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132 with the Ghilzais Macnaghten took for 'the expiring effort of the rebels.' The same rosy hopefulness tinged his view of things at Kábul and in the Kohistán, The Kohistáni rebels would 'sneak into their holes again' now that the Ghilzais were quieted, and all was tranquil on the side of Kandahár. John Conolly, Colin Mackenzie, and several other officers in the Sháh's service sought to open the Envoy's eyes to the mischief brewing within the Sháh's own capital. Burnes also, whose house was in the city, had been warned of the plots around him by Mohan Lál, the Munshí who had long filled a place of special trust on the Envoy's staff. But Burnes, like Macnaghten, was too engrossed in thoughts of the good time coming to heed the danger signals waved before his feet.

On the evening of the 1st of November Burnes congratulated Macnaghten on his leaving the country in a state of profound peace. That very night a number of Afghán Sirdárs met together in Kábul to arrange for a general rising against the accursed Farangís, who treated them as dirt and their women as mere harlots. One of the leading plotters was Amínulla Khán, hitherto deemed a staunch friend of the English. Foremost among the speakers was Abdulla Khán, who had lost his lands during the new rule, and was smarting under the insults lately offered him by Sir Alexander Burnes. To call an Afghán chief a dog, and to threaten him with the loss of his ears, was an offence which could only be wiped out in blood. The assembled chiefs agreed to this man's proposal