CHAPTER XII


Sons of the sons of war we be,
Sabred and horsed, and whole and free;
One is the caste, and one degree,--
One law,--one code decreed us.
Who heads wolves in the dawning day?
Who leaps in when the bull's at bay?
He who dare is he who may!
Now, rede ye who shall lead us!

THE check that Ralph Cunningham's management of his police had caused,
and the subsequent resumption of night looting, served to whet the
appetites of the hungry crowd beyond the border. Those closest to
Peshawur, who had always done the looting, were not the ultimate
consignees by any means; there were other tribes who bought from them
--others yet to whom they paid tribute in the shape of stolen rifles.
Cunningham's administration had upset the whole modus vivendi of the
lower Himalayas!

Though it all began again the moment he was superseded, there had been,
none the less, a three-month interregnum, and that had to be
compensated for. The tribes at the rear were clamorous and would not
listen to argument or explanation; they had collected in hundreds, led
by the notorious Khumel Khan, preparatory to raiding in real earnest
and with sufficient force to carry all before them at the first
surprise attack.