he brave but ignorant tribesmen. And when another, and yet
another, came, they said: "This is an invention of the Evil One; it is
magic, and will cast a spell over us. We cannot fight against devils
such as these."

And so those few harmless fireworks effected the same purpose as a storm
of shot and shell. All that vast throng melted away, and only a few of
the braver sort held post till morning. But before going they inflicted
one great loss, mortally wounding the gifted Captain Peebles, the only
officer who knew the working of a Maxim gun, then new to the army.

The remainder of the campaign was a matter of a few days. How Kelly,
with his gallant regiment, the 32nd Pioneers, pushed on from the north,
overcoming stupendous difficulties; how a strong force of levies under
the Khan of Dir was thrust on from the south; how Aylmer, the brave and
resourceful Sapper, working night and day threw a suspension bridge of
telegraph wire across the Panjkora; how Sir Robert Low, crossing with
his whole force, fought a decisive and conclusive battle at Mundah; and
how thus, by a fine strategic combination, worked from widely divergent
bases, Sir George White effected in the course of seventeen days the
relief of the sore beset garrison of Chitral, are recorded amongst the
many and sterling achievements of the army of India.

Amongst the trophies and standards brought down by the Guides was a
solid brass cannon of tremendous weight captured at Mundah. In a
mountainous country where there are no roads, and for a weight far
beyond the carrying capacity of a pack animal, there appeared to be no
alternative to leaving the gun behind. But rather than do this the men
volunteered to carry it themselves, and thus twenty men at a time
carried the gun while their comrades carried a double load of arms and
ammunition. The gun now stands at Mardan near the memorial to the
officers and men who fell in defence of the Kabul Embassy, and on it is
engraved in Persian the curious and bombastic inscription:--

It's mouth is open wide to eat.
What shall I call it? A gun or a serpent?
This gun is most heavy, and makes victory certain.
There is none like it in India or Kabul.
Made by Ghulam Rasul.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MALAKAND, 1897

As the officers of the Guides were sitting at dinner on the night of
July 26th, 1897, a telegram was handed to Colonel Adams informing him
that the Malakand position had been attacked by overwhelmin