Mohun Lal thought for some time, and then said:
"I should say that a pension of a thousand rupees a month, and a present of thirty thousand would tempt him as much as a larger sum. It would, I think, be best for you to disguise yourself now as a Cashmerian. You know Syud Moorteza?"
"I know him well," Angus said; "he helped Captain Johnson to collect grain from the villages."
"It would be as well for you to use his name. As an Afghan, Saleh might doubt you. Altogether, it would be more likely that a man who may be considered a neutral should be employed on such a mission, and the offer to sell goods would make an opening. Of course you could take the dress you now wear with you in case of necessity. It would be too dangerous for me to give you a letter, for if Saleh, when you opened the subject to him, at once ordered you to be arrested, it would certainly be found on you, and would cost me my life. You will require to take a small escort with you, or you might be robbed at the first place you come to."
"I have five men with me," Angus replied. "They come from Bamian; one of them is a petty chief there, and might, if I find that Saleh cannot be approached, persuade or bribe some of the people there to aid."
"I fear you would not succeed in that way. Saleh had, I believe, two hundred and fifty men with him. I suppose you will start at once?"
"Our horses are outside the town, and we shall mount as soon as I return to them."
"I wish you good fortune. There are many Afghans who feel deeply the disgrace Akbar has brought upon himself, and upon all of us, by breaking his plighted word."
Taking leave of the moonshee, Angus joined his companions, and after having bought in the bazaar a costume suitable for a trader from Cashmere, and two bales of goods from that country, left the city.