An "intelligent" officer--Matters political--Three tribes and a fourth--Their women and inter-tribal laws--Sarhad conditions--A summons to the Chiefs--A bid for rank--Telegraph wires and Sheitan--Two first-class liars--A strategic scheme--An ungazetted General--Lost kit--Swallows and flies--Forces available-- Communications freed--The Kacha levy and a shock--Mirjawa 37 CHAPTER IV BLUFF AND ARMS Ladis and its fort--A force without arms--First sight of the enemy--Shah Sawar and more bluff--Battle--Bluff succeeds--Casualties--Bad news from the North--Idu's proposition--Jiand's stragglers--Jiand's white flag 55 CHAPTER V KHWASH AND MORE BLUFF Jiand's surrender--A political lecture--Jiand's oath--Bluff for Khwash--The army moves forward--Khwash and its fort--Mahommed-Hassan comes in--Beetles as scavengers--Halil Khan comes in--Rifle prices, a comparison--Idu's warning--News of Izzat--Order of march--Bluff for Bampur--The meteor hole 69 CHAPTER VI A FULL BAG OF PRISONERS The march to Kacha--The food supply--Flowers in the Wilderness--Galugan--Repeated strategy--Juma Khan comes in--The bag is full--The throne of the dancing maidens--Landon declines--Idu's doubts--Suspicions aroused--Halil Khan closes up--Kacha, oaths, and thumb-marks--The Chiefs depart--Bad news 87 CHAPTER VII THE RACE FOR KHWASH Plans and routes--Car versus legs--An equestrian interlude--The trap in the gorge--More digging--Rendezvous-- Mrs Idu and gastronomy--A reinforcement--A message to Landon--Izzat's men--Idu's romance--A "British Bulldog"--The car abandoned 103 CHAPTER VIII KHWASH AND THE SECOND SURRENDER Doubts dispelled--Organisation for defence--Idu's "Exiat"--And its result--Jiand arrives--Idu's second visit--The Sarhad-dar arrives--Landon at last--Jiand's visit of ceremony--The Gul-Bibi--Shah Sawar's treachery--We call on the "Rose Lady"--A carpet and the Sarhad-dar's advice--Another Durbar--Returned loot--Temporary peace 122 CHAPTER IX TREACHERY AND ITS SEQUEL Further reinforcements--Entrenchments and gardens-- Government inquiries--Food supplies--An offer to Jiand--Murad and straw--Shah Sawar again--Sentence--Idu's suggestion--Re-enter the Rose Lady--News of Jiand's intentions--A vital moment--A round-up--The Sarhad-dar's advice--A Bhusa hunt--Distrustful wives 143 CHAPTER X FAILURE AND FRESH PLANS Slave buying--A diet discovery--Poetic justice--Disposition of prisoners--Incredible news--The Sawar's story--Disposal of forces--The march to Kamalabad--Jiand gains his freedom--Retreat to Khwash 165 CHAPTER XI SUCCESS IN MINIATURE