Orders had been given that the detachment should start in conjunction with the forces of the Maharajah of Chanidigot.  Heideck had obtained permission to accompany it.  The Colonel was well disposed towards him, and it was evidently pleasant for the former to have about him, as protector to the ladies, such a chivalrous man, upon whom he could always implicitly rely when his military duties prevented him from looking after them.  On the day preceding the start Heideck was at tiffin with the Colonel, and coming events were being discussed in a serious manner, when from outside the dull screech of an automobile’s horn caught their ears.  Two minutes later, covered with dust and with his face a dark red from the heat, an officer appeared on the verandah who introduced himself as Captain Elliot, General Blood’s adjutant.

“The General,” he said, adopting the proper military attitude, “has sent me to report that all the plans have been altered.  Your orders are not to march to Quetta, but to hasten your preparations and start as soon as possible for Mooltan.”

“And what is the reason for this change of orders?” asked the Colonel.

“The Russians are coming down from the Hindu-Kush, and are marching down the valley of the Indus, thus taking our army in the rear.  General Blood is marching south, so as not to be cut off.  I am sent round to direct all detachments upon Mooltan.”

“No! is that possible?  Is there not perhaps some mistake?  How can the Russians cross the Hindu-Kush?”

“I have myself seen Russian infantry in the gorges of the Indus Valley, Colonel.  The march upon Herat and the occupation of Cabul under General Ivanov were mainly blinds.  Ivanov, with twenty thousand men under his command, and reinforced by a like number of Afghans, is advancing from Cabul upon the Khyber Pass.  But the main attack will be made from the Pamirs in the direction of Rawal-Pindi and Lahore.”

“Rawal-Pindi?” exclaimed the Colonel.  “If the Russians come down the Indus, they will first of all arrive at Attock, and this strong fortress will check their advance long enough.”

“Let us hope so, but we must not absolutely reckon upon it.  The strength of the Russian army is not at present known to us; but their advance has evidently been magnificently planned.  Their engineers must have done perfect wonders in the difficult passes of the Hindu-Kush; and these Russian soldiers are like iron.”

“Well,” said the Colonel, “we will soon show them that we are of steel.”

The adjutant handed over the written instructions, and after having read them, the Colonel replied—­

“To-morrow morning early I start for Mooltan, and expect to arrive there with my detachment by tomorrow evening.  The commissariat and ammunition columns will, of course, not be able to get there until a few days later, and then only in part.  What in all the world can have possessed the General not to meet the enemy in Rawal-Pindi?  That town is fortified and surrounded by strong forts; it is one of the greatest depots in India.  Why must the General retire so far back, so far as Mooltan?”