But Faiz Talab said to the officer:  “May I see you alone?  I have something important to tell you.”

“Yes, certainly,” said the officer; “but mind, one of my men covers you all the time.”

And when they drew apart, Faiz Talab took off his shoe; under the lining was a little piece of paper, which he handed to the officer, and on it was written in English:  The bearer of this is Duffadar Faiz Talab of the Guides:  please give him every assistance.—­F.H.  Jenkins, Lt.-Col.

CHAPTER XI

THE ADVENTURES OF SHAH SOWAR AND ABDUL MUJID

Many strange adventures have befallen individual men of the Guides, and many a hairbreadth escape have they had.  It was only a few years ago that the following adventures occurred.

An order reached regimental headquarters to detail a cavalry soldier who could speak Persian, and one stout of heart and limb, to accompany a British officer on a mission of considerable danger and uncertainty.  He was to call at a certain house, on a certain day, in Karachi, and to ask for the name of Smith.  Shah Sowar was the trooper selected, and when he arrived at the place of tryst he was ushered into the presence of Smith.  Smith, however, was not Smith at all, but somebody quite different; not that it mattered much, for Smith was only his Karachi name.

Next day, on board ship, he became the Sheikh Abdul Qadir, on his way to Mecca or where not; and from that moment commenced the troubles of the redoubtable Shah Sowar.  To anyone who has the least knowledge of Asia the extraordinary difficulty which any European must experience in disguising himself as a man of an Eastern race will be apparent.  By dint of living for years as Asiatics, exceptional linguists like Vambery and Burton have undoubtedly been able to pass unchallenged, but anyone possessing qualities short of theirs must inevitably be discovered a dozen times a day.  The way we eat and drink, the way we walk and sit, the way we wear our clothes and boots, the way we wash,—­every little thing is absolutely different from the methods and manners of the East.

These things Shah Sowar pointed out with much politeness, and great persistency, to Sheikh Abdul Qadir, late Smith.  “Be it spoken with the greatest respect, but there would be less liability to the unmannerly curiosity of strangers if the Cherisher of the Poor wore his own clothes.  Beautifully as your Highness speaks Persian and Hindustani [his Highness really spoke both indifferently] it would be difficult for one of such commanding presence to pass himself for any but an Englishman.  English officers are a race of princes; how then can they disguise themselves as inferior folk?”

“Don’t fret,” replied Smith, alias Sheikh Abdul Qadir; “I am going to remain a prince all right; for I propose passing myself off as a near relation of the Amir, a refugee from Kabul.”