me, for by the one lantern that had
been hung from the ship's bridge rail to guide the rowers I could
see that the ship was moving! The ship's captain had climbed out of
the last boat and was standing close to it. I went up to him and
seized his shoulder.

"What dog's work is this?" said I. "Speak!" I said, shaking him,
although he could not talk any tongue that I knew--but I shook him
none-the-less until his teeth chattered, and, his arms being wrapped
in that great shawl of his, there was little he could do to prevent
me.

As I live, sahib, on the word of a Sikh I swear that not even in
that instant did I doubt Ranjoor Singh. I believed that the Turkish
captain might have stabbed him, or that Tugendheim might have played
some trick. But not so the men. They saw the lantern receding and
receding, dancing with the motion of the ship, and they believed
themselves deserted.

"Quick! Fire on him!" shouted some one. "Let him not escape! Kill
him before he is out of range!"

I never knew which trooper it was who raised that cry, although I
went to some trouble to discover afterward. But I heard Gooja Singh
laugh like a hyena; and I heard the click of cartridges being thrust
into magazines. I was half minded to let them shoot, hoping they
might hit Tugendheim. But the Turk freed his arms at last, and began
struggling.

"Look!" he said to me in English. "VOILA!" said he in French.
"REGARDEZ! Look--see!"

I did look, and I saw enough to make me make swift decision. The
light was nearer to the water--quite a lot nearer. I flung myself on
the nearest trooper, whose rifle was already raised, and taken by
surprise he loosed his weapon. With it I beat the next ten men's
rifles down, and they clattered on the beach. That made the others
pause and look at me.

"The man who fires the first shot dies!" said I, striving to make
the breath come evenly between my teeth for sake of dignity, yet
with none too great success. But in the principal matter I was
successful, for they left their alignment and clustered round to
argue with me. At that I refused to have speech with them until they
should have fallen in again, as befitted soldiers. Falling in took
time, especially as they did it sulkily; and when the noise of
shifting feet was finished I heard oars thumping in the oar-locks.

A boat grounded amid the surf, and Ranjoor Singh jumped out of it,
followed by Tugendheim and his four guards. The boat's crew leaped
into the water