AMANULLAH

powerless to prevent the vengeance of the mob, and
set about creating order out of chaos.

At the age of forty-four, he was embarking on a task
that might well have daunted a greater adventurer. A
sick man, he had seen vanish all his ideals, all his
ambitions. Though he was one to counsel caution to his
King, loyalty had driven him to support every move
made by Amanullah. He may have sensed danger ; he
certainly knew the folly of forcing methods on the Afghan
mind ; yet, having voiced his protest, he had set himself,
to the best of his ability, to implement the policy of his
King. He forgave Amanullah all his faults, for Aman-
ullah was a man after his own heart, a brave man and
strong,

Now he found himself in eircumstanecs more favour-
able than ever had come to Amanullah. If he liked, he
could pursue a policy of inaction, with perfect agreement
from most of his countrymen, and comparatively bene-
ficial results. He could allow his country to lapse into
the bad old ways, that, even so, were not so bad as the
new. He could sit in Kabul supreme, fearing no invader,
relying on his reversals of Amanullah's policy to keep
him in the popularity so casually won.

It says much for his character that he did not. He
soon let it be known that though the old regime was over,
nevertheless he would insist on a rigid though cautious
advance and a gradual elimination of the plague of
corruption. He did not act at once. There was enough
to do in the return to normality. There were evils
enough to be eradicated before reconstruction could be
begun. And for many months hardly a word came from
Afghanistan. On the surface, at any rate, there was
peace. There were a few rumours of warfare and up-
risings. There were some expeditions from Kabul, led
by the warrior King, and some tribes who thought once

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