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inhuman treatment, George struggled to release his hands from the rope which held them, but his efforts were useless and only roused the soldiers to merriment. Suddenly, as if believing that his prisoner was succeeding in freeing himself, Abdu leaped upon him, and flourishing his long knife, pricked him several times in the body with it; with a brutal laugh he then kicked him again and rejoined his companions at the other end of the car. Helmar now understood the reason this brute was sent in charge of him, and he knew that his journey was to be one of insufferable agony. Oh, for one moment of freedom again! If it cost him his life he would exterminate the hound. After his last onslaught, Abdu left him alone for a while, and Helmar's anger began to cool down. He thought of Naoum's words, and realized how truly he had spoken. No, he must remain quiet, and then even Abdu could not be barbarous enough to murder him. It was one thing to come to such a determination and another to carry it out; alternately he was a prey to violent thoughts of revenge and the calmness of philosophy. In the latter intervals he wondered how long the train would take to reach its destination, he had not been in it half-an-hour, and yet it seemed to him an eternity. The guards were talking in low tones; every now and then Helmar caught a word of Arabic, but they had taken the precaution to seat themselves so far from him that he could not hear what they talked about. The misery of his uncomfortable position and surroundings gave him little desire to interest himself with them. About an hour after they had started, Abdu left his companions and came and sat beside him. Helmar knew this was the prelude to some fiendish cruelty, but what he did not know. He was not long left in doubt. The train was bumping terrifically, the metals over which it was running being very uneven. For a few moments Abdu watched the motion of a piece of iron chain, hanging through a ring in the side of the car, then, having evolved some plan, he turned to his prisoner with a leer on his face. "You see this," he said, tapping the place where Helmar had struck him in the face; "Abdu hasn't forgotten, but he is kind and forgives easily. You are a prisoner, and must be made comfortable." As he said this he sprang up, and going over to where the chain was hanging, took it from its place, and coiling it up into a knot, returned to George's side. The chain was mad
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