My men slunk away abashed, leaving the gory
witnesses of defeat and death upon the ground.
I called Saat and ordered
him to give the two guns to Richarn to clean.
Not only my own men but the whole of Ibrahim's party were of opinion
that I had some mysterious connexion with the disaster that had befallen
my mutineers. All remembered the bitterness of my prophecy, "The
vultures will pick their bones," and this terrible mishap having
occurred so immediately afterwards took a strong hold upon their
superstitious minds. As I passed through the camp, the men would quietly
exclaim, "Wah Illahi Hawaga!" (My God! Master.) To which I simply
replied, "Robinee fe!" (There is a God.) From that moment I observed an
extraordinary change in the manner of both my people and those of
Ibrahim, all of whom now paid us the greatest respect.
Unfortunately a great change had likewise taken place in the manner of
the Latookas. The whole town was greatly excited, drums were beating and
horns blowing in all quarters, every one rejoicing at the annihilation
of Mahommed Her's party. The natives no longer respected the superior
power of guns; in a hand-to-hand fight they had proved their own
superiority, and they had not the sense to distinguish the difference
between a struggle in a steep mountain pass and a battle on the open
plain. Ibrahim was apprehensive of a general attack on his party by the
Latookas.
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