It must have been nearly four o’clock when Wrexham, accompanied by Payindah, came up behind us. The latter grimaced a bit as he took up post.
“This is like Farance again, sahib,” he whispered to me. Evidently Wrexham had told him that it was sentry duty in the front line, and that he was not to make a noise.
We left them there, and went back down the valley to camp. Wrexham said he would come back as soon as it was dark.
On arrival in the camp, we found Firoz had some tea ready for us, and after that we checked through some of our stores, took photos of the tangi entrance, and did various odd jobs of overhauling.
We also got out the twelve-bore, an old hammer-gun of mine. I thought if Sadiq was to take a hand in the lookout work he had better be armed, but it was no good giving him a .303 rifle. But he did know enough about a hammer-gun to work it, and there are worse things than a twelve-bore with buckshot at close quarters. I dropped a charging panther once with that same old gun and a charge of buckshot, and it stopped him as no high-velocity rifle would ever have done.
It was dark by six, and we expected to see Wrexham by seven. But he did not come, and about eight o’clock we began to get anxious, and Forsyth suggested going up the valley to look for him. I counselled waiting a bit, as I did not see how he could well come to grief. He had Payindah with him, and both were armed, and nobody could get into the valley except at each end; of that I was sure. And I was equally sure that no one could get in at the far end with two shots like Wrexham and Payindah waiting for them.
But when half-past eight had gone and there was no signs of them, I began to agree with Forsyth. We had just started into the tangi when we heard footsteps ahead on the stones, and Wrexham and Payindah loomed up out of the gloom.
“What happened to you?” I said, as we turned back toward the tent. “It’s been dark for hours.”
“I know; that’s why I wanted the evening watch. I’ve been doing trench crawls quite in the old style with Payindah as covering party.”
“What on earth for?”