d. Presently the
moment would arrive. They must watch and be ready. The mountains became
as full of explosives as a magazine. Yet the spark was lacking.

At length the time came. A strange combination of circumstances operated
to improve the opportunity. The victory of the Turks over the Greeks;
the circulation of the Amir's book on "Jehad"; his assumption of the
position of a Caliph of Islam, and much indiscreet writing in the
Anglo-Indian press, [Articles in Anglo-Indian papers on such subjects as
"The Recrudescence if Mahommedanism" produce more effect on the educated
native mind than the most seditious frothings of the vernacular press.]
united to produce a "boom" in Mahommedanism.

The moment was propitious; nor was the man wanting. What Peter the
Hermit was to the regular bishops and cardinals of the Church, the
Mad Mullah was to the ordinary priesthood of the Afghan border. A wild
enthusiast, convinced alike of his Divine mission and miraculous powers,
preached a crusade, or Jehad, against the infidel. The mine was fired.
The flame ran along the ground. The explosions burst forth in all
directions. The reverberations have not yet died away.

Great and widespread as the preparations were, they were not visible
to the watchful diplomatic agents who maintained the relations of the
Government with the tribesmen. So extraordinary is the inversion of
ideas and motives among those people that it may be said that those who
know them best, know them least, and the more logical the mind of the
student the less he is able to understand of the subject. In any case
among these able men who diligently collected information and observed
the state of feeling, there were none who realised the latent forces
that were being accumulated on all sides. The strange treachery at
Maizar in June was a flash in the pan. Still no one saw the danger. It
was not until the early days of July that it was noticed that there
was a fanatical movement in Upper Swat. Even then its significance was
disregarded and its importance underrated. That a Mad Fakir had arrived
was known. His power was still a secret. It did not long remain so.

It is, thank heaven, difficult if not impossible for the modern European
to fully appreciate the force which fanaticism exercises among an
ignorant, warlike and Oriental population. Several generations have
elapsed since the nations of the West have drawn the sword in religious
controversy, and the evil memories of