 Chapter 7 of King of the Kyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Brett Downey The owl he has eyes that are big for his size and the night like a book he decipheres. To whoop he asserts and who who whip he cries and he means to remark he is awfully wise but he lags behind us who are on to the lies of the hairy Himalayan knifers. For eyes we be, of empire we, skinned and puckered and quick to see and nobody guesses how wise we be nor hidden in what disguise we be a cooking a sudden surprise we be for hairy Himalayan knifers. After a time King urged his horse to a jog trot and the five hillmen pattered in his wake huddled so close together that the horse could easily have kicked more than one of them. The night was cold enough to make flesh creep but it was imagination that hurted them until they touched the horse's rump and kept the whites of their eyes ever showing as they glanced to the left and right. The kyber, fouled by memory, looks like the very birthplace of the ghosts when the moon is fitful and a mist begins to flow. Chaila! King called merrily enough but his horse shied at nothing because horses have an uncanny way of knowing how their riders really feel. The lead mules and the spare horse instead of dragging at their bridles pressed forward to have their heads among the men and every once and again there would sound the dull thump of a fist on a beast's nose such being the attitude of men towards the lesser beasts. They trotted forward until the bed of the kyber began to grow very narrow and Ali Majid Fort could not be much more than a mile away at the whitest gas. Then King drew rain and dismounted for he would have been challenged had he ridden much farther. The lunge in the kyber after dark consists invariably of a volley at short range with the mere words afterward and the wise man takes precaution. Off with the mules packs he ordered and the men stood round and stared. Daria Khan, leaning on the only rife on the party grinned like a post office letter box. Truly! growled Ishmael forgetting past expression of a different opinion this man is as mad as all the other Englishmen. Were you ever bitten by one? wondered King aloud. God forbid! Then off with the packs and hurry Ishmael began to obey. Thou, lord of the rivers for that is what Daria Khan means. What is thy calling? Badraga. Guide, he answered. Did she not send me back down the pass to be a guide? And before that what was thou? Is that thy business? Marled, shifting his rifle barrel to the other hand. I am what she says I am. She's to call me Chakai, the lifter, and I was. There are those who were made to know it. If she says now I am Badraga shall any say she lies. I say thou art unpacker of mules burdens. answered King. Begin. For an answer the fellow grinned from ear to ear and thrust the rifle barrel forward insolently. King, with the movement of determination that a man makes when about to force conclusions drew up his sleeves above the wrist. At that instant the moon shone through the mist and the gold bracelet glittered in the moonlight. May God be with thee! said lord of the rivers at once. And without another word he laid down his rifle and went to help offload the mules. King stepped aside and cursed softly. To a man who knows how to enforce his own authority it is worse than galling to be obeyed because he wears a woman's favor. But for a vein of wisdom that underlay his pride he would have pocketed the bracelet there and then and have refused to wear it again. But as he sweated his pride he overheard Ishmael growl. Good for thee! He had taught the obedience in another bat of the eye. I obey her. muttered Daria Khan. I too. said Ishmael. So shall he before the week dies but now it is good to obey him. He is an ugly man to disobey. I obey him until she sets me free then. grumbled Daria Khan. Better for thee! said Ishmael. The packs were laid on the ground and the mules shook themselves while the jackals that haunt the kyber came closer to sit in a ring and watch. King dug a flashlight out of one of the packs and gave it to Ishmael to hold. Sat on the other pack and began to write on a memorandum pad. It was a minute before he could persuade Ishmael that the flashlight was harmless and another minute before he could get him to hold it still. Then, however, he wrote swiftly, In the kyber, a mile below you, Dear old man, I would like to run in and see you but circumstances don't permit. Several people sent you their regards by me. Herewith go two mules and their packs. Make any use of the mules you like but store the loads where I can draw on them in case of need. I would like to have a talk with you before taking the rather desperate step I intend. But I don't want to be seen entering or leaving Ali Majid. Can you come down the pass without making your intention known? It is growing misty now. It ought to be easy. My men will tell you where I am and show you the way. Why not destroy this letter? Athelston. He folded the note and stuck a postage stamp on it in lieu of a seal. Then he examined the packs with the aid of the flashlight, sorted them, and ordered two of the mules reloaded. You three, he ordered then. Take the loaded mules into Ali Majid Fort. Take this chit with you. Give it to the sahib in command there. They stood and gaped at him, wide-eyed. Then they came closer to see his eyes and to catch any whisper that Ishmael might have for them. But Ishmael and Daya Khan seemed full of having been chosen to stay behind. They offered no suggestions, certainly no encouragement to mutiny. To hear is to obey, said the nearest man, seizing the note. For at all events, that was the easiest task. His action decided the other two. They took the mules' leading reins and followed him. Before they had gone ten paces, they were all swallowed in the mist that had begun to flow southeastward. It closed on them like a blanket, and in a minute more the clink of shot hooves had ceased. The night grew still, except for the whimpering of jackals. Ishmael came near and squatted at king's feet. Why, Sahib? He asked, and Daya Khan came closer too. King had tied the reins of the two horses and the one remaining mule together in a knot and was sitting on the pack. Why not? he countered. Solemn, almost motionless, squatted on their hunkers. They looked like two great vultures watching an animal die. What have they done that they should be sent away? asked Ishmael. What have they done that they should be sent to the fort, where the officer will put them in irons. Why should he put them in irons? asked King. Why not? Here in the kyber there is often a price on men's heads. And not in Delhi? In Delhi these were not known. There were no witnesses in Delhi. In the fort at Ali Majid there will be a dozen ready to swear to them. Then why did they obey? asked King. What is that on the Sahib's wrist? You mean? Sahib, if she said, walk into the fire or over that cliff there would be many in these hills who would obey without murmuring. I have nothing against them, said King. As long as they are my men I will not send them into a trap. Good! nodded Ishmael and Daya Khan together but they did not seem really satisfied. It is good! said Ishmael. That she should have nothing against the Sahib. Those three men are in thy keeping. And I in thine? king asked but neither man answered him. They sat in silence for five minutes then suddenly the two hillmen shuddered although King did not bat an eyelid. Din burst into being a volley ripped out of the night and thundered down the path. Howards! Who comes dar? Came the insolent challenge half a minute after it? The proof positive that Ali Majid's guards neither slept nor were afraid. A weird wail answered the challenge and there began a tossing two and fro of words that was prelude to a shouted invitation. Advance! Franden or swirl! English can be as weirdly distorted as wire or any other supple medium and native levees advance distortion to the point of art but the language sounds no less good followed another wait this time of half an hour then a man's footsteps a booted leather-heeled man striding carelessly not far behind him was the softer noise of sandals the man began to whistle Annie Laurie Charles, that you? called king that you old man? A man in khaki stepped into the moonlight he was so nearly the image of Athelston king that Ishmael and Daria Khan stood up and stared Athelston strode to meet him their walk was the same angle for angle, line for line they might have been one man and his shadow except for three quarters of an inch of stature Glad to see you old man, said Athelston Sure old chap, said Charles and they shook hands What's the desperate proposal? asked the younger I'll tell you when we are alone his brother nodded and stood a step aside the three who had taken the note to the fort came closer partly to call attention to themselves partly to claim credit partly because the outer silence frightened them they elbowed Ishmael and Daria Khan and one of them received a savage blow in the stomach by way of retort from Ishmael before that spark could start an explosion Athelston interfered Ishmael, take two men go down the pass out of earshot and keep watch come back when I whistle thus but no sooner he put fingers between his teeth and blew until the night shriiled back at him Ishmael seized the leather bag and started to obey leave that bag, leave it I say but some man may steal it Sahib how shall a thief know there is no money in it leave it and go Ishmael departed grumbling and King turned on Daria Khan take the remaining men and go up the pass he ordered stand out of earshot and keep watch come when I whistle but this one has a bellyache where Ishmael smote him can a man with a bellyache stand guard his mourning will betray both him and me objected lord of the rivers take him and go commanded King what King was careful now not to show his bracelet there was something in his eye and in his attitude a subtle, suggestive something or other about him that was rather more convincing than a pistol or a stick Daria Khan thrust his rifle end into the hurt man's stomach for encouragement and started off into the mist calm and ache out of the Sahib's sight he snarled in a minute King and his brother stood unseen unheard in the shadow by a patch of silver moonlight Athelston sat down on the mule's pack well, said the younger tell me, I shall have to hurry you see, I'm in charge back there they saw me come out but I hope to teach him a lesson going back Athelston nodded good, he said I have a roving commission I'm ordered to enter Kinjin caves his brother whistled tall order, what's your plan? haven't won yet no more when I'm nearer Kinjin you can help, no end how? name it I shall go up into skies nobody can put the stain on as well as you but tell me something first any news of a holy war yet? his brother nodded plenty of talk about one to come he said we keep hearing of that last car that we can't locate under a mule whose name seems to change with the day of the week and there are everlasting tales about the heart of the hills no explanation of him? Athelston asked him done, not a thing do you know of Yasmini? heard of her, of course said his brother has she come up the pass? his brother laughed no, neither she nor a coach in four I have heard the contrary said Athelston heard what, exactly she's up the pass ahead of me she hasn't passed Ali Masjid said his brother and Athelston nodded works in the show yet? asked Charles not yet, but I know they're expected in you bet they're expected in the younger man grin from ear to ear they're working both tides under to prepare the tribes for it they flatter themselves, they can set a light a holy war that will put Timur Ilang to shame you should hear my Giselchis talk at night when they think I'm not listening the Giselchis'll stand though said Athelston there's life on it, said his brother they'll stick to the last man I can't tell you, said Athelston why we're not attacking brother Turk before he's ready I imagine Whitehall has it's hands full but it's likely enough that the Turk will throw in his lot with the Prussians the minute he's ready to begin meanwhile my job is to help make the holy war seem unprofitable to the tribes so that they'll let the Turk down hard when he calls on them the point to forts held strongly in the kyber is a day in my favor there are sure to be raids in fact the more the merrier provided their spasmodic we must keep them separated keep them from swarming too fast while I sow other seeds among them his brother nodded sowing seeds was almost that family's hereditary job Athelston continued hang on to Ali Majid like a leech old man the day one raiding Lashkar gets command the others will all believe they've won the game nothing will stop them then look out for traps smash them on sight but don't follow up too far sure said Charles help me with the stain now will you with his flashlight burning as if it's battery provided current by the week instead of by the minute Athelston dragged open the mules pack and produced a host of things he propped a mirror against the pack and squatted in front of it then he passed a little bottle to his brother and Charles attended to the chin strap mark that would have betrayed him a British officer in any light brighter than dusk in a few minutes his whole face was dark into one hue and Charles stepped back to look at it won't need to wash yourself for a month he said the dirt won't show he sniffed at the bottle but that stain won't come off if you do wash never worry you'll do finally not yet I won't said Athelston picking up a little safety razor and beginning on his moustache in a minute he had his upper lip bare then his brother bent over him and rubbed in stain where the scrubby moustache had been after that Athelston unlocked the leather bag that had caused ishmael so much concern and shook out from it a pile of odds and ends at which his brother nodded with perfect understanding the principal item was a piece of silk 40 or 50 yards of it that he proceeded to bind into a ribbon on his head his brother lending him a guiding understanding finger at every other turn when that was done the man who had said he looked in the least like a British officer would have lied one after another he drew on native garments picking them from the pile beside him so by rapid stages he developed into a native hakeem by creed a converted hindu like Rewa Gunja one of the man who practiced yunani or modern medicine without a license a very great deal of added superstition trickery and guesswork I wouldn't trust you with a hay penny announced his brother when he had done really as good as all that the part to a T well take these into the fort for me will you his brother caught the bundle of discarded European clothes and tucked them under his arm now remember old man this is the biggest show there has ever been we've got to hold the kyber and we can't do it by riding the Kalmel into the first trap set for us we must smash when the fighting starts but we may not miss we may not run past the mark be a coward if that's the name you care to give it you needn't tell me you've got orders to hunt skirmishers to a standstill because I know better I know you've just had your wig pulled for laming two horses how'd you know that never mind I've been seconded to your crowd I'm your senior and I'm giving you orders this show isn't sport but the real red thing and I want to count on you to fight like a trained man not like a natural born fool I want to know you're holding Ali Majid like Fabius held Rome by being slow and wily just for the sake of the comfortable feeling it will give me when I'm alone among the hills hit hard when you have to but for God's sake old man wear traps alright, said his brother then goodbye old man goodbye, Athelstan they stood facing and shook hands where had been a man and his reflection in the mist there now seemed to be the same man and a native Athelstan king had changed his very nature with his clothes he stood like a native, moved like one even his voice was changed as if like the actor who died himself all over to act Othello he could do nothing by haves I'm going to try to get in without my men seeing me said the younger if they do see you they'll shoot yes and miss trust a kyberges elchi not to hit much in the dark it'll do them good either way I'll have time to give them the password before they fire a second volley they're not really dangerous till the third one goodbye bye Charles officers in that force are not chosen for their clumsiness or inability to move silently by night his footsteps died in the mist almost as quickly as his shadow the story had been gone a minute the past was silent as death again and though Athelstan listened with trained ears the only sound he could detect was of a jackal cracking a bone 50 or 60 yards away he repacked the loads putting everything back carefully into the big leather envelopes and locking the empty handbag actor throwing in a few stones for Ishmael's benefit then he went to sit in the moonlight with his back to a great rock and waited there cross-legged it was time to make good a retreat through the mist when there was no more doubt that his own men at all events had failed to detect the lieutenant he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled almost at once he heard sandals come pattering from both directions as they emerged out of the mist he sat silent and still it was Daria Khan who came first and stood gaping at him but Ishmael was a very close second and the other three were only a little behind for full two minutes after the man with the sore stomach had come they all stood holding one another's arms astonished then where is he asked Ishmael who said king the hekeem al sahib king sahib where is he gone even his voice was so completely changed that men who had been reared amid mutual suspicion could not recognize it where are his loads there is his mule here is his bag said Ishmael pouncing on it picking it up and shaking it it rattles not as formally there is more in it than there was his two horses and the mule are here said Daria Khan did I say he took them with him asked the hekeem who sat still with his back to a rock he went because I came he left me here in charge to make me comfortable since I must do his work what do I see a man bent nearly double that means a belly ache who should have a belly ache when I have potions lotions bombs to heal all ills magic charms and talismans big and little pills and it's such a little price so small a price show me the belly and pay your money forget not the money for nothing is free except air I have paid money for water before now and where is the mule who will not take a fee nay only air costs nothing for a rupee then for one rupee I will heal the sore belly and forget to be ashamed for taking such a little fee wither when the sahib nay show us proof objected Daria Khan and Ishmael stood back a pace to scratch his flowing beard and think the sahib left this with me and held up his wrist the gold bracelet Rewa Gunja had given him gleamed in the pale moonlight may God be with thee boomed all five men together King jumped to his feet so suddenly that all five gave way in front of him and Daria Khan brought his rifle to the port as thou never seen me before he demanded seizing Ishmael by the shoulders and staring straight into his eyes nay I never saw thee look again turned his head to show his face in profile nay I never saw thee thou then, thou with the belly, thou, thou they all denied ever having seen him so he stepped back until the moon shone full on his face and pulled off his turban changing his expression at the same time now look ma ushbilla may God protect us now you know me ye oldish meal hugging himself by the elbows and beginning to dance from side to side what said I said I not so said I not this is a different man said I not this is a good one a man of unexpected things said I not there was magic in the leather bag I shook it off and the magic grew look at him see such cunning feel him smell of him he is a good one good three of the others stood and grinned now that their first shock of surprise had died away the fourth man poked among the packs there was little to see except gleaming teeth and the whites of eyes set in hairy faces in the mist but Ishmael danced all by himself among the stones of kyber road and he looked like a bearded ghoul out for an airing he he he she smelt out a good one he he he this is a man after my heart he he he God preserve me God preserve me to see the end of this this one will show sport oh he he he suddenly he closed with king and hugged him until the stout ribs cracked and bent inward and king sobbed for breath among the strands of the Afridis beard he had to use knuckles and knees and feet to win freedom and though he used them with all his might and hurt the old savage fiercely he made no impression on his good will after my own heart thou art spirit of a cunning one worker of spells Allah that was a good day when she bade me wait for thee king sat down again panting he wanted time to get his breath back and a little of the ache out of his ribs but he did not care to waste any more minutes and his eyes watched the faces of the other four men he saw them slowly waken to understanding of what Ishmael meant by worker of spells and magic in the bag and knew that he had even greater hold on them now than Yasmine's bracelet gave him ma ushpila they murmured as Ishmael's meaning dawned and they recognized a magician in their midst may God protect us may God protect me I have need of it said king what shall my new name be give ye me a name nay choose thou we have urged Ishmael drawing nearer we have seen one miracle now let us hear another very well Khan is a title of respect since I wish for respect I will call myself Khan name me a village the first name you can think of quick Karam said Ishmael at a hazard Karam is good Karam I am Karam Khan is my name hence forward Karam Khan the Dakotar where is the sahib who came from the fort to talk as the man whose stomach ached yet from Ishmael and Darakan's attentions to it gone announced king he went with the other one went with her did any see him go is that thy affair as king and the man collapsed it is not considered wise to the north of Jamrud to argue with a wizard or even with a man who only claims to be one this was a man who had changed his very nature almost under their eyes even his other clothes have gone murmured one man he had poked about among the packs and now Ishmael Darakan you two dunderheads ye bellies without brains when was there ever a Dakotar a Hakim who had not two assistants at least have you never seen ye blinder than bats how one man holds a patient while his boils are lanced and yet another makes the hot iron ready aye aye they had both seen that often then what are ye they gaped at him were they to work wonders too were they to be part and parcel of the miracle watching them king saw understanding dawn behind Ishmael's eyes and knew he was winning more than a mere admirer he knew it might be days yet might be weeks before the truth was out but it seemed to him that Ishmael was at heart his friend and there are no friendships stronger than those formed in the Kyber and beyond no more loyal partnerships the hills are the home of contrasts of blood feuds that last until the last but one man dies and of friendships that no crime or need or slander can efface if the feuds are to be avoided like the devil the friendships are worth having there is another thing ye might do he suggested if ye two grown men are afraid to see a boil slit open always there are timid patients who hang back and refuse to drink the medicines there should be one or two among the crowd who will come forward and swallow the drafts eagerly in proof that no harm results be ye two they Ishmael spat savagely nay Bishmala nay nay I will hold them who have boils sitting firmly on their bellies so or between their shoulders thus when the boils are behind nay I will drink no drafts I am a man not a cesspool and I will study how to heat hot irons said Dharakan with grim conviction it is likely that having worked for a blacksmith once I may learn quickly I have tasted I have drunk aspen sats epsom salts he spat two in a very fury of reminiscence good said king hence forward then I am Kuram Khan the Dakatar and ye two are my assistants Ishmael to hold the men with boils and Dharakan to heat the irons both of ye to be my men and support me with words when need be I said Ishmael quick to think of details and these others shall be the tasters they have big bellies there will hold many potions without crowding let them swallow a little of each medicine in the chest now for the sake of practice let them learn not to make a rye face when the taste of cesspool rests on the tongue I and the breath comes sobbing through the nose said Dharakan remembering fragments of an adventurous career let them learn to drink aspen sats without coughing we will not drink the medicines announced the man who had a stomach ache nay nay but Ishmael hit him with the back hand in the stomach again and danced away hugging himself and shouting hee hee hee until the jackals joined him in discontented chorus and the kyber pass became full of weird howling then suddenly the old Afridi thought of something else and came back to thrust his face close to kings why be a Rengar why be a Rajputsahib she loves us hillmen better do I look like a hillman of the hills as king nay not now but he who can work one miracle can work another change thy skin once more and be a true hillman aye king laughed and fall heir to a blood feud with every second man I chance upon a hillman is cousin to a hundred others and what say they in the hills to hate like cousins eh all cousins are at war as a Rengar I have left my cousins down in India better be alerted Hindu and be despised by some than to have cousins in the hills besides do I speak like a hillman aye never enough Afridi speak his own tongue better yet does a hillman slip would a hillman use punjabi words in a careless moment God forbid therefore thou dunderhead I will be a Rengar Rajput a stranger in a strange land traveling by her favor to visit her in danger thus shall I happen to make mistakes in speech or action it may be overlooked and each man unwittingly be my advocate explaining away my errors to himself and others instead of my enemy denouncing me to all and sundry is that clear thou oaf aye thou art more cunning than any man I ever met the great Afridi began to rub the tips of his fingers through his straggly beard in a way that might be anything and king seemed to draw a considerable satisfaction from it as if it were a sign language that he understood more than any one thing in the world just then he needed a friend and he certainly did not propose to refuse such a useful one and he added as if it were an afterthought instead of his chief reason if her special man Riva Ganja is a Rengar and is known as a Rengar throughout the hills shall I not the more likely win favor by Rengar too if I wear her bracelet and at the same time I'm a Rengar who will not trust me true thou art a magician true a great Ishmael but the moon was getting low and kyber would be dark again in half an hour for the great crags in the distance to either hand shut off more light than do the kyber walls the mist too was growing thicker it was time to make a move king rose pack the mule and bring my horse he ordered and they hurried to obey with alacrity born of new respect daughter con attending to the trimming of the mules load in person instead of snarling at another man it was a very different little escort from the one that had come thus far like king himself it had changed its very nature in 15 minutes they brought the horse and king laughed at them calling them idiots men without eyes the saddle Ishmael suggested it is a government officer stolen said king and they nodded stolen along with the horse then the bridle stolen too you men without eyes ye insects a stolen horse and a saddle and bridle are they not a passport of gentility this side of the border aye I am Kyrom Khan the Dakatar but who in the hills would believe it look now looky and tell me what is wrong he pointed to the horse and they stood in a row and stared short on those stirrups then six holes at the least men will laugh at me if I ride like a British officer aye said Ishmael hurrying to obey aye aye aye agreed the others now he said gathering the reins and swinging into the saddle who knows the way to kingen which of us does not ye all know it then ye are all border thieves and worse man knows that road lead on Dara Khan thou lord of rivers do thy duty as Badraga and beware lest we get our knees wet at the fords Ishmael you march next now aye you other two and the mule follow me let the man with a belly ache ride last on the other horse so forward march so Dara Khan led the way with his rifle and king's face glowed in cigarette light not very far behind him he legged his horse up the narrow track that led northward out of the kyber bed it would be a long time before he would dare smoke a cigar again and his supply of cigarettes was destined to dwindle down to nothing before that day but he did not seem to mind chela he called forward men of the mountains kuch da nachim hay thy mother and the spirit of a fight were won swore Ishmael just in front of him stepping out like a boy going to a picnic she will love thee Allah she will love thee Allah Allah the thought seemed to appall him for hours after that he climbed ahead in silence end of chapter read by Brett Downey chapter 8 of king of the kyber rifles by Tablet Mundi this LibriVox recording is in the public domain read by Brett Downey Dear is the swagger that takes a man in helmeted clattering proud sweet are the honors the arrogant wind hot from the breath of a crowd precious the spirit that never will bend hot challenge for insolence stare but talk when you've tried it to win in the end go ashti slowly be meek and beware even with the man with the stomach ache mounted on the spare horse for the sake of extra speed and he was not suffering one fifth so much as he pretended with Ishmael to urge and king to coax and the fear of mountain death on every side of them they were the part of a night and a day and a night and a part of another day in reaching kinsen Daria Khan with the rifle held in both hands led the way swiftly but warily and the last man's eyes looked ever backward many a sneaking enemy might have seen them and have judged a stern chase worthwhile in the hills the hunter has all the best of it and the hunted needs must run the accepted rule is to stalk one's enemy relentlessly and get him first king happened to be hunting although not for human life and he felt bold but the men with him dreaded each upstanding crag that might conceal a rifleman armed men behind the corners mean only one thing in the hills the animals grew weary to the verge of dropping for the road had been made for the most part by mountain freshets and where that was not the case it was imaginary altogether they traveled upward along ledges that were age-worn in the limestone downward where the hell stones slid from under them to almost bottomless ravines and a fall step would have been instant death up again between big edged boulders that nipped the mules pack and let the mules between past many and many a lonely karn that hid the bones of a murdered man buried to keep his ghost from making trouble ever with a tortured ridge of rock for skyline and generally leaning against a wind that chilled them to the bone while the fierce sun burned them at night and at noon they slept fitfully at the chance met shrine of some holy man the hills are full of them marked by fluttering rags that can be seen for miles away and though the Quran's meaning must be stretched to find excuse the hillmen are adept at stretching things and hold those shrines as sacred as the book itself men who would almost rather cut throats than gamble regard them as sanctuaries when a man says he is holy he can find few in the hills to believe him but when he dies or is tortured to death or shot even the one who murdered him will come and revere his grave whole villages leave their precious possessions at a shrine before wandering in search of summer pasture they find them safe on their return although the hills are the home of the lightest fingered thieves on earth who are prouder of villainy than of virtue a man with a blood feud and his foe hard after him may sleep in safety at a fakir's grave his foe will wait within range but he will not draw trigger until his grave is left behind so a man may rest in temporary peace even on the road to kingen although kingen and peace have nothing whatever in common it was at such a shrine surrounded by tattered rags tied to sticks that fluttered in the wind three or four thousand feet above kyber level the king drew ishmael into conversation and deftly forced on him the role of questioner how can't thou see the caves he asked for king king had hinted at his intention and for answer king gave him a glimpse of the gold bracelet aye well and good but even she dare not disobey the rule kingen was there before she came and the rule was there from the beginning when the first men found the caves some hundreds have gained admission lacking the right but whoever saw them again Allah aye for one would not chance it thou and I are two men answered king Allah gave thee qualities I lack he gave thee the strength of a ball and a mountain goat in one and her for a mistress to me he gave other qualities I shall see the caves I am not afraid aye he gave thee other gifts indeed but listen how many Indian servants of the British Raj have set out to see the caves many many aye very many again and again the Sikar sent its loyal ones did any return not one some were crucified before they reached the place one died slowly on the very rock whereon we sit with his eyelids missing and his eyes turned to the sun some entered kingen and the women of the place made sport with them those would rather have been crucified outside had they but known some having got by kingen entered the caves none ever came out again then what is my case to thee king asked him if I cannot come out again and there is a secret then a secret will be kept and what is the trouble I love thee the freedy answered simply thou art a man after my own heart turn go back before it is too late king shook his head be warned Ishmael reached out a hairy backed hand and shook with half suppressed emotion when we reach kingen I come within reach of her orders again then I am her man not thine king smiled glancing again at the gold bracelet on his arm I look like her man too thou Ishmael scorn was well feigned if it were not real thou chicken running to the hand that will pluck thy breast feathers listen Abdulrahman he of Kabul his ugly bones no peace Abdulrahman of Kabul sought the secret of the caves he sent his men to set an ambush they caught twenty coming out of kingen on a raid the twenty were carried to Kabul and put the torture there how many think you told the secret under torture they died cursing Abdulrahman to his face and he died without the secret may God recompense him with the fire and sculling water and ashes to eat may rats eat his bones had Abdulrahman this as king touching the bracelet nay he would have given one eye for it but none would trade with him he knew of it but never saw it I am more favored I have it it is hers is it not does not she know the secret she knows all that any man knows and more was she seen to slay a man in the teeth of written law asked king and ishmael stared so hard at him that he laughed I was in kingen once before my friend I know the rule I failed to reach the caves that other time because I had no witnesses to swear they had seen me slay a man in the teeth of written law I know who saw thee this time ishmael asked and began to cackle with the cruel humor of the hills in the destruction of his plans his humor forced him to explain the price of an entrance has come of late to be the life of an English officer many and one the English have dubbed gazi because he crossed the border and buried his knife in a man on church parade they hang and burn them knowing our muslim law that denies heaven to him who was hanged and burned yet the man they miscalled gazi sought but the key to kingen caves was not at all about heaven thou art a British officer it may be they will let thee enter the caves at her bidding it may be too that they will keep thee in a cage there for some chief son to try his knife on when the time comes to win admission listen man of my heart so strict is the rule that boys bored in the caves when they come to manhood must go and slay an Englishman and earn a lorry before they may come back unless they prove fearful and betray the secret ten men follow each they die by the hand of one or other of the ten unless they have slain their man within two weeks so the secret has been kept more years than ten men can remember that estimate was doubtless due to respect for figures and bore no relation to the length of a human generation whom did she kill to gain admission king asked him unexpectedly ask her said ishmael it is her business and thou was the life of a British officer the price paid nay I slew a mula the calmness of the admission and the satisfaction that its memory seemed to bring their owner made king laugh he found lawless satisfaction for himself in that ishmael's blood price should have been a priest not one of his brother officers a man does not follow king's profession for health profit or sentiment's sake healthy sentiment remains the loyalty that drives him and is its own most great reward makes him a man to the middle he liked ishmael he could not have liked him in the same way if he had known him guilty of English blood which is only proof of course that sentiment and common justice are not one but sentiment remains justice is an ideal be warned and go back urged ishmael come with me then nay I am her man she waits for me I imagine she waits for me laughed king forward we have rested in this place long enough so on they went climbing and descending the naked ramparts that lead eastward and upward and northward to the roof of mother earth ishmael ever grumbling into his long beard and king consumed by a fiercer enthusiasm than ever had yet burned in him forward forward cast hounds forward forward in any event says cocker it is only regular generals in command of troops in the field who must keep their rear open for retreat the secret service thinks only of the goal ahead it was ten of a blazing forenoon and the sun had heated up the rocks until it was pain to walk on them and agony to sit when they topped the last escarpment and came in sight of king's walls across a mile wide rock ravine kingen the unregenerate that has no other human habitation within a march because none dare build they stood on a ridge and leaned against the wind beneath them a path like a rope ladder descended in zigzags to the valley that is kingen's dry moat it needed courage as well as imagination to believe that the animals could be guided down it is there no other way asked king he knew well of one other but one does not tell all one knows in the hills and there might have been a third way none from this side said ishmael and on the other side there is a rather better path that by which the sikar's troops once came although it has been greatly obstructed since it is two days march from here to reach it be warned a last time sahib little hakeem be warned and go back a bird of ill omen left king must thou croak from every rock we rest on if I were a bird I would fly away back with thee said ishmael forward since we cannot fly forward and downward king answered she must have crossed this valley therefore there are things worthwhile beyond forward the animals weary to death anyhow fell rather than walk down the track and the heat rose up to meet them from the waterless ravine as if its floor were tofu's lid and the devil busy under it, stoking it was midday when it last they stood on bottom and swayed like men in a dream fingering their bruises and scarcely able for the heat haze to see the tangled mass of stone towers and mud and stone walls that faced them a mile away nobody challenged them yet kinjin itself seemed dead sahib let us mount the hill again and wait for night and a cool breeze urged dar yakan ishmael clucked into his beard and spat to wet his lips this glare makes my eyes ache he grumbled wait sahib wait a while urged the others forward ordered king this must be tofu't know ye not that none come out of tofu't by the way they entered in the exit is beyond they staggered after him sheltering their eyes and faces from the glare with turban ends and odds and ends of clothing the animals swayed behind them with hung heads and trooping ears and neither man nor beast had sense enough left to have detected an ambush they were more than half way across the valley hunting for shadow where none was to be found when a shotted salute brought them up all standing in a cluster six or eight nickel coated bullets spattered on the rocks close by and one so narrowly missed king that he could feel its wind up went all their hands together and they held them so until they ached nothing would ever happened their arms ceased aching and grew numb forward ordered king after another quarter of a mile of stumbling among hot boulders not one of which was big enough to afford cover or shelter from the sun another valley whistled over them their hands went up again and this time king could see turban heads above a parapet in front but nothing further happened forward he ordered they advanced another two hundred yards and a third valley rattled among the rocks on either hand frightening one of the mules so that it stumbled and fell and had to be helped up again when that was done and the mule stood trembling they all faced the wall but they were too weary to hold their hands up anymore thirst had begun to exercise its sway one of the men was half delirious who are ye howled a human being whose voice was so like a wolf that the words at first had no meaning he peered over the parapet a hundred feet above with his head so swathed in dirty linen that he looked like a bandaged corpse what will ye who comes uninvited into kinship king bethought him of yasmini's talisman he held it up and the gold band glinted in the sun yet although a hillman's eyes are keener than an eagle's he did not believe the thing could be recognized at that angle and from that distance another thought suggested itself to him he turned his head and caught ishmael in the act of signaling with both hands ye may come how the watchmen on the parapet disappearing instantly king trembled a racehorse trembles at the starting gate though he was weary enough to tremble from fatigue the hills that numb the hearts of many men had not cowed him for he loved them and in love there is no fear heat and cold and hunger were all in a day's work thirst was an incident and the whistle of lead in the wind had never meant more to him than work ahead to do but a greyhound trembles in the leash a boiler trembles when word goes down the speaking tube from the bridge for all she's got and so the mild looking hakeem karam khan walking gingerly across her rocks dawning cheap imitation shell-rimmed spectacles to help him look the part trembled even more than the leg-weary horse he led but that passed he was all in hand when he led his men up over a rough stone causeway to a door in the bottom of a high battle-mended wall for someone to open it the great teak door looked as if it had been stolen from some hindu temple and he wondered how and when they could have brought it there across those savage intervening miles with its six inch teak planks and bronze bolts its weight must be guessed at in tons yet a horse can hardly carry a man along any of the trails that lead to kinship the wood bore the marks of siege and fracture repair the walls were new built the age-old stone the last expedition out of india had levelled every bit of those defenses flat with the valley but kinshins devils had re-erected them as ants rebuild a rifled nest the door was swung open after a time pulled by a rope manipulated from above by unseen hands inside was another blind wall twenty feet behind the first to the right a low barricade blocked the passage and provided a safe vantage point from which was blocked by a hail of lead but to the left a path ran unobstructed for more than a hundred yards between the walls to where the way was blocked by another teak door set in unscalable black rock high above the door was a ledge of rock that crossed like a bridge from wall to wall with a parapet of stones built upon it pierced for rifle fire as they approached the second door a rangar turban not unlike kinsh own appeared above the parapet on the ledge and a voice he recognized hailed him good-humoredly salam alaikum and upon the peace king answered in the pash-tutang for the hills are polite whatever the other principles riva gunja's face beamed down on him wreathed in smiles that seemed to include makri as well as triumph looking up at him at an angle that made his neck ache and dazzled his eyes king could not be sure but it seemed to him that the smile said here you are my man and aren't you in for it he more than half suspected he was intended to understand that but the rangar's conversation took another line by jove he chuckled she expected you she guessed you are a hound who can hunt well on a dry scent and she dad bet you will come in spite of all odds well she didn't expect you in a rangar dress no by jove you jolly well will take the wind out of her sails king made no answer for one thing the word hound even in english is not essentially a compliment but he had a better reason than that did you find the way easily the rangar asked but king kept silence is he parched? have they cut his tongue out on the road? that question was in pash-tut directed at ishmael and the others but king answered it oh as for that he said salaming again in the fastidious manner of a native gentleman then pash-tut and my own rajasthani my name is kuram khan i asked admittance he held up his wrist to show the gold bracelet and high overhead the rangar laughed like a bell shabash! he laughed well done enter kuram khan and be welcome thou and thy men be welcome in her name somebody pulled a rope and the door yawned wide giving on a kind of courtyard whose high walls allowed no view of anything from the blue sky king hurried under the arch and looked up but on the courtyard side of the door the wall rose sheer and blank and there was no sign of window or stairs or of any means of reaching the ledge from which the rangar had addressed him what he did see as he faced that way was that each of his men salamed low and covered his face with both hands as he entered whom do you salute he asked ishmael stared back at him almost insolently as one who would rebuke a fool is this not her nest these days he answered it is well to bow low she is not as other women she is she see yonder through a gap under an arch in a far corner of the courtyard came a one-eyed, lean-looking villain in a freedy dress who leaned on a long gun and stared at them under his hand after a leisurely consideration of them he rubbed his nose slowly with one finger spat contemptuously then used the finger to beckon them crooking it clearly and turning on his heel he did not say one word king led the way after him on foot for even in the hills where cruelty is a virtue a man may be excused on economic grounds for showing mercy to his beast his men tugged the weary animals along behind him through the gap under the arch and along an almost interminable smelly maze of alleys whose sides were the walls of square stone towers or sometimes of mud and stone walled compounds and here and there of sheer slab-sided cliff at intervals they came to bolted narrow doors that probably led up to overhead defenses not 50 yards of any alley was straight not a yard, but what was commanded from overhead kinjin had been rebuilt since its last destruction by some expert who knew all about street fighting like old Jerusalem which contained a civil war of 100 factions and still have opposed stout resistance to an outside army alley gave on to courtyard and filthy square to alley until unexpectedly at last a seemingly blind passage turned sharply and opened on a straight street of fair width and more than a half a mile long it was marked street of the dwellings on the secret army maps and it has been burned so often by kinjin rioters as well as by expeditions out of India that a man who goes on a long journey never expects to find it the same on his return it was lined on either hand with motley dwellings out of which a motley or crowd of people swarmed to stare at king and his men there were houses built of stolen corrugated iron that cursed hot hideous stuff that the west has inflicted on an all too willing east others of wood, of stone, of mud of mat of skins, even of tent cloth most of them were filthy a row of kites sat on the roof of one and in the gutter near it three gorged vultures sat on the remains of a mule scarcely a house was fit to be defended for kinjin's fighting men all possessed towers that are plastered about the over frowning mountain like wasst nest on a wall these were the sweepers, the traders the loose women, the mere penniless and the more or less useful men not kinjin's inner guard by any means there were Hindus, sycophants, keepers of accounts and writers to the chiefs since literacy is at a premium in these parts in proof of kinjin's catholic taste and indiscriminate villainy there were women of nearly every Indian breed and caste many of them stolen into shameful slavery but some of them there from choice and there were little children little naked brats with round drum tummies who squealed and shrilled and stared with bold eyes some of them were pretending to be bandits on their own account already and one flung a stone that missed king by an inch the stone fell in the gutter on the far side and started a fight among the mangy streetcurs which proved a diversion and probably saved king's party from more accurate attentions perhaps a thousand souls came out to watch all told not an eye of them all missed the government marks on king's trappings or the government brand on the mules and after a minute or two when the procession was half way down the street a man reproved the child who had thrown a stone and he was backed up by the others they classified king correctly exactly as he meant they should as a hakeem a man of medicine he could feel a long felt want but by the brand on his accoutrements he walked an openly avowed robber and that made him a brother in crime somebody cuffed the next child who picked up a stone he knew the street of old although it had changed perhaps a dozen times since he had seen it it was a cul-de-sac and at the end of it just as on his previous visit there stood a stone mosque whose roof leaned back at a steep angle against the mountainside the fact that it was a mosque and that it was the only building used as such in kinjin had saved it from being leveled to the ground by the last british expedition it was a famous mosque in its way for the bedsheet of the prophet is known to hang in it preserved against the ravages of time and the touch of infidels by priceless afghan rugs before and behind so that it hangs like a great thin sandwich before the rear stone wall king had seen it very vividly he recalled his almost exposure by a suspicious mullah when he had crept near to examine it at close range where the secret service must probe all things there had been an attempt since his last visit to make the mosque's exterior look more in keeping with the building's use it was cleaner it had been smeared with whitewash a platform had been built on the roof for the mu'azin but it still looked more like a fort than a place of worship toward it the one-eyed ruffian led the way with the long, leisurely seeming gate of a mountaineer at the door in the middle of the end of the street he paused and struck on the lintel three times with his gun-but and that was a strange proceeding to say the least in a land where the mosque is a public resting place for homeless ones and all the faithful have a right to enter a mullah, shaven like a mummy for some unaccountable reason even his eyebrows and eyelashes had been removed pushed his bare head through the door and blinked at them there was some whispering and more staring and at last the mullah turned his back the door slammed and surrounded his gun-but on the stone and the procession waited watched by the crowd that had lost its interest sufficiently to talk and joke in two minutes the mullah returned and threw a mat over the threshold it turned out to be the end of a long narrow strip that he kicked and unrolled in front of him all the way across the floor of the mosque after that it was not so astonishing that the horses and mules were allowed to enter which proves I was right after all murmured king to himself in a steel box at Simla is a memorandum made after his former visit to the place to the effect that the entrance to kingen caves might possibly be inside the mosque nobody had believed it likely and he had not more than half favored it himself but it is good even when the next step may lead into a death trap to see one's first opinions confirmed he nodded to himself as the outer door slammed shut behind them where that was another most unusual circumstance a faint light shown through slit like windows changing darkness into gloom and little more than vaguely hinting at the prophet's bedsheet but for a section of white wall to either side of it the relic might have seemed part of the shadows the mullah stood with his back to it and beckoned king nearer he approached until he could see the pattern on the covering rugs and the pink rims around the mullah's lashless eyes what is thy desire the mullah asked as a wolf might ask what a lamb wants supposing Yezmini to be jealous of invasion of her realm king did not doubt she would be glad to have him break down at this point until he had actually gained access to her nobody could reasonably charge her with his safety if he had been done to death in the kyber the surcar would have known it in a matter of hours if he were killed here they might never know it and sir said the mullah what is thy desire audience with her he answered and showed the gold bracelet on his wrist the red eye rims of the mullah blinked a time or two and though he did not salute the bracelet as others had invariably done his manner underwent a perceptible change that is proof that she knows thee what is thy name kurram khan and thy business hakim we need thee in kinjin caves there who have not earned right to enter there is but one key name it king drew in his breath he had hoped Yezmini's talisman would prove to be key enough the nails on his left hand nearly pierced the palm but he smiled pleasantly he who would enter must slay a man before witnesses in the teeth of written law he said and thou I slew an Englishman the boast made his blood run cold the one of sinful pride whom, when, where athelston king a British officer sent on his way to these hills to spy it was like having spells cast on himself to order where is his body ask the vultures, ask the kites and thy witnesses hoping against hope king turned and waved his hand as he did so being quick-eyed he saw Ishmael arrive an elbow home into Dara Khan's ribs and caught a quick interchange of whispers these men are all known to me said the mullah they all have right to enter here they have right to testify did ye see him slay his man I lied Ishmael prompt as a friend can be I lied Dara Khan fearful of Ishmael's elbow then enter said the priest residedly against his better judgment he turned his back on them so as to face the prophet's bedsheet and the rear wall and in that minute a hairy hand gripped king's arm from behind and Ishmael's voice hissed hot breathed in his ear ready of tongue ready of wit who told thee I would lie to save thy skin be thy kismet as thy courage then but I am hers not thy man hers thou light of life though God knows I love thee the mullah seized the prophet's bedsheet and its covering rugs in both hands and with about as much reverence as salesmen show for what they keep in stock the whole lot slid to one side by means of noisy rings on a rod and a wall lay bare built of crudely cut but very well laid stone blocks it appeared to reach unbroken across the whole width of the mosque's interior on the floor lay a mallet a peculiar thing of bronze cast in one piece handle and all the mullah took it in his hand and struck the stone floor sharply once then twice again then three times then a dozen times in quick succession the floor rang hollow at that spot after about a minute there came one answering hammer stroke from beyond the wall then the mullah laid the mallet down and though king ached to pick it up and examine it he did not dare excitement now was probably the least of his emotions it had been swallowed in interest but in his guise of hakeem he had to beware of that superficial western carelessness that permits folk to acknowledge themselves frightened or excited or amused his business was to attract as little attention to himself as possible and to that end he folded his hands and looked reverent as if entering some mecca of his dreams through his horn rim spectacles his eyes looked far away and dreamy but it would have been a mistake to suppose that a detail was escaping him the irregular lines in the masonry began to be more pronounced all at once the wall shook and they gaped by an inch or two as happens when an earthquake has shaken buildings without bringing anything down then an irregular section of wall began to move quite smoothly away in front of him leaving a gap through which eight men abreast could have marched as it receded he observed that the lowest coarse stones was laid on a bronze foundation that keyed in wide bronze grooves there was oil enough in the grooves to have greased a ship's ways and there was neither squeak nor tremor as the tons of masonry slid back at the end of perhaps three minutes that section of the wall had become the fourth side of a 20 foot wide island that stood fair in the middle of a tunnel splitting it in two to right and left judging by the angle of the two divisions they became one again before going very far the mula stood aside and motioned King to enter but the one eyed guide who had led them to the mosque thrust himself between Dara Khan and Ishmael pushed King aside and took the lead nay he said I am responsible to her it was the first time he had spoken and he appeared to resent the waste of words the tunnel that led to the left was pierced in twenty places in the roof for rifle fire a score of men with enough ammunition could have held it forever against an army but the right hand way looked undefended nevertheless the guide led to the left and King followed him filled with curiosity many have entered saying the lashless mula in sing song chant more have sought to enter some who remained without were wisest I count them I keep count many went in not all came out again by this road then there is another road King wondered but he held his tongue and followed the guide it proved to be fifty yards through the part natural part hand hewn tunnel to the neck of the fork where the left and right hand passages became one again he stopped at the fork and looked back for none of his men was following he caught the sound of scuffling of clattering hoofs and grunts and shouted oaths and started to run back since even a native hakeem may protect his own should he care to even in the hills for the sake of principle he chose the other passage for koker says look look look but the guide seized him by the arm from behind and swung him back again not that way he growled but he offered no explanation in the hills it is not good to ask why of strangers it is good to be glad one was not knifeed and to be deferent until more suitable occasion King started to run again but this time along the same defended passage down which they had come and now the guide made no objection but leaned on his long gun and waited the charger proved to be making the trouble the horse the king had exchanged with the jazelchi in the kyber the terrified brute was refusing to enter the passage and all the men including ishmael and the mullah were shoving or else tugging at the reins at the moment king appeared the united strength of six men was beginning to prevail the mullah let go the reins and in that instant the horse saw king advance towards him out of the tunnel so after the manner of horses he chose the other passage king ran at full speed round the corner after him remembering that the guide had admitted responsibility and therefore that the chances were he would be rescued should he run into a trap suddenly ten yards in the lead down the dark tunnel the horse threw his weight back with a clatter of sparks and screamed as only a horse can but there was neither sight nor sound of him creeping forward with both arms outstretched against the left hand wall he reached the spot where the horse had been and shuddered on the smooth dark edge of a hole that went the full width of the floor there came whispering up out of it and a dank wet smell as if they were running water a mile away below he could feel that a little air flowed downward into it twenty yards away on the far side the path resumed but there was neither hand nor foot hold on the smooth damp walls between he went back to his men with a shiver between his shoulder blades and the mula standing in the gap of the mosque wall blinked at him with lashless eyes many have entered he chanted maliciously some went out by a different road come ishmael growled at the other men seizing the mules bridle himself and leading to the left the ghost will have a charger now it's important to ride lead on hakim sahib come called the one I'd guide from the neck of the fork ahead and as they all pressed forward after king the hairless mula gave a signal and the great stone door slid slowly into place it was like a tombstone it was as if the world that mortals know were a thing of the forgotten past and the underworld lay ahead lead along karen king grinned he needed some sort of pleasantry to steady his nerves but even so he wondered what the nerves of india would be like if her millions knew of this place end of chapter read by brett downey chapter 9 of king of the kyber rifles by talbot mundi this libra vox recording is in the public domain recording by brett downey oh abdule trod with a marshal tread swinging his cemeter's weight I am overlord here he said and he who wishes may chance his head for my blade is long and my arm is strong and the goods of the world to the bold belong so abdule guarded the gate many ahead did abdule cleave turban and crown and chin for all the venturers sought to know what it could be he guarded so and since none give but each receive a thrust in his ribs made abdule grieve his blood outpouring his men wept watching abdule bleed and his life's light waning dim till he cursed them open the fort gate wide to saddle and scour the countryside for a leech he swore god rot ye ride it was thus in the guise of a friend in need his enemy came to him the second gap closed up behind them and the tunnel began to echo weirdly the mule was the next to be panic-stricken the noise of his plunging increased the echoes a thousand times and multiplied his fright until the poor brute collapsed into meek obedience at last but the guide strode on unconcerned with his easy hillman gate neither daning to glance back nor making any verbal comment over their heads at irregular intervals there were holes that if they led as king presumed into caves above left not an inch of all the long passage that could not have been swept by rifle fire it was impregnable for no artillery heavy enough to pound the mountain into pieces could ever be dragged within range whatever hiding place this entrance guarded could be held forever given food and cartridges the tunnel wound to the right and left like a snake growing lighter and lighter after each bend and soon their own din began to be swallowed in a greater one that entered from the farther end after two sharp turns they came out unexpectedly into the blaze of blue day nearly stunned by light and sound a road came up from below like that of an ocean in the grip of a typhoon when his wits recovered from the shock king struggled with the wild desire to yell for before him was what no servant of British India had ever seen and lived to tell about and that is an experience more potent than unbroken rum they had emerged from a round mouth tunnel it looked already like a rabbit hole so huge was the cliff behind on to a ledge of rock that formed a sort of road along one side of a mile wide chasm above him it seemed a mile up was blue sky to which limestone walls ran sheer with scarcely a foothold that could be seen beneath so deep that eyes could not guess how deep yawn the stained gorge of the underworld many colored smooth and wet and out of a great jagged slit in the side of the cliff perhaps a thousand feet below them they're poured down into thunderous dimness a waterfall whose breath seemed not less than half a mile it spouted seventy or eighty yards before it began to curve and its din was like the voice of all creation ishmael came and stood by king in silence taking his hand as a little child might presently he stooped and picked up a stone and tossed it over gone he said simply that down there is earth's drink and this is the heart of the hills men boast about nay it is not snapped ishmael then where but the one eyed guide beckoned impatiently and king led the way after him staring as hakeem or prisoner or any man had a right to do on first admission into such wonders not to have stared would have been to proclaim himself an idiot the least of all the wonders was that the secret of the place should have been kept all down the centuries or it was the hollow middle of a limestone mountain that could neither be looked down into from above because the heights were not scalable nor guessed at from the confirmation of the country the river that flowed out of the rock and went plunging down into the chasm must be snow from the himalayan peaks on its way to swell the sea there was no other way to account for that but the explanation did explain why at least one Indian river is no greater than it is the road they followed was a fold in the natural rock rising and falling and curving like a ribbon but tending on the average downward it looked to be about 2 miles to the point where it curved at the chasm's end and swept round and downward to be lost in a fissure in the cliff they soon began to pass the miles of caves some were above the road now and then at crazy heights above it reached by artificial steps hewn out of the stone others were below reached from the road by means of ladders that trembled and swayed over the dizzying waterfall most of the caves were inhabited for armed men and sullen women came to their entrances to stare ears grow accustomed to the sound of water sooner than to almost anything it was not long before kings ears could catch the patter of his men's feet following and the shod clink of the mule he could hear when ishmael whispered hakeem she loves fearless men as the track descended caves became more numerous in one there were horses for as they passed there came a whiff of unclean stables and the litter of fodder and dung was all about the entrance the miles of other caves were sealed with great wax discs strangely stamped the fixed to stout wooden doors one cave smelt as if oil were stored in it and king wondered whence the oil was brought where the surcar knows to a pint and announce what products travel up and down the kyber at last the guide halted in the middle of a short steep slope where the path was less than six feet wide and a narrow cave mouth gave directly onto it be content to rest here he said pointing thy cave? asked king nay gods I am the caretaker the hills are very pious and polite between the acts of robbing and shedding blood Allah then reward thee brother answered king Allah give sight to thy blind eye Allah give thee children Allah give thee peace odd to all thy house the guide salamed half mockingly half wondering at such eloquence pausing in the passage to point into the side caves that debushed to either hand there was a niche of a place where a man might lie on guard near the entrance another cave in which horses could be stable with plenty of fodder piled up ready another beyond that for servants and baggage with a fireplace and cooking pots and at last at the rear of all a great cavern full of eerie gloom that opened out from the end of the passage like a bottle at the end of a long neck peering about him into vastness king became aware of frame beds placed at intervals in a row each with a map beside it and there were several brass basins and ewers for water also there were some little bronze lamps the guide lit three of them and king took up one to examine it as he did so involuntarily his hand almost went to his bosom where the strange knife still reposed that he had taken from the would-be murderer in the train to Delhi there was no gold on the lamp but the handle by which he lifted it had been cast the devils of the Himalayas only knew how many centuries ago in the form of a woman dancing her size and her shape and the art with which she had been fashioned were the same as the handle of the knife watching him as a wolf eyes another one the strange guide found his tongue how many such hast thou ever seen he asked none answered king and the guide cackled at him like a hen that has laid an egg there be many strange things in kinship but few strangers he remarked that he was fair enough for any man to say on any occasion he turned on his heel and stalked out of the cavern it was the last king ever saw of him he followed him down the passage to the entrance and watched him until his back disappeared round the first bend but the man never turned his head once he did not even look over the edge of the road down into the amazing waterfall nor up to the round disc of sky king turned back and looked into the other caves saw the weary horse and the mule fed watered and vetted down took note of the running water that rushed out of a rockfisher and gurgled out of sight down another one examined the servants cave and saw that they had been amply provided with blankets there was nothing lacking that the most exacting traveler could have demanded at such a distance from civilization there was more than the most exacting would have dared expect why isn't it damp in here he wondered returning to his own cave and then he noticed long fishers in the cavern walls and that the smoke from the lamps drifted toward them he could not guess what made it do that unless it were the suction of the enormous river hurrying underground and then he remembered that at the entrance air had rushed downward into the hole down which the horse had disappeared which partly confirmed his guess Ishmael he shouted and jumped at the revolver crack like echo of his voice Ishmael came running make the men carry the mules packs into this cave you and Daria Khan stay here and help me open them remember ye are both assistants of Kurum Khan the Hakim they will laugh at us they will laugh at us clutch Ishmael but he hurried to a bay while king wondered who would laugh within an hour a delegation came from no less a person than Yasmine herself bearing her compliments and hot food savory enough to make a brass idol's mouth water by that time king had his sets of surgical instruments and drugs and bandages all laid out on one of the beds and covered from view by a blanket it was only one more proof of the British army's everlasting luck that one of the men who set the great brass dish of food on the floor near king had a swollen cheek and that he should touch the swelling clumsily as he lifted his hand to shake back a lock of greasy hair there followed an oath like flint struck on steel and it was the first time in rapid succession does it pain thee brother asked Kurum Khan the Hakim are there devils in tofu fire and my veins are one the man did not notice the eagerness beaming out of king's horn-rimmed spectacles but Ishmael did seemed to him time to prove his virtues as assistant this is the famous Hakim Kurum Khan he boasted he can cure anything and for a very little fee hey for no fee at all in this case said king the man looked incredulous but king drew the covering from his row of instruments and bottles take a chance he advised none but the brave wins anything the man sat down as if he would argue the point at length but Ishmael and Daria Khan were new to the business and enthusiastic they had him down held tight on the floor to the huge amusement of the rest before the man could even protest the cows of rage did him no good for Ishmael drove the hilt of a knife between his open jaws to keep them open a very large proportion of king's stores consisted of morphia and cocaine injected enough cocaine to deaden the man's nerves and allowed it time to work then he drew out three back teeth in quick succession to make sure he had the right one Ishmael let the victim up then Daria Khan gave him water in a brass cup utterly without pain for the first time for days the man was as grateful as a wolf freed from a trap I'll reward thee since the service was free he smirked are there any others in pain in kinship king asked him listen to him what is kinship is there one man without a wound or a sore or a scar or a sickness then tell them said king the man laughed when I show my jaw there will be a fight to be first hakeem I go he was true to his word and left the cave like a gust of wind followed by the three who had come with him king sat down to eat but he had not finished his meal he had made the last little heap of rice into a ball with his fingers native style and was mopping up the last of the curried gravy with it when the advanced guard of the lame and the halt and the sick made its appearance the cave's entrance became jammed with them and no riot ever made more noise hakeem where is the hakeem who draws teeth where is the man who knows Yunani ten men burst down the passage all together all clamoring and one man wasted no time at all but began to tear away bloody bandages to show his wound the hardest thing now was to get and keep some kind of order and for ten minutes Ishmael and Darya Khan labored using threats where argument failed and brute force when they dared it was like beating mad hounds off from their worry what established order at last was that king rolled up his sleeves and began so that eagerness gave place to wonder the hills are not squeamish in any one particular so that the fact that the cave became a shambles upset nobody the surgeon's thrill that makes even half amateurs oblivious of all but the work in hand coupled with the desperate need of winning this first trick made king horror-proof and nobody waiting for the next turn was troubled because the man under the knife screamed a little or bled more than usual when they died and more than one did die men carried them out and flung them over the precipice into the waterfall below Ishmael and Darya Khan became choosers of the victims they seized a man laid him on the bed tore off his disgusting bandages and held their breath until the awful resulting stench had more or less dispersed then king would probe or lance or bandage as he saw fit using anesthetics when he must but managing mostly without them they almost flung money at him few of them asked what his fee would be those who had no money brought him shawls and swords and even clothing two or three brought old-fashioned firearms but they were men who did not expect to live and king accepted every gift without comment because that was in keeping with the part he played he tossed money and clothes and every other thing they gave him into a corner at the back of the cave and nobody tried to steal them back although a man suspected of honesty in that company would have been tortured to death as a heretic and would have had no sympathy for hour after gruesome hour he toiled over wounds and sores such as only battles and evil living can produce until men began to come at last with fresh wounds all caused by bullets wrapped in bandages on which the blood had caked but had not grown foul there has been fighting in the kyber somebody informed him and he stopped with Lancet in mid-air to listen scanning a hundred faces swiftly in the smoky lamplight there were ten men who held lamps for him one of them a newcomer and it was he who spoke fighting in the kyber, aye we were a little lash-car but we drove them back into their fort aye, we slew many not a jihad yet king asked as if the world might be coming to an end the words were startled out of him under other circumstances he would never have asked that question so directly but he had lost reckoning of everything but these poor devils dreadful need of doctrine and he was like a man roused out of a dream if a holy war had been proclaimed already then he was engaged on a forlorn hope but the man laughed at him nay, not yet bull with a beard holds back yet this was a little fight the jihad shall come later and who is bull with a beard? king wondered but he did not ask that question because his wits were awake again it pays not to be in too much of a hurry to know things in the hills as it happened he asked no more questions where there came a shout at the cave entrance whose purport he did not catch and within five minutes after that without a word of explanation the cave was left empty of all except his own five men they carried away the men too sick to walk and vanished snatching the last man away almost before king's fingers had finished tying the bandage on his wound why is that? he asked ishmael why did they go? who shouted? it is night ishmael answered it was time king stared about him he had not realized until then that without the aid of the lamps he could not see his own hand held out in front of him his eyes had grown used to the gloom like those of surgeons in the sick bays below the water line in nelson's fleet but who shouted? who knows there is only one here who gives orders we be many who obey said ishmael whose men were the last ones king asked him trying a new line all with the beards and whose men are thou ishmael the aphridae hesitated and when he spoke at last there was not quite the same assurance in his voice as once there had been i am hers be thou hers too but it is night sleep against the toil tomorrow there be many sick in kingen king made a little effort to clean the cave but the task was hopeless for one thing he was so weary that his very bones were water for another ishmael pretended to be equally tired and when the suggestion that they should help was put to the others they claimed their isat indignantly isat and charm honor and shame are the two scarcely distinguishable enemies of honest work into whose teeth it takes both nerve and resolution to drive a hillman at the best of times nerve king had but his resolution was asleep he was too tired to care he appointed them to two hour watches to relieve one another until dawn and flung himself on a clean bed he was asleep before his head had met the pillow and for all he knew to the contrary he dreamed of yasmini all night long it seemed to him that she came into the cave she the woman of the faded photograph the general had given him in peshawar and that the cave became filled with a strange intoxicating scent that at first wooed his senses in her reception room in deli he dreamed that she called him by name first king sahib then karam khan and her voice was surprisingly familiar but dreams are strange things he sleeps said the same voice presently it is good that he sleeps and in his sleep he thought that a shadowy ishmael grunted an answer after that he was very sure in his dream that it was good to sleep although a voice he did not recognize and that he was quite sure was a dream voice kept whispering to him to wake up and protect himself but the scent grew stronger and he began to dream of kobras that danced with a woman and struck at her so swiftly that she had to become two women in order to avoid them and riva ganja came and laughed at both and called them amateurs so that the woman became enraged and drew a bronze bladed dagger with a golden hilt then intelligible dreams ceased altogether and he slept like a dead man but with a vague suggestion ever with him that yasmini was not very far away and that she was interested in him to a point that was actually embarrassing it was like the aether dream he just dreamt in a hospital when he awoke at last it was after dawn and light shone down the passage into his cave nishmel he shouted for he was thirsty but there was no answer dahyakan again there was no answer he called each of the other men by name with the same result he got up and realized then for the first time that he had not undressed himself the night before his head felt heavy and although he did not believe he had been drugged there was a senti half recognized that permeated the cave and even overcame the dreadful atmosphere that the sick of yesterday had left behind he decided to go to the cave mouth summon his men who were no doubt sleeping as he had done sniff the fresh air outside and come back to try the scent again he would know then whether his nose were deceiving him but there was no ishmel near the entrance no dahyakan nor any of the other men the horse was gone so was the mule so was the harness and everything he had except the drugs and instruments and the presents the sick had given him he had noticed all those still lying about in confusion when he woke ishmel he shouted at the top of his lungs thinking they might all be outside he heard a man hawk and spit close to the entrance and went out to sea a man whom he had never seen before leaned on a magazine rifle and eyed him as a tiger eyes its prey no father he growled bringing his rifle to the port why not king asked him Allah when a camel dies in the kyber do the kites ask why go in he thought then of yasmini's bracelet that always gained him at least civility from every man who saw it he held up his left wrist and knew that instant why it felt uncomfortable the bracelet has disappeared he turned back into the cave to hunt for it and the strange scent greeted him again in spite of the surrounding stench of drugs and filthy wounds there was no mistaking it if it had been her special scent in deli as sander swore it was and her special scent on the note daria kahn had carried down the kyber that it was hers now and she had been in the cave he hunted high and low and found no bracelet his pistol was gone too and his cartridges but not the dagger wrapped in a handkerchief under his shirt the money that his patients had brought him lay on the floor untouched it was an unusual robber who had robbed him at least once in his life or he were not human but an angel it dawns on a man that he has done the unforgivable it dawns on most men oftener than once a week so men learn sympathy I should have been awake to change the guard every two hours he admitted sitting on the bed he wouldn't hesitate to shoot another man for that or for less he let the thought sink in until the very leaves of shame tasted like ashes in his mouth then being what he was and there are not very many men good enough to shoulder what lay ahead of him he set the whole affair behind him as part of the past and looked forward who's bull with a beard he wondered nobody interfered with me until I doctored his men he's in opposition now who in thunder by the fat lord Harry can bull with a beard be and why fighting in the kyber so early is all this and why does bull with a beard whoever he is hang back end of chapter read by Brett Downey