Mr. Appleton smiled.
"I'm afraid I'm a squatter," he said, "not unlike the ancestors of some people I could name nearer home. The natives, I believe, used to pay tribute to the Amir, and also to the Chinese emperor--a little gold dust (where they got it I don't know)--a dog or two, and a basket of apricots: some trivial thing like that; and as the people are nomads, their suzerains, I dare say, thought they were lucky to get anything. Then the Russians came along, and among other unconsidered trifles snapped up this little no-man's land. They had a small military post a couple of marches across the hills to the north. This was raided by the Afghans when they got news of the Russian smash-up in Mongolia. The Mongols turned out the Afghans; then the post was destroyed by another Afghan raid; and since then nobody has troubled about it. It would puzzle even an international jurist in a Scotch university to decide who is the rightful sovereign of this tract of hill country; and meanwhile I'm on the spot, and I'll stay here and get on with my work until I'm turned out.
"This gallery here is worked by the Kalmucks: you saw some of them at the stamping presses as you came up. The slope makes it easy to dig the ore out, and also drains what little water there is: there's only a trickle, as you see. Come into the next compound."
He unlocked the door in the stout fence, and led the boys into a third enclosure, like the second, and having another line of rails leading into a gallery.
"This is the Pathan section," said Mr. Appleton. "There are not quite half as many Pathans as Kalmucks."
"I suppose you keep them apart for fear of ructions," said Bob.
"Partly," said Mr. Appleton, smiling a little as he added: "But there's another reason; I'll tell you that later. We are not treating the ore from this gallery at present. Look here."
He led them to the further fence, in which there was a gap, and bade them look down. They saw a heap of greenish rock lying in a deep saucer-shaped hollow between the yard and the river below. A line of rails ran from the mouth of the gallery to the gap, and while the three men stood there a couple of Pathans emerged from the hill, pushing a laden truck before them. On arriving at the fence they tilted up the truck, and the contents fell crashing upon the heap beneath.
"Now we'll go over the bridge and have a look at the miners' quarters on the other side," said Mr. Appleton. "I have to inspect them frequently: I'm magistrate, sanitary inspector, a regular Jack of all trades."
"Why did those two miners look at us so curiously when you were jawing them?" said Lawrence.