We stop here two hours, that is to say, there are two hours for us to
walk about. I am off to look at Douchak with Major Noltitz as my
cicerone.

A traveler precedes us out of the railway station; I recognize Sir
Francis Trevellyan. The major makes me notice that this gentleman's
face is more sullen than usual, his lip more scornful, his attitude
more Anglo-Saxon.

"And do you know why, Monsieur Bombarnac? Because this station at
Douchak might be the terminus of a line from British India through the
Afghan frontier, Kandahar, the Bolan Pass and the Pendjeh oasis, that
would unite the two systems."

"And how long would the line be?"

"About six hundred miles. But the English will not meet the Russians in
a friendly way. But if we could put Calcutta within twelve days of
London, what an advantage that would be for their trade!"

Talking in this way the major and I "did" Douchak. Some years ago it
was foreseen how important this village would be. A branch line unites
it with Teheran in Persia, while there has, as yet, been no survey for
a line to India. While gentlemen cast in the mould of Sir Francis
Trevellyan are in the majority in the United Kingdom, the Asiatic
network of railways will never be complete.

I was led to question the major regarding the safety of the Grand
Transasiatic across the provinces of Central Asia.