oM dm harem- they wele married «*
fate ‘° SaVe them from a temWe
b tr ,M t M aome e™nt I tha second Sikh war
w i f i rte ft« familiarity of the native
W i t t , all the principal dates of. onr occupation and knowledge
of ite history. The discussion began to l j k
interest, it caught fresh fire from the sergeant’s
m m m s f f l ■ H an H m
wprp 'w.i fi ™COns?lous ^scourtesy and tactlessness
were blatantly British. Pat came the protest, so selfevident
as to be almost proverbial, the Sikh speaking
cuSomUSif a B i Pi iggish> of natives when they aust teisr Ia t rMuisemm orHiael
was sincere, however, “ Why should we? Are we so
o r ^w o u ld B W6 C0Uld sabdue the hated Mahomedans,
w Z T l H g g a make cause with the Mahrattis?
the Path v liberty s sacred cause would you find
ggoovveerrnnmmeenntt ^ (II t“a8m soHrry Mto n Hote thHat thie HsergeanI t
savf w h i l l B B S f l l Government
and H 5 G own religion, don’t be fools
and make n o t with each other, and then we will not
interfere with you.’. Your government very strong and
your soldiers well armed,” he added significantly^
A common thought struck them. “ But the
Russians, suggested Mr. Atkins, feeling himself
a politician. The Sikh’s face grew stern, he
had come to facts, and, after all, for a soldier
were worth more than argument, though
amatives subtle mmd seizes on these with avidity
tthhel PPa mir da6e?li mit0atii oPne?n”; ideTb’h eS irs erPgeetaonr t Lnaomdsddeedn-
he hardly felt up to cross-examination, though
the names brought a hazy memory. '“ I was of the
guard; hard, hard life that; stone for pillow; no tents;
short rations; marching day after day and evening all
round Pathans, Russians ” ' (sinking his voice), “ and
never permission to fire one little shot; that was hard ”
—the sergeant nodded sympathetically. “ I might have
caught (the Sikh forbore his regrets and continued).
“ We heard much of the Russians, and a Turkoman
here, another tribesman there would come to camp
for protection:; the Russian troops had been in their
houses; their general no give protection to Turkoman "or
their women.” ■ Details of unattractive character
followed, summed up by-—“ These peoples: never help
Russian against English; your government good; but
: The conversation dwindled into a discussion over
certain local and working defects of the “ Sirkar.”
The khaki one jerked his words, and added to his
meaning by strange slang and those foolish nonmeaning
expressions so often used by our lower classes
as witticisms. I doubted if the Sikh ever even guessed
his meaning, or if either were within hailing distance of
each other’s working consciousness; but it is one of the
rewards of travel that we sometimes are made to realise
that there are methods of thought differing from our
own, and that we misunderstand them, our sordid
self - sufficiency receives, pin - pricks which permit
the ingress of perceptions of others’ individualities,
differing minds. “Well, you are brave people,”
epiloguized the sergeant with sincerity but a
touch of patronage, for, of course, of his own
countrymen the fact was too patent to be , mentioned.
“ Yes, we brave men,” concurred the Sikh