Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-22
BY CAPT. E. A. EVANS.

7 NODDED to the senior Indian of
flcer. who Saluted while the mel
fell out. Whittall and / dis
i mounted and shared the made
ouate shade of bowlder, whit
his bearer produced curry-puffs anc
hard-boiled eggs. and prepared tt
make some tea.
so that's to be our happy home
for the next month" / remarked. look.
Ing up toward Jumma Pahar. From
where We were We could Just make
out the ring of stones that marked
the picket-pcst. and could imagine
those at present In occupation LOOK
ing down upon us computing the
hours till the end of their exile, now
actually in sight,
There's one thing about this rural
retreat kindly provided by a benevo-
lent government as a reSt-cure LOT
overworked officers" said Whitta!l.
With his mouth full. Thank heaven
its you I'm spending il with
Same heret I agreed "A whole
concentrated month of even the best
o. ones fellow creatures. from dewy
morn to thin gummy eve. is going 10
be bit of a strain. / can't help fesi-
Ing. You and have done so many
trips Notwithstanding and so on
that We know one another's httie
habits; but some of our crowd!
Fancy month with Davis, or Fitz-
maurice or old Grant"
''FitZ,nauricei Great Scot:!"
shower cf crumbs accompanied the
snort whereby WhlttaN expressed ms
opi1ion of F!t1maurice.
Then he said raising his hand III
mock salutatior. Here's to our coun-
try seat, Junma Pahar, the abode OF
Peace. Here's likewise TO Percy the
Pathan. who prevents life from being
too peaceful"
whutall finished his last puff. the
sepoys fell in. and We began TO climb,
THE occupation of Jumma Pahar
was undertaken chiefly on the
oog-in-t he-manger principle. That Is
70 say. if we had not occupied it, the
tribesmen would Not only did 1t
dominate the country round and the
smaller hills. but not single thing
In the camp in the valley below
could escape the keen eye OF Patnan
watcher on the Pahar
The defenses of the Pahar were dis
tinctly primitive. The ground was
much too rocky for any digging, so
three walls of rough slabs OF rock
had been thrown up. The first
rreandered round the crest of the hill.
very irregular in shape, taking IN all
the vantage-pointS. and forming IT.
self into little bays and observation
pests,
The area included was not more
than half an acre at most, ana i!
marked our limits both for work and
play Most of the space was taken
I'D By the sapoyS. so OF them. VINO
lay beside their posts. In the shelter
Of the wall by night. and by day io.-
lowing round the shade that was cast
BY the second wall.
This inclosed a much smaller space,
roughly in the center of the larger
area: bstveen it and the inside wall
there vas nothing but a passage, six
fee; or so wide. in which We kept our
stores: the two Indian officers also
lived there The innermost holy OF
holes consisted Of square building.
an outer room that was mess. draw
tng room and orderly room, and an
timer that a Swiss hotelkeeper might
have described as double beddcd
room, with bath and running water.
b and C.. and magnificent view OF
the mountains"
The bath in this case was a collaps-
ibie canvas one, which lived under my
bed. and the water only I'm len tne
bearer poured II out. while e~the view
vas obtained through narrow sits in
the vail narrow enough TO prevent
sniping from being too effective. =.
Those two inner rooms were the
cniy ones possessing any sort OF roof
an old tarpaulin being stretched over
the top. supported at different points
by poles that stood in the middle oil
the room and were q perfect trap 70
the unwary or the large-footed.
Life on the top Of the Pahar would
have been a perfect idyll II only We
tad had the souls OF poets or Bud
cn1st mystics Unfortunately. re
had neither WhittalI and ! were
only the ordinary full-blooded type
Of Englisi..1an. 10 whom doing notn-
g. Ea1s.~ n1s1r rA AGw after