"What fools, and sons of burnt fathers, you Feringhees were to come among us here in Afghanistan, to put upon our throne a king we loathed, in lieu of Dost Mohammed," said Nouradeen, as they proceeded; "you will now know how true it is, that though two Dervishes may sleep on one carpet, two kings cannot reign in one kingdom. But the will of God be cdone! The whole world depends upon fate and fortune. It is one man's destiny to be depressed--the other's to be exalted." "Canting old humbug!" thought Waller, who learned ere long that his agricultural owner was especially a man of proverbs, like Sancho Panza. The farmer, and two other horsemen, with much ceremony bade adieu to Amen Oollah Khan; but the latter only waved his hand and said-- "Adieu till we meet again--most likely before Jellalabad," and, with his armed followers, galloped into that terrible pass, where an entire army, with all its debris, strewed the way for miles upon miles, back even into the gates of the burned cantonments. "So those rascals think of beating up Sale's garrison," thought Waller, with reference to the parting words of the Khan. As Nouradeen entered the hedgerows which bordered the compounds of his farm-house and yard, he unslung his juzail, which seemed in somewhat better order than those of his companions, and, wheeling half round in his saddle, fired a shot rearward, Parthian-wise, and brought down a large eagle that was soaring high in mid air. "Steel commands everything, and now in addition to the steel--the swords and lances of our forefathers--we have bullets, praised be God!" he exclaimed, flourishing his clumsy old matchlock, exactly such a weapon as might have figured at Marston Moor, or the field of Kilsythe. Perceiving that the shot excited Waller's admiration, he drew a long brass pistol from his girdle, urged his horse to full speed, and a picturesque figure he seemed, with his flowing robes and magnificent beard floating on the wind. He then threw a lemon over his head, and, twisting his body completely round to the left, fired at it from the off flank of his horse, and pierced it as it was in the act of falling. "Now," said he, with a grim smile, "should you attempt to escape without ransom, my ball will follow you thus surely--yea, did go far as the arrow of Arish, which was shot at sunrise, and did not fall till sunset. A soldier, you should remember, that even were you to conquer all the world, death at last will conquer you." "It is unlawful to make a slave of a true believer," said Waller. "One may repeat the Kulma, and not be a very true believer after all," replied the shrewd old Afghan, with a gleam of intense cunning in his glittering eyes; "nay, nor even a Turk of Roum," he added, meaning Constantinople; and hence Waller knew that he was suspected.