rifle and cartridges from him and threw him
on the ground, tied his hands and feet, striking and kicking him all
the time, until finally Idris, from fear of the boy's life, drove them
off. Afterwards they began to converse in disjointed words, as people
do over whom had impended a terrible danger and whom only an accident
had saved.

"That is Satan incarnate," exclaimed Idris, with face pallid with
fright and emotion.

"He would have shot us like wild geese for food," added Gebhr.

"Ah, if it was not for that dog."

"God sent him."

"And you wanted to kill him?" said Chamis.

"From this time no one shall touch him."

"He shall always have bones and water."

"Allah! Allah!" repeated Idris, not being able to compose himself.
"Death was upon us. Ugh!"

And they began to stare at Stas lying there, with hatred but with a
certain wonder that one small boy might have been the cause of their
calamity and destruction.

"By the prophet!" spoke out one of the Bedouins, "it is necessary to
prevent this son of Iblis from twisting our necks. We are taking a
viper to the Mahdi. What do you intend to do with him?"

"We must cut off his right hand!" exclaimed Gebhr.

The Bedouins did not answer, but Idris would not consent to this
proposition. It occurred to him that if the pursuers should capture
them, a more terrible punishment would be meted to them for the
mutilation of the boy. Finally, who could guarantee that Stas would not
die after such an operation? In such a case for the exchange of Fatma
and her children only Nell would remain. So when Gebhr pulled out his
knife with the intention of executing his threat, Idris seized him by
the wrist and held it.

"No!" he said. "It would be a disgrace for five of the Mahdi's warriors
to fear one Christian whelp so much as to cut off his fist; we will
bind him for the night, and for that which he wanted to do, he shall
receive ten lashes of the courbash."

Gebhr was ready to execute the sentence at once but Idris again pushed
him away and ordered the flogging to be done by one of the Bedouins, to
whom he whispered not to hit very hard. As Chamis, perhaps out of
regard for his former service with the engineers or perhaps from some
other reason, did not want to mix in the matter, the other Bedouin
turned Stas over with his back up and the punishment was about to take
place, when at that moment an unexpected obstacle came.

At the opening of the niche Nell appeared with Sab