Nor had he
the nerve to remain in Cabul until Roberts should camp under the Balla
Hissar and demand of him an account of the stewardship he had undertaken
on behalf of the ill-fated Cavagnari. What reasons actuated the anxious
and bewildered man cannot precisely be known; whether he was simply
solicitous for his own wretched skin, whether he acted from a wish to
save Cabul from destruction, or whether he hoped that his entreaties for
delay might stay the British advance until the tribesmen should gather to
bar the road to the capital. He resolved to fly from Cabul, and commit
himself to the protection of General Roberts and his army. The day before
General Roberts arrived at Kushi the Ameer presented himself in Baker's
camp, accompanied by his eldest son and some of his Sirdars, among whom
was Daoud Shah the Commander-in-Chief of his army. Sir Frederick on his
arrival at Kushi paid a formal visit to the Ameer, which the latter
returned the same afternoon and took occasion to plead that the General
should delay his advance. The reply was that not even for a single day
would Sir Frederick defer his march on Cabul. The Ameer remained in camp,
his personal safety carefully protected, but under a species of
honourable surveillance, until it should be ascertained judicially
whether or not he was implicated in the massacre of the mission.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218