Part 18 (1/2)
”Let us hope,” said I, ”to a place where orders are obeyed in military manner without question! Have you heard the order?” I asked, and I o and wake our officer
Without another word Gooja Singh cli his coinator Meanwhile I thought busily, with an eye for the wide horizon, wondering whether ere being pursued, or whether telegra Turkish regiments to form a cordon and cut us off I wondered ht be, and whether Ranjoor Singh had had at any time the least idea of our eventual destination I had no idea which direction to take There was no track I could see, except that made by our own cart-wheels On what did I base my decision, then? I will tell you, sahib
I saw that not only Ranjoor Singh's horse, but all the cattle had been given liberal amounts of corn It seemed to me that unless he intended to continue by forcedfood Moreover, I judged that if he had intended resting many hours in that spot he would have had one to sleep himself The very fact that he had letforward Doubtless, he would depend on ht So I reasoned it And I also thought it probable he had told the Turk in which direction to lead, seeing that the Turk doubtless knew more of that countryside than any Ahead of us was all Asia and behind us was the sea Who was I that I should know the way? But by telling the Turk to lead on, I could iain h saw fit to praise ht the cart, and with the help of eight h very coht be bodyguard, letting none approach too close on pain of violence, saying that Ranjoor Singh needed a long deep sleep to restore his energy Also, I bade them keep that cart at the rear of the column, and I myself chose the rear place of all so as to keep control, prevent straggling, and watch against pursuit
Pursued? Nay, sahib Not at that tiht of ift of God We had been traveling about three parts of an hour when I perceived a very long way off the head of a ca at swift pace toward us-or alora And it so happened that at the moment when I saw it first the front half of our colu a rather gentle slope
I hurried the tail of the colu it, as a man twists bullocks' tails And then I bade the whole line halt and lie down, except those in charge of horses; them I ordered into the shelter of soe-all except Ranjoor Singh's cart; that I ordered backed into a hollow near me So ere invisible unless the caendheim I saw placed in the uarded like felons; and I bade those in charge of mules and horses stand by, ready to hing and braying Then I returned to the top of the rise and lay down, praying to God, with a trooper beside h back to life in case of direst need
I lay and heardonesome hoof-beat from behind me and the muffled reprimand that was certain to follow it TheI feared most of all was panic Yet what more could I do than I had done? I lay and watched the caht them nearer felt like a link in a chain that bound us all
One thing beca There were not ht we should be able to beat them off easily But unless we could ambuscade them (and there was no time to prepare that now) it would be iet away and those would carry the alarone would be all hope for us of evading capture or destruction But it was also obvious to ht on toward us at such speed if it knew of our existence or our whereabouts They expected us as little as we expected the what Ranjoor Singh would say towhat thewhat I should do supposing he did die and we escaped from this present predica discipline without Ranjoor Singh's aid And I had not the least notion whither to lead, unless toward Russia
Such thoughts made me physically sick, so that it was relief to turn away froan to suspect it would not coan to be certain that it would cross our track rather less than a an to whisper to myself excitedly Then at last ”Yes!” said I, aloud
”Yes!” said a voice beside me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, ”unless they suspect the track of our cart-wheels and follow it up, we are all right!”
I looked round into the eyes of Ranjoor Singh, and felttih,” said he, ”except that if attacked you would have hard work to gather your forces and control theh for this first tiht you were in a cart, dying!”
”In a cart, yes!” he said ”Dying, no-although that was no fault of soed him to explain, and while atched the carow suspicious and follow along it)-he told reat rock, not very sleepy, but thinking, chin on knee, when suddenly some man crawled up from behind and struck him a heavy blow
”Feel my head,” said he, and I felt under his turban There was a bruise the size of my folded fist I swore-as ould not? ”Is it deep?” I said, still watching the cao and find his horse
”Superficial,” he said then ”By the favor of God but a water bruise My head must have yielded beneath the blow”
”Who struck it?” said I, scarcely thinking what I said, for my mind was full of the camels, now flank toward us, that would have served our purpose like the gift of God could we only have contrived to capture them
”How should I know?” he answered ”See-they pass within a half-mile of where I sat Is not that the rock?” And I said yes
”Had you lingered there,” he said, ”word about us would have gone back to Angora at top camel speed What possessed you to coan to preenself-estee to himself, yet careful that I should hear, ”had this not happened to me I should have seen those camels on the sky-line Did you count the caht,” said I
”How many armed men with them?” he asked ”My eyes are yet dim from the blow”
”One hundred and four,” said I, ”and an officer or two”
He nodded ”The prisoners would have been a nuisance,” he said, ”yet we ht have used them later What with caood spot for an ah which they must pass presently-I went and surveyed it while they cooked my dinner-never mind, never mind!” said he ”If you had made a ht careat acquisition!”