AMANULLAH

Amanullah was now well into civil war. Nor did the
course of justice run so smoothly, in spite of the havoc
caused by the aeroplanes, and the thrills that he ex-
perienced when at last he saw his troops marching into
battle. For these same troops seemed to have very
regrettable habits. Many of them deserted. Many of
them sold their rifles and equipments to their enemies
in return for food and money, both sadly lacking in all
Government ranks.

It was terribly cold on night duty in the hills that
December. Snow lay four feet deep in the passes. It
was boring and not a little frightening for men who had
joined the Army in the first place for decorative pur-
pose. And hence a strange feature of the new Afghan
Army. Even in the Khyber Pass, there could be heard,
regularly through the night, occasional rifle shots from
the camps of the Government Army. Though there
could be no possibility of finding a target, and though
it was known that the hillmen would wait to be attacked
in their own fastnesses, the night silence was punctuated
at regular intervals by these solitary shots* The reason
was a very human one. The Afghan sentries, numb
with cold at their posts, were firing occasional rounds
for the sole reason of warming the barrels of their rifles
and using them as radiators. Such unmilitary methods
must have caused the soldier-King acute discomfort and
shame.

The next setback was the capture of Pesh Bolak Fort
from the State troops, a feat that could only have been
performed by the virtual surrender of the garrison. The
daily depletion of the ranks could be noticed. The
pride of Amanullah' s soldierly heart was humbled by
desertions in mass. And to heap humiliation on his
head, there came news from Kabul that revolt had spread
even to the city that seemed so loyal.

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