The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-24
Calling the CameIs Home.


bullah arrived with his nine camels at
the lonely Zhob Levy post on the road to
Dera Ismail Khan. Though a native Of
the regions round about he, with true
Mchammedan recklessness, turned in to
sleep, leaving his beasts unsaddled to
forage during the rest Of the night.
Small wonder that at dawn the loss of
the whole nine was reported at the near
est post. The loss was promptly attrib-
uted to cattle-lifters, and as band of
Waziris had been rumored to have come
from the Mahsud tribe during the last
few days, Saddle and rider was the
order of the day. Bakshan Khan slipped
his medicine phial into his pocket. Wazir
Khan put a chillum and some tobacco
into his hulster, instead of his ration
pocket. Gurdit Singh put a twisted cloth
containing opium into his turban The
English officer crammed half a dozen
chupatties and flask Of whisky into his
pockets. In twenty minutes fifteen armed
men were galloping to the place whence
the camels had been lifted.
Bakshan Khan's crackers had been be-
fore them, and had run the trail across
the river and into the hills the other
side. Every indication was that the
party had gone off toward Wano in a
bee line across the hills. and with proba-
bly, ten hours start. In that awful coun-
try, and with the slow and malignant
camel peculiar to those parts, they were
probably dozen miles ahead. To follow
that trail among that mass of torrents,
all twisting like wounded snakes, and in
devise, seemed at first an absolutely i'm
possible task. But to the men following
it every nullah was as well known as
London streets to a cockney. Not for
nothing had they hunted the wild goat
and sheep and chikor day after day in
those Businesses. Only two routes were
possible. One, an easy one, with sandy
going, up a nullah and then across a
shallow neck, through a kind of dowl:
country, with rocks and grass, into an
other nullah, and so down among an
interminable wash of ravines to the
Gumal and Waziristan. The other was a
stiff, but not steep, climb by way of the
lowest hills into a wide plain crossed by
ravines, and then by an intricate system
of nullahs TO the confluence of the TOT
and Gumal, and so to Wano. At the end
of two hours ride up the latter route,
chosen because it was the shortest in
distance a sure indication was found.
Turning a tall. ragged knee of pre-
cipitous rock, a man was seen making OFF
up the mountain side. He bore a hand
some jezail across his shoulders and was
dressed as if on journey far from home.
AT the shouts of the party he turned and
unslung his jeZail, but shot fired by
sowar induced him to ground arms, and
them at second hail from Wazir Khan,
he came down to the party. He was in
stantly seized and disarmed. On inquiry
he was found 20 be young Mahsud, who
gave the name of Mazduri, till an appli
cation of stirrup leather to his legs re-
vealed an alias of Bakhtawar. This be-
ing accepted as probable, he was further
questioned. His replies were evasive, to
say the least. During the conversation
| four or five sowars had gone ahead, and
found on the soft, wet side of a trickle
of water a plain mark of a camePS foot.
This damned the prisoner.
He was decorated as to his neck with
a collar of tough picketing rope; the
slack end was made fast to a sowars
saddle, and he was bid run or hang. A
sword point at his back ended all his
hesitation. He ran, and nimbly, too,
while the pursuers followed at brisk
| trot, winding up the sandy bell of the
nullah collection Of camers dung,
hastily thrown into a small Granny Of
] the rocks close to the side of sheep
| fold, removed all doubts. The prisoner
ran on for nearly mile more before he
.tripped and fell, cutting mis- left knee and
arm badly. As he did so a shot fired
| from a rock on the mountain side about
| four hundred yards ahead scattered sand
| and flints among the horses legs. 1t
was now quite certain that the rear
| guard of the camel-lifters had been
| caught and hard gallop to head off the
| firer resulted in his capture within half
| an hour He was not wounded, but very
| tired.
| A rapid council of war was held while
/ the horses drank at the water and
| cropped a little of the sour heritage at its
| edge. When all are OF much the same
| mind there is little need of words. and so
| in half an hours time the pursuers, now
| ten In number. saddled and mounted.
| and were off at canter. While cross
| ing the rough and stony down-like coun-
try horse fell and was badly hurt. This
| necessitated the sending back Of the in
| jured horse, and three other sowars.
| whose horses seemed unlikely TO last out
| the stern chase. which. as all knew, was
bound to be a long one- This delay OF
ten minutes was not such great loss
] after all. for hardly had the pursuers
started again than the keen eyes Of
| Bakshan Khan saw q camel standing