CHITRAL AND THE N.W. FRONTIER CAMPAIGN 458 safeconduct back to India if theywould evacuate the fort, whichhe declared was quite untenable. SirG.Robertsonrather encouragedthese parleys, as the days and nights of truce for the negotiations gave the littlegarrison somemuch-needed rest. But throughout he was careful to guard against treachery. Umra Khan tried to use the fact that he had Edwardes and Fowler in his possession as a means of bringing pressure to bear on the garrison;and Robertson,anxious for their lives, tried to get them sent into the fort. Finally,Umrareleasedthem,sending them down toLow'scamp. He had treated them very well, keeping them under the guard of some of his most trusty followers, and disguising them as Afghans inorder to diminishthe chance of some fanatic murdering them. Sher Afzul also tried negotiation, making all manner of promises of what he would do if he were recognised as Melatar. At last, finding that these parleys left the garrison as steady as everin their defence of the fort, the enemy began to press the siege more vigorously, very cleverly pushing their sungars close to the walls, even into the very gardenof the fort, and trying to set it on fire.

in the middle a crescent and crossed swords cut out of white stuff. He was a little upset by our want of appreciation, and went awayslowly to remove his own particular creations. The flag was carefully erected on the top of the lofty tower to the south-west at night, for it was a long operation, and we did not want anyone hit,as that might looklike a bad omen.

At early dawn and every morning after, when one capped to the fluttering rag, a smile of confidence, one might almost say the smile of adoration to a fetish, accompanied the action. During a siege, as well as in all other occasions of a man's life, there is plenty of room for superstition. We, for instance, will always believe that this flag turned the scale of our fortunes from the moment it was run up. In truth it helped us greatly. It cheered our hearts and stiffened our backs. Critical eyes have since discovered that it was made incorrectly, that certain narrow white stripes were all of the same width, so that it could never have been flown upside down as a signal of distress. Happier are we that such a contingency was never provided for. Sentiment still hangs about this improvised Union Jack. It is still oneofmy dearestpossessions." March 28th was a remarkable day in the annals of the siege. "Ihad often lamented," writes Sir G.Robertson," not having with me my British Agent's flag, which had been left behind at Gilgit. PossiblyIwas getting superstitious on the subject, and imagined that its absence brought us illluck. It seemed almost improper, not to say illegal, to fight withoutthe Union Jack floatingover our heads. Also many people were getting downhearted, for our prospeces were undeniably a little cloudy. So we went into committeeon the subject, and decided we must have a flag. Harley,of course,at once produced a Sikh soldier who was agood needle■ man;he had men equal to every emergency. Shuja-ul-Mulk gave me some cheap red-dyed cloth, a blue turban being also contributed, and some white cotton material. Whitchurch's share was important. He possessed an empty tin of Navy-Cut tobacco with a picture of a Jack upon it, which weused as a pattern. The others gave advice. With scissors, needle and thread the Sikh went to work. The width of the stripes and their other proportions were earnestly debated; the pole and everything connected with it were also anxiously discussed. When the flag was finished, a day later, and brought for final inspection, we found it admirable in every way, except that its contriver had sought to improve upon our national ensign by sewing On the night of April 6th the enemy succeeded in setting fire to one of the towers. With great difficulty, and not without loss from the enemy's rifles, the garrison succeeded in getting the blaze extinguished. Robertson himself was badly woundedin the shoulder during the fight with thefire. After this narrow escape there was for a few days a lull in the activity of the besiegers. Then theybecamemoreenergetic than ever. Bullets fromrifles,stones from slings, rattledandcrashed on roofand wall. Often in the daytime, still more frequently at night, the enemy wouldbeginshouting andbeating drums, so that the garrison would rush to their posts expecting an attempt to storm the fort. Some of the friendly Chitralis in the place warned the officers that under cover of this noise the besiegersmight be driving a mine fromoneof their advanced works. The men with the sharpest ears were set to listen in the lower part of the fort, but they could hear no sound of pick or spade, and the rumour of the mine was temporarily dismissed as onemore baseless report.

But on the morningof April 17th Townshend sent wordthat he couldcertainly distinguish the noise of miners at work, close to one ol the towers, and there was a hurried council ot war as to what was to be done to meet this deadly