"I should think it would be a very good thing, Azim," Angus said in the afternoon, "if we could engage a guide. We might break our necks making our way down here in the dark. I will speak to those two fellows. I suppose they are on duty here, and cannot go themselves, but there may be others of the tribe in the village; or, if not, some of the people here may be accustomed to going down the pass with caravans."
Angus went to the hut occupied by the two tribesmen and called them out. "We are intending to travel at night," he said, after offering them a packet of tobacco. "In that way we may escape being seen by these brigands."
"It will be almost impossible for you to go at night—quite impossible without a guide."
"That is what we came to you about. Are there any of your tribe who would act as a guide for us? How long would it take us?"
"It would take you four nights' journey. You could do it in two stages if your horses are sure-footed and you travelled in the day, but at night it would take four at least. How much would you be willing to pay?"
"How much would be charged?" Angus said quietly.
"You should have two men," the man answered, "two men who know the pass well. Yakoob and I could go with you. We have been here six days, and two others will come to take our places and collect tolls to-morrow, so we shall be free. We know every foot of the pass, having travelled up and down it scores of times. We cannot guarantee your safety, but you would have a better chance with us than with others. We will take you into Dadur. We do not promise to fight; when twenty attack four, fighting is foolish. We have our horses; there are parts where the pass opens out and the bottom is level."
"Well, how much would you charge?"
The two men talked together in an undertone, and then the one who had before spoken turned again to Angus. "We would take you for three gold pieces each."
"It is a large sum," Angus said; "but as I hear in the village that it is not safe to go unless with a large caravan, and that it might be three weeks or a month before a sufficiently large number of travellers arrive, we will pay you that."