went up to Jumrood Fort at the entrance. Did they tell you it is
an old Sikh Fort and has been on duty in that turbulent place for
five hundred years And did you see the machine guns in the court?
And every one armed - even the boys with belts of cartridges?
Then you went up the narrow winding track between the mountains,
and you said to yourself, 'This is the road of pure romance. It
goes up to silken Samarkhand, and I can ride to Bokhara of the
beautiful women and to all the dreams. Am I alive and is it
real?' You felt that?"

"All. Every bit. Go on!"

She smiled with pleasure.

"And you saw the little forts on the crags and the men on guard
all along the bills, rifles ready! You could hear the guns rattle
as they saluted. Do you know that up there men plough with rifles
loaded beside them? They have to be men indeed."

"Do you mean to imply that we are not men?"

"Different men at least. This is life in a Border ballad. Such a
life as you knew in France but beautiful in a wild - hawk sort of
way. Don't the Khyber Rifles bewilder you? They are drawn from
these very Hill tribes, and will shoot their own fathers and
brothers in the way of duty as comfortably as if they were
jackals. Once there was a scrap here and one of the tribesmen
sniped our men unbearably. What do you suppose happened? A Khyber
Rifle came to the Colonel and said, 'Let me put an end to him,
Colonel Sahib. I know exactly where he sits. He is my