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EX-KING OF AFGHANISTAN

descent of his new enemy on the capital. Bacha Sachao,"
it was said, had toured the villages of the plains, gathered
round him the most <Violent characters and the hardiest
fighters, and was even now on his swift way to lay Kabul
waste. The King's answer was quick and to the point.
The Government printing presses that very day poured
out notices in the vernacular.

" Rs 500 Reward !
For capture, dead or alive, of Bacha Saehao, the

Brigand.

Sd.   AMAOTLLAH."

The notice was posted up on every telegraph post on
the Kabul-Jallalabad Road, on every wall in Kabul
City, on a house in every village within a radius of
twenty miles north of the capital. Bacha Sachao replied
in characteristic style. One day the notice was torn
down, and another, roughly made, was substituted.

" Rs 1000 Reward !

For capture, dead or alive, of Amanullah, the Infidel.

Sd.   BACHA SACHAO."

A joke, this, which well suited the Afghan mentality.

And this Robin Hood of the bills, boasting and threat-
ening, went his triumphant way, stirring up the villages
against the infidel who now sat on a tottering throne.

First news of the water-carrier's son came in early
December, but his name had already been heard for
some months in the northern region where he held sway.
Already the rebellion had spread to the whole State.
Already the Government troops had suffered a decisive
defeat. And, at long last, the outside world had come
to realise that this was no mere local rising which eotdd
be put down after a single campaign.

205