.

His iron frame wasted with exhaustion and ill-treatment, Mushad's spirit
was still unbent.

He met the fierce scowl of the despot with a scowl every whit as savage
and defiant.

"Ho! Mushad!" cried the King, mockingly. "But a short while since thou
didst swear to seize me and make a slave of me. How now? I think thou
didst swear thine oath upside down."

"God is God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God. He shall turn the foul
unbeliever into worse than a dog. It matters not who is his instrument
in doing so," answered the Arab, defiantly.

"_Whau_!" cried the King. "If Mohammed comes near the land of Inswani
he shall taste what you are about to taste. But you--you have made
slaves of certain of my people. Slaves of the people of Inswani! Hear
you it, my children?"

Even our two friends, tried, intrepid adventurers as they were, could
not help a sense of heart-failing as they heard the terrific roar of
hate and vengeance which was hurled from every throat as these words of
the King fell upon their ears: "Warriors of Inswani, slaves beneath the
lash of this Arab dog!" Well, he was at their mercy at last.

"Let him taste the lash!" they roared.

The King nodded to the executioners. Mushad was seized and the clothing
rent from his back, revealing the weals of former scourgings. But no
cry for mercy escaped him as the cruel whips of raw-hide fell upon his
emaciated form, striping it until the blood spurted. The two white men
felt perfectly sick, but to display signs of any such weakness would be
as impolitic as any display of weakness in the presence of these fierce
and truculent savages. Even the effort made to remind themselves of
Mushad's own barbarities was not sufficient to reconcile them to the
horrid sight. But with every cruel whistling blow, the Inswani roared
with delight.

"Hold!" cried the King at last. "He has had enough. Take him away and
give him plenty of food. He must be made quite strong for what he has
to undergo. We have only begun upon thee as yet, Mushad. And now,
bring forward yon other dogs, and let them taste of what they have dared
to inflict upon my children--the warriors of the Inswani. For them,
too, it is only a foretaste of what is to come."

The other slave-hunters, to the number of nearly three score, were then
dragged forth. There were not enough of the regular lictors, but
willing hands were only too ready to take their place, so intense and
rancorous w