CHAPTER THE THIRD
MR. APPLETON'S MINE
Mr. Appleton led the way across a sort of yard, littered with miningdebris, towards a building in the upper part of which lights wereburning. To the left sheds and a chimney stack loomed up in thedarkness, scarcely distinguishable against the background of rock. Theypassed through a gate, and found themselves in a less cumberedenclosure, at the farther corner of which stood the illuminatedbuilding. This proved to be a compact square edifice, the lower storeyof stone, the upper of wood. The door stood open, and in the entranceappeared a grave turbaned servant, who salaamed as the boys went in.
"Chunda Beg, my khansaman," said Mr. Appleton. "Come upstairs and seeyour room. We haven't over much space, but we've done our best to makeyou comfortable."
The boys followed their uncle to the upper floor, which was one largeapartment divided into three by matchboard partitions carried up towithin a foot or two of the ceiling. In the first room, thedining-room, they saw a table laid for supper. Passing through thisthey entered Mr. Appleton's bedroom, a small chamber furnished only witha narrow camp bed, a chair, a towel-horse, a tin basin on a stand, achest of drawers, and a zinc bath; a Persian rug lay on the floor at oneside of the bed. Beyond the further partition, which had evidently beennewly erected, was the boys' bedroom, about the same size as theiruncle's, similarly furnished, but with two camp beds separated by thewidth of a Persian rug.
"No luxuries, you see," said Mr. Appleton, "but I think you'll find itcosy. I believe there's a looking-glass somewhere on the premises ifyou want to shave. That's a thing I haven't done for many years; ChundaBeg gives me a trimming every now and then when I'm getting too shaggy.As a follower of the Prophet, he wouldn't cut his own beard for apension. He'll send you up some hot water and soap, and when you've hada wash, come in to supper."
The menu was not so scanty as Mr. Appleton had led the boys to believe.There was a roast joint that tasted three parts mutton and one partvenison--the flesh of an ibex shot by Mr. Appleton himself. Thevegetables were mushrooms, onions and lotus beans; the sweets a ricepudding and stewed peaches; and the beverage a kind of elderberry winediluted with hot water.
"You've got a good cook, Uncle," said Lawrence, when the khansaman hadbrought coffee. "We haven't had so good a meal since we left RawalPindi."
"Well, Shan Tai does his best. He's a Chinaman, of course. We grow ourown vegetables in a patch of ground down the valley. In fact, we domost things ourselves. The gas is acetylene, made on the spot. Most ofthe furniture in your room is home-made, as I dare say you noticed.We're what you may call self-contained."
"What rooms have you got below?" asked Bob.
"We use the ground floor only for stores. In the dark you didn't see, Isuppose, that the walls are loopholed. The stone's very thick, and inthat little trouble I told you about we found them a capitalfortification. The kitchen is outside; the servants have their ownout-houses. The cook is Chinese, as I said; the khansaman is a Pathan;there are one or two other fellows whose nationality is an unknownquantity. Chunda Beg is a treasure, as grave as a judge, and asresourceful as a Jack-tar. You'll take most interest, I expect, in mystorekeeper, Ditta Lal, a Bengali--what's commonly called a Babu. Iwager you haven't spoken to him for more than two minutes before hetells you he is a B.A. of Calcutta University, and he'll tell you thesame thing ten times a day until he chokes."
"Why should he choke?" asked Lawrence.
"Because he's getting so disgustingly fat. I really mustn't raise hisscrew--he calls it emoluments--any more. When he first came to me hewas thin and weedy like many of his kind; but he made himself extremelyuseful, and I've increased his pay rather often. You'd be surprised atthe result if you could compare him as he is with what he was. Upon myword, with every rise he swells visibly. I shouldn't like to say whathis waist measurement is now. I told him the other day that I reallycouldn't raise him any more, for fear it proved fatal, and he smiled inmy face and said, 'Ah, sahib, God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,'which you won't beat for a piece of delightful inconsequence."
Talking thus, Mr. Appleton interested and amused the boys for an hour ortwo until it was time to turn in. The night was cold; but snuggledunder thick blankets they slept like tops, and did not waken until thekhansaman entered with water for their morning tub.
At breakfast Mr. Appleton announced that his first business for the daywas the holding of a durbar to enquire into the scuffle of the nightbefore.
"My discipline is as easy as possible," he said; "there are few rules,but I see that they are obeyed. The men represent some of the mostunruly tribes of the frontier, but they know I mean what I say, and onthe whole I've had very little trouble with them. Of course they getgood pay; that's the first condition of good work and contentment."
"The second is good holidays," said Lawrence with a smile.
"Ah, you've just left school!" said his uncle. "But the men haven'tanything to complain of on that score. They get holidays all thewinter. We stop work for four or five months. What with snowstorms andthe river frozen hard we could scarcely exist here in the winter months,so the men go off to their homes and no doubt play the heavy swell amongtheir people, and I betake myself to Bokhara, or pay a round of visitsamong my Chinese friends, or go on a hunting trip, returning in thespring. But there's the bugle; come and see me in my part of unpaidmagistrate. Then I'll take you over the place."
On leaving the house, the boys saw a number of men filing through thegate between two ranks of tall bearded Sikhs armed with rifles. Thosewho came first were of the Mongolian type, with broad, flat, yellowishfaces, wide noses and narrow eyes. What little clothing they wore wasragged and stained a deep indigo blue. These men, numbering abouteighty, formed a group on the left-hand side. After them entered morethan a score of swarthy black-haired fellows of more symmetrical shapeand more powerful physique, their features more sharply cut, some ofthem having almost a Jewish cast of countenance. Their garments weremarked with streaks and stains of yellowish-green. Mr. Appletonexplained that they were for the most part Pathans from the Afghanborder; but they included also several Punjabis, a couple of Baluchis,three or four Chitralis, and a sprinkling of men of Hunza and Nagar.They formed up on the right-hand side.
At the door of an outhouse on the same side stood a very fat man whomthe boys easily recognized as the Bengali storekeeper. His podgy olivecheeks were almost concealed by a bushy growth of black hair, and theloose white garment he wore, encircled with a sash of brilliant red,emphasised the vast unwieldiness of his bulk.
When all were assembled, the gate was shut, and Mr. Appleton, standingbefore his door, called for Gur Buksh. One of the armed Sikhs steppedforward, a tall, finely-proportioned, grey-bearded man, who, as the boysafterwards learnt, had been a havildar in a native Border regiment ofthe British army, and had seen considerable service on the frontier. Hestood at attention, saluted, and gravely awaited the sahib's questions.The young Appletons looked on with curiosity, wishing that they couldunderstand the conversation that ensued. Lawrence made up his mind todevote his spare time to a study of the native languages.
After Gur Buksh had made his report, Mr. Appleton called up two othermen, one from each of the groups. The first was a young Kalmuck, whoseyellow face would have been absolutely expressionless but for a keenlook in his restless eyes. The other was a big hook-nosed Pathan, withstrong, determined features and fierce low brows from beneath which hiscoal-black eyes flashed with truculence. The Kalmuck, answering to thename of Nurla Bai, gave brief and almost sullen answers to his master'squestions; Muhammad Din, the Pathan, on the contrary, spoke at length,fiercely and volubly, with much play of features and hands. Havingheard them both, Mr. Appleton made a measured speech in fine magisterialmanner, and then dismissed them. At the close of his speech the boysnoticed that the two culprits threw swift glances at them, the Kalmuck'seyes narrowing, and giving no clue to his thoughts, wh
ile the Pathan'sindicated keen interest and searching enquiry. The whole companymarched out of the gate, and the silence which they had hithertopreserved gave way to excited talk as they went off to their work.
"So much for that," said Mr. Appleton. "It appears that, takingadvantage of my absence, the Kalmuck fellow, Nurla Bai, got into thePathan section of the mine works, against my express orders. MuhammadDin stood up for law, rather zealously, and it would have come to a freefight if Gur Buksh hadn't stepped in. At night, when they knock offwork, both parties cross the drawbridge to their huts on the other side,and the quarrel was just breaking out again when we had the good luck tocome up. Nurla was clearly in the wrong, and I fined him a week's pay."
"He took it well," said Bob. "The fellow's face was like a mask."
"He was not so much unmoved as you think," said Mr. Appleton. "I knowthe fellow pretty well, and I could tell by the look of him that he wasperfectly furious. I find my system answers very well. I punish allbreaches of the regulations with fines, which are pooled and distributedevery month among the men who haven't offended. Most of the men arequite keen to get these additions to their pay; in fact, I've known someof the rascals try to egg on a simple-minded mate to commit some slightmisdemeanour, so that he'll lose his pay for their benefit. They'requeer fish.... Good-morning, Ditta Lal."
The Bengali, who had been hovering about, gradually drawing nearer tohis master, and casting sheep's eyes at the two young strangers, nowwaddled up, his face one broad smile.
"Good-morning, sir: good-morning, young gents," he said in a breathlesswheeze. "'Full many a glorious morning have I seen, flatter themountain tops with sovran eye,'--pat quotation from sweet Swan of Avon,whose sonnets I got up, with notes, for final exam, for B.A. degree,Calcutta University. Lovely morning, sir."
Mr. Appleton's eyes twinkled as he introduced his nephews, who werelooking at the Babu as at some strange specimen.
"You'll find several mule loads of stuff we ordered on the other side,Ditta Lal," said Mr. Appleton.
"They shall be attended to instanter, sir. And I shall esteem it signalhonour on fitting occasion to act as guide, philosopher and friend toyoung gents, show them my stores; in fact, do them proud, and all that."
He bowed, puffed, and waddled away. The boys laughed when his back wasturned.
"What a treasure!" said Lawrence. "Our old school porter at Rugton waspretty big about, but this fellow would make two of him. What a rag thechaps would have if we could transport him!"
"I can't spare him. He's an abiding joy. But come, let me take youround."
The next hour was spent in going over the not very extensive settlement.The boys found that the portion on the west side of the gorge wasdivided into three. The first contained Mr. Appleton's dwelling-house,the engine-house and stores, and a set of small stamps, together withsheds for assaying, and a number of huts occupied by the personal nativeservants and the Sikh garrison. The dwelling-house was built in anangle of the cliff, which rose sheer behind it. Between house and cliff,however, was a space of about three yards filled with heavy beams, whichwere all loopholed. The whole of the enclosure in which the house stoodwas surrounded by a bank of earth about six feet high, formed of"tailings" from the mine. This bank was broken only in two places, onefor the gate leading into the second enclosure or compound, the secondfor the drawbridge connecting with the east side of the gorge.
The second compound was somewhat smaller than the first. Here were tobe seen barrows, trucks, and other implements; a line of rails led intoa cave-like opening in the hillside, which, Mr. Appleton explained, wasthe entrance to a vein or lode sloping upwards into the heart of themountain.
"It was lucky I hadn't to sink shafts," he said, "considering thedifficulty of bringing mining appliances to this remote region."
"What led you to pitch here?" asked Bob.
"Well, you may call it accident, or you may put it down to my beingpossessed of a roving eye. I was hunting hereabout some years ago, andcaught sight of what seemed to be an outcrop of copper ore. I pokedabout rather carefully, and collected a number of samples of this andother ores, which I had tested by a capital fellow in Peshawar. Hisassays confirmed my suspicions, and I thought I couldn't do better thantry my luck."
"Who does the place belong to?" asked Lawrence. "Do you pay rent?"
Mr. Appleton smiled.
"I'm afraid I'm a squatter," he said, "not unlike the ancestors of somepeople I could name nearer home. The natives, I believe, used to paytribute 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 ofapricots: 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 triflessnapped up this little no-man's land. They had a small military post acouple of marches across the hills to the north. This was raided by theAfghans when they got news of the Russian smash-up in Mongolia. TheMongols turned out the Afghans; then the post was destroyed by anotherAfghan raid; and since then nobody has troubled about it. It wouldpuzzle even an international jurist in a Scotch university to decide whois the rightful sovereign of this tract of hill country; and meanwhileI'm on the spot, and I'll stay here and get on with my work until I'mturned out.
"This gallery here is worked by the Kalmucks: you saw some of them atthe stamping presses as you came up. The slope makes it easy to dig theore out, and also drains what little water there is: there's only atrickle, as you see. Come into the next compound."
He unlocked the door in the stout fence, and led the boys into a thirdenclosure, like the second, and having another line of rails leadinginto a gallery.
"This is the Pathan section," said Mr. Appleton. "There are not quitehalf 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'sanother reason; I'll tell you that later. We are not treating the orefrom this gallery at present. Look here."
He led them to the further fence, in which there was a gap, and badethem look down. They saw a heap of greenish rock lying in a deepsaucer-shaped hollow between the yard and the river below. A line ofrails ran from the mouth of the gallery to the gap, and while the threemen stood there a couple of Pathans emerged from the hill, pushing aladen truck before them. On arriving at the fence they tilted up thetruck, and the contents fell crashing upon the heap beneath.
"Now we'll go over the bridge and have a look at the miners' quarters onthe 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 jawingthem?" said Lawrence.
"I had just told them who you were, my nephews and the newsuperintendents. You've got to earn your living, you know. Bob will beresponsible for the Pathans, and you for the Kalmucks. Of course you'vea lot to learn."
"They looked as if they didn't much like their new bosses," said Bob.
"I daresay; but you'll be a comfort to me. I'm not troubled with nerves,but at times, I confess, I have felt what the old ladies call lonesomefor want of a white man to talk to. The Babu is all very well, but nowand again he worries me. When I'm tired and bothered he'll expound aknotty passage of Browning or some other incomprehensible poet; and whenI should enjoy a little stimulating conversation, he 'havers,' as theScotch say, in a mixture of high falutin' and outrageous slang. Nowthat you are here I've no doubt he'll be nothing but the joy I find himin my cheerful moods. I'm very glad of your company, boys."