I should have thought you had too much humour for
that."
"Only, you see, I have been there before. I am merely going back upon
my tracks to make sure. I go purely as an adventurer, hoping to pick up
some valuable knowledge, but prepared to fail."
Gribton helped himself to champagne. "That's better. Now I know your
attitude, we can talk like friends. Better come to the small
smoking-room. They've got a '51 brandy here which is beyond words.
Have some for a liqueur."
In the smoking-room Gribton fussed about coffee and cigars for many
minutes ere he settled down. Then, when he could gaze around and see
his two guests in deep armchairs, each smoking and comfortable, he
returned to his business.
"I don't mind telling you a secret," he said, "or rather it's only a
secret here, for once you get out there you will find 'Gribton's view,'
as they call it, well enough known and very much laughed at. I've
always been held up to ridicule as an alarmist about that Kashmir
frontier, and especially about that Bardur country. Take the whole
province. It's well garrisoned on the north, but below that it is all
empty and open. The way into the Punjab is as clear as daylight for a
swift force, and the way to the Punjab is the way to India."
Lewis rose and went to a rack on the wall. "Do you mind if I get down
maps? These French ones are very good.
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