52 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
Shall forty fall upon one, and that one asleep V* 
u Boldly spoken, my friend,” replied the awakened 
Shere Afghan, starting from his bed, and seizing 
his sword ; “ and shall one brave man, from whose 
right hand thousands, aye, thousands of gallant 
warriors, and much more terrible antagonists, have 
drunk the black waters of death, tamely submit to 
be butchered by a handful of cowards ! Down, 
down, ye craven-hearted villains ! ” and with de- 
termined intrepidity the hero rushed upon liis foes. 
Death was dealt by almost every blow from his 
mighty arm ; and, in a few minutes, more than one 
half of the traitors were weltering in their blood. 
Only four or five, indeed, survived ; and they were so 
severely wounded that they were unable to make 
their escape. The old man who had given the 
alarm did not attempt to fly, and Shere Afghan, 
taking him kindly by the hand, praised his conduct, 
and thanked him for that compassionate interven- 
tion, without which he would doubtless have been 
sacrificed. He then inquired particularly of him 
concerning those under whose orders the assassins 
had acted, and, having been fully informed, he dis- 
missed him with handsome presents, telling him to 
make all the particulars as public as possible. 
The fame of this gallant exploit resounded through- 
out the whole empire, and Shere Afghan could with 
difficulty move abroad, in consequence of the dense 
crowd of persons, who pressed around him on all 
