and, whatever he said, Anazeh
nodded gravely. Then the old sheikh gave an order, and four of
his men came without further ado to seize Ahmed.

"Bear me witness!" the wretched man called back to me as they
dragged him off. "I go under protest--most unwillingly!"

Somebody struck him with a butt-end. A woman's head appeared
over the top of the partition, and began to jabber noisily.
Several of Anazeh's men hurled jests: the highest compliment
they paid her was to call her Um-Kulsum, the mother of sin.
Anazeh beckoned to me. He did not seem to doubt for an instant
that I would follow him.

I was in no mind to wait there and be arrested by the Sikh
patrol. I wondered whether they were coming in open order,
combing the countryside, or heading all together straight for a
known objective; and whether in either case I could give them
the slip and head back toward Jerusalem. In that minute I
recalled Grim's advice:

"Do whatever the leader of the escort tells you and you'll be all
right. You needn't be afraid to trust him."

That settled it. I did not suppose for a minute that Grim had
contemplated any such contingency as this; but he had
volunteered the advice, so the consequences would be his affair.
I followed Anazeh into outer darkness, and one of his men pulled
the door to after me.

There was something very like a panic down by the waterside,
three hundred yards away from the house. It needed all Anazeh's
authority to straighten matters out. There were divided
counsels; and the raiders were working at a disadvantage in
total darkness; the shadow of the hills fell just beyond the
stern of the boats as they lay with their bows ashore.

They had already forced Ahmed into his own motor-boat, where he
was struggling vainly to crank a cold engine. Some of the others
were trying to push off a boat full of bleating sheep. One man
was carrying a fat sheep in his arms toward the motor-boat,
splashing knee-deep in the water and shouting advice to everybody
else, and in the end that was the only piece of plunder they got
away with. Suddenly one man, who had been left behind to keep a
look-out, came leaping like a ghost among the shadows, shouting
the one word "askeri!" (Soldiers!) He jumped straight into the
motor-boat. Anazeh bullied all the rest in after him. I climbed
in over the bow. By that time you could not have crowded in one
more passenger with the aid of a battering ram.

"Yalla!" barked An