fghan warriors?' They little suspected that the brave
spirits which animated those small forms made them more than a match
for the most stalwart Afghan. There was no hiding from ourselves,
however, that the force was terribly inadequate for the work to be
done. But done it must be. A retirement was not to be thought of, and
delay would only add to our difficulties, as the Afghans were daily
being reinforced from Kabul, and we heard of still further additions
of both Artillery and Infantry being on their way.

Collett returned soon after noon on the 30th; he had done admirably
and brought me most useful information, the result of which was that
I determined to adopt the Spingawi route. The nights were long, and I
calculated that by starting at 10 p.m., and allowing for unforeseen
delays, we should reach the foot of the pass while it was still dark.

Fresh efforts were now made to distract the enemy's attention from the
real point of attack. In addition to the reconnoitring parties which
were ostentatiously moved towards the Peiwar, batteries were marked
out at points commanding the kotal, and a great display was made of
the arrival of the two Horse and three Field Artillery guns, which
I had left at Kuram till the last moment on account of scarcity of
forage at the front, and of the two squadrons of Bengal Cavalry, which
for the same reason I had sent back to Habib Kila. Even with these
additions the total strength of the force in camp, including British
officers, amounted to only 889 Europeans and 2,415 Natives, with 13
guns.

[Illustration: THE ATTACK ON THE PEIWAR KOTAL.
_From a painting by Vereker Hamilton._]

These attempts to mislead the enemy were entirely successful, for
the Afghans shelled the working parties in the batteries, and placed
additional guns in position on the south side of the pass, showing
distinctly that they were preparing for a front attack, while in our
camp also it was generally believed that this was the movement which
would be carried out the next morning.

When it became sufficiently dark to conceal our proceedings, all the
commanding and staff officers assembled in my tent, and I disclosed
to them my scheme for the attack, impressing upon them that success
depended upon our being able to surprise the enemy, and begging of
them not even to whisper the word 'Spingawi' to each other.

I had had sufficient time since I took over the command to test the
capabilities of the officers and r