CHAP. V.] MY PROPHECY REALIZED . 223 
names of the owners. “ Are they all dead ?" I asked. 
“All dead/' the men replied. “Food for the vultures?” 
I asked. “None of the bodies can be recovered/' 
faltered my vakeel. “The two guns were brought 
from the spot by some natives who escaped, and who 
saw the men fall. They are all killed." “ Better for 
them had they remained with me and done their 
duty. The hand of God is heavy/' I replied. My 
men slunk away abashed, leaving the gory witnesses 
of defeat and death upon the ground. I called Saat 
and ordered him to give the two guns to Bicharn to 
clean. 
Not only my own men but the whole of Ibrahim's 
party were of opinion that I had some mysterious con¬ 
nexion with the disaster that had befallen my muti¬ 
neers. All remembered the bitterness of my prophecy, 
“ The vultures will pick their bones," and this terrible 
mishap having occurred so immediately afterwards 
took a strong hold upon their superstitious minds. As 
I passed through the camp the men would quietly ex¬ 
claim, “Wah Illahi Hawaga!" (My God! Master.) To 
which I simply replied, “ Bobine fe!" (There is a 
God.) From that moment I observed an extraordinary 
change in the manner of both my people and those 
of Ibrahim, all of whom now paid iis the greatest 
respect. 
