An escort is imposed upon us
on my way. I had a shock therefore when Kerim told me
that the authorities could not let me risk the journey alone,
and that the Head of Police, the Sardari Naib Khan, would
himself escort me along the new road. This came, I felt, of
making myself too important: it is always a difficult matter
to strike the correct balance, for one wants to have one's
wishes attended to and if possible not to be either deported
or interned as a vagrant, but on the other hand one also
wishes to remain insignificant enough to be left alone. I
thought, however, that if I waited till the Chief of Police were
separated from his colleagues, I might stand a better chance
with him, and perhaps even persuade him to help in the loot-
ing of a grave or two: there was, anyway, nothing for it but
to accept their arrangement with as great an appearance of
pleasure as I could.
I said farewell to Kerim Khan and his ladies next morning,
and made westward again for the nomad land. We started
alone: the Sardari Naib was to meet us at Deh Ram, an hour
or so on our way.
When we got to this village there was no sign of him either
there or on the plain behind us. I thought he could easily
overtake our baggage animals, and decided to push on to the
tents where we had lodged before, and so get across the flat
ground while the day was not yet too hot. Both Hajji and
the Lur had doubts about this plan and followed reluctandy:
they did not think the Sardari would like those particular
tents, whose loyalty appeared to be doubtful: but I was tired
of watching my escort crumple up whenever we met any-
thing in the shape of a policeman, and remarked that what
was good enough for me was good enough for the Sardari, a
monstrous heresy which reduced them to silence.
The day was fine: the light lay bright on the folds of the
hills: the plain of Alishtar, like a shallow bowl with crested
[31]