THE SHAH INVITES MR. M'NEILL TO RETURN. 317 Khan. That sagacious Vizeer had gained great glory from the successful defence of Herat, and his master was tortured by the fear lest after the raising of the siege the Vizeer should dethrone him. He accordingly resolved not to lose the only opportunity which was open to him of getting rid of so dangerous a subject ; and with this view he addressed a secret note to his brother-in- law, in which he expressed his wish that Mahomed Shah would relieve him of the presence of his Vizeer. The note was seen by Colonel Stoddart : it bore the private seal of Prince Kamran, and with reference to it Mahomed Shah observed to the English officer " Without Yar Mahomed Khan, Kamran would be nothing : he is mad to be afraid of him." On the 25th of August a letter was addressed to Mr. McNeill on the part of the Shah, requesting that he would come back to the Persian court ; and at the same time his Majesty forwarded a royal rescript to that gentleman, assuring him of the favourable reception with which he would be met on his return to the royal presence. The Shah's army was detained before Herat by want of baggage animals until the 8th of September, and at the last moment one more attempt was made to extort from the royal family of the Sedozye prince some mark of homage to the Persian king. At midnight, or shortly after, on the 6th of September, Colonel Stoddart was roused from his sleep by the noise of some footsteps approaching his tent. A man entered in disguise, and in that still hour he communicated to the English officer that he was Sheer Mahomed Khan, the Affghan Sirdar, and that he had been sent by the Persian prime minister
