But already the words began to be spoken and the little incidents to occur which were to ripen him for his destiny.

They were garnered into his memories as separate and unrelated events.

It was not until afterwards that he came to know how deeply they had left their marks, or that he set them in an ordered sequence and gave to them a particular significance.
Even at the Fort of Chakdara a beginning had been made.
Shere Ali was standing in the little battery on the very summit of the Fort.

Below him was the oblong enclosure of the men's barracks, the stone landings and steps, the iron railings, the numbered doors.

He looked down into the enclosure as into a well.