"Luckily I had been put on my guard against an attack from that quarter by one of my Pathan miners. I had twelve hours’ grace, and when the raiders arrived they found they’d got a tougher nut to crack than they expected. They only made one serious rush. We beat ’em off, and they moved some distance up the valley, sniped us for a day or two, and then cleared out. We’ve had no trouble of that sort since, though they’ve played highwaymen once or twice with my caravans, and in one case got a certain amount of loot. Among other things they collared a boiler that I was bringing up at huge expense from India. I don’t suppose they knew what it was, but for the sake of the metal they tried to carry it through the difficult pass into their own valley. But it proved too cumbersome, as you might expect, and they had to leave it. I found it some time afterwards when shooting in the pass, at the bottom of a deep nullah, where it had rolled from the track above. It took me nearly a fortnight to recover it and bring it home, but I was glad to get it at the price." "Things aren’t all beer and skittles, then," said Bob. "Oh, there’s a little excitement sometimes, but we are well placed, as you will see, and I fancy nothing short of a regular train of artillery could do us much damage." What the boys heard from Mr. Appleton during that march whetted their curiosity to get their first view of his mine, but they were disappointed, for twilight fell while they were still some distance from it. In the gathering dusk they saw a number of distant lights, which their uncle explained were the camp fires of the miners. The red glow, growing larger as they proceeded, lent a romantic touch to the night. The fires were somewhat below them; and, viewed from the high ground from which they were approaching, the settlement appeared to be situated in a huge cleft between two steep mountain barriers. They could just see, swirling along the bottom, a torrential stream, which their uncle told them was unusually high just now, being swollen in summer by the melted snow from the mountains. It was, he said, a tributary to one of the headwaters of the Oxus. They had just arrived at the outskirts of the settlement when the silence of the evening was suddenly broken by a great hubbub, and they saw a number of dark figures hurrying towards one of the camp fires. In a moment the open space was filled with a shouting swaying crowd; but before the boys had time to realise what was happening, or even to ask a question, their uncle urged his tired horse towards the scene, and dashing into the midst of the crowd, scattered the men to right and left. When the boys galloped up behind him, they found him sternly questioning one or two of the men in their own tongue. They returned sullen answers, whereupon he addressed them in tones of rebuke, concluding with a sharp word of command at which they turned away towards a number of huts ranged in rows beyond the camp fires.