en killed during the week, and those lines of
Kipling which appear at the beginning of this chapter were recalled to
mind with a strange significance. Indeed I often heard them quoted in
the Watelai Valley.

The sappers had now entered the village, and were engaged in preparing
the hovels of which it consisted for destruction. Their flat roofs are
covered with earth, and will not burn properly, unless a hole is made
first in each. This took time. Meanwhile the troops held on to the
positions they had seized, and maintained a desultory fire with the
enemy. At about noon the place was lighted up, and a dense cloud of
smoke rose in a high column into the still air. Then the withdrawal
of the troops was ordered. Immediately the enemy began their counter
attack. But the Guides were handled with much skill. The retirement
of each company was covered by the fire of others, judiciously posted
farther down the hill. No opportunity was offered to the enemy. By
one o'clock all the troops were clear of the broken ground. The Buffs
assumed the duty of rear-guard, and were delighted to have a brisk
little skirmish--fortunately unattended with loss of life--with the
tribesmen, who soon reoccupied the burning village. This continued for,
perhaps, half an hour, and meanwhile the rest of the brigade returned to
camp.

The casualties in this highly successful affair were small. It was the
first of six such enterprises, by which Brigadier-General Jeffreys, with
stubborn perseverance, broke the spirit of the Mamund tribesmen.

Killed. Wounded.
35th Sikhs....... 2 3
Guides Infantry...... 0 1
38th Dogras....... 0 2
Total casualties, 8.

The enemy's losses were considerable, but no reliable details could be
obtained.

On the 19th the troops rested, and only foraging parties left the camp.
On the 20th, fighting was renewed. From the position at the entrance
to the valley it was possible to see all the villages that lay in the
hollows of the hills, and to distinguish not only the scenes of past but
also of future actions. The particular village which was selected for
chastisement was never mentioned by name, and it was not until the
brigade had marched some miles from the camp, that the objective became
evident. The tribesmen therefore continued in a state of "glorious
uncertainty," and were unable to gather in really large numbers. At 5.30
A.M. the brig