Meanwhile Bob was arranging for the passage of the Kalmucks down-stream. He posted half of the Sikhs at the wall, ordering them, without reserve, to fire on the miners if there was any sign of mutiny among them. Then he sent Gur Buksh with the rest to the farther end of the bridge to receive the men’s arms as they came up. Just before half-past five the rifle-shot was fired as a signal to the first batch of ten men to approach. Very soon they were seen marching sullenly towards the mine. They had been without food during the day, and hunger is a famous reducing agent. At the bridge they handed over their weapons without demur to the havildar and his Sikhs, and passed on. Within an hour the whole party had been thus disarmed and sent on their way. When the last of them had disappeared, Bob sent a Sikh to bring in the Pathans who had been waiting with such patience up-stream. Dusk had already fallen over the depths of the valley, and it was dark before the men marched over the bridge amid uproarious greetings from their friends. Bob felt that he had reason to be satisfied with his day’s work. His brother was back; he was surrounded by Pathans of whose loyalty and devotion he was now assured, and he had got rid peacefully of the malcontents whose presence would have been a continual menace. Only one thing disappointed him: the failure of his men to capture Nurla Bai and Black Jack. The Sikhs had pressed rapidly along the track until they met Lawrence and his party; but neither on land nor water had they caught a glimpse of the fugitives. The Kalmucks had already shown surprising resourcefulness; there could be no doubt that they had discovered some hiding-place in the bank or on the hill-side above the track. As a sportsman, Bob gave them ungrudging admiration: as a soldier he was chagrined, for Nurla Bai not only ought to have received his punishment, but he might have proved a useful hostage in the future. CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH NO THOROUGHFARE "We seem to have lived an age during the last two days," said Bob on greeting Lawrence again in the dining-room. "’One crowded hour of glorious life,’ begad! But why aren’t you asleep, young man?" "I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I shan’t sleep till I know where we are. What did your flag mean?" "Of course, you don’t know. It seems stale news to me. There’s a whole army corps encamped ten miles beyond the bridge--twenty thousand men at a guess, with field-guns, all complete. I saw hundreds of transport-wagons rolling up, camel caravans too. It’s a big thing." "But what’s the game? They don’t need an army corps to bag this mine." "Hanged if I know. It seems clear they intend to march up the valley; it was probably an advanced outpost that we came into conflict with. So far as I know the valley leads only to Afghanistan and--India." "Those Mongols we have heard about, then, are going to have a slap at Afghanistan?"