ey is full of the dead,' said the Afghan. 'It is better to
fall into the hands of the English than the hands of the dead. They
march to and fro below there. I saw them in the lightning.'

He recovered his composure after a little, and whispering, because
Halley's pistol was at his stomach, said: 'What is this? There is no
war between us now, and the Mullah will kill me for not seeing you
pass!'

'Rest easy,' said Halley; 'we are coming to kill the Mullah, if God
please. His teeth have grown too long. No harm will come to thee
unless the daylight shows thee as a face which is desired by the
gallows for crime done. But what of the dead regiment?'

'I only kill within my own border,' said the man, immensely relieved.
'The Dead Regiment is below. The men must have passed through it on
their journey--four hundred dead on horses, stumbling among their own
graves, among the little heaps--dead men all, whom we slew.'

'Whew!' said Halley. 'That accounts for my cursing Carter and the
Major cursing me. Four hundred sabres, eh? No wonder we thought there
were a few extra men in the troop. Kurruk Shah,' he whispered to a
grizzled native officer that lay within a few feet of him, 'hast thou
heard anything of a dead Rissala in these hills?'

'Assuredly,' said Kurruk Shah with a grim chuckle. 'Otherwise, why
did I, who have served the Queen for seven-and-twenty years, and
killed many hill-dogs, shout aloud for quarter when the lightning
revealed us to the watch-towers? When I was a young man I saw the
killing in the valley of Sheor-Kot there at our feet, and I know the
tale that grew up therefrom. But how can the ghosts of unbelievers
prevail against us who are of the Faith? Strap that dog's hands a
little tighter, Sahib. An Afghan is like an eel.'

'But a dead Rissala,' said Halley, jerking his captive's wrist. 'That
is foolish talk, Kurruk Shah. The dead are dead. Hold still, _sag_.'
The Afghan wriggled.

'The dead are dead, and for that reason they walk at night. What need
to talk? We be men; we have our eyes and ears. Thou canst both see
and hear them, down the hillside,' said Kurruk Shah composedly.

Halley stared and listened long and intently. The valley was full of
stifled noises, as every valley must be at night; but whether he saw
or heard more than was natural Halley alone knows, and he does not
choose to speak on the subject.

At last, and just before the dawn, a green rocket shot up from the
far side of the val