But both peoples without
having any highly organised system have been exceedingly fortunate in
the manner in which information of impending movements has somehow got
reported in the nick of time in the most interesting quarter.
Due south from Mardan, and distant, as the crow flies, some thirty-five
to forty miles, lies the village of Paia, which for high crimes and
misdemeanours, including murder, rapine, and arson, it was considered
necessary to punish. Now punishment in the days of Cavignari not
unusually meant waking up some fine morning to find that before
breakfast it was either necessary to meet the Guides in a pitched
battle, or to submit quietly to the demands of Government, and expiate
the crimes committed. The difficulty, from our point of view, was to
place the troops in the desired position, at the desired moment, without
previously informing the enemy of the proposal. Failing this, either an
ambush would be prepared into which the troops might fall, thus
reversing the tables; or the whole village, men, women, and children,
flocks and herds, and all the chickens that could be caught on short
notice, would migrate bodily for a few days, till the storm was
overpast. Then they would quietly return and cheerfully resume the
uneven tenor of their ways.
Now Paia was inhabited by Jowaki Afridis, and he that findeth an Afridi
asleep, when he ought to be awake, is either a very astute or a very
fortunate person.
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