n four feet high, and as damp
and dismal a grotto as ever was seen. A wooden settle and a rough
table were the sole furniture, with a lot of parchment scrolls with
hieroglyphics.

Well, he has gone where he will learn that the gospel of peace and good
will is superior to all his Pagan lore. Peace go with him.

Elliott and Chamberlain never caught the main body--I knew they
wouldn't--so the honours of the day rest with me. I ought to get a step
for it, anyhow, and perhaps, who knows? some mention in the _Gazette_.
What a lucky chance! I think Zemaun deserves his telescope after all for
giving it to me. Shall have something to eat now, for I am half starved.
Glory is an excellent thing, but you cannot live upon it.

October 6, 11 A.M.--Let me try to set down as calmly and as accurately
as I can all that occurred last night. I have never been a dreamer or
a visionary, so I can rely upon my own senses, though I am bound to
say that if any other fellow had told me the same thing I should have
doubted him. I might even have suspected that I was deceived at the time
had I not heard the bell since. However, I must narrate what happened.

Elliott was in my tent with me having a quiet cheroot until about ten
o'clock. I then walked the rounds with my jemidar, and having seen that
all was right I turned in a little before eleven.

I was just dropping off to sleep, for I was dog-tired after the day's
work, when I was aroused by some slight noise, and, looking round, I saw
a man dressed in Asiatic costume standing at the entrance of my tent. He
was motionless when I saw him, and he had his eyes fixed upon me with a
solemn and stern expression.

My first thought was that the fellow was some Ghazi or Afghan fanatic
who had stolen in with the intention of stabbing me, and with this idea
in my mind I had all the will to spring from my couch and defend myself,
but the power was unaccountably lacking.

An overpowering languor and want of energy possessed me. Had I seen
the dagger descending upon my breast I could not have made an effort
to avert it. I suppose a bird when it is under the influence of a snake
feels very much as I did in the presence of this gloomy-faced stranger.
My mind was clear enough, but my body was as torpid as though I were
still asleep.

I shut my eyes once or twice and tried to persuade myself that the whole
thing was a delusion, but every time that I opened them there was the
man still regarding me with th