ooking back, I saw three men
gesticulating in the middle of the road.

'May the devil fly away with this pistol,' said Peter ruefully. 'I
never could make good shooting with a little gun. Had I had my rifle...'

'What did you shoot for?' I asked in amazement. 'We've got the
fellows' car, and we don't want to do them any harm.'

'It would have saved trouble had I had my rifle,' said Peter, quietly.
'The little man you call Rasta was there, and he knew you. I heard him
cry your name. He is an angry little man, and I observe that on this
road there is a telegraph.'

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Trouble by The Waters of Babylon

From that moment I date the beginning of my madness. Suddenly I forgot
all cares and difficulties of the present and future and became
foolishly light-hearted. We were rushing towards the great battle
where men were busy at my proper trade. I realized how much I had
loathed the lonely days in Germany, and still more the dawdling week in
Constantinople. Now I was clear of it all, and bound for the clash of
armies. It didn't trouble me that we were on the wrong side of the
battle line. I had a sort of instinct that the darker and wilder
things grew the better chance for us.

'Seems to me,' said Blenkiron, bending over me, 'that this joy-ride is
going to come to an untimely end pretty soon. Peter's right. That
young man will set the telegraph going, and we'll be held up at the
next township.'

'He's got to get to a telegraph office first,' I answered. 'That's
where we have the pull on him. He's welcome to the screws we left
behind, and if he finds an operator before the evening I'm the worst
kind of a Dutchman. I'm going to break all the rules and bucket this
car for what she's worth. Don't you see that the nearer we get to
Erzerum the safer we are?'

'I don't follow,' he said slowly. 'At Erzerum I reckon they'll be
waiting for us with the handcuffs. Why in thunder couldn't those hairy
ragamuffins keep the little cuss safe? Your record's a bit too
precipitous, Major, for the most innocent-minded military boss.'

'Do you remember what you said about the Germans being open to bluff?
Well, I'm going to put up the steepest sort of bluff. Of course
they'll stop us. Rasta will do his damnedest. But remember that he
and his friends are not very popular with the Germans, and Madame von
Einem is. We're her proteges, and the bigger the German swell I get
before the safer I'll feel.