BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never

the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great

Judgment Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor

Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, tho they

come from the ends of the earth!

Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the

Borderside,

And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the

Colonel's pride:

He has lifted her out of the stable-door between

the dawn and the day,

And turned the calkins upon her feet, and

ridden her far away.

Then up and spoke the Colonel's son that led a

troop of the Guides:

"Is there never a man of all my men can say

where Kamal hides?99

Then up and spoke Mahommed Khan, the son of

the Ressaldar:

"If ye know the track of the morning-mist, ye

know where his pickets are.

At dusk he harries the Abazai—at dawn he is

into Bonair,

But he must go by Fort Bukloh to his own place

to fare,

So if ye gallop to Fort Bukloh as fast as a bird

can fly,

By the favour of God ye may cut him off ere

he win to the Tongue of Jagai.

But if he be past the Tongue of Jagai, right

swiftly turn ye then,

For the length and the breadth of that grisly

plain is sown with Kamal's men.

There is rock to the left, and rock to the right,

and low lean thorn between,

And ye may hear a breech-bolt snick where

never a man is seen."

The Colonel's son has taken a horse, and a raw

rough dun was he,

With the mouth of a bell and the heart of Hell

and the head of the gallows-tree.

The Colonel's son to the Fort has won, they bid

him stay to eat—

Who rides at the tail of a Border thief, he sits

not long at his meat.

He's up and away from Fort Bukloh as fast as

he can fly,

Till he was aware of his father's mare in the

gut of the Tongue of Jagai,

Till he was aware of his father's mare with

Kamal upon her back,

And when he could spy the white of her eye,

he made the pistol crack.

He has fired once, he has fired twice, but the

whistling ball went wide.

"Ye shoot like a soldier," Kamal said. "Show

now if ye can ride."

It's up and over the Tongue of Jagai, as blown

dust-devils go,

The dun he fled like a stag of ten, but the mare

like a barren doe.

The dun he leaned against the bit and slugged

his head above,

But the red mare played with the snaffle-bars,

as a maiden plays with a glove.

There was rock to the left, and rock to the right,

and low lean thorn between,

And thrice he heard a breech-bolt snick tho'

never a man was seen.

They have ridden the low moon out of the

sky, their hoofs drum up the dawn,

The dun he went like a wounded bull, but the

mare like a new-roused fawn.

The dun he fell at a water-course—in a woful

heap fell he,

And Kamal has turned the red mare back, and

pulled the rider free.

He has knocked the pistol out of his hand—

small room was there to strive,

"'Twas only by favour of mine," quoth he,

"ye rode so long alive:

There was not a rock for twenty mile, there

was not a clump of tree,

But covered a man of my own men with his

rifle cocked on his knee.

If I had raised my bridle-hand, as I have held it

low,

The little jackals that flee so fast were feasting

all in a row:

If I had bowed my head on my breast, as I

have held it high,

The kite that whistles above us now were

gorged till she could not fly."

Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "Do good

to bird and beast,

But count who come for the broken meats before

thou makest a feast.

If there should follow a thousand swords to

carry my bones away,

Belike the price of a jackal's meal were more

than a thief could pay.

They will feed their horse on the standing crop,

their men on the garnered grain,

The thatch of the byres will serve their fires

when all the cattle are slain.

But if thou thinkest the price be fair,—thy

brethren wait to sup,

The hound is kin to the jackal-spawn,—howl,

dog, and call them up!

And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer

and gear and stack,

Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight

my own way back!"

Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him

upon his feet.

"No talk shall be of dogs," said he, "when

wolf and grey wolf meet.

May I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or

breath;

What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at

the dawn with Death?"

Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "I hold

by the blood of my clan:

Take up the mare for my father's gift—by God,

she has carried a man!"

The red mare ran to the Colonel's son, and

nuzzled against his breast;

"We be two strong men," said Kamal then,

"but she loveth the younger best.

So she shall go with a lifter's dower, my

turquoise studded rein,

My broidered saddle and saddle-cloth, and silver

stirrups twain."

The Colonel's son a pistol drew and held it

muzzle-end,

"Ye have taken the one from a foe," said he;

"will ye take the mate from a friend?"

"A gift for a gift," said Kamal straight; "a

limb for the risk of a limb.

Thy father has sent his son to me, I'll send my

son to him!"

With that he whistled his only son, that dropped

from a mountain-crest—

He trod the ling like a buck in spring, and he

looked like a lance in rest.

"Now here is thy master," Kamal said, "who

leads a troop of the Guides,

And thou must ride at his left side as shield on

shoulder rides.

Till Death or I cut loose the tie, at camp and

board and bed,

Thy life is his—thy fate it is to guard him with

thy head.

So, thou must eat the White Queen's meat, and

all her foes are thine,

And thou must harry thy fathers hold for the

peace of the Border-line,

And thou must make a trooper tough and hack

thy way to power—

Belike they will raise thee to Ressaldar when I

am hanged in Peshawur,"

They have looked each other between the eyes,

and there they found no fault,

They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-

Blood, on leavened bread and salt:

They have taken the Oath of the Brother-in-

Blood on fire and fresh-cut sod,

On the hilt and the haft of the Kyber knife, and

the Wondrous Names of God.

The Colonel's son he rides the mare and Kamal's

boy the dun,

And two have come back to Fort Bukloh where

there went forth but one.

And when they drew to the Quarter-Guard, full

twenty swords flew clear—

There was not a man but carried his feud with

the blood of the mountaineer.

"Ha' done! ha' done!" said the Colonel's son.

"Put up the steel at your sides!

Last night ye had struck at a Border thief—to-

night'tis a man of the Guides!"

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never