and despise smooth barrels. Yes, beyond doubt we wiped that
regiment from off the face of the earth, and even the memory of
the deed is now dying. But men say -"

At this point the tale would stop abruptly, and it was impossible
to find out what men said across the border. The Afghans were
always a secretive race, and vastly preferred doing something
wicked to saying anything at all. They would be quiet and well-
behaved for months, till one night, without word or warning, they
would rush a police-post, cut the throats of a constable or two,
dash through a village, carry away three or four women, and
withdraw, in the red glare of burning thatch, driving the cattle
and goats before them to their own desolate hills. The Indian
Government would become almost tearful on these occasions. First
it would say, "Please be good and we'll forgive you." The tribe
concerned in the latest depredation would collectively put its
thumb to its nose and answer rudely. Then the Government would
say: "Hadn't you better pay up a little money for those few
corpses you left behind you the other night?" Here the tribe would
temporise, and lie and bully, and some of the younger men, merely
to show contempt of authority, would raid another police-post and
fire into some frontier mud-fort, and, if lucky, kill a real
English officer. Then the Government would say: -" Observe; if you
really persist in this line of conduct, you will be hurt." If the
tribe knew exactly what was going on in India, it would apologise
or be rude, according as it learned whether the Government was
busy with other things or able to devote its full attention to
their performances. Some of the tribes knew to one corpse how far
to go. Others became excited, lost their heads, and told the
Government to come on. With sorrow and tears, and one eye on the