KASHMIR VALLEYS 257 



he hardly felt up to cross-examination, though 

 the names brought a hazy memory. " I was of the 

 guard ; hard, hard life that ; stone for pillow ; no tents ; 

 short rations; marching day after day and evening all 

 round Pathans, Russians " (sinking his voice), " and 

 never permission to fire one little shot ; that was hard " 

 the sergeant nodded sympathetically. " I might have 

 caught - ' (the Sikh forbore his regrets and con- 

 tinued). " We heard much of the Russians, and a Turko- 

 man here, another tribesman there would come to camp 

 for protection; the Russian troops had been in their 

 houses ; their general no give protection to Turkoman or 

 their women." Details of unattractive character 

 followed, summed up by : * These peoples never help 

 Russian against English; your government good; but 

 ." The conversation dwindled into a discussion over 

 certain local and working defects of the " Sirkar." 



The khaki one jerked his words, and added to his 

 meaning by strange slang and those foolish non- 

 meaning expressions so often used by our lower classes 

 as witticisms. I doubted if the Sikh ever even guessed 

 his meaning, or if either were within hailing distance of 

 each other's working consciousness ; but it is one of the 

 rewards of travel that we sometimes are made to realise 

 that there are methods of thought differing from our 

 own, and that we misunderstand them, our sordid 

 self - sufficiency receives pin - pricks which permit 

 the ingress of perceptions of others' individualities, 

 differing minds. ; ' Well, you are brave people," 

 epiloguized the sergeant with sincerity but a 

 touch of patronage, for, of course, of his own 

 countrymen the fact was too patent to be men- 

 tioned. " Yes, we brave men," concurred the Sikh 



