de
up, does not hesitate in the performance of his plans. To such a one
they are loyal to the backbone, and will go through fire and water
in his train.

"Tender-handed grasp a nettle,
It will sting you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
Soft as silk it then remains."

This has its counterpart in a Pashtu proverb, and is no doubt a true
delineation of the Afghan character.

Some years ago some outlaws had fortified a village a few miles across
the border, and had there bidden defiance to the authorities while
carrying on their depredations among the frontier villages, where
they raided many a wealthy Hindu, and even carried off the rifles
from the police posts. The leader of the gang was Sailgai. His father
was Mian Khan, a Wazir of the Sparkai clan. When still a boy Sailgai
showed great aptitude and skill in archery, and when about fifteen
he commenced rifle-shooting, and soon became a noted marksman. This,
however, led him to associate with the desperadoes of the clan, and
before long he became the leader of a gang which used to go out at
night-time to break into shops and into the houses of rich Hindus. When
this occupation began to pall on him he became a highway robber, and
lay in wait with his confederates in various parts of the Kohat-Bannu
road to waylay and rob travellers both by day and night. The next
step onward--or downwards, we should say--was to become the leader
of a gang of dacoits. These men would enter a village, usually in
the late evening, and hold up the inhabitants while they looted the
houses of the rich Hindus at leisure. On these occasions they often
cut off the ears of the women as the simplest way of getting their
earrings; and fingers, too, suffered in the same way if the owner did
not remove his rings quickly enough. At the same time Sailgai became
a professional murderer, and used to take two hundred to four hundred
rupees for disposing of anyone obnoxious to the payer.

Still, up to this time he had contrived to keep clear of the police,
and had never been caught. If anyone informed against him he soon
discovered who the informant was, and paid him a night visit, only
leaving after he had either killed him or taken a rich ransom. Some
eight years ago he took two hundred rupees for killing a Bizun
Khel Wazir, and went to his house one evening with fifteen of his
followers. The Wazir, however, got a wa