alace, where the Ameer and his
adviser, and the British officers were sitting.

"Well, my lad," Major Cavagnari said, kindly, "I hear you have had
a bad time of it. The Ameer tells me that you were taken prisoner
near Ali-Kheyl, that you were badly wounded, and that after the
snow melted you were brought down here. He says he gave orders that
everything should be done for you, but that you have been very ill,
ever since."

"I have been treated very kindly, sir," Will said, "and I am now
getting round. I owe my life chiefly to the care and attention of
the lad, here, who has watched over me like a brother."

Will's words were translated to the Ameer, who expressed his
satisfaction, and ordered a purse of money to be given to the boy,
in testimony of his approval of the care he had taken of his
patient. As Major Cavagnari saw that the young soldier was almost
too weak to stand, he at once told him to retire to his room,
adding kindly:

"I will ask the Ameer to assign you quarters in the same house with
us. We will soon bring you round, and make you strong and well
again."

The same evening Will was carried over--for the fatigue he had
undergone had been almost too much for him--to the large house
assigned to Major Cavagnari, his officers and escort. It was built
of wood, surrounded by a courtyard and wall. A room was assigned to
Will, on the same floor as that occupied by the officers. The
Afghan lad had received orders to accompany his patient, and remain
with him as long as he stayed in Cabul.

Will's progress towards recovery was now rapid. He had no longer
any cause for anxiety. He was carefully attended to by Doctor
Kelly, the surgeon of the Guides, who had accompanied the mission
as medical officer. The escort was commanded by Lieutenant
Hamilton; and Sir Lewis Cavagnari was accompanied by Mr. William
Jenkyns, of the Indian Civil Service, as his secretary. The care of
Doctor Kelly, and the influence of quinine and tonics quickly added
to Will's strength; but his best medicine was the sound of English
voices, and the kindness which was shown to him. In a fortnight he
was able to get about, as usual; and the doctor said that, in
another month, he would be as strong as ever.

For two or three weeks after Major Cavagnari's arrival in Cabul,
all went well; and it appeared as if the forebodings of those who
had predicted trouble and danger to the little body who had gone
up, as it were, into the lion's den, wer