The Broken Road

The Broken Road

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Title: The Broken Road
Author: A. E. W. Mason
Release Date: January 20, 2004 [eBook #10755]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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BROKEN ROAD ***
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THE BROKEN ROAD
BY A.E.W. MASON
AUTHOR OF "FOUR FEATHERS," "THE TRUANTS," "RUNNING

WATER," ETC.
1907

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
THE BREAKING OF THE ROAD
II. INSIDE THE FORT
III. LINFORTH'S DEATH
IV. LUFFE LOOKS FORWARD
V. A MAGAZINE ARTICLE
VI. A LONG WALK
VII. IN THE DAUPHINÉ
VIII. A STRING OF PEARLS
IX. LUFFE IS REMEMBERED
X. AN UNANSWERED QUESTION
XI. AT THE GATE OF LAHORE
XII. ON THE POLO-GROUND
XIII. THE INVIDIOUS BAR
XIV. IN THE COURTYARD

XV. A QUESTION ANSWERED
XVI. SHERE ALI MEETS AN OLD FRIEND
XVII. NEWS FROM MECCA
XVIII. SYBIL LINFORTH'S LOYALTY
XIX. A GIFT MISUNDERSTOOD
XX. THE SOLDIER AND THE JEW
XXI. SHERE ALI IS CLAIMED BY CHILTISTAN
XXII. THE CASTING OF THE DIE
XXIII. SHERE ALI'S PILGRIMAGE
XXIV. NEWS FROM AJMERE
XXV. IN THE ROSE GARDEN
XXVI. THE BREAKING OF THE PITCHER
XXVII. AN ARRESTED CONFESSION
XXVIII. THE THIEF
XXIX. MRS. OLIVER RIDES THROUGH PESHAWUR
XXX. THE NEEDED IMPLEMENT
XXXI. AN OLD TOMB AND A NEW SHRINE
XXXII. SURPRISES FOR CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
XXXIII. IN THE RESIDENCY
XXXIV. ONE OF THE LITTLE WARS

XXXV. A LETTER FROM VIOLET
XXXVI. "THE LITTLE LESS--"
CHAPTER I
THE BREAKING OF THE ROAD
It was the Road which caused the trouble. It usually is the road. That
and a reigning prince who was declared by his uncle secretly to have
sold his country to the British, and a half-crazed priest from out beyond
the borders of Afghanistan, who sat on a slab of stone by the river-bank
and preached a djehad. But above all it was the road--Linforth's road. It
came winding down from the passes, over slopes of shale; it was built
with wooden galleries along the precipitous sides of cliffs; it snaked
treacherously further and further across the rich valley of Chiltistan
towards the Hindu Kush, until the people of that valley could endure it
no longer.
Then suddenly from Peshawur the wires began to flash their quiet and
ominous messages. The road had been cut behind Linforth and his
coolies. No news had come from him. No supplies could reach him.
Luffe, who was in the country to the east of Chiltistan, had been
informed. He had gathered together what troops he could lay his hands
on and had already started over the eastern passes to Linforth's relief.
But it was believed that the whole province of Chiltistan had risen.
Moreover it was winter-time and the passes were deep in snow. The
news was telegraphed to England. Comfortable gentlemen read it in
their first-class carriages as they travelled to the City and murmured to
each other commonplaces about the price of empire. And in a house at
the foot of the Sussex Downs Linforth's young wife leaned over the cot
of her child with the tears streaming from her eyes, and thought of the
road with no less horror than the people of Chiltistan. Meanwhile the
great men in Calcutta began to mobilise a field force at Nowshera, and
all official India said uneasily, "Thank Heaven, Luffe's on the spot."
Charles Luffe had long since abandoned the army for the political
service, and, indeed, he was fast approaching the time-limit of his

career. He was a man of breadth and height, but rather heavy and dull
of feature, with a worn face and a bald forehead. He had made enemies,
and still made them, for he had not the art of suffering fools gladly; and,
on the other hand, he made no friends. He had no sense of humour and
no general information. He was, therefore, of no assistance at a
dinner-party, but when there was trouble upon the Frontier, or beyond
it, he was usually found to be the chief agent in the settlement.
Luffe alone had foreseen and given warning of the danger. Even
Linforth, who was actually superintending the making of the road, had
been kept in ignorance. At times, indeed, some spokesman from among
the merchants of Kohara, the city of Chiltistan where year by year the
caravans from Central Asia met the caravans from Central India, would
come to his tent and expostulate.
"We are better without the road, your Excellency. Will you