The Pamirs

: The Coming Conquest Of England

In vain did Heideck, on the day following the night-attack, wait for a

message from Edith, giving him an opportunity of seeing her again. He

was prepared to be taken to task by Irwin on account of his evening

visit at the villa. But the Captain did not show himself.



In the early morning Heideck had been summoned to the Colonel to report

on the incident of the preceding night. The conversation had been short,

/> and Heideck gained the impression that the Colonel observed a studied

reserve in his questions.



He evidently desired the German to believe that in his own conviction

they had only to deal with bold burglars, who had acted on their own

responsibility. He mentioned quite incidentally that the dead man

had been recognised as one of the Maharajah's bodyguard. To Heideck's

inquiry whether the killing of the man could involve him in difficulties

with the civil authorities, the Colonel answered with a decisive--



"No. You acted in justifiable self-defence in shooting the fellow

down. I give you my word, you will neither be troubled about it by the

authorities nor by the Maharajah."



His inquiry after Mrs. Irwin's health was also satisfactorily answered.



"The lady, I am glad to say, is in the best of health," said the

Colonel. "She has admirable courage."



The next morning again, Captain Irwin neither made his appearance nor

sent any message. Heideck and Prince Tchajawadse were sitting in their

bungalow at breakfast discussing the important intelligence brought by

the morning papers.



The India Times declared that Russia had infringed the treaties of

London by her invasion of Afghanistan, and that England was thus

justified, nay compelled, to send an army to Afghanistan. It was

earnestly to be hoped that peaceful negotiations would succeed in

averting the threatened conflict. But should the Russian army not return

to Turkestan, England also would be obliged to have recourse to strong

measures. An English force would occupy Afghanistan, and compel the

Ameer, as an ally of the Indian Government, to fulfil his obligations.

To provide for all contingencies, a strong fleet was being fitted out in

the harbours of Portsmouth and Plymouth to proceed to the Baltic at the

right moment.



"Still more significant than this," said Heideck, "is the fact that the

two and a half per cent. Consols were quoted at ninety yesterday on the

London Exchange, while a week ago they stood at ninety-six. The English

are reluctant to declare openly that war has already commenced."



"War without a declaration of war," the Prince agreed. "In any case we

must hurry, if we are to get over the frontier. I should be sorry to

miss the moment when fighting begins in Afghanistan."



"I can feel with you there. But there really is no time to lose."



"If you agree, we will start this very day. At midnight we shall arrive

at Mooltan, and at noon to-morrow in Attock. To-morrow night we can be

in Peshawar. There we must get our permits to cross the Khyber Pass.

The sooner we get through the Pass the better, for later we might have

difficulties in obtaining permission."



"I hope you are carrying nothing suspicious about you--charts, drawings,

or things of that sort."



The Russian smilingly shook his head. "Nothing but Murray's Guide, the

indispensable companion of all travellers; I should take good care

not to take anything else. As for you, of course you need not be so

careful."



"Why?"



"Because you are a German. There is no war with Germany, but I should at

once be in danger of being arrested as a spy."



"I really believe that neither of us need fear anything, even if we

were recognised as officers. I should think that there are quite as many

English officers on Russian territory at this very moment as Russian

officers here in India."



"As long as war has not been actually declared, it is customary to be

civil to the officers of foreign Powers, but, under the circumstances,

I would not rely upon this. The possibility of being drumhead

court-martialled and shot might not be remote. Luckily, not even

Roentgen rays could discover what a store of drawings, charts, and

fortress plans I keep in my memory. But you have not answered my

question yet, comrade!--are you prepared to start to-day?"



"I am sorry, but I must ask you not to count upon me; I should prefer to

stay here for the present."



On noting the surprise of the Russian he continued: "You yourself said

just now that I, as a German, am in a less precarious position. Even if

I am recognised as an officer, it is hardly probable that I should

find myself in serious difficulties. At least, not here, where there is

nothing to spy into."



He did not betray that it was solely the thought of Mrs. Irwin that had

suddenly made him change his plans. And the Russian evidently did not

trouble further about his motives.



"Do you know what my whole anxiety is, at this moment?" he asked. "I am

afraid of Germany seizing the convenient opportunity, and attacking

us in our rear. Your nation does not love ours; let us make no mistake

about it. There was a time when Teutonism played a great role in our

national life. But all that has changed since the days of Alexander the

Third. We also cannot forget that at the Berlin Congress Master Bismarck

cheated us of the prize of our victory over the Turks."



"Pardon me, Prince, for contradicting you on this point. The fault

was solely Gortchakow's in not understanding how to follow up his

opportunity. The English took advantage of that. No doubt Bismarck would

have agreed to every Russian demand. But I can assure you that there

is no question of national German enmity against Russia, in educated

circles especially."



"It is possible, but Russia will always consider this aversion as a

factor to be taken into account at critical moments, otherwise the

treaty with France would probably never have been made. I, for one, can

hardly blame your nation for entertaining a certain degree of hostility

towards us. We possess diverse territories geographically belonging more

naturally to Germany. If your country could take eight million peasants

from your superfluous population and settle them in Poland it would be

a grand thing for her. Were I at the head of your Government I should,

first, with Austria's consent, seize Russian Poland, and then crush

Austria, annex Bohemia, Moravia, Carinthia, Styria and the Tyrol as

German territory, and limit the Austrian dynasty to Transleithania."



Heideck could not help smiling.



"Those are bold fancies, Prince! Rest assured that nobody in Germany

seriously entertains such plans."



"Strange, if that is so. I should think it would seem the most natural

thing for you. What, then, do you mean by a German Empire, if the most

German countries do not belong to it? Do you not consider the population

of Austria's German provinces is more closely related to you than that

of North-East Prussia? But possibly you are too conscientious and too

treaty-abiding to carry out a policy of such dimensions."



Heideck, not unintentionally, turned the conversation back to the

original subject of discussion.



"Which route do you intend taking? Have you decided for Peshawar, or are

you also taking Quetta into your consideration?"



"I have not as yet quite made up my mind. In any case, I mean to take

the shortest way back to our army."



"If that is so, I would suggest Quetta. Most probably the Russian main

army will turn southwards. Their first objective will probably be Herat.

The best roads from the north and north-west converge on that point.

It is the meeting-place of the caravan roads from India, Persia, and

Turkestan. In Herat a large army can be concentrated, for it is situated

in fertile country. Once your advance guard is firmly established,

60,000 men can be conveyed there in a relatively short time. If the

English advance to Kandahar the collision between the forces will take

place at that point. But the Russians will outnumber the English so

greatly that the latter will hardly venture the march upon Kandahar.

Reinforced by the Afghan forces, General Ivanov, with 100,000 men, can

push on without hindrance to the Bolan Pass."



"If he should succeed," said the Prince, "the way would then be open for

him to the valley of the Indus. For England would be unable to hold the

Pass against such a force."



"Is it really so difficult to cross the Pass, as it is said to be?"

inquired Heideck.



"The Pass is about fifty versts in length. In 1839 the Bengal corps of

the Indus army advanced through it against the Afghan army, and managed

without difficulty to take with them twenty-four-pound howitzers as well

as eighteen-pound field guns."



"If I remember rightly they arrived, without having met with any

opposition worth mentioning, at Kandahar, and occupied the whole of

Afghanistan. But, in spite of this, they finally suffered a disastrous

defeat. Of their 15,000 men only 4,500 succeeded in returning in

precipitate flight through the Khyber Pass back to India."



Prince Tchajawadse laughed ironically.



"Fifteen thousand? Yes, if one can trust English sources of information!

But I can assure you, according to better information, that the English

in 1839 advanced upon Afghanistan with no less than 21,000 combatants

and a transport of 70,000 men and 60,000 camels. They marched through

the Bolan Pass, took Kandahar and Ghazni, entered Cabul, and placed

Shah Shuja upon the throne. They did not suffer any decisive defeat in

battle, but a general insurrection of the Afghans drove them from their

positions and entirely wiped out their force."



"I admire your memory, Prince!"



"Oh! all this we are obliged to have off by heart in the General Staff

College, if we are not to be miserably ploughed in examination. In

November, 1878, we were rather weak in Central Asia through having to

devote all our resources to bringing the war with Turkey to a close, and

so the English again entered Afghanistan. They meant to take advantage

of our embarrassments to bring the country entirely under their

suzerainty. They advanced in three columns by way of the Bolan Pass, the

Kuram Valley, and the Khyber Pass. But on this occasion too they were

unable to stand their ground, and had to retire with great loss. No

Power will ever be able to establish itself in Afghanistan without the

sympathies of the natives on its side. And the sympathies of the Afghans

are on our side. We understand how to manage these people; the English

are solely infidels in their eyes."



"Do you believe that Russia merely covets the buffer-state Afghanistan,

or do its intentions go further?"



"Oh, my dear comrade, at present we mean India. For more than a hundred

years past we have had our eye on this rich country. The final aim of

all our conquests in Central Asia has been India. As early as 1801 the

Emperor Paul commanded the Hetman of the army of the Don, Orlov, to

march upon the Ganges with 22,000 Cossacks. It is true that the campaign

at that time was considered a far simpler matter than it really is. The

Emperor died, and his venturesome plan was not proceeded with. During

the Crimea General Kauffmann offered to conquer India with 25,000 men.

But nothing came of this project. Since then ideas have changed. We have

seen that only a gradual advance can lead us to our objective. And we

have not lost time. In the west we have approached Herat, until now we

are only about sixty miles away, and in the east, in the Pamirs, we have

pushed much nearer still to India."



"It is most interesting to hear all this. I have done my best to get at

the lie of the land, but till now the Pamir frontiers have always been a

mystery to me."



"They mystify most people, you will find. Only a person who has been

there can understand the situation. And he who has been there does not

know the frontier line either, for there is, in fact, no exact boundary.

The Pamir plateau lies to the north of Peshawar, and is bounded in the

south by the Hindu-Kush range. The territorial spheres of government

are extremely complicated. The Ameer of the neighbouring country of

Afghanistan claims the sovereignty over the khanates Shugnan and Roshan,

which form the larger portion of the Pamirs. Moreover, he likewise

raises pretensions to the province of Seistan, which is also claimed by

Persia. Now this province is of peculiar importance, because the English

could seize it from Baluchistan without much difficulty, and, if so,

they would obtain a strong flank position to the south of our line of

march, Merv-Herat, by way of Kandahar-Quetta."



"The conditions are, certainly, very complicated."



"So complicated, indeed, that for many years past we have had

differences with the English touching the frontier question. Our British

friends have over and over again forced the Ameer of Afghanistan to

send troops thither; an English expedition for the purpose of frontier

delimitation has been frequently camped on the Pamir Mountains. Of

course, in this respect, we have not been behindhand either. I myself

have before now taken part in such a scientific expedition."



"And it really was merely a scientific expedition?"



"Let us call it a military scientific excursion!" replied the Prince,

smiling. "We had 2,000 Cossacks with us, and got as far as the

Hindu-Kush--the Baragil Pass and another, unnamed, which we called,

in honour of our colonel, the Yonov Pass. There we were confronted by

Afghan troops, and defeated them at Somatash. By order of the English,

who were paying him subsidies, Ameer Abdur-Rahman was obliged to resent

this and petition their assistance. An English envoy arrived in Cabul,

and negotiations were entered into, which we contrived to spin out

sufficiently to gain time for the erection of small forts in the Pamirs.

Finally an arrangement was arrived at in London to the effect that the

Pench should be the boundary between Russia and Afghanistan in the Pamir

territory. A few months later we were met by an English expedition on

the Sarykul; we were to determine the exact boundary-line together. It

was great fun; our English comrades tried hard not to let us see that

they had orders to be complacent. We had soon discovered it, and drew

the line just as we pleased. The upshot was that only a very narrow

strip of land between Bukhara and the Indian border remained to the

Ameer, and that he had to undertake neither to station troops there nor

to erect fortifications. Our territory had been pushed forward up to

within about twelve miles of English territory. It is there that we are

closest to India, and we can, if we choose, at any time descend from

the passes of the Hindu-Kush to the Chitral Valley, within the British

sphere of influence."



A servant, bringing an invitation to Heideck from Mrs. Baird to dine

with them that evening, interrupted the conversation. The Captain

was scarcely able to disguise his pleasure; he had no doubt that this

invitation was due to Edith, and was happy in the prospect of seeing her

again.



"You are on good terms with the Colonel," said the Prince, as soon as

the servant had left with Heideck's letter of acceptance. "This can be

of the greatest assistance to you under present circumstances. Do make

him give you a passport and come with me."



"I am sorry, Prince! I should be delighted to travel in such pleasant

company, but business keeps me here a little longer for the present."



"Well--as you please--I must not try to over-persuade you; but I will

not abandon the hope that we shall meet again, and it is unnecessary to

assure you that you can count upon me in any situation in which you may

find yourself."



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