After some further talk with His Highness, I retired and rode back to the Ferrash-bashi’s. It seems that the last time I had gone to see His Highness, he had ordered tents and dinner to be brought for me to the patient’s house: they arrived about half-an-hour after we had left. This time, therefore, we stayed. The tents were put up on the grass in the cherry orchard: a couch, covered with yellow and purple silk, was brought from the Palace and dinner arrived. The dishes had been taken before His Highness for approval: the tray was then covered with a white cloth and sealed before him. I was informed of the arrival of dinner: the seal was broken in my presence; and the dishes made hot at a fire on the grass outside my tent. I dined: then after more cherries and a smoke, I retired to my gorgeous couch, well-pleased with myself and everybody else.
The next morning, after breakfast, we rode back to Kabul. I was going down the long slope from the Paghman Hills at a smart trot, when I heard a sudden exclamation, and, looking back, saw the Armenian and his horse go headlong: he was riding the brute of mine that stumbled. I shouted to a soldier to catch my bridle, and sprang off to see what the damage was, for the horse had rolled over the Armenian’s leg. He was crushed and bruised a good deal, and the skin scraped off his leg, but there were no breakages. He had, however, a bump on his head big enough for all practical purposes. We sat for a little by the wayside till he had recovered, then he got on another horse, and we went the rest of the way at a walk.
After dinner, I luxuriated in a long chair opposite the window. The view was the sky and an apple-tree laden with fruit: beyond were vines, apricot, and almond trees; in the distance over the tree-tops was the purple and shadowy summit of a mountain. The doves were coo-cooing, and the sparrows chirping. Later, the moon came out and the hoophoe cried “Hood-hood.”
CHAPTER XXX.
Another Winter.
A political Durbar: tact of the Amîr: a friendly soldier. The banquet. Return of the Cholera. Essay on “Precautionary measures:” its fate. Health of the English in Kabul. Serious illness of the gardener: lying rumours. Report to the Amîr: His Highness’s kindness. Visit to Prince Nasrullah: a “worm-eaten” tooth: the consultation: the operation: the present: effect of example. Erring Englishmen: the Amîr’s remedy. Amîr as a chess-player: the unhappy Courtier. The far-sighted Armenian: winter quarters. End of the Cholera. Invasion of Small-Pox and Erysipelas. To Paghman: Portrait of Prince Mahomed Omer: present from the Sultana. The sketch of the Prince: his amusement: resemblance to the Amîr: his costume: arrangement of the group. Present of a slave boy: embarrassment. A lesson in courtesy to the Page boys. Native dinners. Visit of Mr. Pyne: the sandali. Completion of the portrait. Kept waiting at the door: the “Gnat.” The Amîr’s remark. Sultana’s gift to the Paghmanis: Afghan mode of slaughtering: cogitations. Ride to Kabul: the mud. Money bothers: the Afghan Agent: the “Gnat.” Sent for to the Palace: a Landscape Commission: postponement of leave: disappointment: the Amîr’s remedy: gratification and pride. Christmas dinner at the shops. The “Health of Her Majesty.”
Political Durbar.
A week after this, July 4th, was the Festival of Îd, and in the morning I rode with the Armenian to Paghman to salaam His Highness. The other Englishmen followed later in the day. We arrived about eleven a.m. The review of troops and prayers were finished, and His Highness had just taken his seat in the Durbar Hall. I was admitted at once into the presence, and bowing said, through the Armenian, that I wished His Highness all happiness. A chair was then ordered to be placed for me in a bay window: it was not so near His Highness as usual, and I was wondering why, when the Armenian whispered—
“It is a Durbar of Chiefs and Maleks.”
Presently the hall began to fill, but His Highness allowed no one to be placed between himself and me, and even ordered a vase of flowers on the table in front of him to be moved so that he could see me distinctly.