of
fanaticism following a victory achieved over the British, the
Afghans might sack the Hindoo quarter, and murder its inhabitants.
Yossouf, however, had been all the morning out in the town; and
had, from time to time, brought in a report of the rumors current
there.

At first it was said that the British were being utterly routed,
that they were being exterminated by the Afghan fire, that the hill
tribes were sweeping down upon their rear, and that not a man would
escape. Presently the reports became more contradictory. The firing
was still heard, but it was no longer one continuous roll. Some
said that the British were annihilated; others that, repulsed in
their attack, they had fallen back to their camp but, soon after
two o'clock, Yossouf rushed up to William's room with the news that
the Afghans had been driven from the heights, and that the British
were in possession of these, and of the defile through them.

Yossouf had, throughout the morning, been swayed by conflicting
emotions and wishes. At one moment he hoped that his countrymen
might conquer; then the fear that, after victory, the Hindoo
quarter might be sacked, and his English friend discovered and
killed, overpowered his feeling of patriotism.

It must be remembered that Afghanistan has, for centuries, been
rather a geographical expression than a country. Its population is
composed of a great number of tribes, without any common feelings
or interest, and often engaged in desperate wars and conflicts with
each other. The two leading tribes--the Ghilzais and Duranees--had
long struggled for ascendency in the cultivated portion of the
country. For a long period the Ghilzais had had the supremacy, but
the Duranees were now lords of the country.

The mountain tribes, for the most part, held themselves entirely
independent; and although, in time, they gave a nominal allegiance
to the Ameer of Cabul, yet--as had been shown in the Khurum
valley--they hated their native masters, with an animosity far
exceeding that which they felt towards the British. That throughout
the war the tribesmen were ready, when they saw an opportunity to
attack English convoys and small columns, is true; but they were
animated by a love of plunder, rather than of country and, over a
considerable area of Afghanistan--notably at Candahar--the people,
in general, would have infinitely preferred the mild and just rule
of the English, to the military tyranny of Cabul.

Thus, Yossouf