by G. A. Henty
Chapter 13: The Massacre At Cabul.
At each village through which William Gale and his escort passed,the inhabitants turned out, and hooted and yelled at the prisoner;and it was with the greatest difficulty that the chief protectedhim from personal violence. William himself was scarce conscious ofwhat was passing. The swinging action of the camel added to hisgreat weakness, and he would not have been able to keep his seat onits back, had not his captors fastened him with ropes to thesaddle. Although the snow had only just melted on the Shatur-GardanPass, in the valleys below the heat of the sun was already greatand, often as it poured down upon him, he lapsed into a state ofsemi-consciousness; and drowsily fancied that he was again in hiscanoe, tossing on the tiny waves, in the shelter of the reef.
On the sixth day after the start, a shout from his guard arousedhim, as they emerged from a steep ascent amongst some hills. Beforehim an undulating ground, dotted with villages, stretched for threeor four miles. At the foot of some steep hills, to the left of awide valley, was a large walled town which he knew to be Cabul. Onthe hillside above it was a strong building: half fort, halfpalace. This was the Bala-Hissar, the abode of the Ameer, and thefortress of Cabul. In addition to the king's residence it containedbarracks, store houses, magazines, and many residences. Towardsthis the cavalcade made its way.
They halted two miles from the town, and the chief sent his sonforward to the Ameer, to inform him that he had brought in anEnglish prisoner; and to request that an escort might be sent out,lest he should be killed by the people on approaching the town. Anhour after the man had left, a troop of cavalry sallied out fromthe gate of the Bala-Hissar, and rode rapidly to the spot where theparty had halted. Surrounding the camel on which William Gale wasmounted, they conducted it to the fortress.
Illustration: William Gale in the hands of the Afghans.
When he was lifted down from his camel, Will was unable to stand.Fever had set in again, and he was conveyed to an apartment in ahouse near the royal residence. The Ameer was already negotiatingwith the British, and orders were consequently given that theprisoner should receive every attention. The king's own doctor wasordered to attend him, and two attendants were told off to takecharge of him. The old chief received a recompense, for the carewhich he had taken of the prisoner, which fully answered to hisexpectations; and he returned home well satisfied with the successof his policy.
For weeks, Will lay between life and death; and he was a mereskeleton when, two months after his arrival, he was able for thefirst time to sit up at the window, and look across the valley.Very gradually, he recovered strength. He was well supplied withfood, and especially enjoyed the delicious fruits for which Cabulis celebrated.
His attendants were a old man and his son, the latter a lad of somefifteen years of age. The father did his duty, because ordered todo so; but his scowling face often showed the hatred which he feltof the Kaffir. The lad, however, took kindly to his patient. He itwas who for hours together would, while Will was at his worst, sitby his bedside, constantly changing the wet cloths wrapped roundhis head, and sometimes squeezing a few drops of the refreshingjuice of some fruit between his parched lips; and as his patientturned the corner and became slowly convalescent, his pleasure overthe life he had saved, by his care, was very great.
Like most soldiers in the expeditionary force, Will had picked up afew words of Afghan; and had greatly increased his stock, duringthe time he lay in the hut in the mountains. Alone now all day withthe boy, with nothing to do but to look out on the town below, andthe wide valley beyond, he made rapid progress; and was, by thetime he was strong enough to walk alone across the room, able tohold some sort of conversation with his friend--for so he had cometo regard his devoted attendant.
One morning the boy came into the room in a state of greatexcitement.
"English officers are coming," he said, "with soldiers."
"But I thought it was peace," Will exclaimed, delighted. "You toldme peace had been signed, at Gundamuk, two months ago."
"Yes, it is peace," the boy said. "The officers are coming infriendship, to be here with the Ameer."
Will was greatly moved at the news. When he had heard, six weeksbefore, that peace was signed, he had begun to hope that, some dayor other, he should again be able to return to India; but the news,that some of his countrymen were close at hand, almost overcamehim.
The next day, which was the 24th of July--although Will had lostall account of time--he saw vast numbers of people out on theplain; and presently, far away, he beheld a large body of horsemen.These, the lad told him, were the Ameer and his bodyguard,accompanied by the English officers. Cannon were fired in salute,and the garrison of the Bala-Hissar stood to their arms and,presently, Will saw a cavalcade riding up from the gate of thefortress. First came some Afghan cavalry; then rode a tall andstately man, whom the boy told him was the Ameer. But Will had noeyes for him. All his thoughts were centered on the white officerwho rode beside him: Major Sir Lewis Cavagnari, the English envoy.Behind, among the chiefs of the Ameer's suite, rode two or threeother English officers; and then came a detachment of sometwenty-five cavalry, and fifty infantry of the Guides, a frontierforce consisting of picked men.
As they passed near his window, Will stood up with his hand to hisforehead, in salute. Major Cavagnari looked up in surprise, andspoke to the Ameer. The latter said a few words in reply, and thenthe cavalcade rode on to the palace. Ten minutes later two of theAmeer's attendants entered, and told Will to follow them.
He had that morning, for the first time since his arrival in Cabul,put on his uniform. He was still very weak but, leaning one handupon his attendant's shoulder, he followed the messengers. He wasconducted to a large room in the palace, where the Ameer and hisadviser, and the British officers were sitting.
"Well, my lad," Major Cavagnari said, kindly, "I hear you have hada bad time of it. The Ameer tells me that you were taken prisonernear Ali-Kheyl, that you were badly wounded, and that after thesnow melted you were brought down here. He says he gave orders thateverything should be done for you, but that you have been very ill,ever since."
"I have been treated very kindly, sir," Will said, "and I am nowgetting round. I owe my life chiefly to the care and attention ofthe lad, here, who has watched over me like a brother."
Will's words were translated to the Ameer, who expressed hissatisfaction, and ordered a purse of money to be given to the boy,in testimony of his approval of the care he had taken of hispatient. As Major Cavagnari saw that the young soldier was almosttoo weak to stand, he at once told him to retire to his room,adding kindly:
"I will ask the Ameer to assign you quarters in the same house withus. We will soon bring you round, and make you strong and wellagain."
The same evening Will was carried over--for the fatigue he hadundergone had been almost too much for him--to the large houseassigned to Major Cavagnari, his officers and escort. It was builtof wood, surrounded by a courtyard and wall. A room was assigned toWill, on the same floor as that occupied by the officers. TheAfghan lad had received orders to accompany his patient, and remainwith him as long as he stayed in Cabul.
Will's progress towards recovery was now rapid. He had no longerany cause for anxiety. He was carefully attended to by DoctorKelly, the surgeon of the Guides, who had accompanied the missionas medical officer. The escort was commanded by LieutenantHamilton; and Sir Lewis Cavagnari was accompanied by Mr. WilliamJenkyns, of the Indian Civil Service, as his secretary. The care ofDoctor Kelly, and the influence of quinine and tonics quickly addedto Will's strength; but his best medicine was the sound of Englishvoices, and the kindness which was shown to him. In a fortnight hewas able to get about, as usual; and the doctor said that, inanother month, he would be as strong as ever.
For two or three weeks after Major Cavagnari's arrival in Cabul,all went well; and it appeared as if the forebodings of those whohad predicted trouble and danger to the little body who had goneup, as it were, into the lion's den, were likely to be falsified
.That the mission was not without danger the authorities, and MajorCavagnari himself, were well aware; but it was important that theprovision in the treaty of Gundamuk, by which England secured theright of maintaining a resident at Cabul, should be put intooperation. Besides, the Ameer had himself given the invitation toMajor Cavagnari, and had pressed the point warmly, giving the mostsolemn promises of protection.
At any rate, for the first two weeks the soldiers of the escortmoved freely in the city, without molestation or insult; and itappeared as if the population of Cabul were content with the termsof peace which, indeed, imposed no burdens whatever upon them, andwas supposed to have inflicted no humiliation on their nationalpride.
On the 5th of August, several regiments marched in from Herat.These troops--which were considered the flower of the Afghanarmy--had, in consequence of the distance of Herat from the seat ofwar, taken no part whatever in the struggle. Upon the very dayafter their arrival they scattered through the town, and were loudin their expression of hostility to the terms of peace. Had theybeen there, they said, the Kaffirs would have been easily defeated.Why should peace have been made at the very first reverse, andbefore the best fighting men had come to the front?
That evening Will Gale's young attendant came to him in his room,looking very serious.
"What is the matter, Yossouf?"
The lad shook his head.
"Trouble is coming," he said. "The Heratee men are stirring up thepeople, and the Budmashes are threatening that they will kill theEnglish."
"But the Ameer has promised his protection," Will said. "He hassworn a solemn oath to stand by them."
"Yakoob Khan is weak," the boy said. "He was a great warrior, once;but he has been in prison for many years and he is no longer firmand strong. Some of the men round him are bad advisers. Yakoob Khanis no better than a reed to lean upon."
The next day there were riots in the town. The Heratee men tauntedthe people of Cabul with cowardice, and the excitement spread inthe city. The soldiers of the escort could no longer stroll quietlythrough the bazaars; but were hooted at, and abused, although ofthe same religion and race as the people around them--for the Guideregiments were recruited from Pathans, and other border tribes.
Day after day the position became more threatening. The men of theescort were ordered no longer to go down into the town, where theirpresence was the occasion of tumults. A native officer of one ofour cavalry regiments, who was spending his furlough at a villagenear Cabul, came into the Bala-Hissar and told Major Cavagnari thathe feared, from rumors that reached him, that the Heratee regimentswould break into mutiny, and attack the embassy.
The officer, who was a man of immense courage and coolness, repliedquietly:
"If they do, they can but kill the three or four of us here, andour deaths will be revenged."
He, however, made representations to the Ameer as to thethreatening behavior of the Heratee troops; but Yakoob assured himthat he could rely thoroughly upon his protection, and that--evenshould the Heratee troops break out in mutiny--he would at oncesuppress the movement, with the Cabul regiments.
Yossouf became daily more anxious. Going into the town, to buyfruits and other necessaries, he heard more of what was going onthan could the members of the embassy.
"Things are very bad," he said, over and over again. "It would bebetter for you all to go away. Why does your officer stop here, tobe killed?"
"It is his duty to stay at his post," Will said. "He has been senthere by the commander-in-chief. He is like a soldier on outpostduty. He cannot desert his post, because he sees dangerapproaching; but I wish, with all my heart, that an order wouldcome for his recall; not only because of the danger, but because Iam longing to be back again with my regiment and, although I amstrong enough to ride down to the Punjaub, now, I cannot go exceptwith Sir Lewis and his escort. Although it is peace, a singleEnglishman could not travel down to Jellalabad, through thepasses."
Will had, from the first week after the arrival of the mission,fallen into the position of an orderly-room sergeant. His dutieswere little more than nominal, but he acted as assistant to Mr.Jenkyns, and made copies and duplicates of reports and otherdocuments which were, from time to time, sent down to Jellalabad.Being the only Englishman there, with the exception of the fourofficers, these greatly relaxed the usual distance prevailingbetween an officer and a corporal; and treated him as a civilianclerk when in office, and with a pleasant cordiality at othertimes. Except, indeed, that he messed alone, and kept in his ownroom of an evening, he might have been one of the party.
Each day, he reported to Sir Lewis the rumors which Yossouf hadgathered in the town. In his reports to headquarters, MajorCavagnari stated that trouble had arisen from the conduct of theHeratee troops; but he scarcely made enough of the real dangerwhich threatened the little party. Had he done so, the embassywould probably have been recalled.
"What have you got there, Yossouf?" Will asked one day, when hisfollower returned with a larger bundle than usual.
"I have brought the uniform of an Afghan soldier," the boy replied,"which I have purchased from the bazaar. It is for you. I am surethat soon you will be attacked. The English are brave, but thereare only four of them. Their soldiers will fight, but what can theydo against an army? When the time comes, you must dress yourself inthese clothes, and I will try to conceal you."
"But I cannot do that, Yossouf," Will said. "It is very good of youto try and aid me to escape; but I am a soldier, and must share thefortunes of my officers, whatever they may be. If they fight, Ishall fight. If they are killed, I must be killed, too. I cannotrun away and hide myself, when the danger comes."
The lad hung his head.
"Then Yossouf will die, too," he said quietly. "He will not leavehis white friend."
"No, no, Yossouf," Will said, warmly; "you have nothing to do withthe business. Why should you involve yourself in our fate? You cando me no good by sacrificing your life."
Yossouf shook his head.
"If," he said presently, "the time comes, and you see that it is ofno use any longer to fight, and that all is lost, would you try toescape then?"
"Yes," Will said, "certainly I would. When all hope of furtherresistance is gone, and fighting is useless, my duty would be at anend; and if I could manage to escape, then, I should be justifiedin trying to save my life."
Yossouf looked relieved.
"Very well." he said, "then, at the last, I will try and save you."
"Still, Yossouf," Will said, "we must hope that it is not coming tothat. The Ameer has sworn to protect us, and he can do so. TheBala-Hissar is strong, and he can easily hold it, with one or twoof his Cabul regiments, against the Heratee men. He has three orfour of these regiments here. He cannot be so false to his oath asto allow his guests to be massacred."
Yossouf made a gesture which expressed his utter disbelief in theAmeer, and then again went about his duties.
On the 2nd of September, on his return from the town, he reportedthat there was great excitement among the people; and that hebelieved that the night would not pass off, without trouble. MajorCavagnari, to whom Will reported the news, sent in a message to theAmeer--whose palace was within two or three hundred yards--andbegged him to take measures to secure the Bala-Hissar against anyattack by the Heratees.
The members of the escort, available for the defense of theresidency, were but about fifty men. Most of the cavalry were away.Some were down the pass with despatches. The rest were stationed ashort distance off in the plain, as forage was difficult to obtainin the fort.
The Ameer returned a curt message to Major Cavagnari, saying thatthere was no cause for uneasiness. The latter, however, doubled thesentries at the gate of the little enclosure.
Just as the officers were about to retire to rest, Yossouf--whohad, a short time, before gone out again, telling Will that hewould bring back news of what was going on, ran in.
"The Heratees are coming," he said. "The gates of the fort havebeen left open. The Cabul me
n are all in their barracks. They arepouring in at the gates. Do you not hear them?"
William Gale ran to the window, and could hear a loud and confusednoise of yelling and shouting. He ran in to the envoy's room, andwarned him that the Heratees were at hand. Without the loss of amoment's time, Lieutenant Hamilton got his men under arms; andposted them at the upper windows of the house, where their firewould command the approaches to the gate.
Quickly as this was done, the Afghans were close at hand by thetime that each man was at his post; and instantly opened ascattering fire at the residency, shouting to the soldiers to comeout and join them, and to bring out the Kaffir officers to bekilled. The Pathans were, however, true to their salt and, inreply, opened a steady fire upon the mass of the enemy. With wildyells the Afghans rushed at the gate but, so steadily and rapidlydid the defenders shoot, from the upper windows and loopholes cutin the gate, that the assailants were forced to fall back.
"That's right, my lads," Major Cavagnari said cheerfully to hismen; "we can hold the place for some time, and the Ameer will bringthe Cabul regiments down in no time, and sweep away these rascals."
The Afghans, now some thousands strong--assisted by all the Budmashes,and turbulent portion of the population of Cabul--surrounded the houseon all sides, and kept up a heavy and incessant fire; which was coollyand steadily returned by the Guides. After an hour's fighting, therewas a sudden roar above the rattle of musketry; followed by another,and another. Simultaneously came the crash of shells. One burst inthe house, the other tore through the gate. Still there was no sign ofthe Cabul regiments.
Eight or ten guns were brought to play on the little garrison. Thegate was broken down, and nearly half the force of the house werealready killed, or wounded, by the musketry and shell fire. Stillthey continued the defense Over and over again, the Afghans swarmedup close to the gate; only to fall back again, before the steadyfire of the Snider rifles of the Guides. Major Cavagnari went fromroom to room, encouraging the men; while the other officers andWill Gale, taking rifles which had fallen from the hands of men nolonger able to use them, set an example of cool and steady firingto their men.
For four hours the unequal contest continued; then a cry arose,from the men, that the house was on fire. It was but too true. Ashell had exploded in the lower part of the house, and had ignitedthe woodwork; and the fire had already obtained so firm a hold thatit was impossible to extinguish it. A few of the men continuedtheir fire from the windows, to the last; while the rest carriedtheir wounded comrades out into the courtyard. As the flames shotout from the lower windows, the yells of the Afghans rose higherand higher; and a fearful storm of lead and iron swept down uponthe little band, who were now plainly visible in the light of theflames. Even now the enemy did not dare, although numberinghundreds to one, to come too close upon them, though they flockedup close to the gate.
"Now, lads!" Major Cavagnari exclaimed, "let us rush out, and diefighting hand to hand; better that than to be shot downdefenseless, here."
Thus saying he led the way, and charged out upon the crowded foe.There were but Lieutenant Hamilton and eight men to follow him. Allthe rest had fallen. Doctor Kelly had been shot in the house, whiledressing the wound of one of the soldiers. Mr. Jenkyns had fallenoutside.
Will Gale had twice been wounded, but was still on his feet and,grasping his musket, he rushed forward with his comrades. A figuresprang out just as he reached the gate and, with a sudden rush,carried him along for some paces. Then he stumbled over a fragmentof the wall, and fell just at the corner of the gate--which hadswung inward, when burst open by the enemy's shell. Confused andbewildered, he struggled to regain his feet.
"Keep quiet, master!" Yossouf's voice said, in his ear. "It is youronly chance of safety."
So saying, he dragged Will into the narrow space between the gateand the wall; then, as he rose to his feet, he wrapped round him aloose Afghan cloak, and pressed a black sheepskin cap far down overhis face.
In a minute there was the sound of a fierce struggle, without. Theshots of the revolvers of the two English officers rang out, inquick succession, mingled with the loud report of the Afghanmuskets. The savage yells rose, high and triumphant. The last ofthe gallant band, who had for hours defended the embassy, hadfallen. Then there was a rush through the gate, as the Afghansswarmed into the courtyard, till the space around the burning housewas well-nigh full.
Unperceived, Will Gale and Yossouf stepped from behind the gate andjoined the throng and, at once, made their way into the stables,where several of the Budmashes were already engaged in their workof plunder. Yossouf caught up three or four horse rugs, and madethem into a loose bundle; and signed to Will to do the same. Theyoung soldier did so, and lifted them on his shoulder, so as topartly hide his face. Then he followed Yossouf into the courtyardagain.
Already there was a stream of men with saddles, rugs, muskets, andother plunder making their way out, while others were stillthronging in. Joining the former, Will and his guide were soonoutside the enclosure At any other time, his disguise would havebeen noticed, at once; but in the crowd his legs were hidden, andall were too intent upon plunder, and too excited at their success,to notice him.
Once outside the wall, he was comparatively safe. The light thrownover the courtyard, by the blazing house, made the darkness beyondall the more complete. Keeping carefully in shadow, Yossouf led himalong to a clump of bushes, in a garden a hundred yards from thehouse. Stooping here, he pulled out a bundle.
"Here," he said, "is the uniform. Put it on, quickly!"
It was but the work of a minute for Will to attire himself in theuniform of the Afghan soldier. He had still retained the musket,which he had in his hand when Yossouf had leaped upon him; and ashe now went on with his guide he had no fear, whatever, of beingdetected. He still carried the bundle of rugs on his shoulder.
As they walked round towards the lower gate of the Bala-Hissar,they met numbers of villagers and townspeople thronging in. Thesehad waited to hear the issue of the attack before leaving theirhomes but, now that the arrival of the plunderers from theresidency, and the cessation of the fire, told of the successfultermination of the assault, they flocked up to join in therejoicings over the annihilation of the Kaffirs.