And as he was also modest and generous , he became a favourite with his officers and his comrades . Thus it was not very surprising that , before very long , he became enrolled amongst the picked men of the king 's bodyguard . The fact is , that the king had hoped to have got him killed in some fight or another ; but , seeing that , on the contrary , he throve on hard knocks , he was now determined to try more direct and desperate methods . One day , soon after Nur Mahomed had entered the bodyguard , he was selected to be one of the soldiers told off to escort the king through the city . The procession was marching on quite smoothly , when a man , armed with a dagger , rushed out of an alley straight towards the king . Nur Mahomed , who was the nearest of the guards , threw himself in the way , and received the stab that had been apparently intended for the king . Luckily the blow was a hurried one , and the dagger glanced on is breastbone , so that , although he received a severe wound , his youth and strength quickly got the better of it . The king was , of course , obliged to take some notice of this brave deed , and as a reward made him one of his own attendants . After this the strange adventures the young man passed through were endless . Officers of the bodyguard were often sent on all sorts of secret and difficult errands , and such errands had a curious way of becoming necessary when Nur Mahomed was on duty . Once , while he was taking a journey , a foot-bridge gave way under him ; once he was attacked by armed robbers ; a rock rolled down upon him in a mountain pass ; a heavy stone coping fell from a roof at his feet in a narrow city alley . Altogether , Nur Mahomed began to think that , somewhere or other , he had made an enemy ; but he was light-hearted , and the thought did not much trouble him . He escaped somehow every time , and felt amused rather than anxious about the next adventure . It was the custom of that city that the officer for the day of the palace guards should receive all his food direct from the king 's kitchen . One day , when Nur Mahomed 's turn came to be on duty , he was just sitting down to a delicious stew that had been sent in from the palace , when one of those gaunt , hungry dogs , which , in eastern countries , run about the streets , poked his nose in at the open guard-room door , and looked at Nur Mahomed with mouth watering and nostrils working . The kind-hearted young man picked out a lump of meat , went to the door , and threw it outside to him . The dog pounced upon it , and gulped it down greedily , and was just turning to go , when it staggered , fell , rolled over , and died . Nur Mahomed , who had been lazily watching him , stood still for a moment , then he came back whistling softly . He gathered up the rest of his dinner and carefully wrapped it up to carry away and bury somewhere ; and then he sent back the empty plates . How furious the king was when , at the next morning 's durbar , Nur Mahomed appeared before him fresh , alert and smiling as usual .
He was determined , however , to try once more , and bidding the young man come into his presence that evening , gave orders that he was to carry a secret despatch to the governor XXXXX a distant province .
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