been decided that he should leave almost immediately for England, where
he would find relatives of his father and mother, and where a small
property awaited its owner. He took leave very cordially, yet with
regret, of his comrades of the corps. Sherdil hugged the belief that
Ahmed's good fortune was due mainly to the coaching he had had when a
candidate for the Guides, and begged that his pupil would never forget
it. Rahmut Khan remained for a week in Peshawar, made much of by the
British officers, who vied with each other in entertaining him. The old
man then set off on his lonely way back to Shagpur. He maintained his
composure throughout his farewell interview with Ahmed; but Ahmed knew
what strength of feeling was masked by his self-control.
A few weeks later Ahmed embarked for England. It had been discovered
that Dr. Craddock and his daughter were leaving for home, and the doctor
willingly undertook the office of guardian. He had known Ahmed's father;
it was the likeness between them which had awakened a vague remembrance
of having seen Ahmed before. With these good friends Ahmed Khan left the
shores of India, but among the passengers who disembarked at St.
Katharine's Docks there was no one of that name; he had become
accustomed to hearing himself called Mr. James Barclay.
EPILOGUE
It is a bleak, raw day in November, 1863. A field force of all arms,
under Sir Neville Chamberlain, is encamped in the rocky country of
Umbeyla; their duty is to punish the tribesmen who, led by a fierce and
fanatical mullah, have long been giving trouble. Above their camp towers
an abrupt and precipitous rock, known as the Crag, and its summit is
held by a picket of the 1st Panjab Infantry, a hundred and twenty
strong. Twice already has the enemy, creeping up in thousands on the
other side from the lower hills, driven the picket from its post, and
twice has the position been recaptured at the point of the bayonet. And
on this 13th of November the wild tribesmen have for the third time
swarmed up to the attack, in such overwhelming force that the Crag's
handful of defenders is driven back, and comes in full flight down the
narrow rocky path that leads to the encampment below.
A panic seizes the camp-followers; they run hither and thither, crying
that all is lost. But detachments of the Guides and the 1st Panjab
Infantry gallantly climb the steep ascent, and press doggedly up and up
in face of a murderous fire from the summit. They have nearly reached
the top; but what can a few hundreds, even of British troops, do against
the horde of fierce warriors above them? They halt; their leader sends
down word that he can barely hold his own, much less retake the Crag,
and asks for supports. He is almost giving way when up comes Major Ross
with more Guides and more Panjabis, who scale the precipitous bluff and
almost gain the crest. They, too, are checked; the dauntless fanatics
above will not yield; their numbers are continually increased, and with
furious and exultant cries they withstand every assault upon their
vantage ground.
From the camp below Sir Neville Chamberlain watches the fight. The
moment is critical; if the enemy maintain their hold on the Crag he will
have to retire. It must be retaken at all costs. He orders the 101st
Royal Bengal Fusiliers to the front, and more companies of the Guides;
and since this is no ground for cavalry work, let the troopers
dismounted share in the assault. The gallant fellows are nothing loath.
Up they go, lightly as only hill-men can. Heedless of the bullets that
shower among them, they force their way steadily to the crest, and then
the word is given to charge.
The line sweeps forward with a cheer--the infantry with fixed bayonets,
the troopers with lance and sword. They dash full into the midst of the
brave enemy; there is a shock, a slight check, and then the tribesmen
falter, give back, and are driven down the slope.
The victors press on in pursuit. Some fleet-footed fellows outstrip the
rest. Look at that black-bearded Guide running to overtake with his
lance one of the fleeing men! Ah! he stumbles over a rock, staggers,
falls at full length; and the fugitive, but a yard or two ahead, turns
to cleave him as he lies. Two or three join him; he has his sword
uplifted to strike, when a British lieutenant runs up and fells him with
a pistol-shot. His comrades close round and beset the Englishman, four
to one. Dafadar Sherdil Khan attempts to rise, but one of the enemy
deals him a blow that disables him. The officer flings his pistol at the
head of one man, then with his sword wards off the desperate thrusts of
the others. If he stands merely on the defensive he will be overborne by
numbers: there is no help at hand. Gathering his strength he rushes into
the midst of the group. It breaks apart; in an instant he springs to the
man on the right and cuts him down. Then he turns to deal with the rest.
One is running again to the prostrate dafadar. With great leaps the
lieutenant makes after him, and reaches him just in time to prevent the
fatal blow. And then, as the Englishman turns once more to face the
odds, a handful of the Royal Bengals come up at the double, and sweep
upon the hapless tribesmen; not one of them escapes.
* * * * *
James Barclay had returned to his corps. Many of his old friends were
gone, but Sherdil remained, and none was more delighted than he to
welcome Ahmed Khan, after his five years' absence, as a British officer.
And when, at Hoti-Mardan, some months after the fight at the Crag, it
became known that Lieutenant Barclay of the Guides had been awarded the
little bronze cross "For Valour," it was Sherdil, whose life he had
saved, that led the troopers in their round of cheers.
Lieutenant Barclay did not forget to visit his adoptive father. Old
Ahsan, bent, and very frail, knew him before he reached the gate, and
his withered face beamed as he saluted him: "Salaam, hazur: truly Allah
is great!"
Rahmut Khan gave him a royal welcome.
"Still art thou my son!" he cried, "and the sight of thee is very good."
He had loyally held to his compact with Jan Larrens, and the British raj
had no warmer friend on the frontiers than he. Age had laid its icy
finger on him; the tale of his years was well-nigh told. Only one thing
troubled his peace of mind: neither Dilasah nor Minghal Khan had tasted
his vengeance. Dilasah had fled from the village at the first news that
the chief was returning home; and of Minghal, though he had sought
diligently, he had discovered no trace.
Barclay wondered whether the two men, like Nana Sahib and Bakht Khan and
other figures in the great rebellion, had disappeared for ever. But a
year or so later, when he was being shown over the jail at Agra by the
governor, he was taken to see two notorious ruffians who were serving a
term of fifteen years' imprisonment for highway robbery with violence.
And remembering that Rahmut Khan had been imprisoned in that very jail,
he thought it a just retribution when he recognized, in the two fettered
prisoners tramping round and round at the pole of the oil-mill, Dilasah
and Minghal Khan. He sent word of his discovery to the old chief, and in
due time received an answer written by the village scribe, Dinga Ghosh.
"The house of the wicked shall not prosper. I would I had slain them;
but what must be, will be. Allah be with thee!"
GLOSSARY
The vowels are pronounced (approximately) as in German. The accent
indicates a long vowel.
_almirah_, cupboard.
_ayah_, nurse, lady's-maid.
_badmash_, bad character, hooligan.
_bakr-id_, Mohammedan festival in honour of Abraham's intended sacrifice
of Ishmael (not Isaac, as in the Bible story).
_bang_, or _bhang_, an intoxicating drink.
_banijara_, trader.
_bariya_, swordgrinder.
_bas_, enough.
_bazar_, market-place.
_begam_, lady of rank (Musalman).
_bhatiyara_, innkeeper.
_bhisti_, water-carrier.
_chapati_, thin unleavened cake.
_chaprasi_, messenger.
_charpoy_, bedstead.
_chit_, note.
_chogah_, sleeveless cloak of camel's hair.
_chup_, silence!
_dafadar_, sergeant of cavalry (native).
_darbar_, king's court, levee.
_darwan_, doorkeeper.
_dasturi_, commission.
_dhoti_, the cloth garment worn by Hindus.
_Din_, the religious duties of Musalmans; the word is used as their
war-cry in fighting against infidels.
_dooli_, a swinging litter.
_eo_, hail!
_fakir_, Mohammedan religious mendicant.
_Feringhi_, European.
_gala_, throat.
_ghi_, clarified butter.
_Gujars_, a tribe of robbers.
_hakim_, doctor.
_hazur_, lord.
_hilo mat_, don't move.
_jaldi karo_, quickly do; hurry up.
_jamadar_, lieutenant of cavalry (native).
_jasail_, Pathan musket.
_-ji_, affix implying affection = dear.
_jin_, spirit, goblin.
_kafir_, unbeliever.
_kala pani_, black water, the sea.
_kasid_, courier.
_khabar_, news.
_Khan_, prince; a title commonly added to Pathan names.
_khansaman_, butler, head servant.
_khitmutgar_, table servant.
_koss_, about two miles.
_kotwal_, chief of the police; _kotwali_, police head-quarters.
_lakh_, 100,000.
_lathi_, stick, club; _lathi-wallah_, man armed with a club.
_lotah_, brass pot.
_madi_, toddy extracted from the cocoa-palm.
_maulavi_, learned Musalman and spiritual guide.
_mirza_, prefixed to Mogul names = prince.
_mlecha_, or _mlechchha_, foreigner.
_mullah_, official who leads the prayers in a mosque.
_munshi_, writer, secretary.
_naik_, corporal.
_nassar_, or _nazar_, offering by an inferior to a superior.
_pagri_, turban.
_palki_, palanquin, closed carriage borne on poles.
_Pathan_, Afghan, whether in Afghanistan or immigrant in India.
_Peshwa_, prime minister and actual sovereign of the Maratha kingdom.
_pice_, copper coin = quarter anna = about one farthing.
_pulao_, a savoury stew.
_Purbiya_, man from Eastern Bengal.
_raj_, rule.
_risaldar_, officer commanding troop of horse.
_ryot_, peasant.
_sahib-log_, the sahib people = British.
_sais_, groom.
_sarban_, camel-driver.
_sayid_, descendant of Ali, son-in-law of Mahomet.
_serai_, inn.
_shigram_, carriage.
_shikari_, hunter.
_Shiva_, third person of the Hindu trinity.
_shroff_, banker.
_sirkar_, or _sarkar_, government.
_sowar_, or _sawar_, trooper.
_suar ka bachcha_, son of a pig.
_subahdar_, high officer.
_talwar_, sword.
_tamasha_, entertainment, jollification.
_wallah_, an affix denoting a person closely connected with the thing
expressed by the word to which it is affixed--_competition wallah_ =
candidate; _palki-wallah_ = palki-bearer.
_zamindar_, landowner.
THE BOY'S NEW LIBRARY
By Herbert Strang
HUMPHREY BOLD
PALM TREE ISLAND
ROB THE RANGER
A HERO OF LIEGE
THE MOTOR SCOUT
SWIFT AND SURE
FIGHTING WITH FRENCH
THROUGH THE ENEMY'S LINES
FRANK FORESTER
KING OF THE AIR
ROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS
CARRY ON
BURTON OF THE FLYING CORPS
LORD OF THE SEAS
TOM WILLOUGHBY'S SCOUTS
THE LONG TRAIL
THE BLUE RAIDER
THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN
SETTLERS AND SCOUTS
By Major Charles Gilson
THE LOST EMPIRE
By Captain G. B. McKean, V.C.
MAKING GOOD
SCOUTING THRILLS
By Joseph Bowes
THE YOUNG ANZACS
THE ANZAC WAR TRAIL
THE AUSSIE CRUSADERS
By G. A. Henty
FRIENDS THOUGH DIVIDED
THE YOUNG FRANCTIREURS
IN TIMES OF PERIL
By Desmond Coke
THE SCHOOL ACROSS THE ROAD
By Richard Bird
THE RIPSWAYD RING
By Hylton Cleaver
BROTHER O' MINE
By Col. J. P. Groves
TARBUCKET AND PIPECLAY
By Henry Frith
THE CAPTAINS OF CADETS
By Gordon Stables
JUST LIKE JACK
ON SPECIAL SERVICE
By W. H. G. Kingston
FROM POWDER MONKEY TO ADMIRAL
ROGER WILLOUGHBY
By G. Manville Fenn
MIDDY AND ENSIGN
CUTLASS AND CUDGEL
By Edwin Hodder
TOSSED ON THE WAVES
By T. Baines Reed
THE WILLOUGHBY CAPTAINS
By Harry Collingwood
A PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEES
By J. F. Cobb
IN TIME OF WAR
By T. S. Millington
SOME OF OUR FELLOWS
By W. M. Thayer
FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE