safety. As he was about to plunge into a deep ravine after the other
fugitives a shot brought his horse upon its knees, and the rider was
flung upon his head. All now seemed over with him. Starting, however, to
his feet, he turned upon his pursuers, and single handed opposed a host
of them. Warding off the blows which rained on him from every side, he
kept rapidly retreating until he gained the brow of a steep declivity
over which he flung himself and was instantly lost to view. Disappointed
in their pursuit, our men took an unmanly revenge on some peasants who
were peaceably engaged in agricultural occupations near the spot. One of
these wanton acts of cruelty met with a just retribution. A havildar or
serjeant, seeing a young Affghan following the plough at a little
distance, galloped up, and made several cuts at him with his sabre. The
young man ran to the other side of the plough, and placed the serjeant
at bay. The latter drew a pistol from his holster, and was about to
shoot him, when his horse stumbled over the plough and fell on his
side, breaking the leg of the havildar and pinning him at the same time
firmly to the ground. The Affghan seized the sword which had fallen from
his grasp, and dealt him a blow on the head which instantly killed him.
The comrades of the dead man riding up surrounded and captured the
peasant, and he was brought into camp to abide the decision of the
Commander-in-Chief. A representation having been made to Sir John Keane
of the wanton and unprovoked attack which had been made upon the
prisoner, he immediately ordered him to be liberated. The havildar was
interred on the spot where he fell and there were few in the army who
pitied or regretted him.

CHAPTER IX.

Attempt to Assassinate the Shah.--Court Martial on an Affghan
Chief.--Visit to the Hospital at Ghuznee.--Hatred of the Affghans
towards the Native Troops.--Departure from Ghuznee.--Capture of a
Battery and Fatal Accident.--Summary Punishment.--Arrival at
Cabul.--Pursuit of Dost Mahommed and Treachery of a Native
Chief.--Description of Cabul.--The Balar Hissar.--Mosque of the Emperor
Baber.--The Bazaar.

A few days after the taking of Ghuznee a tragical scene occurred, which
pretty clearly indicated how the tide of popular feeling ran with regard
to the restored monarch. There is a poetical superstition that
approaching events are often foreshadowed, and the circumstance to
which I allude seemed to impress every man's