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EX-KING OP AFGHANISTAN

" Keep that for the mullahs 1 " he taunted, and sent
the delegate reeling from a blow on the back—to be
caught by the next policeman serving out thick black
boots in place of the loose, cool, and sloppy " chapplas "
of the Afghan.

So was modernised the Afghan M.P. in the first
modern Parliament. It was so easy. The police
mincing-machine turned him out the other end with the
veritable look of the West—from a distance. It was
a pity that the last score or so had to take whatever
clothes were left, without regard to size. There were
some boots left over which would only go on with a
certain degree of force. There were some hats that
perched precariously on the top of shaven heads. There
were some that threatened to extinguish the features
of an M.P. even when he was on the point of catching
the Speaker's eye.

But—Insh'Allah, there it was. Allah might be dis-
pleased at the defiance of the Koran, but the Amir's
displeasure was a danger even closer. And, in any case,
they were only hillmen, uneducated and too stupid for
the new civic life of Kabul.

Besides, there were some contented little groups in
Kabul Bazaar that night. They were composed of the
tailors, the barbers, the bootmakers, the cloth merchants,
and the police. For of what use was modernisation if
the fruits did not go to some of those who had saved a
little on a Government contract, bribed a little advantage
here and there, and skimped an inch or two on every
coat, every hat, every pair of parliamentary trousers,
and every pair of heavy, clumping, " Westernised "
boots ?

That nightmare procession in the fair garden of
Paghman was destined to cost a king his throne. The
snip of those scissors round the chins of the faithful

169