liged to punish it with severity and, in such cases,
all found with arms in their hands were at once shot.

On the 11th of October Sir Frederick Roberts and his staff, with a
cavalry escort, rode into the Bala-Hissar and, the next morning,
the British troops marched into the fort. The gates of Cabul stood
open, and a column was marched through the town, and formal
possession taken of it.

During the first five weeks which elapsed, after the massacre of
the mission, William Gale remained almost prostrate in the house of
the friendly Parsee trader. He had barely recovered his strength,
after his prolonged illness, when the attack was made; and the
events of that night, and the great loss of blood which he had
suffered, had reduced his strength to that of an infant. Under the
care of the Parsee and his family, however, he slowly but steadily
regained strength.

For the first month, but little news reached him from without. Then
a report came that the British had assembled, in considerable
force, on the crest of the Shatur-Gardan; and were going to move on
Cabul from that direction. Then, day by day, the tidings came in of
the advance of the force. It was reported, generally, that the
Ameer had gone out to meet them; with the intention of leaving
them, when the decisive moment, arrived and taking command of the
tribesmen, who would fall upon and annihilate them.

On the 6th the town was unusually quiet, and Will heard that the
Afghan army had moved out, to occupy the hills commanding the
approach through the defile; and that, with the aid of the
tribesmen, the British army was to be exterminated there.

Chapter 15: The Fighting Round Cabul.

All day long, on the 6th of October, William Gale sat at an open
window in the upper story of the Parsee's house--facing west--and
listened to the distant roar of the battle; while all Cabul was in
a state of wild excitement, in the sure anticipation of victory.
Will felt equally confident as to the result of the battle. He knew
that--well led--a British force could be trusted to carry any
position held by the Afghans; and he felt sure that, even should he
fail to carry it by direct attack, the English general would,
sooner or later, succeed in turning it by flank movements.

About two o'clock in the afternoon, William noticed a change in the
character of the sounds in the town. In the Hindoo quarter all had
been quiet--for the inhabitants greatly feared that, in a burst