by G. A. Henty
Chapter 18: On The Helmund.
With the junction of the forces of Generals Stewart and Roberts,what may be called the second period of the Afghan war came to anend. All opposition had ceased, and it appeared probable that therewould be no more fighting.
Abdul-Rahman, a prince of the royal house who--after for some timefighting against Sheer Ali--had been defeated, and obliged to flythe country; had, for a long time, been a resident among theRussians. Upon the abdication of Yakoub he had crossed thefrontier, and had entered at the north of Afghanistan; assuming thetitle of Ameer. He had been well received in that part of thecountry, and as no other competitor for the throne appeared to havechances equal to his, and as the British government were mostanxious to withdraw their forces from the country, his authoritywas recognized by us. Negotiations were opened with him; and it wasarranged that, as he approached Cabul, the British force wouldretire.
The summer had passed not unpleasantly, at Candahar. The countrywas peaceful. Cricket matches were got up between the variousregiments, and horse races established. Candahar was governed by aprotege of the British, named Wali Shere Ali. He had organized anative army, to support his authority upon our withdrawal.
The only circumstances which occurred to mar the pleasing time wereisolated attacks, upon British officers and men, by Ghazis. Theseattacks were sometimes made in broad daylight, in the streets ofCandahar, where the escape of those who perpetrated them wasimpossible. These fanatics regarding their own life withindifference, so that they could but kill one or more of theBritish, before being cut down.
One day, as William Gale was walking in the principal street ofCandahar, at a short distance behind Colonel Ripon--an Indianofficial of very long standing and experience, who had come up on aspecial mission to arrange, with the Wali, the details of the civilgovernment of the province--he saw three Afghans, who wereloitering in the road, draw their long tulwars and dash upon thatofficer.
The first who reached him delivered a sweeping blow; which thecolonel, taken by surprise, partly received on his upliftedarm--but was struck to the ground. Another of the Ghazis raised hissword; but before it could fall Will Gale--who saw at once that hewas too far behind to interpose between the assailant and thevictim--drew his revolver from his belt and, taking a hasty aim,fired. The shot was an accurate one; the bullet striking the Afghanon the forehead, just as he was about to strike. He fell forward onthe colonel; receiving, as he did so, a tremendous blow which thethird Ghazi was aiming at the prostrate man.
Illustration: Will saves Colonel Ripon.
Before the blow could be repeated, Will had bounded forward and,sword in one hand and revolver in the other, faced the two Afghans.Another shot freed him of one of his assailants; just as the other,rushing recklessly forward, aimed a blow at him--which he was notquick enough to parry. His right arm fell to his side but, in aninstant, he threw himself upon his foe; and the two fell heavily tothe ground, the Afghan striving desperately to shorten his sword,so as to use the point; while Will strove to liberate his leftarm--which was under the man--and so use his revolver, which hestill grasped.
At this moment some soldiers of the 66th ran up; and one of them,with his bayonet--which, since these attacks began, were alwayscarried at the belt--brought the conflict to a conclusion, byrunning it through and through the Ghazi's body.
Will soon rose to his feet. Colonel Ripon had already freed himselffrom the body of the dead Ghazi, and had struggled to his feet; theblood streaming from his head and arm.
"I have to thank you for my life, sir," he said, warmly. "Had youraid come but two seconds less promptly, they would have finishedme.
"But I fear you are severely wounded."
"Oh, no!" Will answered. "It is only a flesh wound, from myshoulder to my elbow. Luckily, my sword partly caught the blow. Iwas aiming at the other fellow, and had not time to parry fairly. Ishall be none the worse for it, in a week's time. My wound is lesssevere than yours, sir."
"We are both bleeding pretty freely," the colonel said. "Myquarters are close at hand and, as the principal medical officerlives in the same house, you cannot do better than come in withme."
In a few minutes their wounds were bandaged, the doctor saying thatno serious harm had been done, in either case; but that care andquiet, lest fever should supervene, would be necessary for a weekor two. As the house was much more airy, and commodious, than thatin which Will was quartered, the colonel begged him so strongly tomove his quarters thither, until able to return to duty, that Willagreed to do so; and was soon installed, with Yossouf inattendance, in the colonel's quarters. He was greatly pleased withthe old officer, whose manner was most kind and courteous; and who,from his long experience in India, was full of anecdotes andinformation concerning the country.
Ten days after the struggle, the doctor told them that there was nolonger any occasion for his services. Their wounds were healingfavorably, and all fear of fever had passed. At the same time, itwould still be some time before either could take their arms fromtheir slings.
The following day, in honor of his convalescence, Colonel Riponinvited several friends to dinner; among them General Burrows, andColonel Galbraith of the 66th. All had, of course, heard thedetails of the attack on Colonel Ripon; and Will was congratulated,warmly, upon the promptness that he had showed.
"Do you know, colonel," General Burrows said, as they were smokingtheir cigars after dinner, "there is a wonderful likeness betweenyou and Lieutenant Gale. I should have taken you for father andson, anywhere."
The other officers agreed with the remark.
The likeness was certainly strong. Both were men of six feet inheight. The colonel's hair and mustache were grizzled, and his facebronzed with the sun of many Indian summers. He was thin and spareof habit; but his shoulders were broad, and it was evident that, inhis youth, he must have possessed much of the muscular strengthwhich was apparent in Will's more rounded limbs. But it was intheir eyes that there was the greatest similarity. Both were gray,and of nearly the same shade; both had a simple, straightforward,and kindly expression; both were shaded by straight, and ratherheavy eyebrows.
The men looked at each other.
"I suppose he is like me," Colonel Ripon said; "still more like, Ifancy, what I remember myself, at his age; but curiously enough hehas--ever since I met him--been recalling some one else to mymind;" and a shade passed over his face.
Seeing that Colonel Ripon was not disposed to talk further on thesubject, a fresh topic of conversation was started. There was newsthat Ayoub Khan--the brother of Yakoob, who was governor atHerat--was marching south, at the head of a large force, with theintention of opposing Abdul-Rahman, and again reseating Yakoob onthe throne. He had also preached a holy war against the British.
"I fear that the trouble is serious," General Burrows said. "Thetroops Ayoub is bringing with him have not yet met us in the field.The population on the road is wild and fanatical, in the extreme;and will, no doubt, join him to a man. On the other hand, thetroops of the Wali are not to be depended upon, and the brunt ofthe fighting is sure to fall upon us."
Three days later, the order was issued by General Primrose that the66th Regiment, the Bombay Grenadiers, and Jacob's Rifles; togetherwith the 3rd Scinde Horse and 3rd Bombay Cavalry, with a battery ofartillery; were to move out with the Wali's army towards Girishk,on the river Helmund, which formed the boundary between theprovince of Candahar and that of Herat.
After the long period of inactivity at Candahar, Will was delightedat the thought of taking part in an expedition, with his regiment;but when they reached the Helmund life was, for some time,exceedingly monotonous. The news of Ayoub's advance greatly excitedthe population--who had been further worked up by agents, widelydistributed through the country; and by the exhortations of theMollahs and Ghazis. Consequently, rambling at any distance from thecamp was forbidden; and the shooting parties, which had been one ofthe great resources of their life at Candahar, were peremptorilyput an end to.
Colo
nel Ripon had accompanied the force, as the Wali's adviser.Both he and Will had recovered completely from their wounds. Whenthe regiment first marched, indeed, the surgeon had stronglyrecommended Will to remain behind, until his wound had completelyhealed; but the young officer had so strongly begged to be allowedto accompany the regiment that the surgeon had consented. Hiscolonel had, for a time, relieved him from all duty, and he rode inrear of the regiment; but within a fortnight of their arrival atthe Helmund, he was able to lay aside his sling, and to take histurn of regular duty.
The officers did all that they could to make existence tolerable,on the sandy shores of the Helmund. They got up foot races andathletic sports for the men, played cricket on the sands, andindulged in a bath--twice a day--in the river. Will often spent theevening in Colonel Ripon's tent. A warm friendship had arisenbetween the two officers, and each day seemed to bring them closertogether.
All this time, Ayoub's army was known to be approaching. It hadbeen delayed by want of transport, and by the difficult nature ofthe country over which it had to pass. The guns, too--of which itwas reported to have a large number--had greatly hampered it but,by the second week in July, it was near at hand.
For some time, the Wali's troops had been showing signs ofinsubordination; and little doubt was entertained that they hadbeen tampered with, by Ayoub's emissaries. The question ofdisarming them was several times discussed; but the Wali maintainedhis faith that they would remain true to their salt, and theBritish force was so small that it was deemed imprudent to take anystep to diminish their strength, by dispensing with the services ofa strong body of men who might, after all, be faithful at thecritical moment. Moreover, it was doubtful whether they wouldsubmit to be disarmed, by a force so inferior to their own. Shouldthe attempt to disarm them succeed, they must either be escortedback to Candahar, by a strong detachment of the British; or bepermitted to disperse, in which case they would assuredly swell theadvancing army of Ayoub.
One day Will arranged to start, the next morning at daybreak, for aday's shooting with four other young officers--Hammond andFortescue of Jacob's Rifles, and Plater and Lowther of theGrenadiers. The country round the camp had been already shot over,so they were to go some miles out. Will's colonel--in giving himleave off parade for the day--had asked him to endeavor toascertain, at any village he might enter, the state of the feelingof the natives respecting Ayoub, and their disposition towards theBritish; points on which a deplorable ignorance existed, in thecamp.
The party started before daybreak, putting their wiry littletats--or native ponies--into a gallop, so as to reach thespot--eight miles distant--where they were to begin to shoot asearly as possible; so as to get two or three hours' sport, beforethe heat of the day really set in. After an hour's ride, theyovertook their servants; who had gone on ahead, with the guns andluncheon. The sun was but just above the horizon, and the morningair was cool and pleasant.
Dismounting, they handed over the ponies to the servants and,taking the guns and ammunition, set out on foot. The servants wereto go on, with the ponies and lunch, to a village in the hills,four miles distant; and to get tiffin ready, by eleven o'clock.
The young officers set out on foot, keeping a short distance apart.Two of their servants accompanied them, to carry the game; theother three went with the two Syces, who looked after the poniesThe ground was broken and stony, and altogether uncultivated,except in the neighborhood of the villages. They had better sportthan they expected, for hares darted out in numbers from behind therocks. Some of these were bowled over, while others escaped; andthere was much bantering and laughter among the young men, none ofwhom were first-class shots.
As the sun rose higher the game became more scarce and, by ten o'clock,the party turned their faces towards the village where they were tolunch; and which lay, they calculated, a mile or two away on their right.The sun was now blazing down upon them; and they were glad, indeed, whenthey came in sight of the village--which was not perceived until theywere close to it, as it lay in a deep and rocky valley.
Yossouf met them, as they entered the village.
"Well, Yossouf, where have you laid the tiffin?"
"I have spread it, sahib, on a level piece of ground, in the shadeof the chief's house. He did not seem disposed to be civil and,indeed, I thought that it would be more pleasant out of doors, inthe shade, than inside."
"Much more pleasant, Yossouf; and these forts, as they call them,are generally stuffy places, with small windows. What is thefeeling of the people here?"
"They are looking forward to Ayoub's coming, sir, when they say aholy war will be preached, and every man will rise against theinfidels. When they found I was a countryman, they talked freelyenough before me; especially as I led them to believe that I hadbeen taken prisoner, at Cabul, and forced to accompany you as asort of slave.
"I should recommend that, as soon as tiffin is over, you shouldstart for the camp; for I don't think it is quite safe, here."
"They would never think of attacking us, Yossouf, with our forcewithin an easy day's march."
"I don't know, sir," Yossouf said, doubtfully. "They say that theWali's men are all with them; and that these, alone, are quitesufficient to eat up the three British regiments."
"They will find out their mistake, if they try it. However,Yossouf, I will let the others know what you think."
By this time, they had arrived at the spot where the lunch was laidout; and very tempting it looked, to hungry men. A great dish ofcurry--made with some fowls purchased in the village--was theprincipal dish; but there were some fish--which Yossouf had caughtin the Helmund, on the previous day--a roast of young kid, andseveral dishes of fresh fruit. A large vessel of porous clay,containing the drinking water, stood close by; and the necks ofsome bottles of claret peeped, out from a tub full of water; whilea pitcher of cold tea was ready, for those who preferred it. Theyoung men set to with a vigorous appetite and, when the meal wasover, pipes and cigars were lighted; and they prepared to enjoy arest, until the heat of the day was past.
Will now told them what Yossouf had said.
"Oh, nonsense, Gale!" Hammond said. "Your boy is an Afghan, andthese fellows are always dreaming about treachery.
"They are scowling, sulky-looking brutes," he said, looking at agroup of natives, who stood watching them, with lowering eyes, "andof course, they hate us as infidel dogs but, as to attacking us,it's all nonsense."
"Well, you know, Hammond, these Ghazis do attack us, in all sortsof places--as I have found, to my cost--and these villages aboundwith these fanatics."
"Oh, yes," Fortescue said, lazily, "of course they do; but we havegot our revolvers handy, and our guns are within reach of ourhands. We should make precious short work of any Ghazis who were torun amuck among us.
"Well, I for one don't mean to move, till it gets a bit cooler. Ifthese fellows want to attack us, they have got the chance, now; andthere is no more reason they should do it, three hours hence, thanwhen we are having our breakfast, quietly."