Some of the men began to murmur.
In that camp we remained, if I rightly remember, six days.

And then came word from Habibullah Kahn, the Afghan amir, that we might draw nearer Khabul.

So, keeping our distance from the Germans, we helped one another into the saddle (so weak most of us were by that time) and went forward three days' march.

Then we camped again, much closer to the Germans this time, in fact, almost within shouting distance; and they again set up their machine, causing sparks to crackle from the wires of a telescopic tower they raised, to the very great concern of the Afghans who were in and out of both camps all day long.

One message that an Afghan told me the Germans had received, was that the British fleet was all sunk and Paris taken.
But that sort of message seemed to me familiar, so that I was not so depressed by it as my Afghan informant had hoped.