It was then that the use of one of the resources of science stood the British in good stead, and probably saved the lives of many hundreds.  The officer commanding the Derajat battery, peering anxiously through the darkness, and perplexed to know what was happening, bethought him to throw a star shell over the Guides’ entrenchment, so as to light up the ground beyond.  The effect was magical.  “What new devilment is this?” exclaimed the brave but ignorant tribesmen.  And when another, and yet another, came, they said:  “This is an invention of the Evil One; it is magic, and will cast a spell over us.  We cannot fight against devils such as these.”

And so those few harmless fireworks effected the same purpose as a storm of shot and shell.  All that vast throng melted away, and only a few of the braver sort held post till morning.  But before going they inflicted one great loss, mortally wounding the gifted Captain Peebles, the only officer who knew the working of a Maxim gun, then new to the army.

The remainder of the campaign was a matter of a few days.  How Kelly, with his gallant regiment, the 32nd Pioneers, pushed on from the north, overcoming stupendous difficulties; how a strong force of levies under the Khan of Dir was thrust on from the south; how Aylmer, the brave and resourceful Sapper, working night and day threw a suspension bridge of telegraph wire across the Panjkora; how Sir Robert Low, crossing with his whole force, fought a decisive and conclusive battle at Mundah; and how thus, by a fine strategic combination, worked from widely divergent bases, Sir George White effected in the course of seventeen days the relief of the sore beset garrison of Chitral, are recorded amongst the many and sterling achievements of the army of India.

Amongst the trophies and standards brought down by the Guides was a solid brass cannon of tremendous weight captured at Mundah.  In a mountainous country where there are no roads, and for a weight far beyond the carrying capacity of a pack animal, there appeared to be no alternative to leaving the gun behind.  But rather than do this the men volunteered to carry it themselves, and thus twenty men at a time carried the gun while their comrades carried a double load of arms and ammunition.  The gun now stands at Mardan near the memorial to the officers and men who fell in defence of the Kabul Embassy, and on it is engraved in Persian the curious and bombastic inscription:—­

  It’s mouth is open wide to eat. 
  What shall I call it?  A gun or a serpent? 
  This gun is most heavy, and makes victory certain. 
  There is none like it in India or Kabul. 
    Made by Ghulam Rasul.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MALAKAND, 1897

As the officers of the Guides were sitting at dinner on the night of July 26th, 1897, a telegram was handed to Colonel Adams informing him that the Malakand position had been attacked by overwhelming numbers, that the garrison was with difficulty holding its own, and asking him to bring up his corps as speedily as possible to its succour.