“Tobah! tobah!”—“Alas! alas!”
The Amîr said—
“Nay! the time is past for ‘tobah.’ You have admitted before the Priest that the accusation you made against your officer was false.”
One began to say that he was “Amîr Sahib’s servant.”
“What word is this?” thundered the Amîr, “my servant!! This General is my servant, this man and this (the Treasury Officer and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief), these are my servants. You? You are the dog of my servants!”
“What shall I do to you?” he said, as they stood quaking. Then he added,
“You shall be taken from here to a room apart, there shall you sit and debate among yourselves what your punishment shall be, and to-morrow you shall again be brought before me.”
Then they were hurried away.
What the choice of each one was I do not know, but I had occasion to learn the choice of some of them. A few days afterwards on visiting the Sherpur Hospital I saw four or five of the men. They each greeted me with a wan smile and held up the left arm—the hand had been severed at the wrist joint.
His Highness then continued talking to me concerning the causes of cholera, and he ordered a specimen of Paghman drinking water to be brought. While I was examining it, the windows commenced rattling, and I thought vaguely that the wind must have risen very suddenly. Hearing a bustle I looked up and saw the Pages hurrying together and the Amîr standing. I jumped up at once. A moment or two afterwards His Highness sat down again, motioning me to do the same. He said—