The gathering took place by moonlight,—by knots of twos and threes the mountaineers sought the appointed place. When Mustapha judged that the number was complete, springing on a piece of rock which raised him a little above his audience, with passionate gestures he addressed the listening throng of the fierce, long-haired Afghans.
"How long, O Pathans! will you submit to the rule of a vile renegade, who has left his faith to become the disciple of a Feringhee Kafir, who has deceived, and now deserted him! Are you, who soared like mountain eagles, ye who as eagles swooped down on your prey, to become as timorous doves? Is the bear who went crashing through the woods in his freedom, defying and destroying whoever opposed him, to be led by a silken thread? Ye are not men, ye are women, if ye longer own Ali Khan as your chief, seeing that he has disgraced his name, deserted his faith, and cast dirt on the graves of our fathers!"
"Down with him! down with him! death to the infidel!" cried some of the fiercer of the Afghans, unsheathing their knives.
The disaffection was not universal; Ali Khan had still his admirers and Sultána her friends even in that excited throng; but, as is usually the case, the louder voices and the more fiery spirits carried the day.
"Mustapha is our chief! Down with Ali Khan—hurl him from the rock!" shouted the renegade Mirza; and others took up the cry, "Mustapha! Mustapha! the true believer! Mustapha is the chief of our clan!"
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ATTACK.
"Awake, awake, Ali Khan! chief! if you would not be slain where you lie!" was the loud summons which startled the Afghan from his repose.
"It is the voice of Mir Ghazan!" exclaimed Ali, springing from his couch, and seizing his scimitar.
"If the chief linger, Mustapha and his rebels will be upon him! No time for delay!" cried Mir Ghazan, as Ali Khan drew back the heavy curtain which served in place of a door.