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!"