The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-10-18

guns had come rose the crisp,
mechanical smashes of the volleys.
The smoke Of the discharge boiled
out from under the leaves and rose
through the branches In 1azy scarves
and balloons of milk.colored mist.
Presently through the trunks men
appeared, walking slowly. They
were working their way steadily
backyard in good order They
paused to fire calmly, deliberately,
as they moved.
The most considerable body of men
was that to the right. The watcher
picked out the uniform and the color
OF the faces; they were Britishers
and Lancers. Those on the left were
natives, Bengalis-and Lancers, too
Like the British Lancers they were
dismounted and using their carbines
What astounded the watcher was
the smallness of the force. There
were less than 300 men, and they
. were opposed to thousands, possibly
tens Of thousands.
The watcher on the roof began to
grow feebly excited.
They'll be wiped out" he NUT
tered. Wiped right out" He raised
himself on his elbows to see the bet
ter. His old soldierly instincts re-
oscartod ,hon,.o1,o, s,Ca -,
made mistake" he muttered. "a
rotten bad mistake. They'll be
wiped out"
He did not know, he could not
know. but, as matter of fact, no
one had made a mistake. The force
beneath him, General Massy's, had
been moved out by General Roberts
from Kabul, to help, with another
and stronger force, break up a com
bination of various scattered bands
OF Afghans and ghazis. These bands
threatened to gather together, and,
under the latest Of the Amirs pre-
tending to the throne of Afghanistan,
Mahomed Jan, menace Kabul. Gen.
eral Massey should have, by this time,
formed a conjunction with the
stronger column, General Macpher-
sons. Owing to several things a de.
lay In Macpherson's start and the
rapidity Of the Afghan advance, the
conjunction had not been made, and
Massey had to face the great army
alone with his hopelessly inadequate
force.
The situation Of the little force
was desperate, yet even the watcher
on the roof did not know that SO des-
perate was it that the keenest and
quickest brain In the Indian army,
General Roberts, had himself gal
loped out from Kabul to endeayor,
by all the resources OF his genius. to
save the day.
General Roberts had perceived at
one glance. trivial though the Skin
mish seemed, 1t held in its balance
the safety of the whole of the Brit
ish force in Afghanistan. Let the
Afghans break through to the heights
above Kabul, and Kabul might be
rushed before the garrisons could
pre- pare. Let Kabul be rushed, and
the British rule in Afghanistan would
be swept away utterly.
The guns and the covering cavalry
had come out In the open plain now.
The guns had swung about and were
humping off steadily. The men
moved about their pieces with
mechanical zest, collected, fell back
and fired WI. unfiurrled regularity;
collected, fell back and fired again.
"Oh, good men," whispered the
man on the roof. Good! Good"
He was painting little with ex-
citement. His labored breath came
wheezily through his rusty throat.
His pulse had Quickened He wasn't
an Englishman, of course, now. And
all these things didn't interest him
much. He'd washed lila hands of
them. Still-still it was good work,
capable work. soldier work. All that
had been good, soldierly in his past
welled up within him, pushed back
his drink stupor, warned his dull
brain. He was not an Englishman
now. still
Presently he heard what they could
not hear down there on the plain, a
furry Of shooting. over by the viii
lage of Deh-i.Mazang. He looked
toward it. He saw a thin reck of
smoke hanging over the gorge by the
village, and nothing else. Then
through burst Of open ground cata-
pulled tiny horseman, his horses
legs going like india rubber. The
man on the roof nodded. He saw
wisdom In this. Some one was 20.
ing into Kabul to raise the alarm.
That was good. especially as they