At any rate, for the first two weeks the soldiers of the escort moved freely in the city, without molestation or insult; and it appeared as if the population of Cabul were content with the terms of peace which, indeed, imposed no burdens whatever upon them, and was supposed to have inflicted no humiliation on their national pride. On the 5th of August, several regiments marched in from Herat. These troops--which were considered the flower of the Afghan army--had, in consequence of the distance of Herat from the seat of war, taken no part whatever in the struggle. Upon the very day after their arrival they scattered through the town, and were loud in their expression of hostility to the terms of peace. Had they been there, they said, the Kaffirs would have been easily defeated. Why should peace have been made at the very first reverse, and before the best fighting men had come to the front? That evening Will Gale's young attendant came to him in his room, looking very serious. "What is the matter, Yossouf?" The lad shook his head. "Trouble is coming," he said. "The Heratee men are stirring up the people, and the Budmashes are threatening that they will kill the English." "But the Ameer has promised his protection," Will said. "He has sworn a solemn oath to stand by them." "Yakoob Khan is weak," the boy said. "He was a great warrior, once; but he has been in prison for many years and he is no longer firm and strong. Some of the men round him are bad advisers. Yakoob Khan is no better than a reed to lean upon." The next day there were riots in the town. The Heratee men taunted the people of Cabul with cowardice, and the excitement spread in the city. The soldiers of the escort could no longer stroll quietly through the bazaars; but were hooted at, and abused, although of the same religion and race as the people around them--for the Guide regiments were recruited from Pathans, and other border tribes. Day after day the position became more threatening. The men of the escort were ordered no longer to go down into the town, where their presence was the occasion of tumults. A native officer of one of our cavalry regiments, who was spending his furlough at a village near Cabul, came into the Bala-Hissar and told Major Cavagnari that he feared, from rumors that reached him, that the Heratee regiments would break into mutiny, and attack the embassy. The officer, who was a man of immense courage and coolness, replied quietly: "If they do, they can but kill the three or four of us here, and our deaths will be revenged." He, however, made representations to the Ameer as to the threatening behavior of the Heratee troops; but Yakoob assured him that he could rely thoroughly upon his protection, and that--even should the Heratee troops break out in mutiny--he would at once suppress the movement, with the Cabul regiments.