eg.; the minimum during the night. One night we had a
terrible gale and a snowstorm. Such was the force of the wind, that our
wall was blown down upon us as we slept in its shelter, and the hours we
had dedicated to rest had to be spent in repairing the damage done. On
the following morning we were gathering nettles for our meal, when we
heard the distant tinkling of fast approaching horse-bells. We quickly
put out the fires, hid our things, and hastened behind our entrenchment.
I seized my rifle; Chanden Sing loaded the Martini. A Shoka, who was too
far off to reach our fortified abode in time, screened himself behind
some rocks. In the nick of time! Half-a-dozen sepoys with matchlocks, to
which were attached red flags, slung over their shoulders, were cantering
gaily up the hillside only a few yards in front of us. They were
undoubtedly searching for me, judging by the way they looked in every
direction, but fortunately they never turned towards the castle walls
that concealed us. They were expecting, I presumed, to see a large
European tent in one of the valleys, and never even dreamt that we should
be where we were. We covered them well with our rifles, but we had no
occasion to fire. They rode on, and the sound of their horse-bells grew
fainter and fainter as they disappeared behind the pass. To be sure these
horsemen could only be soldiers despatched by the Tarjum to guard this
track. They were now probably on their way back to him, satisfied that
the sahib was not to be found in that part of the country.

CHAPTER XXXVI

"Terror Camp"--Two more messengers leave camp--A tribe of
Dogpas--A strange sahib--Our messengers return from Taklakot--The
account and adventures of their mission--In great distress--Two
fakirs who suffered through me--Five hundred rupees offered for
my head--The Shokas want to abandon me--A plot--How it failed.

WE named this spot "Terror Camp," for many and horrible were the
experiences that befell us here. Another weary day dragged slowly to its
close, and there was still no sign of the messengers' return. Two men
volunteered to go into Kardam, a settlement some miles off, and try to
obtain food from the Tibetans. One of them had a friend at this place,
and he thought he could get from him sufficient provisions to enable us
to go on a few days longer.

They started, disguised as pilgrims, a disguise not difficult to assume,
for their clothes were falling to