"I thank you gratefully; but how far am I from the cantonments?"

"About two kroes."

This was fully four miles English from that angle of the city, and Denzil heard him with anxiety.

"Know you the way, Sahib ?"

"I do not. Moreover, it may be beset."

"Then I must conduct you; but see! yonder are horsemen coming straight from the Candahar road. I know not who they may be. Some Belooches are expected with Ackbar Khan on the morrow; so, quick, let us conceal ourselves here."

And hurrying-running, indeed-with all the speed they could exert, they sought the shelter of a grove, wherein, as Denzil knew, stood the mosque and tomb of the once mighty Emperor Baber, in quieter times the object of many a ride and visit, and the scene of many a pleasant pic-nic for the ladies and officers of the garrison. All was still here still as death-save the plashing of a sacred fountain and the cooing of the wild pigeons, disturbed by their approach. The grove and cornices of the mosque were full of those birds, which are deemed holy by the Mohammedans, because as the Wuzzer, who, like a true Afghan, never omitted to interlard his discourse with religious topics and allusions, a pigeon had built its nest in front of a

cavern in which the prophet lay concealed, and thus favoured an escape from his enemies.

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These horsemen draw near us," said Denzil, as hoofs now rang on the pathway to the shrine.

"Az burai Kodar-silence!" (for the love of God) whispered Taj Mohammed, as he placed a hand on the mouth of the speaker and drew him under the shadow of the trees, only in time to escape the eye of a tall and well-armed man, who suddenly appeared at the door of the mosque, in which one or two more lamps were now being lighted.

The horsemen, twelve in number, were all Afghans, and armed to the teeth. They carried juzails slung over their poshteens. Each had a double brace of pistols in his girdle as well as a pair at his saddle bow; and all, save one, who appeared to be a chief, had a lance in his right hand, and an elaborately-gilded shield of rhinoceros hide strapped to his back. They were all stately, strong and resolute-looking fellows. Linking their horses together, they dismounted with one accord, and their figures seemed remarkably picturesque in the strong light which now streamed through the door—a horse-shoe arch-of the illuminated mosque, as they entered it in succession, each making a low salaam to the armed man, who was evidently standing there to receive and welcome them.

Denzil turned to Taj Mohammed and was about to make some inquiry, when that personage, whose eyes were sparkling like those of a hyæna in the clear starlight, and whose teeth were set with rage, said in a low and hissing voice,

"Silence, Sahib, silence, for your life! These are Ghilzies and Kussilbashes; and he who received them is the Sirdir, Ackbar Khan! Now, by the soul of the prophet, the dark spirit of the devil is in Baber's tomb to-night!"

A political or military conference-perhaps a conspiracy was evidently on the tapis; and great though the risk of discovery-a cruel and immediate death-Taj Mohammed, in his dread and hatred of a powerful and hereditary foe and wouldbe supplanter, crept forward that he might overhear; and following his example, Denzil was rash enough to climb, by the rich carvings of the mosque, to one of the openings, which, for religious purposes, were left in its eastern wall; and peeping in, he saw a somewhat remarkable scene-one which, so far as regarded character, costume and spirit, resembled one in the middle ages, rather than in her present Majesty's reign.

CHAPTER X.

THE MOSQUE OF BABER.

UNDER the dome or centre of this edifice was formed a lofty hall of circular shape, rising from horse-shoe arches that sprang from slender pillars of white marble. In the centre of each arch hung a silver lamp, but only two were lighted. On one side stood a pulpit of the purest white marble, and on the other, a gilded gallery for the Shah, when it pleased him to come hither and pray at the tomb of his remote predecessor. Opposite this stood an altar, where the name of the Deity was painted in brilliant arabesques, and two enormous candles, each a foot in diameter, stood at each end of it on gilded pedestals.

In the middle of this place, and amid a group of armed Afghan chiefs, stood one whom Taj Mohammed indicated by a sign, to be the Prince, Ackbar Khan, our most bitter enemy in that half-barbarous land; and it was not without some emotions of interest and excitement that Denzil looked upon

this son of Dost Mohammed-one whose character for cruelty and recklessness of human suffering and human life was so notorious.

Fairer than Afghans usually are, he was a man of distinguished bearing, with a magnificent black beard; but, for the purpose of disguise, was clad as yet in the humble attire of a shepherd; thus it contrasted strongly with the brilliant colours worn by Shireen Khan of the Kussilbashes, Ameen Oollah Khan, the Ghazee chiefs, and others, to whom he was now speaking with animation, ever and anon, while he did so, grinding those teeth of which Rose Trecarrel had spoken so disparagingly.

This Ackbar Khan was simply a monster in cruelty; he had been known to have a man flayed alive in his presence, "commencing at the feet and continuing upwards, till the sufferer was relieved by death." A favourite and brave follower of his own, named Pesh Khedmut-one who had been with him in all his defeats, flights, and varieties of fortune, was once assisting him to mount his horse, when some portion of his loose flowing dress caught the lock of a pistol. It exploded, and the terrible Ackbar was slightly wounded. In vain did the luckless Khedmut swear upon the Koran that it was the result of an accident over which he had no control; in vain, we say; for the pitiless Sirdir had him burned alive; and he is alleged to have tortured