lashkar getting ready for a raid. I shall wait for
you in Khinjan, whither my messenger shall show the way.
Please let him keep his rifle. Trust him, and Rewa
Gunga and my thirty whom you brought with you. The
messenger's name is Darya Khan.
"Your servant,
"Ysamini."

He passed the note to Courtenay, who read it and passed it back.

"Are you the messenger who is to show this sahib the road to Khinjan?"
he asked.

"Aye!"

"But you are one of three who left here and went up the Pass at dawn!
I recognize you."

"Aye!" said the man. "She met me and gave me this letter and sent
me back."

"How great is the lashkar that is forming?" asked Courtenay.

"Some say three thousand men. They speak truth. They who say
five thousand are liars. There is a lashkar."

"And she went up alone?" King murmured aloud in Pashtu.

"Is the moon alone in the sky?" the fellow asked, and King smiled
at him.