The wheat was given to the ladies of Khwash to grind outside the camp. These industrious females all possessed little stone hand-mills, and, for many days afterwards, the air was filled with the sound of these at work. These same ladies implored me to pay them in person for their work, because, they informed me, their men-folk were not to be trusted. It appeared on inquiry that when the men were paid they were apt to put the wages of their wives' labour into their own pockets. So, each afternoon, for some days, we had a pay-parade of Khwashi ladies to receive in rupees the wages they had honestly earned. While I was waiting for Government instructions as to the disposal of our Yarmahommedzai prisoners I made these work at strengthening the camp. It was not easy to get much work out of them as they strongly resented being put to what they considered to be a degradation. They maintained it to be a gross indignity for a fighting man to be made to work with his hands, and contended that all manual labour should be performed by lower caste people such as the Khwashis. But honest work did not hurt them, for, during their imprisonment, their health improved to a remarkable extent. This result was probably due to the increased variety of their rations, and to the vegetables grown in our new garden which they shared with the garrison. 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. Whilst waiting instructions from the Indian Government as to the disposal of our Sarhadi prisoners I turned my attention to the slave question. This had long been one of my pre-occupations. The chief trouble lay in the fact that not only the Yarmahommedzais and the Gamshadzais, but also the friendly Rekis--the men of Idu's tribe--possessed large numbers of these unfortunate women and children. The consequence was that, when I announced that an order was about to be issued commanding the surrender of all slaves throughout the Sarhad, Idu openly groused. He pointed out that it would be a great hardship on his fellow-tribesmen. Many of them had not actually engaged in raids, but had honourably bought, and paid for, the women from their captors, and that, in consequence, they would not only be out of pocket to the extent of the purchase price but would, also, be without servants to do their menial work. Idu's point of view was clear enough, but he was asked, "what about the unfortunate slaves?" The Sarhad-dar backed me up for all he was worth, and at last a compromise was made. The order went forth that the slaves must all be liberated without question, but that, as the Rekis had aided us in every possible way, the Government would purchase their slaves at the rate of three hundred rupees for a woman, seventy-five for a girl, and twenty-five for a boy.