Talbot Mundy

“ The Mullingars live by backing one another's bills and selling horses to the Sassenach, that being about the only thing a Sassenach is good for in their opinion; and they are afraid of absolutely nothing that is above the earth, or in the waters under the earth, except dishonour, Their honour is the honour of the regiment, so the men love them.
They marched off behind Captain Boyne, footsore and grumbling, but quite confident in his ability to lead them, and ready to go wherever he went and guard him with their lives. ”

“ The men of a Highland regiment would have fallen back on their religion in such a fix as that; they would have needed no chaplain to help them either. They would have sung some Covenanters' hymns, and prayed long-windedly, and afterwards they would have put up a fight that would have gone down into history as a thing to marvel at. But the Irish temperament is different. Irish soldiers seem more inclined to fight their battles on their own merits and thank God for the result afterwards; it was so with the Mullingars, and Father Callan knew it. ”

“ The Afghans are awake; they'll be on us at any minute now. Put some life into those men; make 'em hurry!”
“Crack-ak-ak!” went three jezails opposite, and “Whee-ee-ee!” whined two bullets away into the distance; the third bullet found something in its course, and stopped.
“Father!” called a voice from somewhere below the hill, “Father Callan! Can ye hear? I'm hit. Fire a volley and warn Boyne!”
“I'm coming!” Father Callan's answer was as prompt as an echo. “Sergeant! Take charge here! Stay here with the men until I call you!” ”

“ The Mullingars are officered exclusively by Irishmen—the wild, unregenerate, younger sons of impoverished gentlemen; and if you can find better stuff from which to make officers than that—more reckless spendthrifts—better sportsmen—more gallant or more fearless gentlemen—or any one more volcanically unconquerable in the teeth of repeated disaster, go forth and conquer the world, for you have the key to it. ”

“ It is a standing grievance among the Mullingars to this day that they were denied that honour. Even the six-months' soldiers, just out of their recruit course, regard it as a personal affront, to be wiped out when the time comes. So, although his men were green and tired, Captain Boyne had no uncomfortable doubts about their mettle; even the greenest company of a regiment that entertains a grouch like that is a thing that an enemy should handle cautiously, and at long range. ”

“ As Father Callan looked across towards him, Boyne was just debouching into the valley between, and at the same minute the Afghans apparently made up their minds to attack in real earnest.
Afghans are not fools by any means. They are cruel, and superstitious, and very often cowardly, but they can see through a move of the enemy as readily as any one, and they divined at once the object of Boyne's manœuvre. ”

“ The bullets came again now like a hail-storm, for the Afghans are no subscribers to Geneva theories, or any civilised conventions, for that matter. From their point of view a good Christian is a dead Christian, and a wounded man is all the easier to hit.
They made wonderful shooting; the bullets rattled off the rocks on every side of him, but Father Callan stooped over his burden, and turned his back to the Afghans, and walked steadily toward the hill that he had left, circling to the southward so as to approach it from the rear and out of sight of the enemy ”

“ The Afghans were swarming up the hillside within five minutes from the commencement of the attack, but up above there was a real man in command, and they found the summit none too easy of attainment.
Time and again the defenders drove them down again with well-aimed volleys, and later, as the rushes grew fiercer and more determined, with independent firing. But Father Callan had to check the independent firing presently, for it cost too much in cartridges. Only one more man was hit, and he not badly; but there were seven rounds of ammunition left per man, and only seven. ”

“ I'd send one of the men, but they're all too dead-beat. Look at them! Did you ever see a crowd of rookies sleep like them? They look like dead men, don't they! Tell you what, I'll go myself! You stay here and take charge, Father, until I get back; I won't be long. Boyne'll think up some way out of the difficulty when he knows how we're fixed.”
“Come back, ye young hot-head! said Father Callan, reaching out to seize his arm; but Darcy was too quick for him, and a little avalanche of stones went clattering down the hill-side to mark his progress. ”

“ A night-march of twenty miles, overcoated, and burdened with three days' provisions, is no joke for men who have already negotiated thirty miles of execrable country that day. It is not impossible, especially for an Irish regiment, but it is likely to entail considerable suffering, and Boyne's eagerness for the coming engagement was considerably modified by the knowledge that he would have utterly leg-weary men to handle when he brought it off. ”

“ Father Callan knew that; and he realised that unless something happened very quickly to put new life into the men there would be worse than trouble when the Afghan rush came, as it surely would come: there would be disgrace. The two-and-twenty Mullingars leaned against the cold stone wall and peered between the gaps at the thousands of Afghans in front of them ”

“ The result was exactly what he intended; now, when a man fell headlong, and that happened every other minute, for the track was all rocks and a yard wide in places—the vile oaths gave place to laughter. ”

“ We're to catch him up if possible; but if we can't do that, we're to follow as fast as we can, and join him on the hill-top.”
“Catch him, is it?” said Father Callan. “I'm thinking the devil couldn't catch him the way he's going! The Government's to blame: it comes of making officers of Irish. men; they think there's glory waitin' over the brow of every hill they come to, an' they're for ever tryin' to get there first.”
Darcy took two men's rifles as well, so that four men were now marching lighter, and for a while they made better progress. ”

“ I know it. But don't let the men hear ye! They're sorry-enough looking goats as it is. They'll lie down and die if they think they're lost! Let's halt a minute and try to find the trail. Set those rifles down, and have a look for the hoof-marks of the ammunition mules; and sometimes the men'll drop a cartridge or two; ye might find one.”
“What, on this hill-side in the dark? We'd better fire a volley to let Boyne know we're in trouble and can't find him.”
“Aye! and let the Afghans know it too! ”

“ Then came another rush of hairy, half-naked Afghans, armed with tulwars, and covered by a hot fire from the valley below. They swarmed up closer this time before the volleys withered them; that was partly due to their determination, and partly to Father Callan's husbanding of ammunition; one man died on a Mullingar's bayonet as he reached the wall, and the volley that sent the remainder tumbling down the hill again was the last from that hill-top. ”

“ The volley barked out with precision, for all their cold fingers, but the shots went wild. To attract Boyne's attention, though, was the main thing, and it had that effect, for, a minute afterward, the company signaller began flag-wagging from the hill.
“Can any of you read that?” asked Father Callan.
Not a man answered.
“Can you, sergeant?”
“No, Father.“
“Then we'll waste no time trying. Watch the enemy, and wait. Captain Boyne knows where we are now; he'll let no harm come to us.”
Now, if you let the men of an Irish regiment get drunk, they will fight anything except the devil ”

“ They're supposed to be camped on the top of a long flat hill that runs nearly east and west across the line of march, and they've got a Mullah with them who's preaching fight.
“They don't seem to fancy a pitched battle, though, and the general's afraid that they'll bolt if he sends a whole regiment to get in touch with them. So you're to take your company and try to draw them into a fight; they'll tackle you fast enough when they find they've got no more than one company to deal with. ”

“ Keep them sober, by the grace of God and infinite precaution, and you may include the devil among the list of combatants; they will fight him too, and beat him at his own game. But you should keep them warm, in any case, and, drunk or sober, you should keep them busy. ”

“ You'll be supported, of course. The Camerons and two regiments of Ghoorkas have started already from the left wing; but they have to make a wide détour, and you can't expect them to connect with you before mid-day at the earliest. Look out for them though, from the south-west, and after they get there take your orders from Colonel Mackinnon of the Camerons.
“Now in front of the enemy's position, and within rifle-range, there's a cone-shaped hill that they've left undefended; your job is to get on top of that and make a sangar, if there isn't one already ”