d
he told me many things.

Well, sahib, after he had eaten a little corn, Ranjoor Singh
questioned this man Abraham, and then went with him through the
camp, examining the plunder the Turks had seen fit to requisition.
It was plain that this particular Turkish officer was no paragon of
all the virtues, and Ranjoor Singh finally entered his tent
unannounced, taking Abraham with him. So it was that I learned the
details later, for Abraham told me all I asked.

On a box beside the bed Ranjoor Singh found writing-paper,
envelopes, and requisition forms not yet filled out, but already
signed with a seal and a Turkish signature. There was a map, and a
list of routes and villages. But best of all was a letter of
instructions signed by a German officer. There were also other
priceless things, of some of which I may chance to speak later.

I was told by Abraham that during the conversation following Ranjoor
Singh's seizure of the papers the word Wassmuss was bandied back and
forth a thousand times, the Turk growing rather more amenable each
time the word was used. Finally the Turk resigned himself with a
shrug of the shoulders, and was left in his tent with a guard of our
men at each corner.

Then, for all that the night was black dark and there were very few
lanterns, the camp began to be turned upside down, Ranjoor Singh
ordering everything thrown aside that could not be immediately
useful to us. There were forty carts, burdened to the breaking
point, and twenty of them Ranjoor Singh abandoned as too heavy for
our purpose. Most of the carts had been drawn by teams of six mules
each, but ten of them had been drawn by horses, and besides the
Turkish captain's horse there were four other spare ones. There were
also about a hundred sheep and some goats.

Ranjoor Singh ordered all the corn repacked into fourteen of the
carts, sheep and goats into four carts, and ammunition into the
remaining two, leaving room in each cart for two men so that the
guard who had stood awake all night might ride and sleep. That left
him with sixty-four spare horses. Leaving the Turkish officer his
own horse, but taking the saddle for himself, he gave Tugendheim
one, me another, the third to Gooja Singh--he being next
non-commissioned officer to me in order of seniority, and having had
punishment enough--and the fourth horse, that was much the best one,
he himself took. Then he chose sixty men to cease from being
infantry and become a sort of ca