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diff --git a/old/64253-0.txt b/old/64253-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fe4c861..0000000 --- a/old/64253-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8060 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Only an Ensign, Volume 2 (of 3), by James -Grant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Only an Ensign, Volume 2 (of 3) - A Tale of the Retreat from Cabul - -Author: James Grant - -Release Date: January 10, 2021 [eBook #64253] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Al Haines - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ONLY AN ENSIGN, VOLUME 2 (OF -3) *** - - - - - ONLY AN ENSIGN - - A Tale of the Retreat from Cabul. - - - BY JAMES GRANT, - - AUTHOR OF "THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "FIRST LOVE AND LAST LOVE," - "LADY WEDDERBURN'S WISH," ETC. - - - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. II. - - - - "Come what come may, - Time and the Hour runs through the roughest day."--_Macbeth._ - - - LONDON: - TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. - 1871. - [_All Rights Reserved._] - - - - - LONDON: - BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - CHAP. - - I.--BEYOND THE LAND OF THE SUN - II.--IN THE AFGHAN FORT - III.--THE WARNING - IV.--WHAT TOOK US THERE - V.--TIFFIN WITH THE TRECARRELS - VI.--THE APPOINTMENT - VII.--"THE BAND PLAYS AT TWO" - VIII.--THE DRIVE - IX.--ADVENTURE IN CABUL - X.--THE MOSQUE OF BABER - XI.--"_Only an Ensign_" - XII.--ASSASSINATION - XIII.--HOME IN THE SPIRIT - XIV.--IN THE FORTIFIED CAMP - XV.--CHRISTMAS AT CABUL - XVI.--THE MORNING OF THE RETREAT - XVII.--THE HALT BY THE LOGHUR RIVER - XVIII.--SPIRITED AWAY! - XIX.--THE SKIRMISH - XX.--IN THE KHYBER PASS - XXI.--WALLER'S ADVENTURES - XXII.--CHANCE BETTER THAN DESIGN - XXIII.--DENZIL A NAWAB - XXIV.--A MEETING - XXV.--MARRIED OR NOT? - XXVI--THE WANDERER - XXVII.--THE LOST STEAMER - - - - -ONLY AN ENSIGN. - - - -CHAPTER I. - -BEYOND THE LAND OF THE SUN. - -Far, far away from rough and rocky Cornwall--from steep Tintagel with -all its memories of King Arthur's knights, his "Table Round" and -flirting queen; from the traditionary haunts of its giant Tregeagle, -and from its wondrous mines deep, deep down below even the blue waves -of the Atlantic; far away beyond the Indus and the frontiers of -British India, fifteen hundred miles from Calcutta, and seven hundred -from the shores of the Arabian Gulf, we have to change the scene to -where a British army, under General Elphinstone, was cantoned before -the city of Cabul, ere we can look after the fortunes of Denzil -Devereaux, of whom we have barely thought, while progressing through -an entire volume of our story. - -A detachment of his regiment, under a captain named Waller, was -attached to General's Trecarrel's Native Infantry Brigade; and an -afternoon in November of the second year after the military -occupation of the province by her Majesty's troops, found him -quartered, with his brother officers, the aforesaid -captain--popularly known as Bob Waller--a lieutenant named Jack -Polwhele, also of the "Cornish Light Bobs," in one of the little -native forts, of which a dozen or more lay scattered over the plain -between the British cantonments and the bleak range of hills named -Siah Sung, or "the Black Rocks." - -The apartment in which the three were seated, each in a bamboo easy -chair and wearing fur-trimmed poshteens (or native pelisses) above -their blue undress surtouts, while they idled over brandy-pawnee and -a box of cigars, was neither luxurious nor splendid, being simply a -portion of a half shattered tower of native construction, before the -windows of which the Bengal Sappers had erected a species of -verandah, as a promenade and shade from the sun in summer; but now -the season was winter; and though the evening was temperate, a fire -blazed merrily in the open grate-less fireplace, and shed a cheerful -glow on the whitewashed walls, the only adornments of which were -certain caricatures (executed by Waller with burnt cork) of the -regimental adjutant, of the brigade major, of "old Elphinstone," or -other personages, to him more or less obnoxious. A charpoy or native -bedstead, a few bullock-trunks, an overland ditto, an iron -washing-stand, several pairs of boots, a few swords, whips, guns and -hogspears, with any number of bottles, full or empty, littering the -corners, made up the splendours of Bob Waller's quarters in the fort, -from which, some two years before, Sir Robert Sale's brigade had -summarily expelled sundry unwilling Kussilbashes at the point of the -bayonet. - -The rooms of Denzil and Jack Polwhele in other parts of the same rude -edifice were precisely similar; but their soldiers were hutted in the -cantonments close by. - -One window of Waller's room faced the hills to the westward and the -Arab-looking village of Behmaru, which means "the place of the -husbandless," from a legend of the time of old--remote, perhaps, as -the wars of Mohammed Ghori. An Afghan maid of high rank had been -betrothed to a chief whom she tenderly loved; for the Afghans, though -strict Mussulmen, neither seclude their wives, as others usually do, -nor wed without duly winning them. But tidings came that he had -fallen in battle against the Hindoos, on which she pined away and -died. The news, however, was premature, for the chief recovered from -his wounds, and returned to find only her grave on the hillside now -called Behmaru; so he brought from Bourkhor one of those strange and -spectral-like white stones, which, when placed upright, so closely -resemble an eastern woman in her drapery, and set it above her tomb. -In his old age he, too, was laid beneath it, and in time to come a -village sprung up there. - -Another window faced the south, affording the more ample view of the -huts and compounds (_i.e._, hedges and palisades) of the British -Cantonments, and about two miles beyond them the great city of Cabul, -surrounded of course by a fortified wall, as what city in that part -of the world is not. Here and there rose above the flat roofs of its -narrow streets the tower or castle of a chief; the dome or minar of a -mosque; and the huge mass of its vast bazaar, built in the time of -Aurengzebe, when it became the trade emporium of Central Asia; and -high over all, the Bala Hissar, or palace (wherein resided the Shah -Sujah, whose power our troops had come most unwisely to uphold) and -which was also the citadel or fortress--a place of vast strength; and -far away in the distance, rising like the waves of a frozen sea -against a deep blue sky, were the mighty peaks of Kohistan and Hindoo -Koosh, in height fourteen thousand feet above the plain, and crowned -by eternal snows, unchanged in aspect and character, as the dwellers -there have been since Alexander marched past them with his Greeks to -the conquest of the Eastern world, and since Malimoud of Ghuznee -poured his hordes across the Indus in the eleventh century. - -The boy ensign--he over whose couch a pale, sad mother hung, watching -as he lay asleep and unconscious on the eventful morning of his -departure--watching him tearfully and tenderly while he was _yet her -own_--was now a well knit, well set up and weather-beaten looking -young fellow. A few months of campaigning had changed the erratic -Sandhurst cadet, whose best exploits had been breaking lamps and -dismounting the college guns to spite the governor, into a practical -soldier; and all that remained in him of the mere lad had nearly -given place to the quietly confident air of a man--one who could take -his part in society as the leader of others; one who had faced perils -and surmounted them by his own unaided energy; for already had Denzil -been twice under fire, and had, with a small party, defeated more -than one plundering band of the fierce Beloochees. - -Ignorant of the calamitous state of matters at home, and of the -sorrows of his sister, Denzil, with the natural elasticity of youth, -aided by the excitement consequent to military life in the -cantonments of Cabul, had recovered the first shock occasioned by his -father's loss at sea, and hence on the evening we have met him again, -he was in excellent spirits. General Trecarrel had arrived shortly -before this, and was now in command of a brigade. His daughters were -with him, and proved leading attractions in that little circle of -British residents, the European society, military and diplomatic, in -and about Cabul, of which Lady Sale and Lady Macnaghten were the -recognised heads; and Denzil had been duly introduced to Mabel and -Rose by his friend Waller (who had known them in Calcutta), of the -result of which introduction we shall have more to say in time to -come. - -Audley Trevelyan had not yet come up country, as he had been landed -on the sick list at Bombay. - -The young ladies knew well the story of Constance's alleged marriage, -and Denzil's consequent claim to rank; but the tale seemed strange -and mysterious, and good taste caused them to be silent, and to keep -in the Cantonments and Residency at least what they deemed to be the -secret of Denzil, who was an especial favourite with them both; but -he never took them into his confidence, though he had taken his -friend Waller, one day when they were on guard together at the -arsenal and commissariat fort. On that occasion but little passed, -and it proved a guide for the future conduct of Denzil. - -"You remember our quarrel, Bob?" he asked. - -"And the interrupted duel--what griffs we were! Yes--well; what of -it?" - -"I want your advice, old fellow;" and then he read to Waller certain -portions of a letter from Sybil, impressing upon him the necessity -for silence on their now unsupported claims. - -"Your sister is right, Denzil, and advises you like a sensible girl," -said Waller, after a pause, during which he had been thoughtfully -filling his pipe with cavendish; "neither here nor at home--here most -especially--can you prove anything. The important papers seem to be -lost irretrievably; that lawyer fellow, with the name so consonant to -his trade, Sharkley, has failed in the matter; so be, as your sister -advises, a Devereaux till you can, if ever, announce yourself with -strength, a Trevelyan; and have no quarrels--she seems very sensitive -about that--with your kinsman on Trecarrell's staff; for meanwhile we -may have the Afghans, the Ghilzies, the Kussilbashes, and the devil -knows how many more darkies to fight." - -Both Waller and Polwhele were unusually good-looking fellows of that -peculiar style to be found in the British service, and in no other in -Europe. In years they were not more than six or seven-and-twenty; -and the former had attained his company after eight years' service in -India. - -His stature verged on six feet; his features were perfectly regular -and aquiline; he had fair hair, which he parted in the middle with an -amount of care only equalled by that adopted in curling his long, -fair whiskers. He had very white teeth, and merry, roguish blue -eyes. He possessed a singular aptitude for making himself -essentially useful and agreeable to the married ladies, who consulted -him on all manner of things, for Waller excelled in everything, from -driving a four-in-hand drag to making a pig out of an orange at -supper. He shone in amateur theatricals; wrote verses (not always -his own composition) in albums; took charge of the band; got up all -the parties and picnics about the station, and even the balls at the -Residency, if such they could be called, in a European circle so -excessively limited, as that of our garrison at Cabul. - -Jack Polwhele was perhaps the more soldier-like of the two; he was -fully an inch less in stature than Waller, taper-waisted and -broad-chested; to his weather-beaten face, dark complexion, and -sparkling eyes of the clearest hazel, a pair of black eyebrows, and a -heavy mustache of the same tint, imparted a great deal of character; -and being closely shaven, the contour of a chin indicative of -decision--a virtue essentially military--was fully displayed. He had -a smarter, perhaps more dashing, air than Waller; but like him -exhibited a set of teeth, unique for whiteness and regularity, when -he laughed, which he always did heartily, for like most young -officers, he was a happy and heedless fellow. - -He and Waller were rather considered to be two "pattern officers" of -the Cornish Light Infantry, a corps which carries on its colours all -the honours of the old war that began on the plains of Corunna and -ended on those of Waterloo; and to these are added the glories of -India down to the battle of Goojerat and the terrible siege of -Lucknow. - -Raised in 1702, in the days of the Good Queen Anne, it has served in -every war that added honour or territory to the British Empire, and -numbers among its Colonels sturdy old Brigadier Jacob Borr, who, -before the capture of Barcelona in 1705, during the strife of the -Spanish Succession, in a dispute about precedence, fought a duel in -front of the British lines, sword in hand, in his Ramillies wig and -lace ruffles, with Colonel Rodney of the Marines, whom he ran fairly -through the body; Brigadier Thomas Paget of the House of Uxbridge; -the ferocious old John Huske, who did such butcherly things at -Culloden; Lieutenant-General Leighton of Watlesborough; William -Amherst, who was Governor of Newfoundland during the American War of -Independence; Ralph Earl of Rosse, and others, down to General -Trecarrel, to whom Sir John Keane presented the watch already -referred to, subsequent to the storming of Ghuznee, where "Old Tre," -as the soldiers named him, was the second man through the Cabul gate, -after Colonel Peat had blown it up, by three hundred pounds of -gunpowder. - -The conversation of those with whom Denzil now found himself, will -best explain the state of affairs in Cabul, and the new phase of -society in which Destiny had cast him. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -IN THE AFGHAN FORT. - -"So, Polwhele, I find by the Order Book, that you are detailed for -the party against the plundering Ghazeeas?" said Waller. - -"Yes; I shall have the pleasure of scouring all the Siah Sung after -these wretched fanatics to-morrow." - -"What force goes with you?" - -"Thirty rank and file of ours, with Sergeant Treherne." - -"Son of old Mike, the miner, at Porthellick?" - -"Yes; and forty of the thirty-seventh Native Infantry under Burgoyne." - -"But I believe you are to tiff, with us at the Trecarrels in the -afternoon," observed Denzil. "The General's Chuprassey, a half-naked -fellow with a brass badge, brought Waller and me pink notes of -invitation, and I saw there was one for you." - -"I shall be duly there if a ball from a juzail, or a slash from an -Afghan knife don't put me on the sick list, or give you a chance of a -lieutenancy," replied Polwhele, twirling his thick black moustache. - -"It is wretched work we are condemned to, at times, here." - -"Yes," rejoined Polwhele, "and I fear that my little affair with the -Ghazeeas is but the forerunner of some greater disturbance." - -"However, to-morrow or the day after, the Envoy is to have a solemn -conference with the ferocious Ackbar Khan." - -"I don't think much will come of that," continued Polwhele. "It is -to the memories of Plassey, Assaye, and a hundred glorious battles, -rather than to our present numerical force, that we Britons owe our -_prestige_ in the East; but here in Cabul, beyond the Indus, it has -not yet been felt, thanks to parsimony and utter mismanagement, civil -and military." - -"Don't take to grumbling, Jack, but pass the brandy bottle, old -fellow. I hope we shall keep Shah Sujah on his throne despite Ackbar -Khan and all the rebellious rabble in Afghanistan. What was up in -your quarter yesterday? You were on guard near the old tomb and -temple westward of the Cantonments." - -"Up--how?" - -"I heard a sound of musketry near it." - -"One discharge?" - -"Yes." - -"Oh--you remember that odd-looking fellow who appeared at the -band-stand and cut such strange capers when the musicians of the 37th -were playing an air from Rossini. Well, he proved to be a Thug, and -all the implements of Thugee--the holy pick-axe, the handkerchief and -cord for strangulation, were found upon him." - -"Not in his clothes," said Denzil, "for he had none, so the orderlies -switched him away from the vicinity of the Trecarrels' carriage." - -"I saw those wags of girls in fits of laughter at him. No, the -implements were not found in his clothes, certainly, but in his hair, -which hung below his waist, plaited like ropes. Many murders--he had -strangled Christians and Hindoos with perfect impartiality--were -fully proved against him by the Provost-Marshal, so he was shot, -off-hand, to save all further trouble." - -"So those Thugs are a sect?" said Denzil. - -"Yes; and a vast community of secret assassins, too. As for sects, -you will find as many here as in England, but calling themselves by -different names, Mahommedans, Soonies, Ismaelites, Parsees, Hindoos, -Bheels, Khonds, and worshippers of Mumbo Jumbo, et cetera, all hating -each other most cordially; and by Jove, amid them, we may say as the -knight of La Mancha said to his squire, 'Here, brother Sancho, we can -put our hands up to the elbows in what are called adventures.'" - -"Who are to be at the Trecarrels' to-morrow?" asked Waller, -manipulating a fresh cigar. - -"Ask Devereaux," replied Polwhele, sending some spiral circles -towards him, and laughing the while. - -"Why me?" asked Denzil, with a little annoyance of tone. - -"How amusingly pink you become, my boy, whenever their names are -mentioned," said Polwhele; "doubtless you will be 'doing' our old -Cornwall all over again with Rose, though it is evident your heart is -not _there_." - -"Where, then?" - -"In Cabul, and nearer Kohistan than the Well of St. Keyne," replied -Polwhele, who, as his name imports, was a Cornishman; and he added, -laughingly. "What says Southey?-- - - But if the wife should drink of it first, - God help the husband then! - * * * * * * - I hastened as soon as the wedding was done, - And left my wife in the porch; - But i'faith she had been wiser than me, - For she took a bottle to church. - -Ah, well do I remember that old spring so famed for its virtues, -arched over by old masonry, above which grow five ancient trees, the -Cornish oak, the elm, and three ashes, their roots entwined like a -network in the turf and moss! But to return to the Trecarrels and -their tiffin to-morrow, if I escape the Ghazeeas, who are we likely -to meet?" - -"Well, I have heard that Lady Sale--" - -"The wife of 'Fighting Bob' of the 13th Light Infantry!" - -"--Is to be there; the General Commanding too, if his health will -permit it, and most likely her Majesty's Envoy to the Shah," -continued Denzil, still colouring plainly and deeply. - -"I knew that you could tell us all about it; for, of course, the fair -Rose employed you to write all the little pink notes on the perfumed -paper. You seem very soft in that quarter, Denzil; but one might as -well attempt to catch a meteor, my friend, as that girl's heart." - -"Don't say so, Jack," urged Denzil, so earnestly that both Waller and -Polwhele laughed immoderately. - -"You will be like the little boy who wept for the moon," said the -former, curling and caressing his long fair whiskers complacently. - -"And be assured, she has a soul far above Ensigns," added his other -tormentor, for unluckily for his own peace of mind, Denzil had fallen -a tender victim to the flirting Rose; "yet, I must admit, that the -girl--the second Trecarrel I mean--is charming; almost handsome." - -"Nay, more than handsome!" added Waller emphatically, "and I must -sympathize with Denzil, as I rather affect _la belle_ Mab myself." - -"But the old General has little more than his pay, or he would never -have brought the girls so far up country else; at least, the -good-natured Cantonment folks who indulge in _gup_ say so," remarked -Polwhele, using the native word for "gossip." "And now I must go, -for Burgoyne and I mean to study the geography of yonder confounded -hills which we have to scour to-morrow; and we move off from the -Cantonments in the dark--an hour before daybreak." - -"One glass more ere you go, Jack." - -"Thanks," replied Polwhele, and then he added with mock gravity; "two -of the golden rules of my simple domestic economy are, a cheroot and -glass of stiff brandy-pawnee before switching the mosquito curtains -and turning in; and a cup of cold tea, with a wet towel about my -temples before morning parade; or at least, such used to be my -custom, before we came to this Arctic and Afghan, rather than Orient -region." - -"And considering late hours immoral, you always come into quarters -_early_ in the morning." - -"A third golden rule--precisely so, old fellow," replied the other as -he assumed his sword and forage-cap. He was about to go, when -Waller's servant, a soldier in livery, appeared to announce that a -native wished "to speak with the Sahibs Waller and Polwhele on -particular business." - -"Now, what can the nigger want?" asked Polwhele; "a Parsee -money-lender perhaps--have you been flying kites, Bob?" - -"Show him in, Brooklands," said Waller; "he is no less a personage -than Taj Mohammed Khan. He expressed a wish to see us yesterday, -when I met him near the gate of the Shah Bagh;* so remain for a few -minutes, Jack." - - -* Royal Garden. - - -"Khan--is he a chief?" asked Denzil. - -"Not at all," replied Waller; "it is used as Esquire with us--a title -given in England to every fellow who wears a black coat; so everybody -is a Khan (_i.e._ noble) in Cabul. The world of snobbery reproduces -itself everywhere; and here he comes stroking his long beard with an -air of solemn satisfaction," he added, as an Afghan gentleman of tall -and imposing appearance, was ushered into the apartment, making low -salams as he advanced. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE WARNING. - -The Afghan who entered was tall and muscular, but spare in person and -was a very good representation of his active, bold and warlike race. -His features were keen and sharp; his nose thin and aquiline; his -eyes, black, glittering and piercing; but his complexion was scarcely -darker than that of an ordinary Spaniard or French Catalan. The -scalp of his head was shaved; but this peculiarity of the Soonies--an -orthodox Mohammedan sect in opposition to the Persians who are -followers of Ali--was concealed by his head-dress, a _loonghee_, or -cloth worn turbanwise, of a bright blue check with a red border and -drooping gold fringe. - -His costume was extremely simple and consisted of a camise or blouse -of scarlet stuff, with loose sleeves, wide baggy trowsers of dark -cotton reaching to half-boots that were closely buttoned to the limb. -Over his shoulder--as the season was winter--hung a large mantle of -finely-dressed sheepskin well tanned, with the soft fleecy wool -inwards, and round his waist a Cashmere shawl worn as a girdle, and -therein he carried a pair of brass-butted flint-lock pistols, an -Afghan knife and dagger. His sabre with cross-hilt and crooked blade -dangled nearly in front of him, and on his left wrist, secured by a -silver chain, sat a hooded hawk; for now in the nineteenth century, -as in Europe ages ago, falconry is a favourite sport of the hardy -Afghans. - -Such was the remarkable figure which the three young officers rose to -greet. Unlike the cringing servility of the slimy Hindoo, the -bearing of the Afghan mountaineer is proud, but grave and full of -natural dignity; and few were nobler in Cabul than their visitor Taj -Mohammed Khan, son of the Hereditary Wuzeer Golam Mohammed, a -strenuous adherent of the reigning Shah Sujah and friend of the -British Government, which upheld that feeble monarch on his shaky -throne. - -Taj Mohammed was a very devout Mussulman, and most strictly obeyed -the Koran in all its precepts (save one), repeating his prayers five -times daily; namely in the morning, when noon is past, in the evening -before sunset, and after dark, ere the first watch of the night be -passed; but he could not resist an occasional glass of wine. - -His family had ever possessed vast influence in that remote region; -he was lord of fertile lands and vineyards in the Pughman Valley, and -already two of his brothers had fallen in battle, and one been burned -alive, for adherence to the Shah, whose story we shall relate in a -subsequent chapter. - -After being seated and assisted by Denzil to wine, which like many -other Mohammedans he drank in secret, or when among unbelieving -Feringhees, he proceeded at once to state the object of his visit, -which he did in tolerable English, having been long an exile in one -of the cities of British India, though the language of his native -land is a dialect of the Scriptural Chaldaic. - -"You know, Waller Sahib, that the Envoy of the Queen of England and -of the great Lord Sahib Bahadur Auckland, is to have a meeting with -Ackbar Khan at an early period to consult as to the unsettled state -of affairs--the discontents, in fact, among us--in Cabul?" - -"Yes, Khan--we have all heard so; and what then?" - -"Are you to be present?" - -"I expect to have the pleasure," replied Waller. - -"Then do not go, and bid the Envoy also not to go." - -"Why?" - -"Because the conference is a snare--a lure to his destruction and the -destruction of all that may accompany him. He will perish, even as -Burnes Sahib perished!" - -"We are but of subaltern rank, and may not presume to advise the -Envoy," said Waller. - -"Khan, in front of yonder Cantonments and under the very guns of the -forts, I should scarcely say that even Ackbar Khan, desperate though -his character is, would attempt such a thing," observed Polwhele. - -"You doubt me, then?" said the Afghan, proudly. - -"Nay; I only hope that you are labouring under a mistake." - -"We shall see; even Ezra had his doubts, so why not may you? Ezra -doubted the means by which Jerusalem and its inhabitants would be -again restored; but he was cured of those doubts--do you know how?" - -"'Pon my soul, I don't," said Polwhele, repressing a yawn. - -"By seeing the bones of a dead ass suddenly clothed with flesh and -resuscitated with life and breath and action, for so the blessed -Koran tells us," replied the Khan; for among the Afghans so much of -their common life and daily conversation are tinged with their -religion, its legends and precepts, that from the Shah to the veriest -slave, one might imagine the whole people to be engaged alone in holy -reflections, for seldom is a sentence uttered without some allusion -to the Deity; yet, as a nation, they are lively and merry. - -"I wish to do you both a service, Sahibs, as gratitude has placed me -in your debt. You saved my wife in the Great Bazaar from the insults -of a Sepoy soldier, who when drunk with bhang, attempted to overturn -her palanquin. I wish to do the Envoy a service and his Queen too, -by saving the lives of her servants; thus I repeat and implore you to -give ear. Warn Macnaghten Sahib, against the conference to which he -is invited, for Ackbar Khan has sworn that he will, if possible, kill -every man among you save _one_, and get all your wives and female -children into his possession." - -"As for my wife," laughed Polwhele, "he is welcome to her." - -The Afghan stared at him and frowned. - -"By Jove!" exclaimed Waller, incredulously playing with both his fair -whiskers this time; "and what is to be done with the lucky fellow he -so generously means to spare?" - -"He shall have his hands and feet cut off, and be placed at the -entrance of the Khyber Pass with a written notice to deter all -Feringhees from entering our country again." - -"And has the scoundrel sworn this?" - -"By every word in the Holy Kulma, the creed of our Prophet, he has. -Ackbar the Sirdar is the very incarnation of Eblis--the evil spirit -who betrayed Adam to transgression, and yet seeks to do injury to all -his race," continued Taj Mohammed with gleaming eyes and a glow in -his dusky cheek, for he and Ackbar Khan were politically rivals and -mortal enemies. - -"I have heard that this fellow Ackbar is somewhat slippery if not -more; but if he has ventured to conceive such projects, we should -have him tied to the mouth of a nine-pounder," exclaimed Polwhele, -adding sundry adjectives and expletives, in which young Englishmen -are apt to indulge in moments of excitement, and again the reproving -eye of the Wuzeer fell on him. - -"Do not talk thus, Sahib," said he sententiously; "know you not, that -the tongue is a precious jewel, and hence it is a thousand pities we -should pollute it?" - -"But would he dare to assassinate the Envoy?" asked Polwhele, angrily. - -"Tell me, Sahib, what Ackbar Khan would not dare?" responded the -other, quietly. - -"Egad that is true, but I hope that our troops will ere long show all -those fellows who plot mischief that we have not come 'thus far into -the bowels of the land' for nothing," replied Polwhele, laughing; -"and to-morrow I, for one, shall begin with the Ghazeeas among yonder -hills, Khan." - -"The Siah Sung is full of deep and dark caverns, Sahib," said the -friendly Afghan; "the Ghazeeas are cunning; so beware alike of -surprise and ambush." - -"Oh that will be my look-out and Burgoyne's," replied Polwhele, -confidently. - -"Besides, yonder hills are the chosen haunt of the Ghoul Biaban," -said Taj Mohammed, and though a brave man, he lowered his voice as he -spoke, for the Afghans believe devoutly in the existence of "the -Spirit of the Waste," a lonely demon inhabiting the mountain -solitudes; frightful he is, and gigantic in form, devouring any -passenger who comes in his way; forming by spells the mirage of the -desert to snare the traveller, and disinterring the dead that he may -devour them like the wife of the young king of the Black Isles. - -"I must take my chance of the Ghoul and the Ghazeeas too; though it -will be deuced hard lines to be killed by the latter and eaten, -without salt, by the former," said Polwhele, laughing again. - -"The shadow of the Prophet be over you and your soldiers, Sahib," -said the Afghan, not without a knitted brow; for though he knew -perhaps, but the half of what Polwhele said, he saw in his bearing -much of that disposition to ridicule, which is so thoroughly -intolerable to all foreigners, and does us much mischief everywhere; -and to this, and some other mistakes of manner, we owed many of the -mischiefs that ensued subsequently in Cabul. - -"Historical truth compels us to acknowledge," says the Chaplain to -the Forces, "that less regard was paid to the inhabitants than could -have been wished. Though they do not, like other Mohammedans, -universally shut up their women, the Afghans are as open to jealousy -as Orientals in general, and treating their wives often rudely, the -latter could not but be pleased with the attentions the young -Feringhees showed them. It is much to be feared that our countrymen -did not always bear in mind that the domestic habits of any people -ought to be sacred in the eyes of strangers. And hence arose by -degrees, distrust, alienation, and hostility, for which it were -unfair to deny there might be some cause. Whatever errors they -committed, the great mass of the garrison of Cabul atoned for them -terribly." - -We greatly fear that we must also admit to Messieurs Bob Waller, Jack -Polwhele, and Harry Burgoyne being among the Feringhee delinquents -referred to; and that some of their peccadilloes were alleged to have -gone beyond mere oglings, hand-squeezings, and exchange of flowers -with the fair Afghani at the Cantonment, the Band-stand, in the -Bazaar and the narrow streets of Cabul, which are barely a yard wide. - -But to resume:-- - -"I go to the Bala Hissar to seek the secret ear of the Shah," said -Taj Mohammed, as coldly and as drily as if some of the preceding -thoughts had been flitting through his mind; "I have but done my -grateful duty in coming to warn you of the future storm, for the -Envoy of your Queen has more than once turned a deaf ear to my -advice; and now----salaam." - -And with a low bow he retired ere Waller could start to his feet and -usher him out. For sooth to say, Bob had been lounging in his bamboo -chair with a leg over each arm thereof and a cheeroot between his -teeth; a very undignified mode of sitting in presence of the -Hereditary Wuzeer of Cabul. - -"A horrid bore!" commented Polwhele; "glad he has gone--took his -tipple like a Christian, though; and despite him of Mecca, has -polished off the best part of a bottle of mess sherry." - -"What the deuce are we to think of all this?" asked Denzil, who had -hitherto sat completely silent, and who already in imagination saw -the bright and beautiful Rose Trecarrel in the hands of innumerable -Afghan Bluebeards with brandished cimitars, and Mabel waving her -handkerchief like "Sister Anne" from the tower-head. - -"An unpleasant rumour, any way, and we shall not go without our -pistols," said Waller. "However, I hope his anxiety for his own post -at Court, if Ackbar triumphs, exaggerates the situation." - -"They are a strange people, these Afghans," resumed Polwhele -musingly, as he filled his tumbler again, adding, "Father Adam's pale -ale--water--is always mightily improved by a dash of brandy, thus." - -"But I have seen stranger," replied Waller; "when I was in China with -the 26th, for there the men wear petticoats and the ladies don't; old -fellows fly kites and spin tops, while the young ones study; when -puzzled they scratch their feet and not their polls like Europeans; -when angry they don't punch the head, but viciously pull each other's -tails; and they can write books without an alphabet in that -delightful language which we see on the tea-chests. Oh, the Afghans -are reasonable fellows, when contrasted with the countrymen of him of -the Wonderful Lamp." - -"Yes; but the former are a ferocious set, and deem a little homicide, -more or less, nothing. Like the Scots Highlanders of old--' - -"Take care; it is well Her Majesty's Envoy does not hear you!" - -"Every man is born a soldier, I was about to add, and even every -boy--a pestilent set of wasps they are--has his knife, and knows how -to use it; and they are all taught, that if these black rock and -yonder snow-capped hills have little attraction for them here below, -the Moollahs add that heaven teems with Houris, and that their reward -is there. Talking of Houris, we shall all meet at the Trecarrels -to-morrow, I hope; but I shan't see you till I come off Ghazeea -hunting; and, by Jove! I would rather go pig-sticking in the jungle, -or tiger-potting on a Shikaree elephant, than have a day's shooting -against those mad fanatics. However, you'll see the Envoy about what -we have heard." - -"Of course, Jack." - -And whistling a popular waltz, with his sword under his arm, and his -forage cap very much over the right ear, Jack Polwhele strode away to -Burgoyne's bungalow in the Cantonments, just as the boom of a gun -from the nearest fort, and the clang of the guard-house ghurries -announced the setting of the sun. - -Waller and Denzil sought the Envoy at the Residency; but, -unfortunately, he was on a visit to the Shah at the Bala Hissar; thus -a most precious opportunity was too probably lost. - -We shall neither follow Polwhele to his consultation with Burgoyne -about their future movements, nor to their adventures among the -cavernous range of the Siah Sung Hills; but in the subsequent chapter -shall endeavour to relate on what errand our troops, some four -thousand three hundred in number, had come into that remote, -ferocious, and most warlike region of all North-western India, -seeking to control the views and the passions of five million one -hundred and twenty thousand hostile people. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -WHAT TOOK US THERE. - -The kings of Cabul in relation to their people somewhat resembled -those of the House of Stuart when on the Scottish throne; being only -the khans of a warlike tribe, among many other khans and tribes; -hence the old Celtic term for the king of Scotland is simply the -"chief of chiefs." The resemblance to Scotland in the days of old, -is still further carried out in the fact that Cabul was a mere -amalgamation of petty republics, or clans, having at their head a -king, whose influence was felt in the capital, but whose authority -failed to reach the fierce dwellers in the glens and on the mountains. - -After witnessing many civil wars, crimes and outrages, Shah Mahmud -died, and was succeeded on the throne of Herat and Afghanistan, by -his son Kamran. - -Meanwhile Dost Mohammed Khan, another prince of the family, seized on -the beautiful vale of the Cabul river; and the Lion of Lahore, -Runjeet Sing (with whose name the newspapers long made us familiar) -over-ran all Cashmere. Dost Mohammed was desirous of securing the -friendship of the British Government, who sent Captain (afterwards -Sir Alexander) Burnes to him; but the honourable reception he -accorded to a Russian officer at Cabul about the first year of Her -present Majesty's reign caused him to be secretly distrusted by the -Governor-General of India. - -The latter, with a view to secure our north-western frontier against -Russian influence, and an intended invasion of the peninsula, became -a party to a treaty between Shah Sujah, third son of the deceased -Mahmud of Herat and Afghanistan, to re-establish him on the throne of -his ancestors; and hence war was declared against the Dost, whose -ally, Runjeet Sing, refused permission for our troops to march -through the Punjaub--"The land of the five rivers." But, heedless of -this, two Corps d'Armée, advancing simultaneously from Bombay and -Bengal, under Sir Willoughby Cotton, ten thousand strong, soon found -themselves under the walls of Candahar; and next Ghuznee, the most -formidable fortress in Asia, was stormed at the point of the bayonet, -after its gates had been blown in by a petard, and there enormous -booty was found. - -The seventh of the subsequent August saw the union-jack hoisted on -the Bala Hissar of Cabul, and Shah Sujah, an aged, effete, and most -unpopular prince, brought from exile in Loodianah and replaced upon -his ancient and hereditary throne, while an army of eight thousand -Beloochees and other wild warriors, sons of the Gedrosian desert, was -assigned him, under the command of the Shahzadeh Timour and Colonel -Simpson of the 19th Native Infantry; for such were the arrangements -of that Honourable Company of Merchants whose office was in -Leadenhall Street, in the City. - -The restored Shah, a cruel and ruthless prince, who blinded his -kinsman Futteh Khan, by thrusting a dagger into his eyes, and -afterwards having him hacked into "kabobs," soon excited great -discontent among the fiery tribes under his rule, and particularly by -retaining a regiment of Sikhs as his body-guard; and so resolute and -manifest became the hostility of the natives, that the situation of -the small British force--now reduced to little more than four -thousand men--cantoned without the walls of Cabul, grew daily more -perilous and critical, while General Elphinstone, who now commanded, -by age and health was quite unequal to the task assigned him. - -After a long and arduous contest, Dost Mohammed became at last the -peaceful prisoner of the British Government; for it chanced that one -evening, after his last battle and defeat, our envoy, Sir William -Macnaghten, when riding near Cabul, was overtaken by a horseman, -whose steed, like himself, was covered with dust and blood and flakes -of foam. - -Announcing that he was Dost Mohammed, the stranger proffered his -sword in token of surrender; for it would seem that the hapless -prince had that day ridden sixty miles from the Nijrow Valley, -quitting his routed host; and he was immediately transmitted to -Calcutta; but rejecting with hatred and scorn all offers of pension -or place from the British Government, Ackbar Khan, the most brave and -reckless of his sons, preferred a life of rude independence in -Loodianah, and never lost the hope of levying a holy war for the -extermination of the meddling and Kaffir Feringhees--the infidel -English; for so he stigmatised us. - -Prior to this point of time our little army under General Elphinstone -had remained peacefully in Cabul, far distant from the British -settlements in Hindostan. Many of the officers had built pleasant -and even pretty houses in the neighbourhood of the fortified -cantonments which lay between the hills of Behmaru and those of Siah -Sung, two miles distant from the city; and there they dwelt -comfortably and unsuspectingly with their wives and families. - -Communication with the outer world beyond the passes was however both -difficult and dubious; for the territories of wild and untrustworthy -allies lay between our troops and the Indies on one hand; and between -them and the Arabian Sea on the other. - -It was August, as before stated, when we entered Cabul. The violets, -the tulips and the wall-flower, which grow wild during spring, had -passed away; but the air was yet perfumed by the Persian iris; the -orchards and lovely gardens around the city were teeming with -luscious fruit; and the Cabul river flowed between its banks, where -the purple grape, the ruddy apple, and golden orange, bending the -laden branches, dipped in the stream or kissed its shining ripples. - -Englishmen take old England with them everywhere; and thus the honest -and confident freedom with which our officers went to and fro between -the camp and city, and the free way in which they spent their money, -won them, for a time, the favour of the Afghans; and the winter of -the first year saw the introduction of horse races, at which a -splendid sword, given by the Shah, was won by Major Daly of the 4th -Light Dragoons; cricket matches, when Bob Waller held his wicket -against the field; and cock-fighting, a favourite sport with the -natives. - -The chiefs invited them to their houses in the city and to their -castles in the country, where their double-barrelled rifles brought -down the snipes and quails, the elk, the deer, the hare and flying -fox, with a precision that elicited many a shout of "Allah" and -"Bismillah" from the entertainers. - -The winter of that year also saw our officers skating on the lake of -Istaliff, six miles from Cabul--the skates being the work of a -Scottish armourer sergeant. Amateur theatricals,* for which Polwhele -painted the scenery, were not wanting to add to the wonder of those -sequestered Orientals, to whom the doors of the houses were thrown -freely open; but with the coming spring, when the field-pea, the -yellow briar-rose, the variously tinted asphodels, and the orchards -in rich blossom, made all the valley beautiful, came the crowning -marvel, when Lieutenant Sinclair of Her Majesty's 13th Light -Infantry, an officer who possessed great mechanical skill, -constructed and launched on the lake of Istaliff, that which had -never before been seen in Afghanistan, a large boat, with masts, -sails, and oars. - - -* The favourite play was "The Irish Ambassador," and others of the -same kind. "On such occasions they changed the titles of the -_dramatis personæ_, so as to bring them and the offices of the -parties bearing them, down to the level of Afghan comprehension; -while Burnes and others skilled in the dialect of the country, -translated the speeches as they were uttered."--Sales' Brigade in -Afghanistan. - - -The plaudits of the assembled thousands made the welkin ring. - -"Now," they exclaimed, "we see that you are not like the infidel -Hindoos that follow you! You are men born and bred like ourselves in -a land where God varies the seasons, thus giving vigour to mind and -body. Oh, that you had come among us as friends, rather than -enemies, for you are fine fellows, one by one, though as a body we -hate you!" - -And so dark days were coming, for the misrule of the Shah Sujah, the -intrigues of the restless Ackbar Khan, and the national distrust of -the mountaineers of all foreign, especially Kaffir, intervention, -were soon to put an end to this pleasant state of matters. - -On the Chief of the Ghiljees spreading a rumour by letter, that it -was the intention of Sir William Macnaghten to seize all the khans of -tribes and send them to the Feringhee Queen in London, a dreadful -tumult ensued in the city, and ere the cannon could clear the -streets, several officers, among whom was Sir Alexander Burnes, were -killed in the confusion. Fast spread the spirit of revolt! The -feeble Shah shut himself up in the Bala Hissar on its towering rock; -and it was deemed advisable to make terms with the leaders, the chief -of whom was Ackbar Khan, whose conduct during the whole of those -affairs curiously combined the romantic, aristocratic, and courteous -tones of a half-civilised prince, with the ferocity of an utter -barbarian. - -A part of the garrison having been detached under Sir Robert Sale to -Jellalabad, his brigade had barely entered the terrible and tortuous -ravines which lead thereto, ere it was attacked by the mountain -hordes, and had to fight its way inch by inch for miles, and by the -middle of November, about the time this portion of our story opens, -the sixty thousand citizens of Cabul and the tribes of the -surrounding country were ripe for insurrection, the fiery elements of -discord being fanned by Ackbar Khan in person. - -And such was the state of affairs in and around Cabul on that day, -when Waller and Denzil, both well-armed--as they could not forget the -friendly warnings of Taj Mohammed--quitted their quarters in the old -fort, to have "tiffin" (_i.e._ luncheon) with the Trecarrels in the -house of the General, who had now been some two months with -Elphinstone's army, but without yet obtaining that which he had been -promised, command of a brigade, unless one to be chiefly formed of -Beloochees from the Shah's little army, under Timour the Shahzadeh, -could be considered as such a force, that speedily melted away. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -TIFFIN WITH THE TRECARRELS. - -Situated between the Residency of the Queen's Envoy and the square -fort of Kojah Meer, near the high road leading to the city past the -base of the Hills of Behmaru, the house of General Trecarrel partook -somewhat of the character of a European villa, and had been built -about a year before for a wealthy staif officer, who had been -transferred to Ceylon almost before it was finished; for so do men -change about in an army which is scattered over all the habitable -globe. - -It was two-storeyed, with a spacious dining-room and another -apartment, which Mabel and Rose had made a decided attempt to affect -as a drawing-room, with rich draperies and many pretty ornaments and -suitable decorations brought up country, or purchased in the great -bazaar of Cabul. Punkahs were not required in that temperate -climate; but a broad verandah, covered with luxuriant creepers, -afforded a sufficient shade for the windows, or to promenade under on -wet days, or in the sunny summer season. - -As in India, the arrivals were announced by a stroke on a gong. A -few guests were already assembled in the drawing-room, where the -General, more erect in bearing, and a little more emphatic in tone, -than when last we saw him, and his daughters looking as bright, as -showy and as handsome as ever, received Denzil and Waller with a -cordiality that made the heart of the former to beat lightly and -happily; for he had already begun to find more than pleasure--a joy, -in the society of the charming Rose. - -He knew not how far this emotion was reciprocated; but he longed with -all the desire of impassioned youth for some conviction, that, at -least, he was not without interest in her eyes; and Rose was -precisely the kind of girl to keep him long in the dark on that -point, and to give him serious doubts, unless it suited her -capricious fancy to act otherwise. - -He hoped that on this afternoon he might have an opportunity of -testing the matter--for learning somewhat of his fate; and felt that -a glance he could read, a whispered word, a touch of her hand, would -make him happy--oh, so happy! - -Polwhele was already there, and looking somewhat weary and excited -after his early morning tour among the hills after the Ghazees, whom -he had completely routed from their haunts, after killing or wounding -a dozen or so; Burgoyne of the 37th Native Infantry was there too, -and both were talking over their skirmish with the General. - -Two or three ladies from the cantonments, Elphinstone, the general -commanding (an old and worn-out man), with some half dozen other -officers, all in blue surtouts or scarlet _raggies_, _i.e._, -shell-jackets and white vests, with their regimental button, were -present; and cloudy though the political horizon around them, and -with the recent insurrection and assassinations in the city fresh in -their minds, they were all conversing as merrily and as heedlessly, -as if quartered at Canterbury in lieu of Cabul. The younger men -crowded about the chairs of Mabel and Rose; thus Denzil, so far from -having an opportunity of doing more than once touch the hand of the -latter, found himself obliged to listen to her father, who being a -major-general without a brigade now, was resorting to the old -soldier's privilege of grumbling. - -"Yes, sir!" said he, grimly, to Denzil, assenting to some thought of -his own, rather than any remark of the latter; "I served throughout -the whole of that victorious campaign, which saw my old friend and -comrade, Keane--he who presented me with this splendid watch--created -Baron Keane of Ghuzni and Cappoquin; while all that _I_ have gained -has been a gold medal from the Shah Sujah, and the Cross of the Bath -from Her Majesty." - -"Keane's peerage was the just reward of merit, papa," urged Rose. - -"Merit, in the service, is nothing." - -"How so, General?" asked an officer. - -"Merit is just _one_ man's opinion of another," said Trecarrel, with -a cynical laugh, "as some one writes, somewhere." - -"Is the Envoy to be here, General?" asked Waller, in a low tone. - -"No; he is still at the Bala Hissar with the Shah." - -"Most unlucky," whispered Waller to Denzil; "I should like that -message of the Wuzeer's off my conscience at least." - -"Nor are we to have the pleasure of Lady Sale's presence," continued -Trecarrel; "unpleasant rumours have been brought in by an Arab hadji, -of an attack on Sale's brigade in the Passes; but luckily they are as -yet unconfirmed." - -"I do not believe in them," said General Elphinstone, who was seated -in an easy-chair, being almost too feeble to stand; "for after we -restored Shah Sujah to his throne, we made, as you all know, a solemn -agreement with the Ghilzie Chiefs, that, for a yearly sum, they -should keep the Khoord Cabul, and other mountain passes, open between -this and Jellalabad, and offer no molestation to our troops on the -march; consequently, I repeat that I do not believe in the story of -the hadji." - -"That old fellow never believes anything; nor will he give credence -to the discontents around us, till the Afghan knives are at his -throat," whispered Waller to Polwhele; "poor Elphinstone! he is -failing fast, Jack." - -"Yes; but he was busy all summer planting peas and cabbages, like -Cincinnatus, when he should have been getting the Shah's Gholandazees -trained to their guns." - -"And will you believe it," added Burgoyne, a smart and sunburnt young -officer, "Lady Sale told me that he actually ordered Sir Robert's -regiment to march from this with flint-locks,* instead of eight -hundred percussion muskets which he requested from the store; an -error which may be most fatal by this time, if the Passes are beset." - - -* Fact. - - -Waller gazed with something of pity at the old man, who was long past -the years for command; he was orthodoxly attired in his blue undress -surtout, with a gold sash over his shoulder, and a ribbon at his -breast, with the Order of the Dooranee Empire, but death seemed -already imprinted in his anxious eyes and haggard face, which was all -wrinkles, lines, and hollows. His voice was feeble, and he had a -husky cough; yet his face seemed to brighten when he mumbled -hopefully of "getting home at last to die in old Scotland," though -fated never to issue from the Khyber Pass, save as a corpse. And it -was to him that the perilous task of keeping our little force at -distant Cabul was assigned by the Government of India! - -Waller mentioned to him the story of Taj Mohammed's visit; but it was -treated as an illusion; for was not the atmosphere of Cabul full of -such rumours, and was not the hereditary enmity between Taj Mohammed -and the Sirdar (or general), as Ackbar Khan was named, proverbial? -Each would ever do his utmost to injure the other, even unto death. -Then the roar of the gong announced that "tiffin was served," ending -the matter; the probable fate of Her Majesty's Envoy was thought of -no more for the time; for Mabel Trecarrel, with a bright smile on her -upturned face, slipped her white arm through that of the aged -General, and all moved towards the dining-room, between close ranks -of native servants, whose white turbans, jackets, and dhotties, -contrasted strongly with their dark visages and gleaming eyes. - -Rose fell to the care of Burgoyne, there were no ladies for either -Waller or Denzil (and some other subalterns), who brought up the -rear; and the latter, to his infinite annoyance, found himself seated -at a distance from her, and barely able at times to catch a glance -beyond a gigantic plated epergne, filled with fruit and false -flowers. From his junior rank and years, he could scarcely have -expected anything else, for ladies were still scarce up country, and -scarcer still beyond the Khyber Pass; but Denzil felt that somehow -his day had begun inauspiciously. - -The khansamah (or butler), and a dozen of other Hindoo servants, were -in attendance; and the business of luncheon proceeded rapidly. -Polwhele and Burgoyne were still talking of their morning march into -the hills of Siah Sung, and made light of killing so many of the -natives, having only two rank and file killed, and one wounded -severely, partaking the while of what was set before them with as -much unconcern and heartiness, as if they had been snipe-shooting, or -pig-sticking, in the jungle, for in that part of the world danger -became a pastime. - -"So one of Burgoyne's sepoys was wounded?" asked Elphinstone. - -"Yes, General; his legs are scarcely quite to the regimental pattern -now." - -"How so, Polwhele?" - -"A ball from a juzail smashed the knee; so the limb was amputated." - -This elicited a little chorus of commiseration from the ladies, but -as the sufferer was a native, it soon subsided. - -"Any word, General, of your aide-de-camp Trevelyan of ours?" asked -Waller. - -"None--save that he was off the sick list, and soon to leave Bombay -and join us here," replied Trecarrel; "but if this news about the -passes be true, I hope he will be in no hurry to come this way; he is -a fine fellow, Trevelyan." - -(The name found an echo in Denzil's heart, which sank for a moment.) - -"I knew him when in the 14th Hussars, at Agra," said Burgoyne to -Rose; "he was not then the heir to a title." - -She coloured perceptibly. Denzil did not see this, but Mabel did, -and she laughed. - -"If the passes are actually closed, it is deuced lucky we got up -those nine-pounder guns in time," said Trecarrel to Elphinstone. - -"I wrote--ugh--ugh--for--ugh--_three_ eighteen pounders," replied the -other, coughing feebly. - -"And the mistake was that of the military Board?" - -"Exactly," said Jack Polwhele; "they made it a case of arithmetic; -and in lieu of three eighteen pound guns, sent you six long nines, -which are useless for the battery-work that Ackbar Khan may ere long -cut out for us." - -"Oh that hideous Ackhar Khan!" exclaimed Rose, with young ladylike -horror; "I have seen him once, and his mouth, when he laughed, -reminded me of nothing so much as two rows of piano keys." - -"Hideous!" said Burgoyne; "pardon me, is he not thought very -handsome?" - -"But think of his beard; it flows to his girdle, and birds might -build their nests in it, as they did in the beard of Tregeagle; you -remember our Cornish giant, Mr. Devereaux?" added Rose, with a glance -at Denzil, whose colour rose, like that of a girl, with pleasure. - -Denzil was undoubtedly a very handsome lad, verging on manhood now; -he had his mother's perfect regularity of features, with eyes of a -blue so dark that at times they seemed black; yet they were -wonderfully soft, especially when they turned to those of Rose -Trecarrel; and his hair was very fair and curly, having almost a -golden tint when the sunshine fell on it. The Indian summer, and the -keen breeze from the hills of Kohistan, had already browned his -boyish cheek; but some of England's bloom was lingering in it still; -and to Rose, a regular "man-slayer," a naturally born flirt, the -temptation to entangle him, when she felt intuitively how -imperceptibly to himself he was allured by glances into loving her, -was too great to resist, for Rose Trecarrel had all the art to win a -heart, and yet retain her own entire and untouched. - -She and Denzil had many Cornish reminiscences, topics, and sympathies -in common; and these afforded a grand basis of operations for Rose, -though perilous enough for one so inexperienced as he in _affaires du -coeur_, especially with one so beautiful, so gay, and, we grieve to -say it, so artful; but "when gallantry becomes mingled with -conversation, affection and passion come gradually to mix with -gallantry, and queens, like village maidens, will listen longer than -they should," so we shall see how it fared with Rose in the sequel. - -The intense, but too often silent devotion of a lad so handsome, -flattered her; it was so different from the half-laughing love-making -of such men of the world as Waller and Polwhele; yet she had as much -idea of going further--in fact, of wedding an ensign--as of espousing -a dancing dervish, or an Arab faquir. Of course, she thought in her -heart that the Devereaux and Lamorna affair was very strange; but -what did it matter there--beyond the Indus? - -His mother's unhappy story, his father's untimely fate, and, for some -time past, the absence of all tidings from his sister Sybil, rendered -Denzil at times intensely thoughtful, or, as Rose Trecarrel was -inclined to deem it, interesting; and thus, in his craving for gentle -sympathy from some one, (and from whom could it be more welcome than -a bright-eyed young flirt?) made him an easy and a willing victim. - -Denzil had a nervous jealousy of all who approached her; and he -envied the free and easy--to some it might seem -half-impudent--bearing of Waller, Burgoyne, and others, when hovering -about the sisters at the band-stand, in the bazaar at Cabul, when -riding or driving near the cantonments, and elsewhere. He was not -old enough, or experienced enough, to know that there could be no -love in the hearts of those heedless fellows, if they were so self -possessed and free in the presence of the object of that love; and as -little did he know the jealous fear that Rose had cost his sister at -home! - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE APPOINTMENT. - -Tiffin over--the General's khansamah had excelled himself, for there -were curried hares and quails (the spoil of Waller's rifle), roasted -kid, the fat being spread on buttered toast, and well peppered; -curried chickens, partridge pie, snipe and ortolans, sweet bread and -stilton, champagne, claret, and Bass, with a dessert of Cabul grapes, -oranges, and various other fruits _à discretion_--tiffin over, we -say, like other civilized people in the land they had come from, as -it had not been dinner, but simply luncheon, all filed back to the -drawing-room together; and, in obedience to a glance from Rose, from -whom his eyes seldom wandered, Denzil achieved a place by her side on -a sofa. - -So the day to which he had looked forward so anxiously, was not, -perhaps, to pass away so inauspiciously after all, for, to Denzil, -time seemed to be divided into two portions--that which was spent in -the society of Rose, and that which seemed blankness, spent in -absence from her. - -Waller was hanging over Mabel, talking in a very confidential tone, -so closely that his long fair whiskers brushed at times her rich -brown hair. Mabel had that kind of pure profile one sometimes sees -cut on a cameo, her head was gracefully set on her shoulders, and -there were times when its bearing was queenly. Her complexion was -brilliantly fair by day as well as by night, and her dark grey eyes -had in them now a smile so winning, that Bob Waller could not help -thinking that she was really a fine girl, and looking uncommonly well. - -The ladies from the adjacent cantonment were now deep in "baby talk;" -the officers were clustered about the two generals, engaged in -discussing "shop," and the probability of Sir Robert Sale cutting his -way to Jellalabad, even though he were beset by the Ghilzies; for a -little space Denzil thought he would have Rose all to himself. - -Long ere this he had learned that she and Mabel were somewhat -discontented. This kind of station, in a species of enemy's country, -and so remote from all the world, where steamers, telegraphs, and -railways were all unknown, was not the India to which they had looked -forward, and to which they had been previously accustomed. They -should have preferred Calcutta, with its streets of snow-white -palaces, its stately villas at Gardenreach, the spacious course for -driving, riding, promenading, and most decidedly for flirting. At -Cabul all was semi-barbarism, as compared with Chowringhee, the Park -Lane, the Belgravia of the Indian capital. - -Rose knew thoroughly the science of dress. She never, even when in -England, chose colours merely for their beauty, but such as she knew -by tone and contrast, enhanced the power of her own. She now wore a -costume of light blue Cabul silk, trimmed with the most delicate -white lace, and she knew that she looked to the utmost advantage. As -she lay back on the sofa, playing with a feather-fan, vivacity and -langour were alternately the expression of her sunny hazel eyes, for -she was pre-eminently a coquette, and had resolved to amuse herself -for a time with her new, and as yet, silently professed admirer. - -"So you are not yet tired of Cabul?" she began, after a pause. - -"Oh no, far from it," replied Denzil, with a glance which he thought, -or wished to be thought, full of tender meaning. - -"How odd! I used to think India a fine place, but this Cabul, oh, it -is simply horrid! There is neither a piano or harp in the whole -city. To be sure there are no Europeans here, save the Queen's -troops." - -"The climate is temperate in summer," urged Denzil for want of -something better to say. - -"But nevertheless, the place is unendurable, and I hope papa will -soon get a command elsewhere, that we, at least, may leave." - -"I trust not." - -"Why?" - -"Can you really ask me--why?" said Denzil, lowering his voice, while -gazing into her laughing eyes, with undisguised tenderness; then he -added, "we do not wish to lose you." - -"Poor Mr. Devereaux! I think you are very fond of papa; for his -Cornish name, perhaps," and as no one was looking, she patted his -cheek with her fan. - -"I love something more than the mere Cornish name of Trecarrel," said -Denzil, tremulously; but Rose only bit the feathers of her fan, and -eyed him laughingly over it. - -"But I repeat that this place is tiresome," she resumed, as a pause -had ensued, and pauses are always awkward; "think of the Residency -parties, with their young ladies' quadrilles and married ladies' -ditto! A man may dance in both sets, and yet have only one hand to -dispose of. There is an absurdity, too, in having present those -native chiefs like Taj Mohammed and Timour the Shahzadeh, who think -the whole affair--the round dancing especially--a naughty and -improper Nautch; so they curl their enormous mustaches, and turn up -their cruel glittering eyes, and wonder that we laboriously do that -which they pay others to do for their amusement. Sunday comes, and -then we have to endure what Mab calls 'a regimental sermon,' wherein -the chaplain sets forth little more than the heinousness of the -slightest neglect of the Queen's regulations! Heavens! I would -rather endure a trot on a newly-caught elephant, or a picnic in a wet -jungle! Oh, may I trouble you, dear Mr. Devereaux?" she whispered -suddenly, and so close that her auburn hair brushed his cheek; "my -bracelet has fallen." - -The ornament, an elaborate Delhi bangle--a golden miracle of -carving--was, not very speedily, clasped by Denzil on the white, -veined wrist; and while doing so she permitted her hand for an -instant to touch, to linger in his. Was he awkward? was the clasp -stiff, that a thrill went to his heart? But her eyes were sparkling -with coquetry, as she expressed her thanks for the little service she -had ensured by specially and purposely letting her bracelet fall. - -"How that young fellow is 'going the pace,'" whispered Polwhele to -Burgoyne, with a covert laugh. - -"Of course you can never feel dull when in your quarters, Mr. -Devereaux?" said Rose; "young officers are said to have so many -resources." - -"Far from it; and, to tell the truth, I am always dull, weary and -even sad, when not--here. You can never know," he added, colouring -at the pointedness of his own remark, "how stupidly we fellows pass -the time in cantonments; it is getting through the day -anyhow--sipping everything, from iced champagne to cold tea and pale -ale; smoking everything, from Latakia to Chinsurrah cheroots, and -making bets on everything, from drawing the longest straw out of the -bungalow roof to naming the winner of the Derby or St. Leger, the bet -to be determined six months after, perhaps, when the mail reaches us." - -"A profitable way of spending one's day. Do none of you, as a -pastime, ever attempt to fall in love?" - -The question was one of positive cruelty; but the beautiful eyes only -beamed brighter with fun as she put this perilous query, which she -would never have uttered to men like Waller or Polwhele. - -She fanned herself, and waited for a reply. - -"For others I cannot say," said Denzil, in low voice; "for myself, -never till I came to Cabul--never till I met, I dare not here say -_who_." - -"For a griff, Devereaux, you give a capital answer," said Burgoyne, -who had been gradually drawing near them; "we both fall in love and -out of it too," he added, with a laugh that was almost saucy, for he -had already suffered something at Rose's hands. "Love, like a -month's pay, does not last for ever." - -"Even in marriage, do you mean?" asked a lady, looking up from a book -of prints. - -"Less then, perhaps, according to Mr. Polewhele," said Rose; "orange -blossoms fade and die as well as summer leaves." - -"What a lovely little cynic it is!" said Waller in Mabel's ear; "but -she never means all she says." - -The conversation now became general; and save for a speaking glance -from time to time, and--once at least--when their hands touched -(involuntarily, of course) Denzil felt that his chances with Rose -were over for the day. - -"Our band plays to-morrow at the grand-stand," said an officer of the -54th Native Infantry. - -As he spoke, Denzil's eyes met those of Rose, and swift as lightning -each knew where to look for the other on the morrow. - -"Save with the regimental bands," said Mabel, "Rossini, Bellini and -Chimarosa are all lost to us here. Papa strove hard to bring our -piano up country; but it was lost in the Khyber Pass by the native -artillery (who had tied it on a field piece) when some wild Khyberees -appeared; and they, finding that the box emitted sounds, fired a -score of juzail* balls through it on speculation." - - -* The Afghan rifle; hence _juzailchees_, or riflemen. - - -"When I was in the Ceylon Rifles," said a Queen's officer, "I have -actually seen a piano placed in four bowls of water." - -"For what purpose?" asked Mabel. - -"To prevent the white ants from eating it up; and I was once at a -dancing party in Trincomalee when, from the extreme humidity of -climate, the piano--one of Broadwood's best--went all to pieces, like -a house of cards; so up here, at Cabul, we can't say what might -happen." - -"Have you seen the account in an English paper of the late skirmish -with Nott's people at Candahar, and the queer story about the wounded -being carried off?" asked General Trecarrel. - -"No," replied Burgoyne; "what was it? Something extremely 'verdant,' -of course, if it referred to India." - -"Exactly. General Nott reported that he had thirty rank and file -killed, but thrice that number wounded, were all carried off by -dhooleys to the hills; on which event the editor expresses his horror -in having to record that the savage tribe, known as the _Dhooleys_, -swooped down from their native mountains and bore away the helpless -wounded in their remorseless clutches!" - -Dhooleys, being simply palanquins or litters, the Indian reader may -imagine--as a little fun goes a long way when "up country"--how the -mistake was laughed at, and how it made old Elphinstone laugh so -severely, that all became seriously alarmed lest a catastrophe might -occur; but ere long his dhooley was announced, and the party began to -disperse; and Denzil, the last to leave, lingered a moment behind his -two friends. - -"The band--you have heard--plays at two to-morrow," said Rose, in low -voice. - -There was a fleet glance exchanged, a swift, soft pressure of the -slender fingers, and in these words an appointment--an -assignation--was made, causing Denzil's heart to beat wildly with joy -as he hurried after Waller and Polwhele, full of dread lest they -should have discovered his secret understanding with Rose and proceed -to rally him thereon. As it was, he did not escape; for as they -walked leisurely towards their quarters in the fort, Waller began -thus. - -"I have been dying for a quiet cigar! By the way, what does some -poetical fellow (Byron, is it?) say--that love is of man's life a -thing apart--but woman's whole existence? I don't know the truth of -the statement; but anyhow, flirtation or man-slaying is a part of the -'existence' of Rose Trecarrel; so, look alive, Denzil, my boy, or -you'll have but a poor chance, if the order to move down on -Jellalabad don't come soon. It is all very well for subs to be -spooney; but rather absurd for one to be entertaining 'views,' you -know." - -"You seemed soft enough on her sister, at all events," retorted -Denzil, angrily. - -"It is a maxim of mine," replied Waller, caressing his fly-away -whiskers alternately, "that 'a little bit of tenderness is never -misplaced, so long as the object is young, pretty, and, still more -than all, disposed for it.' But, Denzil Devereaux, that girl amuses -herself with you, and orders you about, as if you were a Maltese -terrier, a poodle, or a sepoy." - -"By Jove! the Trecarrels are handsome, though," said Polwhele; "and -if I had not acquired the habit of making love to a pretty face, -merely as a pastime, I fear I should soon be doing it in downright -earnest to Rose." - -Now as Polwhele was a dangerously good-looking fellow, Denzil felt -nettled by his complacent remark. - -"But," added the former, "I have met scores of such girls wherever I -have been quartered--at home, I mean--especially in London; just the -kind of girls to do a bit of Park with; to open a pedal communication -with, in mamma's carriage, or meet in a crush where Gunter's fellows -have brought the ices; where Weippart's band invites to the light -fantastic; and where there are covert squeezes of the hand in the -Lancers, on the stairs, or under the supper tablecloth, flirtations -in the conservatory, and soft things said between the figures of a -quadrille, or in the breathing times of a round dance, when weary of -chasing 'the glowing hours with flying feet.'" - -"By Jove! Jack, how your tongue runs on!" - -"Well, there is no general order against its doing so; and old -Trecarrel's champagne was excellent. Oh, Lord! I have done all that -sort of thing scores of times, and now find there was nothing in it; -but Rose Trecarrel has the prettiest ankle I ever saw. - -"Ah! you're a man of close observation." - -"Well, I've seen a few in my time, on windy days, at Margate and -Brighton especially." - -"I am not a marrying man, and had I not been hopelessly insolvent -since I came into the world, egad! I would pop to Mabel," said -Waller, with a sudden earnestness to which the General's champagne -perhaps contributed. - -"Oh! you have got the length of calling her by her Christian name!' - -"As you do Rose--well, but is it _not_ her name?" - -"Of course; but----" - -"But what?" asked Bob Waller, testily; "is a fellow to be -everlastingly quizzed in that mess-room style, just -because--because"--he stuttered and paused. - -"What?" said Polwhele, laughing and pointing his black mustaches, -which the Line wore in India long before the Crimean war. - -"Because he has an honest fancy for a girl; and do you know, Jack, I -think I _could_ love that girl--seriously now." - -"Very probably; but do you think she could love you?" - -"True, I am only a captain, with a small share in an old Cornish -mine, and no end of expectations." - -"It is only being up-country and idleness." - -"I'd call you out, Jack, only it is not the fashion to treat one's -friends so now," retorted Waller, as they reached their quarters in -the old fort. "There bangs the evening gun from the Bala Hissa; and -now to dress for mess." - -Some of Polwhele's thoughtless speeches rankled more in the mind of -Denzil than he quite cared to show; for he knew that if the idea -struck the mind of that confident personage he would propose to Rose -Trecarrel in a moment; and Polwhele, he was aware, had a handsome -estate partly in Cornwall and partly in Devonshire, and was a most -eligible _parti_. - -_He_, himself, was but a junior subaltern, and he speculated on the -years that must inevitably pass ere he could be a captain. Oh, Rose -would never wait all that time, and be true. - -Poor lad--would he? At least he thought so. - -Long, long did Denzil lie awake that night, after leaving the -mess-bungalow, anticipating the meeting of the morrow, and recalling -the expression of Rose's clear brown eyes--the touch of her soft hand -and her whispered words, while the hungry jackals howled like devils -in the compound without; and while, on the metal ghurries of the -adjacent cantonment, the sentinels struck the passing hours. - -He might, had he known the true state of matters, had a sympathetic -adviser in Bob Waller, who at that precise time was seated -thoughtfully in his quarters--the white-washed room already -described--with a leg over each arm of his bamboo chair and his eyes -fixed pensively on the ceiling, for he was thinking over Mabel's rare -beauty through the medium of a soothing pipe of Cavendish; and once -or twice he muttered: - -"I am quite bewildered--_gobrowed_, as the Niggers here have it--and -know not what to think--matrimony or not." And, as the night stole -on, foreseeing little or nothing of the dangers and horrors to -come--of the cloud of battle that was gathering in the Khyber Pass, - - "He smoked his pipe and often broke - A sigh in suffocating smoke." - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -"THE BAND PLAYS AT TWO." - -Young though he was, Denzil made a careful toilet next day; mufti was -not much worn at Cabul; but he was unusually particular about the -fitting of his blue surtout with its gold shoulder-scales, the -adjustment of his crimson sash and sword-belt, forgetting that these -were no novelties to the eyes of Rose, and that the black livery of -the Civil Service finds more favour with ladies than military uniform -in India, where the Redcoats are frequently at a discount, with -mammas especially; and he was on the large circular parade ground, -where the bands usually played, in the centre of the cantonments -(which were an oblong enclosure measuring a thousand yards by six -hundred, with a circular bastion at each corner) long before the -general promenaders began to assemble, or the European musicians of -the 54th Native Infantry had assorted their music, and performed -those preliminary grunts on the trombone and ophicleide, which -excited the astonishment of the natives, who were present in -considerable numbers, by their aspect and costume, enhancing in -piquancy a very remarkable scene. - -For the first time since they had met, Rose Trecarrel had made a -regular appointment with him. It was in a very public place, -however, and though it seemed simple enough to her, to Denzil the -idea that he had established a secret understanding with her, was in -itself happiness; and for the first time he wished to avoid his -friend Waller, and was pleased to find that he was detailed for guard -that day at an old tomb and temple where we had a post, at the foot -of the Behmaru Hills. - -The day was one of great beauty, and the air was delightfully cool. -Overhead spread the blue and unclouded vault of Heaven, and in the -rarified atmosphere, even the remote details of the vast landscape -and of the city were rendered visible. Viewed from the cantonments, -the plains of Lombardy do not exceed in beauty and brilliance of -colour those of Cabul, which moreover, in lieu of the Apennines (amid -which Denzil and his parents had often resided) are overshadowed by -the stupendous mountains of Kohistan. - -Crowning two lofty ridges in the foreground rose Cabul within its -walls of stone, and towering high above them, rose the Chola or -citadel of the Bala Hissar. The city is picturesque, each house -having, as in Spain, an open court-yard, though the streets of -unburnt-brick are so narrow as to be frequently blocked up by one -laden camel, or to prevent two horsemen riding abreast. Thus the -great chiefs and nobles have always footmen running in front to -prepare or clear the way for them. There all the different races -live apart, and the Persians or fierce Kussilbashes have their own -quarter fortified against all the rest. - -The groups that gathered round the band were a sample of all the -various tribes that resided in and about Cabul, for though many -murderous outrages had been perpetrated on our people they were still -anxious, if possible, to conciliate the natives. - -Each type of humanity varied from the other in visage and in costume; -the fair-faced and ruddy-looking Englishman; the lean, dark Hindoo -sepoy, seeming intensely uncomfortable in his tight red coat and -stiff shako; the sturdier Afghan; the wild Beloochee, the Dooranee, -the Kussilbash and Arab, all of whom were admitted in limited number -by the quarter-guard; some cruel and sly in expression; some lofty, -proud and refined, with patriarchal beards that floated to their -waists, and a solemnity of bearing that made one think of the days of -Abraham; and many of them armed with ancient weapons made long -anterior to the adoption of our villanous saltpetre; in their dresses -and manners looking like the figures at a fancy-ball, so quiet and so -brilliant in colour and variety, were their flowing Oriental robes. - -Numbers of officers and ladies from the different compounds and -villas in the vicinity were present; and the "chimney-pot hat of -civilization," might be seen amid the white turbans of the Mussulmen, -the yellow of the Khyberrees and abhorred Jews, and the scarlet -_loonghee_ of the Kussilbash, for Khan Shireen Khan, chief of that -warlike tribe, appeared mounted on a slow-paced, lank, patient and -submissive-looking camel. Perched high up, he sat on a lofty saddle, -with a tall tasselled lance slung behind him, and in front a small -armoury of knives and pistols stuck in his girdle, which was a -magnificent Cashmere shawl, that many a belle might have envied. Nor -were veiled Afghan ladies wanting, and these surveyed with wonder -their European sisters, as they openly laughed, chatted -and--Bismillah!--shook hands with the Feringhee officers. - -Shahzadeh Timour, who commanded the King's forces, was there, mounted -on a beautiful horse, wearing a polished shirt of mail and a plumed -steel cap, looking not unlike a Circassian chief; and Taj Mahommed -Khan, still intent on warning the Europeans of coming evil, rode by -his side. - -There, too, was Osman Abdallah, an Arab faquir or dervish, who had -accompanied the troops from Bengal, a clamorous half-naked fellow, -with hair unshorn and shaggy, his lean attenuated limbs smeared with -ashes and ghee, thus compelling all to keep to windward of him, as -his person was odorous neither of Inde nor Araby the Blest, while he -begged for alms to send him on his pilgrimage to the three pools of -Sacred Fish, kept by a holy Suyd (or Santon) among the mountains of -Sirichussa; and to him, as a riddance, Denzil threw a handful of -silver shahi's (petty coins indeed) but of great value in -Afghanistan, where cowrie shells pass current at about the tenth of a -penny. - -Amid all this motley and increasing crowd, he looked anxiously for -Rose Trecarrel; already the brass band of the Native Infantry burst -upon the air with a crash of music as they began a melody from an -opera; and something of disappointment and pique at her protracted -absence began to steal into Denzil's heart, for her eagerness seemed -by no means equal to his own. - -Near him were a group of young officers like himself, but belonging -principally to the 5th Cavalry and Horse Artillery. Unlike him, they -were neither silent nor thoughtful, but were staring--some through -their eye-glasses--at the Afghan women, and amusing themselves with -sarcastic criticisms on the quaint figures about them, especially the -Khan of the Kussilbashes on his camel and "Timour the Tartar," as -they called the Shahzadeh, in his steel cap and steel shirt of the -middle ages. - -"There goes Rose Trecarrel!" cried one. - -"Do you know her?" asked another. - -"Know her--who doesn't? Why, man alive, she's as well known as -Mechi's razor strop, or Warren's blacking, or anything you may see -staring you in the face in the Strand or Regent Street," was the -heedless and not very ceremonious response; and if a glance could -have slain the speaker, Denzil would certainly have left a vacant -cornetcy in the 5th Cavalry. - -He turned away in anger, which, however, was somewhat soothed when he -heard Shireen Khan, who was gazing after her, say to Shahzadeh -Timour, that she was "beautiful as a Peri," which in his language is -expressive of a race constituting a link between women and angels. - -In a moment Denzil was by her side. She was in a little phaeton -drawn by two pretty Cabul ponies and was alone. To avoid being -joined by anyone, before she caught the eye of Denzil, she had driven -them round the crowd about the band, managing her whip and ribbons -very prettily, her hands being cased in dainty buff gauntlet gloves. -She was tastefully dressed and wore a bonnet of that shade of blue -which she knew was most suitable to her pure complexion and rich -bright auburn hair; for Rose was one of those who thought it "was -woman's business to be beautiful." - -Dropping her whip into the socket, she pulled up and presented her -hand to Denzil, who, we fear, held it in his somewhat long, and it -did not seem that Miss Rose Trecarrel was _very_ much inconvenienced -by the proceeding; but he forgot who might be looking on--he thought -only of the brilliant hazel eyes--the ever smiling mouth. - -"And you are here alone?" said he. - -"As you see. Papa is busy with the General--a move of all the troops -down-country is spoken of as imminent soon; and Mabel is with Lady -Macnaghten at the Residency, where I am to pick her up at the gate. -Will you accompany us for a drive outside the cantonments?" - -"With pleasure," said Denzil, though this party of _three_ was not -exactly what he had schemed out in his own mind--for he had -contemplated nothing less than a solitary ramble with Rose amid the -lovely and secluded alleys of the Shah Bagh, or Royal Garden, close -by; but it was necessary to quit the crowd unnoticed, a movement not -very easily achieved by a girl so showy and so well known as Rose -Trecarrel; so they were compelled to linger a little, as if listening -to the band. - -In the small circle of European society at Cabul, great -circumspection was necessary--greater still before the natives, who, -under the ideas inculcated by their race and religion, were apt to -suspect the most innocent action permitted by the usages of society -at home, and to misconstrue that which they could not understand--the -perfect freedom and equality, the high position, honour and -character, accorded to the English lady or the Christian woman, -whether as maid, wife, or mother. - -Denzil was too inexperienced and too much in love to be otherwise -than shy and nervous. He hesitated in speech, and actually blushed -or grew pale like a girl who heard, rather than a youth who had a -tale of love to tell. His voice became low, earnest, and tremulous. -He could scarcely tell why the momentary touch of that graceful -little hand, ungloved--for it _was_ ungloved now--made his heart -thrill, for the presence, the sense, the language, and the glances of -passion, were all new and confusing to him; while the brilliant -girl--the lovely spider in whose net he found himself so hopelessly -meshed--knew how to wear her armour of proof and shoot her -love-shafts to perfection. - -The band now struck up a lively air, and dancing to its measure, -through the crowd, which parted and made way for them, there came a -group of some twenty Nautch girls, in their graceful Indian dress -(all so unlike the swathed-up women of the Mussulmen), a single robe -folded artistically about them, leaving one bosom and their supple, -tapered limbs quite free. The leading Bayadere, though dark as -copper, was indeed a lovely girl; but her jetty hair was all -glittering with missee and silver dust. - -The jewels which loaded their necks, wrists, and ankles, proclaimed -them attendants on the court of the Shah,* and were flashing like -their own bright eyes in the sunshine, while the coils of their hair -of purple blackness, were interwoven with the white flowers of the -wild jasmine. Some had vinas, or rude guitars fashioned of -half-gourds; and others had tom-toms or little Indian drums, to the -sound of which they sung. - - -*Now, as in the time of the "Arabian Nights," Nautch girls are -attached to all Eastern Courts. - - -As all Nautch dancing borders a little on the indelicate, Rose had -now a fair excuse for leaving the vicinity of the band. Denzil -sprang into the little seat behind her, as she still insisted on -driving, and they quitted the cantonments by the west-gate, opposite -the musjeed, where Bob Waller was listening to the distant strains of -the music and killing the hours of his duty as best he could; and -thus they escaped Polwhele and a few others who had been waiting to -pounce upon her or Mabel, for they were especial favourites with the -officers, nathless the ungallant banter to which their names were -subjected at times. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE DRIVE. - -Mabel was not at the Residency, as the sentinels of the Queen's 44th, -at the gate, informed them, she having driven away with the Lady of -the Envoy to visit Lady Sale, about half an hour before. Denzil -perhaps might have foreseen that the sisters would miss each other, -had he known more of the inner nature of Rose Trecarrel, or more of -the science of flirtation. - -"How excessively provoking!" she exclaimed; "shall we return to the -band, or--drive without her? Besides we might perhaps meet or -overtake them." - -The idea of a solitary drive was somewhat perilous at that juncture -of our affairs, as the district was much disturbed, and patrols of -the 5th Cavalry and 1st Local Horse of the Shah, were on all the -roads leading to Cabul. All the people were in arms, and since the -murder of Sir Alexander Burnes, more than one officer had been -waylaid and seriously wounded. But the temptation was too great, and -Denzil "supposed that they might take a little drive together;" so -turning the phaeton from the Residency gate, Rose drove along the -Kohistan road, in a direction from Cabul. - -A wretched Hindoo Kulassy, or tent-pitcher--just such a creature as -one may see shivering in the Strand, singing in a nasal monotone to -the beating of his dusky fingers on a tom-tom--cried something in -mockery after them--a sign of the times--but they heard him not. The -Shah Bagh, amid the luxuriant shrubberies of which the voices of the -dove and nightingale were heard at certain seasons; the quaint, old -musjeed, where Waller was on guard; the village of Behmaru; a pile of -stones marking where an English lady had been thrown out of her -palanquin and murdered by some wild Belooches, who fled, leaving her -unplundered, as they deem the blood of a woman bodes disaster to -those who shed it, were each and all soon left behind, and they drew -near the long and narrow lake of Istaliff, which is about four miles -in length, and where Sinclair's boat lay now neglected among the -weeds and sedges. - -The vicinity of this lake, the only one in Afghanistan, was lonely, -and the hills of Behmaru bordered it on the east. There the shaggy -goat, bearded like his Afghan master, and the graceful little -antelope leaped from rock to rock; there the long-haired cat and the -jabbering ape sprang from branch to branch of the plane and poplar -trees, and the beautiful little bird known as the Greek partridge, -the hill-chuckore of the natives, whirred up from among the long -grass; but save these, and once when a solitary Afghan shepherd -peeped forth from his tent of coarse black camlet, pitched on the -green mountain slope, there seemed no living thing on their now -sequestered path. - -Waller, Burgoyne, and others, were older and more showy officers than -Denzil, as yet; but it pleased the caprice of Rose Trecarrel to -attach him for a time, if not hopelessly, to the train of her -admirers; though there was a double risk in the little expedition of -that day--the exciting comment among her friends, and the more -perilous and equally probable advent of some plundering natives or -armed fanatics; yet, heedless of all, the rash girl drove on, looking -laughingly back from time to time, with her bright smiling face and -alluring eyes, at the lover who sat behind her, striving to speak on -passing objects or common-place events, while his soul was full of -her, and her only. - -Fortunately, no deadly or perilous adventure marked that day's -expedition; yet Denzil was fated never to forget it. - -Rose certainly was fond of Denzil; but her love affair had, to her, -much of the phase of amusement in it. In him, it was mingled with -intense and delicate respect; and every fibre seemed to thrill, when -she turned half round and showed her face so beautiful in its -animation, while, blown back by the soft breeze and their progress -against it, her veil, and sometimes one loose tress of her silky, -auburn hair, were swept across his mouth and eyes. - -Denzil's hand rested on the back of her seat, and as she reclined -against it, he knew that there was little more than a silk dress -between it and a neck of snowy whiteness; and as the sunlight fell on -her brilliant hair, it shone like floss silk, or satin, rather, while -her eyes were ever beaming with pleasure, fun, excitement, and -something of fondness, too; for he who sat near her was handsome, -winning, dazzled by her, and, as she well knew, loved her dearly. - -"Do you believe in animal magnetism?" she asked abruptly. - -"I don't know--never thought about it, though I have heard old -What's-his-name lecture on it at Sandhurst; but what do you mean?" - -"The strange sympathy and attraction that are created between two -persons who meet each other for the first time--love at first sight, -in fact." - -Denzil's heart beat very fast, and he was about to make a suitable -response, when Rose resumed. - -"I am so glad to have the pleasure of driving you, Mr. Devereaux," -said she; "but see how those reins have reddened my poor fingers!" -she added, holding up a plump, little white hand, ungloved, most -temptingly before him. The ponies were proceeding at a walk now, and -for Denzil to resist taking that hand in his, caressingly, was -impossible; the next moment he had bent his lips to it, and still -retained it, for Rose made no effort to withdraw it; and this seemed -rather encouraging. - -"And you never were in love till you came to Cabul?" she asked, -deliberately. - -"Never, till I saw you, Rose--dear, dear Rose--ah, permit me to call -you so?" replied Denzil, with his eyes so full of tender emotion that -her dark lashes drooped for a moment. - -"You must not talk in this way, Mr. Devereaux; but how is one to know -true love--for there is only one love, though a hundred imitations of -it?" she asked, laughing--she was always laughing. - -"Some one says so, or writes so, I think." - -"De La Rochefoucauld." - -"And De La Rochefoucauld is right," replied Denzil, covering with -kisses her velvety and unresisting hand. - -"I never thought you cared so much for me, Mr. Devereaux," said she -after a pause. - -"Cared--Oh, Rose, can you use a phrase so tame as that?" - -"Well, I mean--good Heavens, I don't know what I mean! I never -thought you loved me. I had some idea that you preferred Mabel--she -is so statuesque." - -Rose had never thought this; but it suited her to say so, and gain a -little time. She half closed her clear brown eyes, and smiling most -archly and seductively under their long lashes at him, said in a low -voice,-- - -"And you love me--actually love me?" - -"I have dared to say so--Rose." - -"But you are so young, Denzil--dare I say Denzil?" - -"Only a year perhaps younger than you." - -"But then you are only an Ensign--and people would so laugh!" - -"Let them do so--he who laughs wins; one day I shall be something -more," said he earnestly. - -"Sit beside me, please, and not behind; I shall have quite a crick in -my poor little neck by the way I have to turn--and I shall give you -the reins too." - -In a moment Denzil was seated by her side. - -"And now," said she, "let us talk of something else than love; we -have had quite enough of it for one day, my poor Denzil." - -How his heart thrilled again, at the sound of his own name on her -lips. - -"Of what shall we speak--of what else can one think or speak when -with you?" - -"Oh, anything; how do you like this dress, for instance--my ayah -trimmed it?" and while speaking she opened her soft cashmere shawl -and showed her waist and the breast of her dress trimmed with--Denzil -knew not what--for to resist putting an arm round that adorable waist -(a movement which we dare not quite say Miss Rose Trecarrel perhaps -expected) was impossible. - -"Denzil--Mr. Devereaux!" she exclaimed--"oh good Heavens! if you--if -we are seen by any one." - -"Pardon me--but permit me," he sighed. - -"Listen for a moment and do be reasonable. I can scarcely admit or -realise the idea that you are _the_ one who is to give a tone, a -colour, to all my future life. No, Denzil; you have paid me the -greatest compliment a man can pay a woman; but it may not be. Let us -be friends--oh yes! dear, dear friends, who shall never forget each -other; but not lovers" (here she held up her ruddy lips to the -bewildered Denzil) "not lovers--oh,no--not lovers!" - -Kisses stifled all that might have followed. - -What art or madness was this? - -Denzil felt as if the landscape swam around him, and he was rather -fond and fatuous in his proceedings, we must admit; but his -earnestness impressed at last the coquette by his side. She began to -think she had gone rather too far, so she became grave, and a sadness -almost stole over her face. - -She began to consider that this love-making was all very well and -pleasant so long as it lasted, but where was it to end? As others -have ended, thought Rose. There were moments when she could not help -yielding to the calm delight with which the pure passion of Denzil -was apt to inspire her, for there was a genuine freshness in it. -Many had flattered her; many had pressed and kissed her hands, toyed -with her beautiful hair, aye, and not a few had kissed her cheek too; -but beyond all those, he seemed so happy, so intensely enchanted with -her--seeming to drink in her accents--to live upon her smiles! - -In short, he thoroughly _believed_ in her, and she tried for the time -to believe in herself; and yet--and yet--with the impassioned kisses -of her young lover on her lips, she felt that it was all folly--folly -in him, folly in her--a folly that must soon have a painful, perhaps -a mortifying end. - -Did it never occur to her, that young though he was, those caresses -and kisses--those words half sighed, and thoughts half-uttered, might -never be forgotten by him; but be recalled in time to come with -sadness as "the delight of remembered days." - -"Now do let us be rational, dearest Denzil," said she smoothing her -hair and quickly adjusting her shawl, collar, and gloves, as a turn -of the road brought them in sight of the cantonments and a patrol of -the 5th Cavalry under a Duifodar riding slowly along; and on their -drawing a little nearer her father's house prudence on Rose's part -led her to suggest that Denzil should leave her. - -"Good-bye till to-morrow--you will call and see us, of course," said -she, as he alighted from the phaeton; "dear Denzil," she added, her -eyes beaming with their usual witchery and waggery the while, "have -we not enjoyed the band to-day?" - -He knew not what he replied as she drove off and once or twice turned -to kiss her hand to him, while lingeringly and with his heart -swelling with all that had passed, he turned from the Kohistan road -towards his somewhat squalid quarters in the old Afghan fort. - -The secret understanding between them seemed to be growing deeper! -What was to be the sequel, and what would the General say? But, as -yet, prudence had suggested neither one idea nor the other to Denzil. - -It was well for him, as after mess, he lay on his charpoy, or -camp-bed, indulging in a quiet cigar and plunged in happy reverie, -dreaming over all the events of that delightful drive by the Lake of -Istaliff, that he did not overhear a few words of a conversation -regarding him, and taking place at that precise time in a corner of -General Trecarrel's drawing-room. - -"Take care, Rose," Mabel was saying; "I have heard of your solitary -drive to-day from Polwhele, though papa has not--a drive in defiance -of the dreadfully disturbed state of the people hereabout--nearly all -in insurrection, in fact. Mr. Devereaux is only a very junior -subaltern, and the Civil Service are scarce enough up here certainly; -but remember that cloudy story about his family which we heard at -Porthellick." - -"I care not," replied Rose, looking up from a fauteuil on which she -was languidly reclining, her whole occupation being the opening and -shutting of a beautiful fan given to her by some forgotten sub of -Sale's Light Infantry; "the poor fellow loves me----" - -"He has told you so?" - -"Yes--so I shan't betray his home secret, if there is one." - -"Yet you would betray himself?" - -"Don't say so, Mab?" - -"Why?" - -"It sounds so horrid." - -"But when Audley Trevelyan--the heir to a peerage comes----" - -"Audley seems to find attraction enough in Bombay," said Rose, with -an air of pique; "so please attend to Waller and his long fair -whiskers, my dear sister, I am quite able to take care of myself. -Besides, Mab, this lad Devereaux is only one among many." - -"But to him you may be one--_the one_--one only Rose." - -"I know it," was the pitiless reply. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -ADVENTURE IN CABUL. - -To his intense mortification, regimental duty detained Denzil in the -cantonments all the following day, thus precluding his visiting the -General's house at the time he intended; but as a natural sequence to -their pleasant little airing by the shores of the Lake of Istaliff, -it occurred to him that at their next interview he must beg Rose -Trecarrel's acceptance of some suitable love-token; and for this -purpose he resolved to visit the great bazaar while it was yet safe -for a European to traverse the streets of the Shah's capital, as the -dreaded Ackbar Khan was not as yet known to be within its walls at -that precise juncture; and evening parade being over, he hastened -along the road to the Kohistan gate, and turning to the left after -entering it, proceeded at once towards the Char Chouk, the aforesaid -great bazaar, with his mind intent on his proposed purchase, and so -full of the tender memories of yesterday, that he was quite oblivious -of the manner in which the armed Afghans, the red-capped -Kussilbashes, and others who were thronging the narrow thoroughfares -in unwonted numbers, regarded him; how they scowled ominously, -handled their weapons, and muttered curses under their thick flowing -mustaches. - -He was thinking only of Rose, when there were those hovering about -him who required but the precept, or example, of one bolder or more -cruel than the rest, to cut him to pieces and elevate his head on -some conspicuous pole in the market-place; for the Afghans almost -invariably slice off the heads of those they slay. - -It never occurred to him, that in her own laughing way, her manner -yesterday had been somewhat forward, over-confident, or "flirtatious" -as Polwhele would have phrased it. He had but one idea and -conviction; "How _fond_ she is of me?" and thus a few gold pieces -which he had once intended to invest in a present for his -mother--alas! he knew not all that had happened at home--or for -Sybil, his gentle sister, were now to be spent in a suitable -love-gift for Rose Trecarrel. - -"She loves me--and she is so beautiful!" he whispered to himself -again and again; for there is much truth in the old Roman maxim, that -"what we wish should be, we readily believe;" and what reason had he -to doubt her? Doubtless, she had flirted with many--but she loved -_him_. - -Followed and alternately mocked, reviled or importuned insolently for -alms, by Osman Abdallah, the Arab Dervish, to be rid of whose -inodorous presence, he thrice gave him a rupee, Denzil reached the -great bazaar, the largest in all the East (and once famed as the -emporium of Asia), which was built in the days of Aurungzebe; but -which exists no longer, as it was subsequently destroyed by our -troops. - -Like other Oriental bazaars, it was formed of stone, like a long -double gallery, arched in with wood elaborately painted, gilded, and -carved, and having to the right and left bezetzeins or shops opening -off it; and in these, merchants displayed their various goods for -sale. The true Afghans never engage in trade; but despise it. All -their shopkeepers, merchants and artizans are generally men of other -nations--Tadjiks, Hindoos, or Persians; and through a scowling and -well armed crowd of idle men and veiled women, Denzil wandered amid a -maze of shops, some of their windows being ablaze with jewels, gold -and silver work, rich draperies, divans, Persian carpets, Cashmere -shawls; shops where iced sherbet and luscious fruits were vended in -summer; shops where chupatties and sweet confectionery were sold; -others where silver-mounted saddles, gold-handled sabres, silks, -muslins and riches of all kinds were displayed, a more picturesque -aspect being imparted to the whole scene by the variously-coloured -lamps of perfumed oil which hung from the ceilings, and which, as the -dusk of evening was now stealing into the bazaar, were being lighted -here and there. - -At last he stood before the booth of a jeweller, who was seated -cross-legged behind the trays whereon female ornaments of every -conceivable kind for the neck, ankles and wrists, for the hair and -the girdle, rings for the ears, the fingers and nose were displayed, -all fashioned of that bright-coloured gold and delicate workmanship -for which the East, but more especially the city of Delhi is so -famed. The prices of these were marked on labels in Afghan money, -from the rupee and gold mohur upwards. - -While Denzil was looking over these gems of art for a ring of some -value as a suitable present for Rose Trecarrel, he did not perceive -that the cross-legged and remarkably cross-visaged proprietor--a huge -Asiatic, who wore a green turban, declaring thereby his descent from -the prophet, and who sat smoking on a piece of carpet within his -shopboard, his beard of intense blackness, flowing almost to his -knees--was eyeing him with a deepening scowl, and seeming to shoot -towards him with fierce and insulting energy the pale blue smoke -wreaths that issued from his lips and the nostrils of his hooked -nose--a veritable eagle's beak. - -At last Denzil selected a ring, the price of which was marked as -eight gold mohurs, and was about to proffer the money therefor, when -the merchant snatched the jewel from his hand, and saying, with -savage energy, the single epithet, "_Kaffir!_" spat full in his face. -At the same moment Osman Abdallah, the filthy, greasy and unshorn -Arab Hadi, who had been watching closely, uttered a shrill and -hostile yell. - -Startled and justly enraged by an insult so sudden and so foul, -Denzil drew back with his hand on his sword. As his assailant was -quite unarmed, he had no intention of drawing it unless farther -molested. He looked round in vain for a choukeydar (or policeman) -and saw only a gathering crowd with black-gleaming eyes and swarthy -malevolent visages closing round him. How the affair might have -ended there is little difficulty in foreseeing. He must have been -slaughtered on the spot, but for the intervention of a splendidly -equipped horseman, who at that critical moment rode up, and seizing -him by the arm waved the people back by his sabre, and assisted by -his followers, six juzailchees, half led half dragged Denzil from the -bazaar into the open street. - -"Are you mad or weary of your life, Sahib, that you venture into -Cabul in the present state of the city, and, more than all, to-day?" -asked his protector, sternly. - -"Why particularly to-day, Mohammed Khan?" said Denzil, greatly -ruffled, and now recognising the tall, thin and yellow visaged Wuzeer -of the Shah. - -"Alas! ye are but as swine!" was the complimentary reply. "Know you -not that it is Friday--a day set apart by the devout for solemn fast -and prayer, in commemoration of the holy prophet's arrival at Medina; -and because on that day God finished the great work of creation?" - -"I never thought of all this, Khan," replied Denzil, whose heart was -yet furious against the fanatical jeweller; and he might with truth -have added, that so far from thinking of the prophet he thought only -of Rose Trecarrel. - -The narrow streets were nearly involved in darkness now. They were -destitute of all lamps; and thus, provided the Wuzeer could elude the -crowd that followed clamorously from the bazaar, he would not have -much difficulty in effecting the escape of Denzil, whose blood they -fiercely and furiously demanded, crying aloud that one of the -faithful had been assaulted, robbed and half murdered by a Kaffir, a -Feringhee, and so forth. - -The six juzailchees who formed the escort of Taj Mohammed Khan, and -who were soldiers of the Shah's 6th regiment (a portion of the same -force that General Trecarrel had come up country to command) now -fixed their long bayonets and kept back the pressure of the crowd, -many of whom had now drawn their swords. The high, narrow -thoroughfare re-echoed with barbarous yells, and Denzil felt that he -was in a very awkward scrape. - -Dismounting, the Wuzeer quitted his horse, and seizing the somewhat -bewildered Denzil by the hand conducted him down a narrow, dark and -steep alley, under the very ramparts of the towering Bala Hissar; and -thence, by a steeper open slope to the lower wall of the city, -through a _kirkee_, or wicket, in a gate of which they issued, and -the fugitive found himself free. Before him stretched, far away in -the starlight, the extensive and beautifully cultivated valley, amid -which the Cabul flows till it passes through the city, the ramparts, -royal citadel, domes and castles of which rose in sombre masses -skyward behind him. - -Mohammed drew a long breath, as if of relief. So did Denzil. He had -been thinking of the emotions of Rose on the morrow, if she heard -that he had been massacred in the streets of Cabul, helplessly, -pitilessly, barbarously, and of those who were so dear at home, and -were so far, far away. - -"As yet you are safe," said his guide. - -"I thank you gratefully; but how far am I from the cantonments?" - -"About two kroes." - -This was fully four miles English from that angle of the city, and -Denzil heard him with anxiety. - -"Know you the way, Sahib?" - -"I do not. Moreover, it may be beset." - -"Then I must conduct you; but see! yonder are horsemen coming -straight from the Candahar road. I know not who they may be. Some -Belooches are expected with Ackbar Khan on the morrow; so, quick, let -us conceal ourselves here." - -And hurrying--running, indeed--with all the speed they could exert, -they sought the shelter of a grove, wherein, as Denzil knew, stood -the mosque and tomb of the once mighty Emperor Baber, in quieter -times the object of many a ride and visit, and the scene of many a -pleasant pic-nic for the ladies and officers of the garrison. All -was still here--still as death--save the plashing of a sacred -fountain and the cooing of the wild pigeons, disturbed by their -approach. The grove and cornices of the mosque were full of those -birds, which are deemed holy by the Mohammedans, because as the -Wuzzer, who, like a true Afghan, never omitted to interlard his -discourse with religious topics and allusions, a pigeon had built its -nest in front of a cavern in which the prophet lay concealed, and -thus favoured an escape from his enemies. - -"These horsemen draw near us," said Denzil, as hoofs now rang on the -pathway to the shrine. - -"_Az burai Kodar_--silence!" (for the love of God) whispered Taj -Mohammed, as he placed a hand on the mouth of the speaker and drew -him under the shadow of the trees, only in time to escape the eye of -a tall and well-armed man, who suddenly appeared at the door of the -mosque, in which one or two more lamps were now being lighted. - -The horsemen, twelve in number, were all Afghans, and armed to the -teeth. They carried juzails slung over their poshteens. Each had a -double brace of pistols in his girdle as well as a pair at his saddle -bow; and all, save one, who appeared to be a chief, had a lance in -his right hand, and an elaborately-gilded shield of rhinoceros hide -strapped to his back. They were all stately, strong and -resolute-looking fellows. Linking their horses together, they -dismounted with one accord, and their figures seemed remarkably -picturesque in the strong light which now streamed through the -door--a horse-shoe arch--of the illuminated mosque, as they entered -it in succession, each making a low salaam to the armed man, who was -evidently standing there to receive and welcome them. - -Denzil turned to Taj Mohammed and was about to make some inquiry, -when that personage, whose eyes were sparkling like those of a hyæna -in the clear starlight, and whose teeth were set with rage, said in a -low and hissing voice, - -"Silence, Sahib, silence, for your life! These are Ghilzies and -Kussilbashes; and he who received them is the Sirdir, Ackbar Khan! -Now, by the soul of the prophet, the dark spirit of the devil is in -Baber's tomb to-night!" - -A political or military conference--perhaps a conspiracy--was -evidently on the tapis; and great though the risk of discovery--a -cruel and immediate death--Taj Mohammed, in his dread and hatred of a -powerful and hereditary foe and would-be supplanter, crept forward -that he might overhear; and following his example, Denzil was rash -enough to climb, by the rich carvings of the mosque, to one of the -openings, which, for religious purposes, were left in its eastern -wall; and peeping in, he saw a somewhat remarkable scene--one which, -so far as regarded character, costume and spirit, resembled one in -the middle ages, rather than in her present Majesty's reign. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE MOSQUE OF BABER. - -Under the dome or centre of this edifice was formed a lofty hall of -circular shape, rising from horse-shoe arches that sprang from -slender pillars of white marble. In the centre of each arch hung a -silver lamp, but only two were lighted. On one side stood a pulpit -of the purest white marble, and on the other, a gilded gallery for -the Shah, when it pleased him to come hither and pray at the tomb of -his remote predecessor. Opposite this stood an altar, where the name -of the Deity was painted in brilliant arabesques, and two enormous -candles, each a foot in diameter, stood at each end of it on gilded -pedestals. - -In the middle of this place, and amid a group of armed Afghan chiefs, -stood one whom Taj Mohammed indicated by a sign, to be the Prince, -Ackbar Khan, our most bitter enemy in that half-barbarous land; and -it was not without some emotions of interest and excitement that -Denzil looked upon this son of Dost Mohammed--one whose character for -cruelty and recklessness of human suffering and human life was so -notorious. - -Fairer than Afghans usually are, he was a man of distinguished -hearing, with a magnificent black beard: but, for the purpose of -disguise, was clad as yet in the humble attire of a shepherd; thus it -contrasted strongly with the brilliant colours worn by Shireen Khan -of the Kussilbashes, Ameen Oollah Khan, the Ghazee chiefs, and -others, to whom he was now speaking with animation, ever and anon, -while he did so, grinding those teeth of which Rose Trecarrel had -spoken so disparagingly. - -This Ackbar Khan was simply a monster in cruelty; he had been known -to have a man flayed alive in his presence, "commencing at the feet -and continuing upwards, till the sufferer was relieved by death." A -favourite and brave follower of his own, named Pesh Khedmut--one who -had been with him in all his defeats, flights, and varieties of -fortune, was once assisting him to mount his horse, when some portion -of his loose flowing dress caught the lock of a pistol. It exploded, -and the terrible Ackbar was slightly wounded. In vain did the -luckless Khedmut swear upon the Koran that it was the result of an -accident over which he had no control; in vain, we say; for the -pitiless Sirdir had him burned alive; and he is alleged to have -tortured to death more than one British officer, whom the fortune of -war had left in his hands. - -Ackbar, however, excelled in all the higher branches of Afghan -education; thus he rode well, shot with precision, and handled his -sabre with an expertness few could equal. - -"Some conspiracy is afoot," thought Denzil; "and there is Shireen -Khan, the old Kussilbash brute whom I saw airing himself on a camel -at the band-stand; and now, here comes my friend, the Arab Hadji, who -loves his Prophet so much, but loathes soap and water more," he -added, mentally, as his late tormentor now stole in, and creeping, -almost crawling, on his hands and knees, up to Ackbar, delivered a -letter, which he drew from his tattered cummerbund, the cloth which -girt his loins. - -Ackbar read it, and his eyes flashed fire as he turned to grim old -Shireen Khan, and said,-- - -"Sale, the Kaffir Sirdir (_i.e._ infidel general) has actually cut -his way through the Ghilzie tribes, and is now safe in Jellalabad! -Well; the unbelievers who remain in Cabul shall be destroyed, root -and branch, ere he can return to succour them; that I have sworn on -the Kulma, unless the Envoy of their Queen ransoms their accursed -heads to-morrow." - -"And their women shall be our slaves," said one. - -"Or exchanged for horses with the chiefs of Toorkistan," added -another. - -Then, said Shireen Khan, his eyes, too, blazing like carbuncles, as -the hatred of race and religion boiled up within him, - -"The Feringhees, those dogs of covetousness, are among us, and for -what? What seek they here? To put over us a king whom we loathe--a -king who will be subservient to the Lord Bahadur at Calcutta; -dethroning Dost Mohammed!" - -"Solomon, as we may read, knew three thousand proverbs, and the songs -that he sang were a hundred and five; yet what was Solomon when -compared with Shah Sujah?" sneered Ackbar, as his white teeth -glistened under his coal-black mustache. - -"You will ask this Envoy on the morrow, if it was really his -intention to send me, Ameen Oollah Khan, Shireen Khan, and others, -bound as slaves, to the feet of his Queen, in her Island of the Sea?" -said one with sombre fury. - -"I shall, without fail." - -"And the white-faced dog will deny it!" - -"Perhaps; but it shall be the last lie of the unbeliever's tongue," -replied Ackbar, with a grim smile as he touched the hilt of his -Afghan dagger. - -"Slay him, even as I slew Burnes Sahib!" added that pleasant -personage who rejoiced in the name of Ameen Oolah Khan. "Ha! what -said the Khan of Khelat-i-Ghilzie to him, when he heard of the -Feringhees first coming hither by the Khyber and the Khoord Cabul -passes? 'Ye have brought an army into the land of the Pushtaneh; but -how do you propose to take it back again?'"* - - -* These were almost the words of the Duke of Wellington (by a -singular coincidence) when intimation was first made in Parliament of -our advance into Afghanistan.--Macfarlane's _Hist. of British India_, -p. 537. - - -"Had we killed Burnes Sahib when first he came among us alone, he had -not returned with all those Kaffirs who are now cantoned between -yonder hills of Siah Sung and Behmaru," said another chief, who wore -the sword of Sir Alexander Burnes in his girdle; "so now, that we -have the opportunity, let us slay the dogs ere they can escape us." - -"Nay, let us get the ransom _first_," suggested Shireen Khan. - -"Yes; and then let them march and be in the Passes, we know by which -they must depart; and remember," added Ackbar, with a tone and face -of indescribable ferocity, "the old Arab proverb--_Al harbu -Khudatun_!"--(All war is fraud). - -"Moreover," said Ameen Oollah, "the Prophet tells us, that promise as -we may, no faith is to be kept with heretics." - -"I came to retake my father's rights; the rights he sold to the -Feringhees. It was written that I should do so; for who that could -sit on a lofty throne in yonder Bala Hissar, would content him with a -carpet in a tent? Those Feringhees--those Anglo-Indians are the most -presumptuous dogs in the world," continued Ackbar, "they are -accustomed to see their servile sipahees, their effeminate Hindoos, -and others cower before them; but did they expect the same homage -from us--the free men of Afghanistan?" - -A fierce laugh answered the question, and those who had lances, made -their iron-shod butts to crash on the marble floor. - -Much more to the same purpose passed. Many of the arguments used and -impulses given, were nearly the same as those which excited the -terrible mutiny of a subsequent year; but what plan those -conspirators meant to adopt--whether to take a bribe, and let our -troops retreat in peace; or take the bribe, and lure them to -destruction in those terrible passes by which alone they could return -to India; in either case, to make slaves of the white women, neither -Mohammed, who translated much of what we have written, nor the other -listener, could determine; but the farewell words of Ackbar, ere they -departed, were ominous of much evil to come. - -"To your castles and tents," said he; "let every Khan and tribe be -prepared, for to-morrow may determine all. You, Shireen Khan, shall -dispatch tchoppers* to the chiefs of the Ghilzies, and those of the -Khyberrees, to guard the passes to the death, promise what we -may--for remember _all war is fraud_!" - - -* Mounted couriers. - - -With a low salaam to Ackbar, after all turning their faces in the -direction of Mecca, they now separated, and in a few minutes, the -sound of their horses' hoofs died away, some in the direction of the -city, and others on the Candahar road. - -"Sahib," said Mohammed Khan, greatly disturbed, "you have heard?" - -"More than I quite understand," replied Denzil; "however, I shall -report the affair to the General in the morning; those fellows are -evidently up to something more than either he or the Envoy quite -calculate upon. I only wish that I were nearer my quarters." - -"I have promised to guide you." - -"Thanks, Khan; you are most kind." - -All around the tomb and mosque of Baber was still and silent again; -the cooing of the pigeons and the gurgle of the sacred fountain alone -were heard. The quiet stars, and their queen, the vast round silver -moon, were shining now in peace and calmness over Cabul; over city, -plain, and flowing river; and in floods of liquid light, the -picturesque towers and masses of the Bala Hissar stood forth pale and -grey, while the curtain walls between, were sunk in shadow or -obscurity. - -Glad to befriend in any way an English officer, the Wuzeer guided -Denzil between the Armenian and the Mussulman burying-grounds, where -the shadows of the tall and ghost-like cypresses fell on the white -headstones and the little square chambers or cupolas that covered the -graves of those of rank. - -"Listen," said Denzil, pausing, as he suspected the Arab Hadji might -still be following; "surely I hear a sound." - -"You hear only the night wind sighing through yonder cypresses," -replied Taj Mohammed, solemnly; "sadly it goes past us bearing some -weary soul, perhaps, to the bridge of Al-sirat--some soul whose -earthly tabernacle may yet lie there, where five of my children are -laid, each with its fair face turned towards Mecca." - -Paler and sad grew the face of the Wuzeer as he spoke, for the -Afghans greatly reverence all burial-places, which, in their own -language, they term "the cities of the silent;" and in fancy they -love to people with the ghosts of the departed, sitting each unseen -at the head of his or her own grave, enjoying the fragrance of the -wreaths and garlands hung there by sorrowing relatives. - -Almost in the centre of the plain, midway between where the -burial-grounds lie and where the cantonments were, flowed the Cabul -river; and a mile or two brought Denzil and his guide within hail of -an advanced picquet of the 54th Native Infantry, now posted at the -bridge. There the former was safe, and with many expressions of -thanks and gratitude, he parted from the Wuzeer. - -He was informed by the officer in command of the post, that spies had -told the General of Ackbar Khan being in the vicinity of the city; -and that in consequence, all European residents had been ordered to -repair for safety, within the shelter of the cantonments. - -White in the moonbeams he could see the walls of General Trecarrel's -villa, which, being under the guns of our fortified Camp was, as yet -pretty safe; and he looked towards it with such emotion as a lover -who is young and ardent, alone can feel; for Rose he knew was there; -and after all he had heard at the Mosque of Baber, his heart swelled -with anxiety, and a longing desire that she and Mabel, and all their -friends, were elsewhere, in some place of greater peace and security. - -"To-morrow I shall tell her of my narrow escape," thought he; "my -darling--my darling--how I love you! and how nearly you were losing -me!" - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -"ONLY AN ENSIGN." - -Providentially for us, none in this world know what a day, or even an -hour may bring forth; so Denzil, when next morning he dressed and -accoutred himself, could little foresee the many stirring events that -were to crowd the next twelve hours, and in which he was to bear a -part; as little could he foresee the sorrows that were in store for -him, ere for the last time, as the event proved, he laid his head on -the pillow in the Afghan fort; for next day was to see the whole -forces concentrated in the cantonments. Polwhele was absent on -patrol duty, and Bob Waller had gone abroad unusually early. - -Denzil's intense longing to see Rose Trecarrel and to revive the -memories of yesterday was mingled with a conviction of the necessity -to see her father, that he might take him to General Elphinstone or -the envoy, to whom he was most anxious to report all that he had -heard and seen overnight in the Mosque of Baber; but Trecarrel was -absent (as a sepoy on duty at the gate of the villa informed him), -having gone to the Bala Hissar with a strong cavalry escort, as the -turbulence of the people rendered all the roads and streets unsafe--a -state of affairs sufficiently proved to Denzil already. - -He recalled the threat, or proposal he had overheard, to sell the -European ladies as slaves in Toorkistan, or to exchange them for -horses;--Rose Trecarrel sent to Toorkistan! He felt that he could -cheerfully shed his heart's blood in defence of her--of Mabel and the -old General too; that he could die for them--for her more than all; -and all that a young, loving and enthusiastic spirit could suggest -were in his head and heart, with a hope that his narrow escape -overnight would invest him with additional interest in her estimation. - -He entered the house with somewhat of the confidence felt only by a -privileged dangler, and by chance on this occasion his arrival was -not proclaimed by a stroke on the gong. He gave his name to a native -servant of the Trecarrels, who ushered him into the drawing-room, -announcing his presence as "Deveroo Sahib," but in a tone so low that -it seemed to be unheard by those who were there, and for a full -minute Denzil stood irresolute and did not advance. - -The apartment was spacious, and at a remote end of it, almost out on -the verandah, in fact, were Bob Waller and Mabel Trecarrel, very much -occupied with each other. She was seated in an easy chair looking up -at him, with an arch yet confident expression. They were conversing -in whispers, while Waller leaned over her, stooping his tall and -handsome figure so much that his face was close to hers--so close -indeed that his long curly whisker, the left one, was caught by her -right-ear earing, from which it was with difficulty extricated. - -"Do you know what I've been thinking, Mabel?" asked Waller, at that -juncture. - -"How should I guess?" - -"Try." - -"What is it?" - -"How have I ever been able to get on for those seven-and-twenty -years--I am just twenty-seven--without you!" - -Denzil might have laughed at all this but for the other two who made -up a quartette. - -Nearer him in the foreground sat Rose, the glory of the morning sun -streaming full upon her, and imparting fresh radiance to her beauty. -Her rich auburn hair glittered in the sheen, half like gold and half -like dusky bronze, while her smiling eyes were full of liquid light -as she looked upward from a book of coloured prints which lay open on -her knee, to the face of a staff officer who hung somewhat familiarly -over her. His face was fine, well browned by the sun, and closely -shaven, all save a smart black mustache; his eyes were soft in -expression, and his whole air was decidedly distinguished. - -"Now, who the deuce is this fellow? who seems such an _ami de la -maison_--in staff uniform, too--never saw his face before," were the -surmises that flashed on Denzil's mind. - -"And what is all this Miss Trecarrel has told me?" asked the -stranger, in a low voice. - -"A foolish flirtation with a boy," replied Rose, laughing. "It was -all a joke. Be assured that he never asked me to favour him with my -agreeable society for the term of his natural life." - -"By Jove! I should think not," was the rather dubious response of -the visitor. - -"And some bread-and-butter Miss now a-bed, perhaps, in England will -console him in the future, if the memory of me survive so long." - -"Mabel says you are over head and ears in love with him." - -"Psha! how can _you_ talk so? I am out of my teens, and the time has -gone by for me falling over head and ears for anybody. Come, don't -be foolish, friend Audley," she continued, gazing into the same eyes -which looked so softly into those of Sybil by the lonely moorland -tarn. "Do you think," she added, laughing, "I have been writing -'Mrs. _and_ Ensign Devereaux' in my blotting-pad, just to see how the -conjunction looked; for Denzil, you know, poor fellow, is very young -and only an ensign." - -Denzil felt as if petrified; and but last night he had risked his -life to procure a bauble for her! - -"But you certainly have been letting him make love to you," resumed -the stranger, in a tone of combined reproval and banter. - -"Well, it is rather pleasant to have a nice foolish boy to make love -to one, to tease and to laugh at." - -"Oh, indeed!" His tone was almost contemptuous; but in her vanity -Rose failed to perceive this. - -It was not eavesdropping, hearing all this, which passed rapidly, for -the Hindoo had formally announced Denzil; but so absorbed were the -quartette in themselves that they neither saw nor heard him. Then as -he paused irresolutely with cap and pipe-clayed gloves in hand, he -heard more than certainly even Rose, in her most rantipole mood, ever -meant he should hear. To say truth, she had been grievously piqued -that Audley had come out overland, instead of with her and Mabel in -the Indiaman; and hence she was disposed to exert the full power of -her charms, and use all her arts to lure him into flirting with--if -not of absolutely loving--her; and for the time poor Denzil seemed to -be already forgotten or only remembered as a subject for merriment. - -But as yet, at least, Audley Trevelyan was proof against all her -wiles and smiles. He thought only of the little girl at home -now--she whose brother he was certain might abhor and shun him for -his somewhat selfish treatment of her; for he knew not that Denzil -had heard nothing of the little love scenes that had passed at -Porthellick. - -Suddenly Denzil caught the eye of Rose as he drew nearer, and -starting and growing rather pale in the fear of what he might have -heard, she exclaimed, nervously, - -"Oh! Mr. Devereaux, welcome! Allow me to introduce you--Mr. -Devereaux, Cornish Light Infantry,--Mr. Trevelyan, one of yours, just -arrived--papa's new aide-de-camp, you know." - -Denzil bowed with anything but a satisfied air to "papa's new -aide-de-camp," who presented his hand with more than polite -cordiality, and muttered something about "the sincere pleasure" it -gave him, et cetera. - -"Hallo, Denzil, my boy! what was that shindy we hear you got into in -Cabul last night?" asked Waller, looking up. "Hope you were not -poking your nose under the veil of some bride of the Faithful, eh? -Here is Trevelyan of ours, has had a narrow escape, too. He and his -escort were pursued by the Ghilzies as he came up country; but he -sabred one, shot five or six and got clear off. Then I suppose you -know all about this devilish business of Sale and the 13th Light -Infantry in the pass?" - -Waller running on this, caused a diversion, and saved both Rose and -Denzil some pain by giving them breathing time. - -So this was Audley Trevelyan, his cousin, the Audley to whom Sybil -owed her life in the Pixies' Hole, was the first thought of Denzil, -and his heart seemed to harden. He had come thinking to create an -interest in a very tender bosom by an account of "the shindy," as -Waller styled it, in the great bazaar; and here was a fellow bronzed -and mustachioed already in possession of the situation--master of the -position--an intensely good-looking beast, who had actually crossed -swords and exchanged shots with the wild and untamable Ghilzies! - -To Denzil it was bitter mortification, all--yet he was compelled to -dissemble. Could it be possible that he found himself _de trop_? -That words of mockery had fallen on his ear? That Mabel and this -man, too, knew alike of that delightful drive by the lake? - -There was a nervous flutter and laughing air of confusion about Rose -that were neither flattering nor assuring; but the confirmed tidings -of the attack, by the insurrectionary tribes upon Sir Robert Sale's -regiment in its downward march to Jellalabad, luckily afforded a -ready topic--a neutral ground--on which all could talk with ease; for -now they were aware that Sir Robert Sale's little brigade, including -the Queen's 13th Light Infantry and 35th Native Infantry, armed with -flint muskets, though the stores were full of percussion fire-arms, -had been attacked by the mountain tribes, and that after clearing the -stupendous Khoord Cabul Pass and enduring eighteen days of incessant -fighting as far as a place called Gundamuck, had succeeded in -reaching Jellalabad on the 12th of November; and that now on Sir -Robert's retention of that city depended all the hope of General -Elphinstone's slender army having a place of refuge--a point on which -to fall back--if compelled to retire from Cabul (leaving the -unpopular Shah to the mercy of his own subjects), even with the -knowledge that a great amount of fighting awaited them in the savage -mountain passes (through which their homeward route must lie,) amid -the land of the Ghilzies, a race of hereditary robbers. - -Many officers and men had been killed and wounded; among the latter -were Sir Robert Sale, who received a ball in his left leg, and -Lieutenant O'Brien, of the 13th, whose skull was fractured by a shot -as he attempted to storm the rocks at the head of his company. Such -was the story of that protracted fight as it reached Cabul, and -reference to it now shed somewhat of gravity over even the lively -Rose Trecarrel; for among the officers of the two regiments -attacked--especially of the dashing 13th, Prince Albert's Own Light -Infantry--many were known to her, and had deemed her the chief -attraction of the band-stand and the daily promenade. - -But regrets were short, for something of the off-hand recklessness to -danger and even death, incident to military society in such a place -as Cabul, pervaded even the tenor of female life there; and the -subject was soon dismissed. - -"A mounted _tchopper_ accompanied Mr. Audley," said Mabel to Denzil, -whose saddened face interested her; "and so we have had quite a bale -of newspapers from England." - -"A bale?" repeated Denzil, mechanically, his eyes seeking those of -Rose. - -"Yes, positively. Three months' newspapers at least, though not one -letter; and thus the obituaries and marriages in the _Times_ become -so perplexing to us here." - -"I brought some letters for the army up with me from Bombay," said -Audley Trevelyan, "and among them, Devereaux, I observed one for -you--the name had, somehow, an attraction for me." - -"From home!" exclaimed Denzil, starting, for only those who are so -far from Europe as he was then can know how much is concentrated in -that single word, "home." - -"I trust so." - -"Then I must go to my quarters at once." - -"Nay, Devereaux," said Waller, "moderate your impatience, if the -letter is from some fair one----" - -"I have no correspondent but my--my sister Sybil," said Denzil, with -a flash in his eyes and a quiver of the lip. - -"But you must wait, my good fellow," said Waller, patting him kindly -on the shoulder; "you remember that we promised to ride on the Staff -of the Envoy, to make up a gallant show, and to impress, if possible, -the Sirdir." - -"My horse is not here." - -"But mine is, and is quite at your service," said Audley, bowing to -Denzil, who was in an agony of impatience to peruse his -long-wished-for letter. - -"All right," added Waller, looking at his watch; "and now we must be -off--must tear ourselves away." - -He glanced smilingly to Mabel as he spoke. - -A strange footing the two kinsmen were on. Something in their hearts -kept each from talking of their being such to each other. It was -indignant disdain on the part of Denzil, with somewhat of jealousy, -too. In Audley it was a well-bred nervous doubt of how much or how -little Denzil knew of the love affair--the broken engagement, in -fact, with his sister; or the misconstruction of the last visit at -night--the visit which ended, as neither yet knew, by an effect so -fatal. Denzil thanked him briefly and emphatically for saving his -sister's life (the Trecarrels had fully detailed all that), and then -all reference to Porthellick, and even to Cornwall, was dropped; but -they had soon other things to think of. - -The father of Audley had left nothing unsaid or undone to impress -upon him that the mysterious story of Constance's marriage was a -fabrication--one calculated to injure the prospects, and imperil the -honour, and so forth of the Trevelyan family; but when Audley -remembered Sybil, and sought to trace a likeness to her in Denzil's -face, he could not help feeling kindly and well-disposed to his -younger brother officer. - -Denzil having no such tender reminiscences to soften him, was -disposed to be politely cool or grim as Ajax. - -"We must get our bonnets and shawls if we are to see this -Conference," said Rose; "and we must look sharp--_temps-militaire_, -you know." - -"Don't be slangy," said Mabel. - -"Do you call French so, Mab?" Rose asked, as they hastened in high -spirits to attire themselves for walking, and little anticipating the -scene that was before them. - -"What are you thinking of Waller?" asked Audley, smiling. - -"That a thousand girls may be beautiful; but only one among them have -an air of refinement." - -"Like Miss Trecarrel?" - -"Exactly." - -All Europeans had now been ordered to keep within the shelter of the -cantonments, and as it was feared that the General's house might not -be sufficiently protected by the guns on the bastions overlooking the -Residency, he had arranged for the removal of his whole family and -effects into the regimental bungalows; and already a fatigue party -under Sergeant Treherne was at work on the premises, pulling down and -packing up, as only soldiers can pack and prepare in haste. - -With something of a stunned emotion Denzil rode by the side of Waller -on the horse of Audley, as the latter preferred to accompany the -ladies who were to witness the Conference through their lorgnettes -from the cantonment walls. - -"Oh! he preferred remaining behind," thought Denzil viciously; -"preferred remaining with her, of course; what cares he about the -Envoy, the Sirdir, or the Conference, d--n him!' - -"Full uniform is the order, you see," said Waller, as three other -officers joined them; "we are to meet Ackbar in our war-paint--in all -the pomp and glorious circumstance----" - -"Oh! Waller," urged Denzil; "how can you chaff so?" - -"Why not; it is a poor heart that never rejoices. You are down in -your luck with Rose, but you will laugh at that by-and-by." - -Denzil coloured, but made no reply. Oh, had his ears deceived him? -Had he heard aright? Had he been bantered by the tongue that spoke -so alluringly yesterday, mocked by the lips that had been pressed to -his so passionately? Were the clear, bright hazel eyes that but -lately looked so earnest, now smiling, as they alone could smile, -into those of another? - -Might he not have been mistaken? he tormentingly asked himself again -and again, and she be true after all--yes, after the sweet -impassioned hours of joy by the Lake of Istaliff it must be so! He -actually began to flatter himself that this was the case; that all -was as he wished it to be; so true it is "that a man freshly in love -is more blind than the bats at noonday." - -So far as change of scene, of circumstance, of society, and some -kinds of experience went, Denzil was beginning to learn the truth of -Southey's maxim, "Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are -the longest of your life." - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -ASSASSINATION. - -No special correspondent had ever, or has ever, penetrated beyond the -Indus and into the wilds of Kohistan, to saturate the English papers -with narratives of the terrible scenes which we are about to describe -in some of these pages. - -Leaving the cantonments by the centre gate which faced the hills of -Siah Sung, Denzil, Waller, and the officers who had joined them, -Captains Mackenzie, Lawrence, and Trevor, now rode to where a group -of others surrounded one on horseback, who proved to be the Envoy, -who had with him a Hindoo syce, or groom, leading a marvellously -beautiful Arab horse, which he meant to present in our Queen's name -to the Sirdir. With all his avowed confidence in the latter, he had -requested that, in case of any unforeseen emergency arising, the 51th -Native Infantry, the Shah's 6th regiment and two field pieces should -be in readiness for instant service; but so greatly was General -Elphinstone debilitated, alike in mind and body, that no order to -this effect was issued; so the men remained idle in their bungalows, -though it was known that the cowardly Shah Sujah, who had eight -hundred ladies, the flower of all his country, shut up with him in -the Bala Hissar, was so apprehensive of the result of the meeting, -that he coolly sent orders through his Kadun Kahia (or Mother of the -Maids) placed in authority over them, that they should, if the rebels -under Ackbar got into the city, be each and all prepared to take a -deadly poison within an hour. - -"Look alive, Denzil--waken up; here is the representative of Her -Britannic Majesty in this pleasant part of the world," said Waller to -his abstracted friend, while laughing and saluting, he approached Sir -William Macnaghten, Baronet, who, for his great political services, -had just been appointed Governor of Bombay, and who was in full -diplomatic uniform, elaborately laced with silver embroidery, and had -several jewelled orders glittering on his breast. - -Like many men whom a perilous adventure or a sudden fate menaces, he -was in excellent spirits this morning, and was by no means disposed -to listen to the warnings of the solemn-visaged Wuzeer, who was -relating all that he and Denzil had overheard in the Mosque of Baber. -Captain Mackenzie also stated that there was certainly a plot laid by -Ackbar for his destruction; but Macnaghten would listen to neither -advice nor remonstrance. - -"I must meet him," said he, "and already he and the chiefs are on the -ground to consult about whether we shall remain here in peace or -retire beyond the Indus; and you will see how I shall snub even such -a fellow as Ackbar Khan," he added, lifting his cocked hat and bowing -gracefully to the ladies who were gathering in numbers above the -rampart of the Siah Sung gate, and all were busy with their -opera-glasses, looking towards the east bank of the Cabul river, -where, about a quarter of a mile distant, were clustered a group of -Afghan horsemen, their brightly coloured flowing dresses and -burnished weapons making a brilliant show in the sunshine. - -In common with Captain Lawrence and Captain Trevor of the 3rd Light -Cavalry, Waller begged the Envoy to consider well these repeated -warnings, but the latter only laughed and said, - -"Bold as he is--and even in this wild country there is none perhaps -bolder--Ackbar dare not molest me." - -"Be not over confident, Sir William: remember his remorseless -character, and the homicides he has committed." - -"I have my pistols." - -"So have we all; but consider your wife--consider Lady Macnaghten, if -you perish as Sir Alexander Burnes perished!" - -Macnaghten's lip quivered slightly, and he glanced to where the row -of fair English faces, the flutter of ribbons, veils, and gay -bonnets, were all visible above the dark slope of the cantonment -wall; but he concealed his rising emotion or anxiety by an angry -outburst. - -"I do not ask _you_, Captain Waller, to accompany me; Mackenzie, -Lawrence, and Trevor are enough to be in front of the lines, if you -think the risk so great." - -Waller's open and ruddy countenance lowered and grew pale. - -"Risk, Sir William!" said he, greatly ruffled, "of course there is -risk, otherwise I should not be here as a volunteer." - -"Nor I," added Denzil, glancing towards a certain blue crape bonnet, -and detecting Audley's cocked hat very close thereby. - -"Nor I," exclaimed the black-whiskered Polwhele, who had hitherto -been intent on the points of the Arab courser. - -"Come on then, gentlemen--the more the merrier, and a little time -must solve all." - -The Wuzeer sadly shook his head, and saying, - -"As Darrah said of the hypocrite Aurungzebe, 'Of all my brothers most -do I fear the teller of beads,' so say I of Ackbar;" and almost -rending his beard as he went, this loyal minister of a most unpopular -king retired into one of the forts to wait the event, while the Envoy -laughingly spurred his horse and with his companions rode towards the -group of Afghan Chiefs, around and in the rear of whom their armed -followers were every moment increasing in number and excitement, as -fresh horsemen accoutred with spear and shield, matchlock and sabre, -came galloping from the gates of the city, uttering menacing and -tumultuous cries, which could not fail to make the hearts of the -ladies in the fortified camp to throb with apprehension. - -The Envoy, with his little Staff, after crossing the canal by the -bridge near an old and abandoned fort, advanced more leisurely -towards where Mohammed Ackbar Khan, and many other great Chiefs, -among whom were Shireen Khan of the Kussilbashes, on his towering -camel, and Ameen Oollah Khan, were posted a little way in front of an -armed, dark-visaged, and stormy-looking throng. - -The last-named individual, Chief of Loghur, perhaps equalled Ackbar -in cruelty; and it may be sufficient to illustrate his character to -state, that in order to get rid of an elder brother who stood between -him and the inheritance, he caused him to be seized and buried up to -the chin in densely packed earth. Around his neck was then looped a -rope, the end of which was haltered to a wild horse, which was driven -round him in a circle, until the unhappy victim's head was torn from -his shoulders, as a testimony of how Ameen Oollah Khan protested -against the law of primogeniture.* - - -* Lieutenant Eyre's Narrative. - - -Conspicuous among all by his stature and deportment, the Prince -Ackbar was magnificently attired in a camise of shawl pattern, all -scarlet and gold; his plumed cap was of blue and gold brocade, with a -fall and fringe that drooped on his right shoulder. He was armed -only with his sabre, a poniard, and a pair of magnificent pistols, -which Sir William Macnaghten had presented to him on a former -occasion; but Ameen Oollah Khan, Shireen, the Kussilbash, the other -chiefs, and all their followers, especially the Ghilzies, were -accoutred to the teeth, with the arms usually borne by Afghan -horsemen--a heavy matchlock with a long bayonet, a sabre, a -blunderbuss, three long pistols, a dagger, four or five knives, a -shield on the back, and a comical complication of bullet-bags, -powder-flasks, priming-horns, and other things dangling at their -girdles; and warlike, ferocious, and formidable-looking fellows they -were, save their firearms, unchanged in aspect and in nature as their -forefathers who dwelt on the mountains of Ghore, in the days when the -Scots and English were breaking each other's heads on the field of -Northallerton. - -It was a strange scene, and picturesque in all its details. - -On one side a few fair-faced English officers in full uniform, with -glass in eye and cigarette in mouth, cool, quiet, and secretly rather -disposed to "chaff the niggers"--men of that type of whom Bob Waller -might be taken as the representative, frank, fearless, and -light-hearted, with his honest blue eyes and those long, fair -whiskers which Mabel Trecarrel thought so adorable--quite as much so -as he deemed her tresses of ruddy, golden auburn; on the other, a -horde of those hardy warriors from the hills of Kohistan--men whose -ideas were beyond the middle ages of the world's history, with their -hearts full of proud disdain, rancorous hate, and all the malignant -treachery that adversity of race, religious fanaticism, and profound -ignorance can inspire, and yet suavely dissembling for the time. - -"Permit me, Khan, to present you with this horse, in the name of Her -Majesty the Queen of England, with her wishes that you may long be -spared to ride him," said Sir William Macnaghten, with a profound -salaam, after he and his companions drew close to the carpet on which -Ackbar awaited them. He then alighted from his horse and seated -himself, together with Captains Trevor, Lawrence, and Mackenzie, upon -a piece of carpet, among the chiefs and sirdars; but, luckily for -themselves, Waller, Denzil, and the rest remained in their saddles, -at a little distance. The Sirdir coldly and haughtily thanked the -Envoy for his new gift, the points of which he praised with all a -horseman's perception. It cost Sir William 3000 rupees, and had -belonged to Captain Grant, the Assistant Adjutant-General. Then with -an eye to any confusion that might ensue during the Conference, he -ordered the Hindoo syce to lead it off at once towards the city, and -a sly, cruel gleam came into his black eyes, as this was done. After -a few solemn salutations in oriental fashion and phraseology, Ackbar -Khan said-- - -"Bismillah! let us talk." - -All the chapters in the Koran, except nine, commence with this word, -which signifies, "In the name of the merciful God;" thus it is -incessantly used in conversation by the Arabs, and still more by the -somewhat canting Afghans. - -He then proceeded to business at once, by asking the Envoy if he was -prepared to effect a proposition that had before been made, to the -effect that we should deliver up the Shah Sujah, with all his -household and family, male and female, to his--the Sirdir's--mercy; -that we should lay down our arms and colours, yielding also cannon -and horses, together with those two obnoxious sahibs, Sir Robert Sale -and Brigadier Shelton, as hostages--in fact, an unconditional -surrender--in virtue of which he should graciously pardon our -appearance in Afghanistan, our interference with its affairs, and -permit our whole force to retire with their lives, on the further -condition of swearing to return no more! - -"Such proposals," said Sir William, endeavouring to preserve his -temper, "are too dishonourable for British troops to entertain. You -know not, Sirdir, the men you speak to, and if you persist----" - -"Ah, if we persist, what then?" - -"We shall simply appeal to arms." - -"You Feringhees are proud," said Ackbar, scoffingly; "but Allah -punishes the proud and humbles them." - -He breathed hard as he spoke, and the splendid jewels on his breast -heaved with each excited respiration as he strove to restrain his -fiery temper; but his dark eyes sparkled, and his teeth glistened -like those of a wild animal. - -"I have to lament, Khan," resumed Sir William, "that relations of -friendship which have hitherto existed between your people and us -have been clouded; and I am ignorant wherefore it should be so. -Good-will towards the people of Afghanistan caused my mistress, the -Queen of England, to lend her aid----" - -"In dethroning my father, Dost Mohammed Khan," interrupted Ackbar, -with sombre fury. - -"In restoring Shah Sujah to the throne of his ancestors," continued -Macnaghten, heedless of the pointed interruption; "and now, Khan, I -beseech you to remember that I received your royal father's sword at -yonder gate of Cabul, when he rode in, a hunted fugitive, after his -escape from the Emir of Bokhara, and I saved his life, sending him -with all honour to Calcutta, when I might have slain him." - -"I have not forgotten it, Kaffir, and would rather you had cut him to -pieces, than made him a dependent on your bounty." - -Sir William took no heed either of the injurious epithet or the -prince's somewhat unfilial wish. - -"The paths of the just are rugged like yonder hills of Kohistan; yet -the snowy peaks are nearer Allah than the plain around us," said -Ackbar, in true Afghan phraseology. - -"I know that, Khan; but----" - -"Peace! You Kaffirs pretend to know all things, whereas ye know -nothing. How can it be else, when ye know not the blessed Koran? -You can be grasping and cruel, however, and well know how to be so. -Was it not your secret intention to send Ameen Oollah Khan, Skireen -Khan, and even me, chained, as slaves to your Queen, a Kaffir woman, -in her little island, which, Abdallah the Hadji tells us, is a mere -spot of mud amid a misty sea?" - -"It was a lie of the Ghilzie chiefs," replied Sir William, becoming -uneasy at the decidedly offensive tone so rapidly assumed by the Khan. - -"There is but one God, and before Him none other did exist," resumed -the royal hypocrite; "He formed seven heavens, seven worlds, and -eighteen creations, and He sent his friend Mohammed as the Prophet to -mankind; and by every hair in that Prophet's beard I swear to see you -brought low--very low, and to exult over you." - -"Perhaps so, Khan--you are younger than I," replied the other, -affecting to misunderstand the ominous threat. - -"You will not accept our terms?" - -"It is impossible; as I have said, they are too dishonourable." - -"Then, while the Khyberees guard the passes, we shall starve you in -yonder cantonments, till the horses gnaw each other's tails, and the -tent-pegs too, for very hunger; till the babe shall suck in vain for -milk at its dying mother's breast, and the jackals and pariah dogs -shall gorge themselves with the flesh of camels, of horses, and those -who are lower yet than even the beasts of the field--the accursed of -the Prophet!" - -Ere Macnaghten could reply to this remarkable outburst, an officer -(Captain Lawrence) drew near, and called his attention to the great -number of armed men who had been gradually stealing in between them -and the gate of the cantonments, and suggested that they "should be -ordered to withdraw." - -"No," exclaimed Ackbar, starting to his feet; "they are all in the -secret; _begeer! begeer!_" (seize--seize). - -At these words, as if they had been a given signal, the Envoy, -Captains Trevor, Lawrence, and Mackenzie were seized by a crowd of -Afghans, and were so completely taken by surprise, that their swords, -pistols, and epaulets were torn from them before they could strike a -blow in their own defence. - -With an expression of indescribable ferocity in his dark face, Ackbar -grasped Sir William with his own hand, and proceeded to drag him -violently and by main strength down a bank towards the Cabul river. - -"Ah! Kaffir," said he, tauntingly, "you think to take my country, do -you?" - -"For God's sake, beware!" exclaimed the unfortunate man, making all -the resistance that rage, just indignation, and fear of a sudden -death, such as that endured by his friend Burnes, would inspire; so -finding it impossible to carry him off, Ackbar shot him dead with one -of the beautiful pistols, a present from his victim; and ere the -corpse touched the ground it was impaled by a hundred swords and -bayonets. The head was then hewn off and upheld by the hair. - -Captain Trevor, of the 3rd Bengal Cavalry, also fell, the victim of -innumerable wounds. Mackenzie and Lawrence were borne off towards -the city by one horde of fanatics, while another, led by Ameen Oollah -Khan, with juzails cocked and swords drawn, and with flashing eyes -and infuriated faces and gestures, uttering screams of -"Kaffirs--Feringhees--Sugs!" (infidels--Europeans--dogs), rushed upon -Waller, Denzil, Polwhele, and two other officers, who could hear the -shrill cries of dismay uttered by the ladies on the wall of the -cantonments, where now, when it was too late, old Elphinstone had -ordered the drums to beat to arms, and General Trecarrel brought the -cavalry, half-saddled, from their stables. - -"Stick close to me, Devereaux," cried Waller, shortening his reins -and raising himself in his stirrups. He escaped two juzail balls, -and parried a most vicious poke of a lance made at him by Shireen -Khan; and then by one tremendous blow, which, however, fell -harmlessly on the thick folds of the loonghee or scarlet cap of that -personage, he tumbled him from his perch on the camel's hump. The -next blow he gave rid Denzil of Abdallah, the Arab Hadji, who, -shouting "Mohammed resoul Allah!" had actually sprung, with all the -fierce activity of a tree-tiger, upon his horse's crupper, and was -about to plunge an Afghan dagger--a formidable weapon, as it is -twenty-four inches in length, broader than a sword-blade, and sharp -as a razor--into his back or throat; it only grazed his neck, -however, when Waller's sword, with all the impetus that strength of -arm and speed of horse could give it, was through and through the -body of the savage fanatic. - -"There is another nigger sent to the other end of nowhere," cried -Waller. "Dash right through them, gentlemen; we must cut for our -lives!" - -Riding close together and abreast, the five officers, making a charge -right through the mob (who were chiefly Ghilzees, and who, in their -blind fury, wrath, and confusion, wounded and shot each other), -succeeded by hard riding in reaching the cantonments, the gates of -which were instantly closed and barricaded. - -Polwhele left his sword in one man's body, so firmly was it wedged in -the spinal column. Waller's sword was only one of the rubbishy -regulation blades of Sheffield, a poor weapon when opposed to the -keenly tempered sabres of those Afghan warriors, yet towering over -them all, his bulk, strength, and stature had availed him greatly; he -had shot two, and cut down three. Denzil, though half stunned by -confusion at the suddenness of the whole affair, and by the explosion -of a matchlock close to his face, struck about manfully, and must -have sent at least one Mussulman on his way to the dark-eyed girls of -paradise; for when he dismounted, breathless and excited, within the -gates, he found his sword and right hand both covered with blood. - -In the exasperation of his mind at Rose Trecarrel, the tumult of the -time was a relief to Denzil's mind; and he was not sorry that she, -through her lorgnette, had seen him, sword in hand, among the Afghans. - -On this conflict the poor ladies had gazed, with faces paled by -terror, and lips that were mute, save when a shriek escaped them -involuntarily as blood spirted upward in the air, as a man or horse -went down, yet they gazed with the strange fascination that the -ferocity of a conflict between men--more than all armed men--will -sometimes have for the gentlest woman, for it seemed a species of -wild phantasmagoria. But they wrung their hands and wept piteously; -for they saw the terrible butchery of Sir William Macnaughten and of -Captain Trevor, and could only tremble for the too-probable fate of -Captain Lawrence and Captain Mackenzie, who, in sight of the entire -troops in the cantonment, and in sight of all their friends, were -borne off captives amid a yelling horde, whose weapons, spear-heads, -crooked sabres, and polished horseshoes, flashed out brightly from -amid a cloud of dust that rolled away towards the Lahore Gate of the -now-hostile city of Cabul. - -"Well, this is a shindy that will suffice to scare our blue devils -for awhile," said Polwhele, with a grim smile on his dark face. - -"Denzil, my boy," said Waller, "you had a narrow squeak for your -life; that Arab wasp's dagger was pretty close." - -"I have no words to thank you," replied Denzil, breathlessly, and -turning away somewhat bluntly from Audley Trevelyan, who frankly came -to shake his hand in token of congratulation; for their escape was -almost miraculous--without wounds, too. - -Lady Sale was thanking Heaven that her husband was safe in -Jellalabad, and Mabel Trecarrel made a pretty plain _exposé_ of what -her emotions were on beholding Waller safe. - -"Mr. Devereaux," said a voice that made his heart thrill--"Denzil, -thank God you have escaped! But, Heavens! your hands are all over -blood; it is horrible!" - -There was infinite tenderness in the tone of Rose. It is the slavery -of great love to be ever very humble. The lad blessed her in his -heart; yet her honeyed accents, though they recalled the joy of -yesterday, could not remove the sting of that morning's mockery which -still was sore and rankling. - -"Poor Trevor, and all the rest, God help them!" exclaimed General -Trecarrel, and many others, who had no hope now save in vengeance; -but, ere nightfall, Taj Mohammed stole into the cantonments with some -final tidings. - -The body of Sir William, who was a brave, good, and highly -accomplished gentleman, had been ignominiously stripped and hung, -with all its gaping wounds, in the Char Chouk, or Great Bazaar, where -Denzil had so nearly lost his life; and the head was taken by a khan, -named Nawab Zuman, and, together with one of the hands, exhibited -with ferocious triumph to Captain Conolly, an officer who had -unfortunately fallen into their power, and whose brother, with Major -Stoddart, afterwards perished miserably under torture in the dungeons -of the Emir of Bokhara. - -The other two officers were detained as prisoners by Ackbar Khan. -General Trecarrel, who had just come in from the Bala Hissar with an -escort of the 5th Cavalry, was furious, and wished the cantonment to -open with round shot, grape, and canister, on everything and -everybody within their range; but grave consideration was necessary -now--our little force was so isolated in that hostile land. At the -time these events were occurring, the remains of Sir Alexander -Barnes's body, cut in pieces, were still hanging on the trees of his -garden as food for the vultures, and Ackbar Khan was driving in the -Char Chouk, in the carriage of Sir William Macnaughten, whose head he -hung there in a _bhoosa_ bag (or forage-net) till it could be -transmitted by a _tchopper_, or mounted messenger, to the Emir of -Bokhara; and the poor ladies in the cantonments looked at each other -with blanched faces, as they heard of those terrible things. - -So closed the night of the 23rd December over our troops in far-away -Cabul. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -HOME IN THE SPIRIT. - -"And now for my letter!" exclaimed Denzil, as he hurried eagerly from -the excited throng about the cantonment gate to his new quarters, a -bungalow of somewhat humble construction, as its low roof was -thatched, and its walls built of the unburnt brick peculiar to Cabul. -Save his bed and table, a chair, some bullock trunks, and -accoutrements, furniture or ornament it had none. - -The letter lay on the table, and, as he entered, its black-edged -envelope gave him a shock. Audley had not mentioned this -circumstance, for he humanely knew that until the fatal conference -was over, and Denzil could get it perused, his anxiety would be -torture, as "the dim shadow of an unknown evil is worse than the -presence of a calamity whose worst is told." - -It proved to be from Sybil, and, curiously enough, had been brought -from Bombay by Audley Trevelyan! In India, people when "up country" -are thankful to get their home letters, even though six months old, -and, in the joy of receiving one, the longing to learn all it -contained--tidings of those he loved, and who were so far -away--Denzil forgot the terrible double catastrophe he had so -recently witnessed--the cruel butchery of two gallant gentlemen; he -forgot even about Rose Trecarrel, and cast himself into his chair, to -enjoy the full luxury of perusing it; but for a time an envious film -spread over his eyes when he attempted to read--a film that was soon -to turn to tears. - -"Ah! England and Sybil," he murmured, "how far, far, I am away from -you!" - -The letter was dated some months back; and the first few words gave -the young military exile a dreadful shock, for they told him of his -mother's death:-- - -"Oh, Denzil, my brother, how my heart yearns for you now more than -ever! You know how much she loved us, Denzil, and how much our lives -were bound up in each other; thus I cannot convince myself that I am -quite alone, that she has gone from this world for ever, and that we -shall never see her more--never see that sweet smile which her -beautiful dark eyes always wore for us. Our darling mamma! I send -you a lock of her hair (you will see that grey had begun to mingle -with it); and I send you also a wild violet that grew near the grave -where I buried her." - -Sybil's writing here became tremulous, almost illegible, and falling -tears had evidently blotted the ink. The poor young subaltern seemed -to forget his present surroundings; he felt himself a boy again, and, -covering his bowed-down face with his hands, wept bitterly. - -"Time will soften what we suffer, Denzil; but shall I ever be the -same again? I never had any plan or future unconnected with poor -mamma, after you left us, and our papa was lost. I fear she wore her -life out with thinking of what would become of us--of me, perhaps, -more especially--when she was, as she now is, dead and gone. There -cannot be two beings more isolated than you and I are now, dear -Denzil, and your letters are my only comfort. I am so thankful to -find from them that you are a favourite with so many, that General -Trecarrel is so kind; and that honest fellow, Bob Waller, too, I feel -that I quite love him. How do you like the Misses Trecarrel? Rather -giddy, are they not? Has Mr. Audley Trevelyan joined yet?" - -Then, as if with the mention of Audley's name other thoughts that -were unknown to Denzil occurred to her, Sybil added-- - -"My music and my sketching days are ended now, Denzil; as some one -has it, 'I may put away all the bright colours out of my paint-box, -for they have gone out of my life.' Vainly has our rubicund Rector, -fresh from his pretty parsonage, his happy family circle, as yet -unbroken and unclouded by sorrow, fresh, perhaps, from his sumptuous -luncheon and glass of full-bodied old port, besought me to take -comfort--that grieving for the dead was useless--and told me that -there is One above 'who turneth the shadow of death into mourning,' -for I can only weep as one who would not be comforted. The old man -is very kind to me, however--bless him! though we have suffered much -through that horrid Lamorna peerage story--much at the hands and -tongues even of those to whom mamma was ever open-hearted, and all -charity and benevolence; but you will remember what Lady Fanshawe -says of our common Cornish folks in her time, that 'they are of a -crafty and censorious nature, _as most are so far from London_.' - -"My next letter will tell you more certainly of my future intentions, -and all that immediately concerns myself. Our faithful nurse, Winny -Braddon, whose brother perished with papa, has gone to spend--to end, -I should say--her days with old Mike Treherne and his wife, who, as -you know, is her sister; and the Rector, who takes care of me--for I -am all but penniless now--is to give me an introduction to a lady of -high rank, who is about to go abroad; to where I know not--to India -itself perhaps. Would to Heaven it were! for then we might meet -again." - -"My sister a companion--compelled, for bread, to submit to whim, -caprice, neglect, and mortification! Oh, my father, has it come to -this!" groaned Denzil in agony of spirit. - -"The sunlight is setting redly on the rough summits of the Row Tor -and Bron Welli. All is quiet--quiet as death around me; I can hear -but the beating of my own heart, the most earnest prayers and -blessings of which go with these lines across the seas to you, dear -Denzil." - -So ended this letter, which he read many, many times, heedless of the -unwonted bustle which reigned in the cantonments, where the gunners -were getting additional cannon mounted, the miners forming barricades -and traverses, and other vigorous preparations being made for defence -in case of a too-probable attack. - -Denzil had learned that within every shadow, however deep, there may -be a darker shade; and now that shade within the shadow that had -fallen on him was the death of his mother. - -His mother dead! Another beloved face gone as his father's had -gone--a sweet and winning face he saw in fancy still, yet never -should look on again. How much there were of past care and years of -love and tenderness to remember now! Then there were his only -sister's utter loneliness and helplessness to appal him. How trivial -a calamity seemed the coquetry of Rose Trecarrel when compared to -sorrows such as these! And she had died the tenant of a humble -cottage on the moors--the property of Mike Treherne, the miner, whose -son was now a sergeant in his company! - -And could it be that for months past, while he had been happy, -thoughtless, heedless, and full of merriment among his comrades, that -she who loved him beyond her own life, purely and unselfishly as only -a mother can love an only son, had been in her dark cold grave, and -he knew it not? No thought by day, no vision by night, no intuition -or thrill of magnetic affinity (such as that of which we read in the -Corsican twins and their mother), had told him of this; and yet it -was so. - -Far away from where the embattled Bala Hissar looked down on the -flowing Cabul, on the Mosque of Baber and the Obelisk of Alexander -the Macedonian, from the English cantonments and all their -associations, even from thoughts of Rose Trecarrel's auburn hair and -tender brown eyes, Denzil's mind, swifter than the electric -telegraph, flashed home to the land from whence that letter came--to -Cornwall with its mines below the rolling sea; to its granite -quarries where the thunder-blast, loud as a salvo from the Bala -Hissar, told of the riven rock; to its stone avenues solemn and -hoary, and the great rock-pillars of the Fire Worshippers of old; to -the dark brown moors of Bodmin, where in summer the drowsy bee hummed -over the heath-bells and wild honeysuckle; to the towering bluffs on -which the empurpled waves were rolling in the light of the sun as he -set beyond Scilly, "the isles of the god of day;" to tarns where the -water-lily floated, and to pools where the speckled trout was darting -to and fro; to his rugged home, we say, went all his thoughts--to the -Land's End with all its masses of splintered rocks, worn and bleached -by the seas of ages, split and rent like columns of basalt amid the -brine--rocks where the fresh-smelling seaweed and the scarlet -sea-anemone clung, and on whose summit the weary miner sometimes sat -and rested after his toil to watch the passing ships, or to ponder -when next his pickaxe would discover "a lode of tin or a goodly bunch -of copper ore" in those burrows beneath the sea over which the keels -were gliding, their crews little wotting that human beings were in -those lighted mines fathoms deep below;--over all these familiar -scenes the mind of Denzil wandered, to settle again in fancy on his -dead mother's face; to think of his sister's loneliness--of the vast -distance by sea and land that separated them,--of his own now-narrow -means; and his heart seemed to wither up within him. - -So the long night wore away, and the day began to break. Its advent -was heralded by the boom of a 24-pounder from the Bala Hissar, by the -merry drums and fifes giving the _reveillez_, and by strokes on the -flat metal ghurries that hung in front of the guard-houses; but -Denzil sat heedless, very pale, and absorbed in thought. - -* * * * * * - -"Come, my dear fellow, don't mope, and don't give way thus--it is no -earthly use doing so," said the cheerful voice of Bob Waller on the -evening of the second day that Denzil had been permitted to absent -himself from parade. "I know what I felt when my own mother -died--God rest her! We were on the march to Ferozepore, under -General Duncan, when the letter reached me--thought I should die -too--wanted sick leave to go home, and all that sort of thing. Come -to my bungalow and have a weed, with some brandy-pawnee; or shall I -stay with you? By the way, here is Trevelyan's card of condolence. -Good style of fellow, Trevelyan: he and the Trecarrels give you their -kindest wishes." (This conjunction made Denzil wince.) "Will you -come with me to Mabel--Miss Trecarrel, I mean?" added the -good-hearted, well-meaning Waller. "She is so sensible, sympathetic, -and kind." - -"I should prefer being alone," replied Denzil moodily. - -"But you can't be alone." - -"Why?" - -"The whole 37th have come in, and the Shah's 6th Foot from the Bala -Hissar. These Afghan beggars have some movement in contemplation to -cut us off, and the cantonments are quite crowded." - -But for a time Denzil would seek no relief, save in military duty. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -IN THE FORTIFIED CAMP. - -The place of Sir William Macnaghten as Envoy of the Queen was -supplied by Major Pottinger, C.B., who, together with Brigadier -Shelton, renewed negotiations with Ackbar Khan, and strove to effect -a peaceful retreat of our troops from Cabul. After the recent -assassinations and many other outrages,--after the reoccupation by -the natives of the eleven square Afghan forts that stood around the -cantonments, thus almost entirely enclosing and secluding our slender -European force,--after all hope of Sir Robert Sale's gallant brigade -returning from Jellalabad to their aid, and other hope of succour -from our troops in Candahar passed away, matters began to look gloomy -indeed; but none could foresee, though many feared, the end. - -No attempt was made by General Elphinstone, who, though once a -gallant officer, was aged and ailing now, to avenge the deaths of -Macnaghten, Trevor, Burnes, and others; to uphold the Shah, then all -but besieged in his citadel by rebels under Ackbar; or to assert the -dignity of Britain in that remote quarter of the world. Many -officers murmured and remonstrated on the necessity for immediate -action; but such is the force of discipline and of military -etiquette, that not one had the moral courage to assume the serious -responsibility of appealing to the troops and usurping the command. -Councils of war were held; but it is well known that such councils -seldom urge fighting; and all these ended in mere vacillation, -indecision, and inanity. - -The greatest force of the insurgent Afghans was in Mahommed Khan's -fort, which stood nine hundred yards distant from the cantonment -guns; but these, being only nine-pounders, were useless for breaching -purposes; and as this fort commands the road that leads to the city -and the Bala Hissar, supplies from that quarter were completely cut -off; and so were they from every other point save the village of -Beymaru, where they were procured at vast cost; and when that source -failed--our troops, who with their camp-followers, the necessity and -the curse of every Indo-British army, made up six and twenty thousand -souls penned within the cantonments--the threat of Ackbar, that our -horses would yet gnaw each other's tails and the tent-pegs, would -become terribly true, unless a successful retreat through the passes -were achieved; but for that movement, who now could trust to the -promises, the honour, or the humanity of the hostile and exulting -Afghans? - -Though formed into innumerable petty septs, like the clans of the -Scottish Highlands, these people are attached more to the community -than the chief of it; and though divided by many bitter quarrels -among themselves, they were united enough in their hatred of all -Kaffirs and Feringhees, and in the hope of getting all their women -and property as spoil. Like a Scottish clan of old, an Afghan tribe -never refuses the rights of hospitality to a native suppliant. The -fugitive who flies from his clan, even though stained with blood, is -protected by the tribe upon whose mercy he casts himself, and war to -the death would ensue rather than surrender him. All these little -republics were now amalgamated for two purposes--the destruction of -Shah Sujah and his family, and the expulsion or destruction of our -little army that had enthroned him. - -No one ever ventured beyond the secure walls of the cantonment now, -and every other day shots were exchanged between the sentinels and -scouting-parties of Afghan horsemen who rode between the forts, -brandishing their sabres or matchlocks in angry bravado; and now and -then the artillery tried a little practice with their nine-pounders -on Mahommed Khan's fort. Nor were the Shah's Gholandazees, under his -Topshee Bashee, or General of the Ordnance, in the Bala Hissar quite -idle; thus almost nightly there floated above the city a red light, -that brought forth tower and dome in dark relief, as the gleam of -musketry and cannon fell on the atmosphere; the smoke of gunpowder at -night is always somewhat of a red tint. - -The ladies had got over much of their squeamishness about the -discharge of firearms. Poor things, they were learning fast to look, -almost without shrinking, on the fall of friend and foe, nor to wink -at the flash of a musket, even those who had once shared the old -dame's idea with regard to such implements, that, "whether loaded or -unloaded, they were apt to go off." - -The music of the bands was heard no more, promenades, rides, and -drives were at an end now, and General Trecarrel's handsome -London-made carriage, with its crimson-lined tiger-skin, the spoil of -a splendid animal potted by Waller in the Siah Sung, had become, by -the simple law of appropriation, the property of Ameen Oollah Khan -for the use of his four wives. - -Denzil and Audley Trevelyan did not meet much on duty, as the latter -was on the Staff, had little to do with parades, and nothing whatever -with guards, pickets, or working parties. Puzzled by the Lamorna -peerage story (as Sybil called it), a story so strange and -unsupported by proper evidence, Denzil deemed that as yet perfect -silence in the matter was his proper plan; thus he was coolly -courteous to Audley, whose advances, made in consequence of the -secret interest felt in Sybil, he rather repelled. - -Audley was sometimes in the mess-bungalow of the battalion to which -the company of Denzil was attached; but his staff duties kept him -much about the quarters of General Trecarrel, and consequently more -in the society of Rose than Denzil quite relished. Since the day of -the conference he had never once visited her, and thus he felt with -intense bitterness that he had been quietly supplanted there by the -son of one who had supplanted him at home in rank and title, and -hence more than ever did he loathe the obligation--the debt of -gratitude he owed to Audley for the service he had done to Sybil; and -under all the circumstances in which he was placed, he felt the sense -of it most oppressive. - -"And where is Sybil now?" thought Denzil, despondingly; "in what -country, and with whom?" - -Who was the lady of rank she had referred to? No more letters could -reach Cabul now, and months must elapse ere he heard from her again -or learned her fate. - -No confidences passed between him and Audley; yet the latter, had he -known of it, would have risked much to have perused her last epistle, -with the single mention of his own name therein, and the current of -thoughts it seemed to open up--thoughts to which he alone had the key. - -Denzil had a longing desire to do something brilliant, that he might -shine in the estimation of Rose Trecarrel. With the combined vanity -and diffidence natural to a young man, he sometimes flattered himself -that his handsome uniform might regain him favour in her eyes, if no -other merit, mental or physical, did so; but in that he reckoned -without his host, for Rose was too much accustomed to see regimentals -about her--the scarlet of the Queen's troops, the silver grey of the -Indian cavalry, the blue and gold of the artillery, and the quaint, -half-oriental splendour of the irregular horse. As a flirt she -preferred the scarlet, and, perhaps, as one with an eye to a good -marriage, the sombre black swallow-tail of the C.S. - -With all her constitutional coquetry, she was not without a certain -emotion, of compunction at times for the part she had played with -Denzil. Of all the admirers she possessed, he had seemed the most -earnest, the most bewildered by her beauty, and the most true; but -then, as she said to Mabel, "he was so young, and, poor fellow, only -a subaltern, so what did it matter in the long run, a little trifling -with him, when it amused her, and Cabul had been so dull." - -"Going to India to be married," said Mabel, "of course means going -there to be married well. Trevelyan is only a subaltern, too." - -"But the son and heir of Lord Lamorna; so one may cast one's hawks at -him." - -"And Polwhele is only a subaltern." - -"But with a place that spreads from Cornwall into Devonshire. I -shall not make a fool of myself, Mab--yet I shall marry for love, and -love only, if I marry at all," said Rose, as her white fingers -wreathed up the shining ripples of her hair before retiring for the -night. - -"Going out" was then one of the matrimonial institutions of -Anglo-Indian society; but the P. and O. liners, with the Overland -Route, have knocked that institution on the head, or nearly so. - -"I told you how it would be, old fellow," said Polwhele to Denzil, -who was sad and sombre; "she affects Trevelyan now, and we are all at -a discount now, even the cavalry men." - -"But Trevelyan has come back to India a lord's son, and is on papa's -staff. A deuced fine thing it must be to wake up some morning and -find oneself famous in that fashion," said Burgoyne of the 37th, -ignorant of how galling his remarks were to Denzil. - -And so several days of constant excitement were passed in the -cantonments, yet no definite plan as to the future was formed, -whether to risk a retreat through Khyber Pass, or throw the whole -force into the Bala Hissar, and defend it to the last gasp, as more -than once General Trecarrel had urged at the council of war, but -urged in vain. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -CHRISTMAS AT CABUL. - -The state of suspense endured by our whole force in Cabul, especially -those men who had wives and families, was fully shared by Waller, -whose chief anxiety was Mabel Trecarrel; yet it could not repress his -great flow of animal spirits, and thus his bungalow was always the -resort of a few happy heedless fellows, who had no particular care -but to kill time when not killing the Afghans, a resource that was -yet to come. - -Somehow the world reproduces itself everywhere, and though provisions -were scant and short, and shot and shell were in plenty and to spare, -in the crowded cantonments of Cabul, there were yet space and leisure -for fun and flirtation--even scandal and gossip. - -It was Christmas-time there too, but, save the blasts of snow that -came from the hills of Kohistan, how unlike our Christmas-time at -home! - -There was no Christmas cheer, to begin with: plum-pudding and roast -goose were thought of and remembered, certainly; but no such things -were to be found in that fortified camp between the Black Rocks and -the Hills of Beymaru; neither were there dark green holly with -scarlet berries and mistletoe to dance under, nor Christmas bells to -usher in the morn, for even our humble mission-house had been fired -by the Afghans; no Christmas gifts, or boxes, or trees full of -shining toys to make happy the hearts of those little ones whose -parents looked forward with intense dread to the future, and thought -regretfully of Christmas in happy England--the merry meetings of -parents and home-returning boys. Christmas, we say, was remembered -with all its happy and hearty associations of yule, festivity, and -wassail, the pledge old as the days when Hengist's Saxon daughter -drank _Waes Hael_ to Vortigern; but now, on the anniversary of that -day when the star shone over Bethlehem, and a Babe was born to die -for all mankind, our half-starved troops were giving shot and shell, -grape and canister, with right good will, and the sombre night closed -down upon red flames in the towering city, and its silence was -broken, not by music, or carols, or chimes, but the voice of many a -jackal and hyæna as they preyed on the corpses that lay unburied by -the Cabul river. - -Waller's bungalow had several visitors on the following evening; -among others, Jack Polwhele and Denzil, who had returned from the -village of Beymaru, where they had partly purchased and partly -looted, and most successfully brought into camp at the point of the -bayonet, a vast quantity of ground wheat and dhal or split peas, from -the stores of a bunneah or corn-contractor. With these they also -brought in several head of cattle for the use of the troops. - -"Supplies but for which," as Waller said, "the morrow might have -found us starving, or having only the resort of the Polar bears, who, -in time of scarcity, find a pleasure in licking their paws. You'll -come to my bungalow," he added, as the foraging party came in double -quick through the Kohistan gate. "Trevelyan's coming--he and -Polwhele; Trevelyan is one of ours now, so we four Cornishmen shall -make a night of it. I have a round of beef that is getting small by -degrees and beautifully less, a gallant jar of Cabul wine that I -looted in the house of a kussilbash, and no end of cheroots. Deuce! -I'll take no excuse," said Waller, on seeing how flushed and sombre -Denzil became on hearing Audley's name. - -"I shall take care to bring him, Waller," said Polwhele, as he went -off to his quarters, full of excitement with his recent success, and -singing the refrain of the old song,-- - - "And will Trelawney die? - And will Trelawney die? - Then thirty thousand Cornishmen - Shall know the reason why?" - - -"I wish we had but the third of those thirty thousand here to help us -out of this beastly place where it has pleased her Majesty we should -set up our tent-poles," said Waller. "I expect Burgoyne also -to-night, and he will be sure to bring us the last news from the -city, as he has accompanied Brigadier Shelton to another conference -with those children of the prophet." - -"Another conference?" said Denzil. - -"Yes, by Jove! risky and plucky, is it not?" - -"Awfully so, after what has happened to poor Burnes, Macnaghten, and -the rest." - -"But needs must, for we cannot choose now." - -For on this evening fresh and, as the event proved, nearly final -negotiations had been opened between the General and Ackbar Khan, to -whom he had sent Brigadier Shelton, Major Pottinger, and Burgoyne. -Thus the ladies in camp and all the white women, whose persons had -been demanded as _hostages_, were in no ordinary state of anxiety to -learn the result. - -Polwhele and Denzil were betimes in Waller's quarters, where two -officers of the 37th and two of the 54th had dropped in. Trevelyan -had not arrived, and Denzil in fancy saw him hanging over the chair -of Rose, as he had seen him last. He was nervously jealous, somewhat -afraid of his own temper, and hoped the night should pass without an -unseemly quarrel. He was in wretched spirits, for Sybil's letter and -her future weighed upon his mind. This air of gloom was unheeded by -his companions. What was the demise, so far away, too, of one whose -face they never saw, to them, who were daily and hourly front to -front with death himself? Yet he strove to join in their -conversation, while cigars were lit and Waller's jar of wine passed -briskly to and fro, and the cold round, with flour chupatties, was in -great request. - -"As things go now," said the host, who lounged on a couple of -bullock-trunks, "we are thankful to get even the leg of a wild -sheep--a regular Persian doomba, with a tail a foot broad, and can -only think regretfully of choice entrées, of pâtés de foie gras from -beautiful Strasburg, of boned larks and truffled turkeys of -Paris--croquettes, côtelettes, and kidneys stewed in Madeira, caviare -from the Don, and ortolans from Lombardy, and a thousand other nice -little things we shall never see, till the cold white cliffs of the -South Foreland are rising on our lee bow. Oh! soul of Lucullus and -of the noble science of gastronomy!" - -"Waller, you are irrepressible," said Polwhele. "Devereaux, how is -the General? have you heard?" - -"Trecarrel?" asked Denzil, colouring. - -"No. You think, perhaps, there is no other General in the world. I -mean poor Elphinstone." - -"The old man is going fast." - -"And the evening of his life is full of dark clouds, without a single -star," added Waller. - -"You grow quite poetic, Bob." - -"Then it is amid the veriest prose of life." - -"I had a narrow escape from a juzail ball," said Denzil, rather -pensively. "It passed through my forage-cap, and I have no wish to -be killed as a subaltern." - -"A bullet won't feel a bit the more pleasant if it hits you as a -captain," said a 37th man, laughing. - -Would Rose regret him? had been Denzil's secret thought; and now amid -the gay clatter of tongues around him, the speculations as to the -treaty on the tapis, the chances of a peaceful retreat, the pros and -cons of why Sale did not cut his way back from Jellalabad, and some -of that banter about women which seems inseparable from the -conversation of young men--more than all, of military men--he was -startled by some of the things that were said of Rose Trecarrel, and -which, though bitter to hear, served to divert his grief. His -self-esteem--his _amour propre_ had been severely wounded, and he had -to conceal these emotions from Waller and Polwhele; yet they -suspected that "something was up," by his ceasing to go near the -Trecarrels, at whose villa near the Residency he had been almost a -daily visitor. - -Could the young man have foreseen it, in his bitterness he might have -rejoiced that the Afghan sabre was ere long to cut the Gordian knot -of all his difficulties. - -Jack Polwhele, who had been eyeing him silently with a comical -twinkle in his black eyes, said, in a low voice-- - -"So, Devereaux, the mistress of your destiny has proved slippery -after all! Laugh at the whole affair, and you'll soon forget all -about it. Were I in your place, she might--as the song has it--go to -Hong Kong for me." - -Denzil knit his brow and reddened with irritation; but, tipping the -ashes of his cigar and watching the smoke thereof as it ascended to -the straw-roof of the bungalow, Jack resumed, in a voice so low as to -be unheard by Waller-- - -"With a vast amount of _espièglerie_, Rose, I must admit, has many -physical attractions; and, Denzil, you were her pet flirtation for -the nonce--every fellow saw that--nothing more. It is a fine thing -to talk to a handsome girl about 'elective affinities and the union -of souls,' that 'marriages are made in heaven, and not in the -money-market' or the shop of some sharping lawyer; but it often grows -perilous work for a griff, with a girl like Rose, who cannot care -very much for any one." - -Denzil still sat smoking in silence, and felt somewhat perplexed by -the extreme candour of his brother-officer. In short, he knew not -quite how to take it. - -"Could she only have been flirting with me?" thought he, and we fear -Rose would have answered in the affirmative. "No two persons, I have -heard, have exactly the same or correct idea of what flirting is (he -had not): talking a deal to a pretty girl, or laughing much with her, -are called so; but surely there may be deeper flirting, at times, in -silence. Oh! we were not flirting: I loved her--I love her yet--and -thought she loved me, when glance met glance, and eye answered to eye -the unasked question!" - -"I know her style perfectly," resumed Polwhele, oddly enough -proceeding to crush the unuttered thought; "so does Burgoyne; so do -Grahame and Ravelstoke, of the 37th, and ever so many more. She -asked you tenderly about animal magnetism--showed you the whiteness -of her ungloved hand, and asked you, no doubt, about the trimming of -her dress; but you were to be friends--the dearest friends only, and -all that sort of thing." - -Poor Denzil was petrified; but these words were partly effecting a -cure, and he strove to laugh. - -"Don't quiz me, Jack," said he; "but, upon my soul, I could be guilty -of any folly for that girl--yet it would be madness, you know. What -would the General say, and the mess think and say, too?" - -"I don't precisely catch your meaning,--folly and madness are pretty -synonymous in a matrimonial sense; but what did you think of -committing yourself to? a proposal--eh?" - -Denzil did not reply; he could only sigh and smoke viciously. - -"Take your wine, old fellow, and don't bother about it," said Waller, -who had just begun to listen. "I nearly went mad for love myself in -my first red coat; but the Colonel saved me by detachment duty; and -when last I saw my inamorata, after seven years of matrimony, her -figure quite spoiled for waltzing, and a squad of little squalling -infantry about her, I laughed at my escape." - -Denzil remembered the bantering remarks of the cavalry officer at the -band-stand; and their estimate of Rose seemed to tally unpleasantly -with that of Polwhele. - -"Fool that I have been!--yet could I help it?" he thought. "Could I -help doing so again--though she is one that makes of love a jest and -a scoff?" - -He felt that she had lured him into a passionate declaration merely -to cast him off wantonly and laugh at him, perhaps, with Audley -Trevelyan. She might not care for him, and yet dislike to see him, -care for _another_. Hence rage prompted him one moment to try and -fall in love with some other girl (there was not much choice in the -cantonment, certainly), and the next he felt cynically disposed to -hate her and all womankind. Anon that emotion would pass away, and -he felt himself still her very slave, who would plead for a word, a -glance, or smile. - -To abstain from visiting as before would soon excite remark; and yet -to resume his visits would be to see, with bitterness and -humiliation, another too palpably preferred, where he had deemed -himself the chosen favourite. - -"And is it actually true that Waller is booked at last?" said -Polwhele. - -"Deuce! how can I tell?" replied Denzil, curtly, blowing away a ring -of smoke. - -"It may be all gossip--for he is one whom hitherto the female world -have found impossible to entrap; but here comes Trevelyan," he added, -as the Hindoo servant placed lighted wax candles on the table, and -Audley entered, looking, as Denzil thought, provokingly handsome, -cool, self-possessed, and fashionable in bearing. - -The first questions asked were, whether any tidings had come from the -city, for after late events, the risk of death and decapitation run -by those who ventured to confer with Ackbar and the insurgent Khans -was indeed a painful and terrible one. Neither Brigadier Shelton, -Major Pottinger, nor Burgoyne had returned as yet; so the -conversation speedily fell back into its channel of light-heartedness. - -"So, Trevelyan," said Waller, quite forgetting the presence of -Denzil, and blundering on a most unlucky topic, "I heard that you -have been flirting furiously all day with Rose Trecarrel; but then, -as the aide-de-camp, you are quite a friend of the family." - -"Oh! ours is an old affair," replied Audley, laughing heartily, as he -selected a cheroot; "like the 'Belle of the Ball,'" he added, -profoundly ignorant of Denzil's regard for her, "Miss Rose - - 'Has smiled on many, just for fun-- - I knew that there was nothing in it; - I was the FIRST, the ONLY one, - Her heart had thought of for a minute; - I knew it, for she told me so, - In phrase that was divinely moulded; - She wrote a charming hand, and oh! - How sweetly all her notes were folded!' - -We were old friends at home in Cornwall; besides, she is so lady-like -and pretty--almost beautiful." - -"That I grant you," said Polwhele, who saw--that which Denzil did -not--that Audley's tone and manner had nothing of the lover in them; -"but Rose has always more strings than one to her bow." - -"Or, more beaux than one to her string," said Waller, laughing. - -"Never puts all her money on one horse anyway. Bagging a sub. is to -her like snipe-shooting in an Irish bog; poor sport after all; but a -power sight better than none," said Ravelstoke, of the 37th Native -Infantry, at whose freedom of speech Waller frowned. - -And this was the consolation to which Denzil was treated. - -How little he knew that at that very time, Audley Trevelyan, in his -heart, was contrasting Sybil's pure and loving prattle, her genuine -enthusiasm in poetry, art, and all that was beautiful in nature, with -the occasional rantipole of this garrison belle. - -"What is that?" said Waller, suddenly, as a drum was beaten hurriedly -outside. - -"The guard of ours, at the Kohistan gate, getting under arms," -replied Ravelstoke; "Brigadier Shelton has come with tidings, and his -head on his shoulders--we shall soon know our fate now!" - -The sound of hoofs trotting fast through the Cantonments was heard, -as the gate was closed and secured; and in a minute or less, -Burgoyne, of the 37th, came in with his sword under his arm, and a -brace of loaded pistols in his waistbelt. - -He looked pale, excited, and weary indeed! - -"Now, Burgoyne, for your news?" said Waller; "but take a pull at that -wine-jar first." - -Burgoyne did so, with an air of thirst and lassitude, though the -atmosphere was intensely cold. - -"Is the Brigadier safe?" said Polwhele. - -"Yes." - -"And Pottinger, too?" - -"Yes; we have come back unharmed." - -"And no attempt was made to assassinate or detain you?" - -"None; but what think you is the proposal now--nearly the same as -before--for we are checkmated here, and these insurgent scoundrels -know it. Lawrence, Mackenzie, Conolly, and some other Europeans are -still alive in their hands, and kept as hostages. These they offer -to exchange, if the General will leave in their place all our married -officers and their families; the entire treasure in the military -chest; all our cannon, except six; and that we depart at once; our -rear to be covered by four hundred armed Kohistanees, who, if -handsomely paid, will march with us so far as Jellalabad, where, -according to the news brought by a cossid, Sir Robert Sale is so -closely besieged that those among us who survive to reach the plains, -will have to cut their way in with the cold steel." - -Mingled expressions of rage and indignation were uttered by all save -Waller, who looked singularly pale and calm. - -"And what was the reply to these degrading proposals?" he asked, -while quietly selecting and lighting a cigar. - -"It was answered that a British General might, if he chose, leave or -give certain officers as hostages, but that he had no power over -their wives and families. That without the full consent of husbands -and parents, the ladies and children would not be left behind." - -"I should think not--left, d--n it, to certain destruction!" -exclaimed Polwhele, his dark eyes flashing fire. Burgoyne resumed: - -"It was then that Ackbar said to us, mockingly, 'If you save your -lives, what do the lives or honour, as you call it, of your wives or -sisters matter? They are only women, and, as women, are spoil, like -your horses and camels, yaboos, shawls, pipes, and gunpowder. Allah! -you Kaffirs are strange dogs.' And there, for to-night, the matter -rests. News came, however, that the Queen's 16th Lancers, the 9th, -and 31st Regiments have come up country, as far as Peshawur; but that -is fully two hundred miles distant; the defiles are full of snow, and -they cannot be here in time either to assist or save us." - -These details, which are matters of history, now filled all in that -isolated camp with extreme dismay. Every hour provisions were -growing more scarce; every hour the snow was falling more heavily, -and thus the tremendous mountain gorges through which the route lies -to Jellalabad or Peshawur, were hourly becoming more and more -impassable. - -To move or quit the fortified Cantonments without the solemn promise -of safe conduct from the vast hordes in arms, was perilous in the -extreme. To remain was but to die by slow starvation or the sword. -So the question asked by the Khan of Khelat, was likely to have a -terrible answer. - -"Major Thain," writes Lady Sale, "was now sent round to ask all the -married officers if they would consent to their wives staying, -offering those who did so a salary of 2000 rupees a month! -Lieutenant Eyre said, that if it was to be productive of good, he -would stay with his wife and child. The others all refused to risk -the safety of their families. Captain Anderson said that he would -rather put a pistol to his wife's head and shoot her; and Sturt -declared that his wife and mother should only be taken from him at -the point of the bayonet; for himself, he was ready to perform any -duty imposed upon him."* - - -* "Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan." Major Thain belonged to -H.M. 21st Foot, but was then on the Staff. - - -Sturdy old General Trecarrel swore that he would take his Company of -the Cornish Light Infantry, put Mabel and Rose in the centre, and -force a way through the Passes at all hazards, rather than leave them -to a fate which none could foresee. At the worst, they could all die -there together, and there could be little doubt of the event if we -marched without terms, for tidings came from Taj Mahommed, the -Wuzeer, that Aziz Khan, with 10,000 Kohistanees, had beset the road -at Tezeen; and that the warriors of the Ghilzie tribe (which numbers -600,000 souls) were in possession of all the heights overlooking it. - -Tears and distress were visible on all hands now; sickness and -suffering increased rapidly, while every night the bugles sounded to -arms, and cannon and musketry were discharged at the armed bands of -horse and foot which menaced the front and rear gates, or sought -plunder in the now abandoned Residency, and the villas previously -occupied by General Trecarrel, Captain Trevor, and others. - -Pale women clasped their children to their breasts, and men their -wives, as if the parting hour of all was already come. The eyes of -the soldiers filled and flashed with honest pity and manly -indignation at the idea of yielding up civilized women, tender -English ladies and helpless little children, to such barbarians as -these; while the sick and wounded in hospital were full of horror and -dismay at their own helplessness. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE MORNING OF THE RETREAT. - -War, dread war, is one of the greatest games in life! "It is a -passion even in the lower ranks of the soldiery; while for those in -command it is the most intoxicating, the most imperious of passions. -Where shall we find a wider field for energy of character, for the -calculations of intellect and the flashes of genius? In him who is -inflamed by glory, hunger, thirst, wounds, incessantly impending -death itself, produce a sort of intoxication; the sudden combination -of intermediate causes with foreseen chances, throw into this exalted -game a never ceasing interest, equal to the emotion excited at long -intervals by the most terrible situations of life!" - -In the movement we are about to narrate, there was no room for the -display of generalship, though more than enough for endurance and the -most heroic courage; but some such enthusiastic reflections as these -were floating in the mind of Denzil, when, by the prolonged notes of -the trumpet, and the long roll on the drum, the entire troops in the -Cantonments, horse, foot, and artillery, began to get under arms on -the morning of the 6th of January, to commence that which eventually -proved to be one of the most disastrous retreats on record. - -How often had the unfortunate Trevor, Waller, Burgoyne, and others, -exclaimed, in their weariness of heart-- - -"Let us fight our way down, destroying everything ere we leave the -Cantonments, and at least one-third of us shall reach Jellalabad!" -And now the time had come. - -It had been finally arranged by the Staff at Headquarters, to pay -more than fourteen lacs* of rupees to Ackbar Khan, Ameen Oolah Khan, -Shireen Khan of the Kussilbashes, the Ghilzie Chiefs, and other -treacherous villains, that our troops might march unmolested; Osman -Khan undertaking, with his tribe, to escort them so far as Peshawur, -the gate of British India, towards Central India. The money was -negotiated on the spot by a Cashmere merchant and some Hindoo -schroffs or bankers in Cabul. In vain did Major Pottinger and many -other officers raise their voices indignantly against this measure of -the feeble and aged Elphinstone. - - -* A lac is one hundred thousand. - - -"Never before," they exclaimed, "were British soldiers compelled to -_buy_ a way out of an enemy's country; to repay with gold the debt -contracted by steel!" - -But the bargain was struck; Ackbar Khan and his allies were -avariciously resolute that it should be adhered to by us, at least. - -Silently and quickly the troops, 4,500 strong, were formed by -Regiments and Brigades; but the confusion around them, in the streets -of bungalows or huts, was great, from the number and terror of the -camp-followers, now diminished by death, sickness, or desertion, to -somewhere about 12,000. Hammocks had been prepared wherein to carry -the sick and wounded through the passes; but as the snowfall was -deep, this was thought to be impracticable; so in virtue of the -species of armistice, nearly the whole of these unfortunate -creatures, officers, soldiers, and camp followers had been conveyed -into the city, where they were to be left to the care--to the mercy, -of the Afghans, certain medical officers casting lots for the -perilous duty of remaining behind to attend them, and these devoted -Samaritans proved to be Drs. Berwick and Campbell of the 54th -Infantry. - -As a foretaste of what was soon to happen, the bearers, returning -from the city with the litters, were fired upon, and all shot down by -the Afghans; and on this very morning, as the grey dawn began to -steal down the mountains from their reddened summits to the plain, -the dark corpses of the Hindoo dhooley-wallahs could be seen dotting -all the expanse of snow between the Cantonments and Cabul; while, to -still the growing clamour, three pieces of cannon, and the greater -portion of our treasure, were made over to the rabble. - -In rear of his company, awaiting the order to march, Denzil stood -leaning on his sword and muffled in a furred poshteen which he wore -above his uniform, as the thermometer was below zero and all the -troops were in those blue great-coats usually worn by our soldiers in -India. The Europeans looked pale, thin, and haggard, and the dark -Bengal sepoys seemed of a livid or pea-green tint, as the cold -daylight stole in. - -How often Denzil had watched the great sun of the Eastern world rise -red and fiery above those eternally snow clad peaks of Kohistan; and -now he was, he hoped, looking on its rising for the last time there. - -Alas! many more were looking on it, that were never to see it set. - -Notwithstanding the desperation of their affairs, many were in -excellent spirits at the prospect of a change of quarters; and he -heard the voice of Rose Trecarrel, talking gaily to one or two -officers, as she, Mabel and some other ladies came forth mounted, to -ride for surer protection among the cavalry. With them were Lady -Sale and the widowed Lady Macnaghten, who had vainly offered princely -bribes for her husband's mutilated body, and had now to depart with -the harrowing knowledge that it was still exposed in the public -marketplace. Some of the ladies were on camels, others in dhooleys -with their children nestling beside them for warmth; but the -Trecarrels were mounted on fine Arab horses, and wore sheep-skin -spencers called _neemches_ over their riding habits, for comfort and -also for disguise, which they had further to aid by having turbans -twisted round their heads, so Rose could not help laughing heartily -at the oddity of her attire. - -"Good-morning," said she, in her sweetest tone, to Denzil, who had -been watching her wistfully. - -He was as a very slave in her presence, he loved her so, and now when -she held out her hand, chill though the air, ungloved (for a moment -of course) the presence of others alone prevented him from, perhaps, -kissing it. - -"You have a cold journey before you," said he. - -"And you a most toilsome march afoot. Heaven tempers the wind to the -shorn lamb, we are told; I wish it would temper the wind to me," said -Rose, with her teeth, short, beautiful and white, chattering as she -spoke. - -"What have you been doing for all these days past? In what part of -the Cantonments have you hidden yourself?" she asked in a low and -soft voice. - -"Oh--you speak to me kindly--almost tenderly, do you?" said Denzil, -with bitterness in his tone; "have you obtained leave from your -friend on the Staff to address me!" - -He looked at her with eyes in whose expression anger and sorrow -mingled, while she looked at him smiling and deprecatory, more than -half flattered by his jealous outburst amid the terrors that menaced -them all. - -"You are surely in a frightful humour this morning," said she; "I -shall certainly pity the Afghans if you fall foul of any of them." - -"Cold-hearted Rose," replied Denzil, who was in no humour for -jesting; "I would not have your ungenerous nature, to hold that title -of which, as yet, fate deprives me, though that might make you love -me again--even if you ever loved me at all." - -"Is this a comedy, Denzil?" said she, smiling more than ever. - -"I would to God we had never met," said Denzil in a low voice, while -his lip quivered, for he conceived that the secret story of his -family had affected her towards him; "you have been but amusing -yourself with me; passing the hours that would have been dull here, -in playing with my heart--my feelings." - -"Why, Denzil Devereaux--you talk like a girl; who ever heard of a -man's heart or feelings being trifled with?" said she, with a little -silvery laugh as she moved her horse, to speak with some one else. - -"Dear Mabel," said Waller in a tender and earnest voice, as his -_fiancée_ checked her Arab for a moment by his side, and gave him her -hand with a bright confiding smile; "to-day begins, I hope, the first -stage of our long homeward journey." - -"'England, with all thy faults, I love thee still,'" said she, -laughing as she rejoined her sister, and her lover, who was somewhat -of a critic, thought she was the handsomest girl he had ever seen on -horseback. - -Bob and Mabel had already begun to fashion mental pictures of a -home-life in England, a happy home, a dream life; a pretty house in -some sequestered spot, where the old Cornish elm trees might echo to -merry children's voices, while the days went by in peace and -happiness; but here the troops were called to "attention," and -General Trecarrel, who was "mounted," led his daughters to where the -advanced guard was posted, and where all the ladies were placed among -the cavalry, to the great delight of a couple of cornets who -complacently stroked the fair fluff that would in time become -moustaches, and begged them not to be in the least alarmed, as they -had a most efficient escort. - -"Rose," urged Mabel, who had more power of character than her sister -and less of folly in her disposition, "it is cruel of you to make -such a victim of that poor lad, Devereaux--he is so handsome too." - -"That is the reason; but do I ask him to love me?" - -"No; you only lure him into doing so; you are incorrigible, and laugh -at being so." - -"There is no need to think of marrying--the idea is absurd; though -one may get up a liking." - -"Oh fie!" said Mabel, smiling in spite of herself. - -"How sensible and solid we have become since Waller came to the -point, and made it all square with papa." - -"He has certainly asked me to become his," replied Mabel, with a -bright, soft smile. - -"I would rather be my _own_," said the laughing coquette. - -This whispered conversation was now interrupted by a terrific yell -outside the Cantonment walls; it rent the air, and the ladies grew -pale as they looked inquiringly in each other's faces. General -Trecarrel grew very white, and instinctively drew his sword. On that -morning, when he knelt in prayer beside his daughters, ere they left -their abode to mount, he had been thinking that in such a place and -under such circumstances as theirs, how happy was the man who was -alone in the world; how to be envied the soldier, who had only his -firelock and knapsack to care for; who had only himself to think of, -and had no dread for the sighs, the tears, and the danger of those he -loved best on earth! - -Thousands of Afghans and fanatical Ghazees were now crowding close to -the walls, impatient for plunder and rapine, hissing like serpents, -spitting like tiger-cats, and brandishing their bare weapons with an -air of ferocity and grimace peculiar to Orientals only; but as yet -contenting themselves with throwing stones, which the Afghans do with -a strength and precision exclusively their own. By one of these -Sergeant Treherne was struck nearly senseless to the earth, when in -the act of receiving some order from Waller, who became, for him, -unusually excited. - -"D--n it!" he exclaimed, "why don't we slew round a bastion gun, and -by one dose of grape send a few of these turbaned warriors by the -short cut to Paradise, or elsewhere!" - -"I should like to see a few of them tied to the lips of -six-pounders--for matters are looking decidedly serious," added -Polwhele, as the red glare of flames, with columns of lurid and murky -smoke, now shot high into the snowy air from the houses of the Envoy, -Captain Trevor, General Trecarrel, and others, which had been fired -by the predatory horsemen who covered all the plain. - -An order was now given to fix bayonets and load with -ball-cartridge--the artillery with round shot and grape! - -"The troops are to move off from the right of regiments, in open -column of sections," cried Audley Trevelyan, repeating the feeble -voice of the old General, as he rode from one slender column to -another. - -"The front to be diminished, if necessary, when we enter the pass," -added Major Thain; "Her Majesty's 44th Foot, one squadron of -Irregular Horse and three mountain-guns, under Brigadier Anquetil, to -form the advance guard. The 54th, the Shah's 6th, the 5th Light -Cavalry, and four Horse Artillery guns, will cover the rear." - -These corps, already reduced to skeletons, were speedily formed in -front and rear of the main column, with which went the baggage, the -remaining treasure, the rest of the artillery, and some sick and -wounded in litters, and on yaboos or Cabul ponies. - -At eight o'clock precisely, the order was given to march, and fresh -yells, as if all the fiends of Pandemonium had broken loose, -resounded from the plain, as the rear-gates of the Cantonment were -thrown open; the bands struck up the "British Grenadiers," and the -advanced guard began to defile out upon the road that was to lead -them, as they hoped, to Peshawur. - -A half-stifled shriek burst from all the ladies, and they implored -the troopers of the Irregular Horse to close about them for -protection, for the scene around was one replete with terror, a -confused and mighty mass of dark, ferocious visages, black, gleaming -eyes, white, grinning teeth, and flashing weapons; so that even the -usually irrepressible Rose Trecarrel was completely silent, subdued, -and so awed, that she could scarcely breathe. - -From the hills of Beymaru the odious Ackbar Khan and others, his -adherents, were looking down on our toil worn soldiers as they issued -forth with all the honours of war, the colours flying on the wind, -with all their brilliant silk and gold embroidery; the bright -bayonets pouring onwards like a stream of rippling steel above the -dark columns, for, as already stated, the troops were in their -greatcoats; the neighing of the horses, the dull rumble of the -artillery wheels, the clatter of sponge and rammer, and of round-shot -in the caissons; and over all, the varied music of the bands, the -shrill yet sweet notes of the fifes and the regularly measured -resonance of the drums, came upward to his listening ear, with the -yells of the Afghans, and the report of the occasional firearms which -they began to discharge among the helpless camp followers in the very -wantonness of mischief, or Asiatic lust of cruelty. - -"Let them go," hissed Ackbar, through his clenched teeth; "the hungry -vultures and the wild Khyberees are alike in waiting; the dark wings -and the avenging sword of Azrael will soon be above them in the air, -and the jackals and the Ghoule Babian will batten on their bones!" - -And some there were with him, whose eyes seemed chiefly attracted by -the group of white ladies who rode on horses or camels, amid the -brilliant ranks of the Irregular Cavalry. - -"_Dare_ they meddle with us, who are British troops, and all in order -for battle?" was the confident thought of many a brave officer, yet -of all those 16,500 human beings who issued on that eventful morning -from the fortified camp at Cabul, only TWO were fated to reach -Jellalabad alive, and that city is only ninety miles distant.* - - -* There quitted the cantonments, Europeans, 690; cavalry, 970; native -infantry, 2840; camp-followers, 12,000. The Queen's 44th mustered -600 of all ranks. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE HALT BY THE LOGHUR RIVER. - -Quickly marched our retreating forces, so menacing was the aspect and -daring the conduct of the Afghans, that all felt as if something was -to be got over, and that the sooner it was faced boldly and gone -over, the better. - -Prior to leaving the Cantonments, Rose had thought of dropping her -whip _en route_, so that one of the handsome young cornets might have -to dismount and pick it up; and thus, that by the consequent delay, -they should be enabled to ride a little apart from the ladies and the -escort; now--all such coquettish schemes and follies were forgotten. - -Her Arab had been sidling along, coquetting with its own shadow, and -rendering an officer's hand on the reins requisite now and then. -Even of that attention Rose was oblivious now; laughter and fun had -passed away, and a cold shiver passed down the poor girl's spine as -she looked around her. - -Hemmed in and crowded on by the invading rabble, the march of the -columns became speedily disordered, and the music of the bands -ceased. The moment our troops were clear of the Cantonments, a vast -tide of Afghans, some eight thousand at least, rushed in to pillage -the bungalows and other buildings, and then gave all to the flames; -thus an indescribable tumult took place. Elsewhere, parties of armed -horsemen made cruel and reckless dashes--literal charges--through the -long and straggling procession of helpless camp-followers, and even -through the column which had the baggage, cutting men down on all -sides, and carrying off whatever they could lay hands on, in some -instances tearing white children from the arms of their shrieking -ayahs and bearing them off at the saddle-bow, to future slavery or -death. Corpses soon encumbered all the route, and the snow became -reddened with blood. - -The air seemed to become laden with a Babel of tumultuous sounds; the -fierce yells of the Afghans encouraging each other to rapine and -slaughter; the more maniac-like cries of the fanatical Ghazees; the -wild wailing of the Hindostani servants, as they, their wives or -children perished, under the sabre or the occasional pistol-shot; the -roaring of the frightened camels; the bellowing of the artillery -bullocks; the voices of the European officers, seeking for a time to -control the fury of their men, but succeeding for a time only, for -the last file of the rear guard was barely out of the Cantonments, -when from the whole line of the western wall, volleys of red flashing -musketry were opened upon us by the Afghans, with their juzails, -matchlocks, and even those percussion muskets which Sir Robert Sale -was not permitted to take to Jellalabad. Lieutenant Hardyman, of the -5th Cavalry, fell from his horse, shot through the heart, and fifty -more were killed or wounded at the same time; but though the 54th, to -which corps Waller's company was attached, commenced an independent -file-firing, facing about from time to time as they retreated, the -Afghans still pressed upon the columns, discharging their long rifles -with sure and deadly aim; thus, ere long the retreat became a flight, -leaving on all sides Hindoos, men, women, and children, expiring of -cold, starvation, exhaustion, or wounds. - -Imitating the example of Polwhele, Denzil sheathed his sword, and -arming himself with a dead man's musket, fired till his hands and -elbows ached with the exertion of loading. - -Tents and baggage of every kind, even a piece of cannon, were -speedily abandoned to the Afghans, for the native servants and -drivers fled on all sides, thinking to save their lives, but only to -be eventually slaughtered in detail; while slowly and laboriously -through the snow the troops moved towards a gorge in the hills of -Siah Sung, in hope to get through the Khoord Cabul Pass before -nightfall. - -The forms of our half-starved soldiers who had been long on scanty -rations of dhal, wild radishes, rice and ghee, were wasted and thin; -their faces were hollow and wan; their whiskers were matted by mud -and blood, the powder of bitten cartridges, and, in many instances, -icicles hung from them as the breath froze on their moustaches. - -With the baggage, all the remaining treasure became the spoil of the -enemy; many a handsome Hindoo girl was borne off by the horsemen, -who, though they galloped in bold defiance along the flanks of the -retreating force, did not, as yet, attempt to molest the solid array -of the Queen's 44th Foot. It was as in the song of _Pindara_:-- - - "Deeply with saree, doputta, and shawl, - Jewels and gold the lootera is laden; - Silks and brocades, and what's better than all, - We have the choice of the matron and maiden! - Zenana and harem - Ring forth the alarm-- - Vainly their riches and beauties are hoarded! - Hoora! hoora! - Quick with the damsels, - For hills must be clambered and rivers be forded!" - - -From the rocks of Siah Sung, as the gorge was entered, more than one -juzail ball found its way into the ranks of the advanced guard. The -two fair-haired Cornets of the Irregular Cavalry, mere boys, in most -brilliantly elaborate uniforms, fell; both were shot down to perish -miserably amid the snow and mud. They sank in succession under the -hoofs of the horses ridden by Mabel and Rose, and were left to the -Afghans, whose knives would soon end their miseries. - -"Oh what a sight for English ladies to look upon!" exclaimed Audley -Trevelyan, feeling acutely the horror of all they were subjected to, -while the tears they were forced to shed became frozen on their pale -cheeks by the icy mountain wind. - -Mabel had her riding switch shot away by a casual bullet; Lady Sale -had one of her arms wounded by another, and several balls passed -through the skirt of her riding habit. - -Down below the hills into which they were advancing, and far away in -the rear, a sheet of fire still enveloped the whole oblong area of -the Cantonments, and the plain through which the Cabul flows was -enveloped in rolling smoke, amid which the square masses of the -Afghan forts loomed darkly forth; but few cared to give a backward -glance as the troops toiled doggedly into the mountain gorges, where -darkness, the winter-storm, and the treacherous foe went with them. - -Snow, snow everywhere; the chill atmosphere was full of it; aslant -the white flakes were falling to join others on the leafless planes -and poplars, on the upturned faces and stiffening bodies of the dead. -There was no horizon; all trace of it had disappeared; the Afghan -horsemen hovering on the flanks were like shadows or spectres in the -gloom--but shadows from whence a red flash came forth at times, and -then a bullet whistled past on its errand of death. After a time -these wild cavaliers rode into the ravines, and nothing was seen in -the grey obscurity but the white flakes falling silently athwart it; -and there were thawing and freezing--freezing and thawing at one and -the same time. - -It was misery, intense misery, all, and Denzil had but one thought, -that on the ruddy, shiny, auburn billows of Rose's hair, and of her -sister's too, these flakes were falling now. - -With nightfall the firing had ceased; the soldiers marched sternly -and silently on in the dark, and even the least callous among them -had ceased to shudder now when treading softly on the limbs or -breasts of the dead who encumbered the way. And to those in the -rear, it seemed as if all in front were perishing. - -"Meanwhile, amid all this horror, where is she?" thought Denzil; -"with my precious cousin no doubt--yet, I pray God, that he may be -able to protect her." - -More than once on that disastrous march, however, had Audley ridden -back to the rear guard to see if Denzil was safe, and to kindly -proffer the use of his brandy flask. And now, by a miserable -destiny, instead of advancing that night straight through the Khoord -Cabul Pass, the inane old General allowed the Afghans to take -possession of it, while he, most fatally, ordered his forces to -encamp on the right of the Loghur river, if encamping it could be -called, when the tents and baggage had alike been lost, the troops -were without fuel and had only the snow to lie upon, and the falling -snow to cover them. - -"The bugles of the advanced guard are sounding a halt," said Waller; -"it may be unwise, but I thank Heaven, as I am ready to drop, and -shall have to snooze like the rest amid the snow and our glory. -Glory--pah! I would rather have a glass of brandy-pawnee hot, than -all the glory to be got in British India. Polwhele, make the company -pile arms when we come to the halting-place--and now to look after -the Trecarrels--God help them!" - -As corps after corps came up and halted, friends and comrades could -enquire as to who had been killed or lost on the march; wounded there -could be none, as all who sank behind were certain to perish by cold -or the long trenchant knives of the Afghans, who had a particular -fancy for decapitating all the victims that fell into their hands. - -Officers and soldiers were alike maddened with fury against the -infamous treachery of those who had been paid in such terms to let -them and their families depart in peace; and on all sides were heard -the bitterest execrations of Ackbar Khan and his adherents. These -became mingled with loud lamentations and cries of despair, when -husbands found that their wives, wives that their husbands, or -parents that their children, had been lost--hopelessly lost--on that -long and terrible path of death and suffering, which led down the -mountains to the rear, a path where none might dare to return or -search for those they loved. - -In cold and starvation those who had succeeded in bringing their -little ones thus far on the way, could only pray, and weep the dire -necessities of war, and marvel in their hearts if the time would ever -come when swords should be beaten into ploughshares and spears into -pruning-hooks, and "when nation shall not lift up the sword against -nation, neither shall they learn war any more." As yet, that piping -time of peace seemed a long way off. - -A few sentinels were posted in the direction of the enemy, and their -posts some of them never quitted alive, being found frozen and dead -when the relief went round an hour after. A little fire was made for -the ladies by burning Audley's pistol-case and an ammunition keg; and -full of pity, compassion, and horror, that women delicately and -tenderly nurtured as they had been, should be subjected to miseries -such as these, Waller, Denzil, Ravelstoke, and a few others procured -by great exertion a sepoy pall, or tent, from the back of a baggage -pony that lay shot in the pass; and then, scraping away the snow, -pitched it for their use. - -Therein, Mabel, Rose, and seven other ladies passed the night, -nestling close together on a _xummul_, or coarse native blanket, with -the skirts of their riding habits wrapped about their feet for warmth. - -Audley Trevelyan, General Trecarrel, and other mounted officers kept -beside their horses for the same purpose; and muffled in their -poshteens and blankets, Waller and Denzil lay to leeward of the -ladies' tent as a shelter from the biting wind. - -So passed the remainder of the morning. - -When day began to dawn and the cold light stole down the mountains -upon that melancholy bivouac, it was found that the Shah's 6th -Regiment, six hundred strong, had gone off in the dark, deserting to -the enemy with all their arms; but there was another circumstance -which created greater alarm still among the Europeans. - -_Rose Trecarrel was missing_, and no trace of her could be found. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -SPIRITED AWAY! - -All unaware of the evil tidings that were awaiting him, Denzil, stiff -and well-nigh frozen, aching in every limb, staggered like a tipsy -man to his feet, so sore and cramped were every joint and limb. As -the dawn came slowly in, he gazed around him. Waller was already -awake, and had been to look after his men. He proffered his -cigar-case, saying: - -"Have a weed, Devereaux--it's all the breakfast you are likely to -get. We are as ill off here as Mother Hubbard's ill-used cur." - -"Are the ladies stirring yet?" asked Denzil with chattering teeth. - -"No--and Lady Sale has not had the bullet extracted from her arm yet." - -Once or twice during the dark hours that were passed, a little hand -cased in lavender kid and drawn from a warm fur-lined riding -gauntlet, had come out from under the wall of the tent, and Waller's -lips had touched it, for it was Mabel's, and gloved though it was, -the touch of that little hand, especially under circumstances so -terrible, made big Bob Waller's honest heart to vibrate with emotion. -Once Rose, in her old spirit of waggery, had put out her hand in the -same way and laughed when Waller, who was just dosing off to sleep in -the wretched cold without, kissed it with great _empressement_, for -she too wore pale lavender kids under her riding gloves. - -"Look round, Waller," said Denzil, as he lit the cigar; "did you ever -behold such a scene?" - -"Never--and hope never to see such again!" - -The lofty mountains and impending rocks that overhung the Pass, and -that fatal route back to the hills of Siah Sung, being covered with -snow, looked singularly close and nigh. The sky was clear now; and -far as the eye could reach the way was studded by the dead bodies of -human beings, camels, horses, baggage yaboos, artillery bullocks, -cannon and waggons, drums, weapons and abandoned dhoolies, the -inmates of which might be either living or dead; the latter most -probably, for everything there lay half buried in the white -winding-sheet of winter, with the black vultures settling in flights -over them. - -In the immediate vicinity of where Denzil stood, many men who in the -night had perished of cold and exhaustion lay frozen hard and firmly -to the earth, with their muskets beside them. The corpses of the -Hindoos and dusky Bengal sepoys seemed like pale Venetian bronze in -the frosty air. In the eyes of the survivors, by over tension of the -nerves, and the fierce wild excitement they had undergone for some -time past, but more particularly during the preceding day and night, -a keen and unearthly glare or glitter was visible. Each was aware of -this hunted-expression as he looked in the worn face of his comrade. -General Trecarrel seemed to be sorely changed by the sharp anxiety he -suffered for his daughters' safety. Thus the usually bluff and -florid looking old soldier had become pale, wan and haggard in face, -and wild and defiant in eye, like the rest. - -Sergeant Treherne, a powerful and hardy Cornishman, had tumbled a -dead Hindoo out of a wooden litter, and breaking it to pieces, made -with them a fire near the tent of the ladies, for whom, with all a -campaigner's readiness, he was quickly preparing some hot coffee in a -camp-kettle, while the old General, his countryman, sought to warm -himself by the blaze, when the voice of Mabel startled all who were -near, as she hurried from the tent, exclaiming, - -"Papa--papa--where is Rose--is not she with you?" - -Denzil started forward, but paused, for at the same instant Audley -Trevelyan, who had been fraternally sharing some _dhal_ (or -split-peas) with his horse, and of whose interference he felt -nervously jealous, sprang towards Mabel enquiringly. General -Trecarrel stared at her with an air of utter bewilderment, as he had -not seen Rose since the tent was pitched for the use of her and -others on the troops halting, when she came as usual to be kissed by -him before retiring, just as she had been wont to do, ever since -childhood. Then he said hoarsely: - -"Speak at once, Mabel--what has happened--speak?" - -But Mabel could only clasp her hands. She thought Rose had been with -him, and terror now tied her tongue; she dared not speak or question -him, for "any suspense is better than some certainties;" and one fact -was here certain and palpable; that Rose had left the tent unseen, -and none knew why, wherefore or with whom! - -When so many were perishing hourly by the most terrible deaths, we -are shocked to admit that, such is the selfishness of human nature, -the fate of one girl, even though a pure European, did not create -much excitement for any length of time, save among those more -immediately interested in it; and as the retreat was to recommence in -an hour, there was not much time for the unrefreshed and starving -troops investigating it. Moreover, the rear-guard of yesterday was -to be the advanced one of to-day, as the army, if that disorganised -multitude could so be called, was to move off in inverted order--the -left in front. - -Generosity, chivalry, and humanity, inspired Audley Trevelyan like -many other officers to be up and doing something; they scarcely knew -what. Denzil felt heart-wrung and stupefied, while Waller, in -addition to his own emotions, was alarmed for the effect this -calamitous event might have on Mabel; but General Trecarrel, together -with the horror inspired by great anxiety and love, felt an ardour of -intense hatred against the Afghans who had reft from him his youngest -born; she, who from childhood had been his pet, and his stricken -heart seemed full of unuttered prayers for her. - -The entire camp was speedily searched; not a trace could be found of -the lost one. She could neither have gone nor been taken to the -front, as the snow lay there pure as it had fallen, untrodden and -unsullied by footsteps. To the rear then only could she be looked -for. Such was the hasty report made to the unhappy father by -brigadier Shelton, Audley, and other officers who crowded about him. - -The ladies were full of compassion and a terror that was not quite -unselfish. What had happened? If she had vanished thus -mysteriously, whose fate might be next? They trembled in the frosty -morning wind as they gazed at each other; but Mabel's beautiful face, -by the terrible and haggard misery of its expression, inspired them -all with sympathy, and they grouped about her like a covey of -frightened doves. - -Like Denzil, she felt as if half her life--half herself, had suddenly -passed away. A looker-on might have thought that the death-warrant -of all had been written in an instant, for Denzil, Waller, Audley, -Mabel, and poor General Trecarrel stared at each other in blank -horror and amazement. - -Death by the sword, the lance, and bullet; death by cold, starvation, -fire, sack, slaughter, and every horror incident to such a retreat, -had been, and were even now, close around them; but what unthought-of -personal calamity was this? Breathlessly, and almost void of all -power of volition, father and child gazed at each other. Their eyes -seemed to say "Where is my daughter?" "Where is my sister?" But who -was to explain this terrible mystery? - -Nine ladies, we have said, had crowded together in that small tent, -sleeping closely side by side for warmth; and the eight remaining -admitted that they had slept soundly in the heavy slumber that comes -of intense weariness and keen anxiety. Denzil, in his half-dreamy -doze outside the tent, had been conscious of soldiers hovering near -it, but thought they were simply seeking for food or fuel. - -Happy, thoughtless, heedless Rose, with all her flirting and pretty -coquettish ways--where was she now? Dead, butchered, or dying in -misery amid the snow, or a captive; and, if so, in whose hands? A -captive kept for worse than death, too probably! It was an episode -that was maddening to her sister; to her old father, who loved her so -tenderly; to Denzil, who doted on her shadow, and whose heart was -full of the memory of that happy day by the Lake of Istaliff; to -Waller; and all who had known and liked her, or laughed and danced -with her in the happy time that was past. - -"Oh, God!" murmured the poor General, half audibly, as he raised his -eyes and tremulous hands upwards; "give my child back to me, or take -me to her! Lord, Lord, let me not go mad!" he added piteously. "To -find her lying dead would be better than to be thus ignorant of her -fate--of her sufferings--of her _end_!" - -Life seemed to die out of his heart; yet he breathed and lived, and -had speech and hearing left. - -"Those scoundrels who levanted in the dark, the Shah's Sixth, have -something to do with this," said Burgoyne; "they furnished the chain -of sentinels towards the rear." - -"Right," exclaimed the General hoarsely, "and in the rear must she be -sought." - -"The enemy are already in motion and in sight," said Brigadier -Shelton, who was examining the distant portion of the Pass through -his field-glass. - -"I care not if all Afghanistan was there," said Trecarrel, mounting; -"come with me, Trevelyan! Ladies, I entreat you to look to Mabel -while I go in search of my lost one." - -"Papa, papa," implored Mabel, "don't leave me." - -"You are safe for the time," he replied, checking his horse for an -instant; "but I must go in search of my lost darling--to find her, or -to die." - -And now the old man rode wildly to the rear, followed by Audley, who -had to ride with caution among the frozen dead and other _debris_, as -the horses were ill-roughed, the _Nalbunds_, or native farriers, -having all deserted. - -"Captain Waller," cried Brigadier Shelton, "this is mere madness; -Trecarrel and Trevelyan are throwing their lives away, for the Afghan -skirmishers will soon be close at hand! Take your Company to the -rear in extended order, and keep the rascals in check if you can. A -Ressallah of the 5th Cavalry will support you if necessary." - -"Very good, sir," replied Waller, mechanically and coolly, as if on -parade, lowering his drawn sword in salute, and obeying with -alacrity, in the desire and hope to overtake and protect the father -of his Mabel. "Company, forward, double quick;" and forward his men -went briskly, with their arms at the trail, and in line, till clear -of the bivouac, when he extended them from the centre, and they -loaded while advancing. - -In active and dangerous military duty like this, there is always some -relief from mental torture. A man in grief may sit at his desk, toil -with the spade, the shuttle, or the hammer, enduring a sickness of -the heart that nothing can allay, and time alone may cure; but in the -fierce excitement of mortal strife, the ills of life seem lessened, -and a great sorrow may be half forgotten. Hence, to grapple with the -enemy, and especially such an enemy as those Afghans, was as a balm -to the excited hearts of Denzil and Waller, and forth they went with -a will over ground that was singularly repulsive and horrible in -aspect. In his keen sense of the terrible event of last night, the -former forgot even his jealousy of Audley; they could have but one -common cause now--vengeance on the abductors. - -Corpses lay thick everywhere, and half covered by the snow. - -How terrible seemed the last rest of all those dead people, who, -since only yesterday, had learned the great secret of Time and -Eternity, and more that mere mortal can never know; their jaws -relaxed; their eyes, unclosed by friendly or loving hands, were -staring stonily and sightlessly to Heaven, as they slept the sleep -from which the thunder of all the cannon in the world would never -waken them. The ashes of the Christian would receive no Christian -burial; and those of the Hindoo would never mingle with the waters of -the Jumna, or his holier river, the Ganges. For the remains of all -would ere long become the prey of the wolf and hyæna, and already the -vultures were there in sable flights, settling over all the fallen. - -In some places under the soldiers' feet, the snow was crimsoned by -large patches of frozen blood. - -A long line of abandoned dhooleys, full of women, children, and -wounded men, were passed. All the occupants of these were dead; and -to their ghastly banquet thereon, the scared vultures returned with -angry croak and flapping wings, when Waller's men went further from -them. - -On a little knoll the General and Audley Trevelyan were overtaken. -They had reined up their horses, and were looking about them sadly -and hopelessly, for no trace of the lost one could be discerned; but -the shouts of some exulting Afghans were borne towards them on the -morning wind. - -A body of cavalry, divided into two parties, were coming along the -steep rocks of the Pass on both sides, for the mountain horses of -that wild region can climb like cats or goats. A green silk banner -floated from a glittering lance, announcing that they formed the -Resallah, or troop of Amen Oollah Khan; and each horseman had a -juzailchee, or rifleman, mounted, _en croupe_, behind him, after the -fashion of the French Voltigeurs. - -These they dropped fresh, unwearied, and ready for action; and the -firing began at once from behind the rocks or stones, over which they -discharged their long barrelled rifles in perfect security. - -The Afghans are excellent skirmishers, and their native juzails carry -much farther than our regulation muskets; thus, before Waller's men -could return their fire, one of his corporals uttered a yell of -agony, bounded a yard from the ground, and then fell flat on his -face, dead. A bullet had pierced a mortal part. - -"Close up--close up, forward," cried Waller, leading them on, sword -in hand; "those devils have got our range exactly now." - -While he spoke the bullets were sowing thick the snow about General -Trecarrel and Audley, who, being mounted men, were prominent figures. -Meanwhile the horsemen had disappeared; but the wily Amen Oollah was -merely making a _detour_ to turn the flank of a group of pines that -grew upon the steep slope, intending thereby to get into the rear of -Waller's skirmishers and cut them off. - -"Get under cover, lads, as best you may!" cried he, as his bugler -sounded to "commence firing;" and with a dark, stern, and desperate -expression in their hungry faces, his soldiers knelt behind rocks and -stones, dead horses and camels, dhooleys and abandoned baggage-boxes, -and proceeded to return the fire of the Afghans (about a hundred in -number), who were taking quiet pot-shots at any head that appeared -above the snow-clad rocks, behind which they were lurking. - -Now and then a fiend-like yell, and pair of brown booted feet, or -swarthy dark hands appearing wildly in the air, announced when an -English bullet found its billet in a Mussulman body; and then the -soldiers smiled grimly to each other, as they thought "there is one -the less in the world, at all events." - -This serious musketry practice, and the wailing of women and -children, were the only morning _reveillé_ in that melancholy halting -place on the bank of the Loghur. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE SKIRMISH. - -Gratitude to General Trecarrel, who had been kind to his dead mother, -to Sybil, and ever so to himself, with a natural regard for the old -soldier as the father of Rose, made Denzil linger near him, and -beseech him to retire and not to expose his life needlessly. -Absorbed in his great grief the General made no reply; with his face -pale, his eyes bloodshot, and his teeth set, he sat on horseback and -watched the turns of the skirmish. - -The juzailchees fired with deadly aim as they levelled their long -weapons over rests, or the rocks behind which they were crouching; -thus some ten or twelve of Waller's skirmishers had fallen; of these -five were dead, and others were creeping wounded to the -halting-place, which some of them were not destined to reach, as they -died of exhaustion, loss of blood, or another bullet by the way. - -His company continued to advance steadily by front and rear-rank -files alternately, each man darting forward and getting under the -cover of some rock or _bedana_ (as the wild mulberry bushes are -named), till they were all within half musket shot of the foe. The -reports of the firing were reverberated among the snow-clad cliffs, -tossed from peak to peak, and so often repeated, that it seemed as if -four times the number of men were engaged; but though each soldier -had forty rounds of ammunition when leaving the Cantonments, -cartridges were failing already, for their stiffened and frost-bitten -fingers dropped more than they discharged, so that the living had -soon to supply themselves from the pouches of the dead. - -Suddenly a cry of pain escaped General Trecarrel, and he fell heavily -from his horse, which swerved madly round, and fled into the Pass, -with saddle reversed and bridle trailing. An exclamation of mingled -rage and commiseration left the lips of Waller, who glanced back -hastily in the humane hope that Mabel did not see this calamity, of -which, however, she was so soon to hear. - -A ball had pierced her father's body, going fairly through the chest -and back, and he was dying in mortal agony, with the blood welling -from his mouth and nostrils. - -"Rose--Rose and--Mabel!" he muttered, as he slowly lifted his empty -arms upward in the air, and then turning fairly round with his face -to the snow, amid which his white hair mingled, he expired. - -The whole catastrophe occurred in less time than is taken to write of -it. - -"How shall I break this fresh sorrow to poor Mabel!" said Waller, in -a low voice, through his clenched teeth; but he had little time for -reflection now, as a shout on the right flank announced the -approaching Horse of Amen Oollah Khan, as they swept tumultuously -round the pine wood, and came on at a hand-gallop, down ground that -was frightfully steep. - -"Rally--close to the centre--form company square!" cried Waller, -holding his sword aloft. He looked to the rear; the promised support -from the 5th Cavalry was not to be seen; but he heard a bugle in the -camp sounding the "retire;" thus recalling his skirmishers, a most -necessary measure, as a body of more than six hundred Horse, led, as -it eventually proved, by Ackbar Khan in person, were now advancing -through the Pass. - -Waller's company formed a rallying square, and began to retire, still -firing, however, while Denzil, assisted by Sergeant Treherne, -endeavoured to bring off the body of General Trecarrel, by placing it -across the horse of Audley, who had dismounted for that purpose. -This caused a delay which proved fatal, as it separated them from -their party. Twice the poor corpse slipped from the saddle, and they -were in the act of replacing it for a third, time when, with a yell -of, - -"_Shookr-Joor vestie!_" (Praise be to God) four Afghan horsemen, -riding far in advance of their comrades, were down upon them. - -One of these, a gigantic fellow, wearing a flaming yellow head-dress, -and a scarlet _chogah_ or cloak, struck off Audley's cocked hat, and -grasping him viciously by the hair, dragged his head close to the -saddle-lap, intending to cut it off by a slash of his long knife. -Audley ran his sword into the bowels of this barbarian's horse. It -reared furiously, and threw the rider, whose hold never relaxed, for -he and Audley rolled over each other in close and deadly grapple, -till Denzil passed his sword through the quivering body of the -Afghan--a task which he had to repeat twice, as such fellows are hard -to kill, ere he could release and save his kinsman. - -Sergeant Treherne shot the second and bayoneted the third, a thrust -from whose lance he narrowly escaped; but the fourth, whom a stray -shot from the still retiring square had dismounted and wounded in the -sword-arm, cried imploringly on his knees, - -"_Aman! aman!_" (quarter--quarter), so Denzil arrested the charged -bayonet of Treherne, which in another moment would have pinned him to -the earth. - -"Retire--retire, I command you both," cried Waller, whose voice was -distant now. - -"Thank heaven, Audley Trevelyan, I have repaid Sybil's debt to -you--we are quits at last," was Denzil's thought, and he was turning -away to hasten after the Company, for not a moment could be lost now, -if he wished to save his own life, when suddenly he received a -dreadful blow on the back part of the head--he heard the explosion of -a pistol--the light went out of his eyes, or a darkness seemed to -descend upon him; he fell forward on the snow with outspread hands, -and remembered no more. - -The wretch whose life he had just spared, had felled him to the earth -by a stroke from a ponderous iron-butted pistol, and then discharged -it at Audley, without effect, however, as the ball missed its object. - -Treherne, who by this time had reloaded, shot the Afghan through the -head, and then he and Audley Trevelyan had to run for their lives, as -by this time the six Ressallahs of advancing Horse were close at -hand, and cries of "_Ullah ul Alla_" loaded the frosty air. - -"Poor Devereaux--gone with the rest!" exclaimed Polwhele. - -"Yes," said Waller, "how many a poor fellow, gayer and happier than -he apparently was, goes into action, confidently believing the bullet -is not yet cast that shall floor him, and is shot for all that." - -"Well--it may be our turn next, sir," said Sergeant Treherne, -philosophically. - -Fain would Waller and the rest have made a rally to bring him off -dead or alive, at the bayonet's point, together with the body of -Trecarrel; but the bugles of the rear-guard--first two, then four at -once--were sounding, as if angrily, the order to _retire_ so, to -"retire" he was compelled, or sacrifice perhaps his whole Company; -and with tears in his eyes, where tears had not been since he was a -child, in a white pinafore, at school, he drew off the survivors of -the futile skirmish, and rejoined his brigade. - -"Where is Papa?" asked an agitated voice. It was Mabel who addressed -him, her face whiter, if possible, than ever. - -Waller pointed with his sword towards the Pass and mournfully shook -his head. - -"Wounded?" - -"Oh, my darling--killed, and poor young Devereaux, too, I greatly -fear." - -Mabel heard him as if turned to stone. Rose gone, and now her father -too! Poor Denzil she never thought of, for great grief is selfish at -times. - -"Dearest Mabel," said Waller, "I do not ask you 'to compose -yourself,' as people always say in such cases; I am a bad comforter -perhaps--can't quote Scripture and all that sort of thing. The poor -old man had not many years before him any way, and I can only implore -you to submit to the will of God." - -But she could only weep upon his breast, heedless of those around -them. - -"Where was he struck?" she asked, in a choking voice. - -"I don't know," replied Waller, looking down. - -"Did he die easily?" - -"Yes." - -Neither of these answers was true: but he knew that details would -only harrow her feelings the more. - -So the old General was left unburied in the Pass, and Mabel was -smoothing caressingly with her fingers and then treasuring in her -bosom, a thin lock of his silver hair, which Audley had cut for her, -and which recalled the dead so powerfully in presence, as it were, -that her heart seemed to brim with tears. There was no relic left of -him now save this; unless we add a pair of his pipeclayed gloves, -which he had given her to draw over her own for warmth, and somehow, -they too seemed to embody his presence, and to bring before her by -their very shape, the kind old hands that never tired of caressing -her and Rose from infancy--the hands of him who was left without a -grave in yonder fatal place, for the army was again in full retreat, -and leaving, even as it left all yesterday, its dead and dying on -every hand. - -Audley thought with intense compassion of Sybil, whose previous -bereavement he had learned from Waller; and all unused to grief, he -rode among the Staff in a state of utter bewilderment, considering -whether he should write her, and if so, in what terms he was to tell -her of her loss. - -For a time Mabel clung to Waller's neck, in her great despair of -mind, like one in dreadful bodily agony. She cared not for -onlookers; for the men of the 44th, or the sepoys, with their black -glossy wondering eyes. - -"Oh, Waller; I have no friend in the world now--no friend but you!" -said she, in a strange and weak voice, as she laid her face, thinned -and paled by grief and suffering, on his breast. - -Waller's bright blue eyes were dry now; but in their expression -tenderness alternated with something akin to ferocity, for all this -suffering, and all those deaths that were occurring hourly, were the -result of Afghan treachery; and his fair English face seemed to -darken as he looked back to where Denzil, the General, and so many -more were lying, and the interment of whom was impossible. The enemy -was coming on, the bugles were sounding for the advance--if a -retrograde movement can be called so--and already the whole force was -_en route_ towards Khoord Cabul. - -Mabel was soon once more on horseback, and rode with the rest of the -ladies, many of whom were widows now, and could share their grief -with her. - -Her heart had - - "Fallen too low for special fear;" - -to her acute mental misery a kind of apathetic stupor followed, and -she was in that state as the Retreat again began. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -IN THE KHYBER PASS. - -We almost shrink from the task of telling the story of that awful -retreat, in which the Rider on the Pale Horse followed the steps of -our troops, so closely, so terribly, and in such ghastly triumph! - -All the plans of Ackbar Khan had been long prearranged, and among -those, as an intercepted despatch from him to a Ghilzie chief -announced, was nothing less than a Holy War, for he adjured all, in -the name of the Prophet, "to rise against the infidels, whose chief," -he adds, "I have slain with my own hand at Cabul, even, as I trust, -in like manner to slay the chief of the Feringhees, Sale, in -Jellalabad." - -The six hundred Horse that had been seen advancing, were met by two -of our officers, Captain Skinner, of the 61st Native Infantry, and -Lieutenant Burgoyne, who bore a flag of truce. They demanded what -their intentions were; and the fierce Ackbar who rode at their head, -muffled in a robe of the costliest furs, played with the lock of a -pistol, and seemed with difficulty to restrain himself from using it. -However, he replied, - -"I have come on the part of the great chiefs of Afghanistan, to -escort you as far as Jellalabad; but we demand hostages that you -shall march no further on the way than Tezeen, ere Sale Sahib -evacuates the city, wherein he has no right to be." - -"Wherefore hostages, Khan?" asked Captain Skinner. - -"Lest when you effect a junction, you may all come back to Cabul. -The lives of the hostages should answer for this, and I take _yours_ -in the meantime, as an earnest thereof!" - -And as he spoke, he drew his pistol, and deliberately shot poor -Skinner through the head; so Burgoyne, full of rage and pity, -returned with the message alone. - -Notwithstanding this new crime, other interviews took place, and -ultimately Major Pottinger and two other officers were given up as -hostages; but all this pretended diplomacy was merely a trick on the -part of Ackbar to cause delay, until he got the lower portion of the -Khyber Pass manned completely by the armed tribes, and even -barricaded by felled trees against our retreat, for the force was too -slender now to admit of having skirmishes or scouting parties moving -along the summits of the cliffs, collaterally with the retiring -column. - -"Yield who may," was the cry of Waller and many others, "we at least, -as Englishmen, as British soldiers, shall fight our way through the -passes with courage, discipline, and the fury of despair. All cannot -perish; come on, lads--forward!" - -"Forward--steady, Jack Sepoy!" the Queen's troops would call to those -of the East India Company. - -But it was now urged by the Sirdir, that the wild hordes in -possession of the passes, and over whom he pretended to have no -control, would destroy all the women and children; and, fearing that -such a calamity could only be escaped by some diplomacy and an -affectation of trust in Ackbar, General Elphinstone, then at the -point of death, and therefore heedless what fate was in store for -him, gave himself up as a hostage, together with most of the -principal officers, the _whole_ of the ladies, children, and wounded, -who were immediately conveyed back to Cabul; and the doomed army once -more resumed its march, while famine and disease added to the horror -of the occasion; "but when men destroy each other without pity, why -should not Death come and lend them a hand?" - -The reader may imagine the emotions of Waller, of the officers, and -other Europeans, when they saw their wives and daughters, or those -they loved as well, separated from them, to become the hostages for a -certain military movement, the guests, the captives--it might too -probably be the victims--of a barbarian prince. Many may yet -remember the fear, shame, and compassion this event, the sequel to a -series of blunders, excited at home, when tidings came of their -abandonment, and the fate of our troops, whose terrible career we -have scarcely the heart to follow. - -The parting of Mabel and Waller was bitter, though in her soul the -bitterness of death itself seemed past, and her tears were such as -seem to come from the heart; but others as well as she were parting -from their dearest, and there is a strange communion in grief. - -Ackbar conveyed his prizes back to the city, treating them with -apparent kindness, for he considered white women nearly as valuable -as the horses of the Usbec Tartars; but by that time nearly all the -babes at the breast and the little toddling things that made many a -father proud and mother happy, had perished, even as the strong man -perished, for in some places the snow was so deep, that soldiers -disappeared bodily into it, and were never, never seen again. - -Ackbar probably meant to keep them all till richly ransomed, for he -was overheard to say to Amen Oollah Khan, in his hypocritical way,-- - -"What saith the Koran? 'Unto such of your slaves as desire a written -instrument, allowing them to redeem themselves, on paying a certain -sum, write one, if ye know good in them, and give them of the riches -of God, which he hath given you.'" - -"But, by the soul of him who wrote these words," replied Amen Oollah, -"I would not give up that damsel with the red, golden hair for less -than a crore of rupees." - -As a crore is ten lacs of rupees, a high value seemed to be set on -poor Mabel Trecarrel, who was here indicated. - -In the deep shadowy gorges of those winding passes, through which the -route of the troops lay for miles, the impending cliffs were covered -by clouds of yellow-turbaned Khyberees and Ghilzies, who poured down -upon them a remorseless and incessant fire of musketry, and in some -places from caverns which were full of juzailchees. In others they -daringly rushed in bands into the ranks of the weary and -half-famished soldiers, whose ammunition was nearly expended, and -made there a terrible use of their swords and long daggers; and thus, -at a place called the Jungle Tarechee, or Dark Pass, the whole of the -54th Native Infantry were destroyed. There, too, fell Graham and -Ravelstoke. - -The dead were always stripped, and then mutilated, or terribly gashed -with wounds. - -"Death to the infidel dogs--death! death!" were the incessant cries -by which these fanatics inspired each other. - -"What says the Koran?" cried one whose camise was literally steeped -in blood; "'it is unlawful to plunder the living,' but there is no -prohibition about the dead; so death to them all!" - -The fugitives were so wedged _en masse_ in the narrow way, that every -shot told fearfully. All along that route, many a wounded soldier, -as he fell behind, gave to some favourite comrade the last words that -he, poor Bob, or Bill, or Jack, was never fated to carry home; many a -dying officer gave his papers, ring, or locket to the friend who, in -a few minutes later, was also stretched on the ensanguined snow. - -At one brief halt a few ponies were killed and devoured raw! - -All hope was dead now in every heart, yet on they struggled--on, and -on--till a place called Jugdulluck was reached, and then in all the -sullenness of fury and despair, the wretched survivors, Horse, Foot, -and Artillerymen, resolved to make a resolute stand. Cheering -wildly, as if to welcome death and the foe together, the poor fellows -stood shoulder to shoulder, many bleeding with undressed wounds, all -breathless and flushed, their eyes gleaming, their once comely -English faces distorted by hate and bitterness. - -In sheets of lead the heavy juzail balls tore through them on every -hand, and they fell faster than ever. Her Majesty's 44th Regiment -was now reduced to two hundred men, and every man of the two hundred -perished where he stood. But this bravery enabled some of the other -corps to proceed farther, and the last final stand was made by those -unhappy men on the morning of the 13th January, on the knoll of -Gundamuck, when twenty officers, sixty soldiers, and three hundred -camp-followers alone survived. - -Polwhele was the first who fell here; two balls pierced his chest; -and there, too, perished all that remained of Waller's Company. If -the fire slackened a moment, the clash of knife and bayonet was -heard, with many a yell and groan. - -"Dear Bob," cried Polwhele to Waller, as he lay choking in blood, "if -you cannot carry me out of the field, take my sword and this ring for -my--my poor mother." - -But Waller could do neither, for over Polwhele's body there thickly -fell a heap of killed and wounded. - -After his ammunition was expended, Sergeant Treherne, whom rage and -desperation inspired with a fury resembling madness, laid wildly -about him, and with the heel of his musket dashed out the brains of -more than one tall Afghan. This stalwart son of the Mines had come -of a race that in their time had been greater men than miners in -Cornwall--_Huelwers_, who were rulers then in the land before, -perhaps, a stone of Windsor or Westminster had been laid; and now he -stood like a hero on that fatal knoll of Gundamuck, beating down the -foe with the butt-end of his clubbed weapon, till he fell, riddled -with bullets, upon the corpses of his comrades. - -Seeing all lost, Waller, his heart swollen almost to bursting, had -now to seek his own safety. Concealed by the smoke and some wild -pistachio trees, he found shelter in a cavern, though fearing that -traces of his footsteps in the snow might lead to his discovery, and -there he lay on the cold rocky floor, more dead than alive with -excess of emotion and all he had undergone, panting, feeble, and well -nigh breathless. - -He had only his sword now, and even if he escaped the Afghans, -wolves, bears, or hyænas--the mountains teemed with all of -them--might come upon him in the night. - -Being well mounted, Audley Trevelyan and two medical officers -effected their escape, but were closely pursued by Amen Oollah Khan, -and compelled to separate. One was overtaken and slain within four -miles of Jellalabad. Audley's horse was shot under him, and he -concealed himself till nightfall in a nullah or ravine.* - - -* At Gundamuck "the enemy rushed in with drawn knives, and with the -exception of _two_ officers and _four_ men, the whole of this doomed -band fell victims to the sanguinary mob."--_Memorials of -Afghanistan_, Calcutta, 1843. - -Long prior to this event, Colonel Dennie, of the 13th, made a -curiously prophetic speech. "His words were, 'you'll see that not a -soul will escape from Cabul except _one_ man, and he will come to -tell us that the rest are destroyed."--_Sale's Brigade_. - -Ackbar Khan is said to have uttered a similar prediction. - - -The despatches record that of all the sixteen thousand five hundred -who marched from the Cantonments of Cabul, ninety miles distant, Dr. -Brydone, a Scottish medical officer of the Shah's service, bleeding, -faint, covered with wounds, and carrying a broken sword in his hand, -_alone_ reached the city of Sir Robert Sale's garrison; but Trevelyan -came in four hours after, to confirm his terrible tidings of the -total destruction of our army and all its followers, for all who were -not slain were made slaves by the captors. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -WALLER'S ADVENTURES. - -"Run to earth at last!" groaned Bob Waller, whose subsequent perils -were so varied and remarkable that they alone, if fully detailed, -might fill a volume. - -In that cavern or fissure, one of the many which abound in the rocks -there, he lay the whole day, untraced and undiscovered, for the -Afghans, after having stripped and mutilated in their usual fashion, -the dead on the snow-covered knoll, had retired. He knew that he was -only sixteen miles from that bourne they had all hoped to -reach--Sale's little garrison in Jellalabad, and that if he ever -attained it at all, the attempt must be made in the night. He was -without a guide; he knew not the way, and his dress and complexion -would render him to every shepherd, wayfarer, and marauding horseman, -apparent, as a Feringhee and an enemy. - -The whole affair, the retreat, and the result of it, seems to be what -a French writer describes as "one of those especial visitations of -Fate, which draw on the devoted to their ruin, and which it is -impossible for virtue to resist, or human wisdom to foresee." - -After seven days and nights of incessant fighting; after the -perpetual ringing of musketry, the yells of the Afghans, the varied -cries of those who perished in agony under their hands; after all the -truly infernal uproar and mad excitement in those dark and narrow -Passes, the unbroken silence around him now, seemed intense and -oppressive. He could almost imagine that he heard it; stirred though -it was only by the low hum of insect life among the withered leaves -and _coss_, or wild mountain grass, that lay drifted by the wind in -heaps within the cave, and on which he lay so sad and weary. - -"Now," thought he, after some hours had passed, "now that this -horrible row is all over, I'll have a quiet weed--smoke a peaceful -calumet of Cavendish;" and he drew the materials therefor from the -pocket of his poshteen. - -Waller had always been solicitous about the colouring of that same -calumet, as he styled his meerschaum pipe, which, by the bye, had -been a gift from his friend Polwhele--poor Jack Polwhele--who was -lying under that ghastly pile of dead on the knoll, where his jovial -soul had ebbed through his death-wound, and where in his kind heart, -and on his pallid lips, as he breathed his last, his mother's name -had mingled with that of his God;--and so, as Waller smoked amid the -silence and gloom of the wintry eve, tears rolled over his cheek--the -bitter tears of a brave man's rage and grief. - -This was not war but carnage! - -To Waller it seemed as if a gory curtain had fallen between him and -all his past life. Where were now his companions of the parade, the -mess, and the race-course? Where the brave rank and file, that had -stood by him shoulder to shoulder, and every man of whom deemed -Captain Waller a friend, as much as an officer? Where were the faces -and voices of all he had known and loved? As he lay there alone in -cold and darkness, his emotions were somewhat akin to those described -as being felt by the _last man_, when the whitening skeletons of -nations were around him, and when all the human world had--himself -excepted--passed away. - -"Mabel and Rose--my own Mabel, where is she?" he muttered again and -again. - -Love left his heart with her; she was, like others, a hostage--a -thing unheard of in modern wars;--a prisoner--too probably a victim! -In such terrible hands, what worse fate could she have? She had been -diplomatically torn from him, by a treaty that proved futile, and -which cast dishonour on our arms. Duty had compelled him to march -with his men; for the stern duty of the soldier had to rise superior -to the soft affection of the lover, and now he was there alone, with -the memory of her last tearful kiss lingering on his lips. - -"My beautiful darling--my loved, my lost Mabel!" murmured the usually -matter-of-fact Waller; "oh, why were you reft from me? God," he -added, looking up imploringly in the gathering gloom, "shall we ever -meet again?" - -He knew that no fear of future vengeance would deter the Afghans from -committing any outrage on their captives. In their utter ignorance -of the locality, the nature, and vast resources of Britain, they can -form no correct idea of her power by sea or land. They vaguely know -all Europe by the general term of Feringhistan, or the Country of the -Franks; and that ships from there come to Bombay and Bassora (the -Bassora of Sindbad the Sailor), to Madras, and Calcutta; and that a -Queen rules one portion of it--a dreary island somewhere in the sea; -and their learned _Moollahs_ were wont to assert, that her red -soldiers, by their close resemblance to each other, the extreme -similarity of their uniform and motions, must all be the sons of one -mother. - -An intense thirst, which successive handfuls of snow failed to allay, -hunger, and extreme cold from lying so long in that dark den in such -a season, made Waller hail the descending night, and with sombre -satisfaction he quitted his lurking place, to seek on foot the road -to Jellalabad. - -"In England," thought he, "the Poor Law guardians have studied at -times to discover upon how little mankind can be kept alive; and -there have been learned philosophers who declared it possible for -people to exist without food at all! By Jove, I wish they had been -on this retreat from Cabul, and all their problems would soon have -been solved." - -He heard now the voices of the jackals revelling over their ghastly -meal on the hill of Gundamuck, and shudderingly he turned away in the -opposite direction. Snow covered all the country; but the footsteps -and horse tracks of those who had pursued Doctor Brydone were, for a -time, a sufficient indication of the route he was to follow. He had -lost his shako in the late conflict, but the loonghee of a dead -Afghan supplied its place. - -The night was clear; the deep blue sky was full of brilliant stars; -around him the stupendous mountains of the Khyber range towered on -either side of the way in silence and solemnity, that proved -something awful to the then oppressed mind of the poor fugitive, who -wished from his soul that he had been as dark in complexion and as -black of eye as his friend Polwhele; for Waller's face and hair were -of the thorough Saxon type, and hence any attempt to pass himself off -as a fair-visaged Oriental was impossible, for swarthy indeed is the -fairest of them. He had never possessed such a hand-book as "Afghani -before breakfast," or "without a master," if such a thing ever -existed; but he had contrived to pick up enough of the strange -polyglot medley forming the language of the natives, to have aided -any disguise, could he have found one. - -Voices and the clatter of hoofs, the latter partially deadened by the -snow, fell on his ear, before he had proceeded a mile; and, on the -whiteness that stretched in distance far away before him, appeared -the dark figures of a group of mounted men approaching rapidly. - -Near the roadside there stood, and doubtless still stands, a little -musjid, or temple, and over its tiny dome one giant poplar towered -skyward, like a dark gothic spire. The strangers might halt and pray -there, profuse piety being an element in the Afghan character; but it -was equally probable they might not; so, as it was his only hope of -concealment, he hastened to avail himself of it--but too late; he was -already observed, and a series of wild shouts made his heart sicken, -as the horsemen came galloping up, unslinging from their backs their -long juzails as they advanced. - -These people proved to be Amen Oollah Khan, a warrior known as Zohrab -Zubberdust (_i.e._, the overbearing), and others, who had that -forenoon pursued Doctor Brydone almost to the gates of Jellalabad, -and, on the way, murdered his hapless companion, Doctor Harper, whose -horse had failed him within four miles of the city. They were richly -accoutred; each had a gilded shield slung on his back, and wore a -round steel cap, furnished with a flap of chain-mail covering the -neck, and two upright points, like spear heads, that glittered in the -starlight. - -"Death to the Kaffir! death to the Feringhee!" they cried with one -accord. - -"I am no Kaffir," replied Walter (standing on the steps of the -musjid, and ready to sell his life dearly), "but a Mussulman, like -yourselves." - -"Liar, and son of a liar! I see the dress of a red Feringhee under -your poshsteen," said Amen Oollah, and in succession he, Zohrab, and -two others, snapped their matchlocks at him; but they had become so -foul by recent and incessant use, that the balls had been forced down -with difficulty, the powder and matches were alike damp, and -fortunately not one would explode. - -"Hah!" said Waller, with great presence of mind, though fearing he -might be recognised by Amen Oollah, who had frequently seen him in -the streets of Cabul, "you see that the hand of the Prophet -interposes, and does not permit you to kill me." - -"We shall soon prove that," replied the Khan, unsheathing his sabre; -but impressed, nevertheless, by what seemed the genuine belief in -fatalism, which is a peculiarity of the Mohammedan faith; so he -deliberately placed the edge on Waller's throat, and said-- - -"To the proof of what you assert. If you are a Mussulman, repeat the -_Kulma_; if in one word, however small, you fail, your head and heels -shall lie together on the snow." - -Waller had his own sword drawn, and was prepared to run it through -the heart of Amen Oollah if he felt himself failing. It was a -critical moment; he knew that the edge of an Afghan sabre was sharp -as a razor; he felt that he was never born to be a religious martyr; -so thinking in his heart--as, perhaps, the great Galileo thought, -when in the bonds of the Inquisition--"May God forgive me!" by a -little stretch of memory he repeated the entire Kulma, or creed of -Mohammed, on which Amen Oollah seemed satisfied, and sheathed his -sword. But now Zohrab Zubberdust, a handsome and dashing Afghan -gentleman, one of those soldiers of fortune who possessed only his -sword and his horse, and thus served Ackbar Khan for three rupees per -diem, said,-- - -"Khan Sahib, how comes a true believer to have a face and beard so -fair?" - -"A Persian taught me to dye my beard yellow; and as for my face, I am -a Turk of Stamboul," replied Waller, boldly. - -As not one of them had ever seen a Turk of Feringhistan, these -answers seemed to perplex them. - -"Then why here?" asked Zohrab, suspiciously. - -"I served Shah Sujah, and have left him, for fate is against him, and -he shall never reign in Afghanistan," said Waller, thinking in his -heart, "How many falsehoods must I tell to deceive these artful -savages?" - -"You are right," said Amen Oollah, grimly; "but as we deem that in -serving the Shah you have been guilty of a crime, I give you as a -slave to Nouradeen Lai. You shall help him to plough the land." - -"Salaam and thanks, Khan Sahib--I have need of a sturdy servant, as I -shot one in a fit of passion lately," said a horseman, a powerfully -built and venerable looking Afghan, to whose horse-girth Waller -speedily found himself attached by a rope which was passed round his -waist. To resist, would be simply to court death; and he was thus -conducted, a prisoner, into a valley of the mountains. In fact, his -captors were probably too glutted with slaughter to kill him, and so -spared him for the time. But he felt that his existence would be at -the caprice of his owner, Nouradeen Lai, whose first act of power was -to take away his regimental sword and belt, after another acquisitive -Afghan had possessed himself of his gold repeater, his purse and -rings. - -"What fools, and sons of burnt fathers, you Feringhees were to come -among us here in Afghanistan, to put upon our throne a king we -loathed, in lieu of Dost Mohammed," said Nouradeen, as they -proceeded; "you will now know how true it is, that though two -Dervishes may sleep on one carpet, two kings cannot reign in one -kingdom. But the will of God be cdone! The whole world depends upon -fate and fortune. It is one man's destiny to be depressed--the -other's to be exalted." - -"Canting old humbug!" thought Waller, who learned ere long that his -agricultural owner was especially a man of proverbs, like Sancho -Panza. - -The farmer, and two other horsemen, with much ceremony bade adieu to -Amen Oollah Khan; but the latter only waved his hand and said-- - -"Adieu till we meet again--most likely before Jellalabad," and, with -his armed followers, galloped into that terrible pass, where an -entire army, with all its debris, strewed the way for miles upon -miles, back even into the gates of the burned cantonments. - -"So those rascals think of beating up Sale's garrison," thought -Waller, with reference to the parting words of the Khan. - -As Nouradeen entered the hedgerows which bordered the compounds of -his farm-house and yard, he unslung his juzail, which seemed in -somewhat better order than those of his companions, and, wheeling -half round in his saddle, fired a shot rearward, Parthian-wise, and -brought down a large eagle that was soaring high in mid air. - -"Steel commands everything, and now in addition to the steel--the -swords and lances of our forefathers--we have bullets, praised be -God!" he exclaimed, flourishing his clumsy old matchlock, exactly -such a weapon as might have figured at Marston Moor, or the field of -Kilsythe. - -Perceiving that the shot excited Waller's admiration, he drew a long -brass pistol from his girdle, urged his horse to full speed, and a -picturesque figure he seemed, with his flowing robes and magnificent -beard floating on the wind. He then threw a lemon over his head, -and, twisting his body completely round to the left, fired at it from -the off flank of his horse, and pierced it as it was in the act of -falling. - -"Now," said he, with a grim smile, "should you attempt to escape -without ransom, my ball will follow you thus surely--yea, did go far -as the arrow of Arish, which was shot at sunrise, and did not fall -till sunset. A soldier, you should remember, that even were you to -conquer all the world, death at last will conquer you." - -"It is unlawful to make a slave of a true believer," said Waller. - -"One may repeat the Kulma, and not be a very true believer after -all," replied the shrewd old Afghan, with a gleam of intense cunning -in his glittering eyes; "nay, nor even a Turk of Roum," he added, -meaning Constantinople; and hence Waller knew that he was suspected. - -The farmer's wife--Nouradeen Lai had but one helpmate--saw how pale -and wan their prisoner looked, and speedily set some food before him; -a pillau of rice, dhye (or sour curds), odious stuff, which he ate -with his fingers in the fashion of the country. One or two of -"Malcolm's plums" (as the Persians and Afghans call the potato), with -a little ghee or clarified butter, completed his simple repast. As -he ate, falling to without uttering "Bismillah!" an omission which -his captors did not fail to remark, he thought that cookery must be a -sublime science at home--a veritable branch of the fine arts; but -hunger is ever an excellent seasoning to any meal. - -The snow had now begun to melt fast, and for four days Waller was -kept a close prisoner, without a chance of escape, though he brooded -over it incessantly, and writhed in spirit to be thus detained from -his duty in Jellalabad, where doubtless the task of vengeance--it -might be the deliverance of the unhappy hostages--had already begun. -Besides, he was intensely bored by the hypocrisy of having to enact -the part of Mussulman, by the pretended prayers and genuflexions, -upon a piece of coarse felt, for the old man Nouradeen watched him -closely. In all this Waller salved his conscience by the conviction -that one is scarcely answerable for an act committed under a power -one cannot resist. - -On the morning of the fifth day the hills appeared in all their -greenery; the sunshine was bright, and the atmosphere was clear and -calm. - -"The snow is gone," said Nouradeen; "when spring comes, the bones of -your people will be whitening like ivory among the long green grass -in the passes of the Khyber and Khoord Cabul." - -These words came fearfully and literally true, as the Afghans never -interred one of the slain. - -"But sit not there so moodily," he added to Waller; "grieve not over -that which is broken, lost or burnt; after prayer we go to plough; -come with me." - -"Willingly," replied Waller, and his breast filled with a hope that -was soon extinguished; for when he found himself between the stilts -of the Afghan plough, which was of the most primitive construction, -and drawn by two oxen--a machine of the mode of working which he was -utterly ignorant--he perceived a little old humpbacked fellow, armed -with a loaded juzail, watching all his movements, and with an -expression of face which showed how much he longed for some sign of -an attempt to escape, and Waller, remembering the skill of the farmer -with _his_ firearms, resolved not to risk it. - -He managed to direct the team, and for a few hours it occupied his -mind. Waller ploughing!--Waller, the crack man, the pattern officer, -the best round-dancer in the Cornish Light Infantry--he felt the -situation to be intensely ludicrous, and he could have laughed but -for the circumstances the situation represented--and the dreadful -doubt that hung over the fate of Mabel, of Rose, and others; and -frequently he paused and looked wistfully towards the hills, as he -thought that, but for yonder old Mohammedan beast, with his cocked -matchlock, he should make a clean pair of heels and be off. Anyway, -through his ignorance of the task in hand, and the pre-occupation of -his thoughts, Bob's furrows had all the curved line of beauty, and -would have made a Scottish ploughman, so vain of his straight lines, -faint on the spot. - -So the fifth day passed and he had but one thought, the yearning to -see Mabel, with the haunting terror of all she might be enduring, and -that he might never see her more! - -Learning by chance that he was to be secured to the plough by an iron -chain the next day, he determined that, come what might, he should -escape in the night. Unarmed, he had but his courage and strategy to -rely upon, in a country where all men's hands were against the -European, where the laws have little force, and where whatever -morality there is among the people, it depends entirely upon their -religious sentiments and their attachment to their khans or chiefs. -Two hundred years ago, an Englishman might have found himself in -pretty much the same predicament in some parts of the Scottish -Highlands. - -On examining the chimney of the apartment in which he was confined, -he found that although the barred windows defied egress and ingress -alike, he might achieve a passage to the external air by removing the -bricks of unburnt clay, of which the wall was composed. He proceeded -to pick out the lime with a nail softly, after darkness had set in, -and after removing one, the cold night breeze from the Khyber hills -blew gratefully upon his flushed face. - -Another and another were speedily removed now, and in less than half -an hour--during which he frequently paused with a palpitating heart, -lest he might make some unlucky sound or be discovered by old Lai--he -had achieved an aperture wide enough by which to creep out. He did -so, and drew a long breath, as if he respired more freely now. All -was still, and the darkness was profound as the silence, and a prayer -of thankfulness rose to the lips of Waller, as he quitted the -compound around the farmer's establishment and hastened towards the -hills, with the full knowledge that in whatever direction he went, -some hours must elapse before his flight could be discovered, and -there was no snow by which to track his footsteps. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -CHANCE BETTER THAN DESIGN. - -He was unarmed, but he never thought of the wild animals which abound -on the hills and in the forests of Afghanistan. Lions are rare; but -tigers, hyænas, bears, and wolves are plentiful enough, and the -terrible passes of the Khyber mountains had peculiar attractions for -the latter now. Yet Waller's sole anxiety was to avoid, not these, -but their rivals in cruelty, the natives. - -He had no guide; but he knew, by the way the range of mountains rose -between him and the sky, that the great plain or vale, wherein -Jellalabad is situated, and which has an average breadth of ten -miles, must, when he quitted the farm-gate, lie on his right hand and -not on his left. Other indication he had none, and he set out in the -hope of being within sight of its walls by daybreak, or at least soon -after. - -The improved appearance of the highway as he proceeded, afforded -proof that it led to some large city, and he pressed on with a -confident and hopeful heart, sometimes between orchards containing a -profusion of apple, plum, quince, and pomegranate trees, which the -coming summer should see in full bloom and bearing. Now and then, -softly, almost breathlessly, he would pass the skirts, but never -through the straggling street, of a village, such being usually -closed at each end by gates; and occasionally he crossed a little -brawling stream, a tributary of the Cabul, spanned by pretty bridges -of stone, ornamented with tiny towers at each end. - -Anon some pariah dog, prowling out of doors--for the poor dog is in -great disrepute among Mohammedans--would bay out upon the night -breeze, causing him to pause and shrink for concealment close to the -nearest tree or hedgerow. And now, with growing hope and heartiness, -he had proceeded from the mountain-farm fully five coss, or ten -English miles, on the Jellalabad road when day began to dawn on the -mighty peaks of the Khyber range, and the ruddy sunlight stole -gradually down their slopes into the gloomy passes and rocky ravines -which intersect and separate them. - -When day was fairly in, Waller began to think of seeking a place of -concealment till night again fell, when he felt certain that a few -miles more along that open highway must eventually bring him to some -gate of Jellalabad; but an abrupt turn of the road brought him -suddenly upon a village, the gates of which stood open. There in the -little street some armed horsemen were grouped around a well, and -many people were astir previous to departing to their work in the -fields; for all the country there is beautifully cultivated, and ever -covered by a profusion of the richest vegetation. - -He was seen; there was a shout--spurs were applied to the horses, -flight was impossible, and in half a minute he was again a prisoner, -the lances levelled at his throat menacing him with death. - -"A Kaffir--a Feringhee! kill him, kill him!" cried the villagers, -male and female, as they crowded in wild tumult around him; even the -tawny children raised their little hands against the weary wanderer, -for the place was the abode of Ghazees, the wildest of Mohammedan -fanatics. - -"Bismillah! there is one yet alive!" exclaimed a horseman. - -"But what said Ackbar Khan?--may the sun be his star, the new moon -his stirrup-iron--one was to be left to tell the tale," exclaimed -another, mercifully interposing his lance between Waller and the -others; "and this is he." - -"Nay, one Kaffir has already got into Jellalabad--it is enough; let -us have this one's head," was the general cry which rose to a mingled -yell, and dark eyes flashed, and white teeth were ground around him. -So poor Waller began to fear that he was the 'last man' after all, -and worse off than when ploughing for old Nouradeen Lai. However, he -kept close to the young chief who seemed disposed to protect him, and -who was accoutred with a steel cap and shield. - -"The Prophet wrote at birth on each man's brow the day he was to die, -and your time is to-day, O Kaffir!" exclaimed one, making a vicious -thrust with his gaily tasselled lance, which, had it not been struck -up by his protector's hand, had ended Waller's career there and then. - -"What business has a dog of a Feringhee with such a beard as that?" -cried a woman; "it is unendurable." - -"I didn't make it," said Waller, simply. - -"Oho. This is the Toorkoman of Roum!" said the young horseman with -the steel cap, in whom Waller now recognised Zohrab Zubberdust; "he -has escaped from old Nouradeen Lai; well--he shall not escape from -me. These Feringhees are excellent grooms, and I want one. -Bismillah! it is written--let us go--I shall protect you." - -Like many a Christian, Zubberdust the Mussulman had the spirit of -avarice and treachery in his heart; but as an Afghan mountaineer it -was tempered with something of honour; for, strange to say, honour -may exist among Mohammedans, as well as among Christians, without an -atom of morality. - -So Waller found himself marched off in a direction precisely opposite -to that which he had been pursuing; and he had the additional -tantalisation of seeing, about six miles distant, the picturesque -Bala Hissar, or citadel of Jellalabad, which he could recognise from -an engraving he had once seen; and ere midday he was conveyed by -Zubberdust and his people to one of the numerous little castles or -fortlets called _kotes_, that stud all the country in the -neighbourhood of the city, which has always been the winter residence -of the kings of Cabul; and there he was set at once to groom the -horses, with a distinct notice that if he attempted to quit the fort, -which was a square edifice furnished with a round loopholed tower at -each angle, and surrounded by a wet ditch, wherein innumerable pink -and white water lilies floated, he would be shot without mercy. - -Before the gate were two brass six-pounder guns, taken from -Elphinstone's unfortunate army. - -Waller acquiesced with a groan in his breast. Well, thought he, -working as a groom and rubbing down Zubberdust's beautiful horse, -which had come from the land of the Usbec Tartars, was more congenial -than ploughing; and hope suggested that the very animal he tended -might gain him liberty; but his new master seemed to be merely a -visitor at the fort, which belonged to an old Hazir Bashi of the -King's Guards, and after remaining there for ten days, he departed to -rejoin Amen Oollali Khan. Prior to doing so, with great liberality -he presented Waller, as an excellent groom, to a wealthy grazier of -camels, named Jubar Khan, who was passing that way with several of -these solemn-looking quadrupeds and some yaboos or Cabul ponies, -which he meant to dispose of in Bhokara. - -Seeing that Waller appeared crushed by the prospect before him, -Zohrab said, ere he went, - -"Think yourself happy, for if Ackbar Khan were to get you, he might -do as he has done to others, chain you to a stone in a vault, dark -and cheerless as the tomb of a miser. Dogs!" he added, true to his -overbearing nature: "you came hither thinking to make us crumb-eaters -of Shah Sujah! Bah! the cup of the covetous, saith the proverb, is -filled with the dust of the grave. And where lie the covetous now? -in the passes of Khoord Cabul!" - -With something of despair gathering in his heart, Waller set forth in -company with the grazier and others whom the latter employed as -syces, and who were all well armed. - -To dissemble he felt was his best plan, and he affected such perfect -cheerfulness, made himself so useful in tending, watering, and -grooming the camels and ponies, that he quickly won the entire -goodwill and confidence of Jubar Khan, so much so that, after -journeying for three days towards the hills of Hindoo Kush, on a -valuable camel falling quite lame, he actually left Waller in care of -it, at a species of camp formed by some Afghan shepherds and their -families, whose tents of coarse black camlet were pitched in a -sheltered spot by the bank of a beautiful stream. - -Jubar Khan passed on his way, desiring Waller, in whose skill he -trusted much, to rejoin him with the camel on a certain day at a khan -or caravanserai among the mountains,--one of those one-storied, -quadrangular edifices, full of bare rooms, built by the wayside for -the accommodation of travellers, and the erection of which is -considered one of the most meritorious acts that a Hindoo or -Mussulman can perform. - -Waller gladly saw the dark figures of Jubar Khan, his people and -property, vanish into a pass of the mountains, where they seemed to -go right into the setting sun, which shed through it a blaze of -crimson light; and then he set himself zealously to tend the ailing -camel, in the hope that when well he should depart therewith on a -journey of his own. In three days the camel was quite restored; but -on the morning of the fourth, when Waller went as usual to groom it, -the animal was gone! - -It had been stolen in the night, by whom, all pretended ignorance; -and Waller, who immediately affected great anxiety to rejoin his -master the grazier, was told that he must remain where he was, "as a -hostage for the missing camel, and that as so excellent a groom could -not be an indifferent shepherd, he would be useful in tending the -sheep." - -A crook was put in his hand, a brass lotah for drinking, a few -chupatties for food were given him, and he was set to watch a flock -of dhoombas, or those Persian sheep that have tails nearly a foot -broad, are almost entirely composed of fat, and form the most -valuable stock of those nomadic dwellers in tents among whom he now -found himself. By the poor agriculturists he was however treated -with great kindness. - -Farther than ever from Jellalabad now, without money, arms, or a -horse, his clothes in rags, his boots almost worn away, Bob Waller -sat like one in a stupor by the side of a rivulet that trickled -through the pasture where the sheep were grazing; and as he looked -from the green mountains to the black tents that dotted their slope, -he asked of himself, whether his present existence or his past was -the dream. - -"So here have fate and the fortune of war cast me! a Turk, a -ploughman, a groom, a shepherd," he sighed; "by Jove! what the deuce -shall I be next? The ancient sceptics doubted the reality of -everything--and I begin to think they were right." - -All was still, save when a stork or crow alighted on the granite -rocks that overhung the mountain rivulet, or a fleet antelope shot -like a spirit across the valley; and so would pass the weary day, Bob -Waller not watching the sheep, but the mountain shadows, changing -from the eastward to the westward, while he sighed for a glass of -Madeira and a biscuit, a glass of pale ale and a "quiet weed," and -thought of the old time of tiffin in the jolly mess-bungalow, and the -faces of those he should never see there again. - -At night, crouching on a piece of xummal (or coarse blanket) and -covered with sheepskins, Waller would dream at times of Mabel's -bright face and merry laugh; but more often, perhaps, of those -terrible seven days and seven nights of the retreat through the snowy -passes, where the living trod sullenly, doggedly, on over the dead, -till they too fell, to be trod on in turn. Horrid phantoms haunted -him. Had he outlived, out-trodden all? Alas, it almost seemed so. -Shots would seem to ring in his drowsy ear, and he fancied it was the -Afghan juzailchees again; anon he would think himself at home in -pleasant Cornwall; that he was after the brown pheasants within sight -of the sounding sea, or among the quails on wild and rugged Lundy -Isle; and then he would start to wakefulness and lie for hours, -revolving in his mind the means, the chances of reaching Jellalabad; -but, alas! so much time had elapsed, that he might only reach it to -find that the garrison had abandoned it to save the hostages from -death, or that the city was besieged by the victorious Afghans! - -But now he was to have a proof of how often chance was better than -the deepest laid design. - -Joharah, the wife of the shepherd with whom Jubar Khan had left him, -and whose name when translated signifies "a jewel," was a woman of -singular kindness of heart, sweetness of disposition, and not without -moderate pretensions to beauty. She was unusually kind to Waller, -and did all in her power to alleviate the wretched condition to which -fate had reduced him. Her husband was wont to boast that "she knew -the language of the birds," and hence that they would inform _her_ if -Waller attempted to escape, for to understand the language of the -feathered tribe was peculiarly one of the boasted sciences of the -Arabians. The art is frequently referred to in the "Thousand and One -Nights," and tradition records that Balkis, Queen of Sheba, had a -lapwing which conveyed all her messages verbally to King Solomon. -Waller could have smiled on being told all this; and he wished in his -soul he had no other informants to dread than the birds that -twittered about the valley. - -Joharah, the Afghan woman, had remarked the growing depression that -seemed to prey upon the spirit of Waller, and she was not without -some interest in him, for the fairness of the European complexion -contrasted in her eye pleasantly and favourably with the extreme -darkness of the people around her. She had more than once detected -him with a lock of Mahel Trecarrel's bright brown hair in his -fingers, and with a woman's acuteness she speedily divined that -thereby hung "a tale." One day she surprised him thus occupied when -he was seated moodily and alone under a pistachio tree that grew near -where their tents were pitched. Approaching softly, she laid a hand -timidly on his shoulder, and after glancing hastily about to see if -they were observed, she bent her dark bright eyes on his, and said-- - -"I dreamt of you last night." - -"Of me?" - -"Yes; even by the side of my husband," she added, with a smile, that -was not without a dash of coquetry in it. - -"Indeed!" replied Waller, perplexed, and fearing that if this was the -prelude to a flirtation, his troubles would be thereby seriously -increased. - -"I saw you clad in _green_, our holy colour, and accept that as a -sign that I must befriend you, and send you to her you love." - -"I thank you; 'to her I love,' repeated Waller tremulously, while a -flush suffused his cheek. - -"You are very sad and gentle," said Joharah. - -"The thoughts of _her_ make me so," said Waller. - -"Ah! the perfume of her presence is about you still," said the Afghan -woman in her figurative language; "she has been unto you what the -rose was to the piece of clay in the little story of Sadee." - -"I do not understand you." - -"'One day,' says Sadee, 'when I was in the bath, a friend of mine put -into my hand a piece of sweetly scented clay. I took it between my -fingers, and said, - -"'Art thou musk or ambergris, for thy perfume charms me?' - -"'I was but a humble piece of clay,' it replied; 'but I was some time -in the society of a rose; the sweet quality of my companion was -communicated to me, otherwise I should be only a bit of clay, as I -appear to be.' So has it been with you." - -"Perhaps so," replied Waller, smiling at this strange anecdote. - -"It is Jellalabad you would reach?" - -"Yes; how far are we from it?" - -"Fifty cosses." - -"A hundred of our miles!" thought Waller, and his spirit sank. - -"Undisguised, you can never escape my husband's people, or hope to -reach it safely; but I shall provide for all that." - -"You will not deceive me?" said Waller anxiously, as he feared some -snared - -"No, I swear it; be of good courage and you shall soon be safe." - -The following day, when most of the shepherds had gone to prayer at a -musjid among the mountains, leaving the women and female children -behind, as the sexes never pray together in the mosques, she -conducted Waller into the inner portion of their tent--her own -apartment--where discovery would have ensured him instant death. -With scissors she clipped off closely his long fair beard and -mustaches; she stained his face, ears, and neck with walnut juice and -wood ashes; his hair she disguised by smearing it with more ashes and -_ghee_--a process under which Waller, usually so dainty in his -toilet, rather winced. She took away and buried his poshteen and -tattered uniform, and made him, in its place, put on the red dress of -a Hindoo Fakir. She slung a brass drinking lotah to his girdle of -cord, gave him some chupatties and other food, and, placing a staff -in his hand, showed him the route to pursue, a narrow path among the -mountains, by which he could avoid a rencontre with the returning -shepherds, and strike on the direct road for Jellalabad. - -Waller's heart was filled with genuine gratitude; but he had only his -earnest thanks to bestow on this good woman, who hastened his -departure; and in less than two hours after she had thus transformed -him, he had left the black tents of the shepherds several miles -behind him. - -In no other disguise than this could he have been so safe from -discovery. In the character of a Fakir he might beg with impunity, -revile and anathematise with a vociferation that inspired terror, or -he might remain obstinately silent, according to the pretended humour -or real emergency of the moment. Thus, as none might dare to -question his motives, his supposed sacred calling rendered him safe -alike from interruption, inquiry, or suspicion, and he went on his -way rejoicing. - -He had many strange and quaint adventures, but encountered no more -perils by the way he had to pursue on foot. His great stature and -sturdy figure won him the special favour of the women, particularly -of those with whom he conversed at the wayside wells; and in many -instances he discovered that pleasant little perquisites must often -fall to the share of Fakirs and Dervishes; for ladies contended for -the honour of feeding him, and pressed upon him tillas, and even -mohurs of gold, to have refused which would have been totally untrue -to his clerical character. Once he had a narrow escape from -encountering Osman Abdallah the Arab Hadji, the same fanatic whom he -had run through the body on the day the Envoy was assassinated, and -whom he saw asleep, too probably intoxicated with bhang, on a piece -of mat, at the door of a village khan. On another occasion he had to -endure for several miles the society of a rival Fakir--a Pandarom -enthusiast, who wore an iron garden-gate, of considerable weight and -size, riveted round his neck as a penance, which excited the charity -and fear of all who beheld him; but on the fortieth day after the -retreat from Cabul began, Waller, to his joy, saw once more before -him the vast and fertile plain of Jellalabad, the stately city with -all its white wails and round towers, and its green background of -magnificent mountains, many of them being wooded to the summit; but, -to his eye, the most pleasing features in the scene were the scarlet -coats of the sentinels on the ramparts of the Bala Hissar, on which -the union-jack was waving in the morning wind. - -Waller was, perhaps, not much given to prayer, but his emotions of -gratitude to Heaven were great and keen when at last he found himself -passing between the Piper's Hill and the old Mosque that stands south -of the city, round the walls of which he had to proceed between the -Shah's garden and the great citadel to reach the Peshawur Gate, where -a guard of Her Majesty's 13th Light Infantry (Prince Albert's own) -was posted; and the astonishment of the soldiers, when they heard -themselves accosted in pure English by a Hindoo Fakir, was intense; -but the officer in command, Lieutenant Sinclair--the same ingenious -fellow who had built the pleasure boat during the previous and -happier winter at Cabul--now came hastily forward. - -"Waller--Bob Waller, by all that's wonderful!" he exclaimed, -recognising an old friend in spite of his filthy disguise; "so you, -too, have escaped, after all?" - -"Yes, I--but poor Jack Polwhele, Devereaux, Burgoyne, and all the -rest, have perished--all--all!" replied Waller, with deep emotion, as -the men of the 13th crowded about him. "The bravest and the best are -always cut off first; but, save me, all who came through the Khyber -passes have gone to God!" - -"Trevelyan of yours, and Dr. Brydone, of the Shah's army, are safe -with us; so three have escaped that terrible carnage." - -"And what of the hostages?" - -The face of Sinclair--a Scot from the banks of the Thurso, and, like -all his surname, tall, grey-eyed, and fair-haired--grew dark as he -replied, - -"Elphinstone, the general, is dead--he expired in the hands of the -enemy, who insulted his body, and beat the head with stones. The -tribes are all in arms now--a regular 'gathering of the clans,' we -should call it in Scotland. Ackbar Khan has fulfilled his threat, we -are told, by sending the ladies for sale to the chiefs in Toorkistan; -but nothing is certain save that, by a combined movement on Cabul, we -are about to take a terrible vengeance." - -Waller groaned, and ground his teeth in silence, for he was too much -of an Englishman to make a scene, or give vent to the emotions that -maddened him as he thought of Mabel, of her helpless companions, and -the awful mystery that overhung the fate of Rose. - -The hostages, to the number of eighty-eight officers and soldiers, -with thirty-three females (three being wives of soldiers) and -children, were at the mercy of barbarians, and what might have -happened to them by that period? How many of them, husband and wife, -parent and child, must have caressed and embraced each other -despairingly from time to time, with only one idea in their -minds,--that the lips they touched, the eyes they looked into with -tenderness and love, the form they held, that was warm and living, -might all belong to a dead and mangled corpse ere the dawn opened or -the night closed! - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -DENZIL A NAWAB. - -When consciousness came back to Denzil he found himself alone--alone -with the dead. He knew not what time had elapsed since he had been -struck down by the treacherous wretch whose life he had sought to -save; and no vestige of the retreating troops remained, save those -whose bodies dotted all the wintry waste. Angrily and sadly the -rising wind howled from the mountain pass, blowing before it over the -frozen snow the long leaves of the coss, or dead grass, the fir cones -and pistachio nuts from the thickets close by; and some of these -cones, that fall from the jelgoozeh, or mountain pine, are larger -than artichokes. The dark and tortuous pass had apparently swallowed -all his comrades; yet through it now his way must lie, and, -staggering up, he strove to follow the blood-stained track; but the -landscape, the mountains, the abandoned cannon, dead horses, camels, -and bodies of soldiers, of the Hindoo dhooley-wallahs, and of many -women, seemed all to whirl round him, and he nearly fell on the snow -once more. Benumbed as he was, stiff and cold in every limb, with a -dull crushing sense of pain in the back region of his head, from -which the blood, now crusted and frozen, had flowed freely, he felt -that he could only remain there and wait for death or succour, the -former too surely, for already the gloom of evening seemed to be -setting over the mountains, and he looked about him wildly and -despairingly. - -He had been in love, and had lost hope; but he was in love yet, and -had lost his mistress, which was sadder still, and was now likely to -lose his life. - -The bodies of several men of his company lay near, all mostly in -attitudes expressive of the agony in which they had expired, with -their wan and ghastly faces turned to the winter sky; but the body of -General Trecarrel was gone; at least, he could nowhere see it. Had -Polwhele and Sergeant Treherne succeeded in removing it? If so, why -was he left to his wretched fate? Or had a wolf--but that idea was -too repugnant, and he shrunk from it. - -An European woman, young and pretty, in her night-dress (as many -ladies were who left the cantonments in litters), lay half in and -half out of a dhooley, from the bed within which she had apparently -been escaping when overtaken, and the snow was falling alike on her -white bare breast and the pale face of the little babe she had been -in the act of nourishing when the bullet of some relentless Ghilzie -had slain her; so her child must have soon followed. It was a -piteous sight; and let those who have seen death amid all the hushed -solemnity of a sick chamber in a land of peace imagine such a scene -as this, and death under auspices so horrible and revolting. - -Though sick and feeble, Denzil contrived to draw the dhooley a little -way from the body of its late occupant, and crept within it for -warmth. Prior to doing so, on seeing near him the Queen's colour of -the 44th, or East Essex Regiment, lying in the hands of a dead -ensign, he tore it from the staff and wrapped it over his poshteen, -as an additional garment, and with a soldier's natural desire to save -so important a trophy from the enemy. To this trifling circumstance, -as it eventually proved, he owed his life; and there he lay in a -species of stupor, neither quite asleep nor quite awake. - -Ere long the hungry vultures began to alight upon the bodies in the -snow, and one, after flapping its dusky wings on the roof of the -dhooley, actually perched upon his breast; but on receiving a blow -from his hand, it fled with an angry croak. Denzil was now -thoroughly aroused, and his action would seem to have been observed, -for twelve Afghan horsemen who had been scouting near, each with a -juzailchee riding _en croupe_ behind him, came cantering up, -accompanied by, or rather escorting, Shireen Khan of the -Kuzzilbashes, who was mounted, as usual, on a great solemn-looking -camel, and armed, among many other weapons, with a formidable lance. - -Seeing that Denzil was alive, one of the Kuzzilbashes (a pale-faced -and black-bearded fellow, who wore a prodigious red cap, and had -dangling at his neck the watch presented to General Trecarrel by Sir -John Keane, after Ghuzni) made a thrust with his lance that must have -killed him on the spot had not the Khan interposed, and commanded all -to spare his life. Instinctively Denzil had drawn his sword, but -Shireen said, with a grim smile, - -"Sheath your weapon, Kaffir; I, too, wear a sword, but I am an old -man now, old by more than thrice your years, and I have learned to -know that the sword is but the sickle of death--it destroys much and -reaps little." - -Denzil thought this moral reflection came somewhat late, but the Khan -added-- - -"Your life shall be spared--_pesh_" (_i.e._, forward), and stroked -his beard, which is the silent form of an oath with the Afghans. - -The singularity of his costume, the regimental colour of bright -yellow silk with its massive gold embroidery, amid which the sphynx -was conspicuous, with the mottoes "Badajoz, Salamanca, Bladensburg, -Waterloo," and so forth, appeared so remarkable, that the old -Kuzzilbash chief conceived, in his simplicity, that he had captured -at least a great Nawab or Bahadur of Feringhistan, whose ransom or -value as a hostage could not fail to be of importance. Hence, -resolving to say nothing of his prize to Mohammed Ackbar Khan, of -whose power he had already become jealous, Shireen ordered four -juzailchees to alight, sling their rifles, and carry the dhooley with -its inmate to the rear, naming some place to which the prisoner was -to be conveyed, and they obeyed, but grumbling under their beards -that they were only "carrying that which ought to be killed." -Moreover, they were not without serious fears that, instead of being -a Nawab or lord, Denzil might be a sorcerer, for these sphynxes and -gold letters looked necromantic in their sight, and he might possess -the power by a word to turn his bearers into yaboos or four black -stones. - -He remained perfectly passive and, perhaps, indifferent in their -hands. His wound had bled profusely, and he was now in that state of -extreme prostration which usually succeeds a great loss of blood, -when the senses wander, and wild dreams, tangled and incoherent -visions, disturb the brain of the sufferer. He felt very heedless of -life; but there are times when death seems to avoid those who are so, -and who fear him not. In all the misery of his condition he had but -one consolation--that Sybil knew nothing of it. As his bearers trod -on, he heard them, when occasionally they stumbled against a dead -body, burst out into anathemas against the Feringhees, whom they -stigmatised as "dogs, devils, sons of Shytan, sons of burnt fathers, -and base-born Kaffirs," all of which gave him little hope for his -ultimate safety. - -The dusk of the January eve was closing in, when, after passing for -some miles through a sheltered and well-wooded valley, the sides of -which were studded by several castles or bourges, the strongholds of -Nawabs and Khans of military tribes, the dhooley-bearers arrived at -the arched gateway of the great country residence of the chief of the -Kuzzilbashes. - -It was, as usual with the Afghans, whose state of society is pretty -much what it was among the Scots in the feudal days, a square fort, -measuring about a hundred yards each way, with solid wa;ls -twenty-five feet in height, and flanked at each corner by a strong -half-circular bastion. A fausse-bray and deep ditch surrounded it, -the latter being filled by a canal cut from the Cabul river. - -The zunah-khaneh, or private dwelling of Shireen and his family, -occupied the centre of the great square, and was surrounded by an -inner wall or barbican, all loopholed for musketry, while traverses -mounted with cannon, guarded the entrances. The devan-kaneh, or hall -of audience, through which Denzil was borne, was literally crammed -with the plunder gleaned up from the retreating army--bullock trunks -filled with wearing apparel, barrack furniture, tents, arm-chests, -musical instruments, and utensils of all kinds. It was decorated -with much of barbaric splendour, and had its wall on one side -composed of carved and gilded wood, wherein were six great panels -inscribed with passages from the Koran, amid green and gold -arabesques. These opened into apartments beyond, and could be slid -up and down at pleasure (like windows in Britain) for the free -circulation of air in summer. - -Into one of these apartments Denzil was borne, placed on a couch made -up chiefly from the bedding that was in the dhooley, and then a hakim -came to examine his wound. - -Amid all his deep grief, and mortification for past events, he felt -himself thankful for a cup of golden coloured mellow Derehnur wine, -which the hakim gave to restore his wasted strength; "for it is the -law of human nature, that the claims of the living must become a -counterpoise to the memory of the dead." - -As loss of blood was the chief ailment of Denzil, on his wound being -dressed he recovered rapidly, and in three days was able to sit on a -kind of divan--for chairs were unknown in that part of the world--at -a window, which overlooked a garden and the long wooded valley, at -the extreme end of which, and in the dim distance, rose a high, -green, conical hill which he recognised, and knew to look down on the -plain and city of Cabul. His hakim was experienced enough in the art -of dressing bullet holes and sword cuts; but his ideas of physic, -beyond a charm written on paper, and washed into a draught, were -somewhat perplexing and peculiar; thus he prescribed and proffered -various kinds of pills, powders, and potions, from the medicine -chests of Doctor Brydone and other medical officers, in the belief -that if one thing failed to insure perfect recovery, another might do -so. - -Denzil knew that he had been spared in the belief that he was a -Nawab, and he feared to undeceive his captors as to that -circumstance, lest they might kill him after all; while he feared -also that if he left them in error, they might detain him for years, -or seek to extort some enormous ransom. He knew nothing of the total -destruction of the army, or of the existence and retention of other -European hostages for the evacuation of Jellalabad. Thus he -resolved, as he had no resort but patience, to await the pleasure of -Shireen Khan, who was still absent, and hoped that he might find a -more powerful, and less avaricious protector in the person of the -Shah, of whom our Queen was the friend and ally. Moreover, through -his wuzeer Taj Mohammed, some light might yet be thrown upon the fate -of the lost Rose Trecarrel. - -The Kuzzilbashes, in whose hands he was a prisoner, are a powerful -military tribe, who formed exclusively the Royal Guard of Dost -Mohammed, and can always, with ease, muster five thousand fighting -men. Distinguished by their scarlet caps, they are of Persian -descent and form a peculiarly Persian party in Afghanistan, where as -being Sheeahs, they remain apart from the other Afghan people (who -are bigoted Soonees), and are so exclusive that they have their own -quarter of Cabul fortified against all the rest. Hence, though their -chief was outwardly, and when it suited his own interest, actually an -adherent of Ackbar Khan, he had been secretly and deeply implicated -in political intrigues with the late Envoy, whose remains yet hung in -the market place. - -From the hakim, Denzil learned that one of our officers, named -Colonel Palmer,* had been cruelly tortured in the city by having a -rope tied round his bare leg, after which it was twisted tight by a -tent-peg (like the old French boot), and this made him more than ever -anxious to reach the presence of the Shah, who still held the Bala -Hissar with a few adherents; the remnant of the Native army we had -organised for him under British officers, all of whom, of course, had -left him now. From his strange medical attendant he learned also of -the old General's surrender, and subsequent death. - - -* Of the 27th Bengal Infantry. - - -"Bosh!" added the hakim; "your General Elphinstone, sahib, blew his -trumpets and beat his drums before Cabul, like a hen that cackles -when she has laid an egg. It was with him, as it is too often with -the hen--premature exultation; for as little may become of the egg as -has become of his army--for the former, instead of being in time a -crowing cock, may become sauce, pillau, or pudding!" - -The snow passed rapidly away; the weather became pleasant and warm, -and though Denzil saw nothing of the Khan, from his window he could -see the ladies of his household in the garden below, where as usual -with the upper class of Afghans, they spent much of their time in -chatting among the bowers, talking scandal and listening to the songs -of an occasional wandering musician, who played the _saringa_, or -native guitar. It was once, while sitting listlessly looking into -this garden, that Denzil had his hopes of succour from the Shah, -crushed for ever. - -No ladies appeared that day, but he perceived Shireen Khan, to whom -another Kuzzilbash was speaking, gesticulating violently, and as they -drew nearer his window, which was on the third, or upper story of the -zuna-khaneb, he could overhear their conversation. - -The stranger, Zohrab Zubberdust, now a Hazirbash, in the Body Guard -of Ackbar Khan, was a handsome but fierce looking young man, with a -high aquiline nose, heavy black moustache, and a face of almost -European fairness. He had a tall plume in his scarlet cap, which was -braided with gold; but, as the hilt of his sword, and the right -sleeve of his yellow camise of quilted silk, were thickly spotted -with blood, it was evident that he had been concerned in some recent -outrage. There was sternness on his brow, a sneering expression on -his lips, and a wild glitter in his eyes, as he said in a mocking -tone, - -"Khan, what mean you by this indignation? Solomon had seven hundred -wives, and old Shah Sujah, whom the queen of Feringhistan sought to -befriend, had one hundred more, because he deemed himself wiser than -Solomon; but with all his wisdom, where is he now?" - -"In Cabul." - -"No--on the road near Shah Shakeed--dead." - -"Dead, say you?" - -"Yes; dead as that Solomon of whom I spoke--dead as a dog!" he added -savagely. - -"What new horror is this?" asked Shireen, starting back. - -"Bah," replied the other, adding in the true style of Afghan cant, -"there has been nothing new since God put the sun in the firmament, -and touched the stars with his fingers to send them through the sky. -Everything that is now, has been before, and shall be again." - -"Did not the Shah, according to agreement, leave the Bala Hissar to -go to Jellalabad?" - -"This morning he did so; but it chanced that last night, the son of -Zamon Khan placed in ambush fifty of his juzailchees secretly among -some wild tamarind trees, and when about the hour of morning prayer, -the king's retinue reached the spot, a cry like that of a jackal was -heard. It might have been a signal. I do not say it _was_; but -oddly enough, the juzailchees rose as one man, and fired a volley. -One ball, pierced the Shah's brain, and three his breast, while seven -of his soldiers fell dead. Then we rushed on him, and took from his -litter the crown, the royal girdle, his sword and dagger, his -jewelled robe, and as they could be of no use to him now, we rode -off, and laid them at the feet of Ackbar Khan." - -"May he who planned this deed be stung by a scorpion of Cashan!" -exclaimed Shireen, with great emotion, as he wreathed both hands in -his venerable beard; "in all these affairs I ever meant that the life -of the Shah should be sacred!" - -"Whatever you meant, Khan," replied the other with a mocking smile, -"the King of kings ordained otherwise, and Azrael, the angel of -death, must be obeyed." - -And significantly touching the hilt of his sword, the speaker made a -low salaam, quitted the garden, and Denzil saw him no more. Shireen -remained for some time sunk in thought. - -"And this has been your morning's work, son of Zamon Khan, when I -thought that you and your fifty juzailchees were on a pilgrimage to -the tomb of Lamech, in the vale of Lughmannee!" he muttered, as he -walked slowly away, referring to a white temple which covers what is -alleged to be the grave of Noah's father, and is a favourite place of -pilgrimage among the Afghans. - -Denzil felt alike saddened and depressed on hearing of this -unforeseen event; but to it, in some respects, he owed his future -safety, and the circumstance that Shireen Khan retained him in his -own hands, and did not deliver him to the terrible Ackbar, as from -the day of the unfortunate Shah's assassination, the Afghan chiefs -were split into two factions--the Kuzzilbashes taking part with one, -and the tribes of Cabul and the Kohistanees with another. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -A MEETING. - -Day after day had gone past in utter monotony till Denzil's heart -began to ache in the great weariness of the life he led; it was so -calm and seemed so still after the fierce and keen excitement he had -undergone. Had he entered upon a new state of existence? he asked of -himself; if so, it was an intensely stupid one. - -One evening when seated as usual on the divan at his window, looking -dreamily out upon the long vista of the green valley, and the conical -hill that terminated it, dim and blue in distance, he was feeling the -balmy breath of the spring breeze with pleasure, and with all an -invalid's relish was watching the young buds expanding, and the first -flowers of the season beginning to peep from the teeming soil, when -the Nazir, or steward of the household, a tall man of venerable -aspect, whose beard flowed to his girdle, and the middle of whose -head was shaved, came with an invitation from the Khan, to join him -and his family at their evening meal. - -Denzil bowed his acceptance, and in his sorely worn uniform, made -what toilette he hastily could, for a Khan like the head of the -Kuzzilbashes, who could bring into the field five thousand well-armed -men, chiefly splendidly mounted cavalry, was assuredly a man of -considerable note and power in the land, and his favour or protection -were of some value in that far-away corner of the world. - -In an apartment, the walls of which were prettily decorated by -painted and gilded arabesques, with passages from the Koran around -it, in lieu of a cornice, he found the Khan sitting on a musnud, or -species of cushioned seat, that is usually reserved for persons of -distinction. A lady was seated by his side, and both were so intent -upon a game of chess, that neither looked up when Denzil entered. - -Seated on the floor, but on rich carpets, were the wife of the Khan, -a woman of some forty years old, very sallow and _passée_, her long -camise of green. Cabul silk, ornamented with golden crescents sewn -on; her hair, as yet untinged with grey, arranged in countless -plaits, her hands odiously reddened to the hue of coral, and her two -daughters, passably pretty women, with their hair loose and their -trousers white, in token of being unmarried, and all three wearing -many chains of gold and strings of Venetian sequins. - -Denzil bowed low, and paused irresolutely, waiting to be greeted by -the Khan; but that personage was bending over the board deeply intent -on the game, his long white beard floating above the ivory chessmen, -his bushy brows and wrinkled forehead full of thought, his brown and -thick-veined hands contrasting strongly with the slender snow-white -fingers of his opponent, whose hand was indeed a delicate and lovely -one; her face, however, was concealed by her position, and the mode -in which she wore her veil; and Denzil knew the peril of seeming too -curious. - -Like those of the other three ladies, her dress was of the finest -Cabul silk, but of a rose colour, and covered her whole figure, as a -night-robe would have done; like the Khan's daughters, her trousers -were also white, her slippers high-heeled and shod with iron. -Crescents of silver were sewn over all her loose hanging sleeves, and -the breast of her dress was literally a mass of them, so that it -shone in the sunlight like a cuirass. - -The wife of the Khan clapped her hands, the ordinary mode of -summoning attendants in the East, as she wished the trays with -refreshments introduced. This caused Shireen and his companion to -look round, and an exclamation of profound astonishment, in which joy -and something of deep anxiety mingled, echoed through the apartment, -when Denzil and Rose--Rose Trecarrel--recognised each other! - -On this, one of the Khan's daughters hastily assumed, but for a few -minutes only, her _bourkha_ or veil of white muslin, which had a -space of open network for the eyes; and the other whispered to her -mother some indignant remark concerning "the effrontery of a Kaffir -coming into their presence with his jorabs (_i.e._, shoes) on." - -If it be true that "among a crowd of total strangers an acquaintance -ranks as a friend," how great must have been the emotions of the -volatile Rose, on meeting her avowed lover among those odious and -horrible Afghans! - -"Rose!" - -"Denzil!" - -After all they had mutually undergone, the sound of their own names -and their own language, had in them so much of home and the past, -that both were deeply moved; and heedless of those who were present, -forgetting all about them in fact, the impulsive girl flung herself -into his arms, and he pressed her to his breast. So, to the -undemonstrative Orientals, they formed a very unexpected tableau. -She had undergone so much and her agitations were so complicated, -that for some time she was quite incapable of speech and could only -sob hysterically. She was very pale and worn, but he was so too. - -"So you also are a prisoner--do you forgive me now, Denzil?" she -asked in a low voice. - -"Forgive you--oh Rose, I could die for you!" he responded, -passionately. - -How often in the visions of the night and in the reveries of the -day--those trances of thought to which all at times abandon -themselves--had Denzil pictured to himself Rose Trecarrel reclining -in his arms, even as on that day by the lake, Rose so bright, so fair -and beautiful, and now he held her in reality! - -But though she had deceived him once and might do so again, no such -fear occurred to him then, and forgotten too were all the bantering -remarks of Polwhele and Burgoyne (now, alas, no more) which had -excited so much pique, jealousy, and fury in his heart. She was, he -knew, so lonely in the world, and she looked so lovely and so -helpless. After a time, she said, anxiously, - -"There has been great slaughter, I have heard; poor Papa, he has -escaped I am sure, and dear Mab and Waller are safe, and all the -rest?" - -"_All_ cannot have escaped!" was Denzil's vague response; "yet you -have done so, and that is enough for me, darling." - -She now poured upon him questions, some of which he dreaded to -answer. When and where was he taken prisoner? Whom of those she -loved had he seen last? Of her father, of Mabel and Waller Denzil -professed total ignorance. He only knew that the body of the poor -General had disappeared, and of subsequent events he knew nothing -save that many ladies and officers of rank were retained in Cabul, -held there by Ackbar Khan, as hostages for the future evacuation of -Jellalabad; so hope and lightness of heart began to dawn on Rose, for -neither she nor Denzil were aware of the exact state of matters, or -of all the calamities that had befallen their friends. - -"And Mabel--dear, dear, Mabel," she exclaimed in a touching voice, -"how often do I dream of her, and fancy at times that I feel her -cheek, wet with tears, against mine; for though but a little older -than I, she has ever been as a mother to me, and these visions are -passages of intense emotion, Denzil. Our mamma, who died so long -ago, comes to me in my sleep and poor papa too, looking just as when -I kissed him last, ere we went to rest, in that wretched tent in the -snowy Pass; so my heart is wrung with suffering and I shed tears, -Denzil--hot salt tears in my sleep--I, who used to be so merry and -thoughtless!" - -The Khan and his family were, for the time, utterly forgotten; so was -his game of chess, and he gazed alternately from the rooks, pawns, -and castles, to the lovers, in great and grave bewilderment, for in -the _empressement_ of their meeting, there seemed something more than -the mere joy of two friends, or natives of the same country -recognising each other. Were they brother and sister, or husband and -wife, or what? - -"But how came you to be here--what happened?" asked Denzil. - -Her story, with all its apparent mystery, was both short and simple. -She had heard shots in the night, and was peeping from the door of -the tent, while her weary companions slept. A crowd of Afghans were -passing,--the Shah's 6th Regiment were deserting _en masse_. A -_loonghee_, or turban-cloth, was cast over her face by one of them, -who twisted it across her mouth in such a manner as to stifle her -cries completely; a havildar, mounted on a stolen horse, dragged her -up beside him, and thus she was borne off, unseen in the dark, as -they evidently believed that a white woman would be deemed the most -valuable species of loot by some wealthy Khan or Nawab. When day -broke they found themselves among the Black Rocks, near Cabul, and -then a vehement dispute ensued between the havildar and her first -captor as to to whom she should belong--whether they should keep, -sell, or cast lots for her. Knives were promptly drawn; but some -Kuzzilbash Horse came up and solved the difficulty by sabreing them -both. They then carried her off to the fort of Shireen Khan, who had -treated her with marked kindness and hospitality; and now she and -Denzil turned towards him, and the latter expressed his extreme -gratitude for all he had done for them both, adding, that he hoped -they would be mercifully permitted to rejoin their friends and people. - -But Khan Shireen shook his head, and replied, "Sahib, you know not -what you ask, or how your friends are situated. Your army has been -destroyed on its downward march to Jellalabad, and the hope of Ackbar -is, that if the Sirdir Sale quits that city for Peshawur, the wild -Khyberees and Ghilzies will soon annihilate his army too." - -And such was indeed the hope of those in power at Cabul. - -"Then our forces suffered severely, Khan?" said Denzil. - -"So severely, that but one remained alive to tell the tale." - -Denzil smiled at this, believing it to be mere Oriental hyperbole. - -The entrance of servants with trays, on which were plums, peaches, -and other fruit preserved in sugar, sweet chupatties, and a flask or -two of yellow Derehnur wine (though forbidden by the Prophet), -enabled Denzil to address some apologies to the ladies of the house, -who invited him to seat himself on the edge of their carpet, an -unwonted honour; and then the simple collation proceeded without the -use of spoons or forks, which are alike unknown in that region. - -Fresh southern-wood was thrown on the fire, and its fragrance filled -all the apartment with a powerful perfume. - -Rose felt herself constrained, but most unwillingly, to resume her -part of chess-player, which she did in silence, as she scarcely knew -a word of the Khan's language, but he had been delighted with her on -first learning that she could play the knightly game, and play it -well too, as chess is peculiarly an Oriental pastime, and was brought -into Europe originally by the returned Crusaders. - -"Shabash!" (Bravo) he exclaimed, and patted her kindly on the -shoulder, as she again took her place near him; but her eyes ever -wandered from the chess-board to the face of Denzil, whom the -Kuzzilbash lady and her daughters overwhelmed with questions, many of -which they had long since asked Rose. Among these were the three -invariable queries, whether the East India Company was a man or a -woman; if it was true that our ruler in Feringhistan was a Queen, and -if the men in that region wore trousers, while the women did not. -They conversed with him freely, and without constraint, for among the -Afghans, unlike other races which profess the Moslem faith, -intercourse between the sexes is somewhat on an European footing, and -the home of the Afghan husband is one which deserves to be accounted -such, as all his leisure hours are spent with his wife and children; -and he leads his guest without fear or scruple into the family -circle. Hence, with all their ferocity, the passion of love is -neither unknown nor unhonoured among them. - -Two or three days elapsed after their meeting before Denzil and Rose -Trecarrel became aware that so many hostages were retained in the -hands of Ackbar as pledges, to answer with their lives, or at least -with their liberties, for the final withdrawal of all our troops from -Afghanistan, including Sir Robert Sale's Brigade in Jellalabad and -General Nott's division, 9000 strong, in Candahar; and now they found -that, owing to a split in the enemy's camp, and a coolness between -the Sirdir and the Khan Shireen, the latter was detaining them _in -secret_ as hostages on his own account. - -"Set me free!" she had frequently implored of him. - -"Not if you gave me all the lost riches of Khosroo," he replied, -referring to the supposed buried treasure of Cyrus. - -She had next besought aid of his wife, who shook her head, and said -laughingly-- - -"Ere long, you will too probably be sold to a chief in Toorkistan, -and live in a castle, or perhaps a tent, as his wife; if he chooses -to make you such before the Cadi," added the Kuzzilbash lady, gazing -with her great black eyes into the clear hazel orbs of the shocked -and perplexed English girl, and feeling herself the while as much -embarrassed in their difference of ideas as if her guest had come -from Jupiter, Saturn, or any other of those planets which to her were -but as lamps set in the sky by God or the Prophet, she knew not -which, as the moollahs were somewhat uncertain on the subject. - -But now the great event of having the society of Denzil made Rose, -who had previously felt herself so friendless and forlorn, so -desolate and lost, much more hopeful and contented; and something of -her old coquetry came to the surface again, when daily he walked with -her in the garden of the fort, as they were never permitted to go -beyond its walls. They had both undergone much, and witnessed some -frightful scenes; but it was with them there, as with those who dwell -"in the countries where earthquakes are frequent, and where in almost -every century some terrible convulsion has laid a whole city in -ruins--the inhabitants acquire a strange indifference to peril till -the very instant of its presence, and learn to forget calamities when -once they have passed." - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -MARRIED OR NOT? - -Under the magic influence of Rose's presence, Denzil felt almost -content for the time, and his heart swelled with mingled love and -joy; then obstacles would seem to give way, fears to fade, and he -felt his heart endued with a new strength. The hope of rescue or the -chances of escape together, formed a fertile and endless source of -conversation and surmise for these two isolated beings; but Rose had -to humour the Khan by playing chess with him whenever he requested -her to do so, while his wife and daughters quite as frequently -compelled Denzil, who knew Hindostanee, to read for them an Oriental -poem of which they never seemed to grow weary. It was a handsome -volume of exquisite Eastern penmanship; all the pages were perfumed, -and no two of them were alike, all the vignettes of birds, of gilded -mosques, of black-bearded emirs and bayaderes, the elaborate borders -and chapter heads being radiant in colours and gold. It described -the petrifaction of the City of Ishmonie, a place alleged to be in -Upper Egypt, where all that were once animated beings were by an -enchanter changed in an instant to stone, and where they may still be -seen, in all the various positions of sitting, or standing, eating, -sleeping or caressing each other--a legend which obviously arose from -the circumstance of the vast number of statues of men, women, and -children that are, or were, in the place; but this poem so palled -upon Denzil that he shivered with weariness whenever the subject was -named to him. - -And now as a certain assurance of safety came into the mind of Rose -Trecarrel, she began to resume some of her old coquettish ways with -him; thus one day as they were promenading in the garden of the -Khan's fort, where the early flowers of Spring were maturing under -the genial shelter of the high embattled walls, when he familiarly -addressed her as "Rose," she said, with an assumed pout on her ruddy -lips, - -"I must really forbid you to call me Rose--even here." - -"I called you so once, unchecked--by the lake, on that day which you -must remember," he urged gently. - -"That day is past." - -"But its memory remains. What then am I to call you? To say, 'Miss -Rose', or 'Miss Trecarrel,' after the events of that day would seem -both strange and distant. You are always 'Rose' to me--in my heart, -I mean." - -"Fiddlestick! do be sensible. Call me--well, you need not call me -anything that may compromise either the past, the present, or the -future." - -"Oh, how unkind of you," said he, eyeing her with a somewhat dubious -expression. - -"Poor Denzil," she replied, looking down; "I would to Heaven you were -not so fond of me." - -"Fond, is not the word, Rose--but why?" - -"Because I was only flirting with you, as I have done with others," -replied the laughing girl, with a cruelty that was perhaps -unintentional, as she was indeed older than her years, for there are -some women who in mind and body are more rapidly developed than -others. - -Denzil was only somewhat past twenty, and his love for her was fresh -as the flowers that were springing up around them. It had been -wasted on none yet, and Rose was the first who seemed to fill up all -the soft illusions of the mind, as being the only one he could love, -and the touch of whose hand or arm would send a thrill of ecstasy to -his heart. - -Could hers really be so elastic? he now asked of himself; did one -passion really efface another in her breast, even as the waves efface -the footmarks on the sandy shore? Could she love more than one, and -perhaps more than one at a time? - -She sat on a garden seat with her handsome white hands folded before -her. A jet cross which had escaped the pillagers was on her -snow-white neck, when it rose and fell with the undulations of her -breathing. Her long lashes and delicate lids were drooped over the -clear brown eyes, that could be so waggish, droll or cold and calm, -as fun, or passion, or prudence, swayed her. The whole pose, her -aspect, the contour of her head, the exquisite turn of the white and -stately throat, so like that of Mabel, were not lost on Denzil as he -gazed, and in gazing, worshipped her. - -"A penny for your thoughts, friend Denzil," said she, looking up with -a laughing face and breaking a silence of some minutes' duration. - -"They are priceless, Rose, because they are of you." - -"Well, like Paul, you may be most tender and full of truth--the -latter a rare virtue in men; but I can never play the part of -Virginia." - -"Why?" - -"Because I am too giddy, perhaps," replied Rose; yet with all her -coquetry she was not without an emotion of genuine pride at the -conviction of having inspired so handsome and earnest a young man -with an attachment so devoted and pure. - -But what was to be the sequel to all this? - -As Artemus Ward says, "one is always inclined to give aid and comfort -to the enemy, if he cums in the shape of a nice young gal;" and -doubtless the old Khan of the Kuzzilbashes seemed to think so too; -for to Rose he was unusually kind, and somewhat unwisely was wont at -times to praise her to his wife. Once he said, - -"The girl is beautiful as a bird of paradise." - -"Yes; but quite as dumb and useless--there is nothing in her," -replied the lady. - -"She knows her own language, not ours. She has splendid eyes, at all -events; they might get me six good horses among the Usbec Tartars." - -"Yes, lovely eyes certainly; yet they seem out of place anywhere, -save in a seraglio," was the sharp response of the Khanum, who -evidently disapproved of the praise and the chess-playing; "send her -to Ackbar Khan." - -"Nay; that suits not my purpose, either for her or her friend," -replied the Khan, on whose mind some remarks made from time to time -by his wife were beginning to have an effect. - -He had seen the open and free intercourse of the Feringhee sahibs, -male and female, at the bandstand, at the race-course, in the -Cantonments, in the gardens, and other places in and about Cabul, -during the previous winter; he had also seen them together in -Sinclair sahib's wonderful boat; but there was something in the -footing of Rose and Denzil that sorely puzzled him. They were too -familiar to be mere friends, and she was not tender enough apparently -to be a lover; so, after closely observing them for some days, he -came to the conclusion that they were married, and if not, that they -ought to be. - -Thus with the native suspicion of an Oriental, he began to think that -they must be married, and concealed the fact from him for some reason -or purpose of their own. He even spoke pretty pointedly on the -subject to Denzil, and hinted that if she were his wife, it might -prevent her from being sold to the Toorkomans; but the circumstance -of her being married to an infidel would not have made much -difference to those sons of the desert. - -Denzil was alarmed and knew not what to think of this new feature in -their affairs. Rose would not have much fortune in England; Denzil -had less, and to marry on his subaltern's pay and allowances, even in -India, might prove ruinous to both; but here they were isolated from -all in the outer world--in Afghanistan; in a land where steam and -printing were unheard of; and where forks and spoons, clocks, and -even toothbrushes were as much unknown as they were to Father Adam -and Mother Eve. - -Shireen Khan might solve all their difficulties by slicing off -Denzil's head and selling Rose to the highest bidder in Toorkistan, -if the whim to do either occurred. In his alarm Denzil admitted that -they were affianced to each other, a state of matters beyond the -comprehension of the old Kuzzilbash, as a Mussulman in choosing a -wife usually relies on his mother, or a female friend who does this -office for him. - -"Did your mother select her for you?" asked the Khanum, who was -present. - -"No," replied Denzil. - -"She treats you ill, I fear; a little beating would do her good," -suggested the lady. - -"A beating!" exclaimed Denzil, with astonishment. - -"Yes," said Shireen; "among us men are allowed by the Koran to beat -their wives, so long as they do not bruise the skin; for the Prophet -has ordained that women shall not be treated as intellectual beings." - -"Why?" - -"Lest they aspire to equality with men." - -Denzil translated all this to Rose, who had been listening and -turning from one speaker's face to the other; she burst into a saucy -little laugh, and said, - -"Tell them that their Prophet was a precious old----" - -What she was about to designate him of Mecca, we know not, for Denzil -placed his hand on her lips. The sharp black eyes of the Khan -detected something in this action. They sparkled, while his face -grew red as his cap with sudden anger, and with hands clenched and -uplifted, he exclaimed, - -"Now by the seven heavens and the veil of unity, through which the -Prophet passed in his vision, but this is too much! You are either -married or not? Do you laugh at my beard, Kaffirs? If she is your -wife, I shall respect her, nor send her, as I intended, to Bhokara or -Toorkistan for sale; if she is not, then so much the worse for her!" - -And, as he spoke, the softness of his Persian dialect turned, in his -anger, hoarse and guttural as that of an Afghan. - -"Your wife, Denzil," exclaimed Rose, blushing with mingled amazement -and annoyance, when the first part of this speech was told her; "I do -care more for you than for any one else--but--but--" - -"What, dearest Rose?" - -"This is a little too much." - -"Consider--the danger--the alternative." - -"Must I pass myself off as such?" - -"It would appear so, dear Rose, for your own sake dissemble." - -"Assume a virtue if I have it not!" said she, with some asperity. - -"It is unavoidable, what are we to do?" - -"Why--is this a conspiracy between you, for it looks very like it?" - -"On my honour it is not," replied Denzil, earnestly and tenderly; -"but Toorkistan--think of that." - -"Yes--Toorkistan!" repeated the Khan, detecting the word, resentment -still gleaming in his eyes that a Kaffir girl should dare to laugh at -or mock him. - -And in this pleasant dilemma we must leave them for a time. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -THE WANDERER. - -We must now ask the reader to traverse with greater speed than even -the electric wire possesses, both sea and land, and, annihilating -time and space, accompany us once more to the opening scenes of our -story--even to the grey, sea-beaten cliffs, and broad brown moors of -Cornwall. - -In an early chapter we referred to a certain hostelry named the -Trevanion Tavern, as a place where sundry beverages were procurable, -and to which General Trecarrel (whose poor old bones were whitening -now with others in the Khyber Pass) sent Mike Treherne and his -comrades on that exciting evening when Audley Trevelyan rescued Sybil -Devereaux from the terrors of the gloomy Pixies' Hole. - -It was the sweet season of spring, and the flowers of balmy April -were in all their bloom; the young and fragrant buds were bursting in -the woods of Rhoscadzhel, and the willows that gave a name to the -long narrow glen, forming the avenue to Porthellick, were as green, -as leafy, and as graceful in their droop, as when Constance, -dark-eyed and pale-faced, sat at the windows of the pretty white -villa, watching for her husband, Richard, cantering his horse to the -little portico, where Derrick Braddon awaited him; Denzil going forth -to whip the trouting-stream, or Sybil sitting, sketch-book in hand, -under a tree, to shade her from the sunshine. - -The Trevanion Arms, over which creaked and swung a signboard -decorated with the arms of that old surname, a fesse between two -chevrons, with three escallops (for old Jack, like every Cornishman, -had a pedigree), is a picturesque little old-fashioned house, partly -built of granite and partly of straw and mud beaten into a -consistency that is pretty enduring. Four boulders that had lain for -ages on the promontory where it stands, had been improvised as -corner-stones by the first builders of the edifice, and then the -erection proved easy enough. It is square, with a trellised porch, -which is always a mass of flowers and leaves; two windows are on each -side of this, and five above, while there are other little quaint -dormers that abut from the roof, which is conical, or -pavilion-shaped, to write more correctly: and the edifice was then, -from its foundation to its apex, chimneys included, literally a mass -of clematis, dark green ivy, jasmine and sweet briar, so matted and -interwoven as completely to conceal where the wall ended and the roof -began; and in the pairing season the snug recesses of this leafy -covering were all alive with teeming nests and twittering birds, -whose gaping bills and glittering eyes peeped forth at times when a -frocked waggoner or dusky-visaged miner drew up at the door for a pot -of creamy ale, or a quart of sharp, foaming Devonshire cider. - -Though April, the night on which we visit this place is bleak; the -rain is swooping in torrents on the drenched land, and tossing sea; -black clouds envelop all the Bristol Channel, the wild waves of which -were rolling in snowy foam against the bluffs of Tintagel, along -Trebarreth Strand, and all that iron shore from thence, perhaps, to -Cape Cornwall, for it was just such a night of storm as the old -Cornish wreckers would have loved, and hung their lanterns on the -cliffs to mislead doomed ships at sea. - -Seated alone, gazing intently into the sea-coal fire that burned low -in the grate of the humble tavern parlour, smoking a short pipe, and -taking occasional sips from a tankard of ale, was a somewhat -tattered, but well-bearded, grizzled, and weather-beaten man, about -sixty years of age. His features were rather Cornish or Celtic in -type; the nose and cheek bones high, the eyes keen and glittering, -when the firelight shone on them; his sturdy figure and -well-embrowned hands showed that his life had been one of hard work, -and, by the peculiar mode in which he carried his head, it was easy -to see that he had been drilled as a soldier in the ranks. - -Intently thinking, he sighed deeply once or twice, and, looking round -the room as a gust of the storm without roused him from reverie, he -said aloud,-- - -"So here you are at last, after all that has come and gone--here at -last, and for what, Derrick Braddon?" - -For Derrick Braddon he was--Derrick, the faithful attendant and -follower of the late Richard Pencarrow Trevelyan--Lord Lamorna! His -fate and adventures had been strange; for since the steamer -_Admiral_, of Montreal, had perished at sea, Braddon had seen more of -the world than he ever expected to behold again, and been so -circumstanced, that he could never communicate with England, even in -this age of ease and appliances; or his letters had miscarried; and -now when he found himself once more at home--but, as it eventually -proved, a home filled with strangers--his heart grew soft, and his -eyes suffused, albeit that he was somewhat unused to the melting mood. - -The purple moorlands, the great grey standing stones, the mines -teeming with men and lights, and strange sounds, their giant works -and grimy gearing; the granite carns and the dark oak woodlands had -all spoken of home and his boyhood to the returned wanderer, the -faithful old soldier, and caused him to be doubly sad; nature was the -same, but many a voice was hushed, and many a familiar face was gone -for ever. - -The Trevanion tavern was unchanged even to the leafy tendrils that -clambered over it, shrouding every inch of wall and roof, and hiding -more than the half of each window; but his old comrade, Jack -Trevanion, whilom drum-major of the Cornish Light Infantry, who had -left a leg in the Punjaub, and with whom he had smoked many a pipe, -by that same hearth (where he now sat alone), talking of old times, -and of the old regiment, where even their names were forgotten, was -gone to his last home by Lanteglos church (the burial place of the -Trecarrels, too), and another host occupied Jack's place in the -bar-parlour. - -Old Mike Treherne and Winny Braddon had quitted their native place, -and gone to Plymouth, from whence Derrick had travelled thus far on a -pilgrimage to Rhoscadzhel, when his heart began utterly to fail him. - -From his sister Winny, the old nurse of Sybil, he had heard, with -honest indignation, the details of that futile and remarkable visit -paid to Rhoscadzhel, and how Downie Trevelyan had treated their now -dead mistress. He was told, too, of her hapless lawsuit, marred, as -it was believed, by the low practitioner, who, to gain some -notoriety, had thrust himself unasked into the case. But he could -only further learn "that Master Denzil was somewhere far away in the -Ingies," and that Miss Sybil, the sweet-voiced and gentle-eyed Sybil, -who had slept in her bosom in infancy, and whom she had seen develope -into a lovely young woman, had, after seeking in vain to sell her -drawings, gone penniless to London, after which she could hear of her -no more. - -"Gone to London?" repeated Braddon, with a groan; "and penniless, -too!" - -He knew that amid the human tide of that mighty Babylon she might be -lost as surely as if she were among the waves of the ocean; and then, -as the old soldier thought of his proud dead master, and how he had -loved that little daughter, he sighed again bitterly. - -From the breast-pocket of his well-worn pea-jacket (Derrick was -attired somewhat like a sailor) he drew forth a rusted and battered -tin case. It was thin and flat in form, and he surveyed it long and -silently. Then he opened the lid, as if he was often in the habit of -doing so, mechanically and as if to assure himself that the contents -were safe; and he was, perhaps, about to draw them forth for -inspection, when a sound startled him, and he hastily consigned the -case to its keeping-place, just as the landlord ushered in a man, who -was dripping with rain, and whose personal appearance, the soaking of -his somewhat seedy habiliments had by no means improved. - -Derrick courteously made way for the stranger, who ordered some "gin -and water hot," and after desiring the landlord to let him know when -the "first return fly," by which he meant a brougham, passed for some -town that he named, he proceeded to drink Braddon's health, and to -dry his shabby black garments by the rotary process of turning, as if -in a roasting-jack before the fire, raising the limp tails of his -coat from time to time over his long and awkward-looking arms and -lean bony hands. - -"A wet night, sir," said he. - -"Yes; but I have seen a wetter," replied Braddon. - -"The dooce you have!" - -"Aye, at sea; on a night when I was precious near having a cold water -cure for all my sufferings." - -"How?" - -"By being drowned." - -"Your fate is perhaps a drier one. You are, I suppose, a seafaring -man?" - -"I am an old soldier, and have served in the Cornish Light Infantry, -as boy and man, for one-and-twenty years, and have earned my shilling -a day from the Queen, God bless her! so don't crack your stale joke -on me," said Derrick grimly and emphatically, as he surveyed the -new-comer, whose face, somehow, seemed not unfamiliar to him. - -He was attired in clothes a world too wide for him; the collar of his -coat rested on the nape of his neck, and its sleeve cuffs fell well -nigh over his fingers; the legs of his trousers flapped loosely over -his broken boots, and the tall shiny hat which he had deposited on -the deal table, after carefully wiping it with a coloured -handkerchief, had evidently seen better days upon another and perhaps -honester head. His brow was low and narrow; the frontal bones -projecting over keen eyes of a nondescript colour, and a mean -turned-up nose. Mistrust, acuteness, suspicion and avarice, were the -leading expressions of his face, which would have horrified a -disciple of Lavater; yet, in the tone of his voice, and in his -manner, there was an affectation of deferential suavity, as if he -sought to win rather than to repel a confidence that few, unless very -simple indeed, would accord to one with lips so thin and cruel, and -whose ears, like those of a cat, were nearly on the line of his -pericranium, which was covered by a few wisps of thin, grey, and -dead-looking hair. Yet this ugly personage has been described to the -reader before. - -Perceiving that his jest had not been appreciated by the veteran, he -resumed the conversation in a different style. - -"Know these parts?" said he, drinking his gin-and-water, and fixing -his eyes furtively on Derrick. - -"Think I should," was the curt response. - -"Ah"-- - -There was a pause; then the other said,-- - -"Many hereabout will be surprised to hear of old Derrick Braddon -coming to earth again." - -The shabby stranger started, and the iris of his cunning eyes dilated -and shrunk again in a somewhat feline fashion, as he asked eagerly,-- - -"What! were you the groom to Captain Devereaux who--well, -occasionally--lived at Porthellick?" - -"To the Right Honorable Lord Lamorna, if it is all the same to you," -replied Derrick, stiffly. - -"It is quite the same. What on earth is up! Is the sky about to -rain larks, eh?" - -"It is pouring a torrent anyhow, at this moment," was the dry -response, as a fresh gust without clashed the leaves against the -window-panes, and the cry of the red-legged Cornish chough, driven -from his eyrie in the cliffs, was heard on the passing tempest. - -"Where have you been all this time--nearly nine months, now?" - -"That is too long a story to tell a stranger." - -"And where is your master?" - -"In his grave, God rest him!--in his grave, if the great sea can be -called so." - -"How long have you been in England?" - -"Three weeks." - -"And in Cornwall?" - -"I have just arrived." - -"Then you may not have heard of me, William Schotten Sharkley, -solicitor, who acted as your mistress's agent in her case which -failed for want of legal or documentary proofs. I did all that I -could to befriend her--" - -"And pocketed her last shilling, as I have heard." - -"Law is an expensive amusement, and lawyers must be paid. I did my -best." - -"For that I thank you, Lawyer Sharkley," replied Braddon, taking in -his hard honest hand the damp, unwholesome fingers of the solicitor, -adding somewhat awkwardly, "if you have a bad name, perhaps you can't -help it." - -Mr. William S. Sharkley's face darkened, and his eyes dilated and -shrunk, but he was too craven in spirit to manifest the least -annoyance. - -"And it was through the lack of certain papers," resumed Braddon, -"that my lady's case was lost, and her heart broken?" - -"Yes; the doubtful letter she produced referred to a certificate of -marriage and a will in favour of her and her two children; but these -documents, if they ever existed, no doubt perished with the captain, -your master." - -"They did not, as they are here--_here_--in the pocket of my old -coat, Master Sharkley; so it is of more value than it looks, for it -contains a peerage and an estate," replied Braddon, with gleaming -eyes, as he slapped his breast emphatically. - -For a moment Sharkley sat silent and bewildered, for the energy and -perfect confidence of the speaker could not fail to impress him. -Then he said,-- - -"You of course mean to turn them to account somehow?" - -"When the right time comes." - -"And to show them--" - -"To the right man when _he_ comes." - -"And who, and where is he?" - -"Young Denzil Trevelyan--Lord Lamorna--now in India, with the old -Regiment. Could I but get there--there to the young master--" -continued old Derrick with fervour; "but I might as well wish myself -in the moon; for I am a poor friendless old fellow. One thing, -Master Sharkley, I sha'n't trust the papers with you." - -Sharkley was silent again; Braddon's mistrust of him was open and -unconcealed, and he saw but one way of obtaining a sight of papers so -important, and that was by exciting his indignation by a sneer. - -"Ah--the lady at the villa was very much attached to your -master--very handsome, and I doubt not--" - -"What more?" - -"Very expensive, as these kind of folks usually are." - -"What do you mean, sir?" asked Braddon, sternly. - -"I mean what my words imply; she could not prove herself a wedded -wife, so her case had not a leg to stand on; yet I was her friend and -adviser." - -"You think thus ill of her, and yet thrust yourself into her case." - -"My dear sir, I am a lawyer, and lawyers must feed." - -"Which is too often feeding what ought to be hung," replied Braddon, -with all a soldier's contempt for the other's cloth. - -"I repeat that I was her friend," urged Sharkley. - -"God keep us from such friends, if all I have been told is true." - -"But giving a mere sight of those papers can do you no harm." - -"And you small good; however, see them you shall," replied Braddon, -with something of grim triumph, as he drew them from the -before-mentioned tin case. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE LOST STEAMER. - -The first document which Derrick produced and spread upon the table -was the Père Latour's certificate of the marriage; the second was an -undoubted will, duly stamped and signed, wherein the testator, -Richard Pencarrow Trevelyan, Lord Lamorna, of Rhoscadzhel, in the -Duchy of Cornwall, left all he possessed to Constance Devereaux, his -wife, for the term of her life, and after her death to their two -children absolutely. - -The cunning and avaricious eyes of Sharkley seemed to devour the -documents, and his trembling fingers indicated the eagerness of his -heart to possess them, as he saw that beyond all uncertainty they -were genuine, authentic, and of vast legal value to the son and -daughter of his late unhappy client; nor were they of less worth to -their opponent, if their existence could be terminated, _ere it was -known_. Here was a means of triumph over the Messrs. Gorbelly and -Culverhole--the solicitors of Downie Trevelyan, the present titular -lord--who, as more respectable practitioners than Sharkley, had ever -treated him with undisguised contempt. - -Frequently his long lean fingers approached the papers, which were -faded and yellow in aspect, having been stained by saltwater in the -shipwreck; but Derrick Braddon, aware of the man he had to deal with, -had taken from his pocket a large clasp knife, with which he usually -cut his tobacco, and which had been of much and varied service to him -in his recent wanderings; and with the point of this suggestive -instrument he indicated the dates and so forth, while its production -seemed to hint that any attempt to appropriate either the certificate -or the will might be attended by an unpleasant sequel; for old as he -was, Braddon would have given a stronger antagonist than the village -lawyer "a Cornish hug," that might have been little to his taste. - -When Sharkley had perused the papers which he was not permitted to -touch, Braddon deliberately replaced them in their case and carefully -stowed the latter in his inner pocket, the cat-like eyes of the -attorney watching all his motions, while a kind of sigh seemed to -escape him. He drained his gin and water to the last drop and then -said,-- - -"No doubt, Mr. Braddon, these papers are of great value; but what do -you mean to do with them?" - -"Keep them for young Denzil. Once they are safe in his hands, he'll -march in and take possession with colours flying." - -Sharkley smiled at the old soldier's idea of the mode of succeeding -to a title and heritage; but, as the storm had not yet passed away, -and no "return fly" had yet been announced, he resolved to improve -the occasion, by worming himself into Derrick's confidence, and -drawing all the information from him that he could win. - -"But if your master was drowned, as you say he was, how came these -important documents into your possession?" - -"Drowned as _I say_ he was! Do you doubt me?" - -"Nay, nay; you misunderstand." - -"Well, you shall hear all about it. Have another drain of gin and I -shall have one more pot of ale; I have not tasted such good old -English tipple for many a day." - -Then, after a little pause, Derrick began his narrative, which we -shall give in our own words rather than his. The accounts of the -wreck which Constance had read in the public prints, were scarcely a -correct version of the catastrophe in all its details. - -The ocean steamer _Admiral_ had not been more than four days' sail -from the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, when her engines broke -down; thus she was forced to continue the voyage under canvas, and -being but ill calculated for sailing purposes, while endeavouring to -beat against a continual head wind, she was driven so far south out -of her direct course, as to be somewhere within seventy miles of -Corvo, the most northern isle of the Azores, when she should have -been breasting the waves of the British Channel. - -When she had been three weeks at sea, the wind one night became a -gale, and from a gale it freshened to a regular tempest; and most of -her crew, not being seamen, but such as are usually bred in coasting -steamers, handled her extremely ill. Much of her canvas was split, -rent to ribbons, or blown out of the bolt ropes; and thus, by the -time three bells in the middle watch were struck, the wind was -howling through her bare rigging, for there was nothing left upon her -save a staysail and trysail, by the aid of which four men at the -wheel strove to steer her under direction of the quarter-master. - -Apprehending no danger, Richard Trevelyan was quietly seated in the -cabin, endeavouring to write up his diary, by the light of a single -lamp, which swung madly to and fro from a beam overhead; his desk was -open, but was secured to the table, for every loose thing in the -cabin was flying from port to starboard and back again, as the vessel -lurched and rolled. Derrick was standing, rather swaying to and fro -behind his master's chair, as they conferred together concerning the -exact date of some incident which he wished to record, and while -conversing they heard a crash on deck, as the staysail sheet snapped -in the fierce gust; and as the ship broached to, that is, was taken -aback on the weather side, the seas flew in wild foam, and in fierce -succession over her, from stem to stern. Then was heard the voice of -the mate in charge of the watch, shouting to, "haul down the -staysail, and bend on the sheet anew." - -Ere this could be done, a wave some twenty feet in height took the -crippled steamer right on her broadside, and tore away the boats, the -entire bulwark, four signal guns, and half the crew, washing by a -mighty volume of water, and at one fell sweep, all and everything -overboard into the black and seething sea! - -With an astounding crash, the funnel and mizenmast went next by the -board; but the lower portion of the mainmast remained, with all its -top-hamper hanging about it. The last lamp in the cabin went out; -but not before Richard Trevelyan, who never lost his presence of -mind, had secured the two documents in question, placed them in an -inner breast-pocket of his coat, and calling on Derrick to follow -him, went on deck, where a terrible and unexpected scene presented -itself, in the aspect of the ship, changed now to a total wreck. - -They had barely staggered along the slippery main-deck, so far as -where the stump of the mainmast yet held on, when another wave, its -mighty head cresting and curling with foam, that seemed all the -whiter amid the blackness of the night, burst over the doomed ship. - -"Hold on, my lord," cried Derrick, "for the love of Heaven, hold on!" - -"Yes--and for the love of my poor wife," added Richard, as they -simultaneously grasped some of the belaying pins at the base of the -mast, and as soon as the mountain of bitter water passed away to -leeward leaving them drenched and half-blinded, a more fearful sight -was visible by the pale light of the stars. - -The entire poop, from which they had just issued, had been torn away -from the ship; the wheel, with its four men, the skylights, the upper -deck, and all that was in the cabin below, were gone, and all was -ruin, and all was silence there save the seething of the angry sea. -Some twenty of the passengers and crew were still clustered on the -forecastle, seeking shelter between the bunks and windlass; but water -was pouring fast into the ship, and as a portion of her deck was -beginning to break up, Richard, who was powerful and brave as most -men, grasped his faithful servant by the arm, and was assisting him -towards this temporary and comfortless bourne, when some of the -planking parted below him, and he was suddenly enclosed nearly to the -waist, in the jarring woodwork. Then a double shriek escaped him, -for both his thighs were broken, and he was so peculiarly jammed -among the wreckage, that at that particular time no human power could -either aid or save him. - -Derrick could only remain near him, helpless, bewildered, and -uttering exclamations of commiseration, which mingled with Richard's -groans, the hiss of the sea, the roaring of the wind, and the piteous -ejaculations of the passengers. - -"Oh, Derrick, what a wretched thing I am now," said he, through his -clenched teeth, "and what a proud, hale man I was some five minutes -ago! Well, well, a six pound shot might have done as much for me -elsewhere; but Derrick, God and myself alone know the agony--the -awful agony I am enduring. Would to Heaven it were all over--even -though I shall never see _them_ more--Constance--Constance, and the -children!" he added, while nearly gnawing through his nether lip, in -the intensity of his pain and despair. - -He made more than one frantic effort to wrench his crushed limbs, and -torn and bleeding flesh out of the sudden and terrible trap into -which he had fallen; but all such attempts were hopeless and futile, -and he would pause exhausted and as pale as a corpse, with the -perspiration wrung by agony, mingling with the spray on his temples. -That he must soon be drowned, or die in an ecstasy of suffering was -but too evident. - -"I have often thought to die, Derrick," said he, in a husky voice, -"and knew that the day and hour must come to me as they come to all; -but I never thought to die thus. Blessed be God, that she knows -nothing of it! Do you hear me, Braddon, my old comrade?" - -And the servant wept as his master wrung his hand, and in weaker -accents urged him to take possession of the two documents which were -of such value to the family, and to preserve them even as he would -his own life; and with tears in his eyes--tears that mingled with the -wind-swept foam--Derrick promised to do so; and every minute Richard -Trevelyan's once powerful and athletic frame grew weaker and weaker. -Some of the arteries of his limbs had been torn as well as the -ligaments, and he was evidently bleeding to death in his half-crushed -situation. - -Amid their own sufferings and danger, his dying words and prayers -were unheeded by the pale and drenched wretches who clung close by to -the windlass and forecastle ring-bolts; but terribly his sinking -accents fell on the tympanum of Derrick's listening ear. His whole -soul seemed as if filled by the idea of those he should never see -again. - -His last utterances were all about Sybil, Denzil, and their mother; -he imagined himself to see them, to be speaking to them, to hear -their voices, and to feel their kisses on his sodden face, over which -the sea washed ever and anon; and thus, happy it might be in his -delirium, he passed away, and when more of the wreck broke up, the -body dropped quietly into the sea, and was swept away in the trough -to leeward, just as the grey dawn began to steal in, and the wind and -waves to go down together, as if their object had been accomplished -in the destruction of the ill-fated ship. - -A boat that was not stove in, but was still dragged alongside by the -fall-tackle, was now properly lowered. Ten men who survived got on -board of her and shoved off from the wreck. But Derrick, who, in -grief and weakness, had dropped asleep in the forecastle bunks, was -unseen or forgotten by them in the hurry and selfishness of the -moment; thus when he awoke, the sun was nearly setting, and he was -alone upon the sea, for the boat had been picked up by one of Her -Majesty's steam vessels, the captain of which duly reported the -circumstance, with the loss of the _Admiral_, to Lloyds and the -owners in London. - -Derrick's reflections on finding himself alone in the sinking ship -were far from soothing. He had death before him, in its most -terrible form, by slow starvation; and all the horrors he had read or -heard of in shipwrecked men occurred to him with vivid minutiæ most -painful to endure. But he prayed quite as much that he might be -spared to fulfil the wishes of his master as for the prolongation of -his own humble life, and the honest fellow's supplications were not -uttered in vain, for ere the twilight came, a vessel bound for -Tasmania took him off the wreck; and now, after long, perilous, and -penniless wanderings, he found himself once more safe in old England. - -Sharkley, who had listened to all this narrative with deep -interest--not that he cared a jot about the escapes, the sufferings, -or the perseverance of the narrator, but because it formed a -necessary sequence to the other portions of his story, which related -to Montreal--now said,-- - -"After all you have undergone, you will, I hope, be careful to whom -you show, and with whom you trust, papers, upon the production of -which, in a proper and legal manner, so much depends." - -"Make yourself perfectly easy on that head," replied Braddon, winking -knowingly, as he refilled his pipe. - -"Lord Lamorna would give a good round sum, I doubt not--a good round -sum, my dear sir, to possess them." - -"I am neither a dear sir, nor a cheap one," growled Derrick; "if you -mean by Lord Lamorna Master Denzil, the papers are his already by -right; if you mean Downie Trevelyan, they sha'n't be his, even if he -piled up money as high as Bron Welli. Ah--he had ever an eye to the -main chance." - -"And haven't we all?" - -"In some ways, perhaps, more or less; but harkee, comrade, no more -hints like that you gave just now. I had a kind, good master, and -was his faithful servant. I am an old soldier, and know what honour -is, though my coat be a tattered one." - -"Yet, if I have heard aright, you were not always a soldier," sneered -Sharkley, who despised monetary scruples that were beyond his -comprehension. - -"No," replied Braddon, his wrinkled cheek flushing with anger as he -spoke; "I was in my youth a smuggler, and here in Cornwall ain't -ashamed to say so. I know well the Isles of Scilly, and every creek -and cranny in those whose inhabitants are only gulls and rabbits; for -in them, as in the Piper's Hole at Tresco, and in many a place hereby -known only to myself now, have I at the risk of my life by steel and -lead, and storm, run the kegs of Cognac and the negrohead, that never -paid duty to the Crown. But what of that; I am not a smuggler now, -though I had to bolt for being one! I suppose few will dispute that -you have been a lawyer in heart since you first saw the light, or -learned to steal your school-mates' apples and nuts, till able to aim -at bigger prizes--eh?" - -"Come, don't let us quarrel after so pleasant an evening, Mr. -Braddon," urged Sharkley, deprecatingly. - -"I ain't _Mister_ Braddon," said the old soldier, doggedly; "I am -only plain Derrick Braddon, once full private, and No. 2006 in -Captain Trevelyan's company of the Old Cornish; and now, I think, I -shall turn in." - -Sharkley succeeded in talking the veteran into a better humour again, -to throw him off his guard; but his eyes never wandered from that -left breast pocket where the outline of the tin case was distinctly -visible, impressed on the worn-out, faded cloth. - -As the storm continued, he remained all night at the Trevanion Arms; -and, after assuring himself that Derrick Braddon had no intention of -leaving the neighbourhood in a hurry, an early hour next morning saw -him spinning along the Cornwall and Devon Railway, in a corner of a -third-class carriage, _en route_ to Rhoscadzhel. - - - -END OF VOL. 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