 
 further plans. Were they to pursue the enemy on 
 the hillside, or should they go into bivouac at once ? 
 Already the enemy had reappeared in the far corner of 
 the plain, and clusters of tribesmen with their banners 
 crowned every spur a mile away. David eagerly 
 pressed for an advance. He would take his own men 
 with the Toork horse let them do a bit and the guns 
 forward. Yar Khan was divided between the military 
 importance of following up a victory with the question 
 of supply and rest, and the obvious fact that the enemy 
 could not be struck a blow of any value in the remain- 
 ing hours of daylight. Salabat Khan's decision came 
 promptly enough. David should pursue as he sug- 
 gested, and at any rate fire his guns off. The remaining 
 troops should go into bivouac. It was not a really 
 admirable decision, but it was a very natural com- 
 promise, and quite appealed to the Oriental. As a 
 matter of practical politics, in view of the fact that it
 
 264 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 was hoped to get the enemy to stand on the morrow 
 and take some punishment, it was hardly worth while 
 to run the chance of driving him a day's march further 
 off without any certainty of inflicting any real loss. 
 
 The result was as might have been expected. David 
 took his force forward boldly, the Toorks leading, his 
 own men in support. A few horsemen careered away 
 in front of him, and a knot of swordsmen advanced 
 with a standard and then thought better of it. The 
 Toorks advanced gaily enough, but there was little to 
 be done ; then, coming under musketry range of some 
 of the spurs, they were received by a peppering and 
 wheeled about. Tone brought his guns into action 
 five hundred yards away, but did little except advertise 
 their presence. So, after an hour's field day, enlivened 
 by the sight of the waving standards on the hillsidf, 
 the throb and roll of the doles and the exulting jeers 
 and cries of the tribesmen, David drew off in good 
 order. His men retired by alternate troops, facing 
 about in succession to show a front to the tribal horse- 
 men who hung about at a respectful distance. By five 
 in the afternoon all the Kashmir troops were in camp, 
 cooking their meals and resting their horses, while 
 arrangements for protection for the night were pre- 
 pared. From a corner of the little mud fort David and 
 Salabat Khan watched the enemy, the former being 
 the possessor of what was almost unknown to Orientals 
 his father's old spyglass. 
 
 Beyond the insolent standards there was little fresh 
 to see, and it only remained to make the morrow's 
 plans and hear the reports of the Kommadan of th- 
 leaguered fort, and his khassadars, and dispose of those 
 killed and wounded in the action.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 DEFEAT 
 
 THE next morning found the Kashmir force under 
 arms early. The night had not been a restful one. 
 Half a dozen matchlock men from the hill overhanging 
 the little fort and the ford of the Kishenganga had 
 flicked hammered iron slugs into the camp right 
 through the long night. When the firing commenced, 
 the troops sprung to arms, soon to find that nothing 
 happened, and eventually had slept fitfully at their 
 alarm posts. About midnight, it is true, a throb of 
 doles and an outburst of shouting had seemed to 
 indicate a rush of swordsmen, but this had come to 
 nothing. Outside camp in the early morning, however, 
 two of their water-carriers were found hacked to pieces. 
 The army swore vengeance deep and loud. But a 
 disturbed night after a fatiguing day is not the best 
 preparation for another day's fighting, and Yar Khan 
 prevailed on Salabat Khan to let the men cook and 
 linish a good meal before starting. 
 
 It was therefore after eight when the advance began. 
 Salabat Khan had decided on advancing straight up 
 the pass in the hope of getting into close contact 
 with the tribesmen. The baggage and a hundred 
 infantry soldiers would remain at the fort, and the 
 whole of the rest of the force would move out. To 
 David's satisfaction the tribal banners still fluttered 
 
 265
 
 266 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 on the hillside, a mile and a half away, and a-top the 
 first shoulder perhaps six hundred feet above the 
 Gurais valley. The plan was a straightforward one, 
 so far as arrangement went. David was to dismount 
 the whole of his men save horseholders and advance 
 up the hillside with all the available infantry, totalling 
 some three hundred bayonets and matchlocks. Habib 
 Ullah, with the Bodyguard and the Toork Horse, would 
 remain at the foot of the mountains, while Tone with 
 his guns would accompany the advance. 
 
 At the foot of the hill David put his horses under 
 cover from fire, protected by the Bodyguard, and com- 
 menced an advance up one of the spurs which led to 
 the enemy's position above. The Regiment of Victory 
 started up a parallel spur, while Tone brought his guns 
 up behind David. When the advance came within a 
 coviple of hundred yards of the enemy's standards a 
 spluttering fire of musketry commenced, the bullets 
 from the long hand-made steel jezails flicking in with 
 some precision. Two of the guns came into action 
 and began throwing round shot at the stone breast- 
 works behind which the tribesmen stood and yelled 
 defiance. Shooting up-hill with round-shot, however, 
 is not a very formidable proceeding, and after the first 
 moral effect of the artillery fire, the effect grew less on 
 the defenders. Short as it was, however, it created a 
 sufficient lull in the matchlock fire to allow of David's 
 men, of whom a hundred were leading and a hundred 
 in support, to get close within range. One man of 
 every two had a flint-lock carbine a la dragoon, and at 
 a distance of eighty yards the leading troop fired a 
 volley, and then started to rush in. The volley and 
 the rush carried the first breastwork. Over the stone 
 walls leapt David's men, who were almost all hillmen 
 themselves. There was a short sharp scrimmage, 
 sword on sword and sword against carbine and locking
 
 DEFEAT 267 
 
 ring. Once a gigantic warrior had cut at David, to be 
 shot through the jaw from the young soldier's duelling- 
 pistol, of which he carried the pair in his waist sash. 
 Once a bell-mouthed pistol was jammed against his 
 abdomen by some one behind, but Gul Jan cut the 
 assailant's hand off before he could pull the trigger, 
 and a second trooper cut the man down. In a 
 minute after the troopers had reached the breastwork, 
 the occupants were scuttling back to the next ridge less 
 five of their number. Halting to recover breath after 
 the climb and rush, David stood surveying the ground 
 ahead, when there came loud shouts from the right. 
 Twenty men following one who carried a green banner 
 rushed out on them from a gorge close by. They came 
 silently, and David saw them first. 
 
 " Ganesha Singh, look out ! Look out ! The ghazis 
 are coming at you." 
 
 Ganesha Singh had a dozen of his own old troop 
 there. They at once ran together. The old officer 
 knew well enough that there was only one thing that 
 could stop the rush. Half a dozen of the men had not 
 discharged their pieces or had reloaded. 
 
 " Steady, sowar-log *, steady ! Now, altogether ! 
 Fire ! " 
 
 Six one-ounce bullets whistled among the ghazis, 
 three found a billet, and the attack slowed down. A 
 volley is the recognized remedy for a rush among those 
 who are in the habit of meeting such ugly border 
 tactics. Then Ganesha Singh whipped out his curved 
 sword and, with those of the troopers who had not 
 carbines, rushed at the faltering ghazis. They turned 
 and fled, and that particular phase came to an end. 
 A hundred yards further on, however, were more 
 breastworks and banners and more throbbing doles. 
 
 * Troopers.
 
 268 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 The drummers beat on the tightened sheepskins with 
 maddening persistency. 
 
 Another hundred yards away on his left, the men of 
 the Regiment of Victory, headed by a small party of 
 Goorkhas, were approaching this upper line. With the 
 support to this advance were Salabat Khan and Yar 
 Khan. Altamish had remained at the foot of the hill 
 with his horsemen. The leading company of the regi- 
 ment was armed with matchlocks, and it formed a 
 rough front and fired, before advancing to within 
 fifty yards or so of the breast w r ork. Then their Kom- 
 madan called on them to charge, which they did 
 readily enough, but before they could close they in 
 their turn received a volley from the jezails, and with 
 a wild roll on the doles and a blood-curdling yell the 
 whole of that portion of the defenders flung themselves 
 over their breastwork and rushed down the slope on 
 the Kashmir men. It would have taken all the staunch- 
 ness of old and tried troops on the Company's model to 
 withstand an assault of that kind. Before the long 
 hacking tribal knives could get within reach, the 
 leading company of the Regiment of Victory broke, 
 turned and fled. Fortunately for them all, Salabat 
 Khan himself was with the second company. He at 
 once put himself at its head and charged the tribes- 
 men. Down went the green banners, and back broke 
 the tribesmen at this fresh onslaught, but not before 
 they had left a dozen of their number on the ground. 
 And while they had been charging down from their 
 breastworks, David's party had been pressing on to the 
 second line of stones, which together with Salabat 
 Khan's onslaught definitely drove the enemy from 
 their main defensive line. With loud cheers the 
 Kashmir troops rushed up to the now vacant breast- 
 works to fire and cheer at the fleeing tribesmen. 
 
 But attacking hillmen is like cutting water, as Yar
 
 DEFEAT 269 
 
 Khan knew, as Salabat Khan should have known, and 
 as David had to learn. Not three hundred yards 
 further on, down a slight slope and up another rise was 
 another ridge covered in boulder and undergrowth. 
 The fleeing standards were again raised thereon, and 
 the tom-toms slightly more distant recommenced their 
 defiant throbbing. The tribesmen had left perhaps a 
 dozen dead, and had killed ten of the Kashmir troops, 
 while at least twice as many had severe wounds, both 
 musket shot and sabre cut, and the sabre cut from a 
 long, cruel tribal knife is a very severe wound indeed. 
 The tribesmen had to some extent been punished. 
 Twenty, too, had been killed the day before, and whether 
 that was sufficient or not, it was not possible to achieve 
 more. The troops were tired and needed water, and the 
 day was wearing on. A further advance only meant a, 
 further unabashed withdrawal of the enemy, and it 
 was quite evident that they could not be brought to 
 battle on even equal terms. 
 
 Yar Khan's advice was wisdom itself. It was to 
 withdraw to the valley, carrying off the wounded, 
 despatch them back to Baramullah or Bandipura, and 
 then wait to see if the tribes would venture into the 
 plain where the cavalry might have a chance to get at 
 them again. There was, at any rate, nothing more to 
 be done up the hillside. Reluctantly Salabat Khan 
 gave the order to withdraw, the wounded being first sent 
 off by their comrades in blankets and on the backs of 
 men. The men under David's and Salabat Khan's 
 personal orders remained holding the breastworks they 
 had carried, while the wounded and the dead were being 
 carried down the hill. It was as necessary to carry the 
 dead as the living. The wounded would have been 
 mercilessly slain, and the dead might be mutilated, but 
 at any rate would be shameful trophies in an enemy's 
 hand.
 
 270 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 When the last of the bodies was removed, David, in 
 accordance with his instructions, began to fall back 
 down the spurs along which he had advanced. Then 
 immediately the spirit of tribal warfare was evident. 
 The clansmen at once grasped the situation. All along 
 the upper ridges where the banners still waved, the 
 tom-toms redoubled their throbbing, and the yells grew 
 more and more defiant. Here and there a leader would 
 rush forward with a banner and plant it, and the tribes- 
 men would then rush on to it. Just as Salabat Khan 
 began to fall back to keep parallel to David, a red- 
 bearded moollali, carrying a huge green banner with a 
 crimson hand thereon, rushed forward to within fifty 
 yards of the breastworks the Kashmir troops had just 
 vacated, shouting the cry of the gliazi, " Glory for all 
 and heaven for those who bleed." With him and 
 behind him rushed a hundred yelling devils. Yelling, 
 tom-toming tribesmen are a terrifying sight to any but 
 the best troops, but Salabat Khan was emphatically a 
 soldier and yearned for a personal contest too. That 
 red-bearded moollali was too much for him. Calling to 
 the Eegiment of Victory to face about and follow him, 
 accompanied by half a dozen of his own entourage, he 
 went bald-headed for the green banner. The Eeginaent 
 of Victory, or that portion of it forming the rearmost 
 party, to its eternal honour responded to the order, 
 faced about and followed their leader under the per- 
 sonal direction of Yar Khan. 
 
 But it is not always given to the brave to command 
 success, deserve it however-so-much they may. Ten 
 yards from the banner, a jezail bullet fired from a 
 flank struck the Governor on the side of the temple. 
 His orderly on his right spoke afterwards of watching 
 him intently as he advanced, and seeing a blue hole 
 slowly appear in the forehead. The tenth part of the 
 second of striking appeared to him as a slow-measured
 
 DEFEAT 271 
 
 happening. Salabat Khan, the powerful and masterful 
 ruler, fell crumbled, on a patch of the Prophet's flower, 
 just as Khar Yan led the remaining men close up behind 
 him. The sight turned the old man bere-serk. Down 
 again went the green banner, down went its followers 
 before the curved keen swords of Yar Khan and his 
 avenging troops. A few survivors fled back to whence 
 they had come, and once again the Kashmir troops 
 occupied the line from which they had withdrawn. 
 But there was no time to lament, and no time to gather 
 breath. The tribesmen had seen the backward move- 
 ment. From every spur and copse and thicket on 
 cither flank the jezails were playing, flicking their 
 hammered lead bullets into the Kashmir ranks. Swords- 
 men with the inevitable tom-tom drummer were 
 creeping up in knots waiting a chance to rush in. 
 There was now only one hope of salvation to get off 
 the hill as quickly as possible. Four of Salabat Khan's 
 personal retinue, the most of them wounded themselves, 
 carried off their leader's body, and behind them the 
 Kegiment of Victory turned to snarl and bite back at 
 the tribesmen hanging on their heels. The dead and 
 wounded had now to layjyhere they fell. It was enough 
 if the living could get away. Behind them flashed the 
 relentless swords, and rolled the exasperating, madden- 
 ing drums. On the flanks the jezails never ceased. At 
 last the Eegiment of Victory broke, broke badly as 
 sorely-tried corps will, and fled down the hill for safety, 
 away from those biting long tribal knives. Yar Khan 
 and half a dozen of Salabat Khan's personal escort 
 and retainers were left alone in charge of the body. 
 Fortunately, however, the retreat had now come 
 within reach of Tone's artillery, which could fling a 
 shell and roundshot into the pursuing yelling hordes. 
 This enabled Yar Khan to bring away the body 
 without further molestation, until he eventually joined
 
 272 A PKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 David's party slowly falling back. This party had also 
 been harassed with jezail fire, but had held its own till 
 the flight of the Eegiment of Victory had heartened 
 the tribes and freed more men to harass him. Just 
 as Yar Khan joined him, matters were getting to a 
 head, the musketry fire was coming in on all sides and 
 the green banners were creeping in. But while the 
 Asiatic plays a winning game best, the majesty of the 
 English comes out with every access of trouble. Ee- 
 gardless of the hum of the hammered jezail ball, 
 David stood, a commanding figure to whom all looked. 
 Jest and abjurgation mingled kept his men steady. 
 
 " Ganesha Singh ! Ganesha Singh ! Look at that 
 young soldier on the right there, hiding behind a stone, 
 I do declare ! Oh, won't his village be proud of him ! 
 Did you say he was a Eajpoot ? Ohe men, look at the 
 Eajpoot courage ! I see a man with a carbine over 
 there who does not know which way the enemy arc. 
 Smack his foolish head, Nihal Singh." 
 
 Nihal Singh sprang at the delinquent, and his 
 puggari rolled on the ground. The owner forgot his 
 fears in his endeavour to recover it and wind it on 
 his head again, while the men near laughed, as David 
 intended they should. 
 
 " Ganesha Singh, do you see that old man with the 
 red beard holding a standard and shouting ? Try and 
 hide with six men behind that rock, and let him have 
 it as he comes on. We'll teach him to wave green 
 banners at us ! " 
 
 And all the while the men were dropping, but 
 cheerful, with one eye on their leader and one on the foe. 
 David carried off one wounded man on his own shoulders, 
 shooting an adversary about to hack him as he lay. 
 Steadily the Kashmir troops fell back, so steadily that 
 a great wave of exultation at the success of his own 
 training swept over David. Close below them now
 
 DEFEAT 273 
 
 was the gun position, and before they reached it he 
 determined on one more offensive move. A fanatic 
 attacking is a very different being from a fanatic 
 attacked. So while Yar Khan took the Governor's 
 body on down the hill, the rearguard faced about. 
 
 " Steady now the Ferassa Bissalah. Let us see the 
 Eajpoot valour. Show the Eegiment of Victory what 
 real soldiers can do." 
 
 And the Ferassa Bissalah yelped delight and followed 
 their leaders straight at the swordsmen who looked to 
 serve them as they had served the other regiment. 
 They were mistaken, and they paid for their mis- 
 calculation. The green banners streamed back, and 
 the rissalah drew off again, well satisfied. 
 
 The gun position was not more than three hundred 
 feet above the plain, and just as Yar Khan reached it 
 Habib Ullah rode up the spurs. Troubles rarely come 
 singly, and especially is this true of war. His news 
 was exceeding bitter. The fugitives from the Eegiment 
 of Victory had brought news of Salabat Khan's death. 
 Whereon, without ado, Altamish had mounted his men, 
 wheeled about, and galloped off up the valley in the 
 direction of Kashmir. He, Habib Ullah Khan, had not 
 realized what was up till it was too late. 
 
 Yar Khan looked at David and then back to Habib 
 Ullah. 
 
 " The eternal swine has gone to raise the Toorks 
 against us and declare himself Governor. Salabat 
 Khan is dead and gone to paradise, and can no more 
 rule in this valley, but no one shall rule except myself, if 
 I can help it, till we have the Imperial order for a 
 successor. But there is only one course open." 
 
 " To break away and return to Srinagar ? " asked 
 David, eagerly. To him the safety of Miriam bulked 
 very large. The old man nodded. 
 
 " It is the lesser evil. We have given these pig dogs 
 
 T
 
 274 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 a lesson. They will hardly face us in the open for 
 some time. But whether they have had enough or no 
 does not immediately matter. The one thing is to get 
 back to the city and hold the control of the province. 
 They won't follow us now. Let Tone get his guns down 
 to Gurais Fort, with our Governor's body. Habib 
 Ullah, you must cover Ferassa Sahib's withdrawal. 
 Look sharp and get the guns away, I will settle further 
 moves at the fort." 
 
 It was an hour before Yar Khan had got his survivors 
 together, and the remnants of the corps reformed. 
 The enemy had followed in a half-hearted way as far 
 as the foothills, but the artillery and the resolute front 
 shown by Habib Ullah and the Bodyguard kept them 
 from further harassing the force. Clear of the hills 
 Yar Khan was able to review the situation calmly, and 
 he immediately recognized the fact that he must get 
 out of the Gurais valley that night, or run a fair risk 
 of being hemmed in. At this juncture he could not 
 afford to waste troops by leaving a detachment in 
 Gurais. He must abandon the fort also. The wounded 
 must press on at once. The dead so far as they had 
 been recovered must be hastily buried, the broken 
 Regiment of Victory must have time to cook and 
 recover itself. The small garrison of the post must 
 move off at once with the wounded, and with them on 
 a litter the corpse of Salabat Khan. The remainder 
 of the force would move immediately it was dark, and 
 as soon as they reached the rise up to the Tragbal Pass 
 the mounted troops would move on towards Srinagar, 
 leaving the infantry to come along as best they could. 
 It was certainly the only workable plan, and might 
 result in at any rate saving the province. The orders 
 were soon issued, and the wounded started off as best 
 they could be carried. A few of Habib Ullah's men 
 scoured the level plain and also kept watch on the
 
 DEFEAT 275 
 
 foothills. The troops soon settled down to cook, and 
 Yar Khan directed fires to be made that would burn 
 on round the fort after they moved at dusk. David 
 spent his time looking to his own men and horses and 
 heartening up the Eegiment of Victory, which he fell 
 in by companies and drilled at close drill for a quarter 
 of an hour before he let them fall out to cook. It was 
 important to get the men back into their companies 
 and obeying orders. The tired, broken men at first 
 hesitated to get into the ranks, till David had kicked 
 half a dozen and reviled them heartily. The non- 
 commissioned officers then heartened up. and order and 
 discipline soon returned. As a climax, David with 
 Yar Khan nodding approval, put them twice through 
 the manual exercise, which they had been taught from 
 the Lille " VExercice de Ulnfanteric," called in the 
 French, " UEcole du soldat" By the time Les armes 
 presence was well done, the unfortunate corps looked 
 once more as if it belonged to an army. The men 
 broke off to cook, and David and Yar Khan gave 
 themselves half an hour to rest and eat also. 
 
 Shortly after five the force was got under arms again, 
 both with a view to moving off and because some knots 
 of tribesmen and standards seemed to be coming down 
 into the valley. David and Habib anxiously watched 
 them. Were the horsemen to be given a chance of 
 revenge ? It almost looked like it. The formed 
 troopers were moved out of sight close behind the mud 
 wall of the fort. From the stream, away half-right, a 
 little dry watercourse led towards the hills. A few 
 briar bushes dotted its edge, with here and there an 
 apricot tree. Up this David led a hundred of Habib 
 Ullah's men, with twenty of his own, dismounted, 
 leading their horses, their heads being just invisible. 
 For nearly half a mile he walked without daring to look 
 and see if the enemy were likely to give him a chance.
 
 276 
 
 Then he halted and climbed the slope of the stream-bed. 
 Oh ! kind Providence ! There they were, nearly half 
 a mile from the hills, moving hastily in three clumps. 
 Were they going to attack the fort ? David looked 
 anxiously, hoping that Yar Khan had got that Kegiment 
 of Victory into line with the muskets loaded. Then 
 suddenly in front of the leading lot of tribesmen he 
 saw the bait that had more especially brought them 
 down into the open. Three figures were slowly crawling 
 along towards the fort. He drew his spy-glass. It 
 was undoubtedly three of their own wounded, probably 
 of the Eegiment of Victory. They must have been 
 left and been able to crawl down unnoticed till they 
 had reached the valley. Fools, not to wait till dark ! 
 but perhaps they had guessed the force would retire. 
 There was little time to lose. David ordered the men to 
 mount, and eagerly showed Habib Ullah the wretched 
 three. David, with his own and thirty of Habib's, would 
 charge the first clump, Habib was to take the one a 
 little further back, the more distant clump must wait. 
 The moment the troopers had scrambled up the bank, 
 David showed them the enemy and the three wounded 
 men, of whom he could now see that two were support- 
 ing a third. The two bodies of cavalry separated, 
 Habib, riding fifty yards on the right rear of David's 
 party. Advancing at a trot for the first hundred 
 yards, they were now within three hundred yards of 
 the leading tribesmen. " Yih Hulla ka waqt hai ! " 
 " Shout, men, shout ! " The whole broke into a 
 canter, and, yelling like mad, boiled up to a wild 
 gallop. The three wounded men heard and looked, 
 and collapsed. They had hardly hoped for help, and 
 were advancing almost dazed. The tribes stopped to 
 look whence the sound came, and that wait sealed their 
 fate. It does not take galloping eager men long to 
 cover three hundred yards. Mad desire for revenge,
 
 DEFEAT 277 
 
 mad yearning to get at a foe who had hunted them so 
 in the morning was the dominating desire, and the 
 yells meant fury and vengeance. The tribesman is a 
 poor thing in the open. The thud of the hoofs on the 
 dry plain added to the horror of the vision. Quadru 
 pedante putrem sonitu, quatit ungula campum ! The 
 plain shook and the clansmen shrieked with terror, as 
 David and Ganesha Singh struck the clump before it 
 had time to scatter. Two men offered fight for the 
 last time, the remainder fled, to be hacked and sabred. 
 Habib's objective had broken up before he could charge 
 home, but his enraged swordsmen took full toll. Through 
 the broken ranks and back again they rode, till the only 
 vestige of an enemy were odd scurrying figures nearing 
 the scrub of the foothills. David stood waving his 
 sword by the three wounded men, his trumpeter sound- 
 ing the rally after the mantoer he had learnt from the 
 English. Gradually the elated troopers assembled, 
 some holding their adversaries' heads in their hands. 
 He -forming, they returned to camp with no worse 
 result than a few cuts. The whole force was waiting 
 for them, and it was a new spirit and a new pride that 
 met them. In those few minutes the soldiery had passed 
 from depression to jauntiness. Even the Eegiment of 
 Victory believed it had borne a share. The three wounded 
 men were brought in amid cheers. There was now no 
 doubt that the force would get away unmolested. 
 
 Yar Khan's wrinkles actually wreathed into a smile, 
 despite the bitterness of Salabat Khan's death. 
 
 " No wonder you English rule half Hindostan you 
 deserve to. Now, get your horses blown, and we will 
 move out of this." 
 
 By ten o'clock that night the force reached the foot 
 of the ascent and Yar Khan felt that the Begiment of 
 Victory with the guns and the detachment from the 
 Lightning Corps could bo left to make their way up
 
 278 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the pass bringing Salabat Khan's body with them to 
 Bandipura. He, David, and those whose horses were 
 lit for it, would go on at once over the pass, rest at 
 Bandipura and push on to the city. So under the 
 stars for many weary hours that body of horsemen, 
 elated yet sore at heart, slowly climbed the Mai * and 
 led their tired horses down the other side. 
 
 * Mountain.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 BANGLES RING SOFTLY AND SADLY 
 
 DAWN in Srinagar on a morning in early summer is 
 very soft and very beautiful. A sweet, cool breeze 
 blew down from the mountains, and a scent of blossom 
 haunted the air. Armande du Plessis knelt in prayer 
 at the little altar in the whitewashed room adjoining 
 that hi which he lived. Prayer that peace should 
 reign in that beautiful valley, prayer that blessing 
 might attend his work in healing and hi spreading the 
 gospel. A healer of bodies he had been for many years, 
 and there was yet no sign that he had healed the 
 minds. He was old enough, however, to know that God 
 worked in His own method and not in man's, and that 
 the only command was to tell the News, which he, 
 poor refugee priest, had done with all his might. 
 
 Then his prayers ended, and because there were 
 wars and rumours of war, or because the soft breeze 
 perhaps blew unrest for all its softness, the Abbe went 
 to his pallet bed and drew from underneath a long 
 red leather bag, worked with a silken pattern at the 
 edges. From the bag he drew a shining basket-hilted 
 rapier, and a case with two small pistols. Wiping 
 the rapier he loaded the pistols, looked to their priming, 
 and then placed them under the skin rug that covered 
 the bed. They, his Bible, a small ebony crucifix, 
 and the miniature round his neck, were all that ho 
 
 279
 
 280 A PEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 possessed of the old happy life in La Belle France. 
 He then passed to the tiny mud room where he kept 
 the few drugs and herbs that the resources of Kashmir 
 could purvey, and which his extending knowledge of 
 the secrets of medicine was slowly augmenting, and 
 busied himself in making certain extracts that he was 
 likely to want. His day's work had begun. 
 
 Allah Visayah had been sleeping out in the latticed 
 verandah overhanging the Jhelurn, whose sluggish 
 muddy waters lapped the plinth below in a monotonous 
 night-long chant, coating the old carved gods on tho 
 stolen plinth stones with a fresh coat of mud, for there 
 had been rain on the clay hills above Verinag. Allah 
 Visayah was tired, and had meant to sleep late, after 
 a long evening entertaining those officers whom she 
 hoped to bring over to the service of Altamish. But, 
 just as her servants were closing her outer gates, lo ! 
 one Wali Dad arrived, weary and mud besplashed, full, 
 however, of the good news. He had ridden through on 
 relays to Symbal, and had come on in a shikara by 
 water. It had been necessary to admit him and hear 
 his good news of the death of Salabat Khan. No 
 fiction this time, but solid, joyful fact. Allah Visayah 
 already saw the Pampur estates standing in her name. 
 Wali Dad had come for one hour's sleep, and to ascertain 
 which Kommadans might be looked to to at once 
 declare for Altamish. She told him which of her 
 friends, chiefly officers of militia, could be relied on to 
 give up their trusts. Told him also how the Kommadan 
 of the Lightning Regiment at Hari Parbat Fort would 
 listen to no one. Was not the corpse of the late 
 Kommadan still hanging in chains over the gateway ? 
 To which Wali Dad had replied that he was now as 
 like to hang for sticking to his master as his predecessor 
 was for deserting him, which was true enough, and 
 the Begum grinned thereat. Wali Dad had slept an
 
 BANGLES RING SOFTLY AND SADLY 281 
 
 hour and gone, and Allah Visayah had meant to 
 sleep late in the cool, shady verandah. 
 
 Hardly had she got properly off to dream the dreams 
 of those who are on the right side of the fence after 
 all, than a small shikara was paddled up to the steps 
 in the plinth by two men with perspiration streaming 
 from their brows. It was Peeroo and Pheroo, and 
 in the boat sat an old woman, and in her arms a child. 
 
 " Oh, Begum Sahiba ! Oh-e ! Oh ! Begum Sahiba 
 Darwaza kohlo jaldi ! " * The Begiim drowsily stirred 
 and stretched and below the child wailed. That 
 caught her ear. Surely that was her little Dundoo, 
 who should be peaceably asleep in the Jhok on the 
 Sindh ! She leapt up wide awake now, and called 
 her servants, and then threw open the lattice window. 
 The old woman, Dundoo's nurse, was bringing in the 
 small child. Very small and shrunken it looked 
 under the treble muslin wrapper. The Begum flew 
 down to meet it. That child, whose father she could 
 hardly even guess at, was all the world to her, more 
 even than that dream of the Pampur estates since 
 was it not for him she wanted them. She, the outcaste, 
 who dreamed of her son founding a race of landowning 
 barons ! 
 
 The boy was but running the course of so many 
 children in early summer. It was the mulberry 
 season. In Kashmir everything happens in the mul- 
 berry season. " Jab molbari hoga " f is the promise. The 
 dogs eat mulberries, and the fish eat mulberries, and 
 the bears eat mulberries. Jab molbari hoga, then, is 
 the time to catch fish and shoot bears. It is the small, 
 sweet mulberry that grows wild and forms half the 
 hedges and the avenues to the roads, not the great 
 luscious king of mulberries, the Shah-tout. That 
 only grows in the gardens of princes. It is the sweet, 
 
 * Open the door at once. f When the mulberries come.
 
 282 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 the sickly sweet, wild mulberries that every one and 
 everything eats at this season, especially children. 
 Which was the tale of little Dundoo. Too many 
 mulberries added to hot days and cold nights had 
 brought on infantile cholera, which would not yield 
 to the old wife's remedies, and the nurse had started 
 to the mother in a boat. 
 
 Allah Visayah now wholly mother, seized the little 
 shrunken figure and remembered the good padrd and 
 how she had served him by taking in the leper. She 
 knew where he lived, and followed by the old nurse 
 and Peeroo, she made towards the Shah Hamadan 
 mosque, past the little old burial ground and a skull 
 that half stuck out of a grave, straight for the little 
 mud, whitewashed house of the Abbe. The Abbe, 
 as we have seen, was at work in his dispensary. Without 
 knock or call the mother went straight in, laid the 
 child on the floor behind him, and threw herself down 
 clasping his ankles. Armande du Plessis, who had 
 not heard her entry, absorbed in his compounding, 
 turned round. 
 
 " Save my child, Padre Sahib ! Save him ! I know 
 you can." 
 
 The Abbe was used to the treating of sick babies, 
 and the case of Dundoo was clear enough, the stains 
 of mulberries on the child's garments gave the clue. 
 The opium jar was the obvious resort, with some 
 powdered ginger added thereto, and while preparing 
 this he asked for news of the city, and more especially 
 of the seat of war. 
 
 " There has been severe fighting, and a disaster 
 in the mountains, and the Governor has been 
 killed." 
 
 " We have heard that before," returned the Abbe. 
 
 " Yes, Padrd Sahib, I know, but this is true. Salabat 
 Khan is dead, and a good riddance too."
 
 BANGLES RING SOFTLY AND SADLY 283 
 
 " A good riddance ! Why, this valley has never 
 been so well governed." 
 
 " Pah ! Folk want something more than good 
 government, at least town folk do. We want excite- 
 ment and display, and a chance for those that are 
 down. Every one hates these solemn Afghans. We 
 want Persians or Toorks to rule us. I've no use for 
 this lot, and as for that stuck-up Miriam, I should like 
 to spoil her beauty." 
 
 " What harm has the Lady Miriam done you ? " 
 
 " Harm ! Why, not content with riding about with 
 her brother, which a decent woman should be ashamed 
 to do, she goes past my house with her chin in the 
 air as if we of the Thunbi Bazaar had no right to live. 
 We are more use in the world than she is." 
 
 The news of Salabat Khan's death was serious, very 
 serious! Not only might his European employes be 
 involved in the slaughter, but what was to become of 
 the Lady Miriam? That simple, straightforward girl 
 had found a very warm corner in the Abbe's heart. 
 Not only had he detected and rejoiced at her penchant 
 for David, but her constant questionings, whenever 
 they met, which they often did, on the Christian faith, 
 had raised great hopes in his heart of a real convert at 
 last. For years had he sown the seed, but it had fallen 
 by the way. Here some unforeseen breeze had wafted 
 it to good soil. Always dwelling on the Christian 
 ideal of women, that had so obviously attracted her 
 from her first contact with the European point of view, 
 he had taught her much of the Glad Tidings. He felt 
 that Miriam was already a Christian at heart. The 
 fate of David and her position aroused a keen anxiety 
 and a desire to be up and doing. But this woman 
 knew half the gossip and much of the secrets of the 
 city. He would get more from her. 
 " If I promise to save your child, you must tell me
 
 284 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 what you know. Who will carry on the Govern- 
 ment ? " 
 
 " Why, the Lord Altamish, of course. Already all 
 the Toork nobles and their retainers hold the town and 
 its approaches, and the khassadars will all declare 
 for him." 
 
 " But what of Kabul ? " 
 
 " Pshaw ! Kabul, indeed. The empire is almost 
 a name now. Kabul will ratify whoever has the power. 
 The Toorks will gain possession of the Shergarhi to-day, 
 and will surround the Kashmir troops when they 
 return." 
 
 " The Kommadan of the Shergarhi will never give 
 up the palace." 
 
 " No. But he has a small garrison. Most of the 
 best troops went to the wars." 
 
 " What will become of the women, of Salabat Khan's 
 wives, of the Lady Miriam ? " 
 
 " Oh, the wives will be allowed to go back to their 
 families probably. Who would be bothered with them? 
 Some one will carry off Miriam, no doubt. Her 
 brother is dead, and there will be none to raise a feud 
 over her, the minx." 
 
 " Do you wish your child to live ? " 
 ' To live ? Ah-h, Padre Sahib ! " 
 
 " Very well, this child will die unless I save it. It 
 will require my medicine for five days. Now, under- 
 stand me very clearly. I shall not make that medicine 
 unless you help me. The Lady Miriam must escape 
 with me, and you must arrange it for me. No need to 
 ask why. I want to get her away. I shall give you 
 one dose for your child to-night. I will give you eight 
 more powders, one for morning and one for evening, 
 when I find that the Lady Miriam will be safe. Now 
 sit down there and think about it. Here, take the 
 child and rock it to sleep. See, the pain has gone."
 
 BANGLES KING SOFTLY AND SADLY 285 
 
 It was true the little drawn features had become 
 round again. The Begum sat and crooned to it. She 
 was woman of the world enough not to talk needlessly, 
 and at once set about thinking out a plan. The Abbe 
 went to his bed and drew out the long rapier and 
 laid it handy, and then went back to his dispensary 
 while the Begum sat crooning to her boy, who was already 
 asleep. The Padre Sahib was clearly a master of life 
 and death, and must be humoured; besides, he had 
 the power of witchcraft, she knew, and witches must 
 never be crossed. There was only one way for him 
 to get the Lady Miriam away, and that was by entering 
 the palace, telling her the danger, and getting her to 
 come out and away with him. But there was also 
 only one way to get at her at short notice, and that 
 would be by permission of the Kommadan, in which 
 case he must be told. In any case, what did it matter ? 
 If he knew, he would either prepare to defend the 
 palace or give it up. His garrison was very weak ; ho 
 could not do much if he did resist. So cogitating, the 
 Begum called to the Abbe, who came to her and felt the 
 child's pulse. 
 
 " Ah ! he sleeps well. He may recover ; if he has 
 my drugs he surely will." 
 
 " Padre Sahib, for the sake of my child and your cure, 
 I will now arrange to help you. This is what you 
 must do. You must go to the Kommadan of the 
 Shergarhi and tell him the news, and say that you have 
 come to lead the Lady Miriam to safety. If he raises 
 difficulties you must bribe him. Here is a chain of 
 gold and turquoise. You shall give him this to win 
 his sanction. He must then let you out by the Eastern 
 gate, which is on the river. I will have a boat with four 
 rowers waiting, and they will take you upstream 
 towards Islamabad. The boat cannot be ready before 
 eleven in the morning, and it will wait there till
 
 286 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 midnight to-night for you. I will put food into it for 
 you. Now swear to rne that if I have the boat there 
 you will give a fifth man, who shall be in the boat, 
 the four days' drugs and he will return to me." 
 
 " Lady, I swear it by all I hold holy." 
 
 " Very well, then, the sooner you can get to the 
 palace, the better ; and I will now take home my 
 Dundoo, who now sleeps as he used to sleep. Oh, 
 Padre Sahib, I will do all I have promised, and much 
 more if you will save the child." 
 
 And Allah Visayah, the remnants of yester'eens paint 
 and antimony on her face, and her hair still showing 
 the talc powder with which it had been sprinkled, 
 looked nevertheless a woman and not a Jezebel as she 
 gently rose and carried off the sleeping child. 
 
 Armande du Plessis had few preparations to make. 
 Under his white cassock he strapped the rapier, and 
 put the two primed pistols into the belt. He then 
 put the Bible in his pocket, locked the door of 
 his humble dwelling, and called for a shikara just as 
 in Paris he would have called for a fiacre. Three or 
 four public boats answered his call from the wide 
 steps on the plinth below the mosque, and he at once 
 set out for the Shergarhi, feeling some confidence that 
 once again a piece of good Damascus steel hung from 
 his side, so persistent is the old Adam in the holiest of 
 men. Half an hour's paddling brought him to the 
 palace landing stage. Tossing a chilki rupee to the 
 rowers, he sprang up the steps with the alertness of 
 that same young Abbe who was reputed one of the 
 best swordsmen in Paris, or at any rate about the 
 Court. 
 
 Outside the palace gate was a wooden pavilion, 
 under which the palace writers sat taking note of 
 those who came and went, and of those who had 
 business. At one end was a seat reserved for the
 
 BANGLES EING SOFTLY AND SADLY 287 
 
 commandant, who had jusfc come down from it, about 
 to go inside as the Abbe came up. Knowing the 
 Abbe by sight, for since David and the Lady Miriam 
 had struck up a friendship with him he was a fairly 
 familiar figure, the commandant stopped to see 
 what he wanted. After greetings, du Plessis craved 
 a private audience, and Inayat Ullah took him into 
 a cool chamber adjoining the guard room at the gate- 
 way. 
 
 " Commandant Sahib, I have come on vital business. 
 You know the rumour, and I believe it is a true rumour, 
 that Salabat Khan has been killed and the troops 
 severely handled." 
 
 " No, Padre, I have had no news from the front at 
 all, except that the fort of Gurais had been easily 
 relieved, and all is well." 
 
 " I understand that the Governor is dead ; the troops 
 if not defeated at any rate severely handled, and that 
 Altamish will at once declare himself Governor. Also 
 that the Toork faction will prevent the troops from 
 returning, and that the khassadar garrisons will admit the 
 Toorks to all the government forts they are garrisoning." 
 
 " That, if true, is very serious, for all the best troops 
 are away. I have only twenty good men here, the 
 rest are Shapiyon khassadars. If this is true, which 
 God forbid ! I cannot hold this place, nor do I know 
 for whom to hold it. By Imperial custom, the Naib, 
 that is the Sirdar Yar Khan, should govern till the 
 Emperor's will is known, but Kabul is a far cry, and 
 if Altamish takes the government and makes sub- 
 mission to Kabul, I doubt any one saying him nay. 
 Therefore, too, I must consider my own position, and 
 the lives of my own men. I must either give up the 
 palace and ride away with those who will follow me 
 lo seek fresh service, or I must join the Toorks, That 
 I would not willingly do. I would gladly die for
 
 288 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Salabat Khan, but not for a lost cause when the master 
 is dead." 
 
 All of which was a very just resume of the situation, 
 as du Plessis could but admit. He at once came to 
 the point. 
 
 " I wish to give safe custody and escape, wifh 
 honour, to the Lady Miriam, with your approval. I 
 am in some sort her guardian." 
 
 " Well, there are the other ladies, too, who must 
 be considered. They are only an anxiety to me. I 
 will make a bargain with you. If you will take away 
 the Lady Nur Jan and the Bibi Alana, too, I will help 
 you in every way, and if I have to leave this will come 
 after you and help escort them to their own homes in 
 the Punjab. Will you do this ? " 
 
 The proposal was not altogether an alluring one, 
 and a squire of dames was too old a role to be in itself 
 attractive. God knew ! he had seen enough in his time 
 of poor ladies wanting safe conduct, and if needs must 
 he was ready enough to do it, and he said so. 
 
 " Good," said Inayat Ullah. " There is no actual 
 need to move till we know something definite. The 
 Sirdar Yar Khan and the young Sahib may be here 
 and able to keep control. You had better see the Lady 
 Miriam at once and let her tell the Bibis." 
 
 Word was at once sent up to Miriam, that the Padre 
 Sahib wanted to speak with her on urgent matters, 
 and he was accommodated in a small private hall of 
 audience, with a carved grille at one end, used by 
 the ladies of the palace for such purposes. A very 
 few minutes and a rustle of clothes told the padre that 
 some one had arrived. It was Miriam, who, disdaining 
 to talk from behind the grille, opened the wicket and 
 came into the hall. 
 
 " You want to see me, father. You have news ? 
 Oh, bad news. I know it ? "
 
 BANGLES RING SOFTLY AND SADLY 289 
 
 " Lady ! nay, daughter ! There are very serious 
 rumours, not yet confirmed, but so serious that we must 
 at once be prepared. It is said that your brother has 
 been killed in battle with the tribes, and that Altamish 
 is about to proclaim himself Governor, seizing the 
 palace and forts by force. Soldiers are few, and the 
 militia are said to be ready to join him. Indeed, if 
 your brother is dead, there is no very strong duty 
 owing to any one, and unless the Sirdar Yar Khan 
 can return in force, there is nothing very much that 
 any one can do. I have been consulting with Inayat 
 Ullah, and I am now prepared to take you up the river 
 in a boat with the two ladies of your brother's house- 
 hold. There is no one else to do it." 
 
 " Oh, Padre Sahib, my poor brother ! What of 
 Ferassa Sahib ? Is he killed ? " and the voice presaged 
 utter desolation. 
 
 " Nay, daughter, we have no news ; we believe him 
 well and Yar Khan also. The earlier reports spoke 
 of the relief of Gurais Fort and victory. But we know 
 nothing yet. You must keep calm for the sake of 
 the others. You will fall into the hands of Altamish 
 unless we are ready to escape. You must at once tell 
 the ladies, and have them, with some bedding, ready 
 to move if need be in half an hour's time at most. 
 When you are ready, we shall not actually leave till 
 we have information of some kind." 
 
 " Where are we to go to ? " 
 
 " You must go up towards Islamabad for the present, 
 till we can get in touch with Yar Khan and Fraser 
 Sahib, and cannot see further ahead yet." 
 
 " Oh, that I was a man to get even with that 
 Altamish; ah, yes, and that devil-faced Afghan who 
 used to be about with him." 
 
 " Ah, yes, my daughter, that is a man whom even 
 I, an old priest, and a man of peace, would fain bo 
 
 u
 
 290 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 even with for many reasons, for many reasons. Now 
 go tell the Sirdar's ladies, and may God in His mercy 
 soften the blow ! " 
 
 So Miriam went away sorrowfully, and du Plessis 
 returned to the guardroom to be near Inayat Ullah 
 and watch the situation. There was little else to 
 be done, however so much the spirit might fume, 
 but the memory of the sight she had seen in the fire 
 before the image of Indra held her a nightmare. 
 Daoud Shah, with the cleft forehead pacing in his 
 garden and thinking of her! Death, rather death a 
 thousand times, than fall into his hands ! 
 
 Armande du Plessis watched her go. " Mary ! Pity 
 women," was the prayer on his lips. He who in 
 Christian France had seen the heart torn from still 
 warm La Lambdle ! Could worse befall in heathen 
 India !
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 TENDER RUTH 
 
 THERE was no very great period of suspense. Hardly 
 had the Abbe taken up a position in the guardroom, 
 than message was brought to the commandant that 
 the Lord Altamish had been proclaimed as Governor 
 of Kashmir in lieu of Salabat Khan killed in action 
 with the tribes of the Black Mountain. The city was 
 in an uproar, and parties of Toork horsemen were every- 
 where. The Treasury guard had been overpowered, 
 and a Toork guard mounted in its place. The Lord 
 Altamish had returned from the front to take over 
 the government. All the watchmen and police in 
 the city had agreed to take orders from him. It was 
 now close on eleven o'clock, and the Abbe" went to the 
 Eastern gate to see if Allah Visayah's boat had arrived. 
 A long-prowed boat paddled across from the opposite 
 bank as he came on to the parapet above the gate. 
 It had four rowers with a covered curtained sort of 
 deck cabin in the stern, such as was often used to 
 take purdah women about in. As the Abbe stood 
 up on the parapet his head and shoulders showing 
 over, a fifth man sitting in the bows, stood up and 
 salaamed to him. The Abbe waved a reply. It was 
 undoubtedly the boat, he would get an order from 
 Inayat Ullah to get out through the Eastern wicket 
 and hold converse with the man in charge. Hurrying 
 back to the mainguard, he found Inayat Ullah standing 
 
 291
 
 292 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 at the gate in converse with two messengers, who 
 presently rode away. 
 
 " Padre, those two men have come from Altamish. 
 One is that rogue Wali Dad. They have come to 
 tell me that Altamish has been proclaimed Governor, 
 and to inquire when they can take over the palace ! 
 I was more than inclined to give them a rough answer 
 at their impertinence in assuming it would of necessity 
 be theirs. However, I spoke them fair and promised 
 that I would yield the place at four of the afternoon 
 and not a moment before. They urged that they should 
 have it earlier. I said they must fight for it if they 
 insisted on that, but they should have it free at four. 
 I have therefore till four. At that hour I give over 
 the place. Yar Khan may arrive before that." 
 
 " What shall the ladies do ? " 
 
 " I should say that if nothing happens by noon that 
 you should start away to Islamabad. If I decide to 
 leave Kashmir, I shall come and join you. Here is an 
 order to you to come and go through the East gate, 
 and Allahdad Khan here will go with you." 
 
 The Abbe went away to the East gate, stopping 
 on his way to see Miriam, who again came down to 
 the grille, to say that the ladies were ready, and that 
 whereas Nur Jan was quiet and resigned and would go 
 wherever wanted, Alana Bibi was in a furious hysterical 
 mood. Du Plessis told her the news of Altamish's 
 proclamation and how they would start at noon if 
 nothing happened. Miriam promised to be ready, 
 and the Abbe went on through the Eastern gateway 
 to the bank, to talk with the man in charge of the boat. 
 As they approached the steps, Allahdad, a huge, 
 grizzled-looking man with a red-gray stubble of a 
 beard, asked if the Governor's ladies were going with 
 him. The Abbe explained that he was taking them 
 away pending help from Yar Khan.
 
 TENDER RUTH 293 
 
 ' Then," said Allahdad, " I will conic with you and 
 nine others. The Lady Nur Jan is of the Chib clan. 
 Her brother is a baron owning lands to the west of 
 Poonch. We will help you see her in safety to her 
 brother. We will ride upstream to-night and get in 
 touch with you." 
 
 And the Abbe, liking his rugged old face, made a pact 
 with him then and there, and told him how unless he 
 heard from Yar Khan he would make his way up to 
 Islamabad. Needs must when the devil drives, and 
 if you had to trust people it were well to do it thoroughly, 
 with an eye, however, on what might befall. 
 
 Twelve o'clock soon came without any sign from 
 Yar Khan or Fraser and Inayat Ullah urged the Abbe 
 to go while yet there was time. He willingly agreed 
 that the Chibs should go after them, and added that 
 Allahdad was a very faithful servant and an old 
 retainer of the right sort. The priest and the soldier 
 then embraced in Afghan fashion, and the former 
 went to the ladies' quarters and there found three 
 veiled and shrouded figures awaiting him, with three 
 serving women carrying bundles. The serving women 
 were more than he had bargained for, but as a query 
 raised a fretful remark from Alana Bibi, he said no 
 more and the six women scrambled into the boat, and 
 squatted inside the deckhouse. The Abbe according 
 to pact then gave into the hands of the fifth man in 
 the prow of the boat the bundle of powders for the 
 Begum's child, and bidding the rowers lay to, stepped 
 on board himself. 
 
 Up in the palace, Inayat Ullah had summoned all 
 the troops, the khassadars, and officials, and told 
 them how Altamish had declared himself Governor, 
 and how at four o'clock he would release all men from 
 any obedience to himself. He would ride forth to 
 join the Sirdar Yar Khan and seek fortune afresh,
 
 294 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 whoever of his own men who cared to follow him might 
 do so. Then through the afternoon hours he sat 
 in the bastion above the gate and looked eagerly for 
 some sign of Yar Khan or even some mention. But 
 though now and again dust rose or parties of horse 
 appeared in the distance, nothing drew near that could 
 be Yar Khan. Shortly after three a large number of 
 Toork horsemen approached the gate of the palace, 
 and with them rode Altamish himself anxious to take 
 up his official quarters, and relieved that it had all 
 come about so peacefully. If the truth were known 
 Altamish had no heart for more fighting to his own 
 personal hand than was actually necessary. Inayat 
 Ullah, an obstinate man of his word, took not the 
 slightest notice of him and his escort till four o'clock, 
 for which hour Altamish waited with such patience 
 as he possessed, cursing under his breath all tiresome 
 Afghan punctilio. At four o'clock there being no 
 sign at all of Yar Khan and party, Inayat Ullah drew 
 up the remaining twenty odd troopers of the garrison 
 immediately within the gate. The said twenty men 
 having all signified their intention of riding away into 
 the world with him, the gates were thrown open, and 
 Inayat Ullah sent word to Altamish that he might 
 ride in. Hardly had he done so when a sign of dust 
 on the horizon that might have been Yar Khan, was 
 visible through the gateway, but Inayat Ullah, a man 
 of his word, sat immovable. 
 
 Altamish rode in cautiously, followed by a couple 
 of hundred horsemen, though before they entered 
 Inayat Ullah led his men out lest they be caught in 
 a trap. Without more than a passing salutation, he 
 remarked to Altamish that the palace was his and 
 prepared to ride away. The dust on the horizon 
 changed to a party of galloping horsemen, and who 
 should ride up hot haste but the Sirdar Daoud Shah
 
 TENDER RUTH 295 
 
 himself, and with him a score or so of wild-looking 
 Toork and Persian troopers. Drawing rein at the 
 gateway, he entered alone and found Altamish at the 
 entrance to the ladies' apartments. 
 
 " Where are the late Governor's women, his wives, 
 and the Lady Miriam, his sister?" he demanded. 
 
 " I am told that they have left the palace some hours 
 ago," replied Altamish. 
 
 " Who allowed them to go ? " 
 
 " Why, that palace commandant who has just made 
 over the palace to me as the new Governor." 
 
 " Has he had the impertinence to let these women 
 go?" 
 
 " Well, I don't know that I mind. I don't want 
 'em. Got more than enough of my own, and, as you 
 know, Azizun alone is enough in the way of anything 
 extra." 
 
 " Fool ! What do I care about you and your 
 women. I want that precious sister of his to be my 
 wife. For what else do you suppose that I have 
 been interfering in your affairs ? Fetch the com- 
 mandant back at once." 
 
 " You won't find it easy by force. Perhaps I can 
 get him back. Here, Wali Dad, ride and ask that 
 sirdar to return here. Say that I have that to speak 
 of that will be greatly to his advantage." 
 
 Inayat Ullah, who had only moved, and that at 
 a walk, some one hundred and fifty yards from the 
 palace gateway, turned back. He was not really 
 particular with whom he took service, and was quite 
 open to a tempting offer. 
 
 He halted his party and looked back. He then 
 wheeled them about, half hesitated, and then halted 
 them. That halt was his undoing. Daoud Shah 
 slipped out with his men and rode away to one side, 
 and Wali Dad had led out some thirty Toork troopers
 
 296 
 
 on the other. Inayat Ullah was surrounded. Fearing 
 nothing, however, that sturdy soldier of fortune rode 
 up to Altamish and saluted. 
 
 " Your Excellency summoned me." 
 
 " Yes ! I wanted to know what had become of the 
 ladies of Salabat Khan's household." 
 
 " They left the palace some hours ago." 
 
 " I would know where they went." 
 
 " That, Excellency, is their business. I neither 
 know nor care." 
 
 At this juncture Daoud Shah had ridden up and 
 he sat his horse as men sit who live in the saddle. 
 Fair and square he sat, with his eyes blazing out 
 from under his fierce lowering eyebrows, and his 
 forehead knit with a scowl. Inayat looked into that 
 weird countenance, and for the first time in all his 
 life shuddered, and with reason. Daoud Shah barked 
 at him in short staccato tones. 
 
 " Do I understand that you have allowed the ladies 
 of Salabat Khan's household to leave the palace ? " 
 
 " That is so," said Inayat Ullah, his temper rising. 
 Even the foul fiend himself must speak civilly if ho 
 would have an answer from him. 
 
 " By what right do you dare to do this thing ? " 
 
 " By my sole right as commandant of the palace." 
 
 " Will you tell me where they have gone ? " 
 
 " I do not know where they have gone, and I should 
 not tell you if I did." 
 
 Whereon Daoud Shah's lips curled in a snarl on his 
 set teeth, and riding close to the jaunty sturdy sirdar 
 barked at him again. 
 
 " Then take that for your pains," and struck him 
 across the face with a small, heavy mace of brass that 
 he carried, studded at the head with some set stones. 
 
 Inayat Ullah, taken unawares, made a feeble attempt 
 to ward off the blow, and fell from his horse half
 
 TENDER RUTH 297 
 
 stunned. His troopers gave a yell of rage, and dashed 
 in to help their leader. But the Toork horse at onco 
 closed on them, and a fierce hack and slash ensued, 
 with the inevitable result that four or five of them fell 
 and the remainder broken and outmatched, scampered 
 away with Toork troopers after them. 
 
 Altamish, rising in his stirrups, said to Daoud Shah, 
 " I would not have had this. This man deserved 
 safe conduct." 
 
 " This man deserved nothing of the kind, as does no 
 man who thwarts Daoud Shah. Your revolution needs 
 anointing, ah ha ! You need a victim. Never should 
 a revolution take place without the red blood flowing. 
 Come, now, you must clinch your position. I demand 
 now that this dog, who has stood in my way, be blown 
 away immediately from that gun up on the bastion 
 yonder, that all the world may know that you are 
 Governor and I am your wazir. Nay, my lord, will it 
 be necessary that I should tell you once again why you 
 will do that which I bid. Surely you have not 
 forgotten ? " 
 
 And Daoud Shah looked straight into the eyes of 
 Altamish, who turned his head and said 
 
 " Wazir, let it be as you wish." 
 
 Whereupon then and there, the wretched Inayat 
 Ullah Khan, only yet half sensible from the blow he 
 had received, was carried up on to the bastion and 
 tied to the gun, which was loaded first with a double 
 charge, the shot having been withdrawn. 
 
 Blowing away from a gun is a favourite Eastern 
 punishment practised in Kabul to this day, and one 
 thoroughly understood of the people, as a sign of 
 power, majesty, and dominion. As an outward and 
 visible sign at this epoque, it was no doubt a desirable 
 happening. The death, too, had the questionable 
 merit to the Oriental of being instantaneous and
 
 298 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 practically painless. On the other hand, it was 
 certainly a good iamaslia, a good spectacle for onlookers. 
 So several willing hands bound the wretched Inayat 
 Ullah to the gun, and the method of the binding was 
 this. The prisoner was placed standing in front of 
 the piece, the muzzle pressed against the small of his 
 back. His body and wrists were bent back and lashed 
 to the tops of the wheels, while below in the same way 
 his ankles were bent back and lashed to the bottom 
 of the wheels, the victim thus being as it were, a 
 spread eagle, or a Saint Andrew's cross. All was 
 then ready for the sacrifice to a relentless vengeance, 
 and the possible need for some sign of authority. 
 Standing behind the piece stood an artilleryman with 
 a priming horn and wad, and opposite him another 
 with a lighted port fire. 
 
 One moment of suspense, and then the new wazir 
 himself gave the order to fire. The great gun roared, 
 and away to the horizon flew the mortal remains of 
 the gallant Inayat Ullah butchered to make a 
 holiday even as the Romans did, his poor arms and 
 legs dropping back to the wheels to which they were 
 lashed. The head blown high in the air, fell down on 
 to the floor of the bastion. ..." And none so poor 
 to do him reverence."
 
 CHAPTEK XXVIII 
 
 THE STRATAGEM OP FEEOZ TUGLAK 
 
 ALL through the night the wearied horsemen continued 
 their forced march from Gurais towards the Holy City, 
 and by the small hours of the morning had reached 
 Bandipura at the foot of the Tragbal, by the shores of 
 the great Wular Lake. Here happily some food for 
 man and beast could be found. Knocking up the 
 sweetmeat-sellers, some jellabies, tea and curds could be 
 got for the men. For the horses it was possible to find 
 materials for a pudding of flour and sugar and powdered 
 ginger, such as would keep them going for another 
 twelve hours. The horses fed, the men swallowed 
 what they could get, and fell asleep by the roadway 
 holding their horses' reins, too tired even to set a watch. 
 And David, old in the minor truths of war, saw that 
 it was wiser to risk a surprise than to force over-tired 
 men beyond the powers of the bonds of discipline. 
 
 It was therefore David and Tone themselves who 
 shared the watch, for even Yar Khan slept. Tone had 
 unwillingly left his guns and his treasured Igd-i-gul, 
 urged thereto by David, who realized that the troops 
 alone could, if need be, make their peace with the new 
 administration, while Tone might easily be sacrificed. 
 It was in the hour of trouble that the Irishman showed 
 especially to advantage, and as he grew more tired, 
 and the men around more dejected, the higher rose 
 
 299
 
 300 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 his natural spirits. From three a.m. till seven, and 
 not a second more, did David the inexorable allow that 
 bivouac sleep, having dozed but the last two hours 
 himself. Away on the western slopes the sun shone 
 merrily across the valley, though Bandipura still lay 
 in the shadows of Haramukh, when the tired men 
 stretched themselves, and demanded more tea and 
 curds from the sweet-sellers and watered their horses 
 in the lake. Yar Khan was about in all his vigour, 
 and in half an hour the party started for Srinagar. 
 Wounds, death, and broken-down horses had now 
 reduced their total to little over a hundred. The 
 surviving animals, however, were of wire, and could 
 be relied on, and David believed that the men, certainly 
 those of his own rissalafi, could all be trusted to follow 
 his fortunes. Indeed, he felt that every stout heart 
 and trusty sword would be needed if Miriam was to be 
 carried safe out of the turmoil of the valley. All down 
 the slow winding track from the Tragbal, with tho 
 tired horses slipping and stumbling there had been one 
 echo in his heart and mind, just Miriam ! Miriam ! 
 with a plaintive wail in tune to the chorus of the 
 slipping of the horses' feet on the dew- wet rocks. Now 
 as the refreshed cavalcade trotted off on the road to 
 the city, the same refrain beat to a new tune. The 
 horses' hoofs rattled and the accoutrements clattered, 
 and the sun shone, and the tune was a cheerful one, 
 Mir-Mir-Miriam ! Mir-Mir-Miriam ! till even the tired 
 horses took up the spirit of hope and the desire for action. 
 David and Yar Khan rode at the head, and talked of 
 plans. They would get to the Shergarhi if possible, 
 and join forces with Inayat Ullah, get the garrison 
 of the Hari Parbat, all staunch they knew. They 
 would make Altamish smell hell as he had never smelt 
 it before. Some must swim while others sink, no 
 doubt, but that Altamish must be brought low. What
 
 THE STKATAGEM OF FEROZ TUGLAK 301 
 
 if they had got the Shergarhi and carried off the ladies 
 or refused to give them up. Ah, well ! there would be 
 riot of chargers and revel of blows with a vengeance. 
 Tone rode up to join in the discussion. Could he come 
 by more cannon if need be ? Yes, there were three 
 good pieces left in Hari Par bat, and there were two in 
 the Shergarhi. One on the bastion at the main gate, 
 one in the godown. Could he get ammunition for 
 them ? " May I be damned, rammed and crammed down 
 the big gun of Athlone if I can't," said he. " Give us 
 enough force to maintain ourselves, I'll fit out your 
 cannon." 
 
 So full of spirit and hope and plans they rode on, 
 resting their horses for a few minutes every three or 
 four miles lest they give way altogether. But once again 
 the race is not always to the swift neither the victory to 
 the strong. Among those who had openly joined forces 
 with Altamish on the occasion of the memorable garden 
 party in The Garden of Sweet Breezes, was Feroz 
 Tuglak, one of the " Lords of Turan," lord of the manor 
 by imperial grant, of the country east of the Jhelum, 
 and north of the Sindh between the Wular Lake and 
 that river. With three hundred horse and some 
 khassadars, he had been deputed to prevent any of 
 Salabat Khan's followers returning to Srinagar. Lord 
 of the manor of Bandipura, he easily made it his business 
 to know what passed there ; and while the tired 
 troopers had drunk curds and slept, a tobacco seller 
 had left his booth and taken count of the number of 
 troopers, and then sped away on a pony to the village 
 of Pulpattan, near where dwelt my lord Feroz Tuglak. 
 Now, as the country was heavy with rice cultivation 
 and marsh, the only road to the city lay through that 
 village. Therefore, the Toork had arranged cunningly. 
 An officer of his, with fifty of his khassadars armed with 
 matchlocks, would remain hid in the village at the far
 
 302 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 of which would be a barricade. Outside on the 
 village green his three hundred Toork troopers would be 
 drawn up, awaiting to charge in and to close the exit, 
 while the matchlock men harried Yar Khan's force as 
 
 as h was well involved in an apparently peaceful 
 All of which was simple enough. A little 
 wfafle after ten o' the morning, the advanced troopers 
 of Eraser's corps came into the village and cantered 
 ihtMtgft. It was a longish mud and dab village of one 
 single street, and they did not come on the barricade 
 tiD their main body was well involved. Apprised of 
 trouble in front, David dashed forward to reconnoitre. 
 Then it was that the matchlocks opened, some one 
 rolling a tom-tom. From every house a long barrel 
 protruded and flashed. Back galloped Yar Khan 
 and Tone to endeavour to extricate the party, the 
 way it had come, only to find the entrance of the village 
 now closed with two bulloek-earte and a row of match- 
 locks. Then returning to the front they met the whole 
 of the Toork mounted retainers, and a wild fierce 
 mdte ensued lance and scimitar and flint horse 
 pistol, lVmg biting horse and yelling partisan till 
 there was an inextricable jam in the main road. From 
 the roofs matchlock men were picking off the Afghan 
 troopers, and very soon a house caught fire to spread 
 furiously in the morning breeze. Hell for leather and 
 devil take the hindmost ! hit and hit again ! curse the 
 swine that blocks the way ! Die and be damned to 
 you ! Altamish ! Altamish ! Fateh Afghannon, 
 Ferassa Sahib fci Jai ! On the roofs of the house that 
 burnt not, the busy mockers loaded their matchlocks 
 again and again to fire into the jam of Afghan troopers. 
 Many of the latter fell to be trampled under the bones, 
 many carried away a matchlock ball ; but at last Yar 
 Khan followed by several of the harder spirits cut their 
 way through the Toork? out past the burning bouses
 
 THE STRATAGEM OF FEROZ TUGLAK 803 
 
 into the green and then galloped away down a side path 
 that led to the Jhelum. A few hundred yards gone, 
 he pulled up for the dropping horses, and waited to see 
 if more would join him. And as he waited he bitterly 
 thought of the world lost, and the end of the Afghan 
 faction in the province. Nothing to do but to set his 
 face to the world once again ! He had done it often 
 enough, but was gey old to do it once more. Gradually 
 there dribbled out to him thirty or forty of Eraser's men, 
 and a dozen or so of his own. The shouting died away 
 and none seemed to pursue. And Yar Khan turned 
 his back on the blazing village, and the shouts of the 
 villagers fighting the flames, to head for a ferry on the 
 Jhelum, across which he would allow rest and sleep 
 but not before. 
 
 What had become of David ? Ah ! that was the 
 chief thought in the brave old mind as he slowly led 
 away his weary wounded following. It was certainly 
 madness to go and look for him. As a matter of fact 
 David himself was safe. Riding forward when his 
 men had first reported an obstacle, he had found the 
 barricade with matchlock men behind it, and had 
 galloped back to find himself cut off from Yar Khan by 
 the press of horsemen. With him were now but four 
 survivors, Nihal Singh the duffedar, Gul Jan, and two 
 Rajput troopers, who had been forward with Nihal Singh 
 as the advance points. There was only one thing to do, 
 and that was get clear, so the five turned back towards 
 the barricade. Coming down the street towards them 
 where a dozen or so Toork troopers, some carrying 
 lances. Before these could recover themselves, or 
 bring their lances to the charge, David's party dashed 
 headlong into them overturning two, while at least 
 one head rolled from its shoulders beneath Nihal 
 Singh's practised sweeping cut. Through the crowd 
 they dashed on to the barricade to find it only
 
 304 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIE 
 
 composed of thorn scrub. Straight into the face of the 
 thorns and the matchlocks David led them, which in 
 itself was enough to paralyze the aim of the muske- 
 teers. Stirred to a supreme effort, four of the tired 
 horses leapt the barrier, David cutting clown one of the 
 defenders as he did so, and it was not till they were a 
 hundred yards clear that they counted heads and found 
 one of the Eajputs missing. Alas ! a musket ball 
 had penetrated his horse which had fallen across the 
 barricade. A few seconds had sufficed for the rider 
 to be knifed before he could struggle free from his 
 horse. The mercy of God had come in a swift end. 
 
 It was no time to wait for those who fell by the way, 
 and David preferred to put four hundred yards between 
 him and the hostile matchlocks ere he drew rein. 
 Slipped from their stumbling horses, they took cover 
 behind a clump of Lombardy poplar. The roar in the 
 village still continued, and the flames and smoke rose 
 high in the air. Then a party of horse rode up, and 
 David saw the barrier being cleared away ; evidence 
 enough that safety only lay in flight, and for three more 
 weary miles he and his three followers urged their 
 flagging steeds to greater efforts. Passing over an 
 open karewa, and coming to a hamlet it seemed as if 
 the pursuit had come to an end, and they dare halt 
 to give their horses a drink and buy some milk for 
 themselves. A few minutes for thought and further 
 plans was a necessity. 
 
 His reflections were not cheering. Yar Khan and 
 the rest of his followers were either killed, captured or 
 had escaped in other directions ; and it was impossible 
 to get touch with them. Every instinct urged him 
 on to the city to see what had become of Miriam, and 
 how he could serve her. There, there might be some 
 troops still faithful to the Afghan ascendency, and if 
 not he would, at any rate, be able to do or arrange
 
 something. So to the city they would go ; but if any- 
 thing of use was to be done, fresh cattle was a necessity, 
 and fresh cattle was an unlikely happening. Then up 
 spoke Gul Jan, the orderly wise among men, and said 
 
 " Your Honour, do you not know that that old 
 Afghan sirdar of the Suddozai family lives near here. 
 He is much too careful a trimmer to help you with men 
 or anything likely to get himself into trouble with the 
 Toork faction, but he will give you fresh horses for 
 love of Salabat Khan. His residence is not a mile 
 from here, and this is his land we are on." 
 
 So as David knew the name, and had seen the old 
 man in durbar, he decided to clutch at this opportunity, 
 and led the way over the karewa to the house of Sayad 
 Ali Khan Suddozai, a cadet of the clan royal of Kabul. 
 Gul Jan's acumen was not falsified. The old sirdar 
 knew more of David than David did of him, and had a 
 genuine affection for Salabat Khan and all who served 
 him. He promised them fresh horses and spread a meal 
 before them. But their demand for news from the 
 city he could not gratify. After eating it was decided 
 to rest there till later in the afternoon, so that they 
 should reach Srinagar after dark. It was past four and 
 the shadows lengthening when Sayad Ali woke his 
 guests, and announced their horses at the door. 
 
 " If you want information from the town," said he, 
 " you will find that Allah Visayah, the famous courtesan 
 of the Thunbi Bazaar, is at her jhok my boatmen say 
 she came down by shikara * half an hour ago. If you 
 ride by, you will get news, I dare say." 
 
 Mounting their horses, and thanking the old man for 
 his kindliness, David rode straight across to Allah 
 Visayah's jhok, on the banks of the Sindh, and without 
 ceremony rode up to her verandah. The lady was 
 sitting outside nursing a child. 
 * Canoe. 
 
 X
 
 306 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 " Tell me what has happened in the city ? " 
 
 Allah Visayah looked up, and saw a handsome 
 enough man, indeed, she knew him well by sight, and 
 all about him. 
 
 " Happen enough," said she. " The Lord Altamish 
 is proclaimed Governor, and he has occupied the 
 treasury, and by now the Shergarhi." 
 
 " What of Salabat Khan's ladies ? " 
 
 " What do I care about them ? No doubt the Lord 
 Altamish and that old Afghan renegade, Daoud Shah, 
 has them by now. Men said he was to have that 
 Miriam. If I did know, I would hardly tell a stranger 
 either, not unless it was worth while." 
 
 David was not in the mood to stop at trifles. 
 " Dismount, Gul Jan, and come here." 
 
 Gul Jan obeyed. 
 
 " Take that child, and get on your horse." 
 
 Gul Jan again obeyed. 
 
 The mother sprang fiercely to her feet. " Give mo 
 that child at once ... oh, sir ! give me that child ! " 
 
 " I shall do nothing of the kind till I know all you 
 know of the Lady Miriam." 
 
 " What should I know more of your precious 
 Miriam ? " 
 
 " You know all the news of the palace. If you do 
 not tell me more, you shall never see that child again. 
 I have no time to waste. Pinch that child, Gul Jan." 
 
 The child woke and yelled with pain. 
 
 " Oh ! cease, cease torturing my child. I only know 
 that that old Feringhi padre was going to take the 
 ladies up towards Islamabad, and I lent him a boat." 
 
 " Give the child to the woman. Here, woe betide 
 you if it be false news; take this gift for the child," and 
 he tossed her a small chain with a silver charm. 
 " Get mounted, all of you; about ! canter ! " and they 
 hurried down to the ford on the Sindh, and rode on and
 
 THE STEATAGEM OF FEROZ TUGLAK 307 
 
 on through the evening towards the gardens of 
 Srinagar. 
 
 A couple of miles outside the city, just as the sun 
 had set, two horsemen came out from a grove, in which 
 they had evidently been hiding. Gul Jan recognized 
 them as belonging to the palace guard ; and calling 
 to them, was told the whole pitiful story of the death 
 of Inayat Ullah, and the treachery of Daoud Shah, and 
 once again David swore a deep oath of vengeanco 
 should opportunity be his. The story of the departure 
 of the ladies with the Abbe was confirmed, and one of 
 the two men offered to join David, an offer gladly 
 accepted. So they rode on till past midnight, without 
 going through the city, and halted for the night in a 
 willow grove on the banks of Jhelum, eight miles as the 
 crow flies, above the city, and half a mile or so from the 
 high-road to Islamabad.
 
 THE TEMPLE OP THE SUN 
 
 ABOUT the hour that David was escaping from Pul- 
 pattan, the Abbe and his novel cure were paddled 
 briskly away from the Shergarhi, and then across 
 stream to the tow-path, where three of the crew had 
 harnessed themselves to a tow-rope to proceed steadily 
 up the river. The noonday heat shimmered on the 
 water and the ripples muttered drowsily under the 
 prows, and the anxious ladies dropped off to sleep ; 
 only Miriam coming out from time to time to talk with 
 the padre. The countryside was dreamily peaceful, 
 and they attracted no notice from the peasantry or 
 other passers-by on the water, as they pursued their 
 way. After some hours' steady going they pulled up 
 under a chenar tree to rest the men on the towpath 
 and obtain some milk and fruit. Kipe baskets of 
 cherries and apricots were offered for sale, and the 
 Abbe found himself among friends ; for an old lady 
 on the bank eagerly told how she had been to Srinagar 
 to have her bad eyes cured by the padre sahib. The 
 Abbe made this an occasion to buy eggs and rice, and 
 lay in supplies to add to those they had been able to 
 get away with. Then, just as they were starting again, 
 Allahdad, the Chib rode up, and said that when they 
 had left the palace all was quiet, and that he and his 
 men would now follow the towpath of that winding, 
 
 303
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 309 
 
 meandering river that gave rise to the world-famous 
 shawl pattern. They would ride on to Bij-Bihara and 
 camp under the chenar trees in the old Mogul garden 
 there ; and suggested, that, if possible, the boat should 
 tow past there at night when no one would be about. 
 That should bring them to Islamabad very early in the 
 morning. While they were holding converse a dull 
 rumble told them that a cannon had been fired away 
 in the city ; but it was not till later that they learnt 
 that it had hurled brave and faithful Inayat Ullah into 
 eternity. They were fortunate, too, in getting help 
 in the towing, and six relatives of the old lady towed 
 them for twelve miles up stream while their own crew 
 slept. 
 
 The night was one of peace and bright moonlight, 
 alternated by the passing of clouds and an increasing 
 apprehension of thunder which never came. But 
 the oppression of the night was nothing to the oppres- 
 sion that sat heavy on Miriam. All the happy thoughts 
 of David were overpowered by the obsession of that 
 vision at the shrine of Indra, evil enough when all 
 went well, appalling in their present situation. But 
 at last the night was drawing to a close, and they 
 arrived without adventure at Islamabad, just as the 
 early breeze heralded the approach of dawn. Hero 
 Allahdad was again in waiting, having also hailed them 
 once during the night at Bij Bihara. This time, how- 
 ever, all was not well. 
 
 " Huzoor, we must be very careful, the folk here say 
 that Inayat Ullah has been blown from a gun in the 
 Havi Parbat. Half an hour gone a mounted messenger 
 rode through Islamabad proclaiming a reward of a 
 thousand rupees chilki for the capture of the Lady 
 Miriam. Especially had the messenger sent men along 
 the road over the passes to the Punjab by Verinag. 
 We cannot make for there yet. I only know one place
 
 310 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 where your honours will be safe concealed for a while. 
 The three ladies must come with us across the karewa 
 to the old ruined temple of the Sun at Martand. But 
 the fewer there be the better ; especially if we have 
 to take to flight again. The serving women must go 
 back to Srinagar in the boat. At Martand we may lie 
 hid for a few days and then escape to Cheneni over the 
 Banihal. If the worst come to the worst we must go 
 by Kishtwar." 
 
 The Abbe spoke for the party. " You are right 
 about Martand, my son, I have often been there, and it 
 is a lonely spot. But can we get food there ; and how 
 can these ladies get across the ~karewa ? " 
 
 " I have arranged for some supplies, and have here 
 on a pony enough for two days, Huzoor. I have three 
 ponies here, too, for the ladies to ride. If we get off 
 before daylight, no one will think of looking out 
 there." 
 
 " Allahdad, you must be mad," broke in the Bibi 
 Alana. " How are ladies like us to go without our 
 women. Have you forgotten who we are ? " 
 
 " Ndhin, Sahiba! This dustlike one knows full 
 well, but as the padre sahib will tell you, in war and 
 rebellion, the great folk have to shift like the humble. 
 If your ladyship wishes to escape, these women must 
 be sent away ; we cannot move unnoticed through a 
 country with unnecessary following." 
 
 " Indeed, Alana," broke in Miriam, " we must do 
 as this good man says ; we must let the women go. 
 You and I know well how Khanuns of our families 
 have wandered in escapes of days gone by. My 
 mother had many such escapes from Balk and 
 Kandahar. Indeed ! Indeed ! you must agree." 
 
 There was no help for it, and back to Srinagar the 
 serving women went. They had not heard the plans, 
 but lest they should give information they were to go
 
 TPIE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 311 
 
 back slowly, and Allah Visayah's boatmen who were 
 to take them back were told that the party were riding 
 across country at once to cross the Pir by the Shapiyon 
 route. This would, perhaps, mislead pursuers, and the 
 sight of the ladies on ponies gave colour to this idea. 
 
 Led by the Abbe, and escorted by two of Allahdad's 
 men, the cavalcade filed out on to the high karewa 
 hidden by the maize fields for the first half-mile, and 
 emerged into the open just as the first faint flush of 
 dawn tinged the mountain tops. The wily old Chib 
 then paraded the streets of Islamabad and called loudly 
 for the village headman and the watchman. To him 
 those worthies came running, the call of armed soldiers 
 being best obeyed promptly. 
 
 " Ohe headman, jee, I bring orders from the great 
 Lord Altamish, chief of chiefs, and friend of the 
 Emperor. You have already seen our messenger. 
 The late Governor is dead, as you all know. Know, 
 too, now that his wives have escaped, taking with 
 them the state jewels and much of the Emperor's 
 revenue. A thousand rupees chilki is offered for news 
 that will ensure then: capture. I hear they have gone 
 by Shapiyon ; but you now go and spread the news 
 in that direction and proclaim the reward. As you 
 hope for his lordship's favour so be zealous, and the 
 tongue of good repute shall be heard in your favour. 
 Stay, I must have supplies at once. A bag of atta and 
 some rice and lentils, at proper price, too, d'ye hear, 
 master headman." 
 
 " Noble ressaldar jee, all shall be done as you've 
 ordered. I pray you stand in my favour with the 
 new Governor. May a wretch like myself entertain 
 you and offer you the huqa ? " 
 
 While Allahdad smoked with the headman, the 
 troopers lolled through the bazaar and drew the 
 supplies required, gossiping the while of events in
 
 312 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Srinagar, and how the change would affect the province. 
 After half an hour or so, when the Abbe's party had 
 time to get well away, Allahdad called his men together 
 and announced his intention of scouring the Verinag 
 road for the fugitives. Accepting the headman's good 
 wishes for their success, they rode out towards Verinag, 
 and behind the willow groves turned off towards 
 Martand. Half an hour's canter brought them up to 
 the slower moving party, to the Abbe's relief, since 
 there was a chance of meeting strangers on the road, 
 unfrequented though it usually was. 
 
 Now the great Temple to the Sun at Martand stands 
 four square to the breeze on a lonely upland plain 
 some few miles inland from the river at Islamabad, a 
 relic of the old, old days when Hinduism reigned in the 
 province, and Hindu kings built splendid temples to 
 their gods ; before, perhaps, even Prince Gautama, 
 the Buddha, preached his great reformed faith. High 
 up against the skyline its ruined plinths and giant 
 pillars raised their heads, clearly visible for some miles 
 before the travellers arrived there. They found a 
 maze of ruined courts and shrines and cloisters, 
 fantastically carved with images of many gods, spoilt 
 when the notorious iconoclast King of Islam piled his 
 brushwood fires high against the carved walls and 
 dashed water on the red-hot stone till it split in flakes 
 and its beauty could no more be seen. Deserted and 
 imposing, solemn and pathetic, the great Temple of the 
 Sun stands, even as stands the Temple of Baalbeck, 
 where the people of idols have gone down before a 
 people of the book. 
 
 On arrival Allahdad and the Abbe at once set about 
 looking for quarters, and found a sheltered court with 
 overhanging cornices and some carved cloisters that 
 made a reasonable shelter and ample seclusion for the 
 ladies. A separate court was equally suited for the
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 313 
 
 troopers while Allahdad and the padre occupied a small 
 roofless room each on either side of the great entrance 
 looking out across the plain, whence they had come. 
 Good fortune also showed them a store of dried maize 
 stalks and hay that some farmer had stored there 
 for his cattle perhaps, on the uplands in winter. The 
 troopers soon collected enough wood for fuel, and 
 Miriam set to work to cook for her sisters-in-law, who 
 now dozed peacefully in the cool cloister. After they 
 had rested awhile the Abbe begged to have converse 
 and Miriam came out and paced the courtyard with 
 him. He told her of Daoud Shah's proclamation, and 
 she shuddered visibly. " Never ! said she, " never 
 will I fall prisoner to any man," and then unfaltering 
 proceeded to discuss possible ways of escape. Ferassa 
 Sahib with Yar Khan and all their horsemen, where 
 could they be ? Could no one find out ? What was 
 the victorious army doing ? Had it been destroyed 
 when Salabat Khan was killed ? 
 
 The Abbe went out to talk to Allahdad, and found 
 that he had intended sending out two of his men and 
 also going with two himself to Islamabad at different 
 times, after dark, lest they should be seen coming from 
 bivouac, to find out the news and get in touch with 
 any of Yar Khan's or Ferassa Sahib's men. It was 
 necessary to possess their souls in patience till evening 
 and watch the sun move across the heavens and down 
 to the mountains of the west. But the peace and 
 soft breezes of that upland haven was beyond compare, 
 and Miriam found herself sitting with her Abbe talking 
 once more of their trouble, and learning from his lips 
 the Christian view of death and resurrection and the 
 doctrine of The Atonement. And a very beautiful 
 faith for weary souls it all sounded, delivered softly in 
 the subdued earnest tones and musical words of Jean 
 du Plessis. And ever and anon it was on the tip of
 
 314 A FKEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Miriam's lips to ask how she might be of the faith of 
 those who loved pity for pity's sake, and whose God was 
 a God of Justice and of Mercy. But always the 
 instinct born of many generations that a woman had 
 no real part in the faith of the world, held her bound, 
 while the Abbe thought that the hour to pick the ripe 
 fruit had hardly come. But they talked on far into 
 the beautiful cool night, and when Miriam went to 
 bed she went firm in the feeling that all the world lies 
 in the hands of Providence and that not a sparrow falls 
 to the ground unnoticed. 
 
 The sun was high in the heavens before the tired 
 and anxious ladies rose from their blankets spread on 
 grass, and Miriam looked out to see if the padre was 
 visible. Not seeing him in the inner cloister she 
 ventured out into the central ruined court, and saw 
 him with several of the Chib troopers with their arms, 
 anxiously looking towards Islamabad. Through the 
 high porch she could see a party of horsemen advancing, 
 and stayed eagerly to see what might befall. It was 
 not long before one of them, soon recognized to be 
 Allahdad Khan, detached himself from the others 
 and galloped up to the ruin. The party consisted of 
 no less than David himself with his four companions, 
 whom Allahdad's patrol had met riding into Islamabad. 
 David had recognized the Chibs of the palace guard and 
 had eagerly asked for news of Miriam, and they recog- 
 nizing him also, had gladly offered to lead him to the 
 refugees. Prom the Chibs he had heard of Daoud 
 Shah's proclamation and ground his teeth thereat. 
 On arriving at the temple the troopers went off to the 
 troopers' court, and the Abbe led David to a secluded 
 spot to discuss and hear what the situation might be 
 before he ascertained if the ladies would see him. 
 
 " I must see the Lady Miriam, father, at any rate. 
 Will she see me ? "
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 315 
 
 " Remain here, rny son, and I will see." 
 
 And in a minute or two the impatient David saw her 
 slender active form come across the plinth and turn 
 into his court. He stepped out of the shadow of the 
 wall and ran towards her. She would have eagerly 
 greeted him ceremoniously, but he would have none 
 of it. 
 
 " Nay, dearest, this is no time for ceremony. Here 
 on my shoulder after the manner of the English." 
 
 And beautiful, reserved Miriam allowed herself to 
 be folded in her lover's arms, as her English sisters would 
 have done, trembling yet happy and at peace. After 
 a few minutes of happy silence, David sat her down on 
 a fallen block of stone, and told her gently the story 
 of her brother's death and the weary return, with the 
 final debacle at Pulpattan, the rise of Altamish and the 
 cruel death of Inayat Ullah. Miriam wept quietly for a 
 few minutes, for the first time since they were first hurried 
 from their security in the Shergarhi. The high spirit 
 soon returned, however, youth and health and strength 
 added to the all-powerful effect of love soon dry the 
 eyes of sorrow. They then talked of Yar Khan and the 
 possibility of his escape with poor Tone the artillery- 
 man, and then of the ladies and their future. The 
 Lady Nur Jan they could soon perhaps convoy safely 
 to her own home, but Alana Bibi came from near 
 Mooltan and was an Alisherzai of the great Duranni 
 clan. To get her there would be a difficulty. Perhaps 
 it would be possible to leave her with Nur Jan till 
 something could be arranged. Then came the case 
 of Miriam herself, and the unthinkable intentions of 
 Daoud Shah. At mention of these Miriam once more 
 nestled close to her lover, and his heart glowed again 
 at the sense of protection that the action invoked. 
 And as she nestled, a very different being from the 
 somewhat masterful young lady who had ridden with
 
 316 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 him over the Pir from Baramgalla, an inspiration camo 
 to him. Would she marry him then and there, the 
 padre would perform the ceremony, and then Daoud 
 Shah would have a different problem before him. 
 
 To Miriam, sudden though the proposal was, the 
 great boulversement of her affairs had so changed her 
 mental outlook, that nothing seemed unusual or out 
 of place. She was quite prepared to do as David 
 wished. He, the inspiration surging in his head, 
 wrecking little of legal or religious difficulties, left her 
 in the court to look for the Abbe. Jean du Plessis was 
 pacing the central court deep in thought, pondering 
 the news he had received in full from David's com- 
 panions, of the defeat at Pulpattan. If Yar Khan was 
 killed, farewell all hope for the Afghan faction. If he 
 lived and could get back to the troops returning from 
 Gurais, there was a chance at any rate of an internecine 
 struggle in the valley. The revolution, however, was 
 too complete to make it fitting that there should be 
 a struggle. The province wanted peace and govern- 
 ment and had a right to get it. Granted that Altamish 
 governed fairly the change did not so very much 
 matter, though Salabat Khan had been a ruler, such 
 as Eastern provinces rarely come by. As he mused 
 the eager David broke in on him. 
 
 " Father! father! I want you to marry me and the 
 Lady Miriam, it is the only way to protect her against 
 Daoud Shah." 
 
 " My son, it will take much to protect against that 
 evil being. Please God we shall be able to do it. But 
 how can I marry you ? I am a Catholic priest, you are 
 a presbyterian, a heretic in the eyes of my Church. 
 She is a Mussalmani. There is no connection at all, 
 that I can have in the matter as a priest." 
 
 "But you are a Christian and can marry people." 
 
 " I am a Christian, and so are you ; but I am no
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 317 
 
 priest to you, and such as you by any ecclesiastical 
 canon that will make it possible for me to marry you." 
 " Is there no way in which it would be possible for 
 you to marry us ? " 
 
 " It would be feasible if the Lady Miriam were a 
 Catholic. It is true the marriage could not be strictly 
 legal, for I am here under no ecclesiastical rule, and 
 have no proper authority ; but it would make the 
 marriage legal enough for you to get it duly ratified 
 hereafter." 
 
 " But is it possible for the Lady Miriam to bo 
 baptized ? " 
 
 "It is feasible should she wish it ; and should I 
 consider that she has a sufficient knowledge of tho 
 Christian Faith to justify me baptizing her." 
 " Has she sufficient knowledge, father ? " 
 " She has, my son." 
 
 " Then did she ask you to baptize her, you would 
 feel justified in so doing ? " 
 " I should, my son." 
 
 " Do you approve of our marriage suppose such were 
 possible ? " 
 
 " My son, I have a great affection for the Lady 
 Miriam, never have I known a truer heart ; and 
 believe me, my son, I have seen much of women, of 
 all classes and many races. I have also a regard for 
 you, as a brave God-fearing man. I would rather see 
 the Lady Miriam married to you than to any man. 
 I can say no more." 
 
 " Can you suggest to her that she be baptized ? " 
 " I can hardly do that, the request must come from 
 her in all genuineness." 
 
 " Then, father, I must see if I can suggest it to her." 
 
 And the Abbe resumed his pacing, by no means 
 
 perturbed at a request which as a matter of fact he had 
 
 anticipated in some form for many weeks. He was
 
 318 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 more immediately concerned with how to get the 
 women away married or unmarried. Then it was it 
 occurred to him that he might go talk with the widows 
 in their court to which he moved, craving permission 
 to enter which after some scurrying was accorded him. 
 Lifting the big silk shawl that then had hung over the 
 ruined doorway, he found the two ladies awaiting 
 him. He first told them of the arrival of David and 
 of the fight in which Yar Khan's force had been dissi- 
 pated. Then he dwelt on Daoud Shah's search for 
 Miriam, and his obvious intentions towards her, at 
 which the two ladies who now lent much on her were 
 aghast. Then he spoke of the great subject, of David's 
 wish to marry her and their betrothal. The ladies 
 were interested intensely ; but wondered how it could 
 be arranged. The patient Abbe gradually worked up 
 to his point. He could marry them were Miriam a 
 Christian, and dwelt on the great support David, with 
 his English connection, would be to them, in their 
 widowed state. Alana Bibi clinched matters, " In 
 the Prophet's name then baptize the lass and marry 
 her, and let's ha' done with it. In my young days a 
 man would ha' carried her off and no questions asked. 
 Women who have no souls may be Mussalmani or 
 Christian, and no one a penny the worse." 
 
 The gentle Nur Jan, put her hand on the Abbe's 
 arm and said 
 
 " I have heard much at times of your faith, and tho 
 lot of Christian ladies. Baptize our Miriam, and marry 
 her to Ferassa Sahib. We know that his mother was a 
 Duranni, too." 
 
 The Abbe reassured by their goodwill returned to 
 the main court; and there found Miriam waiting for 
 him, and very gentle and sweet and humble he found 
 her. 
 
 " Father ! Is it true what Ferassa Sahib tells me,
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN 319 
 
 that if I wish you will baptize me, and that were I 
 baptized you could marry me to him by the Christian 
 rite ? 'Tis a fine thing for a maiden thus to talk of her 
 marriage ! but everything seems upside down." 
 
 " Daughter, I would willingly baptize you, for I 
 believe that you are really a believer in all the faith of 
 the Christians, and really long to serve the Son of 
 Man. But I must first satisfy myself on certain points 
 without which it would not be lawful that I should 
 baptize you, and then I will right willingly marry 
 you to Ferassa Sahib, because I believe him to be 
 worthy of you and able to protect you." 
 
 So it came about that Jean Armande St. Hilaire du 
 Plessis of the Society of Jesus, walked in the ruined 
 cloisters of the Temple of the Sun, holding high 
 converse with a catechumen he was about to baptize, 
 while outside the dry grass on the karewa shimmered 
 in the midday sun. 
 
 In the space of the great inner court they walked, 
 up and down on the untrod grass, till suddenly they 
 became aware of two figures who watched them from 
 the deep shade of a cloister wall. One was tall and 
 thin, clothed in yellow robe, the other a veiled figure 
 of a woman. The tall figure stepped forward towards 
 the Abbe, and the two looked into one another's faces. 
 The swami and the padre had such in common. The 
 dark, sad eyes of the former were set like those of the 
 priest in a thousand wrinkles, and each bore the stamp 
 of peace on his brow, as men who held the keys of 
 all the creeds. Instinctively the two exchanged greet- 
 ings, and the swami spoke, as one master to another. 
 
 " From the East to the West, in friendliness and in 
 sympathy. I have come intruding where I have no 
 concern, at the request of my companion, to offer the 
 Lady Miriam sanctuary in my garden of the shrine 
 till these troublous times be past."
 
 320 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 The Abbe bowed his head. 
 
 " Azizun here believes the Lady Miriam to be in 
 great danger, and praying me to help, has brought 
 me in her boat. That boat can pass down the river 
 unmolested. She has the pass of the new Governor of 
 the province." 
 
 Azizun had gone over to Miriam and made her a 
 similar offer. Miriam explained the situation to her, 
 while the Abbe followed by the swami walked towards 
 them. 
 
 " Miriam, this holy man of peace and sanctity offers 
 you an asylum. I have explained to him that we hope 
 to get you out of the province and that you are about 
 to marry my friend, David Fraser. He tells me that he 
 understands little of the outer world, but offers 
 sanctuary now and at any time." 
 
 " Let us refuse it with much gratitude. Azizun 
 here has done much to serve me, though I have no 
 claim to her help or her regard." 
 
 The Abbe talked long and earnestly to the swami, 
 who now and again inclined his head in acquiescence. 
 To Azizun, Miriam explained the ceremonies that were 
 so soon to take place, and then whispered to the 
 padre a request that Azizun should stay to witness 
 them. 
 
 " Assuredly, my daughter ; be it as you will. We 
 can easily find her shelter." 
 
 It was a strangely mingled congregation before 
 whom he was to officiate.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE HUNDREDTH NAME OF GOD 
 
 TIME and space trod close on the heels of love. The 
 Abbe had first thought that both baptism and marriage 
 should take place the next day, but late in the after- 
 noon, Allahdad returned with a patrol from a long 
 reconnaissance. The news he brought was important. 
 Daoud Shah, with a strong party of horse, had been 
 in Islamabad and gone off that afternoon hot-foot to 
 Shapiyon. The passes to the Punjab by Verinag were 
 clear of anything but khassadars at worst, and the 
 united forces of the refugees was now enough to ensure 
 safety against any such. It was essential, however, 
 that they should move that night if they were to avail 
 themselves of the opportunity, another might not arise. 
 David looked at the Abbe and the Abbe smiled 
 back again. The baptism and the marriage must take 
 place early that night as soon as everything could be 
 arranged. Allahdad thought that they should start 
 by ten o'clock, so that there was little enough time 
 to spare. Not that there were many arrangements to 
 make. When the marriage had been settled there had 
 been a pitiful little diving into their small bundles by 
 the widows, and NUT Jan produced a plum silk em- 
 broidered bodice for the bride to wear, while Alana 
 Bibi unearthed a set of turquoise and gold head orna- 
 ments that had come from her mother who was a 
 
 321
 
 822 
 
 Toorkoinani. A marriage even at an hour's notice in 
 a ruined temple, in fugitive guise, appealed to their 
 feminine love of romance. Miriam should have at any 
 rate such pomp as they could contribute* though that 
 was little enough, poor souls! The Abbe soon came 
 in to say that he would carry out the baptism service 
 at eight o'clock, in the presence of her two sisters- 
 in-law and David, and that the wedding should be at 
 half-past eight, when Allahdad Khan, and one or two 
 of David's own men should be present, Nihal Singh and 
 Gul Jan, the orderly, and also Azizun and the swami. 
 He would like the inaid to be in white or in a white 
 veil, if they had such a thing, for the baptism, and in 
 anything she liked for the wedding. 
 
 So, inside, the Christian-and-bride-elect was pre- 
 paring for the two great sacraments of the Church of 
 Eome, and outside the troopers prepared the horses 
 for a long night ride. David, in that strange trance 
 which overtakes men in sudden view of the novel 
 condition of matrimony, paced the courts as one dazed. 
 It was not till the old Abbe came up and slipped his arm 
 in his, that the demands on the wits of the party to ensure 
 escape over the mountain passes to India came back to 
 him. Anxiously, the priest dwelt on the route they 
 must take and the miles to be covered, and then seeing 
 the young man's nerves were steadying, harked back 
 to the coming ceremonies, and the way of them that 
 he proposed. David would stand sponsor to Miriam at 
 her baptism, and immediately that was over, he was to 
 lead her out, and then bring her in once more to the 
 cloister selected for the second ceremony. There was an 
 alcove adjoining, which would suffice for the baptism, 
 and the marriage would take place in the larger 
 court with the spectators round and a fire alight in one 
 corner as a luminant. David gravely bowed his head 
 to the instructions, and then squeezing the old man's
 
 arm in token of his thanks, passed out to the court- 
 yard, where the horses were picketed, to see that his 
 and the ladies' steeds were in good case. 
 
 The last hour of the evening dragged anxiously along, 
 till the Abbe came to tell him that all was ready for the 
 baptism. He entered into a small cloistered alcove in 
 the corner of which a dim log-fire burnt, with a heap 
 of dry grass in the opposite corner. On an old grey 
 stone in the centre stood a brass dish, full of water, 
 placed on an embroidered handkerchief, and a smaller 
 saucer, also of brass, filled with the red rock salt of the 
 bazaar. The grey carved walls looked strange in the 
 glow of the fire, the carved figures minus their noses 
 and cheeks flaked off in the fires of the iconoclast king, 
 grinned like hobgoblins and gargoyles, and out, through 
 a distant porch, lay the great grey moor in the moon- 
 light, which played on the shuddering, unshorn grass 
 that the night wind was stirring. 
 
 The fining pot for silver and the furnace for gold. 
 Suddenly there broke on that tense, cloistered silence, 
 a silence almost of the grave, a clear, sweet voice, 
 the well-preserved baritone of Jean du Plessis, chanting 
 the Quare Fremuerunt, to an old psalm tune that was 
 familiar even to David's presbyterian ear. Behind 
 the priest, walking fearless and steadfast, came Miriam 
 herself, and behind her again the huddled begums, 
 half -frightened at taking part in the ceremonies of an 
 unknown religion. The Abbe" wheeled round to the 
 head of the stone block, on which stood the improvised 
 font and the holy water, and pointing to the ground 
 on the other side of the block, bade Miriam kneel, 
 motioning also the begums to stand or crouch by the 
 wall. 
 
 David tossed some of the dry grass on to the smoul- 
 dering logs, and the fitful flames blazed till the red light 
 shone again from the features of the gargoyled idols
 
 824 
 
 on the walls. Quietly and solemnly, as if he had been 
 in his old parish church of St. Marie aux Chenes, the 
 Abbe commenced the beautiful sonorous Latin of the 
 old Catholic sacrament of Holy Baptism. On her knees 
 with her head bowed, and her hands clasped in front 
 of her, the Afghan maiden awaited her admission to the 
 Christian faith while the fire flickered and the gar- 
 goyles blinked and waited as they had waited a thousand 
 years and more on the grey Martand Moor. 
 
 Then came the questions to which she had learnt 
 the answers : 
 
 " Miriam, what dost thou ask of the Church of 
 God ? " 
 
 And the clear answer of the maid rose through the 
 roofless chamber : 
 
 " Faith." 
 
 Then again the insistant question : 
 
 " What does Faith obtain for thee ? " 
 
 And once again the prompted answer of the initiate 
 mind : 
 
 " Life Everlasting." 
 
 Then, as David threw more grass on the fire, the 
 priest came round to where the maid knelt, and breath- 
 ing thrice on her face, pronounced the exorcism of evil 
 spirits, the solemn phrases fitting well the memories of 
 unholy rites invoked by the idols round. 
 
 Loud and clear rose the exorcism till it echoed 
 through the cloisters : 
 
 " Exi ab ea, spiritus immunda et da locum spiritui 
 Sancto Paraclite. Ergo maledicta diabole recognosce 
 sententiam tuam, et da Iwnorem Jesu Christo" 
 
 Making the sign of the Cross, the priest placed the 
 blessed salt in the devotee's mouth. 
 
 " Receive the salt of wisdom. Let it be to thee 
 a propitiation unto life everlasting." 
 
 When the veil had been removed from the still
 
 THE HUNDEEDTH NAME OF GOD 325 
 
 kneeling girl and the holy water poured thrice on her 
 head, once again the beautiful language of the dead 
 builders of a distant empire filled the chamber. 
 
 " Ego te baptizo in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus 
 Sancti" 
 
 Then David came and knelt by the side of Mary 
 that was Miriam, and as the blessing ended led her away 
 to her own cloister, whither scuttled the begums to 
 take their share in the propitious work of dressing the 
 bride for the bridal. To which ceremony was ad- 
 mitted also Azizun the dancer. 
 
 In the larger chamber adjoining, the Abbe had 
 made the preparations for the wedding. The brass 
 dish and the embroidered handkerchief he had placed on 
 a similar stone and fires blazed as before in the corners. 
 Allahdad Khan the Chib, Nihal Singh the Kajpoot, 
 and Gul Jan Duranni had been summoned and stood 
 solemn and immovable fully accoutred against the 
 wall. Opposite them were the begums properly veiled, 
 and with them, Azizun, in her softest mood. And the 
 swami who had little enough to do with marrying and 
 giving in marriage looked on from his puckered eyes 
 with the glance of understanding. It had been 
 arranged that David himself, should lead in his bride, 
 while the Abbe waited for them at the head of the 
 improvised altar stone. 
 
 Thus in due form was David Fraser of Lagg joined 
 to Mary, his wife, in Holy Matrimony, while the fire- 
 light flickered red on those gargoyle heads in the temple 
 of 
 
 " The God of the sensuous fire 
 That moulds all nature in forms divine." 
 
 Eed danced the fire on the light loves carved on the 
 temple stones, as the Latin rolled again : 
 
 " Ego Conjungo vos in matrimonium, in nomine 
 Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."
 
 326 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 Then after the holy water, while the begums and 
 the soldiers wondered, and tho swami understood, came 
 the exhortation : 
 
 " Oremus, respice quaesumus Domine, super lios 
 jormulos tuos, et institutis iuis, quaebus propagations 
 humani generis ordinasti benignus assiste, ut qui te 
 autore junguntur, te auxiliante serventur, per Christum 
 Dominum Nostrum. Amen." 
 
 Outside the saddled horses champed a chant to the 
 blessing : 
 
 " Benedicat vos, Omnipotens Deus, Pater, Films 
 et Spiritus Sanctus. Amen." 
 
 The beautiful ceremony over, beautiful in the rich 
 Latin, solemn in that striking setting, David Fraser of 
 Lagg, escheat since the '45, and Mary his wife, left 
 the cloister, and waited in the court, where there came 
 to them, Nihal Singh, Gul Jan, and Allahdad the Chib. 
 Each stood square before the pair, and with that 
 wonderful gift of tongues in which the East is so 
 blest, took first his, and then her hands in theirs, and 
 offered their felicitations. Tears of happiness and con- 
 tent stood in Miriam's eyes, her heart stirred to its 
 foundations at the faithful, respectful sentiment in 
 the grip of those rough warworn hands. Now and 
 again it is given to men to take the hearts of others 
 from their place, and restore them stimulated and 
 strengthened, and the homage of the three warriors of 
 divergent races, took out and stirred the hearts of 
 David and Miriam to mighty resolutions. And behind 
 them, huddled in the shadow, stood the widows, 
 weeping quietly, not at their own loss and sorrows, 
 but in sympathy at their sisters' fateful day. Azizun, 
 the dancer, clasped the hand of Miriam, the bride, in 
 silent sympathy for a lot that might not be hers. 
 
 For a minute, the Abbe stood watching the subtler 
 sex murmuring : " Jouis de la vie avec lafemme que tu
 
 THE HUNDEEDTH NAME OF GOD 827 
 
 aimes " from the wisdom of Elohim, and then had 
 perforce to break the thread of the scene. 
 
 " Children, we must now to horse. Allahdad has 
 told us that we must lose no time. Permit me ! " and 
 offering his arm to Miriam with all the old-world cour- 
 tesy of the Ancien Regime, he led the way to the centre 
 court, where troopers held the saddled horses. The two 
 begums were hoisted on to the quiet ponies provided 
 for them, and Mistress David Fraser helped on to hers. 
 Then Allahdad and the Abbe leading, with the ladies 
 in the middle and David at their side, the cavalcade 
 set out in the moonlight for a ride of uncertain length 
 and possible peril, while Azizun and the swami made 
 their way to their boat. The change from the deep 
 shadow of the ruin to the tense almost fierce moonlight 
 of the moor, unloosed the tongues and both ladies and 
 escort commenced to converse one with another, till 
 Allahdad rode back along the line to urge silence. It 
 were well that no wayfarers should have ken of their 
 presence. 
 
 So they rode away silent again into the night, with 
 no sound but the thresh of the horses' hoofs in the 
 grass and the occasional rattle of a sabre, with now 
 and again the hoot of some frightened owl. For some 
 miles the route lay across the plain, till at last the out- 
 lying gardens of Islamabad were reached. Skirting 
 the village, Allahdad headed for the conical hill above 
 Verinag, past tall poplars and orchards of apricot 
 trees, and over streams and irrigation cuts, on, past 
 tall double storied peasants' huts and the spires of 
 woodland temples. After two hours' trot-and-jog, the 
 party halted for a few minutes and the men dismounted. 
 The night had changed, and the unusual warmth de- 
 noted storm. Great black clouds half obscured the 
 moon, and distant lightning flashed across the summer 
 sky. David and Allahdad spoke of the weather, and
 
 328 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 decided that they must push on as far as possible. 
 The storm might not come, and at any rate there was 
 a farm where they might shelter, five or six miles on. 
 The party pushed on in anxious silence. Heavy rain 
 would make it more than difficult to climb the passes. 
 For several miles the road lay through gardens and fields, 
 past the old Hindu palace and sacred pool of Verinag, 
 where the Jhelum river rises from out the mountain side. 
 The rumble of distant thunder and the flashing light- 
 ning added to their speed, and at last the road began to 
 ascend, winding and zigzagging up a deep dark gully. 
 Half-way up they passed a couple of huts and a small 
 bazaar, and here Allahdad stopped, just as a loud 
 clap of thunder proclaimed that the storm was on them. 
 Up to the right, he said, turned a path up the spur to 
 a large walled farm and homestead. Here the ladies 
 and the sahibs could get shelter, he knew the owner 
 well. He would take them up and leave his own men 
 to shelter in the bazaar. Down came the rain as he 
 spoke, and the ladies were hurried off up the cobbled 
 path to the homestead, with the padre and David's 
 own four men. The road wound up through a deodar 
 forest, and the rugged straight trunks stood out from 
 time to time to the flash of the lightning, while the 
 thunder re-echoed up the gully. Ten minutes' 
 climb brought them to a massive mud-built thatched 
 house and courtyard, a welcome haven at the 
 commencement of a wild night. Allahdad succeeded 
 in rousing the owner, who readily admitted the travel- 
 lers. In a very short time the begums were installed 
 in an inner room, to crouch in each other's arms in 
 one corner to listen to the storm, while Miriam slept 
 in David's arms in the other, utterly worn out with 
 the strain and excitement of the day. Nihal Singh 
 and the others of David's men, slept in the verandah, 
 and with them remained the Abbe", while Allahdad
 
 returned to his own party in the bazaar, where they 
 and their horses could obtain shelter. 
 
 Sleep, well-earned, took control of the party, and 
 the confident Chibs slept without a sentry, the end of 
 which is death. The storm died away in the small 
 hours of the morning, and it was close on four when the 
 Abbe woke with a start, the sound of a pistol shot, 
 of which he had dreamed, ringing in his ears. Phew ! 
 How vivid the report had seemed to him, and then as 
 he listened, another ! This time there was no doubt 
 about it, down in the little bazaar. The Abbe" got up, 
 buckled securely to his side, the rapier he had been 
 carrying since he left Srinagar, and walked to the gate- 
 way of the courtyard. It was a glorious morning, with 
 a hint of the false dawn, and a soft breeze through the 
 dripping cedars. He could hear voices down in the 
 bazaar. He returned inside to wake, gently, the 
 others, and then went back to the gateway and looked 
 out. The thunder was still rumbling in the distance, 
 and sounded as if the storm might return. Heavy 
 thunder clouds still hung over the tops of the deodars, to 
 the west, and the setting moon shone clear below them. 
 
 As the Abbe" looked and listened, suddenly, from 
 behind the trunks of the trees, there rushed at him 
 half a dozen men, followed, immediately, by as many 
 more. Fortunately, the gate of the courtyard was 
 narrow, and the old man had time to throw himself 
 on guard with drawn rapier in the roadway. An old 
 man in a white soutane seemed little enough to fear, 
 and three men closed on him. But the iron old wrist 
 had not lost its cunning and nerve. Two sharp passes, 
 and two Toork troopers fell, run through the body, and 
 the third escaped with a burning livid furrow in his 
 arm. The Abbe stamped and shouted, the old joy of 
 battle back in his faded eyes. Half a dozen more 
 of the assailants rushed forward to fall back before
 
 880 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 that flashing circling steel, not before a fourth had 
 paid for his temerity. The old man's stand had given 
 time for the others to hurry out with their weapons. 
 Five stalwart pairs of arms were brought to the defence 
 of the gateway, Nihal Singh, the Dogra, leading. The 
 enemy hesitated, till a sneering voice in the rear urged 
 them onward, lashing them with biting jest and jibe. 
 A dozen men flung themselves at the now waiting 
 rapier behind which stood the swords of the 
 troopers. The rapier flashed and circled; the maitrc 
 d'armcs lunged again twice, and two more fell to a 
 weapon they had no ken of. Then again, the cool 
 rasping voice behind spoke, and the outer men in the 
 scrimmage died away and since the courtyard wall 
 was of mud, and but six foot high, on either side of the 
 gateway half a dozen Toorks scrambled over the tops 
 and dropped into the interior. Without a moment's 
 hesitation they rushed in on the rear of the little knot 
 by the gateway, who faced to receive them. As they 
 did so, the Abbe's attention was taken off for an 
 instant and a huge savage rushed in to strike him on 
 the arm with an iron mace, another fired a bell-mouthed 
 pistol into Nihal Singh's face, and the two Rajpoots 
 were cut down. Gul Jan rushed back towards the 
 house, and the remaining trooper, he who had escaped 
 from Inayat Ullah's party, was piked in the eyeball. 
 Three men jumped on the Abbe, his sword arm now 
 powerless, and dragged him into the court, just as 
 David, roused by the shouting, had rushed out of the 
 building, sword in one hand and pistol in the other. 
 Jamming his pistol into the face of a man who rushed 
 on him he fired, only to be seized by two others, who 
 leapt on to him from a-top the courtyard wall, from 
 which a third dropped a huge stone on Gul Jan's 
 head. 
 
 Of the seven men who had entered the homestead
 
 THE HUNDREDTH NAME OF GOD 331 
 
 an hoar or so before, five lay prostrate, David had been 
 seized and bound, and the old Abbe lay half-dazed 
 between his captors, who eagerly waited someone's 
 orders to dispatch him. Standing in the gateway, 
 silhouetted against the red glow on the eastern horizon 
 stood Daoud Shah himself, sword in hand, a sarcastic 
 smile playing round his month. Opposite, was the 
 verandah of the house in which lay David and the 
 Abbe, while dragged from the inner rooms in huddled 
 fear crouched the two begums. Standing alone and 
 upright between two Toorks, was the Lady Miriam, 
 otherwise Mary Eraser herself, at which sight the 
 bound David, his arms held with leather thongs, 
 strained and struggled to be free. 
 
 As Daoud Shah stood in the gateway the Abbe 
 staggered to his feet. The Afghan smiled again. 
 
 " Aha ! gentlemen ! He laughs longest who laughs 
 
 last ! Is it meet that you should conspire to carry 
 
 off my bride," and David cursed. The curse of despair. 
 
 " What punishment do you consider fit, mistress, 
 
 for those who dare to carry thee from thy lawful lord ? " 
 
 And Mary Eraser looked him fair in his bitter, 
 
 evil face and said : 
 
 " Alive or dead I can never belong to an infidel like 
 you." 
 
 " Hoity t eighty, Mussalmani ! dost talk of infidel 
 to me." 
 
 " Infidel and faithless to turn against my brother, 
 a fellow Afghan and a Duranni of the PearL" 
 
 " Is that all the trouble ? good faith never troubled 
 an Afghan yet," but I have other things to do than 
 bandy words with my bride that is to be. TinNa 
 now, you snivelling Christian priest, and you mtihr 
 Ferassa you Afghan half breed. Pharaoh is dead, dost 
 remember ? In ten minutes you will both hang from 
 yonder deodar, and you may thank your stars and
 
 332 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 my mercy that I flay you not alive for your pains. I 
 will hang your men with you, dead or alive, and these 
 two old baggages also. You, my Lady Miriam, will 
 make ready to return a-horseback with me to Srinagar. 
 Here, Solomani! get ropes round their necks sharp." 
 
 The men holding David and the priest produced 
 ropes. The Abbe had faced death too often to dread it 
 under any circumstances, and had little enough desire 
 to crave his life at any man's hands. But Miriam's, 
 above all, was to be saved. 
 
 " Ahasuerus of Jerusalem," he began, and Daoud 
 Shah's face changed, and then hardened. 
 
 " Old man, best tempt me not, lest I order 
 that flaying. Talk not to me of Jerusalem. Look 
 sharp there, and get those nooses over the branch, lest 
 I hang some of you as well." 
 
 The Toork soldiers cast the ropes up over the branch 
 of Cedar Deodaris, which is first cousin to Cedar Lebani, 
 and David Fraser and Jean du Plessis stood ready for 
 the hanging, while Miriam waited, dazed and motionless, 
 as one in a trance. 
 
 The great cloud hung over the west, and the thunder 
 rolled and boomed among the peaks of the Pir Panjal, 
 and the red in the east grew brighter, while in the 
 foreground, between Daoud Shah and his victims, lay 
 the dead and wounded in the fray. Then, up spoke 
 once again, Jean Armande du Plessis. 
 
 " Dost remember, Ahasuerus, of the tribe of the 
 Ben-i-Israel ? ' Tarry thou till I return,' was the com- 
 mand, but He never bade thee do evil for ever and 
 ever. Is the curse of the Living God so deep that 
 thou canst never abide the good ? Spare this girl and 
 this young man, if ever thou hopest for peace at the 
 last. See now ! I make the Great Appeal. By the 
 Hundredth Name of God, that thou knowest ! By 
 the Scattered Letters and the Day of Atonement ! By
 
 THE HUNDEEDTH NAME OF GOD 838 
 
 the Sign and the Word that thou hast learnt ! behold, 
 I make to thee, the Great Appeal." 
 
 As the lightning flashed in the cloud behind the 
 forest spur, Daoud Shah looked and saw Jean du 
 Plessis giving the sign of the Great Appeal that goes 
 with the Omnific Word. By his side, too, stood David, 
 concerned only in how he might get respite to save 
 Mary his wife, making also the Appeal. 
 
 Then it was, that Daoud Shah remembered an oath, 
 he that had scorned oaths and compacts and faith 
 between man and man, and man and God; remembered, 
 too, the strange happenings in the ruins of the Great 
 Temple, and how the Koman Eagles had marched in 
 over the ruined walls of Jerusalem, and to his heart 
 there came a glimmer of ruth for the first time for 
 many a long year. Instinctively, he found himself 
 answering the Great Appeal and the Omnific Word, 
 thereby binding himself to save. 
 
 " Take off those ropes," he snarled. " Take them 
 off, and take the men and women inside, and let them 
 be guarded." Then, turning his back on the scene 
 of carnage inside the court, he walked out of the gate 
 and up the spur, and stood on a ledge looking into the 
 gloom below. Below him on the spur stood a Toork 
 trooper holding his horse. 
 
 As he stood gazing back on the ages and into the 
 eye of the rising sun, a fierce shouting in the homestead 
 broke on his ear. Down the spur above the farm, 
 were rushing sixty or seventy men. They flung them- 
 selves into the courtyard, over the walls, and round to 
 the gate. His own surprised followers hurried to oppose 
 them, to be swamped and beaten down. He turned 
 fiercely to his horse, sprang to the saddle, and spurred 
 down to the gate. Towards him rushed twenty or 
 thirty of the new-comers, who had already swept away 
 his own men. Hack and slash and shout again, they
 
 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 tumbled out from the gateway and at their head that 
 cursed old wazir, Yar Khan himself ! His men over- 
 powered, escape seemed impossible, but jamming his 
 heels to his high-spirited horse, he rushed straight 
 into their midst, clearing a way for himself as they fell 
 aside before the impetus. Bursting through them, the 
 level space came to an end, and nothing remained, but 
 the drop over the spur, a sheer precipice, from which 
 peered up the tops of the deodars that grew out from 
 the face of the cliff. The frightened horse jumped 
 wildly into the air, and horse and rider, Zabulon. the 
 arab, and Daoud Shah, of the Ben-i-Israel, his rider, 
 sprang out into space, and then fell turning over and 
 over and over in the gorge below, till lost in the 
 shroud of a rising cloud, " et la poussiere retournt a la 
 Hat Aft A 41 Jr"
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE PAX BBITANNICA 
 
 So Daoud Shah, the incomprehensible firebrand of the 
 Northern States, disappeared over the cliff into the 
 cloud and mists, and his following melted away before 
 the onslaught. It was Yar Khan, with Tone, Ganesha 
 Singh, and Habib Ullah Khan, who had arrived so 
 opportunely, in time to save the refugees. Yar Khan 
 and Tone had broken away from the ambush of Feroz 
 Tuglak at the village of Pulpattan, and had rallied 
 most of the survivors at the Jhelum ferry. A few 
 Kashmiri villagers had been sent to let the broken ranks 
 know where to collect, and then unexpectedly to them 
 had come Habib, who had been marching the infantry 
 and guns quietly back over the Tragbal. At Bandipura 
 came the news of the successful coup de main of Altamish 
 and also of the debacle at Palpattan. The officers had 
 called a gathering of the men and had proposed that 
 as the rule of dead Salabat Khan must be over, they 
 had best join the de facto Governor. The body of their 
 late Governor they handed to a local moollali to bury, 
 and Habib Ullah and a few of his following decided to 
 ride away and try and rejoin Yar Khan. 
 
 The next step for Yar Khan was to learn what had 
 happened to the ladies at the Shergarhi, after which he 
 could decide on some plan. Troopers from Inayat 
 Ullah's following found them and told the tale of the 
 
 335
 
 336 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 blowing away from the cannon, and the reason therefor, 
 and the flight of the ladies to Islamabad. Thither then 
 Yar Khan bent his steps after resting man and horse, 
 had come across the trail of Daoud Shah and learnt of 
 the reward that he had offered for news of Miriam. 
 That touched the only really tender spot in the old 
 man's heart. Miriam had found a very soft corner for 
 herself there, more especially since she had shown such 
 grit when David had personated her brother. For David 
 also he had regard and interest, but to rescue Miriam 
 stimulated all his faculties. One way and another 
 over a hundred men were still with him, and with 
 these he started for Islamabad. Nothing could be 
 heard of the refugees, but late in the evening he had 
 again struck the trail of Daoud Shah returning on his 
 tracks and making for Verinag. He had come up as 
 has been related with them at the critical moment in 
 the mountain homestead. Daoud Shah's men sur- 
 prised and overpowered, were either killed or fled 
 down the spur in all directions, much aided thereto by 
 Allahdad's men, who had been found by Yar Khan, 
 furious at having been surprised and separated from 
 David and the ladies. 
 
 It did not take long to release David and the Abbe 
 or restore confidence to the frightened begums. Miriam 
 herself or Mary, as she now was, stood dry-eyed but 
 dazed just where her guards had left her when Yar 
 Khan came into the courtyard, and to that old warrior's 
 concern, had collapsed into his arms. The sun had now 
 risen, and there was plenty of daylight. To make 
 assurance doubly sure, lest more Toorks be about, Yar 
 Khan decided that they must cross the pass at once. 
 Their own wounded they would carry, but their own 
 and the attacker's dead must remain. The frightened 
 farmer promised to arrange for burial if he might keep 
 the arms and appointments and any stray horses.
 
 THE PAX BEITANNICA 337 
 
 One dead Eajpoot trooper should be carried with them 
 strapped across a horse to be burnt by his brother 
 Hindus next day. A couple of dozen Kashmiri 
 villagers were impressed from a village down the 
 hillside to carry improvised litters, and by an hour 
 after daylight the whole cavalcade slowly climbed the 
 Banihal pass and crossed the waterparting that 
 separated Kashmir from the Kajpoot territories of the 
 upper Chenab valleys. 
 
 Near the top of the pass the border post of kfiassadars 
 had not even heard of the change of rule, and the party 
 passed them without incident, to encamp without 
 interference in a quiet grass valley below the fast 
 vanishing snow-line. 
 
 The next day plans had to be settled. Nihal Singh, 
 despite his pistol wound, was able to suggest that they 
 could stay and rest men and horse at Cheneni. The 
 Cheneni chief was a Mian Dogra of the same clan as 
 himself, and his word would be taken that they would 
 be peaceful visitors. Cheneni was two marches on 
 across the Chenab. Thither Yar Khan proposed, 
 therefore, to go. Allahdad should then take the 
 begums from thence to the Lady Nur Jan's own home 
 in Chibland. David proposed to reorganize his own 
 rissalah with as many as would follow him, while Yar 
 Khan intended to return to Kabul with any men who 
 would go there. David, balked of the career that had 
 seemed to open for him in Kashmir, would take his 
 rissalah and offer it to the British Government as he 
 had learned that James Skinner had already done, 
 and if not, he would ride through again to Central 
 India. The Abbe, much shaken by all that he had 
 gone through, would at any rate stay with them for a 
 while. 
 
 So, through to Cheneni they marched, and the chief 
 there, after hearing their story from Nihal Singh, put
 
 338 A FBEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 a commodious old serai at their disposal, and sent out 
 tents of all kinds for the accommodation of the ladies. 
 For a whole month in great peace they rested, during 
 which time Mary recovered wholly from her shock, 
 while the tired horses improved daily on the sweet 
 upland grass. After five or six days, the begums 
 moved away with Allahdad and four of his men through 
 Poonch to their destination, leaving Mary and David 
 with many tears and protests. The remaining Chibs 
 elected to stay with David. Yar Khan at the last 
 moment had promised to turn squire of dames and to 
 come and take the Alana Bibi away to her own home 
 among the Mooltanis. He then stayed a week more to 
 rest his horse, and rode off at last with twenty men 
 and many protests of affection. Miriam even went so 
 far as to prophesy that he would marry Alana Bibi 
 and go manage her estates, at which they both 
 laughed heartily. 
 
 For three weeks more David and Mary his wife lived 
 alone in intense happiness in the comfortable tents 
 that the Cheneni chief had lent them. Habib Ullah 
 had declared his intention of staying with David as 
 second in command of his rissalah. 
 
 David still had left, fortunately, one of the Begum 
 Somru's original hundis, and was able to obtain from 
 a banker in Cheneni enough money to maintain his 
 men at any rate for two or three months. It would 
 be necessary to repay that lady later, since the cata- 
 clysm in Kashmir had put it out of his power to serve 
 her interests there, but that must wait ; the means of 
 existence were the first consideration. 
 
 The Abbe lay in a tent close by, devotedly nursed by 
 the faithful Tone, who had constituted himself the old 
 priest's henchman, and gradually regained the use of 
 the injured arm. One day David came back from a 
 demonstration against a recalcitrant vassal of the
 
 THE PAX BEITANNICA 389 
 
 Cheneni Kajah to find Mary much distressed. With 
 her sat the Abbe. 
 
 " David, the padrd is going away, going back to 
 Kashmir." 
 
 " What is this, Padrd? You are surely not going 
 away from us after all you've done for us." 
 
 " My son ! Children ! Thanks to this dear lady's 
 care I am now restored. I must about my work. Can 
 I idle my life through ? Would that be right for a 
 priest of the Society of Jesus? Bather must I be 
 doing at once. I am going back to Kashmir, children. 
 There cholera is raging, and the people will look for my 
 remedies, poor though they be. Besides, it is all 
 selfishness. Work I must do and preach the faith in 
 due season. Where better than in that beautiful 
 valley which I love so well, despite the troubles we've 
 just come through. All my connection with the world 
 lies in you two, or in old unhappy far-off things. I see 
 you happy and safe, and my Mary here in good hands, 
 so back I will go to my cure, and you would not hinder 
 me." 
 
 It was true enough, they could all see it. The 
 yjadrd must to his preaching as the shoemaker to his 
 last, and where could he preach better or to more 
 need? 
 
 " Your riverence, I will come back too," cried Tone, 
 who had come to the tent door as the Abbe" was 
 speaking. 
 
 " You, my son. Why ? " 
 
 " For why ? First, because I am not going to 
 leave you, and secondly, because I know that Altamish 
 will give me service. He will trust me. All Hindostan 
 knows that the soldier of fortune is true to his salt." 
 
 Lucius Tone might also have added that he mourned 
 also for that beautiful inlaid cannon the " Iqd-i-Gul " 
 which called him back, and was keeping a niche for
 
 840 
 
 him in the artillery service of Altamish, newly-made 
 Governor of Kashmir. The gunners, too, whom he 
 had trained with such care were there also. Like 
 the cat, he was faithful to the house and not to the 
 master. Where gunners were wanted, there would 
 he be. It was by no means certain that David could 
 employ him in the future. 
 
 " Very well, my son, it will be much joy to me to 
 have you in Kashmir. If you march back with me, so 
 much the added pleasure." 
 
 And so it was all fixed. The Abbe was right. 
 Miriam was absolutely and entirely happy with her 
 man, studying so far as any one could help her, the 
 spirit of her new religion, and the ways of thought of 
 the English. Their tents were homelike, for a few 
 of the bright dyed saris from the bazaar had changed 
 the bare tents to cheerful bowers, and the Abbe was 
 well content to leave her thus. During the few days 
 he was to remain, the old man would sit for hours 
 with his convert regaining strength, teaching her and 
 talking of La Belle France, and all the memories he 
 held dear. Each day David drilled and redrilled the 
 rissalah to a pitch that he hoped would attract Lord 
 Lake's immediate attention. Several young Mians 
 of Nihal Singh's clan had joined and were shaping 
 into first-class troopers. Ganesha Singh made them 
 his special charge, and as that old man's fire had all 
 returned with rest and satisfaction at rejoining his 
 Sahib after the debacle in the hamlet of Feroz 
 Tuglak, so the Hindu troopers were all in good 
 form too. 
 
 David had asked nothing better than that the 
 padre should amuse Miriam the long mornings when 
 he was away with his men, or making expeditions 
 on behalf of the Eajah, and it was with regret that 
 he saw the time for his departure draw nigh. But
 
 THE PAX BEITANNICA 841 
 
 the old man was not to be persuaded to stay longer. 
 With returning strength came returning zeal, and 
 there was little enough reason to attempt to detain 
 him. He was a wanderer on the face of the earth, 
 busy only in his Master's business. He must do some- 
 where in India that which he had done in Kashmir, and 
 where could he more fitly work than in that beautiful 
 snow-girt valley ? As the loadstone points to the 
 northward, so pointed duty and the Holy City to 
 Armande du Plessis. 
 
 Since the Abbe would go, go he should in comfort, 
 and a litter would take him over the pass with a riding 
 mule led behind. Tone would have a suitable 
 horse from the troop, and one of the men had offered 
 to go back too, as orderly. The night before they 
 set out the Abbe supped with them, and sat long 
 watching the happy pair starting on their life together. 
 Ah well, it had pleased God to send him to another 
 life, and he prayed always that he might do his work 
 in the place to which he had been called, till La pous- 
 siere retourne a la terre d'ou on Va tire. But all the man 
 within cried aloud in sympathy to that happy, con- 
 tented scene in the muslin-hung tent in Cheneni. 
 Miriam, beaming with happiness, looked radiantly 
 beautiful, there was no doubt about that, beautiful 
 as " The face that launched a hundred ships and burnt 
 the topmost towers of Ilium." May peace and happi- 
 ness ever be theirs, prayed the old man, and he remem- 
 bered the passages from Ecclesiastes that Daoud Shah 
 had once quoted so glibly 
 
 " Jouis de la vie avec la femme que tu aimes, pendant 
 tons les jours de ta vie de vanite que Dieu fa donne sous 
 lasoleil" 
 
 Was Elohim right in calling it all vanity ? Surely, 
 thought the Abbe, these two, this boy and the maid, 
 may live a life that is not to be vain. Then as the
 
 342 A FREELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 evening slipped away and Tone came in to sit with 
 them too, it soon grew late and the old man with- 
 drew with the Latin blessing for the last time, Bene- 
 dicat vos, Omnipotens Deus, Pater, Filius et Spiritus 
 Sanctus. Amen." The next morning they made an early 
 start with not only David and Mary, but the whole 
 of the rissalah there to do them honour, and every 
 man insisted on placing his hands in those of the Abbe, 
 after which they watched the small cavalcade wind 
 away up the hillside for several miles. 
 
 So Armande du Plessis passed away out of their 
 sight and for three weeks more the happy couple 
 remained in that upland paradise, and it was a very 
 polished squadron that marched away down to the 
 plains. The heat, however, grew considerable, and 
 at Jaminu David accepted an offer of a cantonment 
 at Udarnpur till the rains were over, coupled with 
 free grass for his horses in return for keeping off 
 certain hill raiders. Early in September he started 
 down through the Punjab once again strong enough to 
 go unquestioned along the great highway till at last 
 he heard that the British were camped a march away. 
 With them was the great Cornmander-in- Chief himself, 
 Lord Lake of Laswarie, still fighting for the peace of 
 the countryside against all the disintegrated forces 
 that survived from the Great Anarchy. There for 
 ihe first time David saw a regiment of British Light 
 Dragoons fresh from the famous pursuit of Holkar, 
 and now bent on hustling the raiding Sikhs north 
 once more, and with them regiments of irregular 
 horse, row on row of serried battalions and a horsed 
 artillery. 
 
 Straight into the camp rode David, demanding 
 audience of the Chief himself, which he promptly 
 got. He at once asked for service and asked leave 
 to parade his rissalah for inspection. The general
 
 THE PAX BBITANNICA 348 
 
 taken with the young man's face and bearing and his 
 history of events in Kashmir, calling on James Skinner 
 his prince of irregulars to come too, rode out then and 
 there, to see David's men on parade. A right good 
 show they made, and he offered to take the lad on and 
 put him and his horse in charge of a district till he 
 learnt the Governor-General's pleasure. 
 
 So David and his wife marched away to take over 
 the administration of a province that was to be 
 managed and pacified after the manner of the English. 
 Before long there came an order from the Governor- 
 General authorizing him to raise his horse to three 
 hundred troopers and confirming him in the position 
 of a permanent officer of local irregulars, concerned 
 especially in spreading peace in the land. 
 
 How David squared accounts with the Begum 
 Somru and repaid her loan, and how that lady offered 
 to marry him and wipe it all out, and how the indignant 
 Miriam sold her own Kashmir sapphires to enable 
 him to repay it forthwith, need not be told here. Nor 
 how Yar Khan, the scorner of women, did actually, 
 as Miriam had prophesied, marry the Alana Bibi, 
 acquiring incidentally her estates thereby. Nor again 
 how the British pacified all Northern India except 
 the Punjab, and bowed out or took into their service 
 all the freelances, for that is another story too long to 
 tell here. This story as it stands, has but told how 
 one young freelance, taking fortune by the hand, 
 sallied forth to carve a career. How finding his way 
 over the snows to Kashmir, there met his lady-love, 
 as many have done since, fought for her and bore her 
 off in triumph from that strange wanderer in the guise 
 of the Ben-i-Israel, who had been the stormy petrel 
 of the waning anarchy till it faded into the Pax Brit- 
 annica and the ever reddening map. That map the 
 Ferassa Eissalah helped to redden for over half a
 
 344 A FEEELANCE IN KASHMIR 
 
 century. Then there blew the Great Wind, which 
 swept away in a night half the old army of John 
 Company, regular and irregular, and incidentally the 
 glory of a hundred years and the Ferassa Eissalali. 
 To its eternal honour and that of Crawford Chamberlain 
 its commandant, the parent rissalah of old James 
 Skinner remained, a monument of faithfulness and a 
 memory of the Freelance. 
 
 THE END 
 
 PRISTKD BY WILLIAM CLOWES AXD SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 549 747 4