Eldred Pottinger, as far as he could venture, tried to induce the wuzeer to have the work executed in a more regular manner and under strict supervision by officers told off for the purpose, but Yar Mahomed viewed the matter with indifference.
"What does it matter," he said, "whether the soldiers take things or not? It would be all the same to the owners whether they have them, or whether they are destroyed, or fall into the hands of the Persians. In a few days the enemy will be here, and it would be foolish to cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers over a matter of no consequence whatever."
The country, indeed, was now deserted by all its inhabitants. Immense stores of food had been brought into the city, every unoccupied piece of ground between the city walls was crowded with cattle, sheep, and horses, and there was no fear that famine would for a very long period be a serious trouble to the besieged. Eldred Pottinger's time was principally occupied in seeing to the repair of the guns and their carriages. Without any definite rank having been given to him, it was understood that all his orders had the support of the wuzeer, and were to be obeyed as if they came directly from him, and that the young man with him was also an Englishman of some importance, and possessed similar powers.
While Pottinger looked chiefly after the military work performed by the Afghans who had come into the town, Angus superintended that upon which the Sheeahs were engaged. These Persian-speaking people carried out his instructions cheerfully, because they were given in their own language, and were not accompanied by the contemptuous haughtiness and animosity which would have characterized the orders of an Afghan, the hostility between the two great religious sects of Islam being even greater than that entertained by both against the infidel.
Pottinger had now taken up his abode at the house of Kajar, where there were several apartments unoccupied. As he did not speak Armenian, and knew but little Persian, Angus and he arranged to have a mess of their own, engaging a man recommended to them by the Armenian as a good cook. This had been rendered the more necessary, as the trader with whom Angus had first spoken had also moved with his wife to his brother's house.
He had taken this step because he foresaw that as the siege went on the position of the Sheeahs would become more and more unbearable, and that the protection the presence of the two Englishmen could afford would be most valuable. Indeed Kajar, as soon as he saw that Angus had been favourably received by the wuzeer, had himself suggested that Pottinger might also be offered accommodation at his house.
"There need be no further talk of payment, effendi, between us. Your presence here will be of vastly greater importance than any money you could give us. No one can say what will happen here. It is not only our property, but our lives which will be at stake; but with you as inmates here, no one would dare interfere with us, and we all regard the fact that you should almost accidentally have been brought here as a special blessing that has been sent from heaven to us."
The young Englishmen thus strangely thrown together soon became fast friends, and it was pleasant indeed to them to enjoy their evenings together, after each had been engaged during the whole day at the duties they had undertaken. A couple of hours, however, were always spent by them, each in his own room. Pottinger engaged the services of a mollah, or priest of the Sheeah sect, to give him lessons in Persian, while Angus worked at Pushtoo with Kajar, who spoke the Afghan language perfectly.