How futile was the compact, if indeed there was any compact, was soon
revealed. The day among the ruins on the knoll had passed in dark and
cruel suspense--in hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, in the presence of
frequent death; and as the evening fell, in anguish and all but utter
despair. As darkness set in the conviction enforced itself that to remain
longer in the accursed place was madness; and the little band, leaving
behind perforce the sick and wounded, marched out, resolute to push
through or die fighting. In the valley the only molestation at first was
a desultory fire from the camping Ghilzais, who were rather taken by
surprise, but soon became wide awake to their opportunities. Some hurried
forward to occupy the pass rising from the valley to the Jugdulluk crest;
others, hanging on the rear and flanks of the column encumbered with its
fatal incubus of camp followers, mixed among the unarmed throng with
their deadly knives, and killed and plundered with the dexterity of long
practice. Throughout the tedious march up the steeply rising defile a
spattering fire came from the rocks and ridges flanking the track, all
but blocked by the surging concourse of miserable followers. The advance
had to employ cruel measures to force its way through the chaos toward
the crest. As it is approached from the Jugdulluk direction the flanking
elevations recede and merge in the transverse ridge, which is crowned by
a low-cut abrupt rocky upheaval, worn down somewhat where the road passes
over the crest by the friction of traffic.
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