Well
supplied with money and arms--this would have been part of Marker's
business--they would be the forerunners of the great army. First savage
war, then scientific annihilation by civilized hands--a sweet prospect
for a peaceful man in the prime of life!
He returned to the fort to find all quiet and in order. It commanded
the north road, but though the eye might weary itself with looking on
the moonlit sandy valley and the opaque blue hills, there was no sight
or sound of men. The stars were burning hard and cold in the vault of
sky, and looking down somewhere on the march of an army. It was now
close on midnight; in five hours dawn would break in the east and the
night of attack would be gone. But death waited between this midnight
hour and the morning. What were Haystoun and the men from Khautmi
doing? Fighting or beyond all fighting? Well, he would soon know. He
was not afraid, but this cursed waiting took the heart out of a man!
And he looked at his watch and found it half-past twelve.
At Yasin there was the most severe fighting. It lasted for three days,
and in effect amounted to a little tribal war. A man called Mackintosh
commanded, and he had the advantage of having regulars with him, Gurkhas
for the most part, who were old campaigners. The place had seemed
unquiet for some days, and certain precautions had been taken, so that
when the rioting broke out at sunset it was easy to get the town under
subjection and prepare for external attack.
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